Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

POV: FANG - GVH

“Babe? How long is this gonna take?” I ask, sitting near Naomi in the dark auditorium.

“Yeah Naomi, what is it you even wanted to show us? You said it was super important.” Naser asks, brow furrowed in concentration. Staring at my pretty parasaur and her strange gadget.

“Look, we've got it all wrong! I know how to solve the meteor problem!! I-if I can just get this done…” She then feverishly gets back to work. Typing away on a laptop connected to a strange device. I shoot Naser a concerned look. Naomi has been acting weird since we got the final confirmation the meteor was gonna hit.

The doors bang open as Trish walks in with the rest of Wurm Drama. “Yo! Got everyone like you asked Naomi. So you gonna explain what this is all about?” She then stops staring at Naomi’s disheveled appearance. “Oh man, you look worse than I thought. Have you slept at all?”

Naomi ignores this, instead she narrows her eyes. Before jumping back from the laptop as the strange device starts to spin the fan like appendages on it. “Oh my gosh yes! It's working!!” She claps her hands and runs her fingers through her hair to fix it. She turns and smiles at all of us. “With any luck! This should destroy the meteor! Putting us in a world without it!”

Reed's eyes narrow in concern. “Naomi uh.. how? What makes you think this will work?”

“It came to me in a dream.”

I stand up at that point and take Naomi's hand. “Alright babe. Let's get you home. I think you’ve been putting too much work into... whatever this is...”

Naomi pulls away. “No, are you kidding me! We need to stay together! So that way I can save you all!”

“Naomi, you're sounding a bit…” Stella adds

“Totally nuts.” Trish finishes.

Naomi steps closer to the whole group. “P-please just, wait a minute. Ok? This can work. I know it will. Just, give it a minute.” I look up at my friends and see a ton of concerned faces. I let out a sigh.

“Ok babe.. lets stay a bit..” I shoot the rest of Wurm Drama a look, telling them to let her have this, she needs it clearly.

“Well. If anyone can do it. I’m sure our priestess can.” Sage comes up and hugs Naomi. “And if it doesn’t, I'll go and bake a cake for everyone. That sound good to you Naomi?”

Naomi nods, and hugs the micro raptor back. “Thank you Sage...”

“So what are we waiting for anyway? What's gonna happen?” Reed takes a seat in one of the plush auditorium seats near to the front.

“Well... either it'll be a bright white light… or nothing... I just know that it'll get rid of the meteor in some way…”

The machine starts to make a high pitched noise, the fans whirling faster.

“Is it supposed to do that?” Rosa says, concerned.

“I don't think so, I’m not sure what went -“ she stops as we start to hear something else. Music?

Trish and reeds eyes narrow in confusion. “Hey… doesn’t that kind of sound like”

“Puke factory.” I finished for him. “But... it sounds different.”

The room starts to get filled with a bright white light.

“Yo what the fuck is happening??” That voice sounds familiar somehow. I can’t place why that is though.

“Naser save me!” That sounds like Naomi, but it's different. Like she's embellishing or something. I shut my eyes, and hold onto whoevers closest. As the room gets brighter and brighter. Until suddenly. It stops.

“Dude... is anyone… else seeing that?” I think Reed says, though I have no clue why he's slightly slurring his words.

“Holy fuck. That's. That's me.” I say from across the room. As I open my eyes I see Wurm Drama in front of me. Or most of them. They seem different somehow. And there's some.. weird looking guy in a green jacket. Kind of freaky looking. Naomi is holding tight to Naser. While staring at me with wide eyes. I’m also holding tightly onto Naomi. Who stares in shock at the sight in front of her.

Someone who looks kind of like Stella, walks up to us holding a tarot card deck. She looks back and forth to her deck. “So that's what that meant..” She clears her throat then smiles at us, her tail wrapping around her leg. “Hi. I’m Stella. Um. Welcome to Volcano High!”

There’s a beat where nothing happens. I find myself staring at the other version of me. It’s like a strange mirror that's acting on its own. Then there's movement from behind me as my Stella walks up to the other Stella. “Oh my gosh. You are so cute!!!” Stella gets a big grin and shakes the other stegosaurus hand. “I’m Stella too! Wow! You look so different!”

The other Stella gets a similar big grin, and jumps up in the air. “Oh my gosh you're calling me cute? When you look like that! Please! I love your sweater.”

I think I’m gonna throw up. What the hell is happening. The other me stands atop the stage holding their guitar. Their beak is open in shock. I close mine when I realize I'm doing the same thing they are.

“Ok ok. Everyone lets just. Calm down.” The other Naser says, separating from his Naomi. Man it is weird seeing Naomi have such a loving look for Naser. Wrong even.

Naser steps forward towards his counterpart. The two look almost identical. The other Nasers face is a bit different though, it looks more tired.

“This is.. bizarre.. like looking into a mirror.”

“I’m 90% sure Reed spiked my coffee with carfe right now.”

Naser gets a confused look. “Carfe?”

Other Reed speaks up. “Yoo.. you guys don't got carfe? I gotta hook you up bros..”

There's a resounding “NO.” That comes from the other us. The other Reed looks hurt but shrugs it off.

“Where am I..?” I hear someone whisper next to me. I look and see Sage. Staring over the crowd.

He's right. There is no brightly colored microraptor in the audience. Everyone else has their doppelganger, but sage is mysteriously missing.

“Maybe.. you aren’t here? Maybe you're out or something..”

That's a confusing sentence. I think to myself as Sage shakes his head. “No I.. I can feel it.. I don't. Exist here.” The weird guy is coming up to us. The other me is close behind. What even is that guy anyway? He’s definitely not any dinosaur I know, and he just looks super weird. Almost like a monkey with a flattened face, and bald.

“Two Fangs., don't spaz out.. just try and stay calm. Don't be weird.” He mutters under his breath. Other me rolls their eyes in annoyance.

“Should I just assume that your name is Fang?” The other me says, they have a skeptical look in their eyes, as they eye me up and down. They’re built differently from me. Not by a whole bunch but enough to be different. Before I can say anything, Sage speaks up.

“Hey you.. wouldn't happen to know anyone who looks like me do you?”

Other me and monkey guy shake their heads.

“I’m gonna assume you don't have anyone like me?” I probably should learn his name, monkey guy feels insulting somehow.

Sage shakes his head at the stranger. “Nope. Guess we’re both the odd ones out. Though I’m gonna be honest… I've never seen anyone like you.”

His eyes widened in surprise. “Really? You guys don't have humans?”

“What’s a human?” I ask, confused. Some of the other versions of us look confused at that. Man that's freaky.

“You don’t have humans?” The other Rosa says, her voice is accented. It's nice.

Reed shakes his head. “Sorry. No clue what you are.”

Other Trish snorts. Crossing her arms over her strangely larger chest. “Lucky. You guys don't get the skinnies.” Other Reed elbows her.

“Bro don't teach em slurs before we even know how they got here.” Other Trish rolls her eyes and mumbles sorry.

“Did you guys have monkeys?” The other Fang asks.

“Oh yes! I loved seeing them in zoos.” Stella remarks. “They were such curious smart animals!”

“Well I’m basically a big hairless ape.” The human says. “The virgins aren’t gonna believe this.” He mutters under his breath.

I look over at other me. “Does, he know he mumbles like that?”

“Fucking mumble.” The human mutters under his breath.

“Yes. He can’t control it. Sadly.” They smirk at that, and give him a side wing hug. The human looks annoyed but leans into it. Hm.

“Ok. What the hell are you guys?” Other Trish says crossing her arms.

“You're not the work of El Diablo are you?” The other rosa grabs a t shaped necklace around her neck.

Naomi clears her throat. “I think.. we’re you, from another universe.. see I was making a machine to help us get saved from the meteor-“

“The what??” Other me says in surprise. There's muttering from other Trish and Reed in the back.

“You… don’t have a meteor?” Naomi asks hesitantly.

“Raptor Jesus. Fang. These guys are actually meteor dodgers.”

Other me glares at the human but then looks back at us. “You're right.. you guys might be facing the extinction event we had millions of years ago.”

“What happened during it, for you guys?” Reed asks, walking closer to our group.

“Well, our ancestors were mostly quadrupedal. Basically just animals. Then a meteor hit the earth and wiped a lot of life from the planet. We are the descendants of those dinosaurs that survived.” The other Naomi says quietly. “Which then led to the rise of monkeys evolving, creating well.” She gestures at the human.

The human rubs the back of his neck. “So.. you guys were about to die?”

“Well we don't know. The meteor could’ve hit the other side of the earth, that's just water.” Naomi says.

Other Stella squeals. “Oh my gosh! You guys were Pangea?? That's so cool! Here wait let me show you something.”

The other Stella searches through her tarot deck before pulling out the earth tarot. Stella gasps and takes a look at it.

“Oh wow, it’s completely different.” Stella passes around the cord to our group, and we all take a look. When it gets to me I stare at the divided up land. Seeing some strange long connected part and a piece of a large flat piece of land. Totally different from home.

“This is crazy, I mean, how, what...?” I sputter out. Staring at the card before handing it back to the other Stella.

“Ok ok. This is cool and all. But we all got a lot to talk about. I think we should go with our counterparts and talk for a bit. Just to. I don't know, see what's different.” Other naser says. Fidgeting by himself.

“Hey fuckhead, what about me? And the other chick?” The human says. I don't realize who he's talking about until I realize he means sage.

“Hey he's not-“

“I don't know. You two pair up then. I just know I have a lot I want to discuss with this other me.” Other Naser narrows his eyes at Naser, eyes flitting towards Naomi who I’m still holding onto.

“Fuck it lets do it. C'mon other me.” The other me says. Grabbing me by the wrist and leading me towards the stage.

“Oh yay this will be so much fun!” Other Naomi takes my Naomi away and soon enough everyone is split up. I climb onto the stage with this other me. With Fang.

“Alright other me, who I'm still not sure isn't just a carfe fueled fever dream. I think we both have some questions for each other.”

“Yeah we do, shit this is a weird dream.” I say rubbing the back of my neck.

“Let’s get started.” They say before giving me a strained smile. I return it, and we both flinch at the strangeness of seeing our faces on a different person.

This is gonna be fun.

Chapter Text

POV: FANG - GVH

“So…how the hell did you guys get here again?” Fang asks, they scrunch up their eyes in suspicion. I can’t blame them, if I was in their situation I would be just as confused.

“Well like babe said, she was trying to find a way for us to survive the meteor. So she created a machine that apparently was something she saw in a dream. Then there was a bright light and now…We’re here I guess.”

“You're taking this pretty damn good for just learning that alternate worlds exist.” They cross their arms again, raising an eyebrow.

“I could say the same to you.” I shoot back at them.

“I dunno, like I said I’m not sure Reed didn't lace me with something.”

“Is your Reed really that bad?”

“No he's just an idiot. Besides, I've had carfe before and the trips are nothing like this.” They sigh and sit on the edge of the stage, patting at the spot next to them. I take up their offer and sit down.

“So… you and Naomi…?”

“Yeah. she confessed when the meteor was first reported, and after a bit, we got together. It's sorta nice to have a relationship at the end of the world.”

“She’s… nice? She didn't do anything to you?” There's a hint of something in their voice, jealousy? Betrayal?

“What! No! She’s a total sweetheart. Super sweet and just a touch neurotic. I mean the whole reason we’re here is cause she wanted to save us all.” I watch as the Other Fang picks at the bracelet on their wrist. I wonder if they got it the same way I did.

“She’s the worst. She’s a manipulator who tried to force Anon and me together so he could “fix” me.” They scrunch up their beak at that. An angry look coming to their face.

“Fix you how?” I’m trying to wrap my head around it. Naomi? A manipulator? Sure she was a bit of a perfectionist, but she was always happy with who I am.

“She tried to turn me back into some happy preppy girl.” They spit out. Staring with disgust at the two Naomi’s across the room. Mine is the one that looks uncomfortable, but if it wasn't for her disheveled hair, they would look identical.

“Holy shit. Really?”

“Fuck yeah. The only reason I ever see her is because I'm trying to make amends with Naser. Cause Anon believes in this stupid bullshit that we can be real siblings again.” They clench their first, breathing heavily. Before suddenly letting out a deep breath and relaxing.

“You still have troubles with Naser...?”

“You don’t? Wasn’t he your parents' golden child who could do no wrong? Who tried to step in every step of the way and lead to bigger problems than if he never tried?”

“I mean, I won’t say he didn’t do that, but we talked it out, a meteor sorta makes you forget everything you hate about one another.”

“Shit right…I keep forgetting you guys might die…” They pause for a second, before mumbling out. “I’m sorry.”

“I mean, we’ve sorta accepted it. Probably the reason we’re all so calm is that. None of this feels real? It’s like, the strange dream you have in between nightmares.”

“Good song lyric.” They say with a small smile. I nod my head in agreement.

“Yeah guess it is…” We sit in silence for a moment, they pull out their guitar, which is radically different from my own, and begin playing. The soft tune plays out over the auditorium. It's a strange feeling, as they pick out chords I no doubt would’ve also played right now.

“So, did you and that Anon dude end up actually getting together? You seemed close.”

“Yeah, despite the fact it was Naomi’s plan, we actually really like one another. Couple of days ago we had our prom actually. Kissed right in front of her and flipped her off.” They chuckle at that. It's Still hard to believe that their Naomi was so awful.

“So, did you do battle of the bands?”

They shoot me a funny look. “No? What’s that?”

“It was this contest thing, supposed to be Wurm Drama’s big breakthrough. We went up against other bands, and if you won you got the chance to go to caldera fest. Which is like this big thing that's a major breakthrough for most bands. We ended up winning the whole thing.” I turned to look at Fang to gauge their reaction, and the look on their faces was incredible. Jealousy and awe all in one.

“I wish we got that! That would’ve been a massive break for us!”

“Yeah would've been, if it wasn't for the meteor, or Trish…”

“What about Trish?”

“She wanted a break from the band, go and do her own thing, become an entomologist.” I try to keep the bitterness from my voice, but Fang seems to catch on.

“I take it she didn’t properly talk to you about that, and it exploded out of her?”

“Yeah! Right after we won battle of the bands, she drops this bomb on me when I’m signing us up for caldera fest! Fuck its like you know exact-” I pause, and raise an eyebrow. “What did she do to you?”

“She was pissed at how close Anon and I were getting, and decided to embarrass the hell out of him. Instead of talking to me directly, she swapped out a school slideshow and replaced it with embarrassing edits Anon made of himself with anime girls back when he was younger.” They snarl at that last bit. Clearly a recent memory.

“Oh shit that’s… Pretty bad, yeah. What happened afterwards?”

“She got in major trouble, and I decided to not talk with her for a while. To Anon’s credit, he was a lot more patient than I expected. He started to forgive her a hell of a lot quicker than I would've.” They take in a long deep breath, and let it out slowly. “We’ve officially patched it up at prom. I'm still pissed at her for it, but she's apologized, and Anon’s forgiven her so I can't be too mad.”

“I guess Trish fucks up in every universe.” I let out before quickly throwing my hands up to my mouth. Fang barks out a laugh at that.

“Guess so. What great friends we have.” They start to laugh, and I can't help but join them. The absurdity of all of this finally getting to me. Who else would understand me better, than a different version of me. That is some serious melodrama for sure.

“What about Reed?”

“What about him?” I ask.

“Well you said Trish wanted to do something else, what about Reed? Was he gonna join you for that caldera fest thing?”

I let out a long sigh, and start twirling my hair around my finger. “He wanted to do something else too. But it was almost like he was letting Trish take the fall. And just slipping out behind her.”

Fang's eyes widened in surprise. And stopped playing on their guitar for a second. “Really? Shit I mean my Reed is high like 25/8. But he never doubted Wurm Drama like that.”

“Yeah I have no clue, he made it seem like I didn't respect his or Trish's decision to leave and do their own thing. Which they didn't tell me they wanted to do, by the way. If they just told me what they wanted we could've worked it out!” I dig my nails into my palm, trying to calm down. Fang reaches over and touches my hand.

“Sorry just. If it wasn't for the meteor. I think they both would’ve just abandoned me. And made it seem like it was my fault. I guess I’m not as over it as I thought.”

“Hey I get it. This shit digs in deep. That's why I’m still not good with Naser.”

I let out a deep sigh as we took a moment to recollect ourselves, I looked out over the auditorium. The Naser’s seem to be having a pretty intense conversation, though it's hard to tell from this far away which one is which.

“Shit we’re gonna need to print out some like, nametags or something. Like, a lot of us are identical.” Fang remarks, looking over at the two Trishs. They have a tense look about them.

“Yeah honestly. Well, except for Stella. Wonder why she looks so different?" The two Stellas are having a very animated talk. At least they're having a good time. I see mine pull out her tarot, and the other does the same. I can hear them squeal from all the way over here.

“Oh and the Rosa’s too, speaking of...” I scan the dark auditorium, and don’t see that shock of orange amongst the crowd of red purple and other colors. “You don't happen to see them anywhere do you?”

“No, not at all. Though to be fair my rosa probably dragged out her double to look at the garden. It's her pride and joy. Now that I'm looking though, I can't see Anon either, or the micro raptor. What was her name again?”

“His name is Sage. He’s a trans man.”

“My bad, I didn’t know. I mean he doesn’t exist here so.” They pick at their bracelet again, probably upset with themself, habits stay the same even in other universes.

“It's fine, he just deals with it a lot back home, pricks who don't really respect him.”

“Fuck we should not have sent him with Anon then.” They suddenly look a little anxious.

“What? Isn't Anon your boyfriend?” I would have assumed this version of me would have the self respect to not be with some shitty dude.

