A/N Italics are Norwegian/Swedish
Disclaimer: I don't own Metalocalypse
Everything was spiraling out of control, and even Charles knew it. His band, his whole life, was falling out of his hands, to some place he didn't even recognize, much less understand. He himself had died and been brought back to life, he was a dead man walking, living on borrowed time he wasn't quite sure he deserved, but he would take it. He was the only one that could move without Selatia knowing, he was the only one that could truly protect the band, and he would. The band was his life, they were the only people he truly cared for. He'd give anything to protect them.
Damn, he'd always known they'd be big, important in their own right, but this... this was unbelievable. They, himself included, were integral parts in an ancient prophecy. They would be saviors, or they would damn everyone and everything. They would cause the Metalocalypse, and it had only just become real to him at the sight of his band being serious, trying to understand a world that was no longer filled with just themselves.
Nathan didn't know what was happening. He was a metal singer, not a harbinger of some ancient prophecy. Shit, just a few days ago his biggest worry had been losing everyone, his best friend, his girlfriend, his band, but now this had happened. Now he was expected to save the whole damn world and go against a half-man. He didn't understand, he hated everything, and fuck, for the first time in his life he was scared.
Why did everything always fall apart? Pickles hated him, Murderface had checked out, Toki wasn't smiling, Skwisgaar's hands were still, and Charles, God, Charles was shaking. He just wanted to go back to Mordhaus, say fuck Abigail and apologize to Pickles because he needed the band. He cared. Fuck, he cared about all of them. He cared, he cared, he cared, and he'd say it a thousands times to anyone who asked.
Murderface was probably the most confused. His whole life he'd seen himself as garbage, ugly, worthless, talentless, and now someone was telling him he was supposed to help save the world. How the hell did that make sense? He wasn't good for anything, he never had been. He couldn't be, he wouldn't be, the prophecy was talking about someone else. He wasn't supposed to be here, some other bassist was, hell, maybe a bassist wasn't even involved. Maybe it was just Skwisgaar, some other part of him, he played over his bass most of the time anyway.
He wasn't important. He would make everything worse. He would fuck up the whole Metalocalypse, he'd end the world, but he wouldn't die, no that would be too easy, he'd stay alive and watch the rest of the band die, and he'd cry. In his own head, he could admit that, because no one would laugh, no one would judge him, and he could tell the truth. He'd cry and cry and they'd all die. He didn't deserve anything better, and he knew it, so he cracked a tasteless joke to make himself feel better.
Pickles didn't quite know what to feel, so he settled on pretending to be drunk. No one questioned it, and it made him want to laugh and cry and ask why, even though he knew. He was a drunk, he'd always been a drunk, and he'd probably always be a drunk. Hell, halfway through this Metalocalypse bullshit he'd probably down a bottle of vodka and laugh while that Selatia guy fucked with his friends. Did he still even have friends? He wasn't too sure.
The guys in Snakes N' Barrels blamed him for what had happened at the reunion, Murderface now preferred to hang out with Toki, since he could get the kid to do almost whatever he asked, Skwisgaar was an arrogant bastard who only cared about guitar and Toki, Toki himself was sweet, but often too childish for him to really talk to, and Nathan, his best friend, the one man who he'd thought would always be around, choose him over everything, had decided some woman they'd barely known a month was more important. He was more sure than ever that after all this shit was over, if it ever ended, he'd die alone, drunk and high, in some gutter somewhere. He could hear his family laughing.
Skwisgaar's hands were shaking. The hands of Skwisgaar Skwigelf, the fastest guitarist in the world, were shuddering and twitching. He couldn't remember chords he'd played millions of times, couldn't remember the beats of his favorite songs, and he hated it because that meant he couldn't play, not even in the air. It was added stress he didn't need, didn't want, didn't care about. He just wanted to travel back to Scandinavia with Toki, have a new start away from all the bullshit with Nathan and Pickles, away from this Metalocalypse and Selatia, the Tribunal and the Revengencers.
What the hell could they do anyway? They were a metal band, they were druggies, they were drunks. Hell, they'd all spent years in their own world, tangled in webs of hard liquor and women and cocaine, heroin, weed. He was surprised they were still alive, if he was being honest, and none of them were in truly good shape, not even Toki. How could they be expected to kill a man who'd felled their entire audience in seconds. It was a pipe dream this apparent priest was having, impossible, idiotic. It was all a lie, perhaps a dream. Yes, this was a nightmare, all of it! He still lay in his bed in Mordhaus, Nathan and Pickles were still friends, Dethklok was fine, and he and Toki were going on vacation together for a long, long time. Toki grabbed his hand suddenly, and the brunette was shaking too.
