Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Today has been a pretty good day for Branch. Nothing too crazy has happened, he and Poppy spent some time together which was always nice and now he's getting some really good and rare fruits for his bunker. Though for some reason ever since his transformation almost a week ago he had been hungry.

Not in a normal sense though. He eats plenty, it's like he was craving something else to eat which was odd in of itself. With this craving for something becoming more and more problematic day by day with his mind demanding he eat something but the problem was that he didn't know what and the cravings are now making his mind grow a bit fuzzy at times which was very concerning, for example he will be in one room and then the next thing he knew he is at the other side of said room with no memory of moving.

He shakes his head as he grabs one last berry satisfied with his haul when he catches the scent of something peculiar. Curiously he follows it and not long after trailing the scent he finds the source of it. Peeking through the bushes he spots it. It was a rabbit happily grazing on some grass.

He watches on confused, why did his sense of smell lead him here? It was just a rabbit.

A rabbit that smelled oddly delicious for some reason

He shook his head, just where did that come from?! He gets up ready to leave the creature alone when his stomach growls. Why was it growling, he just ate a few hours ago! His mouth seemingly begins to drool a bit as his tail flicks behind him, as if that wasn't bad enough the fuzziness had reared its ugly head again.

He holds his head as he drops the supplies he had. What was going on? What was happening to him? He looked back to the rabbit only to lick his lips as if he......wanted to eat it.

'No! I refuse! I'm not going to eat a harmless creature who did nothing wrong! I'm a pop troll! We are usually vegetarians!' He thinks to himself. But seemingly another voice chimes in 'But you don't have normal pop troll teeth anymore remember? You have fangs now, fangs that are used for tearing into flesh' the voice replies the fuzziness getting stronger, he was starting to black out.

'I'm not going to kill it!' He mentally yells in his head as he grips it tighter his claws staring to come out a bit in an attempt to stay conscious. 'Its just one rabbit it won't be the end of the world. Go on just do it, your craving meat, you have the tools necessary for killing prey nobody will know' the voice replies back as he falls to his knees. 'No I don't want to! Please!' He begs as his eyes get watery he could feel himself slipping away. He didn't want to lose control. He didn't want to hurt anyone. That was the one thing he was scared of. Losing control of himself and hurting someone.

And then like a switch in his brain went off he knew nothing, his arms fall limp to his sides as his pupils shrink to near pinpricks. His claws fully unsheathe as he lowers himself onto all fours tail swaying behind him. He slowly crawls back to the bush where the rabbit- his prey was. It was still grazing happily blissfully unaware of the predator watching it.

Branch lowers down even more as his body tenses up. He takes a quick sniff and listens in for any other predators, he didn't feel like fighting off others in order to protect his food. It was too small to risk it. When he could find nothing he pounced.

There was a yip and then a crunch and it was all over. The rabbit didn't even knew what killed it before it was over, its own skull crushed from the fangs of the feral troll. Blood dripped from the mouth of the troll seeping into its fur but it didn't care. He dragged the rabbit away from the open to a more secluded area and began to feast. Fangs easily tore through flesh and muscle while crushing bones like they were tooth picks. In a matter of minutes the head and half of the body was gone.

The trolls mouth,chest, and front paws were covered in blood, bits of flush stuck between its teeth as it swallowed another piece happily filling up its belly satisfying its craving. It let's out a content churr as it snaps a bone enjoying the taste of the bone marrow.

Though it's at this time Branch begins to become aware again the fuzziness finally receding from his mind. The first things he is aware of is that once again he wasn't in the same spot as he was before and that there was something delicious in his mouth.

He looks down only to see.......oh.....OH SUGAR! Dropping the carcas he backs away quickly. 'W-was I actually?! Oh oh glitter! Oh hair! I think I'm gonna be sick!' He thinks to himself as he turns and proceeds to vomit all over the ground. Though he wishes he didn't, becuase he could see various things inside said chunks including bones, teeth, fur, blood and oh sugar was that an eyeball?! He continues to vomit for what feels like forever. And finally he thinks he has nothing left in his system when all he could do was dry heave.

Looking at his paws they were soaked with blood and he could probably guess his face was covered in it too.

Panting he stands up looking back between his paws and the carcass. Why? Why did he do that? What happened?! That wasn't him! No that was.....something else. He should have known this transformation had to have come with some mental side effects! He wasn't dumb he knew he had fangs that meant he could eat meat but he also knew his mouth was more like a omnivore so that meant he didn't have to exclusively eat meat. He thought he would be fine not having to do so or at the very least do it as little as possible. Usually for meat he would catch a fish or 2 if he wanted some meat. He would never just kill a harmless critter like that without reason!

But it seems the longer he goes without meat the fuzziness....no his feral instincts begin to take over until he eats meat. Thats just great, not. Looks like he's gonna have to make a reserve stash or something to help store meat in his bunker. He's gonna have to talk to the funk trolls to see if they could supply him with a freezer or something along those lines cause he really didn't want to find out if he could actually eat rotten meat.

Looking back over to the half eaten critter he ponders what to do next. He debates burying it as to not attract any predators which is ironic since he himself is one now. As he goes to pick it up his stomach rumbles.

No! He just....oh right he vomited what he ate back up so right now his stomach is empty. No! He didn't want to do it again! He honestly preffered not being aware at least then he could not have to witness the gore. Now don't get him wrong he has skinned and gutted plenty of fish but that's all he ever did. Yes he knew how to skin and gut other animals but he never actually did it!

As he has his internal debate he could feel the fuzziness no instincts begin to creep in the back of his mind. As much as he preffers to have it take over he needs to not become reliant on them or let it happen often. Who knows if he does let it happen, he might never come back mentally.