“Yeah, but he’s a dumbass who can’t control his mumbling. So he’s gonna end up calling him a girl or something stupid. He still fucks up my pronouns in his head, he’s trying though.”

“Why are you with him then?”

“Honestly, he’s kind of why I’m even close to fixing myself and my relationships. Hell if it wasn’t for him I might've snapped or something. Maybe even shot up the school.” They stand up, and offer me their hand which I gladly take. I try to not think too much about that last thing they said as we hop off the stage. Heading towards the large double doors at the back of the auditorium. “Plus he really is a good guy, and is trying to get better. He just also happens to be an idiot.”

“Any idea where they could've gone?”

“None. Everyone we know is here, and Anon doesn’t have any place in the school he particularly goes to. What about sage? Would he have wanted to go somewhere?”

“Maybe to the home ec rooms? He’s a baker, and this situation would probably lead him to wanting to make something.” I wave to Naomi as I walk off with Fang, something in her eyes tells me she’s not enjoying her conversation with her double. Which given what Fang told me, makes sense. I give a small smile as we head through the doors.

“Anon isn't gonna do something stupid right? You said he’s a good guy?”

“Yeah but still. We should check on them. Plus I doubt that either of them is taking the whole, not existing in the others universe thing very well. That’s some fucked up shit.”

I don’t disagree as the two of us head off towards who knows where. The layout of this volcano high is pretty different from my own. The school appears totally deserted. But not run down like ours was near the end. Judging from the light from the windows, it must be later in the afternoon.

After a short walk, we arrive outside a classroom, talking can be heard inside, hard to tell the mood of it from out here though. Fang pushes open the door, with me close behind. I see Anon and Sage by one of the ovens along the back wall. Anon says something and Sage laughs really hard.

I watch as Sage’s eyes widen when he sees us, he excitedly gets up and waves at the two of us. “Fang! And… Other Fang! Come join us! We were about to decorate the cake!”

Fang and I look at one another and shrug, guess we were worried for nothing. With a smile Fang heads towards the pair. “Sure, why not.” They kiss Anon on the cheek, who smiles widely. He mumbles something under his breath and Fang cuffs him with their wing.

I take a second and look at the three. There's an uncomfortable feeling under my skin, seeing myself with someone else. I try to push the thought out of my head, and make my way towards the trio. Deciding to make the most of whatever the hell this whole situation is. We can figure out what to do after the cake.

Chapter Text

POV: ROSA - SNOOT

“So I was doing a reading earlier today, just to see how the next week was supposed to unfold.” My green stego friend says next to me, those wretched occult cards being shuffled between her talons. “When I got a set of cards that were super strange! They basically said something along the lines of great change, personal revelations, and something about unexpected surprises!”

“Hermana… you put too much faith in those cards, aren’t you worried about angering The Lord?” I say back, Stella is such a sweet girl, but I'd hate for her to trust the occult over her savior.
“Really Rosa it's fine, you know I don’t do anything that bad, I'm just trying to see what fate has in store for us.”

“Fine… So are we all ready for the jardín contest next week? Potentially we could ask the others for some last minute help.”

“I feel like we know how most of them will react, the band will be too busy with practice, Anon would just mumble how much he hates this, we’d rather not get Naomi involved, the only one who could help would be Naser.” Stella says with a tinge of annoyance. I don’t blame her, it’s been nice becoming closer friends with everyone here, but there is still a part of me that wishes someone else would share an interest in our beautiful jardín’s.

Hey, did someone touch the light switch? It’s suddenly getting much brighter here, but a pure white light.

“Yo what the fuck is happening?” An-on says from across the room. The lights are only getting brighter, I have to squint. My hand reaching over and grabbing Stella’s arm. Something about this feels wrong.

“Padre nuestro, que estas en el cielo. Santificado sea tu nombre-” I mumble a prayer for my friends as the room goes brighter. I hear Reed and Naomi say something farther away but it's hard to tell what, as I hear my heart thumping in my ears.

The light suddenly stops, I finish my prayer and let out a sigh of relief. “Holy fuck. That's. That's me.” I hear Fang say from the stage. They are staring at something in the center of the room, I turn and look, and see all my friends there?

I feel Stella tug her arm out of the death grip I have on her. I let her go as she rose from her seat “So that's what that meant...” she mutters, staring at those infernal cards. “Hi! I’m Stella. Um. Welcome to Volcano High!”

I think the father above has just given me a test.

—
After giving some explanation, I watch as my friends pull away their doppelgangers to chat. I find myself staring at the one like me with suspicion. Overall, she’s a bit chubbier than I am, but we are extremely similar. I stand up and walk toward her.

“Hola… como estas? Tu nombre es Rosa también?” The other me scrunched her nose in concentration.

“Er… siento? No hablar espanol?” she says hesitantly. My eyes widened in shock, and a little bit of disappointment. Her voice is pure English, not a touch of Rexico in her at all. I let out a small sigh in disappointment. Here I was hoping to find one other fluent speaker.

“Es bueno… I speak English just fine. So your family is not of Rexico?” she gives me a blank look, then i remember she comes from Pangea, so there probably is nothing even close to Rexico there. What a strange thought.

“Sorry, no. I assume that's a country here?’ she asks, at the very least she is polite. Perhaps there is some hope yet.

“Yes, to the south of us, pero, that doesn't matter right now. Are you a follower of Raptor Jesus?" I am praying that at least one thing can be similar between us at this point. Those hopes are dashed as she slowly shakes her head.

“I’m sorry I don't know what that is. Is that one of your religions here?”

“Mierda.” I mumble under my breath. Though it is my duty to guide others to His light. It would be cruel of me to force her into this. Perhaps with time she may understand.

“Rosa. Por favor. Tell me you at least enjoy gardening.” With this she lights up. Thank Raptor Jesus above.

“Oh yes! I don’t get much time to actually devote to gardening at home, my family doesn’t have a yard. Since we live in an apartment. But at school I am the head gardener. I even helped Trish create a species in order to help feed her worm, Mango!” The last part is strange, but she is also a fellow gardener and I cannot let this chance for conexión pass us by.

“Bien! Come! I’ll show you the gardens I am very fond of.” I took her by the hand and led her out of the auditorium. She stops briefly to hold open the door for the microraptor and An-on who follow close behind us. I wave to the two of them, and the small dino waves back enthusiastically while An-on does it much more subdued. The two of them have anxious looks on their faces. I should ask how they are doing. They only have each other after all. Before I can say anything the two disappear down towards the home ec rooms. Perhaps I will check in on them later.

As we walk through the school, my double looks around in awe. “Wow… it's totally different. I sort of assumed that our schools would be the same but they aren't at all.”

“Really? What is yours like?”

“I don’t know how to describe it. Yours is a lot more, homier it feels like. Ours just sort of feels like any other school. But here it feels more… alive.”

I raise an eyebrow at her, the school here is nice with its gardens, but the inhabitants of it are less so. There is tons of graffiti and litter around, which the poor janitors spend all their time maintaining. “If you say so hermana. Now come through here! These are our beautiful gardens.” I push open the double doors, and present to my double my pride and joy. The look on her face is fantastic.

“Oh wow. Rosa this. This is amazing! You did this all by yourself?”

“Well, with mi amiga Stella y a couple of students from detention.” She looks at me funny when I say that. “Oh our school allows students to come help at the gardening club instead of spending a day in detention! It is a wonderful program. It’s part of the reason An-on and Fang are together now!”

She looks uncomfortable at that, but before I can ask why, she speaks up. “Well would you mind showing me around?’

“With pleasure hermana!” with a smile i lead her to the first box and start explaining the beautiful flores within it. Though this may be a bit selfish of me, part of me is wondering if I may have a new member for our wonderful club.

--------------------------------

POV: ROSA - GVH

The other me is quite intense, as she shows me around the gardens here. In all honesty they are truly beautiful, but my head is so wrapped up in all of this that I'm finding it hard to appreciate their beauty. It must show on my face because she stops after talking about some lovely flowers she called orchids.

“Rosa… you have a troubled look on your face, am I going too fast? You said you have gardened before. Or perhaps our flowers are different from yours…”

“Well, yes the flowers are really different. But it's not that, it's just. Everything to do with this. I mean earlier today we were planning for the end of days concert, and now we’re…here. It's like a weird dream.” I sigh, and sit down on the ground. Hands splayed in the grass beneath me. A small mosquito buzzes nearby me and I slap it away. Are all their bugs this small?

“Er… sorry, end of days concert?” she sits down beside me, in a much more elegant way. I’m honestly kind of jealous, she seems a lot more put together than I am.

“It's the concert Wurm Drama was gonna produce since they couldn’t go to a big and official concert called Caldera Fest. Ours was supposed to be a final send off of sorts. Giving Wurm Drama their festival. I was helping prep the stage area on the roof of the school, when all of a sudden Trish ran up to me and said Naomi needed us for something important. Then we met in the auditorium and well." I gesture to the area around us.

“Hm... I see… so you were a part of VVurm Drama then?”

“Right at the end yeah, Fang wanted all of us together. Decided that we should be one big group so we could spend our last days together. It was honestly really nice being included.” I sigh and look up at the sky. The sun is dipped down, it's about 5ish if i had to guess. I pull out my phone to find it completely dead.

The conversation dips for a bit, as we sit and enjoy the gorgeous scenery around us. I decided to end the silence with the most powerful tool of a barista. Small talk. “So do you work at all?”

“Aside from the Jardin's? No. I am much too busy with mi Familia to work. Though it is nice to spend so much time with them, I do wish I had a bit more time to myself. What about you?”

“I used to work at this coffee shop, named Lava Java. The owner was this super cool woman named LJ, she was actually the one who hosted Battle of the Bands and was gonna help run Caldera Fest. When the meteor started getting close she shut down the shop though, and went into hiding. I actually wonder how she’s doing…” There is a brief silence, before Rosa picks it back up again.

“Do you enjoy coffee at all then?”

“Oh yeah. I Get uber hyped on them when I have too much, plus Lava Java gave me all the free beans I could ask for.”

“Ah the hyperness. Si. I get like that too. I do not drink too much because of it. One time I drank a whole pot before the gardening club, and ended up doing everything on my own! I came to 3 hours later covered in dirt and the flowers were perfect. Stella was horrified and made me swear to never have coffee again. It's the one time I've ever seen her mad at me!” She chuckles at that, it must be a fond memory for her.

“So you and Stella are close?”

“Oh very! She is my “bestie” I think is how Stella says it. We have known each other since we were very little. Although I do wish she wouldn’t put so much faith in those cards of hers. The occult is not one of my favorites…” She sighs a little before smiling again. “So… how is your relationship with the band? I mean you are a part of it, so I'm sure it has to be better than my own relationship with them."

“I'm really close with Trish but that's about it honestly. Honestly it feels like no one would really care if I disappeared."

“Now don’t say that Rosa… I’m sure they would care. Though, I can understand what you mean.Like i said, my relationship with the others is, lacking at times. I often feel as though I am just. Secondary to them. Especially to An-on and the others. Really it is just me and Stella who have each other.” She sighs and plays with the beaded bracelet around her wrist. Muttering something under her breath as she does.

“It’s tough, isn't it. Feeling so, left out of what should be your friend group.” I remark, staring at her. She nods her head slightly, before looking back up at me.

“At least we both have one really good friend, no? My Stella and your Trish?” She says with a small smile. I return it, and then let out a sigh.

“I want to be closer with everyone though, but it sorta feels impossible with the end of the world looming. Like anything I do won’t matter in a few days.” Rosa thinks for a moment, her head slightly tilted.

“Well, what about right now?”

“What about right now?”

“I believe Raptor Jesus gives us the tools we need to better ourselves. Perhaps this… strange event is your chance to be better. To form closer relationships with those around you.”

I pause for a moment, thinking it over. We do have no idea how long we’ll be here. Or even if we can get back. It feels selfish especially since we’re abandoning everyone else. But it's not like I have much back home either.

“Ah, sorry Hermana, I know getting advice from a stranger must be unpleasant.”

“No you're right, and besides you’re hardly a stranger. Other universe me. This could honestly be my big chance. I could form a real bond with these people!”

She looks surprised, before smiling widely. Throwing her arms around me for a hug. Holy hell she's strong. I always thought of myself as pretty tough but I bet she could lift me off the ground easily. “This is excelente! Perhaps we can talk more about your plans while we walk around some more?”

“Sure, but Rosa you should know. This shouldn’t just be my task. You're sick of feeling left out right? Then I want you to do something too. I want you to make it more clear you want to be closer friends. If one of us does it, both of us have to.” She lets go of me and gives a massive grin.

“Very well! It is a pact then Rosa. Together we will form greater relationships.”

“Sounds great to me.” As the two of us push ourselves off the ground, we hear the sound of the old school doors opening. I turn and look and see Fang standing there, I can't tell which one though.

“Hey Rosa’s! Sage and Anon made us a cake! Come on in and join us! Oh and we’re gonna be giving out name tags, so we can better differentiate one another. A is for the ones who were already here, B is for the ones who fucked with the multiverse. Rosa-A, could you bring Rosa-B to the cafeteria?”

Rosa nods as the Fang, ducks back into the building. I think that was my Fang, but it’s hard to tell with what little I've seen of the other one.

“Cake would be nice! I am surprised An-on made one though, he is not very sensitive.”

“That was probably mostly Sage’s doing. He’s a baker and I bet this is stressing him out a lot.”

"So, shall we Rosa-B?” Rosa says jokingly as she offers her hand. I snort, and gladly take it. I don't really know what these next few days are gonna be like. But I know I'm gonna make the most of it. Me, and the accented version of me. What a great gift this is.

Chapter Text

POV: TRISH - GVH

This can’t be real. I knew Naomi was smart, but when she sent that text asking me to get everyone, I thought it was gonna be about something for the concert. Not, whatever this is. I mean, what do I even do about this! It was bad enough when I thought we were all gonna die, and now I’m staring at my near duplicate stalking towards me like she wants to stab me with her much sharper horns.

“So. You’re me then?” She says, eying me up and down in obvious distrust. I don’t blame her, I wouldn't trust someone who looked just like me either.

“I guess so? I um.” I feel my bag start to wiggle intensely. Seems like Mango doesn’t like all this either. “Can we sit down? I need to take Mango out of my bag.” My angrier counterpart looks briefly confused, but snorts and walks over to one of the plush seats. Distant from the other groups. I breathe out slowly and follow her. As soon as I sit down, I pull out Mango from my bag.

“What the hell is that?” Trish says in disgust. Her nose wrinkled at my poor precious baby.

“She’s Mango. Do you not have her here?”

“No? Why the hell would I keep a pet bug.”
“She’s a velvet worm actually, not a bug, she has this really cool defense mechanis-” I stop when I see the look on my counterpart's face. Maybe I’ll explain her wonders later. Thankfully Mango seems to have calmed down and is snoozing on my lap.

“She doesn’t look that gross I guess.” She tentatively reaches a hand out, and gently pets Mango on her back. Mango makes one of her adorable noises before falling back to sleep.

“See! Not so bad right? Though maybe it helps you look exactly like me." We spend a moment in silence, the other Fang has pulled out a guitar and is gently strumming a tune. It takes a second before she speaks up.

“So what's the deal with Fang and Naomi?” She asks, staring at my Fang.

“They’re together. Officially started a couple days ago, but Naomi had this huge crush on them for forever, and when the meteor was announced to be on its course, she sent them an anonymous text confessing.”

“Weird. Here Naomi is like, our mortal enemy.”

“What? Naomi? Really?? But she’s so nice! I mean, I’d consider her one of my closest friends.”

“Hell no. That bitch tried to ruin everything. She tried to force Fang back into being a girl, and tried to force them and the sk- Anon together. Hoping He’d fix them.” She spits this all out at me, her fists clenched in anger. I offer Mango to her and she starts to pet her, slowing her breathing.

“That’s insane. Honestly. It’s hard to imagine her doing that. I mean she can be overbearing for sure, but I mean. It’s Naomi!”

“Well it’s hard to imagine her and Fang together. I mean the sk- Anon is one thing. But Naomi?”

“What’s the deal with that Anon guy anyway?”

“He’s just this annoying human who popped up from Rock Bottom and tried to ruin my life.” she says through gritted teeth, before letting out a deep sigh, her eyes suddenly getting sadder. “Or ya know, that’s what I thought he was.”

“I take it you guys don’t like each other?”

“Fuck no. It's like he came in here, screwed up everything, all the hard work I did for Fang and VVurm Drama and everyone loves him for it! He thought our double bass idea was stupid and -”

“You had two basses?? Why would you ever do that!” She reels at that, and gets a sheepish look about her.

“Well it was supposed to give us our unique style and it was our gimmick. We had a vote?”

“Dude, that sounds awful. Why would you ever go with that?”

“I don’t know! I knew it was a bad choice but I forced Fang to keep doing it. When I knew how great they are at guitar. When I finally got outvoted I was honestly relieved. But I didn't want that skinnie asshole being smug about being right.” She sighs and sticks her hands in her pockets.

“What’s a skinnie anyhow? You keep calling that Anon guy that.”

She flinches in response. “It’s… an insult for humans… An old one?”

It takes a second, but when it hits, I can feel my mouth drop open. “YOU'RE CALLING HIM A SLUR???” I yell out loudly, she quickly shushes me, thankfully it seems like everyone else is too preoccupied to notice. And the music mostly helped cover it up.

“He called me Trigga! It’s only fair!” That’s news to me, triceratops have our own slur? That’s a later discussion.

“Before or after you called him a skinnie?”

“After… but you haven't met him!”

“C’mon other me! Have some tact! If he’s so awful then why would Fang be with him?” Trish tenses up, before sighing.

