Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

If you were to tell Branch a month ago that he would be singing and dancing with hundreds of different trolls to celebrate their music and culture, he would have laughed in your face. Never in a million years would Branch have envisioned himself onstage again, let alone with his girlfriend (who just so happens to be the queen of pop music) and a handful of other troll leaders. None of those words in that order even make sense in his head!

He still feels like he’s trying to catch up, like his brain can’t quite understand everything that happened. The whole process of saving the world and getting trolls safely back home took about a week, filled with lots of heartfelt talks and making new friends. Branch might just consider locking himself in the bunker for a few days if he didn’t already have more pressing things to deal with.

They needed to rebuild, the rock trolls had destroyed a lot of pods in their main village. There were already countless trolls without homes, and they needed to do some damage control. Branch already offered up his bunker, surprising both himself and the pop trolls. He figured he had more than enough rooms and if the whole village could fit comfortably, a few families wouldn’t make a huge dent in his stocks. And when Poppy looked at him with those bright pink eyes, he couldn’t have said no even if he wanted to. Even if it meant he was the assigned head of rebuilding the entire pop village.

But who would be better at rebuilding than Branch? He built the entire bunker with his own two paws when he was a little trolling and knew a thing or two about keeping stock and inventory. With the help of the entire village, things were going rather quickly, all things considered. They were looking to be back up and running by the end of the month and have all the families back in their pods.

This isn’t to say that Branch wasn’t utterly exhausted, he had been running around all day making sure things went smoothly. So when he got a tap on the shoulder and a letter addressed to him pressed into his paws, he felt a sense of dread of having to open it. He knew when he did he would have to go on another long winded side quest to deal with another trolls problem and all he wanted to do was just lay face down in his bed and get a solid nap in. But when he inspected the letter closer, a few things stood out to him.

First of all, it was made with actual paper. Not a lot of trolls really had access to such, or even if they did they prefer to use felt or whatever material was available to them. If paper this nice was being sent to him specifically, whatever this was about had to be serious. Even more serious than a rock apocalypse.

The handwriting was also unlike any troll’s he’d seen. It was an elaborate calligraphy that was almost illegible with how closely the letters were pressed into each other to fit on the paper. One would have thought it could come from Symphonyville, but small trolls write small letters, and Branches name in cursive took up the entire envelope. Before he could spiral further into his own theorizing, he figured the best way to figure it out was to actually open the letter.

He swore he could feel his stomach drop to the floor when he unfolded the meticulously creased paper and read the first line.

The actual letter was addressed to Bitty B.

It smacked him in the face, in shiny gold lettering. He was left blubbering, forcing the paper back into the envelope and shoving it into his pants pocket in a split second, looking around to see if anyone noticed. No one had called him Bitty B since.. well, since his brothers left. That was over twenty years ago.

He rushed back to his bunker in a trance, looking straight down and trying to ignore the letter burning a hole through his pocket. He practically slammed the hatch back into place and stumbled down his set of emergency stairs (since the elevator would have taken too long). When he got to his room at the very bottom, he slammed the door shut behind him and locked it tight.

His paws shook as they took the envelope out and he inspected it once more, memories flooding back in. Singing with his brothers, learning their dances, the fighting, the breakup, being left all alone. It hit him hard in the chest and his breath shook with it. He hadn’t even told Poppy about his brothers yet, hadn’t even thought about them in years. But the letter was here regardless, and he read it frantically.

Dear Bitty B,

We are being held captive at Mount Rageous by superstars Velvet and Veneer. If you have it in your heart to save us, come to the boombox theater dressing room ASAP.

Sincerely,

John Dory, Spruce, Clay, and Floyd.

Branch wanted to throw up. His brothers, who he hadn’t heard from in nearly 20 years, were in danger. And now they needed him.

It was almost ironic to think about. They had walked out on him without so much as a thought and only when they needed saving do they reach out to him. So many emotions rushed through him, anger, panic, grief, sadness. He was so overwhelmed with it all he almost missed the knocking on his door. Branch scrambled to put the letter away and hide it under his pillow before the door swung open to reveal Poppy.

“Branch! My man! What’s going on?” She exclaimed, making her way into the room with her usual pep.

“Oh w- heh-hey Poppy!” He replied, plastering on a smile before spinning around to face his girlfriend.

Her face faltered, “Are.. you okay? You’re crying and smiling at the same time, it kind of looks like it hurts your face.”

He didn’t even realize he was crying but he quickly wiped his face dry, “oh that’s- that’s nothing, what’s up?”

