Ivory - xl ; Attachments I
Created: 12.30.22
Finished: 01.01.23
Edited: 02.13.23 / 02.16.23
Published: 02.17.23
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Trigger Warning: assault, violence, heated conversation it gets dirty so take caution..oh yea, bob. there'll be a bob, that means y'all in for a ride
Word Count: 3321
A/N: This was heavily edited. I asked someone about something around here, and its like..their answer gave me the guts to change it. I did notice that if I followed the old outline, it might have been a bit too anticlimactic. This is the chapter where everything just fcking changes, why not instead of making it subtle..I'll go all in? :3
One way or another, something would be revealed here.
I hope that its worth the wait, and if you guys are confused, don't worry. Soon, you guys will understand. Attachments(3 parts) is a chapter where some questions are answered, but that also means more questions are formed. So enjoy^^
Thank you for the wait, and sorry am late. So late.
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Readjusting the furniture, Niki hums before tilting the shelves to the side, that way, the bed can get to the farthest side near the corner.
She lastly places a lantern and a few potted plants to make the room comfortable and lively. She has no idea who would stay here, no one came by to her city after Ponk left.
Right, there's only one person who stayed..after that, no one ever did.
Her face sour, she closes the door and eyes the rest of her creation. What's the point of creating this underground city if no one's going to stay in it besides her?
Is having some detrimental hobby is her escapism in order not to feel useless and lonely?
She has no reason to go outside anymore, she has no reason to do this anymore either.
No, she shakes her head. This city isn't perfect yet; still unsafe and inhabitable.
Soon she can fix and finish all this, and have this place a home for someone.
What a false hope.
A caw noise catches her attention, as she sees a crow at the above, holding a scroll, "Finally, it seems that the old man has got the nerve to reply."
She gets excited, hearing things from them. She has always feared that her relationship with the Syndicate has lessened when everyone went apart. Hopefully, she can keep it alive..like flame.
Reaching the surface, she sighs and watches the bird with a smile, "Hey little bird. Rather nice of you to visit me on this fine evening."
She takes the scroll from the messenger and pulls the lantern close to her to see the writing. Once she opens the scrolls and takes her sweet time reading Phil's..oddly scratchy writing, she can't help but to furrow her brows with the content,
Did he rush write all this? Strange. Usually he'd take his sweet time writing.
Her skin loses colour and immediately she returns to her city and gathers her items in panic.
Tommy is missing.
"Tommy's missing?" Sam's soft voice echoes in the Space Needle.
Cool air washes over their sweats, concerned about the situation.
Quackity shakes his head, rereading the scroll, "Two of the most powerful people in the server, for some reason lost their sight of Tommy. Ain't it a bit too early for April's Fools? Por dios por dios.." He mutters in his native tongue as he paces around.
Sam frowns, his body aches, or was it his mind? "If Phil and Techno themselves messed up, then what we are up against is something..serious..Of course, this is Dream we're talking about."
The obvious conclusion made the duck show his sharp collection of teeth, "It seems that son of a bitch has formed allies, and broke Techno and Phil's. I see, if he's that willing to break their trust..he must have known."
Sam squints his eyes against his metal mask in question, "Known what?"
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"That they have been keeping Tommy."
Using his other hand, he takes up his pocketwatch and watches the time move, "It's evening. They're expecting us to scour the Greater SMP in hopes to find him. I find that time-consuming."
He hums to think, "There's just you and me, Foolish is taking forever to come by. Lost contact in Fundy..Skeppy as well." All the pondering made him sigh.
Sam, who has stood up from his seat, walks closer to Quackity, "What are we going to do?"
Quackity pinches the bridge of his nose, trying to think this through, "I'll talk to Phil. I need evidence. It's tedious to search the whole land. I won't be surprised that Tommy's in the prison by now with Dream."
Taking one more deep breath, he savours the land before him, inhaling the cool desert gale, "Do you think he would have been better off with me? I would have assigned guards for him, monitor him 24/7..I would never forgive myself if he was taken from my hands."