“He isn’t awful is the thing… A couple weeks ago, we were gonna have this school presentation. Reed helped Naser set up the slides for it, and I just. Edited it. When reed wasn't looking. Put in maybe a couple of images of edits Anon did when he was younger of him with anime girls.”

I stare at her. This is what the other me chooses to do with her time? Embarrass someone for no real reason. I take Mango back from her and set her on my lap. Staring daggers at the jerk beside me.

“What is wrong with you? Why would you do that! Even if he was an asshole, obviously Fang would be pissed at you!”

“I thought… I thought he was gonna take them from me. That we’d lose each other because of him. He changed so much in such a short amount of time. I didn’t. I didn’t want to lose them because of it.” She's pleading now, trying to get me to see her way. There are some tears in her eyes. I hear the auditorium doors open and shut. The Fang’s seemed to have left.

“Not cool dude. Not cool. You probably only pushed Fang further away!”

She nods, wiping a tear from her eye. “I did. I fucked up bad. If it wasn’t for Anon I probably wouldn’t even be here right now. They didn’t talk to me for a while after that. Sometimes I’m still worried they're mad at me for it.” She sighs, and slumps down in the chair.
I rub the back of my neck and absentmindedly pet Mango for a second. “Well… You aren’t the only one who messed up with Fang.”

“What did you do?”

“Long story short, there was this music festival thing. I wanted to go to college and be an entomologist. Fang wanted to tour with Worm Drama. They wouldn’t listen to what I wanted, and I didn’t tell them how I was really feeling. So we had this big fight. Honestly if it wasn’t for the meteor, I probably wouldn’t be here either. Since Fang decided to not hold a grudge and bring all of us together for one last true concert.”

“They really are a lot better than us. Aren’t they.” Trish says defeated. I nod with her, the two of us petting Mango in silence. I hear Reed laugh somewhere. I hope he’s having a good time.

“Did you… ever have a crush on Fang?” Trish asks hesitantly, I raise an eyebrow at that.

“No not really, I’m guessing you did?” She nods, looking ashamed.

“I’ve had a crush on them for years. But didn’t act on it. Then when they got with Anon I just. Sorta lost it. Did that stupid move with the projector. If I had told them sooner maybe it’d be different.” She stares at her lap, tugging on her sweatshirt strings.

“Maybe, but I’m not the type for love advice. I mean I haven’t even-” I stop and cough, no time to unpack that right now. Trish raises an eyebrow at me. “Love advice is more Reed’s thing anyway.”

She snorts at that. “Really? My Reed is too high to do anything most of the time.”

“Yeah, he acts like he has no clue but he's honestly really good at helping with relationship advice. I think he’s kinda why Fang and I ever made up. Thanks to his ingenious LnL game design.”

“The hell is LnL.” I hear her whisper under her breath. I should def get Reed to talk about it. He’d love all these new players he could have. New old players? Trish breaks the silence with a sigh and leans back in her chair. Running her hand through her curls. I take the moment to look her up and down. She could be my twin. Though her horns are sharper, and her chest is definitely bigger.

“My eyes are up here.” Trish says breaking me out of my concentration. I look away embarrassed.

“Sorry. Just, can't help but notice you're more...”

“Big chested?”

“Sure. Why not.”

“No clue, I mean, it's the same with Fang, then Rosa and Stella look super different. Maybe because we’ve had different lives?”

“Maybe…” I sigh and give my duplicate a smile. “Look, I think we’ve talked enough about our fuck ups. Maybe we should try and appreciate what’s happening right now?”

She snorts, then nods. “Yeah. That sounds good. Hey you know what’d be super cool?”

“What?”

“Big concert. All 6 members of VVurm Drama playing as one weird unit.”

“Woah dude. That sounds... Awesome! Can you imagine how freaked out everyone would be? The audience will think we’re a band of identical twins!” I'm sitting up fully now, holding Mango tight to me, who in turn creates a small trail of goo on my shoulder. Cool.

“We have to pitch it to the others. I mean I doubt our music is too different, did my Fang sound different from yours?”

“Kinda. The music was pretty similar to something mine would produce, but different in a real tiny way.”

“Great! So once we get everyone together again. That's what we’re doing. The most insane concert ever made.”

I shoot out my hand toward my other self, and smile “Hell yeah Trigga!” I say, stumbling over the last word.

The other Trish laughs really hard and grabs it, shaking it so furiously that Mango makes some annoyed noises at the disturbance. “Hell yeah. Don’t do that again.”

“Yeah that felt wrong.” I sheepishly answer. Trying to soothe the disgruntled worm once my hands free.

“Hey do you wanna go find a tank for that thing? Can’t be great holding it all the time. I’m sure the science labs have something.” Trish says as she stands up, stretching her back.

“Her name is Mango thank you, but yeah that sounds like a good idea, Plus everyone else is so preoccupied they probably won't even notice we’re go-”

The doors bang open suddenly, one of the Naomi’s yelps. A fang wearing a name tag that says Fang-B on it walks in with purpose. “Hey everyone! Come to the cafeteria. Anon and Sage have made a cake for us! Oh also we got name tags. Those who were here first are -A, and those who came with Babe’s machine are -B. -A lead them to the cafeteria! I gotta go help get things set up.” With that they abruptly leave, their tail waving as they go. Is it wagging? I don’t know if I've seen them do that before.

One of the reeds walks up to me. “Alright bro’s. You ready to get some serious grub on?”

“Yeah, I'm starving. I wonder what type of cake they made?” I say to who I'm pretty sure is stoner reed. Considering his bloodshot eyes and the way he says bro. My reed smokes but nothing too crazy.

“Let's go amigos.” the other reed says, who also has bloodshot eyes... Putting his arm around the reed in front of me. Ah fuck.

“Oh my god reed did you get yourself high???” Trish says exasperated.

“Noooooo…” the reed’s say in unison. Hoo boy.

“Ugh. Fuck. Ok will figure that out later. Come on, let's go.” Trish starts to leave, the two reeds chuckle to one another before following. Not wanting to be left behind I follow them, giving myself a moment to think.

A concert with our counter universe selves. Metal as hell. This should be fun! Plus, it's a nice distraction from what’s also plaguing my mind. The fact that I have no idea how we are going home.

Chapter Text

POV: NAOMI - GVH

The other me grabs me by the arm and quickly brings me over to a more secluded section, to the far left of the auditorium. From here it’s hard to hear anything the others are saying. I watch as the Naser’s head towards the back of the auditorium, and The Fang’s walk away to the stage, My Fang looks worried. Also it looks like the other Fang has 3 stripes on their crest. Interesting. Still, I hope mine is ok. I know I’m struggling, so it might be just as bad for them.

My thoughts are interrupted via a tapping on my shoulder, I start and turn towards the copy of me. “Hi there! I’m Naomi, and well, you must also be Naomi! Hehe!” She giggles at her own joke, and gives me a sweet smile. I shake my head and try to return it. Her’s looks a lot happier than mine feels.

“Y-yea, I’m Naomi too. Um. Sorry I’m still just trying to figure this out. It’s been a rough couple days. When I wasn’t working on the device to bring us here, I was working on preparing the end of days concert.”

“Oh! What’s that?” She asks, her hands folded neatly in her lap. After quickly giving her the rundown, she puts her hands together up to her face and squees. “That sounds incredible! I mean what a great idea!”

“You think so? It was such a huge project. We were honestly pretty close to being done if it wasn’t for, well me. Creating that stupid thing from my dream.” I sigh, and run a hand through my disheveled hair. Probably only making it look worse.

“Well I think your device is amazing! I mean it brought you here! And you guys all seem amazing. Do you think you could build it again?”

“I have no idea, It’s honestly kinda eating at me that I may have just abandoned us here in this other world. No offense of course.”

She smiles softly “None taken. You all must be so confused! Maybe we should start by asking about each other's lives!”

“Ok, yeah that sounds good! I’m the student council president of my Volcano High, I’m dating Fang, Naser is my best friend in the world, and I was hoping to be a physician after college. I like to sew in my spare time, and play Legends and Lore with everyone else.” The act of introducing myself is calming in a way. Like this is just another interview where I talk about the basics of who I am.

“Well I’m head of the student council, I’m dating my sweetie Naser, I’m less sure of what specifically I want to do, but I know whatever it will be I’ll be excellent at it. I also like to create my own clothes in my spare time, including a gorgeous dress I made for prom!” She gives another smile. “There! Now we know all our differences. Maybe we should start with the obvious one?”

Right, the elephant in the room. I’ve been trying to not think about it too hard. “Yes I guess so. So Naser?”

She clasps her hands together in joy, bringing them to her cheek as she gets a bit misty eyed. “Ohh yes. Naser is just the greatest. He’s so caring and hard working. I don’t know where he gets all that energy! Especially since he has to deal with her all the time.”

“Um, her?” My heart starts to beat just a touch faster. Please mean his mom.

“Fang of course. She’s just so much isn’t she? If only she’d go back to how she was a couple years ago…”

The other Fang has pulled out their guitar, soft music begins to play throughout the auditorium. It’s so similar to something my Fang would play that instantly my heart aches. It’s taking me a second to actually grasp what this other me is saying. “I’m sorry… she?”

Her eyes widened slightly. “Well of course she. Fang is a girl after all.”

In an instant, an angry pain runs through me. “No they aren’t. They’re nonbinary. I can’t believe you're disrespecting them like that! Just, denying their identity so casually and -”

“I’m talking about my Fang, not yours. I mean we aren't exactly alike! You're dating. Them. And I'm dating Nasey!”

I take a deep breath, right. Different Fang’s. Who says their gender and identity can’t be different. “So Fang isn’t nonbinary here?”

The other me gets a slightly sour look on her face. “She’s just figuring herself out right now.”

“What pronouns does your Fang use?”

“She’s just confused, and scared. She’ll figure out the right choice in time.”

I put my head in my hands. This is like a solid punch to the gut. This is worse than other Fang putting their arm around that Anon guy. I can accept that we don’t get together in every world. I can accept a lot of things right now surprisingly, but knowing I treat Fang’s identity like this in some other world? Maybe I've killed us all and put us in a hell designed to disturb us to the core.

“Um. Naomi? Are you ok?” I look up at this… Tangerine Terror, and feel disgust. Loathing at the woman who dares belittle the one I love. Even if it's not the same person.

“Yes. Of course. Perfectly fine. Must just be some parallel world sickness.” I need to get out of here and talk to Fang. Maybe both of them. I think my prayers are answered as I watch as the two hop off the stage and start walking towards us, I look up at my Fang, the one with only two stripes. Trying to beg with my eyes to get them to come help me. But they just give me a small nervous wave and leave with the other Fang. Fuck.

“Where do you think the two of them are going off to?” The bigot next to me asks. I’m deciding to keep this civil for now. I’ve dealt with bigots before, and she still seems nice. Maybe she’s worth fixing.

“Not sure. So um. Who’s that Anon guy?” Just change the subject. Keep it civil.

“He was our newest transfer student this semester! He was this lonely, introverted guy who lived in skin row. Thankfully he’s become a welcome member of the community!”

“Sorry, Skin row?”

“Well, it’s this place in town where most of the humans live, it has a pretty nasty reputation sadly…”

“I see.” Is she judging him for living in the bad part of town? “So how did you become friends with him if he was so introverted?”

“Naser and I were assigned to show him around the school. And I thought he’d be a perfect match for Fang! She’d help bring out his more sensitive side, and he’d bring out her old self out again!”

It’s just so blatant. She doesn’t care about them being nonbinary, she just thinks she can “fix” them. I feel sick. “You forced them together?”

“No! Of course not. That would be awful. I did encourage Anon to talk to her, and I did put him in music class so he would meet her. But no forcing!” She gives what is clearly supposed to be an award winning smile. Yet I can finally see what was hidden this whole time. Venom. But there's a bit of me that's hoping I’m just imagining it. That it's not too late.

“Can I see your dress?” Yes, good. Bring it to something we both enjoy. The other me smiles and pulls out her phone, and after swiping for a bit finds the photo. She shows it off. It's a picture of her, Naser, Fang, and Anon.

“It um. Looks nice.” It does really, but the dress is. Revealing to say the least. It's made in a way to show off her thighs, and since we look so similar, it feels like I’m seeing a picture of myself taken without my consent. My gut twists at the unpleasant image.

“Thank you! I put a lot of effort into it. And doesn't Nasey look so cute? Fang and Anon both look nice too.” Everyone else does look good, seeing Fang in a dress like that is making my heart beat. I wonder how my Fang would look in it. Probably gorgeous.

“Yeah wow, everyone looks so great. Was prom good then? I never got to have one cause of the asteroid.”

“Oh it was wonderful! Fang sang and really hyped up the crowd. Then Fang and Anon did this hilarious bit where Anon flipped me off as they kissed on stage!” Her smile suddenly gets a lot tighter as she says it. Good. At least this Fang has someone who supports them too. Since clearly the other me won't. Though maybe it's not all bad, maybe she's just misinformed?

“Hey, earlier you said something about Fang being confused. So I wanted to ask, do you know what being nonbinary entails?”

“Oh yes. I’ve done tons of research on the topic, but I think all of them are just confused. They must know what the truth is deep in their heart.”

“Oh.” I’m starting to wish the meteor would appear again and hit me specifically.

“So, how is your Fang, does she also have a troubled relationship with Naser?”

“Yes, they did. But they’re slowly trying to reconnect. The asteroid definitely helped speed along their makeup.”

She purses her lips at my not so subtle disapproval of her pronoun choices. “Well that’s good. Poor Nasey here gets so much trouble from her. And she needs to be more understanding of all the work he puts in.”

“You know what. I am going to go see where our friends went. It was lovely talking with you alternate me.” I quickly stand up and start to briskly walk away from her. I catch a glimpse of her from the side and see her looking furious. But I don’t care. This cannot go on for any longer. I try to think of where Fang would go, but that thought is quickly dismissed as I realize I don’t recognize the layout at all. I let out a sigh and start walking down a random direction. At this point I don’t care if I get lost, as long as I'm as far away from her as possible.

When I see the Fang’s, I'm gonna talk about how awful she is. And how I am nothing like her. But a deep down part of me also feels wildly uncomfortable with the fact that I am. Her patronizing, her controlling nature. She’s every bad thing about myself put up to 11. I had always wondered if I was a good person. And I had thought I was despite these flaws. Now, I see how close I was to being the worst possible version of myself. I just hope the other Fang doesn’t hate me because of her stupid actions.

After a bit when I'm sure I'm just gonna get myself lost, I hear laughter coming from one of the doors to my right. The sign outside says it's a Home ec class. I take a peek into the room through the window in the door and see the Fang’s, Sage, and Anon. I let out a sigh of relief and push open the door.

“I swear he trips over the smallest things. I’m 90% sure I saw him trip over a twig while we were on a walk together.”

“It was a rock thank you very much.”

“More like a pebble.” The other Fang says with a smug smirk on their snoot. Sage doubles over laughing. Trying to control his breathing. Anon pats him on the back with a surly look on his face.

“Sorry Anon. I can't help it. I mean you tripped on the door frame when we came in! Now I know it wasn't just a fluke.”

“Yeah yeah laugh it up puny.” Anon gives a small embarrassed smile. That's when he finally looks up and sees me. His smile instantly drops. And his voice comes out a lot cooler.

“Oh Naomi is here.”

The other 3 turn to me. My Fang and Sage break into huge smiles, but the other Fang and Anon have a sour look. I don't blame them honestly.

“Don't worry Fang and Anon. I’m not your Naomi.” I walk over and kiss my Fang on the cheek. Instantly Fang and Anon relax a bit, but there's still a bit of distrust in their eyes.

“So. How was the talk with our student council head.” Fang says to me, crossing their arms.

I sink into one of the chairs nearby and groan. Head in my hands. “I apologize sincerely for what my double has done to you. She was. Truly awful.”

“Aw Naomi don’t say that. Maybe she's just, misunderstood?” Sage offers, patting me on the back.

“No! She isn't. She misgendered Fang the whole time. And was so… Dismissive of Fang and Anon! Like you guys need fixing or something then there's that dress she wore to prom! It was like seeing a photo of yourself naked.”

I’m surprised as I feel myself getting hugged by familiar but also weirdly unfamiliar wings. The Other Fang has quickly hugged me before I could react. They break it up and give me a smile. “Thank Raptor Jesus you're normal. This whole time i was terrified of getting a second Naomi. Now i see we got an upgrade.”

“That's my babe.” My Fang says before kissing me on the cheek. Wow is it nice to be with people who aren't distorted awful versions of yourself.

“What are you guys all doing here anyway?”

“Baking! Or well me and Anon were anyway. We were actually just finishing decorating the cake!” Sage points to the side where a table stands with a very elaborate cake resting on it. I walk over to it and take a look. The cake is covered in a purple frosting, with white pipetted peaks along the top. In shaky writing is the words “welcome other us!” It's not hard to see what Sage did himself versus what Anon helped with. Who must not be used to working with frosting.

“Wow! It's beautiful. I’m surprised you did it so fast.”

“Anon and I left very quickly after we met, which gave us tons of time for Chef Jeff to do his thing. Anon’s also such a sweet guy! Super eager to help.”

Anon rubs his bald head. “Thanks Sage” He then says quietly. “Not super sweet when we first met. Can’t believe I’m so bad at gender stuff…”

Sage looks at me “you get used to the mumbling pretty quick.” He says with a wink.

“So! Cake. Should we go get the others?” My Fang breaks the silence. Their arms crossed over their chest.

“Oh yeah definitely. We can have everyone meet up in the cafeteria.” The other one replies, also crossing their arms over their chest.

“Isn't it gonna be confusing with all these similar people? I mean there's some differences for most of them, but, barring Rosa or Stella, everyones pretty similar.” Anon adds in.

