Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Floyd had just learn something really fucked up about his family.

Something that changed everything he has ever known about himself, about his parents, grandma, and brothers. A secret that changed his life irreparably and forever.

His oldest brother, John Dory, isn't his brother at all.

He's his dad.

Let's go back a few hours before the big revelation.

Twenty-four hours, to be precise.

Floyd was minding his own business in his cell within the Funk Tribes Prison when Queen Essence suddenly called for him to meet her at her throne and informed him that he would be spending the rest of his sentence at The Country Tribes Jail.

And why is this, you may be asking?

Because they didn't have enough space for low-ranking criminals, such as himself, and since Floyd was almost finished with his sentence, they chose to send him there so he wouldn't end up running free in their city again.

So, he was moved to the Country Tribes Jail, which was much worse than Funk, by the way. All dusty and old and dirty. He hated Lonesome Flats so much... The only good thing was the hot cowboys he could see through the bars of his cell.

He missed the clean and fancy cell he had back in Vibe City.

And so, while he was wallowing in his sadness in his new shitty cell, the sheriff came up to his door.

"Floyd Woods?" She asked from the other side of the door.

He smirked before responding. "In the flesh~" he said from his bed, without even looking up at her, he could feel her rolling her eyes

"I've called your father to come pick you up."

What the... "What? No, my dad is dead," he said, quickly standing up from the bed and stepping closer to the door.

"Oh, sweetpea, I just talked to him. He's very much alive," The sheriff explained, and Floyd's mouth fell agape. She started to walk away but stopped when Floyd shouted, "Wait!"

"What... What is his name?" He asked. He needed to ask, he needed to know if she was telling the truth.

And then she said John Dory.

Floyd had more questions, and Delta Dawn answered the best she could. Turns out she knew John Dory, and he was the one who told her he was their father.

He was left in the dark cell, trapped with the feeling that all his life was a lie. He was like that for a month. Yeah, he cried a little. But the worst part was that John Dory never came to pick him up.

And so he finished his sentence and was released.

His original plan was to go to Mount Rageous, but now he had a different plan. A more important plan.

He was going to get the band together.

And once he had found all his brothers, they would go to the Neverglades to find their dad.

Chapter Text

Finding his brothers was easier said than done.

He had no clues, no transport, and no plan.

Delta Dawn gave him some clothes and a warm smile that Floyd couldn't return.

She even offered him a job and a home, but he refused. He wanted to get out of Lonesome Flats as soon as possible.

So he stole the bike from a random rock troll that was in Lonesome Flats for some reason and left the Country Tribe Territory for good.

Not long after, he ended up in Techno Reef, determined to have some fun before going full serious mode on this family reunion mission thing.

After all, he just finished a twenty-year prison sentence. He deserved to celebrate.

It didn’t last long, though, as he had to flee Techno in the end. Turns out he's on a wanted list after stealing that stupid bike, so now he needs to stay away from the troll kingdoms.

The good thing is that trolls aren't the only creatures that have crazy parties.

So he went to a place he had never been to but had heard a lot of good things about.

Vacay Island.

When he arrived, he found the most chill and relaxed community he had ever seen. He hung out with hot giants, vacaytioners, he believes they are called, on a sunny beach. It felt like a dream.

He almost forgot that his life was a mess right now.

But lucky for him, the main restaurant on the island, called Bruce and Sons + One Daughter, was doing a 21 and up night.

Adults only.

And Floyd fucked with that shit.

He danced until he couldn't feel his feet and drank until there was only space for happy thoughts. He had forgotten everything that was going on with John Dory by five in the morning.

He was making out with a vacaytioner dude that he didn't know the name of, when someone called out his name.

"Floyd!?"

He separated quickly from the sloppy kiss at the shout to see, surprise, surprise, another troll.

He had blue fur, with purple hair, and blue eyes. He actually kinda reminded him of someone.

"Uh... Who are you?" He asked, words slurred by the alcohol.

"Ugh, Bruce!! Mind your business, man!" His make-out partner groaned at the guy.

"Sorry, Justin, it's literally my business, and you're taking advantage of someone who clearly isn't in their right mind," the Bruce guy scolded the giant. "Also, he's my brother, so I'm gonna have to ask you to leave," he added. Floyd blinked in shock, “Wait- what?" He thought.