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"Quite honestly. It would have been easier for us if he was with you."
Quackity's face grows puzzled, "What do you-"
It was quick, if only the duck was quicker.
He tries to get Sam's hold off of him, scratching his gloved hands away from his face. That familiar smell, no-
He fights his way to keep himself awake, pushing his body against Sam, but Sam is enormous..terribly enormous, and his grip is far too firm.
He can't-
Soon enough, his force weakens, tears almost fall from his eyes. His heart beating wildly, then it slows down, and down and down.
He couldn't believe it-
How could he?
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It doesn't make any sense.
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Does it have to make sense?
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No.
His hand rummages in his pockets to find something..anything-
Clutching the handle, he plunges his pocketknife right at Sam's torso, making him grunt in pain and letting him go.
As the creeper tries to take the blade out of his skin, Quackity breathes for air, seeing dots in his vision.
He needs to get out of here, he can process the fact about being betrayed later.
He can cry about losing someone again later.
At least he didn't hold much attachments to Sam other than being business partners.
Still, he can't help but to feel a hole in his heart..All this pain makes him think about-
"Quackity, I don't want to hurt you.." Sam musters to speak, but Quackity shakes his head, not wishing to hear his petty excuses, "It's better off that you stay unconscious than awake. It's better off that I handle you than the othe-"
"I don't want to hear any more words from you..you traitor-" Quackity spits anger back at his face, trying to read his eyes if it conveys any emotions.
He seems..guilty.
Well, if he was, he wouldn't have done this.
He'd rather serve Dream than to serve justice.
He can no longer forgive what he has done to him.
Messing around with the chests lying around, he is relieved to see a sword against all his items. Taking it out, Quackity growls as he keeps a weak stance at him.
As for Sam, well, he's not taking his trident out of his holster, but instead, he lifts his two hands, "Quackity, please. I don't- I don't exactly have a choi-"
"Shut up. Just. Shut up." No, he shouldn't cry, but gods the fact that he's losing people all the time..is it even worth to keep on going if he keeps losing relationships left and right?
He looks behind him and sees that puddle of water from the bottom. Falling down there might end him up with bruises, but the pain is worth it.
What matters is that..he'll live from jumping at that height.
Eyeing the balcony, he remembers what has happened when he came here last time.
His friend, his only friend that took his life..to hammer that fact in his brain that he is a bad person..and he reveals the worst version of people.
And you know what? He is right.
Charlie's right.
Although Sam shouted him not to jump, Quackity takes a step away with a laugh, starting to lose himself.
The feeling of falling has always been so tranquil, as he relives the memory of dying from a great great height.
The thing is that this time, he made sure to put water all around the perimeter of Space Needle.
Take that as a coping mechanism after what he has been through.
It hurt, but he's running out of time.
With a gasp, Quackity waddles away from the water and attempts to get to his bunker established somewhere in Las Nevadas. He made sure it looks like a common building out of everything.
He can hide there, stay in there for a while until he figures out a plan to get away.
For now, he needs to give a signal to Foolish to help him. It might take a while for that god to arrive considering he has spent the rest of his breathing days in his Summer House.
At least he has Foolish; tense relationship yes..built with nothing but assurances and returned favours.
But as long as someone has a favour, they're bound to pay what they owed.
Quackity makes sure of that.
Activating the signal from switching a random lever hidden around town, the fireworks shoot towards the sky and there they go boom as the sun sets.
The sight might be vague by the lack of darkness, but surely, with what Foolish is, he'll see it through his eyes and senses.
Running out of breath once more, he hides against a random house, feeling lightheaded.
Gods, Sam attempted to strangle him..him!
Was he even planning to kill him right then and there or just render him unconscious? It doesn't fucking matter, does it?
Eyeing his surroundings, he can assure that the bunker is a few more blocks away.
Sam must be looking for him, why, he knows well Sam would be fucked if he fails Dream's bidding.
The symptoms of failed strangulation is taking in, he cannot waste time.
