Chapter Text
Rocket did not sleep well that night. That's the simplest way to put it. He had been staring at the ceiling for Swords knows how long, every creak of the building sounding too loud, every passing thought circling back to the same thing.
Hoverbike.
Boombox.
Skateboard.
He rolled out of bed way earlier than he needed to, too irritated to continue trying to sleep. His foot hit the floor with a dull thud as he dragged himself through the usual routine: grab his prosthetics, wash up, throw on his work clothes, ignore the mirror.
The garage was still closed when he arrived. The smell of oil and rust hit his nose, the familiarity grounding him a little as he grabbed a rag and started wiping down an already clean surface. His dad walked around, noticing his son was awake earlier than usual, but decided not to ask why.
Rocket and Zuka went through the motions. Renting or selling gear, doing repairs here and there, are the regular everyday activities. But as the hours went by, Rocket's mind became his own enemy.
Hoverbike.
Boombox.
Skateboard.
For once, he was dreading getting off work. Zuka asked what got him so irritated, but he'd bite back that he was in a bad mood. Zuka usually didn't push too hard on him, which he was glad.
Time seemed to have gone too fast for Rocket's liking, though the clock struck closing time. Zuka has told him to close up because the Broker needed to discuss something with him. What they were going to talk about was something Rocket never bothered listening to as he began to clean everything up again.
Then he heard the bell ding, despite the obvious closed sign. He would've figured it was a customer who couldn't read, but he remembers locking the door, and there's only one inphernal with a copy of the keys to this place.
Sword.
It's time. Rocket turns back to see Sword kicking the dirt off his boots, and behind him stood Boombox and Skateboard. He exhaled slowly through his nose.
"Great."
“Heeey, Rocket-”
"Hey."
He'd usually be thrilled to see his best friend, but he was dreading the convocation planning to happen. Boombox shifted uncomfortably as Skayteboard picked something out of his teeth.
“Hey.”
Boombox said carefully, scratching the back of his neck. Rocket didn’t respond immediately, his eyes narrowing between them.
He looked at Skateboard.
Then looked at Boombox.
“. . . You’re both here.”
Boombox chuckled nervously.
“Yeah, well. That was the plan.”
Rocket folded his arms. Sword, meanwhile, was already looking between them like a dog waiting for someone to throw a stick.
“So!”
He said brightly.
“You guys said you’d explain stuff-”
“You sit down.”
Rocket immediately pointed at him without looking, today way too irritated to deal with this happy ass inphernal. The small wave of nostalgia of Sword and Rocket's younger days was not lost on the two, but they chose not to say anything.
“Ah- okay.”
Sword frowned but complied, jumping a little to sit on the counter.
Boombox let out a small breath, then glanced at Skateboard, and he nodded once. It looked like they had rehursed this, and somehow, this made Rocket feel worse. Boombox spoke first.
“Okay. So. Yesterday. . .”
Rocket stared, waiting for more. Boombox rubbed the back of his neck.
“There’s something going on in Inpherno that most people don’t know about.”
Skateboard leaned forward slightly.
“Black market stuff.”
Rocket’s eyes narrowed, unsure of where this was going as Boombox continued.
“There’s a potion.”
Rocket blinked.
"Huh."
“A potion?”
Sword asked out of curiosity, and Rocket pointed at him again.
“Stop sounding excited.”
Sword shut his mouth. This made Skateboard chuckle a little, and Boombox just nodded slowly.
“It’s called the Swapper.”
That name sat in the air for a second like it had weight. The skateboarder budded in, his voice a bit faster than his companions.
“Yeah, if you drink it, and think about someone for like, 5 minutes, you’ll turn into them.”
Rocket’s expression didn’t change immediately, not because he understood, but because he was trying not to.
“. . . Excuse me???”
Boombox raised both hands slightly.
“It doesn’t copy memories perfectly, not like a clone thing! It’s, uh, based on what you remember about them. Appearance, voice, mannerisms- stuff like that, yeah.”
“And the other person becomes what they remember of you.”
Skateboard adds as the rocketeer is dead silent, processing this unbelievable news. Sword and Rocket glanced at each other before he started to speak.
“A body copier potion?”
Boombox answers.
“Yes.”
Rocket exhaled sharply through his nose.
“That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard in my life.”
Skateboard shrugged.
“Yeah, that was our first reaction too.”
Sword tilted his head.
“Wait, that’s actually kind of cool though.”
“NO-”
Rocket said a bit too loudly, making Sword flinch slightly. He grumbles.
“Okay, okay.”
Rocket rubbed his temples as he looked down. These two had to be pulling some elaborate prank on him, they just had to. . .
“And let me guess. . . You two found this out by accident."
Skateboard gave a small grin.
“Yeah, pretty much.”
