Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hello! You either know me for oneshots like 'A Wish Came True' or this is your first fic from mine that you found.

If you're in the latter, hi :]! Take a seat and enjoy the ride. 

The universe this story is set in an apocalyptic world with some high tech and I guess some fantasy stuff 

In this story, I intend to tackle topics such as death, grief, humanity and inhumanity. Mainly coming from Meme’s, biased point of view. But I do intend on occasionally having chapters focusing on other characters.

The only, current and obvious romantic shipping is between Wiktoria and Meme. Knowing me however, I might snuck in some Laff/Socks. (or twinkling gas as I call it)

But don't worry! I won't make Socks or Laff a girl for the sole purpose of pairing them together because guess what? That's homophobic :] but we're not diving into my political views today. 

However since the topic of queer people was brought up by me, a queer individual, I think I should mention that trans characters will be here although not so noticeable. Because I'm trans, and who am I harming? 

I shall add that this fic won't have a consistent update schedule as that simply stresses me out.

That is all, have a good read! :]

And if you don't, just have a great day! Unless you're queerphobic, in that case, please educate yourself on the topic. 

Ps, don't ship children with adults. Fictional or not.

Chapter Text

"I can't believe this!" He sighed out as he walked around in circles, his hand gripping onto the bat tightly. "We were there at the start of the apocalypse!" He scoffed out, glaring at the ground. "We survived an alien outbreak!" He screamed out and stopped in his tracks, harshly stomping his feet. "This can't be how we die!" 

"Guess who got another mission?~" Socks announced in a sing song voice, skipping over to join them. Meme rolled his eyes and looked over towards his friend. "We get it. It kinda lost its charm after like, the tenth time you bragged," He joked. Meanwhile, Joocie just clapped his hands and laughed out, "Congratulations Socks! That must be cool." 

"We seriously need to get a mission together," TBVG chuckled. Socks joined them and sighed out, "Oh god. That'll be so awesome." He laughed out and nodded his head in agreement. He sighed out dreamily, "But we just have to dream." Laff cut in, "When we get a mission together, we should just sneak our phones and take selfies to prove our superiority." 

"When?" TBVG repeated in a questioning tone. To which Laff just confidently nodded his head, puffing his chest out. "We'll manage it in due time. I'm a high ranked, very respected researcher, translator, communicator and innovator in the MIRA headquarters," He bragged with a smug smile on his face. "Plus, I'm quite the charming fella wouldn't ya's say?" 

"And guess who got a promotion!" Socks jumped in. Everyone dropped what they were doing and got up. "Yooo! Seriously bro?" Blaza cried out. He dashed towards Socks and wrapped his arms around his waist, picking him up and spinning him around in the air. "Congratulations man! That's awesome." 

"Hey! Put me down!" Socks screamed out jokingly, breaking out into laughter as a wide grin spreading across his face. "I'm a big man now!" Blaza chuckled and placed him down, letting him go. "Ay-yeah captain!" He patted his head, a wide grin planted onto his face. "Whatever you say." 

"I'm guessing you're the captain of this new mission of yours?" Laff muttered and walked up to him. When Socks giggled and nodded his head, Laff simply just noted it out loud with a nod. "Excellent. One step closer to a mission together." 

"What am I hearing?" They looked over and Meme grinned brightly when he saw his fiancé. "Vicky!" He called out and jumped out of his seat, rushing over to join her side. He got onto his knees and ruffled the hair of his young child. "Nadwe. Just in time." 

"We missing something?" Bella asked. He looked up to find his ex next to Wiktoria with her arms stretched out behind her back. "I got a promotion!" Socks yelled out proudly. "You're looking at the captain of a new crew." 

"Epic." Bella did a thumbs up. "Just don't die," She joked with a lazy grin. "Bella!" Wiktoria yelled out, snapping her head up to her sister. "What? You want him to die?" She joked in a dead tone. "What-! Of course not!" Meme tuned out the friends' joke fight and looked down to Nadwe. He laughed out and took off his dumb cap with googly eyes, placing it onto his small head. "Yeah Nad?" 

"Socks iz gonna go away?" He mumbled and Meme chuckled. He nodded his head and picked up to child. "Yeah. But it shouldn't be long." He turned towards Socks and he chuckled, nodding his head to confirm his statement. "We're going to Polus to pick up some materials and pack up some things." He shrugged and dropped his arms. "MIRA decided to drop the planet." 

He cocked an eyebrow. "Any reasons?" Socks just shrugged and walked up to him. He grinned and reached out to Nadwe. "Hey there." Meme chuckled at how his voice changed to the one he only used when talking to cats. "How's it going little buddy?" 

"Im not wittle!" He cried out and lightly swung his arms. "I'm a big boy!" Socks laughed out and grabbed his hand, gently shaking it. "Of course. My bad." 

"When can you come back?" Nadwe asked. His smile dampened and he leaned back, setting down his arms as he stared off into space. "While usually to Polus it'll only take three months to go there and three months to go back, maybe even more considering the mission's purpose," He trailed off. "But since I'll be captain for once. I'll be busy training to be prepared for everything ya know?" He looked back to Nadwe. "I'll be busy for weeks or even months before the mission." 

"So no socksy?" He asked sadly, a disappointed pout on his face. Socks cracked a dull smile and leaned downwards towards him. "I'll try and make as much time for you." He blooped Nadwe's nose and leaned back up. "And everyone here. You all mean a lot to me." 

"Yay!" Nadwe cried out, clapping his hands excitedly. Meme felt his heart melt and leaned down to press a kiss onto his temple. "You adorable bastard." 

"And it won't." He snapped his head towards Blaza. He wore a dead, mutated bear skin on him, covering his head and shoulders, bits of his light blond hair peeking out of the head. He had the animal's arms wrapped around his shoulders and goggles strapped over his eyes, there were remains of bear claws and bite all over him under his outfit. Meme knows because he and Laff treated him after he killed the breast. He confidently stated, "We're going to get out of here."

"Alive." 

Meme dashed downstairs in nothing but his pajamas and a coat. He ran past a startled Wiktoria and made a beeline towards the front door. 

"Wait baby!" He stopped in his tracks and turned around to see his fiancé walking up to him. "What about Nadwe? He would want to say goodbye to Socks." He frowned and glanced back to the door then back to Wiktoria. He sighed out and covered his face. "I'll start up the car, wake Nad up." He purposely left out the part that he was partly late despite it being five in the morning. He didn't want to worry her. 

She nodded her head and turned around, making her way upstairs as quickly as she could manage. He turned around and crouched down. He quickly put on the winter boots then opened the door, rushing outside towards his car. 

The cold of the coming winter immediately slapped him on the face. He took in a shaky breath and pushed past that, focusing on his task at hand. 

He opened the car and rushed into it, slamming the door shut behind him. He turned on the car and placed in the key, turning it on to start the engine. He activated the A/C and raised the temperature to warm up the inside of the car. 