An idea comes to me, and i excitedly say “Actually, what if we use name cards? Maybe we could write -A for those who were here when we came, and -B for us.”

“Do I have to have a -B since I’m the only me?”

“Yeah i should be exempt too.” Anon adds. “I’m pretty sure I don't need one with how many meteor dodgers there anyway… Gonna stand out like a bald elephant.” he mumbles. Sage elbows his side and he looks embarrassed.

The other Fang rummages around in the teachers desk and finds some name tags. “You guys should write your names just so people don't forget your name. This is a great idea Naomi.”

“Oh we should have one on our backs too! So you know who you're looking at even from behind.” Babe says, quickly writing Fang-B on two name tags, handing me one to stick on their back.

“Perfect. Let's go get this setup. Anon you take Sage and Naomi to the cafeteria. I guess I'll go find the Rosa’s, who are probably in the garden. Fang you go back to the auditorium.” Fang-A says after quickly writing up the rest of the name tags and handing them to everyone to put on.

“Great. Let's do it.” Anon goes to grab the cake but is quickly stopped by Fang-A and Sage. He looks hurt but backs away. Sage picks up the cake himself.

“You and Naomi can take the utensils, plates and napkins. I’m not letting you fall face first into this.”

“You sure do have a lot of nerve for someone so puntable.” Anon says back, they have a staring match, brows furrowed. But Sage breaks first laughing.

“Ok lets go.”

We run around and collect everything. The Fang’s head the opposite way Anon is leading us. Which is deeper in the school. The cafeteria itself is impressive looking. Honestly, it looks even better than ours. With tons of different fancy looking stalls.

Anon and Sage start to set up, the two seem to have quickly become friends. I’m honestly jealous. Finding companionship so quickly in each other. Wish I had the same with my doppelgänger.

Soon enough I hear the sounds of my friends and their other world counterparts making their way over. Someone is laughing really hard. I think it’s Reed but it's hard to tell without seeing them.

I see the other me first before anyone else. She’s leading the group. Such a me thing to do. We lock eyes. She gives me a fake smile, but then turns away towards one of the Naser’s, who seems to be kinda fed up with her. I think it must be Naser-A based on how tired he looks. The two walk over to Anon and Sage who give them both a slice of cake, I can hear the other me say something, but I can’t tell what. Anon gives a tense reply.

Soon enough, everyone has their cake, there's laughter and happy noises coming from the crowd. I stand slightly off to the side, slowly eating my piece. My Fang is too busy chatting to other Fang to notice my lack of participation. I should be enjoying myself. I've single handedly saved all the people I love in the world, while also proving the theory of parallel worlds. Yet All I can think about is how this other me has hurt the other Fang and Anon so much. Maybe even Naser too, based on how tired he looks with her. I have to fix this somehow. Make up for my other self's failure to be a good person. Once that’s done, I can focus on getting us home, somehow.

Chapter Text

POV: STELLA - SNOOT

When I was young, I lived with my Auntie Blue. She was a psychic, by trade and what she claimed to be real skill. For her clients, she would read their futures, tell them important dates, and that love was on the way. For her friends, she would gift them things before they needed it, and she would put on a show predicting horse races and lottery numbers, but always getting something wrong. She would joke and say money was more corrupting than any devil she knew. For me however, she predicted silly things. When I would become princess of the land, or when my favorite show would come on. I begged her to teach me how to do Tarot, and on my 12th birthday, I was given a soft velvet edged deck that she herself used for years. We did a reading together, and though the cards meant little to me, I watched as her lips pulled back into a confused purse. I asked what it was, and my Auntie was never the type to lie.

“Well my little bird, the cards are foretelling of something. A doppelganger. Not a necessarily dangerous one… but a doppelganger nonetheless.”

Those words echoed for me for years. Whenever I did a reading for myself, I’d get the same exact message. A doppelganger. The only time it changed was at the start of this semester, when the cards foretold a stranger, who will change everything. Though fairly soon after I met Anon, the cards were back to telling me about the duplicate. Until today, when they finally changed again.

“So I was doing a reading earlier today, just to see how the next week was supposed to unfold.” I say to my tired Aquillops friend, it's a wonder with the tarot and anime she hasn’t given up on me already. “When I got a set of cards that were super strange! They basically said something along the lines of great change, personal revelations, and something about unexpected surprises!”

We chatted for a bit, just enjoying one another's company in the dark auditorium, when the lights started to turn up. I felt Rosa’s arm grip me as she said a prayer under her breath. My heart drummed out an intense beat. I was still as a statue as the white light completely overtook my vision. The voices of my friends were muffled, as the light cleared itself from my eyes. And I saw what had been prophesied for a very long time.

Without thinking I slip from Rosa’s death grip. “So that's what that meant...” I say as I look down at my beloved cards. Auntie Blue’s prediction finally came to light. I stand up and face the crowd of familiar faces. Destiny is finally playing its hand. “Hi! I’m Stella. Um. Welcome to Volcano High!”

They all stare at me, in this gap that feels like it's going on forever I notice some things, the first being that my doppelganger doesn’t look anything like me! I feel in my gut that she is me, but if we met on the street, I would've just assumed it was some other stegosaurus with similar coloring. The others look different too, Fang looks less angry than I've ever seen them, Trish is more nervous for sure, Reed looks sober, and Naomi looks nice? The look on her face is a lot less patronizing than normal. Fang is holding onto her pretty tight. Omg, please tell me it's Yuri. Is it Yuri if one person is nonbinary? I think about this for a second too long and am slightly startled as the AU version of me breaks from the group.

“Oh my gosh. You are so cute!!!” She says before grabbing my hand and shaking it hard. I snap out of my thoughts and shake hers back. “I’m Stella too! Wow! You look so different!”

I smile widely as I get a better look at her. She’s chubbier than I am, though that's not really a bad thing, it makes her face nice and round and super cute. Her outfit is also absolutely adorable. “Oh my gosh you're calling me cute? When you look like that! Please! I love your sweater.” For a while we discuss tarot and how Anon is weird, before finally everyone breaks off with their new twins in tow, I pull my new bestie to a spot near to the stage, but far enough so the Fang’s, who I can see walking to the stage now, have some privacy.

“So. Girlie. Did you also get some wicked tarot predictions before this?” She asks after sitting into one of the plush seats, beginning to shuffle her own deck of cards. Which admittedly definitely look fancier than mine.

“Oh my gosh yes. For years I've been told I’m gonna meet a doppelganger someday! And I mean look at you! We could practically be… sisters?”

She laughs at that, adjusting herself so she's sitting criss-cross applesauce on the plush theater chair. She's not wearing any shoes. Weird. “Yeah we don’t really look anything like each other, I mean compare us to the Fang’s!” We pause and look over at the Fang’s, who seem to be deep in conversation already. Though quickly I notice one of them has 3 stripes on their crest, and the other has two. No clue which one is the one I know though.

“There’s still some differences, you see the stripes on their crests?”

“Ohh yeah. I totally do. Super cool. It’s gonna be fun learning all the small differences between everyone.” When one of the Fang’s brings out their guitar, they start playing some music throughout the theater. It's more melancholy than I thought Fang was capable of if I'm being honest. Nice though.

“So. What's the deal with that, human guy? And how come he was so close with Fang?”

“Oh! They're dating. Anon’s actually a super sweet guy. No control over his mouth though. He just mutters everything he’s thinking, even when it's inappropriate.” I copy Stella's move and sit cross legged with her.

“Ahh ok. Interesting. So did Fang and Naomi ever date?”

“Nope. they're like mortal enemies. Or at least Fang is with Naomi.”

“Huh. really? Well you gotta tell me about that.”

“Later, I wanna learn more about you! Like, what was your life like! Are you also good friends with Rosa? Are you a part of the gardening club? Why aren't you wearing shoes!”

She laughs, and shakes her head. “I feel bad for anyone who has to deal with us, cause I don’t think they could keep up with our energy. I’ll answer them in backwards order, kay?”

I nod my head enthusiastically. She chuckles again and start’s speaking. “Shoes are annoying, and I like to practice grounding. Where you can be more connected to the Earth. I used to garden, but sorta fell out of it. I honestly don’t know that much about Rosa other than she’s really close with Trish, her and Fang had a whole fight about it. And aside from the meteor, I mostly just went through life. Without really an idea of what I wanted to do.”

Hearing her not being friends with Rosa really sucks. I guess aside from the Tarot, we’re pretty different after all. But I'm not gonna let this stop me. Because I just got a new super cool friend who I can show all sorts of - “Do you watch anime??”

She blinks and slowly shakes her head. “Sorry, I know that's some type of show, but I've never actually watched any.”

The look on my face must be funny the way she’s looking at me. I take a deep breath, and give her the rundown on everything anime. I’ll make her a true fan.

—

“My favorite series is actually witch from mercury, but there’s so many good gundam series and if we’re gonna watch any we should start with Gundam 0079, since that's essentially the start to the main continuity, but that's a later thing for us to do.” I say before trying to catch my breath. Stella pats my shoulder sympathetically.

“Wow. You are like, super passionate. It’s perfect. Let’s watch it together. If the other me is this intense about it, I gotta know how good it is.”

“Really? You mean it?”

“Sure! I’m always down to try new things. Plus I'm really craving some popcorn, so you better supply that.”

“Done!” We shake hands and chuckle to ourselves. It's at this point I look up and realize the Fang’s are gone.

“When did they leave?”

“Somewhere between discussing that like, sailor planet anime and the one you called jojo’s. They looked kinda worried.”

“Should we go find them?”

“I don’t think so, they might’ve just gone for some air anyhow.”

“Oh that makes sense, I imagine some of the groups are probably having a rough time adjusting.”

“Yeah definitely.”

“Like that microraptor girl. She must be so upset to not have a double.”

“Microraptor… Oh you mean Sage, he’s a trans man actually.”

“OH! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it!”

“Hey it’s ok! You didn’t know! Though, now that I think about it, I probably should've checked on him by now. I mean, I know you said that Anon guy is nice and all, but, still. He must be pretty upset.” She pats her pocket and pulls out a phone in a chunky case, she makes a small noise while trying to turn it on, but the phone remains stubbornly off. There’s a tinge of worry in her eyes.

“I’m sure he’s ok, we could go and check on him if you want.”

“No that’s ok, I have to trust he can be on his own. I don’t want to hurt him by being overbearing.” She says kinda glumly, clearly there’s some sort of story there, I just nod, rubbing her knee in sympathy.

“He’ll be ok, Anon may have some trouble keeping his thoughts to himself, but he’s a super charming guy who would never intentionally upset anyone. Why don’t you tell me a bit about Sage, before we go look for him together?”

She gives a small smile, and nods. “Well Sage is like, my best friend in the world. He’s this super sweet guy who loves baking. Like seriously so good that he’ll ruin small pastry stores for the rest of your life. He’s also just super passionate about his friends, and is so creative and happy that the meteor mostly makes me feel like shit cause I don't want him to be upset.” She sighs and gets a sad look on her face. “I keep turning to the cards in the hopes I can save him somehow, even if it meant I wouldn’t make it.”

“Stella, I’m so sorry. I mean I can’t even imagine what you are all going through. Like… Raptor Jesus… that’s a ton to deal with.” There's a lull in our conversation as we both ruminate on why everyone is here. She’s the first one to break it, though her voice has an undeniable twinge of melancholy.

“So. How about your Rosa?”

“What about her?”

“Well if she’s so important that one of the first things you asked me is if I was also friends with her, clearly she must be some important gal. so spill.” She says while resting her chin on her hand to give me an intense look. I giggle and give her what she wants.

“Rosa is probably the most important person I know. The two of us have been friends for so long, that it’s sorta hard to imagine why we started. My boyfriend Chad has asked why we’re so close, when Rosa hates my tarot, and I’m not super religious.” My gaze falls on the theater doors, where I’m sure Rosa took her double out to our gardens. “But it’s honestly hard to explain. We were both in the same after school program. It was supposed to be this thing for students to go out and get their hands dirty in the school's gardens, teach them some responsibility and work ethic, but most kids just played in the dirt. Rosa and I were the only ones who actually did what we were asked. So we were always paired together with the more precious flowers. From then on we were friends for life, like a team. Part of me is worried she thinks my tarot is too devilish, but she never tries super hard to dissuade me from them. She respects my choice, and just makes sure I'm not damning myself too hard.”

I start gulping down air as I realize I said all that in one long breath. I turn towards Stella who has some small tears in her eyes. “That’s so cute!! I’m so happy for you both. really. “

“Thanks Stella, I know Rosa and I are sorta an unlikely pair, but I've always sort of thought of that as one of our strong suits.”

“I totally get it, Sage and I don’t super share interests, but we’re such old friends I couldn’t imagine life without him.”

“Wanna go find him then? Maybe we can find my Rosa as well, properly introduce everyone?”

“Honestly, that sounds great. Let’s do it.”

As the two of us get up and stretch, the back theater doors bang open. Causing Naomi to yelp, A Fang stands there with a happy look on their face. It looks like they might have some sort of name tag on. “Hey everyone! Come to the cafeteria. Anon and Sage have made a cake for us! Oh also we got name tags. Those who were here first are -A, and those who came with Babe’s machine are -B. -A lead them to the cafeteria! I gotta go help get things set up.” They quickly turn and leave, leading me to share a quick glance with my duplicate.

“Leave it to Sage to be hit with this nonsense and to immediately want to bake a cake.”

“Well you talked him up so much, I can only assume this cake to be the best thing i’ve ever had.”

“Knowing him? Probably. C'mon let’s follow them so we don’t get left behind.” Stella says before hurrying up to the group, I see one of the Naser's get pulled over by a Naomi. Strange, where’s the other Naomi? Aside from that everyone is accounted for. The Reed’s, who seem to be getting a talking to from at least one of the Trish’s, the other one holding what looks to be a giant worm. I have to ask about that later. The other Naser is staring at Naomi and the first Naser talking. There’s a weird look on his face that’s pretty hard to read.

Seeing everyone standing next to each other, I realize that it’s gonna be very difficult to figure out who is who. The nametags are gonna be a great idea. Glad someone thought of them or else I'm sure there would be some bad situations. Before I get too far left behind, and to make sure that my Reed doesn’t eat all the cake, I quickly catch up to the group as we make our way over to the cafeteria. Looking around at everyone, there's a feeling in my chest, as I know that this week has only just begun. And I can't wait to see what fate has in store for us.

Chapter Text

The auditorium is still, the air is lifeless, quiet. Trash and graffiti litter the large room. The only movement at all is the strange machine by the stage, the fans on it whirring gently as the small bulb on top pulses with a dim white light. The computer screen its attached to is open to a txt file, where blue text reads “SEND OFF COMPLETE.”

The stillness of the room is shattered by the shrill tones of a phone ringing. Left on the arm of one of the plush seats, it buzzes frantically while displaying the caller ID as “Maa<3”. It rings for a few moments, then shuts off. The screen lights up, showing this is the 15th missed call. Before long a new message pops up from the same ID. “Naser, please pick up. We cannot get onto a plane. They've shut down all the airports. Answer now.”

The phone is illuminated for a bit before shutting off. Before quickly lighting up again as a new message appears. From a different caller now, “Papa<3” Tell Fang we are so sorry. We love you both. So much.” The phone stays lit up, before shutting off.

At the same time, the computer the machine is attached to, makes a loud noise, and shuts itself off too. The fans blades whir for a second, before slowing down, coming down to a gradual stop. The white bulbs pulse slows down, getting less and less bright, until eventually it turns off.

The room is left completely quiet. The air settling in its new stillness. The school is finally truly abandoned.

Chapter Text

POV: NASER - SNOOT

I let go of his hand as we stand at the back of the auditorium. Quickly turning to face this, whatever this is. “So.” I say as I cross my arms.

“Nice to meet you?” He says a bit nervously, his voice is pretty different from mine, more quiet.

“Likewise.” I return curtly. The silence between us grows in length, he coughs and rubs the back of his head. It looks like it was freshly shaved. Should probably shave my head after this whole mess is over. Fuck I wish it was over now.
We remain quiet for a bit longer before he breaks the tension. “Ok, you seem like you hate me. Why?”

“Why is Fang dating Naomi?”

“I don’t really know how to answer that, they just are? Is there a problem?”

“Yes there’s a problem! She’s our girlfriend, Fang can’t stand her, and she’s OUR girlfriend!” He raises an eyebrow, I groan and slide down against the wall. “That’s really stupid isn’t it. Getting upset about that before asking anything else.”

My double joins me on the floor, resting his arms on his knees. “Yeah, a little. I mean I know we look alike but I don’t think there's any reason for us to be the exact same.” He stretches his wings out, his bad wing looks basically the exact same as mine. Did his Fang do that?

“So. Do you still hate me then?” He says after a second.

“No… Honestly I don’t know what came over me. Maybe it was just weird seeing her with Fang.” I duck my head between my knees, fuck we just met and i’m already fucking it up. Way to go Naser.

“I mean, I can get that. Kinda. I’ve never dated before, but I can get the gist of it.”

“You haven’t dated anyone?”

“You’ve discovered that parallel worlds are not only real but are feasible to travel between them, and you wanna talk about my lack of a relationship?”

“I just want to get off my stupid freak out. So. Let's talk school maybe?” He nod’s and adjusts himself to get more comfortable against the wall.

“Let’s see, I'm the class president, leader of the debate team, president of student life, writer for the school newspaper, and some other things that are kinda frivolous that I mostly do for college applications.” I raise an eyebrow at him, and Fang says I do too much. “What?” He says, looking genuinely confused at what he said wrong.

“I'm only head of the student council and on the track team. Are you okay?”

