Archive of Our Own ^beta

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What day was it again? The answer slipped her mind as Chaos flopped onto the couch. She was tired, but that was an understatement. &SMP had just started to do “lore” and by god was that a lot to keep track of. They sighed softly as the sounds of their co-host’s footsteps echoed off the walls. 

 “Hi, Chaos.” Endy sat on their end of the couch, smiling softly. Chaos looked up at them with a tired smile. His wings tucked behind his back as he leaned against the back cushions. “Do you need some tea?”

 “No, I need sleep.” The dragonfly pulled their glasses off before laying their head face-first on the couch. “I forgot how tiring modding a server could be.”

 “Isn’t this one your biggest one yet? Besides World Hopepers, I mean.” Chaos propped themselves up on their elbows while the watcher set up their microphones on the table. “It’s been a minute since you balanced all that.” 

 “I mean yeah- but I usually didn’t host big events like here. I just-“ They sighed. “-need to relearn my limits, I guess?” They pushed themselves up as Endy got up from the couch. “What episode are we on?”

 “I think today is going to be #35.” They flipped through a small notebook they kept on the shelf, landing on the page with a list of topics with the majority of them crossed out. “Double Life is the topic for today.”

 “We’re going to end up tapping about Pearl all episode aren’t we?” They grabbed their pair of headphones while Endy sat down beside them. 

 “Oh, absolutely.” She smiled brightly as the last bit of recording equipment booted up. Chaos grabbed their notepad with the opening poem ready to go as they signaled a countdown. 

 “Marriage. Sing, o’ goddess of marriage.” Both of them burst out into laughter. “I’m not retaking this- The marriage between soulmates.” 

 “‘Mewige?!’”

 “Marriage bleeding, doomed under the crescent moon, falling into the ravine of wardens. Welcome to FanDive, my name is Chaos.” She didn’t fight the rest of the laughter that followed.

 Endy continued to laugh at the ‘mewige’ bit till they got to their introduction. “Hi, my name is Endy.”

 “And today, we’re talking about Double Life.” The conversation flowed easily as it did every week. They had laughs, serious lore talks, or just running gags that wracked up the time till it was time for the Q&A. They answered the questions fairly quickly before turning off the recording and laying down their headphones. 

 The silence that followed the ending of an episode was never something the two could come to terms with. An odd ticking of a far off clock would echo off the walls, but what were the walls? They stared off in the distance, nothing more than just.. a void? A house? Where the couch was would change weekly. The first episode they did; they were in an old house of Chaos’ from World Hoppers. The Empires episode had them in the Ocean Queen’s home. When talking about Stanley Parable, they were in an empty office building. Talking about Undertale left them in Toriel’s home within the RUINS. This week? It was Pearl’s tower, but that quickly faded back into the endless void the two currently found themselves in. 

 Endy quietly cleared her throat, anxiously looking around. “So..” Chaos turned to her, a puzzled look scrunching their face. “How- how do we plan on getting home, again..?” They pulled the sleeves of their hoodie up, picking at the edge of the purple fabric. 

  A pit grew in their stomach; they both knew the answer to that. They never chose when they came here and they definitely never got to choose when they leave. “When whoever controls this place lets us, I guess.” They forced out a laugh as they placed their hand on their head. “Which is great because I need to finish that build on &SMP.” Endy rested their hand on her shoulder. 

 “I mean- maybe they’ll let us go home sooner than last time?” If they got to leave within 24 hours, that would be a plus. The last few times this happened, they’d be stuck there for 2 or 3 days. Somehow no one in &SMP noticed the two missing, claiming how the two were only gone for an hour or two. They sat and waited for this being ( ? God? Deity? ) to let them out.

 Chaos shook their head, not nearly as hopeful about this being as Endy was. “I don't get it. I don’t get why this thing wants us here.” They curled their legs up onto the couch, wings tucking behind them in the way they typically would for comfort. “I don't know why they chose us- I’m so confused.” 

 “35 times and it doesn’t get easier, huh..?” Endy didn’t need to ask; she knew the pain just as well. I mean, both of them got dragged here in their sleep and told to film a podcast each week then they could leave. The first day they were here was an absolute mess filled with panicked frenzy. The note left for them only gave them the basics.

 You two are the hosts of a podcast called FanDive. You cover fandom topics that either I or the listeners request/choose. This first episode is more so about you two introducing yourselves and talking about your general love of Minecraft. You have quite a few people eagerly awaiting this podcast. Do not fail me. 

