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skullsnbruises · 2 months

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I have finished another wip please be proud B)

TWs for threats, weapons

Worked closely with @skullsnbruises for this one :D

Sapnap had noticed something off about Karl. Maybe it was the occasional fear of water, maybe it was how often he would go out to hang out with Foolish or Tina, or maybe it was how often the other zoned out and seemed disoriented.

He’d seen how confused Karl was the day of the fallout between him and Quackity, but Sapnap convinced the other to stay so that they could work it out and figure everything out.

“Karl?” He asked softly as he watched the other look around the other side of the house, confused. The taller one looked at him. “What are you doing, it’s time for bed.” “Bed.” The other muttered under his breath.

“Come on.” He walked towards the other, arm held open to scoop in and lead the other to their room. Karl didn’t seem to mind too much, seemed to flinch a bit at his touch before calming down and letting the fireborn take the lead.

Sapnap led him back, laying him down in bed and tucking him in next to Quackity, who even though he was asleep, happily melted into the other. Sapnap joined not too long after that, happy to cuddle with his two fiances.

- - -

Sapnap was used to Karl being missing in the mornings, but it didn’t make anything easier. He wandered aimlessly around Kinoko, looking around, until he heard a noise in the library. He slowly approached, walking around until he saw a silhouette through the window.

The fireborn opened the door and walked in, eyes meeting the trembling form of his fiance. He slowly approached, getting down onto his knees as he carefully scooped the other into his arms. “Hey bug, it’s okay.” The other flinched before going slack, zoning out. “Karl?” He asked, a lot more concerned now.

It took a few more seconds before the other zoned back in, no longer crying and instead pulling himself out of Sapnap’s arms. “Hey-What-” “It’s fine, I don’t need help.”

“Karl, let-” “No. Every time you’ve done something to help Karl, you’ve hurt tick.”

The fireborn paused, watching as his fiance walked out on him. What was going on?!

He stood up in an attempt to follow the other, but Karl had simply vanished. So instead he walked back to their home, hunting down Quackity.

- - -

It was dark outside by the time Karl had returned, slowly closing the door. Quackity waved at him from the couch with a smile present on his face. Karl, surprisingly, was not smiling.

“Foolish figured it would be best to tell you about us. I didn’t agree but he said it would be better for ‘communication’.”

“What are you talking about-” Quackity began as Sapnap perched himself up on the top of the couch, watching the other.

“We’re a system. To put it basically–because I doubt you’ll be able to understand the complicated stuff–there’s just a bunch of people in our head. Headmates.” Karl stated plainly, a sharp tone in his voice.

“I am not, and never have been, your Karl. My name is Pyre, but you’d be more familiar with Ephraim. The real Karl is dormant, has been since whatever this El Rapids was.”

The fireborn was just getting more and more confused.

“And…what does it mean…to be dormant?” Quackity asked slowly, clearly having a more level head. “Karl cut themself off from any form of communication or contact for an unknown amount of time.”

That scared Sapnap. He really didn’t know why–no, no he did, the fact that the Karl he knew had cut himself off from them for so long without even telling them why? That their Karl had led them on to believe that someone else was their beloved. This made him angry.

“So why did you tell us?! Why not Karl?! Why did you have to be the mediator?!” He shouted, spooking Quackity. Karl–Pyre–stood his ground, matching his glare. “Because you two hurt watch. You two were the reasons they went dormant! Sapnap, you forced tick to sign away their country, the country he built with watches two bare hands. And Quackity, all you ever did was talk about you, you, you. Never any question about Karl, or any of us. Do you see why?!” Pyre growled, before turning out the door, slamming it shut, and leaving.

The two were in shock. While this was in no way Karl, it was strange to hear Karl’s voice shout these things.

- - -

Karl–Pyre, whoever it was–did return the next day, it was night at this point and while the two in the room may have been fairly tired, the moment their eyes rested on their missing love, any tiredness was gone from their eyes.

“Amor!” Quackity shouted as he ran forward, hugging the other. “Hey Q.” They whispered.

“Who am I talking to?” The avian smiled as he tucked his head into the crook of the other’s neck. They flinched a little at that. “W-what…?”

“Pyre explained, so I just want to know who this is that I’m giving all of my attention to.” Sapnap was no longer glaring, but he didn’t want to approach. He knew what he did yesterday.

“I’m-i’m Ephraim. I-i’m sorry I’ve been pretending to be Karl, it’s just me–the whole system really–were worried about what you two would do if you found out. So we tried to keep it hidden.” Quackity whined. “Amor, amores, we would never hurt any of you. Never ever.”

“That’s-but you hurt Karl, that’s what got us into this mess.”

“We never meant to,” Sapnap spoke next, approaching to hug all of them. “We never meant to, and I know that probably won’t bring Karl back, but I won’t be able to sleep without a clear conscience.”

“Whoa, Sap, that was the literal biggest word I’ve heard you say.” Ephraim spoke, a smile on their face. “Okay, wait, you’ve been referring to Karl with different pronouns, how about you share yours and theirs with us, okay? We won’t judge.”

Ephraim stared at them, fidgeting a little. No wonder they went so long without finding out, they and Pyre seemed to have Karl down to a T.

“Okay, okay, me, Ephraim. Right. I use they/tick/it. And since I’m a direct copy of Karl, our pronouns are fairly similar. They use they/tick/watch/he.” Ephraim explained, now carrying not only Quackitys, but also Sapnap’s weight.

Sapnap watched Ephraim as they became slow, dizzy almost. “You okay?” He asked, taking the taller into his arms. “‘M fine, just probably gonna switch, someone wants front.” The other muttered.

“Q, let’s get them to bed.” The fireborn commanded, sliding their partner into his arms. Quackity led the way, opening doors. If the avian noticed the slowly blinking eyes of the body of their beloveds, he chose not to say anything.

