Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Bro… that’s kinda gay,” Sasha said calmly, scooting closer to Marcy on the bench. He leaned closer, keeping his eyes on Marcy’s phone. Despite his nonchalant behaviour, his eyes shined with excitement at watching the new episode of The Owl House. 

“Sasha, please be quiet, we’re trying to watch the episode,” Anne grumbled from Marcy’s other side, reaching over to Marcy’s phone and pulling it a little closer to herself. 

Meanwhile, Marcy sat between them, heart beating faster than normal considering both of their crushes were extremely close to them and Luz just asked Amity out and Lumity is canon and what the fuck, this episode was supposed to be filler!

The three of them finished watching the episode, barely able to process what had happened before Marcy shut off their phone and put it in the pocket of their hoodie. “Well,” they said, standing up and turning back around to Anne and Sasha, “That was a lot to process. Who wants ice cream?” They asked, extending one hand each to Anne and Sasha. 

Both of them grabbed Marcy’s hands, Sasha slightly more reluctantly, and pulled themselves up. They kept hold of Marcy’s hands even as they walked, though. Which was completely normal. Not gay at all. That was ordinary for three friends that just happen to all be neither cis nor straight. 

Marcy shook their head, zoning back in as the three of them walked through Exposition Park. They strolled by the fountain, eventually ending up at the ice cream stand. 

The vendor looked up from their phone and greeted the three teens with a smile. “Hey, what can I get for you?” They asked, quietly shutting off their phone, which, hey, were those Ducktales stickers on it? And putting it off to the side. 

“Mint chocolate chip, please!” Marcy chirped. 

Sasha rolled his eyes. “You always order that flavor, Marbles,” he grumbled lightheartedly.

“That’s because it’s the best!” Marcy exclaimed, fake gasping dramatically at Sasha not liking it.

Sasha shrugged. “Whatever. I’ll have the cherry garcia.”

Anne, meanwhile, was inspecting all the flavors. She perked up after a few seconds, saying, “Oooh, there’s bananas foster now! I’ll take that, please!”
“Anna Banana,” Marcy whispered to Sasha, chuckling. 

“I hate you guys,” Anne grumbled as Sasha laughed. 

“Nnnnnno you don’t!” Marcy grinned, letting go of Anne and Sasha’s hands to smush Anne’s face between their own. 

Anne blinked a few times, face reddening before mumbling, “...No, I don’t.”

Marcy giggled at Anne’s embarrassment before booping her nose and turning back to the ice cream vendor. 

“$6, please!” They said, holding out the three ice cream cones in one hand. 

They each took their own cones, Marcy grabbing theirs with one hand and reaching into their pocket with the other. Being ambidextrous was actually extremely convenient, especially when writing. “Here you go,” they said, pulling out a $5 bill and a $1 bill and putting them on the counter. 

“Have a nice day!” Anne called back as she and her friends turned away. Anne was always really sweet like that. Well, unless someone had hurt someone she cared about. But otherwise, she was really nice to everyone. 

“So,” Marcy licked their ice cream cone, tasting the minty sweetness on their tongue, “what do you guys wanna do next?” They asked, sitting down on the closest bench.

Anne hummed thoughtfully. “Well, I gotta get some water. I haven't drank anything in, like, 3 hours,” she said, putting her ice cream cone upside down in a cup. “I’ll be right back, though.”

“I gotta get water too, actually,” Sasha said, putting his ice cream down on the bench next to Annes. (In a cup, too, obviously, he’s not that evil,) “Sooooo, don’t let anyone steal my ice cream.”

Marcy nodded, watching over their friends' ice cream cones, or, well, now cups? Marcy shook their head. Now isn't the time to think over that, Marcy. They leaned back against the bench as they waited, quickly growing bored at the lack of action happening. Kicking their foot against the pavement, they hummed quietly to themself as they tapped their fingers against the bench.

A flash of blue sparkled in the distance, immediately catching Marcy’s attention. Curiosity flooded their system. They’d never seen anything like that, not outside of their video games, at least. They glanced down at the cups of slightly melted ice cream, then looked around for Sasha and Anne, but didn't see them. The two can deal without Marcy for a moment, right? Plus, it's not like they were walking into a death trap! Probably! Maybe! Hopefully…!

Marcy hopped up off the bench, ignoring the subtle ache in their back from leaning against the uncomfortable metal. The blue light flashed again, and they ran towards it, trying their best to avoid crashing into things, and other people for that matter. Whatever it was, Marcy was going to find out where that intriguing glow came from, even if it's the last thing they do. Okay… Maybe if it's deadly, they should probably run away, but it looked so inviting. Almost digital… like a Pokémon move!