 Panic ensued until they finally got settled and started the episode. It lacked structure as they jumped back and forth between topics. They were trying to be entertaining while also hiding the fear running through their bodies. It was definitely a rough start, but got a shocking amount of support from listeners. They repeated that cycle each week, slowly but surely finding their rhythm till it was almost second nature. The only part of their routine that wasn’t so.. routine was when they left. Sometimes whatever brought them there would keep them there for days on end or they’d be teleported home within minutes of finishing the episode. This time, it seemed like they’d be there a while. 

 The watcher’s wings tensed once again as they bit back a panicked noise. The dragonfly looked to their friend, pulling them into a side hug. The two sat together in the silence, simply staying by the other’s side as the all familiar panic and confusion loomed over them. Around them, the void once again shifted into Chaos’ old home, only feeding into the panic-fueled fire. Sleep inevitably caught up to the two, lulling them away with the soft sounds of the other's heartbeat. 

 Chaos knew Endy was real, and Endy knew Chaos was real. They were each other's pillar on this mountain of sand they found their lives situated on. They were a constant with this weird being starting to control their lives. The silence may have lulled them to sleep, but they awoke to the sounds of &SMP around them. Maybe if they had each other, this podcast thing wouldn’t be so bad. As long as they found each other through the storm or carnage, they’d be okay. And that’s all they needed to know to be ok. 

Chapter Text

They would never get used to this crap. Chaos slumped their cardigan onto the couch, the bright blue yarn sticking out like a sore thumb against the soft grey fabric of the cushions. Gods how they hated Mondays. Tired legs carried her to the kitchen before stopping in the doorway. Maybe they should have thought twice about Endy not waking up beside them because Mal was standing in the kitchen, rummaging through the cabinets. They practically had to force their name out of their throat.

 “Mal?” 

  They peaked their head from behind the cabinet door, “Oh, hey, Chaos.” Xe pulled xemself onto the counter. “Do you happen to have cocoa mix?” 

 The dragonfly just stared at them with confusion. How could they be so calm about getting stuck here? They hated this stupid place and Mal was just searching for cocoa? Actually, you know what, valid. She could go for some cocoa too. They came up behind it and pulled it down from the counter. 

 “First off, yes; but not up there.” The skeleton steadied themselves on their feet, eagerly holding a purple mug. “And second, HOW ARE YOU HERE??” Xe simply shrugged, completely unphased at the world around them. “This is just- awesome, ok.” Chaos went to the other set of cabinets, opening one with a bunch of boxes full of tea bags and cocoa mix. “Now whatever this thing is has a grasp on me, Endy, AND you!” She took the packets over to where Mal was standing, very clearly trying not to lose their cool. “Milk?”

 “Yes, please- Chaos, are you ok?” They set the mug on the counter, grabbing a saucepan from the very counter they were searching through not too long ago. “What are you talking about?” 

 “I don't even know what I’m talking about, Mal.” They spoke through an aggravated chuckle, taking the saucepan and grabbing the milk. “I hate this thing so much… Person? I-I don’t know what it is but I’m sick of it having this grasp over me and my friends.”

 First this thing came after her and Endy and now Mal; who was next? Mallette? Goose? Fuzz? Phantom? Red? Saturn? How many of the SMPs she visited was this thing looking for people through? We’re they going to get dragged here to do some podcast thing each week too? If it switched Mal in place of Endy this week- how many times would this happen? Would it be Mal from now on or would Endy come back? 

 “-aos! Chaos!” Mal’s voice and hands ripping her back from the stove brought her out of her thoughts. If it had eyes, they’d be filled with fear since she’d splashed boiling milk on her hand. Mal was breathing heavy, holding the sauce pan off the stove with one hand and the other holding Chaos’ arm. 

 She couldn’t even feel it, but she knew that burn wasn’t minuscule. Probably second degree. Mal left the pan on the counter, rushing to grab her hand and rub it under cool water. The sudden burning snapped her out of this dissociative state causing her to  immediately wince in pain. Now she could feel it, and it hurt like a bitch. 

 “Mal- It’s fine.” They tried to pull their arm back but Mal’s grip kept firm. “I’m okay, I promise.” 

 “No, let me clean it.” They took some of the soap and started to wash the burn as gently as possible. After they rinsed it, it didn’t feel better but it didn't look as bad. They took so gauze and wrapped their hand a few times before tying it off. “There.”