“I, uh- just came in to say goodnight..” Poppy had also been staying in Branch’s bunker for the past couple of days, since her pod had also been demolished by the rock trolls and Branch had been all too eager to offer up his place. That’s honestly how all the other trolls had ended up there but he didn’t mind so much as long as he could be closer to Poppy.

“Oh wow, I didn’t realize it was that late.” He said, checking the clock he had besides his bed.

“Branch-“ Poppy stepped forward and Branch’s attention snapped back to her, “are you okay? Is something going on?”

He waved his paws around as if to dispel the thought, “Oh, no no, everything’s fine. I just.. uhm- I was just thinking about my grandma.” He hated lying but he didn’t think he had the time or energy in him to unpack all of this. Poppy paused, eyes boring into him as if to see into his mind, but grabbed his hands instead.

“Y’know, if you’re having feelings.. you can talk about them with me.” She offered with the usual lift in her voice and wrapping her tail around his, hoping that her words would be enough to get him to relax and open up. But when his ears pinned further back into his head she doubted it.

He looked back at her with a hesitant smile, “We should get to bed, it’s late.”

Poppy wanted to pout. Branch had made so much progress in the time that she had gotten to know him. He was expressing his emotions and opening himself up to new relationships; It was amazing to watch him grow and become himself again. But with this it felt like a step in the wrong direction, and Poppy could only wonder if it was something she did wrong. But she didn’t let the bitter sting of rejection hurt for long, and she wrapped her boyfriend in a hug.

He almost sagged into her touch, wrapping his arms gently around her shoulders. She let her chin rest on his own shoulder and squeezed him tightly, as if she could love it all away, whatever was troubling him.

“Can I sleep in here tonight?” She asked, her voice barely above a whisper. He tightened his hold on her.

“Please.”

_____

Branch couldn’t sleep.

Every time he managed to close his eyes and start drifting away, all he could think about was his brothers. Being hurt, being trapped and starved and reaching out to him for help. And he just, what, couldn’t be bothered? Every few minutes he would jolt up in bed, almost waking Poppy (who was currently wrapped around him like a koala).

It didn’t sit right in his chest. The letter was obviously some sort of trap. If this Velvet and Veneer had the rest of his brothers already captured, they were trying to get him as well for whatever reason. It could have just taken them longer to find him, since he had changed a lot since his band days. But that’s also assuming this wasn’t all just some elaborate prank to freak him out.

But if it wasn’t a prank, and his brothers really were in danger, how could he live with himself if he just let them suffer? Especially when they specifically reached out to him for help? They may have walked out on him so long ago, but he still loved them. He still cared for their well being. And even just the thought of them getting hurt made him want to cry.

He had to at least check it out, right? He could slip in to this boombox theater without being caught, if anyone could sneak around undetected, it would be him. And if he could save his brothers without anybody finding out about it, he could go back to living his life like normal and he would never have to think about it again. Right?

He did feel a little bad about not telling Poppy, however. She obviously cared about him a lot, and she was his world. They shared everything with each other. He just didn’t think he’s emotionally or physically ready for Poppy to find out his brothers were Brozone, let alone that he had brothers to begin with. Or that they had abandoned him.

Regardless, it was 3 am by the time he managed to wriggle his way out of Poppy’s hold without waking her up (he had to replace himself with a pillow). He then quickly and quietly changed into his day clothes and tiptoed over to the door as to not make any noise. He turned the nob on his bedroom door as it closed so it wouldn’t make the clicking noise as it shut, and set off to collect the things he would need.

Despite knowing the Bergens weren’t a threat anymore, Branch still found himself subconsciously collecting survival supplies. He was just so used to stocking up his bunker at this point that it was a part of his weekly routine. Poppy often frowned at the idea, why would he still need to be hiding away when everyone’s friends now and he can leave the bunker without worry? But she understood that it was important to him and never intervened. So Branch knew he had everything he needed to survive this little journey of his.

First things first, food. He went for the non-perishables to start, jerky he had made himself and a whole stack of canned corn. He didn’t know how long the journey would take him, but figured it would be better to overpack than be left with no food. He was skilled in rationing anyways, and knew he could hunt for himself if it came down to it. Other important items included some maps he had gotten updated recently, a couple changes of clothes, weapons he had whittled himself, and camping supplies. He hauled his pack up onto his back, and was about to head out of the bunker when he paused.

