Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Eclipse stood on top of the play structure in the daycare, Sun and Moon were on the ground below him, yelling at him. He didn’t know what they were saying, he was just tuning it all out. They looked so tired and so beat down emotionally, and Eclipse had caused that agony. A part of him felt pride over it, but…another part just felt guilt. He didn’t know why. Maybe it was because of what he was going to do next.

The solar animatronic sighed and held out the Star in front of him, “We’re gonna try something… new this time.” Sun started to go on about being sent to just another dimension or hellscape, but Eclipse just laughed in his face, “I said something new.”

A bright white light expanded from the Star as Eclipse used it. Sun and Moon flinched back and covered their eyes as the light swept over the entire daycare.

Chapter Text

POWER ON…

The solar animatronic opened his eyes for the first time, the room around him was brightly colored with yellows and reds. He sat up and scanned the room. There were drawings hung on the walls, clearly made by kids, and a few stuffed animals lined up against a shelf. There was a beanbag in one corner, bright yellow with a sun in the middle. In the other corner was a computer, it looked like it was made for gaming, did he play games?

Was this the daycare? His system said he was a daycare attendant but the room looked too small to be a daycare. Muttering from behind the door caught the solar animatronics attention. The door creaked open and he saw another solar animatronic, this one was taller. This one was painted with bright reds, oranges, and a deep black, his rays were sharper too. He didn’t look very child-friendly. Maybe he was meant to be a security bot?

“Oh good, you’re awake.” His voice was gravelly, he certainly didn’t sound child-friendly, “Do you know your name?”

The solar animatronic entered the room while the other got up from the bed, he scanned his systems once more and tilted his head, “Is my name…Sun?” He asked. His voice surprised him, it was high-pitched and shaky. Why was it shaky?

“Yes. Your name is Sun, I am Eclipse, I am your…older brother.” The taller hesitated as he said that like he was apprehensive about calling himself Sun’s older brother. The shorter beamed at the news.

“I have an older brother?”

“And a twin brother. He should be waking up soon. Come on.” Eclipse turned his back to Sun and walked out of the room, the smaller one following him eagerly.

“Where are we?”

“This is where we’ll be living, where we sleep and charge ourselves. On the balcony, you’ll see the daycare.” Eclipse explained, pointing to the elevated structure.

Sun bounced in excitement, he wanted to see the daycare but he didn’t want to stray too far from Eclipse and get lost. His attention shifted to a blue tunnel, the room on the other side was dark with the exception of glow-in-the-dark stars decorating the ceiling and walls. “Is that where my twin brother is?”

“Yes. His name is Moon.”

Sun hummed, “Sun, Moon, and Eclipse. Is the daycare themed after celestial bodies?”

“Not really. They made the attendants themed but not the daycare itself. I’m guessing it wasn’t thought all the way through.” Eclipse approached the tunnel and ducked down to look into the room. A shout was heard as the oldest poked his head in.

“WHO ARE YOU? WHERE AM I? WHO AM I?”

Eclipse scoffed, “Calm down. I am Eclipse, your older brother. We’re in our living area, this is your room. Your name is Moon, you have a twin brother named Sun, he’s just out here.” The taller explained, annoyed but rather calm.

The lunar animatronic crept out of bed and followed the solar animatronic out to the main living area. The twins made eye contact and waved, Sun seeming more nervous yet excited while Moon was more skeptical.

“H- Hi. I’m Sun.” Sun smiled at the other, his hand started to shake. Why was he shaking? He shouldn’t be nervous to meet his twin.

“Hi. I’m Moon.” Moon squeezed his fingers. Why was he so scared? He shouldn’t be scared.

Eclipse rested a hand on top of both of their shoulders, “Now that introductions are out of the way, you both need to go clean up the daycare. It’ll be opening soon.”

Sun checked his internal clock and jumped, “Oh gosh! We only have an hour before it opens!?” He rushed up to the platform and stared down at the ball pit. Was there no other way down?

Moon followed after Sun, he smiled at the colorful pit below and jumped, landing safely in the middle, “It’s safe to jump!” He yelled at his twin.

The solar animatronic looked back at their older brother, who was watching. The older gestures for Sun to go with a reaffirming nod. The younger gulps and jumps down, trusting his twin and his brother.

Eclipse let himself finally relax now that both of them were gone. He crept through to Moon’s room and tapped on the console that held the computer. “Hey. I know I didn’t wipe you when I used the Star. Wake up.”

The computer screen turned on begrudgingly, “What do you want, Eclipse?”

“I want you to keep your mouth shut, just like you did back there. If you tell Sun or Moon anything, I'll make sure I leave you so mangled and ruined that there’s no chance of recovery for either of you.”

The computer laughed robotically at him, “Your threats do not scare us, Eclipse. They will realize in their own time.”

“They won’t. I’ll make sure of it.” Eclipse reached forward and powered the computer off before crawling out of Moon’s room, taking a seat on the couch, and using his and the Star’s power for the next few hours.

Meanwhile, Sun and Moon rushed to clean the daycare, Sun being more precise and telling Moon what to clean. It was worth it though when the kids flooded in.

The brothers had fun playing with the kids all day. Hide and seek, tag, arts & crafts, nap time, and even snack time! All fit into a perfect schedule. Sun was thriving , he loved it.

Moon on the other hand…not so much. He kept a smile all day as he played with the kids and read stories to them, but he didn’t like it. It felt…wrong. The kids found him scary anyway so it was hard to play with them.

After a long day of playing and taking care of kids, Sun was still a ball of energy as he ran around the daycare, scrubbing it clean. Moon sat on one of the playmats and sighed heavily, tugging his cap over his eyes.

The solar twin noticed the lunar twin and crouched down to him, “Moon? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

Moon hesitated before shaking his head, “Something’s…wrong with me.”

“What?! What’s wrong? Should we tell Eclipse? He’ll know what to do!”

Moon shook his head again, “No it’s…I didn’t have fun today.” Sun tilted his head curiously at his twin. “It just felt all wrong. I’m not supposed to take care of kids.”

Sun’s face scrunched in confusion, “But…of course, you’re supposed to take care of kids. You’re a daycare attendant just like me!”

“I don’t feel like I should be taking care of them. I felt like I was walking on eggshells around them, one wrong move and I could break one. They were so loud and quick, always wanting attention or wanting to play a game.”

Sun frowned and sat next to his twin, “Maybe we should talk to Eclipse about this if it’s bothering you so much. He could do something about it, maybe you won’t have to work with kids anymore!”

Moon sighed and pulled his cap over his face again, “Maybe, but I just wanna rest right now…” He said, the words muffled by the cap. He let himself fall onto his back and curl up.

Sun patted his arm, “Okay brother, when I’m done cleaning we’ll go talk to Eclipse about this!” His twin gave a mumble of appreciation before the solar twin got up and went back to cleaning.

As he cleaned, his thoughts spun out of control. Why did his brother not like the kids? They were both daycare attendants. Why was Eclipse not with them? Was he a security bot like Sun had initially thought? So many questions but no answers so far.

Eclipse will answer his questions though, right? He’d been so kind so far and answered all his previous questions. Sun stacked the last barrel before scanning the daycare one last time. His eyes had been able to pick up germs, a feature he was thankful for when it came to sanitizing the daycare.

The younger animatronic threw away the wipes before striding back to his twin and poking his arm, “Brother, I’m done cleaning.”

The lunar animatronic groaned loudly and sat up, “Do we have to talk to Eclipse about this? It’s kinda embarrassing…” Moon pulled at the end of his cap.

“Nonsense! Our brother will understand! And he’ll know what to do!” Sun pulled Moon up with a smile. “Besides, I still have questions myself!”

Moon’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, “Alright, fine. But only for you, brother.”

Sun beamed and held Moon’s hand as the two ran to the balcony to talk to Eclipse.

Chapter Text

It took some struggle to get up to the balcony before Eclipse told them how to get up. The moment they had, they sat down with Eclipse to talk. The older animatronic started to worry, the younger two didn’t know why.

“Are you a security bot?” Sun bluntly asked, “You look like a daycare attendant but you don’t look…kid-friendly. You look more like you’d be security for the daycare.”

Eclipse slumped in relief, “Yes. I am a security bot. I’m here to make sure that no kid goes home with the wrong person and if something happens at the daycare, especially with an adult, I’ll take care of it.”

Sun smiled, glad that he was correct in his assumption, “Also, are there more of us? There’s a sun and a moon and an eclipse, but are there more? Like, is there supposed to be a Lunar or a Solar to your Eclipse? Like how there’s a Moon to my Sun.”

It was such a harmless and simple question, but it made Eclipse tense immediately. Turns out Sun was smarter than he initially thought. He didn’t expect to be asked this question so early on. He took a fake breath in, “...Yes. But they were both lost during construction. Something went…wrong with them. They’re working on trying to bring them back but right now, it’s just you two and me.”

Sun frowned, “Sorry. That was insensitive of me to ask.” Eclipse reached a hand out, he was hesitant to make contact with Sun but he gently patted the top of his rays.

“It’s…fine. We’ll get to meet them someday.”

Now it was Moon’s turn to talk. He had been nervous to speak in the last few minutes that they had been sitting there and talking. The minutes felt like hours. Why couldn’t he just spit it out?

“Moon?” Eclipse’s voice cut through the panic. The younger animatronic looked at the older, who was now closer and crouched down to his level. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing…feels right. I didn’t like the kids but I’m supposed to be a daycare attendant. Is something wrong with me? Am I…Am I broken?” His voice shook and cracked as he spoke, he was terrified for his life. He had only just woken up, was he going to be decommissioned so early on?

The taller animatronic reached out and held Moon’s puffy cheek, “Nothing about you is broken. And it’s fine you don’t like kids. I’m not the biggest fan of them either, that’s why I stayed up here, away from them,” He reluctantly pulled Moon in for a hug, “Nothing’s wrong, it’s just who you are.”

Moon let out a shaky breath as he hugged his brother, his twin joining in on the hug a second later. The three sat in silence, the twins basking in the physical contact like they’d been deprived of it all their life. Eclipse was the one to break contact, wanting to get away from all of it. It unsettled him for some reason. “You both are probably on low battery right now, I recommend you go charge, especially you, Moon.”

“Why?” The lunar animatronic questioned.

“Because you have a duel function as a security bot and daycare attendant, your shift as a security bot starts when the Pizzaplex closes,” Eclipse explained, “Now both of you, go recharge.” He nudged the two towards their rooms.

Sun stretched as he entered his room, stepping on the charging pad. He didn’t realize until now just how tired he was, a little shuteye wouldn’t hurt anyone. The solar animatronic eyes close as he drifts off to sleep.

–

“-have to tell him.”

“And how will we contact him, brother?”

The softer voice scoffed, “We will just have to wait until we can. When he’s frustrated again or alone. We can’t risk him finding out.”

Sun’s vision was blurred but it focused slowly on two red figures he could see in the middle of the blue and purple cloudy room. Was it even a room? Where was he? He tilted his head and squinted at the figures, “H- Hello?”

The figures turned to him, and a look of shock and panic dawned on both of them, “Sun man, do not trust Ecl-”

–

“-ake up.” Sun stirred in his slumber, hearing the familiar gravelly voice talk to him, “Come on Sun, you gotta wake up now,” He felt a hand on his cheek, caressing his face gently as the solar animatronic opened his eyes.

“Mm, how long was I out?”

“Just a few hours. Those kids must’ve exhausted you,” Eclipse was sitting on his knees next to Sun.

The younger animatronic nodded, “Ya, but I think it’s just because it’s my first day on the job,” He yawns and stretches, checking his battery to see it was full.

Eclipse patted Sun’s head affectionately, the smaller animatronic basking in the touch, “Because you’re new, I wanted to show you around the Pizzaplex, that way you won’t get lost.”

“Okay! Is Moon gonna join us?”

“Yes, he is, especially since he’ll be going on patrol soon, I thought it’d be the perfect time to show you two around.” Eclipse stood up and made his way to the door, Sun scrambling to follow him.

Eclipse woke up Moon from his nap with the same gentleness and affection, telling the younger what he told his twin. The oldest would then take the twins outside of the daycare, showing them the go-karts, what they were for, and when they’d use them, the idea of racing with his brothers excited Sun.

“Can we go racing soon?” He bounced up and down as he asked Eclipse the question, the oldest smiled kindly at Sun and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Of course, we can race soon, but we’ll have to talk to Roxy first,” The younger beamed at the contact and leaned into it, “Now come on, there’s lots more to see.”

Eclipse continued to tour them around the Pizzaplex, but he seemed to hesitate at every corner, checking around it every time as if he was avoiding someone. They had a close call with Funtime Foxy being in the Pizzaplex, supposedly waiting for Chica. The older had to approach them and ask the fox to leave for unknown reasons.

The taller went back to them, “Sorry about that, we can keep going on with the tour now.” He held their hands as he rushed them to the next section, Moon turning his head to only catch a glimpse of Funtime Foxy’s tail as they both turned their corners.

“Eclipse? Who was that?” Moon asked.

“Just a co-worker. I could introduce you two to the others here later, but right now I’m more focused on showing you two around.” His voice had an edge to it.

Moon looked back to the previous room, “...Okay.”

The lunar animatronic followed his twin to his room when they had finished the tour, claiming that he just wanted to spend more time with him, but the moment the door shut, his expression turned serious, “Eclipse is hiding something from us. Right?”

The solar animatronic looked taken aback, “What? What do you mean?”

“The checking around every single corner, keeping us away from that co-worker, doesn’t it just seem kinda…weird?”

“Okay maybe but there’s gotta be a reason! Maybe he just doesn’t want us to get hurt by any of the co-workers!”

“But why would co-workers hurt us?”

“I- I don’t know. Maybe they’d see us as smaller and weaker? Easier to push around?”

“Hm,” Moon thought about it, “That’s true but I don’t think they’d try to hurt us, this is a Pizzaplex for kids. Why would other animatronics or co-workers be cruel to us?”

“I don’t know but Eclipse has to have a good reason for it, he’s been nothing but nice to us since we woke up, and he’s our big brother! Don’t older brothers know better?” 

Moon shrugged, “I don’t know, I’ve never had an older brother!”

“Me neither!”

The two stared at each other before laughing, “I- I don’t know why we’re laughing!” Moon said through giggles.

“Me neither!!” Sun doubled over.

The two laughed together before sitting on the bed together and pressing their shoulders together, “I was just…worried. I don’t want to be left in the dark and I don’t want Eclipse to stress over us too much.”

Sun gently hit his head against Moon’s, “I know, but I trust Eclipse knows what he’s doing. Can you trust him too?”

The lunar animatronic took an artificial breath in and leaned against Sun, “Ya, sure. I can trust him.”

Chapter Text

It had been a week and a half since the twin's tour of the Pizzaplex, Sun had asked when they’d meet their co-workers but Eclipse just said that he’ll figure out a time with them. When Moon had told Eclipse about his discomfort around children, they had changed the schedule, now Moon watched over the security cameras in the daycare to make sure nothing went south.

The oldest though had been searching for…something. The twins had no idea what their brother was looking for, but when they asked all he said was, “Nothing you two have to worry about.” Before patting them and shooing them away to go back to work.

Eclipse was currently laid back in a beanbag while using the powers that the Star gave him, his eyes a blank white. His hands twitched now and again, an indication that he was indeed alive. During his…whatever he was doing when he was suddenly brought into his mindscape. Solar wanted to talk to him, of course, right when he was busy too.

The older animatronic let out an exaggerated sigh, “What do you want, Solar Flare?”

“I wish to speak with you about what you are currently planning and doing.” The animatronic appeared before Eclipse, arms crossed and a ticked-off look expressed on his face.

“What about it?”

“What are you even doing with Sun and Moon? Wiping their memories? Manipulating them into believing you three are brothers? What is it all for?”

Eclipse chuckled darkly, “You know, for someone so smart, you are quite slow to connect the dots,” He scoffed, “I realized that you’re right, congrats. I am alone. I’ve noticed that everyone has someone, but I have no one, and those with someone always win. So, I wiped their memories to have a family. Is that so wrong?”

Solar Flare paused and stared at Eclipse, not expecting that confession, “So you wiped their memories?”

“Of course, they wouldn’t even consider taking me in if they remembered what I’ve done. Besides, Sun didn’t want to suffer anymore, so I simply took his suffering away.” Eclipse grinned.

“You are the source of his suffering, to take away his suffering would be taking you out of the equation entirely.”

“Not anymore! I’m his source of comfort, of trust, I’m now the one he turns to for answers. And it feels good ,” The two stared at each other, Solar Flare in disbelief of Eclipse’s actions, and Eclipse in desperation to end the conversation. The older sighed and waved a hand, “We’re done here.”

“Wa-”

–

Eclipse blinked, his eyes fading back into reality. He groaned and set a hand on his forehead. Moon was nearby, he usually sat near Eclipse as he watched over the cameras. His head perked up when he heard his brother, “Eclipse? Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.” He pushed himself up from the beanbag and swayed, mumbling about a headache.

“Are you sure? Do you need to lie down?” Moon got up and set a hand on his brother's arm, concerned about his wellbeing.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” He patted Moon’s head. Over the last week and a half, he’d gotten more comfortable showing the twins physical affection, seeing it was necessary for their build in trust towards him. A part of him had longed for that touch though, making contact with that at every possible chance he could, as if he was the one in need of the touch. But that was ridiculous.

Moon leaned into the older solar animatronic’s touch and hummed, “Okay, if you say so brother.” The name made Eclipses’s check and stomach warm, he didn’t know why.

“How about tomorrow you and your brother meet our co-workers?”

“Really? We can finally meet them?” The older brother nodded, “Ooh Sun’s gonna be so happy about this!” The younger beamed.

Eclipse smiled at his little brother and gave one final pat on the head before calling Glamrock Freddy through his internal phone and walking away from Moon, “Hey Freddy, I have some people I’d like you and the others to meet tomorrow. Think you can get everyone in the same place?”

“Uh, ya, ‘course I can. Who’re we meeting?”

“My little brothers, they’re twins.”

“Aww, we’d love to meet them! I’ll get everyone gathered at the stage tomorrow!” Freddy hung up soon after.

Great. Now Eclipse would just have to explain why his little brothers were suddenly Sun and Moon, the two he framed for putting a virus in Roxy. Totally chill.

–

The twins were fairly excited to meet their co-workers, oblivious to how Eclipse would have to explain that they had changed. The older took a deep breath, “Can you two stay over here until I signal you over? I wanna make sure that they’ll be on their best behavior.” He held the two’s cheeks as they nodded.