Looking at the carcass he takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. "Okay Branch just pretend it's a fish.....that has fur. It's a fish,it's a fish." He says to himself as he takes a bite. He hates that this tasted amazing. He hates that he enjoys it. He hates how he begins to eat it faster. He hates how he could feel the bones snap like toothpicks under his fangs. He hates everything about this. A lone tear escapes one of his eyes as he finishes the critter.

Opening his eyes he could see that even more blood stained his paws and chest. This was going to be a pain to wash out. As he begins to to get the basket he dropped a thought hit him.
"Poppy! Oh man she's probably going though the same thing!" He exclaims as he begins to run back. He needs to get her some meat otherwise she might do something she is going to regret.

Getting up he runs back to his bunker grabbing the basket,berries long forgotten.

He was full

And he hated it

Chapter Text

Bruce sighs as he enters his old house. It was that time of the month again. Every month for a few days he visits his brothers just to see how things are doing and all that. It's sure exhausting though having to drive from Nevada to Washington DC. "Cmon Bruce you look exhausted how about we get you some water and just relax" Floyd said as he enters their house followed by Clay.

"Water does sound nice right about now" Bruce sighs as he sits in the kitchen. Floyd opens the fridge and oh there was a pitcher of water already in there? Branch must have made some for himself. Well it's just water and Bruce was dehydrated so he wouldn't mind if he just took some right? Grabbing it he reaches into the cupboard and pulls out 3 cups and pours them each a glass of water.

"Here you go guys fresh water" He says as he sets down the glasses. Bruce quickly takes the cup and downs the whole thing meanwhile Clay drinks around half of it. The summer heat was getting to them all and it was showing as Floyd also drank all of his water.

Branch and JD enter who for once wasn't in his suit but in a normal shirt and pants. "Hey good to have ya back Bruce!" Jd says giving him a noogie. "Hey I haven't been gone that long have I?" He jokes back. Jd always makes some kind of joke when he visits.

"Bruce!" Branch happily runs up to him and gives him a hug to which Bruce happily returns. "Ayyy Branch good to see you again. How's everything at the agency?" He asks curious about his baby brothers job as head scientist. "Its going great! Losses have gone down by over 90 percent!" He grins at him but then he notices the pitcher. "Uhm guys where did you get that pitcher of water from?" He asks understandably nervous cause that's the exact pitcher he uses to store John's troll serum.

"Oh it was in the fridge I assumed you just made yourself some for when your busy working on a new experiment" Floyd replies as his stomach begins to churn and judging by Bruce's and Clay's faces they feel it too.

"Nonononono please tell me you guys didn't drink any" He asks as he looks at the pitcher which yep alot of the water was gone. "Yeah why? Was it a new experiment cause it's making my stomach churn badly" Clay replies holding his stomach. "Yes! It's my troll serum I give to John for his missions! Did you not read the label?!" He yells panicked. "What label?! There's no label!" Clay replied back. "This one!" Sci replies holding up the pitcher where a sticker with the words 'Jd Troll serum do not drink!' Was on it. On the bottom of the pitcher.

"Branch it's on the bottom of the pitcher who looks at the bottom of a pitcher" John replies enjoying this cause now he gets to laugh at his brothers as they turn into trolls. "Yeah who does that?!" Clay asks befuddled. "Me I do! I have a weird labeling system ok?!" Branch replies. They were already in stage one of the transformation. And stage 2 was already taking effect as goosebumps appear on their arms.

"I'm gonna be a troll?! Why me?!" Clay complains as he leans back on his chair. "Oh come on Clay it can't be that bad. Besides Branch has a bunch of the antidote made, right?" Floyd asks to which Branch nods. "See? Nothing to worry about other than this pain agh. We can see what John went though the first time" Bruce says wincing a bit.

Clay just slams his head on the table "Why me" That's when he noticed his now tiny baby hand. "AH!" He yells in both shock and horror at the small hand to which he could control. Turning to look at his brothers and yep they all have it too. "Woah freaky" Bruce says in awe at the tiny hand. "This is going to be good" John smirks as he waits for the inevitable. "John I swear to God if you take advantage of this I will-" He is cut off by the sound of something poofing. Turning they see that Bruce is gone leaving only his clothes. Clay realizing he is next cause he drank the serum after Bruce has a horrified look on his face. "Uh oh-" and before he could say anything else he too dissapears.

Floyd looks at to where his brothers were once were before and looks back at at Branch and Jd before he could get a single word out he too dissapears.

Branch quickly goes over to each of the clothing piles and looks for his now trollifed brothers. He pulls back Bruce's triple xl shirt to reveal a small chubby troll with extremely long purple hair and blue skin. "Well he looks alright no complications other than him being asleep" He sighs in relief. Jd meanwhile is currently in the process of picking up Clay and Floyd. Damn Clay's hair was a absolute mess and he was lanky too. Meanwhile Floyd looked alright though for some reason his ears drooped.

"Well looks like they are fine they got pulses and they aren't burning up but that's all I can say. Not good with troll biology thats your department" John says as he sets the two on a cushion on the couch. "Yeah as long as they look right have pulses and good temperature then they are ok" Branch replies having already out Bruce on the couch too and was currently typing in info on his pad.

Smidge who had been quiet through out the whole exchange goes over to the three turned trolls curious. She didn't mind her time with JD even if he doesn't wanna do violent stuff with her. "Wow they look so cool. Wasn't expecting these hair colors to be honest" She says in her deep voice even if no human can understand her.

"So how much longer until they wake up?" John asks poking Bruce. "Not much longer maybe 5 minutes or so" Branch replies. Soon they begin to stir awake. Clay being the first one to open his eyes. "Ugh my head, and agh my body, what happened?" He groans as he sits up confused. "Subject appears a bit confused" Branch mumbles to himself to which Clay's ears twitch to hear......wait what?!

"Whats going on?! Why did my ears twitch and why could I feel them move?!" Clay understandably begins to freak out. He goes to fell his ears only to stop dead in his tracks seeing his hands. They were blue with only 4 fingers. Than he remembers he drank that damn serum! He is broken out of his thoughts by John laughing. "This isn't funny Jd!" He yells at the eldest.

