Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Elijah woke up to hear a weird noise in his room. He looked around cautiously, who was in his room so late at night?

”Micah..? What do you want?” He half-shouted as he saw a head of brown hair.

”Hello Elijah.” The other greeted, their lizard like eyes glowing in the dark, though they looked exactly like Elijah. Elijah was about to scream when the creature slammed their hand on his mouth.

”Shhhh… no need to panic.” They said with an unnerving grin. They slowly removed their hand from the boy’s mouth.

”What do you want, shapeshifter..?”

”Eh, kinda waiting for you to leave.”

”What?!”

The shapeshifter giggled. “Ever since I stole your face, I couldn’t help but want to join… to replace you if you would.”

Elijah grimaced. The thought of someone replacing him with no one knowing made him uncomfortable. “No! Now get out and lose my face or something!”

The shapeshifter’s face, or rather Elijah’s own face on someone else, dropped into a frown. “No. You will leave. You don’t want your family to have to worry about you right? So I’ll come in to replace. Easy as pie.”

Elijah shook his head. “No no no! That’s not-.”

”Pack up. I’ll be waiting.” The shapeshifter snapped.

///

Shiloh and the others waited at the main center to go for their next mission. They would have left five minutes ago but Elijah still hadn’t shown up.

”That’s it, I’m going to his room.” Shiloh huffed as she stormed to the dorms, Micah following her.

”Elijah? What’s taking you so long?” Micah shouted and he pounded on the bedroom door. No response. Shiloh and Micah looked at each other. “Hey Elijah, this isn’t funny.”

Shiloh rolled her eyes and opened the door to reveal an empty bedroom, only the drawer doors open and empty. Micah and Shiloh were quick to scan the room. Micah spotted a piece of paper that seemed to be Elijah’s last note. He quickly pocketed that before returning to his sister.

”I-It’s like he just disappeared! He took his clothes and stuff but… he left his tracker behind? I-I don’t understand, why would he suddenly just leave?!” Shiloh was at the verge of tears.

”What… took you guys so long..?” Josiah asked slowly as he saw Shiloh staring at the ground, looking like she was standing dead. “What happened?”

Micah stuttered, words getting caught in his throat. “Elijah’s… g-gone.”

”Gone?! What do you mean gone?!” Judah exclaimed loudly.

Micah hesitated to pull out the note in his pocket but handed it to the two other brothers anyways. “I… I don’t know.”

Judah and Josiah read the note with wide eyes. “Elijah would never leave us just because! That’s such a stupid reason!”

Shiloh wiped her face from her tears, a determined look on her face. “Whatever it is, I know he will come back.”

///

It had been about a couple weeks since Elijah’s disappearance. They had recruited a new member, May. She was a sweet member, albeit a bit creepy at times. One weird thing was her fear of pipes. Other than that, she was very energetic and at times even reminded the gang of Elijah.

Today’s mission was another Among Us round on a research base on a distant planet. It was Shiloh, May, Josiah, Micah and Jocelyn, Michelle, Judah, Alex, Patience, Brittany, and Mary. There was one imposter and a shapeshifter role. This was a bit odd for Shiloh, being that there were no other extra roles given. She brushed it off as it being an easy mission as the round started. She had decided to partner up with Judah once again as there was little to no chance that he could be the imposter.

”I don’t get it, why would there only be one imposter and a shapeshifter? This feels a little too easy.” Shiloh muttered to herself.

”Come on, you’re overthinking it.” Judah chuckled. “We all know Red is-.”

”Red is not sus.” Shiloh interrupted her brother. “You can’t keep saying that y’know.”

”But I mean- it’s true!” Judah shrugged.

Shiloh just rolled her eyes as she made her way down the hall before seeing a cloaked figure quickly turn down the corner. She and Judah both yelped in surprise before running down the hall. “Get back here!”

They caught a glimpse of the figure’s face, causing Shiloh to nearly trip over her own feet.

Elijah.

Shiloh and Judah turned the corner to see Mary getting dragged down the hall. Judah’s jaw dropped while Shiloh called for a meeting.

”Where?” Everyone began to chatter as they teleported in front of the emergency meeting button.

Shiloh slammed her hands on the table. “Judah and I saw someone cloaked in here. I think they might have gotten Mary.”

Everyone turned to see the spot where the white crew mate would usually be. It was empty. Judah slowly spoke up. “We’re not alone…”

Everyone started screaming and panicking before Shiloh slammed her hands on the table again. “Guys calm down! We only have a shapeshifter and an imposter on our hands, this is easy!”

May spoke up. “Yea! How about everyone stick to a partner so you can’t fall victim to the shapeshifter?”

Everyone agreed before voting skip.

Shiloh remained at the table with Judah. “That was Elijah. He was here! He ran from us- w-why would he run away from us?! Does he really not want to be with us anymore?”

Judah shook his hands. “No no no! I- maybe we are just imagining it right?”

Shiloh looked at her brother. “If we both saw it, I doubt we were imagining things.”

///

Micah and Jocelyn had managed to convince people that they were a pair before wandering off to do their tasks.

Michelle ran up to them. “Guys! The shapeshifter is chasing me!”

”What? No way.” Jocelyn said in a dead pan voice, or the best she could with how cute her voice was.

Michelle rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe I have beef with a baby.”

”Call me a baby one more time!” Jocelyn yapped angrily.

”Both of you calm down!” Micah sighed exasperated. “Michelle can join us for now until the shapeshifter leaves her.”

The black-haired girl wrung her hands. “Yea, that’s a good idea.”

The three went down the hall to do their tasks before spotting a cloaked figure walking down the hall. “Hey! You!” Micah shouted. That got the figure’s attention.

”Micah..?”

All three crewmates gasped before running up to the cloaked figure. “Elijah! Where have you-.”

”Shhh shh!” Elijah shushed the three to shut up, eyes wide and tired. “Not so loud!”

”What are you doing here?!” Michelle hissed.

”Where did you go!” Jocelyn piped up.

”And why did you leave?” Micah asked, sounding a bit more angry than he actually was.

Elijah shook his head. ”Look, there’s no time to explain, just vote May out.”

”May? Why her?”

Elijah bit his tongue before his head shot up hearing more people. “Can’t explain, just get her out!” He was quick to run off.

Micah stood there, eyes wide and his hands balled into fists. Both Michelle and Jocelyn looked at each other nervously before looking up at the green crewmate. “Micah… you good?”

He took a deep breath before putting Jocelyn on his shoulder. “We’re voting out May.”

///

The round had boiled down to Shiloh, May, Judah, Michelle, and Josiah. They managed to vote out the imposter, Alex, but still were trying to find the shapeshifter. Micah and Michelle continued to vote for May, though the others didn’t really know why. Then Micah was voted out thanks to May, but before he was thrown out, he shouted about how May was the shapeshifter.

”Shapeshifter…” Shiloh muttered to herself before gasping and turning to Josiah. “Josiah! The shapeshifter we met at the prison was revealed using steam! There are so many pipes here that have steam in it! If May is truly the shapeshifter, then we can just lure her into a steam trap!”

Josiah snapped his fingers. “Let’s do that then!”

Shiloh and Josiah wandered the halls to find Judah seemingly lost. He gasped as he turned to see the two siblings. “Shiloh! Josiah! Finally I found someone! What are you guys doing?”

Josiah was about to explain the plan but Shiloh stopped him. “How about you follow us?”

Judah shrugged before following the two. Josiah looked at his sister as if to ask what she was doing. They arrived at where the steam trap would be.

”Wow… what are you planning here?” Judah asked nervously.

”A trap to catch the shapeshifter.” Shiloh said a little too sweetly.

Judah seemed very nervous now. “Cool… I better get back-.”

Shiloh stabbed a sharp piece of metal into the pipe, releasing a cloud of steam. Judah screamed and cowered over, trying to cover his face. Josiah yelped in surprise before looking down and seeing a scaly lizard-y face rather than his orange crewmate.

”SHAPESHIFTER!” Josiah screamed.

“Great game May.” Shiloh said with a smug smirk.

”May? That clearly was Judah.” Josiah pointed out.

”But May was also scared of pipes. And what do most pipes have? Water or steam.” Shiloh pointed out.

The shapeshifter had a scowl on their face. “Fair pair.” They growled.

///

Shiloh managed to call for a meeting before her and Josiah confirmed that May was the shapeshifter.

”Finally you guys believe me!” Michelle exclaimed.

May had a smug smirk on her face as everyone voted her out. “Heh, you’ll regret this.”

Chapter Text

Ever since that Among Us round, Micah had become much more quiet and reserved. It got so extreme to the point that he often stayed in his room days on end. He didn’t even know that Lila had joined the crew until he bumped into her in the kitchen one day. Michelle had resorted to being his messenger to the other siblings.

”Hey Michelle, is Micah doing alright?” Judah asked one day. “He’s still in his room isn’t he?”

Michelle nodded. “I really don’t know what to do. He won’t leave no matter how much I try to convince him. It’s like he hates outside now or something.”

Jocelyn slowly sat by the girl’s side. “Yea! He won’t even let me in!”

”Really?” Judah asked, stunned. “I really think I need to talk to him now.”

Michelle shook her head. “I don’t think he’ll answer you.”

Judah rolled his eyes. “Oh please! We’re the greatest crew mates. You wanna come Jocelyn?”

///

The orange brother and the little girl stood in front of the green brother’s room. They had ignored Michelle’s warnings and decided to talk with him anyways.

”Hey Micah, can we talk?” Judah asked as he knocked on the door.

Silence.

Jocelyn rolled her eyes before pounding her fist on the door. “Open up now or we’ll bring a torch to your door!”

They could hear a reluctant sigh and some things being moved around. The door opened to a disheveled looking Micah with his hair sticking out all over the place. He was wearing a baggy green tee and some grey sweatpants. It looked like he hadn’t even eaten well the past few days.

”Micah! What happened?!” Judah exclaimed. He had never seen his brother in such a state before.

”I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” He said with a fake smile.

Jocelyn gave a big pout and crossed her arms. “Micah, you’re making me worried.”

”Yea! Same here!” Judah huffed as he copied Jocelyn’s pose.

Micah gave a tired chuckle as he ran a hand through his hair. “Dude, seriously. I’m fine.”

Judah seemed like he was about to accept his defeat before hearing a beeping sound coming from his brother’s room. Micah noticed too and immediately froze. “Micah, what’s that?”

He stammered a bit before trying to close the door in front of his younger brother’s face. Jocelyn gave a shout and pushed the door wide open to reveal Micah’s messy room. There were clothes strewn out, papers scattered on his desk, journals in randoms places, and what seemed to be food plates in a small pile. Micah gave a nervous chuckle as he tried to divert the two’s attention away from his room. Jocelyn seemed focused on the room while Judah noticed something on Micah’s desk.

”You‘re tracking Elijah?!” He shouted loudly.

Micah whipped around with an angry Jocelyn in his arms. “W-What the hell are you talking about?”

Judah picked up the small metal device on Micah’s desk with shaky hands. “You’ve been trying to contact him haven’t you?”

Jocelyn looked up to see Micah having a somewhat guilty face. “No no no, you weren’t supposed to be in here! Both of you, get out!” He shoved the small girl in his brother’s arms.

”Micah- you can’t just hide this from us!” Judah shouted, now sounding more upset.

”I didn’t want you to know about this! None of you were supposed to know! This is already bad as it is!” Micah shouted back, though he sounded more desperate and tired rather than upset and frustrated. “Pretend you saw nothing alright?!”

”No! This is my business I can step in because Elijah is also my brother!” Judah shouted angrily as he let Jocelyn onto the ground. She held onto Judah’s pant leg, unsure what to do now. “You can act all mopey like you are right now but we all miss him Micah!”

”Whatever I’m doing is none of your business alright? I can do this by myself!” Micah snapped, taking a step forward and jabbing a finger to Judah’s chest. “You’re the younger one here aren’t you?! So listen to me, please!”

Judah took a step back, a hurt expression on his face. “Why… why would you say that?”

Jocelyn tugged at Judah’s pant leg. “Uh guys? We got an audience now.”

Judah and Micah looked up to see Lila, Shiloh and Michelle staring at them with wide eyes. Micah groaned loudly before looking at Judah. “Judah! Look at what- you know what? I’m done.”

”What do you mean ‘you’re done’?!” Judah shouted as Micah slammed the bedroom door shut in front of his brother’s face. “Micah you’re not serious!” Judah pounded on the door teary-eyed. Jocelyn just stood by the orange member’s legs, unsure what to do. Judah gave an angry groan before storming off.

”What the heck…” Shiloh muttered under her breath. “Lila, how about you go back to the creature nursery. Michelle and I will deal with whatever… just happened.”

”But I don’t know where the nursery is.” Lila mumbled quietly.

”I’ll bring her.” Michelle offered. “Just tell me if Micah is okay or not.” Shiloh gave a nod before heading to the green member’s room.

”Micah?” Shiloh called out.

Jocelyn tugged at the purple girl’s leg and whispered to her. “I don’t think he’ll be listening to you if he got angry at Judah.”

”Judah I said leave!” Micah’s voice was muffled but she could hear it cracking.

”It’s Shiloh.” 

”I don’t care, just leave!”

”Micah! I’m serious right now, what is going on?!” Shiloh shouted before pushing the door open.

”I really need to fix that lock.” Micah sighed as he rubbed his nose bridge. He had a journal open on his lap and what seemed to be a dent in the wall.

”Did you throw the book at the wall?!” Jocelyn squealed loudly.

”Oh my gosh Jocelyn, please be quiet.” Micah groaned as he rubbed his temples.

Chapter Text

Micah wandered the halls of the hospital. He was an innocent and certainly did not trust anyone. Well, maybe besides Michelle, but everyone else was sus to him.

It wasn’t like he didn’t think that his siblings would hurt him, it was just that he felt like Michelle was the least annoying person to hang out with. That might be a lie but that was his best reasoning. Jocelyn had been pointing out things to Micah, though he never understood why she was so insistent on those points being used for Michelle instead of Judah.

He usually wasn’t one to go off by himself but this time he really wanted to be left alone. Elijah’s disappearance had shaken up all of the Nelson siblings. He could see it on their faces too. Worst part was even after they had kicked out May, he still hadn’t returned. Micah didn’t realize he had paced a whole circle around in the hospital hall until he bumped into a familiar painting he had walked past twice.

”Micah?”

His head shot up to see Michelle running towards him. “Michelle?”

”Finally I found someone here!” She exclaimed. “Everyone else seems to be hiding or running around! No one bothered to partner up!”

Micah gave a shaky chuckle as he forced a smile. “Heh, yea.”

Michelle looked at him with an eyebrow raised. “You good?”

”Y-Yea! Totally fine!” Micah assured. He had to force his hands still to stop them from shaking so much.

Michelle rolled her eyes and stood in front of him to stop him from walking off. “Micah, you know you can tell me anything right? Anything?”

Micah bit his lip as he shoved his hands in his pockets. “I-I know.”

”Then may I point out that you’ve been pushing everyone aside? I mean, you were fighting with both Judah and Shiloh! Shiloh was so upset she didn’t even tell me what happened afterwards.” Michelle jabbed a finger to his chest.

Micah pursed his lips into a tight line before looking down at his feet. “Y-Yea… sorry about that. Didn’t mean to y’know? I… I don’t know what’s going on.”

Michelle quickly withdrew her finger. “I’m not scolding you… you have nothing to be sorry about!”

Micah took a shaky breath before turning around, almost as if to divert the situation. “Come on, if we find the sheriff then we could help them find the murderer. It’s a good thing they evacuated the patients and doctors.”

Michelle nodded as the two wandered down the hall. They bumped into some of the other members but they ran off saying that they had a hot lead on who the murderer would be. Then they receive news of the sheriff being knocked out. Shiloh had paired up with Josiah to take down the murderer with the help of the sheriff’s gun that was left behind. Now all everyone else had to do was wait and hide.

”Man, this place really is big.” Michelle huffed annoyed. Micah gave a small nod, though he seemed to be in some sort of daze.

The two decided to rest in one of the wards. Micah continued to pace the room, almost in a frantic daze. Michelle picked up on it and slowly made her way to the green member. She could even hear his breathing pace speed up. Was he panicking? She slowly tapped him on the shoulder. “Micah..?”

”Ah!” He squeaked in surprise as he seemed caught off guard by Michelle’s approach. “Oh… yea?”

”You good? You seem really stressed out. Waaaay more than usual too might I add.”

Micah mumbled something under his breath, avoiding eye contact with her while running a hand through his hair. “I’m fine. I’m really fine, no need to worry about me. Really, I’m fine. I’m always fine! I’m the one that has to be fine.”

”The more you say that the more I’m less likely to believe you.” Michelle remarked with her hands on her hips. “Micah just-.”

”Michelle please just stop!” Micah snapped loudly, eyes wide and his hands balled into fists. She took a step back in surprise. He took a long breath as he ran a hand through his hair. He slowly sank to the floor, his back pushed to the wall. “I’m s-sorry… I-I can’t d-deal with t-this… please just- I don’t know…”

Michelle seemed annoyed with Micah, or was it hurt? The other couldn’t tell from her face but she clearly wasn’t happy. “I’m going to find the murderer with Shiloh.”

”Michelle wait-.” Micah groaned and pounded his fist on his forehead as he watched the girl walk out annoyed. “Micah get a grip on yourself…”

///

Michelle wandered down the hall, following the faded orange dots that marked where Shiloh’s footsteps last were. Well, she just assumed the footsteps were Shiloh’s.

”Hello.”

Michelle snapped her head around to see a masked figure with a blade in hand. He tilted his head to the side as he wound up his arm to throw. Michelle screamed loudly before sprinting down the hallway.

She could hear the pounding footsteps of the murderer right behind her. A knife even whizzed right past her face, grazing her cheek. She hissed in pain before seeing Shiloh shouting for her to run towards the purple member.

”Run past me Michelle! I’ll take down the murderer!” She shouted.

Michelle nodded before sprinting full speed. She managed to slide and turn the corner, right into Micah’s arms. She had never hugged someone tighter than before. A loud gunshot was heard, echoing in the hall. Everything seemed to have frozen in place before the announcer overhead announced the round over.

”Micah…?” Michelle slowly looked up to see the other having a guilty look on his face.

”Are you alright?” He asked with a worried face.

”Y-Yea, I’m fine.” Michelle stuttered. The two stared at each other for a long while before quickly releasing from each other’s arms and awkwardly trying to brush it off.

”We should probably get back to the others.” The two said at the same time.

”Uhh… you might need a bandaid for that.” Micah pointed at the cut on Michelle’s face. She rolled her eyes before running off.

Around the corner, Judah and Josiah watched with jaws dropped.

”Dude, how is Micah THAT blind?!” Judah exclaimed loudly.

”He’s so lucky…” The older brother mumbled to himself.

The two brothers looked at each other, seemingly reading each other’s mind. “We’re gonna help them get together? Yeaaaa. Let’s get Jocelyn too!”

Chapter Text

“Alright, the Arxis should be opening up soon.” Josiah notified the others as he ended the call. “They did tell me that this Raelo is a bit dangerous to connect the Arxis too. Not sure why but it is going to be a bit unstable.”

The others mumbled a reply before Michelle said something about finding a bandaid before heading off. Soon the Arxis portal opened.

”Wait, Michelle’s not back yet.” Micah pointed out. “I’ll wait for her.”

The others nodded before stepping into the golden portal. Josiah and Shiloh lingered on a bit. The older brother hoped to take this chance to talk with Micah. ”Hey Micah? Do you like anyone?”

Micah gave his black suited brother a confused look. “Why are you asking that?”

”I mean… you and Michelle-.”

”GUYS RUN!” Michelle screamed.

The two boys and Shiloh looked up to see Michelle being chased by the masked figure. Micah looked and mouthed ‘sorry’ to his older brother before pushing him into the golden portal and slamming the portal button shut. He tried to push Shiloh back but she resisted. He groaned loudly before grabbed Michelle and Shiloh by the arms and started sprinting down the hall and into one of the hidden airvents.

///

“MICAH!” Josiah shouted before being shoved into the golden portal and tumbling on the concrete floor on the other end.

Judah stared at the closed portal with wide eyes. “No no no! Micah! Shiloh! Michelle! Open the Arxis again!”

”Sorry, we have to let the charge rest!” One of the Arxis operators shouted. “And the MM2 Raelo is already an unstable place to connect to!”

Josiah shook his head furiously. “Well, work the energy cores overtime! They’re stuck over there with a literal murderer!”

The Arxis operators looked at each other nervously before Mary slapped them to work. “We’re on it. Don’t you worry.”

Josiah groaned as he slammed his fist on his leg. “No no no, we can’t do this again!”

///

Shiloh peered out the slits of the airvent, trying to stay as quiet as possible. Behind her, she could hear Michelle stifling her sobs and hugging Micah tightly.

”It hurts Micah-.” She whispered under her breath, one arm wrapped on her side. “Why didn’t I just get kicked out? Why am I- ow ow ow.”

Micah kept her close to his side. He looked up to his sister to see if she had any idea what to do. Shiloh looked at them for a bit before snapping her fingers. “We’re not in a round anymore. That means the round’s rules don’t apply! I still have the sheriff’s gun. If I can use it to actually… y’know, then we can safely be in the hospital and call the others.”

Micah looked over at Michelle before sticking his hand out. “I’ll take the gun. You stay here with Michelle.”

”What! No! You can’t just-.”

”I said, give me the damn gun.” Micah said firmly. “I’m not willing to take that risk of having you both injured. I need at least both of you back at the base as normal as possible.”

Shiloh stuttered for a bit before he snatched the gun from her hand and crawled out of the airvent. Shiloh tried to stop her older brother but he was determined. Shiloh grumbled under her breath as she slowly sat down on the metal floor. “Are you alright Michelle?”

”I-I hope so…” She sighed, her arm still wrapped on her injured side. “Is Micah gonna be okay?”

Shiloh shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’ve never seen him that upset before.”

Michelle groaned and her head lolled back, hitting the metal wall of the air vent. “Oh my gosh…” She buried her head in her hands.

The girl in purple raised an eyebrow. “What… happened between you two before you were being chased the first time?”

Michelle seemed a bit caught off guard. “Well… I think Micah was panicking. He probably was about to have a panic attack when I stepped in. He snapped at me and I guess I just got upset so I stormed out. Now that I think of it, that’s a bit of a stupid reason.”

”Micah? Having a panic attack?” Shiloh asked herself. She had never seen Micah that worried or upset until now. What was going on with him?

Michelle had to hold her hands still from shaking. “He’s probably just worried about Elijah. He’s been like this since we kicked out May.”

///

Micah stalked the halls, his finger on the trigger and ready to pull at anything that moved. Whoever was hunting Michelle down was most likely also hunting him and Shiloh down. He spotted something running down the corner and followed quickly.

”Micah!” The masked figure chuckled, arms stretched wide. It almost looked like the figure was expecting a hug of some sort.

The green member growled as he suddenly fired at the face, knocking off the mask. The other growled as he stood up.

”Malduum?” Micah exclaimed in a near-whisper.

The blonde rolled and cracked his neck. “Goodie, you’re a real smart one y’know?” He sighed in a dry voice.

“I’m not taking jokes today Malduum. Now explain what you’re doing here and why you were hunting down Michelle.” Micah said sternly, his gun still pointed at the blonde.

Malduum rolled his eyes. “It’s easy! If I want to get to you guys, I need to use your weak links. That girlfriend of yours seems to be your weak link by the looks of it.” He snickered.

Micah stuttered. He seemed stunned, offended even. “Michelle is not my weak link! She’s my friend and she is definitely not weak.”

Malduum tilted his head in a curious way. “Wait, she isn’t your girlfriend? Just a good friend of yours? I was really banking on you two being together for my plan to work.”

Micah shook his head. “That’s none of your- wait, what plan?”

”Sending my robots to your annoying brats.” He said with a mean smirk.

Micah’s breathing pace quickened as his grip on the gun got tighter. “What did you just say?”

Malduum snickered and was about to do something on his arm control-pad when Micah fired at the arm. Malduum screamed loudly as the control-pad started bursting with sparks. “What the HELL did you do?!”

”Not letting you get in my way.” Micah said through gritted teeth before firing at the blonde more times.

Malduum fell to the floor with a thud before Micah came up and put his foot on top of his chest. Malduum struggled underneath as Micah dug his heel down in his chest. Micah was about to fire another shot when he heard a familiar voice shout his name.

”Micah stop!”

”Elijah?”

His older brother ran up to him. He skidded for a moment to catch his breath before looking down at the blonde under Micah’s foot. “Micah, calm down!”

”I-…” Micah stammered for a bit, suddenly realizing what he was about to do. “Oh no…”

Malduum snickered and used this chance to teleport away, leaving the two brothers alone.

”Why are you still here?” Elijah asked.

”T-The Arxis closed before we got in and-.”

”We?”

”Shiloh and Michelle are hiding in one of the airvents. The Arxis should he opening up soon.”

Elijah nodded slowly. “Alright, go contact the others to open the Arxis. Then we’ll both find the two-.”

”Elijah!” Shiloh shouted as she tackled the blue member to the ground. “You’re back!”

Micah explained what was going on and the four made their way back to the Arxis point. Micah could see Michelle struggle to keep up so he decided to just carry her up.

”Alright, it should be open about now.” Elijah sighed. Right as he said that, the golden portal opened.

”Let’s go!” Shiloh shouted before pulling Elijah in with her.

Micah stared at the golden portal, almost scared to walk through. Michelle tapped the green member on the shoulder. “Micah, let’s go.”

”I… I don’t think I should go in.” He mumbled under his breath as he stepped in.

///

“ELIJAH!” Everyone on the other side exclaimed before dogpiling on the blue member.

”ARGH!” Elijah yelped in surprise before laughing loudly.

”Can we get a stretcher?” Micah shouted, still carrying Michelle. He gently laid her on one of the stretchers that was given. “I’ll meet up with you at the medic bay.”

Michelle gave a thumbs up as she watched the green member join his siblings to talk with Elijah. She was still hoping she would talk with the other a bit longer, but she guessed that Shiloh might intervene as well at this point.

Chapter Text

Elijah chuckled as he managed to craw out from the dogpile. “What happened while I was gone?”

Shiloh had a big smile on her face. “We have so much to tell you! But, we also have a new member.”

Elijah raised an eyebrow before seeing a familiar fairy face. “Lila? You’re here!”

The fairy chuckled softly. “I’m surprised that it took this long for me to finally meet you again.”

Shiloh patted her older brother’s shoulder with a cheeky smirk. “I’ll let you two chat.”

Elijah stuttered with his face flushed red. “I-… nevermind.”

Lila rolled her eyes. “Anyways, where… did you go? I heard you had disappeared for some reason.”

Elijah seemed a bit nervous to answer. “It’s a long story. Hey, what happened to the restaurant?”

”I gave it over to Terrance. He seemed the most fit to run the place.”

”The blonde one?! But he was the worst chef!”

”He really seemed to look up to you after you left. He even picked up your silly accent.”

Elijah couldn’t help but laugh. “Then why did you leave?”

Lila fiddled with the hem of her jacket. “I don’t think I was cut out to be a restaurant owner. It got boring after a while.” She looked up to the blue member. “What happened with you? You look tired.”

Elijah scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. “Do I really look that tired?” He wouldn’t be surprised. He had been Raelo hopping for a while. Nearly a month to be exact.

”Yes!” Lila exclaimed as she forced the blue member to look at her in the eyes. Her thumbs went under his eyes and traced out where his very visible eyebags were. “You need a lot of sleep.”

Elijah’s face flushed red at Lila’s sudden touch. “I-I do?”

Lila nodded firmly. “Goodness… you look gaunt.”

Elijah pulled himself away from the fairy with a soft chuckle. “Lila, I swear I’m fine.”

”Elijah I’m serious! Do you know how worried your siblings were ever since I joined?” Lila exclaimed. “Sometimes I could hear them working all night, or worse, shouting at each other.” Her mind drifted to the fight with Micah and Judah, or Micah and Shiloh.

Elijah’s face went serious. “Fighting? Why would they fight?”

Lila shrugged. “You really are loved here.”

Elijah shook his head as he rubbed his face. “I feel bad now…”

”Don’t be!” Lila assured the blue member. “You didn’t know that would happen right?”

”I guess…” Elijah mumbled. “Man, I really am tired.”

Lila smiled softly. She held a hand out. “Need help?”

Elijah took her hand with a sigh before slumping forward. “Sorry for cutting our chat so short.”

”Not a problem! You should get some beauty sleep huh?” Lila teased.

Elijah rolled his eyes but chuckled along. The two arrived at his room. He slowly went in but looked back at Lila one more time, leaning on the door frame. “Hey… wanna chat more once I feel better?”

Lila grinned. “Sure, could help catch you up on stuff ya missed heh?”

She gave him an air kiss before twisting on her heel and walking off. Elijah stood there stunned before softly giggling to himself. Lila herself couldn’t believe what she just did and her face was beet red.

Chapter Text

Micah rubbed his forehead. Why wasn’t this working? He had sworn he had done all the calculations, right? If Shiloh hadn’t barged in while he was in his focus trailblazing moment then maybe he would have still been able to make the device work. Now most likely he had made both Judah and Shiloh upset while also losing his chance to make his tracking device work. This tracking machine wasn’t going to be used for Elijah anymore, but it would still be proven useful.

”Hey Micah!” Jocelyn squeaked as she suddenly popped up by his side.

”Wha- Jocelyn? How did you get in here?” Micah asked, stunned as to how the little girl got in his room. He shoved his machine to the side, covering it random papers by the side.

”It was easy.” Jocelyn giggled before her face went serious. “Don’t ask.”

Micah rolled his eyes before leaning back in his chair. “Whatcha need?”

Jocelyn looked around as if she wasn’t allowed to share whatever she wanted to say. She then spoke in such a tiny whisper Micah had to lean down to hear. “I think you should talk to Michelle more. You like her don’t you?”

Micah, once again, leaned back in surprise. He had an eyebrow raised as he looked at the little girl. “Why would you say that?”

Jocelyn face palmed before turning around and shouting at the door. “I can’t do this anymore. Judah? Josiah?”

Micah looked up to see his two brothers burst the door open with smug smirks. “We’re getting you a girl!”

Micah stuttered and waved his hands around. “Woah woah woah! What are you three on about?! Getting me a girl?”

Judah rolled his eyes. “It’s so obvious that you like her! Basically everyone knows! Literally in that MM2 round! We saw you and her literally hugging and about to kiss before breaking the moment by being awkward!”

Micah’s face wrinkled up in confusion. “Me, liking her? No… I don’t like her. And we weren’t going to kiss! That’s stupid.”

Jocelyn crossed her arms and gave Micah that look of ‘really?’. “Micah, that is the fattest lie I have ever heard from you. You basically are a two-year-old at this point.”

Josiah gave an annoyed huff. “Dude, you have so much better luck with girls than me! Gala doesn’t even care about me.” Josiah gave a small pout while Judah gave him a pat of pity.

Micah chuckled. “I’m sure Gala likes you. She probably just doesn’t show it.”

Jocelyn shrugged but Judah gasped and pointed at Micah.” What did you just say!”

”Uhh, Gala probably doesn’t show it?” Micah said, unsure as to why he had to repeat it.

”Show what?” Jocelyn caught on with a smug grin.

”Gala doesn’t know how to show that she likes Josiah?” Micah said it slowly. “What’s to it?”

Jocelyn hopped up and down excitedly. “That’s you!”

Josiah gasped loudly before snapping his fingers together. “She’s right!”

Micah stared at the three before shaking his head with a disbelieving chuckle. “You guys are… being ridiculous.” Micah slowly trailed off at the end the longer he thought about it. Judah, Josiah, and Jocelyn all looked at him with the look of ‘now you’re getting it’. Micah shook his head and flapped his hand at the three as if to dismiss his thought. “Nah, I’d figure that out by now!”

Judah and Josiah gasped and stuttered, mouths wide open in stunned confusion. They flailed their hands together, trying to make sense of what just happened. Jocelyn just face palmed herself with a groan. “How are you this stupid.”

Micah rolled his eyes. “And anyways, it’s not like she likes me even if I did like her.”

Once again, Judah and Josiah stuttered with their mouths open in stunned confusion. “Dude! She- wha-?!”

Jocelyn gave a loud groan of annoyance. “I’m leaving. Clearly even I couldn’t help you guys.”

Micah just shrugged and continued to work on his machine as the three left. Finally he could continue on this blasted tracker machine.

///

Judah, Josiah, and Jocelyn peaked around the corner as they heard Shiloh, Mary, and Michelle talking in the medic bay. The three girls had gathered because Shiloh had also picked up on Michelle possibly liking her older green brother.

”Maybe this will help us figure if Michelle likes Micah or not.” Judah whispered to the other two.

”Judah, it is so obvious they like each other.” Jocelyn said in her dead-pan voice.

Judah rolled her eyes before bringing his attention back to the conversation.

”Come on, you do like him!” Mary giggled. “It’s so obvious!”

”Really?” Michelle asked. “I mean, I don’t like him thaaat much.”

Shiloh gave the look of ‘you’re lying to yourself’. “Michelle, I feel like everyone thinks you two are the unofficial thing here by now.”

Michelle’s mouth dropped open like a stunned goldfish. “Wha- actually?!” She looked at both Nelson sisters and they both gave a shrug and nod. Her head dropped to her hands in embarrassment. “I don’t even like him that much, right?”

The Nelson sisters looked at each other, both unsure what to do.

”We’re going to need to help them huh?” Jocelyn mouthed to all the Nelson siblings.

///

Judah had pestered Elijah enough to let him have access to the security room. The blue brother didn’t know why until he saw Judah flash past all the camera footage to the live feed of the medic bay.

”Are you spying on Michelle??” Elijah asked, completely stunned why his brother would do that.

”Wha?! No! Look!” The orange brother pointed at the screen to show Micah slowly walk in and sitting next to Michelle’s side. She was sleeping though so that just made the two brothers watching even more confused as to what the green brother would do.

”Hey uh… Jocelyn told me to do this.” They could barely make out what Micah was saying through the camera’s mic. “If you ever want to… uh.”

Elijah gasped as he shook his younger brother’s shoulders. He squealed loudly with a grin. “IS HE CONFESSING?!”

Judah and Elijah continued to watch the feed with wide grins, though they could still barely hear anything.

“Just talk to me when ya need to.” Micah then left with a visibly red face. Elijah and Judah were about to close out of the screen when they saw Michelle wake up giggling.

Both brothers stammered loudly in excitement before jumping up and down.

Chapter Text

“Hey, have any of you seen Josiah?” Judah asked as he entered the lounge. He had notice the black clad member being much more reluctant to remove his coat lately and was wanting to ask him about it.

”No, I think he’s still in his room.” Shiloh shrugged as she looked up from her phone. “Why, you need him?”

”Kinda…” Judah trailed off before heading to his older brother’s room. Maybe he was just being a bit paranoid, but he did care for all his siblings.

///

Judah popped his head through the door to see Josiah staring at hi arms in the mirror. Judah let out a loud gasp, alarming the other.

”Judah?! Get out!” Josiah shouted,  grabbing a nearby sweater and pulling it over his head.

”You have burns on your arms?!” Judah gasped a bit too loudly.

”Shut up!” Josiah hissed as he clamped his hand over his younger brother’s mouth. “They’ll hear you!”

Judah quickly pried off the hand, though he looked more excited than concerned. “First, how did you get them, and Second, it looks so cool!”

Josiah seemed a but stunned at Judah’s reaction. “Wha- you think the burn marks are cool?”

Judah had that stupid look on his face showing that he was really invested in whatever it was. Josiah rolled his eyes but couldn’t help but smile as he rolled up his sleeves. Under the black sweater were giant but faded out burns on his arms. It wasn’t too obvious, but if you paid attention, you’d notice.

”That looks awesome!” Judah squealed like a little kid. “Wait, did it hurt really bad?”

Josiah shrugged. “It hurt after I got hit, but not really.”

”I am so tempted to want to try and get a fake scar to look cool.” Judah mumbled.

”That’s a bit weird.” Josiah pointed out.

”But I mean- it looks so cool!”

Josiah chuckled softly. “I guess…”

Judah looked at his older brother for a moment before gasping loudly again. “You don’t like the burns! But why?!”

Josiah flinched at Judah’s loud voice and looked a bit sheepish even. “I dunno… I guess you’re right when it looks cool. But I liked my arms before. That sounds a bit stupid now that I think about it.”

”You could even impress Gala with them.” Judah snickered as he elbowed his brother.

”Do you think Gala likes those types of things?” Josiah asked, genuinely curious.

”I mean, even I think burns are cool. I bet Gala would like them too.” Judah shrugged.

Chapter Text

Josiah stared at the ceiling. He couldn’t sleep. The annoying part was that he had woken up from the best dream he had. Sure, it was another dream about Gala, but it was still the best dream he ever had. He sighed as he slowly got out of bed. Maybe he could chat with Elijah. Elijah might be awake right?

Elijah had returned about three days ago. He still looked tired but was very chatty. He looked very winded out at times, sometimes he was dozing off while standing. He insisted that he was fine, but Josiah begged to differ. He didn’t bother to push Elijah to rest though since Elijah seemed to be fine too.

The blue brother had caught up on everything that happened in the agency while he was gone. He also had told them some stories about what happened while he was gone, but Josiah could tell there were some details Elijah had cut out. Whether it was because he didn’t want to say or because it was too graphic was up to Josiah to guess.

///

“What was the scariest Raelo you hopped into?” Judah asked with a big grin. The siblings had gathered in the lounge to chat with Elijah.

Elijah scratched the back of his neck as he thought. Josiah caught Elijah’s face dropping but thought it was just his imagination. “A lot of the Raelos I had hopped into were terrifying. Very violent too. But if you’re talking about the worst one, it would probably be the… Village.”

”The Village? What’s that?” Shiloh asked as she leaned over.

Elijah glanced to the side, almost as if it would be awkward to tell the story. “Kinda like if you took the monsters from the Dracula Castle and the zombie infection, merged them together, made it way more violent than it needed to be, and made it ten times worse.”

”Did you have to fight a lot there?” Micah asked with his head tilted.

Elijah, once again, seemed hesitant to answer as he glanced off to the side. “Yea… there was this really tall vampire lady who was hunting me. She also uh…” He looked down at his wrists and hands before shaking his head. “She was very violent.”

Everyone cringed at the thought.

”Why would you Raelo hop there?!” Judah exclaimed loudly.

”The Village sounded like a good place and the Raelo hopping machine picks a random Raelo anyway!” Elijah threw his hands up in the air dramatically.

///

The black-clad member slowly walked down the hall and arrived at his brother’s bedroom door. He hesitated to open it but decided to go in anyways. Right away, Elijah spun around in his office chair with a gun pointed right at Josiah. Josiah ducked from an incoming energy pulse aimed right at his face.

”ARGH! It’s just me!” Josiah yelped as he took a step back with his hands up.

”Wha- oh my gosh I’m so sorry.” Elijah gasped as he placed his gun to the side. He rubbed his face with a breathy chuckle. “Got me scared for a second huh?”

Josiah nervously chuckled along. “Why are you up so late..?” He peered over Elijah’s shoulder to see Elijah’s desk completely empty except for the gun and a shut laptop. The laptop wasn’t even plugged in to any of the computer screens.

Elijah pursed his lips together into a tight line as he spun in his chair. “Oh… Couldn’t sleep.”

”Then why do you have a gun?” Josiah asked, very confused.

Elijah stammered an excuse. “I waaaas… cleaning it when you came in!”

Josiah’s face dropped into a serious expression. “Elijah, that’s a very bad excuse.”

Elijah rolled his eyes. “You don’t need to bother alright? Why are you here?”

Josiah shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep. Wanted to come and chat with you at least.”

Elijah smiled as he pushed the gun to the side of his desk. “What ya wanna talk about?”

Josiah shrugged as he sat at the foot of Elijah’s bed. “Uhh… how was it being a Raelo hopper?”

Elijah gave a low whistle as he twirled in the chair. “It was… not fun but cool. You know what I mean?” Josiah only shrugged. “Ah well, it was exhausting. I couldn’t stay in one Raelo without being chased or having the chance of my tracker reactivating.”

”Wait, but you left your tracker here.” Josiah pointed out.

”The Raelo hopping gun which I took has an in-built tracker. I turned it off but it reactivates by itself at times.”

”Huh…” Josiah mused about it for a bit before looking back at his brother. “You should probably sleep right?”

Elijah’s shoulder slightly slumped as he folded his hands in his lap. “I… I can’t.”

”What do you mean? I’d imagine you’d be exhausted after Raelo hopping constantly for nearly a month right?” Josiah tilted his head to the side. He could tell Elijah was hiding something.

Elijah hesitated before leaning towards his brother in a whisper. “I was being hunted down in many Raelos, and when I mean many, I mean many. Someone had planted a bounty on me. I bet it was Malduum or something. It got to the point where sometimes I couldn’t sleep even if I wanted to because my body was just panicking. When I did sleep, it was barely any. I just got used to waking up suddenly with a gun by my side when someone approached me…”

Josiah’s eyes were wide. “That’s terrible!”

Elijah mumbled under his breath. “It’s not that big of a deal. I’m back in the agency. I can trust you guys!”

”Well you nearly blasted my face!” Josiah exclaimed, pointing at his own face before pointing at the burned mark on the wall. “I think that’s more than enough proof for me to say that you’re still scared of something, right?”

Elijah sighed. “I really doubt that. I’m back home with my siblings, what more could I ask?”

Chapter Text

“Has anyone seen Gala?” Josiah asked after breakfast was over. He had noticed the princess in red had not appeared for breakfast, which was very unlike her.

”No, sorry.” Shiloh replied. “Maybe she’s still in her room?”

Josiah gave a curt nod before heading off. He knew he was a sucker for the princess, everyone knew. Everyone except for Gala. Josiah couldn’t help the fact he was a hopeless romantic, how could he control it? What was getting his spirits down was the fact that the princess never seemed to return the feelings to him. He didn’t mind that. It just wore him down at times with that lingering thought that she might never like him. He was no prince, he never really had a shot with her to begin with anyways.

He finally arrived at the princess’s room and peered in. He was quick to notice Gala sitting at her dresser and staring at her tiara. He quickly fixed his hair and checking his breath before walking in. “Gala? Are you okay?”

The princess squeaked and turned to see the man in black. “Oh, Josiah! What brings you here?”

”Just wondering where you were. You missed on breakfast.” Josiah said with a shrug.

Gala gasped. “I did! Oh, I’m so sorry.”

”No no! No need to say sorry!” Josiah assured the princess in red, “It’s really your choice whether you want to come to breakfast or not. But do you mind me asking why you didn’t come?”

Gala seemed hesitant to answer as she set the tiara on the dresser. “I was thinking, what would happen if I left the agency?”

Josiah’s eyes went wide as he sat on the edge of Gala’s bed. “Leave? Why would you want to leave?” He didn’t want Gala to leave! He hadn’t even confessed his feelings to her properly. There was also that protocol that he really didn’t like.

Gala ran a hand through her hair. “Well, I never returned back to my kingdom. My parents probably think I’m dead! I mean, for all they know they might think that I’ve been kidnapped and they sent the whole kingdom on a search for me! And with no one to be heir to the throne over there, I don’t know what would happen. I… I also miss them in a way.”

Josiah suddenly felt guilty about not wanting Gala to leave. She was right, she still had a whole life she had ditched behind her just to join the agency. But he really didn’t want to activate the protocol if she were to leave. “I… I don’t know if I could help you with that Gala.”

The princess gave Josiah a questioning look. “What do you mean? Surely it can’t be that hard.”

Josiah sighed, “I really do want you to return to your family, but there’s a protocol that must happen if you want to leave the agency. And… one part of the protocol is to do a memory wipe.”

Gala still had a questioning look on her face. “Why would you need to do a memory wipe if I were to leave the agency?”

Josiah scratched the back of his neck. “Essentially, staff leaving the agency with the knowledge of where we are based is a liability. If someone were to capture one of us to get the location of the agency, it would place this whole operation into hot water. In fact, when you, me, Shiloh, and the others leave for missions, that’s already pretty dangerous.”

”Then why send us out to do missions in the first place?” Gala asked. She did have a valid point. “That Raver guy already seemed kinda sketchy and Malduum is trying to hunt you down as it is!”

”Well, it’s our job to help those Raelos in need.” Josiah said with slight chuckle. “I find this protocol to be kind of silly but there is a good reason for the memory wipe when a member leaves. However, if we somehow bumped into that old member again and they request to join back on their own accord, we will return all their removed memories back to them.”

Gala had a worried look in her face. “I worry for you guys sometimes. Wanting to find your mother is a noble cause, but all the risks that happen just to find her makes me scared that one of you would end up terribly injured.”

Josiah gave a smile. “Don’t worry, the Nelsons are as strong as you can imagine!” His mind was quick to drift back to the topic about letting Gala see her parents again. “I… I think I might have a plan.” Josiah glanced around him for a few moments, worried that someone might have listened in on their conversation. After he knew that no one was around, he gave a small nod. “Is midnight alright with you?”

///

The two agents had snuck into the Arxis Bay. Josiah started up the golden portal, though he was still rather wary on executing this plan. If it went south, then this would all end up being his fault. He would not be able to forgive himself if anything bad happened to her because of him.

“We got about an hour before we have to come back here without getting into too much trouble.” He whispered to the cloaked princess. ”You ready Gala?”

She gave him a small but eager nod as he pressed the button to open the golden portal. The white frame soon formed what was the golden energy to warp the two to the Kingdom of O’Lindor. She turned to Josiah with a bright smile on her face. Before the two stepped in, she pulled Josiah by the arm to face her. “Thank you Josiah, for doing all this. I… I don’t know how I could repay you for letting me see my parents again.”

Josiah’s face immediately flushed bright red, though the room was too dark for Gala to see. “N-No problem Gala. I’m always free to help ya.”

Chapter Text

Michelle had heard about what happened. The Arxis had glitched out and had spontaneously opened up portals in the agency. The crew was quick to close it and bring back whoever was unfortunate to get warped in. She knew they hadn’t gotten everyone back yet, but she wondered just how many did get warped off in the first place. She was snapped out of her thoughts when Micah was quick to brush past her without saying a word. She then was brushed past by Elijah and Judah who were chasing after him, shouting something about staying calm? This only got the girl more worried and she was quick to follow.

”What’s going on?” Michelle asked as she manage to grab Judah by the arm.

Judah sputtered for a second before finding the words. “I don’t know. Micah keeps saying something about finding someone. He won’t say who. He’s been like this ever since the Arxis glitch!”

Michelle and Judah looked up to see Elijah having to hold Micah by the arms and staring him right in the eyes. Micah then shoved the brother in blue away before speed-walking down another hallway. Elijah shook his head as he walked up to the two. “I don’t know who Micah is trying to find!”

Michelle fell silent for a minute before her eyes went wide. “Where’s Jocelyn?”

///

It was about four AM when the Arxis glitch was reported. Micah, Josiah, and Mary were the first ones up to start leading the crew to get their missing staff back from whatever Raelo they had warped in. Mary and Josiah had led their team fairly well, though Micah’s team came out empty-handed. In a way that was good. It just showed that there weren’t as many missing staff as the others had thought. Micah wasn’t so sure though. He had counted the amount of alerts that were sent to the control panel about how many people were warped out during the glitch. When he counted how many people had returned, he had counted a few heads too little.

”Wow, we finished that glitch search much faster than I thought!” Mary said happily.

Josiah gave a tired yawn. “Yea… mmmm… I’m going back to bed now.”

Mary nodded in agreement before looking over to Micah. She had a slightly worried look on her face. “Micah? What’s up?”

”I don’t think we have everyone.” Micah said slowly as he mentally recounted everyone again. “We’re missing a couple people still. The numbers don’t match.” He looked back down at the control panel which showed the amount of warping alerts. “I’ll keep working. No need to worry about me.”

Mary tilted her head slightly. “Alright… just don’t freak out alright? I know you have a tendency to do that.”

Micah chuckled as he watched his sister in white walk off. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

///

Micah wasn’t fine anymore. How could he have forgotten about Jocelyn?! She was basically in his hands, anything bad that would happen to her would be blame on him! If she was injured or… worse, he could never forgive himself! She was just a child, heck, she was still in school! Sure, she had been to monster prison and had a fiery spirit, but that didn’t help Micah feel any better! He knew she was older now but with all those different Raelos, who knew what dangerous one she warped in. One of the crew nearly lost an arm if it wasn’t for Micah pulling him back into the Arxis Bay. And the report was filed at four AM! She was probably still half-asleep when she was warped out. It didn’t help with the fact that he didn’t want to show Mary that he was stressed out. He could handle just as much as her! He guessed he wasn’t too good with hiding his panic as after breakfast, Elijah and Judah were quick to ask Micah what was up. Also, what was that weird loud but muffled voice that was shouting at him right now? Was he going deaf or-.

”Micah look at me!”

Micah’s head shot up to see Michelle kneeling in front of him. Micah shook his head before looking around him with wide and teary eyes. He didn’t even realise that he was in the floor with his hands in his hair. Michelle shook her head with a small sigh. “Finally you’re listening.”

”M-Michelle?” Micah stuttered slowly as his hands slowly dropped down to his sides. “What a-are you doing h-here?”

”Calming you down.” She said slowly. “You’re lucky I was following you or you might have gone into full hysteria.”

Micah caught his breath as his eyes darted to look all over the place. He was trying to get his thoughts in line. Michelle could tell and slowly sat by his side, resting her head on his shoulder. He took a few more breaths before going silent, gently resting his head on top of hers. After a while, Michelle lifted her head up and poked him on the arm. “Calmed enough?”

”Y-Yea.” Micah said slowly. He licked his lips before his head hung low. “Man…” Michelle flinched as Micah’s head shoot straight back up, the agent in green throwing his hands up in the air. “JOCELYN!”

”Calm down! She’s alright!” Michelle said sternly, not wanting Micah to freak out again. She grabbed Micah’s hands and stared him down in the eyes. “She’s in the medic bay being checked out, but she’s perfectly fine.”

Micah gasped loudly as he placed a hand on his chest. “Oh thank goodness.” His shoulders went slack as his body completely relaxed like jello. The two remained on the spot for a while, their heads resting on each other. Michelle soon could hear Micah lightly snoring. She couldn’t help but chuckle as she also started to doze off.

Chapter Text

Jocelyn woke up to the sounds of weird gargling surrounding her. It wasn’t the sound of water, she knew that was for sure. She woke up with a groan and looked around.

”This isn’t my bedroom…” She mumbled to herself as she scratched her head.

She was definitely not in her bedroom. She was sitting on what seemed to be a big pile of moss inside of a big tree. She was still in her green pyjama onesie as she crawled out of the hole. She was greeted to the source of the weird gargling sounds. It was a weird goblin like creature! Jocelyn yelped in surprise and tumbled back into the hole.

”Go away!” Jocelyn shouted as she took clumps of the moss and started chucking it at the weird goblin creature.

The creature, in fact, did not back away. Instead, it started crawling inside! Jocelyn squealed loudly as she scrambled to the far end of the hole. “Go away go away go away!”

The creature swatted the clumps of moss away with an annoyed look on its face. It then sat down, staring at her inquisitively. Its head tilted to the side as if to ask, ‘who are you?’ It then continued to make the weird gargling sounds as it pointed out of the hole. Jocelyn just stared at the creature, unsure what to do. The creature shook its head before scratching something onto the wood. Jocelyn looked over to see it was an arrow pointing out of the hole.

”Why should I leave?” Jocelyn asked while crossing her arms. “I was in here first!”

The creature facepalmed itself before pointing at the moss, then pointing at itself.

”This is your hole?” Jocelyn asked.

The creature nodded vigorously before proceeding to push Jocelyn out of the hole. Jocelyn gave an offended gasp before going silent as she saw her surroundings. She was literally in the prettiest forest she had ever seen. “I’m a freaking princess!” She squealed. She giggled loudly as she continued to repeat that while skipping around the large tree happily.

The creature gave a loud growl, signalling for the girl to go quiet. Jocelyn rolled her eyes before realizing that she was in a random Raelo. How did she get here? Where was everyone? Did they even know where she was?

”I’m tired.” Jocelyn whined as she sat down on the ground. Why did she get warped into a random Raelo? She turned to the hole and slowly crawled back in.

The creature opened one eye, wondering why the girl had crawled back in. Jocelyn went to the opposite side of the moss pile and curled up into a ball. “I might as well wait for him here.” She grumbled to herself.

The creature just stared at the girl, still ever so confused as to what this girl was talking about. After what seemed like an hour or two, Jocelyn sat back up. “And three… two… one! Huh, still not here.”

The creature was starting to get fed up with the girl and was about to kick her out of the hole again when a loud thunderclap was heard. Both yelped at the same time and hugged each other in fear. After a few seconds, the two quickly let go of each other and went back to the opposite sides.

”What was that?” Jocelyn asked the creature.

The creature garbled softly before pointing out to the sky. Jocelyn poked her head out of the hole to see the sky going dark with purple-green clouds. She gasped loudly as another thunderclap was heard. Suddenly, more forest creatures came piling into the hole. Everyone seemed scared of whatever storm that was. “Oh my gosh… I really am a princess!” Jocelyn whispered to herself as a squirrel cuddled up to her.

///

Josiah gave a sigh as he left the medic bay. Thank goodness Jocelyn wasn’t hurt in anyway. The only thing she really had were a couple scratches from the critters that had piled on her while in the hole and hiding from the storm. Speaking of the storm, Josiah was going to plan on asking Daniel to go check out that forest Raelo and see what that storm was about. Now all he needed to do was tell Micah that Jocelyn was back and he would be happy as a clam! He started walking down the hall before Judah grabbed him by the arm.

”Judah what are you-.”

”SHHHH!” Judah hissed to his older brother with a grin. “Come look at this!”

Josiah raised an eyebrow as he was dragged down the hall by a very eager Judah. The two arrived and peered into the doorway of one of the storage units. Lila and Shiloh were kneeling on the ground snapping photos of Micah and Michelle snoozing next to each other, their fingers still twined together.

”OH!” Josiah was about to squeal very loudly before Elijah clamped a hand over his brother’s mouth.

”Don’t you wake them up. They’re too cute to make them get angry.” Elijah said quietly.

”Dude… he’s so lucky.” Josiah whined under his breath. “Why is he so blind?!”

Elijah patted his brother in black. “Next time it’s gonna be you and Gala.”

Everyone froze as they saw Micah stirring awake. Immediately all five started to scramble away as Micah woke up in confusion.

”Guys..? Wait a minute.” Micah half-shouted for them as he examined his situation. “Wait- you guys aren’t serious?!”

Michelle slowly woke up. “What’s going on?” She asked in a mumble.

Micah rolled his eyes with a yawn. “Nothing… no need to bother about them.”

Michelle gave a soft hum before quickly falling back asleep, her head resting on Micah’s shoulder. Micah looked at her for a second before slowly dozing back off.

All five poked their heads back through the doorway, all giggling and smiling like silly goofs.

Chapter Text

“I’m fine!”

Micah hated saying that. It had been nearly a month or two since that whole Robot and Malduum she-bang and only now he was feeling his regrets coming to haunt him. He thought he wasn’t hallucinating and thought Michelle and everyone around him were just being extra dismissive. Now he had a blasting headache and nausea that just wouldn’t go away. It felt like he had to be swimming just to get from one place to another, except he was on fire and the place was on fire and everything was on fire. Maybe he should have gone to do the de-radiation. He guessed it was too late anyways.

Micah then remembered about the next mission. He kinda wanted to sit out. Then he remembered how worried his siblings would get if he just suddenly said he was sick with no good reason. He also didn’t think it would be too bad. He had gone through worse before, right?

He finally snapped out of his trance as he could barely hear Elijah shouting for him outside. It sounded like Elijah was underwater.

Funny.

///

“This Raelo is known as the Tower of Hell. This Raelo is known for their annual elimination tournament with obstacles to complete.” Shiloh explained as she pointed at the projection screen. “The ruler this year is heartless and had changed the rules. The residents have asked us to stop him. Do you understand?”

Everyone nodded before getting up and grabbing their gear. Elijah noticed his brother fumbling for his gear. He was very concerned for his brother in green. He looked like he could be knocked over by the wind at any moment. Before they went through the Arxis, Elijah had to ask him.

”Micah, are you sure you’re alright? You know we can always ask for Cole to come right?” Elijah also remembered how clumsy Micah had been the past few days.

Micah gave a weak smile. “Of course I’m fine! Why would I not be?”

Elijah gave a slow nod before hopping into the golden portal. He should talk to Michelle about this after.

///

Elijah hated himself for believing his brother now as he watched him doing the. Everyone noticed Micah straggling behind everyone but it was fine since he could respawn at the bottom. But now the stakes were high as the ruler initiated for lava to start rising up. The group had reached the final level, but Micah was still on the platform.

”Micah! JUMP!” Shiloh shouted to her brother in green.

Micah just stared on, his eyes glazed over and his face drained of any color. Shiloh and Elijah also now realize just how gaunt he was. He slowly went to his knees and grabbed the sides of the platform. His knuckles went white with how tight he was gripping onto the sides.

”I-I can’t.”

///

Micah couldn’t move even if he wanted to. If he even dared to try and jump he would surely hurl out his lunch. Everything was spinning and he was terribly disoriented. He could hear a ringing in his ears as he looked up to see his sister shouting for him. He could see her lips moving but no words were coming out.

Suddenly he started feeling very hot. He looked down to see the lava dangerously close.

”I shouldn’t have looked down-.” Micah groaned, now feeling even more disoriented and on the verge of throwing up.

He nearly fell over when he felt Elijah grab him. He looked up with heavy eyes. “Come on buddy.”

Micah couldn’t help but wince at every jump. It felt like his bones were bruised and would crack at any moment. Finally they managed to land at the finish platform. Elijah set Micah down and he immediately collapsed to the floor. The others gasped before Elijah chased them back so he and Micah could have space.

”Hey, Micah come on, look at me.” Elijah whispered.

”Noo… it hurts.” Micah whined like a kid, using his hands to try and push Elijah away and failing.

Elijah placed a hand on Micah’s forehead before withdrawing with wide eyes. “Dude, you’re sweating and freezing at the same time. You are not okay. Wait… that’s symptoms for radiation poisoning- how did that happen?”

Michelle stared at Micah for a few moments before gasping. “Micah, did you do the de-radiation after coming back from that Prop-Hunt Raelo?”

Micah gave a small whine before his vision flickered to black.

///

Micah woke up to the sounds of machines beeping softly and the sounds of people muttering. He gave a small groan before seeing Elijah, Shiloh, and Michelle by his side with wide eyes.

”You’re awake!” Shiloh exclaimed happily.

”I-.” Micah felt a shiver go up his spine. He slowly pulled up the blankets to his shoulders. “Mmm…”

Michelle shook her head. “Micah, please don’t scare us like that next time!”

Micah glanced to the side. “M’ sorry… I didn’t feel it until a couple days ago.”

“Days?!” All three exclaimed at the same time. Micah winced and covered his ears.

“Micah, radiation symptoms only come after two months at least.” Michelle said sternly. “Why didn’t you tell us right away?”

Micah mumbled under his breath about hating the after-effects from the de-radiation. Michelle shook her head. “And the most obvious symptom about you after being irradiated is hallucinations! I can’t believe I didn’t realize you weren’t being silly and actually hallucinating!”

Elijah ran a hand through his brother’s hair. “From now on, you will be forced to listen to Michelle and go to the de-radiation, got it?”

Micah gave a small whine before retching, the nausea waving over him again. “Someone get a bucket!”

Chapter Text

Daniel stared at everyone as they all filtered in.

”So… am I in trouble?” He said softly.

”WHEN WERE YOU A ROYAL?!” Everyone shouted at the same time. Daniel flinched at the sudden yell.

”What are you- ohhhhhh.” Daniel wagged his finger at them as he realized what they were talking about. He set down his journal and had a sheepish grin grow on his face. “While I was Raelo hopping, I just so happened to end up being crowned.”

Judah sputtered with a goldfish face. “Why didn’t you tell us?!”

Daniel shrugged. “Never thought you guys needed to know. Wait, how do you guys even know?”

Lila emerged from the crowd and gave a curtsy to Daniel. “I can’t believe the king of Faunelia is actually your brother!”

Daniel’s mouth tightened to a line. “Oh…”

”Are you going to return to the kingdom to celebrate the Day of Orbit festival?” Lila asked sweetly.

Daniel scratched the back of his neck. “I should, shouldn’t I?”

Gala clapped her hands excitedly. “We should all go!”

///

“All hail King Daniel!” A couple fairies announced as they bowed to Daniel walking down the street.

”Please, no need to bow.” Daniel chuckled nervously.

”The town is finished setting up the place for the Day of Orbit festival!” One of the villagers told Daniel.

”Dude, this is crazy!” Judah and Josiah whispered to each other.

A goblin ran up to the group. “King Daniel! We have sent the messengers to the castle to bring the escorts to you!”

Shiloh turned to her older brother. “How did you even become- and he’s busy.”

Micah turned around to see Daniel surrounded by the townfolk. The brother and sister couldn’t help but snicker watching their older brother struggle to get around.

Elijah turned to Lila. She seemed like she was trying to find someone. “You good?”

Lila gave a low hum. “Yea… I’ve never been to this part of Faunelia.”

Elijah raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

”I’ve never traveled out of my village until I joined the agency.” Lila pointed out. She turned to see Daniel talking to some elves.

The elves quickly approached the group with wide eyes. “Hello! We are the royal escorts! Please follow us. We wouldn’t want you being late to the ball-party now would we?”

The group nodded and started trekking towards the castle.

”Noo! Stop it!” Jocelyn whined as she was being babied by the elven escorts.

Micah couldn’t help but snicker. “You good Jocelyn?”

Jocelyn gave a pout. “They keep insisting for me to get on them every time we walk in front of a puddle. That’s worse than just walking over it!”

They were brought to the castle to get dressed up. They were all in formal clothes in their favorite colors. The girls were ecstatic with the outfits, even the guys thought they looked rather dashing.

///

The time of the ball had arrived. The others had already went to the ballroom. Judah and Jocelyn had heard there was going to be dancing and immediately looked at each other.

Jocelyn turned to Judah. “Josiah and Gala?”

Judah gave a determined nod. “Let’s go.”

They started weaving through the crowd before spotting Josiah and Gala small talking. Judah and Jocelyn both looked at each other and nodded before advancing towards them.

”Heyyyy Gala!” Jocelyn grinned as she sided up to the princess in red. “Have you thought about dancing with someone tonight?”

Gala looked down at the girl, an eyebrow raised. “Oh? Why do you ask?”

Jocelyn glanced to Josiah. Judah wiggled his eyebrows as Gala and Josiah looked to each other. They both started blushing furiously as Judah and Jocelyn high-fived each other behind their backs.

”I-I mean, would you like to?” Josiah asked with an awkward smile.

”I would-.” Gala was quickly interrupted by Micah and Daniel crashing in. They were even more startled seeing the next person walking in.

///

Shiloh and Elijah were having a hard time blending into the crowd at such a formal party. They didn’t really know what to do at a party so formal, for royalties even! They just shuffled side to side along with the music ever so often.

“You must be Shiloh and Elijah, yes?” A lady in a dark green dress asked as she approached the two.

”Oh! Yes! We’re King Daniel’s siblings.” Elijah had to force himself not to giggle at the title ‘King Daniel’.

The lady in green nodded. “I have heard about his adventures across the Raelos. He seems to be an avid traveler is he not?”

Shiloh chuckled. “Yep. I’m not surprised honestly.”

The lady in green chuckled. “I see. Does this mean you also have adventured through other Raelos and have had combat experience?”

Shiloh and Elijah nodded, though they were unsure as to why she would need to specify the combat part. The lady could sense their confusion and lowered her voice to a whisper. “There’s been talks of a revolt to overthrow King Daniel tonight. I think one of their spies has entered but I am-.”

A loud scream was heard as Daniel and Micah suddenly tumbled into the ballroom. Following them was Michelle who was wielding a sword and splattered in blood, contrasting to her rosy pink gown. Immediately all the guests fell silent as Michelle spoke, her voice echoing in the silent ballroom. “Everyone out now. The M.O.M agents stay in here.”

///

Michelle, Daniel, Micah were making their way down to the ballroom when they noticed some of the guards passed out and on the floor. The three grew concerned and followed the trail of unconscious guards. Before they knew it, Daniel had been tackled by the intruder and a smoke bomb was thrown down.

”Daniel!” Michelle and Micah exclaimed at the same time. They were coughing through the red smoke. Micah spotted the shattered glass bits from the bottle and realised that the gas was supposed to start sudden aggression.

Michelle and Micah were staring down at the intruder holding Daniel up with a dagger to his throat.

”Let my brother go!” Micah shouted angrily.

”You report me and the king will fall.” The intruder spoke in a creaky voice.

Micah felt his mouth go dry but his hands balling into fists. He turned to see Michelle fuming as well. Suddenly, she tore out a sword on one of the suits of armor. She lunged at the intruder holding. The intruder shrieked as he threw Daniel off to the side. Micah quickly pulled Daniel towards him and watched as Michelle’s sword plunged into the intruder’s chest.

”Michelle..?” Micah barely said aloud. Michelle started cackling loudly as she spun and turned to the two brothers.

”I had never felt that happy about being able to stab something!” Michelle said in an absurdly high voice, an oddly large smile on her face. If Michelle hadn’t literally killed someone and was splattered in blood, Micah would’ve thought Michelle looked and sounded adorable right now. Micah knew he was going to have to talk to Michelle about this afterwards though.

”We’re going to need to get everyone out of the castle now.” Daniel said slowly. The other two nodded before starting their way down to the ballroom.

///

“WHY ARE YOU- EUGH-.” Judah couldn’t help but gag seeing the blood splattered on Michelle’s dress.

Daniel shook his head. “Someone tried to assassinate me!”

Everyone gasped before turning to Michelle. She was quick to interject, pointing her sword to Daniel. “If it wasn’t for me then Daniel would be dead by now!”

Elijah cringed as speckles of blood flew around. “Please put that away.”

Daniel slowly took off his crown. “I think I should revoke my title of ‘King’ here…”

A few of the castle servants were quick to run up to the group. “We suggest that you stay here for the time being so Daniel can sort out if he wants to revoke his title or not. You can all stay if you feel the need to protect your brother.”

Shiloh nodded. “I’m not going to leave him here with the knowledge of an attempted assassination on my brother happened.”

Micah shivered. “Man… seeing Michelle attack that guy- I think I’m going to be sick.”

Josiah glanced over to Gala. He never had the chance to even dance with her! “Hey Gala, maybe we could dance another time?”

Gala gave a smile. “I’d love that.”

Chapter Text

The group had returned to the agency perfectly fine. Daniel had revoked his title of ‘King’ happily and gave it to one of the high advisors he trusted the most. The group had gathered in the living space to hang out and chat about what just happened on the mission. Micah still hadn’t been able to confront Michelle on what had happened earlier either.

”I still can’t believe that you’d just… give up your title so easily!” Lila exclaimed. “Wouldn’t you like the fact you are a ruler?”

Daniel chuckled. “After what just happened, no way. And besides, I’m not even there ninety percent of the time!”

Jocelyn giggled. “I don’t think Daniel would have been the best king for them anyways.”

The others gasped before laughing and exclaiming a few ‘Jocelyn!’s here and there.

“I’m just waiting for Josiah to offer me a dance.” Gala said softly. Everyone else ooo’d at that remark.

”I have also learned that I am not the best at interacting when it comes to such formal events.” Elijah joked with Shiloh agreeing with him.

The group slowly started drifting off to do their own things. Michelle was about to leave when Micah grabbed her by the arm. Michelle reacted loudly and slapped Micah to the face. Micah yelped in surprise and stumbled backwards, his hand to his red cheek. Michelle gasped loudly and also took a step back. She stared at her hands in horror before looking up to see Micah looking at her worriedly.

”I guessed that this would happen.” Micah muttered to himself. He looked up to see Michelle slowly start to hyperventilate. “Woah, Michelle, calm down, it’s just me.”

Michelle took a step back, her eyes still wide as she looked to her hands then to Micah. “I-… I-…”

She could hear a ringing in her ears as she stared at Micah, tears welling in her eyes. Her hands started shaking violently and she could feel her legs going weak. She started to breath quicker as she realised what she had just done back in the castle and now. “No no no no no no no…”

Micah was quick to pull her into a hug. “Michelle, it was not your-.”

Michelle pushed Micah away with a surprising amount of force. “I-I killed someone! That person probably had a family! He looked s-so scared when I s-stabbed him but I just wanted to d-do it so badly! Why did I want to stab him so badly?!” Michelle spoke rapidly as her hands grabbed at her hair. She slowly turned to Micah, her voice cracking and barely audible. “A-Am I a monster?”

