Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

As a being of shadow, June thrived in the Dark Zone. That didn't mean she wasn't scared. As far as she knew, they were the only Shadowguy in the Sanctuary, and they were scared of shadows. Her friend Jackenstein wasn't any different. He was a being made to terrify others... and he was scared of ghosts.

Despite how jittery and anxious June was, they weren't scared of Jackenstein. She hummed a little tune in her flute voice as she went to visit her friend.

"JUNE!! I MISSED YOU!" Jackenstein spoke in a booming voice as he bent down to hug June.

June's cat ears folded nervously, both from Jackenstein's voice and from their torso being squished. She wheezed a desperate squeak, catching his attention.

"Sorry..." Jackenstein loosened his grip on June. He was about to update them on what he had found, when he heard what sounded like teenagers.

"Quick, weare this and haide from the treaspassers!" he said, giving June a pumpkin.

June slipped into the shadows of the pumpkin and watched as the teens battled her friend. The human seemed... familiar. The teens didn't attack Jackenstein, they just obtained a key from each mansion he threw at them. She giggled when a jack-o'-lantern lengthened both the SOUL, a blindingly bright object, and itself, declaring "YOUR LONG" as it did so.

When the human's SOUL became bright enough, June realized they were visible. She nervously came out of hiding when Jackenstein started to wail and moan in pain, meowing a little flute chirp. The goat was trying to heal him, but it wasn't working.

Until the friendly old man appeared.

Gerson Boom, friend to light and dark, ally to human and monster, showed up to tell the dragon to help her friend heal Jack.

The dragon lamented about how the goat was better suited for healing, but Gerson wasn't having any of it. He feigned an injury in his finger and asked the dragon to heal it.

With a blast of green magic, the dragon aimed for Gerson, but he dropped something and bent down at the last second. The sparkles whizzed past him and into Jackenstein's open mouth, healing him. June smiled. Turns out those teens were the heroes of prophecy, and the human was a Lightner that used to play with her. Kris.

≽^•⩊•^≼

June didn't know which way was up. They shivered a bit as they followed Kris and the dragon, Susie, as she was called. She looked at the prophecy with the two Lightners, but when the Roaring Knight summoned a frenzy of darkness, June struggled to follow.

Despite quite literally being partially made of shadows, the darkness was suffocating to June. She shivered a bit more, struggling to make her way up, but she made it. Susie and Kris entered the old man's study hall, but the latter of the two heard a harsh squeak of a flute.

June would've expected to find more purpose in the second sanctuary than the first, since she spoke in musical noises. So why did they feel so cold? She squeaked out another harsh, staccato note as the human ran towards her.

Kris held out their hand. They smiled. They said something that June wasn't expecting at all.

"Hey, aren't you that action figure I lost a while back?"

June sputtered a surprised, shrill tune. They nodded and grabbed the human's hand.

"June, was it?" Kris continued.

The Shadowguy meekly nodded. She started to feel warmer.

Maybe I won't petrify here.

Susie's yelp was audible from two rooms away. June and Kris sprinted past where the fireplace should be, into that same, blinding darkness. It wasn't nearly as suffocating as the darkness the Knight had summoned, but it was still chilly. It wasn't like the scary, yet comforting darkness of the Dark Zone.

Susie was struggling to dodge attacks from an unknown enemy. June coughed, feeling the sense of belonging begin to fade. Susie turned towards them...

...and dodged the attack that the enemy had thrown at her.

"Man, we need more cue sounds like that!"

June's sense of purpose came back. She nodded determinedly and played different notes for each direction that the arrows came from. Susie dodged like a pro as Kris entered the battle.

"There's something wrong with the old man."

June knew the truth. June knew it wasn't actually the old man in the battle. Curse their lack of a voice that the Lightners could understand. She kept signaling to them which direction the arrows were coming from until an attack destroyed the enemy.

≽^•⩊•^≼

The family's fighting again.

Susie yelled at Ralsei for hiding secrets, causing him to sob profusely. June felt herself start to fade again.

