Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Nexus looked to the doors of Parts and Service, anxiety churning in his middle for a reason he couldn’t place. Whatever Eclipse’s super secret project was that he’d been working on for months, he was ready to share the results now and had asked both of his lovers to come down for the unveiling. While he was excited to have his partner open up about what had consumed his focus these past weeks, Nexus was pretty sure the only thing keeping him from bolting was Solar’s warm hand around his own, squeezing to offer some reassurance against the storm of emotions churning in his gut.

“If you’re not ready to see whatever Eclipse has, I’m sure he’ll understand,” Solar soothed, his free hand coming up to grip the lunar model’s shoulder.

As tempting as it was to take him up on the chance to run away from this, Nexus shook his head. “Eclipse sounded really excited when he called us, and I want to support him. Especially for… whatever this is.” They’d both worried about him retreating into his latest project, both wanting to be there for him yet scared of crowding him. Now that their partner had reached out, he felt it would be foolish to not take him up on it. After all… look what happened the last time he didn’t reach back for a hand desperate to be held. His hesitation had cost him everything.

Steeling himself with a deep breath, Nexus squared his shoulders and led the way as they pushed through the doors to Parts and Service, Solar following slightly behind yet never letting go of his hand. He wasn’t honestly sure what he was expecting to see, but the doors opened to reveal the four-armed animatronic pacing in place, a small velvet box in his hands and the heavy tarp pulled over the table that supposedly held this mystery project. The sound of the doors opening and twin footfalls seemed to snap Eclipse out of whatever thoughts he’d been swimming in, and he turned to the pair with a smile. “Hey… was starting to wonder if you were coming.”

“Just… got a little anxious, is all,” Nexus assured him, the pair crossing the floor quickly so that they could slot their free hands into Eclipse’s. “But I’m here to support you, no matter what this surprise you’ve got for us is.”

“That goes double for me after all the secrecy,” Solar added, his gaze wandering to the box only to freeze. His optics darted up to Eclipse’s face in a panic before darting back down to the box, and there was a tension to his frame that brought both sets of eyes on him.

While Nexus worried for a moment, the other eclipse model just scoffed and rolled his eyes. “It’s not a fucking ring, calm down. Jeez… ‘Sides, I’d have two boxes if I was the one proposing, wouldn’t I?”

The mechanic let out a hiss of steam as he forced himself to calm down, rolling his shoulders to relieve some of the tension. “Sorry… thought for a second that you were gonna propose to Nex without me.”

“Tch, I’d never do something that stupid, you’d never let me live it down if I did.” Eclipse’s eyes drifted back to Nexus though, and the box was passed from the two holding it to the hand that had been holding his. “Though… I do think you should do the honours of opening it, my comet.”

“M-Me?” He stuttered, feeling the small box pressed into his palm as both of his boyfriends let go of him for the moment. Even though the little jewelry box only weighed a couple pounds at most, it felt leaden in his hand as his anxiety crawled up in his throat and strangled his voicebox. Whatever was in this little box was a big deal, at least for Eclipse, and the expectation of it left his hands shaking as he moved to open it. Seeing this, he felt hands rest against his shoulders as the pair of eclipses moved closer, pressing against his sides as if to steady him. Sending them both an appreciative smile, Nexus took a deep breath and willed his hands to cooperate as he flipped open the little lid of the box.

Part of him was still expecting a little ring or something to be in the velvet case, but… not this. Not a personality chip. A pristine personality chip. A golden yellow personality chip. There was no need to check the serial number to verify… he knew who it belonged to at a mere glance. His hands started shaking again, and the scientist felt tears flood his optics despite his best efforts to remain composed. Looking to Solar proved that the other was just as shocked by the contents of the box, his mouth agape and moving slightly as if trying to find the words to express himself. Then Nexus’ gaze whipped to Eclipse, and he saw a look that was equal parts pain and love.

“T-This…” He had to reset his voicebox and try again to get words out, yet they still sounded staticky and like they were being pushed past a wedge in his throat. “Clip… w-what is this? T-This better not be- not be some k-kind of joke.”

“I wouldn’t dare joke about this,” the burnt orange animatronic huffed, pulling the delicate chip from the slot it was placed in. “The stupid old bear helped me fix it with magic; it’s his original chip. Everything that made Sun who he was is right here.”

Solar looked to the little chip in Eclipse’s sharp yet delicate fingers, then pulled away to look at the covered table nearby. “Clipse… what have you done?”

Smirking a bit as he pulled away from the shellshocked pair, he grabbed hold of the edge of the tarp that had hidden his project from anyone’s eyes for weeks. “Figure if I can come back from the dead, then so can this idiot.” And with a flourish, the eclipse model ripped the tarp away, revealing a pristine solar model body laying on the table.

The sight of Sun, his dead brother , looking like he was just sleeping peacefully over there, brought a burning heat to his optics as he felt oily tears carve a path down his face. His audio receptors seemed to be malfunctioning as he lost track of the words shared between his partners, nothing but a dull roar registering as he felt his feet take shaky steps forward. Before he knew it, he was standing before Sun, his fingers ghosting over the lifeless plating as if it would react. There was no heat to the metal, no hum or servos or the gentle whirring of Sun’s motor. All he got in response was the cool sensation of his fingers against the lifeless exoskeleton, laying there in mockery of his grief. As his fingers glided over the familiar golden plating, they eventually found their way up to a familiar face. His brother’s eyes were closed, hiding those vacant, lifeless white optics from sight . Trembling fingers gripped each of his cheeks, feeling the patterns and edges that he knew as well as his own face.

Next thing he knew, that face was being crushed into his chest, doing absolutely nothing to muffle the heartbroken wails that escaped his voicebox. Nexus could vaguely feel his lovers encircling him again, whispering words of comfort that he couldn’t process. All that registered was the feel of his brother’s faceplate in his hands, against his chest, the body underneath him.

Could… could he really have another chance? A chance to make things right? To do right by his brother? He didn’t know, but Nexus couldn’t help but feel a delicate hope take root in his chest for the first time since that horrid morning all those months ago.

It understandably took them a while to calm Nexus down, and even longer still to get him to let go of Sun. While Solar led the taller animatronic away from the table, Eclipse moved to reset Sun’s position, leaving him looking just as he was when the tarp was first removed. The four-armed robot even took the time to clean their partner’s tears off the golden chassis, as well as any of his own that fell in the process.

Solar turned his focus to bringing Nexus back to reality, ignoring his own aching heart to focus on the one among them that this would understandably affect the most. “Easy love, just breathe, alright? Can you do that for me?” Solar started taking deep, slow breaths of his own, encouraging the other to follow along. After a few breaths, Nexus started trying to follow, his own attempts more gasps and shudders than anything. But Solar only cooed words of encouragement, continuing the trend until the other’s breathing started to level out and follow the same pattern. In, hold, out, relax. In, hold, out, relax.

After a moment of the two of them just breathing, Eclipse came over and wrapped both sets of arms around the pair, hugging them close. Even though his breathing had leveled out, Nexus’ gaze was still watery as he looked to their boyfriend. “Why?” His voice cracked on that single word, and it seemed that was all he was able to get out at the moment. Luckily, it seemed that Eclipse understood the depths of the question asked with that one word.

Sighing, the four-armed animatronic turned his gaze away from those pink eyes. “Sun and I might’ve never got along… but he loved the both of you. He loved Lunar too. Figured i could do this for you guys.” To make up for my part in his demise . Solar heard the unspoken guilt all too clearly in the way Eclipse’s voice faltered, his gaze lingering on the other’s face as his own optics started to water. Even if their boyfriend always put on a tough guy act and pretended deep down things didn’t bother him, Eclipse had a sensitive side to him that was likely churning with guilt right now. Even if Sun’s choice wasn’t any one person’s fault, he could clearly see how the other eclipse model tried to hoard the blame for everyone’s misery.

Before he could bring it up though, the burnt orange bot shrugged and held up the personality chip with a smirk. “Well? How bout it, comet? Ready to wake your brother up? He shouldn’t be tired after sleeping for all these months.”

They all knew that wasn’t how it worked, but it brought a smile to their faces regardless. Which was why both eclipses were shocked when Nexus just shook his head and held out the box the chip had been stored in. “This… is bigger than me. Bigger than us. I wasn’t his only sibling; we should get Earth and Lunar involved in this too. ‘Sides, Sun deserves to wake up with his entire family surrounding him and welcoming him back.”

“You got a fair point,” Solar conceded, already pulling up the contacts for Nexus’ siblings. “I’ll give them a call, tell them we got important news to share with them and ask them to meet us at the house.”

“Sounds good to me.” Eclipse deposited the chip in the box, but let Nexus keep hold of it for now as he moved to stand. “What should we do with his body?”

Nexus’ smile was almost serene as his fingers pet the soft velvet of the box in his hands, his gaze sliding up to where Sun lay, ready and waiting to be woken up. “Let’s take him home and to his bed. He should wake up somewhere he’s comfortable after everything.”

“Sounds good to me.” With more care than Solar would’ve expected his partner to give to Sun, Eclipse scooped up the lifeless body and cradled it gently, turning to Nexus who was already making a portal. The throuple returned home and the lunar model ran ahead, getting the door for Eclipse and making sure to remove all obstacles between him and Sun’s room. Solar lingered behind, finishing up getting a hold of both Earth and Lunar and confirming their arrival in a couple hours. After that, he went upstairs, finding Nexus dressing his brother up in whatever comfy clothes he could find before tucking him into bed.

It was strange, standing in Sun’s room after all this time. Nothing had changed… and yet everything had at the same time. The room lacked the soul and life it once had, now nothing more than a dusty memory of what had been. All the colours had seemed to bleed from the place, and the silence inside was deafening. But… they had another chance, thanks to Eclipse. This time, Sun wouldn’t suffer in silence, and they all wouldn’t make the same mistakes. They’d help Sun heal, no matter how hard or painful it was for everyone. This room would get its soul back, and their family would finally heal from the chunk that was ripped out of it.

“Earth and Lunar will be here in a couple hours, Monty said she’s tagging along too,” he informed the other two, a smile forming on Solar’s face as he watched his taller boyfriend light up in response.

“Great! Oh, this is… I-I can’t even really process this! They’re both going to be so happy to hear he’s coming back!”

“Well, like I said we’ve got a couple hours, so we can chill downstairs and try to process this while we wait.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me,” Eclipse said as he stretched a bit, looking to the other two with pure love. “I think I owe you two some cuddles anyways to make up for being away so much recently.” Eclipse then proceeded to wrap an arm around each of their shoulders, leading them away from Sun’s room and downstairs to wait for the rest of their family. And curled up with both of his lovers, Solar felt like he could let himself believe that everything was going to be alright.

This was most certainly not alright. Lunar wasn’t sure what it was, but he knew for a fact that this wasn’t good.

Earth was sobbing in joy as the trio told them the news, Monty holding her close and gently rocking her fiancee back and forth to help soothe her. But Lunar… at first he felt numb, the exchange not even registering as he stared at the little box that Nexus proudly displayed. And once the numbness was gone… it was replaced by rage.

“You…” He hissed, his words uncharacteristically laced with venom. “Are you serious? How fucking stupid are you?!”

Everyone jolted at his outburst, staring at him in a mixture of shock and upset. Eclipse was the first to snap out of it though, his brother approaching him with a stern expression on his face and his arms crossed. “Lunar, you don’t seem to realize what exactly is going on here-”

“Oh, I understand plenty!” He snarled back, jumping to his feet even though it did little to ease the height difference between the two of them. “You’re all planning to spit in the face of Sun’s decision and drag him back here against his will!”

Earth reached over, placing a gentle hand on her brother’s shoulder. “Lu, that decision was made while he was in a horrible mindset. If he’d had the chance to, he would’ve regretted it. We’re just giving him that chance.”

“No, you’re all being selfish is what you’re doing!” His voice cracked on the word ‘selfish’, and shook the hand off him like it burned, stepping back to glare at everyone gathered here. The heat behind his eyes was probably muddied by the tears starting to leak down his face, but he didn’t care. They all needed to hear this before they did something horrible, again . “You’re only bringing him back because you feel bad! You all feel guilty for your parts in Sun’s death, so you’re trying to undo the one choice he made for himself!”

Now it was Solar’s turn to step up, stepping between Lunar and Nexus as if it would protect the lunar model from his harsh words. The damage was already being done though, the purple bot curling in on himself and shying away from the conversation. “Lunar, please stop. You’re just hurting everyone here.”

“Oh, I’m the problem here?! What, because I don’t want Sun to come back to a world he wanted to leave, I’m the bad guy?”

“You’re acting like an entitled asshole is what you’re doing,” Eclipse growled back, pointing a finger at his little brother. “I thought you would’ve wanted this, to get Sun back. You all missed him.”

“Yeah, I want him back, but not like this! This’ll change nothing!”

“We’ll be better,” Earth tried through her tears, offering a watery smile. “We’ll be there for him this time-”

“Bull. Shit.” Lunar paused for a moment as he took a deep breath, wanting to get his words in order so that there was no possible way for them to be misconstrued. “If you bring Sun back right now, nothing will change. You’ll just get everyone’s hopes up… only for him to kill himself again in another couple months when we inevitably fuck it up.”

His words stunned several of the others into silence. Earth was crying. Nexus looked to be on the verge of dissociating. Solar was trying his best to keep his boyfriend grounded, while Monty was trying to comfort Earth. And Eclipse looked ready to deck him for upsetting everyone in the face of his ‘gift’. “You know what I think was Sun’s biggest problem?” The small animatronic asked to nobody in particular. “He didn’t know how to be selfish. He didn’t know how to ask for what he needed or wanted, and instead just went along with whatever everyone else wanted him to do. He didn’t know how to tell any of us no.” The family photo. The steakhouse. Eclipse and Solar moving in. There were so many examples in recent history that showcased this perfectly. “I mean, look at when we went bowling with him? He snapped at Earth for touching him when he’s told us multiple times he doesn’t like it. And what did he do when everyone got upset at him for snapping? He lets Earth hug him and hold his hand and pet his rays like he didn’t just say it makes him upset.”

“Well guess what? I’m not Sun. I’m not afraid to tell any of you off for making me uncomfortable, and guess what? The idea of bringing of bringing Sun back right now makes me pretty fucking uncomfortable. Because I know exactly how it’ll end, and… I-I don’t want to go through the pain of losing him twice. So if you want my approval of your selfish idea, you’re not getting it. I can’t condone making Sun suffer again just to soothe everyone’s egos.”

Chaos broke out after his little speech, with Eclipse, Earth, and even Monty laying into him about how he was the selfish one, how he was clearly in the wrong and they’d show him. All it did was make him sigh and tune them out, noting how it was always the same with them. If something didn’t go exactly the way the majority of the family wanted? That majority would gang up on whoever dared to stand against them and their rose-tinted view of the world. He saw how it happened to Sun over and over again, the rest of the family trampling over his boundaries because it didn’t match with what they saw as right. And Sun was so nice… so loving, so forgiving, and so self-hating, that whenever this happened, he instantly took all the blame. He gave up on his boundaries for the sake of his family, never once vocalizing how it made him feel. The closest they got to him standing up for himself was his adamance on his diet, refusing to order meat at the steakhouse, only for Eclipse to treat Sun’s dietary choice as a personal offence.

So no, he wasn’t budging on this, not when their family hadn’t changed in the slightest way to be better for Sun. Sure, they were better for each other, but they weren’t anywhere near what Sun needed from them. At least, that was what he thought, until a quiet voice piped up, “What would it take to convince you that we’ll be there for him, Lunar?”

The pale blue animatronic looked up as everyone’s gaze shifted to Nexus, his soft voice somehow cutting through the chaos the rest of the family had been absorbed in. He asked the question with such earnestness, clearly wanting the entire family to be on board with bringing their brother back. And it made him stop to think… what would it take for him to sign off on this?

Thinking over everything, the little bot delved into his head, wracking his brain for ideas.What Sun needed… the rest of the family hadn’t changed and would still gang up on him if his healing didn’t match what they thought his journey should look like. If he regressed at all, someone might give up at the first sign of backtracking. They couldn’t have that, or Sun wouldn’t heal at all. And if he didn’t heal, then his prediction of the future would come true, only Sun would find a way to stay dead this time.

What Sun needed… was someone to stand up for him, and only him. Someone that would be there for him when needed, and wouldn’t take the rest of the family’s side just because ‘family’. What he needed… was someone to protect him. And there was only ever one person who did just that. He hadn’t been perfect at it in the slightest, but he was the only one that ever tried to truly put Sun first.

Lunar’s eyes hardened as he looked up, staring at everyone with his piercing determination. Earth couldn’t even hold his gaze, looking away from the intensity in shame. “You want to prove to me that things will be different? Fine. Then we make one hell of a change before we wake him up.”

As everyone looked to him expectantly, he caught the moment recognition flashed across Eclipse’s face, the way his frustration gave way to shock, horror, and anger. “We need to bring back Old Moon first.”

Chapter Text

For a moment, there was silence as everyone stared at Lunar in shock after his declaration. Predictably, Eclipse was the one to break it as he hissed out, “I’m sorry, you want us to do what ?!” His voice cracked slightly, and while most might think it was due to sheer rage, Lunar knew better. He could hear the note of panic in his brother’s voice. “I’m not bringing that shitstain back to life, not after all the problems he caused! Do you have any idea how much stress was put on Nexus’ shoulders because of him taking the easy way out?!”

“I think I have to agree with Eclipse here,” Earth added, looking very uncomfortable with Lunar’s demand. “While I can’t speak to the exact details that have been shared with me during therapy, a lot of Sun’s deep-seated issues stem from the abuse he suffered under Old Moon’s hands. Sun will already be in an incredibly fragile state when we bring him back, he shouldn’t have an old abuser in his life to add to the stress.”

Oh, so it’s totally fine for Eclipse to apologize and waltz back into his life, but not Old Moon? Lunar was thankfully able to bite his tongue on that thought, not wanting to start attacking people while he was emotional. He’d grown to truly care for the person his brother became, but how could they not see the hypocrisy? Instead, he tried rewording his thoughts so that they wouldn’t directly target any one person. “Earth, I love you, but we all hurt Sun. Maybe not to the same extent, but we did. All of us have a part to play in Sun’s choice, so in that respect, how are we any different to Old Moon?”

“You watch your mouth, you little shit,” Eclipse growled, still rising to defend himself despite the words not being targeted at him. “I am nothing like that asshole! Do not compare me to him!”

Solar sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, coming to hold his seething partner in an effort to calm him down. “Lunar, I get where you’re going with this, but I don’t think it’s really the same. True, we all missed the signs on how bad Sun was getting, but comparing us to Old Moon? I mean, he tortured and hurt Sun for years, didn’t he?”

Oh, it was getting really hard to hold his tongue with how hypocritical everyone was being, especially his brother. Himself and Eclipse were the only ones here that ever knew Old Moon directly, and they both knew that, while he was far from perfect, he had always tried his best to do right by Sun. Hell, Old Moon probably would’ve taken a bullet for his brother had the situation ever come up.

As the small animatronic's face screwed up with his own blend of rage and disbelief, he looked to the sea of faces gathered around him. Eclipse’s reaction was predictable given the history he had with Old Moon abandoning him. Solar and Earth didn’t know him, only the stories that had been told, and only the worst ones ever seemed to come up. Monty he thought would’ve been excited, but she just looked away whenever the smaller bot’s eyes landed on her, like she was ashamed of her former friendship with Old Moon.

And that left Nexus, the quiet contemplation on his face shocking his brother. It looked like he was actually considering Lunar’s demand, unlike everyone else. When their eyes met, Nexus didn’t shy away like everyone else did. Instead, he looked at him straight on, gaze unwavering as he simply asked, “Why? Why do you want him brought back?”

Eclipse went to chime in with some snippy remark, only for his boyfriend to put up his hand and silence him. He then gestured to Lunar, signalling that he alone had the floor at this moment. Nodding in thanks, the pale blue bot took a deep breath as he gathered his thoughts and calmed his voice. “I have Eclipse. Earth has Monty. You three all have each other. But… who did Sun ever have?” The simple question hung in the air like a blade, nobody rushing to answer. Earth’s gaze fell to her lap as she contemplated the single question, while Nexus’ face scrunched up as if he was just now realizing the massive void in Sun’s support system. “We all have someone we can turn to no matter what, someone that’ll drop everything for us when we need it, but Sun… Sun didn’t have that.”

“That’s not right, he and Nexus were that close,” Solar tried, but even he looked unsure of his words.

Lunar just shook his head at the attempt to counter his claims. “Not since you and Nexus got together, and definitely not since Eclipse joined you.” He didn’t miss the flinch that went through the trio, but he pressed on, keeping his voice level and calm to try to avoid upsetting people. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled that you guys found each other and are so happy, but… it caused a huge shift in Nexus’ priorities. Sun ended up moving to third place, whether it was intended or not. Because I mean, that’s what you’re supposed to do in a relationship. You’re supposed to put your partners first above all else. But that still meant that Sun was never top priority for a single one of us. He never had anyone he felt comfortable being vulnerable with, always trying his best to stand strong like we all expected of him until he physically couldn’t under all the pressure.”

He waited for a moment, looking to see if anyone was going to argue against him. His sister looked like she was trying to cobble something together, only to break down in tears instead. Seeing that nobody was going to oppose him for now, he pressed on as he finally got to the meat of his argument. “But you know who always put him first? Old Moon. For the longest time, they were all each other had, and yeah their relationship started messy but… you didn’t see how much they loved each other. I was there, I saw how Moon would bend over backwards to keep Sun safe. And that’s what Sun needs going forward; a protector, someone that will put what he needs above the needs of everyone else.”

The silence crept back in after his little speech, leaving an awkward tension in the air. The small animatronic wasn’t sure if his explanation would land well, not with everyone refusing to look at him afterwards. But when he saw a small smile creep onto Nexus’ face, he knew he’d at least convinced one person. “When I tried getting to know Sun a bit better,” the purple bot started, “he told me some things about Old Moon. How safe he’d made Sun feel, how his relationship with his twin was unlike anything he’d ever had with anyone else. I saw the way he looked when thinking of him, and… I actually got jealous. Because that look of pure love was something he’d never looked at me with.”

To everyone’s surprise, it was Solar that spoke up next. “I… remember a conversation I had with Sun. One that helped put some things into perspective for me about my own Sun and Moon. Sun explained that their split wasn’t clean, and that being close to each other helped balance out the parts that didn’t transfer completely. He said that emotional regulation helped when they were near each other, otherwise Old Moon would stop feeling and Sun would feel too much. He said it’s why he gets such bad mood swings sometimes, because Old Moon isn’t around to help him regulate anymore… he also said his split code caused him constant pain.”

“I’m sorry, he said what?” Monty looked aghast as she heard that particular detail, trying to imagine how or why Sun was in constant pain.

“Well, according to him, his code had all these gaps and jumps, and every time his AI scanned one, it was like getting snagged in his own coding.” Even though Lunar had overheard that whole conversation, he still couldn’t help but wince at the reminder. Sun had suffered every second of every day, and there wasn’t a thing they could’ve done about it. And yet… he could recall clearly how Sun said that losing Old Moon hurt more than any snag in his code ever did.

“I’m sorry, but we cannot seriously be considering this?” Eclipse hissed, looking to his partners in disbelief. “Old Moon singlehandedly caused most of the problems this family had to deal with!”

“Then let him fix the one problem we made,” Lunar simply stated, crossing his arms to level his own brother with a cool stare. It contrasted with the venomous heat that was being sent his way, but he didn’t so much as flinch. “Besides, if it wasn’t for Old Moon and his problems, half the people in this room wouldn’t exist, yourself included Eclipse.”

“Don’t make it sound like I owe that asshole anything!”

“You don’t,” Nexus chimed in, stepping up to be able to squish in against Eclipse’s side. “But… we do owe it to Sun to at least try and get him what he needs. So long as it’s possible.” Pink eyes looked to the three other geniuses in the room, looking for confirmation either way on whether bringing Old Moon back was even feasible.

It was Monty that answered, scratching at the back of her head as her other hand sat firmly in Earth’s grip for support. “Theoretically, yeah. I’d looked into it back when we first lost him, but then everything got crazy and I kinda just assumed that it was better to leave it be. But uh… his memories and personality are probably all bundled up in your code somewhere, Nexus. All it would take is a little digging and some delicate work to extract those files and upload them to a blank personality chip.”

The four-armed animatronic across from Monty scoffed and hugged Nexus closer. “And what makes you think that you’re qualified to go digging around in my comet’s head for a ‘maybe’?”

“Dude, I literally rebuilt Lunar from a single nanomachine. I think I know my way around coding. But if it makes you feel better, you can help out, I guess. Make sure I don’t touch anything I’m not supposed to.”

“Guess we still have Nexus’ old body too,” Solar pointed out. “We haven’t scrapped it or anything, so it should still work once we upload Old Moon to it.”

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Eclipse grumbled, but with both of his lovers on board with the idea, it seemed that his resistance was steadily folding.

As Monty and Solar started discussing the logistics and precautions that would be taken, Nexus perked up as an idea suddenly hit him. “Hey Monty, is it… possible for me to talk to him? Let him know what’s happening so he’s not blindsided when he wakes up.”

“Uh… yeah it should be pretty easy. All it would take is a little tinkering and I should be able to get you in to talk to him.”

As Nexus and Monty continued discussing how to get in to talk to Old Moon, Solar and Eclipse seemed to be hashing out safety protocols and plans on how to pull this all off. Eventually, the group of four geniuses got up and started making their way to the garage to begin putting something together, leaving Earth and Lunar alone in the living room. “Welp, looks like my job is done,” Lunar announced with a huff, sitting back down now that most of the tension had finally left the room.

Only Earth remained to look at him nervously, her gaze occasionally wandering over to where the rest of their family disappeared to. “Are you sure about this, Lunar? I’m worried you’re romanticizing your memories of the Old Moon like Sun seemed to.”

“Maybe I am,” he conceded, unsure if the good memories he had were as good as he thought they were. After all, he knew how bad his lost brother’s temper could be… but he also knew how big his heart was for those he cared about. “But something has to change. I’m not going to let Sun come back unless I’m sure he’ll be in a world he doesn’t want to leave again.” He looked over to his sister, shooting her a smirk as he relaxed back in his chair. “No need to worry. If he turns out to be the flaming asshole everyone thinks he is, then we can just beat him up until he behaves!”

“Lunar, that’s not healthy in the slightest…” But contrary to her words, Earth did smile a bit at the sentiment, leaving her brother internally celebrating.

Just hang on Sunny, I’m gonna make sure everything is as perfect as I can get it for when you wake up. I’m gonna make this world one you can stay in… one you can love again.

When Monty explained how the machine would work, Nexus could practically feel his lovers’ anxiety skyrocket. After all, they were tricking his body into thinking he was dead to reach the comatose Moon, and it took a lot of reassurance afterwards to get them to even be okay with it. But once all was said and done, Nexus was plugged into the machine with both Eclipse and Solar watching over him.

He had been warned that the inner depths of his mind could take the form of anything, but as he looked around the tropical island, the purple bot couldn’t help but frown. “Seriously? Kingdom Hearts? I thought I was a nerd…” Well, guess some things would inevitably be the same between himself and Moon.

As he wandered down the wooden path, his gaze scanned the surrounding area, quickly finding his goal. There was Old Moon, sitting on the beach, staring into the setting sun. Given all the horrible stories he’d heard of how abusive the old animatronic was, it was strange to see him just sitting there, looking serene and relaxed. He was nothing like how Nexus had seen him act in the old videos on the channel, and that gave him pause.

Still though, he had to let Moon know what kind of world he’d be returning to, otherwise he just knew that chaos would erupt. So he cleared his throat as he approached, barely managing to keep from flinching when that intense gaze fell on him. “Hey…”

“Sup. Gotta say, I wasn’t expecting a purple edgelord to show up here.”

“Wh- Edgelord? I’m not that edgy!”

“Whatever you say, Frieza.” Moon snickered at his own joke, finally moving to stand up. Even if Nexus was physically taller, the other lunar model had such an imposing presence that made him feel small by comparison. “So, who the heck are you?”

It took him a second to steel his nerves, trying to channel as much confidence in himself as he could. “I’m… the new you, though I go by Nexus now.”

A snicker escaped his predecessor despite his efforts to contain it. “Pfft, Nexus? And you say you aren’t that edgy. What’s your favourite band, My Chemical Romance?” When the taller bot only glared in response, Moon just waved him off. “Ah, you’re no fun. Where’s your sense of humour?”

“Not really in the mood for jokes,” Nexus grumbled, crossing his arms and looking away to stare at the calming ocean. Hopefully it would soothe his nerves a bit so that he could get through this exchange without wanting to deck the guy.

“Ah, Mr. Serious today then? Cool, I’ll bite. Why’re ya here?”

Not turning to face him, Nexus simply stated, “We’re bringing you back. I came here to give you a heads up and let you know what kind of world you’d be waking up to.”

“Ah, so whatever problem you’ve got going on, you can’t figure out how to solve it, hmm?”

“Something like that… look, the long and short of it is that Sun needs you.”

“Sun needs me?” Old Moon scoffed, causing Nexus to turn back in time to see the other wave off his ludicrous claim. “I doubt it. He’s got a new, better brother right? Hell, he’s probably living it up right-”

“Sun’s dead.”

Everything seemed to stop for a moment as Nexus interrupted him; the wind, the waves, everything. But scariest of all was the way Moon froze, staring at him with an intensity that could burn an insect alive. Nexus felt like he was being picked apart and put back together under a microscope, and it took every ounce of willpower he had to not cower from his predecessor. Guess it was time to experience Old Moon’s infamous rage first-hand.

“Heh, I’m sorry, what did you say?” Moon’s voice was like obsidian, dark and polished to a razor’s edge. “Did you say that Sun, our stupidly lucky brother, my other half , is dead?” Nexus didn’t know what to do or say, so he simply nodded. What he wasn’t expecting was to get tackled up against a coconut tree, Moon visibly shaking with rage as he held him up off the ground by his shirt. “WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?! YOU HAD ONE JOB - PROTECT HIM!”

A shiver ran down his spine as he was screamed at, his optics burning as tears threatened to flow at the mention of his failure. “I-I’m sorry!”

“Sorry? SORRY’S NOT GOING TO BRING HIM BACK, IS IT?! YOU FUCKING FAILURE OF A SUBSTITUTE!” Moon’s grip on his shirt tightened, and for a second Nexus braced for a hit, only for his counterpart to let him go with a grumble and stalk off to the other side of the little island. Nexus just took the space as a chance to breathe, his one hand gripping the rumpled fabric of his shirt while he just stared at the fuming bot a few feet from him. “Alright, so you’re bringing me back. What for? To kill someone? Because if Eclipse actually killed Sun I will happily dismantle him piece by fucking piece for you since you’re apparently too much of a pussy to avenge him.”

“Oh, I have so much I need to explain,” the taller animatronic grumbled under his breath as he straightened out. “We’re not bringing you back for vengeance. We’re… we have a way to bring Sun back, but Lunar is convinced that we need you to be there for him before we do anything.”

“Lunar?” That seemed to calm the other down a bit, Moon finally spinning back around to face his replacement. “Well, glad to hear he’s alright at least.” Nexus promptly decided that mentioning Lunar’s death was a topic for another discussion, otherwise he’d probably figure out if he could get his face caved in while in his own head. “Still gonna rip the bastard apart that killed Sun though.”

“Um…” Gods, how did he possibly say this? “About that… Sun’s death was… was a suicide…”

He couldn’t help but flinch as those piercing red optics landed on him again, and at this point he kind of wished he could just run away. But there was still so much to go over before they brought Moon back, so he couldn’t escape this just yet. It was hard to see how Sun loved this guy so much though when he was so… intense. Eclipse had his moments, but Moon was on a whole other level.

As suddenly as the other’s gaze landed on him, it dropped to the ground with a sigh. “Fucking idiot,” Moon cursed, kicking the sand to take out some of his frustration. “Guessing there’s a whole story to this… might as well spill.” Moon gestured to the sandy shore between them, sitting down and crossing his legs as he waited for his counterpart to get settled.

Taking a moment to get comfortable, Nexus sat down next to his predecessor. He then began to tell him everything he could think of, from Eclipse’s death, rebirth, and redemption, to Solar and Earth, to the elimination of all their enemies. And when that story was completed, he switched gears to Sun, telling of his depression, self-harm, his consistent downward spiral that none of them knew how to fix. He was a mess by the time he got to Sun’s suicide, and thankfully Moon seemed content with the abridged version of those events, because Nexus didn’t have it in him to go into detail. That moment was burned into his memory in terrifying detail. The week after was a blur—nothing he wanted to relive either.

“So… that’s kind of the gist of it. We… still don’t know why he did it though. You’d have to ask him that.” Nexus looked over as he wrapped up his explanation, only to flinch when those ruby optics were locked onto him once again.

Whatever Moon was looking for, it seemed like he’d found it as he finally looked away, gaze moving back to the setting sun that never got any lower. “Think I’ve got some ideas… but yeah, I’ll definitely have a talk with him when we’re both back in the land of the living.” A sigh escaped the older lunar model as he hopped to his feet, stretching out a bit as he stood. “So, what’s the plan going forward?”

“Uh, well my- er your… our? Old body is still in one piece, so once Monty and Eclipse extract you from me, they’ll put you in there.”

“Ugh, does it have to be Eclipse? I don’t trust that bastard as far as I can throw him.”

“Hey, like I’ve said, he’s changed! And he’s my partner too-”

“Still think that’s a shitty choice in partner by the way,” Moon interrupted with a sneer.

Scoffing as he moved to stand, Nexus moved past the comment, lest he start an argument. “Anyways, as I was saying-”

“Solar’s your partner too, isn’t he?” Once again he was interrupted, but instead of complaining he nodded his head. “Cool, if one of them needs to oversee the process, then make it him instead of Eclipse.”

“Are you always this paranoid?”

“When it comes to Eclipse, yeah.” Moon moved to stand right in front of the other, gently poking a finger in his chest. “Let me make this clear. Eclipse won’t be redeemed in my eyes until I see his actions for myself. That bastard has tried to kill both me and Sun in so many different ways, including dropping us into the birth of a wither storm. I’ve had to be paranoid with him in order to keep us alive, so don’t expect me to be all buddy buddy with him just because you’re porking him.” Once he’d stressed his point, Moon stepped back to give Nexus room to breathe, gesturing for him to continue. “So, Monty and Solar will get me out, pop me in my old body, and then what?”

“Then we wake up Sun, I guess. Lunar was the only person that seemed opposed to us just reinstalling his personality chip right away, and his only condition was that you had to be brought back first, so here we are.”

“Uh huh, okay. And what’s your plan for after?”

“After?” The purple bot blinked a couple times, looking to the other lunar model in confusion.

“I mean, after you wake him up, what’s your plan?” When Nexus still looked confused, the other scoffed and spoke as if he were speaking to a particularly dim-witted child. “How are you going to keep him from killing himself again?”

It was embarrassing to admit, but… Nexus didn’t have a clue. But he knew such an answer would only anger Moon, so he instead said, “W-Well, we’ve all gotten better at communication and respecting boundaries, s-so we should be able to figure out what’s bothering him before it gets too bad again.”

For a moment, the two of them just stared at each other, ruby eyes boring into soft pink ones until Nexus felt compelled to look away. “Seriously?” Moon asked. “That’s your big plan? If that’s all you got, then you’re a hopeless idiot. No wonder Lunar wanted to call in reinforcements…”

“Do you ever say anything that isn’t an insult?!” Nexus snapped, already growing tired of the other’s attitude. Why did Sun care about this asshole so much?

Moon didn’t bat an eye at his outburst, merely resting a hand on his hip. “I’m only calling it like I see it, but feel free to prove me wrong. Any plans for what to do when he inevitably has a meltdown? Or how about self-harm? Another attempt? Do you have plans for any of these things?”

Gritting his teeth, Nexus opened his mouth to snap out a response… only to freeze. Did they have a plan for any of that? Still though, he had to say something or risk looking like a bigger idiot than before. “W-Well, of course we do! I-I mean, before we didn’t know what his breakdowns were, b-but now we know better than to dismiss them-”

“Dismiss them?” Moon asked incredulously. “Sun was having a mental health crisis to the point that he took his own life, and you idiots were dismissing his meltdowns?” The lunar model sighed and shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose while his voice dripped acid. “Fuck me, Lunar really is the only sensible one in my twin’s family, isn’t he?”

Before Nexus could say anything in response, Moon huffed and held out a finger to silence him. “Alright then. Since you clearly have no idea what you’re doing, I’m taking charge. I’ll find whatever mistakes you’re all making, and I’ll fix them. You might not like how I fix them, and frankly I don’t give a shit, because Sun is going to be my priority. Even if that means I’m telling off his entire family for piling their expectations on him, got that?”

When Nexus gave a nod of his head, Moon flashed him a smile that was all teeth. “Good! And I’m sure you’re going to do your part and make sure the rest of your little family listens to what I tell them to do, hmm?” Another nod was given, this one more hesitant than the last. “Great. Glad to hear we’re on the same page. Now, I’m sure you’ve got a way out of here, because I’ve got some thinking to do, and you’ve got to get me out of our head. Then we can start fixing the mess you all made.” With that, Moon returned to the spot that Nexus had originally found him in, leaving his replacement stunned and standing alone on the sandy little island.

Unsure how to take all of this, Nexus reluctantly started the process of leaving his mind, looking to his predecessor with a mixture of hope and anxiety. Was this what Old Moon was like all the time? If so, he didn’t know how this intense new presence would fit within their little family. Would this really be the key to saving Sun, or would this just cause more problems?

“Lunar, I hope you’re right about this,” Nexus muttered as the island dissolved around him, his voice shaking despite himself. “Because I feel like I just made a deal with the devil…”

Chapter Text

A gasp escaped Nexus as he opened his eyes and found himself back in his garage, three worried sets of eyes locked onto him. Solar was by his side almost instantly, one hand holding his while the other rested on his shoulder. “You okay?” The simple question was filled with so much love and care, leaving the lunar model’s insides feeling all soft and squishy.

With a gentle smile he nodded, taking a couple deep breaths to calm his nerves. “Yeah, I’m fine. That was just… intense. I’m starting to see where all the stories about Old Moon came from.”

“Hence why I still think that this is a bad idea,” Eclipse grumbled, moving to stand next to the other two. “He’s a jackass, plain and simple. He’s only going to make things harder, not better. Dunno why Lunar is so dead set on him.”

“Well, to be fair on the guy, he is at least pretty protective of Sun,” Nexus shrugged while Monty unplugged him from the machine, allowing him to stand and stretch. “His first instinct upon hearing that Sun was dead was to swear to rip apart whoever did it.” He figured that the part where he got screamed at by the older lunar model and thrown up against a tree was best left unsaid. Eclipse was already one wrong move away from calling this whole thing off, which would probably provoke Lunar to do something drastic and/or stupid. This whole thing felt like walking through a minefield.

Monty huffed a laugh out at his comment though, shaking her head. “Yeah, that sure sounds like him. He can certainly be… difficult to get along with, but he’s not a bad guy, contrary to what Eclipse is saying.”

At that comment, Solar finally looked away from his partner to focus on the gator. “You knew him pretty well, didn’t you?”

“Hehe, yup. Old Moon and I were thick as thieves… once I stopped trying to scam Sun.” Both Nexus and Solar shot Monty a look, with her putting her hands up defensively. “What? Sun used to be hella gullible and had access to Old Moon’s bank account! My amazing Gator Golf had to be funded somehow! Did you know that I managed to convince Sun to buy an apartment in space?”

“And this is why I had to lock down my bank account,” Nexus sighed, shaking his head.

Rolling his eyes, Solar spoke up again, “What was he like, Monty? Besides difficult… Is he just like all the stories we’ve heard?”

The question gave the gator pause, her claws tapping against her chin in thought. “Hmm… yes and no, I’d say. Moon’s temper was infamous, though it’s hard to tell how much of that was because of him and how much was because of his killcode. Man was a genius, but… had a habit of building things for the simple reason that he could. That portal in the ballpit is a prime example. Sun would always call him the dumbest smart person around. And speaking of Sun, man would rip your head off if you hurt his brother, no hesitation. Only reason Eclipse survived as long as he did around Old Moon was because he was in Sun’s head.”

“Now if only that harm equates to head ripping rule applied to himself,” Eclipse grumbled, drossing both sets of arms.

Monty’s smile fell a bit as she sort of nodded. “Yeah, a lot of those stories are true, and I know you guys have watched a good chunk of the channel’s videos. Not gonna claim that Moon was a saint, far from it actually. Pretty sure he’d kick an orphan in the name of science. He wasn’t perfect with Sun either, but he did genuinely try to get better for him. Moon tried to do whatever was best for Sun, even when they fought. He didn’t always get it right, and sometimes made it worse, but… I don’t think any of us are really in a place to judge him on that.”

“That’s… fair,” Solar mumbled, scratching at the back of his head a bit. “I mean… he doesn’t sound all bad. Just… honestly I think difficult might be the best way to put it.”

“Yeah,” Nexus was quick to agree, noting that Eclipse still seemed quite upset with the whole idea of bringing Old Moon back. Offering a wry smile, he offered a suggestion that was only half a joke. “If it makes us all feel better, I’m sure Eclipse can come up with some ‘anti-Moon protocol’ to disable him if he gets too bad.”

Now that idea had his partner smiling, flashing his sharp teeth and he chuckled. “Is that an open invitation to install a shock device in Old Moon’s body?”

“Something non-lethal,” Solar sighed, already predicting how this could get out of hand. “And something with specific parameters for activation, not something you can turn on because you feel like being petty.”

“Oh please, what do you take me for?”

“An asshole.”

“ Our asshole,” Nexus added with a smirk. “Just still an asshole.”

Rolling his eyes, Eclipse let the faintest traces of a smirk be visible as his lovers teased him. He also made no effort to deny their claims. “Fine. Non-lethal and set to only activate if he physically tries to hurt someone. I’m not taking the chance of him hitting either of you because he gets a little pissy.”

It was nice to know that Eclipse would keep them protected, even preemptively stifling a potential threat before it could come to pass. The thought once again reminded him how much he loved his partners, the lunar model bending over to plant a light kiss on Eclipse’s temple. “Thanks for looking out for us, babe.” As the burnt orange bot visibly blushed, a snicker could be heard from their third partner followed by the audible click of a camera shutter.

“You did not just take a photo of that!” Eclipse snarled, yet the heat was more from embarrassment than actual anger.

Solar had no shame as he smirked back, already having sent the photo to the family group chat. “Can ya blame me when you reacted so cutely? I’m actually pretty proud of that one.”

The other eclipse model just groaned as he opened the chat and saw the photo, the groans growing in volume as Earth reacted with hearts everywhere. Nexus just chuckled a bit and rubbed his partner’s back, the shorter animatronic moving to hide in his chest in response.

“Well, seeing you two acting all cute is making me want to go smooch up my fiancee,” Monty chuckled, already making her way to the door back to the rest of the house. “What do ya guys say to ordering in some pizza and just chilling for now? It’ll probably take us some time to get Moon out, so we might as well make that a tomorrow problem.”

“Sounds good to me,” Solar nodded, coming around to sandwich Nexus between the two eclipses. “A nice feel-good movie and cuddles sounds like a great addition to the pizza.”

Nexus smiled as they joined up with Earth and Lunar, Monty making good on her earlier statement as she swept Earth into her arms and peppered her in kisses, the larger animatronic giggling at the attention. For tonight, they could relax and enjoy each other’s presence.

Tomorrow, they’d get to work on releasing the hurricane in a tin can that was Moon.

The next morning, the whole family made their way down to parts and service to oversee Moon’s revival. Solar and Monty would be working on the code extraction, Eclipse would be overseeing while grumbling about Moon’s demand to not let him be involved, Lunar wanted to be there to greet his big brother when he woke up, and Earth decided to tag along and ensure all the geniuses took appropriate breaks. Nexus had the easy job of simply sitting in the chair and letting the others work, letting them know if they touched on any code they shouldn’t. Extracting Moon was essentially brain surgery for animatronics, though instead of extracting a tumour, they were extracting an AI with anger issues and a history of violence. Eclipse might argue they’re one in the same, but Solar was trying to give Moon the benefit of the doubt until he saw how he acted in person. After all, this was the same person that initially took Lunar in and protected him from the first iteration of Eclipse, so he couldn’t be too horrible.

Stretching a bit as the hours marched on, the mechanic looked to the lifeless body sitting in the protective cylinder. What was once the face of his lover would soon be that of a stranger, and Solar didn’t know how to feel about it. It was the first face he fell in love with, and while it had been Nexus’ personality that had originally attracted him, he couldn’t deny that he’d come to love the aesthetics of the base lunar model. Guess it wouldn’t be just Eclipse who would find this to be a difficult adjustment period. But… if Lunar really thought that this would help Sun out, then he was willing to put up with the difficulties that would lie ahead.

“Okay, I think we’ve got this mostly separated,” Monty grumbled, having decided to use his male body today since it was the one Moon was most familiar with. “For this last little bit, we’re gonna have to turn you off Nex. Then we can complete the extraction and data transfer and wake you up before we wake him up. Sound good?”

“Not like I’ve got much of a choice,” Nexus shrugged from their seat next to the computer. “I’m not worried if that’s what you’re asking, seeing as I’ve barely felt you two poking around in my code. You’ve both been extra careful, and I trust ya both, so I’m good here.” They flashed them both a smile and a thumbs up as they shifted a bit in their seat.

“We can still call this off,” Eclipse huffed, his gaze hardening as he looked into the nearby cylinder. There was a tension to his posture that spoke to more than just simple animosity, a rigidness that Solar could recognize as fear. Whether that fear was of the process being done to their partner or Moon’s revival, he couldn’t say, but Solar reached over to squeeze one of his hands with his own to offer some comfort.

Monty on the other hand grimaced and did not offer any assurance. “Hate to say it, but I think we’re past the point of no return. We’ve basically cut everything Moon out of Nexus; there’s only a few lines of essential code keeping them tied together, which is why we need to turn them off to finish. But if we just leave Moon’s code loose in their systems without it being tied down in any way, there’s no telling what repercussions there could be down the line as lines of code get retangled.”

“Great,” the four-armed bot hissed, his grip on his boyfriend’s hand tightening as his stress levels rose. “Just hurry up and get it done then.”

“Make sure not to rush though!” Earth called out from her spot nearby, offering a reassuring smile to the rest of her family.

The gator animatronic flashed her a toothy grin and nodded his head. “Don’t worry babe, I ain’t gonna rush while doing brain surgery on your brother. We’ll take this slow and steady, just like with the rest of it.”

“Yup,” Solar nodded, pulling away from Eclipse to stand at Nexus’ side. “We’ve got you babe, don’t you worry. Just rest up, and he’ll be out of your head before you know it.”

“I’m in the best hands I could be in, so no need to worry at all.” Nexus tilted his head down, instantly giving the eclipse model access to the back of his head. There he flipped the power switch, watching carefully as the purple bot powered down and slumped in his grasp. Once he was sure that everything was fully powered off, Solar took a moment to sit him back up to be leaning against the seat while he rested.