Marcy ran by the corner, crocs skidding against the pavement below them as they stopped themself. They looked up to see a very… strange looking man, to put it simply.

The man was short and old, with pale skin and small bits of white hair on his balding head. He was clad in mostly white, with a dark navy vest covering his outfit. He also had a shiny visor that was connected to… something on his ear, as well as a metallic gauntlet on his hand. But there was something else that caught Marcy’s eye.

The Hinobi™️ logo was branded on his vest. 

Oh yeah, and he was also shooting a bright blue laser beam out of his gauntlet, zapping what looked to be a Goomba. Probably should have noticed that first , Marcy thought to themself. 

"Contain the glitch, HP!" A young kid with ghostly white hair rasped out. Marcy noticed the telltale Hinobi Tech logo once again, adorned by the kid.

“ Don’t tell me what to do, Maddie, you’re only a junior tech, ” the old man- HP?- growled.

What kinda superhero gamer techy mumbo jumbo was this? Marcy shook their head, staring with a disbelieving gaze as the old man jumped and flipped as he zapped up the… Glitch, did that kid say? Nevermind that, how is that old man so flexible still? And what did Hinobi have to do with any of that? And if glitches are real life things and not just a little bug in humanity's admittedly frustrating technology, then–

"Marcy?!" Anne's telltale worried voice pierced through their swarming thoughts, and they swerved around and stared at the brunette and the blonde trailing behind.

"Did… Did you see that too…?" Marcy asked slowly, trying to process everything they just saw.

Sasha nodded, still keeping his mix-matched colored eyes on the scene in front of him. “Maybe it’s a good idea to… not be here?” he suggested, finally turning to meet Marcy’s eyes. 

Marcy hummed doubtfully before turning around to see that the ‘glitch’ was no longer there, and the old man was now fiddling with something on his gauntlet. Which, by the way, had a screen? And it was projecting holograms?

‘HP’ picked up his head, directly meeting Marcy’s eyes, making them freeze nervously. He looked… not surprised to see them here, but clearly recognizing them. “xx_Marbles_The_Gaymer_xx?” He asked, shrinking down the hologram back into his gauntlet. 

Marcy cringed at hearing their gamer tag out loud, but reluctantly nodded. Frog, they sounded like a ten-year-old with that username. Their hands anxiously reached for the edge of their skirt, fiddling with the ends nervously.

The old man nodded to the kid standing near him. “You can go back to HQ, Maddie,” he said before turning back to Marcy and walking towards them. 

Maddie hesitated before shooting a beam out of her gauntlet that created a portal- A PORTAL???-  and walking away through it. It closed with a blip, and she was gone. 

“You may call me Hop Pop. I’m the manager of the Wartwood County Hinobi branch. You happen to be one of the top ranked gamers in this area, specifically in JRPGs,” he began, pulling up Marcy’s top achievements on his gauntlet, “especially for your age, it’s very impressive. The Hinobi™️ Glitch Techs suits your abilities perfectly.”

Marcy felt Anne and Sasha tense beside them, and they both shuffled closer to them defensively. “And… what does this have to do with anything?” they asked nervously.

“I’m offering you a job as a Glitch Tech; they fight glitches that terrorize the area around here- like that Goomba from just earlier,” Hop Pop explained.

“Oh hell no,” Anne growled, hands turning to fists as she stepped forward.

Sasha scowled, also stepping forward and putting out an arm to block Hop Pop from coming closer to Marcy. “Stay away from our Marcy, you cishet white male adult!” He hissed, other hand slowly reaching towards his pocket where he kept his pocket knife.

OUR MARCY?? WHAT. HUH. GAY GAY HOMOSEXUAL GAY? QUESTION MARK? UHM. WHAT. Marcy’s head exploded with questions as their face reddened, completely forgetting about the severity of the current situation for a second. Did Sasha really just say that? I mean, it’s probably just because the three of us have been best friends for years- there’s no way he likes me- he wouldn’t even say “our” if he did-

Hop Pop eyed Sasha's pocket wearily. "Now now, I mean no harm kiddo. I'm just offering a job to the one clearly experienced with games. You're a bit… Of the abrasive jock side." He quickly explained.

"I'll have you know I'm quite experienced in the gaming field too, old man…!" Sasha hissed. "Now step back before things get fucking messy, because I won't hesitate to defend Marbles, even if that means some creepy old man ends up dead…" He threatened, hand creeping closer to his pocket.

"I do have the equipment to destabilize you if need be," Hop Pop warned, "You have no idea what we Glitch Techs are capable of, and I'd rather keep it that way."

Sasha grit his teeth. He knew a threat when he saw one, and he wasn't going to back down that easily. His eyes scanned over the smaller man, and reluctantly but silently agreed that he had no idea what that gauntlet could do, especially after seeing it in action, and not even in full force most likely.

