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Of course they were in a grocery store when it happened.
Walking around, keeping close to Wilbur and Techno, Tommy glanced over. Sapnap and Jack were pushing the cart, Wilbur and Techno were going over the list. Tommy was going with them as a backup of sorts. Monsters were less likely to attack groups of five than they were groups with less people. So, as a result…Tommy was coming along.
Ant was doing better. A lot better. Despite that, though, he still had some little signs of sickness. Some of the others were picking up medication, though. They weren’t going to trust Tommy and the others with something that important. Especially since it was medicine. It was something they might end up with a limited supply to at any moment. So of course, they were going to make a specific group just for the medicine.
And, of course, because they had no luck, there was a horrifying, loud roar from the doors.
Glancing over, Tommy sighed. Looked to Wilbur. “Guess we’re going to have fun today.” He mused. Nodding, Wilbur glanced around. Then, they grabbed the closest items that would work as weapons. In Jack’s case, it was a fire poker. Sapnap picked up another poker, too. Techno managed to pick up two different PVC pipes. Wilbur shoved Tommy between him and the cart, placing his back towards the doors. Tommy yelped, grabbed onto his arms.
Aisles crashed over, and all of them slowly crouched down. From above the aisles, a large, diamond-shaped head appeared over various cleaning supplies. Snout wrinkling, the creature looked around. Dark blue scales sat on the top of the snout and wandered down the creature’s spine and down its back. The underside of the creature’s jaws were a pale, almost white gray. The scales between were jagged and sort of triangle shaped, and a silvery tone like the underside of a cloud on a sunny day. Four long horns stuck out of either side of its head, the same gunmetal gray as its eyes.
A long, forked purple tongue flicked out between yellow fangs, and curved black claws wrapped around the cleaning supplies under it. Some of the bottles crashed down. Many more cracked, spilling multi-colored soaps over the black-flecked white tiles of the grocery. Then, its eyes darted to the side.
A low, eerie hissing noise split the air. Something struck up Tommy’s spine and into his heart. Swallowing, Tommy shrank down slightly, Wilbur moved to defend him. The creature—a dragon, Tommy realized with horror—reared up. Bright orange swirls stretched all over its scales, the white spikes on the back of its neck suddenly turned to a bright orange. In its maw, there was a burning light.
“Move!” Sapnap roared. All of a sudden, Tommy and the others were shoved down. Footsteps thudded on hard tile. There was a blast of heat surging above Tommy’s head. Someone screamed. It was a high-pitched, long sort of noise. A second, much louder version followed. And this one actually sounded like someone screaming like they couldn’t get away from whatever was causing them that amount of pain.
Blinking open his eyes, Tommy sucked in a breath. Wilbur had curled around him. His face was pressed into Wilbur’s shoulder. Dimly, he could feel Wilbur’s heart hammering. The smell of barbeque filled the air, some kind of roasted meat following it. Slowly, Tommy shifted. “Wilbur?”
Slowly, Wilbur groaned. Squeezed Tommy a little tighter. Then, he pushed himself up. Looked around. “Ugh…” He glanced at the cart. Tommy tipped his head back, followed his gaze. “Well. Good thing that we had some of the others working on getting groceries, too. I don’t think we can work with those.” Reaching over, Wilbur nudged Techno. Techno lifted his head.
Tommy, then, looked around. Looked towards where the dragon had been. There, slumped on the ground, was burning metal and golden ash.
There were also two bodies.
“Shit. Wilbur.” Tommy whispered. Both Techno and Wilbur then glanced back. There were faint gasps. By then, Tommy scrambled loose from Wilbur’s grip and slipped over. Quickly, he leaned down by who he thought might have been Jack. “Jack? Sapnap? Come on, wake up. Please? Please, come on. Please wake up.” Please be alive. Please be alive. “Jack?” He sobbed out.
Jack and Sapnap…they didn’t look good. Burns stretched over every visible inch of skin. In their hands, the pokers had melted away. Jack’s fingers were still curled like he was holding onto it. His fingertips were a deep, blackened color. Darker streaks outlined the tendons of their fingers, and Sapnap was lying on his back. Jack was turned to the side slightly, back facing the golden ash piled where the dragon had been. Both of their clothes were covered in soot, embers clinging to the collars and sleeves and the fabric smoldering slightly. Neither of them were moving. Tommy wasn’t even sure they were breathing . “Tommy, don’t touch them,” Wilbur hissed. Hands hovering over Jack, Tommy swallowed when he felt heat radiating from Jack’s skin.
There was a groan from Jack. Blue eyes blinked open, and Jack jerked. Beside him, Sapnap did the same. Both of them sucked in breaths. “What the—“ Techno dropped down beside Sapnap. He reached for him. Hissed in pain. Yanking his hands back, he stared down at Jack and Sapnap.
Around them, the tiles shifted and buckled slightly. There was a rattle, and Tommy felt his stomach and heart drop. Golden light whispered between the cracks in the tiles, coming from where the dragon had been a second ago. Something serpentine in appearance reared up out of the cracks, and Techno grabbed Tommy. Yanked him back. “Wait—“
The light became two, then four, then eight.
