Tyrant
Tyrant
word count: 11,246
Fandom: Stranger Things Pairing: Eddie Munson x Male!Reader Pronouns: He/Him Relationship: Romantic Occupation: Student Ability: N/A
Keys:
[M/N]: Male Name [L/N]: Last Name [N/N]: Nickname [H/C]: Hair Color [E/C]: Eye Color
Warnings: vulgar language, violence, alcohol consumption
might make a part two, you never know, you never know.
that is all.
“Look, there he goes again.”
“You’d think the teachers would expel him by now.”
“Did you hear? Apparently he jumped Thompson on his way to school and robbed him of all his shit.”
“What an asshole.”
“Oh shit, here he comes.”
The once bustling cafeteria came to silence when Hawkins Highschool delinquent stepped foot inside, those intimidating [E/C] eyes glared at anyone within a five foot radius. Grabbing his own tray of food, he sat down at a random table that was still full of people, but the moment he looked at them they quickly departed from the table in hopes of not being his new punching bag. There wasn’t a single redeeming quality about [M/N] the people of Hawkins could think of, he was rude, dangerous and ruthless, regardless of gender. People remembered a time when some prissy girl tried getting in his business, the type of girl that had a the mindset of “I can change him” or what not, she ended up missing several weeks of school because he beat her black and blue, tearing out some of her hair and knocking some of her teeth out.
Unlike Steve Harrington and Billy Hargrove, both being dubbed as the King of Hawkins, he was called the Tyrant of Hawkins. Billy was scary and intimidating in his own way but he had charisma and a charm to him that made people like him. Steve was just a pretty face with just the charm and no intimidation, all [M/N] had was the intimidation and demanding aura around him that people couldn’t help but obey his every word in hopes on not getting on his bad side. Whether they were the losers, the jocks or the popular people, there wasn’t anyone within Hawkins High that didn’t know the full extend [M/N] will go to keep what he calls peace.
And then there’s Eddie Munson, the freak of Hawkins. Lover of metal and D&D, a man who failed his last year of high school and was repeating the year in hopes of graduating that year. Eddie Munson, the man who wasn’t afraid to express who he was, regardless of who was in attendance. Most people find him downright annoying, some find him surprisingly endearing, but most people just think he’s a lost cause. People just thought he was bound for failure, there was nothing good about interacting with Eddie. Dustin, who was busy eating his food, glanced up from his meal to spare Eddie a look and soon noticed he was staring across the cafeteria.
“Eddie?” at the call of his name, the others sitting at the table, stop what they were doing and look at Eddie “What are you looking at?” he asks and soon they’re all following his gaze, a few of them turning pale when they saw that he was staring at the back of [M/N]’s head.
“Dude, why are you staring at [L/N] for? If he catches you staring, you’re dead meat.” Gareth whispered to him “And I am not up to watching you get beaten to a bloody pulp.” Eddie just lets out a laugh, brushing some of his hair back while waving them off.
“You guys worry too much, I’m not gonna do anything.” they all sweat a little, it totally looked like he was gonna do something, but despite knowing how reckless he was, he wasn’t someone who would poke a sleeping lion. Eddie would describe [M/N] as a person with a button you shouldn’t push instead of having a short fuse, he had a short temper as is and chose to speak with his fists instead of his words, they seem to get the point across better than an explanation “… do you think he listens to Iron Maiden?” Jeff gave him a look.
“Eddie, don’t even think about it. You’ll be met with a fist before he even agrees that he likes listening to them.”
“So you’re saying there’s a possibility.” they all let out a groan, a few of them slapping a hand to their foreheads or squeezing the bridge of their nose. The sound of shouting and gasps caught their attention so they all look over and in horror saw one of the jocks from the basketball team dump their food on top of [M/N]’s head, he looked like a freshmen because he was laughing aloud while the rest of the basketball team watch in disbelief at what the new guy just did.
“AH HAHAHA!! Come on guys, that was funny!” he continued to laugh, missing the way everyone backed away as [M/N] slowly stood to his feet “I don’t see why you guys are so scared of just one gu—” he couldn’t finish his sentence when a fist connected with his jaw, causing him to tumble to the floor as blood sprayed out of his mouth. Each time the punk tried getting up his face was met with [M/N]’s fist, he laid no waste to him as he continued punching his face until he collapsed onto his back by Eddie’s table. The brunette watched as the [H/C] male grabbed him by the collar to lift him up and continue beating his face in with no remorse, by the time he was satisfied, he let out an exhausted sigh, sweat and chunks of food bleeding down his face as his fist was drenched in blood, regardless if it was his or not.
“Carver.” Jason flinched at the call of his name, [M/N] didn’t raise his voice to call him, his voice was scary enough that he could bend anyone to his will “What have I told you about controlling your dogs?” he swallowed thickly from where he stood, shrinking down when [M/N] stood up.
“T-That if they get out of line… you’ll put them down.”
“That’s right.” he starts, looking at the table beside him and grabbing Mike’s tray of food then proceeded to dump all its contents on top of the unconscious jock “I hope you remember this the next time you decide to act like a bitch.” He growled as he threw the tray down, his eyes then wandered over to Eddie, who was staring at him with wide eyes and jaw dropped “The fuck you looking at, freak?” he snarled at the brunette, who in turn swallowed thickly, raising his hands up defensively.
“N-Nothing! Nothing, I swear.” he got a scoff in response as [M/N] turned away, kicking the jock one last time then stormed out of the cafeteria, kicking the doors open and disappeared to probably clean the food off of him. The cafeteria sat in silence and watched as the basketball team hurriedly dragged the unconscious player to the sickbay, when they were out of sight, the students all bustled into chatter at the turn of events that just occurred.
“God, that no good [L/N] is so terrifying.”
“He’s even got the jocks listening to him.”
“I can’t believe that dumbass did that.”
“Nobody warned him?” Dustin and Lucas pat Mike on his shoulder, watching as he took deep breaths to calm his beating heart. He wasn’t going to lie, watching him beat his ass was so satisfying but once he turned those anger filled eyes in his direction, he couldn’t help but pray that he wasn’t next, that didn’t mean he wasn’t sad that his food was now on the floor.
“You good Mike? You look like you’re at the verge of fainting,” he raised a thumb whilst trembling slightly.
“And there he goes.” Dustin says, watching as he revved his engine and drove out of the schools parking lot “You’d think the teachers would have dealt with him at this point, but to think he’s even got them to listen to him.” Lucas lets out a sigh, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“I-I’m good.” now with Eddie, his heart was beating just as fast as Mike’s, but for a different reason. The way he watched [M/N]’s face scrunch up in rage, the way he watched his bicep bulge with each swing, the way he watched the sweat run down his neck as he beat his face in. He couldn’t deny the fact that he felt something when those [E/C] eyes glared in his direction as he sneered at him, called him a freak. It was just that tone in his voice and the way he presented himself that made his heart race.
“That was so hot…” he whispered under his breath. At the end of the day, all Eddie could think of was [M/N] and no matter how hard he tried to think of anything else, his thoughts of the tyrant would just come rushing back. The moment he and his friends stepped out of school they heard the roar of an engine, and there was the man in all his glory starting up his motorcycle, a Kawasaki Vulcan 750. He treated that thing as if it were his child, people said that his bike was the only thing that ever made him smile, and the one time someone made the foolish mistake to mess with his baby, he paid them back by totally their car to the point of recognition.
“Yeah, unfortunately, he does not discriminate.” they each shake their head.
[family’s video store]
“Yes sir, yes I understand… have you ever tried checking to see if the VHS player is plugged in?” Robin Buckley, who was currently on the phone with a customer that recently purchased a movie from the store, had called up complaining that it wouldn’t play “So it wasn’t plugged in? Then that’s probably the reason why it wasn’t working, sir.” Steve walked behind the counter after putting the returned movies back on shelf and saw the look of mild frustration on her face.
“Old man again?” he mouthed to her, to which she nodded while making the finger gun gesture and pressing it against her temple, he snickers softly when she pulled the trigger but continued to speak in way that she’s sympathising with said man. Steve’s head perked up at the sound of a motorbike, leaning back on the counter to take a peak outside and there he saw the infamous [M/N] [L/N], the Tyrant of Hawkins, pulling up into their parking lot. He couldn’t help the bead of sweat that rolled down the side of his cheek as he reminisced the past when they attended high school together, he was the one person Steve knew not to mess with or look at the wrong way. He had a reputation that preceded him, they both did, so they had a neutral relationship between each other. He takes a deep breath when he saw [M/N] get off his bike and start approaching the store, jumping slightly when the doors opened and he came right up to the counter.
“Harrington.” he says, voice uncaring for the man in front of him as he stared at him with that same neutral and unbothered expression he always wore when he wasn’t angry.
“[L-L/N].” he cursed under his breath for stuttering, embarrassed that he was still afraid of the man in front of him “What brings you here? I don’t suppose you’re here to rent a movie?” he swallows his saliva when [M/N]’s gaze hardened on him before ignoring him and looking at Robin.
“Buckley, I need to talk to you.” finally looking at them, she acknowledge [M/N]’s presence but held up her finger, telling him to give her a second.
“I’m in the middle of something.”
“Can’t it wait?” she gives him a look then goes right back into what she was doing before she was interrupted, Steve took a glance at [M/N]’s face and saw he was slowly but surely losing his patience, the way his eyebrows scrunched up as he hand formed into a tight fist. Steve all but recognised this was what [M/N] would do before he completely lost all rationality and started throwing hands, he took a step forward when he saw [M/N] raised his hand but was surprised to see he only pressed the hook set to hang up the phone.
“Wha— hey! You can’t just hang up the phone when I’m talking to customers, [M/N]!” she shouts at him, he just shrugs.
“Yeah, well, that’s not as important as to what I have to tell you.” she raised a brow, they stare at each other in silence until she let out a groan, his face lighting up slightly when she caved.
“Alright, fine,” she gestured for him to follow her into the back room and he nods, jumping over the counter and going in before her “Steve, you can handle things alone up front, right?”
“Y-Yeah, but—” he was ignored, he lets out a sigh as his hands slapped against his hips when he dropped them “Alright, I’ll be here.” Robin Buckley, lover of women, would never call herself anything special. Still in high school, she was just like every other average joe that walked those halls, though she was in band, that was probably the only thing cool she’d say about herself. So, never in a millions years would she have found herself in a sort of friendship with the cold and ruthless [M/N], however, right now he was anything but what his reputation says about him.
“I actually managed to talk to him this time!” he squealed out, hands cupping his cheeks as a bright red blush flushed across his cheeks. There was no trace of the Tyrant of Hawkins, all she could find was your typical high school teenage boy thinking about the love of his life, and his so happened to be Eddie Munson, the freak of Hawkins. Ah, now she can remember why the two of them got along, they both had that sense that neither liked the opposite gender and they became friends from then on. Most of the time it was Robin ranting on and on about a girl that’s caught her eye, but never actually having the courage to speak about her feelings, all [M/N] ever had to talk about how his feelings for Eddie continued to grow since he first saw Eddie.
“Oh yeah, and what did you say to him?” he then slumps forward, a dejected look on his face.
“I asked what the fuck he was staring at, then called him a freak.” she let out a defeated sigh, slapping a hand onto her forehead “I couldn’t help it, I was still angry that that fucking prick dumped his food on me.” his face turned sour at the memory, hand clenching into a fist but softened when she placed her hand on top of his.
“You really need to work on your anger management issues, dude.”
“I’m trying, I swear I am.” he lets his head hang a little, hand clenching and unclenching, showing that he was trying to calm himself “But my therapist is a pain in my ass, telling me shit that I already know is the problem and ain’t really helping me. I’m ready to throw hands!” he shouts as he stands to his feet, to which she quickly grabbed him by his shoulders and pushed him back down.
“You can’t hit your therapist, you could get into serious trouble for something like that.” he grumbles at that, soon that lovesick expression found its way onto his face again, he was probably thinking about Eddie again.
“I really want to be about to talk to him, Buckley, but I’m scared that if I approach him, he’ll take it the wrong way. He might think that I’m trying to beat him up, but I don’t want him to be scared.” she rolled her eyes, planting her hand on her hip.
“Well then, I don’t know, give him love letters.” he looked up at her.
“Love letters?” she nods.
“Yeah, if you can’t find the right words to talk to him to his face, write that shit down and put it in his locker.” she then smacks his arm with the back of her hand “Isn’t English your best trait? I’ve read some of the stuff you’ve written, and let me tell you, that shit hits harder than you think.” he looks a little flustered at that, rubbing the back of his neck.
“You’re just saying that because you’re my friend.” she shrugs.
“Whatever floats your boat.” he seats there for a couple minutes before nodding his head.
“Okay, I’ll give your idea a try.” she nods when he stood up “I'll tell you how it goes.” she grins and gives him a thumbs up.
“Go get ‘em tiger.” they then fist bump and he walks out of the room, he glanced at Steve and mentally rolled his eyes when he saw him almost fall over. He was totally eavesdropping on their conversation, but he could give less of a shit, he was busy thinking of what to write down to give to Eddie. Robin walks in after he drives off on his motorbike, leaning down to rest on the counter as Steve gives her a look of disbelief.
“Since when were you friends with [L/N], Robin?” she shrugs.
“Since high school man, learn to keep up.”
“Wha— but he had no friends!”
[next day: hawkins high school]
In the early morning, [M/N] was at school with a letter in his hand. Taking Robin’s advice, he poured his heart and soul into what he wrote down that he wished he could say to Eddie. He had a faint blush on his face as he pressed the letter to his chest before finding Eddie’s locker and slipping it in, not before checking that there was no one there to catch him in the act. With his mission accomplished, he laid in waiting for Eddie to arrive, just to catch his reaction. He really hoped that he didn’t take it the wrong way, he didn’t think the letter was a joke and that someone was playing with his feelings.
“Hey, Eddie!” [M/N] quickly fell back behind the wall he was leaning on to hide, peeking out ever so slightly to see that it was Dustin calling Eddie’s name, who had just arrived with that cute little smile spread across his face.
“Hey Henderson! You ready for tonight’s campaign? It’s gonna be a real spectacle!” he cheered, to which Dustin’s face lit up immensely and nodded his head.
“Totally! Mike, Lucas and I can’t wait!” he chuckles softly.
“Well, it’ll be worth the wait, I promise.” Eddie soon opens his locker to get a few things but blinked when something fell and landed on his feet, kneeling down, he raised a brow in confusion to see a letter “Hmm? What’s this?” Dustin peeks over his shoulder then backs away as Eddie stands up straight, flipping the letter to get a look at the front and back.
“There’s no name.” [M/N] scoffed at that, of course he wasn’t going to write his name on it, it’d be even more unbelievable and he’d probably take it as a threat and not read the letter at all “Think it’s a love letter?” both himself and Dustin laugh at the possibility.
“Yeah, I highly doubt it. Don’t get my hopes high like that.” he jokes, he then tears the envelope open and pulls out the letter. Dustin tried to read it as well but couldn’t when Eddie would pull it closer to his face, [M/N] wished to see his face just to see if what he wrote was good or not. His wish was answered when Eddie lowered the letter and there he saw Eddie’s face turn bright red, all the way to the tips of his ears.
“Eddie…?” Dustin softly called out, reaching forward to grab his bicep and shake him “You good?” he stuttered out words, raising his hand to cover his mouth.
“I-It was a love letter…”
“What?! Let me see.” he exclaimed and snatched the letter from his hands to read it himself, [M/N] wanted to punch the shit out of that little bastard for taking the letter that was meant for Eddie alone, but couldn’t help but feel a little grateful, because there he got to see his flustered and bashful reaction to reading the contents of his letter “Whoa! Whoever wrote this, they’re batshit in love with you.” Eddie bites his bottom lip, shaking his head in denial.
“No, whoever wrote it is probably fucking with me.” he replied, this answer was exactly what [M/N] feared.
“No, no Eddie, I don’t think so.” he then waves it around a bit and hands it back to him “If this was really a joke, I highly doubt it would be written with this much care. Whoever wrote it, they definitely had something they’ve been wanting to say to you for a long time. If this was a joke, I believe it wouldn’t have been written like it was a goddamn novel.” Eddie takes a breath, lifting the letter to read through it once more before pressing it against his lips.
“A-Alright.” he pulls it away and smiles softly at it, making sure to fold it up then tuck it nicely in his front pocket. [M/N] turned so his back was pressed against the wall and the look of joy quickly spread across his face. He internally squealed to himself, hands pressed into his face to hide the huge grin on his face that he couldn’t suppress. Robin’s advice worked and it wouldn’t have worked as greatly as it did if it weren’t for Dustin, he must thank him in some way for clearing up the misunderstanding. He nods to himself, taking one last glance at Eddie before leaving for his first class of the day.
“A mixtape?” he slowed his pace.
From that day on, [M/N] would continue to write letters and leave them in his locker, finding new things about Eddie that had him falling in love with him, it was his favourite thing to do, especially when he got to see the little reactions Eddie would have upon reading the letters. He would always turn a shade of read, sometimes he would twirl a few strands of his hair around his finger as he read through the letters, maybe fidget with a few of his rings, but just seeing him smile was all that made his day. At the end of his day he would always rush to Robin to tell her that it was working, telling her that her advice worked wonderfully and that it was slowly building his confidence to talk to Eddie face to face. Yeah, about that. There were a few times [M/N] managed to build up some of that confidence and was planning on talking to Eddie a few times but at the last minute chicken out a end of sulking about his failures.
[M/N] was sitting in the cafeteria now, some bit of food hanging loosely on his lips as he stared at his notebook. He twirled his pencil around his fingers then tapped it against his forehead, rubbing the end of it into his temple as he tried to think of other things to put into his next love letter but his mind went blank. He groaned and fell forward with his head hitting the cafeteria table, he was running out of things to say, he needed to think of something quick. He sighs to himself and lifts himself up, closing the notebook and tucking it away then decided he was done in the cafeteria. He swings his legs out and starts walking out that he just so happens to overhear something from Eddie’s table.
“Yeah! I’d appreciate something like that, means they actually took the time of day to make something sentimental, you know?” Gareth scoffed.
“Just as long as they put in songs that actually mean something, if it’s just random songs, it won’t really matter.” Mike raises his hand.
“I second that.” Eddie rolled his eyes.
“Whatever. I’ll remember what you guys said when I get a mixtape.” [M/N]’s face lit up, now that’s something he could do. With a new goal set in mind, he was going to ditch his last class in favor of making this mixtape when somebody slammed into his chest.
“What the?!” he exclaims, growling when whoever bumped into him spilt their food onto him “Fucking— again?! Watch it punk!” he shouts, grabbing the next victim by the collar of their shirt and pulling them forward, raising his fist to punch them across the face but stopped when he saw that it was Dustin.
“W-Wait, man…! I’m sorry, I d-didn— didn’t see you.” his friend group immediately stood to their feet to defend him, but what could they do against the tyrant, he could easily beat them all after tearing Dustin a new one. [M/N] took a glance towards Eddie, something Dustin didn’t miss, and saw the way he glared at him if he were to even leave a mark on him “I’m sorry, I-I’m sorry…!” he apologises once more, [M/N] looks back at him then closed his eyes, letting out a sigh as he let Dustin go.
“Accidents happen.” he says, grimacing when he looked down at the spilt milk all over his jacket “Just watch where you’re going next time, Henderson.” the cafeteria was brought to silence, absolute silence when [M/N] walked out. Did the tyrant just spare someone? Everyone was sent into an uproar just as Dustin collapsed, Lucas and Mike were immediately by his side.
“Dustin!”
“Dustin! Are you alright?” he was shaking, trying to calm his breathing but he nodded nonetheless.
“Y-Yeah… god! I thought I saw my life flash before more eyes just now.” he runs a hand through his hair as his friends helped him to his feet, what he couldn’t get out of his mind was the way [M/N]’s face showed annoyance but the moment he took one glance over at Eddie his face softened. He seemed to have been the only one to notice because they were all asking if he was alright and how lucky he was to have survived against [M/N], his eyes narrowed at the possibility.
‘He couldn’t possibly be…’
[with [m/n]]
“Mum! Where’s the cassette recorder?!”
“In the garage!”
“Thank you!” he dumps an array of different cassettes onto his desk, sorting them out by genre and splitting them up then grabbed the cassette recorder and player, plugging them with headphones so the residents of the [L/N] household didn’t have to suffer through the array of different songs throughout the night. A cigarette hung loosely in between his fingers, flicking the ashes into an ashtray as he listened to each song, bobbing his head while swaying softly “I hope he likes these.” he muttered softly, by the time he was finished it was two in the morning, but it was totally worth it. He laid on his bed, headphones in and listened to his final product, smiling ever so lightly. The next day felt like any other day, arrive to school early with barely anyone around and slip in a letter for Eddie but this time a mixtape, everything was fi—
“So it is you!” he let out a gasp, throwing himself against the lockers at the unexpected voice. Looking behind him, his face paled when he saw that it was Dustin “I can’t believe you’re the secret admirer!” he quickly slapped his hand over Dustin’s mouth, bringing his other hand up to press a finger to his lips.
“Would you keep your voice down?!” he snarled at him, he takes a quick look around to see if anybody heard, when he saw nobody he dragged Dustin into a supply closet and slammed him against the wall “Henderson! Don’t you know when to mind your own business? I thought you’d think twice about bothering me after yesterday, but I see you’re just as stupid as the rest of this fucking scho—”
“You’re in love with Eddie, aren’t you?” [M/N] sputters over his words, his tough guy façade slowly beginning to crumble when his previous threats went to deaf ears as Dustin smirked up at him “I saw the way you looked at Eddie yesterday, and after all those love letters I thought of the possibility that it could be you. I was really taking a huge gamble on that small little detail, but I guess I was right. You, [M/N] “the Tyrant” [L/N], is in love with Eddie “the Freak” Munson. Just admit it, it’s written all over your face.” [M/N]’s face was twitching as he fought to keep that glare on his face, but in the end let out a defeated sigh as he crumbled to his knees, hands holding a fistful of Dustin’s vest.
“I-Is it that obvious…?” Dustin’s jaw dropped immediately as soon as [M/N]’s true feelings revealed itself, he pushed himself back and saw his bright red face as he pressed his hands to his face “Yeah, I’m really in love with him it’s crazy.” even his voice sounded soft and meek, not a trace of that psycho from the day prior.
“Since when?” he was taken aback when a lovesick grin spread across his face, a look of complete adoration in his eyes as he tried to recounter the first time he saw Eddie Munson.
“Where do I even begin? It was probably during my freshmen year! He’s a year older than me but the moment I set my eyes on him, watching him be himself… ah, I was over the moon.” he then cups his cheeks, leaning into the palm of his hand “I fell in love when I saw him performing one night at a shitty gig that were willing to let him and his band, Corroded Coffins, play. It was so mesmerising watching him play, I loved every second of it.” Dustin pursed his lips, raising a brow when he heard [M/N] let out a sigh as he leaned his back against the wall.
“Well, if you like him so much, why don’t you just tell him? You’ve shown him just how much you like him, so I don’t see the harm in just saying it to his face,” this caused the older one to let out a groan, throwing his head back then hiding his face in his knees.
“That’s the thing. I’m afraid I might say the wrong thing, I’m scared that I might scare him off. Don’t you remember who I am, Henderson? I’m the tyrant, the school delinquent that isn’t afraid to throw hands with a fucking teacher.” he runs his hands through his hair “I’m afraid when he finds out that I’m his secret admirer… he’ll think I was playing with his feelings as a new way to torture people.” Dustin placed his hands on his hips.
“Eddie always looks forward to seeing those letters.” this caused [M/N]’s head to perk up and look up at him “It’s his favourite part of the day, seeing what new things you love about him.” this caused him to grin sheepishly, closing his hands together and kicking his legs a little.
“Really?” he giggles softly. If Dustin where to mention [M/N]’s true personality to his friends, they would probably laugh in his face and tell him he’s ridiculous. That there wasn’t a single person in this world that the tyrant had a soft spot for, but that was where they were wrong. He’s seen the way Eddie’s face lights up upon reading the letters and now that he knows that they are really truthful— he lets out a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck.
“I’d like to consider myself a good friend of Eddie’s, like, really close.” [M/N] lets out a hum at that, acknowledging that fact by the fact he’s always seeing the two of them together acting like idiots “So… how’s about I give you a hand?” he gave him a wary expression.
“… what do you mean by that?”
“I think Eddie’s starting to like you, erm, the secret admirer.” [M/N]’s face lit up immensely at that “Eddie also has an interest in you, the tyrant, but it slowly turned sour after yesterday. He probably would have hated your guts if you actually hit me.” he groans.
“I know, that’s why I didn’t.”
“And I still thank you for that, [L/N].” this earned him an eye roll “If I were to have Eddie see you in a better light, and potentially boost up your confidence in talking to him, maybe I can help you two hook up.”
“Really? You’d do that?” he stands up but then stops, looking down at Dustin cautiously “What’s the catch?” Dustin smirks a little.
“Just your protection.” this caused [M/N] to quirk a brow “My friends and I are still losers, meaning we’re still targets in the jocks eyes. We by no means can protect ourselves from those assholes, so, I was hoping you’d keep an eye out for us in return for my services.” he let out a groan at that, why did he have to play babysitter. He genuinely wanted to refuse, but having Dustin as his inside man to help him get with Eddie… dammit, it was an offer he just couldn’t refuse.
“Alright, Henderson, you’ve got yourself a deal.” this caused him to grin, reaching forward to grab [M/N]’s hand and shake it enthusiastically.
“Pleasure doing business with you.” he rolled his eyes. Now, outside the supply closet was Eddie. He arrived a little early to school in hopes that he could potentially catch his secret admirer but upon opening his locker and finding the letter and a mixtape, all was for naught and he woke up early for no— wait, a mixtape? He felt giddy, taking the tape into his hands and opening the case and there he saw a little note written in it.
’I happened to overhear that you’d love to receive a mixtape. Thought I’d give you one as a gift. I hope you enjoy it, Eddie.’
~ secret admirer.
“Oh, what a sap.” the sound of a door opening caught his attention, he leaned back from out of his locker and narrowed his eyes when he saw [M/N] and Dustin walk out of the supply closet. He thought maybe [M/N] was threatening the younger one but was surprised to see Dustin laughing when the other grabbed the end of his cap and shook it a bit before pushing his head back and walking away “What was all that about...?” Dustin raised his head upon feeling he was being stared at, he jumped upon seeing that it was Eddie.
“Hey, Eddie! W-When did you get here?” he asked while approaching him.
“A couple minutes ago.” he then eyed the back of [M/N]’s back before he disappeared “Why were you in the supply closet with [L/N]? Was he threatening you again?” Dustin’s eyes widened before he raised his hands while shaking his head.
“Oh, no, no, no! I just needed advice for... intimidation?” he mentally slapped his forehead, even Eddie looked at him as if he were an idiot.
“Seriously? I’m surprised he didn’t give you a black eye.” Dustin waved his hand to dismiss him.
“Oh, don’t worry about it. We just let bygones be bygones, alright? He’s actually a pretty chill dude.” Eddie rolled his eyes, tucking the mixtape and letter into his front pocket, intending to listen and read through them later.
“Sure, I’ll believe it when I see it.”
And see Dustin kept his end of the deal, Eddie would ramble about anything that came into mind and he would later report it to [M/N], because of this, it gave him more material for his letters. Sometimes he would think of new gifts to give to Eddie, a few times they got a little too big so [M/N] had to break into his locker just to get it in there. But also keeping his end of the deal, whenever [M/N] would catch Dustin and his group of losers getting ganged by anyone with ill intentions, he just stands behind them and give them that infamous death glare. Mike and Lucas have been starting to notice the lack of black eyes they’ve been receiving, and Dustin has been weirdly confident for some reason.
“Dustin, what did you do?” Lucas asked, eyeing him weirdly as he walked beside him.
“Lucas is right, you did something.” Mike agreed, Dustin just gave them a cheeky grin.
“I’ve gained us, boys, immunity.” they both stare at him weirdly “At first I thought he wasn’t doing his job right, but in the end, it worked out just fine.” Mike and Lucas share a look with each other.
“Oh yeah, how?” they enter the cafeteria, Mike and Lucas intending to sit down with Eddie and the rest, but were confused when they saw that he was walking somewhere else “Dustin? Dustin! Where are you going?” their jaws literally dropped when he confidently walked over to where [M/N] was sitting, dropping his tray of food in front of him then taking a seat across from him, practically startling the poor soul who was reading.
“What the-- Henderson?” [M/N] questioned, looking over at him in confusion, he rolled his eyes when the brunette grinned at him “What the fuck are you doing over here?” he merely shrugged his shoulders, taking his bag off his shoulders and putting it under the table.
“Eating lunch with you.” he scoffed, making sure to bookmark his page before closing his book.
“Shouldn’t you be eating with your friends?” he asked while gesturing with his heads over to them, to which Dustin shrugged “I still have a reputation to up hold here, Henderson. I can’t just let these dorks see me going soft, all because of you--” he stuttered back his words when Dustin raised his finger, he was greatly offended that he was shushed.
“And they won’t, but I think it’ll help Eddie see that you’re not such a bad guy.” this caused him to calm slightly “Like I said before, Eddie was interested in you before and I think you’ll gain his interest again if he see’s you’re not that hard to talk to. And by doing that, you have me.” [M/N] rolled his fingers along the table as he eyed Dustin before letting out a sigh.
“Fucking, fine.” with that Dustin happily ate his food, [M/N] picked at his food “... does he like the mixtape?” the younger one let out a hum at that, he quickly swallows his food and nods.
“Mm hmm, he listens to it all the time.” this caused a rare smile to raise to his cheeks,
“I’m glad.” those who were staring that managed to see that smile were in complete shock, the only face he ever wore was a scowl or sneer, but this was the first time anyone has ever seen him smile like that at something that wasn’t his bike. Eddie, who was watching the entire interaction, felt his eyes widen at how charming that smile was. He couldn’t help but snort softly when he saw Dustin say something and in return [M/N] threw some of his food at him, but there was a smile nonetheless.
“Since when was Henderson friends with [L/N]?!” Gareth exclaimed, Eddie chuckled softly.
“Actually... I remember seeing the two of them together one morning, I thought it was nothing, but I guess not.” at the end of lunch he was hounded for answers by his friends, though they backed off a little when [M/N] walked by them but not without ruffling Dustin’s head.
“Later Henderson.” he happily waved his hand.
“Bye, [L/N]!” he then smirks at Lucas’ and Mike’s dumbfounded face.
“Since when did you gain [M/N]’s favor? I thought that was impossible to do!” Mike exclaimed, hands in his hair and ready to be torn off “Was this during the time you bumped into him?” Dustin just grinned cheekily at them, shrugging his shoulders.
“Maybe, maybe not. Hey, Eddie!” said man looked at him “He does like Iron Maiden.” Eddie’s face lit up.
“Well, if he likes Iron Maiden, then he can’t be all that bad.”
“No, Eddie, just no.”
[time skip: a few weeks later]
Dustin continued to sit at [M/N]’s table, must to the other’s displeasure, and just straight up harassed him because he had the power to do so. Dustin’s time with him actually got him a few ups rather than downs, mostly because he started to learn more and more about him. He learnt that [M/N] was actually really smart and the reason he never put in any of the effort to the schoolwork was because the teacher’s thought he’d end up as a lost cause, so he just gave up trying so hard. But the one thing he did put a lot of effort into was English, Dustin would often ask for his help for his English work and though he thought it was a hassle, the younger of the two could tell that [M/N] was having some fun with it.
Sure Dustin promised [M/N] he would help him with telling him everything about Eddie, but Eddie wanted to know more about [M/N] as well. Eddie learnt that though the delinquent enjoyed listening to a variety of different heavy metal songs, he quite enjoyed listening to classical music as well via vinyl's. It was a shocker, but it did help calm him down when he was having trouble with his anger issues. The school also noticed the way [M/N] was starting to soften up and act less impulsive, they all had Dustin to thank for that, making the tyrant less tyrannical.
“Whatever you’re doing, Henderson, keep at it.” Eddie said, patting his shoulder and looking up in thought “You think he knows how to play D&D? I’d love to ask him to join Hellfire personally, but I’m afraid he’ll think it’s boring.” Dustin rolled his eyes, recalling the time [M/N] told him that he self taught himself how to play D&D so he could play alongside Eddie one day during one of his campaigns.
“I’ll ask him.” Eddie grinned.
“You’re the best.” he shrugs.
“So I’ve been told.” with [M/N], he was sitting just outside the parking lot reading the Lord of the Rings Book: The Return of the King. He was always a fan of J. R. R. Tolkien’s works, it was one of the many reasons he ended up loving English a lot, but he took up reading the books again when Dustin told him Eddie tended to make references from the books a lot. He closed the book and chuckled to himself at the amount of page tabs he had on them from the time he marked down the best parts of the book, he believed he believed he read enough and was planning on going home but stopped when he heard shouting.
“Hmm?” he glanced over and saw what he believed was Eddie’s Hellfire Club huddled around, he thought it was nothing until he saw a couple of jocks “Well shit, and here I thought I was going to have a quiet Friday evening.” he puts his book in his bag and leaves it by his bike before marching over to see what ruckus was all about, the students immediately parted upon seeing him and when he saw what was going on his blood ran cold.
[a few minutes before [m/n] arrived]
“You think you and your lot of freaks are untouchable, huh, Munson?” Eddie laid on the ground, blood running down nose and black eye slowly forming on his left eye as he stared up at the bastard who punched him “You think just because Henderson is in good graces with the tyrant we can’t hurt you? Well guess again, bitch, there’s nothing he will do.” Dustin glared at them from where he stood.
“You’re wrong, you asshole!” he flinched back when another jock took a step forward.
“Oh, yeah? That asshole doesn’t care about anyone but himself! You’ve gotten arrogant because of the fact that you can talk to him, Henderson. But remember this, the moment he sees no more use in you, you’ll be the next punching bag on his list.” Eddie spits out the blood in his mouth and stands to his feet.
“What makes you think we need [L/N]’s protection, huh? I can handle myself pretty well!” he lets out a laugh when he was grabbed by his vest, yanked forward and standing eye to eye with the jock “You guys are just as scared of him as we are, you just hate that he’s close to him.” he winces when the jock reeled his arm back but paused when it didn’t come, he opened his eyes and noticed that the jock was looking down so he followed his gaze and his eyes widened when one of the newest love letters fell out of his pocket.
“What’s this?” Eddie sputtered out his words but let out a gasp when he was thrown back, Gareth and Jeff caught him before he could fall just as the jock bent down to pick up the letter.
“H-Hey man, give that back!” he shouts out desperately, heart dropping when the letter opened and the jock looked at the writing inside it, he soon laughed at what it said.
“Well would you look at that? The freak seems to have an admirer!” he shouts, reading through more of it then looked at Eddie with an amused expression “Do you really think anyone has any feelings for you, Munson? It’s probably nothing more than a joke. Nobody loves you, there’s nothing to love.” Eddie’s hands closed into a tight fist, those words really damaging his heart.
“Y-You’re wrong!” this response made him laugh.
“Wow! You really believe these feelings this person wrote for you are actually true!” he then drops the letter, raised his foot and stomped on it, making sure to twist his foot on top of it “You don’t deserve to be loved.” those tears that were threatening to fall finally fell, though Dustin couldn’t help but feel fear run through his veins. [M/N] always treated those letters with care, and seeing someone stomp on them means that they have a death wish.
“You’re dead...” he whispered to himself, though the jocks seemed to have picked up on what he said and turned their attention on him.
“The fuck did you say, nerd...” they trailed off when someone stepped out from behind Dustin, he glanced up and there he saw that enraged look in [M/N]’s face that he hasn’t seen in a long time. Eddie also looked up when someone pushed passed him and saw that same expression that charmed him, [M/N] couldn’t see anything but red. He grabbed the piece of shit that had the balls to insult him; to insult his Eddie and stomp on his letter, and pulled them forward “H-Hey, now wait a minu-- minute!” [M/N] pulls his arm back, glaring at the poor unfortunate soul.
“Clench your teeth.” was all the the warning he got that was laced with venom, and for the next couple of minutes, [M/N] was laying waste into him. There was nothing that could stop him now, not the countless of students that were yelling at him to stop, not the people who were trying to pull him off as he beat his voice to the point he laid there unconscious and unable to defend himself. He ignored the way the jock clawed at his face and arms for him to stop but couldn’t, he made his Eddie cry... and he was going to make him pay with his blood.
“[M/N], stop!” Dustin shouted, grabbing at the arm that he was swinging with all he could and pulled it back “You’ve done enough... please, you’ve done enough.” [M/N] glanced back at Dustin and saw the sheer fear in his eyes, he then looked down at the poor unconscious sap and the blooded mess he was in. When Dustin saw his fist loosen up he finally let go of his arm, [M/N] took a deep breath then stood to his feet and looked over at Eddie. The two of them just stared at each other until [M/N] looked down at the dirty and crinkled letter, bending down to pick it up.
“H-Hey, wait--” Eddie was cut off when [M/N] slapped it against his chest as he walked past him.
“Next time, take good care of your valuables, Eddie.” nobody said a word as [M/N] walked away, hopped onto his bike and drove away. Eddie’s hands held onto that note like it was his lifeline as his friends surrounded him, asking him if he was okay, but he couldn’t help but shiver at the way his name rolled off of [M/N]’s tongue.
’He said my name...’
[time skip: a few days later]
“... wanna talk about it?”
“Shut up, Buckley.” Robin snickered from beside [M/N], the two of them laying outside on the grass at school, though [M/N] was drinking alcohol out of a flask. [M/N] told Dustin to stay away from him for a couple days because he was afraid he was going to have another outburst and take it out on him if he couldn’t control himself. He really went too far this time, that was on him, but he just couldn’t control himself when he saw Eddie crying; when he saw that motherfucker step on his fucking lett--
“You’re balling your fists again, [M/N].” he lets out a defeated sigh, hands relaxing.
“I think I’ve gone and done it this time, Robin. I think I officially scared him off.” Robin watched him sit up, face in his hands as he shook his head “I just couldn’t stop myself, Buckley. Just-- jesus, I lost all rationality and let out the anger I hadn’t realized I was bottling up all out on him.” Robin rolled her eyes and sat up.
“You’re overreacting, dude.”
“I don’t think I am.” he whispered to himself, she shakes her head and places a hand on his shoulder.
“If you’re so worried, just go talk to Dustin. He’s your inside man, remember?” he spares her a glance and saw she was giving him a look of reassurance “I can even talk to Dustin, that little twerp and I became friends sometime last year.” he makes a face.
“... nah, I think it’d be better if I talked to him.” she grins, punching his arm.
“There you go.” he scoffed with a laugh “Now hurry up, and sick and tired hearing that kid miss talking to you.” he scowls at her.
“Right, I was quite enjoying my peace and quiet.”
“No you weren’t.” he pouts. He was now at his locker, getting a few things out of it, ignoring the people moving around him and whispering bullshit about him again. He stopped caring about what others said about him, some rumors were true while others weren’t, they just put the blame on him because it was easier that wa--
“Hey.” he slammed his locker shut at the sudden voice, turning his head, he started screaming internally at who it was “You think we could talk for a bit?”
’Oh my god, Eddie! You’re talking to me! I can’t believe you’re talking to me! Is this a dream? If this is a dream, I hope I never wake up! What a dream come true! Eddie, the love of my life!’ he had a straight and neutral expression but his thoughts said otherwise.
“Sure.” he cried on the inside at his short answer, fuck sake.
“W-Well, um-- I’ve been meaning to say thank you.” this caused [M/N] to raise a brow.
“Huh, for what? I don’t remember doing anything for you.” this is where Eddie nervously twirled a strand of his hair then moving it so that it was hiding the lower half of his face, something that [M/N] found adorable whenever Eddie felt nervous.
“No. When those assholes took that letter from me...” he trailed off, a pained look on his face “I couldn’t do anything, and their words really stuck with me. But you, you stood up to them. You could have just looked the other way, but you didn’t, and for that I’m really grateful.” [M/N] swallowed thickly.
“Yeah, well-- don’t expect me...” [M/N] stopped himself before he could finish his sentence, shaking his head when he realized he was going to come off as an asshole “No, I-- fuck! I mean, it’s no big deal, Munson. You’re Dustin’s friend, so I couldn’t just turn a blind eye.” he internally fist bumped, nailed it.
“Well, thanks, tyrant.” [M/N] chuckled.
“No problem, freak.” they both laugh. Robin had confronted Dustin and told the young boy to talk to [M/N], he was already way ahead of her and was making his way to his locker but stopped in the middle of his tracks when he saw him talking to Eddie. Wow, what a turn of events. He froze up when [M/N] saw him and before he could say anything, Dustin backed away but gestured for him to keep talking.
“So, [L/N],” Eddie cleared his throat, his little DM persona surfacing up as he gave the taller male a confident grin “you know the Hellfire Club, right?” he nods his head.
“Yes?” Eddie then tugs on his battle vest, a smirk raising to his face.
“So then you know how we play D&D, right?” he was given another nod in response to that “Cool! I-I mean-- ahem. As the Dungeon Master, as a thank you for your services for protecting my friends and I, I would like to formally invite you to Hellfire. Now I hope you understand how valuable this invitation is, [L/N], because not just anyone can be invited into Hellfire. You should feel really grateful.” looking up at him, he was expecting to see an unimpressed expression and was going to be brushed off, but what he got was a look of excitement as [M/N]’s cold eyes sparkled while a red hue flushed to his cheeks.
“Really?” his voice reminded him of that of a child, he wished he could stare at that face a little longer but it quickly disappeared as it came when [M/N] shook his head to knock some sense into himself “I-I mean, uh, sure. I’ll take up your invitation, Munson. No take backs.” Eddie couldn’t help but laugh at that childish sentence.
“Haha, alright.” he then takes a step back, waving his hand goodbye “Tomorrow, at Hellfire after school. Be there early, okay? I need to show the ropes and recap on our last campaign.” [M/N] nods his head, giving Eddie a thumbs up as the metal head walked away.
“R-Right, totally!” Eddie flashes him a bright smile before finally disappearing, [M/N] stood in the hallway for what felt like hours at what just happened. Eddie came up to him. Eddie was the one that talked to him. Eddie thanked him. Eddie smiled at him. Eddie invited him to Hellfire. He couldn’t fight back that huge smile and when he saw there was no one around, he let out a biggest squeal, jumping in the air while pumping his fists then punching his locker “Fuck yeah! I did it! I did it!” he then crouches down, pressing his hands together as he continued to smile.
I did it.
[time skip: the next day]
Eddie wasn’t in the greatest of moods that day. Sure, he was happy when he woke up that morning. Why? Maybe it was because he was finally going to be able to interact with [M/N] [L/N] for the very first time instead of watching him from afar and hearing new things about him from Dustin, he could finally talk to him and look at him from up close. Maybe he was also excited to get a new letter from his secret admirer, things were looking great for his end of the week. He arrived at school with a big smile on his face, he approached his locker and opened it but... there was no letter. He looked through every nook and cranny for it but there was nothing, his heart dropped and he couldn’t help but feel heart broken. The words of those bullies coming back to haunt him.
“Nobody loves you.”
“There’s nothing to love.”
“You don’t deserve to be loved.”
What made things worse was that he didn’t see [M/N] throughout that entire day, he tried asking Dustin but the kid didn’t give him any concrete answers to go off of. When everything was finally looking good for him, it all just went away as fast as it came. Was [M/N] even going to come to Hellfire? God, what was he even thinking? Of course he wasn’t. That guy probably has better things to do than come to some stupid roleplaying game with Eddie “the Freak” fucking Munson! He collapsed onto his chair within Hellfire, the end of the day came faster than he would he have wanted and now he was going to have to do this campaign in a shitty mood.
“Eddie?” a soft voice called out, his head shot up and there he saw the man he hadn’t realized he was aching to see. [M/N] looked nervous where he was standing, he stepped into the room and rubbed the back of his neck, there Eddie noticed [M/N] was holding something behind his back but didn’t question it and stood up in a slightly better mood.
“You actually came, [L/N]! I kind of thought you were going to pull a no show.” [M/N]’s eyes immediately widened, a look of shock evident.
“W-What? Why would I do that?” he then winced when he remember that he hadn’t shown his face to Eddie that entire day, going so far as to not tell Dustin what he was doing, what he was doing had to do with what he had behind his back “I-I was busy this entire day, there’s something I need to tell you.” Eddie fixed his posture at that.
“Yeah?” [M/N] could feel how fast his heart was beating, an eruption of butterflies bursting in his stomach as he thought of countless scenarios in his head. Eddie continued to look up at [M/N], seeing a new expression on his face, one of anxiousness. Before Eddie could say anything [M/N] finally pulled his arm out from behind his back and handed Eddie an envelope, an envelope with his name written on the front of it with a very familiar penmanship “W-Why do you... why do you have that?” he questioned as he snatched the letter out of his hand, did [M/N] steal this out from his locker? Was that the reason why this fucker didn’t show his face the entire da--
“I thought it would be better to give it to you now.” this caused Eddie to pause, what? “I know you might have been confused as to why you didn’t get one this morning, but I've been needing to tell you something face to face. I've always been better at writing down my feelings rather than verbally saying it, so...” he then gestured for him to read it, so Eddie did just that, tearing the envelope open and pulling the letter out.
‘to eddie,
this will probably be my last letter to you. I’ve constantly told you how much I’ve adored you, from the way your eyes sparkle whenever you’re happy, to the way you always have this passion in your voice every time you speak. there isn’t a thing about you that I don’t love.
the moment you spoke to me, it felt like I was on cloud fucking nine. I nearly blew it and told you to fuck off, but I’m glad I was able to pull my head out of my ass. you have no idea what you do to me, you have no idea what I would do for you.
I love you, eddie munson, and there’s nothing in this god forsaken world that could ever change my mind about that. I just hope that you can feel the same about me now that you know who your secret admirer is. I was always so scared that you wouldn’t like me.
I promise you, I will give you all the love that you want and need. I will give you everything so long as I live, and I promise you that I will always be by your side loving you.
~ [m/n] [l/n].
Eddie looked up from the letter and there he saw [M/N] looking so small, averting his eyes from Eddie’s as he laced his fingers together, twiddling his thumbs while trembling. [M/N] thought Eddie wasn’t going to buy it, he thought Eddie was going to accuse him of stealing that letter from out of his locker and saying that it was from him. He was expecting Eddie to reject him, there wasn’t a single positive outcome to come out of this situation, and when he was going to accept that reality he suddenly felt a pair of arms around his shoulders and pulling him into a hug.
“Thank god it was you, [M/N].” his eyes widened slightly, taking in a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding in “I’m so glad that it’s you, [M/N].” he whispered, the latter swallowed thickly at that as he looked down at Eddie.
“W-What?” Eddie pulled away and [M/N] saw he had an expression that mirrored his “D-Do you mean you— you feel the same way?!” he exclaimed, Eddie laughed and nodded his head.
“I always felt a slight attraction towards you, [M/N], and I was quite torn whether or not I should fall in love with my secret admirer or the hot tyrant. I’m so glad you two are one in the same.” he then gently jabbed [M/N]’s side with his elbow “But who’d a thought you’re nothing more than a giant teddy bear. I’ve seen the way you act with Dustin when you think no one’s looking, you’re not very discrete.” this caused the taller of the two to let out a whine of sort, an embarrassed blush rising to his cheeks as he hid his face behind his hands.
“Stop it…” he mumbled.
“You’re really adorable.” Eddie sets the letter down on the table then reaches forward and grabs both of [M/N]’s hands, he rubs his thumbs along his knuckles. [M/N]’s was beating abnormally fast to the point he was surprised he hadn’t fainted from how happy he was, still not believing that Eddie felt the same way about him.
“C-Can I…” Eddie lets out a hum, smirking softly at the flustered man in front of him “… can I kiss you?”
“Hmm, can you, big boy?” he laughed when [M/N] pouted, wearing a face that resembled that of a kicked puppy “Alright, okay! I was kidding, you big dope.” Eddie watched [M/N] slip his hands free from his grip and raise his hands to his face, they gently cupped his cheeks and his thumbs caressed them. He probably would have purred at the affection but instead let out a hum when [M/N] finally pressed his lips against his own, it was a short and sweet kiss but it had Eddie craving for me. So when [M/N] was pulling away he let out a muffled gasp when Eddie wrapped his arms around his neck to pull him back into another kiss, next thing they knew [M/N] was laying on his back with Eddie on top of him pulling him into deeper kisses.
“Eddie… Eddie, please…!” each time [M/N] got a word out he would be silenced by another kiss, he later gave up and just pulled Eddie into a kiss that he poured his heart and soul into “I love you, Eddie…!” he smiled at that, briefly pulling away to rest his forehead on his.
“And I love you just as much.”
Headcanons:
the other members of hellfire came in to find [m/n] and eddie making out on the floor.
eddie sat on [m/n]’s lap with a triumphant smirk on his face while the other continued to lay on the ground, hands covering his face as he wallowed up in embarrassment.
dustin came up to them and held out his hand, [m/n] side eyed him but gave him a high five.
mission accomplished.
[m/n] immensely softened up after finally getting together with eddie, he didn’t mindlessly get into fights with people anymore and just eddie or even dustin’s mere presence is enough to get him to calm down.
robin was happy for [m/n], he literally came running up to her with the biggest smile on his face and hugged her; twirling her around and everything.
this scared the ever living shit out of steve.
[m/n] started sitting with eddie and his lot during lunch, this was enough to get the bullies to back off.
sometimes [m/n] would help eddie with any of his homework, that being eddie openly complaining how hard it was and that he needed help from his hunky and gorgeous boyfriend to assist him.
whenever eddie got an answer right he would be rewarded with a kiss.
most of the time they would get distracted and not even be able to finish the homework.
bike rides are a must.
eddie loved the feeling of the wind breezing through his curly brown locks, often cheering as [m/n] drove down the streets of hawkins.
the first time eddie tried getting on his bike without a helmet [m/n] would just give him a blank expression with his arms crossed and just gave him the most disapproving glare he could muster.
safety first.
when playing d&d, eddie would incorporate [m/n]’s tyrant persona into the campaign.
the others loved it. [m/n] was a barbarian goliah who was a tyrannical king in their latest campaign and they had to strategise how to overthrow him.
they lost epically before he swooned the dungeon master.
they called him a cheater.
he called them sore losers.
dustin believes he’s the greatest wingman because of the fact that eddie and [m/n] are together, the two of them definitely favor him a lot. this sometimes causes the others to get jealous, but all he does in return for their retaliation is hide behind [m/n].
they all though have access to [m/n]’s scary dog privilege.
however, they all know that [m/n] would absolutely do anything for his eddie.
they remember a time they absentmindedly told [m/n] when eddie was being harassed by a few of the jocks in the past. they didn’t see him for the rest of the day until they saw the same guy that harassed eddie run away blooded and crying.
[m/n] turned the corner with blood on his knuckles.
he didn’t see anything wrong with it.
eddie is always flattered, but his heart is always over the moon because [m/n] continued to write him love letters and make him more mixtapes.
they would end up in eddie’s van laying together, listening to the music through his stereo as [m/n] read a loud all the new things he loved about eddie.
he loved eddie.
eddie loved him.
the tyrant and the freak.
More Posts from Ultimatelytired and Others
Masterlist
Hello and welcome to this Tumblr blog I created just to read on before I decided on posting shit. At first I wasn’t going to post something like this but thought “why the fuck not”. The way I do things is that I write what I want, whenever I want, however I want. You don’t decide when I do it or when I post it, you get what you get, there’s no in between, and if you don’t like that, then you can fuck right off. If you wanna read anything else that ain’t one shots or whatnot, which is the main reason I’m here, I have a Wattpad account where I post more stories. Check it out if you want, if not, that’s fine, you do you.
Relationship:
Romantic Platonic Familial Friend N/A
Published:
“Loyalty” pt. 1, pt.2 - MCYT (JSchlatt x Male!WolfReader) Familial “Phoenix” - MCYT (Emerald Duo x Female!Phoenix!Reader) Platonic “Visit” - MCYT (TommyInnit x Elder!BrotherReader) Familial “Soulmates” pt.1, pt.2 - IRL!MCYT (Dream Team x Male!Reader) Romantic “Savory” - IRL!MCYT (Quackity x Male!Reader) Romantic “Immortal” - MCYT (Emerald Duo x GN!Reader) Familial “Casino” - MCYT (Characters x OC’s) Romantic “Ocean” - MCYT (SBI x Brother!Orca!Reader) Familial
“Helper” pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3 - FNAF SB (Sun/Moondrop x Female!Reader) Romantic “Mechanical” - FNAF SB (N/A x Male!Reader) N/A “Support” - pt. 1, pt. 2 - FNAF SB (N/A x Female!Reader) N/A
“Tyrant” - Stranger Things (Eddie Munson x Male!Reader) Romantic ”Monster” - Stranger Things (Chrissy Cunningham x Male!Monster!Reader) Familial ”Obvious” - Stranger Things (Will Byers x Male!Reader) Romantic ”Siblings” pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3 - Stranger Things (Robin Buckley x Female!Harrington!Reader) Romantic “Rose” - Stranger Things (Robin Buckley x Female!Harrington!Reader) Romantic
“Contract” pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3 - Gravity Falls (Stanley Pines x Gender Fluid!OC) Platonic - Romantic
“Lullaby” pt. 1, pt. 2, pt.3- Poppy Playtime (Female!Reader/OC x N/A) Familial “Bells” - Poppy Playtime (Male!OC/ x N/A) N/A
I mainly write male readers if you haven’t already noticed, there’s a lack of male readers so I happened to write for them. Don’t like that, then you can keep on scrolling. This hurts my brain.
Obvious
word count: 7501
Fandom: Stranger Things Pairing: Will Byers x Male!Reader Pronouns: He/Him Relationship: Romantic Occupation: Student Ability: N/A
Keys:
[M/N]: Male Name [L/N]: Last Name [N/N]: Nickname [H/C]: Hair Color [E/C]: Eye Color
Warnings: bullying, vulgar language, blood
“Get him out! Get him out!”
“Strike him!”
“Shoot for a home run!”
“Get the win!”
Being the last batter for a really important baseball game puts a lot on your shoulders, especially when you’re the up and rising star of your team while representing your school. He takes a deep breath, tensing his muscles while tightening his grip on his baseball bat. Himself and the pitcher never broke eye contact, that pitcher was out for blood and he was going to make sure he didn’t give it to him. He licked his lips, taking a deep breath when he saw the pitcher finally get ready to throw the ball. He blocked out all the cheering as he focused on the ball hurdling towards him, when it was finally inches away from him he slammed his foot on the ground and let out a grunt, swinging the bat and upon contact with the ball, he managed to send it flying out of the field. He didn’t fight down the huge grin that stretched across his face when he sent that ball flying, letting out his own cheer as he threw down his bat and ran to each base.
“And there you have it folks, Lenora Hills High have won against their rivalling team for the first time in nearly a decade! And all thanks to their new rising star, [M/N] [L/N] who granted them their winning home run!” by the time he returned back to home base, he was greeted by his team and school huddling around him, grabbing a hold of him and lifting him up.
“That’s our [M/N]!”
“Way to go!”
“You did it, [M/N]!” he just laughed as they threw him up and down before finally letting him down, grabbing their jug of water and pouring it on him. He usually would have yelled at them for doing that but it felt refreshing on his hot and sweaty body, he took his helmet off and threw his head back, running a hand through his sweaty hair but grinned nonetheless and threw his fist into the air. After the game he was met with bustling students and parents congratulating him for getting the winning shot, he smiled and thanked them and was approaching his pick up truck but was stopped by a familiar face.
“H-Hey, [M/N]!” turning to see who it was, he couldn’t help but smile at the sight of one of the Byers siblings “Congrats on the win.” his smile grew at his words, he readjusted the shoulder strap of his duffel bag and approached him.
“Thanks, Will. Did you see my swing? I’ve been putting a lot of effort into my swings as of lately.” the Indiana boy nodded his head, his face lighting up as he waved his hands around.
“Yeah, I was watching from the crowd! It was pretty tense, but I knew you’d get it.” [M/N] chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully “Um, now that you’re here, I was wondering if you wanted to come to the after party with my lot.” Will tensed up when he saw [M/N] point over to the boys who were jumping into his truck while hooting and hollering.
“Come on dude! Lets get going!” he laughed and waved at them to wait.
“Gimme a sec, alright.” they groan but do, [M/N] then glanced at Will again and give him a hopeful look “So? Will you come?” he inhaled sharply, raising his hand to rub his arm.
“I-I’d love too, but I—”
“Will! We gotta go man, come on!” they both glance over and saw the eldest Byers, Johnathan, waving his brother over while his sister Jane and their friend Argyle sat in the van “Mum wants us home, like, right now.” Will closed his eyes in disappointment as he turned back to look at [M/N], who looked just as disappointed but he chuckled softly.
“Ah, that’s a bit of a shame, but it can’t be helped.” he murmured softly “I guess I’ll see you at school next week?” he asked, Will nodded his head.
“Y-Yeah, totally.” [M/N] smiled and sent the brunette a wink, causing him to fluster. [M/N] found the reaction adorable but latter groaned when he heard his friends shouting at him to hurry up, he waved Will goodbye then finally went back to his truck, chucking his shit at his passenger “See you later, [M/N]!” he exclaimed, this caused the [H/C] boy to grin and wave him goodbye before he turned on his radio and drove off with his friends and himself screaming to the top of their lungs to the music.
“Will.” he jumped at the call of his name, turning around, he saw Johnathan giving him a look “You good?” he nervously nodded his head.
“Y-Yeah, I’m spectacular.” Johnathan nods his head slowly.
“Yeah…”
Will couldn’t explain when his attraction towards [M/N] [L/N] first arose. Maybe it was because he was different in comparison to the other students of Lenora Hills High School. He was apart of the popular crowd, and how could he not be? He was gorgeous, athletic, smart and did I mention nice? It happened when Angela was bullying Eleven, there wasn’t much he could do to stop it because he didn’t have that kind of presence to do anything about it, but that was when [M/N] appeared. He didn’t hesitate to put Angela in her place, giving her a clean smack across the back of her head and sternly telling her not to bully poor little Eleven. Without a doubt, despite the both of them being sophomores, they were already declared to be the next King and Queen of the school.
Anyways, [M/N] just had Will swooning. He always stuck up for him and Eleven, he was always so nice to them and the way he would always send a smile his direction, how could he not fall deeper? But the moment he asked if they could be friends, gosh, he was over the moon. He wished things could’ve worked out with Mike, he wished he had to courage to tell Mike his feelings, but he knew they wouldn’t be reciprocated, Mike already had El and he knew he had to move on. Now his eyes were on the boy that every girl had a crush on, god, he was fucking doomed. He was cursed for crushing on the wrong people, Mike was taken and [M/N] was wanted by everyone. Maybe he was making a mistake for falling in love with the most popular guy in school, maybe he was better off digging himself a hole and burying himself—
“Will!” he jumped, slamming his locker door closed then turning to see [M/N] waving his friends off then jog over to where he was “Hey man, how was your weekend?” Will waved his hand.
“Oh, you know, same old, same old. I wouldn’t say anything exciting happened, but, you know?” he laughed nervously, this caused [M/N] to chuckle softly while running a hand through his hair.
“I get it, it’s still a shame you couldn’t come to the after party, would have loved it if you were there.” ah, there he goes again saying stuff that makes his heart flutter “We couldn’t do anything too chaotic, but we had fun nonetheless. Maybe I should win our next game, then maybe you’ll be able to attend the after party with me.” Will snorts softly, punching his arm.
“Don’t go getting arrogant, [M/N], that’ll cost you the win.”
“Haa, you’re right.” he then leaned back a little so that he was standing on the heels of his feet, a slight flush rising to his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his neck once more “Actually, I was wondering if you were busy this weekend? I was hoping we could, um, hangout?” how badly Will wanted to say yes, this was a chance for him to get closer to [M/N] that wasn’t simply over help with schoolwork and actually hanging out with his crush, but he couldn’t.
“I’m sorry, [M/N], but I can’t.” this caused him to deflate.
“Well, why not?” he gave him a sheepish grin, now rubbing the back of his own neck.
“My friend, from Indiana, he’s coming here to visit my sister and I.” [M/N]’s shoulders relaxed a little, looking up in thought to remember the friend Will was referring to.
“Oh… right, Mike Wheeler, right? I remember you mentioning him in w passing conversation.” he then lets out a huff, kicking his feet like child “Then I guess it’s alright, wouldn’t want your friend feeling lonely while in a completely different state.”
“Right.” [M/N] then let out a grunt when someone elbowing him, he gave them a soft glare when he saw that it was his friends coming to collect him.
“Come on, dude. We’ve got math first, and that’s on the other side of the building. I don’t want to be late because you were too business talking to Byers, let’s go.” he scoffs and kicks them in the back of their leg, this caused them to stumble forward but they managed to catch themself and laugh as they scurried away, he shook his head.
“Well, duty calls. I’ll see you later?” Will nods.
“Yeah, see you later.” [M/N] nods with a grin then runs off to catch up with his friends, when he was finally alone, he let out a deep sigh as he collapsed onto his locker and probably would have slid down it if there weren’t people around him. He silently cursed in the back of his head, if only Mike was coming a week later then maybe he could have the chance to be with [M/N] “Dammit.” [M/N] himself curses under his breath, walking beside his friends to their class.
“Do you think I’m being pushy? Every time I’ve tried to ask him to hang out, he’s always got an excuse.” his friend let out a groan, slapping a hand onto their face and dragging it down.
“Dude, you’re overthinking it. You said his friend is visiting from Hawkins, right? That run down little town out in the middle of the sticks? A friend that he hasn’t seen for about a year?” he nods his head “Then let the guy see him, man. You’re acting like a boyfriend who’s upset that his girlfriend is meeting a childhood friend, who is a boy, after a long time and worried that he’s going to steal your girlfriend.” he immediately grows flustered, the tips of his ears turning red as he smacked his arm.
“I am not.” he sneers, this earned an eye roll.
“Are too, mister drama queen.” [M/N] sighed and continued to walk to math class, rubbing his face when the blush on his face continued to color his cheeks.
The moment [M/N] saw Will Byers, gosh, to him it was like love at first sight. He knew that it was wrong for a boy himself to fall in love with another boy, but his heart would not beat for another. It was during the beginning of their sophomore year and he saw Angela picking on the quiet but sweet girl of Hawkins who had recently moved to Lenora Hills, he quickly disciplined Angela and comforted the new girl, but then his gaze went to the brunette that was her brother. Will Byers, a soul just as sweet and had him melting. He was always on the back of his mind that he couldn’t just ignore anymore, so he asked if they could be friends, he was internally screaming when he said yes. He took every chance he could to be with him, whether that be lying that he needed help with his schoolwork that he had to come over to his house so they could study, he was basically a regular in the Byers household. He was odd and it certainly was creepy, but he just wanted to be as close to Will as he could.
Before he knew it it was already lunch and he was being dragged out of class by his friends, he laughed as they threw him onto his feet and he bounced a little before finding his footing. Being apart of the popular crowd, [M/N] was greeted by many students and he politely greeted them back, not being a fan of being rude to people. Because of this [M/N] was generally liked by both students and teachers, and so here he was sitting at a table with various people fighting to sit with him, but of course his friends always got dibs to sit at his table. He was in the midst of eating his food but his eyes continuously scanned the cafeteria, one of his friends noticed so they let out a sigh and smacked him in the back of the head, this caused him to spit out some of his food and let out a yelp from the pain.
“Dude, what the fuck?” another friend that sat across from him gave him a incredulous expression.
“Yeah dude, what the fuck? He spat his food on me!” he groaned, face scrunching up in disgust at the bits of food on his jacket, causing a few of them to snicker, the one that smacked him rolled his eyes.
“You’re so obvious.” [M/N] cleared his throat, looking at him in confusion.
“What are you talking about?” he scoffed softly, [M/N] raised a brow when he passed him a note, he eyed it before sitting up straight and taking it from his hand. His friend side eyed him and sighed softly when he saw that scared reaction, [M/N] was trembling as a look of panic could be seen in his eyes.
’I know you’ve got a thing for that Byers guy.’
”W-What…?” he could tell that [M/N] was trying not to break down and make a scene so he reached over and grabbed the note, crumbling it up and tucking it into his pocket, this made him look up at him with the same scared expression.
“You’re so obvious.” he repeats “If you thought I, your best friend since we were toddlers, wouldn’t notice, I’d have to kick your ass.” [M/N] glanced around at the others, who surprisingly didn’t notice what was happening between the two of them, and gave him a cautious look.
“You’re not… grossed out?” this caused him to roll his eyes.
“No. I’m more upset over the fact that you thought I wouldn’t accept you, you’re my bro, and I care more about being your best friend than your goddamn preference.” [M/N] would probably start crying if he wasn’t in the middle of the cafeteria, he wipes his eyes with his forearm whilst his friend gently rubbed his back.
“You’re a true bro.” he chuckled.
“I know, and don’t you forget it.” his eyes then lingered up and his lips curved into a smirk at who he saw, so he grabbed [M/N] by the back of his neck and pulled him up “And look who just came walking in~” he cooed, snickering softly when he saw that lovesick gaze [M/N] always had on his face when Will Byers came into view.
“Do you think he’ll sit with us?” he questioned.
“Doubt it.” [M/N] slumps on disappointment “You know he always sits with his sister, doesn’t want her being alone. And if you try and invite her over in hopes of getting him to join us, she’ll be uncomfortable because I’m pretty sure half of the people here have taken part in tormenting her.” he slumps even more.
“You’re right.”
“I know I’m right, I’m always right.”
“You are.” he grumbles under his breath, he then briefly glanced at Will again and lights up when their eyes meet. He happily waved his hand to greet him with a big smile, his smile only growing brighter when Will mirrored his expression and returned the gesture before turning to sit with his sister, [M/N] then sat back down in his seat with a look of content but it dropped when he could feel his friends gaze on him “Stop looking at me like that.”
“You’re gay.” he whispered quietly, he laughed sarcastically before throwing macaroni in his face, causing the others to laugh.
“Thanks for pointing out the obvious, genius.” he winked.
[time skip: roller shaking rink]
If Will wasn’t already having a pretty awful day, it just got worse. He thought he’d be happy to see Mike when he got to California, he thought they’d get to talk like they used to when they were kids still living in Hawkins, but he’s been too busy oogling Eleven to even hold a conversation with him. What makes matters worse is that she’s been lying to him ever since they’ve got there, saying things about being friends with the same people who has been bullying her and going to that roller skating rink to the point she forgot an important detail. It sucked being the third wheel, watching as Mike and El held hands as they skated around while he lingered in the back and watched in dismay as they looked happy while he was forgotten.
’Maybe I was better off taking up [M/N]’s offer to hang out then being stuck being the third wheel.’ he thought to himself, just the thought of the [H/C] boy made him smile but he frowned when he knew that it was already too late and since he was already here he was just going to have to suck it up until six when Jonathan and Argyle came back to pick them up ’At this point I don’t even know why I’m here.’ he grumbled, pinching the bridge of his noise as Mike and El blubbered on about something, not that he was listening, but he was completely unaware of that fact he was being stared at.
“No fucking way…” a voice muttered, he hears a slurp but didn’t pay it any mind as the owner of the obnoxious slurping came to a rolling stop beside him.
“What’s the matter?” ‘twas [M/N] holding two large cups of soda in his hands, he sniffled as he took another huge gulp from his drink while his friend tore his gaze away from the bored Byers to stare up at his friend “Did you see someone, dude?” he rolled his eyes, grabbing [M/N] by the jaw and turning his head in the direction he was staring in.
“Yeah, the guy that rejected you.” he furrowed his brows at that and tried searching to see who he could be talking about before freezing up when he saw Will, he probably would have crushed the drinks in his hands if his friend let him go “His sister is here too, along with some guy with god awful taste in fashion.” at this, they both cringed at what the guy was wearing.
“It must be that Mike Wheeler kid he talks about.” his friend glanced up at him once more, noticing the way he was fidgeting as he stared at Will.
“You gonna go over there and say hello, or are you gonna stay here gawking like a fish?” [M/N] swallowed thickly, his grip on both drinks growing tighter before he let out a sigh and relaxed.
“Nah, he’s with his friend. I think I’d be intruding if I just suddenly went over there. Let’s go, the others are waiting for us.” his friend nodded and was going to leave it at that, they both turned away and planned on skating away but he stopped when he saw that familiar looking blonde making her way over to where the Byers siblings and their friend were.
“Wait.” [M/N] does and looks over at him in confusion “We’ve got trouble.” he hums then glanced back over to see what he was talking about before visibly getting angry at the sight of Angela approaching the three with her goonies following closely behind her.
“Get the boys, I’ll deal with her.” he snarled out and proceeded to skate over to the table.
“[M/N], what are you— you better not hit her!” this caused him to laugh.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” [M/N] wouldn’t publicly punch Angela in the face, without any context he just looks like an asshole, but he’s got a plan to humiliate her without looking like a douchebag… well, he’ll look like a douchebag if it was an accidental regardless. He popped off the cup covers and sped up a little, this was going to hurt a bit, the moment he was close enough he purposefully tripped up, causing the drinks in his hands to spill all over the poor unexpecting soul.
“Oh my god!” she screamed out, feeling the soda drench her completely “What the hell is wrong with you?!” she exclaimed, everyone in attendance to witness what happened were in shock, [M/N] stifled a chuckle as he pulled himself onto his feet while Angela’s friends comforted her.
“Oh man, I am just so sorry, I’m still quite new when it comes to skating.” Jane felt a sense of comfort when she saw [M/N], smiling softly when she felt him place his hand on top of her head and ruffle it around while giving Angela a smug grin when she turned and glared at him “Accidents happen, you know?” his grin grew bigger when she grew agitated while a few of her friends took a step forward.
“Man, you’re such a clutz, [M/N]! Why can’t you be good at skating like you are with baseball!” he let out a soft grunt when his friend appeared behind him, slapping a hand on his back with a laugh, Angela and her friends backed down when [M/N]’s friend group appeared and gave him threatening smiles “Forgive him, he’s still learning.” Angela growled, hand closing into a tight fist before glaring at the both of them.
“This isn’t over.” with that she skated away, [M/N] let out a breath before smacking his friend in the arm.
“Still learning? Dude! Nice one, didn’t you face plant not too long ago?” this caused him to make a face.
“Now let’s not get arrogant here.” [M/N] rolled his eyes, he then looked at the residents of the table and grinned, waving his hand to greet them.
“Hey Jane, hi Will!” he said happily, the Byers siblings returned the greeting with a happy wave of their own, he then glanced over at the ravenette and gave him a confused expression “And hello… Mike, was it?” he gave an awkward wave of his own, Jane stood to her feet and grabbed his hands while gesturing with her other to Mike.
“Yes, this is Mike! He is my boyfriend.” this caused a few of them to be surprised, a few of his friends whistled.
“Wow, little miss pretty has herself a boyfriend? Never would have guessed.” this earned him a smack behind the head.
“Stop it.” Jane giggled softly, always appreciating it when [M/N] reprimanded his friends from making offhanded comments “Will told me how he was coming down from Indiana, you two must be really happy that he’s here after not seeing him in a long time.” Jane nodded her head, [M/N] glanced at Will and noticed he didn’t look as enthusiastic as his sister.
“Yeah, totally.” [M/N] and his friends noticed Will’s less than thrilled response and glanced at each other, his friends spare each other a glance and nod in unison before one of them wrap an arm around [M/N]’s shoulder and pull him in, causing him to look at them in confusion.
“Well, why don’t we leave the lovebirds alone to catch up?” he suggested then glanced at Will, who flinched when all eyes were on him “Hey Byers, why don’t you join us? Don’t want you being stuck as the third wheel!” Will looked a little hesitant but he didn’t even get a choice when they grabbed him out of the booth and started pushing him away, he couldn’t even stop them even if he could because of the skates.
“Have fun you two!” they exclaimed, [M/N] was confused at to what they were doing and was going to question them but froze up when they pushed both him and Will together and into the skating ring. He glared back at them with a bright red face but it dropped when he saw all of them giving him encouraging looks followed with thumbs up, one of them grinned as they leaned against the barrier and continued to watch [M/N] panic as he held Will from evidently falling over.
“He’s gay, right?” one of them questioned, another nodded.
“Oh, totally! Without a doubt.” they each share a laugh and place bets to see if anything will happen before the day was over, now back to the two, [M/N] was apologising profusely for putting Will on the spot like they did while untangling himself off of the poor boy.
“I’m so sorry, Will! I don’t know what’s wrong with them.” a soft blush settled on his cheeks when Will looked up at him with that oh so cute smile on his face.