A flute squeak brought Susie back to reality. Her friend... that Shadowguy that had tagged along since she healed Jack... was losing their sense of purpose. She apologized to Ralsei, leaving him surprised.

"I'm the one who should be apologizing!"

Kris comforted the two for a bit before heading towards the exit. Susie, Ralsei, and June followed.

≽^•⩊•^≼

"Don't!!!" Ralsei cried out.

The Knight didn't listen. They created a fountain within the Dark World. The fountain petrified before cracking into a beast that June had never seen.

The heroes started to climb, but they fell. A stack of Darkners caught them, with June at the top. Kris helped them up, causing them to smile. Unfortunately, she slipped.

The old man caught her and climbed with her in tow.

≽^•⩊•^≼

The Titan... healed itself.

Ralsei didn't know what to do.

"Need a hand?" a familiar voice asked.

Gerson, with June in tow, ran up to the fight. He helped Susie power up her attacks while June helped Kris shine a light onto the Titan.

Suddenly, Susie had an idea. She grabbed Kris and jumped into the Titan's body, with the SOUL shining like a sun.

≽^•⩊•^≼

Kris broke into school to deliver a special action figure to the supply closet. The action figure materialized into a Shadowguy with hair that turned white in the back.

June purred as she made her way to the Color Café. She sat and listened to the music. Tasque Manager sang while some cat Shadowguys danced. Still, she missed her fraind from the Dark Zone.

"IS JUNE HEAR?" a booming voice asked outside.

They smiled. It was their fraind, waiting for her.

"Yeah." Kris responded from outside.

Jack tried to enter the door, but he couldn't fit. June giggled and went outside. She saw his head and got a brilliant idea. They tapped the shoulder of a nearby cat Shadowguy and began to explain.

(Hey, I'm June, one of that big guy's friends. I was wondering if we could do a Halloween party here?)

The other Shadowguy grinned and responded in her saxophone voice.

(Nice to meet you, June! I'm Charlie! And yes, that's a wonderful idea! I'll get Miia to translate for the non-Shadowguy members of Castle Town!)

Charlie shouted an excited saxophone squeak to a nearby Zapper. The Zapper looked like a Wii remote. She hopped over towards the shadow catgirls and her buttons lit up a bit.

"Oh, I haven't seen yous before!" the Zapper– Miia, said, holding out her hand. "Da name's Miia."

June didn't know if Miia would understand them, but she trusted Charlie. It seemed really friendly.

(I'm June.)

"June... dat's a beautiful name!"

Huh. So Charlie wasn't lying when it said Miia could understand Shadowguys.

(Charlie and I were... were wondering if you could ask Ralsei... um... if we could have a Halloween party?)

Miia, glowing excitedly, hopped over towards Ralsei, and told him what June had said. His face lit up.

"Oh! What a great idea!"

June blushed.

"That way, Mister Jackenstein will feel welcome!"

"MY FRAIND WANTS TO MAKE ME FEEL WELLCOME?" the large Darkner asked, blushing.

Ralsei nodded. "June seems to care about you so much."

"JUNE AND THE OALD MAN WERE MY ONLY FRAINDS FORE A LONG TIME. BUT NOW I HAVE NEW FRAINDS!"

June smiled and hugged the big guy. This was going to be the best Halloween party ever.

Chapter Text

Castle Town was thriving. June was so excited to let her creativity flow. They looked over at Jackenstein, who was helping a Rudinn and Hathy decorate.

June smiled as she waved towards Jackenstein. He waited for the Darkner duo in his hands to secure themselves, then lifted June up.

"JUNE... MEET RUBY AND AORTA!"

The Rudinn, warm pink with a spade over her eyes like that weird blue kid, Lancer, that June had seen around, smiled and held out her hand to June. The Hathy, light pink with a spade on his crown, blushed and smiled towards June.

"It's nice to meet you!" the Rudinn giggled.

June asked which one was Ruby. She was 99% confident that the Rudinn was Ruby, since they remembered that the aorta is an anatomical term relating to the heart, and a ruby is a gem. Ruby(?) didn't understand what June said. She knew saxophone, but not flute.

