[FRAG] Keep A Secret

"This is your final chance," Jubilee said, voice still twisted.

There was no response. Only cool, dead silence; a dead silence he hadn't heard in literal millennia; a dead silence so deeply unfamiliar that it only unnerved him more. 

"Please, you have to say something," he whispered.

Emptiness. 

Jubilee breathed out slowly, putting his face in his hands and leaning forwards. No. No no, no no, this wasn't happening. This wasn't real. He needed to go back into his office and say something comforting, some sort of platitude to smooth this over. No. He wasn't going to let this slip away from him - he wasn't going to let this get taken away from him! 

He'd wasted too fucking much of his life trying to make sure all the dominoes lined up perfectly, and every time he got just close enough, they all toppled out of order. Why couldn't things just go right for him once? It was too much to ask for success....

Jubilee inhaled, scrubbing at his face. Breathe. Breathe. Think. Think. He had to walk back in there with a comforting, concerned expression, and a gentle sentence that could quell worries and smooth tensions. He had to be a diplomat. He had to play every part he needed to.

"Rendgen, this is your final fucking chance, please, just say anything to me," Jubilee whispered.

Nothing.

He stepped away from the wall, trying to keep the tremble out of his legs. Wordlessly, like a machine, he marched across the hallway to the door of his private office. He could still see the silhouette of Wage, seated in a nice plush chair, through the frosted window. 

Be a good Overseer. Be a sensible leader. Solve the problems. Don't lose to frustration. Swallow all pride. Head up with dignity. 

Jubilee breathed and opened the door. He strode in quietly to his desk, but didn't sit. Wage's eyes were glued to him as soon as he'd stepped foot into the room. 

There were papers on his desk, but they weren't relevant now. He barely remembered what he'd been doing before Wage and Roseline had stumbled in. Jubilee stared at the documents for a second before shoving them to the side stiffly. Not important. Not important. Stupid simple COR work. 

He turned to the room. Wage was curled in the chair, knees against his chest, arms wrapped around his legs, covered in a plethora of scratches and bruises. Roseline had moved to sit on the floor against the far wall, staring aimlessly into space, tears streaking down their face. They hadn't stopped crying since Wage had helped usher them in.

"I'm sorry that this happened," Jubilee spoke, trying to keep his voice level despite the panic he knew he was tasting, "please, I implore you both to stay here while I go put together a team to rescue Sundae and Morning Star. You will be safe on COR grounds. I've already informed Suza of what happened. He will keep you safe."

"Who's that?" Wage asked, voice cracking pathetically.

Jubilee held his gaze. He knew he couldn't begin to fathom the kind of pain going through the other's head right now. Well, he could, but he knew better than to make any assumptions. There was a broken look in Wage's eyes, one he didn't remember ever seeing on the other. Survivor's guilt, caretaker burnout. It had consumed him in that brief respite between escaping Rendgen's clutches and heading to the COR.

"Suza is a Magnitude Fragment," he said, calmly and slowly. "They are on-call at the headquarters for situations just like this. His power will be enough to hold off Rendgen, should he seek to interfere here."

"Okay," Wage softly whispered. He put his chin on his knees, staring at the floor.

Jubilee nodded, turning towards the door. "Roseline, please... stay here, too. Do not blame yourselves - either of yourselves. You had no idea what Rendgen was capable of."

But he did. He was Rendgen's best friend partner fuck buddy all of the above. He knew what Rendgen could do. Had he just... assumed Rendgen would obey his word? Did Rendgen believe that losing the last remnants of Jubilee's trust was worth it? His mind wandered back to the conversation he'd had with Profound. He'd always considered himself knowledgeable about the Magnitude Fragments, Rendgen most of all. 

And now look at the mess his negligence had caused. How utterly stupid of him.

"The Haven's still there," Wage piped up. His voice was tiny. "So Sundae has to still be alive. I mean, the backup generators aren't running."