Between the three of them, they all knew a scheming face when they saw one, so the moment that lightbulb went off in Sasha's head, both Marcy and Anne knew he had a plan. And considering the situation, it was probably a pretty damn absurd plan at that. But they knew to not doubt the Sasha Waybright, for they knew what he was capable of. That old man doesn't stand a chance.

Sasha smirked. "So… About that job position. We travel as a trio, so if you want Marcy, you gotta get all of us."

"That won't be necessary. Either they agree to be a Tech, or none of you will remember this ever occurred." Hop Pop explained vaguely.

"Ah well–" Marcy tried to cut in.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean? What kinda techy cult shit is this?" Sasha spat out, eyes narrowing at Hop Pop.

"Hey hey! Language…!" Hop Pop chided. "What is it with kids and their attitudes these days…?" He grumbled.

Sasha scowled. "You can't tell me what to do, old man…!" He yelled back.

"Guys…" Marcy tried again.

"Young lady–"

" Not a girl." Sasha growled, cutting off the older man.

"Sorry." Hop Pop responded honestly. "Anyways, kiddo, you gotta respect your elders."

Sasha crossed his arms. "I'll respect my elders when they respect me, got it? It's a two way system here, dude." He seethed.

"Guys…!" Marcy's tone grew more and more impatient. "Hop Pop, was it? Yeah, uhm, I’m sorry about my friends- but I’d love to accept the job if you have, like, actual proof that you work for Hinobi!” They said, awkwardly but excitedly.

“ Marcy, ” Sasha growled, putting his hand on their shoulder, “Listen, I love you, but you can’t be this fucking gullible.” He gestured toward Hop Pop, who flinched in response.

“Err,” Hop Pop grumbled, loading something up on his gauntlet, “Well, I have my official ID and gamer tag here, if you really need proof.” A blue hologram popped up into the air, displaying:

Hoppediah (Hop Pop) Plantar

Wartwood County Head Tech

H0P_P0P

He/Him

Sasha’s eyes narrowed, but he shrugged and took his hand off Marcy’s shoulder.

Marcy grinned, taking it as permission from Sasha. I mean, it’s not like they really needed permission; Marcy was their own person. But it was still best to make sure… just in case he, like, got mad, or something. I mean. It’s happened before. But it’s just Sasha trying to be a good friend. Why else would he be so protective of Marcy and Anne?

“So, yeah,” Marcy mumbled, zoning back in, “everything seems to be in check! I’d be glad to accept your offer as a Glitch Tech!”

Hop Pop nodded, seeming content. "Alright, good choice. But still, I can't accept your little friends into our company, too. So," he held up his hand, aiming his gauntlet straight at Anne and Sasha. A whirring noise expelled from it as sparks formed around his palm. "They have to forget all of this."

Alarm struck through Marcy like a giant fire sword. Was he about to wipe their memories? They had to do something. Anne couldn't forget them. Not now. And neither could Sasha. 

There was only one thing they could do.

Marcy leapt in between Hop Pop and their friends, a blast of light hitting them right in their face. It struck them like lightning, pain searing throughout their head.

And then everything

          w̷͍ě̶͖̂n̶̤͑t̵̘̕

                    w̴̧̫͕̐͒͗̏̈͝h̴̢̳͊̏̃͒̓̀̓͆͒͝i̷̦̙̯̅̾̔t̶̡̖̠̙̍̉͊̚͝e̷̹̪͉̟̦̼͕̻͕͋͂ͅ.

// EYESTRAIN WARNING //

COVER ART!! First one by Garnet, second by Logan!! :D

(I made mine at camp so I apologize for it not being digital

or good)

Anddd here's the art I (Garnet) made for the chapter! :D

Chapter Text

“MARCY!” Anne yelped, leaping forward and grabbing their shoulder. Panic jolted through her as she cushioned their fall. Fuck shit no no no i swear to fucking god if this dude can’t fix them-

“Ugh…” Marcy groaned, rubbing their forehead groggily. They shook their head before looking back up angrily at a baffled Hop Pop. “What was that for?” They exclaimed, pulling themself out of Anne’s hold. 

Hop Pop blinked a few times. “Wh- huh? But- how are you- what- you should have reset! ” He exclaimed, pacing back and forth and moving his hands in odd motions.

"That was very rude of you, y'know,” Marcy grumbled, “I have one killer headache now!” They rubbed their forehead again, stepping towards the Hinobi manager. "It's even worse than staying up all night running on only caffeine and… uh.. totallynotplayingrandomgames-" They trailed off when they caught the unimpressed expressions on Anne and Sasha’s faces. "Er… Not that… Not that I know what that's like… Or anything…" They added quietly, shrinking back into their hoodie.

