[FRAG] Keep A Secret

Morning Star stepped off the teleport pad, breathing in slowly.

It was just so... small.

He let his eyes slowly glide over the miniscule, floating island. It wasn't too large; it could house a city street with ease, sure, but a skyscraper would dwarf it easily. There were a few scattered buildings, but a clear path winding up a hill to the most central of them all, directly across the way from the teleportation pad. 

The Haven. Not quite, no. A checking area, to vet newcomers before allowing them in. Wage had agreed to meet him here, on behalf of Sundae.

He was really doing this. He was going to go talk to Wage. He still felt woefully underprepared; just a week ago he'd been working on the cure with Magnotris, with that being the culmination of his life. And now here he sat, about to bring down the walls between the Coalition and the Haven like he was some sort of diplomat. Morning Star clenched a hand; he wasn't a fancy ambassador or hero, he was just some - some dumbass secretary who got too big for his pants.

But here he was now, and self-depreciation would get him nowhere.

Somehow, he had to meet up with Wage - deputy of the Haven, Sundae's closest confidante - and convince him to reopen the Haven borders. Okay, well, actually, he was probably just going to convince them to open up discussion. Open borders was kind of out of the question. 

He'd been shipped off after touching base again with Jubilee. Teleported to some "neutral" third ground that Jubilee and Sundae had arranged. Apparently they were on good enough terms to decide the location for something like that, but not for establishing any sort of communication with each other. It was kind of weird. He wasn't sure which side distrusted the other more.

Then again, Jubilee seemed to be pushing pretty hard for Morning Star to do this. Clearly he had some vested interest. But why? And why did it seem like it was such a personal project for him? Morning Star could see plenty of benefits for why the COR and Haven could befriend again - maybe even establish a better cycle of work for the Fragments, provide a solid front against the Shards, access to Sundae's extreme magical ability....

Well, on the other hand, Morning Star now had access to that magic, too. He was just totally unrefined in it. How long had Sundae had to practice before he could generate such a large pocket reality like the Haven? Could Morning Star do that one day, too?

Augh, so many questions. His head was swimming with anxiety and concern, apprehension and excitement. He'd never thought he'd get to do something like this. He was a diplomat now, right? 

Okay, no, time to focus. Morning Star peered at his surroundings. Nobody was here. Was Wage waiting for him in one of the buildings? In hindsight, this hadn't been very clear. There was that clear headquarters building, but was he supposed to just waltz up and knock?

Roseline stepped closer to him, hands linked behind their back. They cast a wary glance at the area, humming softly. "I don't see any belligerents, boss, do you wanna-"

"HELLO THERE!"

Morning Star stumbled backwards, blinking rapidly, while Roseline darted ahead, a small bubble-shield formed around them in a split second. 

There was a Frag in front of them. He wasn't sure how he hadn't noticed them before. They stood, two curled horns on their head, small dragonesque wings. Upon realizing that Morning Star was staring at them, their smile grew several inches. 

"Good even-morning!" they chirped, then awkwardly jabbed a hand out. "You must be Morning Star!"

Roseline stared for a second longer before glancing to Morning Star. At the Overseer's nod, the shield around them was dropped. Daintily, Morning Star accepted their hand and gingerly shook it. "Yes, he-him. Are you Wage? You don't look like how I was told you do...."

"Oh, no, I'm not Wage!" they grinned. "My name is Rinny. I'm a, uh, like a doorgreeter? Er, greeter, that's it, I'm a greeter. For the Haven."

Morning Star tilted his head, "I didn't know there would be one. Nice to meet you!"

"It's nice to meet you too! I've heard aaaaaalll about you!"

Oh, jeez. He was never going to hear the end of that from complete strangers. Morning Star awkwardly smiled. "The news reached you guys?"

"Well yeah! It reaches everywhere! I'm sure not a single person doesn't know who you are."

Morning Star blinked, then rubbed at the back of his head. There was a weird tingle for a split second. "Ah, well, that's how it is sometimes. Do you know where Wage is?"

"Oh he's right over there, you must've missed him." Rinny pointed further up the trail.

