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trappolia · 2 months ago

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── NO GRAVE CAN HOLD MY BODY DOWN

(minor spoilers for season 2!) sevika. near what feels like death, sevika has a revelation and a confession.

Sevika thinks two things when the Hexcore's static passes through her scar and seizes her bloodstream.

One: she can't believe that she's writhing on the floor in agony, beaten by Vi's little Piltie girlfriend in her ridiculous beret.

Two: she might actually die today.

It's ridiculous, she thinks, how everyone has gone to absolute shit. There's a new sort of madness glinting in Jinx's no-longer-baby-blues (the odd magenta shimmer of her eyes sends a shiver down her spine) and not to mention that little shit that has tagged along in this operation, with Jinx doing little to dissuade the runt besides some sarcastic melodramatic warning and a few finger guns. And now they're here, beaten and clawing at each other's faces wildly like fucking children (she can see Jinx in her peripheral, has never seen her fight so sloppily with her little hands; she understands now why Silco had insisted her skills laid in engineering and inventions, rather than the fists that her sister wielded so boldly) and Sevika doesn't know where the fuck Isha is nor does she know what the fuck is going on with their weapons. Her new arm is fine, albeit heavy with extra weight and throbbing with phantom pain— but something had gone wrong

She's going to die. She's going to fucking die, and because of some fucking magic trick gone wrong.

Sevika doesn't fear death. Hell, she's lasted a lot longer than what her own mother thought. Life down here in the Undercity is nothing like the wealth and opulence and light of Piltover's Topside. To some, death may have been a blessing. Some days, Sevika thinks that it's better than cleaning up after Jinx's messes and running Silco's errands.

But Silco is dead, and the one thing he loved more than their city is off the fucking rails. Sevika can't die now. Not with these fucking blue bellies gassing her home with the fucking Grey again, not when there's so much left to be done.

And maybe there's a third thing in the mix too. Caught between rage and pure, genuine terror, Sevika twitches and grunts and claws at her skin, thinking: Fuck. Fuck. She's going to die like a wimp whimpering on the cold stone, and she's never going to see you again.

Sevika is not the romantic sort. Before you, she'd found simple pleasures in the smoky rooms of Margo's brothels, or pretty doe-eyed lasses she met at the bar. But now she finally finds it in herself to admit that for fucking once, she might have wanted to take you to a candlelit dinner. Seen you giggle and shit about her poor attempts at romance— not the malicious sort of giggle, no, but fond. Endlessly fond, in the way Sevika never deserved.

The thing — magic, engineering, Hextech or whatever the fuck it's called — crackles across her veins and bones, setting fire to her blood and the viscera that sits contained under her skin. Her body gives another involuntary jerk. It's certainly not her first time having the misfortune of being caught at the wrong place at the wrong time— hell, that blue explosion all those years ago is the reason she has to rely on a metal arm now. But this is different, wrong. It sinks deep into her bones, claws at the essence of her being with its arcane

Sevika tries to scream, but she can't.

In the ringing between her ears, Sevika can only think of where she could be— anywhere but here, either dying or something far, far worse. She wants to sit by your bar after a long day's work while listening to you re-tell the odd and frankly ridiculous narratives your patrons tell you when they're neck deep in drink and tab. She wants to wake up in the middle of the night when you roll over and instinctively press yourself to her side for warmth in your sleep. And maybe, more than anything, she wants to go back in time and cradle your face when you beg her not to leave, kiss you and tell you that she'll be home in time for dinner.

(She'd dismissed you then, told you that a spoiled Piltie couldn't beat her ass hard enough to keep her down.

She was wrong. So fucking wrong.)

Sevika thinks of you now, waiting at home. Anxious; oh, so anxious, because Silco is dead and Jinx has been haywire and who is level-headed enough to at least attempt to clean everything up, but she's only one woman and the Chembarons are fucking deranged and she's just— just—

"Just come home safe, Vika."

Fuck. Fuck.

From her periphery, she registers Cait — Vi's little girlfriend, that prestigious bitch — stumbling to her feet, fumbling for her glitching (why the fuck is it glitching?) rifle. Sevika moans in pain, trying to will some strength into her muscles to get up, fucking get up! Cait can't be a better shot than Jinx. No one is. But Jinx is out of weapons, having been clawing at Vi with her bare hands and pink-blue nails for what might have been just a minute or hours, Sevika's brain is too muddled to tell. But she knows Jinx, knows that she's nearly damn useless when it comes to rationality without her sanity and her trinkets, and when she's squabbling with Vi so blindly, so violently, Sevika knows Cait will have a clear shot.

And she does.

Sevika hears a cry. Pained, almost child-like. She thinks its Jinx, at first— and for a split moment, it is. Jinx, blue-haired, glossy-eyed, a finger shot straight off its knuckle. Electricity crackles over the palm of her gloved hands, her shoulders rising and falling rapidly with each breath she takes.

But then the pain overtakes Sevika again, and she clutches at her rib, her leg— everything. She wants it out, but she doesn't know where it even is.

When her eyes clear again and she can breathe semi-properly, it's Isha now. That little runt with her mop of messy brown hair and that stupid helmet that's toppled to the floor. Vi is straddling her sister-- or was, before that stupid kid ran from where she was hiding in the rafters (when had she gotten down, and how did she do it so quickly?), shoved herself between the pink-haired turncoat and Jinx.

There's two holding a gun now.

Words being spoken. Isha wails, clinging onto Jinx fiercely even when Jinx tries to shove her off, equal parts frustrated and confused by the younger girl's behaviour. Sevika thinks of you, just as quick to shove yourself between Sevika and danger when the two of you had been barely strangers.

"Come back to me."

A groan rips itself from her throat, silent but pained. Sevika pulls herself to her feet, the goddamned Devil's lightning still crackling around her limbs like some fancy magic trick gone horribly wrong (She hopes it doesn't ruin her new arm. She literally just got it this week, goddammit.) Cait's back is turned to her, the Enforcer's hands gripping her rifle like a lifeline— but too stupid, too caught up in playing hero for her fucked little kingdom to notice the heavy footfalls behind her.

She stumbles to the wall, wracks her brain for somethng. She's missing it. Sevika blames it on that damn Jinx, the way she yaps like an overexcited puppy when she's explaining her plans; and the way she never actually elaborates on them, because "Sevika is too dumb, Sevika won't get it." Stupid kid. Sevika needs to get her out of here.

"Sevika. Please, don't do this," your pretty face, your teary little eyes. You're a tough little cookie, Sevika knows, like a stubborn weed growing in their nasty streets, but you're always so quick to tears when you think Sevika's staking her bets too high.

Maybe she did. But she can't lose the game. Not now.

One more bet.

Her human arm fumbles clumsily over the flat stone wall— not one of those pillars that Jinx and Vi had so recklessly ruined in their squabble. She feels along the ridges, remembers the flares and bombs that Jinx had planted all around Topside.

There's a click.

"Don't go."

Oh, she's not going. She's got another day yet.

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muzzlemouths · 9 months ago

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[CW: Death/implication of death]

The clock reads a quarter to midnight when Sun powers on. Too early. He isn’t meant to come online for another six hours, and the daycare itself won’t open for another hour after that. He promptly runs a scan to determine the reasoning behind his premature entrance and when it returns inconclusive he turns to Moon. It is his metaphorical toes he is stepping on by encroaching on the night as he is, after all.

It’s quiet. The kind of quiet that settles like dust. A quiet that makes one aware of the breath that stirs within their lungs or, in Sun’s case, the gentle whir of an internal fan that perpetually keeps his system from running itself into the ground. A quiet so frequently interrupted by the welcomed voice of his other half…and yet, nothing. His question goes unanswered, left to gather with the dust, and he is forced to proceed as though these strange happenings haven’t disrupted his entire morning routine.

A routine further disturbed upon having to remind himself for the second time already that it isn’t morning, he isn’t meant to be going through the start-up procedure to begin with, and he can’t be blamed for the corrupted sense of awareness he feels as a result. Sure, the lights are on, and his systems, too, return with normal results after a precautionary scan, but there is a discomfort to all of this scratching at the inner plating of his frame. Something is wrong wrong wrong.

