Chapter Text
The secret to all good stories, as Karl learned when he was very young, is a good backstory.
Time traveling has corrupted some of his memories. His mother has a voice, but not a face, and Karl remembers snuggling up to her side as she told him stories of old. Stories of adventure, love, good and evil, and everything in between. He remembers that he always slept easiest after hearing a good story, head filled with wonder and slowly but surely, drifting away.
But the best stories were always the ones where he understood the characters within them. Their motivations, their passions, their connections- it always helped make a good story, no matter how it ended.
So in investigating the future of the SMP, Karl looks into two things: An ancient, lost city, hidden beneath the waves, and four fishermen destined to go there one way or another.
Karl looks into the latter first. He slips in and out of time to understand them- time is a thick fluid that Karl has learned to navigate through- until their names are burned into his mind as if he’s known them for years.
(When Karl returns to his original timeline, sometimes he will accidentally call someone he knows by the wrong name as time has muddled with his brain.
BadBoyHalo blinks at the name ‘Benjamin’ and tilts his head when he asks who that is.
Quackity starts laughing when Karl slips up and calls him ‘Cletus’.
He’s called Ranboo both ‘Charles’ and ‘Ranbob’ at one point but Ranboo has never commented on it.
Karl had only called himself ‘Isaac’ once. Sapnap was the only one who caught on, eyebrow raising and asking him if he was feeling alright, to which Karl waved him off.
Time travel has always had its side effects. Karl knew them from the beginning.)
Four fishermen, all living together in a small house off the coast of a decently sized town. A town that will forget them within a month of them disappearing and their little shack will become home to sea turtles looking for somewhere safe to lay their eggs.
They will get no happy ending. Karl tries not to think about that but he spends so much time watching them and getting to know who they are to understand the future that it aches to think about. The most dangerous thing a time traveler can do is get attached, making Karl the most dangerous time traveler out there.
But he doesn’t see four fishermen destined to die when he looks at them.
He sees Benjamin, who despite being the oldest of the bunch and built their current home with his own two hands, is cursed with a baby face that makes him look far younger than he is. Benjamin, who took the other three in when the world cast them aside so they could have a roof over their heads and helped them get back on their feet. Benjamin, who turns towards helping others instead of focusing on himself like he should and cares far, far too much but can only express it in scolding.
He sees Cletus, the shortest of the bunch and a desire and desperation to prove himself as something more than he is, because he has never been satisfied with himself. Cletus, with a short temper and a sharper tongue but would not hesitate for a second to rush in if he thought one of his only friends were hurt. Cletus, who insists that he hates all of them because saying he hates them is far easier than showing even an ounce of vulnerability and admitted that they’re the only people in the world he trusts.
He sees Charles, who always makes sure he’s useful and became the best at fishing to ensure when Benjamin took him in, he would be pulling his weight. Charles, who while quieter compared to the other three, has a bit of a sarcastic personality and is a lot smarter than he lets on. Charles, who always manages to surprise people not because anything he does is truly surprising, but because he’s always been underestimated in his life, fading into the background at times, but has learned to use it for his own advantage.
And he sees Isaac, upbeat and full of life because he’s been through enough tough times to know to enjoy the good things while they last. Isaac, who despite being the second youngest, second only to Charles, often takes on a pseudo-leader role in leading his friends around him in the right direction because he works well with people and knows people more than they know themselves. Isaac, who has a quiet but passionate ambition to become something great- and wants the best for his friends in the end.
Karl sees four friends who have been relying on each other for so long that without even realizing it, they work in sync.
And Karl sees that deep down, they all want to be someone and not be left forgotten to history and so badly wants them to have an ending that doesn’t end with tragedy.
And then there’s the City of Mizu.
And then there’s Ranbob.
Karl knows how this story will end but not how it starts. Ranbob starts out with a loving mother who makes up for his lack of a father and he takes great interest in his own heritage. He adores his ancestor Ranboo, though seems embarrassed by the fact that his ancestor was apparently this great scholar who wrote down everything while Ranbob’s memory is subpar and he struggles with reading and writing.
At fifteen, a sudden sickness from the wheat farms being poisoned sweeps the city. Ranbob gets sick but survives. His mother does not and he buries her at sea with blurry eyes and a hitching breath. He’s old enough to take care of himself, the council decides, and they give him his own room. Ranbob doesn’t know better and doesn’t argue with the choice like he should. Instead, he throws himself into trying to become a scholar like she was, like his ancestors were, in an effort to feel close to his family.
