[FRAG] Keep A Secret

uuuuuuuuuugh my head 

fucking hurts

my skull is literally ringing

oh my stars

fuck

w

where am i

oh my stars

oh yeah you can say that twice

huh what

oh good you're finally awake
listen i was really worried about you for a while there

p

pya? pyatiugolnik?

what? no! do i sound like him??

er

yes

ugh. maybe that's a side effect of having his blessing for so long

sundae?

yes, that's me.
and you're morning star.

right
er

fuck

where were they? why were they

what?

i don't know either.
why would i know?

listen it's taking like all of my energy not to have a panic attack meltdown right now. i don't know how useful i'm going to be if something goes wrong

you'll have to take over

shit okay

uh i'll try my best

ok thanks
you remember what happened, right

um lemme

think

something about

i went to the haven to talk to wage and then
oh

oh no nonononon

don't say his name

why not?

i don't know i just
i can't hear his name right now i'll panic

you have no fucking idea how close i am to freaking out

like thinking about freaking out is making me want to freak out

no no it's okay i won't say it

where are we?

i don't know starsdamnit

he didn't put me here before

i don't know where my body is, but i think it's still alive
i think we might be in like a dreamscape or something i don't know

it's ok

is he

is he here?

i don't know, i woke up and didn't feel him but
i don't know where we are

i don't want to be here

i don't know what he's going to do

how long have you been awake?

only a little bit longer than you

i'm so scared

it's okay

it'll be okay
magnotris and jubilee will help, i'm sure of it

they have the authority and skill to arrange some sort of rescue

fucking
them

what?

if my glorious rescue party is going to be fucking

magnotris and jubilee of all people, i'm not sure i really want 

ok no i do want rescued
fine i'll accept them but know they aren't my first choice

shit fuck stars how is this happening

i did everything right he shouldn't have been able to find me pya please
this isn't fair this isn't fair

listen it's gonna be okay i promise alright

we'll get out of this together

yeah right into jubilee's arms!!!

like that's any better!

well he's better than rendgen, right? i mean

he's pretty cynical but i don't know i really liked him
i guess i sort of respected him

don't make me puke

what?

"better than rendgen" do you know ANYTHING about jubilee?

i know enough to have a positive opinion of him

he's basically rendgen's fucking lackey

they've got this weird mental link

what? 

something to do with his blessing
i didn't find out until

i don't

h

fuck fuckfk dgndjs

sundae sundae it's ok you don't have to talk about it

i literally can't think about anything but *him* i don't think you understand

like i am literally going to fucking die here

i'm going to die fucking kidnapped by him again this isn't fucking fair
this isn't how i wanted it to go this isn't what i wanted it to be like

why why why why why why

sundae! sundae it's okay! listen we're going to get out of here

i promise

can you feel your magic?

no he's probably stolen it

he can do that??

I DON'T KNOW HE CAN PROBABLY DO ANYTHING 
IN THIS FUCKING ALTERNATE REALITY

sorry sorry don't think about that

i'M REALLY TRYING NOT TO

KIND OF HARD NOT TO WHEN YOU ARE LITERALLY BEING RETRAUMATIZED

fuck sorry i don't

i'm not angry at you i'm just fucking
upset and furious and scared at the situation

i'm sorry for getting upset

no no you're fine i completely get it

i'm really scared too but i can't imagine what you're going through

we're going to fucking die here

we aren't! jubilee and magnotris will save us! i know it!

yeah cause youre their friend

i'm very clearly not

jubilee always seemed like he wanted to be friends with you?

yeah well he's a manipulative asshole and i'm really not interested
hhhhhhhh calm calm calm calm calm

listen morning star i 

appreciate you trying to make me feel better but this is the worst way 

i can't stop thinking about rendgen
fuck

fuck

fuck

what would help you get your m-mind off of it?

talking about anyone else please

okay um

er

do you want to talk about wage?

he's probably having a fucking heart attack
and he's going to blame himself for this

he's never going to let me out of his sight again augh

do you want to talk about someone else?

please

er... 

how about jubilee? 

