Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Eight and Superior peacefully eat breakfast. “I have never broken a car before, is it really that fun?” Asks Eight.

Superior finishes his grilled cheese sandviches before he responds to her. “It’s not for everyone, but given the fact that I'm technically you and I love hitting things with bats, I think you will probably also like destroying abandoned cars.”

Eight finishes eating her grilled cheese sandviches as well, just in time to glance to her left to see Pearl & Marina arriving. “You two already had breakfast before us!? I smell grilled cheese, not fair!” Complaints Pearl.

“Soup has been awake for hours, he is hungry!” Excuses Eight.

Marina shoves Pearl to one of the chairs at the kitchen table. “Don’t worry Pearlie, I will make some more grilled cheese for us. Let the siblings prepare us for… The park! Yes! The park!” She grins a little too wide.

“Rina… I love going around the park with you, but I won't forget about breaking cars.” She crosses her arms.

Eight guides Superior go to the storage room where the metal bats are located, with at least a hundred of them, (no one knows why there are so many metal bats in the storage room, they just have always been there) Eight and Superior pick up five bats. Five?

“Why did we pick up five?”

Superior points one of the bats at her. “Because someone might want to join us and we might want to let them.”

Eight puts one of the bats against her chin. “Huh. That doesn’t make sense.”

“It does make sense, you just don’t have the adult brain to understand.”

“Drop one of them Soup, we won’t play with strangers.”

The siblings decide to not argue anymore and instead to go back to Pearl & Marina with bats in hand. The idols have finished eating breakfast and are sitting in the living room, noticing Eight and Superior there's a smirk for Pearl and a grimace for Marina. Eight throws a bat to each of the idols, who catch their bat with no problems.

Pearl stands up and poses with her bat. “Y’all ready for some fun!”

Superior starts nodding. “You bet I am!”

Marina shrinks on the couch.

Eight runs to the front door. “Let’s go already!”

The four of them go to the outskirts of Inkopolis, to a junkyard filled with broken and unwanted stuff, perfect for what they are planning to do. After some scouting, Superior spots a rusty car that doesn’t have an engine, therefore won't explode. Before they can get to work however, someone calls them out.

“Marina? Eight!? Pearl!?!? What are you all doing here?”

The four of them turn around to see Four running up to them, he immediately speaks before anyone else can respond. “How are you stranger? You kinda look like Eight’s older brother.”

“It looks like she’s my sis because she is!” He puffs up his chest and puts his hands on his hips.

Four whips his head to Eight. “Eight! Sense when did you have a big bro!?”

“I have talked to Superior for a month, but only yesterday were we certain that we were siblings! I was going to tell you, you just beat me to it!”

Pearl cuts in to shorten the conversion. “Let me explain why we're here. Me, Rina, Eight, and Eight’s bro, we are here to smash in some cars! That’s why we are here! Then why are you here Four?”

Four clears his throat. “I wanted to collect stuff to tinker with. However, uh, is it ok if I join you guys in hitting cars with those metal bats you all have?”

“I’m so sorry Four, but I told Soup to not bring an extra bat thinking that no one else would join us, but i was wron-” Marina interrupts Eight. “You can have my bat Four. I never wanted to hit cars, just wanted to make sure that Eight and Pearlie didn’t hurt themselves.”

Four starts shaking. “Thank you Mo-Rina!” He quickly grabs Marina’s bat and runs towards the abandoned car before she can notice what he almost said.

Eight, Superior, and Pearl look at each other, having a mental conversion. They silently decide to finally get to work. While Marina watches from a distance, Eight, Four, Pearl, and Superior ready their bats, lift them upwards, and swing at the car in front of them. Eight is the most reserved, doing swings that leave a powerful and satisfying impact. Pearl is the opposite, showing no mercy as she swings as fast as she can. Four is in between, a perfect balance of being reserved and aggressive. Superior meanwhile, wrecks the abandoned car with an efficiency that shows just how many times he has done this before. The car still had its basic structure at the beginning, now its complete mush.