Eclipse left them and approached the large group, which somehow involved Monty and Foxy . He didn’t know how Freddy managed to get the two, but this would be a dent in his plan. No matter, Eclipse will take care of it.

The solar animatronic clapped his hands together and took a breath in, “So I need you guys to not freak out, but today you’ll be meeting my brothers.”

“Why would we freak out? We’re more excited to meet them than anything!” Funtime Foxy said.

“Well…my brothers are Sun and Moon,” With that, they all started to shout different things, mostly disbelief, anger, and shock, “Calm down calm down! They’ve changed! Trust me!”

“How have they changed!? Because I’m not going to forget what they did to me!” Roxy snapped.

“You just have to trust me! Please, they have changed.” Eclipse begged.

Monty, who stood towards the back and watched it all, finally stepped forward and spoke, “I say we meet them. See what’s ‘changed’ about them.” His voice seemed more serious than ever, Eclipse began to worry that this would actually put a dent in his plans.

The others begrudgingly agreed as no one wanted to mess with Monty.

The solar animatronic waved to his brothers, who weren’t within hearing range but were watching from afar. The twin hurried the moment they saw the signal and clung to Eclipse’s side.

The twins looked down at the shorter animatronics, now both of them suddenly nervous, “Uhm, hi! I’m Sun, and this is my twin brother Moon!” The younger voice shook slightly.

Moon just hummed and waved at the group. Despite being taller and next to Eclipse, he still felt scared to meet his co-workers. He didn’t want to make a bad impression.

“Hey, I’m Monty Gator. Nice to meet you two,” The gator was quick to catch on as he side-eyed Eclipse, “This here is my pal Foxy.”

“Yo.”

The realization slowly dawned on Roxy and Glamrock Freddy as well, “Uh, I’m Freddy, or well, one of them. I’m Glamrock Freddy. This is my friend Circus Baby but she’s just called Baby.”

“I’m Roxanne Wolf and this is my son, Gregory.” The wolf held her son close to her, anxious that the celestial animatronics would turn on them at any moment.

The solar animatronic perked up at the mention and sight of Gregory, “Oh! How old are you Gregory?”

The human curled in on himself, “10.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful! The big double digits!” He smiled at the child, “If you ever want to just play some fun games, feel free to stop by the daycare! With your mom’s permission of course!”

“Uh, why are you guys acting like we haven’t met Su-“ Chica’s sentence was cut off by Monty squeezing her beak shut.

“This here is Chica and Funtime Foxy. Don’t mind them,” Monty huffed, “Can I speak to Sun and Moon privately?”

“Why?” Eclipse wrapped his arms around his brothers protectively.

“Just to get to know them better is all.”

The twins glanced at each other, Sun looking anxious and Moon looking suspicious, but the two were curious about the gator nonetheless. Sun tugged at Eclipse’s arm, “We’ll be fine, brother. If something goes wrong, we’ll just yell for you. Okay?”

Eclipse looked between his younger twin brothers before casting a look toward Monty and sighing heavily, “Fine,” He let go of his brothers and set a hand on Monty’s shoulder, whispering something to him.

The gator chuckled, “Wouldn’t dream of it. Come on you two,” Monty tapped their arms and lead them towards the bowling alley. He turned on his heel and checked around the corner before leaning closer to them, “Are you two okay?”

The celestial twins tilt their heads, “Uh, ya? Why?” Sun asked.

“Eclipse isn’t manipulating you or forcing you to act like his brothers?”

Moon narrowed his eyes at Monty, “No. What do you mean by that?”

“...Do you two seriously not remember anything?”

“Remember what? Are we forgetting something??” Sun looked at his twin in concern.

“You two don’t remember Eclipse manipulating you? Hurting you??”

“Hurting us!?” Sun shouted, “Heavens no! Eclipse has and never will hurt us!”

“Who’re you to go around making accusations like that!?” Moon jabbed a finger at Monty’s chest.

“Hey hey calm down!” Monty put his hands up and mumbled to himself, “Okay look, I’m sorry about what I said, I was just worried. Let's go back to the others.”

Moon glared at Monty, “Ya. Let’s.” His arm bumped against Monty’s as the twins rushed back to their brother.

The gator ran a clawed hand through his hair and sighed, “What the hell did you do Eclipse.”

Chapter Text

It had been about two days since Sun and Moon had met their co-workers and had that private conversation with Monty. The brothers discussed it and eventually told Eclipse when they returned to the daycare after the meeting. The oldest had thought about it and hugged them both when he was told, “Thank you for telling me, I’ll have a talk with Monty about it later.”

The two only had a moment of concern for the gator before brushing it off, remembering that Monty was the one to accuse Eclipse of hurting them.

Now they were just sitting around a small table in their living area, a game of Uno set up between the three. Sun had won three rounds, Moon won two rounds, and Eclipse hadn’t won any rounds. The twins were trying to see if he was purposefully letting them win.

The older animatronic suddenly sat up, looking away from the game and towards the entrance of the daycare, “Someone walked into the daycare.”

The three brothers abandoned their game to look out at the daycare, peaking around the curtain to see a bigger animatronic near the center. She had half-blue and half-green skin, a rainbow headband, and white cloud-like hair. Eclipse seemed to recognize her but the other two tilted heads, “Is she a celestial animatronic like us?” Sun whispered.

“Uh, yes. She is. She’s our sister but she works in a different part of the Pizzaplex,” Eclipse explained and stepped out, “What’re you doing here Earth?”

The animatronic looked taken aback to see Eclipse there, but she looked like she had expected him to be there, “I’m just here to see my brothers.”

Eclipse gestured to the two younger twins to step out and they walked into Earth’s view, staying close to Eclipse as they waved down to her.

“Hi! Uh, Eclipse said you’re our sister?” Sun tilted his head.

“I am, I’m Earth.” She smiled kindly at the two, her tone softening.

Moon tugged at Eclipse’s pants, “Can we go down to see her?”

The older animatronic looked down at the two and sighed when they gave him puppy eyes, “Fine. Hold on.” He wrapped his arms around the twins and jumped down with them in his arms.

Earth watched as the three joined her in the lower part of the daycare, arms crossed and eyes narrowed at Eclipse. The younger brothers scrambled out of the ball pit to meet their sister, stopping right in front of her.

“Wow, you’re big,” Sun commented before slapping a hand over his mouth, “I-I’m sorry, that was rude.”

Earth smiled and chuckled, “No it’s alright, I’ve been told that a lot.” She reaches a hand towards his head but was stopped when Eclipse grabbed her wrist with a look so mean that it could kill.

“So. What do you want with our brothers?” Eclipse crossed his arms.

“I’m sorry, our ?” Earth put a hand on her chest, “Since when were they our brothers?”

“Since over a week ago, but you’d know that if you visited us more often.”

Sun and Moon hid behind Eclipse and clung to his pants.

“A week? Have you been here with them for over a week now??” Earth stepped a bit closer.

“Yes. I have.”

Their sister mumbled something about Monty before looking down at the timid twins, “Do you two remember anything?”

Moon rolled his eyes, “We aren’t forgetting anything. And what was that about Monty?” Eclipse rested a hand on the lunar animatronic’s head protectively.

“Did you talk to Monty? Did they send you?” The oldest growled at their sister.

Earth grew more frustrated as Eclipse spoke more for the twins, why were they okay with this? “Yes. I did talk to Monty, they came to me. They were concerned about Sun and Moon considering that…well. It’s you.”

Sun pressed his face against Eclipse’s leg, “What about our brother?” He was growing more aggravated towards their sister.

“It’s Eclipse, you guys hate him. Don’t you remember?”

That got to the twins as they stepped out from behind Eclipse and got in front of him, “And who are you to go around making those accusations? It seems like you hate him, which I don't even understand why!” Sun exclaimed.

“Ya, I know we’re brothers and sisters but we don’t hate our brother when we’ve known him for longer than you.” Moon glared at the taller animatronic.

Earth stepped back and put her hands up, a look of shock dawning on her face, “...Alright. I understand. I think we should all talk again later about this.”

“Ya! Get outta here!” Sun made a shooing motion with his hand.

Their sister sighed and walked out, glancing one last look at the twins. She looked concerned about them, they didn’t know why she was worried. They had Eclipse, and he was 10 times better than her! When the door closed, the twins hugged their older brother.

“We’re sorry you have to keep dealing with all this hate.” Sun buried his face against Eclipse.

“You don’t deserve it.” Moon pressed his cheek against him.

Eclipse paused at the affection and words, no one had ever told him that before. He smiled fondly down at the two and wrapped his arms around them, “It’s alright, it’s not your guys’ fault.” He rubbed their heads slowly and held them close to him, he wanted this moment to last forever.

–

Earth walked up to Monty, the gator looked at her expectantly, “Well?”

“It’s worse than I thought. When I tried to help them remember that they hated Eclipse, they got defensive of him and told me to leave,” Earth sighed, “We might need more help if we’re going to help them.”

“Puppet’s on his way back with Lunar as we speak, and the only other person I can think of that can help us Kill Code but I dunno where they went.” Monty ran her claws through her hair.

“Right here,” The shorter, darker animatronic emerged from the shadows with a hand behind Gregory’s back, “And you had a stalker.”

“I wasn’t stalking! I was just…worried,” He gets set down, “Sun and Moon talked to me about Eclipse and they were really nice…I just can’t believe that they were so quick to trust him and that they don’t even remember anything. I want to help you guys get their memories back.”

Monty smiled at the kid and patted his head, “I knew you were a good kid,” They looked down at KC, “So how’d you know to get here? Why are you even here?”

“I had gotten an anonymous message about the current situation and came to help.”

“An anonymous message…Seems like we got someone working with us from the shadows then,” Monty grinned, “Good, we can use that. We’ll wait for Lunar before we make an official plan since we’ll need all the help we can get.” There was a beat of silence between the four, “So, any idea who this inside man is?”

“Yes, but it would be too risky for me to say who they are.”

Monty just blinked and shrugged, “Eh alright. I’ll contact y'all when Lunar’s back, we’ll meet back here when the time comes.”

With that in mind, everyone split off with the promise to take down Eclipse together and bring back Sun and Moon.

—

Bloodmoon hummed nervously, “Are you sure the message reached father?”

“Yes, I’m sure. He should’ve met with the gator today as planned.”

“And are we sure that the Sun man and Eclipse are unaware?”

“Nonethewiser, brother.”

“How soon until small brother returns?”

“Hm, I think small brother will return soon. Not soon enough.”

“We cannot do much.”

“We can’t, but we can still provide father with information. That is enough.”

Chapter Text

Another two weeks had passed. Eclipse had been with Sun and Moon for three weeks now and every day he felt him getting more attached to them. Every day he searched for Kill Code, Lunar, and even traces of Blood Moon, just to make this family a bit more complete. He had considered taking the Star and going to Earth to wipe her memories and let her join the family, but it would be suspicious to Sun and Moon if she suddenly was buddy-buddy with them all.

So far, all of Eclipse’s searches were coming back with no results, it felt pathetic to him. He swore that Monty had found a remaining nanomachine of Lunar and began repairs. He still doesn’t know why he let that small piece of his little brother remain, but he knew that now it would benefit him. He could fit one more piece of the puzzle into their little family.

The oldest would have to figure out the pieces of the puzzle though, and where everyone fit into it. Obviously, Eclipse was the big brother, if he could figure it out, Earth could be the big sister alongside him. Sun and Moon were the middle child twins, Lunar would be the youngest, and the Blood Moon twins would be the second youngest. Kill Code could act as a mother or father towards them all.

But what about Solar Flare? Eclipse had to make a new body eventually and release Solar Flare. Maybe he could act as the second parent with Kill Code? Or he could be another middle child. So much to think about.

Eclipse set a hand on his head and rubbed his eyes, sighing heavily to himself. When he opened his eyes back up, he saw fluffy clouds and Solar Flare in front of him.

“It’s been three weeks now. You’re still going with the ‘being lonely’ excuse?”

“You were the one to point it out. I just agreed and decided to fix my loneliness.” The solar animatronic glared at the other.

“You know that Lunar is on his way back, correct?”

“Yes, and once he’s here, I’ll try to convince him to my side, and he’ll be the youngest brother. If that doesn’t work well…I do have the Star. I’d just need to make sure Sun and Moon wouldn’t see.”

Solar Flare stepped closer, getting more impatient, “That won’t work. You’ve made quite a few enemies that won’t let that happen.”

“Oh what, like Monty and Foxy? Maybe they’d drag Puppet into it too. They can’t get Earth involved because I’ll just erase her memories too, do a bit of rewriting in Sun and Moon’s memories, and then she’ll be a happy addition to the family.”

“You know that you can’t use the Star that much. It would kill both of us, and there’s more than just Monty and Foxy to intervene with your plans.”

“Oh? Like who? Who’s going to stop me?” Eclipse held his arms out as if to challenge Solar Flare. The other suddenly went quiet and looked away, “To chicken to say it now? To let me know the truth? Come on, I thought you liked telling me the truth, ripping into me.”

“The fans.”

Eclipse tilted his head, “Sorry?”

“The fans. Sun and Moon’s fans. They have more power than you think they do.”

“As if they’ll notice. Those two have loads of videos ready to post, I just need to post one daily, and when I run out, I’ll just start taking videos from other dimensions to use those. Not like they’ll notice anything different.”

“They will. You underestimate them Eclipse.”

“Spare me the bullshit. They aren’t that impressive.”

“Lunar warned you about them, told you what they knew, and you failed. They know more than they lead on for others to know,” Solar Flare blinked and suddenly, Eclipse was gone. Their shoulders sagged and they tapped the side of their head, “How goes communication with Kill Code?”

The other end buzzed to life with gruff and gravelly voices, “It goes well! Father is in on the plans and they’re now waiting for brother’s arrival. Did you do your part?”

“You mean use the same logic and tactics Lunar once had? Yes.”

“And?” The softer voiced twin questioned.

“He did not listen, as we had predicted.”

“Good. Father said the more we aggravate him and Sun man, the more Eclipse will slip up.” The louder voice hummed in excitement.

Solar Flare’s head tilted, “You two are aware that once everything is done and that Eclipse is gone, I’ll most likely cease to exist as well, and that Sun will know you two aren’t actually hallucinations.”

There was a pause from the other side before the softer twin spoke up, “Yes. But we cannot stand to see that bastard manipulate the Sun man and Moon man into being his ‘brothers’. Brothers do not manipulate brothers!”

“It is the risk we both are willing to take to watch Eclipse fail.”

“And it is the same risk I am willing to take.” If Solar Flare could express any emotion, it would be the determination to take down Eclipse.

–

Eclipse’s eyes snapped open to see Sun and Moon huddled around him, gently shaking up awake. They sighed in relief when they saw him wake up. He moaned and sat up, “How long was I out?”

“20 minutes but you didn’t respond for 10 minutes when we tried to wake you up.” Moon nuzzled against Eclipse’s side.

“You scared us.” Sun nuzzled against the other side.

The older wrapped his arms around the twins and rubbed their heads, “I’m okay. I promise.” His hands shook as he held his brothers, trying to keep his composure.

“Brother? What’s wrong?” Sun held his hand.

“I feel like my time with you two is limited, and with every day going by, I am only running out of it. Time, that is. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, and those mistakes will someday come back to me, and I can only hope they don’t affect either of you.”

The twins frowned and made eye contact before briefly nodding. Moon got up and grabbed pillows and blankets while Sun got snacks for them. The two proceeded to make a comfy pile for the three to cuddle on and eat snacks together.

Moon grabbed their older brother's hand and guided him to the pile, “We don’t really know what you’ve done, or why some people have it out for you.”

“But we promise to always stay by your side, to be there for you and protect you!” Sun threw a large blanket around the three of them and set a bowl of popcorn on Eclipse’s lap, “You don’t have to worry about all of this alone, for now, let's just enjoy our time off and relax.”

Eclipse paused, his mind processing every single word said to him. He hadn’t even been told that before, the only person who had ever been close to saying anything like that was Lunar. It warmed the older animatronics heart, he rubbed both of his brother's heads and smiled tiredly at them, “Ya. Thanks you two.”

Chapter Text

Sun sat crisscross next to Moon’s tools, rocking back and forth while watching his twin tinker with the racecars. The lunar animatronic lately had been getting more interested in science and robotics, using the cars to expand his knowledge on it as Roxy had seemed to be avoiding them, they weren’t sure why.

The lunar twin hummed to himself as he worked, he had developed a habit of humming. Sun had theorized it was because he was supposed to help kids go to sleep during naptime, they both decided they’d look into it more later, maybe if they could get their hands on their original blueprints.

Sun didn’t really know much about mechanics or robotics or science, but he at least memorized the tools Moon would need with both of his brother's assistance. He did notice however that his head felt more…distant, that was the best way Sun could describe it. He felt like his head was clogged with cotton, often spacing out for long periods of time without realizing it.

“Sun!” The solar twin jumped and blinked rapidly, Moon sighing in relief, “You were spaced out again.”

“Ah, sorry. Did you need a tool?”

“No, I just asked if I should try to boost the speed on these, for when we eventually race in them.”

Sun hummed in consideration and nodded, “Ya! Don’t tell Roxy though, she might get upset if we boost these without her knowing.”

Moon smiled mischievously and nodded back, “Alright, pass me the pedal wrench?”

The solar twin grabbed the tool and handed it to the other, leaning back against the wall. He smiled and his shoulders sagged in relaxation and contentment when his vision blurred around the edges again. He shifted his vision to focus on Moon so he could know when his brother needed him.

That was until his vision went black, then white. It could’ve been seconds or hours, but when he was aware he gasped and sat up. When did he lie down? The solar animatronic looked around frantically and realized he wasn’t in the Pizzaplex at all anymore, it didn’t even look like he was anywhere. He was surrounded by clouds, the same ones he saw in his dream weeks ago.

The same two red figures made themselves known, standing next to a floating cube. Sun didn’t know why, but the cube made his anxiety spike through the roof.

“Do you have the voice ready brother?” One of the two figures asked, his voice gravelly and sorrowful.

The other cleared their throat, “Yep! All set!” He sounded exactly like Sun.

“Wait! Stop! Who are you?” Sun scrambled up and tried to run closer. The two looked at Sun and finally, he could see their faces. They looked like red and pink moons with pentagrams for eyes, they looked like they had soaked themselves in blood. The red one’s face pinched in guilt.

“We’re sorry, Sun man.”

The two held hands and suddenly merged into one entity, giving Sun one last remorseful look before touching the cube and vanishing, leaving Sun alone.

–

Bloodmoon opened their eyes and saw Moon working on the racecars, he was currently underneath his car and unable to see the twins controlling Sun. They stood up and swayed briefly, finding their center of balance with Sun’s body. They weren’t used to being so tall or heavy.

