Gathering at the table, the tension between the three couldn't have been more consuming, making it feel as though the air was growing thin to the point of suffocation, yet no one dared to move or tried to flee from the room. The mood was grim, all members of the table remaining silent as each individual's gaze avoided the other's. This presence was never allowed to enter this household; the owner of the home was always so optimistic and energetic, making sure he always kept his guests entertained and happy. It's what the Irish child favored most about him, how his personality matched what her father's had been so long ago. Some used to even consider him the "Off Brand Jacksepticeye" before either of the girls were ever born. She was thankful, however, that someone had kept the positivity flowing throughout the group even with her father now considered to be gone forever.

But what was occurring at this particular moment was unsettling; it was out of character for the man before them to be so in thought with a scowl upon his face. Hours before this very moment, the two teenage girls had confronted their temporary guardian with a question. Who knew a single question could end up turning into such a heated argument? Both girls expected it to go down as such, actually, as they realized what exactly they were asking the moment their question had escaped their lips...

~~~

"Hey... can we talk?" Hannah asked barely above a whisper as both girls had shuffled into the room, now standing before the sitting, emotionally exhausted man. His head lifted from his hands as his hazel eyes locked onto the girls' blue ones. He cleared his throat, straightening his posture as he strained a smile to fake for the both of them to see. It didn't convince them at all that he was okay, but they knew he was trying to do his best; that's all they could possibly have asked from him.

"Hey, do you guys need something? Are you guys hungry, I could order us some pizza if you want or head down to a Red-Box and see if there's a movie we could rent. Or-"

"Uncle Eth, we wanna move in with the Alter Egos on Raspy Hill," Ariel firmly stated as quickly as her tongue would allow her to speak. They watched his smile finally falter for the first time since they had arrived at his place, making it clear to them he was well aware of these fictional characters being alive and existing in their reality.

~~~

...They were asking to leave any protection that they had in this home to live in a mansion with broken-minded creatures who had no morals, no idea what the difference between right and wrong was. They had never witnessed true fear plastered on the man's face until that moment occurred. He had a valid reason: the fact that both Amy and Mark were mysteriously missing, and he was the one assigned to be the guardian of their children if anything were to happen to them. He was their protector now; he had to look after them and attempt not to lose them as he already had lost his friends who vanished without a trace, no last words to be exchanged. So imagine how it would break him when the girls not only revealed that they knew the Egos' existence, a secrecy Teamiplier swore to keep from the rest of humanity, but even knowing who and what they were, the girls were willingly asking him to allow them to take residency in their home and far from any protection he could give them.

Ethan Nestor-Darling was at a loss, unsure of how to respond or what to do in this situation. He was their guardian now, he was responsible for their safety. Lifting his head to look up from his dinner that he hadn't even made an attempt to touch, he stared at both teenagers who kept their eyes away from his own. It pained him to see them wishing to avoid even looking at him now. He could've handled the situation better, he knew that...