"Huh?"

"JUNE ASKED IF YOUR RUBY." Jack translated.

"Oh! Yep! Clever!"

Aorta, the Hathy, smiled. He reached a tentacle out to June and offered to shake their hand. June accepted.

Jackenstein set the trio down after the streamer was up. June smiled. It looked so cool!

"Incoming!!!" a voice shouted.

A winged, purple Pippins nearly crashed into June, but Jackenstein caught them.

"BAP, BE CAREFULL..."

"Sorry. I'm just... I heard there was a Halloween party going on!" the Pippins, Bap, chuckled. They turned towards June, whose ears were pinned back, and apologized. "I'm sorry for scaring you."

June was still a bit shaken up, but they accepted Bap's apology.

"I'm Nambap!" the Pippins continued, holding their hand out.

June nervously took Nambap's hand into a handshake, then smiled. She played the notes that corresponded to her name, which, surprisingly, Nambap understood.

"June? Isn't it October right now?" Nambap joked. "Nah, I'm just pulling your leg. That's a nice name!"

June stepped back, not knowing what to say. They liked the compliment, but the joke was a bit weird.

(Um, thanks.)

June's attention was drawn to a group of Darkners decorating the Seap. The owner, Seam, seemed very pleased to have the store be decorated. Said Darkner set out Spooky Swords, further amplifying the environment.

The group contained a few Shadowguys, a Bloxer, a Cuptain-headed figure in a trenchcoat, and a Swatchling. The Bloxer looked at June and waved. If he had a mouth, he would've been smiling.

June took a closer look at the group. The Bloxer looked like a pink Lego Koopaling from Super Mario. The Cuptain-headed figure moved unnaturally, as if they were a stack of Cuptains or something. The Swatchling was a pretty rosy color and wore cute glasses. June was especially drawn to the other Shadowguys, though.

The Shadowguys wore all sorts of outfits. One of them was rabbitlike and had a tooth gap. She wore a skeleton shirt under his jacket. One of them was catlike, and he wore an orange scarf with pumpkins. The last one was some sort of lizard punk rocker in an electrifying neon outfit.

Cat Guy spoke first, in a symphonic harp flutter that opened up into a beautiful violin performance. (Hey, wanna help us decorate?)

The Swatchling gestured over towards a huge pile of decorations, including several meters of streamers, then she gestured towards Rabbit Guy. "Trill here delivered everything. We are very grateful for his help."

Trill, blushing, bashfully chuckled a nervous saxophone laugh.

The Bloxer noticed Nambap and called them over. They came over and grabbed another streamer to hang.

"Thanks, Minnie." Bap told the Bloxer.

"No problem!"

The Bloxer, Minnie, eagerly tossed a pumpkin decoration to the Swatchling and Shadowguys. Trill and the Swatchling managed to catch it before it squished Cat Guy and Lizard Guy.

Lizard Guy spoke in an electric guitar. The notes were rough like venom or voltage.

(I'm Melodius...) The Shadowguy pointed to the Swatchling, who waved upon being mentioned. (that's Rosette...) Melodius pointed to Cat Guy. (And that's Friday!)

(I... I'm June!)

June looked over at the cloaked figure. They shook a bit as she investigated. (Odd... you bear resemblance to the Cuptains from my home world...)

The odd figure squeaked in five different voices.

"Prithee, fair lady, pray tell... why do you think that?"

"Wait, we're– I'm... not Cuptain related at all!"

"This Shadowgal is kinda sus."

"Yellow– I mean..."

And the red Cuptain at the top had the quietest voice when he spoke. "Nobody ever falls for our disguise."

The trenchcoat fell, revealing five Cuptains.

Rosette tilted his head and held out a wing for a Cuptain. The red one walked onto their wing and looked visibly calmer.

The green one happily went to see Trill. They jumped into his arms, and she immediately caught and hugged him with a smile that could defeat a thousand titans.

Yellow investigated Minnie. They bonded quickly over memes and jokes.

The orange one squeaked at Melodius, who picked him up and held him. Melodius wasn't used to this, but didn't seem to mind.

