Finally! The Store Shifter AU dad story!!
Holy shit this took so long, iâm still not fully satisfied with the ending but this story has been like genuinely over 5 months in the making so iâm leaving it as is. also this will need a part 2 so expect that hopefully in a shorter period of time than this one took!
guys this thing is like almost 5k words lol
tw vore: donât like it donât read it
âBad, are you sure this is the best idea?â âYes Iâm sure, now be quiet, weâre almost there.â
Skeppy huffed, blowing a few loose strands of hair out of his face. Bad always got like this when they went on retrieval missions. The kind and funny (if not somewhat naĂŻve) man he married buried beneath a stoic, focused outer shell. He couldnât blame him, though. Humans were horrifying to be around, and if Bad felt like he needed to turn off everything to get them all out of there safely, so be it. Usually it was just the two of them, Skeppy and Bad against the world as it always seemed to be, but Sam was with them today. Heâd been pretty silent through their walk, but Skeppy could sense the unease practically radiating off him. Sam was a builder, after all; he almost never went near humans. But, according to him, some homes in their colony had been damaged by storms and needed repair work that would be significantly easier with human tools.
So, here they were. Bad, Skeppy, and Sam, headed towards a human market. Skeppy had been fully opposed, but the hunt and crops had been poor at the colony, and their supplies likely wouldnât be regrown until a few months from now if they were lucky. Bad suggested the humanâs market, where heâd heard other borrowers say theyâd seen humans come in with nothing and leave with bags full of god knows what. He was confident theyâd be able to find the necessary rations there, and even if he was scared, he wouldnât let Bad go to some human infested place without him. Then Sam had joined them and off theyâd gone, promising the rest of the colony to be back in a day or two.
As they neared the market, Skeppy could see Bad tense. Anyone else wouldnât have noticed the slight crease of his brows, the minute shaking of his hands. Thatâs part of what made him a great leader for their colony; he was able to stay calm and collected no matter what. But having known him for so long, Skeppy could read him like an open book. He was scared. Sam, meanwhile, wasnât even trying to hide it. He was quaking, clearly terrified of going into a space filled with creatures he knows could and likely would kill him if given the chance. Skeppy, honestly, was equally terrified. They almost never ventured this far into human society, and certainly never into human inhabited spaces. But, all for the good of the colony.
They approached the building and saw humans leaving the store, making Skeppyâs stomach turn in fear. He was sure that his fear was just as noticeable as Samâs was, and he wasnât sure how Bad was managing to keep his cool while him and Sam were panicking right next to him. But somehow, Bad pressed them forward, and they had little choice but to follow. Theyâd already made it this far, and like hell Skeppy was gonna back down and leave Bad to do this alone now.
They managed to get in the door right behind a human before scurrying back to the shadows for safety the second they entered the building, and holy shit was it bigger than heâd thought it was. There were dozens and dozens of rows one hundred times bigger than any one of them, even if they were small compared to the trees of the forest. âWeâll have to search from above,â Bad whispered quietly, breaking the unspoken vow of silence that the three had been following since nearing the shop. âSkeppy, lend me a rope. We can hoist each other up on each level.â
So, that they did. One of them would climb, then throw a rope for the other two to climb to meet them, only occasionally having to hide behind whatever human product was nearest to avoid being spotted. Thank god there werenât as many humans in the place as heâd initially thought there would be. After a while, the three had made it to the top, overlooking pretty much the entire shop. Skeppy took note that most of the food theyâd need was farther back in the store, unfortunately, but at least the platforms they stood on were close enough together that they could jump them. He also took note that a good number of humans were leaving, which was great for them, but also meant that night was likely coming soon, so they had to be fast. It wasnât safe to travel the woods at night. Bad seemed to recognize this, as he gestured for Skeppy and Sam to follow him, leading them towards what theyâd need. After a few more minutes of the three heading to the back, almost all the humans were gone except for a few in bright green vests. Skeppy reasoned that they were the ones who operated the place, if they all dressed the same and stayed when no one else did. But he wasnât worried; what were the odds that the humans would look up to see them?
âHey, Nick, you wanna head home early? You donât look so good, Iâm sure Dream wouldnât mind.â Skeppy heard a human say. He knew itâd be best to stay back, but Skeppy was nothing if not stupidly impulsive. He leaned over the edge of the platform theyâd been walking on, catching the attention of Bad and Sam too late to stop him. The human who had spoken was wearing a white sweater and gold chain with blonde hair and pale skin. He was talking to another human, âNickâ apparently, who was slumped over some boxes he was putting on a shelf, back turned to where the borrowers were. This one had a dark red hoodie and black beanie pulled over his head that almost matched the shade of his hair. The first human was right, though; if human body language read anything like a borrowers, this guy really wasnât looking good. Nevertheless, he responded. âHm? No, no, Iâm fine, Punz, really.â He mumbled, barely looking up. The blonde one, âPunz,â didnât look like he believed it for a second. âBullshit. Câmere, let me take your temperature.â He said, pulling the other human to face him, and-
No.