“Oh, don’t worry about it. I get where they were coming from, and it did suck a little being the third wheel back there.” [M/N] gasped softly, bringing a hand up to hover over his mouth.
“No.” Will chuckled at the reaction, nodding his head.
“Yeah, while those two were glued together, I just hung in the background.” [M/N] hummed softly before lightly shoving him with his shoulder and skating ahead of them, Will let out a whoa and quickly caught himself before he fell over then glanced over at [M/N] and saw he had a big grin on his face.
“Well, now you have me! Lets have some fucking fun, Byers!” he cheered, holding his hand out for Will to take. He looked hesitant once more but the way [M/N] had an eager look on his face, his eyes practically begging him to take his hand, how could he possibly refuse. He lets out a laugh and took [M/N]’s hand, laughing even louder when he was pulled towards him and together the two of them spun around before skating a few rounds around the ring then leaving and going over to the arcade. Will watched as [M/N] went over to the game where you had to knock clowns over to rack up points, he grabbed the baseball and tossed it up a few times “I may not be as good as our pitcher, but I’d like to think I’m second best.” he comments, this caused Will to jokingly roll his eyes.
“Your arrogance is showing.” he flushed up when [M/N] winked at him.
“Only for you.” at the end of the game he won a lot of tickets, throwing his fist up with a victorious grin. [M/N] continued to win the games, a few times playing some with Will until they were holding too many tickets that it was ridiculous. They both glance at each other before bursting out into laughter and going over to the ticket stand and trading the tickets for prizes, though in the end they couldn’t think of what to get and gave their winnings to the kid behind them and went over to get some food “You know? I didn’t think I was going to see you today, but I’m glad that I did.” he said, grabbing a few fries and throwing them into his mouth.
“I agree, you made my day a little bit better.” [M/N] grinned at that, as the two of them continued to talk he glanced behind Will and his face scrunched up when he saw his friends from afar making those same encouraging looks along with kissy faces, he wanted to kick their asses. He panicked when Will noticed that [M/N] was staring at something so he turned around to see what it was but his friends luckily ducked down before they could notice, when Will turned to look back at [M/N] he just got an innocent smile on his face “Well, um, I’m really glad I got to spend some time with you.”
“Same! At least you weren’t stuck in between your sister and your friend.” Will had a bittersweet expression on his face.
“I know he just got here and that El— I mean, Jane, is his girlfriend… but I’m his best friend. I wish he talked to me just a little bit longer instead of ignoring me, it really hurt.” [M/N] gave him a sympathetic smile.
“I’m sure things will get better, like you said, he’s your best friend! I’m sure things will get better before you know it.” he reassured, this caused Will to smile.
“Thanks, I really appreciate it.” he nods.
“Anytime.” they stare at each other for a little longer then jump when a hand suddenly slammed down on their table, they then glance up at the owner and [M/N] couldn’t help but grimace a little when he saw that it was none other than Mike Wheeler.
“There you are, Will! I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” he then gestured with his hand for him to stand up “I need to talk to you about something, so can we go?” Will pulled a face and looked at [M/N], he looked just as saddened but gestured for him to go.
“Don’t leave the guy waiting! I’ll be right here if you come back.” Will smiled before leaving, the moment Will was out of sight he let out a breath he was holding in and slumped into the seat, not even moments later his friends arrived and took over the booth.
“Well that was a disaster.” one of them said, a few of the other eating the food that was forgotten “You should have seen the way that Indiana guy was staring at you, dude. We were watching for a long time and that guy was giving you a dirty look.” another then dramatically held a hand to his forehead and fell back, one having to catch him before falling onto the ground.
“He must’ve been jealous that he was replaced and couldn’t stand the thought of his friend talking to a much better looking, well dressed, and friendly guy that isn’t him.” [M/N] rolled his eyes, grabbing his drink and taking a long slurp from it “We’re being serious, [M/N]. That guy definitely didn’t like the fact that you were with Byers, man.”
“You should shoot your shot.” this caused [M/N] to glare at the one friend he knew that knew about his sexuality, before he could say anything, he raised his hands and gestured to the lot of them.
“Dude, like I said, you’re so obvious.” he glanced at the others and saw they were all nodding their heads “Why do you think we were encouraging you that whole time, dumbass?” they all laugh when his head fell and thumped against the table.
“We’re your ultimate wingmen, trust us.” their heads shoot up when they all hear shouting, they look over and saw a crowd forming so they scramble to their feet and rush over, and there they saw Angela’s face bleeding due to the fact that Jane had hit her with a skate “Holy shit!”
“You go Byers!” [M/N] shakes his head.
“Now’s not the time.” “Sorry.” he shakes his head, he then glanced over at the siblings and saw they both had a panicked look on their faces before rushing away “Well that was anticlimactic, I didn’t expect her to do that.”
“Well what can you do? After all that torment that bitch has put her through, I was wondering how long it was going to take until she finally snapped.” he then claps his hands “Good for her, the wrong way of standing up for herself, but good for her.”
“Stop it.” [time skip: later at night]
Today was just a fucking disaster. Will collapsed onto his bed and let out an exhausted sigh, if he thought the day couldn’t get any worse, he should probably shut the fuck up at that point. All was going swell when he was with [M/N], he had fun and it felt nice to be included, even more so being so close to the guy that made his stomach do flips. Mike had to ruin the moment but let it slide when he realised that Angela came back for revenge and evidently humiliated El before running off, Mike only coming to find him to help him find El. What made matters worse was when El slammed the roller skate into Angela’s face and it started bleeding profusely, god, he needed a break. He pressed the soles of his hands into his eyes and twisted slightly, dragging his hands down his face then throwing his arms open.
“What a disaster.” he closed his eyes and let his body relax into the bed, growing slightly irritated when he heard a subtle tapping, he lifts himself and glared over at the window. It stopped when he looked over at it so he let his body fall back onto the bed but not even a second passes when the tapping returns so he jumps off his bed and marches over to his window, ready to punch it but froze up when he saw that it was [M/N], who lit up upon sight.
“Will!” his voice was muffled through the glass but he definitely heard it as the boy waved his hand “Hi.” he shook his head with a laugh and opened the window.
“What are you doing here? It’s late.” he holds his hand up in a gesture for him to wait so he does with a slight giggle, watching as he ducked down to get something before shooting up with something in his hand. Will looked at in confusion then let out a sputter of words when [M/N] pushed it into his hands, he chuckled when he saw the excited look on his face “What is this?”
“It’s a gift. It’s for you.” Will furrowed his brows in confusion, a gift? He was going to question him again but [M/N] gestured for him to open it “Go on, open it!” [M/N] reminded him of a child on Christmas Day, so he just shrugged his shoulders and opened the nicely wrapped gift. He raised his brow in confusion at the sight of a box that was close shut by two latches, he looked at [M/N] and saw the eagerness in his eyes as he nodded at him for him to open it, so he did with a shrug. His eyes widened in shock at what he saw was inside, he couldn’t believe it as he lowered the lid to look at [M/N].
“I-Is this…?” he smiled and sheepishly shrugged.
“An oil color box set? Yeah, it took awhile to find this specific one, and it was really expensive as well, but what’s a few weeks allowance can’t do?” Will was at a loss for words, stuttering out a few that he managed to say as tears threatened to spill from his eyes “I remembered you saying that you were looking for one so you could paint while you were out, so I thought I would get you one and save you the trouble.” Will sniffled, raising a hand to rub at his eyes.
“But why? Why did you get this for me?” [M/N] looked at him in confusion, scoffing softly but realised that Will was serious,.
“Dude, Will… it’s your birthday.” Will couldn’t help but gasp softly at that, he completely forgot that it was his birthday, but that also meant that everyone else forgot about his birthday. He got a little bitter at that but what made it better was the fact that [M/N] remembered. A guy that he met in California, a guy that he told the date of his birth once and he remembered, a guy that was so popular that he was sure would forget, but he didn’t. He remembered and he even got him a gift. He then remembered to the start of that week that he tried inviting Will out to hangout, was he inviting him out for his birthday? “I don’t know what’s going on in your life right now, Will, but I hope you know I’m here for you. Happy birthday, Will.” he couldn’t remember what happened, what was going on in his mind for him to react the way he did, but he pushed the gift to the side and grabbed [M/N] by the collar of his shirt and yank him up. [M/N] let out a whoa, hands planting down on the windowsill to stabilise himself then let out a muffled gasp when Will pulled him into a kiss. He stared down at their connected lips in shock then his gaze fell upon Will’s eyes when he pulled away, a look of disbelief as they stared at each other.
…
… “Oh my god, what have I done?” Will muttered, still holding [M/N] by the collar of his shirt as he looked away, not noticing the lovesick smile that grace his lips as he let him go, letting the boy slump against the windowsill. All sorts of thoughts were circulating through his mind, thinking that he possibly ruined the best friendship he had in California forever and that he was going to lose a friend that meant the world to him and also the love of his life. He hadn’t even noticed [M/N] pull himself up until he was yanked forward, [M/N] having reach forward to grab Will by his cheeks and pull him into another kiss, this time, he was making sure Will felt that the kiss he gave him wasn’t one sided. When they finally pulled away, they stared into each other’s eyes before laughing.
“Will?” said boy let out a gasp and shoved [M/N] back and slammed his window shut, grimacing when he heard a loud thud followed by an oof and grunt but he ignored it as his mother opened the door to his room “Are you okay in here? I heard you pacing.” he gave his mother a reassuring smile, waving his hands to dismiss her.
“Yeah, I’m fine! Don’t worry about it, mum.” she gave Will a soft smile, blowing him a kiss before closing the door when she left. He waited until he couldn’t hear her footsteps anymore before turning around and throwing his window open and peeking out, he giggled to himself when he saw [M/N] wearing the biggest grin on his face as he covered his eyes with his hands “Are you okay?” [M/N] pushed himself up by his hands and gave Will a dopey grin.
“Am I okay? I’m fan-fucking-tastic!” he covered his mouth when Will shushed him for being loud, he quickly stood to his feet and returned to where Will was resting his folding arms on the windowsill and smiled “I can finally tell you that I’m in love with you. Your response?” Will laughs, pressing a hand to his cheek.
“I love you too.” they’re both smiling to the point it hurts, Will throws his arms around [M/N]’s neck and pulls him up into a hug, to which the latter reaches up and wraps an arm around his head as his other arm held the windowsill. When they pull away, [M/N] and Will stare into each other’s eyes once more and share a short and tender kiss, [M/N] winks and Will giggles. “I’ll see you at school next week?” Will bites his lip, glancing back towards his door then back at [M/N].
“Do you want to stop by tomorrow? I’d love to spend some time with you.” he whispered the last part to himself but it didn’t fall to deaf ears because this earned him another peck on the lips, he looked at [M/N] and saw him grinning as he nodded his head.
“Yeah, I’ll totally stop by tomorrow!” he cheered “I’ll see you tomorrow!” he takes a step back but accidentally trips and falls back, Will leaned forward to see if he was okay but giggled instead when [M/N] shot back up but had a few leaves and twigs in his hair, but he didn’t mind it and waved his hand goodbye,
“Goodnight, [M/N].”
“Goodnight, Will.” he blows him a kiss followed by a wink, to which Will blushed but didn’t hesitate to catch the kiss. The moment Will pulled himself back into his room and close the window [M/N] let out a cheer as he threw his fists in the air, running back to his truck with an extra skip in his step “He said he loved me!” he shouts, he then heard cheering from his truck and saw his friends cheering for his accomplishment.
“Nice one, [M/N]!”
“Another win for you!”
Headcanons:
[m/n] is so in love with will that his friends have to tape his mouth shut if they don’t want to hear him talking about will this, or will that. it gets annoying.
the guys love will, don’t get me wrong, they just hate [m/n] for making the conversation all about his boyfriend. he’s in a relationship, they get it. no need to shove it down their throats with every chance he gets.
[m/n] told will that his friends know that they’re dating.
he was a little on edge to know that will wasn’t, well, straight.
[m/n] reassured him that they were cool, I mean, it was because of them they basically got to have a date back at the roller skating ring.
it made will feel happy to be accepted by a large number a guys.
it makes him even more happy that they’re happy [m/n]’s happy with someone that makes him feel the way he does. they tell will they’ve got his back if he ever needs it.
[m/n] more than once has will wearing his lettermen jacket, regardless of what people say.
will refused to wear it the first few times [m/n] asked him to wear it but was forced to wear it when [m/n] threw it at his face and ran away before will could give it back.
now [m/n] doesn’t get it back unless there’s a game.
totally worth it.
will totally shows up to [m/n] and his teams practices and their games. they all appreciate his attendance and whenever he’s there, they’re all at that a-game.
when [m/n] sees will in the crowd, especially if he’s wearing his jacket, it’s already over for the rivalling team.
he’s all the motivation they need.
will is totally their number one supporter.
jane noticed will has been happier as well, and without asking she already knew it had something to do with [m/n].
she saw the way will would look at [m/n]. he had that look in his eyes that sparkled whenever the boy was in the same room they were in or if he was brought up in a conversation.
she might have accidentally caught the a few times together when will would sneak him in through the window so they could relax together or will would be sneaking out or back in from wherever [m/n] took him.
they had a sibling agreement to never bring this up.
joyce and jonathan had also noticed that will had being going out more and more.
they’d question him where he was going but fall short when they saw that oh so familiar lettermen jacket along with the sound of a honk.
peering out the window, there they saw their will rushing over to [m/n]’s pickup truck so the two of them can go out on a date. of course they don’t know that, but they’re happy will’s going out more.
will totally has [m/n] model for him when painting.
[m/n] blushed when will called him his muse, muttering the word under his breath more than once.
will always shows him what he’s working on and though [m/n] doesn’t have the best knowledge when it comes to art, he always shares his thoughts with will about what he likes about it.
will appreciated it.
together, the two of them are just so in love.
[m/n] doesn’t waste a second to show how committed he is to this relationship, always showering will in all the love his soul could pour out until he knew that will knew the extent he was willing to go to just to get a point across.
will also wanted to show [m/n] that what he felt for him couldn’t easily be replaced, that the only thing on his mind whenever they were together were the endless thoughts of how deeply in love he was with [m/n].
the two of them made it obvious that they were meant to be.
Siblings pt. 2
word count: 28,395
Fandom: Stranger Things Pairing: Robin Buckley + Steve Harrington x Female!Harrington!Reader Pronouns: She/Her Relationship: Romantic/Familial Occupation: University Student Ability: N/A
Keys:
[F/N]: Female Name [L/N]: Last Name [N/N]: Nickname [H/C]: Hair Color [E/C]: Eye Color
Warnings: flayed reader, angst, violence, blood, vulgar language, murder, character death
“Siblings” pt.1, pt.3
@eddiemunsonsmiddlefingers has a map of hawkins and I’m constantly using that to reference where shit is. it’s awfully helpful.
I wasn’t planning on making a part two to this story but I suddenly got an idea from a line I kept repeating in my head and thought “why the hell not” to the point I might make this a story.
so I was going to write the scene where el saw billy’s happiest memory but chose against it, since we all know what it is, I’m not going to bother and just write [f/n]’s.
might eventually make this a story on my wattpad account because I dove too deep into this.
I rushed the ending, it sucks but I needed to finish this to settle my mind.
that is all.
“You know? I’d probably find that downright hilarious if not for the fact that you’re dating my brother, Billy.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really. Plus, that bitch is weird. There’s actually a word in the dictionary for what she’s doing.”
“And what might that be?”
“Grooming.”
[F/N] and Billy were having one of their late night hangouts at the Hideout, sitting at the bar drinking alcohol, not really shit faced yet but they were slowly getting there. Billy was in the midst of telling [F/N] the reoccurring times Karen Wheeler, mother of Nancy and Mike Wheeler, has been opening flirting with Billy. She remembered the first time Billy had told her about this, of course she was weirded out about it but she laughed that this grown ass married woman was flirting with a guy that was about two decades younger than her, basically the same age as her eldest daughter! She would’ve laughed again when he flirted back with her, just to get her off his ass, but now he and her brother were in a relationship. The four of them would never make their relationship public, never. They’ve simply stuck to being friends on the outside, but when they’re alone, they do all things a couple would do. Sometimes when they’re on a double date, people would always mistake Billy and [F/N] as a couple as well as Steve and Robin, mostly because each duo were always seen together. They took advantage of that, so whenever either Billy or Robin came over to the Harrington household, there was never bad air lingering around. So sometimes it would fuck [F/N] off when middle aged women would flirt with a minor, knowing that he was in a committed relationship with her! The people of Hawkins were so fucked in the head.
“Doesn’t she make you uncomfortable, Billy?” she asked out of concern, reaching forward to place a hand on his knee and squeezing it lightly “I won’t bring this up with Steve, but you know in this town, word travels fast. Besides, I don’t want him getting worried and getting the wrong idea.” Billy softly nods his head.
“I know. That pretty boy would probably lose his shit on me first, then go after that Wheeler.” they both look up in thought, trying to imagine the thought of Steve going apeshit on Nancy’s mother, they were almost tempted to tell him just to see it happen to the point that burst out into laughter “He is your brother, so if he’s anything like you, he’ll probably beat the shit out of her!” she throws her head back with a laugh.
“Hah! As much as I agree with that, he respects women now. He’d probably ask me to drag her out by her hair, to which I will gladly do it!” they laugh again before grabbing their drinks and raising it up “To Steve potentially losing his shit on Wheeler’s mum!” they clink drinks before proceeding to down it, when they finish their drinks Billy raised his empty bottle to the bartender.
“Two more, please!” since the two of them drove to the Hideout, and the fact they had things to do early in the morning, they couldn’t get totally hammered so after a few drinks they later stuck to drinking water to sober themselves up then continued chatting or peacefully listening to the music that the Hideout had or the few indie bands that performed that night. After a couple hours of having fun they finally decided to drag themselves out and back to their cars, however, they were both leaning on each other to help each other walk whilst laughing and giggling to themselves. Billy’s laughter echoed throughout the car park as he watched [F/N] collapse to the ground and nearly face plant into the side of her front bumper but managed to catch herself before she gave herself a bleeding nose and possibly a concussion “Will you be alright, Harrington?” she waves her hand to brush him off.
“Please, you’re just as shit faced as I am.” they start laughing again before settling in their cars, [F/N] rolls down her window to let the wind blow through her car after starting her car before briefly pausing when Billy flashed his lights at her, she raised a brow at him then narrowed her eyes when she saw him smirk at her “The fuck are you looking at me like that Hargrove?” his smirk only widens when he revved the engine of his Camaro.
“How’s about a little race? I wanna give my pretty boy a little smooch before going home.” she scoffed, rolling her eyes.
“Gross, I don’t need to know that.” she hummed in thought before raising her finger “I’ll race yah after seeing Robin, alright? We’re passing her house, and I wanna see her if you’re gonna see my brother.” Billy shrugs his shoulder with a laugh, brushing his hair out of his face.
“Alright, might wanna tell your girlie that you’re gonna lose after I smoke your ass back to your place.” she scoffed.
“Whatever.” they both laugh and finally pull out of the parking lot. Robin was currently laying on her back, head bobbing softly as she listened to the music coming from her headphones playing through her cassette player. [F/N] graciously made her a mixtape of songs that they both liked, she smiled as she remembered that memory fondly. Because of the wealth the Harrington name held, [F/N] would always buy her expensive gifts after hearing the type of lifestyle she had grown up in. As lovely as each gift was, Robin asked her for something sentimental instead of jewellery like necklaces and earrings and rings (though she does appreciate them and wears them on special occasions), Steve told her that [F/N] had been hauled up in her room ever since then and when she came to pick her up, [F/N] presented her the mixtape. She’s probably listened to the entire playlist on repeats so many times that she can remembered ever song in order, but she just can’t help it, she was so in love.
*TAP*
*TAP*
“Hmm?” she hums out in confusion, just briefly hearing the sound of tapping when the song faded out. She pulled the headphones off her head and looked around in confusion, she got a little angry when she thought that it was her siblings fucking with her but stopped when the tapping was coming from her window. She pushed herself upright and a big smile appeared on her face when she saw [F/N], who was currently looking down and talking to someone before raising her head to look at Robin once more, wobbling back and forward “[F/N]?” she muttered softly in question before stumbling to her feet and rushing to the window, throwing it open to greet her girlfriend, only to wince at the stench of alcohol and cigarettes coming from her breath.
“Robin~” she cooed out with a shout, only to shush herself when Robin raised a finger to her lips while shaking her head so she in turn covered her mouth with her hands “Sorry, sorry, I just missed you.” Robin rolled her eyes.
“We saw each other a couple hours ago.” she giggled to herself when she saw a flash of confusion come across her face before she nodded her head.
“Oh, you’re right… but I wanted to see you again.” Robin shook her head once more with a soft smile, she then realised that there was quite a distance from the ground and her window so she leaned forward whilst looking down and had to slap a hand over her mouth to quiet herself when she saw that [F/N] perched herself on Billy’s shoulders, to which he was just as equally drunk and could barely stand straight “Oh yeah, and Billy is here as well.” he looks up and gives a grin, saluting Robin, to which she returns to gesture.
“Howdy.” “Hi?” she chuckles and looks back at [F/N], to which she was grinning ear to ear as she leaned forward, closing the small gap between them and pressing a small peck on her lips “What’s with the kiss, [F/N]? Not that I don’t like it.” the slightly drunk girl smiled at her, winking softly.
“Thought I’d drop by and give you a goodnight kiss, why? Don’t want any?” Robin scoffed before reaching forward, grabbing [F/N] by her cheeks and pulling her into a kiss. Robin couldn’t help but let out a groan when she could taste the alcohol and cigarettes against her tongue, she briefly pulled away but was only brought into another kiss when [F/N] grabbed her by the back of her neck to keep her still. By the time they separate [F/N] was grinning ear to ear, Robin flustered up a little when she saw the left over lipstick from her lips smudge across [F/N]’s neck “I’ll see you in the morning, sweets?” Robin giggled, wrapping a strand of her hair around her finger and twirling it around.
“Mm hmm.” Robin and [F/N] were giggling at each other before [F/N] started falling backwards, she let out a startled yelp and looked down at Billy and saw he lost his footing and couldn’t hold her up anymore and was starting to fall backwards, to which she tried to grab Robin’s windowsill to save herself but it slipped right under her grasp and the two of them fell to the ground with a loud thud. Robin gasped and stuck her head out of the window to see if they were alright, shaking her head slightly with a tired smile on her face when she saw the two of them slightly dazed and groaning.
“Nice one, Billy…” she murmured under her breath, grunting softly when he slapped her leg.
“You’re fat.”
“You’re weak.” he scoffs at her before proceeding throw her legs off of him, they then pull themselves to their feet and start retreating back to their cars, [F/N] sparing Robin one last glance followed by a kiss then finally scurried into her car. Robin sighed dreamily when [F/N] waved her goodbye as she and Billy drove off, she closed her eyes then pushed herself back into her room where she collapsed into her bed, smiling like a dork when all she could think of was how lucky she was to finally have someone that loves her. Speaking of which, [F/N] and Billy were gunning it down the streets, they were going to have to deal with the police and Hopper later but they didn’t give a shit as they sped down the empty streets of Hawkins, laughing wildly. They took a slight detour just so their moment of fun could last a little longer, that’s where they found themselves side by side, the both of them trying their best to get ahead of the other.
“We should’ve made a bet, Harrington!” he shouts at her, she scoffs and looks back at him.
“Oh, yeah? Then how about the first one back to my house has to buy us both gas for our cars for three weeks!” he smirks at that.
“Then I hope your wallet can handle the expenses of gas because you’re on!” he lets out a laugh as he shifts gears while putting more pressure on the gas, she grimaced when she saw him get a head of her and was creating some distance. She knew his Camaro was significantly faster in comparison to her Mustang, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have a few tricks up her sleeves to keep up with him. Billy looked into his rear view mirror and saw [F/N] hot on his tail, he licked his lips with a laugh as he turned his attention back to the road ahead of him, he had this in the ba— he lets out a shout when something flew into the windscreen. [F/N] let out a confused noise when she saw Billy swerving around but when she saw that she was still speeding towards him, evidently going to crash into him, she lets out a shout and slammed on the breaks and quickly swerved out of the way before she could hit Billy. She managed to get control of her car as it comes to a halt, she was breathing heavily at what happened before remembering about Billy.
“Oh my god, Billy!” she shouts, jumping out of her car and running over to see if he was alright “Billy! Shit!” she runs over to his car and winced at the state of it, she moves over to the drivers side and opened the door.
“Piece of shit…” she heard him groan out.
“Are you okay, Billy?” he sucked in a breath, pushing himself back into his seat then raised a hand to press against his forehead, wincing when his hand touched his bleeding forehead “Shit, you’re bleeding.” he scoffs at her.
“No shit.” she frowns at him, reaching forward to cup his face and make him look at her.
“God, I hope you don’t have a concussion.” he smacks her hands off of him then gestures for her to move, she does so but ultimately helps him out of the car.
“Just great, this is just fucking great.” he mutters to himself as he looks at the state of his Camaro, she in turn approached the front of his car and saw the cracked windscreen, she furrowed her brows in confusion and mild disgust when she saw some sort of slime on the windscreen where it was cracked. She reached forward and gently touched it, only to regret it as she shudder at the feeling, she wiped it off against her pants “Fuck, this is going to cost a fucking fortune to repair.” Billy threads his fingers through his hair, at the verge of yanking them out of his scalp but calmed down slightly when [F/N] placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t worry about it, Hargrove. I’ll help pay for it… with my parents money.” he scoffs, shoving her back softly to sit on the hood of his car.
“I don’t think they’ll appreciate the loss of money in their account.” she scoffs right back at him, sitting down beside him and offering him a cigarette, to which he graciously took and let her light it, enjoying the feeling of the nicotine filling his lungs then letting it all out.
“Please, I’ll be lucky if they notice a couple grand is missing.” the two of them start smoking away, she sniffles a little as she let the cigarette hang loosely by her lips “Perhaps this wasn’t a good idea on our part. We’re drunk, possibly high and extremely tired.” Billy rolls his eyes, taking the cigarette from his lips and held it in between his fingers.
“Yeah, but we’re both competitive and like to win.” she pursed her lips.
“True.” they fist bump each other “Anyways, what hit your car? A bird?” he shrugs his shoulders.
“Not sure, was going way too fast to get a glimpse of what it was.” she looked back at where they were previously then looked around at their surroundings, she suddenly felt a chill run down her back as the abandoned steel works factory loomed over them, she swallows thickly then turned back to Billy and gestured to her car.
“How’s about we get the fuck out of here? This place is giving me the heebie jeebies. I’ll be even more generous as to let you stay at our place while someone looks over your car, I personally know a good mechanic that can get your baby whipped back up into shape in no time.” he looked liked he was considering that option, he then winces when she cupped his face once more and looked at his bleeding forehead “But after we take care of this, I don’t want Stevie getting worried about this.” he nods his head.
“Agreed… we’re not telling him about this, right?”
“Are you crazy? Fuck no.” they both stand up but whipped their heads in the direction they heard something shuffle.
“Who’s there?!” Billy shouts, neither get a reply “I said who’s there?!” [F/N] shook her head, noticing that Billy was getting paranoid. Before she could say anything Billy’s feet were suddenly swept out from under him, he all but dropped to the ground before he was being dragged away. He desperately clawed at the ground to stop himself but there just wasn’t anything to cling onto, this continued as he was dragged through the factory and as he was going to be pulled down into the lower level of the factory he managed to grab a hold of the railing of the stairs. He clung onto it desperately, panic coursing throughout his body when he could feel his grip slowly slipping and when it did he expected to be dragged down the staircase but [F/N] caught him.
“I… got you!” she strains out, her grip on him deathly tight as she tried to pull him back but her feet where being dragged forward. She tries to dig the heels of her feet into the ground to keep herself from moving any further, their sweaty hands weren’t helping their predicament because she did lose her hold on his left hand but she quickly grabbed the railing. All this was for naught when something slithered around her ankle and yanked her, she fell to the ground with a thud with Billy on top of her before they were both dragged down the stairs into basement. The moment the two of them came face to face with this weird goopy looking thing they couldn’t help but scream at the top of their lungs as it roared at them, holding each other right as it loomed over them. The next few moments were silent, just the sound of chains swaying in the soft wind followed by quiet rumbling, this moment was interrupted when both Billy and [F/N] managed to pull themselves out of the basement. [F/N] starts pushing Billy and herself away but they both stumble to the ground, pushing themselves back as they spare a glance back at the entrance to the basement and shudder when they hear a roar come from that thing. Billy pulls himself onto his feet first and grabs [F/N] by the back of her jacket to yank her to her feet, she’s holding onto his arm as they’re scrambling out of the factory and rushing to their respective cars. They don’t waste a second to drive the fuck out of there, Billy driving ahead of [F/N] but he pulls to the side when he saw a phone booth, neither of them turn their cars off as they jump out but Billy makes it into the phone booth to make the call while [F/N] stood outside, breathing heavily as she kept looking back towards the direction they came from.
”911, what’s your emergency?” Billy goes to speak but the words got caught in his throat, I mean, how could it not? What the fuck was he supposed to say? Hey, my friend and I got in a car accident because we were drunk then we found this weird fucking monster, send help right away please! The two of them started to panic when the light in the phone booth started flickering as their surroundings changed ”Is someone there? Hello—” the voice cut off when the light completely turned off, Billy hangs up the phone as he walks out of the phone booth. He hears a noise and starts walking towards it, flinching slightly when he felt something so he glanced down and saw [F/N] just as equally terrified as he was holding onto his arm and hand. He places his free hand on her shoulder then the two of them walked towards the fog where they heard footsteps coming towards them.
“What do you want?” Billy manages to croak out, voice shaky and not sounding like his usual self “Hey, I said what do you want?!” he was desperate for an answer but the two of them started to panic again when they saw a group of people coming towards them. Red lightning struck as the group of people came to a halt, instead two people from the crowd came walking towards them and they both equally froze when their vision cleared up and they were staring right back at themselves.
[time skip: the next day]
Steve stood in front of his full body mirror as he does his hair up, something he always does in the morning though it was usually done for naught because of that stupid little hat he has to wear that was apart of the uniform that was just as stupid. He sets his hairspray on his desk, looking at his iconic hair and touching it up for the nth time of that morning before nodding his head when he was satisfied with how it looked. With everything ready he picked up his keys and tucked them into his pocket then walked out of his bedroom with an extra skip on his step in his step, things were finally looking up for him that he couldn’t not be happy. His sister was home for the summer break, he’s actually enjoying work (kind of), he’s made friends with the girl at said work, his sister is dating said girl while he himself has gotten himself into a relationship that first started off rocky but evidently he fell in love with him. He wasn’t expecting to see his sister as he walked past her room, she was always gone in the morning to go pick up Robin, but he halted at her door when he saw the state she was in.
“[F/N]…?” he muttered softly, pushing open her door that was left open just a bit and his eyes widened when he saw her. She was sitting hunched over at the edge of her bed, elbows planted on her knees as her head rested on her interlocked fingers. She was panting heavily while sweating profusely, she looked downright horrible “Oh my god, [F/N]! Are you okay?” he exclaims as he rushed over to her side, kneeling down to try and get a look at her face and saw her face was pale while her [E/C] eyes were dull from their usual shine.
“Steve…” she weakly breathed out, he moved his hands to gently place a hand on her forehead and quickly withdrew it when he felt a burning sensation under his fingertips.
“You’re burning up, [F/N]!” he shouts then proceeds to push her onto her back so that she was lying on her bed but she shook her head, weakly pushing him back so she could get up.
“No, no… I need to get Robin, I promised to get her.” she weakly hits at his chest, letting out a whine when he grabbed her by her wrists to stop her futile attempts to get him off and gently lays her down on the bed.
“I’ll get her, okay? I think she’ll understand why you couldn’t get her if I tell her that you’re sick, alright? You’ll only worry her if you show up as the mess you are right now, besides, I don’t think you can drive in the state you’re in.” she lets out a groan, slapping her hands onto her face and dragging them down “I’ll open the window so it can help you can cool down, if there isn’t anything in the cabinets I’ll grab some shit from the pharmacy on my way back from work. Don’t do anything that’ll make you feel any worse than you already are.” she chuckles weakly, placing a hand on her chest and looking over at Steve.
“Since when were you the one… to look after me?” he just shook his head, he walks into her bathroom then later came out with a wet cloth to wipe away the sweat on her forehead then placed another wet and cold cloth on her forehead to help cool her down.
“Since my sister was the one that got fucked up in my stead.” she scoffed then hummed when she felt Steve cup her cheek, she leaned into his touch but winced when it got too hot for her liking and jerked away, he sighed sadly and retracted his hand from her “I’ll try and get off early so I can take care of you, alright? Don’t do anything to drastic while I’m gone.” she waves her hand.
“No promises…” she pants out as her hand dropped back down onto her chest, he sighs softly then knelt down to press a kiss to her temple then retreated out of her room to leave for work. Hours go by but not a single thing changed, she only felt worse and worse as she tried to calm her breathing down, tried to stop herself from sweating so much, but the summer heat was just becoming to unbearable. She closed her eyes as she tried breathing through her nose, a horrible mistake on her part when the memory of the night before came flooding back. Her fingers dug into her shirt when the flashing images of those rats scattering along the floor reappeared, being held down by some fucking monster as it forced something into her body. Her eyes snapped opened as she let out a scream, shooting up straight as she continued to pant, she takes the cloth off her head and throws it to the ground as she weakly makes her way to her bathroom. She leans her weight into the sink, her hands gripping onto the sink as her head hung loosely in front of her. She managed to lift her head to stare at her reflection, her vision slowly clearing up so she can get a good look at her reflection but then another flashback from last night appeared before her.
”What do you want…?” she managed to whimper out, her usual personality nowhere to be seen as she leaned closer into Billy’s side, who held onto her tightly but neither one of them could tear their eyes away from their doppelgängers.
”To build.” both doppelgängers said in unison, they even sound like them but their voices were slightly disoriented with a deep, echoing feeling to it. Billy and [F/N] manage to tear their eyes away from them to look at each other, nothing but confusion were seen on their faces ”I want you to build.”
“To build what?” Billy asks.
”What you see.” [F/N] shakes her head.
“I-I… I don’t understand.” they both flinch backwards when that same lightning struck and they were suddenly back on the side of the road, [F/N] all but collapses to her knees as she threads her fingers through her hair, her shoulders trembling at the terror the two of them witnessed. Billy was still standing as he looked around for wherever they could have gone, shaking his head.
“I don’t understand!”
“Ah!” she screamed at her reflection before proceeding to punch it, not bothering to remove her fist when the shattered glass fell into the sink and cut her hand. When her breathing calmed down she pulled her fist and let her trembling hand hang by her side, she took deep breaths through her nose before turning her head to the side “I need to talk to Billy…” she muttered softly then quickly left the bathroom, putting on her shoes and grabbing a jacket that had her keys in her pockets. The drive to the Hawkins community pool felt like a nightmare, her windows were all the way down and her AC was blasting to cool down her overheating body, but what freaked her out was when she was stopped at a red light. She perched her arm on the open window as her finger nervously tapped against the stirring wheel, she hissed in pain when she felt like she was being burn so she glanced down at her hand and furrowed her brows when she saw a burn mark forming on the back of her hand, she immediately pulls her arm back into the car. She pulls up to the pool and quickly hops out of her car, not bothering to lock it up and just simply slams the door shut and rushes into the pool. She spots Billy just as disoriented as she is, she didn’t waste any time to whistle to catch his attention, when his head shot up and looked for her, he managed to spot her waving her hand.
“[F/N]…?” he mumbles in confusion, he pushes himself up when he saw her waving him over, mouthing that they needed to talk. He all but jumps out of his seat and rushes over to her as fast as he could, stumbling with his footing but he managed to reach her in the end, grabbing her by her wrist and dragging her into the changing rooms, the showers specifically “What are you doing here?” she takes a shaky breath, holding her arms and digging her fingers into her jacket.
“Are we not going to talk about last night?” she asked, she inhales sharply as she runs her hands over her face “Have you been seeing things? Hearing things? I feel like I’m losing my mind…” she croaks out, she lets out a yelp when he grabbed her wrist again to look at the burn on her hand.
“What happened here?” her eyes trailed down his arm and noticed a similar looking burn on his elbow, they both started feeling hot again, [F/N] tears her jacket off but that isn’t enough and so Billy shoves her into the shower and turns on the cold water. They both silently soak in the water but start to get distracted when the pain in their burns starts aching, they’re both reaching for their wounds and grimace when they could hear something moving beneath their skin, the moment their hands grazed against the wound a flash of a monster appeared in their heads followed by high pitched screeching. They both fall to the ground, clutching their heads in agonising pain, pressing their heads into the tiled walls to try and lessen the pain but nothing was working, they were yelling in pain but it soon came to a halt when they heard a voice.
“Billy…?” [F/N] couldn’t recognise it, the two of them managed to push themselves back to lean against the wall behind them as they watched the girl kneel down in front of them “Billy. Take me to him.” they both stare at her in confusion.
“What?” they mutter.
“I said are you hurt?” she then looked in between the both of them as they continued to stare at her “What’s going on? I heard screaming. Should I call an ambulance?” she asked out of genuine concern, she then slowly backed away when she noticed the look of pain and confusion disappear and was replaced with one of malice. She lets out a scream when [F/N] shoots towards her, her hand slamming against her mouth to muffle her screams of terror whilst her other hand held both her wrists in an iron grip.
“I’m so sorry about this.” she whispers, she then pulls her up then slammed the back of her head against the ground to knock her unconscious. Both herself and Billy stand up and stare down at the unconscious girl then looked at each other and nodded.
[time skip: starcourt mall, scoops ahoy]
Robin felt a little deflated that entire day, first she wasn’t able to see [F/N] and Steve was the one to pick her up in her stead. She was confused when the younger Harrington pulled up to her house and so she obviously asked where her girlfriend was, the answer she got was a worried looking Steve telling her how awful [F/N] was and that she was very sick to the point she could barely move. Sure, she was worried for her girlfriend and completely understood why she couldn’t come get her, but she just couldn’t understand how she got sick. Last night she looked completely fine, only being a little tipsy but other than that, she was fine. Robin now found herself serving free samples to some little girl that was slowly getting on her last nerve, ready to pop a nerve, but then the sight of [H/C] hair her eyes.
“[F/N]?” she mumbled under her breath, wasn’t she supposed to be lying down in her bed at home? She shook her head and turned towards the window into the back room, throwing it open to get Steve and his little friend Dustin’s attention “Hey, Harrington! Man the counter, will you? I need to go check something out!” she shouts, choosing to ignore his shouts of protest as she abandons the counter and rushes out of the store, pushing past people to check if who she saw was actually her girlfriend. Her face lights up when she heard her familiar laughter so she turned the corner and was going to greet her but froze up at what she saw, there she saw [F/N] talking with some guy as he openly flirted and joked with and she was laughing at it.
“That is the dumbest pick up line I’ve ever heard, you dork.” he scoffs, bumping his shoulder against hers.
“But it made you smile, didn’t it?” she then shoved him back, not being able to hide the big smile on her face.
“Barely.” her heart dropped into her stomach when she saw [F/N] grab the guy by the collar of his jacket and pull him back, the two of them stumbling out of view. Robin grits her teeth and rushes over to where the two disappeared, she rounded the corner but was left flabbergasted when she saw neither of them, they just simply vanished. Maybe she was just seeing things, maybe she was just desperate to see [F/N] that she conjured her up, but why the hell was she shamelessly flirting with some random fucker? The end of the night came sooner than later, from seeing her girlfriend with some guy to helping her brother and some random child with a Russian translation, she was currently sitting in Steve’s passenger seat as he drove them to his house.
“Is she really sick?” Steve let out a dramatic sigh, rolling his eyes.
“Yes! How many times do I have to tell you, Robin? What you saw was definitely not [F/N]. For one, she’d never flirt with a guy. Two, she’d never let a guy flirt with her, because she’d either fight them or throw up.” that option made her chuckle, that sounded like her “My sister isn’t the type of person to cheat, okay? She actually beat that into me, so I highly doubt she would ever do something so frivolous.” Robin sighed, the back of her head hitting the car seat.
“I know… I think I’m just getting paranoid.” she jolts in her seat when Steve placed his hand on her shoulder, she looked at him and saw him giving her a reassuring look.
“Robin, if my sister does anything and says anything hurtful to you, you’ll tell me right?” he inhales through his nose and looks back towards the road “She doesn’t do or say things without meaning it. When she said she was in love with you, she meant it. When she said she wanted to be with me, she meant it. So if she somehow says she doesn’t want to be with you anymore… she’ll say it to you straight and she won’t do it behind your back, she isn’t like that. She isn’t one for hiding her feelings and she isn’t afraid to voice her opinions, rarely have I ever seen her bottle up her emotions. I don’t see any reason why she would ever go behind your back, but if she does anything to you that just doesn’t seem right, tell me. I’ll make sure to talk to her, so don’t worry about anything, alright?” she couldn’t help but get a little teary eyed, Steve smiled softly when Robin tearfully nodded her head.
“Alright, thank you.”
“No problem.” Steve then lets out a laugh when he pulled up to their house, gesturing to the driveway “Look at that, Robin! Her car is here.” Robin shrugs, sure, but it doesn’t cross out the possibility that she still left the house. Entering the Harrington household, Steve flips on the hallway lights and shuffles out of his shoes, letting out a slight grunt when Robin shoved past him to rush up the stairs to get to [F/N]. Steve told her that her condition was horrible, that she was sweating profusely and couldn’t stop her body from trembling, going so far as she couldn’t control her breathing. She needed to see this for herself, she needed to see how sick her girlfriend was to calm her mind of the image of her perfectly healthy girlfriend that she saw at the mall with some gu—
“S-Stevie…? Is that you?” Robin jerked backwards a little shocked after throwing the door open, there in the dark room with the hallway light to illuminate the room, was her girlfriend laying on her back whilst clutching her chest, looking just as terrible as Steve described “Stevie…?” she called out once more, she nearly tripped over her feet when she finally managed to move.
“N-No, [F/N], it’s me.” she saw [F/N] perk up at the sound of her voice and so turned her head towards her, smiling weakly when her eyes set on girlfriend.
“Robin…” she cooed, Robin smiled softly and knelt down, placing a hand on her forehead and let her thumb caress her skin “You’re here… why?” they hear Steve clear his throat, he decides not to turn on the light as he took a spot on the other side of Robin, standing over his sick sister who smiled at him.
“She wanted to see you, asking me after our shift to bring her here to check up on you.” Steve decided it would be for the best to keep Robin’s actual intentions a secret from his sister, it was the better option because that reason made [F/N] smile at the both of them.
“Y’all are saps…” she mumbled out, she then reached for Robin and gently tapped her shoulder “I’m sorry I couldn’t pick you up this morning, I feel so awful for leaving you hanging like that.” Robin shook her head, taking her hand into here and squeezing.
“No, no, it’s fine. I’m just glad that your brother came and got me, would have sucked if I have to bike instead.” they both giggle at that, Steve smiled at his sister and her girlfriend, not understanding where Robin ever got the misunderstanding of [F/N] ever betraying her in the worst way. He then pulled a face when he realised why and swore in his head to never voice that stupid thought of his, he reached forward and placed his hand on [F/N]’s cheek and she leaned into his subtle touch.
“Your fever seems to have calmed down a little, did you take some tylenol?” she nods softly.
“Mm, I found some in my cabinet.”
“Alright, that’s good.” Steve has Robin help him with taking care of [F/N] to the best of their abilities, staying with her until she was drifting off to sleep, and when she finally did he pulled her out of the room and closed the door behind them “See? What did I tell you? She never left the house, Robin.” she nods her head, holding her arms.
“I know, I know. I just can’t help but feel insecure, you know? She’s totally out of my league, and yet she wants to be in a relationship with me! A nobody, a weirdo that’s apart of band and is employed in an ice cream shop.” Steve scoffs at that, placing his hands on his hips.
“That’s exactly what she likes about you, Robin. She finds it cool that you can play instruments.” she rolled her eyes bashfully, spinning one of her rings around with her thumb.
“Stop it.” Robin takes on last peek at [F/N] before finally leaving with Steve so he can take her home, it didn’t take long for the younger Harrington to return home nor did it take long for him to fall into a deep sleep. The moment silence fell upon the Harrington household [F/N] eyes shot open and she no longer looked sick anymore, she sat up and threw the covers off her body to reveal the clothes she was wearing were never changed. She shuffles out of her bed and walks over to her locked bathroom, pushing the door open to find the same boy Robin saw her with submerged in cold icy water. [F/N] did indeed see Robin in the corner of her eye when she was at the Starcourt Mall, that was the reason why she pulled that boy into empty hallway but she pulled him into an empty room before Robin could see them and proceeded to choke him out with little to no effort.
She now found herself back at the abandoned steel works factory, exiting her car, she lifted her head to see Billy was there as well. Neither said a word to the other, just silently moving to the trunks of their cars and opening them up, finding their tied up victims unconscious, Billy lifts Heather into his arms while [F/N] throws the guy over her shoulder and the two of them walk side by side back down into the basement where it all started. Settling the two down, they hover over their unconscious bodies that slowly started regaining consciousness. Of course the two of them were unaware of the situation they were, blinking their eyes as they looked around in confusion, their eyes met and they were both confused when they saw their mouths were duck taped shut while their hands and feet were bound. Panic started to arise as they tried to free themselves, Heather letting out whimpers as she tried to shake free while the guy was screaming under the tape, they were both silenced when Billy grabbed Heather by her shoulders while [F/N] grabbed the other guy by his face and held his jaw in a tight hold.
“Don’t be afraid.” they said in an emotionless tone, both victims ceased their muffled cries and movements “It’ll all be over soon. Just stay very still.” they then remove the tape from their mouths before finally pulling away and stepping back, standing together as the same monster that did something to them crawled out of the shadows towards its latest victims, snarling at them as they screamed in terror.
Billy and [F/N] could do nothing but watch.
[time skip: two days later]
The two of them continued to collect more and more victims for the monster to turn into mindless zombies, sometimes almost getting caught by their respective siblings, but they always managed to play it off. [F/N] remembered bringing a girl home she met in the middle of town, she recognised her as an old classmate friend and said how she wanted to reconnect. The girl was helpless against the mind controlled girl, struggling under her iron grip as she ties her hands up but was interrupted when the front door to the house was opened and in came walking Steve. He enters the kitchen and there he found his now healthy sister by the counter with an innocent smile on her face, waving her hand to greet him on his return home. “Anything interesting happen today, [F/N]?” she only shrugged her shoulders.
“Same old, same old.” he was satisfied with the answer and ventures upstairs to his room, unaware of the whimpering girl under the counter wanting to cry out for him to save her from his crazy sister but could only whimper silently when [F/N]’s fingers dug into the meat of her face whenever she felt her struggle. She was now hauling her down into the basement of the factory, she hummed softly when she saw Billy and Heather already down there with two victims of their own “You’ve been busy, huh?” she mused, Billy glanced up at her and saw the girl over her shoulder.
“So have you.”
[F/N] now found herself sane and sitting in her car, inhaling and exhaling softly as she watched the unknowing people walk by her, not knowing that she was picking out her latest few victims to bring to the monster. A pinch of her sanity was clinging to the back of her mind, she was already losing her mind because she could do nothing but watch her body go around kidnapping people and offering them up to this monster to do who knows what. She takes a deep breath, running her fingers through her hair before her eyes settled on a group of girls, she remembered one of them as a girl she hooked up with a few times while they were still in high school, this could be an easy catch because the other girl still had some lingering feelings for her. She rolls her neck, ready to do what she’s been doing for the past few days but her body suddenly fought against it. There were two fights going on in her mind right now, one was sweet talking this one time fling into bringing her and her friends back home to have some fun, possibly get them wasted out of their minds then bring them back to the factory, but the other was against it. This last piece of her sanity was fighting against that, she didn’t want to flirt with this girl, she didn’t want to tell her words that were rightfully reserved for her girlfriend. She lets out a groan, aching pain throbbing in her head as she tried taking control of her mind but ultimately lost when the pain became to unbearable.
“Don’t make this harder for you than it already is…” she muttered to herself, her voice not sounding like her own. Flicking down her sunglasses, she pulls at the collar of her jacket before finally opening the door to her car just as the girls were walking past her car. This obviously caught their attention, they were already checking out the ridiculously nice car but the moment [F/N] stepped out of the car the girl she hooked up with couldn’t help but freeze up when she saw her long time crush. [F/N] pretended to pay them no mind, throwing her car door shut and locked it, walking past the group of girls and as she walked further away, she stopped when the girl called out to her.
“H-Hey, [F/N]!” her friends snickered at how shaky her voice was as she stuttered over her words, she cursed at them but straightened up when [F/N] turned her head over her shoulder to look at the group.
“Yes?” she swallowed thickly, taking a step forward as she clutched onto the straps of her hand bag.
“D-Do you— do you remember me, by any chance?” her face flushed up when she tilted her head down, her sunglasses slipping down the bridge of her nose so she could see past the tinted lenses and at the girl in question “We were in the same chemistry class? We sat together and did a few projects together?” she was really hoping that [F/N] would remember, she took a step forward as she turned around fully, raising her hand to grab the frames of her glasses and pulled them down as she looked her up and down.
“Chemistry…?” she muttered to herself, looking up in thought then smirked down at her “Right, you’re— you’re Veronica, right? Veronica Gibbons?” her face lights up immensely because [F/N] Harrington remembered her, she actually remembered her! She enthusiastically nodded her head, reaching forward to grab her hand.
“Yes! I’m so happy you remember me.” her friends were giggling from behind her, knowing just how big of a crush she had on the female Harrington, also remembering how much she cried when she left Hawkins to study in a different state, but now she’s back as she has a chance to be with her. She then tilted her head when [F/N] pouted softly, taking off her glasses then biting the end of one of the frames.
“Actually, I’m still having a little trouble remembering, think you can help jog my memory up?” the group of girls giggled at the suggestion, Veronica turned back towards them and saw them gushing at her and giving her the thumbs up, gesturing for her to shoot her shot with [F/N].
“S-Sure.”
Robin felt like she accomplished a mission. You could really do a lot with just twenty bucks, she exits the post office and stuffed the entire layout of the Starcourt Mall into her bag and jogs over to where she parked her bike, only slowing in pace when she heard soft giggling. Turning to see what the laughter was all about, she saw a group of girls gushing about how lucky their friend was, she thought nothing of it until the name “Harrington” left their lips. She then glanced over at the parked Mustang and immediately recognised it as [F/N]’s car, she then noticed that they kept glancing back towards the little alleyway and her insecurities started getting the best of her again. The name “Veronica Gibbons” left their loose lips and more thoughts started circulating in her head, she remembered that girl. She was definitely one of the best looking students during her year at Hawkins High School, she was that iconic popular girl that did cheerleading, was beautiful, smart and was wanted by the entirety of the male population. But there was a rumour that she was into girls, that she was into the particular Harrington that was untouchable, a heartbreaker who’s heart would never beat for anyone but her brother.
She didn’t hesitate to drop her bag on the ground and rush over to the alleyway, turning the corner and her heart stopped when she saw it. Veronica was pushing [F/N] back against the wall, her hands tightly gripping onto [F/N]’s biceps as she pressed her lips against her own. [F/N] didn’t bother reciprocating the loveless kiss, just let the shorter one of the two take the lead as she desperately kissed her. She tried not to think about it, she tried so hard not to think how awful she feels for playing with this girls feelings just because she couldn’t control her own body, she didn’t want to think about how much this was going to hurt Robin, but what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. Veronica pulled away and gave [F/N] a sheepish smile, flushing up when she noticed that her lipstick smeared onto her lips, she turns away to avoid her intense gaze but a gasp left her lips when she noticed a figure at the end of the alleyway.
“[F/N]…?” her heart dropped into her stomach, visible fear in her eyes that were hidden under the tinted lenses of her sunglasses. Robin gritted her teeth when she saw Veronica pushed herself off of [F/N], clearing her throat and fixing herself up, excusing herself from the heartbroken Robin as she tearfully gazed at [F/N], who had yet to acknowledge her existence “[F/N], please… tell me that what I saw didn’t really happen.” [F/N] just let out a sigh, crossing her arms and leaned against the brick wall behind her, finally sparing Robin a glance that just wasn’t kind.
“What’s there to talk about?” Robin’s hand clenched into a tight fist, whoever this person was, it wasn’t her [F/N]. Her loving and sweet [F/N] who’d give her the world, who would fight the world just to see her happy, whoever this imposter was, she hated their guts for what they’ve done with her girlfriend. She marches over to her and stood in front of her, glaring up at her with a tearful gaze and saw that [F/N] had an indifferent expression on her face, like she didn’t care that she just got caught “You seem upset, little birdie.” she cooed out, Robin nearly keened at the nickname, any other time she would turn red, but right now she was filled with anger and anguish.
“Is this just a joke, [F/N]? Are you not going to acknowledge the fact that I just caught you kissing another girl, or the fact that you let that girl kiss you despite already being in a relationship with me?! Is she another relative of yours you and Steve forgot to bring up? If that’s the case, that’s really fucking weird.” Robin turns away, running a hand through her hair than back at her “I thought you loved me, [F/N]. I thought you said you wanted to be with me, but as of lately, I feel like you’ve become an entirely different person. Ever since that night, I haven’t seen a trace of the girl that said she was in love with me. What the fuck has happened to you, [F/N]!” Robin continued to rant and rave at the betrayal and [F/N] just took it, because another war was raging on in her head.
Take her.
Not her.
Bring her.
Ignore her.
Kill her.
Spare her.
[F/N]’s fingers clawed at the wall behind her, her nails digging into the bricks to the point they were being crushed under her hold. Her teeth were biting down so hard on her lips to the point they were bleeding, she was trying to distract herself from the grotesque thought of bringing one of the few people that she loves to that fucking thing. She was trying so hard the past two days to avoid Steve and Robin, she was trying so hard to limit her time with those two because if she was with them for more than a couple minutes then she would lose all control of her body and she would hurt them. That was the last thing that she wanted, she didn’t want to hurt them, she didn’t want them to die all because she made one stupid decision. She said nothing as Robin continued to question what their relationship has come to after two days of her acting off, she wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around Robin and tell her everything, tell her that everything is going to be okay and that kiss with Veronica whatever meant nothing to her. But she knew the moment her arms were around her, there was no letting go of her, and not for a good reason either. She wanted to do something to keep Robin away, give her a reason to avoid her, to never see her again.
“You’re making me think that everything about our relationship was for nothing!” she shouts, tears now running down her face, oh how she wanted to wipe those tears away but she didn’t want to touch her with the hands that have been the cause of people losing their minds and possibly their lives “Was there absolutely nothing, nothing special about our relationship?” Robin stood their panting in front of [F/N], the girl silently looking down at her.
“… are you done?” she flinched back at the harsh words.
“Wha—”
“Was anything in our relationship special? Wow, you were really deep in that delusional fantasy of yours, huh? Well, let me tell you something, Buckley.” she harshly jabs her finger into Robin’s chest, causing her to stagger backwards as each jab got harsher and harsher at each step she took “Your love for me was nice, it was, but it’s gotten boring. There’s nothing about you that excites me anymore, so yeah, maybe our relationship was for nothing.”
“[F-F/N]…” she lets out a whimper when her back was no pressed against the opposite wall, [F/N] looming over her with a dark look on her face.
“There is no us, not anymore. I don’t need you.” [F/N] makes sure to grab her by the jaw, lifting her up off the ground as she glared down at her “You mean nothing to me.” Robin lets out a whimper when she felt her nails digging into her skin, she spares her a glance through her teary eyes and when she looked into [F/N]’s eyes, there was no warmth but dull and empty eyes staring right back at her. She let out a gasp when [F/N] dropped her, letting her collapse to the ground and grovel at her feet. She turned on her heel and started walking away, ignoring how much she wanted to stop and apologise to Robin, how this isn’t what she wanted but this was the hill she was going to die on if it meant that Robin was safe from her ”And Buckley, don’t even think about telling Stevie about this, not that he’ll even be on your side in the first place. I’m his sister, he loves me, and you? You’re nothing but a coworker he has to put up with.” she didn’t even bother looking back at Robin when she finally left the alleyway, leaving Robin to wallow up with a broken heart as she cried out in anguish.
“[F/N]?” she let out a hum, turning towards Veronica who now sat in her passenger seat while her friends were excitingly sitting in the back “Are you alright?” “Why wouldn’t I be, sweetheart?” she flushed at the pet name, she points at her face.
“You’re crying…” her eyes widened softly at that, glancing down at her face to see a single tear running down her cheek, she chuckles softly at that and wipes it away with her thumb.
“Just a little dust that got in my eye, nothing to worry about.”
Hours go by and night has enveloped Hawkins, to which [F/N] was currently loading the drunk, unconscious and tied up girls into her car once more. Getting them completely intoxicated took no trouble whatsoever, they were more than happy to get wasted with the more popular Harrington. [F/N] herself was drinking away her sorrows after breaking up with Robin, wanting nothing more then to numb the pain and forget that look of pain and betrayal on Robin’s face, but it’ll forever be burned into the back of her mind. She lets out an exhausted sigh after loading the last of the girls into the backseat, rolling her shoulders after walking back and forward from the house and her car repeatedly. Steve had yet to return from Scoops Ahoy despite how late into the night it was becoming so she was taking his absence as an opportunity to get everything done. Driving to the factory wasn’t as eventful, driving legally to avoid unwanted attention so she doesn’t get pulled over, when she reached the basement she was quite surprised to see the state Billy was in.
“Fuck happened to you?” she questions, quietly offering up the girls to the monster then returned to his side with a rag and some water “You look like you got the shit beaten out of you.” he looked up at her, letting her clean up the blood and sweat “That girl, was it her?” he nods.
“Yeah. It was her.” she nods softly, taking his hand and wiping away the blood on his knuckles “She knows now. She knows about me. She could’ve killed me.” she nods again, she puts the rag down and gently pats his hand.
“Yes, but not us. Not us.” they then glance at the crowd of people they’ve either managed to kidnap altogether or were infected by the rats that were controlled by the monster “There’s no way she’ll know that there are more of us. She could barely handle you, so what makes her think she can handle all of us?”
“You’re right.” “I know. Our time is nearly upon us, so we needn’t worry until then.”
[the next day, with the party]
The party along with Jonathan and Nancy were all hunkered down in the Wheeler household in the basement, each discussing what had happened the following night and their latest discoveries. The children told the two young adults how the Mind Flayer had returned and that Billy Hargrove was under its control, in return they told the party how an old woman, Mrs Driscoll, was found eating fertiliser and was acting crazy. Nancy then deducted how that since the attack last night along with their sauna test happened at the same time, the possibility of the Mind Flayer flaying more than just Billy.
“Billy was doing something to her, but there was someone else as well.” they all look at El when she spoke up, she looks at Max “There was another girl, but she looked more worried for him.” she closed her eyes to remember seeing Billy, she remembered seeing that girl who looked terrified as she called out for Billy.
“Another girl? What did she look like?” Max urged, maybe if they find this girl she could help them find Billy and maybe even the Mind Flayer.
“Um, she was tall, maybe about Billy’s height. She had [H/C] hair, [E/C] eyes and a few beauty marks on her neck and face.” she closed her eyes to remember any other features that stood out to her “Her eyes, though, her eyes reminded me a lot of Steve’s.” this subtle feature caught Nancy’s attention, her face lighting up in remembrance, this caused the others to look at her when she started snapping her fingers.
“W-Wait— Wait right there.” the others watch as Nancy rushed out of the basement, questioning what she was planning on grabbing, and when she returned she had a handful of polaroids and a few articles “El, is the girl you’re describing… her?” El leans forward to see Nancy was looking through the photos before pushing a certain article towards her, she ignores the headline as her eyes zone in on the picture. They she saw the girl she saw through her vision but this time she had a giant grin on her face, a bit of a crazed expression on her face as she stuck her tongue out while one of her hands was doing the rock on devil horns.
“Y-Yes, yes! That’s who I saw,” Nancy and Jonathan share a look of disbelief “W-Who is she?” “That’s Steve’s sister! That’s [F/N] Harrington!” this caused the lot of them to lurch forward and look all the pictures of said Harrington “I remember her being back in town, but to think that she and Billy were actually friends.” she muttered under her breath, Max was looking at a picture had in his hands and her eyes widened when she too recognised her face.
“Holy shit.” Max says, now they look at her when they saw her pick up a different photo, this time it was of a polaroid of the girl at a party, sitting on a couch with her legs over the arm rest as she was chugging down an entire bottle of vodka “That’s Billy’s girlfriend.” now Nancy and Jonathan were in even more shock.
“Fucking, what?!” Max nods her head.
“I’ve seen her around the house a couple times, and whenever she’s around he’s a lot more happier. I remember hearing a girls laughter from his room and when I came in to see what it was…” she shudders at the memory, shaking her head “It wasn’t particularly a fun sight.” the certain memory she’s remembering back to was when she, Steve and Robin snuck into Billy’s room through his window with some weed and alcohol they were planning on sharing with each other. None of them had realised Max was home until they heard her calling Billy’s name followed by her footsteps, Robin and Steve were quick to hide away and when [F/N] attempted to jump out the window, she instead tripped over her own feet and landed on top to Billy, that was when Max walked into the room and misunderstood the entire situation. All the residents of the Hargrove/Mayfield household are one hundred percent convinced that the two are in a relationship, this fact was rather beneficial for the both of them.
“I heard rumours going around that Billy was dating [F/N], but I never believed them.” Jonathan admits “But it makes it all the more believable that the two of them were together.” “Then do you think she’s flayed? Like Billy?” Nancy takes a breath.
“There’s only one way to find out.” they now find themselves driving to the Harrington household, all feeling concerned and anxious. Nancy was the most worried because she’s witnessed firsthand what the older Harrington was capable of, she was already crazy as is and would only tone it down when her younger brother was in the picture. She loved her brother to bits that the moment someone looked at him wrong she didn’t hesitate to beat their asses with a chair, she remembered how she got arrested for nearly beating a kid near death because they threatened to kill her brother. They reap what they sow, no? Pulling up to the house, Jonathan and Nancy recognise the car that’s in the driveway, it was [F/N]’s infamous Mustang that could rival Billy’s Camaro when it came down to public disturbance.
“Is there anything about her that we should be careful about?” Jonathan looks up in thought as they approach the front door.
“Um, if you thought Billy was bad… I’d say she’s worse.” they pale at that, she’s worse than Billy? “But if you get on her good side, she’s actually a pretty decent person, nice even.” Nancy nods her head, agreeing with what he’s saying. The two now stood in front of the two, both equally hesitating to knock because they share an equal fear of the female Harrington, Nancy was the one to take a deep breath and knock on the door. They waited for a while for the door to open, awkwardly looking around to pass the time, they hear stumbling footsteps and a few things getting knocked over before the door was open. Nancy and Jonathan reel backwards when the smell of alcohol hit their faces, there in front of them was the sight of a depressed and intoxicated [F/N] that was leaning against the doorframe to keep herself from falling to the ground while in one of her hands was a bottle of tequila.
This is not what the party were expecting.
“Who the fff… phuck are you?” [F/N] slurred out, clearly not in the right state of mind and very much drunk.
“Is that you… [F/N]?” Nancy asked, very much unsure that the girl in front of her was the Harrington that she knew. [F/N] was one to get drunk at the oddest times of the day, but it looked like she had been crying, and she does not shed tears for anything or just about anyone. [F/N] giggled drunkenly, swaying softly before lifting the bottle of tequila and taking a long swig from it, letting out a satisfied breath as the alcohol burned her throat.
“Yeah? What’s it to you?” [F/N] was going to ignore the bothersome people who came knocking at her door while she was trying to wallow up in sadness, ready to just outright slam the door in their faces but paused when in her drunken eyes she could just make out who exactly the girl is “W-Who are you?” she stuttered out, Nancy swallows thickly, patting her dress to smooth it out.
“Um, it’s me, Nancy Wheeler?” [F/N]’s blood starts to run cold, sobering up just at the mention of the name “I dated your brother a while ago, and we’ve met a couple times when we weren’t dating?” the silence scared them, maybe it was because [F/N]’s drunken state disappeared as she stared Nancy dead in the eyes and wouldn’t break eye contact no matter how many times Nancy looked away or turned her head away, [F/N] just continued to stare at her. Soon, a soft smile appeared on her face as she chuckled softly, she then leaned down to put the bottle of tequila on the ground then reached forward to grab Nancy by the sides of her head. The others watch in confusion as [F/N] gently caressed her face but it changed when she leaned her head back then slammed her forehead right into the bridge of Nancy’s nose hard enough to break it. She let go of her head and let her fall back onto the ground, not really caring as the girl cried out in pain and clutched onto her nose, she then leans back down to pick up her tequila as the children and Jonathan surround Nancy.
“Oh my god, Nancy!” Mike shouts as he falls to his knees, comforting his sister as she tried to stop her bleeding nose “What is wrong with you?!” he shouts up at [F/N], who once again threw her head back as she downed another swig from her bottle, completely ignoring him.
“I don’t like you, Wheeler.” she sneers out, taking a step forward and glaring down at the girl “I know what my brother did to you and Byers over there back in 83′, as his older sister I apologise, but what you did to him last year? He told me everything, how the girl he wanted to be with said everything between them was bullshit, then went and ran straight into the arms of the guy she told him not to worry about. You should’ve thought twice before showing your face to me, Wheeler, because now you’re on my number one hit list.” she makes the “I’m watching you” gesture with her fingers then turned around to go back into her house, only stopping when Jonathan used his foot to keep the door from closing properly.
“Wait, [F/N]!” she glared at him “We really need to talk to you.” she scoffs, throwing her head back.
“About what?”
“About Billy.” she was in the middle of taking another long swig from her bottle but froze up at the mention of Billy, slowly lowering the bottle to look at the older Byers “We really need to talk about him, and we’d appreciate it if you could tell us everything you know about him that’s happened in the past couple of days.” she stared at the lot of them being letting out a sigh, that’s where they found themselves in [F/N]’s kitchen as her drunken rage turned into a sob fest.
“You know?! I feel like he’s been acting different as of lately, and— and that he’s been distancing himself! I feel like he’s become a completely different person!” she cried from where she was seated, the others all sat across from her as her body moved dramatically “Then he broke up with me, saying how it was for the best! What the fuck does that mean?! Why does breaking up with me the best for us?! I still wanted to be friends, but I couldn’t even have that either! So here I am, drinking myself into a stupor!” she shouts and goes to drink again but let out a whine when nothing came out, pulling it away from her lips and tipping the bottle only for a few droplets to come pouring out. The others all glance at each other and watch as she moved to a wine cabinet to grab a bottle of expensive looking wine.
“She’s totally not flayed, right?” Lucas questioned, Mike shook his head.
“Not a chance.” they all wince when she trips into the wine cabinet, no chance.
“Hey, where can I get some ice?” Jonathan asked, [F/N] looked back towards him before shakily pointing at the fridge.
“Should be some in the freezer, Byers. Help yourself out.” Jonathan nods and goes to get some but Mike was already on his feet to grab it himself, wanting to soothe his sister’s pain, at least Max and El stopped the bleeding. He’s in front of the fridge and about to open the freezer but stopped when he saw a picture hanging on the fridge, taking a closer look, his eyes widened at what he saw. There he saw [F/N], Steve, Billy and that cashier that works with Steve, Robin Buckley if he remembered correctly, standing together with wide smiles and looking happy “Mike, the ice!”
“Oh, right, sorry!” he opens the freezer and grabbed the ice tray, handing it to Jonathan, and closed the freezer door but continued to look at the picture just as [F/N] came over “When did you take this?” she let out a confused noise and leaned forward to see what he was looking at, they all watch as she froze up once again, her hand lifting up from her side to look at the photo. It was during the time when they were at the fair, Steve wanted to take a photo and there was no saying no to Steve. [F/N], Robin, Steve and Billy, in that order, stood together and took a round of different photos and each kept one, right below it with the caption “night of 85′ where it started”. She closed her eyes as a bitter look crossed her face, nothing will be the same ever again and that memory of the four of them happy together will be one of her fondest memories.
“It… doesn’t matter.” she lets out, grabbing the corner of the picture she yanks it off the fridge and tucks it into her pocket “A-Anyways, what’s this about Billy? What’s he done that’s caused you lot to come to me?” El was the one to speak, reaching forward to hold [F/N]’s hand.
“We would like to know if… if you’ve been with him in the past few days, if by chance you’ve been feeling strange.” she stares down at her hand in confusion, she doesn’t pull her hand back though and just simply squeezes it.
“Well, if drinking before five counts as weird, then not particularly, no.” they all sigh at that, she pulls her hand away and crossed her arms, humming to herself whilst looking up in thought “Um, he and that Heather Holloway have been acting weird together. He doesn’t usually hang out with that girl, but the way he talked about her was weird. He even dressed modestly when planning on having dinner with her parents, and that man usually dresses like a complete whore.” they look at her weirdly as she snaps her fingers, she lets out a grunt as she popped the cork off the wine bottle and proceeded to pour herself glass.
“Heather Holloway?” [F/N] nods her head, head falling backwards as she brings the glass to her lips and drinks the wine “Alright, anything else?” she begrudgingly looked off to the side, thinking of anything else that came to mind.
“Uh, he told me he had been planning on visiting this old lady in the hospital? Does that mean anything to you?” she noticed them all visibly flinch, sharing knowing looks with each other “Telling by the looks on your faces, I guess that was helpful?” she questioned, her face scrunched up when Nancy nodded her head in her direction.
“Very!” she bit her tongue and shrunk back when [F/N] glared at her, El grabbed [F/N]’s hand once more and shook it lightly.
“Billy is in trouble, and what you’ve told us has helped our chances on finding him and helping him.” El’s face lifted up when she noticed the way [F/N]’s face softened up at that, she pursed her lips as she averted her eyes from the girl.
“I hope he hasn’t gotten himself into anything too dangerous.” they all hated how that wasn’t the case, with everything they got out of the drunk yet slightly sobering up Harrington, they left just as quickly as they arrived. Will was the last out the door but he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, his hand immediately slaps onto his neck and he turned around to see [F/N] following them out so she can shut the door behind them. She felt his gaze so she looked down at him to see what he wanted, the chill went away when her drunken eyes looked him up and down “What?” he nervously shook his head.
“N-Nothing.” she narrowed her eyes on him but evidently shrugged her shoulders, the moment they were at their car she slammed the door shut, not waiting for them to pull out of the driveway.
“Will, are you alright?” Mike asked, his hand reaching over to gently grab his hand, Will looked up at Mike and gave him a nervous smile as he nodded his head.
“Y-Yeah, I’m good.” [F/N] stood in her empty kitchen, wine glass in her hand as she tapped her finger against the marble countertop. If she played her roll well enough, the group will probably go and investigate the Holloway household then make their way to the hospital to check on poor old Mrs Driscoll, she was now rolling her fingers against the counter.
“Well, why not give them a surprise for snooping in things they shouldn’t go poking their heads in?” she laughs to herself, downing the rest of wine in her glass before proceeding to round a few other flayed people to come help her.
[later at night]
The party arrive at the hospital when the sun was down and it was late into the night, they quickly rush out of the car and towards the hospitals entrance, completely unaware of the Ford Mustang that was parked not to far away from where they were. Per hospital visits, only two people were allowed to visit a patient at a time so Nancy and Jonathan went ahead while the others lingered around the waiting room. The two walk down the hallway to get to Dorris Driscoll’s room in silence, but to be honest, it was a little too quire despite it being a hospital. They hadn’t seen a single nurse or doctor since they arrived at the floor, it was rather unusual but they shrugged it off with that it wasn’t that busy of a night. Entering the room, they were met with the sight of Mrs Driscoll nowhere to be seen while the flowers Nancy brought and placed into a vase were knocked over.
“Where is she?” Jonathan asks as they scan the room, Nancy shakes her head.
“I don’t know.” she answers as she rushes towards the fallen vase, Jonathan following right behind her.
“Are you sure this is the right room?”
“Yeah.” they both then look up when the lights started flicking on and off, footsteps were heard from the hallway until a figure appeared at the door, the two turned around just as the figure spoke.
“She’s gone home.” there they see Tom Holloway, appearance looking disheveled as his hands and end of his button up were covered in blood “We were hoping you might come back.” the two start backing away when Tom enters the room and starts approaching them slowly, Jonathan raises his arm in front of Nancy to keep her behind him as they inched further and further away from Tom.
“Who’s blood is that?” Tom doesn’t answer him as he gets closer to them.
