Third Person
"Careful... Careful! He's not a sack of potatoes!"

Laughter came from the other two as they finally laid the blue haired man on the bed. "Aww c'mon, Chessy! You know us, we got this!" Derek smiled warmly.

"Yeah, 'sides," Devin snickered. "He's about the same weight as a sack of potatoes, you'll have to forgive us, we forgot what we were carrying."

Chester rolled his eyes, mouth twitching up but he refused to acknowledge it. Derek couldn't help but giggle with Devin.

The pair were twins, nearly identical with the same wavy, brown hair that could cover their eyes if they didn't have a slight addiction to using the hair gel. Their eyes gleamed with a silver color, and they both wore dirty jeans, fingerless gloves and a jacket, though the colors were different, one a dark red, almost maroon, and the other, a much lighter red, practically pink.

Chester knew them well, he had been living with the twins for eight years and counting, they were his brothers after all. He could tell them apart any day without much effort, something he did pride himself in. There were days where they tried to switch places, mix up everyone and the family. However, their parents and Chester were never fooled.

See, there was one thing they never understood that set them apart: Their eyes. Devin's was always a little bit darker, filled with mischievous intent and a sense of humor that couldn't go away. Not to mention he was a tad stronger. Derek's was always a little bit lighter, with a curiosity and intelligence that while wasn't higher than most of the family, was more than Devin's. He understood social body language.

All three stared at the sleeping, blue haired man, but for different reasons. Chester, concerned, while the twins were more interested. Chester's stare broke off when he realized the attention turned to him. Both brothers had some sort of smile on their face.

"Soooo," Devin nudged him, though his strength nearly tipped Chester over. "This him?" The purple eyed boy huffed but gave a short nod. "Finally! Little more scruffy and whole lot taller than I imagined, but hey," Devin gave a pat on the back that accidentally made Chester stumble forward. "Oh, whoops, sorry bro- But he's good enough for me!"

Chester shook himself. Devin and Derek had an uncanny strength, they could both lift over a hundred pounds without much of a sweat, and could even pick up their own father and hold him up over their heads. A gift, not unlike the one that blessed nearly everyone in the family, but in different ways.

If only Devin had a little more restraint and more focus, he could really learn to use it to its full power. Then again, that was rather hypocritical coming from Chester himself.

Derek lingered on Ace for a second longer. "He's rather skinny, he getting enough to eat?" Then more questions made his eyes light up. "Where'd you meet him anyways? How long?"

"Ace and I have known each other for quite a while. I think around-..." Chester faltered when doofy looks plastered on the pair. He looked between them. "What? What did I say?" Then, as soon as the words left his mouth, he knew. He let out a short groan, only getting even more excitement from his brothers.

"Ace!" Devin couldn't stop laughing now, lightly hitting his counterpart as he did. "You hear that, Der? We gotta name! Says it's Ace!"

"Can you please not do this?"

"Oh lighten up!" Devin's arm snaked around to pull his shorter and younger brother closer for a half hug. "You've been sneaking out and mentioning your pal for weeks now! Can't we be a little excited to meet the guy?"

Chester's other shoulder was soon enveloped into another hug, who he didn't have to look to know it was Derek.

"You gotta admit, meeting your famous friend is big for us." Derek nudged him. "Plus you can be a bit- uhhh..." Chester could tell that Derek was trying to sugarcoat his words.

"Antisocial, you're not a fan of people." Devin however, told it bluntly.

"Hey! That's not true!" Chester snapped at him, though to anyone who saw his attempt, it was more like a kitten fluffing up its fur to intimidate two large dogs.

Needless to say, his brothers were more amused than anything. Chester huffed, annoyed that they didn't even think about backing off.

"Maybe a little... But I need a favor from you two." Both stopped holding in a laugh and looked to him, curious. "Ace can get a little nervous around a lot of people, so I need you two to keep it down about him to the rest of the family. I'll introduce him when he's ready."

The twins looked to each other, then agreed. There was a look in their eyes as they both got a similar thought. "Sure," They both said at the same time, silver eyes gleaming. "But it's gonna cost ya."

Chester groaned to himself. "Really? Dang it, how much?"

"Oh, you know..." Derek tapped his chin like he was thinking.

"We were thinking... A trip." Devin finished.

Chester took a moment to process it, then backed up, eyes going wide. "No, no, no, I'm not five anymore!"

"Chessy, you know no matter what age you are, you're still small to us." Derek set a grin.

"And we're just lookin' to play with our lil' bro." Devin's grin was more cunning than his other half.

Chester raised his arms in front of him. "No trip! I don't want-!"

He didn't even finish before a hand grabbed his and shook it firmly. "Too late! Looks like we gotta deal!"

Chester yelled as Devin picked him up, holding him above his head with ease. "Devin!"

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen and people of Atlantis, this is Captain Devin Alice Tale and I will be your pilot for today." Devin held firm even as Chester squirmed. "Do I have a co-pilot today?"

Derek playfully rolled his eyes. "Why yes you do. Co-Captain Derek Wonder Tale, at your service."

"I'm not five anymore!"

"Age doesn't matter on this flight." Devin told him. "Now buckle up and enjoy the ride."

Devin took off, still holding onto his younger brother and charged down the stairs. Derek followed behind, hearing a mix of cheers and screaming. Somewhere along the ride, it all turned to pure laughter.

The room was completely empty, other than Ace, sleeping soundly in Chester's bed. It didn't last as he shot up in place.

If you looked closely, his eyes were different shades and while it seemed insignificant, when he opened his mouth, it suddenly became clear something was wrong.

"Oh no..." He said, his voice echoed with two voices, neither having the same tone as Ace.

