Author's note
Again, apologies for the late chapter!

Hm... Must stop reading at snatches moments of free time... Not enough for appreciation showers •^•! I feel as if I'm neglecting some of my senpais too... Is... I am bad?!

Teacher says I must remember an entire scene from Macbeth. And an analysis. And perform it, Shakespearean speak and all. My stomach is going to burn a hole through my organs, I swear-

(Edit from future AC: I did it! Didn't mess up once, but unfortunately rambled on way to much with the analysis... Don't know how I did though... Oh gosh...)

Can the childrens and weird references that I find funny save my wretched bad memory, at least for a little while?! Let's see.

Headcannons in this chapter
- Biffa as a kid was very shy, and (like little Grian) afraid of many things. He earned his courage, and this is a way I tried showing that people aren't always born on steady ground.
- Iskall does the 'writing your name on random stuff' thing.
- Jev, due to his slime side, gets stuck on and stains random surfaces. He gets unstuck very easily if you know to make him relax first though.
- Hybrids don't got the hang of their lil hybrid parts yet!... And the kiddos in general have a lot more challenges to overcome. And in a server with hybrids, magic and a kid-admin, what could possibly go wrong?
- I have no idea where I'm supposed to live...
- Wels is a little aloof as a child.
- Dad Joe and Mom Stress have become... Obedient kids, with an angelic-sweet-child aura.
- Iskall and Ren are still kinda rowdy. And what is it that rowdy small boys do best? Chase. (For when they're older, kiss cha-)
- Subs, whom are usually younger... Are obviously now older, and doing the Dom's usual job of being (more) physically protective.
- Not sure if this is clear enough, but yes, X has been affected by the fall-damage death toll, and has been since last chapter.
- X loves EX (they're brothers, obviously he would). He always has, always will.
- Impulse and Tango both try to be cool to impress the older Zed, whom they think is super cool of their own accord. It's important to note that everyone has different definitions of 'cool' though...
- This is in the previous chapter but I don't care. Kids, and children in general, really don't have a filter. They say what they think, when they think it, and sometimes... Kids say the darnest things.
- This:

... Will also be shown more prominently (hopefully) in the next part.
-
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... This was not what AC imagined herself to be doing on a lovely summer's morning. Or day, depending on how long this... Would go on for.

Hermit... Kids...

... Seriously. Tiny Biffa was in the corner, hiding and seemingly scared of everyone else. Iskall looked to be carving his name into the wall. Scar and Cleo were both staring upwards, pulling and trying desperately to- oh HECK-

Breaking her chain of thoughts, Jevin had gotten stuck to a wall.

Again.

For some reason, he just never seemed able to get unstuck on his own, though a few reassurances and a gentle lift was enough.

It was a little harder with a baby TFC in your arms, but still. AC could do it!

Anyway, back to kiddies... All of the said kids were currently cooped up in her 'house' of sorts (aka. the kind-of shoddily constructed, messy labyrinth of a 'base' she resided in), specifically in a room she'd yet to furnish.

Well, firstly, she should probably find out if any of the kids remembered anything.

"Right then. Do any of you lil cuties remember anything that happened, before you got... Childrenified?" AC asked, kneeling down to face some of the younger children. She was only able to catch the attention of a few though, which was... Not promising.

Especially since two fifths of them were Joe and Stress.

... S-Should she...? Really? Would it still work? Only one way to find out...

Pausing for just a second, AC brought her hands up, clapping out the first 'small children' clap-pattern she could think of.

Clap, clap, clap clap clap.

(Author's note: You can't tell me that I was the ONLY one who remembered that?!)

And, not even a second later-

CLAP, CLAP, CLAP CLAP CLAP!

An obedient chorus of claps came back! This simple nostalgic feat was enough to bring the girl to happy giggles.

CLAP!

"WELS! You messed up the pattern!"

"Wha-I didn't mean to?! How was I supposed to know there was only three claps?" The little knight exclaimed, gesturing crazily. His movements caused his helmet guard to fall in front of his eyes with a clang. "Dang it, not again!"

AC giggled even louder, blindly lifting the knight's guard for him and shushing the argument before it could happen.

"Now, one more time, can anyone tell me the answer to the question I just asked?"

Joe put his hand up enthusiastically, grinning when he was 'picked'. "You wanted to know what we remembered before we got childrenified!"

"And that is correct! So. What happened?"

... Silence fell upon the room. No one seemed to willing to talk first, and what with most verbose member having already given what he knew, the rest were stumped.

Hm... Perhaps she should be a little more persuasive.

A short dig around (via sticking her hand into her inventory portal and rummaging) let a few different blocks and various redstone parts appear. That... Would actually be quite helpful, at least for the moment.

"... Uhhh... Do y'all wanna make a deal? How about... I gives chu this stuff to play with, and you tell me what you guys remember? Dealsies?"

And all of a sudden, the kids all mysteriously were much more willing to chat.
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Potions. Hm. A wonderful thing.

