Chapter Text
The moment everyone in Jack's audience starting turning, Discoball dipped. She had a good reason in mind, and she wouldn't stay gone for long. But, someone needed to know about this immediately. And given that they lived in the depths of space, news didn't always reach home right away. Right now, it needed to.
So, Discoball portaled back to the courtyard back home, and immediately started hollering.
"Hey assholes, change of plans! Night Swan's actually jacked, and there's ugly ass swan people everywhere!"
When The Traveler arrived, Discoball decided to cut the talking. Instead, she magically projected her recent memories of what just happened, for The Traveler to watch. As Si'ha Nova and The Showman arrived, their eyes widened. Si'ha Nova covered her mouth. The Traveler's hands balled into fists. Before long, The Showman spoke up.
"Don't."
"Are you serious?" The Traveler turned around.
"If she's getting through to Wanderlust, imagine what she'd do to you. If Night Swan gets her hands on you—"
"I. Don't. Care. That's my son on the line!"
"He was fending her off. He's buying us time! At least come up with a plan!"
The Traveler shook his head. "Here's the plan. Follow me, and if we need to handle this the barbaric way, we do."
"And what if she possesses all of us?" The Showman pointed out. "Who's going to stop her, then?"
"Also, don't y'all need to go to Floworld?"
The three deities turned to look at Discoball, when she suggested that. Si'ha Nova nodded. She looked like she was deep in thought.
"Discoball's right. You and I need to find Arya. We cannot let Night Swan get her hands on her, let alone us. We need to be the ones to talk sense into Selios. Between Arona and Night Swan, she needs to do something. "
"And Wanderlust?"
"I'll keep an eye on things here." The Showman insisted. "Let the boy prove himself. He's got a prophecy coming up! I think he can handle himself while you make sure Arya is alright."
Even hearing this, The Traveler shouldered away from The Showman and walked past Si'ha Nova. She followed him, as a portal opened to the surface of Arya's moon. The two of them stepped through, and the portal closed. The Showman glanced at Discoball, shaking his head.
"Did you see Night Swan?"
"For just a moment, yeah. It was right before I left. She was still walking and talking, shouting something at Jack. He didn't look too pleased. Pretty sure he was gonna punch her lights out."
"Just what has The Secret One been feeding her?" He wondered aloud. "And the kids, I've got to make sure they're all okay…"
"Go find them. Come to Eternyx as soon as you can. We'll be there."
Opening a portal back to Eternyx, Discoball turned back to the fray. She couldn't exactly dance in any traditional sense. But she couldn't leave Wanderlust forever.
"Ruben?"
"What?"
"You want cream or no cream in your coffee?"
"The usual."
Ruben put his headphones back on. He sat in front of a laptop and typed away, furiously editing an essay to make it appear longer than it actually was. Art degrees came with art history courses, and history courses came with essays. Ruben had never been a good writer, but he couldn't exactly have Polo do all of them. And so, he spent another late night writing an essay at the last second. It never got old.
"Yo, Polo?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm gonna order some food, you want any?"
"Yeah, what about the place we went to last week? Do they do takeout?"
"I'll ask."
Pausing his music, Ruben called. Thankfully, the place did do takeout. After ordering, he put the headphones back in. The clocked ticked to 11:59PM. The deadline approached. He still had to put in the actual citations for everything. Inserting little numbers and formatted citations took some time. To try and focus, he turned the volume up. Surely, he had the night to himself.
After several long minutes, Ruben noticed Polo waving at him, miming for him to take the headphones off. Once he did, Ruben immediately heard the sounds of screaming outside. His brow furrowed. That didn't sound like happy screaming.
"Can it wait until I'm done with this?"
"Dude, look outside. Shit's crazy. Bunch of weird bird people outside." Polo shook his head. "I don't think the due date applies anymore."
"Well, let me email my professor at least."
Without getting up from his seat, Ruben opened his email and drafted a quick message. Directly outside his dorm room, he heard slamming doors and hypnotic music. It didn't sway him one bit.
TO: [email protected]
FROM: [email protected]
Cant finish paper due to the impending bird apocalypse
I'm sure you already have the same issue but there are bird people trying to break into my dorm rn so i will not be turning in my essay tonight. sorry my man please do not get eaten by the bird people.
Only then did he save his work and shut his laptop. Getting up, Ruben stretched. He had been sitting for a while. Making his way to the kitchen, he saw Polo putting a couple slices of toast into the toaster.
"Dude, really?"
"I'm hungry." Polo shrugged. "The door's gonna hold for a while, trust me."
"Alright, well hurry it up."
"I want toast, not hot bread."
As he said that, someone began banging on their front door. The hinges shook, but held. The toast eventually popped out of the toaster. Ruben decided to scroll through social media while he waited for Polo to butter and eat his toast. The banging didn't stop.
"Dude, fucking chill!" Polo shouted at the door, jokingly, "Can't a man enjoy his toast in peace?"
Крові, крові, крові, крові
Ні, нe мeртвої — живої
Щоб тeкла, лилась, кипіла
Нe вбивала — щоб творила
В сeрцe, в сeрцe, в сeрцe, в сeрцe
Щоб воно почуло гeрци
Інтeрвали, напівтони
Сили щоб дало ньютони
В м'язи, в м'язи, в м'язи, в м'язи
Схамeнулись щоб одразу
І нeсли мeнe подалі
Мов нeвидимі пeдалі
"How about you ask these invisible pedals to carry you away from my door?"