——————

"Let's try that again." Selena was sick of hearing Cody say that.

The pink mermaid picked herself off the ground, feeling her head ache with pain, as well as her arms growing stiff and her body still in pain from slamming into the ground.

However, she still gripped the sword in her hand, even if the gem stopped glowing. Straightening herself out, she faced Cody, who had his arms crossed, but seemed more like a concerned father than anything.

"Sword up." He commanded, and she huffed but did as she was told. "Close your eyes and breathe. Focus on the pull the Nexus gives you."

At first, Selena didn't understand what he meant by 'Pull' but after a couple tries, she understood it was the best explanation for it. Because even though it took her awhile to feel it, the Nexus energy lingered from deep within, waiting to be released. She found it addicting to hold the sword close, because without it, all of that energy was gone.

Selena closed her eyes and tried to feel for the energy. Each time she tried, she got faster, and at that moment, it took her mere seconds to feel it again. The feeling rushed through her body and filled her up with foreign power.

"Good, good. Now carefully release it."

Selena's eyes shot open as she zipped around, now much faster than she was before. Everyone seemed to get different abilities, and Selena discovered her's was speed or in Professor's words, "The water around you is speeding you up. It's the water, not just you." Or something around that, Selena wasn't entirely listening, she was too busy bragging to Blooper that she figured out her's first. She couldn't help but feel competitive with him.

However, Selena soon learned that if she didn't pay attention, she's lose control. A moment she forgot this rule and suddenly she was being rammed into the ground.

A groan escaped her, feeling a new wound open. It didn't last long as healing magic flowed from Tanith's staff to her as she rushed over. "Thanks." Selena grunted, getting up as the medic finished. Tanith didn't have much time to say anything but smiled and nodded before heading back over to Blooper.

Cody sucked in a breath, wincing. "Ouch... Let's try that-"

"Can I take a break?" Selena blurted out before he could finish. He nodded, biting his lip and she sighed, dropping the sword from her hand and sitting up.

Around her, she was glad to see that she wasn't the only one struggling. Tanith was trying to explain to Blooper how magic worked, but once he got to actually doing it, he kept losing control over getting excited and then it turned to chaos.

Blooper's Atlantean Dagger gave him abilities to bend and control metal. Tanith used a small piece for him to practice on thankfully, but after awhile, he accidentally began to pick up other things as he manipulated it, like phones or watches. He wasn't much better at his than Selena herself.

Selena could not say the same about Sam, however. Sam had gotten the hang of hers faster than most did. Her Atlantean Bow was strange, it caused plants to flock towards her and while she was still getting used to said plants obeying her, she also figured out that when she pulled back the bow string, an arrow would appear there. Wherever the arrow landed when she fired, a big but flat flower would grow there and after a few seconds, it would bloom. Once it did, Sam was instantly teleported where the flower was.

She also discovered if she replaced it with a normal arrow, she could also shoot it normally with no teleporting involved.

Sam was starting to experiment, and while still shaky, she found that shooting several arrows all over the place made her switch around quickly. Selena could already see she was thinking of attack plans.

Professor and Cannibal were both trying to see who could master theirs first and both doing terribly.

The Atlantean Hammer that Pikalus took a liking to seemed to have Ground abilities, and he could pull up chucks of it to chuck at people or create a short shockwave but he was struggling with both. Even worse, anytime CannibalCrab succeeded, he fumed and caused a sudden stalagmite to shoot through the ground, startling them all. He had to drop his weapon anytime he knew he'd get mad, figuring out his responded to emotions.

CannibalCrab on the other hand, found his was ice. The Atlantean Pistol shot icy bullets that froze whatever they touched and even managed to freeze Professor's foot to the ground in a 'Misfire'. Just like Professor's, getting him in a sour mood caused frost to form at his feet and slowly get stronger the longer it stayed.

Sam looked worn out physically, turns out using the weapons too much put a strain on you, especially if you didn't have the natural connection like Cody did. Professor and CannibalCrab were more worn out from their ongoing contest and had a mutual agreement to take a break. Blooper was mostly just frustrated that he wasn't getting anywhere.

Soon enough, most of them found themselves in a pile on the ground, catching their breath. Cody and KrakenKid were still standing, giving each other a look that held a silent conversation. Tanith herself decided to lay down, even if she wasn't working, she found herself tired.

Blooper found himself deep in thought, staring at his dagger as he fiddled with it. At that moment, he couldn't feel the connection but if he tired, he got the faint echo of what he was told was the Nexus power. He didn't get why it was being so troublesome to get it to work, sure yeah, practice made perfect and all but Blooper liked to think he learned quickly when it actually interested him.

After all, when he was young, his Dad used to teach him how to properly use various weapons in the arena. Plus ever since he and Tanith had their sessions of 'Sparring' or whatever she called it, he picked up pretty quickly on whatever he was trying to do. Turns out having to apply whatever you want to do to actually defend yourself makes you learn what does and doesn't work in an actual battle.

Then it clicked in his mind. Training. His head swiveled around and stared at Tanith, grinning. "Training day?"

She stared at him for a moment. "That's not until next Tuesday though, I-" She picked it up and smiled. "Oh, I get it now."

Blooper got up, turning to the rest of them. "Me and Tanith have been working on our skills through battling each other for a while, and that always helps me improve so why not try it now?"

The others look to each other. Blooper Saw mostly Shrugs and 'Why Not's in their responses, making him grin further. "Since we're the masters, we'll show you how it's done. You guys got an arena?"

A nod only got the smaller kraken to grin even wider.

—

They all made it to the arena in Atlantis, but after Tanith mentioning, "Blooper shoots a lot of projectiles." They has to have Spartacus make an alteration to it.