He looked towards his right when he heard the door opened and found Wiktoria getting in with a sleepy Nadwe in her arms. She quickly buckled herself in, carefully wrapping the seatbelt around Nadwe. She looked up and smiled at him. "Do you really think I wouldn't say goodbye to one of my best-est of friends?" 

He chuckled and looked up into the mirror. He began backing up into the road carefully, not wanting to get into an accident that might left them severely scarred. He was careful when speeding down the road, staying as close as he could to the side and avoiding hitting any other cars on the road. Although it seemed like there was more trucks in the early morning. 

They quickly made it to the MIRA and Meme half hazily parked his car. They rushed out of the car and towards the entrance, entering the building where he found his friends surrounded in. 

Oompa looked over and cried out, "What took you so long?" "My alarm broke!" Meme answered, panting as he stopped right in front of them. "Are we late?" Wiktoria asked in a raised tone, careful to not startle Nadwe. "Did we miss Socks?" She sounded heartbroken, as if she's been told her mother just passed away. 

"Nah fam. You're just in time." They looked over and found TBVG with crossed arms, a smile presented on his face. "Laff managed to get them to delay the launch so everyone can say goodbye." He uncrossed his arms and gestured for them to follow him. "Come on now before they change their minds." 

They immediately dashed forwards, some sprouting praises or just a simple thanks. Either way, TBVG just chuckled and shrugged it off. "It's nothing really guys." He soon led them off towards the familiar hallway. "It sucks to not get the chance to say goodbye to someone. Just trying to prevent that from happening to you." 

After some twists and turns, they ended up at the launching area. He watched as just pure delight took over Socks' face when he noticed them. He dropped his helmet and whatever conversation with his crew them just to rush straight towards them. 

They all took turns to embrace each other in a hug. Nadwe instantly woke and got a few seconds longer with him. As much as they wanted to be there for longer, Socks had to leave. They bid each other one last goodbye and Socks rushed off to join his crew on the ship. 

They decided to spend the rest of the day lazily hanging out with each other in Blaza's living room.

"How?" He growled out. He used his bat to point towards the rocks and mud that blocked out the entrance. "How do you expect to do that, Blaza? We're bulldozed in!" He pointed towards TBVG on the ground, who looked more robot than man by now. "We have someone with a broken leg!" He threw his arms back and slowly back up, keeping his eyes on Blaza. "We're stuck in an underground, abandoned school facility. How are we suppose to get out?" 

They decided to have a sleepover one night over at Laff's place, something they usually do at least once a month. Just happened to be at his place that night. 

Nadwe quickly got tired out and Wiktoria brought him upstairs to tug him in to sleep. Woolf soon followed, having to be later carried away by his brother, Dino, to a guest room. Both legal guardians soon returned and they decided to just binge watch movies. 

Somehow, they ended up watching a horror movie about aliens. 

It should've gone by smoothly. Nothing out of the ordinary should've happened. 

And yet it did... in a way. 

"Is... everything alright Laff?" Tbh hesitantly asked. Bella paused the movie and they all immediately turned towards their friend. He tended up under their worried gazes. A nervous smile soon broke out onto his face, with an equally nervous chuckle followed soon after. "I'm... I'm fine mates." Meme frowned in doubt. "It's just... I'm a bit worried about Socks." 

"There's no need to man!" TBVG spoke up. He leaned over and patted Laff's shoulder. "This is like, his eighteenth mission or something. He's fine!" Laff chuckled and nodded his head. Although something still felt off, and it seemed like it wasn't just Meme. "Is this about him being captain?" Ally asked, leaning downwards to him from her position on the couch. "I'm sure he's fine in that department too. He worked his ass off for that." 

"No- No it's not that," Laff sighed out, finally giving in to their concern. "It's just that-." He cut himself off, bringing a hand up to rest into his brown locks of hair as he looked down to his lap. There was a moment of silence. 

Within it, they all slowly made their way away from Laff, giving him the space they felt was necessary for him. He sighed out and removed his hand, dropping it into his lap. "I'm not even supposed to say anything..." 

Meme narrowed his eyes as his mind drifted off for an explanation. Because to be frank, Laff wasn't afraid of anything, and if he was, he masked it well. Maybe it was because of how he was rise, but it was none of their business. So Meme was left dumbfounded to see the mask casually slipped off. 

However, it didn't felt like he was afraid, simply just hesitate. Yet that was enough to leave him an uneasy feeling in his stomach. 

"Laff... what is it?" Joocie asked out. "I don't want to push you but. Please Laff," He pleaded, a frown slowly damped onto his face. He sighed out and balled up his fist. "I've been... demoted." He sighed out and leaned up again the couch, pressing his head back onto the seat of the couch. "I received a message from Polus. And it was... concerning." 

Silence washed over and they all shared a startled look. After a silence agreement formed, TBVG scooted over to Laff, sitting down next to him. He placed his hand onto his shoulder and asked in a gentle tone, "What... did it say Laff?" 

He sighed out and shut his eyes, looking like he was asleep. He answered in a much more hushed tone, as if he was afraid that someone will overhear him. "The messenger wrote that while packing things up from the station and moving them to the ship. They found some broken glass on the floor in specimen." He sat up, plopping his back onto the couch. "When they met up, they reported that everyone caught glimpses of... something... and heard foreign noises." 

He opened his eyes, keeping his eyes down on his lap with his lips lightly bitten down. "I showed it to the higher ups obviously." He looked up and suddenly the mood dropped with a shadow of anxiety casted over his eyes, glimmers of worry, anger and confusion swimming around in the deep, green pool of Laff's eyes. "Then they told me to not worry about it but obviously that just made me more worry." He slumped down, bringing his hand up then placing his chin down onto his palm. 

"I kept asking questions and they grew... anxious but tried to mask it with their authority," He continued to explain. "I grew suspicious and angry because I felt like they were hiding something. Then they grew irritated enough to demote me and threatened legal actions if I speak out." 

After the last words were uttered and nothing else came, silence fell onto them, leaving everyone to think about what he had just said. 

Then, Bella spoke up, "So they sent them on a suicide mission?" His heart sank as he thought back to Socks' excitement. There was no way he knew, if he had he wouldn't had accepted the mission. Of course, unless they were to... threaten him. Because clearly they were capable of doing that. 

But then he thought back to how genuine he seemed, his excitement, his obvious pride and all the devotion he poured into for that mission, to be the best captain he could be. 

And his heart flattered at the realisation that. No, he remained oblivious until the very end. 

"Is that why you've been reading about laws and stuff?" Oompa hesitantly asked. Laff sighed out and nodded his head. "I can't go against them without any information. Or even valid claims." He quickly added in, "Or at least valid claims that I can use without risking my safety." 

"So... what now?" Ally asked and they all pondered on the question. Because truly, what were they supposed to do with that information?  

"With determination!" TBVG cried out. He snapped his head up from bandaging his legs and he stood up. He pulled out the metal rod he had and used it as a crane, stumbling forwards towards his friends. "Where did that go Meme?" He snapped his head towards him and spat out, "Where did your determination went? Where did your will to live go? What happened, Meme?" 

