Day 16. Quiet. OC stuff with a pig called Lena. She's on a lone journey of... self discovery, maybe?? Anyways, it's grayscale bc we're practicing for an upcoming project
Day 18. Monster. It's Norman!! Literally had to go look at the comic again to remember his name. There should be more of him he's too cute.
Day 19. Hero Meetup. Low effort drawing of Commander Cosmo, Salgexicon, Rex Marksley & Captain Albert Alexander. Had a vision, but unsure how well that translated into the drawing.
If I had a nickel for every child of Peter A. Walter II who had a giant, blue-matter-affected spouse, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.
Day 12 was an alternate universe, SO I decided to dabble in a universe where VI actually loves doors with a burning passion, and he's afraid of Slenderman as opposed to the boogeyman c:
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
NON-AO3 LINK HERE
Summary: 1950. Rabbit has been captured by Ignatius and Norman Becile. Peter II, Peter III, and Guy Hottie go in to rescue her-- but we all know how this ends.
Word Count: 3,543
CW: Major Character Deaths, Misgendering
-
[A REMNANT TRACE, A GLIMPSE OF YOU]
They’d spent more time convincing the other robots and Two’s enraged children to stay behind than they had preparing to retrieve Rabbit. To Peter II, it was a necessary time investment. Many of the Walter robots retained their war programming and if only a few were brought along on this rescue mission there would be pandemonium among the rest. Tensions were high enough; someone had to stay behind to make sure there was a home for Rabbit to come back to.
It wasn’t just that Two was terrified of sending Mark and Wanda into Ignatius Becile’s jaws. Bringing Peter IV was of course off the table, but his oldest two children weren’t children anymore. But when his brother Peter III had surveyed the wreckage where Rabbit had been abducted, his face had grown so cold that Two shivered. There was no stopping him from going after Ignatius, not between this transgression and their history-- and Ignatius undoubtedly knew that. The fewer people that were risked in the crossfire, the better.
Still, Two doubted he and Three could handle the mission alone. So while Three stood silent, waiting to leave with his hands white on the grip of his cane, Two considered the words of Guy Hottie, his son-in-law.
“Professor Becile knows I married into the family, from back when we worked together,” Guy said. “But I doubt he’d be expecting someone from the university to show up during this sort of interpersonal fiasco.”
“That’s what worries me,” Two said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Ignatius could become volatile if he sees you as an unexpected threat to his career.”
“Or my presence might ground him, put this whole messy thing into perspective,” Guy said. “In any case, I’ll be more useful going with you than I will be trying to get the robots to listen to me. They still don’t consider me a real Walter.”
“Yes, we really ought to have had you take our last name,” Two said. “Alright, you’re onboard, but you aren’t to confront Ignatius by yourself.”
Wanda took the news coolly. She narrowed her eyes at her father for a moment, then handed Guy her personal laser pistol. “Do right by Rabbit for me,” she said, kissing the flustered Guy on the cheek.
Mary tried to wave Two away when he approached her. “You’re still here? You need to go get Rabbit before the rest of these robots riot,” she said evenly, though her eyes were wet. “Go on. Shoo. I’ll see you soon.”
Two took her hand and kissed the back of it. “We’ll be back by sunrise,” he said.
Guy drove the Walter twins to the new Becile Estate-- this one bought by Ignatius in a different part of town than the one his father forfeited upon his death. They did not approach the main gates, parking instead near the back fence, closer to the laboratory that sat like a hunched toad behind the house. There was a delivery entrance, unlit at this time of night. Two frowned as he tried the gate and found it unlocked.
“He’s expecting us,” Two said softly, readjusting his bandolier of gadgets. “Be careful.”
Two slipped through the gate, followed by Three and Guy. Three’s normal limping gait was bolstered by the metal brace he’d put on his left leg, taking some of the pain out of his steps from his old war injury. Yet he still carried his cane, walking with it tapping the ground out of habit.