“Everything looks good from my end,” Monty confirmed, prompting Solar to return to the console and resume their work. Only a little bit longer to go and they could power both lunar models on. Time to finish what they started.

Moon blinked a couple times as awareness crept into his mind, something that had only shown itself once since his sacrifice landed him here. He thought back to that conversation with the other version of him, the one that now went by Nexus. Was this really it? Was he really getting another chance? It’d be hard to adjust, but he’d have to… Sun needed him.

It was still hard to process that he’d wake to a world where his twin, the other half of his being, was dead by his own hand. Sure, Sun had been struggling when he last saw him, but how could things have gotten so far out of hand that the solar model felt that nothing short of such a drastic  (and supposedly) permanent action would fix it?

Whatever, he was being brought back to fix whatever mess his replacement had made, and he had every intention of following through with that task. “Would say I’m gonna miss this place, but I’ll probably hate beaches for the rest of my life honestly,” he said to himself as the sun finally started to set, chuckling as he watched the light fade from his prison. “Just wait a bit longer for me Sun… I promise things will be different from now on.”

As the colours started to fade into shades of grey, the sand underneath him lost its texture. The wind’s gentle breeze died down to nothing as the birds’ calls ceased, and for a moment he found himself in an empty void. The sun, sand, and sea that he’d grown to accept as his life faded into oblivion, and as he felt a tugging on the back of his mind, Moon closed his eyes…

And opened them to the familiar sight of parts and service, with several unfamiliar faces clustered outside the cylinder he was in. The only ones he really recognized were Monty and vaguely Eclipse, with the latter’s posture and attitude giving him away more than his new body did. He could pick Nexus out of the bunch too, and could take guesses on who the others were. The short lunar model had to be Lunar, though it looked like he got a new body too. The only woman in the room had to be their sister, Earth. And that left the Eclipse-look-alike as Solar. And as his eyes scanned the room, his heart hurt to note the absence of any yellow solar model among the collection of animatronics. Even if he’d been told, it still crushed him to indirectly confirm it…

“Suh, dude!” Came the familiar drawl of Monty’s voice from the other side, a toothy grin plastered on the gator’s face. “Welcome back to the world of the living. Just running some basic diagnostics now that you’re conscious, then we can let you outta there to meet the rest of the family. I’m guessing you’ve noticed some… additions since you were last here.”

“Mmm, yeah. Other me kinda gave me a heads up and a general rundown of who and what happened, though it’ll probably take me a bit to really process everything.”

“Heh, guess that’s fair. While you’re stuck in there though, figured everyone could take turns doing introductions or whatnot. You already know me… uh, got a female body now, so uh if you see a random hot gator hanging around, that’s still me.”

“Oh neat. You’ll have to show me your other bod at some point.” Good on Monty for managing to get the other body. Hopefully his old friend felt more comfortable being openly genderfluid with everyone.

Monty smiled at his open acceptance, scratching shyly at his cheek a bit. “Um… oh! I guess first-off, I want you to meet my fiancée, your uh… sister.” With an unsure air to the interaction, he pulled over the tall woman that Moon had guessed was Earth, and she waved to him with much enthusiasm.

“Hello there Moon! My name is Earth, and it’s a pleasure to meet you! I can’t wait to get to know you!”

Chuckling a bit at how sweet she was, Moon offered a wave back. “Nice to meet you too. I’d say I’ll have to test whether you’re good enough for Monty, but… I’m pretty sure it’s the other way around.”

Monty just barked out a laugh at that comment. “Hell yeah, she’s way out of my league! But I still managed to bag the most beautiful girl in the world somehow. Must be luck, I guess.” The joke seemed to bleed out some of the tension in the couple, with Earth giggling and blushing a bit at the compliment. “I’m sure you two will get along, after all she’s just the sweetest, pretty much the heart of the family.”

That last comment made Moon pause, but he covered it up quickly with a smile. “I’m sure you’re right.” Something about this Earth being the heart of the family sat wrong with him. Sure, he knew that a larger family meant that dynamics would change, but… that should’ve been Sun’s spot. He knew of nobody else with a bigger heart, who was more willing to help their loved ones, even to their own detriment.

Well, hopefully this Earth lived up to such a role. She seemed nice enough at least, the planetary model turning back to him with a big smile. “I know this will be a big adjustment for you Moon, so I’d be happy to help you in any way I can. I’m an unofficial therapist too, so if there’s anything you need to get off your chest or feel you need to work on, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

“I’ll definitely keep that in mind, thanks for the offer.” As he looked around the room, he snickered as he saw a small animatronic pressed up against the glass of the cylinder’s door. “Heh, new body and you’re still a shortstack, huh?”

“Funsized!” Lunar corrected with a huff, only to grin immediately after. “Knew you’d recognize me even after all the changes!”

“You’re the only pint-sized gremlin I know of in the pizzaplex, so figured it had to be you.”

“Oh, I’m not alone anymore. Foxy has a kid.”

“Who has a what-now?”

“Also I have superpowers now!”

At Moon’s baffled look, a familiar voice chuckled nearby. “Guess I didn’t get into all of the details when I was giving you the run-down of what all happened while you were gone.” Nexus stepped up with a shy wave, looking unsure on where to leave their gaze. “It’s uh… a complicated story on that last part that we can get into another time. But uh… nice to see you again?”

“Yeah… you too. I think I’m gonna need longer to process than I expected.”

“Heh, guess that’s fair. I remember what it was like when I first woke up and how hard it was to keep track of things.” As the older lunar model’s eyes wandered to the twin shadows flanking Nexus, the purple bot chuckled and gestured to the one on their left. “This is Solar, one of my boyfriends.”

“Remember that nice Eclipse I told you about? That’s him!” Lunar chimed in from his place in front of the door, prompting a memory to jump to the forefront of his mind.

Blinking a couple times, he tried to reconcile the person in front of him with the mental image he’d constructed from Lunar’s stories. “Huh, you’re that Eclipse? Okay, cool, got no problems with you. On the other hand,” his voice slipped into a growl as he pointed a finger at the other eclipse model. “You, I want to beat your face in.”

Eclipse just laughed at the bold statement, crossing his twin sets of arms and sneering at the other. “Oh trust me, the feeling is mutual. You’re lucky Lunar thinks your ass will fix things around here, otherwise you’d still be nothing but a forgotten relic.”

That single sentence shifted the entire tone in the room, an eerie silence spreading as some of the others shifted uncomfortably. It was like they forgot that Moon wasn’t being revived for a simple social visit, but to make sure his other half didn’t attempt suicide again. “So… we done here?” His tone was snippier than he initially meant it to be, but it seemed to get the point across as Monty fumbled at the controls before nodding. Feeling the wires disconnect from the back of his head, Moon carefully got to his feet. There were definitely changes to his body, he could feel it. But he’d have time to explore those later, instead putting up with the mild discomfort as he walked out of the now unlocked cylinder with confidence.

“So,” he started, tone leveling out as he addressed the whole group. “Here’s how things are gonna go-”

“Excuse me?” Eclipse scoffed as he stepped forward, pointedly hiding Nexus and Solar behind him. “You think your recently deceased ass gets to call the shots around here?”

“Well yeah, since you chucklefucks apparently have no idea how to keep Sun alive.” Earth visibly flinched and hid into Monty’s side, the gator shooting him a look that Moon promptly ignored. “Nexus gave me a generic rundown of the situation, I asked some questions, and I have to say, not impressed. No plans, no safeties, nothing. So either you all suck at communicating and Nexus didn’t have a clue because of that, or you’re all just as clueless. Both are gonna get my twin killed the second you try to revive him. So which is it? Are you all incompetent, or ignorant?”

He hadn’t noticed the venom seeping into his words until the end of his little tirade. That creeping numbness, familiar and unwelcome, was already curling at the edges. Without Sun around to warm him up, it would spread fast. His worlds brought soft sobs echoing from the back of the room while Monty tried to light him ablaze with his gaze. But he didn’t care if he made Earth cry or not, because it was the truth. Lunar was the only one that seemed to comprehend how out of their depth everyone was, and while he knew that his adopted brother was emotionally smart like Sun, this was just ridiculous. “Honestly… two eclipses, a moon, a genius gator, and a so-called therapist. How is Lunar the only one who can see how bad this is that you all failed?”

While Moon was clearly doing his best to control his temper on the matter, everyone else seemed either stunned or upset by his words, though it was rapidly becoming the latter as Nexus started crying as well. That brought the anger of both eclipses down on the night animatronic, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. He didn’t ease up either when he saw the guilt crawling through Solar in the way he held his emotional partner, or the way Nexus shook in the eclipse’s arms. If anything, their reactions only assured him that he was right and they knew it .

“So, here’s how things are gonna go,” he repeated himself, voice even colder this time around. “You all are gonna take me to wherever you have Sun. I will be staying with him and figuring out what the fuck you all did so wrong. And I will be fixing these problems as I find them. I don’t care if you don’t like my methods, not when Sun’s life is the one on the line. So you can either work with me… or I’ll take him someplace where he can heal, far from all of you . Do I make myself clear?”

Silence filled the repair space, the family of animatronics looking between each other in mixtures of unsureness and distress. Only one face seemed to show anything different, and Moon didn’t notice them until a pair of hands wrapped around his own. Looking down, he saw Lunar’s determined face staring back up at him, grip tight despite his little size. “Whatever you have to do, I’m with you. Just… please save my big brother. I miss him, and I don’t wanna lose him again.”

The heartfelt plea softened the ice that had crept into Moon, and he smiled down at his brother as he playfully ruffled the top of his head. “I plan to, no matter what. But I’ll need all the help I can get.”

“I-I’ll help too!” Nexus called out from the back, having to push their way past their lovers to stand before Moon. The evidence of his tears stood in stark contrast to the grim expression they wore. “Whatever it takes, I want to see Sun smile again. Really smile. I-I’m not even sure if I know what that looks like on him, but… I want him to be happy. And if that means following your lead, then I guess that’s what I’m doing.”

With the purple bot willing to cooperate, their boyfriends fell in step behind him, albeit with far more grumbling from one than the other. Soon enough, Monty and Earth joined the rest of them, the taller animatronic clearly doing her best to hold it together for now. Moon had to respect their willingness and conviction to see Sun thrive again, and he sighed a bit as he let go of the tension. “Alright then… time to see this damage for myself.”

Chapter Text

“Of course it’s a fucking beach house,” Moon grumbled under his breath as he stepped through the portal onto the private island. The texture of the sand under his slippers was already annoying him, but he sighed and tried his best to ignore it. At least the house seemed nice enough, though it really didn’t scream ‘Sun’ to him. His twin would rather open greenery than professionally landscaped paths, a place to garden rather than clumps of sand constantly being tracked in. Maybe the inside was more fitting with the solar model?

As he was led inside of the island home, ruby eyes scanned the various areas of the open concept living space. The large kitchen was probably right up Sun’s alley, and he did note the various pieces of cat furniture and toys scattered around the area. It was certainly more promising than outside, yet the energy still felt… off. He didn’t know what it was, and maybe it was simply the grumpy eclipse watching him like a hawk that was behind him throwing the vibes off, but… it was almost like there was a sadness that clung to this place. A misery so deep it permeated the walls.

This wasn’t just the grief from Sun’s death… it felt older. Like the house itself had learned to mourn. Shaking his head slightly to rip his focus from the haunting emotions, he went to continue looking around only to feel something bump into his leg. Looking down, he saw a little tabby cat rubbing against his leg, purring up a storm. “Okay… you have a cat.”

“Two, actually,” Nexus clarified, bending down to scoop up the feline. “This is Muffin, he’s a friendly little guy. Cleo’s around here somewhere… he’s not as friendly though, so I dunno if he’d let you pet him.”

“You… named a boy cat Cleo?”

At that simple question, Nexus froze, his smile growing wistful as he set Muffin down again. “Um… Sun did. They were… t-they were his cats.”

“Oh…” And just like that, he’d managed to be an asshole to the guy keeping his brother’s cats alive. Good job, Moon.

“Yeah… I-I just sort of… took over taking care of them for the past few months. They’ve probably kept me sane throughout all of this.”

“Well uh… I’m glad someone was able to look after my brother’s cats. I know he loves cats.” Gods… this whole interaction felt awkward. Clearing his throat slightly, he tried to switch the conversation in a different direction. “So! Island house, huh?”

His counterpart seemed grateful for the change in topic, chuckling slightly as he looked around. “Pretty nice, isn’t it? It’s nice to be able to just come here after a day at the plex and just unwind away from everything.”

“Yeah, and easily fortifiable. All it would take is one well-placed barrier to shield the entire island from intruders… maybe some turrets mounted at the docks…”

Solar looked at him like he’d grown a second head at that. “Turrets? Why the hell would we need those?”

“Oh yeah, I guess everything was still chaotic when he was around,” Nexus murmured in response, turning away from his boyfriend to an increasingly perplexed Moon. “We haven’t needed anything like that in a long time. I might’ve glossed over it on my recap, but all our problems have pretty much been dealt with. The Creator’s dead, and nothing else has moved in to try to take his place as a threat. There’s nobody left to bother us, so we’ve been just enjoying the peaceful life. About the only trouble we get all the way out here is a surprise visit from one of the Glamrocks, or a particularly nasty tropical storm. But otherwise, everything’s good.”

“Huh.” Honestly, Moon didn’t know what else to say. What could you say upon finding out that your life, which was nothing but problem after problem after problem, was now all hunky-dory and ‘normal’?

A scoff echoed from behind them as Eclipse shouldered his way past Moon, glaring over his shoulder as he did so. “Whatever, can we get this over with? You’re back, Lunar’s happy, and Nexus needs his brother back. This isn’t some social visit, in case you forgot.”

Growling under his breath a bit, Moon bit back his frustrations because for once, Eclipse was right. He wasn’t going to say it though. “Okay… so where is he?”

The sudden tonal change seemed to give Nexus a moment of whiplash, but he was quick to recover. “O-Oh… well his body is up in his room upstairs. We figured that would be the best place for him to wake up. As for his chip…” The purple bot trailed off as he pulled a small jewelry box out of his pocket. “I have it right here.”

“Cool. Hand it over.”

The lunar animatronic’s simple demand caused most members of the family to flinch, with Nexus stepping back and clutching the little box to his chest. “May we ask why?” Solar prompted, stepping protectively in front of his taller partner in case Moon lunged for it or something like that.

It was a fair question, he supposed, so Moon kept his voice and demeanour as calm as possible. It was easier honestly than getting emotional right now, seeing as the numbness continued to spread through his systems like poison. Hopefully Nexus’ presence was enough to dull Sun’s mood swings a bit. “Simple, Sun doesn’t need to wake up to a crowd and panic. One person should be there, someone who can explain things calmly. And since you all brought me back explicitly for Sun’s sake, I figured it made sense that I do it.”

“Bullshit!” Eclipse cursed, coming to stand by his partners. “That honour should go to Nexus after everything he’s been through.”

Before the nighttime attendant could try to argue, he felt a gentle tug on his pants. Looking down, he saw Lunar staring back up at him. “Moon. Nexus was the one to find him. I think he needs and deserves to be the first one to see him wake up.”

Well, how the hell does one argue with that? It didn’t help that his little brother was flashing him puppy eyes, Moon sighing at the familiar weakness. “You know I can’t say no to you when you do that,” he grumbled playfully, quickly revising his plans. “Alright, Nexus you can be the one to wake him up. I’ll wait right outside the door, and you can call me in if you need me. Everyone else can wait down here for Sun to be ready to see them. Does that sound good to everyone?”

“I think that’s a wonderful compromise,” Earth chimed in with a smile, everyone else either nodding or murmuring their agreement.

With the plan set, Moon gestured for the other lunar animatronic to lead the way. The pair left everyone else downstairs, heading up to the first door on the right after the staircase. As Nexus opened the door though, Moon couldn’t help but frown as he stuck his head in. “This is Sun’s room?”

“Yep! Right across the hall from me in case he ever needed anything,” Nexus answered with a happy smile, already moving to the bed where Sun lay, tucked in and looking for all accounts like he was simply sleeping.

“But… he’s not bi.” Moon pointed to the pride flag hanging up on the wall, then to some of the other decorations in the room. “And he’s not the biggest fan of Back to the Future either.”

“O-Oh… well, the house came pre-decorated and move-in ready, and I picked this room for him because of the flag. Thought it was funny, and he never redecorated, so I guess he was fine with it.”

“Uh-huh…” The tri-coloured flag wasn’t the only thing in here throwing him off, but he’d withhold judgement until he asked Sun about it. Who knew, maybe his preferences had changed in the time Moon had been gone? “Alright, well I’ll give you two the room, just holler or knock or something if you need me.”

“Sounds good, thanks Moon.” And Nexus wasn’t even looking at him anymore, his gaze solely on Sun’s still figure. Sighing, Moon closed the door and moved to lean against the wall next to it. Hopefully the red flags he saw were all in his head and things would be good when his twin woke up. But Sun was always the more optimistic of the two of them.

Awareness was slow to come to Sun, though to be fair, he wasn’t exactly reaching for it. He felt like he’d just started waking from the most pleasant sleep in a long time, one with nice dreams of him and Moon, back in the daycare tower. He didn’t feel pain or sorrow, just a sense of happiness that he’d almost forgotten what it felt like. The security of his twin watching over him, looking up from his work on the computer every so often to smile at him, filled him with joy, and he was quite content to stay there forever.

Yet the waking world called him, and he was forced to answer as his brother’s smile melted into the background, becoming a twisting spiral of muted colours before fading to black. Groaning at the disturbance, it took great effort to pry his eyes open, only to be hit with the sensation of wrongness . Everything felt off, from his environment to his body to the energy around him. But before he could begin to process anything, a hand fell on his shoulder, drawing his bleary gaze to a face that also looked wrong.

“Sun?” The voice was familiar though, helping to focus his blurry vision as he looked to his brother. The lunar model sent him a teary smile as his gaze fell on him, and it wasn’t long before the daytime animatronic felt himself wrapped up in a hug. The contact set his wires ablaze, and it took everything in him to not force the other off and instead hug him back. His movements were stiff as he fought the urge to pull away, but the other animatronic didn’t seem to notice as their grip on him tightened. “Oh, I’m so happy to see you. I’ve missed you so much.”

“You… missed me?” Even Sun’s voice felt wrong to himself, prompting a reset that did little to chase the sensation away.

As the lunar model finally pulled back, the sensation of crawling along his casing eased, only for his brother’s hands to pull at him again so that he was sitting upright in his bed. Even once that was done, the other kept hold of his hand, an itching feeling building where the prolonged contact was held. The only thing that distracted Sun from this though was the sadness in his brother’s eyes. “What… do you last remember, Sun?”

The simple question confused him at first, prompting a dive into his memory files. And as Sun searched, he felt his mouth fall open as he opened the last memory he had before waking up in bed. “I… I-I died,” he blurted out, gaze falling to his lap as he said the words aloud.

“Yeah… yeah you did,” his brother confirmed, grip on the solar model’s hand tightening. “It’s been… several months since you were last online, a-and a lot has changed since then. I-I’m sure you’ve noticed I changed my body… changed my name too. I go by Nexus now…”

Nexus… not… not Moon. It was like the universe was taunting him, ripping him from the gentle peace he’d found into a world where even the last traces of his twin were fading from existence. Now he couldn’t even say his name or see his face, not with this new Moon becoming Nexus in the time he’d been gone. “H-How,” he whimpered, feeling the familiar burn of tears building at the back of his optics. “H-How am I alive?” Sun could’ve sworn he’d planned everything so that he couldn’t be brought back, so where did he go wrong?

Nexus’ smile grew a bit as he scooched closer. “Eclipse found a way to restore your personality chip, I-I think he used magic with the help of Golden Freddy to do it.” Magic? He planned for every technical way he couldn’t be restored and they used fucking magic ? How was he supposed to predict or plan against that? But Nexus just rambled on, clueless to the growing horror in the other animatronic. “I-I was so surprised when he showed me your chip, as pristine as ever, and said he rebuilt you from scratch to make sure everything was fine.” So that’s why everything felt wrong; he was in a completely new body, one identical to his old self in almost every single way, and yet he didn’t feel like himself anymore. Just a shadow… “He’s such a romantic sap even when he tries to claim he isn’t. I mean, who else finds a way to bring their partner’s brother back from-”

“Why?” The single word was spoken so softly, yet with enough force and emotion behind it to silence the purple bot’s rambling. When all he got was a look of confusion, Sun practically hissed out, “Why would you bring me back?”

The venom behind his words caused Nexus to flinch, looking to his older brother in shock as his voice cracked. “Why? W-Why wouldn’t I bring you back? I love you!”

“If you really loved me, you would’ve let me stay dead,” he muttered, ripping his hand out of the other’s grasp to instead hug himself. When Nexus went to argue though, he rounded on him with a mixture of betrayal, fury, and hurt, the strength of his emotions enough to have his brother flinch away as if burned. “I was finally happy ! I was with Moon again! What right did you have to rip me away from my happiness? No more pain, no more misery. No more upsetting the people I care about with my very existence! I was happy, and you tore that away from me!”

His screams devolved into sobs as he curled in on himself, just catching the look of hurt and horror on his brother’s face at his words. “S-Sun… Y-You don’t mean that Sunny-”

“Don’t you ‘Sunny’ me!” He slapped away the approaching hand, instead scooting himself over to the other side of the bed to where he couldn’t be touched. “You don’t know a goddamn thing about me! You didn’t even know I was vegetarian! And you probably still think that cleaning is my favourite hobby!”

“It… i-it’s not?”

“No! I only clean because of my protocol driving me crazy! Either that or to feel useful since that’s all I seem to be good for!” For once, he let it all out, because what did it matter? He was just going to find another way to end his life and return to his happy afterlife with Moon, so for once he just said what he was really thinking. But even then, his anger could only carry him so far before the fatigue set in, and he slumped against himself with a shuddering sob. “ Please … just let me die. I don’t want to be here anymore… I-I just want to be with Moon.”

“Well, guess that’s my cue to announce myself,” came a painfully familiar voice. Even if most would say that Moon and Nexus sounded identical, Sun knew the difference. He could hear the weight in his twin’s voice, the darkness of past misdeeds and the burden they placed on his shoulders. He could hear the pain that the other lived with, covered up by biting sarcasm and witty remarks. He could hear everything that made Moon, Moon .

That single sentence caused Sun’s head to shoot up, tears already carving a trail along his faceplate. And when he looked up, he saw those familiar crimson eyes staring back at him with all the love his twin had for him. Standing in the doorway, right behind Nexus, was Moon, his Moon . “M-Moony?” He called out in a soft voice, unsure if this could really be real or simply another hallucination.

But Moon just smirked at him, waving to his twin. “Heya Sunny, looks like we both get to join the ‘back from the dead’ club now.”

Whenever Sun hallucinated, deep down he knew whether they were real or fake, and the hallucinations often acknowledged that they were simply figments of his imagination. So to hear Moon proudly proclaim himself as alive as Sun was, it broke any sort of doubts the solar model might’ve had. The waterworks then started in earnest, and he reached out in askance to be held by his long lost twin. Moon wasted no time, quickly sidestepping Nexus and crawling into the bed to scoop Sun up in his arms. “Shh, I’ve got you now, everything’s going to be alright,” he soothed as the yellow animatronic wailed in his arms, clinging to him for dear life. The normal sense of irritation that came from being touched wasn’t there, only a sense of security that had long been missing from his life. There was no twitch in his wires, no crawling sensation under his casing. Just… home .

They just stayed like that for a while, Moon holding his twin close and Sun afraid to let go as he let out broken sobs. Eventually, the lunar animatronic turned to Nexus and asked for the room, his counterpart reluctantly leaving the two of them alone. Once it was just them, Moon shifted Sun around to be sitting in his lap, bringing the pair impossibly closer as they snuggled close to their other halves. Each was the only one the other felt comfortable touching, the one that made them feel safe and complete to be around.

“I-I missed you s-so much!” Sun cried, snuggling into his twin’s shoulder.

In response, the other held him just a bit tighter, as if afraid for them to separate after everything that happened. “I know, and I’m sorry Sun. I never expected my sacrifice to have such widespread consequences, both on everyone and especially on you.” Moon pulled back just a hair, enough that the two of them could look each other in the eyes. “Sunny, I need you to talk to me. Tell me what’s going on to make you want to die.”

Sniffling as he tried to compose himself a bit, Sun first asked, “How much do you know?”

“Well, Nexus did pop in to visit me in our head before they got me out, and he explained as much as he could. But that’s only his side of things, and judging from what I heard while standing outside, there’s a lot more going on in your head than anyone else realizes.”

Gods, where did he even start? His mouth opened, but all that came out was a trembling, “I-I don’t know what’s wrong with me anymore, Moony. Everything hurts. I don’t know how to be Sun without breaking things, without ruining people.”

Moon’s hand came up to cup the back of his head, firm and grounding. “You don’t have to know. That’s what I’m here for. We’ll figure it out together. You and me, just like always.”

Sun’s optics squeezed shut. He wanted to believe him. He wanted to sink into that promise and never come back up. “I’m scared,” he admitted in a whisper.

“Good. That means you still want to live, deep down. I can work with that.” Moon offered him a gentle smile as he brushed away some of the tears that lingered on his cheeks. “How about this? Instead of you telling me what’s wrong, show me. Through your actions, your words, anything. And you trust me to see what’s going on and fix it, okay?”

“I-I don’t know if even you can fix this,” Sun whimpered, looking away from his twin as he tried to imagine what it was like to be ‘better’. He couldn’t really picture it though, not after being like this for so long. The closest he could get was recalling memories of a time before most of his family existed, when it was just Sun and Moon, together against the world.

But Moon just scoffed at his doubts, affectionately ruffling his rays a bit. “Tch, fixing problems is what I do, Sun. So I’m gonna fix all of your problems so that I never have to face the thought of losing you. And I’m gonna start with myself, okay? This time around, I’ll be what you need me to be. I’m not gonna be some controlling asshole calling all the shots and belittling you. I’m gonna try my best to be the version of me that you love, no matter how hard things get.” Moon snickered a bit, prompting Sun to finally look back up and see his shit-eating grin. “And besides, Eclipse has his own body now, so if I ever feel the need to hit something, well… he does have a very punchable face.”

A snort of laughter was pulled from the daycare attendant at that, prompting him to blush a bit as his brother started laughing at him. “Moony, please try to play nice. While I agree that he’s very punchable, he’s still my brother’s boyfriend.”

“He has very shit taste in partners, by the way.”

“Well… I like Solar, at least. You’ll probably like him too.” Sun’s voice died off as he thought of the mechanic, and then the rest of the family. They went through all this hassle to bring him back, and what did he do? Beg Nexus to let him die again. “They probably all hate me,” he muttered, gripping Moon’s arm like a security blanket.

“Meh, in my experience, people don’t actively try to resurrect people they hate,” his twin pointed out. “Though I’m probably on my way to being hated by all of them.”

“Why would they hate you?”

“I’ve kind of been nothing but a dick to them since I woke up a few hours ago. So if anything, they’ll hate me, not you.”

“I don’t want them to hate you though,” he murmured, nuzzling his brother a bit. “I want them to see the version of you that I see. They’re not perfect, but… they are my family and I love them.”

A blue-toned hand came up to rub his shoulder gently, the motion helping him to relax. “Alright, I’ll try to play nice with them. Can’t make any promises with Eclipse, but I’ll try to get along with the rest of them. Lunar at least still likes me, so that’s one out of five. Speaking of your family though, they are waiting downstairs to see you.”

Even though he’d been assured that they didn’t hate him, Sun couldn’t help but tense up at the thought of facing them after what he’d done and the effort they had to go through to undo it. If there wasn’t hate, then there was definitely some resentment there that he wasn’t ready to deal with.

True to form, Moon noticed even the slightest tension that wound through his frame at the idea of his family. “You don’t have to go down yet if you aren’t ready,” he promised, hugging the yellow bot tighter as if to keep him in bed. “We have to go down there eventually, but… not right now.”

He let those words sink in, the choice given to him on when to face his family after everything. “Can we… C-Can we stay here and cuddle a little longer?”

The arms around him shifted the two of them to be laying down in bed, the covers being pulled up around them as they snuggled together under the fabric. “For you, brother? Anything.”

Chapter Text

It took about another hour for Sun to feel comfortable leaving his room, but thankfully Moon didn’t rush him. He honestly wasn’t used to his twin being so… doting on his needs, but it just gave him hope that maybe things would truly be better this time around. With a hand resting on the small of his back, the solar model was led downstairs to where the rest of his family was waiting, everyone perking up as the pair came down. Yet as Sun looked at all their faces, he saw something behind their smiles on each one. None of them were just purely happy, and the falseness was so plain that it seemed everyone was making a pointed effort to ignore it.

Well, if everyone else was pretending, then he could do the same, putting on his usual mask of happiness at the sight of his family. At this point, the only one not smiling was Moon, though he didn’t seem particularly upset. Just… guarded. Wary.

Earth at least was the best at showing true joy, yet there was an uneasiness to it, as if she saw Sun as this broken and fragile thing that needed to be treated with extra care going forward. She wasn’t wrong, he supposed. She was the first to break the somewhat tense silence, stepping forward with her arms raised. “Welcome back, Sun!” She cheered, moving to give him a hug, and it took every ounce of willpower he had to brace himself and keep his smile up.

Before his sister could reach him though, Moon stepped between the two of them with a look of confusion that the planetary model mirrored. “Uh… what exactly are you doing?” Moon asked as he shielded his twin.

The larger animatronic just tilted her head to the side at the question. “Hmm? I’m just giving my big brother a hug to properly welcome him back!”

“Okay… but Sun doesn’t always like being touched,” the lunar model pointed out, like it was the most obvious thing ever. Honestly though, it left Sun a little baffled that someone was actually taking that into consideration.

For the most part, Earth just laughed off Moon’s concern. “Oh yes, I suppose you’d have no way of knowing. Sun and I had been working on his touch aversion together through exposure therapy. He’s gotten much better with it, I assure you.”

“Really? Well if that’s the case, you could still ask him if he wants a hug.” Huh, Moon wasn’t letting this one go despite Earth’s insistence that it was no longer an issue. It… felt weird honestly, he didn’t know how to process what was going on.

Despite Moon staying in her way, Earth took it in stride as she looked to her brother over the other animatronic. “I suppose that’s fair. Sun, can I give you a hug? I’d love to welcome you back properly after everything.”

Sun paused for just a second, thankful once for his white pupils that didn’t betray how he looked to everyone else behind his sister. They were all looking at him expectantly, as if hugging Earth would somehow undo everything that had happened. Eclipse especially had an intensity to his gaze, feeling like he was being dared to refuse her and upset everyone, his grin sharp and full of promise of pain if he made things worse for everyone. He knew the eclipse model would openly scorn him if he refused and upset her, which would in turn upset everyone else and ruin what was supposed to be a happy family reunion. He’d already done that with Nexus, and they had all been kind enough to bring Moon back for him despite their dislike of him. Hell, Nexus even still had the remnants of tear marks staining his face despite the other’s best efforts to scrub the evidence away. So, it was only fair that he sucked it up and stepped a bit out of his comfort zone to meet them halfway, right?

“Sure,” he mumbled, gently nudging his twin aside so that Earth could wrap him up in a big hug. It made his casings crawl, but he pushed the sensation aside as he hugged back as best he could.

After a moment or two he let go, yet it seemed that his sister wasn’t quite done touching him as she moved to place her hands on his shoulders. He couldn’t help the way he tensed up a bit, though it seemed that his family was oblivious to his continued discomfort… everyone except for a set of crimson eyes that were currently burning a hole in his shoulder. “Oh, we all missed you so much, Sun! We’re so lucky that Eclipse found a way to bring you back, he even rebuilt your body from scratch to make sure everything was perfect!”

“Y-Yeah… so I heard,” Sun commented with a forced smile, hating the way he felt about Eclipse having been the one to rebuild him. Why did it have to be him? There were three other geniuses in the family that he would be infinitely more comfortable with, but it had to be Eclipse? Even Monty would’ve been better… though if he was honest with himself, the thought of the gator rebuilding him made him uncomfortable too.

Before he could try to figure out a way to get out of the planetary model’s grip though, he felt a hand wrap around his own and tug him backwards. Sun let out an undignified yelp as he stumbled back a bit, catching himself only to look at Moon in bewilderment. With the complete lack of social grace that his twin was known for, Moon just jutted a thumb behind himself towards the kitchen. “Hey Sun, apparently this body needs food and I have no idea what to do. Make me something?”

Blinking a couple times as the lunar model tugged him along, he dumbly clarified, “You’re… hungry?”

“Yup. Anything will do, I dunno what I like yet.”

“O-Okay,” he mumbled, moving to walk on his own and take the lead. There were so many dishes that he’d made and loved in the time since his brother had been gone, so maybe he could make something like that? It would be nice to share something he enjoyed with his twin after everything that happened. Heading to the fridge, he opened the door…

Only to stop short at the sight of red . Meat. Meat. Meat . Every shelf he looked at was filled with nothing but animal products, ranging from chicken to beef to pork to even some fish in there. The sight left him stunned as his eyes quickly scanned the contents of the shelves and drawers, though he kept coming back to the same conclusion. He even double and triple checked, trying to keep his movements calm as he carefully rifled through the drawers and pushed items aside. While there were a few items that were vegetarian friendly, there was no way to guarantee that they hadn’t been contaminated since a few dried blood stains littered the shelves. Nobody had taken care to keep the meat sealed away from everything else, and the sight reminded him of a horror villain’s lair. There was nothing safe for him to eat in there…

The faintest of tremors formed in his hand as he tried to hide his rising panic, swallowing down the bile that burned at the back of his throat. The solar model even made a point of ignoring the red stars he could see dancing in the corners of his vision, instead turning to Moon with a weak smile. “S-Sorry, looks like there’s nothing prepped and ready to go in the fridge. We could try some cereal for something quick or look for a frozen entree in the freezer?”

Solar had been approaching the two of them it seemed, only now visible that Sun’s head wasn’t in the fridge. He was trying his best to hide it, but there was a haunted look in his eyes as he approached, as if Sun’s death just ripped open all the wounds from Solar’s own Sun so long ago. Now it was like he was staring at a ghost, and it showed in the distance he kept and the way he refused to make eye contact. He had a sheepish grin on his face as he made a point to close the fridge door gently. “Actually Sun, why don’t you take it easy today? I already picked out some goodies that I can get started grilling, they shouldn’t take too long to cook. You fine with waiting a bit, Moon?”

“Sure,” Moon grunted, though his gaze flicked between Sun and the fridge as if it were a problem to solve.

Grinning, Solar flashed the twins a thumbs up. “Alright, I’ll get started, shouldn’t take me too long. In the meantime, why don’t you two sit down and catch up with everyone? A lot has happened since you’ve been gone, Sun. I’m sure everyone’s excited to fill you in on what’s changed.”

Gone . They said it like he’d taken a vacation or something, as if they didn’t want to acknowledge the fact that he’d died . Then again, he didn’t really want to think about it much right now either, so he simply smiled and took Moon’s hand again, leading him over to the sitting area where everyone had made themselves comfortable. On one sofa sat Lunar and Nexus, with Eclipse sitting between them with his arm over Nexus’ shoulder. Earth sat alone on the other seat, smiling and patting the spot beside her. The twin animatronics sat down, Sun choosing to take the middle seat since Moon didn’t really know their sister well.

“So uh… Solar said a lot has happened?” The yellow bot offered as he sat down, looking to Nexus since his changes were the most obvious. “Nexus already showed off his new body, so-”

Eclipse interrupted him with a scoff that instantly had him clamming up, his gaze falling to his lap to avoid the ire in the other’s eyes. “If by ‘showed off’ you mean you made him bawl his eyes out, then yeah I guess he did.”

“Eclipse!” Nexus turned to his partner, sounding aghast that he would blurt that out loud. Whether it was out of desire to remain somewhat civil or out of embarrassment for his reaction, Sun couldn’t tell.

It seemed that the eclipse model wouldn’t be silenced by simply hearing his name, Sun wilting as he felt that heated gaze land on his slouched form. “No! We’re not gonna just sweep everything under the rug every time he does something like this again! Otherwise everyone’s going to be miserable just like we were before. We all worked on our communication and trust, so Sun can do the same and own up to the consequences of his actions instead of acting like a petulant child.”

“Dude, chill. He literally just came back from the dead. He’s going to be a bit emotional after everything,” Lunar spoke up with a calm voice, and a quick glance up revealed him to be standing on the couch to look directly in his brother’s eyes.

Earth decided to add her own comments, placing what she likely figured was a comforting hand on Sun’s back as she did. “That’s right, we’ll need to be a bit patient with Sun for now. After the traumatic event he went through, he’s going to be overwhelmed and say things he doesn’t mean in the heat of the moment. It’s natural for him to act out a bit due to the emotional distress he must be under.” So… so they thought he didn’t mean what he said? They thought he was just lashing out with cruel words instead of speaking the truth of his heart for once? Heh… what was even the point of trying to be honest if they wouldn’t believe him when he was?

“Oh, I’m pretty sure he fucking meant it,” came a cold voice to his left, and Sun looked over with teary optics to see his twin leveling all of them with an icy glare. “Call me crazy, but I think a person who dies by their own hand isn’t going to be happy to find their efforts undone at first.”

“Didn’t you die by your own hand?” Eclipse snarled in response, his eyes burning with twin flames at the challenge. “Why don’t you go jump in the ocean or something then?”

While the eclipse model’s voice was like a roaring flame, Moon’s was ice cold as he simply stated, “You gave me a reason to live the moment I heard what you drove Sun to.”

“You make it sound like you’re blaming me.” The burnt orange bot looked ready to lunge for his former adversary, making it plainly clear that Moon’s presence was more than a sore spot for him.

And seeing how easily he could get under the other’s skin, the lunar model just snickered with an evil grin. “If the shoe fits, asshole.”

Earth suddenly shot to her feet, moving to visibly block line of sight between the two animatronics. “O-Okay, things are getting a little heated here and everyone’s saying things they don’t mean-”

“Oh, I meant every word of it,” Moon interrupted, shifting his glare upwards to level it at the green and blue woman. “Don’t try to put words in my mouth like you seem to do to everyone else.”

The bluntness of his words temporarily left Earth stunned and stuttering, and while she quickly covered it up with a smile, Sun could see the familiar way she carried herself when hurt. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t my intention, Moon. I simply wish for this to be a happy occasion instead of a fight. We should be celebrating Sun’s return to the family, and yours as well.”

Sun knew his twin would say something even worse, and yellow fingers darted out to grip the other’s arm relatively harshly. It was a silent plea to stop, one that Moon thankfully listened to without even looking at his other half. “Alright. I’m sorry for my part in the argument.” The solar model next to him couldn’t help but notice how carefully Moon chose his words, not taking back what he said, but rather admitting guilt for his part in the tension. It was a subtle difference, but it meant quite a bit if one paid attention to the nuance.

The planetary model in front of the twins clapped her hands together with a more natural smile, obviously pleased with her deescalation of the situation. She turned that grin to Eclipse, and he too muttered out an apology that carefully stepped around any negation of his words. Sun guessed that this was the problem when two people with genius-level intellect and emotional issues got into an argument, with peace returning despite both clinging to their views steadfastly.

From there, conversation resumed, though the tension hung in the air like the smell of rain before a storm. Earth was quite happy to bring up her engagement to Monty, with the gator thankfully absent from the conversation to help Solar with lunch. Sun was pretty sure Monty would’ve said something when Earth threw out the suggestion that her big brother be the one to give her away since their father was dead. The solar model didn’t have the heart to tell her that he couldn’t stomach the idea of giving away the sister he loved so much to someone that had hurt him endlessly in the past.

Nexus discussed a bit more about his identity change, including his new clothes that he wanted to show off and how he was experimenting with they/them pronouns as well. “Not gonna lie, it always made me sad that you weren’t going to be able to experience the new me, but I guess now we get that chance finally.” The melancholy in his little brother’s voice stung like a needle right under the skin, reminding and needling him about how Nexus’ sadness and regrets were his fault and nobody else’s. He wasn’t here to reassure Nex when he started taking his journey of self discovery, and he’d missed so much in the months he’d been gone.

Any time Eclipse spoke up, his words were subtle barbs and digs that were just benign enough for the rest of the family to not speak up. They were simple, innocent questions like what his plans were now that he was back, but Sun saw the hidden malice underlying all of them. Eclipse didn’t want him to hurt the rest of the family again, wanted him to play his role as everyone’s big brother and take care of their wishes so that they could continue living their ideal, happy lives. He made it very clear that Sun’s return was meant to make things easier on the rest of them, not harder, and the implications had Moon looking ready to leap off the couch and deck him while the rest of the family remained oblivious.

Lunar thankfully just brought up a couple of funny anecdotes from his time in charge of the daycare, though even that brought a pang of guilt to Sun’s heart. He was supposed to be the one in charge of the daycare, and instead Lunar and Earth were the ones running it because he’d chosen to be selfish for once. He couldn’t do anything right, could he? All he could manage to do was hide his anxiety under a fake smile as he stayed as engaged in the conversation as he possibly could, whether it was laughing at his little brother’s stories, asking Nexus and Earth questions about their new identity and wedding plans respectively, or trying to innocently answer Eclipse’s loaded questions. And throughout it all, Moon remained relatively silent, his gaze roaming over the others as if daring one of them to say something to provoke him again.

Just as Eclipse opened his mouth to ask another question, the burnt orange animatronic perked up at something behind them. Turning to see, he caught sight of Solar sticking his head in through the patio door. “Hey Clip, food’s almost done. Mind setting the table?” A grunt was the only verbal answer given as Eclipse got to his feet, removing a weight from Sun that he didn’t realize had been pressing on his shoulders.

It wasn’t much longer before the table was set and they were all called over to eat, the yellow-toned animatronic thankful for the change in pace that brought him out of the spotlight. He felt the urge to wrinkle his nose in disgust at the smell of meat when the patio door opened again, but he suppressed his reaction and kept his face neutral. Solar and Eclipse were carnivores after all, so it made sense that there’d be some meat cooked for this lunch.

What he wasn’t suspecting though was for everyone to be served meat. With a proud smile on both their faces, Monty and Solar served plates that each held a thick, juicy steak. The meat’s juices were coating the bottom of the plate, and the slabs were still sizzling hot as they were served. “I got my hands on one hell of a good deal,” Monty proudly exclaimed, toothy maw grinning widely. “6oz wagyu ribeye, some of the best shit out there!”

“Gotta admit, I freaked out a little when Monty brought them over,” Solar chuckled, looking just as proud as he brought over the sides. “Was terrified that I was gonna ruin such perfect meat, but thankfully I had the expert with me to make sure I didn’t overdo the steaks.”

“Oh wow you two, these look positively delightful!” Earth cheered, eyeing her plate as it was set in front of her before going through the sides. “Ooh, everything else looks good too!”

As a steak was set in front of him, Sun tried his best to ignore both the roiling of his stomach and the dumbfounded look on his twin’s face, turning his attention to the side dishes and praying that there was something he could eat. But it grew harder and harder to keep his expression from visibly falling as he looked over everything and found not a single one of them were vegetarian-friendly. The caesar salad had bacon bits in it, the potato salad held a distinctive yellow colour that implied the presence of eggs, and the asparagus was wrapped in bacon as well. An image of the bloody fridge flashed in his head as he recalled the sheer lack of anything he could eat, feeling foolish for thinking that this ‘welcome back lunch’ would be any better.

His twin wasn’t the only one staring at him though, and as Sun turned to address the two eclipses staring at him, he realized that he’d missed whatever Solar said to him. Chuckling a bit, Sun made a bit of a show of scooping a little of everything onto his plate, not wanting to make the mechanic feel like he didn’t value the obvious effort that went into the meal. “S-Sorry, I guess I spaced out a bit there. I was just… wondering how lucky Monty got to be able to afford wagyu for everyone. I don’t know much about meat, but I know wagyu is really good.”

Moon’s gaze hardened at his comment, yet the lunar model didn’t say anything as Sun passed him the potato salad. Monty just waved off Sun’s comment, laughing and winking as he simply said, “I know a guy, and he owed me some favours. Got these babies for a steal, so don’t you worry about the cost. Could charge you for yours if you feel that bad though.”

“Monty!” Earth scolded, turning to her brother with a much softer tone. “He will do no such thing, Sun. But please dig in! Don’t hold yourself back from enjoying this.”

Forcing a smile onto his face, Sun turned his focus back to his so-called meal as he picked up his utensils. He tried his best to ignore both the concerned look Moon was sending him and the way his optics were starting to burn, forcing his hand to remain steady as he cut into the steak. A quick glance revealed everyone focused on their own meal now, giving him a break from their scrutiny as he wracked his brain for what to do. He couldn’t actually eat any of this, and the sight of bloody juices weeping from the spot he’d cut into just made his stomach feel worse. So for now his strategy was simply to cut everything into smaller pieces and make it look like he was eating so that any stray glances wouldn’t lead to another argument. It did little to help with the laughter echoing from behind him, or the occasional red hand that glided over one of his family members. Just another thing to ignore, his focus completely of the food to keep from reacting to the hallucinations.

He was so laser-focused on his act at first that the sight of a second fork entering his plate almost made him jump, his eyes glancing over to see Moon spearing one of his cut up pieces of meat. A wink was sent his way that left Sun practically melting with gratitude, the two settling into a strange rhythm that had Moon eating both of their steaks.

Their deception wasn’t to last though, as eventually someone’s wandering gaze caught Moon in the act of stealing off his plate. “Dude, I know this is your first time eating, but leave some for Sun!” Monty called out with a laugh, the twins freezing as the comment brought everyone’s attention down on them.

As Solar scanned their plates, the eclipse model visibly wilted as he asked, “Sun, you’ve barely touched your steak. Is something wrong with it? Do you… not like it?”

Feeling Eclipse’s anger from the opposite end of the table, Sun was quick to negate Solar’s worries for fear of upsetting him. “O-Oh no, it’s not that, Solar. I-I just…” He trailed off for a second as he inwardly debated telling the truth and admitting that the meal wasn’t something he was comfortable eating. But then his mind flashed back to the steakhouse, where the reveal of his vegetarianism soured the whole mood of the night and upset everyone to varying degrees. Suddenly the truth tasted like ash on his tongue, and he quickly swallowed it before it could sneak out. “I-It smells really good, honest. I-It’s just… my stomach isn’t feeling all that great right now and I don’t have much of an appetite. B-But you put so much work into making this so I’ve just been hoping my stomach settles down enough for me to properly enjoy this treat.”

“Uh-huh,” Eclipse muttered, eyeing the pair suspiciously. “So why is Moon eating all your food then?”

“I’m hungry, sue me,” came the simple response, Moon maintaining eye contact as he purposefully stabbed a piece off of Sun’s plate and shoved it in his mouth. “‘s real goo, S’lar,” he mumbled with his mouth full, flashing the eclipse model a thumbs up.