“…Moon?”

His second attempt at communication yields no better results than the first, only a vague static answering the call, murmur-soft background noise, as though someone had plucked a phone from its receiver and then walked away. Frustrating is what it was. To ignore him was childish at best, but at worst, it was concerning. His relationship with Moon was reasonably amicable even on the longest of days, he worked better with Moon than without, so the absence was unusual as much as it was alarming.

Alone with his thoughts for the foreseeable future, Sun decides there is little point to sitting around in the midst of this confusion when he could be using the time to busy himself with more important tasks, such as tidying up all the apparent dust around here. Better yet, he can get a head-start in preparation for that day’s activities. Something to keep his mind from wandering into worrywart territory, at the very least.

An ache stemming at the tail of his exoskeleton twinges with particularly horrendous vengeance upon finally convincing his legs to move. He buries the vocalization of a wince and carries on across the carpeted room with little more than a brief mental note to mention the pain to a mechanic if it worsens by tomorrow. No use in wasting company time for what he’s sure is only the result of one or both of them landing wrong after receiving a hug from one of the daycare’s more excitable children (or several).

Still, it makes the process of retrieving a stray toy from the floor that much harder when he sees it lying in wait by the slide. If anything, bending down to reclaim the doll only exacerbates the ache until it grows into a proper sting, now difficult to ignore. Yet ignore it he does, to the best of his ability. There are things to do and he isn’t about to let a pinch of soreness slow him down now. No, sirree! He has play equipment to wipe down, craft supplies to ready, and–

and…

His hand stops just short of reaching the doll, long yellow fingers curling inward, against his palm which is painted with splotches of salt and pepper, as though a bottle of dully colored glitter glue had exploded across his fingers and hand. He straightens again and lifts his other hand, noting a similar stretch of television static, one that carries beyond his wrist up the length of his forearm in smeared blotches and specks like splattered paint in dirty snow hues.

Messy messy messy. What could Moon have gotten up to that resulted in such a mess? He’d have made a face, had he a nose to wrinkle in the first place.

Instead he allows for one small tut of disgust to escape his voice box before turning his attention back to the doll, taking note of the static that stains the carpet beside its head, and just beyond it, too; a trail made up of one scattered drop after another.

Ever curious, he knows not what to do besides follow it, hoping for an answer to the many questions burning through his system. Each continuous speck leads him in the direction of the exit, every patch of static more plentiful than the last, and as he allows the strange color to guide him forward he begins to question not only its existence, but why it all seems so familiar, as though he’s seen it somewhere before.

There is little time to mull it over. He arrives at the service desk where the trail ends abruptly, and Sun pauses with the toe of his slippers stood just an inch before a stray, black shoe that might have sent him stumbling face first into carpet had he not already been looking down. A shoe isn’t the most bizarre thing to lose in a daycare of all places, and he decides right away that it isn’t anything to worry over, just another item to drop into lost and found, but where there is a shoe there is bound to be someone missing it and, well…

Sun finds the answer he’s looking for just a few inches behind the service desk.

Face down and tucked in on themselves as they are, cloaked in the desk’s shadow, it’s impossible to tell anything about the person beyond their age, and even that is somewhat uncertain — though the size 9 shoe left behind offers a decent clue. This discovery does wonders to quell the anxiety in Sun’s chest. An adult was much easier to escort from the daycare, given the lack of parental contribution it necessitated, and it looked like this one was just sleeping! An odd place to go about it, sure — against the rules, most certainly — but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed with a purposeful tap to the ankle.

So, that’s exactly what he does. Bending dramatically at the knee, head swiveling to one side, Sun’s fingers dance as though he intends on tickling the trespasser awake before extending his index finger and tapping twice in quick succession against the exposed skin between their pant leg and sock. “Rise and shine, friend!” He chirps, “It’s time to head home now.”

He’d have preferred the tried-and-true method of rousing someone (that is, a gentle rock of the shoulders), but given that their guest was currently resting in the one area that Sun was not permitted entry to, he was forced to resort to more…creative measures. Unfortunately, this action does not yield the results he is hoping for.

“Friend?” Sun calls again, allowing his voice to raise a decibel from the polite mumble it had been before. The laughter that cuts from his voicebox is nervous and too loud on its own, his anxiety returning tenfold. The points of logic he had used to reassure himself before were now quickly dwindling with each passing second in which he received no response.

With his steps now admittedly growing frantic, Sun tiptoes around the desk to the other side, hoping for a better view of their comatose companion. What happens instead is an almost comical flailing of limbs as his slipper takes to an unseen puddle of static like it were a banana peel, resulting in a scramble to keep himself upright that only comes to an end when he braces against the nearest wall for support. The distraction is agitating, but short lived. A commotion like that would surely have awoken anyone, no matter how deep in slumber they were, and the continued lack of response does nothing to relieve Sun of the stress threatening to fry his circuits.

“Friend, this is n-no time for jokes!” He asserts, speaking at full volume, now, every word drenched in tense frustration. His gaze falls to the puddle of static soaking into the bottoms of his slippers, that twinge of recognition rearing its head once more. “I’m not in the mood for games, right now, so if you��re only pretending to sleep—” his hand comes away from the wall feeling wrong, the familiar sensation of sticky static blanketing his palm and crusting in the grooves between his joints as it further dries. His fingers curl into a loose fist long enough to observe the way each digit smears against his palm and leaves behind a tacky residue that he can feel, but not see.

He looks up. There, on the wall, two handprints interrupt the static. The first is larger, an obvious testament to the humbling misstep he’d only just finished recovering from, but the other…it was far smaller, surely left behind by the same stranger currently snoozing away beneath the desk, and it ran from the lightswitch down down down to the floor, where the accusing hand now rested just outside the desk’s shadow.

How strange, Sun thinks, tilting his head to get a better look. The way the static paints their skin, it almost looks like—

“You’re doing so well, dewdrop, just a moment longer and you’ll be right as rain again!” Sun gives the small hand intertwined with his own an encouraging squeeze as the other, equipped with an antiseptic wipe, dutifully dabs away at a scuffed knee. His young patient, having tripped and burned her skin along the carpet, is nothing less than a trooper as he cleans the static from the shallow wound. Not even a sniffle!

He tucks the wipe into the flat of his palm and trades it out for ointment, smearing a healthy dollop of it along the reddened surface before wiping his finger along the striping of his pants and reaching for a bandaid; Chica pink with pizzas on one side and cupcakes on the other.

“There, now. I’m sure that feels better already!”

Blood. Viscous, cold, pooling at his feet. On the walls, the carpet. His hands. Cherry red like a lollipop and twice as sticky…or so he’s told. Nothing a robot of his nature is meant to see or understand. His censors make sure of it. Rather than allow him to see things are they are, the incarnadine color is suppressed behind a layer of static, as if he won’t care to acknowledge it at all beyond its existence on scraped knees and split lips. As if he is meant to ignore the way it feels in its abundance, caked against his palms and festering between his open joints.

Messy, messy, messy. He feels dirtied beyond repair, filthy in a way that even a deep cleaning won’t fix. The wires in his stomach feel twisted, begging to come undone, shorting like sparklers against their ports and threatening to make short work of bringing him down. His screens are flooded with alerts that warn of an inevitable shut-down if he can’t manage to pull himself back together, but moving feels impossible, an insurmountable task. He can not think past the sensation of someone else’s life soaking into the cotton of his slippers.

And what of their guest? Sun can hardly get himself to look again, pleading with the matter of logic itself as he is forced to reckon with the knowledge that this is a rest they may never wake from. But he does look. He has to.

He wishes he hadn’t.

The brief glimpse he endures before looking anywhere else is more than enough. From this angle, the static – the blood – paints a grim picture. In spite of this, Sun finds himself circling the desk a second time and preparing to draw the body – the visitor – out from under the desk. It is a daunting task, but a necessary one, by Sun’s account. If there is nothing to be done in such a hopeless situation then, at the very least, he owes this stranger the dignity of recognition and an attempt. He can claim to have looked for a pulse. Even so, he hesitates.