Micah slowly approached Michelle. “I… I don’t know what to say if you really want me to be honest. But, you still have a valid reason for killing him since he was trying to kill Daniel. Though… it was a bit weird when you started laughing after that.”

Michelle didn’t respond to the last bit as Micah pulled her in for a hug. She just remained silent as tears poured down her face. Micah let out a mental sigh of relief, at least she didn’t go into hysterics. Hearing Michelle silent was even more chilling to Micah though. She didn’t even sniffle or hug him back, she just stood there like she was dead. Micah hummed softly as he slowly guided her to her room. He didn’t want the others to see her in this state in the middle of the hallway.

When the two arrived at Michelle’s room, Michelle didn’t want to let go of Micah. “I can’t be alone with my own thoughts…”

Micah raised an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”

Michelle didn’t answer. “Please… don’t leave me.”

Micah looked at Michelle for a moment before giving a slow nod. He soon started to sing under his breath as he swayed side to side, Michelle still in his arms. “Cause my love, is mine all mine. My love, mine, mine, mine. Nothing in the world belongs to me but my love, mine, all mine, all mine~.”

///

Josiah and Gala slipped out of the group and snuck to the small garden which the agency had to study plants from different Raelos. Gala gasped in awe as she admired the different plants.

”This is a gorgeous place… how had I not known about this sector before?” Gala asked as she turned to the one in black.

”You never bothered to ask for a tour I guess.” Josiah said with a shrug.

Gala giggled as she twirled, her red skirt swishing ever so slightly. Josiah knew he was giving the fattest ‘SIMP’ face right now, but he couldn’t help it. He fumbled for his phone before pulling up a song. He had heard this song a couple of times and Judah had suggested it to play as well. This caught Gala’s attention as she heard Josiah starting to hum along to it. “We were playing in the sand, and you found a little band.”

Gala chuckled as she spun towards him, listening and dancing along to Josiah’s singing. “You told me you fell in love with it, hadn’t gone as I planned.”

Josiah grinned before dancing along with Gala. Gala soon picked up on the lyrics. “When you had to bid adieu, said you never love a new.”

The boy in black soon took Gala’s hand and spun her around. ”I wondered if I could hold and fall in love with it too.”

“You told me to buy a pony.”

“But all I wanted was you.”

Chapter Text

Michelle and Judah woke up tied to chairs in a red-lit room. Immediately their first thought was to struggle against the rope that was binding them to the chair.

”Where the hell are we?!” Michelle exclaimed as she attempted to examine the room more.

”Finally you two are awake.” A voice groaned in the shadows.

”YOU?!” Judah shouted loudly as Malduum appeared from the shadows.

”Let me just set this up real quick.” Malduum hummed with an unnerving smirk. He soon pulled up a large screen where Shiloh, Elijah, Micah, and Josiah were on.

”Give them back.” Shiloh stated angrily.

”First, you need to come over.” Malduum said with a teasing drawl. He slowly walked behind Michelle’s chair and yanked her head up by her hair. She screamed loudly and tried to elbow him, but her arms were tied back and making it useless. “Then we’ll talk.”

Elijah was about to say something when Malduum ended the link. He soon called up for his robots to send the two agents into white chambers.

”HEY! LET US OUT!” Judah shouted as he banged on the glass window.

Malduum ignored the shouts as he went to a dashboard and pressed a few buttons. He gave a low chuckle. “Have fun~.”

///

Michelle stared in shock as the white room slowly warped into a forestscape. “Oh, so this is some illusion room huh?! Well you can’t-.”

”Michelle?!” She whipped her head around to see Shiloh staring at something by Michelle’s feet in horror.

Michelle quickly looked down to see a bloody axe in hand and Micah lying on the ground, eyes glassy and skin deadly pale. Michelle gave a small gasp as she dropped the axe, making an awful squelch as it sunk back into the bloody hole in Micah’s chest.

”Shiloh I-.”

”MICAH!” Elijah and Josiah shouted at the same time with wide eyes. All three Nelson siblings looked at Michelle, both anger and grief clouding their faces.

”Michelle how could you?! We trusted you!” Shiloh shouted angrily, tears pouring down her face.

Michelle took a step back, her mouth going dry and her mind reeling. This was fake, this had to. She was in a white room a moment ago and now Micah was lying dead on the ground?! But this felt real, too real. Suddenly she was pulled to the ground and staring at a glassy eyed Micah. Her forehead got cut by the rocks on the ground. She felt her head before forced up to look at the other in green.

”WHY?!” He screeched as his cold and clammy hand held her to the ground by the throat.

”M-Micah-.” Michelle struggled under Micah’s grip, gasping for air.

Micah slowly jabbed the end of the axe’s handle into Michelle’s chest. She gave a hiss of pain from the sudden impact and stared at Micah with wide eyes. “Micah please, I would never want to hurt you…”

///

“Just jump Judah!” The Nelson siblings shouted from the other side of the chasm.

”How did I get here?!” Judah asked himself.

First he was in a white room and shouting at Malduum, now he was in some sort of desert place and jumping over an endless pit of a chasm. Everyone was on the other side except for him. There were the smallest of stone platforms that floated above the chasm for Judah to jump and land on.

”I-I can’t!” Judah shouted helplessly. “I-It’s too far!”

”Even Jocelyn did it!” Josiah shouted. He almost sounded annoyed at his younger brother. “Come on dude, we don’t have all day!”

Judah gave a small whimper before peering over the cliffside and down at the chasm. He absolutely hated heights, especially the ones where you didn’t know what was at the bottom. He quickly reeled back with wide eyes. Something had stared back at him.

”Judah please! Stop being a baby and help!” Shiloh shouted from the other side, slowly sounding more frustrated. 

Judah wiped his sweaty palms before hyping himself up. “Alright Judah, you’re the GREATEST CREWMATE!”

Judah did a running start and leapt towards the first floating platform. A smile grew on his face. It quickly disappeared as he felt his foot bend in a way it shouldn’t have, making him slip off. He screamed loudly before feeling a large tendril basically slam him back on the cliffside he was just on. Judah screamed in pain, curling up and hugging his side. He swore he had broken at least two ribs from that tendril slamming him to the ground.

”Oh my gosh, let’s just leave him already.” Elijah groaned. The other Nelsons agreed while Judah’s pleas for them to stay fell on deaf ears.

///

Malduum snickered as he turned off the simulation after an hour or two. “Alright… no use having you be in such bad shape when Shiloh comes over. Robots, fix them up or whatever.”

Michelle gasped for air as she got on her knees. She felt blood dripping down from the cut on her forehead. This was all fake, but it felt way too real. She turned to look through out of the glass and across the hall to see Judah whimpering on the floor and a robot forcing him up so it could bandage Judah.

”J-Judah?” Michelle half-shouted as she banged on the glass.

The other in orange barely looked up at her through his tears. He gave a few sniffles before wailing. “I wanna go home!”

Michelle gave a weak nod before a robot stomped in. She squeaked and backed into the corner of the white room. “Get the hell away from me.”

The robot shook its head before its screen-face lit up. The screen slowly revealed Shiloh’s face. “Michelle, these robots belong to the agency. They will help you and Judah out.”

Michelle stared at the screen with wide eyes before turning and seeing Judah looking back at her. She guessed the robot on his side had said the same thing.

”What even happened?” The robot asked Michelle.

Michelle refused to answer.

///

“MICHELLE! JUDAH!” The agents shouted happily as the agency’s robots landed back in the Arxis Bay with the two in their arms.

”They need medical attention. Stat.” The two robots said in unison.

Shiloh looked at the state the two of them were in. Whatever Malduum did to them, it must have been bad enough to make Judah refuse to talk. “Alright, everyone make way!”

Elijah gave a worried glance to the other agents. He and the others were definitely going to talk to them later.

Chapter Text

Michelle and Judah certainly were different. They had spent a week in the medical ward recovering and even then they didn’t seem completely well. The first week they were let out, Michelle continuously avoided Micah while Judah just flat-out hid from them all.

By now it had been about a month since the incident. Cole and Patience had to sit out since they had to help with extra stuff around the agency. Elijah found Shiloh sending one of the robots off. “Hey Shiloh! We’re planning a mission. Do you think..?”

Shiloh could guess where Elijah was leading to and gave a small hum. “I think Judah and Michelle should be okay, right? Wait, which Raelo is this?”

Elijah checked the clipboard of the Raelo’s information. “It’s… oh my gosh it’s like Minecraft!”

///

“Alright guys! We need to collect materials to rebuild this village!” Shiloh shouted to her team. “Remember to get back here before nightfall!”

Micah noticed the team splitting up and turned to Michelle. She seemed in much better spirits, maybe she would want to partner up? He approached the agent in pink. “Hey Michelle, wanna go to the jungle biome? We need some wood. We also might find some cute kitties!”

Michelle swallowed as a shaking smile grew on her face. “S-Sure… let’s make sure we get back before nightfall.”

Micah gave a nod before handing Michelle an axe and starting to the jungle.

///

Judah stared at the desert biome. He didn’t realize how big it was.

”I think there should be an abandoned mine here.” Josiah stated as he stared at his compass. Shiloh, Elijah, and Judah nodded as they started trekking around.

”I think it’s… here?” Josiah mumbled as he stared down at the spot he was standing on.

”Nope, look in front.” Elijah pointed at the largest chasm the four had ever seen.

“Welp, time to jump over.” Shiloh said with a shrug.

She soon started to bridge over, her two brothers followed behind her. The three got to the other side before turning around and seeing Judah staring with wide eyes.

Josiah raised an eyebrow. “Judah? Hey, can you hear us?”

Judah shook his head. “No! There’s going to be some crazy monster down there and it’s going to break my ribs again! I’m not crossing, no way!”

Elijah and Josiah turned to each other, both looking confused. “Judah, there’s no monster! We’re not dead right?”

Judah was very hesitant. He kept looking down at the chasm and shaking his hands. After a few moments of hyping himself up, he slowly made his way down the land bridge. He could hear his three siblings cheering for him on the other side. That helped his nerves for a moment, if only for a moment. He slowly had a grin grow on his face before he felt his foot slip on the side. He screamed loudly before feeling his shirt get tugged and being pulled up by a fishing line.

Shiloh and Josiah were quick to hoist their brother in orange up. Elijah knelt down to face his brother who was clearly hyperventilating.

”Judah, you’re safe!” Elijah said with a breathy chuckle. “No monster came and slapped you!”

Judah bit his lip and buried his face in his hands, trying to stop himself from bursting into tears. “No no no… I look like a baby to you guys now.”

The three other Nelsons looked at each other before looking at Judah. “What makes you say that?”

Judah had now been reduced to stifled sniffles. “M-Malduum… he… I knew it w-was all fake, w-why did I-.”

All three siblings immediately pulled Judah in a hug. Judah froze for a second before bawling his eyes out. “We would never think you’re a baby, you’re the best brother we could ever have!”

”Might I even say, the greatest crewmate?” Elijah grinned.

///

Michelle looked around her. Where was Micah? It was getting dark and she couldn’t see through the vines. She had to use her axe to hack through just to get a few steps in.

”Micah?! Where are you, it’s getting late!” Michelle froze as she heard some groaning sounds behind her. “Zombie..?”

She took a deep breath, tightening her grip on the axe. She then spun around, ready to fight the zombie. She was about to land a blow before reeling back hearing Micah’s scared shout.

”WOAH WOAH WOAH!” He yelped loudly as he tumbled over some vines.

Michelle screamed loudly as she stumbled backwards, her axe lodging into the dirt. She gasped before scrambling over to Micah. “Micah? Micah?! No no no, this can’t be happening.”

Micah gave a groan as he sat up. He then squeaked in surprise as Michelle suddenly pulled him into the tightest hug she had ever given, and she wasn’t one to show physical affection. “Hey hey, I’m alright! I’m not dead silly.”

Michelle quickly shuffled back and put her hands on his shoulders. Micah could just barely see her on the verge of tears, her voice cracking even. “Are you sure you’re alright and I didn’t hurt you?”

”Just a small cut on my face, but it’s nothing to worry about!” Micah shrugged. His face went serious as he looked at Michelle. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Michelle opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish. She ran a hand through her tangled hair with a forced chuckle. He could sense that she was downplaying her initial panic. “I- yea I’m fine. Just a terrible prank to play on me when we’re alone in the jungle at night.”

Micah gave a slow nod. “That makes a lot of sense. Alright, we better start moving.” Michelle nodded as the two got up. Micah turned Michelle to look at him before they started moving. “I just wanna ask… what happened with you and Judah when Malduum kidnapped you?”

Michelle fell silent as she stopped chopping down vines. “It’s… it’s a long story.”

Chapter Text

Elijah had noticed that Shiloh had been slipping to her room more and more often after missions. Growing curious, he decided to take a look at her room.

”Shiloh?” He called out as he opened the bedroom door.

He slowly walked around for a bit before his eyes landed on a giant bowl of candy out in the open. A devious and greedy grin grew on his face. If he couldn’t figure out why Shiloh kept slipping away, at least he’d get a bowl of treats.

”What are you doing?” Shiloh asked as she stared at her brother snooping in her room.

Elijah froze, his hands still holding the bowl of candy. “Heyyyyy Shiloh!” He said in an awkward drawl. “Just the person I was looking for!”

The two siblings just stood and stared at each other for a good long while before Shiloh asked. “Were you trying to steal my snacks?”

”Awww nooooo.” Elijah said in that weird drawl. “I mean… yeaaaa?”

”Give me that!” Shiloh exclaimed as she lunged at her brother. Elijah yelped in surprise and hopped to the side before his eyes laid on what appeared to be a half-finished dress on a mannequin. It was light purple satin with a white layer underneath it. 

“Were you making dresses??” Elijah asked as he turned to his sister in purple.

Shiloh’s eyes widened and her face flushed in embarrassment. “Yea..? What’s it to you?”

Elijah waved his hands. “No no no! I’m not trying to make fun of you! It looks great! Amazing even!”

Shiloh raised a suspicious eyebrow as she set the bowl of snacks back on the shelf. “Are you being serious?”

”Totally!” Elijah said with a nod. Then an idea popped in his head. “Have you been hiding in your room because you didn’t want us to know about it?”

Shiloh put her hands behind her back and glanced off to the side. For a moment, Elijah thought she looked like a kid again. “I kinda thought it was embarrassing…”

She looked up to suddenly see Elijah wearing a pair of a glasses and examining the dress like some sort of fashionista. Shiloh gave a ‘hey!’ and swatted Elijah away from the dress.

”Aw, come on! It looks so cool!” Elijah whined.

”You’ll get to see the final product when it’s ready!” Shiloh playfully said in an annoyed tone. She chased her brother out of her room. “Besides! I take forever to sew, it pretty hard…”

Elijah gave a silly pout before sulking off. “I’m going to tell the others that you like pretty dresses though!”

”Whatever!”

///

The next day the group noticed Elijah acting like Shiloh’s bodyguard. They didn’t know why until after breakfast.

”Shiloh has a surprise!” Elijah said with the proudest grin on his face.

Shiloh soon entered the room in the most beautiful dress they had ever seen on Shiloh. It was light purple satin with a white layer underneath. The sleeves were long ruffles that made her look like a princess and the dress swished around even when there was no wind.

”What do you think?” Shiloh asked with the biggest smile they had ever seen. She looked like she was back to when she was just a little kid playing dress up with them.

Immediately all her brothers went ‘awww’.

”Could you make me a dress?” Lila asked eagerly. “I think it looks lovely!”

Shiloh gasped before quickly nodding. Elijah couldn’t help but smile as he watched his sister look more lively and playful than ever.

Chapter Text

Lila was sitting at the lunch table by herself, prodding at her food. She didn’t know where to get fairy food, and she didn’t like mac and cheese. Elijah had offered to go make some fairy food but Lila felt that might have been too rude. She let out a long sigh and was about to clean up when she felt someone tugging at her skirt. She looked down to see Jocelyn looking up at her.

”You’re Lila right?” The girl asked.

Lila nodded. “Yep… that’s me!” Lila had to remember that this seven year old was more of the fiery fighter rather than what she thought an actual seven year old was. She remembered Micah telling her about Jocelyn being scary. “What do you need?”

Jocelyn hopped on one of the seats by Lila’s side. “Have you had an actual tour of the agency? And not the one Shiloh and Elijah give you.”

Lila stared at Jocelyn for a long while. The only tour she ever had of the agency was with Elijah and Michelle. “No… Elijah and Michelle gave me the tour. Why are you asking?”

”You had a tour with the orc?” Jocelyn said with a dead-pan voice.

”What..? No, I never said that.”

”I mean Michelle.”

”Michelle’s not an orc!” Lila exclaimed, feeling a bit offended for Michelle.

Jocelyn giggled. “I’m kidding silly. I think it’s just funny seeing Michelle’s reaction to being called an orc.”

Lila gave an uneasy nod. She didn’t remember being this rude as a seven year old. Was she this rude before? “Anyways… is there anything you need?”

Jocelyn gave a soft hum. “I’ve notice you seem to feel out of place. Am I right or am I right?”

Lila sighed and rested her head on her hand, her arm propped on the table. “That was a bit uncalled for, but I guess so. I mean, Elijah and the others are great, don’t get me wrong! But… I’m not really used to the human customs here if you really are asking me.”

Jocelyn tapped her finger on her chin. “You’re a fairy right? What would fairies do?”

Lila fiddled with her thumbs. “I’m not too sure about that either. The closest thing fairies have to an agency like this would be the royal spies. Even then it’s not as intricate at this.”

Jocelyn stared at the pink fairy. “Sorry… I’m seven I didn’t understand.”

Lila gave a small chuckle and shook her head. “You are a feisty seven year old.”

Jocelyn grinned. “Ehehe… Oh! Lemme give you my tour guide!”

Lila raised an eyebrow as the two got up and left the cafeteria.

///

“Jocelyn! What are you doing?!” Lila squeaked as the two snuck into the back kitchen.

Jocelyn gave a mischievous grin as she snuck behind one of the counters and pulled off the grates. “In here!”

Lila stared at the secret passageway for a second before shaking her head. “Won’t we get in trouble?!”

”Oh please! I’ve done this hundreds of times! How do you think I sneak into other rooms?”

///

The two ended up using the secret passageway to end up in Jocelyn’s hidey-hole. It was quite roomy for a hidden spot. There were pillows and throw blankets piled up, making the place like one, big, fuzzy nest. Lila noticed a lot of plushes scattered around and stringlight hung around. There was a small cat clock that on the wall, its tail ticking back and forth. There was a small corner where Jocelyn’s snacks were and another where her tablet was charging. “This is where I go to hide from everyone else.”

Jocelyn handed her a pack of jellybeans. Lila opened the pack and her pupils dilated to a hundred. “What is this amazing treat?”

”Jellybeans.”

”Delicious.” Lila said with a scary-looking grin.

”Reminder to self, don’t let Lila have jellybeans too often.” Jocelyn mumbled as she stared at the fairy wolfing down the candy.

Lila licked her lips as she made the pack disappear with her magic. She then looked to Jocelyn. “Wait, why do you cone here instead of your own room?”

”They still can enter in at anytime. In here, I can have my privacy!” Jocelyn giggled before turning on her tablet. “What do fairies like to watch?”

Lila tilted her head to the side to think. “Ooo! There’s a game show that is very popular. Mind if I show you?”

Jocelyn gave a nod and handed the tablet to the pink fairy. She quickly typed the name in and propped it up. The two girls got comfy in the pile of pillows.

”Do you ever wish to go back to your Raelo?” Jocelyn asked halfway through the show.

Lila glanced to the side before replying. “If you want my honest opinion, I would say no. I would like to return for a visit, but not move back.”

”And why is that?”

Lila ate a handful of chips before replying. “My hometown was destroyed and all I have left is that restaurant. I got bored of the restaurant after a while and… I don’t really know anyone besides you guys.”

Jocelyn gave a small nod. “Never heard that before.”

”You mean you’ve asked that question before?”

”Yea. Most of the time the new ones would say yes before making up a silly excuse to stay here.”

”Huh. Was Gala one of them?”

Jocelyn thought about it for a moment. ”Oh, I never asked her.”

”Oh…” Lila’s attention went back to the show. She nearly spat out her soda. “AHH LUXEM GOT EGGED!”

”AHAHAHAHAHAHA-.”

///

“Has anyone seen Lila?” Elijah asked as he walked into the lounge. Everyone in there shook their heads.

”I think I saw her with Jocelyn leaving the cafeteria.” Shiloh pointed out as she looked up from the sweater she was knitting.

”Since when did you knit?” Elijah asked.

Shiloh shrugged. “I got bored so I went to learn how to do it. This is for Michelle. She’s paying me.”

Elijah’s jaw dropped. “You’re actually getting paid for that?!” 

Shiloh giggled. “It’s a good business.”

”I gave her that idea.” Judah said proudly.

Chapter Text

“You got the money?”

”You got the snacks?”

Judah and Jocelyn nodded before sneaking to Shiloh’s room. She was on her laptop when the two basically slammed her door wide open. She jumped in her seat as turned to see Judah and Jocelyn holding out some cash and a bag of candy.

”Uh… can I help you?” Shiloh asked, confused as to why they would barge in so suddenly.

”Sweaters.” Jocelyn said simply.

”What kind..?” Shiloh asked as the two dropped off the stuff on her desk.

”Here.” Judah handed her four bundles of yarn. Green, pink, black, and red.

Shiloh stared at the bundles for a while before looking back up at the two. “I knew you had bad fashion taste but this is horrendous.”

Judah gave an offended gasp. “Being a carrot is NOT a bad fashion choice! And to correct you, these colors are for one sweater EACH!”

Jocelyn rolled her eyes. “Being a carrot makes you look silly.”

Judah gave another offended gasp before looking at her sister in purple. “Mind making the red and black matching sweaters and the green and pink matching?”

Shiloh finally connected the dots and a sly smile grew on her face. “I’d do it for free but thanks for the gifts!”

Judah and Jocelyn both gasped as Shiloh snatched the cash and snacks. “Hey!”

When Judah turned around, Jocelyn handed Shiloh a small bundle of blue and pink yarn. Shiloh raised an eyebrow as Jocelyn whispered. “You could make matching hats for Elijah and Lila too.”

///

Daniel mentally facepalmed himself as he shuffled around the kitchen the next day. The crew was running tests on the Arxis and in the process had let a snowstorm blast into the agency. Today they were cleaning out the snow but everyone had to dress in warm clothes. He had found his old black puffer jacket with cyan trim.

He sighed as he leaned on the counter and sipped his hot cup of coffee. “Hey Shiloh, where’s everyone?”

”I think they might be coming about now.” Shiloh said as she turned to look at the door.

“When did you get matching beanies?” Daniel pointed out as Elijah and Lila walked in at the same time. Elijah was wearing a blue beanie with a pink flower while Lila wore the inverse.

Elijah’s face turned red and he turned to Shiloh. “Did you plan that?”

Lila squeaked in surprise before clapping her hands together. “Oooo! I didn’t know you had that beanie! That’s amazing!”

Elijah stuttered with his face flushed pink. He scratched the back of his neck with a nervous smile. “T-Thanks! You look pretty cute too! I mean, not like that but you know!”

”Hah, simp.” Daniel snickered. Elijah gave him a sharp glare before going back to chatting with the pink fairy, both of their faces flushed pink.

Jocelyn and Judah ran in squealing. Daniel assumed they were squealing because of the snow. He nearly snorted out his coffee as he saw the real reason.

”Hey guys!” Gala greeted happily as she skipped in. She was in a red sweater with black swirls on the sleeves. Right behind her was a very embarrassed Josiah who was crossing his arms together, failing to hide the red swirls on his black sweater.

”That is adorable.” Elijah snickered as he turned to see the others walking in.

He then grinned even more seeing Micah dragging Michelle behind him. The two were wearing the same type of sweater as Josiah and Gala except in green and pink and with different patterns on the sleeves.

”Michelle stop being a feral cat and eat.” Micah said in a tired voice as he dragged her through the snow. “It’s not like we can change out now anyways.”

”I’m gonna get you Judah!” Michelle yapped loudly as she passed Judah and Jocelyn who were giggling away.

Daniel turned to Shiloh, Judah, and Jocelyn with a smirk. “Smart.”

Lila giggled as she darted over to the three. “You have to teach me how to knit Shiloh! This is amazing!”

“I think someone else also likes the beanie.” Jocelyn teased as she not-so-subtly pointed to Elijah.

Lila went silent as her face turned pink. “Do you think he actually does like it?”

Shiloh raised an eyebrow. “Huh?! Lila, he’s basically head over heels  for you. He just hides it better than Josiah.”

”A hundred times better.” Jocelyn added.

Meanwhile, Daniel and Judah were taking this chance to tease the hell out of Josiah and Micah. Josiah seemed to have completely blacked-out everytime Gala came up to him while Micah was basically having to keep Michelle under control.

”Ew, Josiah’s the biggest simp.” Daniel jokingly cringed as he watched Josiah completely fail to talk to Gala without stuttering.

Michelle was practically going feral wearing matching sweaters, though Judah and Daniel both guessed she was doing it just for show and absolutely loved the sweater.

”Come on, you can’t hate it that much!” Micah said with a smug grin.

Michelle slapping Micah in the face. “Don’t stunt me like that!”

Judah cackled loudly. “Michelle’s getting nervous!”

”Shut up carrot head!” Michelle snapped back, her face now flushed red.

Brittany and David walked in, wearing light brown and red matching sweaters. “Aww… they all look so cute!”

Mary giggled as she trailed in behind in a white and gold sweater. “I totally would’ve helped Judah and Jocelyn.”

Gala seemed oblivious to everything and was just happy she got to see snow for the first time. “Josiah! Look at the snowflakes! Isn’t it pretty!”

”Mhmm… so pretty…” Josiah said with a soft chuckle, watching Gala frolicking around the snow without a care in the world. He was mainly saying that to Gala rather than the snowflakes.

”SNOWBALL FIGHT!” Micah shouted before dodging a blow from Elijah. Judah screamed loudly as he was attacked by a flurry of snowballs from Michelle.

”Josiah behind you!” Gala shouted before pushing him away from the snowball. The two tumbled next to each other before giggling like schoolkids.

That was quickly interrupted with Shiloh shouting. “BRITTANY AND DAVID GOT THE SNOWBALL LAUNCHER!! RUN!”

”WHAT?! WHEN DID THEY JOIN?!” Judah screamed loudly as he tumbled in the snow. “MARY?! WHY ARE YOU LYING IN THE SNOW?!”

”It’s camouflage!” She squeaked with a grin.

”WE GOT YOU TWO!” David cackled loudly as he towered over the two.

”AHHHHHHHHHGHH”

Chapter Text

One day while Lila, Brittany, Shiloh, and Michelle were in the lounge, Lila started to ask questions. She was curious as to how Brittany and Michelle joined the agency.

”Oh, I just joined cuz David worked here.” Brittany said with a shrug.

”That so sweet!” Lila said with a squeal. She then turned to Michelle. “What about you?”

Michelle was about to answer when she stopped herself. “I could say it was when I was the Alpha Zombie… but I don’t think so.”

Shiloh raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? That’s at least when I remember you.”

Michelle snapped her fingers. “Right! It was at this summer camp! I was about 9 I think.”

///

“Ugh! Where is he?” Michelle grumbled as she patted the ground blindly.

It was late at night and she had forgotten to take her flashlight with her. She actually wasn’t supposed to be out at this time, but she had to look for her plush rabbit Tod!

Suddenly, she heard rustling behind her. She turned around and gave a yelp of surprise as she was blinded by a beam of light. The boy holding the flashlight gave a small ‘oops’ and turned it away from Michelle’s face. The boy strode up to Michelle’s side and waved his hand. “Hi! Are you lost?”

Michelle stared at his stupidly toothy grin, minus his missing front tooth. “Uhh… do I even know you?”

”I’m from the Bear Cabin!” The boy in the green shirt said proudly. He put up his hands close to his face and made them into claws.

Michelle rolled her eyes. “You don’t seem to be like a Bear Scout. More like a worm.”

The boy gave an offended gasp before stomping a foot on the ground. “I can be scary!! Rah!!” He tried to fake jump at her but tripped, making the two tumble to the ground.

”Great job you worm!” Michelle hissed as she slowly got up.

The boy gave a pout before staring at Michelle a bit longer. Then, he gasped. “You’re the girl from the Fox Cabin. You beat up those meanies from the Eagle Cabin right?!”

Michelle nodded slowly. “Yea… uh, why are you here exactly?”

”Oh, I saw you sneak out.” The boy pointed out. “I went to follow you cuz I didn’t know if you were going to get hurt or not.”

”I’m just trying to find Tod.” Michelle said simply.

”Who’s Tod?”

”My rabbit!”

”You brought a real rabbit?”

”No dummy! Tod’s a raggie!”

”What’s a raggie?”

Michelle wanted to slap the boy so bad but restrained herself. “Nevermind.” She then went back to hunting for her rabbit.

”We better go soon.” The boy said as he glanced to the direction he had come from. “The counselors might get worried.”

Michelle shook her head. “I need to find Tod! I… I don’t want to just leave him!”

The boy contemplated for a bit before groaning. “Fine, you’re lucky I’m so nice.”

Michelle gave a small grin before going back to patting around her. Soon enough, the boy in green ran back to Michelle with a limp-looking rabbit plush. “Is this Tod?”

Michelle gasped and quickly grabbed Tod. She hugged it tightly before looking up to the boy with a grin. “Thanks!”

”I really think we should get back.” The boy pointed out with his flashlight. He grabbed Michelle by the hand and swiftly guided the two out of the forested area.

”I think I see them!” One of the counselors exclaimed as the boy and Michelle finally came out of the bushes.

”Oh thank goodness!” Michelle’s counselor gasped as she ran to hug the little girl. The two kids were promptly sent back to their cabins.

When Michelle went back to her cabin, her three other roomies started to ask where was she. When she explained what happened, Patience started to giggle.

”Ooo, you held hands with a boy~.” Patience teased.

Michelle face flushed red. “So what?” Patience was right though. She never held another boy’s hand other than her father’s.

Taylor gasped. “Do you like him?”

”No! I just met him!”

Poppy piped up. “Wait, what was his name? I think I might know him.”

”I never asked.” Michelle said with a shrug. “He was wearing a green shirt and had a missing front tooth if that helps.”

”Oooo! I know his brothers!” Poppy grinned. “The boy in the blue bandanna in our cabin is his brother!”

”Elijah?” Taylor tilted her head. “I mean, they kinda look similar.”

”I thought his brother was in the Salmon Cabin. The boy with the black hat right?” Patience pointed out.

”He could have more than one brother ya know.” Michelle rolled her eyes.

All three of her roomies said ‘ooo’ at the same time and started chanting. “Michelle and Green Boy sitting in a tree!”

”Oh shut up!” Michelle exclaimed. She couldn’t help but giggle at her friends’ antics though.

///

“They tried to set me up with him the next day. It kinda worked since we ended up having to work together to make a clay model of the animal for which cabin you were in.” Michelle said at the end.

”Weren’t you in the Fox Cabin and he in the Bear Cabin?” Brittany pointed out.

”Well yea, but I got sat next to him during crafting time.” Michelle shrugged.

Lila squealed and clapped her hands. “That is adorable! I wish we had summer camps in my Raelo.”

”I do not remember them telling me this story at all!” Shiloh exclaimed.

”What story?” Elijah asked as he walked in, snacking on a Pop-Tart.

”Oh! Michelle was talking about when she first met you guys.” Brittany said.

Shiloh turned to her brother after Michelle gave him a recap of the story. “Is that true?”

Elijah’s eyes went wide as he gave a low whistle. “No way you were that girl.”

All four ladies on the couch looked confused. “What do you mean by that?”

”Wait, you had that toy rabbit named Maud or something right?” Elijah tilted his head.

”His name was Tod.” Michelle corrected.

Elijah then snorted, nearly spitting his Pop-Tart out. “Oh my gosh, this is hilarious.”

Lila raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to answer or not?”

Elijah gave a nod as he finished his Pop-Tart. “Yea yea. Now that I know Michelle was actually that girl, this story would be even mire hilarious.”

“Why’s that? Is it bad?” Michelle asked nervously.

”No no no!” Elijah assured the other. “What happened was, Josiah and I had heard about a kid in the Bear Cabin sneaking out. We, of course, went to ask Micah if he did. He said that he didn’t mean to and just wanted to make sure that the girl outside was okay. Us two brothers were very confused about who this ‘girl outside’ was. Our question was answered when we saw him chatting with a girl while making clay models… or was it during the games?”

Shiloh, Lila, and Brittany all gasped at the same time as they looked over to Michelle. “You guys were basically lost loves before meeting back here!”

Elijah smirked seeing Michelle slowly growing red. He decided to add a bit more. “Dude, Micah would start daydreaming WAY more after that camp! When we asked him why he kept spacing out, he’d say ‘nothing’ and turn red before running off.”

Lila and Brittany squealed. “That’s so cute! He couldn’t stop thinking about you!”

Michelle, by now, had gone cherry red. “I’m… I’m going to go out for a bit. Needa walk Rosco or something.” She then darted out of the lounge.

Elijah snickered. “I have to tell Micah this.”

Chapter Text

“Hey Micah?” Elijah called as he opened his brother’s door open.

”Whatcha need?” Micah looked up from his phone on his bed.

”Remember that one summer camp with the Bear and Fox Cabins and whatever?” Elijah asked as he leaned on the doorframe.

Right behind him were Shiloh, Lila, Brittany, and Michelle. Lila was using her magic to keep Michelle in place. She kept trying to run away but eventually gave up once being stuck in place to the fairy’s power.

”Oh yea!” Micah said as he sat up straighter. “That’s the one where you threw up right?”

”Why do you remember that of all things?” Elijah asked, a bit annoyed knowing that the girls behind him also heard that. “Anyways, remember that girl you met at camp?”

Micah tapped his chin for a bit. “Ohh! The girl with the toy rabbit!”

///

Micah couldn’t sleep that night. Luckily he could look out of the cabin’s window since he chose the bottom bunk instead. He watched the fireflies drift around lazily before spotting a vague figure slowly leaving the Fox Cabin.

”Where is she going?” Micah mumbled to himself as he watched the girl dart into the forest.

He slowly crawled out of his bed and swiped his flashlight from his bag. He then quietly left the cabin before tripping on his own two feet. He was a mess of limbs, as his brothers liked to call him. He quickly got up and scurried to the area where he saw the other go in.

”Hello?” He quietly called out as he flashed the light around.

”Argh!” He heard a girl squeak.

”Oops.” He said quietly as he turned off his flashlight and approached the girl’s side. He mustered up a smile and waved his hand. “Hi! Are you lost?”

The girl stared at him with a look that could be read as ‘weirdo’. “Uh… Do I even know you?”

”I’m from the Bear Cabin!” Micah said proudly before bringing his hands up to his face and making them like claws. The Bear Cabin had the best cabin cheers in his opinion.

The girl rolled her eyes. “You don’t seem like a Bear Scout. More like a worm.”

”I can be scary!” Micah said, trying to keep his cool. “Rah!!”

He attempted to try and get the girl to flinch by fake jumping at her. But once again, he tripped on his foot and tumbled right on to her. The two yelped in surprise and quickly scrambled away from each other.

”Great job you worm!” The girls hissed at him.

Micah gave a pout as he watched the girl get up. He recognized that insanely frizzy hair. He gave a loud gasp and pointed at the girl. “You’re the girl from the Fox Cabin. You beat up those meanies from the Eagle Cabin right?!”

“ Yea… uh, why are you here exactly?” The girl asked as she put a hand on her hip.

”Oh! I saw you sneak out.” Micah shrugged. “I went to follow you cuz I didn’t know if you were going to get hurt or not.”

”I’m just trying to find Tod.” The girl huffed.

”Who’s Tod?”

”My rabbit!”

”You brought a real rabbit?”

”No dummy! Tod’s a raggie!”

”What’s a raggie?” Micah asked, genuinely curious.

The girl just gave him a blank stare before shaking her head. “Nevermind.” She mumbled as she went back to patting the dirt around her.

Micah raised an eyebrow before turning to see the counselor cabin’s lights on. He gave a small gasp. “We better go soon. The counselors might get worried.”

”I need to find Tod! I… I don’t want to just leave him!” The girl said in a determined yet worried voice.

Micah stared at her for a while before groaning. Why must he be so soft? “Fine, you’re lucky I’m so nice.”

The two soon started hunting around a bit more before Micah found what seemed to be an old plush rabbit. “Is this Tod?”

He gave a small squeak as the girl snatched the rabbit and hugging it. “Thanks!” She said with an equally toothy grin, missing her two front teeth.

Micah then remembered about the counselors and turned around. “I really think we should get back.” He instinctively grabbed Michelle by the hand and weaved his way through the forestry before finally emerging back at the cabin sight.

The two kids were approached by the worried counselors. Micah was still holding the girl’s hand when he looked up to see his roomies peering out of the cabin window and giggling. Micah immediately turned red as he let go of the girl’s hand and was brought back to his cabin. Immediately when he walked in his roomies started to tease him. It didn’t help that one of them had a sister in the same Cabin as the mystery girl.

”I could get Poppy to get you two to sit at lunch!” Tobias snickered.

”Tobias!” Micah whined, cheeks burning red.

///

“Then we made clay models!” Micah snapped his fingers before going to his desk. He picked up two small clay figurines. One was a bear with the name Micah scribbled on the bottom. The other was of a fox, with a name scribbled on the bottom that was too messy to be read.

”You still kept those?” Elijah exclaimed, impressed as to how well kept the clay figurines were.

Micah shrugged. “I mean, I think it’s cool that for being so young, we managed to make figurines that could hug each other. See?”

Micah held the two pieces up and pushed them together. It didn’t fit perfectly, but the bear’s and fox’s arms still somewhat wrapped around each other. “I think there might have been one more figurine that I made.”

The girls behind Elijah couldn’t take in anymore and jumped from behind saying ‘aww!’. Micah yelped in surprise before seeing Michelle trying to cover her face in embarrassment.

”What’s this?” Micah asked, thrown very off guard.

”Remember the girl that was finding Tod?” Shiloh said with a mischievous smirk.

Micah’s mouth dropped into a ‘O’ as Michelle fumbled for something in her pocket. She then pulled out a small clay figurine. Micah gave a small chuckle of disbelief as he took it from the girl. It was a terribly misshapen bear and fox stomping on a blob that was an eagle. Micah looked at the bottom to see ‘M/M’ scribbled on.

”Surprise?” Michelle said awkwardly. “Alright, I’m leaving now.”

Micah swiftly handed the fox figurine to her without anyone noticing. After everyone had left and all the teasing was over, he opened up his phone.

Micah- Are they done giggling?

Michelle- yep.

Chapter Text

“AHHHHHHHH”

Micah woke up with a groan as he heard someone screaming. All he remembered was Josiah looking very worried before a blinding flash threw Micah off his feet. He was quick to realize he wasn’t in his own body as he felt much shorter. He looked at his hands to see them gloved in blue. He looked up to see everyone else groaning and waking up. Micah froze as he saw himself being the reason why there was screaming to begin with.

”WHAT?!” Micah exclaimed as he stared at himself.

”WHO ARE YOU?! WHO AM I?!” Other Micah shouted frantically.

What appeared to be Judah woke up and seemed very upset. “Noooo! Why did it explode again?!”

“Judah what’s going on?!” Daniel demanded, though Micah noted how his demeanor wasn’t like him.

”I’m Josiah.” Judah said with a grumble.

”Why is everyone SCREAMING?!” Josiah’s body shouted, rubbing his head and very annoyed.

Judah rubbed his nose bridge. “The machine failed and body switched us.”

Micah stood there with an open mouth. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

Judah, or whoever it was now, shook his head. “Alright, I’m Josiah in Judah’s body. Everyone say who you are, not which body you’re in.”

///

“Alright, Elijah in Daniel’s, Micah in Elijah’s, Daniel in Josiah’s, Judah in Micah, and me in Judah’s.” J!Josiah sighed as he set the clipboard down on the ground.

”How are we going to tell the others?” E!Micah groaned.

”What if we didn’t!” M!Judah exclaimed with a giggle.

”And why would we do that?” D!Elijah asked while crossing his arms.

”Cause we can?” M!Judah raised his hands with a sheepish grin.

”Hey Jo, why do your arms itch so much?” J!Daniel complained as he rolled up his sleeves.

”I wouldn’t-.”

”AHH!” J!Daniel exclaimed loudly as he saw his arms. His arms were covered in dry and red rashes on top of some fresh-looking scars. “What the hell?!”

J!Josiah turned around and scratched the back of his neck, wanting to ignore what his brother had found out. “I have a machine to fix. Y’all can leave.”

///

J!Daniel had gotten ointment for his arms and wrapped them up. The rest of day was spent with the boys chilling in the living room and responding to the different names though in different bodies (they just stayed in the lounge because they weren’t used to maneuvering different bodies, especially Judah being a tangle of limbs in Micah’s body.)

This certainly confused the other crew but they brushed it off as some elaborate prank. The crew were especially confused once they saw Judah working on a machine though.

”Hey Josiah, what’s Judah doing with your machine?” Shiloh asked as she popped her head into the lounge.

”Oh… uhhhh.” J!Daniel glanced to the other boys. “Soooo Judah’s actually Josiah?”

”What? But you’re here.” Shiloh said flatly. “Okay if this is some sort of prank, then you guys suck at it.”

E!Micah’s lips tightened to a line. “So Josiah’s machine bodyswapped us and-.”

They were interrupted with Michelle bouncing in and crashing next to Micah, or rather M!Judah. The two brothers snickered while M!Judah looked terribly uncomfortable and E!Micah having an unreadable look on his face.

”What? Did I come in at a bad time?” Michelle asked, wondering why the room fell silent.

”We bodyswapped.” D!Elijah snickered as he pointed to M!Judah. “That’s Judah.”

Michelle was quick to scramble off the couch and stare at the boys for a good long while. “You what.”

The two brothers bursted out into laughter. E!Micah looked terribly embarrassed while M!Judah was quick to apologize. It wasn’t long until J!Josiah ran in and called for the brothers to come back. He hd finally fixed the machine and was eager to return back to his own body.

”Are your arms okay? Like seriously.” J!Daniel asked. He didn’t sound upset or disappointed, it was some other emotion J!Josiah couldn’t place.

”Yea. I’m fine.” J!Josiah said with a shrug.

Chapter Text

”Where that Lila dork?”

”She’s probably hiding in the school house again.”

”Ew, that’s the grossest place. Isn’t she always reading that huge mythology book or something?”

”Pity she didn’t make it into the academy.”

”Guys stop, let’s just go to the park or something.”

”Enough Terrance. Either stop worrying about your girlfriend or-.”

“She NOT my girlfriend!”

”Whatever the case is, either you stop worrying about her or be the weird brokie who got into the academy.”

”I… fine.”

”Hey, I think I see her.”

”Remember the plan, scare her with the mask and make her into the tiny form then trap the jar in.”

”This is going to be hilarious.”

”Seriously..? This is really not cool y’know…”

”Oh shut up Terrance!”

///

Judah and Jocelyn usually played a welcoming prank to the new staff on the first or second day they arrived. The only one they hadn’t done it to yet was Lila. Most of the time the crew would just laugh it off or just upset at time, not that they really cared. It was just a silly prank.

“Alright, you got the mask and jar?” Jocelyn squeaked to the Nelson in orange.

“Yep, though don’t you think trapping her in a jar is a bit much?” Judah asked the smaller girl.

”Nah, it’s just a jar. And didn’t you trap fairies in your bug catcher before?” Jocelyn shot back with a cheeky glare.

”You know what? Fair.”

The two slowly walked up to the kitchen door where they heard the pink fairy about to leave. Jocelyn gave Judah the signal to start. Judah grinned as Lila opened the door to suddenly be jumpscared by the orange Nelson. She yelled in surprise and shrunk into her small, glowing, pink form.

”Gotcha!” Jocelyn giggled as she caught Lila in the jar.

”Uhh are there any air holes in the lid?” Judah poked Jocelyn.

”Uh oh.”

“Give that to me!” Elijah hissed as he walked out of the kitchen as well. He tried to open the jar but it was as if it was glued shut. “What the heck were you guys-.”

Suddenly the jar began to shake out of Elijah’s hands. Before any of them could react, Lila grew big again, shattering the glass jar. Jocelyn gasped in horror as the pink fairy started to glitch out? That was the best way to describe it at least. Parts of her body kept fading glowing pink as shards of glass were lodged in her arms and legs.

”Lila!” Elijah exclaimed as he reached out to help the pink fairy up.

”NO! G-GET AWAY FROM ME!” She screamed as she struggled to get to her feet.

”How are you not bleeding?” Judah pointed out.

”Super healing.” Elijah responded before turning back to the pink fairy.

”I-I’m sorry. I-I’m p-probably over-r-reacting. I should g-go.”

Before anyone could stop her, she zoomed off, still somewhat glitching between forms.

”Why would you do that?” Elijah hissed to the two younger ones before running to follow Lila.

///

“Lila?”

Elijah had followed the trail of glitter to Lila’s room. She was leaning on her dresser, wiping her tears and pulling out the glass shards.

”E-Elijah?” Lila looked over with a somewhat scared expression. “I’m s-sorry. I shouldn’t have o-over reacted.”

”Over reacted? No no no, that reaction was completely valid.” Elijah assured the fairy. “I just wanna ask what happened with the uh… glitchy magic thing?”

Lila froze as she yanked a shard of glass out of her arms with a hiss. “That uh… That was me trying not to freak out. I-I’m sorry. I’m a mess.”

Elijah tilted his head as he sat by the fairy’s side. “No you’re not. In fact, I think you blame yourself too much.”

Lila sniffed as she set the tweezers on the dresser. “So it wasn’t my fault?”

”No! None of it was your fault!” Elijah exclaimed as he brought the fairy’s hands into his. “Look at me. Never blame yourself for something someone else did alright?”

Lila suddenly embraced Elijah in a tight hug. Elijah squeaked in surprise but rubbed her back up and down as she cried on his shoulder. “It’s alright…”

Chapter Text

Micah slowly walked down the hall, the heat tracker in hand. Oh gods, his nerves were going all over the place! He looked to his side to see a taser of sorts. Maybe that could help at least. He snatched it and looked back at his tracker.

The being was behind him.

He could hear growling slowly getting closer behind him.

He slowly pulled out his walkie talkie to Michelle. “Hey Michelle?” He spoke through in the calmest voice he could.

”MICAH GET BACK HERE!” Michelle screamed through her side of the walkie talkie. “I THINK I’M GOING TO CRASH!”

”Michelle, land at the closest Raelo.” Micah said even slower, trying to keep his voice as level as possible.

He had turned around and was now face to face with the alien.

It was a giant black blob of goo. It had black slick skin and a sick, toothy, drooling grin with hollow, glowing, white eyes. It loomed over Micah with its long tongue dangling out.

”WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!” Michelle screamed through. “I CAN’T LAND! I-I’LL KILL US ALL!”

”Michelle. I trust you.” Micah assured the scared girl. “I have a plan, I just need you to follow it.”

”MICAH NO! I CAN’T- JUST COME BACK!” Michelle whimpered into the walkie talkie.

Micah took a shaky breath. “Micah, signing off.”

He threw his walkie talkie to the side and spun the taser in his hand.

Time to distract an alien.

///

“MICAH WHAT THE HELL??” Michelle screamed as his walkie talkie shut off. She yelped loudly as she felt the ship rocking violently.

Her grip on the handles were iron tight as she had to pull it up. It was basically like pulling up the whole ship with just two handles.

She spotted an opening to another Raelo and put full throttle. If Micah trusted her, she had to trust herself.

”Come on come on come ON!” She screamed as pushed it further.

Rosco gave a loud screech as he flew off his seat. Michelle’s eyes widened as all she saw was ocean and a small island.

She slammed on the walkie talkie. “MICAH! I CAN’T DO THIS!”

Micah’s end was all glitch and garble. “J—-us—- Do i——t!”

Michelle gave a small and scared whine as she pressed down the throttle nose first into the island. “WATCH OUT!”

///

“Where’s Micah and Michelle?” Shiloh asked as she turned to her brother in black.

He stared at the tracker he had in hand. “T-Their signal is all jammed up.”

”Does that mean their…?” Judah asked with a small voice.

Josiah shook his head. “If they were gone, it would say No Signal. But the fact their signal is jammed probably means that they had to crash somewhere.”

Shiloh shook her head and was on the verge of tears. “No no no… This CAN’T be happening!”

Elijah looked up to the older man. “Darius?”

Darius looked up at the Nelsons. “I have a plan, but I’m going to need you to trust me.”

”And why should we trust you now huh?!” Judah shouted angrily.

”It’s either now or never.” Darius said simply.

///

“MICAH! WE HAVE TO GO NOW!” Michelle shouted as she and Rosco ran down the hall.

”HWAAAAA!” Rosco screamed as he stumbled across the Nelson in green.

”Ros- MICAH!” Michelle gasped as she saw the sight.

Micah and whatever the black goo of an alien were both knocked out. The alien was slumped over with a giant taser stuck in its head. Micah was slumped by the wall side. He must’ve been knocked around during her crash landing. The girl in pink was quick to grabbing Micah and running out of the ship.

Michelle collapsed on the ground from exhaustion before shuffling over to Micah’s side.

Micah coughed as he woke up on weird hay-like grass. “Ugh… Michelle? Rosco?”

”Oh gods you’re awake!” Michelle gasped with relief before pulling him into a hug. “Are you hurt? Injured?”

”I- I’m fine.” Micah stuttered. “This armor is really good. But where are we?”

Michelle stared around. “I don’t know! I just crashed at the closest Raelo like you asked!”

”HWAAAA!” Rosco screamed as he pointed at the ship.

Micah’s eyes widened at the pillar of rainbow fire that was swirling around and in the ship. “This was what Josiah was talking about. I think the artifacts are destabilizing.”

”Is it gonna blow?” Michelle asked as she slowly stood up, helping Micah up as well. Micah’s mouth only opened up and down in stunned silence. “Micah? How are we gonna get out?”

”I… I don’t know.” Micah finally spoke. He brought a shaky hand to his mouth as he stared at the ship. Michelle glanced to Micah whose eyes were starting to well with tears. “I’m… I’m so sorry.”

Michelle shook her head. “T-There has to be a way! A-A beacon or a warp gate right?!”

”And a warp gate shall appear!”

Micah, Rosco, and Michelle whipped around to see the other Nelson siblings along with Darius stepped out of a giant golden energy portal. Micah nearly fell back to the ground in relief as he, Rosco and Michelle ran to them.

”We gotta get out of here. Now.” Josiah stated. “That ship is going wipe this whole Raelo off with all that energy building up!”

Elijah nodded before suddenly a big amalgamation of black goo spewing out of the ship. “WHAT ON EARTH IS THAT?!”

”THAT was what you were fighting?!” Michelle exclaimed as she stared at Micah with her jaw dropped.

Everyone stared at the creature screeched loudly and stared at the group. It stared down at all of them and launched a sharp yet slimy claw at them. In a split second, Darius had blasted a green shield between him and the others. Shiloh shouted a ‘NO’ as she realized what he was doing.

”I failed your mother once. I can’t fail you now.” Darius said with a smile. “Go. I’ll hold it off.”

”DARIUS NO!” Shiloh shouted desperately. “LET US OUT!”

Darius gave one last wave as he blasted the green shield, pushing all of them back into the golden warp. He then turned to face the creature. “You raised some good kids.”

///

“DARIUS!” Shiloh shouted as they were all pushed back into the golden gate.

The group fell on the ground as they watched the gate shake and shattered before their eyes. Shiloh brought a hand to her mouth, wide-eyed.

The others were coughing as they stood back up. “W-We… We did it?” Judah asked hesitantly.

Josiah was at a loss for words before turning around to see a blue floating crack floating near the gate’s console. “What is that?”

”A tear…” Elijah mused. “The energy must’ve torn through whatever seal Mom had placed!”

”Y-Yea! Her personal code is there!” Josiah exclaimed with wide eyes.

Shiloh gasped. “That means Mom is still alive if she can still send a signal!”

”How are we getting off now? Michelle whispered to Rosco.

Almost as if she was answered, Daniel, Mary, and Gala popped out of a golden warp gate. “WE WON!” They cheered.

All the agents grinned before rushing towards the golden warp gate.

They had won.

Chapter Text

Brittany hummed as she rummaged around the kitchen. Huh, today’s was her anniversary with David right?

”Oh my gosh it is.” The red-head spoke to herself. She gasped loudly as she dropped her cup. “I need to make him something!”

Daniel suddenly jumped up to the red-head’s side. ”Make him what?”

”Argh! Don’t do that!” Brittany hissed. “I need to make David something, it’s our anniversary and I nearly forgot!”

Mary, the next oldest Nelson, hopped up to Brittany’s other side. ”Bake him something!”

Brittany jumped again before settling her nerves. “How about brownies?”

”Ooo! We could help you bake that!” Mary grinned as she pulled the blonde Nelson to her.

”Uhhh sure?” Daniel gave a nervous smile. “Don’t trust me around knives though, I will cut myself accidentally.”

Brittany gave a nod before searching up for a brownie recipe. “Ooo, four star rating? Let’s try this!”

///

Brittany took a big and deep breath as she leaned on the flour covered counter. “How did this happen?”

In a span of about 45 minutes or so, they had spilt the melted butter on the floor, pouring out salt instead of sugar, and had Daniel burn his hand from touching the grill inside the hot oven.

Mary gave a sheepish giggle as she wiped her coat off from flour and egg. “How about cookies? Maybe those are easier to make?”

Daniel gave a tired whine as he slumped on the counter, his hand wrapped up. “I don’t wanna burn my hand again.”

”Then don’t stick your hand in a hot oven!” Mary snapped at her brother. “Didn’t I tell you that three times?”

”Yea, and I told you to melt the butter three times but Brittany had to do it anyways!” Daniel snapped back.

”Okay yea, that one was on me.” Mary mumbled.

”You guys are acting like babies!” Brittany groaned. She rubbed her nosebridge before clapping her hands and picking up her phone. “Okay, let’s just trash this and make some cookies alright?”

”Oo! Wait a minute!” Mary exclaimed as she suddenly bounced out of the kitchen.

Brittany sighed before turning to Daniel. “How do you live with so many siblings?”

Daniel shrugged. “Dunno. At one point it just feels like one eternal sleepover.”

Brittany couldn’t help but snort at the response. She then looked up to see the Nelson in white bouncing back with a sheet of paper. “Use this! This was Mom’s cookie recipe before uh…”

Brittany gave a tired smile as she took the paper. “Thanks Mary. Alright, let’s start again.”

///

“Hey, has anyone seen Daniel?” Elijah asked as he poked his head into the lounge.

”No… in fact, I haven’t seen Mary either.” Shiloh remarked as she sat up on the couch. She glanced over to Judah who also shook his head. “Have you checked their rooms or the labs?”

”Nah, they weren’t there.” Elijah sighed.

”Have any of you seen someone with a brownie delivery?” David asked as he walked in.

”Brownies?” Judah exclaimed as he sat up, his attention now caught. “What’s it for?”

David gave a small grin. “Well it’s for Brittany. It’s our anniversary today.”

Judah and Shiloh gave a shrill gasp in unison. “Can we help?!”

David winced but shook his head. “No no, I wanna keep it simple.” He pulled out his phone to see a notification. “Ah, my brownie order is here. See ya.”

David hummed as he strolled out of the lounge and picked up the brownie box. Maybe she was in the creature nursery. He was about to turn the corner when he smelt something burning. He raised an eyebrow and followed to the smell to the kitchen.

Oh.

This was where the three were.

The kitchen was a mess. Flour, sugar, and chocolate chips were everywhere; egg shells were scattered on the floor; Mary was running around the kitchen trying to clean up the melted butter that was spilling over the counter; Daniel was running his hand under cold water cause he burned his other hand; and Brittany was pulling out some blackened cookies out of the oven.

“Uhh… what happened here?” David asked with a small chuckle.

The three snapped their heads right to the older Nelson and squeaked. Mary and Daniel hid behind the kitchen island counter while Brittany stared down in embarrassment.

”Man. I ruined it.” She groaned as she sat the tray on the counter. “It was meant to be a surprise.”

”Baking me cookies?” David asked as he walked up to the red-head.

Daniel’s head popped above the counter. ”Actually it was brownies before Mary messed it up.”

Mary gave an offended gasp as her head popped up. “Excuse me?! I-.”

”What’s that?” Brittany asked as she peered at the small box with a pouch on top.

”Oh. It’s your anniversary gift.” David said simply as he gave it to her.

“Really?” Brittany said in a small yet high-pitched whisper. She opened the small pouch to reveal a small necklace. The box contained the brownie. “Oh no… I don’t have anything…”

”It’s fine!” David assured her as he side-hugged her.

”No! It’s not fine! I should’ve remembered.” Brittany mumbled as she bumped her head on David’s chest. “Mmm… I’m sorry.”

“How about you two bake as an anniversary gift?” Mary suggested. “We have just enough for another batch of brownies?”

”Sure.” David said with a shrug. “More brownies for me.”

”But you two are NOT helping.” Brittany snapped as she gave them a side eye.

Daniel and Mary nodded before shuffling their way out, still bickering over whatever they did during their baking session.

Brittany sighed as she wiped the counter. David gave her a small kiss on the head before looking around the kitchen. ”So, where do we start?”

Chapter Text

Jocelyn was the first to wake up along with Lila. The two both met up in the kitchen with the biggest smiles on their faces.

”Ready?” The kid grinned to the fairy in pink.

”Ready.” Lila responded.

The fairy whispered under her breath and a glowing golden ball grew in her hands. Jocelyn gave a squeaky gasp as Lila raised the ball up. The ball grew bigger and bigger until it exploded into millions of glowing shards. Jocelyn closed her eyes from the bright light. She slowly opened her eyes to see her and Lila completely dressed in beautiful Christmas themed outfits. The toddler squealed in delight before hopping into Lila’s shoulders.

”Could you make snow in here?” Jocelyn asked eagerly.

”I could. But I don’t think the others would like it.” Lila chuckled nervously.

Jocelyn muttered a fine before her eyes lit up once again. “Do you know what mistletoes are?” The girl whispered with a cheeky grin.

///

The agency was buzzing with excitement as the crew members started exchanging gifts, decorating the halls, sharing food, and all around just enjoying the festive holiday.

”Oooo! I’ve been waiting for Christmas since forever!” Gala exclaimed in delight. “Could we possibly flood the agency with snow again?”

Josiah gave a loud chuckle. “As much as that would be fun, it would be a terrible day to clean it up as well.” He rubbed his hands together. “But goodness, don’t you think it’s rather chilly in here?”

The two turned the corner to see that, in fact, some snow had flooded in from the Arxis; Josiah was certainly not expecting that. Gala gasped, her eyes lit in child-like joy. “Snow!”

Josiah watched as the princess leapt into the pile of snow, giggling away. Some of the crew yelped in surprise but laughed along. The Nelson in black then turned around to see Elijah, Judah, and Daniel gasping as they walked in to see the snow as well. “SNOW!” The three brothers yelled in unison.

Mary stuttered as she chased the three boys from behind. “What the- what happened?”

Josiah gave a shrug before hearing Micah and Michelle coming down the hall, bantering away. He chuckled as he watched them enter in the Arxis Bay and freeze as they saw the sight before them. “No wonder why it was so cold.” The Nelson in green muttered.

Michelle chuckled as she saw the princess in red inviting the two to the pile of snow. “I’ve never seen you so happy Gala!”

”I love the snow!” She grinned in delight. Gala then had a look of confusion as she pointed above Michelle’s head. “Uhh, whatcha doing Lila?”

Michelle raised an eyebrow before looking up to see the fairy with a kid in her shoulders looking down at Michelle with a mischievous grin. Lila was in a green dress trimmed with white fur on the sleeves and hem of the dress with a black belt. Jocelyn was in a matching dress but in red. She was holding a stick with what appeared to be a plant hanging down of some sort.

”Mistletoe~.” Jocelyn said in a sing-song voice.

Michelle’s eyes widened as she turned to her side to see Micah staring up as well. Micah stared at Jocelyn for a long while. “Uhhh… why would you- oh-.” He looked down to see Michelle staring at him as well. “Oh.”

Jocelyn gave her squeaky and maniacal laugh before locking eyes with Josiah. “You’re next.”

Josiah’s eyes widened before he slowly backed away. Lila giggled before looking up the kid. “Who’s next?”

Jocelyn tapped her chin before a devious grin grew in her face. “How about you go to Elijah?”

Lila gave a shrug and started over to the Nelson in blue. At the same time, Shiloh walked into the Arxis Bay to see the chaos going around and spotted the fairy flying over to Elijah with Jocelyn holding a mistletoe. Immediately the Nelson in purple gasped and tapped Mary multiple times. “Look look look!”

The Nelson in white turned to see what her younger sister was eager about and gasped at the same time. The two sisters had eager grins as they watched the scene unfold. Right as Lila was going to Elijah, the Nelson in blue got socked in the face by a snowball. Shiloh and Mary groaned as they saw the missed opportunity. Lila gasped and dropped down to help Elijah before getting socked in the face as well. Jocelyn yelped as she toppled to the pile of snow as well.

”So close!” Mary hissed through gritted teeth.

Shiloh was about to walk out when she gasped and told Mary to turn around again.

”Ugh… are you alright?” Elijah rubbed his head as he sat up in the snow.

”Yea!” Lila grinned. “Are you good?’

”Yea.” Elijah shrugged before looking to see Judah have the biggest grin on his face. The Nelson in blue raised an eyebrow before looking up to see Jocelyn standing behind him, holding the mistletoe above the pair.

”Oh. A mistletoe!” Lila chuckled as she looked up. “Wait, what do we do now Jocelyn? You never actually told me what that does.”

Elijah’s face turned incredibly red while Jocelyn and Judah (in the distance) were cackling away. Lila stared around in confusion.

On the other side of the room, Daniel, Judah, Gala and some of the other crew were chucking snowballs at each other and screaming. Judah had launched a snowball to Daniel but it had socked the princess in the back of the head. Judah and Daniel gave a gasp, sucking in a breath as they saw Gala turned around slowly. “Who did that?

Judah and Daniel pointed at each other before hearing Gala laugh loudly. She suddenly grabbed what appeared to be a snowball launcher and starting stuffing snow into the loading cartridge. Judah and Daniel immediately screamed as she started launching, blasting at everyone and everything with a crazed laugh.

Meanwhile, David walked in with a tray of hot chocolate and Brittany with a box of brownies. “We got- uhhh what the heck?”

Shiloh giggled as she took the cup of hot chocolate handed to her by her older brother. “Chaos. Hilarious chaos.”

Mary gave a nervous chuckle. “I hope they don’t ruin any equipment.”

Micah swiped a brownie out of the box before going up to his older sister’s side. “Don’t worry. Cole, Patience, and William have padded it up.”

Shiloh elbowed her brother in green. “Don’t you got someone to kiss?”

Micah’s face flushed red as he swatted at his younger sister. “Oh shut it.”

Brittany raised an eyebrow. “Why not? You and Michelle are cute.”

”How do you even know what happened?” Micah exclaimed. “You weren’t even in here!”

”Just a hunch.” The red-head winked. Micah rolled his eyes before turning to see Josiah slowly inching towards the princess, Jocelyn sneaking behind him. “Oh there goes the simp now huh?”

The four snickered as they watched Josiah attempt to get Gala’s attention but ending up getting blasted with snowballs. The princess immediately dropped the snowball launcher to go up to Josiah’s side and check on him.

”I got the gifts!” Daniel and Judah shouted.

The other Nelsons hadn’t even realised that Judah and Daniel had left the Bay to collect the gifts. “How about we open gifts in here with the snow?”

”Yea! And we just found out that the snow is from the Caremos Raelo and that means this snow is permafrosted!”

”It can’t melt?!” Mary gasped. “Incredible! I should get some of the researchers to test it!”

Jocelyn squealed before clamoring over to the two Nelsons with the gifts. “I WANNA OPEN MINE!”

Daniel snickered as he sorted the gifts out. He then turned to Mary. “Guess what?”

”Wait… don’t tell me the love-birds actually wrote letters to each other.” The Nelson in white gasped. “No!”

”You owe be 50 bucks.” Daniel snickered.

”Love-birds?” Shiloh raised an eyebrow as she looked at her two older siblings. “Who you talking about?”

Mary and Daniel looked at each other before looking at Shiloh. “Oh, y’know, Michelle and Micah, Elijah and Lila, Josiah and Gala, those folk.”

”Ohhh.” Shiloh said with a grin.

The group had to close their ears as they heard the loudest squeal from Judah. “A NEW NERF BLASTER?!”

Chapter Text

Three nights. Three nights since Judah refused to take his pills.

He didn’t like them anymore. Every time he took one it just made himself feel worse. It basically felt as though he was force-feeding himself some candy he despised. He wanted to stop. It was a bad idea to do it without telling anyone, sure, but at least he didn’t have to eat the pills.

Three nights. Three nights since Judah had a moment of sleep.

He didn’t know why he couldn’t sleep without the pills. All he knew was that those pills helped silence his brain for the couple of hours he needed to sleep. But since then, he had been wide awake. His siblings could tell something was off about the Nelson in orange but often dismissed it as something else.

Judah could feel it in his bones after the second night. He would hear rattling in the air conditioner vent. He would hear someone’s muffled voice outside of his room. The worst part was that he didn’t know whose voice it was. He hated that part and decided to hold himself up in his room. His siblings wouldn’t bother with him anyways. He was only on the main team because he was their brother, the goofball who helped lighten the mood even when he didn’t have to. Now that he had hidden in his room, they didn’t need him as a distraction in the mission.

Three nights. Three nights. Three nights. Three nights. Three nights. Three nights.

Judah paced in his room. It was a weird feeling. He had the shrillest ringing in his ears the moment he moved but if he didn’t move then it would feel as though the room was going to collapse at any second. Or as if he was going to collapse at any second.

“I-I can’t do this anymore.” Judah stuttered to himself. Gods, he was so tired he couldn’t even form sentences without stuttering.

He leaned on his dresser to take a few breaths before looking up to see his reflection in the mirror. Oh. He didn’t realise just how pale he looked, or how tired for that matter. Giant eye bags had formed and his skin had lost that rosy flush that made him look alive. He stared at his face for a while, trying to register that the face he was looking at was him. That couldn’t be him, no way.

The longer Judah stared at his reflection, the more twisted it was becoming. His eyes looked too big and his mouth was growing into a smile. He blinked as hard as he could, only to still see that horrid reflection staring at him. The Nelson in orange took a shaky step back as it appeared that the reflection was slowly crawling out. His breathing started to quicken in terror.

”W-What the h-heck?” Judah muttered as he grabbed onto his bedside table for support.

His throat went dry as the reflection disappeared the moment he looked at his table. The reason why he had looked away was because  he had nearly toppled his bottle of pills over. He was about to go examine his mirror again when he heard that horrid sound.

Someone breathing behind him.

Judah gave a sharp yelp and whipped his head around to see nothing.

”J-Just my mind playing t-tricks again.” Judah tried to assure himself.

Then he caught a glimpse of someone.

He froze he faced the area where he shadow person. It just loomed in the corner. Tall and elongated with no facial features or anything really. Judah fell back, eyes wide as he grabbed to his bed’s blanket. He knew the blanket wouldn’t do anything, but at least it grounded him to reality. Even by a little bit.

”W-Who are you.” Judah asked, terror laced in his voice.

The being did nothing. It just stood there. Judah didn’t know why this scared him so much. Usually he was think this fellow was a sweetie. But today, he was an enemy. The being then started to raise its arm and point at the bedside table. Judah hesitated before looking over. It was pointing at the bottle of pills. Just then, the ringing returned to his ears and he gave a loud wail.

”Make it stop!” Judah cried out as he covered his ears. Oh how he would rip his ears off at the given chance. Just leave him in silence. His own thoughts would be better than this horrible sound!

Judah cowered to the floor as he saw the figure make its way towards him. When he felt nothing was happening to him, he looked up to see that he was alone once again. The bottle of pills had fallen right in front of him, the white circular dots all around him.

”I-I can’t… I don’t w-want to!” Judah spoke.

He was half expecting some response but, of course, there was none.

He stared at the pills, his feelings mixed in what to do. But the longer he stared, the more he felt like the pills were laughing at him, mocking him for not being able to sleep without them.

FRAUD FRAUD FRAUD FRAUD! WHAT A WIMP! CAN’T SLEEP? BOOHOO! EVEN YOUR SIBLINGS HAVEN’T COME TO CHECK ON YOU! THEY THINK YOU CAN SLEEP JUST FINE!

