Chapter Text
“Final Vote…” As Karnak’s voice echoed through the warehouse, Ocean felt the spotlight flashing directly at her. “Ocean Rosenberg.”
“Huh?” The ginger said, her voice barely above a whisper, without her signature look of confidence and with a much more surprised and nervous expression.
“It’s been decided that you shall have the final vote.” As the machine answered, the girl’s face changed from one of fear to a confused and slightly annoyed one.
“Over what?” Ocean asked while slightly shaking her head.
“Who lives or dies.” Karnak said, his voice seeming much louder compared to the silence of the place they were.
“I thought we all had to vote on that, that's what you told us!” “I’ve decided the final vote will come down to the one with the highest grade point average. You are the winner.” When Ocean opened her mouth, her tone was not the bossy and overconfident one she often uses, but instead one filled with worry and urgency, her voice shaky. “That doesn’t strike me as very fair!”
Karnak's head did not move an inch after hearing the girl's plea. “In five minutes, all bets are off!”.
“No, I’m not doing this, you cannot go back on your word!” The girl said angrily. Her expression, that was once filled with worry, changed to one of pure annoyance and anger. “You said we all had to vote who would come back so that is what we are doing, you can’t simply change the rules in the middle of the game!” Ocean was fuming, she couldn’t stand making that decision alone. She wanted to go back, sure, but as much as she wished to live her life, her friends also deserved to live for longer and get out of whatever that place was.
“As you wish. You all have four minutes to decide on who to vote for and the one who wins will be brought back.” The machine said.
All six teenagers looked around the room and at each other. They had to think of something, and quickly.
“What do we do now?” Ricky questioned. Honestly, none of them had any idea what to do. They had to find a way to bring all of them back in less than four minutes.
“Umm, guys?” Constance chimed in“What if we, like, each vote for someone once? Like we have six people here, we can just vote for the person that votes for us so in the end everyone will have one vote!” The girl suggested while looking around to look at her friend's reaction.
“It's not like we have a better plan after all, I'm in.” Noel said while picking at his nails.
“If Noel is going to, I will too.” Mischa added while looking at the boy on his right. Mischa finally had something that resembled a friend group, a real one, so he wasn't letting it go so soon. Noel flashed a smile at the ukrainian before looking back at the rest of the group.
“Fine, I'm in.” Ricky said simply. He had nothing to lose, if he went back to Earth he would be paralyzed and mute, but at least he would have his friends by his side, and for the boy, that was way better than being able to walk or speak all alone.
Seeing her friend agree to the plan, Jane stated “I will too.”.
All of them had agreed to it, the only one left to decide being Ocean.
Ocean understood their point of view, but she couldn't help but be skeptical. Her head was spinning. What if it went all wrong? What if they all died, no buts or second chances? What if all their efforts went to waste? What if-
“Fine.” The ginger said, her hands lightly trembling. She didn't trust the plan completely, but what else could they do? That plan was their only hope of seeing another day.
The girl snapped out of her thoughts when she felt a hand on hers. She looked at her hand, fingers entwined with her best friend’s, who was looking at her with the same sympathetic look she always had, even at times like this.
“Come on Ocean, you can do this, for Connie.” She thought to herself. Her best friend deserved a happy and long life, she was the one who deserved it the most.
“Have you made your choices?” Karnak spoke up, bringing all kids to reality. They had a choice to make. All the kids hummed in agreement.
Noel looked at Karnak, but couldn't help but sneak a glance at the Ukrainian on his side. Sure, Mischa seemed scary, the type of boy that would not spare Noel a second glance, but if you got to know him, he turned out to be really sweet and caring. He snapped back to reality when he felt a hand holding his while a voice ricocheted through the warehouse.
“Now, first…” The lights dimmed “Constance Blackwood, what is your vote?”
“Ocean, I vote for Ocean Rosenberg.” The girl affirmed firmly. She glanced at her friend, only to see her giving her a shaky smile, her hands shaking while trying to maintain her strong and confident facade even when it was evident she was terrified.
As Constance stepped back at where her friends were, she held out a hand in Ocean's direction, the latter not thinking twice before grabbing the hand offered to her.
The lights dimmed again “ Second…” The doll-like girl stepped into the spotlight “Jane Doe, what's you vote?” The machine questioned
“ I vote for Ricky.” Jane said simply. Of course she would vote for Ricky, he was the only one who didn't seem totally terrified of her, he was her friend (or the closest thing she had from one) and cared for her, he even gave her a name, an identity.
“Very well, next…” Noel felt Mischa's hand slip out of his grasp as he got into the spotlight. “Mischa Bachinski, what's your vote?”
Mischa already knew who he'd vote for. In all the time he spent in Uranium, he was treated like some monster, a bomb that would explode at the slightest bit of pressure. He hated it. He missed his country, where he was seen as a human being, where he was normal. The only person that treated him like a human was Noel -even though it only happened after they died, better late than never-. All the other members of the choir treated him like the others did, pushing him aways, hoping to not upset the boy as though he would lunge at them, all of them but Noel. It was long since the last time someone cared about him like the other boy did, the last time being since he saw his mother. He was not letting the only other person who cared about him die, not if he could do anything to stop it.