"No its hilarious! Now you are in my shoes! You get to see how it feels to be small!" He goes back to laughing which wakes up Bruce. "John it's too early to be laughing" Bruce says turning over onto his side. "Bruce wake up we're trolls!" Clay goes over and wow that's alot of hair. "What are you talking about Clay we arent-" He opens his eyes only to see a lanky troll with blue skin blue eyes and green frizzy hair just...like....Clay. Slowly he takes a look at his own hands yep they were blue too. "Trolls".

Bruce just stares at his hands before going down to his body. He was.....bigger than he thought he would be. Giving his stomach a poke or two he gets up and stumbles on his new feet before managing to find his balance. "This is so weird. How did you do it John?" Bruce asks trying to take a step and manages to succeed. "I'm just that cool" He replies with a smirk only to recieve 2 dry looks from the duo. "Ok ok I wasn't really focused on walking I just....kinda did it." He answers. "JDs brain probably just done it instinctually" Branch fills in the two.

"Alright Floyd it's time to wake up" Branch says gently nudging him with his finger. " Yeah we aren't going to be suffering while you snooze away" Clay says as he shakes his brother. He takes in his appearance, magenta hair with a bang over the side of his face along with drooped ears. He too had blue skin just like the rest of them. Must be becuase they were brothers.

Floyd simply opens his eyes. He had been awake since Clay started yelling but he wasn't gonna tell them that. "So....we're trolls huh? This is....weird." He says looking at his hands noticing the faint fuzziness and giving it a feel. It felt like peach fuzz.

"Yep sure are" John replies as he watches on with a smirk. Clay rolls his eyes before he makes a startling realization as he looks down. "Ahh! We're naked! Dude why didn't you get us clothes!" Clay says trying to cover himself up. "Oh sorry Clay I will get right on it!" Branch runs upstairs to get some spare troll clothes.

"Here take a look at yourselves guys" Jd shows the guys their reflections via the camera app on his phone. "Woah. My hair is huge!" Bruce feels his hair with his hands and it was so soft! "Why do I look like this?!" Clay exclaims feeling emberassed he looks so weird compared to the others. "I don't think you look weird Clay" Floyd replies hoping to help out his brothers self confidence. He himself looked fine. He liked the hair style alot. The bang already looked like his normal one when he was human. Clay was about to retort when he spotted something on the camera. Moving behind him. Slowly turning he spots a tail that was attached to his spine. It was moving, he could feel it moving, it was blue with a tuft of hair at the end like his new hair.

"A tail?! Why did we have to get tails?!" Clay exclaims as he grabs the tail only to wince from pain. Floyd and Bruce look behind them to see their own tails. Bruce's looks almost just like Clay's only his hair is alot longer. The same goes for Floyd only his is smooth compared to Clay's frizzy hair. "I think they are cute" Floyd says as he watches his own tail sway. "Cmon guys the aren't so bad once you get used to them. They can actually help out alot. They sure do when I'm on missions" JD says as Clay grumbles to himself. He didn't want to get used to it.

Branch quickly returns with some clothing though the choices weren't the greatest. "Here you go guys this is all I have sadly. Don't worry I'm sure Smidge can make you guys some new ones and if not I can go get some. They aren't expensive" Branch says setting down the articles of clothing. Clay goes over and picks up....." A sweater rhomper? Really branch?" ay deadpans at his now gigantic younger brother. "Sorry" Branch apologizes once again. Clay sighs as he puts it on nothing else could fit him.

Floyd goes over and simply puts on some ripped jeans. They fit snug but not too tight. Bruce manages to find a nice floral vest along with some shorts. They give themselves a once over and decide that it will do for now.

"Wait why are we even putting on clothes? You have plenty of antidotes don't you?" Bruce asks and hopes he isn't wrong. "I do have plenty of antidotes it's just I want to wait 24 hours before I turn you back. Your bodies going through such changes in such a short amount of time I don't want to cause any damages" He explains.

Clay sighs, he was stuck like this for 24 hours. Great. Wait.... "Oh s@[$&= Vivas coming!" He says only to look at his mouth in confusion. How did he just make that noise? "Oh yeah pop trolls that's what species you guys are can't swear" Branch explains.

"Yeah that's one annoying thing" Jd says. "Dont worry Clay I'm sure if we just explain to Viva she would understand" Floyd says. "Nono you don't get it Floyd she is going to come over I can't let her see me like this! She's going to coddle me the whole time!" Clay says as he puts his face in his hands. "Look Clay we will cross that bridge when we get there but first let's just get you guys used to your new bodies" Jd says being surprisingly mature.

"Yeah let's just work on this first" Bruce says with a grin. He was always one for trying new stuff even if this wasn't something he thought he would ever do. "Ugh fine" Clay replies crossing his arms.

Chapter Text

I felt......weird

I shouldn't be feeling anything right now cause well I died I'm sure of that. But now? I feel well, weird like the space I'm in is too small and it's filled with some kind of liquid. I try to move but barely lifting an arm takes alot out of me so I decide to just rest for now.

I don't know how long I'm in here resting for but over time I can begin to hear voices. They are muffled but I can make out multiple ones. They seem to be talking to me.

"......time........ther......ch"

"D.....time......"

I try to respond to them by moving and it seems to excite them as the voices get louder when I attempt to move but I get very little results.

I don't know how long it's been but now I can somewhat feel the end of whatever I'm confined in. My hand comes in contact with a surface. It's smooth I try to trace it but quickly tire myself out with the effort. Ugh I hate this let me out already! I want out but something tells me it isn't time yet whatever that means.

Wait a minute I died that much is for sure and now I'm in a black space with a smooth outside? Fuck me DID I GET REINCARNATED?! And judging by my containment I'm in a egg great just fantastic I won't even be human again in this new life fan tucking fastic.

