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fallingblueroses · 1 month ago

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Kurt wants to make another video, but isn't expecting VoicePlay's new allies.

***

Cesar's body ached like it did when he'd slept in a weird position as he woke up. His eyes were closed as he went to stretch, but flew open immediately when he realized he couldn't move.

His head spun as he looked around. He was tied to a chair by his wrists and ankles. A rope wrapped around his chest several times. He couldn't see behind him, but he could see the yellowish light coming from lamps that had to be back there. The room in front of him was empty except for five cameras set in a semi-circle. He stared at the cameras in wide-eyed panic. He was being watched like this? By who? Why?

A groan to his left told him he wasn't alone. He looked over to see Layne, who was tied to a chair like Cesar was. "Layne?"

Layne lifted his head, then froze. His eyes were wide with terror as they darted back and forth. "No. No..." He began to struggle against his bonds. "No. Not again. Oh God, no."

"Layne?!" What did he mean, "not again?" "Layne!"

"Cesar?" Layne looked over, his face milky white. His eyes widened as he looked past Cesar.

Cesar looked to his right and saw Eli, still unconscious and bound like they were. Beyond Eli was Geoff, also unconscious and bound. He turned back to Layne. "What's going on?"

Layne didn't answer him directly. "Kurt! Come out, you son of a bitch!"

"Kurt? Who's Kurt?"

"Get out here! Show yourself!" Layne stopped screaming and hung his head. Cesar heard him start to sob, and the sound only made Cesar's fear worse.

"What's all the screaming for?" Eli asked groggily. Cesar looked over in time to see Eli lift his head and then jerk hard in realization. His eyes met Cesar's. "Cesar...what..."

"I don't know." He remembered rehearsing for their new video at PattyCake Productions and smelling something strange. He remembered Geoff joking that something must have crawled into the air ducts and died, but nothing else.

"Layne!" Eli's sharp voice cut through his thoughts. "Layne! Listen to me! We have to keep calm!" Layne moaned as Eli kept talking. "Layne. Layne, look at me." Layne raised his head and looked at Eli with wet, streaming eyes. "There you go. Pull yourself together. Deep breaths."

Layne looked past Eli. "Why isn't Geoff waking up?"

"I don't know," Eli said. "But he will. Just stay calm."

Cesar turned to look at Eli. "Who's Kurt?"

Eli's eyes narrowed. "He's behind this?"

"I...I don't know. I haven't seen anyone else. But Layne mentioned him. Who is he?"

"Kurt Hugo Schneider." Eli's voice was grim. "...This does look like the same setup as last time."

Cesar knew who that was, for more reasons than one. He remembered Tony's very serious face as he'd talked to Cesar shortly after he'd joined VoicePlay. "There's three things you never, never, ever talk about. One, don't ask them where their scars came from. Two, don't mention Twenty One Pilots. Yes, the band. Three, never mention Kurt Hugo Schneider or the videos they made with him. Ever. Why doesn't matter. Just don't."

He glanced over at Geoff, and the way Geoff's head was hanging let him see the scar on his neck: vertical, straight, about an inch and a half long. Layne had a nearly identical one on his neck, but Eli's was on the back of his head. Of course Cesar had been curious but the seriousness of Tony's face and voice that day kept him from asking...until now. "What happened with him?"

Eli sighed. "You know those collaborations we did with him?"

"Yes...?"

Eli looked at him. "We were forced to make those videos."

Cesar's eyes widened in shock. "Forced? How? Why?"

"Kurt kidnapped us," Layne said in a despairing tone. Cesar turned to look at him, and his slumped body showed his defeat. "He put electrical plugs into us...hooked us up to machines..."

"He turned us into puppets," Eli said.

"Wait." Cesar looked between them. "Wait. That video...the mashup..."

"Real," Layne said. "Every bit."

Horror and guilt crept over Cesar. Like everyone else who had seen the Twenty One Pilots mashup video, he'd thought it was just a clever story idea. He'd had no idea he'd been watching..."Oh God, you guys. I'm sorry. I never realized..."

