Prompt: (panic attacks, phobias, paranoia)

Fandom: MCU

Unus and Annus sat in silence, watching the clock tick down.

They watched as the clock ticked over, leaving only half an hour left.

Both just stared before,

"...Annus?"

Annus peeled his eyes away to see Unus sitting there, still watching the clock but his frame was tense. "Yes?"

"...Do... Do you know what it'll be like?" 

Annus looked confused. "When the clock runs out?"

"...Yeah."

"Well. I'm... Not entirely sure other than we won't be around anymore..."

"...What will that be like?"

"I..." Annus watched Unus carefully. "...don't know."

Unus sucked in a breath, his body tensing up.

"Unus?"

He didn't respond.

"Hey, what is-" Annus fell silent as he placed his hand on Unus shoulder, making the other finally turn to him, tears pouring down his face.

Unus choked out a sob when he saw Annus' surprised and concerned expression. "I don't want to go..."

Annus could only stare, unsure of how to respond at first before offering a quiet and awkward, "We... We have to-"

"That doesn't mean I want to!" Unus cried, raising his voice.

Annus jerked back as Unus sobbed.

"I'm scared, Annus! I don't want to go! I don't want to leave everything behind! My friends! There's still so much to do! I- I can't-" He started rambling, shaking as he cried. "I can't leave! I don't want to- Please don't make me!" He begged.  

Annus stared, glancing at the clock.

Fifteen minutes.

"They want us to stay Annus! You know they do! So why can't we?!"

"Unus-"

"They want more! They always want more! We have to make them more!"

"Unus, please-"

Ten minutes.

"I have to make them more-"

Annus watched his friend fall apart before him. He hated it. He tried to reach out again. "Unus-"

"I can't leave them! They need me! They need us! We can't- I can't- I don't want-" He was frantic at this point and smacked Annus away without noticing.

Annus hesitated. Was there anything he could do? He paused before finally grabbing hold of him and hugging him.

Unus gasped, finally stopping his rambles as he shook.

"Breathe."

Unus took a shaky breath.

"Just wait a sec and catch your breath." Annus instructed softly.

Unus nodded slowly and started to breathe normally.

"W-What happened?" He asked, his voice rough and quiet.

"You started having a panic attack..."

"...Oh."

"...Do you... want to talk about it?"

Unus hesitated before nodding a little. "They... They wanted so much from us... Did... did we give them what they wanted? Or... Did we just... fail them?"

"Hey, we did not fail them. Remember, this was for us, right?" Annus replied.

Unus glanced away, sniffling. "Y-Yeah but... It became so... big. They want more... I-... I don't know how to give them more... They want so much from us... I have to-" He started to panic again but a squeeze from Annus turned his attention back to him.

Annus was giving him a sad smile. "They knew we had limited time... We knew that..." He turned to the clock.

Five minutes.

"I... I think it's time to go now. Our curtain is falling."

Unus looked over, hesitating. "Annus?"

"Yes?"

"... Will you promise me something?"

Annus turned to him.

"Don't... Don't forget about me... okay? Wherever we end up?"

Annus smiled. "I promise. You do the same for me, alright?"

Unus nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes! I-I promise-"

Annus chuckled softly and squeezed him gently as they watched the clock.

Three minutes.

"...Annus?"

Annus made a small hum like noise to acknowledge him.

"W-What if... we do forget? What if we're... forgotten? What... What happens then?"

Annus looked at him. "After the year we had?" He smiled softly. "I doubt we could be."

"But what if-"

"Hey. What ifs aren't gonna help. Trust me."

Unus hesitated before nodding. He turned away.

Two minutes.

"Do you think we made them smile?"

"... What?"

"I hope we made them smile..."

"I'm... I'm sure we did." Annus agreed softly.

Unus smiled, finally looking at peace at the thought as more tears ran down his face. "That's all I ever wanted..."

Annus nudged him and smiled when he looked over. "For what it's worth, you made me smile."

Unus let out a shaky laugh and nudged him with a grin. "And you for me."

They turned back to the clock, arms wrapped around each other's shoulders.

One minute.

"...See you later?"

Unus turned to Annus, surprised.

30 seconds.

He grinned. "Y-Yeah. See you later."

They hugged each other close as the clock hit 00:00:00 and the world around them faded from view leaving nothing but accepted silence and darkness.

A cold wet touch, made Unus twitch.