Toki wondered why he could never have anything nice or happy for any length of time. He'd found a home in Dethklok, a family, a real life. He'd been happy! Why couldn't he have that? Everything always went to shit for him just as soon as it went well! His family hated each other now, Pickles and Nathan hated each other. He hadn't ever thought that could happen, because they were best friends! They were as close as he and Dr. Rockzo, he'd thought they'd forgive each other for anything. He guessed he was wrong, because they were glaring and angry and he was sad. Not even Skwisgaar was cheering him up, especially not with his lingering worry over Magnus, who'd been acting strange, obsessively calling him, making him promise he'd be in places he'd never even heard of.
This priest, if that's what he really was, droned on and on and he ignored it, because he didn't care. What was the point of saving the world when after it was done he wouldn't see his friends together and happy? He'd rather the world ended if his family was gone, and slowly his mind conjured images of them all dying, all disappearing just as quickly as his father had, and in his fear his hand shot out and took hold of Skwisgaar's. The solid, bony feeling of the blonde's hand reassured him, and gave him the slightest of smiles. Even if the rest of Dethklok was gone, he suddenly realized, he'd always have Skwisgaar. That was when Charles spoke up about the funeral, and despite the lingering fear that Selatia would be there, would always be there for the rest of their lives, they left to honor the man who'd given them their start.
When they arrived, Magnus was there, and he immediately pulled Toki away.
"Magnus, I's t'ink I should sits with the rest of the bands for dis. It ams reals perskonals," Toki said, trying to pull his wrist from Magnus' grip.
"No! No, you're with them all the time anyway, sit with me," Magnus said, pulling the boy down and holding his arm tightly in order to keep him from getting up. Eventually, he stopped struggling, and when Dr. Rockzo called he lied and said he was having fun with Magnus, even when the clown tried to tell him that the other was bad news.
The whole world watched in awe as Nathan Explosion, the most brutal, metal man on Earth, apologized to his drummer. Not even his own bandmates could believe it, and that disbelief mounted when the two were hugging and smiling and saying screw Abigail. It was enough to make Skwisgaar real smile, and even Toki, despite the dull fear that being around Magnus now brought him, laughed and cheered from his seat. That was when the bomb went off. That was when the Revengencers came again, spilling from the earth like lava.
"PICKLES, MURDERFACE, SKWISGAAR, TOKI!" Nathan yelled, reaching out for them in the smoke.
"I'm right here man!" Pickles called back, reaching out and grabbing his shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm here too," Murderface said, his hand holding Pickles' shirt.
"Ja, I's here!" Skwisgaar stated, hands stretched out in front of him as he walked blindly through the smoke. Nathan grabbed him and pulled him into their huddle, before he spoke yet again.
"Where's Toki? TOKI!" he yelled, and an answering scream came through the smoke as the man with the iron face appeared. Charles jumped on him almost immediately, the words 'I'll take care of this,' falling from his mouth and the four band members stared in fear as the smoke cleared and Toki appeared, held tightly in Magnus' arms.
"Stay with me, stay with me, it's okay," the man said, barely able to hold the writhing brunette.
"NOS! GUYSES, HELPS ME!" Toki screamed, and Skwisgaar tried to run and grab him, but he was held back by the fissure in the earth that had opened when the bomb went off. Time slowed, the whole band moved to the fissure and tried to get across, but it was too late. Magnus had raised the knife, and it dug deep into Toki's side.
"REVENGE HAS COME!" Magnus' scream mingled with Nathan's roar of Toki's name.
"Nos! No, Tokis, no! I'S LOVE YOU!" Skwisgaar screeched, his hands tangled in blonde hair as Magnus laughed, a wild glint in his eyes as he held Toki's limp body close to his chest. And then they were gone. Everyone was gone, except for the remaining four members of Dethklok and their manager. Even Abigail had been taken. They felt numb as they wandered back to the Dethsub, knowing that if they didn't hide they'd likely be killed as well.
Charles had the Dethsub moving almost right away, and soon was standing by what remained of his band, looking out at the water with them.
"Wes has to find Toki," Skwisgaar said, his blue eyes tired and empty.
"And Abigail," Nathan said, for though he didn't want to date her if it meant losing his best friend, she too had become a part of his band. His anger towards the Tribunal and the Revengencers and Magnus had increased so much he could barely think. All he could remember was the vow he'd made years before, the night Toki had officially become a part of their band: all these people, no matter who they knew, no matter how powerful they were, would soon be dead. He'd personally make sure of it.
For the rest of the day and night their sub cut through the water, and while each of them went to their rooms none of them could sleep. Even Charles wandered restlessly through the halls checking on his boys, as though their enemies were their with them, as though they'd all been caught in the one moment he wasn't looking. He sighed. Toki had been.
They didn't eat when Jean Pierre brought them breakfast, instead just staring at each other and shoving the food around on their plates. Finally Skwisgaar spoke up, shattering the silence that had been covering them since they were staring at the window the previous day.
"How is we going to gets Toki?"
"I don't... know. Charles, what the fuck do we do? I don't fucking know anymore," Nathan said, his held clasped in his hands.