The centaur put a metal roofing over to make sure if he made any shots, it wouldn't get out and somehow hurt someone. He also had to place more lighting since the natural lighting was now blocked out.

Tanith and Blooper both were in the armory, checking through what they would and wouldn't need, and Tanith found herself having to talk Blooper down from being any explosives. Not even the smoke ones.

As Blooper dug around, he frowned. "Hey, there's no blanks for this pistol!"

Tanith peeked over. "Might be in storage."

Blooper nodded, walking out the door. Not even a second later, he opened it back up and stuck his head through. "Uhhh, where's storage again?"

The hybrid snickered but led him out and into the door down the hall. Ammo of all kind was packed into the shelves and Blooper's eyes lit up. He rushed to find what he needed and Tanith couldn't help but check around herself.

Blooper found a bunch of blanks and grabbed as many as he could carry while Tanith took interest in blanks for her m9. Probably should return this to Pikalus... Nah, he hasn't noticed yet, might as well keep it. She shrugged and put it away.

Both of them paused when they heard familiar voices from outside.

"So let me get this straight," Tanith instantly recognized Pikalus' voice and felt a guilt about the stolen gun in her possession. "Blooper and Tanith are... Going to fight?"

A laugh escaped the other voice. "For a guy who went through more schooling than probably any of us, this is an awfully hard concept for you to grasp." Selena. Blooper knew it the second she laughed while it took Tanith longer to figure it out.

Pikalus huffed, probably rolling his eyes knowing him, though Tanith didn't know for sure. "Just seems like an unfair fight."

Selena made a noise in agreement. "Oh yeah, Tanith's going to kick his sorry little butt."

Pikalus let out a short laugh. "You're kidding, right? Blooper is KrakenKid's Son. Child or not, he's far more dangerous."

"Wha- okay, hold up!" The footsteps Pikalus was most likely producing stopped, meaning Selena probably stopped him. They were practically right outside the door.

Blooper and Tanith had completely forgotten what they were thinking about or what they were doing. They left the ammo behind and gravitated to the door to hear the conversation better.

"You think that the girl who spend an absurd amount of time in the military would lose to Blooper?"

"She's a war medic. She healed people. Not exactly fighting on the front lines."

"You're telling me that she never had to fight? You've seen her, she acts up in battle. That's not from staying behind the barricades and healing whoever came to her!" Selena protested. "Blooper is all bark and his bite might as well come from a mosquito. He can shoot things and make things explode and that's about it. He's not his Dad."

Blooper stiffened but neither said a word as Professor scoffed. "I've seen him, he's dangerous. He's got a hunger for victory and he'll do anything to quench it. If he's got even a drop of KrakenKid's blood, he can handle himself."

Blooper sighed but still felt a weight in his heart. Tanith was going to say something to him, but Pikalus wasn't done.

"Tanith has just shot one guy, intimidated another, maybe a few other things along the way but she wasn't built for fighting. For Pete's sake, her powers are all defensive! Healing, force fields, even that calming power of hers and empathy- they're all for staying behind and aiding others, not for fighting. I don't know why she's got some sort of 'Soldier Complex' but just because she's obsessed with it doesn't mean she can fight."

Tanith now couldn't move. Nearly every part of her stopped in place, though she could feel her heart pound out of her chest.

"You want to put your money where your mouth is?" Selena's voice raised, challenging him.

"Fine by me. A fifty says Blooper will win."

"And another says Tanith will!"

"Deal?"

"Deal."

Unable to see them, the pair assumed they shook on it and the footsteps started back up again before fading down the hall.

Blooper and Tanith were frozen in place.

Their minds could only think about everything that was said about them and their minds whirled with possibilities and worries and deep dark fears they didn't even realize they had until they turned to each other and spoke in unison:

"I have to win."

They gawked at one another for a brief time, then their gazes hardened.

"I need it more! I'm supposed to live up to KrakenKid and run the Conch Command! I need to prove myself!" Blooper protested.

Tanith gestured to herself. "No, I do! I need another win that isn't just because I got lucky or shouted some words. I've got to prove myself to Atlantis- to all the Atlanteans! Cody! Pikalus!"

"I've got all the Tide Changers to worry about! My Dad! CannibalCrab!"

"Well I've got to impress some Tide Changers too, what's KK going to think if I can't win a another battle?"

"Selena isn't sure I can beat you, I need to prove her wrong! We're even!"

"Yeah, well maybe I need to impress CannibalCrab!"

"Maybe I need to impress Sam!"

"Why in all of Atlantis would you need to impress Sam?"

"Why do you need to impress CannibalCrab?"

Tanith hesitated then both of them shook their heads and got back on track.

"I've got a legacy on my shoulder! My Dad-"

"Please!" Tanith's tail flicked impatiently. "We both know KK's going to be proud of you no matter what! Cody-!"

"Cody doesn't care if his medic can fight or not! You're a healer!" The yellow eyes flickered dangerously. "Maybe Professor was onto something when he said you had a 'Soldier Complex', hm?"

A thousand images flashed through Tanith's mind but the loudest of them all consisted of a dark haired Dimidium Anguis knocking her to the ground and loud voice screaming at her to get up and keep fighting, only for it to repeat again when she tried.

The blue eyes she had, once bright and filled with a soothing sense to them, like soft waves rolling over the sand of a beach, now darkened. A storm blocked the sun from this beach, and the waves now crashed with power, threatening to destroy anything that got in their way. In her way. Blooper knew he struck a nerve.

"And maybe Selena was onto something too. You're not KK. You'll never be him." Her voice turned cold.

