Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Looking back to the beginning, Dream was the first one to find it first as far as they know.

He'd just finished his own stream, deciding to end along with the others who decided that was enough streaming for the day. He had sent his viewers off to Antfrost who continued streaming.

He didn't get off Twitch though, instead, he searched for someone else to watch since he felt like watching someone stream instead of doing literally anything else. 

Dream had contemplated then, whether or not to watch his still streaming friends before deciding otherwise and instead looked for a new streamer to watch.

Something he liked to occasionally do was to look for someone new to Twitch, someone who seemed interesting or was doing something interesting enough to gain his attention and entertain him, maybe give him an idea to stream or make a video about. Sometimes he'd even pop into small charity streams to donate anonymously after making sure the charity was legitimate.

Either way, Dream had went to find a new streamer to watch, feeling bored and wanting to see if there was anything new and interesting he could find among the new streamers of Twitch.

And boy, did he find it.

The frozen thumbnail had instantly gotten his attention. 

It was a teenager in a lab coat standing in front of a giant glass tube, the type you see in movies and sci-fi shows, the teen was holding an axe- a weird but definitely cool looking axe and he seemed really animated.

Immediately intrigued, Dream of course clicked on to the stream.

"-nd WOAH! DOWN BOY! BAD! BAD! STOP BEING A DICK BUB! STOP IT! I got so sick and tired of it, I swear I was tempted to hit the guy in the face with this axe like WHAM!' The teen swung the axe with surprising ease. The axe hit nothing but air as the teen set the axe on his shoulder, facing the gigantic glass tube. The glass was heavily tinted making it hard to see its contents but the teenager reached to pat the tube, "Yeah, yeah I know probably should have but I'm already on thin ice for the comparator incident. So I had to keep my cool."

Dream blinked bewilderingly as the teenager walked off to the side and opened a metal chest, putting the axe within the chest, the teen paused before seemingly rummaging through the chest and then taking an impossibly long pole out of it- like, the pole was longer than the chest itself and it didn't seem collapsible. "Here's that pole I was trying to find! It's really been in this chest this whole time? UGH! I need to reorganize my things!" The boy complained, closing the chest behind him.

The teenager walked back to the desk which was where the camera was and Dream watched him sit down in a light green swivel chair and setting aside the long pole. He watched as the camera shrunk seemingly automatically and showed the teenager's desktop. The infamous streamer was taken back at the mess that was this teen's desktop- there were multiple windows opened which covered the entire screen, each window opened to something that Dream literally had no idea on.

Hell, the desktop was something Dream couldn't recognize- it didn't seem to be a Windows screen, nor Apple, or Linux. Was it a custom desktop? Like completely custom? The mouse was certainly custom, there was a cute looking bee icon holding the mouse and yellow pollen seemed to fall off the bee every time the mouse moved.

However that wasn't the most eye-catching thing on screen. No, it was the mountain of text that was the most eye-catching on the most recent window. It looked like it was a coding window that was wide open and being the main focus, and the reason why he was thinking it was a coding window was solely because of what Dream thinks to be hashes, semi-colons littered about, not to mention the numbers. The letters however were completely alien to him, seemed like a non-English based language. Which was very cool, but Dream wondered on what the program was.

It seemed complicated with how big it was.

He glanced at the chat, there were almost a thousand viewers watching, just underneath nine-hundred. 

: QUICK SOMEONE SCREENSHOT THAT!! 
: tubbo hi!!! 
: fuck i'm late did i miss anything??
: TUBBO!!!
: bee :D
: i still have no idea what the language is!
: this is the most complicated arg i've ever seen and we've hardly even started!!

That one chat comment caught his eye, was this an ARG? Also Tubbo? Was that the name for this teenager? The stream name was different though, and what kind of name was Tubbo anyway? Well, he couldn't judge, he's met people with way weirder names. Streamer name or otherwise.

"Buh, I'll finish that later." The window was closed after 'Tubbo' hit save on it. Another window was brought to the front from the multitude of windows that were open. Dream squinted at it. It seemed like a digital blueprint of something- again, the language wasn't English so he had no idea what some of the floating paragraphs said and not only that but the pieces were currently pulled apart from each other. "Okay so what did I need again? I've got the last pole that I can use for the foundations, I should have the other parts for this shouldn't I? I've mostly been restocked after all, I could definitely do this today-" The teen rambled, either to himself or to chat as Dream watched the digital blueprint pull apart even farther as it focused on one exact part.

It was diamond shaped and made out of metal, though there were glowing blue lines running all over it. A paragraph appeared beside it along with small pictures of items that were automatically scrolling past. "Cog wheels, ammonia, lumi- lumine- fucking the glow stick sap things- oh of course it needs a uranium key, OF COURSE! Just when I used the last to fix my nuclear reactor!! DAMMIT! That's not fair!" He complained, oblivious and unkowing of Dream's growing bewilderment.

Ammonia? Uranium key? Did he just say he had to fix a NUCLEAR REACTOR?

: wtf even is this shit
: awww poor tubbo!! 
: KEKW ALL THAT WORK TO FIND THE POLE AND HE CAN'T FINISH THE JOB!
: dude stop fucking lying about that youre not a goddamn genius OR a scientist
: my streamer's out of uranium L
: hey it's just an arg it's not even real bro don't work yourself up lmao

"Right, right, it's an ARG... Still very weird though." Dream muttered to himself as he shook his head, clearing away the shock. It wasn't real, the teen was just following a script- none of it was real. But he was right though, it was very weird.

What kind of ARG was even was this?

Dream suck around till the end of the stream, which didn't happen not too long after he started watching since apparently it was near the end anyway. 

"That should do it for today I think. That was like, what? Two hours? Three? By The End, I didn't even notice." Tubbo commented as he closed the last window, Dream saw the background of his desktop and hummed- it was a beautiful looking meadow right out of a fantasy world, it was hyper-realistic too so it was really impressive. He wondered on who drew or worked on the picture before he focused back on Tubbo who leaned back against his chair to stretch. "I've got to say, I think I'm getting used to these recordings. I mean, it's a good way to bounce ideas and stuff, get to talk more than usual and everything- I guess I can understand why the institute wanted regular log recordings."

Log recordings? What institute? 

This was getting more and more mysterious and Dream found he liked that.

"So, that's um, that's Log Four ending. Computer, end recording and send email to; Fundy... and Sam I guess." Tubbo muttered, lips thinning at the name of 'Sam'. 

Before Dream could even wonder about that, something else caught his eye.

There, behind Tubbo, in that giant tube that sat in the middle of Tubbo's lab, something seemed to glow behind the heavily tinted glass. Showing off the brief silhouette of something before the screen went dark.

It startled Dream, had his computer suddenly died?

No, wait, that was the stream ending.

Dream scratched his cheek, feeling perplexed by what he watched. "That's it? It just ends just like that?" He couldn't help but question at the not-really abrupt but kind of abrupt end.

He'd been so used to streamers announcing the end of their streams and telling the chat and watchers goodbye at the end that he hadn't expected it to end like that. He had thought that Tubbo would break character and stick around to chat for a while, maybe another time? He checked chat.

: bye bye tubbo! bye chat! 
: another great stream :DD
: :pogchamp: :pogchamp: :pogchamp:
: :teary-eyed emote: he still hasn't said goodbye to us!!
: BRUH WHEN WILL YOU TALK TO US TUBBO!?!?!?!
: TUBBOOOO NOOOO COME BAAAACK
: we got more lore stuff to decipher guys!!
: he never stays to talk so sadge :((

Ah, alright then.

Still, Dream sat back in his chair, processing what he'd just watch before making an important decision.

He straightened in his seat, reached for his mouse and looked for the previous VODs of the channel.

Kind of strange really, for it to be called Stream Labs but hey, it made sense since Tubbo streamed (filmed?) in a lab so it was at least on point.

Names aside, Dream found himself engrossed with not only the VODs, but with the story behind it and it was only going to spiral further from there.

It was Dream who first found the stream, but it was Wilbur who made things even more complicated.

Granted, it wasn't really his fault but the ball really started rolling a couple of weeks after Wilbur joined the Stream Labs bandwagon.

Wilbur hummed, head propped on one hand while the other tapped rhythmically on his desk, patiently waiting for time to pass by and for the stream to go live.

Stream Labs.

That's what Dream, Antfrost and Sapnap had been talking about during the chill time of their last stream.

"I can't wait for the next stream, I feel like Tubbo is finally going to tell us what exactly is in the test tube at the back of lab- do you know how long I've been so curious about that thing? From the very beginning!" Dream had said, sounding excited. Wilbur, he had been tuning his guitar then, blinked and shifted in his seat, wondering who 'Tubbo' was.

Sapnap laughed, "No kidding! You know the amount of theories that are about that thing? It's wild! Personally, the one about the fire-breathing monster is my favorite." Wilbur's confusion grew as Antfrost and Dream both chortled, amused by his reply.

"Of course that's your favorite theory, damned arsonist." Antfrost teased, "I personally don't care, the thing that I'm more excited to see is the guy who keeps visiting Tubbo. We never get to see him fully, but whoever he is. He's massive, people measured his silhouette from the last stream and he's like, six foot nine or something." Wilbur had no idea what they were talking about and had glanced over to his chat, hoping that they would know of what they were talking about.

Most of his chat didn't know what it was though, just as clueless as he was but a few seemed to know from their messages of 'OH MY GOD THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT TUBBO!!! AAA' and 'OH SHIT THEY WATCH STREAM LABS TOO??!?', the few that knew spammed their delight and Wilbur's confusion reached it's peak.

"Who the fuck is Tubbo?" He had finally asked aloud to the three.

There's a brief silence in the call before Antfrost spoke up, "Uh, what?"

Technoblade snorted and Wilbur could practically see his pink-haired friend give Antfrost an unseen dry look through the screen even though he didn't have his camera on. "He asked on who Tubbo is. Admittedly, I'm pretty sure you guys lost us on what was going on there. We have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yeah mates." Phil agreed, the older blond man scratched his head, almost knocking that garish bucket hat that he almost always wears on top of his headphones. "What exactly are you all talking about?"

"Dude, you've never heard of Stream Labs?"

And like that, he, Phil and Techno had been inadvertently introduced to a new up and coming streamer, or at least, the channel itself was growing rapidly. 

Wilbur will admit, the fact it was an ARG stream had already caught his attention- he liked ARGs, even made a small one himself a few years ago and that had been really fun so he was kind of looking forward to watching and finding out what all the fuss was about. Of course he wasn't going to get everything yet since he wasn't starting from the beginning, but still, he could do that after watching the live stream.

In any case, Stream Labs was an ARG/RP stream channel which featured a teenage scientist just being a genius in his lab with an heavily underlying mystery to it.

A lot of people had said it was like a mystery podcast but with people acting it out and actually showing stuff instead of the listeners having to imagine it or wait for official art to come out, or you know, a filmed mystery series only in stream form and it consistently lasted at least two hours or more. It was actually very impressive since it was said that each stream was just as high-quality as the last and the story so far, though slow, was very intriguing and the characters were very likable or such, it wasn't surprising that is had a strong, growing fandom and community about it.

Of course, with the fact that the Dream Team had talked about it during their stream, no doubt their community was going to have a massive growth incoming, especially if it was really as good as they said it was.

It always started at a specific time, though the dates were random, the start of the stream always happened at a fixed time. 

Which was a few minutes from now to Wilbur.

The musician and streamer observed the Stream Lab's icon. It was a simple black background with green text that said 'Stream Labs' on it. Simplistic really, but Wilbur found it fine and nice. The offline background for it on twitch was the same, just a black background with green texts on it over and over again. 

The description was simple. All it said was: 'Dr. Score's Laboratory', there was no credit, no list of people behind the scenes, nothing. 

There were two links underneath that though, the first link went towards Stream Lab's twitter account. Said twitter did nothing else but alert everyone that a stream was going to happen the day and again just mere minutes before the stream started. 

There was literally nothing else, the twitter account didn't follow anyone else, didn't say anything else and never replied to anyone's tweets or dms. It was just an alert system, a verified one at that.

The second link though... it was entirely dead, it didn't lead anywhere. It really did nothing as far as Wilbur was aware.

Must be a future part of the ARG that they set up early? Though why they had it was a mystery but Wilbur wasn't going to judge, he was just here to check it out and see if Stream Labs was a good ARG to keep track of.

He's been keeping away from spoilers and wanted to watch it live and for the first time for himself.

Speaking of which, it was going live right now.

The title of the stream was simply 'Log 14', the category was simply 'Talk Shows & Podcast' with the tags of 'English' 'Simulation' 'Alternate Reality' 'Science' and 'Mystery'.

Wilbur never knew there was an 'Alternate Reality' tag but you learn something new every day.

There was a starting screen, it looked like a computer booting up. A strange computer certainly.

Plastered on the screen was a logo of a digital bee bobbing up and down on a meadow background. Wilbur heard the clicks and clacks of a keyboard being typed on as the password bar was filled before the screen went dark. Wilbur watched it along with the chat.

: IT'S STARTING!!!
: has anyone figured out what his password is yet??
: TUBBO :DDDD
: MOVE ASIDE BILL NYE, WE GOT TUBBO NOW AS OUR SCIENCE GUY >:333
: dream are you really watching this???
: bruh ive gone and watched the vods since the dream team mentioned and i am HYPED FOR THE LIVE STREAM
: What even happens here?
: i'm only here because of sapnap!
: dream mentioned this this gotta be good
: wow there's so many people today holy shit

Wilbur frowned at the chat but merely shook his head and watched the computer boot up.

The desktop showed a beautiful looking fantasy forest, filled with large trees, giant mushrooms and a magnificent setting sun. It was hyper-realistic and Wilbur took a brief moment to appreciate it before moving on to the rest of the desktop.

It wasn't any type of computer set up he recognizes but it's a nice desktop at least.

There were numerous files lined up across the screen. Each were titled but not every folder or program icon was readable, half were labelled with a language that Wilbur couldn't read or even begin to understand. The language was apparently entirely made-up- as in the ARG created a whole other language from the ground up or so the more linguistic fans say. They were having a hard time deciphering and translating it but they were making progress.

Wilbur watched the bee-themed mouse cursor move around the screen, a soft humming could be heard. The cursor moved over the folder that said 'Log Recordings', clicked twice and opened it. The window showed other folders along with a camera application that was clicked on.

"Alright, starting Log Fourteen, computer set date and time, alright, alright aand..." A new window popped up,"Visual recording starting! Okay okay, we're looking good, looking smooth." A young bright face with blue eyes, brown hair and blond streaks greets him. His hair was somewhat messy and unkempt, and the goggles he had on his head were askew. Wilbur whistled as the teenager leaned back, eyeing his white labcoat that covered a yellow and brown sweater and suspenders before looking at his background.

The camera showed the room the teen was in and so far it really was impressive.

It really looked like he was in personal lab of sorts. There were machines in the background, the giant test tube was the most eye catching though. It really was the type you'd see in tv shows and movie, the giant ones that could fit a person or two in, the glass seemed tinted and you couldn't see what's inside. That was apparently a longstanding mystery to the fandom, they had no idea what or who was inside it. Though Dream had said there had been instances when the glass had been glowing in the background, showing a silhouette or something. 

The camera was angled enough that Wilbur could see a door on the far end of the wall, it a double door that was about six foot according to the others. It was also where the 'Mystery Visitor' usually was, aka 'Boss Man', a guy who was taller than the door apparently and was very mysterious. He only started showing up lately from Log Eight. 

"Doctor Toby U. Score reporting in for record! Or, just, y'know, just Tubbo. Teen genius of Snowchester Institution." The teenager, Dr. Toby or just Tubbo, chimed in happily, smiling as he leaned back against his chair. "Log number fourteen! Four-teen, by the end... I never thought I'd get this far in recording logs. I kinda thought it was gonna be boring and all that but y'know what? It's actually kind of fun! And at least some people like my recordings. Ehh? Ehhh?" Tubbo winked at the camera, going as far as to finger gun as well, it makes Wilbur laugh.

: yoooo damn right we do
: HE'S FINALLY ACKNOWLEDGING US!!
: i wonder when we'll ever see him out of character, i really want him to do a qna
: YEAHHHH!!! 

Tubbo spun in his chair for a bit before he finally got back to the desk, he looked a bit distracted, looking far off to the side. "Still haven't a clue why Snowchester's having me record myself a few times a week in these logs. Well, that's a bit of a lie, I know why ish... But like- ehh, 's probably not a big of a deal. Surely." Tubbo stretched in his chair and grabbed the camera, separating it from where it was- apparently it wasn't part of his computer.

Wilbur watched the stream with a surprising amount of interest and focus, watching Tubbo go around his lab, doing apparently his usual 'check up'. Showing off how clean his workstations were, the futuristic machines that were in the space, a few strange looking contraptions that looked a bit out of place but nonetheless intriguing, his massive cork boards that were covered in doodles, blueprints, strings and pins- there was a lot in the one board Tubbo showed them alone. Wilbur watched as many in the chat demanded people to screenshot the boards, apparently it mostly gets updated everyday and people were pouring over the contents, trying to figure out the references, the language- everything that was on the board.

This really was a well made ARG.

Could they even call it an ARG at this point? This might as well be a show on its own.

"-eed to upgrade that fabricator, it's not up to snuff anymore..." Tubbo seemed to trail off, the camera angled at the floor before it lifted a bit and finally looked up. They met with something almost entirely black. It was the tube, the camera shifted somewhat awkwardly towards the ceiling where the tube connected into the ceiling. "It's almost time y'know? I'm actually kinda glad I get to make these logs, you'll watch 'em all right? Or probably not. Either way, can't wait till it's time." He murmured quietly, the camera shifted again, this time towards the glass tube as Tubbo seemed to step away a bit. They could barely see what was inside within the tube, but faintly, they could see the silhouette or something. Was Wilbur imagining it, but was that a foot? The shape changed from behind the glass and silhouette disappeared the further Tubbo stepped away.

Chat went wild.

: IT'S THE TUUUUBE!!!
: FINALLY
: THE TUBE!!!!
: WE'RE FINALLY GETTING A CLOSEUP TO THE THING OH FUCK YEAH
: THE TUBE
: WHAT'S INSIDE IT??
: OH MY GOD THAT'S DEFINITELY A BODY IN THERE OH MY GOD|
: MONSTER MONSTER IN THE TUBE WHEN ARE YOU GONNA WAKE UP MY DUDE?!

Wilbur would later look at the screenshots of the tube, someone would up the saturation and brightness of the photo in an effort to see what was inside better. All he and the others would see was some big mass of something and maybe a possible limb or two. It was really hard to say, the glass of the gigantic tube was thick and dark, but there would be many people comparing it to previous screen shots when the tube was glowing from the inside.

Right now though, Wilbur watched, pretty much enraptured as Tubbo went back to his desk, attaching the camera back to where it originally was with a few tweaks to its angle while rambling. 

"Like, it's all going to a singularity right? I said so, but none of the other dudes listened now did they?! Bah! They're still bitter over me, teen genius Tubbo from the 'Archives'-" Tubbo said the word with air quotes and a mocking face with a matching mocking tone before smoothing over to a smug, wide grin, "-was given his own lab! Hah! Archive people are just as deserving and smart as the rest of the Overworlding folk! Fuck's sake, we've got our own underground archive! It's not tech savvy I'll admit to that but it's not like we can't figure out all the other doo-dads and wizzy machinery."

Wilbur would really look into the lore behind this, or at least the lore that was found so far.

The stream went on relatively peacefully, but Wilbur found himself delighted by the stream that lasted only about two to three hours. He even caught a glimpse to whom he learns to be referred as 'Mystery Big/Boss Man'. Though, it didn't seem like 'Big Man' was actually Tubbo's boss, not with how Tubbo seemed to carelessly flirt and joke with the guy whenever he appeared to visit him. The fans would war with each other, trying to decide whether the flirting was literal or joking.

"You can come back any time boss man. Wouldn't mind some eye candy while working." Tubbo said, winking at the tall figure that was barely seen from the camera angle. The light from the hallway was quite dim as well. 

'Boss Man' made a loud snort, "I certainly would mind though. Get back to work Tubbo." The other replied fondly, sounding young- was this guy just a really, really tall teenager? Wilbur wouldn't be surprised but holy crap was he tall. 

Tubbo sat at his desk, drinking from a green metal bottle, looking thoughtful as he looked at the camera and presumably the computer. "Looks like I've hit the quota for today. That's um, about two hours recorded now... Been a bit boring innit? Sorry, I've just been yammering about and flapping my mouth off- next time though I'll be a bit busier hopefully. Been quiet these past few weeks, which is totally fine for me but like, a guy's gotta do something yeah? Maybe I should focus on one of my projects on recording, my safer ones anyway... Alright, that's fourteen completed. Computer, stop recording, deactivate the camera and send recording to File: Log Records, prepare the email to Fundy and Sam, thank you."

And just like that, the stream was done. 

Wilbur would concede defeat to Dream, he might just be a fan to Stream Labs as well.

Tubbo rolled his shoulders, yawning a bit as he lazily looked at his computer screen.

Another recording done, sent to Fundy and Sam like usual.

He feels like he's become quite talkative ever since he's started the recordings, though maybe that's because he imagines that people were watching him while he recorded. Kinda weird but like, it helped a bit. Should he be so animated doing it? Bah, it didn't matter, there weren't actual people watching him record and the only people who would watch his logs would be Fundy and... Sam...

...

He turned around in his chair, looking right at the tube. "Wonder what you'd do Tommy, if you were in my shoes..." 

His chest ached at the thought before he shook his head and got an apple from his inventory cube, reaching for it from underneath his labcoat. Maybe he should finally strap it to above his labcoat? Eh, next time.

"Alright, time to get to actual work." He muttered, biting into the fruit and turning back to his desk. He still had to work on quite a few things after all, better get serious to get them done sooner rather than later.

Chapter Text

It's been a couple of weeks since he, Wilbur and Techno have been introduced to Stream Labs and honestly, it's probably one of the most intriguing things he's watched in a while, he's even managed to drag a couple of some other friends into it as well after his first couple of stream watching. There was just something about it that seemed to captivate a lot of people to keep watching, which was probably the point and helped with the ARG RP elements.

It was really cool, knowing that there was something going on in the background and especially with the lore and story that was slowly being pieced together and built by the fandom itself with whatever information they could find and commonly agree on. He and the others have really been liking it so far though they've both just decided to read on what the others have gathered for more in-depth lore and information.

Dr. Toby U. Score, he preferred to call himself Tubbo for some reason, was a teenage genius that worked as a scientist for an institution called Snowchester. 

He was the youngest scientist there at the very surprising age of seventeen and was apparently given special privilege for some reason, he had his own lab for the sole reason of whatever was within the tube and for his own experiments that he performed alone and mostly off camera. Though he was young, he proved his worth as a scientist by rambling in depth about nuclear physics and a few other sciences- his rambling was actually very on point according to a few more scientifically adept fans, a couple claiming to be scientists themselves.

If it weren't for a few other factors of the story, Phil would have totally accepted that the ARG-RP was sci-fi themed.

No, the world that Stream Labs was showing wasn't just science- there was magic and fantasy to it as well.

"A dragon skull, it had to be a dragon skull. Ugh, that order is going to take forever to come through. The Dragonian Order is so far from Snowchester." Tubbo had sighed one time during a stream, a picture of a strange skull on his desktop. "I wonder if I can use another type of skull as a replacement... but then that'd effect the composition of the bone-metal, or would it? I can't really afford to experiment on that right now, I'll just have to do it another time when I have another moss crystal to fiddle with. And THEN I can use the ion battery to help the formation..."

For all the time that Tubbo rambled about science and tinkered with a few mechanical things on stream, he also mumbled about elements that suited a fantasy world and did impossible tricks- like the time he pulled a full on glowing pickaxe from the inside of his lab coat. Said pickaxe was again, glowing, there were strange symbols that were carved into both the wood and metal of the pickaxe and it seemed to be made out of a metal that no one has been able to recognize yet.

Hell, during on stream, Tubbo had inadvertently shown them all another room that was connected to his lab- he called it his magic room since most of his magical things were in it. It was just as big as his original lab, but the theme was definitely more fantastical compared to his more sleek and modern laboratory. Phil had watched with awe alongside thousands of other viewers as Tubbo came to his 'Enchanting Area'.

There, a mystical looking black and red table with a floating book on top stood surrounded with countless of books. Ghostly letters escaped the spines of the surroundings books and into the mysterious floating book which opened when Tubbo came near it. He had set the camera down on a shelf nearby, the camera was slightly off but luckily they still got to watch the magic happen.

Phil watched as Tubbo took out a diamond axe from the depths of his lab coat and set it floating atop the dubbed 'enchantment table'. It floated horizontally above the book and Tubbo as the teenager flipped through the book itself. "Unbreaking, Sharpness, Unbreaking Three... Eh, Unbreaking Three for now." Tubbo had mumbled aloud, suddenly holding a long and thin blue rock -lapis lazuli they'd find out later- and grabbed the axe that had been floating.

Tubbo then used the rock to draw on the axe, he had drawn only one symbol and let go of the rock and the book glowed. Letters flew off the pages of the book, the lapis crumbling and swirling around the axe, runes carved themselves into the axe's wood handle and diamond-made head. It only took a minute or so before the book closed and Tubbo had quickly grabbed the then glowing axe with a keen look on his face.

His fingers traced over the magic runes that were on the axe itself. "Unbreaking Three and Bane of Arthropods? Shitty but I'll take it, I'll just have to add more to the axe later." 

That had been a fun way to find out that in the Stream Labs world, science wasn't the only thing it had going on. 

Phil had to say, whoever did the effects and editing for these 'live streams' was amazing. Like, that had been frankly one of the best realistically made magical scenes he'd seen in a long while, topping over a lot of good movies and tv shows!

Stream Labs was certainly one of his favorites after that certain 'stream'. Which had to have been pre-recorded surely.

It was a strange thing to do certainly, to have some streams be pre-recorded but if the result to those pre-recorded streams were some fantasy or science fictional scenes like that well- Phil wasn't going to complain! It just hyped him and a lot of other people out more than ever for any other future stream or clear world building involved with the story that they were piecing together.

Still, the fact that Stream Labs decided to well, stream that on Twitch of all places and everything, it was seriously strange. With those effects they could've easily scored a place on Netflix or any other streaming website that streamed tv shows and such! But then again, maybe not since the story was a bit slow and long going, and wasn't it an ARG RP? 

Also, that could not have been cheap. Stream Labs did accept donations through Twitch, but only through Twitch and they were all silent and in the background, you wouldn't even know unless you look at chat. And there wasn't even a text to speech donation unfortunately, though it made sense during important streams where more interesting things happen but still.

At any rate, some streams, the streams that didn't really involve any showy, realistic magic/science fiction effects and simply had Tubbo ramble and talk or do something on his desktop- those had to be somewhat actual livestreams right? They couldn't all have been pre-recorded, not with how regular the streams were. Which in itself was already impressive given the quality of the streams. Although Tubbo never, and he means never, interacted with the chat despite their desperate attempts to get him to talk to them. 

Which was another strange point for a streamer, they were already on Log 19 now and not once has there been a QnA or any claims from the creators and people of Stream Labs. They still had no idea who the actor who played Tubbo was surprisingly, it was an ongoing mystery that just intrigued everyone and made a few quite frustrated. Of course that didn't stop them from trying again and again to either find information on Stream Labs or try to get Tubbo or anyone else from Stream Labs to answer them.

There were a few who claimed to be part of Stream Labs but it was inconclusive and easily debunked, the people behind Stream Labs were a really secretive bunch and anti-social bunch.

They had every right to be of course, it was their stream channel and they were the content creators behind this frankly amazing series but it was a little frustrating that they didn't interact with anyone. 

Anyway, despite all that, Philza enjoyed Stream Labs, enjoyed watching the teen genius scientist himself, Dr. Toby, do whatever he pleased in the labs.

Which was what he was doing right now.

Stream Labs went live just half an hour ago and Philza watched as Tubbo tinker with a circular object on his desk, focused on the metal contraption before him. He even had his goggles on which shielded his eyes from the blinding sparks that occasionally popped from whatever he was doing with it. 

Philza hummed while eyeing the stream. It was just him watching the live stream live today, Technoblade was busy with sword practice and Wilbur was recording for his songs, but that was fine since it seemed like it was a relatively chill stream today- or so it would seem from how Tubbo was just working on that device of his. 

Just as he thought of tabbing out to check on a few things on the internet and chatting Techno who was on break, he heard a loud ping come from Tubbo's desktop- which was clean for once, only a couple of windows open. The digital blueprint program that he regularly used, though it wasn't really focused on anything right now, just sitting empty behind the open chat client window after Tubbo got distracted and started on something else rather than use the program.

It was the chat client window that pinged.

Now, the chat client window was something that popped up almost regularly during the streams on Tubbo's desktop. It was an intriguing client, though no one knew what it was called, the icon for it was a simple black circle with three white dots on it. When opened, the window was dark, whether or not it was naturally like that or Tubbo used dark mode was up in the air.

There were three tabs to the chat client program, one labelled 'WORK N STUFF', another labelled 'FRIENDS :D', and the last simply being 'Announcements'.

Currently he had the 'FRIENDS :D' tab open, it was also the tab that had pinged, the tab showed a list of names that the others speculated about- there weren't any pictures attached to them though. No, it seemed like all the icons were just little pictures and symbols.

The one who had messaged Tubbo was 'Ranboo', aka the mysterious tall guy that occasionally visited Tubbo from time to time. Always appearing at the doorway but never entering, and the camera could never seem to catch him. 

The fandom had speculated his identity and name for a while, trying to name him from the list of the chat client- it was only recently that Tubbo revealed that 'Big/Boss Man' was Ranboo when he actually addressed the other with his own name instead of his nickname. A lot of people finally had a name to the voice that bantered with Tubbo and sometimes flirted back! And it seemed that Ranboo was also a teenager, he was just unnaturally tall for his age it seems. Of course with that in mind, speculation of whether or not they were dating or romantically interested in each other grew after that. (Philza didn't really pay attention to that, or the 'ships', he rarely did. He didn't care for romance, especially between minors, fictional story or not.)

Ranboo's crown icon blipped and beeped loudly, catching both Tubbo and the viewers attention. The brunette with blond highlights shoved the goggles off his face and squinted at the screen.

"Ranboo? Huh I thought he was busy right now. Wonder what he wants." Tubbo mumbled as he clicked the crown icon that paired with the name Ranboo.

👑Ranboo👑
Hey Tubbo, mind if I come and hang out with you in your lab?
I'm free right now, my tutor for the day got sick so I've got a lot of free time today!
Of course I'll only come if you're not busy, like legitimately not busy.
Don't shirk off anything important Tubbo!
We don't want things to end up like last time, mother was NOT happy about that.

Another interesting thing to note about the client was that the messages were rather colorful in the 'FRIENDS :D' tab, apparently the client could color the messages and even do gradient colored text.

Tubbo winced on stream, scratching his cheek with an embarrassed look on his face. "Oh don't worry big man, I've learned my lesson... Don't have anything that big to work on today. Nothing I can't finish easily enough. Might as well, I kinda missed having him around anyway. He's been so busy lately with the tutors and stuff."

🐝Tubbo🐝
srue thing dude!
im not working on anything important right now so come on by ;)

Philza blinked while chat went wild at the side.

: OOOOH!!! RANBOO IS COMING???
: ARE WE FINALLY GONNA SEE HIM
: RANBOO RANBOO RANBOO
: why does ranboo need tutors??
: TUBBOO MOMENT HAPPENING ABOUT TO HAPPEN
: LET US SEE THIS TALL BOI 
: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
: i wonder what happened last time!

What did happen last time? The blond man wondered to himself but focused back on the stream to see Tubbo get a reply from Ranboo.

👑Ranboo👑
Sweet!
Thanks man!
I'll be there in a jiff.
Can't wait to hang out with you again :)

🐝Tubbo🐝
same :D
now cmere and entetain me!!

👑Ranboo👑
It's supposed to be the other way around y'know, since I asked first and all?

🐝Tubbo🐝
:pp
nah
just get over here alreafdy!!

👑Ranboo👑
I'm coming, I'm coming.

And just like that, it was an eager wait to find out just who Ranboo was and what he looked like.

It wasn't actually that long a wait but to the viewers, it felt like hours before Ranboo finally arrived. Tubbo had briefly gone back to fiddle with the device before tucking it out of sight by the time a loud, artificial buzzing noise sounded briefly- it was the noise that let Tubbo know that someone was at his door. 

The blond-haired streamer watched eagerly with thousands of others as Tubbo scrambled towards the door, practically at the edge of their seats to finally meet Ranboo.

Their expectations were blown away when the door opened and Tubbo briefly bowed to Ranboo, loudly exclaiming, "Welcome your highness." before immediately grabbing Ranboo and pulling him inside. Philza's jaw dropped at the sight of the 'teenager' before him.

Standing at the nearly unbelievable height of 8'5 (was measured later with using Tubbo's height of 5'5 as a reference and measuring comparison, he's complained about his height being too short compared to Ranboo and he was not kidding) was a black and white skinned humanoid being. The distance between Tubbo's desk and the door made it a bit hard to see but Tubbo was dragging Ranboo towards the desk and the details became more and more clear.

Ranboo was not human, oh no- not with the way his skin was practically split down the middle, black clashing with white. His eyes were heterochromic, a green pupil on a green canvas on his black half while a red pupil on a red canvas on his white half, both his ears were long and pointed. Protruding from his forehead were a set of horns that curled inward and weren't that large but they were there. And atop his black and white hair, was an honest to god golden crown with what looked to be rubies and emeralds embedded with the gold metal.

He wore a royal purple cape with grey trimming, a golden chain keeping the cape around Ranboo's broad shoulders and kept him mostly covered and protected from snow that was shown melting off it. Ranboo unhooked the chain to take off his cape and drape it over Tubbo's chair, it revealed the fitting and elegantly made black suit he was currently wore with white cuffs and undershirt. He had gold jewelry on, a golden lapel attached to his suit, a couple of gold and silver rings on his fingers, he looked like a rich gentleman.

An inhuman rich gentleman with a tail- that was definitely a tail that was in the camera's view. It was long and had a large tuft of black and white fur at the end. It wagged slightly as Ranboo's ears drooped slightly while the tall teenager (was he still going? How tall was this guy going to get?) gave Tubbo a displeased look. "I told you to not do that when it's just us, it's really awkward to hear it come from you like that without mother around or something."

Tubbo gave him a mischievous little smirk, "But my most dearest Prince Ranboo, you are the only son of the Queen, I MUST call you by your rightful title." He tittered mockingly, bursting out in cackles when Ranboo gave him a gentle punch to the shoulder. "Sorry dude, I can't help it- your FACE when I call you that is just priceless!"

Well at least that explained the crown symbol that paired with Ranboo's name in the chat client.

Ranboo was a prince.

He was a non-human prince.

Ranboo peered at the camera curiously, eyes looking up and down. "Uhh, Tubbo? Why is your camera on?"

"Oh yeah! I forgot to tell you, I'm kind in the middle of recording my logs and stuff- remember what I told you about them? Hope you don't mind, I could always turn it off and continue on later-" Tubbo offered and Ranboo waved him off.

"No, no! It's fine, I just- I think this is the first time I've been uh, actually physically in your recordings right? Like, in full view." Ranboo said, leaning into the camera and looking straight at it and thus the viewer. Philza's heart thumped a bit faster, unconsciously leaning back despite it just being a stream, a pre-recorded episode of Stream Labs being streamed. 

It wasn't real, Ranboo couldn't see him and Philza was just being silly.

Still, Philza really wanted to congratulate on whoever was behind Stream Lab's effects and designs, Ranboo looked amazing- they even managed to make his eyes dilate and widen so realistically! Some people later on would make claims that it was real, but it couldn't be, right? 

"Nope!" Tubbo chirped back in reply as Ranboo leaned back, the two males looking at each other. "You sure you don't want me to turn off my camera and stop recording?"

Ranboo nodded, smiling gently. "I usually hate being on camera but, I know that your logs only go to Fundy and Sam. They're the only ones who'll review the footage so it's not that big of a deal, I don't mind them watching so long as they keep quiet and stuff. Hear that Fundy, Sam? Shhh!" A wink was sent their way, Ranboo's clawed finger pressed against his lips. 

: hOLY MOLEY GUACAMOLE
: RANBOORANBOORANBOORANBOO
: t a l l b o i
: oh my FUCK HE'S HUGE!
: IT'S MY FAVORITE OTP TYPE SHORT GREMLIN GENTLE GIANT OH MY GOD
: hot
: he's that tall as a TEENAGER how tall would be as an ADULT!
: what is he prince of?? who's his mum???
: FUNDY AND SAM WHEN WILL YOU APPEAR?! I WANNA KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE TOO!!

BIGmeow: RANBOO IS TALL AS FUCK
BIGmeow: I THOUGHT HE WAS 6 FOOT SOMETHING BUT NOPE, NEW MEASUREMENTS CAME OUT HE IS 8'5
BIGmeow: EIGHT FOOT FUCKING FIVE BOYS

snapchat: holy shit

crowfather: He a big boy
crowfather: tol

consumerof s a n d: definitely a tall boi for sure
consumerof s a n d: seeing tubbo stand beside him was fucking weird to see
consumerof s a n d: can you imagine standing beside him???

potatogod: i'd rather not

puffdaddy: i see this tall child and i'd like to adopt him too

smiles: i'm getting another brother :0
smiles: fuck he's so much taller than me
smiles: at least tubbo is shorter than both of us

diamondhead: puffy you can't keep wanting to adopt every kid you see
diamondhead: it's bad enough with phil over there, i'm surprised he didn't call dibs

crowfather: tempting as it was, i promised puffy she could call dibs on the next kid

puffdaddy: i won a bet actually so the child is mine >:3
puffdaddy: but if you want phil we could always share custody

crowfather: appreciate it m8

smiles: nice

potatogod: and the family expands much to my dismay
potatogod: at least ranboo has good taste

consumerof s a n d: you just like his crown

potatogod: yep

diamondhead: jokes aside, i'm really wondering on just what ranboo is a prince of. he also like, mentioned a mother right? who is she? does he have any siblings? god, the more that gets revealed in stream labs the more questions there are

Adjusting the crown atop his head, Ranboo sucked in a breath before entering the room. He smiled happily at the sight of both his sister and mother sitting at the table already.

"Mother, Sister." Ranboo greeted with a respectful nod to both as he quickly crossed the lavish and large dining area to get to his seat which was right across his sister on the other side of the table. "I'm sorry I'm late, I uh, Tubbo got carried away again." 

His sister laughed, pink eyes gleaming with amusement, she tucked a pink strand of hair behind her pointed ear. "That's fine Ranboo, did you at least have fun with him?" She asked while Ranboo sat down. 

The prince brightened, nodding his head. "I did! He showed me more cool stuff today! It was awesome!"

"Aw, that's nice!" She giggled, leaning forward, about to ask more.

Both siblings straightened though, when they heard the deep rumble and slight cough of their mother clearing her throat and warning them. "Nihachu, Ranboo, it's time for dinner. Eat some food first before you talk."

"Yes mother." They chorused, feeling slightly chastised. 

Their mother nodded in approval when they started eating, she herself, cutting a piece of the fine food set out before her. It was silent for a few moments before it finally broke, "Now, dearest son of mine, just what mischief has your little friend been up to now? Shall I expect to hear complaints from Schlatt in my next meeting with him?" She asked casually, smiling as her son perked right up and started talking.

It was a lovely family dinner between royals, and for a moment, the Queen felt at peace as her children held her attention.

If only this peaceful moment could last, but Kristen, the Dragon Queen of Endlantis knows it will not.

She will enjoy it nonetheless, she is a Mother first, and a Queen second.

For now, at least.

Chapter Text

Another day, another stream.

Technoblade had to admit, these streams were entertaining to watch. Not all of them of course, but most of them were interesting at least. Like the one he was watching right now.

Even if he wasn't much for science and engineering, Technoblade found himself interested in what Tubbo was working during the current stream.

Laid in front of him was an arm. A metal one, a prosthetic most likely. It was currently in pieces and Tubbo was messing with the inside of the arm, at the elbow joint, apparently fiddling with the wires, his hands slick with some type of oil that stained his sleeves and his face when he made the subconscious move to adjust his goggles or wipe his nose. He's been mumbling non-stop underneath his breath as he worked on the joint of the arm for the past few minutes.

"...e if this works... wonder what Bad would say... nerve's electrical current..."

Honestly, Techno had no idea what he was saying or what he was even doing but there was just something so interesting and somewhat calming in watching a young teenage genius fiddle with an arm for about three, four minutes straight? He can't help on what his mind latches on to for interest, even if he could hardly understand what was happening.

Just watching Tubbo mess with the arm was nice alright? 

It was a rather unique looking arm, the metal that covered it and its insides were light in color, almost white and seeming to be somewhat flexible with some sort of mesh that covered the joins of the shoulder, elbow, wrist and fingers. Though, the arm itself kind of looked like an articulated metal mannequin arm. Kind of, but that was all Techno could say to describe the prosthetic.

"Okay! That should do it I think. With the oil applied, it should work a bit smoother, testing it right after I cover the insides again." Tubbo hummed, grinning widely as he re-placed the mesh that covered the joint and part of the covering that seamlessly blended in with the rest of the metal. You honestly couldn't tell that it's been taken apart. Tubbo first rubbed his hands against his lab coat to clean them up a bit before he readjusted the arm, placing it on a modified pedestal that supported it. 

The teenage genius attached wires into the shoulder socket of the arm which connected to a box which was apparently connected to the computer. Said computer was open to a multitude of windows that were messily thrown around the desktop, but the most eye-catching were two windows; the actual blueprints to the arm itself and what seemed to be a program that simulated the arm's movement.

"Simulating movement in three... two... one- Processing individual finger movement." Tubbo said, his bee-attached mouse cursor moving to a pre-set algorithm that was within the program to move the fingers. Techno watched with fascination and slight awe as the fingers moved individually, fluid with barely a pause. "Wrist rotation." The wrist began to rotate along with the finger movement. "Stopping wrist rotation and finger movement... Elbow fold." The mannequin-looking arm flexed, rising from the stand to fold its arm and then unfold. "Shoulder movement." Tubbo's smile grew as he sees the way the shoulder joint of the arm moved slightly as if it was shrugging.

He whooped, laughing brightly as he leaned back against his chair, watching the arm move. "FINALLY! Augh, that took AGES to perfect! I KNEW that oil would help with the joints and wiring! It's also silent, no whirring, clanking- I can't wait to show Bad! This should be good right?" He stretched in his chair before standing up, stopping the program and letting the arm lay on the pedestal, removing the wires that were connected to the arm. "That's one arm down, the other should be a cinch now!"

"Man, he's certainly happy." Techno noted, watching Tubbo cheer to himself and even bounce around a bit before carefully moving the arm along with its pedestal to an unseen part of the room- unseen from the camera at least, he was storing it away and cleaning himself up a bit as when he came back, his face and hands were no longer smudged with oil, though his lab coat was still a stained mess. "Wonder who's the prosthetic arm for. Tommy maybe?" His eyes glanced to the tube where 'Tommy' was apparently in.

It had been a big revelation, just a few logs after Ranboo's own reveal.

Ranboo had been visiting again, delighting the viewers and the fandom as the 'tall boi' was back on screen and in their sight instead of just being a figure in the doorway or in Tubbo's messages.

The fandom was pretty much taken with the insanely tall royal, the amount of fanart that had been churned out in just the day after had been surprising- people really worked fast on what they liked and the Stream Labs fandom really liked Ranboo.

Anyway, during that stream, Ranboo had visited half way through it and saved Tubbo from apparently the doom that was boredom and procrastination. The scientist had been whining to the camera on how bored he was and how he didn't want to work on anything but still wanted to be entertained, even going as far as to contact someone called 'Big Q' on his friends tab.

:]Big Q[:
Sorry Toby, can't talk right now. Busy with another client!
We can talk again later, need to talk to you on the funds of your next project anyway.

Tubbo had groaned loudly at that but gave 'Big Q' a thumbs up emote nonetheless, it was another character to add into the slowly growing list. It was a wonder as to how many characters there actually were and when they would see all of them but either way, it was someone new to take note, especially since 'Big Q' was talking about funds- the fact Tubbo was using previous gemstones and metals on the regular surely meant he was rich, or at least Snowchester was covering his financial situation. Techno wasn't that interested in stuff like that but it was certainly something to keep in mind for later or something.

Tubbo's moping afterwards didn't last long, especially when the door to his lab opened and in stepped the mysterious and ridiculously tall prince himself. Chat had gone wild at the sight of the tall royal once more, Techno noted that Ranboo wasn't wearing as much jewelry as before, though the crown was still perched on his head. "Kid's stealing my brand." He had joked to himself, smiling faintly. His 'character' in quite a few games often wore crowns and such, depicting himself as royalty even though he 'hated governments' and such. Crowns were cool okay and he liked them, also the fanart that his fans provided were absolutely amazing.

Apparently Ranboo had the day off, courtesy of his mother who they still had no idea about. He'd wanted to spend some time with Tubbo which made both of them happy as Ranboo suggested a few things that they could do.

An hour into that stream, the tube had started glowing from the inside again. The black tint of the glass turning green from the liquid inside, the murky lighting made it hard to actually make out whatever was inside like usual, theories were thrown as to what or who was inside the damn thing since it's been a mystery since the very beginning of the Logs. Tubbo always addressed it as 'you' and talked to it occasionally on camera and perhaps more off camera but he never said a name or described what was inside.

It was moments like that that made the fandom frustrated that they couldn't contact the creators and actors of Stream Labs, desperate for even just one hint as to what was going on. 

It was pretty funny in Technoblade's opinion.

He and chat weren't the only ones who noticed the glowing, Ranboo had noticed as well, his words trailing off as he turned to look at the faintly glowing tube. Ranboo had the camera in hand, so the viewers had a full view of the scientific tube slash tank that was situated in the middle of Tubbo's lab, the prince took a few steps closer, Tubbo's rambling getting a bit fainter in the background from the action. It didn't seem like he noticed that Ranboo was no longer filming him but instead the tube, an entirely black skinned hand with a few white spots settled on the glass. 

"Ranboo? Ranboo! Ra- oh."

Seemed then that Tubbo had finally noticed, there were the sounds of footsteps and the view showed Tubbo suddenly by Ranboo's side. "Uh, sorry Tubbo I just- I noticed the- just hold on a second." The camera was then settled on top of a nearby table that was by the tube, showing the viewers Ranboo returning to Tubbo, the two of them standing in front of the glowing tank. "You said he's been more active these past few weeks?"

Tubbo nodded his head, looking at the tube with a smile on his face. He looked hopeful, and nervous. The way he and Ranboo touched the glass of the tube, it was somehow so...

Technoblade had squirmed, suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable- this seems like a personal moment and that he was intruding on something. Watching something he probably shouldn't be watching- which didn't make sense since this was a stream. It was supposed to be watched. It was just that the acting was really good, very realistic, very emotional. He had to say, these actors who were probably a bit younger than him or something, they were really good.

"How is he?" Ranboo asked, quiet and hesitant. "Is he gonna be awake any time soon?"

Tubbo shrugged, "Hopefully but yeah, should be soon."

"Cool, cool, cool... Can't wait to actually meet him... Do you think he'll like me?"

"Right off the bat? Hell no, he's going to hate you."

"Abuh- wha?"

"But he'll quickly warm up to you, he'll act like he'll still hate you but in reality he'll like you don't worry."

"Oh, okay. Cool, cool, cool."

"Thanks again Ranboo, for being there for me. For us. It would've taken so much longer without your help."

"It's no problem man, what are friends for? Besides, I owe Tommy. I owe him a lot." Ranboo said with a small smile, his elongated ears flicking and his mismatched eyes filled with relief and hope. They stayed there for a bit in silence before Tubbo eventually dragged himself and Ranboo away, picking up the camera to situate it back atop his computer so he and Ranboo could sit down at his desk. In the background, the glow of the tank dimmed until it was nothing but just black glass once more.

The thing, person? In the tube was named Tommy.

And apparently, he was very important to Tubbo and Ranboo.

The fandom went wild after that stream, theories upon theories were being made, fanart of Tubbo and Ranboo just sitting by the tube and talking were created, fanfics about it- ever since Dream and the others first mentioned it, the fandom for Stream Labs had boomed quite a bit, and even they (Techno included) couldn't resist talking about it a couple of times both on stream and off. It was just too interesting not to talk about occasionally.

Anyway, that was how they all learned about Tommy. Or at least, just his name.

They had no idea what he looked like and Tubbo was infuriatingly quiet about it despite his long rambles and chatty nature within the 'Log Recordings'.

"Okay, I think I'll end that there. I've finished one arm, I can start on the other tomorrow. I'm feeling pretty tired, might go nap or something- should I nap here? Ehh, I don't want to turn into George, I'll just go nap in my personal quarters." Tubbo yawned and stretched shortly afterwards, rubbing his eyes tiredly but there was a definite look of satisfaction on his face.

: S l e e p beeboy! 
: TALK TO US PLS 
: the arm was so cool!! do you think we could replicate it somehow??
: STREAMER IS TIRED TIME TO SLEEP!!
: might just be another recording that arm was TOO FLUID to be a prosthetic gotta be cgi or effects
: whose george?
: idk man 
: BYE CHAT!
: its just a fake cgi arm or something

Techno snorted, running a hand through his pinkish hair- the dye was finally fading, thank god. He was never going to dye his hair another color again, sub goal or not... Or maybe... No, not really worth it. Walking around and even going to practice with pink hair was embarrassing enough, as much as he liked the color pink (who says males couldn't like pink?) having it be the color for his hair was too much. He only did it for a sub goal that one charity stream.

They'd have to pay BIG BUCKS for him to dye his hair again.

"Alright, computer stop recording and send emails to Fundy, Sam and Bad. Include the schematics, notes and blueprint of the arm in Bad's email, pin his response and notify me about it when I wake up."

And like that, it was the end of the stream. Techno himself yawned slightly, taking note of the time- it wasn't that late but maybe he should follow Tubbo's lead and sleep for a bit. He could talk with the others about the stream later, when he felt a bit more energetic and less tired. It wasn't as if he was going to miss anything while he was asleep, the stream had just finished and there wasn't anything important happening as far as he could remember, no scheduled recordings, planned streams, etc. etc.

So with that, the pink-haired streamer shut off his computer and fell in to bed, dreaming of a weird place filled with water and a strange symphony of voices edging the borders.

He doesn't remember the dream at all when he wakes up hours later, though he does find out that he almost did miss something rather important. He managed to wake up just in time for a certain someone's return.

Karl was back from hiatus, which is nice. It was going to be nice, talking and streaming with him again.

snapchat: but duuuuuuudeeeeeee
snapchat: it's not faaaiirr
snapchat: you just came back after what, like two months?
snapchat: cmooooon!
snapchat: you cant leave again in like a month thats just not faair :((((

karlonthecob: sorry sapnap but i just have stuff to do :(((
karlonthecob: i've been really busy this year okay?

consumerof s a n d: busy doing what??

karlonthecob: that is a secret ;)
karlonthecob: i'm really sorry though but i can't do anything about it

smiles: hey it's all good
smiles: just let us know if you need any help alright karl?

crowfather: yeah m8
crowfather: we're here for you

snapchat: i'm still angy that you have to go but definitely here for you dude
snapchat: in fact i forgive you for making me angy youre too cute to stay angy at ;)

BIGmeow: wow simp much? mans taken dude

snapchat: stfu 

karlonthecob: aw why thank you sapnap <3

potatogod: gross
potatogod: die down the pda why dont you
potatogod: anyway, what about that face reveal you were planning to do next month?

snapchat: OH RIGHT THAT!

consumerof s a n d: your fans are gonna be so disappointed

karlonthecob: yeah ill have to reschedule it to way later probably, can't do it this month :/

puffdaddy: damn :(
puffdaddy: we were looking forward to seeing your face finally!

smiles: kaaaaarrrrllll
smiles: let us see your face karrrlllll

karlonthecob: hmmm to show or not to show?
karlonthecob: that is truly the question

snapchat: PLEASE???? :begging::praying:

crowfather: now guys let karl be
crowfather: if he doesn't want to show his face yet then just wait

BIGmeow: we've been friends for like a year now, we can wait a little longer to see his face

consumerof s a n d: speak for yourself i can't wait to see him take off that ridiculous box during his face cam streams

karlonthecob: fine, i'll think about it okay?
karlonthecob: no promises though

snapchat: GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME!

crowfather: you sure dude? no pressure here

karlonthecob: its fine dadza :)
karlonthecob: i trust you guys and it's been long enough i guess
karlonthecob: that aside what did i miss while i was gone?
karlonthecob: i've just scrolled up in a few chats and i've noticed we have a couple of new channels in the server??? 
karlonthecob: what's stream labs?

puffdaddy: here we go

Several people are typing...

"'EEEY TOOBO!! 'EEEY TOOBO!!"

Jolting out of his sleep, Tubbo groaned into his pillow at the insistent noise that came from his loudly vibrating and shouting comm. "EEEY TOOBO!! EEEY TOOBO!!" He keeps forgetting he has that as Quackity's personal notification sound whenever he wanted to call him and he was dearly regretting setting it that way. It was far more amusing when he was more awake and not tired like now, but nonetheless, he roused from his bed and reached out to grab his communicator, missing it a few times at first but getting it in the end.

"Tired Big T here, Big Q, do you know what time it is-" He started, yawning half-way through the sentence only to blink incredulously at the frantic and sad tone in his friend's voice coming from the other side of the comm.

Immediately he sat up properly, snapping his fingers for his lights to slowly turn on. "Big Q, Big Q- dammit, Quackity for End's sake! You're talking too fast man!" He winced, regretting his yelling. "I'm sorry Big Q, shouldn't have shouted. Now, run that by me again?"

He stood up, listening to Quackity talk.

"Uh-huh?"

He wedged his comm to between his neck and shoulder as he needed both hands to grab a sweater.

"Yeah?"

He struggled a bit to slide into the sweater while keeping an ear to his friend and financial manager's plight.

"Oh damn, that's- no no! You're okay! Quackity listen to me, it's alright!" Tubbo exclaimed, trying to reassure the older man. "While admittedly I was questioning your decision on the sole factor of, well, y'know your past with being married to someone and y'know your boyfriend having that one guy he apparently keeps flirting with- yes I know it's harmless and joke flirting and you think it's cute but like, back to the point, if you really like him Big Q then go for it! He's a cool guy as far as I can tell, and if he breaks your heart then I can break him in turn remember? Really it's up to you dude."

He snorted at the amused but scolding reply he got, "Yes, yes, you love him, bluh bluh disgusting emotions called romantic love bluh. Look Quackity, there's always next time. When's he coming back?" He checked the time, grimacing at how late it was but that didn't matter, Quackity had called him and was in a terrible mood.

"A month huh? Okay, why not propose to him as soon as he gets back?" He sighed, pinching his nose. "Quackity, I am not the person to talk about that- talk about that with him dude. I'm seventeen, not in a relationship nor interested and I'm more skilled at assembling a nuclear bomb rather than this stuff. Listen Big Q, I'm getting my boots on and I'm heading over to your place with a bucket of ice cream and a ton of chips, do you want to do our usual thing or did you just call me up for nothing?"

He nodded at the reluctant silence he got, "That's what I thought. Now go change into your pjs, I'm picking the movie this time, you woke me up so fucking early Big Q if you weren't my friend and in charge of literally all of my money I'd have you killed."

"Yeah yeah, I am the best aren't I? A'ight, see you dude." 

Tubbo let out a deep sigh but grabbed a few things from his bedroom then headed into his kitchen to shove into his inventory. He paused on his way out, looking at a certain picture hanging on the wall by him. It was a picture of him, Ranboo, Quackity and the guy Quackity was freaking out about over the phone. "You better treat him right Karl. I don't think he can handle another failed relationship, not after Schlatt." He scowled but shook his head and snapped his fingers, the lights dimming down to darkness as Tubbo headed out of his apartment.

Tubbo hated it the people he cared about were hurt by people they cared about. Hated it ever since Tommy and Sam...

Well, Karl was a good boyfriend at least to Quackity, but would he be a good husband?

At least Quackity was willing to give them both time and stay as fiances instead of going head first like last time.

Chapter Text

"... Okay that- that was- stupid." Tubbo wheezed, his heavy breathing heard clearly as the camera was in his hands, though the view could hardly show anything but a ruffled green canvas that gradually turned into darkness. It was Tubbo's green shirt, the lens of the camera was aimed at his chest and pressing against it. The viewers couldn't see anything but they could certainly hear Tubbo wheezing and panting.

"Damn right that was stupid! What were you thinking Tubbo!" Sapnap exclaimed, biting the nail of his thumb as he watched and listened to the young scientist cough, pant and wheeze. 

It was another stream today, Sapnap had admittedly been lagging behind in watching the latest streams and VODs, more preoccupied with talking with Karl who finally returned from his hiatus. Karl was somewhat infamous for them, something about how he had to leave every now and then to take care of things, personal life and work he said and refusing to explain further. Which was fine, he had the right to keep his personal life private. 

Though Sapnap kind of hoped that the man would open up a bit more about his personal life, they were friends after all. 

As far as anyone knew, his name was Karl Jacobs, he was around Sapnap's age but he had a boyfriend -Sapnap ignored the little twinge in his heart at the clear fact- and he lived somewhere in America. 

Karl was definitely one of their more reclusive and private friends, even more so than Dream they could argue. He was a faceless streamer and youtuber, like Dream had been nearly a year ago before he had his face reveal and such. No one knew what his face looked like, not even Karl's streaming friends or Sapnap himself. Whenever he did streams it was always faceless with just his voice and even when he did 'face cam' streams, he always wore a neon bright purple box covered in bright green swirls. His 'face' was a tinted purple glass with a green swirl.

It was a custom mask that let him hide his face but didn't obscure his vision much apparently. 

But back to the main point- Sapnap had been a bit busy catching up with Karl, telling him on what he missed and what happened while he was gone. 

Stream Labs was one thing that had grown while Karl had been away doing who knows what.

Karl had no idea on about it but was eager to find out, so he, Sapnap and a few of the others re-watched a couple of the earlier but more interesting VODs with him to let him catch up and fill him in on the details. 

"Huh, it's- it's cool! Yeah, this is all very cool guys, I can see why you guys like it!" Karl had said, enthused but at the same time very thoughtful. It sounded like he was distracted with something, when Sapnap had asked him about it later, Karl waved him off. "It's nothing Sapnap, I just- I did like the stream and I do find it very interesting! I'll spend some time watching the rest in my free time... Okay, you might find it weird but I feel like I've seen the stuff in that stream before. Weird right? I probably did hear about Stream Labs before and just forgot, you know me, always forgetting stuff. Like I said dude, it's fine, it's nothing. Now, let's start the stream and win the game huh?"

Weird but not particularly alarming, still, Sapnap doesn't know why but the words lingered in his head. 

Of course, they were temporarily forgotten in the face of today's current stream.

It had started out calmly enough, Tubbo rattling off the number of the 'Log' and then continuing on to one of his projects. He seemed to be in a productive mood in the stream which led to him making potions as well as starting a new experiment that the viewers had the pleasure of watching first hand as Tubbo enthusiastically set up the camera and rambled something about mixing ingredients, chemicals, liquids and mixtures together for bizarre potions which then escalated to him experimenting further and trying to find the specific reaction that he needed for one of his other projects.

In the beginning it was harmless enough, Tubbo got a brewing stand out (they'd seen it before but this was the first time they were seeing it and potion making process up close) filling the middle tube of the stand with 'Blaze Powder', a very cool and sparkly powder with magically combustive effects that apparently powered the stand, enforcing and heating the potion to Tubbo's use. The stand had three slots where potion bottles could be placed and connected to three separate nozzles that came from the top of the brewing stand, and at the top, right above the middle and main tube, was a small circular bowl that glowed thanks to the Blaze Poweder.

They watched, fascinated as Tubbo crushed a strange red plant called a 'Nether Wart' into the bowl, the nozzles whirring slightly and the stand glowing a bit as the crushed nether wart was turned into clear liquid and inserted into the three potion bottles. Apparently whenever you needed potions, you always needed the strange wart to create them. 

Afterwards, Tubbo had shattered a marble tear-dropped stone into the bowl which turned the potions pink and dazzlingly luminescent. Three 'Potions of Regenerations' were created right before their eyes, it's name a big clue as to what the potions did though how exactly was still a mystery to them.

From there, Tubbo created other potions from using ingredients that both did and did not make sense-

They could understand how fine sugar could be turned into a 'Swiftness Potion' they suppose, but how the hell did a 'Glistering Melon' equate to an 'Instant Health Potion'?

The world building of Stream Labs were certainly meticulous but sometimes it just didn't make sense. 

Things were relatively peaceful in the stream, Tubbo making potions and rambling a bit on about the potions, about Ranboo- there were a few moments when it seemed like he was talking to Tommy to the tube which was nice and a bit sad as Tubbo's enthusiasm would drop a bit but thankfully the teenager would perk right back up and was back at work with the potions. Soon afterwards he got out another brewing stand and started experimenting with potions and adding things he probably shouldn't be adding, not without the proper supervision and equipment. But then again, he was a self proclaimed genius and an apparently confirmed scientist right? He should've been fine...

It was after making a 'Potion of Poison' and experimenting with that that things escalated. 

: BE CAREFUL WITH THAT!! IT'S LITERALLY CALLED A POTION OF POISON!!
: poison pog??? is he gonna kill anyone with that???> why else would you make a poison 
: eewww spider eyes HOW BIG WAS THE SPIDER FOR HIM TO GET THAT EYE?!?!?!
: GET TI AWAY GET IT AWAYYYY
: holy fucking shit that's one big eye

Eyeing (hah) the fist-sized spider eye that was unfortunately too close to the camera, Sapnap had to agree with some of disgusted chat and had shivered at the sight of it and the thought of the spider it would come from. 

Thank god it was just a fake.

It was uncomfortably realistic of course, what with Stream Lab's impossibly high quality special effects but Sapnap comforted himself that the spider the eye came from did not exist.

Nope. Did not exist whatsoever...

So caught up with his own disgust and comfort, Sapnap missed the moment that sparked the chaos. Tubbo had been in the process of mixing more blaze powder, some gun powder, a couple of drops of a regen potion and a few other things into a newly created potion of poison and-

PHWOOM

The camera shook slightly and Tubbo started coughing while the lens were covered when the potion suddenly exploded and turned to gas.

: TUBBO!!!! DDD:
: WHAT HAPPENED??!?
: BRUH THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR MESSING WITH A LITERAL POTION OF POISON
: TUBBO NOOOO
: ASFDHE 

Frantic, the screen was jolting around chaotically, Tubbo had grabbed the camera and booked it out of the room. Escaping into the mysterious hallway that they, the viewers, had never seen. And they still couldn't see it all with the camera jolting around and being aimed at awkward angles before just being pressed into Tubbo's chest.

The stream was definitely a recorded stream, it had to be since the potions had been glowing so unnaturally in a semi-realistic way also it wasn't real. Tubbo was a fictional character being played by an actor, despite the status of 'LIVE' this was a pre-recorded stream. But it all seemed so real that Sapnap had genuinely worried for Tubbo, the way he was coughing, the sudden explosion of the potion, the ragged breaths of the young teenager-

This was all fictional but Sapnap was still worried for Tubbo, which wasn't unusual. Everyone got worried about the people they were watching on tv shows, cartoons, etc. etc. whenever the moment called for it but...