He tilts his head at the question. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You’re taking more extracurriculars than all my friends put together, including Naomi. Aren’t you tired?”

“Not as much as I used to be, the whole meteor sorta gives you more time to do other things.”

“Like what?”

He takes a second, drumming his fingers against his leg. “Poetry. I’ve been writing a lot of it lately. Helps to process the whole. Dying thing. Here I'll show you.” He reaches into his pocket, and falters. He then proceeds to check every pocket, including the secret one hidden inside the coats lining cause apparently our coats are the exact same. It’s also at this point I see his fingertips are orange. Weird change. “I don’t have my phone. Dammit. I have no clue where it could be.”

“It might still be back in your world?” I add somewhat unhelpfully, he sighs and rubs the back of his head.

“Maybe. Probably actually. I was using it before Naomi’s machine zapped us. There was no guarantee it would even work anyhow, since everything was only saved to the cloud." He looks really upset at that, I halfheartedly pat his back and he gives me a small sheepish grin.

“So what else do you do besides poetry?” He gets a glint in his eye and turns to me fully.

“Oh I'll show you. Ok. So I gave my handyman a to-do list. But he only did items 1,3 and 5. Turns out, he only does odd jobs!” I stare at my doppelganger. The terrible terrible joke ringing in my ears. The world has gone quiet. Is this what dissociating is like? “Ok ok. How about this one? Why did the social media manager break up with her boyfriend? Lack of engagement.”

“Naser, these are terrible.” I find myself saying, I cover my beak in embarrassment. He doesn’t seem to mind though.

“I know right! Fang groans at every one of them. Ok ok I got one more than I’ll stop.” He clears his throat and smiles. “I threw a boomerang months ago. Now I live in a constant state of fear.”

Despite myself, I give a small chuckle. “Ok that one was a bit less terrible. I’ll give it one full star out of 5.” He gives the best gracious bow one can give while sitting on the floor in an auditorium. At this point I notice the sound of a guitar coming from the stage. Must be Fang, I don’t know anyone else with a guitar. And it sounds exactly like something they’d make in their room alone.

“So. I’ve told my arsenal of incredible jokes. What’s your thing Naser?”

I rub my chin in thought. “I’m not sure to be honest. I mostly spend time trying to take care of Fang and Naomi. Plus then with student council and track, not to mention my parents…” I trail off, looking off in the distance. It’s his turn to pat me on the back sympathetically.

“Honestly, that hits close to home. If we ever get home and don’t die to a giant meteor, I’m quitting most of the stupid clubs and things I'm in. Focus on me. You should do the same Naser.” He looks me dead in the eye, and I nod. I can feel he really does get it. “Though, what do you mean taking care of Fang and Naomi?” Shit. Did I say that out loud?

“It's. A long story. I guess I'll start with this, did you and Fang ever have issues?”

He groans and puts his head in his hands as soon as the question leaves my beak. “Oh yes. So many. They always thought i was too perfect and an overachiever. Honestly I’m not even sure we’ve really gotten past that. Have you ever tried to help them only to be told to go away?”

“Oh thank Raptor Jesus. Constantly! Everything I do they think I’ve fucked up personally to hurt them. Hell it’s nearly the end of the year and although its better, they think I still fuck things up on purpose.” My throat catches, I try to will myself to not cry right now. He doesn't need to see that. “I didnt. I didnt mean to hurt them. Ever. I know that I fucked up earlier this semester with that stupid concert…” He gives me a look, and i quickly explain. “where I invited a ton of people to see their concert, but they all came to just laugh at them. I just. I want to not be a fuck up. I want my big sister back.”

He surprises me by wrapping his arms around me. Resting his head on my shoulder. “You aren’t a fuck up just for doing your best ok?” He calmly whispers into my ear.

Fuck. That kills. Before I know it I’m practically sobbing into my duplicate’s jacket. Digging my claws into it. If it weren't for the music coming from the stage, I’m sure someone would have heard it. But I guess we’re far enough that it doesn't matter.

After maybe a touch too long we let go of each other. Backs against the wall again. I wipe my face with my sleeve and look out at the stage, where the Fang’s continue to talk. “Don't you just feel like such a loser compared to them?” I find myself asking.

“Yeah. I mean. They’re so confident with their identity. Their love of music. I dunno if anything I've done in school is even half as cool as what they've done.” We watch the two for a bit. I think my sister was the one playing, it was their guitar afterall. After a bit they get up and leave. Passing by us but not noticing.

“Where do you think they're off too?” Naser asks.

“Who knows. Honestly I’m too tired to really care.”

The silence stretches out between us. I watch as the two naomi’s seem to be having an unpleasant conversation, before one of them also leaves. Also ignoring us.

“So. You're dating Naomi? What’s that like?” He says, trying to break our uncomfortable silence. I sigh, and put my head in my hands. I don’t really want to get into it, But I think he is the only person I could talk to about this.

“I wanna preface this with the fact that I love her. But ever since prom… I dunno, it’s like my eyes have been opened. She’s been so awful to Fang and Anon. I don't think she's a bad person. I think she’s just, to focused on making everything perfect. Which means trying to make people perfect.”

“Ok hold on start from the beginning, what did she do to Fang and Anon?”

“Shit… ok long story short, Anon moved here from out of state, troubled family, poor, human in a primarily dino city. Fang meanwhile had recently come out as nonbinary, and was acting out more. Naomi being the superstar she is, decided to have Fang and Anon be in the same music class because then they could be friends and cheer each other up. Without the consent of Anon, since she messed with his schedule without his say.”

He nods as he's following along, he’s a good listener.

“Then she started pushing for anon and fang’s friendship, part of the problem was the way she would always use she/her for Fang, rather than Fang’s preferred pronouns. I mean I fucked up with them sometimes for sure, but I always chalked up her mistake as just her forgetting, but now that I think about it, that doesnt track for her.”

Shit this is so much to talk about, I’m condensing a whole semester into one quick recap. “She had apparently been trying to force Anon into making her fall for Fang which would’ve theoretically sort both problems. Fang goes back to being a girl, losing their anger issues i guess, and Anon loses his attitude and callousness. Which didn't work. Obviously. I learned about all this basically at prom.”

I swallow air down, shit that was a ton of explaining. “So the two are together now, Fangs still nb, Anon is still kinda rough around the edges, and Naomi is now pissed all the time cause they flipped her off at prom. And I want to tell her to calm down but I just. Don't know how.”

“Sorry but it sounds like your Naomi is…”

“Manipulative? A jerk?”

“Sad.”

That's a new one. “Huh?”

“She wanted to help fix up both Anon and Fang, yes? Make them both presentable?”

“Well. I guess so. Most of the time she said she wanted to help me not be so stressed out.”

He looks like he just discovered the secrets of the universe with the glow in his eyes. “That's what it is. She perceives the fact that Anon and Fang are kinda troublemakers to be an issue for YOU. She is messing with other people to help you clear your plate.”

“So… what do I do?”

“Tell her to stop. Have you really had a heart to heart? Like, how did you feel about all this?”

“No, honestly I've been dreading it. Cause if I fuck it up, I lose her, and Fang.”

“Or you can sober up Naomi to realize what she's doing is wrong, and have Fang appreciate you for what you've actually done.”

I stare at him. This replica. This guy I barely know yet feels so damn familiar. Just came up with something I couldn’t see for myself. “I. Huh.”

“I’m not saying it has to be right now, especially with ya know.” He gestures to himself. “Parallel universe selves. But, I think you should think about what you want to do.”

“Yeah. Yeah! You're right. I love Naomi. And she needs to understand what she did was not only awful to Fang and Anon. But to me too. Maybe this will bring back the Naomi I know. The nice one. The one who was so supportive of everything. Though I am for sure not ready to face her yet. ” I sigh deeply. It feels like a huge weight has been temporarily moved off me. Though surely it’s just hanging over my head now. I reach over and pat his shoulder roughly. “So. Anything I can help you with? Any sage advice I can offer?”

He shifts in his seat uncomfortably. And looks out into the auditorium. “Do you know how to tell someone you like them?”

“Oh? So you DO like someone. Ok who is it. Obviously not Naomi, maybe it's Stella? Oh oh or Rosa! She’s cute, Trish would be unexpected but yours is probably different-“

“Reed.”

“Huh?”

“Reed.” He looks at me dead in the eyes. Daring me to say something. Anything. I look back, feeling suddenly very inadequate.

“You’re gay?”

He shrugs, and rubs the back of his head. “I guess? I dont know. Its sorta. A sudden feeling. We were playing LnL-“ he sees my confusion and smiles sheepishly. “Uh LnL is a tabletop rpg.” I nod and he continues. “And he was the storyteller. And honestly hearing him speak so passionately about the story. It just really sparked some, feelings, that I wasn't expecting.”

“Wow you guys are one big fruit bowl aren't you.” I say it before I can stop myself. He laughs really loud though, and gives a small smile.

“I don't know, I guess so. We are mostly a bunch of queer students… Though I just feel so weird about it. I mean he’s Fang's friend. And I've never felt this way about anyone. Hell, I didn't even feel this way til he got all serious during the session…”

So my duplicate is gay. That's a weird thought. Not that it's a bad thing, I mean we’re different enough as is. But still. Feels…Strange. I mean most of the people I know are straight. I pause and reflect on that. And realize I don't actually know anyones sexualities. Shit I hope I haven't been an accidental bigot. Other than the misgendering of Fang… I have a lot to apologize for it seems. I shake my head to clear it and turn back towards him. “So, you think this is some sudden crush? Maybe brought on by the end of the world?”

“Who even knows at this point. Part of me doesn't want to say anything. Just let the world end with this stupid secret I'm hiding. I think he started dating some guy not that long ago anyhow. For all I know they could be together still. Which will make my confession even more awkward. Ughhh…”

I’m sorta at a loss here. No clue what to even do to help in this situation. But I have to do something. “Ok. Look, if you have a crush, the worst thing that can happen is he says he doesn't reciprocate right? If he does reciprocate, maybe you should acknowledge how unsure you are. And just try and see things out. I mean my reed is pretty chill. So I’m sure yours is too.”

He nods. “That's some pretty good advice. Ugh. I'll wait til after all this probably, or at least after today. Give us time to settle after this craziness.” He suddenly stiffens as if something just came to him. “Shit. Where do we sleep? We have no money, certainly not any that would work here. And who knows how long til Naomi can fix the machine.”

I make a small noise of agreement and look away. “I think. Maybe we could make it work at my parents house. Though we’re gonna have to do a lot of explaining to my parents. A Lot of explaining.”

Before he can ask about what I mean, the theatre doors suddenly bang open. As a familiar face comes through. Fang explains the name tags, and tells us all to go to the cafeteria. As the two of us start to stand up, Naomi suddenly appears and loops her arm around Naser-B.

“Oh Nasey there you are! Cmon lets go quickly so we can get some cake!” She remarks before pulling him to his feet, and then flashing a smile at me. “Sorry, other Naser, but I know my hubby too well to confuse you both! Meet you there?”

I share a quick look with my duplicate. He subtly shrugs his shoulders. I do need to have a talk with Naomi. But not right now. Later. “Yeah for sure. We’ll have to get to know one another. So you can really tell us apart.”

She giggles and drags naser-B away. He gives me a pitiful look. And my stomach squirms in sadness. I don't really know why I did that. I hope he's not too mad. I blend in with the crowd and walk behind them. Not really paying attention. I know I should go say something now. But at the same time. I need to carefully think of what I’m gonna say to Naomi. And this is the best opportunity I have to get some peace. Though part of me wonders what I just subjected Naser-B too.

—
POV: NASER - GVH “And she was just so rude! For no reason! You agree, right naser?” I just nod my head in agreement. I know he said he needed some time, and wasn’t looking forward to talking to her. But this might be a step too far.

“Oh wow the cake looks wonderful you two! Anon, I didn’t know you could make something so beautiful.” She remarks as we walk up to where Sage and Anon have set up, Anon purses his lips but mumbles a thank you. Sage takes it in stride.

“He was really helpful! I think he has what it takes to be my star pupil.” Sage says proudly, elbowing Anon’s side softly. Who gives a small smile in response.

“Thanks, though I don’t think I could handle being under your tutelage Gallimus Ramsey.” all of us give him a blank look, he looks extremely offended. “Come on. Kitchen nightmares? Hell’s Kitchen? I know he’s from a different world but Naser. Naomi. You have to know about him.”

“Sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I say calmly. Trying to mimic Naser-A’s voice. Which is a bit more gravely than my own. That's when I feel a surprisingly muscular arm rest on my shoulder.

“Come on bro. We were just talkin about the new season of Hell's Kitchen yesterday. Member?” Reed says in my ear. Must be Reed-A. Oh man this one is just as cute as mine, even if he's high out of his mind.

“Sorry. Must’ve been someone else. Can we go sit Naomi?” I say turning to my AU girlfriend, who’s eyes light up.

“Oh of course! Come on Nasey-Baby~” She takes me by the arm and drags me to a table. Causing Reed to stumble a bit. He looks at me for a moment then shrugs. Turning towards our bakers. Its at this point I see him slink in. I shoot him a dirty look, and he gives a small sheepish smile. He looks over at Naomi and makes a begging pose. Ugh. Guess he needs this. I lift up a hand with 3 fingers subtly, so Naomi doesn’t notice our hands are different. Hoping he gets that I mean he gets 3 minutes total. Thankfully Naomi is too busy talking about my Naomi-B, to care what I'm doing. Naser nods. And walks up to Sage and Anon to get some cake. I tune back into the convo just as Naomi says: “I just. Don’t understand what I did wrong. I want us to be friends. But she was just so needlessly rude! I mean, can’t she tell how much worse Fang is like this?”

“Well, maybe her Fang didn’t have as many issues. Or at least maybe she didn’t act out as much.”

“Maybe… I’ll have to talk to her again. But for nowwww~ Open up Nasey~” She lifts up a plastic fork loaded with cake. I open my mouth unwillingly. These are gonna be a long 3 minutes.

Chapter Text

POV: REED - SNOOT

This is the coolest thing ever. I wish gettin high felt as awesome as seeing this double me show up. Walking to my seat with him felt like a movie scene. I collapse into the soft red seat, and lean against the arm rest. He sits down a bit more gracefully than I do and puts his bag in front of him.

“Nice bag. Looks alot like mine.” I reach over and lift up the thing, which jingles with my merchandise.

“Why’s it making that much noise?”

“Stuff.” I say shrugging. “So, how ya doing?”

“A little freaked out, that's for sure. I mean all of this is. A Lot.” Shit he actually looks kinda freaked. Guess I gotta lock in.

“Hey don't worry about it broseph. You're in good company. No one here is gonna hurt ya.” I pause and let out a little chuckle. “Well. Trish might accidentally. She’s got some killer horns.” He laughs quietly at that.

“So, you and Trish are close here too?”

“Oh for sure!! Vvurm drama is our blood bro. I love playing with those doofuses. We had a gig a bit ago at Fang's uncle’s restaurant. Fun shit man.” I grab my bottle and take a long sip from it, other me raises an eyebrow. “Just agua bro. Want a sip?”

“Yes actually, I didn't pack any water today.” I hand him the bottle and he takes a long sip as well. “Huh. It is actually just water.”

“Told ya. So, how about your vvurm drama? You guys good?”

“Actually we call ourselves worm drama, cause Trish and Fang used to be obsessed with them. And yes we are. Although…”

“Although?”

“We had some, issues, before this. Trish felt like Fang wasn't listening to her, Fang felt like Trish didn't make her needs known. It's been a whole mess. I've been trying to fix it and everything but even now I’m not sure how well its -“

“Bro. Stop. You're about to break down. You don't gotta fix everything man.”

He starts at that, and looks at me funny. “What do you mean?”

“Clearly bro, you’re scared of your friends driftin apart and you having to pick a side, so you try and fix their relationship. But lemme just say this. This isn't your fight.”

He stares at me like I've grown a second head. Well, third. Heh. “But, it is. There both my best friends. I need them to stay together.”

“You gotta let em do this man, sure they can ask for your advice or whatever, but you can't try and mastermind how to fix this shit. Hell bro you look stressed as hell.”

“Well i mean the meteor-“

“Nah, different stress man. You got the look of someone in the middle of a divorce. Though you got that ‘about to die’ fear all over you.”

He takes a deep breath and gives a much more chill smile. That's better. “Alright, fair enough, I'll just relax.”

“See, there we go bro, there's no meteor hanging over your head, let's just chill and get to know each other.” I offer my fist which he quickly responds with his bumping it.

“So, are you the drummer too? And lead songwriter?”

“You know it. What's your favorite one you've written? Cause mine is for sure I’m not sure why but the burglar joined my threesome.”

Reed nods approvingly. “Well everyone loves puke factory, but personally I quite enjoy my mother is a robot (beep boop)”

“Oh yeah those are banging. Good to know we both are title making gods.”

He laughs a little at that. “So, what do you enjoy doing?”

“Chillin bro. Hittin the carfe, playing some xrock. Recently been playing rock ring like crazy bro, I don’t have anyone to play with really though. Been trying to get Anon to join me but his computer is a shitfest and he’s too broke to get anything.”

“I guess those are video games here?”

“Xrock is a console, rock ring is a game, yeah.”

“What's carfe?”

“Drug.”

He raises an eyebrow at that, oh man don't tell me he’s a narc. “Do you smoke it?”

“Yeah dude. It's like. The dino version of weed man. And a little bit like shrooms.”

He nods. “I smoke mostly, haven't really bothered with shrooms or anything. Mostly cause they're hard to get. I also smoke cigs too but I've been trying to quit.”

“Thank Raptor Jesus. I was worried you were gonna rat me out.”