 “Where did you get the gauze?” Chaos closed and opened their fist a few times before letting it fall to their side. 

 “My inventory.” Xe looked over her hand for a minute before deciding, “I’m finishing the cocoa. Go to the living room.”

 “What? Mal- It’s a tiny burn.”

 “Nope!” They got behind her, gently leading her out of the kitchen. “Couch. I’ll be out in a minute.”

 They groaned defeatedly before slumping onto the couch. She grabbed the cardigan and sat up before slipping her arms through it. How many times could she say she hated this place till it got her out of it? Why was it her and Endy who got chosen for this stupid pod- shit she forgot about the podcast. While rubbing the bridge of their nose, they decided it would have to wait till after cocoa. Maybe the cocoa would be a nice grounder; something to bring her mind back to reality. 

 Reality. This place was annoyingly just as real as the other SMPs she’d been in. This house, the couch, the burn, the people. Endy was real; they always were. Mal seemed like it was really xem. She didn’t want to admit this was what her life had become. This stupid thing didn’t have control over her; she wouldn’t let it. Hey, if they didn’t record the episode and they went home, she’d know she was right! … Right?

 Mal set their cup on the table, handing Chaos hers. “Here. I put some marshmallows in it, too.” They smiled as they sat beside her. “So, what do you do in this place? It’s cozy.”

 “‘Cozy.’” They stared at the little marshmallows melting away in their cup. “That’s one way to put it, Mal…” 

 It’s gaze softened as her shoulders dropped. They pulled the blanket from the back of the couch, wrapping it around Chaos. They looked up at it, tired eyes trying to ground themselves again. “Mal?”

 “You look tired. You need to rest…” They smiled with their eyes as Chaos settled in under the blanket. “I’ll stay right here till we go home.”

 Home… “Yeah, Mal… home.” Chaos sipped on their cocoa, thankful that some good things were real in this real-life hell hole. She wasn’t going to tell Mal about the podcast; that wasn’t something they needed to worry about. For now, they can just chill. 

 “You didn’t tell me what you and Endy do here.” 

 “Oh uh…” How to twist this… “It’s not something we chose to do, so we just kinda chill…”

 “Oh, ok!” They sipped on their cocoa, idly kicking their feet over the edge. Maybe being here with Mal was gonna be okay, even if it meant that this thing had Mal under their control too. 

Mal went on a little spiel about Vampires, keeping the house from going silent. She listened as long as they spoke as their voice kept them grounded. As they drifted off to sleep, they realized they found another pillar on their mountain of sand. 

Chapter Text

 Maybe they should have realized sooner that they were being watched and listened too. Each day in &SMP since the start of this whole podcast thing was progressively getting weirder. Endy started seeing purple eyes in the corner of her vision. Chaos could swear someone was whispering in their ear, but everyone denied it. 

 Then Monday rolled around and they got dragged back to that world. They grabbed the notebook from it’s spot on the shelf and turned to their topic page. The other topics were all scratched out, so they flipped through till they found the only page without scratches. In big writing ‘World Hoppers Round 1’. Chaos let a smile pull at their lips until they read the notes beneath it. Endy got up, resting their hand in her shoulder. 

 “You ok?” Chaos didn’t respond. Instead, they showed him the book. An awkward chuckle forced its way past his lips. They took the book from her hands, staring at it as if it was poison. “What? That’s not what happened though?” 

 “I know. I don’t- why would they say that? It’s not- It was a natural distaster…” They closed the book, laying it face down on the table. “I’m not doing the episode if it’s going to make us lie, Endy.”

 “But then how will we get home?” She set the book down on the table, voice quiet and gentle. Endy was right, but the integrity of her words meant more than some stupid podcast. “We can do the episode without that. We can just talk about World Hoppers without mentioning the glitched code and-“

 “The code was the whole thing that set off the resetting of the world each month.” Chaos sat on the couch if only to keep herself from pacing. Endy rested beside them, placing their hand over their shoulder. “It’s- I didn’t mean to…”

 “It’s not your fault, Chaos, I promise.” Their wings tensed while Chaos’ drooped with her shoulders. “Hey, we all know it was an accident.” Their hand moved to the dragonflies before squeezing it gently. “We’ll record the episode, but I’ll lead the discussion and I’ll be sure to keep away from the topic of the code, ok?” 

