Chapter Text
The soles of my boots sank into the damp sand, and for a second I was sure that time had stood still.
It was the same thick air. The same musty smell of salt clinging to my throat, and that warm, almost suffocating breeze that caressed the back of my neck like a false promise. This island was an exact replica of the previous one. A perfect, cursed carbon copy.
I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath, letting the heat of the Caribbean sun warm my skin while my mind raced a mile a minute. —Please—I silently pleaded to the void, don’t let them be the same people.
I knew exactly how this place worked. When you leave the island, your mind shatters; upon returning, memories become blurred, distorted, like a canvas washed with water. But the instinct for survival isn’t so easily erased. During my last stay, I’d made more than enough enemies, and the last thing I needed was for some resentful old bastard to ruin my first day before I could even scout the area.
I let out a tense sigh and looked down at my hands. I smiled wryly, my expression laced with irony. I highly doubted that my "brother" had left behind a fan club mourning his absence. Quackity was always perfectly replaceable. A disposable pawn on a board that was far too big. Last time, no one noticed the difference—why would they now?
Physically, we were like two peas in a pod. The same eyes, the same curve of the jaw, every mole positioned with identical, almost terrifying symmetry. Slipping under his skin, adopting his voice, and taking over his life again would be child’s play—or at least, it would be with almost everyone.
"Stay away from Multi."
Cucurucho’s warning echoed in my head, cold and robotic, cutting through the warmth of the coastal breeze.
According to him, Multi was the only loose end. The only one sharp enough,or perhaps obsessed enough,to notice the subtle difference between the real Quackity and the copy now walking on his beach. The only one who might actually worry about his disappearance.
I smoothed out my clothes, brushing the invisible sand off my uniform, and fixed my gaze on the line of trees rising ahead. I had to find Multi. And I had to make sure to keep him very, very far away.
───
I mentally reviewed the details of his file, trying to picture his silhouette against the rough sea in front of me.
According to the information I’d been given, Multi wasn’t the kind of person who could go unnoticed, no matter how hard he tried. A boy. Slightly taller than me. Thin, with a pallor so extreme and sun-deprived that it bordered on the vampiric, and dreadlocks whose tips glowed an almost phosphorescent green from the uranium.
I pictured his eyes in my mind: a dull, opaque shade of sky blue, the kind of empty gaze that doesn’t seek to connect with anyone—a gaze you could never trust.
───
I walked for what seemed like hours, leaving the coast behind to venture into the heart of the island. The terrain grew hostile until I came upon the entrance to a cave. I stopped dead in my tracks. I knew my "brother" wasn't exactly rolling in money, but... living in a cave? What a fall from grace.
I swallowed hard and stepped into the dim light. As I descended the rocky path I’d been shown, the air grew damp and heavy. Suddenly, the cave opened up, revealing a dimly lit underground village.
I forced myself to relax my shoulders. I put on that loud, bright, and slightly absurd smile that was so characteristic of Quackity. I started walking, feigning an overflowing happiness that made my stomach churn.
And then, I saw him in the distance. Standing out in the gloom of the cave, the tips of his dreadlocks glowed with a sickly green light, like fireflies trapped in the mud. Multi. He was exactly as described: skin translucent as paper and those sky-blue eyes, utterly lifeless.
My pulse quickened. Turning back now would be a dead giveaway; avoiding him meant risking immediate suspicion. I had no choice. I had to step forward.
He saw me immediately. His sky-blue eyes locked onto me, unblinking. I felt his gaze sweep over me from head to toe, lingering on details no one else would notice. There was a flash of genuine surprise on his pale face before he began walking toward me. His gait was slow, almost sluggish.
—Hi, Multi! How are you?—I exclaimed with cheerful energy.
I took a quick step to close the distance and, with an exaggerated but fluid gesture, opened my arms to wrap them around him in a hug. A preemptive move to dispel his suspicion.
The space between us shrank to nothing. As I touched him, the air seemed to freeze. Multi tensed up completely. It was like hugging a corpse; his body was strangely cold, and a subtle metallic smell,the unmistakable scent of radiation,flooded my nostrils. I sensed the microsecond it took for his brain to process the contact. His cold hands rose slowly, resting on my back with a hesitation that made my skin crawl. He was afraid. Or distrustful. Or both.
—Quacks...— His voice was low and drawling, as if he were waking from a deep sleep—I haven’t seen you around in a while... I was already missing you. What were you doing?—
The question hit me like a bucket of cold water. There was a hint of distrust in his tone, a suspicion masked by a veneer of affection. If I answered the wrong way, I was as good as dead.
—Oh, nothing!— I let out a light laugh, hoping the echo of the cave would hide the tremor of my nerves—I just wanted to walk along the beach for a while... and I lost track of time. You know me!—
I kept my smile fixed, feeling the muscles in my face start to cramp. The hug was already over, but knowing Quackity, he’d be glued to whoever he was with. I raised a hand slightly and gently twirled one of Multi’s glowing dreadlocks with my finger—We should go to the beach together someday, don’t you think?—
Multi looked at me in silence for a second that felt like an eternity. His eyes scanned my face relentlessly. Finally, he seemed to accept the lie, but before I could take a step back and breathe a sigh of relief, I felt the physical pressure of his movement.
His hand, icy and firm, closed around mine.
—Wouldn’t you like to hang out... right now?— he asked, and his grip tightened just enough for me to understand that it wasn’t a suggestion—I missed you a lot—
The touch of his cold fingers against my skin sent a violent shiver through my entire body.
—Sure! I missed you too—I finally replied, playing along.
I knew little about Multi, but Cucurucho had made it clear to me that he was dangerous and highly secretive—though it seemed he wasn’t quite so closed off with Quackity. My task would be not only to fill the void my brother left behind, but also to use his position to uncover every secret that might be useful to the Federation.
I had my own reasons for giving the Federation a hand, but I’m definitely not loyal to them—and I certainly wouldn’t give my life for that shitty organization. So, whoever Multi was, I wouldn’t let him intimidate me. And if I got the chance to... have some fun along the way, who knows? Maybe I’d take it.