Justin immediately set him down and left the place. Floyd stumbled over his feet for a bit before looking up at... Spruce?

Oh shit, he found Spruce.

"Spruce! Dude! Hiiiii!" He laughed and moved to give his brother a hug, but fell to the sandy ground.

Spruce gingerly picked him up and pulled one of his arms across his shoulders, "Hi, Floyd..." his brother smiled at him with worried eyes. "You okay, man?"

"Pffft 'Course I am!" Floyd said, trying to stand up on his own, managing to get into an awkward wide stance, and forcing Spruce to let go of him. "Let's go dance, big bro! It's been AGES!" He said and punched Spruce in the arm

Spruce sighed and placed a paw on Floyd's shoulder. "Let's just... get you to bed, Floyd."

"What?! Noooo, c'moooon Spruce!!! Don't be a party pooper! Let's daaaaaance!" Floyd slurred, grabbing hold of his brother's paws and making them both spin as he laughed.

But spinning made him dizzy, and no sooner did Floyd vomit all over Spruce.

The last thing he heard before passing out was a very familiar and... Kinda comforting...

"Goddammit, Flo!"

•••

The next morning caught Floyd off guard.

He woke up alone, in a bed far too big for him and with a killer hangover. He groaned as he sat up in the gigantic bed. "Where am I?" He asked out loud to no one. Or so he thought, he almost jumped out of his skin when he heard someone speak to him.

"Looks like Sleeping Beauty’s finally awake," Spruce said, entering the room. He was on some kind of platform that helped him reach the door, and there was a rope bridge that came to the bed Floyd was in.

"I brought you water," he said with a smile. Floyd gave him a blank stare, almost as if he was looking right though him but not seeing him.

"You okay, Flo?" Spruce asked, taking a seat next to him. It took Floyd a moment to answer, he felt like he didn't know how to talk, he had found one of his brothers.

Now he had to tell him what he knew.

Floyd started crying.

"Woah, wah- Flo what's wrong?!" Spruce asked, freaked out.

Floyd tried to slow down his crying, he wipe away his tears with the back of his paws and tried to breathe, "I- I have to tell you something" he choked out a sob escaping as he spoke.

"What is it?" Spruce asked, his face showing he was worried out of his mind.

"It's about John Dory," Floyd started.

Before he could continue, Spruce was in front of him and grabbed his arms in a gentle hold. "John Dory?! What's wrong with him? Is he okay? Have you talked to him?"

Floyd stared for a second before shaking his head, tears still flowing, "No, no, no. Spruce listen. He's our dad." He choked out, words catching in his throat.

"Huh?"

"John Dory, he's not our brother, Spruce. He's our dad," he finally got out in between his sobs.

Spruce went pale. "What?" He mumbled in disbelief "W-what are you talking about?"

"He's our dad! Our father! He gave birth to us! Do you understand!?" Floyd screamed, taking Spruce by the arms and shaking him.

Spruce just stared at him, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. The longer the silence drug on, the more anxious Floyd grew. Eventually, he let his older brother go and stepped away from him
"You don't believe me, do you?" he mumbled, his voice hoarse from crying. "Of course you don't... this was a stupid idea" Floyd sighed and went back to lie down on the bed, tears starting to spill from his eyes once again.

"Wait, no, sorry!" Spruce blurted out, stressed. "It's just- I didn't expect that..." he said slowly, "I do believe you."

Floyd sat up at that. "Really?" He asked in disbelief

"It may have been twenty years but I know you, Floyd," Spruce said taking his paw "You don't lie."

Floyd hugged his brother right then. "I missed you," he mumbled into Spruce's shoulder.

Spruce hugged him back just as tightly, "Same, bro."

They stayed like that for a while... Floyd was still crying when they finally separated from the hug, but it wasn’t as heavy. "You're so huggable now, Spruce," he laughed breathily.

Spruce smirked at him, "Thanks, Flo." Then he added, "Oh, by the way. I no longer go by Spruce, it's Bruce now."

Floyd smiled, lips quivering as he tried really hard not to laugh at the new name, "Bruce, huh? Nice, it fits you," He responded.

Bruce made Floyd stay around to eat lunch with his family. His very, very large family. Floyd meet all his nephews and only niece, and ate the dinner his brother and sister-in-law, Brandy, made.