There were no lights illuminating the grounds, save for those shining through the windows of the laboratory. The main entrance stood out prominently, its doors tall and wide. Quietly, they debated searching the grounds for another way in, but a flash of familiar blue from a skylight ended the conversation.
“We don’t have time,” Three said, voice hard as a brick, the first words he’d said since leaving Walter Manor. “Ignatius already has the field advantage. We have to go in and find out what we’re working with.”
“Not the most strategic move, Colonel,” Two said reproachfully, then sighed. “But you’re right. Guy, if we have to split, you stick with me.”
“Split?” Guy asked, eyebrows lifting as they moved to the entrance.
“If Ignatius goes one way and Rabbit’s in another, you and me will get to Rabbit and free him,” Two said. “I don’t want you to risk yourself near Ignatius.”
Guy’s eyes flicked to Three’s back. “But, that leaves the Colonel--”
“Don’t worry about him too much,” Two said with a weak smile that did not reach his eyes. “He knows what he’s doing.”
The laboratory doors were unlocked. Inside, unmarked hallways and rooms spun off like the intestines of a beehive. Guy looked around in bewilderment as the trio slowed to consider the passageways.
“We’re too close to the entrance for any real workshops,” Three said. “We have to go farther in.”
“Alright then,” Two said, eyeing a particularly convoluted set of hallways. “Left, right, other left, or other right?”
BANG!
The group flinched at the sound of a gunshot close by. Standing behind the railing of a balcony above was Norman Becile, face pale and lowering a pistol toward them.
“That was a warning shot,” Norman called, voice quavering. “There will be consequences if you don’t leave now.”
Three narrowed his eyes at the pistol in Norman’s hand. “No ricochet,” he said under his breath. “Blanks.”
Two nodded ever so slightly. He put on a smile, lifting a hand in greeting. “Hello, Norman! It’s been a few years!”
“Don’t pretend to be friendly,” Norman snapped. “No one is going to buy it!”
Two shrugged in response. “Okay then.” He started walking toward a random hallway. Norman fired another shot, and Two flinched again despite himself, the sound close enough to hurt his ears.
“I said--!” Norman started shouting only to be cut off by a third gunshot, this one from Three’s pistol. The live round pinged off the wall behind Norman, and he yelped, dropping his gun and fleeing deeper into the lab.
Two turned an admonishing eye to Three. “We’re not here to hurt them,” Two scolded.
Three looked back, frowning and cold. “You two follow Norman,” he said. “Knowing Ignatius, he’ll have threatened to put his head on a pike if we get Rabbit back.” Three examined the three hallways that did not shadow the way that Norman had gone and chose one on the left.
“Peter,” Two said quietly. Three paused. “Please be careful,” Two said, hoping that, despite the maelstrom in his heart, Three would listen.
“Find Rabbit,” Three said, looking over his shoulder. “I’ll make sure Ignatius can’t stop you.” With that, he walked away.
“Come on,” Two said to the befuddled Guy, patting him on the upper arm. “We’ve got a job to do.”
-
[THE DEEP STARES BACK, SPEAKS TO ME]
Three had his back pressed to the wall, head turned so one eye could peer into the control room. It was filled with video screens, live feeds from around the lab, and panels upon panels of buttons and levers. Ignatius was all but lounging in a rolling chair, watching the screens. Three raised his cane and twisted the handle.
Then Ignatius spoke. “You missed the camera out there, Peter.”
Three glared, finally noticing his own image on one of the screens, berating himself for the slip up for a heartbeat before shoving the feeling aside. There was no time for that. Three pulled away from the wall and strode into the room, eyes locked on Ignatius’s back. Ignatius did not move at his approach, but he did turn his chin to speak over his shoulder.
“I’m surprised you let Norman get the second shot off,” Ignatius said. “He could’ve had live rounds in the other chambers, and even he could hit a target at the range your brother was at. Seems sloppy. And you brought Guy Hottie? I wouldn’t trust him to make coffee.”
