Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a void.

Quiet, white, and clear.

There was nothing.

There was no one. It was all calm. There was no noise whatsoever.

Nothing to disturb or to fill.

Until moments later.

Pictures of various characters fall into the blank white area from a big black hole.

There were all sorts of characters from many media. Said characters are coming to life.

Noises of coughing and groans could be heard from the others.

Everyone was slowly gaining back their consciousness. During the process, something happened.

The void was shaking. No one knew a place such as this one could produce such strong movement.

But with too much underestimation comes the unfortunate consequences.

As the shaking slowly stopped, a black hole opened from what seemed to be the top of this place.

The dark hole stayed still. VERY still.

It was just there. Every couple of seconds it would glitch, but it never bothered anyone.

Everyone's plan now was to try to find a way back home. Well, most of the 200 to 250 characters were unfortunately summoned into this hellhole.

Then suddenly, fire starts falling from the dark black hole, attacking the characters.

Everyone was looking for a way out somehow or some way.

"Guys, I think I found a way out!" Jecka yelled.

They started getting killed by 10s and 20s and barely escaped 50.

As the last few were being blown up, three others managed to shelter themselves rather than leave.

The black hole closed, and they were left with debris, blood, ash, and dust everywhere.

Twilight stopped her magic and fell back weakly.

Shadow coughed and dusted himself off. He was the ultimate life form after all. He could've done something, but there was little to no time to react.

The Chosen One never had a face, but you could feel the shock with the stickman's body, trying to recap the situation that happened in his head.

The three looked around. It was dusty, sad, and dirty.

The place was a void, but somehow it was destroyed.

"This place is absolutely ruined…" Twilight, she whispered.

"The question is how did we get h-"

cough cough...

The trio turns around. Soft coughs and sobs could have been heard not far from them.

Chosen walked closer and closer to the sound until he got to where the sound was coming from, the rest following.

They find a little boy with a green hat in a corner alone. The kid basically thought he was going to die during that moment.

The kid noticed Twilight behind Chosen, and his eyes widened, and he smiled.

Twilight noticed who it was in no time.

"Kyle?"

"Twi!" He hugged the purple Alison, joyous to see a familiar face among all the unrecognizable ones.

"Who are these guys?" he asked.

Chosen waved, not able to show much emotion.

"I'm Shadow the Hedgehog the-"

"Yeah, whatever, hedgehog, I know the rest." Kyle rolled his eyes.

Shadow was stunned but didn't show it… So much sass for a child who seemed to be crying just a minute ago.

"You should consider giving the stickman guy a face, Twilight... he looks bland."

"Oddly enough, I think you're right. Are you okay with that, Stick?"

The Chosen nodded, for the first time in forever, enthusiastically.

"Alright… Stand back, everypony—ah, sorry—everybody."

Twilight positioned herself in infront of Chosen, getting ready to do her spell.

And with a spark of her magic, Chosen finally has a face. He had red eyes and a black outline to match his black skin.

Chosen coughed.

"Does my voice sound so—woahh, that's scary." He let out a light chuckle and then stopped himself.

"Well… you have quite the voice." Shadow complimented.

"Okay, enough with the flirting, assholes. What's your name, stickman?" Kyle put his hands on his hips.

"My name is, uhm… The Chosen One. Chosen for short." He scratched the back of his head.

"Chosen fits you! I'm sure there were other stick figures here that didn't survive, and yet you made it out without even a bleeding limb!" Twilight mentioned.

"Right... speaking of which... I kind of think I broke my arm." Kyle winces.

"Let's get that check out."

Chapter Text

Twilight patted Kyle's bandaged arm lightly.

"There. It should heal soon." She reassured.

"Thanks, Twi." He smiled at her.

"Alright, now how are we going to get out of here? I have to clean my house and convince my brother I don't want to live with our dad again." Chosen said in a stoic tone. It was so emotionless you would think he was joking.

The "room" was quiet, looking at him.

"Can't a stick figure have a complicated family life?" He crossed his arms, an eyebrow raised.