i thought you liked him
i don't have much positive to say about the guy

really

i promise

well i

i don't know, i figured like
maybe you could tell me why you don't like him

i mean as far as i understood you two were friends as overseers?

mm

i mean if you don't want to that's ok

i'm just confused i think

okay well my friendship with jubilee WASN'T anyone's business
so anyone who was spreading rumors about that can please stop

i don't want to be needled about it all the time

noted, i can try to talk to them after 

this

yes

ok

okokokokokok ok ok ok ok focus

focus on

jubilee i guess

i can't believe you like him

i mean he's kind of

really cynical and jaded, i guess? but i don't mind it very much
i can see why he's coming from the place he does (i think)

and he still sort of seems idealistic underneath it all, like he's hoping for a good world

and i can respect that, and he treats me pretty well

i used to be scared of him but he's not so bad now that i know him a little better
i think he's just intimidating because of his position and confidence

confidence hahahaha

i mean i can see it though

do you not think he's confident?

i really don't think so, sort of maybe

i don't know i didn't think of him as confident
i thought of him as paranoid, i guess? i don't know

i'm not very good at personality traits in fact i'm horrible at it

how stupid right? haha look at me i can barely read people

what no!! you're fine

sorry

no no you're okay sundae
we're both just kinda emotional

tell me about jubilee ok?

okay er

well i don't

he's really manipulative, i guess

i don't know what i'm supposed to say, like, where to start
just ask a question or something

okay uhh

were you guys friends?

yeah

we were, at least i considered us friends
and i guess he did too cause he can't stop clinging to that

how did you two meet?

oh man uhhhh it was something stupid

well i worked under him before becoming an overseer
i think i got a medal for doing something. i don't really remember?

anyways he gave me the medal and i think we just started hanging out after that

i got blessed a while later and that's when they offered me the overseer position
and he was really excited about that

said, y'know, it's amazing that pya had blessed anyone, he was so proud
and he could see why pya picked me, of all frags

kind makes me wonder what his ulterior motive was
i mean i have my suspicions but

ulterior motive?

yeah well like
jubilee always has an ulterior motive when he does things

he's never just *doing* things, it's always part of some plan he's setting up
and he gets ridiculously focused on that plan

he's always keeping a secret

kind of aggravating

i think i know what you mean
i don't know what his "motives" are either

but i think they're good

i don't know if that's naive or idealistic

haha, well you do sound a little jaded towards him

with good reason!

were you even going to open the haven borders? wage said he'd talk to you about it

i guess
i mean i saw the benefits and you're nice

i don't trust jubilee, at all, but really i don't know what the negatives were here
i'm guessing he just wanted access to me. friendship? obligation? access to my magic?

don't know, but 

kinda can't figure that out here

hhhhhhhhhere

hey nono don't think about that

uh if you want i could talk about magnotris?

yeah okay please do that

RIGHT okay um magnotris is my boyfriend, i think you knew that though
we've been friends for a long time and partners for a good chunk of that

he's really smart, but he's also really cautious and kind of scared of the world, like he's scared it'll hurt him so he hurts it first, i think?

i always felt bad because he sounded so isolated all the time, and i wanted to be his friend. and then we ended up partners! i was really happy

we're really close, despite how... different we are. i think that's part of why we ended up so close, like opposites attract. we've got enough common ground to have a nice relationship... we have the same ideals and goals.

he's a little overprotective of me, though, especially recently!

aha that's cute

i think he felt bad because he thought i was killing people, or that i'd been hurt enough to want to
but it wasn't really his fault, not at all....

haha oh wow. imagine if you'd killed jubilee,
do you think he would've freaked out? or would he have been excited?

well pyatiugolnik was the one who stopped me from killing jubilee

wait really?

yeah. i was going to shoot him because i was worried he'd kill you
pya stopped me before i got the shot off and kind of in a roundabout way told me not to do that

but to answer your question, magnotris doesn't like jubilee either (for a different reason than you, i think)

i think jubilee is this like, culmination of everything he hates about the cor. that's really awful to say eep

no i love it that's pretty accurate

are you feeling any better?