And one day, when studying the ancient text and books, he stumbles across a room he shouldn’t. A room with neon green walls and black pillars, and exhausts himself trying to look for a book that isn’t there on who’s room it is, as the council has long gotten rid of it.
Ranbob falls asleep in that room, and when he wakes up again, Karl instantly feels something is off about him.
He’s quieter. Distant. Keeps spacing out and eats less then he should. And Ranbob returns to the neon green room again and again, sleeping in it more than his own room and talks to someone Karl can’t see.
Karl hears nothing but some sort of music disc playing faintly in the background and sees nothing but a shadow out of the corner of his eye.
And it continues over the years until one day, a nineteen year old orphan slowly but surely takes apart the City of Mizu until there’s nothing left but him.
(And it makes far too much sense. Every single time Karl has an unanswered question, somehow the answer has always been Dream.
Karl gazes over the crater of a country that tore itself to pieces and asks who was the downfall of it all.
Karl pulls at the strings of the conflict in the SMP and they all lead back to the same place. The same person.
Karl gazes down a hallway where frames and pens for personal items and pets were meant to be placed and asks who’s in control.
He doesn’t like his answer. He never does.)
At the end of it all, Karl knows what he has to do. He takes a book in his hand, writes down coordinates, and leaves it where the fishermen would find it, signing off with nothing but a simple ‘K.’ He briefly considers writing down his actual name as they're going to die anyways but he knows better than to leave a trace when traveling through time.
He watches from a distance as Isaac picks up the book and it’s all set into motion.
Four fishermen travel to the lost city and find their way inside. Ranbob is more than alarmed at newcomers in the city after being alone for so long but he pursues his lips before welcoming them. His eyes are wary and he watches them out of the corner of his eye like a hawk but does so well enough to pass it off for awkwardness.
His claws itch for a weapon but Ranbob seems to know better than to try to take on four people alone, so he bides his time. He slowly shows them around the place, waiting until their guard is down to slip away and strike when they least expect it.
Ranbob slips away in the tree dome. The others notice his disappearance, along with a chest hidden in the tree where he keeps his coordinates to the most important room around so he couldn’t forget where it was. Karl’s chest squeezes when he sees Cletus climbing the tree and Ranbob ready to jump him, a flinch and steel in hand, along with a sword at the ready.
Karl knows how it’s supposed to go. Cletus retrieves the book, throwing it down to Isaac, but Ranbob cuts him down and the fall is enough to kill him.
But this future will be disconnected from the main timeline soon enough anyways. Screwing with this future now when he’s going to change the past won’t do anything but make it it’s own timeline, which is going to happen anyways.
Meaning if Karl really wanted to… For once, he can change things without much consequence.
Cletus cries out as Ranbob slashes his back and loses his footing. He falls from the tree- the height wouldn’t have killed him had he not just been stabbed and burned- and Karl jumps, arms wrapping around him before he disappears.
To the rest of them, it looks like nothing but their friends disappearing in a bright flash. They scream for him but Karl and Cletus are in time itself and long gone. Cletus groans in pain, eyes squeezing shut and Karl works quickly.
He hides him away in Quackity’s room, making sure his wounds aren’t lethal before leaving him a small note on what to do once he’s recovered enough.
Then Karl moves onto Benjamin, who stumbles at the worst time when trying to reach the key to the secret room and slips. If Karl hadn’t interfered, the fisherman would not have a body to leave behind, burning away in the lava and leaving his friends alone.
But just like before, he grabs onto him before he can meet his fate and to the other two, it’s as if their friend has evaporated into thin air.
Karl has to be quicker with Benjamin to prevent him from realizing what happened. He drops him off in BadBoyHalo’s room, leaving him spinning after a brief near-death encounter and entering time itself one after another. Benjamin might’ve gotten a glimpse of him but it’s not enough to do any damage.
And just like that, everything changes. Karl watches as Ranbob confronts Charles and Isaac in Dream’s room at blade point and tells them that he worshipped the man, and they’re not leaving alive. Which would’ve been true without Karl’s interference.
How it should’ve ended was with Ranbob killing both Charles and then Isaac with brutal efficiency then wasting away in the city for the rest of his life before he died too, leaving it lost forever and everything in it forgotten.