It's weird though I can feel myself having fingers that's for sure as I could feel them touching the inside of the egg but something about them feels off I don't know what though.

Sighing mentally I just decide to rest as it's all I can do for now until it's time to hatch. Though as time passed by the voices are getting more and more clear and alot of them are male voices.

"Baby...come out.......play together"

"yd....talking......make them come out......faster"

"I know......it's fun.....talk to them"

"Can't wait......take care......of you"

"I'm gonna be.....best......ther"

They sounded friendly enough and I can make out they are eagar for me to hatch but I'm sorry you will have to wait a bit longer. Though I decide to try and move the egg a bit showing I can hear them. I must have done it right cause they now sound excited.

"Look.....heard me"

"....yeah....close.....to hatch.....a few weeks"

A few weeks?! Aghhh there's only so much a person can take ya know?! Better get comfy though it ever so slightly starting to get cramped in this egg.

Ok it has to be close now it's getting cramped in this damn egg and I can hear the voices almost crystal clear now. I noted there are 4 male voices and sometimes one female voice.

"Man how much longer do we have to wait?"

"You shouldn't be surprised......eggs take around this long to hatch though it is near the due date to hatch it can happen any day now"

"Yeah but I want to meet my sibling now" the second youngest sounding one complains.

Yeah I want to meet these voices so I can meet my new siblings but again instinct is telling me it's not time but it's almost time. Hurry the hell up instincts I want out! I decide to just go back to sleep for now though it's hard sleeping in this cramped egg.

It's been a couple more days and I'm done I'm getting out of this damn egg I can't breathe in this fucking thing! I begin to shake the egg trying to break it but it's proving to be a tougher feat than I thought.

"Guys get in here they're hatching!" The youngest voice calls out. I hear the sounds of 4 pairs of footsteps. "Cmon you can do it little one" the female voice coaxes out. Woman I want you to try doing this it's hard ok?!

Shaking the egg more I pull back my arm and punch through the egg breaking through and seeing light for the first time in what feels like forever.

"Woah!" The oldest or second oldest voice calls out it's hard to tell.

"Looks like our siblings a fighter" one of the younger ones jokes.

Pulling back my other arm I punch through the egg with success. Alright that's done now let's see if I can get this annoying top off I pull back my arms to try and break through the top.

"Nono don't go back in" the young one calls out worried they spooked me to which they very much didn't.

I try to punch through the top of the eggshell but breaking through twice as exhausted me so I just slam my head against it and finally it breaks off and I take my first gasp of fresh air and let me just say it's glorious.

Gasping for air from exhaustion I decide to just let whoever my new caretaker is lift me up from the egg and clean me off from the egg goop. "Its a boy again,looks like this is a all boy family" the old voice jokes.

Well that's just great I'm a boy now ugh having a sex change wasn't on my plans for reincarnation but oh well we can't win them all.

Opening my eyes everything was a bit blurry but even I could tell something was wrong first off the one holding me seemed to have purple skin and the hands she was holding me with had 4 fingers and felt fuzzy? What was going on?! Just what did I reincarnate as?!

"What do we name him" the youngest voice asks for some reason it's familiar to me. "How about Branch? That fits him" the old voice replies.

Que Record scratch sound effect. Please tell me that the old voice didn't just name me what I thought she named me?! "Yeah Branch I like it fits the little guy you know" the voice I now recognize as John dory says. Turning my head I recognize 4 shapes, teal,purple,yellow,magenta all with blue skin.

Fuck me, I GOT REINCARNATED AS A TROLL! AND NOT JUST ANY TROLL NOOO I HAD TO GET REINCARNATED AS THE 2ND MAIN CHARACTER WHYYYY?! Unknowingly tears start to leak out of my eyes at my distress.

I'm then shifted into another ones arms pretty sure it's John Dory if the goggles were any indicator. "Hey hey its alright Branch everything is ok now." He gently says petting my new hair trying to calm me down which works surprisingly it feels....nice. It also ends up making me very sleepy and it's hard to keep my eyes open and soon I fall asleep against my new brothers chest.

Pov switch to the others

John dory couldn't believe it he was going to have another sibling! Though it came with a great cost. It was trollstice and well unfortunately their parents were taken but before they were taken they managed to hand him off his new siblings egg. It was a light blue with a cobalt blue tuft of hair at the top.

It...hurt, it hurt alot to see his parents go but he swears he will take good care of his baby sibling even if it kills him. There was alot of crying at the loss of their parents but John knew he needed to step up as the new man of the house. Grandma did come to help him out though and he was very grateful for it.

Him and grandma often took turns carrying the egg in their hair and when neither of them could they would bundle it up in a little nest of blankets.

He could tell his brothers were excited to have another sibling to care for,Floyd especially as he would no longer be the baby of the family. He would find Floyd talking to the egg the most but that doesn't mean Spruce or Clay didn't talk to the egg as well.

Clay would often read to the egg while Spruce would have it nearby while he was working out. Floyd would usually just sit on the couch holding the egg talking to it. John would usually have it in his hair as he did stuff around the pod.

"How much time do we have left until they hatch?" Clay asks as he gently pets the tuft of hair.

"Its gonna be a while,we at least have another 2 months before they hatch" Spruce tells him.

The egg seemingly hears them as it moves just a bit but it catches everyone's attention. "Did you see that?" Clay asks excited they all saw it."Yeah sure did" Spruce replies. "Wow that means they heard you!" Floyd says shocked. "Huh usually they don't react to voices for at least another month how interesting" John says with a smile. Seems like their sibling is already eager to meet them.

Another month passes by the egg would move a little every once in a while and it was always amazing to watch the egg react as if they were already hatched.

"Baby won't you please come on out so we can play together?" Floyd asks as if that would speed up the hatching process.

"Floyd talking to them won't make them come out faster you know" Spruce tells him chuckling as he ruffles his hair.