Meme pressed Nadwe tightly to his chest, anxiously bouncing on his heels as he watched the ship slowly lowered itself, legs extending out of the ship to prepare to land onto the launchpad properly. 

After Laff confessed that he got demoted, forbidden to read any of the messages, they had no way of knowing about their friend's safety. So they were absolutely terrified when they received a note from the MIRA claiming that there were some 'technical difficulties'. Then two months past after when Socks was supposed to return, and here they were now, praying that nothing went wrong and it was just one, big misunderstanding. 

Although that was hard to believe, for a very obvious reason. 

Meme hugged his son tighter when the ship landed and slowly, the entrance opened. They stood in anxious silence as some white cloud flew out of it and two silhouettes stepped out. 

A man and a woman figure stumbled out of the ship, clinging onto each other tightly. 

His eyes widened as his eyebrows raised, and his heart broke when reality became crumbling down on him. 

One of the higher ups stepped forwards, raising an eyebrow at the two. "Joe? Cleo?" They called out cautiously. "Where's... the others?" Immediately one of them cracked. 

The man broke into tears and began sobbing out violently. He began stammering our nonsense, unable to get any words out through his sobs. The woman shook and leaned over, holding onto him tightly. She let him sobbed into her shoulders, patting onto his back. "They were killed, picked off like flies," She answered monotonously, her face completely blank as opposed to her partner. "W- we barely survived." 

Then silence fell as the implications of her ominously vague words dawned on them. Meme jumped when he felt a tug on his chest and looked down, he felt his heart dropped when he met the big, innocent eyes of Nadwe. "Daddy? Watz happening?" His voice was was filled with nothing but just genuine confusion. "Why is da man crying?" He shook as his breathing paced up, his mind immediately scrambled off to find an explanation fitted for a fucking six year old. 

"Wher izz Socks?" 

"I-." He blinked and took in a deep breath. He grabbed onto the back of his head and lightly moved it so he wasn't facing the ship. With a heavy heart and a weak tone, he mumbled out, "I'll- I'll tell you later..." 

"B- but he said he waz gonna come back," Nadwe mumbled. He looked down and immediately regretted it when he saw the frown along with the sadness swirling around in his big, glowing blue eyes. "Why izzn't he here daddy?" 

"I- He..." 

"Nadwe." He nearly sighed out in relief when Wiktoria stepped forwards. He turned towards her and she raised her arms. Meme gladly handed her the child and she picked him up, carefully wrapping her arms around him. 

She placed her hand onto his cheek and leaned close to his face. "Sometimes... bad things happen to good people," She softly whispered, her voice shaking with every words spoken. Nadwe looked up at her in confusion and Meme's heart flipped. "And something-." Her voice cracked. "Something really, really bad happened to Socks." 

"Iz he gonnu be okay?" Wiktoria shook and she forced a smile onto her face. "He's- He's-." She trembled as tears slowly began to form in her eyes. "Th- the bad thing was really, really bad baby." She shook as tears spilled down her cheeks. "A- and Socks i- isn't... He can't... He's..." She sobbed out and forced her smile to wider. "He's not- He's not gonna come home today, or ever." 

Meme snapped his head up towards the ship. "What happened?" Joe shook and sobbed harder, covering his eyes. "There was a shapeshifting alien!" Cleo screamed out and stumbled forwards. "T- they killed the engineer! They pretended to be one of us!" She stumbled down the entrance, dragging her partner down with her. "They took out the messenger! T- then the doctor! The captain! Everyone!" She yelled out as she reached the ground. "We thought we escaped bu- b- but they just replaced someone else and then we had to play mafia in real life." With every word, her composure slowly broke down as tears began to spill out. 

"Can you... define replaced?" Laff asked out, interrupting the higher up. "What part of shapeshifting alien you don't understand?" Joe moaned out, his voice slightly muffled from crying. "They hacked the ship!" Cleo screamed out. "T- they somehow got into the system and messed with it!" She shook and sobbed out, "Even after I killed that damn impostor, they still messed with the ship system and taunt us on our way home." 

"Call the cleaners!" The higher up commanded out. "Call the engineers!" TBVG jumped at the order and rushed forwards. "We need to search the entire ship for any bodies or alien specimen!" 

"We- we kept their bodies in a cooler," Joe crooked out. "S- so we can preserve their bodies." Cleo nodded her head as confirmation. "W- we can lead you to them." 

"A lot, Tb," Meme sighed out and shut his eyes. "A lot has happened." His fists balled up and he turned away from his friend. "And I'm just tired." 

"It's Socks isn't it?" His eyes snapped open and he sharply turned back to TBVG. He stared into the intense mixed match eyes of his cyborg friend. "Meme. It's about Socks.. isn't it?" He looked down to the ground and he tried to ignore the stare. 

Silence dawned onto them and he quickly grew uncomfortable. 

"When the ship landed back onto Earth after nine months of being away, the workers of the MIRA was shocked to find that only two, traumatised members there. Immediately afterwards, they quit their job at the company and now can no longer found in the public. The MIRA will not say anything about their ex employees' whereabouts but had claimed that they had given them a disclosed amount of money as compensation for going through whatever happened. Although some would like to argue otherwise." 

"They killed them," Blaza accused in an uncharacteristically dead tone. "They killed them, didn't they?" Everyone kept their eyes away from Laff and TBVG to the best of their ability, however Blaza just failed at that. Now they were all feeling the tension in the room.

"Probably," TBVG answered after moments of silence. "I won't be surprised anymore, just horrified." Laff depressingly sighed out, "Ain't that a mood?"

After Laff was fired and TBVG quit, they all banded together so they didn't have to worry about rent or anything money related while searching for another job. However, their experience with MIRA quickly landed them one and now they were simply bunking together because owning a house is expensive, especially alone. 

"I can't believe this," Meme groaned out and covered his face. "I can't believe Socks is gone." Then the silence fell upon them again. It was only two weeks ago when the ship from Polus returned, two weeks since they received the news, two weeks since Laff and TBVG separated themselves from the shady company. 

And the cut in their heart still felt fresh, nobody was fully sure on how to process the information. 

They heard the sound of a car parking and Woolf jumped up. "Dino's back!" He yelled out. A small smile tugged onto his face at the excitement that slipped out of his voice. He uncovered his face just in time to catch Woolf rushing to the front door. Meme turned to his left and watched Woolf opened the door, finding Dino on the other side in his police uniform. 

He blinked when he could barely see his friend's expression. The thundering storm behind him not helping him in any way. 

He has been busy helping with the MIRA to investigate the deaths of his friends, against the will of the company according to Dino. "It took a while, but we finally got them to give over the bodies." Was the first words that came out of his mouth. "Normally we would have families or friends to identify the body after we found it days later," He rambled and entered the room. He took off his cap and carefully kept his eyes away from everyone. He moved around Woolf and walked through the living room. 