“Tom, whatever you’ve done, it’s not you. He’s making you do this.” now that they were practically within arms length from Tom, Jonathan didn’t take any chances and grabbed the vase, smashing it into the side of Tom’s head. The older man fell into the wall giving Jonathan and Nancy a chance to flee out of the room, they didn’t get far when another flayed appeared down the hall with a wound exactly where Jonathan hit Tom with the vase.
“Owie.” he feigns the pain as he caressed where his temple was bleeding but it healed, black veins bulging out from his temple as he started walking towards them.
“Go, go, go!” Jonathan shouts, pushing Nancy towards the staircase in an attempt to escape the two flayed men. The two of them are racing down the stairs, they aren’t really aware what floor they’re on but they don’t want to take any chances as they’re running down the hall, going further and further they see the dead bodies of the hospital workers, at least they now knew whose blood that was “This way, this way!” he shouts as he pulls Nancy down a part of the hospital that had construction being done, the two men that were chasing them weren’t even running and were just simply walking at a steady pace.
“You haven’t got them yet?” Bruce glanced over to see [F/N] on a chair, body hunched over with her elbows resting on her knees. Beneath her foot was a nurse whimpering, crying silently as [F/N] pressed the heel of her shoe into her head and slowly applied more pressure as the nurse squirmed to get free “How hard is it to grab those two idiots?” she questioned.
“Just playing a little game of cat and mouse, that’s all.” she chuckled cruelly, shaking her head.
“Get them before they cause us more trouble. That girl isn’t here to assist them, so one of you should be enough to handle them both, alright?” he nods his head and rushed off to go find Nancy and Jonathan, not like that would be hard. She finally turned her attention to the crying nurse who looked up at her, eyes pleading with her to let her go “It’s a shame that you weren’t able to see the world he was going to create, but I guess it’s better for you not to stay and find out.” [F/N] then reached over to the axe that was resting against the wall, both her hands and the blade drenched in blood of the various victims that were claimed that night. She now aimlessly walked the hospital halls, whistling a random tune as she felt the flayed Bruce find the two and so she made her way over to where they were, Bruce was chasing after Nancy as she screamed for help while Tom was making his way over to where Jonathan was.
Find them.
Kill them.
Erase them.
Annihilate them.
“They’re working on it.” she murmurs under her breath, getting closer and closer to where Tom was with Jonathan, he was playing with his food. She shook her head, maybe it was wrong to bring those two along with her and she probably should have brought two other peo— she suddenly let out a grunt, her head being thrown back as she stumbled into the wall. She brought a hand to her mouth and saw black blood bleeding from her mouth, she drops the axe when she felt another impact smash her across the face and she finally fell to the ground. She was growling under her breath, panting as she starts pushing herself up but fell back when another smash to the head was delivered to Bruce while Jonathan stabbed Tom in the neck. The shared pain they felt sucked and had [F/N] grovelling on the floor, both hands slapped around her neck as black bleed bled from her face and neck, her veins then started bumping black as they started turning visible “You worthless… imbeciles!” she roared out, the Mind Flayer gifted her and Billy more power since they were the first to turn into his mindless zombies, so their regenerative abilities were superb in comparison to the rest. While Bruce and Tom lay motionless on the floor she picked herself back up, rolling her neck and hearing it crack under the pressure, she leans down to pick the fallen axe up and dragged it behind her to find the two causing them so many problems.
She was greatly irritated, gripping onto the axe with so much force that the wood started to crack under her hold. Those two had one simple job to do and they failed horrendously to the point that their bodies turned into goop, she heard the sound of panting so she looked over and saw a doctor she thought she had killed, dragging himself along the floor to get to safety. The moment he heard footsteps he thought he was saved so he turned to see his saviour but his face fell at the sight of an enraged [F/N], dragging her axe behind her and leaving a trail of blood behind her. The doctor let out a cry as he tried crawling away again but was stopped when she stomped on his back, she brings the axe above her head and swing it down, landing a clean hit into the back of his skull and killing him. Blood splattered onto her face as she didn’t bother wiping it off, just simply yanked the axe out of his head and continued on with her journey. She was walking down the hall when she saw the goop of what was Tom and Bruce form into the monster, a miniature version of the Mind Flayer.
“Now look what you’ve done with yourself.” she speaks, walking out from the hallway as her body was drenched in a mixture of black and red blood, she then turned her head and a wicked smile spread across her face at the sight of Jonathan “There you are~” she cooed, now standing beside the Mind Flayer as she stared Jonathan down while the monster stared at Nancy.
“[F-F/N]…?” they both stutter out, she giggled to herself, throwing the axe over her shoulder and bounced it lightly.
“The one and only.” she winks at Jonathan then turns towards the monster, lifting the axe up to point at it “You had one job, right? One! And you failed it, immensely. All you had to do was kill them, and you couldn’t even do something so simple to the point you’ve gone and turn yourself into that. Good job, really, good job.” she shook her head in disappointment as the monster lets out a whine, knowing that the original Mind Flayer favours her and Billy over the rest.
“[F/N], w-what have you done?” Nancy whispers out as she looked the older Harrington up and down seeing she was covered in blood that just wasn’t hers as her veins were pumping with black blood “You were flayed? For how long?!” she cries out, she just shrugs.
“Does it matter? You’ll be dead anyways.” she looks back up at the monster and whistles, pointing with her thumb towards Nancy “Get her, I’ll deal with the other one. You won’t have trouble with this, will you?” she chuckles when it lets out a roar and starts charging towards her, she in turn starts marching over to where Jonathan is.
“Shit.”
“Nancy! Run!” she immediately backs into the door to the staircase but let out a panicked cry when sandbags were keeping the door from opening fully, Jonathan starts to panic as well because the monster was quickly closing the distance between the two of them and [F/N] was also getting closer to him. When Nancy manages to break through the door and run away he felt a sense of relief but it didn’t last when [F/N] was on him, he grabs one of the IV poles to defend himself but lets out a grunt when she kicked him in the chest, he evidently falls to the ground because of this.
“I’m really going to enjoy this, I never really liked you anyway, creep.” she lets out a grunt as she tries slamming the axe down on him but he managed to roll away just in time. He’s pushing himself back to get away from [F/N] as she leisurely strides after him, dragging the bloodied axe behind her in an almost taunting way “I don’t even need to do much to influence this body into wanting to kill you, it’s already rather homicidal and her hatred for you and that other girl is pretty deep.” Jonathan manages to push himself onto his feet and starts running away from her but in a way that he was chasing after the monster and Nancy.
“Is this because I beat her brother up and Nancy broke up with him?!” she only shrugs, easily matching his pace as she chased after him.
“Probably, but she was already crazy even before that, I’ve just pushed aside her rationality.” she swings at him again but he ducks out of the way, wincing when the axe made contact with the wall and a crack formed under the impact “Her love for her brother is both her weakness and her strength. She’d do anything for him; anything.” she’s swinging at him left and right, him narrowly dodging out of the way when he’s finally at the hallway where he sees the miniature Mind Flayer at a door that he believes Nancy has locked herself in.
“No, Nancy!” this was his shortcoming when he froze up, watching as the monster lost its physical form to turn back into a state of goop so it could slip under the cracks of the door. He was kicked in the back and fell onto his stomach, he pushes himself onto his back but let out a grunt of pain when she hit him with the butt of the axe, causing him to fall limp onto his back and daze him.
“No more running, little Jonathan. You’re making my job harder than it needs to be, so just sit still,” she starts, raising the axe over her head and smiling crazily down at him “and let me kill you.” she laughs wickedly and finally swings the axe down, having a clean shot to kill Jonathan but the axe is stopped inches away from his face. He gasped, eyes widen in shock as he stared up at the blade while [F/N] in turn was confused, letting out a strained grunt as she tried pushing it down but it wasn’t budging.
“Jonathan!” the two of them whip their heads around and see the party down the hall, El’s hand stretched out a stopping the blade from meeting Jonathan’s face. They all flinch back at the vicious look in [F/N]’s eyes, god, she looked exactly like Billy during the sauna test. El didn’t waste any time as she raised her hand, this motion caused the axe in her hands to move away from Jonathan, and because she was still holding the axe in her hands, El used it to send [F/N] flying back and pin her to the wall with it pressed against her throat, just like Billy.
“Holy shit, she was flayed the whole time!” Lucas shouts as they all rush towards Jonathan to help him up, they all spare [F/N] a glance and saw she was growling at them, letting out a animalistic roar as she pushes against the axe that was keeping her at bay, El in turn was putting more power into keeping [F/N] still “Does that mean she lured us here?!”
“It doesn’t matter now!” Mike shouts, they all shudder when [F/N] starts giggling maniacally “Why the hell are you laughing?!”
“You dumbasses a-are… are exactly where I want you.” Mike shakes his head.
“Really? But aren’t you the one being pinned to the wall right now?” she continues to laugh, her head rolling backwards and resting against the wall behind her. The dark blood pumping through her veins become more visible as she lets out another roar, finally managing to push El’s hold off of her and throw the axe towards them, they all duck out as the way just as she lands on the ground with a heavy thud.
“Jeez, way to go dickwad.” Max sneers at him, [F/N] wipes away the blood dripping down her nose as she leaned down to pick up the fallen axe. She throws her head back, running a hand through her hair as she laughs again, El is panting as she ignores the blood running down her nose.
“What’s so funny?” blood is running down her face and she can’t tell whether it’s hers or not, but she doesn’t care as she looks down at the children, she throws her axe over her shoulders and motions with her eyes to the room behind them.
“Aren’t you forgetting about someone?” at the mention of that they heard a scream, they all turn their heads towards the door and [F/N] laughs once more “I know a fight I can’t win when I see one, so here’s how this is going to go. You lot have two options. Option one, I run away and you lot are given the chance to save Nancy from meeting her inevitable end because you choose to save her instead of chase after me. Or option two, you give up on little Miss Nancy to chase after little ol’ me, this gives you the chance to learn things about where the monster is and what he’s planning on doing, but this also means that Wheeler meets her end. So what’s it gonna be? Are you going to be the hero that saves the damsel in distress, or the hero that sacrifices her to save the world?” she doesn’t wait for them to answer as she’s already running in the opposite direction, El raises her arm to stop her but flinched when she heard Nancy’s cry for help.
“El, leave her! Please, you’ve got to save Nancy! You’ve got to save my sister!” Mike cries out, tears swelling in his eyes when Nancy’s screams got louder, he then desperately tugs on her arm “Please, El! Please!” El’s eyes were still on [F/N]’s retreating figure, growling softly under her breath when she saw the light smirk on her face before she turned the corner and disappeared. [F/N] was pouting softly as she exits the hospital, spinning the axe around her wrists, and was slightly disappointed she couldn’t kill Jonathan or that Nancy. Oh well, there was still plenty of time to get them next ti— she jumped up in surprise when the monster was thrown out of the room and landed right beside her, she looked up from where it fell and saw the lot peering outside the window, she then gives them a two fingered salute before rushing over to her car and driving away as the monster turns itself into goop once more to escape through the sewers.
“… so which one of us is telling Steve?” Lucas murmurs, they all pale at that. Back with [F/N], she finally reaches the factory, letting out a groan as she walks down the stairs to the basement, hand on her neck while rolling her neck as the axe rested on her shoulder.
“You look like hell.” she scoffs at Billy, wiping the blood on her face with the back of her hand.
“I feel like hell. I couldn’t get shit done because the two idiots I brought with me were of no help whatsoever.” the goop that escaped from the hospital the appears, slithering towards the original to merge with it, it grows in size as the two stare up at it.
“It’s time.”
[time skip: the next day]
El sat in front of the TV that was playing nothing but static, a blindfold over her eyes to help her focus on finding where the Mind Flayer could possibly be while the others sat back and watched her overexert herself. She was panting as she tried so hard to keep pushing herself but in the end she couldn’t anymore and ripped the blindfold off her eyes, she now found herself in the kitchen getting a glass of water, gulping it down until the glass was completely empty. The others were discussing what they should do, they could possibly go and find [F/N] but they didn’t want to take the chance on fighting the newly psychopath and she probably wasn’t going to be home, the other option was Billy who definitely was home but him being there was just a trap waiting for them. El set her empty glass on the kitchen counter and let her eyes wander under until they landed on a box of lucky charms, staring at the rainbow, she got bitter flashbacks of her mother but then an idea struck in her head that she went back to the ground.
“It’s too risky.”
“Yeah, and unnecessary. Killing the flayed won’t stop the Mind Flayer. We have to find out where it’s spreading from. We have to find the source.”
“Billy and [F/N] know it.” they all turn to El when she entered the room “They’ve both been there, to the source. She even said that if we went after her and caught her, we could’ve learned where the Mind Flayer was.” Mike shook his head.
“Yeah, but—”
“It’s a trap, I know. We can’t go to Billy or [F/N], but I think there’s another way. A way for me to see where they’ve been.” she’s sat in front of the TV once more with a blindfold over her eyes, concentrating on the static noise coming from the TV. She takes a deep breath and concentrates until she finds herself in the void and in the distance she can see something. As she gets closer she finds herself staring down at Billy and [F/N] sitting beside each other on what she assumes is Billy’s bed, [F/N] had her eyes closed as she rested her head on his shoulder and Billy himself was sitting up straight while staring into nothing. The one thing the two of them were doing was holding each other’s hand, occasionally squeezing, as her other arm was wrapped around her waist as his other hand rested on his knee. El now stood in front of the two, who weren’t completely unaware that she was there, but they both had a feeling that someone was there. El lets out a shaky breath as she reaches down, grabbing both of their free hands “Billy… [F/N]. I want to see. I want to see what happened.” Billy raises his head and [F/N] opens her eyes, El could see the tears in their eyes as they stared up at her, she lets out a gasp when the hands she was holding let go of hers and instead held a tight grip on her forearm. She tries to break free but neither one of them were letting go, their hold on her only tightened as she fought against them but when they did let go of her, she falls back but their memories of everything they’ve done flashed in her head. From [F/N] and Billy killing people, from them kidnapping people, from them hurting people, from the Mind Flayer infecting the two of them, from the very beginning when Billy crashed and [F/N] rushing to come to his aid.
El let out a grunt when she fell onto the concrete sidewalk, she groans as she rubs the back of her head and slowly pushed herself up so her hands were holding her up, she looked around and saw that she was on some random street that she couldn’t recognise but the sun was up and there weren’t many people around, it was practically empty. She finally pulls herself onto her feet and starts walking around, maybe trying to find someone or something she can recognise. She lets out a gasp when she heard laughter so she goes to turn around and see what it was but paused when a young child, a little girl, ran past her laughing to her hearts content. Looking her up and down, she wore a [F/C] sweater and shorts while her hair was tied up with a hair tie that had small little ladybugs on it, the girl laughed again before turning around and waving her hand in the direction El was standing in.
“Stevie, come on! You’re so slow.” El gasps softly and when she turns around she sees the child version of Steve Harrington, he looked to be about ten years of age, pushing a bike where the girl was standing “Didn’t you ask me to teach you how to ride a bike?” Steve pants as he walks past El and towards his older sister.
“You’re not the one pushing the bike [F/N].” he complains, she just rolls her eyes.
“Stop being such a big baby, dingus.” he pouts, El follows them and finds that they’re in some neighbourhood in Hawkins that has smooth terrain for Steve to ride his bike. El smiled softly seeing [F/N] tease Steve while he in turn was crying at her to stop, she did eventually stop when she saw his eyes start getting misty and started pushing his bike. It was quite sweet watching the older Harrington treated her brother rather delicately, he seemed like such a crybaby when he was a kid.
“I-I’m having second thoughts, [F/N].” Steve said to her, his voice barely above a whisper. He was currently on the bike, his hands clutching onto the handles as his feet rested on the pedals, [F/N] stood beside him while holding the back because she knew that he didn’t have the balance to hold himself. She exhaled through her nose, looking him up and down.
“Well, we can always do this another time, not everybody can get it on their first try.” she tries reassuring him but noticed that he still looked upset over the matter, her eyes looked down in thought before she reached over and placed her hand on top of his “Hey, Steve, I’ll be right beside you, alright? I’ll always be with you every step of the way, I promise you that.” Steve sniffles at that, looking down at his sister with teary eyes.
“R-Really?” she nods, a big smile on her face.
“Really, I’ll always be there for you.” seeing her smile made one just as big spread across his lips, he then nods as he looked ahead of them.
“Okay, I can do this.” and as [F/N] promised, she was right beside him to help keep him balanced as he pedalled down the sidewalk, but the moment she noticed that he was doing on his own was when she pulled her arms back and instead ran beside him.
“You’re doing it, Stevie! Look at you go!” she cheered, he took a quick glance at her and saw that he really was doing it on his own, a big smile broke onto his face as he went on. When [F/N] could no longer keep up with him, she stopped running at his pace and let out an exhausted breath as she hunched forward to catch her breath. El approached the young [F/N], looking at her face and there she saw the look of pure love as she watched her brother go, she saw that she completely adored her brother to no ends. El remembered Nancy mentioning how [F/N] would do about anything for her younger brother, it didn’t what it was, it’s just that she would go to great lengths for him. [F/N] gasped and this caused El to stop looking at her and instead back at Steve, who winced when she saw the wheel get caught in something, causing him to fly off the bike “Steve!” she shouts out and immediately rushes to his side, to which he was bawling his eyes out as his knees were bleeding and hands were scrapped.
“It hurts, [F/N]! It hurts so much!” he cries out, [F/N] drops to her knees as she looked him up and down, trying to figure out what to do as he continued sobbing. She then tries to calm him down but it just doesn’t seem to work, nothing she was doing was working and he only seemed to be getting worse, so she starts to cry with Steve. El found it a little funny that the two siblings were crying, Steve because he was hurt and [F/N] because Steve was crying. She never would have imagined that the drunk, depressed and psychotic [F/N] she met the day prior was the same caring little girl she watched before her. When [F/N] did manage to calm down, not enough to stop crying, she picked Steve up and carried him on his back and ran to the closets house, abandoning the bike in favor of someone helping her brother. The person she chose was quite startled to find two crying children at her door step, awkwardly question what was wrong but managed to understand what happened through all the snot and tears [F/N] blubbered out.
[you can skip past this, this is basically her past that I accidentally started to write and I couldn’t fucking stop]
[F/N]’s happiest memory was anything that involved Steve, she was the eldest Harrington child of the Harrington couple. The two of them never wanted a daughter and expected their first child to be a son, but when they got [F/N] instead they didn’t hesitate to have sex again just to conceive another child in hopes of getting a son, and their hopes came true when Steve was born. [F/N] noticed at a young age how her parents favoured Steve over her every time, it didn’t matter what it was, it was always him before her, but she never did care about that, because her parents were just assholes and her baby brother didn’t do anything to deserve the anger she had for their parents to be directed at him. There was just something different between the two of them when they started getting older, they were joined at the hip when they were children but the moment they were in middle school, it was a different story. [F/N] naturally entered middle school before him and she already earned herself a title, the up and rising star of Hawkins Middle School that would surely become the Queen of Hawkins High when she graduates middle school. She was beautiful, a Harrington genetic gift, naturally smart and athletic, very kind and charismatic that she was the person everyone wanted to be with.
So her achievements greatly overshadowed Steve’s to the point that their parents attention moved from him to her, at first she was happy that she got their validation, but noticing how her and Steve were drifting apart and his admiration towards her turned green with envy, she started second guessing all the popularity she gained. It got worse for Steve when he started middle school, he was known as the “other Harrington” that just couldn’t match up to his sister, he was just constantly in her shadow no matter where he went. Constantly being compared to her was like a nightmare to him, he was struggling to finish an English essay? [F/N] would have easily gotten it done in half the time it took him to write a single sentence. He managed to score a three pointer in basketball during P.E? How about winning against Hawkins Middle School’s rivalling team with the most points they’ve seen in years. He didn’t want to be known as the younger brother of [F/N] Harrington, he wanted people to know him as Steve Harrington, but that was never going to happen as long as people knew that he was her brother. [F/N] obviously noticed the treatment her sweet little brother was going through, she tried so hard to talk to him or get people to stop with their bullshit, but that made Steve angrier, he didn’t want her pity.
“Steve, why won’t you talk to me anymore? Please, I just want to make things between us better, like what it used to be when we were children!” she pleads out to him, she flinched back when he slammed his hands down on his desk, whipping his head around to glare at her.
“You want to make things right? Alright, maybe stop being better at everything! Maybe stop being the topic of every conversation people have when they come to talk to me! Maybe just stop being the reason my life is ruined!” he pushes his chair back with his legs as he approaches her “Stop being smart! Stop being pretty! Stop people the centre of attention!” she lets out a grunt when he shoved her back, her stumbling out his room as he reached for the door “Maybe just stop being my sister altogether!” he finished and slammed the door in her face, she continued to stand where he left her as she stared at his door, she let out choked up noises as tears glistened in her eyes before finally sniffling and walking away. That was definitely the last time the two of them properly spoke with each other and no matter how many times she tried to work things out, how hard she tried to make things better, he just never gave her the time of day to hear her out. Her graduation from middle school to high school was probably her worst day because Steve didn’t even want to be there and only came because their parents would be more disappointed in him if he didn’t come to support his sister, and for him it was probably a great day because it meant that he didn’t have to see his sister the following year at all. If she didn’t do anything soon she was possibly going to lose Steve, so staring at her reflection she stared at herself and couldn’t help but hate she was looking at. She never felt like she was looking at herself, just looking at the person her parents made her out to be without her ever being able to properly find herself. She wanted to change, she wanted to be different from the person she saw in the reflection, and there was just one person that could possibly help her.
“Eddie Munson!” she screamed at the top of lungs at the trailer park, she knew the bastard was home, telling how the lights in his trailer were on. Eddie “the Freak” Munson was her polar opposite in middle school and a boy who was in the same year as she was. She remembered first seeing him during their middle school’s talent show with how him and his band “Corroded Coffin” performed heavy metal, it was very loud and a little disorganised, but it was pretty good in her opinion. She met Eddie on a few occasions but each time weren’t really pleasant, mostly because he spoke to her as if she didn’t know how the world worked since she was a privileged little girl that got everything she wanted. She didn’t know what hurt more, the fact that he isn’t entirely wrong or that it was him that woke her up. Eddie opened the door to the trailer and was surprised to see [F/N] standing there, so with his usual cocky attitude, he crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe.
“Well what do we have here? What can this jester do for her majesty, [F/N] “the Queen” Harrington?” he cooed, [F/N] didn’t bother to say anything and just went straight to the point.
“I need your help.”
“And what can little ol’ me do for you?”
“I need you to make me look like you.” now he was a little thrown off at the request, the one and only girl that everybody loves and has everything at the palm of her hand, was asking for his help in making her… look like him? She noticed that he was confused so she raised her hand, she goes to speak but a chill ran up her spine when a burst of wind blew through her body “Can I come in? I’m fucking freezing.” her swearing was even more startling, [F/N] was prim and proper and wasn’t know for using such vulgar language, and yet here she was.
“O-Oh, yeah, of course.” and that’s where Eddie found himself holding a box of tissues for [F/N] as she told him everything that happened during her year in middle school, bawling her eyes out as she told him that her worst fear was possibly coming true “So, let me get this straight… you want me, to make you look like me so that your parents and possibly others start viewing in a different way and that people will start liking your brother?” she sniffles, nodding her head.
“Yeah, that’s pretty much it.” he sucks in a breath, running a hand through his growing hair after growing through his buzz cut.
“I don’t know if I find that endearing that you came to me for help or insulting that you came to me for help.” she gave him an apologetic look “But I see where you’re coming from, female Harrington. You don’t want people to see you in a positive light and if they hate you enough they’ll draw their attention towards the better Harrington.” she nods her head.
“That’s exactly what I want.” he lets out a startled yelp when she grabbed his hand, holding it in between her own and gave him a desperate look “I’ll do anything to drift the attention away from me and give it to him, I won’t care how people view me as long as they stop making my brother feel even worse than he already feels. I want to be there beside him instead of on the sidelines.” he inhales sharply, this really wasn’t what he was expecting to happen on a Saturday night.
“Well… alright.” she lights up, a big smile on her face “But I want no complaining from you, alright? The moment you start doubting anything I do, I’m gonna give up on you,” she nods her head at the terns he set.
“Of course, totally!” she stands up, still holding his hand, and shakes it rather vigorously “If this works, I owe you big time, Munson.”
And being a man of his word, on the first day of her high school year, the soft and kind [F/N] was nowhere to be seen. Instead Hawkins High was met with the new and improved Harrington that wore leather or denim and had several piercings that were definitely not done by a professional, she even wore dark make up instead of the light or natural one. To say everyone was shocked would be an understatement, everyone was in disbelief when she pulled up to school in such attire but it was the fact that she was with Eddie Munson of all people! They were laughing about and talking as if they have been best friends since they were children, even his group of friends were in on the deal of making her less popular so she wasn’t seen without being with Eddie and his group of freaks. Her entire personality was a total flip as well, from the well spoken and polite young lady turned to a rude and vulgar woman who’s attitude was the worst that people couldn’t stand being with her. The teachers couldn’t believe what they were seeing either, she was once a straight A student but now she was barely passing with D+ and C-’s.
She learnt everything from Eddie, and she was always grateful for him because she actually felt free. Being with him and his group of friends was so relaxing because she didn’t have to worry about how she looked and how she acted anymore, she could actually properly be herself. Listening to heavy metal and screaming at the top of her lungs, smoking weed and laying on the floor of his trailer, letting him ramble on and on about some fantasy game called D&D, she didn’t care, it felt nice to actually have real friends instead of those people leeching off of her. But that didn’t matter, well it did, but what really mattered was the fact that it was working. People didn’t want to be associated with the former Queen who now hung around with the freaks and because she was barely pulling her weight in school and was constantly failing, her parents were absolutely livid with her.
“What has gotten into you, [F/N]? You were never like this leading up to this year! It’s all because you’ve been hanging around that Munson boy! He’s not a good influence on you!” she just rolled his eyes as her mother shouts all sorts of nonsense at her, both her mother and father have cornered her and sat her down to have a proper talk with her.
“Not only that, but you’re failing every single one of your classes! You’re barely getting marks above F’s, and at this rate, you’re not even going to pass at the end of your senior year! You’re sullying the Harrington name, [F/N]! I thought we raised you better than this.” she scoffs this time, leaning back into the sofa as she crossed her arms.
“Well I’m sorry for not being mummy and daddy’s perfect little princess anymore, but if you’re not going to accept the me I am today, then why the fuck should I pull my weight anymore? Besides, you still have your perfect little golden child Stevie to take my place if I ever go too far.” she snickers to herself when they continued to yell at her, telling her to that this rebellious act of hers better come to an end or she will face consequences, to which she just laughed in their faces before shoving past them and out the front door where Eddie was waiting for her with his shitty van.
“Dude, we could hear the shouting all the way from out here!” Gareth exclaims, throwing open the back doors for her to jump in, to which she laughed as she took Jeff’s hand as he helped her in “They sounded really angry, you alright?” she just shrugged.
“Honestly I could give less of a shit at what they’re saying, but it’s definitely working, I can just feel them ready to disown me and label me as the family disappointment, I’m just waiting for it now.” Eddie laughs from the drivers seat, glancing back at her.
“You’re crazy.” she winks with a click of her tongue.
“I have you to thank.” they all laugh as he drives to the Quarry.
Steve was completely baffled when people started treating him differently. For some reason he was now known as the better Harrington, the one that didn’t stray from the path of righteousness, or whatever the hell that meant, but it felt good that every topic wasn’t about his sister anymore. Well, when his sister was brought up, it was to tell him how awful it was to now be related to the psycho apart of Eddie Munson’s group of friends. When Steve first saw [F/N]’s transformation and change of behaviour, he didn’t believe it until he saw the way she now argued with everything their parents said. She never used to fight back against them, she would usually just nod and agree with anything they said, but not anymore. Now their parents were looking at him again, telling him they expected great things from him, how he was the new light of the Harrington family and that he was better than his good for nothing sister. As for [F/N], she was happy to see that her brother was finally getting that popularity he deserved and it didn’t matter that she had hell to pay for such a cost, all that mattered to her was that Steve wasn’t bitter having to go to school anymore.
She didn’t care that people insulted her.
She didn’t care that her parents hated her.
If Steve was happy, that’s all that mattered.
Sitting on the hood of her car, [F/N] had blood running down her nose and a bruise forming on the side of her cheek, knuckles torn and bloodied as her clothes were a little disheveled. The bruise on her cheek was given to her during an altercation with her father once again, this time he couldn’t stand her attitude and backhanded her clean across the face hard enough to give her a nose bleed. She didn’t see an ounce of regret on his face and not even her mother did anything to stop anything from escalating, she couldn’t take staying in that house any longer and just left without another word. Her knuckles bleeding were from her brutally punching a brick wall until she physically couldn’t close her knuckles anymore and just tired herself out until she sat on the hood of her car while smoking a cigarette to calm herself down.
“… fuck.” she muttered under her breath, she was totally going to Eddie’s trailer to get high and drunk to the point she couldn’t remember who the fuck she was. When she finally decided she was done, she hopped off the hood of her car and snuffed out her cigarette, getting to ready to jump into her car but paused when she heard her name.
“[F/N]!” she was confused when she saw Steve rushing over to her, she was confused as to why he was there.
“Steve?” she called out, she really didn’t want to deal with him right now be decided to stick it out to see what he had to say “What do you want? Don’t you have basketball practice going on right now?” he scoffed, shaking his head as he looked her up and down, wincing when he saw her bloodied knuckles.
“I don’t give a shit about that.” he reaches for her hand but flinched back when pulled her hand back.
“Why are you here? Don’t you have better things to do than deal with me?” he swallows the saliva in his throat, not liking the tired look in his sisters eyes.
“I-I’m here because I’m worried about you, I just— I don’t understand why you’re acting like this, [F/N]. You’re nothing like the way you were in middle school, what happened to her? Why did you suddenly change? Why are you so different now, [F/N]? I just don’t understand.” he shakes his head as he remembered back to the year prior when his sister first changed, the once quiet house was now filled with arguing and shouting matches between her and their parents to the point that Steve couldn’t handle it “Why are you like this, [F/N]! You had everything and then suddenly you threw it all away because of what? What?! Why did you do it?! What was it?!” Steve didn’t understand why he was yelling at his sister, he usually wouldn’t raise his voice like this and especially not when his sister was bleeding because of their father, but he just needed to quell his curiosity as to why his sister would do such a thi—
“I did it for you, Steve!” she shouts, he was taken aback, what? “I threw away everything for you! The popularity! The attention! Mum and dad’s respect, everything! I gave up everything because I saw how my popularity was affecting you! I couldn’t stand the thought that my brother was feeling the way he was in middle school all because people couldn’t see past me whenever they were with you. I hated the fact that we aren’t as close as we were when we were children, so I thought, if I act differently to what people are used to, then maybe people will start liking Steve Harrington instead of his older sister. And look at that, it worked! It actually worked, because people fucking hate me now and they adore you! You’re the Harrington that isn’t a fuck up!” [F/N] hadn’t realised she started crying until she felt the tears running down her face instead of blood, she pulls back and quickly wiped away the tears, grunting out in pain when she clenched her fists.
“B-But… why? Why would you do that?” Steve stuttered out, not believing she would do something like that, she just rolled her eyes before throwing her arms open at him.
“You said it yourself, Steve! I asked what I had to do to make things right, and you listed everything off! I had to stop being better at everything, I had to stop being the topic of every conversation, I had to stop being smart, I had to stop being pretty, I had to stop being the centre of attention! I did everything! I did everything you asked! Now all that’s left is to stop being your sister!” god, the fact that she remembered everything while he didn’t had Steve start tearing up, she had to tear her eyes away from him to stop her urges to comfort him, she takes a breath and jabs her finger into his chest “I gave you what you wanted, so I hope you’re satisfied with what you’re given. I’m only waiting for mum and dad to fulfil you’re last request and maybe then you’re ruined life will be magically fixed.”
“[F-F/N], I’m sorry— I didn’t—” she raised her hands, rubbing her sleeve under her nose.
“Save it.” she sniffles as she turns her back “Go home, Steve. I’ll stay out of your life as long as you want. Wouldn’t want to ruin the perfect life you’ve accumulated since I’ve fallen from my grace.” with that she leaves Steve standing all alone, feeling even more worse when she finally saw those tears run down his face.
That… that was her worst memory that she regrets.
She regrets shouting at him.
She regrets making him cry.
She regrets that she hurt him and left him alone.
[yeah, that’s all I’ll write for her backstory. I definitely had more to write, but it’s gotten too long and I want to get back to the main plot]
El tears off the blindfold, panting heavily after finally leaving the memories of Billy and [F/N] when she found the location of where the Mind Flayer was located. She looks around to see no one in sight, she was all alone in the cabin despite hearing their voices not to long ago.
“Mike?” she calls out but got no answer, she repeatedly called out his name again but was left unanswered until another voice spoke up.
“He can’t hear you.” turning her head, she gasps when she sees Billy emerge from out of one of the rooms “You shouldn’t have looked for me. Because now I see you. We can all see you. You… let us in. And now… you are going to have to let us stay.” as the Mind Flayer speaks through Billy, he’s slowly approaching El as she backs away from him in tears, she’s gasps when someone was right behind her.
“Don’t you see?” looking over her shoulder she saw that it was [F/N] with that same psychotic grin on her face, leaning over the couch El backed herself into but quickly pushed herself off to get away from her “We’ve been building it… for you. All this time, we’ve been building it. All that work, all that pain… all of it, for you.” the two of them now stood together, eyes misty as they held each other’s hand.
“And now it’s time. Time to end it. We are going to end you. And when you are gone, we are going to end your friends. And then we are going to end… everyone.” they speak in unison and before they could do anything, El screams at the top of her lungs as she throws her hand out towards them, sending them flying back to where they came from, and so the two of them woke up exactly where El found them in Billy’s room. [F/N] had a sad look on her face as she lifted herself off of Billy’s shoulder, neither one of them said a word as they sat in silence and squeezed each other’s hand.
“This sucks.”
[starcourt mall]
It all happened so fast. One moment they’re being attacked at Hopper’s cabin, next thing they know they’re hiding out at the Starcourt Mall because Billy had somehow managed to find them and was waiting out for them in his busted up Camaro. [F/N] was nowhere in sight and they didn’t know what terrified them the most, the fact that she was just lurking around waiting for them or that Billy was ready to run them over without a second thought. Hiding in the mall didn’t go as well as they thought, because the next thing they knew was that the Mind Flayer was right on top of them and broke through the skylight, landing right where they were and was now in search for El. The group consisting of Nancy, Johnathan, Lucas and Will somehow managed to escape and were hurriedly trying to replace their stolen ignition cable, their hearts beginning to race at the sound of Billy’s engine revving.
“Shit!”
“Get the car started, go!” Nancy cocks her gun as Jonathan jumps into the drivers seat to start the car, Nancy raises the gun and aims it towards Billy. She doesn’t back down when he starts driving towards her, she narrows her eyes as she starts firing at him, the others are panicking as she’s shooting at his already shattered windscreen that’s doing little to no damage as he continues to get closer and closer to her. The moment her gun ran out of ammunition was when she started to panic, she looks between the gun and Billy before ducking down and curling up against the car despite knowing that was going to do little to nothing to suppress the pain of getting smashed against the car but was surprised when Steve, in a different car, rammed right into the side of Billy’s Camaro. Both he and Robin grunt out in pain at the impact but were both pretty much okay, Robin looked up at Steve and saw that he had a panicked look on his face due to the fact that his boyfriend almost killed his ex and in order to stop him from doing that he crashed a car into him.
“Steve, are you alright?” she asks him, he’s panting as he continued to stare at Billy’s unconscious body laying limp in his car.
“Ask me tomorrow.” their gaze then goes upwards when they heard snarling, Robin gasps in shock to see the disgusting fleshy monster dubbed as the Mind Flayer on top of the Starcourt Mall, they whip their heads around when they heard the honk of the other car pull up beside them.
“Get in!” the Mind Flayer was quick to give chase but paused when a new pair of headlights flashed on, it decided she could take care of them. Johnathan thinks they’re in the clear, the Mind Flayer isn’t in sight as they’re driving away but he wasn’t taking any chances as he continued to high tail it away from the mall. He spares a glance back at Will and saw he was gently caressing the back of his neck, he was close, and he just wasn’t showing himself. “What the hell was that thing back there?!” Robin shouts, pointing out the car in the direction they just fled.
“I’m guessing that was the Mind Flayer, and that was the body made of the flesh of various dead people?” Steve sums up as he looks at the other four, to which they all nod their heads to confirm what he said “Great, I can’t wait to get back home and explain to my sister why I was gone and why my face is beaten up. Hopefully she doesn’t go on a murder spree upon seeing my face.” the four of them wincing didn’t go unnoticed, even Robin flinched hearing the mention of his sister.
“Um… about that, actually…” Lucas starts, rubbing the back of his neck “Your sister, uh— she’s kind of um, like…” Lucas peeks back at Steve and felt a chill run down his spine, Steve was wearing an expression that he normally never wore. His expression was a mixture of concern and slight anger, concern for the safety and well-being on his older sister and anger that something has happened to his sister while he was trapped in an elevator then tortured by Russians.
“What’s wrong with my sister?” Nancy licks her lips, not really sure where to begin on the matter of his older sister.
“Steve, your sister…” she sighs, running a hand through her hair “Your sister, kind of…” Steve was getting more irritated over the fact that they weren’t telling him, he grits his teeth as he glared at them.
“What’s wrong with my sister?!” he shouts this time in hopes it’ll get them to spit it out, Will lets out a shuddered breath when he felt a tingle in his neck, he glances backwards and saw a flash of someone’s high beams hit them. They all turn around to see what it was and the roar of a car engine slowly gaining on them made their hearts drop into their stomachs when they recognised the car, Steve and Robin look out through the back window and their eyes widened when they saw the familiar license plate “[F/N]…?” he manages to mutter out then let out a grunt when the car rear ended them.
“Shit! Jonathan!” he curses under his breath as he changes gear to create some distance between them and her but their car was nothing in comparison to her mustang because she caught up to them easily, each time she made sure to rear end them. When she noticed nothing was happening she pulled back a little just so she was now driving beside them, they all turn to look at her but Steve and Robin were the most shocked because they haven’t seen her like this. Deranged looking, eyes bloodshot and teary as her body was sweating uncontrollably while her veins were pumping black ooze throughout her entire body.
“You wanna know what’s wrong with her?!” Lucas shouts, letting out a scream when [F/N] drives the side of her car into theirs “She’s been flayed by the Mind Flayer and this entire week she’s been kidnapping people and offering them to the Mind Flayer, and not too long ago she killed a bunch of people at the hospital and nearly killed Nancy and Jonathan! There, now you know!” Will smacks Lucas for the way he said it, gesturing to Steve and saw how the boy looked confused and scared. What confused them was that Robin shared the same expression, Lucas said that she was under that things control for about a week, so does that mean…
“Wait, you’re telling me that the whole reason she’s been acting different— that she’s acting like that, is because that monster we saw before brainwashed her?!” Will nods his head, she slumps back in the back as she recalls how [F/N] was acting when she broke up with her. She knew that there was something wrong with her but she just couldn’t pin just what was wrong, her eyes had lost their usual shine and she was avoiding eye contact with her, refusing to. It felt like she was talking to someone entirely different, and all that was true, that person from before was not her girlfriend but an imposter in her body. Robin looks at Steve and saw his eyes never left [F/N], she had a crazy smile on her face as she stared Jonathan down “Steve…” she mumbles.
“What did it do to you, [F/N]?” he’s only ever seen that look on her face maybe once or twice, and that was when she was getting some sick pleasure out of beating the shit out of a few high school kids that picked on him, she was crazy like that, but she made sure not to make that face again whenever he was present because it was a little unsettling “That’s… that’s not my sister, that’s not [F/N]. Is this— is this also happening to Billy?” they nod.
“They were together when it happened.” that just made things worse, it must have happened just after they left Robin’s. Was that why [F/N] was sick that morning? Oh my god, it was happening right under their noses and neither of them noticed. Jonathan steadies the car again when [F/N] rams hers into them again but let out a confused noise when she suddenly stopped, he glances over at her and saw she was looking ahead of them. He watched in confusion when she drove ahead of them then turned around but stopped in the middle of the road, Jonathan slams on the breaks to stop them from going any further and there the two of them are staring each other down.
“Jonathan…” Nancy mutters, not a single one of them breaking eye contact with [F/N], Jonathan takes a breath as he grips the stirring wheel, swallowing thickly every time he hears [F/N] rev her engines as her car jerks forward. [F/N] was no longer in control, no matter how hard she was trying to fight the Mind Flayer for control it was no use and she was locked inside her own body as she watched it move on its on accord. A dark grin was adorn on her face, watching closely to what Jonathan was going to do next. Was he going to back up and continue this game of cat and mouse? Was he going to play a game of chicken instead? Both options sounded fun to her, but she decided it was going to be her to choose for him because she pushes the handbrake down and slams on the gas and exhilarates forward “Jonathan!”
“I know!” he fumbles with the gear but switches it to drive and starts driving towards her as well, he had a plan in his head to swerve out of the way just at the nick of them, but he failed to inform the others as he kept getting closer and closer. Steve looked between Jonathan and sister and he couldn’t calm down, he could only think of how bad the collision will have on [F/N]. He was always like this, worrying for his sister than for his own well-being, just like her worrying for Steve rather than herself. Like brother like sister. Neither one of them were slowing down to the point [F/N] was laughing hysterically, changing gears to go fast enough to kill them and quite possibly herself. Well, if she hurt herself it didn’t matter, the Mind Flayer can heal her body no matter how severely injured her body gets.
“Jonathan, what are you doing?!” Will shouts at his brother.
“Relax, I know what I’m doi—” he was cut off when Steve pulls himself out from the back, reaching past Will and Lucas for the handbrake “Steve— what are you doing?!”
“I’m sorry, Jonathan! But you’d honestly do the same.” he pulls the brake up and the car instantly starts to drift, Jonathan tries to regain control while Nancy smacks Steve’s hands off the handbrake but they were too late when [F/N]’s mustang hit the side of their car, luckily. They spin off the road while [F/N] came to a stop in the middle of the road, she didn’t expect that outcome but she was happy that it was in her favor, she guesses Steve doesn’t want to hurt her either. Such a loving little brother.
“I didn’t think things were gonna be this easy, honestly. Even Billy’s having a hard time.” she snickers softly and looks in the rear view mirror, pouting softly when she noticed a small cut on her forehead that was bleeding a little. With a shrug, she swipes her thumb over it and grins when it healed up instantly. Kicking her door open, she steps out then leaned in to grab the axe sitting in her passenger seat and doesn’t bother turning her car off as she starts approaching the other car, throwing the axe over her shoulder and continuously bounced it while whistling a song. Jonathan lets out a groan, clutching his forehead after his head took the force of the airbags that deployed, he really was going to kill Steve later for this, but he couldn’t help but understand what Steve was going through. Not too long ago it was his brother that was under the Mind Flayer’s control and now it’s Steve’s sister that didn’t even know this shit was going on in the first place, oh the irony. He whips his head around when he heard Nancy let out a scream, they all look over to see that it was [F/N] “Yoohoo~ open the door.”
“Fuck no!” Nancy promptly locks the door to emphasise her point but [F/N] just rolled her eyes, pulling her fist back then punching through the door then proceeded the tear it off. Nancy doesn’t hesitate to push herself away from [F/N] just as she leans into the car, her eyes scanning through the many occupants inside but she let out a sigh when she didn’t see the one they were after.
“She’s not here.” she muttered under her breath, probably informing the Mind Flayer that El was still at the mall and not with the others that fled. She was going to leave it at that, the Mind Flayer was calling her back, but those feelings for what Nancy fucking Wheeler did to her brother started to resurface, and that’s where she found herself grabbing Wheeler by her hair and dragging her out of the car.
“Nancy!”
“Nancy, no!” Nancy cries out in pain from the roots of her hair being violently tugged on, the pain gets worse when [F/N] slams the side of her face onto the hood of the car and holds her there.
“[F/N], please… don’t do this. You don’t want to do this.” [F/N] lets out a hum, looking up in thought before nodding her head.
“No, no, that’s where you’re wrong. You have absolutely no idea how much I want to do this; how much I really want to kill you with my own hands.” Nancy starts to tremble, tears swelling up in her eyes when [F/N] raises her free hand that was holding the axe, seeing the dried blood splatter all over the blade and some on the shaft “I’ll pay your little brother a visit after I’m done with you, I’m sure he’ll be happy seeing your decapitated head mounted on a stick.” before she could bring the axe down she’s being pulled back by Jonathan and Steve, Nancy falls to the ground as Robin goes around and tries to pry the axe out of her hands.
“[F/N], please… stop this! This isn’t like you to go this far!” Steve pleads. Steve knew his sister was strong, but right now was just plain ridiculous, it was taking both himself and Jonathan putting their entire weight to keep her from moving but even that wasn’t enough. She lets out an animalistic growl as she lets go off the axe and letting Robin stumble backwards, she throws Steve off next and hunches forward to lift Jonathan off the ground as she grabs his arms that were wrapped around her neck and proceeds to throw him over her, this also causes him to tear her jacket off but she could care less about it. She sets her sights on Robin and doesn’t hesitate to punch her across the face, Steve goes to stand up to reprimand [F/N] again but let out a grunt when she kicked him down and grabbed the axe that she managed to catch. His breath gets caught in his throat as he watched [F/N] swing the axe over her shoulder and it comes down as quickly as it was raised, he wants to raise his arms to shield his face but what can that do? With tears in his eyes, he looks up at his sister with pleading eyes and there— there he saw a flash of color return to her eyes, a flash of regret and confusion when they met his. He saw a glimpse of his sister inside those eyes that were fighting back against the Mind Flayer, but he knew she couldn’t hold it for long but he was grateful for the time given because she redirected the blade aiming for his face into the side of the car. He flinches at the impact, watching as the car rocked back and forth before finally settling down. His sister is now panting above him, staring down at him with a slightly less hostile expression, but he knew she wasn’t herself yet, her eyes were still in a dazed state while her veins were still black “[F/N]…” he whimpers out, all he wants is his sister back.
“S-Stevie…?” she croaks out, he gasps at her voice whispering out to him but soon her face twists in pain. She pulls away, pressing the heels of her hands into her forehead to fight against the aching pain the Mind Flayer was inflicting on her, fighting for dominance within her head and it managed to win because now she was fleeing the scene and back to her car. She did hesitate to leave, her eyes glancing back at the others that were slowly picking themselves off the floor, but she shook her head before driving back to the Starcourt mall. “Welp, that hurt,..” Robin groaned out, holding her cheek as some blood pulled up in her mouth “I can’t believe she hit me.”
“She… she didn’t mean it.” Steve muttered, hand over his chest.
“But I don’t understand.” Robin says rather bitterly “Why didn’t she kill you? She was clearly going to do it, but she stopped at the last second.” Jonathan let out a groan as he pushed himself onto his feet, his hand clutching tightly onto the jacket he tore off her body before he was thrown off.
“Back at the hospital, the Mind Flayer said… it said that Steve was both her weakness and her strength. She got more violent with Nancy and I because of what happened in 83, but once she saw Steve it settled, even if it was for a brief moment.” Steve continued to lay on the ground, his hand instinctively reached up to caress his cheek as memory flashed in his mind. He was remembering back to a time where [F/N] punched him across the face because he was basically screaming at her to punch him, he didn’t expect her to actual do it because she swore that she’d never hurt him, but she did.
“W-Why— why’d you hit me?” he whimpered out, tears being to swell in his eyes as he cradled his swelling check, to which she just sighed while rolling her eyes and placing her hands on her hips.
“You told me to, and besides, you were acting like a shit so you definitely deserved it.” his lip trembled and a small sob escaped his lips, she rolls her eyes again and smacks him in the shoulder “I hope you know that this goes for show that I’ll practically do anything for you, Stevie. But this will be the first and only time I’ll hurt you like this, mmkay? You’ve been acting a little entitled these past few weeks and you needed a little wake up call. Your arrogance will be your undoing one of these days, so don’t let it go to your head. I won’t be around to wake you up next time.” he sniffles, raising his hands to wipe away the falling tears.
“I promise, as long as you promise not to hit me like that again.” she chuckles softly, wiping away his tears.
“I promise. From today, I’ll never hurt you like that ever again, not even if you deserve it.” she starts to laugh when she ruffled his hair and he cried out in horror, screaming at her that she ruined his hair, she just continued to laugh as she ran away from him whilst he screamed bloody murder.
“[F/N]…” he starts tearing up but held them back when a hand was offered to him, he saw that it was Robin wearing [F/N]’s discarded jacket.
“Get up, Harrington. We’re gonna save your sister, and when we do, I’m gonna give her a proper ass whoppin!” driving back to the Starcourt mall they sat in silence, Jonathan breaking all the road laws as he sped down road in the car that was hanging onto its life by a thread. Steve raised his eyes from where he sat and saw Robin digging her face into the fabric of [F/N]’s jacket, he noticed that she was thinking about something because she had a look on her face that was debating whether or not she should speak or not “… she broke up with me.” this caused his body to straighten up, even the others in the car peeked back to listen in on the conversation, rude.
“What do you mean she broke up with you? W-Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” she let out a sigh, blinking back the tears that were slowly swelling up in her eyes.
“I guess it was because of that Mind Flayer, or whatever the fuck that thing is. I think she was in the middle of choosing that things latest meal, because I caught her in an alleyway letting a girl kiss her. It was when I went to go look for the blueprints.” Steve gasps softly at that, so that’s why she looked so dejected when she came back “I couldn’t recognise her, she stared at me with these cold, dead eyes and the way she spoke to me… I felt so scared being there. I wish I knew, I wish I knew she was going through that and then maybe I could’ve helped her. Maybe I wouldn’t have felt so angry at her that she broke up with me, left me in that alleyway all alone— and for what? To protect me? So she wouldn’t have to hurt me ever more than she did by breaking my heart? She even threatened me if I told you, saying you wouldn’t believe me because I’m nothing but your coworker while she’s your sister.” she sniffles to herself, wiping away the tears that fell from her eyes, she spared Steve a look but flinched a little. He now wore a very livid expression, Robin became a really close friend to Steve after he and his sister got together and they became closed after their encounter with the Russian soldiers under the mall, so hearing how his flayed sister threatened and broke up with her pissed him off.
“If you don’t kick her ass, I’ll kick it for you. But first, we’ve got to find her and Billy and free them from the control of the Mind Flayer. Whether you forgive her or not, that’s up to you, but she’s still my sister.” “What about Billy?” “I hope he can forgive me for totalling his camaro.” they stare at each other and laugh weakly, Robin now rested her forward on his shoulder and let her hands dip into the pockets but she hummed in confusion when she felt something. Pulling it out, her breath hitched when she pulled out the photo of the four of them at the fair. Steve felt her body tremble so he looked down and he himself flinched at the photo, seeing that photo almost felt like yesterday. Steve wished he could go back to the time where the other three were clueless about the Upside Down; clueless about the true horrors of Hawkins and that he was the only one who knew the truth. Where his sister was madly in love with his friend, where his boyfriend was in the safety of his arms, where none of this was happening on the first place and that the four of them were having their weekly sleepover at the Harrington household.
Man, what a distant memory.
[starcourt mall]
[F/N] arrives right on time, finding Billy pushing himself off of El just as the Mind Flayer descends from the skylight. El was regaining her consciousness as the blur of the monster slowly registered in her mind, [F/N] wordlessly stands beside Billy and reached over to take his hand into hers. He doesn’t spare her a glance and neither does she, and though they were still under the influence of the monster in front of them, the two of them squeezed each others hand to let each other know that they were still in there. The Mind Flayer is paying the two of them no mind, slowly approaching the small child to devour her, rid the last obstacle in its way, when something blew up in its face. Billy and [F/N] cry out in pain at the blow, sharing the pain with the Mind Flayer, blow after blow Billy and [F/N] grovel to their knees in pain as the Mind Flayer roared at the intruders. [F/N] peeked through his hands and saw the lot she nearly killed had followed quickly after her, how she never noticed them was beyond her, but she was going to finish what she started.
Deal with them.
Finish the job.
Make no mistakes.
“Shut up…” she growled out, managing to push herself onto her feet and towards the escalator to where their unwanted guests were, leaving Billy to watch over El. Of course none of them were expecting to see [F/N] on them, they were all to preoccupied laying waste to the Mind Flayer to notice that she was there. Lucas was the first to suffer at her mercy, the others heard his cry for help and immediately turned to see where he was, watching in shock when they saw [F/N] turn him around and strike him across the face that he fell to the ground after spitting out blood from his mouth,
“Lucas!” next was Will, who was unfortunate to be within arms length because she did not hesitate to raise the axe and hit him with the butt if the axe and knock him unconscious “Will!” Jonathan screams out and was ready to drop everything to help his brother but was stopped when Nancy grabbed his arm, pulling him back and shaking her head.
“No, no! Jonathan, I understand what you’re going through, but no! She will kill your the moment you’re within her grasp, she’s not letting us go this time.” he shakes his head.
“I don’t care! I need to get Will!” he cries out and rips his arm free from Nancy’s hold but stopped when he saw Steve and Robin already rushing over to stop [F/N] from going any further with the children, Nancy grabs his arm again and tugs at it to get his attention.
“Steve and Robin will deal with her, we’ll keep the Mind Flayer distracted, alright? Steve won’t let anything happen to your brother.” speaking of which, the Mind Flayer’s anger was beginning to mix in with her own, anger for the previous host that managed to slip through its grasp. Placing her foot on Will’s chest, she raises the axe up to slam it down but was once again stopped when it was smacked out of her hands, she growls at the perpetrator and saw that it was Robin, who had her hands out in front of her to keep some distance between her and [F/N].
“[F/N], baby, please… it’s me, it’s Robin.” she pleads, she flinches and takes a step back when [F/N] pushed herself off of Will but kicked his unconscious body away to approach Robin “Whatever this thing has done to you; has made you do, I want you to know that this isn’t your fault, none of it is. You’re just as innocent as the next person is, and I want you to know that I… I forgive you. Everything you said in the alleyway, I know you didn’t mean any of it. I want you to know that I still love you, through everything that’s happened, I love you.” Robin felt hopeful when she saw [F/N]’s hardened gaze soften, maybe she was caught up in her delusions of freeing her mind that she reached for her hand, that was her mistake because her hand quickly grabbed a hold of Robin to keep her from moving and with her other hand sucker punched her straight in the gut so hard that she spat out saliva. She didn’t let when Robin gasped out of breath, collapsing to her knees as she hunched over and clutched her stomach.
“I care not for your words, they mean nothing to me. Didn’t I already tell you that?” Robin lets out a sob at her cold words, wishing nothing more than to feel the warmth she once had only for her, but she could only cry out in pain when [F/N] twisted her arm “You’ve lost your chance of staying away, so I hope you’re prepared for the consequences.”
“Hey!” turning her head, she was taken aback when Steve came rushing over and slammed the bottom of a fire extinguisher into her face. She let out a gasp at the sudden blow, letting Robin go as her head was thrown back after the impact, she then raised her hand to cradle her throbbing nose as Steve’s arm dropped due to the weight of the extinguisher “You need to stop this madness, [F/N], I beg of you. I need you back, I need my big sister back!” he takes a step back when she growled at him but her face screwed up in pain once more, a mixture from getting hit with a fire extinguisher, the fireworks the Mind Flayer was getting hit with, but also [F/N] fighting for dominance over her mind once more.
He’s lying to you.
He doesn’t need you.
You don’t need him.
“Please, let’s just go home. With Robin and Billy, we’ll go home and watch movies like we used to. Talk about how much we hate our parents, how much we hate Hawkins and how we’ll leave as soon as Robin and Billy graduate. We’ll be together, like we always have. Just you, and me.” [F/N) groans out in pain, shaking her head as she slapped her hands against her forehead to quell all the madness that was going on “Just come back to me, my big sister.” Steve takes a step forward, reaching for her but gasped when she punched him in the face.
“Shut up!” she screamed at him, she struggled to stay standing whilst clutching her throbbing head.
Destroy him.
Annihilate him.
Murder him.
Kill him.
Steve couldn’t remember what happened next, first he was struggling to keep himself standing, the next thing he knew he was barely clinging to consciousness as he laid on his back while he suffered continuous blows to his face. [F/N] was currently on top of him, screaming at the top of her lungs as she punched him left and right, holding nothing back as she delivered blow after blow. At this right she was definitely going to kill him, but she just couldn’t stop herself, this time not pulling her punches and putting all her strength into each one. She saw him weakly reach out to her but she merely smacked his hand away then grab him by the collars of his shirt to pull him forward, reeling her head back to slam her forehead into the bridge of his nose. Blood gurgled in his throat and he was questioning why he was still conscious, wishing nothing more then for this continuous chain of pain to end, but he knew his sister was in a lot more pain. Weakly opening his eyes, he saw the pain in her eyes as she unwillingly hurt her sweet little brother that used to cry at the drop of a hat, so he reached for her once more when she held him up by his shirt as her other hand was pulled back.
“We… we were kids.” she furrowed her brows in confusion, what nonsense was he spouting out now? “We were k-kids and you were tea— teaching me to ride my bike. I wouldn’t stop crying, and you were making f-fun of me. You promised you’d be with me every… every step of the way. You never broke that promise, [F/N]; never. Even when you were gone, you made sure to write letters. Even when I s-said I hated you, you were still there.” his trembling hand managed to reach her face, gently cupping her cheek and caressing it with his thumb, her face softened and she leaned into the touch, a single tear running down her cheek “I love you, [F/N]…” his hand finally dropped to his side just as [F/N] took a deep breath, closing her eyes to reminiscent on every good memory she had of Steve, slowly but surely the black veins disappeared and the voice that screamed in her head grew silent. She blinked her eyes a few times in confusion, leaning backwards and looking around to see where exactly she was before finally looking down, and there her eyes widened in horror.
“Steve… Steve!” she screams at the top of her lungs, the tears swelling in her eyes falling freely down her cheeks. She hurriedly jumps off of him and lifts his weakened body into her lap, cradling his body into her arms while rocking back and forward “No, no, no, no, no! I didn’t mean to hurt you, I-I’m so sorry! I tried— I tried so hard to keep myself away from you, to stop myself from hurting you, but I’ve gone and broken my promise to you! I’m sorry, I’m sorry…!” she kept apologising over and over, but she just felt sick to her stomach. She couldn’t look at herself anymore, she couldn’t even look at her hands knowing that she was beating her brother that she swore she’d never hurt anymore. It hurt even more knowing that she hurt the love of her life, breaking her heart to keep her safe but then she hurt her when she was trying to save her from the monster that plagued her mind.
“[F/N]…” she gasped, looking down at her brother and saw that he was reaching for her again, she doesn’t hesitate to take his hand into hers and caress it, nuzzling the side of her face into it “You’re back…?” she chuckles weakly, nodding her head as she smiled weakly at him.
“Yes… yes, it’s me. It’s your big sister, who loves you very much.” he smiles at her but it breaks her heart seeing him looking up at her, face beaten and bleeding as his eyes were barely able to open “Will you ever forgive me?” he chuckles, closing his eyes and feeling his body relax under hers.
“What a foolish question, I’ll always f-forgive you…” she hunches over his body, her own trembling as her tears fell onto his body. A sob leaves her lips but her attention was torn off his body when she heard a loud roar, recognising it, she turned her head towards it and it widened at the sight of the Mind Flayer, her gaze soon hardened in rage at the mere sight of it. This fucking piece of shit was the cause of it all, for her and Billy hurting people, kidnapping people, killing people… her breaking up with Robin, and her hurting both Robin and Steve. She’ll never forgive it, she’ll never forget what it’s done to her and Billy, all because they were foolish enough to not go home and stayed out longer. Steve let out a confused noise when his head was lifted off of her lap, he watched as she picked up the fallen axe and at first he was worried she was back under the control of the Mind Flayer, but her gaze was trained on the Mind Flayer instead of anyone else “[F-F/N]…?” she breaks out into a running start then proceeds to step onto the railing and over it, raising the axe over her head then swings it down on the Mind Flayer.
“[F/N]?!” Billy, who was also free from the Mind Flayer’s control, shouts in surprise. Billy was holding one of the tentacles back that was aiming to kill El, pushing it back with everything he head, when [F/N] jumped off from the upper levels screaming and swinging the axe into the Mind Flayer’s body.
“You fucking piece of shit!” she yells, ripping the blade out of its gooey flesh then swung it down again “You made me hurt my brother! You made me break up with my girlfriend! You made me hurt so many people, and all for what?! Because you couldn’t make your own body?! You rat sack son of a bitch!” [F/N] knew what she was doing was stupid, that what she was doing was going to get her killed, but she really couldn’t care at all. She wanted to pay for what she’s done, why should she get off scot free? She wanted punishment, retribution for her actions “The only ending you’ll get is with your death!” she knew her actions would lead to her downfall, that what she was doing was meaningless, because the Mind Flayer easily threw her off and she landed on the ground with a thud. The next thing she knew was that one of the many tentacles surrounding the monster pierced her body, she slowly looked down and coughed up blood seeing the many teeth sink into her chest.
“Billy!” she hears a scream, turning her head, she sees that Billy has been met with the same fate. Pain runs throughout her body when several more of that things tentacles pierce through her body until it finally let her go, her body collapsing for she had no more strength left to keep her up. This was it, she was going to die alone knowing that she hurt her brother and her girlfriend— her ex? She didn’t know, all she knew was that she was going to die without making it up to the two people she loved the most, especially now that she was leaving her little brother alone. She coughs up more blood as she turns her head, noticing that Billy was still kicking so with what little strength she still had, she pushed herself onto her stomach and started dragging herself over to where he was laying. Finally reaching him, she pushes herself up then collapsed onto him, he looked down at her and saw she was crying.
“I won’t let you… die alone.” she muttered weakly, reaching her hand to rest on his cheek “I won’t leave you alone.” in turn for this final act of gentle affection, he raises his own hand to take her hand into his and the two of them stare into each other’s eyes.
“Why didn’t you leave me…?” he asked her, questioning what sanity she had for going back and saving him. She wouldn’t have had to suffer everything if she just abandoned him, he was used to it anyways, but she just gave him the best smile she could muster.
“Because… I wanted to see yours and Stevie’s wedding.” he stared at her but it did manage to crack a smile onto his face, and that was enough for the both of them.
“You’re stupid.”
“Maybe I am.” Steve was being helped down to the lower levels by Nancy and Jonathan, Robin following closely behind as the immense pain in her stomach still hadn’t settled, and Steve couldn’t properly walk on his own after the continuous blows he took to the face and head. They finally made it to the ground level and Steve looks over to see where Max was, crying in El’s arms, he looks where she was collapsed and his heart immediately dropped into his stomach at what he saw.
“No… no, no, no!” he cries out, Robin follows his gaze and herself saw both Billy and [F/N]’s motionless bodies that continued to bleed out “[F/N]! Billy! Please, god, no!” Steve thrashed in Nancy and Jonathan’s hood until they finally let him go, he fell to his knees but he scrambled to his feet and rushed over to their bodies. His hands trembled over their bodies, the tears in his eyes falling onto them “Please, no. Not like this, please. You can’t leave me, you can’t leave me alone…! You promised to be by my side, you promised!” his trembling hands reached to cup their faces and his face fell when they felt cold under his touch, god, this was really happening. Robin fell to her knees by his side, shaking her head at the sight of [F/N]’s lifeless body, she couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. She doesn’t hesitate to throw her arms around Steve’s body, squeezing him tightly and the two of them cried together knowing that they both lost somebody they loved.
But at least the two that did die, died in each other’s arms smiling.
Ocean
word count: 4880
Fandom: MCYT Pairing: SBI Family x Brother!Orca!Reader Pronouns: He/Him Relationship: Familial Occupation: Pirate Captain Ability: Orca Hybrid
The character is that of a orca hybrid, allowing them to have traits of a orca. They have abnormal strength and speed with keen senses of hearing and sight, making their eyes and ears almost sensitive to anything. They are also granted with an abnormal height and the gift to shapeshift from a human/normal form to a more monstrous form. Both in and out of their full form, they are granted excellent swimming abilities.
Keys:
[M/N]: Male Name [S/C]: Skin Color [H/C]: Hair Color [E/C]: Eye Color [U/N]: Username
Warnings: vulgar language, violence.
got this idea after reading this story by @sunflowerdaisybee of their SBI x sibling!reader, go check out their story because I liked it very much.
might make a part two, might not.
that is all.
“Full bore into the abyss!”
“Are you mad?!”
The captain of the ship that was sailing through a terrible storm let out a wild laugh as thunder boomed and lightning crashed from behind him, his crewmembers were hurrying themselves across the deck to prevent the ship from possibly capsizing from the terrible weather all because their captain was just too damn stubborn to go around the storm and instead went through it. This group of individuals was not your average group of ruffians, this was a group of pirates that was overrun with ocean type hybrids! Not a single one was a human, and the captain of this pirate crew was an orca.
The Killer Whale: [M/N]! This individual was wanted throughout the entire ocean for his countless crimes against the laws of the sea. Piracy, smuggling, arson, murder, impersonating an officer, sailing under false colors, kidnapping, looting, brigandage, pilfering, depravity, depredation, general lawlessness, and those are the few that he can remember. He was the reckless kind that would not hesitate to take matters into his own hands to get the results that he wants or needed, but he was also smart enough to know not to do anything too foolish. His crew was always his number one priority before anything else, he thought of them as another family; one that he had not left behind to live the life he wanted on the ocean.
This man was crazy and he just loved the ocean, it always made him feel free, he wondered if this is how his father felt whenever he would fly in the sky away from the ground. That’s why he loved the thrill of sailing through storms, that thrill of the waves crashing against his beloved ship, it always got his blood pumping whenever the rain poured down on him and that slightly fear of their ship not making it through made it all the more exciting. This man was an orca hybrid, a more than enough reason as to why people dubbed him the Killer Whale, but that’s beside the point. [M/N] was constantly in his full orca form. In his human form, he is about 7″2ft; his half human/half orca is about 8″0ft; his full form is 8″8ft, so this man is already gigantic from the beginning.
“Hah!” turning towards the crewmate that shouted at him, he gave them a toothy grin as his hold on the wheel tightened so he wouldn’t lose the ship to the ocean waves “You afraid to get wet?” a few other crewmates groan, when he spoke like that, there was no talking sense into their captain. He laughed once more at the state of his crew as soon as they were out of the storm, they were all exhausted from their battle against mother nature and had practically passed out on the deck as soon as they hit clear waters and skies.
“Captain... can we please rest now?” he huffed, running a hand over the smooth skin of his head and nodded.
“Well, alright. We’ve done enough sailing, why don’t you drop the anchor so we can rest up tonight?” he rolled his eyes at the sound of loud cheering “You bunch of sea guppies, we’re all creatures of the sea! What’s there to be afraid of is we do capsize?”
“We lose all the treasure we accumulated over our countless adventures.” this caused [M/N] to pause, looking up in thought before nodding his head.
“Heh, now that’s a good reason, matey.” he laced his fingers together, cracking them over his head as he turned on his heels and started making his way to his quarters, passing by his vice-captain to give him some orders “You’re in charge while I go rest up myself, call me if anything happens.”
“Yes captain.” he clicked his tongue with winking before finally leaving, he let out a sigh while stretching his arms then collapsed onto his chair in front of his desk. He then kicks his feet onto the said desk while popping the cork of a bottle of wine and taking a couple swigs from the alcoholic beverage, he hums to himself as the liquid ran down his throat while some slipped between his lips and ran down his jaw. Licking his lips, he sniffles to himself as he looked around his personal room and smirked to himself, never in a million years would he have thought he would make a name as infamous as his own.
“I really should pay the old man a visit.” he leans back once more, an arm hanging back as he takes another swig of the wine before pausing while letting out a hum at the sound of a bird.
*CAW*
*CAW*
“Hmm?” pulling his head up, he raised a brow at the sight of a crow landing on his foot “Now what’s a bird-like yourself doing out in the middle of the ocean with nowhere to land for miles?” he lifts his leg slightly and there he saw a letter of sorts strapped to its leg, his face lit up as he moved his leg so that it was closer to towards him so that the crow could perch itself on his hand. He set the bottle of wine down to caress the side of its head, humming softly when it leaned into the affectionate gesture. He soon removed the letter off of its leg and then proceeded to move it so that it was perched on his shoulder, with that, he opened the letter and read through the contents.
"Dear [M/N],
It’s been a long time, hasn't it? I won't take up too much of your time since you're probably very busy, being the captain of an infamous pirate crew, so I'll make this quick.
You left the house at a rather young age so you probably haven't met your brothers. That's right, you have three younger siblings! Adoptive, I know, though one of them actually is my biological son while the other two I picked up just like you.
I thought that if you're near the SMP, you could swing by and I could introduce you to them. I mentioned that they had an elder brother that was a pirate and they were more than excited to meet you. I hope you could meet them as well, but I won't pressure you to stop your adventures to meet them.
I'll see you when I see you.
Yours truly, Philza."
“Hmph, it’s almost as if he’s reading my mind.” he muttered to himself but ultimately felt excited after reading the letter, brothers? Philza picked up more kids and dubbed them his sons, now that was exciting to hear after a few months of no letters. He opens a drawer and drops the letter into the half-full drawer of letters from his father, he closes it then pulls out a blank paper, a quill and some ink to write his response. He reads it over before nodding his head and closing it, sealing it in an envelope then wax sealing it with a symbol of his pirate crew “Make sure this letter gets back to my dad, I’m counting on you.” he snickers softly when the crow salutes before flying off.
‘Brothers, huh? I wonder what they’re like.’ he thinks back to his childhood with Philza and laughs to himself, he remembered how much of a handful he was for the already old man. He always loved being near the ocean, whether it be because he’s an oceanic hybrid or not, it was always so refreshing to be in the water than out of it. Philza wasn’t that big of a fan because of his wings so to compromise, he would pick him up and fly to a good enough height then drop him from a said height into the water for a big splash. Thinking back to his childhood brought a smile to his lips, he nods his head and stands to his feet and makes his way to the main deck where his crewmembers were casually talking while doing their assigned chores.
“Hear me, men!” he shouts, this caused them all to look over at him, raising a brow when they saw the bright smile on his face “Tomorrow, we set sail for the SMP! I have a certain someone waiting to see his son.” they all share glances at each other after the short announcement.
“We’re heading to land?”
“Then that means...”
“Party time!” he laughs at the conclusion, that was true. Whenever they did visit any island, that would always mean they head to the closest tavern to party for the rest of their stay there and relax until [M/N] decided they leave. He shook his head when they immediately raised the anchor while their navigator took to the wheel so they could head to the SMP ASAP, well, at least they weren’t wasting any time.
[with the sbi family]
“Dear old man,
It sure has been a long time, so imagine my surprise after you blessed me with the news of me having brothers. I’m very excited to meet the boys you have failed to mention in the previous letters, were you planning on surprising me or did you forget?
You must be getting really old if you did forget, and you wonder why I call you old man, old man. That’s beside the point, I’d be more than happy to drop everything just to see you and my new brothers. Don’t ever think that you’re giving me trouble just for a visit, I’ve been meaning to visit you anyways.
I don’t know exactly when I’ll arrive at the SMP, but knowing my crew, they’ll make it a top priority just to get to an island to relax after weeks of being on the ocean waters. We’ll be docked at the same place we always stay at whenever we come to visit.
See you soon.
Your favorite son, [M/N].”
“Pft, bold of him to assume he’s my favorite.” he muttered under his breath after reading the reply from his eldest son, his crow returned from [M/N] with a satisfied look on its face. Philza was excited to see the response and was thrilled when he read that [M/N] was quite literally dropping everything just to meet the brothers he had mentioned in the letter. Speaking of which, he hadn’t meant to mention [M/N] around his three sons, it was an accidental slip of the tongue and the three boys demanded to meet [M/N].
“Was that from the pirate?” Technoblade, the now second eldest who was a piglin hybrid, asked him as he rested his arms on the armrest while his head laid on top of his arms “Did he say he was coming?” Philza chuckled softly as he nodded his head, raising his hand to rest on top of his head.
“It was, and his name is [M/N].”
[M/N]: his eldest son that he accidentally picked up when he was sailing through a storm because god forbid he fly through it. The young orca was a stowaway in a crate of food that was likely abandoned or lost by his own family, so with nowhere to call home, he took the young calf as his own and raised him to the man he is today.
Wilbur: the second and biological son to Philza, a human child that bared more of a resemblance to his mother, the love of Philza’s life Kristin (Samsung Fridge) who’s love for music and theatre. Though he was quiet on certain occasions, the older man adored his son for bringing back the boisterous atmosphere after his eldest son left the home.