What would happen when Poppy wakes up to find him missing? He knows that he would think the worse in that situation, and would feel terrible if h made his girlfriend feel that way, it wouldn’t be fair. He already feels guilty enough for keeping her in the dark, but to make her unnecessarily worry on top of that? He set his pack on the floor gain with a thud, and went to grab some felt from his desk.

I’m taking care of something and might be gone for a few days. I will tell you about it when I get back. Take care of yourself.

XOXO Branch

He figured that was pretty straight to the point. This way they can both keep their peace of mind and Branch won’t feel as bad for leaving. He wasn’t sure why this feeling was stirring up so uncomfortably inside his chest, but he knew if he hadn’t written a letter it would be so much worse. He brought the letter into his bedroom and placed it on his bedside table before pressing a soft kiss to Poppy’s head and setting off.

-----

It ended up taking Branch three days to reach this “Mount Rageous”.

Once he had been able to find it on his map, he found a jitterbug that could take him there. But even in the air, there had been a few detours he had to make. Flocks of birds, mountains, and large critters didn’t make it easy to travel by air. He had to ditch his jitterbug on day two when they got chased by a wild catterbug and crashed into some weeds for safety. So when he finally saw the golden peaks of Mount Rageous rise over the horizon line, he almost cried in relief.

It took him another couple of hours to trek his way into the city and find a way up to the Boombox theater, only almost being squished by the giant Mount Rageons a couple times (Branch could swear they were even taller than the Bergens, and even less aware of their surroundings). Branch had never seen anything like them before; giant beings with their skin a stark white and able to stretch beyond comprehension. They moved around with a grace he thought wouldn’t be possible for a creature their size but he could almost get mesmerized by their movement.

His legs were burning by the time he found the entrance to the theater, but he knew it would be too obvious to just walk right in the front door. He continued to sneak his way around to the back, and tucked his pack underneath some rickety wooden stairs, only taking out the whittled stakes he had brought. He then sneaked in through a maintenance door and made sure it shut silently behind him.

The theater was dead silent. There weren’t even any lights on, he was stumbling around blind until his eyes had adjusted to the change in light. Branch had been expecting some kind of show to be going on, to find this Velvet and Veneer performing on stage. In fact he had seen nothing about these so-called superstars; it was almost like they didn’t exist. The sense of dread he had been feeling since he had gotten the letter from his brothers returned tenfold, and his tail tucked between his legs as he continued to search through the theater.

The house was empty, the dressing rooms were deserted, there weren’t even any janitors or staff members around. The whole building was like a ghost town. He decided to make his way onto the stage to see if he could find or hear anything but nothing had changed when he got there. He was starting to feel a little embarrassed. Here he was, on an insane rescue mission that he wasn’t sure was real, having left his girlfriend and all his responsibilities back home so he could come and play savior for a family that didn’t care about him. His face heated up as he imagined going home and having to tell Poppy about all of this, he had promised her after all.

“I guess it really was a prank.” He mumbled to himself, defeated.

He nearly jumped out of his own skin when he heard a loud click and he was suddenly blinded by the stage lights. He struggled to blink and regain his sight, and immediately jumped into a defensive stance. How somebody had managed to sneak past him was beyond him, but he knew he wasn’t as alone as he thought he was.

He whipped around when he heard the distinct clicking of heals headed in his direction, and could barely make out the form of a person in front of him when suddenly he felt something knock him off of his feet from behind. He landed on something smooth, and watched the ground disappear from underneath him as he was yanked carelessly into the air. He let out a startled shriek when he was brought face to face with giant blue eyes, and tried to back away but quickly hit the other side of this glass container he found himself in. He looked up in time to see a lid close at the top of the bottle, and suddenly all he could hear was the sound of his heart beating away in his chest.

“Well hello there, Bitty B.”

Chapter Text

Two weeks.

It’s been two weeks since the last time Poppy had seen or even heard anything from Branch. And don’t get her wrong, she knows Branch is prone to go off and do his own thing for a while without so much as a warning. But so soon after their last adventure, while they’re still scrambling to pick up the pieces? Poppy can’t help but worry that something went wrong.

Branch usually consulted her if there was problems with the other trolls, it had kind of become their routine over the past few months. Branch dealt with all the technical stuff and Poppy tended to the other trolls. She was the Queen and he was her loyal advisor. For him to go off on his own and leave behind a vague letter in his place was unsettling. That combined with the fact that he was acting really weird the last time they talked, and she could tell there was something he wasn’t telling her? Something suspicious was happening. If there had been a serious problem, something to warrant going missing for two weeks, Branch certainly would have gone to her, Not even saving the world from the rock apocalypse had taken two weeks to resolve.

