Summary: After destabilizing, two clones, Muscles and Tiny, wake up on an unfamiliar, forested island in the Ghost Zone as full ghosts. Faced with a town full of hostile ghosts, his little brother's continued instability, and painful, torturous reminders of his time with Vlad, the larger clone fights to protect his brother and provide for both of them, all while battling his own demons. And yet, the love of a sibling is a powerful force. Together, will the brothers find safety and healing? Or will their troubles pull them apart?
Tags: Clone angst, Ectoplasm, Destabilization, Vivisection, Gore and blood, self deprecating thoughts, gunshots, verbal assault, stealing, Frankenstein vibes and parallels, There's also fluff I swear, Sibling Bonding, Kids being kids, Bittersweet Ending, hopeful ending
Note: Happy Invisobang! I'm so excited to finally show you guys what I'm working on for the past few months. Another story in my "Life and Death is All Perspective" Series. Writing about my clone kids again was a blast!
A few notes about the au. This series is about the other clones in Kindred Spirits coming back as full ghosts after they destabilized. Reading the previous stories isn't required to understand this one though. Also, this story is semi-canon to "Nothing and Everything," a story about what happens in Kindred Spirits while the Tiny clone was overshadowing Danny. Again, not required reading. :)
The title for the story is from "Drifter" by Wolves at the Gate. I sure do love using this band for fic titles. XD Seriously though, I thought the vibe and theme of the song fit perfectly. Even better considering how Dami and Pro are very much literal drifters, as in people without a home.
And finally, this story has lovely art by desertmoons! Make sure to go look at that and give them some love.
Happy Reading!
The first sensation the being registered was touch. Something… hard and cold laid underneath his… body. His brow wrinkled at the thought. His… body? There was… something wrong there.
But.. he was laying, face down. The smell of dirt and leaves assaulted his nose. His nose. He had a nose again. Wait. Again?
The being's brow wrinkled, confused. He sniffed. Yes, he had a nose. He could smell and… a twinge of pain shoot through his neck. He was lying at an odd angle. With some effort, the being turned his head. Dim light filtered through his closed eyelids. A few heavy blinks and… he opened his eyes, for what felt like the first time.
Trees, leaves, ground. Various shades of brown, and green, and… purple? Something… something was strange about that as well but… What?
The being blinked again, breathing out. But…. that felt odd too. Different from… from before. But… what was before?
A hint of anxiety entered at the thought. What was before? And… things felt off. He… he needed to sit up. Muscles tensing at the thought, the being struggled to get his arms under him. With a groan, he pushed onto his stomach, onto his knees. For a moment, he stared down at his hands, the pale greenish skin, the thick fingers. But…
A whimper sounded, to his right. The being's head turned and… "Tiny?"
The sound, the word came without thought or intention. The knowledge just… washed over him. His eyes widened, taking in the small neon green figure. Memories flashed through his mind, a thousand images and feelings and-
The snap of a twig, frantic thoughts cutting off. Muscles looked up, eyes catching movement through the trees. The hair on the back of his neck rose. They were being watched.
The larger clone tensed, sudden fear gripping his core. He reached for the smaller clone, fingers wrapping around him. Tiny let out a surprised squeak. Muscles shushed him. In his hand, the little ghost stiffened.
The pair watched, the forest around them silent and still. Too silent and still. No birds, no insects, no chattering squirrels. Muscles braced one hand on the ground, pushing himself to wobbly feet. They needed to get out of here, wherever here was. But-
Another snap, the rustle of leaves, and… snarls. The larger ghost's core stuttered. Something large and furry, with too many teeth, slinked out of the woods. The beast growled.
Muscles fought to not cower in on himself. Nervously, his eyes flickered around the little clearing he'd woken up in. He didn't dare turn his head, didn't dare move his gaze away from the creature in front of him but… he swallowed. Another crunch behind him, the feeling of eyes on his back. There were more, one to the right and… one to left. The creatures looked like wolves, a small pack of glowing, purple and green canines. But… each was almost as big as he was.
Muscles took a step back, protectively bringing the hand cradling his little brother to his chest. The beast in front of him snarled, leaping forward. The clone turned tail and fled. He burst through the trees, branches creaking as he panickily shoved through them.