Sapnap lowered the body into the bed, sliding in to help whoever it was to feel nice and cozy. “Come on Q, it’s time for bed.” The avian smiled, sliding in. He put his wings over the other, a protective cocoon to keep the other safe. Just for them.

- - -

Sapnap was a bit upset that their beloved wasn’t in bed with them this morning. They wondered if it was Pyre who pulled them out of bed. Pyre was fairly aggressive, unfortunately.

The knock at the door was unexpected though.

Sapnap was a bit shocked to see Tina and their fiance–Ephraim? Pyre? Maybe a third option–standing at the opening. “Sapnap!” The cat hybrid cheered, hugging him. “Hey Tina, what’s going on?”

“I found Spiral running about, so I went to take them home.” “Spiral?”

“Their system name is Spiral, it’s what they are to be addressed as if they are blurry.” Tina explained. Spiral nodded softly before stepping inside. “Thanks Tina, this means a lot.” The fireborn smiled.

“Any time. But if I find out you’ve done anything to them you will know what a girl’s wrath is like.” The cat hybrid smiled and waved before turning to leave. The fireborn shut the door and took Spiral’s hand. “Let’s try to help you out, okay? How can I do that?”

“Don’t know.” They whispered softly. “Alright, that’s fine. Do you need time to think about it?” Spiral nodded before zoning out. Sapnap sat, watching the other until they blinked their eyes and stared back.

“Welcome back, did you figure it out?” “No, can’t figure out my name.” Sapnap frowned a bit, thinking.

“I don’t know too many of your headmates, but I can give you the names of the ones I do know.” Spiral nodded slowly, taking the fireborn’s hand. “Well, I know Ephraim, and I know Pyre, and I know Karl-” Spiral’s grip in his hand increased once he spoke Karl’s name, so for only a moment he held onto hope, before figuring it could’ve been one of the other two.

“That’s my name.” They whispered. “Karl.”

- - -

It had been a bit of a struggle getting Karl to come back fully. They seemed a bit disoriented, but tick had been gone for months, so that could be expected. Sapnap smiled up at them, holding watches hands so they don’t immediately fall over.

“You’re doing really good.” He spoke, smiling happily. “Thanks.” The other smiled. “I’ve got you and Pyre to help me.”

The fireborn smiled softly. “I’m sorry for everything, darling, I never meant to hurt you.” “I know.” Karl nodded, staring into his eyes. “I just needed a break, but I didn’t want to upset you two, so I just let Ephraim take over.”

Sapnap nodded, pulling Karl close. He wrapped his arms around them, holding them in a tight hug.

“I’m back!” Quackity announced, walking boldly into the room. “Q, guess who’s back!” The fireborn smiled widely, motioning to Karl.

“Hey Spiral, how are you?” The avian smiled, hugging them. “I don’t know yet, but thank you.” Sapnap was almost too excited.

“Q, this is Karl! Karl’s back!” He smiled happily, hugging them tighter. “Karl! Amor, I missed you.” Quackity hugged the other tighter. The three hugged for a bit before Karl’s grip became weaker.

The two let go, keeping an eye on them until they blinked again. Their back straightened as Spiral pushed away.

“Hey Pyre.” Quackity spoke. Sapnap felt awkward. “Don’t touch me.” Pyre began, prying themself away from the two.

“Hey, come on, can we talk this out?” Quackity began. “No. Karl may be back, but I won’t let you hurt them again.”

“What is your issue? We just want to help you all. Why won’t you let us help?!” Sapnap growled. “Sap!” Quackity hissed.

“What’s my issue? How would you feel if your source was the cause of this mess? How would you feel?!” Pyre returned, their glare obvious on their face.

When neither of them responded, Pyre scoffed and left the building.

“G–d— it Sap! Every time! You can’t just snap like that!” The fireborn nodded. “I-I know, I’m sorry, I got caught in the moment.”

- - -

Sapnap sat down as he set down a book. He began to write in the silence of the night, the kitchen light overhead being his only source of light.

“What are you doing?” Sapnap jumped, dropping the pen. In the shadows lurked Spiral. “Hey-sorry you scared me.”

“Good, that was the plan.”

“You’re not Pyre or Ephraim, right?” “No, I’m Maera.”

“Nice to meet you.” Maera nodded. The fireborn just stared at them awkwardly before going back to writing.

“You never answered my question.” “G–, please stop scaring me…” He pleaded.

“Unfortunately I can’t, this is just how I am.”

Sapnap sighed.

“I’m trying to write out a list of your headmates so that maybe I can help better.” He admitted. “Oh, that’s fairly smart. I wouldn’t have expected you to come up with that from what I’ve heard from Pyre and Ephraim.”

“Yeah, well, Pyre has issues with me apparently.” “He’s just protective.”

Maera eventually decided to sit down, watching as he scribbled into the book.

“That’s everything you know?” They commented. “Hey, cut me some slack, I’ve only found out about your system like three days ago.”

Maera pulled the book out from the fireborn’s grasp, taking the pen, and doing some of their own scribbling. They wrote for a bit with the fireborn reading over their shoulder.

“There,” they spoke after a bit, passing the book back to Sapnap, “this should be everything to know about our system. I even wrote down some of the other terms.” He read through it, nodding along before pausing.

“So, wait, you put ‘caution’ on two headmates, what, Ethereal and Lara? Why?” Maera met his gaze with a blank one of ghosts own.

“Lara’s a bit of a stalker. Obsessive, or however you want to call it. And Ethereal, aey have a god complex. That wouldn’t be an issue if xey didn’t act on it. If aey threaten someone, you had better take it seriously because xey will go through with it.”

That made the fireborn stiffen. “That’s-that’s unnerving.” “I would feel like that too if I didn’t deal with those two already.”

“Thank you Maera, this means a lot.” “Of course. You’re not as bad as Pyre makes you out to be.”

“I don’t know if that’s supposed to be a compliment-” “It is.”

“Okay, nice. I was also wondering, Pyre’s a factive? Of who?”

Maera just watched him for a few minutes.