'Geez, Mark, you were supposed to be the one here taking care of them... not me. I can't do this. I'm not the father they need- they need you! What am I supposed to do...?' Ethan thought to himself as the argument replayed in his mind, causing him to flinch at the memory and regret ever yelling at them.

~~~

"How the *beep*... How the *BEEP* do you know about THAT?!" Ethan had yelled as he abruptly stood with his hand beginning to shake at his side.

Hannah had taken a hesitant step forward, throwing her arms up in defense as she tried to remain calm before the adult. "We... accidentally stumbled upon it. We found some coordinates in my dad's office, and we figured if we followed it-"

"You'd wound up dead just like him?! What the *beep* were you two THINKING?! When did this happen?"

"Uncle Eth-"

"I asked WHEN!"

Ariel rubbed her arms, trying to comfort herself as this continued. Maybe if they had started this off differently, it could have resulted in a better outcome? But instead here they were, yelling at one another. He had a right to be fearful of this topic, she understood that much... but his shift in tone became so cold so quickly, it was unrecognizable as though it didn't belong to the man that stood before them. It didn't feel right to hear this reaction come from Ethan.

"October 31st! We went out on Halloween... We didn't know we had been heading straight into a death trap until after we had Mannequins come to life and chase after us in the middle of absolutely nowhere. It was an accident... We thought we were finding Mark and getting answers, answers that no one else seems to care about getting except for us! That was our goal and honestly... I don't regret what we did."

Ethan froze, registering the information they were handing over to him. His mouth shut close as he began to pace the living room. The silence was eerie and dreadful, they could hardly stand it. It just wasn't natural... this was the home they'd go to when things were going downhill or becoming too stressful because they knew for a fact that their uncle would be the one to cheer up whatever kind of day they were suffering from.

Finally he stopped, looking toward a picture frame he had on his wall with the first photo Teamiplier ever took together. A pit in his stomach grew as he hugged his arms; staring at the picture was just a reminder of how things were falling apart. He was losing everyone he loved and cared about, and here these teens stood, asking to leave him as well. "Are you guys just that desperate to go and join them?" he whispered in a low, monotone voice that had sent an uncomfortable chill down the girls' spines. He had turned around, facing them once more but this time he had kept his eyes on the wooden floorboards beneath their feet. "You think I don't care about getting answers? You think I don't care about the fact they're both GONE?! I was their friend long before you two ever showed up! I care, I CARE! But I can't do ANYTHING to fix what's already happened! I can't get Mark back! I can't get Jack back! I'm all on my own here, and I can't get any answers because there are none to find!"

"What about the fact that Googleplier can't remember anything that happened the day Mark was supposed to show up at Raspy Hill but instead disappeared off the face of the earth? Is that not suspicious enough for us to question? Is that not a good enough clue to be handed over for us to at least attempt to follow after?" Ariel asked while stuffing her hands inside her hoodie.

Nestor appeared to freeze at this response, taking his time to find the right words to reply back with. In the end, he was still enraged over the fact that they ended up stumbling upon the Egos' location and that fury was far from fading. "You can't trust ANYTHING those... those THINGS have to say, you hear me? They're manipulative, they'll say anything to gain one's trust, then use that against their victims, breaking them apart from the inside until all sanity becomes lost! Google probably just said that to either get you off its back or lead you down some wild goose chase that would end up bringing you back into their clutches to mess with; it's a machine that doesn't care for helping anyone with any of their problems unless it's able to help itself in the process. Just take the video that Mark made with Matthias, for example, as it never took a single thing Matthias ended up saying seriously. Just a piece of *beeping* junk whose goal is to destroy humanity and be seen as something more superior because it's a soulless machine that happens to know just about everything... Point is- whatever IT told you, it was a lie, just like every other word that spills from its mouth. They were just using the two of you in yet another one of their manipulative schemes, giving you false hope about your parents... You never should've gone to Raspy Hill, if you had stayed home and avoided that demonic place, then none of this would be happening. You should've stayed put and let us figure this out rather than coming up with psychotic theories that would only lead you on a suicidal mission! We're not talking about this any further, end of discussion."

Hannah's face twisted into one that resembled vexation. The words he used to describe the Alter Egos... he didn't define them as members of humanity that had a life. He didn't consider them their family; he only saw them as mistakes that weren't meant to exist, seeing them as objects or merely tools... but not human. Not creatures with emotions, with a soul, with a heart whether it be dark and twisted or not. Ethan saw this in black and white: if they had been casted to play the villain role, then that's all they were designed to be; they could never obtain a good characteristic because that's not what they were designed to do.

But he was wrong.

The program could be changed; Hannah and her sister ended up witnessing it firsthand. Her father re-programmed Google to protect them rather than having him listen to the secondary objective that they designed his character to have in the final draft. He changed. Not just him, but Wilford Warfstache as well. He had plenty of chances to stab Hannah in the back, to keep them from leaving the mansion to be dealt with by the dark lord himself once awoken, yet instead he chose to focus on their safety. He never once considered harming them, never threatened nor attacked either of them when they were in his presence. Instead, Wilford chose to comfort her, assuring her that if she ever needed help, he'd be there to protect and save her from any dilemma she was in.

Ethan was wrong. The Egos aren't forced to play one role in their story; this is life where the choice was theirs to take and grasp. No one was in control of their actions but themselves. There could be good in them. Maybe not all of them, for she doubted whoever took her family away, if their hunch happened to be correct, had any heart or soul within them. But the others...

This was her family too, even though they were an odd branch that stuck out from the rest, it was still apart of her tree whether the rest of her family wanted to see it or not. She had to believe that there was good in most of them. She had to give them a chance, at least, to prove it rather than label them the character they're meant to play as.

Hannah Fischbach was ready to defend her family; if it was a fight Ethan wanted, she was prepared to counterattack. Not only did he accuse the Egos of just being one-dimensional characters with only a single purpose and point them out as objects rather than people- but he had the NERVE to blame THEM for going to Raspy Hill in the first place which could've been avoided if secrets hadn't been hidden from them in the first place. That was his biggest mistake yet.

"How could we have POSSIBLY known?!" Hannah shouted as she took the lead, causing Ariel to jump in surprise. "When did we have that conversation where you guys explained to us that the characters you all created came to life and now happen to be the most dangerous supernatural beings on the planet because it must've slipped my mind when our GPS told us to turn into Raspy Hill. Oh, my mistake. Or maybe it's not MY mistake, maybe Ariel and I AREN'T to blame here. Maybe the ones at fault are the ones who decided to keep the truth from the rest of the family!"

Ethan's eyes twitched, visible for Ariel to see as she took a cautious step back. She sunk back into her sweatshirt while pulling her hoodie up, wishing it would consume her at this point as she watched her sister take yet another step closer to test their guardian-figure. "I said we weren't discussing this any longer. Now you can either listen to me and drop the conversation or-"

"ME! You kept the truth from ME! Everyone else gets to be informed of the truth but me?! I suppose I'm not that important of a family member to know my family tree extends farther than what I originally knew-"

"THOSE THINGS AREN'T YOUR FAMILY! YOUR FAMILY IS DEAD!"

Frozen. Ariel watched as time appeared to stop just for them to take in the last words that had been spoken and released into the world. No one made any sudden movements, afraid one wrong move at this point would shatter everything in sight. Dead. The room felt dead, all oxygen escaping the room as they stared at one another with wide eyes. Dead... he believed they were gone... he believed they were deceased just as they believed her own father had been years ago...

Memories flashed in the back of her mind, reminding her of the moment she had been taken by an officer to have the situation explained to her as gently as they possibly could. No matter how they told it, it still would've been the same information with the same result.

Screaming. Sobbing. Collapsing to the floor while hugging herself, begging them to stop their words and to wake up from this nightmare filled with horrors. She remained stuck, however, unable to awake for this was her reality... and her best friend was gone forever.

She let out a shaky breath she hadn't realized she had been holding in, panic setting in as she began to shake viciously and uncontrollably. Ethan's eyes darted between both of the girls as he had brought a shaking hand to hover over his mouth in shock. Without thinking, Ariel darted out of the room with no explanation, the two members of the living room listening as they could hear a faint slamming of a door be heard from the other side of the house. Nestor looked towards the remaining teenager as he took a step forward only for her to immediately move backwards on instinct. Disappointment, disbelief, hatred for the man could be read in her eyes and it pained him to witness this sight. He stepped back, keeping the distance that the Fischbach clearly wanted between the two.

"Han...I didn't... I didn't mean it like that-" Ethan began only for her to immediately cut him off, tears staining her cheeks yet she no longer showed any emotion in her expression. She appeared dull... broken at this point. "Yes... you did. You meant what you said because you gave up on them like everyone else. Just like everyone had done to Jack. Don't explain yourself, I got the message loud and clear."

Ethan tried to speak again only for Hannah to turn and follow after her sister who she could hear sobbing in their shared bedroom once she was halfway down the hall; she'd have to try and calm her panic attack before it could get any worse. The man remained standing there, as still as a statue while salty streams poured down his face, asking himself when did it all start to go downhill... where did it all go wrong?