"I know but it's fun talking to them. They actually somewhat respond now" Floyd tells him.

"Well I can't wait to take care of them. I had fun taking care of you all and I would happily do it again."John tells them.

"Well I'm going to be the best big brother" Floyd tells the egg and it shakes a little as if excited.

"Look see? They heard me" Floyd says gently petting the egg.

"Well yeah at this stage they should hear us more now it's getting close to hatching time. In just a few weeks" Clay explains he has been reading books on troll eggs and their biology.

It's been a few more weeks now and the egg is due to hatch any day now and everyone is getting antsy.

"Man how much longer do we have to wait" Clay complains as he lays on the couch.

"You shouldn't be surpirsed Clay troll eggs take around this long to hatch. Though it is near the due date to hatch it can happen any day now" Grandma tells him as she sits in her rocking chair.

"Yeah but I want to meet my sibling now" He complains looking at the egg and it shifts as if in response it wants out too. Everyone looks at it thinking it was time but soon it stops and goes back to normal.

"Aww thought it was time" Floyd says.

"Nope looks like a false alarm" Grandma says chuckling.

It's only 2 more days later when they hear it. Floyd was just petting the egg when he hears it.

*crack*

It was hatching! It was violently shaking back and forth like crazy!

"Guys get in here they're hatching!" Floyd calls out and quickly everyone in the pod is there ready to witness this beautiful moment.

"Cmon you can do it little one" Grandma gently coaxes the baby.

The egg continues to rock back and forth a crack or 2 appearing here and there when all of a sudden a small light blue fists punches out of the egg.

"Woah!" Spruce exclaims surpirsed. That didn't happen with Clay or Floyd when they hatched.

"Looks like our siblings a fighter" Floyd jokes as he watches the arm flail about for a second before another fist breaks through. Though both arms quickly retreat back into the egg.

"Nono don't go back in!" Floyd says worried thinking he accidentally spooked his new sibling.

Though his fears are not founded as finally a little blue head with cobalt blue hair breaks through the top of the egg panting. They couldn't believe it their sibling is finally here. They were so small and adorable.

The baby simply lays its head against the egg utterly exhausted from hatching. Grandma Rosiepuff gently takes the baby out and begins to clean them off. They take a look at him "Looks like it's a boy again,heh looks like this is a all boy family" She jokes.

Their new baby brother opens his eyes and they were a beautiful blue they seem to take in her appearance though their eyesight isn't the greatest the first 24 hours after hatching.

"What do we name him?" Floyd asks moving a bit closer to his new sibling. "How about Branch? That fits him" Grandma suggests. They all think about it for a second to see how it sounds in their heads.

"Yeah Branch I like it,fits the little guy you know" John dory says and they agree with him. Branch turns his head and seems to stare at them in surprise before they start to cry.

Big brother instincts kicking in John gently takes Branch from Grandma and begins to rock him while stroking his hair. It is a common thing to do for young trollings as it helps calm them down. "Hey hey its alright Branch everything is ok now" He coos at his new baby brother and it seems the petting is working and soon he has a sleeping trolling in his arms.

'Heh still got it' John thinks to himself. Everyone looks at the baby in his arms. Spruce gently holds Branchs hand it was so small! They are pretty sure Branch is the smallest sibling that has hatched though Floyd was a close second.

"Hey baby Branch can't wait to play around with you" Clay whispers smiling as he gently pets his hair and to his delight Branch slightly leans into the touch.

"Yeah and I can't wait to sing songs to you" Floyd whispers. "I have tons of cool things planned for us to do and I can't wait to do them with you" Spruce whispers.

"And I'm so glad to be a big brother again" John whispers.

Chapter Text

Raising Branch has been well.... weird for John Dory and his brothers. Branch well...he doesn't really act like a baby all that much. He very rarely cries other when things get too loud or he really really doesn't like a certain type of food.

He sleeps through the night and very rarely wakes up usually if he gets hungry but that's about it. He also sleeps alot in general while people would probably say 'that's a good thing' it isn't. Take it from him, he has 3 other brothers he knows babies aren't supposed to be this quiet.

He also has never smiled, they have all been trying to get him to laugh for the longest time but nothing works! Clay was always able to get Floyd to laugh when he was a trolling and the other trollings around the tree find him hilarious too! Spruce had been trying funny faces and nothing, Clay even jokingly tried to tell jokes and nothing. They don't count tickling cause well usually people laugh when tickled. They want this to be genuine from them and not forced.

"Man what's it gotta take for him to laugh?" Spruce asks. "Maybe his laugh box is broken and just can't laugh" Clay jokes as Branch simply sips on his water on Floyds lap. "I remember you used to be a chuckle box when you were his age Clay" John remarks with a smirk.

"Oh yeah we would wonder how you always manged to find everything funny. We actually had been concerned you werent getting enough air at one point but nope you had a good set of lungs on you. We found that out real quick when you threw tantrums" Spruce says smiling as Clays tail flicks in emberassment.

Floyd who had been quiet looks at Branch who is watching his brothers. Floyd could tell there was intelligence behind those eyes. How much though he doesn't know. He knows trollings can develop mentally fast at times but since Branch hasn't said his first word yet he doesn't know.

"Alright guys I'm heading upstairs be back in a bit" John says as he heads upstairs but what he didn't know was that there was a block toy right at the top and he steps on it. Yelling in pain he holds his foot but in the process looses his footing and proceeds to fall down the stairs and falls onto his side,one arm over his back and legs splayed out. "John are you okay?!" Spruce asks rightfully concerned only to be interrupted by laughter.

The duo of Clay and Spruce slowly turn to see Branch laughing small tail wagging up a storm. Floyd looks down in shock "Branch your laughing!" He says smiling as his own tail wags. Branch who didn't care only laughed at John's misery he points to the groaning Jd as he falls back laughing harder.