Technoblade: the third son, he found this young piglin hybrid alone in the nether with nothing more than the clothes on his back. He was probably the same age as Wilbur, he also thought Wilbur could use a brother since his eldest was gone and Wilbur looked lonely. Making sure that Technoblade wasn’t missing or anything, he brought the young boy home and raised him alongside his other son.
Tommy: his fourth and youngest son was randomly dropped off in front of his home with no letter or any sign left of the boy’s parents, but it was startling how similar this young child shared an appearance like himself. He probably wouldn’t have brought Tommy if it weren’t for the fact that both Wilbur and Technoblade were excited to get a younger sibling, so he thought, why the hell not and closed the door behind him with Tommy in his arms.
“When is he going to get here, dad?” Wilbur asked, popping his head beside Technoblade.
“He isn’t coming directly to the house, so we’re going to him at the dock.” he let out an oof when Tommy threw himself onto Philza’s lap, a bright look on his face as he stared up at his father.
“So we’re going to see his ship? A real pirate ship?”
“That’s right, if you’re good enough, he might just let you aboard.” he chuckled when all three of them let out cheers of excitement, but himself was just as excited as his sons to see [M/N] again. How long has it been exactly since he last saw [M/N]? Several years, perhaps? He was seven when he first picked him up and he raised him to about seventeen years old before he left, Wilbur was born three years later and he’s currently eight... eleven years? That sounds about right.
“How old is he now, dad?” Wilbur asked.
“Hmm, if I do the math right, he should be about... twenty-eight?” Tommy makes a face.
“Old.” Technoblade and Wilbur snort, Philza just chuckled with a shake of his head and decided to tell them all the stories of the infamous pirate Killer Whale and all his adventures across the sea. When he finally got the letter that [M/N] arrived at the SMP and decided that he and his crew were staying for a couple days up to a week, he informed his youngest three and watching them scurry around to get ready was one of the funniest things to see.
“Is he as scary as you made him out to be?” Tommy asked.
“Well, I say it’s like a character he has to play. He’s known as a ruthless killer of the sea, but he’s actually quite a big softy. Hah, he would often play with other sea life whenever we would go out swimming and sometimes he would cry at the sight of turtles being harassed by zombies. He gets very embarrassed whenever I bring it up.”
“Will he like us?” Technoblade asks “He’s twenty years older than us, don’t you think he’ll find it odd to have brothers that’s two decades younger than him?” Philza just shook his head.
“Not really. Family is family in his eyes. He told me that his ragtag crew of pirates are the family he couldn’t bring with him when he started his adventure. They range from a variety of different ages, different species, you name it! Whether you’re children or not, he’ll still consider you his brothers.” he was relieved when that was enough to reassure Technoblade, to which the young boy nodded his head as he reached forward to take Philza’s hand, Wilbur noticed this and took his other hand whilst Tommy sat a top the shoulders of their father.
“Hurry up dad, I really want to meet him!” Tommy shouted, he laughs to himself when he was then being dragged to the docks by Wilbur and Technoblade, who were just as enthusiastic as their youngest brother. They now stood in front of tavern that was bustling with noises that ranged from shouting, screaming and singing...? Can that noise really be considered singing? Philza takes a deep breath and goes to enter but quickly stepped to the side, pulling his sons with him, when a barrel flew through the doors and crashed into the wall behind them.
...
...
“I’m having second thoughts.” Technoblade says after hearing loud cheering come from inside the tavern after the barrel came flying through the doors.
“Oh, don’t worry about it. I promise, he’ll tone it down when he sees you guys.” he put Tommy down and made sure he was close to his brothers, he takes a deep breath as he approached the doors before finally pushing them open and entering the tavern. Technoblade, Wilbur and Tommy held onto the end of Philza’s haori and they were all blown away that the tavern was filled to the brim of oceanic hybrids that were partying like there was no tomorrow. They paid the family no mind as they continued to sing sea shanties while cheering on the two big hybrids that were drinking ale from barrels.
“Chug, chug, chug, chug!” the crew chanted wildly, one of the two collapsed to the ground, the barrel spilling ale everywhere for they weren’t able to finish it. The latter continued to drink and when he finished he let out a loud breath then slammed the now empty barrel to the ground before letting out a loud cheer, throwing his fist in the air with a wide grin.
“You’re a few years too early to challenge I to a drink off, mate.”
“That’s the captain for you!”
“Him and that bottomless stomach of his!” [M/N] gave a toothy grin, snickering to himself when his vice captain came up to him and wrapped their arm around his shoulder, he goes to continue to drink but was stopped at the call of his name.
“[M/N]!” he turned his head and his eyes widened slightly at the sight of the blonde man, Philza flinched slightly when all eyes were on him and was having second thoughts, he soon let out a grunt when [M/N] came rushing over to him with his arms wide open.
“Dad!” he exclaimed before kneeling down to wrap his arms around Philza and bringing him into a hug, his dorsal fin and fluke wagging as he embraced his father after so long “It’s so nice to finally see you after all these years!” he adds as he pulls away but still had a hold on him, snickering softly when Philza’s feet couldn’t touch the ground.
“It’s good to see you too, [M/N]. I missed you.” [M/N]’s fluke tail continued to wag, a few of [M/N]’s crewmates whistle at the sight.
“Wow, so that’s the man that raised captain [M/N]?”
“He really is a bird hybrid?”
“Is he a crow?”
“I’ve never seen a bird hybrid up close.” the blonde man started patting [M/N] on the shoulder to gain his attention and when he got it, he gave him a nervous smile.
“There’s still a few people I need you to meet.” at that, his face lit up once more and he moved Philza to the side and there he saw the three children that had to be his brothers. The tallest of the three had short pink hair that looked like it was growing with skin that was a lighter shade of pink than his hair, a paper crown sat a top his head as he wore a simple white button up, trousers and boots. The second was a boy with curly brown hair and matching brown eyes, he wore a bright yellow sweater with blue jeans and shoes. The smallest of the three had bright blonde hair that matched his-- their father along with the blue eyes, he wore a simple white shirt with red sleeves, shorts and sho-- wait a damn minute, where are his shoes? “[M/N], these are the brothers I mentioned in the letter. Meet Wilbur, Technoblade and Tommy. Boys, meet [M/N].” said man hurriedly put Philza down and gave the three young children and friendly smile.
“Hello, it’s great to finally meet you three. I hope we can get along.” [M/N] felt a bead of sweat roll down his cheek when the three only stared up at him in silence, then Tommy burst into tears “Wha-- what?” he paled, ignoring the way his crew were laughing as he tried to comfort the crying boy.
“Wow, you made them cry.”
“Some brother you are.”
“So scary.” his crew booked a private room so that Philza can usher the boys in to calm them down, to which the older two stood in the hallway, though, Philza was looking down at [M/N] as he was hunched over in a corner and drawing circles into the ground.
“Am I really that scary?” this question got him a smack across the head.
“You’re literally a killer whale, [M/N]. You’re huge with an intimidating aura surrounding you.” this caused him to continue sulking “If you don’t want to scare them, especially Tommy, why don’t you look like a human?” this caused [M/N] to flinch at the suggestion.
“Human?” he stood up and looked into his reflection through the mirror and pulled a face, placing a hand on his cheek “I don’t remember the last time I adorned the appearance of a human, my whole pirating life revolved around me being an orca.” Philza shrugged as he looked into the mirror with him.
“Well, it’s either that or you live with them fearing you.”
“Now that’s just mean.” he shrugs.
“But you and I both know that it’s true.” [M/N] exhaled through his noses and looked at his reflection once more, dangit. Wilbur and Technoblade were whispering sweet nothings into Tommy’s ear to soothe him, to which he had calmed down from his crying.
“I didn’t expect him to be that big.”
“I didn’t expect Tommy to cry.” Wilbur then looked down at him “Didn’t you say that you were a big man, Tommy?” the five year old only sniffled.
“I am a b-big man!” they all flinch, to which Tommy let out a yelp, when there was a knock at the door. They relaxed when they saw that it was only their father, however, he was briefly talking to someone from behind the door before shuffling inside.
“Come on, don’t be getting shy now.”
“I feel weird.” it was [M/N]’s voice, but it sounded different compared to earlier. Philza waved his hand and so [M/N]’s let out a sigh and finally entered the room, causing the three children to stare in slightly shock at his different appearance. Instead of the body of an orca with legs, [M/N] now looked completely human with pale skin and black markings where an orca’s skin was black. He still had an abnormal height but at least it wasn’t overwhelming like before, he had short messy [H/C] hair with deep [E/C] eyes. The clothes he wore looked a little looser and baggy compared to when he was an orca, I guess that was because his muscles were more apparent when he was an animal. As a human, he also had many tattoos of islands that he must have visited along with a few flowers, feathers and a compass, his ears were pierced as well and he had a black crow feather hanging along the side of his face from his hair “There, you happy?” he said as he looked at his father, placing his hands on his hips while leaning his weight onto his foot.
“Very, you look just as handsome as the day you left.” this comment raise heat to rush to his pale skin, Philza then clapped his hands as he looked at the other three children “Boys, this is [M/N]’s human form, I hope it’s less scary.”
“You’re making me look bad.” [M/N] nervously rubbed the back of his neck as his eyes averted from the three small children, he takes a deep breath before approaching them and kneeling down, making sure he didn’t get too close so they wouldn’t feel uncomfortable “I’m sorry if I’ve made you three nervous, I didn’t mean to. I haven’t exactly interacted with young children in a long time, but I really want to make this work because this is the first time I’ve had brothers this young before. I’ll stay like this to make sure you guys are comfortable around me, how does that sound?” he believed that Wilbur and Technoblade could handle it, but he was more worried about Tommy, the poor boy cried on sight. He waited nervously and eagerly for his response, swallow thickly as the blonde boy peered over the shoulders of his older brothers shielding him from the stranger.
“... did those hurt?” was the first thing Tommy said, [M/N] didn’t understand the question until he noticed where Tommy was looking, he glanced down while raising his hand and saw that he was staring at the few scars along his chest that were peeking from under his shirt.
“Huh? These? Psh, with the adrenaline pumping, it barely hurt. What hurt was getting the damned thing all stitched up.” he then raised his arm “Wanna see the scar I got after getting harpooned?” Philza stood in the background, a happy smile gracing his lips that [M/N] managed to get the boys to settle down and marvel at works of art all over his body along with the scars left behind the countless battles he’s had over the years. It made him happy that, despite the initial introduction, Tommy now sat snug in his lap while Wilbur and Technoblade sat beside him as he pointed at each of his tattoos and the meanings behind them.
‘I’m glad they’re getting along, I guess I was worried for nothing.’
Headcanon:
[m/n] spoke with his brother’s for hours, recalling another one of his tales, that he hadn’t realized that the noise from inside the bar had died down whilst his own father was leaning against his back as he fell asleep.
he probably would have moved them to the couch if it weren’t for the fact that even the three young boys had fallen asleep on him.
he was in a predicament.
fuck it-- he might as well just sleep on the floor with them.
the morning was great because he was cuddled up with his brothers along with his father.
it wasn’t so great for his crew because they were all groaning in pain from the hangovers from the excessive drinking.
he threw water of them to wake them up and told them to stop bitching.
when the three boys were awake, he brought them aboard his ship and showed them around.
them and his crew were more than excited to show the children around, however, they too had to look like humans as to not overwhelm and startle children.
they were rewarded with booze.
when [m/n] had to set sail again, tommy burst into tears once more because he wanted [m/n] to stay.
why couldn’t he stay?
did he not like them?
quite the opposite really.
he was a wanted man, and the longer he stayed in a certain area, the faster the government authorities got to capturing his band of crazies.
wilbur and technoblade were just as upset because they wouldn’t get to see or hear all his epic tales and spend time with his crew.
[m/n], however, promised to visit more often and send letters to hear from them.
he even promised to send or bring them souvenirs from his adventures, giving them something to look forward too.
when asked why he couldn’t just stay longer, his answer was the fact that his story still hadn’t found its ending just yet and was still being told and written.
the next time he did drop by he had a few new tattoos that signified his brotherhood to them and represented each brother.
a lute for wilbur, a cutlass sword for technoblade, and an infinity sign for tommy.
tommy thought the infinity sign looked dumb.
when told that it was his limitless brotherly love for him, he had second thoughts.
though he tried not to make it blatantly obvious, to which he failed at it, tommy was without a doubt his favorite brother.
he promised the three brothers, that if they were ever to call him in need of his aid, he would not hesitate to drop everything just to come and help them in dire need.
he was their elder brother, and he was going to make up for his absence for not being there for them when they were growing up.
Savory
word count: 7225
Fandom: IRL!MCYT Pairing: Quackity x Male!Reader Pronouns: He/Him Relationship: Romantic Occupation: Baker Ability: N/A
Keys:
[M/N]: Male Name [H/C]: Hair Color [E/C]: Eye Color [D/N]: Dog Name
Warnings: cringey
I like making my oc’s and even readers really tall, fight me.
this is hella gay and it hurts my brain because I rushed it.
that is all.
Dammit.
That was the only thought going throughout Quackity’s mind as he ran along the streets, why you may ask. Simple really, it’s because he lost his gorgeous pet cat, Tiger. Sure, he knew that Tiger was quite adventurous and most certainly feisty, but never would have thought that Tiger would run off so suddenly as he did, he immediately sprung into action and fled his house in search of his dear sweet pet cat.
“Tiger! Oh please, where did you go? Tiger!” he called out rather frantically, soon enough, worry started to arise when countless scenarios started playing throughout his head. What if Tiger got hit by a car? What if Tiger got mauled by another animal? What if someone took his cat?! Now the panic was starting to kick in and he was searching in a more frantic manner, running up and down the footpath while continuously calling out his cat’s name. When everything seemed dire, he heard the sound of soft laughter, he turned his head and he couldn’t help but freeze up at the sight before.
He wasn’t really one to act as flustered as he did at the very moment with his outgoing and flamboyant personality, but he really couldn’t help it at what was before him. He also had to agree that George had the pretty privilege and was most certainly gorgeous, but this guy took the cake. Short/Long [H/C] hair with strikingly bold [E/C] eyes, even from a fair he could tell that this rather attractive male had quite a broad and muscular body and that smile that graced his face that caused a slight tint of red to dust his cheeks as he played with a cat. Wait-- cat? He took a closer look and his eyes widened in a mixture of relief and shock at the sight of Tiger curled up beneath this man, showing his underside so he could scratch his belly.
“Hey! That’s my cat!” he shouts as he rushes over, this sudden commotion caused the man to stop petting Tiger and raise his head to turn over to where Quackity was currently rushing over, he nearly stumbled over his own footing when his [E/C]’s landed on him.
“Oh? I’m sorry.” he apologized, he tried standing to his feet but laughed when Tiger launched himself forward and clung onto the shirt of the stranger, who laugh as he held Tiger close so he couldn’t fall, laughing even more when the cat curled up in his arms and started purring when he started scratching under his chin “I didn’t know he was yours, kind of distracted me when he was sprawled all over the footpath.” Quackity returned the kind smile with a rather nervous one, rubbing the back of his neck when he realized just how tall the man in front of him was, probably about 6″3-4ft tall.
“It’s no problem. Thought I lost him, I’m just glad he’s alright.” the stranger nods his head and watched as the shorter one of the two reached forward to take his cat back, now it was Quackity’s turn to laugh when he saw how much trouble the stranger was having giving his cat back. When Tiger felt the man was no longer going to hold him, he started letting out meows while clinging onto his shirt, crying out louder when Quackity tried taking him back “I am so sorry.” the stranger just shakes his head.
“Oh, not at all. For some reason, animals tend to love me. I grew up with a lot of pets and my folks call me the animal whisperer with how much our pets loved me.” a couple minutes went by and Quackity wasn’t able to get Tiger to let go of the attractive stranger so he let out a sigh, hands pressing against the lower side of his back as he stared at his cat that soon climbed out of his arms and was now resting on his shoulders.
“I really am sorry about him, he’s not usually like this.” he only hummed, reaching up and scratching under his chin once more.
“He’s a real cutie he is.” he then offers his hand to the shorter man, polite smile on his face “I’m [M/N] by the way, thought you’d want to know.” Quackity’s eyes perked up at that and took his hand.
“Um, my name is Alexis! But people call me Alex.” he nods his head before pointing at the cat “Oh, his name is Tiger.” [M/N]’s eyes lit up at what he said.
“Tiger? Aw, such a cute name.” he cooed.
“Do you have any pets?” his eyes lit up once more.
“Of course.” he then turned his head, raising his hand and bringing his fingers to his lips before letting out a sharp whistle “[D/N], come!” he shouts, Quackity turned his head to where [M/N] was looking at was startled at the sight of a merle great dane barreling over to where they were standing. [M/N] laughs as he grabs Tiger and raises him above his head when his dog tackled him to the ground, he let out an oof as his body landed on the ground with a thud but he still continued to hold Tiger above him so he wouldn’t get trampled by his dog
“This is my great dane [D/N]!”
“He’s quite big.” [M/N] rolls his eyes as Quackity took his chance to finally take Tiger out of [M/N]’s hands without him fighting back.
“Of course he’s big, he’s a great dane my guy!” he exclaimed, Quackity knelt down and set Tiger down and he was rather thankful that his little furry companion decided to loiter around him, he laughed when [M/N]’s dog started licking his face but he managed to push his face away to get a breather “See? Animals love me.” he nods.
“Sure, I’ll believe that when I see you start talking to birds.” he pursed his lips at the thought.
“Don’t tempt me.” when his great dane managed to settle down, he rolled his neck and rubbed his back after taking the full impact of his weight and his dog’s, he then noticed [D/N] nuzzling his snout into Quackity’s thigh and he hummed softly “He likes you.”
“Eh? Really?” Quackity’s face flushes once more when [M/N] gave him a gentle smile as he nodded his head, scratching his dog behind the ears.
“What’s unique is that [D/N] is usually so defensive around strangers, but he’s taken a liking to you.”
“R-Right.” the two of them continued to chatter, though they moved locations to a nearby bench so that they weren’t sitting in the middle of the footpath and out of the way of walking pedestrians, and they were overall enjoying each other’s company. [D/N]’s head was resting on [M/N]’s thigh as he nuzzled close into his owner’s side while Tiger nestled silently in Quackity’s lap, the latter calmly patting his cat as it slept. The two of them hadn’t even realized how long they were talking for until they saw the street lights beginning to turn on as the day turned into night, [M/N] gave Quackity an apologetic look as he stood to his feet, gently patting his dog’s head after the abrupt action.
“Oh! I’m sorry for taking up so much of your time.” now it was Quackity’s turn to stand up, being more careful as he held Tiger in his arms.
“No, no! Not at all, I actually enjoyed this afternoon.” he then looks to the side, his nervousness beginning to crawl up the back of his neck “I was also kind of hoping we could talk again.” [M/N] blinked at the request before smiling softly, he pulled out a pen from his wallet to pull out an old receipt and scribbled something down on the back of it, he tore off the needed part before scrunching up the waste and handing the other part to him.
“Call me when you’re free, yeah? Then I’ll know when I’m not taking up your time when you’re busy.” he then waves his hand to bid the other goodbye before walking off with [D/N] by his side, yipping and barking while jumping side to side then following his owner home. Quackity continued to stand there like a fool before letting out a long groan, the soft blush on his cheeks continuing to grow as his hand tightened into a fist, accidentally crumbling [M/N]’s phone number.
“Dammit.”
Quackity was soon looking forward to having conversations with [M/N], he most certainly had the best humor when it came to the entire Dream SMP, but [M/N] was just so goddamn comedic there would be hours where the two of them are just talking while making jokes. It soon became a competition between the two of them to see who could make the other laugh first or the most, so far Quackity was the reigning champion between them but [M/N] wasn’t too far behind. Currently, Quackity was laying in his bed with his phone beside his head and there he was chuckling softly at the sound of [M/N]’s boisterous laughter sounding from his phone’s speaker.
”Come on, that joke was funny!” [M/N] cried out, he snorted to himself when he could tell that [M/N] was clutching his stomach as he continued to laugh, to which he only shook his head.
“I see that I am the ultimate victor when it comes to comedy since now you’ve resorted to dad jokes and puns in order to get me to laugh.” the latter snorts, wiping away a tear that shed.
”Dad jokes and puns are funny.” Quackity rolls his eyes, rolling onto his side so that he was facing his phone, smiling softly as [M/N]’s icon shun whenever he spoke, the light illuminating his darkroom.
“It depends on what joke.”
”Alright, I have another one for you!” Quackity shook his head once more, resting his cheek onto his closed fist as he closed his eyes, waiting for [M/N] to tell his terrible joke ”Why couldn’t the pirate finish the alphabet?” he hummed, genuinely trying to answer the joke but his mind came to a blank, maybe because it was the sound of [M/N] trying to stifle his laughter at the terrible joke.
“I don’t know, why?”
”Be... because he got lost at C!” it wasn’t the fact that it was the joke that made him laugh, it was the sound of [M/N]’s laughter that made him smile, maybe also the sound of a thud coming from his side of the line, he probably fell off wherever he was sitting because of how hard he was laughing “It’s such a terrible joke but it’s just so funny!” he exclaims, sniffling a little before taking deep breaths to calm himself.
“You have such terrible humor.”
”I do not!” they then both started laughing, soon the laughter died down and the two of them sat in their respective rooms in silence. It wasn’t an awkward silence, it was rather comfortable and the two of them basked in the silence as they listened to the sound of each other breathing softly. [M/N] closed his eyes as he leaned back in the chair he was resting on, he glanced at the time and noticed that it was already past midnight, he grimaced to himself and leans forward to apologize to Quackity but paused when he heard the soft sound of his snoring. His gaze softened a little as he stared down at his phone, he then chuckled softly as he picked up his phone and raised it to his lips “Sweet dreams, Alexis.”
[time skip: a few days later]
Quackity had gotten rather busy lately, with all his assignments from school and late-night streaming, he hadn’t really been able to converse with [M/N] overcall but rather having a few short conversations through text, but that was that. [M/N] also had his own things he had to take care of so he wasn’t necessarily that distraught when he would politely decline hanging out, a man’s gotta do to live, you know? He was now walking down the busy streets of California with no clear destination in mind, just a simple stroll and stopping here and there while casually listening to music blaring through his earphones.
’Hmm, I could really go for something sweet right now.’ he thought to himself, pursing his lips before taking a seat on a nearby bench, pulling his phone out, and thinking about [M/N] ’He did mention that he was in the food industry, maybe he might know a place or two.’ he shrugs his shoulders before scrolling through his contacts, pressing on [M/N]’s icon before letting it ring.
...
...
“Hello? [M/N] speaking, to whom am I speaking with?” he chuckled softly at the sing-song voice [M/N] used as he answered the phone, already knowing that the man on the other side of the phone knew exactly who it was.
“It’s the one and only.” the man on the other line perked up immediately at the sound of his voice.
”Alexis! Haha, what can I do for you? And not to be rude, I hope you can be a little quick, I’m kind of in the middle of work.” Quackity immediately felt bad for calling now knowing that his friend was in the middle of something.
“Oh, I am so sorry! I can call ba--”
”No, it’s fine, really!” [M/N]’s voice was sincere as he spoke, he couldn’t help but be a little flustered that he would take up his time just to talk to him over something so small, god, he felt embarrassed right now ”Now why did you call me? Is something the matter?” yeah, he was feeling really embarrassed now, he pressed a hand onto his face before looking to the side.
“No, it’s nothing major.” he groans to himself, throwing his head back “I was just feeling like eating something sweet right now and thought you could recommend someplace to eat.” his face flushed a shade of red when all he earned from the other male was silence.
”... hmm, where are you right now? Are you at home?” he shakes his head, before he could answer he heard [M/N] let out an oh ”Hold that thought.” he furrows his brows when he hung up, he let out a huff.
“Wow, rude much.” he sat there for a minute or two then perked up when he heard his phone ping, pulling it out, he saw that it was from him.
From: [M/N] To: Alexis
look up.
“Look up?” he then heard tapping so he raised his head before jumping on the spot at the sight of [M/N], when he finally spotted him, he smiled softly and waved his hand to greet him. Before [M/N] ended the call, he looked at the window of the building he was in, and to his surprise, he saw Quackity sitting on the bench outside, quite the coincidence. He soon waved his hand to gesture for him to enter, and how could he refuse the opportunity to see his friend. He soon realized that the building he entered was a bakery of sorts that also served as a café, it felt very homey and it put his mind to ease, he then looked over the counter and saw his friend waving at him with a bright smile.
“Hello, I humbly welcome you to my café that produces baked goods of all kinds. Whether they’re the generic cupcake or brownies, or French pastries like Canelé or Crème Brûlée. You’ll find what you want here.”
“Wow, really? You own this place?” [M/N] huffs.
“Did you really just ignore everything I just said?” Quackity raises his hand, snorting a little at the offended look [M/N] was giving him.
“Well, what kind of reaction do you want me to give you? Do you want me to say “oh my god! You see all sorts of desserts for my fatass to eat? Wow, you’re a life savior!” no, but it is pretty cool.” he starts to laugh when [M/N] has him an unamused.
“Damn, alright.” he waves at his employees to take care of the other customers while he personally dealt with Quackity, he leaned against the glass case and smiled softly at him “Well, what can I get you sir? Is there anything appealing that you want?” he looks at the assortment of desserts before raising his head to look at [M/N], he thought for a minute before a devious smirk worked its way to his face.
“These all look certainly appealing, but,” [M/N] raised a brow in question when Quackity snapped his fingers then winked at him “the most delectable one I see is you.” [M/N]’s eyes widened slightly at the poor pick-up line, but that didn’t stop the slight pink flushing to the tips of his ears, Quackity thought he got him until he gave an answer.
“Unfortunately for you sir, I am not on the menu.” he gives a smirk of his own, leaning forward so that he was a few inches away from his face “I am a delicacy few can afford, so it’d be smart of you to choose wisely sir.” he giggles to himself when it was Quackity’s turn to be flustered, pursing his lips and turning his head away to hide the blush spreading across his cheeks.
“Okay... that was smooth.” he grins.
“Thank you. Now seriously, what do you want?” he went for the safe route and went for a Mexican Pan Dulce, one that would hit home, he had been missing Mexican cuisine so eating it again would definitely be nice. [M/N] shows him to a seat then sits with him, he stated he was on break so it should be fine to catch up a little “So how have you been? We haven’t been able to talk as of lately because we’ve both been busy, how’s your streaming been?” Quackity told him about his Twitch and YouTube channel a few weeks into their friendship and told him he could call him by his channel name but the latter was quite insistent on just calling him Alexis, saying that if he didn’t have a cool name to go by, they’ll both be addressed by their boring names.
“Well, walking into your café just reminded me what I wanted to do for a new video.” he quirked a brow, raising his cup of coffee to his lips, waiting for him to lay his new content idea on him “I wanted to do a cooking stream.” [M/N] claps his hands.
“How delightful, I’ll make sure to watch and make small comments on what you’re doing.” Quackity pursed his lips at the way he said it, he didn’t know if he was saying that to be nice or to poke fun at him.
“Well, since I now know your knowledge of cooking is quite out there, I was wondering if you would like to be a special guest on my cooking stream?” his eyes widened slightly once more at the suggestion, he then furrows his brows slightly.
“Alexis, cooking, and baking are two completely different things. To simplify, cooking is the broader category of food preparation methods, while baking is one of those methods. Cooking can be done a number of ways, while baking requires the use of indirect, dry heat from an oven to prepare food for eating.“ he pulled a face when he knew Quackity wasn’t listening to his explanation.
“... then it’ll be a baking stream!” [M/N] only shook his head with a sigh, but he laughed nonetheless “You don’t have to agree if you don’t want to, but we both know that I’ll fuck up everything without the proper supervision.” he watched as the [H/C] male lean back in his seat, rolling his fingers against the tabletop before shrugging his shoulders.
“Meh, sure, why not?” Quackity cheers “But it’ll cost yah.” he deflates.
“What?!” he then snorts.
“I’m pulling your leg.” they both hear a whistle so [M/N] glances over and saw one of his employees, they gesture to the clock so he glances down at his watch and pouts “Pity, it seems my break is already over. I was hoping to talk a bit more with you, but alas.”
“I’ll tell you when I’m planning on having my stream.” he nods.
“I’ll see you then, Alexis.” he winks before leaving to get back to work, he hums to himself, leaning back in his seat before munching on the pan dulce, now beginning to look forward to his next stream.”
[day of the stream]
“Pizza? I thought we were baking.” [M/N] said softly, putting down his bag and gently greeting Tiger as he entered Quackity’s humble abode, he also brought [D/N] and promised that his dog wouldn’t be too much trouble. He pursed his lips as he watched Quackity sit up in his kitchen before turning around to face him, tutting his finger.
“Pizza is a type of bread so bake is the correct term, however, you look at it.” he laughs when he saw the other roll his eyes, continuing to pet Tiger.
“Well, I’m sorry. I’m just used to baking sweet things, not savory, but I do know how to make a pizza.” he hums to himself when Quackity clapped his hands, a bright smile on his face. [M/N] watched silently as Quackity set up his PC and the camera, directing it to where they would be baking the pizza, he brought an extra pair of clothes just in case things got messy, he had watched a couple of Quackity’s videos and saw just how chaotic he was, but he was hilarious nonetheless.
“I’m almost ready setting up, oh! Here’s an apron.” [M/N] let out a laugh when he chucked it at him, he pulled it off his face before standing up and putting it on, tying the laces around his waist before pulling his hair back, making sure that flour wouldn’t be able to get in his hair.
“Is there anything you want me to do specifically, or no?” he hums at the question before shaking his head, giving him a smile and a thumbs up.
“Just be yourself.” he hummed at that, Quackity did tell him to wait, he was going to start his stream and greet his chat first before introducing them to his guest. Watching him was quite entertaining, seeing how he was able to hype his chat up to what he had in store for them, snorting to himself when he heard him claim how he was a “professional chef”, he shook his head at that. Quackity noticed this and spared him a knowing glance before looking back towards the camera, he rambled for a couple more minutes before clapping his hands “As you’ve already read in the title of the stream, we have a special guest that will be joining us today and helping us! Isn’t that exciting?” he glances at his PC to see the chat going crazy.
”Who is it?”
“Did you meet up with someone?”
“Karl?”
“A guest!”
“Alright, alright, calm down. He’s a friend of mine and he isn’t really a streamer or content creator, just your average joe.” [M/N] looked at him.
“Hey!” he shouts, this caused Quackity to throw his head back while laughing, he pats his chest to calm himself before throwing his arm out in the direction where [M/N] was sitting.
“Come on in, my friend! Come and introduce yourself to the chat.” he shook his head before getting up from where he saw sitting and walking into the camera shot, having to bend down slightly because the camera was pointing down at an angle that could fit Quackity and not himself.
“Hello~ I am the guest, my name is [M/N]. Nice to meet you all.” both himself and Quackity were blown away at how fast the chat was spamming messages and even donations, [M/N]’s eyes scanning them as fast as he could to read what they were saying.
“Awooga!”
“Sexy voice!”
“Gorgeous!”
“Tall hunk!”
”Wow, I believe your chat likes me.” he mumbles to himself, a soft blush rising to his cheeks as he continued to read the continuous compliments coming from the dozens of viewers, he then perked up when someone sent a donation.
ur_mom donated $5
Damn quackity, your friend lookin hella fine, if you know what I mean? he single?
“Um, yes? I am single, but I’m not exactly looking for a relationship with a minor, please and thank you.” now the chat was roasting the hell out of the person who sent the dono, he laughs once more before glancing down at Quackity who had an offended look “Oh, come on now, don’t tell me you’re jealous that your viewers find me more attractive than you?” he scoffs, pushing him back with a laugh.
“Hell no! Looks isn’t everything, skill is key and I’ll demonstrate that through our cooking stream!” [M/N] pulls a face, placing a hand on his hip and leaning on his side.
“I literally own a bakery, I bake for a living. That’s the whole reason you invited me, remember?” they stood in silence for a couple seconds before Quackity pushes [M/N] away by his face and faces the camera once more.
“Today we will be making a pizza!” the chat begin to laugh when [M/N] swatted his hand away and gave him an offended look.
“Oi!” for the first half of the stream, [M/N] was practically stopping Quackity from harming himself, being floored when the man literally put his finger into boiling water to check if it was warm enough, he was surprised he hadn’t burned down his kitchen for how reckless he was.
“Alexis, I’m literally getting a headache with what you’re doing.” he says as he watched him mix the two cups of water and the yeast with a spatula all because he didn’t have a mixer, he slaps a hand onto his forehead when he then saw him pick it up and sniff the mix before coughing and gagging at the smell “I’m going to smack the shit outta you if you don’t stop that nonsense, boy.” Quackity laughs as he looks up at him.
“I know what you’re doing!”
“Mm hmm.” he then taps his shoulder.
“Then, I’ll leave this to you while I go prepare the flour.” he only sighs in response to that, taking the measuring cup of water and yeast and stirring it with a whisk instead, gagging himself at that smell that was coming from it “Where’s the bowl? Who the fuck stole my bowl?!” [M/N] only sighed as he shook his head, glancing over his shoulder.
“Look in your cupboards, Alexis, you didn’t pull any other bowls out.” he lets out an ah at that before crouching down and rummaging through his cupboards to look for a bowl, [M/N] squints at the abomination he was mixing, adding some more yeast in it just as Quackity returned with a bowl.
“Alright, we got the bow here.” he glances down at it and sighs, he changes his gaze to Quackity.
“That’s a strainer, not a bowl, keep looking.” he looks down at it before laughing, throwing it away and searching for a bowl once more, when he couldn’t find one he left the room calling for his mother and asking her where a bowl was, only later to return with one in hand.
“Ah! It was right in front of me.” he cheered, he then leaves once more to grab flour, showing it to the camera “Gluten free flour!”
“Gluten free? Damn.” Quackity smacks him in the arm before proceeding to look into the packet, opening it up and attempting to pour it into the bowl, [M/N] then looks up in thought before putting the measuring bowl to the side.
“What kind of yeast did you use again?” he asked, taking the box of yeast and reading through it.
“Vegan yeast.” he grimaces once more as he reads through it, he then glanced back at him.
“You do know that nutritional yeast is deactivated and will not rise, right?” just as he said that, a dono saying what he saw popped up.
...
...
“Anyways-” [M/N] closed his eyes, Quackity only laughed at his response before resuming the stream. Most of the time it’d be [M/N] pointing things out and giving detailed instructions on how to properly make the pizza, he had to admit, he knew he was nitpicking everything Quackity was doing, but he genuinely couldn’t help it when his main profession involved baking, but the latter didn’t mind whatsoever.
kazterboro cheered! x500
Can we get one flour handprint on that crisp black shirt?
“Goodness gracious.” [M/N] murmured softly, he eyed Quackity and grimaced slightly when he noticed that he was genuinely considering it.
“I’ll think about it.”
“Don’t think about it, flour is a hassle to get out of clothes until they are washed, I would know from experience, Alexis.” this only earned him a roll of the eyes as he mixed the flour with salt and yeast as he removed any cooking equipment from the counter that they won’t be needing anymore into the sink when the mixture turned into a dough and they were in the process of kneading it into its shape. [M/N] didn’t think much time went by when he turned away but by the time he returned, he saw Quackity had two flour handprints on his chest and they weren’t going away “... you better wash your hands with soap before you touch that dough.” he sulks but nods his head.
“Right.” he sighs with a laugh before rolling his sleeves up.
“I’ll knead the dough until you’ve finished, yeah? Shouldn’t take me too long.”
“Right, but I want to knead it too.” he nods before getting to work, Quackity was surprised because by the time he turned back around he saw that [M/N] had already kneaded the dough enough to the point he was able to spin it around on one hand while tossing it into the air before catching it spinning it around in one hand once more “What the hell? Barely a minute has passed and you’re already doing that?” [M/N] grins.
“My skill never fails to bring out the best in what I make.” Quackity continued to stare at him before reaching forward.
“Gimme a try.” he raised a brow.
“Sure you’re up for the task?” he waves his hand.
“Psh, how hard can it be?” this only earned him a quirked brow before [M/N] handed him the dough, five seconds later the dough he threw up and landed on his head. The two of them stood in silence before [M/N] burst out into laughter at how funny that was, he wiped away a tear before reaching forward and grabbing the edges of the dough, and lifting it up to take a peek at Quackity. There, he saw his face was a slight shade of red due to the fact that he made himself look even more foolish and he was avoiding his gaze.
“Now that was funny.” he says, he removes the dough from off of his head and chuckled when he noticed that his face was covered in flour “Perhaps you should leave this to me, huh?” Quackity did not like the mocking tone [M/N] was giving him so he removed his headphones off his head and let them hang on the microphone, he then took the dough from him and placed it down before grabbing a fistful of flour. He let out a gasp when Quackity threw the flour at his face, [M/N] coughed when he inhaled it before sneezing and waving his hand in the air to clear his vision.
“Not so funny now, is it.” [M/N] raised his head and stared down at him.
“Oh, it’s on.” the chat went wild as they watch the two grown men start throwing flour at each other and making a whole mess in the kitchen, laughing as they did and not even caring that they were going to have to clean it up in the end. They hadn’t known how much time and gone but [M/N] stopped to catch his breath, maybe it was the amount of flour in the air that caused him to start coughing or how much he was laughing, he stopped paying attention really. He took a step forward but paused when his foot slipped on the pile of flour beneath his foot, he panicked and reached forward, grabbing hold of Quackity but ultimately, they both collapsed to the ground “Ah... sorry.”
“No, no. We both should have seen this coming.” look down, Quackity froze up when he realized just how close he was to [M/N]. Pushing himself up, he realized that his hands were on either side of [M/N]’s head and his chest was pressed against his chest and his face was ridiculously close to his, he shuddered a little when he felt [M/N]’s hands gripping his thighs a little.
“Alexis?” when he opened his eyes, they both started to blush at the awkward position they were in, even more so when [M/N] tried to lift his head but that would result in them touching noses “Uh...” they laid there for a good couple seconds, wordlessly staring into each other’s eyes but they finally moved when [D/N] trotted over to them and licked Quackity’s face.
’Thank you [D/N] for breaking that awkward moment!’ Quackity screamed in his head before pushing himself completely off of [M/N] and waving his hand towards the camera, the chat spamming him about what happened.
“Sorry about that! Just a little mishap, that’s all!” [D/N] even graced the audience with his presence by jumping up and his front paws were on the counter, Quackity continued the next part of the stream while [M/N] continued to lay on the floor, face bright red but hidden as he covered his face with his hands.
’He was too close.’
[time skip: a few hours later]
[M/N] was currently in Quackity’s shower and he was having one of those deep shower thoughts running through his mind as he washed his body and hair of the flour that got on him when they had that little flour fight and when he collapsed to the grou-- he let out a silent shriek as he slapped his hands onto his face, face turning red once more as he remembered the feeling of Quackity on top of him as his hands tightly gripped his thighs... damn, his thighs were pretty thi--
“Stop!” he shouts as he slaps himself across the face, letting out a groan as he let his hands drag his face down. Quackity sat in his living room feeling refreshed by flustered himself, Tiger resting along his shoulders while [D/N] was resting his head on his lap. They finished the stream rather smoothly despite the little bit of tension in the air, but they didn’t let that get in their way from creating the abomination they called a pizza, [M/N] refusing to eat it in fear of getting food poisoning from their creation. He offered to clean the kitchen while Quackity had a shower first, insisting that it would be alright for him to do so, he let his head lean back but was mindful of Tiger.
“Dammit, stupid feelings. Why the hell do I feel like a school girl in those TV shows?” he muttered to himself before throwing his head forward, inwardly apologizing when both pets pulled away at the abrupt movement. His hands were pressed against his cheeks as he remembered the feeling of his thighs in [M/N]’s hands, the feeling of his breath fanning against his face along with the way his eyes didn’t seem to waver as they stared at each other “God am I gay...”
“You’re what?” he shot up and whipped his head to the point he was surprised he didn’t neck himself with how fast he moved, there he saw [M/N] in different clothes, towel hanging from his shoulders as his body steamed a little from the long hot shower “I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing, good for you.” Quackity stood to his feet, face red once again as he shook his hands and head.
“No, no, no! No, I-I’m not-- no, I don’t-- dammit!” he shouts, slapping a hand to his forehead “You know how I am with the jokes, I’m was kidding... I’m no--.” he lets out a groan as he sits back down, head in his hands as he tried to calm himself, god he was having such a gay panic that he wanted to die. [M/N] took a seat beside him, keeping a distance to ensure that the other was comfortable and whether or not he should touch him or not comfort him.
“I understand, I guess I just misunderstood what you were saying, there’s no need to panic.” they sat in a comfortable silence until Quackity raised his head, eyes hesitating to meet his.
“... are we gonna talk about what happened?” a soft blush flushed onto his cheeks.
“What do you want to talk about? Did I make you feel uncomfortable?” he shook his head.
“No! Not at all, honestly, I just wasn’t expecting it.” he raised his hands and pulled his beanie off his head, running a hand through his hair before messing with it “If I’m being honest, it was pretty gay.” [M/N] stared at him, he snorts before bursting into laughter.
“Yeah, I guess it was pretty gay.” they both share a laugh before staring at each other, Quackity gasped softly when he noticed [M/N]’s hand was slowly inching towards his, stopping just a couple inches away as he raised his gaze to look at him. He was silently asking him if it was alright, he didn’t need a verbal response when he laced their fingers together before bringing their hands up so they could both see how Quackity held his much larger hand in his own. He caressed the male’s hand with his thumb, reveling in the feeling of his soft/rough palm against his own.
“This is very gay.” he nods.
“It is.” [M/N] pulls him slightly until they were close again, not attempting to hide how flustered he was getting, he gave Quackity’s hand a light squeeze as he stared at him with a soft and gentle gaze “Do you mind if I...?”
“Make it even gayer?” the latter rolled his eyes but nodded his head, Quackity didn’t have the voice to answer him so he meekly nodded his head. Now that he had the go-to, [M/N] raised his other hand to gently cup his cheek, reassuringly caressing his thumb into his cheek before leaning forward and pressing a soft kiss to his lips. When he pulled away, he saw Quackity was shaking softly, eyes screwed shut as his face now resembled that of a tomato... hell, maybe even brighter.
“I hope this shows you how much I like you, Alexis.” he said softly, to which the other hesitantly opened his eyes and saw the look of pure love swirling in his eyes, he let out a soft groan as he covered his face with his forearm and turned away.
“Dammit... stop messing with my feelings like that.” [M/N] only let out a chuckle, tightening his hold on his hand when he felt him try and take it back.
“So, do you accept my feelings?” he let his eyes peek from over his forearm and saw how he was waiting for an answer like a puppy, he tried to be stern with his answer but his voice betrayed him with how nervous he was.
“Y-Yes, I do.” he cursed himself that he stuttered, but the other found it quite cute as a wide smile spread across his face as he let out a cheer, throwing his arms up then wrapping them around his smaller frame and pulling him into a hug.
“You really have no idea what this means for me...!” he whispers softly, face buried deep in his shoulder. Quackity glanced up at him before slowly wrapping his arms around him to return the gesture, the heat never disappearing as the beating of his heart continued thumping aggressively against his chest. [M/N] pulled away and gave him an eager look before pulling him into a much deeper kiss this time, pouring all his heart and soul into it so Quackity can feel just how in love he was with him, he was gasping for air by the time he pulled him away as a string of saliva was what was connecting them together.
“Now that was gay...” he said softly, out of breath, [M/N] snorted at that before resting his forehead against his head.
“Yeah, but you’re gay for me.”
Headcanon:
when they start dating, [m/n] is fine that quackity doesn’t want to reveal his relationship to his viewers or friends just yet, it was quite understandable and waited patiently until he was more comfortable.
quackity usually doesn’t hesitate to express how he’s feeling, but he just feels so much more flustered when he’s around [m/n] and he’s usually the one that gets embarrassed when [m/n] showers him in love.
[m/n] definitely bakes food and has quackity taste test them to see if they’re alright or not.
bake nights. they have bake nights sometime during the week and it usually ends with them being covered in flour or some sort of batter.
this usually ends with them showering together.
quackity is the little spoon, without a doubt.
he enjoys feeling [m/n]’s arms wrapped around him and keeping him close, he’s actually quite warm and he enjoys the warmth coming from him to the point that he clings to him like a koala.
[m/n] makes little appearances here and there during quackity’s streams, his viewers have come to enjoy seeing him show up randomly during his streams.
[m/n] also checks up on him, handing him food and water and makes sure he’s alright and looking after himself. making him tea or something else warm to drink from all the screaming he’s doing.
the other twitch streamers also like [m/n] a lot, not only was his funny that he was a perfect match for quackity’s comedy, he was just so goddamn gorgeous that they were jealous that quackity had a front row seat to see him.
sometimes quackity gets jealous with how the chat keep flirting with his lover, the same going for [m/n] when they say something quite provocative.
but nonetheless, they both know that comments like those mean nothing to them.
their relationship was their little secret until quackity decides that this fine hunk of meat was all his, and his alone.
he was yours, and you were his.
Support
word count: 6453
Fandom: FNAF Security Breach Pairing: N/A x Female!Reader Pronouns: She/Her Relationship: N/A Occupation: Mechanic Ability: N/A
Keys:
[F/N]: Female Name [L/N]: Last Name [N/N]: Nickname [H/C]: Hair Color [E/C]: Eye Color
Warnings: spoilers to those who haven’t seen fnaf sb.
"You hired me, a person who majored in Mechanical Engineering, to repair damages around the Pizza Plex and the occasional animatronics when they’re damaged?” [F/N] questioned, hands tucked into the pockets of her overalls as she looked at the people who hired her “I better be getting paid good money for this, because this is not what I signed up for.” one of her few employers laughed, throwing their head back before placing a hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry about it. You’ll be getting paid your share, you’ll even get bonus’ for everything you fix around the Pizza Plex.” she raised a brow at that, they smirked when they piqued her interest “Everything involving the job should be in the contract that you signed, but we are also not responsible for any harm that comes your way as you work here, mmkay?” she gave them a look.
“What is that supposed to mean?” she questions, only to be ignored when they walked over to their desk to grab something, she lets out a sigh, head hanging low before looking up and crossing her arms “So all I need is to keep the machines in tip top condition and fix anything that needs a little fixing? That’s it?” they nod their head.
“Oh, and if we need you to do anything else, we’ll call for you.” they let out a small cheer when they managed to find what they were looking for and so they handed it to her “That’s a high leveled security badge, don’t lose it now, because that’s the only thing that gives you access to the entire property.” they explain, she nods her head before proceeding to put it into one of the many pockets within her utility belt.
“Am I mainly going to be stationed within Parts and Service?” they nod their head, grabbing a clipboard and reading through it.
“Uh huh. You’re free to roam around the Pizza Plex, but when you’re needed somewhere or you need to return to Parts and Service, we’ll send you a notification on your Faz Watch.” at the mention of that, [F/N] glanced down at the watch and looked at the many things it had to offer.
“Hmm, cool.” she muttered to herself as she clicked on a few things.
“What you need to know about each bots and how to fix them should be in Parts and Service, give them a read when you have to the time, okay?” she nods her head “Alright, for now, go introduce yourself to a few of the animatronics and Officer Vanessa.” she looked back at them.
“Officer Vanessa?” they nod.
“Mm, one of the few human security guards.”
“Ah.” she was then promptly pushed out of the office, she rolled her shoulders before glancing down at her Faz Watch once more and walked off in the direction of where the elevators were, she pushes the button to stop at a floor before going on a small venture to find the Green Rooms of the Glamrock Band. She now looks around in confusion when she somehow found herself in the main lobby instead, she lets out a long sigh “Fucking dammit, this map is hard to read.”
“Need a hand?” raising her head, she was met with a woman who looked just as equally tired as she was, she wore a simple uniform of a white dress shirt with black buttons, shoulder pads and a badge on the left side of her shirt, a pair of black jeans and a cap that said SECURITY on it that sat upon her blonde hair that was tied in a ponytail, even her green eyes looked tired “You must be the new mechanic?” she jokingly salutes.
“And you’re Officer Vanessa.” she shrugs her shoulders.
“That’s me.” she offers her a hand and they shake hands “The name’s Vanessa A, you can call me Vanessa, or whatever you want. I work as a Security Guard for the Pizza Plex.” [F/N] does the OK gesture with her hand before placing a hand on her chest.
“[F/N] [L/N], and I work as a mechanic.” Vanessa nods her head before waving her hand to gesture for the other to follow her.
“I can only assume you’re looking for the animatronics, so I’ll help introduce you.” [F/N] grins as she follows her new workmate.
“Thanks a lot, Ness!” she cheers, Vanessa rolls her eyes but secretly smiled at the nickname. [F/N] followed closely behind Vanessa as she led her to where the Glamrock Gang were being held, asking questions here and there about each animatronic and what their functions were “Oh! I heard that bear and chicken were the original ones during the early stages of the franchise, right? Freddy and Chica, right? The other two were... Bonnie and Foxy?” she nods.
“Wow, you still remember that stuff?” she chuckles to herself, rubbing the back of her head.
“Heh, you could say I was a bit of a fan when I was younger, but it’s been so long since I’ve last been here that I’m surprise I still remember.”
“Then you must be living in a dream that you’re finally working within your favorite franchise.” [F/N] hums at that, a soft smile appearing on her face.
“Right.” Vanessa nods her head and left it at that.
“Welp, here we are.” Vanessa starts, entering the lobby that led to each of the Glamrock’s Green Rooms “Welcome to Rockstar Row. It starts with Freddy Fazbear, Roxanne Wolf, Montgomery Gator then lastly Glamrock Chica.” [F/N] nods her head, looking around in awe at everything within Rockstar Row.
“Radical.” Vanessa narrows her eyes at the woman, did she just-- she shook her head before raising her wrist up so she could press a button on her own Faz Watch, calling the animatronics in the area to come to them.
“If you ever need to find the animatronics or need them to come to you, just push this button on the Faz Watch and they’ll come straight to you.” she was going to question that but paused when she heard loud thumping, things even started to shake, turning her towards the room, she let out a startled shriek when the four animatronics came barreling towards them.
“Holy shit!” she shouts, Vanessa waves her hands.
“You get used to it.” a bead of sweat bled down the side of her face at that.
“Huh?”
“Officer Vanessa.” raising her head, the person who spoke was the iconic Glamrock Freddy, the face of Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizza Plex, despite being a machine, he gave the two of them a warm smile “What seems to be the issue if you called us all here?” Vanessa waved her hand before gesturing to [F/N], who stood rather awkwardly beside Vanessa.
“I just need you to meet the new mechanic, introduce yourself newbie.” said woman pouted at that before giving the four animatronics a wave.
“Hey, [F/N] [L/N], at your service. Ready to fix you or upgrade you when the time comes, I’m there when you need me or I’m just hanging around in Parts and Service.” Freddy smiles once more before taking his hat off to her and nodding his head.
“Hello, [F/N]. I am Glamrock Freddy, but you probably already knew that, didn’t you?” Freddy says, voice sounding playful, he then lets out a whoa when he was pushed to the side by Chica, who beamed down at [F/N] with a bright smile.
“I’m Glamrock Chica, so lovely to meet you!” she straightens her posture as she continued to wave her hand towards the newest employee, Roxanne was next, crossing her arms while throwing her hair over her shoulder.
“Roxanne Wolf, and don’t you forget it.” she growls when Monty pulls her back, [F/N] leaning backwards when the alligator leaned in close, a big grin along his face while baring his teeth.
“The name’s Montgomery Gator, and you’ll probably be seeing me a lot.” [F/N] glances over at Vanessa as Freddy grabs Monty by his shoulders and pulls him away from her.
“What does he mean by that?” Roxy answers that question before Vanessa could even open her mouth.
“Because Monty is the most destructive out of us all, especially when he has his temper tantrums.” Monty growls at Roxy, who snickers to herself from behind Chica, who got in between the two of them before Monty could get his hands on her, Freddy was behind Monty and holding him back from doing anything brash, Vanessa just exhales loudly.
“I’d say he’s just overly emotional, but they all are, he’s just more physically violent.” she explains “But he’s actually a really chill guy, just try not to agitate him, okay?” [F/N] gives her a thumbs up.
“Got it.” she bids the four animatronics goodbye, following Vanessa out of Rockstar Row to Parts and Service “Aren’t there a few other animatronics?” the blonde nods her head.
“Mm hmm, the Daycare Attendant that resides in the Daycare, if you couldn’t already guess, and DJ Music Man, or DJMM for short, who’s booth is within the Fazcade. He’s the biggest animatronic within the Pizza Plex, but he’s actually a really nice guy, so don’t mind his size.” she nods her head.
“Mmkay, I’ll take your word for it.” the journey to Parts and Service was a short one, but it was calm as the two walked in silence “I guess this is my stop.” [F/N] murmured to herself as she stopped right in front of the door that was labeled PARTS AND Service, Vanessa looks at her and nods her head.
“I guess so.” she rubs the back of her head before pointing at her Faz Watch “If you ever need anything, you can contact me on the Faz Watch or your walkie talkie, either works.” she salutes her once more.
“Righto, Officer Ness.” Vanessa couldn’t help but chuckle at that, she salutes her back.
“Then I’ll see you around, Mechanic [N/N].” both women laugh before Vanessa finally left to do her duties, [F/N] lets out a deep sigh before entering her new “office” that she’ll probably be forced to confide in majority of her time working there. She pulls a face at the dark room that looked all gloomy and boring, she lets out a groan as he body slumped while she threw her head back.
“What a dumpster fire.”
[a few weeks later]
“The lights have been going off in the Daycare at random times then from their set times?” a few weeks into her new job and she’s already wishing she was in a coma because at least she would get some decent sleep, her sleep schedule had gone and fucked off within the first week of working as the Mega Pizza Plex’s new mechanic, having worked hours without a clear schedule and having to come in whenever they gave her a call. Parts and Service had practically become her second home at this rate, she cleaned the place up and added a few things here and there to make it more lively, at least it didn’t look like she was in an abandoned laboratory.
True to their words, Monty was the animatronic that came into Parts and Service more often compared to the others. Majority of the time his claws or arms would be busted from the time he would lose his temper, sometimes he would overheat and he would short circuit and she would need to cool him down while repairing his claws from the damages done by the constant beating they got whenever he lost his temper. It got to the point that she had to upgrade them herself and add a few extra details to stop Monty from damaging them to the point they wouldn’t be recognizable. But his constant visits meant they had plenty of time to get along and talk about whatever comes to either of their minds, sometimes the gator would bring his guitar just so he could play a couple songs to her and ask for her opinion. In return, [F/N] would bring her record player and old records and have different songs play as she worked on Monty and later ask which song he liked most from each album.
Freddy would come and visit [F/N] just to simply talk and keep her company, [F/N] would take that opportunity to do some weekly check ups and to see if his system was in order, having been told by her higher ups that since he was the face of the entire Pizzeria and one of the most popular animatronics, he needed to be handled with extra care and that she couldn’t fuck up no matter what. Freddy was always in great condition and the most she would do with him was update his system while also giving his shell a good clean, other than that, they two of them would often have nice chats.
Roxy was something, alright. The first time she came into Parts and Service was when an accident happened on her raceway and she had to come and get herself fixed; cleaned up, per say, because she was a total wreck. [F/N] sweat dropped when the wolf was crying oil from her eyes, wailing how she looked like a disaster and that if she didn’t look the best nobody was going to like. This leads to [F/N] giving her eyes an upgrade and practically giving the wolf a complete makeover, she wiped the oil off her forehead with a rag and watched the way Roxy marveled at her look within a mirror. From then on, Roxy wolf visit [F/N] for a preen up and talk about anything that annoyed her that day or just to watch her as [F/N] worked on other things.
Her and Chica was a little funny. Chica reminded [F/N] of one of those fitness instructors from those old T.V shows, and it showed by the way Chica spoke like one of the motivational speakers whenever [F/N] worked, The chicken was also a sweetheart because she would bring [F/N] food and water to keep her steady and hydrated, she scolded the woman when she saw her bring a bottle of alcohol and energy drinks into Parts and Service just to down the bottles, saying that it was to keep her from falling asleep. Chica’s maintenance would be just deep cleaning, she was told that Chica would sometimes glitch out and each from the trash or food in general, cleaning her stomach cavity was a nightmare because it was absolute filthy. She never told the girl, because she thought that it would make her cry, so she keeps that to herself as she works.
Now her relationship with Vanessa, it was a good one. Vanessa leaned towards a quiet and stern personality, while [F/N] was a bit more relaxed and carefree, but they got along quite nicely. [F/N] was already friendly with the woman and knowing how she preferred being in her own personal space, she respected that and would visit her after informing the security guard through their Faz Watch’s. The two of them would have simple and subtle conversations whenever they were together and only when Vanessa has had her wake up call would be when she’s more expressive and less dead inside, it’s quite funny, honestly. Other than that, the rare moments Vanessa would visit [F/N] in Parts and Service would be the blonde woman reveling in the workshop as [F/N] worked on repairs and whatnots in absolute silence just to simple calm herself and leave herself to her thoughts.
Anyways-
“Yeah, apparently the lights have been going off then when they’re scheduled to go off.” Vanessa informed her “Moon has also been leaving the Daycare whenever it happens and has been causing a bit of a ruckus.” this causes [F/N] to raise her head from what she was doing and look over at her.
“Is that the reason why so many of the S.T.A.F.F Bots have been coming to Parts and Service in pieces? I guess it wasn’t Monty after all.”
“See, I told you it wasn’t me!” she presses her lips to a thin line, glancing down at Monty, who was on the chair within the Protective Cylinder with his chest open and her hands fixing up his wires after they came loose after a performance “Damn, I’d really appreciate it if you’d stop thinking of me as the type to just destroy things on a whim.” he lets out a yelp when [F/N] yanked on his wires.
“Well, maybe if you did stop destroying things and giving me more pointless things to fix, than maybe I would stop thinking that.” he whimpers at that and went back to laying on the chair, she huffs “I got it, I’ll see what’d going on with the power in the Daycare.” Vanessa nods her head to that.
“Good, I’ll inform the higher ups and leave you to it.”
“Thanks, have a good one, Ness.” she nods her head once more before leaving Parts and Service, [F/N] waves her goodbye before glancing down at Monty, who pushed himself up and was resting his weight on his elbows “Thanks to that, you’re off the hook.” he silently cheers.
“Wonderful.” he winces when a dark look shadows over her face, he immediately turned away, shivering on the spot as she leans in close.
“But if I ever find out that one of the Map Bots, Security Bots or S.T.A.F.F Bots were mangled up and it was your fault, I’ll throw your dismembered head into one of the ponds in your golf course.” he whimpers, giving her a shaky thumbs up.
“Got it boss.” she rolls her eyes before chuckling softly, she finished her work and Monty leaves Parts and Service to return to his Green Room within Rockstar Row, she slaps her hands onto her face before grabbing her clipboard and adding something else at the bottom of the already long list.
“Lights within Superstar Daycare.” she adds a full stop at the end of it with a sharp jab before tucking it under her arm and leaving for the Daycare, it was also a perfect time to meet the Daycare Attendant; Sundrop, though maybe she might not be able to meet him because she was needing to be above the ceiling panels of the daycare to check out the wiring and whatnot for the lightning. When she arrived, she attached herself to a harness for safety before crawling into the space and checking out the lights above the daycare, she learned there were other lights within the daycare that were powered by five generators “I guess I’ll check that out after I’m done up here.”
This brings us to Sundrop, it was after hours and he was in the middle of cleaning up the daycare after all the children left the daycare, he was stacking the blocks on top of each other when his sensors managed to catch a sound and slight movement. He raised his head and looked side to side in confusion, trying to detect what his sensors did but he saw nothing, he blinked when something trickled from above him and landed on his nose. With that in mind, he raised his head and noticed that ceiling panels were moving, was someone up there? Unlike Roxy, he didn’t have eyes that allowed him to detect what was through the ceilings panels, but he could tell that it wasn’t simply a rat nor Mini Music Man, maybe he should report this to securi—
“WAH!!” his eyes widened at the sight of the panels giving way and someone falling through the ceiling, his immediate response was opening his arms out to catch them but the harness they strapped themselves to caught them before they could hit the ground so now they were dangling in front of Sundrop.
…
…
“Hey there, and sorry, I’m just hanging around.” he pulls a face before bursting out into laughter.
“Oh, I see what you did there! Be— Because you’re hanging from the ceiling.” she giggled softly at the laughter she earned from the animatronic sun, he pats his chest and looked at her once more to notice her open her arms out.
“Think you can give me a hand?” she hums softly when she noticed the sun rays around his head perk up at that, his body did the same thing as he raised his arms up.
“Oh, of course!” she lets out a soft exhale as she dusts herself off, she looks up at the ceiling before letting out a groan. “Fuck.” Sundrop lets out a gasp as he points at her.
“Language!” she rolls her eyes then glanced down at the floor, perking up when she noticed that her clipboard fell with her so she picked it up and clicked her pin, jotting down other stuff onto the list.
“Fix the ceiling in the daycare.” she underlines it then unclicks her pin and put it behind her ear, she then turned her attention to the animatronic and gave him a polite yet tired smile “Hello there, quite the first impression, but my name is [F/N], a mechanic hired by the Pizza Plex.” he stared down at her before the already permanent smile on his face grew.
“Why, hello there new friend! I am Sundrop, the Daycare Attendant!” she nods her head, he bounces around as he watched her look around “May I ask as to what you were doing?”
“Oh, I was informed that the lights in the daycare have been going out then when they’re usually scheduled too. I’ve been tasked to figure out why and possibly fix the problem.” she raised a brow when Sundrop grew nervous, she shrugged her shoulders as she started wandering around the daycare in search for the five generators.
“A-Are we going to get in trouble?” she raised her hand and waved it to dismiss his concern, eyes not leaving her clipboard.
“Unless you’re the one that’s causing it, then I highly doubt it. Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, I’ll fix what’s wrong and be out of your way.” she answered truthfully, this didn’t ease his concern as he started following closely behind her, she pressed her lips together at the feeling that if he could breathe she could feel his breath against her neck. She glanced back at him and watched him lurch backwards, hands raised up before he pressed his fingers together, nervously pressing them together “Look, you’re not in trouble. Nothing bad is going to happen to you if that’s what you’re thinking.” “Mm, it’s not just that…” he muttered, she raised a brow.
“Then what is it?” he takes a breath then presses his finger to his temple.
“I’m worried about Moon… and what he’ll do to you.” she stared up at him before letting out a laugh, she brought her hand to her mouth as she reached forward and grabbed his wrist, she pulled it down and rubbed her thumb into his metal wrist.
“You don’t need to worry about little ‘ol me, I’m fully aware of what Moon is capable of and I know I’m capable of handling him and looking after myself, but thank you for your concern nonetheless.” she nods her head to him then glanced behind him when she noticed the security desk, so she pats his hand before walking past him and towards the desk. Her back was towards him so she didn’t notice the way Sundrop stared at his hand as she reached for one of the flashlights in the flashlight recharge station, she then looks at the messy desk and pushes away anything unnecessary so she can grab the schedule for when the lights at supposed to turn off.
She turns around once more so she could lean against the desk as she reads through the documents, she sniffles and yawns to herself as she reads through the contents of the documents, mentally noting down when the lights were supposed to turn off and when they’ve been going off when they’re not supposed too. She glances down at the time before looking up with her eyes when the lights turned off, dang, it was at the hourly mark when all the power converts to the charging stations so all the animatronics are supposed to recharge at the recharge stations. She flicks the flashlight on and luminaries her path in search for Sundrop, but there wasn’t any sign of the animatron—
“What’s this? An unexpected guest?” a shiver ran down her spine when she felt something loom over her from behind “The daycare is closed for the day, you are intruding. It is my job to dispose of unwanted intruders.” before he could even get his hands on her, she wiped her body around and slammed the end of the flashlight into his faceplate hard enough that he stumbled to the ground and screwed with his AI, causing it to glitch.
“I know about you, Moon. You’re practically another security guard but more violent.” she knelt down, grabbing him by his long neck and pulling him forward “I am not to be underestimated, alright? Fuck around and find out.” she throws him back and stood to her feet, dusting her shoulder off before looking for the generators scattered across the daycare, meanwhile with Moon, he was still trying to register what just happened.
“She really kicked your butt.” Sun retorted in their shared mind, Moon scowls as he rubs his face.
“Silence, Sun.” he just giggles in the back of their shared head, she was going to reprimand Moondrop once more when she felt him behind her but let him be when he quietly watched her work around the daycare. Moondrop raised a brow when he noticed her sway a little, her body tittering back and forth while her eyes were drooping, only then did he notice the bags under her eyes and how exhausted she looked “When was the last time you had a proper night’s rest?” at that question, she sniffles a little and looked up in thought.
“… mm, when did I start working here?” he gives her a shocked look.
“That’s not healthy.” she shrugs.
“I don’t get paid to sleep, I get paid to work and that’s that.” before she could continue her work, she was turned around by Moon, him kneeling down and raising his finger while tutting it side to side.
“I understand you’re doing your job, but while you’re here in the Daycare and I am here instead of Sun, you will sleep until the lights are turned on. It’s not that long, but getting some sleep is better than getting none.” she stared up at him, glancing to the side as she thought about the offer, then shrugged her shoulders.
“You better wake me up if something bad happens then.” before he could say anything, she drops everything that was in her hands before proceeding to face plant into the ground. Both himself and Sundrop panic and quickly kneel down to pick her up off the ground, he then settles himself into a quiet corner, cradling her in his arms as she fell into a deep sleep that she most definitely needed.
[a week later]
Maintenance in the Daycare was something [F/N] looked forward to now because not only did she get to hang with Sundrop and Moondrop, but because she got to sleep and wake up not wanting to fucking die. Moondrop was a fucking riot to hang with when he didn’t have homicidal thoughts, mostly because the two of them would do shit that would drive Sundrop through the roof. Speaking of which, the sun animatronic scares her in ways that doesn’t frighten her, but the fact that she caught him chugging down a bottle of glitter glue… she had to sprint out of there when the machine chased after her and shouted that it wasn't what it looked like. “Why are these vents so fucking big?” she muttered to herself, crawling through the space in search for the thing that was making so much rattling whenever the Pizzeria closed. She was told to find it, it was just that the rattling happened around the vents around Parts and Service and it greatly annoyed her so she wanted to investigate it so that the noise would cease, and yet she had no luck in finding it so far.
“Hey, [F/N].” she glances down at her Faz Watch and saw that she was getting a message from Vanessa, so she turns so she was laying on her back and raised the watch closer to her “Where are you right now?”
“Vibing in a vent.”
“Why are you— never mind, DJ Music Man is in need of a check up. Some teens threw food in his mouth and we can’t seem to get it out.” [F/N] closes her eyes, inhaling deeply through her nose as her head drops and hits the vent.
“Is he in his booth?” “Uh huh.”
“I’ll be there in a couple minutes.”
“Got it.” Vanessa disconnects from the line and so [F/N] lets out a long groan this time, she exhales and pushes herself onto her elbows, and then did she see what was making all that racket in the vents. There she saw a miniature version of DJMM and this version of him was holding a pair of cymbals in his hands,
“Now that’s fucking cute.” she muttered, his teeth made a chittering sound as he patted on his feet, he then waddles over to her and she sets up a bit so he could situate himself in her lap “Hey there, little guy. Mind showing me the way to the bigger version of you through the vents? You seem to know your way around these vents better than I.” he claps his cymbals happily before leaping out of her lap and leading the way, she follows behind closely and when she reaches the end of the vent, he moves to the side to let her remove the screws to the vent. Unfortunately for her, she hadn’t realized where the vent was placed so when she crawled out, she fell and landed awkwardly on her face.
…
…
“Not a word.” even though he did not have a voice box like the other animatronics, she could tell that he was laughing. When she collected herself, she extends her arms out towards the vent and this allows him to lean from the opening and into her arms, and with him secure, she makes her way out of the room and towards the area where DJMM resides in “Hey, big man, you awake?!” she shouts, cupping her mouth with her hand to amplify her voice, she hums to herself when the large spider like animatronic peeked his head out of his booth.
“You called?” the sound of various radio channels was heard and DJMM rose up from where he was, she grinned as Mini DJMM sat on her shoulder “What can I do for you?” she playfully rolls her eyes, hands on her hips as she continued to look up at him.
“I believe we both know why I’m here.” he lets out a sigh, leaning down and resting his big body onto the back of his hands.
“Children these days just don’t know discipline, especially the teens.” she nods her head.
“Uh huh, some of them are very vicious.”
“You don’t say.” she huffs, shaking her head.
“Well, let’s not delay this any longer, aight?” he lets out a reluctant sigh but nodded his head, he extends a hand out to her and she didn’t hesitate to hop into the palm of his hand and with that he made his way to a bigger part of the Pizza Plex that was reserved specifically for him when he needed to be cleaned “Oh, while we’re in the topic, I’ve been informed that you have a new upgrade.” he glances down at her.
“Upgrade? Of what sorts?” she hums, removing the clipboard from her hip and so she and Mini Music Man look at the documents, she narrows her eyes at it as she pulls it closer to her face.
“Apparently it’s called… Bouncer Mode?” she hums at that, pursing her lips as Mini Music Man claps his cymbals gently in curiosity “You’re just another form of security basically, escorting guests that aren’t found in the Pizza Plex’s files out or guests that are threatening.” he nods his head.
“So I’m basically extra muscle?” she snaps her fingers.
“Yeah, that sounds about right.” she gently knocks on the palm of his hand and gave him a grin “I can only imagine how frightening seeing you chase after them can be, talk about nightmare fuel.” they each share a laugh, upon reaching the warehouse, music was playing in the background as [F/N] spent the next couple of hours cleaning DJMM up to the point he was squeaky clean, by the end of it, she was laying on the ground, soaking wet and exhausted while DJMM was bouncing up and down that he finally got a wash up after weeks of negligence from management.
“Many thanks, [F/N].” he chuckled softly when she raised a thumbs up towards him, she then peeled herself off the ground, taking her cap off and shaky her head to rid the water infested in her hair.
“Now that that’s over, let’s get you that new upgrade. It shouldn’t take too long, so you should be back in your booth in no time!” he nods his head to her words so here she was, sitting on his shoulder with a laptop on her lap and Mini Music Man in her head, watching her tap away at the keyboard while the information for DJMM flew across the screen.
“It won’t do anything to hinder my current software, right?” she nods her head, eyes not leaving the screen.
“Yeah, don’t worry about that. It won’t activate unless a threat is detected, and since we haven’t been really getting threats in the Pizza Plex lately, it’ll probably be sitting in the back of your head.” he nods his head, upon finishing the final touch up of the upgrade, she pushed the enter button and it was uploaded into DJMM’s software. Both she and Mini Music Man leaned forward and watched as the data was processed and when he came to be, he stood up straight “How do you feel?”
“… the same.” she deadpans, she sighs.
“Well, we’ll never know until someone trespasses onto the property.” she says offhandedly, thanking him as he lowered her towards the ground “I mean, who’s foolish enough to break into a pizzeria?” he shrugged.
“Desperate fans.” she snorts.
“True.” she walks with him back to his booth, dropping Mini Music Man off in the process then left the two with a goodbye, the two doing the same and waving her goodbye. She was now back in Parts and Service, collapsing onto her wheelie chair with a groan, she leans back while running a hand through her hair after removing her cap and starts fanning herself.
‘Management have been stepping up the security around the Pizza Plex lately, going so far as to giving DJMM, who’s usually so gentle and laid back, such a bizarre upgrade. I noticed it immediately and had to tone it down in fear that he might actually hurt someone.’ she exhaled deeply, glancing over at her desk and noticed the few photos of her and the animatronics, Vanessa and even a few children scattered across it and even on the computer ‘I’m getting worried as for what’s to come.’