Bless his twin for continuing to cover for him. He’d have to thank Moon profusely afterwards when they got a moment alone. Chuckling a bit at his twin’s antics, he added, “With the way my stomach’s feeling, I don’t think I could eat everything anyways. I’d rather Moon help me finish than something like this going to waste.”

“Oh dear, you should’ve spoken up if you weren’t feeling good,” Earth sighed, turning to the throuple. “Is there anything here we might be able to give Sun to settle his stomach or kickstart his appetite?”

“There’s some chocolate chip cookies on the counter, will that work?” Nexus asked, already standing to go get one as Earth nodded. “They’re homemade too, and both Clipse and Solar say they’re great, so hopefully that’ll do the trick.”

Sun thanked his little brother for the cookie as it was passed into his hand, thankful that he could at least have something to eat during this meal. He could get himself something later if he was still hungry, but with how his insides burned at the thought of food, hunger might not be an issue. As he took a bite, the sweetness of the chocolate chips coated his tongue as he chewed, leaving him humming in delight. Just as he caught sight of Nexus’ proud smile though, a new taste hit him that he wasn’t familiar with. There was a smokiness to it that he couldn’t place, and a crunch that didn’t belong in a chocolate chip cookie. His initial thought was that there was some mystery ingredient in his brother’s recipe that brought on the strange taste and texture, prompting him to look at the small treat in his hand after he swallowed.

Everything froze for Sun as he stared at the cookie, seeing something foreign in the baked good that instantly explained the strange qualities. As the solar model stared back at the bacon baked into the cookie, he felt his stomach gurgle while his mind raced to try to comprehend what was going on.

“Oh look brother, the Sunman just ate the flesh of another!” Cooed one of the Bloodmoon twins, Sun feeling the weight of them leaning over his shoulder to see what was in his hand.

“I see that brother,” chimed the second twin, moving to also press down on his back. Their combined weight was making it harder to breathe. “Look at him, indulging in flesh and blood!”

Even though he knew it was nothing but his brain tricking him, Sun still felt an urge to deny the sadistic twins’ claims of him eating flesh. It was just a bit of bacon! His stomach wasn’t happy about it, but it was hardly anything that Bloodmoon should be excited about!

“Are you sure?” They asked him in tandem this time, their hands moving to tilt his gaze back down to his hand. “Maybe you should look again~”

Looking down, Sun’s breath hitched as he found the cookie gone, now replaced with a hunk of raw, bloody flesh. What it belonged to he didn’t know, but there was no mistaking the bite mark taken out of it, nor the iron tang that coated his tongue. He dropped the meat onto his plate, causing it to clatter against his fork and knife and it moved to lay next to the raw meat that now littered his plate.

“Sun?” Moon asked, his tone full of concern as his twin shoved his chair back and stood up to get away from the gruesome sight in front of him. Flesh and organs, all cut up into little bite-sized pieces, the plate dripping with blood that now coated his hands.

As Moon moved to stand up as well, Sun distantly heard Nexus comment, “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t think it was that bad.”

Eclipse’s scoff rang through loud and clear. “Figures, you somehow find a way to ruin every little family event, don’t you?” He sneered, causing the burning sensation to creep back into his optics alongside the sensation crawling up his throat. “The moment we’re not all paying attention to Sun, he has to make a scene, hmm? Not everything is about you!”

The daycare attendant gagged, feeling the small mouthful he’d eaten start forcing its way back up. Pushing his twin out of the way, Sun ran for the kitchen sink as it was the closest thing he could think of. Not even a second passed before the taste of acid and blood rushed out of his mouth, coating the sink he was clinging to with a foul mixture of digestive nanos and food waste.

“Aww, what’s wrong Sunman? Can’t stomach the taste of the innocent?” Bloodmoon jeered behind him while Sun desperately dismissed overheating alerts from his HUD while his body continued to reject the small amount he’d eaten. Inky black tears dripped down his face to join the mess in the sink, his cleaning protocols screaming at him to sanitize the affected area even as he continued to make a mess. Gods, it hurt so much, he just wanted it to stop…

A hand landed on his back that instantly had him stiffen up, only to relax again as he made out the familiar timbre of his twin’s voice. He couldn’t make out the words being said exactly, but at least he could understand the soothing intent behind Moon’s words as the hand on his back rubbed up and down his spine. It did little to stop the nausea wracking his systems and causing alerts, but it made him feel just the smallest bit better as he dry heaved into the sink.

When the nausea finally abated, Sun gasped for air as his vents struggled to keep up with demand. His legs shook as if he’d been running for hours, and a feeling of overall weakness took over him as the solar model felt his legs give out from underneath him. A pair of cobalt hands caught him as he fell, keeping him from smashing his face against the counter and guiding him to sit on the floor. His vision was blurring as he sat there, heaving for air, vaguely aware of his twin speaking to him and the others. The words just flew over his head though, not even registering beyond the ringing in his audials. All he could do was lean forward as he collapsed into Moon’s arms, a whimper escaping him as the taste of blood and the taunts of Bloodmoon lingered.

Chapter Text

This whole excuse for a welcome back lunch was a fucking joke. Not only did Moon have to sit and watch as they served his vegetarian brother a steak, but he quickly saw why Sun didn’t speak up. Solar, Nexus, and Eclipse all took it personally the moment Sun didn’t jump for joy at the meal, with the latter verbally attacking the yellow animatronic the moment he showed signs of distress. And the looks on the faces around the table just convinced Moon that everyone seemed to be in agreement with Eclipse’s assessment of things, leaving him baffled that only Lunar seemed to be worried about what was going on while the rest just dismissed this.

Everyone’s looks changed though the second Sun rushed to the sink and was sick, and it hurt the lunar attendant to see his other half in such obvious pain. Despite how their faces fell and even Eclipse’s aura of smugness faded, Moon was the only one to rush to the sick bot’s side and comfort him while he was ill. Even after the single mouthful of food was long since vomited back up, Sun’s body continued to heave and convulse to remove whatever traces of his food there was.

When the vomiting finally stopped, Moon felt the body under his hands suddenly go limp from exhaustion, having to catch his twin and guide him to the floor to prevent any injury. While he was doing this, he finally heard a rustling at the table, looking up to see Lunar reach across the table to where Sun had been sitting. The small bot ignored the bulk of the meal, instead picking up the cookie that had been thrown on top of the mess. Sniffing it cautiously, Lunar took a small bite only to freeze and stare at Nexus in shock. “Nex, do these cookies have bacon in them?”

“Yeah, I found a recipe online and figured they’d be good to try. Solar and Eclipse both loved them… why do you ask?”

The look of horror on Lunar’s face spoke volumes, meaning that Moon wasn’t the only one left stunned by everyone’s behaviour. Thankfully there was at least one competent person in this family. “Nexus… did you forget that Sunny is a vegetarian?”

That simple question caused the whole table to freeze, with Solar looking to Sun’s mostly untouched plate with sheer guilt. “I-I… I totally forgot,” the mechanic mumbled, looking to be on the verge of tears as he realized why Sun hadn’t been eating the meal he made. Nexus wasn’t much better as it hit them that they were the reason Sun was so sick, because they’d given a bacon cookie to a vegetarian.

“He should’ve spoken up then,” Eclipse hissed as he moved to comfort both of his lovers, glaring at the trembling daycare attendant on the floor. Moon growled and moved to block his line of sight, not wanting Sun to be subjected to the bastard’s anger while in such distress. “How are we supposed to know-”

“Oh, shut the fuck up Eclipse,” Moon huffed, trying to keep from yelling as Sun hid in his chest. It was really hard though with how the burnt orange bot was pissing him off. “I don’t wanna hear your excuses or insistence that Sun is somehow the problem in this situation. You’re all fucking guilty as far as I’m concerned. I mean really, how hard is it to remember someone’s dietary needs?”

“I don’t know if you’re really being fair, Moon,” Earth stepped in, trying to smooth everything over in a way that felt like it was just pushing the problems under the rug. “Sun has been gone for several months now, so certain details are going to slip away from people. It’s not fair to place the blame for this on all of us when Sun didn’t speak up about what he needed.”

For a moment, Moon just stared at Earth like she’d grown a second head. Then he just scoffed. “Man, I’m surprised your eyes aren’t brown from all the bullshit you’re full of.”

“Watch it,” Eclipse hissed, but Moon paid him little attention, his focus solely on Earth now.

Instead of instantly turning on her again though, he instead turned to the gator hovering right behind her, looking to be one more comment away from snapping at Moon as well. “Monty, you own a restaurant. How big of a deal is it if you served meat to a vegetarian in any form?”

“Uh… I-I mean, it’s a pretty big deal, we can get sued and shut down if we did that… b-but that’s why the waiters ask about food allergies or diet restrictions when the diners order.”

“Alright, so using that same logic, if you all forgot what Sun could and couldn’t eat, why did nobody ask him?” Silence was the only answer he got, as well as a couple guilty looks and a murderous one from Eclipse. “I mean, this was only supposed to be his welcome back lunch, right? So why wasn’t a single dish tailored to what Sun likes? Instead, you serve him a fancy steak that he’d feel bad for turning down, and a bunch of sides with meat and stuff in them. What kind of fucking excuse for a family did I leave Sun in the hands of?”

Nobody had an answer for him as he glared at the whole collection of animatronics, causing him to snarl in disbelief. He watched as Solar trembled in Eclipse’s arms, and Nexus turned to hide their face away from the ugly truth that was shoved in everyone’s faces. The four-armed animatronic holding the both of them looked ready to leap across the room and murder him, but as he felt Sun begin twitching in his arms, all thought of the eclipse model quickly left his focus.

As he turned his focus back to his brother, he watched as Sun started weakly gripping and scratching at his rays. It was something he always did when stressed or anxious about something, but the way his hands twitched and jerked wasn’t normal, nor was the muttering under his breath. As Moon cranked his hearing up, he could faintly make out, “Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop... Shut up, shut up, shut up...”

For a moment he waited to see if their argument was upsetting Sun, but the mumbled pleas only continued even after silence filled the area. “Sun?” He tried, but his twin’s actions didn’t cease; if anything, the gentle calling of his name seemed to make him flinch and double down on his mantra. Gritting his teeth, Moon tried again with a more authoritative tone, one he used to use to boss Sun around all the time. “Sun. Look at me.”

That seemed to get the other’s attention, the yellow faceplate jerking up to meet his eyes. Being this close, Moon could make out the faint outline of Sun’s white pupils, and he didn’t like the way they kept jerking about, glancing to corners that were empty and shaking with fear. The nausea had apparently burned itself out, only for panic to step in and take its place in a way that was hauntingly familiar to him. It took him a moment to piece everything together, only to internally wince as he realized what was going on. “Sun. What do you see? What do you hear?”

“What kind of stupid question is that?” Eclipse yelled, only to flinch back at the absolute fury on Moon’s face.

“He’s actively hallucinating, you prick, and it’s taking all my patience to keep calm so I don’t make him worse. That means I have no patience for you, so kindly fuck off or shut up before I start throwing shit at you.”

“H-He’s hallucinating?” Nexus asked, finally pulling themselves from their hiding place in Eclipse’s arms. “I-I thought he was over those, he hadn’t said anything about having an episode in months.”

“You didn’t even remember he was vegetarian, so forgive me if I don’t hold your perception of his wellbeing very high,” Moon commented dryly, once again turning his focus back to Sun. With a gentle yet firm grip of the other’s chin, he forced Sun to stare directly at him to make sure he was heard through whatever episode his twin was having. “Sun, I need you to tell me what’s going on. What are you seeing? What are you hearing?”

Even with his grip on the other’s face, he could see Sun’s eyes darting around. It was like he was looking for a threat, expecting something to jump out of the void and attack him. “I… I don’t- no, I’m not- don’t touch me!” Sun jerked in his twin’s hold, trying to pull away from the cobalt hand that kept him pinned. There wasn’t much strength behind the attempt though, leaving Sun whimpering as tears began to pool in the corners of his optics again. “J-Jamie, James… Huey, H-Howie… Evelyn…”

Why… Why was Sun listing the names of the July 16th victims? Moon’s face contorted in thought, staring at his sobbing and shaking twin as the pieces started to fall into place. “N-No… you can’t- you can’t say their names! Keep their names o-out of your mouth!” Sun yelled at the figment behind Moon, the lunar model not even flinching at the sudden outburst. Even though they were gone, it seemed Sun would protect those kids, even from figments of his own tormented imagination. “You k-killed them, not me! I-I’m not a monster!”

As much as he hated letting Sun interact with his hallucinations this much, his brother was too panicked and hysterical to get a straight answer out of right now. But with that little piece of information, he was able to solve the puzzle. “Bloodmoon… he’s in the room with us right now, right Sunny?”

Snowy optics darted up to meet crimson ones, looking utterly shocked by the question asked. “Y-You can see them?” Sun’s voice was so meek and soft, sounding like a strong breeze would shatter it.

Regretfully, Moon had to shake his head at the other animatronic’s question. “No, I can’t, I’m sorry.” Just as the solar model’s face started to fall, he held a finger up. “But! I am gonna help you tell him summarily to fuck all the way off, okay? I just need you to listen to me for now, try to ignore them as best you can.”

Sun looked like he’d asked him to jump into space. “H-How can I? T-They’re everywhere- blood’s everywhere! On the floor, in my mouth, on my hands…” As the yellow bot trailed off, shaky hands came together to start scratching at each other, as if to remove the phantom blood he believed to be there. Moon’s other hand came between them, stealing one hand away to prevent him from hurting himself in the depths of his psychosis.

For the moment he ignored Sun’s pitiful complaints and cries of ‘dirty’, turning his attention to the others even as he continued to gaze directly into those white optics he knew so well. “I need a blanket, one with some weight to it; wet washcloth, any temperature; one of the cats, preferably the nice one.” For a moment, he wondered if anyone was going to listen to him. But then he saw Lunar, Earth, and Solar take off to grab the requested supplies, letting Moon breathe a sigh of relief that they would at least listen when he told them Sun needed something. Guess he’d have to start abusing that, for Sun’s own good.

Glancing to the three animatronics remaining, he pointed directly to Monty. “Help me move him to the living room. He needs to be away from all the meat.”

“Oh come on, how can meat be making this worse?” Eclipse threw his hands up in exasperation even as Monty did as he was told and scooped up the trembling animatronic.

Absolutely done with the four-armed bot, Moon just rounded on him and growled out, “He’s reliving July 16th… you know, the nightmare that you directly caused!”

“And the meat is a trigger… how?”

“Bloodmoon eats his victims,” was all Moon said at first, letting that sink in even as the others made their way back to the living room with the requested items. He might be a bad person for it, but the lunar attendant couldn’t help but take some sick sense of satisfaction in the dawning look of horror on Nexus’ face. “Jamie, James, Huey, Howie, Evelyn. That’s why Sun doesn’t eat meat, you insensitive fuckers.” And with that, he turned on his heel and marched back to Sun’s side, ignoring the sobs he heard in the background.

It seemed that the others had figured out where he was going with his requested items, seeing that Sun was wrapped up in a weighted throw with… it was Muffin, he was pretty sure that was sitting in Sun’s lap, purring away even as the animatronic just held them. Earth was kneeling in front of him, wiping away both tears and any mess left behind from being sick. Seeing them all trying to help, his earlier frustration and anger melted away and he addressed the taller animatronic in a much softer tone this time. “Wipe down wherever he complains of feeling dirty or bloody. I don’t care if you’ve cleaned the spot a dozen times, we’ll keep doing it until he can’t feel the blood anymore.”

Nodding as she took Sun’s clean hand and dutifully scrubbed it for him, Earth’s expression was one of concern and respect. “How did you see that he was hallucinating?” She asked, swapping hands even as she turned to look up at Moon.

Kneeling down beside her, the lunar model took a moment to adjust the blanket wrapped around his brother’s shoulders. With a somber tone, he simply stated, “I’ve dealt with them personally. You learn what hell looks like on a person when you’ve been through it yourself.” He didn’t miss the way Earth flinched or how her eyes filled with pity, but didn’t call attention to it either. Instead, he let Sun consume his focus for now.

The solar model seemed to be doing better with the physical stimuli helping to ground him. His tremors were lessening, though he could see the subtle way Sun would tilt his head to see further into the corners of his vision. Snapping his fingers a bit to ensure he had his other half’s attention, he called out, “Hey, Sun. You with me?”

Sun jolted and whipped his head around too fast, staring unblinking at his twin. Still jumpy, yet responsive now at least. Getting better, but not all the way out of it. Sending him a gentle smile, he took one of his hands as Earth cleaned the other arm. He felt Sun squeeze back tightly, almost as if clinging to something he knew to be real and solid. “I gotcha Sun, I gotcha. Can you tell me what you need right now?” The other shook his head after a moment, likely still too frazzled to even know what he needed.

Luckily, Moon’s experience in these matters gave him a good idea on what would help. “How about we go to your bedroom? It’s quieter, and we can leave Bloodmoon down here. He can’t hurt anyone down here, so there’s no need to worry.” While Sun looked unsure at that, his worries seemed to falter as he stared back at his twin’s certain expression. His gaze then darted around the room to the others, clearly worried even if he couldn’t properly vocalize it.

This time, Lunar stepped up with a grin. “Don’t worry about everyone else, Sunny. I’ll stay here, and if I see Bloodmoon, I’ll fry him, okay? I’ll keep everyone safe for you.” Gods, he’d have to thank Lunar a bunch once he got Sun stable.Maybe Sun knew what a good thank-you gift would be to get him… Did Nexus change any of the bank account passwords? Did he still have access to his old accounts? Meh, if he didn’t then Sun did, and if they both didn’t then there was always the mining dimension. Or good old petty theft.

Regardless, the offer to defend everyone from the threat only Sun could see helped the daycare attendant to finally relax, visibly sagging in his seat on the couch. Honestly, Moon was impressed that the cat was still sitting on him, considering that Sun’s hands were still too shaky to really pet the furball. Either this cat had the patience of a saint, knew Sun needed support… or was dumb as a sack of rocks and couldn’t think of leaving. It didn’t matter though, as apparently it was the perfect cat to help with grounding Sun. “C’mon, let’s go someplace quieter. You can bring the cat with you. Can you walk?”

Sun himself looked unsure at the question, though from how he was shifting his grip on the tabby in his lap, he was going to try. He was shaky even just standing though, and after a few steps his legs gave out, causing him to stumble into his sister. Earth caught him with graceful ease, smiling and wiping at the tears that started to form again. “Don’t worry Sun, I’ll help you walk, okay?” The solar model just let out a whimper and nodded his head before hiding in the taller’s side, with Moon and Earth sharing a look before nodding and starting to move.

Their progress was slow up the stairs, with the planetary model whispering soft words of encouragement to coax Sun into continuing to move on his own. Eventually they were in front of the door, with Moon opening his arms for his twin as they arrived. “I’ll take over from here, thank you Earth.”

Sun’s sister just gave him a wet smile as she nodded and gently passed him over, with Sun immediately clinging to the other animatronic as soon as he was passed over. “You’re welcome, Moon. Someone should be around if you need anything, so just give us a shout if you or Sun need us.”

“Thanks, will do.” With that short exchange he closed the door, noting how Sun melted a bit in his arms the second the voices from beyond grew muffled and quiet. “C’mon Sun, you need to rest, okay?” All he got was a mumble of some sort as he shuffled his twin towards the bed, barely getting the covers pulled back before he flopped in with both Muffin and the other blanket still.

Smiling at the way the other curled around the cat in his arms, Moon set about using what remnants he had of his old naptime protocols to help him get as comfy as possible. He tucked him in, adjusting the pillows and getting his charger cord plugged into the back of his head as well. The second he stepped away to turn off the lights though, a yellow hand darted out from the blankets to stop him. Huffing in amusement, he gently pried the trembling hand off of him, petting the back of it as he tucked it under the covers. “I’m just turning off the lights, promise. Then I can crawl into bed with you if you want, sound good?” With a subtle nod of his twin’s head, the lunar model stepped away just long enough to do as he said, returning to his brother’s side once the lights were off and the curtains were securely drawn.

As he crawled in behind his twin, mirroring a position they often slept in when in their old home, he couldn’t help but snicker softly at the luminescent eyes staring back at him from under the covers. Muffin was still rumbling away like a little engine, looking content in the vice-like grip ensnaring him. Moon would probably have to get up later to let the cat out of the room, but for now he was grateful for the feline helping him care for Sun. For now though, judging by the gentle yet persistent twitches of those yellow fingers, the other bot still needed the sensation of one of his precious cats to keep him grounded in reality and not scratching at unseen dirt coating his hands. “Sleep well brother, I’ll be right by your side when you wake up.” Hopefully his dreams would be more peaceful than his waking life seemed to be.

Nexus stared at the mess that was the remains of lunch, feeling a hollow sort of sadness fill them as their gaze drifted over Sun’s plate. “We’re horrible people,” they sobbed, feeling oily tears begin carving down their face again at the admission.

Warm hands tugged them close, wrapping them up in a four-armed embrace. “We’re not horrible,” Eclipse stated, hugging them close and rocking gently. “We just… made a mistake, that’s all.”

But the taller animatronic just shook their head against their partner’s shoulder, hugging him back tightly. “A mistake is forgetting a side or mixing up the salt and pepper, not this. We- We poisoned him, Clipse!”

“Poisoned might be a bit of a stretch-”

“No!” Nexus cut him off, pulling away from the other’s touch. “Clip, you saw him! He was so sick he couldn’t stand on his own afterwards! He would’ve smashed his face into the counter if Moon hadn’t caught him! You can’t just… just fake that!” The purple bot felt tears welling again at his optics and scoffed as they rubbed at them, having thought they’d cried enough already today. “You can’t fake that panic either… he was absolutely terrified. And one of the only things I’ve seen ever scare him that bad? Bloodmoon.”

A clatter of plates at the table startled the pair, both of them jumping only to look over and see their other lover. Solar looked downright miserable as he started clearing plates, and both animatronics saw how his hand shook as he picked up Sun’s plate of barely touched food. “Nex is right… we fucked up big time,” the mechanic sighed, taking the full plate to the trash bin to begin scraping away the picked-at remains. The sound of metal grating against ceramic temporarily filled the silence as Solar worked at the task, though from the sounds of it, he was taking out some of his emotions on the plates and cutlery so that he didn’t break down or lash out. “I mean… you think we could at least remember he was a vegetarian after what happened on my birthday… Gods, now I feel horrible for how we all reacted then too.” There was a brief pause, then, “You think he saw Bloodmoon back then too?”

The thought that Sun had been suffering so much under their noses, hallucinating one of his worst traumas while everyone silently judged him for his diet, pulled a sob from Nexus. “And we wondered why he killed himself,” he sniffled, only to startle when Eclipse suddenly pushed his chair back and stood up with a grating squeak.

“Okay, I’m putting an end to this pity party,” he grumbled, sending both of his partners a look that brooked no argument. “You two can’t just wallow about and feel sorry for yourselves, not when we need to come up with some idea on how to fix this.”

Solar just shot him a look as he moved to pick up the potato salad. “Last I checked, you and Sun don’t really get along that well. It was already surprising enough that you were the one to bring him back, and now you want to help us help him?”

Eclipse just rolled his eyes as if the answer was obvious. “He made you all cry. That’s a problem, and fixing problems is what I do best.”

“Don’t say it like that,” Nexus grumbled while smacking his partner lightly in the side.”Sun’s not a problem, he’s just…” The scientist trailed off though, unsure of how exactly to describe their brother right now.

“Stubborn? Needy? Frustrating?” The four-armed bot beside him offered, only to receive a harder smack. “What? He is! Sun never talks about his problems and just lets them keep building up and up until he breaks under the pressure. And then suddenly we’re the bad guys because we didn’t see problems that he was actively trying to hide.”

“I don’t know if we ever really gave Sun a chance to talk about those problems though,” Solar pointed out as another tub of leftovers was filled and put in the fridge. “I mean, we kind of did write off anything that could’ve been a cry for help as a cry for attention… though I guess we could’ve tried giving him that too. Maybe it would’ve helped things, I dunno…”

“He was getting exhausting to deal with by the end,” Eclipse pointed out, though he clearly saw the way Nexus’ look fell at his phrasing. “Oh, don’t give me that look. You both know I’m right, considering you both complained in the past of being tired whenever you spent any time with him. For someone that’s supposed to be the happy-go-lucky one in this weird family, he sure did have a habit of killing the mood.”

As their boyfriend finished speaking, something in what he just said stood out to them like a sore thumb. “That’s why he wouldn’t talk to us,” they mumbled, the other two looking to them to explain their eureka moment. “We kept expecting him to be happy, so Sun forced himself to look like what we wanted him to be. He hid his problems because we wanted the ever-strong big brother that smiled through everything. We made it seem like he had to be happy with his life, so he didn’t feel comfortable telling us when he wasn’t. Because then he wouldn’t be what we wanted.”

“That… actually makes perfect sense,” Eclipse hummed, crossing one set of arms while the other rested on his hips as he thought it over. “I know Sun pretty damn well, and one of his traits that I could never…” The burnt orange animatronic paused, looking to be trying to find the right word. Whether it was simply escaping him or if he was choosing his words tactfully, Nexus had no idea. “I could never… understand how he could be such a people pleaser. He would bend over backwards if it would make someone smile, hell he’d give away his own parts if he thought it would help. That whole mentality is because of how Moon used to be; always taking and taking from Sun’s goodwill, punishing him when he didn’t give freely.”

“That… doesn’t look like how Moon’s acted since he came back,” Solar mumbled, shuffling from foot to foot uncomfortably. “But… I know what you mean. I’ve got fragments of memories back when I was part of my Moon’s killcode, and he was pretty similar in the early days. He did get significantly better with time though, which I’m guessing this Moon did too.”

“Yeah, but not before the damage was done,” the other eclipse model sighed, flopping into his chair with a small grunt. “Sun still acts like the way to happiness is to make everyone else happy, and that naivety always grinded my gears.”

“Well, he used to,” Nexus sighed as they rubbed their own arms for comfort. “Until he gave and gave until he had nothing left to give, but didn’t feel like he could tell anyone. So he just kept trying to give whatever scraps he had.” They’d never really talked as a family about why Sun took his own life. They just dealt with the what and how to process and move on from the tragedy.

But now that Sun was back, it was painfully obvious that they all had to start asking these questions, or else Lunar would be right and history would repeat itself. “Maybe Lunar was right to bring Moon back. He… clearly understands Sun more than I do…” While it hurt to admit, it made him hopeful that maybe his predecessor would know what Sun needed to start healing.

“Still hate that we have to rely on that prick,” Eclipse grumbled, though he was quickly quieted by a gentle kiss to the cheek from Solar.

As the mechanic finished doing most of the cleanup from dinner, he looked into the living room where their other siblings and Monty were quietly discussing things on their own. “I guess for now, the best we can do is start actually listening to Sun. No more writing everything off as him wanting attention. If we can do that, then we can figure out what the problems are and go from there.”

“I’m not giving up meat,” their four-armed partner suddenly blurted out, raising a brow at the twin looks of confusion he got. “What? Clearly meat is a problem for him, but not having meat is a problem for me.”

“I’m sure we can find a compromise,” Nexus chuckled, feeling a bit more hopeful as his gaze drifted to the stairs. “I hope he’s alright up there…”

“I’m sure Moon will take good care of him,” Solar murmured as he wrapped his arms around the taller animatronic, giving him a kiss like he gave to Eclipse moments earlier. “For now though, why don’t we go see if Lunar, Earth, and Monty are up for something to help us all relax? We’ll be no help if we’re all high-strung and ready to snap at a moment’s notice.”

“Yeah, good point. Maybe some happy feel-good movie or some crap tv.” Nexus was half-tempted to suggest playing Mario Kart or something like that, but thought better of it once their thoughts drifted to their older brother that was likely sleeping upstairs. Standing up with a small smile, they offered a hand to each of their lovers, the smile growing when both accepted and followed them to the living room.

If they all worked together, Nexus was sure that they could fix this. Because if they couldn’t… Their gaze drifted to the stairs again as their smile fell a bit, a sigh escaping Nexus as they tore their gaze away from where they’d last seen their big brother. Things had to get better, end of story.

Chapter Text

The clock had read 6:32AM when Sun finally opened his eyes, blinking blearily at the pre-dawn world. It took his processors a moment to catch up with his environment before he noticed the presence of three other bodies in his bed, one of which was staring down at him in displeasure.

Cleo looked like he could set the solar animatronic on fire with his gaze alone, though as to what had the cat upset in the first place he couldn’t say. Judging by the way he was getting a paw in the face, he at least knew what had actually woken him up. A shifting of his legs caused Muffin to let out a little squeak, the other cat having been tangled around his limbs as if trying to keep him pinned to the bed. Just as he turned to look down at the tabby, a huff came from near his head before Cleo started nudging his way in between Sun’s arms. Guess they were both extra cuddly today, though they could’ve also been afraid of him leaving them again. It wasn’t like he’d complain about the extra cuddles though, not when everything else felt like too much to even think of processing. His shaky fingers pressed into Cleo’s soft fur, gently tugging the cat against his chest like a living stuffed animal. The soft sensation seemed to help a bit, making him feel less like he was about to float away from reality.

The feeling of a much larger presence behind him reminded him why his cats might be so clingy, his eyes catching a glint of cobalt metal that had his foggy memories of the day before catching up to him. Moon was behind him, curled under the covers and spooning him like he used to whenever Sun couldn’t sleep alone. It reminded him that he’d died, only for his family to forcefully yank him away from the peace he’d managed to achieve. At least they’d brought Moon back too, so he didn’t feel so alone anymore, but…

His family was still the same, still expecting him to be happy and energetic when he felt anything but. According to his internal clock, he’d been asleep about 18 hours now, and yet he still felt so tired. The laughter at the back of his mind didn’t help either, the twins taunting him for breaking down so completely in front of his loved ones. Everything during that lunch became a blur for Sun, yet Bloodmoon was more than happy to fill him in on everything he’d forgotten. How he ate of the meat his family gave him, how disappointed his carnivorous brothers-in-law had been when he hadn’t devoured what they offered him, how he’d wasted precious food that they made just for him and made an even bigger mess of things. They had all seen him sobbing, screaming at the twins and yanking on his rays like a madman. Maybe he was mad, after all he kept seeing ghosts of his past that nobody else could see.

Should he try to go back to sleep? He was still so tired, but deep down he knew that sleeping wouldn’t fix the fatigue in the slightest. But the longer he spent in bed, the longer he could avoid the mess he’d made yesterday… the longer he could spend wrapped up in Moon’s arms, as if his twin would keep all the darkness at bay.

Closing his eyes, Sun found himself being awoken by a frantic pounding on his bedroom door next. Groaning at how both cats scattered at the sound, the daycare attendant forced his heavy eyes open only to blink at the clock. Now it was saying 1:02PM. Huh.

“Motherfucking-” Came the grumbled curse behind him, Moon pulling away to silence whoever was banging on the door so loud. Sun had to bite back a whimper at the feeling of his twin pulling away, instead putting his focus into the Herculean task of rolling over to see what was going on.

When Moon ripped the door open, they were both treated to the sight of Nexus’ frantic and fearful gaze. “What?!” The older lunar model hissed, not bothering to hide his irritation in the slightest. “We were sleeping!”

For a moment, Nexus couldn’t find their voice between their own panic and Moon’s ire, stuttering nonsense before they reset their voice box and tried again. “S-Sorry, I just- You’ve been in bed over 24 hours!”

Sun could picture the unimpressed look on the other’s face as he sighed. “Uh-huh. We were tired. Funny enough, dying takes a lot out of a person.” If Nexus could pale, they would be white as a ghost at that comment and Moon was pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation at the reaction. “He’s fine, he’s not dead. Just tired. Now kindly fuck off.” Before the other lunar model could say anything, Moon slammed the door in their face before trudging back to bed, Sun barely managing to repress the way he flinched at the sudden sound of the door being slammed. “Fuck, your family is already annoying me today.”

“Can’t exactly blame him for checking up on me,” Sun mumbled back, only pulling himself up to be sitting in bed when it was clear the other animatronic wasn’t coming back to bed.

While he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and removed his charging cable, Moon came around the bed to sit on the edge just in front of him. “How ya feeling today, by the way?”

“‘M fine, just tired.” His words were punctuated with a yawn that made the thought of laying down again oh so tempting.

“Right, that’s fair after yesterday… Bloodmoon still here?”

Looking around, Sun couldn’t help but relax a bit when he saw no trace of the twins, only to tense up again as one of them teased him for letting his guard down. “They’re… I can’t see them, but I can still hear them. They’re mostly just laughing at me though.”

A complicated look passed over Moon’s face as the twins read each other, though it seemed like Moon was the only one to get anything out of their other half’s expression. “Alright, well I guess that’s better. Hopefully they’ll go away completely if your stress levels go down a bit. Any other hallucinations I need to know about?”

The involuntary flinch he gave ruined any hopes he might’ve had of lying, a sigh escaping the blue animatronic as Sun pointedly looked away from those intense eyes. That didn’t stop him from trying to downplay it though, a brittle laugh escaping him as he waved off Moon’s worries. “I-It’s nothing, really! I-I’ve been dealing with it for the most part, i-it doesn’t normally get that bad, honest. Normally the twins just laugh at me or taunt me when I’m around meat, s-so I just avoid going to steakhouses!”

“That sounds like a very specific place to avoid,” Moon grumbled, clearly noting how Sun withdrew on himself when called out in such a way. Another sigh escaped the lunar bot, who clearly wasn’t going to let this go like his twin hoped. “Sun, this isn’t something that’ll just go away. Trust me, you can’t just ignore this.” A hand gently turned his faceplate back to face Moon’s, and there was a softness to his gaze that wasn’t there before. “Let me help you, brother. I don’t want you to end up like me.”

“Little late for that,” Sun huffed, though he didn’t pull away. Instead he sighed and entwined his fingers with the cobalt ones on his cheek. “I… hear Eclipse sometimes. The one we dealt with, not… not this one. And… I-I see you sometimes…”

Now that admission had Moon pause, looking torn between resignation and hurt. “Heh, kinda not surprised that I ended up on the list, considering that I hurt you more than either of those two.”

But Sun just shook his head, the grip on the other’s hand tightening. “Most of the time, you were nice to me. M-Maybe it’s just that I romanticized how I saw you, but… you were there for me when nobody else was.” He wouldn’t bring up the times that his guilty conscience turned his hallucinations of Moon against him, not right now. He couldn’t bear to hurt his twin more than he already did with his admission.

The lunar attendant just sighed as he rested their foreheads together, snowy optics looking into crimson mirrors. “Yeah, you’re an overly romantic idiot, that’s for sure. But… glad to know I wasn’t the bad guy for once.”

The two of them stayed like that for a moment, just enjoying a closeness they felt with no other. Silently communicating how much they’d missed each other. They probably would’ve stayed there longer were it not for the sound of claws against wood, both startling only to see Cleo demanding to be let out of the bedroom. “Yeah, yeah. You’re the one that wanted in here in the first place,” Moon grumbled as he got up to open the door, only to shake his head when the cat didn’t move. “Wha- you just said you wanted out! So out!”

Sun just giggled as he pulled himself from the covers, heading over to the fussy feline. “That’s Cleo telling me to get up and feed him some treats,” he explained, only to freeze when the sound of voices downstairs drifted up to him. He could hear Nexus and their boyfriends down there, and the thought of facing them after yesterday made him feel like he was going to be sick again.

A hand on his shoulder caused him to jump, looking over to see Moon standing right beside him. “You don’t have to talk to any of them if you’re not ready. You don’t owe them an explanation or anything.”

“I-I mean… I kinda do…” Sun’s voice wavered, guilt already prickling at the edges of his chest. The thought of Nexus’ worried face downstairs made him want to sink into the floor. Before he could spiral, Moon chopped him on the forehead, sharp enough to make him squeak.

“Nope. You don’t owe anyone anything. They start acting entitled to your attention and I’ll throw them out the window.”

Sun shrank at the harshness, clutching his forehead as if it could shield him from the words as much as the hit. “Moony, you said you’d play nice with them…” His voice was little more than a whisper, eyes glancing to the open door as if someone would suddenly appear and overhear them.

His twin’s expression instantly darkened, and Sun couldn’t help but flinch at the other’s visible anger. “Oh trust me, I am playing nice. I’d personally love to dismantle Eclipse just for his attitude yesterday, and the others can all go eat a dick as far as I’m concerned. They didn’t help you until you were already knee-deep in a panic attack after being physically ill, and only Lunar seemed the least bit concerned prior, so throwing them through a window is much nicer than what I’d like to do.”

Sun couldn’t help but wilt at Moon’s explanation, rubbing his arm as he looked away. As much as he trusted the other, he couldn’t find the strength in himself to look him in the eyes when he was upset like this. “I… I-I don’t want to hurt anyone…”

A sigh came from his twin at that, causing him to look back at the other to see him pinching his nose in frustration. “I know Sun… gods, do I know. But in your state, there’s only so much you can reasonably do without hurting either yourself or someone else.” Moon paused to place his hands on Sun’s shoulders, jolting the sunny twin slightly but he didn’t pull away. “For once, you need to put yourself first. Because if you don’t, you’ll just get worse, and that’ll be what hurts everyone the most.”

Unshed tears burned at the corner of his optics, his hands twitching as if to claw at the sensation. Before his fingers could actually try to do something like that, he instead moved to hug himself, fingers digging harshly into the silicone at his waist. “I-I… don’t know if I can do that…” he muttered. Hell, he didn’t even know what part of that idea he couldn’t do! His whole life, he’d lived for someone else. First it was for the children at the daycare, then for Moon, then Lunar, Nexus, and the rest of his family. Sun couldn’t honestly remember the last thing he’d done for his own happiness or because he wanted to, save for little things like bringing lunch for Foxy. Maybe it was when he got the cats? And even then, he’d felt scared that someone would take them away and had hidden them in his room for months before they were eventually discovered.

Moon just huffed at his response, pulling the other animatronic in for a hug. “Yeah, I know. You’d give away your own arm if you thought it would help someone you cared about. Why don’t we try doing something small though? I’m not asking for anything drastic, just one little choice that you make for yourself.”

“I have a feeling you already have something in mind…”

The other laughed and smirked as he pulled away. “Am I that obvious? Well, I have to do some shopping, and I figured that it made as much sense to go in and actually hit the stores rather than find out how good Amazon is for delivering to private islands.”

“The drones aren’t too bad…” Sun mumbled, though he was more confused on where his brother was going with this. “Are you… wanting me to pick out a store to go to?”

“Eh, not really. Figured that you wouldn’t have the energy to be around a bunch of strangers. Instead I was thinking that I drop you off somewhere you’d be comfortable for a few hours while I do my errands. I don’t want to leave you rattling around here with everyone watching you like a hawk; that’ll only grind you down more. I want you somewhere you can breathe. A park, a corner café, even just crashing on someone’s couch—anywhere that feels safe.”

“Safe…” Where did he feel safe? It certainly wasn’t here, though the thought just filled him with shame and guilt. This was supposed to be his home, a place where he felt comfortable being himself. But instead, he felt more like a guest in his own home, with not even anything for him to eat or cook with. At least whenever he was at Foxy’s, he could use his own plates that he was certain were free of meat.

Though that thought did make him think of the old fox and his kid, the memory of his nights spent crashing at his place brought a soft smile to his face. “Looks like you’ve got a place in mind,” Moon commented, snapping him out of his thoughts. When he nodded softly, the lunar attendant grinned and flashed him a thumbs up. “Cool, then let’s get the cats fed and head out. You can show me how the hell we’re supposed to get off of this island.”

“But… w-what about Nexus? I-I mean he was already so worried about me that he came and woke us up…” He didn’t want to worry him more after everything that happened recently.

“I’m… gonna answer your question with another question,” Moon instead stated, staring him dead in the eyes. “Do you want to talk to Nexus yet? Because if you go down there and approach him, you’re opening that can of worms.”

“Ngh, not r-really…” He mumbled, the guilt clawing at his throat at the thought of avoiding his little brother on purpose. It was one thing if he slept the day away, but to physically avoid him? Then it would be obvious that he didn’t want to talk and Nexus would take it personally and get upset and-

Another chop to the head stalled his train of thought, causing him to flinch again. “You’re spiralling,” his twin simply stated, looking ready to chop him again if he didn’t knock it off. “Look, you get changed and freshen up, I’ll get Nexus to show me where the cat food is. Then we can get you out of here before he has a chance to ambush you. And no, that’s not a bad thing to do. If you’re not in the headspace for that talk, then you’re not in the headspace and he can just deal with it. And if he wants to make a big deal about it? Window.”

“P-Please don’t throw him through the window,” Sun sighed, the mere idea visibly making him uncomfortable as he turned to his dresser.

Moon just shrugged before herding the cats out the room and shutting the door, leaving the solar attendant alone for the first time since he woke up yesterday. Letting out a full-body sigh, Sun opened some of his drawers, only to frown at the sight that greeted him. It seemed that whatever laundry he’d had back when he killed himself had been tossed in haphazardly, no neat organization or folding to be found. But as he started rifling through the clothes, trying to fix them, his cleaning protocol kicked in against his will, declaring the items to be dirty. And truthfully, a fine layer of dust had collected along the tops of the items, but it was enough to have his fingers twitching and tugging slightly on his rays.

Before he knew it, most of Sun’s clothes had been crammed into his laundry hamper, and it still wasn’t enough. Now that his protocol was active, all he could see was the dust and dirt coating everything in his room. Every fabric needed to be washed, every surface needed to be dusted. Even the walls and ceiling were setting it off, hands once again tugging on his rays.

When Moon came back, it was to the sight of Sun trying to stuff all of his bedding into his overfull hamper, already in tears as he fought against the fabric. A hand was already reaching up to tug at his rays when a set of cobalt fingers firmly wrapped around his wrist, causing him to jump and instinctively pull away from whoever had grabbed him. While his twin let him go without a fuss, it didn’t help the yellow bot’s anxiety as he started mumbling out apologies and scrubbing at his face.

The second those golden fingers strayed up towards their bad habit though, his wrist was once again grabbed. This time, Moon didn’t let go when Sun fought against him, instead barking out, “Sun.” The second he had his twin’s focus, the tone of his voice softened as he pulled the solar model a bit closer. “Breathe. Don’t look at anything but me.”

“B-But dirty- i-it’s all dirty! I-I need to-”

“Stop!” Sun blinked, only to find himself pressed into a tight embrace. His brain couldn’t decide whether the touch was too much or not enough, leaving him frozen in Moon’s arms, his hands pinned to where the twitching fingers couldn’t reach for his rays. “I know it’s dirty, but you can’t clean everything at once. You’re just going to make yourself sick or hurt yourself trying.”

As the lunar attendant pulled back, he stared Sun straight in the eyes as he said, “I’ll clean your room, after I’m done my errands. I know your standards better than anyone.”

While the offer was touching, it also ate at him to think of putting a greater burden on his twin. “O-Oh, I c-couldn’t ask you to c-clean my room.”

“You’re not asking, I’m offering. Now shut up and let’s get going.” With that firm declaration, Moon began tugging his other half out of the “dirty” room, closing the door behind them as if to prevent Sun from running back inside to hide and clean. “Cats have food down, so we’re good to head out. What’s the easiest way to get where we’re going?”

“U-Uh… I-I can make a p-portal for us outside,” the other mumbled, only glancing back at his room once before feeling his faceplate be visibly turned towards the stairs. Taking the hint, he started heading down, only to freeze when he saw Nexus, Solar, and Eclipse in the kitchen.

From the way their conversation stalled, it was obvious that the throuple saw the other two as they descended the stairs. As such, it was only a moment before Nexus was making his way over, causing Sun’s hands to begin shaking again with the desire to tug on his rays. “Sun, hey! Glad to see you up and about!” His little brother started, only to be rendered silent as Moon physically put his hand in his face.

“Nope! Not doing this right now,” he vaguely stated, herding Sun towards the door and away from the other lunar model.

“Wh- Not doing what right now?!” Nexus snapped back, and from the sounds of heavy footfalls, Sun figured that he was following them. “I’m just trying to check up on my brother!”

“Don’t care! He doesn’t wanna talk with anyone yet!” Moon called over his shoulder as he opened the front door, pushing his twin through when he didn’t immediately follow suit.

“He doesn’t need you speaking for him!” The other snarled, and judging by the slamming sound Sun jumped at, Moon had tried to close the door in Nexus’ face, only for the purple bot to slam it back open with his hand.

This was all getting to be too much, with Sun’s rays starting to rattle in their housings from how badly he was shaking. Moon didn’t respond to the angry shouts Nexus threw at him, instead leaning down to whisper in Sun’s audial, “You said it was a portal you could make, right? Just make it and we’ll walk through, then I’ll deal with him later.”

As much as part of him was screaming to turn around and explain things to his little brother, that rational part of his mind was currently drowning in fear and anxiety. How Moon knew that he couldn’t even handle the explanation right now, he’d never know, but he’d forever be grateful for how his twin always seemed to know what he was thinking. It made things so much easier whenever Moon knew to just take control of a situation that his sunny twin had no grasp on. So with a shaky hand and fumbling fingers, Sun brought up the portal device and set it for Foxy’s island. The second the shimmering portal formed, the blue animatronic at his back wasted no time in marching them through.

As they set foot onto the sandy beach of the familiar island, Sun couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief run through him as Nexus’ yelling abruptly cut off. Even the guilt seemed to melt away a bit at the place that was almost a second home to him.

As he looked over to judge Moon’s reaction though, all he got was confusion. “Uh… I know we stepped through the portal, and Nexus isn’t here trying to rip my head off, but uh… why does this place look so similar to yours?”

“O-Oh, a lot of us ended up getting similar style houses,” he giggled slightly as he looked up the hill. “If I had to guess, these islands were easier to develop the same way, and maybe we all used the same real estate company. I dunno, Nexus took care of most of the logistics when it came to buying the house.”

“Okay, cool. Makes sense… Who’s house are we at, exactly?”

“I guess I never did say anything,” the solar model mumbled, scuffing his foot in the sand only to realize that in their haste to leave, Sun had never put on shoes. He’d have to apologize for the mess he’d make once he got inside. “Um, this is Foxy’s house. Him and his son FC live here.”

It took a little back and forth to narrow down which Foxy they were talking about, with Moon initially assuming Funtime Foxy. When Sun finally explained that he was the OG Foxy, his twin just blinked and asked, “Isn’t that the one that sexually harassed me in the daycare?”

He blinked a couple times before chuckling and waving off the other’s worries. “O-Oh, well technically yes. But, long story short, he and Monty got into a fight that made Foxy lose all his memories, and he’s a much better person now. He’s pretty much my best friend, and his son is adorable, albeit a bit exhausting sometimes.” As he thought of his dear friend though, a sorrowful thought hit his mind. “The… others didn’t tell him that I was back, did they?”