Superior stretches his back. “As you can see Pearl, I have completed your condition, which means I get to live in you three form now on.

Four tilts his head. “You’re letting Superior live in the mansion if he helped you break one car?”

“Multiple cars.” Currents Pearl as she walks off to look for more abandoned cars. Everyone else follows her and when she finds a few other cars, they help her pull them to a more open spot. Superior, Pearl, Four, and Eight unholster their bats and start swinging at the cars one by one. The first car becomes mush like the previous one, the second car is completely destroyed at the front, the third car is totally crippled in the back, the fifth car begins smoking shortly after they start attacking it.

Superior’s eyes widened. “Stop! Everyone get away from the car!” Four, Eight, and Pearl look at him confused, and then surprised when he pulls them away from the car. Marina soon runs towards them and helps Superior pull them safely from the car.

Pearl is the first to ask, “Why did you pull us from the car? We were having fun!”

Marina grabs Pearl and hugs her tightly. “The car still had its engine, that’s why it was smoking. If Superior didn’t force you away then my Pearlie might have been really hurt.”

Four exhales. “Oh cod, that could’ve ended terribly! …We need the car to explode.”

“What?”

Four breathes in. “If the car doesn’t explode now then it will still be close to exploding when someone else comes here. Someone who might not know the dangers of getting too close to that car.”

Pearl breaks from Marina’s hug. “I know what to do.” She steps away from everyone else, having a clear line of sight of the volatile car. She activates her special, killerwhale. Pearl aims the killerwhale at the car and shouts. The noise makes the car explode, almost as loud as Pearl. “Done! Now it's safe here at the junkyard!”

The four other cephalopods stop covering their ears. “Good job Pearlie! You did hurt our ears, but you did also make the junkyard safe!” Says Marina

Four turns his attention to Superior. “So. Superior. Can we hang out again?”

Superior sighs with a sad look. “I’m sorry, but I'm going to dematerialize any second now, hope that just hanging out with my sis is enough for you.”

“What!?"

“Hahaha! I’m just kidding, yes I will hang out with you. You're differently cool, can see why Eight is best buds with you.”

Four grins and gives him a high five. “Shell yeah!” he then sighs and looks at Eight. “I’m kinda jealous that you have a sibling Eight.” He murmurs to himself. “My stupid family couldn’t even get me a sister.”

Chapter Text

Four, Eight’s best friend. For the past four years, the two of them and Superior have been hanging out, eating at crusty sean’s, breaking abandoned cars with metal bats, and less destructive things most of the time. It feels wrong that Eight hasn’t seen Four in two years, is he even her best friend anymore? Does he hate me now!?

“Stop with that unhealthy thinking!” Superior slaps Eight in the back of the head.

“Ow! Ok ok i will stop!” Eight looks at the front door of Four’s apartment. “It feels weird coming back as a twenty one year old.”

Superior simply shrugs at her comment as he knocks on the door. Someone who is not Four opens the door, much to Eight’s and Superior’s displeasure. “Sorry for interrupting ma’am, we thought this was the apartment of Four, our friend.”

“But I am Four.” Says the woman who is an Inkling like Four, also looks to be around twenty one like Four, and also sounds like him just feminine. However, she can’t be Four for two reasons. One, Four is male, not female. Two, her tentacles are yellow and her eyes are red like Four’s, but her skin is grey. Like a parallel cannon…

Eight gets agitated. “You are not Four! Four is a he, not a she, plus his skin is tan, not grey!”

The Parallel is taken aback. “We have known each other for six years, yet the first thing you two say after being away for so long is that i’m a fake? I am the real Four no matter who says otherwise.”