Boombox looked away, embarrassed.
“We didn’t know what it was at first!- Well, we knew what it did, but. . .”
Rocket’s stare sharpened as Boombox started to explain himself.
"L-look! We only heard about it! And we were curious and managed to find a bottle or two! I thought it'd be funny to drink it and turn into Skateboard-"
"-It was pretty funny."
"-That's besides the point. I turned into him, and he turned into me, pretty darn accurately, too. It was really silly- and- and we were just having fun!"
Boombox tugged on his tie.
“It wore off after a day. Poof, back to normal, yaayy. I thought that was that. . .”
Boombox then glanced at Skateboard, who looked away quickly. The musician nudged his companion forcefully, and he began to talk.
“Okay- okay. Look, I was the one who convinced him to do it again.”
Rocket eyes widened a little.
“You did it again!?”
Boombox flinched.
“In our defense, I didn't know what was gunna happen!”
“You are not defending yourself. You are making it worse.”
Rocket says flatly as Skateboard raised a hand.
“Lay off him, dude.”
Rocket backed away from Boombox as Skateboard continued to talk.
"We were just doing something funny. I wanted to see what would happen. We drank the potion together and just waited."
Boombox spoke up, quietly.
“And we, um. . . Didn't just swap."
The pause that followed was heavier this time. Rocket’s voice came out slower, Sword on the edge of his seat.
“. . . Then what.”
Skateboard and Boombox exchanged a look. Ultimately, Skateboard said it.
"We started to fuse."
Rocket stared.
“. . . Fuse?”
Boombox nodded.
"Like, physically. Our. . . Skin stuck together and overlapped each other- I admit! I was terrified when it first happened but um-"
Rocket’s brain visibly tried to reject the information and failed.
“That is not a thing.”
“It is.”
Rocket took a step back.
“No, no, no. People do not fuse. That is not how bodies work.”
Skateboard shrugged.
“We thought that too.”
Boombox looked down at his hands.
“We tested it more than we should have-”
Rocket snapped his head up.
“WHY DO YOU KEEP SAYING THAT LIKE IT’S NORMAL?”
Skateboard winced, getting in front of Rocket and Boombox.
“Because we’re trying to be honest.”
Sword leaned forward slightly.
“So Hoverbike is. . . Oohhhh!”
Boombox went quiet, too embarrassed to admit it outright.
“Yeah. . .”
Rocket felt something cold settle in his stomach.
“. . . Hoverbike is both of you?"
Boombox didn’t correct him, and that was enough of an answer for him. He stared at them like a deer in headlights.
He stared at Boombox.
At Skateboard.
“. . . Is that why he knew my name?”
Skateboard gave a small, awkward laugh.
“Yeah.”
Boombox looked genuinely uncomfortable now.
“I- we didn’t mean to lie to you.”
"It’s not like we have a manual for this.”
Rocket turned on him.
“You had enough sense to drink a mystery potion twice but not enough sense to stop.”
Skateboard opened his mouth to defend himself.
"I dunno what your problem is with this-"
"YOU DON'T SEE THE PROBLEM IS BODY FUSIONS!? This is some- some horror story thing! What the fuck is wrong with you!?-"
"We kept doing it because it felt good, okay! Every time we're together- I- I feel whole- I feel a high no drug could ever give me! I love Boombox, he's my ride or die! And when we fused and- and got over the initial fear- it felt good."
Rocket stared at Skateboard like he was insane as he kept going.
"I never thought you could get any closer to a person until we fused. It felt good- I can't explain how, but it just does. It's not hurting us, so stop yelling at him like he's about to cause the end of the world!"
"But this is fucked up-"
"It's love, Rocket, something you clearly don't get!-"
"Oh, how about I knock your FUCKING TEETH IN-"
Sword and Boombox quickly get in between their respective friends, trying to calm both of them down.
"Alright, let's not get rash here, Rocket-"
"Thanks for defending me- but please let's not anger the one who has a bomb launcher-"
Rocket almost growled at Skateboard before the anger simmering beneath the surface died down slowly. He takes deep breaths to calm his screaming head.
"Sorry."
"Whatever, man."
Boombox and Sword share a look of relief as Sword pops this question.
"So. . . Where can you find this potion?"
Rocket looks like he saw a ghost as he stares. The question catches all of them off guard, in fact.
"I- um, well, we got it from a friend of a friend in Craterdust. I dunno about Crossroads. . ."
"Can you help me find it then?"
They stared at Sword, who had not realized everyone in the room thought he was insane for wanting the potion.
"What? I wanna find out if they're telling the truth."
"Oh my SWOORRDDSS!"
Rocket screamed into his hand as Boombox laughed a little.
"I- I mean, sure?"
Rocket wanted to blow everyone up right here, right now.