But a voice calls out to Ranbob before he can strike and he turns. Shock fills his mismatched eyes at the unsteady but threatening figures in front of him. Benjamin stands tall and with an iron chest plate strapped to his chest, firm but crooked, and has one of the diamond swords on the wall in his hand. Cletus leans on him wearing an iron helmet, still nursing the burns on his right side but the diamond sword in his left makes him look threatening nonetheless.
Ranbob’s focus is wavered enough that Charles springs into action, grabbing Isaac’s hand and quickly leading them both from one side of the room to the other- far away from Ranbob and closer to Benjamin and Cletus. Once they’re safe, the pair grab a sword of their own and any hope to win this fight seems to die from Ranbob’s eyes. He steps back, eyeing them all warily.
“You’re alive.” Ranbob says plainly, speaking to Cletus and Benjamin in particular. Cletus lets out a bitter laugh in response.
“No thanks to you.” Cletus tries to shift himself off of Benjamin but a hiss of pain follows and he leans more heavily on the man than before. Benjamin’s gaze snaps over to him, scolding him for trying to move while he’s still injured and while the pair bicker, Isaac is the one to step forward.
“You have nowhere to go.” Isaac tells him with narrowed eyes, though the relieved grin on his face takes away any intimidation it might’ve held. “You’re surrounded! This- this uh…” Isaac pauses before turning his head to Charles. “Psst, Charles, what’s a good one liner?”
Charles indulges him and whispers back. “Checkmate.”
“This is checkmate!” Isaac turns back, putting passion in every word. However Ranbob remains unimpressed.
Ranbob’s hand twitches, tightening at first before it loosens and he lets go of the sword, letting it clatter to the ground. The half enderman holds his hands up in surrender, putting them behind his head and keeping his face neutral. A wave of visible relief washes over the fishermen and Karl can’t believe his eyes.
He did it.
He honest to god did it. He saved a future from tragedy- for once, Karl doesn’t have to sit back and watch people get killed but rather, Karl stopped them from getting killed.
And that does so much more to him than he thought it would. Tears prick the sides of his eyes and he laughs- laughs so, so hard that his sides hurt, even though nothing but time itself can hear him. He hasn’t felt this good in a long, long time and maybe that’s an issue but Karl doesn’t care right now.
The four fishermen and one Enderman hybrid are all alive and that’s all that matters right now.
Their problems are far from behind them, of course. Even with Ranbob subdued and contained, the four fishermen now have to figure out what to do with him, and this city now in their possession. Now that the adrenaline has worn off, emotions start bobbing to the surface and it occurs to all of them at once how easily that could’ve gone wrong and they could’ve died. Now, they have all the time in the world, a whole new life in their hands, and no idea what to do with it.
But they’re alive and full of potential that they could do anything with, and that’s good enough for Karl.
There’s one part of him that wants to stay. That’s so attached to these five and wants to know what will happen that he wants to be their guardian from afar, ensuring their future.
But Karl has a life to get back to in his own timeline. Not to mention, staying would likely only add to his deteriorating memories and that’s the last thing Karl wants or needs.
His eyes scan the bunch one more time. Cletus is tense, both because he wants nothing more than to get rid of Ranbob and never see him again and because Charles is currently tending to his wounds and is trying hard not to wince. Charles picks up on this and is being as gentle as possible, softly murmuring apologies when Cletus can’t hold back a hiss. Despite being in a serious conversation with Isaac about the fate of Ranbob, Benjamin is visibly distracted, not just by Cletus’ pain but by something else on his mind that makes him unable to look Isaac in the eye. Isaac on the other hand, seems simultaneously excited and overwhelmed by the future, gaze continuously wandering to the city walls itself as if he can’t believe he’s there at all.
And a good distance away from the group, Ranbob is stuck in the back portion of Dream’s room with his only exit barricaded and his hands tied firmly to each other. His head is dipped low, defeated but not quite giving up as if he’s still trying to think of a way out and a way to win. A shadow is cast over him and just for a second, Karl sees the faint outline of a green figure before it disappears. Ranbob winces and shame crosses his face but Karl hasn’t the slightest idea why.
The five of them have a lot to figure out, Karl knows this for sure, but they’ll have to figure it out without Karl’s help.
Taking a deep breath, he leaves them behind and plunges back into time, knowing that he’s headed home, where he belongs.