Suddenly a shout comes from deeper inside the apartment. “Eight! Superior! Help!” That shout sounds like Four, including being masculine. Eight and Superior rush past the Parallel and go inside the apartment to quickly find Four being tied up in a chair in the middle of the living room. Eight immediately unties Four, while Superior pays attention to the Parallel to make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid. Parallel stares deeply at Four and Eight, so Superior decides to drag her to the couch where he can force her to sit down and be within arms reach.

Four stands up as soon as he can. “I can’t thank you enough Eight. Earlier today I was walking back to my apartment when that girl jumped me and knocked me out! When I woke she asked me why I had her keys and was going to her apartment.”

Eight glares at Parallel. “You hurt Four.”

Parallel tries standing up, but Superior pulls her back down. She then decides to respond. “I didn’t hurt Four, I am Four! That monster is preventing me from fully being Four!”

Four’s patience is running thin. “Fully being Four!? Stop! Just stop pretending to be me! I am Four, you are just some girl who thought it would be cool to be me!”

“I have to be Four because I have all of my memories. Ask me something Eight, I will get it right.”

Eight huffs. “How did you first meet Superior?”

Parallel answers with, “At the junkyard, we were breaking cars.”

Eight eyes widen, she looks at Four. “Have many abandoned cars were destroyed?”

Four answers with, “Six.”

“Your answer is less detailed!” Four glares at Parallel. “Your answer is less specific!”

Eight side eyes Parallel. “It doesn’t matter if you have any or even all of Four’s memories. You're still not Four.”

Parallel tries jumping at Eight, but Superior keeps her still. “That doesn’t make sense! I have to be Four because if i’m not then i don’t exist! And I exist!"

Superior decides to intervene before this situation escalates. “Four, Eight, exit the apartment please.”

Four is taken aback. “Leave my apartment!?”

“Yes.”

Eight takes a step forward. “Tell me your not siding with the-”

“I am not, please exit the apartment.” Four and Eight don’t say anything, they simply do what he says and leave.

Now it's just Superior and Parallel left in the apartment. He lets go of her and sits not too close to her, there’s no need to have her restraint. For a few moments they simply look at each other. Superior isn’t entirely sure what he wants to do with Parallel nor how to go about it. She begins to stare more deeply at him, to the point where it gets uncomfortable.

She finally breaks the silence with a question. “Do you think I'm the real Four?”

He decides to be honest. “No. The man who just left with Eight is Four.” She frowns at that.

Superior thinks about what to say next. After a bit, he figured it out. “Look at my tentacles.”

Parallel does what he says and observes his tentacles, to see the main part change from black to pick and then black again. She noticed that the tips stayed green. “Why didn’t you change the tips of your tentacles?”

“I told everyone who asked that same question that it was a fashion statement, being a punk and all. However the truth is that I can't change the tips of my tentacles. They stay green no matter what.”

Parallel raises an eyebrow. “Why can't you change it?”

Superior smiles softly. “Think about it Parallel, why could my tentacles be stuck at green?”

She gets temporally agitated. “My name is not-! …Wait a minute. No. You couldn’t be a sensitized Octoling right?”

“You're right, I'm not sensitized. I’m actually made from the primordial ooze.”

Parallel stares at him in shock. Superior continues. “The only other person who knows is Eight. Anyway, do you want to know why I told you this?”

She nods. “I’m going to awesome that you were a parallel cannon that for whatever reason escaped the Memverse and is now trying to become Four because you have all of his memories and feelings. Right?”

She stammers. “N-nn-no.”

He sighs. “I’ll take that as a yes.” He clears his throat. “Seven years ago, I was like you. Sure, I didn't have Eight’s memories, let alone actually thought that I was Eight. However the way I act, think, or even how I view the world was directly based on my sis. In that way, we are the same, two beings made in the image of someone else.”

He continues. “Yet I'm a different person. You don’t have to be Four, Parallel. You can be what you want. The only thing stopping you is you thinking that you have to be someone specific.”