There is not one to be found; Sun knows this. He knows painfully well from the static lingering on his silicone that it is already too late. Oil is warmed by the processors it fuels, and similarly, blood is meant to be hot. The soles of his slippers are cold. The pads of his fingers, against even the raging inferno of his overworked circuitry, are cold.

The body is cold.

He perseveres, regardless, dragging the stranger out from under the desk by a shaky grip on their ankle one inch at a time, pausing every few tugs to look away and regather his confidence, trying so, so hard to tune out the ever-constant music as it merrily sings through the speakers.

He begs the underlying silence. “Please have a pulse.” Tug. “Please don’t be cold.” Tug. “I don’t know what to do.” Tug. “I can’t do this alone.” Tug. “You have to wake up.” Tug. “Please.” Tug. “Please!” Tug. “Please, please, please, pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseple—”

He knows this visitor. Not a friend, but not quite a stranger, either. His scanner attempts to process the identification of a man whose head is so thick with static that it returns as an error. His face is contorted grotesquely, mouth slightly agape and eyes wide with fear. They don’t look like they’re sleeping.

A security guard whose name fails to ping in his registry. Sun had spoken with him once, maybe twice before. He drank coffee by the mile and hardly stuck around long enough to do more than complain about the weather. Sun hadn’t been in a hurry to befriend the man, but he only wished the best for him. Squeezed a joke in where he could in an attempt to turn his frown upside-down. It had never worked before, but Sun was no quitter. Now he would never get the chance to try again.

“Focus, focus.” Sun carefully lowers the man’s foot back to the carpet again, choking on the sensation of bloodied clothes slipping through his fingers and resisting the urge to tear the rays straight out of his faceplate in response. He is inconsolably panicked and at a loss for what to do, two steps from outright laughing, the complete absurdity of the situation driving him to hysterics.

He needed to call security. He couldn’t call security. Security was–

Management. There were other employees that worked the night shift if Moon complaining about them making too much noise during naptime was anything to go by. If he sent out a general call for assistance surely someone would come and tell him what to do, even at this late hour. It was his best option. His only option.

“Don’t.”

The voice makes him jump clear out of his casings. He has half a mind to swear, but as it stands, Sun thinks the long divots he dragged into the service desk out of surprise are enough damage already. On top of everything else.

“Moon?” He whispers. “Nice of you to finally join us – and by us, I mean me and the deceased guest I discovered a moment ago. Do you have a clue what’s going on here?”

“Don’t?” Sun echoes, agitated, “Don’t what?”

“Don’t.”

If the tether keeping his sanity intact was fraying before, it’s now down to a single thread. “Why not?” He asks with great exhaustion, “Did you not hear me? This is an emergency! There is a dead body in the–”

“Call management.”

“I know.”

Silence answers. Despite having a hundred and one snarky retorts building in between each crackle and pop of his voice box, Sun has nothing to say to that. Nothing good, anyway. It takes nine steady ticks of the clock for him to recollect his thoughts.

“You…you know?” He stutters, “How could you…” but he doesn’t finish the question, and he doesn’t need to. Realization strikes him with an iron fist for the second time that day and it is no less kinder than the first. “Did… you do this?”

It’s Moon’s turn to go quiet.

That silence stretches on for what feels like hours to Sun, each passing second more agonizing than the last, until he starts to believe Moon had simply disappeared like before. He waits, and waits, and finally decides to interrupt the silence with a repeat of the question, despite already knowing the answer. Moon beats him to it.

The tired sigh that escapes Sun’s throat is thoroughly earned. “Well, it’s too late to figure something else out, I already sent out the emergency ping.”

“Not sure,” he says, and Sun can tell from his tone that it’s the truth. “Blurry. My head hurts.”

A sound like nothing he’s ever heard before tears itself from Moon’s voicebox. A growl, if he were to put a name to it.

“Get rid of it, then.” Moon insists through the noise, “Clean up, clean up.”

“It?” Sun gawks, “Moon, that – that’s a person. He has dignity, a family!”

“Had a family,” Moon corrects, “dead, now. No dignity. Who will they blame?”

The question gives him pause. Surely there was a better way to go about this, a solution that didn’t have his morals (and wires, for that matter) all up in a twist. Yet the longer he thinks about it, the more he realizes Moon is right. Management hardly listens when he tries to explain that it was the children who broke a piece of playground equipment, not him! They aren’t likely to give his explanation of simply having found the body any mind, much less understanding. With his counterpart practically admitting to the heinous act, already, informing management of the body would sooner see them decommissioned.

“Running out of time,” Moon reminds him, “Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick–”

“Alright, alright!” He wails, “What should I do, then?”

“Clean up.”

“Where?” Sun looks around with the desperation of a teenager attempting to play hooky, rays practically nonexistent with how he’s tucked them away. His eyes search the room from top to bottom before landing determinedly on the ball pit.

“Good enough,” Moon tuts, a rather uninspired response to the happenings around him. Of course he isn’t panicking, it isn’t him who takes the body by its ankles and drags the dead weight across the carpet. It isn’t him who shoves aside enough plastic to carefully hide a corpse in. But it should be him worrying, it should be him panicking, because if management finds out about their secret, it’ll spell doom for both of them.

“You’ll get rid of it – him – properly once there’s no one around, right?” Sun finishes reshuffling the ball pit, mostly confident that the ill deed is successfully hidden from view. “I’m going to have to wash each and every one of these balls before the kids arrive in the morning.”

Right, the kids. When they arrive in just a few hours, will he have things tidied up? Will he be able to carry on as though nothing happened? He’s a brilliant actor – or he used to be, anyway, before the company decided he better fit the role of a nanny – but this is well beyond the scripts he is most familiar with.

“They’re close,” Moon warns him, “Don’t let them see–”

“I know, I know.” No time to dwell on it now, he makes quick work of crossing the distance between the ball pit and the exit, and manages to slide his head and torso through the gap between doors within seconds of it opening, scaring the living daylights of the poor employee sent to greet him in the process.

Unlike Sun, they do swear, clutching a hand over their chest and fitting him with a downright awful deadpanned stare. “Fuck, you couldn’t have waited a few seconds longer for me to come inside?” They hiss.

“Sorry, friend! Didn’t mean to spook you,” Sun chirps. He is careful to keep his bloodied hands safely tucked behind his back. “It’s just a mess in here, is all, and I’m rather embarrassed. There’s still equipment to clean, toys to organize, papers to fold–”

“Sure,” the employee interrupts, “It doesn’t really–” they pinch the bridge of their nose, exhaling with notably less exhaustion than Sun is feeling right about now, “I don’t particularly care. What’s the big issue that I was called down here for?”

“Oh! I just wanted to know if the next shipment of wipes had come in, yet. Like I said before, much to do! Always busy, busy, busy!”

Their stare turns into an outright glower. “That’s why you called the emergency line? For cleaning supplies?”

Sun shrugs, feigning ignorance. “Well, that’s an emergency to me. Apparently our standards are not the same.” He watches them roll their eyes with more enthusiasm than necessary. ”Do you know how messy children can be? It’s practically a barnyard in here, every single day, and don’t even get me started on how much of a health code violation it would be if one of them were to pick their nose and then–”

“Fine, I get it,” they snap, “I’ll make sure your damn supplies are delivered before the daycare opens. Anything else?”

“Told you they were annoying,” Moon chimes in.

“That’s everything!” He replies, “thank you a mighty amount, friend!”

“Mhm,” they mutter, waving him off with nothing more than the noncommittal sound. When they do turn to leave, it’s not soon enough, and Sun just barely manages to close the door with a whisper instead of a slam.

His back rests against it a moment later, and he allows himself to collapse from there, sliding down the smooth wooden frame until his tailbone reaches the floor. His knees twinge as they tuck against his chest, and he folds both arms atop, resting his temple against them and taking one long, much needed moment to just breathe.

It had only been half of a lie. There was much to do, much to clean, and only so many hours remaining to get it done. The wires nestled deep in his chest had calmed, yet the tremor in his hands continued, as it likely would until the very last speck of blood was washed clean.

“…Moon?”