~~~

Ethan Nestor cleared his throat, causing both teenagers to react to the sound and look toward the man. No one said a word, silence remained upon the three as though they feared for what would occur if they attempted to speak to one another once again. Hands folded on top of the table, Ethan looked down as his jaw clenched shut tight; he tried to figure out what to say, what to do at this point.

He wasn't Jack, he wasn't Mark... he needed them back. They were their fathers, they were the ones that made it possible for their existence in the first place and were supposed to be here, now, protecting and raising them. They were the ones that needed to raise these two girls... not some guy who was just handed over the job out of nowhere because there was no one left. He was supposed to be their uncle, the family friend, not a replacement for their dads...

Ethan- no... Ariel and Hannah needed Mark and Jack back and alive.

Maybe it was true, maybe he had given up hope on them coming back. Maybe he believed them to be dead and forever gone, never to be seen or heard from again. But these two, these two innocent, pure souls still found a way to have hope even after all that has occurred to them. Maybe it was stupidity in what they believed in... or maybe it was exactly what they needed to final get to the bottom of all this. He wasn't gonna lie, Googleplier's missing data intrigued him. Sure the machine was a pain in the butt to deal with, he was a cocky son of a gun that continuously wanted to show off how far more superior he was because he had all the knowledge he could possibly have stored in his database. Not only that but during previous visits to Raspy Hill it was a struggle for Ethan to remain alive when Google activated his secondary objective for... "fun". He was probably the Alter Ego Nestor ended up despising the most but... he couldn't deny the fact that the Android happened to be the most trustworthy out of all the others. Especially when it came down to answering any questions asked.

If he didn't have any information on that day... then something was incredibly wrong. He should've had every detail on what had occurred, explaining each second of the entire day to them until it had covered everything that happened on the third of September. Someone deleted his memory... leaving Ethan questioning which alternate version of his dear friend had been the one to blame, who could've possibly had the knowledge and intention to corrupt one of their fellow alternates?

Could it be possible that one of Teamiplier's creations is at fault for the disappearances of his beloved friends? ...What motivation would they have been given to steep so low and do such an immoral crime as the one that had been committed?

It was a long shot to take... to believe merely assumptions were facts that needed to be followed... but it was the only thing giving him any sort of hope at this point that life could still be possible for Mark and Amy... for even Jack if this crime goes back to the one committed so long ago.

"Going into that place without a plan is a suicidal mission. If we want to get our answers, you two need to stay alive at all costs, which means you need to listen to every word I have to say now because I won't be there to help you. It might draw suspicion and end up getting me caught in the act but you two- kids who could come off as being naïve and gullible, that's what we need. They've never met you nor do they know your personalities, so they won't expect you to deceive them if you play the part correctly."

Ariel's eyes widened in shock as Hannah nearly choked on the pizza bite she had taken, staring at the man across from her in disbelief. After recovering from her coughing fit, she tilted her head to the side in suspicion. "Wait... a... a-are you-"

"If you want to survive you need to heed my warnings, listen to my instructions and we may buy you two some time before getting killed inside that household," Ethan watched as their full attention was finally on him, seeing him as a friend rather than their foe. A comfortable silence now replaced the grim one that had settled on them beforehand. He could protect them... he could do it and get the others back.

"You two are becoming residents of Raspy Hill."