Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

John Dory was storming away from where he fell upon losing grip of his grappling hook, said tool he had accidentally dropped in his anger.

He just couldn't believe they would quit like that!

Did the band mean nothing to them?

He let out a sigh, anger finally leaving him, his thoughts clearing as he walked.

In all honesty he couldn't really blame them.

He knew he was pushing too hard, but they HAD to hit the Perfect Family Harmony.

If they didn't…

He froze, cool realization washing over him.

  ...they didn’t ...

. . .they didn’t hit the harmony . . .

  They. Didn’t. Hit. The. Harmony.

WHAT WAS HE THINKING!?

HE COULDN’T LEAVE NOW!

NOT AFTER THAT PERFORMANCE!

...and King Peppy…

       . . .  He was probably FURIOUS by now.

 Before he could entertain this thought any further, as if summoned, the king pulled him aside

 And proceed to drag him somewhere private where they could ‘talk’.

Well ‘talk’ was a very nice way of putting it.

“Now.” the king started as soon as he was sure there were no prying eyes.

 “Would you please explain.” while his tone was sweet, he radiated a cold kind of anger.

  “What was that John Dory? I'll tell you what it wasn't, it wasn't the Perfect Family Harmony?”

The younger troll cringed at his king’s growing anger, despite the fact that the elder troll had yet to raise his voice.

“How do you suppose we escape now?”

John Dory deflated.

He was right.

The king had gone to John Dory and asked him to do one thing, 

granted that thing was said to be nigh impossible.

John Dory had not only accepted the task but promised to deliver, he had every right to be angry with him.

The Perfect Family Harmony.

Said to be powerful enough to shatter diamonds.

If it was that powerful then surely it could destroy the measly metal cage that encased the Troll Tree, they could've used the chaos caused by it to escape or,even better,  weaponized the harmony.

But not anymore, John Dory had failed. Not only that but the band split up even if he hadn't tried to leave there's no way he could convince his brothers to try again.

He felt the familiar sting of someone slapping him across the face. 

Right.

He was still talking with the king.

 How long had he been ignoring the troll? He didn't look happy with him, that's for sure.

“Honestly boy learn to listen to your betters, you may have ruined the harmony but you can still be of use.”

He perked up at that, he didn't really like where this was going.

“What do you mean?”

The King smiled at him, had it been directed at anyone else he would have called it kind. 

He knew better.

The king wasn't fond of him.

That tended to happen when people who knew the real him

..knew how imperfect he was…

“Well my boy the people still need BroZone, it's their beacon in these dark times, I need you boys to keep performing!”

John Dory shook his head, he couldn't, his brothers hated being in the band! They literally just fought about it.

“King Peppy the band broke up after that disaster of a performance.”

The King soured at this.

“Then you'll just have to get the band back together!” 

John shook his head more vehemently.

“You don't understand, my brothers don't want to be in the band! I can't just force them too!”

He could feel the burn of tears in hs eyes.

Hee wouldn't force them too, he didn't care if Peppy was the king!

 Those were his baby brothers and he refused to hurt them anymore than he already had, they probably hated him enough.

 He’s not surprised if they do, what is surprising is how long they put up with him.

The King glared at him before his gaze softened.

“Alright John Dory if you insist, but come with me I need to show you something before you head back.”

He let out a sigh of relief, thank the muses.

 He wiped the tears from his eyes as he followed the king to the royal pod. Once inside Peppy closed all the windows and locked the door.

John was starting to feel nervous again.

“Wait here while I get it.”

and with that the king was off.

He came back a few moments later with a white harp in his paws.

The instrument held a single, beautiful, pink string on it.

“This is the Pop music string, it is our most powerful artifact and our most prized possession.”

It certainly looked powerful, the energy that wafted from it made his hair stand on end.

His tail swished behind him anxiously as he reached out to touch it, but before he could his paw was smacked away by the king.

“Why are you showing me this?”

“Because it can help you be perfect.”

Perfect.

That's all John Dory ever wanted to be.

If he was perfect grandma would get better.

If he was perfect his parents would come home.

If he was perfect he could perform the perfect family harmony and set everyone free.

If he was perfect maybe…

maybe his brothers wouldn't hate him anymore.

He would give anything to be the perfect big brother for them.

King Peppy hadn't waited for an answer, he used the string on John Dory.