“Hm?”

Sun tucks his knees ever closer. “Why…why did you do it?”

“…”

“I w-won’t be mad, promise! I’m sure this is all just one big misunderstanding, after all – a one time event, no biggie! But…was it out of anger? Fear? I mean, did he hurt–”

“In my way,” Moon replies.

Sun’s head lifts from the dark haven his arms provide, noting with growing exhaustion that, for the very first time, the lights felt too bright even for him. “What do you mean by that?” He asks, “Did he keep you from doing something?”

“…I don’t know.”

Again, Sun’s head falls against his arms in defeat, and again, not two seconds later, it lifts, determined not to lollygag any longer.

His legs creak with vocal effort as he gets back to his feet. “Well, no point in dwelling on it now, I suppose. I’m sure it’s nothing.” He takes in a wide view of the daycare – static trailing everywhere – and deflates with a sigh. “Guess I better get started. The sooner we get the place cleaned up, the sooner we can forget about all of this.”

He takes a step forward, and only that, swiveling on his heel when he catches last night’s roster from the corner of his eye. A single drop of static had landed and smeared across the name of a child meant to go home later in the evening.

Strangely enough, it appears they were never picked up.

Sun shrugs, gathering the paper in both hands and crumpling it into a ball to dispose of the smeared evidence. A simple mistake with the roster, that’s all it is. The parents often forget to sign their name after all. Accidents happen all the time!

The paper lands with a soft thunk in the nearest trash can and is just as quickly forgotten. Sun pivots towards the play area once more and heads for the supply closet, steadfast in his determination to be cleaned up on time, and feeling more confident than he ought to be about how things ended, all things considered.

More than anything, he is just happy to have all of this behind them.

#drabbles #sun fnaf #moon fnaf #sundrop #moondrop #no y/n #death cw #blood mention cw #can you believe it? tumblr user muzzlemouths posting a fic that ISN'T y/n related?#I needed an additional example for my app. lmao #anyway! if it isn't obvious this takes place at the very beginning of Moon's glitch #his First Kill(tm) even #hope it isn't too heartbreaking for all my fellow Moon enjoyers out there <3 stay strong

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indie-fanfics · 4 months ago

Text

Pondering J Oneshot

CW Mentions of death and body horror, Standard MD stuff

J stared out. Out at the cold, barren landscape of Copper 9. She stared out, thinking. She was doing more of that lately. Especially about the past. She normally refused to think about back then. What was the point? But now, there wasn't much else to think about. Her and "Tessa" were on the down low, trying to figure out where the cabin fever labs were hidden. And she'd done enough thinking about that, about "Tessa" and her orders. "Tessa," yeah right. J knew it was Cyn, she'd known for years at this point. The horrible little thing kept her believing, hoping, praying even that Tessa was still alive and that's who J was communicating with over the relays. But eventually, as the little things added up and the contradictions complied on themselves like a pile of bounced checks, things clicked for J. She spent weeks agonizing over what she would do, even to the point where V started to get suspicious. In the end, it didn't even matter. Cyn didn't care, it only threatened to do anything if J told the others, and only because that could serve as a memory trigger. And while N had no memories of before. V had just enough to keep her loyal. She paused in her thoughts for a moment, glancing around the perimeter for any potential threats and checking her oil level. She'd need to feed in a few hours. There was only strong winds around her, blowing her hair every which way. J took a few deep breathes before going back to her thoughts. V, poor unsuspecting V. She remembered only a few things from Earth, mainly their time as worker drones and Cyn's "promise," honestly it was a lot more of a threat. But all V focused on was making sure things didn't get worse. N didn't know anything, of course, the idiot would just try to find some stupid way of fixing things that would only cost them time and Cyn's patience. J would know, after all. This was the second exo-planet they had been sent too, the first being somewhat of a test run for Cyn to train her little puppets. Both N and V had near equal memories of earth, minus the killing Cyn had them do when it destroyed the planet. It was a relatively barren planet when they got there, having been one of the first planets and mined almost entirely bare. Full of older drone models too. Programed, like almost all drones, with little sense of self-preservation. It was easy to take out almost all of them, as well as the few humans there that were managing the drones. However, the memories soon started to get to the other two. N became somewhat obsessive with getting back to Earth, wanting to help save Tessa and defeat Cyn. Still naive and stupid as ever. V backed him up on that, surprisingly, but was smart enough to agree that they should at least pretend to follow orders. J rolled her eyes at their plan, but a seed of hope remained that she couldn't quite kill. Cyn, however, found out, turned out the thing was able to listen in on them while they talked. It took control of N and broke his body open from the inside as the Cyn-controlled core forced it's way out, using the material of his corpse to create the an eldritch monster. It forced J to watch as it killed V. Saying that the she should see what happens when the job isn't done right. J still saw those memories whenever she went to sleep. Maybe it was Cyn, maybe it was her guilty conscience. Not like she knew either way. J had to watch as her friends coworkers were killed in front of her. She had to watch what happened when she didn't take control of her team and force them to follow orders. She wasn't going to let that happen again. Every time they tried something, it failed. Every time they failed, they were punished. Every time J didn't do what she was told, she was punished. She didn't care if Cyn tricked her at this point, it was too late for her to try to switch sides again. She was done.

#Murder Drones #J #J Murder Drones #serial designation j #Murder Drones J #Fanfic #Oneshot #Drabble #one shot #Glitch Productions #Serial Designation N #serial designation v murder drones #Serial Designation J MD

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sams-whumping-ground · 3 months ago

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I got a little caught up drawing this to draw the prompt (or was I feeling the Glitch/Axton love that hard? Who knows?). Whoops. Ah, well. To make up for the simple one of yesterday, I guess. I also don't write much and I know my dyslexic ass has made some mistakes somewhere.

Glitch. A well known villain in both the physical and digital world thanks to their ability of technomancy. No one truly knows who they are. Helmet, voice changer, costume. All of it was to ensure their anonymity. They voiced many times before that they liked their privacy after all.

After spending the day operating online, they decide to complete their daily routine by heading out into the night. They hop onto their motorbike and ride off into the city.

Bustling like usual. The night life here would be perfect if it wasn't for the heroes here. Making a mess of everyone's daily lives, their homes, with no regard for their safety, just to get away with it. These were supposed to be the people they swore to protect from the 'villains'. The way Glitch saw it, the heroes were the true villains.

The ride yielded its usual sights. A fight in the centre between a ‘hero’ and their nemesis. Standard. People getting mugged in alleys. Typical. Racers. Gangs. Terf wars. Kidnappings. Armoured vehicles tailing a limo. A tempting notion, but not tonight. Glitch tails the vehicles for a while before they pass the convoy after it stops at a high-end hotel. Likely a party of some sort.

"Pull over, Glitch." someone called from the vehicle beside them.

"No. I haven't done anything." retorted Glitch through their voice changer.

"Yet. Pull over before we make you."

"Not with that attitude."

This was typical. As far as anyone was concerned they were out for a night ride, but some 'hero' had to go ahead and ruin that.

Glitch makes their escape. They glide through the traffic being careful of the other road users. Hero? Charging through the traffic with the same lack of regard as usual.

Glitch leads Hero and Sidekick off the main road to somewhere less crowded. Hero's car rams the side of their motorbike sending them careening. The sudden sound of metal scraping along the tarmac. The grating of Kevlar. The bollard to Glitch's back.

Pulling themselves to their knees, the shoes of Hero came into view. Then Sidekick's a little behind them. Glitch is pulled up by the collar of their jacket.

"Told you we'd make you pull over." the hero scoffed. "What do you have planned for tonight? Going to rob some poor old woman? Bully some upstarts?"

"You’ve got me confused for someone else. I don't do those things." Glitch replied.

"Oh. So you don't steal anything or bully new heroes?" chimed the sidekick.

"I never said that. I only said I don't rob innocent old people and upstarts can mean anything." countered Glitch. "Who said I had something planned anyway?"

"You're a villain. You always have something planned."