Morning Star blinked, looking up. Sure enough, someone was coming down the trail, picking their way casually and confidently. Now they looked familiar - bobbing pink hair, a smattering of pink freckles. Wage definitely looked related to the rest of his family. It was quite exceptional. 

He waved as soon as he caught Morning Star staring, and Morning Star blushed slightly before waving back. Rinny stepped to the side, smile never leaving their face, as Wage trotted over. He gave Morning Star a small smile, then glanced from Roseline to Rinny, squinting slightly.

Okay. Okay, here he was, Wage himself, deputy of the Haven, second-in-command of the faction, Sundae's closest friend, protector and guy who definitely didn't totally abandon his family the same way Morning Star did and bail and find somewhere else to go and oh stars he was panicking but he really had to make the first words count, had to leave a good impression-

"Hi my Morning Star name is," Morning Star awkwardly barked out.

Oh no.

Wage blinked at his expression, which only resulted in him flustering further. Oh no he'd totally gone and blew it. He'd just fucked up saying his own name to Wage. Now Wage would think he was an absolute dumbass, and he'd either try to manipulate Morning Star or he'd just laugh him out of the room and what would Morning Star say when he got home, hanging his head? What could he tell Jubilee? That he'd failed? What kind of Overseer was he?! 

A giant grin spread over Wage's face as he giggled slightly, lifting a hand to try to smother them. "Hi there! My Wage's name is too," he snickered, the corners of his mouth visible around his hand.

Morning Star blinked, feeling the warmth leave his cheeks slightly. "Er - I didn't mean to say it like that!"

"Haha no stars it's okay, that's great, I'm nervous too," Wage laughed out, all in one sentence.

"Huh?"

Giggles subsided, Wage lowered his hand and gave a curt nod, but he was still smiling. "Oh, yeah, Sundae never ever lets me do this sort of thing. I mean, I offered to come talk to you, but usually he just tells me no. So when he said yes I was pretty excited but also like pretty nervous! My first real job."

"Oh. Oh!" Morning Star inhaled slowly. "Y-yeah, this is my first time doing anything like this, too." Something inside of him felt okay.

"Yeah, I'd imagine! Sundae's always said good things about you, though." Wage squinted at the floor. "Dunno why he didn't want to talk to you himself. Guess he wanted us to meet? Sometimes the guy works in mysterious ways."

"I know what you mean!" Morning Star half-laughed, before catching himself and trying to swallow the amusement.

Wage glanced up, raising an eyebrow, smile never gone. It was actually a rather pleasant questioning expression. Morning Star was probably a bit too used to getting glared down, infuriated silence being the prompter of answers. This was... nice. 

"Er, like, Magnotris does the same thing sometimes," he awkwardly responded, rubbing an arm, "like he'll tell me to do something or he goes off and does something without explaining. Makes my anxiety skyrocket, but he's been trying to be better about that."

"Hah yeah I totally know whatcha mean! Sundae's all about that cryptic shit. And I'm just, talk to me, Sundae!"

Morning Star laughed. He clamped his hands over his mouth right after, eyes wide. Had he really just done that in front of Wage? In front of, technically, his enemy? Should they even be talking like this to each other? Was he doing everything right or wrong? Was it a mix of the two?

"What's wrong?" 

Morning Star screwed his eyes shut, "I'm s-sorry," fuck don't stutter, "if i overstepped my boundaries o-or anything! Like we just met and...." he plastered his hands over his face, trying to still his breathing.

"Nah, you're fine."

He peeked between two fingers at Wage.

"You're a nice guy, Morning Star," Wage said, easily, a small smile on his face. "Got a good, genuine honesty to you. That sorta thing's in high demand nowadays. I see why Jubilee wanted to send you."

"Oh!" he blushed again, slightly, letting his hands slide down and rest on his cheeks instead. "Th-thank you."

"Yeah! No problem." Wage wrapped an arm around his shoulders, "come on, let's head into the office. You can bring your friends."

All four trudged up the path, up to the primary building on the island. Wage opened the door, stepping aside to hold it open. Morning Star quietly thanked him, but nobody else said anything. 