He untied his hair and let it flowed past his shoulders. "They're in horrific condition." He stopped at the hallway leading to their bedrooms. Dino sighed out and his shoulders slumped. He turned around to them with a dead look in his eyes. "I promise you, especially you Blaza and Meme." He looked away and continued, "You don't want to see Socks. You really don't want to." His arms slowly made its way up and he held himself tightly, shaking ever so lightly. "None of us are strong enough to handle seeing him." He choked out and a sob followed soon.

Woolf slowly made his way over to his brother, hesitant to reach out to him. Dino choked out and ran down the hallway, abandoning them in the living room. 

"Wait- Dino!" Woolf cried out, running after him. The voices from the tv just became background noise to them as they were left to ponder on the events that just unfolded. 

"I- I'm gonna go outside," Joocie announced softly as he slowly stood up from the couch. "The storm seems to have calmed down and Nadwe should be awake from his nap any moment now." He hesitantly made his way over to the hallway that the two brothers just ran down. "A- and every six year old deserves a stomp on some mud puddles left from the rain." He looked between them and the hallway, an obviously anxious smile presented on his face. "S- so I hope you don't mind that I'm just gonna..." He turned around sharply and dashed down the hallway. 

"Actually sp- speaking of which!" Tbh stammered out and he jumped out from his position on the ground, stumbling to find his footing. "I'm gonna go for a walk outside, catch some fresh air ya know?" 

With that, he rushed towards the front door, slamming it shut behind him. 

"I miss him too Meme." 

He hesitantly looked up and met his friend's eyes. The intensity from earlier had just vanished, instead his eyes were just filled with regret, guilt and sorrow. "But we have to move pass him now. He's dead and... and he's not coming back anytime soon, Meme." He felt a rush of adrenaline shocked through his body and his mouth snapped open, only for no words to come out. 

"Where is Nadwe?" Meme yelled out in clear distressed as he ran down into the kitchen. "He isn't in his room!" He immediately shut his mouth when Laff raised his hand. "I went to Joocie's room to call him for breakfast and found him in bed with Nadwe cradled in his arms," He explained calmly and he felt his heart dropped. He covered his face and groaned out, slumping forwards. 

"Again?" He removed his hands from his face and looked up to his friend. Laff winced and looked away, in no way making him feel better. "Uh, yeah. I think he had a nightmare. He's been having a lot of them lately." He nodded his head as he explained, scrambling the eggs with his spatula. "Especially since... you know." He weakly shrugged as he continued to ignore Meme. 

"On the bright side, I got another job," Oof spoke up. "We're.. a bit closer to affording Socks' funeral." Meme blinked as a small, bittersweet smile broke up onto his face. He slowly entered the kitchen and moved to sit down next to Blaza. "That's awesome!" Oompa yelled out in a forcefully cheerful tone. "When are you starting?" 

"Next week," Oof sighed out and a frown dawned onto Meme's face. "It's... a nighttime job, every week, even on weekends," He trailed off, picking at the eggs on his plate. "But that would get in the way of game night, Oofie," Bella pointed out, a hint of sadness in her tone. "We barely get to spend time together as it already is." 

"I know." 

Meme looked up and stared at his friend, sunglasses blocking out his eyes as he mindlessly poked the leftover of his food. His lip was just a straight line, unmoving as he continued to ignore the world. "I'm sorry but... I just." He slowly placed down his fork, still facing the plate. 

"I have to do this for Socks." 

"You're being selfish," Bella softly accused. Despite her tone, the cutting edge of those three words still managed to hit them hard. "Bella!" Wiktoria gasped out. He snapped his head towards the entrance of the kitchen. She dashed in, running towards her friend sitting on the countertop. Meme's eyes followed his fiancé's movement speedily. "He's just trying to help!" 

"Vick, he's killing himself!" Bella argued and pushed herself off the counter. "Yeah we got to plan Socks' funeral and chug up a hefty amount of money." She rolled her eyes and walked up to her. "But that's not excuse to overwork. That's unhealthy." 

"Why will you assume that?" Wiktoria yelled out. She threw her arm towards the direction of Oof, right past his head. "Let's ask him huh? Let's ask how he feels?" She snapped her head towards the direction she pointed at, her eyes widening when they landed. Meme turned around and blinked blankly when he found Oof had disappeared, probably having run off. 

"Oh Bella, look at what you done!" Wiktoria yelled out in frustration. Meme snapped his head back to his fiancé and girl friend. "You made him feel bad! Now he's rushed off and probably guilt ridden!" 

"I swear. Something changed within you," Bella disappointing sighed out. She looked away from Wiktoria and pushed past her, rushing out of the kitchen. "When you're ready to open your mind, feel free to argue with me." 

They were left staring at each other. TBVG tensed up and looked away, no doubt because he just realised the mistake he made. Meme slowly looked away from him and stared into the opposite direction of his friend. 

He jumped when he heard the bang of a metal loudly echoed out. Meme turned his head around sharply and found Blaza crouched on the ground, a hole ripped opened in where something should've been. 

He snapped his head towards them and stood up with a crushed up, silver object in his hand. "How did you do that?" TBVG yelled out, sounding absolutely astonished by what Blaza had just done with seemingly ease. Meme just assumed something happened to him when he was attacked by the bear, it had to be. He shrugged but a smile quickly latched onto his face as he screamed out in childish pride, "I opened up the vents! We can escape through them!" 

"Meme?" Wiktoria called out and he felt eyes land onto him. "Did you say something?" 

He sighed out and looked down to his hand, now without his engagement ring. "It's just... nothing," He shrugged out. He slowly stood up, eyeing the rings on the table. 

"It's clearly not just nothing baby," Wiktoria spike softly, walking up to his side. She placed her hands onto his arm and he looked to her, regretfully meeting her eyes. "You're obviously bothered by something, so tell me what's wrong baby?" He blinked and slowly looked down to her hands, staring at where their ring once was. "What's bothering ya?" 

He looked back up to her and met her eyes. His hand slowly trailed up, placing it on top of her own. She locked their hands and intertwined their fingers, clenching his hand as reassurance. He let out a long sigh and shut his eyes, leaning closer to her. 

"It's just." He opened his eyes, staring down at their locked hands. "It's so unfair." He clenched her hand tightly as a frown slowly formed onto his face. "That we have to cancel our wedding that we spent years planning... just so we can afford Socks' funeral." 

She cupped his cheek and moved it so he'd face her. He hesitantly met her eyes and a gentle yet sorrowful smile made its way onto her face. "Think about it this way baby... we're repaying Socks," She told him sincerely, caressing his face with her thumb. "He's done so much to- try and give us the perfect wedding." Her smile turned bittersweet and she leaned up to peck him on his cheek. "It's only fair for us to return the flavour." 

"It just... doesn't feel like that Vicky," Meme sighed out. He reached out and placed his hand over Wiktoria. "It feels like we're throwing out all of Socks' hard work... so we could afford his funeral no less." 

She clenched his hand and promised, "It'll be worth it in the end. It's the least we could do for him." A bittersweet smile broke out onto his face. "I guess you're right." He presses his forehead against hers, whispering low enough for just them to hear. "But it's just... so unfair."  