As he hides past houses to houses, past the people minding his and others' business, he appreciates that the people in his country is notorious for not giving a shit about other people except themselves.
What does he expect? It's his world, his principles became the nation's rules.
Remembering that Tommy was missing as written in the letter made him stop and think about that for a moment.
Sam betrayed, Tommy's taken..what's going to happen to him now?
Techno and Phil are not aware that he's in danger of also being taken or worse killed, and now he's running from his life to a man that knows every speck and corner of his land - considering he's the one that created it.
If he's quick enough, he'll gather the necessary items and ride onto Ossium in the midst of night. He'll have to walk away from the city, but that's no matter..he has to.
Ossium..he misses that horse of his..
Thankfully, there's no moon today so the whole world would be nothing but black once its sundown. If the gods have mercy on him, they'll spare him and guide him to the cabin in the arctic, safely.
But as far as he knows, the highest finds his struggles amusing.
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The sight of it has calmed him.
In this place, he is safe from everyone and everything. It must be nice to relax and cool down at the moment, and remember he's not in the middle of some major conflict or some war.
He's tired, he's tired of coping with all of this. He never wanted to be involved with this in the first place, he just wanted to fit in.
At the same time, he can't possibly leave, can he?
Why, starting all over and forgetting about everything hurts more than enduring what he has put upon himself.
...
It takes a second for him to process that he was being kicked, his body drops on the ground a few feet away from the bunker.
His mouth tasting the dry, bitter sand, as he widens his eyes to see who stopped him.
That dirty blonde hair, eyes imitating humans' - they glow like amethysts. He can never hide that atrocious antennae of his. It's what makes him different from the rest, and shows that he's not meant to be here.
Yet he is..
"Purpled..back again eh? I thought we're already done." He rasps, sitting upright, dragging the handle of his sword.
Great, now the kick doubled the weariness, he can totally win if ever a fight breaks lose,
"I wonder where's your goopy little friend, Quackity? Don't tell me he abandoned you too." Purpled cocks his head, tapping his netherite armour as in to show that he has an armour and Quackity does not,
"Oh right. You're good at making people hate you. Why did I even ask?"
The duck takes a step back when the alien moves forward, "What are you doing here again? I thought you've done your damage." Quackity interrogated, narrowing his eyes with gritted teeth, "You have already destroyed me and my country. I no longer sought revenge on you and left you alone in peace-"
"Peace? Peace?!" Purpled enraged, before laughing.
Quackity swears quietly, he must have hit a nerve of him somewhere,
"Oh Quackity, you never gave me peace. I never gained anything dealing with you. You always take and take and take, and what did I get from your so-called peace?" He strikes his axe as Quackity begins to parry, he should pray now or never,
"You destroyed my home..the only thing I have left that reminds me of who I am..You took it by your hand, crumpled it all up with your fist, stomp it down with your fucking feet and you had the audacity to use that against me to form an alliance- Like, bold of you to assume I'd stay loyal! You made me lose a life. You- You just destroy everything-"
Quackity, who's feeling sick to his stomach can only take what he said without a retort.
With another kick, Purpled slams him towards the wall, disarming him fully. It wasn't a hard fight at all, he expected that from him, "You think that your slimy slave has preferred your sorry ass over me would make me stop from taking all my anger on you? You think that I died would make me move on and forget what you took from me?"
The duck flails his arms around, being raised up by the alien where his feet could barely touch the ground, "You're wrong. You're dead fucking wrong."
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"Dream told you not to kill him yet." His voice is almost like thunder - booming and earsplitting, edging onto goosebumps like lightning cracks,
The alien's antennae twitches in response, but still he kept his face blank, "I didn't. Well, as much as I'd like to kill him, his death belongs to Dream as decided."
Quackity could no longer respond. Well, he tried, and then he realised its useless with how numb his lips have gone He must have sputtered a mixture of skin and blood because of that too.
His damaged face could hardly move, bruises dance all around his body. Purpled attempted to cut his arms, but it only ended up being scratches - so many scratches. He can't risk him bleeding out to death.