y
yeah actually

like as long as i keep thinking about this it's easy to stay calm
i mean obviously i'll still have a breakdown if like, i think too hard

but this is pretty easy to focus on

thank you morning star

yeah of course!! i'm happy to help!

stars you remind me of myself when i was younger

(i mean this in a good way)

i'll take it as a compliment. a lot of people at the cor still speak highly of you

...oh?

yeah, they talk about you, say that you did a lot of good for others while you were around
that you dedicated a lot of your time to protecting others and stuff

it was partially why i was willing to trust you during the raid on the overseers. because i'd heard a few good stories. i mean i was still worried, because y'know haven leader, technically an opposing faction

but i think we get along fine and i think i would consider us friends?

i'm ok with being friends, too.
you really have a way of... talking to others. you're really good at making friends, morning star.

i think i'm just starting to realize how underrated that talent is, apparently.

i can't quite put my finger on it. it's not quite charisma, i don't think
you're just a very

you have this good aura around you and it makes you feel trustworthy
people think they can share things with you and you'll keep them safe and comfort them

and i can attest to that, really. i think it's hard to find someone like that
especially someone who IS genuine and will use it for genuine reasons

oh my stars thank you

no problem, at all. i feel like you don't talk about that a lot, but you should
it's a rare and very useful gift. communication is always underrated

i think you have the same vibe, really

maybe your actions have made people more wary though

i wouldn't be surprised. i'm basically parroting at you what jubilee said to me a long time ago
and i think it makes sense for pya to go after this sort of person

...hey, did he like
ever tell you why he blessed us?

no. i'm not sure he had a plan, thinking on it
i think he just wanted us to do good things, so that's how i took it

so i decided i'd go out and do good things

me too! maybe a little less eloquent than that though

...do 

mm?

do you think pya would come save us?

i sure hope
i mean he's supposed to be stronger right?

he could save us i'm sure, he's the strongest of the magnitude fragments, right?

right!

yeah
yeah yeah i think he could, i'd like him to

if i had any way to contact him i would... it's not like we ever had a sustained

OH COME ON, DON'T TALK ABOUT HIM! HE SUCKS!

h

a

oh wait no you can keep talking. it was fun to listen to

rendgen i

s

why are you doing this?!

I thought I made that perfectly clear!
Jubilee needs you two (that is you, two, the Pya-Blessed Frags) to help execute his grandmaster plan

WHICH for the record I don't agree with, but I'm tired of waiting for him to like, set it up

so I'm speeding up the process. Matters into my own hands!!

sundae are you there? sundae? are you okay?

oh he's fine. he's just a crybaby.

what did you do to him?!

what?! i didn't do anything this time!

what'd you do to him last time?!

urgh I just had a chat. Who the hell are you to question me, anyways? Stupid riled up little fucking

You two aren't even talking anymore! No point in eavesdropping! Besides, we can have more fun while you're in your normal-

and then there was a snap

Morning Star hit the ground, feeling the air rush out of his lungs with the sudden weight. Upon his brain realizing he was back in his body, he wetly gasped for oxygen, feeling his chest expand and heart kickstir into beating. 

His eyes quickly adjusted to the low light. They were on a small platform, made of rock (or packed dirt, he wasn't sure) floating in a giant, space-filled void. Sundae was lying on the ground across the way from him.

Sitting between them was Rendgen, who was about their height, and was grinning up a storm. 

Glad to see you're finally awake! Rendgen's voice was right in his head, overpowering, overwhelming. His vision swam just from the sentence. Ugh, you still aren't used to listening to me yet? I thought you were Blessed!

Morning Star groaned, putting a hand on his forehead and attempting to stumble forwards, to Sundae. The other wasn't moving. He needed to do something to help. 

Oh, come on.

Rendgen flicked a wrist at him. He reached forwards, but every time he teetered too close to Rendgen, his vision spiked in black and his knees gave out. Morning Star crumpled, hard, falling down next to the other. He didn't even want to try teleporting.

No no no. He had to help. He had to help.

The island wasn't big enough that he could just walk around, and Rendgen would probably stop him, anyways. Stars damnit, why was he so fucking useless? Why couldn't he protect anyone? He wasn't as strong as Magnotris or Jubilee or Sterling, he couldn't fight Rendgen hands on-

-Or maybe... maybe he was looking at this all at the wrong angle. 

