Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Near the bustling city of Monsteropolis, there is a quaint set of houses resting on quiet farmland. Rolling hills of sprouting crops and newly-paved roads leading a gentle dance between each home.

There is one house in particular- noteworthy of no little thing. It was almost perfectly idyllic, with a white picket fence, red tile roof, and even a little welcome mat. Painted sun catchers hung in the window, their gleaming shades popping out against the pastel curtains.

It was an almost drowsy scene. The breeze pulling soft sounds from nearby chimes. Where there would normally be the eager welcoming barks of a dog stood an empty home for one; where there would be laughter from visitors was merely the boiling of a kettle.

Inside, calloused hands pulled the kettle off of the heat. They poured some of the water over a bag of tea in a large bumpy mug. Grabbing a spoon, the color began to bleed out of the bag and slowly tainted the drink.

Little ‘klinks’ of the spoon mixing it rang out amongst the heavy weight of silence.

Soon enough, the drink was pulled up and carried into another end of the house. Past the living room and the small television with a gaming console snuggled neatly beneath it. Through to the lab, where there rested his tools and projects.

The notes that once littered the desk were pushed into neat piles and left enough room for the drink to even be set down. The cushioned desk chair creaked beneath him as he sat as well, rolling over the chair to the larger figure that took center stage.

An electric robot, aptly named Elec, was propped up against some other mechanical prototype. His chest bloomed open to show the different layers. From rough exterior of armor to the maze of cords to the center power core and the IC chip. Or at least, the spot where the IC chip should go.

Those hands reached up to his own neck, pulling off a necklace. Similar to a dog tag, the IC chip was secured along a metal chain.

He disconnected the chip and flipped it over between his fingers, gently making sure no new marks were found. Even the littlest dent could be disastrous for the robot before him.

Satisfied that there wasn ’t any accidental damages, he set the IC chip into its slot, connecting the different main cords to their positions. It was a slow process, and periodically he took a sip of his tea. Each time, as the bag steeped a little longer, the flavor and his excitement grew.

Eventually, with shaky hands, the cords were all in their proper places, and the panel leading towards the spot of weakness was closed. The rough exterior was once again solid, the bloom from prior having withered away.

Finally, those hands that brought everything together reached towards the thick cord at the base of Elec ’s skull.

The power.

There was a shudder through the machine, through Elec. As power returned to replaced wires and as old gears warmed back up, those deep blue eyes of his shot open.

A gasp.

And a panicked noise, reminiscent of a scream. Elec ’s hands shot up, reaching for his neck in reflex, before they met the soft rubber covering over his delicate throat.

His hands felt around, looking for some entry or exit wound, and as they found nothing those dark camera-eyes finally caught up to the change in surroundings as they focused and re-focused.

“I’m…” Was all his voice could muster at first, before he realized where he was. The home of his creator, Dr Light. In his lab. “…safe.”

That was when Elec noticed the figure sitting down before him.

“Sebelas!”

Sebelas was watching Elec get his bearings patiently, hiding his nerves of possible failure as well as he could. This was the first time he had tried to reactivate Elec since … well, since Metal had killed him. He was so worried he did something wrong, but those worries were waved away as the one he just brought back to life immediately moved over, leaned down, and pulled him into a tight hug.

“You’re safe, too…” Elec said, and Sebelas felt a warmth in his chest rise back up. It was nice, hearing Elec’s voice again. Hearing it come from him, and hearing his words.

“Yeah,” Sebelas tried to nod the best he could into the creak of Elec’s neck.

“I was worried you’d get hurt. When we talked, and…” Sebelas could tell Elec’s system was trying to catch up with the sudden change. The memories he’d piece together had a good time skip between dates.

“Yeah…” Sebelas repeated, a bit quieter this time. Elec was concerned about him. Unfortunately, he had a good reason to.

Elec pulled back from the hug, his hands on Sebelas ’s shoulders as his eyes flickered between all the differences. Sebelas let him take it in, and didn’t protest or pull back as Elec’s gaze flickered over. Hands on his shoulders moved down his arms, pulling his own calloused hands into Elec’s metal digits.

The scars on the back of his hands were old, but still very visible. The knuckles and tips of his fingers were discolored- at least the red has faded with time.

