Archive of Our Own

Perhaps it wasn’t too bad, but something inside of them snapped when X’s ignorant voice cut through their mental spiraling.

They gripped the edge of their bed that was stained from months of food and neglect; they felt the blood become hot like boiled water; they felt their emotions start unraveling like a ribbon on a crumbling spool.

“It was my fault because it was OUT OF MY CONTROL!!! ”

X stepped back a few times, with real fear in his eyes. Two breathed heavily and regarded their outburst for a moment, and then proceeded to yell again, “I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO. I REALLY DON’T, X. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO?”

They slid off the bed and felt an energy flit up their arms that wasn’t there before. Unbeknownst to them, their hands were glowing with a visceral kind of magic– the kind that they never used around close friends.

“All you’re going to do is tell me to calm down , to tell me that it’s not my fault, to tell me that it’s fine and everything is going to be okay again, ”

X was now backed up to the door, hands put in front of his face in a defensive, scared way– Two towered over him and clenched their fists angrily. Something was stirring within them, and it stayed like a lingering, tempting pressure.

“It’s not going to be okay again. I can’t do anything. She’s gone , and YOU TWO couldn’t even BOTHER to face it! You two have been MAKING ME FEEL WORSE!!! ”

Two let out a tense exhale, and some bolts of green energy zapped the ground beneath their hands.

X didn’t– couldn’t speak. He was merely too stunned to see a familiar green numeral let out anger like this before. Two? Two would never do this. This isn’t them.

“Two, calm down!”

“CALM DOWN?”

A more aggressive burst of energy traveled to the ground. X could tell they were trying their best– or maybe just on the edge– to prevent themselves from doing horrible things. He wanted to teleport to Four, but he needed to get through to them to prevent them from really going haywire.

“You’re going to hurt someone! Yourself– me! Please, put your powers away and let us talk!!”

“This is exactly what I was talking about. Always shoving away my problems– this is exactly what a specific number did to me back on the Playground,” they paused to pant a bit, “One. She’s why all of this… happened. I’m so sure of it.”

He sank to the floor, wanting to hide away from everything. One… he hadn’t heard that name in forever. Her? Why would she come back for Two? Why did Two think that she was the cause for this?

The board couldn’t make any sense to X– he’s tried examining it before. It’s just weird symbols and colors! Is that where they got their guess from?

“We can’t do anything to fix that right now, Two–”

They raised an arm up and blasted a hole through the door directly next to X’s face.

“ I KNOW THAT ALREADY! ”

In the silence that followed X and Two staring at each other intensely with a certain kind of melancholic sadness, an eruption of concerned chatter began to waft down the hall.

Two realized solemnly that they would soon have visitors. Great, considering how they really didn’t want to talk to others right now .

Then, quickened footsteps– then, several prying eyes behind the singed opening in the wood.

“Is everything okay in there?” Price Tag’s voice said.

“Two? Twooo!” Fanny exclaimed.

“Oh dear, a green friend is in distress!” Tree said, with a tiny voice that sounded like Grassy’s accompanying him.

They backed away from X, and stood haphazardly in place, the vibrant glow of their arms fading with their receding temper.

X could only slowly stand up, eyeing two nervously. He turned around and opened the door slowly, facing all of the worried contestants.

Two made no gesture of kindness, retreating back to their safe place that was the bed.

He made an exit and started assessing the concerns outside, avoiding the topic of “ is Two okay? ” as best as possible.

Fanny tried sneaking past X to peer into their room, but X herded everyone down the hall and told them that Two needed some alone time.

Meanwhile, the instant regret hit them like a well-aimed brick. With the repressed mental agony of holding in all of that… anger , they couldn’t fit it inside of the tiny box that was their mind anymore. X was the outlet, and Two didn’t mean to make him a lightning rod– almost literally .

They landed miserably on their bed, bringing both arms up to cover their eyes as they began to weep in sorrow.

Of course it had to be X. Of course I had to hurt him. Of course, of course… and dump all of your problems onto him! Dump your worries, fears, anxieties– your ailments onto him. Of course, that’s what a good host did. It wasn’t what a good host did.

Two hated themself.

They were at the tipping point– sick and tired of One’s games– sick and tired , tired, TIRED , of her teases and her mockery .

Who does she think she is? She’s torn apart Two’s life– they’ve dealt with her before, but this is intolerable.

They felt so… different . They felt so alive. Tingling, burning energy coursed through them.

But what was this feeling? It hurt, like their core was boiling from the inside out; it made them want to… no, not destroy, devastate. They haven’t felt this sort of motivation since the Playground– when One had to be sealed and banished.

The most powerful number…

Yet, something keeps them from getting off of their bed. Something keeps them from moving– from actually enacting this grand, split-created plan of unholy destruction.

They’re afraid of themself. They’ve always been afraid of themself.

Stockholm syndrome hurts, you know. They still feel the rotting guilt of sentencing One to such a miserable life. Their power… the ability to restrain her ability and lock her inside of something as intimidating as the moon … it was a daunting task for a normal integer, but not for Two.

Not for somenum that was born with innate power that they couldn’t escape from.

So they hid it– repressed it, only used it when necessary. However, now they see why they’ve been hiding it. X was the one that made them realize the purpose.

Were they going to go out and find One? Cease the chaos? End the suffering? Continue their show? Make amends with Four? Bring Gaty back?

They didn’t even know themselves.