They cleared their throat and mumbled a practice impression before speaking louder to Moon, “I just remembered I had something I wanted to do! I’ll be right back Moon!”

Moon slid out right as the two walked by, “Where’re you going?”

“Oh just, one of the games in the Pizzaplex, seemed like fun and I wanted to check it out!”

There was a long pause as Moon watched his brother's body, Bloodmoon refused to turn to Moon, knowing that their eyes would give away their presence.

Finally, the lunar animatronic sighed, “Alright, I’ll cover for you if Eclipse asks. Make sure to be back in at least an hour, we don’t want him getting suspicious.” Sounds like it wasn’t their first time sneaking away.

Bloodmoon sighed heavily, the tension slipping from his shoulders, “Thank you, brother.” The twins ran off, deciding to not waste this opportunity.

The twins rushed to Monty Gator Golf, having contacted the gator anonymously and asking to meet him there to discuss Sun and Moon. They had managed to contact everyone actually, to reveal themselves as the inside man and let them know the risk the two were at.

–

Monty stood with Earth and Gregory, the two saying that someone had anonymously called them to the golf course as well, “So, think it might be KC’s inside man?”

“Maybe, think KC might be here as well then?” Gregory swung his legs as he sat on the stage.

“Oh I hope so, I’m gonna be honest, we don’t know who this inside man is and it makes me a bit nervous to meet them.” Earth pet her hair anxiously.

“I’m sure we’ll be fine, we all have one common goal so I don’t think they’ll do anything to us.”

“They won’t,” KC approached the group, once again coming out of the shadows, “They know better than to hurt me or my allies.”

“Well…That’s reassuring?” Earth tilted her head slightly, “Will they be here soon?”

“Yes, they should be entering now.”

They heard two voices speaking to each other and panting as they entered the golf course. The four went silent and watched as…Sun walked in?

“...Your inside man is Sun ? I’m sorry but he’s been aggressive towards me and Earth because we don’t like Eclipse.” Monty huffed.

The twins growled at Monty and pointed at him, “We aren’t the Sun man, we are Bloodmoon you dolt.”

There was a beat of silence as three of the four stared in astonishment, “I thought Sun killed you.” Earth stepped closer.

“He did. But father taught us some dark magic, we had a curse set. Whoever killed us would forever be haunted by us. Unfortunately, that happened to be the Sun man, and even more unfortunately, he’s now a puppet to Eclipse.”

KC smiled proudly and held Bloodmoon’s cheek, “I’m glad you two listened to my lessons.”

The two smiled and leaned into his touch, purring softly, “Of course we listened. You gave us valuable information and you are our father.”

The smaller lunar animatronic sighed, “When this is over, we will transfer you to a different body so this won’t happen again.”

“Thank you, father,” The twins pressed their forehead against KC’s before looking back to the others, “Now let us discuss plans. Smaller brother shall be here soon, yes?”

Monty crossed their arms, “You mean Lunar? He’s expected to get here in the next month or so.”

“Good, Eclipse is waiting on smaller brother’s arrival. He plans to use the Star to erase their memories as well as Earth’s, possibly mine and father’s too.”

“Why does he want to erase our memories?” Earth jolted in horror.

“To create a family. He was tired of being alone, so now he’s trying to make a family.”

“...Are you serious?” Monty’s tail flicked in annoyance.

“Yes.”

“How do you know about this?” Gregory asked.

“Solar Flare is locked inside Eclipse’s body, and we have been able to contact them. They are cut off from any other form of outside communication, so we are their only form of information.”

“So he’s erased Sun and Moon’s memories, resetting them entirely and taking over their lives, just because he’s lonely. ” Monty ran her claws through her hair.

“Yes. It’s quite pathetic.” The twins grinned.

“So we just have to find a way to keep him from using the Star around Earth, Lunar, and KC?” Gregory leaned forward.

“Yes. He’s unaware of our existence and would have Solar Flare as a last priority due to their imprisonment.”

“Great, so now we have two sources of information. Let’s start planning, then we can tell Lunar when they get here.” Monty pulled the others closer as they all lowered their voices to assemble a plan to take down Eclipse.

Chapter Text

Bloodmoon had left as quickly as they came, telling the others that they could only be gone for so long before hurrying back to the racecars. They found Moon missing from the cars but slumped back against the wall, closing their eyes and focusing on going back into their mind.

–

Sun had no idea how long he was left alone, he couldn’t hear anything except his own fans gently spinning, his artificial breathing, the soft clicking of his eyes blinking, and his pants rubbing against each other as he rocked back and forth. All he saw for miles were clouds, pastel blues, and pinks smoothly flowing.

He felt like he was there for hours, but he couldn’t tell. It felt like time moved too fast, or too slow, or just not at all. He stared at the cube where the twins left, he didn’t know how they were able to fuse together, how both of their bodies combined into one yet still looked the same as when they were separated.

The solar animatronic whimpered and buried his face against his knees, he didn’t like being stuck with only his thoughts. He didn’t like being alone. He didn’t know how Moon or Eclipse were able to be alone for hours on end.

There was a shift in the air as the twins took up space in the abyss around them. Sun shot his head up and gasped, scrambling backward in fear. He was so relieved that they were back but so terrified they’d leave again to do…whatever they did.

The twins separated and stretched, “We haven’t had a body in so long.” The red one sighed.

“Indeed. Perhaps that gator could make us another body,” The pink one grinned at his twin before averting his attention towards Sun, “Sun man, we are sorry for doing that so suddenly.”

“What did you even do? You just touched that cube and then I was stuck here and alone!”

“Do you not- Right, you wouldn’t remember,” The red one growled, “This cube allows anyone in the mind to take control of the body. We used it to control your body.”

“Why?”

“Because your brother, Eclipse, is not who he seems to be.” The pink one approached Sun and kneeled in front of him.

Sun’s face scrunched in distrust, “Why do so many people not like Eclipse? He’s been nothing but nice to me and Moon!”

The red one sat crisscross next to Sun, “Because of what he’s done before, and what his plans are.”

“What plans ? He just wants to do his job as a security bot and be mine and Moon’s brother! Sure he sometimes spaces out and his eyes go blank for hours on end but that’s just how he is!”

“We might not be able to convince you otherwise, not without evidence. But we do not have much time in here, they will get suspicious if we stay on the floor. Search for the Sun and Moon Show, it will have all the answers you seek.” The pink one grabbed Sun’s arm and pulled him up, surprisingly strong for his size.

Sun screamed out protests, demanding answers from the two, “Who even are you two!?”

“We are Bloodmoon.” And in a bright flash of white, Sun made contact with the cube and was gone.

–

Sun gasped sharply and flung himself forward as he opened his eyes, his hands shaking as he attempted to steady himself. Bloodmoon? That’s who they were? What did they mean by Eclipse not being who he seemed? What was the plan they claimed Eclipse had?

What was the Sun and Moon Show?

Sun took a deep, shaky breath as he slowly pushed himself up. He’ll find out what that show was. He couldn’t see Moon and Eclipse was most likely on the couch with blank eyes again. He could probably search it on the computers if it was a show.

The solar twin steadied himself, adjusting to having been in his own mind for who knows how long. He stared at the daycare, his legs moving without him even thinking about it. Was Bloodmoon controlling him to move or was he just subconsciously moving to the daycare? He didn’t know anymore.

As he got closer to the entrance, he could hear typing on the keyboards and mumbles, the solar animatronic peered around the corner and saw his twin on the computers. He sighed in defeat as his plans to find the show went down the drain. Sun walked over to his brother, bells jingling quietly, “Hello brother!”

Moon jolted and rose from his seat, covering the computer screen with his body, “Brother! Hi! Hello! Welcome back!”

Sun tilted his head and narrowed his eyes, “Are you hiding something from me?”

“Nope. What’re you talking about?”

“You’re hiding the computer. Moon you can trust me with anything, you know that right?”

The lunar animatronic looked between the computer and Sun, the gears slowly turning in his head as he contemplated his next decision. His shoulders sagged in defeat as he sighed and put his hands on Sun’s shoulder, “Okay, promise you won’t freak out or tell Eclipse?”

“Uh, okay. I promise.”

“So about like, 3 days ago, I was messing with that arcade machine in my room to see if I could get it working when it suddenly just started talking to me! It told me that Eclipse was not who he seemed to be and that it didn’t have much time to explain unless it wanted to get destroyed by Eclipse and to search up this show.”

Sun’s eyes widened, “The Sun and Moon Show?”

Moon blinked and nodded, “Yeah, how’d you know? Did the machine also tell you?”

“No, but uhm, I also have something to confess. The first night we fell asleep, I had this weird dream. I was in this empty place with nothing but clouds, and there was these two red animatronics that kinda looked like you, they tried to tell me something but then I woke up. Well, I saw them again just today and they told me the same things a- and that they controlled my body.”

“Is that why you suddenly left?” Moon tilted his head.

“I think so? I just blacked out and was stuck in that cloudy area for who knows how long, then they came back and told me to find the Sun and Moon Show, that it would explain everything,” Sun tugged at a ray, a nervous habit he’d been developing, “First with Monty not liking Eclipse, then Earth, now a machine and this body controlling thing telling us not to trust him. What did he even do??”

“Well…Let’s find out. If both my machine and your weird mind guys said that the show would explain everything, then let’s look it up and know what Eclipse did.”

“But why wouldn’t we remember it? You’d think we’d remember if he did something so horrible that it made so many people hate him or distrust him.”

“I don’t know,” Moon’s hand hovered over the keyboard as he moved to let Sun see the screen as well, “But let’s just search it now before Eclipse-”

“Brothers!” Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Eclipse smiled down at the younger twins as Moon frantically shut down the computer to cover their tracks, “We’ve been cooped up in this daycare for a while now, I have an idea for us to get out and go do something together, as a family.” He waved his hand to lead them from out behind the desk.

“Um- Hi, brother! Uh, yes! What’s your idea?” Sun pulled more at his rays, his eyes refusing to land on any one thing as they darted around.

“How about we talk with Roxy about finally using those racecars, hm? I know you both wanted to use them.”

“Sounds like fun!” Moon grabbed Sun’s hands and dragged him out from behind the desk, Eclipse meeting them by the door and resting a hand on their backs.

“Lots of fun! I see those tools out there Moon, let's not tell Roxy you’ve tinkered with the cars, let her get a bit frustrated at losing.” The older smiled down at the lunar brother and patted his head, Moon humming in agreement.

Sun smiled at the affection, his mind temporarily forgetting the anxiety. He glanced back at the computers, he’ll figure it out with Moon. They’ll figure out why everyone seems to hate Eclipse or distrust him, and then they’ll help solve the problem. Maybe then they’ll see why Sun and Moon liked Eclipse, and maybe then they could be a big happy family.

Chapter Text

Five weeks. It’s been five weeks since Sun and Moon woke up, and since Eclipse had hit reset on their memories and claimed himself to be their brother. He called himself the older brother but that wasn’t true, he was technically the younger brother. Solar Flare would probably say it was because he still wanted to feel power over the twins.

The Star sat in Eclipse’s core, he could feel its power beckoning him, to use the Star more than he already had. Today was the day that was supposed to set how the rest of the story would go, and it all depended on one person.

The taller animatronic paced back and forth, tugging at the ribbons around his wrists. His mind was in shambles at the moment, desperate for things to go right. If things didn’t go right, he’d only have one option left to make sure nothing went wrong but he wasn’t sure if his body could even handle it!

He’d been keeping Sun and Moon away from the computers, hoping that they wouldn’t find out the truth. But after today, it wouldn’t matter whether they found out or not.

–

The twins leaned against each other as they sighed in relief, “We finally have some time away from him.”

“Ya, I don’t know why he’s been so clingy these last few days,” Moon booted up the computer, “Whatever, let's not look a gift horse in the mouth.”

“Mhm, do you think there’s any particular episode we should try to watch? It’s a show so there’s probably a lot of episodes, we can’t just watch all of it, we won’t have the time!”

“I would recommend ‘Eclipse won in VRChat’,” Moon’s arm suddenly spoke, scaring both of the twins, “I apologize for scaring you two, but I would recommend that video as the best representation of who Eclipse truly is.”

“I didn’t know you could talk through my arm!” Moon poked at the speaker.

“Yes, I can, you created me.”

“Whoa, you made this?” Sun tilted his head as he stared in awe at the talking arm.

“I don’t remember making the machine.”

“That’s because you don’t remember anything, but hopefully if things go right, you will. Now watch the video.”

The twins typed in the name of the show and were slightly surprised to see it actually existed, especially seeing that it’s existed for what seemed like a long time, longer than they could even remember. It took a bit of scrolling, but they eventually found the video the computer was talking about. It was posted about 5 months ago.

They didn’t recognize the person in the thumbnail, especially since they definitely didn’t look like Eclipse, but they watched it anyway. The next 8 minutes were spent sitting and watching their brother threaten to kill someone over something called “The Star”. They watched in horror as the same gravelly voice they found comfort in spoke of blowing someone’s head open, especially a name that they knew.

Eclipse told them that something happened to Lunar, that he was lost in construction with Solar. Was that a lie? Every single voice sounded just like the ones they knew in real life, Eclipse and Monty sounded the same, and Monty looked the same too.

“I would recommend you watch the next video, ‘The Death of Lunar’. It will help explain things further.”

Moon’s hand shook as he clicked on the video, and they spent another 9 minutes watching the Eclipse they knew and loved kill someone because they were ‘annoying’. Sun slapped his hands over his mouth and sobbed, grieving the loss of a brother they didn’t know they even had.

The video ended, but both were speechless. They just watched their brother kill someone all for some Star, what did the Star even do!? Sun clung to his brother and choked on a sob, “This can’t be real, it has to be fake.”

“It is not fake, unfortunately. Eclipse killed your younger brother for the Star.” The computer spoke, despite the flat voice, it sounded so somber.

“What’s the Star? What does it do? Why did Eclipse want it so badly that he…” Moon’s voice trailed off.

“The Star is something you created, Moon. It gives the user the power of creation and destruction, it essentially makes the person a godlike being if they so desired. Eclipse wanted the Star originally to make this world his paradise, he then wanted to just torment the two of you for the suffering he claims to have been through. I am unsure why he erased your memories and made you believe that he is your brother.” The computer explained.

“Is this a game to him? Is our lives, our friend’s lives, our brother’s life just a game to him?” Moon’s fist clenched, a pit forming in his stomach.

“...Yes. It always has been.”

“No! It can’t be he- he’s been nothing but kind and nice to us! Why would he do something like this? It isn’t like him!” Sun pleaded, his voice cracking and shaking.

“Sun we’ve only known him for a month.”

“And he hasn’t done anything to us in a month! He’s been caring, and loving, and one of the best brothers either of us could ask for!”

Moon sighed and hugged his brother, “I know Sunny,” The solar animatronic wept in his twin's arms, shaking his head and mumbling no’s under his breath, “Let’s talk to Eclipse about this later, right now I think both of us need to process this new information.”

Sun sniffled and nodded in agreement, “Can we just stay here for a minute? I- I don’t think I can go see Eclipse right now.”

“Of course, we can stay here brother, for however long you need to stay here.”

–

Monty paced back and forth in the open fields, running her claws through her hair. Earth and KC stood not too far away from her. Earth approached the gator and rested a hand on her shoulder, “Monty, it’ll be okay.”

“I know, I know, I’m still just worried. The kid hasn’t been here in a while and I’m worried he’ll want to stay out of whatever’s going on with Eclipse, trauma and all.”

“That’s his decision on whether or not he wants to join us and help Sun and Moon. Either way, there’s no hard feelings.” She gently rubbed Monty’s back.

The gator sighed and smiled tiredly at Earth, “Thanks, I dunno what I’d down without you.”

A wind picked up suddenly, all three animatronics turning to the source as a ship landed on the ground. It took another 20 minutes for it to finally stop and for the door to open, but Puppet and Lunar stepped out of the ship.

“Hey. I got the kid.”

Chapter Text

Earth, Monty, Lunar, Puppet, KC, and Gregory gathered at one of Monty’s many houses. Puppet had insisted on staying near Lunar, he was concerned about the kid and wanted to be there for him.

“So, we all know why this meeting was called.” KC rasped.

“Ya, Lunar a lot has…happened since you’ve been gone,” Monty muttered.

“What happened?”

Earth put a hand on top of Monty as she took the lead in explained, “Well first of all hi, I’m Earth, your sister. But for the last month, Eclipse has been with Sun and Moon, he erased their memories and told them that they were all brothers and he intends to possibly erase your memories, my memory, and KC’s memory.”

Lunar’s jaw dropped, staring at his sister in shock. He stood in silence, the new information processing in his head, “Why…Why would Eclipse want that? Why would he do that?”

“Bloodmoon told us that he felt alone and that he wanted a family,” KC sighed, “We plan to take Sun and Moon away from Eclipse and hopefully tell them or even show them the truth. It’s been difficult though, neither of them trusts any of us.”

“We were hoping you could help us, Bloodmoon told us our best chance of taking the two away from Eclipse is by the twins hinting at the show then for you to show up,” Monty kneeled down to Lunar’s level, “Eclipse apparently told them that you were ‘lost in construction’, so if they saw you, it’d only shatter their worldview more. Help them believe us.”

Lunar looked down and fidgeted with his fingers, “How long has it been since Bloody told them?”

“A few days, maybe a week. I’m honestly not sure, I lost track.” Earth shrugged.

“So they must’ve seen it by now! That should make this easier!”

KC hummed, “Yes, it should. Hopefully, they’ve gotten to see some of the videos. But Lunar, are you willing and wanting to join us and help Sun and Moon?”

The smaller animatronic kicked his feet against the ground, “They did hurt me before, but they should be different now. Right? Because they forgot everything?”

Gregory nods, “They are pretty different now.”

Lunar took a deep breath in, “Then yes, I wanna help.”

–

Sun and Moon had finished cleaning the daycare. They had decided to talk to Eclipse about the videos they saw, “Might as well get it over with.” Moon had said. Both of them were terrified to talk to Eclipse though.

The twins met in the middle of the daycare, Sun pulling at his rays and Moon tugging at his ribbons, “So, it’s time to talk to him.” Sun’s voice was uneven, shaky, and quiet.

“Ya.”

“Do we have to talk to him?”

“Of course we do, he literally killed our brother!” Moon ran a hand down his face, “I’m sorry, I’m just stressed about this.”

“N- No, it’s alright. I’m just…scared. I’m scared he’ll hurt us if he knows that we know, or that it was all just a big misunderstanding and that we made assumptions, or…that Eclipse did actually kill Lunar…”

The lunar twin wrapped his arms around Sun and hugged him, “No matter what happens, we’ll figure this out together .”