"Not this time, Hero. Who are you calling a 'villain' anyway? As far as I'm concerned, that's your title. You all just call yourselves 'heroes' just so you can sleep at night. Has he told you how many casualties he's had during his term, Sidekick? How about the number of coverups? No? Not surprising really. What kind of 'hero' would he be to you if you knew?"

Hero had enough of Glitch. In the split second that he let go of them and they were still in the air, Hero punches Glitch clean in the abdomen. Sent flying through the air and into a building a little further down the road.

Before Glitch can recover, Hero was on top of them and had punched them through the wall into the next. This repeated again, and again, and again.

When they could finally recover, Glitch managed to sit up in the bed of rubble they were in. They were hurting. Not that anyone could really tell. Under the helmet, they were coughing up blood, wincing, and trying their hardest to keep their composure.

"Playing nice or are you just showing off?" hissed Glitch.

"I'm just getting started, you waste of space." Hero assured them as his knuckles cracked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~Taglist~~ [If you'd like to be added to the taglist please let me know]

@theninjabozo @confirmedcannibal @the-sinkmire-symphony @bestlittlesnek

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blocky-tides · 2 months ago

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Trick or Treat ^^

trick!

pearl weeps. she weeps, her hands sticky with blood. she only meant to get closer to the only being around her that was still alive.

animals stopped spawning after scott killed himself. she doesn't know why the watchers didn't take her with. she is forgotten.

tilly's blood is warm under her nails, she'll swear to whatever court that would take her that her beloved hound's heart beats against her palm. tilly is a loyal wolf, she'll do whatever her master orders her to do, even after death.

no one tells you how to live in a world when the sound of your own breathing, your own heartbeat, your own footsteps is too loud. the echo of another beating along with yours is not there.

the world is too empty. there is no one to watch when pearl succumbs to lunacy.

#double life smp #pearlescentmoon #pearl #tilly #tw animal death #tides writes #hi glitch since youre my only trick'o'treater you get a drabble!

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wheredafandomat · 2 years ago

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Loki request:

6. "It's...really distracting when you do that."

14. "Ooh, you know I like a challenge."

27. "Does it feel good when I touch you like this?"

Yaaasss 😁 happy belated Valentine’s Day!

You walked into the kitchen, squeezing Lokis shoulder as you wished him a good morning. He was already in the kitchen, laptop out as he drank a coffee. You opened the fridge, grabbing some fruits, readymade pancakes and cream. You’d usually make pancakes yourself but after having already woken up so late, you couldn’t be bothered plus the readymade ones weren’t too bad. You got a plate out and got to work making your breakfast. You offered Loki one, an offer he declined as he tried to focus on his work, resisting the urge to glance up at you especially when you had your back to him in those tiny shorts. Picking up the squirty cream, you sprayed some into your mouth as you turned back around before doing it again. Lokis gaze met yours as he watched you lick it off of your lips. His jaw clenched causing your gaze to narrow.

“What’s the problem?” You asked, knowing something was wrong.

“It’s… really distracting when you do that.” He answered leaving you confused.

“No, that, with the cream and stuff.” He corrected, gesturing to the cream in your hand as he grew more flushed.

“Loki, there’s nothing inherently sexy about cream and blueberry’s.” You chuckled.

“Isn’t there?” He smirked, closing his laptop.

“There’s not and you can’t change my mind.” You scoffed, turning away from him and focusing back on your breakfast. Your breath hitched when you heard the sound of Loki tucking his chair in meaning that he was standing. He stepped towards you in silence like he was stalking his prey. The hairs at the back of your neck stood up when you felt him close to you. His hands found your waist as he lowered his lips, whispering in your ear.

“Ooh, you know I like a challenge.” He murmured before lightly kissing your neck. Almost instantly, you granted him further access, falling back against him as he steadied you with his body. Your eyes fell closed as his lips travelled to the nape of your neck. He pulled your loose top down a little, exposing your shoulder as he picked up the cream. Your eyes opened as you felt and heard him squirting some out onto your shoulder but before you could react, he was licking it off, practically sucking. “Mm, delicious.” He hummed, applying more and doing the same.

“Loki.” You near whimpered as he ground his hips into you letting you know exactly just how sexy he found cream and blueberries. You were pressed up against the counter as his lips travelled across your neck, his hands roaming your body before one slipped underneath your shorts. Thankfully you hadn’t worn any panties surprising even Loki when his fingers found your slick centre. His fingers moved through your folds, teasing you as you began grinding against his hand.

“Does it feel good when I touch you like this?” He spoke in your ear, fingers circling your clit.

“Yess.” You exhaled, head falling back against his chest.

“Louder.” He commanded, adding more pressure before playing with your breasts with his other hand.

“Yesss.” You moaned as Loki teased your nipple with his thumb.

You widened your legs slightly when he entered you with his fingers before you were moaning his name. He played with you until you came, helping you through your high before his hands left your body completely. He grabbed a blueberry before turning away leaving you shocked.

“Loki?”

“Needless to say, I won the challenge.” He smirked.

💘

#MY TUMBLR KEEPS GLITCHING SO WHO KNOWS WHAT THIS POST WILL LOOK LIKE ONCE I POST IT #I CANT EVEN TAG ANYONE wtf tumblr 😂#Anyways loki x reader 😏😂#loki x reader #loki x fem!reader #loki x you smut #smut drabble #loki drabble

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huffle-dork · 7 months ago

Text

Glitch into the Hufflverse Chapter 15: Swapboys...? Again?

Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs | Read One Villain falls Another One Rises

Read SITCV | Read SATCV | GITHV Masterpost

When the boys all fall into the new world- it’s nothing like they’ve seen before. It’s a city street… but the buildings look like they’re falling apart. Like something out of a dystopian film. The city is strangely quiet. Except for this strange- glitch-like sound- tinkling like computerized wind chimes. Looking closer at the buildings- it seems like it’s not breaking apart normally… no- it’s breaking into computer code. Binary, ones and zeros, long swatches of words and letters that are completely unreadable.

And worst of all- Bro and Alt realize this… this place is familiar. Why is it familiar…?

“What… is all this?” Alt breathes in confusion.

"H-huh?" Jackie looks around. "Whaaaat the fuuuuck..."

I've never seen anything like this, JJ shakes his head in disbelief.

"What is that sound?" Schneep turns his head around, catching the noises. "It is all around us. It sounds like... some s-sort of... computer or static... glitches?"

"Schneep, you're not going to believe this," Jackie mutters. "But we're in a city. And all the buildings are turning into fucking binary."

"What?!"

What is this, some sort of... simulation world? JJ asks, frowning.

"How the fuck does that make sense?!" Jackie asks.

I don't know! I don't know what this is!

Bro pales and holds onto Alt. “Alt… d-doesn’t this… doesn’t this look like… like downtown? Like… o-our downtown?”

“What are you-“ Alt starts to say, then really looks and he seems to pale. “N-No… no way…”

Something is slinking behind in the shadows of some of the buildings- something,.. big and… cat like? But Alt and Bro don’t notice- too freaked out by this.

"Your downtown?" Jackie repeats. "So this is—this is Brighton?"

JJ shivers. What could have possibly happened to cause this?

Schneep gets out his cane and starts feeling around. His head turns wildly, trying to hear through the glitchy noises. "Is there anyone coming?"

"I don't see anyone, no," Jackie says, but he takes out his staff and extends it anyway. Something about this place is giving him the creeps.

Schneep frowns. "F-for a moment I thought I... sensed... something."

Suddenly the shadowy figure lashes out, trying to tackle down one of the boys.

Bro sees this and gets in front of the others- the thing is a big cat! Almost like a panther but… fluffier? It plows slightly into Jackie, throwing him off before it tackles Bro to the ground.

"Whoa!" Jackie spins and staggers before regaining his balance by pushing against the ground with his staff.

"What is that?!" Schneep gasps.

"Some sort of cat! Hey!" Jackie starts to run back over to attack but JJ grabs him, pulling him back. JJ then tries to cast a protective shield around Bro to push the cat back.

The shield pushes the cat back and it mrows slightly in distress then bends back down to the ground and snarls at the rest of them. Alt glitches over to be in front of Bro, holding out his hand with magic sparking in it. Then, he freezes, face going pale. “…Glitches…?” he whispers in disbelief.

