Archive of Our Own ^beta

Shorts wars was over.

The Boss was dead, Preston was dead, the clones were dead, the court case was over, and everything was back to normal.

So why was Bam acting so strange?

He was very distant when the topic of the clones came up. He would start to sweat and try to change the topic, while he could just be suppressing the memories he just seemed off.

Cdot even said he saw Bam going to the ruins of the lab when he ran off one day.

So that was why they were here. Bam had left them once again, but this time they followed him. Danno, Cdot, Pear, and Riggy walked through the ruins of the clone lab, following Bam closely. Riggy was supposed to stay back but he refused to let Danno go alone with Cdot, saying he was "weak". And Pear was holding out a small sliver of hope that Melon was somewhere here.

So they followed, Riggy going between his toon form on Danno's shoulder to his more human form when he was on the ground. Cdot led with a silent determination, he had swore that if clone VPN ever came back he would tear it down once again. Pear stayed in his human form, he stayed quiet fidgeting with his rings and the necklace Melon gave him.

Bam walked like he's done this a million times, carefree, light on his feet, a small smile on his face like this place wasn't the start of all of Rumble pack's problems. He walked like he was returning home after a long day at work. He was holding a large bag full of sandwiches and another bag full of water bottles. It looked like he was feeding someone.

They followed for a good while until Bam came to a small clearing. Pear and Riggy turned into their smaller toon/png form to get as close as they could, while Cdot and Danno stayed farther back but they were still able to hear Bam.

Bam smiled while he looked to nothing but the ruin lab "I'm back you guys" he called. And a very familiar glitch happened, 3 glitches to be exact.

The first one was Royal Melon, Pear's eyes went wide. It looked like Melon had perfected their human form. He had darker skin with patches of tan scattered around, Vitiligo skin if Pear was correct. They had shaggy light green hair and his clothes were comfortable and a mix of green and brown. He had a brown fanny pack with a ton of pins and chains, one that stood out to Pear was a demi-boy and bisexual pin. Pear felt a ping of joy that not only was Melon alive but they found themselves 

Royal Melon smiled as he grabbed the bag of food from Bam's hand "oh~ what did you get this time?" He opened the bag and scanned the insides.

"Just a few sandwiches and waters" Bam said as he scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry I couldn't get you guys more, I think the others are getting a bit suspicious of me."

"Don't risk your safety just for us" another person called as they took the bag of water into one hand and Bam's hand in the other. "You're already doing a lot for us, even though tension are dying down they might see us and do something unreasonable."

Bam's smile grew as the figure planted a kiss to Bam's cheek "thanks Dex" Bam muttered, Cdot and Danno shared a glance because they both realized who the figure was. It was Dark Danno, or Clone Danno. He had full black clothes as well as black eyeliner and eyeshadow. He still had his nose piercing but now he had 2 ear piercings, a red stud and a orange ring at the top of his ears. Bam shared the same piercings as Dark Danno or Dex as Bam said.

Royal Melon handed a sandwich to what looked like nothing but after a glitch, Preston or Clone Riggy(or Pasta man) grabbed the sandwich and rolled his eyes. "Quit being all mushy goushy you dummies" Melon smacked him on the head. The Clone hissed but didn't retaliate, just crossing his arms and nibbleing on his sandwich.

Preston looked mostly the same, the Clone had perfected his human form as well. The only thing off was where he was stabbed during the final battle. There was multiple cracks that were glowing white, purple, and black.

But no one paid any mention to that, they sat, and talked like they knew each other since they were born while they ate. Melon talked about the lego set they "found" outside a Walmart and showed off their nails that Dex painted. Bam nodded along and added his own piece. Dex mostly stayed silent but shared a few looks with Bam that were something the creators couldn't put their fingers on. Preston occasionally gagged at Bam and Dex or hurled a insult at someone, but just for a minute Preston turned to his toon form and lended onto Dex. Dex just smiled and moved the toon softly into a more comfortable position.

But after a little while they all stood up and and started to bid their goodbyes. Bam sighed "I swear I'll have a better place for you guys soon, just give me a week at most."

Royal Melon laughed "we'll be fine, don't stress about it" Melon hugged Bam quickly before glitching away.

Preston scoffed "don't kill yourself idiot" he stayed quiet for a minute before he hugged Bam. Bam was shocked but hugged back "thank you, for everything. And don't get yourself killed" Bam ruffled Preston's hair and he stepped back and glitched away.

Dex stood beside Bam in silence for a minute, it was full of something that the creator's watching didn't know at the time. Dex raised his gaze to Bam's and he sighed "you sure you don't want me to stay? I could help or- something."