" How do you still remember what's going on?!" Hop Pop yelled, seemingly not having listened to what Marcy said. 

Marcy tried to take another step forward, but stumbled a bit. “I don’t know , okay?” They growled. Anne put her arm behind their back and gently intertwined her fingers with theirs, and Anne’’ felt their muscles lose some tension. They squeezed her hand in appreciation. 

"It just… It doesn't make sense…!” Hop Pop was pacing in more aggressive circles now. Anne saw confusion and.. fear? brewing in his eyes and felt a small pang of sympathy for him. He was… old ; even though he hurt Marcy, he still seemed…

Anne sighed, unable to figure out the words.

“Everybody resets, even the highest managers of Hinobi! It’s in the manual- You can’t just not reset!” Hop Pop rambled in panic.

Sasha scowled, stepping towards the old man. "So let me get this straight-"

“- You? Get something straight? ” Anne joked.

Sasha jerked his head around to glare at the brunette, earning a meek “sorry” in response. He turned back to the.. Glitch Tech? Is that what he called himself? and stood tall above him. “You aim a weapon at two literal children , try to hire another kid into what’s basically child labor because of their gaming status , and intend to wipe their memories simply because you don’t want them as employees? Am I getting this right?”

Hop Pop flinched. “Well, when you word it like that…”

"Now that you say it out loud, it is kinda suspicious…" Marcy said, still rubbing their head. They kept putting their hands over their ears and blinking their eyes like their hearing and vision were impaired. 

That better not be permanent. Anne glared at Hop Pop, holding Marcy closer to her.

Marcy eventually shook their head and said, "Yeah, you’ve gotta be careful with that thing, dude. One wrong move, my sight and career are done for…" 

Anne turned her head to give Marcy a concerned look, but then realized how close their faces were and turned hers away before any of them could see hers reddening. 

Sasha turned back to Marcy, stared at them for a second, and then shrugged it off, turning back around again. "Eh, they'll be fine,” he said. "So,” he grabbed Hop Pop by the collar of his shirt and readied his other arm like he was going to punch him, “give me one good reason to not call the cops and get your ass arrested, because if you keep this shit up, I’ll make your life a living hell," he threatened.

Hop Pop pushed him off with surprising ease and pulled out a lanyard with an ID on it. "Calling the police will do nothing. I may technically only outrank them in morals, but they can reset just as easily as the thr- two of you," he said, bringing the ID up to Sasha’s face. "Hoppediah Plantar, manager of Wartwood’s Hinobi branch. And if you want to make this a legal dispute, I will contact Mr. Leviathan at once,” he threatened, his thumb hovering over a button on the lanyard.

Marcy practically jolted out of Anne’s arms, gripping Hop Pop’s shoulders aggressively and shaking him back and forth. Sasha stumbled back, losing his grip on the old man’s shirt "As in, the Andrias Leviathan? The CEO of Hinobi????"

Hearing that definitely seemed to get Sasha's attention. He raised his eyebrow suspiciously. "Pulling rank on us, huh? Are you aware exactly whose kids you're talking to?"

Marcy stopped shaking Hop Pop for a second, tilting their head at Sasha. 

His parents are rich and famous, but Marcy’s and I’s families aren’t really… Anne wrapped her arms around herself anxiously, hunching. 

Special.

"I know very much of the people Marcy hangs around, Waybright,” Hop Pop finally said after regaining his composure, “they aren't exactly secret online."

He what. THEY WHAT. Anne almost immediately forgot her self consciousness, holding her hands out and gripping empty air. “MARCY!”

"Heh… Whoops…" Marcy squeaked, taking their hands off of Hop Pop’s shoulders and  retracting slightly into their hoodie.

Sasha stared at them in both anger and confusion. "Whoops? That's not a 'whoops' moment, Marce! That's an 'oh shit, my fucking privacy' moment!" He scoffed.

Marcy shrunk further into their hoodie. “Yeah, sorry…” They mumbled, muffled by the soft cloth.

Sasha groaned and grabbed Marcy’s arm, pulling them back away from Hop Pop. He turned them both around and leaned forward, lowering his voice. “Look, Mar-Mar, you gotta be like, more careful online, ‘cause you never know what kinds of old creeps are lurking,” he said.

Anne pointed at Hop Pop. “Yes we do. Him.”

“I am a Glitch Tech Manager-!”

“-Shhhhhhhhhhhhut the fuck up,” Sasha interrupted the Hinobi branch manager. He closed his eyes for a moment, and Anne could already see a plan forming, but she couldn’t tell exactly what… Was he going to try and pitch the fact that they’re a trio again?