Wh-What? He felt himself slowly start to come back to his senses before identifying that he was restrained. He tried to open his eyes but everything was blurry and bright and overwhelming.

He felt his restraints move. He could now make out the feeling of what he thought was a hand.

Now who on earth- ANNUS!

He forced his eyes open, crying out at the pain but stared at Annus who sat over him, eyes full of fear and worry as tears spilled down his face.

"Unus!" He cried out as he pulled him into a tight hug. "Oh thank god!"

"A-Annus?? Wh-what happened? Where-?"

"I, uh, I'm not really sure to be honest... The clock ran out and I remember blacking out but... I woke up here, hugging you closely and started trying to wake you."

Unus slowly sat up and looked around before spotting a large manor in front of them. "Is... this heaven?"

Annus gazed at it, tilting his head. "I... don't know." He replied.

They carefully got up and after a short debate, headed towards the door.

Annus carefully knocked and the door opened. He stared in surprise at the figure in front of him.

"Ah! Annus, right?" The figure asked. "We weren't sure if you'd show up or not. Glad to see you made it alright!"

"I-I'm sorry, I'm confused? Are we... dead?"

"Oh goodness no!" The figure replied with a small gasp. "You have arrived at Iplier Manor!"

Unus peeked out from behind Annus. "I-Iplier Manor?" He asked.

The figure, a man with a bright pink mustache looked briefly confused before laughing. "Ah, but of course! You can't have Annus without Unus! Welcome, welcome!" He shook his hand firmly with a grin. "Why don't you both come in! Everyone's dying to meet you!"

They looked at each other before being dragged inside and around the house.

Annus finally broke free of the grip, making the man stop. "Okay, who the hell are you and what's going on?!"

The man stared at him, tilting his head innocently. "You don't know me?"

"No! I have no idea what you've been going on about for the past... I don't even know!"

"Well, I do apologize for not introducing myself earlier! I'm Wilford Warfstache! Pleased to meet you!" He bowed.

Unus stared at the strange man. "Hi?"

Annus frowned. "You mentioned others. Where are they?"

"Oh! Right! This way!" Wilford skipped down the hall, the two having no choice but to follow.

The door to a large meeting room was shoved open by Wilford and inside sat a large number of people.

Unus noticed they all looked a little like Annus to some degree.

"Dark! You'll never believe who I found!"

"Will, we're in the middle of a- Oh." Dark looked surprised to see Annus and Unus standing there and approached them. "I... I didn't realize-" he shook his head and offered his hand. "Apologies. I was not aware you'd be arriving. My name is Darkiplier. Welcome to Iplier Manor. I apologize for any... shenanigans, Will may have caused."

Annus didn't shake his hand but Unus hesitated before taking it when Annus didn't. "Um, thank you? But uh, why are we here? And who are all of you? And why do you look the same?"

Dark looked even more surprised. "You don't know?"

Unus shook his head while Annus looked tense.

"Well. Let's start with who we are. We are what are referred to as Egos. At least that's what his fans call us."

"His?"

"Mark. I'm sure you know him."

Annus froze. "Wait... You... all belong to him?"

"More or less." Dark confirmed.

"Did... Did he part ways with you too?"

Dark frowned softly. "No. A few of us are still around. Like Will and I."

"He comes back for you?"

Most of them nodded.

Annus frowned in thought.

"Wait, so does that make Annus an ego too? He looks like Mark!"

Dark nodded. "Correct. That's why he's here."

Unus looked confused. "Then why am I here?"

"Well, you are closely connected with him. Bonded through time and space. If he's here you were bound to be close by."

"You... know about us?"

Dark chuckled. "Who doesn't at this point? So many people watched you both. I really must congratulate you on your success."

They both looked confused but Dark handed them a tablet where they saw a picture of their views, subscribers, and likes.

Tears fell down their faces as they read through comments people wrote them.

"We... We made them smile..." Unus whispered.

Annus just nodded as they read, throat tight.

"They love you. And I believe that's why you were brought here. Through their love and memories."

They looked up as Dark again offered his hand. "And I'd like to extend you a permanent invitation to reside here at the Iplier Manor. That is, if you want to."

They looked at each other and they both knew. Even if they couldn't immediately go back to what they were doing, this was better than what they had expected when the clock ran out.

They both took and shook his hand. "We'd love to."

"Then welcome to the Iplier Manor." Dark smiled as the other Egos cheered, excited to have new members. "We can't wait to see what you do next."