He blearily lifted his head. Rendgen was staring at him, eyes just wide enough in curiosity. "Why are you doing this?" Morning Star weakly demanded, putting enough righteous anger in his voice to sound broken.

Rendgen's eyes widened further. I'm helping Jubilee!

"With what? Why do you need us?"

He's going to use your magic! He can't get Pya's magic so this is the next best thing! Duh.

Morning Star breathed in slowly. He had to choose every word carefully. If he slipped up once, this conversation would be over. "What's he going to use it for?"

At least his head didn't hurt as badly now.

Rendgen narrowed his eyes, but tilted his head slowly. Why?

"Well I'm stuck here, aren't I?" Morning Star challenged, drawing himself up to sit. His spince ached, tense and knotted. "I at least want to know what's going on...."

Oh, I guess that makes sense. Well I can't tell you the full plan, in case you somehow get out. Jubilee was super specific about that.

"That's okay... um... y-you said something about Jubilee coming home, though? Is that part of his plan?"

No, that's part of MY plan. I'm the one working towards that. Which is stupid, mind you, since Jubilee really should be the one working towards it - it's HIS home too, you know, but he's just so fucking focused on... yeah. It's dumb, though.

There was something surreal about realizing he was speaking to Rendgen, the most dangerous of the Magnitude Fragments, and having... a real conversation with him. This felt so much more probing than Pyatiugolnik towards him.

Morning Star pushed the thoughts out of his mind. If he spent too long thinking, it'd all fall apart. Just speak. "Where's home? Is this home?"

Rendgen scoffed, throwing his hands up, No, of course not. This is just a pit stop where I keep people like YOU. Real home is out there.

He pointed, and Morning Star followed the gesture. He couldn't see anything in the expanse of space the other had singled out, though. Still, he squinted, putting on a good show of looking for it. 

"How long has it been since he's been home?" Morning Star asked. 

Literal eons. Who wants to stay away from home for that long?! Everyone misses him, too, even though they won't say it. They're all stupid bastards. Nobody but me is helping, even though they'll all complain about missing him or whatever.

"Everyone... else?" Morning Star swallowed. "The other Magnitude Fragments?"

Yeah.

"Why do they miss him?"

Rendgen made a face. Because they think they have a right to him, I guess! They'll all whine about how much they want him back, safe, with us, but nobody wanted to help him fix everything permanently. I mean, they were all "friends" with him, but I was closest, obviously.

"Right."

I mean, I kind of get it! It's not easy, having to like, be the bigger person. Do the right thing. There was something so uncertain and ingenuine about the voice in his head. Did Rendgen even believe what he was saying? He looked uncomfortable. And I'm being that person, the one doing the right thing.

"You s-seem upset...?"

I AM! Morning Star's hands flew to block his ears, even though it was futile. The scream was in his skull. IT'S NOT FAIR! I've been waiting so fucking long for Jubilee to come back and I'm trying to do what he wants but it's so SLOW and INEFFICIENT! If he just let me actually help we would've already triggered Bereave to show up already!

Morning Star cracked open his eyes enough to muster a "What?"

Rendgen blinked rapidly, then crossed his arms and glared. Nothing. We're done talking.

Fuck. That hadn't worked as well as he'd hoped; no trust had been gained. But he'd gotten information, at least? He could probably pass that to Magnotris after he was rescued?

Oh, stars, oh fuck, Magnotris. Oh no. Morning Star bit his lip. He didn't want to think about Magnotris getting hurt here, jumping in fists swinging, not realizing the magnitude of what he was up against. 

What if Magnotris came alone? How could Morning Star even live with himself after that?

Sundae was still unconscious, on the ground. Or maybe he was pretending to be asleep. Morning Star could only hope he was asleep...  he didn't want Sundae to have to suffer sitting here, either.

Fuck. Fuck! How had this all gone so wrong? What could he have done to stop it, to fix it, to quell the tide? Tears welled up. How had he let this happen?

