Chapter Text
Forget me not.
Chapter 1
“Happy Anniversary”
Specs looked at the training dummies, slowly blinking, the lights dimmed as the air around him got cold.
His breaths were shortening and he closed his eyes.
He let out a sigh and grounded his feet onto the ground.
But when he looked up, it wasn't the training room.
The Lobby was replaced by a closet, the training dummies replaced by a chalkboard and the teachers’ table, the smooth ground replaced by wooded tiles and a soft rug, his seat near a table was replaced with a seat near a desk.
The windows gleamed out sunlight as the desk he sat at shined, he let out a hand to touch his face.
This is not the training room. This is not inkopolis. This was…
He looked up at the teacher, her eyes bright, she wrote ‘last day’ and ‘award ceremony after lunch’ on the chalkboard.
Specs could hear kids cheering and laughing, but the loudest thing he could hear was his own heartbeat.
The teacher looked up at him, “Specs?” She asked.
“Specs?”
“Specs?”
“Specs.”
“SPECS!”
“Wah! I uh-” he blinked, he turned his head around, he was back in the training room, staring right at Headphones.
“Jeez, I was starting to think you were actually asleep!” Headphones shook her head lightly and sighed.
“Oh, a-are you here for practice? Its a bit early…” specs asked, looking at her as he wiped his eyes.
“Yeah, I know practice is in, like, an hour from now, but I thought I'd come early” she said, looking away as she scratched her ear.
“But… it's an HOUR away…?” Specs repeated.
“Yeah? I know, how come?” Headphones rested her elbow on the table Specs had rested at.
“You're usually just a half-hour early” Specs remembers, suspicion forming in his mind.
“Ah! Uh-” she took a glance at the floor and then at the space left of Specs, “Y'know, I'm just cool like that.”
“Riiight… well, anyways… I think I'm going to call off practice…” his eyes drop sadly.
“You wanna… Talk about it?” Headphones prys.
“I-... I'm not feeling it, I guess.” he pauses, “Wanna get lunch?” He prompts, starting to get up.
“Sure, I'm down.” Headphones shrugs as she gets up, staring at Specs and adjusting the headphones that sat on her shoulders as he texts the Team blue group chat to call off practice.
“Where'd you wanna go?” Headphones questions as they walk out, before growing a very ominous smirk, “Crusty seans?”
“Well, yes i-... w-... why are you…? S-stop that! STOP THAT FACE!” he swatted at her shoulder.
“Hehehe- Oh OWWW” she pouted, “that wasn't very nice”
“Oh for the love of-” Specs just shook his head, walking ahead of her, focusing on getting to Crusty Seans.
They didn't talk much after that, maybe a conversation about how uncharacteristically quiet it had been for the last day or two, or about what they planned on getting.
Headphones stopped in her tracks as she looked at a gazebo they were passing by, it was a lot more run down than the first time Specs had seen it , “Oh, that's where you and your girlfriend first got together, right?” Specs acknowledged, stopping next to her, “Headpho-?”
“Yeah! Yeah no yeah, i-it is.” She spat out, starting to run on ahead of him.
“Hey! Wait up!” Specs ran after her to catch up.
As they walked, they started to see the silhouette of the food van.
“So, you excited to see your… ‘friend’?” The weird smirk played back onto her face.
“Yeah? Why do you always say ‘friend’ like that?” Specs sighed as he marched on ahead, Headphones shrugged knowingly.
“Hello Crus-”
“Hey, Crusty Sean!” Headphones butted in, placing her elbow on the metal counter on the side of his van to order.
“Hello there, what can I get for you today?” Crusty Sean replied happily, putting away a spare napkin.
As Headphones placed her order, A pineapple smoothie, Specs stayed to the side, keeping his eyes low to the ground, he usually kept to the side anyway.
“Thank you!” She smiled as she was handed the drink, “Oh, my friend here was wondering if Emperor was working today?”
There's that face again.
“Ah, Specs, right? He talks about you a lot… Well, he's supposed to be here…” he sighs, “But he hasn't been here for about 2 days, counting today of course.” he gestures vaguely with a bothered expression.
