SB DLC What-If: “A Long-Awaited ‘Reunion’”
Not Glam-Fred and Bon. Sorry. Head’s up; this hypothetically takes place after both the Princess Quest and the Burn/“True” Ending, with Princess being before an alternate version of Burn. So… Technically spoilers but not really?
Also, this presents a concept that’ll be shown off in another (semi-related?) project. Consider this a way of building context, since the other one won’t explain this part.
For context: Vanessa is hijacked by Glitch again and is dragged back to the rebuilt Pizzaplex. Rebuilt Glam-Fred and Gregory go off to save her while trying to uncover any more secrets. At this point, they’re about to do something big when a new discovery is made in the last security office. You know, the one with the huge monitors we never got to see… I think. (And yes, for those concerned, Vanny does help this time. Not sure how, since Glitch‘s influence is stronger, but I know she does. Maybe helping with freeing the other Glamrocks?)
Okay, enough over-explaining. Let’s dive in, shall we?
Through the bottom row of security monitors, a sickly green arm reached out into the open world. Then, another joined in and gripped the corner of the table. Through some effort, a glitchy rabbit-like figure emerged from the screen. “Hello, Gregory,” it greeted with a low, sinister rattle. “It’s nice to finally see you in person. Sorry about the wait.”
Gregory stepped forward. “You’re that bunny thing Vanessa warned me about,” he snapped, pointing. “She said you hacked her brain like you hacked the Glamrocks!”
”And I’ve done it again,” the rabbit smiled, sitting with one leg on the desk and the other dangling off. “But you should know that by now.”
”What have you done with Vanessa?”
”She’s getting ready for the big finale, you silly boy!” the bunny laughed heartily, wrapping his arms around his stomach. “The one we were supposed to have had by now… If you hadn’t cut us off so easily.”
Gregory was about to argue, but something caught his attention. “Hey, wait,” he said in a baffled tone. “Why are your eyes green? I thought they were purple. At least that’s what Vanessa told me.”
The rabbit heaved a groan as it raised its head. “There’s been a… new complication since last time,” it admitted, swinging its desk-placed leg around. “Long story short, I managed to pull the lost soul from that makeshift rabbit you burned and properly merged with it. Now, I’m having a case of Jekyll-and-Hyde.”
”Like Vanessa did when you controlled her?”
”Exactly,” the rabbit smiled before a flicker of purple caused it to fade. It gripped its head for a second, then chuckled as it re-stabilized. “Looks like he wants to say ‘Hello’, Gregory,” it purred, the green still present in its eyes. “May as well give him what he wants. It’ll be such a surprise for all of us…”
Gregory‘s firm posture dropped into a cowardly slump. He scurried to the nearest door as the rabbit flickered and distorted. His hands impulsively banged on the metal frame. The demented cackle his visitor gave tapered into warped silence. Then, a whimper. He stopped. He didn’t move anything but his mouth. “Are you… the other rabbit?” he asked, not knowing what else to ask.
The ‘other‘ rabbit raised his flopped ears. He looked towards the source of the noise. His violet pupils shrank as he processed what he was seeing in the dark. A boy? In a striped shirt? Could it be…?
Gregory yelped as the rabbit scooped him up into an arm-swinging spin. “Hey, let go!” Greg fussed over his captor’s overjoyed laughter. “Let…!” A string of foreign emotions made his frustrated cries drift away. First, he dazedly joined in, giggling wildly as the world gained a purple hue. Then, a pang of shock that made his heart skip. Finally, a grim sadness he had felt only a few times before settled in. “I’m so sorry,” he mouthed to himself, his new voice catching as tears started to form. “I… thought you were someone else. Someone that I loved dearly.“
The rabbit, now green-eyed like before, shook the boy as hard as he could. Purple sparks of electricity leapt out of Gregory and back into the glitch. ”Stop reminiscing in someone else’s body, Afton,” it hissed as it dropped him onto the floor. “You’ve done that enough already.”
Afton overtook the rabbit’s form again. “I didn’t even mean to!” he argued darkly, wiping away the tears with his arm. “I was so excited to see Evan again—“
”No need to explain what we’ve already witnessed,” the rabbit hissed, regaining control. “And, while you’re at it, quit crying. You don’t want to be as weak as you were back then, do you?”
“I—I don’t,” Afton responded, his ears pinned back and his posture even more slumped than before. He straightened himself up with a sniffle, then cleared his throat. “I don’t,” he repeated, his voice now stern and steady.
“Good,” the rabbit grinned darkly, his ears as straight as an old television antenna. “Now, let’s go before we confuse the boy any further. There will be a chance to catch him again before the hour is up.“ He turned to the boy, gave his trademark wave, and quickly vanished.
The Faz-Watch, which had been rendered inactive, came to life. “Gregory, are you still there?” a gruff, familiar voice cried out. “I could not reach you, and I was worried that he caught you!”
”Don’t worry, Freddy,” Gregory replied, a relieved smile growing on his face. “He got me, but I chased him off.”
”Great job, Superstar!” Freddy exclaimed, his footsteps thundering through the watch’s audio. “I will be with you right away!”
Gregory raised his eyebrows. Wait a second. “Hey, while you’re trying to find me, I’ve got an idea on how we can rescue Vanny,” he said with a gleam in his eyes. “It involves something I learned while dealing with that pesky rabbit. Well, actually, a few things.”
To clarify, this split happened after UCN not before. I know someone might think that because of some other AU/what-if idea, but no. The mention of Jekyll and Hyde was there for a reason.