Judah gave a loud scream and grabbed the pills. The only way he knew how to shut them up was eating them all! He started to shove the horrid things down his mouth, eating them like candy. Whatever this sudden kick of adrenaline was, he needed it for this.

After about eight of them, he started to feel as though he was underwater with his hearing muffled and his vision blurry. He staggered his way towards the door, he surely felt better now to help right? He struggled to turn the doorknob while hearing someone exclaiming and rushing towards him. He could feel himself getting sick after eating those pills and retching in the floor. White pills and red liquid splattered on the floor.

Blood? Oh gods.

Just staring at it made him feel sick.

Judah felt his legs give out and his world go black.

///

“Judah!”

The orange Nelson woke up in the Medic Bay to see Josiah and Elijah by his bedside. He gave a small groan as he sat up. His head was pounding from the glaring white light and the sharp smell of disinfectant; how did he get here again?

”What happened out there?” The Nelson in blue asked worriedly. “Josiah and I were going to ask if you wanted some dinner but then you just threw up and collapsed?”

Judah stared at his two brothers with blank eyes. He wasn’t listening to them. He was too focused on the fact he had nearly killed himself with his own pills.

He would’ve been asleep forever.

”Judah… what were those pills?” Josiah asked quietly, not wanting to startle his younger brother too much. “The doctors checked your, uh, vomit and uh…”

The mention of ‘pills’ snapped Judah from his trance. He stared at Josiah for a long while before tearing up. “I’m so sorry. I-I didn’t mean t-to do t-that.”

Elijah was quick to comfort his younger brother. “Hey! There’s no need to apologise, we just want to know what happened.”

Judah mumbled something as he brought his hands to his face, trying to desperately cover the fact he was a sobbing mess right now. “I h-hate t-this. I h-hate the pills and t-the creepy g-guy and e-everything.”

”Creepy guy?” Josiah raised an eyebrow. Was his brother hallucinating? Usually that meant that... “Judah, when was the last time you slept properly?”

Judah wiped his face and sniffed. “I-I don’t k-know… t-three days?”

The older brothers’ faces dropped in horror. Elijah had to take a step back to calm himself down, running a hand through his hair as he mumbled to himself. “How did we not notice. How did we not realise? We could’ve helped him. Gods, Elijah, you’re supposed to help him.” Elijah then turned to Judah. “Three days without sleep is lethal for a human, let alone you.”

Judah looked away from Elijah, too guilty to even face him. Josiah gave a soft look to his younger brother as he placed his hand on Judah’s. “Hey, you got us alright? No need to o-overdose again.” Judah felt even more guilty hearing his brother’s voice crack. “You had us worried.”

The younger Nelson couldn’t take it anymore and pulled Josiah into a tight hug. “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m-.”

”No… we’re sorry.” Josiah interrupted the younger Nelson. “We’re supposed to help each other. Why did you think we wouldn’t?”

Judah remained quiet.

He didn’t think that they would care this much.

Chapter Text

Jocelyn watched as the squad left to their next Mission. She was told it was an underwater mission of sorts but she hadn’t paid attention during the team briefing. She sighed, annoyed that she couldn’t go. She was a bit startled when she heard Elijah sighing behind her. She gave a squeak of surprise as she looked at the Nelson in blue.

”Elijah? What are you doing here?” The girl asked.

The older one chuckled sheepishly. “I never finished the Diving Bell Test.”

”What that?” The girl tilted her head to the side.

”Oh, you haven’t done it.” Elijah murmured. “Well, they did change the agent training and you do have the special treatment.”

Jocelyn rolled her eyes. “Can you at least explain?”

Elijah sighed as he guided the girl out of the Arxis Bay. “Well, it happened when I was 16.”

///

“Come on! We’re going to get a beating at this rate!” Josiah shouted for his brother in blue.

”Coming!” Elijah shouted back as he grabbed Josiah by the arm. “Let’s go!”

The two boys skidded into the Diving Bell room and slipped into the line of agents. Luckily Lieutenant Surge hadn’t noticed them being late (Elijah was rather thankful that this was the lieutenant’s last year). Everyone else seemed to have gone, leaving Josiah and Elijah to be the last ones to go.

Josiah volunteered to go next, seeing Elijah’s nervous demeanor. Elijah hadn’t told anyone he was claustrophobic besides Josiah, and frankly he would like to keep it at that.

He also wasn’t the most tech-savvy when it came to him and his brothers. Josiah was quite literally the kid-genius when it came to mechanics; Judah liked building in his free time; Micah had a hand or two when it came to tinkering away; and Daniel and David quite literally was the one that helped out with the building of the Arxis. Elijah was mainly the fighter out of his brothers.

”That was close.” Josiah whispered to Elijah. “Are you ready for this?”

Elijah shuffled his feet. “I don’t know. I think-.”

The lieutenant suddenly snapped and turned his attention to the Nelson in blue. ”Elijah Nelson!”

Elijah squeaked, his whole posture tensing up. “Sir yes sir!”

”What’s this yappin’ I’m hearing over here?” Surge stared at the kid.

”We were talking about the Diving Bell sir!” Elijah responded, keeping eye-contact with the older man.

”Well!” The blonde man said with a huff, standing back upright. “Since you’re so invested about yappin’ ‘bout the Diving Bell, how ‘bout you go now?”

Elijah gulped before agreeing. A look of satisfaction was on Surge’s face as he helped Elijah into the Diving Bell.

“Now a recap about your test. Find the three anomalies with the Diving Bell’s scanner and report back as fast as you can.” Surge spoke through the speakers in the Bell. “Have you stabilized the Bell?”

Elijah stared at the dashboard. He started flipping switches and turning knobs before seeing the small light blink green. He turned on his radio to contact Surge. “All systems go.”

He heard some code language that he should’ve remembered before feeling the Diving Bell being dropped into the water.

Crap. This was really happening.

He stared out of the viewing glass. No time to start fretting over the small, metal, cold ball of a prison he was in. All he had to do was use the scanner and get out.

He took a deep breath before grabbing the lever to move the light of the Bell around. The light, which also doubled as the scanner, wasn’t that bright. The water was dark, very dark.

”Scanning for life-forms.” The automated voice echoed.

”Come on.” Elijah mumbled to himself. “Just gotta get this done and-.”

He gave a sharp yelp as he felt the Bell suddenly get hit from something outside. He was quick to turn the camera outside to scan and find whatever hit him. Then once again, another buffet.

Elijah scrambled to the console and pulled the radio. “Lieutenant! Something is attacking! I-I don’t know what it is, it’s too dark out in the water.”

He strained his ear to hear for the gruff voice of the blonde man. His voice was broken up in the radio. Elijah gave a small whimper as the words were basically useless to him. He stared at the emergency button on the console and smashed it down. He didn’t care if he hadn’t completed his test, he just wanted out!

”The radio signal is bad.” Elijah shouted into the radio, the emergency sirens blaring in his ears. “I-.”

A third loud pang shook the Bell.

Elijah looked down to see his feet getting wet.

The Bell was starting to fill.

”Surge! T-The Bell’s filling w-with water!” Elijah shouted into the radio. “Quickly!”

Elijah’s ears were filling with the sounds of the emergency sirens, static in the radio, and creaking metal of the Bell. He started to panic as he started jamming random buttons and flipping switches in hopes of getting something done.

Elijah whipped his head to hear the broken voice of Surge speaking through the radio.
”Pu——lling up.”

Elijah gave a sigh of relief before seeing the water start to rush in even more as the Bell was being pulled up. He gave a sharp scream as the water started rising to his knees, then his waist, then his chest, then to his shoulders. He scrambled to grab for the radio but he started to float upwards to the top of the Bell.

”No no no no no.” Elijah scratched at the roof of the Bell. His face was pressed to the cold metal roof. “Let me out!”

He had to control his sporadic breathing from taking all of his oxygen. He then took one final breath as the water filled the Bell. He could only hope they pull out the Bell in time before he passed out.

He swam down to the console, trying to figure out if there was any way to open the top from inside. There had to be one in here right?

He felt a fourth blow to the Bell. The movement sent Elijah head first to the metal wall of the Bell.

///

“Then I woke up in the Medic Bay afterwards.” Elijah said, finishing his story.

Jocelyn stared at the Nelson with her jaw dropped. “That’s so scary!”

”That’s why they changed the agent training.” Elijah explained. “After the Lieutenant retired, the others decided to change up the system. They figured that the Diving Bell Test wasn’t the most ideal test seeing how erratic the creatures in the water were afterwards.”

”What even were the creatures?” Jocelyn asked, tilting her head.

”I’m not sure.” Elijah mused. “But after my incident, the creatures got much more aggressive.”

There was a long pause between the two. “Hey Elijah? Are you still claustrophobic?”

Elijah looked at the girl for a while before glancing to the side. “Maybe.”

Chapter Text

Elijah tightened his grip in his blaster. Where was everyone? They had gone on a mission in an Infected Cave Raelo to clean it out from the Infected. However, they were also here to find the original agent team that was sent here before. They were told that these Infected were much more violent to the point that they wouldn’t hesitate to go crazy for flesh. He and the others had gotten separated halfway when they had found the Alpha, leaving him all alone in the cave. He knew the others had to be alive, they had to. If they weren’t then… Elijah didn‘t want to think about it.

”Josiah? Micah? You there?” Elijah shouted, his voice echoing around.

He whipped around hearing a loud growl behind him. There the Alpha was, staring him down as if he was a tasty snack.

”O-Oh!” Elijah stuttered.

He fumbled for his blaster’s trigger and held it up. He was about to pull the trigger when he was suddenly blasted back. The Alpha gave a loud growl as they slammed their Alpha Sword to the ground, sending out a massive shockwave.

Elijah gave a loud yell as he was flung backwards, dangerously close to the cave’s wall. He stared at the spiky stones that were sticking out of the wall. “Oh no.”

The Alpha gave a dark chuckle as they dragged their Sword across the ground. It gave a terrible screeching sound, echoing and ringing in the blue Nelson’s ears. He fumbled for his blaster only to see the charge bolts to shoot being knocked out. He scrambled to grab another cartridge before feeling the tip of the Sword on his chin.

”So… the Brawler Nelson, Elijah.” The Alpha growled.

Elijah slowly shuffled backwards before freezing. His back had brushed against one of the sharp rocks in the wall. He gulped as he glanced back to the Alpha. “What do you want?” He asked through gritted teeth.

”Your life-energy… yes.” The Alpha drawled their words they slammed their Sword on the ground once again.

Elijah gave a scream of pain as he felt a searing pain stabbing through his back. He slowly looked down to see a spiked stone lodged right in his lower back. He sucked in a breath as he could feel the blood slowly soaking his clothes. His eyes went wide as he felt the Sword’s tip back to his neck. His breathing went erratic at this point. All he could think of was about how much blood he was losing.

”Oh… you poor thing.” The Alpha sneered. “You should’ve seen the faces on your last team.”

Realising what the Alpha meant by that, Elijah could feel his fury boiling over. “What did you do to them?” He hissed through gritted teeth.

The Alpha snickered before giving Elijah a sharp kick to the chest, knocking out the wind in his lungs. He gave a couple coughs resulting with blood dripping down his mouth. His vision started to grow blurry, his eyes glazed over. Hee looked up to the Alpha, his mouth drooling saliva and thick blood.

“You’ll see what I did to them.” The Alpha grinned.

Elijah’s eyes widened as he saw the Alpha’s eyes glow purple. A wide and toothy grin grew on their face as they got ready to make the final blow. Suddenly, a giant blast hit the Alpha right in the head. They gave a growl and fumbled for the Sword, only to be blasted in the head again.

Josiah turned his focus to his brother. ”Eli- Oh no no no…” He could feel himself going sick just seeing the blood around his brother.

Blood did not belong on Elijah.

The Alpha growled as they dragged themselves away from the two. Josiah was quick to scramble over to his brother to see him nearly passed out. “J-Jo…?”

”Oh thank Gods.” Josiah muttered. “I- I’m bring you to the Arxis point.”

Elijah had to bite his tongue to not scream in agony while being helped up.

///

“Someone get a stretcher STAT!” Josiah shouted as he warped in the Arxis Bay. He had to carry most, if not all, of Elijah’s weight. By now the Nelson in blue was limp by his brother’s side, jaw slack and eyes dull.

”What happened?!” Mary gasped in horror as she helped her younger brother to the stretcher.

Elijah practically looked dead. His skin had gone sickly pale, his side was soaked red and blood was dripping from his mouth. His breathing was ragged and irregular and his eyes were glazed over.

”I-I don’t know. I just s-saw his b-back stabbed f-from s-some r-r-rocks and-.” Josiah couldn’t speak any further, being in the verge of a breakdown.

Mary pulled her other younger brother into a hug. “H-Hey. Calm down. H-he’s gonna b-be alright. I’ll make s-sure of it.”

Josiah couldn’t help it but bury his face in his sister’s hair and cry. He had never seen Elijah in such a terrible state before. He never thought Elijah could ever be in such a horrible state.

”No no no… t-the others! I-I have to get back to the others!” Josiah exclaimed as he released from the hug. He ran a hand through his hair before looking at his sister. “I’ll be back- I need to finish the mission.”

///

Elijah could feel the blast of cold air as he was being rushed around to be brought to the Medic Bay. His head lolled side to side as they struggled to fit the oxygen mask over his face. His chest was also starting to ache in pain. Despite his hazy condition, he could guess that a couple of his ribs were broken.

“Some…. Help…. What blood…. Move to….”

Elijah could feel himself slipping in and out of consciousness, words from the people surrounding him sounding faint and muffled. He barely could make out the face of his older sister Mary before his vision started fading in and out.

”M-Ma…” He tried to call for his sister. He just wanted her attention. But she was too busy helping the other doctors set up something he couldn’t tell.

”Elijah…. Alright…. You okay…?”

The Nelson in blue gave a small whimper as he tried to raise his hands up to his sister. He had to muster the strength to even speak without wincing. “I-I don’t wanna die.” He couldn’t even move his arms to wipe his water fall of tears, let alone the waterfall of saliva and blood coming out of his mouth. “I-It hurts…”

Elijah could hear Mary attempting to say something before the stretcher jolted to a halt. He gave a loud groan, gripping the sides of the stretcher till his knuckles turned white. The sudden jolt sent a new wave of blinding white pain up his back. He could hear a shrill gasp before his vision faded black.

Chapter Text

“I-I don’t wanna die.”

Those words practically haunted the oldest sister.

Elijah looked so small, so scared on the stretcher. She couldn’t even bear to see him cry, let alone injured and bloodied up. The fact he could even think to say that frightened Mary. When he had blacked out on the stretcher, that was when her ‘serious mode’ kicked in. She began taking control in the Medic Bay to do anything to help her brother.

By the time the others had returned from the mission, she had passed out by Elijah’s bedside.

But the next day, he was still not awake. Mary stared at her brother. He looked so peaceful in contrast to the chaos of yesterday. He had been stitched, treated, and cleaned up. A blood bag and an IV drip hung on the side of his bed.

”Please wake up…” Mary muttered. Just some movement, anything.

”Mary?”

She looked to the doorway to see Shiloh’s head poking in.

”You should get some food.”

The Nelson in white shook her head with a soft smile. “You don’t need to worry about me Shiloh.”

The Nelson in purple had an unreadable look on her face as she walked to her sister. “Please. The others are getting worried for you. Even Josiah is saying it’s bad and you know that’s weird when he’s saying that.”

Mary glanced to the side. “I guess you’re right.”

Shiloh held a hand for her older sister to take. The two then left the room to go get some food.

///

Elijah rubbed his head with a groan. He squinted at the ceiling as he was being blinded by searing bright light and the sharp smell of disinfectant. He gave a small grumble as he looked around. The only thing making any sound was the heart monitor by his side.

”M-Mary..?” Elijah hesitantly called out.

No response.

Elijah picked at his blanket. He then realized that he had been changed out and washed up. He still winced as he tried to stretch. Yep, he definitely had a broken rib or two. He then gently touched the wounded spot on his back and hissed. He could feel a few stitches there.

He was about to try to get off his bed when he heard some footsteps coming to tue Medic Bay. He then saw Mary slugging her way in before freezing as she saw him sitting upright.

”Y-You’re awake!” She gasped before quickly walking over. “Do you feel alright? Are you in any pain or discomfort?”

”I think I’m fine…” Elijah said slowly. His hands slowly gripped on the blanket as he began to remember what had happened to land him here in the first place. “A-Are the others alright? What happened with the mission?” A paise before he continued , his voice slowly cracking. “How long was I-I out for?!”

Mary had to gently bring Elijah’s hand out from ripping his own hair out. “They’re alright. They’ve been worried for you this whole time. If you want, we can go find them now.”

Elijah was quick to nod. He still seemed to have a hard time moving so Mary brought a wheelchair for him. Mary explained that the stab was dangerously close to his spine. It was a miracle that none of his vital organs had been hit either.

”Hey guys!” Mary chirped as she pushed Elijah into the lounge.

Everyone looked up and their faces immediately lit up with joy.

”ELIJAH!”

Chapter Text

The group was on another mission where they had stumbled across Malduum. He had sent a robot to attack them and had split the group up. Almost as if it was destiny, Michelle and Micah were stuck together somehow. Gala was by their side as well.

”You’re not getting away with this!” Michelle shouted at the blonde.

”Who brought the kid here?” Malduum snickered.

Michelle’s eyes grew wide as she started to roll up her jacket sleeves. “You wanna go bro?!”

Micah then stuck his arm out, stopping Michelle from stomping up to the blonde. “Michelle, you shouldn’t solve this with violence.”

Michelle stared at the Nelson in green. “Why not?” She huffed through gritted teeth.

A grin grew on his face. ”Because, I’m doing it.”

Malduum raised an eyebrow. Before he could even react, he got an upper-cut to the jaw.

///

“Admit it, you thought that was  hot.” Gala teased as she poked the other. The three were lounging in the cafeteria and chatting about the previous mission when Gala brought that moment up.

Michelle’s face burned red as she buried her head in her arms.

Lila giggled. “Honestly, I bet that would’ve been cool to watch.”

”Yea!” Michelle exclaimed, her head shooting up. “It was cool, not hot! At least, I don’t think it was hot like that.”

Gala glanced to the fairy and whispered to her. “Do you have any spells? Like, since you have magic?”

”I got a mind reader.” Lila giggled.

Gala gasped and nodded frantically. She started giggling as she saw Lila cast the spell and place it on Michelle. She then handed Gala an odd pair of sunglasses that the two wore. Suddenly, an animated looking thought bubble popped above Michelle’s head. Words started forming in the bubble.

I don’t think it was hot. He’s not that kind of guy. Cool, sure, but not hot? Then what do I consider hot? Besides Darius- crap stop thinking about him, he’s dead. Is Angry Micah is ho- no! Stop thinking that- hey, what’s up with Gala and Lila?

Michelle pointed to the two girls. “Why are you guys wearing sunglasses?”

Lila had to keep a hand on her mouth to stop herself from giggling. Gala had a smug smirk on her face. “So, angry Micah, whatcha think of him?”

Michelle stared at the two for a long time before her face turned bright red. “Don’t tell me you were reading my mind with- give me that!”

She swiped the glasses off the fairy, who by now was nearly falling off her seat in laughter. Michelle looked above her head to see the thought bubble and gave an offended gasp.

“YOU GUYS!”

Chapter Text

Mary hummed as she browsed through Stream.org. The only reason why she even bothered to go on that site was because Daniel and Jocelyn liked to stream their gaming stuff. Today, however, she found an odd stream title. Curious, she decided to click on it.

”Is this on?” A gruff voice grumbled as he adjusted the camera on what appeared to be on his shirt.

She could hear him rubbing the microphone around before clipping it onto something. She appeared to the be only viewer on the stream at the moment. So far it seemed she had perhaps joined in a bit too early (which even she herself was surprised by).

”Uh… there we go. Hello… anyone who’s watching.” The person spoke in a sort of low mumble. “My, uh, assistant insisted for me to try this service to quote on quote ‘not bother them so much’. So here I go?”

Mary gave a soft chuckle as she leaned her arm on her desk, propping her chin on her hand. The camera panned around to him at what appeared to be a kitchen counter preparing some eggs. Afterwards, he dished the scrambled eggs onto a dish and placed it on the island behind him. He then repeated the process, sunny side up instead of scrambled eggs. He then sat down and began eating the sunny-side up while someone else walked into the room to eat the scrambled eggs.

”What’s that?” The other person asked, using their fork to point at the camera.

”A camera. Agustus told me to try streaming.” The other replied.

The person across him seemed to not like the idea about being on camera, took their plate, and left the room. The person with the camera sighed as they finished their breakfast and placed the dish in the sink. “Is anyone even watching?”

Mary stared at the comment section. She didn’t want this first-time streamer to give up hope! He seemed to be doing alright! She quickly typed in the chat. “Hello!”

Seeing her little message pop up gave the streamer a small surprise. “Oh, hello there.” His voice remained somewhat monotone but had the tone of happiness under it. “What would you like to watch me do today?”

Mary chuckled hearing that question. Man, he sounded kinda nervous. Then again, she should’ve been the last person to judge since she was the most camera shy. “Daily routine?” She typed in the chat.

”Sure I suppose.” The person mumbled as he read the comment. “I don’t really have one but after I eat breakfast I’d normally go and clean my room.”

He’d make his way to his bedroom in the giant quarters he was in. Mary squinted as she tried to make out the streamer’s surrounding. It looked like a ship of sorts but there were too many staff members moving around the halls for her to really make anything out of it. The camera then panned to a navy blue and black room with blue lights illuminating on the sides.

”This is Manx!” The streamer chuckled as he picked up an old looking plush cat. “He’s a little bit rank but… he’s the only thing I have left from my Raelo.”

Mary could feel her heart ache for him. He must’ve been affected by the Sky Plauge. She was quick to type into the chat. “I’m so sorry. He seems cute though.”

That seemed the lighten the mood up for the streamer. “Never heard anyone call him cute before.”

The rest of the day was his cleaning his room and doing some paperwork and laundry while talking with Mary through the chat function. There were a few times where he had to mute or turn off his camera due to work reasons before coming hack on shortly after. During this time, Mary seemed to have become his yapping buddy of sorts, not that he was complaining.

After he had finished his lunch (and Mary finished her dinner), he decided to end the stream.

”Thanks for sticking through uhh…” He paused as he looked at Mary’s user. “CrazeCat. I like that name.”

Mary, for the first time, felt butterflies in her stomach.

///

Mary hadn’t told anyone about this. Not even Daniel. But every time after lunch, she would slip into her room to go find the streamer.

Mary had been following this faceless streamer for nearly a week now. She didn’t know why, but he had a certain charm to him that drew her to his streams (even if that meant she was the only viewer). All he ever did was do the same thing he had done the first stream. From time to time there would be the mysterious second person who would only appear to take the scrambled eggs from the streamer then leave. It seemed as though the mystery second person was the only other that the streamer ever interacted with nicely. The streamer seemed to slowly grow on her too, talking to her more directly and even talking a small bit about his life before the Raelo.

He did seem to want to keep as anonymous as possible (such as being faceless), which Mary respected. She was hesitant to share her real name to the streamer when he asked, but after he said his was Wicket, she decided to share hers.

There was one more reason why she kept sticking by Wicket’s side. She hated to even think about it.

Did she like him?

His personality was somewhat charming yet timid yet radiating the cool kid energy. Not to mention his voice, he always sounded so cute! (Though somewhat familiar). No! How could she possibly even like a person she’s never met outside of his stream, let alone not know what he looks like?!

”Hey Mary?” Wicket spoke into the microphone, snapped the Nelson out of her thoughts. “What would you think of me if we ever met up?”

Mary thought about her response, her cheeks slowly burning red. Oh gods, what would happen if they ever did meet?! She continued to type then delete her messages before finally sending, “idk. Probably cool or smt.”

Mary wanted to scream at herself so hard. Why would she say that?! Was this what it was like when Shiloh told her about her first crush? Crushes are hard man.

Wicket gave a small chuckle, though Mary could tell he sounded a bit disheartened. “I guess so. We haven’t known each other for too long anyways.”

Mary was now practically bouncing in her chair in embarrassment. Come on Mary! Toughen up!

”I mean. If we did meet, I prolly might be friends with u on the spot. U seem like a chill dude.”

Wicket gave a small laugh. “I bet you’d be a nice lady to be around as well.”

Mary immediately grabbed a pillow and squealed into it. Oh my GODS was he so fricking adorable right now!

She shook her head roughly before looking back at the screen. She could see Wicket doing something before hearing another voice calling. It was a faint and echoey voice but she could still make out the words.

”MALDUUM GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW.”

Malduum? Mary was now paying very close attention. She could hear Wicket scrambled as he yanked off the camera and microphone onto the bed. The microphone was still on while the camera had gone to black.

”U-Uh Mary! I have to go. I think I’m in trouble.” He gave a sheepish chuckle as he heard the booming voice shout again. “Don’t worry though hah! See you whenever I guess!”

Mary raised an eyebrow as she could hear Wicket fumbling to mute the microphone. She slowly pieced together what could even possibly be Malduum being within Wicket’s range.

///

Wicket ended the stream and rushed to grab his long black trenchcoat, throwing it over his black turtleneck. He took a deep breath and waved his hand over his face. No time to think about her. Wicket was never supposed to have come out anyways.

“Coming my lord!” Malduum called out as he exited his bedroom, the tails of his black trenchcoat flying behind him.

Go to sleep Wicket, Malduum will take care of the rest.

Chapter Text

Daniel and Shiloh had noticed how Mary had a look that screamed ‘I know something I shouldn’t’ for about a month, but it had been heightened the last three days. Her hair was extra frizzy and she often was spaced-out until someone would snap her back to reality. Yesterday she had to excuse herself from the Medic Bay and refused to give her reasons.

Daniel had also noted that she had been extra jumpy last night. Shiloh had gone to bed by then but Daniel told his younger sister about how Mary was up getting food at one in the morning. When he asked her what she was doing, she completely flipped and ran out of the kitchen.

The two siblings made an agreement to go check on Mary the next day if she still seemed like a petrified squirrel. The next day, she still was. Shiloh and Daniel had gone over to her room after dinner to go check on her.

///

Mary had been acting off. She knew she was. But who wouldn’t be acting off if the streamer she had nearly fallen in love with turned out to be the bad guy trying to kill her siblings?

The worse part?

They actually had met up yesterday.

Mary hated herself for that.

It was two days before. During one of his streams, Wicket had asked Mary if they did ever want to meet up. Mary had somewhat pieced together that Wicket was in kahoots with Malduum somehow, but the little love-sick girl in her desperately wanted to meet Wicket just because. She continued to kick herself in the leg when she said sure in the stream chat and hearing Wicket’s genuinely happy voice did not help. He gave her the details before ending the stream.

Mary took a deep breath before looking at herself in the mirror. She faced to the right as she began to talk. “Mary. What did you do? You agreed to meet a guy you’ve only ever spoke through on a stream. That was a bad idea. You should NEVER talk to strangers on the internet! That’s what Mom told us every time!”

Mary ran a hand through her hair as she took another deep breath. She turned and faced to the left. “But Mary! He’s so sweet! You never had any boys’ attention and the one time you do you say no?”

Mary then turned to the right, still talking to herself. “But right now it sounds like Wicket is working for Malduum, the BAD guy!”

”But you heard how happy he was! And you’re not thinking this is a date are you?”

This small debate within Mary continued for about five minutes before coming to the conclusion that she would go there early and take a picture of the spot. She then would leave at the time Wicket mentioned and pretend that she had gone to the spot but couldn’t find him. That way, she wouldn’t feel so bad about ditching him. She did have a close call with Daniel at the kitchen.

But when she did arrive the location early, Wicket was waiting there as well!

The Raelo Wicket had mentioned to meet was the Malkate Raelo, known for the mountains and snow surrounding. Mary had dressed in a white puffer jacket along with mitts and ear-muffs. She was also wearing black puffy pants with black boots.

”Oh! Hello!” Wicket waved. He was wearing all black, including a black beanie and circular thin-rimmed glasses. His spiky blonde hair stuck out from the beanie and the black facemask he was wearing had a frosted look to it. He was sitting on the bench and staring at the sky littered with stars.

Mary immediately felt her face flush red. She could just imagine her younger self squealing and leaping. “W-Wicket! You’re here!”

He gave a small nod. “Yea, I forgot about the time difference so I guessed you might’ve come here early by accident.”

Mary gave a small chuckle as she sat on the far end of the bench. She held the bag of food on her lap as she stared at the stars. “W-Wow… you picked a really nice place. Do you live here?”

Wicket seemed hesitant to answer. “Came here for work purposes. Thought it would be neat to meet you here.”

Mary’s hands gripped on her pants tight. How could he possibly work for Malduum yet be so nice?! Mary had to ask the big question. “Do you work for anyone? I heard someone yelling in the last stream where you had to cut early.”

She noticed him tense up even more and glance to the side. “Well, yes but no. In the work place I’m in, I’m like in the middle of the ranks. Second place if you will.”

Mary gave a small nod before pulling out something from the bag of food she had brought. “Muffin?”

Wicket looked over and took the muffin. Right after taking a couple bites, he looked back at Mary. “Did you make this? It’s good.”

”Uh, yea.” Mary chuckled sheepishly.

”Are you cold?” Wicket tilted his head. “Your face is very red.”

Mary squeaked, realizing that he just noticed how much she was blushing. “I-I’m fine!” She waved a hand, an awkward smile masking her internal screams.

Wicket gave a soft laugh before looking back at the skies. “Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be among the stars.”

Mary hummed as she stared up as well. “I think it would be nice. Being up so high and glowing bright for others to see. Sorta like a guiding light ya know?”

The blonde sighed as he looked down to his hands in his lap. “Yea… though the stars would have been fizzled out by the time we see the light.”

Mary glanced to the blonde, trying to read the expression on his face. “I guess…” Mary took a pause, contemplating whether to say this or not. “You know, I haven’t been honest with you.”

Wicket took a while to reply. “I haven’t been honest either.”

A moment of silence passed between the two when something buzzed. Wicket flinched as the source of the buzzing was his communicator. He slowly got off the bench, his eyes wide. “O-Oh. I have to go.”

Mary also got off the bench. “Really? How will you get back?”

Before the blonde would reply, the sound of a ship above them blasted into Mary’s ears. She struggled to look up and see the giant black and red spacecraft hovering above the two. Wicket turned to Mary, a look of guilt on his face. “I told you I haven’t been honest.”

Mary’s mouth hung open as she stared at the ship above. She didn’t even realize Wicket was standing right in front of her. “If we ever meet again, I would like to formally apologize to you.”

He gently took the Nelson’s hand and gave a small kiss before bidding her farewell. He took off his glasses and facemask before boarding the ship, a sullen look on his face.

All it took was one blink and the ship that was right in front of Mary was gone. The gears in her head finally started to move and click into place. Wicket had kissed her on the hand. Wicket, who worked for the bad guy Malduum, kissed her on the hand. Wicket, the guy who sounded and looked like Malduum, had kissed her on the hand.

Was Wicket Malduum?!

If she liked Wicket, then she liked Malduum. If she liked Malduum, then she wasn’t in love with a bad guy. She was in love with the bad guy.

”OH MY GODS! OH MY- OH NO! I- WOAH MARY WHAT DID YOU DO?! MARY! YOU- AHHH! WHAT- HE KISSED ME, BUT HE’S EVIL???”

Chapter Text

“Oh gods, thank goodness you’re alright!” Mom exclaimed as she pulled the petrified boy into a hug.

Elijah hugged her back, his face buried in the crook of her neck. His small whimpers and tears only made him sound like a kid even more. The sounds of sirens and people’s voices overlapping did not help Elijah calm down any better.

”W-Where’s Dad?” Elijah asked, not releasing from the hug. He would like a few words with him.

Mom looked at Elijah, her fingers gently combing through his hair. He could tell whatever Mom said next was a lie. Her eyes were watery and her smile was quivering. “H-He left early dear.”

Elijah didn’t want to believe. “Tell me the truth, please. I’m not a baby.”

“Elijah, I’m so sorry.” Mom bumped her forehead to her son, tears slowly making their way down her cheeks.

Elijah’s eyes were red as he stared at his crying mom.

“Mom… where did Dad go?”

///

“Elijah? Earth to bro, dude.” Daniel mumbled as he waved his hand around his brother’s face.

”Ack-!” Elijah squeaked before scratching the back of his neck. “Right, sorry.”

The mission leader, Joel, shook his head with light laughter. “Nervous I see?”

Elijah gave a sheepish chuckle. “Heh, first mission with the older agents am I right?”

This was the first mission Elijah was going to do in the age group of agents he was supposed to be with. They responded to the more dangerous and violent mission on Raelos that Shiloh might’ve never even heard of.

At this, all the agents broke into laughter. The mission leader chuckled as he patted the blue Nelson’s back. “You’re gonna fit right in.”

A small smile flickered on Elijah’s face, though the smile quickly faded the moment Joel looked away. Elijah couldn’t place his finger on it but Joel looked familiar. Why Joel looked familiar he didn’t know.

Joel then brought the crew to the gear room where each locker had a black and heavy-set vest. He picked up one of them and showed it to the crew.

”This is new tech that the Mechanics Department has given us so be careful with it.” Joel explained. “You know how pissy Cody gets when we break the stuff on the first day.”

There was a soft laughter that rippled through the agents, minus Elijah. The two brothers took the extra vests that were hanging off to the side. The Nelson in blue already had a bad feeling about the vest. He turned to his brother in cyan as he held the vest.

”What’s this for again?”

Daniel adjusted some things on his vest before explaining. “It mainly is a tracker for us but can also be used to cloak us, communicate with others, and even send out emergency frequencies.”

”Be extra careful with the wirings guys!” Joel shouted. “The system’s still exposed and highly sensitive. One wrong tug and the vest go boom.”

Elijah grimaced at Joel going ‘boom’. One extra reason to why he didn’t like the vest. Before he could even react, Daniel was by his side helping the vest on him. Elijah was as still as a statue the whole time.

”That should do it.” Daniel huffed as he finished the last setting on Elijah’s vest.

///

Beep

Beep

Beep

Elijah stared at his brother, his face drained of any color. “G-Get it off.” Elijah nearly choked on his own saliva.

”Wha-?”

”Get it off!” Elijah whimpered.

All he saw on him right now was that makeshift bomb he had worn when he had been taken hostage those years before. His mind was panicking but his body refused to move. It was as if Elijah would blow up if he even breathed the wrong way.

He continued to stare at the vest, the screen blinking random red numbers and the exposed wires snaking up and around. His breathing hitched as he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. His head shot up to see Joel’s face awfully close. Elijah wanted to scream, but it felt like his throat had gone dry and he had lost his voice. All everyone saw was a scared looking man with a pale face and his mouth gaping wide.

”Yo, Elijah you good?” Joel asked softly.

Elijah didn’t reply, his eyes focused on his vest and his ears focused on the beeping.

Elijah took a shaky step away from Joel, his eyes slowly glazing over. “G-Get it o-off me…” He repeated, his hands shaking violently.

Joel gave a soft nod before helping Elijah worm out of the vest. The moment the vest was off contact with Elijah, he took the biggest gasp of air and nearly collapsed if it wasn’t for Daniel catching him.

”Does he need to go to the Medic Bay?” Joel asked.

Daniel hesitated before shaking his head. “Can we join your next mission?”

”Sure,” Joel shrugged. “We always have an extra slot for agents to join.”

///

Elijah immediately sprinted to his room, Daniel hot on his tail. Daniel managed to grab his brother back in time but got a scream in response.

”Let go of me!” Elijah shouted, his voice scratchy and eyes watery. He started to flail around to just get away from his older brother.

Daniel was quick to release his hand from Elijah’s jacket. “Is it because of… uh… that last time?”

Elijah stared at his brother before breaking out into a crying laughter. He slowly slipped to the floor, his hands tugging at his hair. He sputtered as he spoke, his mind thinking too fast for his mouth to catch up. “I look so stupid right now… all because of one stupid day.”

Daniel sat by his brother’s side, gently rubbing his back. “It wasn’t your fault. No one knew what was-.”

”DAD DID!” Elijah screamed, his eyes wide with fury.

Daniel flinched at Elijah’s shrill voice. “I know but-.”

”But what?” Elijah asked through gritted teeth. Daniel had never heard so much spite in his brother’s voice before, let alone Elijah. “Give me one good reason why it wasn’t Dad’s fault?”

Daniel remained silent.

”That’s what I thought.” Elijah grumbled as he pulled his knees to his chest.

The air around them was stuffy. Daniel sat by Elijah’s side. The Nelson in blue then broke the silence.

”Dad never bothered for us did he?”

The blonde Nelson didn’t even care to reply. He knew Elijah wasn’t going to accept anything he would say. All Daniel could do was just be there for his younger brother. Daniel let out a shaky breath before speaking.

”He only ever loved Mom and Mary.”

Elijah huffed as he glanced to the side. “Yea. Wasn’t that obvious.”

Daniel stared at his hands. He glanced to the side to see Elijah getting up.

”I-I’m going t-to my room.”

Chapter Text

“Why would he make the bomb?!”

”Someone must’ve forced him.”

”But he can fight!”

”Guys! Stop arguing! We have to find Dad.”

Elijah knew about his older siblings’ relationship with Dad. He wasn’t the nicest but not the meanest. He was just… distant. He didn’t really bother with the younger siblings, Elijah included. The only reason why Elijah ever bothered to try to get to know Dad better was because he wanted to be like him. Daniel and David had their own opinions on that. Mary was Dad’s favorite since she was the only girl before Shiloh.

”Daniel calm down, I’m sure there’s a logical reason for why he would make a bomb.”

”No! Dad is more than capable to fight off bad guys! There was no way he was forced to making a bomb. A-And don’t you find it weird that he’s gone?!”

”Maybe they had threatened to do something bad to Elijah! You don’t know the whole story.”

The three older siblings turned to their younger brother. David sighed and rubbed his nosebridge before kneeling down by Elijah’s side. “Can you tell us at least?”

Elijah stared at David, Mary, and Daniel. Mom must’ve not told them.

”Dad wanted to leave.” Elijah muttered, still hanging onto the blanket that he had been given.

”What?” All three siblings said at the same time.

Elijah flinched hearing their voice suddenly cut through the air; each voice had a distinct emotion.

Daniel’s was angry and sharp. Mary’s was confused and scared. David’s was tired and disheartened. But all three had one emotion that was the same.

Disappointment. Disappointed that they could guess it would’ve happened.

///

Elijah slipped into his room, eyes glazed over and his body set on autopilot.

Stupid vest getting him worked up.

He grumbled as he grabbed a book off his shelf and leafed through the pages. He didn’t consider himself as a bookworm, but he did enjoy reading when he wasn’t busy. Unfortunately, his mind was too rattled to focus on the words. He tossed the book off to the side, the red leather of the cover gliding over the carpeted floor silently.

His head plopped on his pillow as he stared at the ceiling, the blank white paint staring back at him.

Focus on something else. Something else that doesn’t remind of Dad.

Elijah slowly sat back up and went over to his dresser. He rummaged around the drawers for a bit before finding an old grey sweater. Odd, he didn’t remember ever having this.

He didn’t want to wear it though, it stank like crazy. He tossed it off to the pile of ‘dirty clothes’ before looking at himself in the mirror.

He ran a hand through his hair before staring at his face. He didn’t like the way his reflection was staring back at him. The longer he looked, the more contorted it got. It wasn’t the scary kind of contortion where his face started stretching in weird ways. It was the kind that slowly made his reflection look like a different person.

“I… I look like Dad…” Elijah whispered to himself.

No, he didn’t want to look like dad, he didn’t want to look anything like that dead beat father! Any resemblance to that cheap bastard just made Elijah want to tear his skin out. Dad didn’t deserve to even be called a dad, let alone be his dad.

His hands curled into fists and before he knew it, glittery glass shards flew into the air.

Elijah froze on the spot, his breaths shallow and short. Did he just punch the mirror? His eyes remained fixated on the now shattered mirror as he heard person run to his room.

”E-Elijah?”

Elijah ignored his younger sister’s voice as his eyes trailed to his bloodied fist. His knuckles were definitely cut open with shards of glass reflecting the light in his room.

”Elijah… w-what did you do?”

He stretched his hand open and shut, barely wincing as he felt the glass dig in. The pain didn’t seem to register in his head for some reason. He then looked back at the mirror. His shaky hand grabbed a shard from the frame and stared at it.

”Do… Do I look like Dad?” Elijah asked quietly, still not looking at his sister. Elijah’s grip on the shard tighten. He barely even flinched as he felt the glass dig into his palms.

Shiloh didn’t answer his question. “Why did you punch the mirror?”

Elijah could hear two other people walk into the room from the extra footsteps. “Daniel… can I talk with you alone?”

Shiloh sputtered as she was suddenly brought out of her brother’s room. “Mary?! What just happened?! What’s going on?”

Mary looked hesitant to answer her younger sister. “It’s… a long story.”

///

Elijah bit his lip, trying hard to keep the waterworks shut. “I don’t g-get it D-Daniel…”

Daniel wanted to pull Elijah into a hug, but the Nelson in blue yanked his shoulder away. Daniel’s hand dropped to his side as he spoke. “I never got it either.”

Elijah couldn’t hold it anymore and started to bawl. Daniel was quick to pull his brother into a hug, ignoring the blood being smeared on his shirt. Elijah’s breathing had gone into sporadic gasps as he held onto Daniel’s shirt like a lifeline. The older Nelson slowly sat on the part of the floor with no glass. He held Elijah in his arms and rubbed his back. He never liked seeing any of his siblings cry, it made him want to cry too.

He had never seen Elijah cry like this. The way he seemed so desperate to stay with Daniel and the way his wails started and stopped only made Daniel even more worried.

Finally, the room fell silence except for Elijah’s soft hiccups. Daniel hummed under his breath before hearing Elijah struggle to speak up.

”I’m s-so sorry…”

”You have nothing to be sorry about.”

”I’m s-so sorry…”

”Come on, we should get that hand fixed.”

”. . . Yea.”

”Do you… want a new mirror?”

”. . . No.”

”That’s alright.”

Chapter Text

Shiloh was walking down the hall to get some stuff from Micah’s room. She walked past the Dome.

”Wait what.”

Shiloh had to do a double take and shuffle back to the Dome. Why was there a giant black ship docked in the loading bay?

”Whatcha looking at?”

Shiloh yelped hearing Michelle’s voice so close to her and nearly slapped the other. Michelle giggled before looking out. “Why is there a ship docked at the loading bay?”

”I don’t know…” Shiloh mumbled, trying to think of any possible reason. “That emblem on the ship looks familiar.”

”I say we get a couple blasters and scare them.” Michelle snickered.

Shiloh looked like she was going to object. “Ah- actually not a bad idea.”

The two girls giggled before slipping off to grab some of the big guns. They soon made their way to the loading bay where a weird-looking alien approached, looking a bit frazzled.

”Hey, who are you?” Shiloh shouted, adding a serious tone to her voice. Michelle adjusted a few dials on the blaster to look more menacing.

The alien seemed completely unfazed to the posed threat the girls showed as he started to talk. “Are you Mary and Daniel Nelson?”

Shiloh, a bit startled by the sudden name drops, cleared her throat. “Uh- Y-Yes! I’m Mary, and this is my sister Daniel!”

Michelle looked confused as she leaned over in a hiss. ”But Daniel’s a-.”

”He doesn’t know about gendered names.” Shiloh hissed back, elbowing her friend. “Play along.”

Michelle rolled her eyes and cleared her throat. “Yep, Daniel, that’s me.”

The alien chirped happily before scribbling down something on his glowing clipboard. He then handed the clipboard to Shiloh. “My name is Calkate. We are the Inter-Raelo Delivery Service! IRDS!”

Michelle gasped. “Hey I know a guy that works for this service!”

The Nelson in purple raised an eyebrow. “I-I’m sorry, what did he- I order?”

Calkate cackled and hit his head with his hand. “Yes! Humans can forget! Hah!” He quickly pulled out another glowing clipboard. “Right, you ordered a ton of butter and robotic parts.”

Shiloh stared at the alien with a concerned smile on her face. “I-I’m sorry, a ton of butter?”

Calkate gave a sharp nod. “We did not understand what you meant by just ‘a ton of butter’, so we brought you this!”

Michelle and Shiloh’s jaws dropped as they looked up to see the sight. There was a giant pallet that just was stacked with giant bricks of butter. A small drone whirred silently as it held the giant pallet barely above the ground. There was a medium box that rolled up to the two, most likely the robotic parts.

”Do we have to return the drone?” Michelle asked, pointing at the drone.

“Nope! Complementary!” Calkate chirped. He then tapped the clipboard that Shiloh was still holding on. “Please sign!”

Shiloh absentmindedly signed the clipboard. She gave a small yelp as the alien swiped it out of her hands. Calkate hesitated and muttered something, signaling for the two girls to stay put as he ran to grab something. Calkate then ran back with a bundle of gorgeous looking flowers. “This is another delivery for Mary Nelson! Malkate Stardrop Lilies! Someone sent to her!”

Michelle was about to say something when she was nearly toppled over by Daniel and Mary running in.

”Did the butter come?!” Daniel yelled.

”Uh- yes?” Michelle was unsure how to answer.

”It actually came?!” Mary exclaimed, eyes wide and jaw dropped.

”Why did you order a buttload of butter exactly?” Shiloh asked.

The two older Nelsons froze. “Baking.”

Mary then noticed the flowers in Shiloh’s hand and gasped. “Malkate Stardrop Lilies?! Ooooo! Who’s the secret admirer?”

Shiloh raised an eyebrow. “Secret admirer? These flowers are for you.”

Mary’s mouth instantly shut close while Daniel started wheezing and doubling over. Michelle gasped as she realized what the flowers meant. Soon both Daniel and Michelle started to tease the blonde, chanting over and over. “Oooooo Mary! Secret admirer! Secret crush! Secret admirer!”

Shiloh, still not knowing what the flowers meant, spoke up. “Uhh, what do these mean?”

Mary swiped the frosty flowers, the cold mist emitted from the flowers flowing all over the place. “Nun ya business!”

”Nuh uh!” Daniel snickered, wagging a finger around. “It means secret love!”

Shiloh gasped and a wide grin grew on her face. Mary groaned and went to her room while the other three continued to giggle and tease.

///

Mary found a small vase and dropped the frosty flowers in. She hummed as she rested her head on her hand, watching the cold mist slowly descend to the desk. She managed to see a note that was tied to the bundle.

”Sending my good wishes - W… Oh. Why would you send this…?” Mary mumbled to herself.

Malkate Stardrop Lilies were quite rare to find. And like what Daniel said, the flowers were often given to people as a message of secret love, though it could also be meant as an apology depending on the situation. Mary already could guess who gave it to her the moment she realized those were for her.

Man, dealing with feelings was hard.

Chapter Text

Shiloh was scrolling on her phone when she spotted a video. It was a trend where the person would run up to their siblings and without warning have them act as another one of their siblings. The Nelson in purple quite liked this idea and bounced off her bed. The first place she ran to was Judah’s bedroom.

”Judah!” She yelled, a smile on her face and her phone filming. “Act as our sibling go!”

Judah yelped at the sudden prompt given and stuttered for a few seconds. He then stood on his desk chair with his blanket on as a coat. “Yo it’s me Micah! I’m super tall and ‘secretly’ love Michelle.”

Shiloh snorted at Judah’s impression of Micah before sprinting out to find her next sibling. Judah decided to join her because why not. They soon found Josiah who was grabbing something from the snack counter.

”Josiah! Act as a sibling, go!” The two Nelsons shouted in unison.

Josiah nearly dropped his bag of chips before having a large grin grown on his face. “Hiii! I’m Judah! Hey! Where’s Rosco?”

“Hey! I don’t sound that squeaky!” The Nelson in orange exclaimed.

Shiloh laughed while dragging her brother down to the lounge. There, Elijah, Micah, Michelle, and Jocelyn were just bumming around. Shiloh pushed her camera up to Elijah’s face first. ”Act as a sibling, go!”

Elijah seemed to buffer, taking the information in his head. He then started to pretend to tuck his hair behind his ears and blinking really fast. “Hi I’m Shiloh and I’m so pretty!”

Shiloh and Judah had to make sure not to fall onto each other in laughter before they panned the camera to Micah. “Act as a sibling, go!”

Micah looked around before suddenly pinning Michelle to the wall, a cheeky grin on his face. Michelle squeaked and nearly slapped the Nelson in green. He managed to back away in time and look at the camera. “Josiah in his head wanting to do that to Gala.”

Jocelyn and Judah started fangirling. “You pinned Michelle!”

”Only because of the prompt.” Micah chuckled as he waved off the younger ones.

”But you still pinned her!” Jocelyn squealed.

Shiloh cackled as she slipped off to find the others. She could still hear Micah bickering with Jocelyn and Judah as she left.

She soon found her three older siblings in the kitchen. She panned the camera to show all three. “All of you! Act as a sibling, go!”

David shrugged before turning to Daniel. He flexed his arms, though it only puffed up his grey sweater sleeves. “Oh look at me, I’m Daniel with my buff arms!”

Shiloh’s camera then whipped over to Daniel who was attempting to twirl his hair and was looking around with wide eyes. “Guys! Where is everyone?!” He yelled in his best girlie voice. “Me if I was Mary.”

Mary gave a slightly exaggerated gasp before turning to David. She grabbed her mug and made her shoulders go slack. “Sup. David.”

Shiloh giggled as she watched her three older siblings banter about how they act before Daniel swiped the phone from Shiloh. He panned the camera to her face. “Sibling! Go!”

Shiloh buffered before grabbing one of the stray paper towels on the counter. She then colored it blue and failed to make it look like a bandanna on her forehead. “Elijah here! Blue is my favorite color if you couldn’t tell.”

The siblings started giggling before Daniel weakly handed his phone to his younger sister. Shiloh soon checked the footage and grinned. This would make for a great video.

Chapter Text

“Stop teasing me!” Michelle yapped as she swatted the princess in red away from her. “I told you he only pinned me because of the prompt!”

Gala snickered. “Girl, you have two reactions when you’re stunned. Either scream and slap or freeze and stare like a petrified cat. You only do the second reaction when it’s something to do with Micah.”

Michelle grumbled and rolled her eyes. ”Alright fine. If you’re so desperate to catch me, what do you want me to do?”

The princess had a sneaky grin on her face as she explained the idea. “Go to Micah and say that you have a boyfriend. I’ll bet 50 bucks.”

Michelle had a surprised look in her face. “You have 50 bucks?”

”I’ll get it from someone.” Gala waved her hand around. The two girls stared at each other for a prolonged moment of silence.

”Josiah?”

”Josiah.”

”. . . Now that I think of it, isn’t that kind of mean to use his crush on you as an advantage?”

At this, the princess gave a confused chuckle. “Crush? Isn’t he just nice like that every day?”

Ah, so Gala was not aware of Josiah’s crush in her still, somehow. “Never mind that. How do you think me telling Micah I have a boyfriend will make him angry?”

Gala gave a slow shrug, the face of ‘I do know but I’m not telling’ clearly on her face. “Just try it.”

Michelle’s expression went flat as she crossed her arms. “Did Jocelyn tell you to do this?”

Gala giggled. “Kinda. We both planned in trying to get you to do this but mainly Jocelyn’s idea.” She slowly stuck her hand out and wiggled it, wanting her to shake her hand to seal the deal. Michelle grumbled as she tossed the points in her head. Unfortunately enough, she agreed. She really wanted to prove her point that she wouldn’t get flustered when Micah got angry. Gala squealed in delight before suddenly pulling out an earpiece from a pocket in her dress. “Wear this! That way I can also watch without being in the room with ya!”

Michelle stared at the earpiece. “Wow… you really were locked and loaded huh?”

”Yup! Now let’s go!”

///

Michelle stared at Micah’s door. She couldn’t believe how nervous she was over a stupid prank. She looked back one last time to see Gala with that big and all-too-eager grin of hers as she gave Michelle big thumbs up. The girl in pink sighed and slowly opened the door. Micah was working on something at his desk, wearing a grey hoodie and some dark green sweatpants.

”Uh.” Michelle had to clear her throat to catch the Nelson’s attention. “Hey.”

”Oh, sup Michelle?” Micah nodded as he spun his pencil in his fingers.

Michelle shuffled on the spot, avoiding eye contact with Micah. “Uh, I got some news.”

Micah raised an eyebrow, still sat on his chair. He never sat on a chair properly, he usually was seating with one of his legs folded under him. “Is it bad?”

Michelle decided just to say it and get the prank over and done with. “No, I have a boyfriend.”

This got Micah to react. She couldn’t tell what expression was on his face but she didn’t like it. “Really? Who’s he?’ He asked, tapping the pencil on the stack of papers he was working on.

Michelle gave a nervous chuckle. “H-He works for the IRDS, you probably never met him before. W-We met up before I joined the agency.” In a way, she was basically just using her friend Ajax who did work in the IRDS and did meet before Michelle had joined the agency. Sorry bro, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.

Micah gave a slow nod before standing up, sliding over to Michelle. “You do realise that dating outside of the agency is not allowed right? Why do you think Brittany joined after she got with David?”

“R-Really? Well, I joined late so that a surprise, hehe…” Michelle did a small gulp as she realised she was shuffling backwards towards the wall. She didn’t realise just how intimidating Micah could be when he used his height to his advantage. Gods, now she felt real short.

Micah gave a small yet knowing sort of nod. “Mm… and, might I ask when you guys got together?”

Michelle stared at Micah who now had practically pinned her to the wall, though not really. He was leaning down to Michelle’s eye level with his hands folded behind his back. He had an odd smile on his face as he could sense Michelle’s unease. “About two weeks a-ago…” Come on Michelle! Why was she freaking out over this suddenly?!

Micah hummed as he stood up to his full height and placed his forearm above Michelle’s head. He somewhat lowered back down to maintain some eye contact with the other. “Oh, cat got your tongue?”

Michelle’s face finally heated up and flushed red. She figured what Gala meant by the petrified cat look at this point. She swore she saw him about to use his finger to lift her chin up when she heard Gala squealing outside. Michelle flinched and turned to see Micah suddenly trying to hold in his own laughter.

”What?! What’s so funny?!” Michelle exclaimed as she watched Micah back off and bent over in laughter.

”T-That w-worked so much better t-than I thought!” Micah stuttered through his giggles.

Michelle’s jaw dropped. “No- WERE YOU WORKING WITH HER?!” She then began to angrily mutter nothing as she swatted Micah who was still laughing and defending himself with his arms.

Gala cackled and pointed at Michelle. “Y-You can’t lie about it anymore! And besides! Micah would never pin you as his first reaction!”

Micah gave a nod. Michelle shook her head as she pointed at Micah. “Then why would you pin me as your first response to Shiloh’s prompt yesterday?!”

”Cause I was being Josiah!” Micah exclaimed. “You know Josiah would definitely want to do that with her 24/7!”

Micah didn’t mean to point at Gala. She looked certainly stunned. “What?”

”What.”

“What.”

An awkward moment of silence passed before Micah broke it. “Anyways, you now owe her 50 bucks and she owes me 25.”

Michelle patted herself down. “I don’t got that kinda cash on me!”

”Then you could repay us back in icecream!” Gala gasped excitedly.

”And snacks!” Micah added.

”Oo! And that bubble tea!” A fourth and squeaky voice added.

The three looked down to see Jocelyn holding a camera with a grin on her face. Michelle yelped before Gala and Jocelyn scurried off. Micah looked like his nervous self as he stood by Michelle’s side. “Y’know, I could pay you back… if you want at least.”

Michelle raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms. “How so?”

Micah shuffled on his spot, looking at his feet. “Well… uhm…”

Michelle continued to look at Micah, a suspicious look in her face. She wasn’t expecting him to give her a quick head kiss. She squeaked, that same petrified cat look on her beet-red face.

He quickly pushed her out of his room and slammed the door shut. She shook her head as she registered what just happened. She whipped around and started hammering the door. “Hey what was that?!”

Chapter Text

Gala clipped on her earrings and stared at herself in the mirror. The servants helped her dress in her finest gown as today was the day she hated most.

Suitor Day.

”Do I really have to go?” Gala grumbled, picking at her corset. “They always suck.”

The shorter servant of the two waved her hand. “Oh darling, no need to complain! I’m sure there’s a man that’s just for you.”

The princess gave a small scoff. “Yea, as if.”

The taller one gave a small and light slap on the princess’s shoulder. “Now now, no need for such an attitude. Come on, you are running late.”

Gala rolled her eyes as she was escorted to the throne room. There were at least five suitors in front of her. She mostly tuned out her father as he went over the rules she had heard many times over. Two weeks for her to get to know the suitors before deciding. Her mother gave her a sharp glare at the end. Gala had gone through this at least four times and had rejected everyone everytime.

Each prince went up and introduced themselves, bowing and giving the princess a kiss on the hand. Ugh, she was getting sick of hearing darling, beauty, and all those fake pet-names. These princes never put on their true faces.

”Hello Princess Gala. My name is Prince Rico of the Acorrdia region.” The dusty blond bowed, being the last prince in the lineup. “I hope I may get to know you more.”

Interesting, Gala thought to herself. He was the only one to call her by her name and want to get to know her more, not trying to prove himself.

When the court was dismissed and Gala was sent off to be with the suitors, she quite immediately drifted to Prince Rico.

”So… You would like to know me better?” She asked, a smirk on her face.

Rico squeaked and brushed down his shirt, he clearly was genuinely nervous. “Y-Yes! S-Sorry for calling you by your name Princess.”

She chuckled and waved a hand. “No need to be so formal. I rather you call me by my name.”

Rico gave an awkward grin. “Alright then… Gala.”

///

Gala yelped as she woke from the dream. Right back in the agency and out of her palace.

”Oh Rico…” She muttered as she stared at the empty ceiling above her.

During those two weeks, Gala and Rico had practically fallen head over heels for each other. But the day before the selection, Gala had heard that Rico had been executed for being a fraud, a lowly villager who had replaced the true prince. That was the day her heart had been shattered. Gala had given up on love afterwards.

But Josiah… what did Micah mean by that? Josiah wanting to pin her 24/7? No way Josiah truly liked her, he must’ve been being nice cause he was forced too, right? She had a small hunch he might’ve liked her at the beginning, but she quickly pushed that idea away. She couldn’t risk her heart shattering again. She didn’t want to fix it again.

She grumbled as she drifted to the kitchen. Maybe she could get a box of crackers to stave herself off. She nearly tripped on her baggy sweatpants when she looked up to see Daniel rummaging through the snack cabinet. “Uhh… Daniel?”

”O-Oh!” The blonde yelped as he whipped around with wide eyes. His crazy hair only made him look more insane. “G-G-Gala!”

”Mmm… you remember my name.” Gala tiredly chuckled.

Daniel yawned as he offered Gala his box of crackers. “Whatcha doing up so late?”

”Bad dream…” Gala mumbled through her mouthful of crackers. Daniel hummed as he barely missed the cracker to his mouth. After a while, Gala figured to ask him a question. She knew she was good at reading people’s emotions, basically an expert. But this was the first time she was doubting herself. “Has Josiah been forced to be nice to me?”

Daniel stared at Gala for a while before replying. “Why’d ya say that?”

Gala hesitated. “I-I don’t know…” She paused as she stared into her box of crackers.

“W-Well Micah did say something.”

That got Daniel’s attention. “What’d he say?”

”You know that video Shiloh did about making her siblings act like a different sibling?” Daniel chuckled as he nodded. “Well… he pinned Michelle to the wall and-.”

”He did?!” Daniel screeched in a hushed whisper. “Oh gods I HAVE to see the video now!”

Gala gave a soft giggle before continuing. “He was doing that to act like Josiah in his head and wanting to do that with…” She didn’t have to complete the sentence as the Nelson could already guess.

”. . . I mean, he’s not one to keep up an act for so long. Usually you can see the cracks.” Daniel muttered. “And didn’t you dance with him before? I’d say that’s pretty obvious.”

”I wouldn’t know!” Gala would say, her voice a bit higher. “I dance like that with all my suitors.”

Daniel shrugged. “Well, can’t help ya anymore than that.”

Gala gave a small nod before saying her goodbyes to Daniel and leaving the kitchen. Instead of going back to her room though, she headed over to the Dome.

///

Space was gorgeous. The vast sky of purples, blues, and blacks along with the glowing specks peppered around. She remembered stargazing with Ri-.

”Gala?”

Gala squeaked as she peered into the darkness to see Josiah walking over to her. She watched as the Nelson in black sat by her side. The two sat in silence before he spoke up.

”What are you doing up so late?”

”I- Thinking about stuff I guess.” Gala muttered, tucking a hair behind her ear as she looked away from the other.

”You sure?”

”Y-Yea…”

A moment of silence passed before the princess gained the guts to ask.

”Do you force yourself to l-like… me?”

Josiah immediately had a worried look on his face. “No! Why would you think that?”

Gala’s face burned as he leaned closer to her. She hasn’t felt this nervous in a long time. “W-Well… most guys who are n-nice to me are suitors…” She hated how much her voice was cracking.

”I would never force myself to like you because I already like you!”

Gala gave a half-hearted laugh, rubbing her arm. “T-That’s funny.”

”Gala I’m serious.” Josiah took the princess’s hands in his. Gala finally looked at the Nelson in the eyes. She could tell he was being serious. “If that dance those nights ago didn’t prove it, I’ll tell you now.”

He took a deep breath, steeling his nerves. “You are the most amazing person I have ever met. I don’t know how to say it any better than that.”

Gala’s eyes looked glassy and starry. The outside’s stars were reflecting in her teary eyes. She didn’t react when he pulled her in a hug, but she definitely needed it.

”T-Thank you Josiah.” Gala mumbled through broken-up sobs. She buried her face in the crook of Josiah’s neck. Gods, she hadn’t felt like this since she had found her first true love.

Maybe a shattered heart could mend.

Chapter Text

Josiah drummed his fingers on his knee as he sat at his station. The new mission the crew was doing required for the Nelson in black to stay by the Beacon to check for any anomalies alongside Patience. The others had gone off to search for any survivors. He basically was left to do nothing. He continued to flick through the different screens to check for the scannings to come out with nothing.

”Hey Jo, you good?” Patience asked, tapping the Nelson’s shoulder.

”Why’d you ask?” He’d respond, not taking his eyes off the screen.

Patience seemed to have to choose her words wisely. “W-Well, you look pretty tense. Scary almost.”

Josiah would realize how tense his shoulders really were and let out a soft sigh. “I guess you’re right. Worried for the others got me tensed up huh?”

Patience would give an awkward chuckle as she fiddled with knobs on her blaster. She was about to ask another question when the forest around them suddenly shook, the sound of an echoing gun-shot being the cause. The two immediately jolted and scanned the area around them.

”What was that?!” Patience exclaimed as she jammed in buttons on the scanner.

Josiah had no answer. “That wasn’t the sound of a blaster.”

”What?” The girl turned to the Nelson in black.

Josiah’s face was one of horror. “We didn’t bring any real guns. There’s someone else out here.”

Before Patience could scream again, Daniel suddenly ran right to them. His bright eyes were wide and his hair all frazzled. “Start up the Beacon, we need to leave NOW!”

Patience got to work but Josiah shook his head. “Where are the others? We need to bring them back!”

Daniel shook his head. “No time to get them back right now. It’s every man for themselves.”

”What?!” Josiah exclaimed, still trying to get Daniel to listen to him. “Dude, what’s going on?! We need to get the others back here before we can leave! We can’t just-.”

”Too late.” Patience squeaked as she pointed towards a figure.

Josiah looked away from his brother to see a figure swaying side to side, staring the three down. His eyes were bloodshot and his hair tinted green. The only reason why Josiah continued to stare at the figure was because of one key detail.

The blue bandana.

“There’s Infected here?!” Josiah yelled as he turned to his brother.

Daniel didn’t respond to the Nelson in black as the Beacon started up. “Get in now!”

Josiah shook his head, wanting to argue with Daniel. Before he could even speak, the blonde Nelson grabbed Patience and Josiah by the arms and threw them into the golden warp gate.

What happened?

Chapter Text

“Michelle, you stay here with the kids.”

Michelle mimicked the words that Daniel told her before the team had moved out. The whole mission was a blur to her except the part where she was suddenly dumped to do a side mission at some sort of day-care in the Raelo that the team was sent to.

Great.

Just great.

Now she was in a building with about eight or so kids making a ruckus and a nervous daycare attendant by her side.

Now Michelle didn’t have anything against kids, she just thought they were kinda annoying at times (Jocelyn was the prime example). Well, sure, that was what she said when she told people why she didn’t like kids. Her true reason for not liking kids would make people look at her as if she was weird. Well, that’s what she thought.

”Thank you for hanging here.” The attendant would say nervously, wringing her hands. Michelle slightly flinched, the attendant’s voice snapping the agent out of her thoughts. The attendant clearly seemed like she was new at this as well. “I-I don’t know where Ajax is. He should’ve been here about an hour ago.”

Michelle raised an eyebrow. “Ajax? As in Ajax Kakora?”

”N-No… Ajax Lymore.”

”Oh.”

”Why do you ask?”

“Oh, Ajax is a name of a friend I have. He works for the IRDS.”

”I see.”

The two would stand in silence before the attendant quickly shook her head. “Right! I’m Paisley! We better start rounding the kids up now should we?”

The agent nodded and soon the two girls were quick to start rounding up the kids. For there only being eight kids, they were nearly impossible to find. Michelle could also tell that none of the kids liked her. Not like she cared, they were new and she was new. She was just a little bit disheartened that this seemed to be the reaction all kids had with her, even from other Raelos.

Finally, all eight kids were sat in the reading circle and Paisley started reading a book to them. It was only then when Michelle counted the kids when she realised one of them had suddenly snuck off. She gave Paisley a silent signal that she was going off and the other nodded. She soon made her way to the nap time room since that was the only other room that the kids could even get too.

”Uhmm… Kiddo? Where are you?”

Silence.

Michelle muttered something under her breath. “Oh come on. I did not leave my babysitting trauma just for this.”

”Trauma?”

”ARGH!”

Michelle and the kid stared at each other for a good long while. Michelle quickly composed herself and stood straight.

”Hey kiddo, whatcha doing out here? Shouldn’t you be over with the other kids at story-time?”

The kid in the yellow raincoat tilted her head, her circular glasses nearly falling off her face.

”I don’t like story-time.”

”Oh.”

Michelle got down to one knee to be at eye-level with the kid.

“Why not?”

”The book’s not yellow.”

Michelle’s face contorted into one of confusion. She tilted her head, hoping the kid was making some sort of weird joke. Unfortunately, the kid had a completely neutral face and no sign of her laughing anytime soon. The girl even went and started fiddling with the cuff of her yellow raincoat, waiting for the other’s response.

”So… because the book is not yellow, you don’t like story time?”

”Anything that isn’t yellow I don’t like. That’s why I’m wearing a yellow raincoat.”

Michelle gave a slow nod as she stood up. She had to process this kid’s logic for a good long minute before looking back at the kid.

”What about your food then? Does all your food have to be yellow?”

”No. You wouldn’t understand. You’re not wearing yellow.”

The agent raised an eyebrow as she watched the kid go and sit on one of the beds. She went and sat by the girl’s side. She noticed the girl in yellow shuffle away from Michelle.

”Well, can you at least come out and hang out with the other kids? Then we don’t have to worry about you.”

Michelle could tell that the girl wasn’t going to be convinced so easily.

”I think there’s a yellow rubber ducky outside that Paisley just bought.”

That got the girl to look up.

”I… I wanna see the ducky…”

A smirk grew on the agent’s face. She got off the bed and held out a hand for the girl.

”What’s your name?”

”. . . Daisy.”

”I’m Michelle. Now, do you wanna see the ducky out there?”

”Y-Yea.”

Daisy took Michelle’s hand and the two made their way to the main room where the kids were having snack time. Michelle sat Daisy with two other girls. Paisley handed Daisy a snack plate before going over to Michelle.

“How did you get her out so fast? Usually she’s the most stubborn and refuses to do anything.”

”Daisy wouldn’t come out unless there was something yellow. Now we needa get her a yellow ducky before she gets upset at us.”

Paisley snickered and shook her head. “Oh that’s funny.”

”Do we even have a yellow rubber ducky here?”

”I think so. Let me check the toy box.”

Michelle gave a nod as she watched the kids slowly dissipate to the play space while waiting for their parents to come and pick them up. Paisley then walked up to the agent with a small yellow duck in her hand.

”Will this work?”

”Perfect.”

Michelle took the duck from the other’s hand and walked over to Daisy. Paisley started on bringing the kids over to the parents at the entrance to send them back home.

”Hey Daisy, here’s the ducky.”