“What…” Elec started, before letting Sebelas’s hands fall back down. His eyes must have noticed Sebelas’s legs. They were encased in two matching contraptions, like a barebones exoskeleton. “What happened?”

Sebelas let out a sigh as he couldn ’t help but smile.

“It’s okay, they’re some model of armor Wily was designing.”

Elec gave Sebelas a look, before shaking his head. Was it of that same concern? Or the fact that WIly actually did something helpful for once.

“We have a lot to catch up on,” Sebelas continued, and reached over for the mug on the counter. Elec glanced back to find a better seat for himself to rest on.

“You’re telling me,” elec said, “Last thing I remember was being interrupted from that call by those two of Wily’s. One of them- Metal I’m pretty sure. He got that good hit in me.” As he said it, one hand wandered up to the back of his neck.

Sebelas watched him catch himself in the motion, bringing his hand back to make sure that there truly wasn ’t any bloody-oil on his fingers. Making sure that this all was real, that he really had been re-activated.

After a moment, Elec brought his gaze back to Sebelas and nodded, “Go on then.”

“… And that’s about it, all that happened.” Sebelas said, keeping his gaze on Elec. He was glad. Truly glad that Elec seemed to be back, fully. As they had continued he noticed Elec fall into the same motions that he used to, and at one point he could see the little spark of electricity built up in his system. Back at full charge.

But Elec was quiet. Presumably thinking over and fitting together his internal timeline.

“But you remember Dr Cossack? Light’s old friend.” Sebelas prompted.

“Of course.”

“Light got Metal a position under him, so you won’t have to worry about coming across him any time soon,” Sebelas said. He knew full well that Metal would probably be apologizing to Elec profusely before he’d ever willingly hurt him again. But he also knew that Elec wouldn’t let that grudge go, no matter what “orders” Metal was following at the time.

“And where is…”

“Dr Light?”

Sebelas knew that would come up. As they were recounting all that had happened, not once were they interrupted by Rock, or Roll, or Dr Light himself.

“Well,” Sebelas shifted a little in his chair, “Recently there’s been… murders.”

“Murders?” The palpable shift in the air from their reunion in to an anxiety from both parties.

“Dr Light’s fine! They’re all fine,” Sebelas quickly cleared up, bringing his hands together, “They’re with a friend right now. I’m taking over the repairs for you and the others in the meantime.”

“A friend…”

“Yeah?”

“Who?” Elec asked.

“I… Can’t tell you,” Sebelas said, a bit meekly. He hated keeping secrets from Elec, but knew how serious it was that the Light bots not have any actual information over where Light himself was. Sebelas was already giving him too much with telling him it was a ‘friend’.

Elec gave him yet another look, before letting it go. Seems he understood as well.

Instead, Elec stood up and looked over at the other robotic components strewn about. Sebelas had tried organizing, but unlike the papers on the desk the larger components were more difficult to store away.

“Are my orders still good? Are they still in effect?”

Both of them knew Light was the real one in control over those orders. However, Sebelas had been trusted with a code allowing him to tamper with them slightly. In case of emergencies, that is … But right now there was no need.

“They should be. Since the break in, they were worried about when you’d be able to return. I’m sure they’d be more than happy to have you back.”

“Good, good.” The electric robot nodded, “I suppose I should gather my things and get going. Like you said, I have a lot to catch up on.”

Sebelas was taken aback slightly, watching Elec wipe off a little bit of dust from his armor. So soon?

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“I mean, if you wanted,” Sebelas stood up as well, “You know you’re welcome to stay for a little while. Get your bearings together more before pushing them to action.”

Elec shook his head, “No. I need to get back to work.”

Sebelas felt disappointment rise, “Are we going to stay in contact?”

Elec gave him a smile, before moving over to give him another hug. Right, Sebelas didn ’t even have to ask.

The house was quiet again. Not a home, Sebelas realized, no longer a home to him. His tea has long since been finished, and the mug cleaned and left to dry on a kitchen towel.

Elec left earlier. They made sure the other knew how to get in touch and said their temporary goodbyes. Just like that, he was gone again.

Well, it wasn ’t the same. At least this time Sebelas knew he was still out there somewhere- just not here right now. There wasn’t the weight of his body in his hands, the voice of temporary death ringing through his head.