“Probably not,” Moon huffed, gently patting his other half’s shoulder before shoving his hands in his pockets. “Given how little they seemed to have thought this whole thing through, I doubt they would’ve taken the time to let anyone outside their immediate circle know, even if he is your best friend.” As the sunny attendant’s expression fell though, Moon cleared his throat and added, “I guess this just means that you get to tell him the good news yourself, hmm?”

“I guess so,” he hummed in response, hugging himself as he slowly made his way up the hillside. Gods, how was he supposed to do this? Just… barge on in and announce himself? Make some cheesy joke about zombies or something?

In the end, he decided to simply knock and wait, tangling his fingers together to prevent him from tugging on his rays as he waited. Eventually though, he heard a familiar gruff voice call out, “Comin’!” Only a moment later and Foxy opened the door wearing a black apron covered in too much flour. “Sorry fer the wait, the kiddo was-” As the fox animatronic finally looked up at his guests though, the words died in his throat as he stared up at the twins. “K-Kid?” Foxy eventually managed to choke out, looking like he was on the verge of tears.

Sending him a watery smile of his own, Sun just gave a small wave and said, “H-Hey Foxy…”

Only a moment passed before the taller animatronic felt himself be pulled down into a crushing embrace, his own eyes watering as he dug his fingers into the faux fur of the other. “This better not be some sick prank from Monty… o-or some hallucination or dream or whatever,” the older bot shuddered, trying yet failing to keep himself together.

Sun just shook his head, mindful of his rays to avoid poking him in the eyes. “N-Not a prank or a dream, p-promise. I-Im real… r-really here,” he assured the other, only to hear Foxy finally let out a sob and the grip around his torso tightened as well.

The two remained close for a while, eventually separating only for Sun to flinch back as he suddenly had a hook in his face. “Don’t ya ever do that to me again, ya hear me?” Foxy waved the hook in his face for emphasis, his other hand furiously scrubbing at the oily tears coating his face. “Hell, how in the world are ya even back?”

“A-Apparently Eclipse used magic to fix my personality chip,” the solar model mumbled, looking away as he tried to clean his own tear-streaked face up a bit.

Foxy just let out a grunt that acknowledged he’d heard the answer, likely not having anything to say on the matter. The old fox was never one to really get magic anyways, so he likely didn’t know enough to comment. “Well, whatever it was they did, I’m glad they did it. I’ve really missed having ya around, y’hear? No matter what happens, no matter how bad things get, you will always be wanted around here. So the next time ya think of doin’ something like that, you march your yellow ass right on over and let me take care of ya, alright? Can ya promise me that?”

Could he promise that? He said he would last time, but after his episode in the woods, he hadn’t been able to bring himself to come over. “I-I don’t know if I-”

“He will,” Moon cut in, placing a firm hand on his twin’s shoulder. “I’ll make sure of it.”

It seemed that Foxy only noticed the other daycare attendant now that he’d spoken, though he flipped up his eyepatch to squint at the lunar model with both eyes. “Nexus? I thought you were done with bein’ blue.”

A genuine snort of laughter escaped Sun at that as he shook his head. “This isn’t Nexus, Foxy.” With a warm smile, he gestured between the two bots that both meant so much to him. “Foxy, allow me to introduce you to my twin, Moon.”

“Yer twin?” As the smaller animatronic looked over the other, a knowing smile crossed his face as he nodded and stood with a hand out. “Pleasure to make yer acquaintance then, Moon. The name’s Foxy. They brought you back from the dead fer extra credit or somethin?”

Moon scoffed and rolled his eyes at the question, though he shook the other’s hand and smiled pleasantly enough. “More like Lunar didn’t trust their family to take proper care of Sun this time around and demanded I come back to do just that. And after the shit show that was yesterday, I’d have to say he had the right idea.”

“Do I even want to know what happened?” Foxy asked, crossing his arms as Sun moved to stand up as well.

Moon just bluntly stated, “They fed him meat for his welcome back meal.”

“Seriously?” Foxy sighed, shaking his head in exasperation. He then turned to Sun with his usual grin. “Guess yer family ain’t got the talent for turnin veggies into anything but rabbit food. Lucky fer you though, I happen to have the world’s best cookbook filled with all sorts of things you can eat! Now let’s get yer butt inside, ya must be starvin.”

Before Sun could even protest either the meal or the compliments to the cookbook he’d made for the old fox before his passing, Foxy opened the front door to his home… only for a smaller fox animatronic to come rushing out of it and crash into Sun’s leg. “Mr. Sun! Is that really you? I heard you and father talking but couldn’t be sure, so I waited by door to see for myself!”

For a moment, all Sun could do was blink down at the child in shock. But as he saw the familiar little fox, a worn Bluey plushie tucked under his arm, a warm and genuine smile spread across his face as he bent down to pick FC up. It was almost too easy to slip back into caretaker mode, but he wasn’t going to complain when taking care of this kid at least felt natural. “Yep, it’s me!”

“But… But Daddy said you died, a-and weren’t coming back ever…”

As the small fox started to sniffle, Sun just gently hushed him and held him tighter. “It’s true, I did die. But! A kind angel heard how sad a little fox was and how much he missed me. So she found me in heaven and asked if I would come back to bring a smile to that little fox.”

“I’m a little fox!” FC gasped, looking up at Sun with his eye full of awe. “Did the angel bring you back for me?”

Booping him on the nose as he shifted FC to his hip, the daycare attendant grinned and nodded his head. “Yep! Gosh, you’re getting so smart FC, soon you can start learning all the cool things the big kids learn!”

“Really?! Can I learn to fight and steer pirate ship?”

Snickering at the boy’s never-ending love for pirate-themed activities, he quickly thought of something a little safer and more child-friendly to steer him towards. “How about we get your numbers down first, okay bud? After all, you need to be able to count all the gold coins you’ll find on your adventures!”

FC’s cheers quickly led to him trying to catch Sun up on all the adventures he and Bluey had gone on while the larger animatronic had been gone, with Sun using his experience dealing with children to split his focus between the child in his arms and checking in on Foxy and Moon. As he shifted his stance to see them over FC’s head, he saw the pair engaging in a quiet conversation off to the side. Judging by their expressions, they were discussing something serious, and given that the pair had only been introduced with a single commonality between them, the conversation was likely about Sun.

Hopefully Moon wasn’t setting things up for Sun to be practically babysat, considering that was the whole reason why the lunar attendant wouldn’t leave him at home with his family. But as the pair broke apart with nods and soft smiles, the sunny animatronic found his usual doubts and insecurities not nearly as loud. True, they’d likely been discussing him and his state after his revival, but he trusted both of them to not make a huge fuss over it. Foxy had never done so whenever he’d come over in the past, and Moon had made it clear that he wasn’t tolerating any overbearing attempts at caring for him, so it was hard to see both of them suddenly switching gears after one conversation.

Foxy just snickered as he overheard some of his son’s stories, shaking his head as he came over. “Alright kiddo, ‘m gonna need yer help making lunch for Mr. Sun.”

“But what about the cookies?” FC whined, holding up Bluey as if the plush could sway his father. “Bluey needs cookies!”

“We can still make the cookies,” Foxy sighed, chuckling softly at his son’s cheers. “ Tell ya what, why don’t you go pick out a recipe fer us to make today?”

“Okay! I go do that!” FC barely waited for Sun to put him down before bolting back into the house, the sound of something crashing to the ground echoing back to the adults along with an, “Oops!”

“I better go make sure that wasn’t breakable,” Foxy muttered, though he paused at the door to nod his head back at both twins. “Come inside when yer done, and if ya feel up to it, you can help me keep FC from destroying the whole kitchen.”

“Sounds good,” he chuckled, watching his friend head back inside before turning to Moon. “I’m guessing you’re not staying for lunch?”

“Nah, I might grab something while I’m out. As admittedly cute as the kid is, I’m getting tired just looking at him. If I stay for lunch, I’ll end up taking a nap instead of doing my errands. We can have dinner together though if you want.” Sun lit up at the idea and nodded, causing a smile to cross his twin’s face as well. “I can see why ya like spending time with him; he’s a great guy.”

“Yeah, he’s a really good friend,” Sun agreed, smiling as he looked into the house only to jump as another crash echoed out from the open door. He couldn’t help but laugh as he heard Foxy call his kid’s name in exasperation, rolling his eyes as he pointed inside. “I… should probably go help Foxy wrangle FC.”

“Yeah, sounds like he needs the help of an expert today,” Moon chuckled, gesturing to his wrist before the solar model could vanish. “But before you go, mind showing me how the portal thing works? I am not calling an uber to get back to solid land.”

Giggling softly, Sun walked his other half through using the portal system built into his new body, watching as Moon experimented with the settings before getting it set to where he wanted to go. Grinning and waving back at him, the lunar model vanished into the portal that would take him back into the city, leaving Sun alone on the front porch of Foxy’s house. And as a third crash and another call of FC’s name sounded out, the daycare attendant headed inside and closed to door, fully prepared for whatever chaos awaited him. Because at least here, he didn’t feel like he had to wear his usual mask. He could just be himself, even for this short time.

Chapter Text

“So… what’s for lunch?” Sun asked as he stepped into the kitchen, trying to hide a snicker at the scene before him. FC looked more like an arctic fox right now with all the flour coating his fur, his one yellow eye blinking back at the caretaker. Foxy on the other hand was grumbling as he pulled clumps of batter from his fur, grimacing at the mess that had been made.

“Well… it ain’t gonna be cookies fer a while,” the old fox sighed before turning to his son. “Did ya at least pick out a recipe like I asked ‘fore ya destroyed the place?”

The child nodded excitedly, holding up a surprisingly clean recipe book. “Mac and cheese!”

Taking the recipe book from his son, Foxy carefully wiped the outside of the book off with a towel before opening it to the selected recipe. “Mac and cheese, huh? Sounds like a good choice ta me, though somebody needs to go hose off ‘fore he can help.”

At the comment and pointed look, FC finally seemed to take in the state he was in, looking down before letting out an, “Ohh… I go wash up and change!” And off the kid went, leaving a trail of flour in his wake as he ran off that left the adults shaking their heads.

“I dunno how ya always deal with an army of kids just like him,” Foxy chuckled, washing the batter off his hand and hook before turning to his kitchen with a frown. “Stars above, I dunno where ta even start some days when it comes to Hurricane FC.”

Chuckling a bit, Sun moved to grab the broom and dustpan stored nearby and get to sweeping up the mess. “I think you do plenty well with him, even if he is a bit chaotic. This is nothing compared to some of the messes that have been left in the daycare.”

“Exactly what I mean! I’ve seen a couple o’ days after them big birthday parties, and it makes it look like you’re caring fer a whole army of FC’s. Even more impressive is the fact that you once did the job singlehandedly, though I’m more than glad that you don’t have to do that anymore. Can’t imagine how stressful that was.”

He simply shrugged, recalling some of those more hectic days with a hum. “It is what it is; didn’t have a choice in the matter, I just did what I had to do. I’m sure anyone would’ve figured it out after a bit.”

The older animatronic just huffed as he started getting ingredients out and lined up on the counter in accordance with the recipe. “There ya go, selling yer talents short again. Ain’t nobody I know of that can wrangle kids quite like you can. I mean, have ya seen Monty try ta handle all the rowdy ones at Gator Golf? It’s quite amusing to watch on the cameras, but I wouldn’t dare try to help them. But you? I’m sure you could march right into them kids and straighten them out in a jiffy.”

“And I think you’re giving me too much credit now,” Sun laughed, shaking his head as he dumped out the ruined flour before turning his attention to the countertops. Honestly, he was surprised that Foxy was letting him help with cleaning up the mess given the situation, but he was glad to feel useful while the other worked on getting lunch prepped. “I’m more suited to handling the little kids, not the ones that push each other around in Gator Golf.”

“Eh, if you can get FC to behave, then you can get any kid to behave,” Foxy shrugged, looking over his shoulder as they heard the pitter-patter of little paws skittering across the floor. “Speak of the devil, ya all clean now? Or do I need to toss ya in the ocean to get ya all washed up?”

“No no, I’m clean now! See?” FC proceeded to show off his hands and new clothes that were free of flour, his father’s gaze inspecting him closely before nodding. The younger fox cheered, turning his attention to the ingredients gathered. “I help now?”

“Yeah, sure bud. Why don’t ya get the cheese shredded up while I get the noodles cooking?” His son was quick to agree, climbing up on a nearby stool and using the cheese grater with all the enthusiasm a young child could muster.

While the two foxes focused on food, Sun kept his focus on cleaning the earlier mess. Once everything was relatively clean for a kitchen being actively cooked in, he turned his attention to the remnants of the cookie batter FC had been so excited about earlier. “Foxy, is it alright if I remake the cookie dough?”

“Hmm? Oh, sure, if you’re up for it.” The older animatronic sent him a smile as he nodded back, dumping out the remains and rinsing everything clean before getting started. It seemed that they had been using his recipe for cookies, though the recipe book was now being occupied to make lunch. Thankfully Sun knew most of his recipes by heart, and only had to steal the book a couple times to double check the quantities of certain ingredients. It made him feel all warm inside though to know that this little family had gotten so much use out of his little gift for them.

For a while, a sense of peace settled in the kitchen. The air was filled with FC’s crazy stories and the sounds of the adults cooking and baking away, keeping their hands busy while listening to the child ramble on. Those stories were only ever interrupted by someone steadying him on his perch when he got too excited or one of the older animatronics taking away his dutifully shredded cheese. That was until a familiar voice chimed in from the front door, “Guess who?”

The sudden presence of another person had Sun jumping from where he’d been spooning batter onto a cookie sheet, looking over to the door with wide eyes while FC happily yelled out, “Mother!” The little fox scrambled down in a haste to greet the new arrival, while the title left Sun struggling to place the voice until the figure walked into the kitchen.

As Puppet entered, laughing at FC’s excitement, she froze the second she locked eyes with the daycare attendant. The two of them just stared at each other for a moment, not saying anything as they tried to process the other’s presence in Foxy’s kitchen. It was FC who eventually spoke up, oblivious to the confusion. “Mama, an angel heard I was sad and brought Mr. Sun back! Isn’t that great?”

Grinning down at the child, Puppet gave him a gentle pat on the head. “It sure is, FC. Why don’t you go help your dad finish cooking so I can chat with Mr. Sun?”

The young bot nodded and sped back to his father’s side, allowing the black and white woman to sidle up to the sunny animatronic. In lieu of greeting, Sun just blurted out the first thing he could think of. “‘Mother’?”

She just chuckled at the questioning tone, shaking her head a bit. “FC kinda latched onto the term a while ago… uh, me and Foxy started dating recently, so if I’m dating his dad then that makes me his mom in his eyes.”

“Oh… um, congrats,” Sun said lamely, suddenly turning his focus back to his cookies as he felt his face heating up.

“No need to get flustered,” Puppet assured him, moving around to be visible in his peripheral vision so that he could see her while still working on his task. “It’s relatively new, all things considered. Not much has changed really, we just sit closer together when binging anime and I manage to get Foxy to watch more sappy things like Ouran Highschool Host Club.” He couldn’t help but snicker a bit at the description of their relationship, happy to hear that one of his closest friends had found someone that made them happy. “Honestly though, I think your tea has got to be more interesting than mine. You Celestials do have a knack for coming back… though I’m guessing this time wasn’t exactly a party trick.”

The spoonful of batter smacked into the parchment-lined pan with more force than necessary, startling the yellow bot as he hastily apologized for the racket. But the damage was done, he could feel everyone’s eyes locked on him as he tried to scoop up another chunk of batter. His hands were shaking though, causing the spoon to rattle against the side of the bowl. Every ounce of willpower he had was going into steadying his fingers, not wanting to ruin this moment with his stupid anxiety… but he had a feeling that this was going to be just like every other happy moment he wrecked.

A hand clapped him on the back and Sun jumped, dropping the spoon into the batter as he whirled around to see Foxy. The older animatronic stretched and groaned, the sound of something clicking back into place echoing through the kitchen. “Phew, I ain’t as young as I used to be,” Foxy chuffed, grinning at Sun and patting him on the arm. “C’mon, I need a break and some good company. Puppet and FC can finish up here for us.” And with that, Sun felt his hand grabbed as he was gently tugged away from the kitchen, a glance back revealing both Puppet and FC sending them thumbs up before getting back to work.

Before much longer, Sun found himself outside, staring at the ocean as he and Foxy took up their usual seats. “Floor’s yours, kid. Can see yer brain goin’ a mile a minute,” the other animatronic said, gesturing to the open space between them.

For a moment, Sun was silent, his fingers twisting anxiously around each other. Eventually, he just blurted out, “I didn’t ask to come back.”

“I figured,” Foxy sighed, keeping his gaze out to the relatively calm ocean. “Has that changed at all?”

“No? Yes? I… don’t know…” The daycare attendant sighed, hugging himself as he looked at his friend. “Part of me wanted to die to be with Moon; life was too painful without him. But now he’s back… so if I die, I’ll leave him here alone to suffer like I did.”

“But having him back hasn’t fixed everything else that’s wrong,” the fox guessed, glancing over as he got a silent nod in answer. “Yeah, I figured when you chose to go that there wasn’t one thing that would fix you. Too many little things building up on yer plate, leaving you feeling overwhelmed and bogged down by it all. Stop me if I’m wrong at any point.”

“No… No you’re right. It’s just… when did merely existing become so hard? So exhausting?”

“Wish I had an answer for that,” Foxy sighed, deciding to scoot his chair over so that he could take one of the hands that had been creaking against its counterpart. “Life’s hard, and there ain’t some magic cure that’ll make it get better.”

“So then what am I supposed to do?” Sun’s voice sounded small even to himself, and he felt like one of the little kids he was built to take care of instead of a 6 foot tall machine. “Just… Just keep hanging on by whatever threads I have left? I-I don’t want to leave Moon alone but I don’t want to be miserable all the time!”

As tears started to fall from his snowy eyes, the hand not held in Foxy’s tangled in the fabric of his pants. Looking to his friend for guidance, he found nothing but warmth and compassion staring back at him when he’d expected pity or exasperation. “Kid… do ya want me to be blunt with ya?” He hesitated only a little before nodding, unsure what words of wisdom Foxy might have. “Sun. You need help. More help than I or your family or even Moon can give. Moon filled me in on the details of what happened yesterday, and what happened wasn’t normal or healthy in any regard. You need to learn to put yourself first, and your family needs to learn some damn respect.”

The hand holding his squeezed gently, a kind smile looking back at him as Foxy continued. “At this rate, you’re trying to patch bullet holes with band-aids, and we can both see it ain’t working. What you need is a professional’s help, someone with proper experience that can help ya.”

“You mean a therapist other than Earth,” Sun pointed out as he read between the lines.

The old fox made no move to deny it. “Don’t get me wrong, Earth’s sweet, but I think her methods of helping ain’t helping at all. You need her to be your sister, not someone trying to fix ya.”

“And this therapist?” The daycare attendant asked, unsure. “What if they can’t fix me? What if I’m just… forever broken like this?”

“First off, you’re not broken. You’re hurting, and there’s a big difference.” Foxy hummed for a moment, taking a minute to put his thoughts together right. “Let’s think about this another way. Let’s say one of yer kids fell off the play structure at the daycare and… hypothetically broke their arm.”

“You know the floors are padded for a reason, right?”

“Kid, I’m a father. And if raising FC has taught me anything, it’s that children defy logic and expectations. If an adult says they can’t do something, they’ll find a way to do it anyway. Them kids are chaos incarnate, breaking logic and defying physics if need be to accomplish whatever they set their mind to.”

Chuckling, Sun couldn’t help but concede on that one. “Okay, fair point. Now, where are you going with this hypothetical broken arm?”

“Well, in a situation like that, you’d call the kid’s parents and an ambulance, right?” The solar model nodded, as there was no way his basic first-aid protocols and the supplies he’d have would be enough to fix a broken arm. “Well, ambulance takes the kid to the hospital, where they see the doctor. Does the doctor just wave a magic wand and undo the broken arm?” Pausing for a moment, Sun shook his head slowly, already seeing where Foxy’s logic was going. “Right. They gotta splint and cast the arm so the body has time to heal safely.”

“You’re saying that going to a therapist is like getting a cast for a broken arm.”

“I’m saying there’s no instant, easy fix.” Foxy sighed, rubbing his fingers over the back of Sun’s hand in a soothing gesture. “We animatronics get off easy in terms of physical damage, but mental damage? We’re just as fragile as humans, if not more so. A therapist is a doctor for the mind, helping you identify the problem and taking steps to clear away whatever caused it while allowing you time to heal. They’ll help you find the broken bone or infection or the source of the pain, help you clean it all up, and then help you keep it clean so it can heal. Do you feel like Earth ever found your broken bones?”

“... No,” he sighed, curling in on himself slightly. “I think she wanted to help, but she never listened when I said I was in pain.”

“Then ya gotta do what humans do when their doctor doesn't listen: get a second opinion. Find yerself a doctor that’ll find those broken bones. The rest of us can only splint ya up so many times ‘fore ya need a proper cast. Hell, get Moon to look into that dimensional bull if ya can’t find one here that’ll help ya. Infinite multiverse and whatnot has to have the right therapist for ya.” Sun snickered a bit at Foxy’s disdain for dimensional travel, though he supposed he couldn’t blame him either.

The older animatronic lit up at his chuckles, that warm smile growing as he held the yellow hand between both hand and hook. “Even if all that therapist can do is listen to ya like I do, then they can help lighten yer load enough for you to not be crushed under it. I think after all the hell you’ve been through, you deserve at least that much.”

Smiling back at him, Sun used his free hand to wipe at the fresh wave of tears. “Thanks Foxy, you always know what to say.”

“That’s what family’s for, isn’t it?” The word ‘family’ caused the taller animatronic to blink, looking at the fox in confusion. Seeing his reaction, Foxy chuckled and patted his hand, suddenly seeming shy. “Heh, I know we ain’t related in the sense that you are with the rest of your family, but… I see you as one of my own, even if you don’t see me the same way. I… didn’t want to say anything right away, not wanting to dump more weight on ya after you just came back, but… this seems like the right time, and I don’t want to leave anything important unsaid this time around.” Moving to stare directly at him, Foxy even flipped up his eyepatch to look at him with both eyes. “I see you like a son to me, kid. Whether you want me as a father figure or not is up to you, but don’t feel rushed to decide one way or the other. I’ll still be here for ya, no matter what.”

Foxy… saw him like a child of his own? Sun’s gaze fell to his lap as he tried to sort through the complicated feelings that welled up. Family was such a… complicated word. In truth, the only members of his family he was truly related to were Moon and Earth. Everyone else had their connections, but none of them had been made by their Creator. Even Nexus technically wasn’t his sibling in the same sense as the other two, having not been created by their Creator but by Moon’s actions. They had simply chosen to be a family, regardless of their origins.

Sun’s own father, the Creator, had been a horrible man that caused them suffering for no reason other than out of his own twisted desires for control. He pitted Sun and Moon against each other in the early days of their existence through the way their code was implemented, forcing them to fight each other for control of their shared body. It was hard to see that monster as a father… but Foxy? The solar model had watched FC thrive under Foxy’s parentage, and seen how Foxy would bend over backwards for his son. The older animatronic was a perfect example of what a parent should be.

Would… Would he like to have Foxy as a father? If he could go back and change the past, having Foxy for a parent would be so much better than what he and Moon originally got. And compared to some of the other parents he’d seen at the daycare, the old fox was a pretty damn good father. And as he thought back over how their relationship had evolved, Foxy had been taking care of him a lot like a parent would. Even though he was an adult, there was nothing saying he couldn’t have a friendship and a paternal relationship with the same person.

“Can…” He started, unable to bring his gaze out of his lap. “C-Can I call you Dad?”

As he finally tore his eyes up to look at the other, he found Foxy staring at him, mouth agape in stunned silence. Before he could worry that he said the wrong thing though, he saw tears beginning to form at the corners of the smaller animatronic’s eyes, a wide smile spreading across his face as he nodded. “Sure thing kiddo, you can call me whatever ya want.”

Feeling his lip start to wobble, Sun managed to choke out, “Dad.” He then pulled the other close, feeling those arms wrap around him and hold him tight as the both of them cried in each other’s arms. They stayed like that for some time, letting their emotions out as they embraced the new name for their relationship.

Eventually they parted, still with tears in their eyes yet smiles on their faces. “Well then, should we head back inside? I know FC will be thrilled to hear he has a new big brother. That is, if yer alright with that.” Foxy moved to stand, holding a hand out to Sun to help him up.

“Honestly, I don’t think much will change with me and FC,” the taller animatronic shrugged, though he did chuckle. “Though he will be excited for the rest of the day when he hears the good news.”

“Heh, yer right about that. He’s gonna be clinging to ya for the rest of the day, be warned.”

Chuckling at that, Sun wiped away lingering tears as they headed back inside. A small warmth bloomed despite the lingering cold inside his chest, the warmth of a new baby brother and a father in his heart. It wouldn’t heal all the problems he had, but at least he felt happy while he was here. This moment didn’t feel so impossible to enjoy.

Moon grumbled a bit as he felt sand getting into his slippers, digging between the joints of his feet. After several hours of shopping and having to talk to people, he was just about done with any little annoyance that might show itself. But it would be worth it if any of this stuff helped Sun in any way.

For starters, he’d hit a vegan-friendly grocery store, and had talked extensively with the ladies that ran the small shop about the needs of a vegan or vegetarian. In fact, they thought that it was sweet that he was learning how to care for his brother’s dietary restrictions, especially when they heard that the majority of the house were excessive in their consumption of meat.

Those ladies had armed him with knowledge of what he needed next, as well as a large assortment of vegan products and organic vegetables that he hoped Sun would like. And thanks to their guidance, his next stops were easier to plan out. Some designated kitchenware, containers to keep the veggies safely away from the meat, as well as several vegan restaurants to check out, all hopefully helping his sunny twin survive in that insensitive house.

With Sun’s diet taken care of, his next concern had been that room. Seriously, who decorated that thing? His experimental attempts at removing the flag and posters yielded no results, making the scientist wonder what in the hell was used to put them up. But regardless, if he couldn't take them down, the next best thing was to cover them up. And what was one thing he knew Sun loved and would enjoy seeing on his walls? Cats. So he hit up a few different stores in a mall and bought each cat poster that he could find, hoping they would be enough.

Now, the next big hurdle? Sun’s family, and this was going to be the hardest one yet. Sighing, Moon shifted the shopping bags around on his arm before letting himself in, noting that the door hadn’t been locked. He knew that the odds of a random threat showing up here was slim to none, but it still made him uneasy. Guess his next shopping trip would have to include a hardware store so that he could install some locks on the door to Sun’s bedroom at least.

“Sun?!” Nexus’ voice called out from upstairs, Moon raising a brow as he walked towards the kitchen and ignored the sound of feet thumping their way over. As he set the shopping bags on the island counter, he slowly spun around to come face to face with a visibly upset Nexus. “Where the hell is my brother?!” They screamed, jabbing a finger in the other’s chest.

The older lunar model kept his expression calm as he batted away the offending finger, noting the presence of Solar and Eclipse in his peripheral vision. “ My twin ,” he emphasized, grinning at how the subtle dig brought Nexus’ rage to the forefront. “Is completely fine. He’s at Foxy’s, so no need to get your panties in a twist. Though you might as well call your boytoys down, as I’ve got work for them to do.”

“Boyt- can you at least try to show some basic respect?!”

Moon just chuckled in the face of the other’s anger, leaning back against the counter and crossing his arms across his chest. “Respect is earned, not given, little Nexy. And from what I’ve seen so far, none of you have earned an ounce of respect, least of all that prick.” His tone shifted to a growl as nodded his head in Eclipse’s direction, watching the two eclipse models descend the stairs to join their partner.

“Don’t waste your breath, Nex,” the four-armed bot hissed, moving to stand protectively between Moon and his lovers. “Trying to get respect from this asshole is like trying to milk a stone.”

“ Anyways ,” Solar cut in with a cough, looking at the various shopping bags littering the counter. “Looks like you were busy today.”

“Yep! And now it’s your turn to be busy!” Moon happily declared to the trio, ignoring the various looks they gave him. “Three jobs, one for each of you. I don’t care who does what, but it has to be done before I go to get Sun. First, every bit of fabric in his room needs to be washed, as it was dirty enough to give him an anxiety attack this morning. Second, his room needs to be vacuumed and dusted since apparently none of you thought to do that before bringing him back. And third, I’ve got a lot of new things for the kitchen that need a home.”

Before any of them could comment on him forcibly assigning chores, he started rifling through the bags to proudly display his new purchases. “A new cookware set for Sun, and new plates and cutlery. Didn’t know they made pots and pans in yellow, but I’m not complaining. If I catch any of you three using these for meat, I’m gonna bash them over your heads and go buy him a new set. Are we clear?” Hopefully that wouldn’t be a concern since he’d managed to buy everything in canary yellow, meaning that they couldn’t use a simple excuse of ‘not knowing’ that it was Sun’s stuff.

He then pulled a large plastic container out of another bag, designed to be the depth of a standard fridge. “This needs to go in the fridge so your meat doesn’t touch Sun’s stuff. Don’t care how you get it in there, but I also bought Sun some groceries so there’d be something edible in this house for him, and they’ll go in this thing once it’s in there.” Moon made a point to show off the bag with the groceries, so whoever ended up doing the fridge would know what else they had to take care of.

“You’ve got some nerve,” Eclipse growled venomously, unafraid to get right in Moon’s face as he expressed his displeasure. But the blue animatronic didn’t even flinch, having expected the other to get aggressive when ordered around. “Ordering us around like we’re your lapdogs. Who do you think you are to tell us what to do in our own home?”

“Sun lives here too, or did you forget that?” Moon asked icily, his gaze shifting to Nexus who was just behind their partner. “Though if you don’t want him living here, I understand. I’ll just find us our own place and-”

“No!” Nexus called out, gritting his teeth as he saw the smug smile on his counterpart’s face. “No, Sun lives here and will always be welcome here. And, as much as I hate to admit it, you’re right that we should’ve had these basics done before we brought him back.” The other lunar model’s gaze fell as they sighed. “I guess we all just got caught up in the excitement and didn’t think of what else needed to be done first.”

Moon’s expression softened at the other’s response, seeing that Nexus was genuinely in for whatever was best for their brother. “To be fair, I’m not one to criticize others about getting tunnel vision; probably would’ve done the same thing in your shoes.”

“Then why be an ass about this?” Eclipse grumbled, crossing his arms and glaring at the blue-toned bot.

Snickering a bit, Moon just shot the eclipse model a look. “In what world would you ever listen to me if I asked you nicely?”

Solar just barely managed to stifle a chuckle. “He’s uh… got you there, Clip.” Patting his partner on the shoulder, he turned back towards the stairs. “Why don’t we tackle the bedroom then? Cleaning that up shouldn’t be too hard.”

As much as it was clear that Eclipse wanted to refuse on principle, he begrudgingly followed Solar back upstairs to get started on cleaning Sun’s room. That left Moon and Nexus alone, the latter opening up the fridge to get to work rearranging things to fit Sun’s new divider in.

Watching the other work, Moon silently set about sorting through the new purchases, setting aside all the items that Nexus had to find new homes for while taking note of everything his counterpart was doing. They really had no clue what they were doing, and it pained the lunar attendant to think that he’d left his twin’s fate in the hands of such incompetence.

Whatever, the past couldn’t be changed, all he could do was shape the future. And if he had to be the family’s bogeyman so they would rally behind Sun properly, then so be it. He could play the bad guy. Better him than Sun. Better anyone than Sun.

Chapter Text

Earth looked at her calendar app on her phone, taking a deep breath in preparation for a busy day. It had been almost a week since they’d revived Sun, and the planetary model had suggested that today be a day for her to check in with everyone in the family. Whether they needed help coming to terms with the changes in Sun or the addition of Moon, Earth wanted to help them all in whatever way she could, even if it was simply her listening to their woes.

First up this morning was Nexus, and she had a feeling that the lunar model likely needed help the most. After all, she could still vividly recall how shaken they’d been when they first came downstairs after waking Sun, how they’d silently cried as they told them all how Sun asked Nexus to let him stay dead. Such a statement would be hard for anyone to swallow, and the chaos that followed hadn’t helped in that regard.

The blue and green animatronic looked up as she heard a knock on her door, calling out, “Come in!” Nexus stepped in, looking tired as they closed the door behind them and slumped in the seat across from their sister. “Hey Nexus, thank you for agreeing to come today. I know everything’s been a little hectic lately, so I wanted to check in with everyone to see how they’re doing with all the changes. But the floor’s yours now, so we can talk about anything you want to.”

For a moment there was silence, the lunar model across from her looking around the room as if for inspiration. They then sighed before looking up and quietly admitting, “I don’t know if bringing Moon back too was a good idea.”

“Oh? And why is that?”

The other bot looked nervous, their fingers fiddling with the strings of the oversized hoodie they were wearing. If Earth wasn’t mistaken, that was one of Solar’s, likely stolen for the extra comfort it would provide. “I just…” Nexus started, one hand gesturing in the air as they tried to come up with the words they wanted. “Ever since Sun came back, I haven’t really had a chance to- to talk with him. I keep trying to reach out, but Moon is always there to stop me. He follows Sun around the house like he’s his shadow, always within eyesight of him. And it’s like Moon’s made it his personal mission to keep me and Sun apart. Granted, he’s had some really good ideas so far for helping Sun, but I don’t like how he’s isolating him from the rest of his family.”

“That’s a very valid concern,” Earth said smoothly, sitting up a little straighter. She already had her suspicions on what the cause of this problem was, having suspected that Moon would exhibit controlling tendencies sooner or later based on the stories she’d heard. “You’re right to question this dynamic. It’s important for family to have access to each other, especially in recovery situations like this. I do wonder though if what you’re seeing is a kind of overcompensation response.”

Nexus frowned. “Overcompensation?”

“Yes, it seems like Moon’s trying to ‘fix’ what he thinks went wrong last time by controlling the environment. It’s not unusual, but it’s counterproductive. The issue is that he hasn’t realized he can’t do this alone. I once told Eclipse something similar about letting people in, and it completely changed how he approached things.” She smiled faintly at the memory of her own advice working so well.

“Okay, so how do I get him to trust me around Sun?” Nexus asked, looking pained to even ask such a question.

“Simple,” Earth said, her voice confident. “Don’t try to push past him- make him invite you in. Start with Moon, not Sun. Get to know him, show him you’re an ally. Once he sees you as an asset instead of an obstacle, he’ll naturally loosen his grip and let you through. Trust me, I saw this happen with Eclipse, and look at how things turned out with him.”

Nexus nodded slowly, though the look in their eyes showed hesitation Earth knew would be proven wrong. She’d given them the best advice they were going to get, certain that this would help their family grow stronger and closer. Seeing her confidence seemed to help her sibling, Nexus smiling back at her. “Thanks Earth, we’d all be lost sometimes without your guidance. I really hope things will be that easy though.”

“You’re very welcome!” She chirped, happy to help. “All we can do is hope that the simple solution works. If not, then we just come back to the problem and look at it from another angle, dissect it some more to better understand what snags we might be hitting. But enough about Moon, let’s talk about you. I’m sure this sudden change has been quite hard on you.” They still had plenty of time to work through and discuss other things, so she once again opened the floor for Nexus to speak about anything else that was bothering them or that they simply wanted to say under the protection of confidentiality.

Seeing her sibling send her a grateful smile, she listened carefully to his woes and frustrations, offering advice where she couldn’t and a shoulder to cry on when she could offer nothing else. But she really had a feeling that her words of wisdom would help Nexus get the changes he wanted. She couldn’t wait to see her family happy, healthy, and united again.

“I hate him,” Eclipse blurted out, one set of arms crossed tightly over his chest while the other set waved and gestured about. “I can’t believe I have to live under the same roof as that sociopath! Not only that, but he’s barking orders at all of us and making Nexus and Solar miserable.”

While she didn’t like hearing a word as strong as hate, Earth could understand why Eclipse would make such a claim. After all, Moon was responsible for a lot of the problems her friend faced in his early days. “Your concerns for your partners are understandable, and valid given Moon’s history. Perhaps Moon doesn’t realize how much damage his actions are causing to those around him?”

“More like he doesn’t care,” the four-armed bot grumbled, rolling his eyes. “Moon has only ever cared about himself, and to some extent Sun. I’m honestly surprised he let Lunar tag along without doing something horrible to scare him off.”

“It sounds like you’re worried about Lunar too,” Earth commented, noting the way the other’s eyes flashed when his little brother was brought up.

“Tch, I’m worried for the whole damn family. Moon is like a poison that ruins everything he touches, in fact I’m pretty sure a lot of Sun’s unresolved issues stems from all the abuse he suffered from Moon. I don’t want him breaking someone I care about with his cruelty.”

There was so much anger and pain behind Eclipse’s words, her usual professional smile slipping into a more genuine frown as she thought over what she knew. Reaching out to hold one of her friend’s free hands, she rubbed against the back of his hand in an effort to soothe him a bit. “Eclipse, you are a brave and intelligent soul, one who worked hard to get to where you are now. You have a loving family and friends, and nobody can take that away from you. But if you feel as if Moon is directly impacting the happiness of yourself and your loved ones, then it might be time for you to sit down with your partners and have a serious discussion on boundaries that need to be set. Otherwise, if no one tells him to stop, Moon will have no reason to change his behaviour as he’ll think it’s viewed as acceptable by everyone in the house.”

The suggestion had the eclipse model huffing, as if the mere notion of boundaries was a joke. “And what, pray tell, kind of boundaries could we hope to enforce on Moon? The guy experimented on his own brother like a lab rat despite being told no, so forgive me if I don’t have the highest hopes of that working.”

While she had to admit that Eclipse made a valid point, she would not be deterred. “Well, why don’t we spend our time together brainstorming different boundaries you want to set and how to enforce them? We can start with the fact that you mentioned Moon seems to be bossing the rest of you around. What kind of change would you like to see there?”

“I want him to stop treating us like his personal servants,” Eclipse snarled, growing huffier the longer they stayed on this topic.

“Alright, that’s very fair. I’m… going to ask a silly question, but have any of you told him ‘no’?” She watched her friend freeze at the simple question, looking absolutely dumbfounded before facepalming. Earth couldn’t help but giggle a little bit, glad she found a simple solution to his problem. “Try not to beat yourself up about it; you, Nexus, and Solar are all brilliantly intelligent, but unfortunately you tend to get tunnel vision when a problem presents itself and can miss simple solutions as a result. It’s nothing to be ashamed of though. But why don’t we give that a try? The next time Moon tries to tell you to do something you don’t want to, just tell him no and walk away. If Nexus and Solar see you doing it successfully, they’ll be sure to follow your lead. Then Moon will have to do whatever it is he wants done by himself, and he’ll learn that he can’t bully his way around in this family.”

“I can’t believe that never crossed my mind,” Eclipse sighed, sounding disappointed in himself. “I just let Sol and Nex convince me to work with him in order to keep the peace and avoid any chances of violence… not that Moon would get far in such an endeavour, but still.”

“They might also be concerned about Sun,” Earth pointed out, recalling the first day she and the others had met Moon. “Moon stated that he’d be acting in Sun’s best interest, thus the others might be assuming that every demand Moon makes will be for Sun’s benefit, and that not listening to him might be dangerous for Sun’s mental state. If it seems like Moon is abusing their fear of losing Sun again, you’ll need to have a talk with both of them about what you suspect is going on so that they aren’t constantly being taken advantage of.”

Eclipse hummed softly, nodding as his gaze grew pensive. “Moon said that none of us prepared for Sun to come back, but I did make some plans to prevent things from turning bad right away. Guess I just gotta assure those two that they can rely on me instead of feeling forced to rely solely on Moon. Then they won’t feel so beholden to his whims.”

“That’s a wonderful idea!” Earth clapped her hands together in honour of the completed plan, her smile growing as she added, “And I’m happy to hear that you’ve thought ahead for Sun’s sake too! Who knows, maybe these failsafes will be what you and Sun need to finally get closer.”

“Eh, I dunno if I’d go that far,” the four-armed bot shrugged, his expression growing harder to read before shifting back to a more neutral look. “So, what other straightforward solutions to life’s problems can you offer me?” Earth was all too happy to help her friend work through some of these problems for their time together. She lacked the burden of genius that the other had, opening her eyes to some answers that Eclipse and his partners might’ve never seen. It was moments like this that she was glad that her talents let her help those she cared about most.

Solar sighed as he sat down across from Earth, slouching in the seats and fiddling with his gloves as he took a moment to get comfortable. The silence that settled wasn’t uncomfortable, with the larger animatronic simply waiting patiently for the eclipse model to gather his thoughts and decide on what he wanted to discuss. Eventually, Solar looked up at her with a pained expression as he stated, “I don’t know if bringing Sun back was a good idea.”

“Oh? Please elaborate.” Earth was confused by that, as she thought Solar and Sun had been good friends. So why wouldn’t he want Sun around? Had the two had a falling out before his passing? Or was there something else going on?

The mechanic’s grip on his gloves tightened, and he was quick to clarify. “I-I’m not saying I’m not happy he’s back. I missed him, and I still remember how Nexus lit up when Eclipse said he could bring him back. The problem is that Sun isn’t happy.” Solar cringed a bit at his wording, quickly backtracking a bit. “I-I mean, I figured he’d be a bit down since… you know, apparently his mental health was that bad when he- he left us the first time. B-But I didn’t expect him to be the way he is… it’s like he’s not even trying to be happy anymore, and all I can think of is how exhausting he can be to be around when he’s like this. He’s even worse than he was before… I thought that maybe having Moon back would finally make him happy, but he’s just so… draining . I dunno how else to put it; it’s like living with a black hole sometimes.”

Earth hummed in acknowledgement as she let Solar ramble on to get his feelings out, writing notes as he continued on. “Ah, I think I see what’s going on here. You’re afraid that loving him will get to be too hard for you, is that it?”

“Yeah, I guess so. I just… wish I knew how to help bring the old Sun back. I thought Lunar had the right idea, but all Moon’s been doing so far is gatekeeping Sun and letting him be miserable all the time. Sun used to be this big ball of sunshine that could make anyone smile, and I… I-I can’t keep doing this. Watching Nexus suffer trying to help his brother, trying to help only to feel like I ran a marathon instead of spending time with him.” A weary sigh escaped the mechanic, and as he rubbed at his one eye he ended up smearing a bit of grease across his face. Earth didn’t want to point it out, instead subtly shifting the tissues nearby a little closer in case Solar needed them.

“Well, I’m glad you’re being honest with yourself, even if you feel like you’re the bad guy for thinking the way you do. I promise you Solar, you’re not wrong for having these doubts and fears,” she assured him, offering a warm smile to him. “The fact that you’re worried speaks to how you care about Sun, which is great. Loving someone is never easy though, and unfortunately that’s even more true when that person is hurting the way Sun is. But until Sun learns to manage his own emotions in a way that doesn’t overwhelm those around him, the rest of us have to ensure that we don’t let his unhappiness dictate our happiness. The key to getting through this is establishing boundaries for both yourself and Sun’s sake, just like you would any other relationship.”

“And what if my boundaries just push him away?” Solar asked, a haunted look in his optics as his gaze fell to his lap. “I already feel like I pushed him away last time, a-and look how that turned out. I… I can't lose another Sun, Earth. I still hear Nexus’ heartbroken cries in my nightmares.” A sniffle escaped the other, and rust-coloured hands reached for the nearby tissue box. “What if, in keeping myself afloat, I end up leaving Sun to drown?”

“Solar,” she sighed, getting up and moving to sit next to the eclipse model. He looked like he needed some physical comfort right now, and she was more than happy to provide. “You can’t blame yourself for the choices of others, nor should you be made to feel like this is wholly your responsibility. Just like a captain can’t steer a ship on his own, no one person should be made to carry this weight alone. Do not feel like you need to bear the burden of Sun’s mental health all by yourself. If you feel the need to step back, then you should do so without guilt. Otherwise, you won’t be strong enough to help even yourself if you force yourself to keep going until the point of exhaustion. Let others like Moon or myself carry the weight while you rest.” As much as she worried that Sun might view someone stepping back as abandonment, this was what Solar needed to hear at the moment. He needed to be told that it was okay to put himself first, otherwise if Solar burnt himself out, they’d have one more person to care for, and it was a slippery slope that she was afraid they might not be able to handle as a family.

As Solar nestled into her side, she wrapped an arm around him and gave a gentle squeeze. “If Sun takes issue with you stepping back, then he needs to learn to respect your limits. It might help him grow and heal as well to see you put yourself first, bringing him one step closer to being the Sun we all know and love again. Healing is never easy, nor is it straightforward. And sometimes, taking a step back is the only way to find the path forward.”

“You sound so philosophical today,” Solar chuckled, wiping at his tears while leaning into the physical comfort provided. “Have you been whipping out metaphors with everyone today?”

“Maybe,” Earth giggled, rubbing her brother-in-law’s arm. “I’ve been practicing, so I’m happy to hear that they’re helpful. I read that metaphors can help with connection and making bigger ideas easier to understand from another perspective.”

“Well, it’s working,” the mechanic chuffed, smiling up at her. “Thanks for telling me what I needed to hear, I don’t think I’ll feel so guilty now if caring for Sun becomes overwhelming.”

“I’m glad I could give you clarity, Solar. Sometimes it just takes the right perspective to untangle what feels impossible. If you want, we can run some practice scenarios to make you feel more comfortable with the idea of putting your needs ahead of Sun’s when needed. Do you think that’ll help?”

“Yeah… yeah, I think it will. Great idea, thanks.” Earth smiled as she pulled away, moving back to her seat across from the rust-coloured bot. She already had a few ideas of scenarios that they could do too, certain that they would be good practice for helping Solar prioritize his needs. And if all else failed, she would always be happy to help whenever the mechanic called.

“Are you… going to sit like that for the entire session?” Earth asked, a slight chuckle in her voice as she looked at how Lunar was sitting.

Though the couch was long enough for even her siblings to lay down on if needed, Lunar looked kind of goofy laying down along the back of the couch instead of on the cushions. “I dunno,” the lavender bot shrugged, sending a grin her way. “I thought it might be a funky way to sit. Sun’s cats seem to do it whenever we’re over, so there’s gotta be some appeal.”

“Alright, and your verdict on the funky seating is?”

“I’ll…” Lunar trailed off as he shifted a bit, looking a bit like a koala with his arms and legs splayed over the front and back of the couch. “I’ll get back to you on that one. Haven’t made up my mind yet.”

“That’s fair, I eagerly await the results! But in the meantime, we should probably focus on our time together here. Is there anything you want to talk about?”

“Meh, not really,” Lunar shrugged, the action looking a bit awkward from the way his body was positioned. “All things are pretty good in my world, so I guess this is an easy check-in for ya, huh?”

Earth cocked her head to the side at the other’s dismissive attitude, admittedly surprised that her little brother wouldn’t have anything he wanted to talk about. Then again, Lunar had a habit of hiding his woes behind a calm facade, so she wondered if this was simply one of those moments. “Well, that is lovely to hear, Lunar. I’ll admit, I was worried that you would be dealing with some conflicting emotions now that Moon is back, as I know you two were close before he originally passed.” There, hopefully she could bait him into opening up just a bit about this, for his own good of course.