"Guys back up!" Blaza yelled out. "I think I found an exit, I'm gonna smash it open." Meme uncomfortably crawled back with some struggles, trying to not hit the back of his head. "Ow- Meme!" He snapped his head back and yelled out when he hit the back of his head. "Sorry!" 

He jumped when he heard a loud banging followed by the sound of rapid yet steady crawling. "Freedom!" He looked back and watched as Blaza rushed through the vents. He followed suit as fast as he can manage under the tight space. 

He gasped out when he popped his head out of the vent, his hands shot up and grabbed the edge of the vents then tried to push himself out. Blaza rushed over and grabbed onto his arm then easily pulled him out, causing him to yelp out. He stumbled forwards and fell onto the ground, the grass softening his blow. Meme slowly got up from the ground and coughed out. He looked around his surrounding, noting the bright cyan sky with purple dust coating it with little, colourful stars dotting them. 

TBVG gasped out and he looked back to find Blaza pulling him out of the vent. "Where are we?" He asked out, looking around his surrounding. "I don't really recognise this area." He slowly got up from the vent, staring off to the sky. "Or at least at this time." 

He patted out Nadwe's outfit. He met his eyes and offered a reassuring smile. "This is for Socks, Nad. Try not to look so sad." He patted the little boy's head and leaned down to kiss his forehead. "He's in a better place now." 

"So why did he leave us?" He froze up at the question and looked down to meet his eyes. With a heavy heart, he hesitantly answered after pondering for a few moments. "He had no choice. The world just... felt cruel when they took him away." 

"Can I sit with Juicy?" Nadwe whispered uncharacteristically shy. A frown flickered on his face and he sighed out, nodding his head. "Of course," He whispered back the answer, nodding his head lowly. "Whatever makes you happy." He reaches out to grab his hand. "Come on now, let's go." 

He tugged onto his hand and led him downstairs to join their friends. He looked around the crowd of people dressed in fully black. Meme clenched Nadwe's hand as he stared at all of his friends, most of the men in suits and the women just dressed as whatever, just simply in black. 

His eyes slowly landed onto the blond known as Joocie, dressed in a simple black suit. A sight he wasn't exactly used to seeing as Joocie didn't care that much about appearance. He let go when he felt a tug on his hand and watched as his son waddled towards Joocie, who immediately looked down when Nadwe crawled at his leg. 

A small smile perked up onto his face when he saw who it was. He leaned down then placed his hands underneath armpits and picked him up with ease. He turned back to Blaza and they just resumed their conversation. A spike of jealousy pulsed through him and he sighed out, looking away from the trio. 

His eyes looked around the room in search for someone alone, eventually landing onto Oompa. Which was another surprise, considering he was usually one of the more social one in the group. Meme walked up to him, stopping right by his side. "Hey," He greeted him and the taller immediately looked towards him. He waved to return the greeting and just looked back to the room. 

"So... what's happening?" He asked, looking over to his friend. "Everyone's preparing themselves mentally I guess," Oompa answered with a shrug. "Especially after Wiktoria and Bella blew up in each other's faces." He blinked and looked away from him, groaning under his breath when he noticed Bella ranting to Ally and Tbh while Wiktoria was out of the room. 

"We're just waiting for Oof to finish. Dino had a breakdown so he's fixing himself in the bathroom and Woolf's probably outside." 

"Do you see that?" TBVG asked out. His arm entered his vision and he looked over to where his friend was pointing at. He blinked and narrowed his eyes, trying to make out what there was in the far back. "No?" He answered, changing his direction to where TBVG was pointed at. He pushed his friend up and tightened his grip onto him. 

"I think that's a building," Blaza answered, closely behind him. "Yeah. It is." He lowered his hand and placed his arm back around Meme's neck. "It should be able to last us a bit. Maybe when we find the others, we can move camp there?" TBVG suggested with a shrug, placing his chest up to the back of his head, probably to get a better look on the building. "It looks like it's just one building as well." 

"Awesome," Blaza sighed out breathlessly with clear relief. "We're barely armed, probably can't handle ten of them. Separately," He joked and Meme briefly looked back to him. When he noticed his friend's tensed figure, he looked away from him and just chose to let him joke. "I'll treat Tb's leg," Meme spoke up as they continued to venture further to shelter. "But that'll mean-." 

"I don't mind," Blaza reassured. "Plus I'm more fit to hunt and to collect out of the three of us." Meme let out a relief sigh. He looked down to his chest, where he swapped his bag around so it'll be in front of his stomach. It was just so he could carry TBVG easier in order to not risk worsening his injury. "Oh, thank god." 

"Oh! It looks pretty packed with metal and wires!" He perked up at those words. "I could probably do something with them! Maybe remake them into something to help us," TBVG noted and a smile jumped onto his face. Blaza encouraged, "Like...?" 

"A communicator hopefully. Then we could contact Laff, or Dino. I'm not complaining." 

"Socks was a great friend and he was very much loved by all of us. It's... such a tragedy that he left the world so young," Blaza rambled dully. "I love him deeply, as a brother and friend and much more," He confessed. Although Meme couldn't tell how he meant it, or if he even meant for them to hear. "Even though he could be annoying at time, he never failed to be endearing." 

Blaza looked away from them and towards the closed coffin containing their deceased- and according to a traumatised Laff, decapitated -friend's body. His sunglasses was gone which let him showed the room his dead eyes. 

"I've known him since childhood and I seen him grow. I seen how he changed from being a shy, introverted kid to being a confident, extroverted teen. I watched first hand as he blossomed into an immature, but lovable idiot nonetheless. I watched how he changed people in the tiniest of ways and vice versa." 

A small smile tugged onto his face. 

"Even if he didn't mean to, he always managed to make our lives better. We obviously get into arguments from time to time but who doesn't? In the end though, we would always make up with each other. We stayed by each other's side for the longest time, and I just wish that we spent more time together before he died." 

Meme held his own hand tightly and held his breath deeply, watching as the shell of his friend slowly broke down. The smile slowly fell apart and he turned away from the coffin, looking down to the lecture, still avoiding their eyes. 

"He threw himself out there and was prepared for the worst. He was willing to fight everything and everyone if it meant achieving his goal." 

Hesitantly, he looked up to them, facing everyone gathered for the funeral. 

"And I guess, in the end, at least he was doing what he loved." 

Blaza walked off the stage and rushed back to his place in the far back of the church. None of them really believe in a god, or any existing religion at all -well Laff used to, but that's currently unimportant- so the decision might come off as odd. 

However, like a life threatening situation, they thought maybe it would be a good -but probably not smart- decision to maybe give god another chance. At least that was the excuse they agreed on. 

None of them really had to plan a funeral before, and the church was the only place that they felt was appropriate. And maybe because of Laff's previous relationship with religion, they had hoped some miracle would happen. 

Obviously not the bring back the dead type of miracle, but rather a good afterlife type of miracle. If it exists, of course. 