Ew, don't cry.

Morning Star sniffled, feeling the tears dry. He still felt completely godawful, but now he literally, physically couldn't cry. There was an oppressive presence in his skull locking that away, currently. 

Why. Why him. Why had Pyatiugolnik Blessed him, the most apparently-useless Frag ever. He couldn't even protect himself and Sundae and Wage and Roseline when it mattered. It wasn't fair. 

Ok, looking like you're about to cry isn't exactly an upgrade, either. Can you stop that?

Morning Star choked a little. It wasn't his fault that he was just expressing his emotions! It was perfectly reasonable to cry right now-

"RENDGEN!"

Rendgen and Morning Star's heads snapped towards the source of the voice. On a new platform, one that hadn't been there before, stood three very familiar individuals: Jubilee, Sterling, and-

"Magnotris!" Morning Star squealed. He threw up his hands, trying to climb back to his feet, but crumpled again.

Magnotris' eyes met his, and he felt a flurry of comfort and protectiveness wash over him. It was going to be okay.

Jubilee! Rendgen squealed, pure delight in his voice, You're here, finally! Look, I brought you the Pya Frags, just like you wanted!

Sterling and Magnotris shot Jubilee a guarded, suspicious stare as the Overseer paled slightly. Jubilee's eyes flicked from Sundae to Morning Star, lingering on the latter. What was he thinking about? The plan? Rendgen? 

Jubilee shook his head and rounding on Rendgen. "I don't know what you think this is going to accomplish."

You can summon Bereave now! And finish what we started!

Bereave. What did he have to do with any of this? The name was vaguely familiar to Morning Star. Bereave was... one of the creator deities. Half of the primordial being. The destruction magic, personified.

His throat suddenly felt very dry. Rendgen's goal... the Shards' goal... it had always been to re-fuse Singularity, re-fuse Bereave and Genesis, right...? Bring about the end of the world by combining it once again into the original being...?

"I'm-" Jubilee's eyes flicked nervously to Sterling, "I'm not going to do that!"

Why not?! This would be the perfect time! Pya isn't around to bother you, you have his batteries right here, and I'm here, too! Don't you want revenge?

"Hand over Morning Star and Sundae, now," Jubilee hissed, taking several steps forwards.

Rendgen's expression fell, and he scrambled to his feet. No, you have to finish executing your plan. Right here, right now! I'm tired of waiting! 

"That's not - I'm not going to do that!"

Jubilee's master plan wasn't to end the world, was it? 

But-

"Give me Morning Star and Sundae, or else I'll-"

"What the fuck did you bring us into, Jubilee?" Sterling shouted, stomping up behind the other. Jubilee whirled around, taking several steps back, towards the edge of the platform. "What's all this about Bereave? You think I didn't know who that was? What the hell are you up to?"

Jubilee glanced from Magnotris, who narrowed his eyes, to Sterling. He lifted his hands submissively, a nervous expression over his features, "No, no, don't listen to him, let's focus on getting Sundae and Morning Star, alright?"

"You told me to wait for you to talk to him, first. You've talked! And nothing good's come of it!"

Jubilee's eyes widened. "No - wait, no, don't attack him!"

"I'm not sure I trust you to be giving me commands anymore!" Sterling shouted, hand flickering to light with gold magic. 

With a panicked squeak, Jubilee lunged for him, but the other teleported out of the way in time. Morning Star blinked, his head still swimming slightly. He was trying not to think too hard about what Rendgen had said. Summon Bereave....

"Sterling?!" Jubilee shouted, nervously, turning on a heel. "Sterling please don't-"

You think he could hurt me? Rendgen crowed, I'll-

A broken, static-filled scream of agony tore into Morning Star's brain.

The pain was immense. It ate up everything inside of him. He felt himself falling, felt the air against his face pushing at his hair, but he didn't feel it. His muzzle met the hard earth, and he could sort of kind of feel his head bounce off it from the sheer force, but it was as if he was watching it happen to someone else, five feet underwater, a comfortable drowning distance away.

The scream was still in his brain, a loud noise, horrible. There were tears in his eyes, clogging up his vision. It took all his power to reach forwards to wipe them away enough to stare at the blood all over the ground in front of him.

