id love a part 2 of this
"BAD END: REVOLUTION"
Part I Part II
Featuring: Gender-Neutral Reader, Twisted Wonderland x Reader, Yandere Twisted Wonderland
Word count: 4.4k
Synopsis: Avoid the bad ends at all costs! Save your friends, defeat your foes. You can do it, can't you?
Includes: Death, Despair, Bad Ends, future Obsessive and possessive behaviors
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Panic. You try your best to ignore the screaming all around you, to calm your mind, and to think of a plan.
You come up empty.
A rose bush is hurled across the garden, its thorns missing your face by mere centimeters. Your mind reels. Before coming to Twisted Wonderland, you had never even heard of an overblot. None of the fiction youâve ever read had such a mechanic, but you suppose reality is often stranger than fiction.
They were supposed to be rare. They were supposed to happen once every few hundred years.
So why is this happening to you? Why now?
Why?Â
Why?Â
Why?
Too absorbed in self-pity and fear, you miss the giant, inky vine heading straight for you. It pierces through your chest, leaving a trail of ink and viscera in its wake as the thorns grip at your insides like barbed wire. The ringing in your ears is deafening, but you ignore it to raise a cautious hand to your chest. Wet. People are screaming around you, and youâre faintly aware of someone picking you up and ripping off your shirt, applying pressure to the wound. Itâs no use, though; your vision fades to black, and you fall to your knees, exhausted.Â
Is itâŚfinally over?
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You wake up with a start.
Somethingâs scratching on your door.
Itâs darkâtoo dark. What time is it? Is Riddle okay? What about the others? You go to check your phone, only to remember belatedly that you don't have one while simultaneously hitting your head on firm wood. Come to think of it, you arenât on a mattressâŚ
Are youâŚin a coffin? Have you already been buried?! But youâre still alive, youâreâ!
Your breathing quickens, but it doesnât last for long before the lid of the coffin flies open, a familiar pair of blue eyes meeting yours. Isnât thatâŚ?
âMyah! Give me your clothes!â
âŚYeah. Thatâs Grim, all right. Just like when you first found yourself in Twisted Wonderland, heâs blown open the lid to your coffin, just like when you first met. Youâve heard of peopleâs lives flashing. before their eyes in the moment before their demise, but this is far more lifelike than you had ever imagined.
âHey, whatâre you thinking so hard about? Gimme your clothes right now or Iâll burn you to ashes!â Grim says. You try to ignore him, but itâs impossible to ignore the sudden burst of flames that are hurled in your direction. They miss you, but you know it was only a warning.Â
âIâll give you my robe if you really want it,â you say, relenting. âBut itâs not going to fit you.â
âPsh, whatever,â Grim says. You shrug and hand it over. Just as you predicted, the robe is far too big on him, the fabric basically swallowing him whole. You try not to giggle at the way he struggles to break himself free from the cloak that envelopes him.
The rest of the night continues the way you remember it. Crowley comes to collect you. The Mirror says you have no magic, and Grim tries to take your place. Crowley tries to send you home, but the Mirror cannot locate it. You stay the night at Ramshackle.Â
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Youâre exhausted by the time you reach Ramshackle, so much so that you donât even bother changing your clothes before you collapse on the bed. When you wake up, youâll be back in the rose garden, but for now, you just want to rest.Â
You wake up to the sound of harsh wind and rain hitting your window, a startlling realization on the forefront of your mind. Logic dictates that you should not be able to fall asleep and wake up inside a dream or flashback. This is real. Youâve gone back in time.
Grim is snoring soundly at the foot of your bed, he must have broken in again. Well, no matter. You have other things to worry aboutâŚbut first, youâd really like to change out of this uncomfortable getup. Really, what were you thinking? You didnât even bother to take your shoes off before you fell face-first into the mattress. You suppose going back in time must have taken a lot out of you.
You roll off the bed, removing your shoes and socks first, and your pants second. Thirdly, you lift your shirt up, flinching at the way the cold air hits the tender flesh around your wound. You bring a hand to your chest, tracing over the area. Itâs mostly healed, but a rather nasty scar has taken its place.Â
How peculiar. Everything else here seems to have reset, but not this.Â
You stay up the rest of the night searching your mind for answers but find none. When Crowley comes in the morning and asks how youâve slept, you lie.