Jubilee paused. He hadn't thought Rendgen would murder the duo, but it did make sense for an outsider to assume such a thing. "Thank you for the information. That is a relief. We have time to save them."

"Please... please save him."

"Of course." Jubilee finally allowed a smile, the most comforting he could muster. Wage's stare was full of tears. "He'll be back in your arms before you know it."

He stepped out of the room, pulling the door shut behind him. Another Frag was waiting outside, a smile on their face, eyes focused only on Jubilee. Magnotris was behind them, looking perplexed and nervous.

Jubilee gave a nod to the newcomer. "Suza."

Suza's smile disappeared, and a somber expression took its place. "I got Magnotris, like you asked. Told Profound, and told him not to tell anyone else."

"Jubilee, the fuck is going on?" Magnotris muttered.

Jubilee stepped forwards, putting an arm on Magnotris' shoulder to steer him away from the office. "Take care of Wage and Roseline, Suza."

"Gotcha, Joobs."

"Jubilee," Magnotris hissed. He was kind of hard to push, really, but Jubilee had moved much more immobile mountains. "If you don't give me a decent answer in five minutes I'll-"

"-Calm down, first of all," he cut the other off. "Second, I'm recruiting you for a top-secret Overseer mission."

They turned a corner down the hallway. Jubilee quickened pace. 

Magnotris made a face, then glanced over his shoulder at where they'd come from. "Who was that?" 

"A friend."

"Now is not the time for fucking bullshit, Jubilee." Magnotris paused, and then bristled, shoulders raising, "Did something happen to Morning Star? Is that why you grabbed me? Is that why Wage is in the building?"

No point delaying the inevitable. "Yes."

Magnotris stopped. Jubilee stumbled, then huffed, turning to face the other. Really, the last thing they needed was wasted-

A resounding crack rang through the hall. Jubilee blinked, slowly, at the sudden aching pain in his neck and cheek. He tenderly reached up to touch the newly-forming handprint embedded in his fur. That was most definitely a slap. He'd just been slapped. By Magnotris.

For fuck's sake, he didn't have time for this.

"I fucking TOLD YOU Sundae couldn't be trusted!" Magnotris shouted. "And you still fucking made him go to the Haven, right into the den of SNAKES! Sundae's probably-"

"-It's not Sundae," Jubilee interrupted, setting off down the hall again. 

Magnotris stomped after him, too caught up in curious anger to stop himself. "One of his lackeys, then! It still counts!"

"Rendgen is not a lackey of Sundae, I don't think, Magnotris."

"Wh- You- Rend-"

"Listen, I know. I'm equally as astonished. Rendgen attacked the Haven while Morning Star was visiting and kidnapped them both. We've got a ticking clock above our heads, and if you want to extract Morning Star from this situation alive, I suggest you follow my lead."

Magnotris finally shut his trap. Thank the stars. It wasn't that he didn't have anything useful to say, he just... Jubilee didn't want to argue right now. Of all the things they could be doing, arguing was at the very bottom of the list. Stars knew what Rendgen was doing to the poor Frags while they dallied. 

He turned down another hallway, curtly. Magnotris kept pace, although he lingered slightly behind.

His voice was small when he spoke up. "What's your plan?"

"Bringing enough muscle to intimidate Rendgen into submission." Jubilee kept his voice firm. Showing weakness right now would be foolish.

"But he's a Magnitude Fragment, how could you-"

Jubilee jabbed a finger at his X-shaped pupil. Magnotris closed his mouth.

"That's what I thought. Give me your hand, now, I'm going to teleport us."

Magnotris opened his mouth, again, like he was going to ask a question. He hesitated, and then clamped it shut once more and took Jubilee's offered hand. Thank god he was cooperating. 

Jubilee blinked as the flash of teleportation overtook them. The second he felt his feet on solid ground, he set off for the mansion at the end of the walkway. Magnotris stumbled forwards, glancing around wildly before jogging to keep up.

"Jubilee," he began.

"Hm?"

"This is - Sterling's house."