_________

It hurts

King Peppy never said anything about it hurting, then again if this was the price for perfection then he'd take it.

When it was done he still hurt.

All he could feel was hurt.

 …nothing felt different. . .

But. It. Hurts . 

He could feel the painful smile on his lips, when did he start smiling? How can he smile when he hurts this badly?

He tried to question the king about it but no sound came out of him, he tried to move but wouldn't budge, he was stuck and he couldn't do anything about it.

“John Dory.”

The king spoke in a commanding voice and his body went stiff, seemingly awaiting orders.

“Go fetch your brothers.”

No! He didn't want this! It hurt so badly! Was the kin- was Peppy going to use that- that THING on his brothers too? He didn't want to hurt them! He didn't want them to go through this!

And yet his body didn't listen. It slipped his goggles over his eyes and went off into the night after his brothers, against his will.

That painful grin still plastered on his face.

And a tear just barely managing to slip free.

_______

Spruce was not handling this as well as he thought he was. In all honesty he wanted to go home.

That's why when he saw JD approaching him he momentarily forgot his anger.

Relieved that John was still here

 that he hadn't actually left for the Neverglade Trail

 that he stayed.

Part of him wanted to hug him. Another part of him wanted to shout at his older brother, because why was he here?! Had he followed him? Typical John Dory never minding his business.

But before he could act on ethier, John had grapled him with his hair

 and the next thing he knew he was being held captive by his own brother.

________

Clay had stormed off to stay the night at his friend Jasper's pod. He'd planned on going home in the morning.

 if he felt like it that is. 

He hadn't expected to be stopped by John.

He certainly hadn't expected for John to trap him in his hair, nor did he expect to find Spruce there.

He should have known John would try to pull something.

But he didn’t expect this.

_________

Floyd had made it just to the edge of the cage before John caught him, he had almost left the tree.

____

John Dory felt his body make its trek down a familiar route.

No! Not Branch! He's just a baby! He can't let his baby go through this!

He felt tears slip out, if he didn't stop crying soon his goggles would fill up.

But he couldn’t stop that either.

His body froze, then turned away from the direction of his family pod.

He internally cheered at his small victory, but it had left him exhausted. He wanted nothing more than to sleep, for this all to be a bad dream.

He doesn't notice when his body brings them to the King's pod, nor does he notice it putting his brothers down not so gently.

But he does notice when they start shouting at him.

“What the hell John Dory?!”

“Yea John what gives!?”

Spruce and Clay keep shouting at him, meanwhile Floyd is studying his face.

His brother frowned, guess he didn't like what he saw.

“Use it.”

He couldn't see the king anywhere, his brothers didn't acknowledge the king either; they simply kept shouting at him as his body stiffly made its way to the harp.

He did everything in his power to fight back, but in the end the only thing he managed to do was cry harder. 

His body didn't even react to the tears.

 It. Just. Kept. Smiling .

He was powerless to stop himself from using the string on his brothers.

At least baby Branch would be spared from this torture, it was his only solace.

obligatory tumblr:https://www. /blog/crowcalledfish

and here is the chapter's title card

Chapter Text

Branch had been SO happy when his brothers came home! Even JD came back! 

And he had said goodbye forever!

But…

 They were acting super weird.?

They didn't fight anymore which was nice, but they also brought the band back which was weird.

He thought they didn't want to sing together anymore,

 because he messed up.

He tried asking them about it but they all gave him weird answers.

Spruce said he didn't want to quit anymore.

Clay said that he loved BroZone, that it was super fun.

Floyd said he changed his mind about his solo career.

JD didn't say anything.

That was what was really bothering Branch.

His JayDee was never this quiet, he was never quite at all!

John Dory was always making noise, whether it was humming while he did dishes or snoring in his sleep. He ALWAYS made a sound, hearing him be this quiet was kinda scary.

Grandma also knew something was wrong, he heard her trying to talk to his brothers but they always said that they were ‘perfectly happy’ 

One time she was gone all day and came home crying, when he asked her what was wrong she cried even harder and picked him up in a hug.

That night she tucked them all in with a kiss, she was crying again by the time she got to Branch.

Another weird thing was the glasses. They all wore matching shades each in their signature color, well except for JD who still wore his goggles.

