Chapter Text
It began innocently, just a simple curiosity.
He couldn’t get her out of his mind ever since Quackity dragged him along to meet his so-called ‘good friend’.
Maybe it’s how easily she let innocent white lies slip from her soft lips upon being approached. Or maybe it was how her eyes lit up when he jokingly offered her nuclear bombs in exchange for decorating Quackity’s ‘apartment’.
Against his better judgment, he waited for her to return to his reactor the next day, and the day after.
The memory of her threatening Quackity’s life with a dangerous glint in her eye wedged itself into the deepest nooks of his mind. The look on her face disappearing before he could even blink, replaced with something kinder, barely considerable as threatening. He couldn’t stop thinking about her over the next month as he built his reactor from the ground up.
He still thinks about what could’ve been. She would’ve made the perfect assistant to his plans. He knew she would’ve understood, there was something about her that made Multi so certain of this fact. He couldn’t quite place his finger on it.
Curiosity slowly ate away at him while he worked in his lab. The overwhelming urge to know what she was up to—what had been more important than returning to him clawed at his skin.
He needed to know, needed to see her again.
He hid himself away, buried miles underground and surrounded by the comfort and safety of his own reinforced lab. Uranium seemed to seep into his very being, the tips of his hair slowly turning a radioactive green, and the tone of his skin looking paler and more sickly as the days went on.
It’s been a while since he’s seen the sun, a while since he’s seen Katie. He hasn’t forgotten about her, not a day goes by where she doesn’t cross his mind.
A loud ping shattered the otherwise deafening silence of his office, pulling Multi’s head back down from the clouds. He glanced at his communicator, looking to see if it was anything important or just a waste of his time as usual.
saucebxss: everyone is invited to my grand kfc opening
It seems the world had been kind enough to toss him a bone, dropping an excuse to see her right into his lap. He would be a fool to not take the opportunity.
He carelessly tossed his unfinished lab report onto his growing stack of papers, he could finish it later using his barely legible notes. His desk was a complete mess, cluttered and chaotic. It’s state isn’t going to change anytime soon, he had more important matters than keeping his workspace tidy.
Quickly checking his body for all of his necessities, he pulled out his warpstone and activated it. Purple particles enveloped him, the loud whirl of the magic item breaking down the atoms of his person filled the quiet office.
He remembered Quackity conversing with Nexe and Ewron about some KFC near spawn, had he been aware that a certain unicorn hybrid owned it, he would’ve listened more intently. Something about splash potions, he recalled.
Giving the warpstone menu a quick glance over, he pressed the button labeled ‘Spawn’.
In the blink of an eye, his dimly lit and disorganized office vanished around him, replaced with the bright and bustling spawn. He faintly felt the warpstone dismantle his body, atom by atom, before piecing him back together at his chosen location. It always felt odd, it never hurt, but he could feel it nonetheless.
Groaning, he squinted his eyes as he let them adjust to the new light levels. Maybe he should work on improving the lighting in his reactor, he’d hate for an issue regarding his vision to arise.
People walked past Multi as he tried to find his bearings, murmurs about ‘Katie’ and ‘KFC’ reaching his ears as his eyes finally stopped trying to stab at his skull. He shook out his wings and followed the noise, turning to see the giant red spinning sign sitting right at the end of the bridge. It was certainly attention grabbing and hard to miss.
A large crowd had already gathered outside of the restaurant, all antsy to see the long awaited grand opening.
He spotted her immediately as he strolled up to the red fence, Katie stood there nervous and overwhelmed, her tail swishing behind her anxiously. A captivating helpless smile painted her face as she tried to get everyone to calm down. Multi said nothing as he stared at her, his month old memory could never compare to seeing her in person.
He couldn’t stop staring. She wouldn’t notice him doing so anyways, standing quietly and off to the side. Her attention was stolen by the loud mouths leaning over her fence, demanding for her establishment to open faster.
His gaze lingered on her features, taking in how her sky blue eyes sparkled behind her shades as she spoke. Sunlight casted her hair in an almost ethereal glow, highlighting its unique color— not quite blond, but not fully ginger either, rather the perfect in between. Her lips curved into a timid smile that could only be found in commercials. He was enraptured with how the light bounced off her horn, making it look iridescent.
She was otherworldly.
He felt his fingers twitch with the need to retrieve his camera. The sheer desire to immortalize her in an image, to preserve this moment, to be in possession of a one of a kind photo of Katie, it flowed through his veins and overwhelmed him.
He knew he shouldn’t be thinking about her like this. Shouldn’t be so fixated on a woman he’s barely met.
But, would it be so wrong?
It’s only a photo.
It’s not weird, he tells himself. He just needed a clear image of her in case they don’t cross paths for another month or so. He needed to keep tabs on all of the islanders anyways if he wanted his plan with the reactor to run smoothly.