Headcanon:
it’s an unspoken rule amongst the animatronics that no harm must come to [f/n].
why?
simple.
because she is one of the nicest mechanics, technicians, helper, whatever, that’s worked at the pizza plex in the longest time.
the other employees that has worked in parts and service were so mean in the past and never considered the animatronics feelings and opinions, always brushing it off their shoulders just to finish their work.
not [f/n], oh no.
despite always being tired and a little standoffish, she was always rather welcoming and very friendly, even for the short tempered monty and lethal moon.
moon learned not to mess with her when he realized just how strong she was.
he and sun were coming in for their check up when they witnessed her lifting monty up with pure strength and the alligator was struggling to remove himself from her grip.
what freaked him out was the way monty screamed for help.
anyways-
whenever the animatronics had to come in for their monthly maintenance and other upgrades, [f/n] would always just and make the process as comfortable and atmosphere as welcome as she could.
she knew they were always frightened being in that dark gloomy room, so she always tried to brighten it up and make it as quick as she could.
and for that they were grateful.
her and vanessa get along quite swimmingly as well.
vanessa liked her company because she wasn’t so chatty, but when they did decide to converse, they spoke of topics vanessa knew and was fond of and the blonde enjoyed it.
conversations with the mechanic made her feel sane and whole.
the oddest thing about [f/n] after she started working at the pizza plex and her sleep schedule got pretty shit, she would fall asleep in the oddest of places.
the daycare’s ball pit? yup.
monty golf? uh huh.
roxy’s raceway? totally.
the worst spot? somewhere in the ceiling.
mini music man was the one to discover her, strapped in her harness and practically at the verge of falling of the beam she was laying on.
she was firmly scolded by freddy, chica, djmm, sundrop and vanessa.
moon, monty and roxy were laughing while mini music man was shaky his head.
the map bots startled her when she was still new and didn’t know her way around.
she decked one across the face when it suddenly appeared in front of her, promptly had to fix it before anyone discovered what she did.
she likes the caution bots. they remind her of puppies/dogs.
other than that, she’s the friendly and overworked mechanic that wishes she could get at least a raise for the amount of work management is throwing at her.
… motherfu—
Loyalty pt. 2
word count: 18,116
Fandom: MCYT Pairing: Emerald Duo x Male!Wolf!Reader Pronouns: He/Him Relationship: Familial/Platonic Occupation: N/A Ability: Wolf Hybrid
The character is that of a wolf hybrid, allowing them to have traits of a wolf. They have abnormal strength and speed with keen senses of smell, hearing and sight, making their nose and ears almost sensitive to anything. They are also granted with an abnormal height and the gift to shapeshift from a human/normal form to a more monstrous form.
Keys: [M/N]: Male Name [S/C]: Skin Color [H/C]: Hair Color [E/C]: Eye Color [U/N]: Username
Warnings: character death, vulgar language, violence
the reader has three forms so far. full human form, they stand at 6″10ft tall with only wolf ears, tail and eyes. half/half form: 7″6ft with fur beginning to appear on his forearms and neck, his legs become hind legs but also his entire forearms become claws. full form: 8″2ft is a full werewolf. his body is covered entirely of fur, his face taking the form of a wolf and his body is bulking with more muscles. that would be the final form he has full control over, however, he has one final form. the complete wolf form where he’s on all fours and his animalistic instincts overwhelm his human instincts, meaning he has no control over himself when in this form. in this form, he stands at 9″0ft tall.
will make a pt. 3 after this one, maybe a pt. 4 if I don’t fit what I want into the pt. 3, but whatever.
this was lagging all over the place because there are too many words.
that is all.
“Loyalty” pt.1
[M/N] hadn’t even known how much time had past since the war; since he lost Schlatt, his mind couldn’t function properly and he was slowly losing that remaining piece of sanity that he managed to salvage. He fled Manberg the moment he saw explosions coming from the country, taking himself and Schlatt’s corpse far away from it and finding a peaceful little area where he could bury him. Sure it was cliché, but [M/N] found a nice little spot on a hilltop where he would have a nice view of the sun rising and falling with each passing day; it was perfect. It was so hard for him to dig up a hole and put his body in it, he couldn’t stop the tears from falling down his face as he lowered his body into the grave, even more so when he had to bury him.
Sure, he was a good couple hundred blocks away from the new L’Manberg now run by Tubbo, but the anguished cries he wailed at the top of his lungs could be heard from miles away. His claws dug deep into his skin to the point he started to bleed, he could care less, he really didn’t care about himself at that moment and allowed himself to wallow up in his anger and sadness. Now the only thing he had left of Schlatt was the ring, he always kept on him as a necklace, never to admit that he left it there so it would always be close to his heart. He raised his hand and held onto it tightly before turning and facing the direction where the sun was slowly beginning to descend as the night took over the day, he took a shallow breath as he leaned his head back to rest against the tombstone.
The next couple of days, or weeks, it followed with [M/N] animalistic instincts beginning to overwhelm his human consciousness. Another reason as to why he stayed in his human form more is because he had more control over his thoughts and instincts than when he’s constantly in his original wolf form, he was slowly becoming more and more like a wolf that he stopped looking after himself. If he were to see his reflection, he would most likely see his younger self staring right back at him. His hair had grown pass his shoulders and was matted from the lack of brushing and washing it, his bangs even grew to the point they shadowed his eyes. His nails grew out and were cracked, he was filthy to the point he could pollute a river or stream if he dared step into one and his hands to his forearms were constantly covered in blood.
Most of the time he spent staying at Schlatt’s grave because he really didn’t know what to do, the only time he ever left was because he was hungry, now this is where the blood comes into play. He was merciless with the way he hunted down animals, he didn’t spare them a chance as he lunged at them, digging his claws into their bodies to keep them from fleeing before eating them raw, tearing them apart before ripping into their skin to devour them. By the time his hunger was satisfied, he would have blood dripping down his mouth and some of it staining his fur, but he didn’t really care. Right now he was asleep huddled by his grave when he heard the sound of flapping wings, his ears flickered a bit as he raised his head and saw a crow was bouncing up and down in front of him.
...
...
*WHACK*
The crow let out a squawk when [M/N]’s tail smacked it when it got too close for comfort, he growled at it as a warning for it to back off but only when he started pushing himself up did it get the message and leave him be. He thought that would be the last time he saw that crow and let himself fall into slumber, but little did he know, the next day he would be swarmed by countless crows. They followed him everywhere he went and were constantly squawking in his ear, some even going so far as to grabbing him by certain parts of his body and fur to pull at him, one even nipped at his ear and pulled at it. [M/N] would try any means necessary to get rid of them but soon he grew to accept that these crows were not going to stop bothering him no matter how many times he threatened to eat them.
That was until--
“Who are you?” [M/N] had one of the crows perched on his forearm as he raised his head, and there he saw was seemed like a middle aged man with blonde hair that just rested above his shoulders while a single braid was seen on the side of his head. He wore a green jinbei, black haori, sandals, and green-and-white striped bucket hat that shadowed his blue eyes “I haven’t seen you around, so you must be new.” he muttered softly before growling at him not to get close, beginning to feel territorial.
“So you’re the one the crows have been hanging around?” [M/N] gave him a confused look but soon noticed that the crows that were always around him started surrounding the unknown man, squawking and cawing at him, the difference was that he noticed the blonde could actually understand what they were saying.
“HE’S THE LONELY PUP.”
“HE SMELLS.”
“OF COURSE HE DOES, HAVE YOU SEEN HIM SHOWER?”
“SOMETIMES HE CRIES.”
“BABY.”
“HE’S ALWAYS AROUND THIS GRAVE.”
”They’ve been keeping an eye on you, saying that you needed a friend.” he snickered when he noticed the wolfman grimace at the thought but couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit grateful that that was the reason as to why they were hanging around, he thought they stuck around because they thought he was corpse merely walking around.
“They’re lucky I haven’t eaten them yet.” he then sneers, standing up and towering over the man, who couldn’t help but swallow thickly at just how tall he was “Now what do you want? You have your birds, now get lost.” his eyes soon moved down to see the grave [M/N] was protecting, briefly seeing the name [JSchlatt] pop up in his view before looking up at him.
“You’re [M/N], aren’t you? The Devil’s Hound.” he sneered at him.
“Only one person called me that, and if you’re here to claim my head, I’ll make sure you regret it old man.” he warned, letting out a snarl as he bared his teeth and claws, showing him that he wasn’t playing around, to which the older man raised his hands to show him that he meant no harm as he took a step back.
“I promise, I’m not here to do anything.” [M/N] didn’t ease up at all, still on edge at the stranger.
“Then leave, I won’t ask you again.” the blonde hums softly, crossing his arms.
“That sounds more like a threat.” [M/N] chuckles rather menacingly, shaking his head before glaring at him.
“It’s a promise.” they continued to stare at each other, [M/N] growing even more agitated before the stranger raised his hands once more, letting out a defeated sigh as he took a step back.
“Alright, have it your way.” with that he turned around and started walking away, only stopping briefly to spare him one more glance “The name’s Philza, by the way, but everybody calls me Phil.” [M/N] only growled, narrowing his eyes on him before letting out a huff and walking away.
“Like I need to know.” he’ll forget his name anyways, knowing that he easily forgets the names of those who have the least impact on his life or if they have no value to him. That was until Philza kept visiting him at odd times of the day, whether it be sometime in the early morning or late nights, [M/N] didn’t understand why he kept coming back. Most of the time he would try and strike up a conversation with the feral wolf, which would end with him having a one sided conversation, but Philza didn’t miss the way [M/N]’s ears perked up in his direction, indicating that he was listening.
Philza wasn’t entirely sure why he was so interested in this lost puppy, maybe it was because of how he already managed to win the hearts of his crows who were usually very picky, or maybe it was because he reminded him of the days he met Technoblade. A lost and scared piglin hybrid who hated the world, who fought against the world until a new light was opened up to him when Philza came into the picture. He just wanted to help [M/N] because he already knew that his parental/fatherly instincts would come to bite him in the ass if he didn’t offer him a hand. Technoblade already told him enough that his father figure, Schlatt, died and that was his anchor from slipping over the edge, so he knew it was going to be a challenge to wriggle his way into the heart of this closed off wolfman.
“Why do you keep coming to visit me, Philza? Don’t you find me slightly disturbing?” [M/N] murmured to himself, gesturing to the fact that he quite literally hasn’t bathed himself in god knows how long now, he was surprised his crows still hung around despite the foul smell coming from him.
“You look lonely.” was all he answered, noticing how he flinched at that before burying his face deeper into his arms. He was in his wolf form and he was curled up on top of Schlatt’s grave, he was in this form because it made laying down more comfortable and it made him more bearable to be around. Philza managed to ease some of the tension off his shoulders by the constant visits, each time bringing a sort of gift (which was mostly food) to reassure him that he meant no harm “I know what constantly loneliness feels like.” he huffs.
“Right.” he raises his head and looks up at where Philza was sitting, watching as he stared up at the passing clouds with some sort of longing look. He remembered the first time he saw Philza’s damaged wing, managing to get a sneak peak from under his cloak and saw that it was beyond any repair and that he was incapable of flying ever again, how tragic “You’ve mentioned you’ve been staying in new L’Manberg, right?”
“Yes.”
“... can I ask why? I’ve already mentioned that you’re new, mostly because I’ve seen most of the residents of this server during the war between Manberg and Pogtopia, but I never saw you.” he then noticed the way Philza became silent, it usually be the other way around, but he must have stepped onto some boundaries... dammit.
“Wilbur,” [M/N] snarled at the mention of that bastard, he wonders what he was up to nowadays “he was my son.” at the announcement, [M/N]’s eyes widened in shock and a growl erupted out of his throat, he was going to shout but paused at what he said.
“Was?” he nods, he takes a breath as he let his head hang back, [M/N] now noticed the single stray tear that ran down his face.
“By the time I arrived, I tried to stop Wilbur from blowing up his country but ultimately, I was too late.” so that explained the explosions he saw and heard on that day, but that still didn’t expla-- “Wilbur was so far gone into his madness that he... pleaded for me to kill him.”
“Ah... I see.” they both sat in silence until [M/N] let out a bitter laugh, Philza looked at him and saw he had a similar expression on his face “I lost a father figure while you lost your son, a poor way for the two of us to relate to something, huh?” Philza stared at him before bursting out into laughter, sure it was a poor way for [M/N] to make light of the situation, but at least he tried instead of remaining silent.
“I guess so.” the two sat together now but this time, [M/N] had actually gotten up and sauntered over to him, Philza was going to question what he was doing but stopped when [M/N] curled up behind him, letting the older man rest his body against his own. Sure he hated Wilbur’s guts with a passion, but he genuinely liked Philza, so the least he can do is swallow his pride and comfort him “Who knew you could be such a softy.” he laughed when his comment earned him a smack by his tail.
“Watch it, old man. You’re just bearable.”
The next few days was more light hearted, it took a couple weeks but Philza finally managed to get the wolfman to open up where he was able to touch him without the other snarling at him. [M/N] was a very large man and he packed a lot of muscle and weight, so imagine his surprise when Philza had little to no effort in picking him up and dropping him into a lake. The birdman was quite thankful that the other didn’t fight him as he helped bathe him, discarding his hat and cloak while rolling his sleeves and pants up so he could wash his matted fur/hair. By the time he was finished, he used his wings to help him dry faster because letting out a laugh when the other poofed up, [M/N] deadpanned at him but snickered softly, because it was quite hilarious.
It was when Philza pulled out a pair of scissors did [M/N] start to panic, his hair was unkempt and hard to brush through but when he managed to untangle the knots he whipped out the scissors and cut his hair to a manageable length. His ears would flicker back and worth when they got a little too close but he was able to bear with it, he left cutting his nails to himself because he still wanted them to be pretty long. Philza gave him some clothes and that completed his look, he let out a tired sigh as he pulled out a mirror and there [M/N] gave him a sheepish look at his makeover.
“You really didn’t have to do this, Phil.” the blonde gave him a smile, quite happy that he was calling him Phil instead of Philza.
“Oh no, mate, you needed it badly.” [M/N] pulled a face as he pushed the mirror away, twirling a standing of his hair around his finger and gave him an apologetic look.
“Right, apologies about that.” the other only waved his hand, dismissing it.
“You know... I have no idea what you’re going through, knowing that you’ve been with Schlatt since you were a mere child, along with the fact that he was the one that brought you out of the life of poverty, but,” Philza reached forward and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze “would he want you to continue living like this? Disregarding your own health and life, just to stay by his side?” [M/N] let out a tired sigh.
“Easy for you to say. Move on, get a life... but I never thought that far ahead. I never had my own mindset, maybe it’s the animal genetics pumping through my DNA that the only thing that was going through my head was to obey him. I never questioned him and I was loyal to him to the very end, and now that he’s gone... I don’t know what to do. He told me to live my own life, but I don’t know the first thing I can do. I don’t know how to live a life beside someone else’s.” the way [M/N] looked up at Philza was genuine confusion, he gave him a sad look before standing up, he goes to question him but froze when he offered his hand to him.
“How’s about I give you that little extra push?” as he stared up at him, a flash of the time when he was a sickly child in that alleyway came to his mind, seeing the reminiscence of Schlatt in Philza’s place as he spoke “Come with me, and I promise you, I’ll show you a path to your future.” though they spoke the same lines, Philza said something different, instead of saying that he’ll be of use to him, he said he could show him a path to his own future.
“W-Will...” he stuttered out, rarely he ever felt nervous, but right now, he couldn’t help but feel like that scared little pup that shivered at the at the sound of loud noises again. Philza noticed [M/N]’s hesitance, the way one of his hands held onto the ring around his neck with a death grip while his other was holding his wrist with the same level of strength “Will I be betraying his loyalty by going with someone else?” he whimpered out, Philza let out a soft chuckle as he shook his head.
“Not at all, I think he would appreciate it if someone else were to help guide you down a path that doesn’t destroy you.” Philza grits his teeth, his own chest tightening up a bit “I wasn’t able to save my son from his insanity, but the least I can do is help someone else from plummeting down that same void.” [M/N] glanced up at him then down at the hand that was still gesturing for him to take it, the hand that was holding his wrist loosened and slowly reached for it, inching back and forward as he still hesitated.
’I have to admire him for his unwavering loyalty towards Schlatt, it’s downright ridiculous to the point he would rather stay by his grave till the day he dies than live a life of his own.’ he felt a glimmer of hope when his hand was almost within reach ’Sure, he and Wilbur didn’t see eye to eye, but I want to help save this boy before it’s too late.’
“I-I--” he swallowed thickly, screwing his eyes closed before taking a deep breath and grabbing his hand “Okay... I trust you, Phil.” Philza let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding in once [M/N] finally took his hand, he lifts him to his feet and pats his arm while looking up at him.
“Good, good! I’m glad you do, [M/N]. I know that this is a big step for you, so I appreciate that you trust me this much despite everything you’ve been through.” he chuckled softly when he noticed the younger boy was fidgeting a little, he then tugs him forward gently “Now, let’s go home and--”
“No! Not L’Manberg!” Philza was taken aback when he shouted, he then let out a soft sigh.
“I apologize, returning back to L’Manberg would probably give you bad memories, right?” he pulled a face before shaking his head.
“Not really, it’s just that I’m pretty sure Tubbo will kill me on sight.” he then raises his hand and gently caresses the now healed burn scars “I was the one to kill him during the Festival under Schlatt’s orders, then during the war, he was the to get his revenge on me and gave me these. Pretty gnarly, huh?” the blonde stared at them before shaking his head.
“Sure.” he then pinches his chin “But where do I...” he looked up in thought before a destination came to mind, he glanced at [M/N] and his ears perked up in curiosity at the look Philza was giving him, he lets out a soft whine as he tilts his head to the side.
“What?”
[snow biome]
“No. No, no, no. Absolutely not. Not happening. No.” [M/N] awkwardly stood behind Philza as they rocked up to a snow biome, out in the middle of nowhere, where Technoblade has set up his retirement home and gone into hiding. The blonde had explained to him that there was a place he knew that was far away from L’Manberg where barely anyone knew of its location, but he never mentioned who the only resident was until they arrived at his front doorstep and the piglin hybrid opened to door, at first happy to see his old time friend but grimaced when he noticed who was behind “Why the hell is he here? Why the hell did you bring him here?”
“To make things brief, he needs a place to stay.” this caused both taller men to look down at him in disbelief, Technoblade was the first to react by grabbing his shoulders before thrashing him back and forward.
“No way! There’s no chance I want this guy living under the same roof as me! For all we know, he could kill me in my sleep.” [M/N] narrowed his eyes on the pink haired male.
“Truthfully, I have nothing against you. It’s Wilbur, Tommy and Quackity I loathe. Killing you won’t bring me satisfaction, but I can’t help but agree with him, but for a completely different reason. This house looks rather small and if you hadn’t noticed, we’re both burly men, I highly doubt it’ll be able to fit us both.” Technoblade nods his head, throwing his arm out towards him.
“Exactly. I want my own personal space, and I’m not really up for dog fur getting everywhere.” [M/N] lets out a grunt, clicking his tongue as he gave the piglin an irritated look.
“What about you? You say you’re worried about me killing you in your sleep, but I hear you have hundreds of voices in your head that demand blood. I feel like my life is the one at stake by being in close proximity to you.” Philza sweat dropped when he was in between the two muscular men who were glaring deeply at each other, a spark of lightning erupting between them.
“Please, you two, calm yourselves.” he sighs as he turns towards [M/N], he places a hand on his chest and this caused the wolfman to break eye contact with Technoblade to look down at him, his gaze softening a little “Could you please give me a couple minutes alone to talk with Techno, mate. Just stay in the area, please.” [M/N] had a look of hesitance before nodding his head.
“Alright.” with that he turned around and stood out in the snow, the cold didn’t bother him in any way, he was in his half human/half wolf form and most of his fur covered any exposed areas and kept him quite warm. Philza nodded his head as he watched [M/N] watch the snow fall from the sky before turning his attention back at Technoblade, who made a look of disgust as he watched [M/N].
“I’m telling you Techno, he’s quite harmless right now.”
“Around you, that is. Who knows how long he’ll last around me before he snaps and pummels me into the ground.” the other gave him a smug look.
“So you’re saying he can pummel you?” Technoblade glares at him.
“You know what I mean.” he lets out a frustrated growl when Philza chuckled, he looked back at [M/N] and saw that he raised his head as he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as his arms were raised slightly to let the fallen snowflakes land in the palm of his hand.
“The reason I brought him here is because he has nowhere to go. He can’t come with me to L’Manberg because the others would surely kill him if he dared take a step on their lands, and Schlatt was his only family.” he inhales through his nose, eyes looking up at him “He reminded me of you when I first found you all those years ago.” now this caused Technoblade to freeze, he looked down at Philza and saw that he was being honest, this caused him to let out a groan as he crossed his arms.
“You’re guilt tripping me, Phil.”
“That may be so, but I couldn’t just leave him where he was. He looked horrible and was in need of desperate help.” Technoblade felt his tense shoulders slump at what he said, slowly beginning to fall for his words, he took one final glance at [M/N] and saw he had a soft grin on his face, eyes beginning to open as a snowflake landed on his nose.
“... dammit.” Philza smirked, knowing that he managed to win him over “Fine, alright, I’ll let him stay! But, he has to make his own house somewhere on the property! He’s not staying in my house, that’s my own safe haven.”
“Got it.” Philza grins as he brings his middle finger and thumb to his lips before blowing on them, letting out a sharp whistle that caused [M/N]’s ears to flick up, he turned to face them and saw Philza waving him over. [M/N] tripped over when his feet had got buried pretty deep in the snow, he face planted into the snow but let out a soft laugh as he pushed himself up and jogged over to them, when he stood behind Philza once more he flicked the snow off his body “Technoblade has agreed to let you stay.”
“Eh, really?” even he couldn’t help but be surprised that the Blood God agreed, Technoblade was probably just as equally as surprised as him, probably even more so “Then... I appreciate it.” the piglin merely huffed, waving his hand to dismiss his gratitude.
“Don’t mention it.” Philza clapped his hands his hands with a smile.
“Wonderful. I hope you two can get along without you needing to rip each other’s throats out.” this caused the both of them to flinch “I believe it’s getting late, so before you kick him out, at least let him spend one night in your house before letting him build his own house.” Technoblade goes to protest but held his tongue when he saw the look Philza was giving him.
“Okay.” [M/N] now stood in the middle of Technoblade’s living space rather awkwardly, he was holding his arms as his tail was tucked between his legs, ears pressed to his head as Technoblade and Philza busied themselves. His gaze fell upon the polar bear sitting in front of the fire place, it tiredly raised its head when it felt a gaze upon it and saw that it was merely [M/N] staring at him. The bear let out a soft growl before letting his head fall back onto the ground and falling asleep once more, his ears flickered a bit at that before his own attention drew towards the trap door window “You’re practically leaving me on babysitting duty, aren’t you Phil?” said man let out a laugh.
“That is slightly true. What I really want is for you to keep a close eye on him.”
“You just said exactly what I said but with different words.” Philza rolls his eyes.
“You’re being overdramatic, Techno.” he shakes his head.
“No. If you were there to see what exactly this guy is capable of, you’d be as reluctant as I am. You only saw the aftermath.” they enter the room they left [M/N] was and saw that he was leaning against the windowsill, his arms resting on the edge while his head laid comfortable on his arms. His ears were flickering every so often as his tail thumped against the floorboards, and yet his gaze was so fixated on the snowflakes falling from the sky he hadn’t even picked up on the fact that he and the polar bear weren’t the only ones in the room anymore.
“You seem to like snow quite a bit, mate.” Philza hummed softly, pulling out a stool so he could sit beside him, who never tore his gaze out from the window.
“This is the first time I’ve seen it.” this caught them both by surprise “Schlatt wasn’t too keen on cold weather so we stirred away from snow biomes and stayed within relatively humid biomes. This is genuinely the first time I’ve seen snow, so I find it quite enjoyable to be honest.” they watch in silence as he pushed the trap door open and extend his hand out, letting out a cheerful yip when a snowflake landed onto the palm of his hand and melted into water. The way [M/N] was behaving right now reminded Philza of a child, because [M/N] was experiencing things without a leash on for the very first time.
[the next day]
Technoblade was kind enough to lend [M/N] some materials and tools, which was actually Philza telling Techoblade to lend him the needed equipment, and the entire day was spent with [M/N] making his home. The piglin hybrid half expected him to make a house near his but was completely mistaken when he saw [M/N] start mining away at the side of the mountain to make himself a house in a cave. True to Schlatt’s words during the preparations for the Manberg Festival, [M/N] was god awful at designing. He had wonderful ideas, but he didn’t have the abilities to apply them to his builds and so he had to have the aid of the other two to make his home look somewhat decent. The finished build was the opening of a cave that had enough illumination to keep wandering mobs from entering his cave, the main room was filled with various chests, barrels and anything else useful, there were various other tunnels that connected to that room that served different purposes. Some were for blacksmithing and enchanting, others were for brewing or just his sleeping chambers.
“I think we did a job well done.” Philza said, hands on his hips as he looked at the entrance to the cave, Technoblade let out a huff as he dusted his shoulder to rid of the pebbles that landed on him whilst they were mining.
“I’m just glad he’s finally out of my hair.” [M/N] scoffed.
“What hair? All I see is fur.” before Technoblade could fire anything back, Philza got in between them both and flared his wings open to create some distance between them both.
“Don’t start.” the piglin gave the immortal being an offended look as he accusingly gestured to the wolfman, who only rolled his eyes while crossing his arms and looking away.
“He started it!”
“Technically, you did.” this caused him to let out a gasp that Philza didn’t side with him, before he could say anything else, the blonde then turned to look up at [M/N], who flinched at the stern look on his face “And you, don’t antagonize people.” [M/N] lets out a soft whine.
“But what if they start it?”
“Are you not going to let this go?”
“I like to mock people. If they mock me, I should have every right to mock them back.” he grins softly “That’s what Schlatt taught me, and if they go too far, I hit them where it hurts.”
“Physically, or metaphorically?”
“Depends on the person, really.” Technoblade snaps his fingers at that.
“I agree with that.” Philza rolls his eyes, after that day of work, they decided upon the three of them to gather some food to finish that day off. Technoblade and Philza adorn winter outfits to survive out in the winter cold, staring rather enviously that [M/N] only wore a thin layer of clothing for his layers of fur protected him from the snow and he trudged through without any hesitation in his movements. The two led mostly because the wolfman was still unfamiliar with his surroundings and the environment he was in, though they did pay attention to the way he reacted to small sounds and whatnot “So what are we looking to eat tonight?” Technoblade asked, bouncing his axe on his shoulder as they continued to venture deeper and deeper into the woods.
“Whatever we lay eyes upon fir—“ Philza was cut off when he heard a growl, they both turn to face [M/N], only to be pushed aside when he lunged forward and past them. They turn to see what he pounced on, only to freeze when they saw he tackled and sunk his teeth into the neck of a wandering pig. They were even more disturbed, maybe disgusted, when they saw him rip its throat out before devouring it without a second thought. The latter noticed the silence so he raised his head, chin dripping with blood as he continued to chew on the raw flesh of the pig that was whining, practically begging to be put out of its misery, it was a miracle that it was still alive.
“What?” he questioned rather absentmindedly, Technoblade grimaced when he noticed the way he licked his lips.
“Do you mind?” he muttered as he gestured to the poor pig, [M/N] glanced down at it before looking up at him once more.
“What? This your cousin or something?” an irk mark appeared on his forehead, he goes to say something but was pushed to the side when Philza shoved his arm, he goes quiet and so [M/N] watches as Philza approached him, crouching down and gently wiping away the blood that he could with his sleeve.
“Don’t tease him, [M/N].” the blonde snorted when he noticed that the other wore an expression that said he was serious “I understand that the hybrid in you makes you do things like this, and you’ve been living like this for who knows how long, but we can’t help but question you and be mildly disgusted.” he sniffed, wiping away the rest of the blood on his own with his arm.
“You could just look way. I like eating it this way.” he sighs.
“Sure, but it’s not good for your stomach.” the dog in him caused his ears to press against his head, his tail thumping against the snowy ground as a whine rips through his throat, he then slowly nods his head.
“Alright.” he flinched softly when Philza placed his hand on top of his head.
“Good boy.” he ruffles his head before standing up and turning away, he missed his reaction but Technoblade saw and scoffed, [M/N] was blushing softly as he pressed a hand to the spot where Philza ruffled, pressing his lips into a thin line before standing to his feet and following after the older man, not before putting the pig out of its misery… and perhaps finishing his short snack before catching up to them. True to Schlatt’s word, [M/N] was an excellent hunter and managed to find a months worth of food for them, much to their pleasure so now they won’t have to worry about food for that time period.
“We should probably head back now, it’s starting to get dark.” Philza nodded his head, he let out an oh when [M/N] leaned down so he was hovering off his shoulder.
“Will you return to L’Manburg, or will you remain here one more night? It’s rather dangerous for you to venture back now that the sun is setting, mobs will be out and the distance between that country and here is quite far.” Technoblade nodded his head.
“He’s right, and neither of us can get particularly close before becoming target practice.” they both grimace at that, hearing the concern coming from them both had the older man chuckling before nodding his head.
“Well, alright. I’ll stay one more night then leave in the morning, how does that sound?” he laughs when he saw the looks of satisfaction on their faces, it didn’t take long for them to return to Technoblade’s home, [M/N] was going to return to his own little cave but was stopped by the older man to have him join them for dinner. The blonde snorted when he noticed him freeze up in confusion, so with a sigh, he grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the warmth of the house and together the three of them had a nice meal.
[a few weeks later]
“[M/N], stop trying to eat the goddamn livestock, please.” said man was mid bite away from chomping a sheep’s head off before pausing in his actions at the sound of Technoblade’s voice, he jaw slowly snapped shot away from the sheep’s head and he looked down at it. Its wool was dyed blue and those beady little eyes were staring up at him, he let out a sigh as he rolled his eyes before flinching when it licked his nose. He sneezed at the action before looking down at it once more and heard it let out a bleep, he pursed his lips before setting it down on the ground and turning away, unaware that it was following him “Now that you’re here, I have a favor to ask of you.” the latter huffed.
“That’s a first.” he comments, he glances away when Technoblade turned and gave him a sharp glare.
“Right.” Technoblade threads his hooves through his fur before looking at him “I need you to go to the Nether for me?” [M/N] raises a brow at the request.
“The Nether? Why me? You’re more suited for the Nether than I am.” he waves his hand to dismiss him.
“Just listen to me, okay? You’re much faster when it comes to getting the job done, so I need you to get a couple Blaze Rods and Wether Skulls for me. If you do that for me, we can spar again.” this certainly got his attention, sparring together was their entertainment and their way to pass the time. As he said, [M/N] was more confident when it came down to hand to hand combat while Technoblade was more versed with weapons, but to make sure that neither side would hurt each other too bad, Technoblade would fight with wooden weapons while [M/N] wore gloves to soften his punches.
“Hmm... I don’t think that’s enough to get me to go to the hot blistering Nether.” he snickers when it got the other to growl, [M/N] was becoming more and more snarkier as time went by as well and it was annoying.
“I’ll be on chore duty for a month.” [M/N] snapped his fingers.
“Pleasure doing business with you.” sure this was Technoblade’s property, but [M/N] did his fair share of work since he was a resident upon his land. He had no problem doing any work to be allowed to stay there, but sometimes he found it downright ridiculous that he had to help Technoblade clean his own house and feed his animals... they were his! Why did he have to help?
“You’re insufferable.”
“You can just go get it yourself, you fuck.” [M/N] didn’t even let out him finish when he sauntered off to go gather his things from his cave then left to the Nether to get what Technoblade wants, maybe get a few extra things as well because he could. The piglin lets out a sigh as he returns to his home, not even a couple minutes past and he heard a knock on the door... that was rather quick. He was fast, but that was a little too fast, he approaches the door with caution and opened it, only to see someone he wasn’t expecting.
“Ghostbur, what are you doing here?” Technoblade asked, opening his door and expecting to see [M/N] returning from his hunt in the Nether with the needed items he asked for, only to get the ghost of the former President in his place. Technoblade never mentioned to [M/N] about Ghostbur, he didn’t know how the guy was going to react upon seeing Wilbur’s dead counterpart, he still had a grudge upon him, Tommy, Quackity and Dream. Through Philza, his anger was slowly settling down and he was working on his temper that he developed, but he wasn’t taking any chances.
“O-Oh, I was in the neighbourhood and thought I could drop by.” he answered cheerfully, stepping into Technoblade’s house with a bright smile on his face. The piglin let out a sigh before closing the door and following close behind him, the ghost settled by the fire, trying to warm his deathly cold body as he turned to look up at Technoblade “What have you been up to lately, Techno?” he huffs, taking a seat on one of the couches.
“I’ve been left of babysitting duty.” seeing the way Ghostbur lit up almost brought a smile to his face, almost.
“Baby? There’s a baby? Where?” he shook his head.
“Metaphorically, Ghostbur. There’s not an actual baby.” Ghostbur deflates.
“Oh, pity. Then, what have you been babysitting?”
“A puppy.” Ghostbur lights up again and goes to ask where the puppy was “I am being metaphoric again. Don’t take everything I say serious.” this caused him to pout, raising a hand to rub the back of his head.
“I wanna see a puppy.” talking with Ghostbur was a nice change of pace, the forgetful ghost would bring up random topics in hope that it would pique the latters interest, and though most of the time he was speaking and Technoblade would answer with halfhearted or single word answers, he was most definitely listening. Conversations between [M/N] and himself were set upon who can make the first one angry with no ill intent, conversations between Philza and himself were light hearted or spoken about upcoming events and whatnot “Ah, I nearly forgot something important!” he cheers, raising a finger.
“You forgot nearly everything.” he giggles softly.
“Did you hear about what happened to Tommy?” this caught his attention as he raised a brow.
“Tommy?” the sudden voice startled him, he turned around and saw [M/N] standing right behind him smell like the Nether, his gaze immediately snapped over to where Ghostbur was sitting and a panicked expression made its way to his face.
’Shit! How long were we talking for? I didn’t even realize [M/N] was back.’ he looked up and saw [M/N] turned his attention to where Ghostbur was sitting ’No, is he going to kill him? Oh, fuck!’ he held his breath as he watched [M/N] approach the ghost but was surprised to see the happy look of Ghostbur’s face as [M/N] knelt down slightly to place a hand on his head.
“Hello Ghostbur, it’s been awhile.” the other let out a giggle, nuzzling into his clawed hand “How have you been?” Ghostbur takes his hand and lowers it down, rubbing his thumbs onto the top of his hand.
“I’ve been good, Phil has been taking care me.” he nods his head.
“That’s good.” Technoblade was a little speechless to see that [M/N] was having a calm conversation with the ghost, he wasn’t snarling or glaring at him or making and snide remarks, he was having a peaceful conversation.
“[M/N],” he starts, making the wolfman look over at him “you know Ghostbur?” he lets out a scoff.
“I’ve been hanging around Phil, I was bound to run into this ghost sooner or later since he’s by his side nearly 24/7.” he slowly nods his head at the information.
“And... you don’t hate him.” now this caused [M/N] to pause briefly, Ghostbur looked between the two.
“Ghostbur... doesn’t remember who I am from when Wilbur was around, and sure I can’t stand the sight of him... but it’s Wilbur that I hate, not Ghostbur. Ghostbur is a completely different person to his counterpart.” he wasn’t going to tell Technoblade that the first thing he did when he saw Ghostbur was that he wanted to rip his throat out; that he wanted to watch the way his head was crushed within his claws. That was the thought that goes on in his head every time Ghostbur grabbed his hands, for some reason, he was so fixated on his hands.
“[M/N] and I are friends, Techno!” the latter nods his head.
“Right.” [M/N] gently takes his hand back from Ghostbur, much to his dismay, and hands Technoblade and Ender Chest full of the items he wanted “I went a little overboard so there are a lot more in there than what you needed, Techno.”
“Better more than less.” he nods before turning back to Ghostbur.
“Now, what’s this about Tommy?” Ghostbur claps his hands.
“Right.” he raises a finger “Did you know that he was exiled from L’Manburg?” this caused them both to fall silent.
...
...
“Pft, hahaha!” Ghostbur was taken aback when [M/N] burst out into laughter, it was so bad that he hunched forward while holding stomach. It was rare for [M/N] to laugh like this, but he couldn’t help but laugh “Oh my god, he’s what? Exiled? Again! Wow, what a riot! This is one of the best sets of news I’ve heard in a long time!” even Technoblade was amused.
“What did he do this time?”
“U-Um, I think he burnt down George’s house.” he snorts.
“Wow, who’s idea was it to exile Tommy?”
“Tubbo.” at that, Technoblade and [M/N] look at each other in confusion, the latter looks down before chuckling to himself.
“Tubbo did, huh? How amusing.”
Later that day.
“Another errand?” [M/N] muttered, he laid comfortably in his den when Technoblade rudely came in, bringing snow in while he was at it.
“I need you to deliver something to Phil.” this caused [M/N] to push himself up from where he was laying, staring up at Technoblade in shock before standing to his feet.
“What are you-- are you serious right now? I can’t just waltz into L’Manburg! Why can’t you give it to Ghostbur?” he exclaims, to which the ghost makes his appearance by poking his head out from behind Technoblade before rushing forward and burying his face into the warmth of [M/N]’s fur, causing him to deadpan.
“Not that I don’t trust Ghostbur, to which I don’t,” this made him let out a whine “I want you to do it because I know you can do it right.”
...
...
“You just don’t want to do it.” he threw his head back with a groan “Goddammit, just give it to Ghostbur, for fuck sakes.”
“I’m afraid he’ll lose it.”
“I won’t.” they both glance at him, he let out another whine as he deflates “I probably will.” [M/N] slaps a hand onto his forehead and looks at Technoblade, noticing that he still wasn’t really up to the task of going to L’Manburg himself just to deliver something.
“How about we draw straws?” he suggests, he scoops Ghostbur up by his armpits to pull him off his body and sets him away so he could find a couple straws of hay, when he returns he opens Ghostbur’s hand and has him hold them “Whoever draws the short straw goes without question, okay?” he nods.
“Okay.” they both grab a straw before yanking it out of Ghostbur’s hand.
And that brings us too;
“I complained, and yet I still lost.” he grumbles to himself, hands in his pocket as he followed Ghostbur. In the end, [M/N] drew the short straw and cried when he lost, to which Technoblade pumped his fist in triumph and mocked [M/N] for his loss, to which the latter mocked him for that fact that he was on chore duty for the next month. That shut him up.
“Oh, we’re going to have so much fun, [M/N]! You haven’t been to L’Manburg in a long time, right? So you haven’t seen the renovations done to the place. I’ll show you around after we deliver the thing Techno wants us to deliver to Phil, okay?” [M/N] so badly wanted to deny the offer but the puppy dog eyes Ghostbur was giving him was so goddamn convincing.
“Sure...” he lets out a sigh as he turned away, ignoring the way Ghostbur cheers as he jogged ahead of them. L’Manburg was just ahead of them so the smaller one of the two charged forward and when he turned around he noticed that the other was still hesitating to step foot onto L’Manburg soil, he noticed him hug himself as he looked around in caution, his eyes scanning the area while his ears darted in every direction.
“Hey,” he whipped his head over to Ghostbur and slowly started to calm down when he reached forward and took his hand into his much smaller ones “you’ll be alright. I’ll make sure nothing bad happens to you. I promise!” [M/N] stared down at him, not even easing up for a second, he took a deep breath as his hand slowly closed around his as he nodded his head.
“Alright, I trust you.” Ghostbur beams up at him before tugging him forward, Ghostbur made sure to lead [M/N] in the none public areas so no one would catch sight of him. I mean, he was in his half human/half wolf form so it made him an easy target, but it was the thought that counts. [M/N] still hadn’t dropped his guard, looking around in alarm as his hold on Ghostbur’s hand tightened, not noticing the slight flush rising to his grey cheeks at the action.
“Ghostbur?” an unknown voice rose to [M/N]’s ears, this meant they were a threat, he didn’t react yet but his eyes moved and there he saw an 8″5ft Enderman hybrid. He wore a black suit with a red tie around his neck and a golden crown on top his head, his most distinguished features were the fact that his body and hair was black and white, the right side being black and the left side being white, even his eyes were dual colored, one being green and the other red “What are you doing here? And who’s that?”
“Ranboo! Hello.” the happy ghost greeted, slipping his hand free from [M/N] as he approached the young man. Sure, Ranboo was taller than the other male, but he had more muscle to his body and could easily body him if need be, and the way he was lowering his body as he stared him up and down, he couldn’t help but feel intimidated “I’m here to show my friend around.” Ghostbur added, rocking back and forth on his feet.
“Friend?” he questioned, to which the other nodded his head as he gestured to [M/N], who had an indifferent expression on his face, not dropping his defensive stance, not even for a second “I don’t think your friend likes me.” at the mention of that, Ghostbur turns towards him and noticed that he never broke eye contact with Ranboo, he huffs with a pout before marching over and smacking his arm, causing him to break his concentration and looked down in shock.
“[M/N], I don’t appreciate you glaring at my other friends.” he then looks back at Ranboo, an apologetic look on his face “Forgive him, he doesn’t particularly like strangers... or meeting new people, to be exact.” Ranboo gave a nervous laugh in response to that.
“N-No, it’s fine.” he answers, rubbing the back of his neck. With a stern glare from Ghostbur, [M/N] lets out a sigh as he dropped his defensive stance and stood up straight but not once did he drop his guard, crossing his arms and making sure that Ranboo kept his distance from them “Where are you heading to?”
“We’re off to see Phil! We have something to give him.” Ranboo nods.
“Is it blue?” he shook his head.
“No, actually, Tec--” before he could finish his sentence, [M/N] silenced him by reaching forward and pressing his hand to his mouth, his other wrapped around his body as he pulled him back against his chest.
“Shush, Ghostbur. He doesn’t want anyone else to know, just the four of us, mmkay? Our little secret.” [M/N] felt him purse his lips before nodding his head, looking up at him as he slowly loosened his grip on his body.
“Okay!” he nods his head before letting him go completely, he gave Ranboo a stern look before taking Ghostbur’s hand and together the two of them left the young man alone, he watched them disappear before he turned and fled to report what he saw to his superiors “And here we are!” they made it to the residential areas and [M/N] was honestly impressed with what he’s seen so far.
“I like what he’s done with the place; feels homey.” he comments, Ghostbur nods, a slight blue flush to his cheeks.
“Mm hmm!” [M/N] gave him one of those rare smiles, allowing him to lead him to which house belonged to, only to stop when they hear another voice, but this voice made all sorts of alarms ring in his head.
“Stop!” they both turned to see and there they saw Tubbo, Fundy, Quackity with Ranboo standing behind them with a nervous look on his face. [M/N] grits his teeth but kept his temper under control, it helped when Ghostbur got in front of him when he noticed the tension rising between them and put on a happy smile.
“Tubbo! Hello, what brings you here?”
“Ranboo told us that a suspicious person was wandering around L’Manburg with Ghostbur, but to think that it was you, [M/N].” the man didn’t answer the child, he simply narrowed his eyes on him as he growled lowly “You aren’t welcome here.” he scoffed.
“I don’t want to be here, but I’m here on an errand. I’ll be out of your hair once I’m done.”
“And what business is it that you have to be here?” [M/N] scoffs.
“It’s none of yours, for your information.” Fundy takes a step forward.
“He is the President of L’Manburg.” [M/N] scoffs again, narrowing his eyes down at the fox.
“And what does that have to do with anything, fox? Is it his business to butt into confidential and personal affairs? I believe not, so don’t bother me while I’m being nice.” he threatens, now it was Quackity that took a step forward.
“How is that being nice?”
“If I wasn’t being nice, little duckling, your face would be in the ground right now, but now I’m restraining myself from committing murder.” hearing that, Ghostbur turned around and grabbed him by his arm.
“Calm yourself, [M/N], here! Have some blue.” he says, reaching down to take some blue dye out of his pocket and handing it to the wolfman, he couldn’t help but hum softly at his attempt to calm his anger, but he did appreciate it as he took the dye from him “Is it working? Are you happy?”
“Yes, Ghostbur, it’s working.” [M/N] watched the dye slip through his fingers and dye the fur on his hands blue, that was going to be a hassle to get out, Ghostbur soon turns back to look at the four who approached them.
“We haven’t done anything wrong, I don’t see the problem here.” Quackity scoffed.
“So you don’t even remember what he has done to you back when you were alive, Wilbur.” [M/N]’s ears perked up at what Quackity called him, he looked down at Ghostbur and noticed he flinched, his hand twitching a little as he muttered “it’s Ghostbur” under his breath “He’s the whole reason why you and Tommy were kicked out of your own country! We went to war against him and that tyrant he called a father, and yet here you are being buddy buddy with him! If you were alive, you’d be disgusted by your actions.”
“B-But that was in the past-- and with Wilbur, not me. I’m not Wilbur, I’m Ghostbur.” [M/N] nods as he leans down, reaching for his hand and placing the blue dye back in his hand.
“That you are, Ghosty.” he whispered softly, raising his hand to wipe away the tears threatening to spill “There’s no need to shed any tears, everything’s fine.” he slowly nods his head, his hand squeezing around the blue.
“Mmkay.” the other three couldn’t help but stare in disbelief, maybe envy. Not once have they ever seen [M/N] behave like that to anyone beside Schlatt, there was the rare time when he was kind towards Tubbo and Quackity, but those were one off things and he didn’t really care about them. He had those eyes that were devoid of emotions towards them, but here, they saw color swirling in his eyes as he stared down at the weeping ghost with concern.
It wasn’t fair.
“I don’t want you here, [M/N].” Tubbo states, this caused the two to glance over at the young boy “You’re... you’re a threat to L’Manburg and I’m afraid you’ve overstayed your visit.” what little confidence he had in him slowly drained out of his body the longer [M/N] stared at him, he snickered to himself as he took a step forward and pushed Ghostbur behind him.
“How amusing, boy.” he flicked his hand to rid of the blue dripping down his finger tips and the three across from them couldn’t help but imagine the blue dye be replaced with blood, the images of the war flashing in the back of their minds about how ruthless [M/N] was during that time “I haven’t even done anything, and you’re firing shots.” at the mention of that, Tubbo flinched and subconsciously gripped his arm, the same arm that was burnt and scarred badly when [M/N] shot him with the firework.
“Y-You--”
“While we’re on the topic, I have to mention Tubbo, your previous actions are reminding me an awful lot of Schlatt. It’s almost as if he never left.” he flinches again, he hangs his head low as [M/N] now stood over him, a wide smirk on his face as a shadow looms over him “Now don’t take that as an insult, coming from me of all people, it’s more like a compliment!” he closes his hands into a tight fist, his knuckles turning white with how hard he was holding them to the point his nails dug into the palms of his hands and they were bleeding. He chuckled darkly at the reaction he was receiving from the boy so he leaned down, his face now hovering a couple inches away from his before raising his blue stained hands and jabbing his finger into his chest “You chose a country over your best friend, how selfish.”
“N-No, I... I did it f-for the betterment of this country.” [M/N] only narrows his eyes on him.
“I don’t like Tommy, and I most certainly don’t like you, so I don’t particularly care about his fate. But if you truly were his friend, then you would at least visit him once. Ghostbur has told me that you hadn’t even seen him once.”
“I-I--”
“[M/N]!” he let out a yelp when he smacked in the back of the head, they look over and saw Philza had left his home to see what the fuss was about, only to see [M/N] and Ghostbur surrounded by Tubbo, Fundy, Quackity and Ranboo “What have I told you about antagonizing people?” he only pouts, taking a step back as he rubbed the back of his head.
“That I shouldn’t...”
“And what did you do?”
“Antagonized them. But they came onto us first, they even made Ghostbur cry, so I had to step in.” at the mention of that, Philza glanced back at his deceased son and noticed the tear tracks as he sniffled, he glanced up [M/N] before letting out a sigh and patting his head.
“I’ll let it slide this one time, okay? Good job.” [M/N] immediately perked up at the praise, his tail wagging side to side “Now get inside, Techno told me you were coming. I’ll handle this.”
“Okay.” Ghostbur takes his hand and rushes to where Philza’s house was, apologizing when he dragged [M/N] through the door and his face slammed face first above the door frame because he was too tall for it. He cradles his face in his hand before hunching down to fit through the door, Philza shook his head before turning and giving the group a stern glare.
“You dare cause trouble with those two?” Fundy couldn’t help but glare up at his grandfather.
“You weren’t there, Phil, you don’t understand what he put us through all because of his damn loyalty towards Schlatt! He’s a problem that needs to be dealt with!” Philza’s glare doesn’t waver as he stares them down.
“He hasn’t done anything wrong, you have no right to call him out on anything when he has done absolutely nothing to be called out for. Tell me, what has he done that you unrightfully stopped him?” this caught them off guard and they glance at each other, he was right, he hasn’t done anything so they can’t exactly do anything regarding him “I understand you’re all angry with him for what he’s done in the past, but he has the same level of anger for you but maybe even higher, and yet he’s being the bigger man and controlling himself. If you saw him during the aftermath of the war, none of you would be standing where you are now.”
“...” Tubbo bit his lip as he looked up at Philza, who wore nothing more but a cold expression, he clicks his tongue as he turned on his heel and marched away “Fine, do what you want.” the other three watch in disbelief that Philza drove him away before chasing after him, the old man let out a breath before turning around himself and making his way back to his home, and there he saw [M/N] leaning against the arm chair that was placed in front of a fireplace with Ghostbur laying next to him rather contently, chattering about anything that came to mind.
’I heard from them and through Wilbur’s letters that the relationship between those two was like oil and water, it’s almost hard to believe now.’ he thinks to himself, remembering the first time when Ghostbur and [M/N] met, he could feel the wolfman’s bloodlust from where he was and was ready to completely obliterate him, but was stopped when he saw those eyes of innocence in Ghostbur’s eyes. Ever since then, Ghostbur clung to [M/N]’s side, much to his dismay but Philza knew that he secretly had a soft spot for the ghost ’To think those two would be so close now.’
”Ah, Phil! Welcome back.” Ghostbur greeted, hearing that, [M/N] turned his head and offered Philza a nod before resting his head on the arm chair once more.
“Dealing with them is always tiring, even more so with how cocky they’ve gotten.” Philza let out a huff, approaching them before taking a seat.
“Tell me about it, they’re pretty relentless nowadays.” [M/N] didn’t intend to stay as long as he did, he was planning on handing the thing Technoblade wanted to give him and would be off, but the company of the old man and ghost was rather comforting to the point he stayed there for a couple hours until the day turned into night. When he decided to leave, Philza offered for him to stay the night, but the former politely declined the offer because he was afraid that Tubbo and his lot would raid his house just to kick him out.
“That was rather refreshing.” [M/N] muttered softly, lacing his fingers while stretching them above his head and hearing them crack, he let out an oh when he felt arms wrap around his exposed torso so he glanced down and saw Ghostbur embrace him from behind “Hello, Ghosty.”
“You aren’t leaving yet, are you?” he hums softly, placing his hand on his head.
“That I am, Ghostbur. I’m not particularly welcome here.” Ghostbur pouts before removing himself, moving so he was in front of [M/N] to grab his arm and tug him forward.
“Don’t forgot that I was supposed to show you around.” [M/N] murmurs softly.
“Now? It’s late, and we might run into those four again.” he dismisses the thought.
“Tubbo knows not to miss with someone twice when Phil gets involved, and I know you won’t be coming back unless Techno needs you to do something for him again, and that’s something we won’t see unless it’s one of those rare days.” he tugs on his arm “I promise it won’t be boring.” [M/N] gives him a look before letting out a sigh and reluctantly nodding his head.
“Well... alright, but when I say I’m leaving, I’m leaving, got it?” Ghostbur lit up.
“Wonderful!” he cheered before dragging [M/N] behind him, who let out a grunt by the fact that he was being dragged around once more. [M/N] wasn’t interested in anything that L’Manburg had to offer, he could care less about the country that gave him nothing but bad memories, but the way Ghostbur’s eyes lit up as he explained certain monuments and who lived where, he couldn’t help but listen. There was bad blood between himself and Wilbur, if he ever go the chance to kill Wilbur, he would take it... but Ghostbur wasn’t Wilbur, and though that was a pity, he was quite grateful. Despite having the face of that deranged man, his heart was kind and soft. Ghostbur was in the middle of explaining something when he glanced up at [M/N], he flinched slightly when he noticed that [M/N] was staring at him “U-Um-- is there something on my face?” he asked, raising a hand to press against his cold cheek.
“No.” [M/N] answered rather bluntly, this caused Ghostbur to deadpan, a bead of sweat appearing on the side of his head.
“Then why are you staring...?”
“Your face is nice to stare at, is all.” his face flushes blue again, he presses his lips together as he turned away, [M/N] erupted into laughter at the way Ghostbur raised his hands to his cheeks to cup them, squishing them together. Yeah, despite the fact he has the face of the person he hates most, this version of his face was quite nice to look at. From afar, Quackity was watching the way [M/N] was laughing wholeheartedly while Ghostbur was waving his hands in a desperate attempt to stop him, he couldn’t help but grit his teeth as his gaze hardened on them.
It wasn’t fair that he was able to be happy and they weren’t.
[a few weeks later]
“Techno, this fucking sheep won’t stop following me.” [M/N] complained, raising his leg when the blue wool sheep nipped at the ends of his pants before letting out a happy bleep “Just let me eat the damn thing!” he shouts, hoping that it would scare the sheep away and convince Technoblade to actually let him eat it, much to his dismay, neither happened.
“No! How many times have I told you?!” [M/N] merely rolls his eyes with a groan before pulling some hay out of his inventory, this managed to catch the attention of the sheep so he hurled his arm back before throwing the hay in a random direction, letting out a sigh of relief when the sheep chased after it. [M/N] kicked the snow off his feet before entering Technoblade’s house, his body shuddering as the warmth within his home enveloped his body, he sniffed as he walked down the hallway and there he saw Technoblade sitting at his dining room table.
“So, when’s Phil supposed to come around?” the piglin pursed his lips, taking out one of the letter’s Philza had sent him via crow, pushing down his reading glasses as he read through it.
“Hmm, around midday.” the both of them glance at the time and saw it was nearly that time “I wonder what’s taking him so long, he’s not usually one for being late.”
“Maybe his age is finally catching up to him.” they both stare at each other before laughing, as they continued to wait for the blonde man, the two of them worked around the property. [M/N] was helping Technoblade feed the animals and fix anything that needed to be fixed or taken down, Technoblade was tasked with collecting firewood and so he was working by cutting up the wood from the trees [M/N] cut down-- excuse me, punched down.
“You could help, you?” [M/N] smiled smugly, leaning against Steve that laid behind him as he continued to watch Technoblade chop wood.
“But you look like you’re having fun.” he raises his hand, catching the axe that was thrown at him, and gives him a look “Hey, I did my job, now you do yours.” Technoblade growls as he pulls out another axe and continues chopping wood.
“You just chopped down too many trees!”
“Think of it as training.” [M/N] clapped his hands, leaning more into Steve as he decided that he was going to catch a couple of zzz’s, only to be interrupted when something landed on his head. Opening his eyes in slight irritation, he raised a brow with a hum when he noticed that it was one of Philza’s crows. He sat up straight as he looked around in search for the immortal man, inhaling deeply to try and catch whiff of the man’s scent, only to conclude that it was just Technoblade and himself in the area. The crow bounced up and down on his head and then did he realize that there was a small note attached to its leg so he raised his arm and it perched itself on his forearm, he removes the note from its leg and reads through it. Technoblade lets out a tired huff, wiping away at his sweating forehead as allowing the winds of the winter biome cool down his overheating body, he turned to scold [M/N] for not helping him, only now noticing that his body was trembling as the letter in his grasp was covering his face, his hands tightening and crumbling the letter under his grip.
“[M/N], what’s the matter?” he lowers the letter and there Technoblade saw [M/N]’s face expressing the emotions of anger and anxiousness, he glances down at the letter with his eyes before giving it to him.
“They’ve got Phil.” he whispers out through gritted teeth, Technoblade snatches the letter from out of his hands and quickly reads through it and his face soon matches [M/N], only, his anger was overwhelming his fear “What do we do?” Technoblade crumbles the letter up and throws it away, throwing the axe into the stump he was cutting wood on and starts making his way to his house.
“We prepare for a fight.” [M/N] was on his feet, allowing Steve to follow his master, and his hand closed into a fist. Reading that letter made his still heart thump against his chest and reminiscence the feeling of when he was serving Schlatt. His loyalty as a wolf was resurfacing from the grave and the thought of something horrible having happened to Philza all because of him was beginning to overwhelm his thoughts, he takes in a breath before turning away and rushing over to his home to prepare for the battle with him and Technoblade vs L’Manburg’s Butcher Army “[M/N]! Do you have any strength potions?!” he hears Technoblade shout from his house.
“No! I don’t make potions like that, that’s your thing!” he shouts back, tightening the guard on his forearm as he adjusted the rest of the armor on his body. It was true, he rarely used any potions that boosted up physical strength and speed, mostly using potions to insta heal himself and whatnot, his own strength and speed was superb enough that the potions used on others meant nothing.
“Useless!” he hears the other shout, this caused him to let out an offended gasp.
“Coming from the fool who has to use potions to make himself stronger!” they cease in their verbal argument when [M/N] heard footsteps, peeking his head out of his den, he let out a gasp when he saw who it was “Ghostbur? What on earth-- what are you doing here?” [M/N] has a hold on his forearms as he pulls him into his den, Ghostbur looks up at him and noticed the look of worry gracing his face.
“What’s the matter, [M/N]? Did something happen?” said man let out a frustrated growl, running his clawed hand through his hair as he searched through his chests for potions that would be helpful for himself and other potions that would debuff the Butcher Army.
“Tubbo locked Phil under house arrest and is coming for Techno and I.” his back was to the ghost, his head hanging low as his grip on the chest tightened, his claws digging into the wood “I fear that they’re going to kill us both if we don’t do anything...” Ghostbur noticed the way his body was trembling slightly, whether it be fearing for his life or maybe irritation that Tubbo had the gull to try and execute him out of a grudge. [M/N] flinched when he felt Ghostbur take his hand, glancing down, he saw tears running down his face as the blue dye on Ghostbur’s hands smudge onto his hand and fur.
“I don’t understand why Tubbo is doing this... maybe if you try and talk it through, he might listen.” [M/N] shook his head, slipping his hand free from the ghost and placing them both on his shoulders.
“I don’t believe he wants to talk it out. I feel like he’ll feel the most at ease with both Techno and I out of the picture.” he wipes away his tears before walking past him so he could make his way to Technoblade’s house, he sighs to himself as he shook his head when he heard the ghost following behind him closely. Ghostbur stayed outside, kicking at the snow as Technoblade and [M/N] thought of battle plans for when the Butcher Army showed up at their doorstep, but [M/N] couldn’t help but continue to worry.
“Hey, [M/N]! Hey!” said man lets out a sigh as he turned to look over at the ghost, Ghostbur grabbed a hold of his hand and pointed with his other at the sheep with blue wool “Look, look! It’s a sign, blue!” despite the dire situation they were in, he chuckles softly as he nods his head.
“Right, blue.”
“[M/N].” he lets out a hum, turning to look at Technoblade and saw him cock his head in the direction of the house, the wolfman lets out a sigh as he takes his hand back from Ghostbur.
“As cute as it is, Techno and I need to prepare for the onslaught that Tubbo is going to bring to us. I’d really appreciate it if you could take that sheep and get as far away as possible. Hide over a hill or something! Just get as far away from here as possible, okay? Can you do that for me, Ghosty?” Ghostbur nods, blushing at the nickname.
“O-Okay!” they watch as he goes outside and towards the sheep, attaching the lead to the sheep and leading it away “Come here blue boy. Okay, bye, bye Techno and [M/N]! H-Have fun preparing for the-- for the event.” [M/N] nods, waving goodbye as he watched Ghostbur walk away with the blue sheep following close behind.
“We shouldn’t have to worry about Ghostbur, right?”
“... we probably should.” was Technoblade’s answer before he turned around and watched away to continue preparing, this response caused [M/N] tp purse his lips and deadpan at Technoblade’s retreating form.
“That doesn’t help reassure me at all, Techno.” he was promptly ignored, once they were fully equipped in armor and fully stocked on potions, food and weapons, they took turns scooping outside the safety of Technoblade’s home for any signs of a threat. It was Technoblade’s turn to look outside the trap door window while [M/N] was distracted in sharpening his claws when he heard a groan, he raised his head and saw an annoyed look on his face.
“You’ve got to be kidding me?” [M/N] glances at him.
“What?” he points out the trapdoor and so [M/N] peeks his head over his shoulder to see what it was, his jaw dropped at he sight “Oh god, that plan to have Ghostbur hide over the hills did not work!” he shouts, Technoblade grits his teeth as he shakes his head.
“Not at all!” [M/N] soon slaps his hands over his face.
“Urgh, Ghostbur!” he groans out, [M/N] was over Technoblade’s shoulder as they look through the trapdoor and watch Ghostbur’s interaction with the Butcher Army, they both gasp when Ghostbur looks at them.
“No, no! Don’t make eye contact with me—no, don’t wave at me Ghostbur! No, no! Do not wave at me!” [M/N] slaps his hands over his face again as he shook his head.
“Oh no, they’re punching him. No, oh no... Ghostbur you’re on your own.”
“We can’t save you, Ghostbur.” Ghostbur then starts walking over to them “Oh this is not good—no, no! Don’t walk over to us! Don’t lead them over to us! Oh—I’m starting to hate this guy so bad. I hate this guy so bad.” [M/N] just groans as he presses his hand to his forehead once again when Ghostbur starts waving his hand, Tubbo, Fundy and Ranboo behind him while Quackity was beside him with an axe in hand.
“Hey, hey Technoblade! [M/N]! The—They say they’re going to kill you, Technoblade.” he presses a finger to his cheek as he looks back at them, Technoblade shook his head as he opened the door and looked at Ghostbur.
“Ghostbur-- Ghostbur, why are you—why are you leading them over to my house? Why are you doing this?” Ghostbur looks back at the Butcher Army then back at them.
“What do you want me to say back to them?” [M/N] was over Technoblade’s shoulder again as he points at them.
“Tell them that we’re not here and to fuck off!” Technoblade nods his head.
“Yeah, tell them that they’re at the wrong place.” Ghostbur tilts his head to the side.
“But that would be lying.”
“I-I—I need you to—they're going to kill me! Why are you not okay with lying?!” they both look over and sigh “And they’re all here, they’re all here. They’re all right outside my house.” [M/N] was internally screaming in his head as he pressed his palms together while pressing them to his face, he then glances over at Ghostbur and grabs him by his forearms and pulls him towards his chest.
“Ghosty, the plan to hide isn’t an option anymore, and I don’t want you getting hurt than you already are.” he shakes his head as he pulls Ghostbur back so he could look down at him “It would really put me at ease if you stay inside the house, alright? Out of sight, out of the way, but safe. Do you think you can do that for me? Can you do that for me?” Ghostbur stares up at him, noticing the way [M/N]’s brows scrunched up in concern as he continued to hold Ghostbur’s arms, the ghost soon nodded his head as he gave him a reassuring smile.
“If it’s what you want.” he lets out a sigh of relief, his shoulder briefly settling before they tensed up again when he heard Technoblade talking to the Butcher Army, he inhales deeply before pushing the door open from behind him and gently pushing Ghostbur inside.
“Stay in the house no matter what, and don’t come out no matter what. If you hear someone’s voice that’s neither Techno’s nor mine, don’t come out or answer. This is for your own safety, okay?” he nods.
“Okay.” he goes to shut the door but paused when he felt something nibbling at his pants, he looked down and grimaced at the sight of the blue sheep eating his pants, he lifts his leg and Ghostbur laughs “He seems to like you very much.” he cooed as he took the sheep, [M/N] only rolled his eyes.
“A weird thing for the sheep to like, especially when I tried to eat it.” he ignored Ghostbur when he made a face, cutting him off by closing the door and soon approaching Technoblade from behind, placing a hand on his shoulder as he leaned down “Have you managed to convince them, Techno?” he scoffs, rolling his eyes as he steadied the sword in his hand.
“Of course not, do you really think they would listen to reason?” he laughs.
“No, I’m just glad that we’re able to fight them and I won’t get reprimanded by Phil. But before we start this rumble, let me ask you one thing.” he says, standing up straight and glaring at the Butcher Army “What have we done in these past few months that we deserve to be treated with such unjust? I bet there’s no political reason and you’re simply doing this because we’re too dangerous to have around, because we threaten you just by simply being alive.”
“What ever happened to serve and protect? Hah, this is giving me more than enough reasons to destroy the government. You use unfair methods to try and get the upper hand, but you still fall short to the point that it’s laughable.” at that, both Technoblade and [M/N] throw their heads back as they burst out into laughter, but this laughter was not the kind you could laugh along to, they were both laughing rather manically and mockingly. Soon, the laughter died down until their was nothing but silence, the bigger two take a deep breath before they glare at the Butcher Army “You’ve made the wrong choice in making us your enemy, L’manburg. We’ll make you regret your choice.”
“We’re only protecting the people from you.” [M/N] scoffed.
“What you should be protecting the people from is yourselves. You’re nothing but uncoordinated fools.” he takes a step back so that he was standing behind Technoblade, the two of them smirk darkly as Technoblade pulls out two potions.
“I choose blood!” he shouts before throwing them to the ground, the contents within the potions splashing on them and granting them extra strength and swiftness but also acting as a smoke screen to block the view of the Butcher Army ahead of them.
“No!”
“Oh no!” the four brace for impact and wait for the outcome to happen, [M/N] was the first to make his presence known by pushing the smoke back and letting out a loud howl, revealing to them that he was now in his full form and was not planning on letting them get out of there unscathed. Ranboo staggered backwards when he saw that [M/N] locked eyes with him, he grits his teeth and raises his axe in a poor attempt to block his attack but was denied when the wolfman easily punched through the shaft of the axe, snapping it in half and his fist connecting with the Enderman hybrid’s torso. Ranboo was winded immediately as he was sent flying backwards, he collapsed to his knees and wrapped his arm around his stomach, tears leaking from his eyes and burning his skin as some saliva dribbled out of his mouth.
’Messing with these two was a mistake from the very beginning.’ Ranboo thought, gasping for air as he tried to compose himself despite taking such an intense blow from the very beginning, he soon lets out a whine as he closed his eyes ’God, I am in so much pain...!’ he really was, the axe was able to kill most of the blow but he still took a punch to the chest from [M/N] of all people. Still cradling his stomach, he weakly raised his head and shivered in fear when he saw [M/N]’s [E/C] eyes staring down at him intensely before he turned around and charged towards Fundy, who let out a yip before running away. This sort of reaction confused Ranboo, he was told by Tubbo, Fundy and Quackity that [M/N] was relentless and merciless when it came down to killing, so he couldn’t understand why [M/N] left him be.
The answer? It’s quite simple really, though he was already wary of the Enderman hybrid as well as the fact that he was threatening his life that very moment, he could tell that the kid was just roped in because he was new to the server as well as the fact that he knew nobody so he was only trusting the other three because there was nobody else there to teach him right from wrong. There was also the fact that Ranboo hadn’t directly done anything wrong to [M/N] where he needed to beat some sense into him, that one little love tap was more than enough to get him to think twice before raising his weapon against someone who was leagues above him. That being said, he didn’t feel an ounce of guilt when he punched Fundy in the face and watched him collapse to the ground, to which he proceeded to grab him by the ankle as start swinging him around.
“Hey, Techno! Let’s play baseball!” Fundy’s face paled when he saw both men smirk, beginning to break out into a cold sweat when he saw Technoblade kick Tubbo into Quackity as he raised his axe and pulled it back while holding the shaft of the axe like it was a baseball bat “Shoot for a homerun!”
“Hey! I’m not a damn ball! This isn’t going to work!” Fundy shouts in hopes he could stop the two from doing something insane, [M/N] merely rolled his eyes as he tossed him up slightly so his hand would grab onto the collar of his shirt instead. Now with a better hold on the fox man, he pulls his arm back before slamming his foot onto the snowy ground before throwing him at Technoblade full force, he soon bursts out into laughter when Technoblade swung his axe and the flat side of the blade hit Fundy square in the face and sent him flying into a tree.
“Nice one!” [M/N] cheered as he approached the pigman, raising his paw and the two of them high five.
“Nice serve.” he jokingly bows his head.
“Thank you, thank you.” they soon fist pump before going back to absolutely demolishing the two who were still able to move, Quackity and Tubbo take a step backwards as the two bigger hybrids start closing in on them with little to no remorse in each step, the two of them were ready to dye the white snow red with their blood “You take Tubbo?” [M/N] says, the boy flinches when Technoblade moved his gaze to him before nodding his head.
“Sure, and Quackity’s yours?” he salutes.
“Rightyo.” they switch places before [M/N] starts charging towards Quackity, keeping true to his word, he completely ignored Tubbo in favor for the damned bastard who took one of Schlatt’s lives, that was enough to fuel that anger that he managed to bury deep inside him. [M/N] didn’t even chase after Quackity, the duck fled out of fear while [M/N] simply walked after him, a sickening smirk on his face as he watched Quackity stumble over his footing as he tried getting away from [M/N] “Aw, what happened to all that confidence, Quackity? Weren’t you here to kill us, but right now, it seems the opposite is happening right now.”
“Shut up! We’re still going to kill you both!” he rolls his eyes.
“For what?” he asks once more “Techno and I have done nothing to you guys and L’Manburg for months, and yet now you guys are here because we’re too dangerous? I call bullshit, I just know that there is another reason as to why you guys are doing this. Or perhaps, maybe this was your idea. You do seem to be the one running the show here while Tubbo is in the passenger seat, what’s your motive?” Quackity was now backed into a tree, back pressed flush against the stump as [M/N] loomed over him with a dark expression, a nervous smirk worked its way onto Quackity’s face as he managed to swallow down all his fear as he took a step forward, leaning up to glare straight into [M/N]’s eyes.
“You’re right, [M/N], you’re right. You’re on the hit list, both you and Technoblade, even Dream.” he shoves [M/N] back enough to poke at his chest, a twisted expression now crossing onto his face “I don’t care how long it takes me nor what I have to do to get there, but I’m going to make sure that I’m the one that kills you, the three of you.”
“Hah, I’d love to see you try, little duckling.” pulling his arm back, he bares his claws and goes to strike Quackity down but the latter was just lucky enough to duck down, sweating a little when [M/N]’s clawed paws took down the tree in one strike. He tries to crawl away but lets out a grunt when [M/N] kicked him down before grabbing his ankle, this time, he didn’t swing Quackity around like a ragdoll like he did to Fundy, nah, he turned around and slammed his body into the ground before throwing him towards the house. That wicked grin appeared on his face as he noticed the way Quackity’s body was trembling in pain, he then looks to the side and saw the fallen tree so he knelt down and managed to get a good hold on it before lifting it up.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.” Quackity weakly croaked out when he noticed a shadow looming over him and he turned around to see what it was, only to pale when he saw that it was the tree [M/N] was previously holding before he threw it at him. He quickly rolled out of the way and shivered when it landed just where he was, Technoblade noticed and he quickly looked over at the wolfman and glared at him.
“Hey! Watch the house! You’re paying for damages!” the other scoffed.
“Through labour, dickhead!” Technoblade only rolled his eyes, Quackity pushed himself onto his back before rolling away when [M/N] jumped from where he was and was intending to land on top of Quackity, or rather, slam his claws into his body as he descended from the sky. He swallowed thickly as he stared at the damage [M/N] caused and was frantically looking for a way to subdue both men, his eyes soon landed on a horse and an idea crossed his mind, he scrambles to his feet and [M/N] doesn’t hesitate to chase after him.
“Big Q, do something!” Tubbo shouts from where he was, raising his axe one more time to block Technoblade’s sword from slicing his face “Big Q!” he growls and pulls his sword back one more time and goes to deliver the final blow but was stopped when he heard Quackity shout his name.
“Technoblade!” he turned his head to the call and his eyes widened at the sight, Quackity was holding the lead to Technoblade’s most prized horse Carl with the blade of his sword at his neck, he lifted his blade and pointed it in the direction of where Quackity was Tubbo took this distraction as an opportunity to get away.
“You get away from that horse right now!” Technoblade shouts.
“This is how this is going to go, Technoblade. Drop everything you have and come with us, if you don’t, I am going to kill this fucking horse.” [M/N] was just a couple inches away from Quackity and he glared at the little bastard.
“Technoblade, come on.” [M/N] starts, noticing the way the pigman was hesitating “It’s a horse! You can always get another one!” he adds, throwing his arms open to exaggerate his point.
“We wouldn’t have been in this mess if you hadn’t played with your food!” this caused the other to narrow his eyes at him.
“Don’t play with me, Techno. You do the same!” Quackity and Tubbo sweat drop when they notice the two of them start arguing, Quackity lets out a growl before moving the blade so that it was closer to Carl’s neck.