Parallel stares at him again, looking like she wants to tell him that he’s wrong and she is Four. Except, she doesn’t. Parallel knows deep down that he’s right. She can't be Four, but she can be her own person. “Do you think that I could be like you? Be Four’s sister?”

Superior puts a hand on her cheek, despite being grey her skin feels nice. “Two questions. Do you want to be Four’s sister? And will you apologize to Four, really make the effort to one of his friends?”

She nods rapidly. “Theres no guarantee that he will want you as his sister. Not even a guarantee that he will like you. You should prepare for the possibility that you two will be nothing more than acquaintances.  However, to look on the bright side, he did say once that he was jealous of Eight having a sibling, so take that as you will.”

Superior let’s go of Parallel and stands up. “How do you feel like staying at my place?”

“I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

He pulls her up from the couch. “Come on now, we can’t leave Four and Eight hanging.”

When Superior opens the door he makes sure he is behind Parallel, that way she has to confront Four. Eight steps out of the way, letting the two Inklings have a direct line of sight of each other. He is judging her, clearly still upset. She on the other hand is avoiding eye contact. They only begin talking when Superior urges them too.

Parallel tries to speak a sentence. “You are, you are, you, are. You. Are. F-ff-f, i can’t do it!”

Four scowls. “Why can’t you tell me that you're not Four?”

“I uh, do you remember how whenever we collected a zapfish, Marie would smile and tell us ‘Good job agent 4’ and pat us on the head? Well it feels like if i say ‘You are Four’ then i’m telling myself that Marie was never proud of me, that i haven't done anything worth being proud of.”

Hearing what she said puts him in surprise, causing him to take a step back. “Is that really how you feel? Is that why you were so insistent on the fact that you were Four?” She nods slowly.

Four steps closer, right up to Parallel, which makes her lean away, until he hugs tightly. parallel is confused for a moment before hugging her back. “Do you have anywhere to live?”

“Superior offered to let me stay at his place.”

Four breaks the hug and moves inside the apartment while moving Parallel and Superior out of the apartment. “I still don’t know what to think of you, but i hope that in the future, i will think of you in a positive way. Goodbye everyone, i have to uh, rest.” He closes the door.

The next three weeks have been tough for both Four and Parallel. Superior has helped Parallel find herself, yet the fact that every memory, every experience, have been shared until recently, makes it so hard for Parallel to differentiate herself. Four does have it easier, but the fact that she talks like him, acts like him, and even thinks like him, makes his head hurt. Eight, who at the beginning had a dislike of Parallel, quickly grew attached to her, because if Soup deserves a chance then she does too. They have avoided each other, much to Superior’s and even Eight’s annoyance.

And today they have decided to take action, by taking Parallel to Four’s apartment. “We are your friends and we are here to help.” Says Eight.

Parallel, seeing the front door, quickly objects. “You can’t make me do this! I will just walk out!”

“If you try to leave, we will throw you back in. Same thing if Four tries to leave.” Response Superior.

The door opens a few seconds after Eight knocks, Four takes one look at them. “What are you three doing here?”

Superior speaks. “I remember that you told us that you didn’t know what to think of Parallel. Well me and my sis think you two should figure that out now.” The two Octolings push Parallel inside Four’s apartment and close the door.

“Hey! You two can’t tell me when i should talk to uh, her!” There's no response from the Octolings.

Four looks back to see Parallel sitting awkwardly on his couch. Do i have to? He slowly walks to the couch and sits next to her. “Eight and Superior wanted us to talk.” They glance at each other. “But how?”

She takes a moment to respond. “I have all of your memories, you must remember our parents right?”

Four frowns. “Mom and Dad were always away and it felt like they had us because they wanted to pretend to be a family rather than actually being one. So yes, i do remember our parents, why did you remind me that i have no family?” There's a slight venom in his voice.

“You have me.”

He gets a bit confused. “What do you mean ‘you have me’? Are you saying that you want to be my sister?”