“Nah, that'd be a pretty douchey thing for me to do.”

“Hell yeah bro. So what do you do then?”

He picks up his bag and holds it at his chest. “Do… you guys have LnL here?”

“What, that like DnD or somethin?”

“Maybe? Um. It's a tabletop rpg where you create a character and use dice to do actions in it with someone acting as the loremaster/story creator of the game.”

“Oh hell yeah bro. That's called DnD here. Dungeons and Dragons man. I never played it personally, but it always sounded fun.”

He sits up excitedly, opening his bag and pulling out these thick books. They look super similar to the dnd things. “Oh awesome! If you want I’d totally love to play a session with you. I could help you make the character if you wanted or-“

He's cut off by the sound of music. I look up at the stage and see Fang playing their guitar. Damn they're good. Should've let them do guitar way sooner for sure.

“Which one is that?” He asks, eyes narrowed in uncertainty.

“My Fang for sure. They got the three stripes on their crest, and that's their guitar.”

“I thought so but it was hard to tell. They’re very good.”

I nod and turn back to my bro. “So, you dating anyone?”

He blushes a bit and shakes his head. “No, there was this one boy I had a crush on but it never went anywhere.”

“Gay bro?”

“Yeah? Is. That an issue?” He gets a hard look in his eyes. Bros passionate for sure.

“Nah dude, I’m a fag myself. Just don't really have an interest in dating anyone right now.”

“Really? You seem so-“

“Straight? Yeah lotta people assume that, I think some people think I’m dating Trish and Fang. Gross.”

“Ugh that is gross. So is there anyone you think is hot?”

“Honestly I'd never tell him this cause it'd go right to his bald head, but Anon.”

“Honestly I can see it. He’s got that tough look about him that makes him hot in the trashy way. Can see why Fang is dating him.”

“You get it bro. But I know for a fact he's straight as an arrow so.”

“You know arrows bend as they fly through the air right? Maybe we just have to launch him at high speeds to make him gay.”

I laugh really fuckin hard at that. “Oh for sure, let's put him in one of those catapults. Launch him bro.”

“Yes. Absolutely. That is a great visual.”

We chuckle for a bit, the Fang’s at some point leave the stage and head out of the back doors. Damn, the background music was nice.

“So bro, if it weren't for the meteor, and bein here, what would you be doing right now?”

“Probably planning the next LnL session, maybe getting ready for caldera fest?” When I raise an eyebrow he explains the battle of the bands and caldera fest. Shit sounds banging. Shame we don't got that.

“So you guys would be getting all ready for that?”

He hesitates for a moment. “Well. We would, but Trish and Fang had that argument. I talked about it a bit earlier, that's how it actually started.”

“You do anything to back either of them up?”

“No, I really didn't wanna cause more strife, so I just kinda left after the argument.”

“Dawg. You left fang alone after that? Bad move.”

“I know it was! I think they think I sided with Trish, when I think they're both right! I just. Didn't want to start any more drama.”

“Anymore worm drama.”

He punches my arm, bros kinda weak honestly. He chuckles as he does though so maybe it was purposefully weak. “So yeah, I think things are better now, though it's hard to tell if I did anything to help. Truthfully it doesn't feel like it was me.”

I shrug. “Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. Though there's probably some stuff they gotta do on their own. It's how Fang, Anon, and Trish made up.”

“What do you mean?” I explain the problems the three had, which leaves him with a deep look on his face.

“That's… a pretty awful thing Trish did. I can't imagine mine doing that. They really made up after it?”

“For sure, I’m sure there's some strife left, but its mostly better.” I reach into my bag and start rifling through it, pulling out some gummies.

“Those carfe gummies?”

“Nah normal weed, carfe doesn't work in edibles. You want some?”

“Absolutely. What's the dosage?”

“Bout 50 mgs. Though this stuff probably will hit ya pretty hard since it's bound to be different from yours.”

He shrugs and takes the one I hand him. Popping it in his mouth and chewing. “Oh they taste nice.”

“Berry flavored bro, I prefer my shit to taste good.”

After a bit the gummies kick in, and Reed starts explaining his recent LnL campaign. Shit sounds cool. Though the endings kinda fucked.

“Damn man, you really had it end like that?”

“I was stressed about the meteor; what can I say?”

“I dunno man, that's kinda fucked.”

He groans and buries his head in his hands. “I knoooow. I gotta make it up to them.”

“Yoo could i help write it?”

He looks up at me, mouth slightly open. “Yes. That would be awesome.”

He raises his hand up and I clasp it like that one terminator picture. Dudes bein dudes. That's when the backdoors burst open and Fang comes in, talking about name tags or whatever. It's not until they say cake that my mind registers what they said.

“Dude. Cake. And sage is such a good baker too. So it's gonna be awesome.”

“You had me at cake bro.” We scramble out of our seats and grab our bags.

“Know what'd be funny?”

“What?”

“If we acted the exact same. So they couldn't tell us apart.”

“You're a genius. Let's do it.”

We walk up to the small group of friends gathering at the door. Reed is the first to say anything. Walking up to the Trish’s, one of whom is holding a weird slimy thing. “Alright bro’s. You ready to get some serious grub on?”

“Yeah, I'm starving. I wonder what type of cake they made?” Worm Trish says to him, petting the orange bug. Kinda cute honestly.

“Let's go amigos.” I say as I put my arm around my duplibro.

“Oh my god Reed did you get yourself high???” Non worm Trish says exasperated.

“Noooooo…” we say in unison. Non-worm looks so exasperated with us already. Definitely my Trish.

“Ugh. Fuck. Ok will figure that out later. Come on, let's go.” She says before leading the charge. Me and reed2 share a look and laugh before following behind.

—

“Yo did Naser seem, weird to you bro?” I ask Anon, after getting an extra large slice of cake. This Sage dude is prolly my favorite out of everyone here. Each bite is like heaven on earth. Hell yeah.

“Yeah, he was acting kinda weird. Plus he had this like, weird look on his face when he saw you.”

“Honestly, he kinda reminded me of my Naser.” Sage pipes up, handing a slice to Reed2. Who gratefully takes it. “Though, maybe that's because they’re literally the same person?”

“No he definitely wasn’t acting like himself. His voice sounded like he was trying to sound tough.” Anon says, looking over at Naser and Naomi. Naser looks very uncomfortable.

“Bro. Did they pull a parent trap?” I add, as I see another Naser slink in.

“Parent trap?” Duplibro asks.

“It's this movie where two twins swap places to try out the other person's life. I think. Been a few years since I've seen it.” Anon says helpfully.

The 4 of us watch as this Naser walks in. Reed looks down at his fingertips and his eyes suddenly widen.

“Oh uh hey everyone, Fang said you made us cake Anon and Sage?” Naser asks, standing at the table.

“Yep! Here you go Naser!” Sage says handing him a piece, Anon looks at sage and nudges him slightly. Who nods. “Say, what did you think of the library fight in our LnL session? Pretty cool right?”

Naser coughs a bit and gives a weak smile. “Oh! Yep! Really cool. That was a fun time. Oh I should probably go. Gotta go say hi to my sibling.” Naser says, if his tail was any longer it'd be between his legs.

“Yep, that's not my naser. He wasn't even in that session.” Sage says crossing his arms.

“His fingertips were different too, our Naser’s are orange.” I raise an eye at bro.

“Why do you know that?”

He just shrugs. “I like how they looked. I don't know anyone's hands who look like that.”

“Ok but why did they swap?” Anon says, bringing us back to the conversation at hand.

“I mean, Reed and I acted the same for a bit to annoy Trish, but this is a new level. Plus how come Naomi hasn't noticed yet. I mean the two have zero similar body language bro.” I say while looking at naser-B, nodding along to Naomi as she talks.

“Well, we should just ask later. It looks like the Fang’s are gonna speak.” Sage says gesturing as the familiar pteros stand up.

We say goodbye to the baker duo and claim an empty table for what is clearly gonna be some bomb ass speech.

“I obviously don't know your Naser, but he looked super nervous. Maybe him and my Naser had a bad talk?”

“Or maybe my bros figured something out about himself and needed time away from Naomi. I mean, the two have been fighting more since prom..."

We both shrug, and try to bring our attention back to our local vocalists. They both seem pretty jazzed to be here. Actually, looking around, the only people who look really upset are the Naser's, and the other universe Naomi. Who is stuck cycling between paying attention to the Fang's, and staring daggers at her double. Not my problem rn, I got cake to eat.

Chapter Text

POV: ANON

The microraptor is staring at me. And when I say microraptor, I mean it. As my fellow retards would say, goddamn puntable is what she is. Though now’s probably not the time to make short jokes. She looks kinda like the sensitive type, and Fang’s been on me about being less callous. I open my mouth to say hello to the shortstac- I mean dinosaur.

“He-“

“Do you guys have a home ec room?”

“-llo.” Wow she doesn’t waste time. “Yeah, I think so at least. Reed mentioned something about having one that he stole snacks from.”

“Great! Let’s go. Now.” She grabs my hand and leads me toward the large auditorium doors. Somewhere in the back of my mind are the faint alarms of being touched by a female. Weird, I thought those disappeared when I started dating Fang.

As we make our exit, the other Rosa politely holds the door open, she looks so different from Rosa, it's weird. My Rosa waves at us and I give her a half-effort one in return, while the microraptor nearly breaks her arm with how fast she waves. Rosa gives me a look as we walk away, though it’s sorta hard to read what it means. I take the lead in our crusade to the home ec room, which is probably this way.

“So. Since you’ve decided home ec is more important than introductions, I’ll start first. I’m Anon. And you are?” I am so good at this manners thing.

“I’m Sage. Sorry for the rush but, this whole thing is a lot, and I find the best way to deal with my emotions is to bake them out.”

My stomach rumbles in anticipation. Broke habits stay strong, even with more standardized meals at the Aaron’s. “Oh you’re a baker? That’s cool. You any good?”

“You tell me.” She reaches into this bag covered in pins, including some sort of pink blue and white one, that sorta reminds me of Fang’s flag. And hands me a ziplock with one lone cookie.

I pull out the cookie and sniff it. It smells like a regular chocolate chip cookie. “Smells pretty good. But I’m a real connoisseur of all things edible. So it's gonna take a lot to impress me.” With that i take a bite and instantly am brought down by the mighty hammer of chocolate goodness.

The cookie is the perfect ratio of salty and sweet. The chocolate melts in your mouth and the cookie itself reabsorbs that melted chocolate to create an intense flavor. I get now why those food wars guys get naked everytime they eat something. I have the urge to flex my biceps and rip my jacket to shreds while I beat my chest like the ape I am.

“Can you actually do that?”

Shit. Stupid mumble. “No, but damn this is a great cookie.”

“Why thank you! I pride myself on my baking. And that personal recipe is a fan favorite of Stella's. I call it the chocolate river!” She seems very proud of that name, and I don't particularly wanna inform her that chocolate river sounds like a name I’d use for diarrhea.

“Well you should be proud. This has some serious power.” I push open the door to the home ec room while finishing off my delicious pastry. And also while tripping over the door frame and falling onto my face. Excellent job impressing the new girl.

“Anon are you ok??” She says in a very worried tone. I stand up and brush myself off. Giving a small thumbs up.

“Never better. Now c'mon, you got some baked goods to make.” She still has a worried look, but clearly the idea of baking is too alluring, and walks into the kitchen proper.

The inside of the home ec room is pretty standard. Small gray lunch tables take up the center area. Then there's small cubby areas that are basically a small kitchen in of themselves. Complete with a sink, oven, stove, fridge, and cabinets with pots pans bowls and silverware. Everything a microraptor needs to bake more delectable foods.

“Ooo! This is beautiful! Way better than our Volcano High’s home ec rooms.” She says, while bee lining towards the largest kitchen cubby in the back. Immediately rummaging through the cabinets. I take a moment to look at her outfit. Aside from the bag, her overalls and shorts give her a kind of tomboy look. Plus with the shorter hair, she honestly kinda reads like a guy. Especially with that pin she has on her bag that says he/him.

Fuck.

Goddamnit I did it again.

Fang is gonna kill me.

“Are you a guy?” I blurt out, like an idiot. Sage pauses her- HIS, look for ingredients looking kinda hurt.

“Ah. I sorta forgot that you wouldn’t know. Yeah, I’m a man. Um. Trans man, specifically.”

Fucckkkk. I’m such a diiiiiiiick. “Damnit. I had been using she/her and shit in my head this whole time. Now I feel like a douche.” I rub the back of my chrome dome. Feeling like a loser.

“No wait, it's ok! You didn't know.”

“Fang has been telling me for a while now to always ask for pronouns and I totally forgot because Raptor Jesus how was I supposed to remember that when you fuckers appeared from nothing.”

Sage drums his fingers against his side, and then comes toward me, he sticks his hand out. “Hi. I’m Sage. I’m a trans man and I use he/him pronouns. Baking is my passion in life.”

“What are you doing?”

“Introducing myself. I got so caught up in everything else, I forgot to do the bare necessities.” He gives a big smile, I let out a small chuckle and shake back the microraptors hand. Which does cause a few small alarms still. Gotta somehow fix that since I know he’s a dude.

“I’m Anon. Uh. I’m a guy, I also use he/him. And my passion is -“ holy shit do not talk about being a professional ragebaiter, just say anything else. “coding?” Nailed it.

“Oh coding! I don't have much patience for that. Do you have anything in particular you’re working on?”

“Oh well, it’s been a bit since I’ve actually worked on it. But I did have this game idea I wanted to try and make. A sci fi rougelike.” I honestly haven’t thought about that project in years. But talking about it now does bring back some positive memories. I could probably pick it back up again. maybe vvurm drama could help with the music.

“Well that’s pretty cool! You’ll have to show me some of what you’ve done! But for now. It’s time to bake.” It's at this point he goes to walk back to the kitchen, though gets stopped when he realizes we’re holding hands still. We quickly let go, and laugh awkwardly. Weird how we forgot.

“So um. Anyway! Have you baked anything before?”

I shake my head no. “Not unless you count mud pies back in elementary school.”

“Where do you think I got my start?” He says winking at me. He’s got some serious charm about him. “Anyway you’re gonna help me today. Starting with grabbing that flour up there.” He points to a large bag of flour way up high in the top shelf. I can barely reach it, let alone this multicolored shrimp .

And that's when I got the most brilliant idea ever. “Sure I'll help.” I walk over to the microraptor, and then suddenly lift him up by his waist. He squawks in embarrassment.

“Wh- ANON! PUT ME DOWN!” He kicks his feet, trying to struggle out of my ape strength.

“Nah. Be easier if you grab it. So I don't have to stand on my tiptoes.”

“You! Are right actually. Hold still.” He wraps his tail around my torso for balance, while I hold him steady at the shelf. He’s honestly not too heavy. Which is a good thing considering I've only just started working out and can barely lift a bar with 2 10 pound weights. Gotta get fit in order to carry Fang bridal style afterall. “Got it! Let me down now please.”

I oblige, and set him gently on the floor, his tail unfurling from my torso. He then proceeds to kick my shin. But lightly. “That was a very rude thing to spring on me anon.”

I give him my best shit eating grin. “It worked, didn't it?”

“It did, but next time ask. got it?” He says with a pouty look. Reminds me of Fang’s pouty look. Wish sh- they were here too. I think they’d really like sage.

“So there’s a next time?”

“Gonna have to put the flour back aren’t we?” He says as he opens the flour, starting the cake mix

“Fair enough. So how else can I help?” Apparently with a lot, as he starts putting me to work immediately. Finding specific pans and greasing them, locating extra ingredients. I eventually learn that sh- he is baking a cake from scratch. Super impressive honestly, since I assumed you needed the box mix to even get started. He even has me make frosting from scratch. Under his watchful eye of course. Once I'm done he sticks his pinkie in it and samples it.

“Mm! Perfect. You’re not bad at this Anon.” He flashes me an ok symbol as the sign of approval. Which feels better than any successful ragebait I've had.

“Hey, I mean it was under your guidance. So if it went badly it'd be your fault.”

“Well even still, you were a big help. And I feel a lot better about this whole. Multiple universe thing.”

“So what are we gonna do with this cake once it's done?”

“Let’s share it with everyone, I think that’ll be a good way to break the tension.” Sage puts the pan into the oven, and places my frosting in the fridge.

Sage sits himself in one of the chairs facing me. Man he really is tiny. He almost looks like a doll left on a chair. “So. We got some time to kill before it finishes. What do you wanna talk about?”

I sit across from him in a different chair, rubbing my chin as I try to think of good things to talk about. Socializing. Something I am notoriously good at. “Do you play any games at all?”

“Like video games? Honestly not much, I have a few mobile games I've played but that wasn't ever a super interest of mine.”

“Man this would be easier if I knew for a fact you'd know about the same stuff I did, considering you may have completely different franchises and shit from wherever you came from.”

“So tell me about some of your favorites.” I give him a look but he responds with a nice smile. I decided to explain the intricacies of Rock Ring because thanks to reed it’s been stuck in my head for weeks.

“And that’s the end of the story right now. Honestly I think it’d be fun if we got to play together at some point. But my laptop sucks.”

“Well maybe your reed can hook us up with something? You said it started on that Xrox thing right? Maybe we could do local multiplayer!”

Well now I feel dumb. How did I forget it started on the Xrox. Reed and I could've been playing so much more! “Ill have to ask him about it then.”

Sage nods, then stretches and yawns. I smirk. “Damn didn't know I was boring you Mr. Chef.”

“You weren't boring me! But also I am really tired. I didn't sleep much last night, and then all this was just you know. Stressful.” He pauses for a moment, fidgeting in his seat. “Honestly. When I saw I didn't exist here. That really kinda rocked me. I mean. Either I don't exist at all which is an existential nightmare, or I do exist. But I've left no impact on my alternate friends' lives. Isn’t that just awful?”