"Well... yes...! But have you ever tried talking to your f-"

"HELL NO." Chosen snapped. No one could convince him to have a talk with his father.

"Calm down, stick figure. Twilight only asked you a question." Shadow said. He was obviously bothered by his action.

As the older three continued bickering, Kyle couldn't help but look around the empty void.

I mean, the kid knew that the chances of them going back home were close to 0, so he was already picturing a home here.

"Wait, guys, are you sure you want to go home? We can start a ne-" Kyle gets cut off.

"I have to fight Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Princess duties...!"

"I have to go back home to rest… and conv-"

"Okay! OKAY! Just shut up! Do you guys even know HOW to get out?" Kyle questioned.

"Easy. Portal." Chosen finally had a bright idea in his minutes of stupidity.

The stick figure opened a portal from the void's floor.

"You guys first." He bowed.

"I'm not going to go because I know it's going to fail miserably." Kyle rolled his eyes.

The other three didn't even say goodbye before jumping in.

It was just Kyle now.

I guess he was cooked since the portal already closed. So he was stuck here. Forever

"WHAT THE FUCK AM I GOING TO DO NOW?" He thought to himself.

He thought it was too late. He thought it was the end for him.

Until...

"Oof!"

"Gah!"

"Ugh..."

Kyle snapped out of his thoughts to see the other three piled on each other.

Kyle tried so hard to hold his laugh.

"Oh, look at that, it FAILED." He snickered.

They got up, cleaning off the "dust" that accumulated during the horrible failure.

"...You saying something about a new...?" Twilight looked at the kid slightly ashamed.

"A new life! We can start over and stuff! I mean, we all left our universe with some issue, right?" Kyle asked.

The older trio looked at each other.

I mean, can you blame them? These were four different beings from different universes with different environments, and they were all different down to their physiques.

"Are we sure about this… I mean, we're all so different and—" Twilight worried.

"Damn Twilight... I didn't know you were RACIST." Kyle hissed out.

"I am NOT. You need to take into consideration we are all different! That is a hedgehog, I'm an alicorn, you're a human, and we have a stickman with us who seems to have a voice identical to Ice Bear from We Bare FUCKING Bears!" Her tone was PISSED. She gritted her teeth as she got closer to Kyle's face.

"We can just learn and adapt to each other! Our habits, diets, or whatever you do! I don't care!"

"HOW?"

Chosen cleared his throat.

"I'm not the talking type, but maybe we could have...conversations...?"

"Oh no, stick figure—"

"Chosen."

"Yes — Chosen — I'm aware that interaction can be a great way to know more about others, but... Shadow is an antihero who acts nonchalant 24/7 from what we know in the media, and you are a stick figure."

"What does him being a stick figure have to do with this conversation, Princess Twilight?" Shadow questioned.

The purple alicorn coughed and sighed.

"Fine. FINE. We'll do Kyle's stupid universe plan. Not like it's going to work with 2 introverts, a 10-year-old who can't even grow older, and an alicorn princess with duties."

Chosen scratched the back of his head.

"My therapist did say socializing after my best friend's death would make me feel better, so I guess we can do this. Fine."

"Can't hurt anyone to not be social."

"This is great! This is awesome!" Kyle jumped up and smiled.

"Question cards?" Twilight summoned a pack of cards with her magic.

"I don't see why not." Shadow shrugged.

"Yeah… uhh… sure." Chosen agreed.

As they were walking a couple of corners down, Chosen heard a familiar voice.

"Do you miss me, Cho? Even after what you did to me?"

He stopped.

Was it what he thought it was? Who did he think it was?

...

"Dark." Chosen, he uttered under his breath.

He turned his head around and saw the red hollow hood just for a split second before he glitched away.

"Did I lose it, or was the bustard actually there?" He blinked, and there was nothing.

"CHOSEN ONE! YOU COMING?!" Kyle yelled at him, snapping him out of his trance.

"Oh—OH! YEAH. UH. GIVE ME A MINUTE."

His alleged schizophrenia can wait; he has a promise to keep.