Blooper's gaze hardened. "Maybe not." He took a step forward and attempted to make himself look threatening, despite being a whole foot shorter. "Fight me." Blooper might've thrown challenges around but now he was deadly serious about it.

He gripped his dagger and though neither saw it, the gem came to life and crackled with power.

"Already planning to." Tanith told him sharply. "Let's see who's stronger."

"Fine by me." Blooper shot back.

—————

"Ace" looked around wildly, clutching at his head. "This isn't good..." One part of him mumbled, then suddenly his head twitched and another voice came out.

"Oh really? What gave you that idea? Was it the fact that we're NOT SUPPOSED TO BE IN CONTROL or was it that WHERE'S SPADES? HUH? WHERE'S SPADES, D? IS HE DEAD? IS HE DEA-!"

Another twitch, the first voice returned. "Calm down! Clubs, I know you're just as distressed and confused as I am but we can't lose control- not now. Deep breath."

The eyes fluttered shut and they just breathed for a moment. They could've sworn they heard a distant cry for a moment but they shook themselves and focused again.

"Okay..." Breathed Clubs, still just as confused but now felt better. Diamond always did make him feel better. "Okay, we got this. We're just two animated entities who are attached to a much larger entity who currently isn't doing his job of using the body... Sweet Nexus, what's happening?" A long and anxious groan left them as they looked around.

Diamond took control again. "Let's focus on what we know. Start where we are now, we woke up in control of Ace's body."

"Which shouldn't be possible, right?" Clubs pipped in. His nervous energy made the body twitch. "Spades is the main host, and we're not nearly as powerful as him. We're more like a quarter of his power if anything!"

"Exactly." Diamond puffed, trying to process their surroundings but found himself distracted. "Which means Ace isn't taking control for some reason. He should be able to, the body has recovered from-..."

Diamond stopped suddenly. One of the arms reached to rub the back of the head, then Clubs could feel it. Frustration. Rage. He knew it wasn't his, and he found himself only getting more worried. He swallowed and spoke, the body mirroring him.

"Uhh, D? You still with me?"

When Ace's body gritted its teeth, Clubs instantly felt so small inside it. "You... I told you not to meddle too much, but you didn't listen, did you?"

They might've had co-control over a body, but Clubs still had shivers down his spine as he imagined Diamond's rage. He had seen him mad before, but now it terrified him that it was now directed at him.

"D, I-" He tried to say but Diamond didn't wait.

A jarring force yanked on him, and for just one moment, he blinked, still in control, then the next, he was gone. He was back in his previous form that only two people could see, and one of them was standing right in front of him.

Diamond wanted to be face to face. Clubs realized in an instant. He understood why. For one, it was strange trying to fight when you're both in the same body, but the other he could see as almost a power play. Diamond's burning eyes were enough to send anyone cowering. Clubs wanted to but couldn't move.

"I told you for the beginning!" Diamond pointed accusingly. "Feeding into that hatred only means trouble! We both know how unstable he'll get if it starts doing things like that. If it killed him, we go down with him. If not that, then maybe he would've killed us- you saw how close he was!"

Clubs squirmed under his gaze. He couldn't bare this, Diamond meant everything to him, he didn't want him to hate him. "I'm sorry-!" He tried to say but Diamond wasn't done.

"Sorry doesn't cut it!" Diamond's dark blue eyes were on the verge of tears. "What if he killed you? He could've easily done it, we're inside him, we're at his mercy. What was I supposed to do without you? How am I supposed to function like that?"

Clubs blinked, now wondering what this fight was really about. Diamond grabbed the edges of his jacket and held onto them for dear life. "What am I supposed to do without you?" He asked again, his words choking in his throat. His eyes had switch of emotions, now more pleading than anything.

Diamond wasn't good at emotions. It was a fact that both of them knew so well. Diamond was supposed to be good at knowing this, keeping them in check and he was much better at running the head than the heart. Emotions were confusing and kinda messy for him, he tended to touch on them but didn't like to dive for them like Clubs did.

But now Diamond couldn't help it. His emotions spurred out of control and dominated his thoughts. Clubs felt so helpless when he looked into his eyes and saw everything. Every piece of anger, sadness, confusion, relief, but most of all, he saw a repeating question.

Why? Diamond pleaded, eyes going wide. Why would you try something so dangerous? Why if you knew you could've gotten hurt? Why were you so reckless? Why? Why? Why? Why? WHY?

Clubs stuttered out the words before he knew what he was saying. "You looked happy."

Diamond blinked in confusion, so Clubs hurried to explain himself. "When we felt that rush of adrenaline before, I noticed you seemed happy. I know you mostly feel the chemicals of it but I felt what you were feeling, and you were just so happy." Clubs sighed to himself. "Maybe I did want to feel the rush again but I also wanted to see you like that again."

Diamond searched his eyes, then buried his face in Clubs' shoulders. A low groan escaped him, and Clubs found himself holding him close. "I was smiling because you were. Seeing you grin like that..."

His voice trailed off. Clubs softened. "We're a couple of idiots, huh?"

Diamond cracked a smile and nodded. For a moment, they stayed like that, then returned back to controlling the body. Stretching out, they settled.

"Don't try anything like that again, alright?" Diamond told him. "I don't want to see you get hurt. Ace might be the only one who can do that but he can be... Unstable at times."

Clubs frowned, thinking back. "Wait, so that hatred responds to not listening to it, right?"

"Affirmative."

"But it also responded badly to Spades using it too much too?"

"Seems to be the case, yes."

The arms were thrown into the air in Clubs frustration. "So we don't get feel hatred, we might die, but also we feel too much, we still die? No wonder Spades is such a gloomy guy half the time, he's utterly screwed! He tips on one side too much, he gets lost in all this stupid black stuff and loses control!"

