Chapter Text
Its been almost a week since Ze escaped the hole, and things were not getting better.
Upstairs, in his room, was Z. Shaking and trembling, his mind clouded with traumatic memories from falling into the hole. The wounds on his knuckles from punching through bedrock to get out still painfully swollen and bothering Z more than ever.
He bit his tongue hoping the sharp pain would distract him from the throbbing that radiated throughout his hands and the pounding in his skull.
The scent of.. something floated up into Z's room, dragging his attention away from the previous turmoil. Is Regect trying to make breakfast or something?? Cause whatever it is, it smells like shit. He thought, while temporarily distracted from the thoughts bombarding his mind, scratching at his skull and threatening to burst out.
Of course the smell of smoke soon invaded Z's nostrils. Yep, definitely Regect's doing, Moe never burns food. Other things maybe, but not food.
Z was surely going to skip breakfast, he'd rather go back into the hole than eat whatever Regect and his shit cooking conjured up.
Speaking of the hole, Z couldn't hide from his memories for long, as his mind began reeling again, much to his dismay.
Along with that, Z had to deal with a piercing headache from the constant stress, and it was getting worse. Likely due to his excessive computer usage.
Whatever. Ill just take a tylenol and go back to sleep.
Anything to get that damn headache to go away, he thought.
He closed his computer and reluctantly forced himself up from his desk to go get the medicine, his head throbbing at the sudden change in position.
Once he got back to his room, he swallowed the tylenol dry, the sour pill sliding down his dry throat awkwardly. A few loose feathers fell off his wings down to the floor gracefully. A stark contrast to the reason they were even loose in the first place.
Ze wasnt sure why but stress never made his hair fall out, only his feathers. Just another quirk his weird avian body had.
He yawned before letting himself flop down onto his uncomfortable matress, a couple feathers that had fallen off previously floated up into the air at the sudden movement.
His eyes felt heavy, his wings even heavier. But he pushed through the discomfort and soon felt the soft lull of sleep begin to take him away.
-
Of course as soon as Z's mind faded into unconsciousness, his subconscious began reeling, forcefully shoving him into yet another shitty nightmare.
God he really cant sleep without having one can he?
This one was different though, it was a flat grass field, bare and devoid of any life, with only one structure to be seen in front of him. A small poorly built house with a childish and poorly made, might he add, looking smiley face on the front.
So he was dreaming of Minecraft, thats great.
But why? He hasn't played that much recently (lie), and he surely wasn't in the game now, just asleep, and he knew that. Z secretly prided himself in his ability to seperate dream from reality, even if his perception of the real world was a little warped at times.
But this dream felt different, it wasnt anything he recognized, atleast not off the top of his head.
Though it did seem almost.. nostalgic, In a way.
His train of thought was thrown off track when his mind drifted to what he thought was… crying? The soft noise seemed to be coming from inside the house.
His wings puffed up in concern. Causing a sharp pain to bloom throughout his back.
Right, sore wings, of course that would carry into his dream.
He quickly decided to go inside the house, but not without protection. Cant be too careful in a dream like this.
He pulled out a gun from... wherever you get things in a dream, and walked towards the door. The sound only getting louder and louder as he approached.
Z opened the door slowly but surely, gun in hand, to see
Regect?
Oh hell no. He closed the door clumsily, losing his balance and falling directly on to the wooden structure, causing a large bang to echo throughout the barren land.
He heard shuffling from behind the door that his back was currently pressed against.
Shit.
Regect- or whatever this dream version of him was, surely had heard that.
-
Before the avian could collect his thoughts he was abruptly awakened by a barrage of honks coming from his computer. Crap. He hadnt slept in that late had he? Moe only wakes him up or messes with his computer when she's really worried, or ticked off.
Z sat up and rubbed his eyes, rushing over to his computer and opening Minecraft, the berating honks soon slowing to a stop once Moe saw the familiar figure spawn in and walk over to her.
The clown didn't waste a second before throwing her hands up in a mess of sloppy and rushed signs.
'Ze whats your deal? You usually dont miss breakfast but this past week you've been acting so weird. Regect even fell asleep waiting! He made breakfast especially for you Z!'