“I choose Noel Gruber.” He spoke up almost immediately after Karnak's question. He already knew he was voting for him, and he hoped Noel would do the same for him. The Ukrainian didn't care about the other's faces, looking directly at the boy who earlier was standing beside him. His expression was, at least, confusing. At the same time he looked happy, there was an air of melancholy in his face, this vibe that he knew Mischa would choose him, just didn't want him to.
The Ukrainian stepped down, immediately grabbing his friend's hand and giving it a light squeeze.
“Next…” It wasn't long before their hands were separated again, this time Noel being the one under the light.
“I vote for Mischa Bachinski.” Noel said quickly. He had a feeling since he came to this place -whatever this warehouse-limbo was- that Mischa was not quite what he sold himself as, that he was someone worth voting to come back. If Noel wasn't sure he was voting for the other boy before it all, he was 100% sure after Mischa's performance, especially when he sang about his lover back in Ukraine, Talia. That song tugged at Noel's heartstring. Who would think Mischa Bachinski, the angriest boy in town, would have so much passion inside of him? Noel's heart ached listening to the Ukrainian's song, but for more than one reason. He wanted a love like that, so pure it continued even after death. He wanted bad love, but hearing so much longing in Mischa's voice made him reevaluate his choices. Mischa was such a nice guy, he cared about all of them, he cared about Noel, not minding his sexuality, talking to him even after seeing him in his performance.
Oh. His performance, Noel's song. It all flashed before his eyes in a blurr, but one part stood out the most. The part where he played Monique with one of her clients, but more specifically, the part where he kissed the client, the part where he kissed Mischa.
Mischa told him that it was normal for man to kiss like that in a platonic way in Ukraine. The problem being, they weren't in Ukraine, and he certainly didn't kiss the other boy in a platonic way.
Oh fuck.
The kiss they shared wasn't calm, actually, it was very intense. Noel doesn't think it was purely platonic, at least not for him, but for Mischa it could have been. Noel shook his head, of course it was platonic for Mischa, he was straight and he had a fiancée, how could that kiss mean anything for him? The answer is: it didn't. For the ukrainian boy, it was a pure display of affection between friends.
The boy went back to the spot he was standing in before with a heavy sigh, he had to stop whatever this was before it was too late
“поет, are you okay?” He felt a hand rest on his shoulders, bringing him out of his thoughts.
“Y-yeah Mischa, it's just- this is all just…” he took a deep breath “it's just too much for me.” he stuttered. He was dead, stuck in a limbo-like place with no idea on how to go back or if they could go back and just to top it all of, was crushing in a straight guy who had a fucking fiancée. He wanted his life to be tragic, sure, but all of this was just too much to take in one go.
“I know поет, I know…” Mischa mumbled, once more reaching for the other boy’s hand, slowly stroking his thumb over the boy’s knuckles. When Noel looked up to glare at Mischa, the other was staring off into space with, his face displaying no emotion but a slight furrow between his brows.
The Ukrainian suddenly stared at his friend, his expression changing from one of deep thought to a soft one. “At least we are together, no?”
Noel pressed his lips “Yeah, if you think about it that way, I guess so.” He nodded slowly. Gosh, that was going to be difficult.
“Next, Ocean O’Connell Rosenberg, what is your vote?” As Ocean stepped up to the spotlight, all eyes turned to her. She had to make the same choice she was asked before, but now a huge weight was taken off of her shoulders. All of the choir would vote, not only her, they had a chance.
“My vote is Constance Blackwood.” The ginger said while nodding, this plan had to work.
“Now, the final vote…” As the girl stepped out of the blurring light in the middle of the warehouse, Ricky stepped into it.
“Ricky Potts, who is your vote?” As Karnak’s voice echoed throughout the place, all five teenagers held their breaths -it’s not like Jane, a doll, needed to breathe-.
“I vote for Jane Doe.” Ricky replied while looking over at the girl. Even though he would not be able to walk or talk if they went back, he wanted Jane -whoever she was- to remember him. She treated him the same way she treated everyone else and looked at him with no pity in her eyes -maybe because she had no expression whatsoever-, but for the boy, being looked at with no expression was way better than always seeing pity in other people's eyes while glancing at him.
“Very well.” The machine acknowledged.
With the last boy back in his place, all the members of the choir were back in the order they were before.
The group hear a sound of fabrics shuffling, turning around to see that the curtain that revealed the other side, their tickets to a new chance in life, open wide, showing the bright light of -what they hoped- was their world again-.
“The winner of the voting is-...” As Karnak said those words, the place where the back of his box was was illuminated by sparks, dozens of programmed voice lines overlapping each other. The machine’s box that was usually lightened up by the built-in light bulbs and the eyes of the robot inside it flickering and turning off. While all that happened, they heard a low squeak sound behind the box.