No fucking way.
Skeppy could feel that Bad at this point had noticed his absence and had come over to drag him away from the conversation by force, but he shook himself free from his grip, eyes never leaving the scene in front of him. That was him. Thereâs no way it wasnât. His hair was different, far different from the hazel brown he remembered, the same shade as his fatherâs, but it was him. He even had the discoloration around his eyes to prove it, the scar that had nicknamed him âPandasâ all those years ago. He looked older, much older, no longer the teen Skeppy remembered, and more tired. Worn down, even. He really did look sick.
Bad wasnât letting go, and now Sam was trying to help him. Punz and Nick- no, Sapnap, he was sure of it- were still idly chatting below, Punz trying to convince Sapnap he needed to go and Sapnap insisting he was fine. At another insistent yank from Bad, Skeppy finally snapped, pulling away and grabbing Bad by the front of his hood, dragging his face close. âBad,â he whispered as quietly as he could with tears threatening to spill from his eyes, âitâs our son.â
He saw Badâs eyes light up for a moment before fear masked his expression. He looked down at Sapnap, who was now sat alone, staring at the ground. Punz mustâve left at some point without him noticing. Bad sat in stunned silence, and for once Skeppy couldnât read his expression. An expression he could read, however, was Samâs. He looked an odd mix of confused and mortified. Skeppy was confused at the odd reaction before it hit him; Sam didnât know Sapnap was a shifter. âThatâs Sapna-mph?!â âShh!!â Sam whisper yelled before Skeppy slapped a hand over his mouth. âOk, i donât know what heâs doing here but yes, it has to be. He canâŠdo this. I mean, he can look human. But heâs not! ItâsâŠitâs a long story, dude.â âI- He..what?? Bad, you knew about this?â Sam whisper yelled again, quieter. ââŠYes.â Bad took a moment to answer, like it pained him to admit out loud that the âhumanâ down there was his own son. âHow canâŠhow long has he-â Sam cut himself off as Sapnapâs head snapped up, revealing that his eyes were almost black with how large his pupils were. He looked out of it entirely. He lookedâŠpredatory.
Bad gasped, stumbling back from the edge of the platform heâd been watching from and fell to the ground, clutching his chest, unable to control his ragged breathing. Skeppy and Sam were immediately right there beside him, Sam trying to lead him through breathing exercises as quietly as possible as Skeppy asked him what was wrong. After a few moments, Bad managed to choke out words. âWe- we needâŠto go. We..we need t- to go now.â âWhy? Whatâs going on?â Skeppy asked. Before Bad could give any semblance of an answer, they heard boxes be knocked over. To curious for his own good, Skeppy went to see what it was, and Sam and Bad reluctantly followed.
Sapnap was stood again, back turned to the three as he looked up at one of the shelves near him. And there stood- âAlex?â Skeppy heard Sam whisper, hope full in his voice. Skeppy had almost forgotten that the day Sapnap ran away was the last time Sam had seen his own son. Quackity looked older, too. His hair was longer and he looked more well nourished and muscular than the scrawny, scrappy little boy Skeppy had watched grow up. He also still wore his stupid little bandana and the face covering Karl had made him after heâd got that gash through his mouth. But even with that mask on, Skeppy noticed the confusion and pity in his eyes as he looked at his boyfriend.
âSapnap?â Quackity asked, but there was no response. He kept looking for a little bit before sighing and looking around. What for, Skeppy didnât know, but what he did find was them. Skeppy saw Quackityâs eyes go wide as he noticed the three, and he looked horrified. Sam stood and waved, moving to say something before Quackity violently charaded to keep quiet. He then started to shoo them, and Bad immediately took the hint and tried to pull the both of them away, but Skeppy and Sam held their ground. âWhy?â Sam said just barely loud enough for Quackity to hear across the aisle, but also loud enough for Sapnap to notice apparently, as he started to turn around towards them. âJust go!!â Quackity screamed, drawing Sapnapâs attention back to himself as his head snapped back. Quackity took a step forward about to yell something else before time froze.