A sigh then left them. "It is a difficult situation, yes. Funny how much damage hatred can really do when it consumes you. Or when it's somebody else's. However, if we can find a middle ground, we can still have a fighting chance."

There was a pause. "Speaking of, Ace still hasn't regained control. He's not waking up, even if his body is functional... Where is he?" Diamond mumbled.

A twitch shifted it back over to Clubs. "I don't know but maybe we should go looking for him. I mean, the guy is kinda crazy and tried to kill us and I'm not keen on that again but I did push him over the edge, so I guess that's my fault and-!"

Both of them stiffened and went silent when they heard the door creak open. The slightly different shaded blue eyes met with purple ones, and they felt their heart stop and their blood run cold.

"Chester!" They both said at once, then shut their mouths, realizing their voices overlapped.

The boy's eyes searched them, a hint of emotion in them but neither had any idea what it was. He stood in the doorway but closer it behind him, leaving them alone.

"I would've stayed by your side but my brothers kinda took me." Chester almost seemed wary but kept talking anyways. "They used to play this game when we were young. They held me up and pretended they were pilots and ran around. Like a piggy back ride but scarier. I'm not going to admit it to them but even now, it still holds the same adrenaline rush. And sometimes it's nice to be a little kid again. Younger than me, I mean."

Internally, the pair screamed Ideas at each other and did their best to keep a strong composure but they were panicking.

Chester's eyebrows arched but his face remained straight. "You're awfully quiet." He noted.

Gulping, Clubs quickly spoke in Ace's voice. "Thinking! I'm just thinking to myself." Diamond wanted to scream but kept his mouth shut and let Clubs keep going. He didn't have any other ideas after all. "And I'm... Exhausted. Worn out. You know how that is, having a human body and all that. One moment, you can do anything and you get this rush and then the next, you're on the ground and you just want to cry and sleep. Like, who made these things, amiright? So fragile and strong at the same time, it's like snail. And also slow... Like a snail. So, uh... Humans are like snails."

"What was that?" Diamond yelled in the mind.

"I panicked! Why didn't you stop me?"

"I thought you would stop!"

"You know I like the sound of my own voice, why would I stop?"

"You normally stop around me!"

"Well maybe I like the sound of your voice too!"

"Snails. Interesting choice of words." Chester's voice snapped them back into focus. The boy dug through his pockets, and Clubs thought he got away with it for a second.

But the second was short lived as Chester moved faster than either expected, and before they knew it, there was a pocket knife in his hands. It was pointed at the chest and caused the both of them to freeze in their tracks.

"You're not him." Chester's voice was hardened, his gaze mirroring it. "What did you do? Who are you?"

Clubs couldn't hold it in any longer. "OH CRAP HE'S GOT A KNIFE!"

Diamond took a very different path. "You hurt us, you'll hurt him too."

"WHA- what so we're in a hostage situation now?" Clubs stuttered, throwing their arms in the air in exasperation. "Great idea, D! Except now we look like criminals!"

"There's two of you." Chester murmured, eyes narrowing.

Blood ran cold as they realized their mistake. "We, uhh..." Clubs anxious feelings washed over the both of them and their fingers fidgeted. "This isn't what it looks like, alright? We just off on the wrong hand!"

"Foot." Diamond corrected him.

"Why is it foot? I introduce myself with my hands, that doesn't make sense! I like my version better." Clubs protested, to which Diamond subconsciously nodded.

The boy looked between them before folding his pocket knife up and slipping it into his shoe. The pair were surprised by the gesture. "You don't seem threatening." Chester explained, eyes trained on them. "But like I asked before, who are you two?"

With little options left, Diamond and Clubs explained who they were and what they knew. Ace did trust the boy, and some part of them did too.

When they were finished, Chester tapped his mouth gently with his fingers, trying to think. "So there's three of you in Ace because he accidentally aided on creating you two? And because of the Nexus connection in the King and KrakenKid, you two essentially powered up and came to life. Then you two were killed, your power went back into Ace but then reformed inside of him due to his power kicking it back into gear and now since the two of you are stuck inside his mind, you use his power to create forms and now you're his eyes. You're normally just the backseat drivers but since Ace hasn't taken control of the body, it resorted to the next thing in power, you two. Did I get that right?"

While Diamond nodded, Clubs grinned and the body responded to both. "Yep, spot on, Sport!" He couldn't resist reaching out and ruffling his curly locks, and didn't care that Chester gave him a weird look. "Though there's a possibility that there's really fo-"

Diamond slapped a hand over their mouth then groaned. "Clubs, it's just a theory, no need to tell him if we don't know if it's right." He said, letting the hand drop.

Chester eyed them closely, his interest spiking. "What theory?"

Diamond dropped it and let Clubs speak, grinning proudly as he did. "It's a little thought I had! Good ol' Spades has been kinda different recently and D and I noticed it feels like there's something else with us. We have no real proof, but just think about it, three is an odd number, it's unbalanced. Four however, is perfectly balanced."

"Spade- Ace, is unstable though, that point doesn't make much sense." Diamond mused.

But Clubs disagreed. "He's unstable because of all that stupid dark stuff, but this is about balance, D! You can't split power like that three ways when one of them is a lot more powerful than the other too, that would be chaos! But if there was a fourth one, of equal power that could match Spades," Clubs let out a short laugh. "It would balance it all out! C'mon, tell me that doesn't make sense!"

Diamond didn't. He thought it over and eventually nodded along. "I suppose you could be right... No promises and don't be disappointed if you aren't but-"

"But you're proud that I came up with a theory without your help that could be right?" Clubs was brimming with emotions, just waiting for a string of words that would make him truly satisfied.