The group gathered together in a blink of an eye, all with their eyes tightly squeezed shut while holding each other, all teenagers startled by the sudden power outage.
After a moment of no movement, all members of the choir slowly opened their eyes, realizing they were still in the warehouse, but more importantly, the curtains were still open.
“A-are you guys okay?” They heard a quivering voice, asking breathly.
“Yeah I- I think we are Ocean…” Noel answered. As the group looked around, they all realized the curtain to the other side was still open. Looking around, they all decided: it all could wait just a little.
“Okay let’s just- let’s all just take a breather for a minute…” Ocean suggested, seeing her friends as shaken up as her.
All members formed their little groups: Noel and Mischa, Constance and Ocean and Ricky and Jane Doe.
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“Oce I…-” Constance began to talk but was cutted of by a hug.
“I-I’m so sorry Connie, I never realized how big of a-an ass I was to you guys,especially you.” Slowly embracing her friend in a hug as well, Constance felt her friend sobs into her shoulder, leaving that area in her uniform slightly damp.
“Oh Oce, it’s okay, you just wanted what was best for us…” As the girl tried comforting her friend, the other suddenly distanced herself from her friend and held her shoulders.
“No, no! I-I only cared about myself,I thought I was more important, I thought I was better.” The other girl snapped, “But I’ll change, I swear.” Ocean said. In her mind, she was the only one that mattered and all the others were simple people whose dreams didn’t deserve to be chased. But now she was determined to change, seeing all those awesome people perform and show her things unknown to her, even though she knew most of them for years started to make her chest ache. She wanted to -and was going to succeed- get to know them better, that she was sure of.
Constance gave her a weak smile “ It’s okay, I’m happy to see you’re open to try.”
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Noel really hated himself huh? Out of the five people in the place, he just had to choose talking all alone with the boy who he was trying to stop himself from falling for. Great idea.
Both boys went to the same place they were sitting a couple of minutes ago, the crate he and Mischa were hanging out on, just talking while sharing a bottle of some unknown drink that appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
He looked at the ukrainian. He had always known Mischa was handsome but holy fuck, seeing him this closely made it even more apparent. Every single trait of Mischa: from his chiseled jaw, to his hazel eyes and his tooth gap that appears when he cracks a smile, the way he wears his cap backwards and somehow suits him. Gosh that man was going to be the death of him.
“поет?” Noel shook his head, he had to control himself, he thought as he looked back at the boy who called his name.
“Yeah Mischa?” Noel inquired while glaring at his friend. The other boy was sitting down in the crate, his hands tucked into his pockets.
“When we get back, if we remember this, I wanna know you better Noel Gruber.” Mischa stated, smirking while looking at the other.
“Oh.” Whatever Noel expected to be said, it certainly wasn’t that “I’d like that too Mischa. I hope we remember this.” The boy gave the other a weak smile. Sure, he was trying to stop himself from developing feelings for the other boy but that didn’t mean he couldn’t develop a friendship instead.
Mischa sighed, running his finger through his hair. Noel was right, it was all too much. He wanted to go home, but when he really stopped to think about it, did he have a home at all? His adoptive parents didn’t care about him, everyone always avoided him and ignored him. There was no “home” for him in Uranium City, all he had to do was save up some more money and go back to his country, his home.
He felt a hand on his shoulders, looking around to find the Canadian boy looking at him softly. Well, now thinking about it, he had another reason to stay, Noel. He slowly nodded, maybe the time he had to spend in Canada wouldn't be so insufferable.
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“Savannah '' Ricky called out, he had something important to tell the girl, even though he knew she probably wouldn't remember any of that talk.
“Yes?” The girl asked. “When we go back, I won't be like this. I won’t be able to talk so you might not be able to recognise me.” Ricky murmured lowly, as much as he wanted to think Jane would find a way to remember him, he knew deep down that the chances of that happening were almost non-existent.
He felt his hand being held tightly by the girl. “I will remember you Ricky, I must.” The girl said, her expressionless eyes staring right into Ricky's soul.
“Thanks Ja- Thank you Savannah.” He gave her a weak smile, maybe he now had a real friend group.
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“Okay, is everyone here?” The ginger asked. The other five people nodded. “We all have to go at the same time so it would be easier if we all held onto each other.” Ocean said matter-of-factly, that way no one would be left behind. She looked around and all the group seemed to agree.
The teenagers lined up, holding each other's hand. They were all terrified but if they wanted to find out, they had to try it.
“Well, here goes nothing.” Noel muttered to himself.
All six teenagers stepped into the light.
The first thing that hit them was the wind
They all snapped back. People were screaming in horror seeing the roller coaster become undone but all the people in the carts were laughing. While the roller coaster shook and screeched the teenagers’ faces were with wide grins, their faces twisted in pure joy.
No one knew why they were enjoying that but the teenagers themselves.
Sure, they would crash and it would hurt like hell, however they couldn't help but not care at all.
They did it, they couldn't believe it.
They all came back.