The inside was nice. It was wooden and homely, with some rugs laid down to keep the floor warm. Morning Star glanced at either side of the hallway, at lines of doors, as Wage led them to a larger double set at the end. He opened them into a small meeting room, with a circular table.

"I figure we can just use this room," he offered, with a smaller smile. "We use it to vet new Havenites, interview 'em. See if they're actually gonna like it here or not."

"What if they don't like it?" Morning Star politely inquired, sitting in a chair and folding his hands in his laps.

"Then we KILL EM!" Wage threw up his arms, wriggling his fingers.

Morning Star's ears flattened against his head and he drew himself back slightly, eyes wide.

"Oh- uh, no, I'm joking," Wage offered, weakly, before lowering his arms sheepishly and sitting in a chair a few to Morning Star's left. "We just wipe their mind of the location and let them go... we really don't kill people."

"Well that's good," Morning Star managed. Roseline sat down on his right side. Rinny lingered before finding a place next to Roseline. "Kinda worried me for a second, haha!"

"Sometimes my sense of humor's a little too morbid!"

He could find some comfort in Wage's nervous smile. Yeah. This was their first time, together. They were messing up a little bit... together. It'd be okay. He could breathe.

"It's alright," Morning Star replied, evenly, allowing himself a smile.

Wage grinned back. "That's good to hear! Let's get down to business, though. I doubt you or I wanna stay here too long."

"Right."

"So." Wage leaned on the table. "Gimme your mission statement."

Oh stars he should've prepared more than not at all- "Er - my goal is to... encourage the Haven and Coalition to open a line of communication between each other, and perhaps eventually g-gain an alliance."

Wage hummed. "Define communication for me. What are your expectations?"

"Just to have... better dialogue than we do now, I th-think. So people in the COR can communicate with their friends who live in the Haven now, and vice versa. So we're not as... isolated."

"What about the alliance? What does the COR expect of us?"

"Just... er... I think J-Jubilee wants Sundae to be able to help if something goes wrong." honestly, Morning Star had no idea. He just had to think reasonably....

"Sundae's got his hands full with the Haven."

"Oh-" come up with something come up with something "-well, more of like. I think more like, g-give Sundae a voice among the Overseers. Like, so he can bring up concerns. And people are allowed to c-come into the Haven if they need a break, and then leave later if they want. S-so it's not all or nothing. And we'd s-support the Haven if it ever got attacked or anything."

Wage hummed, cupping his chin in a hand.

Morning Star swallowed. "W-we've just been separated for so long. And I think nobody wants to b-be, like, enemies with each other. We have a common enemy, neither of us like the Shards. Y'know? I think it's be b-better to have that... open line between us. And I understand if you g-guys are wary! Because it's been so long, and you wanted to leave the COR in the first place! But I think it's worth it to try to-"

"-You've convinced me."

Morning Star blinked, mouth open.

Wage snickered behind a hand at his expression. "Come on, don't look that shocked! I see what you're saying and I can see where the sense in what you're saying is. You're right, people here miss their friends, even if they love the Haven. And... don't tell Sundae, but-" he leaned forwards, "I'd like for him to have a little less stress worryin' about us getting attacked all the time. If you can offer support...."

"Yes! Of course!" Morning Star chirped. His mind instantly shot to wondering if he even had the credentials to promise such a -

- He was an Overseer. Of course he had the credentials. He could totally arrange, all on his own, a personal guard for the Haven, to keep it safe. He could help people. He could help people. No more going through bureaucracy and hoping that someone higher up would read his reports in time and OK his safety measures. He could just will something into action now.

The thought made him feel kind of giddy.

Wage smiled. "I'm really glad. Thank you. Obviously Sundae will have the final word, but I can convince him that it's worthwhile, trust me."

"I trust you!" er - that was probably cheesy to say. Wage just laughed a little, though. Morning Star smiled.

That was. Easy. It was easy and simple, and Wage was nice and understanding. He'd worked himself up into an anxious mess over nothing. Which, well, wasn't anything new to him, but it was always strangely foreign every time it happened. He had to remind himself to breathe and take it easy.