 “Okay…” Chaos reached over the table, grabbing her microphone. With a sip of tea and a sigh, they pushed their cheery tone back through their voice. Endy grabbed their microphone as well, smiling over at their cohost. While keeping their voice as steady as they could, they pressed record and, “Welcome to Fandive! My name is Chaos!”

 The episode carried on as normal despite the two jumping hurdles each time the world resetting was mentioned. It was a bit of a pain, but they managed to do it. ‘It reset each month because of a glitch.’ ‘Don’t know why the glitch happened; it just did.’ ‘Yep- gotta love glitches.’ There. They talked about the resets without pinning the blame on Chaos, appeasing both this thing and them. 

 By the end, Chaos’ voice was shot. Maybe getting super excited about an SMP and accidentally getting loud wasn’t the best idea when you could tell you’re on the edge of getting sick. After they were done, she set her equipment down with a sigh. They curled up on the corner of the couch, grabbing the blanket and wrapping it around herself for a quick nap. Endy set their stuff down before heading into the kitchen, being as quiet as they could. 

 The house was silent, just another thing that was so different from their home. &SMP was typically filled with voices and sounds of nature living its life around them, so silence wasn’t something they were used to. Silence was normal in World Hoppers- but she’s not under the Nether anymore. They shook their head; I’m not there anymore. They went to grab their mug from the cabinet, pausing once they saw a different mug in the sink. Hey, they knew that mug! 

 “How did Mal get here?” Endy took the mug from the sink, holding onto the mug to make sure it was real. Annoyingly, it was. She typically didn’t voice how much she despised getting dragged here each week, but she hated it just as much as Chaos. Last Monday was the first Monday in over 8 months that she spent in an SMP and not this… place. Whatever brought them here wasn’t evil, was it? I mean, they went home after each episode. If it was evil, it would keep them here! And they’re still being kinda taken care of! There's a fully stocked kitchen and a plethora of blankets and pillows. They set the mug back in the sink before going back to the couch. She would get tea when Chaos woke up.

 How long were they asleep? A few minutes? An hour? 5 hours? A day? Endy was still sitting at the other end of the couch, silently reading a book from one of the shelves. She saw them move out of the corner of her eye, a smile pulling at her lips. 

 “Sleep well?”

 “Not really- this couch is not a nap couch at all.” They rubbed their eyes, unsmushing their glasses from their face. “How about you; what did you do while I slept?”

 “I was gonna make tea but decided to wait till you woke up to see if you wanted any. Then I came in here and started reading.” They slipped a crocheted bookmark into their page before shutting the book.

 “What book was it?” Endy handed her the book, smiling slyly as she took it from his hands. They gasped. “Redstone and Skulk?! REDSTONE AND SKULK?!” 

 “All of these books are fanfictions.” They motioned a small circle with their finger as Chaos flipped through the pages. “I found a few I haven’t seen in years. And- oddly enough- a few from that Bipblop person-”

 “BipBlop? ‘Comments-on-nearly-every-episode’ BipBlop?” She set the turquoise-bound book on the coffee table before getting up to explore the bookshelves for more gems. “Why would it be here if it’s fanfics we’ve read?”

 “I’m not sure. Maybe it’s because he’s commenting on the episodes, I guess? Hey- how are we getting those questions, anyway?”

 “I dunno-” Chaos grabbed a few books from Hermitcraft and The Life Series shelf, plopping them down with Redstone and Skulk. “Wanna binge read these with me? Don’t know when we’re going home, anyway.”

 “Absolutly, but I’m going to make some tea first.” Endy started to get up for the kitchen before turning back, “Oh- we need to tell Mal to put water in their mug. The cocoa sticks to the bottom.”

 “Oooooh I forgot about that-” 

 “Can’t wait to ask them about being here in a few hours.” 

 “They drank cocoa and yapped about Vampires SMP.” She started sorting the books out into different piles. 

 “Sounds about right. Kinda sad I missed it.”

 “Who knows; maybe all 3 of us will get dragged here together.”

Chapter Text

In all the weeks of this same repetitive trap, 3 people in the void was something new. Chaos wasn’t complaining, though. It was nice to have both of her friends there even if it was something beyond their control. Oddly enough, there wasn’t a designated topic this week. The pages of the book were empty besides the ones with topics already covered and crossed out. 

 “The book is empty guys,” Mal slid the book back into the shelf. “What do we wanna talk about?”