Chester had kept quiet for a while but finally stepped in. He wasn't sure how to solve all of this, given this was something entirely new, but maybe with time. But for now, they needed to focus on the task at hand. "Hey!" He snapped his fingers, getting both of their attention. "Stay with me, stop flirting for a moment. How do we get Ace back?"

Blinking, the pair eventually had an answer. "We could dig deep into the mind and try and find him there." Diamond said at last. "That's the only place he could be. If he were dead, we would be too."

Clubs agreed and began to concentrate. Diamond turned to Chester. "Neither of us know how long this will take or what will happen, but it was a pleasure meeting you in person."

He held out his hand and Chester took it, giving it a firm shake. "Same goes to you. Bring him back to me."

With a final and firm nod, both of them were gone and there was a bright light in Ace's eyes, then it was gone in a flash. Ace's body went limp with nobody taking it over and flopped back against the bed. Just for a moment, Ace looked like he had life in them again and someone gazed at Chester, but it was gone as quickly as it came. Chester sighed, waiting for Ace to wake back up again. He wasn't sure how long it would take, or if it would happen at all, but Chester was willing to wait for him.

--------------------

It became clear that the 'Friendly Fight' had gotten serious when the explosives went off.

It seemed fine at first glance. Everyone but Blooper and Tanith found a spot around the wall surrounding the arena and settled down at the pair stared each other down before it started. KrakenKid seemed slightly on edge but CannibalCrab kept assuring him it would be fine, and pointing out they had done this before. Sam and Cody were in the middle of a discussion of some sort, and it left Pikalus and Selena alone again.

Pikalus couldn't help but note Selena's anxious habits. "What? Getting scared you'll lose?" He teased, eyes flashing.

Selena couldn't seem to deny it and sighed. "I'm just worried I bet on the wrong person. Blooper can be a wildcard, maybe going for Tanith wasn't a good idea..."

Pikalus paused, then couldn't stop himself from voicing his own doubts. "I can see why but I'm feeling the same. You had a point when you said Tanith had been doing this for years. No doubt she's picked up tricks from other soldiers, and she isn't that bad of a fighter, even if she needs some polishing."

Selena couldn't help but snort. "Professor is admitting he's doubting himself? Is the world ending, are you the real Professor?"

The scientist's eyes rolled as he gave her a light shove that sent her into a giggling fit. She eventually stopped herself, though the smile was still on her face. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Doubt they'd believe me anyways. But, may the best one win." Selena gave an exaggerated bow.

Pikalus only wanted to roll his eyes harder but mirrored her movement. "May the best one win." He echoed, then turned to the arena as the pair began to circle each other. The match was about to start.

It seemed harmless at first, just basic sparring. Blooper made a few strikes at Tanith, who promptly blocked each without using her shields and playing defense. The younger kraken then used his Atlantean Dagger, causing the metal around him to rise and shoot for Tanith. She dodged one then used broken up force fields for the others, acting more as shields than anything. The first one she dodged looped back around and managed to nail her right in the back. Not too painful, but enough to get her guard down for long enough for Blooper to get close.

Then, the war doctor was forced into hand to hand combat, one of her weaker points. She did her best to back up and get out of there, but Blooper proved relentless, hardly backing down and began to corner her. Tanith glanced back and earned a hit in the process, but quickly identified that soon, she'd have a wall to her back.

Gritting her teeth, Tanith put a dome around her, then suddenly expanded it, knocking Blooper back. She dropped it as soon as it worked and got behind him, catching him off balance again. Blooper rolled into it and got to his feet before Tanith could do anything more. It took him a moment to get into a defensive stance, but when he did, he noticed Tanith didn't attack. It only took him a second to realize why.

"Don't hold back!" Blooper hissed, lunging for her and barely landing a strike on her side, but did draw a swipe of blood. "I might be a kid but that doesn't mean I'm not prepared to take you down!" Tanith held her staff out as if she were ready for the next strike but her attitude didn't seem to change. Blooper decided to kick it up a notch. "Be a good little soldier."

Tanith flinched, something only Blooper could see at his close range and her eyes became wide and unfocused, before narrowing down on him. "Fine!" She said to him quietly.

No one watching knew of the exchange and had no idea why the fight got a little more heated. Tanith began to take more attacks, ones that included risk being among them and Blooper's mercy drained away from him as Tanith stopped showing hers. But, since both only had minor cuts and bruises, it still seemed like a sparring match.

But then Blooper pulled out his pistol and shot. Tanith blocked it from hitting her tail but everyone else's heart stopped at the sound. The sound that was ear piercing. There was no way he shot blanks.

Sam frowned, now paying close attention to the battle seeing as Cody- who had been distracting her before with their conversation- had stopped talking altogether. "That sounded just like a real gun... KrakenKid, how long has your son been using weapons?"

KrakenKid tore his eyes away from the fight, his heart still beating abnormally from watching it but now he found it hard to think because of it. "Think it was a little after he became a full fledged kraken. Otherwise I just gave him training ones. Dummy swords. Why?"

Sam's eyebrows knitting together and she paused for a long while, deep in thought. Eventually, she knew what she was going to say. "That means Blooper would definitely recognize what he just shot was some actual bullets." She watched as he fired it again, once again missing his target. "And he's not stopping."

Professor nodded along, having the same train of thought only just a moment ago. Selena, CannibalCrab and KrakenKid looked to each other, having a silent conversation while Cody began to freak out. "What? He's trying to kill her or something? What is wrong with kids these days- someone stop him!"