It was hard to make out Moes rushed sign language in the dim light, but he got the gist of it.
"Regect? Sleep? Never thought I'd hear those two words in the same sentence. But seriously, im fine Moe, it's just been a rough week."
He tried to emphasis this with a yawn, but it got cut off by a yelp.
The clown was not at all thrilled with his attempt at sarcasm. She must've decided he wasnt waking up quickly enough, because she decided to turn his screens brightness up to 100%, practically blinding the man, letting the frustratingly bright screenlight pour into the cramped space. Illuminating every corner of his small room and attacking his pupils with light that wasn't previously there, causing the yell.
In the middle of his ingame living room he could now see Moe now standing menacingly with her arms crossed.
"OKAY okay im up, just let me go to my room, im tired, please Moe?"
Moe must have seen the turmoil behind Z's eyes because she soon gave in with a hefty sigh and walked away, presumably to go make a new song, leaving Z to his own thoughts. He'd surely have a conversation about this with Moe later, but he was more than happy to put that off for as long as he could.
Z was relieved to be left to his own accord, but that relief didn't last long, especially since Regect came barging into his room with absolutely no warning.
"The fuck??"
Ze was way caught off guard, his heart beating out of his chest from the scare. He was fully awake now, thats for sure. Wasn't the entity supposed to be asleep though?
Finally Regect spoke up after a beat of silence.
"Uh, I tripped." He fidgeted with his claws, eyes darting back and forth around the room, refusing to meet the other mans.
"Sure you did."
He rolled his eyes at the entity, who probably wasn't paying enough attention to notice..
Dumbass..
"SHUT UP, I was going to ask if you were ok but since you're gonna be a bitch ill just leave you to sulk alone I guess." Regect turned tail and made a move to leave before being stopped in his tracks.
"Says the guy that sulks way more than me." Z remarked with a smirk.
Regect turned around sharply with a glare so sharp it could cut diamonds.
"Excuse me?- Woah." He bristled before abruptly stopping, his eyes snapping to Zes camera that he had wormed his way into having access to. The shorter man was now fully sat up putting his wings and feathers on full display, since he wasnt currently wearing his usual hoodie.
"Is something wrong?" Ze prodded, clearly annoyed.
"There isn't a way to say this nicely, but dude, your wings look like shit." Regects singular gold eye glittered, squinting to get a better look at Ze.
"Ok first of all, fuck you-"
"HEY" The entity interrupted.
"-second, why do you care? Do you need something from me? Or did you break something? I swear to god if you turned Moe into a cat again ill kill you." He recalled that time, Moe was not happy as a feline, neither was Ze.
"God forbid a guy checks in on you once in a while. No its nothing like that dont worry.."
The creature paused, seeming to contemplate something.
"..do you.. need any help?" Regect asked, his voice lower and softer than usual.
This put Ze on edge, the fake regect would act like that, too kind. But he brushed it off, theres no use dwelling on it, it already happened and hes not weak. He'll be fine.
"With my wings? Dude were playing Minecraft, its not like you can come out of my screen? You're just some virus." An annoying virus at that, he debated just kicking Regect out of his room right then, but his curiosity prodded at him, he wouldn't have offered if he didn't have a plan right?
"Actually smartass, I was created outside of Minecraft, im not just 'some virus'. So yes I have access to the real world." He stated this as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
The name calling earned him a quick punch to the side from Ze, which he had expected, but it still hurt. The avian seemed to understand what he was implying though.
"Short temper much?" The entity mocked.
"Ohmygod- fine I guess, do whatever you need to do, you better have some experience though, if you're gonna do this you better know how to do it right, cause if my PC gets fucked you're gonna be the one buying me a new one." He muttered just loudly enough for Regect to hear while moving away from his screen to let Regect do.. whatever the hell he was planning.
"Yup all good, now shut up. Regect slowly walked over, fur ruffling in anticipation, refraining from making some snarky comment, to the other mans surprise.
Suddenly the world began to bend around the entity, creating an image so unnerving the average person would need a therapist after witnessing it. Good thing Ze wasnt an average person.
Fortunately, as soon as the glitching began, it ceased into nothing, no weirdness, no freaky colors, and no Regect.