 “Well there’s a lot going on in the community, so honestly it’s fair game.” Endy laid their head back on the cushion, “Hermicraft season just ended, Eyes and Ears Datastream, Vampires,” They listed the topics off while counting them on their fingers. Chaos was completely zoned out, the conversation was just words that dissipated before they hit her ears. 

 “Vampires!” Mal practically started jumping where xey were standing. “I could talk about Vampires SMP for HOURS.” 

 “Ive watched Shubble’s POV since the start and dabbled with a few others but she’s been my main one.” They nodded to Mal who was already grabbing the microphones. She turned to Chaos, “Hey, is Vamp-“ Their ears tensed as their shoulders drooped. “Chaos?” A slight shake at the shoulder snapped her mind back to reality. 

 “Huh? What?” They shook their head as if it was shaking away the mind fog. “What are we doing?”

 “Is Vampires SMP ok for this weeks topic?” Endy’s voice was quiet, but both her and Mal’s eyes were ridden with worry. That stupid burn hadn’t fully healed yet, leaving the gauze to become Chaos’ favorite new fidget. 

 “Yeah, that’s fine. I think we have a wide enough range of POVs watched to get a good scope of the story.” The weak smile she gave seemed to not convince the other 2 that she was fine, but that would be okay. They had an episode to film. “You guys wanna get this done so we can go home?” 

 “Sure- I’m gonna make cocoa!” Mal set the microphones on the coffee table before bolting into the kitchen. Chaos went to get up before Endy stopped them. 

 “Chaos, talk to me. What’s wrong?” They rested over theirs. “You’ve been zoning out all day.”

 “I- I dunno.. I’m just kinda freaking out. Like this thing-“ They ran a hand through their hair, “It controls all of our lives-“

 “Only part.” 

 “What?”

 “Only part of our lives. This thing only has control over part of our lives.” 

 “Doesn’t mean I hate it any more, I’ll fight it.” Chaos looked up at the ceiling as if the thing had microphones and cameras everywhere. “I’ll fight you!” 

 Endy hit their shoulder with a pillow. “Don’t fight them. At least the 3 of us get to hangout without waiting on a new SMP, right? And we’re not being- like- tortured.”

 With a defeated sigh, they agreed. “Yeah.” 

“So just don’t think about it for a while. The thing tends to leave us alone when we’re here or in an SMP, so just- try not to think about them?” 

 “Besides,” Mal set down a tray with 3 cups of cocoa, “We get to yap about things for hours without interruption- that’s pretty nice in my opinion.”

 “Would it really be that malicious if it doesn’t do anything to stop us from being happy while we’re here?” Endy let go of Chaos’ hand as they grabbed their mug. 

 “You mean besides not being able to go home?” 

 “Well-“

 “I’m sure that was an accident!” Xey sat down with the other two, handing Chaos her mug. “But let’s not think about that!”

 “Let’s spend today having some fun, okay?” Endy nudged her with their shoulder, smiling softly. “It’s going to be okay.”

 “Alright. I suppose,” Chaos picked up her microphone, the others doing the same. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

 .

..

…

 Mondays were always so weird. After Tuesday, his week was typically packed with practice and work so Monday was his “rest” day. Everyone else he knew dreaded Mondays, but they were peaceful for him. 

 Besides, the podcast he liked was updated on Mondays. Well, technically it was the one he ‘ran’. The watchers told him to use his powers for good since it was such a blessing and all that immortal mumbo jumbo. Heh. Mumbo jumbo. 

 Becoming a watcher was weird, day to day life was so overwhelming. The elders were constantly whispering into his ears about those around him… Practice and work were harder now. Can’t even count without them critiquing the tempo or his step size. Work was constantly hearing the voices spreading the secrets of his coworkers. 

 Using these newfound powers to do something silly and fun seemed far more productive, so he made that pocket world. The whole idea was finding people he liked to make a podcast, and give them a little world to do so without interruptions! The only downside was these people didn’t know until they woke up there. Whoops- 

 Well, he tried to make it as comfortable as possible for them. There was a fully stocked kitchen and some bedrooms for them to sleep in. Once the people were selected, he filled the bookshelves with their favorite fanfictions to read while they were there. As long as they were happy- they wouldn’t be mad at him, right? 