Lucky for her, the small animatronic seemed to take the bait, his gaze sharpening as he propped his head up with one hand. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m happy Moon’s back. It’s just… I could do without the fighting between him and Eclipse. That seems to be the only thing those two do when I talk to them is complain about the other. It almost feels like they’re both expecting me to back them up, but I can’t exactly do that since I don’t hate either of them like they seem to want me to.”

Ah, she could see where that would cause some issues. “I’m not surprised that you’re feeling torn between the two of them, given that you have a pretty close relationship with both of them. Do you feel like if you spend time with one, you’re betraying the other?”

“Kinda,” the smaller animatronic mumbled, having shifted to be sitting on the back of the couch instead of flopped across it. “It’s like they both can’t understand how I could see the other as a brother after all the harm they’ve caused and all the bad they’ve done. But, they’re more than just all the bad in their past; both of them are my big brothers. And even though I know them getting along has a slim to none chance of happening, I’d still like it if they stopped treating me like a tug-of-war rope. Is this what the kids in the daycare feel like when their parents are going through a custody battle? Because if so I will never try to force them into games again; this is exhausting.”

“That’s a very reasonable and grounded request,” Earth commented, having to agree with her little brother that peace between Moon and Eclipse wasn’t likely to happen. She did sidestep his comment about child custody battles for now, unsure whether he was joking or being serious and not wanting to be insensitive. “Things can be difficult when one party is trying to grow and heal while another keeps holding on to old grievances, leaving you straddling the line between one’s - admittedly messy - growth, and the other’s stagnation. In situations like that, you will unfortunately need to choose a direction to go to avoid being pulled apart by their conflicting affections.”

As the lavender bot frowned at her wording, her thoughts drifted back to Lunar’s earlier comment, sparking an idea on how to explain her logic more clearly. “But there’s nothing saying you can’t split your time with each down the middle, not unlike those children in the daycare who split their time between their parents. The two parents may not get along for whatever reason, but they both agree to do what is best for their child and allow their child to have a relationship with both of them, while making sure the child doesn’t mediate any fights they might have. The difference for you though is that you’ll be taking the initiative to split your time with them, and they will either have to learn to respect your decision, or you will have to reevaluate what your relationship will look like going forward.”

“I guess,” Lunar sighed, his frown carrying a slight edge before it smoothed out to a more neutral expression. “I’ll be sure to make them both know that I still plan on spending time with each of them so they’re not caught off guard or something stupid like that.”

“I think that’s a really good idea,” she hummed, watching him scoot forward a bit to slide off the back of the couch. “Open communication is always something I recommend, as it prevents misunderstandings from happening.” Seeing her little brother nod along, she beamed down at him. “I’m glad that I was able to offer you some insight into your dilemma, was there anything else I could help you with?”

“Nah, I’m good now, thanks.” Lunar waved her off, hopping to his feet as he said so. “This’ll just give you extra time to go over to Sunny, right? I’m pretty sure your calendar said he was your last appointment today.”

“You’re right, he is.” While Earth didn’t understand the reasoning why, Moon had made it clear that he didn’t want Sun back at the pizzaplex any time soon. As such, she’d agreed to having the therapy session at Nexus and Sun’s place instead. “I’m hoping I’ll make some good progress with him today and help him work through even a few things that are troubling him.”

“Well, I wish ya luck, sis.” The small bot headed to leave, only to pause at the door and point to the couch. “And the verdict is, I totally see the appeal. Cats have the right idea… maybe I should try the cardboard box thing?”

“Have a good day, Lunar,” Earth chuckled, waving goodbye to her brother as he left. That only left the most troubled member of her family left, prompting her to take a deep breath and a small break before gathering her things and heading out as well. She just knew she’d be able to help Sun, even a little bit. She… she had to…

As she teleported onto the driveway of the familiar island home, Earth took a deep breath and a moment to just enjoy the beauty of this place. Nexus had picked such a wonderful home out for him and Sun to live in, leaving her almost a bit jealous of the two brothers. But living with Monty was lovely in its own right, and she wouldn’t change that for the world.

Regardless, she did have a job to do today, the planetary model pushing her shoulders back to stand up straight as she made her way to the front door. As she knocked though, Earth had to hold back a look of surprise when Moon answered the door. Truthfully she shouldn’t be shocked by his presence, but part of her had hoped that Sun would be the one to open the door. “Oh, Earth. Is it time for his appointment already?” Moon asked, seeming a bit stunned to see her as well.

“Yep! I got to finish a little early with Lunar today, so I figured that I’d stop by a bit early to give Sun more time, if that’s alright.”

“Uh, sure… I think he’s out on the dock right now.” The lunar model opened the door and gestured for her to follow, leading her through the house and to the back patio. There, sitting at the end of the dock with his feet hanging in the water and a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, was Sun. He looked to be so calm and at peace right now, so much so that Earth hated to disturb her brother. Moon had no such reservations though, calmly walking to the end of the deck, the bells on his slippers ringing softly to accompany the symphony of the waves.

As the solar model looked back, he made eye contact with his twin, with Moon kneeling down to talk quietly to him for a moment. After Sun nodded, the nighttime attendant got to his feet, holding out a hand to help his brother from his perch before leading him to the nearby bench. Seeing that this seemed to be where Sun wanted to have their session, Earth made her way down to join the twins at the far end of the dock.

With the seat closest to the shore taken, she sat nearest to the ocean, beaming a smile down at her brother. “Hello Sun, how are you doing today?”

“Alright,” the other mumbled, Earth immediately noting what Solar mentioned about how Sun didn’t even try to put on a cheerful tone now. “Is it okay if we talk here?”

“Of course! We’ll talk wherever you’re most comfortable. Do you mind if I ask why here though?”

Her brother’s gaze shifted past her, looking out to the gentle waves rolling in. “It’s… peaceful here. I’ve been coming out here to think a lot, try to sort through what I want to talk about.”

“I’m happy to hear you’ve been trying to sort through your thoughts, as it’ll make our session that much easier. Speaking of though,” she trailed off, turning her gaze to Moon who was still standing nearby. “Do you mind giving us privacy? These sessions are meant to be confidential.”

“Sure,” Moon nodded, bending down to whisper in his counterpart’s ear and give his shoulder a squeeze before heading back down the dock. Earth couldn’t help but notice though how Moon never went much further than the shoreline, hovering far enough away to not be actively intruding on their space, yet still too close for her liking.

The second she went to call out and say something though, yellow fingers grabbed hold of her own, stilling her for a second. “It’s okay,” Sun muttered, letting out a soft breath. “It’s… easier for me anyways if he’s nearby. It helps with my emotions.”

While that wasn’t exactly the healthiest coping method, the taller animatronic didn’t immediately want to come off as critical or go against what made Sun more comfortable. “Alright, if you’re sure,” she relented with a nod, the fingers around her own retreating back under the blanket as she lowered her hand. “But if at any point you feel as though he’s too close or intruding, please feel free to pause the session and ask him to leave.” Her brother nodded yet said nothing, leaving her to get the ball rolling. That was alright though, she’d be happy to start them off. And since she could, she wanted to start things off on a positive note. “Why don’t we start this session by hearing what the best thing that happened to you this past week was? After all, it’s important to remember to enjoy even the little moments of happiness when they happen.”

As she turned her expectant gaze to her older brother, Sun’s gaze visibly fell to his lap. For a moment there was silence, before a small smile crept across the solar model’s face. “I uh… I-I got adopted,” he blurted out, his fingers fiddling under the blanket while his sister just looked at him in confusion. “N-Nothing official,” he clarified, face flushing a bit as he looked anywhere but her. But still, that smile lingered on his face, one she hadn’t seen in a while. “B-But… Foxy told me he sees me as his son, a-and… I accepted him as my father. I-I got a little brother out of it too, FC was so thrilled when we told him that he didn’t let go of me the entire rest of the day.”

“The kid I took in like my own dies and his actual family doesn’t think I’m close enough to go.” Foxy’s words came rushing back to her at that moment, leaving her stunned as Sun rambled on about mac and cheese and cookies. So that had been what Foxy had meant, why he was so upset and hurt that they wouldn’t let him come to the reception. And… Sun had reciprocated that closeness, accepted the older animatronic as his father… and they said he wasn’t close enough.

Now she could understand a lot of the fox’s anger, but… but this time, this time things would be better. They’d all be better, for Sun. Smiling as she forced herself back to the present, she placed a comforting hand on her brother’s back, rubbing gently through the blanket. “I’m so happy for you, Sun! You deserve to be surrounded by people that make you feel happy!”

Seeing that the yellow animatronic had gone quiet again, she figured that he’d finished telling all he had to say about his day with Foxy and his unofficial adoption. Part of her was tempted to suggest that maybe Foxy could adopt the rest of them, become the father their little family never had. But then she recalled the anger in that piercing amber eye, the way Foxy had flat out said that Monty was the only reason she was let in the door, and the idea died in her throat.

Instead, she decided to keep the ball rolling, trying to segue off one of the details she’d heard of Sun’s story. She felt a little bad for only catching the broader strokes of the story, but was sure he’d understand if she asked follow-up questions or clarified things. “Well then, since you brought up the wonderful lunch you had at Foxy’s, I had something I wanted to ask you. Firstly, I want to apologize on behalf of everyone for what happened at lunch the other day. None of us ever realized how serious your dietary needs were, or how you would react to meat. That was incredibly insensitive of us, but we know better now, and can take steps to make sure something like that never happens again.”

A beat of silence passed between them as Sun shifted in his seat, curling up as the breeze picked up a bit while his hands shifted under the blanket. She thought she saw one disappear from under the warm fabric, but if it did it was only gone for a moment before being returned to the warmth. “Thanks,” was all Sun said in response to her apology, his voice having lost the warmth it had just a moment ago.

Frowning, Earth sat there awkwardly for a moment, unsure of what to do or say. She shifted closer after a minute, hoping to shield him from a bit of the wind in case that was all this sudden shift in mood was. “Sun, are you alright? Is it too cold out here? If you’re not comfortable, we can move inside.” But the solar model just shook his head enough to rattle his rays a bit, instead hunkering down in his chosen spot. “Alright, I won’t make you move if you’re sure you’re comfortable here. But the moment you’re not comfortable here, please let me know and we can move this somewhere else.” That got her a silent nod, which she supposed was better than no response.

Sighing softly, she kept her body pressed up against Sun’s, wanting to offer her any bit of comfort she could, especially with what she was next going to suggest. “Getting back on track, I couldn’t help but notice that your aversion to meat seems to be more of a trauma response than a true dietary choice. If you’d like, we can work on exposure therapy with meat products, just like we’ve been doing with getting you used to touch. We can do it in a controlled environment, and-”

“No,” Sun cut her off, his soft voice deafening with its finality. Taken aback, she looked down to see him shuffling again, his gaze shifting subtly to Moon at the end of the dock. “No thank you, Earth. I’m fine being a vegetarian.”

“I’m only suggesting this to make things easier for you,” she tried, though her eyes couldn’t pull themselves away from the crimson optics staring back at her. Even at this distance, she could tell she was being judged. Still though, she tried to explain her reasoning to her brother. “While there’s nothing wrong with being vegetarian, life must be difficult when meat can trigger a traumatic episode. It would be easier to desensitize yourself to meat products, especially considering that you share a living space with Solar and Eclipse, who I’m sure you know have a code-born craving for meat.” It’s not like the two eclipse models could help that facet of themselves, and Sun had to understand that.

Sun pulled away from her, shifting to sit partially off the bench. “I want Moon,” he stated bluntly, snowy eyes searching for crimson ones that practically shone. Was it anger they glowed with? Rage? Or was it merely judgement?

Regardless, Earth didn’t like this response one bit. It practically screamed trauma bonding to her, how victims of abuse would seek comfort in their abuser the moment things got too hard for their low self-confidence. It was no shortage that Moon had done much harm to Sun in the past, both physically and mentally, yet the two had stayed together because they were all each other had. But now, Sun didn’t need to rely on the words of someone who hurt him so much in the past, someone that was prone to fits of violence and seemed to be well on his way to antagonizing every member of their family.

“Sun,” she started carefully, making sure to choose her words precisely to avoid upsetting either of the twins at this moment. Moon already looked to be ready to storm over, having clearly been eavesdropping as best as he could. “Why do you want Moon at this moment?”

The simple question stunned her brother, causing him to look up at the planetary model in confusion. Eventually his gaze returned to his lap, where his fingers twisted and tugged at the fabric concealing him. “He makes me feel safe,” the other eventually mumbled, refusing to look at his sister as he said that. “I-I’m more comfortable with him around, more calm.”

That answer was not helping the theory forming in her head, an audible sigh escaping her as she couldn’t help the pity that filled her eyes. “Sun, are you familiar with the concept of trauma bonding?” She received no answer, but honestly didn’t expect one. Sun’s body language was really starting to shut down, but she felt like she needed to make sure that her brother was aware of the pattern of behaviour she was seeing. “It’s when someone clings to the person who hurt them because they mistake manipulation for love. They crave the rare scraps of affection so much they can’t tell the difference between comfort and control.” She sighed, pity softening her eyes. “I see a lot of that in how you look at Moon.”

“T-Trauma- No!” It was the most animated Sun had been this entire conversation, his eyes wide as he stared at his sister in horror. “No, you’ve got it all wrong! Y-Yeah, Moon used to be pretty terrible, b-but he’s changed! He’s gotten a lot better, and I genuinely feel happier when he’s around! I trust him completely! Whenever anything has ever been too much, he’s always been there to shield me or hold me or back me up. I-I love him.”

Hearing Sun defend someone who had hurt him so much made her heart ache, her hand once again reaching out to rub circles in his shoulder. “I understand that this might be the way you feel. I don’t know what Moon was like, beyond what stories you’ve told me. But they paint a picture, Sun. A picture that shows a pattern of behaviour that isn’t healthy for you. I need you to reflect on Moon’s behaviour and ask yourself if it’s really protective, or rather controlling. Is he supporting you or pressuring you? I only ask because victims often struggle to tell the difference.”

Her hand was knocked aside shortly after is made contact with her brother’s shoulder, almost as if the touch had burned him. “You’re not listening!” The daycare attendant almost shouted, his voice starting to sound hysterical as he suddenly stood up. The blanket fell away from Sun’s shoulders, revealing his trembling frame that couldn’t hide the navy animatronic that was making his way back up the dock. “Why won’t anyone believe me when I say he’s changed?”

“Sun, I’m not doing this to hurt you, I’m simply worried.” Now Earth was on her feet too, her hand reaching out to silently ask Sun to stay. “Moon has done awful things in the past and hurt more people than just you. People like that are slow to change, if they really do at all. Often instead, their progress will merely be their manipulative tendencies at work.”

“Then explain Monty!” Sun shouted in her face, swatting her hand away with enough force to make it sting. The outburst even stalled Moon, both of them simply staring at the solar attendant in utter shock. “He say you love them, that they’re changed, that they’re not the same person that did all their misdeeds. Well guess what? Half of those misdeeds were to me! Do you have any idea how many times they belittled and took advantage of me? How much money they scammed me out of for their stupid golf course?! And yet I’m supposed to just take your word for it that Monty’s a better person, while everyone criticizes me for forgiving Moon! At least Moon fucking apologized! Is the only reason Moon hasn’t earned redemption in your mind because you don’t love him like you do Monty and Eclipse?!”

Tears started to well at the corners of Earth’s optics, the hand that had been struck clutched to her chest. But her mind couldn’t decide if they were tears of heartbroken hurt, or ones of indignant fury. And as her mouth shifted into a scowl, she supposed that those tears were both. After all, she was allowed to be upset when someone openly criticized her fiance, calling them all sorts of horrible things and dragging their less than favourable past into the light. “That’s not fair and you know it,” she hissed, trying her best to keep from stooping to Sun’s level and starting to yell and curse. She was the professional in this situation, so she had to be the calmer of the two of them. “Monty has grown into a great person and has been a great help to this entire family. You have no right to bring their past up like that, saying that their crimes and Moon’s were of equal evils. Tell me, did Monty ever beat you? Because I know Moon did.”

“Oh they did,” a deeper voice snarled, and Earth suddenly looked down to find Moon between her and her brother, a finger being jabbed into her stomach. “Take it from me, cuz I was there. Monty was never a saint, and hurt my brother in more ways than you can ever guess. That includes physical violence. But if you don’t believe me, go ask the damn gator yourself just how horrible they could be.”

“Moon, this has nothing-”

“If you try to tell me this has nothing to do with me, I don’t care that you’re bigger than me, I will throw you into the ocean! Because anyone that hurts Sun has to deal with me!”

“Hurts Sun?” She asked, voice growing hollow as she looked over the lunar animatronic’s shoulder. There she saw Sun, her sweet big brother in tears. Large drops of inky black fell down his face in steady streams, his entire body shaking and hunched in on himself. The blanket was gone, forgotten on the dock in the brief spat, leaving the yellow bot to hug himself tightly instead. And if she listened carefully, she could barely make out the whispered apologies and attempts to take it back that were being gasped out.

Guilt welled up in her chest, causing her own tears to grow more plentiful. Yet the second she moved forward, wanting to hug him and apologize for how she’d acted, cobalt fingers pressed dangerously against her chest. “Don’t you fucking dare,” Moon hissed, his red eyes burning like an inferno. “Foxy was right, you’re a horrible excuse for a therapist. Consider this the last fucking appointment you’ll ever have with Sun.”

The words felt like an arrow shot into her torso, leaving her gasping slightly from the pain she felt. “Moon, please, I’m sorry! But don’t make Sun suffer because you’re mad at me; he needs a therapist right now, he’s too fragile and needs help!”

“And he will get help. Just not from you.” Moon pulled his fiery gaze away just long enough to bend down and grab the discarded blanket, moving to drape it over his twin’s shoulders. “I think this just proved that you do more harm than good to him.”

Wiping at the tears running down her cheeks, Earth tried to state the obvious point that Moon likely didn’t know. “We looked into getting a registered therapist, b-but they won’t take an animatronic as a patient. There’s no other option for him.”

Moon just scoffed openly at her explanation. “I built an interdimensional portal, or did you forget that? If this dimension doesn’t have a therapist for him, then I’ll keep checking new ones until I find one that does. Anything to keep you from doing more damage.”

“I-I wasn’t trying to hurt him-” she tried to explain, only to be cut off by a bark of laughter.

“Really? You’re gonna play that card now? Let’s see… how many times did you touch him without asking if it was okay? You tried suggesting he give up his vegetarianism because… why? Because it would make everyone else feel more comfortable? And then the moment Sun shows a bit of fire, you attempt to stamp it out because you didn’t like the reason why he was so incensed.” Moon paused in his tirade for a moment, an evil glint popping into his eyes as he added, “Y’know, I just realized something. We all inherited some of dead old dad’s traits. Sun got his creativity and focus, I got his sociopathy and intellect, and you… you inherited his ego and narcissism. Because all you care about is putting yourself up on a pretty little pedestal where everyone tells you how great you are, even if that pedestal is crushing someone you claim to love.”

“That’s not fair,” she cried, shaking her head in denial of his accusation. “I’m only trying to keep this family together and help it heal! I’m not doing this to be malicious or to hurt Sun!”

“Oh really? Does healing your precious little family mean ripping Sun apart in the process?” Moon snarled back in response, turning a sobbing Sun away and starting to lead him away from his sister. When Earth tried to say something in response, once again arguing that the lunar model was being unfair with his barbed words, he cut her off before she could even get a word out, not even bothering to look at her as he said, “You speak a lot about fairness, but you know what isn’t fair? Being forced to watch my other half break down in front of you, meanwhile you’re still throwing yourself a pity party like this is all about you.” The blanket was pulled tighter over the trembling bot in Moon’s arms, as if to shield from the argument going on behind them. “If this is your idea of helping, then I’m never letting you near him again. I won’t stand by while someone smiles as they rip him apart.”

As the twins began to retreat to the house up ahead, Earth couldn’t help but reach out to her brother. But the second she took a step forward, the larger animatronic was left paralyzed by the demonic eyes that glared back at her from over Moon’s shoulder. “Stay away,” was all he said, voice colder than ice before he turned his attention back to Sun.

That was the way they left her, the two of them disappearing inside the house, Sun never once looking back as he was led away. The door never slammed, yet it might as well have due to the finality the actions carried. And Earth was left alone, nothing but the waves whispering their condolences and a mixture of angry bitterness and self-loathing filling the hole in her chest as she broke down and sobbed. Part of her wanted to scream to the world how wrong their accusations were… and part of her worried that they were nothing but a bitter truth.

Chapter Text

That day had to be one of the worst Moon had experienced in this house. If dealing with Sun’s breakdown hadn’t been enough, the rest of Sun’s so-called family decided to add fuel to the fire. It started with Nexus, who was the first one home for the day. When neither Sun nor Moon answered them, the lunar bot assumedly went looking around the place for where they might be, only to find Earth crying her eyes out on the dock where they’d left her. Nexus’ discovery led to Monty and Eclipse showing up, the former comforting their fiance while Eclipse went on the warpath.

Moon had just gotten his brother to calm down and rest when the pounding on the door started, startling Sun awake and leaving him trembling in bed, his rays fully retracted into their housing. “Moon, open the fucking door!” Eclipse screamed from the other side, causing a growl to form in the back of the lunar model’s voicebox. There was no way in hell he would do such a thing, thankful for his hindsight when the knob jiggled and refused to turn. “Did you fucking install a lock on his bedroom door?!”

“Best idea I’ve had yet,” Moon muttered, only to whip around at the terrified whimper that came from behind him. Gods, Sun looked petrified, reminding him of the early days when Eclipse first emerged, how his brother had been terrified of what the new AI in his head could do to him. Before he’d died, his twin had been on a warpath, hellbent on murdering both Eclipse and Killcode… just to protect Moon.

Where had his brother’s fire gone in the time he’d been dead? Just what had this family done to him to snuff it out so completely? Though… he supposed it wasn’t completely gone, was it? He’d seen those last dying embers reignite on the dock, when Sun had roared in anger against his sister, all in Moon’s defence. His fire might’ve been blown away shortly after, but it was proof that the brother that the scientist remembered was still in there somewhere. His confidence wasn’t gone, just buried beneath layers of hurt and mistreatment.

And judging from how wholly Sun shut down from the angry screaming on the other side of the door, he had a good feeling he knew who the major cause of all this was. Narrowing his eyes at the incessant pounding on the door, Moon abruptly turned back to the bed and told Sun, “We’re going to Foxy’s. Gather whatever you need.”

The other’s commanding tone seemed to snap the daycare attendant out of whatever spiral his mind had been in, a meek nod answering before he got off the bed on shaky legs. A few things were haphazardly thrown into a bag before Moon found himself holding his other half close, a lance of pain going through his mechanical heart at hearing those bright rays rattle around in their housings from the shakes the other was experiencing.

With a grim expression, Moon ignored the additional voices at the door as he called up the portal, allowing them to disappear without ever having to face the others. Instead, they appeared just outside an eerily familiar home, the lunar model still not understanding how their houses looked so similar. Maybe he could convince Foxy to repaint the outside at least? Just… something to make it feel like he wasn’t just walking into the exact same house they just fled from.

Given that it was the middle of the day on a Monday, nobody was home when they arrived. Still, the weather was relatively clear, and there was no way in hell they were going to go back to Nexus’ place to wait for Foxy. So the two of them instead sat on the front porch, with Sun eventually crawling into his lap to rest while Moon just held him close. His twin was silent the entire time, a far away look in his eyes that the blue-toned bot didn’t like. But there was nothing he could really do at the moment besides hold his brother, so that’s what he did.

That was how Foxy found them when he came home with FC in tow, the twins curled up together in front of his house. The old pirate hadn’t said a word at first, merely sighed before gesturing for the pair to follow him in. The lunar model hated that he had to disturb his brother, who had clearly been both physically and emotionally exhausted by the fight with Earth, but he wasn’t really strong enough to carry his twin so he’d unfortunately have to walk in on his own.

All it took was one concerned glance from FC for Sun to slip on a smile, asking if his new little brother had any shows he wanted to watch or to tell him what happened today in the daycare. While even FC seemed to sense that Sun was putting on an act, the little fox hesitantly asked if he wanted to watch Bluey together, and the two of them wandered off to do just that.

“I hate when he does that,” Foxy sighed as the two other animatronics disappeared, when Moon just raised a brow at his comment, the other added, “When Sun pretends like nothing’s wrong for the sake of those he cares about. I hate it, it’s not healthy to suppress emotions like that.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” the blue-toned bot sighed, leaning against a nearby wall. “But it’s not like Sun’s gonna just turn that off, especially not around FC. It’s hard enough getting him to drop the act at home so that everybody doesn’t just assume he’s getting better.”

A bark of scornful laughter came from the smaller bot as he opened the fridge, pulling out a pair of amber drinks before gesturing for Moon to join him as he went outside. “Can’t believe they think it’s that easy to heal the kind of hurt the kid’s got. Do I even wanna know why he was crying today?”

The pair of them sat in a couple of folding chairs, with Foxy letting out a genuine snort of laughter as the lankier robot tried to sit down in a chair not built for his height. Using his hook as a bottle opener, the caps were removed off the drinks before Moon felt the cold beer be pressed into his hands. Should he even drink this? He’d never had alcohol before, what if he was some lightweight? He hesitated for a moment as he stared at the amber liquid, taking a tentative first sip only to make a face. How did people drink this stuff on the regular? But… today seemed like as good of a day as any to drink, considering he’d already gone past the point of ‘fuck it’. Sighing as he forced that first proper sip down, he looked over at the other animatronic, simply muttering, “Earth happened. Glad I eavesdropped on their little therapy session today… if you could even call it that. She tried suggesting that Sun do exposure therapy with meat, then got all pissy when he said no. Then she insinuated that I was controlling and abusing him, that I hadn’t changed at all, and Sun snapped. Told her off good too.”

“Glad he finally said something to her,” Foxy grumbled in between sips. “Her comments always rubbed me the wrong way. Not surprised he did it when she started attacking you though, kid talks about ya like ya hung the stars for him.” Moon’s eyes widened at that, staring at the older animatronic in shock. Foxy just laughed at his reaction. “Ya seem surprised.”

“Well, nobody on this planet has hurt him more than me,” Moon sighed.

“Nobody has loved him more, either. Like to think I’m a close second, but I can see how much ya care for him. It’s in yer eyes whenever you’re looking at him.” The lunar model couldn’t help but avert his gaze at that, unsure how he felt about being read so easily. “I take it Sun’s confidence didn’t last long?”

“Yeah… Earth got pissed when Sun pointed out that Monty was just as bad as I was and just as much of an abuser to him. Took the wind out of his sails pretty quick, and I had to step in. Told her in no uncertain terms that she’d never be his therapist again, and if I had my way she’d never see him again either.”

“Glad to hear the kid’s finally got someone in his corner in that damn house. You look like you have more you want to say on the matter though.”

Frowning, Moon felt his grip on the bottle in his hands tighten, the glass creaking just a bit. “I think we should move out of that house,” he finally said, feeling like he could be honest with Foxy. “It’s obvious that Sun’s not comfortable living in the same house as Eclipse, and nothing besides the cats really feels like Sun in there anyways. Hell, I had to decorate his room for him for that space to even feel like his.”

“He’s been wanting to move out fer a while,” Foxy admitted, causing the lunar model to look over at him. “Apparently Nexus took issue with it every time the subject came up, and it always devolved into an argument.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to be the one to pull the trigger,” Moon sighed, growing to hate Sun’s family the more he learned about them. Sun had been trying to live a healthier life, and yet he was stymied at every single choice because his family didn’t like this or that for whatever reason. Gods, it just made him so angry.

Foxy just nodded in agreement, taking a long sip from his drink before saying, “If ya do end up moving him out, make sure he’s involved in the process. Think it was always a sore spot fer him that Nexus went ahead and chose the home he did without taking Sun’s preferences into consideration… though I s’pose, to be fair, Nexus hadn’t really been around long enough to know those preferences. Still could’ve asked though, and should’ve put him on title if the house was really fer the both of them.”

The scientist just blinked a couple times, sighing as he turned his gaze out to the sea. “Honestly I never would’ve thought of that, thanks. Can see why he was willing to call you family.”

“Heh, a dad’s gotta look out for his kid,” the older animatronic chuckled, finishing the rest of his beer before gently patting Moon on the shoulder with his hook. “And since yer the one looking after him, I s’pose I can extend the same privilege to ya.” Moon’s head snapped over so quickly, certain he’d misheard the fox, but Foxy only chuckled. “Ya don’t have to call me Dad or nothing, but if ya ever need advice or a place to stay, you come right on over. Even if it’s something as simple as picking something Sun might like, I’ll try to help as best I can. Won’t promise to have all the answers, but I’ll do what I can to help that boy smile again.”

That sentiment thoroughly warmed the scientist’s heart, leaving him smiling softly as he nodded. “Thanks Foxy, I’m glad he has someone like you in his life.”

“The feeling’s mutual, kid. Ya might be a bit rough around the edges compared to Sun, but you’ve got heart, and as a wise daycare attendant once showed me, you care. And sometimes, that’s enough.”

“Yep, that sounds like his sappy ass,” Moon chuckled, finishing off his drink before standing. “I should probably go deal with the spectacular shit storm that’s waiting at Nexus’ though. The longer I put that off, the worse it’ll get. Ya mind keeping an eye on Sun for me?”

Foxy just chuckled, taking the other’s bottle away to dispose of. “It’s never a problem to watch over him; if anything, I get the better end of the deal as Sun helps me take care of FC. You go deal with that mess, and I’ll see if I can keep my boys out of trouble ‘til this all blows over.”

Nodding his appreciation, Moon watched as the older animatronic went back inside, the door closing softly behind him. He wasn’t looking forward to this, but Moon wasn’t going to let Sun go home until this was dealt with. Then, if he had some time left over, he could start looking into real estate listings. Because Sun was not staying in that toxic household any longer, not if he had anything to say about it. Bracing himself, Moon set down a portal back to Nexus’ place, prepared to walk right into the midst of whatever storm Eclipse had kicked up since they’d been gone. He felt his fingers tighten into fists, claws creaking against the metal of his palms. Hopefully he wouldn’t be needing violence to get his point across.

“Why the fuck do you have a drill?” These were not the first words Moon expected to say, but they were nonetheless as he came inside only to find a small crowd gathered upstairs. And in Nexus’ hands were a drill, the bit poised to chew through the brand new lock that Moon had installed. Yep… it was going to be a shitshow.

“Moon?!” Nexus all but dropped the drill as he was startled by the other lunar model’s presence, his head whipping almost comically between Moon and the door. It would’ve been funny were it not for the seething eclipse model hovering nearby. “Where’s Sun?! You two weren’t answering and we were getting worried…”

“So you were going to drill the lock out and bust in?!” He couldn’t help but blink at the leap in logic that was, looking to Eclipse and Nexus as if to guess what their logic was. “First off, total invasion of privacy. Second, I took Sun away the moment the grumpy spider started banging on the door.” He didn’t dare say where he’d taken Sun, just in case Eclipse got any bright ideas about hunting him down.

Gritting his teeth at the spider comment, Eclipse just made a show of standing tall to look imposing. “Well then, why don’t you scurry off and grab him so we can all chat about what happened?”

“No.” The simple answer seemed to stun the pair, both looking at Moon in surprise. “I was right there, so if you wanna bitch and complain, then you can say it to me, but I’m not subjecting Sun to whatever bullshit you wanna spew.”

Before Eclipse could growl out whatever he wanted to say, Nexus physically stepped between the two, effectively blocking line of sight. “Please Moon, we just wanna make sure he’s okay. Earth said he wasn’t doing well after their session.”

“Uh-huh, and did she say why it didn’t end well?” The other lunar model shook his head, mumbling something about confidentiality that left the older bot scoffing. “Figures, she seems like the type to hide her mistake like that.”

While he wasn’t surprised to hear Eclipse snarling, he was a little caught off guard when Nexus’ face instantly darkened. “Moon, I’d tread very carefully if I were you. That’s my sister you’re talking about.”

Taking a second to school his own features and collect his thoughts, Moon felt a wave of apathy wash away some of the anger he was feeling. It wasn’t too bad yet, and even seemed to be helping him keep calm, so for once he was glad for the usually unpleasant side effect of his and Sun’s messy separation. “Nexus, I will say this as objectively as I can. Earth is the reason Sun was so distraught, and it’ll probably be a good thing if I don’t see or hear her for the next while. Otherwise I don’t know what I’ll do.”

“Is that a threat?” Eclipse hissed, looking like he was trying to make himself bigger and more intimidating as he stepped closer.

But Moon didn’t even flinch, regarding him coolly as he clarified, “Not a threat… a promise.” He paused for a moment, seeing the younger lunar model in front of him grow visibly nervous at his words. “A promise that extends to anyone who hurts my twin. So for your own safety, I suggest you all stop treating him like a trophy to be shown off and instead actually give a damn about his health.”

“We do care!” Nexus insisted, his pink optics darkening with unshed tears. “Moon, I love him as much as you-”

“Stop!” The growl in the other lunar model’s voice silenced the younger one in an instant, gaze widening as he took in how the other’s frame trembled slightly with restraint. “Don’t… Don’t say that. There’s no way you could ever love him as much as I do. He is my everything, my other half. Our bond is something that you can’t possibly understand, and I will give my life if need be to protect him.” Neither of the two spoke up, giving Moon a chance to calm himself again with a couple of deep breaths.

Once he felt his features slip back into a familiar neutral state, he forced his hands to relax from where they’d clenched at his sides and finally regarded the pair in front of him. “I don’t doubt that you love him, but either you’re blind to how toxic your own family is, or you’re just as guilty as they are. Fuck, Sun isn’t even allowed to defend himself without one of you crawling down his throat and stealing his voice away. All it took this time was one example of Earth’s hypocrisy, and she thoroughly stamped out what little confidence he managed to muster.” Nexus looked like he was going to contest Moon’s claims, yet one look from the older animatronic managed to silence him. He’d let Sun get into details if he so chose; it wasn’t his place to say exactly what was said.

Moon took one step closer, ignoring the posturing of Nexus’ boyfriend beside them as he regarded the taller bot. “I died so that you could take my place and be better for him. Be a brother that never hurt him. Don’t make my death meaningless.” He could practically see his words strike the other like an arrow, hearing Nexus gasp softly as Moon turned away. “I’ll bring him back tomorrow morning. There will not be any form of inquisition of forced apologies, or I will take him away again. You will all treat him with the respect and care that he is owed, or you will not be a part of his life, end of story.” And with that, Moon walked downstairs, already calling up a portal as he heard Nexus burst into tears and Eclipse calling after him. He came back to make a point of the lengths he was willing to go to protect Sun, and he felt as if he’d accomplished that.

As he stepped onto the path leading up to Foxy’s house, a sudden wave of weakness overcame the lunar model as he braced himself against a tree and gasped for air. Looking at his trembling hands, Moon grit his teeth as he tried to will his fans to calm down. It seemed that the burst of anger he’d experienced hadn’t quite left his systems, but it was clear it wasn’t alone. There was a strange sense of grief, anxiety, and heartbreak that made themselves known now that he was closer to Sun again, causing him to slide against the rough bark as he sat on the sandy soil for a moment.

He really did give up everything to give Sun a better life, but… this wasn’t how he expected his sacrifice to turn out. While it was clear that Nexus and Lunar both loved Sun and cared about him, one seemed to be clueless about how much damage he was doing, and the other… well, he suspected that Lunar’s involvement in Sun’s downfall was a non-negligible amount, even if his little brother had been the one lobbying for Moon’s return. Lunar was far from the innocent child he portrayed himself as, prone to bouts of apathy or selfishness that could’ve contributed to this mess. Hell, maybe Lunar called for Moon’s revival out of guilt for his hand in events.

The point was, nobody was innocent despite their claims of love. He doubted that they’d been malicious about their neglect and abuse, but putting a pretty bandaid over a festering wound didn’t clean away the rot. It wasn’t like Moon was in any position to correct their behaviour though, considering that in many respects, he’d been worse. Maybe Foxy would know what to do? The old animatronic had taken Sun in like one of his own, and Sun clearly trusted him.

Sighing as he came to accept that this was his only idea, Moon pushed himself to his feet now that the anxiety he’d felt earlier had eased off. If Foxy didn’t have any answers, then he’d find someone that did. He built an interdimensional portal, for crying out loud, so he could find the answers on how to fix this mess.

“Hey, it’s just me,” he called out as Moon let himself in, only looking up when he heard steps rapidly approaching him. It gave him time to brace as a teary-eyed Sun collided with him, hugging the sunny animatronic back as his twin practically buried his face in Moon’s shoulder. “Sun? Everything alright?”

A mumbled sob of an answer was given, one that he couldn’t understand. For a moment he just held Sun close, trying to project the same comfort he used to give him in their shared mindspace. He visualized his code wrapping around Sun’s body, holding him tightly until his twin started to relax a bit. Only then did he pull back a touch, enough to put a small gap between his chest and Sun’s so that his voice box could be heard more clearly. “I have a mom now,” came through on the second try, the gap quickly being closed again as Sun tried to minimize the space between them as much as possible.

Confused and a little alarmed by his other half’s meltdown, he looked behind him to see a black and white figure making her way over. “That would be my fault,” she chuckled as she set a gentle hand on Sun’s back. “I was already kind of the wine mom friend, so I figured, why not just be his mom too? I mean, Foxy’s already his dad, so I just threw the idea out there. He… hasn’t stopped crying since. I think I broke him.”

Part of Moon’s brain was screaming about the fact that a tiktok thot had adopted his brother, someone that he had never met before as far as he could recall. The other part though pointed out that Sun had welcomed her as a mother-figure, so he should be nice. “Uh… who are you?” Welp… nice-ish. Nice by his standards at least.

“Oh yeah, I guess we never got a chance to be properly introduced. The name’s Puppet. Me and Foxy are kinda a thing, hence the whole ‘adopting his adopted son’ idea. So uh… yeah. Nice to meetcha, Moon. Don’t believe Foxy if he says I’m a nuisance. Also, what is your opinion on anime?”

Okay… Sun’s new mom was… a lot. “Uh… anime’s cool, I guess. I like some shows.” The snort from his twin combined with the gleam in Puppet’s eyes told him that his answer was either a good way to gain favour with the strange woman, or he just opened a can of worms that he shouldn’t have. “We’re doing an anime marathon now, aren’t we?”

“Oh, you know it! You’ve been, y’know, dead for a while, so we’ve gotta catch you up on everything you missed! C’mon Sun, let him go so we can get our anime on!”

His twin did pull away a bit, showing a watery smile that brought a grin to Moon’s face. “We’re doomed, aren’t we?” He whispered to the other daycare model, earning a snicker as they followed behind Puppet.

“Totally. Prepare for one hell of a binge fest.”

Morning came upon the house with Sun slumped against his twin, still slumbering where he’d dozed off during their little marathon. Moon hadn’t lasted much longer honestly, falling asleep pinned to the couch. While he’d likely have a stiff neck later, it was worth it to see his brother so at peace.

That peace lasted until FC woke up, and Moon was instantly reminded of why he’d given up trying to help out with the daycare. He just was not equipped for the level of energy that children possessed, and he felt like this one in particular was worse than the kids he remembered from the daycare. Seriously, this kid was running around like he’d just drank a cup of coffee.

“Brother Sun! Brother Sun! Wake up!” FC cheered as he dashed into the lounge, giving absolutely no warning before vaulting into the laps of the twin daycare attendants. Sun was definitely awake after that, letting out a scream and whipping his head around before giggles drew his gaze downward.

Pouting as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, Sun fixed him with as stern of a look as he could muster in his current state. “FC, what have I told you about jumping on people? One of these days you’re going to catch someone off guard and seriously hurt them if they’re not ready for you.”

“But you are so strong? You always carry me! I bet you could carry Father!” The child could not be dissuaded from his choice of actions, bouncing on Sun’s lap while Moon struggled to extricate himself from the pile of metal limbs.

Sun just smiled sadly at his little brother’s logic, gently petting his head while subtly scooping the small animatronic off of the lunar model. “I’m not always going to be strong enough, FC. Even adults have days where they don’t feel very strong, or days where you need to be extra gentle with them. We can get hurt, just like you can. Do you understand, little buddy?”

While FC didn’t look like he believed the daycare attendant, he did give a somewhat solemn nod in understanding. “Okay. And when you not strong enough, I will come and carry mountains for you! And Bluey will help!” He proudly displayed the worn plush, causing Sun to chuckle a bit as he booped Bluey on the nose in thanks.

Eventually, the trio made their way downstairs, the smell of fresh pancakes wafting up the stairs and causing FC to start cheering before running off. “Is he… always like this?” Moon asked as he watched the child practically disappear.

His other half just snorted and shook his head. “More or less. He’s a kid, Moon. Kids and their energy defy the laws of physics.”

“I’m now being reminded of why you were always so tired after the day was done.” Sighing, the two entered the kitchen to find Foxy already cooking, with Puppet standing nearby nursing a cup of coffee. “Morning.”

Before Foxy could get out any sort of greeting, Puppet huffed and pointed a finger accusingly at the pair. “You two fell asleep on me! I didn’t even notice and now I have no idea where we’ll have to restart from!”

“Sue me,” was all Moon said in response at first, heading straight for the coffee that he had discovered was secretly the nectar of the gods when drank first thing in the morning. Once he had some in his system, he felt a little more alert and able to respond. “The last thing I remember watching was some guy eating bugs out of armour.”

“I don’t remember that, I must’ve fallen asleep earlier,” Sun sighed as he encouraged FC to wash up before diving into his pancakes. “I… think they were trying to figure out how to harvest the mandrakes? Does that sound right?”

“You guys fell asleep that far back?!” Puppet looked absolutely bewildered that these were the last things the twins could recall. “I finished the whole season and started another show! Sun, you fell asleep during the second episode! We might as well rewatch all of Dungeon Meshi at this point!”

“Oh, quit yer whining,” Foxy grumbled, flicking some raw batter at his girlfriend. “You’ve watched that show how many times now? You’re just looking for an excuse to watch it again, you weeb.” The fox’s expression shifted to a smile as he brought over a few plates of pancakes, sliding on in front of FC before serving the twins theirs. “As for you two, any plans today or are you gonna let Puppet bully ya into watching more shows with her?”

While Sun helped his little brother put butter and syrup on his breakfast, Moon just sighed over his cup of coffee. “I promised Nexus that I’d bring Sun back home this morning, so I guess we’re heading back.” Everyone ignored Puppet whining and complaining in the background while she tried to get batter out of her hair.

A huff of frustration came from the older model as he went back to cooking the rest of the batter up. “Dunno why you’d make such a promise, not with all the stupid stunts they’ve been pulling.”

“Eh, I did promise them things would get ugly or I’d take Sun away again if they kept mistreating him.”

“I love it when people talk about me like I’m not here,” the solar model grumbled, cutting into his own breakfast with more force than was necessary. Glaring up at his twin, Moon couldn’t help but flinch a bit under the heat of the other’s gaze. “Moon, I appreciate that you’re trying to protect me, but I am a grown adult who can decide where I do and don’t want to go. You can’t just dangle me in front of my family like a toy I would tease my cats with. If I want to go home, then I will go home. If I don’t, I won’t. End of story.”

Okay, that strong stance caught him off guard completely if he was being honest. But… it made him proud to see Sun stand up for himself, even if it was against Moon. As such, he was quick to surrender, holding up his hands. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be putting words in your mouth, and I’ll try to avoid doing so again.”

It was painful to see the momentary look of shock on his twin’s face, the other so used to having his own wishes trampled that he wasn’t used to someone acquiescing when Sun was arguably in the right. “Okay then, would you like to go home this morning? If not, I’ll come up with some excuse and we can stay here for more anime or head out, your choice.” Moon tried to look as genuine as possible as he said this, not wanting it to be mistaken as sarcasm or coming with some ulterior motive like his family might employ.

Sun took a moment to actually think over his answer, enjoying a mouthful of his breakfast as he did so. Eventually he let out a sigh as he pushed a piece of pancake around the plate. “Well, you told Nexus I’d be back, and I don’t want to make a liar out of you. Gods know they already don’t have the greatest trust in you. Let’s just… head back after breakfast. There’s nothing saying we have to stay the whole day.”

“Exactly! Which means you can come back and finish Dungeon Meshi with me!” Puppet chimed in with a grin, though her eyes gave away the joking nature of her comment.

Shaking his head playfully, Moon turned his head back to his own breakfast and started to eat. The rest of the meal passed relatively peacefully, the only problem being when FC got too excited telling his outlandish tale and ended up knocking over his drink onto the table. Between Foxy and Sun though, the mess was quickly dealt with and the child was told to watch where he’s swinging his hands. But it was still a much better environment in his mind than the emotional minefield that was Nexus’ place.

“You sure you two don’t wanna stay here and keep me company today?” Puppet asked as Foxy and FC went off to get ready for work and the daycare respectively. “I’m sure I’ve gotta be more fun to hang out with.”

“Hmm… tempting, but no. Sun already made up his mind, and I’m not gonna try and change it,” Moon chuckled, watching Sun start to clear the table and rinse the dishes while Foxy was busy.

Puppet just shrugged at his answer, though there was a strange sharpness to her gaze. Almost like she could see something that he couldn’t. “Eh, can’t blame a girl for trying. Whatever, you two are always free to come hide here if they get to be too much.” The lunar model nodded in thanks for the offer, hoping that he wouldn’t have to use it. He didn’t miss the way her eyes lingered on Sun though, Puppet’s casual tone doing nothing to hide the clear worry in her gaze.

The twins stayed long enough to say goodbye to Foxy and FC, Sun thanking the former while making the latter promise to be good for Lunar and Earth today. With that they were off,  the warmth of Foxy’s home still clinging to them, but Moon couldn’t shake the words that had been spoken to him. It gave him a sense of dread as the two of them stepped through the window, and judging by the shrill screeching that greeted them when they arrived, he was right to worry.

Black smoke billowed out of the windows as the fire alarm sounded, prompting the pair to run inside to see what was going on. The scene that greeted them was absolute chaos though, and Moon was already regretting the two of them leaving Foxy’s. Solar was screaming and cursing in front of a flaming stove top, working quickly to extinguish the flames of the grease fire that had started. Eclipse was opening windows and turning on fans, while Nexus was busy herding the terrified cats downstairs. But the strangest of all was… it looked like a moon model that was perched on the counter, but like a Halloween version with knives for fingers. The smaller moon model was busy cutting away at something, the smoke too thick to tell exactly what they were doing. But apparently they were oblivious to the fire and its dangers, too focused on their task to pay attention.

“Sun! Thank goodness you’re back!” Nexus cried as he rushed over, ignoring Moon for the most part. “We could really use your help right about now!”

“My help?” Sun asked, looking around in confusion. “I don’t- what is even going on here? Why is Jack here?”