Three said nothing. Ignatius turned the chair around, opening his mouth to continue speaking, and found the tip of Three’s cane sword levied at his heart. Ignatius glanced between the blade and Three’s white hot eyes.
“Never one to waste time,” Ignatius sighed. “Alright, fine. Take your shot. Kill me.”
“Don’t mock me,” Three said, voice low.
“Mock you? I’m waiting for you to get on with it,” Ignatius said, gesturing to his chest without moving away from the sword’s point. “You’re a soldier, you’ve killed men before. What’s a civilian to the tally?”
Three took a deep breath. His eyes darted over the screens behind Ignatius’s shoulders, looking for Rabbit. “I’m here for our robot,” Three said. “I won’t kill you unless I have to.”
“No, really, you’re never going to have a better excuse than this,” Ignatius said impatiently.
“Shut up. Get out of the chair.”
Ignatius shrugged and stood, being careful to avoid leaning into the blade. They regarded each other silently for a moment, and then Ignatius pointed to one of the screens. “There’s your robot,” he drawled. “As comfy as we could make him.”
Three did not take his eyes off Ignatius. “Disable the traps,” he demanded.
“There aren’t any.”
“Bull.”
“You think I trust Norman not to go careening into a tripwire?” Ignatius said dryly. “You saw him take off with his tail between his legs.”
Three narrowed his eyes. “Then the trap isn’t something you’d mind Norman getting caught in.”
Ignatius tilted his head to the side slightly. His voice was soft as he said, “My toy soldier. The tactical genius. I always loved that about you.”
Three slammed the pommel of the cane sword into Ignatius’s jaw. He reeled back against the controls, clutching his face, seething in pain.
“Goddamn!” Ignatius blurted out, checking his palm for blood before eyeing Three again, this time with more wariness. “No sympathy for the elephant in the room, huh? Our first conversation in over ten years and we’re not going to acknowledge it?”
“Acknowledge what,” Three growled.
“Us! You, me! Judging by this bruise on my face, you’re still sour about our breakup. And still jealous of my wife,” Ignatius sniffed. “Green is an ugly color on you, Colonel.”
Three paused. His lips twitched, and then he chuckled. Ignatius’s brows lowered.
“Jealous? You’re out of your damn mind,” Three said, teeth bared in a humorless not-smile. “You think my life began and ended with you? You think you know everything about me? ‘Toy soldier.’ You knew me as a young, love-struck fool. I worshiped the ground you walked on.” Three stepped forward and leaned in close. “You want me to add a civilian to my tally? What made you think I would’ve ever told you the whole truth of why they made me a Colonel at twenty-two?”
Eyes locked, they stared at each other-- two walls fortified, tailored to each other’s siege.
“Deny it all you want,” Ignatius said quietly. “You’ll always be my broken toy soldier, whether you like it or not.”
Over the feeds, Guy’s voice came through: “There he is!”
Ignatius’s hand shot out and flipped a switch.
-
[NEVER MORE TO LEAVE HERE, NEVER MORE TO LEAVE HERE]
Two and Guy couldn’t follow Norman’s trail exactly, not with them being a story apart. But as they hurried deeper, the hallways opened up into more areas where the second floor was merely a catwalk, and Norman’s footsteps rang in the distance.
It was too easy to follow him. Three would’ve been suspicious, and that knowledge sat in Two’s stomach uneasily.
Finally, they caught up to Norman as he jabbed at a keypad with shaking hands. He looked at them over his shoulder as the doors opened, then ducked inside, the doors sealing behind him.
“Dead end,” Guy said, panting.
“This is the place,” Two said. He walked up to the doors and looked through one of the windows to find Norman staring back.
“Norman, please, hear me out,” Two said. “Rabbit is family to us. I could no more leave him than my own brother.”
“I’m afraid I can’t relate,” Norman grumbled.
“And I’m sorry for that.” Two paused in thought. “Ignatius would really hurt you over this failure, wouldn’t he?”
Norman nodded.
“What if we offered you shelter?” Two said. “It may take some convincing of the others, but our home is large enough for another resident. And you would know how to help us prevent Ignatius getting in again.”