One of them ducked its head forwards, sank sharp fangs into Jack’s neck. The Brit cried out, slapped a hand down over the wound with his eyes wide. Another bit down onto Sapnap’s throat. He jerked once, but didn’t move. The light snakes disappeared, and golden light actually started to stretch over Jack and Sapnap’s bodies, following the veins under their skin. Both men’s eyes flared gold before settling back to blue and hazel, respectively. The golden glow didn’t change, sticking in distinct patterns and flecks up the sides of their faces.
“Tommy?” Jack choked out, eyes wide as he stared at the ceiling. The deep burns across his cheeks were already fading, scorched skin fading back to its normal pinkish-orange tone. Tommy stared at his two friends. Felt Techno holding onto his shoulder in a vice grip.
There was another roar.
All of them looked up to see a burnt version of the creature from earlier there. It looked different. One side of its face had been burnt away, white bone showing at its jaw and the flesh torn away to expose the empty socket of its eye on that side. Its wings were shredded, the fingers spread out with little bits of membrane clinging weakly to them. The spikes were cracked and broken, sparking unusually.
All of a sudden, Sapnap and Jack were on their feet, Tommy was being ripped after them with Techno and Wilbur right behind them. The shriek from earlier repeated. For the first time, Tommy could put a name to it. The noise sounded like someone dying in a whole lot of pain, shrieking in agony. Fire scorched at their heels, licked over the aisles.
They made it to the emergency exits. Quickly, Sapnap shoved everyone out, turned. After a brief moment, he was swallowed by thick, deep gray smoke. Jack turned, looked back. Lunging forwards, Tommy grabbed Jack’s arm. Blue eyes met his, glowing gold in the center where his pupil was. “Don’t go.” Tommy forced out.
Glancing back, Jack looked at him. “We’ll see you back at the bus. Get out of here.”
Then, he raced into the smoke, disappearing in a second.
+++
When Jack and Sapnap returned to the bus, Tommy was one of the first people to sprint over to them and throw himself into Jack.
Jack stumbled back. Threw his arms around Tommy in reply. “Hey, you alright?” He asked. Taking a breath, Tommy stood back. Took a breath.
And then punched him in the arm.
“Ow! Tommy!” Jack yelped. Dragging him over to Niki, Tommy basically threw Jack down beside her. Gestured to the Brit.
“Take care of him. Quackity, Karl—“ Tommy turned to see Quackity and Karl had thrown Sapnap onto the ground and were currently screaming affectionately at their queerplatonic boyfriend person. Was that the right phrase? Maybe not? “Okay. Jack. Mac.”
“What?” Tommy shoved a bowl of mac and cheese into his hands.
“We couldn’t get some of the stuff you were meant to pick up because of your dragon issue. So…baked beans and mac and cheese. We have some canned fruit for dessert.” Phil replied. Picking sticks and leaves from his hair and letting his boys brush dirt from his shoulders, Sapnap settled down by the fire in one of the many lawn chairs they had borrowed permanently from a random alleyway.
Tommy glanced over to look at Ant. The young man’s eyes were brighter, reflecting part of the firelight like a cat’s would. His ears had darkened and started to look a bit more furry. That, or his hair had grown longer. Which also wouldn’t be shocking. Not like they could really get haircuts.
There was a burst of embers and smoke. Laughing, Tubbo shoved Ranboo in front of him to block the smoke. Ranboo just stared forwards with a blank expression as the little clouds washed over him. The embers swirled through the air, went up a little bit. Then, they dropped down and hovered around Sapnap and Jack. Quackity, Niki, and Karl all yanked their hands away all of a sudden.
In front of Jack and Sapnap’s faces, the embers moved together and formed something.
Bright glowing bars of amber-gold sparked into existence, one for each of them. Eyes wide, Jack stared at it. Slowly reached up and then touched the bar. It flipped over and then settled into orbit around him. The one by Sapnap did the exact same thing.
Everyone was quiet for a second. Then, Sapnap whined, “Does this mean I can’t cuddle with the others now?”
“Let’s find out.” Niki said in an ‘I give no shits’ tone. Then, casually, she reached forwards. Wrapped her fingers around the bar in front of Jack. It vibrated, but she kept her hand there. Then, she released it. “It’s just warm. Like hot chocolate through a really good ceramic mug where you won’t burn your hands.” She replied.
“We’re going to ignore the fact that you grabbed what could have been a burning metal bar.” Phil said. Then, he added, “But what the fuck.”
“Language!”
+++
A couple days later, they were at another way station, eating ice cream as a doctor checked over Ant, Jack, and Sapnap.
Shoving his spoon into his ice cream, which was chocolate because chocolate was the best flavor there, Tommy looked over and watched the doctor. Or, really, he was watching his friends. Leaning forwards, he took a breath as Wilbur and Techno sat down with their own ice creams (strawberry for Wilbur, Techno with vanilla). “Do you think that…” He sighed. Paused.
“What’s up?” Techno asked.
Tipping his head to the side, Tommy met their gazes. “Is it just me, or do you think those bars and Ant’s new…fangs…look kind of familiar to you?” He paused, then added, “Sort of…something. Uh…crafty?” Wilbur looked at him. Shrugging, Tommy said, “I’m not good with this kind of thing.” Thankfully, Techno saved him.
“They’re familiar, you’re right. The world is changing around us.” He began. Then, darkly, he added, “I wouldn’t be shocked if we changed, too.”