Another thought hit Pikalus like a truck. "Wait, Tanith has been in warfare for a good portion of her life, she'd know what the difference is too. But she's not stopping either... Something is up between them."

"I thought this was just going to be practice." Cody hand sparked unintentionally.

"What are they up to?" Sam murmured to herself.

CannibalCrab eventually broke off the from the internal debate he was having with Selena and KrakenKid and spoke up. "Are you certain this isn't normal for them? Maybe it sounds crazy to us but they do it all the time. Maybe Blooper knows Tanith will do fine with being shot at, it's certainly not her first time."

The pair began to think it through, but neither came to a conclusion with a burst of light followed by a sound that made them all duck came from the arena that all of them took their eyes off for far too long. A crater appeared in the ground.

A grenade, not a doubt about it. None of them were watching, but one of them just threw a grenade.

Instantly they all whipped to the battle to see both of them getting up off the ground. Both were blown away by the blast but with blazing determination in their eyes, they got up and didn't stop, resuming their fight like it was nothing.

CannibalCrab shut his mouth pretty quickly while Selena's dropped open. Cody couldn't believe his eyes, staring at the crater and his heart dropping. Sam and Professor gave each other 'Uh-oh' looks, but KrakenKid had enough.

"This ends now! I tolerated it at first but I'm not going to wait until one of them dies to step in! HEY!" He pushed past everyone else and screamed the sidelines. "STOP IT! DON'T MAKE ME COME DOWN THERE!"

But neither showed any sign of stopping, keeping their eyes only on each other as their eyes only further focused on one another. KrakenKid tried to step down, ignoring his screaming mind about how high it way, but a sudden metal beam flew and secured itself right in his path.

They all jumped as it crashed into the ledge and acted as a large bar over it, preventing KrakenKid from getting out. He pushed against it but it barely budged. He could still see the fight but couldn't get out of the particular opening. "BLOOPER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" He screamed, gesturing to the metal beam. His son didn't acknowledge him and he turned to Tanith. "TANITH! STOP, YOU'RE BETTER THAN THIS!"

The rest of them all found the adrenaline to move. CannibalCrab and Professor both tried to get the beam loose, Selena joined in on the screaming while Cody and Sam rushed for another access point. As soon as they moved to the next window over, that one was barred just like the last.

So much screaming going on at once that it was impossible for anyone to think. Blooper's Dagger was being clutched in his tentacles, and it reacted to his thoughts and emotions. It was too late to stop the large, metal roof that came crashing down on the pair of them.

---------------------

Diamond took a sharp breath when he once again found himself in the depths of Ace's mind.

Having been inside other minds before, Diamond knew that all minds took different forms. KrakenKid's was ever changing depending on his mood while Cody's, as Clubs told him, was an empty Atlantis, sometimes with the chicken popping up.

Ace's mind was a maze, endless caverns shrouded with darkness. The long tunnels twisted and turned, confusing all who tried to navigate them clearly and hardly any light to see in front of you.

Diamond felt like he was choking the instant he arrived. Choking on the dark and lonely atmosphere and feeling such a weight in his chest and mind that he wanted to leave as soon as he got there. His eyes searched frantically until they spotted another figured and lunged to grab onto Clubs. As soon as he was holding onto his arm, he felt his mind clear of the feelings. He sighed in relief.

Clubs looked to him but flashed a smile before taking a look around himself. "Just like I remember... Spades really is a messed up guy." He mumbled to himself, though it was loud enough for Diamond to hear. He looked around. "Speaking of, where is the guy?"

Diamond huffed. "Could be anywhere. Keep your guard up, we need to locate him as quickly as possible."

The pair set off, quickly finding themselves lost but just kept going anyways, unsure of what else to do. The further they went in, the more memories that flashed through their mind.

Memories of passing out from exhaustion- Ace's first time sleeping in his new body. Another of the nightmare that followed after. The nightmare he frequently had: Cody killing him. Memories of Chester having him try other foods and laughing at his reaction to the lemon. Memories of thousands of years of following orders in the Nexus. Ones of splitting off from the Nexus, and eventually meeting the two scientists. Jack and Jill. The ones who showed him how merciless the world could be.

Diamond had no idea how he still found the will to keep going, but eventually, Clubs and him found themselves in the heart of the maze. That's where they were face to face with Ace, though he wasn't alone.

A storm of pure void swirled all around him, several voices all speaking at once. Words like 'They took him away!' and 'They need to pay!' were among the many. From the eye of the storm, they could hear Ace.

"I know- I know! I've heard this before! But we have a deal. I will eventually go through with your wishes and you leave me alone, that's what we agreed!"

"You can't reason with hatred!" One voice rose above the others. "We can't stop, we must consume and destroy! We'll force you to do what needs to be done even if you try to resist!"

"But it'll be a whole lot harder without my will." Ace crosses his arms, glaring. "I don't care how angry I get in the future, don't interfere. You back off and I'll complete it. No exceptions, I'm done being someone's puppet."

The storm around him began to die down until it left, rising up and out of sight. Ace let out a long huff, exhausted for having to hold out that long then laid eyes on the pair of them. Diamond realized he had been holding onto Clubs arm all that time and let go, though stayed close.

"What are you two doing here?" Ace cocked his eyebrow up.

"Looking for you! What were you doing with that thing?" Clubs exclaimed, surprised.

Ace groaned, stretching out his body. "Trying to keep it in check. Extremely difficult but I just barely managed to get it." His eyes gave a slight glare to the both of them. "I'm lucky this was a more mild one. Never do that again."

The pair smiled nervously. Ace held his gaze for a moment longer, then dropped it and relaxed. "You too take it easy. I'm not going to be doing much for the rest of the day."