The indigo one gently tugged at Friday's cat tail. The Shadowguy turned around with a gentle smile and picked him up as well. He hummed a little glockenspiel tune to himself and let out a soft purr... well, as close as one could get to a soft cat purr with a tuba.

June felt a bit left out until Jackenstein picked them up. She laughed a sweet flute melody and smiled. Of course the Shadowgal from the Dark Sanctuary would get the same treatment as the Cuptains.

The group decorated the main plaza of Castle Town and turned it into Spooky Town. The Love Dojo became the Fright Dojo. The Color Café became the Horror Café. TV Time Studios became... actually that one didn't change. It just switched to exclusively Halloween specials.

June found a locked door in TV Time Studios that looked... suspicious to say the least. The other Shadowguys, excluding Trill, followed, keeping a safe distance. Shadowguys are curious creatures, after all.

They looked at the numbers. The 3, 4, 5, and 6 were more worn out than the others. June looked at the design... microphones.

(Should we really be here?) Friday asked nervously.

(I wonder if they'll let me try the music game?) Melodius inquired.

Four letters... microphones... Mike... 6453.

June opened the door. A... hallway? With a hat shelf and cat statues? The Shadowguys each grabbed a silly Halloween hat to put on, then continued until they reached a dead end. There, they found a Maus that got scared of June and Friday. It seemed to like Melodius, though. The lizard Shadowguy smiled, using the Maus as, well, a computer mouse.

(You know a lot about the Cyber World.) June muttered.

(Hell yeah! I'm from there!)

Melodius used the Maus to reveal a hidden path that led to a room with a volume controlled door. Friday used his symphonic voice to unlock the door. The three Shadowguys went inside, hoping to see what awaited them.

Chapter Text

A short, fat microphone man stood in front of the trio. His signature grin dropped at the sight of the three Shadowguys in front of him.

"Hey, the heck are you doing in here?! Didn't you read that DOOR?!" he shouted in a gravelly voice.

Melodius smirked.

(We were curious about a Mike.)

The short man confusedly looked at June and Friday. The latter of the two Shadowguys translated into saxophone.

The microphone gasped.

"Curiosity killed the cat, you know!"

(Isn't the full phrase... 'curiosity killed the cat, and satisfaction brought it back'?) Friday questioned with a gentle chime of a xylophone.

(Are you Mike?) June asked the microphone Darkner.

"Huh?"

(You don't understand any instruments besides saxophone?) Friday asked. He got confirmation from the strange man, then continued. (Are you Mike?)

The microphone laughed, starting with a low chuckle and raising to a wicked cackle. "Miii hi hi hi hi hi hyike! So you figured it out, huh?"

The Shadowguys exchanged eyeless looks with each other.

"Mee-yike, that's right! There's only one real Mike... and that's ME!"

A spotlight shone onto Mike. He laughed as a jazzy beat filled the room. The Shadowguys danced.

"Hey, nice to meetcha! It's me, Motormouth Mike! The Micro Phone who croons and groans! I know you three are excited about the Halloween specials, but you're background noise! Get out, or these 48 volts ain't gonna just be for show!"

Mike blew a whistle, and some black cats in various Halloween costumes ran over. One particularly friendly cat had pink and yellow eyes. They demanded to be pet, and while the Shadowguys were distracted, Mike launched a soundwave at them, knocking the Shadowguys over, with the exception of Melodius, who was only slightly injured.

(You two alright?) Friday asked with a spooky theremin note as he got up.

June nodded.

"That's right! What a fright! It's me, Mike! Always has been, always will be! They call me motormouth because I NEVER stop talking! EVER! HAHAHA–"

Mike coughed, as if he had overexerted his voice, then muttered quietly under his breath. "I should probably train my voice more..."

(You... you good?) June asked.

"Just peachy! Now get out, you three!"

Mike created some electricity and launched it, along with some audio feedback, at the trio. June used their pumpkin magic that they had learned from Jack to create a minor shield. It didn't work, and she fell to the floor.