Meme took in a deep breath before he stood and made his way up to the stage with shaky legs. While everyone had repeatedly reassured each other to not feel pressured into giving a mini speech of sort before they even got a venue, in the end though Meme still ended up feeling the slightest bit of pressure. As he stood there on the stage, looking at usually lively people in a dark, eerily quiet setting, he felt a pit in his stomach. 

Rather it be anxiety or the dawning realisation that, this was truly it. He had no idea. 

His eyes began scanning the crowd and his gaze eventually landed onto Wiktoria, who gave him a reassuring smile. He sighed out and looked down to the lecture, holding onto it tightly. 

"I met Socks back in middle school, despite knowing Blaza since forever ago." A bittersweet smile quirked up onto his face as he thought back to being dragged away by his best friend, to go work with 'some icky girl' for their group project. Which ultimately led to a friendship he'll forever treasure. "I thought he was gross at first so we'll usually get into fights. But eventually, somehow, against all odds, we actually became friends." 

"It became more than just arguments. Well first it became more playful and only then it was more than just arguments." A nervous laughter slipped through his lips. He mentally cursed himself before continuing. "We got close and confined in each other, although that was rare, especially after we made friends with everyone else." He shrugged and hesitantly looked up to the crowd. "We joked around and.. and hurt each other. But in the end, we stayed with each other, we remained friends no matter what happened." 

He looked back to the lecture and clenched them tightly. He sighed out soberly as his mind thought back to his last few moments with Socks. He shut his eyes and took in a deep breath. 

"I was always told that life was unfair, and I always knew that. But when I realised that Socks had died, especially at his age he was, I thought that it was an unfair." He tightened his grip onto the lecture. "I thought it was unfair that he couldn't live the life to the fullest, that he couldn't see Nadwe grow up, that we couldn't grow old with together." With a heavy heart, he sighed out, "But like they say, life is unfair. So the only thing we can do is to grief and move on." 

His eyes flickered towards the closed coffin. His grip on the lecture loosened and he sighed out, "So fly high Socks." 

"This looks... familiar," TBVG commented uneasily when they reached the building. "Well we have no choice but to take shelter here," Blaza shot back. Meme looked up to the sky, watching as the cyan sky slowly fade into black abyss with the clouds of every colour glowing brighter, with purple and red being the dominant colours. "It's getting dark." 

Blaza snickered at the wording and Meme rolled his eyes. "More like it's becoming red," TBVG chuckled. Although the wording was definitely the only humorous thing they could find in their situation, considering what the night meant and brought. "Blaza?" Meme requested. 

He brought an arm in front of them and Meme stepped back. He pushed TBVG's legs up and he got the message, tightening his arms around his neck. Blaza dashed forwards and shoved his gloved hands between the shut doors then ripped it opened with ease. 

"Looks pretty dark," Blaza commented casually then stepped back. He turned towards them and it was TBVG's turn to groan out. A smirk popped up onto Meme's face as he walked up to the entrance to darkness. "Fine," He sighed out. He removed his arms around his neck, soon followed by the faded sound of a button press. "Give me a second." 

His right arm returned in place around his neck and he heard a click, soon followed by four bright, lights of different colours shinning into the room. TBVG placed his arm back around his neck. "Looks safe," Blaza commented as they followed TBVG's line of sight. 

Meme had no idea which colour Blaza had decided to pick but he personally went with yellow. The blue was just a shade too dark and thus made it hard for him to see whatever TBVG was looking at. The green while clearer, it still felt hard to make out the everything in full detail. Red slightly gave him an anxious feeling, added that he also couldn't make out everything. 

So that's why he picked yellow. 

The walls were clearly made out of metal and some of it were fallen over. Some of the walls were disconnected from the ceiling with cracks on the clearly concrete ceiling, allowing wires -broken and not- to peak out. A few walls were completely broken and disconnected from the marble floor, with just an absurd amount of moss flooding out of it. Few bits of vegetation that weren't moss can be found sprinkled around the walls, ceilings and floors. 

Meme felt his heart stopped when all four light beams landed onto the middle, shinning a bright, white light onto a check in desk with one visible black chair. The MIRA logo clear as day in the back. 

"Breaking news! As recent as today, scientists have discovered parts of the population had been replaced with shapeshifting aliens from outer space, theorised to have originate from the abandoned planet known as Polus. Is this what got those five workers from MIRA killed? They denied it, but police suspect it! Stay tuned-." 

He was thrown onto the tv. He took in a shaky breath and looked up to the black, gooey mess, still looking half human with the colours of uncle Paji melting away. He blinked the tears away and tightened his grip onto the bat. 

He lunged forwards and smash as hard as he could managed against the creature's head. 

He watched as goo splattered around, exploding off into every direction, staining his weapon, his face and some of his clothes no doubt. 

"The GOVE-" Ts. "-rnment plans to-" Tssss. "-collect citizens and-" Ts. "-test to see if they are truly human or-" Static ran out abruptly louder. "-an alien impostor."

Any noise coming from the broken tv immediately vanished after that.

He snapped his head up and watched as Oof and Laff rushed onto the scene. Laff with a handmade flamethrower -that he and TBVG had made before he left- and Oof with a fire extinguisher. The masked man activated the handicraft and blew onto the gooey monster. 

Ear piercing screams came out but Laff didn't stopped and none of them stepped in to stop him. As soon as they noticed the floor catching fire as the creature neared its end, Oof pulled out the pin and Laff deactivated the machine. 

He aimed the horse at the dying creature and all over the floor, carefully hitting every flammable object in the room. The alien didn't stopped its shrieking, but as Oof continued to pour out foam onto the living room, it got quieter until it was dead silence. Only then did they stopped, as they were confident it was dead. 

"We seriously need to meet up with Dino and Ally ASAP!" Bella yelled out and rushed forwards. Meme snapped his head towards them, a relief sigh escaping him when he saw Nadwe. "We can't keep risk burning our shelter when we kill these beasts." She stopped in front of the coffee table, staring at the tiniest of remains of the alien. All burnt away to pieces of scraps that just look like mosquitoes' blood, covered in littlest bits of foam. 

"We need to get out of here," Laff sighed out. "We found one impostor and can't risk staying here." Meme walked up to Nadwe, past Laff. "Hey," He whispered the greeting and crouched down. He extended his hand towards his son. His heart cracked when he saw Nadwe hesitate, eyeing him anxiously and clinging onto Bella. "It's clearly not safe here." 

He pushed aside his hurt and got up, looking back towards Laff. "I'll get Joocie and Wiktoria," Oof spoke up. "You guys go do whatever. We just gotta prepare for a long trip." "We can't go out tonight," Bella cut in. "We have to communicate with the others and that could take a while." She looked around the room, pushing Nadwe closer to her. "Plus, we're with other people and possibly other impostors," She cautiously whispered, edging closer to them. She looked back to them. "This can take days, weeks even." 

"Are you suggesting that we run away?" Meme asked out in a low voice and stood up, nervously eyeing the room. "We're not exactly the best people to be pair with in an alien outbreak after all." 