 He sat down on his bed, finally stretching his wings after hiding them all day. Those were new too. He was used to his singular pair of wings, not 3! The new pairs didn’t even match his old ones; they were white and purple instead of black and purple. Everything just felt wrong, but maybe that was part of the new watcher transformation thing. Hey, Endy is a Watcher! Maybe he could ask them about it! 

 He clapped his hands together as he declared he’d be visiting the hosts today! That’s what he would spend his Monday doing; getting answers! and maybe giving them some as well.

.

..

…

 The main bit of the podcast was done, leaving just the Q&A. There weren’t any questions this week, so they just suggested some of their favorite fanfictions and ended it there. 

 “Finally done with this episode,” Chaos sighed as they set the microphone on the table. “We can go home soon!”

 “Actually, you’re not.” An unfamiliar voice cut through the house. A flash of purple filled the room before they sat the reason they were here standing in front of them. 

 An oversized “Senior; Class of 2026” hoodie draped over their shoulders with 3 pairs of large wings coming from their back. Blonde money pieces had purple at the tip, matching the back of his hair. The eyes surrounding his head glowed a deep violet before he cleared his throat and it all dispersed. He looked like a normal te- No. 

 The person bringing them here was BipBlop. 

Chapter Text

 They couldn’t believe their eyes. This whole thing was caused by a teenager?! Month after month of their Mondays being spent here because of some kid?! 

 “I know you have your questions-“

 “A ton, actually.” Chaos stepped forward, an uneven mix of confusion and anger coursing through her veins. “First off, what is this place? And why did you start taking us?! What did we do to you!?” 

“Okay- you’re mad, I get that.” Blob kicked at the ground while Chaos stared at him in disbelief. 

 “A little more than mad,” Endy rubbed the back of their neck. Never one to admit it aloud, but they couldn’t process how much they had started to loathe the thing dragging them here. He just never thought it would be a teenager. 

 “What they mean is-,” Mal stepped in front of the other hosts, “Why us?” 

 The watcher’s ears perked up, “Oh, that's easy!” The cheeriness in stars voice sent a small shiver down their spines. “I picked you three because you’re entertaining.” Entertaining?! What the heck did he mean by ‘entertaining’?? Blob must have read their minds. “Let me explain. For starters, you three already have some sort of fanbase. Either on TikTok, Twitch, YouTube, ect.” A million invisible eyes locked onto the hosts as Blob continued to smile. “Who would want boring hosts for a podcast?!” 

 “You didn’t ask us.” Mal could feel the eyes on them, scanning their every word. “Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy getting to see Chaos and Endy more, but… this isn’t of our own accord.”

“Well, I take great care of you here, so I don’t see the issue.” Star gave a small shrug before teleporting onto the couch. “You three have a whole world you can shape however you want, a stocked kitchen, an entire house just to yourselves, and you’re upset over free will??”

 “We don’t even know you, why wouldn’t we freak out about having our autonomy taken away?” Chaos maneuvered their way back to the couch, sitting beside the teen. He had flopped himself down in a way he could take up almost half of the couch. They couldn’t believe him. Almost a year of this and he acts as though they’d just smile and have a little chit-chat with him?! No! The three of them had been dragged here week after week and he acts as though it’s nothing? “How would you feel if you got dragged out of your home every week to film a podcast? That book you left us wasn’t very helpful on how to get home.”

 Blob sat up, tilting his head as though he were a confused puppy. “What book? The only books here are the fanfictions I knew you liked.” A skeleton hand passed the book to the young watcher. As star flipped through the pages, a look of confused shock grew on stars face. “I- I didn’t leave this for y’all, I don’t know what this is.”

 “So you don’t blame Chaos for what happened in World Hoppers?” Endy leaned on the back of the couch. Their ears were tensed to the side of their head as their wings stretched to keep Mal within their grasp. “You don’t- like- hate us or are using this place as a punishment?” The teen nervously laughed.

 “You think I hate you? No, I don’t hate you guys! Didn’t you hear what I just said about taking care of you? And the World Hoppers thing- wasn’t that faulty code? I mean I remember you accidentally breaking a mod in season 2 and Mallette having to fix it, but that was something entirely different.” The three backed away slightly as he remained sitting up. “What? I'm not some psycho, I needed to know my hosts before doing this.”

 “Not weird at all, kid…” Chaos slid to the opposing end of the couch. The word ‘kid’ must have riled him up. He sat up on his knees with all three pairs of wings flared out behind him.