I try to think of how to respond to that. He notices my silence and looks sheepish. “Sorry, that's a bit much. We’re still getting to know each other and I'm talking about how existential this all is.” He balls his fists on his lap, and gives a strained smile. I reach over, putting my hand on top of his. And massage his hand until he stops balling them up.

“Who else but me would get that though. I mean. How do you think I felt when I didn't see myself in that light? Honestly my first thought was just. How alone I felt. But I decided to keep it cool, cause you looked more nervous about it.”

He chuckles and smiles at me. “Ya know Anon. You may be the best human I've met.”

“I’m the only human you've met.”

“Exactly. You just gave all of humanity a really tough bar to get over.” He leans out of his chair and hugs me, and I hug back as tight. “Thanks Anon… you're a good guy.”

“If you say so… I’m just saying what anyone would say.”

“Maybe. But I know a bit about auras from Stella, and she would say you have a very green aura.”

I break the hug. “Cause of the jacket?”

He snorts. “No doofus, you feel like the type who wants to help people. It's a good thing.”

“Please. I’m as callous as you can get. I go online and make people mad for fun.” I freeze. Shit there goes all the good will I just made.

“Have you done that recently?”

That's not the response I expected. “Well. No, but I used to.”

Sage gets an annoying look on his face. “Well well. Maybe your aura has changed Mister Anon.”

“This is witchcraft talk. I have not changed and never will.”

“Well that's a good thing then, cause the only Anon I know is this goofball. And I don't think I want him to change.” The oven timer beeps, letting us know the cake is done. Sage gets up and heads toward it, putting on oven mitts. Pulling out the surprisingly fluffy looking cake.

“That’s very cheesy Sage. We’re making a cake, not a cheesecake.”

He snorts really hard, almost causing himself to drop the cake. But luckily he manages to get it on the counter without issue. Man, it's easy to make him laugh, and I'm not even using my best material.

“So Mr. funny guy. Ready to decorate?”

“If I fail, do I get thrown out of the kitchen?”

“Yes. Now get to work, minion! Grab your frosting! And frost my cake!”

“That's inappropriate.” I say deadpan. Staring into Sage’s soul. It takes him a second, but he starts to laugh really hard. Which is the precise moment the doors bang open. Revealing two beautiful angels. The one on the left being my personal angel. Sage straightens himself, and tries to regain his composure.

“Fang! And… Other Fang! Come join us! We were about to decorate the cake!” My fang looks at their double and shrugs, walking over to me. Before planting a kiss right on my stupid face.

“Ah my 5 o clock kiss. Right on time.” Sage chuckles at that while Fang cuffs my head with their wing. Being next to them both feels great. Though I’m not super sure why.

—————
POV: SAGE

“Well, my king. I guess we have some newcomers to our baking domain. Do we dare let them interfere with our masterpiece?” Anon says while dropping to one knee, looking directly at me. It takes all my willpower to not immediately start laughing

“I say no my faithful baking knight! Their feathery appendages may be cause for concern.” I try to add some royal authority to my voice. Which I nail.

“Hey he has feathers too!” Anon’s partner Fang points at me. Who I'm gonna call New Fang for the time being. “Shouldn’t he be disqualified!”

“How dare you insult the king! I am so sorry my liege. Shall I execute them for treason?” Anon says with a hard stare at his partner. It’s hard to keep myself from laughing at the extra verve he puts in his voice.

“No Sir Anon. They may be pardoned. But they must be kept under close watch by our squire Fang of Worm Drama.” I say gesturing at the other Fang. Hoping they play it up.

“Yes of course. It is my duty to do so. My lord. Come with me, peasant.” Fang says taking their doppelganger to an empty table so we may work in peace.

The disgruntled look on their face is enough to break the bit into pieces as we burst out laughing. Anon lays his head on the table chuckling. While my Fang snickers. “What a dumb bit that was. I see why you like Anon so much.” They say to new Fang.

“Yeah he’s a real funny guy ain’t he.” New Fang says with a small smile. “Nice job Sage for catching Anon's bit so quickly.”

“Stella and I have a lot of jokes like that, so it was easy. Nice to meet you by the way. Other Fang.” I shake their hand. Wow they have a really strong grip.

“Likewise. So are you two gonna just keep chuckling it up or are you gonna decorate a cake? Because frankly it smells so good I may eat it myself before anyone else. Plus what type of cake is it anyway?”

Anon steps between the cake and his partner. “Oh no Mx. ptero. You aren't touching this.” He then starts to mumble. “It’s not even dino shaped so how could you eat it…”

“Hey! Rude!!” Fang says, flicking Anon’s head. Who only looks a little bit ashamed.

“It’s just a regular devils food cake. I wish I could do more, but this kitchen isn’t super stocked with ingredients.” I answer.

My Fang sits next to their double, and rests their chin on their hand. “Gonna be honest you two, when we came in we had assumed things were gonna be more…”

“Uncomfortable ?” I offer.

“Incredibly sad?” Anon adds.

“Both really. I mean. You two don’t have a double like everyone else. So we were worried you weren't. Coping well.” My fang says, while new Fang nods in agreement.

“Well, that was kinda the case, but then I at least realized this is basically just getting paired with a stranger and getting to know them. If anything it was probably easier for us than most of the others.” I say while grabbing some supplies so we can begin decorating. Anon pulls our custom frosting out and frowns.

“Is this gonna be enough sage?” I take a peek, it is a bit low but if we switch from a full cake covering to just the top layer, it'll be fine.

“Yep, it should be good! Ok anon. I want you to do the writing on top.”

New Fang sucks in their teeth. “Are you sure? He isn't even legible with a pencil.”

“I would say that’s mean, but sh- they have a point. I make chicken scratch look like some rich fucks writing.” Anon rubs the back of his neck nervously.

“If it's that bad, we’ll just make it into an artistic piece. Any idea what we should write on it though?” I scoop some of the frosting into a piping bag and dye the remaining frosting purple using some food coloring, spreading a nice layer on the top.

My Fang pipes up “What about, the union of two worms.” They have that cool sparkle in their eye.

“Excludes everyone who isn't a part of vvurm drama. So no deal.” New Fang says with a shake of their head. “How about something like, welcome other us!”

“Simple. But I can probably write that. So my vote is that one.” Anon remarks, holding up his piping bag of white frosting.

“Alright then. Let’s do it.” I give him a few quick pointers and he gets to work. However, halfway through the word welcome, his hands start to shake.

“Shit this is… a lot more difficult than I thought.” He mutters, without thinking I grab his hands and begin to guide him. Saving the lettering from disaster. It’s as we finish the final swoop, do I realize what I did. Mostly due to new Fang shooting me an odd look. Oh crap.

“Sorry for grabbing you Anon. I wanted to save the lettering.” And I mean it too, I mean I just met this Fang, I hope they don’t think I’m being flirty.

“You’re fine Sage, I needed it. Otherwise you’d be looking at something that looks like “welfim ofer ugs.””

“So still more legible than your science homework.” New Fang chuckles before standing up and kissing anon on the cheek. They look at me and give a small reassuring smile. Guess they aren’t mad, phew.

He rolls his eyes at them, and then gets a glint in his eye. “Oh, I wanna do those flowery things on a cake. The like. Little shits of frosting.”

I stare at him for a good long second. “Oh the peaks? Yeah sure, I think they had a tip for that.” I rummage around and find one, fitting it on the piping bag. “There ya go! It shouldn't be too hard doing it.”

Anon gets to work. It’s at this point my Fang sees the mess we made in the kitchenette. “Geez you two were a tornado. Let’s get this cleaned up huh?”

New Fang looks over and nods. “Yeah definitely. Hey Sage, where did you guys pull out the ingredients?” I grab the flour and point up to the top shelf I got it from. It is stupidly high up.

“Right up there, here you can put it awa- WOAH!” Once again I find myself being lifted in the air via surprisingly strong arms. Twice in one day is too MUCH. “F-FANG!!”

“What you said they were up there. So I'm helping you out.” They say super casually. Like this is sooo normal.

“You and Anon are perfect for each other, I swear!!! He did this exact thing too!!”

“He did?” They look over at anon, and both start laughing like a bunch of stupid handsome jerks! I groan and wrap my tail around their waist like I did with Anon.

“Hold still. So I can actually put it away.” They stop laughing just long enough for me to do this. Before gently sitting me down. “You know it’s rude to pick up people without their permission.”

“Are you guys done horsing around over there? I could use some help with these dishes.” My much nicer fang says, though not seriously. It’s clear they too enjoyed the whole scene playing out.

“Not before you guys see my beautiful work. Come check this shit out.” Anon declares, holding up his piping bag like a true weapon. The three of us come around and look, seeing our final product.

“Hey, not bad Anon. Do I see a career in frosting for you?” Anon's partner says, looking at his, honestly pretty decent for a first attempt, pipetted peaks.

“Maybe. If Sage sticks around long enough, I could be his number two.” Anon jokes, causing everyone to laugh, but I linger on the thought. Staying here and making a name for myself. Hm… No, that's crazy talk.

“Ah Anon. A man of many talents, baking extraordinaire, surprising therapist, and feet that betray every step he makes.” New Fang says, wrapping a wing around their boyfriend. Looks cozy… wait that's a weird thought. I'm just gonna push that away for now.

“Is he clumsy?” My Fang asks, looking at the pair.

“Clumsy? Oh you don’t even know. I swear he trips over the smallest things. I’m 90% sure I saw him trip over a twig while we were on a walk together.”

“It was a rock thank you very much.”

“More like a pebble.” New Fang says while smirking. I double over laughing. Trying to control my breathing. Anon pats me on the back. Grumbling about all of this.

“Sorry Anon. I can't help it. I mean you tripped on the door frame when we came in! Now I know it wasn't just a fluke.”

“Yeah yeah laugh it up puny.” Anon gives a small embarrassed smile. He looks up from me toward the door, his tone instantly turning cold. I look up to see what is happening. “Oh Naomi is here.”

My face lights up as I see our very own priestess walk in. I quickly wave her over to join the rest of us. It’s sorta hard to tell which Naomi it is, but a Naomi is a Naomi! So either way is fine by me.

*To see how this convo went, see chapter 5*

————

POV: SAGE

Anon, Naomi, and I quickly make our way down towards the cafeteria. While the Fang’s peel out to go and find the rest of our motley crew. “So… is your Naomi really that bad?”

“Yeah, she really is, honestly your Naomi didn’t really do it justice.” He sets the utensils down on a table in the center of the cafeteria, my Naomi does the same then walks over to another table. I look over at her. She looks really upset.

“Should we, do something about Naomi? She seems really shaken up by her interaction with her double…”

Anon makes a small contemplative noise. Then shakes his head. “Honestly I get the vibe she wants to be alone right now. Come on, let's keep setting up.” We get to work, making sure the cake looks perfect, the little plates and utensils lined up very neatly. We grab a piece out for Naomi and hand it to her without saying much, she gives us a small smile as thanks. With that, our preparations are all complete. Nice.

Once we’re done, Anon and I sit down at one of the tables to rest. I didn't realize how tired I actually was until now. I just assumed I was only a little bit sleepy. I wonder if universe hopping exhausts you. I rest my head against Anon’s arm without thinking, and feel his arm stiffen under me. I quickly straighten up. “Sorry Anon! I’m just so tired I didn’t even think about it. I would rest on Stella all the time like that and I guess I fell into old habits!”

He looks very flustered, mumbling something under his breath. “Fucking alarms… be normal idiot…” He coughs and shrugs. “No, it's fine, you can rest for a second, but I get to use you as an arm rest later.” Wonder what alarm's he's talking about.

I roll my eyes while laying against his arm. “You need more jokes than just my height. Come on, give me some new material, big guy.” He groans but in the not really upset way.

“I bet I could use you as a marker with how brightly colored you are.”

“Better. Come on Anon! Let me have it! I can handle it.”

“You sure rainbow raptor? Fang has banned me from using certain words.”

“Do it you bald ape.” I stick my tongue out at him, challenging him. I can’t tell if I imagined it, but he had a strange look in his eye for a sec, but it’s gone before i can really figure out what it is.

“Ok you asked for it. Instead of Sage, they should call you a cigarreto since you’re a pocket sized faggot. And you're so brightly colored, you can be seen from outer space as the most colorful spot in the world. Easily outshining the great barrier reef. Not to mention how those overalls make you look like a small town boy heading to the big city to find yourself a sophisticated city man, who will make all your dreams come true. You brightly colored, flamboyant dork.”

I am momentarily stunned. Such bold and brave language. Such vigor. This is truly a man worth being insulted by. He looks a little bad til I start laughing really hard. I grab onto his arm to stop myself from falling off the chair. “H-holy fuck Anon I’m gonna fucking pee. You said it so seriously!!”

“Call it a use of my talents from an old past. Like a dad who can somehow throw a knife with super precise aim.”

After a bit, I finally let go, and wipe away the tears. We sit there and chuckle for a bit. I turn towards Anon, saying “Honestly. Out of everything that’s happened today. You're one of the best parts. I’m genuinely really looking forward to getting to know you and your Fang and everyone here better.

I pause and think about that for a bit. So far I've really only directly seen the two fang’s side by side. And only heard about how awful Naomi-A was. I wonder if everyone else had a better time. Both Fang’s are really cool, but that’s not a super surprise. Of course the Fang’s are cool. And I think Fang-A (thanks for the title Naomi-B) and Anon have a really good relationship. Something about it just feels right.

“Ya know. Where is everyone gonna sleep tonight.” Anon says while I’m in my thoughts.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean like, there’s no guarantee your Naomi can make the whole machine again, and it’s already 4 pm. Spears typically wants us out of the school by 6. So. Where is everyone gonna sleep?”

Oh. That was something I hadn't thought of at all. “I have. No idea. I mean. Does anyone here live in a big enough place to accommodate everyone?”

Anon shakes his head. “I guess if it came to it, maybe everyone goes with their doubles? So I guess technically you’d be with me. I don't have a lot of room… It's a one bedroom after all…”

I shake my head. “Don’t worry about me, just give me a sleeping bag and the ground and I’m good. “

“Nah you're the guest, you get the bed. I'll take the ground, I'll be connected with my ancestors. The cave people.”

I’m about to argue back when the chatter of many dino’s starts to drift in from the hall. “Look’s like it’s showtime. Ready baking underling?”

“Born ready baking boss.” He says cracking his knuckles like a badass. The two of us stand up, and get up to the cake. Ready for the torrent of very hungry dinosaurs, exhausted from the mind breaking stuff of the day. First up being our insanely cool gothlike friends. Despite the sheer amount I'm about to be faced with, I find myself strangely calm. Today has been a great day.

Chapter Text

POV: FANG - SNOOT

The two of us were first in line to acquire our prize for rallying everyone together. Well second in line, seems like Naomi-B got her cake first, probably cause she went with them. Anon and Sage stood behind the cake, clearly very proud. “Sup dweebs. Is it time for our cake at last?” I say, eyeing up the very well done cake.

“Not sure, Anon do you think they deserve it?” Sage says with a very proud smirk on his face. He’s too pastel for it to mean anything though, just makes him look cute honestly.

“Unclear. They did pick you up without your explicit consent. Kinda shitty wouldn’t you agree cake boss?”

Sage nods his head in agreement as my beak drops open in mock surprise. Sage cuts out a slice and hands it to Fang-B. “My Fang was kind enough to help us with our dishes and didn’t lift me in the air. Plus, I’m officially a part of their band, so I have to pay my dues.” My counterpart gets a look of superiority on their face. Taking a large forkfull of the very nice looking cake and eating it with the smugness of an emperor. I decided to repay them with a small punch in the arm.

“Hey if anyone deserves ridicule it’s Anon, he picked you up too!”

“Yeah but he helped with the cake. So he gets a free pass.” Sage hands me a slice after that. “But you’re his partner, so I think you deserve something nice. Now shoo! We got more friends to feed.”

He’s right, I hear the telltale sounds of many dinosaurs coming in soon. I think I can even hear the inferior Naomi's squeals amongst the crowd. “Thanks for the cake dorks. We’ll talk later.” I take my doppelganger by the hand and quickly drag them to a back table. Where the two of us can eat without being trampled. And not a moment too soon as I see Naomi and my brother charge the table, with the rest in hot pursuit. Naser looks weirdly uncomfortable the whole time though.

“Why’s my brother with your Naomi?” Fang-B says, staring at the lovebirds.

“What? No that can’t be him. I mean, I feel like I would know my brother…” I stare at the Naser holding Naomi’s hand. The more I watch the more I’m inclined to agree with Fang. “You think they swapped or something?” We watch as the bakers and Reeds interact with the two of them. Even from here I can see the tenseness from everyone except Naomi. My eyes move down Naser, trying to see if I can spot anything that isn’t right. Then my eyes focus on the hand Naomi is holding. “His fingers. The tips are orange. Naser’s are not like that. I think the guys at the table noticed too. Look how tense they are.”

“Does Naomi know? Maybe they’re working together.” Fang says.Staring intently at their brother.

“I don’t know. Probably not? She seems to be as annoyingly lovey with him as always. I don’t think she’d do that even if she was going along with it.”

“Should we say something? I mean, if she isn’t in on it, that’s kinda a shitty thing to do right?”

I think for a moment, as the fake couple walks off, and my real brother walks in. The baking duo and the Reed’s also act strangely around Naser. They definitely know something is up with him too. “No. I don’t think we should. I can’t say for sure about your brother, but mine isn’t someone who just does things without thinking. Hell he overthinks most of the time. So this is probably some weird thing he and his duplicate are doing.”