Faster than he could blink, Sapnap had reached up and roughly grabbed Quackity off the shelf, holding him to his face for a short moment before stuffing him in his mouth. He could hear muffled yelling, too distant to make out any words, and could see indents of Quackity pushing against Sapnapâs cheeks trying to fight his way out. Bad was silent, ghastly white and completely unmoving, not even breathing, which left Skeppy to turn his attention away from the scene in front of him to keep Sam quiet. He quickly and forcefully wrapped his arm around his mouth and pulled him back, using his other hand to push Samâs head into the crook of his elbow to muffle him. Sam was yelling and screaming; clawing, kicking, doing anything just to make Skeppy to let him go, but he endured it. It was all he could do to not think too heavily into what heâd just seen. There was no way Sapnap wouldâŠeat him. Heâd watched Quackity and Sapnap grow up together. Before Karl came along, itâd really just been the two of them. They were best friends from the start, and early in their teenage years, it turned to something more. Sapnap cared more about Quackity than himself, he knew that for a fact. There had to be something he was missing here, right?
All at once, Sam fell silent. The screaming, kicking, everything stopped. Everything but his crying; Skeppy could feel his sleeve growing wet with tears. Maybe this was a good sign. Maybe Sapnap had spit him out, maybe it was all a prank, a joke, anything. Sapnap was raised by him and Bad, after all. Heâd seen his fair share of trolling from his fathers. Sapnap couldnât do this, he and Bad hadnât raised a monster. This wasnât happening. Everything was ok.
As he looked up, the sight ahead of him said otherwise.
Sapnap had his head tilted up, one hand lightly pressed on something- no, someone in his throat, while the other was holding something just outside his mouth; a tail. Quackityâs tail. Quackity was moving under the pressure; squirming, thrashing even, under Sapnapâs skin, yet the expression on his sonâs face read nothing but bliss. Skeppy could even swear he saw drool seeping out of the corners of his smile. He couldnât watch this. He couldnât stay here and stand to see the boy he had raised, had loved his entire life, kill someone that Skeppy had thought heâd watched him grow to love. But he couldnât move. He stood frozen, tears welling in his eyes and his body cold from fear with Sam limp and silently sobbing in his arms. Sam, poor Sam, who sat here watching his son be eaten alive not only by his previous future son-in-law, by his own best friendsâ son. Bad, whoâd been so silent that Skeppy had nearly forgotten he was here, barely seemed to be breathing. His only signs of life were the tears pouring down his face and the violent shaking that wracked his entire frame. He looked so scared Skeppy was surprised he was still standing.
The three of them watched in silent horror as finally, after what felt like hours, Sapnap let go of Quackityâs tail. They watched his form fall farther and farther down Sapnapâs throat little by little until finally his struggles had disappeared beneath his loverâs collar bones, sealing his fate. Sapnap dropped his head and sighed, the blissful, at peace expression he wore making Skeppy sick. He watched Sapnap seemingly subconsciously trace a line down his torso, no doubt following where Quackity was within his body, until he finally placed a palm on his stomach. And if there was any doubt (which at this point could only be chalked up to wishful thinking) as to what fate Quackity had truly met, it had all been dispelled as the three heard horrible, violent gurgling sounds coming from Sapnapâs stomach. Sapnap covered his whole midsection with his arm, face tinged pink in apparent embarrassment as he whipped his head side to side to make sure no one was around. Luckily for the three of them, he still didnât think to look up. He blinked a few times before looking down at where his arm laid for a few seconds and subsequently sighing, rolling his eyes (which Skeppy belatedly realized were back to normal instead of the horrifying all consuming black). He began rubbing his stomach as a few more gurgles were heard and he pulled a little thin black box from his apron, tapping it a few times before holding it to his ear.