-
"Regect?"
Ze called out, expecting to get an answer from inside his Minecraft world.
What happened next was something he didn't see coming though.
"Christ dude your room is fucking ugly."
The voice came from behind his chair, deep and mocking. Z whipped his chair around quickly and stood up, his wings puffing up and out defensively.
"WHAT THE HELL- oh its you." His voice deadpanned when he realized who the entity was.
"In the flesh." Ze winced at that, out of all the things Regect could've said he chose 'in the flesh'? Really? Plus the pain from stretching out his wings was killing him, he was not in the mood to deal with Regects bullshit today.
Ze stared for a bit, his eyes widening
.
Regect looked.. quite different in the real world. He had a tail? That was new. Another thing he noticed was the bright gold bones sticking out of his left side, where on his Minecraft skin, there was nothing. There were more bones sticking out on one of his legs and a portion of his tail, revealing some of the creatures sharp spine. Interesting, for sure, but not as prominent as the creatures ribs, which seemed to almost glow in the dim light.
He was decorated with many gold chains that seemed to chatter whenever the entity moved, and the shackles he had were now more detailed, and stood out more on Regects jet black.. fur?
Z knew he had fur, but hes never seen it this close up. He couldnt really see what the rest of his body looked like though, due to the furbeing so dark.
Regect shifted and crossed his arms with a huff.
"Cat got your tongue? Take a picture, it'll last longer" He stuck his bright gold tongue out childishly, letting Ze catch a glimpse of the sharp canines that lined his mouth.
"Ew, put your tongue away you chud, just fix my wings and leave.. god."
The last part didnt come out as annoyed, like Z had hoped, instead the avian ended up speaking in a more whiny almost girly voice that he immediately regretted. Feeling red crawl up his neck as embarrassment creeped in, and possibly something else.
"Fine whatever, since you're so impatient, move." Regect followed this by swiftly picking ze up and placing him criss cross on the apartment floor, moving to go sit behind the other man on his bed for better access to his wings. His thick tail lashing behind him, further messing up the bedsheets.
"Hold up-" Regect said before cutting himself off by teleporting away.
Before the other man could even question where he went, the entity was back.
With a wet rag.
Ew.
This was actually happening wasn't it? For some reason that only just sank in for Ze. Even if it wasnt that big of a deal, Regect was just gonna fix his wings, and then leave, right? All good!
Except it wasn't gonna be that easy.
The creature placed himself back down behind the other man, rag in hand, and began to gently run his fingers through the larger clumps of pin feathers, getting some off, but not a huge amount. He let whatever thin plastic like chunks he got off float down to the ground, he would make a pile later.
Neither dared to speak, but Regect could feel Ze's muscles relaxing under his fingers as he began to work at the more stubborn pin feathers that hadn't come off yet, twisting lightly until the thin sheen crumbled away.
This was heaven on Earth for Z, he had been really tense recently, especially in his wing and back area, so he was extremely grateful for this, not like he'd ever admit that to Regect though.
As the final pin feather was removed, Regects ran his large claws through the soft new feathers, flicking away any large bits of dust.
But there was another problem, the dirt.
The entity may have removed all the stubborn sheaths in silence. But he had to make sure the avian was still fully comfortable before continuing with the rag.
There wasnt much dirt, infact Ze could probably shake it off if he tried hard enough, but getting everything clean felt like he right thing to do at the moment. Atleast in Regects mind.
Finally, he broke the silence. Carefully, as if he'd shatter the fragile trust he had created if he was even just a little bit too loud.
"Hey, Ze? Are you okay with this? Can I keep going?"
It was definitely out of character for Regect to be this empathetic, but he didnt think much of it, and assumed that Ze wouldn't care much ether.
He was so wrong.
Regect felt the other man go from relaxed to over the top anxious, he quickly tensed up. What could've possibly happened? Did he say something wrong? Or did he startle Ze with the rag? I mean sure it was a little crusty but he was sure Ze wouldn't mind. The creature bristled, his tail curling in confusion, whats going on?
Before Regect could further asses the situation, Ze shot up, a blur of white and black feathers causing regect to let out a small, animalistic yelp.