It wasn't abnormal for his brothers to change up the band's wardrobe, but it was for them to keep wearing the glasses when they weren't performing.

The one time Branch had taken the glasses away had been scary, all his brothers eyes were glowing pink! He didn't get to check JayDee, his goggles were too heavy for the toddler to lift.

It’s kinda funny, if you think about it…

He misses his brothers despite the fact that they never left.

Despite the fact that they were still here with him,

Still spoke to him everyday, still preformed onstage with each other, still took turns tucking him in, still joked in their usual manner.

In fact almost nothing about their daily routines were different.

But the parts that were different, 

the parts that scared him, 

it made him feel all the more alone.

_____________________

Rosiepuff wasn’t typically the kind of troll to hold a grudge, quite the contrary in fact!

She prided herself on her patience, after all you can’t get as good at rummy as she is without it, but now?

She has never resented anyone until now, aside from the bergens, that is.

Not that anyone can blame her, she lost friends and family to those monsters.

Most trolls held some sort of resentment or anger towards their captors, however most trolls did not hold this same level of disdain towards their own king.

But Rosiepuff did, she couldn’t help but despise the troll, a feeling that grew with each passing day.

With every hurt or confused expression on her youngest’s face, 

 every unnatural smile,

   every tear that has managed to slip free,

     every moment of silence where there was once so much life

       every single time she so much as looks at him,

She is filled with more and more hatred towards her supposed ‘king’

She has to get them out of here, it isn’t up for debate anymore.

The constant threat of bergens was bad enough, but THIS!?

Her precious grandbabies attacked not only by her own kind but her RULER!?

As soon as she could she would take them and bring them somewhere safe, anywhere will be safer than here. She is particularly fond of Branch’s adorable idea.

A dwelling underground would keep them hidden from both bergens AND other trolls.

It had broken her heart when the trolling stopped talking about that dream of his.

Floyd had promised to help him build it, but he was… indisposed.

The look of devastation on Branch’s face after his older brother told him that the band was more important than their hideout, the trolling had been so hurt and confused.

He had cried himself to sleep that night and there was little Rosiepuff could do to comfort him.

. . .

It will be bedtime soon, she’s made a habit to tuck in her precious grandchildren every night.

Both as a comfort to herself and them.

She refuses to believe that her grandsons, her real grandsons, are gone.

They are still there

 behind the facade,

 she can see them sometimes.

 Each night she catches a glimpse of them, 

just before they close their eyes.

     They looked so scared.

There was one she had yet to see though…

“Dory dear, do you need help with your goggles?”

Like every night since the incident , his face was a blank slate, nothing but a fake smile.

He never responded verbally, the only time anyone heard his voice was when he was performing.

Well occasionally, albeit rarely, he will speak to Branch.

And like every night he refused to remove the goggles until he was completely alone, one of the king's terms she had learned.

The king had set a number of terms in order to keep John Dory under his thumb, and since her dear Dory was ‘The Leader’ the rest of his brothers followed them in turn.

The king had told her the terms with hopes that they would help her understand the ‘necessity’ of what he had done.

She can still hear his words ringing in her mind.

“The eyes must remain hidden, we would not want to unsettle the masses.”

“Smiling is mandatory, how can you expect to keep a populous hopeful if its pride and joy is unhappy?”

“The most important thing is that the show must go on! BroZone gives the people hope!”

He wanted to save everyone’s hope, to keep them going just long enough to finish those tunnels of his.

He made John Dory his martyr in the process. 

She had checked JD’s eyes one night after he went to sleep, desperate for a glimpse of her oldest grandson, for proof that he was still there.

But… she couldn’t see anything but that horrible pink hue.

The only evidence she had that he wasn’t truly gone, were the occasional tears she caught slipping past his goggles.

He must be in so much pain.

At least his brothers were able to have moments of clarity, though few and far between, they had maintained some aspects of themselves, of who they were.

John Dory had been left with nothing.

No moments of clarity, 

No temporary breaks from the terms, 

No fragment of his personality to be seen.

He was a ghost of his former self.

And until she found a way to reverse this, a way to free them.

John Dory, who tried his best to be a good older brother,

John Dory, who had such a kind heart,

John Dory, her sweet grandson, 

Was dead.

And all that was left of him was 

‘The Leader’.

…Leader isn't much of a personality, now is it?