"Glitches?" Jackie repeats, blinking in confusion.

Isn't that your cat? JJ asks.

A glitchy haunting laugh echoes across the empty city street, sending shivers down Bro and Alt’s spines. Why did it sound so… familiar too?

At the sound of the laughter, Schneep immediately pulls out his scissors and spins around, trying to figure out where it came from. "What was that?"

"Show yourself, coward!" Jackie shouts.

JJ looks at him like he's completely lost his mind. No! Let's get out of here!

Alt is frozen in place, staring at the cat like he’s seen a ghost. Glitches growls at him, but looks… confused. Conflicted. Alt almost tries to reach out before they hear the laugh and Bro pulls Alt back.

Something suddenly… glitches next to the cat. The same effect as Alt’s just… more purple and neon. The figure laughs more and pets Glitches head. He slowly lifts his head and…

It’s… Alt?

But this Alt is very different- his brown hair is overgrown and pulled into a small ponytail. He wears his old impulse jacket that’s dirty and ripped. He has purple branching scars on his cheek and across his nose. And his eyes… they look just like Magnificent’s.

“…no…” Alt breathes, looking beyond freaked out.

"H-huh?" Jackie stares with wide eyes. "Alt?!"

"Alt..." Schneep breathes, feeling the similarities between their souls. But... "I-is that... dark magic?"

JJ looks horrified. He instinctively conjures a shield in front of them all.

The copy laughs wildly, “I thought I felt the rifts! It’s been so long… I thought they’d never come here again-“

“W-What is this?!” Bro snarls, “Is this some kind of s-sick joke? Who the hell are you? Cuz y-you- you’re not Alt!”

The copy finally looks properly at Bro and his other self- but his eyes widen as he sees Bro. He glitches past the shield to be right in Bro’s face. “C-Chase?” He whispers- like he’s just seen a ghost. Then he laughs wildly and grabs either side of Bro’s face, digging claws into his skin, “T-The universe brought you back!! The rifts brought you back!! F-Finally!! I can start to make things right- you’re not gonna leave me again are you, Chase?!”

Alt looks like he’s gonna be sick. Bro tries to shove the other Alt off him. “F-Fucking let go!! The fuck are you talking about?!”

"You know about the rifts?!" Jackie gasps. "You—what do you mean, 'they'd come here again'?"

"This is... some sort of... s-strange universe," Schneep whispers. His stomach sinks as he takes in the implications of the strange Alt's world. Brought Chase back...? "Some s-strange... tragedy must have happened..."

JJ cries out as the other Alt just glitches past his shield—he's got to remember he can do that! He hurries over to help Bro push the other Alt away.

The strange Alt gets pushed away and he stumbles back. Then he grins and glitches to look at all the others properly. “Oh! So many familiar faces!! It’s been so long, friends~! I thought I was cut off from the other universes now but here you all are!!” He giggles, floating a bit off the ground.

Then, He glitches to grab Alt by his face- and his eyes flash with hatred. “…even you.”

Alt is trembling, staring at this- corrupted version of himself but not being able to move or do anything in response. Bro shoves the strange Alt away and growls. “Hands off!”

The weird Alt giggles and snatches Bro by his wrist. He then glitches the both of them over back by big cat Glitches and his eyes swirl as he looks into Bro’s eyes, floating so they’re the same height. “Come on Chase! Let’s quit all this mucking about! You know how much I need you… come home with me?” Bro struggles but then- seems to be slowly drawn into other Alt’s eyes. “I…I-“

"Oh no you fucking don't!" Jackie breaks into a run heading right for the other Alt.

"Jackie! Do not be a fool!" Schneep says. "Not by yourself!" He leaps towards Bro and the other Alt, aiming to knock Bro to the ground—or otherwise break his eye contact. Jackie arrives shortly after he does and immediately attacks the other Alt with his staff.

JJ grabs Alt's hand, squeezing it tight, and gets ready to throw magic at the first sign of trouble.

Alt squeezes tight on JJ’s hand, on the verge of a panic attack. This must all be just a terrible dream… right? This… this only happens in his absolutely worst nightmares.

Breathe, JJ signs to Alt.

The staff hits the other Alt with a resounding clang and the spirals fade from his eyes. But then he grabs Bro before Schneep can and holds him possessively, claws digging into his neck. “Back off! You don’t get it! I need him- I won’t let you take him away again!”

“You’re out of your fucking mind, man!” Jackie says. “You’re gonna hurt him!”

“We do not want to fight you, but we will if we must!” Schneep adds, holding out his scissors.

JJ turns his attention back to the others, silently debating what to do. Maybe—if he distracts this strange Alt, the others can grab Bro? With that in mind, he draws back a hand and throws a bolt of magic towards the other Alt—something mostly harmless that will draw his attention.

Jackie notices this and takes the opportunity to try and pull Bro away.

The strange Alt makes a glitchy shield without even looking at JJ- but Jackie is strong enough to pull Bro away. Bro shakes out of the strange trance and clings to Jackie. “fuck- t-thanks…!”

The strange Alt growls and purple electricity sparks around him dangerously. “Enough! This fucking city and this world is fucking mine!” He laughs insanely and holds out a hand at Jackie, Schneep and Bro. The ground beneath them flickers and shifts like it might fade into pixels and code like the buildings. “I wanna hear you all go s̷̨̅p̶̩̍l̸̤͗ȃ̶̮t̴̨̓!” he giggles.

Schneep yelps upon feeling the ground under his feet shift. Jackie tries running, dragging Bro with him, but it's hard to find his footing to do so.

The other Alt glitches a bit in place and starts to close his hand-then… it’s like a pause button has been pressed, capturing him mid laugh and mid glitch.

Someone whistles from an alleyway nearby and then an arm gestures for them to follow. “Hurry! Over here!”

JJ's head snaps towards the voice and immediately books it towards the gesturing arm, taking Alt with him. He whistles sharply, drawing the other two's attention. Schneep and Jackie break into a run as well, taking Bro. Bro is able to run pretty soon with them and hurries over. Alt tries his best to keep up-

The dark alley makes it hard to see but soon there’s a tealish ring of light that appears and a shadowy figure jumps through- followed by something that looks like a… dog? “In here! Quickly! My spell will not last long-“

"Coming!" Jackie gasps, running as fast as he can. "Schneep, you're going to have to jump!"

"Tell me when!" Schneep says.

Jackie heads through first. "Now!"

Schneep stumbles a bit as he goes through the ring but manages to land well enough.

JJ goes through next, still holding onto Alt's hand.

"I-is this—who I think it is?" Schneep asks, recognizing the feel of the person's soul.

“I-It sounds like…!” Bro pants as he jumps in with the others.

They all land in a warmly lit but still somewhat dim room. It’s slightly cold in here… stone walls? Maybe underground? It’s jammed to the brim with a couple beds, a desk with med kits, water and packs of food. Bags of dog food line the wall and big duffle bags. One of the beds is filled with open spell books and notebooks with writing in them. Various suitcases lie around the beds, in different degrees of usage.

And standing before them is- it’s Henny and Sahne. Henny looks like he’s seen hell- his usual bright sunny face haggard and dirty- deep bags under his eyes. His glasses are cracked- he’s in a dark dingy trench coat. Sahne sits obediently at his feet. But she looks to see the others and her tail starts to wag.

“That was very very close- are you all alright? This place should be safe from-“ he starts to say.

“H…Henny?” Alt interrupts.

Henny looks up now and his eyes widen. “…my.. mein gott-“ he whispers. He looks like he’s seen a ghost. “Chase- you’re … you’re alive…!” Henny laughs in teary eyed disbelief and runs at Bro and hugs him tightly.

Bro blinks and pats Henny’s back. “Y-Yeah I’m… h-hi Hen?”

Henny laughs wetly and then goes to grab Alt too and hugs him with Bro, pressing his head onto both of their shoulders, “Oh! And… Alt… Alt, my friend… is it actually you…! Not that… that glitched Ungeheuerlichkeit!” Alt is frozen in his hug, still trembling.