"Stop it..." Ze said, his voice dropping to something deep and threatening. Wings puffing up yes again behind the man, even larger and more menacing than before.
"What-"
"I said STOP IT, SHUT UP, you arent real, YOU ARENT THE REAL REGECT I KNOW IT. Im not letting you trick me again.." Ze spat out.
Zes eyes were pinpricks, pupils locked on Regect as he shakily reached for the gun resting on his drawer.
The entity shot up at the first glimpse of the firearm, sure in Minecraft he'd just respawn, and hes resilient in the real world too, but not bulletproof, thats for sure. If he dies here hes gone. Forever.
"Ze stop!! What the hell are you doing do you want to kill me?!" Regects normal deep gravely voice became high pitched and crackly as panick set in, he backed up as much as he could, bumping into the bedframe and almost falling over in the process.
The entities tail wrapped around its awkwardly shaped leg, attempting to provide a feeble source of self comfort.
"Shut. Up." A tear rolled down his cheekbone as he stepped closed to regect, expression not changing once. Large dark eyes blinked open on the avians wings, staring him down just like Ze was doing and messing up his newly preened feathers. Regect knew those eyes. This wasn't gonna go well.
"Ze-"
"I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP. Dont fucking lie to me you asshole, who are you." Ze whispered, his voice wavering just barely.
A shot rang out through the room.
It was only a warning shot, not aimed at anything in particular, but the damage was done.
"I SAID WHO-"
He stopped abruptly, as Ze opened his eyes, Regect was gone. Teleported off to who knows where.
Once the percieved threat was out of the picture, the fog in Z's brain began to clear. It was only then he realized his mistake. The extra eyes blinked again into nothingness. Leaving almost no trace if not for the obvious loose feathers where they previously were.
Then the avian was panicking, bad, the true nature of what happened hit Z like a truck. He screamed at Regect, the real Regect, for what? Being nice, doing a favor for him?
The entire situation was overwhelming ze. His soft feathers were ruffled and out of place now, and yet again the pain and soreness previously in his wings had returned.
Then it dawned on him.
He almost shot Regect. Not a fake, not a clone.
His Regect.
-
"Who are you."
Those words, the way that Ze had said them, the eyes scattered throughout his beautiful feathers, Regect knew he wasn't going to get out unscathed if he tried to reason with the man.
So he left, teleported away to some other area of Ze's world, it was instinct. What else was he supposed to do? Let Ze turn him into a fucked up entity version of swiss cheese? No way in hell.
When the creature finally came to his senses, he realized he had absolutely no idea where he was, and it was raining, hard.
His breathing quickened and his tail whipped around against the rain covered grass, bringing up unwanted memories he had pushed down long ago.
He didnt want to remember, it was all his fault. And now he had ruined something else.
By being friends with ##### and Ze he had led the eyes to both of them, whether he wanted to or not, he was useless.
A reject.
And there was nothing he could do but suck it up. 'Be a man' as Ze would say.
Regect didn't want to think about him right now.
Maybe if he tried harder, never let Ze fall into the hole in the first place, never let that bitch get his hands on any of his friends.
Daemon was right, he was weak, he hurt the ones he loved, he was a reject. And he needed to punish himself for it, then maybe he'll finally learn to stop being such a pussy.
After all, he deserved it.
…
Regects claws dug harshly into the soft flesh under his fur, ripping gashes into the supple skin on his arm. Leaving bright gold indents that stood out beautifully against his dark complex.
He couldn't go back now.
He wouldn't.
Over and over, cut after cut, the entity mutilated himself. It provided some relief, but not enough, he needed to make more. He needed to go deeper.
If he wasnt standing on deaths edge then would this even be worth it?
Over and over his razor sharp claws dug in, he only stopped when blood shot out of a particularly deep gash, directly onto his face.
Shit, he'd done it this time. He wiped the blood off his face as the rain cleared up and Regect began to realize the severity of his situation.
He was bleeding alot, and he couldn't do anything but wait it out and pray that he lived to see the next day.
He only truly realized he fucked up when the golden liquid cleared up and he could see fat poking out of many of the wounds, he did not mean to go that deep.
pretty.