Howling, the wolves pursued. The dry leaves crunched under their feet, fallen branches snapping. But Muscles didn't dare look back.
Pressed up against his chest, Tiny chittered urgently, fast and high pitched sounds exiting his mouth. The other clone couldn't understand a word, not when his sibling was so small.
Get away, they needed to get away! Muscles' mind raced, eyes rapidly flickered around their surroundings. They needed to get away, needed to get somewhere safe. But… he didn't recognize anything! Where were they? Some weird ghostly forest? Was this the Ghost Zone? How would they have ended up in the Infinite Realms?
No, wait. Never mind. Ghost. He had ghost powers. He could fly, stupid! Muscles jumped over a log. He called on his core. If he could just fly them away…
His core locked up. With a pained cry, he crashed to the ground and rolled. Muscles' other hand flew to his bare chest. Tiny! He needed to protect his brother! The large ghost hit a towering boulder, slamming to a stop on his back. The snarling, it was still right behind them now. He needed to get up, get away. With one hand, Muscles pushed himself to his feet again. He glanced down; Tiny was still okay. They could-
The wolves leapt out of the trees. Slowly, deliberately, they advanced, hackles raised and sharp teeth bared. The tall clone stepped back, eyes wide with fear. His back hit rock and his core dropped into his stomach. Trapped. They were trapped, surrounded. Panic clawed at Muscles' mind. The boulder was too high to climb. Flight wasn't an option. The wolves were closing in. They couldn't run, couldn't hide. He needed to, needed to protect his brother.
The largest beast ran forward, snarling. The taller clone swung with his free hand, punching it in the nose. Another leapt forward. Muscles drop-kicked it in the side. "Get away!"
The two injured wolves slunk back, ectoplasm leaking from where they'd been hit. Muscles' stomach twisted. He held up a fist, holding Tiny close to his core as he braced himself. The smaller clone chattered insistently, tiny voice buzzing in his silbing's ear.
The third wolf leapt. Muscles swung and the creature dodged. The humanoid ghost kicked out, barely gracing his attackers' back. The wolf whimpered but… in a flash, it dug teeth into the clone's calf.
Muscles let out a cry, knee threatening to buckle. He wobbled, trying to kick, to shake the creature off. The wolf just bit down harder and the large clone fell.
His core was in his throat, eyes wide with terror. The wolf let go, stepping back. In his hand, Tiny yelled, trying to pull his fingers apart.
Muscles opened his hand. "Go. Go." At least… if Tiny got away, one of them would survive.
The wolves growled, surrounding him from all sides. They were going to tear him apart, they…. Tiny floated out of his hand. The beasts leapt and-
Suddenly, a neon green humanoid shape coiled in the air above him. Tiny….? The other clone hissed, fire sparking in his open palms. Green flames flickered wickedly, illuminating the severe face. The boy shot the fire forward, a wave slamming into all three wolves. Whimpering, the beasts turned tail and fled.
For a long moment, Muscles peered through the tree where the creatures ran, body tense. Then… a relieved sigh. He let his head fall to the ground.
Above him, the not-so-tiny clone turned around. "I think they're gone." He looked down, rolling his eyes. "Muscles, I was trying to tell you-"
A gurgling sound cut off the words. Ectoplasm spilled from the open mouth. Tiny stared at his fingers, confusion bleeding into horror. The digits dripped green, softening, liquifying. Identical, terrified green eyes met. He was… he was melting again.
Panickedly, Muscles pushed himself into a sit position. Ignoring the screaming in his leg, he held out a hand. No! No! They had to stop this. He had to stop this! He couldn't lose-
With a gasp, Tiny started shrinking. Smaller and smaller. The length of Muscles arm, forearm, hand, pinkie. The now much smaller clone dropped from the air, heavily hitting the ground. Muscles surged forward, shifting onto his stomach to face his little brother.
He stared with wide eyes. "You're not melting?" A relieved breath. "You're not melting."
Tiny nodded, buzzing words exiting his mouth. The larger ghost's brow furrowed. The small face scowled, saying something else.
"Sorry." The larger ghost muttered. "Your voice is too small. I can't understand..." He pointed to his ear.