“Enough fucking around! I promise you, if you don’t drop everyone you have right now, I’ll make sure to kill this horse!” he threatens once more, [M/N]’s shoulders dropped when he saw Technoblade inhale deeply as he looked away, he soon closed his eyes when he witnessed Technoblade drop his sword before removing all his armor and taking all his items out of his inventory, hell, he even took his crown and cape off “That’s right, and you too, [M/N]!” the wolfman glared at the new tyrant when he saw that confidence rise to his face once more, he only shook his head before doing the same thing. Ranboo and Fundy had now regained their composure and were chaining Technoblade and [M/N] up, Ranboo flinched when he placed a collar that was Enchanted with Curse of Binding around his neck with a chain that connected with the handcuffs around his neck.
“I’m sorry...” Ranboo apologize, this apology surprised [M/N] slightly, his ears and head perking up in confusion when he could tell that Ranboo was sincere about his apology.
“... you’ve done nothing wrong.” was all [M/N] said to the young boy before looking away, flexing his hands and missing the way a conflicted expression worked its way onto Ranboo’s face. Ranboo would sometimes converse with Philza and Ghostbur and both men would say such positive things about [M/N] and the one thing he was working on was his anger management. He could see how calm [M/N] was despite the fact that he was now going to be executed along with Technoblade, who was just as calm as the other as they were being led away. Ranboo soon noticed the way [M/N] kept glancing back towards Technoblade’s house with a worried expression before stumbling forward when Fundy yanked on the chain connected to the collar, he then remembered the fact that Ghostbur was still in the house and was going to go check on him but stopped when he heard Quackity’s voice.
“Let’s go, Ranboo.” he said, no, it was more like an order that he had to obey, so with a nod of his head he followed them.
“Right.”
[in l’manburg]
“I can’t believe it, you actually got them.“ being led into L’Manburg once more was almost humilating, but that humiliation disappeared when the two men turn their heads at the sound of Philza’s voice and there they saw the older man detained in his own home with a ankle band that was Enchated with Curse of Binding, keeping him from leaving his house but he was able to stand out on his veranda and there he bared witness to seeing his old friend and newest friend being dragged along in chains.
“Phil!” Technoblade shouts, finally acting up and taking a step forward, yanking at his chains as he looked up at him “What did they do to you?!” he exclaims, gritting his teeth when Fundy pulled at his chains and Quackity grabbed his shoulder. [M/N] was just as shocked but he was shaking in anger, he was ready to burst but the look Philza was giving him made him calm down slightly, however that did not stop the continuous beating in his heart and it only continued to beat. He let out a grunt when he was kicked down onto his knees by Quackity, who was now holding the chains to his cuffs and collar while Tubbo led Technoblade to the cage he was going to be executed in.
“You’re going to watch Technoblade die in front of you and know that what we do to him will happen to you.” [M/N] only growled in response before letting out a groan when Quackity yanked on the chians once more to shut him up, he growled to himself before his eyes wander up to where Technoblade was approaching his death.
Walking up the steps to the cage that was to hold him in his cell for his execution was slowly dawning on him, each step he took felt heavy, almost as if he was trudging through ocean waters. It was unsettling that this was where he was going to die, what was upsetting was that Philza and [M/N] were there and they were going to see him take his last breath. He was going to die with his friend and associate, along with his enemies, watching him, Fundy was the one to lock him in the cage and he turned around to face them as Tubbo took his spot on the podium to make his speech.
“Technoblade has robbed this country of what made it special; everything that defined what it was. He stepped in when he shouldn’t have. He caused chaos, he ruined the government! He— Punz is throwing fucking—“ Technoblade wasn’t bothered listening to the blubbering bullshit Tubbo was goin on about because it just meant nothing to him, but at the mention if Punz, he raised his head and saw the mercenary throwing an Ender Pearl down from where he was and made his appearance in the middle of it all. The Butcher Army was confused as to why he suddenly showed up but were taken aback when he threw down multiple potions to boost his own stats while causing a smoke screen, what really threw them in a loop was when he placed down TNT.
“Punz! What are you doing?!”
“Punz, stop!”
“Fucking get his ass!”
“I’ll— I’ll just sit here.” Technoblade muttered to himself, watching the chaos unfold as they all chased after Punz to stop him from doing what he was doing, Technoblade sighed to himself as he leaned against the steel bars of the cage “This is nice.” he then glanced over at [M/N] and saw he made no attempt in trying to get free as he watched the chaos unfold with an equally confused look on his face.
“Technoblade.” he flinched slightly at the sound of a echoing voice, turning his head, he hummed softly at the sight of Ghostbur and that goddamn blue sheep right behind him, obediently following after him while nibbling on the hem of his yellow sweater “Technoblade!” he cheered once more, to which the latter pursed his lips as he slowly nodded his head.
“Hello Ghostbur.” he greets, rather calmly despite the fact he was about to die.
“I’ve named him— I’ve named him Friend.” he nods.
“That’s fantastic Ghostbur, that’s fantastic. I’m about to die Ghostbur.”
“Okay, fuck it. Fuck it!” Technoblade turned his attention away from Ghostbur when he heard Quackity shouting while rushing back over to where the lever was while the others dealt with Punz.
“Big Q, pull the lever!”
“Heh?!”
“Pull the lever!” Technoblade takes a step back, looking up at the wooden blank that kept him and the anvil intending to kill him away. The thumping in his heart was beating so fast that it was all he could hear, slowly, everything started going slow motion in his point of view. He opened up his inventory and pulled out the one item that he kept hidden from the Butcher Army that would surely save his life, but he also knew that it was going to hurt like a motherfucker. So, holding onto it with a grip that made his knuckles turn white, he closed his eyes shut and waited for the impact of the anvil to kill him. [M/N] winced as he turned away, his ears pressing against his head when he heard the anvil slam onto Technoblade’s head and kill him, however, the sound of confetti reached his ears and he couldn’t help but turn his head back towards the pigman.
[Technoblade has reached the goal Postmortal]
“Heh, Technoblade never dies, huh?” was all [M/N] could say as he watched in amazement and disgust when he saw the Totem of Undying regenerate his skull, how from his bones, to his muscle to his skin was put back together but his face held the scar of a crack that shimmered like gold.
“What?!”
“Huh?!”
“How did he not die?!”
“What is going on?!” amongst all the confusion [M/N] tugs on the chains as he looked at Technoblade.
“Techno, run!” he noticed him hesitate.
“What about you?!”
“I’ll be fine! Just get outta here!” he took a breath before nodding his head and sprinting away, following after where Dream had taken Carl away. Quackity was the only one to leave the scene while Punz was left to fight the remaining members of the Butcher Army, [M/N] then took a deep breath as he looked down at the collar that was keeping him from going ape shit. Tubbo was in the middle of defending himself from an arrow shot by Punz when he heard the low growling, he turned to look at where [M/N] was and his eyes widened in fear when he noticed that he his grip on the collar was so tight as he was slowly breaking it off.
“No... no! Stop him! We can’t let him loose!” Fundy and Ranboo turned to face [M/N] and were frightened that the collar was at the verge of breaking with how how tight [M/N] was gripping it while pulling it apart. They immediately rush towards him and attempt to stop him but were stopped dead in their tracks by Punz, giving [M/N] enough time to break the collar with his bare claws then letting out a loud howl as he glared at the lot of them from behind Punz.
“You lot have got some nerve.” he snarled lowly at them, however, he ignored them and raised his head to look up at Philza. Said man took a step back when he noticed how the wolfman pulled his wrists apart to break the handcuffs before he knelt down and launched himself over to his veranda, pushing himself off the walls until he was standing on top of the railing “Let’s get outta here, Phil.” the blonde chuckled softly when he saw [M/N] extend his hand out to him, he took his hand with a shake of his head.
“Yeah, let’s go.” he let out a whoa when [M/N] tugged him forward, he wrapped his arm beneath him and was going to jump away until he heard the sound of Ghostbur’s voice, he looked down and his eyes widened when he saw the ghost.
“Ghosty? Seriously?! Didn’t I tell you to stay at the house?” he exclaims, the other just laughed.
“I was wondering where everyone went and came here to find you guys at the event.” [M/N] only shook his head.
“Goodness gracious.” he knelt down so he could put Philza on his back before launching himself towards Ghostbur, hooking his arm under the ghost then grabbing the sheep before charging over towards Punz, who stumbled backwards then let out a whoa when [M/N] opened his mouth and locked his jaws onto the hood of his jumper before tossing them all up and onto his back as he ran away on all fours at full speed.
“What about Techno?!” Phil shouts, letting out a whoa when he felt [M/N] pick up the pace, placing his hand on his head to keep his hat from flying off.
“Techno will be fine! That piece of shit Quackity doesn’t stand a chance against Techno despite the odds being in Techno’s favor.” [M/N] noticed Philza was still worried about ihs friend so he looked back up towards him with a look of reassurance “Come on now, Phil. Techno was able to walk off an anvil to the head, he’ll surely be able to walk away from Quackity with Carl in toe.” Philza bit his lip before letting out a sigh as he nodded his head.
“Well... alright.”
[Quackity was slain by Technoblade]
“Heh, see?” [M/N] started, the message of Quackity’s death appearing before their eyes, relieving them of their stress and worry “Techno will be fine.” with that [M/N] took off without a moments rest, Punz whistled to himself as he held onto [M/N]’s fur with a death grip when the man leapt through the air to cover more ground then landed on the ground with a loud thud before sprinting off as if it were nothing. [M/N] was now collapsed onto his stomach, taking deep breaths and wheezing after running nonstop until he reached the shoreline and was now taking a much needed rest, Ghostbur was by his side petting his head while Philza was watching the forest in search for his friend, Punz doing the same but looking for Dream.
“You did such a good job, [M/N]. Well done.” Ghostbur praised, Philza snorted when he noticed the way [M/N]’s tail started thumping on the ground, then both he and Punz raised their guards at the sound of shuffling coming from the forest,[M/N] doing the same but instead pulling Ghostbur and Friend close to him to protect.
“Whoa there, it’s just us.” they all let out a collective sigh of relief when they saw that it was only Technoblade and Dream emerging from the forest.
“Took you long enough.” [M/N] pursed his lips as he shrugged his shoulders, looking away from Technoblade growled at him but Philza grabbed his arm to calm the piglin, Ghostbur doing the same with the wolfman but was scolding him softly.
“I’m so glad that you’re alright, Techno.” Philza said before wrapping his arms around the man, who let out a soft sigh as he gently pats him on the back, he then raised his head and his ears perked up when he noticed that [M/N] gave him a thumbs up.
“Good to see you still kicking, Techno.” he only chuckles.
“You think that was enough to kil me?”
“Of course not.” they both smile softly at each other and fist bump each other, [M/N]’s soon moved towards Dream, a shallow growl emitting from his throat. He still never forgot his promise to Dream about his betrayal towards him and Schlatt, but because of Dream that very night, he probably would have died.
“I can tell what you’re thinking, [M/N].” Dream said rather mockingly, the growl resurfaced at his tone and Dream made sure to change tactics because he knew not to antagonize this man “Since Punz and I saved you two, I hope you guys can return the favor in the future.” Technoblade was the first to answer, a soft smile on his face.
“Of course! Whenever you need it, I’ll be there to setlle the debt.” Dream’s eyes then returned to [M/N], he noticed him narrow his eyes at the green man before throwing his head back.
“Fine, I might be there if you need a favor from me as well.” that was more than enough for Dream, to which he bowed his head towards them, arm to his chest and a soft smirk on his face.
“Then it was pleasure doing business with you lot.”
Contract pt. 3
word count: 23,441
Fandom: Gravity Falls Pairing: Stanley Pines x Alvah (OC) Pronouns: He/She/They (usually goes be she/her) Relationship: Romantic Occupation: Guardian Ability: Demonic Powers
Since the individual is a resident of the Nightmare Realm, while also being the embodiment of evil from across multiple dimensions, the power they have is almost unlimited. They are capable of traveling to different dimensions throughout the multiverse but when they do step foot in such dimensions their powers become limited unless they are able to form a contract, similar to Bill through his deals, that allows them to have full access to their powers. They are capable of shapeshifting their appearance to blend in with the locals or at least influence the minds of those who set their eyes on them, but if there were anyone to bear witness to their true form, their own minds would destroy itself and drive them into madness.
Keys:
n/a
Warnings:
blood, violence, and spoilers for those who haven't read the book of bill.
"Contract" pt. 1, pt. 2
I believe you can pinpoint where exactly I stopped giving a shit about what the hell I was writing. I just wanted/needed to finish this part.
I now had to make this three parts because I met the word limit again.
season 2, episode 17. dipper and mabel vs. the future
alvah doesn’t really appear much in this episode, only to decline dipper’s offer to join him and ford’s adventure to look for an adhesive to seal the crack on the rift.
she does warn ford that this was a situation that she really couldn’t interfere in and that if they were in trouble she wouldn’t be there.
he took her warning to heart and was extra cautious with his and dipper’s safety.
they don’t let that show and she bids dipper goodbye and to have fun, despite knowing the day’s outcome.
soos was out with mabel in search for a location for the twin’s birthday party since stan rejected the idea of it being held at the mystery shack, no thanks to the undead crashing the last party.
stan was ecstatic to know that it was just going to be just him and alvah alone in the mystery shack now that everyone was gone to do their own thing.
he searched for her but was stumped when he found no trace of her.
not in the mystery shack.
not outside on the sofa.
nor downstairs in the lab.
he couldn’t find her anywhere.
he had yet to search the rooftop when he came across mabel sulking in their shared bedroom.
“Hey, everything alright, pumpkin?” he asks as he enters the room, she let out a sigh as she pushed herself up onto her knees but continued to look through her scrap book of every moment she managed to capture during their stay at Gravity Falls.
“I just can’t believe the summer’s almost over.” as she spoke Stan entered the room and took a seat beside her “And now that I know how awful high school is going to be, I’m in no hurry to start that train wreck.” he gives her a sympathetic look as he wraps a comforting arm around her shoulder.
“Ah, nobody likes getting older. But just because you’re growing up doesn’t mean you have to grow up, you know? I mean, look at me. I’m pushing seventy, and I still eat ice cream for dinner.
“But I don’t want to say goodbye to Gravity Falls.” she says as she leans against Stan.
“Hey, at least whatever happens after this summer, you’ll still have your brother along with you through thick and thin. Not everyone can say that, you know.” he ruffles her head as his eyes look towards her scrap book, he flips through a couple pages but his face scrunches up in confusion when he noticed something “How come there are no photos of Alvah in here? I thought you would be loaded with pictures with her.” Mabel let out a nervous laugh.
“Well, about that. Before we knew that Alvah was actually an interdimensional being, Dipper noticed that whenever I tried taking photos of her or he tried recording her, she would decline. I thought she was just camera shy and tried taking photos of her whenever she wasn’t looking, but...” she trailed off and pulled out a small box from under her bed, it revealed to be polaroid photos of Alvah, or rather, attempted photos of her “Whenever Dipper or I tried to take a photo of her, something would either fly into the frame or the camera would freak out. We did manage to get one, but it’s kind of scary looking.” she rifles through the box before pulling out the picture and showing him, and boy did it not disappoint. It was taken in the gift shop where Alvah was talking to him, though her figure was distorted and mangled that he would never have guessed that it was her in the photo if Mabel hadn’t told him.
“I see what you mean.” he looks through a couple more and some either capture her back or the side of her body but her face was just never in the frame, it was always covered.
“Alvah told us that since her body wasn’t entirely real, the lenses of a camera would be one of the few things that would be able to capture her real body. I asked how we were able to see her on the T.V before but she explained that since it was through a memory we were seeing the perceived image of what that person saw.”
“That sounds... very complicated.” Mabel nods.
“Very.” he looks through a couple more until he managed to find one where you could just briefly see her face, or rather, just the crease of her lips pulling up into a smile so when Mabel wasn’t looking, he pocketed the photo.
“While we’re on the topic, have you seen Alvah?” she caressed her chin.
“Hmm, if I remember correctly, the last time I saw her, she was heading towards the roof.”
“Thanks sweetheart.” he ruffles her head again before leaving her be, hopefully when Dipper gets back he can lighten her mood. Going to where Mabel tipped him off, he perked up immediately when he had finally found Alvah but stopped when he realized the lost look in her eyes. He tilts his head to the side as he gets a good look at her, she looked distant and uncertain about something as she stared into nothing in particular “You good there, toots?” he raised a brow when she jolted up from where she was sat, well that’s a first, she always seemed to know when he was lingering and had never startled her once, whatever was on her mind must really be preoccupying her head for her to jump.
“O-Oh, Stanley. I didn’t see you there.” he cleared his throat as he walked over to where she was and took a seat beside her.
“I noticed. What’s on your mind?” her face was always so calm and collected, composed and put together, but now... he didn’t know how to describe it, but he’d compare it back to the time she was at her most vulnerable moment “Is something wrong?” he asked as his hand reached to touch her face, she watched as his fingers uncurled and gingerly caressed her face before his palm cupped her cheek and let it rest there where she leaned into his rough but careful hand.
“I’m just... upset, is all.” he thumbs at her cheek bones as she lifted her hand up to place on top of his “Those kids are going home in a matter of weeks and I can’t help but admit that I’m going to miss them.” he smiled softly at her concern.
“Aw, don’t be like that. Unlike Ford and I, I’m pretty sure you can visit those kids whenever you like. As long as your contract holds, you’ll stay in our dimension for as long as you want.” it was now his turn to look a little lost, his hand dropping down to his lap while averting his eyes from her and down at the ground below them “At least you’ll have a home to stay in, Ford expects me to be gone at the end of the summer.” she frowns at his words, remembering back to their argument about how Ford wanted his house back after the children were gone. She hummed softly and reached for his face, turning it so he could look at her once more.
“Your brother is as stubborn as an ox, but with my charismatic personality and absolute annoying nature, I am sure I can convince him to keep you around by insisting that I need you.”
“Pft, what could you need me for?” she hummed softly.
“Oh, but a lot of things. Other than Ford, you are the most entertaining human man I’ve ever had the blessing to have met.” she lifts her other hand so that she was now holding his face, she leans forward and lets her forehead rest against his “It will be so boring without you and this silly little Mystery Shack, it’s what gives Gravity Falls its charm. It just wouldn’t be the same without you, Mister Mystery.” he giggles to himself when she pulls away.
“Aw, shucks. You sure know how to make a guy blush.” she rubs her nose against his and chuckled.
“If I have to brainwash your brother to keep you here, I’ll do it. I won’t let you go so easily, Stan.”
“Haha, I don’t know if that’s you or the devil you speaking.” she gives a shrug.
“What strokes your ego more?”
“I think we both know the answer to that question.” Alvah laughs and graces him with a kiss on the forehead, he giggles once more before standing to his feet and offering a hand to her “You seem to be in a better mood, why don’t you give me a hand by helping me put up some more signs.” she scoffed as she took his hand.
“That better not be the reason you came looking me. We have a small heart to heart and the next thing you ask for is free labor? Hah, you’re starting to sound like Ford.” he shoves her back with a laugh.
“Don’t say that, that’s the last thing I want to hear.” he continues to laugh as he starts making his way back inside the shack but fails to see the way her face dropped, the same bitter look washing over as the worst has yet to come and there was nothing she could do to stop it “You coming?”
“O-Oh, yes. I’m right behind you.” with a sullen look she followed closely behind him, reaching for his hand and holding it rather tightly. She takes one last look at the Mystery Shack before screwing her eyes shut and stepping into the woods where they were going to be far from what was going to happen, and it was when Stan started rambling on about the kid's birthday where that feeling of guilt started overwhelming her “Stan.” she spoke weakly, arms full from holding several handmade signs, as she stood behind Stan while he hammered one to a tree.
“What’s up, Alvah?” her fingers dig into the wooden signs as she pulled them close to her chest.
“Will you forgive me for what is to come?” he snorts.
“What a ridiculous question, there isn’t anything that would warrant me not to forgive you.”
“... I hope that that is the truth, so know that I am so sorry about this.” he turns around to see what would cause her to apologize but let out a shout when his hat was pulled off his head, looking back he saw that it was that goat eating at the fez of his hat.
“Okay, that’s it goat! It’s time I threw you off this property for good!” he hears a shuddered breath from behind him followed by a clatter, turning around he was confused when he didn’t see where Alvah was until he looked down and his his eyes widened in shock when he saw she had collapsed to the ground and laid motionless, he shouts her name as he kneels down to look her over until he felt a shadow cast over them. He looks back and his eyes widened in disbelief to see that the goat had grown to a height that shot past the trees, he doesn’t think twice and picks Alvah up and runs back to the Mystery Shack “Please, please Alvah! Don’t let this be what you’re apologizing for, because I don’t know if I can forgive you for this.”
season 2, episode 18. xpcveaopfoxso
stan is unable to wake alvah.
he is also unable to contact her.
so she isn’t really in this episode.
season 2, episode 19. escape from reality
doesn’t appear in this episode.
season 2, episode 20. take back the falls
“Yaaaah!!” Dipper, Mabel, Soos and Wendy kick open the door to the Mystery Shack arming themselves with anything they could find after hearing noise come from within while letting out a battle cry to intimidate the intruder, however, they were blissfully surprised to see not an enemy but rather “Wait... Grunkle Stan!” the children cry out in relief as they quickly run up to him, his eyes widened when he realized who it was and threw down his bat and fell to his knees.
“Kids!” he shouts as he opened his arms, he let out a laugh when they dove into his arms and cried as he held them securely in his arms “I can’t believe it! I thought I lost you two!” he let out a grunt when Soos is at his side and pulling him into a hug.
“Mister Pines! It’s really you! I’ve been hugging strangers to practice for this moment.” he says, Wendy then throws herself forward and slams into Stan to join their hug.
“We missed you, you old codger!” he lets out a laugh at them.
“I’ve missed you knuckleheads, too. It’s good to have you back.” he slowly releases the children and Dipper finally takes in the unusual group that’s huddled inside the Mystery Shack, from normal civilians to the mythical creatures that resided in the woods.
“So... what’s everyone doing here?” he lets out a soft gasp when some liliputtians run past him, Mabel nods her head.
“Yeah, there’s like monsters and gnomes... and is Pacifica wearing a potato sack?” she scoffed at Mabel.
“Hey! Even in a sack I still look better than you!” this earned an eyeroll.
“It’s... it’s a long story.” the Multi-Bear spoke but then another voice spoke, startled, they see the vents open and the head of wave Larry King spoke up.
“Hey, is anyone gonna feed me? Larry King’s disembodied wax head wants num-nums.”
“We’re trying to ration our food, remember?” Grenda spoke then shuddered when he started chewing on her hair “Uhh... it’s happening again.” the Multi-Bear was quick to close the vents to stop him, one of the manitaurs look at through the open window and gasped when he saw an eye-bat in the distance.
“Hey, everyone! Eye-bat!” everyone gasps.
“Evasive maneuvers!” Stan is quick to stand to his feet and slam the door shut then turn back to the children and lead them away from the windows.
“Shhh, keep it down.” with that all the refugees shuffle into positions to keep out of sight.
“Hit the lights!” outside, they spot an eye-bat turn to a scampering raccoon and turn it into stone before flying off with it back to Bill’s giant pyramid beneath the rift leading to the Nightmare Realm. Stan lights a match within a different room, illuminating the shack and revealing what was left of the towns people sitting around.
“Welcome to what’s left of normal around here. Home base.” the newcomers look around the shack and spot several beings they’ve encountered throughout their summer at Gravity Falls, from the gnomes to the boy band Sev’ral Timez, Dipper let out a shout when he saw a previous enemy.
“Ah! Rumble McSkirmish?”
“Do not be afraid. Weirdmageddon has taught me, there are some battles that I cannot win. I am now Humble McSkirmish.” a digital –50 despair pops up next to Rumble, they ignore that and look to Stan.
“Grunkle Stan, how’d this all happen?” he let out a sigh as he thinks back to when it all began.
“So I was hammering signs out back when the sky started vomiting nightmares. I listen to a lot of AM radio so I knew what this meant: the end of the world. What I didn’t expect was what happened next. Turns out whatever you and my brother did to the shack with your unicorn voodoo made the crazy place invincible to the weirdness.” Dipper snaps his fingers.
“Of course, the unicorn spell. That’s why this is the only place Bill’s magic can’t touch.” Stan nods then gestures to McGucket.
“That’s when possum breath over here shows up leading a bunch of injured stragglers through the forest. They needed a place to stay and since the mayor got captured, I elected myself de facto chief. The plan’s to stay in here and eat brown meat until we run out, then I vote we eat the gnomes.” the leader of the gnomes glares up at Stan.
“Hey! I’m short, not deaf!”
“Shh! Shh! Stress will make you chewy.”
“Grunkle Stan, we can’t all just hide inside the shack. There’s a town in need of saving. Me and Ford tried to do it, but he got captured by Bill.” Stan scoffed as he grabbed one of the cans of brown meat and popped it open.
“Serves that jerk right. My brother’s had some stupid plans, but going up against an all-powerful space demon was his worst one yet. Trust me, we have everything we need right here. It’s not the Ritz but at least monsters inside now how to massage. You know shiatsu?” he asked the Multi-Bear.
“Yes, I’ve taken classes.” Dipper gave him an incredulous look.
“So you’re really just gonna let Bill win?”
“Look, kiddo. We got a good deal here. Besides, I’m sure whatever the rest of the townsfolk are, they’re fine.” he slams his hand down and accidentally hit the remote to the TV and it turned on to the news broadcasted by Shandra Jimenez.
“This is Shandra Jimenez reporting live from the insides of Bill’s castle. Here for the first time are images of what’s happened to the captured townsfolk. Viewers are advised to look away if they don’t want to see their friends turn into a twisted throne of human agony.” many of the residents within the shack gasped when they recognized a few people that were turned to stone and forced to act as a throne for Bill.
“Mum and dad?”
“My family!”
“Deputy Durland!” the camera then turns back to Shandra.
“Is there no one who will save the people of this town? I’m Shandra Jimenez and I’m being turned into stone by a flying eyeball.” the TV then turns to static, causing everyone to gasp in shock
“Oh, no. My parents are bad but even they don’t deserve to be turned to stone.” Sheriff Blubs drops down to a knee as he cries out in despair.
“Curse you, Bill! Why must you take everything we love?” he then rips his shirt open and continues to cry, Mabel huffed and climbs on top of the Multi-Bear.
“Guys, don’t you see? Our friends need us, but we can only save them if we fight back.” Dipper nods as he takes his place beside her.
“Mabel is right. Bill wants us to run and hide. He wants us to think he’s invincible. But Ford told me before he was captured that he knows Bill's secret weakness.” the refugees perk up at the mention of a weakness.
“Weakness?”
“Now, if we band together, if we combine all our strength, our smarts, and... whatever Toby has...”
“Various rashes!” he was promptly ignored.
“... then we just might be able to rescue Ford, learn Bill's weakness, and save Gravity Falls.” a rally of cheers erupts from the crowd which satisfies both Mabel and Dipper, he scans the crowd and frowns when he doesn’t spot the person he was looking for “Hey, where’s Alvah? She would be a great asset in taking down Bill.” they look towards Stan, knowing that he was the last one with her, and they saw the way his demeanor changed just at the mention of her name.
“Alvah, she...” he raised his arm and gesture a corner of the room, a few refugees move out of the way and there they saw laying on the sofa was Alvah’s body, the children were quick to rush to her side and look her over as Stan approached “She’s been out cold since this all started and no matter what I did I couldn’t wake her up. I’ve tried calling out to her, tapping on mirrors and even the shadows but my voice just doesn’t seem to reach her. It’s like she’s been cut off from our dimension or something.”
“Bill! He must have done something to severe her contact with us!”
“Or maybe he’s weakened it! She always answered to you, Dipper. Maybe you can get through to her.” Stan scoffed, crossing his arms at the thought that Alvah would answer to Dipper and not him at such a dire moment.
“Don’t bother. I’ve tried everything, so it’s no use.”
“But she’s got a softer spot for the kids, Mister Pines. Let them try.” it would hurt if she answered to Dipper and not him but he wasn’t going to stop them from bringing back one of their biggest trump cards, so he nodded his head “Alright, go ahead Dipper.”
“Thanks, we’re just gonna need that mirror in your room.” the gnomes rush away and grab the giant full body mirror from out of Stan’s room and place it near Alvah’s body “Great uncle Ford told me that her way of communicating with us, before she got a physical body, was either through mirrors or shadows. But it was also the way she saw and heard everything, it was how she kept an eye on him and even us throughout the summer. Maybe when you tried contacting her, you were doing it where she couldn’t hear or see you, Grunkle Stan. Maybe if we try with a mirror close to her body, we can get through to her.” he looks towards Mabel and saw that she was standing near the mirror, she grinned at her brother and gave him a thumbs up.
“Ready when you are, bro-bro.” he takes a breath as he lightly taps at her face.
“Come on, Alvah. Come back to us, we really, really need you this time. I don’t know whether or not this is one of those events you can’t interfere with us, but surely you can give us a little help like you did with that spider lady. There’s just no way you would sit back and watch us struggle against Bill, you care too much about us.” Mabel lets out a laugh as she stared at her reflection, hoping to see Alvah appear beside her.
“Yeah! You wouldn’t let anything happen to this cute little face, now would you?” they wait breathlessly for anything and frown when there was nothing, Dipper sucked in a breath before wrapping his arms around her as best as he could, laying his head on her shoulder and frowning when he felt just how cold she was.
“Please, there’s no way we can do this without you. We need your help, or else we’re going to be in so much trouble. Please, please come back and help save Gravity Falls. You said it yourself, you may be the embodiment of evil but even you aren’t that evil to just sit back and watch us die.” his arms tighten around her as he nuzzles his face into her shoulder “Please don’t prove Bill right.”
...
...
“Finally!!” everyone all let out a scream at the sudden shout, looking towards the mirror, Mabel had fell back when Alvah had abruptly appeared, slamming her fists against the glass with an enraged look on her face “That little one eyed, triangular, three-sided, orphaned freak! I swear to Axolotl when I get my slimly little hands on him, I’m gonna rip his out eye!”
“Alvah!” her face immediately softened when she saw Dipper and Mabel rush towards the mirror, not missing the fact she saw Dipper hugging her empty vessel, she lowers herself down to their level and let out a sigh of relief.
“You kids are alright. A little worse for wear, but you’re alive. I’ve been so worried, and Mabel...” she presses her hand against the glass, a look of guilt swirling in her eyes as Mabel lifts her own hand to press against hers “Please don’t blame yourself for what happened. You just wanted more time with your brother and you made a desperate but genuinely sincere decision, but you’re only just a child. If anyone else were in your shoes, they would’ve done the same. As for me, I...” Dipper had a knowing look as he watched her avert her gaze from them.
“You knew. You knew this was going to happen that day, that was why you avoided us. Because you couldn’t watch us do it.” she took a breath as she looked back at him.
“I couldn’t. I have watched dimensions burn, civilizations collapse, mortal beings die. But I couldn’t... I couldn’t watch this one, because I started to care about a stupid little family that lives in it. As selfish as it was, I turned a blind eye... a look where it got me.” they all flinch when her eyes turned red as she started banging on the glass again “Now that he’s brought the Nightmare Realm into your dimension, he’s kicked me out of my vessel and weakened my connection with it. I’ve been trying for hours to get back to you guys.” this caused them to look at each other in confusion.
“Hours? Alvah, it’s been a few days since Weirdmageddon has started.”
“Days? But that’s...” they see the way her eyes dart from side to side as she was trying to understand what they were saying, had it really been that long? Was she that desperate to get back to them she hadn’t realized just how much time had passed? “G-Give me a sec, I’ll be right back.” they watch as she walked out of frame as if she was going to walk out of the side of the mirror, a few refugees looked at each other in concern as they waited anxiously for her to return.
“What could she mean by hours? Does time work differently or something from where she’s from?” Pacifica asked “More importantly, how was she in the mirror when her body’s right there?” Mabel let out a nervous laugh as she rubbed the back of her neck.
“Would it freak you out if we tell you that she’s similar to Bill?”
“What?!” everyone exclaimed, McGucket let out a laugh.
“I told y’all she ain’t what she seemed! But nobody listened to me!”
“Okay I’m back!” her abrupt reappearances were going to give someone a hard attack, the look on her face seemed to be one that was a mixture of panic and weak hope “So, there’s good news and bad news. The bad news is that the Time Baby is dead, and time is now quite literally dead and or under the control of Bill himself. So while you guys were trapped here and experienced a couple days, no time has passed at all within Gravity Falls. As for me, only a couple hours have gone by.” that honestly felt like a slap to the face, while they were suffering under the hand of Bill Cipher, no time had passed at all, as if it were just one sick nightmare.
“A-And the good news?”
“The Time Baby is dead! So there’s nobody to stop me from telling you guys from what’s going to happen, if him or the time police were still lingering around, I wouldn’t be telling you guys this but since they were erased off the face of this timeline there’s nobody here to stop me.” she kneels down to Dipper and Mabel’s height with a serious look on her face “I’ve told you this before, you two. I have seen you win, but I have also seen you fail. There are countless alternate timelines where you two don’t even make it to today, and I have seen you die a limitless number of deaths that I... now what I am going to tell you is going to lead to the ending of this event.” they nod their heads.
“What is it?” she takes a deep breath as she raised one finger.
“There are two endings to this and I don’t know which one it is. There is one ending where you two get so close, so, so close to defeating Bill but... you get turned to stone and added to Bill’s collection on his throne.” they swallow thickly at that possibility but light up when she raised her other finger “But there is another ending where you two get to see your thirteenth birthday, one where we’re all there to watch you blow out the candles.” Mabel glows at that possibility.
“How do we get that ending?” this is where they see her give them a conflicted expression.
“I-I don’t know.” Stan scoffed from behind the children.
“I thought you said you could tell us.” she shook her head.
“N-No, I genuinely don’t know how. I see the outcome of the future, not the execution.” she pulls a face when she notices that not everyone understood what exactly she meant, she sighed “I can see what leads up to certain parts of the future, but I can’t exactly pinpoint crucial parts that leads to the wanted ending. Does that sound better?” she let out a defeated breath when a rally of ohs sounded off, if it weren’t for the fact she’s seen the future she would think they were as good as dead.
“And what about my brother?” she perked up at Stan’s question “How is Ford?” she winces a little.
“Well... he’s seen better days.” she looked down at Dipper when she noticed the guilty look on his face “He’s alive, but only because Bill needs something from him.”
“What could he need from brainiac?” she opens the palm of her hand and the mirror creates a perfect replica that was Gravity Falls, but they come to notice a sort of dome that surrounds their little home.
“There is a natural law of weirdness magnetism of the town that is containing Bill's weirdness, and an equation can disable the barrier, to which Ford and myself know. So even if I hadn’t been trapped here due to my minor mistake in our contract, I wouldn’t have been able to leave thanks to that barrier.” Mabel raised her hand.
“But you were able to leave that one time to meet Grunkle Stan to give him that postcard!” she avoids eye contact with Stan at the mention of that day.
“My contracts are powerful enough to bend certain rules, but they can’t break them. I am a primordial being, but even we few have laws we must follow if we don’t want to suffer the consequences from higher beings. That is why I’m a neutral being, but now my morals have tipped a bit.” she shrugs then gives them an apologetic look “I can’t do much while I’m like this, and I apologize for that. But if you can get him underneath that rift, I can handle the rest.”
“How do you expect us to do that?” she chuckled and gestured to McGucket.
“Well, you’ve got the greatest inventor here with you.” Alvah and McGucket stare each other down, an unspoken tension between the two of them “Don’t expect to hear another compliment out of me, Fidds.” he huffed at her.
“I’ll get another one when I see pigs fly.” they ignore the little oink that comes out of Waddles “But she’s right. I think I figured out a way to fight Bill and rescue Ford, but we’re all gonna have to work together.” he snaps his fingers and a gnome puts his glasses on him, everyone huddles around McGucket as he begins to explain his plan to take down Bill but Stan lingered around the mirror.
“Are you mad at me, Stan?” it was happening all over again, right after Ford came back and it was revealed that Alvah knew everything from the start. It was like their whole relationship went right back down to square one, and Alvah hated that now that she understood where her feelings lie, it hurt her chest seeing Stan so distressed “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you, or warn you, or keep those kids out of danger, but if I did... I would have put them in more danger. There are so many rules that I just can’t risk breaking.” he scowled as he crossed his arms.
“I thought I could read you well, I thought I could understand you, but you’re still a giant mystery to me. To you, it might have been a couple hours, but these past few days were grueling. I had no clue where those kids were, where my brother was and you weren’t responding no matter how many times I called out for you. And yet, all it took were those kids and you came running back. Maybe I should be relieved that you’ll always look out for Dipper and Mabel, but it still hurts that even with our relationship I’ll just be an afterthought.” she’s shaking her head as she pressed herself against the glass.
“N-No, no. Stan, that’s not it. I-I—I care for you just as much as those kids, it was just a coincidence that I came back when Dipper was calling for me. You have no idea how distraught I was when I was forcefully ripped out of my vessel.” as she said, only mere hours passed when Weirdmageddon began and she can still remember the feeling of seeing herself be torn right out of her body and sent back to the Nightmare Realm. Unlike Bill and his Henchmaniacs, she was forbidden by the Axolotl from entering dimensions in her true form because the residents of said dimensions would either end up like McGucket or merely die within her presence; her body would be like a nuclear and or atomic bomb went off within the confined town of Gravity Falls. So when she woke up in her real body and saw the rift had opened a gateway between the Nightmare Realm and their dimension, she knew she wouldn’t be able to do a thing to help them or stop Bill. She tried opening up her windows to try and see them but no matter what she was unable to see them, she was unable to hear them, Bill had completely cut her off from them.
“You say that but you can’t even tell me that you love me.” her eyes widened softly, knowing that all Stan wants is to be loved, whether it be her love or his family “You tell me that you care about me, you’ve told me that you liked me... but I just want to know that after all this, is that if you really love me.” he saw the way her throat bobbled as she swallowed, hesitation swirling in those eyes of hers again.
“I... I-I--” her face dropped when he let out a sigh and turned away from her.
“That’s what I thought.” she watched in dismay when he walked away to leave her on her own, knowing that she wouldn’t follow after him. Her hands pressed against the glass, her palms pushing against the one thing that kept her away from him and slumped against it when he disappeared from her view.
“... Shmebulock.” her face hardened at the unwanted voice, eyes glaring down at the small gnome that was shaking his head disappointedly. Mabel let out a shout of surprise when said gnome flew passed her and into the wall, turning around, she saw Alvah crossing her arms as she wore an irritated look.
“What would you know?”
alvah watched them practically tear the mystery shack apart to build mcgucket’s latest project.
it was a little funny to watch stan try and stop them but he was ignored.
she gave what little assistance she could by holding things up with her limited power or creating miniature versions of mcgucket’s designs.
she started laughing when soos made him watch anime and he was seriously taking notes.
she wasn’t very pleased when mabel instructed the gnomes to guard her body.
scratch that--
they were carrying the sofa she was on and moving it around whenever it was in the way while also guarding the mirror.
she was never going to live this down.
“You moping, you big baby?” Stan jumped before relaxing with a huff, looking down to see Alvah’s reflection in a tiny broken shard. Despite the teasing tone he could hear in her voice he saw the look of genuine concern in her eyes, he leaned down and picked up the small shard, and held her in his hand “You upset that nobody is listening to you?”
“Yeah, because everybody is risking their skin for a guy who doesn’t have an ounce of gratitude. I saved his butt and yet I still didn’t get a thank you out of him. Everyone is treating him like a hero despite him being the reason this even happened in the first place.” she let out a sigh.
“Unlike Dipper and Mabel, who know that they can always rely on each other even at the worst of times, Ford seems to be unable to recognize that he has someone he can rely on as well.” whether it be him she was referring, he wouldn’t know, but he’ll take what he can get “He fails to see that the “trust no one” stance that he’s believed in for so long is what’s holding him back. Because he doesn’t trust anyone, other than me because he knows that I can’t and will not lie to him, he’s creating an even bigger problem than the one that’s already in his lap.” Stan lets out an exasperated sigh at her words as he throws his head back.
“See! You get it! Because of his lack in trust, he’s gotten us into this whole mess!” she hummed softly.
“Sure, but you are the same.”
“What?”
“Stanley, your stubbornness has gotten not only you but those kids in a lot of trouble. Your unwillingness to accept their help has done you more harm than good, and even now, your constant rejection will be your undoing.” she rolled her eyes when he glared at her.
“Oh, yeah? Well, what about you, little Miss Perfect? You’ve got all this power and haven’t done anything to keep us out of danger! Those kids have been in so much danger that could have been prevented if you had done your job and protected them! Even now, you’re doing nothing but watching us all put our lives in danger.”
“I am an observer, Stanley. It is my job to observe dimensions, not interfere.” he let out a scoff and tossed the shard on the ground and away from him “You may not trust me anymore, but I’ll tell you this. I have been alive for over trillions of years, I have seen countless universes, dimensions, and timelines be destroyed, and not once have I felt the feeling I have now. Now that I have nothing stopping me from interfering directly, I’m going to make sure that one-eyed defect understands why he shouldn’t claim he’s a god.” he couldn’t stop the shiver that ran down his spine at the venom laced in her voice, he always did forget that the person he was conversing with was a demon herself.
“Grunkle Stan!” he lifted his head up to see Dipper and Mabel coming to check on him, he looks back down at the shard and saw nothing but his reflection.
‘I’m almost nervous about tomorrow now. I can only imagine what she’s going to do.’ he thought as he looked out towards the rift, what the hell does she mean she’s going to handle the rest?
...
...
“You know, if it weren’t for the fact that I’ve seen the future, I would not be the least bit intimidated by this thing.” she let out an offended gasp when McGucket kicked at her ankle, in retaliation she smacked his hat off his head, they continue to banter until Soos had to carry McGucket away when he was threatening to shoot the mirror, she merely stuck her tongue out at him “I’m being honest, the only thing keeping you lot alive is the unicorn barrier.” she jumped when Mabel slapped a sticker onto the mirror that read "I can and I will" on it.
"Don't be such a wet blanket, Alvah! We worked really hard on this." she huffed softly.
"Just saying." she must say, Fiddleford never ceased to impress her. They never would have made it this far if it weren’t for him, maybe if he never took up Ford’s offer on that fateful day, he would have become something so much more than the town’s looney. The Shacktron, dubbed by Soos himself, composed that of the Mystery Shack as the main body with the shack’s totem pole attached, while its waist area houses the remains of the portal. On its back, the head and neck of the Gobblewonker robot rises, acting as its tail. Its left arm contains preserved tyrannosaurus rex with its free head as a hand, and its right arm contains a three fingers clasper with Manly Dan’s logging truck as a forearm.
“Alvah!” she raised a brow when Dipper called her name “Where is Bill right now?” she looked out through the window and peered through the Fearamid to see Bill torturing Ford, they watch her point at a specific spot on the Fearamid.
“If you punch through that wall right there, you’ll find him exactly where you want him.” they nod their heads and reel back the left arm of the Shacktron and punch it straight through where she instructed, she snickers before bursting out into a fit of laughter at the sight of Bill’s shocked face.
“What?! I just fixed that door!” they pull the dinosaur head back and Bill, alongside Ford and his Henchmaniacs, are greeted to the sight that was the Shacktron.
“It’s the Shacktron, dude!” Soos called out from outside as he held a flag that said “take back the falls” with Larry King’s head on top of it.
“They made the house into a robot. Fascinating!” she hardened her gaze onto Bill as he sent out his Henchmaniacs, who grew into a size that matched that of the Shacktron.
“This was a bad idea.” Stan said as he stood in the back.
“Have some faith, Stanley.”
“If it weren’t for you knowing the future, I would have abandoned ship a long time ago.” she chuckled softly at him.
“No you wouldn’t have.” he huffed at her, they all look at to Soos who now held a megaphone.
“Uh, hey, dudes. Is this thing on? Test?” they all wince when the feedback screeches “Heh, uh, I just wanted you monster dudes to hand over Ford or we’ll have to, like, fight and junk. Heh, hey, you’re a little cutie.” Alvah stifled a laugh at Soos’ comment to Paci-Fire, the fact he even said that was hilarious.
“I have butchered millions on countless moons.” Soos recoils at the sound of his voice.
“Whoa. I liked you better before you talked. Real... real bringdown, this guy.”
“Attack!” Pyronica shouts and the Henchmaniacs start charging towards the Shacktron, Soos panics and is quick to retreat back into the shack.
“Alright, dudes!” Dipper nods his head.
“Everyone! Like we planned! Three, two, one. Go!” Candy and Grenda, who were operating the arms, punch Paci-Fire and Kryptos away while Waddles pulls down a lever, which causes the Shacktron to shoot the Henchmaniacs away.
“Hahaha! Good pig.” Mabel praised, to which he let out a squeal. A flock of eyebats start surrounding the shack and McGucket was quick to react, operating the Gobblewonker head on the top of the Shacktron, grabbing an eyebat in its mouth.
“Get em, Gobblewonker!” Rumble and Wendy were also out on top of the shack and attacking the bats.
“Hya! Hya!” Wendy spots an eyebat trying to fly away but she jumped off the roof and caught it in her fall.
“Oh, no, you don’t!” she pulls at its wings and redirects its eye to shoot at 8 Balls head, evidently turning him to stone, she then quickly jumps back onto the shack before it could fly away. Alvah was at awe at their teamwork, making quick work of the Henchmaniacs despite them being nothing but powerless mortals, perhaps Bill and his lackies could learn from them. She looks through the window again and notices Kanthar charging towards them but before he could ram the shack back she snapped her fingers and the Shacktron disappeared before reappearing behind Kanthar, the others were a little disoriented and looked at her in surprise.
“I'm not all that powerless while I’m in this state. Now take him down!”
“Right! Everybody! Maximum power!” Mabel shouts and Sev’ral Times starts running on a treadmill to power up the shack.
“And... now!" Dipper turns a wheel and the Shacktron grabs at Zanthar and throws him away, Alvah starts laughing again when Teeth ran by screaming as his body was on fire. She gasped softly when Stan fell back into the mirror, she peeked over his shoulder and looked at his face.
“When are you going to take care of it?!”
“I told you. I need Bill under the rift for it to work, not his Henchmaniacs. Trust me, I can keep him distracted for as long as you need him if you can get him under it. Taunt him, ridicule him! Just get him out of the Fearamid!” he turns back to shout at her but paused when she disappeared back into the mirror and he was met with his reflection once more, he couldn’t help but grow nervous now with their greatest asset had left. Though Stan seemed to be the only one out of loop, as everyone wasn’t the least bit bothered with her presence disappearing just as Bill floated out of the Fearamid.
“Let’s get this over with.” as Bill floats towards the Shacktron, he raises his fist as it grows in size and slams it down onto them. However, when he raises his fist up he saw that the shack was perfectly fine “What the? No! No! No! No! No!” he grows multiple arms out of his body and strikes at the shack once more but growls when there was no damage inflicted.
“Hey, Bill!” he glared at Dipper through the window when he saw that confident look on his face, the boy then points past him and up towards the rift above them “I’d watch my head if I were you!”
“Watch my head?” he was startled when the Shacktron was pulled back by an invisible force but then he noticed a shadow cast over him, before he could react he was suddenly crushed by a giant fist that continued to rain blows on him that got harder with each strike. The group within the Mystery Shack watched as a giant arm forced its way through the rift in the sky to punch Bill into the ground with incredible vigour. In reality, it was the real body of Alvah that managed to push only her arm through far enough that she could strike him down. The visual is rather hilarious because in the Nightmare Realm it just looked like she was sticking her arm through a hole, she cursed to herself when he slipped out from under her fist and floated a distance away “You have got to be kidding me! I thought I cut off all your access to this dimension!” the children’s eyes were quickly shielded when she showed Bill a not so friendly gesture, hundreds of eyes then opened all over her forearm that darted around in search for them until settling on the Shacktron. If it weren’t for the fact, when Stan was sulking away from the group, that she had told them how exactly she was going to help them they would have panicked at the giant arm that slowly reached out towards them. Soos, who was instructed by Alvah, stood outside the shack with her vessel in his arms as her giant hand hovered a few inches from him.
“Wow, dude, you’re a very big monster.” her hand extended out to him and her finger gingerly caressed his cheek, he giggled softly at the affection “Hehe, thanks.” he let out an oh when she turned her hand and opened her palm out to him, he understood and placed her vessel within her palm and her hand gently closed around her body before finally pulling back. They all watch as her thumb gently caressed at her vessel’s cheek like she was handling a porcelain doll, what they didn’t expect was for her hand to enclose around her body and crushed it.
“Wha-- What is she doing?” a few of them questioned then gasped when she opened her hand and let her body drop before retreating back into the rift.
“That was a cheap move, Harbinger of Chaos!” the humans and even the Henchmaniacs shudder at the sound of deep and ominous chuckle that echoed in their heads, a shadow casted over the Shacktron and they were met with what they believed was the true body of the Harbinger of Chaos. Their body was made of swirling, smoky tendrils, with countless red and white eyes embedded throughout their body, giving it an unsettling and chaotic appearance. The eyes vary in size and are placed randomly across their limbs, creating a sense of horror and unease.
“Says the guy who had to kick me out of my vessel in order to have more of an advantage on these poor mortal beings, Billy~” he slowly started turning red at the nickname, he grew even more frustrated when they turned their back to him to look back at the Shacktron “Leave him and his lackies to me, I'll make sure they don't get in your way."
...
...
"You Pines brothers are freaks." McGucket spoke through the silence that caught many off guard, those who understood look towards Stan, who was currently gawking at what Alvah truly looked like “That ain't even the full scale of what that monster is, and they’re in a sort of state where they ain’t messing with y’all’s noggins like they did mine.”
“Indeed. You always were the smart one between you and Ford.” they turn back towards Bill and make sure they stood protectively in front of the Shacktron when the Henchmaniacs formed a line behind Bill “Ah, doesn’t this remind you of something Billy? Where we fought over sweet little Fordsy after your little temper tantrum! Hah, it was so funny seeing you have a meltdown like you did before.” they laugh when he stamps his foot.
“And you’re doing it again! You’re choosing mortal beings over your duty! You’re stepping in when you aren’t supposed too! You’re interfering with this timeline when you weren’t even supposed to exist! I just don’t understand why you chose to intervene when you’ve watched millions die and cry out for salvation!” his hands ball into fists as he glared at them “I just don’t understand what makes Sixer and these humans so different that it broke you!” they let out a laugh.
“That answer is quite simple, actually.” each and every one of their eyes stare smugly at him “I just simply don’t like you. Besides, watching you act like this is all the more fun.”
“Get them!” Bill looked back at his Henchmaniacs and saw the way they hesitated to charge forward “What are you waiting for?! It’s just one being!”
“You seem to forget, Billy.” they coo softly, he Shacktron took a step back as the humans sweat a little when Alvah spread open their wings and slowly lifted themself off the ground “The Nightmare Realm was mine to watch over before you showed up. And don’t think just because you took over it was because I was intimidated by you, I just didn’t want the responsibility. I am a lazy being, and this is the most work I have ever done since I first opened my eyes.” they laughed at Bill’s frustration.
“Get them!” swallowing down their initial nervousness, the Henchmaniacs begin to charge forward but a blur that was Alvah flew past them and grabbed Bill, slamming him down and dragging him across the rubble that was once Gravity Falls. The Henchmaniacs deem Alvah more of a threat than the Shacktron so they are quick to abandon them to aid Bill, now that their attention was on Alvah and away from them it was their chance to get into the Fearamid and save Ford. Alvah was currently beating Bill into the ground and evading any attacks by himself and his Henchmaniacs thanks to the millions of eyes that covered their body, taking them on was next to nothing. Compared to Bill, who relied heavily on his magic and mental attacks, and though they were a lazy combatant, they were very much a heavy hitter. Bill manages to blast Alvah off of him but they caught themself in the air and recovered quickly, he was quick to move because they nose dive towards him and leave a crater in his wake “Don’t just stand there and watch, surround them!”
“But boss, they’re scary!” he was quick to glare at Keyhole for making such a comment.
“I’ll show you something even scarier if you don’t do anything useful!” Alvah looks back towards the Shacktron and let out a breath of relief when they saw the group responsible for rescuing Ford advance into the Fearamid, now it was their job to keep Bill distracted for as long as they could hold him.
as promised, alvah held off bill and his henchmaniacs as best as they could.
sometimes they would leave the henchmaniacs to the shacktron since they proved they were more than capable of standing on their own.
bill would sometimes get too close to leaving and heading back to the fearamid but they would pull him right back and make sure he never left their sight.
they went so far as to ripping his eye right out of his socket, knowing that it would take him some time to regenerate it.
both themself and bill knew that the body they had constructed was on limited time and they didn’t know how long they had before it started falling apart.
but they were going to do whatever they could to keep bill from winning.
“The one time you decide to interfere with my business it is to stand against me. You were there alongside Frills when my dimension went up in flames. I saw the way those eyes of yours held nothing but indifference, that you have seen and heard countless others lose their lives like that of a boring soap opera. And I also know that the various versions of you, the alternative realities where the Pines Family lost, and you did as you were told! You sat back and watched, but why in this the reality where you’re deciding to do something different?!” Alvah stared boredly at Bill as he started ranting again “Why couldn’t you have done something on that fateful day?! Why couldn’t you interfere like you’ve done now?!” they simply roll their eyes.
“You’re still holding onto that grudge, Bill? Sheesh, Time Baby and I told Axolotl that we shouldn’t have kept you around. You may be a being like us now, but you were still just a simple mortal that was fortunate enough to be born with a powerful defect. A freak amongst his peers that saw beyond the second dimension, and due to the fact you wanted to prove that what you were seeing wasn’t your imagination, you took matters into your own pitiful little hands and ended up destroying them in the process. That is not my fault, I may have implanted the idea in that empty head of yours but I didn’t tell you to do it.” they let out a snort “Your unwillingness to take responsibility of your actions is what has led you done this path of destruction. I guess you’re the new big overgrown baby now that the Time Baby is gone. Gonna cry about it?”
“Alvah!” it was their mistake to take their eyes off of Bill, that millisecond they broke their concentration at the cry for help coming from Candy and Grenda, Mabel’s friends— her children. Bill took it to his advantage and blasted a hole through their chest, knocking them back and giving him the chance to finally return to the Fearamid. They push themself up and stare down at the hole that would have sealed up by now but a look of dread takes over when they noticed that it was regenerating, they’ve already spent too much time and their power was beginning to fade.
But now they were left with two options.
The Henchmaniacs have come to realize that only the shack itself is protected by the unicorn spell and not the limbs, so they exploited that weakness and began to tear the Shacktron apart. They were hesitating whether to abandon the Shacktron to stop Bill or to abandon Bill to shake the defenseless humans against the Henchmaniacs, oh for the simpler times where they didn’t care. Why did they have to care?
“Alvah!” they gasped softly when they heard the tiny voice of Candy again, looking over to the fallen Shacktron, she saw little Candy giving her a thumbs up “We will be a-okay! Go save Mabel and the others!” Grenda grinned, though it was a little weak she could see the determined look in her eyes.
“We got this handled! Go kick that ugly triangle’s butt!” to think it would be those kids that decided for them, and though they hesitated, they turned their back on them and hurriedly flew up towards the Fearamid. They don’t slow down and fly faster until they shoot through the hole in the Fearamid and crash into Bill, sending them both into the wall opposite to where the humans below were.
“Whoa!”
“What was that?!” they all jump when a giant weight dropped onto the ground until a shadow loomed over them, and above them was Alvah holding their arms in front of them to protect them from Bill “Alvah! Are you alright?!” Ford’s eyes widened and he looked up at the being that stood above them.
“Alvah? Is that you?” a weak chuckle rings through his head.
“It is. Do I look as cool as I described myself?” he couldn’t answer when Alvah tanks another blast shot their way by Bill.
“You just don’t know when to quit, do you?!” Alvah holds a hand to their face as they raises their head and they all notice that they’re looking a little worse for wear, their wounds weren't regenerating and pieces of their body are beginning to drip off their body “You’re falling apart and you know it, just get out of my way and maybe I won’t erase you when I’m done with this dimension.” they let out a weak laugh as they looked at Bill like he was the dumbest being in all the worlds that existed, their arm dropping to their side and half of their face slowly melting off.
“I’d rather go to Theraprism then let you have your way with these mortal beings.” they lowered themself down towards Stanford and let out a tired breath “I apologize for failing you, Stanford. I couldn’t keep your family safe, I couldn’t keep them out of danger.”
“I-It’s okay, Alvah.” they shook their head.
“It’s not. If it weren’t for the fact that the Time Baby is dead, I wouldn’t be here right now. Bill did us both a favor by erasing him from existence and allowing me to make this right.” they then reach down to gently caress Ford’s cheek in an effort to apologize “Let me try and make this right, old friend.” he blinked up at them when he heard the sound of genuine remorse through their thoughts, when they pulled their hand back he nodded softly.
“Alright.” Stan perked up gently when he saw them briefly turn their head in his direction but before they could say anything Bill just clapped his hands.
“Blah, blah, blah. Enough with the sentimental moments, lets rumble!” the humans beneath them cover their heads when Alvah lunged over them and tackled Bill to the ground, and while the two of them were fighting once more, everyone looked towards Stan who stubbornly refused to take Ford’s hand and step into Bill’s Zodiac.
“Come on, Stanley! Alvah has Bill distracted and where we need him, you’re the only one left.” Stan scoffed, crossing his arms as he rolled his eyes.
“You realize this is a bunch of hogwash, right? You really think some caveman graffiti is gonna stop that monster?” a rally of groans come from the others.
“Dang it, old man! Now’s not the time!” Gideon shouts.
“Come on!”
“What are you doing? You’re gonna ruin this!”
“I’ve never held hands this long and I am very uncomfortable.” he raised his hands to defend himself from the onslaught of shouting coming from them.
“Whoa. Hey, I’m not the enemy here, people. Don’t forget who literally created the end of the world.” Ford let out a sigh.
“I’m sorry, Stanley. I know. Just help me fix it, please.” Stan stared at him.
“Fine. Just do one thing. Say thank you.” Ford was taken aback by the request.
“What?”
“I spent thirty years trying to bring you back into this dimension and you still haven’t thanked me! You want me to shake your hand? Say thank you.” Ford, almost as stubborn as Stan, looked like he was going to refuse but a loud thud caught his attention. He looked up and flinched when he saw Bill had Alvah pinned down but their head was turned in their direction and all of their eyes were glaring at him.
“Just say thank you, Ford! It ain’t that hard!” they kick Bill off of them then punch him back, Bill is shooting energy blasts and them as they crawl along the walls like a spider before jumping forward and kicking Bill in the eye.
“Fine. Thank you.” Stan let out a huff and finally took his and Soos’ hand, completing the circuit and glowing alongside them.
“Now, see. Between me and him, I’m not always the bad twin.”
“Between him and me.” the silence is almost deafening as Dipper and Wendy share a look of shock “Grammar, Stanley.” Stan looks like he was trying to hold it in, trying not to ruin it all because of one stupid little comment, but it just gets to him that he lets go of Soos’ hand and strikes Ford across the face.
“I’ll grammar Stanley you! You stuck up son of a gun! I mean, come on!” Ford is quick to recover and punch Stan.
“Don’t jeopardize this, you idiot! Everything’s on the line!” Dipper and Mabel leave their spots to pull Stan and Ford back, pleading with them to stop fighting and to just hold hands. A scream ringing through their heads makes them jump in fight and they look over to see Bill had pinned Alvah to the wall this time after punching a fist through their chest and ripping out their vessel.
“Let go of me, you geometrical freak!” she shouts as she punches at his fist with what little strength she had left, the body she constructed falling apart into nothing but a puddle of flesh and goo, she’s thrashing in his hold before turning her attention towards Stan and Ford with an angered expression “Are you two serious?! Grammar Stanley. What the hell is wrong with you, Stanford?! You just couldn’t shut your mouth for just one second?! And Stanley! As frustrating as that is why couldn’t you just had held it in long enough to take Bill down?!” she lets out a groan, holding her head in her hands as her body starts to malfunction and struggle to maintain a form.
“You’ve always acted all high and mighty in that big body of yours, so how does it feel to finally be the small one?” her hand digs into his as she glared up at him.
“How does it feel that despite how big you are you’ve still got the mentality of a baby?” she stuck her tongue out at him with a hmph only to let out of grunt when he started crushing her within his fist “See? Throwing a temper tantrum. You should be put on time out.”
“Will you shut up?!” she rolled her eyes, he then finally turns his back down towards the panicking humans “This is just too perfect! Didn’t you brainiacs know the zodiac doesn’t work if you don’t all hold hands? And what’s better, you’ve brought every threat to my power together in one easy to destroy circle!” he snaps his fingers and burns the circle to a crisp.
“Oh, no!” Pacifica lets out a shriek when her hair was caught on fire.
“Ah! My hair!” Robbie, too, lets out a shout when his hair was on fire.
“Ah! My hair also!” Bill snaps his fingers again and restrains both Stan and Ford.
“You guys wanna see what happens to your friends when you can’t get along?”
“Hey! You give them back!” McGucket hollers.
“You’ve gone too far, Cipher!”
“Yeah! We’re not scared of you!” Wendy shouts as she pulls out her axe, McGucket doing the same with his banjo, though Bill just laughs at their display of confidence.
“Oh, but you should be.” with a snap of his fingers, everyone except for Dipper, Mabel, Stan and Ford stiffens in unison and make a brief choking noise. Their eyes glow yellow and roll into the back of their and their mouths hang open as they are lifted into the air, Alvah turned her head away at the fate in store for them “You know, this castle could really use some decorations!” he turned them into tapestries with images of them screaming in front of their symbols then hung them up on the walls “Looks like it’s too late for you friends, Stanford.” Dipper and Mabel let out screams when a cage suddenly encases them.
“Ah! Kids!” both herself and Stan shout, she then let out a soft gasp when Bill pulled her closed to his eye.
“And you, you’re at your limit now.” they all look up to where he was holding her and saw the way she couldn’t hold up her form perfectly, now she was a fix of both her male and female forms “Do you have any last words, Alvah?” she looks down at the Pines family and saw the distressed looks on their faces as they stared up at her, and despite all that, she gave them a weak yet reassuring smile.
“I regret nothing.” she spoke, her voice tinged with her masculine one “Thanks to Stanford and that error in our contract I spent thirty years developing something I never knew I would have wanted. From the empty void within me, I have come to love the Pines family to the point I would have destroyed this timeline to keep them safe. Maybe in an alternate reality I did, or perhaps if I came to terms with my feelings much earlier, then I might have done it.” Bill cringed at her words.
“Ew, feelings.” she let out a laugh.
“I know, right? But I wouldn’t change the fact that I love those kids and their great uncles for a second.” she then looked back towards the Pines family one last time “Remember what I told you? There are two endings to this story right now! Figure out how to get to the one where you guys win!” she let out a grunt when his grip on her body tightened, her body beginning to crack and shatter under the pressure.
“And that’s enough out of you.” he raises his hand to throw her to the ground but he saw the way her head perked up as something came to mind that caused her to start laughing, he was taken aback when she looked at him with a smug expression “What’s so funny?”
“You... will be defeated by the person you least expect.” her face crumbled and a piece of her true face peeked out from within her broken body “You will soon realize you messed with the wrong family, Bill Cipher.” he didn’t like the way she laughed at him so he finally threw her down onto the ground, their eyes widened when Bill lifted his foot up and intended to finish her off by crushing her under the weight of his foot.
“Stanley.” he flinched at the sound of her voice, he looked at the others and saw that they didn’t react so he turned over to her and saw her looking at him with a weak smile “Knock his lights out for me.” he closed his eyes as he turned away when Bill brought his foot down on her body.
“Alvah!” they all cried out and watch as Bill raised his foot and saw he had completely shattered her into millions of pieces, but they could only hope that if they won that she’ll be able to find all her pieces to come back to them.
thanks to alvah, they knew that there was a possibility that they could win against bill.
but due to the fact that alvah didn’t know how they won, it was up to them to fill in the blanks to get the ending they want.
dipper and mabel manage to escape the cage bill trapped them in by mabel spraying paint in bill’s eye.
stan and ford are temporarily freed from their restraints only to be trapped in the same cage as bill chases after dipper and mabel in his nightmare form, leaving the pines brothers some time to reflect and formulate a plan to take down bill.
it was only when bill returns that they put their plan into action.
“Alright, Ford. Time’s up. I’ve got the kids. I think I’m gonna kill one of ‘em now just for the heck of it!” as Bill holds the two up to his eye, his pupil change into their symbol each time he spoke “Eenie... meenie... minee... you!!” he holds his hand up and prepares to end Mabel by snapping his fingers, only for Ford to shout to cut him off.
“Wait! I surrender.” Bill let out a satisfied huff.
“Good choice.” he drops the twins and slowly approaches Ford.
“Don’t do it, Ford! It’ll destroy the universe.”
“It’s the only way.” Bill lets out an evil laugh.
“Oh, even when you’re about to die, you Pines twins just can’t get along.” he drops the cage and ties Stan up, leaving Ford standing and unrestraint.
“My only condition is that you let me brother and the kids go!” Bill narrowed his eye on him but complied.
“Fine.” Dipper shakes his head.
“No, Grunkle Ford! Don’t trust him!” Bill just lets out another laugh as he ignored the desperate cries from the children.
“It’s a deal!” Bill takes Ford’s extended hand and enters the mental realm within his mind, petrifying his physical form as he laughs evilly “Oh, I’m here. I’m finally here! Look at this place: a perfect, calm, orderly void. Gotta hand it to ya, Ford. You really know how to clear your mi--” Bill cuts himself off after opening the only door within what he believed was Ford’s mind, only instead to find Stan laying comfortably in his chair in the Mystery Shack’s living room as he played with a paddleball. When Stan saw Bill he winked at the dream demon while pointing a finger gun at him as he clicked his tongue “WHAT?!”
“Heh heh! Do a pretty good impression of my brother, don’t I? Switch clothes and no one can tell us apart. Welcome to my mind. Surprised you didn’t recognize it.”
“WHAT?! The deals off!” the door behind Bill slams shut and starts to burn with a blue flame “What the—no, no, no, no!”
“Oh, yeah. You’re going down, Bill. You’re getting’ erased.” Stan spoke as he pointed at his head “Memory gun. Pretty clever, huh?” Bill looks up at Stan with a panicked expression.
“Y-You idiot! Don’t you realize you’re destroying your own mind too?!” he gave a shrug.
“Eh. It’s not like I was using this space for much anyway.”
“LET ME OUTTA HERE! LET ME OUT!” Bill attempts to use his powers, only to realize too late that they are now being negated thanks to the memory gun’s influence “Gah! Why isn’t this working?!” Bill’s own mind began to race as he tried desperately to take control of the situation only to remember the words Alvah last spoke to him.
“You... will be defeated by the person you least expect.” at the time he didn’t want to believe it, he didn’t want to believe that he would be defeated but he never would have thought that he would be defeated by the hands that was Stanley Pines. The lesser twin that was an eyesore, the one that was cast away and forgotten like a toy at the bottom of a toy chest. He didn’t want to admit that because he didn’t heed her warning that he would meet his fate at the hands of the one favored by chaos.
“Hey, look at me. Turn around and look at me, you one eyed demon!” Bill turns around and shrunk back when he saw the way Stan was glaring down at him “You’re a real wise guy, but you made one fatal mistake—you messed with my family.” Bill shakes his head as he tried everything he could to reason with Stan.
“You’re making a mistake! I’ll give you anything! Money! Fame! Riches! Infinite power, your own galaxy! PLEASE!” Bill looks down at his hands and similar to Alvah, his body began to lose control of his body and started to succumb to the memory gun’s influence “NO! What’s happening to me?! !Nruter yam I taht rewop tneicna eht ekovni I !nrub ot emoc sah emit ym, L-T-O-L-O-X-A.” his body went through my different forms as he spoke in reverse but when he finally managed to maintain the blackened version of his normal form, he reached a hand out to the human that brought him to his demise “STAAANNLLEEEEY!!” he pulls his fist back and punched Bill in the eye and shattered his body, Stan pants softly as he listened to Bill’s scream fade into the back of what was left of his mind before turning to pick up a picture of him with Dipper, Mabel and Waddles.
“Heh. Guess I was good for something after all.” before he felt the flames engulf him he felt something in his pocket, he pulls it out and saw that it was the same picture he pocketed off of Mabel but it was different. Before he couldn’t see it but now he had a clear picture of Alvah smiling at him in the photo, and there he almost wished his mind wouldn’t be erased because he was going to miss the feeling that was falling in love with the one person who had loved him for him, even if she never was able to tell him.
Outside of Stan’s mind, those who were turned into the tapestries were freed and dropped to the floor. Outside the Fearamid, the rift sucks all of the Henchmaniacs and demons released into Gravity Falls, returning them to the Nightmare Realm from whence they came. The Fearamid is deconstructed and pulled into the rift, once gone, a wave washed over the town, resorting it to its pre-weirdmageddon state. Elsewhere, the forest is shown with a bird landing on Bill’s physical form, now permanently petrified and covered in moss and vegetation. Stan is found in a different part of the forest sitting motionless on his knees, it isn’t until Ford, Dipper and Mabel find him that he opens his eyes.
“Oh, my gosh! Grunkle Stan, you did it!” Mabel cheers as she runs up to him and placed his fez on his head, a little lopsided but on nonetheless.
“Oh, uh, hey there... kiddo. What’s your name?” he asked rather confused, hands on her shoulders to push her back.
“Eheh, Grunkle Stan?” he lets out a weak laugh as he looked around.
“Who are you talkin’ to?”
“C-Come on. It’s me. It’s me, Grunkle Stan!” Dipper had to pull Mabel back when she started growing desperate due to Stan’s inability to remember who was in front of him “Grunkle Stan, it’s me!” Ford placed a hand on Mabel’s shoulder when Dipper pulled her back to where he stood.
“We had to erase his mind to defeat Bill. It’s all gone. Stan has no idea, but he did it. He saved the world. He saved me.” when he approached Stan, his brother continued to look around in confusion before looking up at him with a lost look in his eyes “You’re our hero, Stanley.” he spoke as he fell to his knees before throwing his arms around Stan’s shoulders, pulling him into a much needed hug and cried softly in his shoulder. Mabel collapses to her knees and cries into her hands, Dipper puts his hand on her shoulder and cries as well. In an effort to try and restore his memories, Stan is being led by Dipper towards what was left of the Mystery Shack with Mabel, Ford and now Soos following closely behind. They walk up to the door and Dipper attempts to open the door but has to throw himself against the door to break it down, he pulls himself back up and leads Stan into the living room that was as in an even worse state then when they had to fight zombies, but it didn’t seem to bother Stan at all.
“Hey, this is a real nice place you got here.”
“It’s your place, Grunkle Stan.”
“Don’t you remember? Not even a little?” he shakes his head as he takes a seat in the recliner.
“Nope. But this chair hugs my butt like it remembers. Ah.” he relaxes into the seat then looks back at the others standing before him, who are looking back at him sadly “Hey, why the long faces? You guys look like it’s someone’s funeral. Who’s that big guy crying in the corner?” Soos lets out a sob and turns away.
“We saved the world, but what’s the point? Grunkle Stan’s not himself anymore.”
“There’s gotta be something we can do to jog his memory.” Mabel says as she looks around for anything that could help but Ford shakes his head.
“There isn’t. I’m sorry. Stan’s gone.”
“I know my Grunkle is in there somewhere. There’s gotta be something around here that can help bring him back.” she then finally notices her scrapbook laying on the ground so she quickly grabs it and rushes over to Stan’s side, throwing the book into his lap and opening it “This’ll work! This has to work! Here’s the first day we came to Gravity Falls, Grunkle Stan. And here’s a macaroni interpretation of my emotions!” she then flips the page and Dipper points at the one where they went fishing.
“That time we went fishing? That Summerween we spent together? Don’t you remember anything?” Stan gives an apologetic shake of his head.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what this is or who you are or--” he let out a startled shout when Waddles jumped into his lap “Gah! Quit it, Waddles! I’m trying to remember my life story!” this comment caused them all to look up at him in surprise.
“What did you say?” he lets out a grunt and stood to his feet and attempts to get Waddles off of him as the little pig licks at his face.
“I said get Waddles off of me.” Ford gasps.
“It’s working! Keep reading.”
“Skip to my page! He needs to remember our boss-employee relationship.” Stan scoffed as he sat back down in his recliner.
“Hey, just cause I have amnesia, don’t go tryin’ to give yourself a raise, Soos.”
“It’s happening! Keep going!” Mabel nods and flips through a few more pages.
“Okay, okay. Day two. Grunkle Stan smells weird but we’re starting to bond. He told us a lot about being a business man in the ‘80’s and seemed happy when we pretended to listen. He also gave me a grappling hook which everyone is impressed by. And in more important news, I met some neighborhood hotties.” this comment caused them all to laugh as they continued to go through the entire scrapbook, but as they reached the end Dipper slowly came to a realization.