A few seconds of silence later, Sapnap was speaking. âHey, Dream! Did Punz tell you I was sick? He said he was going off to find you like 10 minutes ago.â More silence. âYeah, yeah, Iâm fine now. I think I just needed something to eat, if you know what I mean.â Skeppyâs heart skipped a beat hearing Sapnap so nonchalantly refer to his own species, to someone he loved, as food. âIâm just gonna go on break now if thatâs ok. Could you meet me by the security office? I need you to help me, uhâŠget rid of something.â Another break. âOk, sounds good, Iâll meet you then. Bye.â He said, tapping the black box again before slipping it back into a pocket and moving to leave the aisle. At that, Skeppy decided it was far past time to go. He went to grab Bad before realizing that he was fully unconscious, likely having passed out from fear. Sam, on the other hand, lay sobbing. Skeppy could do nothing but try to drag him to away, but ultimately failed. âSam,â Skeppy whispered, voice cracking through tears and shivering, âWeâŠwe have to go.â âI failed.â he responded, not bothering to whisper since Sapnap was gone. âI failed as a father. I couldnât save him. I- I couldnât save them. Either of them.â He chocked out, tears pouring harder. Skeppy stood shocked; Sam rarely mentioned his other son anymore. Itâd been so, so long since heâs been around that Skeppy (as much as it pained him to admit it to himself) had almost forgotten he existed completely. And didnât that just make this all the more sad; Sam didnât deserve to lose another kid. He didnât deserve to have these old scars ripped back open again. âYou couldnât have known.â Skeppy said, sitting down beside him. âThereâs nothing you couldâve done. IâŠIâm sorry. Iâm so, so sorry, Sam.â
Skeppy wasnât sure why he felt the need to apologize, but in some way, this felt like his fault. Sapnap was his son. What had he done wrong? How long had Sapnap been planning to do this? What would Karl say if he saw this? Is Karl even still alive, or did Sapnap get to him first? How were they gonna tell Tina that her younger brother got killed by his fiancĂ©, of all people?
Skeppy was only snapped out of it when a hand rested on his own, and he turned to see Sam looking at him. His tear-stained expression held no anger, no contempt for the man who had raised the person to have just killed his son, justâŠpity and sadness. Sam didnât hate him. Sam feltâŠsorry for him. Sorry that his son had turned out like this after so many years being away from home. Sorry that the boy who theyâd both loved growing up was gone, twisted into a psychopath and cannibal. In a way, theyâd both lost their kids today. Skeppy couldnât do anything but break down, clinging to Sam and sobbing as he finally processed everything that heâd seen today. Sam just hugged back tightly, like Skeppy was his only lifeline, and sobbed with him.
âWe should get going.â Sam sighed after what felt like hours. âWe need to help Bad, and Iâm sure the others are wondering why weâre not back yet.â Skeppy, still numb, just nodded and helped sling one of Badâs unconscious arms over his shoulder while Sam took another. The walk back to where they had come from was silent, neither of them willing to bring up the fact that they hadnât actually retrieved any supplies and the whole trip was kinda pointless, but were met with a sight that neither had been expecting.
The doors were tied shut with chains. They couldnât get out.
They were stuck there till morning.
~~~~~
Sapnap sat in the break room fiddling with his phone when he saw Dream come in, twirling a set of keys on his finger. âYou said you needed access to the security room?â ââBout time.â Sapnap responded sarcastically, standing up off the beanbag chair with a hand over his stomach to keep the extra weight in his gut from swaying as he moved. Seriously, no matter how many times or how often heâd done this, he was never going to get used to it, was he? âSorry I needed to lock up the store, asshole.â Dream replied, leading him out of the room to the security office down the hall. âRanboo is staying at my place tonight so Tom and Tubbo arenât alone, so I had to lock up from inside today cause someone invited me to stay the night to work on parkour stuff.â âDonât pin this on me, Iâm being nice to you for once.â Sapnap replied, lightly elbowing Dream as he tried to unlock the door and messing him up. Dream flipped him off without even moving his vision away from the lock before getting back to work. âAre you at the security office yet?â Quackity asked, startling Sapnap which in turn startled Dream, who gave him an odd look. Sapnap just pointed to his stomach and Dream rolled his eyes and went back to work on the lock.
âYeah, we are. Holy shit, dude, you scared the fuck outta me, I thought you were asleep. You havenât said anything like this entire time.â âI couldnât fall asleep. SomethingâŠsomething happened, man.â ââŠWell that doesnât sound ominous at all. What kinda something? Something bad?? Are you ok, did I do something?â âIâm fine!â Quackity quickly responded, picking up on his fiancĂ©âs nervous tone. âItâs justâŠwell I donât know yet. Youâll be able to see for yourself on the video camera. I donât want to freak you out if itâs nothing.â Sapnap went to ask what that meant before Dream finally managed to open the door with a little cheer of celebration. He ushered Sapnap in as he started to log into the cameraâs system.