Tiny rolled his eyes, huffing. Guilt flared in Muscles' core, his shoulders falling. The other ghost's expression softened, a miniscule hand reaching up to pat his brother's cheek.
The other clone sighed, giving a small, watery smile. He looked around tentatively. "I'll find us somewhere to rest, somewhere safe. Promise."
Tiny hummed an affirmative.
Muscles reached forward, hand half-wrapped around his brother. The little ghost grabbed onto the fingers, allowing himself to be carried.
After pulling himself to his feet, Muscles stumbled through the forest. He clutched the other clone to his chest protectively, eyes surveying the area. Many trees, tall with broad leaves of all shades of green, purple, even… blue(?) surrounded them. There were rocks, small furry animals and birds. The terrain curved and sloped slightly, in shallow hills and valleys. The ground dipped down in front of him, into some kind of ditch. Maybe he could jump to the other side. Or… he looked down. No, that was a stream. They should follow it.
Muscles followed the ribbon of slow moving water through the trees. How long had he been walking? Maybe half an hour? His leg ached. But he couldn't stop. The large clone shuffled forward, nearly tripping on a rock.
Tiny said something, concerned at the stumble.
His brother waved him off. "I'm fine."
A few more minutes… there was a break in the trees ahead. With a pained groan, Muscles passed through the branches and stopped. This was… a packed dirt road. And there were…tracks, from some kind of wheeled vehicle with thin rims. Maybe a wagon? He couldn't tell how old the marks were, or what direction they came from. A town couldn't be that far. But…
The large clone looked down at his sibling, brow furrowed. "Which way?"
Tiny turned his head to gaze each way, looking just as uncertain as Muscles felt. The little ghost then shrugged and pointed to the left.
Muscles shrugged too but turned and started hobbling in that direction. They needed to get going. A few more struggling minutes. The large ghost fought off another pained groan. He couldn't stop, couldn't leave Tiny out here, unprotected, not when he was still so small, his body worryingly soft, putty-like, and… wet. The clone swallowed, dread balling at the thought.
He shuffled forward, eyes focused on the road. Then, Tiny's arms patted insistently on his fingers. He looked down and found his brother pointing. The larger ghost followed the finger with his eyes. The trees were farther away from the road now, a field of tall grass stretching maybe a hundred feet in between. The ground dipped down, like there was… another stream? And…. just before the tree line…. Muscles' eyes widened. That was a building!
Quickly, he stumbled forward. The large ghost stopped in front. It looked like a log cabin: a small porch, interlocked logs and plaster walls, a sloped roof of wooden shingles, and a stone chimney. Tentatively, Muscles knocked. "Hello?"
No answer. Another, harder knock and… the door swung open. Suddenly tense, the clone peered inside. There was… nothing. He stepped across the threshold, surveying the packed dirt floor. No furniture, no belongings, just a long cold fireplace and some scraps of cloth. Muscles walked the length of the small room. It was dark, lit only by the open door and the small, uncovered window.
Sighing, the large ghost closed the rickety door. He leaned against the wall opposite the window, his injured leg screaming in pain. His knees buckled and he sank to the ground. After a few heavy breaths, he opened his hand and looked down at his brother.
Muscles grimaced, the worried look from Tiny hurting his core. "Sorry it's not much."
Tiny said something, the tone comforting. He drifted up, hugging the larger ghost right below his chin. The small ghost floated back then, arms in front of him, palms out. His mouth opened, more words pouring out. He waved towards the window before flying up and through it.
The larger clone's heart sank. "Tiny?"
He sat in silence for a long moment, worry growing. He should get up and try to see what the little guy was doing but… his leg was killing him. He… his brother would be fine. He'd come back soon. It would… would be okay. Still…. anxiety gnawed at him.
A few minutes later, Tiny flew back through the window.
Muscles' eyes widened. "What are you doing?"
The small ghost was at least three times bigger than the last time Muscles had seen him, even if still less than a foot tall. He carried a peach more than half as big as he was.
Tiny scowled, dropping the fruit in Muscles' hand. "I had to carry it." His words were still high pitched and fast, but this time understandable. "Eat." He pointed out the window. "I'll get more."