"No one did," Eli said.

"How did you get away?"

"Tony figured out where we were and rescued us," Layne said.

"Which he won't be doing again," a new voice said. All three men looked up as Kurt himself came through the door and closed it behind him. "I've seen to that."

"What did you do to Tony?" Eli demanded.

Kurt only smiled at that question.

***

Geoff gasped and blinked awake as cold water hit him in the face. When his eyes focused he saw he was lying on the floor in his living room. His own voice came to his ears. "He's awake."

"Finally," a woman's voice said.

Geoff pushed himself up on his elbows. Jeff, Goff, Jeoph, Daryl, and Frieda were surrounding him. Daryl held an empty glass, and they all looked agitated. Jeoph smiled sheepishly and waved. "Hi, Host."

Geoff sighed as he sat up. "All right. How did you guys get out this time?"

"We didn't," Jeff said. "You're in our house."

"What?" Geoff got to his feet and looked around. It looked exactly like his house. "How did I get here?"

"You were knocked out," Jeff said. "You're locked in here with us."

"And something weird's going on," Frieda said as she pushed her hair out of her face. "I think we're in trouble."

"The Command Center's out," Goff said.

Geoff blinked. "Command Center?"

"This way," Jeff said. They moved in a group to where Geoff's studio would have been. The monitor screens were blue with a bit of red text in the center, and when Geoff leaned down to read them he saw they both said the same thing: "SYSTEM OVERLOAD".

"What the hell is this?" Geoff asked.

"Like Jeff said, the Command Center," Frieda said. She kept pushing her loose hair out of her face, and Geoff had the sudden irritated urge to pin it back for her. "It's where we watch while you interact with the outside world. The system went down and you appeared in the living room."

Geoff decided to go with it. He'd ask questions later. "Who was watching when it went down?"

Jeoph raised his hand. "I was."

"So what happened?"

Jeoph frowned. "I...I think someone put knockout gas in PattyCake's vents."

Geoff blinked. "What?"

"You noticed a strange smell," Jeoph said. "Then the system went out."

"Which means you're unconscious," Jeff said. "We need to reboot the systems to wake you up. And we need you to let us out."

Geoff's eyes went wide. "Let you out? Why?"

"Because if you're in trouble, we can help," Frieda said.

"You can wake up and let us know what we're dealing with," Goff said.

"And then we can kick some ass," Daryl chimed in.

"But I'll pass out again, like I did the last time." Geoff frowned. "Won't I?"

"If you do, we'll protect you," Jeff said. "We should be able to take a lot of damage as long as you're all right."

"Oh good," Geoff said sarcastically. "And besides, how do I let you all out? The last time you got out was an accident."

"You should have the key," Jeff said.

"Key?"

Jeff pointed towards the living room. "To the door."

Geoff sighed and reached into his hip pockets. His eyes widened in surprise as the tips of his left fingers brushed metal, and he drew a long, silvery, old-fashioned key out of his pocket. "Well...I'll be damned."

Frieda took the key from him. "All right. Now reboot the system."

Geoff sighed. "All right. I assume I just restart the computer." He sat down at his console, then ducked under the desk and turned the power strip off and on again. The screens went dark, and he pressed the computer's power button.

***

Host vanished as the system rebooted. Jeff sat down at the console as it came online, and they all watched the monitors as Host woke up and began to look around.

"Well, Geoff. Glad you could join us." Host looked toward the sound, and all five clones snarled as they saw Kurt Hugo Schneider.

"Him again," Goff growled. Of course they remembered what Kurt had done to Host and the others. Host looked around, and they saw Eli, Cesar, and Layne were captive too. All of them were tied to chairs, and Layne looked like he was mid-panic attack, but they otherwise seemed unharmed.

"I don't see Tony," Jeoph said. "Wasn't he at PattyCake too?"

Jeff frowned deeply. "Schneider must have hidden him somewhere."

"Bastard," Frieda seethed. "Come on. Let's go." She began to head for the front door, key in hand.

"Wait," Jeff said, making her stop and turn to look at him. "We need to take him by surprise."