This would be harder to heal than normal, but whatever.
Once the blood was mostly cleared out and the entity had gathered his thoughts, he began the familiar process of healing the previously opened wounds on his body, it hurt, bad, but it was worth it.
Fortunately the wounds healed pretty well. Or so he thought, these were different, usually they just dissapeared after he healed them. But these particular gashes had left many bumps and indents all throughout his soft fur.
Whatever, he could hide it fine, he'll just grow his fur out a little bit and won't let anyone get too close for awhile.
But that wasn't gonna work this time, and he knew it. He needed his cousins help.
…
Z felt a little bit better now that he'd gotten his bearings on the situation, it wasn't really his fault, if anything Regect’s sudden change in mood caused it, so Z wasn't the one at fault here!
So what would really be the point in apologizing?
Whatever, I should just go check on Moe, let her know im ok for now.
He begrudgingly pushed himself up from the floor which he had been sitting on for the past hour, thinking over whatever the hell happened with him and Regect earlier.
No use dwelling on that right now, he needed to speak with Moe.
After dragging himself to his desk, he promptly opened his computer, wincing at the bright light that invaded his eyes.
He forgot to turn his brightness down after that whole incident with moe, how wonderful.
He dragged his mouse to the settings on his monitor, sliding the brightness to a solid 58%, just right for Z and his sensitive eyes. Before clicking out of settings and opening Minecraft, revealing the familiar load screen that the avian had become quite acquainted with recently.
Finally after what felt like 8 hours of loading (fuck you microsoft) he hesitated before opening the world that was named "my friend", he didn't know why it was named that, he got this computer at a thrift store and Minecraft was already downloaded..
He spawned in, directly next to Monella, who jumped at his sudden intrusion. Causing a couple of surprised honks to blare from his speakers. Then came the signing,
'Ze? Oh thank god you're finally back, Regect just left, apparently you guys are fighting again? I don’t know the specifics but im worried about both of you. You should go check in on Regect, he didnt seem ok. I think hes at Ptolemys? I have no idea why, but hopefully you could go find out, please? You guys cant keep fighting like this forever.'
Ze wasnt sure what it was, but something in those pleading eyes made him feel almost paternal, so he caved, he would go check in on the entity.
Something must be wrong if Regects going to that centipede freak for help.
"Ok, I'll do it, just promise you wont blow anything up while im gone? I know its usually Regect doing that but.. cant be too careful."
The clowns eyes lit up with a honk.
'Thank you Z!! Now go, im not sure how long Regect will be there, if Ptolemy hasn't already kicked him out..'
Ze was already at the door by the time Moe had finished signing, nodding in agreemnt before shutting the door behind him, leaving a stray feather in the doorway.
-
Regect sighed as the familiar connected houses came into view, faintly lit by a couple haphazardly placed torches.
He usually didn't teleport around this much in a day, it was tiring. So he was relieved to finally be at the right location.
He could see grey clouds brewing above his head, more blocky than the ones in real life but scary to Regect nonetheless.
He knew he had to get inside before he got soaked like a wet cat, then Ptolemy would surely make fun of him as soon as he walked into the door.
He walked up to his (asshole) cousins door before knocking lightly.
No answer.
He knocked a little bit louder this time, as droplets of rain hit his forehead. Outlining his transparent freatures.
Yet again, no answer, not even the usual fuck off from inside the house.
His tail lashed behind him in annoyance, whipping aggressively against the cool air. He wasnt going to just let his only cousin with more than one ass ignore him like this!
This time, he knocked harder, hearing the doors hinges creak under the pressure. He kept banging until he heard the gross scuttling of his cousins many legs against the wooden floor.
The door opened.
"What." The voice came out low and warbled, Ptolemy was clearly annoyed, his one worded answer made that abundantly clear.
"Fucking finally!!" Regect took this opportunity to let himself inside, sheltering from the now pouring rain.
He shook off the few stray droplets that landed on him directly towards his cousin, relishing in the reaction he got out of Ptolemy.
The bug creature scowled at the act.
"Did you come here just to torment me? If so im kicking you out right now-"
Before he could finish Regect cut him off.