The small ghost left again, coming back twice more with a peach each time. Then, the size-changing clone sat down beside his larger brother. Muscles ate slowly, savoring each bite while Tiny wolfed the fruit down.
The larger clone licked the juice from his fingers, dropping the pit beside him. He turned to Tiny and blinked. "You ate both?"
The clone nodded. "I'm starving." He licked the juice off his own hand.
Muscles brow wrinkled. His brother's skin looked better, no longer neon green and glistening with moisture, instead a pale green color. Tiny stood, wiping his hands on his legs. Then he stretched, growing to stand over the sitting Muscles.
The maybe four-feet-tall boy tugged on his sibling's arm. "Come on. We need to clean your leg." His voice sounded closer to an eight years olds now.
The larger ghost accepted the help, half-pushing and half-being pulled to his feet. He stumbled out the door and to the stream. Carefully, he sat down at the edge, sticking his bare foot in the weak current. Tiny knelt over him, dipping one of the cloth scraps from the cabin in the water. He lifted the rag and Muscles pulled the loose black fabric of his pants up to his knee. His brother started wiping ectoplasm from the wound.
"Thanks for saving us back there." The corner of the smaller clone's mouth turned up. "I can't believe you punched that wolf."
Muscles shrugged, muttering. "You're the one that scared them off." Guilt colored his cheeks. "I didn't do anything."
"Hey." Tiny put a comforting hand on his arm. "No, you carried me who knows how far with a hurt leg." He looked down at the limb, grimacing. "I don't know how you walked on this at all."
The larger ghost winced, looking down, but didn't say anything about that. Instead…. "You started melting."
The gently cleaning hands froze. A haunted look passed over the smaller ghost's face, eyes far away. He shook his head and resumed cleaning. "I'm fine now. You found us some place to rest. There's shelter, food." He motioned to the peach tree on the other side of the cabin. "We're safe here…" His brow furrowed, head turning to look around. "Wherever here is."
Muscles looked around, his own brow wrinkled in question. Tentatively, he added. "I think… we're in the Infinite Realms."
Tiny blinked. "You mean, the Ghost Zone? How'd we get here?" He put down the wet cloth and grabbed a dry, relatively clean one. He started wrapping it around his brother's leg. "I mean… we were at Master's mansion, like always. But… no, he took us somewhere else. We were supposed to fight… someone?" He tapped his chin. "It was… Danielle? No, that doesn't make sense." He snapped his fingers, eyes widening in sudden realization. "It was Daniel. But… not the one in the tube; he wasn't ready yet. But…"
"It was… our original." Muscles swallowed, drawing his knees to his bare chest just as Tiny finished tying the wrap. "The person we were cloned from. Phantom."
The smaller ghost blinked once. Then his eyes widened even more, in something like awe. "Danny. He likes to be called Danny."
"What? How-" Muscles started, surprised.
"Never mind that." Tiny waved his hands, talking more to himself than to his sibling. He lifted his palms to his eyes. "How did we get here then? Vlad wanted us to capture him and get him to change. But… did it work? Or… I guess it didn't. I remember-" He stopped suddenly, head whipping up. "There was… pain. A lot of green and…." The clone paled, horrified eyes slowly moving to his fingers. "I was supposed to hold on but…"
It felt like being drenched in ice water, the sudden realization. Muscles ripped his gaze away from his brother, staring at his own shaking fingers. He could picture them, green and dripping. Ectoplasm… ectoplasm consuming the digits, spreading up from his hands, his feet. The blinding pain, that horrible green and…
"We both destabilized." Tiny said what he was thinking. He pulled his knees to his chest, mirroring Muscles' pose. "We...we melted. We…" He covered his mouth. "F-ck. We just…. melted into ectoplasm." A cacophony of emotions passed over his face. Horror, disgust, fear, anger, grief. "We…we destabilized. We…" The boy was shaking now, eyes watering.