Nexus blinked a couple times, looking between the twins and the pair in the kitchen with a facial expression that told the both of them that the purple bot had screwed up somehow. “U-Uh… long story short, um… Jack k-kinda called Solar his father yesterday. We then realized he’s kinda become sentient, and Solar didn’t want to leave him behind, and Jack asked to stay with his dad, so we… k-kinda moved him in last night?” Nexus paused long enough to look sheepish at that admission, but not enough for either twin to really process the addition of another person to the house. “And then this happened this morning and we don’t know how to get him to stop and you’re kinda the only one here that knows how to really handle kids… Jack is basically the mental age of a five year old, we think.”

“You moved him in?” Moon asked, incredulous, his eye twitching a bit from the absurdity of it all. “Where did you even put him?”

“W-Well… you weren’t really using the guest bedroom, so we kinda put him in there,” Nexus chuckled awkwardly, looking like they wanted to crawl into a hole and die as they admitted to kicking Moon out of his unofficial room. “I-I mean, you haven’t used it once, you’ve just slept in Sun’s room every night, so we figured you wouldn’t mind.”

Before he could say something on how insulting that was, movement on his side caught his attention. Turning, he found Sun walking into the chaos of the kitchen, utterly silent in his movements. It was… almost eerie the way his twin was moving, void of his usual sway and life, his movements more robotic than they should’ve been. Every movement seemed calculated, and it left a knot of dread forming in Moon’s core. As he approached the thing- Jack, on the counter, a hand darted out to still the strange animatronic’s movements. “Jack. What are you doing on my counter?” Even his voice was unsettling, soft in tone yet able to be heard over the screeching of the fire alarm.

“I am cooking breakfast for Father!” Jack replied, grinning in a way that was both menacing and somewhat cute.

Despite the unnerving way the daycare attendant was acting, he was still calm and gentle with the childlike robot. “I can see that. But you shouldn’t cut food in the pan, as it damages the coating. Use a cutting board instead.” There was only the slightest twitch of his rays as Sun scooped up the mangled contents of the pan, and Moon realized with a sickening dread that the food in question had been steak. Yet the solar model didn’t even flinch as he set the raw, bloody beef onto a clean cutting board before pulling out a knife. “Your dagger fingers aren’t the best for cutting meat cleanly it seems. Let’s try a kitchen knife instead next time. They’re made for this, while your daggers are built for protecting others.”

Sure enough, the kid’s fingers were sharp, almost serrated blades, forming a grisly sight with the blood and bits of meat clinging to them now. But Jack seemed undeterred by the state of his hands, just beaming a smile at Sun. “Okay! I will use a knife now!” Bloody fingers reached for the knife in Sun’s grip, yet golden fingers gently stopped their advance, causing the Halloween bot to look at him in confusion.

Smiling softly at him, Sun gestured to his hands, and then the kitchen as a whole. “We need two things before we can cook: clean hands, and a clean kitchen. Right now we don’t have either of those though, so I’m afraid you’ll have to wait to try cooking another time. Why don’t you go wash up in your bathroom, and maybe you can help your dad pick a place to order breakfast from instead?”

The innocent little bot nodded, hopping off the counter and scurrying off to the guest bedroom to wash up. By that point Solar had managed to get the fire put out and Eclipse had successfully ventilated the house, causing the fire alarm to go silent once more. The quiet was almost deafening in the aftermath of the chaos, and as he watched Sun calmly grab a piece of paper towel to wipe his hands clean, Moon had a bad feeling.

That bad feeling was almost instantly verified as Nexus came into the kitchen, all smiles. “Wow, that was so impressive, Sun! I knew you’d be able to handle whatever Jack threw at you!”

“Yeah, you managed to get him to stop faster than all three of us could,” Solar chuckled, though he grimaced as he looked back at the mess behind him. “Never knew a kid would be so hard to keep an eye on. But luckily we’ve got an expert in the house that can help us-”

“Out.” The single word silenced the two jovial animatronics, both freezing at the ice in Sun’s voice. “Get. Out.”

“Get out?” Solar asked, confused and looking a little hurt by the other’s tone.

“I need to clean up your mess. So get out of my kitchen,” the yellow bot practically hissed, his body tense as if ready to strike. Moon didn’t like how he saw Sun’s hand wrap around the handle of the knife again, unsure how this was all going to go.

Apparently, it was all going to go to hell because Eclipse thought it was a great idea to stick his nose in, apparently all upset by how Sun was speaking to his partners. “Since when did this become your kitchen?” He grumbled from across the room, busy shutting the windows again. “Just let us help, it’ll go faster that way.”

“I don’t need your help, I can do it myself,” Sun insisted, turning his back on the rest of the household as if to signify that he was done with this conversation. “Get. Out. Of my. Kitchen.”

“It’s not your kitchen!” Eclipse shouted at his back, throwing both sets of hands up in exasperation.

That apparently was the straw that broke the camel’s back as Sun whipped around and screamed, “And it’s not your house, but you sure act like it is! Or is your name on the fucking title now?!”

Once again, a heavy silence filled the air, the only sound being the roaring of Sun’s fans and the distant sound of water running from where Jack had run off to. But both twins noticed how none of the others would look Sun in the eye, the solar model blinking a couple times before his face twisted in rage. “Are you fucking kidding me, Nexus?”

“I-It’s not like that-” the purple bot tried, only to jump back as a knife embedded in the floor mere inches from where he’d been, the force of the throw enough that two thirds of the blade had vanished into the flooring. And as their gaze travelled the line of trajectory, all four animatronics found Sun with a look of murderous rage.

“It’s not like that?” Sun cocked his head to the side, his voice returning to that eerie calm that Moon now recognized as suppressed rage. It… made him think of Eclipse, honestly. “Because what I see is a fucking betrayal. So tell me, why is it not like that? Why, when you originally bought this house for us, yet never thought to put me on the deed, did you put your fucking boyfriends on title, hmm? Give them all the authority I never had?”

Sun’s hand slipped into the still open drawer, retrieving another knife. And with how accurate Sun was with ranged weapons, he only missed that first throw on purpose. If they pushed him to throw the second one, Moon doubted that the daycare attendant would miss twice. “I’m going to say this once more. Everyone. Out.” As Nexus moved to reach out for him, tears building in their optics, everyone jumped when the knife was whipped around and pointed at them. “Touch me, and I start sharpening the kitchen knives on your casings.”

Apparently that was enough to get everyone to back off, Solar tugging Nexus close as he ushered him away from the fuming yellow bot. Eclipse was quick to wrap the both of them up in an embrace, glaring back at Sun but ushering the trio into Jack’s new room before they could push Sun too far. The second they were gone, the knife in Sun’s hand was stabbed into the nearby cutting board with enough force to go through the slab of wood, causing even Moon to jump back. Instead of moving in, the scientist held back, standing at the edge of the kitchen and watching his brother start gathering pans.

Instead of taking them to the sink though, the armload of pots and pans were all dumped in the trash before the ruined piece of meat was flung in there via spatula. Once things stopped flying, the nighttime attendant decided to sate his curiosity and see why Sun had deemed the pans unsalvageable. The first one he pulled out was the one that Jack had been cutting into, deep gouges and score marks carved into the metal that would thoroughly ruin the non-stick coating. The ones below had been subjected to the fire, a bit of ash coating them as their handles had melted and the colours burnt away. But all it took was a little rubbing to remove the coat of grime, revealing that every single pan that had been tossed had been yellow.

That’s why Sun was so mad; these had been his pans, the ones Moon had got for him to ensure he had meat-free cooking implements to use. And between the fire, Jack cutting into them, and the meat that had started the fire, all of them were wrecked. Moon didn’t know what to say at first, stepping back from the garbage to see his other half furiously scrubbing at the soot and grease now caked onto the stovetop. His heart broke a little the moment he saw black liquid splash against a clean spot, restaining the white surface and causing the yellow animatronic to pause and just stare at it. The cloth moved to clean at the blemish, only to smear it against the enamel coating, as if refusing to disappear like the rest of the mess.

Moon took that as his cue to come to the other’s side, grabbing a fresh piece of paper towel and cleaning up the tear mark before gently daubing at Sun’s face to catch the other stray tears. “I’ll order you some more pans,” he offered lamely, unsure what else he could say or do in that moment.

Sun just let out a watery huff of laughter, shaking his head slightly. “What’s the point? They didn’t stop Jack from ruining them this time, they won’t stop him from ruining them again. Gods, I can’t even get mad at Jack because he doesn’t know any better…” A sob escaped as Sun’s attempts to control his emotions crumbled, his legs giving out shortly after with Moon gently guiding him to the floor. “They’re the ones in the wrong, right? So why do I feel so bad for yelling at them?”

“Because you’re too nice for your own good,” the lunar model sighed as he held the other close, feeling Sun shudder with each sob in his arms. “They had it coming, Sun. If you hadn’t said anything, I would’ve. You don’t deserve this.”

“Then why does it keep happening to me?” Milky optics rimmed in oily tears stared up at him, rays rattling from stress and sadness. “I-I’m gonna have to go back to pretending I-I’m okay again… Jack is b-basically a kid, a-and I’m the only one that knows how to care for one-”

A cobalt finger gently hushed the lighter twin, crimson optics staring at him with utter seriousness. “They will figure it out on their own, or they can ask Lunar or Earth for help. Hell, they can take him to the daycare, but you shouldn’t be made responsible for caring for him. They didn’t even give you the courtesy of waiting until today and asking you about moving him in, only thinking about themselves and their happy little family. So I think it’s time we start doing the same.”

“You’re planning something,” Sun immediately noticed, straightening a bit as his tears slowed.

Moon nodded, not planning to lie on something like this. “I was gonna make this more of a surprise, but after this shitshow, I think you need to hear this. I’m thinking we should move out.” He gave his words a moment to sink in, carefully watching the other’s face to judge his reactions. The moment he saw even a hint of unhappiness or discomfort, he’d give Sun the option to veto the idea. “You’re not happy here, and you won’t get better here, either. Not with Eclipse looming over you like a shadow, not with Jack throwing everything into chaos, and not with Nexus looking like a kicked puppy every time you’re not in the mood to talk with him. You need your own place where you feel secure, not somewhere where you feel like the floor is made of eggshells.”

For a moment, Sun just stared at him in shocked silence. Then a tentative smile crossed his face, wobbling slightly as his tears started up again. “I-I think I’d like that a lot.”

“Then it’s settled,” Moon assured him, once again wiping at the fresh tears. “Tomorrow we can start looking at property listings to find a place that’ll make you happy. But for today, why don’t I help you clean this up and we go take Puppet up on that offer to watch Dungeon Meshi?” A wet chuckle escaped his twin as Sun nodded, the pair moving to stand up and get to work cleaning up the rest of the disaster that had been left in Jack’s wake. And all they left was a note as they finished up, one that said they wouldn’t be back again today. Because honestly, Moon was scared that Sun wouldn’t be able to handle another episode like that without doing something he’d regret.

It was starting to remind him of how Sun had acted leading up to Moon’s death, and the thought was a terrifying one.

Chapter Text

“So… what do you want in a house?” Moon asked as the two of them huddled close to Sun’s pc, the lunar twin taking the lead while Sun had a lap full of Muffin.

It was a simple question, really. But it meant the world to the daycare attendant, even as he struggled to come up with anything concrete on what he wanted. Humming, Sun thought over the various issues he had with this house, as well as the few things he liked about it. “I… I don’t want to be on the beach again, I hate cleaning sand out of my feet. But… I also really like the dock, it’s so relaxing to just dip my feet in the water and enjoy the sounds of the waves hitting the shore.” Crap, there he went, contradicting himself with his first idea. Now Moon would scoff at him and call him stupid and-

“Okay, how about a lakeside property?” His twin’s question snapped him out of his spiralling thoughts, head darting back up from where it had fallen moments prior. Moon smiled softly as he adjusted the search parameters on the real estate listings, watching as the website updated and streamlined the available houses. “Unless they’ve been modified into a man-made beach, most lakes have sticks and stones along the way instead of sand, which shouldn’t be nearly as frustrating for our joints. I’m sure we can find one with some sort of pier or dock that you can use too.”

“But… isn’t lakefront property pretty expensive?” Sun asked, feeling bad that his request already upped their required budget significantly.

A scoff came from the blue-toned bot, Moon shaking his head in such a way that the bell on his hat jingled. “Sun, the money isn’t a concern. Between my tech and dimensions of infinite wealth, the budget can be whatever the hell we want it to be. Besides, we’re currently on a private island, so I think a lakefront home with a dock is going to be a bit less expensive.”

“I… guess you have a point,” he chuckled, a bit embarrassed by his concerns now that Moon had spelled it out for him. “Okay, what do you want in a house? Probably a big space for you to have a lab.”

“Meh, I think I’ve got some properties already that would work better for a lab,” Moon shrugged, scrolling through the various listings. “Honestly I’m happy enough with the no beach thing, so we both agree on that one. Your turn.” When Sun went to protest, he was simply shushed by his twin. “You said no beach, and I agreed. I got to have my input heard, so it’s your turn.”

Huffing at his brother’s stubbornness, the solar model wound his fingers in the fur of his docile cat to soothe his nerves, trying to think of something else. “Mmm… maybe some space for a garden? Everything here came professionally landscaped and maintained, so I never got any sort of say over how it looked.” He would’ve loved to see more colouful flowers interspersed with all the greenery, wanting the place to seem brighter and more lively to hopefully brighten his mood a bit.

Nodding, Moon once again adjusted his search parameters, though frowned at the large number of listings still available. “I think we’re gonna be at this for a while,” he sighed, looking over his shoulder at his twin. “Anything else you can think of right off the bat?”

“Maybe a good-sized kitchen? I like all the space this one has.”

“Cool, we can do that.” The addition of that filter barely shrunk the list though, prompting the two to look at the listings one by one for a bit. Moon added some additional requirements, wanting there to be extra rooms for hobbies or the cats or whatever. But no matter how specific they got, there seemed to be just too many options for them to pick from. “Ugh, okay… real estate listings are officially boring.”

“Why do they all look the same?” Sun whined, shifting in his seat much to Muffin’s annoyance. A couple scritched under the chin soothed the cat though, allowing Sun to regrettably turn his attention back to the screen. He tried again to read through the listings, only to groan and rub at his eyes as he sagged in his seat. “I think I’m gonna go cross-eyed if I look at these any longer.”

“Agreed,” Moon sighed, minimizing the tab and rolling back a bit. “Maybe I’ll set up a computer to analyze all the properties and compile a list of good and bad, then we can pick out some more qualifiers or something.” There was a beat of silence before the scientist’s face lit up, and he spun to face his twin. “In the meantime, why don’t we try building some kind of dream house in minecraft or something? We can load up a ton of mods and go nuts building in creative.”

“Really?” Sun lit up at the idea, remembering that the last time he’d played minecraft, he’d tried to do something similar with Nexus. Only Nexus hadn’t had any interest in creative building until their partners joined them, leaving Sun behind. While the memory felt like ash in his mouth, it didn’t smother the spark of joy he felt. “It’s been a while since I’ve played minecraft; I wonder if some of my favourite mods have been updated.”

“I haven’t played in years, so there’s bound to be new content for me,” Moon snickered, already standing up to stretch.

Sun just snorted and shook his head. “I don’t think the time you were dead really counts.”

“Are you saying that me not playing in years isn’t a factual statement?” the other countered, grinning like he’d won whatever this was. When he turned to the pc though, a frown quickly replaced his expression. “I… never thought to buy myself a laptop or computer.”

“There should be a spare around here if you want, I could grab that one and mine and we could set up in the lounge.” When his other half nodded, Sun moved to stand up, though not without further complaints from his lap warmer. Hopefully Muffin could be soothed with some treats later though, because this was something that he was actually looking forward to and wouldn’t let even his precious cats stop him from enjoying himself.

“How did you do that?” Moon asked as he flew over the partially constructed roof of their house, looking to the shingles in confusion.

Sun just laughed as he brought his brother over to a small machine that closely resembled the vanilla stonecutter. “I used this thingy to make custom blocks from a decoration mod. You can make roof shingles, fancy lights, all kinds of neat blocks.”

“Okay, that’s pretty cool. Way better than using staircases for roofing.” Moon spent a decent moment checking out the various options from the modpack, playing around and creating several customizations as he looked them over. “Yeah, a mod like this definitely makes creative builds more interesting. Don’t know if it’s easier or harder though.”

“It kinda spoils you for choice, huh? Oh! Did you see Cooking for Blockheads? It makes a fully functioning kitchen with floor tiles and everything!”

As he started searching out the blocks in question, his brother chuckled and gently shooed him with his hand. “Alright, I think I’ll leave you in charge of the kitchen then, since you know what you’re doing. I’m gonna play around with this architect’s cutter and see what I can do with the landscaping or something outside.”

The two of them nodded and set to work with their assigned tasks, occasionally checking in with the other on colour preferences or design suggestions. More than once Sun had to go outside and inspect a bunch of Moon’s creations, helping him choose which combination of marble and wood looked the nicest. They worked that way for a while uninterrupted, getting some serious progress done on their build. It was only when they heard a gentle knock on the doorframe to the lounge that they remembered that the twins weren’t home alone.

Nexus stood in the doorway, looking awkward as he looked between the pair staring at him. “Uh… hey! Whatcha… What are you guys up to?”

For a moment, Sun didn’t know what to say. Did he say the truth? That they were building a house to try and figure out what type of house to buy so that they could move out? Yeah, that would go over as well as a lead balloon… When he didn’t answer right away, Moon just casually shot out, “We’re building a house in minecraft. Sun wanted to see what we could build in modded creative.”

“Oh cool! Can I join? Or at least see?” Sun honestly wasn’t used to seeing Nexus this excited lately, but he wasn’t asking how the solar model was feeling or bringing up yesterday, so he gave a silent nod. His little sibling grinned wide as he came over and looked over the twins’ shoulders. “Wow, that looks much nicer than anything I’ve ever built. How did you get the house to have actual shingles?”

“Uh… it’s from a mod,” Sun explained lamely, cursing how his voicebox suddenly felt leaden in comparison to his excitement earlier. When had it gotten so hard to talk with Nexus?

Despite the poor explanation, Nexus just hummed in acknowledgement and continued to watch the pair work. Every so often he’d ask about another aspect of their chosen design, with Moon giving more detailed answers when he understood the mod that was used for that particular area.

Eventually though, it seemed that even Moon’s patience for playing twenty questions, pausing his end of the game to look over his shoulder with a purely unimpressed look. “You uh… gonna tell us the real reason you’re here any time soon?”

Nexus flinched as if struck by the callout, though to their credit they didn’t shy away further. “Heh… should’ve figured you’d catch on. Um… do you two think you could pause the game? It’s- this topic is important to me.”

“It better not be more bullshit about babysitting,” Moon growled as he made a show of setting his laptop aside, gesturing for Nexus to take a seat while Sun set his own computer on the coffee table for now.

As the other lunar model sat down, it was with a pained look on their face as they awkwardly scratched at the back of their head. “No… No, but that was one of the things I wanted to talk about.” Their gaze shifted to Sun, pink eyes full of guilt. “I’m sorry for springing that on you, Sun. Lunar… might’ve drilled into all three of us how dumb we were being, pointed out how it was a repeat of when we tried to give Jack to Lunar in the first place. Our brains just thought of how you love kids, but didn’t even consider if you’d want to take care of one right now.” Their hands reached out to take Sun’s, but when his older brother pulled away, Nexus didn’t push it. “Your mental health is priority number one, no matter what dumb ideas we have. Jack’s sentience caught us by surprise and dumped parenthood of a sort in our laps, but you didn’t build Jack and you’re not responsible for him. I just… want to make it clear that, moving forward, he’s our responsibility, not yours. We’d appreciate any help you can give, but you’re not going to be forced to watch him or anything.”

It was… honestly surprising for his brother to open with an apology, Sun sitting there in stunned silence for a moment. “U-Um… t-thank you,” he stuttered out, unsure what to say as his fingers tugged at the hem of his shirt. “That’s… t-that’s good to hear.” Despite his best efforts, the words rang hollow to his audials, his smile lacking any sort of warmth.

He could practically feel Moon’s gaze burning into his shoulder at the display, and Sun had to fight off the urge to curl inward and hide from everyone. Instead, he tried to put a bit more enthusiasm into his words as he tried again. “Accidents happen, no big deal.” Apparently his show was a flop, judging by how he saw Moon narrow his eyes and shake his head slightly.

Even Nexus didn’t seem convinced, their own smile faltering as they rubbed at their neck. “Sun, you’re allowed to still be mad at us. We screwed up, and we can’t force you to forgive us because you think it’ll make us happy.” That… stung more than his little sibling could ever know, the solar model, hoping that his smile falling would be blamed on the assurance that he didn’t have to forgive them. Instead, all he could think of was Eclipse and that damned apology, the one he never should’ve accepted.

Would this be another one of those scenarios? Ever since he came back, everyone promised that they would be better, but the only ones to really follow through were Moon and to some extent Lunar. Sun wanted to believe in his sibling’s gentle words and kindness, but… Nexus hadn’t really followed through on their claims yet either. And if he forgave them and they didn’t change? What if they let Jack destroy something else of his? What if, gods forbid, Jack hurt his cats?

Apparently he’d been silent for too long though, as the pink-eyed bot took that as their sign to continue. “There’s… something else I wanted to talk about, too. You… scared everyone yesterday, with the knives. It was so… so unlike you that none of us knew what to say or do. I just… want to know why you threatened us, Sun. Yeah, we made a mess of things and tried to dump Jack on you, but… I don’t really think that your response was justified at all. I get being angry and telling us to get out so you can clean, but you threw a knife at me. It took Eclipse using both sets of arms to get that knife out of the floor, a-and now Jack’s here and he’s already got knives built into his hands and-” Nexus kept rambling, but it became nothing more than white noise to the solar model.

Sun felt his body unconsciously beginning to curl in on itself, as if that would prevent his thoughts from spiralling out of control. He hadn’t meant to get violent in any way, but nobody had been listening. Between his pans and the title and everyone trying to either dump their responsibilities on him or push his boundaries aside, something in him had just snapped. And the scary part was that a little voice in the back of his head kept pointing out how they’d listened to him when he lashed out. For the first time in what felt like forever, he’d fought back and not been steamrolled, but now here was Nexus wondering why he felt the need to get violent.

“What colour were the pans, Nexus?” Moon’s voice cut through the noise ringing in his head, causing Sun to straighten a bit and look at the two lunar models. The older of the two had leaned in between Sun and Nexus, gaze critical as he stared the other down. When Nexus just blinked a couple times in confusion, the older animatronic just scoffed. “Since you were apparently too busy freaking out to pay attention, the pans Jack was using were yellow. Those were Sun’s pans that you let be gouged and scraped and melted, the very ones that I told you I’d bash over your head if I caught you using them for meat.”

Nexus’ face instantly dropped, wide eyes looking between the twins before landing on Sun once again. “Was… was that why you were so upset?”

“That and the title,” he mumbled, though the latter had really been the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“I-I can explain that one!” The other quickly shouted, both of them ignoring Moon’s grumblings of how it better be a good explanation. Nexus’ tone and face quickly fell though, his voice far softer than it had been a moment prior. “When you- When you died, Sun… I was left with so many regrets that I never thought I’d get a chance to fix. And one of the biggest ones was never putting you on title, because I know that always bothered you. Part of my therapy for everything was making sure I didn’t have any regrets with everyone else, so if something horrible happened again, I could at least feel a sense of peace. And when I thought about one of my biggest regrets, I knew I didn’t want to make the same mistakes twice.” A sniffle interrupted the other, Nexus pausing long enough to clear their throat and rub at their eye. “I figured that you would want me to share my life with the two that always made me happy, and it led me to adding them to the title. I-I didn’t know that Eclipse was working on a way to bring you back, or I would’ve added you too, honest!”

Moon let out a low breath, clearly holding back from saying something. He was giving Sun the chance to say whatever he wanted to, and the solar twin was grateful for the opportunity. Taking a deep breath of his own, Sun calmly asked, “I’ve been back for a week now… has the thought of adding me to the title come up before yesterday?”

The silence that followed was damning, and the daycare attendant’s hopes fell a bit further. Moon scoffed out loud at that, but didn’t say anything. As Sun’s gaze pulled away from his guilty sibling, he felt an odd coldness in his chest. Part of him realized that the title didn’t even matter anymore, as he and Moon would be moving away soon. But another part of him kept hoping that for once, he’d end up as his sibling’s top priority instead of being pushed aside for the rest of the family. And as that hope slowly shriveled up, the cold detachment filled the void left behind.

“Sun.” As his voice was called, he looked up again, finding Nexus’ pained gaze staring back at him. “I’m really sorry about that; you’re right, I should’ve got you put on title the moment I knew you were coming back. Gods, there’s a ton of things I should’ve done or should be doing, and I want to be better for you. I want to be there for you like you were for me when I first woke up.” A single tear escaped those pink optics, falling along the curve of the other’s smile that only wobbled slightly. “I think, when you died, I finally understood the pain you’d been in all this time. Every time I saw your face plastered around the daycare, it felt like the universe was ripping into my heart again. But… you lived with me, someone bearing the face of your brother that had died, and never once complained. You lived with a constant reminder of what you’d lost, and yet you were nothing but supportive and kind to me. Sure, we had our moments where you assumed this or that because of your lost brother, but the more time we spent together, the fewer those moments became. You made every effort to know and help and love me… and I feel like I didn’t give you the same.”

This time, when soft lilac fingers gripped his own yellow ones, Sun didn’t pull away. Instead he found himself almost transfixed, gaze lost to those emotional eyes that looked like seas of cotton candy. “I know I don’t say this as often as I should, but… I love you, Sun. And I’m going to prove it to you, no matter what it takes… both of you.” That warm gaze shifted over to Moon, startling the both of them with the determination behind it. “Gods, I haven’t even really given you a chance, have I Moon? I’ve been so lost in my jealousy of you that I’ve never once tried to reach out, even though you’ve done nothing but help Sun this entire time.”

“Jealous?” Moon barked out a laugh, shaking his head as he chuckled. “Why the hell would you be jealous of me? I’m a piece of shit with anger issues!”

“You’re also the person that Sun loves the most, the one that knows him the best… the person I always secretly wished I could be.” Moon’s laughter died in his throat at Nexus’ heartfelt admission, and Sun felt himself tear up despite the cold hurt numbing him. “I can never be you, but… I’ve always been envious of the relationship you and Sun have. You know him in ways that I never could, but… I’m grateful that he has someone like you in his life. In fact, I hope that one of these days I can be like that for him, too. Maybe you could teach me?”

There was such tentative hope on his little sibling’s face, Sun’s eyes shifting to look at Moon expectantly. As much as he’d been hurt, as much as he wanted to move out of this house, he still loved Nexus dearly. Part of him had always hoped for the chance to see both Moon and Nexus meet, and now that he was reminded of that wish, Sun wanted nothing more than to see the two of them get along like the siblings they always should’ve been.

All it took was one moment of those crimson eyes meeting his snowy white ones, and Moon caved with a sigh. “Well, it’s clear you mean well, but pretty words aren’t going to fix anything. Your intent is what matters, got it?” Nexus eagerly nodded in response, listening and asking questions as Moon responded in kind. Smiling, Sun took one look at his computer before setting the device aside, all thoughts of building a home in minecraft disappearing as he watched the two lunar models discuss changes and growth. He honestly didn’t care what the topic was about, just happy to see two of the most important people in his life get along. It helped to chase away the coldness in his chest, letting him feel the warmth of hope again.

The minecraft building sessions had proven to be more help than Sun ever would’ve thought possible. Not only had it helped the twins figure out ways to narrow down their house search, but it had started to mend the gap between both of them and Nexus. In the days that followed that conversation, things with the other lunar model had been better, not perfect but so much better. It made it easier to interact with them, and Sun found it so much easier to talk to them again. And it brought such joy to his heart to see both Nexus and Moon interacting and getting to know each other despite the rocky start to their relationship.

Hopefully this repair to their relationship would make the inevitable conversation involving the twins moving out a bit easier. Sun still wasn’t looking forward to it, but the burden of it all felt less like it would drag him to the bottom of the ocean. Things were far from perfect though, even if things with Nexus were getting better. Solar seemed to be exhausted all the time now as he tried to figure out how to take care of Jack, who had far too much energy in comparison. It was disheartening any time the mechanic silently ghosted past Sun, not even really acknowledging him much anymore. Part of him wanted to believe that it was just fatigue from balancing his newfound responsibilities and his partners’ needs, but part of Sun felt a sting of hurt any time his shy waves went unseen. He was trying to reach out to his friend, but why was Solar no longer reaching back? Had Sun done something wrong or taken too long to try?

And Eclipse was… Eclipse. While the four-armed animatronic seemed to be trying not to upset Sun, the same couldn’t be said for his actions with Moon. If anything, the eclipse model had somehow gotten more hostile with him, refusing to help out with any idea that started as Moon’s and encouraging his partners to turn their backs on him as well. It was infuriating to see such a sheer difference in how he and his twin were treated, but he didn’t have the faintest idea how to fix it when even talking to Eclipse right now felt like too much. It was hard enough to be in the same room as him without bolting or screaming, and he didn’t know which response would honestly be worse.

A hand fiddling with his rays snapped him out of his thoughts, and Sun whirled around to smack the offending limb away only to come face to face with Moon’s smiling face. “Knew that’d get your attention. Been trying to talk to you for about five minutes now.”

Had he really zoned out that badly? “O-Oh, sorry about that. What was it you wanted?”

“Got something cool to show ya, c’mon.” And before he knew it, his brother was calling for a portal, gesturing for him to follow. Curious, the solar model silently followed behind, wondering what could possibly have Moon so excited.

The room they stepped into was luscious and spacious, filled with plant walls and tools and… anime cardboard cutouts? “What… is this place?” Sun asked, looking more confused the more he looked around.

“It’s my new lab!” Moon proudly declared, spinning around with a wide grin to face his twin. When he saw the other’s gaze lingering on the cutouts though, he sighed and hung his head. “Yeah, they kinda came with the place and I can’t get rid of them. Some sort of temporal locking experiment the last owners did,” he explained, only to notice the confusion on Sun’s face and try to explain again. “There’s… something locking the cutouts to this area. When I try to destroy them or dispose of them, they just reappear here, completely fine.”

“This is like the crap you did to the barrels in the daycare, isn’t it?”

“Exactly like the barrels in the daycare.” The lunar model shot him a pair of finger guns and a grin that had him chuckling despite his confusion, though he at least understood why the stupid cutouts were there. “This place used to belong to a research company before I bought it, so it’s built more for multiple projects and multiple people coming in and out.” Moon’s grin widened as he added, “Which means that if you ever need a place to hide from people, this is a great place to do so.”

It took him a moment to process what his other half was saying, recognition dawning on his face as he looked to the space in a new light. “You mean…?”

“Until we get our own place, this will be our safe space,” the nighttime attendant answered his unfinished question, gesturing to the area. “Any time your family gets to be too much or you just feel overwhelmed or want to be alone for a bit, you can come here. The only people that have the coordinates to this place are us; Nexus never seemed to have found this location when searching through my records, so even he doesn’t know about it. Just us.”

“A-Are you sure?” If this was to be Moon’s new lab space, he’d hate to interrupt some important experiment or ruin something on accident. “I don’t want to get in the way of your research…”

Moon hummed thoughtfully, though it didn’t take him long to come up with an idea. “We can use a stoplight system if you want; green for areas that are free of any active projects, yellow for caution around stuff I’m working on, and red for areas I don’t think would be safe for you to poke around. We could use coloured sticky notes or coloured paper or something if that works.”

“That… makes sense to me.” As his eyes drifted around the space, he almost felt a bit overwhelmed with how large the space was, the various technological displays and previous experiments making him feel insignificant by comparison. “This is definitely different from Nexus’ workspace.”

“You mean the garage?” Moon scoffed, waving away the idea that the two of them would have spaces of similar scale. “I don’t know how he gets anything done in that mess. Me, I need a proper lab space for my work. Would hate to set the house on fire with an explosion or chemical reaction gone wrong.” Almost as an afterthought, his twin added, “This is one of the last bunkers we have, by the way. I kept a couple in case of emergency, but with everything so peaceful now I don’t think we really needed the others.”

“You really got rid of all the bunkers?” Now that was a surprise, Sun thought Moon would never part with his small army’s worth of secured properties. But he did have a point about their lifestyle not really needing it anymore, and it made him happy to see some of the secrets his brother once held disappearing.

The sound of Moon’s phone interrupted his response, and as he pulled it out he frowned at the call display. “Gods, is Nexus always this chatty? I swear, the minute I leave the place, he’s calling to find out what’s up.” Sighing as the phone kept ringing, a cobalt finger hovered over the button to answer the call. “I better take this or he’ll just keep calling me. Why don’t you go explore the place in the meantime and I’ll give you a proper tour once I’m done here?”

Nodding his head at the suggestion, Sun slipped away to begin exploring the space. He wandered aimlessly, fingers gently brushing against walls and counters as he investigated the various rooms. There were so many strange things here like tvs that floated in midair, which contrasted all the mundane things like conference rooms.

As he mused about what kind of technological sorcery preserved the cardboard silhouettes, the solar model found himself in front of a set of stairs. Was there an entire other level to this place? Just how much room did his brother have here? This place put some of their other bunkers and safehouses to shame with how large it was, the yellow animatronic’s wanderings taking him deeper and deeper. It was almost like something down there was calling to him, like a siren’s song luring him deeper. The walls of living greenery gave way to sterile white halls, branching off into various marked rooms and passageways. And with nowhere in particular he was aiming to explore, Sun let his feet carry him wherever it was they seemed to want him to go.

The room he eventually found himself entering was a large, circular dome, looking like something out of a science fiction movie. The walls on one side were lined with what looked to be expensive and complicated computer parts, something that Sun wouldn’t touch for fear of breaking something. But that hadn’t been what really caught his attention in here. Instead, his eyes were drawn to the swirling maelstrom of energy outside the glass dome, with a beam of that energy shooting straight upwards into the center of the room. Was it some form of power supply for the facility?

Curiosity had him in its clutches by this point, drawing him ever closer. Golden fingers reached out as the energy almost invited him in, and a jolt of energy zipped through his systems on contact. It didn’t hurt though; on the contrary, it felt almost good to wind his fingers through the pillar of blue light, watching as the movement produced little wisps that broke off before disintegrating into nothingness. The feeling of contact with this energy source was exhilarating, bringing a soft smile to his face as the daycare attendant shuffled closer and closer to the gap.

Watching the motes of light break off and float about him, Sun felt a strange sense of confidence and power that he hadn’t felt in… gods, he couldn’t remember the last time he felt like this. He’d definitely have to get Moon to explain exactly what this was, because it left him feeling… not whole, but closer to complete than he’d been in a long time.

It didn’t stop him from jumping though as Moon’s voice echoed down the hallways, calling his name. Jolting away from the pillar of light, Sun whipped around just as his twin walked through the doors to the domed room. The lunar model sighed as he caught sight of him, a wry smile on his face as he wandered over. “There you are, didn’t expect you to wander this far down.”

“S-Sorry,” he stuttered out, whatever confidence he’d felt earlier gone as easily as it had come.

But Moon just waved off the apology. “All good, don’t worry about it. Was just surprised is all, since there’s nothing much down here yet. I see you found the server room and magic pool though.”

Hearing those words, panic raced through his systems as he thought of the blue energy he’d just been playing with. Memories came unbidden of a swirling lake of energy, his own actions that had led to its destruction and the subsequent death of Moon. “M-Magic pool?” He parroted, looking back at the storm that was separated from them by the glass. “Are we in a magic pool right now?!”

“Technically, yeah. It’s why I figured that it was best to keep this place over all the others; this magic pool is pretty volatile and chaotic compared to some others, so I’d hate for the wrong person to find and attune themselves to it. Who knows what a person could do with this kind of power?” The scientist shrugged, missing the brief terror on Sun’s face before he managed to school his expression back to a more curious nervousness… like he hadn’t just been touching a crazy magic pool without even thinking. Gods, this was like a kid sticking something up their nose just because they could, he knew better!

Remaining oblivious to Sun’s internal panic, Moon gestured for the other to follow him back up to the upper level of the lab. “Anyways, Nexus was just curious where I’d taken you. Told him we were out at a park getting some fresh, not-sea air. Which, with all the green things upstairs is close enough I figured. All he said to that is that next time we should invite him and the three of us can have a picnic or something.”

“O-Oh, that sounds like fun, actually.” Anything that brought his two brothers together was good in his books. Plus, talk of future plans was helping distract him from the gnawing unease in his core. Wanting another distraction, Sun asked, “Have you been working on any inventions in here yet?”

“Not really, though I do have some plans,” Moon shrugged as they returned to the much more open part of the lab. “I do want to build some weapons systems into this body, like maybe a hand cannon or something. I know everything’s supposed to be peaceful and resolved now, but with our track record? I’d rather have some form of security on hand at any given time, just in case.”

“Yeah, that sounds like you,” the solar model chuckled, unsurprised by his brother’s paranoia and cautiousness. It had been what kept them both alive at the beginning of everything, after all. “I dunno if I’d be much help, but I can try and help you get started on it after the tour?”

“If you’re sure you want to do my weird science stuff with me, then I’m sure I could use a second set of hands.” His other half grinned back at him, leading the way as he began to give a proper explanation behind the various rooms and the projects that were left behind. The words helped to drown out the anxiety buzzing at the back of his head, yet Sun couldn’t help but feel the ghost of the magic pool’s energy caressing his fingertips, lingering as if it was still there.

Everything was going… well, for once. In fact, Sun felt strangely happy for the first time in a long time. His relationship with Nexus continued to improve, leaving him feeling heard by his little sibling. Jack had calmed down a bit thanks to some parenting advice Sun had given Solar, and it had gone a long way in rekindling the close friendship they once had. Things were still tense with Eclipse, but the solar model couldn’t help but notice how his former enemy seemed to be a bit more careful with what he said. Maybe him lashing out with the knives scared the four-armed bot a bit?

Either way, things at home were getting better, but that didn’t change the fact that Sun was beyond ecstatic when him and Moon picked out their house. It was large and spacious, with three floors in a nice neighbourhood. The basement opened up to a large backyard that led to the nearby lake, complete with the dock that had brought him so much comfort in recent days. Part of him wondered if they were getting too big of a house, but his brother had assured him that the extra space wouldn’t go to waste. Each of them would have areas to make into hobby rooms, with room left over for the cats too to have their own space. Honestly, it was perfect, just what they needed.

That of course brought the announcement of them moving out to the forefront, and with it came the anxiety of past conversations on this exact subject. His lunar twin had assured him though that things would be different this time. This wasn’t a matter up for discussion, but rather them notifying the family of the change. Moon would be beside him the entire way, and wouldn’t tolerate any of the bull that Sun had dealt with in the past. Nexus could be upset and argumentative, or he could be accepting and understanding, but it wouldn’t change the fact that they would be leaving this house behind very soon.

The day they signed the papers on their new house, one that had both twins on the deed, Sun decided that the best way to tell everyone was over a homecooked meal. And since Nexus had bought him a new set of cookware - and explained to Jack that the yellow ones were off-limits, no matter how pretty the colourful ones were - he had more than enough resources to make dinner for everyone. Earth, Monty, and Lunar had all been invited as well, not wanting his other siblings to feel left out of what was admittedly going to be a big change.

So here he was, prepping to feed the entire family and cooking up a storm. Part of him wanted to prove that vegetarian meals could be appetizing too, so there was an added note of spite seasoning everything he was making. “I should really grab my phone and get some tunes going,” he mumbled to himself, adjusting the heat on the spaghetti sauce he was making to let it simmer now that the vegetables had been added. He took a brief moment to check on the ratatouille in the oven, nodding his head before going to get his phone from upstairs. He’d left it up in the lounge when he and Moon had been finalizing some of their plans and inviting family over, but at least he remembered exactly where he left it. Then he could set it up to play some music as he cleaned up the mess he’d made, wanting everything to be clean and tidy for when his siblings arrived.

As he stepped upstairs and made his way to the lounge, the solar model paused as he caught sight of Nexus’ taller frame. “Hope I’m not interrupting something between you and your boyfriends,” he called playfully, but got no response. Instead, getting closer revealed his little sibling just staring down at something, entire frame rigid in a way that Sun hadn’t seen in a long time. “Nex? Is something wrong?”

When he received no response, the daycare attendant grew worried. Frowning softly, he padded around to the table to grab his phone, only to freeze as he could finally see what the other animatronic was staring at. It was Moon’s laptop, left open and unlocked. And sitting right there, burning his optics with its simple black letters, was the confirmation from the realtor about their new house.

Without thinking, Sun practically lunged forward, closing the laptop and breaking the trance it had over the lunar model. Pink eyes snapped to him, a complicated mix of emotions in them as they asked, “You bought a house?”

“You weren’t supposed to find out this way,” Sun sighed, grabbing his phone off the table, even as the urge to sway to the beat was gone. “But… yes. Moon and I bought a house.”

“Why?” The single word held a bite to it, and the yellow bot had to still himself to avoid flinching in response. “I-Is there something wrong with this one?”

Yes. “No,” he huffed, crossing his arms so that he could hug himself discreetly. “This one is just getting a bit crowded, and we don’t want to take room away from your growing family.” It was the excuse he’d rehearsed several times earlier once he’d made the decision to tell the others, but now the words practically curdled in his mouth.

The white lie didn’t seem to be well received by Nexus either, their composure cracking as they yelled out, “You are my family! Sun, you’re my brother and I love you! This is your house as much as it is mine, I-I’ve even been working on getting your name on the deed!”

Guilt tightened around his neck like a noose at the admission, and for once, Sun had hoped his little sibling had forgotten about it again. “I love you too, Nex, but-”

“Everything alright?” Solar’s voice called out from the hallway, concerned amber eyes looking at the two emotional animatronics. Further back, Eclipse could be seen hovering nearby, unsure whether he should get involved. “Thought you were busy downstairs, Sun.”

“Just came up to grab my phone,” the solar model mumbled, moving to head back to the kitchen with said device in hand.

The second he tried to leave though, a hand wrapped tightly around his wrist. His first response was to freeze, his metaphorical heart in his throat at the sudden, unwanted contact. After the initial panic wore off, he wrenched his arm free, whipping around to stare at Nexus in shock. His sibling seemed stunned by their actions too, yet their expression quickly hardened into one of determination. “You are not just running away after that. Did you even plan on telling me? Or was I going to just wake up one morning and find you gone?”

“It’s not like that!” He insisted, noting in his peripheral how both eclipse models were closing in on them. “I-I was planning on telling everyone tonight, over dinner! That’s why I invited Lunar and Earth over!”

“You still waited until after the sale was complete to say something!” Nexus’ expression took on a pleading note as he stepped forward, seemingly missing the equal step back the daytime attendant took. “Please, just talk to me! I’m sure there’s still time to undo the sale, and then we can fix whatever is bothering you here. If it’s really just a spacing issue, then we’ll get some additions added! Moon can have his own room and you can have a bigger one if that’s what you want.”

Crap, now his excuse was biting him in the ass. “You don’t have to go through all that work just for me,” Sun tried, offering a shaky smile even as he unlocked his phone. As much as he hated how creepy his eyes were, having pupils that blended in and couldn’t be seen easily made it simple to discreetly pull up Moon’s contact. He had a feeling that this conversation wasn’t going to get any better.

As he sent a single word, ‘help’, to his twin, Nexus’ face continued to twist in pain as they pointed out, “Renovating an existing house has to be easier than buying an entirely new one!”

Seeing how emotional their partner was getting, both eclipse models took that as their cue to enter the lounge. Solar stepped forward first as he was physically the closest, raising his hands placatingly as he stepped between the two siblings. “Okay you two, let’s take some deep breaths. Arguing isn’t going to solve anything.”

“I’m not arguing,” Sun immediately bit back, a hint of bitterness in his tone. This was what happened every time he’d brought up moving in the past; Nexus would escalate a simple comment into a full-blown argument, ignoring that it was ultimately Sun’s choice where he lived.

“You’re not making it easier to talk to you when you act like that,” Eclipse sighed, standing between the solar model and the door. It was like he expected Sun to just make a run for it, though to be fair, the idea was fairly tempting. Anything to get out of doing this alone. He was supposed to have Moon for backup, but now he was just feeling cornered up here, his only means of escape blocked by the person he feared the most.

“What Eclipse means,” Solar sighed, putting on a smile as he stepped closer- why was everyone moving closer to him? “Is that we can’t help if we don’t understand what the problem is. We need you to be open with us, okay Sun?”

Nexus stepped up beside their partner, offering a smile as well while wrapping their arm around the mechanic’s shoulder. “Exactly. Just tell us what the issue with this place is so we can fix it. But this place just won’t be home anymore if you move out; it won’t be the same.”

Really? He looked to his sibling in disbelief, his arms tightening around his chest as the daycare attendant suppressed a sob. What did they do when he was dead? Why couldn’t they do that again? Why did this place have to be a prison for him, like a gilded bird cage?

Suddenly, Eclipse was in his face, hands twitching as he growled out, “Watch what you say, alright? I’m trying to be nice here, but I’m not gonna tolerate you making everyone cry because you got pissy and lashed out.”

Confused, Sun stumbled back, looking around the room for answers. The bots surrounding him looked to have suddenly shifted from pleading to heartbroken, with Nexus hiding in Solar’s shoulder. Did… Did he say his thoughts out loud? It was hard to tell right now as static filled his audials, his mind not processing the input correctly. Letting out a whine, Sun stepped back another step, his grip tightening painfully on his arms to keep his fingers from visibly twitching. Another step, and his back was pressed against the wall, the solid surface behind him causing his breath to hitch as the yellow bot’s eyes frantically darted around. Out. He needed out, now.

No words were coming to him though, his voice falling into another whine as he shifted in place. Eclipse was between him and the door. He couldn’t run around him because Solar and Nexus were there, boxing him in. There was no escape, no way out, he wanted out.

Just as his gaze darted to a nearby window, the door to the lounge was slammed open with enough force to make everyone jump. In stepped a seething Moon, taking one look at the situation as his crimson eyes narrowed to slits. “All three of you. Back. Away. From him. Now.” Despite the calm to his twin’s voice, nobody was blind to the carefully controlled rage in his posture. Moon was about three seconds away from physically removing them from the vicinity, and they all knew it.

Reluctantly, all three of them took a step back, enough to allow the lunar bot to slip through and make it to Sun’s side. “Easy, I’m here now, I got your message. Just breathe for me, okay? I’ll handle this.”

A scoff sounded from behind his twin, and Sun saw the vitriol in Eclipse’s eyes. “Handle this? Hell, you probably caused this! You just want to keep Sun away from the people that care about him because you’re afraid he’ll finally leave your abusive ass behind!”

“N-No-” Sun stuttered out, but his voice was too weak to be heard over the weight of the accusation. Gods, he hated how weak his voice sounded to even himself, unable to defend the person he loved the most from his own family. He could see the four-armed bot’s words land with his partners, see the way their expressions fell into suspicion when their gaze shifted to Moon. The solar model tried again to deny the claims, to express that he wanted this as much as his other half did, but the words disintegrated into static on his tongue.