A quiet voice in the back of his head whispers that she deserves to be more than just a fuzzy memory. So much more.
He pushes the thought away.
He’s doing this for a practical reason, nothing else.
Pulling out his camera, he navigates through its settings to switch on the silent shooting mode. He doesn’t register when Katie cuts the ribbons, officially announcing KFC’s opening.
He turns the main dial to a flashless mode, snapping a photo of the grass in front of him to test that everything’s to his liking.
Silent and unnoticeable.
Multi looks up hoping to catch a glimpse of Katie, only to be met with no one. Everyone has already entered, excitedly lining up to order or sitting in booths to wait for their food.
Hiding his camera away in his hotbar, he walks inside and sits in a corner booth, distancing himself from the commotion. This would be the perfect time, everyone's busy doing one thing or the other, conversing amongst themselves so loudly he could barely hear his own thoughts. His heightened sense of hearing didn’t offer him any relief. He’s sure no one would notice him taking a few photos.
Retrieving his camera, he raises the device and focuses on Katie’s face, adjusting his lens to make sure it captures her perfectly. His slender finger hovered over the shutter button ready to—
He startles in his seat at the sudden sound of islanders throwing up and Mike yelling in a panic. He accidentally captures the devastated look that overtakes her face the moment she realizes they’re all here to sabotage and make fun of her.
Someone like her should never look this way.
He looks at the photo produced, her shining eyes that enchanted him nowhere to be seen. It had been replaced by a vacant stare, confusion and betrayal swimming in her eyes. Her mouth hung slightly agape, as if she couldn’t believe they would do this to her.
Multi couldn’t believe it either.
How could they look at someone as divine as Katie and dare to put such a look on her face?
He ignores the way his stomach churns, discarding his previous thought. He doesn’t think that of her, he shouldn’t.
His fingers unconsciously clench around the photo in his hand, her image buckling under the stress.
Pocketing the photo and his camera, he quietly sidles up next to Foolish and Duncan, standing there as if he had been with them since the beginning.
He couldn’t tear his eyes off her face, watching her features twist and contort from the stages of grief she must be going through.
When dimmed blue eyes met his own, he froze. Heat crept up the back of his neck, and he suddenly averted his gaze, busying himself with replacing her carpets that had been blown up amidst the chaos. Paranoid that she would somehow know about his borderline disturbing thoughts if he held her gaze for too long.
The sheer embarrassment and hurt drove Katie to run away from the scene, her legs carrying her wherever they deemed fit. She turned to look at her pride and joy, her business with Mike. She’s spent the last week building the establishment from the ground up with Mike, she poured her heart and soul into that white and red building.
She just wanted to share something from her homeland with her new companions. Sure, it’s not a one to one replica, nor did the food taste the same. But it’s not her fault her memory was hazy, it’s hard to remember anything prior to the cruise ship. Hell, she would argue that her attempt was pretty good considering she’s not even used to how the grass crunches beneath her feet.
She isn’t used to people being so cruel to her.
What had she even done? Is there a rule she unknowingly broke to warrant this behaviour towards her? She considers the past week of her being on the island, she had been trying her best to adapt to the islanders way of speaking, but she can tell she missed the nail more times than she’d like to count.
Their awkward laughs, sidelong glances, she knows she’s not yet assimilated, but she just needed a little more time.
She looks at the KFC one more time, before pillaring up with whatever materials she had, tears clouding her vision. It wasn’t fair.
Multi could only watch as she cried in front of the camera shoved in her face, everyone had gathered to watch as if her misery was some sort of sick tv sitcom.
The wind threaded its fingers through her hair almost like it was an attempt to comfort her. She looked like she belonged up there, in the skies.
The orange glow of the sunset caressed her face, apologizing on the islanders behalf.
The island wouldn’t allow her this one peace even as she’s on the brink of ending everything, her breakdown broadcasted to the entire island—showcasing the face that was too ashamed to see the rest of the islanders again after what occurred today.
He watched as she yelled and screamed, pushing the camera man away, wanting just this one thing for herself.
Before he could even blink, she lost her footing.
Time seemed to slow down, and for a split second, Multi understood why people worshipped and dedicated their whole lives to their made up gods.
She tumbled from the skies as if she were an angel kicked out of heaven, her hair fanning out into her own personal halo. The only thing missing is a pair of pristine white and feathery wings, slowly dirtied and corrupted by the islanders' malice.
His body moved before his mind could catch up, reaching out to do something, anything. To spare her from such a miserable ending.
A loud splash! broke him out of his trance, Graf’s frantic sentences blurring into indecipherable white noise.
“Nonsense”, he muttered to himself as he watched Graf approach Katie like she was a frightened animal, ready to lash out and flee at any moment.