Norman shook his head. “You underestimate him,” he said. “And I can’t hide in your manor for the rest of my life.”
“Maybe,” Two said quietly. “… How’s Rabbit? How badly was he damaged?”
Norman glanced away. “He fought hard,” he said. “We were able to disrupt his systems with a minimum of physical damage-- Ignatius wanted to see the body working up close.”
Faintly, Two heard another voice from within the room, calling out: “Peter? Peter?!”
Two’s breath caught in his chest. “Norman, I’ll show you how his Core works,” he said quickly. He heard Guy gasp behind him. Norman raised his eyebrows. “I will. Just let me see him. Let me let him know it’ll be okay.”
Norman disappeared from view for a moment. Two’s hand went to his bandolier, searching for something to break through with--and the doors unlocked. Two pushed through, Guy on his heels.
“Thank you,” Two breathed, seeing Norman standing at another keypad. Norman didn’t meet his eyes.
“Just go talk to Rabbit,” Norman said tiredly.
The room was expansive, likely the heart of the laboratory. Two took a few steps farther in, his eyes landing on an operating table near a giant device-- and Guy’s voice rang out, “There he is!”
The doors locked behind them.
They turned to see Norman retreating beyond the door windows as heavy metal plates dropped over the doorways, sealing them in. Guy swore and ran for the keypad. Two shook his head; one thing at a time.
He crossed the floor to the operating table where Rabbit was restrained. A thin wisp of steam escaped from her chassis as she looked up. Curling tubes were connected to her open chest cavity, latched around the casing of her Core.
“There you are, old boy,” Two said, patting Rabbit on the cheek and blinking back tears. “Forgive us for being late. We’ll have you out and on your way home in a jiffy.”
“Peter,” Rabbit cried. “There’s sleeping gas-- I heard them talking--”
“It’s alright,” Two said soothingly. “We may be stuck, but we’ve been stuck before, haven’t we? We’ll solve it together. Did you see how they controlled these bindings?” Two tapped one of the thick metal restraints around Rabbit’s wrists.
Rabbit rolled her head and pointed with her eyes. “Somewhere over there.”
There was a wall of controls, inconveniently unlabeled. There was a big switch in the center of it-- Two rested his hand on it and looked back to Rabbit, frowning. Intuition told him this one wasn’t correct-- it looked more likely to control the device connected to Rabbit.
Ignatius and Three fought with fists and knees, the cane sword having bounced out of Three’s hand as it struck the metal plate hidden under Ignatius’s shirt. Three pinned Ignatius briefly against the panels, lighting up buttons and flipping switches.
Two felt the machine turn on through his hand on the switch. The air began to crackle, strands of his hair beginning to lift off his scalp. Two quickly scanned the machine, realizing the switch was already in the ‘On’ position.
“Guy!” Two called. “We need to stop the power to this machine!”
Guy drew Wanda’s laser pistol. “Got it!”
Ignatius caught sight of Guy in the wall of screens, holding the laser point blank at the machine’s power cables, and his eyes bulged. He shoved Three hard, tossing him aside, and brought his hand down hard on the speaker button. “NO, you idiots!” Ignatius shouted into the microphone.
Guy had already blasted halfway through one power cable; at Ignatius’s voice, he hesitated, looking to Two.
“Keep going!” Two said, trying to pull the level to ‘Off’ and finding it hard-locked in place. “A half-powered machine is more dangerous than--”
Three wrestled Ignatius away and clocked him on the temple. Ignatius snarled and grabbed at him. Three slipped and brought Ignatius down with him onto the control panel.
The air sizzled, and with a zap--
Rabbit arched off the table, held in place only by her bonds. A tidal wave of blue energy flooded the room, tearing the flesh from Two’s bones, then his atoms from each other. Guy was seared from existence.
High, high, high above them, a rift formed, swirling cerulean and glitter, made of the same unknowable energy that was tearing Peter II and Guy apart, that was splitting time itself in twain, that which formed Rabbit’s breaking heart.