Daisy’s face remained neutral, though Michelle could see her eyes growing wide and a sparkle glowing bright. A small gasp could be heard from the girl as she gently took the duck.

”Really?”

”Yep. All for you.”

A small but apparently grin grew on the younger girl’s face before her head snapped towards the door.

”Mama!”

Michelle looked up to see a lady with a big yellow sunhat walking towards Daisy. Ah, there was where the love of yellow was from.

”Oh! You must be new here huh? I do hope she wasn’t too much trouble. She can be quite a handful if you know what I mean.”

Michelle’s had to restrain herself from scrunching her face up from the way the mom said that.

”No, she was quite alright.”

The mom gave a sigh as she patted the girl’s head. “I hope you weren’t being too much trouble dear. Now we better get going now shall we? Say buh bye now.”

Daisy gave Michelle a look that she couldn’t make out.

”Buh bye.”

Michelle waved her goodbye.

”Will you come back?”

Michelle wasn’t expecting to hear that from the little girl.

”If I can, sure.”

Daisy gave a her a smile.

”Okay then!”

Chapter Text

Micah had heard word about a new student in his grade. He hummed, wondering who could it be. He took his seat in the school bus and was starting to put his earphones in when he noticed someone sit next to him. He looked up to see a girl with curly brown hair and blue eyes next to him. She had a pink backpack on and seemed to be busy texting on her phone.

He wasn’t one to start conversation, but he did note that he had never seen her here before. Maybe she was the new student? Before he could even start a conversation with her, he felt someone chuck a paper ball to his head.

”Whoops- my bad!” The kid behind him called, though Micah could hear the snickers at the end. “Dodge it next time green bean.”

He rolled his eyes before looking back to his phone. What he wasn’t expecting was the new girl to whip around. “Hey, watch it.”

”Jeez, new kid get feisty huh?” The kid huffed, whispering to his friends. “Maybe that’s green bean’s new weirdo.”

Micah grumbled but continued to ignore the snide remarks from behind. The new kid was having none of it though. “How about you shut up? Your voice is annoying me and I just met you.”

He could hear someone of the other kids go ‘oooo’ at the new girl’s burn. The students behind Micah were quick to go quiet. The new girl gave a small huff before sitting back down.

The rest of the ride to school was silent between the two. Only when the school bus stopped in front of the school did Micah speak to her.

”U-Uh, thanks… thanks for what you did this morning.” Micah said nervously.

”Oh, no problem.” The girl smiled, waving a hand. “It’s the least I could do.”

Micah gave a small nod. “U-Uh, what’s your name?”

He didn’t hear her name but caught it barely. Estelle?

He nearly gone the whole dat thinking that her name was Estelle. He later learned that her name was really Michelle and was terribly embarrassed. It didn’t help the fact that he had no classes with her. But she was surprisingly friendly, often chatting with before and after school and the lunch period.

///

“So, who ya gonna ask to prom?” Elijah asked as he bounced into his younger brother’s room.

Micah gave a small squeak as he looked up from his homework. “Uhm… haven’t thought about that. Might not even ask someone.”

Elijah rolled his eyes. “Come on bro! There has to be someone you kinda want to ask! The dance is about a month away!”

”Oh! Are we talking about the dance?” Judah gasped as he suddenly popped in. “If you want, I can help ya Micah!”

”Oh shut up!” Micah huffed, tempted to chuck his textbook at his younger brother. “Don’t you have like- other stuff to deal with?”

”Nah not really.” Judah shrugged. “Patience took back the science project so I got no work now.”

”Then like- help Elijah get set up with Lila or something.” Micah grumbled, trying to wave his two brothers out of his room.

”What’s going on in here?” Josiah asked as he walked past. “Whatcha talking about?”

”We’re trying to get Micah to ask someone to the dance.” Elijah replied. “He’s too busy ignoring us.”

”I have homework to do sheesh!” Micah exclaimed, slowly getting annoyed at his brothers’ pestering. “Judah, go help Elijah and Josiah get set up. They’re basically dating those two girls, uh, Lila and Gala right?”

At this, Josiah turned beet-red. “I’m not dating Gala!”

”You wished you were.” Shiloh snickered, now suddenly behind the Nelson in black.

”Wha- hey!” Josiah swatted at his sister. Shiloh continued to snicker before looking over to Elijah who made no comment. “Elijah? You got anything to say about that and Lila?”

The siblings stared at the Nelson in blue, expecting some sort of response with him rejecting that he was dating the other. Instead, a small but embarrassed smile grew on his face. At this, the other siblings started gasping and exclaiming. Elijah was quick to leave the room, though the others started following him, minus Josiah. Micah was quick to get back to his math homework before hearing Josiah behind him.

”What about that new student that sits next to you in the bus? Michelle right?”

Micah’s shoulders tensed hearing that name. “Uh- I- y-yea! B-But she’s just a friend!” He seemed real nervous at the mention of her.

Josiah raised an eyebrow, a smirk on his face. “Someone got real flustered with that huh?”

Micah buried his head in his hands. “I-It’s not like that…”

Josiah chuckled and ruffled up his younger brother’s hair. “I can help you. I bet I can convince Patience to talk with Michelle to get her to go with you.”

”No!” Micah yelped, suddenly spinning around in his chair and facing his older brother. “N-No! That’s a bad idea!”

”Why not? You nervous?” Josiah teased.

”Oh shut up!” Micah hissed. “I-I just don’t think she would like me back. I-It might ruin our friendship. I don’t want that to happen!”

Josiah sighed. “It might be better to try and find out to stay as friends rather than be stuck on her forever right?”

Micah’s face scrunched up. “Since when were you so smart? You can’t even talk to Gala without stuttering.”

///

Oh gosh. This was really happening huh?

It was Sunday night. He had calculated the perfect day to do this and he could not screw this up now. Micah stared at his phone, the message one button away from being an idea to being reality.

He groaned and buried his face in his pillow. He couldn’t do it. He simply couldn’t! If he did this, either the best thing or the worst thing would happen and he didn’t like those odds!

”Argh! Why is this so hard!” The Nelson in green grumbled, running a hand through his hair. ”Alright- how about this? I’ll send it then not look at my phone until tomorrow morning?”

Micah seemed to agree with that idea. And just like that, he jammed the button down.

And with that he went to bed.

///

Micah groaned as he woke up in the middle of the night. This was the worst time to have a midnight craving! He sighed as he slid off his bed and snuck his way to the kitchen, swiping an apple and slinking back to his room.

”What time is it…” He muttered as he fumbled for his phone on his desk. He squinted at the time. 2 in the morning huh?

Then he looked down and his face turned pale.

A notification from Michelle.

He shook his head. He had to see this. But what if it was bad! No bother. It was better to know than not to. He quickly opened up his phone and saw the message.

”I’ve been waiting for you to ask that! I mean, duh.”

Micah gasped, though his half-asleep brain still didn’t get the sentence.

He slipped back into his bed and couldn’t fall asleep for the rest of the night. He was the first person out of the house when the bus came and the first person to talk to Michelle in the bus.

”Michelle. Please elaborate on your response.” Micah said in a quick whisper.

The girl with the pink backpack chuckled seeing Micah’s flustered state. “It’s yes silly.”

Micah gave a small gasp, eyes wide. “I- oh.”

Shiloh, having heard what just happened behind her, gave the loudest gasp ever. She quickly covered her mouth when Judah gave her a weird look.

”You two are a thing now?!” She whispered excitedly.

”No!” Micah yelped, face slowly going red. Michelle only giggled.

Chapter Text

Michelle groaned as she heard her phone start buzzing in the middle of the night. She slapped her hand on her nightstand a couple of times before grabbing it. She squinted as her eyes adjusted to the bright screen. Her notifications were filled with random videos Micah was sending her before an apology message about spamming her was seen as the thing he last sent.

She rolled her eyes before slowly sliding out of bed. She wasn’t upset with him spamming her videos. She was upset because he was up so late, especially at this ungodly hour. She slugged her way to the green Nelson’s door, light still visible underneath.

“Micahhhh, go to bed.”

She whined as she opened the door to a dimly lit bedroom. Micah was still hunched over his desk, busy working in whatever stack of papers it was. Hearing the girl’s voice made Micah spin in his chair.

”Oh, what are you doing here?” Micah asked, tilting his head to the side. “Wanna join me with my all-nighter?”

Michelle pinched her nose bridge. “You are not pulling an all-nighter. You have a mission tomorrow!” Micah let out a squeak as he was suddenly dragged off his chair. “What you are doing is going to bed now.”

”W-Wait! I really need to finish those papers!” Micah squeaked frantically, his hands waving around animatedly.

”You already pulled one all-nighter. I’m not letting you do two back to back.” Michelle huffed.

Michelle wasn’t able to lift the Nelson into the bed, so she just flopped on the bed itself and left Micah on the floor. Micah sat on the ground for a solid minute to process what just happened before he got to his feet. He stared to see Michelle already asleep on the bed, curled up in a ball. A soft smile grew on his face as he slowly snuck towards his desk. He froze feeling a hand grab the bottom of his shirt. He turned around to see Michelle being the one grabbing and giving him the death stare.

”Y’know, maybe I should go to bed.” Micah chuckled sheepishly.

”Good.”

Micah stared as Michelle fell asleep again. “Aren’t you… going back to your room?”

”Mmm… I should… too tired though.”

”Alright..?”

Micah muttered something as he buried himself under his blankets, though it was kinda hard with how Michelle was sleeping on top of all of them. Micah didn’t really care though; the minute he got comfortable he fell asleep.

///

“Hey, have any of you seen Michelle?” Gala asked as she entered the cafeteria.

Most of the agency had woken up for breakfast. Gala usually came in with Michelle giggling over something. Today, however, Gala came in by herself.

”What do you mean?” Shiloh raised an eyebrow. “Is she not in her room?”

Gala shook her head. “Checked there first actually.”

”Maybe Micah might know.” Judah pointed out.

Gala and Shiloh snickered at the implications. The three decided to go hunt for the pair. First stop: Micah’s room.

///

Michelle mumbled under her breath as she woke up, face looking right at the wall. She gave a big yawn and stretch as she sat up, only to freeze as she realized this wasn’t her room. The agent in pink slowly turned to her right to see Micah snoozing under the pile of blankets and teetering dangerously close to the edge of the bed.

”What the-.” Her brain slowly started to grind its gears and note what she was in. “Uhh, what time is it?”

She attempted to peer over Micah’s shoulder to see his alarm clock on his nightstand. Her eyes widened as she read the time.

”8:30 already?!”

”I’M UP!” Micah yelped, suddenly awoken by Michelle’s shrill voice. Michelle squeaked at the green Nelson’s sudden movements. Micah gave a soft grunt as he tumbled off the bed, still tangled in his blankets. “What- oh it’s just you. Jeez.”

Michelle sighed as she watched Micah quickly fall asleep on the floor, bundled up like a caterpillar cocooned in many blankets. She mumbled under her breath as she rubbed her eyes. “At least you went to bed.”

”Hey Micah, you awake?”

The two froze hearing Shiloh’s voice outside. The Nelson in green struggled for a second as he wriggled out of his blanket cocoon.

“Com- ACK!” A loud thud could be heard as Micah tripped and fell on the floor. “. . . Coming. Ugh.”

Michelle squeaked and quickly yanked Micah by the arm. “Don’t open the door!” She’d hiss, eyes wide.

Micah stared at her with a confused expression. “Why not? Ot’s bot like we were doing anything weird. You nervous with them judging?”

Michelle sputtered. She would admit, that was one of her reasons. “Well, yea. But also, what if Jocelyn found out?”

Micah’s face dropped to one of dread at the mention of the kid. “Good call.”

He turned to the door and called. “Uh- I’m getting ready. I’ll be out in a minute!”

”Alright. We’ll be at the cafeteria.” Shiloh’s voice called out from the other side.

The three voices soon faded out as Michelle let out a small sigh of relief. As she headed to the door, she added, “Okay. Pretend this never happened alright?”

”Sure.” Micah nodded as he started rummaging through his dresser for a fresh shirt.

”Michelle, why were you leaving Micah’s room?”

Micah froze as he turned around to see Elijah staring in, finger pointing at the girl and jaw dropped. Micah’s and Michelle’s faces turned bright red as Michelle because sputtering. She quickly shoved Elijah out to talk with her and slammed the door, leaving Micah alone in his room.

Great. More explaining to do.

Chapter Text

“I didn’t think it was-.”

Shiloh and her friends were eating lunch in one of the benches that was outside. It had been a boring day with her having to slog through her classes before reaching to lunch and chatting with her friends. Everyone around her fell silent as they heard the speakers suddenly blare out an announcement. Annoyingly enough, she didn’t hear it the first time. The couple of seconds where the students paused to wait for the repeated announcement were odd. No one was speaking or whispering. Not a single bird chirped. It was dead silent. Too silent.

“All students and staff, please make your way to the fields.”

What? Was this for real? Shiloh didn’t even finish her lunch yet!

”All students and staff, please make your way to the fields.”

Almost as if on a special command, every and all students dropped what they were doing and started following the crowd. Lunch plates left out on tables. Balls left on courts. Bags left out in the hallways by the lockers. Shiloh glanced to her friends, they didn’t know what was going on either. The only thing they were concerned about was whether they had to do their math test or not.

”Bro this is so weird.” Kelsey chuckled. “Wonder what it could be.”

”Well it definitely is new.” Shiloh would remark. “Been at here for as long as I can remember and we never had to do whatever drill this is.”

”What if it’s with the police!” Andrea gasped dramatically. “That would be insane!”

”Yea, but I bet it’s some new drill they’re testing on us.” Bianca piped in. “Wouldn’t be surprised.”

‘Shiloh shook her head. “If it was a drill, then elementary and middle school wouldn’t be here!”

Shiloh and her friends watched as every student, from elementary to middle school to high school, started marching towards the fields with them. There was chatter rippling throughout the students as they wondered what it could be. It wasn’t long before the teachers started lining up the students by grade and counted them. This made Shiloh even more confused.

”Ms. Langley, what’s going on?” Kelsey asked, tapping her teacher’s shoulder.

”Oh, I can’t tell you that.” She replied hurriedly. She suddenly started jogging around to count for the other grades.

Bianca’s face furrowed into a frown as she spotted the facility staff. “Okay, this is definitely weird. Facility never comes out when it comes to drills.”

Andrea shrugged before looking up at the sky and spotting a bird. “Oh my gosh guys. It’s a bomb!” She said jokingly, giggling at the end.

Bianca couldn’t help but snicker as well. “Bro. Imagine if there’s like the police show up. That would be insane!”

Five minutes of standing in the sun slowly starting moving to ten, then fifteen, then thirty.

By now most, if not all, of the students were getting fed up. Some started complaining about their classes, some about the sun and being too hot, some were giving theories about what was going on, and some were joking around about what it could be. The teachers were definitely not helping. They weren’t going to explain about what was going on and why they suddenly forced out of whatever they were doing. Shiloh gave up just waiting in the grade lines and went to find Judah. He was off goofing with his friends in the field.

“Hey Judah!” Shiloh shouted for her older brother. “You know what’s going on?”

”Nah, bet it’s a gas leak!” Judah shouted back before being abruptly tackled by one of the guys. Shiloh only rolled her eyes before heading back to find her friends.

”Shiloh! Someone said it’s actually a bomb threat or something like that!” Andrea whispered, weirdly excited.

The Nelson’s eyes widened. “No way, are you kidding?”

Bianca added on. “Yea! Some of the staff think it’s real!”

Shiloh was about to add something when everyone suddenly hushed into silence. The group turned around to see the school’s board circled up. The students were certainly confused until they saw the school’s superintendent step up.

”The covered courts have been cleared out! Elementary students will go line up in first. Middle school students will go in the back way and high school will enter after.”

The chatter among the students quickly rose back up again. It didn’t help when the students started spotting police walking in and their cars and trucks being parked outside. Afterwards, everyone was inside the courts and seated on the ground. They watched as the superintendent walked up to stand in front of all of them, microphone in hand.

”Hello students. We are sorry for such an abrupt event but this is very important. At 11:45 the Admin received an email of a bomb threat.”

A slow but quiet ripple of gasps and murmurs went through the students. The superintendent continued.

”The police have arrived and have started clearing the buildings to make sure that there are no bombs. There is no intention of releasing you early at this time.”

A couple of ‘aw mans’ could be heard in the crowd as the superintendent walked to the back.

Chapter Text

Elijah muttered something as he pulled out his phone from his pocket. He was one of the few high school students to keep his phone in his pocket rather than his bag. He was quick to contact his parents and see if they had been notified as well. After what seemed to be another hour, the superintendent took the microphone and spoke.

”We have just received word that the students have the all clear to return back to normal activities. We will be sending the elementary students to the cafeteria so they can have their lunch. Middle school and high school will return to their classes and schedule.”

There was no big cheer to the response weirdly enough, just uncomfortable silence. The middle and high schoolers watched as the elementary kids started getting up and leaving. Not even before the whole of kindergarten could leave the courts did the superintendent stop them.

”I’m so sorry. We have just received more news from the police. They would like to have us stay in the courts for the remainder of the time.”

Gasps would go through the students. Did the police find an actual bomb?

”Because of this, we will be giving early dismissal but you will have to leave your stuff here. Parents can come pick up their kids by 1:30. Buses will also be coming in shortly if your parent cannot come to pick you up.”

Elijah turned to Josiah. He was also looking at his phone and having to calm down Gala. Gala had been sick that day and had read the school’s email about the bomb threat. Judah was sitting off to the side playing games with his friends. Shiloh was talking with her friends and walking around the courts. Elijah looked up to see multiple students start doing whatever they could to entertain themselves.

Some were on their phones (whether watching videos or calling their parents), some playing whatever hand games they could, some chatting and comforting each other. Some were singing, some were drawing on a whiteboard that had been brought in, some were filming themselves and doing stupid things to film. Most of them were really joking around about what was going on. Some were even worried about their homework still. Elijah couldn’t help but chuckle seeing some of his classmates playing basketball with the equipment that were left inside.

”H-Hey Elijah?” The Nelson in blue turned to see Lila fiddling with her rings. “C-Can I borrow your phone?”

Elijah gave a nod and handed his phone to the girl. He took a step back before scanning the courts, observing what was going on around him.

He watched the school board circled up and whispering about what was going on. He also saw the lunch ladies being in whatever lunch food was in the cafeteria and started handing the food to the kids who hadn’t eaten yet. It was weird, like the start of an apocalypse movie. It was too loud yet too quiet.

”T-Thanks.” Lila sniffled as she handed the Nelson his phone.

”You good?” He asked softly, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her gently.

”Y-Yea.. just hoping it isn’t real.” She’d mumble and look down at her feet. “Ugh, I feel stupid for crying over this.”

”No, don’t feel stupid.” Elijah chuckled as he tilted his head to the side. “I’m sure it’s a false alarm. Besides, who’d send a bomb threat before setting a bomb off?”

”Heh, yea.” Lila would chuckle back as she wiped her face. “Are you taking the bus?”

”Yea, why?”

”I think I might not have a ride home.”

”I mean, you could always just hop on the bus. I doubt they’d kick you off.”

Lila gave a slow nod before hearing loud laughter behind. The two turned around to see Micah lying on the floor with his friends lying next to him. Micah put a ‘peace’ sign up and looked like he was recording a video.

”Yooo, school got a bomb threat.” Micah snickered. “How we feeling tonight boys?”

”Yeaaaa brooooo.” One of his friends drawled out in a weird voice. The three boys broke out in laughter as Micah ended the video. Elijah sighed before all the students’ attention turned to the superintendent once again.

”Thank you for your patience everyone. We will be reading out the names of the kids that are going to be picked up by their parents. The kids that are going on the bus, please make your way to them.”

Elijah waved Lila goodbye before finding his siblings to go to the bus together. Thankfully he found all of them in time and they made their way to the bus.

”Yoooo, bomb squad van!” Micah and Judah gasped. It wasn’t long for the kids who still had their phones to start taking photos of the vehicle.

”Hey bomb square, how we feeling tonight?” Micah cackled as he videoed himself walking past. Judah laughed with him as he walked.

When the Nelsons got into the bus along with the other students that rode in it with them, Elijah couldn’t help but hear some of their conversations.

”Brooo, why would anyone send a bomb threat before setting the bomb off?”

”Yea, bet it’s a prank or something.”

”Dude I was joking about it being a bomb the whole time!”

”Oh my gosh all my homework is still at school. I can’t work on any of it now!”

”Girl, you’re still worried about that?? We just got a bomb threat that could have killed us and that is what you’re worried about?”

”NO MATH TEST AHAHAHAHAH!”

”That was so weird! That’s never happened before. Like- that was so weird, ugh.”

”The way everyone went quiet hearing the announcement was so creepy.”

Josiah turned to one of his friends. “Dude, I bet you it’s some kid from another school pranking us.”

///

The Nelsons were all back at home and chattering like mad. Everyone that Elijah knew were talking about it on social media, posting whatever they could about it. By now it was 2:45.

”BRO!” Micah’s voice carried throughout the house, startling his whole family. “THE BOMB THREAT WAS A FLIPPING SCAM EMAIL?! AND THERE’S SCHOOL TOMORROW?!”

Elijah could hear Judah’s dramatic gasp. “ARE YOU KIDDING?! COME ON!”

Chapter Text

Shiloh stared at the distress signal beeping on the screen. Her face furrowed into a frown the longer she looked.

”How are we supposed to get in?” She asked, turning to the one sitting at the screen.

”I’m not sure.” Josiah muttered, scratching the back of his head. “Usually a distress signal shouldn’t even be able to bypass a Temporal Loop on it. Whatever Raelo that is, it’s a weird one alright.”

Shiloh huffed and put her hands on her hips. “Well, if a distress signal managed to breach the Temporal Loop and reach us, then it’s definitely in trouble. We can’t just leave it there.”

Josiah had a look on his face that Shiloh had never seen before. “I know… but if there’s a Temporal Loop on a Raelo, then shouldn’t we be worried? For all we know, maybe it’s a good thing if there’s a Temporal Loop there.”

The Nelson in purple shook her head. “But what if the distress signal is there because they need help to get rid of the Temporal Loop?” A pause of silence hung between the two siblings before the younger one spoke up again. “I say we go and check it out.”

Josiah shook his head. He had no reason to say no. The two left the room to call for the others.

The Nelson in black couldn’t shake off a weird gut feeling he had though. Something was definitely off.

///

The team (consisting with Shiloh, Elijah, Micah, Judah, Michelle, Gala, Josiah, and Daniel) had managed to break past the Temporal Loop, which appeared to be rather weak in the first place. Immediately everyone’s attention was brought to the giant mouth that led to a dark cave. The rest of the Raelo appeared to be just fields of grass as far as the eye could see. It was unnerving to see how empty this Raelo was. The agents looked confused but slowly made their way down into the cave.

What they weren’t expecting was to see giant reflective crystals to be what made up most of the cave.

The deeper the team went, the brighter the cave got. It appeared that the reflective stones were emitting light of some sort.

”Mirror Caves… I’ve read of these before.” Micah mumbled under his breath as his hands glided across the smooth surface of stone.

”Really? What’s that all about?” Judah asked, tilting his head in curiosity.

Micah hesitated before speaking. “Apparently these reflective stones are ‘mirrors’,” Micah put air-quotes around, “To different Realms. Not Raelos. Realms. If you find one that meets whatever mysterious requirements it has, you can go through it and into the Mirror Realm.” The Nelson in green gave a long sigh as he put his hands on his hips. ‘I’m not sure what Mirror Realms can be though. Maybe your imagination? But these were supposed to be myths.”

Judah’s eyes quickly lit up hearing what his older brother said. He instantly started patting the mirror rocks, hoping to somehow get it. “I have a feeling that getting into these mirror realms would be a lot easier than this.”

Micah rolled his eyes. “It’s a high possibility that we would not be able to even find one rock to get into because we have no idea what the requirements are to get into them! For all we know, one of the mirror rock’s requirements is that we can’t be Nelsons!”

Judah gave a pouty face and ignored his older brother. He was quick to continue patting the rocks. Micah shook his head and turned around to see what Shiloh and the others were up to before hearing a joyous shout from the Nelson in orange. “I FOUND ONE!”

Micah quickly whipped around and sprinted to his brother. It wasn’t long for the others to come check in. Judah’s eyes were wide in excitement as his arm was inside one of the mirror rocks. “No way!”

Elijah grabbed Josiah by the shoulders. “Dude! Do you know how crazy this is?!”

Josiah pulled out his tracker for the distress signal. “I-It’s coming from there…” he turned to his sister to see her equally as excited as Judah. A soft and tired smile formed on Josiah’s face. He had never seen such child-like joy on Shiloh in a long while. “I guess we should go in huh?”

///

Gala helped Josiah through the mirror rock. Josiah blinked a couple of times before his eyes adjusted.

They were standing in the same cave, though this time nearer to the cave’s entrance. When they walked out of the cave, they were in front of a village. Definitely different from what they saw before.

”Hello?” Daniel called out, hoping for the villagers to notice.

They definitely noticed them. They immediately gasped and sprinted into their homes. They didn’t even seem to try and fight them. Daniel’s face furrowed into one of confusion as he turned to see his other teammates.

”That is… definitely weird.” Shiloh muttered.

”I don’t like this.” Gala huffed. “We should leave soon.”

”Aw come in!” Judah whined. “We just got here! And the distress signal is stronger here too. Right Josiah?”

Josiah turned to see his younger brother. “Yea… awfully strong here. But it’s not getting any stronger.” He waved the device around, hoping to pick up a better signal. “In fact, the signal gets weaker the closer we get to the village. If the village didn’t call, then who did?”

The group suddenly flinched feeling a whoosh of wind behind them. The group whipped around to see a cloaked figure standing in front of them. They held a glowing staff in hand and slowly pointed it to the team. Elijah was quick to step up and in front of all them. He pulled out his own blaster and aimed it at the cloaked figure.

”Who are you?”

A pause hung as the cloaked figure seemed confused. They slowly lowered their arm and removed the hood.

”Oh… this is awkward.”

”TWO SHILOHS?!”

The Shiloh in the cloak tilted her head, face confused. “You… oh. Oh!” Her face quickly lit up. “You must have picked up on our distress signal haven’t you!”

Shiloh sputtered for a moment. “Y-Yea? I-I mean- wait- uh- hang on, how the heck did your distress signal reach us from across the Mirror Realms?”

The Shiloh in the cloak shook her head. “Follow me.”

Chapter Text

“Why would Micah ever take a distress signal by himself?” Michelle grumbled as she paced around the lift. She hadn’t really even realized that Micah had left until this morning. “He didn’t even tell me!”

”I mean, the distress signal was classified as a low threat rate.” Judah replied, still munching on the candies he had bought.

“I know.” Michelle rolled her eyes. “But he’d usually not be the one going and want to go.”

Shiloh only shrugged before hearing the lift’s door open. The four were quick to rush out and start the tasks.

”Uh guys…?” Josiah spoke slowly as he stared and pointed at a dark doorway. “Who’s that?”

Shiloh, Judah, Gala, Josiah, and Michelle stared at the two figures at the door.

Jeff and Micah.

But they didn’t look like them. No, they were covered in the black ichor goo that the group had been collecting in the giant tubes. Their eyes were red, but not bloodshot, almost like a cartoonish red. The two stared at the four agents before suddenly screeching and charging at them.

”RUN!” Shiloh screamed. The four agents were quick to scatter as they ran from the two.

It appeared that these were the two Twisteds that the agents were going to have to avoid this round.

///

Michelle hid behind a couple of boxes to catch her breath. Her mind was racing with what she had just encountered. She couldn’t believe that she was running away from Micah because she had to!

”Michelle…”

Her shoulders tensed up hearing her name. His voice was eerily soft though incredibly hoarse.

”Michelle…”

Don’t answer to it. Don’t answer to it. One wrong move and you’re a goner Michelle Mouton.

”Michelle…?”

She had to bite her lip not to tear up at the third time. Was Micah about to cry? She couldn’t resist anymore and took a peek behind the boxes.

”Michelle…”

Bad idea.

She was practically staring down at Micah, eyes locked and faces mere inches apart.

”Hi Micah…?” Her voice was trembling in an incredibly high pitch.

The two stood there frozen. One wrong move and Michelle would be a goner.

”Lift Activated. 30 seconds remain before it leaves.”

Crap.

”HEY MICAH! OVER HERE!”

Micah’s head shot up and whipped around to see Judah waving his arms around like some sort of animated cartoon. Micah immediately screeched and started chasing down the Nelson in the shrimp hat, giving Michelle enough time to run into the lift. Judah managed to crash into the lift on time, though Micah’s face slammed into the door.

The group cringed as they heard Micah’s inhuman screeches and loud clawing at the metal door.

”That’s terrifying!” Gala would exclaim. “W-Was that really them?”

”It can’t be.” Shiloh said firmly, almost as if she was stating facts.

”How can you be so sure?” Michelle asked, her arms folded across her chest. “T-That Micah was way too real to be fake.”

Shiloh shook her head. “No. They are real. But they are not the real Micah and Jeff.”

”You’re saying they’re clones then?” Gala asked.

”Yea…”

”Whatcha talking about?”

The group would flinch hearing Dandy suddenly behind them.

”Nothing!” Judah would squeak nervously.

///

The next level had Micah, Jeff, and Josiah all waiting for them. Their jaws hung open with the black goo oozing out. The moment Judah, Shiloh, Michelle and Josiah left the lift, the three started chasing after them.

”WE NEED TO COMPLETE ONE MORE SKILL CHECK!” Shiloh shouted as she was being chased by Jeff.

Michelle had the final skill check, but her hands were trembling. She couldn’t do it. Not with how terrified she was at that moment.

“Michelle!” Judah shouted as he ran up to her. “What are you doing?!”

”I-I can’t do this.” She stuttered as she felt her throat go up dry.

The Nelson gave a nod and moved her to the side. He then started doing the skill check when he heard a growl.

”Michelle? Is someone behind us?” He asked slowly, his voice shaking nervously.

”M-Micah.” She replied, equally nervous.

”We should run shouldn’t we?”

”Yea.”

The two immediately sprinted in opposite directions, though Micah chased down the girl. She managed to swing around a corner and hide behind a couple of boxes. She covered a hand over her to silence her heavy breathing while Micah lurked around.

”Michelle…”

He was doing it again. He was trying to coax her out and catch her. But why? Michelle didn’t know what to make of this and could only stand still as a response.

”Lift Activated. 30 seconds remain before it leaves.”

”Michelle…”

Michelle’s eyes widened. This time there was no one to come fetch her in time. She could hear Micah’s soft growls behind the boxes, basically camping there until the agent had no choice but to run. By the time she had made her choice, Micah lunged at her, dissolving her into nothing but black goo and teleporting her to who knows where.

///

“AAAAAAHHHHHH!”

Michelle screamed as she suddenly was tied to a chair. She looked around frantically to see Micah, Jeff, and Gala sitting around her also being tied up.

”Michelle! What happened?” Micah exclaimed, a look of relief on his face.

”I-I-.” The girl could only sputter. Her mind was running miles ahead with no sign of stopping soon.

Micah noticed Michelle’s panic and decided to let her calm down first while he turned to Josiah. “What’s happening up there?!”

Josiah took a nervous breath. “Well, there are clones of you upstairs that have been chasing us down like those Twisteds and it is terrifying!”

Micah’s eyes widened. “That’s why Dandy wanted my blood.”

”What.” Michelle asked flatly.

”Yea. Dandy came in and took some of our blood when we got warped here.” Jeff piped in.

“I’m guessing he used that to make the clones then huh?” Josiah huffed.

Michelle tried at the rope for a while, huffing as it only dug into her wrists.

”Wanna play… I Spy?” Micah chuckled awkwardly.

///

When the team returned to the agency, Michelle grabbed Micah arm before he could go any further. He looked at her in confusion as she locked eyes with him.

”Promise me you’ll tell me when you leave for some other solo mission alright? I mean, why didn’t you tell me for this one?”

Micah’s lips tightened to a line. “I guess that’s on me huh?”

”Yea, that was like- really scary having to face a Twisted version of you.” Michelle would give a half hearted chuckle.

Micah gave a small nod. “Alright then. I promise.”

Chapter Text

Micah, Josiah, and Judah were making their way to the Arxis Bay and getting prepped to go for their mission. While walking down the hall, the three bumped into the princess in red.

“Oh, where are you guys going?” Gala asked as she joined the three towards the Arxis Bay.

”We have a mission in some Raelo.” Judah shrugged. “Something about some wild creatures raiding the villages there. Heard it might be dangerous but meh.”

Gala gave a soft chuckle as the four entered the Bay. “I think we swapped missions then. Shiloh, Michelle, Brittany, and I have that mission today. The XCTGI Raelo right?”

”We did?” Micah exclaimed. “Huh, weird.”

Josiah’s face changed to worry. “Really? I don’t remember Patience updating the missions chart.”

Gala shrugged as she spotted the three other agents waiting for her. “Ah, I better go soon.”

Josiah hesitated before grabbing her arm. Should he tell her? Ah whatever, he already grabbed her arm. “Well, stay safe then.”

Gala gave a small smile and nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

Josiah gave a small nod as he released his grip on the princess’s arm. The moment the four girls went through the Arxis Gate, Judah and Micah started to snicker.

”Ooo, be safe Gala.” Micah mimicked his older brother with a deeper voice. He started flexing his arms and trying to make himself look bigger.

”Oh I will baby!” Judah cooed back, his voice as high as he could make it. He pretended to have a dress and curtsy even. Micah snickered as he twirled Judah and dramatically held him in his arms. The Nelson in orange gave a gasp and started blinking furiously to flutter his eyelashes. “Oooo, I’ll be sooo safe.”

Josiah gave them a sharp side eye. “Oh shut up. I was just trying to be nice.”

”And a big SIMP is what you are too!” Judah giggled, nearly falling out of Micah’s arms.

The Nelson in black rolled his eyes. He then pointed to Micah. “Oh please, you would be teasing Micah if he said the same thing to Michelle.”

”Uh uh uh, there’s a difference.” Micah would correct his older brother, wagging his finger in front of Josiah’s face. “If I were to say that, Michelle would either punch me or say that she doesn’t need me to worry about her. And you’re assuming that I’m worried about her in the first place.”

Josiah sputtered at Micah’s response. He had hoped that Judah would turn on the Nelson in green and start teasing him instead. Much to Josiah’s dismay, Judah completely agreed with Micah’s answer. The two then continued to tease Josiah and poking him.

///

Michelle watched as Josiah grabbed Gala’s arm and spoke to her. She raised an eyebrow as a mischievous grin grew on her face when the group landed at the Raelo.

”Someone’s got a protective boyfriend huh?” The agent in pink teased the princess in red.

Gala’s face flushed pink as Shiloh and Brittany’s attention were also caught with what Michelle just said.

”H-He’s not my boyfriend! And besides, he just wants us to be safe!” Gala fumbled for an excuse.

Shiloh grinned. “Aww that’s so cute!”

”Oh stop!” Gala swatted at the agent in purple.

”Don’t worry girl, David was like that with me when we first got to know each other.” Brittany chuckled as she slung her arm around the princess’s shoulder.

///

When the four girls returned from the mission, they were quick to split up and do their own things. Michelle and Gala made their way down to the cafeteria to see Micah and Judah hovering over Josiah would was slouched on one of the lunch tables.

”What’s up with him?” Michelle asked as she crossed her arms together.

“These two have been annoying me ever since you girls went for your mission.” Josiah grumbled, his arms trying to cover his head.

Michelle immediately cackled. “Same with us to Gala!”

Immediately Michelle, Micah, and Judah started teasing Gala and Josiah. The two being teased turned into another shade of red and scrambled out.

Chapter Text

It all started with a lone Gearling and an all too curious Daniel Nelson.

Now, he was never meant to be on this mission in the first place. He was supposed to be scanning down the agency for any source of an infestation. However, he managed to slip away to his siblings’ mission because of one thing he was too curious of.

A Gearling.

Gearlings were curious creatures. Not much was known about it except of its appearance and the fact it was very aggressive. The most noticeable feature the Gearling had was one giant square yellow eye and one smaller square white eye. Its body was black and blocky with black tendrils, sometimes it was caught to be shapeshifting to be a more humanoid form.

The Raelo the siblings had gone on had been changed at the last minute when the crew was rerouting the Arxis Gate to go to the Raelo the siblings were supposed to go for their mission. He just had a weird gut feeling that whatever was going to happen here, it was not going to be good.

The one thing Daniel couldn’t wrap his head around was why the mission was changed over to this Raelo specifically. The other Raelo seemed much more in danger than this new Parable Raelo. But he wasn’t in charge of the planning so who was he to judge?

They were now in an abandoned city of sorts. The atmosphere was chilling and eerie. Some pieces of the taller buildings were crumbling and floating upward to the skies, no sorts of overgrown plants in sight. The skies were completely covered with dark clouds, but not storm clouds. Just very dark purple clouds. There was only one spot of light that came down from the skies. The other thing the siblings were unnerved about was the surprising amount of corpses left out sprawling on the streets.

”Where… are we?” Shiloh asked slowly as she turned on her flashlight.

”It’s called the Parable Raelo.” Josiah spoke out as he read the file he was given about the Raelo.

“This… doesn’t seem like it matches its description though.” Elijah mumbled.

Micah shook his head as he gazed around. “Something isn’t right. I feel like something’s watching me.”

Judah gave a shaky chuckle as he patted his older brother’s back. “I’m sure that’s just your imagination.”

The siblings continued to walk around to explore the barren city, scanning for any sign of life (plants included).

Every so often one of the siblings would yelp or squeak in fright before realising it was just one of the other Nelsons doing something.

Meanwhile, Daniel was slinking around the abandoned buildings and scavenging for anything he could get his hands on. He had made it to one of the higher levels of the building and was able to see everything under him. The building he was in was one of the bigger ones that was in the centre of the land. The top part of the building was already gone and floating above, allowing the light from the hole in the sky to pour in. His main interest was anything to do with the Gearlings.

He had been learning about the Gearlings and its powers, its motives, its triggers.

Then he heard the screams.

At first it was just one terrified yelp from Judah.

Then it grew louder and louder.

”WHAT ARE THESE THINGS?!”

”MICAH BEHIND YOU!”

“START UP THE EMERGENCY BEACON! CALL-.”

Josiah’s voice would be cut off with a sharp yell and a thud.

Daniel peered out to see the horror show before him. Just a minute before he had seen his siblings walking around and being cautious. Now all he saw was their corpses strewn on the ground with it lumbering around. Its big, black, blocky body would glitch and teleport closer to the bodies, seemingly curious yet ready to do… something. Its big, glowing, yellow eye would spin around. It would stare at the bodies on the ground before slowly turning to look up at Daniel.

The Nelson froze as he stared back at the creature. The creature then seemed to walk away using its black tendril legs to teleport and crawl away.

“No no no no no.”

Daniel would repeat to himself as he ran down the multiple flights of stairs. This couldn’t be happening, he had to be seeing things. He had to bite his tongue and hold back his tears. No no no, his siblings couldn’t go down that easily, there had to be an explanation to everything, to the corrupted Raelo, to the Gearlings, to the sudden change of the Raelo and mission. Now he had to suffer the consequences of sneaking over without thinking twice about this mission.

”G-Guys?”

His words got caught in his throat as his eyes adjusted to what he saw. He would’ve have thrown up if he hadn’t know whose bodies there were. The Nelson wouldn’t have been able to save them even if he tried. Their bodies weren’t horribly mangled with their guts out and gushing blood. They had been shot all straight through, some having multiple shots. Blood stained their clothes and their eyes were dulled to grey. The bodies were glitching and twitching every so slightly, changing their appearance for just a split second.

”Daniel!”

The blonde whipped around to see Elijah slumped by one of the collapsing walls, hand clutching his side. He looked winded out and in a daze. Daniel wasn’t too surprised with Elijah’s state considering how much blood he had presumably lost. Daniel was quick to run to his older brother and hug him tight. Elijah gave a soft grunt from the tight embrace but buried his face in his older brother’s neck, slowly sobbing.

”I tried to save them. I-I’m really tired… we w-weren’t s-supposed to be h-here anyway.” Elijah whimpered. “I-It hurts…”

Daniel nodded as he combed through his younger brother’s tangled hair. He didn’t care if his shirt was going to be stained with blood, he just had to hold his brother in his arms.

One last time.

”It’s alright Elijah.” Daniel spoke slowly as he forced his voice to stay steady. “I’m here. You’ll be alright.”

Elijah’s sobs slowly weakened as his body began to shake and tremble, spazzing in and out of reality. “D-D-Daniel… i-it hurts…”

Daniel hummed as he slowly let go of his brother. His eyes laid sight on the communicator that was left out next to Josiah’s body. “Stay right here.”

Elijah gave a pitiful nod as he shuffled to lean on the wall. His hand continued to grip to his side, though it wasn’t stopping the river of blood trickling down his side.

Daniel slowly started his way to Josiah who was on the opposite side of the empty road. As he was about to reach his other brother, he heard creaking sounds.

The Gearling.

He didn’t dare turn around. He only looked down to see a metal pipe lying by his foot. In one swift movement, he kicked the pipe up to his hand and threw it behind him. The pipe lodged right into the creature’s yellow eye, causing the creature to spaz and glitch violently before exploding into black pixels and the pipe falling back to the ground.

That only alerted the other Gearlings close by.

Daniel was quick to run and snatch the communicator that laid beside the Nelson in black. But as he opened it, he looked up to see one of the Gearlings cornering Elijah.

Not on his watch.

He growled as he started sprinting towards the other Gearling, swiping up the metal pipe in hand. Daniel jumped up, plunging the pipe down into the top of the Gearling’s head. It let out an awful metallic sounding screech as it exploded into yellow and black pixels. Daniel landed in the ground in front of Elijah. The terrified Nelson in blue was pinned to the wall, eyes wide and gasping with a hand covering his face. Daniel caught his breath and looked to see his brother, wondering why he looked so terrified.

Elijah had been shot again.

Daniel pulled his brother close to him as he hurriedly inspected the fresh wound.

no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no.

Daniel watched helplessly as Elijah’s body went limp and his eyes were dull. The Nelson’s hold on his brother went slack as the reality sank in.

His siblings were gone. Just like that.

A new-found fury started bubbling under his skin as his knuckles went white gripping in his metal pipe so tightly.

Those Gearlings took everything from him. How dare they.

He turned to see sparking electricity over where the two previous Gearlings had been before exploding. Floating with the sparking electricity was a glowing golden cog. He swiped up the cogs which floated in his hands.

”I could fix it all.”

He curled his fingers around the cogs and squeezed his fist tight. When he opened it again, there was a golden and black stopwatch.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He could feel the golden electricity sparking around him and in him as he started being lifted off the ground. His eyes opened once again, glowing golden. Daniel watched as the barren city around him warp into an office building.

He then turned to his brother. He could at least save Elijah. He had to. Daniel had the knowledge on how to fix it, and now he had the power in his hands.

The blonde closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he raised his hand up with the clock floating above him.

Restarting world

Clearing and scanning for glitches…

Scanning complete.

World reloading in 3…

… 2

… 1

ERROR

DANIEL— NARRATOR EDITING WORLD

. . .

Welcome to the Stanley Parable, Elijah Nelson.

. . .

“This was a story about STANLEY Elijah.”

”Who is this voice..?”

”Oh… you don’t remember..? Well then, call me… the Narrator.”

Chapter Text

Micah hummed as he walked down the nighttime street behind the agents. The group of agents had finished the DTI mission in the Raelo they were in and decided to explore more of it. Shiloh had invited the other agents to come along. Excluding the really big fashion show contest, this Raelo wasn’t any too different to Earth, including having a karaoke club that the group was interested to go.

”Hey, ya good?” Michelle asked as she nudged the Nelson in green.

Micah, snapping out of his deep thought, flinched before giving a small smile. “Ah yea… just been a bit tense after the mission.”

”About what?” The other tilted her head.

Micah was about to respond when he was cut off by the energetic squeals of his younger brother.

”Yooo! It looks sick!” Judah would exclaim as he pointing to the building.

It was a teal two story building with pink and white trimmings and a pink roof. There were giant light signs glowing pink and purple and blue with arrows pointing to the building. The group went in to rent a room and soon they were set.

The room itself wasn’t too big or too small. There were two leather sofas on either side of the room with a table in between. On the main wall facing the sofas was a big screen and a stand where the microphones were set. There was a disco ball that hung in the middle of the room, though the real light source were the strips of  LED lights that lined the ceiling. After ordering food and snacks and drinks, the agents started on singing some songs.

”French fries are- here?” Josiah would stare at the dish that was supposedly french fries. “Why are they blue?”

”Y’know how we have purple potatoes? Here, it’s blue potatoes!” Shiloh grinned.

After a few screechy renditions of songs (mostly from Judah), Elijah and Josiah managed to coax Micah to go up to the stand to pick a song. He was the only agent left to sing a song.

”Come on! Just one!” Josiah whined.

The Nelson in green rolled his eyes as he was handed the microphone. “Fine, just one.”

”Here, try this!” Elijah handed a glass bottle to his brother. “It should boost your confidence.”

”My what?” Micah raised an eyebrow as he took the bottle. “Confidence huh?”

”You have a great singing voice bro!” Daniel remarked, elbowing his brother playfully.

”I dunno…” Micah mumbled.

”Aw come on!” Judah teased. “You’re no chicken are you? Chicken, chicken, chicken!”

Shiloh grinned as she joined her brother’s chanting. Micah rolled his eyes before chugging the bottle. The agents cheered as he slammed down the button to select a song. Soon the sounds of electric guitar and drums filled the room. The agents hooted and hollered and pulled out their phones to film while Micah bounced to the beat of the music.

“Welcome to the city of lies, where everything’s got a price, it’s gonna be in your favorite place. You can be a music star, and get everything you want, just put some plastic on your face.”

The agents started clapping to the beat with grins on their face as they watched the Nelson in green singing and acting it out. They certainly weren’t expecting this type of song for him to sing but they weren’t complaining.

”This place is a circus, you just see the surface, they cover stuff under the rug~. You can’t see them faking, they’ll never be naked. Just fill your drink with tonic gin, this is the American Dream, so-.”

Judah was quick to pull his phone out and zoom in on Micah who was singing his heart out.

”Sip the gossip, drink ‘til you choke~. Sip the gossip, burn down your throat~. You’re not iconic, you are just like them all, don’t act like you don’t know so- Sip the gossip, drink ‘til you choke~. Sip the gossip, burn down your throat~. You’re not iconic, you are just like them all, don’t act like you don’t know.”

Michelle cheered him on, not expecting him to actually sing similar to the singer himself. She felt someone nudging her side to see Gala with a teasing grin on her face. Michelle rolled her eyes and splat her her hand on the princess’s face.

”Keep drinking and acting cool, don’t care if your day is blue, nobody loves a gloomy face. Take your pills and dance all night, don’t think at all, that’s the advice. So c’mon, let’s try, it’s just a taste~.”

Micah held his hand out for Michelle before pulling her off the couch. He spun her around, a big smile on his face. The others ‘ooo’d them loudly while Michelle danced along with the Nelson in green. He then handed the other agent the second microphone. Michelle fiddled to turn it on before singing along.

”This place is a circus, you just see the surface, they cover stuff under the rug~. You can’t see them faking, they’ll never be naked.”

Michelle finally got the microphone on and sang the next part, almost in a yell. ”Just fill your drink with tonic gin, this is the American dream so-.”

”Sip the gossip, drink ‘til you choke~. Sip the gossip, burn down your throat~. You’re not iconic, you are just like them all, don’t act like you don’t know so-.”

The two agents turned to each other, microphones in hand and singing their hearts out to match the energy of the music.

“Sip the gossip, drink ‘til you choke~. Sip the gossip, burn down your throat~. You’re not iconic, you are just like them all, don’t act like you don’t know.”

The music break started and the agents started dancing around. Micah spun Michelle around while the other pretended to play the instruments in the music, Elijah on the air electric guitar and Judah on the air drums.

”Sip the gossip, drink ‘til you choke~. Sip the gossip, burn down your throat~. You’re not iconic, you are just like them all, don’t act like you don’t know.”

Micah sang the last bit as the song ended. The pause of silence after the sing ended was quickly filled with all the Nelson boys dog piling on a grinning Micah while Gala, Lila, and Shiloh ran to a giggling Michelle with a barrage of teases to give her.

Chapter Text

Patience hummed as she skipped around the map doing her tasks. It was a normal Among Us round with just three imposters. David had been thrown out as the imposters, leaving two imposters remaining. Patience had partnered up with Cole as they both confirmed that they were innocent.

”Hey, has Judah been acting weird with you?” Cole asked as he waited for his data scan to load. “I don’t know about you but he’s been giving me a weird side-eye when he thinks I’m not looking. When I see him though, he just smiles and waves at me.”

Patience stopped for a moment as she thought about her encounters with the Nelson in orange. “Now that I think about it… kinda.”

She hadn’t interacted with Judah much, but when she did it wasn’t too bad. He was a funny guy with a loud voice, but he also was very kind and quite smart despite his goofy attitude. She had been on a couple missions and partnered up with him and it wasn’t too bad.

Recently though, Patience would catch him staring at her when she was working with Cole. She and Cole were the newer recruits so they had bonded together more since they went through the same agent program. The two usually paired together when they had to work on things in the agency, though Patience was busying herself in the radiation branch of the agency more.

”Sometimes he’d pop in the lab to call me for lunch.” The agent in yellow would shrug. “But other than that and the weird stares at you and me, he seems fine.”

Cole would give a small nod before turning to the panel to see his data. The two would flinch as they heard a loud scream down the hall then turned to look at each other. The agent in yellow would give a nervous gulp, unsure what to do.

”You… Me… there…” Cole would speak slowly as he pointed to the corner of the room. He spoke in a whisper as the two crouched to the corner.

Patience grabbed a wrench that was on the desk and held in up in front of her. Cole squatted in front of her so that if an imposter came in, Cole would be taken first. The girl tightened and loosened her grip on the wrench as the two remained in silence for a stuffy long while. Right as the two were about to release a sigh of relief, a loud clanging sound came from the vent in the room.

Shoot, they forgot about that.

Cole tensed as he saw a flash of orange crawling out of the vents, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

”No!”

Patience’s eyes widened as Cole was thrown out by the Nelson in orange. She had never seen how an imposter threw out a crewmate, but it was terrifying to say the least.

Long and slick black tendrils would grow out of Judah’s back as his eyes turn equally black. The tendrils would shoot out and grab Cole and wrap around him tightly. He gave a groan as he was being constricted before the tendrils completely engulfed him. The tendrils would then splat the black ball of goo that was once Cole into the wall before the goo completely vanished the same moment. Judah would crack his neck and roll his shoulders before turning his attention to Patience.

She gave a small squeak as Judah approached her, an evil grin on his face.

”J-Judah- you’re s-s-still there right?” Patience would stutter. She tried to back up but her back was already pinned to the wall. “I-I was a-an imposter too and I-I never went to t-that extreme!”

In a way, the agent in yellow was right. The parasite that took over the host to become the ‘imposter’ rarely actually made an appearance change on the host. It was only a personality change and the fact that the imposters had no moral standards that was usually seen. Even when the imposters were throwing a crewmate out, the most they would do was grab the crewmate by the arm and poof them away.

”I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that was an option.” Judah crooned, the smile still plastered on his face. He bent down to be eye to eye with Patience.

That’s when it hit the girl. Judah wanted to be scary and scare her. But why?

The poor girl was trembling as she stared at the agent in orange. She couldn’t let him know she was scared of this though, so she steeled her nerves and spoke through gritted teeth. “What do you intend to get out of this?”

Judah didn’t seem to react, but Patience could see how Judah flinched ever so slightly with a subtle jerk of his head and the hesitation of his hands.

”Woah, what the heck Judah?!”

The two looked up to see Josiah staring at the two with a gaping mouth. “Now I’m imposter too but that’s insane!”

Judah shook his head and was swift to take out Patience, though the girl didn’t seem to react. She knew she had gotten through to him despite the parasite.

///

The crewmates had won (obviously) and were having their dance party in the map they had just played on. Meanwhile, Judah, David, and Josiah were stuck outside since they had failed as imposters. David tried to start some playful banter with his two younger brothers, though he could tell something was off with Judah.

”Hey… is he okay?” The older Nelson nudged Josiah.

The Nelson in black gave a hesitant shrug. “I’m not sure… Something happened when he was taking out Cole and Patience. He- well it- warped him.”

”The parasite got to him?” David would gasp as quietly as he could. He leaned back to see Judah silently pouting off to the side. “Have you asked him why? Usually it’s the host that allows the parasite to take over like… that.”

Josiah would give a slow and knowing nod before going over to his younger brother. “Hey Judah… you good?”

The Nelson in orange would mumble slightly, though still averting his gaze to meet his other brother. “I’m fine…”

Josiah would raise an eyebrow. “Ya sure? You definitely don’t look like it.”

Judah would give a small grumble. “I… I didn’t mean to go to that extreme! I just… I dunno.” He gestured his hand in the air as he tried to think of the words before giving up. “The parasite is very convincing if I have to say anything.”

Josiah’s face scrunched up, confused to what his brother meant. The Nelson in orange noticed before hesitantly explaining. “Well, I was walking past Cole and Patience and the creature managed to convince me to take him out as roughly as I could since it kept telling me how I’m being ditched.”

That only left the Nelson in black even more confused. The two fell into silence as Josiah tried to piece it together. The moment he did, he gave the loudest gasp and grabbed his brother by the shoulders to look at him in the eyes.

”You’re jealous of them!”

”What?”

”You’re jealous about how close Cole and Patience are together! It might just be your subconscious but you’re so totally jealous! Heck- you might even like- OW!”

Judah’s face would tinge pink, though not to the extreme as how Josiah did whenever Gala spoke to him. “N-No I’m not. I think it’s cool that they’re friends that all.”

”But you do think you’d be better friends with Patience rather than Cole right?”

”Yea… wait-.”

”OOOOOOOOO!”

David soon caught on to the conversation and had a wide grin on his face. Judah wriggled out of Josiah’s grasp as he rolled his eyes. “It’s not like that! You’re making a big deal over nothing.”

“You should definitely say sorry to them though.” David would say. Judah would agree on that.

///

Cole and Patience were working on some files together in the lab when they heard someone coughing by the entrance. The two looked up to see Judah walking to them awkwardly.

”Hey… uh, sorry about that Among Us round where I threw you guys out like that. Not cool on my part.” Judah would sputter nervously.

The two stared at him before chuckling and waving their hands. “Oh no problem! It was certainly a surprise but we both know that it was the parasite that was mainly in control.” Cole would assure. “And it surprisingly didn’t hurt, except the squeezing part.”

Judah would give a sigh of relief. Patience then spoke up. “I mean, maybe the parasite was just really mean who knows…” She paused as she looked to Cole then to the Nelson. “And if you’re that jealous, you could always join us.”

Judah would freeze hearing the last bit before giving a nod and scurrying out of the lab, hiding his flushed pink face.

Chapter Text

Shiloh stared at her brother and the other agent bickering angrily after the DTI round had ended. She yelped as she watched the two suddenly approach her, equally determined yet furious looks on their faces.

”We have a bet. We need your help.” The two answers said at the same time.

”Uhm… shoot?” Shiloh squeaked nervously.

”A dress to impress round! Against each other!” Micah and Talia said in unison.

Shiloh stood in front of them, processing what they just said. “I-I mean, sure?” A devious grin grew on Micah’s face as he turned to Talia. Talia grinned back at him, possibly looking even more devious than the agent in green. Shiloh was quick to interrupt the two. “You do know we need more members to play right?”

Micah’s mouth opened and shut like a goldfish for a split second before he snapped his fingers. “Invite the others! I’m sure they wouldn’t mind!”

Talia remained silent with her face neutral, though she was nodding her head vigorously. Shiloh gave a shrug before pulling out her communicator. After a few minutes, she shut the device and turned to the two agents. “Get ready in five minutes!”

///

“HELLO COMPETITORS!” David would announce loudly as he stood on the stage. In front of him were the duos: Micah and Michelle, Shiloh and Talia, Elijah and Lila, Josiah and Gala, Daniel and Mary, and Judah and Patience. Cole, Brittany, David, and Alex were the judges selected for the competition. “We will be hosting one round since we technically are renting this place out because of Micah and…. Uh, what’s your name again?” He’d bend down to hear the agent’s name. David cleared his throat as he stood back up. “Micah and Talia wanting to compete. Also cause like, it’s fun!”

The group would cheer out loud as David grinned to all of them. “First and only round theme is… FANTASY. NOW GO!”

///

Everyone was screeching as they ran around, searching for what clothes to wear and fit for the theme.

Lila and Elijah seemed to have the upper hand since Lila already had the face markings and her fairy wings. All the two needed to do was to make an outfit to fit her.

”Oh my gosh! This look exactly like a traditional Faunalia dress!”

”Sure- I uh, let’s go for it!”

Talia and Shiloh decided to go a bit more creative and become a mushroom fae, attempting to style what could be a toadstool hat and all. Talia was determined to beat Micah; Shiloh couldn’t help but giggle seeing how competitive the two were.

”Mmmm Floral or Marsh style?”

”I think Floral if we want more color, Marsh if we want to blend more, but I have no clue girl.”

”Alright, Floral for the bold points.”

”Also, have you heard? There’s a mystery judge!”

”Huh, wonder who it could be.”

Micah stared at Michelle as he watched her change out her hair. The two seemed to wanted to stick with doing an elven hunter of sorts, but none of the hairs seemed to work. The only reason why they were doing an elven hunter was because Michelle didn’t want to wear a giant ball gown as a fantasy princess.

”Come on Michelle! That hair looks amazing on you! It just doesn’t fit for an elven hunter! Just trust me on being a fantasy princess, I’m the stylist after all.”

“Fine! Just be ready to get slapped a whole lot! Starting now!”

”Ow! Hey I wanna win ya know?!”

Gala was quick to start styling herself, not even needing Josiah to follow her to help. Josiah just followed her around, trying to figure out what she was planning.

”Gala wait up!”

”And we could style this tiara and this belt! Oh this is gorgeous!”

“We haven’t even done your hair yet!”

Daniel and Mary were just bumbling around and bickering over what theme Mary should dress as. The two got so fed up either each other that they somehow switched with Daniel becoming the model and Mary becoming the stylist. Oddly enough, neither of them were complaining with the switch.

”If you’re going to be SO stubborn, then switch with me!”

”Fine! Just wear this and this and fit this on to the side and we should be good to go!”

”Hang on, this actually works on me better than you Mary.”

”I actually hate the fact you’re right.”

Judah was immediate to run and grab a dress for Patience. This was the first time Patience participated in a Dress To Impress round so she just trusted Judah as much as she could. She didn’t mind getting to dress up either, she never got to try on such pretty clothes anyways.

”And we can finish off with that makeup look! Oh my goodness that’s perfect!”

”I feel like there’s something missing… maybe this pearl necklace?”

“That is actually perfect. For being here the first time, you have a good eye for picking out stuff.”

”Oh! Thanks!”

///

The stage went dark as Brittany, Cole, David, and Alex took their seats. Brittany turned to Cole who seemed uncharacteristically nervous.

”You good?’ The red-head asked, tilting her head to the side.

”Yea yea, I’m fine.” He assured with a jittery voice.

”That’s a lie.” Alex butted in, leaning over and giving a big pout.

Cole grinned. “I mean, I’m very used to being the stylist here so the fact I’m judge is making me antsy. Actually… I haven’t been here in a long while.”

Before the red-head could ask the next question, the voice of the Announcer boomed in the room and the lights blasted on.

“First up, Lila!”

The four looked up and gasped seeing the fairy’s outfit. She was wearing a long and glittery flowing dress with a faint pink tinge. The judges were quick to vote, though they could hear Elijah hiss-shouting for the fairy pose.

“Next up, Shiloh!”

Out came the youngest Nelson. She was wearing a long and dark red cloak that covered most of her outfit, giving her a mysterious yet fantastical look. She wore a giant red sunhat with white spots to mimic a toadstool cap. Brittany would catch some hushed whispers and see Talia and Micah bickering behind the curtain. The judges out their votes down as they heard the next member strut to the stage.

“Our third member is Patience!”

The mentioned participant walked out with a n air of confidence. She wore a long golden dress with a golden laurel set on her head. She was adorned with pearls and her hair was in long braids.

“Next up, Mary! Wait, Daniel?”

The judges looked at each other, confused with the Announcer’s stuttering. When they looked up, everyone (including the stylists) had to stifle their laughter and stunned ‘ooo’s. Out walked the blonde Nelson clad in browns and earthy greens. He wore a hood covering much of his face and he started posing with his bow and arrow.

“Fifth contestant, Michelle!”

The judges watched as Michelle walked down the runway, her heels clicking in the floor. Her hair was tied half up half down. She wore a burgundy colored dress that swept the floor. She spun, showing off how beautifully the skirt spun.

“Last but not least is Gala!”

Out strutted the Princess of O’Lindor, confidence swirling around her. She tossed her hair over her shoulder with a smirk as she spun in her dress. The judges were quick to out their votes down before watching the lights dim.

///

“The results are in!” David would shout as he looked to see the contestants standing in front of him.

“Third place is…” David would hear the contestants doing drumroll on their legs. “Gala!”

There would be cheers and whoops as the princess took her spot on the podium.

”Second place is… Lila!”

More shouts and cheers, though the judges could see Micah and Talia bickering with each other quietly over who’d be first.

”First place is… Patience!”

There would be happy cheers as the contestant took her spot on the podium. Micah and Talia would stare with their jaw dropped before turning and running towards David. The poor Nelson would squeak in terror as he was bombarded with questions from the two upset stylists.

”Who got fourth?!” Micah yapped, finally shoving Talia off to the side.

David fumbled as he opened up the envelope further. “Well… Daniel got fourth and Shiloh and Michelle got tied at fifth!”

”HUH?!” Micah and Talia exclaimed at the same time. Talia would shake her head. “Wait! Who the heck was the mystery judge?! Maybe they are the reason why we tied at the end!”

”Hehehehe.”

Micah and Talia would turn around and look down to see Jocelyn staring at them.  She had the evilest grin on her face as she watched Micah groan while Talia sputtering for words. “And who let you to be the judge?”

”I did!” Brittany said with a chuckle. Micah had the biggest annoyed pout on his face while Talia’s face was red with annoyance. “I just had to see you guys bickering. It was hilarious.”

Micah and Talia stared at each other, both thinking the same thought. “Next time? Next time.” The two nodded and shook hands. Before they parted ways, the two would give each other faces and thumbs down.

Shiloh chuckled as she walked over to Brittany and Jocelyn. “Nice job.”

Chapter Text

“Remember to check the Raelo’s status.” Mary needled Judah for the nth time. “This is your final chance before we ban you from Raelo picking.”

The Nelson in orange rolled his eyes as he tried to swat his older sister away. “Yea yea yea, just because I glitter-bombed us twice-.”

”Thrice.” Mary corrected sharply.

”-Thrice-” Judah reluctantly admitted. “-it doesn’t mean I’m a bad Raelo picker!”

”Do you want me to list of all the other times you messed up?’ Mary huffed as she pulled out her phone.

”No no no!” Judah yelped hurriedly. He then picked out one that looked the nicest. “See! This looks nice! Perfect Raelo for camping!”

Mary glanced at the screen and gave a slow nod. “Alright… whatever you say.”

///

Micah stared at the tree for a while, wondering why it seemed just a bit too off. Then again, he did stuff himself full of s’mores and was in a different Raelo. His eyes were snapped away from the tree as he heard a loud yelp and crash behind him.

”Here’s more fire wood!” Judah exclaimed happily as he dropped the pile of wood. Elijah laid on the ground with a dead-pan expression as sticks fell on his head.

Shiloh rolled her eyes as she crawled out of her tent. She dusted her hands on her pants while turning to Michelle. Michelle was keeping the fire lit with the help of Josiah. “Come on Micah, you’re going to get cold if you keep standing there without a jacket!”

The Nelson in green chuckled as he obliged and sat by Michelle. The group of agents had decided to treat themselves with a well deserved camping trip. Judah had picked out this nice looking Raelo they were in. Now the group huddled around the fire as the sun slowly started to set. The fire and the stars were the only things slowly lighting the place alive. The group was busy chatting and laughing and eating and goofing around.

The only one that didn’t seem to be having a good time was Micah. Something about the area unnerved him and left him in fight or flight mode. There was this constant low rumble that he felt in the ground. When he brought it up to Josiah, he insisted that it just was the Arxis’s power generator. Then Micah always watched as giant flocks of birds would suddenly fly into the sky. When the Nelson in green pointed it out to Shiloh, she just suggested that it was the birds migration time.

He was fine with those two explanations but still was quite reactive whenever Judah or Michelle made a loud noise to scare the other agents with the scary stories.

The final straw was the two reflective eyes staring back at the Nelson in green from behind the same tree Micah didn’t like.

“Guys… do you see that T-Rex?”

The group fell silent for a beat before breaking out in laughter. Micah slowly broke out in an uncomfortable chuckle but still stared back at the two reflective eyes. Elijah’s hand gripped onto his brother’s shoulder, trying to keep the Nelson in blue upright from falling over with laughter. “Micah, are you sure you’re alright? Maybe the Arxis radiation hasn’t worn off on ya yet.”

”Yea Micah!” Josiah teased as he jabbed his younger brother in the ribs. “Funny joke!”

Micah didn’t respond in his usual laughter. Shiloh raised an eyebrow before following Micah’s line of sight. Her laughter was quick to be cut off as she realised what her brother was staring at.

One by one each agent saw the pair of eyes. Micah slowly stood up, fumbling to grab a blaster that was behind him. The other agents followed suit and slowly started getting up, not breaking eye contact with the T-Rex once.

”Judah what the heck?! You said this Raelo was fine!” Shiloh hissed to her brother, her eyes still locked in the creature.

“It looked fine on the screen!” Judah squeaked back.

”Well you clearly didn’t check the details did you?” Michelle snapped while her hands curled into fists.

Crack.

All the agents whipped their heads around to see Judah staring at a piece of his fire wood he had so noisily stepped on. Everyone froze as they heard the T-Rex’s growling grow louder. Suddenly more loud screeches echoed in the air. Elijah’s eyes widened as he saw what was running from behind the T-Rex.

“RUUUUUUUUUUUUN!”

”JUDAH THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!”

///

“And that’s why Judah is banned from Raelo picking our outings again.” Micah scowled as one of the nurses dabbed on some alcohol on his arm to clean his wound.

Mary gave Judah a light slap on the back of his head. “Told you!”

”I’m sorry!” Judah yelped once again. “The screen showed a really nice Raelo!”

”And yet you never thought to check its description?!” Josiah exclaimed, still flabbergasted as to how Judah could have messed it up.

”It’s Judah what do you expect?” Michelle snapped, needing Shiloh to hold her back.

”Excuse me?!”

Chapter Text

You’d stagger around with a groan as you get warped through the Beacon. One minute you’re signing some papers then next you’ve been brought to the biggest agency known to everyone across Raelos.

After gathering your bearings, you would look around to see the landing bay (or what you assumed it was) filled with people bustling around, presumably working. Suddenly you would feel someone tapping your back. You’d turn around to see a girl in a yellow button up and labcoat with her hair done in braids. Behind her would be a taller blonde guy wearing a labcoat with a shirt colored light cyan of sorts.

”You must be the new agent right?” The girl would ask with a smile on her face. “I’m Patience!”

”And I’m Cole.” The guy behind her would speak up. “For being a new agent, you take traveling on the Beacon pretty well.” The two would chuckle before Cole spoke again. “The first time I used it, I nearly threw up on William. He was not happy.”

You and Patience would laugh to hearing the story before taking your hand. “Come on! Let’s bring you to the briefing room.”

”Hang on.” You’d speak up before she had the chance to drag you around. “The papers said I was supposed to meet up with Elijah and Josiah?”

Patience and Cole seemed to freeze hearing the names. You would look at them with confusion before the blonde would whisper. “Yea… they’re not having a good day today. In fact, none of the Nelsons are.”

Before you could ask why, Patience would hand you a pamphlet titled, “Dummies Handbook For The Nelsons.”

”What’s this for..?” You would ask, slightly unsure whether this was a joke or not.

”It’s a work in progress.” Cole would say quickly with a grin. “Patience and I have been tracking them and-.”

”No no,” You’d wave your hand around. “I’m asking why you have this in the first place. In fact, why are all the Nelsons not in a good mood in the first place?”

Cole would fall silent as his lips tightened to a line. He would look down at the ground before kicking  Patience to tell. She would give a small and annoyed ‘hey’ before taking a deep breath. “They cane back from a mission and uhhh… they all got chased by dinosaurs.”