Friday grunted in pain with a harsh organ note as he stumbled back. The notes got caught in his throat as the airwaves pierced him with electricity.

Melodius summoned an electric guitar and discharged the electricity cumulated from Mike's attack back at him. He screamed in agony as the cat Shadowguys got back up.

Mike let out a surprisingly high-pitched cough, which nobody questioned, since he's a microphone, so it would make sense for him to be able to make unexpected sounds. He tried to speak in his gravelly voice, but his throat wasn't having it. He eventually gave up and opted for a squeakier voice.

"I need to..." Mike squeaked out a cough. "rest my voice..."

Mike left. A few seconds later, Mike returned. He looked like a tuxedo cat with heterochromia. His paws were microphonic, and he wore a cute red bowtie.

"≽^•⩊•^≼" Mike trilled in... was that saxophone?

(A Shadowguy?) Friday asked in a creepy organ melody. He jumped at the sound of his own voice.

Mike frantically shook his head and paws. He then summoned a ball of yarn as his attack and created a spider web with it. June and Friday instinctively tried to chase the yarn.

Melodius noticed that Mike was sweating and asked if he was okay. Mike nodded, but the comically large sweat beads on his forehead said different. He ran towards the yarn and joined the cat Shadowguys.

Mike gasped as he realized what he was doing. He blushed and let out a nervous chuckle that sounded suspiciously saxophonic.

(Definitely a Shadowguy.) Melodius hummed.

The lizard Shadowguy got smacked by a microphonic paw.

(I'm not–) Mike started. He realized what he was doing and covered his mouth.

(Eh, probably just one of Mike's microphone tricks.) June chimed in. Mike nodded as he prepared his next attack. Like his other form, he used a sonic boom attack. He let out a saxophonic screech that BLASTED the other Shadowguys away.

(Owww...) Friday whined, ears pinned back.

June felt the air get ripped from their lungs as she hit the wall behind her. Melodius wasn't doing much better, but was at least able to unleash a counterattack at Mike. Mike got hit by the volts from the counterwaves and yowled like an injured cat.

"Youse okay?" a voice asked from backstage as Friday and June recollected themselves.

Mike squeaked in affirmation as he got up and left. Again, Mike returned. This time, they were wearing a cowboy hat and a bandana.

"It's me. Big Mouth Mike. Dey calls me dat because I don't shut up."

"MOTORMOUTH!" that squeaky voice that Mike spoke in before shouted.

Mike went to attack with a lasso attack using the yarn from their cat form's spider web, but they stopped and suddenly scratched their arms.

(You okay?) June asked.

"Sorry, can't hears ya."

Friday translated June's question into saxophone, but Mike still didn't understand. They tapped their chest, then itched more.

(SHE ASKED IF YOU WERE OKAY.) Friday said, louder than he had anticipated.

"Oh, yeahs, just itchy in dis costume."

(Costume?) Friday questioned.

"God dammit..." the squeaky voice from before groaned.

Dark...

Mike's other two forms walked up to them, ready to help them out. Mike, Mike, and Mike all stood across from the Shadowguys, ready to attack with everything they had. A bunch of cats swarmed them, distracting them from the triple threat, but Mike and Mike suddenly stopped attacking, much to Mike's annoyance.

Darker...

"Pluey! Jongler! What are you two doing?" he asked.

"Da shadow fellas were nice to me..." Mike mumbled bashfully. They played with their bowtie and adjusted their jacket.

Yet darker...

Mike trilled in agreement as he danced, unaware of the shadowy figure behind him, how hot the room had gotten, or how dark it was.

"HEHEHE... SO THE LITTLE SHADOWS FIGURED OUT MIKE'S SECRET..." the small orange and black shadow chirped in an almost meowing tone.

Mike turned around and let out a humanlike scream, much unlike the saxophonic noises he made before.

Mike, Mike, and Melodius suddenly vanished in flames, leaving only Mike, Friday, and June. Mike stopped dancing and choked out some emotional notes, before he, too, caught on fire.

(MIKE!!!) the two remaining Shadowguys shouted.