If he thinks that beating up is enough, then Quackity would be so far from being right, "As for making him feel the worst pain possible, that's mine to take."
Grabbing hold of his collar again, he slams his body against the wall, "What do you feel Foolish? Isn't this the guy that made you die just to prove his fucking point?"
Foolish who has always been feeling both rage and pity from this man, could only give an empty expression, "It's already evening. We need to get to the prison as soon as possible. You can continue beating him all you want when you're in there."
He needs to do this, he has to do this.
He can't just back out now.
After everything Quackity has done, surely he deserves it..right?
Scoffing, Purpled lets him go and glares at Sam, "You're lucky I took the role as backup in case you fucked up. I suppose Dream was right about you being a pussy."
The creeper can only clench both his fists, holding his speech. Foolish can tell he's holding his sizzled from bubbling out.
If only he can ask if he's okay, does he even have a place to ask if he's alright?
"Take that bastard away from my sight. I have one last thing to pull."
When he takes out a button, Foolish grips his wrist, "Dream didn't order you to do that."
Purpled only pulls himself away, defiance laces his face, "He doesn't have to order me anything. He and I both know we want this hell blow up with a bang."
Foolish frowns and eyes at the city. Sam worked hard building all this.
Still, the only thing Sam reacted from those words were nothing but taking Quackity up and carrying him by the back.
Foolish could barely read his eyes, they're nothing but black pools at this point..
Helpless. Hopeless. Despair.
"If you don't want to watch. Just pearl away, I'll catch up. Besides.." Purpled looks back, "Don't pretend you didn't have any injuries from dealing with that hog earlier."
Foolish cringes, at least the bandages are hidden against his netherite armour. Although, one thing's for sure is that he's not the only one pretending.
Purpled is acting like he wasn't scared shitless dealing with Technoblade.
"Sam, let's go." Foolish walks away and Sam meekly follows his friend with a nod.
The alien only smirks in delight, dropping a button on the ground by hand.
The only thing's left to do is to make sure the two of them are safely out of Las Nevadas, step onto the trigger and pearl himself out of here.
As for the rest of the people here that never thought about this being their last day alive, he couldn't care any less.
Detached from being a different species from those selfish assholes called humans..why should he give two shits about their meaningless lives?
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"You could have knocked him out, would have been quicker."
The two ender pearls away from the city, but resides the rest of the journey more in walking..at least for now to reserve their supplies and as well as their energy.
Sam keeps his mouth shut, focusing in carrying Quackity at his back..his head down and mind empty,
"He scratched you..not to mention stabbed you down there. Does it hurt?"
Sam took a while to catch up to the two earlier due to handling his wounds. Not to mention his ribs have been bruised as well from Techno earlier.
Gods, he's one hell of a beast to beat,
"I've been hurt worse..."
Sighing, the anthropomorphic totem takes Quackity off from Sam's hold, "H-Heyy-"
"Just focus on walking right now. Your ribs are broken, aren't they?" Sam blinks, before looking away and following his words,
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"Why didn't you tell me Dream has done all this to you?"
Sam squints his eyes, trying not to form a smoke out of his lips. He shouldn't feel right now, he shouldn't act so weak in front of him, "Even if I had told you, you wouldn't change your mind in siding with him anyway, would you?"
The totem lost his words for a moment, then composed by straightening his back, "I had to stay alive..I had to do whatever it takes to survive...You understand, don't you?"
The creeper numbly nods, looking away. A memory so far away..he could hardly recall, yet a part of him would rather not want to remember what he has done, "That's why I couldn't find the nerve to hate you."
Quackity's body sway at each step. Quite frankly, he's still conscious, and he still wonders why he hasn't passed out from the pain.
Everything hurts, and numb at the same time. His one eye, the least damaged one that is opens and squints at his blurry surroundings.
Out of the corner of his eye, a green speck is seen, most likely it's nothing but hallucination or colours dancing his vision. It must be nothing, and so he goes back to closing his eyes.
Atthe same time, his only brain cell has wondered..how on earth does that green goop have glasses?