One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen. Sixteen. Seventeen. Eighteen. Nineteen. Twenty.

It had lost track

Time had no place in the void, it had no reason. There was no place for reason. The only thing that had any place was hunger. Need.

Need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need.

There was only place for need and ownership.

Unfortunately, there was not much to own in the void. So, there was only aimless want and need. Only that, and It couldn't help but wonder what it wanted. Well. Not wondered, it never thought that far, but wanted to know what it wanted. It needed to know what to need.

Twenty-one. Twenty-two. Twenty-three. Twenty-four. Twenty-five. Twenty-six. Twenty-seven. Twenty-eight. Twenty-nine. Thirty. Thirty-one. Thirty-four. Thirty-five. Thirty-six. Thirty-seven. Thirty-eight. Thirty-Nine. Forty.

It had lost track of time, but it had not lost track of numbers. It had not lost track of counting. It clung to the count like a child clinging to a doll. Strange. It couldn't remember knowing what children were. Or what dolls were. Or why it thought one might be delighted to catch a firefly. But at the moment it seemed very important. Little stuffed rabbit dolls, fireflies, and a child. Very important to it.

What was a firefly? It had forgotten.

Forty-one. Forty-two. Forty-three. Forty-four. Forty-five. Forty-six. Forty-seven. Forty-eight. Forty-nine. Fifty. Fifty-one. Fifty-two. Fifty-three. Fifty-four. Fifty-five. Fifty-six. Fifty-seven. Fifty-eight. Fifty-nine. Sixty.

In the void, there was no need for rabbits, fireflies, children, or counting, but for some reason it clung to them anyways. For some reason, it couldn't forget even though it couldn't remember.

That might be why it came looking when the counting paused. Or maybe it was just because it wanted to remember what a firefly was.

It took Jackie a few moments to register his brother's words, before he slowly pushed his phone into his pocket, praying that the Iplier's surrounding him hadn't heard Anti's proclamation. He was good, but he didn't think he was good enough to take on this many Iplier egos at once if they had heard that a Septic was somehow responsible for Darkiplier's death.

Or not? Judging from Anti's ramble, even the glitch was confused about the exact terms of the demon's death. Either way Jackie needed out of the Iplier building, and he needed out of it now.

Ed's eyes were fixed on Jackie, "Now what was that all about, son?"

Jackie carefully kept he breath steady as he made eye contact with the other man, "Anti found Marvin beaten to a pulp in a ditch. Said he was nearly dead. Look. . . I'm sorry for this, and blaming Dark, I just- You know how bad that looked. But now I just got to get to my brother."

Ed watched him for a long moment, ". . . Out then. But don't think for a lick that we're done with you. I think Doc, Bim, and I will be visiting you later tonight."

Jackie was definitely not looking forward to that, but he went along with it, "Yeah, yeah sure. I got to go through. Have a hospitalized brother to get to."

"Just get."

Jackie didn't wait to be told twice, and was bolting out the door as fast as he could, and as soon as he was out of sight of the building he pulled back out the pulled out the phone again, dialing Anti's number again.

"Why the hell did you hang up on me-''

"Shut up Anti. I was with the Ipliers, if I didn't cut the call I might be dead right now. Now what the hell do you mean, 'Darkiplier is dead?'" Jackie took a turn into an alley to escape prying eyes.

"I mean he's dead. And it is not my fault, he did it-!''

"What do you mean he did?"

"Man, you need to stop fucking interrupting me. And what I mean is, he did it. I held the knife but he's the one that slid himself onto it."

Jackie groaned, rubbing a hand over his face, "He slid himself onto you knife? Are you sure you didn't just stab him? Why the hell would Dark do that?"

"Well. . . He wasn't acting in the. . . most stable way. Like. . . I think he'd snapped. He had a dead baby-''

"Yeah the Ipliers said-''

"If you don't stop interrupting me I'm going to stab you. Okay. So, he had this dead baby, and seemed to like really fucking care about it. Like. Fuck man. It was kind of disturbing. And you know me. If I think something's fucked up. . . It's really fucked. So, he was calling it Maria, and calling himself Mama- Don't fucking interrupt me Jackie- And. . . He. . . Okay I might have thrown it at a wall, but he deserved it. You should see Marvin. . . I don't think he'll ever be the same."

". . . What did he do when you threw her at the wall?"

"He dragged himself to it, he broke his hip, talking all the way. Like he thought it was still alive. Like he was trying to comfort it. When he got to it he just curled around the thing. I poked him with the knife and then he was just impaling himself."

