Chapter Text
The rotary phone rang loudly, disturbing the peaceful quiet that formerly inhabited the space, prompting it's only resident to stand up from his slumber.
"Can't even sleep for a week anymore?" He groaned, dark skin with dark green and purple patches decorating the skin in a ugly mix from up close, but a beautiful view from afar. His mop of dread tangling before his face as bony hands struggled to put them back in their topknot.
He dragged himself from bed, now fully aware and awake, guiding himself out of the room and through the hallway, all the way to the end where the dreaded phone rang.
It was nothing special, or at least it wasn't supposed to be, it's blood red colour only accompanying the white accents on the numbers. It wasn't connected to anything sure enough, and that wasn't even the worst part. Oh dear no, that belonged to-
"How's my favorites zombie~?"
-this insufferable pile of whatever the hell he's made of.
"You don't even let me take naps anymore. That's how much trouble you keep getting yourself in and how many people are dying." The dark zombie spat, clearly annoyed.
"Sleeping for a week doesn't count as a 'nap' y'know?" A bright voice spoke from the other side, a contrast to the dead and gloomy tone of the zombie.
"Oh no, if only I was alive to actually take the nonsense you're spouting into consideration." He groaned sarcastically, looking around the hall for any semblance of a mess. It was as tidy as he left it. Good.
"Awww.....turn that non-existent frown upside down." The man at the other end chirped with glee so infectious you could smell it from the other end. It was sickening for someone like him.
"We both know I couldn't do anything other than smile even when I was alive, Avery." His teeth were locked in a permanent smile, and with his skin around the mouth now completely rotten, he definitely couldn't look anything other than smiling even if he tried.
"I know! It's why I love that dull expression with no emotion so much, Derek! There's just something about looking like a smiling dick that brings warmth to my heart."
"Don't speak like you have anything inside that hollow shell you call a body."
"It was an 'in the moment' thing~ besides It's still me? It was gonna be mine anyway I just wanted to skip the process! How mean of you to bring up my hollow skin...."
Derek could feel Avery's pathetic display on his useless attempt on pouting. This moron's been around for only three months and the amount of shit that has happened since then have been nothing short of absolutely atrocious each time.
"Remember that friend you wanted me to find? Yeah I found her and I kept her in the trunk of your car-"
"Wait, you're downstairs? What the hell's made you so polite? You would've tried to burn down the house by now just to get on my nerves."
"I thought you liked your beauty sleep~ oh well. " Avery replied mischievously.
Derek set the phone down and rushed to the balcony just outside the kitchen. He looked down and saw a blonde man in a Hawaiian shirt and black shorts waving at him with his left hand, while it's right hand was busy pretending to be a phone on his ear. Pinkie and thumb fully stretched.
Derek wanted to jump from the balcony but decided against it, instead opting to just go down and get it over with. He didn't want this pissant getting annoyed.
By the time he got downstairs he noticed the trunk was open, the view leading to a girl in caramel skin and brown-blonde braids with different colors styled in it. S
he wore an oversized blue sweater and pinkish purple shorts, her arms and legs tied behind her to avoid any escape. Her mouth was sealed off with....negative space? The hell did she do to Avery?
On sighting Derek the girl immediately stopped her struggling, frozen in shock for a few seconds before bursting into tears, her words muffled by the cover. "And so we can finally flee this space. The fool's about to arrive here and I'm not strong enough to deal with it just yet." Avery chirped.
Derek simply stared at July for a bit as he approached her slowly like she was a sensitive child who just discovered the monsters in their dreams are real. Just as he was about to touch her his hand was violently yanked by Avery before a glove was forced on his hand.
"Derek, as much as I love my beautiful undead bastard, I still need her to be alive. I've done my research and apparently the moron she has a contract with needs her alive. M'kay?" Avery spoke in his usual voice, but it was more imposing as he held Derek's hand with an iron grip and his unending smile wavered a bit.
The undead stared at him before scoffing and taking back his hand as Avery patted his head like a miserable pet.
It's not like it wasn't true.
July was freed from her binds and the negative space was released, she took a second of silence to collect her thoughts before sobbing again. "You're dead...." She said in a vice so silent it could barely pass above a whisper.
"I mean I am still dead.....but thanks to this dickhead I can't even be given eternal rest. " Derek said in a soft voice, even if his face looked dismissive of July's crying.
The three got in the car with July and Derek in the backseat, and Avery taking the wheel. "July Absil. It's wonderful meeting you without you trying to break my body. It's a sensitive thing." Derek scoffed at the last part, while July stared at Avery with discontent and shame in her eyes.
"Anyways, long story short. Your reality doesn't exist anymore, congratulations!" Avery said in the happiest voice he had while the mortals in the back exclaimed a loud and justified "WHAT?"
"C'mon! You didn't think I'd kidnap her for no reason did you? A fragment of the fool is remaking it to accommodate his needs. And unfortunately for me it's the biggest fragments to exist. The fool and it's vessel wouldn't be a problem, but it's the fragments of the original versions of you that are gonna be the real problem. Does everything make sense? Of course it does. Now July we need a dimensional track to follow so we can get the hell outta here before it's already too late."
The two stared at each other in shock, the Avery, as they stumbled to get their words right.
"I'm not making a dimensional gate for you! I'm not even strong enough to make a whole track!"
"Avery, what the hell are you talking about?! Fragments? Original? Did you do something?"
The two berated Avery with all kinds of questions, but just as Avery was about to talk, lightning flashed as thunder roared and the sky turned a void black, the stars being swallowed and the clouds taken over by a sickening yellow.
"That's what we gotta hurry against." He said with his unchanging tone, while worry and disgust filled July and Derek. "July just focus on making the track, I'll do my own part. After all it should be nothing to me. And if you really want answers and stay alive, then do your part. I've got a really interesting story for you."
July pursed her lips in deep thought and weighed her options. There are multiple versions of her, if she disappeared it would be nothing, there are still a good amount of hers in the vast infinity of the multiverse. But something told her this would go into something far worse if she didn't go with this random who, despite his dumb face, clearly knew what he was doing. Plus she was still young, she didn't want to die yet.
She closed her eyes and put her palms together as her fingers intertwined in a mock prayer. The words she formed were not hers as never will be, but she felt a shift in her surroundings.
"See? That wasn't too hard." Avery said in a smug voice as a swirling mass of dark colors surrounding a dark circle appeared before them, the car starting up and driving through the portal just as a giant golden spear with a tattered red cloth tied around the head barely scrapped them.
Avery laughed dangerously as the beauty of Infinite realities unfurled before them, leaving the passengers in awe, almost forgetting that they almost died.
"Derek....." Avery said in a normal voice. "You've always wanted to know who I've referred to as 'The Fool' right?" He nodded. "And July, you want to know what just happened, yea?" She quietly nodded.
A manic grin formed on the blonde's face, frightening the two. None of them felt comfortable with whatever this pressure was. Avery was definitely pissed now. Derek could feel it.
"Have you ever heard of a shitty bastard, named The King In Yellow?"