“Well, as you can see, we travel together and won’t hesitate to help each other. Marcy risked the fact that their memory could’ve been wiped just to protect us.” 

Anne snickered softly. Yep, that’s exactly what he’s doing.  

“So, I think you either give us all this job, or you’ll have both glitches and  a child endangerment lawsuit in your hands. I can name at least five different instances of gross negligence in the Wartwood Hinobi store alone,”

Five? Anne knew about the disgusting state of the bathrooms and the random piles of trash throughout the shop, but what else was there?

 “-and that’s not even counting any of the ‘glitches’ that have probably caused tons of destruction before you erased them from peoples’ memories.”

Hop Pop groaned, rubbing his forehead frustratedly in thought, and Anne realized he didn’t really have a choice. Even if he erased Anne and Sasha’s memories, he knew how bad Marcy was at keeping secrets- they’d find out soon enough and insist on the whole thing again. And he couldn’t let Marcy go; they knew about glitches and could cause problems for the company. 

After a few moments, he sighed dramatically. “Fine…” He finally decided. “I’ll take you all back to HQ for Glitch Tech orientation…” He grumbled. 

Marcy whooped and jumped into the air before running back to Anne and Sasha, wrapping them in their arms. They squeezed just tight enough for Anne to feel her back crack slightly. 

“You’ll have a gauntlet tutorial to get through and a an entrance mission to show your competence as a Tech,” HP continued once Marcy had calmed down, “You’ll get to choose your first mission, but I expect you to not make any brash decisions and hunt down a high level glitch just to show off. You all must understand that you will be at the absolute lowest level a Tech can be as to not endanger your fellow Techs. And while you have the ability to erase peoples’ memories, there’s still a NDA you all must sign.”

Anne glanced over at Sasha, who was very clearly drowning out HP’s whole spiel. Marcy, though, was absolutely ecstatic, grasping onto every word like each one was life-giving. Anne wasn’t sure if it was just because of the whole “irl video game experience” or not. The Hinobi job was definitely a plus, but they seemed more focused on their special interest. 

Anne hoped her (and Sasha, I guess,) coming along with them was at least part of what made them so happy, though.

Hop Pop opened up a portal (which Anne shouldn’t have been so mesmerized by considering she just saw one) and gave a brief warning of possible rift sickness and how it’s similar to motion sickness. He looked back at them one more time to confirm they were all listening, sighed when he saw Sasha wasn’t, and stepped through the portal.

Marcy, despite having clearly known what he said, ignored the warning and jumped straight into the portal with a “Wahoo!” Sasha rolled his eyes affectionately, following them, but Anne hesitated. Maybe she didn’t have any proof that Hop Pop was a bad person, but following some random old guy with no one else around made her feel really uneasy. And even if he was telling the truth, video games and fighting (other than muay thai) weren’t really something she was comfortable with. But… if Sasha and Marcy thought it was a good idea… surely it was fine? She lifted her hand up to the light, feeling the static raise the hair on her arms, and took a deep breath, stepping into the portal. She was immediately overwhelmed by the rift sickness, feeling like she was plummeting and flying upwards and standing completely still all at the same time. 

Colors brighter than the human eye could see were zapping past her, and every bolt brought thunder booming in her ears, and she felt like she was going to throw up, and she couldn’t control her limbs, and her body felt like jelly- and then the noise suddenly decrescendo’d as she found herself falling down backwards, away from a bright white and blue ceiling. 

Chapter Text

The first mission is always the most important for any brand new Glitch Tech. It gives an insight on what kind of Tech you will be, a starting ground into unfamiliar territory that was being a Tech to begin with. It’s a formative moment, and despite prior warnings by the trio's new boss, Sasha is determined to do the very best and come out on top. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for his competitive streak to take charge, but it was burning especially hot today, and he was going to keep tending the delicate flame that was his ego even if it's the last thing he ends up doing.

“This one looks perfect.” Sasha said with a bright confident grin, highlighting a high level mission. “Whaddya think?”

Marcy and Anne eyed the listing with caution, both nervously fidgeting. Though, it wasn't either of them that spoke up. “I say we listen to Hop Pop.” A young boy piped up. Sprig Plantar, as the trio got to learn in their orientation, grandson of the Branch Manager. “As much as I want to be out on the field, he'll kill me if that glitch doesn't do so first.”

“Can it, I wasn't asking you…!” Sasha snapped back. “I couldn't care less about your opinion even if I tried…” He snarked, waving the kid off with a scoff. He noticed Anne and Marcy’s shared glance beside him, but was too annoyed with the kid to care. “Why are you even coming with us anyway? Can’t you go hang out with the other dumb nerds?” He gestured to the other employees, who both seemed to be a couple of years younger than them, like Sprig was.