Yes, he devoured that Bergen-sized spaghetti dish. Sue him, he hadn't had a decent meal in two decades.

After that, he and Bruce left to talk in private, each nursing a steaming cup of coffee.

“So what are you going to do about the whole “John Dory’s our Dad” thing?” Bruce asked over his cup.

Floyd took a sip from his own coffee before answering, “Okay, so as you know, I’m not great with plans.”

“Yeah, that was always more Clay‘s thing.”

“Right, exactly, but this time, I do have a plan!” Floyd said, grinning, obviously very proud of himself. “We’re gonna find Clay and Branch, go to the Neverglades, and make John give us some answers!”

Bruce nodded along, a smile playing on his lips as he tried not to chuckle at the child like plan that came from his pink-haired brother. “And how did you find out about all this anyways?” he asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

“Oh, uh... met a troll that knew John Dory and she told me she knew my dad. I asked her for more information and turns out John told her that himself.”

Bruce felt there was more in that story, but didn't want push too much. He just got his brother back, being pushy could lead to losing him again.

They sat in silence for a few moments before it began to feel unbearable. Bruce had begun tapping his fingers along the table, making Floyd twitch in annoyance.

"Sooooo, where should we start?" Bruce finally asked his younger brother.

"Well uh... Shit I don't know," Floyd said, covering his mouth with a fist, "Mmmaybe Branch? We could go back to The Troll Tree, there could be clues or something."

"That sounds like a good plan to me, let's do that!" Bruce said happily. Holding up his paw in a fist, he looked at Floyd expectantly, waiting for him to reciprocate and complete the fist bump.

Floyd, however, stared at the clenched paw, almost confused. Bruce had never shared a fist bump with anyone other than Clay... Nodding internally, he smiled at his brother and fist bumped him back.

Chapter Text

Bruce and Floyd were riding Floyd's bike at top speed on the route to Bergentown.

"I can't believe your wife let you come with me!" Floyd screamed over the wind.  

"Yeah, Brandy is chill like that!! C-could you slow down!?" Bruce asked, scared out of his mind that they would crash. 

Floyd only laughed at his question before accelerating further.

"WOAH WOAH FLO NO!!" Bruce screeched, his paws gripping tightly to his younger brother's vest.

•••

They arrived in Bergentown about six hours later and were welcomed by the most surreal sight: trolls and bergens together. The Tree wasn't caged anymore, the bergens seemed to be happy, and the trolls were… safe.

"What the fuck is going on here..." Floyd mumbled, eyes wide as he stared at everything around him.  

"I... I think it's a wedding?" Bruce responded in disbelief. There were signs and banners with a crown and heart, "It's a royal wedding," he continued, and Floyd's mouth fell agape. 

He rubbed his eyes, trying to snap out of what had to be a hallucination, but the bergens and trolls peace stayed real.

They stood in shocked silence, away from both trolls and bergens, trying to understand what they were seeing. As they watched the rest of the wedding, Bruce couldn't help but remember his own. Brandy had looked so beautiful in her white suit. 

He even still had the dress he wore in that dream-like sunset. 

The ceremony had ended, the king had a queen, and Bruce and Floyd decided it was time to move closer to the now crazy, loud party. Dodging bergen's feet and troll hugs as they walked through the crowd. 

They were looking for blue hair, blue fur, and the brightest baby blue eyes in the crowd, but Branch was nowhere to be seen... 

Until, suddenly, they heard giggling.

Far too familiar giggling. 

And there was Branch.

Dancing with the king of the bergens.

The king was in his white wedding suit, crown on his head, holding Branch's tiny paws in his giant, grotesque claws as they spun around, laughing.

"They’re friends?!" Floyd gasped in horror, covering his mouth with his paws.

Bruce was frozen still.

Floyd clenched his fist, ready to move. "I'll get the legs and you grab his arms," he said, starting to walk towards Branch and the king.

"Wait, no-" Bruce quickly grabbed hold of him by the arm. "Stop, Floyd. Use your head, we need to keep a low profile," he stressed. He heard Floyd growl, but he didn't try to move to kidnap Branch.