”Don’t ask.” Cole would add quickly, an awkward smile on his face.

You would give a slow nod. “Ok… what’s this handbook about?”

”It’s really just a way to gauge and know the reasons behind the Nelsons’ actions.” Cole would explain. “But we mainly have the ways to get them angry so far.”

”We even have piecharts and percentages on there!” Patience would grin.

”I assume she’s the one that likes statistics?” You would ask with a smirk.

Patience would eagerly nod. “Yes indeed!”

Suddenly, one of the Arxis Bay workers chased you out with Patience and Cole. You’d look at the two. “So… what should we do?”

The three of you would stand in the hallway, silent and unsure what to do. Cole would then snap his fingers, almost as if he had a switch flipped in his head. “You could help us track and analyze the Nelsons and see what makes them tick and stuff! Oooo! You could be our third helper for the Handbook!”

Patience would grin and nod. “Yea! Let’s go! Wait- first let’s give you a tour of the agency. Then we can get you roped into helping us with the handbook!”

Before you could even protest, you’ve been whipped away to whatever shenanigans the duo would do.

Chapter Text

Ever since the last Dress To Impress challenge the agent team hosted, the Nelson boys had been teasing Judah about being with Patience. Judah had resorted to just ignoring or changing the subject whenever the boys tried to bring it up. The brothers knew Judah wasn’t one to like the talk about him being in love, but they saw the potential of Patience being with their younger brother. Finally, Judah snapped during a lunch break.

”Come on, you should.” Josiah chuckled as he nudged his brother playfully. “I mean, you guys were practically always holding each other during the game!”

Elijah would speak up. “Literally everytime I looked at you two, you were either giggling and talking a lot or holding hands and jumping up and down hugging each other.”

Daniel would also put his part in. “And if you’re worried about Patience being with Cole, I can assure you they are not together. You have a very easy chance to be with her!”

“And if you’re worried about ruining your friendship with her, just don’t.” Micah would shrug simply. “If she rejects you, you can still stay friends with her. If she does reject you yet doesn’t want to be friends, which I doubt, then it’s probably for the better.”

Judah would squirm in his seat as he listened to his brothers’ remarks. He knew all of that perfectly clear, he just didn’t want to tell them his other reasoning. “I know… I just don’t- don’t wanna mess it up.”

Hearing that, the four brothers chuckled. “Come on dude, you’re worried about messing up? If you let us help you, there is no way you’d mess up!”

”And besides!” Micah would say as he leaned over to his younger brother, wrapping an arm around Judah’s shoulders. “Sometimes messing up on a first date is funny!”

”No no no!” Judah would exclaim, shaking off Micah’s arm. “Your idea of messing up on a first date is completely different from my idea of messing up!”

Daniel would raise an eyebrow as he leaned back on his chair. “Do explain to us then.”

The Nelson in orange would mumble under his breath as he squirmed in his seat. He avoided all eye-contact with his brothers as he thought through how he was going to explain his predicament. He flinched as Josiah placed a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, if you don’t want to tell us, it’s completely fine.”

Judah shook his head. “No! I should tell you, I just… I just don’t know how to say it.”

”Take your time then.” Daniel assured his younger brother. “We’re willing to wait.”

Judah gave his older brother a small smile before taking a deep breath. “Well… this won’t be my first date if I went with Patience.” Immediately all the brothers went ‘ooo’ and leaned in, now more curious than ever. Judah gave a long whine and his head lolled back. “Ughhh, come on Judah just tell them! You can do this!”

Micah would chuckle seeing Judah hyping himself up. “Is it really that bad? If it is, you don’t have to tell us.”

“Besides just being an awkward mess…” Judah shook his head and said t it out as fast as he could. “The first date I went to was during that one mission where I chased you guys off when we spotted Malduum’s agents because those agents took my date.”

All the brothers would gasp hearing this and have mixed reactions on their faces. Judah immediately slid down his seat with his hands covering his face and head. Josiah would pat his brother on the shoulder as Judah whines were muffled from his hands. Elijah would continue to gasp, though trying his best to calm down. “That’s why you said you were exploring the place even though we saw you waiting at a cafe! That was your first date with the girl with the pink and black hair?”

”… yep.” Judah would mumble.

After a minute of silence, Micah would sit up. “I have an idea. I wasn’t gonna tell you guys this but Michelle and I were planning to go out together to the carnival-.” All the brothers would ‘ooo’ as the Nelson in green expected. “-so how about I get Michelle to invite Patience to go on a ‘girls day out’ before she drops Patience off to you! After that, you two can go can explore the carnival knowing Michelle and I can help you if you need!”

All the brothers waited for Judah’s response. After a moment, Judah finally responded with a reluctant yes.

///

“Why did you tell me to dress up again?” Patience asked Michelle as the two girls arrived at the carnival. “In fact, why didn’t you dress up as nice as me?”

Michelle had a cheeky grin as Micah appeared and slung his arm around Michelle’s shoulder. “Look behind you.”

Before Patience could start giggling and teasing her friend, she turned around to see Judah with a sheepish grin on his face. “Hey..? Wanna go try the bottle shooting stall?”

Patience would gasp before turning around to Michelle, but by the time she looked to see her friend, both Michelle and Micah were walking off with cheeky grins and waves. Patience would feel her face burn up as she turned to Judah. “Did they- did you?” She would be at a loss for words as hands moved around, pointing from Michelle and Micah before back to Judah with her mouth wide open in shock.

Judah gave an awkward chuckle. “Yea…”

Patience’s grin would only grow as she grabbed Judah by the arm. Judah would yelp in surprise as he wasn’t expecting for Patience to suddenly take the lead. “Why didn’t you say sooner? Let’s go shooting bottles down!”

Chapter Text

Elijah sighed as he hopped out of the beacon and into a relatively normal looking back-alley. When he walked out of the alley, he looked around to see normal looking people walking around. His face scrunched up in confusion as he walked around, following the tracker in his hand that showed where the distress signal was radiating from. He wasn’t expecting such a normal looking place to have the tech to send out distress signals out of their Raelo. As he explored, he walked past an apartment building. He looked up to see one of the windows glowing a very bright blue. Right after he looked up, a blonde figure was flung out of the window.

”COURTNEY FRICKING MILLER DON’T STOP FOR NO-ONE!” The blonde shouted as they floated in the air. A lady with long blond hair stepped onto the balcony and slapped who Elijah guessed was Courtney FRICKING Miller floating in the air. Elijah’s eyes widened before realising he had heard that voice somewhere else before. It was familiar for him to recognise it, but not familiar enough for him to pin a name to it.

”Shut it meat head! Apologise to the Chosen now!” The blonde lady shouted back.

”FINE!” The floating figure yelled as he floated back onto the balcony.

Elijah blinked a couple times before turning around him, wondering if the other people around his saw what just happened. It seemed as though the people were used to it or just completely ignored what just happened. But the longer Elijah stared at the balcony, the more he noticed the weird blue-purple sheen that appeared to be a barrier of sorts. “Huh… a magic barrier..?”

Intrigued, but too focused on finding the source of the distress signal, he continued trekking along. The signal soon started leading him to the outskirts of the town and slowly into the more deserted neighbourhood of houses. As he continued to walk, he noticed an abandoned brick townhouse with ivy climbing up. He also noticed the blue-purple magic barrier that was rippling around the townhouse, similar to the one that was at the apartment building. Curious, he went up to the black metal fence gate and hopped over. The moment he went up to the old wooden porch that led to the house’s front door, he heard a loud crackle from the lightbulb above him.

”OI WHAT’S THIS LITTLE FREAK DOIN’ DOWN ‘ERE?” An absurdly loud and staticky voice crackled from the lightbulb above the Nelson in blue. Elijah winced and covered his ears with his hands as he looked up.

”ANTI GET AWAY FROM THE POOR FELLA!” An equally loud but clearer voice shouted from inside the house. Elijah was now even more confused. Why did they both have equally loud and Irish voices (except that one was staticky while one wasn’t).

Elijah helped loudly as the front door flung open and standing in front of him was a man with green and brown hair, a cat mask, and wearing a long black coat with purple floating sparkles behind him. The man and Elijah both stuttered as they saw each other. The man finally gathered his bearings and spoke. “You’re not Bim.”

”Yea… I’m Elijah.” The Nelson in blue replied slowly.

He flinched as he felt a staticky hand gripping his shoulder. He slowly looked up to see a glitchy figure that was coming out of the lightbulb from the porch. One eyes was black and green while the other was green and blue. He had an awful toothy grin and a giant gaping wound in his neck oozing black and red. Elijah shivered as the glitchy figure and the cat-masked fellow glared each other down. One pair of glitchy eyes staring down another pair of glowing purple and green eyes. Finally, after an uncomfortable amount of silence, the glitch gave a growl and receded back into the ceiling. Elijah gave a sigh of relief as he turned to the cat-masked man. “Hey, uh, you got magic right?”

The cat-masked man gave a grin. “Ah yea! You must be new in town! I’m Marvin, Marvin the Magician!” Elijah would gasp as he watched Marvin sudden have a giant purple puff poof in his hand, summoning a stack of black playing cards in his hands. “What can I do to ya fella? You don’t seem too scared of Anti so you must have some history with the supernatural ey? I mean, ya managed to look through and go right through the magic barrier I made!”

Elijah could barely make out what the man was saying with his fast speaking and heavy Irish accent. “Y-Yea, travel around a bit through the Raelos. Been through some crazy stuff heh. I-I’m sorry, magic barrier?”

”Yea!” Marvin exclaimed. “I mean, all us egos ‘ere gotta put up the barriers huh?”

Elijah nodded slowly, still a bit confused but satisfied with the answer about the magic barriers. “Oh… I guess that’s helpful with this tech.”

Marvin would chuckle. “I see I see. Say kid, what even brings you to this side of town in the first place?’

Elijah quickly fumbled for his tracker and showed it to Marvin. “Could you help me with this?”

Marvin stared at the blue screen for a while before looking up past Elijah. He then had to stifle a laugh and shook his head. “Ay bud, just take a turn and find the spooky lookin’ manor at the end of da road. Don’t be spooked of them either!”

Elijah gave an unsure nod before thanking the magician and making his way down the road. As he walked down and checked her tracker, he couldn’t help but feel as though he had heard of that Irish voice before. Before he could place a name on the voice, his head jerked up to hear shouting from a house to his right. There, he could see what appeared to be a man dressed as a prince in the yard talking with a man that was wearing black and purple. Elijah also noticed the magic barrier once again. So those folks must also be other “egos” that Marvin mentioned. Elijah was confused as to why there were these two men dressed in that way but continued to make his way down the road.

He finally stopped at the spooky manor that Marvin was talking about and stared at it with wide eyes. Marvin definitely wasn’t lying about the spooky part. The manor was made of grey brick with a black tile roof and a double door entryway. After going through the same blue-purple magic barrier, Elijah hesitated standing at the door. Finally, taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door.

Immediately Elijah was knocked down by two men dressed in light blue shirts and khaki pants. A third identical man lingered behind with a camera hoisted up on his shoulder. “A GUEST!” The two on Elijah screeched.

Elijah screamed in surprise as he watched the figure be lifted up by a shadow tendril from a monochromatic figure. The man in the suit sighed as he rubbed his nose bridge and cracked his neck. “I’m sorry about the Jims- and you are not one of his, are you..?”

Elijah would shiver hearing the man’s voice. There was a high-pitched ringing that followed his deep and echoey voice. Elijah would also note the blue and red static effect around the man. It was then Elijah recognised the man’s face.

”MARKIPLIER?! WHY ARE YOU BLACK AND WHITE?!” Elijah screamed as he got to his feet. He quickly looked at his tracker, then back up to the man. “T-That means I-I saw Jacksepticeye?! I wasn’t crazy! A-And that means those other people are YouTubers too?! Wait! Why are you sending out a distress signal?”

The monochromatic man seemed a bit startled, to say the least. “The name’s Dark. Uhm… Wilford? Can you-.”

”I’M HERE!” The eccentric man with the pink moustache yelled as he poofed next to the monochromatic man. Elijah covered his mouth as he spotted the splashes of fresh red… whatever, on the ends of Wilford’s yellow slacks. “Oh! A new member to the house?’

”No I’m afraid.” Dark sighed as he held the three men in blue shirts back with the help of his shadow tendrils. “Wilford, did you by chance leave the warp pad’s blinker on emergency mode?

Wilford stared at Dark for a moment before shouting for someone by the name of Annus. Just then, a man in a pure white suit appeared beside Dark and Wilford with a tired look on his face. “Yes- oh. We have an intruder?”

”Not an intruder, just another Raelo inspector asking about the reason for our distress signal.” Dark explained simply. Elijah was too busy gaping and ogling at the multiple copies of Markiplier in different outfits and forms. “We assume you have left the warp pad’s emergency blinker on.”

Annus gave a loud groan. “It wasn’t me, but I bet Engineer forgot to turn it off when he left. I’ll get it.”

Elijah gasped as he watched Annus (or Markiplier with long hair and a white suit in Elijah’s mind) teleport away. As soon as Annus teleported away, Elijah checked his distress signal tracker to see the point disappear. Wilford then leaned over to see Elijah’s tracker and gave a giggle. “See! All gone!”

Elijah gave a slow nod before feeling a cold hand on his shoulder. His wide and starry eyes looked up to Dark. “Oh my goodness, this is crazy!” Elijah squealed.

Dark gave an annoyed sigh. “Look, do not tell anyone about us alright?”

”Why not?” The Nelson in blue tilted his head. 

“It’s rather annoying to have trespassers here almost everyday.” Wilford would giggle as he struggled to drink a martini that suddenly appeared in his hand. “Wouldn’t want to shoot out a couple pests now would we?”

Elijah gave a slow nod, no liking the implication the man in pink was saying. “Alright. I better go home then.”

”Good choice.” Dark nodded. “Good day.”

Elijah stood at the porch for a solid minute or two before running off giggling and questioning to himself about what just happened. 

Chapter Text

Elijah spirited around the corner as he lost track of where his two other siblings were. A million thoughts ran through his head as he hid behind canisters and shelves to not be spotted by the damn murder robots. What the hell was the tracker guy thinking? Stupid for them to even trust him in the first place! He was a good brother, but one part of Elijah couldn’t help but slightly blame Shiloh for landing them in this predicament. He flinched as he heard sudden and loud blasts where he assumed were from the robots.

No no no, please tell me that wasn’t Josiah or Shiloh

“Josiah! Josiah! Jo-.”

Elijah skidded to a halt as his eyes laid sight to the pile of burnt and crushed cups in front of him. He felt his mouth go dry as he came to his senses and ran to the pile. His hands were quick to grab onto any and all of the cup shards, not caring for the tingling sensation that remained on his fingertips. All he begged was that it was neither of his siblings.

Then he saw a crushed cup start to glow.

Elijah felt his heart drop seeing the cup transform into his brother, tears starting to well in his eyes.

No, it couldn’t be his brother, it couldn’t, Elijah refused to believe it.

Yet he was, the burnt and mangled body that was of Josiah Nelson.

His world went silent as Elijah slowly stood up and turned to the side.

“Elijah, what are you-.”

Shiloh froze as she watched her brother in blue hurling out what was his lunch before. She didn’t even want to begin to explain what she saw beside Elijah. Shiloh was quick to run up to her older brother, who by now was kneeling by Josiah’s side and cradling his body through his tears.

”Josiah… you have to be awake…” Elijah barely spoke as he held his brother in his arms. “You can’t be…”

Shiloh only stared at the burned face that was of Josiah’s. His eyes were perfectly shut closed with the right side of his face nearly burnt off. She could feel tears welling in her own eyes, though she made no sound of sobbing like Elijah.

Her body only shook with pure rage, skin burning for revenge.

Elijah continued to cry as he held his brother closer to his chest, begging for Josiah to show a sign of life. He ignored anything his sister tried to do, his only focus was on the Nelson in black.

Shiloh’s head jolted up as she heard the footsteps of the robots coming closer. She quickly patted for Elijah’s attention. She didn’t realise how hard it was to get words to come out of her mouth. “‘Lijah, we have to go.”

The Nelson in purple had to repeat to her brother to even get him to look at her. After a moment of coaxing, the two Nelsons ran off.

Josiah Nelson was dead.

///

Malduum glanced to his side to see his robot marching over the with burnt and bloody body of Josiah Nelson.

”Ah, could’ve been in better shape but I suppose this would do.” Malduum would hum as his hands drifted over to the radio intercom for the whole shipping base.

”Hello Shiloh Nelson.”

He snickered hearing Shiloh’s aggressive voice speak through the radio.

“You better pray I don’t find you Malduum.”

Malduum only grinned hearing the threats of the girl.

“Bold of you to assume this is my final plan.” There would be a pause as Malduum thought of his next words. “Tell you what? I’ll let you go. After all, I got such a good advantage over you now hmm? I only find it fair.”

”You’ll regret everything you’ve ever done.”

Malduum only rolled his eyes as he heard the radio transmitter click and turn off. He then signalled for the robots to return and turn off the Temporal Loop.

Now all he had to do was get Josiah to wake up.

Chapter Text

W-What..? Where a-am I..?

Josiah would wake up with his whole body feeling stiff. He struggled to look around him, but he was cold, really cold. The Nelson had to blink a couple times before he realized he was in a glass test tube of some sorts (like Shadow the Hedgehog he thought) with black fog swirling around him. He moved his arm to rub his face when he heard a loud clang. He flinched and brought his hands down to look at them.

WHAT

Josiah blinked multiple times. No way he was seeing this right. Since when was his right arm robotic? He then looked down to see his legs. Left leg was also robotic. Josiah then slowly brought his hand to feel his face.

Metal meets metal.

Josiah was at a loss for words, literally. He couldn’t try to scream or speak if he wanted to. He blinked, and sure enough, only one eye did blink. His right eye remained wide-open.

I’m a cyborg now?

He flinched as he heard footsteps clanging on (what he could guess) metal flooring. The Nelson couldn’t see out of the fogged glass until a hand was pressed to it. Josiah’s jaw locked shut in shock before seeing the hand drag off the glass and disappear. Josiah then heard what seemed to be two people talking, one which he recognised to be a certain blonde’s voice. The Nelson’s face warped into a scowl and he could feel his fist clench up.

He brought me here? He must have done this!

Before Josiah could even try to punch the glass, there was a loud hiss. He flinched for a moment before seeing the glass de-fog and open up. Once his eyes adjusted to the dark room with the red lighting, his eyes fixated on the blonde.

”You-…”

Josiah couldn’t even make a sound before his hand shot up to hold his throat. Just even saying one word made his throat feel as though it was on fire. His vocal cords must have been ruined. But how? Once his throat felt moderately fine, he looked back up at Malduum and the other he was talking to.

A man with a checkered face?

Josiah would frown as he watched Malduum walk up to him. “Hmm… you woke up rather fast.” Malduum would turn to the checkered-face man. “Thank you for your help.”

Josiah blinked hard as he scanned Malduum and the other. Before the Nelson could even step out of the platform he was on, he felt robotic arms grabbing him and putting him still. Josiah gave a grunt before looking to the blonde. Josiah could only make sounds of protest and tug his arms and legs with no result.

What are you doing?

“Aww, cat got your tongue?’ Malduum would croon and tilt his head. Josiah scowled and attempted to spook the blonde by jerking his body towards Malduum. The other only snickered as he pressed a couple buttons that were on a console in front of Josiah. The Nelson looked up to see another robotic arms grabbing descending from the ceiling holding a small metal box. Josiah watched as it rotated and went behind the Nelson.

WHAT THE-

Josiah felt his whole body tensed up feeling one of the many robotic arms opening something on the back of his neck. He winced as he assumed the robotic arm shoved the metallic box into the back of his neck (or inside). Malduum only watched him with a stone cold expression as Josiah gargled out a mix of blood and oil. Then just as fast as it happened, it finished. Josiah collapsed to the ground, spitting out the oil and blood that had pooled in his mouth while his hand rubbed his neck. He then looked up to see Malduum extending a hand out to help him up. Josiah hesitated before taking the hand and getting to his feet.

”Wha-…” Josiah anticipated for the searing pain to shoot through his throat, but he was surprised when he felt none. He grimaced as the lingering taste of oil and blood remained in his mouth. “What… did you do?”

”Simple. I helped you.” Malduum would shrug. “I mean, I’m ‘evil’ but I’m not that evil to leave you to die.” Josiah would freeze at Malduum’s statement. Malduum would notice Josiah’s reaction and hum quietly to himself. “Ah… seems like I got to re-jog your memory hmm..?”

Josiah’s eyes went wide. Right, he was in teh shipping Raelo before! Why- how-…

No… Elijah and Shiloh would never leave me! Why- why would they leave me? They are strong enough to fight off the robots. Surely they haven’t forgotten about me… right?

“You’re lying.” Was all Josiah could muster up to say. He shook his head as he looked to the blonde. “You’re lying.”

Malduum would shake his head. “I saw what my robots did to you and found out someone had sabotaged them to become much more violent than they needed to be. Then that’s when I found you all burned and bloodied up on the floor. By then both Shiloh and Elijah had left. I also assume that they may have Uhm… how do I put this in a lighter way..? Try to put you out of your misery?”

Josiah felt his mouth go dry hearing what Malduum was saying. He gave a small squeak hearing the checkered-face man speak up, black smoke curling around him. The Nelson had honestly forgotten the other man was still here. “I’m not surprised. This is not the first time that they had ditched a sibling behind, let alone willing to sacrifice one of them. Remind me, didn’t they want to leave Elijah in my realm at one point?”

Josiah blinked a couple times as he tried to remember when he had encountered the checkered-face man. “O-oh! You! The Chess King!”

The man raised an unamused brow as he flicked around the black smoke around him. “Took you a while. Then again, I did have to help you wake up.”

Josiah would stagger back, running a hand through his hair. He slowly sat down on the floor, trying to process everything. “W-Why would they leave me..?”

Malduum would shrug. “I’m not surprised. In the end, they only ever work to help themselves. I mean, Shiloh put you and your siblings in danger just for one tracker. Hell, she risked your whole agency with stealing Raelo artifacts! Not only is she putting your agency at risk to blow up, but she is also stealing valuables from other Raelos!”

The Chess King would scoff as he turned his back to the two. “She also stripped me from all my glory. It was mainly Elijah, yes, but she was still the main reason for my downfall. All I wanted was to bring my kingdom back to its former glory.”

Josiah would stare at the Chess King before looking to his hands. They were right in a way. He sighed as he looked up to Malduum. Malduum slowly stood to his feet. “So, I would like to offer you the chance to help me in my goal. I did save you after all.”

Josiah would look up and stare at the blonde for a moment. He would let out a heavy sigh and look down to his feet. “I… I would like a moment to myself please.”

Malduum would nod and gesture to the Chess King to leave the room. Josiah watched as the door closed behind the two.

///

“I told you, better than Elijah hmm?” Malduum would tilt his head with a sly smile.

The Chess King would huff and fold his arms. “I suppose he is better than the blue Nelson.” He would then raise an eyebrow to the blonde. “I assume there is one more thing for me to do?’

”Indeed.” Malduum would nod. “If you could help just ‘coax’ him to join, your handsome cash prize will just get a bit more handsome.”

The Chess King would sigh but obliged. In his hands was a black smokey ball that slowly started to glow. He do a couple fancy hand gestures before squashing the glowing black ball of smoke in his hands. “It is done. I will be taking the pay now. And please, just call me Lucious.”

The blonde would nod. “Alright then. Follow me then Lucious.”

Chapter Text

Micah froze as he heard the Arxis Bay starting up.

”GUYS! THE ARXIS!” Micah yelled from the console room. “LET’S GO!”

Micah, Judah, Michelle and Mary were quick to run to the Bay, hoping that it was their three siblings that had been trapped on the shipping Raelo.

“DANG IT!” Michelle yelled as she arrived in the Arxis Bay.

Daniel stared at the four out of breath agents as they slid into the Arxis Bay. He raised an eyebrow, confused from Michelle’s reaction of him. “What? Did I come in at a bad timing?”

Micah groaned and shook his head. “No no no, we’re glad you’re here but we really were hoping it was Elijah, Shiloh, and Josiah.”

”Why? What happened to them?” Daniel asked, his expression now serious. He was quick to drop off his travel gear to the side as he approached his younger siblings.

”They’re trapped.” Judah grumbled.

Before the Nelson in orange could explain, the Arxis Bay activated again. This time, out walked out a downcast Shiloh and a bloodied Elijah. Everyone in the Arxis Bay nearly started to cheer until the golden portal turned off without the third Nelson walking out. The agents went silent as the two Nelsons were arguing with each other and went out of the room. Micah, Judah, Michelle, Daniel, and Mary didn’t even have a chance to exclaim and celebrate and be happy. They were just too stunned seeing how angry the two Nelsons were and scared with the idea about where Josiah was.

Micah was the first to snap out from his trance and chase after his two siblings. Whatever was going on, it was not good. Shiloh and Elijah seemed to be talking, though Elijah looked much more angrier than his younger sister.  The Nelson in green managed to catch up to his two siblings and grab Elijah by the arm. “Elijah, what happened?”

Judah looked up and quickly tapped Michelle, Daniel, and Mary to follow him. “What is going on? How did they get out so fast?”

Mary would shrug. “Who knows? Maybe the Temporal Loop deactivated suddenly?”

Daniel shook his head. “The only way for it to deactivate is if the person who turned it on turned it off themself!”

Michelle was about to add in her idea before they all halted to the hallway to hear Elijah shouting at Micah. Judah was quick to pull his younger sister away from the two brothers, though Shiloh remained despondent. 

”HE’S DEAD!”

”… what?”

”He’s dead, and it’s her fault.”

The hallway turned silent, too silent. Not even the buzz of the machinery could help fill the void of silence in the hallway. The agents had never heard so much anger, so much spite, in his voice. None of the siblings were expecting Elijah to be like this, much less to Shiloh of all people. Micah felt his blood run cold as he stared at how angry Elijah looked.

Elijah was so angry.

Micah only stood in the hallway, his fists slowly relaxing as he watched Elijah storm off. Judah completely froze, his mind shutting down with his arms half-way hugging Shiloh. Mary gasped with tears welling in her eyes; Daniel was quick to pull her into a hug. Michelle remained frozen on the spot, unsure what to do now. The Nelson in green then slowly started walking towards the end of the hallway, presumably to chase after his older brother again.

///

Two weeks since that.

Daniel had stopped all of his Raelo hopping missions and had designated himself to stay with Mary and help the agency out. Micah had been the one to step up to the plate to replace Elijah while the Nelson in blue holed himself up in his room. Shiloh remained in her room as well, though she was more easily coaxed out thanks to Judah. Michelle stuck by Micah’s side to help him out, though it seemed as though everyone’s energy was drained.

Now Micah was dealing with meetings that Josiah was scheduled to do before and the Nelson in green and zero clue what to do. Michelle insisted that Micah was overworking himself but he assured the other that he was fine. If anything, he thought that his older siblings were working themselves to the bone much more than him. It wasn’t long before he heard a certain seven year old entering his room.

”Uh… Micah?”

”Yes Jocelyn?” He sighed as he turned in his chair to look at the girl. He tried to keep his attitude upbeat, he really was. But he guessed that Jocelyn was seeing through the cracks of his facade.

”Michelle sent me here to tell you to eat dinner soon.” The girl spoke quietly.

”Tell her I’ll be there in 30.” Micah replied as he was about to turn back to the paperwork.

She hesitated saying the next part. “Elijah is also in the cafeteria. He wants to talk with Shiloh but Judah refuses to let him see her.”

That caught Micah’s attention. He looked back at the girl, tired eyes wide with surprise. “Oh, really?”

Jocelyn would nod and watch as he got off his chair and grabbed his sweater. Before he left the room, the girl tugged him by the pant leg. Micah looked down with a raised eyebrow. Jocelyn seemed to have to think through her words before she finally spoke. “Is Elijah ok..? I never see him like that…”

Micah gave a soft sigh as he crouched down to Jocelyn’s height. “He’s going through a lot. I meant we all are, aren’t we?”

Jocelyn would nod slowly. “I get that but… I’m worried for him and for Shiloh. It really sounds like he hates her.” Micah seemed confused at Jocelyn’s statement. How would she know Elijah’s thoughts on Shiloh if Elijah hadn’t even left his room the past two weeks? Jocelyn seemed to understand Micah’s confusion and continued. “I sometimes crawl through the vents when I want to get to people quickly. I went to Elijah’s room by accident and found a journal of his on the ground. It’s all filled out and I don’t think he’s going to want it anytime soon.”

The girl then handed Micah a leather-bound journal. Micah placed it on his desk, thinking through this slowly. “Thank you for telling me about this Jocelyn… I’ll be going to the cafeteria now.” She would nod before hearing Micah’s voice. “And don’t try crawling into my room anytime soon!”

Jocelyn would giggle. “I make no promises!”

///

When the two arrived at the cafeteria, Micah wasn’t expecting to see Elijah look so… calm? He didn’t know how to explain the expression on Elijah, but Micah could guess that his older brother was simply pretending to be happy as to not cause any more drama. Judah was sitting next to Elijah, though he looked like he would rather sink into the floor than be at the table. Michelle sat on the other side of the table facing Elijah and was eating a sandwich when she spotted the other Nelson. Her fingers nearly dug into the bread when she saw Micah and her eyes darted from him to Elijah, almost as if she was asking for help.

”Hey Michelle, hey Elijah.” Micah greeted as he sat next Michelle. The energy in the cafeteria quickly shifted to one of being tense.

The Nelson in blue gave his younger brother across him a smile a bit too big. “Hey Micah! Sorry about ignoring you.”

”No, it’s really fine.”  Micah would assure his older brother. What he really needed to do was to play it safe and not set Elijah in a rage. “So, you feeling better?”

Elijah would barely make an effort to respond. “I guess… what I really want to do is talk to Shiloh though. I’ve been meaning to talk to her for a while.”

Micah would notice Elijah’s hands clench into fists and looked to Judah. Judah gave an unsure shrug, looking really awkward and nervous around the Nelson in blue. Micah then finally mustered up a reply to his older brother. “I’m not sure if she’s ready to talk to you yet.”

”Why not?” Elijah would tilt his head.

Michelle was quick to reply. “She’s busy in a project! Yea, a project!”

”Psh… a project.” Elijah would scoff, not even trying to hide his disdain. He sighed as he got up with his tray of food. “Well, if you excuse me, I’m going now.”

The three others would say goodbye to Elijah before Judah finally started to speak. It seemed like he was wanting to speak for a while. “I haven’t told you guys yet but Mary planned us a new mission but she really wants Elijah and Shiloh to go but I don’t think they should because Shiloh’s been talking about how she doesn’t want to talk with Elijah yet and I’m scared with what Elijah with what he wants to talk to Shiloh about!”

Micah and Michelle watched as Judah took a deep breath after saying all that in one breath. Michelle sighed as she finished the last of her burger. “I, at the least, think that it would be a good idea to put them in the mission together. We can watch their interactions at least.”

The Nelson in green would nod, though his response felt distant. “Yea… yea…”

The three agents remained in the cafeteria for a while before Micah was called for help with the remain of Josiah’s unfinished work.

Chapter Text

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Mary asked her younger brotherr as she waited for the agents. “I mean, who knows how Elijah will be with Shiloh.”

Daniel shook his head and ran a hand through his messy blonde hair. “I mean, this is our only shot in getting them to interact while we can watch them.”

Mary sighed before looking up and seeing the agents walk in. She subtly elbowed for Daniel to look up. The Nelson in white was quick to scrabble to activate the hologram on the console so she could prepare to show them what mission they were going on. Micah, Judah, Michelle, and Gala gathered around the console. Elijah lingered behind Micah for a moment before going to the console. Shiloh stood by Judah’s side, seemingly trying to make space between her and Elijah. Daniel stood by his older sister’s side with arms crossed as he watched Mary start up the hologram. His eyes lingered on Gala a bit longer. He realised he hadn’t talked with the princess since the incident.

Since the incident, Gala had (surprisingly) chosen to confide in Daniel like how David was confiding with Brittany. Daniel hadn’t expected for the princess to choose him to stick to of all people, but he assume that she hung with him the most due to Michelle being busy with taking care of Micah.

”Alright guys, you ready for this mission?” Mary asked as the hologram lit in front of her. “This Raelo mission is fairly easy. All you have to do is help rebuild the village along with collecting supplies for the agency to study up on.”

”You mean the Malkate Stardrop Lillies?” Elijah pointed out at the hologram flower displayed.

”Yep. These flowers have a special freezing property that the lab wants to study.” Daniel would answer. “While you’re there and helping the villagers, you can help find the flowers as well!”

”Isn’t the Malkate Raelo like, really cold?” Judah would point out.

”You’ll be at the base of the mountain’s, so no need about freezing your nose off.” Mary would chuckle.

Daniel and Mary would watch the agents filter out of the console room. The older Nelson then turned to her brother. “Now all we gotta do is wait.”

///

When the group landed in the Raelo, Micah was the first to take the lead. “Okay, Michelle and Gala will help with finding the flowers. Alex and Cole, you’ll be in charge with building. Patience and Judah, you’ll help with the gardening. Elijah, Shiloh, and I will go gather the materials. Alright guys, let’s go!”

Elijah watched as Micah and Judah spoke off to the side. He gave a scoff with his arms crossed before seeing Shiloh. Hmph, maybe he could talk with her now. But before he could even approach his younger sister, Micah was done talking and came up to the two. “Alright. You guys ready?”

The Nelson in blue only rolled his eyes but plastered a smile. “Ready as I can! And you Shiloh?”

Shiloh would nod but remain silent. The three then were off to the forest.

Judah watched his three siblings walk into the woods and sighed. “Man, I hope this works…”

Patience would raise an eyebrow. “Sorry, just curious. What exactly are you trying to plan with them?”

The Nelson in orange would struggle to find the right words before speaking. “Well, after Elijah and Shiloh’s fight, we kinda heard how Elijah blamed Shiloh for almost everything. And after that, Shiloh spoke to me about how she was kinda mad at Elijah..? I don’t know how to explain, it’s really complicated.”

Patience would pat the Nelson in orange. “Okay then, let’s just focus on our task first, then we’ll worry about them alright?”

Meanwhile, Michelle and Gala were near the base of the mountains when Michelle decided to talk to the princess. Ever since the fight, Michelle didn’t have the chance to talk to the princess since she was preoccupied with trying to take care of Micah as well. She knew that the princess had chose to stick with Daniel of all people, but she could see them being friends so she didn’t question too much about it.

”Hey Gala..?”

”Hmm?”

“. . .”

”What’s up Michelle?”

”How have you been?”

A chuckle, an uneasy chuckle, but still a chuckle. “What do you mean?”

A sigh, a tired sigh. “You know what I mean.”

There would be an uncomfortable pause before the princess replied. She would stop and sit on the cold dirt. “To he honest, whole week has got me feeling insane.”

Michelle stared at the princess, knowing there was more behind her words. “What do you mean by that?”

”Just… just a lot of regret really.” The princess mumbled. Michelle remained silent as she waited for the princess to continue. “I… I should’ve told him I liked him. But I was just being stupid and thought that he was just being nice. Now I’ll never know.”

Before Michelle could speak to comfort Gala, the two turned around to hear shrill screams. The two girls looked at each other before sprinting towards the screams to find Alex and Cole running right to them. Michelle would shake her head, confused to the sudden outburst. “Woah! What has gotten into you two?!”

Alex and Cole would sputter before shouting in a whisper at the same time. “Malduum’s agents are here!”

///

Micah walked between Elijah and Shiloh silently, unsure who would be the first to speak. Not to his surprise, Elijah was the first.

”So Shiloh, how have you been?” The Nelson in blue would ask a bit too calmly. “Not gallivanting off to do some other secret mission potentially putting us in danger now, right?”

The Nelson in purple froze from picking up wood for a moment before returning back to her work. She made not much effort to reply to her brother. “No, just hanging in my room. Haven’t been given a mission to do anyways.”

Micah felt his skin crawl with how thick the tension was between the two Nelsons. Every word they spoke had some sort of meaning behind it and the Nelson in green had no clue as to what it could even mean. He could see Elijah rolling his eyes at Shiloh’s answers. “So now you’re just deciding to play safe huh? Not trying to even bother about-.”

”Look!” Shiloh snapped, whirling to face her older brother. “I’m trying to keep the peace between us but all you’ve been trying to do is push my buttons all day! I would have told you about some research I’ve been doing, but now since you’re being so petty, I won’t!”

At this, Elijah groaned. “Okay so now you’re just being immature.”

Micah gave a quiet gasp before turning to see Shiloh’s reaction. The Nelson in purple looked like she was ready to lunge at Elijah if Micah wasn’t with them. Shiloh took a deep breath and calmed her nerves before she spoke again. “I’m planning on reviving Josiah.”

”WHAT.”

Shiloh shook her head. “It’s a long story but I know there has to be some way! Elijah, do you still have your shirt you wore that day and have you washed it yet?”

The Nelson in blue would hesitate as his eyes darted from Shiloh to Micah. “Y-Yea… haven’t brought myself to get rid of it yet.”

”Good.” Shiloh nodded as she began to do the pose her siblings called ‘the thinking pose’. “If I can sample some of Josiah’s blood from that shirt, I could possibly revive him with magic and science.”

Before the Nelson in green could question everything that he was hearing, his communicator began to ring. “Uh- hello?”

”Micah, Malduum’s agents are here.” Michelle’s voice rang clear from the device. “I’m not sure why, but I don’t know what to do! Alex, Cole, Gala, and I are waiting them out at the base of the mountain right now.”

Micah gasped. “We’re on our way.”

///

Judah and Patience hid behind one of the buildings of the town after barely getting away from a robot. Patience turned to see the Nelson in orange panicking. “Judah! A-Are you alright?”

”Why are they here?!” The other would exclaim, though he forced his voice to remain quiet. He ran his hands through his hair to try and calm himself down. “There’s no reason for them to be here! U-Unless they’re after me o-or Shiloh or t-the rest of us!”

The agent in yellow would pat the Nelson, though he was too deep in his panic to focus on her. Patience then resorted to physically turning him to face her. “Judah, calm down, we’ll figure something out. Together.”

Judah’s breathing slowed as his shoulders went slack. “I-… Yea, good idea.”

The two sat on the floor of the abandoned building for a while before Patience realised Judah had scooched to sit right next to her. Her face flushed pink but she couldn’t help but smile seeing how much he trusted her. Before they knew it, Judah’s communicator started ringing. The Nelson in orange fumbled as he opened the device to see Micah’s figure pop up on the hologram. “Micah? Where are you?”

”We’re on our way to see Malduum’s agents. Stay where you are. I don’t think they are hunting for us so far.”

Judah would nod. “Got it. Promise me to stay safe?”

”Promise.”

///

Micah, Shiloh, and Elijah finally met up with the other four agents at the bottom of the mountain. “Where are they?” Shiloh asked, now being the Nelson taking charge.

“Over at where we were building.” Alex replied as he pointed over to a vague direction.

Micah, Elijah, and Shiloh nodded but were stopped by Michelle and Gala. “We’re coming with you.” The agent in pink said sternly. “After what they did to Josiah… who knows what they would do to you guys. Alex and Cole can help find Judah and Patience to start up the Beacon and we can leave safely. Daniel and Mary will understand.”

Shiloh hesitated but sighed. “Fine. Let’s do this.”

The five started marching down and scanned the site. There in front of them was a small black spacecraft with Malduum’s red emblem stamped on the side. Outside were a couple of robots and a figure cloaked in black. Black smoke curled and spilled around them as they were pressing buttons on a holographic screen. Shiloh would notice how one hand was gloved while the other hand was of black metal.

”A cyborg..?” She muttered to herself. Suddenly, she heard some yelling and looked up. There Elijah was, stomping up to the robots with his blaster in hand.

”Hey you!” The Nelson in blue shouted as he charged up his blaster. “What are you doing here?!”

The cloaked figure tilted their head to the side before removing the hood.

No. No no no no no no no no-

“I was brought here to scan for any Verdonium.” The cyborg spoke, his voice calm and collected. “I should be asking you the same question though sir.”

Elijah froze on the spot as he stared at the cyborg, no, his brother. His mouth went dry and his grip on the blaster loosened. The air went silent with only the hum of the spacecraft’s machinery. “J-Jo..?”

The other raised an eyebrow. “What’s up with you?”

Micah stared at his sister, half-expecting her to do something. When he realized she was also frozen in shock, he was the one that went up to Elijah’s side to save the situation. “W-We’re here to help rebuild the town!”

Josiah would stare at the three with an unimpressed expression. “Very amusing. Please leave.”

Elijah shook his head, somewhat snapping out of his trance. “Why are you working for Malduum..? H-He’s the bad guy!”

At this, Josiah would tense up and speak through gritted teeth. The black smoke swirling around him would grow more erratic with its curling tendrils spreading around Josiah. “Pathetic. First forgetting about your own brother and leaving him to die, now pretending like Malduum is some bad guy?”

Gala couldn’t take it anymore and ran out despite Michelle trying to hold her back. Even though Gala was an agent, it didn’t mean she was being in the mindset of one at the moment. “Josiah you can’t be serious!”

“Watch it princess.” Josiah snapped as his metallic hand suddenly warped into a blaster and fired at her feet. Gala screamed as she stumbled back, the spot where she was standing before was burnt to a crisp. “Now you guys better leave before I have to report you to him.”

Micah had to cover his mouth. “Oh sh-.”

Everyone within earshot of the Nelson in black was frozen with shock.

What… happened to him?

Chapter Text

“Judah we have to go!” Patience shouted for the Nelson in orange as she stood by the doorway.

”I-I can’t!” Judah shouted back, tears pricking the corners of his eyes.

Judah then heard the dreaded footsteps of metal coming his way. He felt his knees lock as he saw the cloaked figure alongside the robots.

”J-Josiah..?”

Patience yelped as she felt the glass door slam in her face. She got to her senses and peered through the glass to see Judah yelling for her to run. Josiah then slammed Judah to the ground with his robotic arm warping into a blaster. The agent in yellow attempted to open the door as she watched Judah fumbling for his blaster terribly.

”You’ll be the first to-.”

Before Josiah could complete his threat, glass shattered everywhere as Patience dove in, tackling Josiah to the ground. Judah scrambled to his feet and pulled Patience up.

”You better RUN!”

The two agents started sprinting for their lives while robots and a cybernetic Josiah chased after them. The duo finally reached the Beacon and leapt in. Right as Judah leapt in, he felt a cold and metallic hand grab him. The Nelson in orange screamed as he landed in the Arxis Bay, though Josiah still clung onto his brother. The agents gasped seeing Josiah’s upperhalf of his body halfway out of the golden energy portal.

”Get back here!” Josiah shouted as he yanked his younger brother closer.

”You’re not my brother!” Judah yelled back as he struggled to be free from Josiah’s grasp. “Y-You can’t be!”

Elijah was quick to fire an energy pulse at Josiah, startling him just long enough to let go of Judah. The Arxis Bay echoed with Josiah’s screams as he warped back to the other end of the portal.

///

That was a year ago.

Judah yelled as he rolled out from his bed. He groaned as he got to his feet. “Always the stupid nightmare…”

The Nelson in orange didn’t even bother to look up as he heard his bedroom door open. “JUDAH! HE’S AWAKE!”

That caught Judah’s attention as he looked up to see Micah standing at the doorway with wide eyes.

In the past month, the Nelsons had miraculously recovered Josiah back. The only way they brought him back was by shutting down his robotic half. After figuring out the black smoke was the magic of the Dark Chess King, they brought in the other Chess King to counteract it. Marcus was happy to help and managed to do it in no time. All the agents had to do was wait for Josiah to wake up from cryostasis.

Judah sat on the floor while tangled in his blanket. He stared at his older brother while sputtering about how glad he was. Micah only raised a confused eyebrow with his arms crossed. “You know you can tell me if you don’t want to meet him right now. I won’t judge.”

The Nelson in orange squirmed on the floor. “I-It’s not that I don’t want to meet him, I just-… mmmm I don’t know how to explain…”

Micah would chuckle and wave his hand. “Don’t worry bro! Out of everyone, I’m not too surprised that you’re the first one not to want to visit him so soon. I mean, after you know what.”

The younger Nelson would grumble as he stared at the floor. “I know but it feels wrong for me not wanting to…”

The Nelson in green would assure his brother that it was fine before leaving. Judah would flop back on the floor with a loud groan as he kicked his legs around. How could he be like this? This was his own brother who they thought was dead for the longest time now here and alive! Yet a part of him still refused to want to visit the Nelson in black.

So this pattern of Judah trying to reason with himself to see Josiah continued for three days. The most infuriating part was the fact that nobody was trying to force him to meet his brother. They were all okay with him not wanting to and that made the Nelson in orange feel even worse.

///

“Systems reactivating. Cryopod unlocking.”

All Josiah remembered was being in a chaotic battle and someone jabbing a hard drive in the back of his neck, causing his systems to freak out and shut down. Now he was in a frosted cryopod of sorts, though he was now surrounded by white frosty fog instead of the suffocating black smog from before. He could feel his robotic eye recalibrating, scanning everything around him. He gave a soft groan as he heard the door in front of him creak open. The Nelson had to balance himself as he slowly stepped out, having to grab on the side of the pod to keep him up. His breathing was hoarse as his eyes had to readjust to the lighting.

”Josiah!”

He flinched hearing his name. His ears rang and his head spun, trying to figure out what was going on. He swatted away the blurry blobs that tried to approach him. He groaned as he slowly straightened up before realising his robotic arm and leg were removed. No wonder why his balance was terrible. But the moment he figured out, his brain seemed to snap into reality. His eyes focused onto the first person standing in front of him.

”Patience.”

The agent in the white lab coat yelped as Josiah tried to lunge at her, though he ultimately flopped on the floor. He gave a growl as he wiggled onto his bum, struggling to get back up. His focus then shifted to the person standing next to Patience. Another checkered-faced man, but he was clad in white. He was not Lucious. When Patience tried to offer her hand to help Josiah up, he was quick to swat it away. “What do you want? Why am I…”

He suddenly began to start blinking frantically as he continued to inhale the white fog. Something about this fog seemed to clear out his mind, changing his previous memories and stunning him for a moment.

The agent in the lab coat would watch as Josiah slowly trailed off, a soft smile on her face. “I’ll get the others.”

Josiah watched as the agent left, leaving him and the checkered-faced man alone in the lab. The Nelson sat on the floor and stared at the man for a while, trying to place a name to his face. “You are not Lucious.” Was all he could say.

The other would chuckle hearing Josiah’s remark. “Yes, I see my brother’s magic must have messed up your memory terribly. I’m Marcus.”

The Nelson stared at the hand offered to him but didn’t take it. “Why should I trust you working with the others? They are all traitors.”

Marcus sighed as he sat on the floor in front of the sulking Nelson. “That is where your memories have been messed up. Lucious’s magic is, unfortunately, stronger than mine. I have managed to restore as much as I can, but some of them will have to be restored naturally. However, even with my magic restoring your memories…” Marcus trailed off before taking a breath and looking back at the younger one. “You may have the true memories and the perspective on how it happened, but it cannot change what you believe in your mind.”

Josiah stared at the older man with a stunned expression on his face. Before he could respond, he flinched hearing a familiar voice gasping at the entrance of the lab.

”Josiah?”

The Nelson did not look up while the other Nelsons stood at the doorway.

“I want my limbs back.” Was all Josiah said, still staring at the floor. “Then we’ll talk.”

Mary hesitated as she glanced over to the bench that had the two robotic limbs lying down. “Can we trust you with it?”

The Nelson in black hesitated as his hand clenched into a fist. Marcus looked back up to the Nelsons. “I haven’t used my magic in a while. Even if my magic was stronger, it will be a long time before he can… return to normal so to say.”

Marcus would slowly help Josiah up as the Nelson leaned on the table close by him to stay up. Josiah would stare at his siblings, though his siblings felt as if he was giving a very judgmental and scary glare at them. Josiah’s breathing was still raspy as he struggled to shuffle around. Daniel was quick to help his brother, though he could tell Josiah was reluctant for the assistance. Marcus shuffled over to Shiloh as he watched the Nelsons slowly going up to Josiah.

”I suggest letting him readjust himself here for a while by himself. Then you should start interacting with him at the least.”

The Nelson in purple gave a slow nod, though she herself was wary being around Josiah.

///

Then Josiah chose to go to the kitchen by himself one night.

The Nelson in black was still reclusive to being with anyone, but he was slowly opening up to the agents and his older siblings. He was still mainly holding a grudge against Elijah and Shiloh however. He would note how he had not seen Judah the past week, or at least not spoken with him. Now he made his way to the kitchen, his footsteps literally not making a sound.

Judah was in the kitchen making himself a nice PB and J sandwich at 3 in the morning. Why was he doing it? Because this was probably the only time he would have to himself without being questioned as to why he wanted to be a lone to eat a random sandwich by himself. He would also admit it was because he couldn’t sleep. Right as he was about to take his first bite, he froze hearing the kitchen door open. He slowly looked up to see a glinting red eye on a figure that could possibly loom over him and punt him to the moon. The Nelson in orange immediately felt like he wanted to sink into the floor as he realised who it was that was walking into the dim kitchen.

”J-Josiah! H-Hey!” The younger Nelson stuttered.

”Hello.” Josiah would reply coolly. “I… haven’t spoken to you since I woke up from the pod.”

Judah chuckled nervously as he slightly shuffled away from his older brother. Ever since Josiah got his robotic limbs, the older Nelson had appeared much more cold and menacing than Judah remembered. “Yea… weird huh?”

Silence would stuff the kitchen as Josiah rummaged the shelf for whatever food he wanted; he noted Judah’s nervousness. “I suppose… I’m not surprised. Sorry for that… time I nearly yanked you back from that Arxis Bay.”

Judah would tense up as he remembered the incident. “Yea… I-It’s alright.”

The two continued to remain in the silence until Josiah spoke up again. “It’s weird being back. It’s… going to take a while for me to get adjusted again.”

”I can imagine.” Judah mumbled as he glanced off to the side, eating his sandwich. “Well… glad you’re back and uh, feeling better.”

Josiah would nod as he grabbed the bag of chips from the shelf. “Good night Judah.”

”Night.”

Judah watched as his brother walked out. Suddenly his shoulder relaxed and he felt as though a giant weight was removed off his chest. Maybe he did just need to talk with his brother. A part of the younger Nelson now wanted to help his older brother even more now.

Chapter Text

“Just use your masculine charm!”

Micah grimaced as he thought back on that sentence. Gah, he didn’t like those words when they were mashed together. When he landed back in the agency, he was quick to hand over the android to his sister and walk off. Talia would notice how frazzled up Micah was and went to follow.

”Hey Micah, you good?”

The Nelson in green flinched hearing Talia coming up to him from behind. “Ah-! I-I’m just going to go find Michelle! Sorry if you’re swooned by my masculine charm or whatever but that’s not be right now hahahaha! Uh- See ya!”

The other agent would watch in confusion as Micah waddled off with an awkward look on his face.

Micah would groan as he facepalmed himself around the corner. Stupid! Why would he assume that she was worried for him over his masculine charm! He doesn’t even have that sort of thing! Micah was quick to make his way to find the other agent. As he continued to think through about this situation, the deeper he fell into a confused rabbit hole about whether he and Michelle were truly an official thing or if they were just friends with benefits (speaking of which, he still had to ask Daniel what that meant). All of his confused rabbit hole thoughts soon washed away once he reached Michelle’s room. He stood outside for a solid couple of minutes trying to remember what he was going to tell her and explain what had happened. He then took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

”Heeeeeeeey, Michelle?”

The mentioned agent would look up from her desk to see Micah looking like a nervous wreck. “Uhm, you good my dude?”

Micah completely melted with Michelle’s gaze. Oh gods, this was making him even more nervous. After wringing his hands a couple times, he finally began to speak. “So, I kinda had to do a thing during the mission today…”

The girl raised an eyebrow as she slowly got up. “Do explain more.”

Micah would continue to shrink as he continued to sputter out his words. “I had to- like, uh, Y’know when you have to get information out of someone but, like, you gotta do it in a different way?”

Michelle’s face scrunched into confusion. “Micah, you’re probably making it weirder than you are trying to make it.”

The agent in green would whine as his grabbed his hair. “I had to kinda use masculine charm on Talia cause Judah and I thought that she was kinda sus and Judah called it masculine charm but now I think it’s just kinda weird?” His posture would continue to scrunch up until he was practically cowering with his shoulders tensed and one eye closed with the other looking at her nervously.

There would be a pause of silence between the two agents before a soft smile would break on Michelle’s face. She slowly crouched down to Micah and cupped his face to look at her properly. Micah’s face would heat up as he stared at Michelle with wide eyes. “As long as you did it for the mission, I am totally fine for it. The fact you even wanted to tell me in the first place just proves to me you would never mean it in the first place.”

”. . . Really?” Micah barely squeaked out.

”Of course.” Michelle chuckled. “And besides, I doubt your ‘masculine charm’ would work on anyone else.”

”Wha- hey!” Micah gasped as he shot back up, standing at his full height. “I can tell you I have some really good masculine charm!” He froze as Michelle raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “I-I mean, not like I want to use it on anyone else.”

Michelle would break out in laughter and gently pat him on the shoulder. “Don’t be such a wimp! I won’t be that hard on you for going off like that if you have to do it for the job! But if you do it seriously… nah, I doubt you’d do that.”

Micah chuckled before hugging Michelle with relief. “Thank you, I really needed to get that off my head.”

The other agent squeaked like a squeaky toy before being released from the hug. Micah would giggle hearing Michelle’s squeak and boop her in the nose. Michelle rolled her eyes but couldn’t help but grin. “Okay, now that you are feeling better, how about we go get some ice cream?”

Micah would nod happily and linked his arm with hers before skipping out of the room happily. Michelle yelped as she was suddenly yanked out of the room. She was quick to hear giggling behind and whipped around to see Talia, Patience, Cole, Gala and Judah giggling at the two. Michelle would stick her tongue out as she turned back to Micah.

”You good Michelle?”

”Uh-, yep! So what ice cream do you think on getting?”

Chapter Text

Daniel sighed as he sat down in his makeshift tent for the night. “Geez, great place to end up.” He muttered to himself as he prodded at his can of beans. “Why did I even come here in the first place?”

In truth, the only reason why Daniel had landed in this Raelo to begin with was because he had mistaken it for another Raelo. However, his Raelo-hopping device took about a week to cool down, so he supposed this could be a break for him. He would have been enjoying right now if he hadn’t landed in the middle of nowhere though. Now all he was doing was waiting for his device to cool down and figure out how to get to any place of civilization.

”Wonder if there’s any… and there’s no signal.” Daniel grumbled as he opened up his communicator, only to see it spazzing out. He soon flopped on his back and stared at the top of his tent, waiting for the waves of sleepiness to hit him. Right as he was about to go to dreamland, he was rudely startled awake by a loud screech. He yelped as he sat back up to stare out of his tent. “That was great.”

The blonde slowly crawled out of the tent and squinted into the dark forest. He could barely make out anything in front of him, only a glowing ball that was rapidly approaching him. Daniel was quick to drop on his stomach as the glowing light ball, which turned out to be a fireball, crashed right towards him and knocked down his tent. The blonde staggered to his feet and was quick to get his blaster ready; he was ready to fight anyone for disturbing his already bad night. He started making his way towards the way the fireball came from. The blonde hid behind a tree as he heard voices.

”Move it princess. We needa get outta here soon.” A nasally voice hissed to the other.

”And why should I?” A female, British-sounding voice retorted back. “You wouldn’t dare hurt the princess, would you?”

”Don’t test us.” A gruffer voice snapped back. “Karlix, stop being a fool and hurry up.”

”Yes yes, sorry boss.” The nasally voice mumbled.

Daniel’s face scrunched up hearing the conversation. Huh, might as well save this princess right? Whoever this girl was, she sounded important. Daniel tightened his grip on his blaster before slipping in and out of the shadows, knocking out the goblins one by one. It was a fairly easy take down despite there being about seven of them armed with magic. After the scuffle, Daniel approached the lady carefully and undid the ropes that tied her up. “Uhm, you alright?”

The other would stare at Daniel with wide eyes. “No way… you just- goodness! Where are my manners! Come, let me bring you back to the castle. What is your name?”

“I-I’m Daniel! W-Where are we-.” Before Daniel could protest, he was quickly dragged off to who-knows-where.

///

“How did this happen? First you save a princess, now you’re going to meet the king tomorrow?!” Daniel exclaimed to himself. “What’s next, you’re going to get coronated as king? Hah, that would be insane.”

It wasn’t long before it was the next day and Daniel was scrambling for his nicest looking clothes. He was struggling to fix his hair when he heard someone knocking on the door. “Just a minute!” The blonde rushed to the door, plastering a smile on his face. “Hey! Whatcha need?”

The elf servant would bow before speaking. “Apologies for the sudden intrusion. Your presence is requested in the Princess’s court. The King is dead.”

Daniel would stare at the elf, eyes wide and stunned. “O-Oh! I’m so sorry to hear that.” He was quite confused as to why the servant was so calm with giving out this news but assumed that there was something he didn’t know.

The elf would shake his head. “It is quite alright. But do please hurry, the princess waits for you. Ring the bell and the other servants will escort you there shortly.”

Daniel watched as the elf servant left him. The blonde had to hype and prep himself up before he could even ring the bell. He then began walking down the hall as the elf servants escorting him were whispering (he guessed about himself). When the Nelson arrived, the elf servants were quick to scatter.

Daniel was rather nervous as he walked up to the center of the room. To each side of the tall and very golden throne room or hall were a bunch of people murmuring. They watched the Nelson walk up to the throne where the princess he had saved was seated. On either side of her were two men that looked way older than her, both in matching robes of red and black with a scowl on their faces as they examined Daniel. The princess’s pure white hair was coiled up perfectly as her dark skin glittered in the sun light that filtered through the tall windows. The Nelson froze as he stared at her outfit and compared it to his. While her outfit was a gorgeous cream, green, and golden dress, Daniel was wearing a faded out vest with a crinkly dress-shirt underneath with his gear pants still on.

”Man, I should’ve bought better clothes when I could.” Daniel mumbled to himself. He shook his head and out his serious face on.

”Hello Sir Daniel.” The princess greeted, her accent still intriguing the blonde Nelson.

”Hello Princess… Uhm…” Daniel gave a bow but froze as he realised he did not know the princess’s name. His eyes went wide as he stared at the princess, unsure what to do now. He could hear the audience around him snickering, gasping, and murmuring about him.

”Princess Alèlia.” The princess chuckled as she waved a hand. “Apologies for not introducing myself sooner.” Daniel would give a sigh before listening to the princess continue to talk. “Now as many of you may have heard, my father and the King, passed away his sleep last night. As much as it is sad, it also leaves the kingdom with a problem: because my father did not have a son, there is no male heir to the throne. Due to the kingdom’s law, I cannot be chosen to rule either. As a result, it would lead me to having to choose the best male to take the throne. That is why I would like to crown Daniel.”

The crowd would gasp while Daniel stood there in shock. Once he got to his senses, he turned to see one of the advisors speak up. “Princess Alèlia! Don’t you think it is rather brash to appoint a random stranger to be ruler of a kingdom? If anything, it would make more sense to appoint a new King to someone closer to you, perhaps even one of us advisors.”

Daniel slightly grimaced hearing the advisor talk. He imagined them as the stereotypical slimy and arrogant advisors from those old Disney movies Shiloh used to be so obsessed with. He then looked over to the princess who also didn’t seem to like the advisor. In fact, the more he looked around, the more he realised that no one in the room seemed to like the advisors. Realising this, he decided what to do. “I accept.”

The whole room went silent hearing Daniel accepting the crown. He could see the hidden fury behind the two advisors while the golden eyes of the princess seemed to glow in glee. “Perfect! The coronation shall be in two days time! The court is dismissed. Daniel, follow me if you will.”

Daniel watched as the crowd dispersed while glancing at him and the princess and whispering loudly. The advisors slunk off into the shadows while Alèlia walked up to the Nelson. The two soon made their way to the outdoor courtyard of the palace and arrived by a gazebo in the middle of the garden. Daniel, finally realising how big the situation was, began to start the conversation. “So… Princess Alèlia-.”

”Please just call me Alè. The whole title thing gets tiring after a while.” The Princess huffed as she sat down in the gazebo, careful not to ruin her dress.

”Right… Alè.” Daniel spoke slowly as he thought through his words. “Why did you specifically want me to take the throne even though you barely knew me for even 24 hours?”

The princess would be hesitant to respond as she swished her skirt around under her feet. “Honestly it was a last minute thing. I didn’t expect my father’s passing to be so abrupt, but if we do not get a king on the throne fast enough, the power will land in the hands of my advisors by default.”

”I can tell you guys don’t like them?” Daniel raised an eyebrow as he leaned on the pillar of the gazebo with his arms crossed.

Alè chuckled hearing Daniel. “It is quite obvious I assume? But yes, besides that, you also managed to save me from those goblins! T-They’re one of the strongest battlers in the land!“

Hearing this, the blonde would stare at the princess with wide eyes. “I’m sorry, those goblins were considered strong?”

Alè shrugged. “In terms of magic wielding, yes.”

”They only know the most basic spell which is a fireball launch!”

”You can understand why I don’t want the advisors to take over the kingdom then.”

”Not really.”

”Right, I forgot to tell you. The advisors are the ones considered the best magic wielders in the land.” Alè would explain. “If they managed to take power of the kingdom, the would be able to share the knowledge of this stronger power to people to help them with their evil desires.”

Daniel finally understood. “Ohhhhh… wait, but I need to travel.” Daniel stopped leaning on the pole and stood in front of the princess. “I’m a Raelo-hopper. I-I can’t stay here to rule forever!”

At that, Alè would smirk. “I already knew seeing your Uhm…” She would gesture Daniel up and down, signalling to his scruffy attempt at a nice-looking outfit. The blonde would give an offended but playful gasp, receiving a giggle from Alè. “That is why I’m trusting to appoint you. There is a rule in the kingdom where if the King is to leave the kingdom for any reason, it is the next ruler’s job to take on the role, similar to a substitute for example. The only thing you would have to do is come back every so often to show face to assure the people that it is not just me being the kingdom’s ruler.”

”And what about the advisors?” Daniel asked worriedly. “If I’m assuming that they don’t like me, they would definitely try to do anything to take charge while you are in my place right?”

Alè would shake her head as she got to her feet and walked up to Daniel. “You don’t have to worry about me or them. I’ve been having to control them ever since my mother’s passing.”

Daniel froze seeing the princess coming closer to him, the sun hitting her in just the right angle and making her glitter. “I’m sure you’ve heard this compliment many times but you are quite literally glowing- or uh, glittering, in the sun.”

A smile would break on Alè’s face before she broke out in laughter. “No no! That is a very new compliment and thank you!”

The two would continue to chat until the conversation shifted to the topic about why Daniel was here. The blonde would sigh as he leaned on the seat of the gazebo. “Have you heard of the Hero of the Stars?”

Alè tilted her head with a confused look on her face. “Sounds like someone I should know, but no, I don’t. Is this person important?”

”Yes. She is the reason why I’ve been Raelo-hopping.” Daniel sighed. “She’s been missing for a while and I’ve been trying to find any information about where she could be.”

The princess would gasp and snapped her fingers. “Oh! The Hero of the Stars! The one who started the M.O.M Agency!” She stopped for a moment before staring at Daniel with wide eyes. “Hang on… you’re her kid!”

The Nelson would chuckle. “Yep.”

///

“And that’s how I got coronated to be the king of Faunalia.” Daniel shrugged as he leaned back in his chair. “But then when we returned back that one time, I found out the advisors had been changed and that’s why I was able to resign.”

Everyone would ‘ooo’ once he finished the story. Before they could even ask him more questions, his phone rang. Daniel took out his phone and stared at it in confusion. Hesitantly, he picked it up. “Hello?”

”Daniel! You didn’t tell me you came back for the Day of Orbit! I would’ve stayed in the palace!” A familiar, strange accented voice of a lady rang from the phone.

”Alè?!” Daniel exclaimed in surprise. “How do you have my number? Wait, how do you even have the tech for a phone, let alone know how to work one?!”

”One, spamming numbers multiple times. Two, tech has improved drastically thanks to the bits of technology you have given us. Three, I just do.” The princess replied quickly. “Back to why I called, why didn’t tell me you were coming back?!”

”I thought you would be there but when I asked, the servants said you were out of town.” The blonde chuckled sheepishly.

He would hear Alè give a ‘tsk’ of disapproval. “No no! This won’t do! I’ll be over there in a minute!”

”What-?” Daniel didn’t even have time to ask what the princess meant as she hung up. “She doesn’t even have a Beacon there.”

The Nelson brothers were quick to start teasing Daniel about the princess, but the blonde Nelson dismissed them as he made his way to the Arxis Bay. Logically, there was no way that Alè could be able to come to the agency. On the other hand, Daniel knew Alè would be smart enough to figure out how to get to the agency, especially now that he knew the Raelo’s tech had advanced significantly more. To his slight surprise, the portal began to power up.

“Daniel! The person on the other side is requesting for access! Raelo of origin is Faunelia.” One of the Arxis Bay workers explained as he stared at the console. “But we don’t have any agents there right now.”

”Open it.” Daniel instructed. The agent complied, though certainly confused.

The blonde ignored his other siblings’ exclaims of confusion as he watched a figure slowly stepping out of the golden energy. There stood Alè, her white hair still coiled perfectly as ever and her skin (somehow) glittering under the white florescent lighting. She was wearing a simple white dress with golden trim and a brown corset. “Daniel! Finally!”

The Nelson siblings would watch as Daniel and Alè began to connect as if they were long lost childhood friends. Some of the agents swore they saw Alè jumping into the blonde Nelson’s arm and the blonde Nelson swinging Alè in his arms like it was nothing. Shiloh and Michelle, in particular, stared on in complete bafflement as to how Daniel managed to pull such a glorious looking lady while he himself (compared to her at least) looked like a crinkled up chip packet. The two girls turned to each other at the same time, both with wide eyed and jaws dropped. Meanwhile, all the brothers were teasing and snickering, though equally as surprised with the princess. Afterwards, Daniel turned to his siblings. “Guys! This is Alè. Not sure how she got here but she did!”

Alè gave a small curtsy, and the others did the same. “It is lovely to finally meet Daniel’s siblings! He’s told me quite a bit about you.”

Daniel’s face flushed pink while all the agents grinned. Shiloh and Michelle were quick to whisk Alè away to girl talk while the guys continued to pelt Daniel with teases.

Chapter Text

“Woo! I like these robot suits.” Judah would giggle as he ran around his brothers.

”I wonder where we are going first.” Josiah mumbled to himself as he stared at the TV screen in the craft they were in.

”GUYS.” Micah suddenly shouted. All the brothers whipped around to stare at the green robot. “YOU CAN SHRINK.”

At this, the four Nelsons would watch the tallest brother suddenly shrink and look like a metallic pebble. The five would cackle as they all began to grow and shrink before Josiah found out he could pick up his brothers when they were in their shrunken form. Elijah was the first victim of Josiah’s realisation as the blue robot began to screech while being flung around. Daniel was quick to follow, picking up the orange robot and flinging him around along with Josiah. Elijah and Judah screamed at them while begging for Micah to help. All the green robot did was laugh at them and roll around.

”Wo-WOAH!”

The four brothers would turn and see the craft open and Micah rolling out, hitting his head at the wall of the building they had docked. Daniel and Josiah were quick to drop the two Nelsons and walk out. All five brothers stared in curiosity at where they had landed.

The room they were standing in was dark and dusty, with the ornate and yellowing wallpaper slowly peeling off while the crown molding of the wall were old and chipped. To their right were two glowing landing pads of sorts, one green and one blue. The glowing green pad had a metal cart that was waiting for someone to start carrying it around. Daniel slowly backed into the craft and stared at the TV screen. “Why is it all in emojis?”

Josiah would smirk as he nudged his brother. ”Don’t worry, I got this. Collect goods and return to the green pad. Meet the money requirements and leave. Huh, seems easy enough.”

Soon the five boys were off. Daniel was the one in charge of the cart while the four others began to explore the abandoned mansion. Elijah partnered up with Josiah while Micah was with Judah.

”Mm… this place gives me the heebie jeebies.” Elijah mumbled as he searched around for stuff to bring to the cart.

”I mean, at least there’s no monsters here!” Josiah would assure his brother.

”Dude! Look at this crazy looking statue!” Judah exclaimed as he brought it to the cart.

”Nuh uh.”