She nods. “I was too scared to ask, but with Superior forcing my hand i felt like i should ask. I know that i can’t be Four, but i can’t be one hundred present not Four, we are just too similar. So i feel that being your sister as Superior is Eight’s brother just feels correct."

Four thinks about it. Should i say yes? Should i? …I don’t know. “Us being siblings… I’m not sure, like i don’t dislike the idea, it’s just that. What are Eight and Superior like?”

“I don’t know anymore than you. Superior is cute and cute, also uh, he’s also.” Parallel is put deep in thought. “Also smart, we are really good with machines and Superior doesn't ignore when i talk about things i’m passionate about. He is also so kind, in fact, i don’t know anyone who's more caring than him!”

Four waves a hand in front of Parallel to get her to stop talking. “Why did you interrupt me?”

He gives a smirk. “Someone has a crush~”

“No i do not!”

“Yes~”

“No!”

“I asked what Eight and Superior are like because i wanted to see if it was worth it. Except, i think a got something better~”

Parallel puts her hands on her face and grunts. “Can you at least be my brother?” Her voice is muffled.

“You know what? Sure. You are my sister now.” Parallel leans on Four and hugs him, which he returns immediately.

Chapter Text

In the morning, on a day where Pearl & Marina had the day off, they say good morning to each other and start off the day. Without Eight nor Superior around the mansion feels a bit lonely, but it has been a couple of years so they have gotten used to it.

 Four calls Pearl, which she responds with by picking up. “Yo Four! What you wanna tell me?”

“I have what Eight has.”

“Huh?”

“A sibling!”

She processes what he said for about a second. “Oh! You have a brother now!?”

“A sister.”

“You have a sister now!?”

Pearl can’t see him, but she can feel his smile. “That’s right! Her name is Parallel and she's alot like me, you’ll know when you meet her. Actually that’s what i was going to ask, can we go to you guys?”

Marina appears behind Pearl and somehow heard what they said. “Pearlie, can you give me your phone?” She gets the phone. “Hello Four, i heard that you got a sister? That’s great! Of course you two can come here!” She hangs up.

Pearl & Marina look at each other, seeing that they are wearing just pajamas or underwear. “We have to get dressed!”

An hour later, a knock is heard from the front door. Pearl runs to the door and opens it immediately, to see Four and a female inkling who looks alot like him. Why is her skin grey? That’s rude to think, i shouldn’t say that out loud.

“You must be Parallel, Four’s sister, come in!”

The siblings do as she says and then hop on the couch, with Pearl & Marina sitting on the couch opposite of them. Marina takes a proper look at Parallel and sees her skin grey… And her name is ‘parallel’. No, she can’t be, that would be impossible. “It’s just a coincidence.” Marina realizes she said that out loud.

“Actually it’s not a coincidence, i am technically a parallel cannon, hehe!” She puts a hand on the back of her neck and smiles nervously. Four looks like he’s trying to say something, but figure out what. Marina has a million thoughts going inside her mind, but none of them can escape her lips, besides making incoherent noise that sounds like a question.

Pearl takes a minute staring at Parallel. She struggles to speak, but manages to say a word. "Elaborate.”

Parallel glances at each one of them before going into her explanation. “Around a month ago, i woke up in the memverse. Now this is important so listen closely, i had all of Four’s memories, so when i woke up, i thought i was Four.”

She takes a breath before continuing. “Now we didn’t know what the memverse was, so i was pretty scared sleeping safely at my apartment then somehow ending up in a dead version of Inkopolis square. However, after an hour a small Octopus creature named Smollusk swam up to me and asked for help! It told me what the memverse was, a simulation that it and i was stock on. Smollusk said it had some level of control over the memverse, but to create bodies in the real world it needed someone with hand, for example me.”