To those on the ground it looked like a new, blue star.
-
[BOUND IN MADNESS]
“Petey? Petes?!” Rabbit shook the still body, keening in between calling Three’s name. His clothes were splattered with the oil spilling from her eyes. “Please, wake up!”
The explosion cracked her bonds enough for Rabbit to escape, but the lab had become, quite literally, nightmarish. The geometry was tilted, doors no longer fitting in their passages, hallways doubling back on each other impossibly in places. Black vines crawled along the ground, the walls, the ceiling; piles of slime had blinked at her as she ran past. There had been nothing left of Guy to bring home to Wanda, but Two’s goggles-- Pappy’s goggles-- had somehow survived intact, only the glass lenses melted. The leather strap of the goggles was wrapped around Rabbit’s right hand, the bulky eyepieces jutting from her knuckles.
Rabbit's eyes were drawn briefly to Ignatius, constricted against the wall of screens by the black tendrils. He was breathing through gritted teeth, gaze unfocused, lost in a nightmare.
The Beciles had taken Two and Guy from her, her family; Ignatius would not have Three. Rabbit started to help him up from the ground, wrapping one of his arms around her shoulders and holding his opposite side. Finally, Three began to stir.
“Peter,” Three breathed. “Wh… where’s Peter?”
Rabbit blinked, a new flood of oil overflowing from her eye sockets. Her brows lowered as she looked again to Ignatius-- who was staring back now, their eyes immediately locking. His eyes were green-- not their natural hue, but a bright, hungry green that Rabbit hadn’t seen in over fifty years. Ignatius bared his teeth at her, nearly feral with rage, and for a moment Rabbit was back at the mines, watching without comprehending the zombies with their sagging, molten skin.
“Mine,” Ignatius snarled.
Rabbit wasn’t sure if he meant herself or Three. She decided she didn’t want to know. She broke eye contact and shifted Three’s weight more fully onto her shoulders before helping him out of the room, ignoring the beastly noises Ignatius made as he thrashed against his bonds.
The way out was no longer clear, but Rabbit carried Three on steadily. He was barely conscious and one side of his face seemed sluggish as he mumbled. As they passed a large hump of vines, something within them moved. Rabbit recoiled, clutching Three tighter as a giant, grotesque eye opened and stared at her from within the thicket.
“Help me,” Norman rasped.
Rabbit paused-- and then Three coughed, something red spattering the floor. She turned away from Norman and increased her pace as much as she dared with Three in tow. Norman whimpered, but did not call out again.
They passed him three more times before Rabbit collapsed from lack of water. She managed to stagger to a blackened wall and set Three down before she fell to her hands and knees.
“I’m sorry, Peter,” Rabbit sobbed, no more oil to cry. “I tried to get you home.”
She closed her eyes. Something touched her hand.
Three said nothing as Rabbit looked back to him. He was alive, for however long they had left in this nightmare. And he squeezed her hand.
At dawn, Wanda ordered The Spine to break down the twisted front doors of the Becile lab, and the second Walter rescue team stormed in. Rabbit and Three were found unconscious and huddled together, wrapped in creeping vines. Begrudgingly, the team pulled Ignatius from the control room before he suffocated; they almost left Norman, thinking no one could survive that level of mutation until he cried out for help. The Beciles were deposited at their house, Norman curled upon himself and refusing to move, Ignatius holding his unresponsive right arm and watching with silent fury as his laboratory was set aflame.
Mark drove Three to the hospital and stayed with him there. Wanda brought the robots home and silently began to repair Rabbit. Four burst into raw tears, seeing his father wasn’t with them.
Mary was silent. She tried to take Four into her arms, but he pushed her away, running into the depths of Walter Manor, not to be seen for days. Wanda would not speak; Mark would not come home. So Mary took her grandson, Peter V, still just a toddler, and climbed to the highest point of their home, sat with the boy on her lap and watched the sky.