There was just something so different about right now. Sapnap felt like jumping out of his chair and trying to find a way to help Tubbo despite the fact he couldn't.

It was a really good stream and story he had to say.

Sapnap winced as he hears a rather ragged cough come from Tubbo, but is briefly distracted by a ping from Discord.

It was from Dream. Right, he had contacted Dream halfway into the stream for some company- they weren't calling right now though.

dreamwastaken: y i k e s
dreamwastaken: that cough doesn't sound good

Sapnap snorted and quickly typed a reply.

sappitusnappitus: no kidding
sappitusnappitus: but like, he really should've known better than to do all that without like a mask to cover and protect his face

dreamwastaken: fair fair
dreamwastaken: still

Whatever else Dream had to say was interrupted as Tubbo groaned, Sapnap quickly switched back to watch the stream and was surprised to see the camera looking through a glass window into Tubbo's lab room. An ominous dark green smog was permeating the room, visible to them all as it seemed like it had fully taken over Tubbo's lab. "End dammit! No! And the vent button is all the way on the other side by my desk! Maybe if I-" The teenage scientist was interrupted by heavy coughing. It sounded really bad, like Tubbo was about to cough up his lungs.

And then Tubbo coughed up blood.

It wasn't much, but it was still very much alarming.

So alarming that Sapnap was thankful that there was no one else around to hear his surprised squawk at the sight of blood staining Tubbo's hand that was in view of the camera. 

dreamwastaken: YEAH NO DON'T GO BACK INSIDE

: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA NOOOOOO
: that is HANDFUL of blood sir are you okay??!?!?
: NOPENOPEMEOOENFPNOENPEOPENOPE
: TRIGGER WARNING BLOOD PEOPLE TW BLOOD
: is he allowed to show blood on stream???

The concern on whether or not Tubbo or Stream Labs were allowed to show blood was pretty much buried underneath the alarm and concern of the viewers, though it would be found later on that someone had reported the stream to Twitch and gave Stream Labs a warning. Or tried to at least. But this was way later as of right now, Tubbo heaved and sighed.

"Okay, NEW plan. Call George for help about that poison smoke and Bad for medical assistance. I don't have any milk on me right now, a-and with the compounds I mixed in- milk might not be enough..." He mumbled, though the camera was obviously able to catch it. Milk? How would milk help right now, many thought to ask, Sapnap included.

Suddenly the stream changed, the camera view shrunk and was in the corner and Sapnap along with hundreds of other people watch as a new window popped up. It was strange seeing as this only happened whenever Tubbo was at his desk and using his computer.

Instead of Tubbo's desktop being shown, it was instead showing a phone and its phone screen. Though the phone was a bit bigger and thicker compared to a modern touch-screen phone that they used. There was even a weird antennae sticking out of the top. The phone itself seemed to be colored yellow but whatever design it had was currently unseen since it was facing up.

People would recognize this as Tubbo's 'communicator', the handheld communication device he occasionally pulled out.

This was the first time anything like this had happened.

The screen showed a familiar chat client opened, though instead of the 'FRIENDS :D' tab being opened, the tab 'WORK N STUFF' was opened instead.

There were a list of names that were there on one side, all black, bold and capitalized. 

- FUNDY
- GEORGE
- QUACKITY
- BAD
- SAM
- ALYSSA

There were clearly more names but they were all obscured, the list disappeared when Tubbo tapped on the name 'GEORGE'.

The 'comm' rang as in the camera view, they could only see the floor with a few droplets of red on the shiny surface.

"End dammit George, pick up your damn comm!" Tubbo exclaimed, coughing slightly afterwards.

: PICK UP THE PHONE GEORGE!!!
: we gonna hear from another person pog???
: FINALLY NEW PEOPLE!

It took a tense minute for the ringing to stop and for a husky, tired and annoyed voice to come through. "What?"

Sapnap blinked at the voice, frowning as he hears how annoyed the guy on the other side was. 

"GEORGE!" Tubbo shouted, making Sapnap jolt on how loud Tubbo had been- and right in his ears too. Damn headphones.

He rubs both his ears underneath his headphones as he hears 'George' reply with an irritable voice. "Tubbo?! What do you want? Ugh, you didn't have to shout. My ears-" George started complaining only for Tubbo to overtake him, his voice a bit hoarse and urgent.

"Look, George, I was completely and utterly stupid and I need your help detoxifying my lab. My experiments with a potion of poison blew up and now there's a toxic fog hanging around my lab." He coughed, thankfully not as hard as before, "Can you please come over and deal with it? And bring Bad with you? I managed to dodge the initial explosion but I still inhaled some of the fumes so now I'm coughing up some blood."

"... End dammit- fuck, okay. How much blood are you coughing and are you still coughing it? How do you feel? What are your symptoms?" The irritation was still there but there was a clear tone of seriousness that had Sapnap on the edge of his seat. 

"Not a lot, it's not critical at the least- I'm pretty sure I have a massive headache incoming and my throat is starting to hurt. The ground is moving and I'm not but I'm still standing... Hng-" There was a thud sound and suddenly the camera view showed Tubbo leaning against a wall- it was rather awkward as the camera was on it's side but it definitely showed Tubbo with a paling face sitting against the wall with a scowl. "Sitting. I'm sitting now." He corrected himself with a low groan. 

"By The End- sit tight. Stay awake and keep your breathing steady, your room sealed air-tight right?"

"Of course it is-"

"Good, now hang on till Bad and I come."

"Okay."

The window disappeared and the camera view went back to normal as Tubbo dropped the communicator and just sat there.

The wait is tense as Tubbo keeps coughing, heaving and his face is getting paler and paler with droplets of sweat forming on his brow. He went from looking uncomfortable to looking sick in just under five minutes. Thankfully though, he doesn't cough up anymore blood. 

dreamwastaken: jesus the waiting SUCKS 
dreamwastaken: i wish it would just cut to when they arrive!
dreamwastaken: i know they're going for realism here and not cutting out stuff but really! 
dreamwastaken: i don't want to watch tubbo like this, it just doesn't feel right 

Sapnap had to agree, biting on his fingernails and feeling like the wait for 'George' and 'Bad' to arrive was taking forever. Forever wasn't applicable to Tubbo though, he looked like he was getting worse by the minute.

"Tubbo? TUBBO DEAR END!"

An unfamiliar voice exclaimed along with the mass sound of footsteps, multiple, some steps heavier than others, coming towards Tubbo's direction.

"Tubbo oh End oh End oh END-"

"Sam- SAM! Calm down, he's fine- poisoned but he'll be fine!"

Sam? Sam?

There were two unfamiliar voices rang out as the third familiar voice sighed, "He's right Sam. Bad's right here to deal with the poison, don't panic."

Tubbo groaned from where he sat, squinting at the three people that came to stand before him. The camera angle was bad and all everyone could see was someone's legs in a white coat standing by Tubbo's side. "I called for you- and Bad- not Sam." Tubbo panted with a weak glare aimed at someone off camera. A pair of big, black and clawed hands helped Tubbo up while it looked like someone else picked up the camera.

"I- I was with Bad when George came." A masculine voice said softly from behind the camera, "This is your camera right Tubbo?"

The angle was fixed and suddenly they could see a tall... person? He had skin black as the void and eyes white as can be that glowed slightly underneath the red, black and white hood he wore over his head. Horns protruded from the side of his head through the hood, and his mouth was fanged but entirely white like his eyes as he spoke. "Steady now Tubbo, just lean on me and keep yourself awake." The nine foot tall... demon? Eased, gentle and trying to help Tubbo who briefly struggled against his hands- 'Bad's' hands could entirely cover Tubbo's face without trying!

"End's fucking tits Tubbo, just what were you trying to do in there?" George's voice asked and the camera swerved to show him, looking into the glass window of Tubbo's door to his lab before looking back to show his face to the audience.

George almost looked like a normal human- except his ears were pointy, his eyes were heterochromic, one light blue and the other a light brown and his hair was an earthy ground color and atop his head were a pair of white rimmed sunglasses. His skin was pale, almost unnaturally so but the most eye catching to him was the strange red and white had that was definitely shaped like a mushroom that was hanging on his back around his neck right above the white coat that signified that he too, was a scientist perhaps. 

"'Xpirm'nts." Tubbo mumbled with a slight huff, finally giving up and hanging limp into Bad's arms. The demon effortlessly lifted him off his feet, and got a glass bottle filled with white shiny liquid from somewhere and coaxed the teenager into drinking it slowly. 

"Experiments." George repeated in a deadpan before shaking his head. "Should've been more prepared Tubbo, just because you're a genius doesn't mean you can just do shit like this recklessly. What were you thinking?" He scolded lightly, Tubbo was too busy drinking to reply which made him sigh and complain. "With this amount of poison, I won't be able to sleep properly for a while."

"Good, you've been sleeping too much lately anyway." Sam told him, George shot a sour look at whoever was behind the camera and went to open the door. "Wait, here- can you put Tubbo's camera back on his desk?"

George rolled his eyes, slid down his sunglasses and tugged on the weird mushroom hat over his head. "Yeah yeah, give me that."

The camera jostled and in George went, seemingly uncaring that he was entering a poison-filled room without a gasmask over his face.

"Dude, what even-" Sapnap started to say only to cut himself off after George set down the camera and stood a few steps back. The strange man took in a deep breath, impossibly deep, a continuous breath that would've seemed ridiculous to watch and was impossible to do. However as George took in a deep breath, the thick, poisonous air that was floating about seemed to be sucked into George. George was breathing in the poison, inhaling the contaminated air.

And as he did so, the mushroom on his head began to change.

The white spots steadily turned grey and the bright red of the hat turned a shade darker. 

It went on for a few minutes until it looked like the air was completely clean, no sign of poison whatsoever. George had stopped inhaling, letting out a short exhale and shaking his head. "Woah, headrush." The man mumbled, rubbing his face then paused, sliding the hat off his head and the glasses off his face. He looked thoughtful, "Huh, interesting. This poison's not too bad, but the side effects to it are quite nasty... I'll have to talk to Tubbo about this later. Might come in handy in the future." He said aloud before he went towards the door.

"I did it, poison's gone and the lab's clean. Nothing lingering."

"That's good. Tubbo's feeling a lot better thanks to the milk. Bad might give him some extra medicine as well." Sam said as he entered the room, revealing to be...

A green-colored centaur.

He had pale skin- well, it was pale wherever the mossy green coloring and fur(?) stopped. His hands were mostly green along with his unnatural lower half body, later no one would be able to identify what kind of 'horse' or creature that was Sam's lower half. His eyes were white irises with black pupils on a black canvas, atop his head was a golden circlet with a ruby in the middle of his forehead and covering his body seemed to be gold and leather armor.

Three new characters and only one of them were human-looking but in the end was definitely not human.

Just what the hell kind of world setting was Stream Labs in?

Tubbo took in a deep breath, relaxing at the simple non-poisoned air that entered his lungs. 

He was never handle potions without some milk ever again. He'll buy the best medicinal milk on the market- Quackity might harp on him on the price but like hell he was going to ask Bad again for something like this if he could've dealt with it on his own.

"Thank you George, Bad." He thanked with a genuine smile, ignoring the creeper-hybrid that stood at the sidelines. "I owe you two."

"It's no problem, just let me nap here sometimes and we're good." George was quick to wave off, though he looked annoyed. Probably at the fact that despite his words, he probably won't be napping for a while with all that poison in his system. Until it all faded, he'd be full of energy and would probably be doing something productive.

Bad chuckled, "It's no problem Tubbo, remember to tell me if there's anything else wrong or if there's any lingering side effects. As soon as possible." Tubbo nodded, he was tempted to do otherwise but thought against it- having Bad after him for not taking care of his health was a definite nightmare he'd like to avoid. 

They talk for a bit, Tubbo explaining what he was doing and getting scolded by Bad and George for his dumb actions- which was fair but still, it prickled him that he had made such a dumb and obvious mistake. He had to be more careful and mindful next time.

In the corner of his eye, he sees Sam and he ignores him. He ignores him until Sam turns his sights towards Tommy and immediately Tubbo turns to him.

"Well! It was nice to see you all again, but I think it's time for you to leave." He says with false cheer, staring holes into Sam's head as he stared at Tommy's tube.

Sam glanced at him, that same fucking look of remorse and hesitance in his eyes, "Tubbo-"

"I'm a-okay, I know what to do now, I'm not going to fill my room with poison ever again. I promise. And I'll be better prepared-" Tubbo said, walking over to push Sam away from Tommy and towards the door- it should've been possible, what with the pure muscle that was the hybrid himself but the damn bastard just let him push him, which fuels the anger bubbling underneath his cheery facade. "So bye-bye! Goodbye! I'll see you all later, outside of my lab!"

George and Bad leave with no problem, though Bad gives Tubbo a look that Tubbo ignored completely as he struggles to get Sam out of the door.

Sam looks down at him then back up at the tube, at Tommy with a longing look of regret and sorrow. 

Fuck off Samuel.

Tubbo's jaw clenched as Sam looks back down at him, "Is he-"

"Get out."

The tone has Sam straightening, his soft look disappearing and leaving behind nothing but emotionless hardship that Tubbo would hate with a passion but...

It's not the right emotionlessness from before.

It never is, not since-

"TUBBO!" The young brunette yelped as he was shoved out of the way, he could only look on in horror as red splashed over himself, the ground, sword-

"TOMMY!"

Gritting his teeth, he ignored the turbulence of emotions in Sam's eyes despite the emotionless look on his face and shuts the door in his face. He waits until Sam leaves to stumble back from the door and sit down on the floor, hugging his legs and trembling slightly.

It doesn't take long for him to stand back up- he can't show weakness, not yet. Not with the camera recording.

Already, he's regret doing that because Sam would see it. Sam would see him hugging his legs like a child- he wasn't. He was a genius, he was smart, he was strong. 

Also, Tommy wouldn't like seeing him like this in the recordings. When he woke up.

Tubbo took in a deep breath and gave Tommy a small smile, patting the glass, glad that he was alright- the poisonous air wouldn't have affected him, Tommy's oxygen and air was wired differently. Just in case something like this happened, Tubbo was glad he thought of that. He would've been so much more worried had he not.

Unknown to him, hundreds of people in another world speculated on his relationship with his best friend and the hybrid man that broke their trust.

Had he known that the recordings were being broadcasted live in another world...

"Computer, end log recording."

Chapter Text

Stream Labs was certainly blowing up recently, Puffy thought to herself as she scrolled through Twitter. #SLL or Stream Lab LIVE was right there in the top tags list, steadily climbing to number one in the US, which was nice as it is but the reason why had certainly surprised her.

Stream Labs was a mix of sci-fi and fantasy, a good mix at that but it mostly focused on sci-fi since Tubbo was a scientist. A teenage scientist at that, apparently a genius or so he proclaims on his streams but the point was, the main storyline of Stream Labs was that it was science fiction.

But the science fiction in Stream Labs did have roots in science fact, because apparently the techno and smart babble that Tubbo did in almost every stream was plausible. 

Multiple people had come up saying that Tubbo's logic was actually pretty solid, a fan whose father was a nuclear physicist had tweeted out that Tubbo's ramblings were on point after they had sent him a video they compiled of Tubbo talking about nuclear physics from the stream. Both Including the theoretical stuff that Tubbo had said on stream, they proved it with screenshots of their conversation in chat and even a short recorded phone call of how his father was raving and talking about the theoretical points Tubbo had brought up.

The people who created Stream Labs knew their stuff and Tubbo, whoever acted him anyway, did a great job in talking about it. No one knew whether or not it was all scripted or if by chance the actor legitimately studied nuclear physics and all the other sciences Tubbo talked about.

However the current blow up for Stream Labs Live's popularity was coming from the robotics engineering side of science.

So there were a couple of streams that involved Tubbo building and messing around with a robotic arm, a prosthetic robotic arm. 

During those streams, it always showed the blueprints of the arm in that strange blueprint program. 

Basically a couple of engineering students along with their teacher recreated the arm using the blueprint. Not exactly the same because there was still a language barrier when it came to Tubbo's notes and writing (there were translations but they were rough and not totally reliable as people were slowly but surely translating the strange otherworldly language that Stream Labs had created for their show) but the blueprint had been incredibly detailed and what they couldn't understand or hadn't seen in the blueprint, they tried to make up for the best they could. 

It resulted in an unexpected but still overwhelming success.

The arm they created wasn't as fluid as Tubbo's arm on the stream and there were still some kinks to it that the engineering students were going to work on but it worked.

It was a legitimate prosthetic arm that came from the untranslated blueprints of a streaming show on Twitch. It wasn't perfect, but it worked better than most robotic prosthetics out there. There was debate whether or not the arm could actually be as fluid as in the stream if they had the whole and fully translated blueprint. The debate exposed Stream Labs Live to more scientific minds of engineers, physicists, mathematicians, actual scientists- you name it.

There were now videos on YouTube that were attempting to either debunk or prove or even just discuss the science within Stream Labs. At least, the more 'realistic' science anyway since there was a mix of fantasy and fiction to it but even then, there were videos discussing about that too.

Stream Labs had grown exponentially since it started and now there were thousands of followers and fans of it, more and more people were being pulled into the series or ARG or whatever classified Stream Labs because of it.

It wasn't only that either, the lore that was slowly being dissected and revealed was pulling in curious fans and the world building was phenomenal. 

The world that Stream Labs was set in seemed so fleshed out as it mentioned or referenced various things- it seemed so realistic. 

Or as realistic as one could get in a world with shadow demons, centaur people, whatever Ranboo was and such.

Of course there were those who disliked the show for various reasons, but still, they were still giving it attention and bringing it attention which just pulled more people in and got more people into watching Stream Labs or getting involved with the lore, information and such.

It amazed Puffy since she and her friends had been in the fandom since the beginning and it's only been, what, nearly half a year since Stream Labs started streaming? Just a couple of months ago, Wilbur and the others had been pulled into it and were just as invested as she was and found it so very interesting.

The quality of the streams never changed, it was all well done and Puffy wanted nothing more than to shower the creators in praise for it.

Which was another reason for Stream Labs' infamy.

The fact that even though it was growing so much, the fandom, the interest, the plot- the creators were still anonymous. 

The single confirmed twitter account, StreamLabsLIVE @SLL, never answered a single tweet, DM or even email. No matter what, all it did was send out tweets of alerts to streams. Nothing else, nothing more, just that.

It was frustrating to the fans, and she sympathized because she was frustrated as well but ultimately she was intrigued by the mystery and anonymity that the creators and actors of Stream Labs. It was like they didn't exist at all!

Which wasn't possible. Someone had to have created the account, someone had to create the story, someone had to get actors for Tubbo, Ranboo and the other's role in Stream Labs, they had to be filming somewhere and someone had to be doing the effects right?

Also another point interest, the effects were driving filming fans crazy with how well they were done and how realistic they were, magic and all. Another reason why people were so interested in Stream Labs and stayed for it, the quality of every stream stayed consistent. There were no glitches, no mess ups, no noticeable mistakes- it was all perfect which was absolutely insane especially since each stream was over an hour long, maxing into either two or three hours! Granted, not every stream needed those special effects but still, it was so very impressive that a lot of people were kind of worried for the editors, animators, actors and special effects team of Stream Labs. Were they getting enough sleep? Food? Payment? They were doing a lot for Stream Labs, and though there were donations, they just hoped it was enough for them. Hell, whatever they were getting paid, a lot of people were hoping they were getting double- no, triple the amount they were getting paid because clearly, they were going big and not going home.

Puffy even read the tweet of a few directors from multiple medias attempting to contact Stream Labs to find out about the people who did the effects, animation, the editing, the actors, etc.

It was crazy.

But not even being contacted by famous directors or celebrities did anything in trying to get the people behind Stream Labs to reveal themselves.

Oh there were some people trying to take credit, trying to lie on the fact they were in fact the creators, actors, editors, etc. etc. of Stream Labs but it didn't take long to expose their lies and deceit. They lacked the proof, they lacked the evidence, they were just trying to ride the coattails of Stream Labs' growing fame.

Aside from it's multiple feats, Puffy had to admit, she kind of admired their tenacity and stubbornness in staying anonymous.

Still, she hoped they would drop their anonymity in the near future. She would absolutely love to hear from the actors as well as see what happens behind the scenes.

The streamer perked as she got a notification, it was from Stream Labs' twitter!

StreamLabsLIVE @SLL
There will be a stream today.
It will begin soon.

Puffy had to blink at the tweet.

That was four more words than usual, the account usually just tweeted out 'There will be a stream today.' and nothing else but this? This was unusual for them.

Excitement built up as Puffy immediately went towards Twitch to watch the new stream, thankful at the fact that she had finished streaming herself just a few hours ago and didn't have anything to do for the next few hours. That meant she could watch it live and see what was going on! There had to be something happening today to justify the four more words in the alert. 

She got a few messages from the group chat about the stream, she snickered as she sees the fact that Dream, Techno and Karl were still live and would probably have to miss most of the stream.

Hopefully Karl would be able to catch this one, he has been busy and soon enough would have to leave for hiatus again because of personal life but at least he would finally reveal his face to her and the others. Puffy kinda wishes that Karl was a bit more open about his personal life but, she respected his decision of being so private, it was his life after all. Besides, the fact he was showing his face to them was already proving the fact they were close friends and that Karl trusted them.

Shaking her head, Puffy absentmindedly tied up her long, white hair- unlike Techno, she liked having dyed hair. She might dye it again later on after it completely faded. Once her hair was tied, she eagerly awaited the start of the stream.

It didn't take long and 'Log 30' was underway!

It was a normal stream for only thirty minutes or so.

Tubbo just seemed to be vibing in front of his desk, chatting with Ranboo online.

Ranboo was currently on break from his education apparently, given free time from his tutors which he was using to talk with Tubbo even though he should be studying for some tests he was about to take. Tubbo heckled, teased and mocked Ranboo for talking with him despite that, bragging on how he didn't have to study for tests anymore since he took the direct route of becoming a scientist after passing the tests and proving himself.

👑Ranboo👑
Hey, if it wasn't for me it would've taken SO MUCH longer to become a scientist >:T

🐝Tubbo🐝
yeahhh but i bet i still couldve don e it faster than usuel
usual*

That hinted something for both their pasts, Ranboo had endorsed and supported Tubbo into becoming a scientist. It gave them something to think about, particularly how and why Tubbo became a scientist and just how Tubbo was friends with a prince of a kingdom. Just what kind of kingdom had teenage scientists around?

The topic moved on to what the either of them were going to do once Tubbo was done with work (though he wasn't doing anything right now) and Ranboo with his tests. Tubbo proposed in playing a game or two while Ranboo counter-proposed with a movie. It sparked a question on what type of movies and games, general entertainment, were in Stream Labs' fictional world. Would it be parodies of pre-existing games? An unheard of movie? The world seemed modern enough, they had computers and communicators though Tubbo only seemed to use it for work instead of games and such.

It was interesting to think of.

But before either of them could even decide on what to do, on stream the ground started to shake.

"What? What's goin- is it an earthquake?" Puffy gasped as she watched the camera begin to rapidly move, the surroundings around Tubbo jolting about and Tubbo himself gasping and holding on to his chair and desk with wide eyes as the area around him shook. 

"What th-"

Tubbo let out a surprised cry as the shaking got worse, a few items on his desk like his pencil and an empty cup flew off alongside his keyboard, the stream was so shaky and the sound was so clear, Puffy felt she was experiencing the earthquake. But no, the floor beneath her was still and yet her heart still pumped as she worriedly watched Tubbo get off his chair and holding on to the desk- the camera was staying in place though, even if everything was shaking.

Her eyes briefly glanced at chat who were freaking out.

: EARTHQUAKE!!!
: WHAT'S HAPPENING?!
: TUBBOOOO
: THE TUBE THE TUBE THE TUBE
: WHAT THE FUCK 
: TUBE TOMMY LOOK!!!!
: oh no
: woah what's going on??
: EARTHQUAKE???

The chat was soon filled with people pointing out something in the stream- Tommy's Tube.

The gigantic container that apparently housed Tubbo's best friend, for reasons that they could only theorize and guess. In previous streams, it usually just stayed there, a background piece but occasionally during random times of the stream, somethi-someone inside it would glow. That someone, was Tommy apparently though they didn't know why or how.

The glow Tommy usually gave off was only bright enough to give him a silhouette through the thick and dark-stained glass of the tube.

But right now?

it was the brightest they'd ever seen him.

With the camera shaking though, it still wasn't that clear to see the silhouette Tommy gave aside from the fact he was tall and that there were... tendrils? all around him? 

Whatever it was, they would soon find out as Puffy watched with wide eyes and a gaping mouth as the tube's glass begin to crack.

Crk

: oh damn really IS something happening now
: BIG GLOW 
: TUBBO BEHIND YOU!!!
: t o m m y t u b e
: HOLY CRAP IT LOOKS LIKE ITS GONNA BLOW!

Tubbo obviously heard the crack, his head popping up into view, but for some reason, the audio suddenly started to go bad. Static began to interfere with it, breaking Tubbo's concerned shout, "What the- oh dear, oh no- OH SHIT!" Tubbo cried out, ducking for cover when the glass from the tube suddenly exploded outwards.

Puffy would be embarrassed to say that she did scream at the explosion, a sudden jumpscare that made her heart jump to her throat as she watched the stream, chat going crazy as the violent shaking got even more intense after the sudden explosion. The stream started to look kind of scuffed, there were glitches around the screen, Tubbo's computer desktop had a bunch of 'ERROR' windows popping up, a few 'EMERGENCY' windows as well.

But soon enough, the shaking subsided. The camera angle was a bit askew, there were still glitches happening around the screen and the audio was still a bit static-filled and scuffed but they could see it. 

They could see Tommy.

Not properly since the camera was afar, but the tube had been broken and it revealed the mysterious 'Tommy' that's been inside it from the very beginning. 

Green-tinted water was spilling out of the tube as a figure slumped against the glass. All they could see so far was a head of mostly bright blond hair but later on, they'd notice the white streaks that Tommy sported. His hair was wet and messy and long, they couldn't see the end of it- though the long hair explained the tendrils and the way it moved from time to time when it was silhouetted from the glow in past streams.

Tommy was covered in a dull blue sheet, kind of like a hospital gown which thankfully covered his privates even though his hair could've probably covered it as well. There were two most eye-catching things about him though.

There were large tubes and wires connected to Tommy that came from the giant tube that used to contain him, supposedly a life support. But what really shocked them all, were the two wires that were connected to Tommy's arm stumps.

Arm stumps.

Tommy didn't have arms.

That explained the prosthetic arms that Tubbo's been building but the sight of it still shocked them, even with the glitching screen, the sight and sound of Tubbo screaming and running towards Tommy. Disconnecting him from the wires and tubes. 

The fact Tommy didn't have arms were loud and clear as Tubbo struggled to get Tommy completely out of the tube unharmed form the broken glass, it was hard trying to grab the unconscious blond since he didn't have any arms to support and leverage Tommy- and though Tubbo was a genius. He was still a teenager, and it didn't seem like he knew how to properly hold on to Tommy who was apparently taller than him.

Puffy had her hands covering her mouth the entire time as she watched the glitching stream.

"Oh-- an-- the End. To--- missed--- o much----"

There was something heartbreaking, watching Tubbo hug Tommy to his chest- viewers would try to fix the image and make it clearer and they would see Tubbo crying with a look of relief on his face.

Suddenly, the door to Tubbo's room opened and in came rushing George and a man with orange hair?

No wait, it wasn't just orange hair. The man had an orange and black fox mask covering his upper face, fox ears were perched on his head and a long fox tail moved behind him.

Who was he?

"TU--O! T---mm-? Wh-" 

It was practically impossible to hear what they were saying as George and the orange-haired fox-man came to Tubbo and Tommy's side.

"----undy------el--me-"

Listening back to the stream and cleaning up the static, they'd be able to hear Tubbo call the fox man 'Fundy', the sudden reveal wouldn't be as big as Tommy's reveal but it was still a big deal. 

'Fundy' nodded and took Tommy from Tubbo's arms and rushed out of the room, George and Tubbo were left behind a bit. It looked like they were talking with each other, both looking urgent, George pointed at the computer and camera and Tubbo immediately turned and came back to the desk, grabbing his keyboard which had fallen off previously.

But just as he put his keyboard back down, the ground shook once more.

It shook violently, enough to knock both George and Tubbo down. The camera was no different as it finally fell from where it was fixed to.

With a screechy, staticky scream, the screen went black.

Stream Labs was no longer Live.

Tommy was out of the tube.

Tommy was out of the tube.

He was fine, healthy- well, kind of malnourished, needed to gain some weight, he was armless and in desperate need of a lot of things but he was alive and had the potential of being very healthy.

Tubbo sat by the bed Tommy was laying in, the infirmary quiet as can be as he sat there, watching Tommy sleep. Watching the way his chest moved up and down, straining his ears to hear Tommy inhaling and exhaling quietly. He reached over with his good arm and carefully lay one hand on Tommy's shoulder, his left one- the right had been stabbed with some glass after the last quake had knocked him on his feet but he was fine.

What mattered most right now was that Tommy was alive and he was going to be okay.

He didn't need the tube to support him anymore.

Tubbo wished that one of Tommy's arms was still there, desperate to thread his fingers with his best friend's, to hold his hand. It would be an act of comfort and support, for the both of them and it's been so long since he's even seen Tommy so clearly let alone touch him.

His best friend looked fragile while he was asleep, too thin even though Tubbo did his best to provide Tommy with more than enough nutrients but he still needed to physically eat something to gain the weight he needed. Bad said he needed to start slowly, with liquids like soup and maybe some soft foods. Mellow at first then occasionally something rich, some protein and Tubbo had to ask Bad about the physical therapy Tommy would need along with the potions and medication- By the End, Tubbo had so much to do to help Tommy.

But he'd do it.

For Tommy.

"Don't worry big man, I got you." Tubbo promised quietly, ignoring the slight pain in his right arm as he slumped over the side of Tommy's bed, laying his head on his good arm and closed his eyes. 

He was so glad that the ritual had worked, and that he'd managed to become a scientist just in time to get Tommy into the tube. Even though, he would soon have to face his own consequences, but Tommy was alive again.

That was all that mattered.

He opened his eyes, glancing at Tommy, eyes fixated on the symbol on Tommy's forehead. The same symbol that Tubbo had carved into his arm, all those years ago.

Maybe he should've chosen another symbol... No use thinking about it though.

What's done was done and Tommy was going to be okay.

Chapter Text

"Dude, it's clear that whatever happened to Tommy- SAM was there with them!"

"Yeah? And? Just because he was doesn't mean that he KILLED TOMMY! I can understand that maybe he's done something bad and wrong and Tubbo hates him for that but Tommy is alive and Tubbo still sends Sam his logs and stuff!"

"I mean, there is magic in there. Maybe Tommy got revived?"

"Phil come on! Don't tell me you're on the Killer Sam bandwagon!" Ponk whined through the speakers, making Wilbur snort as he chewed on his sandwich. "I thought you liked Sam!"

Phil laughed at the pouting Ponk. "Mate, I do like him- his character design's fucking awesome. And I'm not really on the 'bandwagon', I'm just contributing to the theory. Magic's a thing in the story man, you never know." 

"Yeah Ponk!" Dream chimed in, grinning widely at his friend, "You never know. Besides, you just don't want the guy you're simping for to be a guy that killed a kid." He joked, making Ponk dramatically gasp.

"Me? A simp? HAH! Says the guy who's simping after a mushroom boy!" 

The whole call laughed as Dream briefly spluttered, "Why I ought'a-" Ponk was suddenly out the call and Wilbur nearly choked on his sandwich.

"Did you seriously just kick Ponk out of the group? Dream!" Wilbur laughed after swallowing, shaking his head he watched as Dream grumbled but reluctantly let Ponk back into the group and group call.

Ponk pretended to be offended by the kick but it was all in good fun.

It's been almost a week since the last Stream Labs stream, one of the most important streams as far as they could tell.

The boy, Tommy, was finally out of the tube and things were clearly going to pick up from there whenever the stream would start again. A few people were calling it a 'Season Finale', what with the sudden escalation of Tommy being outside of the tube.

There was still no word from the creators, Twitter had crashed in the ensuing tweets that came after the official Stream Labs account. 

Even after the big reveal, there was still nothing coming from its cast, the team, people were going crazy.

"It's really weird that they haven't said ANYTHING at all this whole time." Skeppy commented during their call, "I don't think I could've lasted that long without saying SOMETHING- not even a spoiler or a hint, but like, just something? I swear, they've got patience and lips of locked steel. Got it all tightly zipped up and everything."

Wilbur had to agree. Thinking of how long Stream Labs have been streaming, how their fans were so hyped about them and yet they've done nothing about it aside from accepting donations, alerting for streams and that was it. For an ARG, it wasn't really letting the audience participate in its events- the fans have just been doing things on their own, trying to translate the language that Tubbo used for his notes and blueprints (Wilbur's heard that there were legitimate cryptologists and linguists trying to decipher the apparently very fleshed out and complicated language), creating fanart, fanfics and animatics, and more.

Hell, engineering fans were trying to recreate Tubbo's projects. The most scientific and possible ones at any rate, obviously they couldn't really try to copy the fantasy projects without replacing it with more realistic means. Wilbur's heard about the prosthetic arm, who hasn't?

Stream Labs was a widely growing phenomenon that was definitely creating waves just be existing.

And yet nobody could find or contact the people involved.

The actual people anyway.

"Jesus, the amount of people trying to claim over it is really skyrocketing huh?" Shame that none of it ever stuck since they couldn't provide legitimate proof. Those that tried were quickly found to frauds and liars.

Plus, there were people who were trying to market over the 'merch' and claiming to be 'official' were getting flack because they weren't actually working with the creators or the people from Stream Labs. 

Wilbur could get people trying to gain money from creating fan works and selling it, tons of people in fandoms did it, making stickers, plushies, etc. but trying to claim that they were officially working with Stream Labs? That's just outright lying and trying to gain clout and more money. At least some of the people who were making Stream Labs merch claimed they weren't working with Stream Labs and were genuinely trying to get out some fan stuff while gaining some money, at least they were truthful about their intents.

Stream Labs was gaining a new kind of infamy, being impossible to contact despite everyone's efforts.

And there was a new kind of hate among the fandom, about people lying of contacting or being in contact with the creators.

It was actually getting a bit toxic, but Wilbur understood why. 

He just hoped that it'd die down, at the very least he was going to stay away from that.

In the upside though, there were lots of cool things being created in light of the new stream. Fanart of Tommy (people were still debating on his appearance since it was kind of hard to see what he looked like actually from the glitchy and scuffed stream), theories of what happened, videos of what happened and hey, there were new memes being created about everything that was going on.

Just earlier, Wilbur and the others laughed at them, the last meme that had been sent was of Jim Halpert smiling through the blinds with the caption of 'THE CREATORS OF STREAM LABS WATCHING THE FANDOM FREAK OUT'. 

That was good.

Also the Drake Meme of 'THE CAST, TEAM AND CREATORS OF STREAM LABS INTERACTING WITH FANS' being rejected by Drake while 'THEY ALL STAY ANONYMOUS AND WATCH US SUFFER' was being accepted? Very good.

But as a creator who's worked with a few writers, animators, editors and stuff? Wilbur found the SpongeBob meme of brain chaos and everything on fire, captioned with 'EDITORS, ANIMATORS, WRITERS, PROP AND CHARACTER DESIGNERS ETC. WORKING TO MAKE SURE EVERY STREAM IS ABSOLUTELY PERFECT', absolutely amazing. 

There was always an upside, somewhere and somehow.

At any rate though, things were certainly changing.

However, just how much and what was changing... No one knew about.

No one except maybe...

...

"Oh hey Kar-KARL HOLY SHIT!" Wilbur jumped in his seat by Sapnap's sudden shout. He wasn't the only one.

Quickly he looked through the screens and was stunned to see Karl. Actually see Karl, as in his camera was on- now that wasn't really a surprised. He's had his camera on before, but this time? The mask was off.

The ridiculous square head thing that Karl usually wore whenever he turned on his camera was gone, and all they could see, was Karl's face. 

Assuming that it was Karl.

The man in the screen smiled awkwardly, looking tired and a bit pale but he giggled and waved at the camera. "Hey guys!" 

Oh that was Karl, no mistaking that laughter and voice anywhere.

"Karl! Hey! You- wow, you're not wearing your square headpiece!" Wilbur exclaimed, amazed by Karl's abrupt appearance and the sudden revelation of his looks.

He had fluffy and short brown hair, brown eyes- he was cute and Wilbur eyed the way Sapnap was looking. Wide-eyed and mouth ajar, blush on his cheeks.

The musician smirked at the look, though he stopped and instead felt a bit of pity since they all knew that Karl had a boyfriend. They didn't know his name or what he looked like, but Karl's talked about him quite a lot and it was clear that Karl was really into him and cared for him.

"You alright there mate? You look tired, you okay?" Phil's question brought both him and Sapnap back to reality as they heard the question amongst the congratulations and compliments towards Karl. 

Karl sighed but nodded, "Yeah Phil, I'm- I'm alright. Just haven't been sleeping that well over the few days. Had some uh, some important news, coming from my boyfriend. A friend of ours, well, his friend? He got into a workplace accident and a lot of stuff is happening on his end. He's worried, and I'm worried and well, I think I might have to leave sooner than planned?" 

"What?! Dude- you can't just-" Sapnap started but cut himself off, clearly upset but he shook his head and took in a deep breath. "Sorry, sorry- I hope your uh, your boyfriend's friend is doing okay... When are you leaving?"

Karl look apologetic, scratching his cheek. "I don't know yet, hell, I don't really know if I HAVE to leave yet- he says I don't have to but I'm worried about him." His face darkened and Wilbur was surprised to see an angry scowl on his face, "And I don't trust his ex-husband."

"Ex-husband?" Dream repeated with a stunned look on his face. Karl had said that they were the same age, so hearing that he's married, was married was surprising.

"They were in an arranged marriage of sorts? It was from their parents but his ex was an alcoholic piece of shit that hurt my boyfriend when they were together. He couldn't take it and divorced him thanks to the advice of the friend who got into an accident." Wilbur made a face, who did arranged marriages now a days? 

Well, probably some people but hearing it from one of his friends was definitely weird. In any case though, he was glad that Karl's boyfriend had gotten divorced to whatever piece of shit that he'd been forced to marry before. Sapnap was biting his lip, looking a bit regretful and guilty.

The once-faceless streamer shook his head, clearing his thoughts and looked less angry. "Anyway, Sch-the asshole works for the same people my boyfriend's friend works for, kind of? They work in the same building and for the same guy but they don't interact unless they absolutely have to. Which they will have to since he had an accident, it's bad enough like that but my boyfriend is his finance manager, he takes care of the finances and the insurance and stuff so he's going to have to talk with the asshole ex who says he's gotten better but I don't trust that." Yikes, well that was one valid reason to leave early he supposes.

"So yeah, I'll be leaving a bit earlier than planned. BUT I should come back just as early maybe? I just- I don't know..." Karl sighed, looking away with an uncomfortable and somewhat guilty look on his face.

There was a moment of silence in the call before Karl coughed, "Though I'm pretty sure I can fit one more stream before I go, so what should we do next stream?"

Immediately, they started planning for Karl's next stream, what game they should play or what they should do- Karl would do a face cam stream but with the mask on since he wasn't ready to make his face public.

Sapnap had seemed a bit less energetic at the start but quickly got back into the swing of things, though when Dream and Sapnap left the call soon after Karl did, well, they didn't comment on it.

StreamLabsLIVE @SLL
There will be a stream today.

Just like that, it seemed like Stream Labs was back to schedule, nothing changed...

Except...

"Video Diary #1 ?" Wilbur murmured, reading the title. It wasn't Log 31, but Video Diary #1. That was different.

: NEW FORMAT POG?
: SEASON 2 BABYYY
: is it a season 2? is season 2 video diary now???
: PLEASE FUCKING TLAK TO US PLEBS PLSSS
: oh honk
: TUBBO??

The stream started out the same despite the different title, the same logo of a digital bee bobbing up and down on a meadow background. Wilbur heard the clicks and clacks of a keyboard being typed on as the password bar was filled, but it was noticeable slower and then the screen went dark. Wilbur watched it along with the chat. Feeling a bit apprehensive after the last stream. Just what was going to happen next?

It...

Wasn't the background of Tubbo's desktop computer. At least, not the one they were used to.

Instead of a desktop that showed a beautiful looking fantasy forest, filled with large trees, giant mushrooms and a magnificent setting sun. Instead, the desktop showed a picture of what looked to be a very old photo, it had creases and looked to have been folded and somewhat torn but it showed the slightly faded picture of two boys standing underneath a glowing bright blue mushroom. One boy was shorter than the other, he had brown hair and looked very familiar. It was Tubbo. 

The other boy was also familiar, but he was younger, had short hair and seemed to be completely blond and had two arms, one arm in the air and the other around Tubbo's shoulder. It was Tommy.

They both looked happy and young, very young. 

There were other files strewn about, a few icons they couldn't recognize, a few icons they did recognize.

They watched the bee-themed cursor move towards the camera and click it open, hitting record and-

There he was.

Tubbo.

Only he wasn't wearing his lab coat, nor was he in his laboratory. 

Tubbo looked tired, there were bags underneath his eyes and and his hair was entirely disheveled, like it hadn't been combed in a while. He wore a long sleeved green shirt, though one sleeve had been rolled up a bit to show the bandages that were wrapped around his right hand. 

Behind him was a homely looking room, it was certainly smaller than his lab but they weren't sure, it was hard to say exactly since they've never seen the room before. There was an unmade bed directly behind him and the walls were a soft, yellow color with a gear-like pattern all over in a darker shade of yellow. There was a window, but with the camera as it was, they couldn't see what was out the window.

Wilbur's heart dropped at the sight of the disheveled, tired and obviously stressed looking Tubbo, but his eyes... They were determined even if they were exhausted. 

There was a moment of silence before Tubbo sighed, rubbing his face and running a hand through his hair, grimacing as his fingers interacted with a knot. "Damn, maybe I should've showered or something before this..." He shrugged and sat back against his chair, "Too late now. I'm not moving from this chair for now."

Tubbo stared at the camera for a few minutes before sighing again, "I don't... Okay, let's do this like usual I guess? Dr. Toby U. Score repor- well, just here recording I guess. This isn't a Log Recording like I usually do, I've been given a medical leave for a while so I don't have to do this and I'm not even in my lab since the quake broke quite a few things. The whole building was in disarray- lots of labs got destroyed because the quake interrupted a few important experiments that blew them up and caused more damages." He took in a deep breath. "I don't actually don't know why I'm doing this. Boredom maybe? Maybe I got used to recording a few hours from time to time? I've come to realize that it's... not that bad. So I guess I'll be doing this in the meanwhile." 

"What do I even call this thought? Can't keep calling it 'Log Recording' that's for when, or whenever I get back to my lab and start it again... Eh, I'll just call it a Video Diary and get it over with." Tubbo clapped, smiling slightly at the camera, "Video Diary Number One is underway!" 

Well that explained both a lot and not enough at the same time.

"Now... where do I even begin... Okay... Tommy. By End's Void, Tommy." The way Tubbo spoke that name, it was with so much emotion and his face was with so much conviction, awe and relief- the smile he had was practically blinding. "He's alive, he's doing okay- ish. He's malnourished, the vitamins and nutrients I gave him directly did enough but with him suspended in the vitalized solution and under a coma for three, four years? His muscles have definitely atrophied, but not to the extent they could have. Fundy and Bad sent me the information for him, and advice on what plans I could implement for his recovery." He said, clicking on his emails and quickly opening them to show off medical information. And a picture of a thin, gaunt teenage boy with long messy, dull blond and white hair, sleeping in a hospital bed. 

"With how he is, he won't be able to use the prosthetics I made for him. He needs more muscle, more fat, weight- and he needs to be awake. Bad's estimating he might wake up over the next couple of weeks, he's not entirely out of the coma but he's healthy enough that he doesn't need anymore vitalized solution or be in the tube. I'll have Bad send me more information on what I can do for his dietary needs and anything else. OH! I should make him a wheelchair, he's going to fucking hate it but he needs it anyway." Tubbo babbled, smiling brightly as he opened the blueprint program he had in his lab computer.

For the next half hour, Tubbo muttered to himself as he designed a wheelchair entirely from scratch just for Tommy. But halfway through, Tubbo's eyes started to water and he started sniffling.

: noooo tubboooo
: NONO DONT CRY TUBBO! DON'T :(:(:(
: dude that is one sicked out wheelchair wtf
: awww :(

Wilbur grimaced as Tubbo furiously rubbed at his eyes, muttering loudly to himself. "Stop it stop it stop it- you've cried enough you big baby! You- you... You're such a crybaby Toby." He whispered, biting his lip. "He'd definitely say that. Crybaby Tubbo, big ass crybaby... then he'd start crying too because he's a crybaby. Hypocritical bastard." He let out a wet laugh, wiping his nose on his left arm's sleeve and wiping the tears from his eyes. 

"He's fine, he's alive- Tommy's alive and fine, he's going to be fine. So stop crying. It's gonna- gonna be okay." Tubbo muttered to himself.

He minimized most of his windows, supposedly to look at the picture that was his desktop. The cursor landing right on young Tommy who smiled with an open mouth in the photo, filled with life and youth. It contrasted the teenager in the other photo, eyes and mouth closed, looking like he could die if anything went wrong. "End's Void, I missed you big fucking bastard. You've wasted a lot of my time y'know? Staying in a coma, I could've left you. Could've moved on with my life- but nooo, you were too important for me to let go." Tubbo mocked, a sardonic smirk on his face, his eyes shining and wet.

Tubbo's face disappeared as he leaned forward with his head bowed, many would theorize, draw or even write this moment of how Tubbo was pressing his forehead against the screen. And they were right about that. Though his face had disappeared, his voice, low, raw and filled with emotion, could still be heard, 

"You were my only family in that orphanage Tommy, in the Archives, my one and only best friend and companion. Like hell I'd let go you dumb shit. You and me against the world remember?"

"You and me, against the world."

Wilbur blinked incredulously as he felt something wet land on his hand on his desk, he realized with some embarrassment and shock that he'd teared up and had been silently crying from the raw emotions Tubbo had whispered into his ears. 

God, it felt wrong listening in on the moment. It had been so uncomfortably personal, and the emotions so fucking raw and real...

...

No, it wasn't real.

It couldn't be.

It couldn't possibly real, because if it was...

The stream ended a little bit after that. 

It was one of the shortest streams in Stream Labs, but few people complained about it once they watched the whole thing.

"Hey Tubbo, you look like shit." Quackity commented, a soft smile on his face as he took in the haggard look Tubbo was sporting. 

Tubbo huffed, smiling slightly at him, "I feel like it too. C'mon in Big Q." He said, motioning the duck hybrid inside. 

They both went towards Tubbo's living room and kitchen area of his apartment, Tubbo dragged himself over to the couch, collapsing unto the furniture as Quackity immediately went into the kitchen. 

Tubbo closed his eyes. He wouldn't fall asleep, he hasn't slept well the days, not since Tommy was admitted into Bad's care. He was too worried to actually sleep a full night's rest, not to mention he'd been cooped up in his apartment for the last couple of days which didn't help. Bad had kicked him out of his infirmary and Tubbo wasn't allowed to go back just yet, so all Tubbo could do was wait in his apartment and get updates from Bad and Fundy. He tried to distract himself multiple times in various ways, just earlier on he made a video diary and kind of started on Tommy's future wheelchair...

Even then, it didn't seem to be enough to calm him.

He's waited three- four years for Tommy. Now that he was out of the tube, out of the vitalized solution that had kept him safe and alive- Tubbo was worried.

"Move your ass Toby, let me sit down." 

Which was exactly why Quackity was there.

The scientist groaned but sluggishly made room for Quackity to sit his fat fucking ass on Tubbo's couch, which he kinda said aloud much to his dismay. "Why thank you very much Tubbo, my ass is fat, kinda weird of you to notice there." Tubbo groaned even louder at the smug words and reached over to smack Quackity. "'Ey! Careful! I've got a big bowl of ice cream here." 

"Ice cream." Tubbo mumbled, finally opening his eyes to look over to Quackity. "Gimme-" He reached over but Quackity leaned away, going as far as to even use one of his wings to keep Tubbo away. 

"Ah-ah-ah! No ice cream for you until you eat that soup!" Quackity exclaimed, pointing to the bowl of hot soup on the table. 

Tubbo let out a loud whine, "Noooo, I wan' ice creaaam..."

"Eaaat the soouuuup."

Tubbo stared balefully at Quackity who deadpanned at him.

An hour and a half later, three empty bowls were placed in the sink and Quackity had a bundled up teenage genius by his side on the couch. "-arl's coming back. I told him he didn't have to but he insisted." The duck hybrid said quietly, combing Tubbo's hair, careful with the knots, "By End's Ass Tubbo, you need a bath. After some sleep, but a bath is something you should do after you wake up." 

Tubbo hummed noncommittally, eyes drifted shut and breathing peaceful.

Quackity smiled to himself, patting Tubbo's head.

"It's all going to be alright Tubbo, Tomas is a strong son of a bitch. Kid's gonna bounce right back up." He whispered to both the sleeping teenager and to himself. Closing his eyes and letting himself remember the old times when they were all younger.

Tommy would wake up soon and hopefully things would be better.

At least Karl was coming back for him, he didn't have to, but he was.

With a smile at the thought of his boyfriend, and hopeful future fiancé, Quackity let himself be Tubbo's pillow and continued watching the movie on screen in front of him. Having high hopes for the future.

Chapter Text

As the first one to find Stream Labs from it's near beginning? Dream had to say, he never really expected the kind of growth, fame and more that came with Stream Labs.

Sure, when he first saw the stream, he had found it profoundly interesting. 

There was just something about the stream and the story that compelled people to come back and watch it and the vods that came previously. 

That along with it's other numerous reasons, the effects, the slow-building storyline, the authentic and semi-realitistic world building, the acting, editing- just everything about it drew people in and kept them intrigued.

It was definitely an ARG that Dream had never seen before. Hell, was it even an ARG? He can't remember who spread the fact that it was an ARG in the first place, it just caught on and was widely accepted as such. Dream was fairly certain that if he tried to search back, there wouldn't be any official declaration about it being such a thing.

Someone just said it was an Alternate Reality Game and everyone went along with it, grabbing what they can from the streams and doing whatever they could about it. Which eventually escalated to the whole 'prosthetic arm' thing that took the engineering side of the fandom by storm, and that was just the beginning.

Dream was a fan of Stream Labs, not a particularly hard core one- he didn't feverishly write down every word or action that was said or done in the streams and try to dissect them frame by frame while posting theories left and right, but he'd been there from almost basically the beginning. He'd watched since Log 4, back when Tubbo was still in his lab and when Tommy was just a nameless person that they had no idea about lurking in the background of every stream within that gigantic tube of his.

Like he said, when he first found the stream it had been profoundly interesting. Enough that he checked out the vods and started to keep an eye on it and the fandom that it was accumulating with surprising speed.

He was there when people were theorizing who Ranboo even was, when the prince just showed up at the doorway and it was just his tall silhouette showing on stream. He was there when Tubbo first pulled things from almost out of nowhere, mostly from out of his lab coat and started talking about nuclear physics. He had missed a few streams due to bad timing and such, but he always caught up whenever he could.

He'd been with Tubbo since Log 4, and he was still with Tubbo on Video Diary #4, the newest format of streams that were dubbed as 'Season 2' of Stream Labs.

The video diaries weren't as long as the log recordings were, and there were definitely a couple of moments in each 'diary' that seemed very personal. Like when Tubbo would just stare at the computer, most likely at the picture of him and Tommy he had set as desktop background. The emotions were so vivid and realistic on Tubbo's face that Dream actually tabbed out for a moment, waiting for Tubbo to start talking to tab back in and watch the stream again.

Ridiculous he knows, but he couldn't really help it.

Tubbo's actor was just too good, he hoped the kid was paid very well for it because seriously.

He was amazing. 

Had to be an actor. It had to be. It felt wrong to watch the little moments, especially the first diary where Tubbo cried.

Each diary entry was almost like the 'Season 1' Logs, though at the start Tubbo had looked so haggard and tired. Over the entries, he looked better and better, less stressed and exhausted and more like his usual self.

Though he's certainly started opening up and talking about Tommy. 

It should've been strange really, since beforehand, Tubbo had hardly talked about Tommy. Usually a few vague words, a nostalgic look, some personal phrases and sentences but they were learning more about Tommy in Season 2 than they did in Season 1, which made sense now that Tommy was out of the tube. Though they have yet to see him in person, right now they've only seen him in pictures that came from Fundy the fox man from the Season 1 finale and Bad, the demon who's last name was 'Halo' apparently.

Which was ironic for obvious reasons but they weren't complaining.

Fundy and Bad sent Tubbo regular updates on how Tommy was doing as well as advice on what Tubbo should do and what to prepare or expect since Tubbo was adamant in having Tommy move in with him.

Which was the subject of most of his diaries, just preparing for Tommy's awakening and move into his apartment.

Tommy was doing as well as you'd expect from someone who'd been in a coma- he's woken up a few times but only for a moment before he slipped back to unconsciousness but soon enough he would stay awake for much longer and be cognitive and at least semi-coherent. Though Bad did say that it would take some time before Tommy would be fully talking, he'd been in a coma for years and just like the rest of his body, his mind and throat would take some time to adjust and gain strength.

Tubbo had faltered when he had read that email but quickly snorted and smiled a strained smile, mumbling on how Tommy used to be so loud and reassuring himself that Tommy would be that loud again. He just needed to get better was all.

So Dream and the others were really learning more about Tommy than they had before.

As far as they could gather, Tommy had been a loud, brash child. Chaotic and somewhat of a bully- the good kind. The best friend kind. But he was also sweet as Tubbo hinted when he laughed and recalled a childhood memory of Tommy picking flowers and making flower crowns and sewing bees into Tubbo's clothing because Tubbo asked him too. 

Basically the fandom has dubbed Tommy as a tsundere child that needed to be protected at all costs.

Something Dream found hilarious but thought was a bit off the mark. He was absolute ready for the fandom's interpretation of Tommy to be proven so wrong, or at least watch the fans be taken back by something Tommy would do or act as- he just had a feeling you know. That Tommy was more than what he seemed, plus the couple of stories that Tubbo told helped.

Still, it wasn't surprising they thought Tommy to be so 'fragil' since they all saw Tommy's current appearance in the photos...

He definitely looked like he needed help, he was so thin, pale- he wasn't as bad as the first photo that Tubbo was sent. The most recent ones did show progress but he was still much too thin and pale and unhealthy for anyone's liking.

Dream couldn't wait for him to wake up.

"I'm definitely gonna have to talk to Big Q about some of these. I don't have to worry about Tommy's medical expense though, all thanks to Ranboo..." Tubbo's face grimaced as he continued afterwards. "And... Sam..." Tubbo gritted out reluctantly which made Dream lean forward in his seat. Eager, wanting to see or hear anything relating the probably incident that happened between Tubbo, Sam and Tommy.

Tubbo on screen looked apprehensive, conflicted. "... I know, it's been years and there were... circumstances that lead to... fucking everything I guess but..." Tubbo bit his lip, looking frustrated. "I don't know if I want to forgive him for what he's done. Regardless of what happened- it still happened and I can remember it all so vividly... I can at least be professional whenever he's around sometimes, and me sending my log recordings to him was... fine. Kinda okay-ish I guess, it actually helped me pretend that things were normal to an extent but whenever Sam's around, physically I just..." Tubbo sighed, looking right into the camera. Remorseful and so very conflicted.

"What would you do Tommy? Forgive or not forgive? He was just- he was a Warden, we were admittedly fucking stupid kids and he was following orders and he... End's Void, he's still technically a Warden just, retired? Semi-permanently off-duty? If there's one thing I'll admit to him is that his redstone engineering and other works are good... Aaaah, fuck, I guess I'll just have to wait till Tommy wakes up and see how he feels." 

Dream's face split into a smug grin, "HAH! I knew Sam had something to do with what happened to Tommy! Take that Ponk!" He cheered, bouncing in his streamer chair though he quickly settled down and focused back on the stream. "Now if only we knew what exactly happened..." Unfortunately it seemed like that was the end of the stream. Tubbo was saving up his work on his computer and was mumbling something underneath his breath.

"Better stop now, gotta meet Karl and Big Q in a bit."

The name Karl does get his and a lot of other people's attention, it's nothing very serious though. Dream pokes at it, "So this is where Karl goes on hiatus?" He jokes to himself, smiling and thinks nothing else about the name.

Karl is a common enough name after all. Dream wasn't even sure if the name was spelled with a K or a C in Stream Labs, could be Carl with a C for all he knew.

There is nothing to corelate the 'Karl' mentioned ever so briefly in Stream Labs to 'Karl' his fellow streamer who just face revealed to his closest comrades and friends.

But it's there, in the back of his and everyone else's mind.

Someone in the show is named 'Karl' and it'll stay there for a while.

In any rate though, as soon as the stream ended Dream went over to discord to ping Ponk several times and be smug about the latest information.

smiles: @BONK @BONK @BONK
smiles: HAH 

BONK: STFU 

BIGmeow: whoops
BIGmeow: sorry ponk but it looks like dreams right

crowfather: lol

potatogod: lol

consumerof s a n d: lol

diamondhead: lol

snapchat: lol

puffdaddy: DD: nooo poor tommy!!!!

consumderof s a n d: aw cmon puffy we had a good line going

puffdaddy: whoops sorry
puffdaddy: not

BONK: why am i friends with all of you

Dream snickered, highly entertained by Ponk's apparent misery at the fact that Dream was right. Sam did do something bad to the Tubbo and Tommy, especially Tommy, in the past! Honestly, it was obvious with how Tubbo had been acting whenever Sam was around physically. Ponk couldn't through around the George Thing anymore! Not when Dream was right! HAH!

Also he just saw George as an interesting character, it's not everyday that you see someone with a mushroom hat and had the apparent ability to absorb and purify toxic air. It's not like he perked up every time George was mentioned or showed up, he didn't pay more attention to him even when he showed up a few times during Tubbo's streams just to nap in Tubbo's lab for whatever reason.

He wasn't a George simp.

...

No really he wasn't.

...

He just liked his character-

...

He just-

...

Anyway.

They were all having a good time, the usual after Stream Labs stream discussions and heckling that got derailed into a few events they were planning to stream in the near future. Wilbur had something planned for them all and Dream honestly could not wait, his character on the server they played on (his server) had really improved since the beginning. There were a few things he was a bit iffy on about the current arc, worried over the reaction of their viewers and audience but hoping for the best since the ball was already rolling and stopping now would just ruin the fun and story telling.

Plus, Wilbur had been really excited on working on the current arc and Dream was equally excited to play it out according to his plans.

However, mid-discussions they got a surprising notification on Twitter.

From Stream Labs.

Which was something they immediately focused on because Stream Labs never, never tweeted twice in a single day. It was the stream alert and nothing more. 

And yet, there on Twitter, a second tweet was sent out.

StreamLabsLIVE @SLL
A new perspective has been opened.
There will be a new stream today.

What?

"O-kay, it's streaming right? Should be- and- yeah! There we go! It's streaming and recording right to my computer. That's awesome! That's great!" 

Stream Labs was streaming again, even though almost two hours ago, they had just finished a stream. However...

"Oh this is so good, oh I am so awesome, Fundy's done it again!" 

It wasn't Tubbo that was streaming.

"This is absolutely perfect, oh! Tubbo's going to love you!" 

On the screen, smiling a wide and very toothy grin was Fundy.

The mysterious fox man from the season finale, the other person that Tubbo had been sending most of his logs to in season one, the one who carried Tommy out of the lab in the finale.

From where the camera was angled, you could see all of him.

Fundy seemingly had a realistic-fox mask plastered over his face, only it wasn't a mask like they previously thought before hand. The fur really seemed to be growing out of his face right above his mouth, his eyes were sharp, looked really like a fox's eye and the ears that were moving, swiveling on his mostly orange hair that had streaks of white and black, a black cap with two gold symbols on the front was right between those ears.

He wore a black zip-up jacket, a square strip of orange, yellow, blue and light blue plastered on the front and a grey undershirt underneath. Pairing with the jacket were a pair of simple black jeans, and behind him, was a long, orange fox tail with a white tip. 

His sleeves were rolled up, showing off how his hands which were tinted black slowly faded and gradient into tan skin. A finger tapped the camera, showing the rough underside of a black finger that had a paw pad on it. His nails seemed sharp, not inhumanely so but sharper than a regular human's. 

The camera slowly moved backwards, and yet Fundy stood in place, watching the camera go with a large grin on his face.

: WOAH WHAT
: FOXY:DDD
: this is fundy right??? RIGHT???
: holy fuck stream labs really do have everything from science to furries
: WHY HELLO FOX MAN ;D
: AGAIN WITH THE EFFECTS AND CHARACTER DESIGN STREAM LABS ARE YOU OKAY DO YOU PAY EVERYONE FAIRLY OHMYGOD
: wait i thought the stream was done WHY IS THERE ANOTHER STREAM
: ANOTHER STREAM!!
: where's tubbo??? who is this?????
: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
: isn't twitch supposed to be looking into stream labs tho?
: KITSUNE MAN KAWAII
: furry lmao

Fundy clapped his hands, looking very pleased as the camera moved down, face to face with the fox hybrid. "Looks like the wings are fully operational! And by the looks of the video, it's very smooth and nothing seems to be out of place." He said, looking back to a massive computer system that was besides him- something the camera showed. Fundy had six screens affixed to the wall. Three of the screens showed that Fundy was downloading three different files at the same time, but in the meanwhile in the other three screens was something different.

On one screen there was a blue print of a bee-shaped item, it was actually the camera they would soon find out. A cute bee-shaped drone that was half the size of a basket ball. 

On another screen was showing what the camera was showing, aka, the camera's film was being streamed and recorded to the computer. 

And on the last screen...

Well, the screen seemed entirely black but there was a sleek looking fox symbol that flashed in dark orange from time to time along with one word that was in the strange language that Tubbo wrote and typed in regularly.

Translators would later find out it was just Fundy's name written in the language.

: GEEK ALERT
: that is so many screens omg
: ANOTHER STREAM ANOTHER STREAMER STREAM LABS STREAMS STREAM
: WHAT IS GOING OONNN WHER EIS CHAOTIC SCIENC EHILD
: wait is this guy gonna talk to us now or are we still not GETTING ANYTHING
: PLEASE SOMEONE JUST TALK TO US
: this is obv a recording with thos effects duh

It had to be a recording, the way Fundy's ears kept moving along with his tail, the realistic make up along with the possible god-tier CGI- it just had to be a recording that was being streamed.

"Fundy, what the hell is that?" 

Fundy's ears perked and the camera whirled to look at who talked- there in the doorway that was across the sizable room, was George. Holding a folder in one hand with the other shoved into his lab coat. "George! Just in time, come on in bud- let me show you my newest creation!"

The camera got closer to George, the fandom dubbed 'pretty mushroom boy' looked taken back by the sudden closeness to the camera and even pushed it away, covering the lens with his hands. "Ah! Sorry about that, I'm still working on it's navigational systems and code BUT it's flying, it's smooth, it's streaming- it's all good huh? Huh? Whaddaya think George? Is it a good honeycambee or what?" 