Surprisingly scarce throughout the server though... However, that would come in handy.

AC could only recall about three places that had many potions, and all... Were slightly dangerous for children to be around...

But what could she do? They still weren't as used to her, and she surely wasn't going to trust children that didn't trust her to stay in her place (and she wasn't leaving a baby with no one). It wasn't even a 'place' yet! That... Was something she really should get to...

Ah well... To search for potions was her main goal now, and the first place to find them?... Uhhh...

Cleo's place? Perhaps some random chests were still around too... Those things usually came in han-

Suddenly, a blur of screeching, greenish hue whizzed past her, followed by an excited fluff ball. No, really, just-about-smaller-dog-sized wolf has really just ran past, chasing Iskall.

"... W-Wait come baCK-" AC squealed, placing TFC into Joe's arms again and chasing after the two maniacs.

Luckily, small children legs aren't as speedy... Though as soon as she had both wriggling boys -boy and wolf, sorry- in her arms, the cry of a baby alerted her.

"I-I don't know what's b... Bo... Broth?... Making him feel bad!"

"Bothering, thanks Joe, me neither." AC said briskly, as she started dragging the two rowdier boys back to the group. Until she was blocked by a tall shadow.

"Oh, I've got an idea..." EX muttered, planting his sword into the ground, centimetres from Cub's feet. As he jumped back, Scar growled, fixing EX with a glare as unnerved as AC's.

"... You dare... Touch one of these childrens... I swear..."

WHACK!

"ARGH!" Scar hissed, and while the others started yelling angrily, AC had already shoved her hand into her random inventory. Just as EX turned to her, she picked up what she'd found and promptly threw it at him furiously.

It was a bucket of not-fully-dyed-properly blue 'milk'. And she had just yeeted it at his head, 'milk', not-mixed dye and all; this included the bucket itself.

CRASH!

"Why you litTLE-"

... What... What was this? Why- Why could he get up- no, surely not-?!

"... Dang it, I needed more blue glue... Welp, at least it wasn't fully mixed, and at least it air-dries. Enjoy, EXy. Kids, take your shot."

A hacked-off army of kids, lead by a nine-year-old Mumbo and eight-year-old Python and False, are surprisingly punchy.

(-Tiomr skloop-)

Xisuma was confused.

Was... That his brother, EX? No, it couldn't have been... EX didn't look like that; his brother was good, and happy, and...

... Where was he...?

The big girl said that everyone was with them, but that wasn't right... EX wasn't here... And he was part of them all, wasn't he?

"... Miss Wolfy?" The little admin asked, almost tripping over himself to catch up to her. "Miss, may I please ask you a question?"

At his call, AC stopped, shifting TFC into a better position. Then she smiled, nodding her head at him to continue.

"... Please, Miss... Where... Where is my brother? His... His name is Evil Xisuma -I just call him EX- and-and I don't know where he is-" Xisuma's words died out. AC's eyes had lost a little of their spark, and all of a sudden, looked as if they were trying to tell him something her lips wouldn't reveal...

But by the next second, it had gone.

"Oh, honey, don't worry about it... EX is just... A little busy, with a good friend of mine. You don't need to fret, he's alright, and... He... I hope you know he loves you too, X. He loves you too." She cooed, patting his helmet gently. This was an ok answer to the boy, as he rejoined the rest of the children at once.

His smile didn't leave his face until they got to Trouble...
——————————————————
"... Woah... Why have I hardly been here?"

Tortellini was as 'lively' and pirate-y as ever. Green pastures oversaw lazy waves, watching the black mass of tentacles and big, warmer wooden ship upon in. Armour stands dominated the harbour, busy in their still movements and still lives, animating the empty space no one felt was ever empty.

Most importantly of all... The kids were quite amazed.

"... You guys not been here a lot?" AC asked, before being met with a series of nods. Hm... Mental note for the future, hang out with Cleo a bit more, she seems really coo-

"AHHHH!"
"WHAT THE HEL-"
"THAT'S A NAUGHTY WORD!"

... That... Should not have sounded so much like a girl...

AC turned around quickly, soon finding the source of the scream. On one side stood the ZIT trio, with Impulse on Zed's shoulders and Tango behind them. Impulse wore a fake cod mask (that was definitely not his possession...). Tango stood in a way that only allowed his -too large- red demon wings to be shown, flaring out menacingly; due to him being only five and Zed being eight, the effect's scare factor was...

Slightly downsized.

On the other side was a terrified Grian and a close-to-tears Biffa.

...

"Who left a mob head there?"

Everyone involved pointed at a different person. Que AC sighing exasperatedly, and face-palming... Before immediately grabbing onto Ren's hand before he started chasing Iskall again.

"... I'm not mad, I just wanna know. Who was it?"

A moment of significant silence passed, until a worried Stress spoke up. "I did, it was my idea too-"

"No, no it wasn't. Python?" AC replied, immediately seeing through the (albeit well meaning) lie.