“I’ll let Pyre tell you when flaer’s ready.” Sapnap nodded slowly, a bit disappointed. “So now that this is done, do you want to come sleep with me and Q?”

End paused for a moment before standing up. “Fine, I will go with you.” Sapnap happily took moon’s hand, leading dark towards their bedroom. “Thank you for everything.” He finished, smiling into Maera’s eyes.

“You seemed like you needed help.”

- - -

Sapnap smiled as he pulled Spiral and Quackity closer, letting them curl into his body. Neither minded it.

It was a sleepy morning, and no one was willing to break it.

Spiral blinked their eyes open, staring closely at Sapnap. “Good morning.” The fireborn spoke, happily pulling them closer. “Can I ask who this is?”

“James and Ephraim, co-fronting.”

“Well it’s nice to meet you James, and nice to see you again Ephraim.” “Ephraim’s still sort of asleep, but I’m sure it’ll share your views.”

The fireborn held James and Ephraim as close as he could, letting Quackity readjust himself in the bed. “You’re pretty cuddly.” “Just want hugs.”

“Hey Sappy.” Spiral spoke again. “Ephraim?”

“Yeah. James switched out and Pyre doesn’t want to talk to you. Pretty sure Sun may front soon, Handsome’s a bit iffy with fronting.”

He paused for a moment. “I-sorry, still figuring it out, those are all of Pyre’s system, the Pyro System?” “Yeah.”

He hummed. “Alright. It’s time for breakfast anyways, want to help me get Q up?” Ephraim giggled mischievously before shoving the avian off the bed.

“Mi carino!” The avian shouted as he hit the floor. Ephraim laughed happily, rolling over and landing on the avian. “Love you Q.” The other muttered, cuddling into the other.

“It’s time for breakfast, you lovebirds.” Sapnap chuckled fondly, flopping onto their pile. Ephraim, in retaliation, wrapped their arms around the fireborn. “No,” Tick pouted, “Q, tell him no.” The other smiled. Quackity just laughed.

“It’s time for breakfast, come on.” The two pulled Ephraim up, smiling and laughing the whole way. It just whined, but followed anyway. The two guided them to the kitchen where Ephraim split to go sit down while the other two worked on breakfast.

When the two turned back to the table after noticing how quiet Ephraim was, they had zoned out, so Sapnap pulled out a book. “What’s that?” The avian asked, peaking over his shoulder to get a look. “Maera helped me write this, its Spiral’s alters and system terms.”

“Maera?” “Ranboo factive.”

“Factive?” “A headmate that is formed from another real person, while a fictive is formed from a character from fiction. Those two fall under the Introjects umbrella.”

The avian nodded, and Sapnap held out the book for the other to look over. Spiral burst to life again, looking around before settling down. “Hey Spiral, foods ready. It’s cereal, want some?” The other nodded, so the fireborn carefully slid a bowl over to him. Spiral reached for the bowl, trying hard to grab the spoon, but instead struggling.

“Do you need help?” The other nodded shyly. Sapnap took the spoon into his hand, scooping up some of the cereal and holding it out for Spiral. Spiral’s hands were shaky as they reached out for it. The fireborn put the spoon back in the bowl as he scooted the chair over to sit near Spiral. “Who is this?” He asked, carefully taking a hand in his.

“Froggy.” They muttered. Sapnap pointed to the book, motioning for Quackity to look. “Little, they/frog.” Quackity spoke. The fireborn nodded in thanks before carefully scooping up more cereal and slowly feeding it to the little.

Froggy held onto Sapnap’s hand, and the fireborn couldn’t help but feel just a little bit of a protective feeling. Was this how a parent felt? If so, he was absolutely not gonna let it go.

He continued feeding the little, making little entertaining noises for the other. Quackity helped a bit too, making silly faces. Froggy seemed to enjoy it, happily eating the cereal until there was nothing left.

“We’re done now, little frog.” Sapnap smiled, pressing a kiss to the little’s forehead. The little just nodded, sad when Sapnap stopped touching them.

The fireborn noticed this of course, being quick to finish his breakfast before pulling the little into his arms. “Hey Q, do you mind taking my bowl to the sink? Froggy’s a bit clingy.” “As long as I get some cuddles too.” The avian smiled, taking the dishes and washing them.

When he turned back to the table, big, beautiful gray eyes stared right back at him from over the shoulder of the fireborn. Quackity couldn’t help the soft trill leaving his mouth as he walked up and kissed Froggy’s head, oh so gently. The other liked the touch, trying to reach out for the avian.

“Alright, come on, let’s move this to the couch so that Froggy can get the cuddles frog wants.” Sapnap barely struggled carrying the other, sitting down on the couch and letting Froggy go to get comfortable on the couch.

The little held out their arm in a grabby hands motion towards Quackity, who flopped down on the couch, getting close to Froggy. The avian pressed a kiss to their forehead as the three just held each other close.

“How are you feeling?” The fireborn asked softly, gently kissing the littles palm. “Safe.” They whispered, silently pleading for the two to get closer. Neither fiance complained.

“Do you like hugs?” The little softly nodded.

- - -

Froggy stayed with them all day aside from dinner, and only then did Quackity catch on. “Sap, can I see the book?” The avian asked while the fireborn was busy cooking. The fireborn handed it off without question, so he took it to the table.

Spiral zoned back in, blinking as they met Quackity’s eyes. “Hey there.” The avian smiled while opening the book. “Oh, hey Q.” They smiled, shifting uncomfortably.

“What’s your name?” “I-Karl…?”

The avian looked at them, and watched as their gaze shifted towards the sink, getting panicked over the sound of rushing water. The avian scanned the book, placing his finger down.

“Sap, could you turn off the sink? You’re scaring Isaac.” The fireborn shut off the sink and turned quickly. “What…?”

“You were scaring Isaac.”

Isaac and Sapnap both looked at Quackity, Isaac’s face full of confusion while Sapnap looked on in regret. “Sorry, that wasn’t what I was trying to do.” The fireborn eyed the two.