"Farewell, June, Friday, and Pluey." The tiny, mantle-like shadow disappeared, filling the room with that same oppressive darkness that June had felt when Susie fought the statue of the old man. Even the fire from Mike, or Pluey, as the tiny mantle had called him, was unable to light the room. It was so hard to think. It was so hard to breathe.

Wait, how did that thing know their names?

The flames died out, and, paradoxically, the room brightened, revealing yet another cat Shadowguy. He trembled in fear and squeaked a terrified note.

(Are you okay?!) June asked.

The Shadowguy coughed, again and again, trembling more and more with each strangled squeak that forced its way out of his throat. He desperately pounded his fist into his chest. Tears gushed out of his invisible eyes like waterfalls.

Friday gasped. He remembered something similar that had happened back in TV World. He started to shake like a leaf at the memory.

June looked at the two Shadowguys next to her. Both were trembling, and one was choking on something. June started to shake, but they had to be brave. They raised their arm and gave Pluey's back a forceful slap. She repeated until whatever was constricting his airway loosened up.

With one final hack, Pluey coughed up a giant, viscous, black blob.

(We need to get Melodius and the other two Mikes back!) June exclaimed.

Friday squeaked, causing the other two catguys to look at him. Trembling, he was pointing to the blob of darkness that Pluey had coughed up.

(Guys... that goop is moving!) Friday spoke, still trembling.

Pluey, wheezing, curled into a ball. He almost died. The blob he nearly choked on was moving. It was moving on its own. What the fuck.

"HELLO, LITTLE KITTIES."

Chapter Text

A horrific, catlike beast loomed over the Shadowguys, grinning with sharp teeth that glistened like knives. It let out an earsplitting laugh. Its tail wrapped around Pluey's arm, slightly cutting it. Bright, neon red blood oozed from the injury.

Pluey wheezed, curling himself tighter. His tears stained his vantablack cheeks. The symphonic Shadowguy, Friday, practically melted next to him, trembling. Various instrumental sounds sputtered out of him. And June, the poor Shadowgal... she was terrified out of her mind, but she had to be the brave one.

"POOR KITTIES."

(Give Melodius and the Mikes back!) June shouted in their flute voice, shaking like a leaf.

"Why should I?" the feline beast asked in a singsong tone.

(We'll... we'll kill you!) June shook, trying their best not to cry.

"Oh wow, I'm so scared."

(Y... you should be!) she squeaked.

Black, smoky tendrils formed from the creature, and a ring of fire surrounded the Shadowguys. Friday hissed in pain as his tail brushed the flames. A cacophony of screams, sobs, and coughs that could only be described as "instruments definitely shouldn't sound like that" filled the room. Pluey tasted metal. His lungs burned.

I don't wanna die I don't wanna die I don't wanna die

The ring of fire got smaller and smaller until it swallowed the trio.

≽^•⩊•^≼

Pluey woke up covered in sweat, gasping and panting. He was so warm. The costume felt suffocating. Jongler was holding him.

Did he... black out? How long was he out?

(How long...) he huffed... (was I out?)

(Only a few seconds. The big Mike said we were nice to them and then you passed out.) June explained.

Wait, how did he know her name?

Pluey squeaked out a saxophonic wheeze. Man, his throat was sore. Maybe the dream was more real than he first assumed. Jongler took the costume head off of Pluey. The cool air felt so nice on his face. He sighed in relief.

A chorus of surprised instruments snapped him back into reality.

"Jongler, we can't reveal our identities!" Battat hissed.

(And let him fucking die?!) the lizard Shadowguy, Pluey was pretty sure June referred to that one as Melodius, asked.

The silence was deafening, but the orchestra guy, Friday, broke it.

(We won't tell anyone, okay?)

June nodded. She suddenly tilted her head at Pluey's shadow. Wait. Shadowguys don't have shadows.

(Um, what's your name? There's a monster behind you.) she informed him.

(I'm Pluey–)

Pluey turned around, but there was nothing. He looked at the floor. Nothing. He thought he felt something in his throat, but it was just a nervous tickle. Right?

Pluey coughed.

A FRIEND tilted its head.