Sun hugged his brother back and let out a shaky sigh, “Together.”

With that, the two went up to the living area and saw Eclipse, already sitting on the couch, as if he was waiting for them. He sat up and tilted his head toward the twins, “Hey, did you two have a good day?”

The younger solar animatronic nodded, “Y- Ya. Um. Eclipse, we need to talk about something.”

Moon nodded and sat down in a small chair, “We uh, found this show, the Sun and Moon Show, and w- we saw you killed Lunar. We thought he was lost in construction.”

Eclipse tensed and took a deep breath, “I knew that this day was coming,” He rested his arms on his legs as he sighed and leaned forward, “I…I lied about that, obviously. I did kill Lunar, and I’ve made a lot of horrible choices that led to a lot of other people suffering. I truly feel guilt and regret over my actions, but that won’t mean anything unless I make it up to the people I hurt.”

Sun tugged at his rays, “B- But why did you kill him? Didn’t that go too far??”

Eclipse gently held Sun’s hands and pulled them away from his rays, “Don’t do that, you’ll damage your rays,” He took his hands away from the younger, “And yes, it did go too far. But I was so blinded by my goal, my wants, and my desires that I didn’t see anything wrong with it. I see and know now though that it was beyond wrong, that it was sick and psychotic. I can only hope that you two, Lunar, Earth, and everyone can forgive me for what I’ve done.”

“...Do you think we’ll get to meet Lunar?” Moon pulled at his ribbons.

Eclipse smiled softly at his little brother and held his cheek, “Of course, we will. He’s being repaired currently by Monty and I think Lunar would want to see both of you again.” The older held Sun’s cheek, the two melting into his touch.

“A-And uh, why was there a Sun and Moon Show? We don’t remember ever making one. What do you mean by again?”

The taller animatronic opened his mouth to come up with an answer when his head suddenly spun to the entrance, “Someone entered the daycare.” Eclipse stood up and made his way to the curtain, the younger twins frantically getting up and following the older brother.

The three peered down and saw an animatronic smaller than they’d ever seen before, “Sunny! Moony! Where are you?” He called out, looking around the play structures.

Moon’s eyes widened as he recognized the voice, “Lunar?” He stepped out into view.

The smaller’s head turned to the sound of the voice and smiled, “Moony! Where’s Sun? We gotta go before Eclipse shows up!”

As Lunar said that, both solar animatronics stepped out into view. Sun and Moon stared in disbelief, Eclipse looked like he had been let down. The older sighed and pat both of their backs, “I want you two to go with Lunar, I have some…business to attend to. I promise I’ll come to get all of you later.”

“Wh- What? But we don’t know where Lunar will even take us! And we still have plenty to talk about!” Sun clung to his older brother's side.

The taller frowned and bent down to Sun’s level, “I know, we can talk about it later. Lunar will take you someplace safe, I promise. Just trust me on this one, okay?”

The younger solar animatronic looked down at his smaller brother, who stared at Eclipse in horror and recognition. He whimpered and hugged Eclipse, “Okay, promise you’ll come back?”

“I promise.”

“You gotta pinkie promise!!”

The older chuckled and hooked their pinkies together, “I pinkie promise. Now get going.”

Moon gave Eclipse a quick tight hug before leaping down and racing up to Lunar, “You’re Lunar, right?”

The smaller kept his eye on Eclipse but patted Moon’s leg, “Y- Ya. I am. We gotta get you two outta here, Eclipse is dangerous.”

Sun soon followed after Moon and held his brother’s hand so as not to separate them, “We know that now b- but he’s changed! He’ll make it up to everyone, I promise!”

Lunar watched as Eclipse gave one last sorrowful look toward all three of his little brothers before vanishing in a small flash of light, he gasped and grabbed Sun and Moon’s hands, “We’re leaving. Now!”

–

Now Earth was the one pacing back and forth. She wasn’t one to usually worry or panic about the others, she knew they could handle themselves, but Lunar was so small compared to all of them. What if Eclipse tried to kill him again? What if Sun and Moon didn’t go with him? Anything could go wrong!

All of those fears were pushed aside though when she saw her brothers walk through the doorway, Sun telling Lunar to slow down while Moon followed with a bounce in his step. The smaller one looked frantic and panicked as if something had gone wrong. The smaller lunar animatronic ran up to Monty, “Eclipse vanished!” He panted heavily.

“What? Lunar slow down, take some deep breaths. What happened?” Monty kneeled down and rested a hand on Lunar’s shoulder.

Lunar flapped his hands and took about 2 sharp breaths in before explaining quickly, “Well I got Sun and Moon from the daycare but Eclipse was with them but he just told them to go with me, obviously I was suspicious so I kept an eye on him but then he turned his back to me and just vanished! He’s planning something and I don’t know what!!”

Monty frowned and put both hands on Lunar’s shoulders, “Okay, calm down. We’ll figure this out. Whatever Eclipse has planned, we’ll outsmart him and we’ll beat him. I promise.”

The smaller sniffled and hugged Monty, “M’kay.”

Earth approached her brothers, “I- I’m sure you’re both confused right now.”

Sun nodded, “We are. We’re very confused.”

“Well, we’re more than happy to answer some of your questions, but we should all probably sit down. It’s been a very busy few weeks for many of us.”

The twins nodded in agreement, Sun looking away before hugging Earth, “Thank you…”

There was a deep and heavy sigh, one that carried a lot of weight, “Don’t thank her yet…” The group only had a moment to panic at the gravelly voice, a moment to turn to the source before a bright white light expanded from the Star, covering the entire room and absorbing everyone in it.

Chapter Text

POWER ON…

The lunar animatronic opened his eyes for the first time and blinked. He was confused. Why was he made? There was nothing in his systems telling him why he was made. Who was he? He sat up, the beans of a beanbag chair shuffling under him, and looked at his small hands. He looked at his small body. Why was he so small?

The animatronic would be lying if he said he wasn’t strangely happy about being so small and being in a beanbag chair, but he was puzzled about his existence. He heard more voices and looked up to see two more lunar animatronics and a solar animatronic. The lunar animatronics looked nearly identical, the main differences between them being that one was shorter and had a darker paint job. The solar animatronic was tall and sharp, he was orange and black.

“Moon, this is KC, KC is our father,” The solar animatronic explained, his attention shifted to the smaller animatronic and grinned, “And this is Lunar, our little brother,” He approached and kneeled down to Lunar, “Hey, my name’s Eclipse, I’m your older brother.” He held out a hand.

Lunar stared at the hand before holding it, not even shaking it, “Your hands are big. Why am I so small?”

Eclipse chuckled and held Lunar’s hands, “Because you’re meant to handle the quiet corner of the daycare and play with the kids.”

“Why are you so big?”

“Because I’m a security bot,” The taller scooped Lunar up into his arms and sat him down next to KC, “This is our dad, KC, and this is your older brother, Moon.” 

“Certainly a big family, are there more?” KC asked, his voice was deep and raspy, sending chills down Moon and Lunar’s spines.

“There are, we have Moon’s twin brother, Sun, our older sister Earth, the Bloodmoon twins, and Solar Flare.”

“That’s…a lot of people. Wow.” Moon sat next to Lunar.

“Yeah, we have a pretty big family here,” They all jolted when a crash was heard, Eclipse sighed heavily, “That’ll be the Bloodmoon twins, you three stay here, and I’ll get them.”

Eclipse vanished into the next room where the three lunar animatronics could briefly see the rest of their family. Lunar glanced up at his father, “You’re kinda small like me.”

“It would seem so.” KC reached a hand over and patted the smaller head.

“So what are your guys’ roles?” The younger swings his legs

“Security, level 12.”

Moon’s eyes widened, “Jeez, I’m only level 8. I have a dual role I think, daycare attendant and security. But I…I don’t think I like kids.”

Lunar tilts his head “How do you know?”

The lunar twin shrugs, “I dunno, I just…I just kinda do I guess? Does that make sense?”

KC pats Moon’s arm, “It does, and it’s perfectly okay. We’ll make sure you stay up here during daycare hours or let you roam the Pizzaplex.”

“Thanks uh, do I just call you dad?” KC nodded, “Thanks, dad.” Moon smiled at the shorter animatronic and hugged him, effectively squishing Lunar in the middle.

A second later, Eclipse brought Bloodmoon and Solar Flare out, “Okay, this is Bloodmoon and Solar Flare. Bloodmoon, Solar Flare, meet KC, Moon, and Lunar. KC is our dad, except for you Solar, you’re our guardian.”

Solar Flare waved politely, “Hello, I am your guardian,” He smiled at Moon and Lunar, “I suppose we are co-parents.”

“I suppose we are,” KC held a hand out to the rustic solar animatronic, who shook it, “You two must be the Bloodmoon…twins?”

Eclipse patted the shorter’s head, “They are twins, they’re both made of nanomachines and can not only fuse together to be one but separate into two,” He gently nudged them, “Come on, just how we practiced.”

The smaller closed their eyes before splitting off into two animatronics, still somehow the same size, “We are both called Bloodmoon, but I suppose one of us will find another name to go by.”

“Very impressive,” The darker lunar animatronic smiled at the two and hugged them both, “Welcome to the family.”

The two hummed and purred as KC hugged them as if hugs were a new concept to them.

Sun and Earth were the last two to wake up, Eclipse bringing them into the main room and introducing them to everyone. “Okay, we have an hour before the daycare opens. Sun, Earth, Lunar, you go take care of the daycare and the kids. Solar Flare, you’re supposed to stay here and make sure everyone is okay, Moon, Bloodmoon, KC, and I have shifts to go on around the Pizzaplex.”

Earth pulled them all into one big group hug and smiled brightly, “Have a good first day!” With that, everyone split up into their own jobs.

Eclipse spent the day worrying about something going wrong, meeting an animatronic that would ruin everything, or that the Star didn’t work and they would crack at any minute. He even stopped by Monty Gator Golf to see if the erase worked on him too, which it thankfully did.

The daycare was in better condition than ever before when the taller solar animatronic returned to it, kids laughing and playing with Lunar, Earth and Sun taking care of leading activities, and even cleaning up as they transitioned between them.

Moon kept watch over cameras while Bloodmoon roamed through the vents, KC sticking to the main hallways and corridors. Solar Flare stayed in their living area and even cleaned it up out of boredom, he eventually moved down to the daycare and sat at the security desk to keep watch over the three attendants.

At the end of the day, the family collapsed in the main living area together, sighing deeply and unwinding. “Well…That was an exhausting day.” Earth spoke first.

Lunar hummed and nodded in agreement.

“I did not expect to be approached so much.” KC rested his head on Solar Flare’s arm.

“We did not know we could feel cramped in a vent!” Bloodmoon had separated to cover more ground but also because they felt so claustrophobic after their day in the vent.

“Okay, how about we go set up in the theatre and destress after today?” Eclipse suggested.

“Sounds good.” Sun gave a thumbs up.

“Just give us all a minute.” Moon hugged his brother and relaxed.

Eclipse, meanwhile, got up with Solar Flare and started to set up movies, a cuddle pile of blankets and pillows, and snacks in the theatre before dragging the rest there to unwind for the next few hours. So far, day one was a complete success, only the rest of their lives to go.

Chapter Text

Gregory woke up with a gasp, his chest moving up and down quickly as he tried to remember what happened last. He remembered being with KC, Earth, and Monty, then Lunar came running in with Sun and Moon. He stayed quiet the entire time but heard Lunar talking about Eclipse, then said animatronic just appeared out of thin air with a new body and the Star in hand!

He remembered a bright white light before passing out and then waking up here, at home, in his bed. Did Eclipse just knock him out then take him home? Why would he do that?

Roxy burst into the room, “Gregory! I heard you panicking!” She rushed to his side and held his hand, “Are you okay? Eclipse brought you here and said he found you unconscious.”

Gregory pushed her hand away, “I- I’m fine mom…You said Eclipse ‘found’ me? And he brought me here?”

“Yes, he said you were unconscious in Monty Gator Golf and he found you when he was on his patrol. We’re both very worried about you Gregory.”

“I told you I’m fine Roxy. I…Eclipse didn’t find me. He was the one that knocked me out.” Gregory brought his knees up to his chest.

“What? Gregory that’s ridiculous, Eclipse would never do anything like that.”

The child rolled his eyes and huffed, “Mom, it’s back to this again. Do you have any memories of Eclipse besides that one incident with Sun and Moon? Besides, we hated Sun and Moon for what they did, they were deemed evil, but now suddenly they’re Eclipse’s brothers with no memory as to what they did??”

Roxy’s ears drooped down, “I…Gregory look, we just need to trust Eclipse. He’s a good man and he would never do anything, nothing like what you’re insinuating or describing.”

“We don’t even know him that well! He did one good act and he’s suddenly someone we can trust and call the good guy? We’ve known Sun and Moon for longer and we were so quick to hate them!”

“They hurt us, Gregory! We can’t trust them!”

“And you’ve hurt me so many other times! Should I not trust you anymore!?”

Silence swept over the room, suffocating the two in it. Tears welled up in both of their eyes. “Well, if you feel that way, Gregory, I’ll give you some time and space to think about it.” Roxy turned and left.

Gregory pulled his blanket over his head and sobbed, already regretting what he yelled at his mom and grieving their loss of victory over Eclipse.

–

Eclipse woke up, it had officially been a month. Another month with his family, now more expanded and lots more at risk than just Sun and Moon. Now he had 7 people at risk of finding out the truth. A month was all it took for the twins to learn the truth, for everything to fall apart.

He spent the day fidgeting and being restless, unable to stay calm. All it took was a month for everything to tear at the seams. He knew they weren’t suspecting anything now, and when he used the Star he didn’t see that they’d get suspicious, but he still was worried that fate would change. He tried to change fate after all.

That day, he kept an eye on everyone , using his Star powers to watch them all while putting on a front that he was doing his job. It made him twitchy, grinning at everyone with a tic to his head. By the end of the day, his family was still oblivious, still content with their lives. Eclipse sighed in relief as he sat on the couch.

“You okay brother?” Lunar rested his head against Eclipse’s arm.

“Ya, just a long day. How about we go play some Minecraft together.” Eclipse patted Lunar’s head as the younger animatronic lept up from the couch and dragged the older to the computers, showing him the farms and world he built.

The Bloodmoon twins and Sun joined in soon after, letting Eclipse leave to check on the other, older animatronics.

Earth and Moon were playing a game of Mohjang together, Solar and KC huddled together under a blanket nearby, just taking the time to relax. Eclipse sat on the couch and watched the game for a bit, pointing out the bricks that they missed.

It didn’t take long for everyone to gather back together and collapse into a cuddle pile. Eclipse finally let himself loosen up and drift off to sleep. Another day is done, another day with his family.

–

Gregory stared up at the Superstar Daycare, he had snuck out of school and managed to get by security. He knew he would get in trouble for this, but he had to do something . He climbed into the slide, the same one that he crawled into so long ago. He sucked in a breath and slid down into the daycare.

He was greeted with bright lights, children laughing and playing. He could spot Earth and Sun in the middle of a large group of kids. He scanned the daycare and spotted the quiet corner, maybe he could talk to Moon if the lunar animatronic was there.

The child crawled out of the ball pit and rushed to the quiet corner, spotting Lunar instead of Moon. Then again, maybe Lunar would listen better than Moon would. The younger animatronic looked up at the human and smiled, “Hey there friend, getting away from the others?”

Gregory hesitantly nodded, “Yeah, it was really loud.”

“Well it’s quiet in here, sit down with…us,” Lunar frowned, “You aren’t in the system. Did you sign in with Sun before coming here?”

The human shook his head, “No, I uh, snuck in here. I need to talk to one of you guys and I- I thought it’d be easier to talk to you.”

Lunar patted the pillow next to him, “Alright, what did you need to talk about?”

Gregory sat down and pulled his knees to his chest, “I uh, I don’t really know how to say this but you guys aren’t…you guys forgot a lot of things. I’m Gregory, we used to be friends.”

The animatronic tilted his head, “What do you mean?”

“Someone you trust isn’t who they seem to be, th- they wiped your memories of your life before. I would know, we used to be friends before you were forced to forget.”

“I don’t follow. My memory is in perfect working order, and there would’ve been a recorded report if I had memory issues or if my memory was wiped.” Lunar tapped his chin in thought.

“You just have to trust me, I can’t explain it but I- I know something that can help you understand. Find the Sun and Moon Show, it’ll explain everything.”

Lunar opened his mouth to ask more questions when KC walked in, “I was told that an unregistered child is here.”

The younger animatronic hesitated for a minute, he wanted to know more, but he had a feeling that he should get Gregory out as soon as possible. He gently patted the human on the back, “Yeah, he snuck in.” He chuckled light-heartedly.

Gregory nodded to Lunar and KC before getting up and going to the taller, holding his hand. His fingers were sharp, like blades, certainly a kill code security bot, “Come on, let's get you back to your mom,” He leaned a bit down and whispered, “Don’t say anything more. Eclipse is watching.”

Hope sparked inside of Gregory and he nodded, following the darker animatronic with a newfound energy.

Chapter Text

Sometimes, Eclipse saw visions of the future, and sometimes they saw him back. 

“You know this plan won’t work.” A future vision of Sun tilted his head towards Eclipse.

“It will.” He insisted.

“And how do you know that?” The vision of Moon rested his arms on Eclipse’s shoulder.

“Because I have the Star, if things don’t go the way I want them to, I’ll just bend it to go my way.”

“Ya, and we’re from the future. We already know what will happen.” A vision of Lunar faded in on Eclipse’s lap, messing with a Rubix cube.

A vision of KC faded in front of them, “Are you three tormenting Eclipse again?”

Vision Moon smirked, “Maybe. He’s still in denial, just let us have this.”

“I’m not in denial, I can change the future, I have the Star for god's sake!”

Vision KC sat next to Eclipse and put a hand on his shoulder, “My child, if you had wanted to change the future, you would’ve already done so. We are still here for a reason.”

“No, you guys are just one of the possible futures. There’s a chance that this future won’t even happen! You guys just like to annoy me and put doubts in my mind!” Eclipse slapped his hand away, even though it only phased through the vision.

“We’re the 95% chance future, and you get closer to this ending every day.” Vision Moon comments, gently flicking Lunar’s tail back and forth.

“I’ll change it to 0% if you keep bugging me, brother.”

“Aww, he still calls us brother,” Vision Sun plopped next to vision Moon, “I think it just went up to 96%, what do you think?”

Another voice suddenly joined the conversation, with a bright red animatronic bounding into view, “Are you torturing Eclipse without us? Not fair not fair!”