George's hand was gone just in time to catch the deadpanned unimpressed look George gave the open-mouthed smiling Fundy, "Honeycambee?" He repeated dully.

"Honeycomb? Bee? Camera? Honey-cam-bee? Aw c'mon! It's a good name! Just cambee for short!" Fundy whined, pouting at the scientist who merely shook his head and sighed. "You're no fun. Tubbo's gonna love it, I bet you that! He is gonna LOVE this! Love the honeycambee!" 

George snorted, "I get the cambee thing but where's the honeycomb in this? It's just a glorified drone with a bee themed-outer shell." 

The fox gasped, looking as offended as his weird but cool-looking face could get. "Glor-glorified drone?! George! I made this from scratch! Okay that was a lie, I did use some drone parts and I didn't make it totally from scratch but STILL! HOW DARE YOU!" He sniffed as the camera floated between them but focused more on Fundy as he reached for a yellow hexagonal box, it kind of looked like a honeycomb actually. "As for the honeycomb- here! This is it's charging station! Okay now THIS I actually made from scratch, shaped the box myself and all that."

George hummed off screen as the camera slowly turned around, showing off Fundy's work space. "I mean, we both know Tubbo loves anything with bees so of course he's going to love the cambee thing so uh. Good job I guess."

It was a large room, just as large as Tubbo's lab had been. However there were clearly server towers that lined against one part of the room. They were big towers, they almost reached the ceiling type big. 

"Yes! It's why I made it in the first place! It's gonna be his gift and stuff-"

The camera soon wandered towards an ornate mirror that was stuck to the wall- it looked out of place honestly, it was one of those expensive European mirrors, with jewels that seemed to glow as they were embedded into what seemed to be a solid gold frame. The mirror reflected the camera- the 'honeycambee' that was apparently serving as the camera for the stream. What was noticeable though, was that carved into the forehead of the little bee bot drone, was what looked to be kinda like the familiar wi-fi signal that practically everyone in the audience knew.

"-nd- wait where did? Or there it is! Again, I'm still working on its navigational systems, it kinda just wanders around if I'm not focusing on it with the control piece so like, I gotta work on that for Tubbo later on but it's a good gift huh?"

Fundy appeared in the reflection, taking hold of the cambee.

For a moment, the reflection in the mirror disappeared, static covering the reflective surface and flashing an image of something before static covered it again and the mirror returned to normal, showing Fundy pulling away from the mirror and thus forcing them to look elsewhere. "So. What brings you to my den dear Georgie?"

Someone on the internet would soon freeze the frame and post the image that was being reflected in the mirror from the stream after it ended. 

The image was very dark, almost completely black but someone would saturate the picture and show what it actually was. The picture depicted a very dark room that only had dim, glowing light coming from somewhere. There would be an empty gamer's chair in the poorly lit room, and on that chair was a box. A simple, reflective box since the light seemed to bounce off it a bit. To some it would seem almost familiar, but the darkness made it very hard to make it out, even when someone maxed out on the saturation for it.

Though some would claim that they could make out two familiar symbols on the box. The wifi symbol that glowed slightly and was painted over a square swirl.

Chapter Text

all i'm saying is that that box there on the chair?? it looks exactly like karl's headbox mask that he uses on facecam streams
the SYMBOL IS RIGHT THERE AND KARL'S ON HIATUS AGAIN ISN'T HE?
i'd say the chances of him being part of stream labs is quite high

Skeppy snorted, amusedly eying his phone as he lounged back on his chair.

He was taking a break from editing his latest video that featured Technoblade (as usual) to check up on the internet, see what was happening. And of course, what was currently happening was that everyone in the Stream Labs fandom was currently trying to break down and thoroughly scan every single detail from the latest stream, from the height of the newest streamer and character of Stream Labs to the new hot mystery of the 'image' that was circulating around the fandom.

The 'image' he was talking about, was of course the one thing that was out of place last stream. The brief moment where static replaced the mirror and showed what looked to be a very dark room that had a chair, a gaming chair at that, and a slightly glowing box sitting on the seat.

It was one of the newer and more interesting mysteries, in the ever growing list of mysteries the series was set out to bestow upon them. And one of the more confusing, vaguely ominous but definitely eye-catching since all it offered in the series was just a brief moment that could have easily been missed if it weren't for the fact that the fans of the series were one of the most observant fans to exist. 

They had to be to notice the details and try to figure things out on their own since the creators of Stream Labs (still at large and very annoyingly anonymous) weren't making any efforts in revealing anything or even give out hints. 

Though they were unanimous when it came to trying to figure things out, there were still lots of in-fandom fighting on a lot of topics like any fandom did. One of the latest topics pertained to the strange symbol that was on the box on the chair, no one really knew what it was- the picture was too gritty and even trying to enhance and properly saturate it didn't do any justice. Many people were trying to figure it out and lately someone pointed out that the box looked similarly enough to Karl's 'face'.

Aka the mask that Karl usually wore during face cam streams. 

It was easy enough to see the similarities and it was picking up some traction. 

Another person pointed out that the symbol, if they sheared off a few parts of it, one could arguably see the square swirl that was Karl's signature brand. And another person even brought out the measurements of Karl's mask, the dimensions, width, height- all comparing it to the height of the arm chair, the width of the chair seat and the length and height of the back of the arm chair. 

And from there, it sparked a rowdy argument amongst fans.

Quite a few were convinced that Karl was part of the Stream Labs crew or was going to be collaborating with them in the very near future. Others said it was just a coincidence and it didn't mean anything, from the mention of 'Carl' by Tubbo (C or K?! WHICH IS IT TUBBO IS IT A C OR A K FOR THE K/CARL LET US KNOW) to the box on the chair- they didn't even know if the chair was Karl's chair.

They've never seen Karl's chair in full view, nor did they ever see Karl's streaming room.

The faceless streamer always had a green-screen background on for his streams and if it wasn't green screen then it was just a light grey wall. Karl never showed his room or face, not to the public at least, he was a very private person. And when he was on hiatus, which he was kind of notorious for, he went nearly dead silent for the entire time so he wasn't around to clarify anything as the fans of Stream Labs argued whether or not he was involved with Stream Labs. 

If given more thought then there could be merit into the theory, but Skeppy, being Karl's friend and not really caring about that side of things, doesn't give it more thought and instead moves past it to continue scrolling through Twitter. Skimming past a few tweets that didn't really catch his interest like the Twitch tweet trying to reach out to the creators of Stream Labs (apparently they didn't know about them either, or maybe they were just part of the ARG or something), US politics that were just being as stupid and complicated as ever, a few hate tweets aimed at his friends and himself both for their characters on the SMP and themselves as content creators (the more toxic ones make him frown and sigh), celebrity tweets, his own friends' tweets, clips from the last stream...

Actually he pauses his skimming to click on one of the clips of the last stream 'CamBee F #1', presumably the 'F' stood for Fundy.

The clip plays, it shows a clean looking but very big hallway quickly zooming by as the mobile camera goes forward, he could hear the excited whoops that Fundy made as he jogged behind out of the viewer's sight.

A couple of seconds later Fundy goes quiet and the camera slows down, the view looking down at the pristine marble floor, it was shiny enough that they could vaguely see the distorted yellow reflection of the cambee. "Oh hey, this is Bad's office." Fundy's voice said faintly and the camera moves up to his foxy face which sported a wide grin and mischievous fox eyes, "Time to show him what I made!" He cried out quietly, if it weren't for the tablet in his hands he'd probably be rubbing his hands together like some cartoon villain.

He gripped one tablet with one hand and quietly counted to three before throwing the door open and declaring loudly, "HEY BAD! CHECK OUT WHAT I MADE!!" The camera zoomed in as soon as the door was open just in time to hear and see the startled shriek of an insanely large shadow demon (Still unknown if he is a shadow demon but widely thought of as) falling off his chair.

"FUNDY!" Bad screamed, sounding surprisingly normal for a demon. Well he did shout and was loud but one would've expected an echo or something from him. But nope, just normal voice. "Don't scare me like that, you muffinhead!" And a demon that says 'muffinhead' was always a beloved one on the internet.

Fundy laughed as Bad gave him and the camera a very annoyed look, "H-ahah-aaa!! Oh, oh fuck that was great!"

"AH! LANGUAGE FUNDY!" And like that, the clip ends.

A demon that says 'muffinhead' and cares for language, a real gentle giant it seems and Skeppy would never admit it out loud but Bad was probably his favorite out of Stream Labs so far. If only because he would've loved to prod and poke at the character, relentlessly tease and taunt him- or whoever acted the demon out.

The moment the actors were revealed, Skeppy would send the actor behind Bad a message or something. It probably wouldn't do anything but there might be a chance they could talk, worse case scenario he just gets ignored like every other person on the internet. 

As Skeppy lounged back on his chair, going through Twitter and checking out the new fanart from the SMP about himself (always did surprise him the fanarts, he wasn't as popular as Wilbur or Phil or Dream and the others but it was always nice when they made stuff for him, most of them were so damn cool) and he was surprised at a few crossover pieces that involved his character Skeppy interacting with the characters from Stream Labs. 

Just as he liked one fanart piece, he got an alert.

StreamLabsLIVE @SLL
There will be a stream today.

"Oh cool, will it be a Tubbo stream or a Fundy one?" Skeppy asked himself as he immediately went over to Twitch- his video could wait an hour or two, he wasn't going to upload it any time soon anyway.

CamBee F #2, that was the title for the stream, so it was definitely a Fundy stream then. Or maybe Tubbo would appear on it, they could only know when the stream started.

: FUNDY STREAM!!
: aww i wanted to see tubbo again :(( make sure he's okay and stuff
: :pog: :pog: :pog:
: so who are we going to see this time?? i wanna see sam! and big q!! we don't know who big q is yet!!! show us the characters!!!
: TOMMY! HOW IS HE??
: i wonder if dream and techno are watching the stream now
: FOX MAN FOX MAN 
: lmao its the furry guy again right

Hiding chat so that the stream was his main focus, he patiently waited for it to start.

Unlike Tubbo's usual starting stream set up, with the bee-themed login screen, Fundy's was obviously more foxlike. The logo they'd seen in the beginning of the previous stream on Fundy's computer was shown before it immediately showed the footage of Fundy sitting down on the chair with the camera looking over to him. "-nd it is online! Great! Okay, so I've toggled a few things, reprogrammed it a bit and tweaked its coding and it should be able to navigate itself according to what I want with the attachment." Fundy mumbled to himself, typing into his computer. The angle had it that it was hard to see any of the screens at the moment and the stream itself didn't show the desktop of Fundy's computer like it usually did with Tubbo's. Another distinction between the two?

At any rate, the start of the stream was rather boring actually. Almost eight minutes straight had Fundy sitting in his chair, typing on his keyboard and using his mouse, concentrated on whatever it was on his computer. Occasionally he mumbled but it was mostly about code or something, it was hard to hear everything from where the camera was. The keys click clacking, the mouse clicking, the occasional mumble, to Skeppy it was rather boring. 

: DO SOEMTHING ALREAYD
: just LOOK at those effects!! those ears!!! the tail!!! the furrrrr
: furry man do something pls were dying of boredom
: this is tubbo's chill streams all over again at least put on some music dude

Well, after checking chat he was glad to know that he wasn't the only one who was bored.

"So that's all the internal testing, good, good. We're doing a great job aren't we cambee huh? Okay, external test! This time, your wings should be absolutely fine. I replaced the previous mesh with a stronger fiber but lighter fiber- well, for now at least, might replace it again to be honest but things should be better! No falling for you! Not for a while at least!" Fundy exclaimed, referencing how the last stream ended. It had lasted for an impressive three hours (once again concerning the fans about the team because that was three hours straight of what seemed to be flawless and no doubt difficult special effects with everything involved, but at the same time the fandom had tons of new data, information and lore to pick apart thanks to those three hours of Fundy roaming around with the honeycambee) and right before the end of it, the cambee's wings had apparently malfunctioned and dropped out of the air, turning into a slight jumpscare from how abrupt it had been.

Still, it was very cool on how Fundy was making sure that the cambee wings were fully functional. Actually everything about the honeycambee (Skeppy was still kinda iffy on the name though) was absolutely cool. Just another aspect of Stream Labs he guesses.

He watches the camera start to lift from where it was placed, smoothly rising into the air with no obvious problems to the viewers but they did see Fundy becoming inexplicably happy at the sight of them -the camera, in the air.

"Okay, there's no sound problems, the motors are silent, as funny as the constant buzz I could make the cambee do it'd get annoying pretty quickly but if Tubbo wants the buzz then he'll figure something out. Okay okay, live footage streaming directly to my computer is fine, mhmm, yeah looking good! Another great success for Fundy." Fundy said smugly, grinning toothily at chat and showing his pearly whites. Skeppy didn't have to open chat to know that plenty of inappropriate comments and innuendos were being made as Fundy made the camera do a few laps around his spacious lab.

Fundy's lab was definitely different compared to Tubbo's lab, the massive server towers, the way it was laid out, the decorations- It wasn't what they were used to, not to mention the fact that the camera was actually moving on its own and not being held by a single person was very different from Tubbo's old streams during season one. The movement wasn't as ridged, no longer handheld but smoothly showing off the area to the best of its abilities.

Which were probably the best really.

There were a lot of things that Skeppy called the people behind Stream Labs, amazing, insane, insanely amazing, people who really took to their privacy and anonymity- dedicated. Whoever was behind it all was definitely that, dedicated as hell. They and everyone else behind Stream Labs.

It made one wonder on how it all happened and what goes on behind the scenes...

And it was no wonder that a lot of people coveted their skills and dedication for other things. Like actual movies and tv shows, be it animated or live action. It was really bizarre, which made their focus and determination to stay anonymous all the more bewildering and mysterious.

Annoying but definitely bewildering and mysterious.

Skeppy's even heard rumors on how Stream Labs were using the best encryptions and online protections, there were already several people admitting to trying to hack them and failing. He wasn't too sure they were all the truth but he had no doubt that some of them were telling the truth. Now, the one who were claiming that they succeeded? Nah, they were all telling lies. Again, no concrete evidence.

One person that Skeppy actually paid attention to claimed that they couldn't locate or find where the stream money was heading, which was something. 

In any case though, it looked like that Stream Labs was just getting more and more interesting.

The stream continued with Fundy finally leaving his lab to go somewhere, the cambee following his every step and showing everything along the way. They ended up heading back towards Bad's office which made Skeppy perk and grin, wanting to watch more shenanigans that involved the shadow demon.

Only, he and the other viewers watched as Bad quickly stumbled out of the room looking frazzled. "Bad?" Fundy said aloud with a questioning and surprised tone, "Bad wha- ah! WAIT!" Before he could even ask what was wrong, Bad had gone off sprinting the other direction. "HEY! WAIT FOR ME! WAIT WAIT WAIT WAAAAIIT! BAD WHAT'S GOING ON?! WHY ARE WE RUNNING?!" He shouted after him.

: WHY ARE YOU RUNNING?? 
: whats going on
: PLOT TIME??? IS IT PLOT LORE TIME???
: run boy run i forgot the rest of the lyrics lol run boy run they're trying to stop you
: BREAKING NEWS FURRY FOX MAN AND DEMON SHADOW MAN ARE ON THE RUN WHY? WE DON'T KNOW

"HE'S AWAKE!" Bad shouted in reply though he didn't even look back at Fundy.

"WHO'SE AWAKE?!" 

"TOMMY!"

That caught everyone's attention.

: TOMMY?!?!?!
: FINALLY!!!!
: TUBE BOY TUBE BOI TUBEBOYTUBEBOI
: HOLY CRAP LETS GOOOO
: tommys awake???
: SOMEONE GET TUBBO!!

"Holy shit, something's happening? It's only been the second stream for Fundy's side." Skeppy commented to himself, invested as he watched the camera follow Bad and Fundy as they ran. 

It was indeed only Fundy's second stream and something important was going on- not bad.

It didn't take long for them to reach wherever Tommy was- the infirmary? It was large, white and sections, but they weren't given time to look around the place properly since this was one continuous shot from one single camera that continued to follow the two non-humans towards their single human patient.

They heard rapid beeping coming from the monitor that was to the side but hooked up to Tommy, showing his vitals and accelerated heart rate- Bad was right, he was awake. And screaming. Thrashing on the cot that he laid in, pale, skinny and armless. Skeppy wasn't sure to be thankful or not that the camera didn't close in as Bad got to Tommy's side, trying to restrain him but also reassure and calm the panicking teenager.

His screams weren't as loud as they could be, it was so very raspy, cracked and broken- dry, like he hasn't drank any water for days. Which he probably hadn't. It probably hurt to scream but really it didn't seem like he could do anything else but scream and thrash on the bed.

"Oh void, Oh end, oh fuck- what do I- Bad! What do I do?! Can I do anything to help?! Is he okay?!" 

"-ET OF -GASP- mE -COUGH- NO N-"

"Shshhh! It's okay it's- oh shoot- no no, it's okay, Tommy, Tommy calm down- Fundy call Tubbo, call Tubbo right now! Get him here as soon as possible!" 

"-ubbo? Tubbo, whe- where- Tu- CHK-"

"Breathe, breathe- Not like that! Oh Void's End-"

From a calm and boring start to a frantic ending, the stream ended with Fundy hurried calling Tubbo and having the cambee settle down on the table where the viewers watched a thin, sickly armless boy struggle against a gentle giant shadow demon medic who tried to restrain him and not hurt him. It ended with Tommy screaming Tubbo's name while crying in Bad's arms, looking helpless and pitiable.

: JESUS CHRIST WHAT
: NOOO TOMMY
: DON'T END IT LIKE THAT
: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
: OH GOD ARMLESS TUBE BOY NO
: HE'S AWAKE AND IN PAIN OH MY GOD

Something sunk in his stomach as he eyed the black screen. Something about the way Tommy had flailed in the cot, weakly screaming and struggling- that was visceral in a way that Skeppy couldn't describe. It made him very uncomfortable.

Also the way the stream just ended? Just going to black with barely any warning? It was short, just an hour and a half and the start was slow but the ending was so sudden- Skeppy wanted to see what happened next. He wanted to see Tubbo coming by the infirmary and calming down Tommy because he cannot, for the life of him, get the pitiable scene of Tommy, an armless skinny blond kid with hair that could rival Rapunzel, cry his heart out in a cracking, dry voice, out of his goddamn head.

He could only hope that there would be another stream soon, a follow up to what happened. The last time there had been two streams in one day, maybe they would do it again? Hopefully. Hell, it could just last for a minute, Skeppy just wanted to know if Tubbo got there okay and got Tommy to calm down.

Still, all he could do was wait and hope.

"Tommy, Tommy shh, it's me-"

Darkness, so dark, suffocating dark.

"Hey, hey bigman, you remember me right? It's me Tubbo, your best friend!"

The pain's gone. Gone gone gone. Where was he? Where was Tubbo?

"Right here bossman, right here. Come on, here, open- open your mouth. You're thirsty right? C'mon Toms, open your mouth."

Can he? He can, he can he can he can.

"That's it, that's it- careful. Drink slowly, don't choke on me dude."

Mm. Cold. Refreshing...

He blinks his eyes. He can blink? And he sees...

He sees...

It's not dark anymore.

"Tommy?"

He licks his chapped but newly wet lips, savoring the taste of fresh, cold water and he opens his mouth.

"Y-You got fat Tubso."

Tubbo rolled his eyes with a watery smile, looking far more healthy than Tommy has ever remembered him being. "Ass, but yeah. You wouldn't believe how much energy and food you need as a scientist Toms." He looked at him, serious and determined. "Speaking of food, we'll never have to worry about it ever again. Things are better, and you'll get better and then we'll eat whatever we want. I promise that." 

Tommy looked at him, no longer seeing the starved kid he used to dumpster dive with, scavenge, begged and stole with. His best friend was healthy, far healthier than he was right now and that was amazing, heartbreaking in a way but absolutely amazing. The thought of no longer worrying about food was foreign, a dream he and Tubbo always wanted and yet here it was. 

"Mh... a-are you taller tha- than me now?" 

The silence and indignant face was telling, and for the first time in years.

Since his death.

He grins and laughs.

Chapter Text

The silence in the room is defeaning.

Tubbo sits on a chair by a hospital bed, stone-faced while his best friend, his newly conscious and alive best friend, sits on said hospital bed. Quietly fuming, angry but silent. And there's a look of pointed disappointment in his eyes.

It hurts.

Not the anger, Tubbo fully expected the anger. 

In fact he had expected more anger.

He expected yelling, he expected full on rage and fury.

He's imagined the moment just as much as he imagined Tommy finally waking up for years now.

He doesn't imagine nor expect the disappointment.

Rather, he tried not to, refused to expect or anticipate Tommy's disappointment in him.

Because Tommy's disappointment always hurt. Especially when it was quiet like now.

Tommy has always been an emotional guy, he was loud, he wore his heart on his sleeve and used it to hide how incredibly mature, smart and kind he could actually be. 

It was his silence that meant true trouble, Tubbo knows and remembers.

The disappointment stings, and Tubbo bites back a million different words because he knows it would be useless in front of Tommy. His excuses would mean nothing to the blond, and it hurts.

It didn't mean Tubbo regretted anything at all.

He'd do it again and again if he had to. All for Tommy, his one rock, his one sole driving force that kept him going and lead him to where he was today.

And Tommy knew that, telling by the defeat that accompanied the disappointment.

It's a triumph that Tubbo takes no pleasure in taking.

Tommy was hurt from what Tubbo had done, while Tubbo was hurt by Tommy's disappointment in him.

It was a stalemate through and through.

A lose-lose situation.

It didn't matter though, it was too late to do anything and Tubbo had the upper hand.

The blank, stone-faced look on him melts as he thinks back to Tommy's rasping laughter when the blond was finally, fully coherent. Rough, weak but so very alive.

Tommy was alive, he was awake and alive and that was all Tubbo had wanted all these years. "I missed you." He admits to the fuming blond. "I missed you so much-"

"Bitch-" Tommy hissed only to wince and start coughing, his throat, still rough and dry- Tubbo was immediately on his feet and poured him another glass of water and offered it to him. Tommy coughed, glaring at the cup through teary eyes but reluctantly moved forward to drink from Tubbo's offered glass. Tubbo knows he hates everything right now, from how weak he felt to how he was armless.

Especially on how he was armless.

"I know it doesn't excuse anything Toms." Tubbo continued as Tommy slowly drank the water, carefully guiding Tommy back to laying down against the bed instead of sitting up. Tommy hardly struggled against him but the glare shifted to him instead of the glass, "But I don't regret it, I stand by it... I'm really glad to have you back." His voice cracks and the glare softens. Tommy says nothing, his eyes look away from Tubbo but his body leans over, a shoulder offered in comfort and Tubbo remembers their time back in the orphanage in the Archives. 

Scrawny and small, but still taller than him despite being younger, Tommy being his rock and offering comfort whenever Tubbo needed or wanted it.

Even after all these years, and in the state that he was now- Tommy really hadn't changed.

Tubbo sucks in a deep breath but carefully lays his head on Tommy's shoulder, it's boney, and the stump just reminds Tubbo of what happened.

But the familiar little act soothes the years-old aches that hid underneath the genius he's portrayed.

Dr. Toby Score did not take comfort from a frail, sickly blond.

It was little orphan Tubbo that did from his best friend.

"Pussy."

"You're ruining the moment Tommy."

"Y-You're being a- a little bitch Tubbo."

The last stream was a catastrophe.

It was amazing but it kicked up a huge storm from how it ended and the contents of it.

Many people were making a fuss on about the stream at the end because it was extremely uncomfortable, the scene of Tommy flailing, crying and panicking was simply too much to a lot of people. Trigger warnings should have been made, many exclaimed, others claimed that the scene was far too 'realistic' to be fake. 

The fact that Tommy was awake was being contended by Tommy's reaction to being awake and the demand for a reunion between him and Tubbo.

Stream Lab's offline chat had very well crashed from the amount of people screaming and sending out messages in such a short time frame.

"It's an issue that I've only started to notice now," Phil admitted to the group call that he was in. Right now, it was just him, Wilbur, Skeppy, Dream, Techno and Puffy. The others were too busy at the moment to join the call, which was fine. "They don't exactly warn people of what they do, they don't have trigger warnings." 

Techno scratched his cheek, looking disturbed and thoughtful, "Yeah you're right. Even movies have at least the barest of warnings."

Watching Tommy, the poor armless kid, thrash in the hospital bed had been distressing. Extremely so, the scene seemed so real, so raw, that it ticked off all the boxes of being disturbing. Not even the fact that he was being held down by a shadow demon of all things had made the scene any different, maybe because Bad was rendered in so realistically. Even from afar, with the use of the 'cambee', the footage was simply too much.

For all the amazement there was in the effects and acting, which was phenomenal, really, that scene was still very disturbing and would no doubt cause a ruckus among the people who watched it.

"I'm pretty sure Twitch will have a few problems with it." Skeppy said, "Do you think they'll finally do a 'behind-the-scenes' stream to address it?"

"Aren't Twitch in on the whole thing though?" Puffy questioned, having asked it before when Twitch tweeted out about Stream Labs. 

Dream shrugged, "Who knows. Maybe some of them are? It's hard to tell at this point, no one knows what's going on about them and Stream Labs. You know that the whole 'Alternate Reality' tag that Stream Labs has? It's really not supposed to exist or something. You can't look it up on Twitch, it doesn't show anything, not even Stream Labs. It's a personal tag that is only used by Stream Labs."

Really, the infamy surrounding Stream Labs was getting more and more complicated and they had no idea how to feel about it.

They were beginning to have some doubts, but for now, they still thought it was an unusually well-done ARG, or something. It couldn't be real after all, it just couldn't.

It was impossible.

Right?

Wilbur hummed in thought but was quickly distracted by a familiar notification sound, something that echoed in the call as the others got it as well. "Holy shit, there's another stream today!" He exclaimed once he saw the tweet sent by Stream Labs' twitter.

It's only been under eight hours since the last stream, and in those eight hours, chaos had descended the fandom- it hadn't even settled when the tweet was sent which sent everyone in a frenzy once more, scrambling to get to Stream Lab's Twitch channel just to watch the incoming stream.

It didn't take long for it to appear, it's title was CamBee T #1.

: T?? T??? IT HAS TO BE TUBBO RIGHT???
: please be tubbo pleas ebe tubbo
: BRUH
: GIVE US THE REUNION
: is there anything bad that happens this stream? please give the warnings please
: :pogchamp: :pogchamp: :pogchamp:
: :shakyeyes: shakyeyes: :shakyees:
: IT'S STARTIN!!!!

"It's Tubbo!" Phil exclaimed, recognizing the loading screen easily. It was Tubbo's screen, his home one, the one he uses for his Video Diary entries.

The loading completed and immediately showed Tubbo peering at the camera, curiosity and delight on his face. "It's on!" He exclaimed happily, leaning back and showing that he was sitting in a chair with a laptop by his side on a little table. "Fundy's made it incredibly well! Look at it Tommy!"

: TOMMY?!> WHERE
: THE REUNION HAPPENED OFF SCREEN NOOO
: AAAAAAAAAAAA
: TOOMMY TOMMY!!
: BRUH
: TOMMY
: WEHRE

"Where's Tommy?" Wilbur wondered just as a rasping voice came from off screen.

"It's a shit bee."

Tubbo looked towards where Tommy was with an offended look, "Oi! Be nice! Fundy made it for me!" He complained as the cambee finally took off and turned to look at Tommy.

Compared to how he looked like hours earlier when he was struggling in bed and screaming his throat hoarse, he looked comparatively better. Calmer, obviously. He sat in the hospital bed, supported by pillows and the bed itself so he could lay back. His body and face were still gaunt, his skin didn't look healthy as it stretched over his thin body and his hair was long, dull blond with white-ish streaks. How long exactly it was they couldn't tell since most of it was tucked underneath the blanket.

He didn't have any arms, and the sleeves of his hospital gown ended right above the stumps that were semi-visible from where they were looking at.

It looked like a long journey was ahead of Tommy in terms of getting better, but his eyes were blue. Bright with life. He seemed determined to live thankfully and they all hoped he'd get better.

"Dunno who that is." Tommy replied with a small smile as the cambee flew back so that both boys were in view.

"Oh man, he looks so thin." Puffy whispered, loud enough that the whole call could hear it.

Dream snorted, "Thin? Kid's a stick!"

"He's at least better than before when he was in the tube." Techno pointed out to them, which they agreed with. Remembering the frail figure that had been tucked in the tube. It was hard to get a clear picture of Tommy during the season finale, but the boy seemed so much worse then. Maybe it was because he was unconscious and the footage had been grainy but he really did look better than they saw him for the first time.

Also the second time last stream a few hours ago.

"Fundy's the fox hybrid you saw earlier, he's kinda like my senior? He's also in charge of Snowchester's servers and stuff. He's a great programmer, and not too bad of an engineer and scientist too as you can see." Tubbo pointed at the cambee with a wide grin. 

Tommy's face scrunched, "Snowchester? W-Where the fuck is that?" 

Tubbo paused, his grin slipping as he looked over at Tommy. "That's a very complicated answer to give but uh, don't freak out-"

"Tubbo..."

"So basically Snowchester is like, a new science slash magic facility that was created like, ten years ago?"

"Get t-to the point, dickhead-"

"It's an Endlantis science, magic facility."

There's a blank look on Tommy's face before his heart monitor sped up considerably as Tommy leaned forward and shouted, "ENDLANTIS?! TUBBO WHAT TH E FU-" Tommy's shout gets cut off by a pained wheeze and cough, Tubbo winced but hurried tried to get Tommy to calm down and to soothe his throat with water.

"Endlantis? Sounds like Atlantis." Skeppy mused aloud, something that Philza agreed with. He wondered if Endlantis was filled with water, though he also noted that Tubbo hadn't exactly answered the question of 'where' they were.

"Yeah, it does. But it doesn't sound like that Tommy's too happy at the fact Snowchester is an Endlantis facility." Techno pointed out, garnering agreement from the rest of them in the call.

Once calmed down, the blond panted as he laid back against his pillow, giving Tubbo a wide-eyed look, "Wh-hhh-What the hell man?! Endlantis?! Seriously?!" He hissed, he moved a bit but paused, his face darkened as he glanced at his stumps- many would interpret that he had wanted to move his arms or something, temporarily forgetting the fact he was armless. Temporarily, being the keyword.

"Yeah seriously! Snowchester is an Endlantis facility. Well, it's kind of like a small city now actually, all it's employees and a couple of their families are staying here and we've managed to open a couple of trade routes with the nearby villages. We're far from the Archives though, I can tell you that!" Tubbo replied, smiling happily at him. "I can't tell you where exactly we are yet but we're above ground Tommy. The sky is so blue here! Well, when the weather is clear anyway. It snows a lot!"

Tubbo's excitement and happiness rub off on Tommy just a bit, the incredulous look melts into one of quiet amazement. A breathy, "Really?" escapes his mouth.

"Yeah!! I'll show you when we get you out of here!" 

"Okay, so wherever the Archives were, they were underground. So like, maybe an underground city?" Philza pondered to himself, remembering the giant glowing mushroom picture and the words 'above ground'. Worldbuilding was something he was very fond of, and Stream Lab's subtle, slow worldbuilding was something he adored. He was a builder at heart even though he wasn't the best, in the creative games that he and his friends played (mostly when he played on his single worlds), his builds were something he took great pride in and would often imagine the lore and background behind his builds.

One of the reasons he enjoyed Stream Labs was not only it's magnificent magical effects, but the solid worldbuilding and lore that was there. Even though most of it was unknown, it was enough to get Phil hooked and anticipatory for whatever crumb of worldbuilding would come next from the streams. He wasn't the only one.

Stream Labs was slow but thorough and methodical, but right now during this stream, they were getting a lot more of the lore and worldbuilding of whatever world that Tommy, Tubbo and the others inhabited.

"From the Archives to Endlantis... You've- fuck, you've gone far Tubso." Tommy muttered as the cambee floated closer, hovering just before him and Tubbo. Tommy glanced at the cambee but looked back towards Tubbo who gave him a very wide smile. "Knew you were smart, but holy shit dude. Scientist for Endlantis..."

"I know- it's fucking wild right?" Tubbo's smile shrinks considerably but the sentiment is still there, "I've got you to thank for most of it bossman. You're the reason why I'm here, remember? Why we're both here."

Tommy's face grimaced and he looked away, "Don't start Toby. I- don't think I'm not mad at you for what you did- that was fucking stupid, and you call yourself a genius?" He sniffed, unknowingly causing intrigue in his words while Tubbo closed his eyes with a content look on his face. The cambee landed on the bed, Tubbo and Tommy's faces were cut off from view and they could see Tubbo's hand holding his right arm, toying with his sleeve and rubbing a spot there. "You're a bitch, a dickhead, a fucking idiot." 

"Yeah, yeah. I am, I am." Tubbo agreed easily enough, which just ticked Tommy off a bit more.

"Wanker, fucking asshole, tw-" He stopped when he started coughing again. This time, when Tubbo tried to offer water, Tommy rejected him and tried to calm himself down, the camera was still not showing them fully which irked the viewers.

"One of the questions I have for the directors and all that, whoever's behind Stream Labs, one of the questions, and I have a lot of question, I have for them is just... is some of this planned footage or not? Like, I can get Tubbo's chill streams, where he's just sitting there, rambling and stuff. Those are, I think not really planned in the sense that it's not part of the story? Like, their script y'know? Like now- does- does it say in the script that the camera has to be in this angle? That the cambee- thing, the camera, does it have to be not showing the whole thing or..." Wilbur's voice trailed off as the cambee finally moved, no longer staying on the bed and was back in the air. Supposedly.

Tommy looking ticked off but looking stubbornly to the side while Tubbo in turn looked exasperated, "... Thank you..." The teen scientist blinked at the soft words, so soft he and the cambee almost didn't catch it. "You've done so much shit for me Toby. Thank you..." Tubbo blinked again before beaming. "I'm-I'm still mad you fucker, so don't do it ever again. You got that? No, you know what? I'll make sure you'll never do it again! Clearly, when I'm not around, you just- just turn into a wrongen! You go all, fucking- fucky! You're fucking lucky to have me around!"

He laughed, sounding so relieved in his laughter. "I am! I am lucky to have you around. Better keep to that Toms, who knows what I'll do now!" He teased as Tommy scowled and stuck his tongue out at him. 

"Aww!" Puffy and Wilbur cooed together, finding the moment heartwarming if a bit confusing.

Just what did Tubbo do?

"What's the point of using that, camera, bee, thing? You've been like, recording us for the past fuck if I know. It's a bit weird." Tommy said a few minutes later, staring right at the camera. The camera purposefully moved closer to his face, even as he tried to move away. "Ey! Get the fuck away from me bitch!" It's a hilarious moment, accentuated by Tubbo's laughter as Tommy's face distorts just from how close the camera is.

Hilarious as it is, the fact the camera was so close showed how gaunt Tommy's skin looked, his sunken eyes and cheeks, his pale and stretched out skin, his sharp chin and messy bangs- actually. Now that the camera was closer to Tommy's face, they could vaguely see something stamped over Tommy's forehead, mostly hidden by Tommy's hair. It was faint, glowing for only brief second before going dormant as Tubbo reeled the cambee back away from Tommy at his behest and complaints.

Later, they would find out that it's the same wifi-like symbol that was carved onto the cambee. 

Tubbo shrugged, grinning as he looked at the camera, "The cambee is, like I said before, a gift from Fundy. But the whole recording thing is something that I've been doing lately. I'll show you my old recordings and logs later! I've been waiting a while for that! But yeah, I just like recording myself and stuff for like, an hour or three. Depends really... I can stop if you want though." Tubbo offered, obviously worried he was making Tommy uncomfortable.

He always did offer to stop recording whenever someone else was with him, Ranboo mostly but usually it wasn't a big deal.

Tommy frowned before shrugging, "Whatever man, do what you do I guess. 'S just a bit weird is all." 

"Okay! But if like, you ever feel uncomfortable, just say so and I'll turn it off alright?"

"Pah! I'm- I'm not a fucking shy bitch like you Tubbo, keep it up! I don't care!" 

The next few minutes has Tubbo and Tommy just casually talking to each other, acting like the best of friends- which they were. Tubbo seemed to be so happy, happier than they've ever seen him, even after he finished a few projects on streams. He was also incredibly attentive, whenever Tommy coughed, he offered water or waited for Tommy to stop coughing. Tommy's pillow had once fallen off and he immediately grabbed it and carefully stuffed the pillow back behind Tommy. Tommy once seemed very irritated but very hesitant, squirming in place before finally admitting he had an itch he 'couldn't reach' and Tubbo didn't comment any further than just asking where it was and scratching it much to Tommy's relief.

It was nice.

"OH! Tommy! I just remembered! Look here!" Tubbo suddenly exclaimed, scrambling to get his laptop and set it in front of Tommy. Thankfully, the cambee flew towards Tubbo who absentmindedly grabbed it, the camera was able to see the screen up close.

They seemed to be on a video site like YouTube, but very different. They weren't given much time to look at the site before Tubbo turned the video into full screen. "I'm so glad you woke up so soon, they just made the announcement a couple of days ago- look!"

He pressed play off screen and the video immediately started.

Music played from his speakers, a beautiful animation played for a few minutes and formed a large title of course, depicted with the frustrating but fascinating language of Stream Labs created which would be later translated to 'ROYAL ENDER NEWS'. The animation faded and soon showed three people standing in front of the camera. One of which being very familiar; Ranboo. Ranboo was there, on the news, standing to the side, smiling amicably if a bit awkwardly. He stood with two others in a well decorated room, two women.

"Our Endlantis subjects," The tall, beautiful, inhuman woman said with a strong, smooth but kind voice. She was tall, taller than Ranboo, estimating to be around 12'5 at least. She had pretty purple skin, dark black hair that had a slight sheen of purple and black curvy horns. Nestled on her head, between her horns, was a luxurious crown adorned with dark and bright green gems. But her eyes were far more eye catching than the gems on her head, sharp, glowing fuchsia pupils on a violet canvas. From her pointed ears were two small cat-eye like earrings, 'Eyes of Ender' the fans would recognize from Tubbo's streams though these eyes were far smaller than the ones they knew of.

She wore a large, black and light grey dress, befitting the Queen that she truly was. However, the most eye catching thing of this woman were the pair of sizable wings that were folded behind her back, dragon wings most would say, purple and black. "It is with great honor and pride, that we announce the spectacular future tournament known as the Minhe-Crafe Championships, shall be held here! In Endlantis!" She declared, spreading her arms wide along with with her wings. 

They seemed to grow bigger as the music swelled from the announcement. 

Philza's heart skipped a beat with the impressive music as he watched her on the screen.

Ranboo and the other woman clapped, smiling widely along with the announcement and what sounded to be other people clapping and hollering. 

The other woman that stood by the other side of the (supposed) Queen was shorter than Ranboo, but still tall compared to the rest of them all. Estimating about 6'3 in height. She had long dark black hair with pink bangs framing her face, she had long horns that drooped to the side of her head. She wore a crown similar to Ranboo's atop her skull, but her gems were yellow and white. Her skin was dark grey that faded into a lighter gray from the lower half of her face. Her arms though, ended in that darker grey. Her eyes were bright pink on dark fuchsia.

She wore a long black dress with dark red accents, however unlike the Queen, she didn't have any wings behind her back. None that they could see at any rate.

"I, Queen Kristin Thanatasma Elytria, First of My Reign, am overjoyed by this opportunity to host the championships. We look forward to the collaborations of the MCC personnel as well as the cooperation with the other kingdoms who shall be participating in this event. The MCC shall be held within this year, before the Simultaneous Rotations of All Suns and the All Moon Cascades." She then gestured to her right, towards the pink-haired, girl? Besides her. "Our Daughter, Crown Princess Nihachu Rhamnou, shall also soon depart in her Journey. In months time, she will embark and leave Endlantis to search for her Wings. Her duty, is to come back safely before the Championship so she may greet the Netherfolk and participate in the Championships herself. May the Void Be Kind to you, Our Daughter." Nihachu curtsied, keeping her head low as Queen Kristin folded her wings and leaned over to kiss one of her daughter's horns. Ranboo was quick to follow his mother's lead, promptly kissing Nihachu's other horn.

"I thank thee, Great Mother, Beloved Brother." Nihachu murmured, though the video had paused right after she said that.

The cambee turned to look at Tommy, angled weirdly as Tubbo gave him a bright grin while holding the cambee. "The MCC is being held in Endlantis this year!! Isn't that great?! We could go watch it together in person!"

Tommy blinked, he seemed to be a bit distracted about something, "Yeah yeah that's awesome but- re-rewind it a bit? To the guy, the ender prince guy- who's he?"

Surprised, Tubbo did just that. "Him? That's Ranboo- oh yeah! Ranboo! That's the guy I told you about! Ranboo!"

"Ranboo? Ran- you mean the same fucking Ranboo you told me you saved from kidnappers, kidnapped him yourself and stole that eye thing from Ranboo? That Ranboo?"

"Um, what?" Dream asked just as Tubbo said, "Yeah, that Ranboo."

"Tubbo WHAT THE FUCK-"

Philza dazedly shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, "Excuse me, what?" Did he miss out on something important? What about Ranboo?

"Toby Unde Score, you have been hereby arrested for crimes against the Endlantis Royal Family and the Underground Settlement of the Archives. Charged with kidnapping his highness Ranboo Belovia, the theft and destruction of his highness' personal Ender Eye, as well as the arson and destruction of two buildings deep within the Archive slums, how do you plead?"

Tubbo stared at the judge, looked around the small, private courtroom then at the tall woman, the Queen herself, and smiled.

"Guilty as charged."

Chapter Text

Tubbo was a criminal.

Supposedly at least.

The last stream as a whole lasted a bit under two hours before it ended and it was filled with information, much more than the usual stream. 

It wasn't much, but compared to before, it was a treasure trove of information that they could dissect and build upon.

Since Tommy has woken up, it was probably the best thing that's happened so far. For both Tubbo and the fandom.

Tommy was a great way to get more information on what was going on, what things were, what happened- he was the one to instigate and ask questions that the audience wanted to ask themselves. He was entirely clueless on what was going on and had the capability of getting Tubbo to actually answer and explain those questions. 

The only problem with that was the fact every answer they got, it just lead to more questions that Tommy may or may not ask. Which was natural because Tommy, as a character, lived in that world and knew the common things that Stream Lab's world had in. So terms like 'Simultaneous Rotations of All Suns and All Moons Cascades' were apparently something he knew and didn't need to question and thus, Tubbo didn't need to explain. 

Something they've figured out that happened in Stream Labs was that the story was, 'realistic'. 

As real as one could get with magic and sci-fi, but when it came to the passage of time and the characters? They were essentially, real people. 

That did things off camera. 

The reunion that happened, happened off camera because the cambee was off and Tubbo did not record the reunion. Why would he? Tommy had just woken up, was panicking and Bad had called him to come as soon as possible. Why would he record it when he was in a hurry to come over and soothe Tommy? 

Stream Labs was done in a way where everything that was shown, was shown through 'recordings'. Hand-held footage, recordings happening from a computer camera, a bee drone- it was, for all intense and purposes, just something that was shown in the moment via filming. So tons of things happened off camera, and though Tubbo had the habit of recording himself, he started out just doing it for his job since it required him to document himself for a couple of hours from time to time. 

He got so used to it, he started doing it at home when his lab was destroyed in the season finale. 

That type of filming wasn't exactly unique persay, but the fact they were portraying it so effectively multiple times as streams on fucking Twitch- it just added more confusion, mystique, and vagueness to whoever was behind Stream Labs. Some people were even claiming it was real footage, but that clearly wasn't the case.

It couldn't.

Well, either that or they didn't film the reunion due to something else. Maybe the footage for it was corrupted or something and they couldn't get it out so instead they 'streamed' the aftermath instead. 

Who knows? They certainly didn't, they had no idea what went on 'behind the scenes', what with the anonymity that surrounded Stream Labs. Something that was still causing people's frustrations and rumors.

At any rate, the information they learned from Tommy and Tubbo's stream was that they both came from a theorized underground settlement or place called the 'Archives', Snowchester was originally a science/magic facility that belonged to a kingdom called 'Endlantis', Endlantis was a monarchy lead by a large 'dragon' Queen by the full name of Kristin Thanatasma Elytria who had two kids, Crown Princess Nihachu Rhamnou (Elytria?) and their most beloved tall prince, Ranboo Belovia. The second (last?) name had been revealed after they watched the rest of the video where he was mentioned to overtake some of Princess Nihachu's duties when she went on her journey to 'find her wings'.

A tournament arc was being foreshadowed clearly with the mention of the MCC, which was very hyped by Toby and later on Tommy once the whole, 'who the other royal' was. They were both legitimately excited for it, which in turn excited the viewers. They definitely wanted to watch Minhe-Crafe Championships! See if the hype about it was well-worth it! And see if they really were going to get a tournament arc or would it turn into a red herring? 

That aside, they also learned a bit about Tubbo's past.

Tubbo was a criminal. 

Was, being the keyword but it didn't change the fact that he himself admitted to getting arrested.

He kidnapped Ranboo after saving him from the prince's original kidnappers, stole his Ender Eye (something they were intrigued about, what was Ranboo's Ender Eye so much more different than a regular eye of ender?) and yet somehow, instead of being prosecuted or in jail- Tubbo was a well-off scientist working for Endlantis and seemed to be very good friends with the same prince he supposedly kidnapped and stole from. Ranboo tried to visit him as much as he could and whenever they talked, they seemed very close.

Naturally, everyone wanted to know what the hell happened that lead from point A to point B, the story behind them both and especially what it might had to do with Tommy being put in the tube for so long.

Unfortunately, it would see that the details for what really happened wouldn't be shared during that stream.

"Hey, it worked out in the end didn't it? I was arrested and taken in on the charges of kidnapping a prince, stealing his precious eye, maybe a couple of arson and property destruction charges of some slum buildings back in the Archives but it was all dropped in the end! And look at me now! A scientist with royal connections and backing." Tubbo had replied, sounding smug while Tommy seriously looked like he wanted to wallop his best friend upside the head. Unfortunately for obvious reasons, he couldn't do so.

"Void's fuck Toby... Six years without me and you've turned into a real fucking wrongen."

"Oi, I turned out alright- I'm a scientist Toms! One of the youngest and smartest in their roster. I'm fucking eighteen!"

That made Tommy pause, leaning back heavily against the pillows. "... Which means, I'm seventeen now innit? I- Oh End, six- it's really been six years- and I never-" 

The conversation quickly turned emotional as it seemed to finally dawn on Tommy that he had missed six whole years of his life. It also revealed the ages of their wayward boys, seventeen and eighteen. They truly were teenagers and yet so much had happened to them.

Tubbo was quick to abandon the conversation to reassure and calm Tommy from his potential emotional and mental breakdown, instead he immediately brought the MCC back into conversation. It wasn't very subtle, but it seemed to help Tommy focus on that instead. The stream ended with Tommy saying he wanted the cambee off now, feeling weirded out from being filmed for so long, unused to it like Tubbo was. He's only lasted so long because he'd been distracted by Tubbo.

Of course, Tubbo complied and that was the stream.

The fandom swallowed the information and immediately regurgitated theories, posts, memes, fanart and fanfiction on what happened. 

The fact that their favorite teen genius was apparently a criminal that once kidnapped a close friend he had before they were friends was absolutely startling. The fact that Tommy was awake now, coherent and thankfully on the steady steps to getting better was amazing. The fact that there was clearly so much more to the world that Stream Labs created-

And don't get them started on the new introduced characters of Ranboo's family.

Princess Nihachu and Queen Kristin were rising stars in the fandom, they wondered about their personalities- Ranboo has mentioned them a few times, both in chat and in front of the camera but it was short, precise and Tubbo always seemed to nod and know what he was talking about them and didn't need any more context. They didn't know if they were 'good' or 'bad' family to Ranboo, all they knew that Queen Kristin was a bit strict on Ranboo while Nihachu, or 'Niki' as Ranboo had called her before, was interested in baking.

And that was putting aside their character designs! They had to wonder on what exact species Ranboo and his family was. They seemed diverse at least, different skin pigments, hair color was consistently black most of the time aside from the color from both Niki and Ranboo but Niki's could be dyed along with Ranboo but honestly they had no idea. Their eye colors were also different, there were some facial features that were the same between all three of them but they weren't exact?

They simply didn't know what they were, their species- everyone else's species in fact. They still had so little information about the characters in Stream Labs, it was very frustrating.

Hopefully, with Tommy around, they'd be able to find out more about the world Stream Labs live was.

The potential questions that could be answered now that Tommy was there. He was lacking six years worth of knowledge, he had to ask some questions on screen right? 

It was strange, if most of them took a step back, they'd realize that this type of setting for a film was rather unusual. The lack of information, the vagueness, the realism, the mystery, the anonymity, the camera work- it simply didn't fit the normal ARG standards, or any other entertainment standards aside from just providing entertainment with the intriguing unknown of something entirely new.

Unfortunately for most, if not almost all the fans, especially those who watched from the beginning, were so used to it from their gradual watching that they weren't able to notice all of it at the same time. Too busy with with what they had now to look at the disjointed bigger picture and try to piece it all together.

And even the few that did notice, did not have all the pieces to complete the picture.

But time would tell, and things would change.

The next stream happens a couple of days later.

Puffy was in the middle of her goodbyes, about to end her stream when she was notified that Stream Labs was about to go live by both Twitter and her chat. "Oh seriously? Sweet! Perfect timing! I guess you all know where to go now- or you could also, you know, check out if any of my other friends are streaming too. Anyway, bye chat, bye guys, bye byee!!" She waved at her camera before swiftly ending the stream. 

Without a moment of hesitation, she tuned into Stream Labs' channel just in time to see the start of the stream.

Video Diary #6, that was the title of the stream.

So they weren't going to get a cambee perspective, which was somewhat disappointing since the cambee offered more dynamic shots- even if sometimes those dynamic shots weren't exactly pleasant. But it had been a while since the last Video Diary, so they might as well see what was Tubbo doing after visiting Tommy.

Tubbo's screen loads and they see Tubbo, smiling as he sits back on his chair, the curtains way behind him fluttered, his window was open to let in some fresh air it seems. Puffy smiled herself, happy to see the teen genius happy- the visit to Tommy must have been nice! Though she has to wonder on what happened off screen, or if anything happened or was planned off screen. 

"Video Diary number six! Tommy's awake! It's- it's great to see him again. Awake, alive... Loud- End's void, I definitely didn't forget how loud he was!" Tubbo exclaimed, grinning happily as he recounted everything that happened at the visit. Though he did add a few more things of his own so it wasn't just a recap.

"Tommy's reaction to what happened between Ranboo and I was hilarious! I've always wondered on how he would react but that was priceless! I can't wait for the both of them to actually meet! I know Ranboo's busy right now so that'll have to wait, but that's okay! They'll meet and it'll be great... Granted, Tommy might go all, aggressively apologetic to Ranboo and Ranboo might just be confused but it'll be fine! It's in the past! Ranboo and I are chill now. I mean, we were chill back then too but that was mostly because Ranboo was an awkward, awkward boy and he had no idea how to interact with me. Man, he was so skittish back then... Those kidnappers really spooked him I guess, luckily, I was scrounging around the area they were hiding in and found him. He looked so weird in those clothes they forced him in, even if they dressed him in like, rags, it was still clear he was at least Ender nobility... I really was planning on letting him go to like, the good coppers I knew of in the Archive and stuff after I got him out of there, I was, but then... the Ender Eye he had was hiding was something I needed. The power behind it, the- the magic it had, I needed it for Tommy." Tubbo sighed, his smiling softening.

"I'm so glad I kidnapped Ranboo and stole his Ender Eye. It was so fucking worth it." 

That... Was both a lot, and not enough.

They had more information on what happened at least, but not everything over what happened.

Tubbo looked like he was about to continue, looking thoughtful when he heard something heavy land on the ground behind him. He and everyone who watched him froze for a moment before Tubbo immediately got out of his chair.

: what happened???
: WHAT WAS THAT
: something moved in the background!!!
: AAA IS IT ACTION TIME? I THINK ITS ACTION TIME!
: BEHIND YOU!!
: I SAW SOMETHING 
: WHAT 

Tubbo went over and picked up a book with a confused but cautious look on his face, looking confused, he brought the book to his nose then recoiled with an incredulous look on his face, then he seemed to notice something on the table near his window. Unfortunately for the viewers, they were too far away to see whatever Tubbo saw, so all they could do was watch Tubbo wipe his fingers against the table and bring it back to his nose to sniff. He recoiled with a look of disgust but looked around his room. "What did this?" 

He ducked out of view, seemingly bending down behind his bed to look on the ground. "What the- woah! Wh- hey! Wait!" 

Puffy and those watching were very bewildered when they heard Tubbo's shouts, he sounded surprised, alarmed- but not a bad kind of alarm? There was the sound of Tubbo frantically crawling along the floor as he exclaimed, "Woah there! It's okay! It's okay, oh wow- hey, hey. It's okay. Hi..." His voice gradually softened until they couldn't hear it. 

: what's going on???
: BRUH I CLIPPED BACK AND SOMETHING CAME THROUGH THE WINDOW I COULDNT GET A GOOD LOOK ON IT BECAUSE OF THE CURTAINS BUT SOMETHING DARK CAME THROUGH THE WINDOW
: SOMETHING CAME FROMT HE WINDOW
: TUBBOO!!!! 
: WHAT IS IT???

"What the heck came through the window?" Puffy asked, very concerned over what was happening. From the sounds of it, it seemed like an animal came through the window- Tubbo seemed like he was trying to coax something from underneath his bed or wherever he was. He was out of frame, low on the ground and hiding out of view. However, as Puffy clicked the link to the clip that someone made, she slowed down the footage to see just what animal came into Tubbo's room.

It was very hard to tell, the curtains got in the way but she did see something fall through the window, landing on the table and knocking into a book which fell down with it.

It was a dark, circular animal? Seemed brown-ish almost.

"Wow, you smell like shit, huh lil' fella? That's okay, let's get you nice and clean shall we?" Tubbo's voice came and immediately Puffy switched back to the live stream only to see Tubbo leaving the frame, though it looked like he was cradling something in his palms close to his chest. There was a strange sound too, it sounded like a mix between a squeak and a quack.

A squack if you will. 

"Now how do I- Oh I know! I'll call Big Q! He'll help- probably. He might knowsomething at least!"

Squack.

: WHAT THE HECK IS THAT THING???
: tubbo!! what!! are!! you!! doing!!!
: AAAAAAAAAAA
: does anyone know what that is???

They all heard the sound of a door opening, the vague, muffled sounds of Tubbo talking and then the sound of running water.

They proceeded to hear the one-sided conversation, a muffled conversation as Tubbo talked a bit loudly with the occasional squack as well as the sound of something splashing.

"Hey Big Q!...o I'm good- I just- I need some help about.... LOOK YOU'RE A DUCK HYBRID YOU'RE THE ONE THAT CAME TO MIND QUACKITY! ...h THANK END! OKAY now what do... ACK!"  SQUACK! SQUACK! "HAHA! Stop that! EWW! GROSS- okay okay... AWW! THAT'S CUTE!... o buoyant....eally? Okay uh- gotcha- RIGHT! Oh HI KARL...ook talk to you later about Tommy... M'kay- Bye Big Q!"

Thankfully it didn't seem to last that long as soon enough, Tubbo was waddling back into frame with rolled up sleeves while holding a bundled towel that was also bundled in a clear sheet of plastic? The towel seemed stained with something, or there seemed to be some kind of white liquid pressing against the plastic sheet.

"Okay! That was- pretty cool! You're all nice and clean, you no longer smell like shit, small creature!" Tubbo announced as he sat down on his chair, "Instead, you smell like honey and flowers. Isn't that nice?" He puts the plastic wrapped towel bundle on his desk, right in front of the camera before carefully unwrapping the plastic so it laid over his desk.

Puffy squinted at the screen but watched with wide eyes as the 'white liquid' they had seen pressing against the plastic gradually come together. A solid-looking, but jiggly, gelatinous shape formed as the... substance gathered together, separating from the towel. Two black eyes appeared on it's 'face' as well as small but very wide, orange-ish beak emerged from the jiggling white but solid good.

It was...

A duck?

It seemed like a duck, though it had no wings, no legs- the body was completely white. It was as if someone drew a blob shaped like a duck.

Except it was real.

And it was moving, ever so slightly.

It didn't blink, as it's eyes drifted along its, face? The beak stayed in place before gradually slanting. 

The body wiggled and jiggled like pudding, but it did it on its own. 

Soon however, it stopped and its beak opened and it let out a small squack as it looked at Tubbo who in turn, looked utterly delighted and charmed by it.

"Aww! I've never seen a duck slime in person before. I wonder where you came from and what you're doing here... You were all dirty too... But now you're not! You look much better like this, you're the first duck slime I've seen completely white though." 

A duck slime?

The duck slime squacked again before it abruptly started glowing, causing Tubbo, Puffy and many others to gasp.

"YOU GLOW! OH WOW! OKAY THAT'S IT, YOU'RE MINE NOW!" Tubbo scooped the duck slime into his palms, giggling as the duck slime started to 'melt' in his hands. He sunk his fingers into the duck slime, playing with it like- well, like it was one of those slimes you see on YouTube. The duck slime didn't seem to mind and seemed to even glow brighter, squacking quietly and letting itself be toyed with by Tubbo. "Awww- I'm gonna call you Benson! Wait till everyone else meets you! Tommy and Ranboo are gonna be so jealous."

Squack.

: SQUACK
: BENSOOOON
: what the fuck is with this series
: GLOWING DUCKIE SLIME THING!!!

And thus, the fandom's first official mascot for Stream Labs appeared.

Benson, The Glowing Duck Slime.

Benson's appearance almost distracted everyone from the precise scar that was on Tubbo's arm.

Almost.

But at least they had Benson now.

Chapter Text

The stream ended shortly after Tubbo started playing with Benson. "I'm too distracted with this lil' guy to continue this video diary entry. I also need to do some research into duck slimes- and note to self. Just because Big Q is a duck hybrid himself doesn't mean he knows what the hell to do with duck slimes even though, they're both ducks... I mean, he did know a few things but it's not enough. Aaa! Benson! Don't cover my keyboard!" 

Squack!

Suffice to say, Benson was widely welcomed into the fandom with great enthusiasm.

There were already multiple Benson 'cults' all over social media, the glowing duck slime had not only effortlessly win over Tubbo's affection, but the adoration of the entire fandom.

Why? 

There was a lot of reasons why, just like with Stream Labs itself. The CGI that was used for Benson was consistent to the amazing effects that Stream Labs had so far, it was realistic but not too realistic. Benson was also adorable to many, even though his 'facial expressions' were essentially blank but the way Benson expressed his own body language (and again, a testimony to the CGI and effects) made up for that, not to mention Benson's tendency to rearrange his face as he wiggled and wobbled in Tubbo's hands. 

The fantasy side of Stream Labs loved the strange, small creature that was Benson. A glowing duck slime, who's idea was that? 

Anyway, the stream itself was short but wasn't pointless. Not only did the fandom have an animal mascot to fawn over, but they had just a bit more context behind Tubbo and Ranboo's past. It wasn't much, but the fandom itself hoarded the crumbs that were offered to them and would try to figure it out themselves until the truth and full backstory behind it would come out. And when that would happen, their theories and thoughts would either be proved right, or wrong.

And speaking of theories, new ones started to pop up after some people caught one tiny detail from Benson and Tubbo's stream. It nearly drowned underneath the Benson love that was flooding the fandom but thankfully, it was fished out quickly and was focused on alongside their mascot.

Tubbo had a scar on his right arm. A precise scar, something that had to be made by hand and not by chance or accident. It was a bit hard to see since Tubbo's arms were usually covered and even though they were bare in the stream, Tubbo mostly kept his arms close to him as he played with Benson, so they didn't really have a clear, full view on the scar. But even then, they didn't really need one since they could figure out what it was quite easily.

It was the strange, 'wifi signal' mark that they've seen plenty of times before.

On the cambee that Fundy made, on Tommy's forehead and now Tubbo's arm. There was also that strange, grainy picture in the mirror but, that was still inconclusive.

The symbol itself wasn't taken too seriously at first, it almost seemed like a joke actually. It was a wifi symbol, it looked cool on the cambee but looked kind of funny on Tommy's forehead but now that it was carved into Tubbo's arm?

There was clearly more to it than they all realized.

Unfortunately, like a lot of things pertaining to the story, they didn't have much to work on for it.

Still, it just reinforced the idea that you couldn't take things for granted in Stream Labs. The people behind it were meticulous and thorough.

As time passed though, everyone would become more and more frustrated in their anonymity and silence. There were already people who were inspired by Stream Labs to create their own ARG/story/episodic streams, Operation: Blue Science, aka OBS, was one example. It was a post-apocalyptic themed streaming channel that was heavily inspired by Stream Labs, their first stream had done great even.

They tried to stay anonymous, just like Stream Labs. Valiant their efforts were but the detectives on Reddit were stubborn and persistent, they were able to figure out who was involved with OBS and who created it which started quite a few things afterwards- it begged the question on how exactly the creators of Stream Labs were able to stay anonymous for so long? How they were able to stay under the radar despite everything?

They accepted donations, but no one could track where those donations would go. The code behind the 'Alternate Reality' tag was driving some programmers insane. The VFX artists and experts were very concerned and awed by the effects that happened in Stream Labs- apparently it was suspected they used practical effects then rendered CGI on those effects to achieve the brilliant effects they saw in a lot of streams.

It did explain a few things but no doubt it would've costed time, effort and money money. Much more money than the donations would've costed, much more time than most people would've thought and a lot more work than even a sizeable crew could be able to do.

And they were all anonymous.

There were people who were suspected to be part of it, but even they admitted (some of them at least) that they weren't part of the project but wish they were.

Stream Labs had started out as a small, enigmatic streaming channel but was now even featured on the news because of its contents.

A lot of people were suspecting that it was more than just an ARG now, but most didn't believe it was anything but.

Denial was a strong thing, and the fact that donations were still accepted meant that they had bank accounts right? Their money was going somewhere, and the Twitter account- there had to be people behind Stream Labs. There just had to be, right?

"More people are starting to catch on, what do we do?"

"What do you mean 'what do we do'- we just continue like planned."

"But I'm so bored, can't we shake things up a bit?"

"No. Look, it'll all be worth it in the end, just stick with the plan and enjoy the show."

"Fiine... what if I-"

"WH- NO!"

"-nd NO ONE knows who these guys are! It's- it's frankly amazing considering today's age of technology and social media. And with the amount of mystery behind it, I can totally get why everyone has been suggesting this to us in our subreddits, our discords, the comments- everywhere. Anyway, to those who don't know, Stream Labs is an up and rising Twitch channel that features a lot. And I mean a LOT of mysterious things both in and out of its cinematic story. Notice I said 'cinematic story'. Stream Labs is a twitch channel but it's not your typical, twitch channel it's-" Dream hummed as he watched the video, hearing MatPat's voice through his headphones while the video played and showed well-edited shots whatever MatPat was explaining.

It was the newest episode of Film Theory, one of two actually. One was a regular Film Theory video with MatPat while the other was a 'The Science...' with Austin. Dream had already watched Austin's video covering the science side of Stream Labs who basically agreed and said that everything in Stream Labs was plausible to an extent- he even covered the prosthetics topic that blew up some time ago. 