"Is that all you needed?" Wage asked.

Morning Star nodded, unable to keep the smile off his face. "Yeah!"

Wage stood, and Morning Star quickly followed. He headed for the doors, pulling one open, "Guess I'll escort you back to the teleport pads, then, eh?"

"Oh, sure!"

A bit of his shirt was pulled. Morning Star glanced down, to Roseline's hand clenching his fabric, and then up at the other's face. There was a sparkle in their eyes that he hadn't quite noticed before. Did Roseline always make that face?

'I wanna talk with you before we go!' they chirped, telepathically. 

He blinked. 'Why can't you wait til we get back?'

'I'M REALLY EXCITED!'

"D-" Morning Star started, before turning back to Wage, "do you have a room where I can talk to Roseline real fast in? Privately?"

Wage squinted, but the smile didn't leave his face. "Yeah, sure. Door on the left closest to the front door's a closet, you can use that. I'll wait outside with your friend." 

Morning Star absently nodded, beelining for the stated door. Roseline wasn't more than a step behind him, and nearly yanked the door closed behind him once they were inside the closet.

"Is something wrong?" Morning Star asked, glancing up and down at the other. 

Roseline was shaking slightly, hands held up to their face, eyes wide, a massive grin on their features. "NOPE," they squeaked out, voice breaking slightly.

"Are you okay-?"

"THAT WAS INCREDIBLE, MORNING STAR!!!"

Morning Star opened his mouth, but his brain suddenly clogged. He inhaled as blush spread over his features. "O-Oh!"

"That was AWE-INSPIRING! You, like, totally convinced Wage with like three sentences! That's the most amazing thing I've ever seen in my entire life what the heck!!"

"I-"

"I'm so fucking glad I get to be around you! You're so goddamn inspiring!" Roseline was full-on gushing, tears nearly in their eyes as they stumbled over sentences and syllables in their energy, "Every time we go out on a mission I just can't wait to see what awesome things you do next! You're always going around and helping everyone, you're doing so much good! You're like, this amazing awesome warm person and I just wanted to like, tell you that 'cause you really need to hear that as often as possible!! Seriously!!"

"You think I did good?" Morning Star peeped.

Roseline's smile stretched ear to ear. "Totally! You're so awesome, Morning Star! Like, everything you do is so cool! I'm so happy I get to be your bodyguard! I get to see you do all these really badass things and be, like, this super nice person all the time! I love it! I love being around you! I wouldn't trade this for the WORLD!"

Even though he'd known he'd done well, objectively, hearing it from someone else warmed his heart so deeply that it almost ached. People believed in him. People thought he was amazing! People respected what he did! It was an incredible feeling, one he'd never felt before. His own merits had raised him and helped him. His ideals were solid, and people trusted in them. 

He could help others. He could help people! He could fix the whole world!

Morning Star couldn't help but smile back, lifting his hands slightly to try to hide how much of his face had turned pink. "I'm - I'm really glad to hear that, Roseline. Thank you."

"Yeah, of course!! Anytime! I just really wanted to tell you this stuff before we got back to the Coalition and distracted, 'cause I figured you'd go tell Jubilee right away and- and yeah!"

He gave a firm dip of his head, then looked towards the closet door. "We - we should head back out. I don't want to leave Wage waiting too long."

Roseline nodded, then paused. Morning Star glanced back, tilting his head again. After a pregnant second, Roseline darted forwards to wrap Morning Star up in a tight hug. He yelped, feeling his wings squish against his back from the bear hug.

But it was nice. Warm and nice. He wrapped his arms around Roseline, too, feeling the other nuzzle a little into his shoulder. He'd done it. He'd done good. He'd succeeded.

He fucking succeeded.

Roseline let him go, pulling back but keeping the smile firm on their face. Morning Star nodded back at them, then turned to grasp the door handle.

Morning Star emerged from the side room, Roseline on his heels. He felt the other's hand resting comfortably on the small of his back. It sort of reminded him of Sterling, in a way. Genuine honesty. Some sort of warmth. Was that charisma? Was he just a trustworthy person? Maybe if he was better at introspection, he could answer his own questions. But he wasn't, and they floated around forever in the emptiness of his mind.