“You-you know?” Isaac asked, movements getting a bit frantic. “Yeah, don’t worry, Pyre told us. Maera wrote this book too.” Neither statement really calmed the poor man as he started to lose control of aquas breathing.

“Isaac, hey, can you breathe?” The other frantically shook his head before mumbling something about switching. The body slowly stopped moving before someone else took in a calm breath.

“G–, Q, why did you have to be so dramatic?” The fireborn spoke. He didn’t mean to be aggressive but the duck hybrid was already struggling. “Sorry-I, f—.”

“I’m sure whatever happened is okay.” Spiral smiled softly, reaching out and holding onto Quackity’s hand. “Thanks Spiral.” They nodded before turning to Sapnap and smiling.

“So who’s this?” Quackity asked cautiously. “‘M blurry right now, but it’s okay, I’m sure I can figure it out.”

“Hand them the book, alright Q?” The avian nodded excitedly before pushing the book towards them. “What’s this?” Spiral asked. “Maera helped Sap write it. The two planned on it being helpful. It’s a list of all the headmates and terms.” Quackity explained.

Spiral nodded, flipping through the pages and reading it. The fireborn set out dinner before Spiral pulled their head out of the book to face them. “Pretty on point.” They smiled. “And did it help?” The fireborn asked as he sat down.

“Yeah, thanks. Karl.” Both of the two let out a sigh of relief. “Thank g– the book is useful.” Sapnap explained.

“You know what, what if we showed you around Kinoko and Las Nevadas Karl?” Quackity spoke as he began to dish up his plate. “That would be fun, I think I’d like that.”

The three smiled and laughed through all of dinner, enjoying their time together before they cleaned up and went to bed.

Quackity happily showed Karl around the house while Sapnap got things ready in their bedroom. “Mi amor, it’s time for bed, come on.” The avian laughed as Karl got distracted by the bathroom. “Okay, fine.” The other smiled, draping tickself across him.

Quackity led Karl with a smile before pulling the other into the room. Sapnap laid expectantly on the bed, holding onto Saline, the Spiral System’s plush. “Come on bug, I’m tired.” The fireborn smiled, holding out an arm. Karl smiled softly and carefully crawled into the bed. “What’s this?” Watch asked, poking at Saline.

“This is Saline. They keep you guys safe.” Sapnap spoke, emphasizing ‘you guys’ with a boop on his nose. “That’s nice, like Salina.” They spoke, tired from the excitement of looking around the house.

Quackity slid in bed too, effectively trapping the other in a big hug. “Yeah?” The avian prodded, curling into the one in the middle. “I like this.” Karl whispered softly, pulling the two closer.

The avian peaked over at Sapnap, who smiled at him once they both realized that Karl had fallen asleep. It was perfect.

- - -

Sapnap stretched, yawning. He had finally gotten good sleep with a clear mind. He wrapped his arms tighter around the person next to him, before he remembered that it was Spiral. “Good morning.” He whispered, pulling the other closer.

“Morning Sap.” They whispered back, holding the other closely. “What do you want to do today?”

“Where’s Q?” Spiral asked. “He’s got work today, he’ll be in Las Nevadas.”

“Can you two show me around?” They added, finally opening their eyes, peering into the fireborn’s own eyes. “I’d be happy to if Q can’t.” He smiled, slowly sitting up. He helped Spiral sit up.

“Sorry if our movements are a bit hesitant, Pyre and Gambit are co-fronting with me.” Oh. That took Sapnap off guard for a moment. So two out of the three fronting didn’t like him. That would make it a bit harder. “That’s…that’s okay. And who are you?”

“Still me.” They muttered, yawning a bit. “So, Karl?”

“Yeah, that’s me.” Tick slowly stood up, smiling at the fireborn before the other went to get ready. Sapnap copied the other, quickly changing into a new outfit. Karl was adjusting to the outfit chosen. “So…this is what we’ve been wearing?”

Sapnap smiled as the other tried to grasp at the concept. The black turtleneck sleeveless crop top, covered by a solid purple cloak that draped over their shoulders. The multi-colored evening fingerless gloves were a nice splash of color compared to the black bell-bottom pants over 6-inch platforms.

“Feels kind of exposing-” They choked out between laughs before meeting the fireborn’s gaze. “I like it.” He smiled, hugging Karl. “But if you do want to change, there’s a few other outfits in the closet too.”

“I think I’ll wear it, kind of want to see how it feels.” Karl smiled, pressing a kiss to the fireborn’s forehead. “Just makes you shorter.” The fireborn snorted. “Yeah, whatever, come on, let's grab something to eat before we leave.”

Sapnap didn’t miss how the other curiously followed him. “Your wings are really cool.” They whispered, reaching out to touch them. Sapnap smiled fondly, stretching them out towards Karl. The other happily touched them, curiosity peaking. Sapnap grabbed a few granola bars and shoved them into his pocket before turning.

Karl wasn’t there anymore.

Well s—.

“Karl? Spiral?” He called out before he spotted the other. “Sorry! Sorry! Gambit wanted to grab something.” They smiled, quickening their pace and wrapping the other in a hug.

“Alright, you guys ready to go then?” He asked, receiving a hum. “Just follow me.”

- - -

The two used the highway to get quickly from Kinoko to Las Nevadas while Sapnap called the avian. When they arrived, the fireborn helped Spiral out of their cart. “Still you three?” They nodded, following.

“Amores!” He heard Quackity shout, quickly running at them. “Hey!” Quackity hugged the two before taking a spot next to Spiral.

“Who is it today?” Q asked, looking at Sapnap. “Karl, Pyre, and Gambit.” He watched as the avian flinched a bit. The two were led through the city, smiling and laughing happily at each stupid joke until Purpled approached.

“What are these two doing, do I need to get rid of them?” The teen asked, pulling out an axe. “No, Purpled, don’t-” Quackity started before he was pushed away by Karl, who now held an axe towards the other.