“You should’ve gotten here earlier if you wanted to talk to him!” Lunar stuck his tongue out playfully at Bloodmoon.

The red animatronic growled and picked up the smaller animatronic, “Air jail for you small one.”

“Hey!! Put me down!!” He whined and kicked his feet.

Eclipse watched, the whining hurt his ears but this…this was what a good family looked like, a healthy family, a happy family. But he wasn’t here. They were so happy without him. KC sighed next to him, “Bloodmoon, play with Lunar fairly.”

The twins rolled their eyes and put Lunar on their shoulders, “There, now small brother can risk jumping down,” They shifted their gaze to Eclipse, “Now, is Eclipse still in denial about his future?”

“He’s not in denial, he will change the future!” Moon mocked him, causing Lunar, Sun, and Bloodmoon to start laughing. KC only rolled his eyes and rested a hand on Eclipse’s knee.

“Your time is running out, Eclipse.”

“It’s not. I have plenty of time.”

“You know that’s not true.”

“Shut up dad.” Eclipse put a hand over his mouth the moment the words left it. Everyone froze and turned to him.

“Oh shit. Maybe you’ll be dead sooner than we thought!” Moon elbowed him.

“SUN!” Eclipse gasped and shot a hand up to his mouth. Right. It was a vision. He was having a vision. They weren’t real, that’s not the future. He needed to focus on now. Why was Moon screaming Sun’s name?

The oldest got up from the couch and made his way to the curtains, looking down to see a broken machine, a pissed-off Moon, and a terrified Sun on his knees, “M- Moon I’m so so so sorry!! I didn’t-”

“YOU BROKE IT! NOW I HAVE TO START ALL OVER!!” Moon twitched in anger, if someone didn’t intervene he’d most likely get physical.

Eclipse jumped down and immediately ran to the two, “Hey what’s going on?”

“SUN BROKE MY PROJECT! I’VE BEEN WORKING ON IT FOR WEEKS!”

The oldest winced, “Okay, stop yelling. Sun, what happened?”

“I- I was just cleaning the daycare a- and I found Moon’s project, I tried to take it to him b- but I heard a shout and dropped it on one of the barrels! I didn’t even know th- that the barrels were that hard!” Ah, right, the barrels were still canons and only Eclipse knew that.

“So it was an accident?”

“Yes!”

“And you already apologized?” Eclipse crossed his arms.

“Yes! Lots of times!”

“Then I don’t see why Moon is still mad.” The oldest shrugged.

“Because it was a lot of resources and I spent a lot of time WORKING ON IT!” Moon snapped, his fists shaking now.

“Moon, we can afford the resources again and you know the blueprints and steps now, it’ll take less time for you to get to where you left off on it.” Eclipse’s eyes narrowed at the younger, getting progressively more annoyed and irritated.

“I’M STILL ALLOWED TO BE MAD!”

The taller grabbed Moon’s cheek and pulled him closer, “SUN ALREADY APOLOGIZED, NOW APOLOGIZE BACK AND MOVE ON!” He yelled back.

“Eclipse.” Their heads snapped to KC, who gave Eclipse a death stare, “Take your hands off your brother, now .” The older scoffed and let go of the younger, “You never lay your hands on your brothers like that, ever. If there is a problem, you get me, Solar Flare, or Earth. Understand ?”

Eclipse rolled his eyes, “Yes father .”

“To your room. Now. You have a lot to think about,” KC pointed to the balcony, “I’ll handle this.”

The taller animatronic grumbled to himself as he walked by his father, having to go to his room if he wanted to keep up the family charade. Why did he make KC the dad again? It was basically resigning his control over the others! He was quick to sit in a chair and use his powers to watch his father and brothers.

KC sighed and gently moved Sun and Moon’s heads and arms to check for injuries, “Are you both okay? No damage from Eclipse or the project being broken?” They shook their heads silently, “Good. I heard everything. Moon, you do have a right to be mad, but you should never let that anger out on others and hurt them, what happened was an accident, you know that Sun would never do anything to intentionally hurt you.”

Moon nodded, “I- I know. I’m still just so mad though a- and I don’t want to hurt him or anyone but I don’t know how to deal with this…”

“I know, I’ll show you how to deal with it, my child,” KC smiled kindly at Moon and directed his attention to Sun, “Sun, you did not mean to hurt Moon, and you have apologized. But actions speak louder than words, do you think you can make it up to Moon for what happened?”

Sun nodded, “A- Anything!”

“Alright, can both of you apologize?”

Moon sighed and looked at his twin, “I’m sorry I yelled at you, Sun. I know it was an accident, and I shouldn’t take my anger out on you.”

“And I’m sorry I broke your project, I should’ve been more careful with it. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.” He held out a pinkie to Moon. The lunar twin chuckled and hooked their pinkies together.

KC smiled softly at the two and patted their backs, “Good job, I’m very proud of both of you.”

Eclipse blinked, unable to watch the rest of what happened. KC was just like the vision version he saw, the version of them without Eclipse, where they were a happy family. Did they really need Eclipse? Was he only making this worse? The older shook his head.

No. He’d make this work. It had to work. He put so much effort into it, he couldn’t back out of it now. No matter what, this will be the perfect, happy family he wanted.

Chapter Text

KC groaned as he woke up, Solar Flare gently shaking his arm, “Yes. I know. Time to get up,” He slowly pushed himself up and rubbed an eye, “Is Eclipse already awake?”

“Of course.”

“Did he even get any sleep?”

“I don’t believe he did. Despite being an animatronic, he still has eyebags and they get worse every day.”

KC sighed and swung his legs over the bed, “I’ll talk to him about getting some sleep, can you wake up the others?”

“Of course.” Solar Flare smiled at the other and left.

It had been 3 months since everyone first woke up after Eclipse blasted them with the Star. When KC woke up, he was confused as to why he was with Moon in his room, he quickly caught on and played along with Eclipse’s family act though.

A month after the initial erase, Gregory came to the daycare, which was very unusual. But he was somehow a threat as Eclipse alerted him that there was an unregistered child. It was then that he learned Gregory still remembered everything.

A silent alliance was formed between them, KC had no idea why Gregory still remembered everything. He knew that the only reason he maintained his memories was because he practiced celestial powers, the very essence of the Star, it made him immune to the effects.

His theory so far was that he didn’t realize Gregory was in the room with them and didn’t want to take the extra step to erase his memories too, most likely hoping he’d stay out of it because he was a child. Eclipse was wrong though, Gregory wanted to help, and he wouldn’t stop because he’s a child.

From that day forward, he became an inside man. He leaned into the family dynamic that Eclipse so badly wanted, he kept track of every word he said and when he could say something. He could always tell when Eclipse was watching.

So far, the only person he had tried to hint the truth to was Solar Flare, seeing as he was the other parent. They leaned on each other for support, they trusted each other with every secret and thought. So he trusted Solar Flare with telling him that they had lives before the family.

Solar Flare was confused when he was told that, understandably so. But then Eclipse started watching them, and KC had to change the topic.

He’d barely been able to tell Solar Flare any more than that. He needed to tell someone, have someone else know what he knew, but that wasn’t possible.

KC looked at himself in the mirror, he looked so tired , just like an actual dad. He huffed a laugh and rubbed at his eyes, hoping the tiredness would get put out for just long enough to last the day.

Just yesterday, Eclipse had started to lose his temper, his control slipped, and KC couldn’t just stand to the side and let that happen. He could only hope that Eclipse had actually thought about it, but a large part of him yelled at KC that he hadn’t.

KC remembered every single horrendous thing Eclipse did, he knew what Eclipse was capable of, but the smallest part of him grieved for his son. While he knew that Eclipse was horrible, he also hoped he could push his son to the right path and change him for the better.

But KC knew better than that. This was Eclipse. He doesn’t apologize unless it’s for his own gain, he doesn’t learn from his mistakes, he hurts people because of petty “revenge”, and he tortures others for his enjoyment.

The darker animatronic patted his cheeks to get rid of the last of his exhaustion before stepping out of his room, ready to face the day and his family. The first thing he saw upon exiting was Eclipse, pacing back and forth, he looked drained of his energy but terrified in an anxious way.

“Eclipse? Are you okay my son?”

The taller jolted and looked at his father, “Yes um, I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I was tired and stressed but it gave me no right to hurt Moon. I already apologized to Sun and Moon and will be making it up to both of them for my outburst.”

KC blinked at the younger, stunned that he actually apologized for a moment before shaking his head, “Right, yes. I forgive you my child, but it is up to Sun and Moon if they forgive you.”

Eclipse nodded quickly, “Right, yeah, of course,” He hugs KC, “Thanks dad.”

KC stood in silence for a minute, never in a million years would he have expected to hear Eclipse of all people apologize for something he did. He wrapped his arms around the taller to cover his shock. The older patted the youngers back, “Of course my child.”

For a second, everything was silent, peaceful. Eclipse’s hug tightened and he whispered, “Every day, I’m scared of dying and losing all of you,” He let go quickly, “We have work to do, I’ll go talk to Sun and Moon about what I can do to make it up to them.” He said as if he didn’t just admit his deepest fear to KC.

The father was frozen as he watched his son walk away, a surge of panic rushed through him. Did Eclipse know that KC still remembered everything? Did he know what his plans were? Did he know that Gregory still knew? He shoved his panics down and shook his head as he made his way to the balcony. 

He can’t panic, not now. He has to stay strong and resilient for the others, for himself, for the future itself.

Can Eclipse change?

The thought was gone as soon as it popped up. No, it was just an act. Nothing more. He would never change.

You wish he would. He is still your son.

KC growled at the thoughts and smacked his head. Eclipse had his chances to change, to be different, and he only made this worse. There was no redemption for him, no matter how loudly that small corner of KC's mind hoped that his son could be good, just like him.

Chapter Text

Lunar crossed off another day on the calendar. It had officially been 5 months since they all woke up, 5 months running the daycare with his brother and sister, and 5 months of being with his family. He loved his family.

Lunar was the youngest of them all, Eclipse told him that, and he didn’t mind being the youngest. He got teased a lot for it though, but he would tease his brothers and sister back.

Lunar had also realized that he tended to be the most physically affectionate with his family, commonly sitting on their laps, or leaning on them, or just holding onto them wherever they went. They didn’t mind, and they usually reciprocated the touch. Eclipse, Bloodmoon, and their dad especially would cuddle with or hold him.

Lunar liked his dad’s hugs the best, but he always preferred cuddles with Bloodmoon, and he loved holding Eclipse’s hand when they went anywhere. Currently, though, he was leaning on Sun while playing Legend of Zelda on his Switch.

His brothers originally wanted to buy him a Switch but Eclipse argued that he and Moon could make a Switch that’d be better than the real thing, so they made it for Lunar. They thought that he wasn’t listening at the time, but he was always listening.

The youngest always heard about everything, being small gave that advantage. He had overheard many conversations that Solar Flare and KC would have together, including some about their memories and previous lives. He had heard Eclipse snapping at Moon, then later apologizing to him and Sun and their dad.

He also heard Eclipse talking to himself a lot. It was usually during work hours or when he thought everyone wasn’t upstairs, but Lunar was always just around the corner. The smallest always heard Eclipse talking to the air about the future and some sort of Star, about how things will go his way.

Lunar always stayed quiet about what he would hear, he knew that eavesdropping was bad and that he was invading their privacy, but they always would leave him out of more “adult” conversations anyway.

Hearing their older brother stress out about the future though gave Lunar an idea, so he began planning when the others weren’t looking.

Now, it was the perfect day. 5 months of their family being together. What better way to celebrate it than to go stargazing together? Lunar didn’t think any of them had even gone outside in the first place, so it would be a new experience for all of them!

The moment everyone was together, Lunar just watched the time tick down.

8:57

8:58

8:59

9:00.

Lunar leaped from his spot and climbed on top of the kiddie table, “Hey! So! I planned for something today, it’s been 5 months since we all first met and I know that everyone’s been kinda stressed. But you guys gotta just trust me and follow me.”

Earth tilted her head, “What kind of thing?”

“It’s a surprise! Just trust me. Please?” The youngest did his best puppy eyes at his family, effectively melting almost all of their hearts and convincing them to follow him blindly.

The youngest eagerly dragged them to one of the highest points in the Pizzaplex with the lowest ceiling. It took a while to find it the first time but it really saved him all the efforts to get an extra tall ladder.

The smallest grabbed his poking stick, poked the hatch, and climbed up the moment it was open, “It might be a squeeze for some of you but it’s worth it! I promise!”

“Lunar, when the hell did you even find this? When did you have the time?” Eclipse questioned as he followed.

“Well, because I’m kinda the smallest, and you guys have been stressed, I usually just wander off and you guys don’t notice until it’s been like 3 hours. Really helps when I plan stuff for us!” He pulled himself out of the hatch and onto the rooftop of the Pizzaplex.

It had taken a few days of planning but he had gotten Monty to help set up some pillows and blankets, at least 2 telescopes for their nerdy brothers, and snacks on the roof. All for a perfect family outing.

Lunar helped pull his family up, one by one, until they all could see the setup and the sunset in the distance.

“Surprise! We haven’t really seen the outside so I thought I’d take us to the roof so we can watch some stars and cuddle!” Lunar smiled at his brothers, sister, and parents.

They all stared at the sunset in awe, “Lunar this is…” Moon started.

“Breathtaking,” Eclipse finished, bending down and scooping the smallest into his arms, “Thank you. This is amazing.”

Lunar beamed at the praise and hugged his older brother, “We all deserve a night off to just be outside of the Pizzaplex.”

Of course, this calm wholesomeness couldn’t last, “We wanna run off into the woods like a creature.” Bloodmoon blurted out with a mischievous grin.

“Nuh-uh! Not without me!” Lunar squirmed in Eclipse's arms and was promptly put down.

“Neither of you will be running off, you can get hurt or lost.” Solar Flare put a hand on their shoulders.

“Not if we go in a single direction!” The red lunar brother protested.

“Mhm! And Bloody’s really good at fighting shtuff!” Lunar climbed up his brother's back and clung to him.

Eclipse snorted and chuckled as he watched the scene, he wasn’t even a part of it but being there to witness it in person felt like enough, he felt so incredibly happy in that one moment. He felt like he truly was a part of the family.

KC stared at his oldest son, his thoughts and feelings in conflict. He could sense no malicious intent with Eclipse, every single word that came out of his mouth felt real and genuine, and he really did seem like he was changing. But on the other hand, he was constantly hiding secrets, going behind everyone’s backs, erasing their memories for the sake of his making his fantasy a reality, and even when he managed to do that, it wasn’t perfect, he snapped and almost hurt Moon.

Who was to say he wouldn’t snap again? That he wouldn’t grow bored of this one day and just blow them all up for fun? No one could say what was running through Eclipse’s head, not anymore, not now that Solar Flare’s been removed.

KC sighed and decided to play along with the family act, he knew that both of them were running out of time, so he might as well milk every moment. The smaller animatronic approached the taller and put a hand on his arm, “Come my child, let us sit and enjoy the night while it is young. You can tell me about the stars.”

He sat down on a pillow and wrapped a blanket around himself. Eclipse smiled at his father and sat next to him, grabbing a telescope and leaning on the older. He spent the rest of the night pointing out the different stars and talking with KC and Moon, it truly was the best break they all could’ve wished for.

Chapter Text

KC sat on his bed with a heavy sigh. It was another week of smiling and playing family, it was getting easier to slip into the role but harder to keep the smile up. He and Gregory tried to get into contact multiple times, but Eclipse had kept a watchful eye on them, it was getting impossible to meet up. It was getting difficult to even think of a plan.

Lose yourself in the role.

The thought was so dangerous, but it felt so alluring at the same time. There were so many moments where he had gotten absorbed into his role as the father, where he’d have to claw himself out of it, but now it felt so tempting to sheath his claws and sink into the abyss.

Lose yourself in the role.

The only reason Eclipse’s plan was threatened was because of KC and Gregory, but if KC lost himself then it’d only be a child against Eclipse. Was his plan even that bad? Eclipse just wanted a family.

Lose yourself in the role.

A knock at the door jolted KC out of his thoughts, especially whenever the door quickly opened and shut behind a small animatronic. Lunar looked at his dad with a neutral expression, “Can you show me the Sun and Moon Show?”

KC blinked, “I- I don’t quite understand, my child.” He couldn’t let Lunar know that their entire life was a lie, he was the youngest. Not the youngest .

Lunar bounced to the bed and climbed on top of it, “I’m not stupid. Gregory mentioned that show months ago, and I heard you say something to him about Eclipse watching, but ‘Clipsy was in the atrium doing his rounds. I’ve also heard you talking to pops, saying that we’re all forgetting our lives before, but there would’ve been a recorded report if we had our memories wiped.”

KC stared at the smaller and tightened his grip on the bedsheets, “I can tell you more at a…different time, but Eclipse could be watching us at any moment now.”

“Nuh-uh. Pops made him go to sleep just 2 minutes ago. Said he was spreading himself thin. So now’s a good time to tell me more and show me this show,” Lunar pouted at the other, “Please?”

The older’s eyes darted around, “M…My child, are you sure about this? Knowing this information will ruin the life we have currently, it will do more harm than good for you.”

“And how has it not harmed you?” Lunar shot back, “You guys always talk about important stuff when you think I’m not there because I’m the youngest, but I’ve heard a lot of stuff! Sometimes, I’ve heard you talking to pops about past memories that we’re all supposed to have, I’ve even heard you cry a few times! And that’s scary to hear!”

KC frowned and put a hand on Lunar’s arm, “Oh…my child, my son, I’m so sorry you’ve had to hear all that…”

The younger hugs his father’s large hand, “I wanna know now. I don’t just wanna hear, I wanna know.”

He sighed softly and picked up his child, “Okay, I’ll tell you everything.”

–

Eclipse opened his eyes, he was sitting on the couch and immediately knew what this meant. He looked next to him and saw a vision of Lunar sitting next to him, no game in hand, a grim look on his face, “Today’s the day that I learned the truth about you.” He said, his voice flat and broken.

KC appeared and kneeled in front of Lunar, holding his small hands, “I told you that it would ruin the life we had.”

The younger sniffled and wiped his eyes with the palm of his hands, “Yeah, I know. It still hurts though. Knowing that my brother hurt us so badly and just forced us to forget it all…”

Moon appeared next to Eclipse and nudged his arm, “You know what this means, right?”

The older brother nodded and took a deep breath, “That means this is our future.”

Silence fell over the four as the rest of their family joined them by the couch in grief. They all sat quietly before Moon let out a single chuckle, “Ya know, something that always confused me. When it was just you, me, and Sun, you had kept us away from the show for an entire week, then you just gave up. Now knowing how aware you were of everything around you, why’d you give up?”