Muscles' own eyes burned. They'd both destabilized fighting their original. Tears leaked forth and he leaned forward, sick. Ugly memories flashed in his head. Leaping on the halfa, at Master's command. An ectoblast to the stomach, knocking him back. His insides churned. He'd already been weak; he hadn't recovered from the last… exploratory surgery. His stitches covering his body - his chest, his abdomen,his back, his arms, his upper leg- burned at the thought. On his aching back, staring at the blue sky, but… he needed to get up. If he could just knock the original out, just a quick hit to the head… Another leap to tackle, another blast to the abdomen. And… it… it hurt so much. He didn't want to do this. But… Master's sneering face. He got up; he went again. Another blast to his softening body. He fell, ectoplasm staining the sidewalk. Muscles didn't even try to hold himself together.
Back by the stream, both clones were weeping. Tiny shifted, throwing his arms around the larger ghost's neck. He cried into his brother's shoulder. Muscles did the same, fat tears falling onto the smaller ghost.
"We… died." Muscles forced out through his cries. They'd both died. And it wasn't fair! They'd barely gotten to live, trapped in that house with that man. Master intimately how weak all of them were, how unstable and yet still… the large clone sniffled. The… the experiments had been bad enough but… Master had used them… used him to hurt someone (again, a quiet part of himself reminded). He'd used them, gotten them killed and now… his life was over before it began.
The brothers cried for a long time. Because that was all they could do. Just mourn and cry and wonder. Wonder….
Slowly, so slowly, Muscles pulled away. He bit his lip, teary eyes wide and afraid. "How are we here if we… destabilized?"
Tiny swallowed, briefly closing his eyes. Then… "We're full ghosts." Slowly, his hand balled into a fist. "I knew it. I f-cking knew it. We were halfas before." His voice trembled with anger. "We… I was half human before. Human. Living, breathing." He suddenly stood and started pacing. "There was… a whole other part of me, another half I never got to know. I never… I never even transformed. I never even got to see my human half!" He swung, kicking a sizeable rock into the stream. "And now…. now, it's just gone." He stopped, hands moving to cover his core. The shaking palms pressed down, his eyes pinched closed. "It's gone."
The pained expression stabbed right into Muscles' core. He couldn't help but stare, his own palms moving to his core and resting there as if… as if trying to feel the heart that was supposed to be there but was now absent.
The larger ghost's eyes widened, mouth dry. This reaction, those words…. This was…. This was so different from what he'd expected from his littlest brother. Tiny was quiet, a curious, almost carefree spirit. But this…
Muscles swallowed, pushing the thought away from a more pressing one. "What about the others?"
Tiny blinked. "What?"
The larger ghost wrung his hands. "Bones and Danielle and Daniel…. Where are they? Did they-" His eyes watered, the words sticking in his throat. He forced them out despite the pain. "Did they…. they die too?"
Somehow, Tiny paled even more. "They… I don't know."
I don't know, the words rang in Muscles' head. He didn't... didn't know either but…. His mind raced. Bones and Danielle had gone with them to capture Phantom. And Daniel… he couldn't leave his chamber at all. If they didn't get Phantom to change…
"What if they're dead?" The larger ghost almost whispered the words.
Tiny flinched but didn't refute it. He grit his teeth. "That… that bastard, he… he won't care if… if…. He had no problem getting us killed, so…"
"But… maybe they became full ghosts too." Muscles flailed desperately. "Maybe they're somewhere and-"
"Or they're not." Tiny interrupted, bitingly. "Maybe we just got lucky. Or if they did, they got eaten by wolves like we almost f-cking did."
"Tiny." Muscles pushed himself to stand, holding out a hand.
The smaller ghost's eyes flashed, flames starting to flicker around his fist. "I have no idea where our siblings are. None. They could be anywhere. Or nowhere! It could just be us. Or-"
"Tiny." The other ghost interrupted. "Please, it's gonna be-"
"That's not even my name!" The smaller clone screamed, at the same time he shot up a foot and a half to his full height. "And it's not going to be okay!" The fire crackled dangerously. "Nothing about this is okay!" The flames shot forward in a roar, slamming into a nearby boulder.
Muscles' eyes widened, gazing flickering rapidly between the blackened rock and his brother. The other ghost was panting heavily, sweat dripping off of him. No, not sweat…
Tiny wiped his forehead with arm. "No! No! No!" His eyes widened in panic, seeing the neon green drops, his finger starting to meld together. In a blink, he shrunk down to less than two feet. He flew to the tree and grabbed a ripe peach. In barely a minute, it was only a pit. The dripping stopped but… Muscles' stomach knotted with worry. His brother was still a swatch of neon green.
