Chapter Text
The world seemed to stop; the forest itself quieted down into nothing, and the group seemingly choose to stare at the unbelievable creation in front of them in favor of breathing.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Until Dominator did.
"OH MY GOSH, ANOTHER NEW FRIEND!"
In Sylvia's shock, her grip on the green female had slackened, and she busted out of her hands and ran to the orange mess of fur. She giggled as she approached him, arms spread and ready to attack, but quickly and calmly, he grinned and moved out of the way, tripping her instead so she fell face-forward into the trunk of a nearby tree. She groaned and dropped down, the impact hard enough to knock her out, all the while, he laughed. At this, Sylvia's surprise had all but vanished, and she stomped forward, each step meaning business.
"Who are you and what have you done with Wander?" The force behind her voice along with her thundering steps made the orange fuzzbeast turn around and face her with stone cold eyes, the sadistic grin still in his face. "Lookie here, zbornak; I really don't like repeating myself. It's LORD Wander, always has and always will-" His words were cut short when she forcefully lifted him up by his cape, pinning him to the tree he had tripped Dominator into, and snorted in his face. "I don't believe that for a second. You are NOT Wander. Wander would NEVER laugh at someone else's pain! Now you're either going to tell me where my buddy is, you IMPOSTER, or I'm going to have to show you what happens when he's not around to stop me."
The captive didn't even flinch. He continued to grin nonchalantly, and with a teasing voice, responded, "You really shouldn't touch me."
Sylvia's patience had run thin at this point. She laughed. "Or what, pipsqueak?"
He shrugged, before forcefully kneeing her in the chin, the sudden move making her drop him to the ground, where he side kicked her with a big enough impact to sweep even her powerful legs. Immediately after hitting the ground, she prepared to jump back, but her fighting instincts kicked in too late, and he stomped down on the side of her face, definitely blackening an eye and leaving her seeing doubles. She spit out blood from when she bit her tongue, and tried to get up, but found herself too nauseated to do so. Before long, she too lost consciousness from the pain. The new lord neatly stepped over her, cooing softly, "I waaarned yooou~"
He took the time to fix his gloves and helmet, not noticing the three pairs of eyes that had been staring at the whole scene from a few yards away until he turned his whole body. It was only then that he found his own voice get stuck in his throat, his gaze drawn to a large skeleton with broad shoulders and toxic green eyes. Damn did he look good. His eyes became half-lidded and his voice lowered, his chastising grin replaced with a sly smirk, and his body reeked confidence. He nodded.
"Enjoy the show?"
Hater's eyes meeting Wander's, he suddenly felt very warm and confused about everything. What had he just seen? Who was this Lord Wander? And why was his body shaking so much at him being stared at?
His voice croaked, and he had to cough before replying, "Y-Yes."
A dark rumble of a chuckle was heard, which only seemed to intensify Hater's heat and trembles to the point where he had to look away. His hands seemed to fret over his clothing, twisting it nervously as footsteps started to come to him, and the once familiar orange face now turned stranger stared at him mischievously, the smirk widening. His voice was softer now, but laced with something deadly and dark as he held Hater's face down to his level and asked in a demanding tone, "Then how about we meet up sometime later and... have our own little private show?"
Hater's heat seemed to radiate by then; he opened his mouth but only blubbering could come out, making Wander chuckle more. "Alright, I'll see you around then..." With that declaration, Lord Wander stepped away from the skeleton and blew him a kiss with a wink, then turned heel and ran into the dense forest, immediately lost to the vegetation. Hater was stuck staring where he exited, temperature still at an all time high, and mouth agape. His chest gave a familiar flutter now, though, and mindlessly, he clutched his chest. What a weird turn of events. The voice of his commander broke his hazy thoughts, however, when he asked, "Are.. you ok sir?"
Hater regained his bearings in an instant, and he coughed and sputtered. "OF COURSE I AM, WHY SHOULDN'T I BE? I'M NOT THE ONE THAT WENT ALL WEIRD, YOU SHOULD BE ASKING WANDER IF HE'S OK, CAUSE HE'S OBVIOUSLY NOT YOU KNOW."
"Sir-"
"LIKE, WHO THE HAY EVEN HAS A PRIVATE SHOW WITH ONLY TWO PEOPLE? THAT'S NOT EVEN A SHOW! IT'S JUST TWO PEOPLE HANGING OUT, AND THAT'S JUST LAME."
"Sir."
'NOT TO MENTION THE WAY HE JUST GRABBED MY HEAD AND YANKED IT DOWN WAS SO UNCALLED FOR. LIKE, HE'S SHORT AND SHORT PEOPLE JUST AREN'T COOL, YOU KNOW? SO WHY BOTHER. THAT WAS SO STUPID. THE NEW WANDER IS STUPID. EVERYTHING IS STUPID!"