That wasn't his blood.

His eyes tracked up.

"Rendgen!" he heard, vaguely, Jubilee's voice yell. 

Morning Star stared. Rendgen was there, still where he'd been sitting, although he'd stood up sometime between Jubilee arriving and the loss of Sterling's patience. He was staring straight forwards, eyes slightly glazed, both hands coming up to his chest.

His lack of chest. 

There was a giant hole, still inflame with gold, in Rendgen's chest. 

Morning Star watched as tears filled Rendgen's eyes and he swayed, then crumpled slightly, falling to his knees against the ground. The Magnitude Fragment's back curled in pain, trying to scrunch itself up. Morning Star could see Rendgen's spine moving through the gore. 

Jubilee hit the ground of the lower platform, having scrambled off the edge of the other. He darted forwards, tears in his eyes, clear pain as he cupped Rendgen's cheeks.

"I KNEW it!" Sterling shouted, stomping a foot. "You're in cahoots with Rendgen! This was a fucking trap!"

"It WASN'T!" Jubilee screamed, although he shoved Rendgen's face into his chest. "It wasn't a trap!"

"How do you expect me to believe that!?"

"Why would I bring you and Magnotris with me?"

Morning Star blinked. He could feel something sliding around his torso. Blearily, he looked up, catching Magnotris' gaze as he gently pulled the other into a half-hug. Oh. Thank the stars. Magnotris was so nice and warm.

"I don't pretend to know how your sick mind works, you fuck!" Sterling shouted right back, "all I know is that Morning Star's bleeding out on the ground and Rendgen's saying shit that sure makes it sound like that's your end goal!"

"I could've harmed Morning Star on my own well before this!" Jubilee screamed, "I had no reason to wait this long!"

Sterling scoffed, hand re-lighting with magic, "Sure you did! Bring us all to your Mag Frag buddy and have him curbstomp us! You couldn't take Morning Star before, but you sure can now!"

"That's not-" Jubilee spluttered, tears streaming down his face. "That's not what I want! I swear, you have to trust me!"

"I bet that's why you apologized! You were trying to get on my good side to trick me!"

"I didn't! I promise! Sterling please listen to me!"

"You're hugging Rendgen RIGHT NOW! I'm gonna remain fucking UNCONVINCED!"

Jubilee's eyes slid down. He was still cradling Rendgen to his chest, who was dead quiet. He was staring off into space, the pain overtaking any other expression on the other's face.

"Back off and let me finish the job," Sterling growled.

At that, Jubilee's head snapped right back up. "WHAT!?"

"He's caused nothing but problems for everyone," Sterling hissed, stomping a foot. "I've heard the stories. I've seen him, too! Right here! He's a maniac trying to end the world and so are you!"

"I am NOT!" Jubilee screamed at the top of his lungs, voice breaking in several places, "And how DARE you accuse me of THAT!"

Morning Star's ears were ringing. 

"I have spent my entire life trying to ensure the world's utmost, permanent SAFETY," Jubilee's voice was still so high and loud, "And I am not about to let the LIKES OF YOU try to TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME!"

Sterling reared back, both hands alight, "Then let's fucking see who wins! Want another goddamn crack in your chest, Overseer?"

Jubilee dropped Rendgen, darting forwards. He was glowing with magic in a split second, bright yellow magic, his and Rendgen's. Morning Star blinked. Everything was still moving so slowly. Were they really going to fight? Jubilee knew he'd lose, right? Surely he had to know?

He breathed in, reaching a hand out. Magnotris worriedly took his wrist, but that was okay. Morning Star could feel-

BOTH OF YOU DON'T MOVE A SINGLE MUSCLE, AND I MEAN IT

Morning Star jolted awake at the sudden influx of adrenaline. Jubilee and Sterling had both frozen, Sterling looking confused, Jubilee with wide eyes. There was a look of deep, scared recognition on Jubilee's face. Clearly another Magnitude Fragment, right? How did Jubilee know them-

There was a flash of light, of teleportation. There was a new entity on the field - standing just a bit taller than Sterling, with four arms and a large horn on his head just like Rendgen's. Morning Star swallowed. He really should've bothered to read up on what all the Magnitude Fragments looked like.

