Chapter Text
The car pulled up outside the apartment building with a screech, stopping to let Blue jump out, carrying Sec in his arms. Chosen hesitated for a moment, looking at Dark, as sirens could be faintly heard in the distance.
"It's fine Cho. I'll just put the car back and meet you back home!"
Chosen sighed. "Don't get caught."
"What kind of idiot do you take me for?" Dark laughed- then suddenly got serious. "But uh, in all seriousness, if I'm not back by ten can you come bail me out?"
"Of course." Chosen sighed again, rolling his eyes with a smile. "You know I will."
Dark flashed a smile, "ok love you!" Before speeding off, and Chosen ran inside to join Blue.
Blue stood in front of the elevators, waiting for any one of them to open. Sec lay in his arms, a jacket draped over him to hide both the puppet and the two's injuries. The story the two had told them... Blue could barely suppress a shudder just thinking about it. Chosen ran up to them just as one of the elevators opened, and the two dashed in, staying in tense silence all the way up to their floor.
Green met them in the hallway as the elevator doors opened, hurriedly leading them into the apartment as Blue took the jacket off of Sec.
"Put him on the couch." Green said, splitting off to the kitchen. Blue did so, finding Red and Yellow were already there with a first aid kit and... sewing supplies?
Ah. Right. The puppet needed help. Even now, she was still bleeding red-tinted stuffing. Sec was finding it hard to think, everything going fuzzy.
Blue grabbed the well-stocked box of medical supplies and got to work on Sec's injuries, while the other two started to argue over who got to stitch Scout up. The argument was halted when Purple elbowed his way in, snatching the sewing kit.
"Sec?" Scout's voice piped up, weak and shaky, "can't... Can't you do it?"
"Sorry," he replied, his voice also growing weak, "need both hands."
With his free hand, he reached out, carefully taking Scout's remaining hand to keep her grounded. His power flickered, and he could feel himself start to slip away, even as he tried to stay conscious. But his efforts failed, and his vision faded to black as Purple approached with the threaded needle...
*~*~*
Sec slowly drifted back into wakefulness, hearing the sound of his brothers' voices, along with oddly epic music. Looking up, he saw Purple punching Mango in the face, and taking the staff. Ah, they had been playing the videos. How long had Sec been out for, if they were only now getting to this part?
"He's awake!"
Sec felt his heart skip a beat, and looked down, his green eyes meeting his puppet's yellow ones, bright, happy, alive. That was all he could see before he was enveloped in a group hug. Tears came to his eyes as he hugged back, not sure who he was holding onto but holding on with all his... Might.... His arm... Sec realized with a start that he could feel his left arm, and as soon as the hug broke up he shakily held it up in front of him. It looked normal, save for the bandages around where Scout had been attached, a bit of red bleeding through. He flexed his fingers- everything felt normal, as if nothing had happened to him.
"Hey! Host! Look at me!"
Sec looked back down at Scout, who was "sitting" on his stomach. Her right arm had been replaced by one made out of a bright orange fabric, and her grin shone as if her flashlight was on. Sec quickly picked her up and held her in a tight hug. Despite the group hug they had been in moments before, he still needed to feel she was still here, that she was ok.
"So," Sec said after a minute, his voice scratchy, "what'd I miss?"
"Well, you see..."
*~*~*
Three days. Sec had been missing for three days. Chosen paced around the living room, trying to think of something, anything. They had been searching everywhere they could think of, but with no luck. They were getting desperate, even considering going to the police to report him missing.
Yellow suddenly gasped, getting everyone's attention.
"Sec's phone! The messages went through!"
The others all pulled out their devices to check, and sure enough, the notifiers had changed from 'sending', to 'delivered'. And yet, no messages were sent in return. Chosen returned to his pacing, this time staring intently at the screen in his hand, as some of the others attempted to send more messages, trying to get through to their missing brother.
Nearly a half hour later, a message was finally sent in return.
Nap Boy: Hey jellybeans, I'm alive, can't exactly talk right now. Come get me?
It was followed by a location, and Chosen was headed for the door before he realized he was moving. He was dragged back to the others by Dark, but was the first one back out after the eight of them quickly came up with a plan.
*~*~*
"I still can't believe you stole a car."
"Well what did you expect us to do Cho? Walk?!" Dark violently yanked the wheel, and both Chosen and Blue held on for dear life as the car screeched around a corner. They were getting close to the address Sec had texted, and Dark could feel himself getting more and more anxious as they got closer. He knew how strong the kid was, Sec kicked his ass for stick's sake! So what was there that could have possibly kept him captive for three days?!
