Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“DAWG! I DIDN'T DO NOTHING!” Eggchan shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice hysterical despite his nonchalant expression.

Eggchan somehow dodged an incoming sword as Wemmbu and Jaden locked in to defend themselves and him. Bro, Wemmbu couldn't catch a break at all. The Arachnid situation had just happened, and now there were bandits on their tails. The demon-hybrid was seriously getting tired of it all, but at least Jaden was with them. For context, the guy had agreed to stay with them for a while until he could rebuild his civilization.

The bandits were too many, bordering on 100 or more, and they were soon backed into a cave wall with the bandits surrounding them.

“Guys, we’re surrounded!” Jaden wiped the nervous seawater from his forehead. There's no way this is how the group was going to go down.

“Nah, really? I didn't notice!” Wemmbu shouted back, his tail wrapped around Eggchan's waist defensively.

“Bro, my aura is disappearing by the minute…” Eggchan cried, hunched against the wall.

A lone arrow whizzed past Eggchan's head and embedded itself into the cave wall.

.

.

.

Well, it would've. If Eggchan hadn’t watched it phase straight through the wall.

“Eggchan!” Wemmbu shouted, “Be careful!”

Eggchan yelped in fear, grabbing the demon-hybrid, “Wait, Wemmbu, NO-”

Wemmbu pushed Eggchan back further into the wall, which caused Egg to clip into the wall. Eggchan dragged Wemmbu down with him, which made the demon grab Jaden by the wrist due to a reflex.

For the siren, the demon-hybrid's grip was like a tight iron shackle. Jaden couldn’t break out even if he tried. And even if he did, he couldn't just stay outside and let his friends be in some random glitch without extra help. So, he lowkey accepted his fate and let himself be dragged into the wall towards the other side.

Squiddo rested on the window, as she was naturally attracted to the light. It was a typical day for the pair, as the moth-hybrid hunted through the internet for new horror mods to check out, and Wifies was searching for new ARG leads. A soft ping came out of Wifies's phone, and his dog ears twitched in surprise.

“Squiddo!”

“Wifies?”

Wifies gestured for Squiddo to come towards him; he had turned his phone towards her, open to an email from a weird sender… Vex Syndicate?

“Who’s that?” Squiddo questioned, resting her head upon his shoulder.

Wifies tensed slightly. “It's…a weird organisation that me and a few more ARG investigators get emails from,” he explained. “I have no clue who they are, nor do they have any traces of them anywhere. It's like they don't even exist.”

A smirk crawled onto Squiddo's lips. “...The search for an organisation that doesn't exist.” She started to cackle loudly.

“Shut the fu- freak up,” Wifies sighed. “Just read.”

“Should we do what the email says?”

He looked at the email like it would give more context. “Usually, I do. Who knows what would happen if I didn’t? Half the time, somebody ends up needing help when one of these emails arrives.”

Squiddo nodded with determination in her eyes. “This actually sounds way more interesting than a mod anyway.” She started nudging Wifies shoulder in anticipation. “Open the Link, bro, hurry.”

Wifies tapped on it, and it led to a channel called ‘The Backrooms.’

“Wemmbu, bro, why did you push me!” Eggchan lamented, brushing imaginary dust off his suit

Wemmbu brushed his calloused fingers through his ponytail. “You were literally two seconds from being sniped out by chungies; I couldn't just stand around like an NPC,” he explained. He then turned to face a wide-eyed Jaden.

“Jaden, why did you even follow us anyway? You could've just stayed outside.”

“Because pirates are loyal to their crew, and we don't abandon them, no matter what,” Jaden stated, 

Eggchan sighed, though a warm smile tugged at his lips. “Bruh-” 

The group all started to laugh at Jaden's corny ahh statement.

Anyway, the trio was in a weird, blank room covered in yellow wallpaper. The fluorescent lights above buzzed endlessly, filling the space with an irritating hum that seemed to come from every direction at once.

Jaden felt a slight chill from the cold atmosphere of the uncanny room. He felt a terrifying, indescribable urge to leave this place and never come back.

“Bro, this is so cool!” Eggchan exclaimed; both of his companions gave him side-eyes as he wandered around to take everything in.

Wemmbu strolled after Eggchan. “Dude, what is so cool about the situation anyway?” Wemmbu asked, exhaustion seeping into his bones.

“The potential aura-farming,” Egg replied. “And besides, don't you want the recognition of discovering such a freaky glitch?”

Although Eggchan brought up some valid points, this realm was obviously dangerous, and it wasn't worth the hype moments it could bring the demon and his friends. And so, Wemmbu shook his head, grabbed Eggchan’s wrist, and dragged him to the wall they came from.

“Guys, the opening is gone,” Jaden said, astonishment prevalent in his voice.

Wemmbu froze. “Oh my gosh, there’s no way you're being for real.”

The pair ran towards Jaden and the wall. The demon put his hand against the smooth surface in panic. The siren wasn't lying; the glitch in the wall was gone. There was no way out.

A tense silence washed over the group. The strange reality of where they were finally sank in.

“Nah, bro, what do we do?” Eggchan yelled in a panic, “We’re trapped in a weird alternate dimension.”

“No,” Jaden said, standing up to face the exit. The darkness of it stretched out, but it seemed halted by the siren's presence. “If there is a way in, there's obviously a way out.”

“Jaden’s right,” Wemmbu announced. He stood next to Jaden and turned his head to face Eggchan with a determined smile.

“We just need to search for the exit.”

.

.

.

“1 mil+ aura bro.”

Wemmbu rolled his eyes. “Shut up, Egg.”