Sahne starts to bark happily- though definitely more quiet barks as she dances around everyone, pressing her noses against hands and legs and rubbing up against them, tail wagging wildly.

JJ stares, stunned, at this other version of Henny. What... happened to him? He probably should have expected that this wouldn't be a good place to live, given the glitchy state of everything outside, but it's another thing to see someone who was so smiley look so tired.

Jackie is just as stunned. But he zeroes in on one thing in particular. "...'alive'?" he whispers. "What the... what the fuck happened in this world...?"

Schneep inches away from Sahne and starts getting the lay of things with his cane. "Wh-where are we? What... what happened to the Alt is this world?"

And what about the others? JJ says, worried.

"Um... also, uh... hi?" Jackie raises a hand.

Henny let’s go and wipes at his eyes. He laughs and looks back over Bro and Alt, “oh… you both look so young…” He says, gently cupping their cheeks. The others can notice this Henny does seem a bit older than the one they knew- though maybe the slight salt and pepper hair is from stress.

He smiles tiredly at the others. “Yes hallo.. it is… good to see friendly faces… I.. you all must be so confused. Please- sit and I… I will try to explain.”

“Yes explaining is good cuz what?!” Bro exclaims, throwing up his hands, “I… the me from this universe, he’s dead?”

Alt and Henny seem to wince at this. “I… I will explain Chase… please just…I-I am sorry it is tight in here-“

“If I’m dead then- w-what about Jackie and Jay? Henrik what-“

“They are safe.” Henny says firmly, gripping his hands into fists. “Z-Zara got them out of the city…on a boat. The children… Zara, Jackie and Jewel. They are all fine… all of this s-seems to be contained to Brighton… b-but I do not know for how much longer.”

"They're not even here?" Jackie's eyes widen. "It's that bad? Holy shit." He shakes his head and sits down on one of the beds. "Okay. Jeez."

Something must have happened to Alt in this world, JJ says. Something that gave him incredible power, but made him... unstable. He looks a bit haunted for a moment as he remembers what happened in the last world, but quickly pushes that away. Clearly, this is much worse, probably not even comparable.

"Yes, Jamie, I agree, that must be it," Schneep says. "Do not worry about the space, ah, Henrik, it is fine. Why are you still here, if the others have all left?"

“…someone needs to continue what… what Chase could not.” Henny says quietly, hugging his arms. “…I did not have nearly as much power as Alt or Bro Fantastic did but… I-I could do something. I stay to… to help anyone else who is left. It… it isn’t much now. I try to get people out to safety. But just in case I… I stay.” He smiles weakly. “Is good I did, ja?”

“Hen what…” Alt voice cracks, “what happened…?”

Henny is silent for a beat. “…it was supposed to be a victory. We had… finally defeated Magnificent. He was… he was dead. But s-something happened… the lingering black magic it… it found a way to claw itself into Alt’s- our Alt’s soul. Or body or… mind- maybe all 3. All we know is after that… it all changed. Alt tried to fight it but it just- consumed him. He started to tear the city apart- started doing things Magnificent would have done. He left us alone though… but it was hard to watch him… hurt innocents. Chase he-he could not stand it. He tried to confront Alt and-“ Henny grips his fingers tighter into his arms. “…he killed him. That fucking Glitch- he killed him!”

Bro and Alt go white as a sheet. Alt’s stomach lurches and he scrambles to find a trash can to retch into. Sahne carefully paws over to sit by him.

"...holy shit," Jackie whispers, his stomach sinking. "That... that's what...? I-I can't believe..." He shakes his head. He can't blame Alt for his reaction.

"Black magic always finds a way to linger, yes?" Schneep mutters darkly. "Even when... it should not." He shudders a bit.

He... couldn't have meant to do it... JJ signs slowly. Alt would never... and that version of him out there... maybe he regretted it? He leans heavily against the wall.

"Are you okay, Alt?" Jackie says softly. "I mean... I get it. I really, really get it."

Alt is bracing himself against the floor, shaking like a leaf as tears fall down his face, “T-t-this is a n-nightmare right? This… t-this can’t be r-real…! I-I w-wouldn’t… I-I would never-!”

Bro hurries over to kneel down by Alt and rub his back, “Breathe, Anti… it’s…”

“It’s okay, Alt,” Schneep says softly. “Black magic can do terrible things to people. It is not because of you that this is happening in this world.”

Alt doesn’t respond to Schneep, holding his arms and shaking wildly as he curls up to cover his mouth. Trying not to get sick again. He feels like he’s disconnecting from all of this- hardly able to grab onto any thoughts to ground him.

“I-I am sorry for my emotions,” Henny says, looking regretful for his anger, “… the wound is s-still fresh… but that is why the city is in the state it is in. After the Glitch-or our Alt got corrupted… he gained so much more power- insight into other worlds he did not have before. He believes himself a… a god almost. Claiming that this world and all worlds are his. But he never got the ability to travel to other worlds again… so he’s been- tearing our reality apart- trying to find some universe where… where he can get Chase back. And he does not care who he hurts to get there.”

“Insight into other worlds, huh?” Jackie mutters. “Seems like that’s something Antis are prone to get.”

Wait, if he’s looking for a world where he can get his Chase back, then—we just walked right into his hands, didn’t we? JJ says, eyes wide. No wonder he went straight for Chase. He’s probably going to keep going for him as long as we’re here.

Bro pales at JJ’s realization and gets to his feet, “F-Fuck J, you’re right!”

“You all are safe here for now,” Henny says softly. “I have learned wards to hide this place. He had not found it yet.”

“Even so, we had better try to think about some way to get out of here,” Schneep decides. “I know the rifts may show up, but we should not count on them.”

“Great idea, except we have no idea how to do that,” Jackie comments.

JJ frowns. Alt, Chase, how did you two show up to our world before? You didn’t have the TRVLR yet—you got it from our world. I don’t remember if you told us how you got there.

Bro blinks at JJ and then hums, thinking about it. “Oh right! Um… the arch! Mag found an archway thing we’ve seen one other time before in a SCLERA basement. He used Alt’s magic and his to open up the gate and then… we wound up in your world!”

Henny frowns, “hm… SCLERA has been… destroyed by the Glitch… but if it was underground like this… maybe? But if Alt knew of this… he might have already tried to get to that.”

"He destroyed SCLERA?!" Jackie gasps. "Well—I guess that makes sense. If I was an all-powerful glitch being, I would destroy them too. They might get in the way."

Schneep stands up. "It is the only lead we have, yes? I think we should at least try to go find it."

It would probably feel better to take action rather than just wait here for a rift to come, JJ agrees.

Henny nods, “Destroying SCLERA was the one good thing the Glitch has done… but I worry- he has eyes all over the city. Magnificent’s cats… the Glitch uses them and he has a few puppets lingering around the city I could not save…”

Bro sighs and crosses his arms, “I agree it’s dangerous… but we can’t just sit here. We can’t afford to wait for another rift… maybe if the arch is destroyed we can repair it somehow?”

JJ nods slowly. Perhaps my magic could help. What does this arch look like?

"Oh, I've seen ours before," Jackie says. " I'm gonna assume it's similar here. It's a freestanding doorway. One side of it is made of black rock, like obsidian or something, and the other side is regular stone that's been carved with a bunch of designs."

Runes, presumably. I've been learning some alphabets to help Marvin with his card magic, I might... know some? JJ guesses.

“Yes! It’s just like the one from your world, Jackie!” Bro says with a smile.

"That is the best chance we have, I think," Schneep mutters. "Alt. Are you...?" He trails off. Clearly, Alt is not okay. Asking probably wouldn't help.

Henny looks over at Alt with worry. And- a bit of fear. He knows this isn’t the Glitch- it helps that Alt looks so much younger but… he keeps his distance.

Which doesn’t help Alt at all. Everyone sounds like they’re underwater- the room is tilting and he feels- lost. Just staring at the floor, as he curls up as small as he can. It’s hard to tell if he’s ever registered anything they’ve been saying.

JJ winces. He's not doing well.

"No, really?" Jackie drawls.

This isn't the time for sarcasm, Jackie. JJ shoots him a disapproving look.