Sapnap recognized it, that was the axe he got from beating Dream in a manhunt. “Karl, put it down, please-” The fireborn tried to plead with the other before he was shoved out of the way. “Purpled, put that away.” Quackity commanded softly, trying to deescalate the situation.

The teen put the axe away, watching Spiral cautiously. “Spiral, love, you can put it away, come on.” Sapnap whispered, raising an arm up to their outstretched arm. In turn, Spiral whipped around and pointed the axe at the fireborn.

“Spiral!” Quackity shouted. The other looked dead in Sapnap’s eyes, aura having changed from curious to powerful and angry. Eventually Spiral slowly brought down the weapon, still holding it tightly in their hand.

The alien looked at them confused before backing away. “I-i’ll just leave you three to whatever you were doing.” “Get Foolish.” Sapnap instructed. Purpled nodded and ran off.

“Spiral, please calm down. It’ll be okay.” The other just glared at the two before flipping them off and walking away. Sapnap let out a gasp as Quackity ran after him.

When Sapnap finally realized what was happening, he heard footsteps and turned towards them. “Hey Foolish-” “Purpled said you needed me? Something about Karl?”

“Uh…Yeah actually, Spiral started getting aggressive and threatened Purpled, then threatened me. They flipped Q and I off and now we’re just confused.” The fireborn explained. “Oh. Did Spiral talk at all?”

“No, but I don’t see why that would be an issue-” “And Quackity went after them?”

“Yes…?” “Well. Come on, we need to hunt down Gambit before quack murders Quackity.” The totem hybrid finished, dragging Sapnap along as they started to search.

Quackity was found moments later, smiling proudly as Spiral trailed behind. “Q, oh thank g–.” Sapnap whispered, hugging the other. His eyes trailed up, staring at Spiral. “Do you want a hug too?”

The other nodded slowly, eyes never leaving the fireborn. “Little?” “No, this is Gambit.”

“Gambit…You, you got him to follow you?” Foolish asked, astonished. “Yeah, it wasn’t that hard, honestly.”

“You’re lying.” “I am.”

“What did you do?” Sapnap asked curiously. “A lot of talking, a lot of promising.” The avian admitted, giving the fireborn a look of ‘Tell you later’.

“That’s…wow. I…” Foolish found himself at a loss of words. “You know what, this is too much for today, so let’s get going.” Sapnap smiled, grabbing Quackity’s arm. He wanted badly to reach out and touch Gambit, but he was unsure of how the other would react.

Gambit followed behind, silent and stalking as Quackity led them up to his office. Once they arrived in the office, Gambit was quick to sit down silently in a seat. Sapnap sat down opposite of them as Quackity took a place next to them. The fireborn pulled the book out of his inventory, flipping through the pages until he found Gambit’s name. He read it carefully before handing the book to the avian.

“Questions?” Gambit asked, taking the fireborn by surprise. “I-you can talk?”

“Of course I can, I just choose to not waste my energy on idiots like you who wouldn’t understand anything I say.” Gambit hissed out. “Hey.” Q spoke softly, resting a hand on quacks shoulder.

“We want to understand this so we can help you, okay? So we can help all of you.” Sapnap explained, daring to reach out and grab gold’s hand. “Will you let us?” It thought for a moment before sighing. “Sure, whatever. I’ll answer questions.”

“Awesome!” The fireborn smiled, staring at Q. “Okay, here’s a question. Maera didn’t put names down for two headmates. Your’s and Pyre’s. We know you two are factives, and we just want to have a complete book. I don’t want to push you-” “Quackity.”

The avian looked up, head whipping over to Gambit. “Wha-what…?” Sapnap paused. “You were going to ask who I was a factive of, weren’t you-g– you are so predictable.” Quack let out a groan.

The fireborn looked a bit shocked and surprised. “I-yeah I was going to ask that, so you’re a factive of Quackity? Him?” Gambit nodded, staring at Sapnap. “And…would you be willing to tell us about Pyre?” The fireborn took the book and began to write down the information they gained. “It’s not my place to tell you about Pyre. He likes to tell pyr’s own thing.”

“Okay, that’s cool, thank you though.” Sapnap smiled. “Why are you so…aggressive? I-I’m not that aggressive, am I?” Quackity asked. “You may not be, but I am a protector, I protect the system internally and externally. I make sure harm doesn’t come upon us, no matter what.”

“So how did you know how to use weapons?” “It was something I learned at a time.” Gambit answered vaguely. “Have you heard of Erdum?”

“Who?” “Erdum. Aer isn’t fully like us, it isn’t fully formed. A fragment. Spook’s job within the system is to hold memories. Some of those memories are when Karl–the host, but you knew that–was learning to use weapons. Those memories are locked away now.”

Quackity looked at Sapnap. “Would…would it be possible to talk to Karl?” Gambit turned to look at him. “Why.”

“We just want to ask them a few things, alright?” “Fine, but not until you give me what you promised.” Quack held gold’s hand out, waiting. Quackity smiled before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a chip. It was specific to Quackity, and if the colors were something to go by, Sapnap assumed the chip was the one Q had made for Karl a while before they found out about the entire system. “Just for your system.”

Gambit nodded, getting up and pocketing the chip before moving out to the balcony and looking at the ground far below. Sapnap crept behind, waiting for something to happen as Spiral pulled out the chip and flipped it over a few times. “What are you doing over there, help me trigger Karl, please.” Spiral–Gambit hissed. Sapnap smiled softly, slowly approaching.

He wrapped an arm around it, pulling him close. Q joined them moments later, doing the same thing. “I don’t know how to really do this, but we’ll try and help, okay?” Gambit nodded. The avian noticed that the longer the two just stayed there, cuddling close to Spiral, the more lethargic they became, before they gripped at the two. “Closer.” Spiral muttered.

The two smiled, Sapnap happily pulling the two closer, effectively squishing Spiral. “Do you like this?” The fireborn asked. “Can we stay like this forever?” They whispered.