âOk, so can you tell me what happened?â Dream questioned. âItâs been a while since I did the instinct thing, so I guess I looked kinda sickly, so Punz ran to get you. After that I started to feel nauseous and sat down and passed out. When I woke up again, Quackity was in here and I felt a lot better. I think my instincts just fully took over so I wasnât conscious, like, at all. I figured I would see what exactly happened and then delete the footage so no one else could see me lose it.â Dream nodded. âYeah, I figured thatâs what you meant by âneeded something to eat.â Kinda also figured that instincts had something to do with why Punz said you looked sick, so I asked Quackity to go and look for you.â Sapnap vaguely heard Quackity confirm what Dream had said. âOh, thanks dude.â âNo problem. Now, where and when was this again?â
Sapnap gave a few more specifications on what had happened, and at this point he could feel Quackity nervously pacing in his gut, which feltâŠweird, to say the least. âQuackity, dude, are you ok? You never move this much in there, itâs kinda freaking me out. And it feels weird.â âSorry.â He heard as he felt Quackity drop back down to sit, almost immediately starting to tap his foot. âYouâre nervous about something.â âNo Iâm-â âYouâre sitting with your eye sockets pressed into your knees while tapping your foot. Iâve known you my entire life, I donât need to be able to see you to know what youâre doing. You only do that when youâre really anxious, whatâs up?â âLike I said, youâll see on the video.â Sapnap was about to respond again, but was agin cut off by Dream. âFound it! Oh shit, yeah, you look really out of it, Iâm surprised you made it as long as y- what the fuck is that??â That bit caught Sapnapâs attention. He moved closer to the tv and noticed what Dream was questioning: on the grainy monitor, there were 3 small silhouettes on top of an aisle in front of Sapnap. âAre thoseâŠborrowers?â Dream asked, looking over to Sapnap. âThey have to be. What the hell are more borrowers doing in the store? Q, is this what you were worried about?â ââŠMostly.â Quackity responded, and Sapnap nodded to Dream so he could follow along. ââŠfast forward, see if you can tell when they leave.â Sapnap relayed the request to Dream, who did as he asked.
âOh noâŠâ Sapnap whispered. âWhat?â Dream asked, but Quackity was apparently more than aware of the issue. âThey didnât listen, did they? They didnât go when I told them too?â âNo, no they didnâtâŠâ Sapnap whispered again, in shock. He felt Quackity stand and start to pace again, but this time couldnât care to correct it. âWhat? Who didnât what?â Dream asked. âThe borrowers on the aisle. Quackity was signaling for them to leave so they wouldnât see me do..that, but they didnât. Theyâre seeing everything.â Sapnap gestured back up to the screen, where at this point he could see Quackity entering his throat and the borrowers backing up, one even kicking and fighting another to do something. âWellâŠthats not good, but it canât be that bad, right? I mean, what are the odds youâll ever see them again? I mean, sure they can tell a colony about a human that ate a borrower, but you guys have always kinda been under the impression we did that anyway, right? At the absolute worst, theyâll have another horror story to get kids to bed on time.â âDream, I just traumatized 3 random borrowers for life.â âI was under the impression you were all just kinda traumatized from shit in general, is this really that much worse?â âSapnap, tell him to shut up.â Quackity interrupted. Sapnap obliged by smacking a hand over Dreamâs mouth and putting a finger over his own lips. ââŠI need you to let me out.â Sapnap looked confused for a moment. Quackity had only been in there for a few hours; normally when this happened he would just stay the night since it was more of a hassle to get dry and clean just to put on pjs. Something was wrong, still, Sapnap would never hold the man he loved against his will.
Sapnap quickly brought him up, placing a hand under his mouth as Quackity climbed out. Quackityâs head snapped immediately to the security footage. At this point, Sapnap could see himself finally swallow Quackity down, and the 3 borrowers react accordingly with varying levels or fear and distress. One of them even went unconscious. Quackity watched with a look of worry that made Sapnap anxious; in all the years heâd known Quackity, heâd never seen him like this. Why was he this worried? He barely registered that in the video he had regained control, only focused on what could have caused the fear in his fiancĂ©âs eyes.
Until one of the borrowers turned enough for their face to be seen in the camera.
ThatâŠthat was his dad. That was Skeppy, holding onto someone who had to be Sam. His other dad was taller than that. That means that the last one, the borrower whoâd passed out when Sapnap had swallowed Quackity wasâŠ
Sapnap felt his breath speed up. He quickly set Quackity down on the desk as he clutched a hand to his chest and his vision started to blur. âSap?â Dream questioned, hands hovering around him in concern, âSapnap are you ok??â âThatâsâŠThose areâŠâ He couldnât get the words out. Fuck. No, fuck, god no, this wasnât how this was supposed to go, they werenât supposed to know, they werenât supposed to ever see him again but now they knew everything.
They knew he was a monster.
ââŠthose are our dads.â Quackity whispered, barely audible as dreams eyes widened. âThe one crying is my dad, the other two are Sapnapâs.â