"Sir, you're still blushing."
Hater turned around and glared at his commander, who could only look back at him with his eye half lidded and arms crossed. The redness in Hater's face only seemed to deepen with his outrage. It was amusing to watch. Hater was just about ready to strangle something, but Peepers was looking so smug, he knew that doing so would only prove his point more, so instead he went about in a tantrum, ripping plants from their stems and stomping on them with pure fury. About two minutes had passed when he stopped, panting from exhaustion, and kneeled down on the ground now littered with dead plants to take a breather. It was then that groans could be heard, and both villains turned to look at the previously unconscious duo. Sylvia had finally gotten enough sense back to get up successfully, her head still aching, but her tongue stopped bleeding. Sylvia spit out some left over blood and turned to look at the only two who didn't get hurt. Her eyes were hard and determined, and her nostrils flared.
"We need to find that witch again and get Wander back, immediately."
"Woah, woah, woah." Peepers' eye went wide and he rushed over to the zbornak, resting his hands on her torso in a feeble attempt to keep her in place. "It was pure chance that we found her door this time, it's going to take overwhelming luck to find it a second time. Besides, I think this Wander is the real one."
Sylvia's eyes furrowed, and her jaw dropped.
"WHAT?! That orange punk is NOTHING like my buddy! The witch sent an imposter look alike and is trying to distract us with him! We need to get him back as soon as possible!"
Peepers curiously let Sylvia finish speaking before coughing and explaining in a calm manner. "Look at Dominator."
Sylvia was hit with confusion at the request, but did as asked, and looked to where the green terror of pink laid curled up, looking like she was peacefully dozing after hitting her head hard against a tree. Peepers continued.
"Does she look like herself?"
Sylvia's head spun and she bit the inside of her cheek a bit as she answered, "No..."
"But she looks like someone else, doesn't she?"
At this, Sylvia's eyes widened, and her gaze became fixated on the hat that the tall female was wearing. Her voice shook in disbelief. "Wander's hat..."
Peepers nodded. "It's not just the clothes that they switched. I think their personalities did as well. Wander is now Lord Dominator and Dominator is Wander. So if anything, it's not a matter of looking to get the real ones back. It's about finding a way to get them to switch again."
Sylvia understood, but her eyes watered all the same at the thought of the position she was now in. Her best friend had lost the personality that made him so.... him, and was now her worst enemy. Nothing could be worse than this.
She clenched her eyes tight and wiped them; she could cry later. Right now she needed to-
A soft yawn came from the tree, and everyone now looked at the waking green lady who stretched from the ground.
"Woooowie, that was a good nap! One of the best ones I can remember! Though, I don't remember much? " She quirked a brow and touched her chin, trying to think back as far as she could, but found that there was nothing. A seed of worry grew in her chest, but all thoughts of it quickly dispelled when she turned around and saw her new friends.
"Oh, hey guys! What are you still doing here? Where you waiting for me to finish sleeping? That's so nice of you!" She giggled and stood up to dust herself off, but immediately became distracted when she looked down at a bunch of flowers Hater had ripped from the earth and stomped on. She instantly distracted herself with picking them up and humming a cheery tune. Everyone else exchanged glances, and the question was asked.
"So? Who's going to take her?"
Three eyes seemed to point to Hater, who realized their stares and looked from the pink and green mess, to his audience, and back. He grimaced. "Uuh... no thanks." He crossed his arms and kicked the teddy bear he had dropped in all the confusion. "She's soooo not my type anymore."
Sylvia fumed for a bit, not comfortable with the decision being pushed to her, but sighed and accepted it all the same. "Fine. I guess I can try to deal with her now that she's not a complete murderous psychopath. But what do we do now?"
Peepers pointed a finger up and closed his eye. "I'm sure I'll come up with something.... er, once we get a good night's rest. I'm pretty exhausted from everything that's happened today..."
Hater agreed, glancing back at the spot where Lord Wander had left and feeling a lingering twinge of heat.
Sylvia sighed and rubbed her face. She was impatient for a solution to this mess, but found that she was also worn down. "Fine..."
She moved over to the pale green female who was now making flower crown, and yanked her up by the collar of her sweater and started dragging her away from the chaotic scene. "Come here you. We're going to find somewhere to stay the night."
Dominator gasped and squealed a bit in delight. "Sleeepover!!! This is going to be SO MUCH FUN!"
The zbornak could only suppress a groan, and wonder miserably when, she'll be able to get back her friend, and just how in the hell he was going to find Dominator's ship in all this jungle.