Jackie winces. "No. You're right. It's not." After a moment, he gets up and walks over to Alt. He hesitates, then puts a hand on his shoulder. "Hey." His voice is quiet. "I know. It sucks. Sucks to know what could happen. What you could do. But you're different, right? You're trying to be better, right? Doesn't mean it's not hard to hear about all this, I know. But that's not you. I know you're a good person, Alt. This... mess in this world... Don't let it break you down."

Alt jolts as Jackie touches him and finally looks up at him with red rimmed eyes. He listens but then whispers brokenly, “…what if this i-is my future…?”

“Hey Alt don’t say-“ Bro tries to say.

“No! What if?! The other me- he- he knows about the rifts- Hen says he travelled though worlds too. He’s o-older than me- what if this is just what happens to me?!” He pushes himself out of Jackie’s grip and pulls at his hair, eyes blown wide in panic as glitches break apart at his body. “T-This isn’t like s-seeing other Antis and knowing I’m different! T-That’s me! it doesn’t matter if I know I’m a good person- it doesn’t matter if I’m different now! This… this could be what I become!! It could mean e-everything I’ve learned about myself- everything I’ve fought for means fucking nothing!” he screeches at the end, his voice loud enough to make the room shake with vibrations as his magic whips around him wildly.

"And do you think the future is set in stone?" Schneep suddenly snaps. "Do you believe you are so powerless in the face of what will come? Are you going to just lie down and accept that you are some evil glitch, or are you going to get up and tell the world that you will not be like him? I have not known you for very long, Alt, but I know you have a fighting spirit in you. And yet, whenever the universe tells you that you will become something you don't wish to be, you accept it. Are you going to let the world do that to you? Are you going to believe that disaster is inevitable? Or are you going to take back your life on your terms? Are you going to look fate in the eye and tell it to go fuck itself when it says there is no other way? You have fought for your life, Alt! Do you really think you will give up so easily?"

Alt bursts into ugly sobbing, curling up to hold his head against his knees. “I-I don’t know! I don’t know!!”

“Anti…” Bro tries to say, trying to get closer. Alt flinches and glitches to the very back wall and wails, “I-I always thought I-I-I wouldn’t ever d-do something like this! That I’d never hurt Chase- my friends…! T-They’ve always saved me before- why was this time different?! I don’t want this- but if even the m-me from here fought so hard then? Does it even fucking matter?!”

JJ clears his throat and signs weakly, And this Henrik said that it started when you all killed Magnificent, right? So... you know how to... prevent it...

Luckily- Alt always tries to look at JJ when he demands attention for his signs. He quiets down a bit.

Henny nods, “Yes.. I do believe if we found another way to stop Magnificent… then this may have never happened.”

“JJ is right Alt… w-we can make sure this doesn’t happen! Now we know…” Bro says gently, “You and me can work to make sure this future never ever comes to pass. But you can’t give up now… we gotta get to a better future together, okay?”

"It always matters, Alt," Jackie says firmly. "Every single little bit of effort matters. Even if it feels like it doesn't. You know, my Chase told me how you saved him. How Jameson tried to get in your head about this same thing. H-he doesn't remember it all too well, but he remembers that you got him out of there. If you hadn't pushed through Jameson's taunting back then, Chase would still be there. If you hadn't decided that you were going to get him out of here despite everything that happened the first time you visited our world, he would still be there. Even if it feels like it doesn't matter to you, it means the world to others when you fight against these—these claims that you're evil."

Alt looks up at Jackie with surprise. “He… he remembered all of that…?” He swallows shakily. “I-I couldn’t just leave him…”

“That’s where the differences lies, Alt. No matter what, no what how many Antis are different you have a kind heart…” Bro says with a sad smile.

Henny smiles sadly too, “yes… that sounds more like the Alt I knew… I think deep down… you are still the same, Alt. But you know how… invasive black magic in. Perhaps that is another reason I stay… I want to see if there’s still a way to save my friend… even after everything he has done.”

"And now that you are warned, it will be easier, yes?" Schneep says. "The future is never set in stone, even if it feels like it is. You have been to many worlds now. Surely you have seen worlds where even the worst can be reversed. We were there in one, weren't we? That second underwater world. Everything seemed so bleak there, but we changed it a little, did we not? I do believe things will be able to change even somewhere like that. So your world will also be able to change."

Alt thinks about both the Schneep’s words and eventually he nods, “we… we did help it get better…. Didn’t we? For other me and Marvin…” He’s quiet again before he glitches up to his feet and wipes at his face with his sleeve. “okay… l-let’s just… g-get out of here then… a-as quickly as we can…”

JJ nods. We’ll probably have to move fast. And Alt? He pauses. Let us know if… there’s anything we can do.

“I… yeah I… I will.” Alt says quietly.

“Yes, please do,” Jackie adds. “For now, uh… we gotta go find a SCLERA place, I guess? They have that weird eye symbol, right?”

“Other me, is there anything we will need for going out?” Schneep asks.

Henny hums in thought, “I would recommend some way to hide Chase… he will be the biggest target. Do any of you know invisibility spells?”

Jackie and Schneep immediately look over at JJ.

JJ frowns. I know one. But I've never cast it before, just read about it.

"Might as well try," Jackie says.

Yes, of course. JJ walks over to Bro. Hold still. That will make it easier, I think.

Bro looks a bit nervous but gives JJ a thumbs up. “I trust you, bro!” He quickly puts his hand back by his side and closes his eyes so he’s not too tempted to move.

JJ nods, and takes a deep breath. He's a little nervous about this. But he tries to hide it, adjusting his mask. A blue glow envelops his hands as he places them both on Bro's shoulders and concentrates. The blue magic ripples over Bro's form from the point of contact. He feels a little chilly for a moment as the invisibility slowly spreads across him, following the magic. Then JJ pulls his hands back and Bro is gone. Or, kind of. There's a person-shaped distortion in the air, like Bro has been turned into a pure glass statue that casts no shadow.

Alt blinks in surprise and glitches over. He tilts his head then tries poking at the distortion.

Bro yelps a bit and jumps, "Hey! ...shit did it not work??"

"No! It... it worked-" Alt laughs a bit breathlessly. "You're... still a bit noticeable but? from a far... I think you should be good."

"Whoa, that's trippy." Jackie leans side to side, staring at Bro. "It's like uh... that effect when you put a straw in a glass of water and it looks like it breaks."

Bro blinks and looks at himself, “woahhh!”

"Oh? Interesting," Schneep says. "Jamie, can you keep that up?"

It should last an hour, JJ says. After that, I'll need to renew it.

Henny smiles and nods. "That should be good. ...outside- try to avoid anything glitching or- anything slinking in the shadows. Those are most likely the Glitch's eyes... but I can try my best to lead you to where SCLERA is."

“An hour should be plenty of time.” Henny says with a nod. He looks to Sahne, “You will keep an ear out too, right, Sahne?” Sahne barks in response. Henny smiles then opens up his hand and another teal ring of light forms. “I cannot go very long distances but this should help cut our journey.” He jumps through, Sahne close by.

Bro feels a bit nervous but he jumps through next. Alt hesitates.

"Gonna have to climb through again, Schneep," Jackie says.

"Very well." Schneep reaches out, feeling the edge of the ring, and hops through.

JJ notices Alt lingering back. He looks back and smiles at him. Ready to come? We'll need your help, I think.

Alt looks at JJ with a bit of fear but then closes his eyes before nodding. “y-Yeah I’m… I’m coming.” He eyes the ring then glitches through.

Jackie looks after Alt, a bit worried, and then hops through. JJ jumps through last.

#GITHV #glitch into the huffleverse #GITHV Swap bad end #sooo if anyone read that one drabble i did where alt became the next mag?#....yeahhhhh #since rifts lead to different timelines in the SATCV i thought lets explore a bad time line for swap! >:D #and omg glitch alt is so fun to play #it was really fun to think of like how would alt go crazy- then how would present day alt react?#my poor boy i put him through so much agjvhbak #bad end alt #glitch alt #bro fantastic #the jaunty jackson #inverted jackie #stitched schneep

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