When he came back to the Coalition, he needed to meet up with Sterling again. He missed Sterling. They'd been chatting through text every now and then, but he'd just felt so busy that it was hard to justify taking a trip out to the other's Timeline. Wasn't that awful to think about? No, Sterling would understand. They'd get together and hang out and swap stories and talk about the future. Maybe he could even get Jubilee and the other Overseers to apologize to Sterling.

And then after that he had to go see Hour Star. Just sit down and talk to his brother, for real, for once. Try to rebuild the bridge they'd never really had. After seeing Wage's family... he just couldn't shake some deep-rooted sense of fear building within him. He didn't want to hate Hour Star forever. He just hoped Hour felt the same around him.

Roseline's hand tightened in Morning Star's shirt, jolting him out of his thoughts. He paused as the other lifted a hand to their lips, gesturing to the front door of the office building. Morning Star squinted, ears swivelling forwards to catch the dredges of Wage's voice.

"...are you from?"

What? Was there someone else out there? Someone new to the Haven, perhaps?

Morning Star glanced to Roseline, eyebrow cocked. Roseline shrugged, looking perplexed. He couldn't hear Rinny's voice - had they gone home? Maybe he was greeting the new Havenite?

He stepped forwards, pushing open the door. Wage glanced up, tearing his eyes from Rinny to shoot Morning Star a little smile. Rinny stood next to him, hands balled into fists, shoulders shaking.

Morning Star furrowed his forehead. "Who were you talking to?"

"Your friend!" Wage said, pointing at Rinny. "They're not very talkative, though, are they? Don't like strangers?"

"Huh? They're not my friend."

"They came in with you, didn't they?"

Morning Star looked slowly to Roseline. "N...No, I only came in with Roseline-"

At that, Wage's eyes widened in abject fear and he took several fast paces away from Rinny, raising his hands. The other's eyes flicked to him, arms starting to shake from some sort of pent-up emotion. 

"Rinny said they were part of the Haven," Morning Star tried, weakly, stepping back as well. He bumped into the office's door.

"How did you get in here?" Wage near-hissed, reaching behind himself, hand lit with magic. He snapped his fingers and the magic dissipated. "You Shards?"

"No," Rinny said, voice strained and tiny.

"Listen, we don't take kindly to intruders," Wage began, "so if you value your life I'd start talkin pretty soon, buddy-"

Rinny hissed something under his breath, before loudly snarling, "Can you shut the fuck up, you stupid baby?" Wage winced and snapped his fingers again, more frantic, in full view of everyone. Rinny narrowed his eyes at the gesture. "What is that? Is that a distress ping?"

"It's-"

"-You're calling Sundae," Rinny said, realization dawning in his voice.

Roseline took Morning Star's wrist tightly. There was a whisper of telepathy. 'We should bolt for the teleport pad, Morning Star.'

He had no idea what was going on, but honestly, that was the most sensible thing that they could do. He could feel deep anxiety bubbling up from his chest. He'd trusted Rinny. He'd just thought they were a regular Havenite. Why were they here? Why'd they greet him? Augh, he was not cut out for Overseer work!

Morning Star opened his mouth to reply, but Rinny's head swivelled to them both, eyes boring into the other's, "I would NOT try to teleport out if I were you."

"Uh-"

"You think I didn't HEAR what you two SAID!?"

Roseline took a definitive step in front of Morning Star, throwing up a shield. Rinny snorted, throwing both hands out to his side. They lit with a bright yellow magic.

Morning Star stared at it. In seeming slow motion, Rinny's hands moved to point directly at the duo. He could see magic crackling. Really, he should do something. Anything. He was an Overseer. He didn't need protection. He was Blessed. He needed to help.

Morning Star lifted a hand. He could feel something vibrating in his very veins, something deep. A spark of deep purple magic traveled down his arm and ignited in his palm, glowing into a large ball as it charged in a split second.