Judah and Daniel would yelp hearing the suddenly deep and slowed voice. Micah stood behind the orange robot while staring at a purple glowing hour glass. Immediately Judah and Daniel began to cackle hearing their brother’s distorted voice as he dropped it into the cart. Micah shook his head and spoke again. “See! Mine was the coolest!”

Daniel was eager to try and picked up the hour glass himself. As he guessed, his voice dropped down way too many octaves and slurred. While the three continued to mess around with the hour glass, Elijah and Josiah were busy hoisting a giant black potion bottle bigger than the two of them.

”Steady! Steady…!” Elijah continued to yell. Right as Josiah and Elijah reached the cart, Judah swung around and slammed right into the potion bottle. Everyone froze as the black potion bottle made a massive cracking sound. Judah stared Elijah and Josiah with wide eyes while the two others stared at the orange robot with angry eyes. When Josiah and Elijah delicately placed the bottle into the cart, the blue robot was quick to chase the orange robot around angrily while the orange one screamed.

The black robot rolled his eyes as he rummaged through the stuff in the cart. He then checked the screen on the cart that showed how much cash they could make with the items in the cart. “Woah, I think we can cash it in dude!”

Daniel nodded. “Alright. Elijah, Judah! We’re going!”

///

“Ooooo the shop!” Judah gasped.

The five were quick to get out and explore, but they didn’t need much (minus a radio set) so they returned back into the craft. They returned back to the mansion, though something of the layout felt off. There was a door that was missing to the side or a room that was a bit too big than before. Daniel was back on cart duty and followed around whoever he chose.

Halfway through, Elijah turned around to see a couple small ducks following him around. “Aww! Josiah look! These duckies think I’m their mom!”

Josiah grinned. “Aww! I wanna pick them up!”

The moment the black robot picked one of the ducks up, the two robots screamed as the ducks suddenly started to fly around them with their beaks spilt open four ways with multiple teeth lining the sides of the four ends of the beak.

Judah turned around as he heard a faint screaming. He held his green plate he found close to him as he raised an eyebrow. The orange robot watched his two older brothers sprinting across the hallway. Judah had to stifle a giggle as right behind the two were a flock of flying ducklings chasing after them. He then turned to start making his way to the cart before Elijah and Josiah screeched to a half right in front of their younger brothers. “Judah! Help!”

The orange robot yelped as he was suddenly attacked by the ducklings. He was quick to swat his plate around, smacking the ducklings out of the air and breaking the plate. After a moment of screaming from the three robots, the hallway fell silent. Elijah groaned as he shrunk down. “Dang it, my health is low and I lost the loot I was getting?!”

Josiah sighed in relief before turning to his side and seeing Micah in his shrunken form and hiding under a table. “What’s up with you?”

”SHHHHHH!” Micah hissed. This caught all three brothers’ attention as the green robot slowly pointed down the dark hall. “There’s a crazy monster that will grab you!”

Elijah would look confused before looking up to see a giant black figure with a white owl-like face staring down at all three. “I think that’s my cue to leave.”

”AHHHHHHHHH!”

Meanwhile, Daniel was standing near the way the brothers had come in with the cart. “Dang, where are they?” He flinched as he radio started acting up and pulled up the device. “Hello?“

”DANIEL RUN!”

The cyan robot yelped hearing the sharp yell of his younger brother. Daniel looked up to see his four brothers sprinting down at him at full speed with a giant black monster with a white owl-like face chasing after them, screeching just as loudly. Daniel soon joined in with the brothers yelling as he grabbed the cart, swung it to the green pad, and tumbled into the craft. Unfortunately, the five did not meet the cash requirement as they looked up to the screen to see the mystery man spamming them laughing emojis.

”Oh shut up!” Micah exclaimed at the TV. The emojis then responded to Micah with a clown face and a thumbs down. The green robot gave a dramatic gasp before the five were suddenly dropped into a platform floating in the void.

“Loser Tournament! Whoever wins is crowned as King of the Losers! Good luck!”

The five would stare at the items lying on the platform. The brothers were hesitant to fight each other.

“Ugh, last one standing gets the floating crown.”

This seemed to be enough to motivate the brothers, getting them into “competitive mode”.

Soon all of them sprinted to whatever they could to use as their “weapons”. Then they all began to charge at each other, flinging whatever they could to yeet their other brothers off the platform. Josiah was the first flung off thanks to Daniel sneak-attacking him from behind. The black robot yelped as he was teleported to a floating cell above the platform to watch his brothers. “Come on Daniel! Really?!”

”So-.” Before Daniel could apologise, he was suddenly smacked by a frying pan.

He yelped as he shrunk and tumbled around the platform. The cyan robot rolled around for a bit before getting to his feet and ramming himself into Micah. The green robot screeched as he flew off the platform, teleporting next to his older brother.

”Dang it!” Micah exclaimed.

It was now a showdown between Elijah, Daniel, and Judah. The three began to circle each other around the small podium that held the floating glowing crown. Elijah held a baseball bat, Judah held a frying pan, and Daniel held a mallet.

”AHHHHHH!” Elijah gave a war-cry of sorts as he suddenly started chasing Daniel. The cyan robot charged back at the blue robot, leading to both of them rolling around and falling off the platform. Judah stared in shock as he realised he was the winner. Josiah and Micah were quick to laugh and point at Daniel and Elijah. The blue and cyan robots only pouted off to the side as the orange robot below them was crowned. The five were then teleported to the craft again, with Judah flaunting off the small golden crown that was on him.

”Haha! You guys lost to me!” Judah snickered. “Me of all people!”

”Oh shut it!” Elijah and Daniel snapped at the same time.

”You both fell off the platform together!” Micah cackled.

”How did you think that was a good idea?!” Josiah exclaimed.

”Hush it! You were the first knocked out!”

Chapter Text

Elijah hummed as he left the kitchen. Ah, there was nothing better to do than to have a nice cup of coffee in the morning.

Though he didn’t like the fact that he considered 4 AM to be morning.

Shrugging that fact away, he slunk back into his room to finish up on a report he was doing. He didn’t mind staying up late to finish work, he basically did it when he was younger anyways. He fiddled with those pop-it straws that made funny sounds when he stretched it as he stared at the reprint before him. He thought the sound was funny and loved popping them right up to his unsuspecting sibling’s ear. It always gave them a jolt of surprise. The Nelson in blue chuckled as he remembered Shiloh reaction when he did to her the other day; she nearly slapped him if it wasn’t for him doubling down in laughter. Before Elijah began to write the next few words on the report, his hand froze.

What was that ticking sound?

His eyes went wide and he immediately looked down to see if anything was strapped under or on him. The Nelson gave a sigh of relief as he found nothing. The next place he was going to check was anything around him. After about five minutes of checking and double-checking, he still found nothing. Stumped, he began to search in the most obscure places in his room. Maybe that could be where the source was? But that didn’t make sense. The ticking sound never faded nor grow louder. It was the same volume of just barely audible but loud enough to catch the Nelson’s attention at all and every place he stood. It almost sounded like it was echoing just right behind him, but whenever he turned around he was met to nothing that could be the source of the ticking. Logically, that made no sense whatsoever.

”Hello?” Elijah finally called out. Maybe it wasn’t a device that was making the ticking sound, but a person. He held the stretchy straw in his hands and continued to stretch it to calm him in any way it could.

No reply.

”Maybe I just need to sleep…” The Nelson mumbled to himself as he sat back at his desk. He flopped onto his bed face first, trying to smother out the sound of the ticking.

The next thing he knew, it was 10 AM and a blur of orange was diving at him. Elijah didn’t even have time to react as he rolled onto his back to see his brother suddenly flying at him.

”WAKE UP SLEEPY HEAD!”

”Man what the heck?”

Judah would giggle as he rolled off his brother and into the floor. Elijah was less than amused as he sat up in the bed and rubbed his face. But as the daze of the couple hours of trashy sleep began to subside, the Nelson in blue tensed up.

The ticking sound was back.

”Judah, do you hear that”

”Hear what?”

”Shhhh!” Elijah rolled off the bed, grabbed Judah’s face, and brought a finger to his own mouth to ‘shhh’ his younger brother. After a second of silence, Elijah yelped as the ticking came back. “That! That ticking sound!”

The Nelson in orange would raise an eyebrow at Elijah’s sudden demeanour. “No..? I think you might just be a bit tired bro.” Judah glanced over to his brother’s desk to see a half-finished mug of coffee. “Yea… pretty tired. Were you trying to pull an all-nighter?” The Nelson in blue hesitated, avoiding eye contact with his brother. Judah gave a disappointed sigh. “Come on, I thought we already talked about this bro.”

Elijah shook his head as he got to his feet, running a hand through his hair. The Nelson in blue also seemed to completely ignore his younger brother. “How do you not hear the ticking? You must be laying a prank on me or something.”

Judah only looked even more confused hearing his older brother start to frantically ramble. “Elijah, you okay? Like seriously, I’m not hearing any ticking sound. Should we get you checked out?”

”No!” Elijah yelped, suddenly feeling defensive. He gulped and stuttered a bit more. “N-No, I’m g-good.”

The younger Nelson shrugged. “If you say so. I just came in to check on you but I… guess you’re doing good?”

”Yea yea.” Elijah mumbled as he waved his brother out of his room. “I… Give me a second to change.”

Judah gave some small finger guns and left the room, leaving the paranoid agent in blue by himself. Elijah was quick to scratch his head and grab his stretchy straw. This didn’t make sense! This constant ticking sound was only for Elijah to hear. But why? There was nothing that happened to him in the past week that Elijah could rationally explain why this started. It only started last night, so surely he must had done something during the day then right? But he had basically stayed in the agency the whole day, he hadn’t even entered the labs (both scientific and magical oriented). The more he tried to think this through, the louder and faster and more demanding the ticking grew. Elijah just wanted to rip his hair out or just yank his ears off, just anything to stop the incessant ticking going on in the back of his head. His breathing pace quickened and he started muttering incoherent grunts and grumbles, shaking his head to do whatever he could to muffle the ticking at the slightest. The Nelson in blue started pacing around in his room before bumping into his desk. He stared at the wooden surface of the desk and mechanically started pushing off everything that was on his desk. The stack of papers scattered on the floor while the lukewarm mug of coffee stained the carpet.

Silence. He needed silence.

Maybe if he just silenced his brain right now then the ticking would stop.

Right?

He didn’t even realise that his other brothers had already entered his room, trying to snap him out of his panicked trance.

///

Judah did not believe that Elijah was getting changed when the Nelson in orange left the room. The first thing he did was call for Micah and Daniel to come over (Josiah was busy in the lab with Mary and Patience). He tapped his foot on the ground as he waited for his brothers to arrive. Once they did, Judah started to explain what just happened. Micah and Daniel were just as stumped as Judah.

”I doubt Elijah would try to prank us like that so early in the morning.” Daniel mumbled as he crossed his arms.

”Yea…” Judah agreed. He then gave a sigh of annoyance and pinched his nose bridge. “And why was he pulling another all-nighter? Are you kidding me?”

Micah grumbled something before raising an eyebrow. “Did you guys hear that?” Judah and Daniel watched as the Nelson in green pressed his ear to Elijah’s door. The other Nelson’s eyes went wide. He then began to try at the door to open it. “Open the door Elijah, what are you doing in there?”

Judah’s face furrowed in confusion. “Micah, what’s going on?”

”I don’t know what’s going in there, but I just heard him bang on something.” Micah spoke frantically, almost too fast for his brothers to catch. He patted his pant legs down. “I don’t’ have the master keycard either!”

”Move.” Daniel stated simply as he nudged Judah to the side. He then pulled out a white and golden keycard and swiped it on door’s keycard scanner. The door slowly opened, but the Nelson in blonde shoved it open to the side. Judah gasped and was the first to go to Elijah’s side.

”Elijah what are you doing?!” Judah exclaimed.

”I-I… Silence.” Elijah struggled to speak as he attempted to try to get out of Judah’s grasp. His jaw was slack as he panted, trying to march towards his desk. “I… I need silence.”

Daniel was quick to pin his brother down. “No, we’re going to the Medic Bay right now.”

Elijah tried to wiggle out of Daniel’s arms as he was slung over his older brother’s shoulders. Micah just stared at the desk while Judah began to clean up the papers on the floor and the coffee on the carpet. The Nelson in green took a step back with a hand over his mouth. “Oh gods… w-why would he do that..?”

Judah tried his best not to look at the desk, but he couldn’t ignore the red drips on the edge of the wooden surface. The Nelson in orange bit his lip as he forced his attention down on the coffee stain. “What was that ticking..?”

Micah slowly picked up the funny looking straw that Elijah so often fiddled with. “I really don’t know.” 

///

Elijah woke up in a daze in an absurdly bright room.

”Why am I here..?” The Nelson in blue grumbled as he stared at the white sheets on top of him.

Hang on.

The ticking was gone.

He done it! The ticking was-.

”AH!”

The Nelson in blue helped as he heard the funky popping sounds of his stretchy straw right at his ear. His eyes went wide as he whipped to his right to see Micah standing there with the stretchy straw in hand. The Nelson in green gave a cheesy grin but quickly dropped the straw on the bed and hugged Elijah as tight as he could.

”Tell me the ticking is gone..?”

”. . . Yea, it is.”

”And do you… feel better?”

”Besides the couple stitches in my head, yea…”

Chapter Text

“Micah!”

The mentioned Nelson turned to see Michelle running up to him. On the mission that the two had just gotten out of, the two were surprised not to be paired up. Not like they didn’t mind, but Micah and Michelle were talking extra smack about each other. Now Michelle finally found the other and wanted to talk to him.

”What’s up?”

”I heard you were talking smack about me?”

Micah gave a playful smirk as he crossed his arms.

”And I heard you were also talking smack about me.”

”And what if I was?”

The two had a minute long stare down before Micah broke it off. Michelle grinned before twirling in front of him.

”I won!”

”Yea yea, you won the bet. Not a big deal.”

”You know what to do~!”

Micah’s lips tightened to a line as he scooped Michelle up bridal-style with surprising ease. The other yelped in surprise, not expecting to be scooped up like that. Her face turned red as she stared at the Nelson in green.

”Micah! You didn’t tell me it was like this!”

”How else did you think I was going to pick you up? Like this?”

Micah then hoisted Michelle up to sit on his shoulder. Her eyes went wide as she realized just how strong Micah was. She didn’t notice that she was slowly leaning back and nearly toppled over if it was for Micah locking her in place. Michelle was now looking behind Micah while her stomach was being jabbed on his shoulder.

”Hey let me go!”

Michelle flailed her legs, which didn’t doo much seeing that her legs were kicking away from Micah. The Nelson in green rolled his eyes as he slid Michelle off his shoulder and back into the bridal-style scoop. The agent in pink was now a flustered mess in his arms as he started walking down the halls.

”This is stupid.”

”You made the bet for you to get princess treatment!”

”Not like this!”

”What else were you thinking of that would be princess treatment but not this?!”

”I don’t know! Getting stuff served to me or something? I don’t like this though!”

”Your face is still red.”

”. . . It is?”

“You so totally like it and think it’s hot.”

”Now you’re pushing it!”

Micah suddenly then froze in the middle of the hallway as he heard his siblings chattering down in a room. A mischievous smirk grew on his face and Michelle noticed.

”MICAH NO!”

”Come on! I’m doing the bet!”

”NOT LIKE THIS!”

Michelle struggled to get out of Micah’s surprisingly strong grasp.

”What the hell? Since when did you start working out?”

”I mean, I do it on and off. Daniel and Elijah are more of the gym bros. Judah tries to get into it but whines more. Josiah and William only do it to impress the girls.”

“Micah? Michelle? What are you two doing?”

Micah and Michelle looked up, not realising they had walked into the room already. Michelle gasped as tried to hide her red face while Micah only gave a mischievous expression.

”I lost a bet and now I have to give Michelle princess treatment.”

”SHUT UP!”

Micah managed to dodge a slap from the other as he strutted out, leaving the other Nelsons snickering and taking photos.

That’s why Michelle cringes with giving or getting special treatment done to her in public, especially when it’s with Micah.

///

“Michelle!”

The agent in pink turned around to see the Nelson in green waving her over. She raised an eyebrow as she left her station to go over and see what he was up with. Right before she got to him, the ground began to shake. She yelped as she fell to the ground and the world around her spun. She blinked rapidly before seeing that she had landed in some pink candyland.

”. . . What?”

Michelle staggered to her feet to look around. Where was she? First she was in the Skeld, now she was here? This didn’t make sense unless…

”Oh no.”

She turned around to see Judah rubbing his head and looking up to see Michelle confused as well. She slowly approached the Nelson in orange. Both of them seemed as equally confused as to how they got here.

”Lemme guess, another Raelo collision merge thing or whatever?”

Michelle shrugged at Judah’s suggestion. Before she could even reply, the two warped into what appeared to be an empty white hall with old lights flickering above. The hall was echoey with metal bleachers in either side. In front of the two appeared to be a double door made with white metal. On the other side the two agents could hear some chattering, though they couldn’t put the names to the voices. The two looked at each other before cracking the door open.

”Michelle! Judah!”

Michelle and Judah yelped as they were tackled by Patience and Shiloh. Once the four got to their feet, Michelle was the first to speak up.

”Okay. So what the heck is happening?”

”So it seems another Raelo collision merge thing has happened again. Don’t worry, it seems this is like the… purgatory? I’m not sure, but everyone who seems to be warping around thanks to the Raelo collision lands here.”

Shiloh continued to explain, saying that this Raelo seems to work similar to the Backrooms and because of that ended up not appearing as its own Raelo. The team back in the Agency was working on tracking down this Backroom type of space (thankfully, Josiah was one of the few who remained in the Agency and able to help track them down faster).

”Do you know who else has been warped around?”

”So far it’s just been me, Elijah, Patience, you, Judah, and William.”

Judah grimaced as he looked behind Shiloh to see William trying to hit on Patience and failing. Before Shiloh noticed, the white metal door flung open to see Daniel nearly tumbling in while helping Micah walk in. The Nelson in green let out a sharp cry as Daniel stepped on his ankle. Daniel had to practically use his whole body just to keep from Micah hitting the floor face-first. Michelle was the first person to be by Micah’s side. She looked down to see what was wrong with his ankle, but the only thing that seemed out of the ordinary was that his ankle seemed a bit too twisted inwards. Patience was then by Micah’s side after Daniel’s shout for someone. Patience used her limited supplies to scan his ankle but before she could announce what it was, a golden energy portal warped behind them.

”Get in!”

Immediately the nine agents piled into the portal and were back into the Agency thankfully. Apparently warping into the Agency caused Micah’s ankle to hurt even more, making Michelle’s heart squeeze.

”Someone get a stretcher!”

”We need to de-radiate you guys first!”

”I don’t care just get my flipping foot fixed!”

Michelle’s immediate response was scooping Micah up in her arms and marching her way out of the Arxis Bay and to the Medic Bay. Daniel and Patience yelped in surprise seeing Michelle’s sudden reaction at picking Micah up so easily. Daniel and Patience kept up with Michelle and got to the Medic Bay. She carefully laid Micah down on one of the beds where Patience and one of the nurses immediately went to work to help Micah’s foot. Meanwhile, Daniel had to guide Michelle out of the Medic Bay to get the two de-radiated, though Michelle was more reluctant. Michelle winced as she heard another yell from Micah as she walked down the hall. Right after Michelle got de-radiated, she returned to see Micah lying on a different bed with his injured right ankle slung up. The agent in pink noticed Micah staring at the ceiling with a pout on his face.

”Micah? Ya good?”

”Oh… hey Michelle.”

”What happened to your foot?”

Micah muttered under his breath.

”When the Raelo collision happened, it made me fall from the flipping sky for nearly an hour and then I landed on a cliff. Then right after I found Daniel but when I was going to him a tree fell right on my injured foot again!”

”. . . Kinda sounds like a silly cartoon bit.”

”I know right.”

Michelle hummed as she leaned back on the chair she was sitting on that was by Micah’s side.

”Hey, you could give me princess treatment!”

”What?”

Michelle raised an eyebrow as she looked at the Nelson in the bed.

”I mean, my foot’s injured and you haven’t paid back the deal yet. Why not pay it back like this? Pretty please?”

The Nelson in the bed gave her puppy dog eyes that she could not refuse. She gave an exaggerated groan as she got off her chair.

”Alright, what do you want?”

”For you to carry me again.”

”What- wait. Why?”

”I mean, no one can ever carry me like that cause either they aren’t strong enough or I’m too tall for them. But now that I know that you can carry me like that, I’m so going to get you to do that as much as I can with my foot screwed up like this.”

“. . . Y’know what, fine.”

”Yippee!”

That’s why Micah loves giving or getting special treatment done to him in public, especially when it’s with Michelle.

Chapter Text

Michelle, Cole, and Pateince were working on a research project in the lab when they heard a door opened. The three looked up to see Talia walk in with a couple of files in her hands. She looked around cautiously before spotting the three at the table they were sitting at.

”Oh look it’s this girl.” Michelle grumbled as she rolled her eyes, her hand slightly trying to cover her face from looking at Talia. Cole and Patience looked at each other, unsure what was up with Michelle but definitely startled with this new side of her.

”Hey guys!” Talia greeted with a slight wave. “Have any of you seen Micah.”

The three agents looked at each other before Michelle spoke up. “What for?”

”I just need some help with some research.” Talia said simply with a shrug. “Besides, he probably knows his way around the library.”

The two agents barely noticed Michelle grimacing at Talia’s remark as she spoke. “No, I’m pretty sure that’s Josiah.”

”Oh…” Talia trailed off slightly, almost seeming disheartened. “I’m not that close with Josiah. That’s why I thought of Micah first, heh…”

Patience decided to volunteer to help Talia with her work, but the other agent was quick to decline and leave the trio. Cole and Patience both had uneasy feelings at the strange interaction between Michelle and Talia, but Patience had that extra sense and could tell something was off with Michelle and Talia, both for different reasons.

”Good grief that girl is actually so annoying.” Michelle muttered, her cat-like eyes staring daggers down where Talia just left. She then rolled her eyes as she looked back down at the papers she was working on.

”Dang girl I was not expecting that kind of sass from you.” Cole snickered.

“Personally, I don’t care.” The agent in pink gave a smirk. “She can go back to the hole she came from for all I care.”

”Woah!” The two agents yelped at the same time.

”Oh… did I say that out loud? I mean, I’m not lying but whoops.”

”I usually don’t approve of this sort of sass behind people’s backs but dang, slay girl.” Patience grinned. The three chuckled before the agent in yellow looked down, the mood of the room slightly shifting. “But… she has been acting kinda weird.”

Cole nodded slowly. “I hate to admit it, but I agree with Patience. She’s been asking both of use questions about the layout of the Agency. The security routine specifically.” He paused. “She’s also strangely like… trying to get me to hang out with her more?”

Michelle cringed. “Ew. Red flag alert.”

///

Later that day during dinner in the cafeteria, Talia found Michelle, Shiloh, Patience, Gala, Mary, Lila, and Brittany sitting together. The other agent joined them to eat, much to Michelle’s masked dismay. Throughout the dinner, most of the girls (minus Lila and Gala) could pick up in the strange energy exuding from Michelle whenever Talis spoke. Soon the topic drifted to romantic interests and was turned to talking about Micah.

”Oh yea! What were you and Micah doing in the creature nursery this afternoon?’ Lila asked, her head tilting to the side.

”Oh! I had asked Micah for help to take care of the Cracklejaws.” Talia answered simply. “Closest person I could find.”

”Spekaing of which, Michelle, how’s you and Micah doing?” Gala teased with a smirk.

Michelle gave a soft chuckle as her head leaned on her hand, her elbow propped on the table. Before Michelle could answer, Talia interrupted. “Oh, you two were a thing? Didn’t think Micah would go for someone like you.”

The table fell silent as all eyes landed to the mentioned agent. Michelle’s tongue ran over her teeth as she sucked in a breath. There was a chilling energy that settled down on the group. The girls weren’t expecting such a calm and cold demeanor from Michelle. “Yea, may I ask what you’re implying then, new girl?”

Talia’s face remained neutral but the agents could tell that everyone at the table was scared of this new Michelle. Her analysing and sharp cat-like half-lidded eyes scanned Talia up and down, a subtle smirk on her face. Shiloh mentally compared this new version of Michelle like a creepily calm cat stalking its prey. Remind me not to somehow get on… this side of Michelle.

“I didn’t mean to insult you, I just wasn’t expecting you two to be a couple.” Talia said slowly.

”Uh huh.., and mind tell me why?” Michelle’s voice dropped low as her head rolled back, still somehow remaining in locked eye-contact with the now nervous agent. She leaned forward with her chin propped on her hands. She let out a quiet sigh that had a silent fury rumbling under. The agent in pink raised an eyebrow at Talia, almost as if daring the other agent to continue.

Talia sputtered, an expression on her face that Michelle couldn’t help but love to see on her face. “I mean… he’s…”

The girls watched as Talia was suddenly at a loss for words under Michelle’s eerily calm and cold glare. The agent then quietly excused herself from the table, though Shiloh, Mary, and Brittany would all look at each other with noticing a different expression on Talia’s face when she left. Meanwhile, Gala, Lila, and Patience were talking to Michelle and asking what just happened.

”What just happened?” Gala whispered to Lila. “Did you see what I saw?”

”Yea…” The fairy whispered back. “Did we just watch Michelle get replaced by a scarier one or a shapeshifter or…?”

”Dang girl, were you the mean girl in highschool?” Patience chuckled nervously to try and lighted the mood. 

”I’m surprised you didn’t figure it out soon.” Michelle grinned as her arms folded across her chest. “I’m not proud of being the mean girl, but I’m definitely proud of being able to scare off anyone I had to scare off without having to throw hands.”

”Did you see her face?” Mary whispered to Shiloh and Brittany. “Not the face of draft, the face of anger..?”

”Yea…” Shiloh whispered back. The agent in purple leaned over to see Cole and Micah, who had taken a table by themselves, staring their table. The two males were quick to whip their heads back down to their dishes, but Shiloh had already caught them. “I think we should talk with them next.”

Chapter Text

“A party?”

Mary stared at the invitation given to her by Daniel. She slowly took the card as she thought through what Daniel had offered her. Now, she rarely left the Agency to go for missions as she rarely liked to do much action, but she never considered about a party. This was supposed to be an annual gala to meet with the greatest minds across Raelos, which meant that everyone had to be a on neutral terms with each other whether they liked it or not. She mused at the offer before shrugging.

”Who else is going?”

”Well, I usually got for it with Josiah and Judah, but I thought you, Shiloh, Elijah, and Micah might’ve wanted to come.”

”Is the invitation only for us Nelsons?”

”Basically.”

”Alrighty then, I’m going to get Shiloh so we can go dress-shopping!”

///

“A party?”

Malduum stared at the invitation given to him by Argos. He raised an eyebrow as the other placed the card on the table. He rarely attended parties, let alone got invited to them, so this made him wary to consider going.

”All the greatest minds will be attending. It’s an annual thing that Cassandra and I have been attending in place of you and-.”

”Wait, you mean you’ve been taking the invitations each time they came to me to go yourself?” Malduum stood up, now surprised by the news.

Argos faltered for a moment, realising his mistake. “I-I mean, you did tell me to go in your place with Cassandra the last time I offered the invitation and I just assumed that it was for all of them and I thought you weren’t one for parties and-.”

”This is an annual gala for everyone to meet on neutral grounds and you’ve been hiding it from me?” Malduum glared at his assistant, more annoyed than angry really.

”I’m sorry boss, won’t happen again.”

The blonde sighed and pinched his nose bridge. “Get my clothes ready won’t you Argos?”

///

The seven Nelsons landed in the ballroom, all in fancy clothes and ready for interaction. Right as they went in, Daniel and Judah seemed to catch on and get into the swing of things. Micah resorted to hanging out at one of the tall tables where people approached to talk to him from time to time. Elijah and Shiloh looked a bit awkward as they tried to navigate around, but they got used to it eventually. Josiah was called over to the display area to show off some of the M.O.M’s equipment. Mary was supposed to go with Josiah, but he said it was fine and she should explore the lab section. The Nelson in white now drifted off to the display tables of data and research and displays of all sorts.

”Ah! You must be from the M.O.M Agency! I say you look lovely tonight miss!”

Mary chuckled hearing the comment, she thought she did look rather pretty in the long white dress she wore with the golden trim on the end. She then realised who’s voice it was and whipped around in surprise to see Malduum wearing pure black tuxedo with a designs near the cuffs of his jacket and pants. He wore circular rimmed glasses to match the set and a strangely dashing smile on his face. Mary froze seeing him, unsure what to do seeing that the other Nelsons were basically behind him doing other stuff. Malduum only chuckled seeing who surprised Mary looked before continuing.

”How long have you been coming here for? Surely you must have some escort here right?”

Mary stuttered before seeing Malduum mouthing something.

Play along with it. Pretend we don’t know each other.

Mary finally understood what was going on and chuckled, her shoulders relaxing ever so slightly as she replied. “Oh, this is my first time here actually. I’m here with the M.O.M agents.”

Malduum’s face wrinkled into a frown as he turned around and easily spotted the Nelsons thanks to their color-coded matching attire. “Really? Them?”

Mary shrugged. “They’re family.”

That only left Malduum more confused. “I… see.” He shrugged as a waiter walked past offering the two a glass of what appeared to be champagne. Malduum took one while Mary declined, saying that she didn’t drink.

Soon the lights dimmed down and people started drifting to the dance floor to slow dance. Mary noticed her siblings sitting over to the side but catching glimpses of Daniel and that princess (what was her name..? Alé right?) slowly making their way to the dance floor as well. The blonde Nelson quickly faced her back o the them, forcing Malduum to turn around as well. Her eyes were now wide as she realised how big of a problem this was seeing that she was literally talking to the bad guy wanting to kill her siblings. She could’ve sworn she saw Elijah or Micah staring at her.

”Okay. For the rest of the night, no more talking.”

”What? Why?”

“What do you mean why? If they,” Mary would hold her hand up and point her finger behind it, indicating she was talking about the other Nelsons, “saw us talking, they won’t hesitate to interrogate you as to why you’re talking to me!”

The blonde in black rolled his eyes. “So what? It’s not like they’d fire you for liking me. Sure, they won’t like that you like me, but really who are they to judge?”

Mary rolled her eyes. “I-… how about this. We each stay on the other side of the ballroom alright? That way, we won’t ever have to talk? Deal?”

Malduum let out an annoyed groan as his head lolled back. “Fiiiiine.”

///

Halfway during the dance, Malduum bumped into Elijah. Malduum was about to walk off when Elijah pulled him over to the side. Malduum grumbled something as he faced the Nelson in blue.

”What do you want?”

”Why were you talking to Mary?”

”Who?“

”My sister?”

”Who?!”

”Her!”

Malduum turned to see who Elijah was pointing at only to be the same lady in white he was talking to the whole time just now. His eyes widened in surprise and his brain froze for a moment.

”I… I didn’t know.”

”Were you trying to hit on her?”

”Uh, no?”

Elijah gave the blonde a long hard stare before rolling his eyes. “Right, she’s too out of your league anyways.”

As the Nelson in blue left, Malduum stood in stunned silence (excuse the music playing for the people slow dancing). On one hand, he wanted to ask the lady in white about this, but on the other hand, he knew that now all the Nelsons would be staring at the two for the rest of the dance, he’ll, probably the whole gala. This left Malduum to muse in his thoughts for a moment. Mary, who worked in the M.O.M Agency, worked with the Nelsons. Mary, the one he strangely adored for some reason even though they were on opposite sides, was a Nelson. Mary, the woman in the white dress across the room who he had spoken with charmingly, was siblings with the Nelsons he was trying to kill.

“What the hell.”

Chapter Text

“Guys… We have a a bit of trouble.”

The Nelsons look up to see Judah standing in the doorway, each arm on the other side of the doorframe with wide eyes and a worried face.

”Rosco got into the stash of energy drinks and now I can’t find him.”

The lounge goes silent before everyone goes into panic mode. Shiloh is the only one confused about the panic and manages to get everyone to calm down.

”Alright guys, all we have to is set up a trap to get Rosco in. It won’t be that hard right?”

”Oh Shiloh Shiloh Shiloh… you are definitely underestimating a juiced-up Rosco.”

”Guys… I hear him outside.”

”EVERYONE GEAR UP!”

”WHAT?? WHY??”

Shiloh stands around in confusion as everyone scatters with their gear. Josiah tries to grab and drag her away, but the two freeze. At first, she doesn’t hear it, then she hears it, the loud and animalistic growls behind her. She slowly turns around to see a giant and buffer version of Rosco, mouth agape with sharp teeth  glistening.

”Hi… Rosco..?”

ROARRRRRRRRRR

“RUNNNNNNN!”

Soon the Agency was in chaos and set into lockdown mode. A giant, buffed up and juiced up version of Rosco was rampaging around like some sort of crazed monster. He ran on all fours thanks to now suddenly being top-heavy. Shiloh was now hiding in the security room trying to think of a plan while looking through the monitors to keep track of where Rosco was. Josiah was busy trying to speed-read through any files on Rosco’s species to learn anything to get them an advantage. She flipped open her communicator to contact Judah who was hiding in the Medic Bay where most of the agents were.

”Judah! How long do you think Rosco will be like this for?”

”I don’t know! He probably chugged like 12 cans or something!”

”And how come only I seem to not know about this… version of Rosco?!”

”Because you were never around when he was like this and it has only happened once!”

”Hang on, how come I wasn’t there the first time and how come no one has mentioned this to me before??”

”Honestly, I don’t remember.”

”Man. This really feels like Jurassic Park and not gonna lie, I’m kinda liking it.”

”ARE YOU INSANE???”

The Nelson in purple would turn around to see Josiah show her a hologram of a file.

”Apparently what Rosco is right now is actually what all Horanchs are meant to look like.”

”Then why is Rosco the small guy he is?”

”Some mutation I guess? Now I really think we should study him more. Then again-.”

Shiloh suddenly clamped a hand on Josiah’s mouth and the two ducked under the desk. Before the Nelson in black could ask what was going on, Shiloh pointed to the door where the sounds of sniffing and scratching could be heard. Before the two could take action, a voice could be heard outside.

”Aww Rosco, why did you ruin the place up? Come on buddy, let’s get you checked up.”

”Mrrrppppmmmhhhh….”

”Don’t give me that attitude!”

”Mmmmmmm….”

The two Nelsons under the desk would look at each other with confusion. After a moment of silence, the Agency suddenly returned to normal. The automated cleanup system started up and everyone seemed to be perfectly intact. The only thing out of the ordinary was the strange trail of what appeared to be flowers. The siblings followed the trail down into the creature nursery.

”Hello..?”

”Oh hi!”

”Lila?!”

The Nelsons stood in shock staring at the fairy cuddling with the giant sleeping Rosco so calmly. Lila looked a bit confused with the Nelsons’ confusion.

”What’s up with you guys?”

”Dude! He was literally rampaging around the whole agency like a minute ago and here you are sleeping here with him? How?!”

”He just needed flowers.”

”And how exactly did you know how to stop him?”

”Oh! These are a special type of flowers that can calm anything down.”

Elijah raised an eyebrow as he took the flowers Lila gave. They were small with delicate white petals and shaped like a heart. There was a strange glitter that the flower emitted that smelled like… something he couldn’t name. Whatever it was, it smelled nice.

”So then why didn’t you go hide when the alarm went off?”

”Oh. I guess I was asleep when it went off.”

”HUH???”

Chapter Text

“Hey, we need to talk.”

”Malduum, why are you back here?!”

Mary stared at the man in black behind her again. She swore he had walked off already, why was he back?!

”We need to talk.”

”Not here!”

She pointed to Elijah who was clearly staring at them now. Malduum was still acting calm while Mary was visibly panicking. The two quietly slipped out of the hall thanks to the lights being dimmed down. Mary was certainly confused to say the least, why was Malduum so serious now? Once the two were at the balcony of the giant mansion, Malduum began to talk.

”So you’re a Nelson?”

”W-What?”

The Nelson in white froze, unsure what to do. She didn’t realise that Malduum didn’t know about her being a Nelson. She just thought he just had a soft spot for her. This was a worrying position she was in as Malduum looked over the balcony, the wind silently ruffling his hair. She leaned on the railing next to Malduum, a nervous look on her face.

”I thought you knew.”

Malduum only let out a scoff of disbelief. He started fiddling with his rings before turning to face Mary. The Nelson in white froze under his steely gaze, his sudden serious expression throwing her off.

”Why didn’t you tell me?”

”I… didn’t think I needed too. And… I kinda thought you already knew in the first place.”

“Well… yea that’s one me I suppose.”

The two now remained in silence with their own thoughts. Malduum had never been in this type of morality-questioning position before. He was never going to stop his hunt on Shiloh and the others, but with Mary being thrown in as a sudden variable, it threw off Malduum’s sense of calm completely. On one hand, he could continue this secret… thing he had with Mary while continuing his plans to execute the Nelsons. On the other hand, severing the line completely would ensure that both would not have to worry about the other.

”Soooo… what now?”

Malduum was snapped from his thoughts thanks to the lady in white and the music tricking outside from the hall. The blonde in black, unfortunately, came to the best solution to this problem.

”I think the better question is what can’t we do.”

Mary’s expression faltered.

”What do you mean?”

Malduum let out a tired sigh.

”As long as your siblings are alive, you and I both know I won’t stop to hunt them down. We both… we both knew this could only last so long.”

Mary’s grip on the balcony railing tighten, her knuckles going white. Her voice is strained as she replies with a trembling smile. How could Malduum sound so soft even after saying such terrible news for the both of them?

”I… I know.”

They both knew it would have to end, they just didn’t know when. Mary had wished so hard for Malduum to change his motives, but she knew it would be fruitless. They both had silently knew that Malduum was too far deep into his plans to stop now, it would be pointless for Mary to even try to convince him otherwise at this point. She now just hoped this parting didn’t hurt her as much as she was feeling right now.

Malduum soon guided the two back into the hall as a new song starts. He held out a hand for her, somewhat avoiding eye-contact with her as he gazed down at the floor.

”Let’s dance?”

Mary ignored the flabbergasted expressions of her siblings as she and Malduum slipped into the crowd of slowdancing guests.

Right now? It was a dance where a man and a woman would have one last time before parting as strangers.

Nothing more.

And strangely enough?

That knowledge left Mary light on her feet as she glided around the dancing floor along with stranger in front of her.

When the event ended and everyone began to leave, Mary swore that Malduum gave her a farewell wave before warping off. Mary had to bite her tongue from crying in front of her siblings.

///

“Why give the flowers to the lab?”

”Oh… I just don’t want them in my room anymore.”

Daniel raised an eyebrow seeing the vase of Malkate Stardrop Lillies that Mary had mysteriously received a while back. He knew she adored the flowers but for her to suddenly give it to the lab as a new resource was odd to say the least.

”If… If you say so.”

When she returned to her room to check out what to watch, a notification pinged on her screen.

[Wicket3628 deleted their acccount]

Mary had to admit a small part of her break, but all she did was shake her head with a sigh.

He did it.

The line was severed.

Chapter Text

Patience hummed as she was scrolling on YouTube when she stumbled on a strange short.

An edit of Judah?

She raised an eyebrow as she watched the edit.

Then it looped and she couldn’t stop watching.

///

Daniel raised an eyebrow as he watched Patience hunched on the couch in the lounge. He noticed how the audio on her phone continued to loop. She froze as she looked up to see Daniel standing in front of her with his arms crossed. She quickly tucked her phone in her pocket and sat up, giving him a nervous little smile. Patience didn’t even notice he was in the lounge. She just assumed he was holed up in his room finishing up an exam Josiah had mentioned.

”Hey Daniel! Whatcha need?’

”Your phone?”

”Whaaaat? Why?”

”Security purposes.”

Patience scowled at Daniel, who only gave her a smug smirk. The girl in yellow knew what he was trying to get to and she was not going to let him see it.

”Your phone was looping the same audio like eight times. No way you’re just listening to the one part of Womanizer those eight times.”

”How did you know that was the audio??”

”What? I like Britney Spears.” Daniel shrugged before getting back to the point. “Anyways, gimme your phone. I want to see what had got you giggling over to watch the same audio.”

”And what if I don’t show you?” Patience crossed her arms as she stood up, trying to size up on him and failing.

”Then you’re disrespecting the orders of a member in the security force.”

”Wait- security force??”

“Yea! I finished my exams. What? You thought I was hiding in my room for nothing?” Daniel snickered before holding his hand out for her to give him the phone.

Patience scowled as she reluctantly handed her phone. When Daniel saw the reason for Patience listening to the looped clip of ‘Womanizer’. His smirk turned into a smug grin as his eyes darted from the phone to a beet-red Patience.

”Oh ho ho ho… now this is funny.” Daniel snickered as he returned the phone back to Patience.

///

It was a few days after the embarrassing encounter between Patience and Daniel. The two, plus Judah, were bumming around in the lounge when Daniel suddenly had an idea.

”Hey Patience, mind getting me a coffee?”

Patience glanced up with a confused expression. “No, I’m not your servant.”

Daniel’s mouth turned into a smug grin as his eyes darted from Patience to Judah. “I mean, I can always tell him about the you-know-what.”

By now, Judah was paying attention and certainly quite befuddled as to why Patience suddenly turned pink and worked up before scurrying out of the room to get Daniel his coffee. Judah then turned to Daniel. “What was that about?”

”Oh… nothing!”

///

“HELP!”

Gala was sprinting away from a giant dragon chasing her down in a dense forest. She didn’t know how she got here, but all she knew was that she had to run. She screamed as a the dragon roared out a giant fire ball. What she wasn’t expecting was for a hand to grab her and pull her into his arms. Her eyes went wide as her face was smack into someone’s chest. She didn’t care as she hugged whoever saved her as tightly as she could.

”You good?”

Gala looked up to see Josiah being the one holding her in her arms. She instantly melted as the two locked eyes.

And then…

///

“ARGH!”

Gala tumbled off her bed in a wide-eye surprise. That was the fourth time this week that she had the same dream. She pressed her hands to her cheeks to calm herself down. She immediately squeaked hearing a familiar someone knocking on the door.

”Hey Gala, we’re going to our mission in five, you ready?”

”C-Coming soon!”

”Alright.”

Gala squeaked as she waited for the footsteps of the Nelson in black to fade.

///

The agents this time were sent to another fantasy-esce Raelo to help rebuild another town. Everyone paired off into their usual pairs, though Josiah immediately noticed how off Gala had been acting this whole trip. He wondered if maybe she was feeling ill with how red her face was and how jittery she was around him.

”Hey, can you pass me the hammer?” The Nelson in black stretched his hands out to the princess.

”O-Oh! Sure!”

Gala handed him the hammer, and for a second, their hands brushed together. Josiah thought nothing of it but Gala completely freaked out and jerked her hand away. Josiah flinched at her sudden action, wondering if it was something to do with himself that was making her act so weirdly.

”Ohhhhkay… I’m going into the woods to grab some wood real quick.”

”Y-Yea!”

Gala immediately slapped herself in the face after Josiah walked off. Good grief that was SO stupid! She then began to overthink about what the Nelson in black must be feeling right after that and wanted to apologise. So she started her trek into the woods to find him.

”Josiah?” She called out as she trekked around, the forest feeling eerily similar.

Creak

”Oh no…” Gala‘s shoulders tensed up as she realised why this felt so similar. She slowly turned around to be face to face with a giant dragon, the exact same one in the dream she had been frequently having.

”AHHHHHHHHHH!”

The princess immediately started to sprint down, zigzagging her way around the trees but failing to get the dragon off her tail.

”HELP!”

She was immediately yanked behind a tree and was held tight in someone’s arms. She hated the fact that she immediately melted in the arms of the person she had been annoyingly having the same dream about. The princess slowly looked up to see Josiah peering behind the tree they were hiding before looking down at Gala with a worried look on his face.

”You alright?”

Gala sputtered as she felt her brain short-circuit staring at the Nelson’s face. Why was he looking so stupidly cute right now?! After what felt like eternity (really just an awkward couple of seconds), Josiah and Gala awkwardly removed each other from their grasps and Gala was quick to skitter away. Josiah just stood there, completely confused and flustered and giddy with butterflies in his stomach.

Chapter Text

Michelle groaned as she felt her phone buzzing on her bedside again. She slapped her hand around before grabbing the device and squinting at the bright screen.

”Micah you stupid- guhhhhhhh…”

She rubbed her face as she sluggishly sat up in her bed. Why was the Nelson up in 3 in the morning again? She had no clue. The agent knew that Nelson didn’t have any assigned papers to work on so late. The best she could come up with was that Micah was up playing some stupid video games. She couldn’t believe she was doing this again as she swaddled herself in her blanket and waddled to the bedroom of Micah’s.

”Micah why the hell are you sending me stupid cat memes at three in the morning?” The girl grumbled as she nearly flopped face-first to the floor. She managed to catch herself in time and shuffled over to Micah.

Micah turned around in his chair with his headset on and playing something on his computer. His eyes widened in surprise as he took off his headset. “Michelle? Why are you awake?”

”You were spamming me cat memes.” Michelle shoved the phone screen up to the Nelson’s face.

Micah chuckled sheepishly as he looked at the tired Michelle. Her hair was frazzled and sticking out everywhere while her eyes were barely open. “Yea… sorry about that. You, uh, wanna join me in Generic Gun Game?”

Michelle’s face wrinkled into confusion, causing Micah to have to hold in his laugh from seeing her face scrunch and look a little pudgy. “Why would I want to join you in a stupid pew-pew game at three in the morning? I came in to get you to bed.”

”But I don’t wanna.” Micah gave a small pout. “Besides, I don’t have a mission tomorrow this time!”

”Micah doing this would mean you’ve done an all-nighter back to back for the third time. No way am I letting you do that.” Michelle scowled as her hand suddenly stretched out of her blanket cloak and started dragging Micah out.

”Wha- come on Michelle you’re not my mom!” Micah whined as his legs dragged the floor. Michelle just gave him one of her death scares which got the Nelson in green to shut up almost immediately.

The blanket-cloaked agent grumbled as she flopped face-first into the bed again, leaving Micah on the floor like last time. However this time, Micah snuck back to his chair to continue playing games.

”Alright boys, I’m back.” Micah whispered into the microphone of his headset. “Sorry about the holdup.”

”Why you talking so quiet?” One of his teammates asked. “You got caught or something?”

“Nah dude, uh-…” Micah sputtered as he realised trying to explain what was going on to his friends would sound pretty weird regardless how he worded it. “Michelle is in my room right now and-.”

“A GIRL?!” All three of his teammates yelled into his ears at the same time. Micah winced at the shrill voices of the three before they all started hooting and hollering and teasing the Nelson in green.

”Jeez- guys calm down!” Micah chuckled, humored by his friends’ reaction to the mention of a girl. “She tried to get me back to bed but-.”

“YOU SHARE A ROOM WITH A GIRL?!”

“No! Not like that! She just came in cause I woke her up with spamming her cat memes.” Micah chuckled sheepishly. He turned around to see Michelle curled up on his bed and sleeping peacefully before turning back to the computer. “You guys are making it sound weird!”

”Nuh uh! Dude, you legit just said that a girl is trying to get you back to bed because you woke her up!”

“That just sounds wrong man!”

”It’s true tho!”

”Alright bros we be yapping too much and we just wasted time playing. As much as I wanna listen more about Micah and his new girl I gotta blast, see ya.”

Micah facepalmed himself before shaking his head. “Alright whatever, I’m hopping off too.”

”Night bro, have fun with your girl!”

“Oh shut up!”

Micah sighed as he turned off the monitor, rubbing his face as he spun in his chair.

”Why were you up again.”

Micah’s shoulders tensed as he realised Michelle was staring at him from the bed while still wrapped in a blanket cocoon with the expression of a grumpy cat. Micah’s eyes darted to stare at everything but Michelle as he slowly inched to his bed and flopped down. That seemed to satisfy Michelle enough for her to ignore Micah and go back to sleep as well.

///

Gala, once again, walked into the cafeteria by herself the next morning for breakfast.

”Hey, have any of you seen Michelle?”

Shiloh shook her head. “No… did you check her room?”

”That was the first place I checked.”

”Strange. Let’s go find her then.”

Elijah, who was eating cereal, nearly choked but had to force himself to pretend to not pay attention to the conversation. Josiah, unfortunately, noticed and poked his brother.

”What was that reaction about?”

”Uhhhhh… nothing.”

The Nelson in black only raised an eyebrow as he saw Elijah sprint off to who-knows-where.

///

Micah groaned as he lifted his face from the pillow he was practically suffocating himself in. He then froze as he turned to see Michelle curled up next to him, still curled up in a ball. He was sprawled out, his right arm somewhat on top of her and hugging her slightly. His arm tensed as he slowly turned to see his alarm in his bedside table. The green LED numbers blinked nine in the morning.

”. . . Micah?”

”I uh- yea?”

”Why are you hugging me?”

”I’m not!”

Micah quickly brought his arm back to his body and basically toppled off his bed again. Meanwhile, Michelle slowly sat up on the bed, hair frazzled and sticking out everywhere while her eyes were still barely open. Micah got to his feet and stretched while trying to figure out what to do.

”We need to get you out again.” Micah grumbled as he pinched his nose bridge. “You should probably stop trying to get me to go to bed.”

”Then you should probably stop pulling all-nighters at bad times.” Michelle fired back surprisingly quickly as she slid off the bed and stretched as well. “This wouldn’t have happened if you did that in the beginning.”

”Girl you’re the one falling asleep on my bed to begin with.” Micah huffed as he ran his hand through his hair as ‘combing it through’.

”Alright sassy-pants.” Michelle rolled her eyes.

”Hey, is that my shirt you’re wearing?” The Nelson in green pointed at the other with a raised eyebrow.

”Huh, I guess so.” Michelle muttered as she looked down.

”Micah?”

The two froze as they heard the third voice, Elijah, outside. The two then looked at each other, both realising what was happening again.

”Y-Yea?” Micah hesitated before answering in a half-yell.

”Is uh… Michelle in there?”

Micah’s eyes grew even wider before turning to Michelle who was waving her hands over her throat. “Nooooo..?”

”I can always check the security cameras then and-.”

“Wait waIT WAIT!” Micah’s voice wavered volume as he stumbled to the door and opened it to see the smug-looking Elijah standing in front of him. “You really playing dirty now aren’t you?”

”Lemme deal with this.” Michelle grumbled as she shoved Micah to the side to face the Nelson in blue. Elijah squeaked as he took a step back, remembering what Michelle did to him the last time he caught her leaving Micah’s room. “Remember what I to,d you last time?”

”Y-Yep!” Elijah gave a nervous smile and two shaky thumbs-up. “Tell anyone and my kneecaps will be gone..?”

”Correct.” Michelle snapped before shoving the Nelson in blue to the side. “Now I needa get to my room and change.”

Elijah and Micah watched the other shuffle down the hall with her blanket still draped on her, ignoring the strange stares of the other workers. Elijah then turned to Micah with a cheesy grin.

”Sooo… what’s up with that?”

Micah rolled his eyes as he fumbled in his pocket. He pulled out a crumpled ten dollar bill and slapped it in his brother’s face.

”Take this as my payment for you to shut up. You’re lucky Michelle didn’t snap your arm the last time.”

”Hehehehehe… no but seriously why does this always happen?”

Chapter Text

“Daniel?”

”Yea?”

The mentioned Nelson looked up from his phone to see all his brothers poking their heads into the lounge, even William and David were with them. Daniel’s face scrunched up in confusion as they all filed into a line.

”What are you guys doing?” Daniel asked slowly as he sat up straighter.

”Getting you ready.” William whispered as he handed the older Nelson a mint.

“For what?!” The older Nelson exclaimed as he got off the couch, eyes wide as he thought he had forgotten a meeting of some kind. He combed his hair with his fingers as he swiped the mint from his cousin.

The brothers said nothing as they started to giggle and dust him off. Daniel felt as though they might have been pulling an elaborate prank, but the fact they involved William and David was the one thing throwing him off. They continued to try to make him look nice as if he was some sort of royalty.

Wait, royalty?

”Guys seriously what are you doing?” Daniel finally asked as he took a step back from his brothers. “I would call you out for a prank, but what do William and David have to do with this?”

All of them went silent before Elijah spoke up. “So, um, we aren’t allowed to tell you..?”

That only left Daniel even more confused. “What the heck do you mean?”

Judah tried to articulate any words, but it only came out in awkward squeaks as his hands flailed around. Micah rolled his eyes as he slapped a hand on Judah to get him to be quiet. “Someone important came in super suddenly and told us not to tell you about them. They say they’re not a threat but they’re kinda scary.”

”Yea!” Judah exclaimed. “Got black curly horns poking out from their hood and like, really sparkly skin.”

David gave a slow nod. “And they somehow activated the Arxis Bay with no warning.”

”And you just let them in without any security measures?” Daniel yelped as he started speed-walking out of the lounge. “Why didn’t you tell me? And how long have they been here for? Did you put them in some sort of holding cell?”

”They were pretty scary.” Josiah chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his neck.

”They sounded pretty hot.” William snickered; he then received a slap to the back of the head from Micah.

Elijah rolled his eyes. “Yes we did put them in a holding cell and they’ve been here for… ten minutes?”

“Alright, I’m going.” Daniel groaned as he rubbed his face.

He started making his way down the hall as he followed David, though he was unsure as to why the rest were following him with different expressions on their faces. He decided to ignore them as he arrived to the holding cell. There the cloaked figure sat, leaning back in the chair and their head hung low. The figure’s fingers drummed on the table they were sitting behind. Daniel raised an eyebrow as he tried to examine them from the one-way glass wall.

”Didn’t you at least try to identify them?” Daniel huffed as he turned to his brothers with his arms folded.

”I tried but-.” William was promptly cut off thanks to Micah.

”You were trying to ask her out.”

”And? Game is game.”

”Dude seriously?”

Daniel nodded slowly. “Okay, so we at least know they’re a girl. Raelo of origin?”

Josiah spoke up. “I think Faunelia.”

Daniel completely froze, his hand tensing up as it rested under his chin. “Oh. Huh. That’s cool, heh. Um, how about you guys leave her to me.”

At this, all of them stared Daniel down. “And what does that mean?”

The blonde waved his hand before shoving them out of the room, locking the door firm the inside. He then took a deep breath as he entered into the interrogation room and taking a seat in front of the figure. Daniel took a deep breath as the figure’s fingers drummed before him allowed the chair they were sitting on to go back on all fours. The figure leaned forward, almost as if trying to investigate the Nelson from under their hood.

”Daniel!” The figure chirped happily as she removed her hood.

”Alé!” Daniel grinned back at the princess who sat before him. His expression then dropped to serious as he leaned forward across the table. “Why the heck are you back here and how the heck did you get back here?”

Alé muttered something under her breath as she shrugged. “No… reason? Also I got here thanks to advanced technology. Faunelia is really fast when it comes to developing tech.”

”I don’t buy that.” Daniel huffed as he leaned back on his chair. He didn’t mean to use his ‘interrogation mode’ in Alé, but she was a stubborn one. “Once again, why are you here?”

The princess rolled her eyes as she toyed with a coil of her curled white hair. Her golden eyes stared off to the side before glaring back at Daniel sharply, though he didn’t flinch as she hoped. “What’s it to you? Aren’t you at least happy to see me?”

///

Meanwhile, the others had managed to get back into the room and were staring through the one-way glass. David just watched on while everyone else could sense something going on between them.

”They make a hot couple.” William said mindlessly, earning another slap from Micah.

”Can you ever learn to keep your weird thoughts to yourself?” Micah grimaced before staring at the ground and muttering under his breath. “But I mean… kinda.”

Elijah mused as he stared at the two. His eyes suddenly widened as he realised who she was. “OH! THAT- shoot sorry, that’s the princess Daniel was talking about when he got coronated and the princess that came into the Agency last time that we all said Daniel had no chance of pulling cause like, comparing Daniel to her, that’s crazy.”

Immediately all but David and William understood and they all donned a mischievous grin. They all froze as they watched Daniel and the princess walk out fo the interrogation room and stare at each other in awkward silence. Daniel’s shoulders tensed up as he gave them a death flare while Alé just giggled behind the Nelson.

”Ate you guys dating?“

”William what did I just say?!”

”You agreed Micah! I heard you say that!”

Daniel face-palmed himself while Alé merely grinned. The blonde shook his head as he rubbed his face. “She’s gonna be staying here for a while so she I and can sort some stuff regarding uhh… politics?” Daniel turned to the princess, asking her for some sort of correction.

”Yea. Basically royalty politics back in Faunelia.” The princess shrugged, an innocent smile on her face.

All the Nelsons gave a slow nod with identical mischievous smirks on their faces as they stared at Daniel. Alé didn’t understand what was going on but it appeared as though the Nelsons had some sort of telepathy talk giving the fact that Daniel suddenly turned bright red and yelling at the others.

”Sorry Alé, mind staying in the room for a second?”

”Sure.”

Right as Daniel closed the door, the Nelsons immediately began to tease Daniel while he failed to convince them it wasn’t like that.

”Please! I don’t even like her like that! Even if she did like me, there’s no way I’m asking her out on a date.”

”How about this?’ The Nelson in orange offered. “We’ll set you up on a date?”

The blonde Nelson was a flustered mess as Judah decided to try a test. He opened the mic that allowed the people outside of the interrogation chamber to talk to the ones inside.

”Hey Alé, whatcha think about Daniel?” Judah said with a stupid grin on his face. “You can be honest with us, he’s not in the room.”

All the boys gasped as they saw the horned princess chuckle, covering her face with her hand slightly. “He’s pretty fun to be around.”

”Fun enough to hang out in a date?” Judah asked a bit too eagerly as he watched his older brothers hold Daniel back from tackling him.

”I’ve been waiting for him to give the offer if you want me to be real honest.” She shrugged.

”HEAR THAT DANIEL?! I GOT YOU A DATE!” Judah yelled with a triumphant smile.

Daniel just stood that with a mortified, flustered, and slightly happy face all in one as he opened the door for Alé to come out.

”And by the way, I did know you were still here.” Alé whispered to the blonde as she watched the other Nelsons cheering in front of the two. Daniel’s face just grew redder.

Chapter Text

“Thanks for letting me stay Shiloh.” Phineas chuckled as he and the Nelson sat in the Dome. “I didn’t think you’d manage to get your brothers to be fine with it.”

”Yeaaaa… they’re totally fine with this.” Shiloh chuckled as she stared at her feet. Phineas would raise an eyebrow, but Shiloh quickly spoke again. “They’re not going to come in anytime soon I don’t think.”

The other chuckled as he gazed out of the glass. “That’s funny. So, you said you needed to ask me something?”

Really Shiloh only had two reasons for wanting to have Phineas around: to ask him questions and for his company. She didn’t admit the second one though, her brothers would be screeching to the heavens if they knew. She sucked in a breath before looking at the other. “Who’s your dad again?”

Phineas’s knuckles would go white as he gripped onto the edge of the bench they were sitting on. He sucked in a breath through his teeth before speaking. “I… I don’t think you’d like him.”

Shiloh raised an eyebrow. “Whatddya mean?”

”Well… Y’know Darius?”

”WHAT.”

Phineas’s mouth tightened to a line as he looked down at the floor. “Yep, that’s him alright.”

The Nelson shook her head, eyes wide staring at the other. “I… I do see the resemblance.”

The other chuckled quietly. “Yea. Wasn’t too close to him though. He rarely made time to be with me and often sent me to stay with Mother. It was as if he didn’t want to know we existed. Then again, it was pretty obvious he still liked your mom.”

At this, Shiloh tensed up. “Oh- he-.”

”He married to forget about Sara, but Mother and I both knew we couldn’t replace that.”

Stuffy silence filled the Dome before Phineas spoke again. “Ever since Darius sacrificed himself for you guys, everything’s been in shambles. Mother has been struggling to keep things under control, especially with all the alliances being strained ands deals being unfulfilled. That’s… that’s why I came to help you guys. You guys would understand what it’s like to lose your parent.” Shiloh smiled. “Also cuz, y’know, having an alliance with the strongest Agency is good protection for me and Mother.”

Shiloh hesitated before reaching a hand out and taking his. Phineas looked up at her with a slight surprise. “You can always come to hang out with me when you need.” The Nelson’s cheeks burned pink as she realised what she said and quickly added on. “A-And help too, we’re always happy to help! N-Not like you’re forced to stay here or anything no, you can go home anytime but not like-.”

Phineas grinned and nodded. “I get what you mean. Well… Thank you.”

Right before Shiloh could withdraw her hand, Phineas turned to see Judah, Josiah, and Elijah with their faces pressed into the glass door. Phineas cringed slightly with their mean glares specifically at him. “Are they… always like this to outsiders?”

Shiloh rolled her eyes and looked back at him. “Ignore them, they’re just being protective. Usually they aren’t this annoying.”

Phineas couldn’t help but laugh before gazing out of the Dome. “Y’know, you’re pretty lucky to have so many siblings. I used to beg my Mother to have another but uh,” He sucked his teeth as he glanced to the side awkwardly. “I see why she didn’t want another kid.”

Once the Nelson realised what he meant, she let out a laugh and shook her head. “Yea, I love all my siblings, but I can see why your mom wouldn’t want to have more.”

The two sat in silence as they stared out of the Dome. After a while, Phineas spoke up. “If I didn’t need to help my Mother over with the whole ‘being the son of one of the biggest Raelo Lords debacle’, would it be possible for me to… join your Agency?”

Shiloh let go of his hand while her mouth opened and closed like a goldfish. She then shook her head in surprise. “Oh my goodness! Of course!”

Phineas smiled, suddenly making the other Nelson feel quite flustered over her reaction.  The two turned their heads back to the door to see the three brothers’ faces even more smushed up to the glass, looking even more comical. The funniest part was that now Michelle and Gala joined the brothers with their face smushed to the glass, but they looked much more happier.

Phineas couldn’t help but laugh, and it was a contagious one that Shiloh caught quickly. It was then interrupted when Phineas received a call from his own device. Shiloh noticed his shoulders slump over as he turned to her.

”I… I have to go.” He grumbled as he got up from the bench. “Mother still needs me I guess.”

”O-Oh! Right.” Shiloh couldn’t help but feel her heart sink a bit with Phineas having to leave. As the two got up to go leave, the Nelson in purple grabbed Phineas. “Wait, take this.”

Phineas stared at the communicator in Shiloh’s hand before taking it. “Are you sure?”

”I’ve never been surer before.” Shiloh grinned back. 

Chapter Text

Micah couldn’t shake the feeling off. There was something about Talia he just couldn’t place. He felt rather guilty for feeling so suspicious about the girl, so he made up for it by being nice with her. Surely he was just feeling antsy around her, that’s all. Maybe it was just friendly banter that the two had in the DTI Raelo or her just needing him to help her during the “murder” mystery case with Shiloh and Judah.

But then Michelle started talking about it.

The girl had brought it up a few times about Talia’s strange vibe in general. She always seemed to know where to go or be to find Micah. The Nelson in green knew this too, but he was hoping it was just pure coincidence. No way Talia was keeping a secret right?

This all built up to that night at dinner time. He and Cole had met up to talk about some of the research the other had done before the conversation drifted to the topic of Talia. Both he and Cole had the same experience when being left alone with Talia. She’d become increasingly more curious and ask questions about the details of the Agency and often tried to find an excuse for someone to not join them when they were alone together. Cole suggested it was just because she wanted friends since it appeared that none of the girls clicked with her besides Shiloh.

It didn’t help Cole’s case when the two looked over to the girls’ lunch table to see Michelle basically being a mean girl interrogating Talia. The two watched as Talia left the table, but Cole pointed out how Talia looked more annoyed than angry. Annoyed as if something didn’t go her way. Then Shiloh, Brittany, and Mary came up to ask them about it because it looked like the two guys had something to say about what just happened. Cole and Micah simply said that they didn’t know how deep Michelle’s and Talia’s feud went, and the three girls seemed satisfied with that answer.

///

Now Micah knew why he was feeling everything about Talia.

Talia wasn’t an agent sent by a different Agency. In fact, she couldn’t qualify as one if she wanted to.

She was an alien. Not just any alien. She was the hitchhiker shapeshifting alien that Micah had trapped in the ship’s closet before Darius sacrificed himself.

Micah didn’t mean to find this out, it was good that he did, but he rather wished he didn’t. He didn’t mean to intrude on Talia but he had found a strange trail of what appeared to be black oil going to her room. He had followed it and decided to pop in to check on her. He didn’t mean to see a towering mass of black goo with Talia’s upper body and head on the top. Talia slowly turned around, eyes glowing white while streaks of the black goo stained her face.

Micah stumbled back, terrified of what he saw. He didn’t think the alien survived being in the ship. In fact, he had never seen the alien leave the ship after he trapped it in the closet. So how was it that the alien was standing right in front of him?

”No…” was all Talia creaked out as she loomed over him, her blank white eyes somehow analyzing him. “You’re not supposed to see this, not so soon.”

Micah gulped as he struggled to stand still. His eyes were wide in terror at the sight but his legs refused to move. “W-What does that mean?” He croaked out, too scared to cringe at his voice cracks.

Before he knew it, Talia’s hand reached out and grabbed the top of his head. There was a slight pressure as she squeezed, her slimy hand cold to the touch. Right as she did, Micah’s eyes opened wide and glowed bright white. Soon, his vision went black.

///

When he woke up in the Medic Bay, he wasn’t expecting to see Talia by his bedside. He groaned as he rubbed his forehead, trying to remember what happened to land him in the Medic Bay today. Strangely, he couldn’t recall anything.

”Oh thank goodness I found you in time!” Talia exclaimed with a smile on her face. “I didn’t know how long you were out for!”

”O-Out?” Micah sputtered. “Like- p-passed out, out?”

Talia nodded. “Yea! I just found you on the floor next to some of the oil spill from the mechanic room. You must’ve slipped.”

Micah nodded slowly. “Yea… well, thanks Talia.”

”No problem!”

THEORY / Talia was the Alien Micah fought in the ship (the finale)

This is based off the many assumptions i had about many things including: thinking the alien was the shapeshifter (cuz those types are the goated ones), Talia being an agent sent from a different agency to tear down MOM (or something like that), the black blob being able to be used to teleport, and the alien having mind altering powers.

This leads to me theorizing that Talia could have been the alien in the ship that Micah fought and she might have done some alien magic stuff to him, leading him to be her “target” in a way, seeing that Micah trapped her in a closet in the ship and assuming he was leaving her to die in there so she teleported out. This explains why she immediately pairs herself with him and doesn’t like him during the DTI episode. This also explains why the black blob is following the Nelsons/got into the MOM Agency since the blob is just following Talia around. And also why the monsters didn’t take her out in the theme park episode.

I’m assuming that you can jump into the blob and teleport if you tried, though the user that created the blob can control where they want to be teleported to. So that’s how Talia is getting place to place right where Shiloh and the gang were before “officially” joining the MOM Agency. And if the blob is “watching them” like how the episodes seem to be implying, that could be it with Talia using it as a secret camera for the aliens outside of the agency to use to look into.

Her goal? Probably to get her revenge on Micah at the least. The extreme end would be to find a new Raelo for her alien kind to live on seeing that they live outside of the Raelos (since if she were to be the alien hitchhiker, she’d technically have to be outside of any of the Raelos to start with along with her kind).

Chapter Text

“Josiah..?”

Micah popped his head into his older brother’s lab. Josiah was supposed to be in a meeting five minutes ago but was missing for some reason. Instead of finding the Nelson in black, he found a giant machine standing in the middle of the room. It resembled the Arxis but black and much more.. scrappy. Micah slowly walked up to it, gawking at the sight. He then looked down to see some gear beside it. He got a bit too curious and began to attempt to wear it.

”Micah, what are you doing in here?”

Micah’s head shot up to see Michelle standing right behind him. He would’ve screamed and slapped her if it wasn’t for his hands being full of equipment. Michelle put her hands on her hips as she stared down at the other.

”Are you really snooping in your brother’s equipment?”

”. . . Wanna wear it?”

”. . . I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

The two were now crouched on the ground and giggling while trying out the gear.

”Woah, it fits me perfectly!” Micah exclaimed as he stood up, examining what appeared to be a gauntlet on his arm. He gave a cheesy grin as he leaned on the side of the strange machine. “I’m a superhero.”

Michelle rolled her eyes before a strange whirring started from the machine. The two turned to see that Micah had leaned on what appeared to be the activation button. 

“Micah are you- WOAHHHHHH!!!”

Micah could barely Michelle over the loud whirring of the machine while also loosing his footing. Before he knew it, he was being pulled into the machine and going to who-knows-where.

ZZZZZT

“OW!”

Micah fell face-first on what appeared to be grass. He gave a small groan as he got to his feet and dusted himself off. He was definitely not in the Agency anymore. 