"Ugh why are you laughing now?" John groans as he holds his head as he slowly gets up. Clay looking between the two begins to form a idea. He goes over and throws a toy at John's head who rightfully winces in pain and Branch who's laughter began to die down began right back up again. "What was that for Clay?!" John asks rightfully mad. "Look" Spruce says pointing to the laughing trolling. "Looks like Branch here finds your pain hilarious" Clay says smirking.

John meanwhile looks at Branch in betrayal. How dare he?! After all he does for him! He is going to go write a horribly sad song about it in his room! As he makes his way back up the stairs he forgot to remove the toy and proceeds to fall again.

This time all 3 of his younger brothers laugh much to his misery.

Chapter Text

If Poppy were to describe the events that has transpired over the course of the last few hours she would say....interesting.

First this random troll shows up crashing the royal wedding claiming to be Branchs brother, she thought he was joking until Branch casually said he did have brothers. When she asked why didn't he ever tell her he just responded with "You never asked" but she's knows him for a long time. She could tell there was another reason. There was something bothering him. He shows somethings bothering him when he messes with his new bracelet he got from Synth or his tails fur.

Another bombshell is that he was a member of Brozone aka her favorite band! And he was Bitty B! Her favorite member! The glasses suddenly made sense now! He very rarely ever took them off and anyone who tried to take them saw a very rare side of him, a side of pure anger. Let's just say cloud guy learned that lesson real quick to not take the glasses.

And now they along with Synth who joined his partners on this trip, were on their way to finding the rest of brozone to try and rescue Floyd using the perfect family harmony! They just made it to this amazing place called vaycay Island. "Oh yeah I know this place! The techno trolls would come here every so often to party. The vacationers know how to throw a good party" Synth says as he looks around. "Yeah and Bruce is here" Branch says waving to a few vacationers who greeted him by name. "Wait what? Bruce? Don't you mean Spruce? And how do you know that?" Jd asks confused.

"I visited here a couple weeks ago with the funk trolls and just happened to run into him. We got caught up and I met his family, they are pretty cool people. He also changed his name from Spruce to Bruce" Branch says sipping on a coconut drink he got from a random flying bird thing. "And your just telling us this now?" Jd says rightfully a bit annoyed. "Yeah? I would have told you if you were going in the wrong area. We were going in the right direction so I saw no need to speak up" He replies heading to a resturant. "I- uh- what?" Jd says confused. His baby brother seems so much different but than again it's been 20 years.

"I wouldn't worry too much about him dude. Dubstep just always seems to know certain things. He has a habit of keeping certain stuff secret but usually for good reasons" Synth tells the older troll. "Yeah he's always been like that well since I met him at least" Poppy replies back as they head into the resturant.

The trio looks around amazed at everything while Branch makes his way to the bar where Brandi was. "Yooo Brandi is this a bad time?" He asks looking up at the vacationer. She turns and sees her husbands baby brother casually sipping a drink. "Oh hey Branch you come to visit?" She asks the troll who shakes his head. "Kinda I need to talk to Bruce it's important" He replies and she nods. "Honey! Can you come here? Branch is here and he needs to talk to you!" She calls out and soon a familiar long haired troll appears.

The trio meanwhile watch on, this was Spruce? The hearthrob? Well Poppy could definitely see why he was called that. Synth was amazed at how long this trolls hair was and the fact that he was married to this giant! But he won't judge they obviously seem to be happy together. Jd meanwhile stared in awe, his little brother had changed so much, he looked fuller, happier, relaxed than how he was in the tree. 'No thanks to you' a voice that sounded suspiciously like his own echoed in his mind.

"Bitty B! It's good to see ya!" Bruce calls out getting ready to hug the troll before stopping seeing Branch tense up. 'Right right he doesn't like that. Let him hug you first Bruce' he mentally reminds himself. "So you come to hang out with the kids? Or did you come to catch up? Or wait did you want to learn to surf cause I could definitely teach you" He asks the blue troll. "No sadly not this time. Maybe next time though. Look we need your help" Branch replies setting aside the drink.

"Hm? With what? And whos we?" Bruce asks curiously. Poppy finally decides to make her appearance as she appears from behind Branch. "Hi, Bruce. I’m Poppy Branchs girlfriend, Wow. It’s, like It’s so cool to meet you or whatever.This is Tiny Diamond" She says introducing herself and the small glitter troll who happily jumps into a bowl of nachos.

"Names Synth Branch's boyfriend nice to meet ya" Synth says introducing himself holding out a hand to which Bruce happily shakes. "So your the Synth Branch was talking about. Glad to see he asked you out, you should have seen how much he talked about you when he came here the first time" Bruce says chuckling at the memory seeing his baby brother blushing at describing Synth and his crush. He was also glad they were all in a healthy relationship and that Poppy was accepting of it. That's what had worried Branch so much before but luckily it seems to have worked out.

"Okay Bruce we can talk about that later" Branch replies not wanting Bruce to talk anymore about what happened. "Hey Sp- er Bruce" John Dory says waving a hand awkwardly. "John Dory your here too?" Bruce asks surprised at seeing his older brother here. He thought Branch just came to introduce his partners but if Jd was here than it has to be something else. "Yeah look Bruce we’re not here to catch up. We’re here because we need
to hit the perfect family harmony" Jd tells the chubby troll who gives Jd a deadpan look he opens his mouth to retort only for Branch to interrupt

"You rectangle don't forget about rescuing Floyd! Why did you leave out that important piece of info!" Branch tells him very much annoyed. "Wait what happened to Floyd?!" Bruce asks very much concerned for his little brothers well being. "He’s being held captive man, inside a diamond prison, he's being drained of his talent by these two rageons!" Jd explains. "Oh well yeah you need the perfect family harmony for that" Bruce says secretly annoyed that it just HAD to be diamond.