Right now, he was watching the other video that had MatPat explaining Stream Labs and talked on how it was a literal look into another world that somehow is being broadcasted to their world. Something that was widely accepted as the 'basis' of Stream Labs' story, it's just how it was filmed and broadcasted, etc. Still, there was a brief moment of 'what if it was actually real' that Dream humored before moving on with the video.

MatPat was making a theory on how exactly Tommy got into the tube that they all saw at the beginning of season one. The title of the video was, Film Theory: Sam CUT Tommy's Arms Off! (Stream Labs) and honestly, Dream was on board before he even watched the video.

He also made sure to send it to Ponk who promptly sent him various middle finger gifs in reply.

"Or maybe something else happened, we'll just have to wait and see from Stream Labs who is frankly, one of the weirdest but coolest twitch streamers I've seen yet. I genuinely can't wait to see where this all goes and if the theories, both mine and everyone else's, are true or not. So yeah, it's just a theory. A FILM THEORY! Thanks for watching. Now if you excuse me, I've got a Benson cult meeting I'm late to. All hail the glowing duck slime..."

"All hail." Dream repeated with a grin, snickering to himself as he went to find another video to watch or just listen to.

Preferably something related to Stream Labs.

Surprisingly, it seemed that Stream Labs was taking a break or something. It's been a couple of weeks since their last stream, and nothing had happened. Not a single stream, not a tweet, nothing.

It certainly garnered attention once the usual time for a stream passed and there was no stream or alert to a stream coming. The longer time passed without anything, the more concerned everyone was over the matter. However, people began to say that maybe the creators and team behind Stream Labs were either finally taking a break and, or planning something big.

Hopefully they were taking a break. God knows they definitely deserved some rest- they had immediately gone into season two after all with Tommy coming back without pause. And the effort behind each 'stream' itself was already beyond what anyone could comprehend. Still, the sudden silence from the already quiet creators had been very abrupt. The least they could have done was say something right?

But then again, saying something would've been out of character for them at this point and it at least gave people time.

Time for what? It depended.

The cryptography side of SL had finally managed to figure out the language and translate it- it was finicky and obviously had to be refined but the translations it provided for Tubbo's notes were groundbreaking. They had a huge chunk of worldbuilding and lore written down in Tubbo's notes from season one, ranging from magical beasts, items and more to Tubbo's thought process and a few other vague things that had been written from the beginning but never understood until now. It wasn't a perfect translation though, and there were mishaps, misunderstandings and drama over the actual translations were but they were making progress and any translation was appreciated for the sake of the rest of the fandom. 

It also helped the fan engineers with the blueprints that Tubbo had shown in previous streams. Some parts of the prints were impossible to replicate, aka, the more 'magic' side of things- 'enchanted iron ingots, netherite screws and wires, glowberry oil' etc. etc. but that didn't stop them to make appropriate adjustments, replacements, anything that could plausibly replace what Tubbo had written in his blueprints. 

Also, it was nice to take a break from the chaos and mystery that was Stream Labs. 

Still, the fans were eagerly awaiting their return. Confident that it wouldn't just end in such a way forever- if that happened, Dream was legitimately sure that there would be a riot if Stream Labs sudden ended right then and there at the reveal of Benson and the creators were never heard from again. He was very sure about it, because he'd probably be part of that riot or even start it.

(He was joking... (maybe...))

That was an actual fear for some, that Stream Labs would leave a mark before disappearing forever. 

Surely that wouldn't happen right?

Even if they were anonymous and didn't post much, if at all, they would surely alert everyone beforehand if they were going to stop the story and streams right?

Right.

So the widely-considered hiatus continued with fans waiting for the next stream to happen.

Just hours after Dream watched Film Theory, a tweet was sent out.

StreamLabsLIVE @SLL
There will be a stream today.
Apologies for the wait, technical difficulties are being fixed.

Technical difficulties? Was that what they were going to call the break?

That aside, Stream Labs was back.

Except... Something was off.

Video Diary #9.

"Nine? Nine? What happened to seven and eight- last stream was six! Why are heading straight to nine?" Dream was baffled, and he wasn't the only one.

: bruh why is it no. 9??????
: IS THIS A TITLE MISTAKE?
: WHOOO STREAM LABS IS BACK :D
: a couple of weeks gone and we're immediately going to number nine?????
: :shockface: :shockface: :shockface:
: :technobruh:

The stream loaded with Tubbo's loading stream, anticipation set in as the teen's familiar and beloved computer desktop appeared alongside the camera that immediately showed Tubbo smiling. "Video Diary Number Nine!" He exclaimed, confirming that the title was not, in fact, a mistake. They were indeed on number nine instead of seven.

Had the technical difficulty tweet actually been truthful? Were they missing a couple of stream episodes? Where the hell were seven and eight? Was there a cambee stream that they missed as well? 

All they could do right now though, was watch as Tubbo gleefully continue on. "It's been a couple of days since Tommy moved in with me- he's still being a dick in his new wheelchair, the ungrateful prick tried to roll over my toes numerous times but other than that, things have been fine!"

"Tommy moved in with Tubbo? Already? When did that happen?!" 

: WE MISSED SOME THINGS?!!?
: BRUH WHAT THE FUCK WHERE IS THE CLINGY DUO CONTENT?!?!?
: :angry: :angry: :angry: AAAAAAA WHAT HAPPENED
: NOO THE CONTENT
: WHAT
: WHAT
: WHY WHAT HAPPENED WHAT DID WE MISS

"Benson doesn't have a problem with Tommy anymore, I think they're both used to each other now- I saw Benson sleeping on Tommy's head the other day. It was adorable, even when Tommy hissed at me like a fucking cat, no, a racoon, that's he is. He's a grumpy ass racoon that doesn't like to be seen as 'soft' most of the time. But he is. No matter what he says, no matter what you say Toms, you are a soft-hearted racoon. Hear me? Soft. Hearted. Racoon. Hehe, he's going to be so mad when he watches this- anyway. Things have been great!" Tubbo cheered, leaning back, wearing a comfy-looking green sweater. 

Dream was glad that things were great for Tubbo, but unfortunately, he was still baffled over the fact they were missing some streams.

"What the hell- they can't expect this to be okay? Right? Is it saved in the Vods..." Dream mumbled, listening to Tubbo ramble as he opened another tab into Stream Labs' channel. Trying to find Video Diary # 7 and 8 or just, any other stream that they might've missed. Like a cambee stream with either Tubbo and Tommy or Fundy. 

He doesn't find a thing. It was just Stream Labs' Video Diary #6 Vods that was there, no sight of #7 and 8. "They gotta fix that. This is a mistake."

Dream was certainly glad that Stream Labs was back, but the fact that they weren't back where they left off was kind of annoying. More than kind of, actually- he and everyone else wanted to see what happened after Tubbo took in Benson. They wanted to see more of Tubbo and Tommy interacting. To see what else they could find out between the two of them. Watch Tommy react to having to stay in a wheelchair for some time. Tommy meeting Benson for the first time.

See more of the world of Stream Labs and pick off where they left off.

Sure, the Cambee stream with Tommy and Tubbo happened after the off-screen reunion but at least the timeskip wasn't that big or long- but this?

This wasn't what they wanted.

"Oi! Tubbo! Are you doing that weird video thing again?!"

But it's what they got.

Tubbo paused from his ramblings, he'd been talking about he talked with Quackity (Big Q) about a few things for his and now Tommy's finances for the future. He was well off as a scientist, obviously, but the things he ordered for the sake of his own projects and more weren't exactly cheap. And now he had to take care of Tommy as well, so he'd have to pay attention to his money or else they'd both be in trouble.

"Yeah! I am! Actually, hold on-" Tubbo reached over for the camera. A new change since usually with his Video Diary, he just sat there in front of his desk and talk. Unlike before when he occasionally took the camera with him around the lab.

But now, he was taking the camera once more and they would finally see more of Tubbo's apartment.

Tubbo aimed the camera forward, going through a doorway and down a short hallway towards what looked to be a living room. There, sitting on the soft brown couch, was Tommy.

Last they saw Tommy, he'd been bedridden, pale and thin. Now, his skin was a more healthy color, he had filled out and his long hair was tied loosely behind him in a messy braid. Instead of the hospital gown he'd been wearing before, he was now wearing a sleeveless red and white shirt and loose grey pants. Right besides the couch was a red wheelchair, it was the one that Tubbo had made just for Tommy. 

: IT'S TOMMY!!!
: TUBE BOI :D
: aww he looks so much better than before!!!
: TOMMY POG

"Tommy, did you get on the couch by yourself?" 

Tommy shot him a dry look, "Who the fuck else helped me huh bitch? I did it all on my own." He sniffed, sounding a bit prideful as he sat against the couch cushions. "My legs aren't THAT bad."

"Congrats bossman, but still be careful okay? You've only done physical therapy for like, a week and even with the potions, it's best to take things slow and careful just in case." Tubbo stepped closer and they could clearly see Benson peaking from between the couch cushions, staring at the camera before sinking into the couch and disappearing. "And there goes Benson. It's a good thing I started cleaning the couch more often since he keeps doing that."

"BENSON!" Dream exclaimed alongside chat, laughing slightly and feeling a bit better at the brief moment the duck slime was on camera. He was a bit worried about him since he was between the couch cushions but neither Tubbo nor Tommy were worried so he'd be fine. Probably. Hopefully.

"I know, I know. Don't rush, be careful, mimimi- I know the limits of my own fucking body Tubso. I'm FINE! What I really want right now though are ARMS so I can BITCH SLAP THE FUCK OUT OF THAT CAMERA YOU GOT THERE!" Tommy shouted, sticking his tongue out at Tubbo and eyeing the camera. "Seriously Tubs, what's the point of making videos if you're not gonna upload it to the Realm?"

"I'm not allowed to upload anything to the Realm Toms. We know this. Besides, you and a couple of my friends like my videos." Tubbo walked around the wheelchair, briefly showing the cool, oval-shaped television that was propped on Tubbo's wall (It was playing some sort of movie? It had a weird, tall black creature on it. Was it a horror film from the Stream Labs story world?) and the hexagonal bookcases that held books, trinkets, CDs, etc, on its shelves before focusing back on Tommy. "Plus, they can be some sort of memory thing y'know? Something to rewatch from the fuuture- say hi to future you Tommy!"

Tommy rolled his eyes,  "Fuck you future Tommy, you better have bitches in the future future Tommy or else what's even the point of living that far into the future huh?" He joked causing both him and Tubbo to laugh. 

Dream smiled at the moment, happy that both boys were acting like actual teenagers for once. 

"Anyway, about your arms- I should be able to get them on you in like, another week or something. You've gained a lot of weight, your body and muscles are stable enough so look forward to that Tommy."

"FUCK YEAH! TOMMY INNIT'S GONNA HAVE ARMS AGAIN FUCKERS!"

Tubbo turned the camera to his face, faking a groan, "End forgive me for what I'm about to do-ow!" Tubbo laughed as Tommy apparently scooched closer to him just so he could give Tubbo a body shove for that comment. "Tooommyyy that huuurt- oh hi Benson! Hi Benson, hey there, hi hi~" He suddenly cooed as he aimed the camera down to the crevice between the cushions where Benson emerged and slowly made his way into Tubbo's lap, glowing. "Aww, who's a good duckie? Who's the best glowing duck slime? Huh? Huh? Aww..." Tubbo reached out to pet Benson who squacked quietly and wiggled happily in his lap before slipping over to Tommy who snorted. 

"'Ow do Benson?" Benson squacked again before molding himself into a ball-shaped blob, face disappearing inwards and glow dimming as he just sat there on Tommy's lap. "Going for a nap I see, nice. Nice."

"I'm always envious to how well you do with animals Toms. I mean, sure, Benson and I instantly clicked but like, you've always been able to get animals to like you quicker than me. And with other types of animals too- remember Shroud?"

Tommy blinked and groaned, "Shroud! I miss Shroud, I can't believe they disappeared! Did you ever find'em?" 

"Nope. I think they died Toms."

"Nooo... They were such a cute spider baby..."

Tubbo snorted off camera before aiming the camera at the oval shaped television, "Cheer up Tommy, even if Shroud survived they would've turned into a normal giant spider. Which is anything but cute. And they would've died anyway!" The television showed a man in glowing iron armor, fighting off a giant spider that was the size of a horse. "Oh hey, you're watching Mob vs Man? Sweet! Some of the people they get on that show end up as the greatest Mob Hunters!"

"That's normal?" Dream questioned, shivering at the sight of it- some downsides to the realistic effects of Stream Labs. "Mob vs Man? Is that- wait end up? So that really is the normal? Oh fuck, wasn't the spider-eye- oh jeez." 

"Yeah, but then I thought I heard you yapping your mouth off so I turned down the volume to hear if you were talking. Lo and behold, you were and are doing the video thing... Anyway, OI TV! VOLUME 85!" The oval television beeped as the volume turned up from it's very low setting to about 85% and they could then hear it.

A fictional reality-tv show within a stream...

Stream Labs never failed to make things up and make them good huh?

Dream was sucked into the world of Mob Vs Man and he and the others learned a bit more about the world Stream Labs was set in.

Hours after the end of that stream, someone found a new channel on YouTube.

Called 'Stream Labs'.

There were other channels like it, but this channel was verified and had every single vod of Stream Labs, including Video Diary #7 and 8 as well as Cambee F #3 and Cambee T# 2.

And thus a new channel was opened.

Chapter Text

Stream Labs had a YouTube channel now.

An official one, one that was verified and linked to Stream Lab's Twitch channel and Twitter account. At first people had thought it was just another VODs channel, someone who wanted to put the actual VODs to YouTube, that was until they found out that the channel had VODs of streams that they had never seen before. Aka, the missing VODs of Diary #7 and 8, as well as the two Cambee streams. It was also confirmed to be Stream Labs themselves when they sent out a tweet that apologized to them on the missed stream.

Plus, all three official Stream Labs accoutns were now linked to each other- the dead link however was there and still dead, much to everyone's confusion but that was swept aside from the fact that Stream Labs was now on YouTube. Granted, it seemed to only be a VODs channel but it had the missing content that everyone had been clamoring for for the past few hours ever since Video Diary #9 ended.

Speaking of which, said stream was quite interesting.

They learned more on the world that Tubbo and Tommy were in, at least- the fauna part of it.

Monsters existed, that was obvious enough from Tubbo's ramblings of specific parts from a monster that he needed, etc. in his past streams. They'd even seen a few parts of those monsters from time to time, like the giant spider-eyes that Tubbo handled that one stream when he accidentally poisoned himself and needed George to purge his room from the toxic air he had unintentionally created.

The implications of that spider-eye had been bad enough, but seeing the high-definition realistic giant spider? Even on TV? It had been terrifying to a lot of people, especially those with arachnophobia.

Turns out it was only the beginning.

During the show, they were shown other monsters and 'mobs' that were apparently normal within the Stream Labs world. Endermen, creepers, skeletons, zombies- and that was only in one episode of the show! Mob vs Man implied that there were many others! And each and every monster was extremely well done, once again, the CGI and practical effects were phenomenal even as the fighting went on on the television with Tubbo and Tommy commenting over it.

People were half-joking on how they wished Stream Lab's effects budget wasn't so high, or at least that the effects team behind it weren't so good.

Still, it amazed people the extent and depth that the team were doing on Stream Labs. And again, the acting and effects- they made a tv show that showed off people fighting against monsters, and said tv show was informative enough that they got a good gist on the monsters despite the short time. They knew endermen could teleport and were incredibly docile until someone looked them in the eyes, they knew creepers could explode and were living moss-like creatures that were filled with gunpowder, they learned that there were several different types of skeletons and zombies in that world-

The worldbuilding community as well as the monster-enjoyers were having a party from the unique creatures that they'd learned.

And not only that, they quickly pieced together and noticed the fact that Sam and Ranboo were hybrids of endermen and creepers. Which lead to the question on how they were hybrids and how they actually worked- not to mention Queen Kristin was a dragon woman but seemed to be connected to the endermen, she was also a mother to both Nihachu and Ranboo which made their genetics a new added mystery to the already long list that they had for Stream Labs.

Mob vs Man seemed to also be a preview on how good the infamous MCC could and would be in the future, which was certainly exciting for everyone involved.

In any rate though, back to Stream Labs' new YouTube channel, the moment it was found people flocked towards it for both the missing streams but as well as the potential it could hold. Was it only going to be a VODs channel? Would there be other videos? Would Stream Labs do more than just stream long 'episodes' on Twitch? Would they get more content? They could all only hope that there'd be more content on YouTube. The possibilities that were open now that they had a YouTube channel were endless, also this would surely give them a chance or a clue as to who the mysterious creators behind Stream Labs right?

With how many people that flocked towards the channel, it grew unnaturally fast as the link to the channel was shared and the emphasis on the missing streams being on there just helped. In just a few hours after they found it, the channel had succeeded 100k subscribers. Not half a day later, it was well over 300k and still counting.

Stream Labs' YouTube channel was just like it's Twitch channel. A simple black background with green letters. 

The channel seemed to go on a chronological order in terms of uploads, from the very first stream Tubbo had to the latest stream of Video Diary #9, though it also had playlists that were all in order and labeled 'Logs', 'Cambee F/T' and finally 'Video Diaries'.

In the descriptions of each video it was almost always the same, for every Log VODs it just said 'Dr. Score's Laboratory'. The Cambee VODs were just 'Alternative View: Fundy/Tubbo' and finally, Tubbo's Video Diary entries were simply 'Tubbo's Video Diary'. After that, every single video linked to the Stream Labs Twitch channel, Twitter account and that still very dead link that no one was quite sure on what the hell it was.

It'd been there since the beginning and yet nothing had changed.

Anyway, according to the YouTube channel's upload, if it had been live, Cambee F #3 would have gone soon after Video Diary #6. It didn't last long, under just half an hour at least.

It of course, started with Fundy, who was apparently hanging out with George and Sam. "Seeing how effective and adorable the cambee is, I decided to make another one for myself!" Fundy had said in the VOD. The three of them were in a different laboratory, considering it was filled with herbs, plants and more importantly, mushrooms, it was safe to say they were in George's Lab for once.

It looked more of a greenhouse than an actual lab, especially when half of the lab's ceiling seemed to be made of tinted glass that was covered in snow. And they knew it was snow both from Tubbo's previous rambles to Tommy about snow and the fact that George even had a window in his lab that showed the outdoors, the cambee had flown close to the open window, and sitting on the windowsill was a simple clay pot filled with green mulch or something. 

Outside the window, they were met with tree trunks and snow covered grounds and treetops. 

They still didn't know where Snowchester was but so far it was certainly living to its name.  

"I'm surprised you've managed to control it so seamlessly without a handheld controller." Sam mused from where he was sitting, his lower creeper body loafing not unlike a cat. "What'd you do?"

Fundy beamed motioning the cambee closer so he could hold it and point it at Sam and George, George seemed preoccupied with tending to a trembling black flower. "It's nothing! I just have it programmed to follow around whoever has this badge I have here! It'll stray here and there but it'll always stay in a mile radius! Plus, you can manually control the flight too if you press the buttons like so-" The cambee came closer to George who looked at it and the camera with a scowl and shooed it away from the convulsing flower that he was holding on to, his hands stained with viscous black liquid. "Watch it Gogy! I don't want that stuff on my precious little cambee! Why are you even handling it right now anyway?"

The mushroom scientist huffed, "Bad said his supply on withering tar was low, so he asked me for some- usually he wouldn't but he won't be able to get some more in a while and he needs it for Tommy. He owes me for this, even with my specialty and resistance to toxic, poisonous shit like this, withering tar is so cumbersome to work with." He complained, scraping the sticky, tar-like substance off his fingers and into a small, compact jar.

Both Sam and Fundy made startled noise at that, and the cambee caught Sam's instantaneous shift from sitting to standing. "What do you mean Bad needs that for Tommy?! Withering tar- that's one of the most dangerous poisons out there! Tommy- Tommy shouldn't need that stuff!" He exclaimed, sounding vehemently worried for someone who was supposedly in bad odds with both Tommy and Tubbo. "George, what the hell?!"

"Sweet ending void- calm down Sam! Both of you... It's fine! Look, Bad needs the withering tar for Tommy as part of one of his medicines! Remember the liquid that Tubbo had Tommy comatose in for a long-ass while? Turns out, Tubbo diluted withering tar in the decimals as one of its key ingredients. Well, it started out as decimals, but as time moved on, the kid started to up the dose from time to time as Tommy healed. In turn, it lead to Tubbo creating a variation to the antidote for withering tar and a few other stuff. It's completely ineffectual and useless to regular humans, but it's impressive all on its own... Anyway, Tommy still needs some of that to actually get better. Or at the very least, he can continue to use it to build up a resistance to other toxicities- he'd never get to my level, but he'd definitely be more resistant than normal." George explained to them both, the black tar on his fingers disappearing. Absorbed into his skin like how he had seemingly absorbed the toxic gas from so many streams ago.

The cambee was settled on the table as Sam was seen going through a cycle of emotions before sighing and sitting back down, loafing once more. "If you say so... I trust you and Bad to make sure he's alright..." He said then mumbled to himself, "And I doubt that Tubbo would ever poison Tommy like that. Not when he's still recovering at least." A few people missed it from how quiet it was, but those who had the video at full volume and were listening carefully heard it.

They weren't the only one, Fundy's voice came off screen. "Yeah, you, Bad and Tubbo know what you're all doing... Tubbo especially, he's been basically taking care of Tommy on his own for like, the whole time he'd been assigned here. Crazy to see him out of his tube and getting better, which is good! Very good." Sam's face seemed conflicted but he ultimately agreed with a nod of his head and a small, sad smile.

In the next few minutes, Fundy had the cambee roam around George's lab, getting close to some of the flora that George had or even had the bee drone perch on one of the machines. Soon though, George had to leave into an adjacent room that had been making noise, George had set a timer to something and had gone to check on it which left Fundy and Sam alone in George's main lab/greenhouse.

The two of them chatted easily, with the cambee circling around Sam as they talked. 

"Hey Sam, I've seen you stop by the infirmary lots of times. You never go in though. I thought you knew Tommy personally like you knew Tubbo- and it sounds like you care about him, why don't you ever go in? Or is this another part between the tension between you and Tubbo and I'm just asking bad questions again?" Fundy asks out of nowhere while George is away, his ears pin back as Sam froze in place.

Sam shook his head, looking away from Fundy but the cambee manages to catch his face. "I... yeah, Fundy. You're asking uncomfortable questions that I don't really want to answer. So I won't. I just- I'm glad that Tommy is okay." The emotions on his face were hard to read, Sam wasn't fully human after all, but there was a mixture of shame, regret, bitterness and sadness on his face. His face twists though when he finally notices the cambee and looked back at Fundy once more. "Can you- can you turn that thing off? I don't..."

"Oh! Oh yeah, yeah. Sorry- I'll just-"

Cambee F #3 ends shortly after that. 

A very short stream that seemed to serve the purpose of hinting more of Tommy's state as well as the relationship between Tommy, Tubbo and Sam. The creeper hybrid had clearly done something he wasn't proud of involving the two of them, but he cared for them all the same.

Video Diary #7 starts, after the starting screen, with Tubbo looking a bit worried in front of the camera. "Tommy's got a fever, which definitely shouldn't have happened. He was recovering, Bad and I, Bad especially, have been monitoring his vitals and out of nowhere, he just had a fever come in. Bad says it's nothing too bad, it'll be fine but- I worry, y'know? Still, I'm glad it's nothing bad- just a simple fever. That's all..." It sounded and looked like he was reassuring mostly himself as he looked off to the side with a frown.

Behind him, on his bed was a familiar slime duck that sank between the pillows while looking at the camera. Tubbo seemed oblivious to what Benson was doing, his face lighting up a bit as he turned back to the camera. "On better news though! Bad's letting Tommy move in with me finally! Granted, the fever pushed things back a few days because, sick Tommy duh- BUT! Tommy is finally leaving the infirmary and he's gonna stay with me! And Benson! Oh he's gonna love Benson! Speaking of which, Benson? Benson? Where'd you go you little shit?!" Tubbo exclaims, standing from his chair to look around the room.

He finally hears a familiar squack, muffledly, from his pillows. Tubbo turns and grins before jumping on to his bed, and out pops up from the crevice between his pillows was Benson. Glowing brightly and jiggling as he landed on Tubbo's head. Tubbo's laugh was muffled by his bed sheets and he reached up to grab and squish the duck slime in his hands. Benson squacking, his 'face' squishing through Tubbo's fingers quite comically.

"There you are you little shit!" Tubbo says, sitting up from his bed and taking Benson off his head. He stopped squishing Benson, watching the glowing duck slime slowly reform to his original shape with a smile. "Tommy's gonna love you. And you'll like Tommy- not as much as me got it? You're my duck slime." He cooed to the creature, poking Benson and causing him to wiggle in his palm. "Yeah, good Benson. Best duck slime."

Tubbo takes a few more minutes playing with Benson before he returns to his desk, situating Benson atop his head as he leaned back into his chair. "I can't wait for Tommy to move in with me- fever aside, he's gotten way better than he originally was. I wish I could've done better, but even I have to admit that it's entirely a miracle and luck that Tommy's able to even be awake right now much less recover. And recover at such a phenomenal rate too... I'm gonna have to do my own personal check ups. So far there haven't been any side-effects that Bad and I can notice but you can never be too sure... Plus, I need his measurements and stuff to make proper adjustments with the prosthetics I have for him. He should be able to handle it, the basic functions at least." The teen genius mumbled, leaning forward to move his mouse and open his blueprints once more.

While messing with his blueprints, even going as far as to make a new blue print just to make a new set of prosthetics for Tommy for when he was better and stronger, he was messaged by someone. Two someone's in fact.

Fundy and Big Q.

Fundy's message was a strange picture of Tommy, the camera was extremely close to his face though it only showed the upper part, Tommy didn't look too happy regardless. Underneath the picture was Fundy's following messages.

🦊Fundy🦊
tommy misses u
no matter what he says, he misses you tubbo :)

Tubbo looked bewildered for a moment before he ended up laughing, grinning widely as he sets Benson on the side of his desk. The duck slime immediately slid off the desk to somewhere as Tubbo saved Tommy's picture. He told Fundy thanks and to warn Fundy that Tommy probably has him listed in his 'future murder' list before looking at Big Q's message.

:]Big Q[: 
OF COURSE I'LL COME AND PICK YOU AND TOMMY UP!!!! 
WHO TF DO YOU THINK YOU ARE THINKING OTHERWISE HUH?!?!
it's been so long since i've seen him!!! of course i'm gonna come over and help tommy move into your apartment
Like holy shit, i CANNOT WAIT to see him :DDDDD

🐝Tubbo🐝
:DDDDD
EYESSSSS
tommy's gonaa bee so happy 2 see you!!!
are u gonna hand out w us?
w about karl, is he ok??
did you proppose yet?

:]Big Q[: 
FUCK YEAH!!
I don't have anything scheduled this month
nothing too important anyway so i'm good anytime
i'm definitely going to hang out with you both :]
Karl's fine! He's doing better and remembering more
I...
not yet :[
I'm really nervous toby
I think i might wait a little longer

🐝Tubbo🐝
:thumbs up:
all up 2 u big q!!
i think karl's good for you quackity but go on your own pace yknow??
pls toms is alredy gonna try n scam or murdde ur bf the monent he finds our abt karl
probs more if he finds out hes ur fiase
fiance

:]Big Q[:
:ducklaugh: :ducklaugh: :ducklaugh:
THATS GONNA BE FUCKING HILARIOUS DUDE
okay okay
Yeah
I should at least introduce them both before i propose 
Thanks Tobes
anyway
Just tell me when we're picking Tommy up and I'll pin that to my calendar!

Tubbo beamed, "Fuck yeah! Tommy's gonna flip when he sees Big Q again! Man, I can't wait- first though, gotta get Bad's permission and stuff. Okay, 'Fuck yeah, should be soon and can't wait smile'." He said aloud as he typed, grinning widely and practically bouncing in his chair. "Oh this is gonna be great! Right Benson?! Benson? Benson? Oh da,mmit, where the hell did you go now?" 

For a good bit of the stream, Tubbo disappeared for a bit to look for Benson. He and Benson were back at his desk and he started feeding Benson what looked to be transparent little marbles that Benson ate happily with a few squacks and adorable little wiggles here and there.

The stream ends with Tubbo making plans on what he, Tommy and 'Quackity' as Big Q was actually named, would do after they moved Tommy to his apartment.

And that was Cambee F #3 and Video Diary #7.

Eventful, but nothing too much.

Now, Cambee T #2 and Video Diary #8 was a slightly different story.

Chapter Text

Cambee F #3 and Video Diary #7 wasn't that exciting but it was certainly informative, this the fans took notice to immediately.

Snowchester apparently lived to its name, there was clearly snow in where they were- they still had no idea where it was being filmed though. Not even the trees were helpful in trying to figure out where exactly they were filming Stream Labs

If they already hadn't been sure about Sam's involvement with Tubbo and Tommy, his talk with Fundy was really setting up a reveal of their relationship- from what they could tell, Sam, Tommy and Tubbo were indeed on good terms before but something happened which fractured the good will between the two teenagers and Sam. Was the theory of Sam cutting off Tommy's arm really true then? MatPat had presented it all quite convincingly and this was just supporting that evidence.

Sam fans were disheartened, but the fact that Sam still cared for Tommy and Tubbo didn't go unnoticed. The man kept visiting the infirmary but never went inside, or maybe he did go inside but only Tommy was sleeping? People really wanted more backstory on what happened.

It was a short Fundy stream that was laying the pathway towards Tommy, Tubbo and Sam's past and also gave them a look into more areas in the Stream Labs world, even if that area was just Geroge's lab/greenhouse.

Meanwhile, people had latched on to Karl's name- it was confirmed that the 'C/Karl' they spoke of had was spelled with a K. A big win for Stream Labs wiki who didn't have to change the spelling whatsoever thanks to poll they had when he was first mentioned. More people joked on how Karl Jacobs, faceless twitch streamer, was involved but even more people were convinced that it wasn't a joke and that Karl was indeed part of the whole thing.

Unfortunately Karl Jacobs was still on hiatus and wasn't on twitter to say anything else.

Also, Big Q's actual name was Quackity which was also nice to know.

Speaking of Quackity, they actually get to see him in Cambee T #2.

The slightly frustrating thing about Stream Labs, well another slightly frustrating thing, they were learning about Stream Labs was that it wasn't exactly linear. Linear in the face of 'picking up where it left off' kind of linear. There were times where it was clear that some things happened 'off screen' as everyone called it, from Tommy and Tubbo's reunion to now;

Cambee T #2's reunion between Quackity and Tommy.

It started with an unfamiliar face peering into the camera. 

Dark brown eyes squinted at the lens, framed by black locks, the camera flew backwards to reveal the man looking at the camera. He wore a blue beanie with a white stripe going along the side, a thick blue jacket that definitely matched with his beanie and pair of hardy black pants and yellow winter boots. What was most striking about the man were the pair of white and yellow wings. Tucked behind his back but still big enough to be seen over his shoulders. Not only that, but there were feathers that covered the sides of his head, a few tucked underneath the beanie. 

"So this is what Fundy made you? It's not bad, pretty cute." The man mused, leaning back and letting go, letting the cambee drone hover around them. 

They clearly weren't in the infirmary anymore, instead, they were finally greeted with a fairly bluish sky covered in light grey clouds snow covered grounds and trees that surrounded them. They were standing (sitting for Tommy) in front of what seemed to be a lovely little log cabin that was situated within the woods. 

Both Tommy and Tubbo were dressed for the cold, Tommy was especially bundled up carefully as he was sat down in his wheelchair, he obviously didn't seem too happy about it. "Why the fuck are we in the middle of nowhere? We just left through that fucking portal and now we're in front of a dinky ass cabin?" Tommy asked with a scowl, looking at the porch they were on. 

"Because the building is like, super hidden? Tommy, I told you I worked for Endlantis as a scientist yeah? Well, Snowchester Institute- or well, the part where I work in, is like SUPER secluded and secretive. We set up portals and secret exits and entryways. We went through one of the most direct and secluded exits just now, and hey! Don't just call this place dinky- the people here are quite lovely actually." Tubbo reprimanded him, a striped black and yellow finger poking Tommy's cheek but quickly retreated when the blond tried to bite Tubbo's finger. 

"There's people living here? I thought you said it was secret!"

The man, Quackity? chuckled, "They're employees and security from Snowchester Tommy. They live here and protect the exits and entryways and enjoy the life here. If I wasn't so good at my job, I probably would've tried to get something like this going on for myself!" 

Tubbo snorted, "Oh please, we both know you would've gotten something better Big Q." 

The winged man, confirmed to be Quackity, laughed and gave him a smug grin. "Yeah, you're right."

"Isn't your job being like, Tubs' money manager or something?" Tommy piped in, glancing at them both. He caught eyes with the cambee, his face scrunched up and he stuck his tongue at the cambee before focusing back on Tubbo and Quackity.

"Yep! I'm Toby's financial manager, accountant- I basically look over his finances and shit. Well, it's not the only thing I do for him but it's what I do for him and he pays me for it." Quackity said as he walked off camera as the cambee turned back to Tubbo who grabbed it and set it on Tommy's lap. The view of the camera showed Quackity's back as he stretched out on the snow-covered ground. 

The back of his jacket had a large, fashionable but functional hole for his wings, it also showed that underneath the jacket was some kind of thick, black fabric that covered his back between his wings- there seemed to be something stitched along the fabric, glowing slightly as the yellow wings stretched to their fullest capacity. They were easily twice the man's height, large and seemingly powerful.

The fans would soon recognize the type of wings the man had, they looked extremely similar to a Pekin duck's wings. Only the coloration was off with the mostly yellow coloration. Even if his wings weren't resembling a Pekin duck, aka a flightless type of duck's wings, realistically, his wings weren't big enough for flight unfortunately. 

Still, true to Stream Labs content, the wings still looked phenomenal on the man. Very realistic and believable, the wings really seemed weighted and the shadow on the snow as both wings stretched in the air was amazing to watch. "Yeah like, I was so busy at first and I wasn't really paying attention to my money situation and shit so when Big Q came and offered to help I immediately set him up as my financial manager and stuff. He brought up the contract and things have been going smoothly ever since." Tubbo's voice said off camera as they began to move, Quackity tucked his wings and looked back, looking off camera presumably at Tubbo.

"I'm just that good at my job. Even when Tubbo was making unreasonable orders-" "I still say the vat of acid was COMPLETELY reasonable thank you very much!" "UNREASONABLE orders, I made sure he wasn't dipping down past a red line. I got him everything he needed-" "You never got me those floppy prism thingies I asked!" "Everything he needed... And now that you're here Tommy, that means I can do the same with you! I can be your financial manager too if you want!" Quackity exclaimed with a wide, excited grin. 

There's an awkward pause at Quackity's words and offer, a topic that they hadn't exactly approached or even thought of yet. 

When Tommy was better, what exactly was he going to do? 

He was a crippled, armless teenager who had been in a coma for years- no one watching exactly knew what his childhood was like but still. Just what could Tommy do after he had healed? After Tubbo gave him his arms? What occupation could he have or even want? 

They didn't know, and neither did Tommy.

Quackity's grin had faltered but before he could say anything else, Tommy replied, sounding unsure but loud. "I-I'll fucking think about it Big Q. You'll definitely be on my list on people to hire- it's a very long list y'know. Don't worry, I can squeeze you in at the top, just for you." 

Quackity gave him a relieved but happy look, "Aw, why thank you Tommy." 

"I can assure you Toms that Big Q is an amazing person to hire." Tubbo chimed in as the camera moved past Quackity and towards a vehicle parked on the snow. It was a snowmobile that was attached to a blue metal sleigh that had a roof attached. "Thanks again for picking us up here Big Q. I forgot to get a sleigh for Tommy, and my snowmobile is still kinda confiscated after my last trip out." 

Quackity and Tubbo got into frame, working together to get a ramp from the sleigh for Tommy. "It's no problem- still? Ho- No wait, I remember now. Serves you right, what the hell were you thinking trying to get ice honey on your own. I know you like bees and insects and shit but winter wasps are not like normal bees Tubbo!" 

The camera jolted as Tommy shouted, shifting in his wheelchair, "You tried to do what?! TOBY!"

Tubbo groaned aloud, "Quackity... Look, it was all fine! And! I got two jars of ice honey in the fridge Toms, we can eat some with ice cream in celebration of you moving in with me okay?! Now come on!" He disappeared from the camera view as Tommy was pushed up the ramp and into the sleigh. He was situated in the corner and the camera once again got a close view of Quackity as he seemed to be strapping Tommy's wheelchair along with Tommy himself down in the sleigh. "Oh yeah! Another reason why we came through this exit Toms is because I wanted to show you around the city that Quackity and I are living in! Also you need some nice, cold fresh air for once! Look at all this snow!" 

"It looks like cocaine. But cleaner and more sparkly." 

"Exactly!"

Quackity laughed as he disappeared from view, and with Tubbo climbing in the sleigh and putting away the ramp, it was obvious that he was going to be driving the snowmobile. Tubbo sat near Tommy, buckling up and grinning widely before noticing the camera. He visibly brightened then touched his badge, the cambee finally left Tommy's lap. "What are you doing now?" 

"I'm going to test out how far the cambee can follow us- also, I want a big, wide shot of the area and see how we look from above! Y'know, like in the movies and stuff? Fundy's done a great job with this, I think he could sell it to like some people if he wanted." 

"Ready to go?" Quackity called out as the cambee flew out and away from the two teens. The cambee looked over to Quackity, the man was now wearing a pair of snow goggles and was riding the snowmobile. As soon as both Tommy and Tubbo exclaimed 'yes', the snowmobile revved up and they were off. 

The cambee flew high up in the air, the snowmobile and sleigh getting smaller the farther the camera was. Unfortunately, with how far the camera was, no one could hear Tommy, Tubbo or even Quackity any more as they were given the bird's eye view but no audio on what was going on in the sleigh. 

However, it was breathtaking to see, if amateurish with how the cambee was just flying after the snowmobile with the wind rushing by.

Much to the chagrin of everyone though, it continued on for more than ten minutes. More than ten minutes of just watching the snowmobile drive, turn a few times on the pathways and over a large, sturdy snow-covered bridge that was laid over a frozen river. It was one of the many downsides to Stream Labs, their take on realism on how time passed for each stream, even on video on Youtube, none of it was edited out. 

It took a while for the scenery to finally change from snow, trees and more snow. More buildings appeared and less trees were seen as they crossed the border of a small city. 

The cambee was more focused on the snowmobile but they could see various other vehicles, people and buildings from above. Some people looked human, other's clearly not with tails, wings, other appendages that were difficult to see from above. But soon, the cambee started to descend back towards the snowmobile and sleigh and it gave a new perspective to their surroundings. 

For a brief moment, they could see the strange but beautiful looking buildings that lined the streets, other snowmobiles parked or being driven or just carts being pulled around by snowmobiles, horses and mules. 

It seemed like Quackity was driving at a leisurely pace, slower than before as he was no longer alone on the road in the woods. Tubbo beamed at the camera as it grew closer and grabbed it as soon as it was close enough. "Seeing us from above is gonna be so cool. I can't wait to show you everything I've recorded Toms!" He aimed the camera at Tommy but Tommy was looking off to the side, wide-eyed.

"Woah..." Tommy mouthed, leaning as much as he could towards what he was seeing.

"What are you looking- OH!" Tubbo suddenly exclaimed, moving the camera abruptly towards whatever it was they were seeing.

The snowmobile wasn't moving, apparently stopping for whatever reason but it gave them ample time to see a very strange sight to behold.

They had stopped in front of a large, open area that had floating platforms in the air. Multiple floating platforms that were standing still in mid-air, they were all close together. People were jumping from one platform to another, taking risky, big jumps. Precise, short jumps, climbing floating ladders, balancing on thin posts and fences, bouncing off green, jiggly platforms and hanging off poles and bars in mid-air. There were multiple terrifying moments of people falling but it seemed like their falls were slowed significantly, some even disappeared before reappearing somewhere else. 

It seemed like there were levels to the area, there were children that were jumping on floating platforms that weren't that far off the ground, landing happily in the snow or pointing at the larger and much higher platforms that was nearby. 

The higher platforms had teenagers and adults, with the highest point being a semi-large grey platform that had a gaggle of teens standing on it. Overlooking below and cheering the climbers nearby towards them. A few laughed when someone missed a jump and disappeared to a lower platform that had a shining thin gold crystal that glowed every time someone reappeared.

"That right there is the town's public parkour course Tommy. I actually helped build that and helped with the safety enchantments and checkpoint mechanics! It took a whole week setting up the teleport crystals but I got paid and the course was fun so it was worth it!" He said, turning towards Tommy who was bright-eyed and grinning. 

"It looks fucking awesome! I wan-" Tommy started excitedly but cut himself off as he seemed to remember where exactly he was right now and what state he was. A sickly (but getting better) armless teenager in a wheelchair. His grin slid off and he looked away, looking frustrated and sad. 

Tubbo's voice came from behind the camera, teasing, "You wanna try it out? Don't worry Tommy, as soon as you're healthy we can come here and I can film you falling on your ass at every jump." Immediately, Tommy's face contorted and he glared at Tubbo.

"Fuck off! I can totally get up to the top without falling- I fucking promise you that!" He shouted, indignant but no longer frustrated or sad. He looked determined, which made everyone happy. Tommy and the cambee looked back at the 'parkour course' as sleigh was finally moving again. "Just watch me bitch boy, I was always the better one at climbing and parkour!"

"That was in the Archives ya dumb fuck, and it's been years! You've gotten rusty!"

"FUCK YOU I'LL SHOW YOU RUSTY!"

Quackity let out a loud string of words, the language he spoke wasn't English. Actually, it almost sounded like Spanish, but a different kind of dialect that no one, not even those who could speak fluent Spanish, have heard before. It was... understandable-ish at least, after some thought and a few other things. Quackity exclaimed afterwards in English, "Can you two stop shouting!?" Tommy deadpanned at the camera, glancing off screen to smirk before opening his mouth.

"AAAAAAAAAAH!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The next handful of minutes or so was just Tubbo and Tommy heckling each other with Quackity loudly exclaiming from time to time. Tubbo would sometimes move the cambee and show the audience their environment. The buildings, the people, the other sleighs and snowmobiles- the world was bright, lively. A real snowy but small city bustling about. Tubbo would talk over sometimes, pointing out a few buildings to Tommy from time to time who commented a bit as they continued their way through the city.

They stopped a couple of times, one of them just to buy a few things like a steaming bun of something made out of 'azalea's' that looked delicious. 

Finally though, they seemed to reach their destination. Stopping in front of a large apartment complex. "Here we are! Home sweet home- I live at the very top over there, that corner of the complex. I actually own a few floors underneath too for... legitimately and totally legal reasons. But yeah! Here we are Toms!" 

Tubbo let the cambee hover once more in the air as he went to unbuckle himself and Tommy while Quackity handled the ramp. As soon as Tommy was wheeled out of the sleigh, Quackity insisted they go ahead. "I have to park and register my snowmobile and the sleigh so you guys go right ahead. Plus, I have to call Karl, he's visiting Charlie while I stay with you guys for tonight." 

Tommy looked confused, "Who's Karl? And Charlie?" 

Laughing a bit nervously, Quackity nudged Tubbo and winked at Tommy, finger gunning at him as he went to straddle his snowmobile again. "We'll talk about them later, I'll be up in fifteen, maybe twenty minutes! Later guys!" He exclaimed, driving the snowmobile off much to Tommy's protest.

"Tubbo, who's Karl and Charlie?"

"I'm not going into that until Big Q's with us so let's just go inside yeah? Your face is all red and I don't want you catching another fever- cold air is good for you but you've definitely had enough Toms."

It didn't take long for them to reach Tubbo's apartment, Tubbo had opted to take the secluded and less crowded route for Tommy's sake and to get home as soon as possible.

"I'M HOOME!" Tubbo called out as soon as he opened the door and wheeled Tommy in, the cambee followed after them. "Wait for a bit in your tank okay? We've gotta do something first!" 

"Who are you talking too?" Tommy asked as Tubbo helped take off his boots, the thick winter jacket, scarf and hat he'd been wearing. Everything, except the shoes, disappeared with a slight shimmer. The boots were put into a shoe rack. "No wait, it's that Benson thing you told me about innit?"

Tubbo gave Tommy a look, "He's a duck slime." He corrected as he moved Tommy into the living room. "I'll go check and get him! After I use the loo, I've been meaning to piss for a while now- uh, here, why don't you use this in the meanwhile?" He said, removing the badge and attaching it Tommy's shirt. "I'll be right back!" He said before darting off towards the toilet.

The cambee didn't follow him, instead, focusing on Tommy who didn't look too pleased being left alone but rolled his eyes. "Piss boy." He said, snorting to himself. He looked at the camera, squinting at the lens and thus at the viewers. "I don't get why he's into this shit, but good on him I guess? Hmm..." He looked around the living room of where he was, the cambee circling over him as he did so. Catching on camera on how Tommy's face shifted as his eyes roamed Tubbo's apartment.

His emotions seemed to shift from nostalgia, bitterness, fondness, happiness, sadness, anger- it cycled again and again before he seemed to be stuck at something. "That seems kinda out of place here." He commented aloud, staring at a very ornate square mirror that was hanging on the wall nearby. It was on its own, alone, on the wall. People would recognize that it was kind of like the mirror that was in Fundy's lap. Only square instead of oval. Same solid gold frame, European style design...

The mirror reflected only Tommy and the cambee. 

But then something changed, for just a moment.

It happened so fast, that people would have to slow the video down and check frame by frame.

Tommy's forehead flashed a sharp, striking blue and the carving on the cambee would do the same after a moment.

The reflection on the mirror flashed, turning into static before reflecting Tommy and the camera once again. But this time, they weren't in Tubbo's apartment. It was a contrast, seeing Tommy and the camera's bright, colored reflection against the darkness that surrounded them. However, there were two shadowy figures, standing behind Tommy's wheelchair. One tall, the other short. Their eyes were bright white and the shorter one's hand was outstretched, as if reaching for Tommy out of the mirror.

In an instant Tommy cried out in surprise and fear then suddenly the camera was zooming towards the mirror. The reflection flashing once more and disappearing just as the cambee collided with the mirror. The sound of glass shattering was heard, the view was suddenly glitching a bit as Tubbo's concerned shout was heard just as the camera went black. 

A haunting end to a long video that scared quite a few people.

Video Diary #8 was the aftermath and a continuation of what happened.

Chapter Text

"Tommy what the fuck happened here!?" Tubbo had asked frantically after rushing back to check on Tommy after he fucking screamed out of nowhere. He came back to see mirror shards all over the floor and surrounding cambee while Tommy looking spooked to hell. 

Tommy's frightened look was quickly covered by a glower, "Your mirror's haunted, that's what happened!" He barked, shoving and forcing his chair back to get as far away from the broken mirror as he could- unfortunately he couldn't do much thanks to his lack of arms and weak, malnourished body. Broken as the mirror was, he did not want to be anywhere near it. 

"My mirror's what?"

"I told you that was a bad idea."

"I'm sorry, look, I didn't know how things would go! Just get off my back already!"

"No. You've messed up twice in a short time. You need to listen to me and stop messing around!"

"Okay! Okay! Sweet fucking shit, stop being an uptight ass about it. I said I was sorry... I just... I... y'know... imissedhim." 

"... Sigh, right."

"Shut up."

"I didn't say anything."

"Jesus fucking CHRIST." Wilbur hissed, clutching his chest from the sudden jumpscare that ended the video. "That scared the shit out of me." He wheezed, trying to calm his frantic heartbeat from the sudden scare. Stream Labs was filled with scary shit, from the man-sized spiders and exploding moss-like creatures (which Sam was hypothetically a hybrid of??) to the cryptic underlying mystery that surrounded the story over all but jumpscares like that? Those were rare and unexpected.

Still, Wilbur grinned as he eagerly clicked on the next video. Wanting to find out what happened, or at least, continue his Stream Labs binge. 

Admittedly he'd been busy over the last few weeks himself, filming, recording, a few streams here and there. It was great timing that his downtime coincided with Stream Labs' sudden surge back into activity- honestly though, he would've been fine if they took a longer break. God knows he understood burnout and generally having to rest instead of spitting out content after content. He just hoped that the people behind Stream Labs had some well-deserved time off.

The video immediately loads and starts, the intro of Tubbo manually typing in his computer password and heading into the desktop before clicking the program to record his 'Video Diary' entry. 

"-an't believe you broke his mirror!" A recently familiar voice cackled just as Tubbo turned his 'webcam' on, showcasing himself in his room. This time though, he wasn't alone. Sat on the bed, his hair loose and currently being blow-dried off was Tommy. Last video had really shown how far Tommy had come from being a living, breathing stick to a still underweight but thankfully getting better thin boy even though he looked overwhelmingly small, swaddled in the thick winter clothing that hopefully was enough to make sure he didn't get sick with fever or something.

Besides him, holding the blow-dryer to Tommy's hair, was Quackity, previously known as 'Big Q'. The mysterious new man who was apparently a duck-hybrid. His wings were tucked behind his back, but still clearly visible. 

"I told you, the mirror was fucking HAUNTED!" Tommy exclaimed, hunched over and fuming.

Tubbo looked exasperated as he swiveled in his chair to look back at Tommy. "Now, I'm not saying I don't believe you Tommy- I'm not, stop looking at me like that! Really I swear! But dude, when I first got that mirror I promise you I gave it every test available to make sure it was a normal mirror. It passed the tests! No phantasmagorical readings, no mystical tethers, no malicious magic or ancient curse, believe me when I say that I screened that mirror and as far as I know it for the past few years, it was a normal mirror." 

"Normal mirror my ass." Wilbur scoffed and was surprised but very amused to hear Tommy echo his words in a growl. "You missed- missed something Toby! Because I swear to fuck and the Voids below that that mirror was fucking HAUNTED!" Tubbo held his hands up in surrender but it was clear he still had his doubts. It was hard to see from how far the camera was from Tommy but Wilbur was sure the blond was scowling and he was also sure that if the blond had his hands he'd be flipping Tubbo off before he flopped backwards onto Tubbo's, skinny legs lashing out at Quackity.

His weak kicks meant nothing to the man, gently catching them and setting them on the bed with the blow-dryer. "Not even a minute outside and Tommy's breaking stuff again, it's great." Quackity teased, getting off the bed and walking off camera. 

"Not exactly if it's my stuff he's breaking." Tubbo grumbled as he turned back to the computer.

Wilbur beamed as Tubbo opened the strange, original music program that seemed like Spotify but different. For one, the logo was diamond-shaped and blue. It was Box-Ju and it was Tubbo's main source of songs.

Another thing that Wilbur adored of Stream Labs was it's creative music that it used. It had hundreds of seemingly original songs- a fair few that seemed like parodies of other songs but most of the roster on Tubbo's playlist were original. Wilbur's made extensive research on it, he couldn't find any of the songs off the internet, it all linked back to Stream Labs. The mad composers and musicians behind Stream Labs had made original songs just for their ARG-Stream Show thing and Wilbur loved it.

The bands, the songs, the names- God, Wilbur wanted to meet the people behind Stream Labs and wanted to strangle whoever thought of the idea of keeping anonymous. They all deserved to be known.

Wilbur wanted to collab with them so badly.

Even though he probably didn't have a chance in hell in being able to do that.

A man could dream though, right?

He watched Tubbo scroll through the various artists and songs, Wilbur lit up as he recognized the artist that Tubbo had clicked on. It was 'Derivakat', an in-universe artist that Tubbo (and obviously Wilbur) greatly enjoyed.

"Oh! It's Derivakat's new song for MCC! Finally! It's on Box-Ju!" Tubbo exclaimed excitedly, immediately clicking on the song to both add it to his personal playlist and to listen to.

"Who?" Tommy asked from the bed, not moving an inch. 

"Oh this slaps." Wilbur grinned, upping the volume just so he could hear the song a bit clearer- another thing he had against Stream Labs was the fact that with all those songs it had. It never once released the albums that were shown on stream. He would kill for the full album from Derivakat on Spotify. Don't get him wrong, the covers he's listened to about them were great and all, but having the original would be just as pog. 

"She's this singer Tommy, she's made a ton of great songs! She even did Tox's character theme from Origins! You know, the bee hybrid that I showed you last time? She's the one who made Honey!" Tubbo explained, swiveling back towards Tommy who finally lifted his head to look at Tubbo. Wilbur half-listened to the conversation, catching the lyrics and wondering how much of the song would foreshadow the actual event. It had to since it was their newest source of information for the mysterious yet infamous MCC. A championship that hasn't even happened yet caused so much excitement when mentioned.

"She also made Casino Royale, unlike Honey, it's not an official song, it's actually a fansong for Las Nevadas but a lot of people loved the song. And by a lot of people, I mean me and a lot of other people." Quackity exclaimed as he walked back in frame to sit on the bed. 

Again, it was hard to see Tommy's face properly but he sounded quite exasperated and sulky as he groaned aloud. "I've missed so much shit! First there's Origins, now Las Nevadas- void knows how much shit I've fucking missed!"

"We've heard a bit about Origins, that sounds so cool but Las Nevadas? Is that like, a reference to Las Vegas or something?" In-universe shows were always a delight to find out and get some infor on, the Man vs Mob show was one of them and now they had more to add into the roster. Origins was somewhat familiar, back during the Logs, Tubbo had once laughed at Ranboo because of an exiled Enderian Prince on the show that seemed kind of like the actual prince only spoiled and bratty. Ranboo had seemed mortified but amused to be compared to Osra. They even saw a clip that Tubbo used to make fun of Ranboo.

And honestly, the prince in the clip looked kind of like Ranboo, but he definitely didn't really sound or act like the usually chill prince.

Emphasis on humble, he was exactly the opposite.

Tox must've been that bee hybrid in the background of the clip.

Tubbo laughed but was quick to reassure him, "Yeah but hey! We can start binging all the shows now that you're here!"

"Not to mention fatten you up, dios vacío Tomas, we need to get some meat on you. You're so fucking skinny, you're a twig!" Quackity exclaimed, laughing when Tommy tried to kick him again with an indignant hiss.

"Yes, please do feed the child." Wilbur agreed, taking some time to look down at the comments from the video for a bit, y'know, just to check. The top comment thankfully wasn't about any spoilers, but mostly about how Benson could be seen in the background of the video from time to time. Really? He checked the time-stamps and- Where was Benso- oh there he was. In the background on Tubbo's drawers, though soon the slime was slinking off into oblivion once again. No doubt a fun little game for the viewers, trying to spot Benson wherever he is whenever Tubbo wasn't bringing him into view. "All hail the glowing duck slime." He snickered before rewinding back to where he he was, focusing back to Tubbo, Tommy and Quackity. 

"Well boys," Quackity said just as the song ended much to Wilbur's disappointment, but he was going to look forward to everyone else picking the song apart for the future. "What now? Time for a binge watch? Let's start with Las Nevadas!" 

"Ehhh, not in the mood for something like casinos and drug cartels Big Q." Tommy waved off causing the duck hybrid to pout. Was that what the show was about? Somehow, Wilbur wasn't exactly surprised.

"Oh! Oh! Third life is having a second season, well, connected sequel? Let's watch the first season and move on to Last Life!" Tubbo exclaimed, swiveling once more towards the desktop and camera. Effectively blocking most of the view of Tommy and Quackity behind him. "Granted, the show's kinda much though. Actually, why don't we start with Hermicraft Toms? There's a new season out, but we can rewatch from where- um, where you left off?" 

"Hermitcraft? FUCK! RIGHT! Grian just joined the Hermits didn't he? Season Six was just starting-" Tubbo blinked and there was a flash of sadness and guilt on his face before he turned back to look at Tommy. 

"Then we can rewatch season six to the newest season! Which is season eight by the way. Mumbo's actually making money this time and Grian's gotten way better at flying. He's one of the best now actually!" 

"Really?! Holy- show me! Big Q, help me-" "I gotcha, I gotcha, careful Tommy!" 

Ping

Wilbur's eyes darted towards the desktop as soon as the ping sounded off, it hadn't come from his Discord or his emails, it was actually from Tubbo's computer. He wasn't the only one to notice the ping, Tubbo had as well as he focused back on his computer. His mouse hovered over the email icon on his desk hesitantly, but he instead clicked on the 'Realm' Web browser as Quackity rolled Tommy over in his wheelchair. The blond looking excited as Tubbo clicked on a green cube with a black play button on it which lead to the website of 'VidCube', Stream Lab's version of YouTube.

The interface was different though. 

Tubbo typed in, 'Grian Hermitcraft flying compilation'.

Tons of videos appeared of a man in a red sweater shirt and vibrant red, yellow and blue wings. Parrot wings they'd recognize.

Tubbo clicked on one video titled, 'Grian's Flying From Season Six to Now'. Though, just as the video was playing, something interrupted.

Rather, someone interrupted.

Someone was calling Tubbo, and not just anyone.

Wilbur squinted at the ID, 'Ranboo's Mum' while Tubbo winced. "Uh, sorry big man, looks like I have to take this- Big Q, why don't you take Tommy to the living room and start up Hermitcraft huh?" Wasn't Ranboo's mother Queen Kristin?

Looks like Phil was going to enjoy this video, the musician grinned. It dropped a bit as Tommy looked put out but understanding, "Yeah- Yeah okay." Quackity coughed, looking a bit surprised but quickly smiled at Tommy reassuringly, "C'mon Tomas! I'll make you some popcorn with honeyflakes hm? The good shit." Immediately after the sound of the door closed, Tubbo accepted the call, smiling crookedly at the queen herself.

Back in the vods, even watching the Queen on another screen from above Tommy and Tubbo, she still seemed so regal and powerful. Honestly it was understandable why a lot of people, Phil, enjoyed her and found her as their new favorite of the series despite her one and only appearance so far.

But right now? Given a more clearer view of the Queen herself?

Wilbur whistled as Tubbo bowed his head respectfully, "Your Grace." He greeted, smiling at the matriarch of Endlantis. A clear reference to Antlantis? 

Queen Kristin smiled back, gentle but firm. "Toby. I'm sorry for the abrupt call, I must have interrupted you and Tommy." Her eyes were glancing around Tubbo's room, and even Wilbur felt his heart stop a bit when it seemed like she was looking right at him- though she was only looking at the camera. There was something powerful in her eyes, something deadly that laid behind her gentle face. 

God, Wilbur might not be able to make fun of Phil anymore, this woman was certainly something.

Actually, no, he would make fun of Phil. Even more so! The man had been exposed as a Queen Kristin fan account on twitter! How could he not make fun of his dearest friend? 

Still, he'd probably tone back some of the teasing.

"It's no problem your grace! Tommy's in the other room, catching up on some old shows that have new seasons with Big- erm, with Quackity." Tubbo told her, threading his hands together in front of him. "Now, what exactly did you need of me my queen? I doubt you'd personally call my computer just for a casual talk." Though smiling, Tubbo's eyes narrowed sharply at her and Wilbur had to wonder of their relationship.

Ranboo was Tubbo's best friend aside from Tommy, that much was clear. But what did Kristin think of that? Tubbo was at some point, her son's kidnapper. How the hell did that happen by the way? What came of it? They know that somehow, Tubbo managed to wiggle his way into being a scientist for Endlantis and was keeping a close bond with the Prince he once kidnapped after saving him from other kidnappers. That was one story they wanted to know.

Also, with a closer look, most would realize that Queen Kristin didn't really look like Ranboo. Did that mean he took more after his yet to be seen father? Or perhaps maybe he was adopted? Just more and more questions piling up for the story of Stream Labs.

The dragon queen sighed, losing her smile and the general aura of the video shifted. Taking a more serious note. "Unfortunately so. Dr. Score, currently you are on leave from the fact that Snowchester's many laboratories, including your own, are currently under reconstruction as well as modification. I understand that you intend to stay on leave until Thomas is completely healed. However, I may have to cut that time short. I want you to accompany my daughter on her journey for her wings, she has mapped out her pathway and her pathway leads her to through the Archives. Your previous home realm, I want you to guide and assist her." 

"Uh, what?" "I'm sorry, WHAT?" Wilbur and Tubbo unintentionally said in tandem, though Tubbo sounded a bit outraged rather than shocked.

"With all due respect your grace, I am still outlawed in the Archives. If I so much take one step into the realm, I will be jailed or even hunted." Tubbo stressed by smacking his hand on his desk. 

Kristin didn't seem too affected, if anything she looked slightly amused. "I took partial creation to your outlaw for the Archives, I can revoke the ban and lift your sentence if only temporarily. As part of my daughter's group, you will be granted diplomatic immunity so long as you don't do anything rash or much." She gave him a pointed look. 

"My Queen, I know the set date for Niki's- I mean, Princess Nihachu's departure from the news was fake and that you'll be sending her off sooner than that but that just means I can't- Tommy just got out of the tube! He's malnourished, he's atrophied, your grace he is armless I cannot leave him. I won't. Not again. He's awake and alive, he needs me, I can't just-" Tubbo was trying to keep his composure, but the thought of leaving Tommy behind, again apparently, was obviously getting to him. 

The inhuman Queen's face did not change, not one bit, but she did lift a hand and the simple gesture silenced the nervous teenage scientist. "I understand the distress, Dr. Score. Believe me, I do. However there is no one else I can trust to guide my daughter through the Archives. You grew up in the slums, doctor, and not just that. You tinkered in the ruins and did the impossible. Her pathway leads through those ruins and you and I both know, that there is no one else more suited for the role. And I promise you, Dr. Score... Toby... That Tommy will remain safe in Endlantis while you are away." 

Tubbo's nervousness dropped slightly, making room for incredulousness instead. "Endlantis?"

"Endlantis. I am offering to relocate Tommy to here, in Endlantis. He and Ranboo can keep each other company while you're away." The neutral facade finally faded slightly into a slight smile, her eyes twinkling with amusement. "You did not think I would force you to leave Tommy behind just like that did you? I'm not merciless Toby, not to you nor to Tommy. And I believe Ranboo wanted to spend time with him as well. He will be protected, well taken cared of."

"Well, I mean, that's good isn't it?" Wilbur questioned, wondering if Tubbo should take the deal or not- or was it even a deal? Tubbo was talking to the Queen of Endlantis. This might as well be an order and Queen Kristin was just offering things to appease Tubbo and make sure he didn't have to worry or reject being part of her daughter's journey.

Something that was apparently very important, maybe even more important than the Minhe-Crafe Championships?

Were they going to have a more action-packed adventure instead of being confined to one area? They had been seeing more environments that weren't Tubbo's lab. Which was still being rebuilt, so it made sense story-wise? Something seemed off about it though, Wilbur couldn't put his finger on it.

Still, this was something important and by Tubbo's apprehensive but thoughtful look, he knew it too. Which was why he accepted.

The young genius sighed, "You have my gratitude, Queen Kristin." He muttered lowly, though he didn't look too happy. "I'll join Niki's group and lead her through the Archives... Why she would want to go there is beyond me, and why you are allowing it is also beyond me." He replied dryly, and really, Wilbur had to admit. Tubbo was a genius, that was established from the very beginning but man did the kid have balls to be so blasé and have that kind of tone to royalty. Granted she was Ranboo's mother and Ranboo was his best friend but still...

He loved it. He loved the character and personality that was written into Tubbo, it was utterly fantastic. 