 “I am not a kid! I am almost an adult, thank you.” He pointed to his hoodie. “Class of 2026 and future class of 2030 since I’m going to college.” Star sat back down with a huff and started mumbling. 

 “Well, regardless of your age or who you are,” The skeleton sat beside him across from Chaos, “who left those notes then? Some of them we read were pretty threatening…”

 Blob looked up at Endy, who was moving to sit beside Chaos. “Most likely The Elders. They don't really like Endy.” A small pause. “Or anyone, honestly.” Chaos’ hand moved to Endy’s shoulder. “They told me this podcast idea was stupid and a waste of my abilities.” Blob stood up with his wings once again puffed out and began to pace. “You do one mock life series with your friends for shits and giggles and this is where it gets ya. All your friends having fun while you’re stuck with stupid voices narrating your life and you can’t even enjoy Minecraft anymore because those purple bastards are everywhere!”

 “So you didn’t threaten us.?” 

 “What?! No!” Blob grabbed Mal’s hands. “I don’t want to hurt you guys! Why don’t you understand that?? I just wanted you three to have some fun!” 

 “This is your idea of fun?” Mal pulled their hands back, “You call this fun?”

 “Well, not really. But it’s the best I could do at the time.” He spun around in the air before standing up and levitating off the ground. “I had to do a podcast thing in 10th grade English; that’s kinda where I got the idea.”

 “Uh-huh..” Endy took Blob by the shoulders and pushed star till stars feet touched the floor. “Well, do you think you can stop it?”

 A stifled chuckle escaped the teen, “I fear I can’t. The Elders gave me the ability to create but not destroy.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “And there may or may not be a whole world full of ferrets-“ 

 “So we’re stuck here?” Chaos circled the teen, who was standing still for once due to Endy’s hands on his shoulders. “Like- there's no way out of this?”

 “Not at the moment-no. I can try to work on some failsafe's for you three- but it will take time.” Star summoned a large book into stars hands. Pages and notes stuck out from the sides in sporadic patterns, matching the thought process of its author. “Okay- so this has a few lines of code that can help y'all leave here sooner because I still have no clue why you can’t just leave when you want..” He sat down on his knees before opening the book. The adults leaned over his shoulders, trying to make out the messy handwriting on the notes. “There’s also the addresses to some of the other worlds I’ve made. There’s a FNaF world, Sonic world, medieval world.” He counted them off on his fingers.

 “Why all those themed worlds?” Mal knelt down to his level. “Those don’t have anything in common at all.”

 “Eh,” He shrugged, “3a.m. hyperfixations are weird. Theres also a marching band one but that's more so for me to practice my dots and get ready for color guard auditions in college.” He shut the book before handing it off to Mal. “I say have fun and knock yourselves out. Like I’ve been saying; I’m not trying to be malevolent or evil or controlling. This is just a mishap of powers I didn’t fully understand…” The young watcher stood up before making his way to the opposite side of the room. “I do have to leave now, but I will be back! Who knows, maybe I’ll stick around for an episode. I just really want you three to know how sorry I am for this becoming so… out of our control.” 

 The 3 hosts stood side by side while he gave his ‘farewell speech’ as if he was wrapping up a final performance. Mal held the giant book to their chest, running xeir finger along the embroidery in the leather. The teen bowed with extravagance before turning into a small cloud of purple haze. An odd silence surrounded them for a few minutes, but it felt like an eternity. 

 The book ended up on the table with its pages open as Chaos started typing into their blue panels of code. After maybe 15-16 tries, a portal opened to their left. On the other side of the portal… was &SMP! They did it!! 

 “Hey, guys!” Chaos called over their shoulder. Mal and Endy poked their heads out of the kitchen, each holding a cup of cocoa. “I- I think I found a way back to &!” Chaos grabbed the book while the two others walked over to their sides. The blue sky of &SMP called to them from the other side. 

 A year of seeing like their lives were completely out of their control. A year of unease and uncertainty. A year of their faux stability sitting upon a mountain of sand. That was all behind them now. Home was just a few steps away. They now had a grasp on something that used to make them feel as though everything was slipping through their fingers. They looked around the house for the last time before stepping through the portal and going home. At least until next week. 

 Thank you for listening to this week’s episode of Fandive! We’ll be back again next Monday to dive into yet another fandom. Got a question or topic for the podcast? Head on over to our website; fandive.tumblr.com. It is Tumblr, after all. We’re not afraid to be fans of things.