The first day goes exactly as you remember it. When Grim is about to spit fire at Ace, you attempt to stop it, only to get a nasty burn on top of having to clean all the windows. You try to stop Deuce from throwing Ace onto the chandelier, but youâre too late.Â
When it comes time for you to find a magestone with the help of Grim and the others, you donât hesitate like you did last time. Perhaps your confidence rubbed off on the three, as things seemed to move along much more efficiently than the first time. You defeated the cavern monster and quickly walked the stone back to the school, where Crowley is once again moaning about how he stayed up all night doing paperwork for your expulsion.Â
You find it hard to feel sorry for him.
The next few days continue to go as you remember them, though you expend quite a bit of effort to change that. You tell Ace not to go around eating food that isnât his. It comes across as strange and unnatural, but you donât care. It doesnât matter either way, however, as he doesnât listen to you.
âIâm real slim, you know?!â He says, a familiar collar on his neck.Â
âThe couch is over there,â you tell him.
You, Trey, Ace, Deuce, and Grim all work together to make a pie as an apology for Aceâs actions. You made the mistake of using chestnuts last time, so this time, you suggest using strawberries instead. The pie turns out amazing, and you have to remind Grim (and Ace) that the food isnât for him.
You hope Riddle accepts it this time.Â
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You tell Ace not to go against his Housewarden every chance you get. You tell him it was a bad idea, that a scolding is the least of his worries. You tell him he could get hurt, or worse, but he refuses to listen. Everything you say seems to do nothing but strengthen his resolve. Of course, it wouldn't be that easy. He doesn't know what you know.
The clock ticks, each passing second bringing you to your impending doom until, finally, it's here.Â
You wake up with a knot in your stomach. Today, Ace is going to challenge Riddle for his housewarden seat. Today, Riddle will overblot, and today, you will die.Â
Riddleâs overblot form is as terrifying and imposing as you remember. You do your best to fight him off, warning the others of incoming attacks and directing the action. You helped Ace and Deuce with defense magic training throughout the week, but it wasn't enough to stop the onslaught of collars. That was fine, though. Treyâs magic pulled through just like last time, and the shield spell you taught Deuce saved you just when you had died last time.Â
Things were going well. You could barely bring yourself to believe that you might actually when this time before your defenses and feet slipped. You fall onto a pile of thorns that quickly coil around you like a python.
Dark spots cloud your vision as you pull against the thorns that envelop you. You fight until you are too weak to even think of struggling against your restraints.Â
The last of your air leaves your lungs, and you die.
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You wake up with a start. Your whole body is shaking and covered in a thin layer of cool sweat.Â
Something is scratching on your door.
You reach up to check your neck, finding thin, raised scars along where the thorns penetrated your skin. Youâre sure there are more on the rest of your body, but the confined coffin space makes it difficult to check.
âMyah! Give me your clothes!â Grim says. You ignore him, falling down onto your knees in a fit of despair. âH-huh? Whatâs wrong? Whyâre you crying?! I didnât even do nothing to ya yet!â Oh, you think to yourself. I hadnât even noticed. You let the tears fall down your face, uncaring at how strange you might look to onlookers. Youâve died twice now; you deserve to cry a little over it, donât you?
Grim stands by you awkwardly as you sob, all thoughts of stealing your clothes and setting you aflame seem to have vanished from his furry head. It doesnât take long for Crowley to come find you, somehow handling the situation with less grace than even Grim. You pay his hollow words no mind and continue on with your long cry. You stay like that for several minutes as the two try to distract you or get you moving along. Finally, you shed your last tear and wipe the wetness from your face.Â
âAre you feeling better?â Asks Crowley.
âNope!â You say, giving him a thumbs up and rising to your feet.
The rest of the night passes exactly as you remember it. The mirror tells you you have no magic. Grim tries to take your place. Rinse. Wash. Repeat.