Kristin chuckled, lips curling up which emphasized on the sharp fangs she had. "Despite what I said, where she goes is not of her control. Nor mine. I remember my trek through the Nether on my journey for my wings. Granted, the start was a hoax and a trick from my predecessor but look where I am now." She replied amusedly before she shook her head and focused on Tubbo once more. "You have one month to prepare, Dr. Score. I have already sent you the profiles of the others who will be joining you with my little Niki. Whatever you require for the journey, or whatever Tommy needs, please do list it and send it to Schlatt so he may prepare."

At the mention of Schlatt, Tubbo's face darkened and he opened his mouth. Only to shut it with a click and sigh, "Yes, your grace." He grumbled out. 

"..." Kristin sighed but smiled gently at Tubbo, "May the Void Be Kind to you, Doctor Toby Score."

"And To You, Queen Kristin Elytria." Tubbo replied with a softer, less grumbly tone. 

With that, the call ended and Tubbo slumped forward on the desk. Groaning aloud and giving his desk a good slam that honestly made Wilbur jump a little, unexpecting the small act of controlled violence. Though it was probably to let out a bit of stress. 

Tubbo's came muffled but still audible for them to hear. "I can't, I can't do this! I have to stay, I promised to stay with Tommy!" He lifted his head, looking conflicted and torn. "But I'm obligated by duty and oath to help Niki and follow Kristin's orders... UGH!" He let out a growl of frustration, grabbing a random book from the side and chucking it at the wall. It made a harsh thunk as it hit the wall, and thunked again when it landed on the ground.  

His frustration faltered a bit when he heard the hesitant and almost fearful sounding squack? that came off screen. "Benson? Oh Benson, I'm sorry pal. C'mere. I won't hurt you, I'm sorry-" He cooed, reaching over to retrieve a very familiar duck slime that trembled in his hands. "I'm not angry at you, I promise. I'm just- frustrated okay? See? Good duck slime, so good, best pet." He soothed, gently tapping the jiggly creature in his hands.

A pleased squack came from Benson, who melted on screen. "Awww." Wilbur cooed with Tubbo, happy to see that his frustrated didn't affect his love for his pet.

"This sucks though. I'll have to prepare, talk to Schlatt, talk to Tommy, talk to Schlatt, plan with Quackity, talk to Schlatt." Tubbo huffed, scowling at his computer. "This... Fuck. You know what? I'll deal with it tomorrow! Or tomorrow's tomorrow. I don't care! I just-" He slumped once more, looking downtrodden and sad. "I want to spend time with Tommy, not worry about anything for a while..." He whispered. 

His sadness didn't really last as Benson let out a concerned croon, climbing Tubbo's hand to tuck himself into Tubbo's neck. Tubbo giggled, "Benson, that always feels weird when you do that!" He sighed, gently squishing the slime against his neck. "Thanks bud... Shit wait, I've been recording this whole thing haven't I? Even the call? Okay, I need to- stop recording and just- not think of this. I'll deal, deal with it later. Later sounds good. Hermitcraft with Big Q and Toms sounds better."

Wilbur hummed as the video ended. That was certainly one interesting stream- or well, vod. Video. 

He had a lot to think about...

But first;

consumerof s a n d: heyyy phiiiil, look your waifu had more better screen time this time!! aren't you elated :smugcatsmile: :smugcatsmile: :smugcatsmile:

crowfather: M8 I SWEAR TO GOD

Wilbur cackled as he quickly summoned the others to make fun of Phil for the next few minutes.

Great vod though, he couldn't wait for the next live stream.

"You sure nothing's interfering with the map?" 

Kristin held back a sigh, mostly because she was in the middle of sipping some lovely wine at the moment. She swallowed her sip and set down the wine glass, "Yes, I am quite sure that nothing interfered with the map." She replied dryly to the man standing before the newly created map her daughter made.

"Hm... But are you sure?" She did not hold back her groan.

"Yes Schlatt, I'm quite sure." She told the ram-horned man that held his hands in surrender, recognizing her tone of voice. "I've checked, I've double-checked, I've triple-checked. Quadrupled, quintupled, I've CHECKED Schlatt. Nothing has interfered or is interfering with Niki's map." If she had been holding the glass, she was sure she'd crack it by now. "Niki will not end up like I did. Though her journey will be perilous, full of danger and more, she will be going through it on her own merit and actions. Nothing of her journey will be orchestrated." 

Not like hers.

The wings on her back taunted her sometimes, but she resolutely ignored the imaginary taunts of the past.

She was alive, not the King. 

She was Queen, not a princess in danger just because of-

"Woah there Queenie, you're a smoking hot lady and all but when you're smoking like that, you are almost nobody's type." Schlatt pointed out her, the smoke escaping her teeth and lips curled in the hair and she took in a deep breath, releasing the excess smoke and keeping her powers under control.

She was over a hundred years old now, she knew better than to lose control like that. "Except maybe for some pyrophiliac freak or something. They'd probably consider you still smoking hot even when you're literally smoking." Kristin couldn't help the light giggle that came from Schlatt's statement. 

"Hush you... At any rate, Niki's journey will start soon. I'll have to say goodbye and everything... I wonder sometimes, if he felt anything aside from- you know, greed and a threatened sense of power and authority, when I went to find my wings." Despite the anger, despite her feelings and the past- she can't help but wonder sometimes. Especially now that her own daughter was going to go find her wings.

Schlatt hummed, shrugging, "Dunno. He's dead so you can't ask him, but I doubt he felt anything like you're feeling Kristin. Guy was an asshole from what you told me, a worse asshole than I was. And that's saying something!" 

The Queen of Endlantis smiled slightly, "At least you got better though." She reminded him quietly.

Schlatt gave her a crooked grin, though she could see that he didn't really believe her all that much. Not that she could blame him. "Yeah... Better... Anyway, wanna hear the latest goss from the nether nobles? Hot news just came."

Kristin took up her glass of wine, clinking it softly with Schlatt's. "Of course, tell me, what are those idiots up to now?"

The grin on Schlatt's face turned into a wicked one with delight.

"Well..."

Chapter Text

"What a way to get views and subs on youtube, it'd feel kinda scummy if it weren't legitimate and what they really deserve." Puffy said to herself, once again looking over the Stream Labs YouTube channel for nth time that day. Mostly to see the ever-rising count of subscribers that came in by the hundreds hourly. The fandom had only found the official, and it was official, Stream Labs YouTube channel thanks to the links and a stray tweet. Not even an hour later did the subscribers come.

Puffy couldn't remember how many subs there were exactly when she first clicked the link to the channel, it was definitely in the double digit-thousands and look at it now.

Almost a couple of days later and they were already hitting the 750k mark. 

At this point, they'd peak to the millions in no time.

Like seriously, what a way to grow!

It was kind of a dick move to not show the two streams on Twitch and then upload the vods on YouTube but hey, it worked in raking in the views and subs. Just look at them all.

At any rate though, Stream Labs was continuing to be a big wave on the internet as now they truly embarked on a new platform. Before it was other youtubers that covered over them, and now they were on YouTube.

Clicking out of the channel, Puffy scrolled through the videos that YouTube was recommending her. She didn't have much planned today aside from a stream that may or may not have to be moved today, it depended on the others who she was streaming with really but right now, she had a moment to do almost anything else or just nothing. Videos were a good way to pass the time without doing anything, she might rewatch a few things like one of Stream Labs past vods.

Admittedly she missed Tubbo's old streams in his lab, the magic and science he did at first was still great. It really built up on just what kind of world Stream Labs was situated in, the fusion of magic and science and the subtle but impactful little things in that world like Box-Ju and VidCube. It was a slow and steady pace but she can't say she missed it too much since they were getting a lot of worldbuilding now.

New characters, new environment.

While she and the others might've been content with Tubbo's lab, having it be the only place they'll ever see would've docked some of the story and stream's interest.

Some, the cool magic and science would have probably made up for that.

However, with Tubbo's lab currently under reconstruction and with poor Tommy out of the tube, they were getting to see new amazing things outside of the lab!

The continuous shot of Tubbo's cambee going over the snowy landscape of Snowchester's lands gradually revealing the civilization that lived there was top notch. A bit boring without any music added in and going on for maybe a bit too much, but it was realistic and still beautiful. 

Plus the world reveal of the outside world was worth it, seeing all those people- different races, kids, teenagers, adults and more, just going about their days in their beautifully built buildings and snow covered streets... It was great.

Not to mention that phenomenally awesome but impossible magic parkour course. She's seen plenty of parkourists (and other adrenaline junkies) exclaim how much they wanted to try it out in real life. Of course there were also plenty of others that didn't either but it was very fair. Sure, there was magic to help the fall but realistically Puffy would not want to try that out. No matter how cool it looked or how safe Tubbo might've insisted.

Maybe.

It was amazing to look at at least.

Ping

Just as she was about to click on Buzzfeed Unsolved's newest episode, she got a notification from Stream Labs. She perked and immediately switched from YouTube to Twitch, the video she wanted to click on wasn't set to premiere until sometime tomorrow anyway so she wasn't in a rush to check it out just yet.

Even though it was a very intriguing video, if only because the name in the title was very familiar. 

The Appearance and Disappearance of the Jacobs Family.

Grinning to herself, Puffy eagerly clicked on the starting stream, the title was Cambee F #4. A bit disappointed it wasn't a stream on Tubbo and Tommy, though that disappointed didn't stay long since she really liked Fundy. Fundy was a great guy, not to mention he also gave a lot of opportunity for the viewers to see more of the worldbuilding. 

: ITS A FOX STREAM YES!!!
: lol its the furry again
: FUNDY MY BOI HELLO
: start the stream start the stream 
: eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
: ugh not this guy
: aw i was looking forward to seeing more tommy!
: first stream pog :D

Her eyes strayed from the chat as soon as the intro stopped, immediately the screen showed two very familiar people peering at it with Fundy's voice coming in.

"-e! I'd happily make one for either of you! It's been fun using it! Well, kinda, I've uh, I've been a bit busy so I haven't been using this as much as I could." Fundy admitted as the camera focused on non other than the royal siblings themselves. Ranboo and Nihachu.

"Aw, it's adorable Fundy. I can see why Tubbo likes it." Princess Nihachu cooed, speaking for the second time ever on Stream Labs. The first time of course, was during that video that introduced her and the Queen. Puffy hummed, finding her voice pleasant and her design amazing- it was great to finally see it up close and not on another screen! Just look at those eyes... 

Ranboo chuckled, gaining her attention from the princess' pretty pink eyes as the camera moved away from the two, flying into the air. "He does, though uh, he did tell me his cambee broke on accident a few days ago. Something about Tommy accidentally ramming it into his mirror?" He said, glancing over at both Fundy and his sister.

With the camera away, she finally noticed the fact that all three of them were dressed rather... loosely? Casually? The only time they've ever seen Ranboo was usually in his princely garb, with his crown and everything, but right now he was dressed in a short-sleeved gray shirt, and his pants were black and baggy. His crown and the usual jewelry he wore was gone, though he did have a white hairband on, keeping his bangs away from his face.

Niki, her usual nickname, was dressed similarly, though her shirt was a lighter color of gray and had no sleeves and her pants had strips of dark pink running along the sides. Her hair was tied tightly into two buns, though she seemed to let two strips of hair frame her lovely face. Simple clothes but she rocked it, Puffy approved with a grin. If Puffy looked at the mirror at the moment, maybe she would notice the slight blush on her face. 

Compared to Ranboo and Niki, Fundy was definitely more colorful thanks to his fur but his clothing helped as well as he wore a light green shirt with a little red fish emblem stamped on his chest, the camera's controller pin was of course, pinned on the hat that he still wore. He wore shorts instead of long pants like the siblings and though they were black, they had strips of orange, blue and yellow around his waist. "Oh yeah, he told me that too. It was weird but no worries! He said he'd be fixing it- well, I offered to fix it but you know Tubbo, he'd rather do it his own... If anything he'll probably upgrade it." Fundy laughed, squatting down to stretch his legs.

: HOOWEEE MAMA HELLO
: they all look so good :DDD
: what are they doing??
: where are they? what's going on??
: ACTION STREAM POG?!?!?!?
: PLEASE JUST TALK TO US PLEASE JUST TALK TO US PLEASE JUST TALK TO US

"Yeah." Ranboo nodded in agreement, doing his own stretches and showing off how flexible he really was- which was very. Like seriously, the way he bent himself backwards had Puffy's back aching just by looking at it. Did Ranboo's species have a more flexible spine or backbone or something? Because Puffy was very sure that no normal human could bend their backs like that. 

Maybe they hired a contortionist or a really flexible gymnast to act out Ranboo. 

And Niki, she had to add as she watched in awe as the princess fell into a smooth split with no problem, tail idly waving behind her as she pressed her chest against her leg and the floor. 

"How are they doing anyway? Tubbo and Tommy. I've been so busy lately I haven't messaged Tubbo at all, and the only updates I have on Tommy are from you guys and Mom." Niki questioned, barely phased by her own flexibility as the cambee circled around them. In the background, they could only see the edges of something- a course? An obstacle course? A parkour course? It was hard to tell as the cambee was tilted at an angle and was more focused on the three of them instead of whatever that was in the background.

Rolling his shoulder and arm, Ranboo hummed, "Well, Tommy's finally been moved into Tubbo's place. Aside from the mirror incident, they're doing well I think. Tubbo's been paying close attention to Tommy, the diet that he and Bad made him is already helping his malnutrition." He dropped down to follow his sister in her stretches, "Though he says it'll be a while before Tommy can use the main prosthetics that he designed for him, so he's like, making new ones for him. Something for Tommy to get used to and stuff? Honestly he probably should have thought about that first but I guess he was more focused on when Tommy got better and giving him the best arms he could make."

As Ranboo spoke, Fundy attempted to follow them but unfortunately he wasn't as flexible and had given up, sitting cross-legged on the floor frowning at Ranboo. "I know Sam was involved with the incident with Tommy and Tubbo way back in the Archives but, how did Tommy lose his arms?" 

Both royal siblings paused, sharing a look with each other. The cambee floated a bit closer, showing the hesitance on their faces, though Ranboo's face looked far more grim than Niki's. He knew something it seemed and he shook his head, looking back at Fundy. "I uh, I don't think I'm the one you should be asking that question to." He pushed himself back to his feet, rubbing his arm awkwardly, "Ahem, should we uh, should we start the course? I want to beat my record." He exclaimed, clearly changing the subject.

Fundy's frown lingered but the fox man smiled and got to his feet, "I mean, we stretched for a bit now. Yeah, yeah! Let's do this! It's been a while since I did this course, mind if I do it first?"

: no go back!! what happened to tommy?!?!
: bruhh
: :crowsquawk: :crowsquawk: :crowsquawk:
: ACTION TIME? IS IT ACTION TIME? I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO SEE HOW STREAM LABS WOULD DO IN ACTION!
: just more crumbs of past lore i see 
: GIVE THE BACKSTORY ALREADY

"They're not going to give the backstory that easily just yet dudes, chill." Puffy laughed at chat, idly opening Discord when she saw the notification of Phil @'ing whoever was online and available. Looked like he wanted to call while watching the stream. 

The last call during a stream had been fun, they had agreed to do it again sometimes. Now was good a time of any, for her at least. Some of them probably couldn't make it; like Wilbur for instance, he was probably in a meeting and would have to watch the VOD instead of watching it live with them.

Just as Ranboo said, "Yeah no sure! Go right ahead Fundy." Did Puffy join the call with Phil, Dream, Techno and Ponk. 

"-ill Phil, it's all cool. We're all cool." Ponk had said while Fundy handed Ranboo the pin for the cambee.

Puffy snorted, had they been teasing Phil already? "Hey guys!"

"Puffy! He-holy shit." Dream's greeting was interrupted by the clear awe in his statement, which she couldn't blame as on stream, the cambee flew back and finally showed where the three inhuman characters were.

It was indeed an obstacle/parkour course. A giant magical one, made clear by the floating platforms, the moving rings, the shifting pillars, the twirling poles and swinging ropes and swings and the glimmering translucent net that padded the air between each obstacle.

It definitely reminded them of the floating parkour one back in Snowchester, but bigger, wider, and somewhat safer? If only because there were actual walls and a net instead of a crystal that teleported you back if you fell off in the fucking air. 

This seemed less terrifying, but definitely more difficult. It was hard to tell how long the course was exactly but holy shit, did it look cool and complicated to run through.

Everyone was looking forward in how Fundy would be able to do it. They were finally going to see some action up close!

"Oh my god that looks so cool." Dream breathed as Fundy jogged over to the starting platform of the course, shaking his hands and practically bouncing in place. 

"At least it looks safer than the Snowchester course." Techno added in dryly.

Niki had gone off screen but came back holding something golden in her hand. "Alright! I have the stopwatch, aaand GO!" She shouts at Fundy who immediately jumped off the platform, climbing a set of ladders stuck to a pillar in front of him. 

: YESSS ACTION TIME!! FINALLY STREAM LABS ACTION TIME GOOO
: furry man go brrrr
: GO FUNDY GO FUNDY!
: :pogface: :pogface: :pogface:
: GOOOOOOOOOO
: holy shit look at him go

"WHOO! Go Fundy!" They all hollered in the call, unable to stay quiet as the cambee followed after the fox.

Puffy could definitely see why so many people were looking forward to the more action packed parts of Stream Labs! Just look at the stunt choreography and the parkour skills they were showing off! Not to mention the special effects implemented to not only keep Fundy's character design realistic yet fantastical, but also the way the environment was kept magical yet functional? 

It must've taken ages to get this done!

And yet most streams were usually one week or a few days apart, where did they have the time to make something as elaborate as this? And the rest of the streams?

"Augh!! I forgot how much I hate this part of the course!" Fundy exclaimed as he balanced precariously on a thin pole in the air, each step taken slowly but surely. 

"You can do it Fundy! Careful now!" Puffy encouraged, on the edge of her seat as the cambee circled around Fundy. The fox managing to get to the end but having to jump unto a dangling rope. 

Which he missed in the end.

"Ooooghhh." Ponk winced when Fundy's fingers brushed against the rope. They watched with slight nervousness as Fundy fell with a yelp, but sighed in relief when the translucent net caught him. The relief turned into confusion when Fundy abruptly disappeared in shimmering sparks from the net. 

"Aw come ON!" They distantly heard his voice, the cambee spun around, showing Fundy back at the start. It flew back as Fundy got to his knees, panting. "So close! Huff, man- I think I did better than I thought I would but boy am I out of shape." He complained, leaning back and sitting down. "I didn't even get to the first checkpoint!"

"Out of shape my ass, that was so cool." Dream huffed as Niki walked over, offering an orange metal water bottle to Fundy. 

The princess was laughing as Fundy snatched bottle to drink, "You have been busy over at Snowchester. Setting up the servers, doing your projects- but now that you're essentially on break, you can always contact me to get back into shape." She giggled, nudging the fox hybrid who looked thoughtful to the offer. "But hey, you did alright first try. Are you going to try again or is it Ranboo's turn?"

"Ranboo's turn. Then yours." Fundy replied, accepting Niki's offered hand so he could stand up. Wow, Niki and Ranboo's species were really tall. Either that, or Fundy was just short.

"Yes! My turn!" Ranboo cheered, handing the pin back to Fundy as the cambee flew back once more. 

: PRINCEBOO'S TURN! MY BELOVED!!!
: YEAHHH RANBOO!!
: POG POG POG POG
: lmao i knew fundy was gonna fail at this 
: NEXT IS NIKI'S TURN!

"Yeaaa, go Ranboo! You can do it mate!" Phil cheered along with chat.

Well, most of chat.

"Okay, I've reset the stop watch... and GO!" Immediately after Niki shouted, Ranboo jumped unto the ladder, scaling it much faster than Fundy did.

Really, compared to Fundy Ranboo was much better at going through the course. Of course he still had a few hiccups, he almost fell when balancing across the thin platform but thankfully he used his tail to stabilize himself. 

"Ranboo! Ranboo! Ranboo! Ranboo!" Puffy chanted with Phil and the others, watching the prince jump and climb from obstacle to obstacle. When he got to where Fundy had fallen, stepping across the thin poles with relative ease, and jumping off to cling on the rope. He waited until the rope stopped swinging before climbing up it and unto the platform above. 

"WHOO! Yeah go Ranboo!" Fundy cheered distantly from the side as Ranboo took a breather on the platform, looking over his next obstacle. The cambee flew overhead, showing the moving platforms that moved in a jerky pattern, moving forward, back, flipping over and repeating. 

"Man, I thought this would be further into the course. Who said it should be here?" They heard Ranboo complain before stepping back and then running forward unto a nearby platform just as it stopped. Though just as he landed, the platform jerked forward and Ranboo almost fell off, not expecting it to move so soon. "WOAH! AHH!" He screamed when the platform flipped over shortly, dumping him towards the net.

"Noo- wait what the fuck?" Phil questioned as Ranboo disappeared into a flourish of purple particles before he could even hit the net. 

"Cheater! You're not supposed to teleport during the course!" Niki called out as the cambee swiveled, revealing Ranboo back on the platform, looking slightly spooked but relieved. 

"Maybe for you! But I'm not the one attending MCC! Besides, it doesn't matter anyway! MCC a long way from starting! You might have to teleport during your journey sis, so I don't see the problem!" Ranboo called back with his arms crossed. 

"Mom said we shouldn't be over reliant on teleportation!"

"I'm not over reliant on teleportation! I'd like to see you do this whole course without teleporting once!"

The cambee looked over to the distant Niki, they couldn't see her face clearly from where they were but they could definitely hear her as she loudly accepted Ranboo's challenge. She tossed the stopwatch to Fundy and the cambee flew back to the start. 

"WHOO! GO NIKI YOU GOT THIS!" Puffy shouted, grinning to herself at the princess' confident smile.

"Bruhh, that was pretty loud Puffy, mind the mic." Puffy coughed, quietly apologizing to Techno, though her apologies were cut short as Fundy exclaimed.

"GO!"

Now, Ranboo had definitely been faster than Fundy during his run but Niki?

She was fast and elegant.

It was like watching one of those professional parkour videos where the pro was just zooming through the course, making it so easy even though it really wasn't. She kept to her own pace yeah but that pace couldn't be compared by either Fundy or Ranboo. She barely even paused when she made it to the jump with the rope, getting there in record time and climbing up as soon as she was on the damn thing.

"You have been doing this far too much." Ranboo told her as soon as she climbed up, though he said it more like a compliment than a complaint. 

Niki laughed, winking at Ranboo, "I've certainly been practicing more now that Mom's letting me prepare for my journey." She said, stepping past her brother and standing at the edge of the platform. She waited only for a moment before hopping unto the moving platforms, bracing herself for a moment as it shifted forward, jumping off right before it was flipping to another platform. 

With relative ease, she reached the other side of the course, completing it with a smug smile on her face as she touched a symbol on a pedestal. It glowed underneath her hand. "Checkpoint reached."

: WE STAN BADASS WOMEN 
: lol that was easy
: NIKI NIKI NIKI
: NEW FAVORITE CHARACTER HELLO!!!
: NIKI NIKI NIKI!!!!
: tall womam <3
: :happyscream: :happyscream: :pinkheart: :pinkheart: :pinkheart:

"YEAHHH!" Thankfully this time, she wasn't the only one who was loud in the call. Puffy's cheeks were hurting with how hard she was smiling. "Oh my god she's so cool!" 

The cambee moved above her, looking back at Ranboo with Fundy's voice cheering in the background. "Nice, but that's just checkpoint one. I said the WHOLE course Niki. If you teleport just once, I will bake you my god-killing cake, and you will eat it!" Ranboo said loudly from the other side of the course. 

God-killing cake? 

"Oh void below- no! Ranboo, I love you, you're my brother but clearly between the two of us, I am the superior baker and parkourist... You're on!" 

She was a baker too? 

God that woman was perfect.

"What was that Puffy?" 

Did she say that out loud? "Uhh..."

Phil's face cam turned on, the man looked entirely mischievous. 

Fuck.

Well at least the stream was amazing.

Chapter Text

Techno huffed in amusement, re-reading through the discord messages from earlier on. The ridiculous amount of times Philza had pinged Puffy just because she left the call right as Phil turned on his camera to tease her about Niki who she probably had an interest in. A crush maybe. Who knows, they had all heard Puffy's breathy words about Niki's perfection- definitely a crush. 

Scenting the weakness Puffy showed, Philza immediately zeroed in on her interest with a teasing force that was clearly just revenge for Puffy's own teasing about Queen Kristin.

The chaos really happened when Dream and Ponk chimed in their two scents and Philza started targeting them as well with their clear interest on their own respective characters.

It was hard to focus on the stream when your friends started teasing each other so Techno had deafened up to watch it. It wasn't much- well, it was still amazing since it was Stream Labs but the rest of the stream was just Niki, Ranboo and Fundy going through the magical parkour obstacle course. It was very entertaining to watch, seeing the way the platforms shifted or disappeared, watching them swing from one rope to another or dangle from a ridiculous and slightly terrifying height.

It wasn't Techno's preferred stream or favorite but it was pretty good. It lasted for another hour with jokes and little snippets about their world that no doubt the theorists and lore-diggers would snatch and attempt to patch into their building wall of lore and story.

Niki was Crown Princess, that they already knew, but what they didn't know or suspected as that she and Ranboo were adopted by Kristin. They weren't her biological children, though they were related since they were legitimately part of the royal bloodline. The children of Kristin's siblings perhaps? 

Only those of royal blood could apparently go on a 'Journey to Find Their Wings' like Niki was preparing to do. And that apparently, it was almost kind of literal that they were trying to find their wings. There was some kind of built-in GPS they had, an 'innate sense' that would guide them towards their wings. How that worked, Techno had no idea. But that 'innate sense' is what was helping Niki map out where she had to go and when.

She did mention a few very interesting areas during her break with Ranboo and Fundy like; Teu-Be-Tuu-Ti, an apparently very dangerous place with how concerned both Ranboo and Fundy were. It was a land of anarchists so says the prince, dangerous criminals lurked and ruled that could do forbidden magic or something so the fox supplied. Niki reassured them that it was fine, that she only needed to go through a specific route and that she'd be stopping by the CrimWarp Nether Realm and stay in the Wither Kingdom before entering the anarchy land. It was enough to calm them down to an extent but they had both still worried.

Now what did that mean exactly? Hell if Techno knew, he'd wait for the theories and explanation to come in thanks. 

The mention of the Archives were what interested Techno and the others the most since that was where Tubbo and Tommy were from, where Tubbo had to go back to to guide Niki towards the ruins. 

"They're somewhere in those ruins. Or at least, a big clue on where they can be will be in those ruins, Tubbo's the only one we can really rely on there. The other guides aren't exactly..."

"As experienced as Tubbo was?" Ranboo offered, Niki made a confirming noise while Fundy looked thoughtful and a bit shellshocked.

The fox hadn't known that Tubbo had been to the ruins in the Archives before, "I mean, I knew he was from the Archives. The gossip around him was hard to ignore when he first started but the ruins? Huh, no wonder..."

Yeah they were really hyping up this journey Niki was taking and the ruins and Archives. 

The stream ended not long afterwards, Ranboo and Niki being called away by a man in a suit with ram horns on his head. Fundy didn't seem to like the man, scoffing at his appearance but did nothing else but said goodbye to the siblings before the stream ended. 

Technoblade had left the call not long after it ended, mostly so he could sleep but it was unfortunate he hadn't stayed for longer. Telling by the messages on Discord, he missed quite the ordeal with Philza being on the complete offense mode against the others. "Heh, simps." He muttered to himself with amusement. 

Tabbing out of Discord, he scrolled through YouTube and clicked on a particularly interesting video. It had uploaded right before Stream Labs started streaming which was bad timing unfortunately. Oh well, he could listen to it now while he did something else.

"In this week's episode of Buzzfeed Unsolved Supernatural, we discuss the Appearance and Disappearance of the Jacobs Family as part of our ongoing investigation; are ghosts and the supernatural real?" 

"Appearance and Disappearance you say?"

"I do say, you're gonna- you're gonna have a riot with this family I tell you Shane."

"Color me intrigued!"

Technoblade let the video play out as he opened another window, opening a private folder that was full of his notes and plans for future videos and streams. He definitely needed to rearrange a few things in there, it was getting cluttered. 

In the sleepy town of Portobello back in the 1940s, the townsfolk would be completely unprepared for the wild sudden arrival of the Jacobs Family. To quote one of the folk, quote "You've never seen such a quirky, strange family like the Jacobs until you've met the Jacobs." Unquote.

Well, this could just be the old timey definitions of someone back in the 1940s. Pretty sure that a lot of things now would be strange to them back then.

Agreed, but I am entirely sure they'd still be labelled as quirky and strange now, listen to this; it was said that the Jacobs Family came out of nowhere. Arriving at the town in the middle of summer carrying precious gemstones and gold in their pockets and swords and bows in their hands.

*Startled laugh* Excu-Excuse me? Swords and bows in their hands?

Swords and bows in their hands. Apparently this family was rich as hell and had skills like no other. The Jacobs family back then consisted of four people, the father Levi Jacobs, the mother Genevieve, and their two daughters. Eiffel, a five year old and Carly, a ten year old. 

Eiffel? Like the Eiffel tower? Wha- who names their child after the Eiffel Tower?

People are just like that sometimes. Carrying on, there was also a son apparently but we'll get to him later.

Oh?

Yeah, we-we'll get to that. Ahem, the Jacobs Family appeared out of nowhere in the town of Portobello, carrying riches and weapons, there was concern at first that they were German Nazi spies that came to settle down as World War 2 was still going on and would continue to do so until 1945. 

I don't think I've ever heard of a German Nazi spy using a bow before, or a sword- if, if they were spies, they were pretty bad ones if they were just carrying those things out in the open. 

I mean- yeah, you do have a point there haha. It'd be hard, to spy on anyone and keep that a secret when you're clearly just carrying around a whole ass friggin sword with you. Nevermind the bow and arrows too! I think the town also realized that as well, and uh, the family weren't even German. Didn't have an accent or anything, spoke English as fluently as you could back then. 

You don't have to rely on the accent to find out if they were spies though- I'd think if they were, at least they got the accent down pat! 

No no- well, okay maybe for the parents but the kids? They didn't even know how to speak German. So uh, not spies. 

Maybe mini-spies then, spy kids-

*Wheeze* Okay okay, no, not spies at all. But uh, still clearly strange and kind of dangerous.

Ryan, with how you're telling this, this seems like it'd fit more in Buzzfeed True Crime- where exactly is the Supernatural aspect in this case?

I'm getting to that. The family settled on the outskirts of the town, settling into an abandoned orphanage and turning it into their home, remodeling the orphanage to the house that still stood to this day. 

Another orphanage! Our SECOND orphanage right?

Yes, our second orphanage after Pythian Castle. We're finally getting more orphanages- ahem, now, the supernatural part of the case happens over the course of the Jacobs' stay in Portobello. Over the years, the Jacobs Family were involved and have exhibited rather strange behaviors and customs. I'm leaving out actually a lot of what they did since this video would go over our usual runtime but to say a few, the family would regularly run and climb through the forests around the town, creating even a large obstacle course near their home just for the sake of it. They were both recluse but social, preferring to stay within the forests and at home but would be charismatic and friendly whenever they did come, it seemed like their riches were neverending as they were never without money, gold or gems and those who dared try to rob them would find themselves at the sharp end of a sword or an arrow.

*Wheeze* Holy moly, Ryan you were right! I love this family already!
Still not seeing the supernatural here though.

I'm getting there Shane, hold your horses.

As the years went, the family grew older, things started to get a bit... strange. There were multiple claims that there was a tall, lanky figure that would roam the top floor of the Jacobs House, appearing in the windows. Always disappearing once spotted. Strange hissing noises would be heard in the forest near the House at night, those who tried to find out what it was were always deterred by Levi or Genevieve who were walking at night, reassuring the passerby that it was only the wind and to head back into town. One boy even claimed that he saw Carly swing a sword at something in the darkness one night while sneaking out of his home, to quote him, "I saw her fighting a monster! A skeleton that came to life from the grave!" At that time, the boy would have been seven, and Carly, thirteen. 

Okay, NOW I'm getting the supernatural claims. But really, what the hell? Do they- do they have Slenderman in their house? Is that the tall lanky figure you said? And a skeleton? Really? That boy- is he man now?

He is a man now, an old man, he's actually not sure as to what he saw back then but he remembers his parents and other people telling him that he said it was a skeleton. As for- *snicker* Slenderman, well, not really? The claims call for a uh, tall, colorful figure not a ah- tall blank-faced figure in a suit. Obscured by glass, they couldn't tell who or what it was, but it was mostly pinkish? Purple? It- it was just a tall, lanky figure that moved strange. 

So Slenderman's colorful cousin then?

*Surprised laughter* 

There were even claims of Eiffel being a witch when she magically produced flowers out of thin air to cheer up another little girl. And we're not talking about small flowers, no, she brought out an entire bouqet of them despite being only eight with nowhere to hide them previously.

We got ourselves a little magician! The whole family might just be magicians! That's how they pulled their vanishing act.

No uh, their little vanishing act happens after Levi and Genevieve's eldest daughter Carly died at sixteen in 1946. Just about a year after world war 2 ended.

...

...

Carly Jacobs died at the tragic age of 16, mysteriously enough, she died via a sudden explosion in the middle of the woods. They found her body deep within the woods in a large crater after hearing the explosion that supposedly killed her, the air smelt of gunpowder and ash.  

She died because of an explosion? Like a bomb or-

It had to been a bomb or something, there wasn't a gas pipeline there or anything- they, they just found her in the crater with traces of gunpowder all around. But there wasn't anything uh, else with her that told of a bomb or whatever, just the gunpowder.

Gunpowder bombs are a thing though right?

Yeah but you'd think you'd find um, shrapnel or anything else with it but no, nothing. 

Hell of a way to go though- not to disrespect her or anything.

*Chuckle* 

The local police struggled to label the death as either an 'accident' or a 'murder' because the cause of death was so frankly bizarre for a town like Portobello. While the town wasn't small per say, death by bomb was definitely not something they were used to. 

However, what came next was something no one but the Jacobs were ready for. On the day of her funeral, a young sixteen year old boy appeared by the Jacobs side who looked just like Carly. Some people even mistook him as Carly's ghost from how similar they looked, but the boy was not Carly. He was Karl Jacobs, Levi and Genevieve's secret son and Carly's twin that had been separated from the family when he was young and had just found them a few days earlier.

Techno blinked at video at the mention of that familiar name. His attention had already been intrigued when Ryan mentioned the 'swords and bows' that the Jacobs Family were known to carry around, enough that he stopped rearranging his folders to truly watch the video itself. The pictures that Ryan showed were old, in black and white and somewhat shaded to hide the faces of the family, but there were definitely pictures of two girls wielding bows and swords and a man and a woman on a ridiculous looking wooden obstacle course that seemed reminiscent to the obstacle course from a certain stream- he might just be connecting two whole different points together to think of that. 

Hearing Carly's death was saddening, especially because she had died young but now hearing that there was a sudden appearance of a twin that hadn't been mentioned at all? No wait, didn't Ryan mention something of a son early on in the video?

Ex-Excuse me? KARL Jacobs? Twin of CARL-Y Jacobs? They had a secret son who came out of nowhere and showed up AT THEIR DAUGHTER'S FUNERAL?

Yeah remember when I said there was a son? I was not and am not joking, they really emphasize this moment. 

To quote a diary entry of a close friend of the family at the time, "Karl Jacobs looks EXACTLY like Carly, down to the dimple of his awkward smile and the shade of their eyes. I shouldn't be surprised since they claim to be twins, but I have not heard about a twin at all from the family. There have been no pictures of Karl as a babe in the picture book that Genevieve showed me so many times before, not a single one and there's something... strange about him. I cannot say what it is, but he does not seem right. He seems like a sweet boy, do not misunderstand but I cannot for the life of me trust this boy who looks so much like Carly." 

... I have got to say, this case is VERY strange so far.

No kidding, you understand why I was so excited to cover it? Again, I'm leaving out a lot of it for the sake of the video but just the things I've said are already intriguing. 

Intriguing is right, a bit on the supernatural though but please, continue. I want to know how this ends, how exactly they disappeared.

As the days went by, the Jacobs Family mourned the loss of Carly but welcomed Karl with open arms. A year passed by and the town noticed that the strange ongoings that happened before, the strange noises, the tall figure in the windows, were all gone. Few would ever see Karl Jacobs though as he stayed with his family, quote, "He never seems to leave the house. And whenever we ask his family about him, they say it was fine and that Karl preferred staying inside." Unquote. 

However, seven years after the Jacobs family appeared in Portobello, they suddenly, inexplicably disappeared. 

Quote, "My dad was the one who finally noticed they were gone. He was under Levi's tutelage of fencing, best fencer swordsman he'd ever seen my dad said, and when he didn't show up in time for their scheduled lesson, my dad went to the house to see what was wrong. When he got there, the door wasn't locked so he went inside. No one was in the house, not a single thing seemed out of place aside from how empty it was." Unquote. 

True to what was said, the house was completely empty. All the valuables and clothing were still there, there was even a pie cooling in the window but there was no sign of the Jacobs whatsoever.

Okay very weird-

I know-

-they left a perfectly good pie behind! They could have at least taken the pie!

*Spluttering, laughter* W-Wh- I don't think they were concerned about the pie, whatever was happening then!

Yeah but pie! A good pie should never be wasted- it's never a good thing to waste food.

Techno sat back against his chair, brows furrowed as he continued to watch the video. He definitely could see how this case intrigued Ryan, and now he was actually curious of the things that the man left out. 

Usually during a supernatural episode, they'd travel towards the area where they were talking about but apparently Ryan hadn't gotten any approval to get there. Saying that there was a residence living in the Jacobs House.

You will never guess on who's living in the Jacobs House now.

Who is it? 

Eiffel Jacobs.

He boggled, a picture of an old woman, Eiffel Jacobs? Appeared on the screen. She seemed old at least, her hair was greying with streaks of white but she seemed in good shape. Maybe it was a stock photo? However, he noticed the thin scar that was around her throat. That... seemed peculiar. Not to mention, the old woman seemed kinda familiar... Those eyes...

This video was already weird enough with how it was about the 'Jacobs' family and had the name of his dear friend, could it be that...

Wait, the youngest daughter? She's back? What the hell? What happened? 

I'll get to that, let me finish this.

The Jacobs Family disappeared from Portobello in 1948, and for years, the friends of the family would search and look for any sign of them but would find nothing even after hiring several private investigators and detectives. Meanwhile, the Jacobs House would be put up for sale multiple times but no family would stay for long. Claiming there was something wrong with the house.

A family even claimed that the house was possessed by a demon that whispered strange things to their children. 

I've got to ask, was... The family religious?

Yes, extremely so; and the bad kind unfortunately. Turns out, the son they had was gay and the parents claimed a demon from the Jacobs House turned their son gay. I am happy to say that son is living happily away from them, married to a husband and the parents are in jail for child abuse. 

Good on you, son! But, imagine, that would have to be one pretty hot demon dude to turn you gay-

*Choking* Shane!

*Smiling cheekily* Continue.

*Sigh*

The House would sit abandoned in 2005 for several years until in 2018, an old woman appeared in Portobello claiming to be Eiffel Jacobs. At first met with disbelief and weary, it was shockingly confirmed to be Eiffel after a few tests and meeting a few old friends. 

Unfortunately, it seemed like Eiffel came back mute. There was a scar around her neck, it seemed like whatever happened to make that scar, destroyed her vocal chords, rendering her silent forever. And when asked what happened to gain that scar, or what happened years ago, she refused to say anything no matter what. She moved back into her childhood home that very same year, seemingly still as rich as she was as a child as she spent millions of dollars repairing her home back to what it was in the 1940s, if a bit modernized and better and even now as an eighty-six year old woman, can be seen either visiting the grave of her late sister in Portobello or coaching the local fencing, swordsmanship and archery clubs that were made in honor of her parents and family.

Holy shit!

Yeah.

This old woman is amazing!

Little girl grew up badass, she's still holding swords and bows like she was when she was a kid.

So no one knows what happened? She NEVER told anyone what happened?

Nope, never, no one knows what happened except her. But we do know that her parents are dead though, they have to be at this point. 

And Karl?

M-Maybe? Again she never said. Anyway, let's get to the theories of what may happened to the rest of the Jacobs Family...

As the theories started, Techno was thinking deeply.

It was already a coincidence that Karl's name was in the video, specifically spelled Karl...

Didn't Karl sometimes say something about a grandma before? 

"Where do I live?" Karl repeated during one call, "I- sorry I don't think I'm comfortable telling you. I'm sorry- it's- I know you're my friends but-" They quickly reassured him that it was fine! Karl was really cautious about his personal information and that was fine. It ached a bit, since they were friends but they weren't going to pry. They did however just want to know if he was alone or if he lived with someone else, he was in his young twenties wasn't he? 

"Oh! I'm good guys! I live with my s- my grandmother, she's awesome! Don't worry about it! Huh? Why? Well, I don't really have anywhere else to go and uh, my parents are- are dead- not it's okay! You guys didn't know. It's just my- grandma and me."

Could it be?

Hmm...

Idly, he listened to the theories.

They were as bizarre as the case it was.

First theory was how the Jacobs Family were part of some secret organization- yes, even the kids, and that they settled down in Portobello trying to escape it. But were found and the organization killed Carly. With this in mind, the theory said that Karl was a clone of Carly or he was indeed a twin but was left behind in the escape or was indeed separated but found them just as Carly was killed.

We haven't had a theory like this in a while! WOW!

I know it's, the theories vary and are really, really out there. Listen to this one;

The next theory was how the parents faked Carly's death because Carly was transgender, which lead to her turning into Karl. No twin theory, but overly complicated transitioning. There was some evidence to Carly being trans or considering it as she already was less 'lady-like' than most girls at the time and was notoriously known to flirt with BOTH genders and was seen wearing boy's clothing more than girl's clothing. 

CAN YOU IMAGINE, coming up with this plan with your parents in the 1940s? Just- *deep voice* okay dau-I mean SON, how do we fake your death so you can come back as a man? *higher voice* Oh! Why not explosion pops, ma? *even higher voice* That sounds good son! Let's BLOW YOU UP AND REVEAL YOU AS A SECRET TWIN SON WE ALWAYS HAD!

*Heavy laughter* I know! As- As kinda plausible and uh, hilarious that would've been, how would that explain the body? It was confirmed- there's an autopsy- they couldn't have faked that!

I don't know man, it's the 1940s, a lot of things could've happened. But I have to say, that could've been the most creative way to come out as trans. Overkill and uh, probably unnecessary but, props to you Karly! 

And of course came the alien theory.

I actually dislike the alien theory in this one.

I mean, it would explain the strange noises, the tall figure- could've been an alien? An alien could've killed Carly-

Yeah but- I'm really hoping aliens would be good here. It'd be dope yeah but, Carly was such a cool girl. Why kill her?

Self defense?

Mmm.

Only the secret organization and the alien theory seemed to give a possibly good reason why the family disappeared, and even then, why was Eiffel Jacobs back and still alive? She was clearly a survivor, so the organization theory or even the alien one made some sense but... Really.

Honestly Ryan, this episode seemed more fit with True Crime rather than Supernatural personally speaking, but I can see why you decided to put it here instead.

Yeah it was hard to decide, but to cover my bases we decided Supernatural instead... But that's the end of it I suppose. A case that spans 86 years and counting, the one sole survivor refusing to say anything about it, it's unfortunate but this case and the question whether or not demons or ghosts or the supernatural are real remains...

Unsolved.

Wide doe eyes stared into his, a bright, wet and drooly smile on tiny lips framed by a chubby face. He stared, just as wide-eyed, just as wonderous as the tiny one before him.

"H-HONK!" 

He squealed, immediately flying towards the laughing man by the doorframe. "LEVI! LEVI! YOUR BABY HONKED! LIKE ME!!!" 

The man wheezed after he wrapped his arms around the man three times, patting his head, ignoring the way his hand fuzzed and glitched slightly. "She did! She did. Isn't she adorable?"

"SHE IS! WHAT'S HER NAME?" 

"It's Carly."

"Carly."

"Caarl."

"Kaarl~" 

He yawned, moaning sleepily as he looked over to his currently trapped boyfriend, his arms looped all around his limbs and body, leaving him pretty much unable to move. Well, his wings were flapping slightly behind him but were pretty much useless at the moment. 

"Karl, love of my life, my noodle baby, I love you but I gotta piss and I need you to let me go right now." 

"M'kay, but come back soon. No work today, wanna cuddle and sleep more." He mumbled, his long, noodle arms unraveled, giving his boyfriend his much needed freedom. He must've changed back in his sleep. Didn't seem like anything bad happened, a good dream then?

Ah well, didn't matter. Karl snuggled deeper into the bed, waiting for his warm duck hybrid boyfriend to come back to bed.

As long as Quackity wasn't hurt and happy, Karl was just the same.

Chapter Text

Wilbur leaned back against his chair, lips pursed to make sure the pen right between his lip and nose would stay there. A simple, silly action that didn't really do anything to abate his thoughts on the matter at hand.

Admittedly he'd been a bit bewildered when Techno first told him the theory that Buzzfeed Unsolved's newest episode was related directly to a close friend of theirs; Karl Jacobs. However after Techno sent him the link and urged him to watch it, he couldn't help but agree as he and Techno discussed afterwards the little tidbits that they knew of Karl. There actually wasn't really much to go on, Karl lived alone with his grandmother, his parents were dead, he didn't have any siblings and that was pretty much it.

It was easy enough to connect the dots, but at the same time, it could be one hell of a coincidence- it's happened before surely, they can never be too sure until Karl himself confirmed it with proof. You never really know, you know?

The Appearance and Disappearance of the Jacobs Family, was a very interesting episode. Unfortunately overshadowed at first as it premiered literally seconds before Stream Labs went live, but it didn't take long for the episode to start circulating around the internet and naturally, with them as well.

Techno was the first to talk about it, but of course he didn't really talk about it with the others yet. Especially not in their mutual discord servers, most of them had Karl joined as well and it didn't feel right to start talking about it without Karl there to say anything. The man's mysterious hiatuses were really unfortunate, but that only added to the mystery behind himself and now the episode.

Because if it were true, then Karl's got some really interesting family history that Wilbur wouldn't lie; he wanted to know about. What happened to his family all those years ago? Was Karl named after his grand-uncle? What happened to his parents? His grand-aunt Carly? His grandmother, Eiffel? Why was she mute now and why wouldn't she say anything about why they all disappeared years ago? 

Honestly the mystery was so tempting and Wilbur wanted to dig deeper, unfortunately, it felt like digging deep into one of his friend's personal history without their consent. Which isn't fun- Karl was always adamant in keeping his personal life hushed and unknown, they've only just seen his face for fuck's sake and if this was indeed the truth then it felt like breaking Karl's trust on the matter...

But dammit, the mystery was too much! Was Karl's insistence to keeping his personal life secret influenced by his grandmother and family's mysteriousness as well? A genetic/tradition passed down from generation to generation?

Wilbur sighed in slight frustration, causing the pen to tumble from his face to his lap as he straightened in his seat. He's been thinking too much on it, but hey, on the funnier side of things; his friends were fucking simps and he had every right to bully and tease the fuck out of them about it.

The fact that Dream, Puffy and Phil had stan accounts were fucking hilarious to him. Hah! What a bunch of fucking losers.

Ponk too, but at least Wilbur could respect him going all out and public over his attraction to Sam.

It didn't stop him from bullying Ponk about his crush, but the respect was there.

He picked up the fallen pen, twirling it absentmindedly, he was just about to write something down on his notepad when his computer pinged with a notification, it was from Twitter. He checked the notif and perked, it was Stream Labs' twitter account! Hastily, he scribbled on the pad a few things before immediately opening Twitch. He had missed the last stream, he wasn't going to miss this one! 

It was another cambee stream, but from Tubbo's perspective! That meant that his cambee was finally fixed.

He liked the 'Alternate Perspective' Stream Labs had going on with Fundy and all, but classic Tubbo would never do wrong. Plus, the main plot would no doubt with the 'clingy duo' as they'd been labelled. Mostly on the fact both Tubbo and Tommy teased each other on being clingy. And hey, if the plot isn't going to continue then there'd just be more worldbuilding to feed the fandom!

It's strange really, Stream Labs was a very slow burn type of show. Countless of hours worth of content but the main 'plot' of the story was going at a slow but steady pace. Typical for ARGS but still, even other ARGSs and podcast series usually had a faster plot progression. And yet no one really complained, oh sure there were complaints and fingers pointing but the fandom still loved it and loved speculating on what was going to happen next just as much as what happened beforehand.

There were pieces right in front of them, from Tubbo's job as a scientist for royalty, to Sam somehow interacting with him despite the vague past he shared with Tubbo and Tommy, to Ranboo somehow being friends with Tubbo even though the mad lad kidnapped the prince- there were so many pieces and none of them quite fit just yet. A puzzle that was slowly coming together, and despite the speed it was going at, they were all still enjoying whatever was being given.

In any other case, Wilbur would've been sure his interest in Stream Labs would have dropped at some point but no. The original music, the tension, the mystery, the build up and world building, the characters just made Wilbur and pretty much everyone else stay. 

"Alrighty, what's happening this time Tubbo? Tommy?" Wilbur hummed, getting comfortable in his chair as he settled in to watch the stream.

It started, the familiar intro coming and going in seconds which was a bit weird for a cambee stream. Tubbo's desktop was first to be seen, the camera not showing the teenager himself just yet. Wilbur's brow furrowed as he sees the multiple windows open on Tubbo's screen, the biggest and foremost window were blueprints, somewhat familiar ones. It looked like blueprints for the cambee and what looked like to be a window full of code.

Wilbur reeled back at the wall of numbers and symbols he couldn't make sense of- he was a musician! Not a programmer.

Maybe the others like Dream would be able to make sense of that.

A window appeared at the corner soon afterwards, showing a weird perspective of a leg? As well as tools and scraps of metal, screws and such surrounding the leg, all laid out on a forest green carpet. "Okay, this should, be working now- There!" The cambee was abruptly lifted up and they could now see Tubbo squinting right at them. "Okay! Looks like everything's working well, the new camera's been fitted properly and is streaming directly, good, good." He grinned, setting the cambee down on what seemed to be a table?

Tubbo was sat on the carpet, sitting against the couch in his living room. Beyond the couch, they could slightly peek into the dining and kitchen area almost. It was hard to see from the angle they'd been sat at. 

"No Tommy in sight, where is he?" Wilbur wondered as Tubbo reached for something off camera. 

The familiar sound of Tubbo's typing came from Wilbur's right headphones, "Alright, it's recording, streaming- now for flight..." Tubbo mumbled, typing some sort of command into the code window- he also mumbled aloud whatever he was typing, cursing slightly at his dyslexia when he made a mistake and had to fix it. 

Seems like Tubbo had finally, or was in the process, of fixing the cambee that Tommy accidentally broke when he first came into his apartment.

Wilbur involuntarily shivered as he remembered how that stream ended.

After all this time, it shouldn't seem so frightening but whenever Wilbur thought back to it, there was just something so... off about it that unsettled him.

He tried not to think about it too often, must be just another weird thing that he was ticked off or disliked. It didn't really surprise him, still, it was strange...

"Aaand- execute!" A new window popped up for a brief moment, a loading screen that was filled in an instant and immediately the cambee started flying in the air. The perspective changing as the couch lowered and showed off more of Tubbo's apartment. "AHA! Good! Wai-Wait-Wait! Stop! Don't bump into my ceiling!" The cambee stopped abruptly and tilted down, revealing Tubbo looking relieved on the floor with his hands on a strange keyboard.

On the table aside from a toolbox, some plastic and paper, was a strange yellow laptop. Instead of rectangular, it was hexagonal, the monitor was standing on two rods connected to the keyboard which took half of the bottom hexagon- there was even a smaller screen above the keyboard! At the corner, Tubbo's right hand was touching a smooth smaller hexagon that seem to come out from the side, like a dvd player. Only it wasn't that, but the laptop's mousepad? Whenever Tubbo moved his finger on the pad, the mouse on the screen moved as well.

It was honestly one of the strangest laptops that Wilbur has ever seen, yet it was still kinda cool as Tubbo controlled the cambee from it.

"Man, Fundy wasn't kidding when he said the controls were fiddly. Mad respects to him for tweaking it properly, and to make sure the controls were on point too!" Tubbo sighed, making the cambee fly down a bit lower and angle itself to only show Tubbo and not his weird yet cool six-sided laptop. "But it looks like the hard quartz film I used for the wings are doing just fine! Not to mention the stabilizers too, looking pretty smooth, both the flight and the stream." 

The cambee began to spin in place, they could hear Tubbo's snicker as the cambee spun began to spin even faster and faster until the view was just a blur. Wilbur laughed slightly but felt bad for those who didn't do sudden motion blurs like that well, hell, just watching it made him a bit dizzy himself. He glanced at chat.

: STOP SPINNING
: wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
: TUBBO PLS 
: wheres tommy? i wanna see how he's doinh
: this is so stupid
: ifuckjgi hruled
: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
: yo come check out my stream at randodude.twitch.tv
: bruhhhh
: i wanna see the laptop again it looked cool!!
: WHERE IS THE BOI
: I SAW BENSON!!!
: Where is tomathy

Thankfully Tubbo stopped after a bit, "Yep! It all looks good! My cambee has officially been fixed! And with a few upgrades- It's more durable, the camera is better, the stability too, the wings and microbits, yeah! It's good to finally have it fixed!" Tubbo stood up from the carpet, groaning with content and relief as he stretched his arms, plopping down on the couch to stretch his legs and prop them on the table. 

The genius was wearing a simple striped white and grey t-shirt and blue shorts and Wilbur realized just how little of skin they usually see from Tubbo. So far they've only seen him with long sleeves and pants, or just see him sitting in a chair in his room, unable to see his lower half most of the time. But with Tubbo wearing short-style clothing and the cambee hovering over him, they could all see the scars that covered his limbs. 

His hands were less of a surprise, they've all seen how calloused and marked his hands were. It was to be expected, Tubbo was the hands-on type of person and while he did wear gloves when required, they all saw Tubbo handle sharp-edged axes and pointy-ended tools with his bare hands before.

They just never realized the scars extended up to his arms. Faint, years-old scars that varied in size. Hell, there was still that wi-fi-shaped scar they had kinda saw a while ago! Now confirmed to be there! Along with other scars that were, more than a bit jarring to see on a teenager.

Wilbur eyed the multitude of scars that were on Tubbo's legs, one looked very weird, kind of circular but sectioned off, symmetrical kind of? It looked a bit familiar yet he didn't know why. 

(Later he would find a post focusing on that exact scar. He was told why it looked familiar, it was a scar in the shape of a bite. Something, it couldn't be human because of how the scar was shaped, with very sharp teeth and powerful jaws had bitten Tubbo's leg. Hard enough to leave a years-lasting scar on his leg.)

The scars just added into semi-confirmed backstory of Tubbo; a genius who grew up in a slum setting (presumably the Archives, were there slums in the Archives or was it all slum?) that faced great obstacles to become a scientist and friend with a royal prince. One of those obstacles being the death of his best friend, Tommy, which became an inspiration and motivation to becoming said scientist and lead to meeting (and apparently kidnapping, eventually befriending) a prince. 

Wilbur really wanted to hear the whole story, maybe one day they'd do a whole stream about the past? 

It'd be out of character for Stream Labs, but perhaps a flashback or two? Just a look at how things were for Tubbo and Tommy way back then- it's unlikely but still, Wilbur could still hope.

"There's really so much going on here." Wilbur said aloud, snorting as Tubbo just toys with the cambee, now controlling it with its original controller instead of his laptop. The genius was just staring at the camera as it lazily floated atop of him in circles, grinning like a cat that ate a canary. "Obviously, not now here, but like- background stuff. Just what the fuck are the writers thinking here with this shot. Who comes up with this stuff?" He's asking thin air, talking to himself while watching a young scientist lounge on a couch. 

It's a legitimate question, who comes up with the plans of the story or the streams? Mostly it's all interesting and new, how Stream Labs doesn't allow 'timeskips' during streams and showings. It's always linear, the camera was always rolling with no cuts whatsoever and rarely did the camera change to another, always staying to one point of view in a 'hand-held' or 'found-footage' type of style, never any other type. It's different in the way that it's always like that, from the very beginning, they never had more than one viewpoint and it was linear onscreen. No timeskips, cuts, and unfortunately, no background music unless someone actually played it.

It's ingenious in a way, because no one's ever done that to this extent. So many streams, so many episodes, just filmed like that. And as much as Wilbur liked that aspect, he also kind of hated it.

Like, yeah, they have amazing effects- visual and audio effects that were simply amazing but really? No background music? 

And said music that did play, he wanted the playlist! Every single song! But no releases for it so far aside from what's already been recorded or the covers that came from other artists.

"And like- who the hell thinks it's a good idea to just filming fucking, how many minutes it's been? A handful of minutes of Tubbo just staring at the cambee, in silence." Wilbur tapped his desk in a quick, unsteady rhythm. 

Yeah, Tubbo's just been absentmindedly controlling the cambee. Letting it circle above him like a lazy vulture for the past couple of minutes. His grin had dropped, and his eyes glazed over in what seemed to be contemplative deep thought. 

Now any other normal kind of series would have characters voice over their thoughts in moments like these. Stream Labs? 

Absolute fucking silence.

Watching Tubbo's face shift from one expression to another was kinda hilarious, but the silence was grating and Wilbur had the intrusive thought of how creepy it kind of was, watching a teenager just lay there in silence with only a t-shirt and shorts. 

He really didn't want to explore that intrusive thought any longer.

Thankfully something snapped Tubbo out of his thoughtful daze.

Squack

Both Tubbo and Wilbur beamed as chat began to spam, "Benson!" They chorused in delight as the duck slime used Tubbo's leg as a bridge. Tubbo was quick to sit up properly, scooping the duck slime into his hands and finally setting down his scarred feet on the carpeted floor. "Hello! Hello~" Tubbo cooed, jiggling the white slime in his hands, adjusting so he could start prodding the slime gently. "How are you? Are you good? Yes, yes, yes?" He hummed, slowly squeezing the creature in his hands and carefully stretching Benson.

Squack!

The duck slime didn't seem distress by Tubbo's actions, stretched and dangling in the air for a moment before Tubbo squished him back together.

"Awwww! Jus' look at him!" Wilbur cooed with Tubbo, delighted by the duck slime's squacking. It was really weird to watch but in an adorable way. He never knew slime could be so cute! Man, if only Benson was real, he really wanted to pet the cute little thing. 

God, how would that even feel? Would it feel like regular slime? Benson wasn't any regular slime though, obviously, but he didn't seem to leave any residue or anything whenever he was around. He could stick to things from how he climbed over everything, especially over someone like Tubbo's arm or Tommy's face, but how did that work?

If only man, if only...

"Here Benson, look! I've finally fixed the cambee Tommy accidentally broke! Isn't it cool?" The cambee was lowered and suddenly they had a screen full of Benson that turned to look at them. And wow, they've really put effort into making the effects as amazing as possible huh? Despite how simple and adorable Benson kinda looked like, squishing himself against the lenses much to everyone's amusement, it still felt kind of 'realistic' in a way. It was still cartoonish, the way his eyes black, beady but adorable eyes drifted across his face and his beak sunk into his body, tilting at an axis, but it was still realistic. 

Somehow.

"Really using that budget to good use huh? Almost worth not adding background music I guess." Wilbur huffed, almost.

Just how rich were the people behind Stream Labs anyway? Because no matter how talented someone was, that full talent would have to be paid a proper price and this? Definitely not cheap.

"Hm, it's still pretty early so I shouldn't wake him just yet for lunch." Benson's face completely disappeared from the screen, sinking into the slime and leaving it almost completely white. 

Squack squack squack! Went the little slime creature, loud in his ears alongside Tubbo's laughter. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're hungry but I'm pretty sure I fed you not too long ago Benson. You are adorable, but no, no food right now. Go on then, down you go." Benson's sticky slime was peeled off the screen by Tubbo's fingers and they watched as Tubbo set the duck slime on the couch cushion besides him. "Hm, let's watch something why don't we? I'm rather bored now...  And I guess I'll leave the cambee on for a bit more, cause why not." He said, patting Benson before leaning forward to snatch the remote from underneath the table where it was kept on a shelf. He aimed it off screen, probably towards his tv, switching it on with a click.

"Hmmm, what to watch..." 

The cambee frustratingly only showed Tubbo leaning back on the couch, pressing buttons on the remote. Benson had crawled underneath a couch pillow, disappearing from sight as Tubbo murmured, "No, mm, nah, may- actually nah, I think not, not really up for that right now. Maybe later... Tommy would get mad if I watched that without him." Wilbur pouted, wanting the cambee to turn so they could see what Tubbo was scrolling through- he wanted to see the fictional shows too!

"Let's just rewatch something then? How about... Origins? Yeah, seems good! Tommy just finished this season, so he won't complain if I watch it without him." Tubbo chimed and finally, the cambee turned just in time to see Tubbo clicking what seemed to be an hour-long episode of Origins. 

The start was interesting enough;

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!! " Four hybrids screamed. A short fox hybrid like Fundy standing on top of a stone slab with holographic, glittering screens flickering in front of him. A blue moth-person clinging to said fox's face. A familiar enderian prince holding on tightly to a passed out blond, bird person. And finally a very familiar bee hybrid, standing right behind the fox hybrid, holding on to the fox with one hand while the other pressed against one of the screens. Their screams were varied in emotions, both the moth and fox were clearly terrified, the enderian was angry and finally the bee was gleefully excited.

It was chaos around them, everything was shaking violently, the sky was spinning and turning from day to night to day to night to cloudy to clear to snowing to rain- A blond man with large black wings in gold armor fell from the ceiling while another man, this time see-through, popped out of the floor quickly catching what seemed to be a blob of green slime. A glittering, glowing purpled-haired man was hugging a turtle-helmet wearing finned woman in terror by a giant fishtank. A pink bunny hybrid was glaring daggers at a man in catmaid costume who was cowering in terror while a spider hybrid dressed like a priest was on his knees, praying and sniffing the air, there was a bald man on fire that was being lassoed by another bird person, a woman with bisected black and yellow hair.

Wilbur had no idea what the fuck was going on but he loved it anyway.

The episode was apparently a season finale to a previous one, it was titled, "Never Let Tox and Cora Handle The Pub(e)."

And with this, the audience had the pleasure of watching Stream Labs' Fictional Show Origins accompanied by Tubbo's quips at the side.

They weren't completely out of the loop, Tubbo had talked about the show now and again so they knew a bit but over all? They were not prepared for the actual show.

Essentially, these mostly amnesiac characters find themselves connected to a pub on a magical floating island they've nicknamed The Pub(e). Overtime, the pub has been appearing and disappearing from place to place, always taking them with it. No matter what happened, no matter how far they try to leave. 

They all had collective amnesia, they had no idea why or how they came to the pub nor do they remember ever meeting each other aside from when they first woke up. Half of them remembered who and where they came from, like Osra, the exiled Enderian prince and Grant, the Spider Priest who jokingly went by 'FragranceMan'. The other half, well, they had no idea who they were before like Tox, the bee hybrid 'Honey by Derivakat' was made more and Russ, the avian boy who was a gremlin but a good kid.

Over time, memories were popping up and they've discovered a few things here and there like how Kam, the elytrian man, was actually Russ' and eventually Phase's, the see-through semi-dead(?) phantom, father. 