Bruce sighed in relief. "Let's wait until he's alone to talk to him, he's safe, and it seems like he's having fun," he tried to comfort Floyd. He wanted to let Branch be happy and carefree for a little longer, he didn't want him to know that they were here yet.

They waited in the corner by the food (and wasn’t that weird to see that there were no trolls on the menu). They ended up having to wait for a few hours until he was finally alone, because it seemed Branch was quite popular. 

They decided to approach him when he came over to get a drink.

As they got close, Bruce stopped to really look at Branch for a moment. He was short, with dark navy hair and pale blue fur, but he looked healthy; he even had a bit of muscle. He was wearing a green suit and a bow tie, which made him look so adorable, honestly. Bruce had to hold himself back from picking him up and hugging him.

Once they were close enough, Floyd spoke up, "Hey, Branch~ What's up?" He was trying to sound casual, Bruce noticed.

Branch froze, slowly turning to face them at the sound of Floyd’s voice. His eyes widened at the sight of them, becoming so wide that it seemed like they were gonna come out of their sockets.

But they were nailed on Floyd.

"... Floyd?" he mumbled, stunned.

He almost looked... Scared.

Bruce noticed that Floyd's eyes softened as he stared at their youngest brother, "Hi, Branch..."

"Floyd"

Bruce stepped back and just watched; they were having a moment.

Branch walked slowly towards Floyd…

And then sucker punched him right in the stomach.

Bruce's paws flew up and covered his mouth as he watched Floyd fall to the ground, arms wrapped around his stomach.

"THAT'S FOR ABANDONING ME, YOU ASSHOLE!"

After the outburst, he roughly picked Floyd up from the floor, grabbed Bruce's hand, seeming to finally acknowledge him, and dragged them away from the party.

Branch's ears were twitching, looking around with crazed eyes as he rushed them to the Troll Tree and into a pod.

Floyd was still groaning in pain when Branch closed the door behind them. It was only after the door was closed that he spoke. "What are you two doing here?" He questioned, pointing an accusatory finger at them.

"W-we were looking for you!" Floyd stuttered out, trying to explain.

"Why!? It's been twenty years! Why did you come back now!? Things were finally getting better, and you guys had to just appear out of nowhere I can't-" he was beginning to fall into his old habit of rambling, Bruce noted.

"Branch, listen," Bruce interrupted, "I know you're mad, and you have every right to be, but we have something that we need to tell you." He had used his dad voice in hopes of calming Branch down, and it seemed to work as Branch took slow, deep breaths.

"It's about John Dory," Floyd said from where he was sitting in the floor, anguish in his voice, still holding his stomach in pain.

This made Branch pause, a hint of worry crossing his face. "What do you mean?" He asked, still weary of them.

"He's our dad, man,” Floyd responded, staring up at the youngest.

Bruce expected shock, confusion, maybe even thousands of questions. But instead he got...

"Oh," Branch said with relief of all things.

"Oh????? That's all???? We just told you a life-altering secret, and you're reaction is oh????" Floyd stressed out and Branch shot him a look that said, 'Don't make me punch you again.’

"I thought it was obvious," Branch shrugged. "I mean, there was always such a big age gap between him and us."

Bruce and Floyd stared in shock at Branch. "What age gap?" Floyd asked.

"Oh, grandma told me about it when I was, like, five, I think. I thought you knew," he explained, shrugging nonchalantly.

They stared, again, even more shocked, mouths falling open.

"YOU KNEW JOHN WAS OUR DAD!?" they screeched in unison.

"Kinda?" Branch shrugged again, seeming like he was becoming annoyed with the conversation. "I mean, no. But I always wondered..." Branch shook his head, snapping out of the casual atmosphere and going back to being hostile. "That doesn't matter- Why are you two here!?" 

"I want to go confront John Dory about the truth!" Floyd snapped back.

"Then go alone!" Branch yelled in response.

"But Branch! We have to go all together, we all deserve answers!" Floyd argued, almost pleadingly.

"I don't care!” Branch growled. “Father or brother, John Dory abandoned me! Just like you two did!"

Both of them flinched at those words, knowing he was right.

Not wanting to focus on what Branch had said, Bruce let his mind start to wander away from the fight, and began looking around the pod they were in, and found, to his surprise, a very familiar living room. “We're in grandma's pod," he said, incredulously. Hearing Bruce finally speak up, Floyd and Branch finally turned away from each other and looked at him.