Jackie slid down the wall, ". . . Shit. You sure he's dead?"

"Well pretty fucking sure. Looked extraordinarily like a corpse."

If Dark really was dead, and Septics were involved. . . life was about to get a lot more dangerous, "Well haven't you said that you've stabbed him and he stayed alive before?"

"I think this time he was trying to make it a little more permeant."

"Well . . . We know he can come back from the dead. I'm going to go and try and. . . Make him wake up? I don't know if it will work, but we don't need a group like the Iplier's breathing down our neck, so. . . I have to try. Besides. I'm a hero. I can't just leave someone for dead." Jackie pushed himself back up from the ground.

Anti's voice had gone almost quiet, "I think you would be singing a different tune if you could see Marvin. But. . . Alright. If it doesn't work I'll come and hide the body. Worst comes to worst we could feed it to Robbie. Might be able to hide what happened for a while."

". . . I don't want to think about that Anti, but. . . Alright I'll let you know if it doesn't work. Text me the address of where you found him." And with that Jackie hung up the phone and waited for the text, upon getting it he headed on his way.

He really hoped this wasn't as bad of an idea as he thought it was.

When he got the bunker the first thing that hit him was the over whelming sent coper.

The place was coated in blood, so much so that at first Jackie thought that the place just had a red floor, but the illusion was broken when he realized the floor was wet.

With a churning stomach Jackie realized that the majority of the blood belonged to his little brother. This. . . There was so much blood. So. . . so much. Was there even any left for Marvin to live on? Jackie couldn't see how. Not with how the blood sloshed at his shoes as he steeped.

Why was he here? Why was he here to try and save the man that did this? That had taken so much blood from his brother? He wanted to be dead anyway, so why not leave him that way? Why not? It's what he wanted. It's what he deserved.

But. . . If Jackie didn't want any more of his brothers to get hurt . . . he had to try.

Slowly he ripped his eyes from the blood and in the corner, he spotted a form laying on the ground wrapped around something. Dark.

Jackie began at a slow pace, "Dark, you know I hate you right? You. . . You're a monster and you've- We'll my little brother is fucked up now. I haven't even seen him yet. Because of you. I haven't seen him because I came to save you."

He finally managed to get to the body, looking down at the bloody corpse, wrapped around a broken baby, "You . . . you make me sick. But I'm here to save you."

Slowly he sat down on the floor and pulled the body into his lap, ignoring the wet blood, "Because I have to. And because I'm a hero. So. . . so, I have to try."

Jackie's eyes flicked to the baby, "So. . . Adopted a kid huh? I . . . think that if she had had the chance she would have grown into something wonderful. Think about it. Imagine her, a little girl with brads in her hair, bouncing around a garden trying to catch fireflies. Or. . . I know you play the cello, you teaching her how to play. I think she would have picked up pretty quick, if she's your daughter she has to be pretty smart."

Jackie absently ran a hand over Dark's hair, "I know that won't happen now. It can't. but that doesn't mean other wonderful things can't happen. If. . . if you give life a chance one day you might see something that will make all this pain worth it? Aren't you curious about what that might be? Aren't you? If you don't open your eyes you'll never know."

Silence.

Jackie sighed, "You are stubborn, aren't you? Well. I guess you would have to be. You are a century old grump demon fueled on spite." Jackie arranged Dark's jacket so he wouldn't have to see the stab wound.

"Why don't we try this? I'm going to count to a full minute. If you don't wake up by then. . . I'll leave and you'll be Robbie chow. Don't worry though. I'll make sure your daughter is buried. So. . . Are you ready to start the count? Okay." Jackie shifted Dark so the body's head was propped against his chest, and began to count.

Why was he doing this again? The monster he was holding didn't deserve any of this. He didn't. He. . . But as Jackie looked at the broken baby on the ground he. . . he started to think that maybe there was something left to salvage in Dark.

A. . . a monster couldn't love something so small. Could it? It wouldn't go so far for a tiny helpless thing? But Dark did. Dark loved a tiny child, and died over it. Died for a fragile boned little girl. How could a monster do that? How? And Jackie knew Dark was a monster.

He could feel the proof seeping through his clothes and onto his skin. He could see it all around him. His brother's blood, every drop, confirmed the monstrosity in Dark.

As he neared the end of the count Jackie decide that there was no point in wondering, Dark wasn't going to come back anyways.

"Sixty." Jackie sighed, his eyes slipping close, "Well. . . so much for that. I . . . really thought I might be able to save you."

But when he opened his own eyes again, Dark's were looking back up at him.