"How do we do that?" Jeoph asked.

"First, we have to wait until his attention is off of Host."

"That could take a while," Frieda said.

"And things might go to hell first," Daryl reminded them.

Jeff nodded. "For once you're right. Frieda, unlock the door, but don't open it yet. Be ready."

"Right." Frieda went to the door and unlocked it. She kept one hand on the doorknob and anxiously watched her brothers as they watched the monitors.

***

"What did you do with Tony?!" Eli demanded again.

Kurt smiled as he approached them. "He's not your problem anymore."

"What do you want?" Cesar asked.

"You can't guess? To make more videos."

Cesar stared incredulously. "What? That's all? You couldn't have thought to, I don't know, just ask us?"

"Well, that's not exactly all." Kurt walked over to Layne and leaned down in his face, making him draw back. "Tony stole all my research. I had to start over from square one, but I learned from that little incident. I improved my devices. You're not breaking free this time."

Cesar shook his head. "You think people aren't going to notice when we go missing and videos start popping up?"

Kurt looked at him, amused. "Did they notice last time?"

"They weren't reported missing last time," Cesar said. He realized how strange that was as the words left his mouth. Why hadn't...

"Yes, we were," Layne said. "Cyndi went to the police. So did Kathy and Ashley and Nick."

Cesar frowned. "But...then why..."

"Kurt got to the police first," Eli said as Kurt smirked smugly at them. "He told them that we were planning on going missing as a publicity stunt. So when our spouses went to report us missing, they were told to stop wasting police time. The cops actually threatened to arrest them for making false reports."

"And that's what the police will do this time," Kurt said. "I've made sure of it." He looked over at Geoff as the bass singer groaned. "Well, Geoff. Glad you could join us." Geoff jolted hard, and Kurt smiled. "I was just explaining to our friends here about how I've upgraded my devices. They're wireless now. I can turn you guys off and on with a push of a button. They also accept a wider range of signals. I can make you guys do anything I want. Or, anything your fans want." He walked over to Geoff and smiled down at him. "I'm sure you know what your fans will ask for."

Cesar jumped in surprise when Geoff spat in Kurt's face. Kurt stared in shock for a second, then punched Geoff in the mouth.

"Stop!" Layne cried. Geoff lifted his head, and Cesar saw blood drip from his lips.

Kurt leaned in. "Just for that--"

His words were cut off when hands grabbed him by the throat. At first Cesar thought that Geoff had gotten his hands free--but then he realized that Geoff's hands were still tied to the armrests. Geoff's eyes were wide in shock as Kurt grabbed the arms attacking him and stepped back. Geoff split into two people, and the attacker hit the ground with a thud as his hands came loose from Kurt's throat--No, Cesar realized as he saw the long hair and curved body. Not his hands. Her hands. It was Frieda.

Kurt kicked Frieda in the stomach as she tried to get to her feet. "What the hell are you!"

Frieda's back was to Cesar but he heard the snarl in her voice. "I'm Frieda Castellucci." She got to her knees. "And if you want Host and his friends, you'll have to go through me."

Kurt kicked her in the chest and sent her back to the floor. "I think I can handle that."

Four voices answered. "Can you handle us?"

Kurt looked up just in time to see the rest of the clones rushing him. Goff and Daryl grabbed Kurt's arms, and Jeff planted his fist in Kurt's gut. "You shouldn't have hit our Host." He hit Kurt in the chin with an uppercut. "And you definitely shouldn't have kicked our sister."

"Yeah," Daryl said. "She might be an annoying bitch, but she's our annoying bitch."

Frieda looked up. "I feel so loved."

Jeoph reached down and helped Frieda to her feet. "Are you all right?"

"I will be," she said, but held her stomach. "Let's get these guys untied."

Jeoph nodded and began to untie Geoff. Eli looked at Frieda as she worked on his ropes. "He did something to Tony."

Frieda turned and looked at Kurt. "Where's Tony?"

Kurt sneered. "I'm not telling you anything, you ugly bitch."