Sebelas was sitting at the table. Through his head ran a checklist of materials he would have to pack. Simple things; clothes, non-perishable food items, etcetera. But on that list he made sure that the few toys Rock and Roll had left were on it. Sebelas was sure he could fit those things in as well. And that would be a pleasant surprise for them.

As he started to stand up and grab the cane from beside him, he heard the little metal slit in the front door clank open.

Turning his head, he could see a letter flip through and fall to the floor.

Wonder who that ’s from…

Sebelas walked over and picked it up, turning it over to get a good look. The sender ’s address had the familiar last name- Decane. Sebelas took in a deep breath for a sigh, before moving towards the living room.

He set the letter down on the couch cushion, atop a pile of nearly identical unopened mail. He had no reason to open that, and instead continued on his path towards where he was sure he had left his luggage bag. He needed to pack.

He folded the letter neatly in his hands, making sure it was small enough to fit in the envelope. He had plenty of experience at this point, his digits making the smooth motions with practiced ease. It was almost a habit- but instead of being calming … He couldn’t help but feel anxious as he prepared to send out yet another letter.

It was calming at first, don ’t get him wrong. The slow responses he got back were a reassurance that he was doing all he needed and should do. Mostly positive in nature, Dr Light seemed to know just what to say at each opportunity in his own letters.

How had he gotten so used to this? A while ago, he wasn ’t even sure he would live past the next week or two.

Decane took in a breath, reminding himself of how far he had gone. How now, his respiratory machinery was steady and reliable enough he didn ’t have to worry about it failing him. How he could walk and move and breathe and hear and-

How he wasn ’t trapped. Trapped in the belly of the castle, and how he didn’t have to worry about another- as Metal put it- “poor soul” entering and meeting the fate that the others met, because he couldn’t do anything to stop it.

He couldn ’t stop what happened. Not to himself, and not to the others. Especially the others. The abuse- manipulation- the death- and the mad scientist’s projects to defy that death.

Breathe.

He wasn ’t there anymore. He did what he could. Metal reminded him of that- “you did what you could”… Sounded so wise that the two of them laughed when Metal revealed it was from Mrs Tanya. Something she had told him in a session, apparently.

And laughter- that was another thing he had gotten used to.

It was easy.

Well, he wanted to say it was easy.

Slipping back into this sense of “normality”. This sense that each day was a little progress towards their goals, and that they even had those goals in the first place. Metal and him working towards having the closest thing they could have to a “good” life after what Wily did. He could tell that Metal was working hard. Working his damned-est to fit back in with the “living”.

Decane slipped the folded paper into the envelope. His hopes of getting some kind of response was dwindling. It had been a while since the last letter from Dr Light had come in. A concerningly-long time, but this was the only way they could keep in contact. There was no way he’d get a phone, or use Metal’s.

He stood up from his desk, taking a deep vent in and slipped the letter in his inner coat pocket, setting a mental reminder for himself to send that after dropping Metal off at the Doctor’s.

As he checked his pockets to make sure he had everything- ID, wallet, cigarette, etc- Decane walked out and locked the door behind him.

It was, in all honesty, a rather shitty hotel. They were due to move again soon, though, so Decane didn’t complain too much. Not that they were trying to stay low (though that’s not opposed), but rather they had very few other options.

There was no fucking way Cossack would house them, the man barely trusts Metal to work alongside him for a few hours at a time. That, and Metal had mentioned something about feeling safer being by himself. Having control of his surroundings, Decane thought. Whatever makes him feel safer.

They shared a hotel, but not even a room. Decane was a bit nervous to bring that up, even if he did have the excuse of “well, it’d be cheaper…”. Plus, his thoughts cycled back to not wanting to impede on Metal’s space.

Letting out a hum, Decane walked down to where he knew Metal was, his room on the first floor.

Waiting for a moment or two, Decane finally pulled himself up to knock on the door again.

“Metal, we’re going to be late,” He called against the grain of the door. He pulled his hands together as the heat of his voice formed a small puff of cloud. He will admit, he wasn’t the biggest fan of such cold weather. Even the warehouse that he worked in barely had heating. He needed to change that up, too. The drive from the hotel, to Cossack’s, to his work was a bit taxing. Maybe something closer…?

The beginning of rain began falling.

The door opened, and out stepped Metal. Eyepatch and all.