The smaller ghost drifted forward, hovering in front of his larger brother's face. "Sorry." He looked down, guilt flashing across his face.
"'S okay." Muscles offered, a little awkwardly. His stomach churned. He had so many questions, worries eating him up but… "Yeah. You're right. This is… this is bad." He looked around, worryingly noting the dimming light. (They were in the Infinite Realms so how? … never mind). "I don't know where we are or where the others are or how to find them. And there's your… uh…" He bit his lip, surveying the small, discolored body. Melting problem, he could say but… He swallowed. "You know. Maybe there's a town nearby." He motioned to the road. "Maybe someone can help us or-"
"Stop." The small ghost shook his head, making chopping motions with his hands. "Just stop. I just…" He put his head in his hands. "I just want to go to sleep."
The larger ghost's shoulder fell. He sighed. "Alright."
Tiny nodded, turning back toward the abandoned cottage. "Maybe I'll go to sleep and wake up from this nightmare." The words were muttered, too soft for almost anyone else to make out but… the other clone did… and they hurt like a stab to the core.
Quietly, the pair walked and floated back to their modest shelter. Muscles picked up another two peaches on the way. Once inside, they ate in silence. Tiny finished, wiping his hands on a spare piece of cloth. His skin was back to pale green, a black and white hazmat suit covering his body.
The little ghost yawned, shrinking down even more. He laid down, still a full sized arm length away, and turned his back to his brother.
Muscles' core sank. He laid down, shuffling closer. Not near enough to touch but… he could easily pull his little brother to his chest if he needed to protect him.
The large ghost closed his eyes. His thoughts drifted into dark and worrying places. The memories of what happened to him. Questions of what became of his and Tiny's siblings. What happened after waking up. They'd been attacked by wolves, stumbled through the woods, and found this cabin. Muscles sighed. The shelter was good, even if he desperately wanted a blanket and pillow. But, it wasn't like he hadn't slept on the ground plenty of times before; Master didn't exactly think to give him a bed, not that a failure like him deserved such a nice place to sleep.
He shook the thought away. He wasn't at Master's house now. If any good thing came of this, he and Tiny were free. The important thing for now was resting and… recovering. His leg throbbed at the thought. It still ached. He could feel the improvised bandage, the ectoplasm starting to soak into the used fabric. His nose wrinkled. That wasn't very sanitary. He'd need to see if he could find some clean bandages. He didn't want the wound to get infected. Wait… could he get an infection? Never mind, that didn't really matter right now.
Now, he needed to sleep. Then, in the morning, he'd see about getting some food for him and Tiny. His previous idea… the road, the wagon tracks… there must be a town, not that far away. They'd go and ask for some help and-
A high pitched, keening buzz interrupted his thought. The large ghost slowly opened his eyes, gaze falling on Tiny's shaking back. Shaking…. The sound pitched up again and Muscles' shoulder fell. That was crying. His brother was crying. The other clone felt like crying too.
With hardly a thought, he reached forward, fingers ready to wrap around the little ghost. But he hesitated. Gently, he cupped his hand over his sibling, palm raised and fingers spread. Muscles half-expected his brother to tense and flinch away; he'd left space for him to escape if he wanted to. Instead, the tiny clone wrapped arms around his thumb and hung on for dear life. He wept into the digit.
Slowly, so slowly, Muscles rotated his hand, until it was palm up. Tiny still clung tightly, his legs morphing into a tail which wound around the finger. The larger ghost brought his hand closer to his chest, eyes misting. This behavior, this reaction was so familiar, so comfortable; his core felt like it would shatter. Love shone through the tears.
Something had happened, between when Muscles himself had died and it had been Tiny's turn. Something was different. He'd heard Tiny say more words in the past few hours than he had during all of the time before. He'd never seen him angry like that. And that comment about Tiny not being his name…. There was… a knowledge, an experience in his eyes that hadn't been there before. But… no matter what, this was the same ghost. His same, beloved little brother. And he was going to protect him, was going to make sure he'd be okay, no matter what.