"Yep sadly that's the case" Branch says putting his hands in his pockets. "But how? We’ve never even come close to pulling it off. You do remember our last show, don’t you?" He asks raising a eyebrow. "Oh I remember that night aaaaalllll too well" Branch replies messing witj his braclet a bit and both Poppy and Synth notice. He was definitely bothered by it.

"If we practice, I know we’ll be able to nail it.We have to" Jd says jumping on stage with a grin. "At my age? I really don’t think that-" "See, guys. I told you Dad wasn’t in a band" One of Bruce's kids says interrupting him. "
Oh, I was in a band. I was in the band. You ask your mother if I was in a band " Bruce says crossing his arms. How dare his kids think he was lying! "Oh, he was in a band" Brandi says chuckling. Poppy than proceeds to chant "Prove it!" Which the kids and even Synth join in on.

"All right.I’ll prove it.I’ll prove it right now" Bruce says jumping on stage as Jd and the others cheer. "Branch, get up there. Go sing with your brothers" Poppy says as the blue troll watches. "Yeah cmon dubstep I wanna see you perform" Synth says trying to hype him up. Branch turns and looks at the two with the most blank look they have ever seen on him. It was honestly just a bit unsettling. "If you two think I'm just gonna go up there and sing with the brothers who just up and abandoned me for 20 years and didn't even try to look for me......than you would be correct!" He says smiling as he jumps on stage.

The duo look at each other concerned for their boyfriend, that smile.....it was off. It was like he was faking it but also not. That smile said this was bothering him but also they could tell he was genuinely happy to be singing with them again as evident by his tail swaying happily behind him. Branch had every reason to not want to sing with them, but he still joined them. They nod at each other, they were going to talk to Branch about this after they rescue Floyd.

One song later

The crowd cheered as the song ended as they left the stage. "Man you still got it dubstep!" Synth says grinning at his bf. "Looks like your band days aren’t behind you" Poppy says purring at him with a smirk. After informing Brandi about their little mission the group heads off to go and find Clay.

And hopefully they can pry some answers out of Branch soon about what was going on.

Chapter Text

It was the day that everything is going to go wrong. He just knows it.

Bitty had woken up that day both dreadful yet excited. He has tried his best to help everyone's problems even if he was a baby. Though for some reason trollings grew different compared to humans but he isn't one to complain that's for sure.

He had waited as time went past and things were growing more tense every hour. John had been going on about his perfect thing once again and it was very annoying to listen to. He wished he had some earplugs. He had tried his hardest to try and get John to maybe at least ease up on it but it didn't seem to do anything. Though he now looks at him with a wary eye. That's fantastic......NOT!

Hell he even wrote some songs himself from his world to maybe help relieve some of the stress from John and it helped somewhat but he didn't know hardly any boyband songs so there was only so much he could do. But he could tell Jd appreciated it at least.

If he couldn't get John to stay that's fine maybe he could get one of his other brothers to stay. He had been trying to get Spruce to go easier on his body and while Spruce appreciated it he still done it. So Spruce was out. Next was Clay he had been happy to listen to him read. Troll books were interesting compared to human ones. Even if some are just modified stories from the human world. Clay seemed really happy that he was willing to listen and even ask questions and comment on the story. Though he asked him if he could keep this a secret from John he didn't want to find out he read sad books it wouldn't fit his 'funboy' look and he happily agreed to keep Clay happy and maybe even stay. But he highly doubts it. The tension between him and John was so thick you couldn't cut it with Clouds sword.

Finally was Floyd, the used to be youngest before he came along but he didn't seem to mind he loved caring for him and apparently he was the one who talked to him the most while be was in his egg. When he wasn't with any of his brothers or grandma he was with Floyd. He was always able to help him out when he was still trying to walk. It was hard with pawpads and a new limb in the form of a tail ok?! Or well with anything really. Neither him or his brothers never seem to be bothered by him. Though he could see it,the look in his eyes the one that he wants to go do his own thing. He has been trying his hardest to have at least one of his brothers stay. He didnt care who just please someone stay. H̶e̶ d̶i̶d̶n̶'t̶ w̶a̶n̶t̶ t̶o̶ l̶o̶o̶s̶e̶ h̶i̶s̶ b̶r̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ a̶g̶a̶i̶n̶. H̶e̶ d̶i̶d̶n̶'t̶ w̶a̶n̶t̶ t̶o̶ b̶e̶ a̶l̶o̶n̶e̶.

It was near time for the concert just a few minutes before his first a̶n̶d̶ l̶a̶s̶t̶ show. John was doing the same old same old coming up in which order the songs would be made, Spruce working our as per usual. Clay working on his dance moves. And Floyd was trying to have John not be so hard on the others. Meanwhile he took a good look at the crowd with a sad look on his face. He knew what was coming. M̶a̶y̶b̶e̶ s̶o̶m̶e̶o̶n̶e̶ w̶i̶l̶l̶ s̶t̶a̶y̶ t̶h̶i̶s̶ t̶i̶m̶e̶?̶ Y̶o̶u̶ h̶e̶l̶p̶e̶d̶!̶ M̶A̶Y̶B̶E̶ S̶O̶M̶E̶O̶N̶E̶ W̶I̶L̶L̶ S̶T̶A̶Y̶!̶

"How are you feeling Branch?" Floyd asks kneeling down. He knew how Branch feels around too many people and or loud noises. Troll hearing is good. Almost too good. He got overwhelmed so easily during the first month or so after he hatched. "Yeah I'm fine....it's just. I have a bad feeling" He says fiddling with his tail,a new nervous habit of his since he doesn't have nails to chew on.

"Oh what makes you say that?" Floyd asks curious. "I don't know it's just......I think this concert isn't going to end well is all" He says looking back out into the crowd. "I'm sure it's just some preshow jitters Branch. Though how about after this show we go get some fluffleberry cake? In celebration of your first show?" He asked. Branch loved his Grandma's fluffleberry cake he could never get enough. They all did though nobody else but them seemed to like it. They all gagged whenever they tried it.