Dark sped down the road, spotting a figure standing near some kind of door leading into the ground. He did a double-take as he drove past, and Chosen whipped around in his seat.
"Hey wait, wasn't that-"
"It was!"
Dark quickly turned the car around, nearly driving off the road in his rush, and watched from the driver's seat as Blue and Chosen got out and helped Sec inside...
*~*~*
Red gasped as Sec went limp, and went to check his pulse. It was steady, almost calm, and he breathed a sigh of relief as he told the others. The puppet Sec had brought back with him- Scout, her name was- looked up at the others nervously as Purple sat on a nearby chair. He carefully got Sec's arm- and more specifically, the puppet on it- and began to work on her, carefully sewing up the stump where her arm had gotten ripped off.
Purple worked quickly and efficiently, and the hole was closed in a matter of minutes. Scout carefully felt her new "scar", before looking up at Purple.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome," he replied, carefully leaning down and petting her head. She begrudgingly stayed still and accepted it, as the room grew silent. The silence lingered until Green broke it, asking what everyone was thinking.
"So what now?"
"Well," Blue spoke up, picking up the first-aid kit and holding a glowing red bottle, "we should probably get Scout off his arm-"
"No!" The shout left her before she realized it had formed, and suddenly all eyes were on her. She swallowed, looking around nervously, and held onto Sec's shirt. "I... I don't know what'll happen if we're separated. I don't wanna die."
"Hmm..." Yellow hummed to himself, bringing his hand up to his chin in thought. "Wasn't there some time when those guys were alive without hosts?"
"Hey, yeah! That tape Sec mentioned, the one where Owen said they came out wrong, that seemed to be before they had hosts!" Green added, snapping his fingers as he spoke.
"So," Red continued, leaning over the back of the couch to pet Scout, "you'll probably be ok!"
Scout looked between the tall beings- there was no convincing them otherwise, it appeared. She sighed, continuing to cling to her human's shirt as she lowered her head.
"Alright then, fine. But if you kill me, I'll... I'll fucking haunt you!"
Blue took Purple's seat, gently held Sec's arm up, and began to cut. Scout flinched every time she heard one of the threads snap, her eyes squeezed shut, until Blue was finished, and he carefully slipped her off the arm, gently placing her on Sec's chest.
Scout cracked her eyes open- she was still alive? She looked back at Blue bandaging her host's arm, where she had been attached, before a loud noise caused everyone to jump. The puppet looked up to see a large television on the wall had lit up, and on it... Was a small black stick figure, running around with an arrow thing.
Chosen quickly scanned the room, sighing when he spotted the floating remote. "Really, Victim?"
Victim made himself visible with a giggle, and shrugged, placing the remote back down on the coffee table.
"What? It was too quiet in here. And besides, Scout told us a whole lot about her on the car ride over, it's only fair she knows our stories!"
Chosen glanced at the puppet, only to sigh as her attention was focused on the TV. Purple glanced over to him.
"Movie night?"
"I guess."
And so the sticks started to settle in, watching as the adventures they had gone on played out. Dark returned home not long after, just in time to see when he and Chosen had first teamed up.
Around the time the sticks were fighting off spiders as they raced down minecart tracks, Red leaned over the back of the couch again.
"Hey Scout, can I borrow you for a moment?"
"Wh- hey!!" She protested as he easily picked her up, bringing her over to the kitchen table, where a pile of different fabrics had been gathered.
"We want to make you a new arm, but we thought it'd be best to let you choose the color. So, what do you think?"
Scout looked at the pile before her, before looking back to the couch, at her still-unconscious host, and then at the TV, where his past self and his friends had performed amazing feats of valor.
Pulling herself forwards, she spotted a bright orange fabric and pulled it from the pile.
"This one."
*~*~*
"And yeah, that's pretty much everything."
Sec sat back as he processed everything he'd been told, absently petting Scout, who happily leaned into his hand. Suddenly, his stomach let out a gurgling complaint, and Sec doubled over in pain.
"Oh- Sec you must be starving! Hang on I'll get you something!"
Blue quickly got up, running over to the kitchen, and returning sooner than Sec would've thought possible, carrying a steaming bowl on a tray.
"Here, we had stew the other night." Blue said, as Sec carefully took the tray from him. His stomach growled again as he took in the smells, and he smiled, glancing around at everyone as he started to eat.
It was good to be home.