You thought you were done crying, but as soon as you flopped down on your bed, the tears came back with a vengeance. You didnât bother cleaning up Ramshackle this time. No point in it. Besides, its your work on restoring the place that has Crowley volunteering you as the newest custodian. You want a different job this time. Ideally, youâll get a job in the library. Not only will this give you a steady paycheck, itâs also the job most likely to help you find a way out of this time looping mess, and perhaps even a way back home. A new job also means treading a new path. With this new job, you donât have to meet Ace and get in trouble, or meet Duece and almost get fired. You wonât have to tag along when Ace confronts Riddleâif he confronts Riddleâ, and you wonât have to die.
One thingâs for sure, though. You canât get fired this time. You canât become a student. You have to keep this job. And the only way to do that is to tell Grim he canât stay with you.
You greet Grim with a heavy heart as he breaks into Ramshackle come nightfall. Youâve actually grown rather fond of him these past two weeks. But what must be done must be done. You tell him that you canât take responsibility for him, and that he needs to leave. As expected, he puts up a fight, and manages to convince you to at least let him stay the night as you wait for the storm to settle down.
âJust for tonight,â you say, holding out a pinkie to him.Â
âJust for tonight,â he echos, shaking your finger with his paw. Heâs holding the other one behind his back, but you pay it no mind. Even if he decides to break his promise, itâll become Crowleyâs problem, not yours.Â
 As soon as you find yourself settled under the covers, however, you hear a knock at the front door. Right, Crowley had come to bring you dinner. You had forgotten all about that. Begrudgingly, you leave the bed and head downstairs to where Crowley is waiting for you with a bowl of hot soup. You thank him quietly, and he asks if youâre feeling any better.
You lie and change the subject.Â
âMr. Crowley,â you say, wringing your hands together. âYou said that I could have access to the library, right? To research ways to get home? Well, I was wonderingâŚcould you give me a job in the library? I could work as a page, or a librarian, or whatever other jobs are available.â Crowley pauses, a small frown on his face thatâs gone as quickly as it came.
âWhy, of course. Iâm elated to have such an eager worker,â he says, puffing up his feathers. Then, seemingly touched by his own words, says: âWhy, my magnanimity knows no bounds!âÂ
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Your first day at the library starts out slow. You busy yourself by familiarizing yourself with the organization of the books and the layout of the building. Itâs a rather big place, so this task has you on your feet for most of the day.
âOi, librarian, can you tell me where this book goes?â You pause. That voiceâŚisnât thatâŚ? You turn around. Indeed, Ace stands in front of you, holding a book in his right hand and a pencil in his left. Did he follow you just so he could laugh at your new job, again?Â
âIâm sorry, but I actually donât know where that would go. If you hand it to me, though, I can put it into the computer and find it for you.â
âWhat? Seriously?! You donât know? Arenât you supposed to be the librarian?â There it is. This past week has almost made you forget just how mean Ace starts at the beginning.
âLibrarianâs assistant,â you say. âAnd itâs my first day soâŚâ Ace spends a few minutes attempting to get under your skin before the bell drags him back to class.
âPhew,â you sigh, sinking down onto the floor. These past two weeks have made you consider Ace to be a friend, but that doesnât change just how exhausting he is to be around on your first day.
Deuce visits the library next, and you help him find study materials for his classes. Honestly, he'd be better off looking for them without you, given how long it took for you to navigate the twisting library shelves, but he doesn't seem to mind. If anything, he seems eager to have someone to talk toâhis sincerity acting as a stark contrast to Aceâs earlier flattery. You like Deuce. He's honest and hardworking. Perhaps that's why you didn't turn him down when he invited you to lunch later that day.Â
You spend the rest of the period reshelving books, keeping one on theoretical time travel tucked away for yourself later on. Before you know it, it's time for lunch. As promised, Deuce visits the library again to pick you up, and the two of you head down to the cafeteria together. You both get your food and sit down. The two of you had just barely started talking when the sound of someone else plopping down beside you stills any conversation. Ace has taken it upon himself to join the two of you. You suppose heâs decided he hasnât bothered you enough today.
âWatch out!â Someone cries from across the room. You all whip around to see none other than Grim, collared with tart in mouth and sprinting across the tables, running from a very angry Riddle.