"Really?" He looks up tail wagging a bit in happiness. "Yep maybe after this shows over John can ease up a bit" he whispers that last part to Branch who giggles. Branch pulls down the glasses a bit hopeful. Who knows maybe he did change something?

The group of five head to the entrance,Bitty bouncing in actual excitement,better than he was before. John was spouting his stupid perfect shit but he didn't care he knew the coreo,remembered the lyrics he knew what to do. He didn't care about the harmony. He didn't care if they hit it or not. He was going to enjoy this final performance with his brothers that he won't get again for 20 years.

Timeskip past the performance

It went wrong

Of course it went wrong

Why wouldn't it?

He makes his way back depressed as he hears his brothers arguing. J̶u̶s̶t̶ l̶i̶k̶e̶ t̶h̶e̶ m̶o̶v̶i̶e̶. Y̶o̶u̶ k̶n̶o̶w̶ t̶h̶e̶s̶e̶ l̶i̶n̶e̶s̶. Y̶o̶u̶ k̶n̶e̶w̶ t̶h̶i̶s̶ w̶a̶s̶ g̶o̶i̶n̶g̶ t̶o̶ h̶a̶p̶p̶e̶n̶. W̶h̶y̶ d̶i̶d̶ y̶o̶u̶ t̶h̶i̶n̶k̶ y̶o̶u̶ c̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ c̶h̶a̶n̶g̶e̶ A̶N̶Y̶T̶H̶I̶N̶G̶!̶

He watches as one by one they all leave as they quit. Soon enough Floyd comes up to him but he didn't notice. He was too in his head to notice. He hangs his head low. So he was going to be alone again. That's fine. Thats perfectly fine. Y̶o̶u̶ c̶a̶n̶ b̶e̶ a̶l̶o̶n̶e̶ a̶g̶a̶i̶n̶ f̶o̶r̶ 2̶0̶ y̶e̶a̶r̶s̶. Y̶o̶u̶ d̶i̶d̶ b̶e̶f̶o̶r̶e̶ W̶H̶A̶T̶S̶ 2̶0̶ M̶O̶R̶E̶!̶?̶ Nothing he could do would change anything. W̷̨͝h̷͔̋a̸̖̋t̸̜́'̵̢̓s̶̗͒ ̷̚ͅẗ̷̖h̸͕̀e̶̠̽ ̷̛̯p̸̰͐o̶͖͐i̴͍̓n̴̦͗ṭ̷͝. He goes to lean back against the wall as he lays his head on his knees.

Floyd sighs he knew something like this would happen but not to this extent. He didn't expect them all to quit. He watches as Clay leaves and turns back to Branch only to freeze in horror.

Branch was turning grey right before his very eyes. "No no no no no Branch! Guys get in here now! It's Branch!" He calls out hoping they would still hear him. He goes over to Branch who doesn't seem to notice him. "Hey hey Branch I wasn't going to leave too" that was a big lie and he knows it. He was going to go on a solo career but he thought grandma could help take care of Branch. Branch could already take care of himself very well so he thought it would be ok!

"Floyd? Whats going on? What is going on with-Branch!" He hears Clay exclaim as he too rushes over to Branch. "What happened?!" He asks very confused yet also concerned. "I don't know?! He just started turing grey right in front of me!" Floyd says panicking.

"Guys? You said something about- BITTY!" Spruce exclaims as he goes over to Branch and picks him up who makes no move nor does he react. It was like he didn't even know he was being touched. This was really bad, Branch hated being touched he would always flinch, tense up or back away if someone touched him. He just couldn't stand it. But for some reason he was fine when he initiated it so they let him be for now.

Before Spruce could ask what happened John slowly makes his way back to the pod. He peeks his head in. He heard Floyd yell,he was about to ignore it but when he mentioned Branch he couldn't ignore it. He needed to check on his brother. And he was both happy and horrified that he did.

Branch the one who always seemed to try and help him,the one who always wanted
to have everyone smile and be a happy family.

Was grey

"What happened?!" He exclaims as he goes over to the group. Bitty who simply looks at them with a look that will haunt John Dory forever was a look of utter defeat,like he had just given up on everything. No kid no child let alone no baby should ever have that look in their eyes, especially his baby brother.

"I just asked the same thing!" Spruce says trying to rock Bitty but he had no reaction just that same hauting look. "He....he probably thought I was going to leave him too. He saw all of you leave and he must have assumed I was leaving too" Floyd replies.

"And were you?" Clay asks rising a eyebrow. ".......Yes. I....I wanted to go solo for a bit. But he would have had grandma! And he can take care of himself very well already so I thought it would be ok. It wouldnt have been for very long a few months at most honest!" Floyd tries to explain but he knew he shouldn't. He has no excuse to leave a baby alone with no brothers to love or play with.

The others look at him and then reflect. They were so caught up in their own anger and emotions they didn't even think about how Branch would feel about them leaving. "We......we really messed up didn't we. We almost did something we couldn't take back" John says the realization hitting him along with those words Branch said to him a year ago one night.

Y̸o̴u̷r̴ ̵g̶o̵i̶n̷g̶ ̶t̵o̶ ̸b̷e̴ ̴t̴h̴e̸ ̷r̷e̶a̵s̷o̴n̴ ̷w̴h̷y̷ ̶t̴h̷i̵s̸ ̸f̶a̶m̶i̴l̷y̶ ̷f̸a̵l̵l̸s̵ ̶a̵p̸a̴r̴t̶

Oh gumdrops he was right. Branch was totally right! He was the reason this happened in the first place! He wants to tell the others but even he knows this isn't a good time. With a silent look shared between the four of them they knew they will have to talk about....well everything especially with how John treated them and all that but right now at this moment. It can wait Branch needed them now more then ever.

With a cold and heavy silence the four make it back to their pod. Grandma was going to kill them.