She takes a second breath. “I agreed to help and help i did. Both me and Smollusk got into the real world where i went to Four’s apartment and, well, found out that i wasn’t Four. Or to be more accurate, couldn’t deny that i wasn’t him. Any question?”

Both Pearl & Marina have loads of questions, but Marina begins with one. “How did you become sentient?”

“I no idea.”

Marina looks at her questioningly. “I assume you are just as smart as Four, why didn’t you try to figure out why you, you know, exist?”

Parallel in return looks at her with disappointment. “Marina, i just told you, i thought i was Four. Actually i didn’t think i was Four, i knew i was Four! If you slept one night and randomly woke up in some mysterious land would your first thought be ‘I am clearly not Marina, i need to figure out why i exist’? No, your first thought would be ‘No one! I need to get to my Pearlie! How do i get out of here?’.”

Pearl asks her first question. “That doesn’t explain why you still thought you were Four even after seeing you had grey skin? And i know Smol, it would’ve told you that you were a parallel cannon.”

“Denial can be a strong emotion. Also i threatened Smollusk by saying i wouldn’t help it if it kept trying to ‘lie’ to me.”

Marina sighs, before realizing something. “Wait… Did you say that Smollusk also left the memverse?”

Parallel nods. “That’s what the little octopus told me.”

Pearl has a confused expression. “That doesn’t make sense, we just saw Smol a few days ago!”

Suddenly a knock is heard from the front door. “I’ll get it.” Marina says.

When she opens the door, she is greeted by a young octoling with completely pale skin and suspiciously familiar eyes. Before she can say anything it speaks. “Mawina, sowwy i come to the weal wowld, i wanted to be weal like u, however, i’m hungi and need food.”

Her eyes widened. “Smollusk!” Marina immediately drags Smollusk inside and sits it next to Pearl, where she then stares at it with frustration. “You have been going around the real world for a month without telling us! You could have been hurt!”

“I didn’t want u to be wowied Mawina, so i twied to suvvive on my own, i acually did well for myself, but i stawwed to fail. I’m sowwy Peawl and Mawina, i am bad at living in the weal wowld.” It starts to tear up.

Both of the idols sit next to Smollusk and hug it, with Pearl confronting it with words. “No you are not, you're just a kid who doesn’t know how the real world works yet, you will eventually when you're a grownup. The reason why Marina was so angry at you was because she was worried for you, and being worried isn't a bad thing you should try to avoid Smol. Please, stay here where we can take care of you.”

Parallel breathes out slowly. “Wow, i thought i had it tough, but you lived in the streets. While being a child!”

Four hums in agreement before looking behind him. “Eight? Superior? When did you two come here?”

Everyone looks at the two Octolings as they make the two the rest of the group. Eight clears her throat. “We were making our way to Pearl & Marina’s mansion when we noticed that the front door was open, so we just went in.”

Superior waves at Parallel. “Hi Para! What are you doing here?”

She waves back at him. “Hello Soup! I told Pearl & Marina that i'm from the Memverse!”

Superior nods before glancing at Smollusk. “Para, who’s that?”

“Hmm? Oh that’s Smollusk!”

Superior stares at Smollusk, then slowly walks up it, before making a smile. “Didn’t expect you to make it to the real world, but it’s nice that you did. Welcome to the i exist now club!” He moves his hand towards it, after realizing what he wanted it to do it raised its own hand and gave a high five. Superior then moves back next to Eight.

Marina smiles sweetly at Superior. “Thank you for being so kind to Smollusk. However, if you don’t mind me asking, why are you two here?”

“Well it’s because i have been hiding a secret from you two for six years and felt like i should confess now.”

Pearl crosses her arms. “Are you going to tell me that you're made from the primordial ooze?”

Both Eight and Superior are taken aback. “How did you guess that!?”

Pearl stands up. “I’m just not surprised anymore.” She heads towards the kitchen. “Anyway, we have the whole day ahead of us, how about we have some fun!”