Bam turned face to face with Dex, Bam sat his hands on Dex's waist and Dex cupped Bam's face like he was holding the most precious thing in the world. Bam smiled softly "Dixie, I'll be fine this is my problem to solve just worry about you, Melon and Preston right now. You're the only responsible one in them so I'm trusting you."

Dex's face didn't change but after a second he sighed and placed his forehead against Bam's. Dex's breath shuttered as he closed his eyes "please Bam, be careful call me or anyone if you are even in a slight bit of danger."

Bam barley pulled away as he laced his hand on top of Dex's "I promise Dixie."

Dex laughed and rolled his eyes "don't call me that, idiot" Dex closed the distance between them. Bam's eyes fluttered closed and for a second, it's just them. Just Bam, circling his hands around Dex's neck, making the space between them even smaller. Just Dex, framing Bam's face like a beautiful mosaic as he dragged his thumb across Bam's cheek bone. Just the want for more, but there was something blocking that. Dex rested his forehead back on Bam's, savoring every last moment he could. But just like the others, Dex glitched away and faded into nothing.

Bam sighed as he rested his hands back at his side, but what none of the creator's could see was Bam opening his palm and summoning his gun. Bam closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and fired a shot at Danno. The shot grazed his shoulder, a warning, that Bam could have shot Danno dead but chose to do this instead.

"I know what your planning Cdot" Bam called, venom dripping into his voice. "And I'm not going to let you deactivate them as long as I'm around to stop you."

"Deactivate" Pear echoed, his hands were trembling. Melon was alive, he saw them, heard them, saw them smile and laugh. But what wasn't Cdot telling him, deactivation sounded like something that would kill the clone's.

Cdot sighed he clearly didn't want to talk about this "we found out there is a sleeper agent in every clone. And when it is activated then the clone will destroy everything in its path until it dies. If we deactivate the code it will stop this."

"Yeah" Bam scoffed "by killing them!"

Riggy's eyes wided, he didn't know how to feel on this whole "Bam-helping-the-last-clones-alive" thing. But the word "we" ringed in his brain over and over again. It definitely wasn't Pear who helped Cdot, Pear was to mushy goushy with Melon for that. It was Riggy himself so it had to be-

Danno looked away from Riggy like he was ashamed, Cdot came beside him and placed a hand on Danno's shoulder.

Riggy felt anger boil underneath his skin, they had promised. Promised that they were going to stick together no matter what. They promised no secrets no lying no games, just 2 broken people turned into brothers. But he broke that seal.

But the anger turned into a feeling of betrayal. Danno lied to him for who knows how long, and as he was doing that he was talking about trust and that he would never leave Riggy's side. "Why Danno" Riggy asked in a low voice.

"It was for your safety" Cdot said for him "we didn't know how dangerous it would really be. And me and Danno were going to check alone until you demanded to come along, then you brought Pear with you and it spiraled."

"Did you know Melon was alive" Pear asked, vines wrapping around his ankles. He kept a straight face but Cdot could tell he was masking something.

"I- well it's complicated-" Danno filled in but was cut off by vines wrapping around his wrist and ankles. Danno turned his head to see Cdot in the same situation as him. Riggy was just sitting off to the side lost deeply in his own thoughts and Danno felt a sharp ping of guilt.

"Did you know" Pear said slowly anger flowing in his voice like a river dam ready to bust. "My partner, was alive and well while I was grieving their death."

"Yes" Cdot said, but he quickly tried to talk more "but we-" vines wrapped around Cdot's mouth cutting him off as Pear fell to his knees.

Pear covered his ears as the ringing overtook his hearing and the world got farther away. A million different things rushed through his brain like a dam breaking and the  water rushing out. Why did his best friends lie to him? Why would they lie about his partner being dead? Where is Melon now? Are they ok? Would they still want to see him?

Someone was beside him, Pear couldn't see their face or hear what they were talking about. But their hand did a breathing motion and Pear followed. Slowly his vision came back and the ring in his ear faded away.

Bam, it was Bam who helped them even though his legs were getting covered in vines. Riggy was standing a little bit behind Bam with a scared/nervous/confused look. Bam smiled "I can take you to Melon if you want, they miss you a lot and he wants to see you."

Tears pooled in Pear's eyes as he nodded, the vines retracting letting Bam, Cdot, and Danno free. Riggy stood awkwardly to the side but Bam walked over to him. "You can come with us if you'd like" he said with a smile. "I know you might need some time to think stuff over and I got a place that'll work."

"Riggy-" Danno tried to reach out but he paid no mind to him.

"Ok" Riggy looked back at Danno one last time before he turned to Bam. And with a glitch they were all gone. Leaving Cdot and Danno in the ruins of the lab and the consciences of their actions.