One was Maddie, the girl(?) that was fighting the Goomba with HP earlier. She had a raspy voice and a generally emo vibe other than her light pink hair. Sasha hadn’t met the other one, so he wasn’t sure of their name or pronouns, but they had very fluffy orange hair and were very loudly talking with Maddie about their plans for the day.

Sprig shuffled uncomfortably, noticeably fidgeting with something in their pocket. “Hop Pop wouldn’t let me be a tech before because of…” they trailed off, then shook their head. “He didn’t think I would be ready until now, and, since you guys are just starting, too, he’s putting me with you.”

Sasha put his head in his hands and groaned in annoyance. “Great, of course we get stuck with the coward who’s too afraid to do anything fun.” He noticed the kid glare at him, and smirked through his fingers. “Aannyways…” He drew out, turning on his heel to look back at the hologram board. “I say we should just go for it. It's not like I haven't ever used any weapons before.”

“Just because you did fencing once, doesn't mean you know anything about fighting, Sash…! And school fights don't count either...” Marcy interjected nervously. “Besides, you didn't even pay attention to the tutorial. Do you even know how to summon anything?”

“It can't be that hard…” Sasha muttered, rolling his eyes. “I can work a phone, I can work this shit, yeah?”

“That's… Not how that works.” Marcy grumbled.

Sasha shrugged. “My dad worked with animatronics, I’m sure it’ll be fine. See, Anne agrees with me, right, Anne?” He put his arm over her shoulders and pulled her closer to himself, squishing Anne’s face in the process.

“Um-”

“-Now let’s go!” Sasha cheered, letting go of Anne and running off in the direction of the garage where the tech vans were kept. “I call shotgun!” He called back to Marcy and Anne.

“NONE OF US CAN EVEN DRIVE!” Marcy yelled, chasing after him.

Sasha stopped in his tracks. “Oh yeah. Huh.” He had completely forgotten about that. How were they supposed to get that far? He definitely wasn’t gonna put the effort into walking halfway across town.

“That’s what the portals are for,” Sprig piped up right next to Sasha, startling him. When did he even get there??? “Wally and Hop Pop are the only ones at this branch who can drive, but we can all open portals from our gauntlets.” He held his up, pointing at the portal icon in the corner of the screen.

Marcy and Anne finally caught up with him, Marcy catching their breath as they stopped next to him. “See,” Anne said, “it’s actually a good thing we have this guy with us!” She gave Sprig a fist bump.

Sprig smiled. Sasha glared. He wasn't jealous, that would be ridiculous, but being overshadowed by a literal child, despite being a kid himself, tended to hit one's ego a bit. Not that it was important to note! Sasha was completely capable, without needing some kid jutting in, and he didn't have a massive ego that was easily damaged. You got that? Okay. Just… Clearing the air.

“Psh… Anyone could've figured that one out.” Sasha said, rolling his eyes. “We saw a fraction of what this thing's capable of; the old guy said it himself. It won't take much to figure something else out.”

“Once again, not exactly how this works.” Marcy said. “This gauntlet is an intricate piece of machinery that-”

“Nobody has time to listen to all that.”

“That! If used incorrectly can cause detrimental effects on the world at worst, and we'd be lucky to deal with the small side effects at best.” Anger flared up in Marcy, but they took a deep breath to calm themself down. Any calm they had, however, was immediately dispersed when Sasha commented,

“You don't even have to deal with those effects; you can't be reset! I can take care of myself!” It was times like this that Sasha doubted how he actually felt towards Marcy. There are times when he thinks they’re really cute and fun to hang out with, and then they stop those feelings in their tracks when they argue with Sasha like this or act like their silly interests are more important than their friendship. Why can't they just be more like Anne?

“It still-!” Marcy cut themself off, and, as if they could read Sasha’s mind, took a deep breath and stepped back, avoiding meeting Sasha’s eyes. “...nevermind.”

Sasha, slightly suspicious at Marcy’s change in tone but satisfied with that answer, swerved around and pressed the portal icon in the corner of his gauntlet’s screen. He aimed it forward and tapped the icon, but the force of the blast caused him to lose his balance. He had almost hit the ground when he felt a pair of arms hooking under his own, catching him and slowly helping him back up. Unsurprisingly, it was Anne.

“Crap, are you okay, Sasha???” She finally let him go when he recovered, but not without Sasha noticing how her hands lingered for a moment longer. See, this is what Sasha means. Anne is willing to help him and is always on his side, but Marcy gets on his nerves and still wasn’t even looking at him!

“Yeah, thanks, Anne,” he growled, shooting a glare at Marcy.