"Our man on the inside has given us many locations of Revengencers hideouts, and Magnus could very well be hiding in one of them. Skwisgaar, please ah, please don't look so worried, I truly don't think Magnus would've killed him, not with the sort of ah, obsession he had. The knife wound could have easily been a ah, a diversion for him to kidnap him," Charles said, doing his best to keep his serious facade in place, knowing that if he, their unshakable manager, seemed nervous he'd never get them to do anything. Skwisgaar was suddenly crying, noisy and uncontrolled, and the whole band could only look on in shock, unsure of whether comforting him would be okay. Charles eventually settled a hand on his cold, heaving shoulder, and Skwisgaar gathered himself enough to speak, though it was in short, huffing, barely intelligible sentences that eventually trailed off into wild, ranting Swedish.
"Why ams I nots does nothings? I's knewed dat Magnus was ams is obskesed with him! Shits, I caughts de fuckings dildo asses fucker tryings to rapeses him years ago, ats our first bigs concerts! I didn'ts say nothings cause littles Toki didn'ts want me to, buts I shoulds have! I'm so stupid, shit I fucked up, it's my fault that Toki got hurt! I hope he forgives me, I hope he still wants to be around me, I hope he still wants to go back home together for a while, shit I want Magnus dead, I want to kill the bastard! Fuck, I'm going to kill him, and get Toki back, and then we will be happy for the first time in our fucking lives," Pickles had begun shushing him, holding him tightly with thin arms, and even Murderface looked worried as the blonde broke down completely.
"Skwisgaar, Skwisgaar please, this ah, this isn't going to help! It's not your fault, you didn't ah, you didn't know that it would come to this! Toki is going to be fine, I promise we'll find him. I won't rest until we do, alright? Keep yourself together for now, all of you. We've got ah, a long way to go before this is over," Charles said, feeling his hands start to shake once more and his speech begin to slur. The beginnings of tears formed in his own eyes as well, but he kept his face stony and impassive, forever the glue that kept Dethklok from falling apart at the seams. A glance at his band revealed they were all in much the same situation, except for the still sobbing Skwisgaar, but he could guess that their reasoning behind it was trying to retain their brutal, almost inhuman cover, trying to hold onto at least that one bit of control over their own lives.
That too fell apart when Pickles tried to hide his sniffling in Skwisgaar's long hair, because it sent the rest of the band into a desperate cycle of crying and clutching at each other that eventually Charles joined in on as well. It was dark before they'd gathered themselves enough to start sending Klokateers up to search the Revengencers hideouts, and the sun was setting on another day before one returned, his arm nearly torn off, and reported activity in one of them. The Dethsub set off towards the place the now-dead Klokateer informed them of immediately, and each one vowed to give him a hero's funeral when everything was said and done.
Toki lay unconscious on a bed, a tired looking doctor carefully attempting to clean and repair the knife wound. Magnus sat beside him, desperately clutching his hand and staring blankly at the wall, not realizing that he'd been the one to do this and slowly concocting the reality that it had been Skwisgaar who'd done it, just like it had been Skwisgaar who ruined everything else in his life. Another two hours passed, and finally the doctor stepped away.
"I've stopped both the internal and external bleeding, so unless he develops an infection he should be alright. If he does begin to develop signs of infection, call me. Ah, and remember to keep the wound clean please, that will significantly lower his infection risk. I would still, however, suggest taking him to a hospital. That will lower his risk of infection even more, and if you truly care about him that's the best place for him to be" the doctor said, carefully removing his gloves.
"Fuck off, I can take care of him. The people at the hospital can't do shit, no one can, not for him. Only I can help him, just me," Magnus said, his thumb rubbing the unconscious boy's knuckles. The doctor sighed, worried for the boy and wishing he wasn't under the employ of the Revengencers.
"Fine. The sedative he's under should wear off in about an hour. Please keep him calm when he wakes up to avoid tearing the stitches," he said as he walked towards the door.
"I SAID FUCK OFF!" Magnus yelled, turning blazing eyes to the doctor who, fearing for his life, ran from the room. "I'm sorry he hurt you Toki, I'm sorry I didn't get there fast enough. You won't have to worry though, I'll keep you safe forever now. I won't let anyone else hurt you, not ever again. It's all going to be okay if you just stay with me," Magnus mumbled, leaning down and pecking the younger man's lips. Magnus, thankfully, didn't hear his quiet mumble of Skwisgaar's name.
A/N Okay, so only one or two chapters remain, and since there are no canon events for what happens next yet, I'm going back into AU again to get the ending, since I'm literally unable to stand leaving this at the sad ending of the show. Honestly, once Toki is found I'm going to try and bring this story back to a happy tone again, because there is way to much angst in this for me, especially considering I normally write humor. Thanks for sticking with this for so long readers, and I hope you enjoy the last couple of chapters!