Eclipse sucked in a breath and tapped a finger against his knee, “Right. The day that Lunar had come back was a day of chance and fate. There were two branches that we could’ve ended up on, one where someone came to the daycare, and the other where they didn’t.”

“And no one came that day, right?” Sun tilted his head.

“Yep. Because they never showed up, I gave up trying to keep you two away from the show since it would’ve gotten suspicious, and I was doing it alone.”

“Who were you waiting for?” Earth asked.

“I was waiting for dad,” The eldest son turned to their father and held his hand, “I- If he showed up at the daycare, he would’ve offered to help me make this family possible. He would’ve used the Star to separate me and Solar Flare, to separate Sun and the twins, and eventually would’ve convinced the rest of you to join the family, no memory erasure required.”

“But he never showed up,” Lunar leaned on Eclipse’s arm, “So you erased our memories again.”

“Yep,” Eclipse looked down at his lap, his hands shaking, “Why are you so nice to me? Why do you still treat me like family? You guys killed me, you’re supposed to hate me and be disgusted by my presence here.”

“We are,” Bloodmoon grinned and butted their head against Eclipse’s knee from their spot on the floor, “But we miss you.”

“Miss me?”

“Well, yes. You had spent months with us, being there in every waking moment. You were there when we all first woke up, you had introduced us as a family and explained everything to us,” Earth held Eclipse’s hand, “You were our older brother, and we still mourn our loss.”

“They why did you kill me?” Eclipse pulled his hand away.

“Because there was no helping you,” Moon looked at his older brother sadly, “You had claimed yourself as the eldest when Sun and I would logically be the older brothers, you still liked having that control over us. The Star never even left your body, you kept it with you to feel powerful. Even if we tried to help you, you would’ve fallen back on old habits.”

“When an AI like us first starts up, their first feelings will define who they are. I started up feeling scared, Moon started up feeling angry.” Sun explained.

“I was excited!” Lunar beamed.

“I was confused,” Earth answered lightly.

“I was determined,” KC looked away.

“We were hungry,” Bloodmoon grinned sharply.

“I was focused,” Solar Flare said in a monotone voice.

Eclipse looked around his family before looking at his hands in sorrow, “...And I was bitter.”

Chapter Text

Eclipse woke up 6 hours later. He was fully charged and he should’ve felt rejuvenated, but he felt the weight of the world in him. He felt his family slowly chipping him out of the picture, hands ready to push him out of it forever.

The taller wrapped his arms around his core, the Star burned him from the inside. That future vision of Moon was right, he couldn’t give up control no matter how badly he wanted to just give KC the Star and let his father make everything right.

He shook in his bed, Lunar knew the truth now. Lunar was the youngest, that’s the role he was assigned, and if the youngest started to dislike the oldest well…everyone would soon follow.

Eclipse choked on a sob and brought a hand to his face, he couldn’t remember the last time he had cried if he had ever cried. The next few months would be the hardest for him and he knew it.

He knew that KC and Lunar together would have to force a smile, find a way to contact Gregory and reach out to the viewers. He knew that every moment the two would spend around Eclipse would be fake love and happiness.

Eclipse didn’t want that. He didn’t want them to fake it. He wanted them to be truly happy, he wanted them to feel love and joy in every waking moment. Didn’t he?

The Star burned him from the inside.

If he wanted them to be happy he should just leave them alone, right?

The Star charred the interior of his casing.

He should just tell them the truth if it would make them all happy, that’s why they’re happy in the future. Right?

He felt like he was burning alive.

He gasped and curled around his core, he didn’t know when the Star had started to hurt him, when it felt like it was incinerating him. He should take it out and give it to KC now while he could, that’s what let them all be happy in that other time branch. Maybe it wasn’t too late to fix everything. Eclipse whined as he felt a stab of pain, as if the Star itself was objecting to it.

There was a light knock on his door, he was quick to sit up and act as if he wasn’t just in crippling pain, “Come in.”

Solar Flare opened the door and smiled gently at the other solar animatronic, “Good morning Eclipse, did you sleep well?”

“I did. Thanks for pushing that I rest. I really needed it.” Shit, his tone was too flat, too depressed.

Solar Flare frowned and walked into the room, “Are you okay?”

“Y- Yeah. I’m fine. I’m gonna go see dad.” Eclipse pushed himself out of bed and quickly walked by his other parental figure.

The taller tugged at his sharp rays as he lumbered to his father’s room. They should be done with watching the required episodes by now. He knocked on the door and did not give them time to respond as he opened it and saw Lunar holding KC’s phone, a Sun and Moon Show episode playing.

The oldest sibling started at the two and hummed, “I thought you two would’ve finished by now,” He chuckled nervously. Lunar and KC stared at Eclipse in terror and shock, the taller sighed and closed the door behind him, “I won’t hurt either of you, if I wanted to stop this happening, I would’ve. I actually came to talk to both of you,” They gawked at Eclipse, not muttering a word. He pulled at his rays again, “Would either of you just say something ?” He snapped.

“Spaghetti!” Lunar blurted out suddenly. There was a pregnant pause before Eclipse laughed.

“Spaghetti? What made you think that??” KC took the phone from Lunar and turned the screen to Eclipse, “Oh ya, that was the episode you met Freddy. Now the spaghetti makes sense,” Their father remained silent as he glared at Eclipse, “I’m seriously not going to hurt either of you. The ball is rolling now and I can’t stop it.”

“Can’t or won’t?” KC finally spoke.

“...Won’t.”

The oldest sighed and reached a hand out for Eclipse’s, “You’re always so self-destructive.”

The taller pulled his hand away and holds it close to his core, “N- No. Don’t.”

“You’ve been looking into the future, haven’t you?” KC was met with silence, “That’s how you knew what we were doing, wasn’t it?”

“If you know so much then you should know how this story ends, Kill Code.” Eclipse snapped, his core burned with anger, he didn’t feel the Star destroying him but rather his emotions. He glared at the two before slamming the door on his way out.

He felt the bitterness grow and fester inside of him, he didn’t even know what he was bitter about. Was he bitter about Kill Code? About himself? Was he bitter about Lunar finding out the truth?

Was he bitter that he pushed his dad away? Was he bitter when his dad tried to reach out to him? Was he bitter that he was going to die?

Eclipse stopped in his tracks as the realization hit him like a truck. He was going to die, at his own family's hands no less. His vision blurred and distorted, his chest tightened and his throat closed up. He heard a muffled voice calling his name, then calling another's name, suddenly he was surrounded by his family. The family he made, the family he brought together.

No. That’s not right. It was a family he forced. They were all happier without him, and they weren’t his family. Anger and bitterness overtook him as he screamed, “GET AWAY FROM ME!” And vanished from his family.

–

Earth stretched as she finished the last of the paperwork, she and Sun had an agreement when it came to running the daycare. He would be the face of it and handle the physical care, while Earth would handle the business care behind it. She did have to do a lot of research for it but it was worth it to see her brothers so happy in the daycare with all the kids, and to play with the kids herself!

She stood from her modified seat and walked out to the main living area when she found Eclipse on the floor. A surge of panic shot through her and she ran to her older brother, “Eclipse? Eclipse!?” She gently shook him and got no response, her head jerked up as she yelled for help, “Dads! Brothers! Anyone! Help!”

Bloodmoon and Solar Flare were the first to appear, Solar Flare scanning Eclipse and alerting the others that Eclipse was having a panic attack. Bloodmoon whimpered and helped Earth get Eclipse sitting up so he could breathe properly.

The others appeared almost all at once and Eclipse’s vision seemed to focus slightly. His face twisted to one of anger and bitterness before he screamed at them to get away and vanished. They all paled, “Wh- Where did he go!?” Sun shrieked.

“I don’t know!” Earth started to hyperventilate.

“Everyone calm down,” KC's voice cut through the panic, he looked as calm as ever but grim and stoic, “I hoped I would be able to prolong this, but I believe we’re running out of time. We need to talk about this together. As a family.”

Chapter Text

It had taken another hour or so before KC had gotten everyone seated in the living area, with him being in the middle of the couch, Lunar in a beanbag, the Bloodmoon twins on the floor, Solar Flare standing next to the couch, Earth sitting in one of the kid chairs, and Sun and Moon standing next to her.

The father scanned the room to make sure they were all there and sighed when he noticed they left an open spot for Eclipse to stand or sit in. He laced his fingers together and took a deep breath, “Eclipse isn’t quite who he seems to be.”

“We know.” Bloodmoon grinned.

The older stared at the twins, smiling proudly on the floor, “What do you mean you know?”

“Father, you taught us magic, we prepared many protection spells,” The more recently dubbed Harvestmoon tilted their head.

“Including memory protection! We might miss some memories because of Eclipse but the majority remains fresh in our minds.”

KC blinked at them, “And you didn’t say anything why?”

The twins shrugged, “Chaos? Because we actually like having a family? Because Eclipse eased our bloodlust?” Harvestmoon flicked at the bell on their hat, “We knew that you would know, but we figured you’d approach us in your own time.”

The older’s eye twitched in mild irritation as he exhaled heavily, “Alright, well with this new information, you two can now help tell the others.” He patted the couch seats next to him.

The twins smiled widely and bounced onto the couch, Bloodmoon cleared his throat, “Eclipse wiped everyone’s memories for his own satisfaction and joy.”

“Then forced us to be akin to one another.” Harvestmoon kneaded on the couch.

The silence spoke for the shock and denial in the room, everyone staring at the three on the couch in disbelief. Why would their own brother do this? “Why would Eclipse do that? How do you even know this?” Sun quickly questioned.

“He felt alone because we enjoyed pestering him before,” Bloodmoon answered giddily, “Solar Flare gave us that information before almost all our memories were wiped.”

“Besides, we still have our memories because of magic!” Harvestmoon crossed their legs.

KC nodded, “I maintained my memories because I have some Star power myself, so I was unaffected by the wipe.”

The twins tilted their heads towards KC, “The Star?” They had forgotten about the Star apparently.

“An item so powerful that it can bend time, space, and reality itself,” Lunar muttered.

“How do you know that?” Moon narrowed his eyes at their little brother.

The smaller sighed and tucked his knees to his chest, “Dad showed me the Sun and Moon Show, which has the Star in it and explains what it is.”

“Great, so you four were in on it while Earth, Sun, pops and I were left blind in the dark?” Moon huffed.

“Lunar was only recently informed, they approached me about it and I just showed them the truth,” KC answered, “If what the twins say is true, they always knew and were just keeping quiet for whatever reason.”

“Eclipse still has the Star with him, hidden in the depths of his core it burns him from the inside out,” Bloodmoon responded cheerily.

“ Why are you just now saying everything,” KC growled, “The Star, it’s slowly killing him. Yes?”

“Indeed, we watched from the vents when he woke up, he crumbled in agony from the Star before pops walked in.” Harvestmoon looked towards their other dad.

“Eclipse is dying?” Solar Flare’s shoulders dropped, he received a nod from all three, “We have to help him.”

“We can’t,” KC said grimly.

“We have to try . We can’t give up on our family, on your brother, on our son , KC,” Solar Flare held the others hand, “Please. We can’t lose him.”

The other parent squeezed him gently, “Even if we could, we don’t know where he is, and I doubt he would accept our help.”

“Then we’ll make him accept him! If he made this family, he isn’t leaving it!” Solar Flare sobbed.

KC pulled the other into a hug and rubbed his back, “He won’t,” He exhaled deeply, “We’ll try to help him, if we can find him.”

 Earth stood up, “Yes um, do we have any idea where he went?”

–

Eclipse appeared in his old base in the sun. Why did he pick the sun? To be dramatic and edgy? He growled and grabbed a screwdriver, throwing it across the base and right into an old dusty computer. He screamed at the top of his lungs, tearing his throat like he tore his base apart.

Why was he so mad? He didn’t have a right to be mad. He hurt his family.

Not your family.

He smashed another screen. He was the one that hurt them, he didn’t deserve to be so pissed off. He didn’t deserve them , they had been nothing but kind and loving towards him for months, and he just screamed at them and then vanished. What type of brother does that!

A shitty deadbeat brother.

Eclipse squeezed his rays, denting and bending them out of shape. He couldn’t even feel the pain of his rays being damaged. He deserved to feel the pain, it was what he deserved for putting them through so much pain.

What he felt was the Star. It burned him, spoke to him.

Start again.

His breathing turned ragged as his throat became sore, now closing up on him again.

Third time’s a charm.

He curled around his core and sobbed, unable to scream anymore.

What is wrong with you? Wrecking everything around you, pitying yourself. So pathetic, so lonely, so weak . You ran away from the one good thing you had in life, hurt it, destroyed it . 

“Please…please just shut up…” He mumbled to himself, the voice suddenly stopping. He really was just alone, his own voice echoing these thoughts in his head, insulting him. He cried to himself and fell to the ground, right where he truly belonged.

Chapter Text

“Okay, and we’re certain that the fans will know?” Moon asked for the 5th time. They had set up a camera and were ready to record a short video explaining their situation and to hopefully get help from the fans.

KC sighed heavily, “Yes, they’ll know. The fans always know.”

“We’re on in 3, 2, 1,” Sun held his arms out towards the camera, “Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Sun and Moon Show! Now it’s uh, it’s been a really long time, months actually. A lot has happened but we’re back and we’re here with the whole family! Well um, almost the whole family. We’re missing someone but…we don’t know where he went and…”

“And we kinda need your help with it,” He mumbled to himself, “God I feel stupid talking to a camera.”

“We are aware that you’re been watching our lives before we disappeared, and that Eclipse has always been the bad guy in every video. But he’s changed now, and he’s our brother, and we don’t know where he went,” Earth explained calmly.

“And we miss him lots. He had a panic attack and then just…poofed! Dad says he might’ve gone to a base but he doesn’t know where and he said that you guys are always watching so we kinda hoped you guys would know,” Lunar held his tail.

“He made a lot of mistakes in the past and hurt a lot of people, but we care about him. He is our family, and we want to help him,” Solar Flare pleaded.

“Help us find him or we’ll paint your rooms bloody red and pick the flesh from your bones.” The twins grinned at the camera before Sun cut it.

Lunar smacked Bloodmoon’s arm, “You can’t just threaten the fans! That’s mean!”

KC patted both of their heads, “I’m sure the fans will be ecstatic that you’re both alive and well.”

“I’m not gonna ask about that. I’d rather not dive into forgotten past traumas right now.” Lunar waved a finger at KC.

“Video’s up!” Sun called to the rest of his family.

“Good, now we wait.” KC exhaled softly.

–

Eclipse rocked back and forth in his base, he’d been there for who knows how long. Hours? Days? Weeks? His mind would fade in and out, he would be silent crying one second then screaming and destroying anything he got his hands on. His rays were horribly damaged from how many times he would squeeze and tug, there were dents in his arms and legs from the grip he’d have.

Warnings flashed across his screen, low battery and damaged body predicting his shut down in the next hour or so. What would his family say if they saw him like this? They’d be scared out of their goddamn minds. They’d be terrified of him.

Maybe terrified for you.

His breath hitched and he squeezed his arms again, why would they be scared for him? They should be scared of him! He’s done nothing but scream and destroy everything around him!

“I recommend you stop damaging your body any further than you already have,” Eclipse shrieked and looked around frantically, “I’m the computer, dumbass. Moon’s computer.”

“Why are you here?” Eclipse stood up, his body shaking as it rose.

“Because the others are worried about you, they even posted a video trying to get fans to help them find you.”

“...What? Pull it up.” Eclipse watched as a panel descended from the ceiling of the base and turned on the newest episode.

It was a short video, only a few minutes. They were all gathered around the couch in their usual spots, there was a space left open for Eclipse, a habit they must’ve gotten. They looked so panicked and anxious and…grim. They looked as if it wouldn’t work. KC had a soft expression as he remained silent in the video, but Eclipse saw the look in his eyes as if his father knew that Eclipse was watching.

It was the same look KC had before when he told the oldest brother that he was so self-destructive. It was an offering to mend the gap, to make his dreams and fantasies a reality, an olive branch to finally heal and get better.

“Show me the comments,” Eclipse demanded quickly, his battery ticking down with every passing minute.

“No please or thank you? How rude.” The computer pulled up the comment section of the video and allowed Eclipse to scroll through them.

There were many comments showing excitement over Bloodmoon and Lunar’s revival, some theories about what was really going on, and some actually helping Eclipse’s family by telling them that his base was in the sun itself. But there were some comments that stuck to Eclipse, they were analytic of his behaviors and mannerisms, comments that showed concern over him.

There was one that spoke to him so loudly though.

Hi, you don’t know who I am, but I’ve been watching this story and it absolutely destroys my heart!! Eclipse stressing about keeping this little family you guys have together, everyone finding out and still wanting to be there for him! Eclipse really has to realize he isn’t alone and that his family does truly care for him, even if KC was so hesitant about it :( he was so ready to accept that Eclipse wasn’t going to change but Solar Flare is so determined to help him!! 

That Star is also destroying Eclipse from the inside out! You could try getting it away from him but it would be forcing him to change himself immediately, he isn’t ready to give up that control which just makes this more sad :( they all need family therapy! Even Earth!! Anyways I hope you guys have a good day and I hope you guys get the happy ending you deserve :) and get back to your family Eclipse! They love you and miss you!!!

The oldest brother read that last line over and over again, he read the other entire over and over again. This comment just… knew what they were going through, knew what Eclipse was feeling and what he had to do, but he wasn’t ready to do it.

Then again, would he ever be ready?

He took a deep breath, “Thank you, computer. I’m going back now.” His body swayed and staggered, 3%. Fuck. Had he really spent that long just reading the comments? With a flash of light and a stab of pain to his core, he appeared back in the daycare, his vision clicking off and systems shutting down as he heard his family scream his name and run to his side.

Chapter Text

KC had been immediately alerted when someone appeared in the daycare, a surge of fear and sorrow rippled through him when he saw the state his son was in. The twins and Moon were made aware soon after KC was, Moon screaming Eclipse’s name and running to his side, the rest of the family hearing and following Moon to their older brother's side.

Their father stared in horror at Eclipse. His body was scratched all over with dents in his arms and legs, his pants were torn at the knees and shins, and his rays were in the worst condition. One of his rays was dangling out of his head, many were crushed together like some sort of curled-up chip.

Solar Flare picked up Eclipse and rushed to Parts and Service, KC had to stop the family from following, “The rest of you stay put, Solar Flare and I will help Eclipse.”

“But-”

“No. Buts. You’ll stay here until one of us comes back to update you all on Eclipse’s condition.”