Chapter Text

The 4 sat somewhere in the void together in a circle with a stack of around 200 cards.

Twilight brags about a card.

"Ooh, this is interesting! What were you known for in your franchise? I'll go first. I am the princess of friendship! Or magic, I don't remember."

"Main character, more specifically the Jewish minority of my friend group." Kyle spoke.

"Sonic's rival. I'm most known for that." Shadow coughed.

"Best friend of an ex-terrorist... and the killer of my supposed brother's wife." The stick figure said casually, as if it were an everyday experience. Something everyone has done, if you will.

The other three looked at him distraught.

"Do you need friendship or a therapist?" Twilight slipped out before covering her mouth.

"Did I say that too casually?" Chosen question.

"What would you like to know, stick figure?" A sarcastic Kyle answered.

"Kyle, shut up." Twilight covered his mouth with her hoof.

"Next... card..."

Chosen grabs a card.

"This is a stupid question; we already answered this." He looked at the card, confused.

"What does it say?" questioned Shadow.

"What's your name?. I mean, fuck, are you sure you made these correctly, Princess? This is basic info." He complained, putting the card down carelessly.

"Oh, I didn't make these! I bought these off Equestrizon for 6 dollars and 20 cents. They have 200 questions in them, and they were homemade! Isn't that crazy?" Her ramble was cut off by Shadow grabbing a card.

"When is your birthday?. Easy, June 19th."

"May 26th!" Replied the red head child.

"And I was born on March 30th!" Twilight answered.

Chosen sat and thought.

"You don't know your birthday?"

"Oh no, I'm sure I do! I just... don't remember."

The stick figure did, in fact, not know his birthday.

Luckily his friendly ghost companion—or, well, enemy—was here to help.

"November 6th, Chosen. November 6th," the phantom hushed as he floated next to his ear.

"Stop talking—oh, thank you. But still. Do me a favor and shut the fuck up." He muttered under his breath again before the red stick figure glitched away.

I guess the answer to the very awaited question helped him forget that he could actively see his dead enemy. He sighed.

"It's November 6th… I was born on November 6th!"

For what felt like an hour or two, the questions went on and on, and the Dark Lord came to help Chosen in times when he was stuck on a question.

From "How old are you?" to "Would you pick apples or 10 thousand dollars in a bad situation?", he was helped through most of it.

In a time like this, it was probably the only time he missed Dark, despite him being able to hear and talk to the guy to the point the other three were considering signing him up for a mental checkup, but thank Cursors he wasn't physically on his ass anymore.

Suddenly, as Twilight grabs the last card, a letter is summoned to the middle.

"WHAT THE HELL?" The squad yelled in unison.

Shadow grabbed the letter and opened it.

It revealed a letter written to them, signed "RCC."

None of them knew an RCC. There is not a single character in fiction with the name RCC.

CC? Yes. RC? By acronym, for sure. CR? Probably not unless they were named Cristiano Ronaldo and had annoying 7-year-old fans.

The letter read:

"Hello, originals. I am the RCC. You will not know who I am because that is none of your business XD. Anyways, happy 2017!!! You guys are quite young, ayy, me tooooo, but anyways, 20 miles from where you are, you'll find a portal, and there you are going to have a neighborhood (a whole universe, I mean), and you are going to live there for the rest of your life, and you are not immortal anymore; you age and die like everyone else :]. Ok, bye, have fun, and KEEP THIS PAPER; DO NOT LOSE IT."
- RCC

The group read the letter in disbelief.

"So who's up for going 20 miles..." Chosen looked around, and everyone just stayed silent.

"At least there's a price at the end. Kyle, get on my back."

"Oh, sweet."

Kyle hopped on Twilight's back as if he was riding a horse back in South Park. Nonetheless, Twilight didn't care. She was a pony after all; it makes sense.

Chosen started floating in the air instead of walking to preserve energy.

"Dude, you can fucking levitate?" Kyle was shocked, mouth gaping open.

"Duh. I'm the Chosen One."

"Who fucking chose your ass for anything?" Shadow remarked sarcastically as he glided his way to the journey.