She would be lying if she said she wasn’t starting to panic.

She asked around Pop Village a million times to see if anybody had heard from him or even knew why he had gone off in the first place. But no one knew anything, The only recent thing she heard was that he got some fancy letter in the mail and after that it was like he vanished into thin air.

She knew there had to be something in that letter that prompted this, but she had no idea what it could be. Branch and her told each other everything, they had been best friends for quite some time even before the world almost ended; they’re just even closer now that they’re together. She had to fight hard to ignore the fact that Branch not telling her about the letter kind of made her chest hurt in funny ways. But regardless she couldn’t think of anything that would prompt him to just run off like this. She decided to figure it out one way or another, but she was fresh out of leads and without Branch it felt like she was just scrambling for clues.

When it was obvious that no one in their village knew of his whereabouts, she decided to try elsewhere. She hitched a ride with cloud guy to Bergentown in his catterbus, humming to herself along the way. The trip felt empty without Branch and her friends to sing along with, but it was over before she knew it and she was bounding out of the bus with her usual pep. She practically sprinted her way through Bergen town and knocked hurriedly on the big wooden doors of the castle, her chest heaving with all the effort. It wasn’t long before she heard the thudding footsteps of a Bergen, and the door swung open before her. One of the guards— Chad if she was remembering correctly— opened the door and looked around before spotting her on the floor.

“Oh Queen Poppy!” Chad said, “Miss Bridget has been waiting for you.”

“She has?”

“POPPY?” Bridget gasped as she realized who was at the door. Poppy could feel the floor vibrate as the bergen in question ran up and pushed poor Chad out of the way.

“Bridget!” Poppy claimed, her anxieties momentarily forgotten as she greeted her friend. Bridget knelt and lowered her hand to the floor, which Poppy hopped onto quickly. She hugged Bridget’s cheek as she was brought up to meet her face to face, “It’s been way too long, girl.”

“Tell me about it! We’ve got a lot to catch up on.” Bridget exclaimed, nuzzling the tiny troll on her face and standing to close the door.

You have no idea, Poppy thought to herself somewhat sarcastically as Bridget walked them through the halls of the castle. Poppy smiled as she took in some of the scenery.

Ever since the Bergens found happiness within themselves, it was like the town lit up with color. The Bergentown that Poppy had seen when they went to rescue her friends was a drab, depressing shell of a town filled with unpleasantness. A lot of remodeling had taken place since then, including a whole new color palette for the castle (definitely Bridget’s doing). The carpets were a fuzzy purple, and plant life filled almost every corner. New tapestry and ceiling fixtures casted rainbows across the walls with a little help from natural sunlight. It was like a breath of fresh air compared to the old castle.

“Wow, Bridget, this place looks great!” Poppy commented as Bridget set her down on the dresser in her new room. It had been roughly a year since the events of the last trollstice took place, and Poppy was lucky to see this very room improve over that time, but there were some new additions that even she hadn’t seen yet. Another testament to how busy she had been with her new responsibilities as Queen.

“Thanks, girl.” Bridget replied, jumping up onto the bed before turning back to Poppy, “Now, you’ve got to tell me everything.”

Poppy stiffened, “Wh-at do you mean?”

“A rock apocalypse? What in the world does that even mean?” Bridget exclaimed, and Poppy realized that she was referring to the letter Poppy had sent in the mail following said events.

“Ohhh, yeah! We found out that there are a whole bunch of other types of trolls, and some of them wanted to take control over the trolls.” She explained. Bridget’s eyes widened like saucers.

“That sounds really scary.” she gaped, but Poppy waved her paws around to dispel the thought.

“It was all a big misunderstanding! Barb, the Queen of the Rock trolls, thought it was the only way to bring the tribes back together!”

“Well that’s not as scary, I guess.” Bridget remarked, resting her chin on her hand. Poppy scoffed a little bit.

“Yeah but she tried to turn us into rock zombies.”

“Rock Zombies!?”

Poppy continued to fill Bridget in, retelling everything how she remembered it. It felt nice to explain to somebody, to voice her actual thoughts and opinions. The past few weeks had been nothing but diplomatic, and it felt nice to finally be able to vent about it all with her best friend. And Bridget was an excellent listener, clinging onto all of it with bated breath like she was there in the moment.

“And she put me in this cage at the volcano, like some kind of animal! She was about to turn me into a rock zombie with the ultimate power chord when…“ Poppy paused.