“Well, after we talk to Karl then we can cuddle for as long as you guys want.” Q whispered, placing a kiss on the other’s cheek. “Yeah, then let’s talk.” Spiral–Karl muttered, getting cozy.

“Oh s—, sorry bug we didn’t know it was you-” Sapnap spoke, pressing a kiss to tick’s hand. “It’s okay, just want cuddles. Miss cuddles.”

“That’s okay, let’s go to the couch.” Sapnap whispered, carefully lifting Karl into his arms. “Hey…” Quackity muttered, sulking as he stayed where he was.

“Oh come on, you can move your feet on your own, can’t you?” Sapnap joked. “What if I don’t want to…” The avian muttered.

“Alright princess, hang on.” He joked, walking up to the other and lifting him easily into his arms. Once the two got to the couch, he threw Quackity onto it before Karl trapped the avian in their arms. Quackity smiled, taking the chip out of tick’s hand and carefully slid it into watch’s own pocket. “Now we don’t have to worry about hurting anyone.”

“What did you want to talk about…” Karl asked softly. “Nothing too hard, promise.” Sapnap spoke.

“How long have you all been a system?” “For as long as I remember. Although my earliest memory is transferring myself with Kris to their world.” The other spoke softly, pulling Sapnap into their little pile.

“Do they know about the system?” “Yeah. Gummy loves Nolan. The littles like hanging out with Kris, Pyre and Gambit shockingly like being around Jimmy. And Deimne likes being around Chandler, makes xem feel better.” Karl explained.

“That’s pretty cool, I’m glad they know. Anyone other than us who knows about you guys on the server?” “Foolish, Tina, and Ranboo. Those three are the only ones.”

“Why Ranboo?” “It was an accident, Deimne had only formed that day in the Otherside so red didn’t know what was happening. It’s not like any of us hate it, we actually felt better about it.”

“So…who was the first that formed?” “I think it was Ephraim and Bonnie.”

“And the first who formed here?” “Pyre and Gambit.”

The two wrote this all down, not noticing how Karl seemed to slip into sleep. “Bug?” Quackity asked first. The other didn’t answer, trapping the two in their positions. With a sigh, Sapnap shook the other awake. “Hm?”

“Karl, love, are you really that tired?” The other slowly nodded their head. “That’s okay, come here.” Sapnap whispered, pulling Karl close. “Good night, my love.” He whispered. Quackity joined their cuddle pile.

- - -

Sapnap woke up to a warmth pressed closely against him. His eyes opened as he ran a hand through Spiral’s hair. “Morning.” Spiral spoke first. The fireborn smiled. “Good morning, darling.”

“I-i’m sorry, I never should’ve treated you two like I did.” Spiral apologized. “I’m sure whatever you think you did didn’t hurt us too much…” Sapnap drawled, encouraging the other to give them their name.

“Pyre.” “Oh f—.” Sapnap paused. Pyre froze.

“I-s—.” Pyre muttered. “No, no, it’s okay, I just wasn’t expecting you. I’m happy that you apologized, and I accept it.” He smiled. Pyre nodded slowly.

“I got defensive of the system, and I am sorry. You, Sapnap, being my source, gave me the idea that I was to replace the thing that hurt us deeply. But that’s not the case. The body is comfortable with you and Quackity to the point where Gambit and I were formed.”

Sapnap smiled, running a hand through Pyre’s hair.

“I understand. We did hurt you guys. A lot. So I should be asking for the system’s forgiveness.” “You don’t even have to ask, we’ve already forgiven you two.”

The fireborn smiled softly. “Would you let us help you all?” The other thought for a moment. “We’d like that.” Flaer whispered, slumping into the other two.

“You can trust us. We’d never do you any harm.” Sapnap whispered into their ear as he pulled pyr closer. “We love you all so much, and will do anything in our power to make sure you all know it.”

Pyre got more comfortable within the arms of their two fiances as Sapnap brushed a hand down flaer’s back.

“It may be a bit rocky at the start, trying to figure everything out and all. But no matter what, we’ll be here, and figure it out together.”

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skullsnbruises · 2 months

Text

The Fallen Angel

Ezephr's Backstory

— 2

Content Warnings: : Human experimentation, child experimentation, kidnapping, violence, toying with people, mentions of death, abuse/starvation, mentions of children killing each other, dehumanization, mentioned cannibalism, bullying

Chapter 2 — Bread

He wasn't sure how long they'd been in this place, but he eventually learned the word ‘cage’. That's where they all were, apparently. For the moment, X1 was huddled up in the corner with X4, attempting to stay hidden from their cellmates. He’d heard the people dressed strangely say that word when talking about them all. At least it wasn't too hard to figure out what was being said. So far, they were all being ignored--food was tossed inside randomly, and sleep was rare. Every time he tried to get rest, those people would close in on them.

That is to say…he’s been protecting X4, taking the hits for her, giving her some of his food so she wasn't hungry, and barely sleeping. He would've done more, but she’d already resisted him giving her all his food, so he was relenting. For now. It wasn't too hard to act as a shield though, seeing as she’d freed his wings when she woke up. Turns out she was just passed out, but not actually hurt that badly--X4 was awake later that night, confused and trying to hold him like she had earlier. While he'd been glad she was okay, he was forced to stop her to avoid extra attention.

He stared at the others present in the room, eyeing even his other two siblings. They, from the beginning, ended up crying and obeying their cellmates. Sometimes they acted like who they were, but every now and then those two would attempt whatever the older ones had taught them. X1 wasn't stupid, though. He paid attention when they were shown how to do something, watching from his corner. Everyone in here acted like they had to be mean and hit people to get anything…maybe they did. The only problem with that, is he was weak.