Frieda raised an eyebrow. "Really." When Kurt didn't answer, she made a beckoning motion. "Daryl, come with me."

Daryl raised an eyebrow, but handed Kurt's arm to Jeff before following Frieda. It was a bit unsettling to watch them slip into Geoff. There was a bit of silence as Jeoph finished untying Geoff, and then Daryl popped out with a saw in his hands and an excited look on his face. "Frieda said I could play with tools!"

Jeff, Goff, and Jeoph got identical looks of alarm on their faces. "Oh, no."

Frieda stepped away from Geoff. She held a cordless drill up for them all to see. "I said you could play if our friend Kurt there doesn't talk."

"Oh please don't talk right away," Daryl said with a sadistic grin. Frieda pressed the drill's trigger a couple of times, and Cesar couldn't help but jump at the sound. He wasn't sure if they were serious or putting on an act.

Frieda pulled Geoff away from the chair, then pointed to it. "Jeff. Goff. Tie him up." The two clones holding Kurt obeyed, their faces suddenly as serious as Frieda's, while Jeoph and Geoff began to untie Eli and Cesar. Once Kurt was secure Goff moved to untie Layne.

Kurt looked at Frieda, and Cesar heard the fear in his voice. "You can't do anything to me."

Frieda smiled easily. "We can't? Why? You'll tell the police? I don't think so. We can disappear back inside of Host. And if you try to blame Host himself...well..."

Jeff picked up as Frieda's voice trailed off. "Host might get into a little bit of trouble. But you'd be in for a world of hurt."

Goff went on. "There's no statute of limitations for kidnapping in Florida. So you'd finally go down for last time, on top of this one."

Jeoph smiled at Kurt. "Not to mention the civil lawsuits Host and his friends could bring against you."

Daryl approached Kurt. "So save yourself some pain and tell us where Tony is." He held Kurt's hand on the armrest while he put the saw blade to Kurt's wrist. "Or don't. I won't mind."

The next few seconds seemed to stretch out. Layne's breath was coming in harsh gasps, and Eli and Geoff were giving the clones wary looks. Cesar's stomach was twisting unpleasantly. He felt like he should say something, anything--

"Oh well," Daryl said calmly. "We tried."

Cesar saw Daryl's arm move, and he turned away and covered his face with his hands as Kurt screamed. "He's still at the studio!" Layne pulled Cesar into a hug as Kurt went on. "I tied him up and left him in the basement. In that room with all the pipes and the breaker box."

"Aw, phoo," Daryl grumbled. Cesar dared to look, but there was no blood and Kurt's hand still looked to be attached. He couldn't help but feel relieved at that.

Jeff looked over at VoicePlay. "Any of you have your phone?" A quick check of pockets turned up nothing, and Jeff patted Kurt down before pulling a phone out of his pants pocket and tossing it to Geoff. "Call Kath to go let Tony out."

"And the cops," Jeoph said.

Kurt glared at the clones. "I'll tell them about you."

"Sure," Daryl said mockingly. "Go ahead. Tell the cops you saw Host split into sextuplets. We'll be long gone by then."

"But don't worry," Frieda said. "We'll be watching the trial."

Jeff grinned at Kurt as Geoff made the phone call. "I hope you have a good lawyer. You'll need one.

***

Geoff's clones were all safely back home and VoicePlay had their story about how Geoff had wrestled free from his bonds and attacked Kurt by the time the police arrived. Fortunately Kurt's cameras hadn't been turned on yet, so there was no evidence otherwise. Kurt glared at VoicePlay as the officers cuffed him, but the only thing he said as he was led off was that he wanted a lawyer.

They were all taken down to the police station to give their statements. Kathy and Tony came to pick them up, and it turned out that Kurt hadn't been as smart as he'd thought he was. He hadn't accounted for PattyCake's security cameras, and although there was no footage of what had happened inside the outside cameras had caught Kurt dragging VoicePlay one by one to the U-haul he'd used to take them to the warehouse. Tony was more than happy to hand the video over to the police.