Anne tilted her head in confusion, but before she could say anything, she was interrupted by Sasha’s immediate shift in demeanor as he turned back to the portal. “Alright, let’s go!” He didn’t wait for any response as he stepped into the portal.

And immediately regretted it.

So maybe he forgot about the nausea and bright lights and how harsh the contrast between Earth and the portal was, but that’s not his fault! That dumb hologram’s lecture was way too boring to actually pay attention to! Actually, no, it’s the portal’s fault, because why are they made like that anyway???

He landed face down with a splat!, his face landing in grass but his body laying on the pavement. A nearby squirrel, startled by his sudden appearance, dropped the acorn it was biting into and scurried up a tree. “Eugh…” Sasha grumbled, hauling himself up and brushing the bit of blood from the new cut off of his face with his arm. He stood up, brushing the leaves out of his hair and barely recovering before Anne, Marcy, and Sprig stepped calmly through the portal.

He noticed Anne frowning at the cut on his cheek, but didn’t have time for her to get antibiotics and a bandaid and whatever else she would get because she was “concerned” for him. He turned away and brought a hologram of a map up out of his gauntlet. Wait, why aren’t we near the glitch? The map indicated that it was about a mile away, thankfully near an open field and not inside of a building, but definitely not where they were.

Sasha’s eyelid twitched in annoyance, and he swerved around towards Sprig. “Why didn’t it put us near the glitch?” He demanded, stepping forwards and looming over him.

Sprig flinched, looking up at him nervously. “Um- did you put in the correct coordinates and aim it in the right direction? It’s actually really articulate if you do it right, and it’s interesting how-”

They were cut off by Sasha’s hand covering their mouth. “Yeah, yeah, shut up, stop yapping, nobody wants to hear that.” He reached for his gauntlet again, now realizing that there was more information to input after just clicking the portal icon. Whoops. He put the coordinates in and double checked the map for the direction, then shot the portal beam. He kept his ground this time but noticed a woman and her child walking hand-in-hand stop to stare at the four techs and their portal.

“I got it!” Anne said, tapping her gauntlet and aiming it at the two pedestrians. She shot the beam at them, earning her a glare from Sasha. The four techs carefully stepped into the portal as loading signs appeared over the pedestrians’ heads, followed by check marks. By the time the woman and her child recovered, the techs and the portal were already gone.

Sasha felt a wave of relief as he noticed that they were now in a field. Thank everything that he didn’t embarrass himself that time. Well, he kind of did with Anne wiping the peoples’ minds before he could, but he could worry about that later.

The four techs looked around the field, but none of them spotted the glitch. However, there was a song playing in the distance, giving away its location. It sounded like synths, and, if Sasha was remembering correctly from his guitar lessons, it was in D minor. It was pretty fast, too.

Sasha saw Marcy in his peripheral vision and noticed a pang of… recognition? Fear? He wasn’t sure, but Marcy suddenly changed their demeanor. “Um- guys-”

“-Alright, let’s get that glitch!” Sasha yelled over whatever Marcy was saying, still pissed at them for arguing with him earlier. He wasn’t going to listen to them, and he wasn’t going to let Anne, and definitely not Sprig, snipe another opportunity from him.

“-but that’s-!” Marcy fretted.

Sasha ran off before they could say anything. He heard footsteps behind him and looked back, still running, to see Anne and Sprig following him with excitement on both of their faces. He smirked and looked forward again. At least Sprig seemed to finally realize that Sasha was the one in charge.

He charged up his gauntlet, aiming it around the corner.

“Guys, no!” Marcy yelled, pissing Sasha off again, “That’s Sa-!”

Something hit Sasha’s back with excessive force, blocking from hearing the rest of what Marcy was saying and sending a shock of sharp pain throughout his body. He had not spawned his armor in yet. He hit the ground with a thud, yelling out at the agony in his back. What the fuck was that?

His question was answered as the music drew nearer and Sasha finally saw the culprit of his pain: a short skeleton with a dark blue hoodie and one cyan glowing eye. “Er er erer er er er er” he said, a text box appearing in front of him with the words “Do you wanna have a bad time?” Sasha vaguely knew who this was. Sans, the final boss of a game called Undertale.

Oh, shi- The music got louder and more intense as he was thrown into the air by a bone sprouting up from the ground. Everything was too blurry and overwhelming for him to process much as he was caught mid air, seemingly by telekinesis, and slammed back into the ground below him. The unnatural strain on his muscles only released when he heard gauntlet blasts shoot past the skeleton. They didn’t hit him, but apparently Anne and Sprig actually doing something for once distracted the glitch enough to let Sasha go.