Diamond and Clubs silently wondered if he truly just wanted some alone time but they took his offer anyways, moving to a different and more pleasant part of the mind.

Ace opened his eyes. It took a moment for anything to focus but eventually he was met with the purple eyes and nearly jumped. The only thing that kept him from not doing so was his rational thinking kicking in and reminding him it was only Chester.

Chester... Memories flooded back and Ace grimaced. "Sorry." He told him as soon as he could.

Chester had pulled up a chair and let his posture slip when Ace spoke. His eyes looked tired. "It's fine." He told him.

"But it's not!" Ace protested. "I shouldn't have done that but-"

"Clubs told you." Ace froze and Chester waved him off. "Long story but I met them. Almost thought you had Multiple Personality Disorder for a moment there, but it's doubtful. And given I hit you to knock you out, I'd say we're even."

Chester flashed a reassuring smile and Ace returned it. He cleared his throat, mind spinning now. "How much did-"

"They told me everything."

Ace let out a whistle. "Oh... You got questions?"

"Several."

"Right... We needed to talk anyways."

———————

Blooper laid on his stomach in the hospital. To his left, Tanith was on one next to him, her arms bandages up.

Though Tanith's bubble did help, she was a second late in summoning it and both of them had sustained damage. All of that, on top of previous injuries.

If that wasn't bad enough, as soon as they were dug out of the rubble, they wished they hadn't been because KrakenKid was waiting. Getting chewed out by a very rage filled and worried KrakenKid was terrifying and confusing. One moment he's screaming and the next, he's hugging you because he was worried that you were flattened and then back to screaming.

Tanith has used up quite a bit of magic in the arena, so while the biggest wounds were healed, the smaller ones still irritated them, enough that Blooper insisted on being on his stomach.

Silence filled the space between them and was almost palpable. It took awhile, but Tanith spoke first. "Sorry..." She said sheepishly.

Blooper looked over and back to the wall in front of him, sighing. "Yeah me too..." Then it was back again.

Both looked for something to say and eventually, Blooper found it. "If it's any consolation, I don't think you have a 'Soldier Complex' or whatever. I just got intense and I really hate when people treat me like I'm still tiny."

Tanith let her head turn back so she could stare at the ceiling. "Thanks but... I think I kinda am obsessed with it. Being a soldier, being strong. I..."

Tanith let out a short, humorless laugh. "I don't even think it came from my career. Maybe a few times I was pressured to fight but why did I stay for so long? Who was I trying to prove myself to? I hardly stayed in the same place, if I stopped, who was going to stop me? Nobody was around to pressure me to stay in my job I just did. I didn't need to stay, I just felt like I needed to... Deorum supra, what's wrong with me?"

Blooper gazed over at her and shrugged his shoulders. "Heck if I should know, I still haven't figured out all my problems yet."

"It's good that you're doing that though." Tanith turned her body to face him. "Get to know yourself as you grow up, giving yourself some quality you time, that's all good." She gave a smile. "And for the record, I wasn't going easy because you're a kid, I know you can handle yourself, I just was worried that I might hurt you. I don't want that really."

Blooper pivoted himself the best he could to make eye contact with the medic. "I know I got kinda intense but I didn't want to hurt you either. Not really. Everyone just wants me to be like my Dad and he's this big, strong kraken who leads groups and wins all these fights and just- how am I supposed to match that?"

Blooper let his arms rest over his eyes. "I tried to ignore it through fun and pranks and hoping maybe I could just prolong being young for a while longer but it's always looming over me. It makes me get this white, hot, ball of feelings in my chest and I just want to hide in the closet and eat Cheetos until it goes away."

Blooper seemed like he was going to say more but faltered. Tanith frowned and spoke up.

"I know I made it seem like an insult earlier but it wasn't." Blooper moved his arm out of his face when the hybrid started to talk. "You aren't your Dad. But that's fine because you'll never be your Dad. Or Cannibal, or Darrel or Selena or anyone. You're Blooper, you're just you. You're enough."

Tanith gave a warm grin and Blooper returned it, then started to think. "Do you take your own advice?" Tanith blinked, giving a strange look. "Well, you have all these 'Feels Jams' and all that but I'm just wondering, do you ever apply it to yourself? Do you think you're enough?"

Tanith didn't talk for a long time, her gaze dropping. Blooper nodded. "Huh, guess my gut was right... Well, maybe you should, you give good advice. Kinda mushy but it works."

Tanith laughed, getting Blooper to do the same.
***********************

Fights, theories, character development, oh my!

Alrighty, so this is FINALLY done, let's break it down

-Lots on the characterization and relationship of Diamond and Clubs. They are some pretty cool and rather important dudes, so here's more on them!

-Clubs has a theory that there might be a fourth among them... I wonder if he's right...

-Also a bit of Chester's huge family is revealed. His Bros like to slur their words together so they speak differently than their little bro

-More on how Ace's mind and body works! Since he has more than one sentient being inside of him, when he doesn't wake up, Diamond and Clubs can take control. Since they're equal, they co-run it but they get the hang of it pretty quickly

-Chester finds out everything. Or basically everything, D&C might've forgotten some names...

-Atantean Weapons powers! Also struggle to control them since they can only do it WITH the weapon, unlike Cody who is a natural

-Blooper and Tanith get INTENSE

-101 Reasons Not To Make Bets: People could be listening

-Blooper kinda looses control of his powers and oops, accidents. KrakenKid is not a happy camper

-And a heartfelt talk, yayyyyyy

Some crap is gonna go down soon...

Anyway, thank you and I hope you liked this! Be sure to comment what you thought, and g'byeeeee!

—JustAnAtlantisWriter