Only once he got to his feet did he realise the sounds of children screaming and playing behind him. He slowly turned around to see a lone house standing in front of him. There were flowers scattered around and a tree with a tire swing hanging under it. The sky was a strange golden sunset that reminded Micah of daffodils strangely enough. The children who were running in the field seemed to be chasing and laughing and playing with each other before the mother came out of the house. She was wiping her hands off in a towel while calling her kids in for dinner.

Micah didn’t notice two kids staring straight at him. He was too fixated on the mother.

He knew her, but how, but why?

“Who are you?”

Micah looked down to see a boy in blue and a boy in green staring up at him with wide brown eyes. The Nelson in green would’ve cringed but the sight of the two was too funny to cringe at and instead he had to hold his laughter.

”Boys! It’s time for dinner! Get inside!”

”But Mooooooom! We have a cool stranger standing here!”

Micah sputtered before looking up and seeing the woman standing behind the two boys. She quietly chased the boys back to the house before looking up at Micah with a smile. “Sorry about them, bit too curious for their own good. You must be looking for Darren Nelson?’”

The Nelson in green felt his throat dry up. “Uhm, s-sorry, who are you?”

The woman chuckled. “I’m Sara Nelson, lovely to meet you uh…?”

”O-Oh! Micah. Micah… Mouton.” Oh gods that was terrible. At least Michelle isn’t here. Why did he even choose Mouton he had so many other names to pick from! Hang on, he’s talking to his freaking mom right now what was going on?!

“Micah! Funny, my son’s name is Micah too.” Sara seemed to mused about the name for a moment before looking back at Micah. “You a Raelo wanderer? I mean, that get-up just screams of it.”

Micah stared at himself and forgot about the strange metal chest plate and gauntlet he was wearing. “Y-Yea, Raelo wanderer. I-I’m sorry, you are really Sara Nelson? Like the ‘Hero of the Stars’ Sara Nelson?”

Sara raised an eyebrow. “Well, I’m flattered for the title but I believe that title fits my husband more than me. I mean, he’s off in the Agency with Mary and David as of right now.”

The Nelson in green had to keep his composure, though he would have collapsed to the ground in complete shock if Sara wasn’t looking. He then looked down to see (what he now assumed) the younger version of him clinging on to his mother’s leg while staring at Micah with wide eyes. “You look so cool. I wanna be just like you!”

Micah couldn’t help but smirk. “I bet you’re really cool too buddy.”

Once Sara chased the kid back to the house, she looked over to Micah who was not so discreetly trying to slap his gauntlet to work. “So Micah, how’s your family?”

The Nelson in green felt his shoulders tense up at the question and stared blankly. Thankfully, Sara gave a chuckle and broke the awkward silence. “I see that my tech managed to work huh?”

”Wha- What tech?”

Sara pointed to the gauntlet on Micah’s arm. “That. That’s something I’ve been planning on making for a while. It’s meant to pair along with a time warper to help you choose what point of time to go. What I’m surprised by is the fact you didn’t warp into young Micah’s body.”

At this, Micah’s expression dropped to one of slight horror. That meant Josiah got ahold on one of Mom’s journals and this was in it? “You’re telling me I fell into a time warper?! Why would Josiah ever want to make that?!”

Sara tilted her head. “Josiah built it? I mean, I knew he was into tech, but I didn’t think he’d make it with me.”

”Oh.”

Micah realised Sara didn’t know. She didn’t know what happened to her. Or her husband. Or her children. Or the Agency in a whole. He could tell her everything, everything to stop her from disappearing. Instead, he just gave a stupid one-word reply.

“Right.”

Sara chuckled before patting Micah on the shoulder. “If I remember how my device was supposed to be programmed, then in a few moments, you’re gonna be warped away. Hope you’re ready for it.”

Before she could walk away, Micah pulled her into the biggest hug he could. Sara didn’t try to fight back, but she certainly was taken by surprised. Micah buried his face in her shoulder to hide his tears from her. Sara hugged back and the two stood in the field in silence. Micah finally lifted his head and stared at his mom, wiping his nose and taking a deep breath.

”Well then, I should-.”

ZZZZT

“You got to be kidding me.”

Micah groaned and brought his palms to his eyes in annoyance. Micah why the hell didn’t you just TELL-

“Micah what are you doing here?” Judah raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you supposed to be in a mission?’

”Mission? No, I didn’t have a mission scheduled today.” The Nelson in green replied flatly.

Judah shrugged and walked off, leaving his brother standing in the hallway of the Agency alone.

Wait. Where was Michelle?

Micah’s mind was reeling with thoughts as he drifted to the lounge. Then he heard the familiar girl’s voice and his shoulders sagged in relief. The Nelson in green practically flopped on top of the girl and hugged her tightly before grabbing her by the shoulders. “Michelle! Thank goodness you’re here! You wouldn’t believe what happened after we-.”

The Nelson in green paused as he noticed Michelle’s reaction to him being much more stunned and tense and red in the face rather than the giggly and ‘trying to be exasperated’ smile she’d give him. Micah’s hands slowly dropped to his sides as he looked to see his siblings staring at him grinning ear to ear with raised eyebrows. There was a beat of awkward silence before Micah realised his mistake.

He was still stuck in the past.

“Do you and Michelle have something to tell us Micah?” Elijah asked slowly with the cheesiest grin on his face.

Michelle and Micah looked at each other before the girl began to sputter nonsense trying to defend herself. Micah just sat on the couch, mind reeling with the situation he had just landed himself in before looking up to see Michelle out of the lounge with a tomato-red face while his siblings continued to tease. The Nelson in green quickly recollected himself as he shoved past his siblings to get to Michelle.

”Michelle wait-.”

”Don’t talk to me Micah! I don’t even like you in that way and-.”

”Michelle please listen to me!”

Micah grabbed the girl by the wrist and locked eyes with her. Michelle stared daggers into Micah, and past him would certainly have crumpled, but Micah right now stared back with a steely gaze that somehow got Michelle to look away.

”Look, I’m super sorry about what I just did. I certainly didn’t mean to imply to my siblings that we’re together. I’d never force you to do so. I have reasoning, but if I tell you then you’d have to believe me.”

Micah let go of Michelle as she stared at him. After a moment, she gave a sigh and crossed her arms. “Fine, but you better fix this mess afterwards,”

The Nelson in green took a deep breath before staring at Michelle in the eyes.

”I’m technically Micah from the future right now.”

”. . . What.”

”And Micah from the future and Michelle from the future… y’know.”

”What.”

Micah chuckled awkwardly as he scratched the back of his neck. Michelle’s reaction was certainly funny to say the least. So were the reactions of the siblings behind him.

”MICAH AND MICHELLE-.”

ZZZZT

“OW!”

Micah fell on the cold concrete floor with a thud. Before he could see who was standing in front of him, he felt another body flop right on top of him, knocking him out.

Next time, don’t poke around Josiah’s stuff.

Chapter Text

Michelle groaned as she fell into the lounge with a thud. She was not expecting to be flung from Josiah’s lab to the lounge.

Speaking of which, where was Micah?

As the agent got up, she looked to see Cole helping her up. He had a cheeky grin on his face as Michelle got to her feet.

”Hey there new agent, still getting your footing around here? Miranda… right?”

Michelle cringed. “Cole, it’s just me, Michelle.”

At this, the blonde was now looking worried. “Oh no, do I know you from before and I just forgot who you are?? Shoot my bad. But uh… can I still get that number?”

Michelle rolled her eyes as she scanned the lounge to see if anyone else was in there. “Have you seen Micah?”

Cole looked even more confused with this now. “Hold on, are you sure you’re a new agent here? You certainly look like a new agent but you’re acting like you’ve been here for a while.”

Michelle froze as she looked at her gear and processing what happened before she had landed in the lounge. “Cole, what’s the year today?”

The blonde raised an eyebrow before a mischievous smirk grew on his face. “Are you just too entranced by-.”

”Okay clearly you’re not that helpful.” Michelle huffed as she walked off.

”Hey! At least lemme ask about the cool tech you’re wearing!”

///

“Micah!”

The Nelson in green yelped as Michelle ran into him in his bedroom. She had basically tackled him while he was sitting on his desk chair, nearly socking him in the face.

”M-Michelle!” The Nelson stuttered as he looked to see Michelle’s face.

That’s when Michelle realized something.

He was blushing.

Blushing? Over this?

That wasn’t right.

”W-What do you-you need?” He croaked out once Michelle got to her feet. He combed a hand through his hair and he was clearly trembling while burning bright red.

Michelle clamped a hand to her open mouth. This wasn’t her Micah.

Heck, this wasn’t the right time.

She was sent back in time.

She coughed awkwardly as she combed through a hand through her own hair. “Sorry! You- uh, man this is really awkward.”

”Yea, b-but anyways, what did you need me for?” Micah chuckled. “And what’s with the tech get-up?”

Michelle looked down at her gear and gave a nervous laugh. “I just… found this stuff and-.”

ZZZZT

Michelle gave a sharp yelp as she tumbled to the dirt. She wasn’t expecting to be yanked back to suddenly fall into who knows where.

As she staggered to her feet, she noticed a house in front of her. There was a white picket fence and a lot of flowers at the base of the fence. There was a large tree with a tire swing where two kids were playing. Two boys were chasing each other on the field and a third boy was on the porch seemingly on his phone. The sky that framed the house was of a golden sunset and Michelle was rather curious of where she had landed this time.

Michelle was tempted to walk up to the house, but considering the get-up she was in, she decided to see if there was a way to wander through the forest that was behind her.

”Hello?”

Michelle let out a small squeak to see a woman standing in front of her, a towel in her hands which she was using to wipe down. She had her dirty blonde hair in a messy bun and had red tomato sauce on the apron she was wearing.

”H-Hi!” Michelle croaked out. “Sorry, I don’t mean to intrude, I just-.“

”Raelo-hopped into the wrong place?” The woman joked. “Don’t worry. I think your partner hopped here a few moments ago.”

Michelle raised an eyebrow. “Uh huh… uhm, what was your name?”

”Sara, Sara Nelson.” The woman said with a smile as she held her hand out.

Michelle’s eyes grew wide as she hesitantly shook the Nelson’s hand. “M-Michelle. Michelle Mouton.”

This time, it was Sara’s turn to look surprised. “Oh- oh my! Did my baby Micah already get a girl?”

”Wh-What?!” Michelle yelped, yanking her hand back in pure shock while her face burned red. “Sorry, not trying to be rude. W-What do you mean by that?”

Sara seemed to catch on and gave a laugh. “Oh dear, my apologies. Without the context it sounds pretty wild huh? So, Micah came through here with matching gear that you’re wearing right now and he addressed himself as Micah Mouton. Though now that I think about it, I think he was just using ‘Mouton’ as a cover name before he realised I knew what was going on…”

Michelle’s face was still red as she stood frozen on the spot. Sara couldn’t help but smile seeing Michelle’s current state and patted a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure future me is more than happy to see you two together huh?”

The agent gave a slow nod as she snapped out of her trance. She then looked down to see a boy in green standing next to his mom, looking up at Michelle with wide eyes. “Woah… you… you kinda look like the girl I met at summer camp. Really cool.”

Michelle gave a smile, to who she assumed was now a younger Micah. “I’m sure you’re pretty cool too.”

Younger Micah let out a silly squeal as he hid behind his mom, whispering to her, “she said I’m cool!” Sara chuckled before looking at the gear Michelle was wearing. “Well, if I remember correctly, you’re going to warping off soon.”

Michelle nodded before looking at Sara Nelson one last time. “It was lovely meeting the Angel of the Stars.”

Before Michelle was rudely yanked away, she could faintly hear Sara muttering, “Strange. Everyone that came here called me the Angels of the Stars.”

ZZZT

“OWWW.”

Michelle winced as she landed on top of Micah. She could tell he was not getting up without at least one black eye. Everything else was a bit blurry as she and Micah were suddenly whisked away to the Medic Bay.

After they get treated, Michelle had a handful of questions to ask this Nelson.

Chapter Text

Elijah poked his head into Josiah’s lab. What happened with Micah and Michelle? He had seen them in the Medic Bay, though the reason as to why they were there was classified. This left the Nelson in blue a bit too curious and decided to investigate himself.

Now he stood in front of a strange, black, portal-looking machine. His eyes drifted to the gear that laid on the work bench off to the side. This was what Josiah was taking off Micah when he was brought to the Medic Bay. Elijah couldn’t help himself and swiped the devices off to put on himself. He chuckled as he examined it before looking at the open journal on the workbench. What he didn’t notice was his hand pressing on the power grid for the machine.

”What’s that- oh no.”

ZZZZZT

“OW!”

Elijah fell face first on grass with a thud. Once he wiped off the crumbs of dirt, he stood up to see a giant forest in front of him. When he turned around, he spotted a lone house with a giant tree having a tire swing hanging under it. There was a porch in front of the house where one kid was sitting with some Lego around him. Two boys were messing around with each other by the tire swing while a girl and a boy were chasing each other in dress up. A blonder boy sat on the porch seemingly on his phone, though he occasionally glanced up to check on the younger ones time to time.

Elijah just stood in the grassy field staring, stunned with the sight in front of him. He recognised everything, from the flowers sprouting around the white picket fence to the tire swing to the doodles that covered the porch.

He was back home.

Home.

He was promptly snapped out by his trance from hearing another person thud behind him. He turned around to see the older blonde Nelson lying facefirst on the dirt wearing some of the other gear that Elijah left on the workbench bench.

”Uhh… Elijah..?”

”Daniel? What are you doing here?”

”I heard the machine whirring in Josiah’s lab and-.”

Daniel trailed off seeing the sight in front of him. Elijah chucked softly seeing his brother’s stunned expression before he shook his head. “How are we back home?”

Elijah shrugged before noticing that the blonde kid on the porch had spotted them. The kid then got up and his mom came out of the front door wiping her hands on a towel. She called for the kids to come in for dinner before the blonde kid tapped his mom and pointed at the two Nelsons. The mom spotted the two and nodded at her son before he went in. She soon made her way to the two Nelsons with a smile on her face.

“Hello you two. Are you here for Darren Nelson?” She chuckled. “No one comes here unless it’s for him. Besides, I doubt Raelo wanderers like you would be here for another reason.”

Daniel and Elijah glanced at each other, both wide-eyed and slightly confused. Daniel, thankfully, took the lead. “I-I’m sorry, are you Sara Nelson?”

The woman raised an eyebrow with a smirk. “Why yes I am. And you must be..?”

”D-Daniel and Elijah!” The Nelson in blue yelped. “Uh, Daniel and Elijah Parker. Brothers, we’re brothers.”

Sara gave a nod. “Well, you guys can come for dinner while you wait for Darren to come over. I made pasta.”

Elijah glanced over to his older brother before looking back to (technically) his mother. “We would love that uh- Mrs. Nelson..?”

Sara chuckled as she eyed the two. “And please, call me Mom. You two are clearly from the future using my tech.”

The two looked down to the gauntlets they were wearing before looking up at Sara. “Your tech?”

”Yea. I have that tech sketched in my journal and I’m assuming that since this is made, then you’ve made the time warper to come here.” Sara explained simply. “And if I remember correctly, you should be warping off soon.”

Daniel nodded slowly. “So Josiah found your journal and made it…”

”Josiah made it with me? I knew he was into tech, but I didn’t think he’d get into it to help with me.”

The two boys fell silent seeing Sara’s confusion. There was a silent agreement between the two boys before looking over at Sara. “Yea.”

ZZZZZT

The two landed in what appeared to be a different version of Elijah’s bedroom. Elijah was sitting on his bed in a grey hoodie while a younger Mary, David, and Daniel stood in front of him. Daniel looked slightly confused while David and Mary were rambling about something including Elijah and Dad. Elijah looked to his older brother and was about to ask if he knew what was going on before seeing the date on the calendar that was behind Daniel’s head.

Today was the day Dad left.

Today was the day Elijah had managed to get back home after the hostage situation with the bomb strapped to him.

Elijah felt his hands go cold as Daniel also slowly realised what was going on. He quickly grabbed Elijah by the arm and dragged him out. Mary and David were certainly confused with what the two were doing and followed behind, still rambling about Dad.

”It doesn’t make sense! Dad wouldn’t just make a bomb and then just run! He can beat them!” David exclaimed loudly. Elijah didn’t remember the last time David had been so upset, especially over something like this.

”M-Maybe he was forced to at gun point and didn’t have anything on him?” Mary suggested, though all of them knew that if that was the case, Dad could still have fought them off rather than strap a bomb to his own son. “And Daniel where are you going!?”

”The Arxis Bay.” He said flatly.

The four were now standing in front of the console that controlled the Arxis Bay. Daniel was quick to start pressing buttons and flipping switches at surprising speed to younger Mary and David at least. Daniel then managed to track where Dad was supposed to be.

”There he-.”

ZZZZZZT

Daniel and Elijah stumbled around before realising they were standing in front of Dad. They were in the middle of nowhere, though in front of them was Dad staring off into the void. Dad was certainly not expecting for his two sons to suddenly appear in front of him to say the least.

”Daniel? Elijah?”

The two Nelsons just stared at their father. He looked… different, to say the least. His hair was long and he had a scruffy beard and he looked rather disheveled. He looked like some sort of dystopian wanderer while covered in strange devices.

”You’re… not supposed to be here.” Dad muttered. “W-Why are you-.”

Dad was cut off to Daniel lunging at him and grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. Elijah took a step back, stunned with the sudden reaction. He knew Daniel could get pretty angry, but this was something else. Daniel stared down at his father with a strange fury.

”Why did you leave us.”

”W-Wha-.”

”Why did you leave us?!”

The three stood in silence as Daniel’s words echoed in the void. Elijah slowly walked over to his older brother, staring down at his father. Dad looked tired, but the type of tired where it was more like he wanted to be left alone rather than want to go to sleep.

”I…”

Daniel shoved Dad back looking angrier than ever. “Of course you don’t have an answer.”

ZZZZZT

“Daniel! Elijah! Why did you go-.”

Josiah was then roughly shoved past by Daniel while Elijah just stood behind.

Clearly that was not what Elijah was expecting when he went time travelling.

Chapter Text

Micah, Judah, Cole, Josiah, Gala, Michelle, Shiloh, and Talia entered the old bar of the Raelo they were in. They were on a mission to catch a group of bad guys that were running rampant in the Raelo they were sent in and they were hoping to find more information about the bad guys’ leader’s whereabouts. They soon heard news about a potential person to help them in their mission and were led to a bar where they were in now.

The bar was dimly lit, golden candlelight from the old chandeliers being the light source.  The patrons in the bar were murmuring, almost afraid to speak any louder and talk over the singer.

”There, I think that’s her.”

Shiloh looked at the photo in her hand of a lady talking to the mob boss. The lady was standing on a small platform singing some soft jazz. Her long wavy black hair swayed behind her frame, her slinky red dress hugging her frame while her white fur coat was on a seat behind her. She wore dark lipstick and eyeshadow which made her ivy green eyes pop even more.

”Man… her singing is lovely.” Talia remarked.

She wasn’t wrong. The lady had a rich yet soft voice that one could say would be honey if it had a voice. The group soon took a table and started talking about a way to approach her.

Usually, they’d just straight up approach her, but being in this Raelo had made the group realise things worked way more differently than they hoped. Cole had compared it to what he assumed was ‘the 1930s’ or something like that with how they all have that fancy Atlantic accent’.

The second option they had was to swoon her over in some way. If they were to use this method, it was often because Elijah or Daniel was with them. But since they were not here, the group had to pick a sacrifice to bumble around with the girl. Josiah offered to go but everyone immediately shut him down, he was already gobsmacked by the girl’s singing and they did not want him bumbling around terribly with her.

Micah then turned to Judah with a hand held out. “20 bucks and I’ll do it.”

Judah grinned and shook it before swiping Josiah’s hat. He shoved it into Micah’s hands before the Nelson in green walked off.

”Micah?!” The group sputtered watching the Nelson in green stride off.

Gala leaned over to Judah and tapped him on the shoulder. The two didn’t have to look at each other to know to pull up the camera to film Micah.

///

The stranger in green took a seat next to her. His face was shadowed by his hat’s brim and his long green coat was hanging off the edge of the barstool.

”I’ll take whatever the lady’s havin’.”

She gave a smirk but didn’t look at him right away. “You new here?”

The stranger slowly turned to her with what she assumed was with the intent of being mysterious. “Pretty obvious huh? Well, kinda hard not to look too obvious around here.”

The lady gave a light chuckle as her elbow propped up and her face leaned on her hand. She looked over to the strange with a light smirk, her fur coat hanging off her shoulders. “It’s hard for a person like you not to look new here. Wearing a bright green coat doesn’t exactly screams mysterious either.”

The two share a chuckle before the lady introduces herself. “Felicia Sparks. Jazz singer of Martin’s Marvels Bar. But you probably already knew that.”

The stranger in green tipped his hat at her, his eyes still hidden. “Micah Nelson.”

”So… what brings a fellow like you so far out to a Raelo like this?” She drawled as her finger traced around the rim of her glass.

He thanked the bartender for his drink before replying Felicia. “My team and I have been tracking down this guy first a while. Know him?”

The black-haired woman looked down to the photo slid to her. The photo was of a burly looking man in a black trenchcoat smoking a cigar. His arms were folded across his chest and he was leaning on a wall with a black briefcase. Felicia raised an eyebrow.

”Mob Boss Lucian?” She slid the photo to Micah. “He’s been around these parts yes. He pops into this bar only on Tuesdays and orders two beers. He slams them down like it’s nothing and leaves the bar with his pay. Easy as that.”

”Not causing trouble or anything?” Micah asked as he takes a sip of his drink. He swirls the strange liquid in the glass before his head turns back to Felicia.

“Surely you don’t think I have anything to do with him.” Felicia gave a small playful pout. “I’m just a jazz singer ‘round here trying to get my pay

Micah nodded slowly but leaned closer to her, almost as if trying to read her face. “Well, a jazz singer certainly would have something to do with a mob boss if they get caught together.”

Micah then slid over a picture, albeit blurry, of Felicia and Lucien talking by a street corner. The woman gave a frown as she flicked her hair over her shoulder. “Well, he simply asked if I wanted to join his ‘family.’” She put the last words in air-quotes. Felicia’s voice then drops to a whisper as she leans over to Micah. “Just to watch over the patrons and to report to him when he comes over. A lot of patrons in here owe him quite a bit. But I refused and he left me be. Simple as that.”

Micah hummed before leaning over to her, as if trying to examine her almost. “I find it hard to believe a mob boss would leave a lady as pretty as you so easily.”

Felicia’s shoulders tensed under his scrutinizing gaze despite still not seeing his eyes. “So what if he didn’t leave me so easily? He still left nonetheless.”

The Nelson in green muttered something under his breath as he leaned back to his own seat and sipped his glass. “Do you at least know where he went afterwards?”

The black-haired woman hummed as she played with a stray strand of her hair. “Well, last I heard he was living down in the old manor up the hill. People are convinced it’s abandoned, but only a few know that’s a lie.”

Micah finished his drink and tapped the counter for the bartender. He left the payment for his drink as he pocketed the pictures into his coat. “Well, it was a lovely time talking with you Miss Sparks.”

Felicia smirked. “Please, no need to be so formal. Felicia is just fine.”

Micah flashed her a smile. “Mind if we meet up again for another chat then Felicia?”

”What? For a dinner?” The woman gave a small scoff. “My darling at home wouldn’t be so appreciative of that.”

Micah shook his head. “No no, purely for professional matters for this.”

Felicia raised an eyebrow. “Well, if that’s the case then I suppose why not. Unless of course you catch Mr. Lucien in time. I’m sure I can convince my darling to let me off the hook if that’s the case.”

Micah tipped his hat a final time before striding off. Felicia gave a small chuckle as she looked back down at her drink, though she did catch sight of a card he had left behind with fancy lettering of “M.O.M Agency.”

///

Michelle stared at the entire interaction before Micah walked back towards the group. Everyone was completely flabbergasted at what they just watched. It was almost like Micah was a different person. Michelle noticed Talia’s face though.

She wasn’t looking at Micah, but at the lady instead.

Michelle leaned over to Cole, who also seemed to be looking at Talia.

“You think she..?”

”Maybe?”

”But that doesn’t make sense?”

”Maybe she… uh…”

”We should talk about this later.”

”Yea.”

The two shared a quiet conversation before turning their attention to Micah. The group was quick to shuffle out of the bar before they went full-on crazy.

”WHAT WAS THAT?!” Everyone but Talia yelled at the same time.

“She looks so cool.” Talia sputtered. “Uh- you too Micah you both looked so cool!”

Micah froze under their loud exclamations, his lips tightened into a line with wide eyes. He then shakes his head and shoves Josiah’s hat back to him. “What DID I just do?!”

Judah and Gala stared at the recording they got of Micah and the woman before looking back at Micah standing in front of them. “Where did the cool Micah come from and why can’t he be the permanent Micah?!”

”Wha- HEY!” Micah sputtered before flailing his arms around. “I’m cool naturally as well!”

”Not like that!” Josiah and Judah exclaimed at the same time.

”What was the woman’s name?” Talia and Shiloh asked at the same time.

”Uhm, Felicia Sparks.”

Shiloh nodded and immediately started looking through the files kept on her device. Talia, however, seemed to want to know the name just because and started staring back into the bar. Michelle and Cole looked at each other before Judah started teasing about how red Michelle looked watching Micah and Felicia talking.

”I AM COOL STILL!” Micah exclaims, still trying to get Judah and Gala to listen to him.

”I wanna be cool Micah.” Josiah pouts as he stares at his hat. “Why can’t I get that cool wearing this hat??”

Chapter Text

Shiloh noticed.

She always did.

When the team came back from their mission, Daniel immediately went to his room and locked himself up. This wasn’t too out of character for him since that was his way of decompressing after a stressful mission. After all, he was thrown into a big mission filled with zombies, guns, and him getting thrown to a wall and getting electrocuted.

But something was off in the way he left.

His eyes looked distant as he excused himself out of the Arxis Bay. The way his hands trembled by his sides as he stumbled out was subtle, but Shiloh noticed.

Shiloh always noticed.

///

Daniel slammed the door to his room before sliding down and sitting on his carpeted floor. His breathing was shaky as he kicked off his boots, his socked feet meeting the floor.

This wasn’t right.

Just a few minutes before he was the most serious person he could be, even managing to convince his sister to leave the documents in the exploding castle. She rarely ever listened to him but the way he spoke seemed to get through her.

Yet here he was, a panicking mess.

He felt the usual with the exhaustion and the achy arms, but something was off about this. His fingers fanned out on the carpet, desperately trying to grip on the soft strands and to ground himself back to reality after a mission shooting zombies.

Unfortunately, his fingers felt nothing.

No carpet, no scratchy feeling of the carpet, nothing.

This only got him even more panicked. Was this extra adrenaline running through him? He wasn’t sure. Why was there a ringing in his ears? Maybe it was an after effect of something. Was this the electrocution? Was this what happens after he gets knocked out one time? Maybe he should’ve never taken this mission. Now suddenly everything was just too much. Too much light, too much noise, too much color-.

But no feeling whatsoever.

His hands ran across anything he could, praying that he would be able to feel something with his hands. His last attempt was to punch the wall, though all it did was leave his knuckles red. He then slumped back down on the floor and when his hands gripped into his arms to attempt hugging himself, he felt nothing.

So he gripped tighter, and tighter, and tighter-.

Then he was bleeding.

He stared down at where his fingernails had completely dug into his arms, leaving small crescents of red to stain the sleeves.

And he felt nothing.

”I-I can’t feel anything.” He whispered to himself, not realising the tears forming in his eyes. This only got his breathing pace to quicken even more, growing more and more irregular until his vision started to grow blurry. He hated this, he hated not feeling anything, not knowing what he was holding or touching or grabbing or-.

Then the door behind him slid open.

He struggled to get to his feet as he saw a blurry figure of purple standing at the door. When did it get so hard to breathe? His whole body shook with each heaving breath. What was going on? He was perfectly fine before! Why was he-.

”Daniel we have to get you to the Medic Bay!”

The Nelson didn’t realise he was about to knock over his bookshelf from leaning on it too hard, hell, he didn’t even realise he was leaning on his bookshelf. He didn’t realise his hand was gripped over his chest, almost as if it was trying to grab and stop his racing heart from pumping even faster. He wanted to claw at his throat, maybe try to open up his throat so air could get in better. The figure in purple got closer to him, but he jerked back and stumbled onto the floor, nearly knocking his head on the shelf in the process.

The figure in purple attempted to grab the Nelson, but he swiped at her. She gave a sharp yelp, piercing through the air and only making the ringing in his ears even stronger. He winced as he tried to form coherent words but only making garbled sounds.

Then his vision went out.

///

Shiloh didn’t remember the last time she saw Daniel in this state.

It scared her when she saw her brother on the floor.

All she remembered him telling her through his garbled sounds was:

”I can’t feel anything.”

He looked in an even more terrible state when he was brought into the Medic Bay. The nurses didn’t even change him out when they started running tests on him. When they asked Shiloh what had happened, her mouth couldn’t keep up with the racing thoughts in her head, so she stupidly sputtered out that she found him on the floor.

But when one of the nurses asked if anything happened during their mission, everything clicked for Shiloh.

Now she was sitting beside her older brother, waiting for him to wake up. They had dressed him in those clean hospital gowns Judah called ‘grandma dresses’ and she could see how his arms were patched up thanks to his nails digging into himself.

She didn’t remember the last time she held his hands. When were they so rough and callous?

Tiny scars marked all over his hands and fingers. The insides of his palms were rough and bumpy. She didn’t realise just how worn her brother looked because from afar, he seemed like the pinnacle of strength to her. But here, he was just as tired as she was, probably even more.

Maybe she should’ve asked him harder if he was fine when they left the castle. She knew getting electrocuted was no joke, but she didn’t bother Daniel about it because she was the strongest Nelson she knew besides Elijah. Yet she continued to blame herself for not checking in on Daniel, he was human too.

When he finally woke up, she asked him what had happened.

He took a while to respond.

She wished she noticed sooner.

She never noticed enough.

Chapter Text

Josiah sat on his bed, pouting as he scrolled on his phone.

Why was he pouting? Well, Josiah would love to tell you.

First, while on a mission to a meeting talking about the Agency’s alliance to a Raelo, one of the Raelo Lords decided to make a terrible comment about the Nelsons’ mother, which Josiah did not take kindly to, but he couldn’t argue with him since he was surrounded by armed guards. Second, on that same Raelo, he was leaving through the Beacon when he had been attacked by a creature. He got through the Beacon, but in return, he had gotten a giant wound on his arm and had to get stitches. Third, he had been called off from the mission he was going to go to today which he wanted to go for, and he was still stuck with trying to not scratch his stitches out of his arm. Now, the power had gone out so he couldn’t binge-watch his favorite rom-com series on his TV.

He muttered something under his breath as his good arm flopped onto his face. His phone was dying and the charger was all the way across his room. He would be walking but he was bed-ridden with the flu (bed-ridden was a tad bit dramatic, but it he said it was fitting).

As Josiah would like to say, he was having a royally horrible day.

While he was moping about his woes, he didn’t realise someone had slipped into his room until he felt a weight sinking down at the foot of his bed.

Josiah slowly lifted his arm off his face to see Gala staring at him somewhat expectantly. His face wrinkled in confusion before seeing Gala nod over to his right. He turned to his right to see a tray of food with a glass of water and some pills on his bedside table.

The Nelson in black groaned as he sat up and looked from the tray on his bedside table to the princess in red. He looked rather rumpled up, his blanket tangled between his legs while his hair stuck out in random ways. Josiah then realised that Gala wasn’t just wearing a red sweater, that was his red sweater.

”When did you get that?” Josiah pointed out.

Gala shrugged. “Don’t remember.” She then pointed at the sandwich. “Eat first. You haven’t eaten in a day and you’re sick.”

Josiah gave a small huff and rolled his eyes. “I’m not that hungry.”

”Eat.” Gala said, voice firmer than before. Josiah didn’t respond, staring at the sandwich with slight disgust. “If you’re not going to eat then I’m going to have to force you.”

”Oh please, you’re too nice to do that.” Josiah muttered absentmindedly.

”What’s gotten you in this bad mood?” Gala exclaimed, clearly somewhat offended by the statement.

Josiah grumbled under his breath as he rubbed his face. “Sorry. Didn’t… didn’t mean to say that. I’ll eat.”

The princess watched as the Nelson started taking the babiest bites. Gala sighed as she stared down at the floor, fidgeting with the loose strand on the sweater’s cuff. “Daniel told me about what happened at your meeting in the last mission you went.”

Josiah’s fingers dug deeper into the sandwich as he remembered what the Raelo Lord had said that day. “Oh. Yea. That.”

”Josiah, don’t scratch your arm.”

”It’s so itchy though.”

”You and I both know what’s going to happen if you scratch the stitches.”

There was another long beat of silence before Gala spoke up again. “I watched that series you told me. Skating Hearts right?”

Josiah looked at the princess with wide eyes as he finished the sandwich. “Really? I-I mean, I never told you I watched that. Not like I watch stupid rom-coms o-or anything.”

The princess rolled her eyes with a smirk. “You told me to watch that two days ago, after you got your stitches in, remember?”

Josiah paused as he tried to recall what had happened those two days ago. “Huh… I guess I did. If that’s the case, I take back whatever I just said.”

Gala let out a soft giggle as she played with a strand of loose hair. “Yea, I liked the part where Miley confessed to Frankie at the competition. Like, Frankie was being soo oblivious it was actually hurting me.”

“They kinda remind me of us.” Josiah muttered under his breath as he popped the pills.

”Huh?”

”Uh- I mean, nothing. Forget I said anything.” Josiah sighed as his head hung down. “Sorry. I’m way too tired to be talking. Hang on, why are you even here anyways?”

Gala gave a shrug. “Why can’t a friend help out?”

”Yea, just a friend.” Josiah muttered under his breath. “Whatever.”

“. . . What?”

The Nelson in black froze, eyes wide as he realised what he just said. He didn’t want to look at Gala as he felt a wave of embarrassment roll over him. He quickly shoved that down, dismissing it. So what if Gala called him just a friend? Maybe it was time for him to just stop being a simp for her and move on and-.

”If I’m really being honest, I don’t think we’re just friends.”

This time, it was Josiah’s turn to look surprised. He looked up to the princess who was staring back at him. She had a soft smile on her face as she saw Josiah’s expression. “Come on, I’m not that dense to your advances. I’ve been courted multiple times, need I remind you. Why do you think I’m so fine with you doing so? It’s pretty cute if you ask me.”

‘The Nelson in black just watched jaw-dropped as Gala got off the bed, took the empty tray, and walked to the door. “W-Wait-, so if I asked if you wanted to be my girlfriend, would you say y-yes?”

The princess paused in the middle of the doorway before looking at Josiah. “I would have p think about that for a bit, seeing how you’re quite literally delirious in the fever of a flu.”

That was enough for Josiah to start giggling and kicking his feet the moment Gala walked out.

Chapter Text

Michelle watched as Micah slowly woke up on the hospital cot. The strange gear the two were wearing were now off them and they were in their casual clothes. Michelle pulled over her dusty pink cardigan tighter, not liking the cold breeze blasting on her right now.

”Ugh… what the-.” Micah looked around to see Michelle. “Oh… you were the one that flopped on me?”

Michelle chuckled seeing Micah piece the puzzle together as to why he was in the Medic Bay. “Yea, that’s my bad I guess.”

”Hey, so crazy question.” Micah spoke as he moved to sit up, legs dangling off the side of his bed as he faced the other. “Did you get flung back in time perchance?”

”Oh my gods yes!” Michelle exclaimed with wide eyes. “Dude! I was so confused when Cole was trying to hit on me!”

”Wha- Cole was trying to hit on you?!’ Micah exclaimed, clearly more confused than upset. “I just so happened to flop in front of my old family house and had a very-… interesting interaction with my mother.”

Michelle chuckled before her face slowly dropped as she remembered her interaction with Mrs. Nelson. Oh right. “Hey Micah, quick question, why- why did you use my name when you were talking with your mom?”

At this, the Nelson in green froze and turned to the girl, face burning red. “W-What do you mean by that?”

Michelle chuckled seeing the other’s reaction and slowly started pacing around, her socked feet gliding across the floor. “Well, I got flung back to your childhood house and I think I met your mom. No, not think, I did meet your mom.”

The Nelson in green looked even more embarrassed and covered his face. “Oh gods, what did she say?”

”She was really nice and baby you is so cute it’s hilarious.” Michelle grinned. “Also, she said that my ‘partner’ had come over before and started freaking out when she heard my name was Michelle Mouton.”

”Oh no.” Micah could already tell where this was going. “Oh no no no I swear I didn’t mean to!”

”Your mom was understanding with the whole situation.” Michelle added on. The next words she spoke she said in a slow drawl. “But she was certainly pleased that I was with you. That leads me to my next question: are we actually together?”

Micah stared at Michelle, who was now standing right up to him with her arms crossed. The Nelson in green felt his face warm up, thinking his next words carefully. “Well…”

The other agent sighed, face warping into one of annoyance (and maybe anger). “Of course. Of course you don’t know how to answer.”

”Hey! I do know how to answer!” Micah exclaimed, arms flying up before dropping to his sides limply. “I just… I don’t know how to express myself. You told me this before about this and I’ve tried to work on it, I really do.”

The two remained in silence before Micah spoke up, looking up from staring at his lap. “There’s… there’s a few ways that I often know how to express myself, though I usually end up not doing it because I don’t really want to.”

Michelle raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? Prove it.”

”Are you sure?”

”Yes! Are you gonna keep me waiting or-.”

The other agent froze as Micah suddenly reached out for her, pulling her close by the waist. Michelle felt her face burn up this time as Micah slowly stood up, keeping Michelle still close to him, practically having the two be body to body. Micah lifted up Michelle’s chin for her to look at him in the eyes, a cheeky smirk on his face. “Is this enough proof, or would you like more?”

Michelle’s mouth only hung open slightly, brain completely shutting down with what was happening. Her arm was slung around his shoulder as she had to basically hold herself up from collapsing on the floor. “If this is one of your first thoughts, then I kinda wanna know what other thoughts you have.”

”No you don’t.” Micah said flatly, lips tightening to a line. “My thoughts are pretty weird. Not like that kind of weird, but… let just say I have intrusive thoughts to keep it simple.”

Michelle couldn’t help but giggle at Micah’s delivery. Micah slowly started to chuckle as well before-…

Creak…

The two agents whipped their heads to see Elijah standing by the doorway, looking like he was in the middle of walking out while holding a phone in hand. Michelle was quick to push herself away from Micah and started yelling at Elijah.

”How long have you been here?!”

”I-I swear I only saw you guys talking and-.”

”Were you recording us?!”

“I WAS DOING A VIDEO CHALLENGE IT JUST SO HAPPENED THAT I WAS FILMING AND-.”

”Don’t you DARE show that video! Delete it right now!”

Micah had to drag Michelle back from shaking Elijah up. “Dude chill, it’s Elijah, he’s not like Daniel who would blackmail us.”

Michelle let out a small huff before giving Elijah the meanest side-eye, making the Nelson in blue squeak and flinch under her glare. “Yea… but I don’t think I need to remind you what will happen if you share that video with anyone, right?”

Micah gave a slow nod, a menacing grin on his face as he looked over to his brother. “Don’t worry, if he doesn’t believe you, I bet he’ll certainly believe me.”

Elijah shuddered under the duo’s glares as he slowly walked towards the door. “Damn, you two are rubbing off on each other huh..?”

Micah snickered as he watched his brother slink out of the room before turning to Michelle. He wasn’t expecting her to be face-flat on her bed screaming into a pillow while kicking her feet up in the air.

”Woah, I didn’t think you’d freak out like this.”

”Oh shut up!”

Chapter Text

“Do remind me, how did she get turned into a cat again?”

Lila was hiccuping with tears cascading down her face while trying respond. “S-She g-got in the w-way of m-my spell. I-I’m so s-sorry!”

Elijah had to force himself not to laugh at the situation. Currently he was staring at a very grumpy tabby cat glaring up at him while sitting on the kitchen counter. Lila was standing next to him hiccuping and sputtering apologies.

///

Earlier that day, Lila and Michelle were working in the nursery. Lila decided that she wanted to see if her newest spell would work on one of the creatures. Unfortunately, the creature did not take kindly to having a giant beam of light being aimed at them and decided to run into Michelle.

Lila then couldn’t tell which cat Michelle had turned into thanks to Michelle sprinting off immediately after being changed into a cat for some reason. Lila then spent the rest of the day trying to hide from the agents’s gaze and chasing down a cat who she had to guess whether it was her friend or not. The problem was the fact that she had somehow managed to lose Cat-Michelle in the agency and now had to search the whole place.

With Michelle, she had sprinted across the whole Agency without being caught. Well, she did get caught. By Micah of all people.

”Awwww! Kitty!” Micah grinned as he yoinked the cat and placed her on his shoulders. She was quick to get herself comfortable and perched on his shoulders. For some reason, Micah didn’t seem to question why this cat was super complacent with him and assumed he just had some insane animal whisperer powers that were suddenly activated. The rest of the day was him walking around with a cat on his shoulders while Lila was running around the Agency frantically looking for her lost friend.

”Hey Micah? Where did you find that cat?” Judah pointed out as the two bumped paths.

”Oh? Oh- yea, the cat.” Micah honestly had forgotten there was a cat on his shoulders until then. “I found her.”

The Nelson in orange stared at the tabby cat, unsure why she was somehow managing to give him a mean side eye. “And how did a cat get in here in the first place?”

”I-… yea hang on.” Micah realised what Judah meant and looked at the cat. He grabbed the cat and stared at her in the eyes. “How did you get in here?”

The cat just stared at him before yowling loudly and thrashing in his hands. Micah yelped in surprise and dropped the cat to the floor. The cat gave a small ‘harumph’ before turning her back at Micah. Judah cackled loudly while Micah gave an offended gasp. Just then, Elijah crashed into his younger brother.

”Judah! Micah! Have you-…” Elijah stared at the cat. “Oh. Oh no.”

///

“And here we are.” Elijah shrugged.

Micah and Judah continued to stare at Cat-Michelle while Elijah was doing a terrible, though genuine, attempt to console Lila. Cat-Michelle seemed to be completely fine with this change, though she continued to hiss at Elijah and Judah whenever they tried to poke her. Once Lila seemed to have calmed down, Elijah asked if she knew how to revert Michelle back to normal.

”I-I think I do.” Lila sniffled as she stared at her sparkly glowing hands. “I’ve never h-had this happen though. I-I’m not sure if this will work or not.”

After taking a few precautions, Lila’s hands started glowing and sparkling pink particles floated out of her hands. The particles started drifting towards Cat-Michelle and swirled around her. Cat-Michelle seemed not to disturbed by this until the light grew much brighter. Soon she was engulfed with the pink light and for a split second Micah swore he could see Michelle floating in the sky.

Plonk

“Ow.”

Micah, Judah, and Elijah stared as Michelle got up from the floor, only to have cat ears and tail. Lila gasped in horror and was quick to apologise, though was equally confused as to how this happened.

”What?” Michelle raised an eyebrow at the four’s reaction. “Do I have something on my- oh no.”

”You still have your-.”

”Yea I can SEE that!”

Lila sputtered for a moment as she casted up a spell book and flipped through the pages. “I-I think that’s a side effect for a d-day.”

Michelle stared at her cat ears in the mirror given to her by Elijah. She then yelped in surprise and whipped around to see Micah playing with her tail. Her face went red as she managed to slap Micah’s head with her tail. “Stop it!”

Micah snickered seeing how sporadic Michelle’s tail was flicking around. Judah stared at Michelle and noticed her cat ears flattened on her head. “I knew Michelle was very expressive, but not this expressive!”

Michelle yelped as she realised what Judah meant and her ears shot back up. “STOP IT!”

”It’s funny!”

”Is not!”

Chapter Text

“Dang. I didn’t think you’d dress up for this.”

Shiloh rolled her eyes with a slight smile. She was in a purple dress made of silk with a small train behind. Her hair was in a braid that cascaded down her shoulder with small golden flower clips embedded in it. “Just because I say I don’t like dressing up doesn’t mean I don’t like wanting to be pretty.”

Phineas chucked before catching sight of a few more colorfully dressed agents walking in. “So… your siblings came?”

Shiloh gave a frown as she pinched her noisebridge. “I tried to hide it from them I swear.”

Phineas’s face scrunched slightly in confusion. “I never said they couldn’t come. I just suggested they don’t if you wanted to hang out afterwards.”

At this, Shiloh’s shoulders tensed seeing Elijah glancing over at the two. “Yea…”

The two chatted for a bit before an older Raelo Lord approached the two. Phineas and the other spoke for a bit before the Raelo Lord introduced himself to Shiloh as Lord Tomas. The Nelson in purple spoke with the Lord casually but picked up a few strange hints from the Lord. She wasn’t too sure at first but with Phineas next to her, she just hoped he was paying attention to what Tomas was saying. She was about to completely space out nodded until she suddenly felt Phineas’s arm wrapped around her waist. She froze for a second before Phineas coolly ended the conversation with Tomas.

”Where are we going?” Shiloh whispered to Phineas as she noticed that he was walking towards the stage.

”I have a speech to say. Totally forgot it. But that Tomas creep made me want to do it now.” Phineas whispered back.

Phineas’s arm then left Shiloh’s waist as he went up stage, though Shiloh secretly didn’t mind if he had continued to leave his arm around her. She took a seat as Phineas made a speech about how he was glad the Raelo Lords could arrive and hoped that they had a great night and other boring stuff.

During the speech, she turned to see Lord Tomas slinking up to her again. She had to hide her confusion as Lord Tomas struck up another conversation between the two. She didn’t mind at first as she spoke with him. Then she noticed Phineas wrapping up his speech and coming off stage. Almost immediately he was back by her side with his arm around her waist. She then was guided over to an empty table, Phineas’s arm still wrapped around her waist. When the two arrived at the table, she swore she saw her brothers looking over at them. Her felt her face burn up immediately.

”W-What was that for?” Shiloh finally looked Phineas in the eyes once his arm left her waist. She couldn’t tell if her face being flushed or the butterflies in her stomach had to do with Phineas, but she certainly was confused with what just happened. “Did you not like Tomas?”

Phineas thanked a waiter and took a drink before looking back at Lord Tomas. “He’s a creep.”

”What?” Shiloh looked back at Phineas in disbelief. “He’s was pretty sketchy, but what do you mean by a ‘creep’?”

After a sip, Phineas looked at Shiloh with a raised eyebrow. “You… you really don’t know?”

”No..?” Shiloh tilted her head as Phineas leaned over the standing table. “Is there something I’m missing?”

”He was trying to hit on you.” Phineas said slowly, almost sounding unsure if Shiloh was actually being serious or not. “Like, could you not tell? He was getting really up close to your face and stuff. He was even asking to have a meeting with you about trade deals. Your agency doesn’t even do trade deals.”

Shiloh slowly understood what Phineas was on but her face scrunched in confusion. “Wait, how did I not remember the conversation..?”

”Were you even paying attention?” Phineas chuckled slightly. “Or maybe he was really just boring you to death?”

The two chuckled a bit as the two continued to chat before Shiloh realised she was unintentionally drifting closer to Phineas. Unfortunately for her, Phineas also noticed and had a smirk, even gently elbowing her. “You good?”

”I-I’m fine.” Shiloh cringed at her stutter. Gods she was such a mess right now! If she could sink into the floor right now and evaporate, she would.

”Are you sure? You look pretty red…” Phineas trailed off as he realised why. A mischievous grin grew on his face which only got Shiloh even redder. “Well, all I’m saying is that I’m flattered.” He pulled her closer to him with his arm on her waist again. Shiloh let a giggle and playfully slapped him.

”Oh shut up!”

///

Meanwhile, Judah and Patience were camping at a table. Patience volunteered to stay with Judah as she noticed how antsy as was. She was now watching the Nelson in orange staring at the flower pot that was on the center of the table. His fingers were drumming on the table irregularly and his shoulders were tensed and hunched.

”Are you okay Judah?” Patience asked as she tapped the Nelson in orange.

”I’m fine!” Judah yelped a bit too loudly. He cleared his throat and combed a hand through his hair. “Yea, I’m fine.”

Patience raised an eyebrow. “Yea right. You don’t look fine.”

Judah gave a whine before plonking his head on the table. “I can’t be here! I haven’t prepared for this! This was such a short notice trip! Usually I’d at least have a week to prepare my interactions and stuff but this time I only had two days! Two days! You know how hard it is to prepare for an event this big and-.”

”Judah, calm down!” Patience chuckled as she grabbed his hand. Judah immediately froze and stared down at her hand holding his. “Judah? Remember to breathe.”

”R-Right.” Judah sputtered as he suddenly took a deep inhale and yanked his hand away from Patience. “Right. Breathe.”

The agent in yellow chuckled as she tucked a hair behind her ear. “Besides, it’s not the end of the world. You love improv, why not do some now if people come up to you?”

Judah groaned. “I love improv but I need to know when I have to! You can’t put me on the spot. I have to prepare to know that I have to do improv or that I have to talk with people.”

Patience smirked and flipped a loose strand hanging in front of Judah’s face. “What happened to the goofy carrot huh?’

Judah’s jaw just dropped and Patience nearly bursted out laughing seeing how Judah’s face burned red. He shook his head and quickly glanced to the side. “Uhhhhh I’m gonna get some food.”

///

Elijah and Josiah glared as he watched Shiloh and Phineas walk off. Lila and Gala could tell Elijah weren’t pleased with Phineas being with Shiloh so much, but the two weren’t sure what to say to get them to chill out. They weren’t expecting to see Daniel and Alé to approach the two and tell them to get Elijah and Josiah on the dance floor.

”What do you mean?” The two girls asked in sync.

Daniel shrugged. “I mean, getting them to dance with you will get them distracted at least.”

Alé snickered, her arm wrapped around his shoulder yanked him down and almost in a headlock. “How do ya think I got him here?’

”Ow stop!?”

”Hehehehehe.”

Lila raised an eyebrow as she hesitantly pointed at Alé. “Is she… okay?”

”She had- one- too- many drinks.” Daniel choked out while the princess had a huge grin. “Kinda- funny- though- Alé please-.”

Daniel gasped for air as he was released from Alé’s chokehold. Gala turned to see Josiah and Elijah still eyeing angrily at Phineas. “Could be worth a shot.”

Lila glanced at the dance floor hesitantly. “I only know the fancy dances back in Faunelia.”

Alé gasped and leaned over to the fairy with a bright, albeit slightly lopsided, smile. “Do it! I bet Elijah would love it!”

”Huh- what?” Elijah’s head snapped around hearing his name being called. “I would love what?”

“Dancing with Lila!” Alé grinned excitedly. Daniel had to hold the princess up from toppling over. “In fact! Gala can dance with Josiah too!”

”Alé I think you need some air.” Daniel muttered before guiding the princess out.

Lila and Gala turned to see Elijah and Josiah looking at each other before looking at the girls. “Do you… guys want to?”

The two girls sputtered for a moment before realising this was their only chance to get them not so focused on Shiloh and Phineas to the point that they would actually jump the poor boy. They wanted to leave Shiloh and Phineas alone, after all, weren’t the two just so cute together?!

”Sure!” Gala smiled before taking Josiah by the hand and dragging him to the dance floor.

Lila and Elijah stared at each other. The Nelson in blue stared at the floor while looking terribly awkward. The fairy gave a small smirk as she looked at the other. “I wasn’t expecting you to be having stage fright out of all of the Nelsons.”

Elijah’s eyes flew wide. “W-what!? No! I don’t have stage fright. In fact, I have the least!”

”Then go dance.”

”No!”

”So you do have stage fright!”

”No I-…” Elijah glanced off to the side looking awkward. “I just can’t dance really.”

Lila giggled as she patted down her dress. “Come on, I’ll teach you some dances we do back in Faunelia.”

///

Now, Micah, Michelle, Cole, and Talia were off to the side chatting with each other when Talia spotted someone go up on stage. She was about to ask Micah if he wanted to go dance after seeing Josiah and Gala go on the dance floor. Michelle and Cole heard Talia’s shrill gasp and soon spotted who she was looking at.

”Oh! Felicia Sparks is here!” Micah exclaimed as he looked up on stage to see who was singing.

Michelle and Cole looked over to each other before glancing to Talia. Talia noticed their glances and scratched the back of her neck. “Y-Yea! Felicia is here! I wasn’t expecting her to be here!”

Michelle had to hold a snicker before her face scrunched up. “Wait, you were asking Micah something right?”

Talia squeaked and ran a hand through her hair nervously. “I-I was going to ask if he wanted to dance b-but I assume you and Micah would dance instead right?”

Micah looked down to Michelle. “I mean, I’m down if you are.”

Michelle froze for a moment before shrugging, though Cole could obviously see how terrible Michelle was at being nonchalant. Cole was then left with Talia silently admiring Felicia. Cole had a small smirk. “You are crushing on her so hard.”

”Wha-?!” Talia flinched and stared at Cole almost in disbelief. “I-I don’t like her!”

Cole raised an eyebrow. “What about Micah? You like him?“

”N-No!” Talia was now extremely flustered before scurrying out of the hall to get some air. Cole just shrugged before going off to get food.

Micah glanced to see Talia running off before looking down at Michelle in his arms. “Has… do you think has Talia been acting weird?”

Michelle’s eyes grew wide before she pressed her forehead into his chest to hide her laughter. “Finally you’ve noticed! I swear I thought you were being blind!”

Micah shook his head with a grin. “I mean, I have noticed but I didn’t know if you did. I didn’t want to be mean about Talia.”

The other chuckled as the two made a twirl around. “Well, let’s just have fun for now Y’know?”

”Wait- is that Alé throwing up on Daniel?”

”No way- let me see!”

Micah spun her to see what he saw. Alé wasn’t exactly throwing up on Daniel, but he was beside her rubbing her back. Michelle cackled before burying her face in his shoulder. “That’s hilarious!”

///

Mary hummed as she traced the rim of her glass, watching her siblings dancing around. She then felt a tap on her shoulder.

”Miss?”

Mary turned to see who it was and she immediately froze.

”No… no no no we are not doing this Malduum!”

The brunette man adjusted his glasses with a raised eyebrow. “Sorry, Malduum?”

Mary’s mouth went dry realising what she just said. “I-I’m so sorry. I must’ve m-mistaken you for someone else.”

”It’s quite alright. I was wondering whether you have seen Helen around?“

”Sorry… I don’t know a Helen.”

”Ah, it’s quite alright.”

Mary watched as the man walked off before staring back down at her drink. “Damn it Mary. Stop dreaming.” She shook her head. “Ugh. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken this drink.” She muttered as she ran a hand through her hair before looking across the floor.

Him.

Why was he just standing there, staring at her? He knew what he was doing, he had to.

She couldn’t help but use her hand to cover her eyes so she couldn’t see him. Come on Mary, you just got over him!

”Mary, you good?”

The Nelson in white looked up to see Daniel looking at her worriedly. Mary gave a small smile and took a sip. Actually, she wasn’t fine. The one person who she actually had a chance of being with was across the hall staring at her and the worst part was that he was the reason why she had to be so protective of her siblings.

She was not fine at all.

”Yea… I’m fine.”

”. . . Alright.”

Chapter Text

”So you call it the Face Snatcher?”

”Yea… I don’t know when these nightmares started. All I know that is that it’s absolutely horrible. I can’t move and all I do is just stare as… as it just goes from seeing Judah to a giant monster deforming him.”

”I would also absolutely freak out if some random giant suddenly spawned in like that.”

”Promise… Promise not to tell the others? I don’t want them worrying about me, especially Elijah. He’d completely flip out over this.”

”I… alright, yea, I won’t tell them.”

///

“Has everyone evacuated?!”

Elijah watched as scientists and researchers and whoever else was in Lab 16 scramble out, waving and coughing while red smoke poured out of the lab. He managed to catch Mary and asked what was going on.

Mary explained that they were testing on a sample of the poppy gas that some of the agents had managed to collect when they were in the Poppy Playtime Factory. Shiloh was in the lab with them, trying to explain what the gas did according to the lab papers she had snatched in the factory. However, someone bumped into Shiloh, knocking into the tank of the red gas and accidentally bursting one of the valves and caused the gas leak. Now everyone was evacuated, resulting with this mess.

”Where’s Shiloh?!” Mary yelled, voice hoarse from inhaling the red smoke. “Ugh, my head hurts.”

Elijah helped his older sister to one of the medics who had arrived at the scene before looking around in the crowd frantically.

”Shiloh’s still in there!” Josiah yelled over the crowd as he ripped off an old gas mask he had on. “She started screaming when I tried to grab her though.”

Elijah was quick to grab one of the gas masks that the clean up crew had as they started to storm over to help with the evacuation. Before he entered in, Mary grabbed him by the wrist.

”The smoke gives people hallucinations and she’s been in there the longest.” Mary hesitated for a split second before shaking her head. “J-Just… Be careful with her.”

Elijah nodded before walking into the red smoke-filled room. His eyes adjusted to the surprisingly dark room as he became to stumble around, attempting to find his sister. He fumbled for his phone to pull out and used the flashlight. He could barely see his own hand when he stretched it out to feel his surroundings. Soon, the Nelson in blue managed to see someone curled up in the corner right next to one of the gas tanks.

”Shiloh?” He called out, voice muffled by the mask. “Shiloh is that you?”

He let out a sigh of relief when the figure in the corner turned out to be his sister. Elijah reached out to grab her, only for her to shriek and start flailing, wailing as she begged him to leave her alone. Elijah, of course, was terribly startled by his sister’s reaction and staggered back slightly, but he still tried to reach out for her so that he could pull her out to safety. That didn’t help calm Shiloh any better as she continued to thrash around before abruptly banging her head on the tank’s side, knocking her unconscious.

Elijah stared in stunned silence. He had never seen his sister in such a terrified state. He had to snap himself out of his own stupor and was quick to hoist her up to drag her out.

///

Shiloh didn’t mean for any of this to happen. She swore that she sealed the valve quick enough.

But, of course, she was never quick enough.

The gas was quick to spread across in the lab, much quicker than she anticipated. The Nelson in purple had her first priority to get everyone out of the lab. While focusing to get everyone out, she didn’t realise how much of the gas she inhaled. By the time she started to focus on herself to get out of the lab, she started panicking as she started hearing whispers in her head.

Wait, who was that?

The Nelson in purple started staggering around, her breathing was ragged as she struggled to keep her balance and focus on the movement of the mystery person.

But it was no person.

She watched as who she thought was Josiah slowly distort. His body snapped and twisted in the wrong ways, bones cracking and flesh squelching as he grew more and more disfigured. Shiloh wanted to look away, but her eyes remained fixated in terror as Josiah screamed in agony, begging for it to end.

Move Shiloh! Save your brother! Why can’t I move?!

Now looming in front of her was a large, gangly shadow figure. Its body was pure black, though its legs and arms were long and gangly sticks with giant claws on its hands and feet. Its head slowly started forming different faces of people she knew, until it landed to a horrible mutilated version of a blurred out face of Josiah. Its mouth was wide and open, with giant, uncanny human teeth that was fixed in a permanent smile. Its eyes were empty red sockets with blood oozing out, dripping into its mouth and mixing with the drool.

Shiloh lost her footing as she stared at the figure, collapsing to the floor as it cornered her. Her eyes were wide open in terror as she fumbled for her communicator.

No no no no no…. T-This has to be fake, a nightmare. I’m so sorry Josiah I swear I wanted to help you please-

The Nelson in purple let out a scream as the creature lunged at her, black claws grabbing her wrists. “Leave me alone!” She screamed in a panic, tears welling in her eyes as the shadow figure loomed down to her. She wrangled with the creature for a bit before huddling in the corner. “Please please please leave me alone.”

”Why should we listen to you?”

The creature spat, multiple voice layered over it sounding voice low and echoey.

“You only bring us into more trouble. Pointless little nuisance.”

H-how is it even here?! You’re supposed to stay in my nightmares, not come to life. Oh gods, is this a nightmare I’m stuck in?! What do you want from me?!

“Worthless rat. You’re the reason why we all suffer from your mistakes. We hate you, all hate you.”

”We should have left you to die.”

Shiloh seemed to have frozen on the spot, curled in the corner as she stared at the figure looming over her. She didn’t remember what happened, all she knew was that it seemed to blip out before what felt like an eternity passed by. She didn’t know why she didn’t try to leave. She seemed to have been petrified into paralysis.

That was until it returned again, this time, with Elijah completely being contorted into the awful creature.

Then she completely freaked out.

///

“AHHHHHHH!”

Shiloh shot up from the hospital bed screaming, eyes bloodshot red and throat painfully dry. Her body shook as she struggled to regulate her breathing; her hands were trembling as she looked around to see Elijah looking at her. She flinched as Elijah pulled her into the tightest hug she had ever gotten from him.

”Hey, it’s alright, I got you.” Elijah whispered calmly as he sat on the side of the bed, combing through her hair as he held her close. “Everything’s okay.”

Shiloh hugged him back, fearing that if she let go that he would slip away. She started to ramble nonsense in between her broken sobs, something about failing her brothers and about “that thing” coming back to scare her. Elijah remained quiet, listening to his sister while grounding her with the tightest hug he could give her.

Once she had calmed down to a reasonable level, Elijah slowly loosened his hug to look at his sister properly. “You look… very tired, heh.”

The younger Nelson didn’t respond, still clinging onto Elijah. The older Nelson was worried by this but remained silent for the time being. After a few minutes, Shiloh finally spoke. “I couldn’t save you… I… I can’t lose you.”

Elijah felt his heart ache hearing how Shiloh spoke. She sounded so small, so scared about losing her brothers just like how she sounded when Mom went missing. All Elijah could see was of a twelve year old Shiloh crying about where her mother was. The older Nelson ran a hand through her hair once more before looking at her in the eyes. “I will never leave you. Neither will Micah, or Judah, or Josiah, or Daniel, or anyone else in the Agency. We will all still be with you.”

”. . .”

”Did… Did Mary tell you about it?”

”The nightmare creature you see? Yea. I think that’s what you saw when Josiah and I tried to grab you.”

Shiloh mumbled something before she buried her face in the folds of the bandana scarf that Elijah had on his neck. The older Nelson could hear his sister’s stomach grumbling and let out a light chuckle. “I’ll go get us some…” He paused seeing his sister hug him tighter at the mention of him leaving.

”I’ll call Mary to bring us some food.”

Chapter Text

The group had returned from a mission where they had to help at a cafe. One of the regulars at the cafe showed an interest to Michelle which Micah insisted he didn’t care about. Yet when the group continued with helping out in the cafe, they could tell that Micah did care about it very much so.

”Sounds like Micah gets jealous easily is all.” Daniel remarked after Shiloh and Judah told him about their adventure. “In fact, I bet he was playing Circus in his head.”

The two younger Nelsons looked at each other in confusion to what Daniel meant. The older Nelson gasped when he realized that his siblings didn’t know what he was talking about. “Circus? Y’Know, Britney Spears?? All eyes on me… center of the ring? Come on Britney Spears is not that old!”

Shiloh and Judah stifled a giggle seeing Daniel’s flabbergasted expression. “Yea… didn’t know you were that into Britney Spears though.”

The older Nelson groaned as he facepalmed himself. “Whatever. It’s some joke me and Micah have about having Circus playing in his head whenever he wanted to prove a point but try to look cool about it. Remember that one mission in that cooking Raelo where he for, some reason, locked in after Michelle called Ricky hot?” The two Nelsons nodded. “Yea, that was his moment where he was having Circus playing in his head.”

Right as Shiloh and Judah were about to leave the lounge, Micah and Elijah walked in, Micah insisting that he wasn’t acting weird during the mission. Shiloh and Judah looked at each other with a devious grin before looking back at the Nelson in green.

”You were soooo jealous of him.” Elijah snickered as he poked Micah. “Like come on, I thought you were about to crash out when Michelle said he was kinda cute.”

Micah’s lips pursed to a line before he flailed his hands in the air. “I was not! I was doing my job!”

”By just slightly adding less toppings to his order three times in a row?” Elijah pointed out as he rolled his eyes. “Please.”

Micah gave a scowl before looking over at Shiloh, Daniel, and Judah. “Why are you three here?”

The two younger Nelsons looked at each other. “We were just talking with Daniel.”

Micah raised an eyebrow as he looked over to the mentioned Nelson with squinted eyes. “About what..?”

”You being petty over Michelle calling someone else cute.” Daniel smirked smugly.

The Nelson in green’s jaw dropped open as he looked at Shiloh and Judah. “You did not!”

The room suddenly fell silent as Daniel started playing a song on his phone.

All eyes on me on the center of the ring just like the circus uh huh.

Elijah, Shiloh, and Judah had to stop themselves from laughing seeing Daniel and Micah sing along to the song as if it was some sleeper agent reactivation. Micah slammed a hand over his mouth as he stared daggers at Daniel. Daniel himself was cackling, nearly falling out of his seat in the process. Shiloh and Judah gasped as they realised what Daniel meant while Elijah had fallen on the floor howling with laughter. Micah’s face burned red before storming out.

”I wasn’t playing Circus in my head I swear!”

Chapter Text

Few people have caught Josiah with his glasses on. Only one person loves to talk about Josiah with his glasses on.

///

One of the first few people (that wasn’t his family member) that saw him with his glasses on was Patience.

She had gone into his lab to drop off some files when she looked to see Josiah at his desk. She had a face of surprise seeing Josiah with glasses.

”Woah, since when did you have glasses?” Patience chuckled as she dropped the stack of files on the desk.

”Oh, uh, for a while actually.” Josiah replied as he propped the glasses on his head, rubbing his eyes with a sigh. “Oh, what are these files for again?”

”Research on uh… that Raelo with energy level off the scale by 18.” Patience nodded as she looked at the cover of the files. Josiah nodded before he flinched as the scientist in yellow suddenly snatched the glasses off his head. Patience gave a mischievous giggle as she examined the glasses. “Woah. Pretty well kept, nice frame too. You can try my pair if you want.”

The Nelson in black squinted as he tried on the pair of thick frame glasses. “Dude, your eyesight is trash.”

Patience shrugged as she tried on Josiah’s pair. “Woah, dude, what’s with your eyes?? Are you like- blind in one eye or something?”

”Nah, just weird eyes.” Josiah chuckled as he took off Patience’s glasses.

///

The second person to see him with glasses on was Gala.

The princess had popped her head in to call him over for dinner, but she wasn’t expecting him to be slumped over his desk snoozing away with a pair of glasses slowly slipping off his face. She slowly crept up closer, hesitating whether she should poke him awake or not. She didn’t have to poke him in the end thanks to him stirring on his own.

”Wha- oh, hey Gala.” Josiah sputtered as he pushed his glasses off to the side. He rubbed his face with a yawn and a big stretch. “How can I help?”

”Are these your glasses?” The princess asked as she picked up the pair.

”Yeah, don’t wear ‘em often.” Josiah hummed as he started gathering up the loose papers on his desk. He flinched as the princess suddenly placed the glasses on his face. He felt a strange wave of awkwardness as he looked at Gala staring at him with his glasses on.

Meanwhile, Gala froze at the sight of Josiah with his glasses. Her brain seemed to stop working at the sight of the Nelson in black like this, a strange wave of heat rising up her neck. “I… I forgot what I was here for.”

Josiah raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

The princess forced herself to remember what she came here for, and luckily, she did. “Oh right, Elijah wanted me to get you for dinner.”

”Oh, sweet.” Josiah hummed as he stretched in his chair and got up, taking off his glasses.

”W-Wait, why’d you take them off?”

”I mean, I don’t like wearing them.”

”Oh. I mean, I think it looks good on you.”

”Really?”

”Yea.”

///

“Girl this is the third time this week where you started yapping about Josiah and his glasses.” Michelle groaned as she finishing braiding Gala’s hair.

”But he looks so silly!” Gala giggled as she looked over to see her braid. “It’s cute.”

Michelle pinched her nose bridge. “Are you calling the braid or Josiah and his glasses cute?”

”Uhm… the braid.”

”Yea right.” Michelle rolled her eyes as she sat in front of Gala. “You so totally like him right now girl.”

“N-No! I-… Maybe yea?” Gala felt her face grew hot. She shook her head quickly, pressing her hands to her cheeks. “But even if I did like him, I-I can’t tell him! I don’t know how! I’m usually the one being courted, not being the one courting!”

Michelle muttered something under her breath about how she now knew how Patience felt with Michelle and Micah’s slow burn. She then looked up to the princess and put her hands on Gala’s shoulders. “Girl, if you can’t tell him, I will. Either you tell or I tell.”

Gala gave a whining no, covering her face with her hands. “Oh this is so embarrassing.”