The finale episode was about Tox and Cora finally finding the 'control panel' of The Pub(e), finding out that the stone slab that magically appeared in the middle of the pub with the see-through screens and stuff, was capable of controlling a lot of aspects of the place. They have no idea how the stone slab appeared, what caused it to appear, or even how to control or do whatever with it.

Thus leading to hijinks and multiple mistakes being made, including one that knocks Russ out much to Osra's anger and fright which causes even more shenanigans.

The end seemed to lead to them in a completely new area, appearing above a lake nestled between mountains and new little islands appearing around The Pub(e). They all made an agreement not to mess with the control slab or anything else until they learned more or were more careful, and everyone went to explore the new lands, making plans to gather resources and maybe even settle down a bit- now that they knew about the slab, surely they could control how long they could stay? Maybe they could stay forever even!

And yet...

In the darkness underneath The Pub(e), within its island... A slab rose into being from the floor, screens appearing in the air as a feathered hand expertly pressed against the flickering holograms, writing some sort of symbol into the screen and pressing a corresponding symbol that appeared underneath.

"That was too close... I need to be more careful next time." Russ murmured, face serious as he pulled up what looked to be personal files on everybody, he flipped through the files, stopping on Osra's file. Staring at the picture that was on the file, the avian sighed, "Thank you, Osra, for all you've done... But you'll probably hate me if you ever find out the truth." He said softly, closing the files and instead opening something else. The camera panned out before what anyone could see on the screen...

: NO WAY
: wtf is this???
: RUSS WHAT THE FUCK
: oh my god stream labs does it again with the great things i dont understand but love nonetheless
: I KNEW THAT CHICKEN BOY WAS UP TO SOEMTHING!!

"Yeah I just knew something was going on- granted, I thought it was Tox at first but nope! Russ is the one that has shit going on! By the Void, surprised the shit out of me first time." Tubbo muttered while Wilbur gawked at the ending.

That had been unexpected! 

A slow, almost melancholic song played as the episode ended, shaking Wilbur out of his shocked stupor at the tune. It... Hm...

"Oh damn, I really just recorded the whole fucking episode on here huh? Whoops, didn't mean to do that- I should, probably, turn this off now-" 

The stream ended right there, leaving Wilbur mystified.

StreamLabsLIVE @SLL ✓

Name the song that played at the end.

Perfume @WilburSoot ✓

Mellohi

Wilbur stared at the tweet, watching the replies come in madly at the fact that Stream Labs finally tweeted something else than notifications! Twice!

Stream Labs had replied! To him!

He had gotten it right.

StreamLabsLIVE @SLL ✓

@WilburSoot Thank you.

Chapter Text

"Dude, what the fuck. Wil, Wilbur how the hell did you know?" 

The man on the screen groaned, "For the last time, I don't know! It just- the name just came into my head okay?! It seemed to fit!" Philza was dubious over his words and it clearly showed on his face when his friend let out another frustrated noise. "Don't look at me like that Phil! I genuinely, bottom of my heart, soul on my sleeve, do. Not. Know. I just- It's Mellohi, it's a lucky guess!"

"It's one hell of a lucky guess Wilbur." Techno pointed out with Dream and Antfrost nodding and sounding in agreement. "You got Stream Labs official to respond to you."

"The only person to get responded by them. Ever." Dream added in, "They've never responded to anyone else before. Not to corporations, celebrities, hell not even Twitch and Twitter! Wilbur, this is a huge fucking deal dude. I mean, I still can't open Twitter!" 

It's been a few hours since Twitter went down, crashed under the force of thousands that flocked to both Stream Labs and Wilbur Soot. Wilbur had said that his phone wouldn't stop buzzing beforehand from all the retweets and mentions he'd gotten from the damned hellsite, admitting that he was relieved for the crash since it gave him some temporary peace and quiet. For now. 

Even Philza was hesitant to check on it, already frankly astonished by the fact that Stream Labs had responded and mentioned Wilbur. Who had miraculously answered their sudden question.

Out of thousands of answers, it was Wilbur's that had been solely correct, and Stream Labs thanked him, for whatever reason.

A new mystery had been created right in front of them, and the ensuing chaos that came afterwards was phenomenal. 

He leaned back in his chair, dragging his mic with him so he could still be heard as he lounged back as much as he could. "Holy fucking shit dude." He muttered emphatically, the tone of his voice echoed by the others in the call and Wilbur himself.

"Well, what now mate? Did uh, did anything else happen? Got any other messages from Stream Labs?" Phil couldn't help but question, curiosity growing and bursting at the seams.

It wasn't everyday that one of the most mysterious Twitter responded to just anybody, surely there had to be more? 

Wilbur made a face at the webcam, at them. "Not really? I mean, I don't know. Twitter is still down and I, I got nothing else from them?" He has his head in his hands, fingers combing through his hair as he lets out a deep sigh. "If they said anything else, it'd probably be in my Twitter DMs, which I can't access right now. But I kind of doubt they said anything else to be honest."

"Why not? You answered their question correctly!" Antfrost chimed.

"Well, they never said it was correct, they just thanked Wilbur and then Twitter died." Their pink-haired friend countered.

Philza waved it off, "Nah mate, he had to be right. Out of everyone, only Wil was thanked so that had to be correct answer."

"Which rounds back to the question on how the hell Wilbur got it right? What even is a 'Mellohi' anyway?" Dream wondered, looking at Wilbur for answers the man apparently didn't have. 

"I- Dammit, I've said it before and I'll say it again! I don't know! It came into my head, the name fits." Wilbur's head bowed out of frame, but they could still hear him as he continued. "Apparently Mellohi's music. It's the, the ending song to the Origins episode we all watched. It was great, both the episode and the ost. I just- I can't explain it in any other way, when I heard the song, I instantly thought 'Mellohi' and when they asked, I answered! Nothing more, nothing less. That's all I know, please stop asking, please." 

Except there had to be more, there just had to be. 

Maybe they were grasping straws here, trying to make sense or make a mountain out of a molehill but could you blame them?

Stream Labs was annoyingly mysterious and extremely private. Their most common tweet composed of alerting everyone of a stream and that was it.

Any other type of tweet could literally be counted on one hand! The 'It's begun' tweet, the alternate perspective tweet, the apology tweet and finally both the question as well as the tweet that sent Twitter crashing; the one where they mentioned Wilbur himself and thanked him for apparently guessing the right answer?

Five tweets, five tweets that were different from the norm. And half of those tweets still alerted everyone about the streams!

Only the question and Wilbur's mentioned tweet didn't have that! 

It had to be deliberate, had to mean something because from what they knew, Stream Labs never contacted anyone else. 

There'd been many claims, but like everything else there was no proof or concrete evidence.

This? This was concrete proof.

"Hah! He guessed it! He got it right!"

"Alright, that was admittedly unexpected. I didn't think we'd get an answer so soon, and completely correct."

"It's a good thing though, right?"

"Maybe."

"Who is this guy anyway? Hmmm... Oh! He makes music! I think Tommy's gonna like this guy!"

"Careful, don't do anything rash. We don't want to-"

"Shut up! I know what I'm doing! I'm not gonna mess up again, I promise! Look, I'm even setting things up like planned."

"Mmn."

"Chat, I swear to you that it was just luck that I guessed the name. And no, Stream Labs has not contacted me further or anything, okay? I mean, I was just as surprised as you all are when they mentioned me and thanked me! I- No, no I don't know why they thanked me, I guess I just guessed right? Please, please calm down!" 

Phil snorted softly as he watched Wilbur's stream, eyes darting between the stream itself and chat. He squinted as he caught one fellow being a fucking ass and immediately dealt with it, Wilbur had given him mod privileges like many of their other friends and despite the funny opportunities the role gave, Phil could become quite serious about it when the situation called for it.

Like now.

It wasn't just him, all moderators of Wilbur's chat were on deck and trying to corral and control Chat to a reasonable level for Wilbur's sake and sanity. The whole situation had become quite stressful, more stressful than they could've ever realized or thought possible.

The one interaction on Twitter was really throwing Wilbur headfirst into chaos, the moment the site was back up, people once again flocked to Wilbur's twitter. Tweeting at him, trying to vie for his attention for answers, bursting into his DMs to the point that Wilbur had to make his twitter private- Twitter and Twitch themselves DM'ing him alone trying to get answers and maybe a connection to Stream Labs through Wilbur.

Which, was both idiotic but understandable to a point.

Wilbur had no connections to Stream Labs, had nothing to do with Stream Labs aside being a fan of it like thousands of others. But he had no fingers in any of their pies despite what everyone else was now thinking. Just because Stream Labs had mentioned him didn't mean he was part of their team now, he was just a simple streamer and a budding musician! 

But oh, that'd be something wouldn't it? To be part of Stream Labs, to have his music in the stream- still, the truth was; Wilbur was not part of Stream Labs.

It was a truth that many were denying.

"You got this mate, it's a'ight." Phil murmured, typing out a supportive message through Discord as Wilbur tried his best to keep his anxieties and stress off his face as he continued the stream, explaining to everyone watching and insisting that nothing else had happened. Stream Labs merely thanked him and moved on, no private messages, no offers, nothing.

Which was a bit disappointing.

Philza kind of wanted them to offer Wilbur something now to make up the hassle that they unintentionally started.

They manage to ween off the subject as the stream continues, Wilbur gradually relaxing. He still answered the donations that mentioned Stream Labs, sure he joked here and there but emphasized and firmly stood by his words. 

Wilbur ends an hour later, one of his shorter streams but Phil thinks he managed to do well.

"Oh my god I hated that." Wilbur moaned into his mic, Phil smiled wanly at him, sympathetic to his plight. "I am not looking forward to my next stream if it's just going to be like this again." 

"I'm sure it'll calm down soon enough mate," Phil soothed, looking at the offline chatters and banning a few more people when they got unnecessarily rowdy and more. Ugh, some of them can get so gross. There were cons to being a streamer, musician- just being a general figure in the public. The assholes, the weirdos, etc.

Phil felt a great sense of satisfaction in banning and booting such people from his friend's chats. "Just weather through it Wil, you got this. You got me, Tech, everyone else behind you and ready to help." He promised, happy to see the smile Wilbur gives him through the screen. Man look tired, but definitely relieved.

"Thanks Phil."

"Anytime mate."

They stay on call for hours, talking about everything, nothing, a few of their friends join in at some point and they all play Geoguesser just for Wilbur- he laughs hard when Wilbur squawks and complains at Dream who whoops at his win over him.

It's all in all, a great time for everyone involved.

A couple days later, there was another groundbreaking stream.

"C'mon man! I'm ready, I am so ready for this!" Tommy exclaimed, bouncing in place as he and Tubbo sat in Tubbo's living room. 

It's another stream using the cambee, but was labelled First Fitting for some reason.

That reason was soon revealed, Tubbo was finally giving Tommy his new set of arms! The prototypes of course, "We do the prototypes first, you're healthier now but it's better to be safe than sorry! And besides, we can use this opportunity to tweak and make sure your actual arms are perfect for you later!" Tubbo reasoned when Tommy complained.

So now they sat on the couch, the cambee keeping a steady and close view of them both as Tubbo fiddled with what looked to be a harness and the prototype arms he'd been working on in previous streams. They were different to the ones that Tubbo had made in the first season of Stream Labs, definitely more mechanical and less life-like, thinner as well, but that was to be expected since they were again, the prototype arms.

Their main purpose were for Tommy to learn how to use his prosthetic arms and also get used to them. Not to mention tweak anything that might need it for future reference. 

Tommy was currently fidgeting in place, anxiously watching Tubbo mess with his new arms. The boy was thin, thinner than Tubbo but at least he wasn't a stick anymore. His face was fuller, skin pale but a better pallor than it had been when they first saw him up close and awake screaming his head off. His hair now was a healthy shade of blond, though he still had white streaks in his hair. Tommy apparently had it cut shorter off stream, it used to end somewhere at his back, now it ended right below his ears.  

"Okay the receptors and receivers need to be on your skin, so uh, hold on Toms." Tubbo said, finally setting aside the harness to move in closer, grabbing the bottom of Tommy's shirt.

Tommy made a slight noise of protest but couldn't really do anything as Tubbo slid his shirt off, "At least turn off the cam Tubs! It feels weird being shirtless with that thing around. Like I'm being watched and shit." Tommy mumbled, hunching over- if he had arms, he'd be trying to cover himself up. All he could do now though, was tuck his knees under his chin, using his legs instead to cover his naked chest.

"It's fine Tommy! I need to record this so I can review it later, and to keep track on our progress with your arms. I'll be recording every time we do maintenance and a check too. Don't worry, I'm the only one who'll be watching this." Tubbo reassured him, gently nudging his legs down and have him sit straight again. Unaware of how wrong he actually was.

Tommy grumbled but complied, letting his feet back down on the ground and revealing his torso to the hidden audience. 

There were scars on his chest. His skin was distorted and a bit discolored on his left side, all the way to his left shoulder. His right side seemed better, but the stump on his right shoulder seemed a bit different than his left. A faded but recognizable third degree burn that covered it.

There's a moment of silence between the boys as Tubbo stared at the scars.

"... I'm so sorry Tommy." Tubbo whispered, clenching Tommy's shirt in his hands. "I- I couldn't save your left arm. I tried, I swear I did- but I just barely had you, if I tried to keep it you- I couldn't-" Tommy leaned over, gently hitting his head against Tubbo- not gently enough as they both hiss in slight pain. But it snapped Tubbo out of his apologies.

"You did what you could Toby." Tommy told him, a shaky smile on his lips. "I don't- You're still a fucking wrongen, for a shitton of things you've done. But you did what you could, and I'm right here with you. Alive, breathing, a fucking annoying the shit out of you as soon as I get those arms on." Tubbo laughs at that, it's startled, unexpected but welcomed.

It's quiet for a few moments as Tubbo grabs the harness and starts to strap Tommy in, placing patched connected to wires on his back and wrapping some sort of choker or collar connected to the harness around Tommy's throat. The cambee was moved closer, to observe every single action in close range. Adjusting the arms one by one so the arms could connect and latch on to Tommy's shoulders and stubs. As Tubbo is connecting one arm, the right one, Tommy finally breaks the quiet. His voice quiet but predictably heard and loud by how close the cambee was to him. "Did you- did you ever find my right arm? The one that- That Sam-" He couldn't finish, face paling and lips bitten shut. 

Tubbo pauses and shakes his head, "No, it fell somewhere. Probably into a crevice or sewer trench- it... It was probably crushed by the cave in too." 

They could hear Tommy's breath shaking. 

It's back to quiet and the audience watches as Tubbo meticulously made sure everything was in place, that the straps, choker and harness itself was tight but not chaffing or suffocating, that the mechanical parts of the arms had fit just right and the wiring and patches were all stuck in place and in the right spots. 

"That... should be it. Okay, so I'll be turning the prosthetics on now, be careful Tommy. If anything feels wrong, tell me immediately." Tubbo stressed as the cambee backed away to show them in their entirety. Tommy looked anxiously determined, looking at the thin, mechanical arms that were now connected to him. Tubbo typed a few things in his laptop before leaning over to Tommy once more and...

Tommy flinched back a bit as his new limbs whirred to life, watching with wide eyes as he slowly, moved the mechanical prosthetics. His shoulders flexed and moved and so did the arms. They moved slowly, whether because it was hard to move or Tommy was following Tubbo's words. He bent the elbows, the joint bending to his will. He curled his padded plastic fingers, they moved one by one. Whirring, slow and methodical.

It's less graceful and fluid than the arms that Tubbo had made in his lab, but it works.

"Oh, Oh! Tommy! It's working! You- you can control them- can you do it fas- Tommy?" Tubbo's excitement stopped to a halt as he sees the droplets of tears falling down Tommy's face. "Tommy? What- What's wrong? Are- does it hurt anywhere? To-" 

"I can't feel them." Tommy whispers, his new fingers curled, clenched together. "I- I can see them move, I can- they're heavier t-than I expected but I can't feel them. Toby," he looks at him, eyes wide, glazed and lost, "I can't feel my arms." The arms, his new arms drop to the side, lifeless and Tommy cries.

Gut wrenching, full on screaming. He cries, cries like he's never had to before. A pent up momentum that started from his awakening and bursting now right at this moment. He cries into Tubbo who instantly embraces him tightly, his own eyes watering heavily as he holds on to the trembling teenager who grieves over the loss of his arms, the loss of his youth, the loss of his past, the loss of his life.

Just like when Tommy awoke, multiple people would admit they had to stop for a moment, look away, walk away from the uncomfortable scene. Unable to hear, watch and process the pure emotion that came from Tommy's cries and screams. The genuine-sounding grief and loss that was blaring through headphones and speakers, the howls of a boy who died too young and lost so much.

And in true, Stream Labs fashion.

It goes on for too long, too long for most people to handle.

The stream doesn't cut, it doesn't stop the grieving intimate moment for one second. There is no reprieve, no time skip, no jump cut to them being quiet. 

It's a whole ten minutes of pure anguish and mourning, gradually growing quiet as Tommy slumps into Tubbo's hold, choking on his tears and his new hands are clutching at Tubbo's shirt. Mostly still and steady compared to his shaking body. 

Throughout it, Tubbo is silent, but there are tears streaming down his face. A worn look of sorrow that they've seen before, amplified by the moment and Tommy's weeping.

As Tommy whimpers, his voice hoarse and finally tapering off from his loud sobs, Tubbo carefully lets go, shushing and comforting him when he protested. "Shh, shh, it's okay. It's okay Toms, I- I'm here just hold on." He wipes both their tears with his hands and carefully loops Tommy into his shirt again. It's a bit strange to see him with arms now, especially with metallic, thin, artificial arms with light grey plastic covering the fingers and palms. "There we go. Better, yeah?" 

Tommy sniffles and whines as Tubbo readjusts their positions on the couch, Tubbo makes Tommy lean on him, the blond's head against his chest as he had an arm around his shoulder and back. The teen genius hesitated but threaded his fingers of his free hand with Tommy's new ones, the sight makes Tommy sob a bit louder again. "I can't- I can't feel that. I can't feel-" His fingers whir, the digits tightened and tightened making Tubbo wince. Tommy immediately lets go. "I'm so-sorry-" 

"No no! It's okay Tommy, it's okay. Just- it's fine..." 

It takes a few more minutes before there's a fragile calm once more. Tommy hiccupping occasionally while Tubbo supported and comforted him.

"Do... you not like it? We could take it off." Tubbo finally says and Tommy shakes his head.

"It's- it's good Tubbo. I- I'm just being f-fucking stupid. Of course I can't feel it I- I'm just-" Tommy's breath hitches as he tries and fails to put his thoughts to words. 

Tubbo readjusts them again, so he could look Tommy in the eye, "It's not stupid, Tommy. You- fuck's sake man you lost your arms. Bad warned me about this, something about phantom limbs and being psychosomatic or something. I should've looked into more of it, or fucking-" He sighed in frustration but gave Tommy a reassuring smile. "You'll be fine bossman. If you need this off, we can take it off. Try another day. Okay? We've basically confirmed that you can control it like this, the receptors are working fine for you. We take it off, write down it works and we're done. Continue some other time."

"... I... I'll keep it on, for a bit longer..." 

Tubbo's brows furrow, "Are you sure?" 

Tommy, with obvious great care, shoves himself off of Tubbo to sit up. "Yeah. I'm sure- you said it yourself, I'll be fine." He took in a deep breath, plastering on a big smile. "The great Tommy Innit won't be bothered with this shit! He- I am a big man! The biggest man! These arms won't fucking take me down- I'll just, I can get used to it." 

Tubbo didn't look too sure but Tommy was adamant about it. 

The rest of the stream had Tubbo testing out Tommy's arms. How much his grip strength in each arm was, how precise his hands and fingers were, if Tommy could walk around with them comfortably enough; the blond staggers a bit but it seems alright. He could at least walk around the apartment with them without falling down. 

Tubbo made sure that throughout every test, Tommy was fine, felt fine- fussing over him when he admitted that he felt some pain at his stumps. It was phantom pain from a limb that was no longer there, from a limb that was now replaced. It wasn't serious, Tommy insisted, stubbornly going through the tests.

At the very end of the stream, Tubbo stopped the tests when he saw how tired and uncomfortable Tommy was, so unused to wearing the a harness and having weight on his shoulders again, he put his foot down and insisted they take the harness off and remove the limbs.

Though before they could do that, Tommy had to do one last thing.

Tubbo stiffened in surprise when two mechanical limbs wrapped around him in a gentle, careful way. 

"You are the best brother I could ask for Toby." Tommy whispered against him, hunched over slightly as he buried his head into the shorter teen's shoulder. "Thank you so much."

He seemed speechless before slowly hugging back, an aggrieved, guilty look on his face. "Don't say that, I..." I don't deserve you, someone would interpret later on as they hugged. I will cry, someone else proposed. 

I love you, another one would say.

Only Tubbo would know what he actually wanted to say.

The stream ends with Tubbo taking Tommy's harness off and deactivating the cambee.

Chapter Text

Let it be said that Dream was one the ones that had been with Stream Labs near from just the very beginning. 

Having watched the fourth stream to now, Dream had to quietly marvel at how how much of it has changed. Had grown. 

Dream knew that Stream Labs had potential, the mysterious story, the graphics, the content and the steadily growing list of characters that appeared or were mentioned- Stream Labs, back then, had the potential to be big.

He just didn't realize how big it could be.

Nor did he realize just how impacting it was.

How could he? The first stream he'd ever seen was just about a teenage super genius scientist that was just, chilling out in his lab. Making cool things with the subtext of a mystery slinking in the background, first as the Tube that Tommy was once in and now just what happened to Tommy that put him in such a state? A weird, streamed ARG story that was a slow-burn and needed the biggest of brains to figure out! 

Or so someone declared. Dream had no idea who said it first, that Stream Labs was an ARG, but it stuck and that's what they thought it was. A mysterious alternate reality game that they had to solve, though it didn't really interact at all with them, they all had fun, albeit sometimes frustrating, times trying to figure out the mysteries that laid within in and out of story. No one still knew who created Stream Labs, who acted out the characters, who were behind the scenes or responsible for frankly the greatest effects Dream has ever seen.

It's grown so much bigger than Dream had ever expected it to be, not to mention the story...

God, the story.

Dream would be the bigger man and admit, he had to take off his headphones when Tommy started crying his heart out. That he actually had to mute the stream when Tommy's wails grew so loud, that he could still hear them from his headphones. He had to give himself a minute, had to press his palms into his teary eyes in an effort to stop crying, gather himself as the blond boy's cries echoed in his head. Just his cries, there was no music to soften or even enhance the moment.

It honestly didn't need it, if anything putting music over the cries would've just ruined it, that was how impacting the scene was. Just like when Tommy first woke up in Fundy's stream, screaming and struggling and seeming so real-

It was fake, he had to remind himself, it was just really, really good acting. No matter how genuine it seemed, no matter how emotional it was- it wasn't real.

He's seen plenty of the ever-growing theories that surrounded Stream Labs, he's definitely read the 'This is an actual Alternate Reality, what we're watching is real' theories that have popped up. He's joked about those theories on stream before with his friends or talked about it with his viewers whenever it was brought up in chat or in a donation. 

It's not real, he doesn't believe in those kinds of theories. Stream Labs is just one of the most realistic, grounded kind of stories, ARG, whatever, out there. It was acting, editing, a script.

It had to be.

But there were just moments, where Dream had to think. What if? 

Moments where Dream had to reassure himself, that it was fake, it wasn't real, it's acting and editing and just really really good execution of a script. A story told to it's ultimate best because-

Because...

If it was real...

Oh god, if it was real...

Then Dream and thousands of other people have committed the worst invasion of privacy ever. 

That they just watched hours of a life that supposedly doesn't even know that they're being watched.

That they just watched, an armless child cry into his best friend's embrace. 

That Tommy actually died or actually lost his arms because of Sam, that Tubbo had spent years looking after Tommy, refusing to let go, practically obsessed with bringing him back into his life to the point he committed crimes and had to grow up far sooner than he probably should have.

If Stream Labs were real...

That meant consequences that Dream has no idea how he or anyone could ever deal with.

But it was all fake.

It had to be.

Right?

It’s weird.

: another tommy and tubbo stream?? Pog???
: :pogface: :pogface:
: TOMMY :DDDD
: what he doin

Blue eyes watched as plastic covered digits carefully curled and uncurled, the tips of the things touching the metal palm.

So weird.

The quiet whirring each movement makes as the- his joints made. There’s a strange disconnection he feels, watching his new hands move and yet he can’t really feel them. Oh he feels the heavy weight of the straps on his skin. The near-unnoticeable miniscule movement of whatever mechanism that Tubbo made around his shoulders, on his stumps, that were responsible for how his new arms moved but he couldn’t feel them.

It’s more disturbing than he thought it’d be, watching them move but feeling it. Not feeling whatever his hands, his fingers touched.

: looking at him like that reminds me of last time : (((
: PLS DON’T CRY AGAIN WE WONT HANDLE THAT SHIT
: sad tommy
: TUBBO QUICK HUG HIM AGIAN

He’s not complaining though. Never. Because this was Toby’s. Toby’s invention, he made these arms just for him. Prototypes that they were, it was still all for him. His actual arms were going to be re-configured once he got used to these arms, whatever data that Tubbo got from this would be used to improve his actual arms, the ones that’d be much better than the ones he had now.

Which is something he can’t really imagine, already grateful for the ability to pick shit up and actually do stuff himself after weeks of feeling like a useless piece of shit.

Tubbo would disagree with him, the fucker but Tommy couldn’t help thinking it because it was true.

He could hardly do anything by himself while armless and frail. Weak.

He was better now, obviously, so much better now that he had arms.

Arms he couldn’t feel.

He’s grateful, he really is, he’ll always be for that stupid bitch Toby. Ignore the affection in his insult, that didn’t exist. Totally didn’t.

“You okay there Toms?”

: tubbo to the rescue :D
: thank go dno tears again
: WHERE IS BENSON
: BENSON!!
: :bensonjiggle: :bensonjiggle: :bensonjiggle:

He glanced over to said stupid bitch, sniffing at the concern that was on his face. “I’m fine Tubso. Just thinking of all the crimes I can do now that Tommy Innit’s got arms again.” He grins widely, wiggling his fingers in Tubbo’s direction. “I’ve clearly got to catch up with you, gotta- gotta beat your record ‘n shit. What was it again? Kidnapping royalty? Arson? Yeah I gotta do something about that, I’mma do something so much worse, promise you that Toby.”

: CRIMES!

Tubbo looked exasperated and disgustingly fond. Unfortunately the concern is still there. Ugh, he must still be thinking about last time.

You break down one time and now your best friend’s all fucking concerned for you.

“Please don’t actually do crime while I’m away Tommy.” Tommy clicked his tongue, ignoring and trying to hide the discomfort at the unintentional reminder that Tubbo was going to leave for a period of time.

: no crimes!
: did he tell him off screen??
: I hate when they do stuff off screen

He was going to leave Tommy behind.

He couldn’t help it of course, orders from the Queen herself, the only woman who ever was- he had to comply. It was one of the reasons why he was letting Tommy try out the arms in the first place, originally Tubbo had wanted to wait a while longer but both Tommy’s insistence and the fact he had to leave on this, special journey with Princess Nihachu (who might be another woman besides the Queen, who knows, she sounded really nice) Tubbo decided to have Tommy acclimate to having arms again.

Testing out the prototype, get him used to the prosthetics, make changes and tweaks to his actual arms and hopefully by the time Tubbo left, Tommy would semi-permanently have arms again.

Semi-permanent on the fact they were robotic prosthetics of course, they’d have to come off some time for either maintenance or something.

Who would do maintenance while Tubbo was gone? Tommy had no idea, Tubbo had plans apparently so he trusted him. Begrudgingly.

“Okay, so we’re going to do a typing text, to test the dexterity and control of your fingers today.” Tubbo said as he had Tommy sit before his computer. They were in his- well, their bedroom for this test. Despite Tommy having his own room, he’s mostly slept in Tubbo’s room. For Tubbo’s sake of course, the guy had nightmares and it’s not like they haven’t shared a bed before. Both in and out of the orphanage, they had to share a bed or just sleep together for warmth and stuff.

: use them metal finges!!1
: TYPING TEST! TYPING TEST!
: i wonder how fast he can type with those robot fingers
: hi :D
: METAL FINGIES LMAO

“Used to type so fucking fast, fastest typer ever.” Tommy commented, thinking back to how fast his fingers used to be.

His best friend snorted, “That was on the communicators, and half the time you’d misspell or it’d be totally unreadable.”

“Lies and slander! And you’re fucking dyslexic, you can’t read for shit.” Tommy retorted, ignoring the numerous books that were in the room as well as the papers and pages and stuff. They didn’t exist. And if they did, they were obviously misspelled and unreadable.

: DYSLEXIC TUBBO KEKW
: honestly I keep forgetting tubbo’s dyslexic
: same
: SAME

Tubbo rolled his eyes but nudged Tommy and pointed to the keyboard, “C’mon. Type and let’s see how you do.”

“Alright, alright! I got this.” Tommy made a show of rolling his shoulders and cracking his knuckles. He’s very disappointed when there isn’t an actual cracking. Right. Metal and plastic, not bone and flesh. Ignore it and go on you stupid fuck. “I got this.” He repeated, looking solely at the screen, hands on the keyboard, elbows jointed.

He types.

He can’t feel the keys as he hits them, only sees them and hears the click-clack of the keyboard as he types. Again, the feeling of disconnection is there and Tommy does his best to ignore it as he continues typing to the best of his abilities.

It…

: AOSDHASD SO MANY MISTAKES
: lollolllol faaail
: HE’S NOT USED HIS FINGER SOKAY >:(

Goes as well as you’d think.

He misspells a lot of things, forgets punctuation and spacing. Though Tommy genuinely doesn’t know whether or not it was the result or his fingers not hitting the right keys because he’s not used to them, or they’re not flexible or dexterous enough, or even fast enough to catch up with his attempt in ‘speed typing’.

“It’s… not as bad as I thought it’d be.” Tubbo hums, looking over the mess of letters and the occasional number on the screen. Comparing it to the original paragraph that Tommy attempted to copy in one whole speedy go. “I think I can make the fingers more flexible if I adjust the wiring… maybe use a different metal wire? The joints maybe redesigned…” Tubbo mutters, already trapped in his own head on how to improve the prosthetics.

: there goes the science talk again!
: any engineers in the chat who can help here??
: TUBBO HI!!

Tommy rolled his eyes but looked back down to his prosthetic hands, once again watching them curl and uncurl. One by one, he moved each finger, slowly rotated his wrist.

Yep, still can’t feel them.

What he can feel though is Tubbo’s camera pointed right at him. Well, him and Tubbo to be exact but still… Tommy peered into it, frowning as he starting tapping the desk.

He knows that it’s a habit and kind of? Hobby that Tubbo had picked up from his lab work, but did he really have to record now? But then again, being a scientist meant data and shit so recording did make sense… Tommy’s used to the sporadic times Tubbo records now and then, having watched a lot of the vlogs that Tubbo had done before. Which, it really helped a lot, watching those vlogs. So he can’t really complain about it, he liked watching them, finding out how Tubbo’s been doing and stuff.

Still.

He doesn’t really know why- he’s not particularly bothered with it per say (not anymore at least) but… there was just this underlying feeling that Tommy couldn’t exactly shake whenever Tubbo turned any of his cameras on. Be it on the computer or that cambee of his. Like, in that moment, there was something more going on and Tommy couldn’t figure it out.

: I feel like he’s looking right at me
: SKRUNKLY ARMLESS BOI HE
: is it just me or is his forehead glowing again??

He scratched at his forehead a bit.

By the void, he really had no idea what was going on with himself or really, anything.

One step at a time, he thought as he rolled his shoulders. He’d figure things out one step at a time.

And it wasn’t like he was alone in figuring things out, Tubbo and Quackity were helping him. And by proxy, so were Karl and Ranboo, both who he hasn’t really met yet. Only heard from word of mouth by both his friends.

Speaking of which-

A catchy, groovy tune began to rang as a window popped up.

Ranboo was calling.

: THE ROYAL MEOW MEOW!!!!!
: :endereye: :endereye: :endereye:
: RANBOO THE BELOVED :DDDDDD
: it’s been a while since we saw him!! I was worried for a second!!!
: FINALLY!! MY SHIP HAS RETURNED <3 <3

“The prince you kidnapped is calling you Tubs.” Tommy echoed unnecessarily since Tubbo was right beside him, but then again, he seemed lost in his own thoughts. “You clearly gave the poor guy Stolkholm syndrome if he’s calling his kidnapper. Shame on you Toby, really are a wrongen bitch now aren’t you.”

His best friend blinked rapidly snorting, “Shush you, Ranboo doesn’t have Stolkholm syndrome.” He said, though he shook his head when Tommy went to clear out of the way. Even going as far as to grab Tommy’s shoulders and stay in place. “Stay, it’s about time you two met. Wish it was in person but this’ll do for now.”

Tubbo answered the call before Tommy could even say anything. “Oi!” Tommy cried out but was ignored as Tubbo grinned brightly at the camera. “Hey!” He exclaimed, snickering at the stunned look on the prince’s face, clearly he wasn’t expecting Tommy there at all.

“His Highness, Ranboo Belovia, Tommy Innit, Tommy Innit, his Highness Ranboo Belovia.” Tubbo introduced with flourish. Looking pretty satisfied with himself despite both his friends looking wide-eyed at each other and him.

They stay quiet, still wide-eyed, for a few seconds.

: OH MY GOD THIS IS SO AWKWARD
: tubbo whyyy
: lmao mood tommy mood
: they’re finally meeting :DDDD
: im honestly surprised they haven’t met off screen but hey better for us!
: omg ranboos room looks so lavish

Though Tommy was wide-eyed staring at Ranboo, he made sure not to look the prince in the eye. He knew better than that, endermen hybrids and such typically didn’t like being looked in the eye. He’s remembered that quite clearly from when he and Tubbo were younger. “… How the fuck did Toby even kidnap someone like you? He’s like, not even half your fucking height and yet he managed to grab you? What the fuck? Aren’t you the prince? Didn’t they give you training or some shit, self-defense?”

Both of them splutter as Tommy tries not to instantly regret what he just blurted out; it had been on his mind, okay?!

“I- look for a short person, Tubbo was really, really strong okay?! Even back then!” Ranboo cried out much to Tubbo’s indignation.

“I am not short! You’re both just freakishly tall! Especially you, boob boy!”

“Don’t call me that!”

Tommy tried and failed to hide his grin as he watches Tubbo and Ranboo bicker at each other. It’s strange, he’s only ever had Tubbo in his life and maybe he should feel jealous at how familiar they both were with each other and maybe he was at the beginning when he first watched the vlogs but right now, all he could feel was relief that Tubbo had found people he could rely on. Found people he could be friends with.

That even after death, Tubbo didn’t have to be alone.

It’s a bit envious of course, it was them both against the world but they were orphans. Street kids that had no one else but each other, now? Tubbo was a scientist to the Endlantis royal family. He was friends with a prince!

And Tommy…

Was a dead boy out of his depth.

: SHORT SCIENTIST KEKW
: KEKW
: shortie lololol
: tubbo is right though theyre both unbelievably tall
: HAHAHAHA
: youre just short like him lmao

“So,” Ranboo started. It’s still a bit awkward between them but it was ignored for both each other’s sake as well as Tubbo’s. Who would’ve ignored it anyway and trudged forward regardless. “Now that you’ve got um, arms again, Tommy, you think you’re good for a communicator?”

Tommy blinked, once, twice. “Uh- fucking- yeah?” He cleared his throat, “I mean, fuck yeah! I want a communicator! Tubbo, gimme! I’ve clearly passed the whole, typing shit with flying colors. I want, no I deserve a comm!” He exclaimed, grinning widely at the silent scientist who looked far too thoughtful and solemn for his liking.

“… Tubbo?”

“Hey uh, Tubbo? What’s up?”

The older teen frowned, hesitant for a moment before he weakly smiled at them both. “A communicator huh? Yeah, about that.” He used his inventory, the cube attached to his belt glowed -Tommy should also ask for an inventory too but comm first- and suddenly there was a red-painted communicator in his hands. A very familiar communicator, complete with an old plastic mooshroom charm attached to it and somewhat faded stickers of flowers, spiders and a bee on the back. “Here Tom.”

Tommy gaped for a moment before tentatively accepting it, “Is this…?” He marveled quietly, looking over the communicator in his hands.

“Your old communicator? Yeah, I- I upgraded it internally a while back so it should be up to par with modern communicators. The casing was cracked but I managed to fix that and remember how some of the buttons would get stuck if you pressed them too hard? Replaced those and fixed that too.” Tubbo smiled slightly, happy to see Tommy awed and happy at his old communicator.

Though he was happy to see his old communicator, something from his past that Tubbo had somehow managed to preserve (other than himself) he paused. “I- I thought this was gone, didn’t Sam-“ instantly his tongue bloated in his mouth, clogging his throat and he had trouble speaking.

: sam??
: I SMELL LORE!!!
: SAM?!?!

“Sam… confiscate this… before- before-“

“Sam! Sam! Please, no- No!“ he shrieked , trying his best to pry the armored hand off his arm. Unfortunately, his tiny, starved fist could do nothing against the netherite armor, much less the muscled limb underneath. “I didn’t do anything! I promise! Let me go- I won’t tell- I’m sorry! Please, please let go.” Tommy sobbed, fear gripping his heart and tears streaking down his face.

The creeper hybrid said nothing, his face, hidden by that horrid mask and his grip, tight, unyielding.

“We haven’t got all day Warden Awe.” The woman snapped behind him with her guards, the other Wardens, silent and still. “This street rat has stolen my goods and is a filthy spy. Remember your place, your sponsors, your duty. Take care of him, or shall Warden Pry do it instead?”

Tommy hiccupped in pain and fear as Sam’s grip tightened. “S-Sam, I won’t- I won’t tell- I- have to go- go home. Let me go, please, please.”

A sword appeared in Sam’s hand and forcefully raised Tommy’s arm. “Sam? SAM?!”

A whisper that he could barely hear. “I’m sorry.”

“SAM?! NO, NONONO SAM P-AUUUUAAAAGGHH!!!!”

Crunch

: OH DEAR
: TOMMY NO
: THE ARM!!!!

“UH!?”

“TOMMY!”

Tommy jolted, the abrupt sound of metal crunching as well as Tubbo’s shout snapped him out of his thoughts. He had dropped his communicator on Tubbo’s desk, and his hand had found its way to his upper arm, the same arm that Sam had cut off. He’d clutched the arm so tightly with the new hand that it seemed to have broke some of the arm’s frame. “Shit! Shit shit- sorry! I’m sorry I didn’t-“ He would not cry again. He would not cry dammit.

This was the second time he was wearing the arms and he would not cry, not now. Especially after breaking one of the arms!

“Tommy! Toms, Tom, it’s okay.” Tubbo’s voice soothed as a hand gripped his shoulder, not too tightly, just enough to be heavy and comforting. “Look at me, look at me Tommy.” He does and Tubbo gives him a smile, reassuring and not angry. It’s emotive, not covered by a mask and- “Breathe Tommy. In… Out…”

: IN
: out!!!

“Shhff-“ He was probably not supposed to hiss his breaths but, it still helped. “Fuck. By the void, I’m sorry Toby. I- I didn’t mean to break it, I swear!”

Tubbo shook his head, “I know dude, I know. It’s fine! You didn’t break it entirely, it’s perfectly fixable. You’re still able to move it so you didn’t break the internal wiring of it. I’m surprised though, the fact you did break something using the prototypes… I should probably adjust grip strength and the joints. More importantly though, are you okay?”

Tommy bit the inside of his cheek, chewing as he avoided looking at Tubbo. A nasty feeling of embarrassment grew in his stomach, the fact that Ranboo was on screen watching awkwardly made it grow a bit more. “I’m fine.” He replied tersely.

“… Are you sure? Is- do you need anything? Maybe, uh, do you want another co-“

“I fucking said I’m fine!” Tommy snapped and regretted it shortly after, Tubbo didn’t look hurt by it but Tommy still felt bad. Fuck. Fuck. “I just- I need to think… Get this fucking thing off me so you can fix it or whatever, I just- I wanna lay down…”

: DDDDD:
: tommy nooo
: I’m late!! Did I miss anything?
: bruhh

“It was, something, meeting you, Prince Ranboo. Let’s talk again sometime later.” Tommy mumbled before he and Tubbo went out of sight of the camera just so Tubbo could help him take the arms off.

He…

Needs to think about a lot of things.

"I hate seeing him like that, it makes me sad. It's even worse now that-"

"I know. But, it'll get better."

"Hmph, I want it to get better faster."

"It'll get better at its own pace. No interference."

"... Don't look at me like that."

"... He has a communicator now, good. We can start the next step."

"FINALLY!"

Chapter Text

Despite what people might think, curiosity could drive a person into doing a lot. 

Pair that up with stupidity and a lack of common sense, you end up with something either hilarious, dangerous, complicated, etc. Sometimes all mixed together to create...

Something like this; 

"Tammy, Tammy I don't- I don't think she's playing around. Tammy I think we should leave."

"But we came all the way out here! She should at least answer our questions! I'm not leaving until she answers my questions! And meet Karl!" 

"Tammy, she has a BOW, she is AIMING a BOW at us. She is- she is drawiNG BACK THE STRING OKAY NOPE- FUCK YOU TAMMY I'M OUT OF HERE!" Technoblade watched with wide eyes as the camera jostled violently, the male voice's screaming just before a female shriek joined his shortly afterwards. Both sounded terrified, and he could very well figure out why. The thunk of something -most likely an actual arrow- was loud enough for the phone to pick it up. I.e. the arrow had landed somewhere uncomfortably close. 

Though there were no sounds of pain in the short video plus the captions did read 'we weren't hit but that arrow was so fucking close!!!!', no one was actually hurt.

Just scared shitless.

For a good reason.

Despite being an old woman, Eiffel Jacobs was definitely not a woman to underestimate, regardless of age. Even with the low resolution of the video, anybody, even the blind, could tell that Eiffel did not appreciate the strangers crossing her private property. Enough so that she, no joke, prepared a bow and arrow and aimed it directly at them. 

It was a short video, on TikTok no less. Well, originally it was on TikTok but it was taken down shortly afterwards. Not soon enough of course, copies of the 3 minute TikTok had already spread throughout the internet.

What happened exactly?

Well the TikTok-er that posted the original TikTok was a duo called TrisTam, a guy called Tristan and a girl named Tammy. They were friends, were emphasized here since apparently Tristan officially broke off from being Tammy's friend after that TikTok video. 

TrisTam was a kind of up and coming TikTok account? They were a pair of friends that started out wanting to become TikTok stars, or Tammy certainly did and roped her friend Tristan to help. There were other friends as well but it was mostly the both of them. 

They did comedy skits, tried to set their own trend, etc. etc. The typical TikTok-er that wanted to hit big.

And they certainly hit big with their latest set of TikTok videos.

Apparently TrisTam lived just a few miles away from Portobello, the very same Portobello from the last Buzzfeed Unsolved Supernatural video. They literally could just take a small trip and stop by Portobello whenever they wanted to, and after watching the Buzzfeed video, they did.

Now, they weren't the first people to make a TikTok about 'The Appearance and Disappearance of the Jacobs Family', they wouldn't be the last. Hell, a few latest famous TikToks were from a few people claiming they knew about the Jacobs since they lived in Portobello, one TikTok-er even said that he was in the Fencing Club that was regularly visited by her, proven by the secret video he took of her standing by his fencing teacher and helping out a young girl with her stance on fencing. 

The Buzzfeed video was certainly causing a ripple in the internet, but it was TrisTam's latest and perhaps last TikTok video that really got people's attention.

Tammy had declared that she and Tristan were going to visit Portobello and do something that no one did before; personally ask Eiffel Jacobs on what happened all those years ago and maybe confirm a few theories.

Techno wasn't the only one to link Karl and Eiffel together, but generally that was seen more of a 'Oh my god, is Karl Jacobs related to (Insert Name or Same or Almost Same Name) Jacobs?!' kind of theory. A continuing running joke among the Karl Jacob fans and all, though Technoblade still had the inkling that maybe, it wasn't a joke. He couldn't prove it right now, but he at least kept his suspicions and curiosity on the down low and mostly just to himself and his close friends.

Tammy though? Did not.

She was adamant, insistent that Karl Jacobs (coincidentally her favorite streamer) was related to Eiffel Jacobs somehow. So not only would she meet and ask Eiffel Jacobs, she would also meet Karl Jacobs himself! The recluse, faceless streamer that was currently on hiatus, she would meet him and see his face! Which was, a big red flag that was kind of dismissed because what were the odds of Eiffel and Karl actually being related? Or that Karl really was in Portobello for his hiatus? 

Tristan was very dubious over the matter, but Tammy was the more aggressive and dominant person in their relationship. Later on though, he revealed he actually argued with Tammy whether or not they would actually go but she begged him and convinced him to go.

When they got there, they were met with warnings from the locals when they asked around about both Eiffel Jacobs and Karl Jacobs. 

Eiffel Jacobs didn't like to be filmed or photographed, as of late she rarely entered town because of people like Tristan and Tammy, the ones who were curious about her thanks to the Buzzfeed video. She was temperamental, she wasn't violent per say but she was an old woman who could still swing actual swords, easily pull back bowstrings and was confirmed to be regularly jogging around her property or even some times the town in the early morning, so getting on her bad side was obviously a bad idea.

Too bad Tammy was apparently too curious and stubborn for her own good.

Before the 'Confrontation TikTok', she and Tristan went around asking questions. 

The Portobello locals had apparently been asked the questions before and most were too annoyed to answer them though almost all of them seemed to respect (or maybe even fear) Eiffel too much to answer anything personal. 

For good reason.

It came to the last TikTok that TrisTam (now technically just Tam) released.

Being too persistent and lacking common sense, Tammy disregarded the warnings that the locals and her friend gave her, instead insisting they go to the Jacob House despite literally everyone else saying not to. They were halted of course, by the gate and fence that surrounded the House and establishing what clearly was Eiffel Jacob's private property. And no matter how many times Tammy pressed the bell at the gate, or even shouted, no one came to even confront her and Tristan.

So what does she do?

Use a nearby boulder to climb the fence and trespass on private property. 

While filming a TikTok, that recorded everything. Then she edited it and posted it on the internet.

Technoblade had to pause for a few minutes to really take in the stupidity and lack of common sense. He knew people could do both, he's definitely seen compilations of people doing idiotic things but this? He almost could have commended Tammy for her bold idiocy.

Almost.

Anyway, after Tammy climbed the stone and iron bar fence, Tristan followed after her. Apparently she threatened him to come with her at that point, that part was of course, edited out. And with that, they tried to trek towards the Jacob House. Unfortunately the boulder they had to climb on was quite a bit away from the original gate which was the closest area near the house. 

Either by dumb, bad luck (for the TikTok-ers) or maybe she had seen them climb over her fence, it didn't take long for them to finally meet Eiffel Jacob face to face.

The old woman stood tall, confident and annoyed before them, 'old bag wanted us to leave >:(((' read the captions in the TikTok at the time. Techno had no idea what the hell went through Tammy's head in the moment when she decided to just act like everything was okay, giving a quick empty apology before getting right to the point on asking questions that were definitely not going to be answered. Mostly because they were trespassing on her private property and also because Eiffel was mute? Did Tammy expect that Eiffel was seriously going to answer her questions through what, writing it down for her? Or have Karl (who may or may not be her grandson) translate? 

Tristan was quietly trying to get Tammy to back off and to just leave, especially when Eiffel motioned for them to go away with the bow that was in her hand. The quiver full of arrows at her hip. His quiet pleas grew significantly louder when Eiffel drew one of the arrows out of the quiver and made clear, obvious motion, of putting it against her bow and lightly aiming at them.

Which lead to now, where Techno watched the video violently jerk as Tristan did the sensible thing and ran away as Eiffel drew the bowstring back and fired her arrow.

It had hit a tree right beside them, and she didn't stop there, Tammy had dramatically recalled in a twitter post. She chased after them too, she kept firing arrows at them, one almost hit her! She could have died! Tammy was going to charge the woman for attempted murder and harassment!

Tristan, in another post on an account entirely separate from Tammy's, did admit that Eiffel followed after them, and was shooting arrows, but looking back none of them had hit or even came as near as the first arrow had been. It was mostly likely incentive to keep running and get the fuck out of her property, which they did, when they finally got to the gate which was wide open and closed shut as soon as they got out and Eiffel reached it.

Extreme incentive of course but Techno was one of the people who admired Eiffel's sheer tenacity and appreciated it, sure it was probably unnecessary but holy fuck was it cool. Shane was right, the old woman was amazing.

Not everyone thought that, Tammy especially, she really did try to get Eiffel arrested or at the very least sued. Forgetting that one; she trespassed on Eiffel's property first and harassed the old woman and a few of the Portobello townsfolk and two; Eiffel was definitely richer than Tammy. Plus, majority that knew of her, approved of her awesome actions and disapproved of Tammy's actions.

That was a great factor in the 'case' that Tammy and her parents tried to start against her, Eiffel did not give a shit and preferred to get things done. She slapped them with her well-paid lawyers as well as some money for the 'endangerment fine' or whatever and went on her day. Or so some people said, the matter was dealt with mostly privately but seeing as how Eiffel Jacobs was still living in peace and recluse in Portobello, it was safe to say there was some truth to the statement.

Again, the old woman was amazing.

"Still leaves a lot of questions though." Techno mumbled to himself, "It's kind of confirmed that she has a grandson, that one guy said she mentioned one, but no one in town has really personally met the guy. Or if they did, they're saying nothing. Which, after this nonsense, is fair but still... Where the hell is Karl?" If Portobello really was his hometown, and where he mainly lived, then where did Karl go?

Where did his mysterious anonymous boyfriend live? 

It's not that Techno wants to know exactly who Karl's boyfriend was, though Sapnap might want to know the simp, but just where exactly did he live that had Karl going completely dark on hiatus? Techno gets not going on social media during breaks, he and the others have done that plenty of times, but whenever Karl went on his breaks or hiatuses, he just completely disappears. Even from them. 

Was it the matter of where the boyfriend lived? Did the boyfriend not like social media to the point he refused to let himself or Karl be on it when they were together or when Karl visited? 

Were Karl and Eiffel really related? What happened to the Jacobs years ago? Did Karl know? 

"God," Techno groaned, rubbing his eyes. "Should I even continue investigating this stuff? I definitely don't want to end up like Tammy." He wasn't even the type to go all 'investigation' mode on stuff like this, but curiosity could drive people into doing a lot.

He wasn't going to end up doing stupid shit like Tammy though. 

Minutes later, Technoblade blinked as he suddenly got a call from Phil. Not on Discord, but on his phone. Not really weird, he just wasn't expecting it considering the time.

He answered the call, "Hello?" 

"Is there by any chance you can move up your plans to come over soon?" 

It took a moment for him to process what he was asked of, not to mention Phil was talking in an unusually soft voice. He opened his mouth then closed it, thinking a moment before carefully answering, "Possibly? If I cancel a few things, or reschedule, I could probably do it? Why?" 

There was silence for a moment before a quiet sigh, "It's Wilbur." Techno straightened in his chair, about to ask what happened when Phil continued. "Man's stressed and paranoid to the max here mate. He just showed up a few hours ago, looking like shit. He's crashed on my bed- well, he crashed on my couch but that piece of shit isn't a good place to sleep for a tall fucker like him, so I moved him to my bed... Tech, he got doxxed and was pretty sure that someone was following him home. He thinks he lost them but he got so paranoid about them and his house so he wandered around for hours before finally just coming to me.." 

His mouth dropped, gaping at what Phil told him. Wilbur got doxxed? How did he not- wait, right, he still had twitter muted from the whole Stream Labs and Wilbur thing. Fuck. He hadn't been on it since. "I- it feels stupid to ask if he's okay after what you just told me." He muttered, rubbing his eyes and trying to calm his panicking emotions. He kind of knew why Phil asked if he could reschedule his plans for this, he already had the urge to fly over and check on them both after hearing that. "I'll be there." As soon as he could hopefully. But he would be there.

He couldn't see it, however he had the correct feeling that Phil was smiling. "A'ight, thanks mate... Guess we have to reschedule a lot of things huh?" He joked lightly, though it sounded strained. 

"Yeah... What about you? You okay?" 

"I'm fine Techno, just worried." 

"Need me to do anything? Stay on call with you or something?" It was pretty much the only thing he could do right now, hopefully that would change soon.

"If- If you don't mind, are you busy?" 

He didn't even look at his notes and to-do list for the day, "Nope. Why don't we switch to Discord and play some TF2?" 

"Gladly... Dibs on soldier!"

"So I like, take a look to what he's done and- by the voids, I had to stop. I just- I couldn't take it anymore. That fucking- he CHANGED MY CODE BECAUSE IT WASN'T ACCORDING TO THE INSTRUCTIONS?! I lost it, I LOST IT! Since the beginning, he'd been an absolute asshole to me, PLAGIARIZED my works, treat me like trash and- and so much other things. But that one day, that ONE THING, just made me snap." The fox hybrid said with a scowl, clawed fingers quickly tapping his desk in irritation, it was in clear view as the camera was settled on the desk. "So yeah, that's uh, that's how I was arrested for assault and attempted murder." 

Wary eyes watched as the hybrid prince gawped on the screen, the angle a bit awkward but even as the fingers were closest to the camera, it seemed like it was more focusing on Ranboo instead of the Fundy's digits. Fundy seemed to have programmed it to focus more on faces or something.

: that is extremely valid king
: attempted? not successful? shame :(
: MURDER IS NOT THE OPTION!
: what the fuck fundy???
: tbh i wouldve done the same
: 'murder is not the option' yeah IT'S A DECISION AND HE MADE THE RIGHT ONE!

She snorted slightly at message before it inevitably disappeared in the rapid, chaotic sea, that was chat. Quite honestly, she privately approved of the action but if you asked her if it was she'd say no for reasons soon to be said.

"I asked how you ended up working for Endlantis Fundy, how does that correlate?!" Ranboo cried, looking utterly flabbergasted by the story. 

Fundy's hand slipped out of view as he answered, "Ranboo, the guy was the son of a Dry Waters noble elite. My BOSS, the guy that I owed money, I stabbed his son, in the gut, with a box cutter. My boss, who used to have connections to Dry Waters government officials and someone in Endlantis. Of course I was arrested for that!" 

Yeah that. As nice and probably satisfying it was to stab the man who made your life hell, there no doubt would be consequences to that. Especially to the son of a noble elite, not to mention doing it in the public of a workspace. She huffed before writing something down in the notebook in her desk, information was information though and she would take what she could get.

"No I know THAT but, that still doesn't explain how you ended up working for Snowchester's scientific branch or how Endlantis hired you!" 

"I mean, doesn't it?"

"No! It doesn't!"

"Ranboo, haven't you heard? Your mom has a bad habit of taking in woeful criminals and bad people and reforming them for the good of her kingdom." 

: huh
: BRUH?
: i mean *points to tubbo*

Ranboo's eyes widened, "What?" 

She too, had to blink at that nugget of information. But then again, with Tubbo in mind, someone who literally KIDNAPPED and STOLE from ENDLANTIS ROYALTY (realistically he should be dead or very much punished FAR WORSE for his actions), was on their payroll and doing very well for himself, it did make sense. However, he was a teen genius that could create nuclear warheads and somehow resurrected (?) his best friend from the dead through science and or questionable magic (another crime in itself) so hiring him with that in mind also made sense.

"Well, there's Tubbo and Schlatt, you know them. Tubbo for obvious reasons and Schlatt was an absolute asshole but now Tubs' one of the most important scientists to the Snowchester branch and Schlatt is a close advisor and stuff to Kri-uh, Queen Kristin. There's George, I think he was arrested for like, drugs and uh, accidental? Terrorism, he got arrested for accidentally drugging his village with a potent sleeping gas I believe. Bad- I have no idea what he did actually but I KNOW that tattoo he has on the back of his neck is reserved for those on death row in the Wither Kingdom."

: EXCUUUSE ME?!?!??
: ACCIDENTAL TERRORISM LMAO
: i have no idea who schlatt is but he seems tame if he doesnt have any crimes that were mentioned and was just an asshole
: finally finished with work and joined the stream!!! what did i miss???
: HOW IS BAD A DEATH ROW PERSON HE SCOLDED FUNDY FOR SWEARING EARLIER WHAT THE FUCK
: GEORGE WHAT
: :smile-crime: :smile-crime: CRIME EVERYWHERE 

She stared for a moment before snapping her fingers, so that was why that shroom was so familiar. She heard about that from Hannah, the entire village was put to sleep and the wind carried the gas over to Kinoko Kingdom and caused a lot of problems and panic. 

Everything else she wasn't really surprised with, Schlatt she's heard plenty about, mostly with bias. Tubbo, she's watched. Bad- that shadow devil must've gotten that tattoo when the old King was still alive perhaps, condemned for existing the poor thing. Or maybe for some other reason.

As far as she could tell, the Queen did have the habit of seeking out criminals and bad people, but she had good intentions and it really looked like she made sure they weren't ultimately terrible or beyond help. 

"... Is there ANYONE I KNOW that works in Snowchester that DOESN'T have a criminal record?"

"... uhh Saa-"

"Don't say Sam Fundy. He's... an ex-Warden from the Scarlet Institute." 

"Oh fuck."

She grimaced, that she also already knew. An unfortunate thing. She had suspicions before, but thanks to Hannah, they were proven correct. Poor bastard, but seeing his hybrid status and how he was born, it was no wonder he was taken in by the Scarlet Institute. It was actually a miracle he seemed to keep himself together and seemed to be so caring, empathetic. 

In any case though, watching the stream provided not much information. But it was amusing to see the reactions of the other people watching it, she had found quite a few messages hilarious and eyed a few other concerning ones.

When the stream ended, she got out of her chair, groaning as her old bones creaked as she stretched.

By the void, getting old was troublesome, she missed it when her body didn't ache or tire so easily.

But it could've been worse, she could've been born and gotten old in this world's way. Probably be unable to be as fit as she is right now.

She shook her head, stashed away her notebook and headed towards Karl's room. 

The room was empty of course, Karl wouldn't be back this week, but maybe the next. At the doorway, she saw Karl's streaming set up, smiling fondly at the sight of it but focused at the large, rectangular ornate mirror that was bolted to the wall out of sight of the camera that Karl would usually use for his 'face cam' streams.

Unknown to many, it was the very same room that was shown ever so briefly a long time ago, during Fundy's first stream. How it was shown, she had no idea, she was very sure that the mirror Fundy had wasn't even supposed to be connected to the mirror here or why he and Tubbo had mirrors that were similar. Though Tubbo's mirror was... disturbingly confusing. Both unfortunately yet thankfully, it was destroyed so that was that for now. And Fundy's mirror didn't seem to be doing anything at the moment, but the risk of having someone be able to see Karl's room was something to keep in mind.

Eiffel Jacob stood before the mirror, though old in age, she was still very fit. Not in her prime, but considering the usual health and bodies of the elderly in this world? She was doing a lot better than them. Her greying hair was pulled into a tight bun low on her head, and brown eyes were surrounded by wrinkles. Her gaze wandered to the scar on her throat, whenever she saw her reflection, she couldn't help it. At first, it was filled with regret and resentment but now? She was used to it.

Though she had lost her voice, she lived her life as she wanted.

Plus, being mute had its advantages sometimes.

She got close to the mirror, blowing a breath to the reflective surface and watching as the magic sparked, fog covering its entire surface at an unnatural rate to the point that it no longer showed her reflection at all. But a foggy, grey canvas.

A canvas she draws on, tracing her finger on the grey, leaving a color-changing line of green and purple behind.

She draws a rectangular swirl, the 'icon' that Karl uses and is known by.

The color overtakes the fog, turning the grey into a flashing and eye-straining green-purple. She barely blinks and draws the swirl again, but this time in an opposite way.

The mirro glows and the colors fade, revealing a room that was not Karl's room. 

An atrium is in the mirror, an endless amount of greenery, flowers and more were littered about the large atrium. Sunlight peeking through the glass and the gaps of the leaves of the plants, trees and vines. It was beautiful. 

It was another home.

She waited patiently for Hannah to co-

"Granny Eiffy!" A red hand slapped itself on the surface, large grinning teeth paired with mismatched eyes and horns pressed against the glass. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you, I was getting so bored!" 

Eiffel stared at him then silently sighed, she then signed to him. "Eryn, does Hannah know you're in her atrium?"

Eryn, her little half demon, laughed. "Does she know- she locked me in here granny!"

"What did you do this time?"

Eryn finally moved away from the glass, rocking on his heels, trying and failing to seem innocent. His barbed tail always belayed his true emotions, wagging itself behind him. "Nooothiiing." He lasted only a few minutes at her deadpan stare and smiled sheepishly, "I... may have snuck into the magic wing of the house and killed the molded wither skeleton she caught? And now the wing is being overtaken by mold? So she uh, locked me in here while she takes care of the mold spreading through the wing... Also just in case you called today." 

Eiffel sighed again, at least it seemed like he was behaving this time. The atrium seemed fine, for good reason, they both remembered the last time Eryn messed with Hannah's plants. "Alright," She signed to him, "Grab a chair then Eryn, let's hear what happened over there." Eryn grinned sharply, a dark, devious look in his eyes before he bolted to get one of the chairs that were around the atrium. 

She herself grabbed Karl's gaming chair. She was glad that he got such a comfortable thing, it couldn't beat her favorite rocking chair on the porch, but it was very nice.

As Eryn dragged a chair by the mirror, Eiffel sat herself down and got out her notebook from her inventory.

She wishes she was younger sometimes, she wasn't cut or as ready for whatever was happening right now. But she'll be damned if she wouldn't try and at least make sure her family would come out okay.

Whatever Stream Labs was, whatever the connection between it, Karl, and everything else, she would try to figure out.

She was Eiffel fucking Jacob, and despite being old and mute, she was still capable of shit dammit!

Attested by that weird, entitled little brat that trespassed on her property a while ago. Daring to demand answers to questions she didn't deserve, certainly not by trespassing her private property!

Bah, young people these days.

Chapter Text

Unless a person was a sadistic, narcissistic asshole, watching someone undergo hardships and experience stress you've never experienced before was horrible. Doubly so, if that someone was someone you knew and cared for, like your friend. And the fact that you can't really do anything about it? Even worse. 

"Dude, I swear, I'll fly over and kick the ass of whoever's following you. I'll raise hands- I'm raising them right now! Let me at'em, I'll take them down!" Ponk exclaimed, murmurs of agreement came from the call as Wilbur just smiled weakly at the camera with Philza nodding beside him. 

Sapnap made a show of rolling his sleeves up, "You and me both Ponk! We'll fuck'em up!" Jabbing at his camera, grinning widely when he managed to get Wilbur to laugh a bit. Nothing like his usual laugh, but it was something.

It's only been a day since Wilbur was doxxed, and just a few hours since the rest of them found out that Wilbur was temporarily staying with Philza until further notice, so paranoid and scared of his own apartment that he wandered Brighton for hours before finally ending up at Phil's place entirely by chance. They all would've been more worried if he ended up somewhere else where they didn't know whether or not it was really safe for him, if Philza didn't call for a search party, Sapnap was entirely willing to do it and he was in a different country!

Most of them were!

It sucks being hundreds, thousands of miles away from your friends and hearing such bad news that greatly affected their life and being unable to do anything about it. Hell, Sapnap was tempted to follow through his and Ponk's words- book the earliest flight he could and do an impromptu visit! He's always wanted see Brighton and London, personally meet Wil, Phil and all his other friends that were in Europe in real life. 