There was never a time that he’d been very athletic…he could clearly remember the day his father found out, the look he'd been given. It made him feel like a failure. He wasn't sure how to fix that though, was there some sort of trick to it? Maybe he could heal himself while being hit? He’d just run out of mana before they would stop attacking, he wasn't strong with his magic either. His eyes went to X4, who was sitting similarly to him and staring nowhere, having acted differently ever since they got here. Was he capable of protecting her?

While he was thinking, a person in one of those same dark outfits from that day went by all the cells, as silent as ever. This was a repetitive event he’d seen many times before…they were getting food. Well, he didn’t know if it counted as food compared to what he’d grown up with, but it kept him and X4 from starving. His eyes darted to the older kids when the cart got closer, worried about what they might do this time. The cart rattled as it passed, pieces of old, dry bread being chucked into their shared cage. Hurriedly, he shoved himself forward to grab two of them.

A sudden shift of mood had his body reacting on pure instinct as his feathers quivered and his wings moved to act as a shield. He was just in time, too, as a fist connected with one of the wings in place of his head. He grit his teeth and made no sound, trying to ignore how his now injured wing quivered in pain. He looked up to be greeted by an enraged face, but he still clung to the two precious pieces of bread he retrieved for himself and X4. She wasn’t the same anymore, but he wouldn’t let her starve either.

They sneered at him and went to kick him this time. In response, he curled up to let his wings fully hide him inside of them, tumbling from the impact but still remaining silent. “The fuck are you always needing two for?! You get one, you damn wimp. Get up!” He shook for a moment, saying nothing, but eventually peeking out of his wings at the violent older girl in front of him. Her sharpened teeth were bared at him, a striking contrast of ivory against onyx skin. He looked to her wire thin tail that lashed behind her with as much rage as her expression.

Well then. He stood up, letting his wings relax and brushing himself off before meeting her striking red eyes. “...I grabbed it, it’s mine.” In an instant, she filled the room with the same sound his mother made when everyone was taken away, her fist filling his vision. With no time to use his wings, he raised his arms in a desperate attempt to block the hit, only to fine the situation much worse than he previously believed. The moment her fist connected, he heard and felt a loud SNAP just before the force of the strike reached him.

He gasped as he got thrown back and the bread left his grip, but copied her expression and flared his hurting wings, stopping himself. X1 was scared, but he just ran right at her, trying to copy her attack, to learn from them. All she did was grab his hand, yank him closer, and ram her knee into his stomach. That one made him hit the low ceiling and crumple to the floor when he fell. He couldn't breathe. What was that? What did she do? Why couldn't he breathe? A white hot sensation bloomed behind his eyes while his mouth gaped, unable to give him the reprieve of air.

She didn't give him time to recover. Immediately, the female demon stomped over to the injured angel and kicked his side to flip him over. “Dumbass…you just don’t get how it works.” She slammed her foot down on his chest, causing X1 to lose any air he’d managed to regain with a strangled exhale. He was still trying to be quiet…he knew they liked it when his siblings made noise when hit. Her heel ground into him and he scrunched his face, eyes squeezing shut from the effort of silence. “I am the top. You obey what I want you to do or you get hurt.”

Apparently, his continued silence angered her, as she proceeded to make that weird, gravelly noise again and stomp a second time. “Look at me when I'm talking to you!” He didn't really react aside from a cough, but after a considerable few defiant seconds, he forced his eyes open. Without hesitation, he glared at her, his eyes possessing far too much hatred for a five year old, even for an angel. She initially stiffened, her own eyes widening ever so slightly, before she covered it by kicking his face from this angle and stepping away.

He bit his lip as his nose exploded with blood, but he still didn’t heal himself yet. Rather…he rolled over, trying to push himself up when she reached for the bread he dropped. No…she can't have it. That wasn't hers! Using a newfound burst of energy and disregarding how moving hurt, he threw himself at her. Mainly at her body in general…and he didn’t try to hit how she did. This time, he latched onto her leg, wrapping his limbs around it, before he bit, hard. Blood flowed into his mouth and she gave a short scream.

As expected, it didn’t take long before she was prying him off, her fist hitting his face repeatedly until he finally relented. She stumbled away from him in shock while he simply fell to the floor…then began to sit up. He looked her dead in the eye and with a grin uncharacteristic of a child, he displayed his bloodied teeth and…a chunk of her leg. “If I can’t have bread, I have to eat something else, right?” His off-set tone combined by his following head tilt had all of them experiencing the sensation of cold, dangerous fingers sliding down their spines.

She leaned back, then glanced at her leg, where the blood poured freely and stained her dark skin with evidence of his wrath. With a strangled sound, she scrambled away from him and shot a look of horror around the room. “You took a bit out of my leg?!” Her fearful reply was met with a blank look of confusion.

He blinked at her. “Yes? I thought I already said that.” His mind felt like it was rolling through sludge, unable to think through any of his actions. He couldn't truly process what he’d just done either, only understanding he’d finally gotten her. This state of mind, unfortunately, was exactly what this place wanted from the children.

The demon shook her head, backing away from him before chucking the bread at him…but only one piece. She wouldn’t risk giving both back, the others might call her weak and try to take over! “Then you don’t need food for two.” Try as she might, she couldn't bring herself to be quite as snappy as she had been previously. He was weak, he wasn't a threat…but he was certainly unsettling. She might have to beat him down again, but maybe later. She chose to back off…this time.

X1 stared dumbly at the bread when it hit him, then picked it up when it finally clicked what happened. He got the bread back. His feet were unsteady, so he stayed on his knees and crawled over to X4. Her shocked, empty stare was lost on him as he shoved the pitiful piece of bread at her hands. “I got your food…please eat, sister.” She hesitated, eventually reaching out and lightly touching his face. Her thin fingers traced where his skin had split, where bruises were already forming, and his possibly broken nose. She held the bread tighter.

He just smiled at her. X4 shook her head, but kept the food and looked away, her hand falling away from him as if she was giving up. The angel was unsure why she’d do that, she never did that. What did he do? Idly, he moved to sit beside her and wiped the blood around his mouth onto his bare arm. He froze, staring at the red smear over his skin with a rather baffled expression. How did that get there? His mind flowed slowly, but reminded him he had just been hit. Oh yeah…he was bleeding. He put a hand over his middle and began to heal himself, closing his eyes to get some rest.