"You're a doctor, TBVG's smart, Dino and Ally are good with guns, Joocie have some medical experience and Laff just knows everything," Bella confidently listed. "The rest of us, are capable of survival, especially if we stick together."

"But what about Muffin?" Nadwe called out. "Excuse me who?" Bella asked, snapping her head down to him. "He's..." He hesitated and looked down. "He's my friend. I don't want to leave him." 

Meme jumped back when everyone turned towards them him afterwards, silently asking him to make the big decision for his seven year old. He glanced down to his child and hesitantly asked out, "How's... his family?" He slowly backed up when Nadwe's eyes jumped up to him, staring at him with widened eyes, full of innocence hurt, shock and even the slightest hint of anger. 

"I- I told you about him before!" Nadwe stammered out and stepped forwards. He wasn't screaming, however he did raised his voice, surprising most of the adults in the room. "We share a bed! His- His mom is busy helping everyone like- like what mom does sometimes." His voice lowered as he reached the end of his sentence and he took a step back. "H- He doesn't talk much about his other parents or brother." 

"Oh wait, do you mean Muffin as in Muffin Juice?" Laff asked. "I think I chatted with his mum before." He noticed Nadwe's eyes lit up and for a brief moment, a frown flickered onto his face. "Yeah that Muffin!" He nodded his head excitedly and ran up to him, slipping out of Bella's hold. "C- can they join us?" He asked with anxious joy. He was bouncing back and forth on his heels with his fists balled up by his side. 

Laff brought his hand up, it froze up as his mind began juggling with the possible consequences. He looked over to Meme and he sighed out. He nodded his head and Laff turned back to Nadwe, crouching down in front of him. 

"I'll see what I can do." The genuine, pure excitement that broke out across his son's face almost made his heartache worth it. 

"There's... no life form in here," TBVG spoke up and they quickly accepted the distraction, forcefully shifting their attention towards him. "Well. There were but that was over at least a decade ago. There's smallest glimpse of the... 'impostor' substances all around this place." 

"That's kinda expected," Blaza spoke up. Meme didn't budge when he heard his friend became rumbling through his bag. "I mean... This is a space station." He glanced back when a new light suddenly appeared and found Blaza with a torch, specifically a wooden stick on fire. "I noticed that I got some fruits and berries, so we can survive the night without going out," Blaza spoke up and stepped forwards, moving past them. "At least for tonight."

He felt an arm loosened around his neck and heard a click. Meme looked back and noticed that Blaza's torch was now the only light source. TBVG spoke up, "There's probably a communicator in here. We just gotta look." Meme quickly rushed up to Blaza, joining his side. "So I'll treat Tb's leg and we'll search through the station?" He suggested hesitantly. Blaza nodded his head and added in, "I'll go hunt tomorrow while you do that. Maybe I'll find the others."

"This station looks fairly small compared to the other, more public ones," TBVG pointed out to them. "It shouldn't take that much time to search through the entire thing."

Chapter Text

TBVG was right, it was small. 

They easily went though the entire thing, twice. And judging by how TBVG reacted, it was odd how there wasn't a single room for people to sleep at. Apparently at the headquarters he worked at, it was normal for people to end up spending multiple days in the headquarters to complete a task, especially if they were a more technical or scientific guy. 

'That explains why Laff was barely around.' Was Meme's first thought when he heard of what that. Then he quickly understood TBVG's reaction when he realised the facility was made of just the reception room, a bathroom, an office room and the rest were just different labs. The building structure was certainly... odd, to say the least. 

"So... Tb, is sleeping in a desk chair comfortable?" Obviously, Blaza was joking. They agreed to take rest in the office room silently. 

Blaza had went out to search and successfully found some logs and sticks. Although he came back with some noticeable changes, like scars, wounds and some black goo staining around him. 

No one said anything. He just joined them and started a fire in front of him and TBVG. 

When he walked in with dried goo slashed across his face, Meme was taking care of TBVG's broken leg. He had just finished cleaning the harsh cut. Through some testing, they discovered that he had broken his leg. 

"How did I do that?" TBVG had cried out. Meme just shrugged and gestured towards his arms and eyes. "Maybe your prosthesis somehow weakened your bones?" He had suggested, to which he was glared at by two pairs of eyes and one extra in respond. "That doesn't really make much sense, Meme," He had shot back, to which Blaza jumped in, still focused on the fire. "Could be the shapeshifters, or somehow the cave in back at the school." 

There was silence. They agreed with Blaza, it made the most sense after all. 

The silence continued even when Meme extended his hand towards Blaza, asking for a stick. To which he just handed it over to him and continued to focus onto controlling the fire. 

He placed the stick up against TBVG's broken leg and carefully wrapped bandages around his leg. "Blaza, I think the fire's perfectly fine," TBVG spoke up just as he finished. Meme glanced up and watched Blaza stopped in his movement. He leaned up, nodding his head and grabbed his backpack, placing it onto his lap. He pulled out some berries and fruits. He looked away and grabbed onto TBVG's ankle, stretching his leg out. "It should be fine, just give it some time," Meme ordered, patting his leg lightly. He leaned up and sat down, looking up to his friends. 

"So you want some blueberries Meme?" Blaza asked and he nodded his head. He extended his arm out towards his taller friend, blankly staring at the large, round berries that had combined with some other fruits. He brought the mutated berries up to his mouth and ate them. He licked the inner workings of his teeth and leaned back. 

He felt nothing, just liquid splashing it around in his mouth. There was only the faddiest sense of oranges. 

Actually, maybe they were fruits. He had no idea. 

"So... What are we gonna do?" Blaza asked after some silence passed, which was expected. TBVG then answered, "We do one of those sleeping shifts things in movie. One of us stays up and walk around the station to make sure we are protected while the other sleeps." Meme raised an eyebrow and looked over to his friend. "You mean... us?" He questioned, to which TBVG just smiled bitterly and chuckled. "I have to work on getting us a communicator after all." 

He had no idea what time it was. 

But he knew he had slept at least four times before this shift. 

Meme walked down the hallway, closing the reception desk with a bat tightly clenched in his hand. He and Blaza had worked on 'improving it', as in shoving some metal robs into it. Which TBVG approved of for some reason. 

As he neared the reception desk, he froze up when he noticed a silhouette at the doorway. 

'Oh right, Blaza absolutely destroyed that door.' He tensed up and pushed himself up to the wall on his left, bringing his bat up. He blinked and shook himself awake, staring at the figure. He tightened his grip onto the bat tightly, narrowing his eyes at the silhouette. 

He was quite surprised that no shapeshifters had crawled in and tried to attack them. Well... up until now of course. He chuckled bitterly at the thought. 

He jumped when the silhouette snapped their head to him. The figure stepped into the building and he slowly backed away, pushing himself up to the wall. Meme watched as they turned around and reached into, presumably a backpack. He watched as they pulled out something and turned back to him. 

He held his breath and pushed himself farther up to the wall when the light beam just missed him. He eyed the figure, widening his eyes when he saw the figure. He blinked and rubbed his eyes to double check, his mouth dropping open when he realised he wasn't hallucinating. 