Groaning, Sasha weakly reached over to his gauntlet and summoned his armor. It didn’t relieve any of the current pain, but at least he shouldn’t get killed now. He tried to push himself back up, but cursed as he found out that his back was too damaged to move. He momentarily wondered if his dad had made animatronics that could prevent harm rather than causing it, wishing that it could be true and that they would magically spawn in the park. Unfortunately, the only thing that changed was Anne and Sprig being thrown onto the ground beside him.

Marcy was nowhere to be seen.

Anger flared up in Sasha. “Are you fucking kidding me? MARCY, YOU COWARD, GET BACK HERE!” He tried to yell loudly enough for them to hear from wherever they were, but his voice came out hoarse and broken, and it just made his back hurt more. His anger strengthened him, but only enough to lift his arm and shoot a hamster ball-ish cage around the glitch. His arm flopped back down on the grass. He wasn’t about to give up, but he couldn’t find a way to move much more.

Sprig was the first to get up, shooting a beam that seemingly strengthened the cage that Sasha set up. He turned around and helped Anne up, who thanked him, and looked directly at Sasha with a blank expression on his face. He looked back to Anne, and didn’t help Sasha up.

The skeleton was slamming against the cage around him, and it was obvious that it wouldn’t hold for long even with Sprig’s upgrade. Anne fiddled with the end of her sleeves nervously. “Uhhh, what do we do?” She asked no one in particular as she looked around for any help.

“Just stand back for now,” a high-pitched voice said from up in a tree. Sasha strained his neck up to see the other young tech who he didn’t know charging up their gauntlet and shooting it to de-rez the cage around Sans.

“Ivy!” Sprig’s eyes lit up as the tech jumped down from their dramatic entrance.

Suddenly, the rest of the Wartwood techs burst out of the bushes around them, taunting the glitch in an abundance of chaos. Marcy, however, ran to Sasha, Anne, and Sprig and put up a shield to protect them from the battle. They caught their breath after a few seconds before flopping down onto the grass beside them. “Okay, I got help!” They said breathily.

Sasha wondered if they had heard him call them a coward. He would’ve felt bad for that if he weren’t still pissed about their argument earlier in the day. He didn’t meet Marcy’s gaze as they opened a portal before they and Anne carried him through back into headquarters. Even as the two of them laid him down in the rest area, the pain in his back never faded away.

Anne kept fretting over him, but Sasha tuned her out when he saw Hop Pop doing the same to Sprig. He wasn’t a kid, for frog’s sake! It was a little satisfying to see the kid embarrassed over his grandfather’s overbearing protectiveness, though. He felt a flare of panic, though, when Hop Pop turned towards him and walked over to where Anne and Marcy were sitting beside him.

“Alright, kiddos, I’ll give it to you straight,” he sighed, “You went against my orders, tried to take on a very high-level glitch with a known difficult battle, put my grandson in danger, and got one of your teammates badly wounded in the process.” Sasha felt Anne shift beside him, seemingly scooting closer to Marcy. “This was a horribly carried out first mission, and normally this would result in an immediate mind wipe and you three being fired immediately, but,” he glanced towards Marcy, “you all know I can’t exactly do that.” Sasha couldn’t tell if his sad gaze was because of pity, regret, or annoyance.

“We’re sorry, sir,” Marcy said, “I tried to stop them, but-”

You tried to stop us without explaining! Sasha glared at them.

“I don’t need excuses right now, kid,” Hop Pop interrupted them, “but I am putting strict restrictions on your jobs for now.” He typed something on his gauntlet, and the three of them all felt theirs buzz with a notification. Sasha weakly raised his arm as Hop Pop explained. “Your gauntlets are to remain within the Hinobi shop for the foreseeable future, and none of you are allowed to take any Glitch Tech missions until you have all recovered.”

“Yeah, speaking of which,” Sasha piped up, “I think my back might be broken? And, like, my parents aren't around, but they’d definitely notice the medical bill, and my butler is present at home too, so- wait, we can’t take our gauntlets out? Doesn’t that make us more vulnerable????”

“It makes it so you know not to go near any dangerous glitches,” Hop Pop grumbled as Sasha put his arm back down. “And Hinobi can take care of the medical bill. Not the price, of course,” he specified, “but in making sure your parents aren’t alerted about it.”

Sasha wondered if the cost would go to Hinobi if it was someone else that had gotten hurt. I guess that’s fair; my parents can easily afford that. “For now, though,” Hop Pop stood up, “let’s get you to a hospital.” He activated a levitation beam from his gauntlet and carried Sasha over to the garage with it.

Sasha looked back as he was lowered onto the back seats of the van. The last things he saw were Anne’s worry in her eyes, Sprig’s embarrassment in the way he shifted, and Marcy’s spite as they watched him leave before the door slammed shut and the van drove off.