Unfortunately he still had to do a lot of things before he could do that, he still had no idea where the hell his passport was anyway so he needed to sort that out before he could do anything.

"I'm usually the voice of reason here but even I say that it'd be worth it." Ant joked lightly making he and Ponk whoop, if the voice of reason agreed with you then you were definitely doing the right thing, right?

Philza laughed, it's louder than Wilbur's who was tiredly slumped in his chair beside the blond man. "Probably? It's a nice sentiment mate, really nice." 

"Yeah. Thanks you two, but be warned, I'm not paying the bail." Wilbur said, cracking a smile. 

Sapnap perked. It's a small thing, the problems were still obviously there and they'd still be there even after they end the call. But Wilbur's shoulders aren't as tense, he looks tired and still stressed and worried, but he can still smile and that's the least that Sapnap can do. The only thing he can do right now.

Maybe he should really invest more time in finding his passport.

"You know," Ant starts later on after Wilbur had left to nap, the man really needed it, "Stream Labs really should apologize for what they did. They're essentially the reason why Wilbur's in this situation in the first place." 

Sapnap frowned, opening his mouth but closing it as he thought more on it. Antfrost was essentially right, but- "I don't think they intended for Wilbur to end up like this Ant." Dream pointed out, though he sounded hesitant. As if he was just saying it to put it out there.

"Yeah sure, but I'm kinda with Ant with this, like; you'd think they'd say something and apologize for the consequences of their actions or something!" Puffy exclaimed, a mix of exasperation and annoyance. She never liked it when her friends was in a bad position thanks to something happening on twitter and stuff, "But you know what they've done? Nothing! Look, I like their content, their characters and stuff but, this shit cannot slide. You guys saw Wilbur, he looks so stressed! Even more stressed than when he was planning for his albums and songs and stuff!" 

"Not to mention the man got doxxed because of a single tweet." Phil murmured quietly, lips thinned into a grimace. "I'm helping Wilbur find a new apartment, and figure out ways to make sure he won't get doxxed again. Ant and Puffy are right, Wilbur's stressed to hell, he can't even look at his phone right now even though he deleted twitter. For good reason! I logged into his twitter and- the shit that's in his dms? The tweets? The ats? It's more than too much. It's getting out of hand. I knew that Stream Labs was big, but I never realized how much of a reach it had until now. Disney reached out to Wil wanting to know if they could contact anybody on Stream Labs through him, Disney." He stressed, looking just as flabbergasted as the rest of them. 

And something in Sapnap was very sure that wasn't the only ridiculous thing that was involved in Wilbur's DMs, but he was a bit scared to ask what, rather, who else had contacted his friend.

Phil sighed tiredly, he was probably just as tired as WIlbur was. Though he seemed to be taking it better? Still didn't mean it wasn't bad though. Fuck.

Sapnap frowned, slight unreasonable guilt ebbed at him as silence overtook the call for a moment. "Fuck man," he finally said, unable to take the quiet. "I mean- I guess Stream Labs does need to like, help Wilbur out a bit. Or like, reign everyone in somehow? I don't know but, wouldn't that be counterproductive somehow? Fuck, I don't know! I have no idea how those weirdos operate!" No one did! Which was the reason why Wilbur was being hounded anyway, because they thought he knew how Stream Labs worked or had connections to it.

"Me too, but the least they could do, is actually address the problem and like, I don't know. Actually talk to people?" Puffy definitely had a good point, the whole mess started with Stream Labs being this mysterious, organization that created one of the most fascinating pieces of content that drew in all kinds of audiences . Slow-burning that it was. There was just something about the streams that were hard to look away from, no matter what was happening. Be it a young scientist just hanging around and doing semi-impossible science or occasionally magic, to a fox man giving a side-view on things or something to even an armless not-dead!boy crying his heart out. And yet, despite it all, despite being in the age of the internet, no one knew who created it. No one knew who worked for them or who backed them.

It's been months, since both the twitch channel and twitter were created. Even less for their youtube channel. And still, no one knew who or what was going on with Stream Labs.

And yet...

Sapnap's jaw dropped as he sees a familiar face peering up at him through the screen. Though the camera was distant and was angled downwards, he could still see just who it was standing below, waving at the camera with yellow and brown eyes aglow and smiling that sweet smile that he's only recently seen.

"Karl?!"

The stream started normal enough. 

Even though Sapnap was a bit miffed with Stream Labs, he couldn't help but tune in to the stream anyway. Last stream had been a Fundy stream where Fundy and Ranboo visited his mostly repaired and reconstructed lab. Snowchester was mostly rebuilt sans a few specific labs that were awaiting specific machinery and other things, Tubbo's lab was still undergoing reconstruction but with how he was going to be going with Niki on her journey, it seemed like it wouldn't really matter yet.

It was in Fundy's lab/office that they, the audience, had found out that most of the characters they had met were all ex-criminals. Tubbo, they had already known but really? Even George? The guy that was known to sleep absolutely everywhere? 

Ponk heckled Dream about it when it was revealed that the character he simped over was a terrorist, "Accidental terrorist, and yeah, but at least George didn't kill Tommy!" Was Dream's brilliant reply. 

His best friend everyone.

Anyway, it was a surprising reveal that might amount to something in the future storyline perhaps? 

At the end of the stream, Ranboo had gone off to visit Tubbo, which was great! Ranboo would finally meet Tommy in person and reunite with Tubbo! It's been a long time since they were on screen together, the stream where they were on call didn't really count. 

Though people noted on how it was likely the meeting out happen 'off-screen' and a lot grumbled on how it wasn't fair. There was a theory that they did a lot of things 'off-screen' to save money or time or whatever, and Sapnap kinda agreed on it, it sucked because as much as he liked the 'calmer, slightly boring' streams like at the beginning where Tubbo was just jamming to music or something in lab, they could've like- cut half of that out and focused on other things?

Like the clingy duo reunion, which people were still salty about. The off-screen meeting with Ranboo would definitely make those people even more salty no doubt.

"I didn't get to see it last time but huh, your cambee is definitely different from Fundy's." Ranboo said as he, Tommy, Quackity and Tubbo were in Tubbo's living room. An episode of Origins playing on tv in the background. Ranboo was staring right at the camera, looking far more casual than he usually did in a simple grey sweater and jeans. The only jewelry he had on was a smaller version of his crown and a dangling ender-eye earring.

: ORIGINS!!!
: I WANT TO WATCH ORIGINS AGAIN PLS 
: new episode of origins pog???
: quackiteee :DDDD
: RANBOO :DDDD HE'S FINAILLY WITH TUBBO AGAIN
: IT'S THE DUCK MAN!
: :bensonjiggle: :bensonjiggle: benson!!!!!
: daw tommy has benson <3<3
: :catcrying: DAMMIT REUNION WAS OFFSCREEN AGAIN WASN'T IT?!11?

"Yeah! I've upgraded it pretty well and even though I liked Fundy's design, I think mine is cooler." Tubbo sounded proud though his eyes were set on the tv, they couldn't actually see the screen from how Ranboo was holding the cambee. "I've made it faster, last longer, sturdier, water-proof, fire-proof-" 

Quackity coughed, leaning over to Ranboo, "Mirror-proof-" He flashed a mischievous grin and laughed at Tommy's indignant shriek.

"OHH, FUCK YOU BIG Q!" The blond teen shouted off-screen, the camera tilted at an angle and they saw Tommy at the end of the couch, being held back by Tubbo who looked amused but exasperated. "Mimimimi- ohh I'm Big Q, I'm- I'm short and- and my wings are all YELLOW LIKE PISS-" 

Quackity cackled, his piss-yellow wings fluffing up behind him caught in sight when Ranboo tilted the camera more towards him in the scuffle that happens with Tubbo trying to stop Tommy from crawling over their laps just to get at the duck hybrid. Sapnap cackles with him, finding the entire thing hilarious.

Out of everyone new in this season, Quackity was definitely his favorite so far. The few times he came up and whenever he was mentioned, he seemed like a chill guy, someone who looked out for both Tommy and Tubbo. Both certainly liked him enough to hang out even though he was supposed to be like, Tubbo's financial manager or something? They were never specific on what Quackity actually was aside from how he was handling Tubbo's money.

But so far, he was a really good guy that Sapnap liked. He hoped to see him more in future streams, maybe see those cool wings in action.

Half-way through the stream, Tommy shoves Quackity into the kitchen, totally not because he needed help in getting food and drinks. He wasn't wearing his prosthetics this stream.

"Ranboo," Tubbo suddenly says just as they pause the tv to wait for Tommy and Quackity. 

"Yeah?" 

"I gotta ask you something..." Whatever Tubbo wanted to ask the prince, Sapnap had no idea. The scientist took the cambee out of Ranboo's hands and had it fly away from them, Stream Labs didn't want them to hear whatever it was- it would come up again in the future though surely? 

The cambee was flew slowly around the apartment. 

Most of the time, the streams were usually centered around one area in Tubbo's apartment; Tubbo's bedroom or the living room. They've never really seen the rest of the apartment. Even during the stream where Tommy moved in with Tubbo, they hadn't seen every single thing that was in it. (And then there was that mirror-jumpscare that took most attention off of everything else.)

The furniture was pretty neat but not too-eye catching, the few knickknacks and other things they could see were more interesting. Who left a shovel on a drawer? A golden shovel at that! And was that a fist-sized diamond? Sapphires? The books seemed interesting too, some titles couldn't be read, but Sapnap briefly saw a worn dark red book that was titled 'Advanced Redstonology and Chuffed Facts by Mumbo J. '.

A few people would translate the other titles from the few books they saw later as, 'Redstone: Breaking Physics Volume Two by Ethos L. and Doc M.', 'Minhe-Crafe History by Scott Major', 'A Dimension Hopper's Guide to; The SWIRL by Sea P.K.', there was a final book that they couldn't exactly translate properly. The cover was so worn, it was clearly missing half of its book binding! All it said was '-brine and the End-', the theorist fans would theorize that these books had great relevancy to the story, especially the worn, old book.

Because all good shows laid out hints and subtle foreshadowing of what's to come.

As the cambee continued, Sapnap blinked and paused the stream, thinking he'd seen something- weird.

With a frown, Sapnap squinted at the screen, at the picture frame that was hanging on the wall. It was a bit hard to see properly, but he swore...

No, it was probably another person. Another actor that just looked like him, it happened sometimes. Doppelgangers existed after all, people who had similar looks! 

He thought that guy from that one movie looked incredibly like Dream one time, this was just another incident like that.

There was no way Karl was part of Stream Labs.

Not to mention, he was already missing out a good part of the stream being paused like this! 

With that in mind, Sapnap unpaused the stream, the screen loading briefly before shifting to Tommy and Quackity in the kitchen together where the cambee had apparently drifted off to. "-nd THAT is how you make it. Rapids-style!" Quackity flaunted, gesturing to a steaming plate of what looked to be burritos. Only a bit different to the norm, different ingredients maybe? Quackity had grabbed the cambee, making it focus on the burritos, "See how plump it is? How FULL the burrito is? MWAH! Absolutely gorgeous. Not too bad if I do say so myself, but I could've done better." 

: im hungry now :(
: BURRITO BURRITO BURRITO
: this duck guys so annoying GO BACK TO TUBBO AND RANBOO DAMMIT
: BENSON!! CAREFUL HOT BURRITOS 
: D:< HOW DARE YOU QUACKITY IS BAE STFU

"I gue- BENSON! BAD SLIME! Those are not for you!" Tommy exclaimed as the duck slime tried to crawl unto the plate, Quackity squawked and let go of the cambee in favor of saving the burritos from the incoming slime creature. "No! Bad! You've already eaten, you had treats too!" 

Benson melted into a puddle on the counter, his eyes and jelly beak cartoonishly separating in 'sadness. "Squack!" 

"Nooo, don't give me that look! Greedy little shit, Tubbo spoils you too often." Tommy huffed, hunched over and glaring at the jiggling puddle. 

Quackity laughed, using a towel to wipe the edges of the plate. "Weren't you the one to get Tubbo to give him treats earlier?" That only made Tommy glare at him instead. "Yes, yes, Tubbo spoils Benson too much." When Tommy looked back at Benson, Quackity seemed to whisper towards the cambee. "And so does Tommy let's be real." 

Sapnap laughed, "I mean, can you blame him? I'd spoil the heck out of Benson!" He totally would! It seemed awesome to have a pet duck slime, maybe a hassle since, you know, slime creature but Benson was adorable and probably more manageable than, maybe a puppy? Who knows!

"What was that?" "Nothing Tomas!" Quackity chirped, nudging the camera away as he and Tommy headed back to the living room. Quackity of course carrying the plate of burritos and a few drinks, he wondered what they tasted like. The burritos too... Great, he was hungry now.

Benson was 'carried' back on Tommy's head, much to adoration of the chat. 

When they came back to the living room, the chat noticed a slight tension that dissipated once both Quackity and Tommy were back with food and refreshments. Seemed like they missed something important, much to viewer's detriment. They'd speculate on what happened later on.

They continued on watching Origins, just generally hanging out. There was a moment of amusement (and slight horror for some people) of watching Tommy eat his burrito without help with him just shoving his face into a plate and biting it right then and there. Seemed like usually Tommy ate with Tubbo's help but there were moments where he wanted to eat on his own somehow, no matter how messy it'd end up for him. 

It would thankfully change when he got more used to his prosthetic arms. 

It really seemed like a normal kinda chill stream, albeit different since Ranboo and Quackity were both there. But it was good, just four friends hanging out.

And then Quackity had to leave.

"Mm? Ah! Karl's here!" Quackity exclaimed excitedly after checking his communicator, getting to his feet and standing. 

"Already? Big Q you just got here!" Tommy lied in a complaining tone, the stream was almost an hour long by now, and it was clear that Quackity had been there before it even started. "Tell your stupid fiancé to go away for another hour or something." 

"Boyfriend, Tommy, stupid boyfriend. Quackity hasn't proposed yet." Tubbo corrected, grinning even though the hybrid smacked him for said correction. 

"Really? I thought you already had! I even thought of the perfect gift for your wedding." Ranboo added.

Quackity scowled at them, "You three shut the fuck up! I- I'm looking for the right time to propose to him. In fact!" He suddenly had a small, deep purple box in the palm of his hand. "I'm planning on doing it tonight! Before he leaves again." He looked nervous, but hopeful as he held the box with both hands, rubbing the top surface. 

The ring box (it was obvious as to what it was, duh) disappeared as Tubbo spoke, sounding disapproving. "He's leaving again? Well, I guess it's a good of a time as any. Give him more reason to come back from- where does he even go anyway? I know he's like, a hopper, but where does he go? Don't tell me he goes into Teu-Be-Tuu-Ti-" 

"No!" Quackity shouted, surprising everyone. The duck hybrid briefly looked terrified but took in a deep breath and shook his head, "No. He- he doesn't go to that hellhole. He goes all over the place but he never goes there. I made him promise." 

There's a strange solemn silence that Sapnap and the other watchers don't get. Missing the context to what was something that was obviously important? Unfortunately, they really had no idea what a 'hopper' was, but wasn't Teu- 2B2T (the name was long so it was shortened, what kind of name was Teu-Bi-Tuu-Ti anyway??) an anarchy land or something? 

"Some context would be great you know." Sapnap couldn't help but mutter, finding the silence very strange. 

A lot of context would be great technically, but Stream Labs didn't usually like to give context or even backstory or something. It was unfortunate, but they somehow made them crave for more anyway.

The winged man coughed, his wings shifting as he regained his composure, smiling a smile that didn't reach his eyes as he turned around to leave. "Anyway, yeah! I'm- I'm going to propose to him before he leaves, and if he says yes-" 

"He better say yes- if he doesn't we can change his mind Q!" Tommy exclaimed the camera swirling to face him as he stood up from the couch as well. All three of them did.

"Oh definitely! And if somehow we can't, well, he's obviously a prat and doesn't deserve being your man." Was Tubbo's helpful contribution.

Ranboo merely gave Quackity an encouraging smile, "I'm sure he'll say yes Quackity. It was nice to hang out with you, good luck!" 

Sapnap was sad to see him go, but cheered for Quackity's incoming proposal. "Yeah, you go Quackity! Propose to Karl!" He cheered, watching him leave through Tubbo's door. 

He found great amusement that Quackity's unseen fiancé was named Karl, it just made him think of his Karl. Well, not his his, but- his friend! Karl. Jacobs. Karl Jacobs. Haha, yeah, it was really a great coincidence that they shared the name Karl. Sapnap even indulged in a brief imagination where it was Karl Quackity was proposing to.

Strangely, it was a nice little moment that he'd keep to himself.

"Look! There he is!" Quackity said, leaning and pointing over the railing that was in front of Tubbo's apartment door, pointing somewhere below where they couldn't see. 

Oh, were they finally going to see the infamous Karl? Quackity's future fiancé? 

Sapnap grinned as the cambee hovered forward, tilting downwards.

His smile slipped and his jaw dropped at the distant figure below. Though it was a ways down and there was a distance between them, he could very well recognize the face that was smiling wide and sweet. 

Both he and Quackity screamed, but with very differing tones of voice. "Karl?!" 

: IT'S KARL! FINALLY!
: OMG KARL JACOBS?!
: KARL!!
: not every karl is karl jacobs you dumbasses >:/
: GOOD LUCK QUACKITY!!!

There was no mistaking it, he knew that smile, he knew that face- for however brief he's seen it, the fact the reveal had been recent and important- standing below in the snow, dressed in a colorful winter clothing. The only difference he could see was the strangely glowing yellow eye that Karl had, an colored-contact or effect by Stream Labs. By why only one eye? The other eye was just the normal brown he's come to know. 

As Sapnap was struggling to process the fact that his friend (guy he was lowkey crushing on) was apparently working for Stream Labs (was he an actor?? Karl never said he wanted to be an actor at any point of time! he said he just liked being a streamer!) Quackity had jumped over the railing. His wings flaring out and briefly blocking the view of the camera but they watched as he glided downwards, circling in place just so he could seemingly land on Karl. (was it just someone else who looked really like Karl?)

The cambee tried to follow, only for Tubbo to reel it back, "We've really left this on going for a while now huh- BYE QUACKITY! BYE KARL!" He screamed, waving down at the two. "Karl better say yes, he- Tommy? Tommy are you okay?" 

 The camera angle was a bit awkward as seemingly it was tucked underneath Tubbo's armpit, but they saw Tommy's figure hunched over, groaning into the railing. "'M fine! Just- headache." The blond groaned, rubbing his forehead against the cold surface. Unknown to them, Quackity was fussing similarly over a groaning Karl, his single brown eye flashing yellow.

"Tubbo? Tubbo- the mark, it's glowing." 

"What?! Wha- Tommy, come here-"

Sapnap could barely watch the stream, his mind too scrambled and distracted to pay attention to what was going on.

It didn't matter anyway, the stream ended just seconds afterwards.

"What? What? What's happening?!" 

"A reaction, they're clashing! Brace yourself- protect what you can!" 

"Tommy!"

"Shit, Karl! KARL!"

Eiffel paused as she felt something warm against her chest, quickly, she glanced down at the lightly glowing pendant hidden underneath her clothes and quickly set down the knife. She could barely wash her hands, giving them a quick rinse and not bothering with a towel, just drying them against her skirt as she made brisk steps towards Karl's bedroom with a wide smile on her face.

It seemed a bit early to come back, but then again the time difference between worlds was just strange sometimes. But hey, it was almost dinner time, and if Karl had already eaten (he probably had, that boyfriend of his was so caring) then it just meant more for her!

Still smiling, she threw the door open only to stop and stare in shock and horror.

The large mirror on Karl's wall was definitely glowing, the neon purple and green swirl was there but there was a sickly yellow color that was swirling with it. The color being far thicker than the other two, far bigger than she's ever seen it happen. And that meant-

If she still had her voice, she'd be screaming his name the moment he fell out of the mirror-portal. Alas, she could only open her mouth in mute terror as she ran towards Karl who curled on the floor on his knees. His form bubbling, glitching along the edges. His skin shifted from purple, to green, to blue. His hair puffed up, straightened, curled, disappeared. His clothes flipped through colors like a broken strobe light, changing shapes, melting against agitated flesh. 

As she tried her best to keep close but not touch him, touching meant PAIN for the both of them like this, she heard a large CRACK and glanced over to the mirror.

The mirror was no longer glowing, no longer showing reflection. A large crack was on the grey, misty surface, from top to bottom.

"Ugh, mgh, hh- Ge-Genie?" Eiffel looked back down at Karl, then back up, eyes wide when confused, yellow eyes met with her horrified brown ones. "Genevieve?"

No.

Karl frowned, looking sad and terrified as his long, teal turning purple arm hesitantly touched hers. He was no longer human, . "Genevieve is that- is that you?" He whispered in clear horror that was different yet similar to her own. "How long was I gone this time? Genie you look so old! Where's Levi? Where's- Where's Eiffel? Carly?" 

No please, not this.

Karl towered over her even on his knees that pooled around like rope unwounded. His torso was taller than her. "Genie?" He called for a woman long dead and was surprised when the familiar old woman before him, Genie? Burst into silent tears. "Genie? What's wrong?! Genie-" Startled and not knowing what else to do, he wrapped the woman in his arms. In his legs too, just in case, and hugged her for all his worth.

Unnoticed to the crying woman and panicking being, a metallic blue ring sat just inches, somewhat hidden in the fuzzy carpet.

Chapter Text

It was hot.

" -it shit shit shit- - -at now?!"

Cold now, so very cold.

"Stabilize the- -- lost Kar- --about Tommy?!"

He didn't know where he was. But there was... something there. With him?

"I have him! I have- -- - okay, he's-- - feve-"

Something... connected... to him...

"--etter than last time, he's ---"

"But he didn't hav---! Why- ---have a fever now?! I prote--- --- -"

Multiple somethings? Connected? Some... more familiar than the rest... tethered... anchors... 

He couldn't help but... notice one specific tether... it felt weak, incomplete actually... It lead somewhere, somewhere unknown... Damaged... what happened to it?

"---- ---he backlash, it's why-- ---. He'll be fi--- --, he can hear us." 

"He can?! ---- --! TOMMY! WAKE UP YOU DINGUS W----"

Huh... one was... tugging harder now... No, two were... One tether felt... like home and love, fear? He wanted to follow it, wanted to soothe that fear... The other tether, was loud? Somehow... Also it was concerned, fond, chaotic... 

"He'll wake up o--- --- -. ---- more important we lost K-- - --- we need a new anc-- - ---."

"-ight, fuck, okay we--- -- ---? ---e already have a candi-- ---- ---- -oot."

He feels something, rough hands gently pressing something soft and wet against his forehead. Home. Home? Toby? That tether, was Tubbo? 

"This is prematu---- -o choice. Do it."

The other tether, the loud chaotic one... It pulsed like a heartbeat, a rhythm that felt so familiar and then-

??

"Done!"

A new tether appeared... Faint, like the broken one but this one wasn't broken... And there was... music? 

"-- - ---ow we just have to wa----"

The music... sounded nice... he felt... tired and... slee...py...

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

Tommy might just be sent to prison for murdering Endlantis royalty but surely the Queen and Princess would understand his case right? Ranboo was just being an annoying little bitch, too annoying to keep alive. The one to really look out for would be Tubbo though, he probably would mind if his benefactor and friend not best friend that was HIM died. Guess the bitch would have to live, unfortunately.

"Yes, I'm sure." He griped with a scowl, glaring at the worried prince before him. Despite all expectations, the prince doesn't wilt and wither away, he seemed to just look even more worried. Fucking hell. "It was just a fever Boob boy, I'm not dying a second time. I wouldn't do that to Tubs." Okay so maybe the slight fuzz in his head was a justifiable concern because what the fuck, why did he say that, fucking shit that just made him look worse.

Tommy looked away from the intense look of concern from the monochrome-colored prince. (Yeah, he knew big words like monochrome. Being the best friend to a genius had its perks sometimes, and he wasn't exactly stupid okay, he knew words. Fuck you, being his favorite of course.)

"Get me out of this fucking bed, I'm fine! Better than before! Just- let me at least move to the fucking living room!" 

He hated being bound to the bed, again. He's had enough of that back with the damned shadow devil doctor before he moved in with Tubbo. And a bit after with Tubbo himself! 

Dammit, was he going to have to use the fucking wheelchair again?

No offence to Tubbo's brilliance, but he hated sitting in the fucking chair. Sure, the self-driving chair was cool and all and got him places, but what was the fucking point of it anymore when he didn't have hands to actually drive it? Not that it needed hands, but, that wasn't the point.

He wanted to walk on his own two legs, he still had them, they were stronger now. He could move on his own, he didn't need help with that. Not anymore.

With great relief, he doesn't need the wheelchair. Sure, he has to lean against the tall royal bastard sometimes but he's walking on his own two feet. "See? Was that so fucking bad?" Tommy huffed, sitting against the couch with a smug, satisfied look.

Ranboo just sighed before sitting on the other side of the couch. "Tubbo's not going to like this when he comes back."

"Tubbo's a little bitch that can suck my dick, now, let's watch some fucking Hermitcraft!"

As the prince exhaled with exasperation but crumble to his words, Tommy couldn't help but look over to the area where that weird fucking mirror had been. The one he had accidentally broke with the cambee. He had no idea what happened to it- well, he knew that Tubbo had finally sent it to be repaired by someone but he just had to wonder why Tubbo had it in the first place.

Aside from the whole 'haunted' thing (he knew what he saw dammit!), the mirror didn't really seem to fit anywhere in Tubbo's apartment. Why have it anyway? Was it a gift? If it was, it was a really weird and shitty gift.

And who the hell did he see in the mirror back then? It was for an instant sure, but it felt longer than that, and seemed... fucking familiar.

...

Like he'd... known them or something...

A hand, shoved itself to his face. "You're funny. I'm taking you! C'mon! Let's get out of here!" He peered up at h-

Loud, familiar music snapped him out of his thoughts. Hermitcraft's Ninth Season Intro was playing and Tommy blinked rapidly then shook his head, why the hell was he thinking about some stupid haunted mirror? That he broke? There were more important things to think of, like Hermitcraft! 

As Grian's voice came alongside Scar and Tango, they were helping some village with their ship or something, Tommy made a mental note to ask Tubbo about his communicator and the arms when he looked over to Ranboo, who was using his communicator to contact someone, most likely Tubbo. He... did miss his old communicator. Plus, he was getting fed up and bored over the constant use of the tv.

Not now of course, but later, he did legitimately want to watch the latest Hermit episode.

If you had asked Wilbur what his plans were a couple of weeks ago, he would've said with great enthusiasm; "Work on his new EP!" Or, "I'm not spoiling anything, but I've got something pretty good in the works here." And everything would've been great! Would've been fantastic even. He was cruising on a comfortable time of his life, about to do things he was excited about then maybe relax and enjoy spending his time with his friends and such. All in all, not bad if he did say so himself.

If you had asked him again just a week later after that, his answers would have changed; "Find a new apartment." Or, "Just try to calm down and not feel like I'm about to breakdown again." Or, if you were a stranger, "It's really none of your business." All said with trepidation, anxious, a twinge of well-earned paranoia and perhaps some bitterness. Because not everything is great, in fact, it was awful. He felt like he was hanging by a thread or balancing precariously on a tight-rope. Barely any relaxation or rest with how much he's fretting over himself.

Thankfully though, despite the described metaphorical tightrope act, there was a safety-net below him. That would try and help catch him should he really tip over and fall, and he would be forever grateful for it. 

For his friends.

They were supporting him the best they could, offering help in more ways than one; mostly in distracting him or cheering him up since that's what they could only do right now as most of them were across the world.

Though, those that were close enough did offer more physical things. Like a temporary place to stay while he went to find a new place to call home.

Or in a certain case, actually fucking come to Brighton like a fucking mad lunatic.

Aka, Techno fucking Blade himself, came to Brighton just to see Wilbur and make sure he was okay himself.

"You are, fucking loony." Wilbur had breathed when he found out; which was when he was invited back to Phil's place to hang out. Despite Phil's insistence to stay longer, Wilbur had gone to book a hotel room for now because he didn't want to impose on Phil longer than he should and already have. The fact the hotel was close to his home appeased Phil enough to stop prodding. "You- Is this what you meant by busy? What the fuck Techno." 

The American streamer just grinned at him, looking only slightly tired. "And hello to you too, Wilbur."

"I- Phil! PHIL! Did you know about this?!" He whirled to the older man who was failing to hide his shit-eating grin. 

"Know about it? Mate, I asked him to come early." Phil laughed, giving Wilbur a friendly shoulder-nudge before walking over to Techno to pull the man into a hug with minimal complaints. "Tech! It's so great to see you in person! Wil, come on! Join the hug!" He encouraged, smiling so wide, it looked like it hurt.

Technoblade gave him a deadpanned look, "Or don't, I'm really liking the don't option." 

Like hell Wilbur was going to pass up the hug. And though Technoblade complained about 'being crushed by two brits' nothing could hide the fact he was leaning in on the hug, or that he was returning. 

For a moment, Wilbur could forget all the troubles that had been happening the past week. 

Even when Wilbur logged on to Twitter, unable to resist the urge to take a vague picture of his plate of half-eaten dinner just so he could get Technoblade and Phil's blurry figures in the background and send it out because hah! The reactions to that would be amazing! Techno suddenly in the UK pog? SBI meeting in real life?! 

The musician was absolutely giddy, already laughing at what their friends and fans would say. 

He took a few more pictures, careful to get Technoblade and or Philza technically in them but not as the main focus. He posted them on his Instagram.

It's a sudden return to social media, just appearing again out of nowhere after declaring he was going to be off social media for some time. But honestly? Wilbur couldn't find it in himself to care. 

And then Stream Labs Live tweets just as he, Tech and Phil laugh over the mostly positive retweets and comments of the pictures he posted. He was right, their reactions were great! 

Though, the mirthful atmosphere came to a complete halt at the tweet the mysterious account posted.

StreamLabsLIVE @SLL
There will be a stream today.
We send our apologies and regards to @Wilbur Soot.
Treat him right.

"That's it? Just that?!" Phil sounded so appalled as they crowded around Techno's laptop to see the tweet close and clear. "Two weeks of nothing- a week without a stream and- just that?!" 

"At least they apologized." Wilbur pointed out to him, trying to ignore the return of his previous anxiety and paranoia- he was... going to ignore the tweet's replies for now. He doesn't think he's ready for it.

Though for some reason, the last part of the tweet just seemed... a bit off somehow? He couldn't understand why though.

"But-" "We both know that they're not really the ones at fault here Phil, you of all people, should know that." Techno interrupted, giving the blond streamer a pointed look.

Phil was taken back but huffed, "I know mate, I know I just- Wil's been through enough shit. You don't need any more of it." He said, addressing Wilbur, likely noticing how the musician was trying not to seem apprehensive. "It- it wasn't even like, a twitlonger about having their fans cut their bullshit out! Someone doxxed you Wilbur- I know that's not on them and on the fucktard that did that but, you'd think they'd say yknow... more?" 

Wilbur could only shrug, "It's fine Phil- no really! I just, want things to settle now, y'know? Get this behind us and move on. I can't just let this stop my life, no matter what happens now. And hey, I have you guys and the others to help me, right?" The reassuring smiles he gets from the both of them makes him feel so relieved. 

"Of course mate! Always here for you."

With that settled, they open the stream on Techno's laptop and just in time to see Tubbo talking to the camera in his room with Tommy sat on his bed in the background, wearing his prosthetic arms and fiddling with his red communicator. No sign of Ranboo whatsoever.

"Where'd he go?" Phil wondered.

Techno shrugged, "He must've left over the week?"

"-ve started packing everything. Niki contacted me earlier and said she's preparing for the journey as well, she's finally drew the pathway. Her map is complete as far as we know so she's started gathering the supplies we might need and planning our transport and stuff." Tubbo explained to them as well as to Tommy as he looked back to the blond who seemed to nod, "Ranboo will be back in a couple of days to pick us up. Wasn't really planning on heading to Endlantis so soon, but it's really best we go now that Tommy's fever is mostly gone." 

"Completely gone." Tommy corrected from the bed, pointing at Tubo, "I'm fucking fine bitch! A little fever isn't going to take down the great Tommy Innit!" 

Wilbur chuckled though Tubbo didn't seem to share his amusement much, the teen gave a wane smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I know boss man, but it's better for my peace of mind at least that you're in Endlantis sooner rather than later okay? And hey! I can show you all the cool spots in the palace with Ranboo!" 

"I guess..." Tommy grumbled, "Will Big Q at least still visit if we're in the fucking palace or what?" 

"I'm sure we can make it happen, or arrange something. He might be busier now that Karl's gone- at least he managed to propose though!" 

He, Techno and Phil winced as Tommy brightened, "He did? Of course he did- did he say yes? He better've said-" 

"So uh, any word from Karl?" Techno couldn't help but ask, glancing between his friends. He'd been a bit too busy with re-arranging his schedule and preparing for his flight to properly pay attention to the fact that Karl was seemingly (?) working for/with Stream Labs (?!). He'd been so tempted to stop packing just to figure things out, but he couldn't do that when he was so determined to get to the UK. 

Phil shook his head, "Nah, nothing. Dude's been silent as ever, still on hiatus- or maybe still on set?" It was one of most surprising things that happened to Phil, seeing Karl in the stream last week. Karl was Karl- how the fuck did that happen? Was that why he never showed his face in the first place? Because he'd been part of Stream Labs and he needed the anonymity? But then why did he seemed genuinely clueless about Stream Labs? Had he been pretending to be back then? Had he signed something that made him quiet about the matter? Was he at the place where Stream Labs was being filmed?

So many questions buzzed in his head over the matter, and that was without the slight salt that Phil had about the fact that Karl was working with Stream Labs and said nothing when Wilbur was harassed! 

Although Wilbur had a point earlier on, but it would've been nice to hear the apology at least earlier on! An entire week had gone by and they only had one short tweet to say they were sorry. And who knows how much of a reaction that would cause. Because of course, this would be the second time they've done something different and they actively @'d Wilbur! The very first time! They've never mentioned anyone else, ever!

As soon as Karl was back, Phil was going to grill the man for answers.

After making sure the guy was alright, who knows what was happening there.

He's sure Karl had his reasons, everyone had but... Still, as unreasonable as it is, there's a small part of Phil that's hurt that Karl had kept quiet about it. And he wasn't even that close to him! They were friends of course, but they were the type of friends that were friends just because they had a mutual friends. He can't even imagine what Sapnap was feeling right now, the man had been kind of subdued lately.

"I mean... there is the off chance that it isn't Karl?" Wilbur questioned but it was clear he was doubtful of his own words. 

The three of them fell silent over it, the stream still playing on Techno's laptop.

There was a chance yes, but it was a small chance at best. Something they couldn't really count, not when a fair important key factors lined up with it. Karl went on hiatus fairly regularly, because of 'work' or 'personal problems'- another thing Phil and a few of their friends were a bit iffy about, Karl had went on hiatus because of a 'personal problem' regarding his boyfriend, did his boyfriend work for Stream Labs as well? - so him going on hiatus could be explained to him, working with Stream Labs in some way. Acting? Was he the actor behind a few of the characters? Aside from his own?

Fuck, there was just too many questions to think of. 

They went back to the stream, wanting to focus on other things. Thankfully the subject of Karl had passed for Tubbo and Tommy already and Tubbo seemed to be lost planning for the journey as well as reviewing a few files on his computer while Tommy continued to mess with his communicator. 

"According to Fundy they've decided to save my labs last for rebuilding since I'm joining Niki's journey... which means I can wait for a few things... especially for some projects... we are heading to the Wither Kingdom at some point... Fresh blaze powder..." Tubbo was muttering, jotting things down in a notebook. "Some ghast tears? Don't know how long we'll stay... if we're lucky perhaps some nether scrap..." 

Wilbur hummed as he half-watched the stream, he was on his phone, opening Twitch- he was a bit bored. Which was sometimes typical for the stream, reminded him of before when Tubbo was in his lab unfortunately Tubbo hadn't put up any music for this stream. Techno and Phil had also gone on their phones, though it looks like they were texting some people. His eyes strayed from the scientist in front of the cam to the blond in the background, Tommy was hunched over his communicator. He kind of wished it was a cambee stream, because at least the bee would have the camera come closer just to see what he was doing. 

"Do you think they're going to focus on Tubbo and Niki's Journey of the Wings thing or Tommy in Endlantis with Ranboo?" He asked aloud, gaining both their attentions. "I know, or at least think, there's gonna be the whole 'third viewpoint' thing that'll happen like with Fundy but it's mostly been focused on Tubbo and Tommy on the most part of the streams. But who are they gonna focus on during that?" And would it be considered as a Season Three type of deal? 

Techno's fingers tapped thoughtfully on his phone, "Well, the journey's been hyped in the background for so long- they'd have to focus on that right?"

"But Tommy's not joining them, and back in season one, he was the main focus and continues being it in season two- season three would still be on him?" Phil countered unsurely, scratching his jaw. "Something exciting might happen in the palace, and! We get to see Endlantis!" He exclaimed excitedly, wanting to see the main capital of the kingdom that Tubbo worked for. 

Of course, both Wilbur and Techno saw through his excitement. "You just want to see Queen Kristin more regularly." Wilbur teased, cackling when Phil's face pinked and spluttered some half-hearted denials.

"Wha- I do not- Shu-" Techno ruthlessly interrupted him, "Simp." 

"SHUT!" 

Wilbur laughed even harder as Phil tried to suffocate Techno with his branded plush crow. As he laughed, the stream continued to play and out of the blue came Tommy's loud voice.

"Hey Tubs, what's Twitter?" 

Wilbur nearly choked on his heart that had jumped into his throat while Techno and Phil froze in place at the mention of the familiar word. 

Tubbo frowned on screen, looking back at Tommy, "What's what?" 

"Twitter, it's this weird, blue bird program thing on my comm. I think it's a social media site?" Wilbur thinks he's having a heart attack, was he smelling burnt toast? 

"I have no idea what that is- then again, I'm not really big on social media stuff. Unless it's like, announcements on people or something." Tubbo shrugged, he looked back at his noteboook. "I've had Fundy install his very best protections on that comm so whatever Twitter is, it's at least safe from giving you viruses or hacking or whatever... Maybe he installed it into your comm? He did say he'd install a few other things too on it, like games and stuff." 

Phil was no longer trying to kill Techno with a plush, they along with Wilbur crowded around the laptop, wondering what was going on. Were Stream Labs really going to include Twitter of all things in their story?! 

"Hm... I'm gonna sign up for it!" 

Wilbur wheezed, a feeling of something (was it dread? anticipation?) pooling in his gut.

"What? Why?" 

"I'm bored! Plus, I want to know what this is... My, uh, my old email should still work right?" 

"... Yeah, I- the password's still the same... Just- just be careful Tom-"

Tommy waved him off, already typing into his comm, "Yeah, yeah! I'm not stupid Tubbo, internet safety and shit. I'll be fine! Go back to your plans big man." 

"Bruhhh, what is happening?" Techno whispered, floored by the sudden inclusion of Twitter in an ARG stream that has never mentioned it before. Didn't they have their own fictional social media thing? What was it again- BeaComm? 

Phil glanced between him, Wilbur and the flooding chat. "I don't know mate, I don't know."

Despite their confusion, Tubbo continued on like normal as Tommy was supposedly? Signing up? For Twitter??

Wilbur fiddled with his phone nervously, looking down at it and found that he was still on Twitch- more specifically, on the Stream Labs twitch channel- he had the stream on his phone but it was mute. He doesn't really remember getting on it but... Actually...

He pressed his finger against the screen, scrolling down a bit just as Tommy exclaimed, "There! Now I'm on Twitter! I have no fucking idea what I'm doing!" 

Tubbo chuckled as Wilbur stared down at his phone, "You'll figure it out dude." 

Wilbur stared at the dead link that had been on the channel from the very beginning. The link that brought you to nowhere, that if you clicked on it, nothing happened. But what if... He tapped his finger and immediately, something happened.

He was brought to a Twitter Page. 

Tommy Innit's twitter page. 

That was already verified.

And had a picture of Tommy's face close to the screen as his profile picture, didn't Tommy bring the comm close to his face earlier? 

"Holy shit." Wilbur whispered and pressed 'follow'. 

He ignored the looks he got from Techno and Phil as not even a minute later, Tommy exclaimed. "Oh! Tubbo I got a follower! I haven't even done anything and someone's already followed me!" 

His breath hitched while Tubbo blinked, "Already? That's- you just made that account. Is it a bot?" 

Tommy got off Tubbo's bed, "I don't think so- no! It's a guy called Wilbur Soot." Wilbur's jaw dropped while Phil screeched, "Look, see? He's- oh cool, he's a musician! I wonder if he's any good. He just posted a photo earlier, food? There's a some guys in the background..." 

"Wil..." Techno stared at the stream as Tubbo peered to look at Tommy's communicator. "Wil, what the fuck?" 

Wilbur yelped, "I don't know! I just- I just followed him right now- Tommy's on Twitter!"

"What?!" Techno and Phil hounded, crowding Wilbur and trying to get his phone much to his detriment.

Tubbo frowned, "Huh, so, not a bot. Why'd he follow you? You just made that account... Tommy, I think you should sign off-" They tumbled to the floor, Wilbur trying to remind them that they had their own phones dammit! PHIL, HIS LEG!!

Tommy stepped back, humming, "Nah, I'm gonna message him. How do I- no wait, I got it! Hey there, big man-" Ping went Wilbur's phone and they all froze as they saw the notification. Wilbur's Twitter DMs.

"You seem like, a good, bloke. Do you, make, any good, music?" Techno and Phil carefully let Wilbur sit back up, staring at his pinging phone. 

"Tommy! Internet safety! What if this guy's a creep?!" 

Shakily, Wilbur opened his DMs.

Tubbo gave him a disapproving look, which usually would sting a bit but... for some reason, Tommy shook it off. Reassured by his own actions and his own intuition. "He's not! Trust me Tubs! I think this guy's a cool guy- he makes music!"

His best friend groaned, "That's not a good reason to think he's a good guy Toms!"

Tommy rolled his eyes, "It's fine! Look, I'm not gonna say anything personal or some shit- plus, you said Fundy installed protections on my comm right? And that he's the best programmer ever and stuff? It'll be fine! Nothing bad will happen from me talking to this dude." He said though he did close the DMs so he could look at the rest of Twitter. Only...

"Huh." 

Tubbo immediately narrowed his eyes, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, I just- I can't access the rest of the site I think? Nothing's showing up in like, the feeds, threads, whatever... I think it crashed?" He showed Tubbo as he went through the Twitter only to get nothing but an empty space on this Twitter thing. Ping.

"Oh hey! Wilbur replied!"

So the site hadn't crashed? Or maybe it did but the private messaging part of it was still functioning? Oh well, at least he could talk to Wilbur.

Wilbur Soot

wy ther e big man!!
yois seme liek a good blok, do u makee ny gpod muaic??

how the hell do you misspell good when you first typed it correctly?

Oh maybe Tubbo was kinda right, Wilbur was a prick.

Chapter Text

Wilbur felt like he was in some sort of haze.

Like time didn't exist right now, or had somehow been stopped as he sat there on the couch, staring at his phone with unblinking, disbelieving eyes. Every few minutes, he refreshes the page, expecting things to go back to normal. Expecting twitter to be fixed once more so he could... could... fuck he didn't even know what the hell he'd be able to do.

One thing for sure though, was that he would never be able to go outside again.

Not without getting mobbed surely.

Why was he so sure about it?

Stream Labs of course.

Or more specifically, Tommy Innit.

Twitter was down now, the sheer amount of people tweeting at once about Stream Labs and Tommy's new twitter account had been too much on the servers apparently. Or maybe something else happened, but the former was likely what happened. And once again, the website shut down for maintenance or something. Either way, Wilbur's life was done. He was finished, he would never escape the limelight of the fact that he, Wilbur Soot, was the first one who followed Tommy Innit on stream.

The last stream was apparently live, live, as in in the moment live. It had to be because Wilbur had just followed Tommy then, and he was mentioned on stream.

Weeks of assuring people that he was, in fact, not involved with Stream Labs. Gone. Down the drain, and out into the fucking sewers. The ocean perhaps.

No one would believe that Wilbur wasn't part of Stream Labs or wasn't in contact with them, because it happened on stream. Live, for thousands to see.

Well, Techno and Phil would believe him. Barely, if only because they were there with him when it happened. And were his best friends, they'd believe him in a heartbeat.

The musician was feeling equal amounts of excitement and dread over the matter. Dread for the obvious reasons but the excitement?

He had spoke to Tommy Innit.

Or at least, the person acting as Tommy Innit. But essentially; Wilbur was- had been talking to Tommy Innit before the website went down to the point they couldn't even message each other anymore. Which was like, almost five minutes of them talking to each other.

And what a handful of minutes they were.

Tommy Innit

wy ther e big man!!
yois seme liek a good blok, do u makee ny gpod muaic??

how the hell do you misspell good when you first typed it correctly?

Okay, his first message probably wasn't the best message to send in a situation like this but to be fair his mind was going overdrive to the point of slowing down and his first thought was automatically typed and sent out before he even realized it?

There was no point in phrasing that like a question, that's literally what he did, the idiot, the fool, the moron that he was.

FUPCK YOIU FUCK YOU FUCKD YOUS DFUK EYU

Paired with the indignant screech from the stream, Wilbur just could not help himself.

hey you correctly spelled it once and that's good enough i guess.

you suck

and no misspellings this time! very nice.

you fuckfno suck, whff the helsl did u follow me aasshoel???
he3 bwas rihght ur a worngen

well that was nice while it lasted.
ok, yeah that was pretty mean of me sorry.
idk man i just followed you because you seemed like a cool dude?

"Wilbur." Techno hissed at him to which Wilbur shushed him, staring right at his phone as the text bubble of dots appeared, awaiting Tommy's reply.

i AM a cool dode!!! HNE COOLESDT!!!
anfda bc im such a coolsadude i will forigjv u.

well thank you.

so qilbur man,m do u make msuci??
os ti any good?

i'd certainly like to think so, but you'd have to listen to them yourself for you to know.
can you even listen to it?

??/?
what do youamena??

my songs aren't exactly on
boxju
they're on spotify
do you have spotify???
what i should be asking different questions here, what even is going on?

???
wtf is sptofiy
spotufy
wdtymena whzas going on??
u mean t he websts? i think itg down
idkk i jsut made tish accout5n

yes i know its down, but if its down then we really shouldn't be dming each other like this right now.
hell, i'd like some answers to whoever thought it was a great idea to include me into this?
not that it's not an honor and all but a little warning would've been nice!
especially after last time!!

wha tlast time???
wtf r u talking about??

is this part of the arg? are you just going to answer me in character?
you probably are, i'm probably just wasting my time asking these questions.
never mind i guess
let me start over?
hello tommy innit, it's very nice to meet you

i amaso cofnused

"You and me both buddy," Wilbur had breathed though he knew that Tommy was surely just acting confused. That this was all part of their plan or something.

"Wilbur." Phil had stressed then, gaining Wilbur's attention back to the stream which was... glitching?

The stream indeed had been glitching, ever since Wilbur started talking to Tommy. It stuttered, as if on a bad connection even though the stream should be entirely fine. The only other time it started glitching was during the finale of the first season and the rare few times like at the mirrors. And even then, the mirrors were brief and the finale had the earthquake and crumbling lab as an explanation as to why it was like that.

Right now though? No solid reason could be given.

Nothing but the fact that Wilbur was talking with Tommy. Were they stalling the stream? Adding more to something? Or was there genuinely a technical problem happening?

Whatever it was, Tommy and Tubbo were talking but the stream going frame by frame made it impossible to see or even hear because the audio had become so choppy alongside the visual glitch.

Not long after, the stream ended with Tubbo apparently noticing something wrong with his computer. The last frame before the screen went completely black was Tubbo's face closely peering into the camera in confusion, blocking Tommy completely from sight.

"That's- that's it?" Wilbur muttered but quickly remembered that he still was in Tommy's twitter DMs.

Unfortunately for him, it was at that exact time that the app on his phone crashed and the DMs were no longer accessible.

Which lead him to now, sitting on the couch in disbelief with the dawning realization that his life would be upended once again but in a probably worse way?

God, they were going to bulldoze right through his privacy. His inbox would be stuffed and so fucking chaotic- would he have to find a new apartment? Move to another country perhaps? Somewhere obscure, private, safe. He already had a few ideas, thank god for Geoguesser and all its geographical knowledge. Would he have to change his name too just to be sure? He didn't want to get surgery to change his face, new haircut? What was more important, hiding his thinning hairline or getting a new unrecognizable identity?

"WILBUR!"

"Not now Phil I'm contemplating whether or not I sacrifice my vain sensibilities or my private life." Wilbur sighed, at ends with himself.

"Mate I don't think you have to worry about that at all. Look!" Phil insisted, sounding so very shocked that Wilbur had to look for himself. The tall man slipped off the couch and was dragged to Techno's side, and once again they crowded his laptop and Wilbur blinked as he saw that Techno had opened the Stream Labs side of reddit.

Unable to believe his eyes, he read aloud just to hear it himself. "'Does anyone know who it was that followed Tommy first? The guy he mentioned in stream? Twitter is down so I can't find out who it was?'" What? He scrolled to the comments. "'I can't believe they censored the guy's name, who are you mysterious follower?' 'Fucked ending but who the hell followed the boy before we did?' 'Can't decide if the ending was on purpose or not, but we should just check once Twitter is back on?'"

"'This is the first time they censored a name in Stream Labs, we have no idea who this guy is. Or if he's even a guy, could be a chick for all we know.'" Techno read out then he looked at them both, "I'm pretty sure that we all heard Tommy say Wilbur right? He said his name- I'm not losing my mind or my hearing right?"

Phil shook his head, "No mate- I mean like, you're right. We definitely heard Wil's name being mentioned on stream. He said his name- I don't, I don't understand what's going on here."

"No this- no- is this some, some kind of joke? Did- is everyone just, pretending they didn't hear my name?" Wilbur was grasping at straws, trying to make sense out of what was happening because Techno and Phil were definitely right. They had heard his name loud and clear from the stream. It was utterly impossible for everyone else to hear otherwise. It was live, it was impossible to just- censor a name everywhere else except from one place that wasn't at like, the studio or wherever it was they were filming their streams!

This came from Techno's laptop, an ordinary laptop. Techno hadn't done anything to it as far as Wilbur knew and if he did, he'd definitely tell Wilbur especially if it involved him right? Right.

So what was going on?

"Impossible, we would've at least seen one person mentioning you being talked about by Tommy. Seriously. Like- look, quick, open discord, the others are online and talking about the stream!" Phil urged, his own phone in his hands now.

Techno and Wilbur switched to discord on their respective devices, opening the server that they were all part with with their friends.

sappusnappus : dude wth was with that stream???
sappusnappus: like seriously, the glitches at the end? i think i saw something weird in them

nikisimpuff : me too!
nikisimpuff: also i cant believe that stream labs is introducing twitter to its universe!! kinda breaks the immersion i think :/
nikisimpuff: ALSO WHO CHANGED MY NICKNAME?!?!?

mushroomheadedsimp : i think it'd be great having twitter in stream labs lmao and you know this is like
mushroomheadedsimp: the great opportunity to actually TALK to someone from stream labs yknow?
mushroomheadedsimp: until karl gets back on at least

sappusnappus : :(
sappusnappus: right...

nyamotherfucker : still no message from him?

sappusnappus : :(((( noo

nikisimpuff : HELLO???? MY NICKNAME???

mushroomheadedsimp : lol, cmon puffy wear it with pride its not like its wrong anyway

nikisimpuff : ASOIDNA
nikisimpuff: DREAM DID YOU DO IT??!?

mushroomheadedsimp : nope, just like i have no idea who changed MY nickname
mushroomheadedsimp: i'm just gonna go with it for now anyway
mushroomheadedsimp: UNTIL I GET MY REVENGE

queensCAWncubine : you guys seriously didnt hear who it was that followed tommy???

nyamotherfucker : ???/ no????
span class="dis">: it was too garbled and shit to hear who it was and the stream glitched horribly at the end
nyamotherfucker: think it was on purpose?

killerofsquids : bruhhh

queensCAWncubine : wtf
queensCAWncubine: uhh maybe???

"What the fuck." Wilbur echoed Phil's words as he reads the incoming messages from their server chat. He almost wants to join in, to ask them himself if they were being serious but his fingers are frozen and all he could do was watch each one pop in. Not one mention of him whatsoever being part of Stream Labs. Not like with what happened with Karl, where they @'d so much surely they broke through three digits of notifications trying to gain his attention and explanation.

"Mate, I think that somehow, no one else knows that you followed Tommy." Phil said with heavy with disbelief.

"How? How? That's just- I don't- they-" Wilbur struggled, trying to make sense of everything as he, Techno and Phil stewed in skepticism.

Something was wrong, something had happened and they had no idea what.

But hey, at least Wilbur's privacy and life wasn't in jeopardy anymore.

"What the hell was that?! I KNOW that wasn't me this time, I didn't touch anything! What did you do?! Why is the connection all- shit?! Not to mention twitter? And is that- why is that there on Tommy's twitter account?"

Sigh, "Well without Karl, our connection isn't as good as it was- which wasn't as good as it should be anyway. Switching to the newly made anchor pretty much crashed everything, but before we did I made sure that the anchor, this Wilbur guy, wouldn't be hounded by everyone unlike last time."

"Wha- Ooh, yeah. I guess that makes sense... But, I thought we couldn't influence things directly? Not without-"

"..."

"..."

"... You didn't..."

"It's the least we could've done."

"What's the point if you're going to just end up dying because of this?!"

"Don't be overdramatic, I won't die obscuring our important anchor like this- it's mostly temporary anyway. Just until we get more anchors and recover. Let the connection grow stronger. Besides, it's more beneficial for us, and for Tommy. You know this."

"... Fuck, fine! Whatever... What now?"

"Recover. No streams for now, but, we can transmit another way. Looks like Tommy found the other app."

"The other- oh right! I knew that one was going to be handy! It's a fun place! Much funner than the twitter, but unfortunately not as effective as the others."

"At the very least we can take out time better and utilize it while recuperating."

"Yeah, and it'd be fun to see what happens with this one too!"

"Damn, I think the website crashed totally. Can't talk to Wilbur anymore."

Tubbo didn't know if he should feel relieved about that. Maybe he shouldn't have given Tommy's communicator back? No, that wouldn't have been fair of him. It was Tommy's comm, he deserved to have it back whenever he wanted. He just... Okay, he hadn't expected Tommy to get on a social media website so soon after getting his comm back.

What kind of website was called Twitter anyway? Was it a new website? Well, it did just crash so it probably was. And if it was a new website that had few people on it, then no wonder Tommy was followed so soon, whoever was on there would be eager to follow whoever new joined in or something. If Fundy wanted Tommy to be part of some new website then alright, he trusted him enough.

Maybe he'll go on there too, if only to just follow Tommy.

"So, what happened to your camera?" Tubbo sighed, looking over to said camera in his hands. He'd just taken if off his computer when he noticed that the recording wasn't going smoothly. Apparently glitching at some point, he'd have to look it over.

"I have no idea." He answered, "I'll check it out later, but it shouldn't be too bad to fix. What about you? How'd it go with that Wilbur guy?"

Tommy hummed and shrugged, "Website crashed before we could do any actual talking, weird bloke but I think he's not much of a wrongen. He makes music! I'm going to check it out, see if he's any good at it." Tubbo smiled at how excited and happy his best friend looked as he hunched back over his comm, looking for that guy's music. If Tommy liked it then he'll check it out as well. "Anyway, got your plan all thought of Tubs? Make sure you get me like, souvenirs wherever you're going!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll make sure I'll get you like, a special rock from every place we're stopping by." Except the Archives.

The ground was shaking, the walls crumbling.

Screams and shouts in the air that paired awful with the sound of tumbling rocks.

"TOMMY!" He screams, shoving his way through people, looking around frantically as buildings were toppling down. "TOMMY!"

He finds him.

Buried.

Pinned underneath a heavy debris.

One arm missing, just a bleeding stump, and the other-

Crushed.

Especially the Archives.

Tubbo took in a deep breath as Tommy whined, he listened at his complaint. At his voice. He's here, he's alive, he's okay. "Don't get me some stupid fucking rock! Get me something cool! Like a knife! Or- or like, some armor or something!" He's here, he's alive, he's okay. "You're heading towards the Wither Kingdom right Tubs?" He's here, he's alive, he's okay.

He's here. "Tubs?"

He's alive. "Tubbo?"

He's o-kay. "...Toby?"

Tubbo flinched back at the sound of his name, at the heavy, metallic hand on his shoulder. "Mm? Mh?! Yeah? Sorry, I- I was lost there for a moment, what is it Toms?" He asks with a chirp, trying to seem that, yeah he was totally fine.

The world is shaking around him. "TOMMY!" His world was dying right in front of him.

Absolutely.

He's done with it, over it. He- He had therapy already. He was fine. Everything was fine.

Tommy doesn't say anything for a minute, giving him a deep, searching look. He smiles at him.

He was fine! Really. He just, needed a moment. Which he did, it was fine.

Tommy sighs and smiles back at him, something inside him aches as he was carefully punched on the shoulder. He barely feels it, he can't tell whether or not it's because of him or Tommy himself. He was still getting used to those arms after all. "Don't get me something stupid Tubbo, y'know what? Get some snacks or something. We can share when you get back."

"We can share when we get back!" Little Tommy declared, a pouch full of mushroom and berries in his hands. They hadn't managed to find much on their own, but it didn't matter. They'd share it with whatever else they had stashed at the orphanage.

Tubbo smiled, for real this time. "Sure bossman, I'll get plenty of snacks." He'll dedicate a whole shulker box full of it.

Happy to see the real smile on his face, Tommy sat back down on the bed. Wondering what to do now, the app and website he tried to check out was currently down. Maybe he should go check out Spotify for Wilbur's music? He'd do it in a bit, Tubbo was already playing music in the background right now. So, what to do...

He scratched his forehead, huffing as finally that itchy sensation from earlier had finally faded away. Good, it was getting annoying.

Huh. There was another strange blue app on his comm.

What was Tumblr?

Well, might as well check that one out as well.

Chapter Text

"Okay, okay. We've managed to fix everything, the connection is still low and not as transmissible as it should be but... I think we can risk a couple of openings right?"

"Kind of. We were lucky to manage to latch on to Soot for the quick anchoring, nevermind me obscuring him now, but he won't be enough to continuously transmit or open to. The direct line of contact we tried to give between him and Tommy crashed last time... We'll need more anchors."

"Why not the other two that's with Wilbur then? Uh, who were they, who were they- AHA! Here! Philza and Technoblade! They could do it! Look, they even have synergy, I think we can use them just like Karl! Well, not like Karl, but, you get what I mean!"

"Hmm... That is some unnatural connections between them... Also it would be easier since they were there when we anchored Wilbur and it looks like they'll be sticking to him for a while now... Alright, let's try it. But give me some time to obscure them beforehand other than on the spot."

"..."

"I'll be fine, look it's even easier since they've been around our first anchor so much now. And-"

"—It's for our benefit and Tommy's, I know I know..."

"Hey, the longer we keep this up, the better things will be. We might be able to get Karl back, see Tommy again, and make sure this world doesn't end up like the last one."

"But what if—"

"It'll be fine. Let's get this started."

It starts as seeds of doubt and unending curiosity.

And from those seeds, grows steadily a sapling of suspended disbelief and slight denial and was on its way to a young tree of clear conspiracy and a rabbit is digging a hole at the base of the tree right past the growing roots.

Who knows what the tree will be when fully grown, but this young tree of clear conspiracy was exactly where Techno felt he was right now.

A weird analogy, or perhaps metaphor? It's weird to describe it but Techno can't really think of any other way to put into words of what his life has been lately.

Hey, he might've been an english major but he dropped out to become a streamer; to play funny games and hang out with his friends for the internet to see. Maybe if he had more time, rest and context, he could've put it into better words or find the exact mythological or historical story to compare his life to at the moment but when one of your best friend is involved into what is clearly a conspiracy- you tend to stray from conventional metaphoring and just digging up things to best describe your situation right now.

Well, to call it a full on conspiracy is a bit wrong? Not exactly accurate? A bit off the mark?

It's not one of those government conspiracies that were out there, Techno was having doubts that Stream Labs had anything to do with any government from as far as he can tell. But he wasn't a professional... conspiracy theorist? Conspiracist? Conspirator? No wait, that was for people who were involved with the conspiracy, which he was not.

God's sake, Techno was never one for conspiracies outside of viewing them as entertainment from videos or the occasional documentary. His only latest, semi-serious digging he's done at first was the whole, 'Was Karl Jacobs part of The Jacobs Family from Buzzfeed?' thing he started. Which was now on the back burner considering... everything. And even then it wasn't so much as a conspiracy thing, it was just like, a theory. A little theory he thought was plausible that he'd just keep to himself because, wow, Karl Jacobs, Jacobs family, Carly Jacobs, etc. etc.

But now that whole theory has pretty much evolved from a small thing he was keeping to himself to 'Oh my god Karl is part of Stream Labs and is currently MIA, what is going on here'.

And that was only part of it.

When Techno came to visit Phil and Wilbur in the UK, it was for the purpose of surprising and distracting Wilbur from the stress of his life. Not really anything else, just finally seeing both his british friends in real life and calling Wilbur a loser to his actual face. That kind of stuff.

That was the purpose of the visit.

It's not the end result of his visit.

Because somehow Wilbur managed to get in touch with one of the Stream Labs 'actors' themselves, get his name mentioned on stream, and yet... No one knew about it being him?

No one, except him, Phil and Wilbur himself.

Which should not be possible.

Because they heard the stream, they heard Tommy say Wilbur's name.

And yet, according to the rest of the internet, according to the rest of the world, even their own close friends.

Tommy didn't say Wilbur's name. The stream's audio had become garbled during that moment.

And when Twitter finally, finally, returned to being functional- the first person who followed Tommy was just someone with a black icon and a blank name. Clicking on that icon would not bring you to Wilbur's twitter, no, it didn't do anything. Or so people have said with multiple videos popping up on how people tried to find out who Tommy mentioned in stream, or who had followed Tommy first and vice versa.

Nobody seemed to have noticed the fact that Tommy had followed Wilbur Soot. Because he wasn't in Wilbur Soot's following list.

And yet Wilbur, Phil and Techno could see that Tommy was indeed, following Wilbur Soot. They had checked their own twitter, they had checked Wilbur's twitter, they saw Tommy. But when Techno asked Puffy to check Wilbur's following list... she didn't see him.

Only they could see the fact that Tommy and Wilbur were following each other.

Only one word could describe that.

Impossible.

It was an impossible thing that was happening right now for him. For them. For Wilbur.

Wilbur had considered on moving to another country when he heard his name come out of Tommy's mouth, he had told Techno that. He'd been thinking plan, after plan, after plan on what to do- give up his new apartment, find a new, new apartment or home in another country, just to escape whatever fame was in store for him. Get facial surgery maybe, a new haircut that risked the revelation of his thinning hairline, change his name- Man was dramatic, his best friend was a paranoid, dramatic theatre kid that he knew wouldn't actually do that but still.

Wilbur would've done something to protect himself, his privacy, his life.

And now he technically didn't have to do anything.

Thanks to this, impossibility.

And Techno was going to go insane trying to figure out said impossibility.