“Are you ready, Metal? Cossack is going to freak if you’re late.”

“It’s okay.”

Metal gave him a smile- something he’s been wearing more and more lately. It made something in Decane warm, despite the biting cold. He was happy that Metal could smile despite all that happened. Despite the scar cross his eye, the almost-certain-unfamiliarity of everything, despite-

Decane wasn’t quite sure what gave Metal that happiness, that he could smile.

Metal let out a hum, and grabbed Decane’s hand to give a squeeze. Decane let him take the lead, popping out his umbrella before leading the two of them towards the car.

Chapter Text

The rocks on the pavement slowly crunched under the moving wheels. Decane pulled the car out of the parking lot, and slowly the hotel disappeared around a corner of thick trees behind them. He mindlessly tapped the steering wheel as he drove- he knew this road well enough. At least, decently well considering he had to learn it rather quickly… and he’ll have to learn a new road again soon. They always had to move.

Decane looked over at Metal again, and caught him lost in his thoughts. “Whatcha see?” He prompted.

Metal perked back up, before nestling his face back into his thick coat collar, “Nothing… This is a peaceful road. Better than heading down from the east side…”

Decane nodded in agreement as he turned back to the road, the two of them falling back into their habits of this drive…

Eventually, one of them turned the radio up a little louder, and Decane found himself trying to make out what words were being said. It was static-y, and his russian still wasn’t very good, so he had to ask Metal a lot of questions. He was picking words and phrases up though.

“There’s been a lot of deaths overseas… It’s actually making news how many scientists are being killed…” Metal eventually muttered quietly. Decane had to pause. He was right.

Decane’s thoughts trailed back to his correspondence with Light. His stomach twisted in knots over possibility after possibility. His grip on the steering wheel almost tightened- but he spared another glance towards Metal’s way. It seemed he was also upset, just by vocalizing it.

Decane swallowed the feeling down and reached his hand over to Metal- giving his shoulder a pat. “Hey, don’t worry… We’ll be fine.” A small smile was forced his way- and Decane decided to take it as a ‘good enough’. He hoped Metal couldn’t tell how worried he was behind his motion, hoped the pat wasn’t too hard or too longing to give away his emotions. His desperation for the safety of each other to remain.

Decane pulled his hand away when a buzzing cut them off.

Metal reached into one of his many pockets, digging around between layers and pulled out his phone. Furrowing his brow, worried, at the number. Must be Cossack. He brought the phone up, and paused.

The road was empty ahead and behind. The sun filtering through the branches above them. The radio was as noisy as ever, so Decane reached down to turn it down a little softer. This moment- this drive- was…

“I… I-” Metal’s voice was… off.

He turned to Metal, whose face was pale and his eye panicked.

“Nothing! Nothing, I swear! I’m-” He paused before continuing, mouth agape.

Wait- what- Decane couldn’t pull over fast enough. A glance in the rear view mirror and a miracle of gravel on the side of the road. Once they were over and the car in park, he unbuckled and turned anxiously to Metal. Something was seriously wrong- he knew it.

“What? What’s happened…?” He asked quietly, careful not to distract Metal too much.

He could barely pull himself away from the phone anyways, but he turned to Decane and said in a panicked voice, “It’s Kalinka- She’s missing, and…”

“What? When did this happen…?” Decane asked, but the way Metal flinched away from the phone- something else was going on. Something bad. Decane barely thought as he gave Metal a motion- to give him the phone. He got a shake of the head in response, but Decane wouldn’t budge on this one.

He insisted, holding out his hand and restraining from just grabbing it from Metal’s hand.

“Decane. He wants-” Was all he said before giving up and reluctantly passing the phone. Once it was out of his hands, Metal immediately curled into himself, hands gripping each other in raw panic. He didn’t know what to do-

On the other end of the phone, was Cossack.

“Air?” The voice asked. He didn’t sound happy in the slightest- in fact he sounded almost…

“Decane, yeah. What happened?” Decane started, but suddenly Cossack burst out a curse word and continued-

“What happened? That’s what I want to know. What happened to her? What did you two do?”

Accusatory. That was the word he was thinking of.

“What?” He was taken aback, staring into the empty car space before him, before his eyes flickered back to Metal, “What do you mean- ‘what did we do’?”