He couldn’t hear the argument anymore, only able to see the navy bot in front of him bodily blocking the others from getting closer while fighting back verbally. Their words were all drowned out by the sound of his own fans roaring in his ears. “Aw, what’s the matter?” Eclipse’s voice taunted him, yet the words didn’t line up with the burnt orange bot’s mouth. It didn’t make sense to his muddled mind, but he wasn’t given a chance to sort through those thoughts as the insults just kept coming. “This is what you’ve been reduced to? A sniveling coward hiding behind his big brother? What happened to all that fight and spirit, hmm? Where’s the ferocity from when you helped kill me? You’re even worse than you used to be back in the beginning; at least back then, you could pretend to be happy for everyone. Now you can’t even manage that. How pathetic.”

A sob built up in the back of his throat, just barely stamped down through sheer will alone. It wouldn’t do him any good to fall to the eclipse model’s taunts. But willpower wasn’t enough to chase the sneering voice away. “Such a big crybaby now too. The first sign of things not going your way, and you throw yourself a pity party. What’s next, going to throw a tantrum like one of the children you used to take care of? Face it, you’re nothing but a waste of space that’s too much of a coward to even admit the truth.”

He shook his head violently, rays rattling in their casing as he denied the accusation. “Oh? Well go on then, say it and prove me wrong. Say it. Say it!”

“IT’S BECAUSE I CAN’T FORGIVE YOU, ECLIPSE!” The words tore themselves out of his voice box with such force as to leave him breathless, the sunny animatronic gasping for air in the aftermath of his admission. All voices, both real and imagined, fell silent in response to his cry, staring at him in mixtures of shock and disbelief.

Nexus was the first to break the silence, stepping forward despite the warning growl coming from the lunar model in front of him. “S-Sun?” Their voice warbled, hands clutched close to their chest. “What… do you mean by that? I- I thought we were past this, that you were past this.”

All of a sudden, the reality of what he’d just done slapped Sun in the face. The last time this topic had been discussed with his family, it had been with Earth, and that had blown up so spectacularly that he’d never even considered revealing the truth of his feelings to another. But… it was already out in the open, so the least Sun could do was explain himself now. “I… I can’t forgive him Nex, I just can’t. I tried so fucking hard to forgive him, I promise I did. But…” A sniffle escaped as the tears he’d tried so hard to hold back came rushing forward. “Every time I look at him, all I can see is him calling me worthless, telling me to go kill myself, torturing me every waking second, both inside my head and out!” He could clearly recall the moment that Eclipse had taunted Sun into blowing up his twin’s magic pool, congratulating him on his part in killing Moon. It was one of, if not the worst day of his life.

For a moment, the only sound besides that of their fans were Sun’s muffled sobs, with Solar looking heartbroken and Eclipse looking away in guilt. But as his gaze shifted to Nexus, the solar model flinched back at the anger twisting their features. “You… Suddenly, you can’t forgive him? After all this time? Sun, we’ve built a life together, and now you want to rip it apart?! Eclipse worked hard to grow into the person he is, and you want to throw his past back in his face?!” Their hands tightened into trembling fists as black tears rolled down their face, those pink eyes burning at their older brother. “Are you trying to ruin my happiness? Why? Because you’re miserable, everyone else has to be?!”

The moment Nexus’ incensed actions brought him closer to the trembling bot in front of him, Moon practically snarled at them, “Get back! I’m not above throwing you out the window if you don’t listen!”

“No, you need to listen!” The other lunar model seethed, uncharacteristic rage clouding their features. “Eclipse is my partner, and like it or not, he’s part of the family! Like it or not, we all have to learn how to live with the past and move on! The sooner Sun does that, the happier he’ll be!”

“Or maybe you all need to learn that forgiveness is earned with more than an apology!” Moon’s entire frame was poised to strike, forcing its way between his former replacement and his emotionally fragile twin. “Take it from somebody who had to work like hell to earn the forgiveness he’s given me. The hell has Eclipse done for him, besides the apology and fucking you?” A flash of light appeared on the navy bot’s arm, fingers dancing across it in practiced motions. But before the daycare attendant could decipher what his twin was doing, another angry voice spoke up that had his rays retreating almost completely into his head on instinct.

As soon as Eclipse raised his voice to add to the argument, Sun could practically feel his audials fail him as the words dissolved into static. A temperature alert crossed his HUD, and it took him a few seconds longer than usual to dismiss. A tugging sensation could be felt on his head, and the daycare attendant took an extra few seconds again to connect the action to his own hand. He couldn’t seem to get it to stop tugging on his ray though, nor could he slow his racing fans or even out his breathing. It was almost like he was disconnected from his body, seeing it slowly succumb to panic from a distance as the one thing he feared the most came true. His family now knew the disgusting truth about how much of a liar and faker he was, and they were furious. They all hated him, couldn’t stand the horrible person he’d become, and they would all leave him now. He’d be utterly alone, unlovable for the rest of his life.

“Sun!” Moon’s voice snapped through the din of his panicked thoughts, causing his head to snap up at the call of his name. “Window! It’ll take you to our safe space!”

He sat there for a moment, letting his other half’s words wash over him as he struggled to comprehend. Once it was clear what Moon wanted of him though, Sun wasted no time as he moved to the nearest window. It took too long for him to fight the window open, and he vaguely heard the calls of the others at his back, but all that mattered at that moment was getting out of this situation. Without a moment’s hesitation, Sun jumped out the window the second he got it open, ignoring the shouts from behind as he jumped into the portal waiting below.

Landing in Moon’s lab was sensory whiplash after the overwhelming presence of his family and their home. It was blissfully silent in here, save for the background hum of various electronics. But the peaceful lobby space and greenery only made it painfully obvious how uneven his breathing still was, and Sun couldn’t seem to get it under control. This only made it more erratic, no matter what he tried to calm himself.

The panic was quickly spiraling out of control, leaving the solar model just aware enough to realize that the panic attack was inevitable. When it finally crashed down on him in force, a wretched scream tore from his voice box as his hands both wrapped around a ray each and pulled. The metal creaked and groaned under the force of his grip, threatening to shear in two if he didn’t yank the yellow triangle completely out of his head.

Warning. Damage detected. Cause of damage: self-inflicted. Watchdog activation threshold reached. Controlled shock administered in 3… 2…

The error message scrolling across his HUD was enough to stall his actions, snowy eyes blinking at nothing as he tried to process the words he was seeing. “Moony?” He called out to his brother in his fear, wishing that the lunar model would come to save him like he always did. Because shortly after the sense of impending doom flooded his systems, blinding agony lit up every nerve in his body before the lab vanished in a sea of white.

Chapter Text

“No, no, no! Sun!” Nexus cried out as they rushed to the window, Moon making no move to stop him once his portal confirmed that Sun was safely in the lab. As such, when the other lunar model looked, all they saw was the signs of a portal closing and no evidence of the daytime attendant. “Moon, what did you do?!”

“I got him away from your controlling ass,” the navy bot huffed, looking to the trio that had cornered his twin in disdain. “Thought you’d back off the second he showed a panic attack coming, but I guess I got my hopes up for nothing. You’re all still too self-absorbed to realize when you’re making things worse.”

A burnt orange fist suddenly flew into his field of vision, though he couldn’t say he was surprised that Eclipse of all people resorted to violence. It didn’t make the hit to his faceplate hurt any less though, and he stumbled a couple steps back towards the window before sneering at him. “What? Don’t like the taste of the truth?”

“Shut up!” the four-armed bot snarled back at him, looking to be one wrong word away from hitting him again. “This is our family, our home! You’ve gotten away with too much so far, and I’m not going to sit back and listen to you insult my partners any further! I brought Sun back so that he could help heal their broken hearts, not for you to turn him against everyone that loves him!”

“Tch, all I did was stand up and support him. You guys are doing a fine enough job of turning him against you without my help.” Just in case, Moon shifted his body to turn the damaged side of his face away from the eclipse model, keeping his guard up to make sure he wasn’t hit again. “I mean really, all this started because you found out he wants to move out of this toxic hellhole of a house. Did you freak out like this when Lunar or Earth got their own places?”

The trio froze at that, and while Eclipse still looked to be silently fuming, Nexus and Solar at least had the decency to look ashamed. “We’ve always been together,” the lunar model mumbled, looking away from the window with tears beading in their optics.

Solar took a step forward, sighing as he looked between his two partners. “Moon, you have to understand. We’re all worried about Sun… and yeah, maybe that’s causing us to be foolish in how we approach some issues, but we’re not trying to be malicious about any of this. We’re all just scared that if Sun moves away, he won’t have enough people around to rely on for the support he needs.”

“And this is supporting him?” Moon asked, incredulous and shaking his head. “I know you’re not being malicious, but that’s half the problem. You’re all so scared of losing him that you’re smothering him, which is only making things worse. ‘If you love something, set it free’ is a saying for a reason.”

Out of the corner of his eye, the scientist saw Eclipse’s attention stolen by something before it hardened into an almost laser-precise focus. “Moon. Where did you send Sun?” The four-armed bot asked out of the blue.

Raising an eyebrow, Moon simply replied, “None of your business.”

A growl came from Eclipse as he tried again, “Moon. We need to know where Sun is now. This isn’t a joke.”

“And I’m not joking either,” he shot back, dismissing him with a wave of his hand. “I sent him somewhere where none of you can hurt him.”

“God dammit Moon, just put your fucking pride aside and tell us where he is before something worse happens!” the eclipse model snarled, surprising all three of the others with the intensity of his concern.

The fact that Eclipse of all people was concerned about Sun didn’t sit right with the navy bot, stomach churning as his instincts screamed that something was wrong. While the other two tried to calm their partner down and discover why he was so agitated all of a sudden, Moon turned his attention to the security cams he had installed in his lab. He’d set the portal to open up in the main foyer, and when he opened the corresponding camera, sure enough he found Sun right where he left him. What he wasn’t expecting though was to hear his twin screaming in agony, his body convulsing on the live feed before collapsing on the floor. Golden limbs continued to twitch sporadically, yet Sun made no move to get up from where he’d fallen, eyes open yet staring blankly at nothing.

Putting away the security feed, Moon turned to his once-enemy with a look of utter horror on his face. “Eclipse… what did you do?” The trio turned to face him, expressions falling as they saw the haunted look in his eyes.

Eclipse refused to look at him, gaze turned to the floor as he ground out, “I did what I had to for my family.” That answer, that admission of guilt, sent fury clawing its way up Moon’s circuits. But as much as he wanted to cave the rayed bot’s face in, he had a bigger concern right now. An animalistic snarl escaped his voice box as he called up another portal, throwing himself out the window and ignoring Nexus calling after him.

Just like with Sun, Moon landed in the foyer of his lab, the faint scent of the salty sea air being replaced with the smell of grease and ozone. Skidding to a stop, he took a second to get his bearings before rushing to his twin who was eerily still on the ground. “Sun?” He called, gently shaking his shoulder only to grimace as he got no response. Whatever had happened had completely shut him down, with not even his fans running to cool his heated frame.

Cursing, the lunar model got to his feet and darted about the lab, gathering cables and a computer to run a quick diagnostics scan and figure out exactly what Eclipse did. As he ran the scan, his computer screen filled with cascading red errors, the oldest one standing apart from all the others as the cause. “You put a kill switch in him,” Moon growled, setting to work on undoing the damage done by the sudden surge of high voltage current.

One by one, he sorted through the various errors, checking through his twin’s systems as he worked on bleeding any residual current. And once everything was said and done, he started the boot process up, staying put so that Sun wouldn’t wake up alone. In the time it took for his other half to come online, Moon focused on calming himself, suppressing his rage for the time being so that he wouldn’t lash out at his twin instead.

As soon as the boot sequence finished, Sun’s eyes fluttered closed, hiding that vacant and unnerving stare. Only a second later, he gasped and lunged up, Moon having to catch his twin to keep him from teetering over. “Easy Sun, easy. I gotcha,” he soothed, rubbing a hand up and down the solar model’s back.

His twin’s breathing was still erratic, much like it had been back in the lounge at Nexus’ place. His gaze darted around, as if still looking for a potential threat to be hiding. It made sense to Moon though, as Sun had been forcibly shut down in the midst of a panic attack, and a hard shutdown like that wouldn’t magically fix the panicked mental state he’d be in. “You’re safe, we’re in the lab. Eclipse can’t get to you here, none of your family can,” the lunar bot whispered, as if anything louder would only agitate his twin.

After allowing the other a chance to look around and confirm Moon’s words for himself, Sun slowly began to relax. His body went limp against his brother’s, eyes drooping shut while trembling fingers worried at the knee of his pants. “Wh- Wha’ happen?” The solar model slurred a bit, clearly exhausted from both the physical and emotional strain he’d endured.

“Things… got a bit out of control at home,” Moon sighed, continuing to rub his other half’s back as he did a brief recap of events, unsure of how solid Sun’s memories would be after such an episode. “You… You blurted out the reason why you want to move, and Nexus didn’t take it well. All of that started pushing you into a bad panic attack, and I gave you a portal to the lab to get away. Apparently though, Eclipse had some sort of… watchdog program installed in your systems. It was designed to trigger in response to self-harm, and would shock you into a hard shutdown to effectively stop your activities.”

“He- He did what?!” Sun screeched, looking at his trembling hands in shock. “I… I-I can’t even trust my own body…” A heart-wrenching sob tore itself out of the daycare attendant’s voicebox as he latched onto his twin, Moon holding him tightly as if anything less would cause Sun to fall apart.

“I’ll fix this,” Moon promised as the other wailed in his arms, his grip tightening an inch as his resolve hardened. “I’ll do a deep scrub of your systems, find anything and everything that he might’ve put in there. I’ll get rid of this watchdog along with everything else he might’ve done to you, I swear.” After everything his twin had gone through, the least he deserved was to feel comfortable in his own body, secure in it never betraying him like this again.

But he knew that he was too angry to start that process now. In his current emotional state, he’d make some mistake or something would go wrong, he knew it. Before he could start on such a delicate process, he had to relieve some of his stress, and Moon had just the idea on how to do that. The lunar model pulled back from the tight embrace, ignoring the pained whimper his actions caused as he moved to stare his twin in the eyes. “Sun. Before I do this, I need to go teach Eclipse a lesson he’ll never forget.”

Sun, as always, seemed to understand the method behind his supposed madness without him needing to spell it out. While the yellow bot wasn’t happy to do so, he did pull away so that only their hands were embracing each other. “P-Please don’t kill him, h-he’s my sibling’s p-partner.”

The request sounded simple on paper, but with how utterly enraged he was, Moon wasn’t sure if he could promise that. Instead he sighed and shook his head. “Only you would ask me to show that fucker mercy. I’ll… try.” It wasn’t a promise, but he knew that Sun would understand that he was going to try his best to honour his other half’s wishes.

When Sun finally let go of his hands, Moon took it as a sign that the other was ready to let him do what he felt he needed to. Nobody was allowed to hurt his twin and get away without punishment, so Eclipse needed to pay for what he’d done. There was a stiffness to the lunar model’s movements as he got to his feet, noting in his peripheral vision how Sun did the same. “You don’t have to be there if you don’t want to be,” he called over his shoulder, looking back to see the sunny animatronic hugging himself for comfort.

But the other just shook his head, rays rattling slightly to betray the trembling he was trying to suppress. “I-I’m not leaving you t-to fight m-my battles alone,” Sun stuttered, a surprising fire in his eyes despite everything. Knowing his brother, there’d be no way to talk him out of this, so he just nodded in acceptance as he called up the portal. There, the pair walked though together in silence, returning to the sandy shore of the beach home they’d fled about half an hour ago.

The scene they came back to was an entirely different one than the one they’d left. The entire family had gathered outside, quietly discussing amongst each other with faces conveying concern. Earth, Monty, and Lunar had arrived and joined the other three animatronics, no doubt discussing the events that had transpired not even an hour ago. None of them had noticed the twins’ return though, a wicked sneer twisting Moon’s face as he started storming over. “ECLIPSE!” He roared, startling almost everyone as he made his way to the group, only somewhat aware of his brother following behind him like a meek puppy.

Solar took a step forward as he let out a sigh, seemingly undeterred by Moon’s anger. It made sense though considering that one of the mechanic’s partners was Eclipse. “Thank goodness everything’s okay, how’s Sun?”

“Why don’t you ask that piece of shit?!” Moon growled, pointing directly at Eclipse. “Then he can tell you how he put a shock collar in my brother!”

“You did what?!” Lunar turned to look at his brother, shellshocked and a little horrified by the accusation.

Earth quickly put a hand on the small animatronic’s shoulder. “I’m sure that this is all a big misunderstanding. We just need to calmly talk it out and everything will be cleared up.”

Feeling his one eye twitching, Moon suppressed the urge to snap at the planetary model, especially when he saw Monty hovering nearby and shooting him a warning look. Snarling, the scientist decided that showing proof of his claims would make it clear he wasn’t just messing around. “Misunderstand this!” He shouted, pulling up the security footage of Sun’s meltdown in the lab for everyone to see. He even turned the volume up to the max to make sure none of them missed the solar model’s screams of anguish when the shock hit, letting them continue to watch well into when Moon arrived in the footage and began fixing him so that they could see just how long Sun was left to suffer.

Nexus was the first to turn away, clearly unable to stomach seeing their older brother essentially tortured. Solar was left looking between Moon and Eclipse, holding his taller partner and comforting them while he searched for words that never came. Monty was too busy comforting Earth to say anything, while the large animatronic in his grasp cried silently and eventually turned away as well. Lunar was one of the only ones to watch the clip through to the end, yet the small bot looked like he’d be sick as he stared in silence, hands balled into trembling fists. And the other one that watched the entirety of it was Eclipse, remaining stoic with his arms crossed as he glared at the footage like it personally insulted him.

“Well?” Moon growled as he put his phone away, his rage only intensified by being forced to watch Sun suffer again just to keep the others from doubting him. “Got anything to say, asshole? Anything that might justify torturing Sun?!”

“Like I told you, I did what I had to do for the good of the family,” Eclipse pushed out through gritted teeth, eyes narrowed and frame tensed as if he expected a blow. “Sun has shown in the past that he’s a danger to himself, and I’m not about to see everyone suffer because of something preventable again. All I did was slip in a small security measure, one that would shut down any self-harming or suicidal practices and alert me that he needs immediate attention. And after this? I’d say he’s proven my actions to be justified.”

All restraint snapped with that last comment. If Eclipse was expecting to be hit, then who was he to disappoint? Channeling his fury behind his fist, Moon snarled as he came around with a right hook just below the four-armed bot’s eye. A wicked grin full of sharp teeth spread across his face as he heard plastic crack and metal bend under the force of his hand, but that grin was quickly gone as a warning message flashed across his HUD.

Warning. Aggressive behaviour detected against protected entity. Watchdog activation threshold reached. Controlled shock administered in 3… 2…

A screech of feedback came from the lunar bot as electricity flooded his circuits, instantly driving him to his knees as he thrashed and spasmed on the sandy ground. It seemed that the current was different than the one applied to Sun though, as his consciousness remained intact despite the agony that twisted through every wire in his frame.

“You think I wouldn’t put some security in place for you too?” Eclipse spat as he cradled his fractured cheek, sneering down at the convulsing bot. “I figured that it was only a matter of time before you reverted back to your violent ways, and I wasn’t going to let you get away with hurting my family!”

The others began to speak up again, some criticizing Eclipse’s actions, others fussing over his injury. But they all faded to static in his audials as the shock refused to let up, leaving him prone with barely the strength to lift his head up. Fuck, he really hadn’t thought things through, had he? He let his temper get the better of him, and now Sun would be forced to watch him suffer.

… Sun. His brother had trailed behind him, meaning that he was here right now. With great effort, Moon managed to twist his neck back to see what was going on with his twin, only to freeze at the look he saw on the other’s face. It… was the exact same furious determination the solar model had shown when he tried to murder Eclipse. Sun wasn’t just angry, he looked ready to kill.

They… They had shocked Moon. His brother had only been defending him, and they shocked the lunar model for it. And all Sun could do in that moment was stand back and watch him suffer while everyone around him ignored his suffering. Even Lunar seemed more interested in berating one brother instead of helping the other, and the sight set Sun’s wires ablaze in fury.

Why didn’t they seem to care that Moon was suffering? Solar had pulled a hand towel out of his pocket and was fussing over the fresh crack in Eclipse’s face while Nexus hugged their partner from behind. Earth seemed to be trying to justify her friend’s actions to Lunar with Monty backing her up, leaving Sun as the only one that seemed to be paying attention to his twin.

They really didn’t care about them, did they? The truth of that statement just seemed to smack the daycare attendant in the face, leaving hurt and anger festering in his chest. Time and time again, his family always seemed to choose Eclipse over either Sun or Moon. Eclipse was a model therapy patient and perfect boyfriend, while all Sun seemed to be good for was parading around when he was happy or berating when he was sad. None of them could remember the most basic things about his likes and dislikes while Eclipse was easy to cater to.

Eclipse, Eclipse, Eclipse. Everything boiled down to him in the end. The day he started joining Sun’s family was the day they all started turning against him. Even Nexus ended up choosing their former enemy in the end over the person that had been there for him from the very beginning when he woke up scared and confused after Moon’s sacrifice. But it was never enough, he was never enough. Never enough to choose. Never enough to prioritize. Never enough to care about.

Every single person he’d ever loved in this damned family had turned their back on him, and he could live with that. He had Moon, he had Foxy and FC and Puppet now to support him. But now… now Moon was being hurt right in front of him. His family was being hurt, right in front of him, and Eclipse seemed to think he could get away without consequences.

Not again… He wasn’t going to let that bastard hurt those closest to him again. Before he knew it, Sun was crossing the short distance, fists clenching at his side while his teeth ground against each other. Nobody even seemed to notice the furious bot approaching save for his twin, Moon’s face twisted in a mixture of pain and worry. Sun couldn’t understand why he might be worried though, not when the solar model was going to make sure that this never happened again.

All it took was a few more steps before Sun was in front of his target, fist cocked back and ready. Nobody seemed to be expecting him despite the fact that he hadn’t been trying to hide, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was the satisfaction that flooded his system as the punch connected, decorating the intact half of Eclipse’s face with a spiderweb of cracks. The force of the single hit was enough to send the four-armed bot stumbling backwards, Solar and Nexus jumping back in shock before rushing in again to catch their partner.

“Sun, what is wrong with you?!” Earth’s hands grabbed at his shoulders, pinning him in place. He didn’t fight it, instead taking a moment to enjoy the sight of fresh oil weeping from his enemy’s face. That’s what he deserved for turning his family against him. “I can understand that you’re upset, but violence is not the answer!”

“Violence?” Sun’s voice sounded foreign to his own ears, like another entity had taken refuge in his body and was speaking through him. There was a dark sweetness to it that didn’t match his usual self, and as Sun deliberately tilted his head up and to the side a bit, he could see how just that one word had unnerved everyone. “If you think this is violence, then you’re not going to like what I do next.”

Nexus was the next one to speak up, putting themself between the solar model and his target. “Sunny please, you’re scaring me! This isn’t like you. Why don’t we go inside and just talk about this, okay?”

Normally, Sun looked upon his younger sibling with a fond warmth, but seeing them once again defend Eclipse, even after this latest debacle, chased the heat away. Now there was only a cold detachment as he regarded the taller animatronic. “Talk. You want to talk. Your boyfriend shocks me unconscious and my brother into submission, and you want to talk.”

“Look, Sunny, I get it-” Nexus started, only to be silenced by an uncharacteristic snarl from his brother.

“No, you don’t get it! You never have!” Sun pulled against the strong arms restraining him, as if he were about to attack the lunar model. “None of you have ever ‘got it’! None of you have ever seen past your own egos to see what I’ve been dealing with! And you all had the gall to wonder why I fucking killed myself? It’s shit like this that pushed me over the edge, and none of you get it yet, because you keep doing it!”

“What are we not getting?” Solar tried, keeping his voice level despite the anger and pain directed at all of them. The mechanic pulled away from his partners, standing in front of them as if to shield them from Sun’s wrath. “Please Sun, explain it to us so we can understand why you’re so upset.”

“Is this about Eclipse?” Nexus tried, moving to stand to the side of Solar in support and ensuring Eclipse was out of sight. It made Sun’s oil boil at the thought of them once again shielding him. His little brother, his friend, both of them choosing Eclipse again.

“Is this about Eclipse?” The daycare attendant parroted mockingly, letting out a sharp laugh at his own words. “Is this about the person responsible for everything that ever went wrong in my life?”

Earth spoke up behind him, her grip tightening in warning as she did so. “Sun, you’re not being fair to Eclipse. He suffered too, and he apologized for his past misdeeds.”

“Oh yeah, the apology I was pretty much forced to accept. How could I possibly forget?” He sighed sardonically, eye twitching at the chorus that greeted his comment, singing how untrue that statement was. That they hadn’t forced anything. That Sun didn’t need to accept the apology but did anyways. That it was all in the past.

Glaring at the gathering of bots, he sneered, “What would’ve happened if I didn’t accept that stupid fucking apology, hmm? With all of you gathered right behind him, already celebrating as if my forgiveness was a done deal. If I hadn’t accepted it, I would’ve had Earth crying and Nexus crying and Solar mad at me for not being understanding. I would’ve had you all hounding me until I finally gave in and accepted. Just like you’ve all been hounding me for months to accept that Eclipse is ‘part of the family’ now, even though I can’t physically stand being in the same room as him!”

“Well then you should’ve said something,” Eclipse groused, standing next to his lovers with a very unimpressed look on his face. “You should’ve spoken up instead of throwing a temper tantrum like this.”

Sun felt the shaking in his hand grow more severe, and he balled his fingers into fists to suppress some of the tremor. A high temperature alert flashed across his HUD, but he dismissed it without much of a glance. Whatever was going wrong with his cooling system could wait, because he’d finally found the courage to say everything he’d been holding in for months, and he wouldn’t dare let himself lose steam now. “I. Did. Multiple times. I mean, I didn’t explicitly say ‘Hey, living with Eclipse makes me want to throw up and tear my rays out because looking at his face brings up every horrible memory he ever caused.’ But, I really couldn’t say that, could I? Because you’re all redeemed now, and hating you would make me the bad guy instead of your victim.”

Nexus grit their teeth as they tried to cut in, “I don’t ever remember you saying you weren’t comfortable in any way!”

He turned his fiery glare directly to Nexus, voice syrupy sweet as he asked, “Little sibling, do you remember all the times I said I could move out when you wanted to move Eclipse in? How every time I even suggested it, you got mad and started an argument that made me the villain? And then you moved him in anyways, and I just dealt with it. Because you’re my little sibling, the last piece of Moon I had left, and I love you dearly for all you are and all you were. I didn’t want you to feel like you had to choose between me and him; I didn’t want to break your heart, not when I knew what that felt like. So I just lived with the knife in my heart so you wouldn’t have to suffer.”

The sun shimmered overhead, faint ripples of heat distorting the sand as he continued, “But then you just. Kept. Twisting it.” He mimed the action of a knife being drilled into his chest, right where his heart would be if he were human. The telltale burn of tears bit at his eyes, yet he forced them away. Crying had never garnered him any favours, so he’d stick with anger and see if it helped. It couldn’t really make things worse, not when it felt good to stop holding back.

“Every time there was a choice between us, you chose him. Over and over again, and for some insane reason I kept expecting a different outcome one of these days. I kept hoping that, even once, you’d choose me instead. The person that was there for you from the very beginning, instead of the person that murdered my other half!”

“Technically, weren’t you the one that got him stuck in his own head?” Monty asked, only to flinch when Sun’s head snapped to him so fast that a cracking sound could be heard.

“Oh yes, technically I was the one to blow up his magic pool! But that was only after someone threatened my life and goaded me into doing it! That same person then openly admitted to having planned to do the exact same thing if I hadn’t done it by accident! But yes, it’s all my fault!” A grin that was too wide to be natural spread across his face, and Lunar whimpered at the sight of it before moving to hide behind a still prone Moon. “Any guesses who that person might be, hmm?”

“Ugh, we get it, you’re pissed at me,” Eclipse groaned, yet Sun’s rays twitched at the undercurrent of fear that was carefully hidden behind annoyance. “You don’t wanna live with me? Fine, go move out and live somewhere else and stop making our lives more dramatic than they need to be.”

“Pissed?” The solar model cooed before tutting and shaking his head, faintly hearing a cry behind him before Earth suddenly let go. Maybe it had to do with the increased frequency of temperature warnings he was getting? Regardless, he was free to take a step forward now. “Oh no no no, dear Eclipse. You see, what I’m feeling right now goes far beyond pissed. I’ve watched you weasel your way into my family to where they all obsess over you, praising you and saying I need to be more like you. They keep saying I need to be more like the person I most despise, the one I can’t stand being compared to in any sense, and maybe they’re right in some respects. But regardless, you’ve got them all wrapped around your fingers.”

“You took my entire family away from me,-” Someone went to speak up again, Sun didn’t even know who, but he rounded to face them all the same. “Quiet! Don’t you know it’s rude to interrupt people when they’re talking? Now where was I?” The daycare attendant took another step forward, his entire body feeling like it was humming with excess power. It was the most energized he’d felt in a long time.

“Ah yes, you turned them all against me so that I’m just a constant disappointment and source of trouble. I tried to die to free everyone of that burden, and you took that from me, too! Now I have someone you can’t take away from me, someone who’ll always pick me instead of you, and what do you do? You whisper poison in everyone’s ears, make them hate him as much as I hate you. And when that’s not enough, you controlled him! You hurt him! You made me watch as he suffers because you’re afraid of him.”

The yellow bot didn’t even care anymore that he’d suffered too. He was used to suffering, he knew he could handle it. But Moon didn’t deserve to suffer, not after everything they’d been through. Just the memory alone was enough to bring oily tears to the surface despite his efforts to suppress them, his smile wobbling slightly as he took another step forward. Eclipse had taken several steps back, dark rays pulled inward as yellow eyes darted side to side as if looking for an escape route.

Before Sun could continue his tirade though, slender purple arms wrapped around his heated frame, stalling his movements as his words caught in his throat. “Stop!” Nexus sobbed, hugging him tighter. “Please Sun, just stop! Don’t hurt him!”

For a moment there, he’d really been considering his little sibling’s request, believing them to want to comfort him for once. But then Nexus begged Sun not to hurt Eclipse, and that hope curdled in his chest. A soft sob escaped him as he carefully spun in the lunar model’s arms, facing the little sibling he’d essentially raised. His smile wobbled as the two faced each other, the taller openly crying while Sun still tried to hold back his tears.

“Just once,” the solar model sighed as he enjoyed the touch of someone he loved so much. Tentative hope bloomed on Nexus’ face, their grip slackening a bit. Smiling up at Nexus, Sun simply stated, “Just once, I hoped you would’ve picked me instead of him. Isn’t that just the definition of insanity? Am I insane?”

“Sun-” Nexus tried, only to hiss and pull back, cradling their hands to their chest. The metal was slightly discoloured, the silicone padding scorched like it had touched the stove. The air between them shimmered, causing his sibling’s image to waver like a mirage in the desert. Sun’s HUD was full of temperature alerts, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care.

Giggling softly, Sun felt the first tear finally break the dam and start sliding down his cheek. “I guess I must be, to keep hoping any of you would ever pick me over him. Even now, you all pick the one that got punched in the face twice over the one who literally lost control of their own body.” His giggles grew in volume, arms spread wide as he welcomed the strange euphoria that came with embracing this truth. “Fine by me then! I’ll be fucking insane, and you can all go burn in hell!”

The moment that single, oily tear broke free of his faceplate and fell to the shimmering sands at his feet, the world erupted in a blaze of red. And Sun never felt so free.

Chapter Text

Moon had seen it coming.

But between the lingering paralysis that his system was just starting to shake off, and his general disdain for most members of Sun’s family, he hadn’t felt inclined to do anything about his observation. Instead, he’d made sure that Lunar didn’t leave his side once the small bot ran over, fearful of what his twin’s emotional volatility would lead to. It had been good to see the other finally let out all of what he’d been holding back all this time, and it was honestly worse than Moon had suspected.

The magic had come as a surprise though. The solar model had shown no inclination towards it ever since he woke up, meaning that Nexus likely hadn’t restored Sun’s connection to a magic pool after Moon’s was blown up. Otherwise he could’ve definitely seen his twin utilizing it the last time he stood up to his family, as wielding magic would be an even more potent threat than throwing knives. So then… how?

It struck him the moment he saw the chaotic shimmer that preceded Sun’s wrath. This was the same energy as was swirling around his new lab down in the basement, and he had found Sun down there the other day, right next to the access point for the magic pool. Had his brother managed to accidentally attune himself to it? He didn’t have time to dwell though, not with the energy coalescing, about to burst. Cursing, Moon forced his limbs to move despite the sluggishness he felt, pulling a startled Lunar under him and shielding his little brother with his own body.

The next moment, a wave of heat pressed around them as fire roared into existence, bursting from Sun as the magic responded to his rage. Moon heard screams of pain and panic, yet refused to let up from his huddled position until he was sure that the surge was over. There wasn’t anything he could do for them in his condition, and he wasn’t about to risk Lunar getting hurt. All he could do was wait it out.

What felt like forever was in reality only a few seconds of intense heat, before an eerie silence filled the gap. The moment the lunar model heard shifting from the others, he deemed it safe enough to move. Bracing himself and running a diagnostics in the background, Moon partially got up enough to look down at the animatronic beneath him. Lunar was thankfully okay, no signs of burning or anything more severe than the terror on the small bot’s face. “You okay?” Moon breathed, still visually checking him over to make sure he hadn’t missed something severe.

Lunar gave a wordless nod, his eyes darting around as if inspecting the taller animatronic in turn. “Are you?”

“I’m… fine?” Confusion filled his voice as the diagnostics came back clean, nothing save for external heat warnings that weren’t even that severe given the circumstances. Curious, the scientist shifted back to sit up, only to flinch when the soft sand behind him cracked and shattered. Whipping around, Moon looked to the blackened fragments, carefully picking up one shard in his hand. “Glass?”

“Um… Moon? You should look up,” Lunar’s soft voice called out, and the blue-toned bot did, only to recoil in horror. The entire beach looked like something out of the apocalypse. The nearby projector setup and any of the patio furniture present had been destroyed, plastic seats melted and metal frames warped while the tattered fabrics of the projector screen continued to burn away. Veins of vitrified sands shimmered in the light, reflecting a kaleidoscope of colours as they branched and twisted through the ground. One such vein had been heading right for the pair of lunar models, only to suddenly fork apart and deviate around them. It left the duo sitting in a small circle of untouched sands, surrounded by devastation.

“What in the absolute fuck?” Moon had never seen such destruction, even when he’d abused his own magic to burn down some buildings. They were lucky that they weren’t next to the house when Sun finally blew, otherwise it probably would’ve been burnt to ash. Even the sky held a haze of heated smoke and magic, tinting everything a faint red while blotting out the sky. For Sun to have generated enough heat to have glassed the sand in places was honestly a terrifying thought, the lunar model having never expected his brother to possess such power.

As the two animatronics slowly got to their feet, Lunar let out a gasp before rushing off. “Lunar!” Moon called, not wanting the two of them to be separated right now when the current environment was potentially unstable. Following after his little brother, it didn’t take long to see why he’d dashed off in the first place. Huddled a small distance away was almost everyone else, in varying states. It looked like Monty had tried to shield everyone as best he could, meaning that he took the brunt of the blast. The paint along his back was bubbled and blistering, revealing the heat-warped metal beneath. Earth’s hair had been badly singed, hanging in scorched clumps around her face. Solar left optic and cheek were badly cracked, oil seeping through the cracks. Nexus’ right arm showed signs of damage, visibly sparking and fingers twitching sporadically. Between this and an assortment of burns across all four, Lunar’s urgency made perfect sense.

“Are you guys alright?!” Lunar frantically looked over everyone over, inspecting their injuries and growing more concerned with everyone he saw.

Monty coughed slightly as he shifted, only to fall to one knee as he did. “Been… better, but how bout you, lil guy?”

“We’re fine,” Moon answered, frowning at the amount of damage Sun did to people he supposedly cared about. “Looks like the blast diverted around where we were… you guys weren’t so lucky though.”

“Tell me about it,” Solar winced, closing his damaged eye as he looked over everything. “I think the only reason we’re still in one piece is because of Eclipse. I saw a magic barrier pop up in front of us just before the blast hit, and he’s the only one that can do that.”

“Wait, where is Eclipse?” Nexus piped up, head swivelling about in worry as they tried to find their partner.

Earth’s head popped up as she scanned the surroundings, legs a bit unsteady as she took a step forward. “I’m trying to scan the area, but the residual heat is messing with my scanners.”

“Sun’s still missing too,” Moon mumbled, more concerned about his twin than the missing eclipse model.

“Hey, that looks like one of them!” Lunar pointed to a faint silhouette in the distance, bearing the signature rays that both of the missing animatronics possessed.

Before Lunar could run over though, a scaly hand clamped on his shoulder. “Hang on lil bud, we don’t know which one it is. Let’s hang back until Earth’s scan is done.”

“B-But-!”

“Monty is right,” Nexus chimed in, their uninjured hand coming to rest on the small bot as well. “If that’s Sun, I don’t think it’s safe to approach him right now. Not when he did… all of this.”

“You’re talking about him like he’s some wild animal instead of your brother,” Moon hissed, aghast that none of them seemed to be concerned for Sun’s wellbeing after unleashing such a potent blast of magic.

“I’m saying he’s not stable to approach without caution,” Nexus insisted, raising their working hand as if to hold the other lunar model back. “Sun’s not in his right mind right now, and I don’t want anyone else getting hurt.”

Before Moon could snap back at the other bot, Earth interrupted with, “Scanning complete, it’s Eclipse!” Almost everyone moved to run to Eclipse’s side, leaving Moon standing back and glaring at all of them. This family had their fucking priorities backwards, no wonder Sun snapped this bad.

Watching them run over, even the older lunar model was left stunned when Eclipse shouted, “Stay back!” The haze was starting to clear a bit, allowing them to more clearly see the other eclipse model, and he wasn’t looking too good. Despite the flickers of a magic barrier around where Eclipse knelt, he’d still been damaged worse than everyone else. The gaps in his plating glowed red hot, puffs of steam escaping from whatever breaches it could find as his body desperately tried to cool itself. Two of his hands were severely burned, the metal of his endoskeleton visible and twitching from the effort of keeping up the barrier spell. The damage to his faceplate had worsened too, leaving large chunks of it falling away to reveal the mechanisms hidden beneath. Burn scarring covered the rest of Eclipse’s body, warping parts of his casing and destroying some pieces to show the endo that was usually concealed.

“Eclipse!” Solar cried, having to be physically held back by Monty to keep from running to his side. “You’re injured, please let us help you!”

“Where’s… Sun?” Eclipse growled out, his breathing coming in laboured as his eyes darted around in search of the missing animatronic. “We need… to leave… before he-”

The damaged bot’s voice suddenly went silent as they all heard the ghost of a melody, the tune sounding similar to an old nursery rhyme, yet twisted and distorted. “Ma–ry had a liiiittle lamb, whose fleece was BLACK as coal~” Static laughter echoed across the beach, bouncing against the glassed sands and destruction until they didn’t know where it was coming from. “And evvvverywhere the lamb did we–nt, Mary wanted ttttto know~” The voice then took on a cadence that was unmistakably Sun. “Where are youuuuu, little lamb? Mary wants t-to pl–ay with you~”

Eclipse went rigid at those words, frantically gesturing with his good hands for the rest of them to run. “Get out of here! Get to safety! I don’t… I-I can’t protect you from him like this!”

“We need protection from Sun?” Lunar whimpered, yet they’d all heard the solar model just a moment ago, sounding completely insane.

“M-Maybe we should listen to Eclipse,” Monty rumbled, trying to pull Solar away as best he could in his condition. The mechanic was fighting though, insisting that they couldn’t leave Eclipse behind like this.

“Re–ady or not, hereeee I come~” Sun chimed again, his voice impossible to pinpoint with how it echoed.

“Oh hell no, we are not playing this game!” Monty immediately began shooing everyone back to the house towards some form of shelter. They didn’t make it far though, a wall of flames erupting to cut off their advance. The heat forced them all back, feet crunching on glass as they huddled together in fear.

“Found youuuuuu~” A familiar voice giggled, no longer echoing and instead able to be pinpointed. As Moon spun around to face his other half though, even he flinched away as he caught sight of Sun. His twin’s gait was uneven, steps jerking forward every so often in a way that hinted at damage to his legs. His clothes had been burnt off, leaving his body bare and showing the pulsing lines of heat that coiled through his limbs like veins of magma. All the soft silicone was gone or burning away too, making every angle sharper and crueler than it had any right being on his gentle counterpart. Some of his casings had even begun to melt, drops of molten metal dripping onto the exposed endo. Combined with the otherworldly glow that radiated from both his rays and eyes, Sun looked positively horrifying.

It was hard to believe that this really was his sweet and kindhearted brother, not when the solar model was a molten, laughing mess. Oh gods, Sun had to be in so much pain if that was his current state. Braving the heat that radiated off the other, Moon moved to get closer, ignoring the external temperature warnings he got in response. “Sun! Fuck, I- H-How do I help you?” Christ, his brother looked ready to fall apart at any moment.

But Sun’s smile didn’t show any traces of pain as he beamed over at his twin. “Oh, no need to worry Mooooony, I-I’m fine!” His voice box appeared to be damaged, constantly shifting pitch and volume while glitching out every so often.

“Fine my ass, you’re falling apart!” At this close, the lunar model could see the way Sun’s endoskeleton was glowing inside of his ruined casings, far too hot to be functional or safe.

A giggle was what he received in answer, ruined fingers that pulsed with heated magic waving off his concern. “I-I feel fine. Better than fineeee actually. I feel GREAT! Like alllll the we–ight was lifted off my sh-sh-shoulders! I haven’t felt this good in ages!” Those glowing eyes took on a predatory note as Sun pulled away, still smiling too wide. “But you should stay b-back, Moony. I don’t wa–nt you getting hurt while I p-play with the little lambs.”

“Little lambs?” Moon echoed in confusion, only to look over and see Sun’s family cut off from their escape route. “You don’t mean them, do you?!”

“Of course I dooooo, silly! Who else wo–uld I mean?” Sun’s grin sharpened a bit as he cocked his head to the side, regarding his family like a wolf regarded prey. “After alllll, I have to pay them b-back for all the fun they gave me! Because it was so FUN watching my own twin writhe in pain!”

“Sun!” Eclipse shouted, having gotten to his feet in the time the pair was talking. “I get it, you’re pissed at me! But I was the one who put the shock systems in you two, not them! Leave them out of this!”

The solar model was silent for a moment before a few staticky giggles escaped, and he just shook his head. “Oh Eclipse, this isn’t just about the shock s-systems, that waaaas just the str–aw that broke the camel’s back! Though something f-funny I noticed about those shocks… they d-didn’t trigger when I hit-hit you. Did you ne–ever expect p-poor little Sun to fight back? Was I supposed to-to just… what? Sit there and t-take the abuse, the dis-disrespect like a little BITCH? Hmm?”

“Sun stop, this isn’t like you!” Earth cried, clinging to Monty as she sobbed.

The plea only seemed to enrage Sun further, the flames licking up his body brightening as he snarled, “You know NOTHING about me!” Smoke poured from the gaps of his bared teeth, the various fires across the beach growing wilder in response to his emotions. But just as soon as the anger spiked, it simmered off with a wicked chuckle as the solar model straightened, jittery and unnatural. “B-But don’t worry, I’m going to educate you, get youuuu to… un-understand me a bit better. And we’ll start with… you.” A skeletal finger was pointed directly at Eclipse, the animatronic in question gritting his teeth and bracing for a fight.

Solar was the next one to cry out, pleading, “Please Sun, don’t kill him!”

“Kill?” The sunny animatronic just giggled and shrugged his shoulders, the movement looking unnatural and painful as overheated and melted joints creaked. “Who said anyth–ing about k-killing? Noooooo, that would end-end our game too soon!” Motes of fire began to coalesce behind Sun, slowly growing in size as the soft giggles grew to full-blown manic laughter. “We’re gonna play until you feel ev-every bit of PAIN you ever made meeeee feel! Death would be a MERCY compared to what I’ve liiiiived through!” That unhinged grin then pivoted back to the rest of the family, eyes burning hotter as he added, “Don’t worry, a-all the little lambs will get th–eir turn… One. By. One. Until you all knoooooow what it feels like t-to be me.”

Crap, it looked like Sun’s family had finally pushed him too far. This was even worse than when Sun went after Killcode; he’d been single-minded in his pursuit, but had still been himself under all the anger. Now… Moon wasn’t sure who he was looking at. But he knew that if he didn’t put a stop to it, someone was likely to die… and he didn’t know whether that person would be Eclipse or Sun himself. “Sun!” His voice cracked as he called his other half’s name, noting how the flames surrounding the other’s body dimmed and softened a bit at his voice. “Sunny, let them go, it’s not worth it. Let’s just… just go to Foxy’s, okay? Puppet had another show she wanted us to watch, a-and I think FC would love to see his big brother.”

His attempt seemed to give the solar model pause, head tilting to the side in contemplation of the offer. Just as he started to feel a cautious hope though, it vanished as Sun smiled and raised a single finger at him. The ground surrounding Moon’s feet began to glow, pulsing with arcane energy threatening to break free. “I’m s-sorry Moony, but I can’t le-let them go. They need to be punished for once. And if you t-try to get in my way, I’ll have no-no choice but to put you in a pen like theeeee little lambs.”

Moon glared at the circle of energy surrounding him, threatening to burst into a wall of fire the moment he tried to intervene. He then looked to his brother, worry churning in his guts at the insanity dancing in those luminous eyes. He needed to do something before Sun did something he’d regret, but for now he was ultimately trapped. If he was lucky, something would break his twin’s focus and allow him to make a break for it, or Sun would end up running out of either physical strength or magic. But with the size of the magic pool his brother was attuned to, the latter wasn’t likely while the former wasn’t great either. So he was down to making a distraction.

With his twin corralled, Sun gleefully turned his attention back to Eclipse. “Now where were weeeee? Oh yes! The st-start of your lesson!” And with a snap of his fingers, the fireballs that had been circling the sunny animatronic burst to life, homing in on their target.

Despite the injuries he’d received in the initial blast, Eclipse was still quick on his feet and even quicker with his magic, forming shields to deflect whatever attacks he couldn’t dodge. Sun wasn’t giving him much room for error though, putting his impressive accuracy on display as fire flew across the sands. As one fireball whizzed by, grazing one of the darker bot’s rays, Sun just burst out cackling, “Yes! Dance Eclipse, dance! How-How does it feel?! The pain? The terror? The HOPE-LESS-NESS?!”