"Don't look at me!" The smol snek said, holding his hands up in surrender. "Look at Mumbo!"

"What?! I didn't put a cod head there!"

"Huh. That's weird. How did you even know it was a cod head?"

"Because it's sitting right in front of us, and it looks like a cod!" The oldest young hermit growled, becoming more and more annoyed.

"SuspicIOUS-"

"No! It's NOT!"

"If it matters... Probably not... Impulse is the one still wearing it." Cleo added, sidling up to AC. Impulse, however, heard her, comically spinning around with the cod head still on.

"What? It's your thing!" The cod head- NO- Impulse retorted.

"Oh really?" Cleo scoffed, flipping her hair at him. "Then how did you know exactly where to find it?"

"It's on the armour stands' heads! Zed got it down for me, just because you're three years younger-"

"We're the same age, idiot, everyone knows that, Impulse-"

"Alright, let's not fight! I showed the head to Zed, let me take the punishment-"

"Stress. No. Who put the head there?!" AC repeated, drawing Stress closer with her tail. Sweet child. As she did so, Doc snuck up to her, tapping her back impatiently.

"Iskall's been pretty quiet-"

"Oh, reALLY?!"

And soon, the situation escalated. AC rolled her eyes, letting go of Ren for a second to take out her C.P.S.T. With a sigh, she opened a new portal, this time to Jevin's potion storage. Maybe they would have more concentration there...

"C'mon, kids. Let's carry on-"

"B-But... Miss! Miss, we still don't know who's head it was-"

"Joe. Sweetheart. The cod head was mine. I was planning to replace it with a random hermit's, but forgot to." AC paused, giving a dry chuckle. "Don't worry about it. I-"

"YOU!"

AC's head snapped up, and immediately, she was standing in front of Joe and reaching into her inventory. Before EX could even process what was happening, he'd taken four saplings to the face. With added bonemeal-

His screeches turned faint as the tall spruce tree grew, exploding in height as suddenly as bonemeal affected trees. The wolf hybrid smirked, turning back around to check on the other kids-

...

...

...

"... Why... Why are there so many portals open... And where's my C.P.S.T..."

...

"... We gotta find that antidote. Before finding the others, or something like this might happen again- oh GOSH- Joe, come on!"

"Y-Yes, Miss!"
——————————————————
(-Time skoip-)

Joe moved about quickly, helping route around and check all of the different potions.

On the other side of the room, AC frantically searched too, slowing only to memorise specially-named ones and their colours. Her left arm still held TFC, and was starting to ache... She had to find this potion, and soon...

"Joe, sugar, you found it? Do you remember the colours you need?" AC yelled over her shoulder, unconsciously throwing broken potion bottles into a nearby trash can. Then, when she threw away the last shard, she snapped, picking up a nearby cloth and starting to wipe the potion-stained surfaces.

Joe stared at her in surprise, before stuttering out a response. "G-Grey and blue... Sliver and navy... Greyish blue- I FOUND ONE! Is- Is this the right con... C... Conc... Combination?"

"Combination, concoction, either will work in this context." She said absentmindedly, before picking up the potion from Joe's hands and patting him on the head.

It was the right one.

Hurriedly, she put it to her mouth, carefully holding the bottle neck's with her teeth. Then, she urged Joe through the portal back to Cleo's place and passed TFC into his arms.

"Honey. I need you to listen to me. You see that portal over there?" AC asked, smiling when Joe nodded. A look of cute determination was upon his face, and she straightened his glasses to match it. "That will take you to Concorp, a big big place where you need to stay safe in. I'm going to go through the other portals and find all of our friends. I will give you three rules that you must not break, ok?"

Once again, Joe nodded.

"One, do not leave Concorp, and make sure no one else leaves Concorp. I don't want anyone hurt, and it's dangerous for a kid to be outside alone.

Two, don't mess with things you don't understand or recognise. There's a big silver pot in one room though, full of soup, and there are a lot of bowls in a cupboard above the sink. There's spoons in the sink. Eat if you're hungry, but be careful, I made it to be hot until someone lifts the lid.

And three, if you see the bad, red, armoured man with a evil helmet, do not let him hurt you guys. I don't know if I'll be there to protect you when he comes again, but do NOT let him get you. Joe, do you understand?"

Joe nodded for the third time, running into the correct portal with TFC. As he did, he saw AC dash into a different portal... Before all of a sudden, he wasn't at Cleo's harbour anymore; him and TFC looked up, and it was the sight of Concorp that greeted them.
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Author's note
This is... Not an ideal situation.

Regardless, I'm happy >:3!... Namely, because of these lil patoots (and much love from my senpais!) for the moment...

Sorry if it seems slightly rushed... I had a sudden jab of motivation. That couldn't be quenched, lol... Now watch me take ages to write the next one :/.

But yeah. Hope you guys enjoy!