âCatch that thief!â He screams. You turn back around, fully intent on ignoring the chaos and letting someone else handle it when all of a sudden, Grim stops in his tracks on your table.Â
âŚYou canât help but think the scene feels somewhat familiar.Â
Grim launches himself up onto the chandelier, causing both Ace and Deuce to leap up from their seats.
You think you know whatâs going to happen next.
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âI must say, I am thoroughly disappointed in the four of you,â the Headmaster sighs. âWhat in the world were you thinking?â
âIâm sorry, but how am I a part of this?â You ask, raising your hand.Â
âIf I recall correctly, this feline here is your familiar,â Crowley says.
âYou recall incorrectly,â you say. âWe met for the first time at the mirror ceremony.â
âWell, you could have stopped those two from breaking the chandelier,â Crowley argues.
âAnd how, pray tell, could I have done that?â You ask. The two of you bicker back and forth, but unfortunately, Crowley seems hell-bent on getting you involved. The four of you are all threatened with expulsion and given a task to avoid it: find the magestone.
You suppose that some events canât be changed.
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A beast-tamer, he says. Empty words and meaningless flattery, youâre sure. But why? What does he stand to gain from it? From you?Â
You donât know. All you do know is heâs very intent on turning you into a student, and that youâre very intent on not doing that. Every offer he makes to you has you more and more suspicious of his intentions. Though itâs hard to turn down his offer of a higher pay, you manage to overcome temptation. Crowley, surprisingly, keeps his offer open to Grim, who jumps at the opportunity to become a student. Oddly, he still only counts as half a student, and says the offer for you to become the other half will always be on the table. You arenât quite sure what being half a student means for Grim, but he seems happy with it, so you pay it little mind.Â
The next few days are grueling. Crowley works you like a dog at the library. Thanks to that, though, you learn the layout and organization at a superhuman speed. The work keeps you busy, at least. Though you find yourself missing your friends. You still hang out with them during lunch, but you miss being able to talk to them between classes.Â
The loneliness takes over, and soon you find yourself in front of Crowleyâs office door, about to ask about becoming a student again when a sharp pain from your lungs nearly brings you to your knees. Intrusive thoughts of your last two deaths flood into your mind. Right, being a student is what led you to your death. You canât choose to walk the same path again. You have to keep going.
You donât want to die again.Â
The day of the overblot comes. Intent on waiting it out, you stay in the library. You have so much work to do that you couldnât get away even if you wanted to. Which, to be clear, you very much donât want to.Â
At the end of the day you hear through the grapevine that Riddle has recovered. You donât hear anything about any casualties, either.
Good. The day ends, and you head to bed.
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You wake up with a start, instinctively reaching your hand out towards the coffinâs lidâŚexcept, a coffinâs lid is not what you find. Instead, your hand hits nothing but air. Right, you survived. Itâs the next day. You fall asleep to the sound of rain hitting your window, and Grim snoring softly at the foot of your bed.
In the morning, Crowley asks how you slept. Deja vu, but you pay it no mind.
âI slept great!â You say.
âIâm so happy to hear that even in another world, you find yourself adjusting so well,â he says.
âŚ
�
Isnât that what he tells you on your second day? Why is he repeating it?
ItâŚit couldnât be.
No. No way. You didnât wake up in a coffin this time, you woke up in your own bed. ButâŚ
â[Name]? Is something wrong?â
âNo, itâs nothing,â you say.Â
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Youâre back in the library. Just as you had feared, you went back in time to after you had asked Crowley to let you work here. You suppose fate wonât allow you to just skip the main event. You sigh. Whatâs even the point of all this?
âOi, librarian, can you tell me where this book goes?â Last time, you were unable to answer this question, but now you have a weekâs worth of experience under your belt.Â
âYou donât want to reshelve that. If you take it out, please return it to this cart over here so I can reshelve it myself later.â
âEh? Why canât I just put it back where I found it?â
âYou mean aside from the fact that you donât know where you found it? Because we keep track of what books are picked up to know which are the most popular or in demand. We canât count it if you just put it back on the shelf,â you say, taking the book from Ace and loading it into your cart as he tries to make small talk. Thereâs something a little different about his tone and cadence than the last time, but you canât quite place it.Â
âThanks, Iâll see you around,â he says as you wave him off. Weird, you think. He didnât even make fun of me once. What changed? Perhaps itâs just your imagination, but it seems as though Ace becomes less and less hostile towards you with every loop.