Once they were done at the police station and in the van heading back to Orlando they told Tony and Kathy the real story. Kathy glanced over at Geoff as she drove. "So...they can come and go as they want now?"

"I gave them the door key," Geoff said from the passenger seat as he rubbed his temples. "Hopefully they'll use it responsibly."

Cesar sat in the backseat next to Eli. "We'll have to throw them a thank-you party."

Geoff appeared to be listening, then sighed. "...Daryl wants paper hats and noisemakers. Frieda wants yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting."

"They got it. I'll even put sprinkles on them."

Eli looked over at Cesar. "You know how to make cupcakes?"

"I'll use a box mix. How hard can it be?"

Tony was sitting behind Kathy. "...So, Geoff, they can talk to you now?"

"Yeah," Geoff said. "Right now they're hyper from all the excitement. If it's like last time they'll calm down in a few days and my headache will go away."

"I wonder if I have clones in my head," Cesar asked.

"Be grateful you don't. It's weird having six different memories for the same thing." Geoff sighed.

"Just remember to use the right one when we go to testify against Kurt," Eli said. "Speaking of which, we'll have to let Earl know the cops might want to talk to him."

Tony glanced over at Layne, who was looking out the window. "You're awfully quiet. You OK?"

"Hmm?" Layne looked over. "Sorry. Just thinking."

"About what?"

"What would be happening right now if Geoff's clones hadn't been able to help us."

They all fell silent at that. After a few seconds Tony put a hand on Layne's arm. "Nothing like that is going to happen again."

Layne nodded slowly. "I know." He looked out the window again. The conversation died as they all became lost in their thoughts and processed what had happened.

***

The next morning Geoff woke up to the smell of cooking food and the sound of voices in his kitchen. He glanced over to where Kathy still slept and sighed. He had a feeling he knew exactly who was in his kitchen.

When he went downstairs he saw he was right. Frieda was scrambling eggs while Goff stood at the counter cutting fruit. Daryl was buttering a large stack of toast and Jeoph was setting the table for eight as Jeff carried in an extra chair.

Daryl saw him first. "Hi, Host! Breakfast for eight coming up!"

"Don't worry," Frieda said. Geoff saw she was wearing the key on a chain around her neck. "We brought the food."

Geoff wasn't even going to ask how that worked. "Uh...thanks. It's appreciated, but please clean up after."

"Don't worry," Jeoph said. "We will."

Geoff stepped to the table and poured himself some orange juice. "Guys, if you're going to be coming and going like this, we need some ground rules."

"Like what?" Jeff asked.

"First, I know where you guys are at all times. No sneaking off. Second, no popping out in public. Or in front of anyone not in VoicePlay, unless there's an emergency. Third, no pretending to be me. And other rules will pop up as they're needed." He took a drink of juice. "Any questions?"

"Can I have another spa day?" Jeff asked.

"Can I be in a music video?" Frieda asked.

"Can we do something about where the pull-up bar is?" Goff asked.

"Can I arrange 'Particle Man'?" Jeoph cut in.

"Can I start an Only Fans?" Daryl asked.

Geoff stared at them as the other four turned on Daryl. "No!"

Daryl drew himself up. "Why is it okay for her to be in a video but I can't have an Only Fans?"

"She's not going to be taking her clothes off in a music video," Jeff snapped.

"She would if Layne asked her to."

Frieda glared at Daryl. "Leave Layne out of this."

Goff looked at Jeoph. "Why 'Particle Man'?"

Jeoph shrugged. "I like the song."

Daryl looked over at them. "It's a stupid song."

"Then it should suit you just fine," Goff said.

Frieda gasped. "The eggs!" She quickly stirred them. "Oh, they're lumpy!"

"I told you to use a double boiler," Jeff sighed.

Geoff watched for a few more seconds as his clones argued and prepared the breakfast, then slowly went upstairs to wake up Kathy and William. He had the feeling it was going to be a long morning.

#fan fiction #fanfic #voiceplay #geoff castellucci #layne stein #eli jacobson #cesar de la rosa #kurt hugo schneider #jeff goff jeoph and daryl #and frieda too

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