"What?" Floyd questioned, though Bruce is certain he didn’t even hear what he had said.

"We're home," Bruce said simply.

Bruce saw Branch's walls begin to fall for a moment as he and Floyd looked around the ruins of what was once their home. Bruce felt so bad for him, all of this cruel nostalgia must hurt him...

At least, it’s hurting Bruce.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, making them all jump and turn towards the door.

“Branch? Are you okay? I was looking for you and heard you punched some guy and then ran to The Troll Tree," A girl's voice called out. 

Branch panicked and shouted back, “Y-yeah! I... Give me a second! I'll come talk to you in a second!" Branch turned back to them and screamed-whispered, “You two, stay here and don't make a sound, I don't want her, no, ANYONE, to know you are here!"

Turning away, Branch left the pod. Bruce managed to see a pink troll waiting for him outside as he stepped out. They were able to hear about half of the conversation thanks to the girl's excited screams:

"YOU HAVE SECRET BROTHERS!?"

"BROZONE!?"

"YOUR DAD!?"

"BRANCH, OH MY GOD, YOU HAVE TO GO!"

Floyd shot him a happy look at that last statement, which Bruce returned with an exasperated eye roll.

Branch came back looking exactly like he did back when he was a baby and John Dory had scolded him.

God, Branch was right, it was so obvious that John was their dad.

Branch had a look of defeat on his face as he sighed and responded, "Okay, I'll go with you.” Bruce smiled at him understandingly.

Floyd shouted, “YES!” as he ran to hug the youngest, but was stopped by a hand to his face, "NO HUGS!" Branch shouted at him.

Floyd tried fighting the hand for a minute longer before finally stopping his attempts at hugging Branch. "Now we just need to find Clay!" Floyd spoke excitedly, beaming.

"And what is your plan for finding him exactly?" Branch asked with arms crossed.

"Oh! We don’t have one. We've kinda been improvising," Floyd answered confidently, puffing his chest out. 

"We’ve only been improvising, actually," Bruce said, rolling his eyes.

Branch face-palmed and let out a loud groan. “You’re as bad as Poppy…” he mumbled so quietly, Bruce had barely heard him.

"Are you kidding me?" Branch questioned incredulously, staring them both down. The two shifted uncomfortably under his gaze but did not respond.

Huffing in annoyance, Branch decided he was taking over the search for Clay and immediately made a plan in less than two minutes. They were gonna use some troll named Milton's Wysapeiros, which Branch explained, are tracker bug creatures that are able to find anyone just by sniffing something from that person.

With the plan in mind, the three brothers began to search around the pod for something that belonged to Clay. Soon they ended up in the room they all used to share before they left. 

But before finding something of Clay's, they found something of John Dory's.

In Branch's old crib, John Dory's old goggles lay, broken as if they had been thrown against a wall and stained with dusty tears. 

"Are you sure he is still alive?" Branch asked, voice strained, clutching the broken goggles in his hands.

"That's what Delta told me" Floyd said

"Delta Dawn? The Country tribe sheriff?"

"Yeah, I met her when I- ah um..." Floyd started but stuttered over himself. Taking a deep breath, he mumbled under his breath, "when i was in jail."

Branch turn to see Floyd, eyes wide with horror "What?" He gasped. "Why would they put you in jail?" Bruce dare to ask, he wasn't sure he wanted to know why.

"I got... charged twenty years... for murder" Floyd recited his sentence almost mechanically.

Bruce looked at Floyd, actually looked at him, and saw someone that was very far away from the memory he had of his younger brother.

Floyd wasn't that kid anymore. The kid that stopped fights with tears, that took care of baby Branch instead of going out with friends and never knew what getting in trouble was.

Maybe he never was.

The Floyd that stood before him was fresh from prison, wearing an orange vest that now made sense, and covered in scars, tattoos and piercings.

"I'm sorry, Branch..." Floyd sobbed, tears rolling down his cheecks and ruining his eyeliner "I shouldn't have promised something I couldn't do".

Branch walked slowly towards Floyd...

And gave him a hug.

This time Bruce didn't just watch, he stepped closer and joined the hug.

They all were having a moment.