There was a scoff, and some noise in the in the back. Decane wanted to turn his head back towards the mirrors, but kept a careful eye on Metal, who seemed to be handling it better than he would have a while ago.

“Look- I don’t know what kind of games you two are trying to play. Tell me where she is, now.”

Decane didn’t know how to respond. Seeing there wasn’t a car coming, he opened the door and stepped out as he raised his voice, “What the fuck are you talking about?” He slammed the door shut behind him.

“Oh, I think you know- you two Wily-”

“God, Cossack!” Decane practically yelled, “What the actual fuck?!”

A car passed by, encouraging Decane to move.

“Cossack, do you seriously think we did something to her?! What kind of people do you take us for?” He knew Cossack didn’t trust them. He never did- he hated Metal. Decane paced towards the front of the car, keeping an eye on the bitter cold around him. Prepared for any invisible threat to lunge out of the woods towards them. There was a noise, and a voice he recognized as one of the robots Cossack had built- but nothing from the scientist himself… at least not before-

“Get here. Now.” The tone was different.

It was Decane’s turn to make a barely comprehensible noise as he reared back up, “No, Cossack, what-”

“Now!”

And the solid silence of a call hung up caught the rest of his words.

No. Decane lowered his hand, staring angrily at the lock screen with the ‘call’ notification hanging alone. Confusion, and sudden anger ran through him, his other hand clenched. The bitter air bit into him too, and he took a swallow of it to focus.

Okay, so that was… Ok. He could handle this though, he just had to…

… He wasn’t sure, but he did have to do something.

He turned back to the car, meeting a panicked Metal’s stare.

Decane let out a cold breath as he moved towards Metal’s side. As he did, the door opened and the cyborg stepped out to meet him. “Are you okay?” Decane asked, keeping his hands away enough to allow Metal to keep his space his own.

He got a nod in response, but he could tell Metal was still shaken. He was staring at him- asking silently, ‘what now?’

“Okay. Now we uh,” Decane handed him back his phone before looking down the road where they were headed, “We should go help.”

“Yeah,” Metal mumbled.

“Look, it’s…” Decane wanted to make excuses to help Metal feel better. But he could tell he was speaking through his own gritted teeth, trying to bite back his own anger. “It’s probably a misunderstanding. We should go there and help look for her.” He muttered a ‘god damnit’ under his breath towards Cossack. But his thoughts were torn back to Metal, as his hand was pulled into Metal’s own.

Metal gave him a nod. A shaky ‘everything’s crumbling around me and everything is terrible now’ nod, but a nod nonetheless.

Decane nodded back, “It’s going to be okay. Come on, let’s get back to it.”

The rest of the car ride was tense. Far too tense for either of their comfort. Decane was too lost in his thoughts to bother asking many questions, but Metal didn’t seem like he’d be willing to speak up anyways. The flickering sunlight flashed down as they rode towards Cossack’s.

Decane knew the doctor didn’t trust them. They’d been working together for how long now? And yet the instance something- anything- happens… This was just the straw that broke the camel’s back, the final excuse for Cossack to get rid of them. But… Part of his mind spoke up. The doctor must be panicked out of his good sense. It didn’t make sense otherwise- what had the two of them even done in the first place?

But, above all of that, was a horrible gut-wrenching worry. An agony of fear and dread that something happened to Kalinka. There’s nowhere to go out there. Cossack’s place was nestled in the middle of the woods. No reason to just wander off.

As they pulled slowly up to Cossack’s place, Decane could see one of the machines standing guard outside. Pharaoh. He was one of the newer ones, but had grown a fast and strong attachment to Kalinka.

The two of them got out of the car, walking towards Pharaoh and the entryway. The gold and silver robot kept a stern eye on the two of them, and ignored the cautious greeting hand extended from Metal.

Decane watched as Metal paused, pulling his hand back, and straightened himself back up. Trying to hide completely the anxiety and uncomfortable frightened emotions. He couldn’t begin to understand it- Decane thought himself. Metal had helped build Pharaoh, afterall. The past two or three robots had been a collaborative effort as far as Decane could tell. Publically they were “Cossack and Novem” numbers. So it must be so strange and foreign then, having a robot he had a hand in building turn against him silently.