He's been searching the internet, diving deeper than ever to try and find a viable explanation on why he, Phil and Wilbur knew Wilbur was who Tommy followed, could see Tommy's account following Wilbur and vice versa, and why they had heard the stream loud and clear during that time when everyone else had only heard static.

What he scrounges up is just more impossibility.

He sees clips of Tommy saying Wilbur's name, and yet the comments are filled with nothing but curiosity. No one mentions Wilbur whatsoever.

He asks his friends, tests his friends, about the clip, of seeing Wilbur's follower list. Nothing.

Even after persuading Wilbur to take a screenshot of Tommy in his follower list on twitter and sending the picture- still nothing.

No one, except Philza, Technoblade and Wilbur Soot, knew that Wilbur was now irrefutably connected with Stream Labs.

And Techno had no explanation on how the fuck that was happening.

"I've spent a long time thinking about this and I think it's time to accept the facts." Techoblade mused to his friends early in the morning. Wilbur gives him a bleary look as Phil made coffee and breakfast for them. "Stream Labs is either magic or so incomprehensibly advanced in science that at this point, we should bow our heads and accept whoever is behind this as our supreme overlord."

Wilbur's bleary look fades in a couple of blinks, turning into squinted skepticism. "What the fuck are you talking about Techno."

"Mate, I think you might need this coffee more than Wil does." Phil cajoled, placing the first, fresh cup of coffee in front of Techno instead of Wilbur who whined at him.

Techno ignores the cup- well, he doesn't. He slides it over to Wilbur to do whatever he wants with it. The musician beams, hunching over it with a glare towards Phil who held his hands up in silent apology. "I'm just saying, there's just no other plausible way to explain why we know Wilbur's connected and in touch with Tommy. It's gotta be hyper-advanced science or magic. Honestly I'm leaning towards magic, more of a hope I guess but yeah."

"And what the fuck does that mean?" Wilbur questioned, sounding and looking more awake thanks to the coffee.

"Dunno."

Wilbur spluttered at him, "Don'- Don't just shrug and say 'dunno'- what the fuck does that mean Techno?!"

Techno shrugged again to not only convey the fact that he doesn't know but also to rile Wilbur up a bit more. "Like I said, don't. Know. We have no idea why they're doing this, we have no idea what they're doing, or even how, or where- it's very much all types of questions but the most important question of why? No clue."

Phil sighed, laying a hand on Wilbur's shoulder both to comfort him and prevent him from leaping at Techno. It was too early for that. "Okay but like, what're your thoughts on this Tech? You're the one who's been doing the most research out of the three of us."

It's been a hectic time since Techno's arrival and the stream.

Not only with that whole 'Stream Labs Stream' thing with Tommy and Wilbur, but the fact that the 'SBI' were finally meeting in real life garnered quite the attention once the hype about Tommy's twitter died down.

Outwardly, they were having a great time. Techno had appeared on both Phil and Wilbur's streams, trolling chat and having a nice time with his friends but when the stream was over his attention usually strayed back into figuring out what the hell was going on with Wilbur. He thought it was for the best to have him research things while Wilbur and Phil dealt with everything else- he was the more reclusive between the three anyway. So him not streaming on his accounts immediately after visiting the UK wasn't exactly strange. He was getting used to the UK, he wanted to look around, experience the sights.

Which he did.

Just, not as much as he thought he originally would.

And it was because Phil was concerned anyway and dragged both him and Wilbur out to see the sights anyway. They even vlogged once for Phil's YouTube channel.

Any official plan Techno had in the UK he'd managed to push back, how? He was Technoblade, don't question it.

But yeah, behind the scenes Techno was investigating Stream Labs. Trying to figure out what was going on, how, and why Wilbur of all people.

Just why in general really, but those answers would never be found. Not right now maybe, or even by him. But they would be found.

If only because Wilbur now had a solid connection to Stream Labs.

Even if said connection hasn't answered Wilbur's messages after Twitter came back.

It made both Wilbur sad, anxious but somewhat relieved really. It gave him time to process it and just, think over things.

"Okay so, Stream Labs. No one knows who they are, where they came from or what they want. All we know is that they stream the show on Twitch of all places and just, go on with it no matter what." Techno started, pausing to thank Phil for the plate of breakfast offered but continues afterwards. "Said show is all about a teenage scientist named Tubbo in a fantasy fused with sci-fi world, whose name we still don't know."

"They also have a twitter but they only use it to announce the streams and nothing else, the account doesn't follow anyone, doesn't say anything else except for the rare cryptic tweet that we also don't have a clue for. Back to the show; I know I said it was all about Tubbo but I guess it'd be more accurate to say it's all about Tubbo and Tommy, who was suspected to be dead but was resurrected? Revived? Tubbo did something and stuck him in a tube for years and on stream, we see Tommy's alive and- well, he's alive. He gets better obviously."

Techno had to pause again, to eat because Phil made him breakfast and it'd be rude not to eat. Also he was hungry, it's breakfast, important first meal of the day and all that. "I think Tommy's at the center of all this." He mumbles through his food, swallowing and rolling his eyes at the faces he sees on his friends. "What? It's obvious the kid has something to do with this, he has that mark on his forehead that glows ominously sometimes, that same mark is on Fundy's cambee and the only time we get streams or shows of other people is when he is using that cambee. Ergo, the mark is causing the streams, or like transmitting or something, and since Tommy has the mark on his forehead he's like, the center of everything here."

"Uh, we already know that mate. Like you said, it's kinda obvious to anyone whose seen the show. Or read the theories online and stuff." Phil replied. "Matpat even did a theory on that."

"Yeah, but this is different." Techno insisted, gesturing to Wilbur, "Wilbur's in contact with Tommy! The kid reached out to him- and speaking of Matpat's theory, believe me, even I'm reeling here but; what if he was right? Right in the sense of it actually right, as in actually real. Not in the hypothetical sense, but the whole, yeah, we're watching the lives of people in a literal other world. And that world, well, magic's a thing in that world. So someone there, is helping Wilbur here with magic."

He watches their faces. Watches them shift from one emotion, one thought to another. Techno feels somewhat sympathetic because yeah, that's what he felt when he reached that conclusion alone in his room last night when Wilbur was out on an errand and Phil was streaming. It's disbelief, it's denial, it's bargaining and arguing that loops back again and again and again.

It's a type of thing that one can easily believe in, but at the same time. No, you can't believe that because that's not how reality works. It just can't be. It's impossible.

And yet, Wilbur was currently in an impossible situation himself.

"Can't be," Wilbur mutters, gripping his coffee cup tightly. It's nearly empty, but Wilbur probably won't be drinking the rest, too busy denying in his head, denying with Technoblade on what was more important than morning coffee. "It just can't- then, that would mean-"

"The effects," Phil blurted out, wide-eyed and a hint desperate. "The- the effects were all- didn't like, Corridor Crew and other VFX artists say it was practical—"

Techno shook his head, "Captain Disillusion said on twitter that he couldn't really tell what effects were being used for those moment, even Corridor Crew and every other VFX artist admitted that when they tried to replicate the scenes it just didn't feel right. Didn't compare to the actual thing. There was just something about it, something about those scenes, these characters, that seemed different from the final product they created. It seemed close, but not exact."

It would be hard to believe such a thing, but when the facts line up...

"And if it is just- special effects? Just, just actors filming?" Wilbur asks sharply, grasping at straws. "It can't just be, be magic! Other dimensions! That's- that's insane!"

"Yeah but it wouldn't explain how no one except us know you are following Tommy and vice versa. We tested the others, we had them rewatch the clips, see the screenshots and we know they're not just pulling our legs here Wilbur." Techno deadpans and Wilbur's sharpness dulls. "Besides it actually wouldn't make any sense being just hyper advanced and never before heard of special effects—"

"Because magic and the multiverse does?!" 

"What would be the point of the secrecy?" Wilbur's mouth clicked shut and Phil starts to slump backwards into his seat, "What would be point of keeping themselves secret, keeping you secret, keeping everything they've done a secret? You've heard the rumors, hackers being unable to hack unto their Twitch, their Twitters. Coders unable to make sense of their part of the websites. Donations becoming untraceable to just what bank, website or whatever the hell they're using to get that money. And speaking of money, if they are using effects- where are they getting their funding? Who is funding them? No one is saying anything, no once can prove anything. That aside, why you? Out of everyone in the world, why Wilbur Soot? Hell, why Karl? Who even IS Karl? I haven't even touched that part yet but we have literally no answers to this." Techno would admit he's a bit harsh in tone at the end there, frustration and his own confusion and fear clouding his head a bit.

For all he's talking about, he himself, still isn't 100% on board with his own ideas because really... it's impossible. Improbably. Insane.

Yet he can't exactly refute it. Not with how everything was building up here.

"I'm leaning on magic here, hell, I'm hoping for magic here. Not just because fantasy rocks Wilbur, but because it means whoever is hiding you, is interested in helping you. In hiding you, from the internet, possibly from the government even, and definitely from the entire world. They saw what happened when you replied to that tweet, they responded, vague as ever but here you are. Unbothered by anybody by the fact that you are in contact with Tommy Innit." He sighs deeply, running a hand through his fading pink locks. "Still, I'm a bit worried on what the hell they want with you anyway. And why they want you talking with the kid."

The American streamer paused, really looking over his friends. Both looked overwhelmed, especially Wilbur. Guilt, dread and some regret built up in his throat. He tried to clear it, "Look. I'm... I'm sorry." He ignores the dumbfounded faces and continues before he can clam up, he needs to say this, needs them to hear this. Know it. "This is- a lot. Understatement I know, and yeah a part of me is skeptical over it all myself. I'm not even sure if it's true, but... I wanted you to know, to keep an open mind, to have this knowledge as... a possibility. Because whatever is happening? It's... God Wilbur, whatever this is, I can already tell we are all way in over our heads... And I just... want you to be okay."

If he was his in-game persona, the character he usually played on most games whenever he could, one that was created by fans and accepted by him, he'd be hearing a cacophony of voices. Whispering, teasing, cooing, degrading- just, bothering him for his words. TechnoSOFT. SBI ANGST AND COMFORT! SOFTNOBLADE HAH!! Etc. etc.

But this was real life. He was just a normal guy with absolutely no voices in his head.

However, if his... hypothesis? Theory? Was correct? That magic was real and was... around him someway, he can't exactly expect things to be normal in his very real life.

Wilbur looked like he was having trouble swallowing a pill or something, face contorted, multiple emotions contesting each other for him to primarily feel. There's still some denial in there, and Technoblade doesn't blame him. Again, he's partially denying it himself even though he's telling them what he thinks. "If, this is all real or something... What the hell am I suppose to do? How am I even supposed to talk to Tommy of all people? I've- I've been watching him— fuck, we've all been watching him during- during-" He couldn't even speak. Multiple events from previous streams coming to mind.

Tommy inside his tube. Tommy breaking out of the tube. Tommy thrashing in the hospital bed. Tommy finally outside. Tommy in Tubbo's apartment. Tommy breaking down when Tubbo finally gave him his arms. Fuck, and Tubbo.

Tubbo was the 'protagonist' of the streams. The main character they've seen from the very beginning.

"Honestly I have no clue on what you have to do Wilbur. It's not like we can tell anyone else, we have no idea how that would go. And who would we even go to anyway? The government? Now, I may play and pretend to be an anarchist and government- critic, but I don't think the government, any government, would be particularly helpful to you." Techno replied dryly, regretfully seeing Wilbur wilt in his seat. "Also we don't even know what would happen to you if you went out and told people about, well, everything. We don't know the effects of whatever spell you got there that's protecting your privacy and life and what extent it'll go to actually do that regardless of what we or you say. Will it just erase the memory of the people you tell? Will something happen? We know it can like, prevent people from knowing from screenshots but what about you telling them? What happens then? Hell, why were Phil and I spared from its effects?"

"Could be because you were physically there with me?" Wilbur proposed hesitantly then sighed. "Quite frank, I'm kind of glad you guys know. I think I would've legitimately freaked out- well, freaked out more, if you didn't know even though you guys were right there with me." He smiled, a very tired yet relieved thing. Techno shared it, finding some comfort in that alongside Wilbur.

Phil though, looked heavily in thought. "So, uh, everything aside. Improbably, impossible things aside, supposing this is all. Um, true, there's also one big problem we should keep in mind?" He quietly said with a nervous smile.

Wilbur eyed him warily, "What the fuck is it now Phil? What other, mind-boggling, probably reality-breaking problem do we have to keep in mind now?" He probably didn't want to ask it, but it had to be done. Unfortunately.

"Brushing away the whole, 'alternate world, reality thing' for just a moment to address the fact that we uh, we've been watching content containing minors without their express permission or knowledge of the fact they've been filming themselves in front of thousands of people. And also, one of those minors is a royal scientist to a foreign- well, essentially a foreign country's royal kingdom, who has, on stream, revealed probably detrimental plans and experiments that pertain to that kingdom. There are blue prints being translated by the fandom from Tubbo's computer, as well as other documents that uh, that might pertain to royal secrets? Not to mention the knowledge that Tubbo can apparently, effectively, essentially, revive the dead if given the resources. And adding into the, 'watching without consent' list here, are several other people, adults, other scientists and actual royalty of the same royal kingdom with other probably secret projects that have essentially been leaked to our world?"

Phil smiled weakly at his pale friends then turned to face Wilbur completely. "Wilbur, you're pretty much the only person who can tell someone- ergo Tommy, that information who could pretty much relay that to Tubbo who will tell maybe Ranboo or even Queen Kristin herself about this information. Not to mention just frankly telling Tommy the fact that, people, including us, have been watching him... Without his knowledge or consent. Period." Wilbur slowly pushed his breakfast away to hide his face in his arms while Techno stared at the ceiling.

"Is it too late to hope it's hyper advanced science, cgi effects and actors? At least it'd be easier then, right?" Techno rasped, his suffering reaching a whole new level.

Techno was right like always.

They were way in over their heads for this shit.

"Oh hey, the Twitter thing is back! I actually managed to open it again, looks like they finally fixed whatever was wrong with it." Tommy told Tubbo while he, Tubbo and Ranboo waited patiently. Something about maintenance, someone scratched a rune or something, Tommy didn't know and just trusted that Tubbo knew what was going on and would tell him if something was wrong.

Tubbo hummed, glancing over for a moment before focusing back on his own comm. "Really? That's nice. Maybe they hired someone new to fix everything if they took that long to fix the app. Incompetence at its highest surely." He sniggered, thinking that maybe someone from this 'Twitter' platform had hired someone too big for their britches instead of an actual professional to do the codework for their app and such. Leave it to the cheapskates that wanted so much for so little.

"Be nice Tubbo, we don't know what happened behind the scenes." Ranboo scolded lightly then smiled at Tommy, "Glad to see it working though. You had a friend there didn't you? What was his name, Wilfred?"

"HAH! Wilfred- I'm so calling him that. Or William, but nah, his name's Wilbur. Can you believe that? Who the fuck names themselves Wilbur? Also! He's not my friend! He's this musician guy who followed me on the app, maybe he's one of the beta testers for it? I don't know, didn't see much before it went down. Weirdo. BUT! Wrongen as he was, he and his band Lovejoy makes some pretty cool songs! Right Tubs?"

"They are pretty good. Weird that they aren't on Box-Ju though. Had to download that app 'Spotify' to get to it. Well, I did but then I deleted it after. I downloaded the songs and put them in my private personal playlist on Box-Ju." Tubbo admitted, grinning cheekily at the weirded out looks he got from his friends. "What? It had weird ads! I wasn't going to stand for ads from a music player! It wanted money to not play ads! I've got government funding for Box-Ju for a lifetime, I'm not spending more on some obscure, low-rated, never heard of music player called Spotify. So I torrented the songs and added them to my private playlist, I didn't upload them obviously, it's staying in my playlist until Lovejoy finally gets on Box-Ju and download it legit. It's not the first time I've done it, don't worry."

Tommy could only snort and shake his head at Tubbo, turning his attention back to his own comm. Idly, he rolled his shoulders, feeling the weight of his arms- it's only been a few hours but already the ache was settling in. He definitely needed to wear them more often, or maybe it was the nerves of moving from Tubbo's apartment to a fucking castle getting to him... Nah it was the arms, that was it.

Anyway, the blue bird app was finally back up, he wondered what his experience with it would be. He didn't really click to most other social media platforms like Globe-Chat or Clickers. The most he's done was answer a few questions on the new Tumblr app that he came to from time to time. Hell, he just posted a couple of selfies on it like a few hours ago and it seemed to be doing well. Should he open his inbox again? He hasn't answered every question, but he didn't really feel like it to be honest. Maybe some new questions? Eh, he'll decide later.

Thinking back to his selfies, he decided on posting the same ones on Twitter because why not?

It's only after posting the selfies that he realized that;

One, he posted two selfies with absolutely no context on a new platform and was stupid. At least on Tumblr his... followers? Knew somewhat that he and Tubbo were moving, but here? They didn't know.

Two, he had a lot more followers on Twitter than he ever had on Tumblr.

Like a LOT more followers.

"Oh what the actual fuck?" He whispered to himself in disbelief, looking at the number displayed with wide eyes. And he had thought his Tumblr following was a lot. He still has no idea why they keep following him! But here? He had done nothing yet! What the fuck was going on?

It didn't seem like Tubbo had heard his whispers, leaning over to Ranboo to whisper something to the prince. It must be important with how busy they seemed so Tommy didn't tell him about it. That and he was still processing everything as well.

At any rate though, Twitter suddenly was a lot more interesting than Tumblr.

Tommy blinked as he sees one notification. Just one, he squinted at it and went back to the massive number that displayed his follower count. If he had so many followers why did he only have one notification? Was it because he was following only one person? That person being Wilbur, who was incidentally the cause for the notification in the first place?

Wilbur Soot

are all your selfies like that, the perspective of just you in the corner looking like a gremlin while stuff happens in the background?
also welcome back to twitter tommy, i suppose the move had you quite busy

fuck u wilfred suit, u may make good music but ur still a wrongen
thanks tho?? ALSO I AM NOT A GEMLGIN!!

sure you arent
gemlgin
also wilfred suit???

FUCK YOU FUICK FYOU FUCKF YOU FUCK YOU

how have you been? settling into your new place alright?

were not there yet
the portals down for manetenens

portal??
do you mean maintenance?

fuck you
yeah
somethign aboutt he crystals idk my friens say its all good tho
speakig of which ill brb
portal just gotr back up so im puttin awya my comm for a few mins
hmm here
[portal_picture.png]
p cool innit??
new deisng, theyre hopignto upgrade every other protal to the end liek that. safer and cooler that way

ah
oh
yeah that is very cool.
ill see you in a few minutes?

yea bye!!

He doesn't know why he feels so at ease talking to him. Quite honestly, he shouldn't, he knows better than to trust strangers even on the internet. He was a street rat orphan after all, he knew better. And yet, his gut instinct told him that Wilbur wasn't that bad. And so far, his gut hasn't led him wrong. No, it was his own decisions that lead him astray like...

Tommy carefully crept through the garbage, his gut telling him to go the other way. But he saw Sam go this way, he HAD to go this way. He had to tell Sam what happened, before it was too late. He never realized that it was already far too late anyway, and he'd end up losing pretty much everything after ignoring his instincts.

Tommy shook his head. A strained smile on his face as he tried to think of other things.

"Tommy? You good big man?"

The blond looked over to his best friend, his brother, giving him a concerned look as they stood in front of the glowing mystical portal. Pale pinkish stone that had been carved into with a few mechanical looking panels attached to some specific spots of the portal frame. The new overworld portal to the end realm, a specific design that could change locations according to coordinates instead of locked into one place only. He didn't really get all of it, but all he knew according to Tubbo and Ranboo, that the design was far sleeker, far safer and far cooler than the original had been.

From the slums of the Archives all the way to the Realm of the End, the capital of the End Kingdom- Endlantis.

He knew Tubbo aimed high with his goals ever since they were kids, but this? Was just fucking incredible.

Carefully, he reached out an held Tubbo's hand. Biting his lip when he sees Tubbo squeezing the palm. He doesn't feel anything, he doesn't dare squeeze back in fear of hurting him. Holding his hand was enough. "I'm good Toby. Let's go, I want to see Endlantis, see if it's up to all the bragging Ranboob's been doing."

"Bragging?!" Ranboo squawked making them both laugh.

Tommy smiled happily and entered the End Realm.

Chapter Text

"Tell me something."

She stared down at the yellowish stone below her, cracked and smeared with violet blood that pulsed with magic. Her body throbbed with pain and ached with every breath she took, she had attained victory and yet there was something bitter in her mouth. It wasn't her blood, though she could taste that too.

"Why."

Her grip on her sword tightened, shifting, and she hears the blade sink deeper into flesh.

"What was the point?"

Her eyes finally strayed up, her violet eyes meeting with dark purple.

"If you hated me so much, why raise me at all?"

He stared back at her, and like always, she couldn't read a damn thing in that piercing gaze of his. His mouth twisted into a smirk, and she has to hold back the vitriol that builds up in her throat. So many words she wants to say to him, none of them were kind at all but life was slowly draining and time was running out.

His mouth opens and he whispers something with his dying breath and her vision turns red and black.

Red like fire, the fire of hatred in her heart.

Black like blood, the corrupted blood of her damned father that stained everything he touched.

Her, included.

Her minds clears when she's in someone's arms, screaming and crying. She's being hugged and all she sees in her eyes. Is that smug look on her father's face right before he dies.

"Your majesty?"

"Hm?" Kristin hummed inquisitively, opening her eyes. She hadn't thought of that memory in years, she must have zoned out. Even after all these years, paperwork was tediously boring. Unfortunately important though. "Yes?" She questioned further, looking up from her desk to see who was addressing her. She blinks and smiles at the old reptilian hybrid. He smiles back at her. "Oogway, hello. Sorry, I was... lost in thought."

The ancient turtle waved off her apology, "Don't apologize. Though you were lost in it, you've found yourself just in time." She rolled her eyes her smile widened. "This old turtle has come to tell you, your son and his guests have arrived through the portal. They're currently somewhere in the market islands." He pushed along a cart of sweets and tea, something she definitely needed after hours of paperwork.

"Are they now? I thought Schlatt wanted them to arrive as soon as possible so Tubbo could help Niki sooner." Kristin mused, accepting the cup of tea and nudging aside her paperwork to make room for the snack of sweets Oogway provided her.

"Bah! That young ram wants are nothing compared to what those kids clearly needs! And they need time to have some fun!" Oogway snorted, pouring himself a cup of tea as well. "They can afford it, though little Niki's journey may start soon enough it is important that Tubbo enjoy what little free time he has left with his friends. Especially Tommy, you and I both know he deserves it."

"One would argue that he's had enough time in Snowchester." Kristin pointed out while Oogway made himself comfortable in one of her seats. 

"And I would argue otherwise! That boy spent years looking after Tommy. I recall a certain someone ordering him to take breaks and take care of himself because he was running ragged in trying to accelerate young Innit's healing." Kristin sighed, Oogway had a point. She had been that someone that ordered Tubbo to take breaks and take care of himself. Ranboo had been so concerned about him, and frankly at that point, so had Kristin.

As much as she disliked separating Tubbo from Tommy, costing him his time with his newly revived best friend and brother, there really was no other person more suited to help Niki than Tubbo himself. Especially if Niki had truly charted her journey through the ruins deep within the Archives.

"A few jaunts and trips outside the castle with his friends will do that boy good." Oogway nodded both to himself and her, absolutely sure in his judgement. She trusted him, he was her oldest friend, one of the few she had made in her youth that was still alive. "And it would help Tommy start to settle in and bond with the young prince, without Tubbo to bridge them together when he leaves, they need to be more comfortable with each other."

Well, Ranboo was already attached to Tommy for obvious reasons but Tommy would likely need time to consider Ranboo a true friend.

"I've told the prince to come back before dinner, their luggage has already arrived at the castle and will be put away accordingly, the three of them have the rest of the day to themselves." He said, looking very satisfied. Be it because of what he's done or his own tea. Knowing him, it was both.

Still, she smiled and nodded at him. "Sounds wonderful. I hope they have a fun time together." Kristin inhaled steadily, enjoying the scent of Oogway's tea before drinking it. Ah, truly one of the greatest highlights of her busy day. 

Though soon, it would get busier. What with Niki's journey about to start.

At the thought, she glanced over to the copy of Niki's map that was hidden in her room. Unable to help herself, she stood up and retrieved the map.

She's check it many times now, double, triple, quadruple- and yet she still can't help but worry for it. For her dearest daughter's journey to find her wings.

"And here I thought you stopped worrying when Schlatt started worrying in your stead." She said nothing as she went over to a free table in her office, carefully laying out the map to look at its contents and the charted course on it. "Should've known really." Oogway sighed, setting down his half-drunken tea cup to stand by her side and look at the map with her.

Together, they looked over in silence over it. Reminiscing slightly on a few familiar places that were marked down- they had been there together before. Them and some other friends and allies, looking for Kristin's wings, the locations had been in different order and there were places that Niki had charted that Kristin hadn't gone through.

It truly was a different journey each time.

"You've checked, Kristin." Oogway murmured to her, aged, reptilian claws taking her hands in his. Offering comfort to her worries. "You've checked many times now, nothing is interfering with Niki's map. Everything on the map was something she charted herself. You've taken precautions about this, you of all people would know what a tampered map is like." Because her own map had been tampered with, by her own father. She hadn't even known, not until it was far too late to do anything about it.

The wings on her back felt heavier than usual now.

"He's dead Kristin. His body is still buried on The End Island, all the crystals are gone and you are Queen." She was, she is.

But she worries sometimes, fears that she's missed something. That her peace would be abruptly shattered by something big and that her kingdom would be in danger. Her children would be in danger.

And worse of all...

"I wonder sometimes, if I made the wrong choice. Hatching an egg all those years ago." She whispers to him. "If it was still too soon to have a royal child, to raise someone for the throne. I'm only over a hundred and thirty-five years old Oogway. He was over a six hundred." Compared to her father, she'd been a child. She was still a child, technically.

She shouldn't be on the throne according to ancient texts that her father had almost totally destroyed. She should've taken the throne at the age of 200-300 at most. Not 26.

Kristin was the youngest End Queen to exist, and void knows she knew how heavy it was for her.

"That depends, do you regret having Niki in your life?"

The answer blurted itself out before she could even stop it, "No!" She blinked rapidly, her eyes watery. "No... I could never regret having Niki. Or Ranboo." A daughter and a son. How novel it was, and still is!

She had been an only child, but had yearned a sibling who could be with her. And though Ranboo had been a total accident, she couldn't regret either of them, not when they were so wonderful.

"Then there's your answer." Oogway patted her arm, smiling knowingly at her. "Just because Niki's off to find her wings now doesn't mean she has to be Queen right after. Your father was a cruel, and tyrannical man who hungered for power and sinned against everything we know to achieve it. You are not your father, nor is Niki you. Your goal isn't to kill her when her journey ends, once she finds her wings. No, your goal is to welcome her home and be the mother that you are." He took her hand and started walking, lightly tugging her along to follow, leading her to her own balcony that oversaw most of her kingdom.

"She is not yet ready to be Queen, Kristin. She needs time. You need time. Look at yourself old friend, and look at the kingdom you've created in just over a hundred and ten years." He gestured out to Endlantis.

Big islands chained to their main island as well as each other, life on every nook and cranny. The protective veil and streams of water that floated far off in the air slightly hindering the view of the other islands, but she could still see the dots of civilization on them, the cities and towns and villages that made themselves home to many of her citizens. She looked down below, to the courtyard where she could see servants, guards, nobles and more bustling about.

She turned her gaze towards the market islands, where her son and his friends were. She could just imagine three excited teenage boys flitting about the marketplace. Buying knickknacks, snacks, souvenirs, just enjoying their youth with little care of what the future may hold for them.

"Just over a hundred years ago. Endlantis was in ruins, was a bloody, cruel and hateful place." Oogway said, reminding her of the kingdom underneath her father's reign. His claws brushed lightly over the scars on his neck. Where a collar once shackled him to her side by the order of her father. A slave, 'gifted' to her for complacency and 'safety'. "But now look at it. There is life in your people's eyes. There is color in their minds and safety in their hearts." He pointed to the floating water stream that protected their islands, "The magic water that once punished and reigned terror upon the end realm is now used for protection, and it looks very pretty in the sky if I do say so myself."

She laughed when he winked at her, no doubt proud over what he'd done to contribute to that. "In the one hundred years you've reigned as Queen, my dear, you have created an era of safety and prosperity for your people. You have gained allies and made bonds that far outshine and outstrip the shackles that the tyrant King had before you. You have family, a lovely, strong daughter and a kind, handsome prince. Kristin, my dearest friend, you have your worries but remember that you are no longer the princess in peril. You are the Queen of Endlantis. A respected ruler, and a beloved mother."

Kristin felt the weight on her shoulders shift, her wings felt just a bit less heavy and she held her head high.

"Of course only I remember you as the princess who tried to sneak snacks to her classes and climbed the walls of the castle trying to get away from unwanted suitors."

Immediately she faltered and laughter bubbled from her mouth, "Oogway!"

The old turtle turned around, a cheeky smile on his face as he ambled back towards the cart of sweets. "When Princess Niki comes back, I shall assist her in her wings and attempts to fly. Perhaps the stories of your first few flights will help, I can already imagine the first lesson; practice opening your wings first before jumping lest you fall on your face. Though maybe she won't need that one, your daughter is very smart, my Queen." He teased, laughing joyously at Kristin's slight embarrassment and exasperation.

"I am the Queen! Your Queen, Oogway! I can order you not to tell those stories!"

He cackled, "What's that? I'm sorry Kristin dear, my old age is catching up, I can't hear you!"

"You may be older than me but that doesn't mean you've lost all of your hearing yet!" Kristin exclaimed though there was a wide smile on her face. "Don't use that excuse on me!"

"Pour you another cup of tea? Gladly my Queen!"

Kristin shook her head at his enthused theatrics, her shoulders a little lighter and the ache in her heart not as painful as before. Memories of the past still haunted her mind, but they would not overtake her. Not when she had friends and family relying on her and a kingdom to rule.

She was Kristin Thanatasma Elytria and she was the Queen of Endlantis, she should not worry about the past but focus on the future.

But perhaps her worries were not unfounded...

So maybe Phil shouldn't have told Wilbur all that stuff about, dimensional government, kingdom secrets but to be fair to himself- he, himself, had been reeling from it alone and kind of wanted someone to empathize with.

He should have waited a bit more though, let the whole 'watching minors from another dimension, different world exist, etc etc' sink in before revealing the wholly real and political side of the problem that they weren't too aware of at the moment. If not for his sake, but certainly for his friends.

"What if, I just- send him the link to the twitch channel and let him deal with it with Tubbo? Or, Ranboo, depending if we send it after Tubbo leaves." Wilbur said, leg bouncing in place on the couch as Techno leafed through several pages of whatever book he had now. A law book? Physics? Science fiction? The man had bought a variety of books, both in real life and online, to possibly help their predicament.

"So your big plan is to just, link him to his own Twitch Channel that he doesn't know he technically has because it's about him, Tubbo, their life, and the people around them, and what- expect them to deal with it on their own?" Techno questioned, looking at Wilbur. "You just want to rip the bandage off and get with it don't you?"

Wilbur slumped in his seat, clutching his phone desperately, "I- I do. The longer we don't tell him, the more complicated this might get! So we could just, yeah- rip the bandage off and tell them. In fact, why don't I send it now? Let's send it now."Before he could even get the Twitch link, Phil quickly went over and wrestled the phone out of his tight grip. "Phil!"

"Wilbur!" Phil matched his tone but took in a deep breath, "Look mate, I know you're nervous and- I'm sorry for contributing to that as well but, we gotta think on this. Sure, telling him outright or just sending him the link is... a viable? Idea? But- the kid's just arrived at Endlantis as far as we know, he may have just arrived at the castle. He hasn't even settled in yet and all of a sudden he's linked to a site that has footage and information on him and his best friend that should be private? That's-" He faltered, losing his steam for a moment when he imagined it, Wilbur faltered with him, eyes closed and head bowed. He took in another breath, "Instead of sending it now, we don't we just- wait a little longer? Till he's—" Safe? Comfortable? Settled?

Whatever Phil was going to say next was interrupted by a ping that came from Wilbur's phone. Most of the notifications were off, but Wilbur had purposefully kept Twitter on just in case Tommy was going to message him. Phil checked and, yeah, that was Tommy.

"Give it here!" Wilbur scrambled to his feet and to get his phone back. Phil handed it back so Wilbur could open it and see what Tommy had sent him.

A day had passed from yesterday's chat that ended with a photo of what seemed to be a portal to 'Endlantis', where that was. Wilbur had waited for Tommy to respond a few minutes after, but he never did.

And now, Tommy had come back.

Tommy Innit

shit man soryr for ghsti g you lke that
got pulle daround by two nerds who wnted to show em shit
have u ben to endlantis?

if you were pulled around then you must've been exhausted so it's fine
can't say i have
what's it like?

its very cool
its werid not beign able to see the sun but the void in t e end is super cool
and the isladns are socool too
they do have giant chaisn hookgin em toggethr i thought tubs was lying to me

void?
chains??

managed to get a pictur of endlatni main island hold up
[endlantis_castle.png]

"Oh my god."

The three of them were one again crowded together on the couch to see the picture that was on Wilbur's phone.

It was taken at what looked to be a high-vantage point. With a colorful town with equally colorful red-orange trees that were dotted about the place. Rivers and streams of water seemed to be flowing in the air in the far distance, almost barely visible in the violet sky filled with stars. And even further in the distance, a floating island sits in the air, gigantic chains that seemed big even from a distance that really seemed to be connected to multiple islands, including whatever island the picture was taken from. Atop the island, was a beautiful castle that came from a fantasy.

The whole picture was from a fantasy. Even with the obvious fact that the picture was taken unsteadily by a unprofessional photographer, it was still very beautiful.

Something that shouldn't be real, but it was.

"It's so pretty." Phil breathed, wide-eyed over the picture. The colors, the town's architecture, the otherworldly trees and sky and the floating streams of water. It was something he could only imagine and dream of seeing, but here it was.

He was actually very disappointed when Wilbur went back to chatting with Tommy, no longer able to see the beautiful landscape of the picture. He made a note to ask Wilbur to send a screenshot to him, it was just so pretty. Techno on the other hand, looked thoughtful and quickly got to the laptop, typing something into it.

that's endlantis?
it's beautiful

it fucking is yea
supor pretty
u see why i forgor to messge u back after
we exploreed a lot before goin to the new place

right, how did that go?
settling in?

its just eben a day dude
we havent even started unpackjgn yet
its nice tho

"Wilbur." Techno suddenly said, sounding serious enough for them to focus on him. "Send that pic to me. Now."

Wilbur blinked, "Wha- why?"

"Just do it, it's important." Wilbur gave him a look but did so anyway, sending it to Techno who had pulled up a few screenshots of the vods. Curious, Phil and Wilbur inched closer as Technoblade compared the pictures. "Shit."

Phil frowned at the rare swear, "What is it Tech?"

"Wilbur, can you ask if Endlantis is a realm or in space?" Wilbur was taken aback by the sudden question, "Look at these photos and tell me if those skies are the same. Actually, just look at the Endlantis photo- it's gorgeous yes, but look at the background. It's floating in the sky, and there are stars below the island. The sky is all shades of violet and I don't see the sun, it may be out of the frame but I also don't see any clouds whatsoever. I might be wrong, but I don't think Endlantis' sky is the very same sky from Snowchester."

Techno glanced to his friends who were blankly staring at him and he grimaced. "We know magic is real now, fantasy is reality and we got dimensions, worlds, realms- whatever. It's been mentioned before and I can't believe it's just hitting me now but- they may have multiple realms connected to each other. As in, multiple realities, connected to each other. The portal was a portal to Endlantis right? Aka, located in the so called, End Realm? So unless they figured out magic space travel, which maybe they have but there's a good chance that Endlantis is in an entirely different world than Snowchester. Well, good news Wilbur. We don't have to explain other dimensions to Tommy because he might just know more about it than we do. But we still have to explain that we are in a dimension unrelated to his, and that we have and still are, watching him."

The pink haired streamer smiled ruefully at his stunned and horrified friends, "Doesn't this make our job a bit easier?"

Just more things they hadn't really thought of but was now a reality to them.

Phil clapped his hands, standing up with a declaration. "Okay! We're taking a break! We are... going to order some food and uh, I don't know. Play smash or watch a movie even, just- we need to get our minds off this for just a moment." He wasn't going to take any arguments or protests, they did need this.

Otherwise, they might just burn out from the stress and probably more shocking revelations. Who knew, Phil didn't want to tempt fate, so- time to take a break!

"Alright, I've started anchoring them together. I've also tried to tweak Tubbo's connection. He is going on the journey and I don't think we want to interfere with that just yet."

"No, no, definitely not."

"... The bridge is slow, but it's there. I'm frankly amazed that it's going like that when we don't have Karl anymore."

"... Karl did lay the foundation for it, but if we want to finish it, we'll need him back. I refuse to let this world end up like the last one. I refuse to see the cascade of events that happened again. Just because Karl wasn't like them didn't mean they had to-"

"..."

"..."

"... You okay?"

"... I'm fine... I just- I'm fine. I'm going to check on something, I'll be back."

"Okay."

She knew it to be false, but said nothing as he trotted away from the console. The click of his hooves echoing on the black marble flooring of their platform.

She watched him disappear into the darkness, down below. "... I can't wait for this to be over, then we can have actual fun again." She said aloud, alone as she looked back to one of the many ever-shifting orbs that dotted around. She focused on one of them, showing three men eating on a couch. She focused on another, three boys before a Queen. She focused on another, only static and incomprehensible shapes. She focused on another, a fox hybrid with a princess. She focused on another, a duck hybrid pacing in a room.

"... I wonder if he'll mind if I... tweak something else..." She'll be very careful this time, she didn't want Tommy to end up in a fever again.

Chapter Text

"We should've stolen another blanket."

"I know right? It's really freaking cold tonight."

"It is, and it sucks." He huffed, glaring at the fire, resisting the urge to inch closer- he wanted to. He really did, but the last time he did, he almost fell asleep and burnt himself from it. As cold as it was, setting himself on fire would be a really stupid move. They didn't have any medicine to help him if he hurt himself like that.

He glanced over when he felt his best friend sit down and lean against him, huddled in his warm clothes and a blanket just like him. It really was getting colder and colder these days, the frost would come underground soon and they would need more supplies, more food, more clothes, more warmth.

Their little hobble of a mushroom abode (it was a nice little home but not much of a house, ragged old tarps pinned by rocks and pointy sharp things made for flimsy walls and their door was just a free unpinned flap of a tarp) wouldn't be enough for them to survive.

"We need to a new place to live."

His best friend, his brother, huffed in agreement. "Damn right we do."

"I think I know a place we can spend the winter."

He thought back to the crack in the wall, hidden behind the rock.

"What do you think Toms?" He questioned as they stood together in the darkness, light barely coming through the crack in the wall. He took out a jar of fresh shroomlights, letting it light up the place. It was dusty, had debris and was kind of creepy but at the same time cool. He didn't know what the words on the walls were saying, but if they cleaned up the room they were in they could live there and maybe even explore the lower areas?

He turned to look at Tommy, blinking when he found no one in the room with him. "Tom?"

"Do you blame yourself?"

Whirling in place, he sees Tommy look up at him. A child, all in all. Ragged, torn, oversized clothes, messy, unkempt hair and a face smeared with dirt and grime. It's a stark contrast to Tubbo, who was tall now. An adult, dressed in clean clothes just his size, clean, barely combed hair and a face free of muck.

Bewildered with dread building in his stomach, "What?"

The world shifts, and the ruined room they were standing in transformed into a familiar home. It was still the room, but without the debris and most of the dust, lit up by small shroomlights tied on strings between the pillars above. There was a pile of old blankets and pillows and other soft things in the corner. Items of all kinds strewn all across the poorly carpeted floor ranging from little knickknacks, junk that he used to fiddle with, books he borrowed and stole to Tommy's old sewing kit, the few books the boy bothered to read that were all about animals and other little things of Tommy's.

It was their childhood home, a semi-proper one, not just a makeshift tent made out of tarps and a big mushroom.

Little Tommy tilted his head, a small smile on his face, "Well it's quite common for this situation for a patient to feel a kind of-" The room shifts again and the homely vibe of the room was gone. New debris was on the floor, the shroomlight strings had snapped and hung limply against the pillars and all the knickknacks and items were either gone or crushed underneath the rubble. There was a messy trail of blood leading from the entrance crack towards a hidden stairwell in the floor, a stairwell that Tubbo stared with wide, fearful and anxious eyes. "-guilt." Tommy finished softly.

Tubbo swallowed nothing but pain and regret, more regret would come when he asked quietly, "What situation?" He knows exactly what, but maybe he only asked to torture himself with the reminder.

Little Tommy grew slightly, not by much, but by a few inches. He leaned up on his toes, and if he could, he would reach up to Tubbo with his arms.

But little Tommy has no arms. Both sleeves were gone, one side of Tommy's shirt was burnt, merged with the charred flesh that covered the cauterized stump, the other was fresh with blood and Tubbo could see the stump that he made, longer than the other, covered with cuts from uneven hacking and the broken bone that he had to snap to free Tommy from the boulder, barely healed from the healing potion he had.

Little Tommy stood on his toes, trying to reach Tubbo and Tubbo leaned down to him. His brother had no arms, but he still felt the small hands pressing against his cheeks, leaving bloody prints in their wake. Tommy smiled sweetly with blood, his eyes white, milky and dead.

"The incident."

And he remembers, clear as day.

Both of them, just small orphan kids, trying to find Sam in the city. Him splitting up from Tommy because of an argument he started. Getting lost and found in the lower Shelves, trying to find Tommy. Finding Tommy but just too late, his arm is gone, cut off and burnt and Sam was just walking away with his fire-enchanted sword. Screaming, at Sam, for help, for Tommy, anyone, anything- Rumbling, shaking, the lower Shelve buildings crumbling from the earthquake and the caves starting to collapse.

Losing Tommy again in the chaos. Finding him too late, again, his arm is pinned by a boulder and Tubbo only has a dull stone axe in his tiny inventory. He raises it up and cries—

"It's very common for people to invent blame."

His fault, he shouldn't have argued, he shouldn't have gotten lost, should've found Tommy sooner, shouldn't have even approached Sam the day they met—
Sam's fault, he cut Tommy's arm, he didn't save Tommy, didn't save THEM and just walked away—

"Or create causality-"

Leaving the orphanage led to this. Meeting Sam led to this. Fighting each other led to this. The cave in led to this.

Little Toby stood atop the stairs, a child all in all with his best friend, his brother, dying, dead on his back. The darkness below is dreadful, terrifying but inviting and something below awaits them both.

"-when in reality..."

Tubbo stands behind little Toby, watching with clenched hands and a pounding heart as little Toby takes his first step into the darkness. Blurring memories of a dagger, blood, a chasm of darkness with something at the bottom and a precious body falling into it.

He gasps, silently choking on a scream as he trembles underneath the blanket.

For a moment, he forgets where he is but luckily all he does is stay silent and still as he tries to calm down. The dream, amalgamation of nightmare and memory, whispers its last words into his head, echoing words he thought he forgot.

"It was completely out of your control."

Of course, something that his old therapist had told him had turned up in a nightmare, honestly, he shouldn't be surprised. For as helpful as it was for Queen Kristin to assign a therapist to him, it also clearly made his nightmares a bit more creative.

Tubbo tried to calm himself, calm his panicking mind of the doubts he had over leaving Tommy. Again. Tommy has Ranboo to look after him. I trust Ranboo, I trust in the Queen to keep him safe, he'll be safe in Endlantis.

Endlantis was not trapped underneath the ground- its grounds were broken and sure the floating islands had caves, giant caves even but they were nothing compared to the Archives and its underground cities and the cavernous network they survived in. Also, the void was freely seen and even welcomed by its residences, carefully monitored and cautiously enjoyed. While in the Archives, the void was hidden, near non-existent, practically so to most of the people but dangerously ignorant to the abyss that laid way beneath the rocks, if it was even there.

The dagger, the chasm, the dead-eyed stare and the darkness watching at him intently.

His arm itches, he almost reaches to scratch it when he feels his arm brushing against something solid. Warm. Alive.

Tommy.

He glances over to the blond, seeing him curled up by his side, face smushed against his pillow- somehow, he's escaped the blankets, he's on top of them when Tubbo was quite sure he was tucked into them when they both fell asleep. Impressive for someone who had no arms really.

Little Tommy reaching up— Tubbo flinched, nausea swirling in his stomach and he took in another deep breath.

Carefully, he sat up and gathered the blanket so he could dump it on Tommy, tucking him under it once more. Just in case he got cold or something, it wasn't like Tubbo was going to need it now that he was awake. With that done, he quietly crawled out of bed. Which took a bit longer than usual because royalty and rich people liked getting big, luxurious beds that fucking spanned like a mile or something.

He was exaggerating a bit, but the bed was still three times larger than both his and Tommy's beds in his apartment combined. Ridiculously large beds aside, it really had nothing to the room itself.

It was bigger than his living room- hell, there was a big ass couch smack dab in the middle of the room that had stairs leading into the more living room-ish area of the bedroom. And another stair and fancy door that led to the personal bathroom that was also ridiculously big.

Royalty and rich people man.

Tubbo thought he'd like a big ass room like this when he was younger, but honestly it felt...

A bit empty.

Both personally and logically, as a scientist, his lab was definitely larger but at least it had been filled with machines and storage and his blueprints and everything but the room he and Tommy were currently in was just lavish and big. A guestroom turned actual personal bedroom for him and Tommy, and as soon as Niki would set off, Tommy would be its sole user and occupant until Tubbo returned.

Both Ranboo and his mom suggested separate rooms at first but there was no point in using two bedrooms when Tubbo would be leaving soon enough. And... He wanted to room with Tommy until they had to leave.

Never mind that he already had to room with him in his apartment even when Tommy had his own room that he occasionally used. Tommy hadn't really been used to sleeping on his own yet, when he was last alive younger he and Tubbo had always slept together out of necessity and comfort. Tubbo didn't complain whatsoever obviously, he had missed Tommy so of course he had missed sharing a sleeping space with him- they finally had a proper bed after all! One of the things they had always wanted back then.

A bed.

A bedroom.

A house- well, Tubbo had an apartment but it was close enough.

A proper, actual home.

And now they were in the End Realm, in the capital of Endlantis, staying in the royal castle.

"Not bad for an orphan from the Archives huh? Especially one from the lowest Shelf." Tubbo chuckled at the mirror of the lavish bathroom sink. His reflection shows him his rueful smile and the bitter, hardened eyes he had.

He closed those eyes and turned the faucet knob so he could splash his face with water. He wasn't looking to bathe just yet, too early for that, but he did want to stay awake. Quickly, he dried his face and quietly crept out of the room, looking at the lump on the giant bed that was Tommy before leaving completely.

The halls were quiet, not even the steps of a servant could be heard. Definitely way too early for Tubbo to be actually awake, not that one unfamiliar with the End could tell. The sky was still lit with purple stars and cosmic light, there was no sun nor moon in the realm. Just a never ending beautiful mauve sky above, and the intimidating, black darkness below. Rarely shining with light ever, and an uncertain demise to those who stray too far into its embrace.

Tubbo squinted at the sky through the window, trying his luck and smarts to tell the exact time from how dim the sky was compared to earlier. Unfortunately, his guess was wrong when he checked the actual time- damn. It was to be expected, he wasn't a native nor a long-time resident of the End, unlike them he couldn't tell the time just by the sky alone.

As he walked through the halls with no clear goal in mind, maybe he'd stop by the library for some reading or just get a treat from the kitchen or from one of Ranboo or Niki's secret stashes (maybe even Kristin's if he's ballsy enough) and just as he thinks on what to do next aside from just going back to his and Tommy's room, he stops right as he passed a certain hallway.

Did he see-

He quickly backtracks back to the hallway and, no yeah, definitely saw it.

"Mister Oogway." He called out, quietly.

The old turtle stopped, turning around in surprise to see a certain young scientist approaching. He lightly tugged his current companion to stop with him, patting them when he heard the slightly annoyed warble he got for it. "Ah, Dr. Score, how nice to see you." He greeted with a friendly smile. Tubbo grinned, Oogway was cool like that, acknowledging his hard work and achievements. "You're certainly up early, any reason why?"

"Is Ranboo alright?" He asked instead, glancing over to the quiet prince but careful not to meet with his currently bright violet eyes. Ranboo normally was alright with eye-to-eye conversations, if a bit uncomfortable sometimes, he's gotten pretty used to it over the years but no amount of it would change the hostility for whenever he was in his 'Enderwalk'. Granted the amount of hostility changed for certain people, like himself but still. "Where'd you find him this time?"

Oogway hummed, "In the library, not reading anything of course. But he was moving around the pottery and some crates. Dare I say it, he might've been looking for something." The turtle joked but shook his head, "Whatever it was, he didn't find it so now I'm escorting his highness back to his quarters."

Ranboo murmured something in his weird, sleepy, kind of echo-y voice. Nothing Tubbo could understand, it certainly wasn't Enderian. Whatever it was had Oogway chuckling, or maybe he was just chuckling for another reason, he never really knew if Oogway could actually understand whatever Enderwalk Ranboo was saying. He'd ask, but the answers were always so vague.

"Come now your highness, let's get you back to your room. We'd rather not have you waking up on the spires again." Tubbo snickered as he remembered the few hilarious times and places that Ranboo woke up to, ranging from inside the kitchen cupboards to on top of one of the castle's spires.

"Mind if I come with you? I'm sort of bored."

Oogway looked amused, "If you find no boredom in me escorting his highness back to his room, feel free to join."

It was better than just wandering with no goal, and at the very least, he had someone to talk to.

Wilbur will admit that he desperately needed the distraction of food, games and movies. Phil had really taken the lead between the three of them and forcefully corralled them into a calmer, less pessimistic and panicky mindset, and with Phil taking charge, Techno kept his mouth shut and didn't even bother trying to get back to the (admittedly very important but also definitely stressful) subject at hand.

Hell, Wilbur had even managed to get to bed without thinking about the impending mess of whatever the fuck was going on and only woke up once during the night with Stream Labs in mind but even then, he'd been too tired to even try to panic again and went back to sleep after going to the bathroom. Not as easily, but he still slept the rest of the night and woke up feeling relatively normal.

Breakfast was thankfully normal as well and Techno was blissfully still keeping his trap shut thanks to Phil's warning looks and Wilbur managed to get through it without feeling like he's lost all control of his life.

Of course, it doesn't last for long.

And of course, Techno's the one to alert them of what happened. "Shit, guys. There's a stream happening now."

Shit.

"What?" Phil's eyes were wide and puzzled as Techno showed them Stream Lab's Twitch page, from the looks of things, it was a cambee stream. "But there wasn't a notification from the twitter account!" He showed his phone, and yeah. Stream Lab's 'official' twitter, whatever the hell it actually was, hadn't updated since the last stream.

: stream time!!! Finally!!!
: I’ve been waiting for another stream for FOREVER! Where are my boys?!
: dude have you guys not realized that this stream shouldn’t exist yet???
: YOOOOOOO

Wilbur frowned, about to say something before he yelped, almost jumping in place as the black screen was suddenly overtaken by a pair of vivid, slit purple eyes. Both Phil and Techno made similar noises at the sight of it as the unnatural eyes seemed to stare right at them, glowing softly in the dark.

Something about those eyes just set off every alarm in Wilbur's head.

Now, Wilbur wasn't very athletic, nor was he very keen on violence but those eyes just seemed to trigger Wilbur's flight or fight instinct. Unable to choose between both options, he could only choose a third one; freeze. For a moment, not one person seemed to send a message on chat, as if they, too, were frozen, unable to do anything as those eyes peered into their very being.

It felt like an eternity before those eyes finally disappeared- well, they didn't disappear but they weren't staring right into the camera! They weren't staring right into Wilbur's soul!

He then noticed how heavily he'd been breathing underneath that brief stare (not even a minute had passed yet it felt like hours), he only noticed because his sigh of relief left him breathless.

: WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT
: asoidn i nearly pissed myself wtf
: I FUCKING HATE THEIR JUMPSCARES I HATE IT!!!!!

Ping went Phil's phone and the blond man, feeling just as relieved as Wilbur, checked and let out a scoff of disbelief. "Stream Labs finally sent out a tweet about the stream."

StreamLabsLIVE @SLL
We are sorry for the lack of alert to the latest stream; we shall try to do better to prevent this from happening again.

"That doesn't seem to be too good, they've been consistent with every other stream. Always alerting before the stream started by a handful of minutes." Techno murmured, warily glancing between Phil's phone and his laptop. "There's a possibility they weren't even expecting this stream." He mused as the view of the stream shifted, those bright, purple eyes were now gone and were replaced with blurry movement. It was clear that the cambee was being carried like a hand-held camera, jostled around and showing nothing concrete, not to mention it was very, very, dark.

They couldn't really hear much, just the shuffling of footsteps, some weird, organic yet echoey noise that none of them have heard before. It was almost like a chirp, but not made by an animal any of them knew. Was the cambee in the possession of an animal? Was that what this was? What was happening right now?

"What does that even entail?" Wilbur asked, slight dread lining his stomach.

As far as they knew, the people behind Stream Labs seemed to be powerful, what else could you call them obscuring the fact that Tommy had followed Wilbur from possibly the entire planet? They were powerful and knowledgeable, they seemed to know things behind the scenes and that was fucking terrifying since they really had no idea what the fuck was going on.

: bruh I broke my computer screen, STREAM LABS GIVE ME A NEW MONITOR THAT SHIT WASN’T FAIR
: rip dude
: dropped my phone :(((((

And yet, Techno's implication that they didn't expect the stream seem to be even more terrifying. Because at least then, whoever or whatever was behind Stream Labs Twitch and Twitter had at least a sense of control or maybe even a plan that they could abide by, but if that wasn't the case then what else was going to happen? What kind of reality-altering or life-changing event was going to happen now? Would there be a failsafe for it like how they made every other person aside from them (Wilbur, Phil, Techno) unable to see certain things? Or would there be none and something far more chaotic would happen and there would be nothing to help them this time?

It was the most terrifying thing Wilbur had thought of so far yet.

"..."

"Look I'm sorry okay! I got distracted!"

A sigh was heard.

“Don’t you sigh at me! You know it’s harder to keep track of him when he’s enderwalking!”

Techno didn’t answer Wilbur’s question, keeping his eyes on the livestream instead.

There was something eerily familiar about those eyes, he swears he’s seen them before- just, not as they were? He doesn’t know. Which is ridiculous, he would’ve definitely recognized and remembered those (wide, bright purple, staring staring danger) eyes but his gut insisted that he knows them. Seen them before somewhere.

He just couldn’t figure it out.

Thankfully, or unfortunately, he doesn’t have to. The stream solves his conundrum instead.

In the background, a voice, unfamiliar to them, sounded out- faint and distant but they could still hear them over the strange, echoing chirp and the shuffling movements and footsteps.

“Your highness! Your highness come back! Oh my, what is he holding?”

Then came another voice, this time very familiar to them. Tubbo.

“Ranboo! Ran- dammit Ranboo, is that my cambee? RANBOO!”

“It’s Ranboo.” Techno blinked, lines finally clicking together in his head. “Prince Ranboo has the cambee, he was the one staring right into the camera.”

His friends recoiled, as if they’d been physically hit with something. Dramatic, those two. But he can’t exactly blame them. “What?” They chorused, “How the fuck was that- that thing Ranboo? What the hell happened to him?!” Wilbur continued.

What happened indeed.

Last they remembered, Ranboo had complete heterochronic eyes, red and green. But now he had purple eyes, and was acting, well strange was an understatement. “I don’t know.” Hopefully they would find out.

Techno glanced at chat for just a brief moment, like usual, it was going at such a fast pace that he could only catch a few messages at a time.

: THAT WAS RANBOO???
: bruh i felt like some fucking rabbit underneath a lions gaze
: what happened to our dorky tall prince?!
: wait whose voice is that with tubbo

“Ranboo, come back here! Put that down!”
“Your highness! How strange, he’s more energetic tonight…”

Both Tubbo and the mystery person’s voices began to fade as Ranboo seemed to pick up the pace, now running- the screen was still nothing but blurs and dark colors with moments of brightness. Later, slowed down clips and pictures of the stream would reveal that Ranboo seemed to be running down a luxurious hallway of some sorts. Only Wilbur, Phil and Techno would come to the conclusion that Ranboo had been running through one of his home’s hallways, the boys were staying Endlantis’ main castle after all.

Suddenly it seemed like Ranboo stopped, the cambee facing the floor, showing nothing but the tips of Ranboo’s clawed toes. An echoing and static-like warble sounded, nothing too ear-grating but enough to have the three men leaning closer to the stream to watch and listen.

Techno even made sure his laptop was at max volume as they seem to hear words mixed with the static and unnatural echo.

“..ye… my… Eye...”

“’Eye’?” Phil’s brow furrowed as Ranboo began to move once again, slower this time but the camera still swayed in his grip, showing nothing particularly useful for everyone who watched. “What about his eye?”

“Has he finally noticed his eyes are purple now?” ‘And fucking terrifying?’ Wilbur added mentally to his question, trying not to shudder at the mere memory of bright purple (predator danger HIDE) eyes staring right at him.

Techno squinted, “No, this… seems different?”

“Eye… my Eye… is here… alive… my Eye…”

: eye? His eyes are purple!
: Obviously your eye is alive dumbass
: First stream I’m watching! What did I miss?

“Definitely different.” Techno nodded to himself, not that he really knew what Ranboo seemed to say.

The chat was just as confused as they were as they all watched Ranboo stop, there was the telltale sound of a door creaking open. Soon they watched him move once more and-

“Yes… my Eye.”

Was that purring?

Was Ranboo purring?

: HE’S A ROYAL FUCKING CAT BOU HAHAHA

“What did was Ranboo again? End-something? A fucking alien cat?” Wilbur muttered as chat went wild at the staticky purr that came from the stream.

No, it didn’t exactly sound like a cat’s purr. It was too— warbly? Covered in static? It sounded close to a cat’s purr just as it sounded close to an engine’s starting rumbles. But hey, if chat wanted Ranboo to be a royal cat why the hell not, it’s not like they knew that Ranboo was a real person, with real feelings, a real prince with a scary as shit dragon mother.

Techno would like to say he said nothing about this whatsoever and would gladly step aside when Queen Kristin inevitably found out that millions of people called her son a cat boy. Wilbur included.

His amusing train of thought halted when Ranboo finally set the cambee down. On a pillow. Right beside a certain head of blond hair that was poking underneath heavy blanket. “Tommy?” Wilbur goggled as Ranboo untucked the slumbering teen from the bed, waking him up as a result.

“My Eye is alive. Welcome back, Eye.” Ranboo garbled, a quiet thumping heard that people would theorize was his tail hitting the bed while wagging. “No longer floating amongst the dead and divine. The Bee has done as promised, you are alive, whole, and home.” Techno closed the chat, having seen one weird comment about the whole thing before it went into hyperspeed. It was going too fast for them anyway.

“What the fuck.” Was all one of his friends could say, either Wilbur or Phil, he didn’t know. Techno was too preoccupied with thinking about the new information they’ve been given- entirely cryptic of course, but he does remember Tubbo’s supposed crime-filled history. The very reason why he was working underneath the Queen and was a scientist for Endlantis in the first place.

Didn’t he say something about stealing Ranboo’s Ender Eye?

“Th’fuck? Wha’s happ’n’n, wh’s ta’kin’?” Tommy slurred and yawned as Ranboo purred by his side. “Boob boy? Wh-Huuuaa-‘the fuck ‘re you doin’ in our room?” The teen questioned, struggling to sit up on his own. They couldn’t really see the two of them, the cambee sitting on the pillow angled to only see part of the darkened room as well as both Tommy’s back and Ranboo’s arm.

There was a moment of silence, nothing but the unnatural, not-cat purrs coming from the prince before Tommy finally asked. “Why the fuck are your eyes purple? Weren’t they red and green?”

“Is that all?” Wilbur wheezed, remembering his fear quite clearly from seeing those purple eyes through the screen much less in real life and in such close proximity.

Phil was feeling the same sentiment. “Tommy’s fucking wicked, holy shit.”

“I walk between the waking and not, I see the unseen and I see you, Eye. I am happy you are whole, alive and awake.” Ranboo replied happily, his arm reaching over to pat Tommy’s back and shoulders.

Tommy said nothing for a little bit before, “Care to say that again bitch?” Techno blinked.

“Very alive, very awake, and whole as can be. The Bee has truly done well with you.”

What.

“Uh-huh, thought so. Why are you speaking- what the fuck even is that language. It sounds, shit it sounds so much like the noises wild Enderman make.”

What.

Light bled into the room along with the sound of a door creaking open, two voices coming in as suddenly Tommy turns on the bed, and that is all the cambee can see. His back and Ranboo’s hand on his shoulder. Some would notice that never once did Ranboo’s arm hold or go beneath the shoulder, to the stumps that were once Tommy’s arms.

“Ah, here he is.”
“RANBOO! Oh, hi Tommy! Sorry, did Ranboo wake you up?”
“No, of course not- DUH! What happened to him?! He’s all- fucking weird! I mean, he was already weird before, fucking awkward man but now he’s—”
“Yeah… he’s kinda, asleep right now.”

“What?” Everyone, him, his friends, the chat and Tommy chorused at Tubbo’s answer.

“What do you mean he’s asleep?” Wilbur questioned aloud, something that Tommy echoed and the other voice, masculine, and much, much older, answered them both.

“Ever since his highness was young, the Prince had been sleepwalking. Or rather, we call it Enderwalking as it is, as you can see, different from the regular sleepwalking condition. It’s a curious thing, while Enderwalking, he roams the castle, does and says strange things, and he never seems to remember what he does when he wakes up. It’s lead to many hilarious hijinks over the years, concerning as well, but mostly amusing.”
“I remember one time, Ranboo woke up on one of the tower roofs- Kristin came to bring him down herself! Hehehehe!”
“Holy shit, that is- crazy as fuck…”
“Do you know there are many eyes on us, my Eye? Or rather, on you?”

All three men felt a chill down their back as Ranboo’s arm disappeared from view, only for the cambee to move. Ranboo has it in his grip again.

“What’s he saying?”
“I don’t know, Mister Oogway, do you know?” Mister Who?

The cambee was lifted up, and standing nearby there, was Tubbo and a gigantic turtle, who stood on two-legs and was dressed in a form-fitting butler’s clothing. The turtle looked very old, and kind and eerily like another talking turtle that most people knew.

“Hmm…”
“I hold their view, they see the Bee and Mother’s Turtle Friend now. I don’t know how or why they’re watching us, but I sense the Spiral, the Blue and the Shape.”
“Perhaps it’s time to wake the Prince. Let’s turn this off for now.”
“Off? Wait, it’s on right now? Is it reco—”

The stream ends.

“Well, that was ominous… but cool! Wait, will they know—”

“No. We’re fine, everything that’s been recorded is restricted to that one world. They won’t see or know about us for a long, long while.”

“Oh, nice! Also, I can’t believe he’s using those basic, ancient names for us. Even ‘Enderwalking’, the kid’s a major nerd! Lmao.”

“… You’ve been going through that world’s internet for far too long.”

“Hehehehehe! LOL!”