“But what about Alvah?” this caused them all to stiffen, he and Mabel share a look of concern as Stan looked between them in confusion “We don’t have any photos of her.”
“And the ones we do have don’t show her face. We can’t jog his memory like this.” she then let out a soft gasp as she looked up at Ford “We can use your thingamajig from before! We saw her memories, so if we strap ourselves to it we might be able to...” Ford gave her a guilty look.
“Unfortunately, my dear, that device was destroyed after a certain... incident.” Dipper, too, looks guilty.
“But he can’t forget her! She made him so happy! They fell in love and made each other happy! We barely know anything that’s happened between them from the thirty years they spent together or even throughout the summer. This can’t be the end of their relationship when it had only just begun!” Stan watched them talk as he tried to picture a face to the name Alvah, he tried to think of anything that came to mind when he thought of her.
“Alvah...” he spoke softly under his breath and tried to remember how he felt about this person that was nothing but a faceless image in his head.
“I’M HERE!!” they all jump at the loud screaming followed by a crash, looking up in surprise and shock, Alvah came sliding through the front door and crashed into the wall. She pulled herself out and they looked closely at her appearance, since Bill had destroyed her body, it took her so long to piece herself back together and was still missing a couple pieces “I’m here, I’m here! I’m sorry I took so long, but I’m back!” she adds then made a face when her arm fell off, she was quick to reach down and reattach it.
“Alvah! You’re okay!” Dipper and Mabel exclaim and rush over to her, she opened her arms as she dropped to her knees and let them run into her embrace. She pulls them in close and run her fingers through their hair while nuzzling close to them, her resolve weak for them as they clung to her “We were so worried about you. We were so scared.”
“But you did it, and I just knew you kids would be able to win in the end. I’m so sorry that you guys had to go through all that, I’m sorry I couldn’t stop it from happening. If only I cared enough to stop it from happening all together.” she said as she pulled back to wipe away their years “How will you ever forgive me?” Mabel sniffled softly.
“We already forgave you. You stood by us against Bill to the very end.” Dipper nodded his head as he readjusted his hat.
“You did everything you could just for us, despite so many odds stacked against you. You had so much on the line just by being there, but you did it anyways.” her gaze weakened when they hug her again, squeezing so tight as if she was going to disappear “We couldn’t not forgive you.” she let out a breath of relief as she hugged them back.
“I’m glad.” they pull away to allow her to stand and so she lifts her gaze to the man who stood to his feet at her arrival, Stan took a step back when this beautiful woman beamed at the sight of him and rushed towards him. He let out a whoa when she threw herself at him, letting out a cheer as she wrapped her arms around his neck and so he caught her by the waist and unintentionally twirled her around as she pulled herself close to him “Oh, you old bastard, you did it! I can’t believe you actually did it, Stanley!” she was squeezing him so tight he was sure she was trying to crack his back, Ford had to gently squeeze her shoulder to get her to loosen her grip and when she did her hands slide onto his face where she cradled his face. He stared into those bright green eyes of hers that shun like that of a freshly cut emerald and a smile that was bright enough to put the stars to shame, however, he grabbed her by her wrists and gently pulled them away from his face and he saw the way the light in her eyes dimmed “S-Stanley?” he let out a nervous chuckle as he took a step back and pulled away.
“Sorry, even if my memory is slowly coming back to me, I think I’d remember if I knew a gorgeous babe like yourself.” they all saw the way her face twitched as Stan spoke, her smile slowly dropping the longer he spoke “I appreciate the gesture, but take a guy out to dinner before throwing yourself at me.” her arms dropped to her side as she stared at him.
“W-What? What are you saying, Stan? Don’t you know who I am?” Ford takes a step forward and gently grabs her by her bicep.
“We had to erase his mind to defeat Bill.” her eyes widened at Ford’s words “Mabel has figured out a way to jog his memory of us, and it’s working slowly but... we don’t know if the same could be said about his memory of you.” Mabel then jumped in and grabbed her hand, tugging on it gently as she spoke.
“But we will stop at nothing to get him to remember you! The special connection you two had is too good to be erased!” Stan briefly looked away from her when Dipper took his hand and gave it a squeeze.
“You two never spoke about what kind of relationship you had, but we could all tell that it was something deep and meaningful. We didn’t need to be told to know that you two were in love.” this caused them all to look back at Alvah but were taken aback when they saw that she was crying, she was crying as she stared at Stan with a lost look in her eyes “A-Alvah?” she slowly looked down to see tears dripping down her face, her lips trembling at the realization that she had lost something she never knew she wanted.
“This... this isn’t fair. You can’t forget about me, Stanley. Y-You can’t possibly forget what we had. I’ve only come to accept these feelings and now you don’t even understand what that means for me!” she spoke weakly as her hands fly to her chest where she’s grasping tightly at her blouse “I can’t even help you remember me! There are no photos of us together, I can’t even force you to remember because it’ll only damage your mind even further! I can’t do anything to salvage what we had!” she couldn’t describe how much it hurt for him to stare at her like she was just some stranger, because to him, she was just a stranger.
“H-Hey, I’m sorry, I really am... but I’m real flattered that something like you liked a guy like me.” he said softly as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, she whipped her head up and shook it side to side.
“Liked? That isn’t even the word I’d use to describe what I feel for you. I am a being unable to feel anything! I shouldn’t even feel this aching pain in my chest, the feeling of a broken heart. You made me feel things that had me questioning my entire existence. The way you looked at me had me feeling special, I want to be the reason you smile and the cause for your laughter. I want you to know that I chose you when nobody else did, I want you to know that I want all of your love and nothing else!” she looked down at her hands and felt a wave of anguish take over her, her hands then dig into her scalp “I couldn’t even tell you in the end, I couldn’t even say it to your face when you asked me. I couldn’t even tell you that I loved you.” his eyes widened in disbelief.
“Y-You what?” her palms dig into her forehead as she shakes her head.
“I fell in love with you and it took a damn twelve year old girl to get me to realize it! I couldn’t even tell you when you asked and it hurt so much when you looked at me as if I never did! And now it doesn’t matter anymore! I don’t even know why you loved me after everything I did, and I don’t even know if you forgive me for allowing all this to happen! Do you hate me, Stanley? Are you angry with me?” she finally falls to her knees, her hands clutched to her chest as she pressed her head into the floorboards at his feet “I love you my dear, and I loved our time here. I beg you not forget me, as selfish as it sounds, I just want you to love me like you did this summer.” Stan looked down at the woman who was crying at his feet and he didn’t know how to feel, this beautiful woman had just spilt her heart out to him and begged for him to remember her. So he tries, he closes his eyes and thinks about her name and waits to see what his mind would conjure up. His mind seemed to be struggling but thinking about her seemed to make him feel happy, a feeling blossomed in his chest as if his heart seemed to remember her. Slowly, ever so slowly, the figure in his head began to take shape during his happiest moments.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” the woman spoke with a tease in her tone, they seemed to be outside the Mystery Shack with the sun shining down on her perfectly that it seemed to make her glow.
“Well, how am I looking at you?” she giggled.
“As if I hung the stars.” he hummed softly as his hand reached for her, she doesn’t move and allows his hand to brush her luscious blonde hair over her shoulder and gently cups her cheek, to which she leans into his touch “You’re a very adorable human, Stan.” he huffed at her words.
“Adorable? That’s how I’d describe you.” she laughs softly and places her hand on top of his.
“Well, I can be whatever you want me to be, I am made for you.” his thumb gingerly rubs against her cheek as he thought over her words carefully, he then gave a little shrug as he spoke.
“I just want you to be mine.” this had stunned her into silence as she stared at him, he burst out into laughter when she covered her face with her hand and pushed him away when she turned bright red at his words.
“That was real smooth.” he throws his head back with a laugh when he grabbed her other hand and pulled her back, kissing the back of her hand and slowly up her arm where he ended with his lips pressing against her cheek “Stop it, Stanley. You know I’m ticklish.” he’s now nuzzling his cheek against hers, the feeling of love slowly overwhelming his mind as he shared this tender moment with this beautiful woman who had chosen him over the millions of others that existed in this rather small reality.
“How’d I ever get so lucky?” she smiled softly and turned to look back at him.
“I could say the same thing.” her hand caresses his cheek before pulling him in the share a kiss “I adore you, Stan.” he smiled.
“That means a lot to me, Alvah.”
He blinked softly when the figure in front of him revealed to him was the same woman who brought him endless joy, the same woman who had been with him at the lowest moments on his journey to fix his mistake that took thirty years in the making. The same woman who knew who he was but stayed by his side through thick and thin, who comforted him when everybody else wouldn’t even bat him an eye. A woman who reminded him of the sandy beach of New Jersey when the sun was at its peak and made the sand shine like gold, or like that of a forest when the day was just right. This was a woman that made him feel like he won the lottery and the prize wasn’t even money, but something even more valuable that he wished he had when he was a kid.
Love and affection.
Joy and attention.
Slowly he started to remember the moments they shared together throughout the summer. From their day out on the lake to the laughter they shared at Dipper’s expense, to the time they fought zombies and the moment she sang to him as they danced. They never really labeled what their relationship was, but now he knew that what they had was a genuine connection; that they two were in love with each other and he didn’t want to forget that. She was still crying at his feet when he knelt down in front of her, placing a hand on her shoulder while trying to get her to look up at him. She seemed to have lost all her strength because he easily lifted her head up and it laid weakly within his hands, a whimper left her lips when his thumbs started wiping away her tears and continued to do so when more would replace them.
“Alvah.” he spoke softly, her eyes shimmered with tears and gave them a glossy effect “Come on, toots, there isn’t a need for you to cry for me.” her eyes widened softly after hearing him call her that, a feeling of hope washing away the anguish in her chest.
“What?” he smirked at her.
“If all it took was forgetting to get you to profess your love for me, I should have faked dementia a long time ago.” a gasped left her lips when she saw the look of love in his eyes, the same look he would give her when it was just the two of them together “I may not remember everything, but how could I forget that it was you that made me feel like the luckiest guy in the world?”
“Stan!” she practically tackled him into the ground and clung to him so tight, burying herself into his shoulder and crying softly when this time he wrapped his arms around her and held her close “You didn’t forget me, right? You remember me now, right? Please tell me that you remember me.” he turns his face into her hair as his hands rubs up and down her back to comfort her.
“It's not all there yet, but yeah, I remember you sweetheart.” she let out a sigh of relief and practically melted in his arms, he let out an oh when she pushed herself up so that she was hovering over him before leaning down to capture his lips. He sighed into the kiss and wrapped his arms around her to pull her close, before anything else could happen they heard a cough, they were still practically kissing when they looked over and saw Ford covering Dipper and Mabel’s eyes while Soos was trying his hardest to fight down a smile.
“As heartwarming as this is, please remember that there are children present.” she pushed herself back but continued to lay on top of Stan.
“Sorry.”
“Not sorry.” she stared at Stan but laughed nonetheless, his chest rumbling as he laughed. Mabel lets out a squeal and quickly rushes over to where the two of them laid and jumped on top of them, soon followed by Dipper and unfortunately Soos, who had practically bellyflopped onto them. Ford chuckled as he stood above them but beamed down at them when, despite the discomfort then added weight gave them, they welcomed the children with laughter and bright faces.
“Stanley.” he flinched when he heard her voice in his head, he doesn’t look when he felt her hand slide down his arm and intertwine their fingers together “I love you.” he hummed softly and gave her hand a squeeze.
‘Love you too, doll face.’ she giggles softly and turned her face into his neck.
...
...
“Good morning, Gravity Falls. It’s another beautiful day, but every day is beautiful now that the... unpleasantness is over.” a broadcast goes off all throughout Gravity Falls after the end of Weirdmageddon where the townsfolk are recovering after such a disaster “In other news, the Northwest family has gone broke. After pledging his allegiance to Bill and then placing all his savings in weirdness bonds, Preston Northwest had to sell his mansion to preserve his family fortune.” cut to the Northwest couple crying as some workers hang a “for sale” banner on the gate.
“You’re only going to have one pony now.” a horrified look washed over Pacifica’s face.
“But fortunes have also turned for local maniac, Fiddleford McGucket, who, after regaining his sanity, has made millions overnight submitting his patents to the US Government.” to which Fiddleford announces that he’ll buy the Northwest mansion now that it was on sale “In other good news, town hero, Stanley Pines, has fully recovered his memory and will be throwing a party to celebrate his niece and nephew’s thirteen birthday and final day in town. But other than that, I can safely say our beloved Gravity Falls is back to normal. And now, Bodacious T, with the news.” we’re now brought to the Mystery Shack all fixed up decorated with balloons and all sorts to celebrate the twin's birthday with everyone from town, including the few fairy tale creatures, in attendance singing them happy birthday.
“I can’t believe you all got together just to throw a party for us.” Mabel gushed at the crowd of people as she and Dipper stood in front of a cake, behind them were Stan, Ford and Alvah smiling down at their excitement along with Soos and Wendy.
“After all the Pines family has done for the town, it’s the least we could do. You’ve helped everyone here.” Tyler spoke, this rallied a few cheers from the townsfolk.
“Thanks to y’all savin’ us, I learned to open my heart to kindness. No more evil doin’. From now on, I’m gonna try to be Li’l Gideon, regular ol’ kid.” Gideon said, though the lingering presence of his prison inmates said otherwise, Soos then peered over the twin’s shoulders and ushered them towards the cake.
“Dude! Make a wish, dawg.”
“You know, on my first day here, if you had asked me what I wanted, I would have said “adventure, mystery, true friends”. But looking here at all of you, I realize that every wish came true.” he chuckles to himself “I have everything I wanted.” he let out a whoa when his hat was shoved down and covered his eyes, looking back, he saw that it was Alvah grinning cheekily at him and he couldn’t help but mirror her expression.
“If I had only one wish it would be to shrink all of you with a shrink ray and bring you home with us in my pocket. But since that’s impossible... is that impossible?” she asked while leaning back towards Ford, he waves his hand up and down with a shrug, looking up at Alvah, she chuckled and did the same thing “Since that’s probably impossible, my only wish is for everyone to sign my scrapbook. I’ll never forget you guys. Wait.” she pulls out the memory gun and sets it on the floor then smashes it to pieces “Now I’ll never forget you guys.” with that she and Dipper blow out the candles, Wendy then pulls them into a hug.
“I now officially declare you technically teenagers. Welcome to angst and acne forever.” in the crowd, Tambry, Robbie, Lee, Nate and Thompson start chanting “one of us”, this earned laughter from everyone, Blubs and Durland in turn fire off a cannon.
“So, how do you feel?” Soos asked.
“Samey, but differenty.”
“Hey, you two. When are you going to open your presents already?” Pacifica asked as she raised her hand that was covered in tape “I broke a nail wrapping them.” Dipper and Mabel laugh, Alvah watches as the two grab a gift then looked backwards when she noticed Ford taking a step back. Stan claps his hands and goes to approach them but stopped when Alvah placed a hand on his chest, he smiles at her and goes to question what she was doing but stopped when she pushed him back.
“I think your brother wants to have a word with you.” he looks at her confused and looks to where Ford was, she and Ford share a look until she winks at him and pushes Stan towards him “I think it’s something you’d like to hear, so don’t keep him waiting. I’ll watch the kids.” before he could say anything he let out a squeak when she gave his behind a little smack then skipped away.
“Alvah!” she only laughs as she rushed away. The children smiled at the sight of Alvah and excitedly show her the gifts they received, however, she glanced back when she noticed Soos linger over to where the Pines’ brothers were talking and overheard a part that made him gasp. It wasn’t long until they came back and Stan gave her a warning glare for her previous action, she only smirked at him and threatened to do it again but stopped when he raised a glass Pitt cola bottle and tapped against it to get everyone’s attention.
“Everyone, I have an announcement to make. Me and my, heh, nerdy bro over here have some catchin’ up to do. We’re gonna be away for a while. That’s why I’m shutting down the Mystery Shack for good.” this caused the crowd to gasp and murmur amongst each other, that was until Soos rushed towards Stan.
“You shut down your mouth for good! I’m sorry Mister Pineses. It’s just that this shack is the most magical place on Earth. Sure, the attractions are all fake, but dreams aren’t fake!” he then holds up the Fiji mermaid taxidermy “Like this mermaid. It’s not just a dead fish butt sewn to a monkey carcass. It’s a marvelous creature that make sus believe that anything is possible. You shut down this shack, and you shut down our dreams!” he then takes off his hat “At least... my dreams.” the crowd aws at Soos’ words, Stan sighs to himself.
“I’m sorry, Soos. It’s just, there’s no one around to run it. At least, there wouldn’t be if I hadn’t just found the perfect replacement.” he then takes his fez off and placed it on top of Soos’ head “Ladies and gentleman, the Mystery Shack is under new management.” the crowd let out cheers that not only the Mystery Shack gets to remain open, but that it was passed onto someone who rightfully deserved it.
“You... you mean it, Mr. Mystery?”
“You’re Mr. Mystery now, Soos. Try not to burn the place down.” Alvah placed her hand on Soos’ arm as she appeared beside him.
“Who else would be able to take up the mantel if not you, Soos? It was bound to be yours if Stan were to give it to anyone, you deserve it.” Soos’ teared up at their words and doesn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around them, the two look at each other but smiled and hug him back. Thinking back to the time Soos had first met Stan and Alvah it brought a smile to his face so wide that it almost hurt, with the absence of his father he had been craving that approval of a father figure and it was almost fate that he happened to stumble upon a screwdriver that belonged to the Mystery Shack and where he would meet the two people he would call his parental figures. He wasn’t really looking for a maternal figure since he already had his abuelita but Alvah was always hanging around Stan and she had this charm that had drawn him in, so he had grown to crave her love and affection as well as her validation ever since she first ruffled his head. So as he looked up at the two that he held in his arms who smiled happily down at him, he shed a tear as they lovingly embraced him. The party raged on with laughter and endless chatter filling the air, Alvah is conversing with Ford when Tyler shouts for everyone to get together for a group photo. She, out of instinct, starts backing away when everyone got together in front of the Mystery Shack until Stan called out for her.
“What are you doing, toots? Get over here!” they all looked at her expectantly but she raised her hands, shaking her head side to side.
“No, no. You know I can’t take photos, Stan. I don’t want to ruin it, just take the photo without me.” Dipper and Mabel look at each other then rush over to her, Dipper has one of her hands while Mabel grabs at her dress and they start tugging her over “Children, please. I’ll be fine sitting this one out.” they shake their head.
“We’ve got no pictures of you, Alvah. We want one photo of all the people we love together, even if you’re nothing but static.”
“You’ll do this for us, right?” everyone waiting saw them look up at her with puppy dog eyes, eyes welling up with tears for effect and eventually she did cave “You’ll never say no to us.” she hangs her head as they pull her back over to where Stan and Ford were.
“Unfortunately, yes.” Stan peers down at Alvah and saw her nervously tugging at her dress, worried that she was going to ruin the photo, she gasped softly when Stan takes her hands into his while wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her into his chest “Stan, what are you--”
“Come on doll, enough with the long face.” the hand holding hers moved to tilt her head up towards him “Chin up, and give us that award winning smile.” she stared at him until a giggle slipped past her lips, Ford then placed his hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
“If it makes you feel better, I’m not quite that photogenic myself.” she scoffed softly and joking shoved Ford back.
“You’re a dork, Ford. You have the most unnecessarily serious photos ever. Don’t think Mabel hasn’t shown me.” he coughs into his hand as he turns away, quickly readjusting his glasses when they slipped down his nose.
“That is quite irrelevant.” she shakes her head, she herself helps readjust Stan’s tie and glasses while he worked on fixing his fez as Toby sets up the camera. He let out an oh when it was lifted out of his hands and glanced over to see Alvah using her power to hold it up, she rolled her eyes when he smiles gratefully at her and rushed over to stand with the rest of the group.
“Okay everyone, say Gravity Falls!” Mabel cheers.
“Gravity Falls!” the snap of her fingers has the camera going off and taking their photo, Mabel is already running over to take a look at the polaroid and hurriedly shakes at it to see the results. Dipper is by her side just as she let out a gasp, her eyes widened in shock as she looked at the developed photo, he opens his mouth to question her but she’s already thrusting the photo in his face “Dipper, Dipper! Look!”
“What is it?” he pushes her arm back so he could see what has her all frazzled until he saw it. There, as clear as day, was Alvah smiling right back at him instead of a disoriented figure composed of static. She had her arm linked with Stan’s while her hand rested against his bicep, a soft blush hued her cheeks as a bright smiled graced her lips, eyes shining as if it were her birthday “Alvah! Alvah! Come look!” she raised a brow at Dipper’s insistence, taking her hands back from Stan’s as the young twins run up to her.
“What is it? Don’t tell me I blinked.” this earned a couple chuckles from the others, Dipper turns the photo towards her and her eyes widened when she was met with her smiling face, she gently takes the photo from his hands and tears up a little. It was a sort of curse that anything with a lense were capable of capturing her true form and would corrupt the photo, but there she was, smiling as if she wasn’t some sort of monster underneath it all “I can take a guess who’s responsible for this.” she spoke softly, now internally grateful to the Axolotl for granting her such a gift.
“Wow, look at you~” Stan cooed as he took the polaroid from her hands “I didn’t think you could smile that wide.” she presses her hands to her cheeks that were creased as she continued to smile.
“I’m struggling to stop, I’m just so happy right now.” Ford quickly plucks the photo from Stan’s hands when he reached for her waist, pulling her close and pressing soft kisses to her cheek, to which she laughed at the open display of affection but didn’t stop him “Stanley!”
“Mabel, pumpkin!” she was currently awing at them while Dipper looked away “Think you can take so more photos of us? I’d like to have some of us together, and I think they’ll make a great addition to your scrapbook.” she already has the camera in her hands, a determined look that made everyone laugh.
“On it.” the rest of the day is spent with everyone taking photos with Alvah now that she was granted with the blessing of her true form not interfering with the camera, Mabel’s favorite was one she took of Stan and her dancing and he had dipped her. She had thrown her head back with her laughter filling the air, eyes closed while Stan held her by the waist and stared at her as if she was his reason to breathe. She had made sure to capture of photo of them all, that being her, Dipper, Stan, Ford, Soos, Wendy and Alvah to finish off her scrapbook and she couldn’t think of a more perfect photo of her family. Later into the afternoon, the children, Stan, Ford, Alvah, Soos, Wendy and Waddles were at the bus stop waiting for their bus to come pick them up.
“Do you really have to go? There’s still so much we haven’t done together.” Candy said sadly.
“Summer’s over, Candy. It’s time for us to grow up.”
“But not too much.”
“Aaah! I hate my dumb heart for making me feel things!” she then proceeds to punch herself “Cut! It! Out! Heart!”
“Hey, can you punch my heart, too.” Candy raises her hand.
“No, mine! Punch my feelings away!” Alvah places a hand on Grenda’s shoulder as she gives the three of them an understanding look.
“Been there, kiddo. But it gets better.” she pats her head softly then pulls her hand back when Mabel pulls Candy and Grenda into a hug.
“Candy, Grenda, thank you for being my people. You’ll always be my best friends.” she pulls back and looks up at Stan “Grunkle Stan, thanks for wearing my goodbye sweater.” Stan lets out a cough as he rubs the back of his neck.
“Ah, it’s cold out. I had to.”
“What? But it’s like eighty-something degrees out today.” Stan and Ford are quick to glare at Soos.
“Can it, Soos!” the children laugh, Alvah giggles softly as she leans in close to Stan’s ear.
“I always knew you were a sweetheart, Stan. And I must say, you look real good in pink.” she snickers softly, she leans in closer when he flushed pink “See? Pink suits you well.” she’s laughing now when Stan pushed her away.
“Stop, not now.” they look back towards the kids and saw Wendy kneel towards Dipper.
“Hey, you mean a lot to me, man.” he fist bumps Wendy with a smile.
“You, too.” she laughs and takes his hat off his hat, before he could do anything she took her own hat off and placed it on top of his head while putting his one on her head.
“Something to remember me by.” she then hands a letter to Dipper “Oh, and this. Read it the next time you miss Gravity Falls.” he takes the letter just as a bus pulls up behind them.
“Last bus leaving Gravity Falls. All aboard.”
“I guess we've said goodbye to everyone except... Waddles.” Mabel sadly looks towards her little companion with a pained expression “I... I don’t know how to explain this but... mum and dad won’t let me bring a pig home to California so, you have to stay here!” she tries to leave but Waddles pulls at her skirt, she lets out a weak cry as she tried pushing him away “Come on. Come on! I have to go. I’m... I’m sorry, Waddles.” Stan, Ford and Alvah share a look until Stan broke.
“Argh! You know what? Forget it! I lived with this pig all summer, now your parents are gonna have to!” he grabs Waddles and sets him down in front of the door so that driver could see him “Hey, bus guy! This pig is comin’ with the kids!” the driver narrowed his eyes on Stan and points towards a sign.
“Now, hold on a second. Bringing animals aboard a moving vehicle is strictly prohibited--” he cut himself off when he saw Stan pull out his brass knuckles while Ford moves his coat back to reveal his gun strapped to his hip, but in between them was Alvah smiling sweetly at the driver, only then to reveal her grotesque form underneath her welcoming smile “WAH!! W-Welcome aboard! You can sit in the front row, pig.” the two men put their weapons away while Alvah returns back to her normal form, patting Waddles on the head as the pig hobbles into the bus as Stan kneels down towards the children.
“Kids, you knuckleheads were nothin’ but a nuisance and I’m glad to be rid of ya.” the twins laugh and quickly hug him.
“We’ll miss you too, Grunkle Stan.” she peers over his shoulder from when she stood, her face softened when she saw the way his eyes glistened with tears when they pulled away from him. She expects them to head towards the bus but was startled when they rushed towards her, she let out an oof when they wrapped their arms around her waist and hugged her “We’re going to miss you too, Alvah.” her hands trembled softly before finally settling on their backs, she then falls to her knees and pulled them close.
“I’ll miss you more.” she spoke softly, her hands rubbing up and down their backs while nuzzling her cheek against theirs “I’ll always be watching over you guys, so know that you’ll never be alone.” she lets a couple tears fall when they pull away from her and sniffled softly when they waved their hands goodbye, Ford helps her to her feet and she could help but cry softly when the twins finally enter the bus and take a seat at the very back. They’re all waving the kids goodbye and even chase after the bus when it finally drives off, Stan, Ford and Alvah lag behind when the children continue to wave the bus off as it finally leaves Gravity Falls.
“So Alvah, what are you planning on doing now?” they look back towards her and saw she had a pained look on her face as she looked down at her hands, Stan reaches for her out of concern “Alvah?” his eyes widened when she threw herself at Ford, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tight, this caused Ford to look down at her in confusion when her fingers dig into his coat.
“A-Alvah? What’s the matter?”
“This is the end of the line, old friend.”
“What?” she pulls herself off of him and snaps her fingers, her hand burst into a black and red flame and a scroll formed in her hands that unraveled and revealed their contract.
“Now that Bill has been defeated... I have no reason to stick around anymore.” Stan’s eyes widened at her words.
“W-What does that mean? Are you leaving? Is that it?” she gives Stan an apologetic look as she nodded.
“I didn’t want to say it in front of the kids. I didn’t want to bring the mood down, but yes. I should have disappeared the moment you defeated Bill, but I’ve been fighting against it until the children had left. It’s only a matter of time until this body disappears.” she then looks back towards Ford “You bastard, I’ve had the most fun in centuries thanks to that mistake in our contract. And though we barely spent any proper quality time together, I have enjoyed your company very much. I’d like to consider you a good friend, Stanford Pines. It has been lovely knowing you.” she then proceeds to hug him again and this time he hugged her back and they shared a genuine tender moment.
“And it is an honor to be considered your friend.” she hums softly then pulls away, patting his arm gently then turning back towards Stan.
“A-And what about us? I wanted to know if you’d sail the world with us. I’d get to create new memories with the two most important people of my life! You can’t just leave, Alvah! M-Maybe I can create a contract with you so that you have to stick around!” Ford shakes his head and places a hand on his shoulder.
“Unfortunately, that’s not how they work. She is not allowed to accept a contract where the conditions are at the bare minimum; she is forbidden from simply existing in a dimension.”
“So... is that it, then? We’ve barely even started our relationship and you’re already leaving.” she shakes her head and takes his hands into hers, she tilts her head so she could look at his face when he hung his head.
“I may not be around physically, but like I told those kids, I’ll always be watching. Whether it be in the shadows or your reflection, I will always be there. Nothing is stopping me from visiting when you call my name. Now that Bill and the Time Baby are gone, I have more responsibilities to take care of, but you will be my top priority. I’ll even visit you when you fall asleep.” he frowned and pulled her towards him, resting his forehead against her.
“But it isn’t the same.”
“I know, but there is so much I can get away with.” she’s rubbing her forehead against his when she felt him squeeze her hands “I may not be with you but know this, Stanley. You will be the only version I will ever love.”
“What does that mean?”
“I have access to many different versions of you, but when you perish, my love will perish with you. I will never choose to love another version of you because I chose you, this you. I will love and only love you.” her eyes glistened with tears at the thought “I wouldn’t be able to love a different version of you because I will know that it just won’t be you.” she shakes her head when a couple tears trickle down her cheek, he lifts his hand up and wipes them away then cups her cheek.
“I’ve really got you wrapped around my finger, don’t I?” she let out a weak laugh and lets her face rest in his palm, he gently rubs her cheek with his thumb to comfort her “I don’t know how long I’ll be able to handle this long distance relationship, but I’ll find a way to get you a physical body again. I want to be able to hold you, to kiss you, to love you. Not in a dream, but with the real you.” she chuckled softly and turned her head to press her lips against his palm.
“I don’t think you’d wanna kiss the real me. The taste of rotting flesh isn’t quite nice.” he laughed at that.
“Sure, but you looked cool beating up Bill in your real form.” they share a kiss and Ford allows them to have their moment when he noticed the flame the contract was engulfed in started reducing it to cinders, because of this her body begins to crumble and she’s unable to maintain her form for much longer. Stan feels this and looks down at her body that’s beginning to fall apart so he wraps his arms around her to trap her in a bear hug, holding onto her for as long as he could before she was gone “I love you, Alvah.” she let out a weak laugh as she gently pats his back.
“I love you too, Stanley.” she spoke and just as the contract was reduced to ashes her body finally collapsed and shattered at his feet, the arms once holding her like a delicate porcelain doll now wrapped around his body for he had nothing to hold onto anymore. He fell to his knees as tears began rolling down his cheeks at the loss of Alvah, he only just started remembering everything they’ve been through and now that she’s gone, he was afraid he was going to forget her again. He didn’t want to forget her, he didn’t want-- “Stop crying you big dope.” he gasped softly at the voice and looked around to find it only to see nothing.
“A-Alvah? Where...”
“Look down.” he looked through his blurry eyes at his shadows, having to readjust his glasses to see that his shadow now consisted of hundreds of red eyes “You’re acting as if I died, Stanley. I just lost my physical body, remember?” he stared down at his shadow for a few seconds before wiping away his tears.
“I-I knew that!” they chuckled softly and Stan felt, though subtle and weak, their hand gently wipes at his face.
“You’re such a sweetheart, Stanley. And if that invitation is still on the table, I would love to join you guys on your trip around the world.” Ford chuckles and helps Stan to his feet as they both look down at Alvah, who was now sharing both of their shadows with a cheeky grin spread across their face.
“Well, the more the merrier.” Stan grins as he wraps his arm around Ford’s shoulder and pulled him close.
“This is all I could ever ask for. My brother and the love of my life with me as we finally accomplish our childhood dream. It took nearly forty years in the making with so many obstacles in the way, but we’re finally here to do it. I am going to hang onto this win for as long as I have it.” Ford and Alvah smile at him.
“Stanley, you deserve the world.”
“I, for one, agree with them. And we are more than willing to give it to you.”
If you’ve ever taken a road trip through the Pacific Northwest, you’ve probably seen a bumper sticker for a place called Gravity Falls. It’s not on any maps, and most people have never heard of it. Some people think it’s a myth. But if you’re curious, don’t wait. Take a trip. Find it. It’s out there somewhere in the woods.
Waiting.
season 2, bonus episode. visiting hours
The Axolotl, the great and almighty being who watches over the cosmos, found themself entering the Nightmare Realm in search of the Harbinger of Chaos who now went by Alvah. This equally mighty being was found lying comfortably on their side in a body of cosmic clouds as they watched fondly through a window that revealed the human Stanley Pines who was sleeping soundly, their finger swirling circles around the window as they hummed a song to lull him to sleep.
“And then I go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like I love you~” their finger tapped softly on the image of Stan, knowing that they are incapable of touching him without a vessel to inhabit “I love yo--”
“Alvah.”
“Ah!” the window disappears as Alvah lurches back in shock, startled by the sudden appearance of the Axolotl “Wha-- What are you doing here, Frills? I wasn’t expecting you.” they are quick to relax back into the clouds as Axolotl floats around them in mild amusement .
“That human really does have you wrapped around their finger.” Alvah let out a huff and their words, raising their hand and see a sort of thread twirled around their finger “I must thank the human, Stanley Pines, for instilling love and humanity into you. It has changed you for the better.” this earned them a chuckle.
“I suppose, but it hurts that I can only watch from a distance. I wish to care for him, to hold him, to love him. I miss giving him my love.” they sigh fondly at the memories they hold of their time with him, their hands sliding up their arms as they reminiscence about his arms around them as he spoke sweet nothings into their ear, their arms then drop to their side and they looked above them at the Axolotl who continued to eye them curiously “But enough about that, what brings you around these parts? Sure, I’ve been slacking a bit but I haven’t completely neglected my duties. You’ve given me more responsibilities now that Time Baby is out of commission.” Axolotl hummed softly.
“I wish for you to join me for a bit, my friend.” their millions of eyes look towards them rather intrigued.
“Join you? For what?”
“There is somebody I would like for us to visit. It would please me if you were to share a couple words with them, if possible.” Alvah pulls themself up so they aren’t lying down anymore, even more, intrigued as to who the Axolotl would like them to meet "Of course, it is completely up to you whether or not you would like to join me." Alvah just shrugged their shoulders.
"It's not like I was doing anything else. Sure, I'll join you." they pulled themselves up, so now they're floating beside Axolotl, waiting for them to take them to their destination "Is it someone I know?" they hummed softly.
"Mayhaps." they don't question them and follow them blindly until they ended up in a place that had Alvah's metaphorical heart drop into their stomach, within the neutral zone of Dimension #5150 and outside of time, they were now floating in front of the Theraprism.
...
...
"D-Did I do something wrong, Axolotl?" Alvah asks, their eyes filled with panic and a few of them darting around for any sort of exit "I apologize if I have upset you in a-any way." a laugh escaped their cosmic lips at Alvah's worry, shaking their head, they gesture towards the rehabilitation centre.
"Do not fret, friend. I am not having you admitted here." a breath of relief leaves them "I told you, we are merely visiting someone." they said and floated towards the entrance, leaving Alvah to ponder alone in the empty void of space.
"... who the heck do I know is in Theraprism?" they said to no one in particular but followed closely behind, taking the Axolotl by the hand as they led them through the facility. They go through the proper procedures to be allowed into the Theraprism and are seated in the waiting room as they prepare for whoever they were planning on visiting, Alvah did get a couple odd looks from a few other people who were visiting but paid them no mind "Have they been recently admitted in?" Axolotl hummed.
"For you, yes. But since this is a timeless zone, he has been here for quite some time. He is very stubborn." Alvah whistled to themself.
"Poor sucker."
"Poor "sucker" indeed."
"Axolotl and Alvah, he is ready for you now." they let out a grunt at the way the receptionist said their name but ignored it since they were practically in a high-security prison, they didn't want anything pinned to their clean and flawless record. Despite being an entity renowned for influencing others to do evil stuff, Alvah was actually a law-abiding citizen throughout the cosmos and followed the law meticulously. They enter the room of a long corridor lined with a series of identical white visitation booths, each booth is enclosed by white wood and glass, offering a view into a barred cell beyond. They are led by one of the staff to a booth and as they pass each inmate Alvah recognizes a few of them, they do a double take when they see The Beast in one of the booths and when that mangy mutt made eye contact with them they made the "I'm watching you" gesture to it before catching up to Axolotl, they still haven't forgotten nor forgiven what they did to Mabel.
"So, Frills, who have you brought to come bother me-- oh, no." Alvah raises a brow at the familiar voice, not truly believing their ears, so when they peeked over the booth that was blocking their view, their eyes widened in disbelief "You have got to be kidding me." Alvah burst out into hysterical laughter at the sight of Bill Cipher wearing an orange prism uniform and looking absolutely horrible, he had a terrible bag under his bloodshot eye with a static-like crack that stretched across his triangular body. His eye twitched in irritation as they continued to laugh at him, the Axolotl watched them walk up and down the corridor as they filled the room with laughter. Everyone in the room looked at them in confusion but they paid them no mind, they began to calm down but the moment they laid eyes on him again they started laughing again.
"Are you done, Alvah?" they took a breath they try and quell their laughter as they looked up at Axolotl.
"Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm done." they said but when they looked at Bill once again a snort escaped their lips "Nope, no I'm not!" Bill let out an exasperated sigh when they disappeared down the corridor and looked up at Axolotl.
"When you said you were going to bring someone to talk with me, I didn't expect you to bring them! They're the last person I want to talk with!" he intends to stand up but the few prism guards push him back down into his seat, he scoffs and smacks their hands off of him just as Alvah comes back into view.
"Phew! Okay, now I'm calm." Axolotl gestures for them to take the only seat provided and so they do, lounging on it as their millions of eyes stare at him rather mockingly "Well, well, well. Look at how the mighty have fallen, hmm? I never would have thought you would invoke the right of the Axolotl to save your prideful butt. I guess my sweet Stanley being the one to bring you down really poked a hole in your universal-sized ego, didn't it?" they stick out their tongue as they shrug their shoulders when he pointed an accusatory finger at them.
"I don't want to talk to them! They're going to do nothing but make fun of me the entire time! And that might set back my recovery, and I'm sure you don't want that, do you?" this comment made Axolotl give Alvah a knowing look, to which they huffed.
"Alright, I'll hold back on the mockery. Why exactly did you want me of all beings to have a talk with him? You know he doesn't particularly like me after the downfall of Euclydia, he holds a grudge like no other." Axolotl places a hand on their shoulder as they look between them and Bill, who is glaring daggers at the both of them.
"Because while you two were having your squabble during his Weirdmageddon, you managed to point out a few of his flaws a few of the therapists have yet to notice."
"What? Like his unwillingness to accept responsibility? Or the fact that he's so stubborn to change that he's going to continue down this cycle of self-destruction? It's honestly so obvious to everyone but himself. He's got a straight path down to recovery but he's going to take so many turns that he'll eventually wind back up at the beginning." Bill slams his hands against the counter and glares at them with pure hatred.
"I'll have you know, I'm making great progress!" they roll their eyes and lean back against their chair.
"You're probably just telling yourself that so you don't fall into madness with how long you're going to be stuck in here. They're trying to show you what you've lost, Bill." this made him scoff.
"And what exactly did I lose?" this made them smirk.
"Everything I gained." Bill looked at them confused "You had his devotion, his attention, his adoration, his love, and I just know you craved it like no other. All you had to do was change your approach and you wouldn't have scared him away. There have been alternate realities where he joined you, or where you gave up your goal to dominate their dimension in favor of being by his side. But you didn't choose that ending, and look where you are now."
"You... you don't know that." they scoffed.
"Don't I? I know more than you want to believe, Cipher. Now let's go back to what I gained from your downfall. The Nightmare Realm is now back under my control, I have gained more power now that your influence is gone, Stanford and I are now the greatest of friends, Stanley and I are madly in love with each other and I gained something I never would have ever thought I would have wanted." Bill noticed the way something appeared in their hands, their eyes staring fondly at a small polaroid of her vessel smiling happily alongside the Pines family, Soos and Wendy "A family and acceptance. Something you desperately want, but will never have. Since, you know, you're the last of your species and your Henchmaniacs abandoned you." they're laughing again when Bill turned red and punched at the glass that separated the two of them, he was quickly reprimanded again by the guards while Axolotl scolded Alvah.
"I don't need anything like that, Alvah! Love is for the weak! And Sixer? Why would I want all of that? I had that fool dancing in the palm of my hand, it was so easy that I could do it again! I didn't need his attention, his devotion, or his love! All I need is power, and once I get out of this hellhole, you'll be my first target!" they stared at him now with indifference in their eyes.
"I never said that it was Ford." his breath hitched "So, he's still on your mind? I was right though, wasn't I? You needed him more than he ever needed you. It's why you're so obsessed with him! You miss him and all that he was willing to do for you, but he does not miss you. He is happier now that you are out of his life and out of his mind. They are all better off without you. You will be nothing but a nightmare to them; a forgotten memory locked away and buried within the deepest parts of their mind. And I will make sure of that." Bill hated the way they were looking at him, their millions of eyes were staring down at him with destain and pity, he didn't want their pity. It enraged him that they were right; they were right because they gained so much while he lost everything and was locked up in maximum security with idiots who were looking to change. He hated that everything they said was right, but he didn't want to admit it, he didn't want to believe they were right.
"I'll prove you wrong, Alvah. I'll get out of here and prove you and everyone else in this dump wrong! I can change, haha! I can change just like everyone else, you'll see!" their gaze was still scrutinizing, still so condescending, but the eyes on their head closed as they gave an insincere smile.
"Well that's the point, Bill. You're meant to change for your own good, not to spite everyone else. I'm sure you'll be able to conquer this final trial in order to reach redemption, and I'll be sure to be there every step of the way."
"What? What does that--"
"Now that I know that you're here, I can't leave you here alone. I'll be sure to visit you every now and then, and I'm sure you'd love nothing more than updates on the Pines family and various other residents of Gravity Falls." with that they stood to their feet, the back of their legs pushing the chair back and it scraping against the white tiled floor, they don't fail to miss the panicked look on his face as he stood up on his chair.
"Y-You're not leaving yet, are you? We still have so much to talk about, I haven't even told you what I've been doing in Theraprism!" they just shrug their shoulders.
"You can tell me on my next visit." they don't wait for Bill's response as they walk away, his tiny and powerless hands banging against the glass as he calls out for them to come back. Axolotl follows after them as they float out of the prism, eyeing them curiously.
"So, are you going to keep to your word and continue to visit him?" a laugh escapes their lips.
"Of course. I want to see them break him."
"Fix him, my friend." they roll their eyes.
"Sure. But... he won't be able to contact the Pines family, would he? I'm worried he'll manage to reach them somehow, and I don't want their progress going down the drain because he is obsessed with them." Axolotl lets out a soft chuckle.
"They are much stronger than you think, Alvah." they nod.
"I know, I know. I just can't help but worry."
"I am glad you have found something to care for, my friend. It makes me feel overjoyed." they couldn't help but smile at that "Now that you know that Bill is in fact, alive, you must swear that you won't tell the residents of dimension 46'\ until I say that it is okay." they shrugged their shoulders.
"I figured, but I swear I won't. I don't want them freaking out, especially Stan and Ford. They believe they've completely erased Bill from existence, and they've been riding that high for a long time."
"Thank you, Alvah. And do please tell me when you're going to visit Bill, I would like to join you to see his progress."
"Of course, my friend. Until then."
Helper pt. 2
word count: 6629
Fandom: FNAF Security Breach Pairing: Sundrop/Moondrop x Female!Reader Pronouns: She/Her Relationship: Romantic Occupation: Daycare Helper Ability: Animatronic Moon Jellyfish
The character was modelled after a moon jellyfish, so they are an oceanic type animatronic that mostly resided in the daycare to assist when needed within the pizza plex. The appearance they adorn is that of a tall woman and the animalistic part of her design would be, other than a human-like face, they would have a large bell (the blob of a jellyfish is called a bell or hood) on top of their head that would act as a large hat, and attached to the underside of the bell are the tentacles and stingers. They are not stingers, they help the character locate children and feel for their surroundings. The bell on top of their head also glows in the dark.
Keys:
[F/N]: Female Name [B/C]: Base Color [S/C]: Secondary Color [F/C]: Favorite Color [E/C]: Eye Color
Warnings: spoilers to those who haven’t seen fnaf sb
“Helper” pt.1, pt. 3
“Sunbite, what on earth are you doing?” [F/N] questioned whilst she was in the middle of cleaning up the clutter of toys the children had left behind when their parents and other guardians had picked them up from the daycare, she turned to face him but soon noticed that he was hunched over a table where he was sitting with a group of children for arts and crafts. She raises a brow when she noticed that he didn’t respond so she put the toys away before sauntering over to where he was, looming over him, she saw that he was staring intently at a drawing “Pft, how adorable.” she giggled softly, her speaking from behind him finally snapped him out of his internal dialogue between himself and Moondrop.
“O-Oh, starshine!” she hums softly, raising a hand to cup her chin while her other held her elbow in place. He turned around to face her and quickly hid the drawing behind him, a flustered and embarrassed expression on his face as his sun rays were acting up. Why was he acting in such a disorderly fashion? That was because while he and the children were drawing, another child had drawn him and [F/N] holding hands together while hearts surrounded them both, oh! And the fact that he was about to kiss it but stopped when [F/N] was behind him, his body was now trembling as he leaned back when [F/N] loomed over his body, leaning closer and closer to his face.
“Whatchu’ got there?” she muses, now leaning to her side so she could get a look at the drawing once more, but Sundrop had it pressed against his back so she had no way of seeing it.
“N-No— Nothing! It’s nothing, starshine!” he was growing even more flustered with how close she was, and because of this, the drawing in his hands was getting crumpled up and he was surprised he hadn’t torn it by now. He jolts up from where he was standing when she placed her hand on top of his head, the rays from where her hand was pressed down.
“Well, if it’s nothing, it better be worth you overheating.” at the mention of that, his system alerted him that he was overheating and it was forcing him to shut down so that he could cool down. [F/N] giggles as she watches his body fall limp but before it could hit the ground, she caught him and now cradled him close to her chest. She always enjoyed teasing him, his reactions were so adorable and at the end of it, he would overheat and his system would shut him down and there she would be allowed to coddle and cuddle with him all she wanted. When his system would reboot and he wakes up, he would wake up and find himself laying in [F/N]’s lap as she sits in resting mode. She gently bonks her head against his, her hat rising so her forehead could press against his, and takes him to a quiet corner, not forgetting to take the drawing and add it to the collection of other drawings she loves.
And so here she was, a couple of hours into the night and now she was concerned as to why Sun hadn’t awoken yet. It did take a while for Sun and Moon’s system to reboot itself, but not THIS long. Perhaps his battery was running low, she glances up at where his room was and was contemplating whether or not she should bring him up there. She remembered in the past when she asked about his room, both himself and Moon started freaking out and pleaded with her to never go up there, whether it was with him or not. Though she was programmed to take care of Sundrop and Moondrop, she was also programmed to never disobey an order and break a promise, but she was worried for the Daycare Attendant. The way he charges was different to the other animatronics, she glances at him and his room before letting out a sigh and deciding to just simply go up there.
Unlike Sundrop and Moondrop, she did not have a hook on her back to connect the cable to, so instead, she called it down and wrapped it tightly around her arm. She tugged on it and when she figured it wasn’t going to come loose, she had it lift her off the ground and over to where Sundrop and Moondrop’s shared room was. She held Sundrop close to her as she landed gracefully on the balcony then allowed the cable to slip from her grasp, she approaches the curtain to his room and pushes it back and there she saw the reason as to why he never allowed her to enter his room. Unlike the Glamgang and even DJMM, his room was a complete mess, and not the type where it needed a simple clean. It’s like management hadn’t even thought of giving him a room that suited both him and Moondrop, she’d compare it to a broom closet, but at least a closet is a bit more organised.
She glances down at him before sighing softly and going over to where she believed was his charging station was. After plugging him and knowing that he was charging, she took a look around his room and frowns at how run down it was. The highlight of the room would be the small corner dedicated to drawings made by the children and other little gifts, she takes out the drawing the child drew of her and Sundrop, picking up a thumbtack and pinning it to the wall, adding to the collection of drawings. She didn’t have a room like the other animatronics, she resided in a small tent that was similar to a circus tent that was white and [F/C] and stationed in a corner within the daycare that is off-limits to the children, it was her quiet corner when she’s charging.
“Oh, my sunbite…” she murmurs, grabbing one of the Moondrop toys and squeezing it, giggling sadly when it let out a squeak. An idea soon sparked to her mind so she quickly glanced back at Sundrop, nodding to herself when she saw that he was still shut down, and then proceeded to scan the entire room to get a general estimate of the room then left. She threw the curtains back and jumped off the balcony, grabbing the cable and descending to the ground, landing with a small thud before bolting out of the daycare. She was allowed to leave the daycare but it was heavily implied that she stays within the daycare at all times just to simply monitor Sundrop and Moondrop at all times, but she could give two fucks at the moment.
“[F/N]!” she stops dead in her tracks and though it did not show, annoyance and dread bubbled in her chest at the sound of that obnoxious voice “What are you doing out of the daycare? You know you’re not supposed to leave.” she was modelled to have a permanent soft smile on her face, and so when she couldn’t properly express her true feelings, well, she usually shows it in her actions or the way she speaks.
“Oh, Officer Vanessa, what an unpleasant surprise.” Vanessa deadpans, she wasn’t sure when [F/N] started to dislike her but she wasn’t going to question it, as long as she didn’t do anything she didn’t like, then they were fine “Aren’t you supposed to be monitoring the atrium at this time?”
“That's beside the point, you still haven’t answered me.” the animatronic rolled her eyes beneath her eyelids before leaning down.
“It may be your job to monitor us animatronics and keep us in check from doing anything we’re not supposed to do, but I am not stationed to be in the daycare all night long. I have free roam around the Pizza Plex just like the other animatronics, so don’t come at me as if I’ve done something wrong.” Vanessa grits her teeth at her words, her grip on her flashlight tightened.
“It’s also my job to make sure you don’t wander off too far from where you’re supposed to be stationed.” [F/N] nods her head, already done with her nonsense as she stands up straight.
“Right, okay.” she leans down once more, making sure she was inches away from her face as she wipes her shoulders “Well then, I’ll make sure to get back to my designated area once I’m done with my business. So you pretend you never saw me and I pretend I never saw what you did.” this caused Vanessa to flinch, her body beginning to tremble as [F/N] leaned away.
“Wha— what do you mean by that?” she smirked softly as she reached forward, grabbing her cap and shaking it side to side before pulling it down then walking away from her, sparing her a glance and her gorgeous galaxy like eyes glared at her.
“You know exactly what I mean.” with that, she left the human employee shaking in anxiety, she shook her head and ignored what Vanessa had to say in favour of making her way to Monty Golf. She hums to herself as she listened to the music that played within Monty’s area, hearing alligators bellow and growl, she searched for the alligator but huffed when she couldn’t find “Now where on earth could that boy be.” she questioned, looking side to side but saw nothing.
“Who might you be looking for?” she lets out an oh at a voice, she glances down and saw it was another employee that was stationed to monitor Monty Golf.
“Oh, why hello there.” the security guard let out a nervous chuckle as they stare up at the animatronic woman.
“Hello there [F/N], what brings you here? You’re quite far from the daycare.” she places a hand on her chest.
“I was looking for Montgomery, I must speak with him this very moment.” the security guard nodded their head.
“Ah, I see.” they turn away and point in a direction “He’s over there. He was told to help us clean up the golf balls from the course, especially the ones that were shot off the course.” she nods her head and together with two of the saunter over to where Monty supposedly was, [F/N] pulls a face, hands on her hips as she pushes one out when she saw bubbles in the water, she can only guess where he is.
“Goodness.” the security guard noticed her staring at the water with unease and mild disgust.
“Oh! If you’re worried about the water, the lighting is set up so that the water looks murky and like a swamp. It’s actually very clean, trust me. I’ve fallen into it a few times.” at that, [F/N] raises a hand to her mouth.
“That must’ve been awful.” they nod.
“Yeah, wet socks really suck.” this caused the woman to giggle softly, the security guard let out another oh when [F/N] placed something on their head, when they moved it up they realized she took her bell off her head and placed it on top of theirs. They were going to question what she was doing but was taken aback when she dove into the water, a hidden feature about her design was that she was also water proof because she was a jellyfish, it’s just that she was always in the daycare so she it was never revealed. Anyways, she swam around for a bit until she finally found him at the bottom of the moat, brow raised when she saw him yelling about how there was a bunch of golf balls at the bottom on the first place.
“Damn this blasted kids! Don’t they know they’re not supposed to shoot the blasted golf balls into the water in the first place! Dammit! I hate this!” she rolls her eyes as she swims over to him, he continued to rage, unaware of her walking over to him after her feet touch the ground “I swear, one of these days, I’m just going to grab one of those brats and stra—”
“Montgomery.”
“Aahh!” he lets out a scream of terror at the unexpected voice and whipped his head around to see [F/N] standing behind him, arms crossed and a stern and unimpressed look on her face “What the? How the heck are you down here?!” she rolls her eyes, hands moving down to rest on her hips.
“Clearly I’m waterproof, just like you. I’m a jellyfish, remember?” he rolls his eyes “Anyways, that’s besides the point. I’m here to ask of you for something.” this gained his attention, [F/N] rarely ever asked him of favours, she mostly turned to Freddy or Chica.
“Alright, whatchu need, cher?” she pressed her hands together and points them at him.
“I need you to do me a favor.” he smirks softly, crossing his arms and leaning his weight onto one of his feet.
“You’ve already got my attention, whatchu need of me?” she huffs.
“How long do you think you can distract Sun and possibly Moon?” his brow rose even more.
“The Daycare Attendant?” he questions, she nods her head, he hums as he looks up in thought “Why? I thought it was your job to keep an eye on him? Why would you want me of all people to distract him?” she chuckles softly, moving her hair out of the way when it started falling on her face.
“I need him out of his room as long as possible, he doesn’t want me going in there but when I was in there, I saw the state of his room.” she then holds her waist while her other hand waves it around “I want to renovate it a bit, it’s quite sad management didn’t give him a proper room like the rest of us, so I want to surprise him.” Monty nods his head then points at himself.
“And that’s where I come in?” she grins, snapping her fingers and pointing at him.
“Now you’re catching on, well done.” he hums, feeling proud of himself.
“What do I get out of it?” she shrugs.
“What do you want?” he looks up in thought, she waits patiently then let’s out and oh when she saw his face light up, snapping his fingers then pointing at her.
“No matter what you’re doing, for three months straight, you gotta rough house with me or play golf with me.” what an odd request, she was going to question him but stopped when he added something else “Also, when I argue with the others for a VALID reason, you can’t scold me or lecture me for something I did WRONG.” she pulls a face when she added quotation marks on specific words, she rolls her closed eyes.
“Is that it?” “For that, you also can’t tell me off whenever I destroy something that isn’t in my room and help me clean shit out of these ponds when I call for you.” she sighs as she looks down, pinching the bridge of her nose “Is that a deal, cher?” he asks, extending his hand out to her to shake, she looks back up at him before shaking her head and taking his extended hand and giving it a firm shake.
“Alright, you better distract him good then.” he retreats his hand and cheers.
“Great, now give me a hand help me clean out the pond.” she sighs once more, head hanging low.
“Got it.” he only grins and together the two of them clean out the pond that was littered with trash, golf balls, moldy golf balls and other junk. The same security guard stood at the new of the pond, playing with [F/N]’s hat and laughing softly at up big it looked on them, they then let out a yelp and jump back when two figures broke through the surface of the water and hauled themselves out of the water “We should enforce a rule that forbids children and others from throwing anything into the ponds.” [F/N] comments, turning on her heater to dry the water off her body while grabbing a few strands of her locks and squeezing the water out.
“I second that, saves us the trouble of fishing them out.” she chuckles at that, letting out a huff when she managed to squeeze out the last of the water in her hair before throwing her hair over her shoulder, evidently smacking Monty in the face “Do you mind?” he snarls, running his own hands through his wet red locks, a soft smirk raises to her lips as she crossed her arms.
“Not really.” before he could even start, she side steps and lets him run into a prop tree, she shakes her head before taking her hat back from the security guard, giving them a kind smile “Thank you for looking after it.” she says, placing her hat back on top of her head.
“It was no problem.” she nods then tips her hat to them.
“Then I’ll see you when I see you.” she waves them goodbye before leaving Monty Golf to return to the daycare, that was until the lights turned off. She sighs to herself, placing her hands on her hips when the power was converted to the charging stations, so now Moon was out and about, if he was fully charged, that is “Alright, sweetheart, where are you?” she was going to track him down until she heard his iconic sinister giggle.
“My starshine, why are you all the way over here?” she giggled to herself when he lowered himself from the ceiling, wrapping his body around her shoulders and leaning his head against hers.
“Hello to you too, moonlight.” she coos, cupping his cheek and returning the affection “It’s good to see you up and about.” he hums at that, letting her walk around for a bit instead of immediately returning to the daycare.
“While we’re on the topic, why weren’t you in the daycare? Both Sunny and I were a little upset when we woke up and didn’t see you.”
“I had business with Monty so I thought I would drop by while you two were resting, I didn’t think I would have been there as long as I was, but I guess that was because he needed my help cleaning out the ponds.” he raised a brow at that.
“Why would he need your help?” she places a finger on her cheek.
“I’m waterproof as well.”
“You’re what?!” she laughs when she could hear both Sun and Moon’s voices clash together “Why didn’t you tell us?” she hums, grabbing a few strands of her hair and twirling them around her finger.
“You never asked, and the opportunity never arose for me to get wet.” she pulls a face when she could tell that he was pouting as he hung off her shoulder, she shook her head as she lifted his head up to press a subtle kiss on his cheek, this was enough to get him to perk up “Stop being so pouty, though it does make you cute.” she giggles softly when she saw him turn red, his already permanent smile on his face stretching wider as he covered his face with his hands.
“Mm… you’re making me lose all my man cred.” she laughs wholeheartedly at that, placing a hand on her chest to settle herself.
“I can’t believe you just said that, the children have been influencing you in a bad way.”
“That I agree with.”
[a few days later]
“And that’s the last of them.” [F/N] hums, waving the last family goodbye before turning around to see Sundrop already cleaning up. She pumps her fists together and glances back at Sundrop, he noticed her gaze and happily waved his hand, she returned the gesture with a softer wave and kind smile. Operation renovation is now a go, she glances over at the door to the daycare and there she saw Monty ready to play his part “Now all that’s left is—”
“[F/N]!” she lets out a shout of surprise at the loud voice, she looks over and sees that it was Chica who threw open the door to the daycare, evidently throwing Monty to the ground since he was in her way “There you are sugar cube, I need your help.” Sundrop was confused as to why Chica needed help from HIS Daycare Assistant and was ready to question her but his mechanical heart dropped when he saw [F/N] smile and give her a thumbs up.
“Right, you needed help with your baking, right?” Chica nods her head, a happy smile on her face.
“That’s right, I hope I’m not being a bother.”
“Nonsense, you asked me in advance, so I must comply.” Sundrop was immediately by her side, wrapping his arms around her waist and sulking into her back.
“But you’re supposed to be helping me in the daycare.” he whined, she smiles softly, pressing a hand to his back and soothingly rubbed his back.
“I know, but I already promised Chica the night before.” she exhales softly when he wasn’t letting up, only tightening his grip on her “… when I come back, I’ll have a surprise ready for you and for the rest of the night I’ll spend it with you and Moon, how does that sound?” this caused a reaction out of him, he unravelled his arms from her so she turned around and knelt down, holding his hands in her own as he looked up at her.
“You promise?” she nods her head.
“I promise.” she boops his nose and he giggles at the action “I’ll be as fast as I can.” his hands reached out to hers when she slipped out of his grip, she pats his head before leaving with Chica in tow. She waves him goodbye and when she closed the door to the daycare, both herself and Chica press their backs to the wall.
“That was close.” Chica says, glancing up at [F/N] “He was reluctant in letting you go.” she shrugs her shoulders, a sheepish smile on her face.
“He loves me, what can you do?” Chica coos at that, cupping her cheeks when she noticed a soft blush rise to her cheeks “Alright, enough on that. You’re up, Monty.” he miraculously appears, saluting her with a grin.
“On it, cher.” she nods.
“Update me on what happens.” he nods once more before the two female animatronics dash away, he runs both hands through his hair then straightens his star sunglasses out.
“Show time.”
[with [f/n] and chica]
“How did you manage to find another way into the Daycare Attendant’s room? I thought that balcony was the only way.” [F/N] waves her hand as the two of them approach a poster.
“I was going through Parts and Service for a couple things when I found a blueprint of the entire facility, and there I found a secret entrance to his room.” Chica nods her head and quietly watches her approach the poster, Chica smiles sadly when she recognised that poster as the one that promoted the various plays Foxy would have… she really missed him “Dang it, it’s not opening.” she grumbles.
“How did you open it before?” she crosses her arms.
“I had to use the Faz Cam and use the flash on various posters of the four on the poster, quite frustrating because it messes with our eyes at the same time.” she pushes at the poster once more before throwing her hands down when it didn’t budge, Chica was going to make a suggestion but pulled her hands back when [F/N] kicked the door down “Hah, that was much easier and less time consuming.”
“… right.” they walk down the long hallway and when they reached the door at the end, [F/N] opened the door and Chica lets out a sad gasp, raising her hands to cover her beak “Oh, sweet pea…” the other animatronic nods her head sadly.
“Now do you understand why I’m doing this?” Chica nods her head.
“You’ve got a heart of gold.”
“If I had a heart.” Chica laughed with a scoff, shoving her forward.
“You know what I mean!” they both laugh until [F/N] ushered Chica out so she can clean, telling the girl to go to the kitchen in case Sun or possibly Moon go and check if they’re really there, she hopes not. She peeks her head out through the curtains and there she saw Monty talking with Sun who looked less enthusiastic then usual. Monty noticed [F/N] from the corner of his eye and signalled her a thumbs up, she gave him a grateful smile then returned the gesture before going back into Sun’s room to clean it up.
“So, Sundrop,” Monty pulls a face when Sundrop blatantly ignored him, his shoulders dropped “what’s up with you and [F/N]? You two are awfully handsy, aren’t cha?” Monty noticed Sundrop freeze up, the items he had in his arms were immediately disregarded and dropped to the floor with a clatter, his head turning around to stare Monty down and his body following suit.
“Oh, [F/N]? She’s a real doll, ain’t she? What’s there not to love about her?!” Monty was soon pulled into an extremely long conversation about [F/N], though he did like her himself in a friendly/motherly way, the way Sundrop talked about her nonstop was making his ears bled.
“Just bring me up in a conversation and I promise you, my sunbite will be talking nonstop.” Monty scoffed, crossing his arms.
“That’s a little narcissistic, don’t you think?” she huffs, shrugging her shoulders.
“I’m just saying, it’s an amazing conversation started with him.” he lets out a silent groan, taking a seat on the ground while slapping a hand onto his face and dragging it down.
‘Dammit, I hate it when she’s right.’ she giggles when she saw the face he was making from where she was, already knowing what he was thinking. She didn’t waste any of them time that was given to her and cleaned up the room to the best of her abilities, questioning why there was a dismantled staff bot in pieces in their room but decided to leave it at that and just throw it down the hallway. She kept all the drawings and stuffed toys in their area along with other items that seemed to have some significant meaning in to Sun. If she had a human nose and eyes, she would have be left in a coughing and sneezing fit from the amount of dust and dirt the room had, it was revolting.
“How could management do this to poor sunny? After everything he’s done as the Daycare Attendant.” she shakes her head and continues to clean his room, when she managed to get it in order, she pulled in the things that she swiped from around the Pizza Plex to decorate his room.
“How long do you think you’re gonna be, cher?” she perks up at the sound of Monty’s voice “Sure, he’s been talking about you for nearly two hours and a half, but I think he’s running out of things to say. Give me something else to talk about with him!” she sighs, she quietly puts down the box in her hand and takes a peek through his curtains once more and saw that Sundrop was running out of things to blabber about her.
“Hmm… talk about glitter glue or the children. He’s quite obsessed with that.” Monty pulls a face.
“The glue or the children?” he looks up at her and sees her wink, he grumbles, she ducks away and Monty looked back at Sundrop when he raised his head “A little birdy told me that you like glitter glue, hah, what color?” he was seriously regretting taking this favor, she just shook her head when she heard Sundrop cheer happily about how good glitter glue taste… wait, taste? She is going to need to sit him down for that. She stands proudly at her almost finished masterpiece, she just needed to add a few little things and she’ll be done. She picked up the box of glow in the dark items and trudges over to the makeshift tent she set up but cursed to herself when her legs got caught in a loose sheet.
“Oh shit!” she shouts before collapsing to the ground, both Monty and Sundrop jolt up at the loud noise.
“What was that?” Sundrop questioned, standing up and looking over at the balcony that led to his room “Is someone… in my room?” Monty noticed the panicked look on his face and the sudden urgency to go check what that was took over his system.
“Oh shit, whatever you did cher, it’s got his attention!”
“Then distract him, you lousy gator!” he growls, he looks for anything that could get his attention and talking to him wasn’t going to do anything anymore, soon enough the memory of [F/N] telling him that Sundrop will drop everything to clean up a mess came to mind. Sundrop was in the middle of calling down the cable when he heard something clatter, turning around, he let out gasp when he saw that it was Monty kicking down the pile of blocks.
“Whoops.”
“Ah! Oh, no! What a mess! Clean up, clean up!” Monty lets out a breath when he noticed that Sundrop rushed over to clean up the mess.
“You better almost be finished, because I don’t know how long I can keep him distract like this.”
“I know, I’m almost done!” she rushes to stand up and clean up the mess she made and put the items she dropped in the places they were supposed to go, meanwhile, Sundrop was growing more and more agitated with the constant mess Monty would make just as he cleaned the last one. A visible tick mark appeared on his forehead when Monty threw a table, the contents that were on said table fell to the ground with a clatter.
“What is your problem, Monty?!” he shouts, in return, he grumbles under his breath when Monty merely shrugged his shoulders.
“Butter fingers.” he pinches the bridge of his nose as he inhales deeply.
“You know what? Forget it, you’re wasting my time.” a panicked look immediately washed onto his face when Sundrop gave up cleaning up the messes and called down the cable once more.
‘Cher hasn’t told me if she was done yet, and I don’t think he’s going to respond to anything I do anymore!’ he tried to tackle him down but fell short when Sundrop was lifted off the ground and now flew over to the balcony that led to his room to investigate the noise “Oh no.” Sundrop grumbles under his breath as he pulls the curtains back to see what could possibly be in his room but his body completely froze up at the sight,
“I wonder how this looks…” he turned his head and there he saw [F/N] leaning side to side to get a good angle of the stuff toy of Moon that was sitting on a little box in a corner dedicated to all the drawings and gifts the both of them had gotten from the children. She then shook her head and grabbed the toy, however, she looked at it longer and even caressed it with the back to her hand “I really do hope you and Sun like what I’ve don—”
“Starshine?”
“Kyaah!!” she screamed in absolute fright, not expecting to hear his voice, and even threw the toy in the air, to which Sundrop caught before it hit the ground. She whipped her head around and she was surprised it didn’t snap off with how brutal it was, when she saw Sundrop her jaw dropped before she looked outside the opening to the balcony “Montgomery! You had one job! One!” from where he was laying, he pushed himself up and gave her a look.
“I did what I could, dammit! And I tried to warn you, but you didn’t listen!” she lets out a sigh, slapping a hand onto her face.
“Lousy gator…” she looked down at Sundrop and saw that he was looking around his newly improved room, she couldn’t really tell if he liked it or not, he was quiet and it was scaring her “Sur… surprise! Well, it’s not really a surprise because you came in before I could finish, but it’s the thought that counts, no? Um, I know you didn’t want me to ever come in here, but I had to when you were on low power and I needed to put you on charge, and when I saw the state of your room I thought I could give it a touch up. I hope you and Moon don’t mind…” she grew even more nervous when he still hadn’t spoken yet, curiously leaning side to side to try and see if a reaction out of hill
…
…
“Nnngh…” her eyes opened in shock when she heard a whimper come out of his voice box, she gasps when black tears of oil start leaking out of the cracks of his eyes “You did this… all for us?” she nods her head and that was enough for him to burst out into a crying fit.
“O-Oh, do you not like it? Was it wrong of me to change your room up?” she stumbles back a little when he jumped up and wrapped his arms around her neck, kicking his legs back and forth as he dug his face into her neck.
“How could I not like it? I absolutely love it!” he pulls away as he hands hold his waist to keep him from falling, he sniffles as he gives her a tearful smile “This is one of the loveliest things anyone has ever done for me— for us. We would be fools if we didn’t love what you’ve done.” Sundrop’s brows perk up when he saw her face turn a light shade of red as she started overheating, he giggles softly when he heard her fans whirl to cool her down.
“O-Oh, is that so? Then I’m glad.” he hums and leans into her body once more and she didn’t hesitate to return the affection, she then thrusts a thumbs up through the curtain, Monty notices and returns the gesture. She soon puts him down and shows him what she’s done to his room. Not only did she clean it to the point there wasn’t a speck of dust, she managed to set up some wallpaper that matched both his and Moon’s aesthetic. She set up a tent that was similar to her own in the daycare as his resting place that was filled with pillows, toys and blankets with stars and planets that hung from top of it. She even set up fairy lights around the room and tent, she even made a spot that was dedicated to all the gifts he and Moon got from the children, his face grew red when he noticed the one of him and her surrounded by hearts.
“This is so lovely, thank you, [F/N].” she smiles brightly before lighting up in remembrance.
“I almost forgot!” she exclaims, his face drops slightly when she raised her hand and reached over to the light switch, she noticed his change in mood so she raised her other hand to gently grab his hand “I know you didn’t get to marvel as long as you wanted, but this little feature I added needs the lights to be off, and wouldn’t it be fair for my moonlight to get to have his turn to see his new room, my sunbite?” he pouts but nods nonetheless.
“I guess.” she smiles and presses a kiss to his cheek, this was enough to get him to comply.
“Thank you.” she continued to hold his hand as she flicked the light off, when Moondrop came to be, he looked around in awe at the new room before letting out an oh when [F/N] pulled him forward while pointing upwards “Look up.” he does so and gasps softly when she managed to decorate the ceiling with stars that glowed in the dark.
“Starshine…” he whispers, she leaned down slightly, nuzzling her cheek against his.
“Do you like my surprise?” he chuckles, looking up at her with a bright smile.
“What’s there not to like?” she giggles sheepishly when he wrapped his arms around her neck and proceeds to kiss her, she hums into the kiss as she stumbles back into the tent, her back falling into the plush pillows. He laid on top of her as he pulled away, she hums softly as she brushes his cheek with the back of her knuckles, Moon purrs as he takes her hand into his “We love you, our gorgeous star.”
“And I love you two, my twin jesters.”
Headcanons:
they had to open the daycare a little later than usual because they overslept, but also because sun was looking at everything new in their new room.
sun had practically begged [f/n] to move her tent into their room so they could be roomies, plus he just wanted her to be closer to them.
as promised for his work, for three months, [f/n] complied with all his wishes and practically kicked his ass when it came down to rough housing and monty golf.
she won against him for sun and moon.
they cheered like the wonderful boyfriends they are.
sun and moon try to return the favor by adding trinkets to her side of their room.
she would return to her tent and find drawings of the three of them together, and it would make her day.
sometimes she would find a stuffed toy of an jellyfish.
there were no toys made for her so when she asked where they go it from, they admitted that they asked chica to teach them how to sew.
she cried and hugged the toy close.
the stuffed jellyfish was added to the collection of gifts, placed in between the sun and moon plush toys.
sometimes neither side would sleep in their respective tents.
meaning, moon would pull out the pillows and blankets and place them in between the tents so they could snuggle together.
it always did comfort sun waking up in [f/n]’s arms.
parts and service appreciated the fact that [f/n] was sun and moon’s anchor, especially moon, because now moon spent every night with her instead of wondering around the pizza plex and destroying bots.
the daycare has never been more brighter.
Lullaby pt. 3
word count: 15,031
Fandom: Poppy Playtime Pairing: N/A Pronouns: She/Her Relationship: Familial Occupation: Caretaker Ability: Ballerina Music Box
The character takes the appearance of a beautifully crafted music box ballerina figurine made of the toughest porcelain and glass, their clothes made from real fabric that is soft to touch and hair so smooth and silky you'd mistake it for real hair. Attached to their back is a wind up key that continuously spins when they're active and stops when they switch off. If the key is removed they cease to operate until key is returned and they are wound up again. Before CatNap, the character was the one to put the children to sleep with their built-in music box that would constantly be updated with new songs to play to help ease the children to sleep.