"I'm aware."

Jubilee paused in front of the doors. His breath caught in his chest as he reached up to delicately hold over where he'd last been injured. It was finally healed, but it was a stark reminder, still, of what he'd been lucky to avoid. Rendgen probably wouldn't be around to save him, this time.

He reached forwards and knocked twice. Two small, firm knocks. Polite, but demanding. 

And then promptly took several steps back. Just in case.

"Coming!" came an unfamiliar voice. Jubilee blinked as the patter of footsteps ended at the door, and it was pulled open from the inside. 

There was a tiny little Frag standing in the hallway. They looked to be a young adult, but fairly short - and he certainly didn't recognize them. Jubilee blinked rapidly before shaking his head. Whatever. It didn't matter. He was on a time limit.

"Is Sterling home? I wish to speak with him," he managed.

The small Frag stared up at him, then peered, then smiled and turned to the recesses of the mansion. "Sterrrrrling we have visitors!"

The aforementioned individual emerged from a hallway, looking rather tired. The second his eyes fell on Jubilee, his hackles rose, shoulders tense. Jubilee braced himself as Sterling stomped up to the doorway and pushed the other Frag out of the way.

"Hello, Sterling," he managed.

"I told you to never come back." Sterling's hands balled into fists, "how hard do I have to punch you this time to get you to remember that?"

"Do you want to save Morning Star?"

"I said- wait what?"

Jubilee lifted his head. "Morning Star is currently being held captive by Rendgen as we speak. I came because with your gold abilities, we may have enough power to disrupt Rendgen and rescue him. That's all I ask. You can punch me again after he's safe."

Sterling gaped slightly. Jubilee kept his stare steady. All that mattered was whether or not a yes or no was going to come out of the other Fragment. If it was a no, he had to leave as quickly as possible and just take Rendgen on to the best of his abilities. If it was a yes, they'd all three go, hit with their best shot. 

If he had more time, he'd grab a few others on the way - Archise, Cysawd, and Minty came to mind... but every second spent getting another team member was another second Rendgen could be bending Morning Star too far in the wrong direction. 

"Magnotris, is this true?" Sterling managed, looking over Jubilee's shoulder at the other.

Slightly unexpected, but all he could do was hope he'd sufficiently displayed the gravity of the situation to the other-

Magnotris glanced at the back of Jubilee's head before wincing. "Y-yeah. It is."

Oh thank the stars.

"We have no time to lose, then." Jubilee announced, holding out his hands. "I will teleport us as close as I can get us."

"Wait, what's the plan?" Magnotris cut in. "Where are you taking us? Why do you know where Rendgen is!?"

Jubilee balled his hands into fists. "I don't know where he is, but I think I know where he would keep Morning Star and Sundae. When we arrive, it's possible he may not even be there. If that's the case, we'll comb the area for the two and teleport out. If he is there... let me talk to him first. If I can't get through to him, Sterling and I will hold him off. You get Morning Star and Sundae out of there. BOTH of them."

Magnotris hesitated, but then took Jubilee's wrist firmly. Whew. He looked to Sterling expectantly. 

The other was staring down at his hand. He lifted his gaze. "When I punched you... you shouldn't be able to use magic after that. I hit you right in your heart. That would've killed a magic-Fragment."

Jubilee narrowed his eyes, "Is this really the time to bring up such a thing?"

"Most Frags can't teleport me, either."

"I'm sure by now you've realized I am not a normal Frag."

"I'm owed an explanation after this, got it?" Sterling hissed, "It'd be lovely hypocritical of you to treat me differently if what you're saying is true."

Jubilee held the other's glare. That was the least of his worries, right now. Didn't Sterling want to save Morning Star? What was the point of bringing up such an inane, small detail at a time like this? It was rare he truly felt frustrated and elevated above the others, but now was one of those times. At least Magnotris was willing to work with him.

"Fine," Jubilee muttered. "Now please let's hurry."

Sterling took his hand, and they all three teleported.