There was a blink of horrified realization in Rinny's eyes before the magic exploded from Morning Star's hand, and slammed full-force into Rinny's chest.

Morning Star's eyes followed Rinny as he was launched into the air, much higher than his tiny wings could slow him from. He watched the blood and tears arc through the air after him, the front of Rinny's shirt stained horribly. It wasn't quite red, but he wasn't sure what else it could be but blood. Really, everything felt surreal. Was he dissociating?

He watched as Rinny slammed into the side of a building down the hill, the wood splintering and cracking, but not breaking. Rinny slid to the ground, shoulders shaking as fresh pain overwhelmed him. After a second, Morning Star pulled his hand back to his chest, staring down at his palm.

He'd done that.

"It's just not fair!" Rinny shouted, struggling to his feet. Morning Star could feel something flickering in his skull. "You don't even KNOW what's going on! You don't know anything!"

Wage glanced between Morning Star and Rinny, hands still raised defensively. He looked even more terrified. "I- hey, let's all calm down here-"

"Neither of you know anything! You don't even know why you're doing this! This whole stupid Haven thing is just a useless distraction!" genuinely, Morning Star was surprised Rinny hadn't screamed himself hoarse yet. His voice was so, so loud in his head, like it was vibrating around his brain case. "If Sundae hadn't gone and started it we wouldn't have been set back so far!"

Morning Star looked to Wage, but he looked equally as confused. Wasn't Wage supposed to be Sundae's confidante? He'd probably know what was going on, right?

Fuck, he was probably scared of Morning Star, too, now. Even if Sundae had the same magic, he was sure Sundae didn't go around harming innocents. The anxiety was bad, coupled with bile in his throat - the worst hot, burning sensation he could think of, eating away at him. He didn't want to be bad. He didn't want to hurt people. He had to be good, had to help others. That was why he was Blessed. Couldn't lose sight of helping others.

Wait. Wait, maybe this could be his chance to help the Havenites, show that he really was willing to go the extra mile for them. Maybe he could try to de-escalate.

"Hey," Morning Star piped up, after a second. "I think w-we were all just startled because we didn't know who you were. M-maybe if you explain why you're here, we c-can help you with whatever you wanted."

That sounded stupid, but Rinny looked up anyways. Morning Star winced at the pure fury on the other's expression. Bad plan. Fuck. Fuck.

"You," Rinny spat, "you're one of Pya's fucking pet projects."

Morning Star tried to open his mouth to reply, but his mind well and truly blanked. 

Rinny squinted, then took a wobbly step forwards, like he didn't understand how legs work. "If I bring you back, it's - it'll be as good as - yeah, yeah, come here!" 

Morning Star pressed up against the office door the best he could, feeling a bolt of adrenaline fly through him. Roseline stepped forwards, hands lighting up as they reinforced the shield. "Do NOT approach the Overseer! This is your final warning!"

"Get out of my fucking face," Rinny spat.

He flicked his wrist to the right. Morning Star blinked, and in that tiny timeframe, he felt a rush of air blow against him. Slowly, he tilted his head in time to realize Roseline had just been flung off the side of the island.

Roseline had just been...

flung off of the...

Morning Star screeched, the noise sounding empty in his ears. He scrambled, throwing a hand out, trying to catch Roseline with magic, with anything. There was blood all over the other Frag. No. Nonnono. This wasn't happening. No. Not after - no, no nonononono-

Purple magic pinched the back of Roseline's shirt. They swung violently at the stop in momentum, but came to a rest, groaning softly in pain. Morning Star beamed, glancing down at his own hands. He couldn't believe he'd - his hands weren't glowing.

That wasn't his magic.

"I'm sorry, Wage," came a new voice. A familiar voice. Morning Star looked up, eyes locking with Sundae, who was hovering above the group, wings flapping gently. "I came as quick as I could, I didn't realize-"

Sundae's voice died in his throat as his eyes fell on Rinny. 

"Wage!" Sundae screamed, pure panic in his voice, "TELEPORT, NOW!"