Well, you suppose you ought not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Even so, his change has you feeling uneasy.
Deuce visits the library next, and you help him find study materials for his classes. You remember where they were from the last loop. You suppose it must look rather strange for someone to know the library so well on their first day, but you pay this kind of logic no mind and help him find his things in under ten minutes. You suppress a smile at his look of bewildered amazment. He invites you to have lunch with him later that day, and you accept.
You spend the rest of the period reshelving books, keeping one on theoretical time travel tucked away for yourself later on. Before you know it, it's time for lunch. As promised, Deuce visits the library again to pick you up, and the two of you head down to the cafeteria together. You both get your food and sit down. The two of you had just barely started talking when the sound of someone else plopping down beside you stills any conversation. Ace has taken it upon himself to join the two of you. Itâs a little awkward at first, but Aceâs natural charisma soon takes over, and the three of you soon begin laughing around just like old times. It almost feels as though things have gone back to normal.
âŚ
You wish Grim were here, too.
â[Name]? Whatâs wrong? Youâre crying.â Deuce looks over you, his face creased with worry. You raise a hand to your cheek. Sure enough, it comes back wet. You hadnât even noticed.
âOh, itâs nothing. I just got something in my eye.â
âJeez, donât scare us like that,â Ace says.Â
âWhatâs scary?â The three of you all turn to see Cater and Trey holding their lunches.Â
âHey, freshies, mind if we join you?â Cater asks.Â
Things are changing again, but you donât have time to dwell on it before another voice cries out from across the cafeteria.
âWatch out!â Someone cries. You all whip around to see none other than Grim, collared with tart in mouth and sprinting across the tables, running from a very angry Riddle.
âCatch that thief!â He screams. You turn back around, fully intent on ignoring the chaos and letting someone else handle it when all of a sudden, Grim stops in his tracks on your table.Â
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âI must say, I am thoroughly disappointed in the four of you,â the Headmaster sighs. âWhat in the world were you thinking?â You donât bother arguing about your involvement this time. Once again, Crowley offers you a position as one of his students, and once again, you decline. You know that in order to break out of this loop, youâll have to fight and win against Riddle, and you know that youâll have to be a student in order to do that, but, even so, you can still wait until Crowley offers you better pay and benefits before accepting.
The day of the overblot finally comes, and this time, youâre prepared. You can't believe it took so many loops for you to realize you can't just come into a fight empty handed. No, this time you're ready to fight.
You've been spending a lot of time in Crewel's class this past week, and you have the potions to show for it. When Riddle takes on his overblot form, you'll hand out performance enhancing potions to your allies, buying you some time until you find an opening to test out your explosive concoctions.Â
âŚYou hope no one asks why you're carrying potion bombs with you.
Regardless, the dreaded duel comes around, and Riddle's overblot takes place mere moments later. You hand out potions as planned and do your best to direct your friendâs attacks, warning them when something is about to hit them, and yelling whenever there's an opening. Things are going well for once, and you find yourself hopeful, wondering if this time you'll finally see victory.Â
No, you can't let yourself get distracted. You haven't crossed the finish line yet.Â
Riddle throws a rose bush across the garden. You dodge. He commands vines to come forth and attack. You dodge. You're starting to get tired, but you press on. It's almost over. You just need to find an opportunity to use your potion.
The opportunity comes, and you whisper a silent prayer over the bottle before you toss the concoction at the thing standing behind Riddle. The black ink connecting him to his puppeteer is severed, and Riddle falls to the ground. Color returns, and it takes a moment for you to grasp what just happened.
YouâŚwon?
You won!Â
You actually won!
You fall to your knees, ears ringing as everyone clamors around Riddle. You can't hear anything, but it doesn't matter. You won.
That night, you return to Ramshackle and head to bed early. You're curious as to what the next day will bring.
The morning sun rises on a new dawn. Itâs finally over.
For now, anyway.
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