The two girls flinched as they heard a knock on the door to see Patience look in. “You guys coming for breakfast?”

///

When the three girls entered the kitchen, Daniel and Micah were the only ones there as of then.

”Morning.” Micah greeted as he took out an apple from the fridge.

The three girls greeted them back before hearing someone else enter behind. When the five looked up, they all were mildly surprised to see Josiah walking in with his glasses on.

”Dang, completely forgot you still had a pair of glasses.” Daniel snickered as he elbowed his younger brother.

Josiah rolled his eyes as he got himself a mug of coffee. “Was too lazy to get my contacts in.”

Michelle glanced to her side to see Gala slowly drifting behind her and attempting to hide her face in the red sweater she was wearing. Now that she thought of it, that red sweater looked pretty familiar. She was quick to look up hearing Josiah talking with Daniel and Micah before looking over to the girls.

”Hey Gala, is that my sweater?”

The kitchen fell silent as all eyes turned to the princess behind Michelle. Gala’s eyes went wide as she played with the end of her braid. “Maybe..?”

Michelle and Patience looked at each other before giggling. Daniel and Micah snickered as they glanced over to Josiah. Josiah looked too tired to be embarrassed and swatted at his brothers.

“It’s fine, I have another sweater for myself anyways.” The Nelson in black paused as he looked at his watch to see a notification. He let out a grumble and rubbed his eyes. “ ‘Scuse me. Gotta get down to the Arxis Bay.”

Once the Nelson in black left, the four started to tease Gala.

Chapter Text

Elijah, Josiah, and Judah sat in the lounge. They were all on their phones before hearing Josiah speak up.

“Hey guys, I think I got the best rizz.”

Elijah’s and Judah’s heads slowly turn to look at their brother in black. “Josiah, you are the last person to say that. You can’t even go up to a girl and talk to her properly!”

Josiah gave a pout as Judah and Elijah cackled away. “It’s not that bad!”

Judah shook his head as he pointed at his brother and continued to laugh. “You freeze up any time a girl even looks at you funny!”

Josiah frowned and pointed at Elijah. “What about that one time we had to call a doctor for Elijah because he needed CPR done on him?! He was flabbergasted at the girl as well!”

At this, the Nelson in blue gave an offended gasp. “Excuse me!? I was in critical condition, of course I wouldn’t be thinking straight!”

Judah took a deep breath and put his hands out to get his brothers’ attention. “Boys boy boys, we can all conclude that I have the most rizz.”

There was a pause of silence before the two Nelsons started laughing at Judah. “We had to set you up to get a date with Patience! I think that proves you don’t have the best rizz!”

”But if we were really thinking about all of us Nelson boys,” Josiah mused, “ then we obviously can’t count David, he’s already married with Britney and I think that proves more than enough he has some rizz, right?”

The three yelped hearing Daniel walking in with a scoff. “Please, the only rizz David had to get married was being awkward enough for Britney to like. If anything, I think I have the most rizz out of the four of us.”

The three eyed the blonde up and down, about to agree with him. That was before seeing Micah walk in and getting slammed in the face with the handle of a how. Judah, Elijah, and Josiah started snickering and whispering to each other. Judah then spoke up. “Daniel, we would’ve agreed with you at first, but the hoe catcher is behind you.”

Daniel nearly spat his drink out at the sentence and frantically whipped around to see Micah on the floor with a hoe next to him. Daniel cleared his throat before looking at the three in the couch. “You can’t just say that out loud!”

Judah looked confused, though Josiah and Elijah themselves seemed completely gobsmacked at what their younger brother said. “What do you mean? He has been catching hoes.”

Micah staggered up as he grabbed the hoe next to him. His face had a frown as he stared at the tool. “This has been the third one this week.”

Seeing Micah, however, seemed to get Daniel, Elijah, and Josiah agree that Micah was a sleeper agent with rizz of some sort, though Judah still didn’t understand why his brothers looked absolutely horrified when Judah called Micah the ‘hoe collector’.

Chapter Text

Micah wandered around the hallways, wondering where the girls were. They were quick to leave after dinner and he had no idea where they had gone. He muttered something before hearing muffled music coming from Shiloh’s room. Curious, he popped his head in.

“Hey Shi-.”

He paused as he was staring into a room of what he guessed was every single girl agent in his sister’s bedroom doing hair and makeup and whatnot. All the girls stared back at him in silence for a few seconds before collectively screeching for him to get out. Micah yelped as he was quick to slam the door shut, having his back pinned to the closed door while looking like a petrified rat.

”Did you find the girls?” Elijah asked as he walked up to Micah.

”Yeah… turns out they were all doing a girls night and I just happened to intrude on them.”

”Ohhh…” Elijah and Micah fell silent before the older Nelson spoke up again. “You got out lucky. When I checked on them during their girls night, I was banned to talking with any of them for two days. Josiah was more unlucky with getting dragged in and getting a full-face makeover before getting kicked out.”

Micah cringed hearing the two outcomes. “I wonder what the girls do during girls night.”

///

Music was blasting through the speakers while the girls were either chatting, doing face care, or doing hair and snacking.

”Sooooo, how’s it been with Judah?” Shiloh teased Patience as she braided Gala’s hair.

The agent in the yellow duck onesie looked confused for a minute as she snacked on a bag of chips. “Oh, did he not tell you? We’re not really a thing anymore.”

”What?!” Michelle exclaimed loudly, nearly lunging at her friend. “But you guys were so cute together!”

Patience shrugged. “Eh, we both agreed it was better. Judah said he didn’t really like me in that way, rather he was just jealous that he couldn’t hang out with the ‘cool new agent’. We’re both good friends though if you’re wondering about that.”

”If that’s the case, do you like anyone else now?” Britney said while wiggling her eyebrows.

”No…” Patience trailed off before Michelle started whining and shaking Patience’s shoulders.

”Girl, we’ve been friends since we were fourteen. At least tell me who it is!” The agent in the pink pyjamas exclaimed.

”I said I liked no-one!” Patience snickered.

”Is it Ajax?” Michelle asked.

“Who’s Ajax?” Gala interrupted.

”A friend of ours at the IDRS.” Michelle answered. “Before Patience and I joined, we worked at the IDRS with Ajax and…”

Everyone froze as Michelle trailed off, almost as if a lightbulb had gone off in her head. “Oh… oh no ho ho…”

”Hey Gala, are you and Josiah a thing?” Britney asked as Michelle sat down. “Michelle told me about you gushing over Josiah with glasses.”

”And isn’t that his sweater?” Shiloh pointed out as she ate a couple Skittles.

Michelle and Patience snickered as they looked over to Gala. The princess was avoiding eye contact as she fiddled with the pull string of the hoodie, her face turning red. “We’re not a thing…”

”But you at least know Josiah likes you, right?” Mary asked slowly as she patted a face mask on herself.

”Y-Yeah, I know that.” The princess mumbled.

”So…. What’s up with you two then?”

Gala was too nervous to answer, so Michelle and Patience blurted it out for her. “Gala likes Josiah but she’s too scared to ask him about it and hopes he takes the first step but we all know that’s never going to happen!”

The princess whined as she pulled the hoodie over her head. The girls all laughed and giggled before Shiloh turned to Lila. ”What about you and Elijah then Lila?”

The fairy froze for a minute as she was playing with Michelle’s hair. “Oh… yea so it’s a long story.”

Immediately all the girls froze and looked at Lila. “Did you guys break up?”

Lila waved her hands up with wide eyes. “N-Not exactly! It’s just Uhm… I-I… I’m going back to Faunelia and we both just thought it was better to split for the time being.”

”Wait, you’re leaving the Agency?” Mary yelped.

”It’s rather that I’m going to be one of those agents that are based in a Raelo rather than the Agency itself.” Lila explained. “It’s really none of your faults, it’s just that everything I’ve been doing here makes me feel like I’m just being a roadblock, and besides, Josiah was asking for off-site grounded agents to help with Raelo research. Don’t worry, we both agreed that it was the best option. We’ll stay in touch though, I promise with all of you!”

After a bunch of condolences and encouragement from the girls, they continued to chat about either agent stuff or random agency gossip. A while later, the girls decided to play truth or dare. It had landed to Shiloh and she picked dare.

“Alright! I dare you to let us run through your phone for two minutes!” Patience said with a devious grin.

”What?!” Shiloh was clearly flustered by this dare, but she wasn’t one to back down. “One minute on my phone.”

”Deal.”

The girls giggled as they were quick to go to Shiloh’s chat messages to Phineas. They were quick to start squealing seeing how Shiloh and Phineas were consistent with saying good morning, good night, and if they had eaten or drunk water yet. Shiloh was cherry red as she snatched her phone and pointed at Mary. “Truth or dare Mary?”

”Dare.” Mary said confidently.

”I dare you to poke your head out of my room and yell the weirdest thought you have.”

Mary went off without thinking twice and did it. All the girls started giggling and wheezing while Mary came back with a proud look on her face. “My turn! Patience, truth or dare?”

”What?! You can’t fire back at me!” Patience exclaimed before giving a pout. “Fine, truth.”

”Who do you have a crush on?” Michelle butted in, eyes and grin wide. “Is it perhaps… a certain someone that we’ve been friends with in the IDRS who’s now here with us?”

At this, the agent in the duck onesie sputtered, her face going red. “Maybe…”

Soon the other girls started exclaiming, asking Michelle who she was referring to. Patience started scrambling on top of Michelle, trying to cover her mouth with Michelle fought against her laughing wildly. Lila then used her magic to get Patience off Michelle. “COLE!”

”COLE?!” The girls gasped in unison before turning to see Patience hiding her face in Shiloh’s blanket.

”I always thought you guys would make a cute couple and I was right!” Michelle yelled out proudly.

”H-Hey! What about you and Micah huh?!” Patience yelled, trying to get the attention off her.

”Why are you asking about them?” Gala snickered while eating a couple chips. “We all know what’s up with them, but now we wanna know what’s up with you and Cole!”

”AHHHHHHHHH!”

Chapter Text

“Are you sure your brothers aren’t here?”

”I swear they’re not. If they are, then that means they’ve been digging in my letters.”

”Honestly, that’s something they would do.”

”You’re right. Oh no, you’re kinda right.”

///

Elijah, Daniel, Josiah, and Judah were staring out of the bush they were hiding in while Gala, Micah, and Michelle were being shoved under the four. Elijah had comically big binoculars while Judah, Josiah, and Daniel were trying to figure out who Phineas was with.

“I don’t get why you guys are so worried about Shiloh.” Micah huffed. “I mean, sure, he’s kinda sketchy and I rather not have Shiloh tryna date a random guy without us knowing, but I don’t see a problem with them two hanging out time to time.”

”Yea, and isn’t snooping into Shiloh’s letters a bit extreme?” Patience questioned as she looked at the stack of papers Judah had swiped from Shiloh’s room. “And like, none of these letters are from him anyways!”

Michelle rolled her eyes as she watched the four Nelson brothers ignoring them. She then swiped the binoculars from the four to look at Phineas and the hooded girl walking with him. Phineas wasn’t in anything too fancy, just a plain white t-shirt with a blue jacket and black pants. The hooded girl walking next to him was just wearing a black hoodie with some white designs in the back and plain jeans, her hair and face were covered thanks to the hoodie. One thing Michelle was suspicious of was the satchel that the girl was holding on to.

Michelle handed the binoculars back to the brothers with a confused expression. “Guys, I don’t think that girl with Phineas is Shiloh.”

”Hahahahahahahah…! Excuse me. What?!”

Michelle and Patience flinched at the four Nelsons sudden exclamation, though Micah seemed completely unfazed. Elijah gave his signature ‘nervous but also confused’ chuckle as he turned to Michelle. “And what makes you so sure about that? You can’t see the girl’s face so there is a very high chance that girl is our sister.”

Patience then took the binoculars to look through and immediately nodded. “Yea… that can’t be Shiloh.”

”What do you mean?!” Judah whisper-hissed as he squinted at the pair walking to a cafe. “I’m… 60% sure that’s Shiloh.”

”That’s where you’re wrong.” Michelle said matter-of-factly. “Shiloh doesn’t have that sweater.”

The group of seven fell silent before Daniel, Josiah, Judah, and Elijah went “NAHHHHH.” and continued to spy.

That’s when Judah had the brilliant idea to follow them into the cafe.

Micah snickered hearing his younger brother’s idea and nearly bursted out laughing seeing how the rest of the brothers agreed. Michelle and Patience groaned as they got dragged along into the cafe.

Elijah asked for a table of seven and soon the seven were sat across the cafe and in good eye view for the two. The group of seven were in very bad disguises, but they were in disguises nonetheless.

///

Shiloh kept her hood up as she sat down at the cafe with Phineas. She sat across from the other as she looked at the menu in front of her. Once the two ordered, Shiloh pulled out an envelope in her satchel and slid it to Phineas.

”Is this what was so important for us to come out to a cafe? Phineas teased as he took the brown envelope.

Shiloh rolled her eyes with a smirk, watching with a chuckle as Phineas opened the letter and stared at the contents with his mouth agape. “So? What do you think?”

The other gave a shaky chuckle, setting the paper down and running a hand through his hair. “I… Really? Do you really think I should join you guys?”

Shiloh shrugged. “I think it’ll be a good idea for you to be at least associated with us.”

The other drummed his fingers in the table, leaning back on his chair with a sigh. “I… I’d love to join, but y’know…”

”Know what?” Shiloh questioned, raising an eyebrow at Phineas’s hesitancy.

”I’m taking over my dad’s spot soon.” Phineas muttered. “I don’t think I’m fit for that role, let alone joining the biggest agency in all of the Raelos.”

The Nelson stared at Phineas with wide eyes, not expecting to hear that. “You mean… you’re going to become a Raelo Lord?”

Phineas gave a nod as he stared down at the table. “Yup… I don’t really want to but it’s not like my Mom wants to any time soon.” He then groaned as he leaned back covering his face. “Ugh! How did Darius ever do this?!”

Shiloh shrugged as she took a sip of water. “That’s why I’m offering for you to join the Agency. We can help you with everything if you help us. It will be a very good alliance for you as well.”

He was about to respond before he caught sight of the table of seven that was seat across them. “But I doubt those guys would be happy with me being in the Agency.”

Shiloh did her best to do a subtle double take before covering her exasperated expression. “How did they find us?! I swear I didn’t tell them anything!”

The other chuckled. “Nah. You don’t got to worry about them. I know they don’t like me, but it’s funny seeing their reactions whenever I talk to you.”

Shiloh continued to hide her face due to annoyance with her siblings following her and the blush which was now creeping up in her face. “Okay, whatever the case is, now we have to figure out how to get rid of them from following us.”

”I think I have an idea.”

///

Josiah looked on in confusion as Phineas handed the girl back the papers. The two were quick to finish eating their meals before slipping out of the cafe. The group of seven were quick to follow, though Micah, Patience, and Michelle had to hold back the other four Nelson boys from tackling Phineas when he out his arm around the hooded girl’s shoulder.

”So Selah, how have you been?”

At this, the group of seven froze in their tracks. Daniel shook his head and looked at the others. “Did he just say Selah?”

“I told you guys that wasn’t Shiloh!” Michelle exclaimed.

“Now can we please just go back home? I’m getting tired.” Patience whined.

But strangely enough, Elijah, Josiah, Daniel, and Judah looked even more upset at the realisation. “So you’re telling me Phineas is playing Shiloh?!”

Micah now looked completely confused at his brothers’ reaction. “Wha? I thought you’d be glad Phineas doesn’t like Shiloh!”

”Nuh uh!” Judah exclaimed. “If he acts like he likes Shiloh but he’s hanging out with another girl, that means he’s playing our sister!”

”Why aren’t you on board with us Micah?! Or is it just because you’re agreeing with Michelle?” Josiah huffed.

Micah looked nervous with this accusation but Michelle was quick to step in. “No, he’s not just agreeing with me because he’s scared of me. He’s legitimately just saying that for himself.”

”Hey, where did Elijah go?”

The group looked up to see the Nelson in blue and the Nelson in black storming up to Phineas. The group didn’t even know what to do to stop them other than just watch in terror to what was going to happen.

”Hey Selah!” Elijah shouted as he walked up to the two. “Don’t waste your time on Phineas! He’s just a player!”

”Wha..?” Phineas turned around in pure confusion to Elijah’s accusation. Phineas had to control himself not to laugh out loud seeing Elijah’s angry face.

He nearly fell over seeing the Nelson’s reaction when Shiloh turned around to face her brother.

”SHILOH?!”

///

“Here’s your 20 bucks.”

Micah, Patience, and Michelle giggled as Shiloh handed them the cash.

”Did you even try to stop them?”

“Of course we did! But your brothers are stupidly stubborn!”

”Alright…”

Chapter Text

Shiloh, Elijah, Micah, Mary, Josiah, and Daniel had landed down in the Raelo of Verdonia. Last time the group had arrived, they were here to talk to Darius and about his Raelo destroying plan. Now they had returned due to a request from Darius’s wife.

What they weren’t expecting was to arrive in the palace grounds to see everything an orderly mess.

Guards were stationed everywhere, scanning everyone that walked past them with eagle-eyed precision. Servants and chefs were scurrying around, setting up the throne room and running down halls while others were on ladders decorating the walls.

In the middle of the throne room was a woman talking with a few men before dismissing them. She was in a dark navy dress with many ruffles on the side that sparkled when the sun hit it just right. A golden crown was perched on her curly brown hair and her bright green eyes seemed to look worried. The moment the woman spotted the group of agents, she let out a sigh of relief and went up to them.

”You! You must be the agents from the M.O.M Agency correct?” She spoke, her volume of voice wavering. “Yes! I’m his mother, Queen Alora. Phineas has told me all about you, especially you Shiloh, correct?”

The group nodded, though the brothers eyed Shiloh as she gave a sheepish chuckle. “Yep, that’s us. Uhm, I’m sorry, why did you call us?”

Alora nodded before turning to a guard standing behind her. The guard handed her a folded note, to which she gave to Shiloh. “Phineas is being crowned as the Raelo Lord of Verdonia today, but he’s been missing since dinner last night. I assumed he might have gone for an early night, but when I checked his room this morning, all I found was this note. In about four hours, the coronation is going to start and I need to find him. I then remembered about his adventures with you and thought you would be able to find him.”

“Yes, we will definitely help.” Shiloh spoke almost instantly. “Can you guide us to where you think he might’ve gone?”

The group was led outside by a guard with the queen to the back of the palace, where they were greeted to a wall of forest trees. “There were footprints that we found at the entrance to the forest, though we couldn’t follow the trail. I’ll leave you six to it..”

”Is that why he didn’t answer my messages this morning?” Shiloh muttered to herself. Unfortunately, Elijah heard and let out a gasp.

”You and him message each other?!”

”Only for good morning, good night, and if they had eaten or drank water.” Mary yelped, saving Shiloh the time to defend herself.

”That’s not the point!” Elijah exclaimed. “You shouldn’t be messaging him of all people! You’re still a kid!”

”Elijah, I’m turning 17 in a month, I think it’s time for you guys to realise I’m not going to be a kid any longer.” Shiloh stated, sounding much more snappier than she had anticipated.

///

“Hello?”

Elijah called out as he followed the tracker to an empty cave. Daniel had taken another route so they could cover more ground. He heard something echo in the cave and threw in a smoke bomb in hopes that whoever was inside would make more noise and attempt to escape. Since that didn’t happen, he turned on his flashlight and went deeper.

Now, Elijah had completely mixed feelings about Phineas. Like his brothers, he absolutely did not want Phineas anywhere near his sister. But another part of him knew that she was getting older and therefore more likely to not like her brothers over-protective nature towards her and other boys. He lost his train of thought as he heard a yelp and looked down to see Phineas cowering in a corner.

”Phineas, finally!” The Nelson in blue exclaimed. “Why are you hiding?”

Phineas sat on the floor, uncharacteristically quiet as he stared at Elijah. It was only then when the Nelson noted how terrified Phineas looked and how irregular his breathing was, arms to hug himself and his body just slightly trembling. Protective-brother mode activated for Elijah as he crouched down to Phineas’s eye-level. “Hey… you good?”

”W-What are you doing here?” Phineas managed to croak out after a painfully long few seconds of silence. He slowly shifted around to sit more comfortably while clearly his throat. “D-Did Mother call for you guys?”

“Yeah…” Elijah spoke slowly. “We should go-.”

He reacted out his hand for Phineas’s shoulders, but he wasn’t expecting for the other to help and scramble back, pressing his back onto the wall of the cave with wide eyes. “N-No! I can’t go back!”

”What do you mean?” The Nelson raised an eyebrow.

Phineas’s gasp of air echoed in the cave for a while before he calmed down again enough to speak, though he sounded like he was in the brink of tears. “I-I can’t do this coronation. I s-shouldn’t even be considered to be ready to be crowned as a Raelo Lord, it should be Mother. She doesn’t w-want to do it though b-but I-I can’t do this. I’m not fit to even be a Raelo Lord. D-Darius never told me what to do if he died, h-he left nothing for me to learn from him.” He muttered something in another language as he tried to blink away the tears welling in his eyes. “Do you know how much weight that is on an 18 year old?”

Elijah felt a strange sense of pity seeing how terrified Phineas was and, in a way, saw himself in him. “Huh… you’re kinda like me. Y’know, when my mother disappeared, I was exactly like you. Panicking and not wanted to take the mantle of being the Agency’s leader at first. But with the help of Daniel and David, they helped me through a lot of it.”

The other looked at him with a subtle look of surprise. By now, he was breathing in a normal pace and he wasn’t trembling as much. Elijah gave a soft smile before speaking again. “Now, I know my brothers and I haven’t been… the nicest to you, but I think we can help you figure out how to rule a Raelo with the help of the Agency as well. Don’t worry. I’ll explain to my brothers and they’ll definitely understand and, at least, try to be nicer to you.”

Phineas let out a soft chuckle as he slowly stood up with Elijah.

“T-Thanks.”

///

The group was relieved when Elijah returned with Phineas. They had gone down to watch in the crowd for the coronation to help support Phineas. Shiloh, however, decided to stay outside of Phineas’s room just for the two of them to chat (she had convinced them that she was there to make sure Phineas didn’t run off again. The brothers were skeptical about it, but they allowed it).

Shiloh hummed as she scrolled through her phone before knocking on the door. “Hey Phineas, you done?”

No response.

Her face furrowed to a frown as she tried at the handle. Surprisingly, it was unlocked as she looked in to see Phineas sitting at the dressing table, staring at himself and what appeared to be an old crown in his hands.

”Woah, I’ve seen you dress up fancy, but this is a different type of fancy.” Shiloh chuckled as she walked up to him. “You good though?”

”Y-Yea…” He muttered as he set down the old crown on the table. “Shiloh… I can’t do this.”

The Nelson in purple raised an eyebrow as she sat on the extra space of the bench that Phineas was sitting on. “Come on, being a Raelo Lord could be fun!”

”N-No… I-I can’t do this…” Phineas grumbled as he buried his face in his hands. Shiloh hesitated before pulling him into a gentle hug. “I didn’t tell your brothers about this. But… After the coronation, my mother is going to send me to the matchmaker.”

”W-What?” Shiloh had to shake her head to realise she had heard right. “A matchmaker? Why??”

The other sputtered for a moment as he ran a hand through his curly hair. “Verdonian royalty has it so that once you turn 17, you get paired off with a partner so that you would get to know them better before marrying to them once the both of you turn 23.” He paused as he stared at his gloved hands. “Mother has been kind enough to hold off the matchmaking last year with… Darius’s death and all.”

”Can’t you ask her not to do the matchmaking for you?” Shiloh asked as her arms dropped to her sides. “I’m sure she’d agree.”

Phineas seemed to bite his tongue, forcing himself to stay quiet before speaking again. “She’s stuck in her traditional ways and I’m about to hit my 19th birthday. Besides, I don’t want to go get paired up when I know I can just be with you.”

The Nelson froze hearing those words as she looked at him with wide eyes, blush creeping up her neck. Shiloh noted how he seemed to speak something in another language she did not recognise before standing up. He didn’t look back at her as he grabbed the old crown almost carelessly. “There’s… there’s no point arguing with this.”

///

Shiloh managed to find a seat with her siblings before the lights went out. Mary had asked if Shiloh got to talk with Phineas. The younger Nelson said yes, but didn’t tell her sister what they had spoken about.

”Everyone rise for Raelo Prince Phineas.”

The crowd went silence before the light illuminated the pathway where Phineas started walking down.

Phineas was dressed in all black, with white details and buttons in his shirt and white gloves to match. There was a golden chain that hung off one of his shoulders where his half-cape colored red and black hung off. He wore the old crown on his head as his black boots made echoing footsteps down to the throne, right where Darius had sat upon before. Beside the throne was where his mother sat, navy blue dress sparkling and all.

Phineas took a deep breath before taking a bow to the crowd and turning to an old advisor that was standing on the other side of the throne. The old advisor spoke in some strange Verdonian langue, to which Phineas responded back in the Verdonian language, voice low and empty. The old advisor nodded before turning to take a newer and more ornate looking crown from a cushion that was on the side. Phineas went down on one knee and bowed his head, allowing the old advisor to take off the old crown and place the new crown on Phineas.

The crowd cheered as he sat on the throne, hands gripping to the handles of the throne’s armrests. Shiloh had to admit he looked quite scary with how serious he looked sitting on the throne. The crowd then fell quite strangely fast as Phineas cleared his throat. The Nelsons, unaccustomed to whatever Verdonian customs they were having to follow, looked even more confused when the crowd started whispering. Then Phineas spoke and the group saw who was standing by his side.

Malduum.

”As my first decree of Raelo Lord of Verdonia.” Phineas spoke slowly as he looked to his mother then to Malduum. Malduum seemed to glare at him with almost a genuine smile. “I declare that the agents of the M.O.M Agency…”

At this, the group of Nelson siblings all froze. Micah raised an eyebrow seeing how Mary reacted to seeing Malduum but decided not to think too hard about it. The group was too focused to hear the next few words Phineas had to say about his new decree about the M.O.M agents.

”Starting for the next year, I declare that the agents of the M.O.M Agency can only arrive to the Raelo of Verdonia twice a year. If they are to come uninvited for any other reason in the same year, they are to be banned from arriving for the next year.”

///

The Nelsons had no chance to finding Phineas once the coronation was over. He was immediately swept away by other royal officials or guests that wanted to talk to him, leaving the Nelsons to figure out what the heck to do about this new decree. They all knew that the decree was definitely not of his choice and rather it was forced upon him by Malduum himself. What left the Nelsons confused was how Malduum got back to being the right-hand man of Verdonian royalty.

Right as they were about to hop through the Beacon to return to the Agency, Micah caught sight of the man in black.

”Malduum, how the hell did you get back here?” Micah questioned the moment he managed to grab that bastard by the coattails. All the Nelsons stood behind Micah with equally Ed pissed-off faces, minus Mary who strangely looked more awkward than mad.

”Please, this is no way to treat the right-hand man of Verdonian royalty.” The other spoke with a smug look on his face.

”Oh yea, sure.” Josiah huffed while rolling his eyes. “Now really, how did you get back here?”

Malduum gave a soft chuckle before adjusting his glasses. “I simply asked Queen Alora. She was quite easy to persuade… given that her dear husband had passed those few months back.”

”Hold on, you manipulated her to sign you back to be the right-hand man for Verdonian royalty?!” Daniel exclaimed, eyes wide. “That’s horrible!”

”I did not manipulate her.” Malduum spoke, almost too smoothly. “She simply needed a trusted friend during hard times and I just so happened to be around.”

”You’re not a trusted friend!” Elijah spat angrily. “You were manipulating everything!”

”Please, all of you calm down.”

The group turned to see Phineas walking up to them, cape flowing behind him as he stood between Malduum and the group of agents. Malduum gave a slight bow before turning off to the palace, though he did whisper something to Phineas which made the other glance at him with a nervous expression. Daniel also caught sight of Malduum giving Mary a strange look, though he decided to ask about that later. Phineas sighed as he rubbed his face, clearly already looking exhausted.

”Apologies for his behaviour. My mother did not know about his actions and his plans behind my father’s back since we… weren’t in contact with him at the time. By the time we realised, my mother’s sigil had been signed onto official documents for Malduum to be my right-hand man again.” Phineas sucked his teeth as he said the next part. “And yes, Malduum did force me to make that decree, I am so sorry.”

The group nodded in quiet agreement before they started saying their goodbyes to Phineas and hopping into the Beacon. Shiloh was the last one to go, but before she hopped into the golden warp-gate, Phineas grabbed her by the wrist.

”Huh?” She looked back to see him looking at her, a strange look in his eyes that could be read as desperation.

”I…” Phineas’s voice wavered barely above a whisper as he tried to not have his voice crack. “Please don’t leave.”

There was a strange pause of silence as the two stared at each other before Phineas pulled her into a tight hug. Shiloh froze for a second before hugging back, slowly feeling worse as she felt him shaking. Phineas released from the hug as he heard someone calling for him from the palace.

”Hey, you’ll do fine.” Shiloh spoke softly as Phineas turned back to her again. “We can still keep in contact right?”

”Right…” Phineas spoke slowly as he watched Shiloh going into the golden warp-gate. “Bye.”

The Nelson in purple gave a smile and a wave.

”Bye.”

Chapter Text

This was the third time this week Shiloh called an early night for herself. The brothers were growing more concerned seeing this strange behaviour from Shiloh that had started about a week ago. It had been about a month since they had returned from Verdonia and the brothers decided to ask Shiloh about this.

”Shiloh?” Elijah knocked on his sister’s bedroom door. He heard her moving around in her room before opening the door.

”Hey ‘Lijah, what’s up?”

The Nelson in blue raised an eyebrow seeing Shiloh acting awkward. “Can I… come in?”

”Uhhhh… sure.”

Elijah walked in to see Shiloh’s desk in a mess. The rest of the room was relatively clean, but it was her desk that was strangely in chaos. Papers and envelopes were strew on and around the desk and her laptop was shut, though her monitors were still on. “What’s up with this mess?” The older Nelson pointed out.

The younger Nelson stuttered as she ran a hand through her hair. “Was busy with some files and documents.”

”Are you sure?” Elijah asked as he looked to his sister. He spoke slowly. “You know we notice your strange behaviour, leaving dinner early and all. You good?”

The Nelson in purple looked nervous with the question as she twirled with a loose strand of her hair. “Yeah, I’m good.”

Elijah raised an eyebrow as he glanced to the monitors on Shiloh’s desk to see her who her recent messages were to. A small smirk grew on his face as he noted the name and the last notification. “Calling Phineas without us knowing?”

The older Nelson had to control himself not to laugh seeing Shiloh tense up. Her lips tightened to a line as she looked up to her brother. “So what if I was?”

The older Nelson put his hands up in faux defense. “Hey, I ain’t saying I’m mad. But I mean, I kinda want to know why at least.”

The Nelson in purple mumbled something before looking at her brother. “I… it’s kinda weird.” Shiloh drawled her words out, seemingly not knowing how to word it right. “When I was waiting for him to come down for the coronation, we spoke for a bit. He brought up a few reasons why he didn’t want to go for this and one of them is uh… cause he would be, like, having other royals try to court him.”

Elijah stared at his sister for a solid minute before finding the words to speak. “Like… a matchmaker?”

She’d nod.

”Oh…”

///

“Hey Mary, Elijah, Daniel, can I come with you?”

The three siblings turned to see Shiloh behind them. The two eldest Nelsons looked at each other in confusion, wondering if the other knew why Shiloh was asking to come. Elijah, however, guessed exactly why as allowed her to come along.

The four Nelsons entered the golden warp-gate and soon appeared at the gates of the Verdonian Palace.

As to why the Nelsons were back in Verdiona, it was simply because of meetings regarding the Raelo’s alliance with the M.O.M Agency and the new decree of the agents allowed to come to Verdonia only twice a year. Originally, it was supposed to be David, Josiah, and Daniel, but David was sick and Josiah was pulled for other duties, leading Elijah and Mary to join instead.

The four Nelsons were not expected to be greeted to Malduum at the gate alongside the guards. The smug blonde gave a curt bow to the four Nelsons before giving them a snarky smirk. “Hello M.O.M Agents. You must be here for the meeting with Lord Phineas?”

”Yes, yes we are.” Daniel huffed, clearly still pissed with having to deal with Malduum here.

”Right this way.”

The four Nelsons started walking behind the blonde with a guard on either side of the group. Elijah, Daniel, and Shiloh watched as Mary drifted up to Malduum and started to talk with him about technical stuff. The two spoke at a low whisper, but Mary must’ve said something to trigger Malduum as the blonde suddenly backed away from her with an angry face. Daniel was quick to protect Mary, sliding up so that his body was in front of her.

”Hey, don’t mess with her dimwit.” Daniel snapped harshly.

”Watch your mouth.” Malduum hissed, eyes wide and hands balled to fists.

Before anything could get out of hand, a caped figure walked down the hall with a golden sceptre in hand. The group looked up to see that it was Phineas walking down with a lady following behind him.

Malduum immediately backed away seeing Phineas walking down the hall, giving him a quick bow and whispering something to the Raelo Lord before walking off, though he had regained his composure by then. Phineas gave a sigh and shook his head before looking up at the group, a small smile on his face. “Hello, sorry about the rough entry, I hope he wasn’t any trouble.”

”Yeah… you came in at a good time.” Elijah chuckled nervously.

Daniel still looked rather upset, though Mary looked more stunned than scared. Shiloh perked up seeing Phineas and said a hi, to which he said hi back. The lady that was following behind him gave a small wave as she walked up to him.

”Right,” Phineas looked over to the lady by his side before looking up at the agents in front of him. “Dahlia, these are my friends, agents from the M.O.M Agency that have come to talk in the meeting. Uhm, agents, this is Dahlia, my… match.”

///

Shiloh didn’t remember much of the meeting, she didn’t really care for this one in all honesty. All she knew was that the decree had changed so the the M.O.M Agents could come over once a month so they could frequent here a bit more often to help Phineas with his new power (much to Malduum’s annoyance). As the group was setting up the Beacon to leave, Mary excused herself to the bathroom.

Now, Mary didn’t remember why she volunteered to replace Josiah and David, but she knew she wanted to come here for a reason. She remembered her reason when Malduum greeted them at the gate. She was quick to walk up to him with her tablet in hand, but when the two were talking, she must have said something to trigger him to get him mad. She didn’t remember what she said, but she was definitely stunned seeing how mad he got with a flip of a switch. The rest of the meeting had gone as smoothly as a meeting could go, though Mary had to force herself not to look at the certain man in black.

The Nelson in white was now wandering the halls of the palace, trying to find Malduum rather than the bathroom. She gave a sharp squeak as she turned the corner and bumped into the man himself.

”O-Oh, hi.” Mary stuttered, combing down her wild hair to calm her nerves.

”Hello.” Malduum spoke quietly. His expression was cold, but there was something to his voice that Mary couldn’t place. “Aren’t you supposed to be leaving?”

Mary couldn’t handle the awkward tension between the two and sputtered out. “Look, I know we still are on bad terms but I just need to know what I said to get you mad I know we aren’t, like, together anymore but I just need to know why you got so angry at me like I don’t think I said anything wrong but-.”

”Woah woah woah, calm down.” Malduum spoke slowly as his hands hovered over the other’s shoulders. His voice dropped and his harsh demeanour softened seeing Mary looking so nervous. “Hey, I’m not mad at you. I simply just decided to act angry to get a rise out of your siblings. I’m sorry if I scared you.”

The Nelson’s face went calm before warping into being upset. “You just wanted to annoy my siblings?! Why would you scare me like that?!”

Malduum had to control himself not to laugh seeing Mary’s reaction. “It was meant to be funny, for me, at least.”

The two flinched hearing a sudden yell and were quick to start making their way towards where the yell was heard.

///

Shiloh muttered something as she sat off to the side. Her brothers were arguing about how to set up the Beacon properly, leaving her alone. She had spoken to Phineas about how it was going with him, and he certainly looked tired, but he was still very happy to be able to hang out with Shiloh in person. He was then called off to the side to talk with the guards, and that’s when Dahlia approached the Nelson in purple.

“Hello, Shiloh, right?” She spoke sweetly with a smile on her face

The Nelson in purple definitely wary around Dahlia, seeing how she was matched up with Phineas. Shiloh didn’t even have to mention how pretty she was, with her long black hair and pretty doe-like eyes. Shiloh did give her a smile as she spoke. “Yep, that’s me.”

”Phineas has told me a lot about you.” She chuckled as she sat beside Shiloh, her sweeping yellow gown swishing around. “He sounds very fond of you whenever he goes for the calls.”

Shiloh froze at the mentions of the calls. “Wait, you aren’t- like, mad, about the calls?”

Dahlia shrugged as she tucked a loose strand of her hair back. “To be honest, I could care less about what Phineas does in his alone time. I’m busy with trying to get in contact with my own boyfriend.”

Shiloh’s face warped into one of confusion. “Wait, you have your own boyfriend?? But you got paired with Phineas.”

”Being the one courting doesn’t mean that you like the one you are courting.” Dahlia replied. “And the system is so old, so if we even wanted to not do the system, the elders would judge you pretty harshly.” She gave a wink to Shiloh before saying the next part. “But don’t worry, the others don’t need to know about what you two are doing.”

Before Shiloh could reply, there was a yell behind the two. The two whipped around to see Elijah pinned to the floor and a figure cloaked in black on top of him with a dagger to his throat. The guards were quick to advance up to the figure, though the figure pressed the dagger closer to Elijah if the guards came any closer. One of the guards, however, was quick enough to lunge at the attacker and knock him off Elijah. It led to the intruder’s dagger slicing Elijah’s cheek on accident.

”Watch it.”

The group turned to see Phineas walking up to the figure, spinning the golden sceptre in hand. He walked up to the figure, looming over him. He flung the sceptre out, revealing a blade, and pointed it at the figure.

”That stick was a sword??” Malduum muttered to himself (he and Mary were quick to come to the scene).

”So the king himself decides to show face.” The figure snickered as he looked up to the sword’s point. “Pity the king doesn’t show face when he was needed most.”

Phineas’s grasp on the sceptre-sword tightened, his expression darkening as the blade inched closer to the intruder’s neck. “Dare to disrespect the king shall face punishment.”

”Yet the king doesn’t dare to ask who sent me here.” The intruder snapped back, clearly panicking over the threat of punishment.

Meanwhile, everyone stared at the whole situation with wide eyes, unsure how to react to this. The Nelsons were certainly stunned when Phineas nicked the intruder’s cheek, drawing out a tiny trickle of blood. Everyone else, including the intruder, didn’t seem too concerned by what just happened as the guards hoisted the intruder up and started escorting him away. While being taken away, the intruder yelled out and spat at Phineas’s feet.

”Long live King Darius!”

Phineas just stood and watched the intruder being taken away. He was quick to mask back on a smile as he turned got the Nelsons, helping Elijah up to his feet.

”Sorry about that.” Phineas spoke as he slid the now sheathed sceptre into a hidden holster in his belt. “That’s been the third assassin sent in here this week.”

Mary instinctively turned to Malduum, to which he looked back at her with an equally confused yet annoyed look.

The Nelsons were quick to say their goodbyes once the Beacon had activated, though Shiloh lingered back a bit longer with Phineas.

”Hey, are you sure you’re alright?” Shiloh asked as she put a hand on his shoulder. “We can always call if you want.”

Phineas sighed as he looked at her with a small smile. “I’ll be alright.”

Chapter Text

This was supposed to just be a normal Among Us Mission, yet here was Micah staring at a giant pillar of rainbow energy that threatened to destroy the ship, and possibly the whole Raelo.

He didn’t know what was going on. All he knew was that there had been a malfunction in the ship’s core that neither the crew-mates or the imposters knew about. It had started out small,; the crew-mates noticed a strange energy swirling at the base of the ship’s core. None thought to ask about it, and the only ones who would even know what that was were either not in the missions or had already been thrown out. The other crew-mates had managed to escape via escape pods that were quick to be tracked down by the M.O.M Agency’s emergency pick-up ships.

The problem now was that Micah and Michelle were stuck in the ship and staring up at the swirling rainbow energy ready to explode at any moment.

”What are we supposed to do?!” Micah shouted over the deafening noise of the swirling energy. He had to cover his face to attempt to protect his face from the blazing heat. “If that thing blows, I don’t think either of us are getting out alive!”

Michelle, being the final imposter, had the keypad to the ship’s mechanics and an idea formed in her head. “Micah, I’m the final imposter!”

”What?!” The agent in green stared at the other in confusion. “Thanks for the help but how is that supposed to do us any good?!”

”I have access to the ship mechanics!” She exclaimed as she pulled up a floating panel from nowhere. “If I can somehow override whatever is wrong with the core, then I could probably stop this thing from exploding! I-I even have hacks imposters can use if they want to!”

Micah’s eyes widened as he grabbed Michelle’s wrist, pulling her back from going into the room. “No! Y-You’d get yourself killed if you do that!”

Michelle struggled ripping her wrist out of his grasp. “Let me go! Micah, I have to do this!”

”I-… no!” Micah shook his head as he tried to pull Michelle away from the door. “I won’t let you!”

”You protected me last time, with that big alien in the ship and all! Now it’s my turn!”

”Wha- you don’t get a turn!”

”You don’t get to decide that!”

”I don’t care! You shouldn’t have to sacrifice yourself for me.”

”Why not?!”

”Because I should be the last person for- for anyone to save!”

Michelle stared at Micah with a look of concern and shock. “…What?”

Micah himself looked stunned with what he said. That brief period of shock from the Nelson gave Michelle enough time to wrench her wrist out of his grasp and dash into the room. Micah let out a yell as he tried to run in as well, only to see Michelle pulling out the floating console and slamming the doors shut in his face.

”MICHELLE!”

Micah stared at the door for a moment as the panic started sinking in before slamming his hands on the door, yelling her name while a million thoughts ran through his head.

He lost his footing as he felt the ship shaking more but was quick to grab onto the door handles. The more the ship started rocking around, the more panicked he was starting to grow. He struggled to keep himself focused on what to do, regulate his breathing or try to open the door or try to find an escape way for himself or-.

Damn it Micah, think!

He tried to pry the doors open, but the handles were growing too hot for him to hold any longer. He winced as he drew his hands back to see his fingertips red and blistering. Right as he stumbled back, the ship stopped rocking and the doors blasted wide open. Micah let out a yell of surprise as he used his arm to cover his face before coughing and waving away the hot air and dust.

The Nelson in green stared at the blasted doors with wide eyes for a minute before scrambling to his feet to find Michelle. He let out a terrified gasp as he spotted a head of brown hair lying on the floor and dashed over to her. He was quick to prop her up, hands shaking and throat dry while waiting for her to wake up. Micah let out a shuddering sigh of relief when she coughed awake, though he felt horrible seeing her cough up specks of blood.

”Oh my gods you are alright.” He whispered as he hugged her tight, his body shaking more than hers.

”Y-Yea… I’m alright.” Michelle spoke slowly as she hugged him back.

///

When the two were brought back into the Agency, the group was relived and were quick to check up on Micah and Michelle. Micah had his fingers and his palms burned, though thankfully not too badly. Michelle had a couple burns and a busted lip, but other than that she was relatively okay thanks to the imposter parasite taking the brunt of the injuries.

When Michelle and Micah were discharged from the Medic Bay, the agent in pink was quick to stop Micah from leaving too soon.

”We need to talk about what you said in there.” Michelle huffed sharply as she pulled him off to the side.

”What do you mean?” Micah questioned, though he obviously knew what Michelle meant.

”I should be the last person for anyone to save.” Michelle raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “You and I both know what you said. I mean, you looked horrified with what you said yourself!”

The Nelson in green looked off to the side, an awkward smirk on his face to mask whatever he was feeling right now with the confrontation. “P-Please, it wasn’t that bad….”

Michelle got fed up and pulled his coat collar down so that he was now eye level with her. She spoke firmly with a softness to it. “Micah, out of everyone here, why do you think you should be the last agent to be saved? Do you really think of yourself that lowly?”

Micah’s reply was silence.

The agent in pink let out a soft and shaky gasp as her grasp on Micah’s coat collar loosened. The Nelson in green looked off to the side as he stood up to his full height, the fake smirk once on him now replaced with an empty expression.

“Why should I ever be the first agent to be saved here? It’s not like anyone…” The Nelson trailed off at the sentence. He seemed at a loss for words as his mouth opened up, but nothing came out.

Michelle felt her heart drop hearing Micah say that. She brought up a hand to her mouth, trying to process everything that was happening without bursting out angrily.

How was she supposed to react to this without potentially putting down Micah even further?

Micah let out a shaky sigh after a stuffy period of silence between the two. “I’m… I’m going to my room.”

The agent in pink watched as Micah walked off. One part of her wanted to hug him tightly and try to reassure him as much as she could. But the other hand knew he would probably want his s-ace for a bit before she pressed him any longer.

So she would wait until he was ready.

Chapter Text

“What do you mean Mom is gone!?”

”Surely we have a tracker on her right?!”

”Where did she even go?”

”Get all off-site agents to search parties now!”

”Is she… dead?”

Oh gods.

Was Mom… dead?

///

Judah stood in the middle of the Arxis Bay while agents were rushing around him.

He wasn’t supposed to be awake, why would a 15-year old kid be up at 1 in the morning be in the Arxis Bay anyways?

Truthfully, he was going to the kitchen for a late night snack when he heard a faint alarm coming from the Arxis Bay. Confused, he wandered down to see multiple agents running around frantically while the blue holographic screens were blazing bright red and yellow. The only words on the screens that he could make out and understand was a holographic with the name Sara Nelson floating next to it.

Was this about Mom and her mission?

Judah knew that his mom had gone for a last minute mission a few weeks ago, but neither him nor any of his siblings knew what this mission was. The weirdest part of this sudden mission of hers was the fact that she had cut communications with all of her children. Usually at least she would be in contact with Mary and David at least, yet they were out of the loop as well.

He flinched as multiple agents bumped into him, almost as if he was invisible to them. Then he spotted Daniel, David, Mary and Elijah at the console. They were all in their pyjamas and Judah would have giggled at the thought of his siblings working in pyjamas, but they all looked serious enough for him to laugh about this.

Right as Judah was going to approach them to ask what was going on, he heard something he never thought to hear.

“How did we lose Sara’s tracker?! Why would she just- disappear?!”

Judah froze hearing that statement.

No. No no no no no. What did that mean?!

The Nelson in orange started breathing quicker as his mind raced through any ideas as to what could have caused that agent to say that about his mom. It didn’t help that he started hearing what the other agents were saying, including his siblings.

“What do you mean Mom is gone!?”

”Surely we have a tracker on her right?!”

”Where did she even go?”

”Get all off-site agents to search parties now!”

”Is she… dead?”

Oh gods.

Was Mom… dead?

“Judah!? What are you doing here?” Elijah called out as he spotted his younger brother. “Judah? You good?”

The Nelson in orange didn’t realise just how terrified he looked as he was shaken back into reality by his older brother. He barely could get himself to focus in on his older brother in front of him thanks to the bright screens and overwhelming situation he was in. His dry mouth opened and shut like a goldfish, words failing to form in his throat. Judah’s hands gripped onto the side of his pants as he suddenly struggled to breathed properly, feeling as if his throat was suddenly closing up on him.

”I-Is Mom o-okay?” Judah croaked slowly as tears welled in his eyes.

Mary, David, and Daniel all looked at each other nervously seeing Judah’s reaction. Elijah let out a shaky sigh as he put his hands on Judah’s shoulders. “We’re not… sure yet. We will be able to find her though, I’m sure.”

Elijah was quick to bring Judah out of the mess of the Arxis Bay and led him back to his room. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

Judah remained silent as he stared at the ground. He had a million thoughts running through his head as to what he wanted to say or ask his big brother, yet his body refused to let him even try to speak. Elijah flinched hearing his communicator go off and was quick to respond, leaving Judah alone in his room.

The younger Nelson stood in his room, the silence now suffocating him and his thoughts.

Mom can’t be gone, she can’t be. Dad just left, why would she leave us now?

Elijah froze hearing a bloodcurdling scream from Judah’s room. He whipped around and rushed over, sliding the door wide open to see Judah crumpled on the floor.

The Nelson in orange laid on the floor curled into a ball, hands covering his face as his body shook from his sobs. Elijah was quick to be by his brother’s side, rubbing his back and helping Judah to sit up. The younger Nelson’s hands were curled into tight fists while he tried to wipe off the streams streaming down his face. Elijah pulled him close to his chest and hugged him tight as Judah flailed around. Elijah started rubbing Judah’s back and helping to loosen up Judah’s hands from cramping. Judah’s throat was now painfully tight, leaving him with raspy gasps of air through his sobs.

”Hey, Judah, you need to breathe.” Elijah spoke calmly as he attempted to get Judah to stand up. “You’re hyperventilating.”

Elijah knew Judah was too deep in his panic to respond, but he also knew that speaking to Judah would at least somewhat calm him down. The older Nelson looked around Judah’s room and grabbed a paper bag that had his snacks in before. He dumped out the snacks and held up the bag to Judah’s mouth. The older Nelson then pulled Judah close to him into a hug while the younger Nelson slowly started to breathe better thanks to the bag.

”Feeling better?” Elijah spoke slowly as Judah’s sobs reduced to soft hiccups.

Judah didn’t respond as he shuffled closer into Elijah’s hug. Elijah took a deep breath of relief seeing the younger Nelson at least physically responding. Elijah had a slight guess as to what triggered this sudden panic attack.

“Mom’s gonna be alright. She’s not dead… we will find her.”

”A-Are you sure..?”

Elijah hesitated.

The older Nelson had a hard time believing that himself.

Chapter Text

Talia looked at Micah with a raised eyebrow. “You good? You’ve been acting weird ever since you got here.”

The Nelson in green snapped out of his trance and looked over to the other agent. “Oh… yeah, just worried about the others and stuff.”

The other nodded slowly while raising an eyebrow. “Mainly Michele huh?”

”Wha-… noooooo…” Micah drawled as he glanced off to the side. “I mean, I’m not just worried about her.”

”Sure…” Talia hummed softly as she turned back to the console she was typing on.

”I mean, of course I would be worried if I tried to go back there but was met to weird evil guys pretending to be the forest rangers.” Micah rambled as he fiddled with the pen.

The other agent was quite amused with Micah’s apparent worry for the team back in the Forest Raelo. “Don’t worry. I’m sure they’re fine.”

Micah muttered under his breath as he finished writing the last he needed on a file and handed it to Talia. “Here you go. Anything else you need help with?”

”Well, probably getting me a new console that isn’t as slow would be nice.” Talia joked as she kicked the bottom of the machine for the loading to speed up.

Micah let out a light chuckle in response as he got of the office chair. “Yeah, tell that to Josiah when he’s not-.”

Right as Micah said it, Josiah poked his head into the room the two were working in. “Hey Micah! Alex called and said they got out of the forest! Wanna come help?”

The Nelson in green immediately said yes before whipping around, remembering that he was still helping Talia. The other agent simply shrugged and said she was fine, so Micah headed off with Josiah. Before the two hopped into the golden warp-gate, Micah turned to Josiah.

”Hey, does my hair look nice?”

Josiah eyed Micah up and down before a cheeky grin grew on his face. “You trying to impress someone?”

”N-No!” Micah exclaimed, embarrassment plastered on his face. “I mean, not really.”

///

This whole mission has been in ruins.

Michelle stumbled as she left the gate. Her mind wandered off to other things before hearing Micah running up to her. He was supposed to just skid in front of her, but he lost his footing and slipped.

”WOAH!”

She yelped as he nearly tackled her but she was quick to catch him by the arm and ended up in a tangle of a hug. She wasn’t complaining though, her downcast expression was slightly lifted with a soft giggle as she managed to balance herself again.

“I did not mean for that to happen I swear!” Micah exclaimed with an awkward chuckle.

As he released from the awkward hug, he’d notice Michelle’s strange expression. It wasn’t bad, but she looked rather downcast. He wasn’t the best at reading expressions, but even he wasn’t blind as to when Michelle looked… off, in better terms. “Hey, you good?”

”Uh, yea, I’m fine.” Michelle dismissed the question with a small smile.

”Oh, you have a leaf in your hair.” Micah pointed out as he pulled the leaf out.

”Must’ve gotten stuck in there when I fell.” She replied as she ran a hand through her tangled hair.

”Well, don’t go falling around, okay?” Micah chuckled.

Michelle nodded before seeing Micah getting called off for other help. She continued to run her hand through her hair as she watched him walk off. She didn’t notice Gala behind her with a mischievous grin on her face. “That was the cutest thing I have ever seen between you two.”

”ACK!” Michelle yelped as she turned around. “How long were you standing there for?”

”I wasn’t standing right behind you…”

”… Really?”

”I’m being honest.”

///

Micah didn’t have time to catch Michelle when the team returned to the Agency, so he returned to his bedroom and pulled off his coat. He raised his eyebrow as he heard a strange crinkle in his coat pocket. He checked it to see the leaf that he had pulled out from Michelle’s hair.

”Huh…”

The Nelson in green placed it on the small shelf above his desk where he kept most of his trinkets that he found or received from people.

He was going to need more space for trinkets soon.

Chapter Text

“Wait!” Shiloh yelled as she ran into the lab.

”You’re too late Shiloh, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.” Lindsey chuckled as she started pulling things up.

“I know.” Shiloh replied. “And that’s why I’m here to help.”

The woman raised an eyebrow as she dropped the chains on the table. “Really? You, helping me? I’m sorry, you probably missed the part where you find out I’m creating an army of monsters.”

The Nelson in purple nodded. “Our Agency’s goal is to help the people who have called us. I’m simply doing my job in helping you.”

Lindsey gave a soft scoff. “Huh… I guess I underestimated you.”

”You did, because not everything is what it looks like at first glance.” Shiloh spoke slowly, smile still on her face. “I was called here today to save these kids from a monster. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

”Get her big guy.”

Lindsey smirked as she turned to see the deer beast lunge at her. She was quick to slide to the side, grabbing a silver remote on a separate table. Suddenly, the deer collapsed to the floor and began to spasm, loud growls and cries echoing in the lab. Shiloh stared in horror as her plan failed before looking up at the park ranger with a smug grin on her face.

”Guess you didn’t think I had an off-switch for the beast did you?” The park ranger giggled as she wagged the device at the agent.

You know Shiloh, you shouldn’t have underestimated me either.” Lindsey chuckled as she tossed the silver remote in her hands. “I may be some park ranger, but I’m far from being a stupid park ranger like the ones outside right now. But thanks to you, I have a heads-up to what to do now.”

”You’re horrible!” Shiloh exclaimed. “You really want to ruin the future of children’s lives just for these horrible experiments of yours?!”

”If this is your way of trying to convince me to becoming good, then you’re sorely mistaken.” Lindsey snickered as she took off her hat and tired her hair up into a ponytail. “Those children had lost their future the minute they decided to come to this forest. If it wasn’t for the stupid wind carrying voices, I’d have a much easier time with my experiments.”

“Do the other rangers know about this?” Shiloh’s voice dropped, realising just how horrifying this could go.

”Of course not.” Lindsey knew broke out in laughter at the question. “I get new rangers here all the time. I bet you can guess what happened to the old rangers when they figure out everything. Usually I would use adults as they are much easier to handle, but as I have learned, children are earlier to catch.”

Shiloh was quick to form another plan in her head, but she just needed to stall. “Then why do those park rangers still help you? Heck, they wear disguises just to attack my team to stop them from getting to the kids. A-And the wolves and bears, how do you even get the tamed to-.”

”Not everything needs a reason, sweetheart.” Lindsey snapped as she slammed a fist in the counter.

“I have to ask, what do you even want to do with these experiments when you’re done?”

”Simple, have them rule over the forest and for me to simply advance with my knowledge.” The park ranger replied with a sickeningly sweet smile.

”Don’t you feel even a little bit guilty about the people you experiment on?” Shiloh questioned.

She started walking over to Shiloh, dragging her hand across the table. “I mean, why should I? No one bothered to find me when I was lost here. No one is going to bothering finding them in here either.”

The Nelson in purple staggered backwards as she fumbled to grab a stray taser that was on one of the tables. “You’re not getting away with this.”

”You really think fighting me is going to work?” Lindsey raised an eyebrow as she pressed another button on the remote. “Really clever.”

SCREEEEEEEEEEEE

There was a deafening screech heard outside and the lab shook for a moment. Shiloh whipped around to look outside of the lab to see a giant white owl-like beast flying off. Her face dropped in horror as she recalled one of the documents she had read in here earlier.

“Experiment 002, Owl.” She turned to look at Lindsey who was dragging the deer-beast into one of the cells in the lab. “That document was empty. What does that Owl do?”

The park ranger shrugged as she looked back up at Shiloh, pulling on a pair of gloves with a smirk.

“I think your crew will find out.”

///

“What is THAT?!”

Alex screamed as a giant owl-like beast flew above them with a screech. The rangers chasing the trio of Judah, Alex, and Gala froze as they looked up to see the beast above them. The kids used this moment of stunned shock from the rangers to run over to the agents, though the rangers were far less concerned about the kids. The owl started letting out chirps in the sounds of echoing clicks as its pitch black eyes scanned the dark forest.

”Is that working with the deer-beast?” The leading park ranger muttered in fear as he looked up. “No… no no no.”

The other park rangers looked at each other in worry before seeing two other agents running up with guns. “We’re here to-…?”

”Micah! Michelle! Josiah! Quiet down!” Gala hissed as Judah and Alex tackled the two boys to shut up while Michelle instinctively ducked down. The kids went silent as they hid behind Michelle, though they looked terrified. “Look!”

Once everyone realised what was going on, they all ducked down in the bushes and remained silent. The park rangers were still wanting to attack and get rid of the M.O.M Agents, but Josiah managed to be persuasive enough to get the park rangers to at least not try to rip the agents apart. The group slowly started shuffling their way out, but one of the park rangers made a fatal mistake and stepped on a twig.

SCREEEEEEEEEEEE

The group stared up as they covered their ears from the deafening screech from the owl-beast.

Then there was silence.

The silence didn’t remain for long, however, as there was an ear-piercing scream from one of the park rangers. The group turned to see the owl-beast pinning one of the park rangers to the ground, claws digging into the ranger’s arm and torso. Josiah whipped out his blaster and shot it at the creature. Feathers flew up in the air, but the owl flew up unscathed. In its talons was of the park rangers it had attacked, now hanging limp with blood dripping down.

”Oh gods…” One of the park rangers gasped before attempting to scramble out of the bushes. Unfortunately, the owl did not like that and threw the body it was holding roughly to the side before attacking the ranger trying to run.

Micah was quick to start blasting the owl-beast; Josiah and the few rangers were quick to follow and attack. The owl-beast screeched loudly and started to flail around with the attacks, thankfully leaving the second attacked ranger alive. Michelle and Gala were quick to grab the wounded ranger to the side while Alex and Judah protected the kids and brought them out. 

SCREEEEEEEEEEEE

The group practically collapsed to the ground in relief as the sky turned to day and the owl-beast flew off.

///

“Are the kids alright?!”

”More importantly, are you alright?!”

Josiah grabbed his sister by the shoulders as the group escaped the forest. He could tell something wasn’t sitting right with his younger sister. Shiloh sputtered something as she waved a hand.

”Y-Yeah, I’m fine.” She chuckled quietly. “How are the kids?”

”The kids are here and safe!” Alex shouted in response.

”The rangers… not so much.” Gala muttered as her eyes darted from the group of three rangers tending to the fourth injured one.

”W-Weren’t there five rangers before?” Shiloh questioned.

”T-There was this giant owl-beats that got one of them.” The princess replied quietly.

”Oh… oh no.”

///

“Hello Lindsey.”

The mentioned woman looked up from her desk in the dark laboratory to see a figure looming at the doorway. Lindsey was confused as she set the pen down, glancing over to the cells where the owl and deer beasts were being kept before looking over at the man at the doorway.

”Yes… do I know you?”

”No, but I know you. The park ranger that fought against Shiloh Nelson and supposedly won, correct?”

At this, the woman drew out a gun and pointed it at the stranger. “What do you want?”

The man chuckled as put his hands up, his voice dropping slightly. “I’m not here to hurt you. In fact, I’m here for your help.”

Lindsey’s grip on the gun only tightened. “What could possibly lead someone into my forest in search for my help? In fact, what can lead someone like you to even know what I do?”

”I have my ways.” The man simply replied as his hands dropped and went behind his back. “Now as to why I’m here to ask for your help, I’m on a mission to eliminate the Nelsons from the M.O.M Agency. My studying and tracking of them has led me to you, and I believe you’d be a great help in my mission.”

”And what’s in it for me?” She huffed as she slowly lowered the gun. “Why should I trust a random man who broke into my laboratory in the middle of a magic forest and saying he needs my help to kill off a couple kids?”

”You’re making it sound worse than it seems.” The man grumbled as he straightened his black coat. “Simple, I equip you better and much more advanced technology than… whatever you have here. If you need any more persuasion, I can always offer payments.”

Lindsey took slight offence to him judging on her equipment, but the offer for new technology and money was tempting. “Hmph… fine, you make a great offer. Who even are you anyways?”

“I go by many names, but you may know me best as the right-hand man of the Verdonian Lord.”

Hearing this finally made Lindsey finally relax with a chuckle. “Oh you have to be kidding me. Wicket, of all people, decided to come find me for my help.”

A sly grin grew on the man’s face seeing how Lindsey finally recognised him.

”Please, call me Malduum.”

Chapter Text

Shiloh, Judah, Elijah, Micah, Daniel, Josiah, and Michelle were sent to go on a mission to an abandoned mansion, but it had appeared the Beacon had been hijacked. The group was then led to a Raelo eerily similar to the Maze where Elijah and the boys found out Shiloh had been bringing in the Artifacts back to the Agency. The group of six were now scattered in the maze, all struggling to find each other just by following the sounds of their echoing voices.

Judah was now wandering the maze, poking his head to peek through the hallways and hoping the walls wouldn’t start moving anytime soon.

SCREEEEEEEEEEEE

Judah let out a terrified gasp as he looked up to see what he dreaded to see flying above him. He quickly ducked into the foliage, not caring for the scratches on his face.

”H-How is it here?!” Judah whispered to himself as he waited until he thought the coast was clear. He quietly crawled out of the bush, though he used the loose foliage around him as camouflage.

He continued to pace and wander the maze for a good bit before finding a clearing with what appeared to be a relatively modern looking console. His face warped into one of confusion, wondering what such a nice looking piece of technology was doing in such an old place like this. He squeaked hearing some voices murmuring and coming closer, and he knew those voices weren’t of his group.

”I’m positive Owl will find them, you just have to be patient.”

”Patience is not a key quality I have apparently.”

Judah raised an eyebrow as he felt like he recognised the voices from somewhere. He hesitated before deciding to peek out of the bushes and see who the two were.

Oh no.

He quickly snapped his eyes shut before opening them up, hoping the two people would suddenly disappear and this was all just a horrible nightmare. Unfortunately, the pair was as clear as day and standing on what appeared to be a giant hovering platform. The Nelson in orange didn’t know what to do, he wanted to leave and warn the others about who was here, but he didn’t know how to leave without alerting the pair.

”It’s not my fault my beasts aren’t like your stupid robots.”

”I didn’t care for those robots in the first place.”

”Really? Because it really does sound like you want those piles of walking metal right now to hunt them.”

”Shut your mouth.”

”Hey, I’m the older sister here.”

”Oh so now you’re playing the ‘older sibling card’ huh? We’re not even related with the same father!”

”Still related.”

”Maybe I should have left you- hey OW!”

Judah was now throughly perplexed with this newfound discovery as he watched the pair argue. He let out a sigh of relief seeing the hovering metal platform float away, and Judah was quick to scramble off.

///

“Shiloh? Elijah? Anyone?!”

Josiah grumbled as he wandered around in the maze. He hated being left alone, especially when he knew that he was lost and alone. Right as he was about to give up and just sit on the ground, he heard someone sniffling around the corner. His ‘big-brother instinct’ kicked in and he turned the corner to see Shiloh sitting in the floor.

”Shiloh? W-What’s the matter?” Josiah asked as he crouched down to her level

Her whole body was trembling and her eyes were wide open, tears trickling down and slowly ruining her the little makeup she had applied. She was hugging herself tightly and her breathing was hoarse. “T-The bodies…”

”What..?”

Josiah shook his head and looked over to the left. His head was quick to snap back to look at his younger sister. He didn’t want to see the horrid sight that was right next to the two.

”I-I should have saved them.” Shiloh spoke in the trembling whisper, though her voice was slowly increasing in volume in her panic. “But a-all I could d-do was hide. I could have s-saved them, why d-didn’t I-.”

“Hey, Shiloh, calm down.” His voice was firm yet gentle as he focused back on his sister. He was quick to grab her by the shoulders to help ground her, even if slightly. “It’s not your fault.”

”How can you be so sure?” Shiloh snapped back. “They were just innocent people lost in this maze. I could have helped them but I didn’t. The beast just came in and ruined everything. Oh gods, why didn’t I-.”

”Shiloh.” Josiah spoke again in his firm voice. “It’s not your fault. You’re just a kid. A seventeen-year old is not supposed to play saviour. It’s not your fault.”

The Nelson in purple didn’t seem convinced, but the two were alerted as they heard their brothers across the hallway where… the horrible scene was. He took a shuddering deep breath before looking back at his sister. “I have an idea, but you’re going to have to trust me. Close your eyes.”

The two slowly stood up; Shiloh clamped her hand to cover her eyes while Josiah’s hands guided his sister by the shoulders. The two started walking as Josiah helped guide Shiloh around. He paused as he stared at what was in front of her.

”Shiloh, you’re going to have to take a really big step over this….”

”Oh no- oh gods no!” Shiloh exclaimed as she froze in the spot. “No no no no-.”

“It’s a rock!” Josiah quickly covered up as he squeezed his sister’s shoulders. “It’s nothing crazy. Just a big rock… in the way.”

The two managed to get across the hallway with relative ease, minus the ‘rock’. Josiah slowly peeled his hand off Shiloh’s eyes, though Shiloh kept her hand covered on her eyes. After a bit of coaxing, Shiloh peeled her hands off her own eyes, but froze as she looked down to see red splattered on her boots. Her attention, thankfully, was quickly diverted as they heard Daniel and Elijah stumbling towards them and tacking them into a hug.

The group was a much needed relief as they started exclaiming about how they spotted the Owl beast and the Deer beast. Elijah was quick to be the next to stumble in after managing to escape the moving walls while a Deer beast was hot on his tail. Soon after, Judah toppled in covered in dirt, twigs, leaves, and vines. The group froze seeing the strange sight of the orange Nelson as he struggled to get to his feet sputtering loudly.

”Woah woah woah. Judah calm down, what are you trying to say?” Daniel shook his younger brother roughly to snap him to reality.

”PARK RANGER- I- THEY’RE SIBLINGS!” Judah finally yelled.

Elijah raised an eyebrow. “Who’s here?”

”We are.”

The group looked up to see a duo standing on a giant, metal, hovering platform that had a red glow to it. The man with the dirty blonde hair had a manic grin on his face with one hand holding a gun while the other was behind his back. The woman had her dirty blonde hair done in a ponytail and a device on her arm that projected a floating blue screen.

”You guys, siblings?!” Michelle exclaimed with wide eyes. “You know, I kinda see it.”

”Half-siblings, if you want to really be specific.” Lindsey smirked as she swiped the blue screen off.

”Why are you working for him?!” Judah wailed loudly.

”Why not?” Lindsey had an almost identical grin to the one that was on Malduum’s face. “I get better equipment in hand for an even better use for my beasts.”

”You guys are horrible people.” Daniel spat.

Malduum rolled his eyes as he cocked the gun to the group. “Not like I care. My main concern is that I got yo trapped here, and I can finally get rid of you.”

The group froze as Malduum was ready to fire the gun.

That was until there was someone that yelled.

“WAIT!”

Everyone turned to see Cole standing with wide eyes and his hand outstretched. He cleared his throat slightly as he pointed a shaky finger up to point behind Malduum and Lindsey. “W-What’s that behind you?”

The pair on the floating platform turned around to look around to see…

Nothing.

Then when they looked back down to see the agents…

They were gone.

”What. The. Fuck.” Malduum hissed through gritted teeth before stomping his foot down.

“How the hell did we fall for that stupid trick?” Lindsey grumbled as she pinched her nose bridge.

”Send out your beasts to track them now.” Malduum demanded as he jabbed a finger at the other.

”Chill out dude.” Lindsey huffed as she pulled out the blue holographic screen again. “I knew you get pissy quick, but not that quick.”

“Oh shut up before I send you back to that stupid forest.”

”Go ahead, it’s not like I’d- OW! Hey watch it!”