“When what?” Bridget urged.

“Uhm, Branch jumped in the way to save me.” Poppy relayed, her eyebrows furrowing. Bridget noticed her shift in mood and sat up on the bed.

“Poppy are you okay?” She asked, scooting so she could be closer to Poppy.

“I don’t.. know.”

“Is Branch okay?”

Poppy felt her eyes start to sting, “I don’t- I don’t know.”

“What happened?” Bridget’s voice was barely a whisper, like if she spoke to loudly Poppy would run away, “…is he a rock Zombie now?”

Poppy laughed suddenly at the absurdity of the question, “No, no, he was fine. We turned everybody back to normal.”

“Then why..?” Bridget trailed off, leaving room for Poppy to fill her in. Poppy sniffled and wiped her face.

“He, uh- he disappeared two weeks ago. I haven’t heard from him since.” She explained, for what felt like the hundredth time.

“Oh my god.” Bridget exclaimed, “What do you think that means?”

“I’m not really sure yet. I was kind of hoping you would know something?” She looked to Bridget hopefully, but Bridget shook her head and Poppy yet again felt like she had reached a dead end.

“I haven’t heard anything either! But I’ll be sure to let you know right away when I do.” She promised softly, and Poppy could only give her a half-smile. They fell into an awkward silence and Poppy knew she had to change the topic.

“Gah! But enough about me. What going on with you, girl?” Poppy demanded, drying her face again.

Bridget hesitated, “A-are you sure? Because I can always fill you in later.”

“I’m sure, I wanna know what’s up with you too!” Poppy assured her with a nod, and saw Bridget light up again.

“Well, I was going to make this big announcement but- ah! I can’t wait anymore!”

She rolled off her bed to shuffle close to Poppy on the dresser, and reached into her dress to pull out a necklace. Poppy’s jaw dropped as she realized what was attached to it.

“BRIDGET IS THAT A RING??”

When the Bergen nodded giddily, Poppy launched off her feet to attach herself to Bridget’s face in a hug. They both squealed, and Poppy started asking a million questions minute.

“Oh my gosh, are you serious? When did that happen? Why didn’t you tell me immediately?? When’s the wedding? Have you invited anybody already-“

“Wait! Wait!” Bridget pulled back, “Before we get carried away, I do have to ask you something serious.”

Poppy released the strands of Bridget’s hair she was gripping onto, and let herself drop back into Bridget’s hand. She was practically vibrating in her spot with excitement but she reeled it in as Bridget rose her to meet face to face once more.

“Poppy, will you..”

She couldn’t help it, “..be your maid of honor? Of course I will!!”

Bridget laughed good-naturedly, “No fair! I was going to ask.”

As they continued to talk and plan everything, Poppy let herself get a little carried away. It was a welcome distraction to everything going on, and she figured no news meant good news right? If something was happening with Branch, she would have heard about it already! She was probably over reacting because of everything that had just happened with the trolls. She just needed something positive to focus on!

________

When John Dory had first gotten the letter that his baby brother was being held captive, he thought it was a cruel joke. That some teenagers had gotten his location somehow and wanted to pull one over on him. He had wanted to ignore it and continue on with his life as usual but the more he thought about it, the worse he felt about it.

Boy was he glad he decided to check it out.

With Rhonda, it had only taken him about a day to make the hike up to Mount Rageous, and it wasn’t long after that he had been able to find this Velvet and Veneer. They were all over the news, this superstar duo that had seemingly sprouted up overnight and were selling out their shows everywhere they went. It was about a month ago now that they had released their hit single, and now there was talk of them receiving some big award for it. It didn’t make a lot of sense to John as to why they would be holding a little troll hostage.

They were performing at the Amp theater that night, and JD could hear the music blasting from miles away. It was a sick cover of Sweet Dreams, and John had to admit that they weren’t half bad. But something seemed strangely unsettling about their voices, something too oddly familiar about that run Velvet just added. He decided to investigate further.

If Branch was to be held captive anywhere, it would probably be somewhere in private where they could keep a close eye on him. John Dory decided to check their dressing room first. He could probably find his way through the ventilation system, he figured, and used his hair to swing himself up to it.

The vents were giant compared to him, with ice growing along the seams and puddles that felt like ponds. John twisted and turned every which way until he began to hear a familiar voice in the distance. He couldn’t make out the words, but he would be able to recognize that singing anywhere. He followed the voice as it echoed through the air ducts until he finally found a dressing room. One look around and it was obvious it had to be Velvet and Veneer. There was merchandise thrown about the room and parts of their costumes scattered about. But he couldn’t find Branch…

Until he looked on the dresser.