“Oh? That's odd.” Headphones thought aloud, “did he call in at all?” Her eyebrows drooped curiously.
“No, but he seemed pretty… excited? I think giddy might be a better word. -Anyways, he seemed pretty upbeat the day before he started being absent.” Sean turns around to wipe off a spot on the wall right of him with a towel, laughing a bit to himself softly.
“Don't you think we should call someone? What if he's missing?” Specs added worriedly, walking closer up.
“Oh, no, he's fine, he does this sort of thing alot,” Sean rolls his eyes, “It's usually for some obscure reason, no need to worry” Sean finishes getting the stain off after a few squeaks and turns back towards them.
“If you say so!” Headphones responded as she took a rather loud gulp at her smoothie.
As she started coughing, Specs just exhaled tiredly, “you really need to stop drinking it so fast” he shook his head.
“Never! Mwehhehe”
Specs just squinted his eyes at her as she went right back at it.
After Specs ordered his favorite, a pepperoni sandwich, he noticed a pile of ink left out in an alleyway near the van. He could vaguely make out the silhouette of… a person-?
“Specs!! Get over here, your sandwich is gonna get cold.” Headphones waved him over.
“Its already cold, though?” Specs says as he pulls out a chair. “They… they don't really… MAKE… warm sandwiches…?”
As they sat and ate, Specs couldn't help but wonder why Emperor wasn't here. He realized now how he hadn't seen him in a while, now that Sean had mentioned it.
It makes sense that he couldn't remember not seeing him much, it kinda felt like he had been going on autopilot for the last few days… it was hard for him to stay on track of things recently.
As he took another bite of the sandwich he closed his eyes.
But when he opened them again, he was in a lunchroom.
He looked around, enjoying one more bite of his food before asking to be excused, he walked past other kids as he found his way to the bathroom.
When he entered, all he did was turn on the sink, he didn't use it at all after that, nor the other facilities in the bathroom.
He peaked out the bathroom again, and snuck down the hall.
At the end of it was a light, he ran towards it.
Faster.
And faster.
And-
“SPECS!”
“Huh?” He snaps out of it, seeing Headphones again, “what is it?”
“You're so spacey today” she pointed out, “Prinz here was asking us something” she starts to take another sip, before stopping abruptly to listen to the conversation, straw still in her mouth.
Specs looks towards Prinz, who is seemingly worried or… nervous. His fingers fidgeted with his collar.
“Hi” he says softly, “um… I was wondering if you could help me with something?” He asks slowly.
It was weird that Prinz would come to him for something, He usually came to his other teammates for things.
Not his brother's friend.
“Emperor was last seen in our house in the forest, and I was wondering if you could go over there and check on him?” He touched his hair, not making direct eye contact, “it's just that- he hasn't been back in awhile and I can't walk to that house without him yet…” he says all in one breath before inhaling again “And he seems to really like you, so I thought it might be best to ask you first?”
Specs nods, “Oh! Sure, I don't mind! Where's the forest, though?” He questioned.
“It's over there,” Prinz points to a path adorned with flora, “Straight ahead, It's a bit of a walk, but it's not terribly far!” He assured triumphantly.
When Specs started to get up, Prinz thanked him once again.
As he stood up, he remembered Headphones was still here, “Oh,jeez, sorry, uh- did you want to come?” he asked.
“Yeah, okay. Just lemme-”
Before she could grab her smoothie again, Specs sighed.
“What?” She defended, putting her free hand to her heart at the possible accusation.
For a few seconds, specs just stared with an eyebrow raised, before giving up “just chug your drink and let's go-” before he had even finished his sentence, Headphones had gulped down all of the drink, “good cod, how do you do that” he lightly pinched the bridge of his nose with facial expression of mild concern and admiration.
“Im just cool like that.” she shrugged as she skipped ahead of him.
“Agh! STOP THAT!” He ran towards Headphones as she sprinted ahead.
As they walked ahead towards the path, they didn't even notice the body in the alleyway.
Or how it was starting to glow.