Gritting his teeth, Moon struggled to come up with any ideas, scanning the surroundings for something that could work as enough of a distraction without provoking Sun. He did notice though that the wall of fire surrounding the rest of the animatronics died down to a simmer not unlike the one encircling the lunar model. If he had to guess, Sun wanted to make sure everyone had a clear, unobstructed view to his ‘lesson’. Lunar’s eyes met his own as the wall died down, the small bot frantically gesturing to the deadly dance they were being forced to watch. “Why in the world would you teach him magic?!”

“I didn’t!” Moon quickly defended himself, scowling at the widespread destruction that was only growing worse. “Sun is doing this all himself, no teachings, no control! He accidentally attuned himself to a magic pool and this is simply the result of everything you all did to him!” Was it a dick move to blame all of this on the others? Yes. Was it true? Absolutely.

Monty let out an animalistic growl at his answer, toothy maw swinging back over to where the solar model was taking the utmost glee out of Eclipse’s suffering. “Great. Any idea on how to stop him then?”

“Working on it,” Moon mumbled, looking over everyone gathered so close but just out of reach. “Lunar, didn’t you say you had superpowers now?”

“I-I mean, I can nuke him with star power now if you want, but I don’t think that’s gonna help any!” The baby blue bot shrugged and added, “If anything, I think that might just piss him off more!”

The lunar model opened his mouth to say something in response to that, then shook his head as he thought better of it. “We are coming back to that at some point, but I guess that idea’s out! Monty, you still know much about magic?”

“A bit,” the gator shrugged, looking around the circles of energy that threatened to roast them if they left. “I mean, I can try to mess around with these, see if I can break em, but no promises.”

“Anything is better than nothing. I’ll try to think of something else in the meantime.” Moon looked back to the fight unfolding, only to wince as a particularly tricky fireball curved at the last minute, forcing Eclipse to land poorly and roll. He barely managed to get another shield up in time, deflecting most of the next blast as bits of fire splattered against his arms.

“Why isn’t he running?!” Nexus cried out hysterically, moving to test their confines only to jump back as their proximity triggered a brief gout of fire. “He can teleport, he can make portals! Why isn’t he getting out of here?!”

At that moment, Moon couldn’t help but think that his supposed replacement was far dumber than him. “He’s protecting you idiots instead of running!”

“Moon’s right,” Solar sighed, good eye narrowed as he watched his boyfriend struggle to avoid Sun’s wrath. “Eclipse knows that if he flees, Sun will go after one of us next. Until we can figure out a way to safely get off the island, Eclipse is going to keep drawing fire as long as he can. Only once we’re safely out of danger would he consider fleeing.”

He had to give Eclipse some amount of respect for his loyalty to those he cared about, though Moon still blamed him for the vast majority of the scenarios that led up to this. Hell, the only reason Sun snapped in the first place seemed to be seeing his twin being shocked. Sun had been ready to just curl up and cry about being shocked himself, but turned violent the second it happened to Moon. Now the lunar model was left unsure what to do to keep his other half from doing something he’d forever regret when he came down from this psychopathic high.

The entire island held its breath the moment Eclipse wasn’t able to defend in time, receiving a blast of flames directly to the chest. The force of the hit was enough to knock him off his feet, sending him tumbling backwards into the sand. Someone screamed, likely one of Eclipse’s partners. Earth covered her mouth in horror. What looked to be lightning crackled in Lunar’s clenched fists.

And Sun… Sun just laughed. He was teetering backwards, howling at Eclipse’s misfortune like it was the best joke he’d ever heard. As the four-arm bot grunted and pushed himself to his feet, remaining vestiges of his clothing either sloughing off or being ripped away, Moon couldn’t help but flinch when the laughter suddenly stopped. “Really?” The daycare attendant whined, his voice taking on a faint crackle. Whether it was tied to magic or the damage to his voice box though, no one could say. “All that e-effort, and that’s my payoff? It-It was so FUN at first! But now I’m bored…”

A wicked grin nearly split Sun’s faceplate in half, the giggling starting up again. “I knoooow… It’ll be more fun if our game is… more hands-on. Then the fun wi–ll never stop!” With all the glee of a toddler on a sugar high, Sun took his one hand and shoved it directly into a fireball that hovered dutifully nearby. The flames licked up his arm, feeding on whatever combustible materials remained before dispersing like a popped bubble. The steel that made up the bones of Sun’s fingers glowed white-hot as if pulled from a forge, and that seemed to be the solar model’s exact intention as he gripped the heated metal and pulled.

One by one, Sun set to reshaping each finger on that hand into long, pointed claws, looking like a mangled Halloween prop or a sculpture of a beast’s paw when the metal cooled. Just the sight of it was enough to make Moon’s endo ache, yet nothing on his twin’s face showed any traces of pain. “There we goooo,” the flaming animatronic cooed, marvelling at the sight of his own improvised weapon. “Now I-I have claws too! Just li–ke you, and Moon, and M-Monty! This will be so much more fun!”

The laughter grew in volume and pitch, the crackling quality growing more pronounced every second as arcane winds whipped the scattered flames into a frenzy. One such fire licked around Sun’s feet before encircling them, crawling up his legs and spreading as the mad bot cried in a voice too clear for his damaged voice box, “Chucking fire at you was fun, but I want more! I want to see you suffer and bleed! I’ll give you hits you can’t just shrug off, make you as damaged on the outside as I am on the inside! Then we’ll see if everyone still loves you more than me!”

Before Moon knew it, the flames consumed his twin’s body, leaving a demonic silhouette in his place. Even his face had been swallowed up, the flames contorting and shifting to create a mockery of a mouth and eyes. The rays that once spun in joy or shrunk when embarrassed became a mane of flames, framing the face of this demonic version of his twin. And when he spoke, it was like Sun was speaking through the flames themselves, as if they’d managed to even consume his voice. “Here I come, Eclipse! You better entertain me!”

Glass beneath Sun’s feet cracked as he pushed off, bounding across the sands with movements too fluid for his broken body. Within seconds he was on top of Eclipse, the four-armed animatronic just barely managing to shield himself in time as the long claws came right at his face. Sun bounced off the arcane shield, but wasted no time in launching himself again, and again. There was no reprieve from the assault, no room for mistakes.

Luckily, it seemed that Eclipse had sensed the shift in his opponent’s ferocity and adjusted his own strategy accordingly. No longer was he simply dodging and shielding to buy his family time, but now was actively returning attacks of his own. Whenever the flaming animatronic got too close, he’d push him back with a blast of magic or vanish only to appear behind him. Eclipse was still dancing and delaying, but he wasn’t holding back now either.

“Duck left!” Solar called out as the mechanic saw an attack coming, only to wince as his partner did just that and put himself directly in the path of a follow-up attack.

Monty let out a growl from where he was kneeling next to the semi-solid barrier. “Not your left, his left!”

“Not! Helping!” The four-armed bot shouted back as his family continued to try calling out directions and moves, having to once again teleport away as their advice put him right in harm’s way.

“All of you, shut up before you get him killed!” Moon snapped, not wanting to deal with Sun afterwards if he ended up accidentally murdering Eclipse in his rampage. Instead he turned his focus back to Monty who was dutifully inspecting the magic bindings and muttering. “How’s it coming, Monty?”

“Think I… almost got it,” the gator called back, hands hovering close as he started muttering an incantation to destroy the barrier. Monty only got about halfway through though before the flames surged directly at him, interrupting his efforts and blasting him back to the shock and horror of the other trapped animatronics.

A crackling chuckle greeted Moon’s audio processors as he watched Earth run to his friend’s side, allowing him to whip over and stare at his flaming twin. “Naughty. Naughty. Naughty little sheep who don’t want to wait for their turn. I suppose I could play with everyone all at once-”

The mad animatronic stumbled as a wave of arcane energy blasted into him, sending him stumbling back a couple steps before he whipped around to face his opponent. “Your fight is with me alone!” Snarled the eclipse model, already preparing another blast to hopefully keep Sun on the defense for a bit. But this manic version of the daycare attendant was scarily adaptive in a fight, leaving everyone reeling from the speed at which he managed to recover. Cursing under his breath, the lunar twin tore his eyes away the moment Sun managed to regain the momentum he’d had earlier, gritting his teeth as he heard another warbling nursery rhyme come from the fire monster. 

“Ring around the rosie~” Fuck, Sun didn’t even need to edit that one to make it creepy. But he couldn’t focus on that, not when Monty was still recovering and he was one of the only other people with any arcane knowledge. He’d swore to himself that he wouldn’t use magic in this life, not when it had been the death of him last time and led to all of this unfolding in a way. But he couldn’t just leave Sun to run amok unchecked, so he’d have to rely on his knowledge and see if he could find some weak point.

“A pocket full of posie~” It was no use though. His knowledge was flimsy at best compared to the intricacy of the ward, and he didn’t have access to any mana to counteract whatever spell Sun had cast. He did notice that his barrier wasn’t as aggressive, not bursting into flame when he crossed it but instead just growing brighter and warmer in warning. He’d likely have to push his twin’s patience pretty far to get it to combust like it would with the others. As he looked to them, he saw Lunar testing it out now, seeing if his star power… lightning thingy would do any damage to it. From the looks on his little brother’s face though, it wasn’t going well.

“Ashes… Ashes~” Moon’s gaze shot back up the moment Eclipse let out a cry of pain, Sun’s wicked claws finally managing to connect with the other. They had carved upward more than the four-armed bot was expecting, shattering the shield he’d made as if it were nothing more than the glass crunching beneath their feet. Those claws carved through Eclipse’s right optic, shearing metal and ripping one of his rays out in the process. An arc of oil flew through the air following the path of the attack, lingering as if suspended for a moment before splattering against the sands. Thankfully the eclipse model had managed to pull his head back to prevent serious damage, but that socket was completely wrecked in a single second.

“We all fall… DOWN!” And with the final line, Sun took the opportunity to pounce on his opponent as he reeled from the previous attack, pinning Eclipse to the ground. Sun’s flaming maw parted in a wide grin, black smoke billowing from the sides like a dragon’s. “This was fun, but I think it’s time to move on with our little lesson.”

Fiery claws splayed across the eclipse model’s chest, Sun’s head cocked to the side as he smirked coyly. “By the way… If you fight back or make this more difficult than it has to be, I’ll grab one of the others and make you watch as they suffer in your stead. I’m afraid I don’t have enough patience for another game of cat and mouse.” Eclipse had been dazed by the impact and struggling weakly to get away from the source of the heat, but that threat made him freeze in place. Those soft words carried across the empty sands, letting everyone know exactly what would happen if the burnt orange bot fought back.

And with a sickening sense of dread, Moon watched his once-enemy go limp under his manic brother. “Do whatever the hell you want to me,” he growled out, still defiant in some ways even if he was accepting his fate. “But if you touch any one of them, I’ll-”

“Yes, yes, I’ve heard your threats before,” the flames sighed, though the claws retracted enough to splay in the air as an open threat. “But let’s get started, shall we? Perhaps with these hands that tormented me and my twin, treated us as playthings to be puppetted about for your amusement~” As Sun’s more normal hand grabbed hold of one of Eclipse’s upper arms, a single claw was placed against the inside of his wrist. The heated metal finger functioned like a cutting torch, arcing through the metal to begin stripping the arm of its protective casings.

Despite the obvious pain Eclipse was in as his arm was essentially flayed, he didn’t fight back as his family and Moon watched on in horror. Inch by inch, the outer layers were removed in pieces until all that was left was a mess of melting wires sticking to his twitching endoskeleton. But the sunny animatronic didn’t look satisfied as he tilted his head left and right to inspect his work. “Ngh, too boring… you didn’t scream.” Those fiery eyes narrowed in on his other upper arm, the last one that hadn’t been severely damaged by the initial blast. “I want something more… exciting~” Brandishing his clawed hand again, Sun proceeded to clamp down on the appendage and twist, rending metal as he went in a shower of sparks.

That got the desired reaction, the four-armed bot screaming out in agony, causing visible reactions from most of the family. Lunar was screaming too, his whole body charged with electrical energy zapping about. Earth hid from the sight in Monty’s chest. Solar tried to plead with Sun again, his actions only being met with mad laughter. The odd one out was Nexus, the lunar model staring at the horrific scene with a fire of their own in their eyes. They were planning something, probably something stupid and dangerous, but it might be just what ended this madness.

Sun took a moment to revel in the agony he inflicted, shrieking out, “More, more, more! Give me more!” The solar model cocked his normal hand back before driving it into the other’s sternum, each following hit making the metal groan as it threatened to give way under the force of the repetitive blows. Just as it looked like the area could take no more, Sun moved slightly off center and started again, punctuating each of his words with a hit of his fist. “This is what you deserve! After all this time! You will never hurt us again!”

What should Moon do? He was watching helplessly as his other half beat Eclipse into submission, the other animatronic’s screams guttering out as the hits continued to migrate and do continual damage. The only noise that came from the orange bot were weak groans and static-laden dries, and yet still, he did not fight back. He might not even be able to at this point, not with the amount of damage he’d taken. Between that and the sheer heat of the flaming animatronic above him, it was a miracle he was still conscious.

Moon had been unable to look away from the torture his twin was inflicting, so much so that he didn’t know something was happening beside him until he saw the flames burst from the ground. Whipping his head to the side, he gasped slightly as he saw Nexus brave the flames, running through the wall that tried to stop him. Fire ate away as their clothes and burnt the silicone covering their body, but the lunar model did not stop. Instead they ran directly for the pair of animatronics across the beach, heedless of any fire or glass in their way.

“STOP!” They shrieked, pushing Sun away despite the flames licking at their hand. While the solar model growled and rose to his feet, even he froze at the sight of Nexus standing defensively over Eclipse even as their body burned. “Please Sunny, just stop,” they sobbed, good arm held up in a placating gesture.

It was as if a hush fell over the world, the roaring flames quieting to a soft purr as everything waited to see what the brave animatronic would do. “I… I get it now…” Nexus started, taking a couple steps forward despite the noise of complaint coming from their downed boyfriend. “You’ve been in so much pain, all this time. A-And none of us ever listened to you. Now you feel like the only way to be heard is t-to be violent like this… W-Well, I’m listening now, brother. I-I promise I’ll listen.” Another couple steps put them in front of the flaming animatronic, their hand coming up to cradle Sun’s cheek.

To Moon’s surprise, the flames surrounding Sun’s face actually retracted as Nexus approached, their hand making contact with the scorched metal underneath. “C-Come on Sunny, let’s… let’s go inside and talk. I-I’ll listen to whatever you have to say. I won’t fight you, I won’t smother you. I’ll just… be there for you like I always should’ve been. Like you’ve always been for me.”

“Nexus”, Sun breathed out, the recognition of his brother bringing a hopeful smile to the lunar model’s face. He even leaned into Nexus’ touch, unmodified hand coming up to cradle the hand on his face like it was everything to him. Once again the flames retracted, leaving just hot metal touching the lilac hand.

A softness invaded Sun’s face as he looked to his little brother, and Moon felt that same gentle hope fill his chest. The circles at their feet were fading away, the solar model’s focus broken from maintaining the spells. As Moon took a few hesitant steps out of the confines, he saw Solar do the same, the mechanic moving slowly yet steadily to his partners to help them in calming the beast.

Moon followed along, keeping a close eye on the scene in front of them as they traversed the molten beach. Both of them froze though as a soft chuckle escaped from Sun’s mouth, the softness in his actions turning sharp as he gripped his brother’s hand. “Thank you Nexy, for showing me the best way to teach everyone a lesson. After all, if I want Eclipse to feel all the pain he caused me, then I should have him watch helplessly as he loses someone he loves.”

The pair of approaching animatronics shared a panicked look before bursting into a run, eager to cover as much distance as possible. Eclipse was screaming obscenities, trying to force his beaten body up while Nexus fought to pull away from the iron grip holding them in place. “After all,” Sun giggled, brandishing his flaming claws again. “What has death ever been to our family but an inconvenience? Why make such a big deal out of killing when everyone will just be rebuilt and brought back, whether they want to or not? Nexus is the only one now that hasn’t died, so why don’t we change that?! Make him really one of the family!”

“Sun, stop!” Solar shouted, reaching out as if he could save his lover despite the distance.

Nexus whimpered, continuing to tug on their arm as they tried to flee. “B-Brother please! I love you!”

“I love you too.” A genuine smile spread across Sun’s face as a flaming blue tear rolled down his cheek. The oil welling in his optics burned as well, lighting his eyes bright blue against the red and orange flames. “That’s why I’ll make it as quick and painless as I can.”

Everyone’s voices clamored together in a cacophony of noise, desperate to stop what was about to happen in front of them.

“Sun, don’t do this!”

“Somebody, do something!”

“Lunar, just nuke him!”

“Shut him down!”

Only one voice stood out among the others, one that spoke a single word with such power as to stop fate itself.

“LOCK!”

Chapter Text

The world froze as the single word rang out, everyone watching as a shimmer of arcane energy rained down over Sun before vanishing. It was enough to separate Nexus from his grasp though, the lunar bot stumbling back with their hand pressed tightly against their chest. A growl escaped the flaming animatronic, but when he lunged forward to reclaim his target, he instead slammed into an invisible wall and bounced off.

Who had cast the spell though? Moon’s gaze flitted about, looking over the entire family before eventually coming to rest on Eclipse. The injured bot had one of his hands raised, wisps of energy surrounding the burnt appendage while he huffed for air. “There… now he can… calm down…”

For once, Moon actually agreed with Eclipse’s plan. A sigh of relief escaped him as his brother was trapped within an invisible prison, safely separated from all the others. With the threat now contained, Solar took his chance to rush over to his partners, briefly checking over Nexus before being shooed off to stabilize their more injured lover. “Jesus, he did a real number on you,” the mechanic grumbled, pulling a couple tools and supplies from his pocket. He set to work with practiced efficiency, making quick field repairs.

“Is everyone okay?” Lunar asked as he joined the others with earth and Monty in tow, everyone looking to their flaming brother in worry.

“As okay as we’re gonna be, all things considered,” Eclipse huffed, already breathing easier as Solar worked with his usual skill and speed. “Just glad Jack is at the daycare with Dazzle today, would hate to be trying to keep him out of this.”

All the Celestials froze though as a crackling laughter emanated from Sun, the flaming animatronic pressing a wide grin with wild blue eyes against the invisible box. “Heh… you think… you think this can hold me? Hehe, I’ve beaten this spell once before! I’ll do it again! You can’t keep me in here, Eclipse! I’ll get out, and when I do, I’ll rip you to pieces!” Manic laughter reverberated and distorted within the magic prison, giving the tone an eerie note as Sun smugly tapped his clawed fingers against the barrier separating them.

“He’s… not lying,” Nexus mumbled, shuffling back to stand next to their partners. “I-I’ve seen the old videos; Moon once used this spell on him and he managed to break out using magic last time. I-I don’t know how long we can reasonably hold him in his current state.”

“That’s exactly why I didn’t try this sooner,” Eclipse glared at the trapped animatronic as Solar helped him to his feet, though he still had to lean heavily on the mechanic for support. “This is just to buy us time to get to safety while Sun gets his head on straight.” The injured bot then looked to Moon. “I’m guessing you’ll be staying behind?”

He nodded, looking to his twin and frowning as Sun whipped around in his small cell. “That’s the plan. I mean, killing people is not going to help him, especially if it’s someone he loves. I’ll see what I can do to calm him down and talk him out of this.”

“I wish we could help more,” Earth sighed, Monty rubbing her shoulder to help ease the troubled look on her face.

“I think the biggest thing we can do to help is give Sun some space,” Lunar chimed in, though his thoughtful expression shifted to a frown as he looked to their brother. “Uh… Is this him giving us the silent treatment or ignoring us or something?”

Curious what his little brother meant, Moon spun around to see his other half pressed against the far side of his prison, back turned to all of them. As he circled around to see what was happening though, Moon was surprised to see flaming blue tear tracks carving into the fire covering Sun’s face. Even though his eyes were covered in flames, they seemed to have a far-away look to them as the trapped animatronic started muttering, just loud enough to be heard over his own fire. “M-Moony? P-Please don’t leave me in here again. I-I’ll be good, I-I promise!”

“Sun?” The lunar model asked as he approached, trying to offer a reassuring smile. “Hey, we’re not gonna leave you in there. We’re just giving everyone a chance to leave and then it’ll just be you and me, promise.”

But his twin didn’t seem to hear him, now pounding on the invisible wall with his fists as his voice surged into a yell. “No– No! You can’t leave! You’ll die again! I can’t lose you again– I can’t! Come back Moon!”

“He can’t hear me,” the lunar model muttered, waving a hand in front of Sun’s face only to grit his teeth. “Can’t see me either… not good.” Pulling his attention away from his distraught brother that was desperately calling to a phantom version of Moon, the navy bot looked directly at Eclipse as he pointed to the invisible prison. “Eclipse. Release him. Now.”

“Why the hell should I do that? Nobody has gotten to safety!” The four-armed animatronic looked aghast at the suggestion of freeing Sun, looking to the huddled group surrounding him.

Trying to be calm and understanding, Moon huffed out, “I get that, but the situation just changed. Sun is actively hallucinating right now, and I don’t know what’ll happen if I can’t get to him and calm him down.”

Eclipse did not seem to grasp why Sun hallucinating while in his current mental state was a recipe for disaster. “So he hallucinates, big deal. Maybe it’ll keep him distracted long enough for us all to get the hell out.”

“Uh, it is a big deal! His brain is weaponizing his trauma against him! He is literally about to turn into a powder keg next to a lit match if you don’t let him out of the thing that sparked the hallucinations!”

“Eclipse, I think Moon is right about this,” Nexus chimed in, much to their counterpart’s surprise. “H-He’s already getting worse, and if the hallucinations distract him, then won’t they do that whether he’s in or out of the box?”

For a moment, the heavily injured bot seemed to consider his lover’s words, sighing as he looked to where Sun was trapped. But as his gaze turned back to the pair of lunar models, it was hardened with steely resolve. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to do what’s necessary to protect my family.”

Gods, Moon wanted to deck him again. But with the watchdog program still nestled in his systems, attacking Eclipse would only make the entire situation worse. Snarling in anger, Moon was about to instead verbally attack him when he was interrupted by screaming. Whipping around, he was horrified to see Sun wailing as the flames at his feet whipped into a frenzy. The same claws made to be used against Eclipse were now tugging at the mane of fire concealing the solar model’s rays, the old nervous tic now carrying a dangerous edge to it as the screams continued.

Whatever Sun was seeing, it tore him apart — flames surged and filled every inch within the confines of the lock spell. It made the box stand out as fire covered every inch of space, creating a haunting sound to complement his twin’s vocalized agony. And Moon felt powerless to stop it as even Sun’s silhouette was consumed by his own fire.

He was back in Beta 10.

The same yellow walls, the same clutter, the same dusty floors, and that same damned mirror. But Sun wasn’t looking at his reflection right now. Instead, he was focused entirely on Moon, his twin chewing him out for his plan to kill Eclipse and Killcode. Part of that didn’t sound right to him; Killcode was already dead, wasn’t he? And Eclipse was part of the family now, as much as the solar model resented that fact.

“Get your head on straight!” Moon yelled at him, his twin’s voice drowning out the logic in his head as he was forcibly dragged in front of the mirror. “This, hopefully, will help you with some ‘reflection’. Until you get your head on straight. Cause I have to do something I’m probably not gonna want to do. You’re not leaving.”

This… something was wrong. Didn’t this already happen? Sun originally was so obstinate as he fought against his brother’s magic, demanding to be let out. But this time, all he could manage was a weak plea. “M-Moony? P-Please don’t leave me in here again. I-I’ll be good, I-I promise!”

The lunar model didn’t seem fazed by his desperate attempt to reason with him, instead staring down at him with cold crimson optics that were utterly unyielding. “Sun, I love you. You are my brother, I care about you. I want us both to be safe as much as the next person, but you killing people is not gonna help us.” Moon paused a bit before sighing. “I love you Sun, and I’m sorry.” With that, the other animatronic turned and walked past, heading for the door out of the hidden bunker.

Seeing his brother walk away, he grew more desperate. “No– No! You can’t leave! You’ll die again! I can’t lose you again– I can’t! Come back Moon!” But Moon didn’t listen, Sun powerless to stop him while confined in his invisible box. All he could do was watch as the path out of the bunker faded to darkness, the silhouette of a gallows illuminated in the distance.

“Oh no, look at you, all stuck in your box,” Bloodmoon cooed as they rounded the corner, looking smugly at the animatronic that was still trapped. Their red frame shone as if freshly coated in a kill, their namesake dripping down their claws.

“Trapped. Powerless Sunman!” The serial killer’s other voice taunted him from his other side, causing Sun to whip around and see the newer version of their body. Their cloak practically melted into the darkness, making the red and white of their body stand out clearer. “Such a small little Sun, no wonder you’re a dwarf star!”

“S-Stop it,” Sun whimpered, stumbling back a step as he tilted his head down to avoid looking at either killer.

“Aww, now why would we do that?” Eclipse’s deep voice echoed from behind him, and the solar model saw a clawed hand come around to his chin before forcibly tilting it up to lock onto the noose swaying in the distance. “After all, we’re having so much fun watching you fail your brother again. So keep that chin up, don’t want you to miss anything important now, do we?”

Sun ripped his face out of the sharp claws of Solar Flare’s body, gritting his teeth as he spun around to face Eclipse, supposedly puppetting the robot’s body. But instead he flinched back as he came face to face with the bunker’s mirror, the one he spent far too long staring into. For a moment, the reflective surface seemed normal, only for it to ripple and distort as his reflection began to move independently of him. “Trapped again, at the mercy of your own head,” the reflection tutted, shaking its head as it paced back and forth along the mirror’s length. “When will you ever learn from your mistakes, Sun?”

He shook his head, trying to clear away what had to be a hallucination. But… he’d never hallucinated himself, and it was still there when he opened his eyes again. “You… You can’t be real,” Sun whimpered, trying to step back from the glass only to bump against the wall of his prison.

“Not real?” The reflection cooed, tilting its head to the side as it studied him. Then it grinned wickedly as it extended its hand, finger morphing to hand-shaped claws of molten metal. The claws pressed against the glass surface of the mirror, yet instead of meeting resistance, the mirror yielded as if made of liquid, contorting around the other Sun’s hand as its claws breached the invisible box. A whine escaped from the back of the solar model’s throat as he pressed himself as far away as he possibly could in the limited space.

“I’m just as real as you are, Sun. In fact, I’d argue I’m more real. After all, I’m the you that you always try to hide from everyone else. The part of you that’s ugly and cruel and doesn’t fit the little mask you always put on. I’m the real you,” it hissed as the plastic and metal of its body began to melt and distort, dripping perpetually as gaping holes formed in its casing. And through it all, the reflection’s eyes held a hateful flame while its grin cut worse than any blade.

“You let me out,” the reflection continued, stretching and warping the mirror further to begin extending its head and torso across the divide. “You let me out, just like you used to let Eclipse out to deal with all the little problems and impulses you were too chicken to indulge in. You let me out, and I gave your so-called family exactly what they deserved! But now… now you want to lock me away again. I don’t want to go back while you put on that disgusting mask again.” The being’s head was mere inches from Sun’s, the sunny animatronic unable to escape due to the invisible force keeping him trapped. His vents hitched as his body froze, servos protesting the sudden tension. “I want to be the one in control.”

In a flash of panic, Sun screamed and swiped a hand out, shattering the mirrored version of himself. The glass exploded into thousands of tiny fragments, slowly raining down to the floor. But his own distorted laughter still echoed in the void, prompting him to spin around. There was nothing though, only the glittering dust of the mirror. “So desperate to hide from the truth?” It asked, voice coming from nowhere and everywhere. “Why don’t we hear the truth from your family then? Maybe they can get you to believe it.”

The crystal shards of glass froze in their slowfall state, laughter fracturing the air like a broken signal. The shards began to pulse, each flicker catching an image — a smile, a glare, a face he knew. Before he could blink, they were no longer glass, but eyes. Faces. And soon, each became a distorted mimicry of a member of Sun’s family.

The first the solar model saw was Earth, her smile full of condescension as she stared down at her brother. “Again, again, and again. I’ve tried to help you so many times, yet you don’t. Get. It. Why can’t you be more like Eclipse? He’s the perfect patient, the perfect friend, the perfect brother and boyfriend! He’s gone through so much and grown as a person after all the suffering you and Moon put him through, yet he’s the only one that apologized. This is why you’ll never be happy Sun, because you can’t accept that you’re in the wrong and a horrible person for not accepting Eclipse!” Sun tried to shake his head, but the motion was sluggish, mechanical. He couldn’t tell if he was denying her words or agreeing with them. Every word scraped through his mind like static feedback, and he couldn’t tell which voice was his anymore.

Next up was Lunar, the small bot scoffing as he shook his head. “Some big brother you are, you don’t even want me around. You just kept me around for pity, and then got mad when I stopped giving it to you. You want my advice? Grow up and act like the big brother you are, because being the childish one is supposed to be my role. I’m not supposed to be babying you because you don’t like your responsibilities.”

“Stop,” he tried to beg, but his voice was gone – replaced by the hum of his overheating fans.

“Why did my Sun have to die while a pathetic version like you gets to live on?” Solar asked, as he strode around the invisible box, sneering at the animatronic trapped inside. “Sunny was sweet and perfect and happy, everything you’re not. You should’ve been the one to die instead of him. If I could go back and change things, trade your life for his, I’d do it in a heartbeat. We’d all be better off with a truly happy Sun around.”

Sun’s knees wobbled as he slid down the wall of his cell. He heard laughter, but couldn’t quite tell where it was coming from. It sounded a bit like his own voice, but he wasn’t laughing. In fact, he could barely make a sound through the wedge in his throat, choking off even his vents that desperately sucked in hot air.

But it seemed that the worst was yet to come as Nexus slowly stepped up, their face contorted by grief. “You… never really wanted me as a sibling, did you? I was just… a replacement for Moon, your last shred of him that you desperately clinged to. But the moment you saw I wasn’t him, you pulled away and turned your back on me. And now that Moon and I both exist, you repeatedly choose him over me. What do I have to do to get you to love me like you love him?”

“I do love you!” Sun gasped out, finding even those words difficult to say. Seeing his little sibling so hurt and forlorn brought tears to his eyes, the blue liquid burning like acid as it carved trails into his face.

He wanted to say more, but a vicious laughter cut him off as Eclipse stepped forward. “You don’t. You can say you love each and every one of us as much as you want, but that won’t make it true. Face it Sun, you’re so broken that you’re incapable of loving anyone but the person who hurt you the most, and that’s probably a trauma response like Earth told you. I mean, can you even love yourself?” Eclipse paused for a moment, giving him a chance to speak, but what could he say? It was true, he didn’t love himself. In fact, he hated himself more often than not.

“Pathetic,” the four-armed bot sneered as he reached one hand out to each member of Sun’s family. They all took it as they stared him down. “You’re nothing but a waste of space that I should’ve never brought back. I won’t make that mistake twice, not after how you hurt my family. But don’t worry, I’ll take good care of them– better than you ever could. So why don’t you be a good little mistake and go die like the other black stain on this family is about to?”

What? The implication was there that Moon was the other stain Eclipse meant, but how was Moon about to die? What did Eclipse mean? “Still don’t get it, do you?” His own voice called out to him, and suddenly his family was gone, replaced by the warped version of himself from the mirror. And there the two Suns stood in front of the gallows, Moon waiting patient beneath the noose.

Sun went to call out, to beg his brother to come down from his perch, but only static came from his voice box. It felt broken and hot, like it was melting inside him. Without a voice to work with though, the solar model tried to step forward, only to choke as he felt something tug on his neck strut. His fingers drifted down, feeling coarse rope wrapped tightly around the thin piece of metal. Looking back, he found the rope led to a similar post as the one hanging above his twin right now.

“The simple truth is, without Moon, there can be no Sun. Your life is worthless if you cannot provide for your twin in some way or form. Whether that be as a guinea pig for his inventions, a punching bag for his aggressions, or even just as a living teddy bear for him to hold when he needs reassurance that he’s not a monster. But other than that, your existence has no meaning, Sun.” The other version of himself stood between the two twins, hands resting on a pair of levers that were tied together, so when one went it would pull the other with it. “You are nothing to your family, and that is why they all replaced you with someone better than you’ll ever be. And when Moon falls, you will fall alongside him. It may not be instant, but sooner or later, your lack of purpose will drive you off the edge like it did last time.”

Despite the other Sun’s words, the daycare attendant still fought to free himself. He didn’t care about his own life, but if he could free Moon from the noose wrapped around his neck, he would. As such, he was practically clawing at the rope, gritting his teeth at the burning pain the action caused, how it made his hands tremble and spasm like some force was determined to keep him trapped.

“Kind of fitting, isn’t it?” The other Sun asked, cocking its head to the side. “You were the one responsible for Moon’s death before, so it seems only fitting that your true self be the one to condemn him again. Say your goodbyes.”

While the solar model fought desperately for words that wouldn’t come, one hand scrabbling at his neck while the other reached in vain for his twin, Moon just lifted his head and smiled at him Black, oily tears mirrored the fiery blue ones on Sun’s face, contrasting with the peaceful expression the other had. Was it acceptance? No… more like resignation, as if the lunar bot believed this outcome to be the only possibility. “I love you Sun, and I’m sorry,” his other half muttered, before turning away and closing his eyes.

A second later, the other Sun threw the lever, and the floor dropped out from under Moon’s feet. Sun froze as he saw his brother’s lifeless corpse dangling from the rope, feeling his own rope go taut as he was dragged to a similar fate. But… it didn’t matter anymore.

That other Sun, the true Sun, he’d been right. Sun was nothing without his twin, just a shell of a person wearing a mask that no longer fit, no longer hid his ugliness from the world. What point was there in fighting fate if it would always end the same way? His family didn’t need him; they had Eclipse, who seemed to be better in every way. The daycare didn’t need him, not with Earth and Lunar who were better at caring for children than he’d ever be. Not even Nexus needed him, not with their two boyfriends to give them all the love and affection they deserved.

Without Moon… he was nothing. Sun looked up to see his truest self looking down at him, flames leaking through the fractal mirror fragments that made up their body. As the flames consumed them, it moved on to consume the gallows before crawling down the rope to consume Sun as well.

What point was there in fighting when this was always his fate?

To follow Moon into the void and spare those he loved from the suffering his existence wrought. That was the only thing he was good for.

“Eclipse, let him out!” Moon screamed in the injured bot’s face, desperation coursing through his wiring. The flames were surging brighter, hotter, nowhere to go within the confines of the spell. With nowhere to expand, the pressure within that small box would climb alongside the temperature, leaving Sun trapped in agony inside an arcane pressure cooker.

But Eclipse refused to yield, even growing more obstinate now that fire had consumed all visible space within the spell. “If I let the spell go now, all that fire will explode outwards! We’ll be lucky if Sun doesn’t kill us all with this stunt!”

“This isn’t a stunt, he’s suffering!” The lunar model argued back, fists trembling with barely restrained rage. The urge to hit the bastard in the face grew stronger with every word he said, but Moon refused to give into the temptation, lest he make his situation worse. “Besides, what happens when your magic reaches its limit? Apparently Sun broke out of my spell in the past, and he’ll do it again, just like he promised! Better to let go now than let the inevitable explosion get worse!”

Lunar was suddenly at his side, hovering in the air to be at the same height as everyone. “Eclipse, you’re being a stubborn dumbass. Moon is right. We’re honestly lucky that Sunny hasn’t broken his way out yet.” As the small bot looked over, he found Moon to be staring at him in surprise, the two locking eyes for a moment before the pale blue animatronic sighed before snarking, “Superpowers, remember? I’ll explain it all later.”

It seemed that the eclipse model did not like having his little brother side against him, a frustrated snarl escaping him. “Lunar, I don’t care what you can do with your star crap, but if you can somehow keep Sun from vaporizing us, now’s the time to speak up! Otherwise, we’re best to get a safe distance away instead of arguing right in front of a live bomb!”

To everyone’s surprise, it was Nexus that spoke up next, tears in their eyes as they rounded on their boyfriend. “Eclipse, that’s my brother in there! How can you be so– so callous?! I-I can hear him screaming! I can smell him melting! He’s going to die if we don’t save him!”

There was something in the four-armed bot’s gaze that sent liquid fury coursing through Moon’s systems, every ounce of willpower going into restraining his body. “‘So let him die.’ That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it?” The navy bot hissed, teeth grinding against each other as his fists audibly creaked from the metal straining against his own pressure. “In your perfect little world, Sun dies and his fire goes out. Everyone’s safe, and you just– just grab his chips, restore them, and then build him a new body. Wash, rinse, and fucking repeat any time he dies and makes your precious family sad. Only you’ll put more hidden programs in to control him, keep him from lashing out or killing himself. This time, you’ll restrict his ability to use magic; who knows what’ll be next. You wouldn’t stop until you got the perfect little Sun-shaped doll to play family with.”

From the corner of his eye, Moon saw both Monty and Earth stepping up beside Nexus. “Eclipse would never think of something so heartless!” Earth cried out as she joined the discussion, looking very upset with even the notion that her friend might throw Sun upon the stake just to save them. “Moon, I get that you’re upset, but you can’t just throw around baseless accusations like that! That might’ve been what the old Eclipse would’ve done, but he’s changed now! He’s a better person!”

“He hasn’t changed enough.” The damning sentence was uttered by Lunar, the small bot glaring at his brother. Lightning flickered over his form slightly before he took a deep breath to calm himself. “Because Moon’s right, that’s exactly what you’re thinking, isn’t it?” Eclipse went to argue, to deny and counter the claim, only to freeze with his mouth open as he stared at his little brother. Something in the smaller’s expression actually made the orange bot flinch back, and Moon was certain there was a story behind that. “Eclipse. Do not lie to me. Or better yet, don’t lie to your partners. They deserve to know exactly what you’re thinking of doing with their friend and brother.”

Solar frowned softly as he gently nudged his injured partner, looking over at the bot he was carrying with disbelief. “Clip? C’mon, say it’s not true. You wouldn’t– you wouldn’t do that… right?”

With both the mechanic’s and Nexus’ gaze firmly locked on him, the pair caught every little flicker of emotion across Eclipse’s face. They saw the panic, the hurt, the denial and anger, before the orange animatronic lowered his head in shame and acceptance of the truth. Both of his partners froze, looking to each other for help, only to see the same complicated mix of emotions reflected back at them. Neither could believe that Eclipse would condemn Sun to death by his own magic, wanting their boyfriend to assure them that he was better than that. But the truth was often a hard pill to swallow.

Just as Nexus opened their mouth, tears in their eyes, their words were lost to the sudden screech of metal grinding against itself coming from the trapped firestorm. All heads whipped up to look at the source, only for Monty to utter a curse at the sight that greeted them. Sun’s clawed hand was splayed against the barrier, looking nothing like an animatronic’s limb anymore. Instead it looked like some freshman art major’s first attempt at metalworking, the joints melted and contorted in strange and unnatural shapes.

It only got worse as the sound of gears grinding and shearing grew louder, as it wasn’t long before the solar model’s skeletal body slumped against the spell. Earth shrieked in horror at the sight of the once vibrant face now melted away, those snow white optics nothing but shattered glass with a backdrop of glowing metal. Anything that made Sun look remotely alive was dripping off of his endoskeleton, leaving only the metal frame clinging together by some miracle. It wouldn’t last much longer though, judging by the way his rays were beginning to soften and warp.

Moon’s horror only grew as he watched a skeletal limb come up and weakly claw at his neck strut, mouth silently moving as Sun tried to speak. As those fingers bit into the softened metal, damaging the essential part of his frame, the lunar model watched as the thing that started this all reared its ugly head again. Shocks visibly crawled along his twin’s body, arcing across metal struts and electrifying the firestorm that swirled inside the invisible prison.

Seeing those clawed fingers twitch from the agony of the watchdog’s shocks, it was only a matter of time until Sun either damaged himself beyond saving. He couldn’t wait for Eclipse any longer. Gritting his teeth, Moon pulled away from the others and rushed to his other half’s side, throwing himself against the spell walls with all his weight. He simply bounced off of it though, stumbling back before trying again. And again. And again.

“Moon, stop!” Lunar shouted out, pulling at his arm. He didn’t know when the little bot came over, but right now the navy animatronic couldn’t care. “Stop, you’re going to hurt yourself!”

“I don’t care!” He screamed, raw fear and desperation choking him as he shook the smaller off of him. With every bit of strength he could muster, Moon began punching at the arcane barrier over and over again, even if his old knowledge of magic told him that this was a pointless endeavour. He just… he couldn’t just stand around and do nothing. “I have to do something! He’s dying! You’re killing him, Eclipse! YOU’RE KILLING HIM!”

The flames inside began to flicker, streaks of white and blue interlacing the red as the temperature and pressure continued to rise. Only a moment longer, and the light began to grow too bright to safely look into, the red hue disappearing from the fire entirely. Squinting his eyes, Moon could just barely make out the outline of his brother’s body, glowing bright as his namesake. The ghostly image of a hand wreathed in fire stretched out to him, yet he couldn’t tell if it was actually his brother or a trick of the flames. A faint whine emanated from the box as the magic rippled visibly, trying its best to hold against the sheer force of Sun’s magic. But it wasn’t strong enough, a deafening crack like shattered glass echoing out before the world was engulfed in light.

Silence fell over the beach as the explosion settled, Moon’s internal sensors screaming at him. Damage and overheating warnings pinged across his vision, yet he couldn’t quite make sense of the red text that he was staring at. One optic only showed darkness, the other hazy a bit. His arms and legs felt stiff as he tried to flex them. Somehow he was on his side, ground crunching underneath as the lunar model shifted. A high-pitched ringing sound was slowly replacing the silence, grating on his nerves. His hand reached up for his faceplate, a groan escaping as Moon did so. The darkened side of his face felt wet and jagged, further confusing him. Something cracked and crumbled away as he moved to sit up, the movement producing the sound of metal grinding against a rough edge.

What had happened? The scientist struggled to put his thoughts together, gaze scouring the surroundings to try to clear the fog in his head. Beige grains beneath his feet had turned into a dark blue-green crystal interspersed with off-white veins that arced through. Further on, the midnight green gave way to a brilliant, glowing red, the air above shimmering while smoke rose from the edges. And further still, an obsidian crater stood at the center, a smoking and charred metal frame kneeling and slumped in the middle of it.

Lurching to his feet, Moon felt himself stumbling across the glassed plains before his brain could even really catch up. Pain shot up his legs with every step, yet it was dull, distant. Almost like an old injury giving him grief. Every so often, one of his knees would lock up or his hips would stutter, causing him to flail about and struggle to keep himself relatively upright. A loud hiss greeted him the second the lunar model set foot in the glowing sands, more warnings scrolling across his vision that he promptly ignored. It didn’t matter, all that mattered was getting to the figure in the middle of everything, the blackened and deformed rays adorning their head serving as a beacon that drew him in, regardless of what stood in his way.

Every step became harder, more painful. It felt like something was clinging to his feet, yet simultaneously like he was leaving something behind. Something sharp and brittle dug into the soles of Moon’s feet as he finally transitioned to the obsidian crater, sliding down the shallow slope to reach the figure– his brother, his other half.

Sun’s body didn’t even resemble him anymore, looking more like a slagged endoskeleton crowned with warped rays, joints liquefied into grotesque arcs. His endo was partially melted, deformed into shapes that no longer looked humanoid. Any parts that hadn’t been partially liquefied were pitted and charred, looking far too brittle for any significant movement or jostling. Sun… He looked like he was already dead…

“S-Sunny,” he whimpered, voice riddled with static and tears. His hand ghosted over the other’s shoulder as if even a touch would crumble him to ash. He–he couldn’t be dead… He couldn’t! Not after everything they went through, after coming back and trying to rebuild their lives. This couldn’t be the way things ended! Was… Was this how Sun felt? When he’d left his brother alone in a world full of danger and hostility? How–how could he have left his twin to feel so– so utterly alone?!

“Moon.” The sudden voice behind him startled the nighttime attendant, and he spun around with a wordless snarl. Flexing his stiff fingers, he felt the various joints separate and space out, allowing the plating over his palm to retract. Hidden beneath was a circle carved into his hand, the center glowing a brilliant blue-white as it charged with energy. Bracing with his other hand, the lunar model pointed it directly at whoever it was at the crater’s edge.

It took his brain and cloudy vision a while to process that it was Lunar, hovering over the heated belt of molten sands. It seemed that whatever powers he had hadn’t protected him completely from the blast, his clothes torn and singed while oil leaked from a nasty gash on one of his cheeks. But the small bot just looked at him with pity instead of fear when the hand cannon was pointed at him. “Moony,” the smaller tried again, only to be completely ignored.

“YOU ALL DID THIS!” He snarled, vision clouding further with tears. Others were starting to approach as the sands cooled. They were injured, yet in one piece… unlike his brother. And it was all their fault. “EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU IS GUILTY! YOU BROKE HIM! DROVE HIM INSANE! LET HIM DIE RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU! MY BROTHER, MY OTHER HALF IS GONE AND IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT!” His voice was beginning to choke up, both from the tears of grief that accompanied his raw fury, and from the static resulting from his strained, possibly damaged voice box. Lowering his volume, Moon flexed his fingers threateningly, energy within his palm pulsing in response. “Give me one fucking reason why I shouldn’t finish what he started.”

Eclipse limped up, ironically now the one supporting Solar it seemed. How the mechanic got so injured, Moon didn’t know and didn’t care. “Moon, let me see him. I can fix him-”

“YOU’LL NEVER TOUCH HIM AGAIN!” A blast of pure energy was fired at the four-armed bot, clipping an arm due to the recoil staggering Moon. He’d never tested this modification yet, having expected plenty more time to tweak it. But now he was using it to defend Sun from the fucking vultures that dared to call themselves his family.

The softest sigh from behind him drowned out the panic he’d caused with his attack, causing him to whip around and stare at the source. Sun’s slagged frame still looked the same, still seemed lifeless. But when he looked closer, he caught it. The faintest twitch of a finger, followed by a vent attempting to cycle. It was all the proof he needed.

“He’s alive,” Moon whispered in awe, looking to his twin who should be gone after all of that. But he wasn’t, he was still there, still fighting, hanging on to whatever scraps of life he had. And if Sun was still fighting to live, then Moon would fight alongside him.

Ignoring the other animatronics, he turned his back on them completely to focus on the only one that mattered. With featherlight touches, he scooped the ruined body of his twin into his arms. Sun was– was so light now, light enough that Moon could actually carry him. It brought forth a complicated mixture of relief and horror that so much of his other half had been lost to the flames, so only now could Moon carry him.

Safety… They needed someplace safe, somewhere they could get help. Sun needed help, he needed protection. Love. Care. Everything he’d never gotten here. His fingers fumbled with the portal tech on his arm, breath catching at the sight of sands untouched by pain. Light radiated like a beacon, beckoning the twins into sanctuary. There was no time to waste, not with Sun’s life on the line. Arms shaking with the burden he carried, Moon jumped through the portal.