The new Mag smoldered down at Sterling and Jubilee. The latter shrank back slightly, but Sterling only stood taller, snarling, "I can take you both on!"

Morning Star wanted to tell Sterling no, but his throat was seized up and dry. Forming any sort of words right now was going to be a gargantuan task, and he had to conserve his energy for... for something. He wasn't exactly certain what he was waiting for, but there was a buzz of anticipation in his mind.

"I can't teleport us out," Magnotris whispered next to his ear, "I've been trying. Jubilee's the only one who can take us in and out."

Fuck. Great. They were stranded here. Literally. If Jubilee was killed- well, maybe Sundae knew how to escape? 

Oh stars what if Jubilee died

DON'T TRY MY PATIENCE, I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH OF IT TO GO AROUND, the Mag directed, snidely, at Sterling. I'M HERE BECAUSE IT'S MY DUTY TO PROTECT TIMEL-

Sterling launched a handful of gold at the other Mag Frag. They yelped, scrambling backwards as it latched onto their arm and dug in, blood instantly gushing right out. Morning Star blinked slowly. Was this real?

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Jubilee shrieked, "OH, FUCK, STARS, KOLO-!"

"If he's going to stand in my way then I'll kill him too!" Sterling shouted, "If you all want to protect each other and fucking end the world together then so be it!"

Jubilee scrambled to Kolo's side as the other winced to his knees, clutching the new hole in his arms. It was sticky and red, like acid had burned away all of the skin and muscle and the bone was barely hanging together. Morning Star could feel the bile of horrified vomit in the back of his throat, but it wasn't quite coming out. He didn't want to puke, though, anyways, so that was probably fine. 

I'M FINE, Kolo hissed. THIS IS FUCKING RIDICULOUS, THOUGH. BUT NOBODY ELSE SHOULD BE COMING. I TOLD THE OTHERS TO STAY BACK.

"Oh, thank the stars," Jubilee half-whispered in reverence.

The others? The other Magnitude Fragments-

DON'T WORRY, KOLO!!! I CAME AS FAST AS I COULD WHEN I REALIZED YOU GOT HURT!!!

OH MY FUCKING STARS ARE YOU KIDDING ME

Morning Star turned his head around. There was another Magnitude Fragment there. There were now three. Three fucking Magnitude Fragments on this tiny platform, two of which were bleeding out. 

"You're ALL in cahoots?" Sterling sounded legitimately unsure. "How many of you are fucking worldenders?"

The new Frag - this one, Morning Star knew was Dijamant - cast a confused glance to Sterling. UH, NO? What are you on about, you tiny thing?

DIJ GO HOME! I'M FINE!

You are VERY CLEARLY NOT! NO FEAR, THOUGH, let me just rearrange the gravity of this space-

Morning Star blinked. There was no platform. Where was he-? He could feel Magnotris still around him, so they hadn't been separated, clearly-

"Put me down!" Sterling yelled. He was floating, kicking against... something? Flailing? But there didn't appear to be anything below him. "PUT ME DOWN!"

You're just going to start up those little bursts of gold again, so no thanks!

"What the fuck," Morning Star verbalized, finally.

Everyone turned to stare at him. There was a sudden heat on his cheeks. Well, he at least had their attention now. He had to make this count, had to ask the most pressing question of all.

"What's going on," he mustered, weakly. 

I'M HERE TO TRY TO PROTECT-

I HEARD Kolo got hurt so i came running! And then I realized where we were, and I decided to take it upon myself to make sure no more harm comes to Rendgen, Kolo, OR Omicron!

"Dij, STOP," Jubilee loudly hissed, the most obvious whisper in the world. Dij tilted his head to face him, marked confusion on his features.

"Om... Omicron?"

Dijamant pointed at Jubilee. YES, OMICRON! Him! You know!

"DIJ STOP!"

"I really don't," Morning Star said, eyes boring into Jubilee's expression of pure fear. 

You know! The Omicron Timeline!