"I've heard that same line from a CGP Grey copy in 2023."

"We're in 2017."

"We were set back in time, shitgdehog. I'm shocked none of you were confused by that."

"I WAS! I JUST DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING BECAUSE TWILIGHT WAS GOING TO FREAK OUT!" Kyle yelled to the levitating figure.

"Is she that bad?"

"She's schizophrenic and is scared of quesadillas."

"...Good call."

Twilight rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, they're weird and have eggs."

"I think quesadillas are pretty nice. Sonic made me eat one with a chili dog... it wasn't that bad."

"Made you?"

"Made me."

The rest of the path was quite quiet apart from Chosen talking to Dark against his will and the steps of the group.

After what they assumed to be 3 hours, they finally found the portal.

It was small, enough for two people at a time.

"So… who's jumping in first?" questioned Kyle, half asleep.

Chosen looked at the others, who didn't seem to want to go yet.

The stick figure shrugged and jumped in, and soon the other three followed the hollow head.

The spiritual door opened on the other side, dropping everyone on top of each other in a pile.

"Okay, here we—"

Kyle looked around, and his jaw was left open.

"This is a whole fucking city! Awesome, dude!" Kyle clapped in content and shock.

Chosen noticed they were dropped in front of a house that, well, the hollow head assumed was theirs.

He walked up the steps and looked down on the porch.

There was a bunch of keys all on one keychain and two maps.

One of the house and one of a literal planisphere of the world. Not the human world, but it was basically their world now. Their universe.

"Yo, guys, come check this out." Chosen called.

The other three came, looking at the map in awe.

"Woah… there's like 8 continents here… what? There's a fuck ton of countries! Sweet Celestia!"

"Well, duh. I'm pretty sure we're on a completely different planet right now."

Kyle pointed at the star on the map.

"We are in Artstrophica— Who named this shit? This is so stupid. What—why is there a country Yaouri??? Is this where gay people come from?"

Chosen snorted; the possibility was, well, possible, but the concept of that is far from stupid.

"That's where Twilight comes from, that's for sure."

Twilight rolled her eyes.

"Just because I kissed a girl two times doesn't mean I'm gay!"

"And who asked to kiss, though?"

Twilight knew Chosen caught her there. She blushed, looking down while mumbling something inaudible. That card game truly revealed stuff under the surface.

Kyle grabbed the keys from the floor, putting some of the keys in until they found the right one.

"What the—WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THESE KEYS?!" He insulted the child as he put the last key in and got nothing but a locked door.

He kicked the door and was raging at this point.

"THIS SHIT IS SO STUPID."

Twilight looks at the doorknob and at the keys.

Each key was designed for a door in the house, yet not one of them seemed to belong to the front door.

"Oh yeah, you're right, this shit is stupid."

She threw the keys at Chosen before signaling to him that it was his turn to try.

The stick figure noticed that there was a doormat. He's had a house of his own. He knows how this works.

He lifted the doormat, and there they were. Four beautiful golden keys made just for them.

"Have you guys never owned a house before?"

"Yeah, but I just keep the keys in my hat, so..." Kyle shrugged.

"Right... Anyways." Shadow stepped in front of everyone and opened the door.

"Jesus, hedgehog. Slow down." Chosen chuckled out.

"There is no time to slow down; it is at least 9 degrees here in the month of June."

"Whatever."

Shadow opened the door to reveal a BEAUTIFUL house. The smell and colors were amazing, and it was very appealing.

"Sweet mother of Celestia."

"Oh my God."

"Cursors above this is actually so beautiful."

"Oh, this is quite nice."

The group walked through the living room and the kitchen.

As Twilight goes to open a door, it seems to be locked.

The same thing happened to the others with other doors around the house.

"Oh wow, they locked all the doors, and there are at least 20 rooms in this house! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME, DUDE?" Twilight complained.

"20 doors… 4 people. Each person gets 5 keys and opens 5 doors in the house to make things faster. I think that'll work." Kyle suggested.

They thought about it and agreed.

Let's see what rooms they had to open. What is inside these places?