"Huh?" Ruben asked, fishing around for his hat. "Should we, like… You know what I'm asking."
"Do I?"
"I'm just saying, if the bird people are attacking the whole dorm, we could reasonably argue that defending the whole dorm counts as defending ourselves."
"Well, yeah." Polo shrugged. "Should we do it here, or what?"
"Nah, the pad has more space. Let's bounce."
Finishing the toast, Ruben snapped his fingers. A portal formed behind him, leading to the student pad upstairs. Most of the dorms had one of these. Right now, Ruben found it empty. This late, that was to be expected. It had more than enough room to handle a dance. Between him and Polo, they could at least so something about their immediate neighbors.
Polo followed Ruben into the student pad. Once the portal closed, the two of them got to work.
Fire in the disco
Fire in the Taco Bell
Fire in the disco
Fire in the gates of hell
The glass doors to the student pad locked after 10PM each night. However, given the incessant thumping at the door, Ruben doubted it would hold forever. Not a big deal, either way. He had been in stickier situations. The decorative lights flickered on, a nearby arcade cabinet hummed to life, and an overhead disco ball began to turn.
Don't you wanna know how we keep startin' fires
It's my desire
It's my desire
Don't you wanna know how we keep startin' fires
It's my desire
It's my desire
It's my desire
Danger, danger
High voltage
When we touch, when we kiss
Danger, danger
High voltage
When we touch, when we touch
Danger, danger
High voltage
When we touch and when kiss
Danger, danger
High voltage
When we touch
When we kiss
When we touch
When we kiss
As Polo began miming out a sick saxophone solo, the bird people broke through the door. One of them had salvaged a hammer, probably from someone's apartment. Stumbling into the student pad, they surrounded Ruben and Polo as they kept dancing.
Don't you wanna know how we keep startin' fires
It's my desire
It's my desire
Don't you wanna know how we keep startin' fires
It's my desire
It's my desire
It's my desire
Danger, danger
High voltage
When we touch, when we kiss
Danger, danger
High voltage
When we touch, when we touch
Danger, danger
High voltage
When we touch and when kiss
Danger, danger
High voltage
When we touch
When we kiss
When we touch
When we kiss
Lover!
In no time, the bird people began dancing with Ruben and Polo. All according to plan. In flickering flashes of light, their old bodies began to come back. Just a little bit more.
Fire in the disco!
Fire in the disco!
Fire in the Taco Bell!
Fire in the disco!
Fire in the disco!
Fire in the gates of hell!
With a final burst of effort, the bodysuits and the pink masks dissolved, leaving a handful of Ruben and Polo's neighbors. Around them, all the lights in the student pad had turned back on. Ruben and Polo high-fived one another, Ruben catching wind of some of the things they said.
"Did they just free us…?"
"What's happening?"
"Wait, I was just in my kitchen…"
Next to him, Polo raised his hands and got people's attention. Ruben hoped he wasn't about to impulsively spill the beans. He had done that before, as a joke.
"Aight, so before anyone panics," He said, "I don't know what's going on outside, but I think we should all stay in our homes until we hear otherwise. Got it? We're gonna not panic, and we're gonna quietly go back to our dorms. Got it?"
"…What's going on out there?"
"I just said—"
"Good gods, they're everywhere! Look outside!"
One of the people in the crowd pointed to a nearby window, many of them rushing to get a look outside. Ruben quickly made a portal outside, poking his head out and looking down a nearby street. Sure enough, little mobs of bird people cornered anyone they found on the street, that same eerie melody echoing all around them, verses overlapping each other in an endless pattern. Before anyone could notice, Ruben stepped back inside and closed the portal. Just in time, too. Everyone except for him and Polo scrambled for the exits. He didn't try to stop them. Neither did Polo.
"Alight, I tried."
"Yup." Ruben sighed. "There go my plans for the weekend, I guess…"
"What plans? You can still play Race Legends 6 and reheat some pizza rolls, even if the birds are taking over the world."
"Yeah, but it's not the same…"
"I guess. Hey, do we have any eggs at home?"
"I think. When's the last time we got groceries?"
"It's been a while." Polo shook his head. "Maybe Orion's got some—"
Just then, a portal appeared. Out stepped The Showman, hurrying a familiar face through. Unai! Polo's eyes lit up, and he immediately clapped Unai on the shoulder. He didn't look too pleased.
"Hey, what's up?"
"I nearly got mobbed by a bunch of freaks in masks."
"Shit, you too? Hey, Showman, what's up with you and Unai?"
The Showman raised an eyebrow. "You mean, my son?"
"Your… What?" Ruben asked. "Wait, did you tell us about him?"
"I thought I had. It doesn't matter right now. Can you just keep an eye on him? I have about a dozen other stops to make."
Once Ruben nodded, The Showman stepped through another portal and left. That left Unai alone with him and Polo. Ushering him out of the student pad and down the stairs, Unai started asking questions. Ruben always dreaded this part.
"Okay, are one of you going to tell me how you know my father?" He asked. "You've literally never brought this up before!"
"I would have, if I knew." Polo said. "I thought I knew about all his kids…"
"That doesn't really answer my question."
"We're friends from work. If you know what I mean." Ruben spoke up. "Let's just get you back to our dorm. It's one of the safest places in the Danceverses to be, right now."
Thankfully, Unai fell quiet. Either he had no more questions, or he was out of breath. Ruben was grateful, either way. This wasn't a conversation to have while the world was ending outside.