Keys:
[F/N]: Female Name
Warnings: the hour of joy, blood, death, all that shit.
"Lullaby" pt. 1, pt.2
I couldn't figure out how to end this so i'm not really satisfied with it, maybe I'll tweak it later but i'm not fucked right now.
that is all.
“Go! Get out of here! Get back to the Safe Haven!” Ballade’s voice cracked with urgency as she, Hoppy, Kickin, and Doey fled through the prison’s crumbling halls, their arms full of the few toys they had managed to rescue from the ruined ones. The closer they got to the Safe Haven, the more relentless their pursuers became. Ballade’s heart pounded — she couldn’t let them find it. She couldn’t let them get close. Not with CatNap lurking nearby. “I’ll stall them — just go!” she insisted, turning toward the oncoming threat.
“But what about you?!” Kickin’s voice rose in panic, his arms weighed down by the rescued toys.
“Forget about me! I’ll be fine!”
“How can we know that?!”
“Because CatNap won’t kill me — and those ruined critters can’t hurt me. But if any of you get caught, he’ll make sure you don’t walk away from it.” Her face hardened at the mention of him, her voice bitter. She knew his cruelty — but she also knew it would be far worse for the others.
“But if they take your key—”
“We won’t know how to save you!” Hoppy cried.
“Maybe it’s for the best.” Ballade’s voice softened, her guilt seeping through. “After everything I did… this mess is my fault. If I’m the price for your safety, so be it.” She turned to Doey, placing firm hands on his shoulders, her eyes filled with a desperate seriousness. “Take care of them, Doey. You’re the only one I trust to keep them all safe.”
“W-What? Me?!” Doey’s eyes went wide, his voice shaking. Behind them, the twisted laughter of their pursuers echoed closer, growing louder.
“I know it’s a lot, and I hate putting this burden on you, but I don’t have a choice! Please, Doey — if I don’t come back, don’t try to save me. Just… forget about me.” Doey shook his head violently, panic rising in his chest.
“B-But I don’t know the first thing about being a leader! I-I can’t—” A loud crash cut him off. They all spun toward the sound — the ruined critters had finally caught up, their broken forms crawling into view.
“There’s no time!” Ballade shouted. She pushed them back, then struck a support beam with all her strength. The ceiling groaned before collapsing in a cascade of rubble, blocking the path between them and the ruined toys. Dust filled the air, but Ballade didn’t waste a second. She turned back toward the enemy, steeling herself. “Go! I’ll hold them off. And remember what I said — if I don’t come back—”
“Ballade—” Kickin started.
“IF I DON’T COME BACK!” she repeated, her voice fierce. For a moment, no one moved. Then Hoppy sucked in a shaky breath, turning her face away as the sound of sinister laughter grew closer.
“…Don’t try to save you,” she whispered weakly.
And then they ran.
She let out a breath as she heard the sound of their footsteps disappear down the hall until she couldn't hear them anymore, she rolled her neck and turned towards the ruined critters with a fury burning in her eyes.
"Well then? Come on, let's see you get past me."
-
A figure stepped cautiously into a dimly lit hallway, their flashlight beam cutting through the heavy darkness. The walls here were lined with faded murals of smiling toys and children, their once-bright colors dulled with age and grime. The eerie quiet was only broken by the soft hum of flickering lights overhead. As they moved forward, the beam of their flashlight fell on something ahead — a shape standing motionless in the center of the corridor. Instinctively, their heart leapt, but as they got closer, they realized it wasn’t a threat.
It was a cardboard cutout.
The cutout depicted a toy they hadn’t seen before — a delicate, doll-like figure with big, expressive eyes and an elegant dress. Despite the wear and tear, the character’s design had a grace to it: flowing ribbons, musical motifs, and a kind but somewhat melancholy smile. The words “Press Here” was scrawled in ornate letters within a white speech bubble, though parts of it were scratched and peeling. Like the many other cardboard cutouts they came across, the reached forward and pressed the button and the cutout came to life with a burst of static from a hidden speaker.
“Hello there, little one!” The voice was warm and gentle, with a soft musical lilt, though the audio crackled with age. “Welcome to Playcare — the happiest, safest place in all of Playtime Co.! My name’s Ballade Ballerina, and I’ll be your guide while you stay with us!” there was a moment of silence before they press it again. “Here at Playcare, we believe every toy — and every child — deserves love, laughter, and a safe place to call home. You’ll make so many friends here! There’s games, stories, and oh-so-many songs to sing!” The recording glitched, her voice stretching into a distorted warble before cutting back in. “…And remember, if you ever feel scared or lonely, just find me! I’ll always be here to help!”
The cutout’s smile seemed a little too wide now, the dim light casting long shadows across its face.
The speaker clicked off, leaving only the faint buzz of static in its wake.
Ahead, the hallway stretched into darkness, and with a deep inhale they ventured on.
We now welcome our protagonist, the Player, and their journey for answers as they traverse deeper and deeper into Playtime Co. after the horrors they had experienced since stepping for into this facility.
Huggy Wuggy had been the first nightmare — a towering figure of blue fur and wide, unblinking eyes, his silent pursuit relentless. The player could still hear the sound of his massive limbs scraping through vents, the way his sharp teeth snapped just inches from their heels. Only through sheer desperation and quick thinking had they managed to outmaneuver him, dropping a heavy box on him just in time and watching him fall into the depths below.
And then there had been Mommy Longlegs.
Her sing-song voice still echoed in their mind, playful and sadistic. The chase through the twisted factory had been a nightmare of tangled machinery and crushing danger. Her elastic limbs had reached through impossible spaces, her laughter turning shrill when the player narrowly escaped her grasp. The final confrontation left the player scraped, battered, and with a deep sense of unease — as if she wasn’t truly gone.
And now they find themselves in what is left of Playcare.
Broken play structures loomed in the dim light. A carousel, long stilled, sat tilted on its side. Empty cribs and overturned chairs lay scattered across the area, and torn stuffed animals slumped against the walls.
But it hadn’t always been this way.
Once, Playcare had been filled with the sounds of laughter and music — a safe haven for the children of Playtime Co.’s employees. The walls had been vibrant and bright, decorated with colorful murals and happy handprints. The toys here had been companions, carefully crafted to nurture and delight. But something had gone terribly wrong.
The downfall of Playcare had been swift and brutal. Whispers of experiments gone awry crept through the abandoned halls — the blending of innocence and industry turned monstrous. The toys designed to protect became the very thing to fear. Children vanished, their giggles replaced with terrified screams. Staff members who tried to intervene were never seen again. The signs of that ruin were everywhere. Walls scarred with deep gouges, as though something with claws had tried to escape. Dried stains marred the cracked tiles, and the flickering lights cast frantic shadows. The colorful handprints smeared across the doors were not all made in paint.
Given the mission to bring back the power to the Playcare, the Player entered Home Sweet Home first as instructed by the young boy Ollie had instructed.
The red smoke hit them first — thick and choking, its hallucinogenic effects warping the world around them. Walls twisted and pulsed, laughter turned into distorted echoes, and familiar shapes morphed into something sinister. The Player stumbled through the haze, their vision swimming with impossible images — the faces of children flickering into grotesque grins, toys shifting and writhing with unnatural life. It felt endless. But somehow, they pushed through. When the smoke finally thinned, the Player found themselves in the wreckage of what had once been Home Sweet Home — a place once filled with children and laughter, now as broken and abandoned as the rest of Playcare. Cribs lay overturned, toys lay shattered, and the air was thick with an oppressive quiet.
And there in the main lobby of Home Sweet Home, the Player spotted a stage that had seen far better days. Its wooden frame sagged with age, the paint chipped and faded, and the once-vibrant curtain hung in tattered, dust-covered folds. The air was thick and heavy, carrying the faint scent of decay and something sickly sweet — like old candy left to rot. The soft creak of the floor beneath their feet echoed through the hollow stillness as the Player approached cautiously. Their eyes locked onto the curtain, noticing it was open just a crack. Through that narrow gap, a faint green glow pulsed softly.
Curiosity and unease prickled at the Player’s skin as they reached out, their fingers brushing the old fabric aside. The curtain’s texture was rough and brittle, and a cloud of dust rose as they pushed it aside. With a slow, hesitant motion, they opened the curtain wider — and their breath caught in their throat.
There, slumped against a pile of forgotten and broken boxes, sat the remains of Ballade Ballerina. The once-elegant toy had fallen into a state of tragic disrepair. Her porcelain-like face was cracked and smudged, the painted features chipped but still heartbreakingly delicate. Her glassy eyes, half-lidded and lifeless, stared into nothingness. Her dress, which had surely once been a vision of grace, lay in tatters — the flowing fabric torn and stained, the ribbons frayed and hanging limp. Her hair, once meticulously styled in a pristine bun, had fallen loose, draping unkempt and tangled over her face.
Despite her ruined state, there was an eerie beauty to her stillness — a lifelike presence that made the Player’s skin crawl. It was almost as if she could move at any moment. And through the dimness, the source of the green glow became clear: a battery clutched tightly in her unmoving hand.
"Whoa..." The Player’s voice was barely above a whisper, but even that seemed too loud in the oppressive quiet. Despite everything, they couldn’t help but marvel at the sheer realism of Ballade. Other than Poppy, she was the most human-like toy they had encountered — and even in her broken state, there was a strange sense of care in how she had been left here, as if someone had made an effort to preserve her, even as everything else around her crumbled.
Shaking off their unease, the Player activated their GrabPack, aiming for the battery. The metal claw latched onto it with ease, but when they tried to pull it back, Ballade’s arm jerked forward — her fingers remaining locked around the battery in an iron grip. The Player grimaced and tugged harder, but no matter how they pulled, she wouldn’t let go.
"Haaa, of course it wouldn’t be that easy," they murmured, frustration creeping into their voice.
As they stepped closer, their eyes fell on a crumpled, faded drawing lying near Ballade’s feet — clearly the work of a child from long ago. It depicted Ballade in happier days, twirling gracefully with a wind-up key embedded in her back. The detail stood out immediately. The Player’s gaze shifted to Ballade’s back, and sure enough — the slot for a wind-up key sat empty and waiting. Their heart sank. Of course it wouldn’t be as simple as taking the battery — they’d need to find that missing key.
Letting out a tired sigh, the Player stood and surveyed the wreckage around them. The thought of combing through Home Sweet Home for a tiny key felt like an impossible task — a needle in a haystack. But there was no choice.
Leaving the stage and the battery behind for now, they pressed forward, solving the puzzles scattered throughout Home Sweet Home. Room after room yielded new challenges and eerie reminders of the building’s past. Children’s murals, long faded, peeked through layers of grime. Toys lay scattered and broken, their smiles cracked and hollow. Every step forward felt like intruding on something long abandoned — and yet not entirely lifeless.
Eventually, their search led them to the upper levels — and into a room unlike the others.
It was unmistakable. The oversized, plush cat bed and scattered toy remains made it clear.
They had found CatNap’s old room.
Realizing what they had stumbled upon, they turned to leave — until something on the oversized bed caught their eye. Their heart leaped when they spotted it: the unmistakable glint of Ballade’s wind-up key. Without hesitation, they darted forward, snatching up the key and cradling it in their hands like a fragile treasure. Relief flooded them — but it was short-lived. The ever-present sense of being watched prickled at the back of their neck. CatNap was still lurking somewhere nearby. They had to move — and fast.
Keeping their steps light and their movements subtle, the Player hurried back down the stairs, every creak of the old wood sending spikes of fear through their exhausted body. They reached the stage without incident, their chest heaving with the effort to remain quiet. Climbing onto the stage, they knelt beside Ballade’s still form. Gently, they pushed her slumped body forward, revealing the empty key slot on her back. Taking a steadying breath, they slotted the key into place.
Then they began to wind.
The resistance was immediate — the mechanism inside her body was worn and rusted, and every turn of the key felt like a struggle. The Player’s arms burned with the effort, their grunts of exertion breaking the oppressive silence. It was a wonder the key turned at all.
Finally — with one last, straining twist — the key clicked into place. As the key slowly began to turn on its own, Ballade’s hand twitched. Fingers that had been frozen in a death grip began to uncurl. The green battery slipped free, falling to the stage with a quiet thud. The Player exhaled in relief, their muscles trembling with exhaustion, and reached forward to claim their prize.
With the final battery in hand, the player stumbled off the stage, their heart pounding so hard it felt like it might burst from their chest. Every muscle in their body ached from the endless chase, the constant fear, the exhausting puzzles — but the urgency to get out of this place kept them moving. They tightened their grip on the battery as though it were their only lifeline.
Behind them, the eerie ticking of Ballade’s wind-up key still echoed softly, rhythmic and deliberate, growing fainter with each step as they hurried toward the battery slot. But even as the sound faded, it felt like it followed them — like something unseen was counting down.
The building around them felt more oppressive than ever — the walls seemed to close in tighter, the air thick and stale. Every shadow stretched a little too far, twisting unnaturally with the dim, flickering lights. Every distant creak and groan made their skin prickle, their breath catching in their throat. The remnants of Home Sweet Home were silent, but never still. And worst of all, they knew they weren’t alone.
CatNap was still out there. The colossal cat had been stalking them ever since they set foot in this cursed building — an ever-present threat lingering just out of sight. Watching. Waiting. The Player’s eyes darted to every darkened corner, every vent, every narrow hallway. The feeling of being hunted had become almost suffocating.
Reaching the battery slot, the Player slid the battery into place with trembling hands, the device clicking into position with a satisfying thud. They exhaled shakily as the system hummed to life, ancient machinery groaning and sputtering like a creature slowly awakening from a long slumber. Lights flickered, casting long, wavering shadows on the walls. The room vibrated with power as circuits sputtered and sparked to life.
But even with the relief of progress, that uneasy feeling didn’t leave them. Instinct tugged at the Player, a cold chill crawling up their spine. Slowly, almost unwillingly, they glanced back toward the stage.
They froze.
The stage was empty.
Ballade was gone.
The curtain still hung open, the boxes she had been slumped against remained — but she was no longer there. Only the faint sound of the ticking key remained, echoing softly from somewhere deeper in the building. The Player’s throat tightened, their pulse quickening as they scanned the darkened room. And then — the ticking stopped.
"W-Where... where did she--" the Player’s voice barely rose above a whisper, their words cut short by the suffocating weight of fear. But there was no time to linger, no time to question. They’d done what they were supposed to do within Home Sweet Home — the last thing they needed was to stick around where that big cat and an even bigger doll could find them.
Screw it.
They turned and ran, feet pounding against the floor as they rushed out of the building, desperate to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the threats lurking inside. But as they vanished into the dim, flickering corridors, they remained unaware of the pair of eyes watching their every move from the shadows.
-
Ballade didn’t know how long she had been turned off for — she never really could tell how much time passed when she was asleep until someone "woke her up." It was almost like being in a coma or perhaps paralyzed; she couldn’t move or see, but she could faintly hear what was happening in her surroundings. Distant voices, the scraping of metal, the slow decay of her world — all filtered through the darkness of her slumber.
She could feel it too — the slow breakdown of her own body. The way her delicate mechanisms grew rigid and rusted over time, the stiffness of her joints settling like an ache she couldn’t relieve. Dust settled thick over her frame, and the once-smooth grace of her design began to fade beneath the weight of neglect. Her porcelain-like face, once pristine and expressive, had cracked, faint fractures spreading like delicate spiderwebs. The once-vibrant paint of her features had faded and chipped, her eyes dull and lifeless. Her limbs, so carefully crafted for fluid movement, had grown stiff and unyielding, the internal gears grinding with each attempt at motion. The soft fabric of her dress had long since frayed, the elegant ribbons trailing in tatters. Her hair, once styled into a graceful bun, had loosened and fallen over her face in knotted, dusty strands. The neglect was total — and yet, she had felt it all.
But then, there was something new.
A click. A winding. The sudden, jarring sensation of gears turning, slow and strained, after so long without movement. She could feel her key twisting into place, the old machinery inside her fighting to respond. It hurt — but it also meant something else.
She was waking up.
*blink*
*blink*
A soft gasp left her lips as her eyes blinked to life, flickering with an eerie glow as they darted around in alarm, desperate to see who — or what — had turned her key. The disorientation was overwhelming. She felt the stiffness in every part of her body, her joints cracking and groaning as she shifted. The effort it took just to lift her head sent sharp pangs through her worn-out frame. She managed to catch a glimpse of a figure slipping out of her tent — too fast to make out any details. But she ignored it for now. There was something more important.
She needed to move.
The struggle was immediate and humiliating. As she tried to push herself upright, her legs buckled beneath her, the rusted mechanisms inside protesting every motion. She fell once, twice — each time catching herself just before hitting the stage floor. The effort left her breathless, but she forced herself onward, finally managing to stand on trembling legs. Peeking through the gap in the curtain, her wide eyes scanned the room — and then stopped, her breath catching.
A human.
Her mind reeled. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. An actual human employee. But… how? Weren’t they all dead? The factory had been silent for so long — abandoned, left to rot just like the toys inside. And yet there they were, very much alive. But why? Why on earth would anyone willingly come here? What could they possibly hope to achieve? More than anything, though — what confused her the most — was the fact that she did not recognize them. They must be a lower level employee, Leith told her she didn't need to put in the effort of remembering employees who were disposable. But still, how the hell did they get so far into the factory on their own?
How did they get past Huggy? And Mommy?
Her eyes narrowed as she watched them place the battery in its slot and restore power to Home Sweet Home. Hmmm... she’d just watch them from afar for now, just to see what they were doing. After stretching her limbs, she hoisted herself up by the rafters above her head, the rusted joints protesting but slowly obeying her commands. With surprising agility for something so long dormant, she leapt up to the upper levels of Home Sweet Home, silent and shadowed. From her vantage point above, she watched with cold amusement as the employee looked around in alarm, their panic clear when they noticed the empty stage. It was almost hilarious to watch them scramble out of the building with their tail between their legs.
Seriously… how had they gotten this far?
Ballade's eyes narrowed as she watched the employee from her spot in the upper levels of the building, their frantic movements betraying the fear she expected. Every little sound they made echoed through the hollow, broken remains of Home Sweet Home. The flickering lights cast long, distorted shadows across the decaying walls, making the space feel even more eerie and oppressive. She shifted quietly, her body still stiff and aching from years of stillness, the rusted joints inside her creaking with every small motion. She winced at the sound—like old gears grinding against each other—but her curiosity kept her silent and patient.
And then she saw it—something that truly caught her attention.
"Is that..." she whispered, her voice barely audible as she peered through a cracked and grime-streaked window, her face twisting in mock disbelief. "Poppy?" It had been so long since she’d last seen that doll—so long since any familiar faces crossed her path. The sight of that small, porcelain-like figure sent a strange jolt through her system. Ballade leaned against the windowsill, her faded ribbons trailing limply from her arms as she watched intently. Through the dim light, she saw Poppy handle Kissy Missy—ever the sweetheart—after she had tackled the employee to the ground in what was clearly an attempt to kill them.
Ballade’s fingers tapped rhythmically against the rotting wood beneath her, the soft sound blending with the distant hum of restored power and the occasional groan of the building settling. Her mind pieced together the situation from the fragmented conversation she managed to overhear. The employee had come to Playtime Co. searching for their missing coworkers—fools, she thought, for stepping into this graveyard of twisted dreams. And yet they had somehow survived encounters with Huggy Wuggy and Mommy Long Legs, defeating both of them despite the odds.
But their victory had been hollow. They’d been meant to leave—finally escape this nightmare by taking the train from the Game Station. And yet... Poppy had intervened. Ballade’s lips curled into a wry, bitter smile. Of course she had. That was so like that manipulative little girl. Trapped in that fragile doll body, Poppy was incapable of doing things on her own—so she pulled the strings of others, making them dance to her tune. It was always the same—always others who did the hard work while Poppy watched from the sidelines, her innocent appearance masking the calculating mind underneath.
And now it seemed she’d found her latest puppet.
The employee. The survivor.
But how long would they last, Ballade wondered, before Poppy’s game broke them too? How long before this poor fool realized they were nothing more than a disposable piece in Poppy’s never-ending quest for freedom? Ballade almost pitied them. Almost.
"Hmm, what to do, what to do." she murmured to herself. She continued to watch them from Home Sweet Home as they restored power to Playcare and a sense of nostalgia hit her like a wave. Memories of when Playcare had been whole—when laughter filled the air and the children’s joy was the only sound that mattered. She could still hear their giggles echoing faintly in her mind, the pitter-patter of tiny feet running through the halls. She remembered the way they’d reach for her hand, their eyes wide with wonder as she twirled and danced for them on the stage. The warmth of their applause, their delighted cheers—those days felt like a distant dream, faded and fra— she nearly threw herself out the window when she saw them approaching the school. "Oh, no. If she's still in there... uh oh."
-
Uh oh, indeed.
The Player moved cautiously through ruined corridors of the school, every step echoing off the cracked and peeling walls. They turned a corner into what looked like an old classroom, the faded remnants of colorful posters and children’s drawings hanging limply from the walls. As they ventured through the school, collecting notes that solved the mystery that happened to this establishment, the PA system crackled to life. A high, lilting voice filled the corridor, sweet yet off-kilter, like a pre-recorded message gone wrong.
"This is Miss Delight speaking, please excuse the interruption! Students, remain in your seats until the bell has rung, and no going in the halls without a hall pass!" The Player’s skin prickled as the message faded out. They pressed on, tension coiling in their gut. Later, as they crawled under a desk in another room, they caught a glimpse of her—a flash of frilly pastel fabric and jerky, uneven movement. Miss Delight walked across the hallway just ahead, her head twitching unnaturally, one glassy eye swiveling in its cracked porcelain face. The Player held their breath until she passed. As they were still reeling from the sight, Miss Delight’s voice boomed again over the PA system. "Wait, I recognize you… Yes! I remember! You used to work here! How are you… alive? Hm? Barb? Oh… Barb says you're looking for your co-workers. CatNap wouldn't like that you're here! You should leave, for your own safety."
Ignoring the warning, the Player pushed forward through the abandoned school. Eventually, they reached a door leading to a dark, forbidding area. The PA crackled again, the sweetness in Miss Delight’s tone giving way to something darker. "Not a good listener, are you? You're a lot like the other humans in that way. I wonder if your screams will sound like theirs too! I look forward to finding out."
Determined, the Player powered on the generator, hoping to illuminate their path. But the light was short-lived. With a loud crash, the door burst open, and Miss Delight strode into the room. In one swift motion, she lashed out with Barb—her twisted, jagged weapon—smashing the generator and sending its battery flying across the room. The lights flickered, then died, plunging the halls into darkness once again.
The Player races through the dim corridors, their breath coming in ragged gasps as Miss Delight’s sinister laughter rings out behind them. Every time they risk a glance back, they see her frozen in place — a weeping angel-like figure locked mid-step, her face twisted into an eerie smile. But each time they look away, even for a second, she draws closer. The sound of her footsteps echoes impossibly loud in the empty space, and the Player can almost feel her breath against their neck. Panic rises with every turn, every flickering shadow playing tricks on their eyes as they search frantically for more batteries to restore power and unlock the closed gates and doors.
At one point, the Player whips their head back, heart slamming in their chest — and Miss Delight is right there. Too close. Her twisted face inches from theirs, her hand outstretched, ready to grab — and then she stops. Dead still. The Player lets out a breath of relief that they managed to catch her before they caught them and slowly backs away, unaware that Miss Delight's gaze wasn't looking at them but instead on what was ahead of them. It was the gaze that was stopping her from getting too close to them, from killing them.
As they near the exit in the maintenance area, the desperation in Miss Delight becomes palpable. Her movements grow more erratic, more forceful, as if the thought of losing her prey is too much to bear. They sprint for the final gate, hands fumbling with the controls as the sound of her approach grows louder and faster. Finally, they spot a lever and yank it down with all their strength. The heavy door begins to close with a grinding screech — but Miss Delight is not done yet. With a burst of speed, she drops her frozen façade and charges forward, her porcelain face contorting with a mix of rage and desperation. The Player watches in slow motion as she reaches out, fingers just inches from their face — and then the door slams shut with a sickening crunch. The laughter stops. The halls fall silent, save for the faint echo of metal settling into place. And when the Player dares to look back, all that remains of Miss Delight is the twisted ruin of her head beneath the heavy door — her wide, delighted grin forever frozen in place.
"Whew..." finally, they can take a breather.
-
Ballade moved with calculated precision, her every step taken in the dark corners of the school, her presence barely more than a whisper in the air. She watched as Miss Delight, once a beacon of warmth, now stood twisted and savage, her eyes burning with hunger, no longer the kind and gentle teacher that had once graced these halls. It was a sickening sight, the aftermath of years of suffering, the price paid for survival. Ballade could feel the weight of regret heavy on her chest. If only she had been able to reach her sooner, perhaps things wouldn't have spiraled so far.
Ballade’s eyes tracked the employee, her focus shifting between them and Miss Delight. She couldn’t let the deranged teacher get too close. With careful timing, Ballade would step out just enough to catch Miss Delight’s attention, drawing her gaze away from the employee. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to stop Miss Delight in her tracks. Ballade would retreat the moment the employee turned their attention back towards the woman, ensuring the cycle continued. She had to make sure Miss Delight didn’t get close enough to the employee. She still wasn't sure what their goal was but Poppy needed them alive to achieve something, and she was very curious as to what it could possibly be.
When they reached the hallway leading to the exit in the maintenance area, the employee suddenly turned and fled, desperate to escape both the school and Miss Delight. Ballade watched helplessly as Miss Delight reached out for them, her fingers stretching toward their target. But as she drew near, the employee slammed the door down, crushing Miss Delight beneath its weight. Ballade approached the lifeless form slowly, a deep sadness in her eyes as she stared down at what had become of her.
"Oh, Miss Delight," she whispered softly, kneeling beside her. "I'm so sorry this happened to you. I wish it didn't have to come to this." Her hand gently caressed what was left of Miss Delight’s face, a tender gesture in the face of such brutality. As much as it pained her, maybe this was for the best. After a few moments of quiet reflection, Ballade rose to her feet. With a grunt of effort, she reached for the underside of the shutter and, using sheer brute force, ripped it open. She stepped out into the cavernous depths, her eyes narrowing as she set her sights on the employee once again. They were heading toward the Playhouse, the den of those ruined creatures. How could she not follow them now? The stakes had never been higher.
-
It was seriously one horror after the other.
After completing some puzzles within the caverns and quietly passing by CatNap worshipping an amalgamation of dead toys, the Player approaches a heavy, rusted door with a faded sign above it, signifying they're next destination was the Playhouse. The air grows colder as they step inside, the dim light flickering ominously. The walls are cracked and stained, and the distant sound of skittering echoes through the darkness.
Continuing into the Playhouse proper, The Player navigates a maze of shadowy rooms and claustrophobic tunnels. They're startled at the sight of the Ruined Critters lurking around, grotesque and twisted versions of their former selves, appearing suddenly from holes in the walls and nipping at their heels. Their chittering grows louder and more frantic as more of them join the pursuit. To keep them away and light their way, the Player uses their newly acquired orange hand — a weapon-like tool gained after surviving the School and defeating Miss Delight — to shoot flares that burst with brief, brilliant light, sending the Critters scurrying back.
Their progress is halted by a massive door requiring two pressure pads with the Playtime Co. logo to be activated. So much work to do, they thought. They enter a network of tunnels, solving the puzzles to locate two heavy boxes and drag them onto the pads, shooting at the ruined critters that came out of their little hidey holes before continuing with the task at hand. They perk up at the sound of shifting mechanisms rumbling through the walls as the door slowly creaks open. Beyond the door lies a vast chamber dominated by a towering central spire. A platform connected to a long beam juts out from the structure, they scurry onto the platform, pressing a button that has the platform moving rather slowly. As it aligns with various doorways, they curiously explores each one, eventually entering a cavernous pool room with stagnant water reflecting the dim light. At the back of the room are two foreboding yellow doors.
They shudder to themself as they enter the room and find a rusting cell block. They could only guess who the residents of the cells belonged to, counting eight altogether as they walked down the dimly lit hall. They're careful to mind their step when they spot a hole in the ground barely covered by the wooden boards that could collapse under their weight, if only they could just find the exi-
"You..." they jump in surprise at the sudden voice, their heart leaping into their throat. They whip their head around and their eyes widen at the sight of DogDay... or rather, what was left of him. A once-joyful toy now reduced to a ragged and broken figure hanging on the wall by his arms, his once-bright colors faded and his blood seeping through gaping tears in his fabric. "...You're Poppy's angel, come to save us."
"S-Save you...?" they whisper, their voice trembling as they take an uneasy step closer. Their eyes rake over his horrific form, a hand flying to their mouth in shock. His bisected torso, blood-stained and grotesque, was only held together by a leather belt cinched tight, barely keeping what little remained of his innards from spilling out. Despite his broken state, DogDay gave a weak, humorless chuckle.
"Nothing left to save... not here..." he rasped, his voice strained and fragile. "You're in CatNap's home, angel. Their home." He lifted a trembling arm, gesturing toward their bleak surroundings. The subtle sound of scampering echoed through the Playhouse—the Ruined Critters, always watching. Always waiting.
"A million pairs of eyes are on you now. Watching, waiting... hungry," he continued, his words a haunting whisper. "That... thing... CatNap. The Prototype is his god, and this..." his voice cracked as he gestured toward his broken body, "this is what he does to heretics." The distant sounds of the critters grew louder, their scratching filling the heavy silence.
"These little toys follow CatNap to avoid that very fate—and in return, they are fed." His breath hitched, his eyes glassy and distant. "We tried to fight it... to fight the Prototype's control." He swallowed hard, his voice barely above a whisper now. "I'm... the last of the Smiling Critters." the state he was left made them think of Ballade, how she was left to collect dust and to be forgotten by those who remembered her. CatNap must have had a deeper connection with these two to have kept them around, even with the conditions he gave them. "Listen to me, you need to get out of this place. You need to live." their eyes widened.
"You want me to... leave you here?" they whispered softly, their eyes darting around when they heard footsteps. "At least let me take you with me." he only shook his head.
"I appreciate the sentiment, but I'll... only slow you down." they bit their lip.
"There must be something I can do." they mutter but DogDay shook his head.
"You and Poppy can fix this, end this madness, the torment, the—" The Player let out a startled shout when a hand suddenly appeared against the cell bars. They stumbled back, quickly raising the flare gun, only to freeze in shock at the sight of Ballade. She paid them no mind, her wide eyes fixed on DogDay with an overwhelming sense of sadness and horror.
"Oh, puppy..." she whispered, her voice trembling as her hand reached toward him. "What has he done to you...?" The empty void of DogDay's eyes seemed to spark to life at the sound of her voice—at the sight of her after so many years.
"B-Ballade? Is that really you? I'm not hallucinating, am I?" His voice cracked with disbelief. She shook her head, stepping into the cell and collapsing to her knees. Her hands cupped his ragged cheeks, her thumbs brushing over his battered face with heartbreaking gentleness. He leaned into her touch, starved for comfort after years of isolation and agony.
"This isn't a dream, right?" he whispered, his voice fragile.
"No, puppy," she murmured, her voice thick with emotion. "I'm really here. I'm here, my sweet baby." She pulled him into a tender embrace, cradling him as his broken frame shook with quiet sobs. Her hands rubbed soothing circles over his back, desperate to offer whatever solace she could.
"How long was I gone?" she asked, her voice muffled against his shoulder.
"...Four years," he whispered, his voice breaking. DogDay let out a soft grunt as her arms tightened around him. When he finally pulled back, his gaze locked onto hers—and the pain reflected in her glassy eyes was almost too much to bear.
"When you disappeared," he continued, his voice quivering, "it was the worst time of our lives. We didn’t know what he did to you, where you were... we couldn't even confirm if he’d taken you to the Prototype or not. We were so scared. What happened that day?" Tears welled in his eyes as he searched her face for answers.
"I'll explain later," she said quickly, shaking her head. "Right now, we need to get the hell out of here." Her eyes flicked up to the belts strapping him to the wall. "Hold on, puppy—I’m getting you down." her grief now replaced with anger, she grasped tightly at the belts and tore him free from his confines and when he fell into her arms, his own arms wrapped around her and they shared another tender embrace.
"U-Um, I hate to interrupt..." the Player's voice broke the moment, hesitant and uneasy. Both Ballade and DogDay turned toward them. "But I think we've got company." Ballade's face darkened instantly. She felt DogDay's arms tighten around her, his broken body trembling as the sound of the ruined critters echoed around them—scratching, skittering, getting closer.
"N-No, not again... please, not again," he whimpered, his voice cracking with fear. Ballade's eyes hardened.
"You! Come here!" She moved with sudden urgency, grabbing the Player before they could react. Spinning them around, she carefully pressed DogDay against the back of their GrabPack. With quick, practiced motions, she snatched up several of the discarded belts littering the ground and began strapping DogDay securely to their back.
"Alright, can you move well enough with him on your back?" she asked, tightening the last belt. The Player staggered slightly, adjusting to the unexpected weight.
"I-I think so—"
"No time! Get moving!" Ballade shoved them forward just as the first of the ruined critters began pouring out of the holes in the walls, their twisted forms scrambling toward them. DogDay watched as Ballade backed away, rolling her neck, her whole posture shifting into a predatory readiness. Despite his fear, a weak chuckle escaped him when he saw that familiar, dangerous glint in her eye.
"Is she going to be okay?" the Player asked breathlessly as they ran. DogDay let out a weary, fond laugh.
"Oh, she’ll be fine. Trust me." The Player plunged into the twisting tunnels of the Playhouse, their pulse pounding in their ears. DogDay’s weakened voice guided them through the maze-like corridors while the distant sounds of Ballade’s fight faded behind them. But the ruined critters weren’t far off. Their skittering grew louder, closer, and soon they were spilling from the walls, giving chase.
"Faster! Please—faster!" DogDay pleaded, his panic rising as the swarm closed in. Ahead, the path ended at a steep drop. Without hesitation, the Player launched themselves forward, using their Purple Hand to swing across the gap. The roller door slammed shut behind them with a metallic crash, cutting off the horrid screeches just in time. Shaken but alive, the Player stumbled into an elevator, their breath ragged. As the lift carried them upward to the top of the slide and out of the nightmare of the Playhouse, the reality of their narrow escape began to sink in. But there was no time to rest. Not yet.
"Finally... we're out!" the Player shouts aloud before pressing their hands to their face. "That was literal hell," they murmur against their palms. They feel a pat and see that it was DogDay.
"Are you alright, Angel? I'm sorry you had to lug my dead weight around while you were running." DogDay’s voice is soft, filled with guilt. They give a weak laugh in response.
"Nah, you're probably the nicest face I've seen that hasn't backstabbed me or actively tried to kill me. It's nice to have someone like that around after what's happened in the past few hours." DogDay gives his own weak laugh.
"I'll say. But thank you, Angel. You didn't have to do what you did." They shake their head.
"That toy scares me. I think she would have snapped my neck if I refused to do as she said." DogDay makes a face at their words, though they don’t see it. You're not wrong. "Anyways, are you sure she'll be okay? I feel bad for just leaving her there by herself."
"That's the thing, Angel. She prefers to be alone when dealing with the ruined critters — it allows her to fully let loose."
"Let loose?" they echo, confused.
"Yes. She was a toy designed to handle the bigger toys the human employees couldn’t — like Huggy and Mommy. The little ones? Though they outnumber her, they won’t even be able to leave so much as a scratch on her." As if on cue, the doors to the Playhouse are suddenly kicked off their hinges and a few dead critters fly out. Ballade steps out, crushing the neck of a ruined Crafty in her hands before kicking a ruined Bobby so hard it splatters blood all over the pavement.
"Better think twice before coming at me again, twerps!" she shouts, tossing the dead toy aside without a second thought. Her eyes scan the area, lighting up when she spots DogDay. "Puppy! You're okay!" DogDay cheers as Ballade scoops him up and starts twirling him around. It’s only when she starts planting kisses on his head that she notices the extra weight.
"I don't suppose you could put me down, could you?" the Player grunts from where they dangle off DogDay’s back. She sweatdrops.
"Oh, right. Sorry about that, Angel." Her tone carries a teasing lilt as she uses the nickname. Holding DogDay in her arms, she nuzzles her cheek against his head, cooing sweet nothings to comfort him. "Thank you, Angel. Not only for returning my key to me and turning me back on but for also protecting DogDay from those ruined toys." They rub the back of their head.
"It was nothing — I’m just glad you were there to hold them back." Ballade chuckles softly.
"Well, I've been following you ever since you stepped foot in the school. How else do you think you survived?" They blink in surprise.
"Wait — what?"
"I kept Miss Delight back each time you turned your back on her," she explains with a grin. "She got real close a couple of times, but I stopped her before she could kill you." She tilts her head, eyes gleaming. "You're welcome, by the way."
"Thanks," they mutter, still processing everything.
"Why are you trying to turn on all the backup generators by the way? What has Poppy got you doing?" Ballade asked, following the Player toward the Generator Room. She adjusted her hold on DogDay as she crouched down to squeeze through the tiny door. "I don't suppose you're trying to get the full 'Playcare' experience, are you?" The Player let out a weak, playful laugh.
"No, she wants me to redirect the red smoke — send it in the opposite direction from where it was in the beginning." Both Ballade and DogDay froze at the words, exchanging a look of confusion and concern.
"Why would she want you to do that, Angel?" DogDay asked, his voice uncertain. "Did she tell you why?" The Player shook their head.
"Not really." DogDay watched Ballade closely, noting the way her expression hardened in thought. They must have been in Gas Production Zone, inside were three massive tubes that controlled the red smoke’s direction. Ballade hadn’t seen it in years, not since everything fell apart — but even after all this time, she remembered the right tube was where the red smoke had always been contained. If Poppy wanted to redirect it to the left tube… that meant the smoke was headed toward the prison and the lab.
"Don't tell me..." Ballade murmured to herself, her voice barely above a whisper.
"What is it, Ballade?" DogDay asked, his face filled with concern. She glanced at him but shook her head, brushing it off.
"It's nothing," she said, though the tension in her voice told a different story. "I'm probably overthinking it." The Player kept moving ahead, taking the key from the tube and heading toward the Counselor's Office. Ballade and DogDay trailed close behind, their footsteps soft but ever-present. After a moment, Ballade noticed the Player sweating a little.
"Is something the matter, Angel?" she asked, a hint of teasing in her tone. "Nervous?" The Player hesitated before glancing back.
"Are you... planning on following me?" Ballade blinked at the question.
"It's not like we've got anything better to do. Why? Don’t want the extra muscle? I can keep CatNap back, if he’s got the gall to show his face." DogDay winced slightly when he saw Ballade clench her fist tightly. She probably wouldn’t mind getting a shot at CatNap if the opportunity arose.
"We can help you get the backup generator up and running," DogDay added quickly, trying to ease the tension. "We know this place like the back of our hands. And like Ballade said, she’s your extra muscle. I might not be as strong, but I can be an extra pair of eyes." Both of them looked at the Player with genuine gratitude. "Allow us to pay you back for setting us free," DogDay said softly. The Player hesitated, then nodded.
"Well... having you two around will definitely make this task safer and quicker."
"That’s the spirit!" Ballade grinned, ruffling their hair in a warm, familiar gesture—an old habit from the days when she looked after children and the few employees she liked. "Let’s get a move on. That generator won’t run itself." With a gentle push, she urged the Player forward, following close behind. Since Ballade’s body was larger than the doorframes, she had to crouch to avoid knocking her head, letting DogDay take the lead. The three of them made their way down the corridor until they reached two locked doors. To their left stretched a hallway filled with red smoke, while the path ahead led to the reception area, which required a battery to unlock.
Well, at least they knew where they needed to go.
*THUD*
"Ow." The Player and DogDay turned to see Ballade rubbing her head after hitting a light fixture when she tried to stand up. "I forget these buildings were only meant to accommodate the human employees, not us toys." DogDay laughed softly, patting her head in an attempt to comfort her.
"We never really were allowed in here." Despite the tension, the Player couldn’t help but chuckle. It was nice to have some company around. After a quick search, they found the battery hidden in an air duct and swiftly placed it into its slot. The door swung open with a mechanical hiss, inviting them inside. As they entered, Ballade and DogDay wandered toward an old vending machine, their curiosity piqued.
"You think the drinks in here are still good?" DogDay mused.
"Only one way to find out," Ballade replied, cracking her knuckles as she prepared to strike the machine. But before she could, an all-too-familiar alarm blared through the room, making both toys jump. Their heads whipped toward the TV screen, where the Player had just inserted a VHS tape labeled 8/8/95.
The room fell silent, save for the low hum of the monitor as the tape began to play. The Player didn’t seem to notice how Ballade reached for DogDay and gently covered his ears. He hadn’t been conscious that day, but the ringing had gone off the entire time — a sound that never stopped until everything was over. When the tape finally ended, the Player turned toward the two toys, noticing their unusual quiet. Their suspicion grew when they found the duo locked in a silent embrace, Ballade’s hand softly rubbing DogDay’s head in a soothing, apologetic gesture. The weight of whatever memory the tape had stirred hung heavy in the air, unspoken but undeniable.
"It's over, puppy. I'm sorry that it happened, I'm sorry."
"Are you two... alright?" she looked back at them and gave a weak smile.
"Just... old memories resurfacing, but we'll be alright." The Player was kind enough to wait for them to collect themselves before proceeding. Walking down the halls of debris and dead bodies was a familiar sight, but it still hurt seeing the few bloodied toys that littered the ground. The Player found the room they needed to enter filled with red smoke — not a problem thanks to the gas mask they’d acquired in Home Sweet Home. The real problem was the locked door — their eyes widened when Ballade kicked it off its hinges with a single powerful strike. "Ladies first," she said with a smirk.
"Thank you." It beat having to take the long way around. The Player slipped on their gas mask and stepped into the room, but they quickly noticed the two toys lagging behind.
"Go on ahead," Ballade called. "We’ll wait here. I can follow you, but DogDay can’t. The red smoke doesn’t affect me, but I also don’t want to leave DogDay alone while CatNap is still roaming around." DogDay whined softly.
"Sorry for being a burden." The Player shook their head.
"You guys being here keeps me at ease." They offered a reassuring wave before heading off to restore power and unlock the next door. With that, Ballade found a corner where she could keep an eye on both the room the Player had entered and their only exit. She knelt down and patted her lap, inviting DogDay to lay his head down and rest. As she gently stroked his head, the soft but fragile sound of her music box began to play, filling the tense silence with a bittersweet lullaby. After a few moments, DogDay broke the quiet.
"Can you tell me now?"
"Hmm?" Ballade glanced down at him.
"The day you didn’t come back with the others... Can you tell me what happened?" Ballade’s hand stilled. She took a deep, steadying breath, closing her eyes for a long moment. When she finally exhaled, the weight of old pain settled into her features.
"...To me," she whispered, "it really feels like it was only just yesterday."
-
"Is... is that all you got?" Ballade panted, hunched over her knees as she struggled to catch her breath. If she could sweat, she'd be drenched — the endless waves of ruined critters sent her way had pushed her to the brink. Her chest rose and fell in ragged motions, and though she fought valiantly, the sheer number of enemies was starting to take its toll.
She had cornered herself without realizing it. There was no clear path of escape, no way to break free from the swarm. The little toys couldn’t harm her directly — they had no claws or teeth sharp enough to leave so much as a scratch — but their numbers were proving to be their greatest weapon. Their relentless assault, throwing themselves onto her to weigh her down, was working. The growing piles of broken bodies made movement harder with every second, and the sheer mass of them threatened to bury her alive. Ballade gritted her teeth, shoving one off her shoulder and stomping down on another’s head, but her limbs felt heavier with each passing moment. She was strong — built for battle — but even she had limits. And the enemy knew it.
“You always were a strong fighter, [F/N].” Lifting her head, Ballade let out a weak, bitter laugh. Bloodied, battered, and surrounded by the broken bodies of ruined toys, she still managed to glare defiantly at the figure stepping from the shadows.
“Of course… it just had to be you…” she spat, eyes narrowing as CatNap approached with that same calm, calculated air she remembered all too well. “Was this your idea? Wearing me down? Other than the Doctor, you’re the only one who knows that endless hours of fighting will tire me out.” CatNap shrugged, his eyes watching her closely.
“There was no way I could beat you in a fair fight. Wearing you down was the best and safest option.” She scoffed, her breath ragged. The cynical laughter of a ruined Hoppy rang out from the shadows behind her, and with a violent stomp, she silenced it, grinding its remains into the floor.
“Safe for you?” He tilted his head, his tone almost gentle.
“For you.” Her face twisted in confusion. She took a step toward him—and then the exhaustion crashed over her like a wave. Her limbs felt like lead, and the subtle ticking of her wind-up key behind her back began to slow. Each click echoed louder in her ears.
“You… you planned this,” she rasped, trying to force her legs to move. But the ache in her joints grew unbearable as they started to lock into place. He nodded slowly.
“I knew you wouldn’t let me or the critters get too close to your hideout. And I knew you’d sacrifice yourself to let the others escape. That’s because I know you. You’d rather get hurt yourself than see others suffer—trying to make things right after what you did…” Her vision blurred, the room spinning around her. She stumbled, her knees buckling as she collapsed onto the lifeless bodies scattered beneath her. The coldness of them pressed against her, an eerie reminder of what would soon become of her.
“You’d rather… my body shut down… than fight me…”
“It’s better this way,” he said softly. “Better than the Prototype or the Doctor stepping in.” Her key turned slower. The sound of it was fading. “If you change your mind now… maybe I can convince the Prototype to forgive you.” Her head snapped up, eyes narrowing despite the weakness overtaking her.
“…Huh?”
“The Prototype is merciful to us toys,” CatNap continued, his voice soothing, persuasive. “I’m sure, with time, he’ll forgive you for turning your back on him. He only wants what’s best for us. So please, [F/N]—” He extended a paw toward her, his expression almost pleading “—won’t you join my side again?” For a long moment, she just stared up at him. Her breath came in shallow, uneven gasps. The room around her felt distant and cold. With the last bit of strength she had left, she raised her arm—and smacked his paw away.
“I made a mistake… trusting you years ago…” her voice was weak, but her words were laced with venom. “I’m not gonna… make that mistake… again…”
And her body stilled, locked in place and waiting for her key to be turned again. Ballade lay there amidst the lifeless bodies of the ruined toys, her form slumped and motionless. The soft ticking that had once been the quiet rhythm of her life had finally gone silent. CatNap stood over her, his shadow falling across her still frame. His paw flexed slowly, claws extending and retracting as he stared down at her. This was his moment — the perfect opportunity. One strike, and the most dangerous and capable toy within the factory would be gone. The Prototype’s paranoia would be eased, their fear of Ballade’s rebellion finally put to rest. He raised his paw, ready to deliver the final blow… but he hesitated.
The seconds stretched out, and his arm trembled. His mind replayed flashes of the past — moments of laughter, of camaraderie, of whispered conversations in the dark when they’d both been afraid. He remembered the warmth in her voice when she’d encouraged him, the fierce loyalty she had always shown, even when the world around them turned to madness. But then came the guilt. The lies. He had manipulated her trust, twisted the truth to push her toward the Prototype’s cause. And deep down, he knew — if she had known the reality, the full extent of the Prototype’s plans — she never would have sided with them.
CatNap’s arm fell to his side, his face twisting in frustration and something dangerously close to regret. He couldn’t do it. Whether it was loyalty, guilt, or the echo of their old friendship… he just couldn’t strike her down.Instead, he grabs her wind-up key and yanks it out, the sharp, metallic sound echoing through the hollow chamber. Ballade's body slumped further, completely lifeless now, her glassy eyes staring into nothingness. CatNap stood there for a long moment, his paw still clutching the key as his chest rose and fell with shaky breaths. With a strangled sigh, he let his arm fall to his side. The fight drained out of him as his claws retracted, and without another word, he reached down and grabbed her by the nape of her neck. The weight of her dormant form was nothing as he dragged her through the winding corridors of the factory, up to Playcare, and into Home Sweet Home — the place where she would remain, motionless and silent, for four long years.
And yet, he never left her side. Day after day, he watched over her stage like a silent sentinel, his eyes ever-vigilant for the ruined critters that occasionally dared to draw near. He chased them off with swift brutality, his protectiveness never waning. Sometimes, when the loneliness grew too heavy, he would climb into the stage and curl up beside her lifeless body, just as they used to do when things were… better. Back then, she would talk for hours, filling the silence with stories of her day or soft lullabies that soothed his restless spirit. Now, the only sound was the distant hum of the factory and the occasional soft, ragged breaths he took as he lay beside her, longing for the warmth of her voice once more.
-
"I'm not completely... unconscious when my key stops turning," she began, her hands gently caressing DogDay's head. "I'm somewhat aware of what's going on around me, just not fully. To me, it was like I was trapped in a dream and no time had passed at all inside my head — like I just went to sleep and woke up the next day. The same, however, can't be said for my body." Her voice softened as she lifted her arm, the quiet creak of her joints filling the air. She was one of the toys that had been looked after the most. A rare, one-of-a-kind creation that couldn’t simply be remade. As the Doctor often said, she was a masterpiece — fully conscious, capable of speech, and above all, obedient. That was why she had weekly maintenance to ensure she would malfunction.
DogDay nuzzled closer, his voice quiet. "I... I had no idea."
"No one did," Ballade murmured, a distant look crossing her face. "Not even CatNap. I kept that one to myself."
“It must've been so hard for you." DogDay’s voice was soft, filled with a gentle kind of empathy. Ballade shrugged, her movements stiff.
"Eh, maybe I deserved it. I did side with the Prototype, after all. I had it coming." She tried to sound flippant, but her voice cracked just a little. DogDay pursed his lips before slowly reaching out and taking her hand. His grip was warm, steadying. He squeezed it, and when she looked down at their joined hands, something in her hardened expression softened.
"...You did what you thought was right," he said quietly. Her face twitched. She wanted to pull away, but the warmth of his hand kept her still.
"I locked you and the other critters in your cells," she whispered, her voice heavy with guilt. "I knew the Hour of Joy was coming years before it even happened, but I did nothing to stop it. I—I killed humans and toys alike and thought what I was doing was right… but I was wrong. So wrong." DogDay’s eyes filled with a sadness she hadn’t seen in a long time.
"But you did it out of love," he murmured. "What you did… it may not have been the right choice, but you thought there was no other way to save us. You fought for us in the only way you knew how." He paused, his voice growing softer, more fragile. "You may not be able to forgive yourself… but I forgave you a long time ago." Ballade’s breath hitched, and though she was incapable of crying, the way her lips trembled made it clear how deeply his words cut through her. She shook her head slowly, the weight of her guilt pressing down on her.
"How… how could you forgive me?" she asked, her voice breaking. "I helped ruin everything." He looked down at their hands, his fingers tightening around hers as he searched for the right words.
"...You could have left a long time ago," he began softly, his voice heavy with emotion. "You're capable of doing so—but you didn't. You stayed here to help us. You stayed to make things right… even when you didn’t have to." He paused, his breath catching, then slowly pulled himself up, wrapping his arms around her neck. He nestled into the side of her neck, his voice a warm whisper. "So how could I not forgive you?" She believed she choked out a sob as her hands slowly rose, trembling, to press against his back. She held him close, her grip tightening like she was afraid to let go.
"Y-You always did have a heart of gold, puppy," she whispered softly then they both sat in a comfortable silence, waiting patiently for the Player to return while remaining vigilant- who knows what could be lurking in the shadows. A couple minutes past and Ballade hears the whir of electricity, seems they finally managed to restore power to the back up generator. "I'm going to check on Angel, will you be fine here if I leave you?" he salutes her, she snickered softly when she could see an imaginary tail wagging.
"Affirmative." she pats his head.
"Okay, but I'll be quick." She set him down gently where she had been sitting, giving him a reassuring pat before rushing off to find the Player. She moved through the thick red smoke with ease and entered the maintenance room, her eyes scanned the area, but the Player was nowhere to be seen. She hummed softly then scaled the wall leading to the room with the generator but then she saw the shutter doors closed, her brows furrowed in confusion. Without hesitation, she grabbed the edges and tore them open with a loud screech of metal. But the room was empty. Her eyes swept the space carefully until they caught the glint of an open vent, the cover hastily removed and set aside. They must have trapped themselves in the room and neither she nor DogDay could hear them, if they called out for help, so they took an alternative route. But where did they-
"Ballade!" The desperate cry of DogDay rang out, sharp and panicked. Her head snapped toward the sound, and without a moment’s hesitation, she leapt down from where she stood, landing in a low crouch with a soft thud. She broke into a sprint, her heart pounding against her chest as she raced back to where she’d left him. The Player would have to wait — DogDay's safety came first. She couldn’t let anything happen to him. She wouldn’t. As she neared the end of the corridor, she felt a brief wave of relief when she saw him — still in one piece, still there. But the feeling vanished in an instant when she noticed the wide-eyed panic on his face. He was pointing down the opposite hallway, his whole body trembling.
"CatNap!" he gasped. "I saw CatNap!"
"Where?" DogDay couldn’t help but shudder at the venom laced in her voice.
"Down the hall from where we came from!" he cried. Ballade scooped him up and sprinted down the corridor, specifically to the door they ignored. She barreled toward the door leading to the room filled with red smoke, her hands slamming against the doorframe as she skidded to a stop. Her eyes widened in horror when she spotted CatNap through the glass, his claws raking viciously at the Player.
"Angel!" DogDay’s desperate shout echoed through the hall. The sound made CatNap’s head snap toward them, his eyes locking on the sight of Ballade and DogDay. His expression shifted from menace to fear.
"Get away from them, CatNap!" Ballade’s voice was a furious snarl. She struck the door with enough force to make it shudder in its frame. CatNap didn’t take his chances. He stumbled backward and quickly scrambled into the vent, disappearing from sight. The second he was gone, DogDay leapt from Ballade’s arms just as she kicked the door open, red smoke billowing out into the hallway. Her eyes flicked upward toward the vent, but she forced herself to focus on more immediate concerns. "Oh no," she whispered harshly when her gaze fell on the Player’s still form. They lay unconscious on the ground, their gas mask shredded and useless.
"Are they okay?" she let out a breath as she quickly picked them up.
"Maybe a few scratches, but CatNap broke their mask. They inhaled some of the red smoke." DogDay pressed a hand to his forehead.
"Oh no." she nods as she carried them out of the room.
“My words exactly.” Ballade let out a long sigh, the weight of the situation settling heavily on her shoulders. “Let’s get out of here.”
She knelt down, offering DogDay an easy path onto her back. Once he climbed on, she stood and carried them both out of the building, not venturing far — just enough to escape the oppressive red smoke. Outside, she settled on the worn concrete steps, the cool air a stark contrast to the suffocating heat of the facility. Carefully, she removed the GrabPack from the Player’s back and adjusted their position so their head rested gently in her lap. As their face twisted with the torment of the hallucinations the red smoke induced, Ballade’s fingers instinctively moved to their forehead, brushing soothing circles in an effort to ease their pain.
“Will they be okay?” DogDay’s voice was soft and worried as he slid off her back and settled beside her. He leaned into her side, seeking the comfort she always provided.
“Hopefully,” Ballade murmured, her eyes never leaving the Player’s pale, strained face. “It might be a while before they wake up. I feel like this is the first bit of rest they’ve gotten since getting stuck here… even if they’re suffering through whatever haunts their mind.” She huffed softly, the sound heavy with a mix of frustration and concern, her hand never stilling as it moved in gentle strokes through the Player’s hair.
"Shouldn't we... hurry?" DogDay asked softly, his voice tinged with concern. Ballade shrugged, her eyes still scanning their surroundings.
"What's the rush? CatNap's not gonna do anything rash now that he knows we're out and protecting the employee, and Poppy can eat it. She ain't gonna rush me—I just woke up." DogDay couldn't help but chuckle at her choice of words.
"I guess you're right."
"Of course I'm right." Ballade’s tone softened just a bit. "Let's enjoy this last bit of freedom before we have to go back to the prison." He peeked up at her, his brows knitting together.
"How do you know we're going to the prison?"
"Where else is there to go?" she said with a sigh. "I’ve got an idea of what little Miss Poppy is planning, but I highly doubt she's gonna let them go now that she's trapped them this deep. If we don't keep a close eye on them, she's gonna wear them down." Her voice grew quieter, more serious. "And that's the last thing we need." She wrapped an arm around him, her hand rubbing up and down his arm in slow, comforting strokes. DogDay leaned into her warmth, his tension easing little by little. But even as she comforted him, Ballade’s eyes never stopped moving, watching every corner, every fleeting shadow. She was waiting, daring that cat to show his face again. If CatNap came near them—near DogDay, near the employee—she wouldn’t let him get close.
"Nngh..." the two look down and saw the Player stirring softly, their hand weakly lifting from their side to press against their head. Their hand rubbed over their eyes then dragged down their face and when they finally came to they were startled to see Ballade looming over them.
“Well good morning, sleeping beauty~” Ballade teased, laughing when the Player practically launched off her lap. DogDay peeked over her shoulder and couldn’t help but giggle himself when the Player scrambled to their feet, eyes wide in confusion.
“W-What happened?” they asked, brushing themselves off. Ballade pursed her lips, drawing lazy circles in the air with her finger.
“CatNap attacked you, and you inhaled some of that nasty red smoke. We saved you just before he could do any real damage, but… sorry we didn’t get to you sooner.” The Player let out a long breath, rubbing the back of their neck as they settled down next to Ballade again. “Did you enjoy your nap?” she teased.
“Other than the hallucinations? Yeah. Great nap,” they deadpanned, making her snicker. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“We noticed how exhausted you were,” DogDay answered before Ballade could. “She thought you could use the rest… even if you were suffering through a couple of hallucinations.” Ballade sweat-dropped at his bluntness.
“Never know when you’re gonna get to sleep again.”
“Yeah, especially when I’m already stuck in a nightmare,” the Player muttered.
“You could say that again,” Ballade agreed softly. The three of them fell into a comfortable silence until the Player surprised them both by leaning their head against Ballade’s arm. She blinked in surprise but let them stay—what’s a few more minutes of peace? “…I almost miss it,” Ballade murmured so quietly they almost didn’t hear her. The Player and DogDay both glanced up at her.
“What do you miss?” the Player asked. She laughed softly, a little wistful.
“The work. The best thing about being assigned to Playcare was watching the kids… making sure the Smiling Critters didn’t get into too much mischief—which they often did. But still… most of the time, I was just lazing about, listening to their laughter.” She smiled, the memory clearly warm despite the weight of everything that had happened.
“We gave you a lot of trouble back in the day,” DogDay said with a small grin.
“Oh, you did. But you? You were the peacemaker,” she said, giving his head a soft pat. “Kickin and Hoppy were the ones that had me running around like crazy, but they never got far.” Her smile faded as a heavier thought crossed her mind. “I miss it. The good days… I really do.” The Player swallowed thickly when they noticed her hand clenching into a tight fist. The tension only eased when DogDay placed his paw on her other hand, grounding her. She was surprised when the employee gently placed their hand over hers. Looking down, she saw the pained expression on their face.
"I don't understand what you've been through, not one bit," they admitted, their voice soft but steady. "But I do know one thing... you didn’t deserve what happened to you." They turned her hand over, rubbing their thumb over her knuckles in a comforting gesture. "None of you did. You were just… you were just children." Her eyes widened.
"You..."
"After finding those VHS tapes and notes on my way down here, I could put two and two together." They shook their head, a mixture of sorrow and determination in their gaze. "You could have had a life, but you were robbed of your childhood. I can't give that back to you, but the least I can do is help take down the Prototype—the thing that brought all of this crashing down." Ballade and DogDay stared at the Player for a moment before bursting into laughter. Ballade placed a hand on her chest to steady herself, while DogDay pressed a paw to his mouth, trying to stifle his giggles.
"You're funny, Angel," DogDay managed to say between muffled chuckles.
"We appreciate the sentiment," Ballade said, amusement still lacing her tone, "but if you really want to take down the Prototype, you're going to have to do a lot of work. He’s been scheming since the early nineties... I think. I’m close." She inhaled deeply before rising to her feet, easily hoisting DogDay onto her shoulder. She then looked down at the Player, offering her hand. "Well, if you’re serious about this, then let’s get to it." The Player met her gaze before letting out a soft laugh, placing their hand in hers.
"Let’s." She helps them up, and the three of them take the power cord connected to the Counselor's Office and bring it back to the generator room. When connecting it, they realize they're just a tiny bit short due to Poppy restoring power to the skylights. Ballade leaves DogDay with the Player and quickly rushes off to grab the power cord from that terminal. She's back in record time, and with that last power cord, they've produced a giant blue battery. She offers to carry it, but they reassure her that it's no problem, picking it up with the GrabPack and carrying it to the Gas Production Zone.
"Do you think..." DogDay's voice breaks the silence as he shifts slightly on her shoulder, lagging behind a bit as the employee walks ahead. "Do you think we'll actually be able to beat the Prototype? We've been trying to get the upper hand for years, but we haven't even come close." Ballade stares at him for a moment before shrugging.
"Who knows? Maybe we'll all die in the end. Maybe that's better. But they've come so far... maybe they really will kill the Prototype and finally end our suffering." She feels DogDay’s small arms wrap around her.
"I hope they do." She pats his arm gently. "I'm just so tired of needing to survive, I just wanna live again." She nods, her voice soft.
"Me too, puppy. Me too." As they finally approach the Gas Production Zone, the Player has already entered the room, making their way toward the blue battery slot. Just as they reach it, the doors suddenly slam shut. "Wha—what's going on?!" Ballade shouts, rushing forward. She grimaces as she peers through the glass, only to see the shutters closing as well.
"Angel! Angel, are you okay?!" DogDay yells, his voice edged with panic.
"It's CatNap!" Their eyes widen as the Player’s voice crackles through. "He's filled the room with the red smoke! I—I've got to go!" She can hear CatNap's heavy footsteps stomping after the Player before they vanish completely.
"No... no, no, no!" Ballade dropped DogDay to the ground and tore the door open, flinging it aside before forcing her hands beneath the shutter doors and ripping them apart. A thick wave of red smoke billowed out, forcing DogDay to cover his mouth as Ballade rushed inside, searching desperately for both the Player and CatNap. She cursed under her breath. The room was empty. The lift to the escape room had already been activated, the blue battery abandoned on the floor. "They got away, but CatNap went after them...!"
"Then follow after them!" Ballade hesitated, catching the way DogDay’s gaze flickered toward the red smoke, fear flickering in his eyes.
"What about you?" DogDay clenched his fists before looking up at her.
"Take me with you... I'll—I'll be fine." She swallowed thickly.
"Are you sure?" He nodded.
"Yes. I don’t want to wait this time."
Ballade sighed but nodded nonetheless, scooping him up before stepping back into the smoke. She felt him shake his head, trying to fight off the hallucinations as she quickened her pace toward the elevator. As they waited for the lift to descend, she kept a comforting hand on his back. Finally, when it arrived, she jumped in, hitting the next button to take them up. If memory served her right, the room CatNap had taken the Player to was a panic room. She vaguely remembered Stella mentioning it in passing—back when things were normal. It was never meant to be used, but when everything went to hell, that’s where most of the human employees fled. And she had personally dealt with them.
-
Fending off CatNap in the Safe Room was a waking nightmare.
The moment they entered, Poppy’s voice crackled through unseen speakers, her instructions flashing on the terminal. Defend yourself. Activate the traps. Survive. The Player wasted no time. They grabbed a battery and slammed it into one of the defense stations, watching as a steam wall roared to life, sealing off one corridor. They activated a green hand port, but the moment it triggered another steam wall, the first one flickered off. A mistake. They cursed under their breath and tore the battery out, resetting it before CatNap could take advantage of the gap.
With the final battery in hand, they sprinted to the top-left receiver, locking it in place. A timer appeared on the terminal. The countdown had begun. Then came the footsteps.
They paced between the two open corridors, Flare Hand at the ready, breath hitching as shadows loomed at the ends of the hall. CatNap. Or was it? The red smoke thickened around them, warping their vision, making the walls feel closer, suffocating. Illusions. They raised their arm and fired a flare down the corridor—the ember burst, cutting through the haze. Nothing. A hallucination. The terminal alarm blared—new battery required. The Player bolted to the next receiver, shoving in another battery just as the trapdoor above them creaked open. Their stomach dropped. A low, guttural growl rumbled from above. He was using the ceiling now. They barely had time to react before the hatch shifted, a clawed hand reaching down. Their heartbeat pounded in their ears as they lunged, slamming the trapdoor shut just before CatNap could drop in.
His claws scraped against the metal, the sound making their skin crawl. Every second, his footsteps echoed from all directions. The illusions flickered in and out of existence, growing closer, the glowing white eyes multiplying in the shadows. They couldn’t tell what was real anymore. Somewhere beyond the suffocating red haze, Ballade and DogDay’s voices rang out. Their stomach twisted—was it really them? Or just the smoke playing tricks on them? There was no time to figure it out. CatNap was relentless, his attacks coming faster. The Player barely managed to stop him, blasting steam at him, whipping around to fire off flares, and slamming the trapdoor shut again and again. Their lungs burned, their arms ached, but they couldn’t afford to slow down. Every time they turned, those soulless white eyes were closer.
The terminal outlet flashed brighter than before. The Player’s eyes snapped to it. This was it. Without thinking, they shot out their Green Hand, feeling the electricity surge through their arm as the circuit overloaded. CatNap crashed through the trapdoor just as they turned. With gritted teeth, they raised their hand, aimed at the monstrous cat, and fired. A surge of pure electricity shot forward, slamming into CatNap’s chest. His body convulsed, a twisted, piercing screech ripping from his throat. Smoke poured from his body, his glowing eyes wide in shock as the energy coursed through him, crackling through fur and metal alike. The stench of burnt flesh filled the air as he collapsed.
CatNap, against all odds, was still alive. His body trembled as he struggled to push himself up, smoke curling from his scorched fur. His ragged breaths filled the tense silence, his limbs barely able to support him. Then, the trapdoor above groaned open. The Player flinched as a long, mechanical claw descended from the darkness—a skeletal hand of slender silver pins, its joints clicking unnervingly as it extended downward. The Prototype.
The metallic fingers twisted with eerie precision before stopping, hovering inches from CatNap’s face, waiting. His breath hitched as his pupils shrank to pinpricks. Then, with a slow, reverent movement, he pushed himself onto his knees, head tilting slightly as if gazing upon something holy. He remembered the first time that hand had reached for him—the day it saved him, the day he learned what true power was. His lips curled into something between a grimace and a grin as he presented himself openly to the Prototype. He was here to save him. Just like before. Just like always. What more could he ask for—
"No!" A voice cut through the tension a second before Ballade slammed into CatNap, knocking him away. They hit the floor hard, but she didn’t hesitate, scrambling over him as she fixed her wild eyes on the Prototype. She and DogDay had finally reached the panic room, just in time to see CatNap kneeling before the monster that had destroyed them all. The Prototype’s fingers had been poised like a spear, seconds away from driving straight through his skull.
Ballade didn’t know why she had moved. She was still so angry. Angry at him for lying to her, for manipulating her into following the Prototype, for trapping her inside her own body for four long years. But as she gripped his tattered fur, her breath shaking, something inside her twisted painfully. No matter how much she hated him, there was still a part of her that remembered the boy he used to be. The one she had cared for. The one she had lost. Ballade grappled with CatNap, the two rolling across the ground in a violent struggle. She managed to slip behind him, locking her arms around his neck in a tight chokehold. He clawed desperately at her arms, but after enduring a surge of electricity and severe burns, his strength was fading fast. He was no match for her.
"You are not going to die!" she shouted, tightening her grip as he thrashed. "I won't let him take you, Theo!" CatNap's breath came in ragged gasps.
"No! My god... he wouldn't abandon me! After everything I did for him, he wouldn't just..." His voice faltered, and his wide, panicked eyes darted upward. DogDay appeared beside them, his arms wrapping around both Ballade and CatNap, reinforcing the hold. His voice was soft, yet firm.
"He abandoned us a long time ago, old friend." CatNap's gaze snapped back to the trapdoor above. The Prototype, his supposed savior, was already withdrawing, disappearing back into the darkness. There was no hesitation, no second thought—just cold indifference. The realization struck like a blade to the gut. The god he had worshipped, the entity he had given everything for, had never truly cared for him. A furious growl rumbled from his throat, and he twisted violently, trying to break free.
"Let go! Let me go!"
"No, not this time!" Ballade barked, her grip unwavering. "I ran from you once, blaming you for what I had done. But it was my fault for abandoning you with that thing when you were just as manipulated as the rest of us. And I am so sorry, Theo!" His struggles weakened, his body trembling. His voice came out in a whisper, fragile and broken.
"N-No... he- he didn't..." But the truth was right in front of him. The Prototype was gone, and all that remained were the people who still cared for him, even after everything.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry for blaming you. You only did what you thought was right, and I believed in you. We both did. We put our faith in something we thought would save us, something that promised us salvation—but all it did was take everything away. And I let it happen. I turned my back on you when you needed me the most." Her voice trembled, thick with regret. "I can't take back the things I said. I can't undo the pain I've caused, the choices I made, the years we lost... but I swear, Theo—I swear—I want to make it right." even after everything that happened, even after they put each other through, she just couldn't bring herself to hate the young boy whom she loved with all her heart.
"I-I'm..." she peeked her head over his shoulder and let out a breath when she saw tears streak down his burnt face, she loosened her grip when she felt the fight drain out of him and he instead hunched forward and start crying. "I'm sorry for what I've done...!" she hummed softly as she moved her arms to wrap around his body and embrace him, her head leaning against his cheek and nuzzling it softly to comfort him.
"I know, I know..." Ballade left CatNap to DogDay, who was clinging to the toy and repeatedly apologizing for the state he had reduced him to. She turned toward the Player, who had been watching. "Are you alright?" she asked, kneeling down to avoid overwhelming them.
"Yeah... yeah, I'm good." They let out a sigh of relief and reached forward to gently pat her head.
"I'm sorry we weren't there to stop him in time. I feel awful for leaving you alone." Ballade shook her head, waving her hand to dismiss the concern.
"It's fine, really. I'm just glad you were here in the end." They smiled softly and withdrew their hand. Ballade helped them to their feet and then glanced back at CatNap and DogDay.
"I think this is where we leave you," she said, causing the Player to look up at her in shock.
"What?" She chuckled at their reaction.
"Don't worry. You're just going to have to go on without us for now, but we'll catch up. I’m going to have CatNap find DogDay's legs—he definitely left them somewhere. I also need to grab a couple of things. If you're going deeper into the factory, there are some things I need before we can follow." Ballade patted their shoulder. "But I must warn you... what you went through up here is nothing compared to what's below. If you're not careful... you might not make it out." The Player swallowed thickly.
"Right... I’ll take that warning to heart."
-
j2hyy liked this · 1 month ago -
trashraccoon10 liked this · 10 months ago -
kpopfan-03 liked this · 10 months ago -
faboos liked this · 10 months ago -
soundofkazoo liked this · 1 year ago -
soundofkazoo reblogged this · 1 year ago
-
inefablemagoa liked this · 1 year ago -
eolhfs liked this · 1 year ago -
13274popc liked this · 1 year ago -
mieuxtheincredible liked this · 1 year ago -
h0n3y-c0mbs-b33s liked this · 1 year ago -
v1xenvamp liked this · 1 year ago -
klaus-4-hargreeves liked this · 1 year ago -
start3z liked this · 1 year ago -
bnh8 reblogged this · 1 year ago -
marvelousmaraudersmayhem liked this · 1 year ago -
saintscorp liked this · 1 year ago -
bnh8 liked this · 1 year ago
-
hannist liked this · 1 year ago -
little-strawberry100 liked this · 1 year ago -
trippylerto liked this · 1 year ago -
napper2005 liked this · 1 year ago -
ghoulzlove liked this · 1 year ago -
gh0st-din0 liked this · 2 years ago -
alis-in-wonderland121 liked this · 2 years ago -
matt-manhattan liked this · 2 years ago -
happy-hangman liked this · 2 years ago -
queer-gremlin liked this · 2 years ago -
iamthehumanpeoples reblogged this · 2 years ago -
iamthehumanpeoples liked this · 2 years ago
-
sayenxs liked this · 2 years ago
-
alien-detected33 liked this · 2 years ago -
kingofkings3 liked this · 2 years ago -
strangest-loser14 liked this · 2 years ago -
viamessa liked this · 2 years ago -
aphroditeslovr liked this · 2 years ago -
bubblestheasgardian liked this · 2 years ago
-
mystic-pw liked this · 2 years ago