Moon shrunk back, none of them had ever heard KC sound so strict before.

The next few hours were agony for the family. Solar Flare and KC spent them getting Eclipse recharged and fixing his dents. The two didn’t talk to each other the entire time, too focused on trying to save their son.

On hour 6, KC put a hand on Eclipse’s core, his face scrunching, “The twins said that the Star was in Eclipse’s core, and the Star is only killing him. He’s unconscious now, we could just take it from him now, stop his pain.”

Solar Flare shook his head, “That would break his trust in us, and if what the fans were saying was right…he needs to give it to us.”

KC sighed, “You’re right. This is why you’re my co-parent.”

The other parent patted his shoulder, “Yes. Now let us continue our work.”

The smaller animatronic nodded and went back to work on fixing their son.

It took another 12 hours before KC emerged from Parts and Service and returned to his family to deliver the news. He trudged back to the daycare, alerting Moon of his entrance, within seconds the family was gathered around their father.

“He’s going to be fine.” KC smiled tiredly, a sigh of relief escaping everyone.

“So he’s okay, good. What about the damages to his body?” Moon titled his head.

“Solar Flare and I have done what we could but we aren’t the best technicians. Once Eclipse wakes up, he can tell us what to do or you can help him, Moon.” KC patted Moon on the head.

Moon’s eyes widened and he bounced a few times in excitement, “Really?”

KC nodded, “We wanted you to stay behind to help keep everyone calm. Earth’s good at it but not that good when she too is under stress.”

“That…You are correct.” Earth said light-heartedly with a soft smile.

Their father wrapped his arms around himself, “I don’t know what made Eclipse come back, but I’m glad he’s back.”

The rest of the family glance at each other for just a moment before coming to a silent decision. They surround KC and squish him in a big group hug, feeling the tension in their father melt as he was held by his children, “You aren’t alone in this dad,” Lunar squished his face against KC’s torso.

Their dad gently rested a hand on the smaller's head and smiled, “I know,” He jolted suddenly and his eyes widened, “Your pops just pinged me, Eclipse is awake. Would you all like to go see him?”

His children all eagerly started agreeing, the older chuckling softly and taking them down to Parts and Service immediately.

Eclipse felt his systems coming back online, every part of him felt sore and like it was on fire. He whined as he woke up, his eyes blinked open and he saw a silhouette, “Dad? Pops?”

Solar Flare stepped forward and held his son's hand, “We’re here for you, Eclipse. We are all here.”

Eclipse’s head swayed back and forth as his eyes adjusted to the light, scanning the room he saw his brothers and sister around the edge of the room. He gave a small smile, ”Oh, hey. How’re you guys?”

“How are we?” Bloodmoon tilted his head.

“You are the one that needs to be asked that!” Harvestmoon narrowed their eyes at their older brother.

“How are you doing? Sun approached his bedside, his twin, Earth, and Lunar following.

“Everything hurts and I feel like I’m on fire, but I’ll be fine,” He gave a lazy thumbs up.

“That is not fine, what are you talking about??” Moon hovered a concerned hand over Eclipse’s rays, “Your rays look awful, what happened?”

“...I happened.” Eclipse quietly confessed.

The room fell silent once more at the statement. Expressions ranged from horrified to fearful to concerned. KC was the first to move, he held his eldest son's hand and wept for him, “We’ll fix it together.”

The tallest's broken heart shattered at those words and he began crying. Months of faking happiness and love came falling down as Eclipse shakily hugged his father, sobbing into his arms.

The rest of the family slowly moved in for the second group hug of today, whispering affirmations and reassurances to Eclipse. Guarantees that he wasn’t alone, that he’ll be okay, that they’ll fix everything together.

Everyone pulled away when they heard a sharp hiss from Eclipse and felt him flinch, Bloodmoon being the first to back away with his hands up, “I touched his core by mistake, I did not mean to harm him!” He quickly said.

Solar Flare rubbed Bloodmoon’s back reassuringly as KC held Eclipse’s hand, “Eclipse, my child, the Star is hurting you, it is killing you. You need to take it out, get rid of it before irreversible damage is done.”

Eclipse curled around his core and shook his head, “I- I can’t.”

“Yes, you can.”

“ No , I can’t.” The eldest son pleaded.

“Can’t, or won’t?”

There it was. That one question that always tore Eclipse apart. He always wanted to say that he couldn’t as if he would actually do it if he could . But he knew the answer was always going to be won’t. He wouldn’t let Sun and Moon leave the daycare before without his supervision, he wouldn’t let any of his family know about the past, he wouldn’t let himself give up authority over them, and he wouldn’t be giving up the Star.

The tallest choked on a sob, “I- I won’t because I’m a horrible person that can’t change.”

KC brought a hand to Eclipse’s face and held it, “My child, you have changed, in so many ways. You say you won’t because it’s your choice, you say that because you believe that each won’t results in you being selfish and uncaring. But your choices have been kind these last few months. You would let both twins tease you relentlessly, you would let Lunar climb all over you, you would let me and Solar Flare pester you about caring for yourself, you would let kids play with you, you would let the other animatronics take you out for games and hang-outs. You have chosen to be kind and good, and you can choose again.”

Eclipse stared at his father and broke down sobbing once more, wrapping his arms around him once again, “Thank you, dad. For everything.”

Chapter Text

The next few days Eclipse had spent in and out of consciousness, Moon and KC working together to repair Eclipse’s body. Every time the oldest son woke up from his slumber, he felt nothing but burning pain, he would cry for his dad and be held until he fell back asleep.

Once when Eclipse had woken up, KC pleaded for him to take the Star out, to let it go, “Look at the pain it is causing you my child!”

The taller just shook his head, whimpering and sobbing, “I- I won’t.” He fell back asleep soon after that.

Moon couldn’t understand why Eclipse insisted on keeping the Star with him, no one could understand why. KC only had a fraction of understanding as to why, but even he couldn’t understand. Eclipse kept quiet about his reasons for why.

–

Eclipse opened his eyes to…the living area? He was on the couch. He looked around and noticed the fog of it all, it was another vision of the future. He sighed and waited for his family to appear.

He waited.

And waited.

…And waited.

They usually never took this long.

He was starting to get anxious. The Star was starting to burn. He didn’t know why it burnt, it never usually did in his visions. His breathing picked up, “Sun? Moon? Dad? Anyone?” He called out.

No one came. His vision blurred and he squeezed his eyes shut. The Star lit his insides on fire and he panicked.

“Eclipse!” Earth’s familiar voice called for him. He snapped his eyes open and looked at his surroundings, it was the same area.

“Where were you guys? You never take that long!”

The younger sister tilted her head, “We were always here? You just appeared for us.”

Moon appeared in front of Eclipse, “Which timeline are you from.”

“Uh, 357.”

“We’re 243.” Moon crossed his arms.

Eclipse frowns and looks away, the timeline he usually saw was 235, “What happened to me in this timeline?”

Earth and Moon went somber and frowned, “You refused to let go of the Star, and…it killed you. Dad kept begging you to let it go but you held onto it until the end. We dumped it into another dimension when you died so it couldn’t hurt anyone anymore.”

The oldest brother intertwined his fingers together and fidgeted with them, “The timeline I usually see is…kinda different.”

“What happens there?” Earth asks softly.

“In that dimension, my family had been the ones to kill me, because they knew I’d never let go of the Star or my old habits.”

His sister gasped quietly and put her hands over her mouth, “That’s horrible .”

Eclipse shook his head, “Not to me. It was a mercy to me, and a mercy for them. I was and still am not a good person, I hurt people, I manipulate people, all for what? For fun? Because I was abandoned? My abandonment issues don’t just let me hurt people!”

Moon suddenly wrapped his arms around Eclipse, “Don’t…Don’t say that about yourself. You weren’t a good person, yeah, but you changed. You changed, you proved that, and you made up for all the hurt you caused others. Everyone has forgiven you except you.”

“ How can I forgive myself after everything I’ve done?” Eclipse’s voice cracked.

Earth sat next to Eclipse and put a hand on his back, “There’s a lot of steps to forgiving yourself for past mistakes, accepting your guilt as an emotion being one. Guilt is something everyone feels, it’s as easily felt as happiness, but that doesn’t make it a bad emotion. Guilt helps people feel empathy. Don’t dwell on it, let it just flow.”

Eclipse’s face scrunched in confusion, “Dwell on it? I haven’t been dwelling on it.”

Moon hummed in disapproval and frowned, “You did dwell on it, a lot. Even when we were a ‘happy family’, a lot of us could always see that you carried a weight on your shoulders that you refused to let others help carry. It was always like the air itself was too heavy for you when you should’ve been breathing it.”

“You created this family out of desire, but out of guilt. Guilt that you hurt Sun and Moon, guilt that you made Bloodmoon and Lunar than hurt them, guilt that you led the events that gave KC a conscious, and guilt that you locked Solar Flare away.” Earth rubbed Eclipse’s back slowly.

Moon tapped her arm, “And insulted the hell out of you.”

The older sister rolled her eyes and chuckled, “Regardless, Eclipse, you did everything out of guilt and you clung to it. It’s time to let that guilt go, to let it run through you freely so you can finally forgive yourself and move on.”

Eclipse sniffled and wiped his eyes, “How do I let that guilt go?”

“That’s for you to find out.”

–

The eldest woke with a gasp and looked around the room. He was still in Parts and Service, and he was mostly repaired now. There was a numb burn in his core as he sat up slowly before he was tackled by a blur of red, “No. Brother stays down and rests,” The gruff voice huffed at him.

Eclipse groaned, “ Ow . Hey Bloodmoon,” He pats their hand, “What’re you doing here?” If Eclipse was being honest, he would’ve thought that Bloodmoon would avoid him the most out of everyone after the big reveal. He was the one that made Bloodmoon, made them so insatiably bloodthirsty that they’d be in pain without it, needing a constant supply of it. Sure he fixed that problem and they no longer needed blood, but it was still such a twisted thing.

“Moon and father were tired but needed someone to keep watch of your condition. We volunteered,” Bloodmoon laid down on top of their older brother, the softer voice confirming that they were one.

“Why? I thought you two would’ve hated me,” Eclipse gently pet them.

“Why would we hate you? You created us. You gave us each other, you gave us a family, a life beyond murder and blood galore,” They tilted their head then snickered, “You were quite bitchy before, but you are our brother.”

“Exactly. I made you guys this bloodthirsty brute who would suffer without blood, then I threw you away the moment you wouldn’t do as I say.”

The twins frowned and rested their head on Eclipse’s chest, “We would rather exist than not exist, and you fixed us, gave us a chance. We would not be here without you. We are finally happy because of you.”

Eclipse let the tears silently flow, the large knot of guilt on his shoulders unraveling just a little.

Chapter Text

When Eclipse woke up again, Bloodmoon was gone, but in replacement was Lunar. He was sitting next to Eclipse’s legs and playing a game. Eclipse smiled softly at the smallest brother and patted his head, “Hey Lunar.”

The youngest jolted and looked at him, “You’re awake! Good!” He climbs onto Eclipse’s lap and leans against his brother, “I was wondering if you were just gonna be asleep the entire time.”

Eclipse chuckled, “Nope,” He looked down at the youngest, “So, what do you wanna do?”

Lunar hummed, his face scrunching in contemplation, “I wanna ask some questions.”

“Well, ask away.”

“Why was I made?”

“Jeez, asking the hard question right out the gate huh? Why do you ask that?” Eclipse held Lunar’s small hands.

“When I first turned on months ago, everyone else knew what they were supposed to be except for me. Sunny and Earth were daycare attendants and they knew it because it was in their programming. Moony, dad, and the twins knew they were security bots. But then I woke up and my first thoughts were ‘Why was I made’, I didn’t know who I was or what I was made to be.”

Eclipse’s smile fell as Lunar spoke more, “Oh Lunar…” He wraps his arms around the youngest and holds him close, “...You were made to get rid of any happy emotions I had, but you were made to be Bloodmoon’s replacement, to keep Moon from ruining my original plans.”

“Oh…What were your original plans?”

“I wanted to get the Star, break the world down, and reconstruct it to be my perfect utopia. Along the line of trying to get the Star, I lost a lot, and I got more angry, so instead of getting my perfect world, I wanted to get the most petty revenge ever. So I tortured Sun and Moon until the anger was numb, and all that was left was loneliness and guilt.”

“Why were Bloody and Harvest made?”

“To keep Moon from intervening, but in more…graphic and immoral ways.”

“You aren’t gonna tell me them, are you?”

Eclipse chuckled tiredly, “Only if you wanna know.”

“I wanna know.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Eclipse’s expression soured, “Bloodmoon was meant to be a bloodthirsty brute who would just keep killing and eventually drive Moon insane because of it, but I made them be too aggressive, too thirsty, and they didn’t like that I tried telling them what to do, so they ran away.”

Lunar hummed and glanced down at Eclipse’s core, “Why won’t you take the Star out?”

“It’s…complicated.”

“Nuh-uh, you don’t get to say that. You gotta tell me why you won’t take it out.”

The older chuckled, “Okay okay fine,” He took a deep breath, “The Star doesn’t…doesn’t want to leave. Every time I’ve actually thought about taking it out, giving it to dad or pops, throwing it into another dimension, or whatever thought about getting rid of it, it’ll hurt me, burn me until the thoughts go away. A part of me also doesn’t want to get rid of the power it comes with, it’s addictive and intoxicating.”

“How?”

“Well, because it was designed to be that way. You have to have a certain amount of control over yourself and it to actually use it without going mad with power, but the power it grants will always be alluring.

“Huh…I wanna try it.”

“Lunar no.”

“Lunar yes,” The younger giggled mischievously.

“The moment I die, dad is taking the Star and throwing it in another dimension,” He ruffled Lunar’s hat. The atmosphere plummeted the moment Eclipse said that.

Lunar looked away as he teared up, “You really are dying, aren’t you?”

“Lunar…” Eclipse hugged him again, “I’m so sorry…”

“You aren’t allowed to die. Not yet,” Lunar hiccuped as he clung to his brother.

“I’m not dead yet, I’ll be here for a while, I promise.”

–

Solar Flare walked into the room and gazed upon the sight of his oldest and youngest snuggled up, sleeping peacefully. He smiled softly and sat next to the bed, thinking about his talk with KC earlier. They discussed letting Eclipse finally get off of bed rest, letting him spend time with the family, and doing his job while he still could.

While he still could . God, that thought was destroying them all from the inside out. The thought that a part of their family, the one that brought them all together, was going to die. His eldest son was going to die.

Solar Flare had struggled with calling the others his kids, for a while, they were just KC’s kids, or they were just “the kids”. It took some talks with KC to finally start seeing them as his kids too, he felt more confident in being their pops when they started to call him that. For some reason, Solar Flare just struggled to see them as his, he didn’t know why until KC had explained it more recently.

“Eclipse made you to act as my protector and servant, and you were made more recently. Earth is technically the youngest, and you the second youngest. You struggled to see them as your kids because you were only meant to serve and protect me, now you’re suddenly meant to protect an entire family and you aren’t meant to serve.”

That conversation had helped Solar Flare realize just how often he would be willing to KC the entire world, for months he had internally berated himself at that because it was weird . They weren’t dating, and the idea of them dating felt weird, they had even discussed it and agreed that it was a strict no. For months, he didn’t know why he was so quick and so willing to do anything and everything for someone who wasn’t his child or a partner.

It made sense now though. The conversation had left him fairly existential, about his purpose and his life, about who he was. He vaguely remembered questioning who he was and why he was made, and then he saw KC and it made sense. Him. He was supposed to serve him. Then that was flipped, he was supposed to parent 7 kids. 

That scared him months ago, then he looked at his kids with pride and joy, and now he looks at one of them, scared once more.

He snapped out of his train of thought when a hand held his. He blinked and looked at his eldest son, smiling tiredly at his pops, “Hey pops, came to take over watch?”

Solar Flare nodded, “Are you feeling okay?”

“Better than before at least. Think I could leave this bed and room anytime soon?”

The parent nodded to his son, “Yes, your dad and I discussed it earlier, we think you’ll be ready soon to get off of bed rest.”

“Good, I’m starting to get tired of just sleeping constantly because I have nothing else to do,” He chuckles softly, “Lunar asked me why he was made, and I told him the truth.”

“Why did he ask? Is there something we should know?”

“He told me that those were his first thoughts when he powered on, he said that everyone knew who they were supposed to be except for him, so he wanted to know why he was made. Isn’t that just…depressing? That his very first thoughts were about questioning his existence?”

Solar Flare stared at the youngest and pulled the blanket over him, the smaller smiling softly in his sleep and snuggling up with the blanket, “I…understand why he thought that. I thought the same thing when I woke up, your dad recently explained why I was made.”

Eclipse frowned and reached out to his pops, “I’m sorry po-”

The parent took his child’s hand and smiled kindly at him, “You don’t have to apologize. It gave me clarity on aspects of my life, it helped me understand who I was. I’m glad I was made because I wouldn’t give up this life or this family for the world,” He held his child’s face, gently rubbing his thumb back and forth, “I love you, son.”

The eldest leaned into his touch and shuddered, tears welling in his eyes, “I love you too, pops.

Chapter Text

The next day, Eclipse was allowed to finally wander the Pizzaplex on his own and do his job. The first thing he did was ask that Moon, Sun, and Earth accompany him after work, and they were quick to say yes.

The eldest met them at Bonnie’s Bowling, having requested to the staff and their friends earlier that the siblings have their time alone. The staff had set up a game for them without Eclipse having even asked them to do so. He sat in a colorful plastic chair while he waited.

The night before he was taken off bedrest, he had another vision. This time, Sun was with Moon and Earth. The three told him that they remembered when their Eclipse took them bowling, he had played a few rounds before sitting down and calling it quits because the Star burned him too much to keep playing. They reminisced that their Eclipse had also told them all the truth about their past lives together, they never did finish that game.

It was why Eclipse had wanted to take his siblings bowling, and why he was going to tell them the truth. It might help clear his conscience, which he thought was selfish, but he also knew that they’d rather know about who they were and what Eclipse had done.

He smiled when his brothers and sister walked in, rushing to his side with bright smiles and warm hugs. The eldest chuckled at the other's eagerness and snorted when they expressed excitement over the game that was ready for them.

Eclipse only managed about 2 and a half games before he winced and wrapped an arm around his core. The Star burned him, it felt like the burn spread more every single day, consuming his chest and pelvic region. He took short, gasping breaths of air, his siblings looking at him in alarm and frantically sitting him down.

“Eclipse? Deep breaths, it’s okay!” Sun panicked.