Rinny lunged for Wage just as the other managed a "what". The two fell to the ground, Wage instantly kicking up a struggle as Rinny's hands lit with magic again. Sundae let out a horrified scream, dropping Roseline to divebomb the grappling duo.

Morning Star lunged, throwing out his arms. Roseline fell into them with a pained grunt.

"Are you okay?" he half-whispered, voice broken and high.

Roseline rubbed at their eyes slowly before lowering their arm to give Morning Star a weak smile. They were missing a tooth. "Hey, boss, I'll be alright, just gotta take me back to HQ-"

"LET WAGE GO!"

Morning Star looked up. Wage was suspended in midair, held in some sort of yellow magic, all limbs pinned to his body. There were cut marks and tears on his face. Rinny's hand was open, under Wage, and he was grinning so awfully at Sundae - the latter had taken to the skies again, but wasn't moving any closer.

"You - you should help them," Roseline managed. Morning Star looked down at them. Roseline nodded again, patting his wrist. "I'll be okay. I promise."

"I can't believe both of you are here," Rinny said, and his voice felt like a hammer in Morning Star's brain. Roseline winced similarly. Why was the sensation so familiar- "You're like a pack of SITTING DUCKS!"

"You SHOULDN'T BE HERE!" Sundae screamed, throwing up his hands, which ignited with Pyatiugolnik magic. "GET OUT OF MY HAVEN!"

You think some prissy little fucking PYA magic is GOING TO STOP ME!? Rinny shouted, his voice a horrible crescendo. It was inside of Morning Star, so deep inside he couldn't think without it in his brain. He could feel pure rage building inside of him.

Sundae just screamed, throwing the magic downwards. It ignited into a beam, slamming right into Rinny, who went flying again. Wage fell to the ground unceremoniously, groaning in time to Rinny's pained scream.

Morning Star stood slowly. His vision was swimming. He didn't mean to be so useless, he swore. It was just hard to think. Hard to focus. Was this even real? Was this really happening? 

Rinny stood. He was much taller than before. He had a single horn on his head. And when he opened his eyes, Morning Star felt every drop of blood in his body turn to ice. 

Rendgen. How could he have been so stupid to not realize earlier.

Panic was the next thing that flooded his system. He could taste rage still - Rendgen's rage, desperation, eagerness, but it was a backdrop to panic. He needed to do something, something, anything, anything-

-Oh oh oh oh OH everyone had to learn Pyatiugolnik's incantation. He could summon Pyatiugolnik. That was what he was supposed to do if Rendgen ever attacked.

What was it again

fuck it was hard to think

YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE A LOT OF FUCKING GALL TRYING TO TELEPORT ME OUT!

His skull hurt so badly, but he could see Sundae charging up another attack would it even be enough? Rendgen didn't even have a bruise

How could he have been so stupid and let this happen just remember the fucking incantation think think concentrate

WELL WE'LL SEE WHO'S LAUGHING! I'LL TAKE YOU HOME TO JUBILEE! HE'LL BE SO FUCKING HAPPY TO HAVE BOTH OF YOU LITTLE FUCKING BASTARDS AND THEN HE CAN FIX EVERYTHING! AND THEN HE CAN COME HOME LIKE HE'S SUPPOSED TO! 

It was so loud in his HEAD

maybe HE'LL FUCKING KILL YOU BOTH AFTERWARDS! I SURE HOPE SO!

Morning Star blinked, slowly. Sundae moved, and the purple magic fired, but Rendgen shielded bubbled something it deflected

The world tilted right and left again. It was hard to think. He could see Sundae swaying, stumbling about in midair, like there was some sort of earthquake. Like he couldn't stand upright.

He watched a hand close around Sundae's torso, an entire hand

HAH I can't BELIEVE how easy it was to trick you two! So fucking easy! Pya picked the stupidest Frags!

Morning Star stumbled backwards, tried to, but something closed around his torso, too. It squeezed, and he felt fingers squish his wings against his back. Rendgen stood again, and Morning Star could see every last one of his sharp teeth, see his x-shaped pupils boring right into him.

Let's head BACK to my base of operations... and get ready FOR THE EXECUTION OF THE PLAN!!!