And there we was, slumped over in some kind of perfume bottle. He had devolved into humming to himself, with shaky arms wrapped around himself as he stared off into the distance. The glass walls were all purple, and it made Bitty B’s hair look black. He looked so tiny and alone in that bottle. John felt his big brother instincts kick in and before he knew it he was throwing himself out of the vent and gliding through the air to land on the dresser. If he had taken any time to think, he supposed he could have easily used his hair. But the thought came too late and before he knew it he had fallen flat on his face, making a loud thud against the dresser.

The noise had caught the attention of the troll in front of him, and Branch seemed to snap out of a trance and spring to his feet at the sight of his brother, “John Dory?”

John groaned, still recovering from the rough landing, but when he heard his brother’s voice he managed to peel himself off of the floor.

“Baby Branch!” He exclaimed as he bounded towards the glass confinement. There was no denying now that this was his Bitty B. Branch had obviously grown up a lot over all these years, but he still had those bright blue eyes and nose that reminded John of their father. His heart felt heavy in his chest at the sight of his baby brother locked up like some animal, but to see him alive and kicking brought a bittersweet smile to John’s face.

Years ago, when he had gone back to the tree to check in with him and Grandma, he found the troll tree dead and empty. He had assumed that the Bergens finally wiped them out, that his brother and grandmother were gone for good. He had a funeral for them and everything. But Branch was obviously alive and here in the flesh! John supposed that meant Grandma was somewhere as well!

Branch didn’t seem nearly as happy to see him there, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I’m here to rescue you, obviously.” He grumbled, so much for a warm welcome.

Branch looked about ready to strangle him, “No, you need to get out of here!”

“What?”

“Velvet and Veneer are these fame-obsessed demon teenagers who are sucking the talent out of me to get rich, and they’ll be back any minute for more!” John Dory felt his heart plummet to his feet.

“Sucking the talent out of you? That’s even worse than lip syncing!”

Branch rolled his eyes, “Tell me about it.”

“Well then it’s a good thing I came to rescue you.” John Dory just had to find a way to shatter the glass, and he sure had a few tricks up his sleeves.

First he tried running head first into the side of the container to see if it would do anything, but it only succeeded in giving himself a headache. He then tried some glitter starbombs he had whipped up himself, they didn’t even make a scratch. Maybe if he carved a circle into it first like those spy movies?

“John, John, stop!” Branch interrupted him before he could throw himself into the glass again, ”You’re just going to hurt yourself! This glass is made of diamond.”

John gasped in recognition, “Of course! The perfect family harmony!”

“Yeah, the only thing powerful enough to shatter diamonds.” Branch sighed, clearly not as excited as John Dory.

John Dory had to admit, it was kind of ironic.

The very thing Brozone had broken up over was the only way they would be able to save their brother. Branch seemed to be having the same thought, and opened his mouth to speak again but was interrupted as hey heard a voice from down the hall.

“Ugh! Our voices sound like garbage.” Velvet and Veneer were headed their way. Branch pressed his paws up against the glass, and John did the same.

“Go find Pop village, Queen Poppy will be able to help you find our brothers, now go!”

John groaned, he really didn’t want to leave his brother like this. But he could hear the footsteps getting closer and closer, and John knew he was out of time. He pressed his forehead against the glass.

“I’ll be back for you brother, you have my word.” He promised before pulling his grappling hook out of his hair and shooting it back towards the air vent. As he was pulled through the grates he could see the room’s lights turn on and the two mount rageons enter the room. He watched Branch’s tail tuck between his legs as he backed into the corner of his prison.

John had wanted to run out of there as soon as he possibly could but he quickly found that he couldn’t move his feet. Velvet was loudly complaining about the show, going on about how they had run out of talent mid performance like it was somehow Branch’s fault. John could only watch in horror as she carelessly picked up the bottle holding his brother and squeeze the puff attachment. He could hear Branch’s yelp of pain as he rose into the air, and saw the cloud of blue dust rise in the air. Velvet inhaled it greedily, and her eyes lit ablaze with something dangerous as the effects took place. She practiced another sickeningly familiar run, and John felt like he was going to throw up.

It was only when Velvet forced Veneer to do the same that he was able to look away, and he found himself sprinting back down the vent to get away from the scene. It was worse than he could have ever imagined. He knew he needed to find his brothers and fast.

He didn’t know how long Bitty B could last like that.