“Well I guess that makes sense. I still feel bad about your Naomi though, even a dickhead doesn’t deserve to be tricked.” Fang-B says, and I nod, and the two of us fall into a bit of silence. Fang-B drums their fingers against their thigh for a moment. “Should we do a speech?” They blurt out suddenly, before giving a weak smile.

I stare for a second at them. “Why?”

“I don't know, might be a good way to talk to everyone, plus maybe we could figure out what to do after we eat cake.”

“Shit you’re right. We’re probably gonna need places for people to stay aren’t we.”

“You wanna talk first? This is your world we’re invading after all.”

“Yeah that’s probably a good call.” I set the cake down and dust myself off, deciding to stand on top of the table because fuck it and Spears isnt around to see it. My double follows my lead, but first moves the cakes a bit further away so we don’t accidentally trip on them. Smart.

“Hello students of volcano high!” I shout out to the crowd of hungry dinos, grabbing everyone's attention, even Naomi-A who appears to have been busy stuffing the other version of my bro’s face with cake. Eugh. “We just wanted to give a proper welcome to everyone who was brought through some magic science bullshit.”

“And a hello to our counterparts and new friends we made, who have been very nice to not freak out at the sight of us.” Fang-B adds on. There's a small bit of applause, mostly from Sage and the Reed’s. The rest giving us two polite attention.

“So first, we wanted to say thank you to our lovely bakers, who made us an excellent cake. Give a hand to Sage and Anon!” The applause here is even louder, particularly from the Reed’s who give a standing ovation. The two of them both look a bit embarrassed. Which is a good look on them. They smile and wave before redirecting the attention back to me and Fang-B.

“Also, Fang and I had the realization that all us Worm Drama people need a place to sleep tonight. Unless babe can make the machine from scratch over the course of about 2 hours." Everyone looks at Naomi-B, who looks really sad. I watch Fang-B’s face shift as they see how disheveled their Naomi looks.

“Uh um. No. Sorry, I don't think it's possible. It took me days of testing to even make the first machine. So I'm gonna need even more time to do it as I most likely have to learn how the computers here work.” She says in a quiet voice. Fang is staring at her with really big eyes. Naomi-B responds to that with a little shake of her head. Whatever that means.

“I’ll help Naomi. I'm sure with us two we can get it done.” My brother says, the real one, not the one pretending with Naomi, heading over to Naomi-B stand next to her. It’s at this point I remember something very obvious we all forgot.

“Oh yeah, everyone please grab a nametag once we’re done talking. Again write your name on two nametags, place one on the front and one on the back. Those who arrived with the machine please put -B. Those who were already here put -A. Later though. Back to what we were saying a second ago, we need places for people to stay. Any thoughts?”

Anon raises his hand surprisingly, I point to him to speak like we’re in a class, and I’m the teacher. Which feels strangely normal. “Well Sage and I were thinking everyone just goes with their counterparts. It’d be weird for those who live with their folks for sure but I think that's better than trying to hide different people at different houses. Cause then it's a whole extra mess.”

Naser-A speaks up “Yeah that was a similar idea me and Naser had as well.”

“Yeah that works for me bro, plus my parents always said they wished they had another kid, so they’ll probably be psyched for a second me.” Reed-A adds on helpfully

“Is there anyone who doesn’t want to / doesn’t think they should have people at their house.” Fang-B says, The crowd looks at one another to see if anyone objects. My trish definitely has a more complex expression, but she doesn’t say anything against that idea. “Great with all that said and done -”

‘What about school? You guys are all still going right?” Rosa-B says cutting them off.

“Oh it's friday so we’re all good til at least monday. After that though, I'm not so sure. Maybe we can talk to Spears about all this?” I say to her, internally I’m imagining Spears reaction when he suddenly has like. 8 new students who look super similar to what are definitely his favorite students in this whole damn school. Awesome.

“Is Spears your principle?” Trish-B says

“Yeah. Maybe we can get him to work something out with you guys should you be stuck here for a whi-” I stop mid sentence when i see the looks on everyone's faces. I guess the idea that they might not be going home hadn’t really sunk in for all of them. “Anyway. Let’s take this one day at a time. I’ll make a group chat with everyone I have the phone numbers of, and you will just have to make sure you take your doppelganger with you should we meet up about something. For now, let’s just enjoy the cake. And maybe do some icebreakers or something.”

With that everyone starts to talk to one another, getting up, walking around, the usual. I sit down next to my double and let out a large sigh. “Shit that was stressful. At least we have some plans for who’s sleeping where.”

Fang-B plays with their bracelet without saying much. I raise an eyebrow at them. “Go on. Say what you want to say.”

“What happens if we are stuck here for good?”

I groan to myself, knew I shouldn’t have said anything like that. “Then, we’ll try our best to adjust you to life here. I know it’s not ideal, and you probably have a ton of people you’d be worried about or are worried about you. But no one here is gonna kick you to the streets.”

They make a small tone of non committal noise. Before scooting closer to me and giving me a hug. “Thanks Fang. You’ve been a rockstar about all this.” I snort and hug them back. “Who knew the other me was such a sap… But I'm happy to help. I hope we can at least make your time here as not shitty as possible.”

“I’m gonna go check on Naomi I think. She seemed really upset about all this.”

“Yeah you go do that, I'm just gonna chill here for a bit.” Fang-B gets up and leaves, heading to their girlfriend. Hopefully the rest of this night goes by much smoother. Though I’m sure we haven’t even scratched the surface of the difficulty.
____________________________________________________________________

POV: NASER - GVH

As soon as my… I guess I'll call them both my siblings for now. End their speech, I stare daggers into Naser-A. He pretends to not notice my stare, but I see him squirming. My Naomi, the one standing next to Naser-A notices my hard stare, she looks between us both until her view catches on my fingertips. Instantly her mouth turns to an o shape, and says something to Naser-A. Who rubs the back of his neck and says something in return that I can’t make out. She pushes him towards me, and I take this as an opportunity to reswitch places with my double.

“Er Naomi sweetie, I'll be right back. I gotta go talk to Naser-B.” It’s here I notice that she’s been looking down at her plate, actually looking kinda glum. She perks up when I say something though.

“Oh what? Oh that’s fine sweetie! But don’t take too long sugar plum~” she plants a kiss on my cheek before I can stop her. Feeling thoroughly embarrassed, I break away from Naomi and head towards my double.

“So. had enough time to think, Naser?”

“Yes. I'm sorry for forcing that on you, but I swear I wasn’t being malicious I just needed -”

I cut him off with a hand raise. “It’s fine. But let’s say you owe me one. Now c’mon let’s go get our nametags on so this doesn’t happen again.”

We head over to Anon and Sage, who are talking between themselves.

“I say all that went pretty well Anon! People seemed to like the cake.”

“Yeah we kicked ass. Star fuckin bakers we are.” Anon turns and finally notices me and naser-A. “Well the parent trap fuckers return. Here to stop playing pretend?”

“You noticed huh.” Naser-A says, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Not just us, but the Reed’s too. What were you two thinking? Tricking Naomi-A like that!” Sage says, crossing his arms in upsetness.

“Naser needed some time away from Naomi. I decided to help.” I add, trying to protect Naser’s feelings.

Anon’s eyes widened at that. “Oh shit. Are you breaking up with her?”

“What?? No!!! I would never.” He squirms, the three of us staring intently at him. “I’m not. But, I am gonna talk to her. I don’t like how she’s been treating you and Fang. You guys deserve way better. Plus, she’s been making me treat you both worse without me realizing. Especially forgetting Fang’s pronouns…”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” Anon mumbles, sage clears his throat. Anon gives a small smile and says to us, “Alright just don’t do this swapping shit again. And also maybe save the talk til after we get everyone a bed tonight.”

“Yeah I agree, there's enough stress as is, and Naomi-B already seems to have troubles with Naomi-A…” Naser-A raises an eyebrow at this. Huh guess he wouldn’t know.

“Don’t worry you’ll hear all about it I’m sure. Now quick lets get these nametags on.” I say, scribbling my name and a -B. Weird to be marking ourselves with identifiers. Maybe we can start using nicknames? Mine could be something cool. Like. Nase-man. … I’ll keep working on it.

We put on our name tags, and I wave goodbye to my double and head towards the Naomi I know. Who now has Fang with her. Without a word I hug my best friend, Fang, giving us a bit of space. When we pull apart I smile and say. “Your double is not very pleasant to be around.”

The sigh of relief is immediate. “I know right? Don't worry. I'll make our machine to get us home as soon as we can.”

Man, I sure hope she’s right.
_____________________________________

POV: STELLA - SNOOT

The Fang’s were starting their speech right when me, Stell’s, my nickname for my counterpart, and the Rosa’s all were grabbing our cake. It was cute seeing Stell talk to Sage, it’s clear how much they care about each other! Even if I only got to see that for a second before my Rosa made us all go sit down. Soon as the guitarists stopped their speech. There was a bunch of convo springing up. Our table, consisting of the people who look the most different from their counterparts, is mostly silent.

“So. like. We might be here for a while huh.” Stell says. Adjusting herself on the picnic style bench so she can hug her knees to her chest.

“Now don’t say that Stella, Naomi is gonna get to work on the machine! We’ll be home in no time.” Rosa-B, who i’m gonna mentally call Rose for now, brings up. Patting her companion on the shoulder.

“Si. Your Naomi and Naser seem very smart. Perhaps they can both fix this soon enough. Especially if our Naser also helps out. He is also very very smart.” Rosa says. Though I notice she’s fidgeting with her rosary as she says this.

“Look guys. Let’s all take a deep breath ok? Stell’s do you want to do a reading with me to see the future of all this?”

“Ay mija. No devil stuff por favor. It is too much for one day…” She affectionately pats my arm. I squeeze her hand in response.

“Yeah I agree with her, it’s too close to the event. I’m gonna need at least a day to recharge before I do more tarot. I don’t want to misread what it gives me cause I'm all anxious ya know?”

“I understand.” I turn towards Rose. “So what about you? Are you into tarot at all?”

She startles, mid bite of cake. She quickly swallows and clears her throat. “Oh me? No, not at all. I’m much more into gardening and especially Botany. Though I did always see tarot as really cool.’

“Botany? Are you a scientist, Rosa?” I ask her. Be kinda cool to have an actual scientist in our midst. Since for the most part, everyone here is a creative type. Except for Mr. and Mrs. school club of course.

“Mhm! I actually bred my own fern to feed Mango, that’s my Trish’s pet velvet worm.” She seems really proud of that, I wish I could see what that thing looked like.

‘Huh. Didn’t know that about you. That’s really cool.” Stell’s says, looking at Rose with a bit more intrigue.

“So maybe you’ll join us for the gardening club for a bit?” Rosa says hopefully.

“Yeah that could be a nice distraction from what else is going on. Plus the garden was beautiful when we were walking through it earlier. You gonna join us Stella-B?” She asks aimed at Stell’s.

“We’ll see, an excuse to be outside is always fine by me. I hope we can get my phone fixed or something so I can take some pictures of the garden.”

“Speaking of phones, Rosa, we should probably text our parents that we’re gonna be bringing some guests over.” Rosa nods, pulling out her phone. While I do the same. Sending a vague enough text so she doesn’t ask a ton of questions before I can bring Stell’s home.

“Si, that would be wise. Oh mi poor mama is gonna have a heart attack when she sees you Rosa.” Rosa-A says, tapping on her phone. It’s in a simple clear phonecase. A photo of us two from a couple months ago stuck in the back.

“Why is she gonna have a heart attack?” Rose has a strange look on her face. It almost looks like she’s scared, but really trying to hide it.

“Because she thinks the devil will have created you to trick us. She is a fanatic mi Mama.”

“She’s a fanatic??” Stell’s says, sharing a look with me. I nod. Rosa may be a bit much with her religion, her Mom is a whole other story.

“She’ll be fine Rosa, Rosa-B seems like a very nice person, and your mom is always ready to help anyone in need. Honestly we could send everyone to her and she’ll somehow make enough dinner to feed everyone in 10 minutes flat.”

Rosa chuckles. “I guess you’re right mija. She even lets Reed stay over when he has had too much of his agua. “ The other verse of us share a look. I quickly explain our beloved Reed’s reputation, which only causes them to have an even more scandalous look. Guess their Reed is way more straight laced.

“So who do you guys live with?” Stell’s asks after a bit. Playing with the plastic fork she got with her cake.

“I live with just my Mom. She is a very sweet lady. Right now my Auntie Blue is also there, she’s been staying with us for a bit. She’s actually the one who got me into tarot and mysticism.” Stell’s nods excitedly, then looks at Rosa expectantly.

“I live with my Mama and Papa, as well as 2 of my brothers, 3 sisters, and some aunties and uncles and cousins. Not in one house though! It’s an estate my family owns, a bunch of little houses all around. Very nice. We have a big communal plaza in the center. With a big fire pit.

“Oh wow, big family. I wonder if they’ll be anything like mine.” Rose says. Ok I can definitely hear some nervousness in her tone, I think Rosa catches it too, as she speaks up right after she says that.

“Are you okay Rosa? You are sounding very nervous all of a sudden.”

“Yeah what's up? You’ve been acting kinda strange since we mentioned our families.” I ask, putting my phone down.

Rose gets a grimace on her face, but takes a deep breath. “Because, I was disowned from most of my family for being trans, and I’d rather not go through with that again. With a different version of my family.”

Oh.

____________________________________________________________________________

POV: PRINCIPAL SPEARS

Those kids are gonna be the death of me. I told them to leave by 4 today. Though knowing them, I’m sure they all forgot. Except Naomi and Naser. Those two have probably been trying to get them out for the past 30 minutes. Oh well, I guess having them here isn’t so bad, plus it shows Anon really took to heart what I said about forming proper friendships. Still, it is almost 5. I hope I won’t need to yell for them to clean up and leave.

Pushing open the auditorium door, I find only their bags scattered around the room. I even see Fang’s guitar on the stage. “Maybe they went out to the gardens?” I ponder to myself before heading towards the doors leading to the outside. As I walk there, I pass by the cafeteria, where I can hear quite a bit of talking. Even stranger than leaving their bags in the auditorium. The cafeteria is far less comfortable than it. I adjust my tie, and push open the door. Ready for a confrontation from at least two of them.

“Alright hooligans. It’s time to lea-” I am then met face to face with double the teens I was expecting. Most of which are the exact carbon copies of one another. I stare for a brief moment, then turn and walk right back out the door.

At this point, I’m wondering if I should search for another career path.

I hear the door open behind me, and see a familiar face. Anon. “Hey, Principal Spears.” He says in a tone that sounds like he got caught doing something he shouldn’t. An unfortunately familiar tone.

“Anon. Please tell me I’m not having a stroke.”

“Nope, wanna come in and let us explain? I made a cake and there’s enough left for you to have some.”

Now that is a surprise, Anon didn’t strike me as much of a baker. Maybe I am having a stroke. Well if I am, this stroke version of Anon seems quite sincere. “Alright, though if I may Anon, you sure do have a knack for attracting strange issues to you.”

He nods and gives a small apologetic smile. A look I’m not sure he was really capable of back when the school year started. He leads me inside, and I am once again met with a far larger group of teens than I was expecting. Too many of them are familiar faces. 2 of which only look kind of similar to their double, and 1 completely new student. Or no, not completely new. They do look strikingly similar to a female student we have. Like her brother or something.

“Hey spears, what’s up?” Fang says, they look embarrassed. Their twin looks at me sheepishly.

“Not much Mx. Aaron. “ They perk up a bit when I use that honorific, I thought they might enjoy that title. “It seems as though something has happened with you all. So please. Someone enlighten me on what could have possibly led to this.”

Naomi is the first to step forward. “Hello, you must be their principal. My name is Naomi, and I'm the reason everyone is here actually.”

“Oh so you must be Naomi’s doppleganger. Very well. Feel free to explain.” I say before sitting down at an empty table. She gives me a breakdown of everything that has happened so far. The new students, or the B students as denoted by their nametags. Were trying to escape a meteor that was getting very close to their home. This Naomi made a machine which brought them here.

“Thank you Naomi for the explanation. I must say this is. A lot to process that is for sure.” Do I mean that. I’m gonna need a nice glass of whiskey after tonight. “First order of business.” I stand up from the table, brushing myself off. “Do you all have a place to sleep?” A resounding yes comes from the crowd. “Good. For tonight, you all should head to where you are going to sleep tonight. I will call a meeting with the parents for Sunday so we can discuss what to do moving forward. For now, you are all to remain at your homes. I do not wish any harm to befall any of you until we can figure this out.”

There's a general murmur of agreement among them all. The students begin to file out one by one. Sage and Anon are some of the last to leave, I stop them and pull them to the side. “Anon, you of course only live in a one bedroom. Will you and this new person be going together?”

“Yes sir, we’ve already discussed it. Right Sage?”

The microraptor nods. “Yep! We will be fine Mr. Principal. Also hi nice to meet you, I’m Sage. He/him.” he offers his hand and i shake it gladly.

“Well it’s nice to meet you as well. You may call me Principal Spears, or Mr. Spears. You and Anon baked the cake together I presume?”

“Mhm! He’s gonna be a great baker. I can feel it.”

Anon looks away embarrassed, and mumbles something under his breath. Though I don’t quite catch it. I nod, and step out of the way for them. “Alright you two. If you need any assistance let me know. Oh and, you should probably wrap that cake up in some plastic wrap you two. I also suggest asking for a ride. The cake won’t survive the trip otherwise.”

The two nod, and dart out of my view. Racing to catch up with their peers as they head to the auditorium to collect their things. I sigh and look around at the cafeteria. I guess even the end of the year has some excitement waiting to be had.