Katie is no angel. She is no god. He is a god.
He’s just sleep deprived, he tells himself. It was just a trick of the eye.
His eyes tracked every movement of hers, every crinkle of her nose as she sniffled, the way her hands shook besides her. He stood far away and unnoticed under treeshade, simply observing as people gathered around to console Katie.
Watched as she got into Quackity’s face, screaming about the unfairness of it all. How they stomped all over her days worth of hard work and crushed her excitement beneath their idea of a good joke.
Averting his gaze at the sorrowful scene, he reaches into his backpack to search for a special gift. Feeling his fingers come into contact with something cool and sleek to the touch, he pulled it out to give it a quick once over before stalking over to the crowd.
“Katie,” he called, “I have a present for you.”
He fought off the urge to avert his gaze when she turned to acknowledge him.
He gestured for her to put her hands out, looking into her watery eyes as he placed a security camera in her hands. He drank in every movement and twitch on her tear streaked face as she slowly recognized what he gifted her.
“Your first security camera,” he explained. He didn’t mention that the feed is linked to his own monitor link. What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.
She shouldn’t ever know, he specially developed the camera himself, making sure to remove the blinking red lights.
He was very well aware that Katie was clueless when it came to cameras and security, overhearing her and Mike’s hushed conversation about whether or not they should set up security measurements for their KFC earlier before the horrific grand opening.
She had been too trusting, refusing to believe that the islanders would go out of their way to ruin this for her.
He knew she would rather carry it around in her backpack than take the time to set it up in her restaurant. That’s just the kind of person she is.
Katie stared at the device before nodding her head with a quiet murmur of thanks, her gaze lingering on him for a beat too long. It made his stomach twist in anxiety as she turned back to the people trying to console her.
Multi stuck around for a few more minutes, observing quietly. His gaze flitting between Katie’s hands around his camera and her face flickering through a million different emotions. She didn’t know what to believe.
He noticed the way Katie tightened her grip around his camera whenever they laughed in her face and treated her like some joke. Only to immediately backtrack and reassure her that she can come back from this.
“Okay, I’ll reopen, since everybody is begging me to,” she announces, her eyes assessing the crowd to see if they approved.
It’s odd, Multi notices she does it often. Looking around to gauge peoples reactions, as if she doesn’t know if what she’s saying is appropriate to the situation or not.
A large grin breaks out on her face when they start cheering and popping confetti poppers, “Go around and everybody say one nice thing about me, Quackity, go.”
The man in question replies without missing a beat, “Absolutely, Katie, your medium rare chicken was very juicy.”
She smiles and moves on to address Foolish, unaware of the subtle diss.
Multi stood frozen in his spot. His eyes darted between her and the others, panic slowly filling his chest. Saying something nice about Katie isn’t a problem, no, the problem is that he’s afraid of accidentally saying something too specific, too intimate.
He’s aware he examined her more than the regular islander did.
Before he knew it, their eyes met, Foolish and Graf giving their answers too quick for his liking. He feels rooted in his spot, like she’s taking him apart under her gaze. “Multi?” She gives him a verbal nudge, prompting him to give his answer.
“I— Ah,” he pauses, “You have.. very nice glasses,” he forces out awkwardly.
She stares at him with an unreadable look in her eye, a second passes before she breaks out into a blinding smile.
She turned to address the group, slowly backing away as she spoke, “Thank you guys, KFC will reopen!”
With that, she ran off into the distance, cheers and applause erupting from the group left behind.
Multi’s eyes followed her until she was nothing more than a dot in the horizon. The brief exchange replayed in his mind, the moment they shared had been so fleeting he was starting to wonder if he made it all up.
He hadn’t realized the others around him had delved into another conversation, and if he’s being honest with himself, he had no intentions of staying to chat. He had more important things on his mind.
He apologized and gave a halfassed excuse of needing to get to bed, barely giving them any time to bid him goodnight before pulling out his warpstone and teleporting away with a flash of purple.
As the particles dissipated from his vision, the dim light of his office and quiet buzz of machinery welcomed his return. He paid it no mind, tossing his backpack in the general vicinity of his desk as he quickly pulled out the monitor link.
Walking over to the security monitors surveilling his reactor, he reached to turn on one of the spare blanks. Ignoring the familiar chime of CNE Corp, he binded Katie’s camera onto the monitor.
Static buzzed to life, flickering once before the live feed appeared and muffled voices spilled from the tiny speakers. As he predicted, she left the camera in her backpack, the tip of her diamond knife making itself known in the corner.
It’s not weird. He’s not stalking her. He’s doing this for a sensible reason, he needs to monitor the island to make sure his plans stay safe.
The muffled sound of Katie’s voice kept him company as he sat back down to resume filling out his report. Her crumpled photo tucked away safely in his drawer.