Before they could reach the door, it was opened quickly. A taller man- the doctor Cossack himself- stepped out, followed by two short robots. One of which, fitted with a giant bulb atop its head, changed its mind and stood closer to the doorway, in its hands a wad of unorganized paper and folders. Decane recognized that one as the oldest, Bright. That one was there when they first got here.

The other, green and round, had stuck close to Cossack’s side, even though its eyes stared down the two of them. Not in quite the same accusatory manner as Cossack could barely hide- but something untrusting nonetheless. Or worried.

Decane straightened his back, returning the glare Cossack was sending his way through the upper rim of his glasses as they threatened to slide down his nose. The doctor himself was disheveled, hands hidden in his pockets but Decane could hear the rustle and clatter of tiny tools and notes being moved within them.

Metal looked down at the green bot- and suddenly Decane recognized it. That must be Toad, the one Metal had been so proud of. One to fight fires, he had said. One to save people, he had meant… But even then, he didn’t quite finish his thoughts when he had told Decane about the robots. Decane knew what he meant, though.

Toad had to practically turn its whole body to look back at Cossack, who cleared his throat.

“Someone broke in last night,” Cossack said.

“We-”

Cossack shook his head, “Didn’t do this, I know.”

Then why the fuck did he-

“Now I know, at least,” The doctor sighed, and brought up a hand to his pocket to fix his glasses. His hand was shaky, Decane noticed. “Whoever did this has access to Drill.” Decane didn’t feel any better. That was the big bot with the namesake drills strapped to its hands and head, right? A dangerous construction weapon, despite what Metal insisted its temperament was.

“Drill went offline a few days ago. His trace disappeared while he was on a job,” A smaller voice piped up from the back- Bright.

“It typically does that when he’s underground, though,” Metal said, before pulling his mouth into a thin line. Must be cursing himself for speaking up.

Cossack turned back to Bright, motioning him to step a little closer, “What’s what I thought as well, but his code was used to access the building last night. And yesterday as well.”

They had been working together yesterday, Decane remembered. It wasn’t abnormal in the slightest, Cossack letting Metal in.

“But this happened this morning, while I was even on call,” Cossack said, and motioned for Bright to step a bit closer. The robot obliged, shuffling through the papers to pull out a note. A letter.

Metal grabbed it hesitantly, apparently not sure if he was allowed to do so, before looking it over.

“I…” Metal started… “Is this…?"

Chapter Text

Hello!
It's been over a year now... I'm so sorry!!

What happened?
    Life has, of course, been "life-ing" the way that it always does. 
    Within the past year or so, I've realized a lot of things that I thought were normal... really weren't. It has allowed me to recognize the unhealthy/abusive nature of previous and current relationships. And, in doing so, I've been able to make progress in understanding myself and how to move forward.
    I've also managed to get back into college and (along with making progress in therapy) am better medicated. I'm hoping that I will be able to actually get out of my situation within the next 2 years or so... 
    But all that to say - a lot of personal discovery has been heavy on my mind, and I've not had the focus nor energy to work on this.

What now?
    Now that things are finally falling into more of a routine - now that the "discovery" period is (hopefully) over, I really want to approach this story again. I still have my old notes from when I was previously actively working on this, and I have the snippets of the next chapter(s) I never finished. 
    However, I don't believe I can pick up from what I left behind. 
    Things have changed for me, and I feel it'd be best if I rework my ideas from the ground up. This has already allowed me to grow fond of this story again, and that passion is the best motivation. 
    So, I suppose what I'm saying is: I'm going to rewrite what I have of Aviary Echoes to better reflect the story I want to write at this point in my life. I am not sure yet how I am going to post it, whether I'm going to bother preserving this iteration of two measly chapters or not, but that leads me to my final section...

Plans
    In reworking what I have originally intended, things are much more open. I have many different options and paths to follow, and it has led to a bit of... indecisiveness, haha!
    So, without showing my current hand of plot threads and characters to explore in this au setting, I wanted to ask general opinions/thoughts and hear what anyone might have to say. Not that they will necessarily control what I focus on, but rather, it allows me to reconnect a bit more. 
    I plan on writing and continuing this either way, of course.

 I hope that now, finally being able to work on this fic again, I can continue the narrative and weave together a satisfactory story. 
Anyways, I wanted to thank you all again for your extended patience and understanding. It is very much appreciated, and I hope you all have a great day! ^^

- w1bbly