"Uuunfortunately no, I did not come here just to annoy you-
He made sure to emphasise the 'unfortunately' just to further annoy the other.
-though I'd love to. Im actually here because. Uh."
The entity paused, fidgeting with his claws.
"Spit it out, Regect." Ptolemy was getting more and more ticked by the second, one of his legs tapping whilst waiting for the other entity to speak up.
"Is msak__ here?" Regect muttered quietly, a stark contrast to his earlier facade.
"He’s sleeping, in his house, which I would also be doing currently if I wasn't rudely awakened by a certain someone." His mandibles twitched as he spoke, eyes narrowing at the shorter entity.
"Bullshit, we both know you dont sleep. You probably stay up all night thinking about your oh so perfect protagonis-"
"I do not. Just get to the point, are you here for a reason or do I need to shove you out." Ptolemys deep warbling voice echoed throughout the house.
The bug tilted his head mockingly, looking down at Regect while crossing his arms with a smirk.
"Oh my god okay, I just.. I need your help... asshole." His voice lowered at the last part, finally realizing that maybe ragebaiting his cousin wasn't the smartest idea at the moment, if he wanted his help.
Hail began pelting the windows around them, making Regect jump, his fur ruffling and eyes darting around. Causing his cousin to stare at him in confusion, pausing momentarily.
"Okay..? I'll help you I guess, but you owe me. Come here." Ptolemy led the other to the living room, which was conveniently placed close to the door. The two sat down on opposite ends of the couch, which was modified for the bugs extended lower half.
Regect had to admit this house was pretty cozy for how small it was, the faint warm light made it almost comforting. Mason really did go all out just for a random antagonist.
Ptolemy spoke up yet again.
"Why ask me for help? Dont you have two perfectly capable people back at home? Whatever, thats not for me to worry about I guess, doubt you'd answer anyways. What do you need help with? I'll do it just this once, but this doesnt make us buddies, I still hate you."
Regect nodded quickly, hesitating before reluctantly holding his arm out to his cousin, the appendage in which he'd been hiding from the other throughout this entire conversation.
The bug scooted over clumsily, gently running his claws through the dark fur on the others arm. Feeling all the bumps and dips that lied there.
"Oh."
Ptolemys eyes widened as he separated some of the fur, it soon dawned on him what he was looking at, these were scars, and seemingly more fresh ones too.
"Regect, what the hell. I may dislike you, quite a bit, but, what could've possibly happened to cause this?"
The centipede like creatures mandibles twitched yet again as he got lost in thought.
Was this another entities doing? No, it looked too intentional.
Thats when he realized, this wasn't an accident. Regect had mutilated himself like this on purpose, and he must've tried to cover up the evidence, which clearly didn't work as well as he had hoped.
So he was asking Ptolemy for help, because Ptolemy could heal, alot better than Regect. In fact, he used to brag about it when they were younger, it would piss the other off.
But now they were here, and they were being vulnerable towards eachother. Who would've thought?
His three gold eyes scanned Regects expressions carefully, the other antagonist was clearly nervous.
He let out a low chatter glancing down at the others arm again before speaking.
"Regect, I'll heal this for you, just.. fuck. Talk to someone next time? Moe or Ze. Someone that knows more about this than me that you trust.”
”I-“
“Talk to msak for all I care! He knows more about this shit then I do, just.. someone.”
Not waiting for a response, the bug entity brought his hand to the effected arm, hovering it over the wounds, focusing on clearing all the thick gold scar tissue.
The world began to warp around his palm, a strange bubbling sensation crept into Regects every nerve. It stung a little, but not too bad.
"I appreciate it, Ptolemy." He spoke, quietly thanking the other.
"Yeah yeah dont get all sappy, you're still not invited to next thanksgiving asshole."
The bubbling only got worse as he felt the hard scar tissue morph back into soft flesh, it was as if all his nerve endings were lit on fire all at once.
Regect tried to spit out a half-hearted insult, even though he already knew it would hurt from previous experiences, he just wanted to be petty.
"You didnt tell me it was gonna hurt this bad you-"
The door at the front slammed open, interrupting him.
His idiot cousin didn't lock it.
"Regect..?"
"ZE?!"