Of course, it could just be the lighting. However, he doubted that though. 

He got glimpses of rubber gloves and boots just from the reflection of the light. Through their silhouette, he concluded that they were wearing baggy pants. He could make out some sort of black tank top covering their chest and some bandages wrapped around their arms. On their left arm, which held the flashlight, had some bandages coming out of their gloves, up to their elbow. On their right arm, most of their arm was covered in bandages, the only bare spot being their elbow. They looked like they were holding some large, two pieced, golden fork with some fancy adjustments to it. 

The light beam moved away from him and towards the wall. Meme's eyes widened when the light beam got closer to the stranger, lighting up their face. They had long, roughed up hair that went past their shoulders, coloured in a soft looking, milky brown. 

Oh, and they were clearly white. 

"Hello?" The raspy voice that called out to him sounded as if their throat had been crawled at by something. Immediately afterwards, they began coughing out. Their figure slumped forwards and they brought up their right hand to hit their chest. "Ow fuck-" They coughed then wheezed out. They straightened their back and groaned out. 

"Never again." 

He loosened his grip on his bat and narrowed his eyes at the stranger, who if they were an impostor, were putting much more effort than necessary to come off as human. He placed his fingers onto the edges of the walls and creeped closer to the familiar stranger. 

"Who goes there?" They called out louder, walking up to him. Meme wouldn't be surprised if everyone in the station had now heard him and was readying themselves for battle. "I have a weapon and I'm not afraid to use it!" They cried out and shoved in their odd, fork weapon forwards. 

He jumped when the fork pieces sparked up with electricity. The light immediately rushed towards him and Meme tried to rush back as quietly as possible. 

He glanced back up and found them realising something then quickly swapped the items around his hands. Meme ducked and rolled back, holding the back closely to his chest. Only one thought was on his mind. 

'They're left handed.' 

Curse Laff. He may not have the best methods but he managed to teach them well. 

He scooted closer to the wall and looked up. The stranger had the flashlight pointed to the spot he was just at. They sighed out and ventured forwards, seemingly struggling with using the flashlight. If they were who they resembled, Meme wouldn't hesitate to make fun of them. However that was very unlikely considering... well... 

Socks' been dead for nine years now. It was either a shapeshifter or a really weird coincidence. 

Or Socks has a brother that they never knew about for some reason... 

They redirected the flashlight up to the wall opposite to him. Meme hesitantly got up and slowly made his way backwards, towards where Blaza and TBVG remains separately. 

"I know I'm not hearing things! I've been here for years and I haven't hear things then!" He cried out. "If you're one of those impostors, I will make sure you're dead." Meme froze up when they raised their weapon and the electricity intensified. 

He speedily scooted backwards as his mind replayed the knowledge he knows about those damn aliens. 

'Their weakness are fire, extremely freezing cold, bullets...' He knows nothing about how electricity affected them. 'They never impersonate dead people from years ago...' He eyed the stranger's face and tried to make them out to the best of his ability. 'But then again...' 

He dashed around the corner and whipped his head away, jumping when he found both of his friends there. TBVG with just his fists as his metal poll was in the office room, luckily though, both of his arms were made mechanical while Blaza had his spear that he didn't always used, switching between just using his bare fist and well... the spear. He looked over to TBVG who just frowned uncomfortably and shook his head. 

"Fuck," He cursed quietly. He jumped and snapped his head back when he heard footsteps rushing closer to them. Blaza immediately sprung up and jabbed the spear in their direction. 

Light flashed onto them and Meme glanced up to them, his eyes landing onto the stranger's sharpened ones, which matched the colour of their hair. He watched the edges around his eyes became stiles, however they softened just a bit in confusion. 

Somehow, Meme believes that they were, in fact, Socks. 

"Stay back!" Blaza barked out, jabbing the spear at him. They jumped back, their eyes shooting wide open. There was a moment of tensed silence. 

Then they dropped the flashlight and pointed the giant, two pieced fork at them. The electric sparks grew more intense and bigger, jumping between the two pieces, wrapping around it like a snake. 

They placed their left leg behind them, both of their hands grabbed onto the handle of their weapon, aiming it onto them. They crouched down and narrowed their eyes at them. 

As soon as the flashlight hit the floor, darkness washed over them. 

They and Blaza stared at each other longingly, neither of them making a move. The only noise between them was the occasional, rhythmical zapping that came from their weapon. 

Meme tightened his grip onto his bat and carefully listened to the zaps. His eyes widened and he slowly leaned up when he recognised the tune. 

Meme scooted forwards and immediately stood up, bringing his bat down. "Let's talk it out! Let's talk it out!" He cried out and looked between the two. His stomach twisted when he felt TBVG's gaze on him, the confusion from it slowly slipping into him. "Okay then." He looked back to Blaza, sighing out disappointingly when he spat out, "What the fuck is that?" Using his spear, Blaza pointed at the weapon the stranger had. 

"Electrical rod or some shit I don't know." He watched as Blaza's shoulders rise, tensing up in recognition at the voice. 'So it isn't just me.' Meme sighed out in relief and shut his eyes. His eyes shot wide open at their next word, "The MIRA made this to fight them off." 

Silence fell onto them once again. Meme noticed Blaza's chest rising, his shoulders pushing closer to his neck as he brought his weapon up. He slowly turned around to face the stranger, finding them still in the same position. 

At least from what he can make out.

"S- Socks-?" TBVG ended up stammering out. Just then, the electric sparks zapped once again, lighting up his face so he caught glimpse of a shocked expression, for a brief moment. Startled, wide eyes stared at them, within their dark pupils, Meme could watched as the gears turned in their mind. Their mouth had dropped open into an oval shape. 

Then the darkness returned and masked them, their shoulders dropped and they lowered their weapon, taking a few steps back after the name drop. 

They all had their eyes on the figure and Meme felt the gaze returned. He basically heard the gears turning in everybody's minds, each of them trying to figure out how this was happening. 

They snapped off their electrical rod and brought the weapon down to their side. He watched as the familiar stranger slowly began to crouch down, reaching out to grab onto their fallen flashlight. Nobody making a move to stop them. 

They picked up the flashlight and a click rang out, then light shone onto them. They slowly stood up, bringing the flashlight up to their chest. Meme caught glimpses of stars sparkling in their eyes, a hopeful tone in their voice as they called out, "TBVG?" 

"Holy shit." Meme turned around and looked down to his friend. His friend grabbed onto the wall, a glow emitting from his arms and four eyes. He pushed himself up and he dashed forwards. He grabbed onto TBVG's arm and pulled him up, looking towards a- maybe friend. He wrapped his friend's arm around his shoulders and stumbled forwards towards them. 

As Meme got closer to them, his eyes jumped down to his neck, covered up by what looks like a collar. "H- How are you still alive?" Blaza stammered out in shock. "We were at your funeral... We- We planned your funeral!" He yelled out. They chuckled out and hesitantly walked up to them. "It's... a long story." 

"We have all day," TBVG muttered out. "I think we can spare a few moments."