☾︎☀︎︎☽︎

He had been observing the children for a week now, having chosen to follow through with his enjoyable plan of immediate exposure. So far? It was going swimmingly. He found himself grinning when there was a rather drastic change in their behaviors, especially X1. That one in particular adapted exceedingly fast to the change in situation, though it was regrettable that it tended to act only in defense of X4, of which he’d already designated as a failure. The elf had been interesting, but when moved all it did was cower, no real trace of what it almost became left behind.

Not much he could do about that, nor did he intend to. Rather, he centered his focus on X1, tapping his pen in thought while observing the live feed of their cell. From what he’d seen so far, the angel had picked up on their situation and readjusted to prevent getting hurt, whilst simultaneously stealing knowledge from the others present. He was enjoying the show and had begun to ignore the human ones…they failed their job anyway, all of them. He’d prefer to watch something far more exciting--the rise of a perfect test subject.

If the subject X1 managed to impress him any further, he may have to prepare the laboratory for their experiment. The wraith had undergone a few of their trial experimentations, but it still refused to kill, making it worthless. If it would kill he’d be a lot happier with it, but such is the stupidity of life.

While he was watching the screen, something else happened and he froze. Then the doctor launched to his feet, mouth stretching unnaturally as a manic grin overcame his expression. He was playing witness to a scene of pure, instinctive, desperate violence, that which held everything he’d been looking for. He stayed that way, observing the entire fight and finding his own emotions fluctuating as it went on. At first he was disappointed, seeing the angel lose, only to get a thrill of excitement over the retaliation the subject provided.

He kept watch over the following, interesting actions, coming to a few different conclusions. The angel…the boy certainly had a concussion, likely from that kick to the face. The wing and arm were broken…the nose was bleeding, but not enough for a true break. He grabbed a sheet and began to make notes of the injuries, eager to also see how he would recover from them just as much as seeing them be created. Black eyes, lip split several times over, possible broken ribs…that was a lot of exciting, useful damage. This was amazing.

How could a five year old already be this fascinating?! Sure, angels were among the top race when it came to speed of mental development, but the child was already capable of judging the situation and unleashing the same level of violence as was done to him. It was such a beautiful sight, witnessing a subject show such extreme response levels so early. The doctor tapped the pen again before adding a few additional comments on the side. Perhaps increases in stress would trigger X1 further…he needed to witness that. Maybe…he should reopen the pit.

☾︎☀︎︎☽︎

Ever since that…you couldn't even really call that incident a fight. Still, since then he’d been either left alone entirely…or hit with no warning. X4 hadn't been talking to him as often either…well he knew she didn't speak, but she was just sitting there now. In fact she wasn't arguing over their food from then on. That was good, but not like her. He didn't feel very great about it after the initial happiness over her accepting it. X1 hugged his knees tightly, deciding to just think about how long he'd been in the cage. The only way to tell time in here was to count how often he slept.

Once he'd actually stopped to think about it, he didn't have that hard of a time keeping track anymore. It was maybe seven days before he got hit. Okay, one week. It had been that much…maybe four times now? So around five weeks? They were being left here, weren't they. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes to think. Sometimes they would take two people and only one came back. That meant this place wasn't permanent, right? One person got out. He just had to be sure it was X4 who gets out if he's taken away with her. He looked at the silent, detached girl.

For the first time in a while, he scooted closer to her, leaning against her shoulder tentatively. “Are you okay, big sister?” She seemed to flinch, her hand twitching as her eyes went to him, finally gaining her attention. He'd tried to talk to her often, but he hadn't tried copying her comfort method before. “Are you going to admit it, or do I need to pout and poke you until you do?” There were some unhappy responses from their cellmates, but he carried on like he never heard it, even moving to set his head in her lap. “Well? You can't be sad, talk to me!” He reached up and poked her nose.

In the end, she gave a cautious smile and gently ran a hand over his head like she always did back home. He melted into the touch, ignoring it whenever her hand brushed over a painful area. It hadn't taken him long to heal, but they still hurt him whenever they want. X1 felt like he'd won right now though, considering he'd gotten X4 to at least pet him like she used to. Her smile was still no longer there, but…he was over the shock of being moved here now. He could start trying to help her too, right? He wanted to. Smiling up at her, he pretended that her eyes didn't start to fade into the distance.

His game of pretend didn't last long, as very soon someone came down the ‘hall’--a new word he'd learned recently. They hit the cages with something loud if anyone made noise and just kept walking by…until they stopped outside his. He sat up in a hurry, readjusting to hide X4 behind his wings. In the back of his mind he felt her fingers slip amongst his feathers, but he was too focused to pay attention to that. The person was opening the door for their cage and he didn't feel safe, so X4 wasn't safe either. He leaned further and further away when the door swung open.

It was the first time it had opened since he got here, and that alone was unsettling. He shivered when their covered eyes scanned the room, nervously glancing at a second person that seemed to have come out of nowhere. One was entering, the other was preventing any of them from leaving. Fantastic. He bristled when the person went straight for him, trying to make his angriest face. Didn't stop them from grabbing his arm and yanking him off the floor, leaving X4 alone and exposed…but they ignored her. She tried to reach for him, but they didn't even acknowledge that much.

He stretched his own hand out for hers, already knowing better than to fight these people. And yet…this time his hand didn't even touch hers. This made his heart feel like a vice, his lungs as if they were shrinking by the second. He squirmed, earning a smack to the head with something heavy and hard, being whisked out of the cage regardless of his opinion on the matter. X1 held onto the darkly dressed person and squeezed his eyes shut to drown out the world. Eventually, he heard something slide and hiss, before a voice echoed out. “Ah, welcome, X1.” Father?

—

Masterpost

Backstory Master

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