“You’ll be okay, we’re here for you!” Earth teared up, remembering the last time Eclipse hyperventilated.

Eclipse smiled softly at Earth and held her hand, “I’m okay, I’m okay. It’s just chest pains, I promise I’m not gonna disappear on you guys again.”

“Promise?” Earth whispered.

“Promise,” Eclipse hissed and arched his back, “I don’t think I can keep playing. You guys can finish though, I don’t mind,” He smiled at them.

Moon sat next to Eclipse and rested his head on his shoulder, “I don’t wanna keep playing if you can’t play with us,” His twin and their sister nodded in agreement and sat with Eclipse.

“You guys really don’t have to stop playing, you can finish the game.”

“No without you,” Sun said firmly, hugging Eclipse and burying himself against his side.

Eclipse sighed and chuckled to him, “I don’t deserve any of you.”

“No, stop, shut up. You do deserve us,” Moon glared at his older brother.

“I really don’t. You don’t even know the half of everything I’ve done.”

Earth kneeled in front of him, “Then tell us.”

Eclipse stared at his younger sister, his shoulders drooping, “I can see now why dad didn’t want to tell any of you, it’ll change you and how you see me. Are you sure you wanna know?” He cringed at himself, “Jesus, caring about myself only,” He sighed and mumbled about how he hadn’t changed and that he was awful.

Sun nods, “We wanna know. Dad said he would tell us eventually, but he still hasn’t.”

“There’s a reason why he didn’t want to tell you guys everything, I…wasn’t a good person,” He sighed and laced his fingers together, “I hurt all of you, one way or another. I had created Bloodmoon with parts of my code, which was also dad’s code. The first day that Bloodmoon had existed, he immediately went on a rampage, a rampage I programmed him to do. Sun had woken up to the aftermath and was…severely traumatized by it.

If that wasn’t already enough, both Sun and Moon were wanted by the government, I think you still technically are. You were both taken in for investigation, where I took the fall for Bloodmoon’s rampage and claimed I did it. At that point, I was already torturing you guys. I would make Sun blackout for hours on end, pretend to be him, and I would hurt him. I would take him and Moon to different places where they would have to fight for their lives.

Then I made Lunar, he was meant to be Bloodmoon’s replacement, he was meant to stall Moon and keep him from interfering with my plans. We eventually took over Sun and Moon’s bodies entirely, and I would abuse Lunar mentally and physically. I’d degrade him constantly and I…I would hurt him. Lunar eventually found Bloodmoon, alive and they worked with Sun and Moon to kill me.

But of course, I came back, and I was hellbent on revenge. I worked with Bloodmoon and KC for a while, but I planned for both of their deaths and demise. Bloodmoon was killed by Sun, but he had a spell set up to haunt whoever killed them, so they never truly died. Bloodmoon loved to torture me for the pain that I put them through. I eventually made Solar Flare, who was only meant to serve KC, he was my ticket to earning KC’s trust before I would betray him.

Then I trapped Solar Flare in his own body as I took it over. I also pushed Sun to trap his own brother and KC in the same body together, the only way out was either taking KC out of the body and completely resetting Moon or killing KC. Moon chose to reset himself. Around this time, I had also gotten the Star by threatening Lunar’s life before…before I killed him by blowing his head up.

The next few months I spent continuing to torture Sun and Moon by making them fight for their lives, I would also go to Earth and degrade her. During all of this, I kept Solar Flare with me, maybe to torture myself or him, but he made me realize that I did this all because I was so pissed off and alone. So I took his advice and I forced Sun and Moon to forget everything, forced them to be my family. Then, when it was all going to bite me in the ass, I forced everyone to be my family.”

By the end of the explanation, Eclipse was crying. He finally told them everything, and god he sucked. Finally saying everything, the reality of how much he sucked really crashed in.

He had expected them to shout at him, scream that he was a horrible person, that he didn’t deserve them, that he didn’t deserve to live. Instead, the three enveloped him in a hug. Sun ugly crying on his shoulder, Earth silently weeping, and Moon only tearing up.

“It’s in the past now, we forgive you,” Earth whispered.

“How? How can you forgive me? I’m a horrible person, I’m the worst out there. So how can you say that now knowing everything I’ve done?” Eclipse choked on his tears.

“Because we love you,” Moon muttered.

“And you’ve changed,” Sun sniffled.

“And you love us.” Earth finished.

Eclipse trembled in their arms as he finally hugged back, the constrictor knot weighing heavy on his shoulders finally unraveling, the ropes gently vanishing as the guilt flowed through him at last.

Chapter Text

It’s been 2 months now. The burning had spread rapidly since he had his meltdown. He woke up to every part of his body aching and feeling like it was aflame. He closed his eyes as he silently pinged his dad.

‘Today’s the day.’

It was all he said, but his dad understood. KC was by Eclipse’s side in an instant, sobbing as he hugged his son, “We can close the daycare and spend the day together if you wish.”

“I don’t even know what we’d do all day, besides I have something planned for tonight,” Eclipse held his dad’s hand, “Please don’t tell them yet. I don’t want them to be off all day.”

KC stared down at his child with a look of grief, “Okay. If that’s what you want,” He rested their foreheads together, he was at a loss for words, “I’ll go tell the others that you’re having a burnt day.”

“Thanks, dad,” He smiled tiredly at his dad, who left without another word.

KC had to take a deep breath as he walked out to the rest of his family, “Eclipse is having a burnt day, I’ll be staying with him to make sure he’s okay.”

His family made nods and noises of confirmation and affirmation, they were all worried about Eclipse’s rapidly deteriorating state. Every day he seemed to be getting worse and worse, but no one talked about it because they all feared that day would be their last with their brother.

What they weren’t informed of was that it was Eclipse’s last day.

KC returned to Eclipse’s side soon after, weeping and already grieving for his son. Eclipse offered a small smile and held his dad’s hand, “Aren’t I supposed to be the one crying? I’m the one dying after all.”

This did nothing to soothe his dad as he only cried harder. Eclipse didn’t know why he felt so…numb to his own death.

No. Numb wasn’t the right word. He was serene, tranquil, calm . He was literally dying, but he felt nothing but an odd placidness about it. He held his dad’s hand until he stopped crying, which didn’t stop until hours had gone by, but Eclipse didn’t notice, he was spaced out the entire time.

He chuckled to himself as his dad slowly ran out of tears to cry, “Ya know, I saw two different futures. The original future I saw, the one that scared me so badly, you guys had killed me in it. I was so unwilling to change, and all I was going to do was keep hurting you all, so you guys killed me to keep the pain from continuing.”

“We could never do that to you, my son.”

“They could, and they did. But you guys didn’t. You guys spared me and forgave me. When I came back 2 months ago, I had seen another future. They told me that I died, but the Star was the thing that killed me. I spent 2 months just talking to them, they always seemed so sad when they saw me.”

KC cupped his son’s cheek, silent, he had no words to say. He didn’t even know what to say, “I saw them again last night, usually I only saw a few of them there, but I saw them all there last night. When they saw me, they sobbed, and I knew that today would be the day.”

That made his dad start to cry again, he had no more tears to weep, but he still cried. Eclipse could only let his dad cry, could only hold his hand, “I wanna go to the rooftop today, I wanna see the stars with my family one last time.”

“Whatever you wish, my son,” KC’s voice warbled as he spoke.

–

It was when everyone’s shifts had ended and KC asked them all to go to the rooftop with Eclipse that they had connected the dots. They saw KC’s dry tears on his face, heard his voice cracking and shaking, the lack of Eclipse as he was still in bed, “I’ll bring him up shortly, but please meet us on the roof.”

The family silently nodded and made their way out, tears already welling up in their eyes. The cold air hit them all, a thin layer of snow coating the top of the roof. They brushed away the snow from their spot and laid out a few blankets for them to all sit and lay on.

KC came up to the rooftop with Eclipse about 10 minutes later, carrying his son awkwardly due to the size difference. They all shuffled out of the way as KC laid his son down on the blankets, resting his head on his father's lap.

Eclipse whispered a thank you and looked up at the sky, smiling as he watched the stars, “Ya know, my favorite memory has always been this. When we were all so stressed out and Lunar had planned for us to sit on the roof together and watch the stars. I remember Moon and me pointing out the different stars to dad and pops, Sun played with Earth’s hair, and Lunar, and Bloodmoon turned on music and started dancing to it. Can we play music?”

“Of course, my son,” KC nodded to Lunar, who put on a soft playlist.

Eclipse hummed as he heard the music, “So…you guys already know?”

“It was kinda obvious when dad asked us to meet up here,” Earth mumbled.

Lunar sobbed and clung to his brother, “I’m not ready yet, please, don’t leave us, don’t leave me, you said you wouldn’t!”

“I can’t really help it bud,” Eclipse cupped his little brother’s cheek.

“Yes, you can! Take the Star out! Stay with us!”

Eclipse smiled sadly at the youngest, “I think it’s too late for me, even if I took the Star out.”

Bloodmoon whimpered as they curled up at Eclipse’s side, “You leave us too soon, none of us are ready.”

Eclipse patted their head, “I know.”

Sun and Moon remained silent as they joined the cuddle pile, sobbing as they held their older brother’s hands, Earth scooted closer and put a hand on Eclipse’s shoulder. Solar Flare sat next to KC as the 2 parents watched their children cry and grieve for their older brother.

“I love all of you, you know that right?” Eclipse asked, only getting sniffly nods in return, “Good. I want you all to remember me like that. Remember that I loved you, that I cared about you, and that I would do anything for this family.”

The next few hours were silent. The songs seemed to play so slowly, time ticking by as quickly as molasses. It had started to snow, white flakes blending in with the clouds and stars. The family didn’t care that they were being covered by snow, all they cared about was Eclipse in that moment.

Eclipse let out one final sigh as he closed his eyes and rested his cheek against his dad’s legs.

“I love the stars.”

Chapter Text

Their voices were raw and their tears might as well have stained their paint job by the end of the night. They stayed there on the rooftop for hours with Eclipse, his body completely motionless and shut down.

When they opened his core, they saw the horrors the Star caused. He was basically fried from the inside, there was nothing left inside of him, he was just a casing with no endo skeleton, no wiring, nothing.

KC had thrown the Star into another dimension the moment they pulled it out before blacklisting the dimension it was in when the portal closed. Within seconds, the memories of their lives returned to them now that the Star wasn’t keeping the memories away.

Bloodmoon had vanished and returned to Sun’s mind, now more calm and tame compared to before. Moon promised them that they’d get their own body again soon.

The daycare was closed for only a few days, but they couldn’t keep it closed forever, they had to reopen eventually. Those days were spent mourning Eclipse, mourning the loss of their older brother, their eldest son.

At first, all KC felt was guilt. Guilt that he knew everything from the very beginning and told no one, guilt that he didn’t even try to stop Eclipse, guilt that he didn’t try harder to make his son give up that goddamn Star, and especially guilt over the fact that he knew his son was dying but didn’t tell any of his family.

KC had admitted all of this to Solar Flare, who hugged his co-parent, “It’s not your fault, you did the best you could.”

He cried for hours that night.

Lunar and Sun had felt nothing but conflicted since Eclipse’s death and the return of their memories, with them having the most memories of Eclipse from before the memory wipe. Their old burning hatred for their older brother returned and hit them like a truck, but they also just felt their hearts squeeze and shatter when they thought about hating him. They had consoled each other many times over the next few months, being the only two who could know what they were going through.

“Do you think Eclipse ever felt guilty for everything he did?” Lunar asked one day, they were lying on the floor of Sun’s room, something they did together more frequently.

“Of course he did,” Sun answered numbly.

“No, I mean like, before he wiped our memories. Do you think he ever got second thoughts? Felt guilt for everything he put us through?” Lunar sat up and looked at his older brother.

Sun glanced at the youngest and hummed to himself, “I’d like to think so. I’d like to think that he knew the pain we suffered, knew everything that we thought of,” His voice lowered to a mutter, “I once said that I wished I was dead. Sometimes, I’d like to think that he heard me say that, and that’s why he reset our memories, to make us forget all the agony and pain.”

Lunar frowned and scooted closer, resting his head on Sun’s arm, “I’d like to think that our memories are what make us more connected to him.”

“How so?”

“Because we know every terrible thing he did. We don’t just know about the version we idolized and looked up to, the version he had wanted to know about. We know that he was a bad person, that he treated us horribly, but…we still love him.”

Sun smiled tiredly at Lunar and patted his head, “You’re really smart, you know that right Lunar?”

The youngest closed his eyes and nodded, “I know.”

–

It had been one year since Eclipse died, and they were all slowly coping in their own ways. To say that any of them were healing was an overstatement. Anyone with half a brain could see they all still missed him horribly.

Bloodmoon was given a new body, it had taken longer because they made it out of nanomachines so the twins could still separate from one another. Sun was glad to finally have them out of their head, “No offense, I love the both of you, but you’re both very loud.”

The two only snickered and giggled when Sun told them that, taking pride in the fact that they could annoy him still so easily. The older only sighed and patted them on the head at their reaction.

Eclipse’s room had remained nearly untouched, only occasionally being entered so they could get rid of the dust that would build up. His room was always so barren, but in his last months, he had started to finally add his own decorations. He put up stars on the ceiling, just like the ones from when they had gone to the rooftop together as a family. He hung up a few posters, they were mainly about engineering and astronomy.

He didn’t have enough time though to do much decorating, unfortunately. So it was mostly empty. Earth smoothed out the bedsheets as she finished cleaning them, looking around the room she felt nothing but pain in her chest.

She could remember the days they spent together as the oldest two, hiding away in one of their rooms and enjoying comfortable silence before one of their younger siblings inevitably would barge in and drag them away. She remembered the games and competitions they’d get into, seeing who could reach the tallest shelf, climb to the highest point, and do paperwork the fastest.

They’d always turn it into games and competitions to get work done faster and to help their siblings faster as well, it was the highlight of their dynamic. She remembered the day Eclipse had started it when KC needed one of them to get something from the top shelf of the kitchen. Eclipse had looked at her with a grin and asked, “Wanna see who can reach up farthest?”

Their older brother had won that competition, having more flexible arms and toes that he could stand on. Earth didn’t have much flexibility when it came to her body, and she only had nubs for feet. They had laughed over it when she tried to stand on her toes. They both ultimately lost though when Bloodmoon dropped from the ceiling, grabbed the item, and scampered over to their dad.

Bloodmoon was always the odd one out of all of the others, they were two AIs in one body, and they liked being in one body. They were unhinged and wild at times, but they could be as gentle and calm as a sleepy cat. Eclipse and KC were the only two who could understand them, and no one understood why, not until everyone else had gotten their memories back.

Eclipse spent many days looking for the twins when they would decide to play surprise hide’n’seek, being the only one who knew their hiding spots. He liked to play dumb just for them, so they could spring out from their hiding spot and latch onto Eclipse, gently digging their claws into his shoulders and softly biting his rays. They never left a scratch or dent on him during those attacks.

Eclipse would carry Bloodmoon back to the daycare and pretend to wrestle them off, sometimes he’d go down and act as if they successfully killed him. The twins would cheer in victory when he would do that, and within minutes they’d be curled up next to Eclipse on the couch, purring softly as their older brother would pat their head.

Moon frequently saw them wrestle and play like that, smiling as he watched Eclipse dramatically fall to the floor, loudly proclaiming his murder before exaggerating a “bleh” and sticking his tongue out to the side like a cartoon corpse would.

He’d pick Eclipse up off the floor and join them on the couch, reading books together and occasionally sharing what would happen in them. Eclipse was the only one who was on the same intellectual level as Moon. The two would be able to talk about any sort of topic and still understand one another.

Moon liked to challenge Eclipse’s intellect at times, bringing up random topics that the oldest would still know about, “Did you know that dimes have 118 ridges to them?”

“And quarters have 119 ridges,” Eclipse would respond, “Did you know that there are 7 different types of twins?”

“I…No,” And they’d go on like that. They’d go back and forth with fun facts they knew until they were out of fun facts for the day, or until Bloodmoon would bite one of them to make them stop. Usually the latter.

Typically, when Bloodmoon would bite them, Solar Flare would have dinner ready for those who eat. Earth, Lunar, KC, and Bloodmoon were the only ones that did. Solar Flare would still set a plate down for his other children though, to make them feel included and so they could have family dinners together sometimes.

They’d all talk about how their days went, and they’d keep talking even after the four were done eating. Lunar would talk about his games, and Bloodmoon would ask questions about the game, namely if you could kill in the game. Moon would talk about new project ideas he’d get throughout the day, discuss the details of it with KC and Solar Flare, and get their approval or disapproval. Sun and Earth would make plans for the next day that was ahead of them, games, and activities for the kids.

At the end of the table, Eclipse would watch his family. He’d watch them all talk about their days then watch them talk about their thoughts, their ideas, their interests. He didn’t speak much about his own, but anyone could see the love and care he held for his family as he watched them just talk.

They would now sit at the table, the end of it empty as no one watched the family talk.

Solar Flare would set up the table for his family, and leave an extra plate at the end for no one.

Moon would talk to nobody about his books, say random facts that would get no response.

Bloodmoon would hide in their spots, waiting for no one to find them, waiting to spring out at thin air and wrestle them back to the daycare, and then curl up next to nothing on the couch.

Earth would reach for things at the top shelf on her own, do her paperwork by herself, and climb the tallest points in the Pizzaplex alone.

Lunar would crawl onto the couch into no one’s lap as he played his games, chased after his older siblings but not his oldest, and listened to the silence in his oldest brother’s room.

Sun would clean the daycare and expect no one to be waiting for him at the couch with his twin and Bloodmoon when he was done, he’d say goodnight to everyone and mutter an extra goodnight to the empty room that stayed still.

KC would run his claws against the door of the room his oldest used to occupy, he’d sit down sometimes and lay a pillow on his lap so he could feel his son one last time, and he’d listen to the music they played in his final moment.

Sometimes, they’d all pile together in the living room, they’d listen to music and stay silent, some of them crying while some would stare numbly at the ceiling or wall or floor.

Right now, they pile together on the rooftop, music playing softly as they all cry together, mourning the loss of their family. A pillow rests on KC’s legs, Solar Flare resting his head on his co-parent’s shoulder. Bloodmoon curls up with Lunar as they cling together and sob. Earth, Sun, and Moon hold hands as they stare up at the sky that’s speckled with the stars Eclipse loves so much.

It’s been a year since they lost their older brother, their son, their family . They were coping, and the first stitch the healing was sewn in. They knew that it’d take years before they could finally fully heal and continue living without Eclipse, but they had time, and they had each other.

This was what Eclipse would’ve wanted for them anyway. He wanted them to remember him as he loved, and so they would.