Chapter Text
Life was less than ordinary, but it was still bland. It would be even more bland if they actually went to the classes they skipped, but they were content with their lives of delinquency. Lifty knew it was going to catch up to them one day, though. It was honestly a miracle they hadn't been caught yet, or that the school hadn't contacted their parents. They did show up enough that they wouldn't be considered truant, but just the bare minimum.
It was more or less go to school, attend homeroom, hang out in the back with their friend and sometimes even smoke, go to any classes with that friend in it, and go home. And lie, pretend that they were just normal teenagers, not doing anything wrong. Contraband? What contraband? Skipping? They didn't do that! Stealing? That one was because of their kleptomania, actually…
“Get out of your head or you're gonna walk into the street and get hit by a car,” Shifty grabbed his arm suddenly, pulling him back. It snapped Lifty out of his thoughts, and he sighed.
Because he wished for something more fulfilling. Something that wasn't as draining as his and Shifty's daily life. Something stimulating. Something that gave him purpose. He wanted to feel accomplished, wanted to feel like less of a failure, a disappointment. Wanted to do something.
But he wouldn't tell his brother that. He forced a smile and apologized. “Sorry. Just thinkin’.”
Shifty raised an eyebrow, but didn't question him further. Instead, his grip tightened, just a bit, and he continued walking. “I'm hungry. Let's go to the gas station before we head home.”
They'd be eating dinner in about 3 hours, but who was Lifty to tell Shifty no? He let himself be guided, almost letting himself be dragged back into the depths of his mind, not helped by his tiredness. The gas station was on the way home, so it wasn't a detour or anything, and while they could probably get away with taking something small, their parents did give them some spending money each week.
Golden eyes stared at his feet as they carried on, and Lifty began to ponder if he should also get anything. He was debating on different types of candy bars when he heard it. He snapped his head up and broke away from Shifty's grasp, startled as a loud roar rang out through the air.
“What was that?!” he exclaimed after a few seconds had passed. “Godzilla?”
Shifty narrowed his eyes, turning to look at him. “No, Godzilla's roar has its own unique sound, moron. This was like… an actual animal roaring. Tiger, maybe?”
“Why would it sound so loud? Or so close to us then? There's no zoo near here…” Lifty trailed off, shuffling his feet. He had a bad feeling about this. Just before he could open his mouth again to suggest ignoring it, to just get snacks and go home, his brother grabbed his arm again.
“C'mon, Lifts! Let's check it out,” Shifty grinned, beginning to pull him along once again. “Might be some sort of movie set, we can maybe snag some cool stuff from it!”
“That's-!” But he clamped his mouth shut. ‘That's stupid. We're going to get in trouble, or what if it's an actual runaway tiger and we get mauled by it or worse?’ It all went unsaid, and Lifty didn't fight back. He let his brother drag him to what he believed was certain doom.
Shifty was evading people on the streets, grinning and cackling like a maniac, trying to pinpoint where the roar they heard came from. People were running away, screaming, which obviously wasn't a good sign. And yet, Shifty seemed to not notice or care, fearless in the face of what was decidedly a horrible decision.
And then there was the sight that awaited them as Shifty skidded to a halt and Lifty barely stopped himself from barreling into him. It was not just some runaway tiger from a zoo that had just… gone far out. No, it was a very large tiger with deep red coloration, with wisps of flames resembling tufts of fur around its paws. It roared again, and the intensity of it caused the twins to almost be knocked back.
“I must say, I'm surprised that you came towards the commotion,” a gruff voice spoke, and the two turned their heads to see a man with red hair and vibrant orange eyes, patting the tiger's back. There was an X shape in his eyes, eyes that stared at them, judging. “My name is Robin, an officer of the Order of Twilight. You shall be the first victims.”
’We're going to die.’ Lifty's blood ran cold, golden eyes widening in terror. If he had spoken up, if he told Shifty to not go, would this have been avoidable? Maybe not, Shifty was stubborn as all hell.
Robin's eyes landed on him for a moment, and he smirked. “Hmm… Maybe not you. You might be able to serve a better purpose.”
“Shut the hell up!” Shifty protested, grabbing Lifty's hand. “C'mon, we can-”
The next roar was far more intense, and Lifty let out a cry as he doubled over, his ears assaulted and legs reduced to jelly. Even Shifty nearly fell over, wincing.
“Well, well, well,” Another voice spoke as the roar ended. “Two for the price of one, huh? Good thing I snagged two watches.” From the bushes, a mint green fox-like creature with pale yellow eyes flew - flew? - out, carrying two digital watches. He had a scarf, and attached to it was a dollar-sign engraved medallion. “You're in a pretty sticky situation, eh? I've got a deal for you that'll save your skin. I can help you transform and fight back - but in return, it won't be a one time thing. But we have to do this fast.”
“Are we on like, ‘Punk'd’ or something?” Shifty mumbled. “I'm not f*cking doing that. Not if there isn't anything in it for me.”
If it was a prank show, then it was awfully realistic… And Lifty didn't want to die - not like this, anyway. That was a reward enough for him. He reached out his hand. “Please,” he murmured, “I'll do anything.”
“I'll give you a million dollars,” the fox looked at Shifty, who immediately grinned and stuck his hand out, too.
“Put these on,” the fox handed them each a watch. “And press the button on the left. You'll feel… weird, but once it's done, put the Soul Crystals inside the watch.”
“Enough!” Robin snarled before either could respond. He smacked the tiger hard. “Roar again and then attack! Destroy their sense of security!”
But before the orders could be executed, the fox's eyes began to glow and a barrier of green light surrounded them. It was warm, which normally would suck in mid-August, but it wasn't unpleasant. From their chests came a crystal each, dark green and crescent moon shaped, his being waxing and Shifty's being waning. They had different glowing symbols on them in a different green, his own a lighter color than his brother's. Once the warmth had faded, they reached out and grabbed them. Soul Crystals, the fox had called them, and they were warm to the touch.
His eyes met his brother's, and he nodded, pressing the button and setting the small stone behind the screen when it opened. Instantly, the screen snapped shut and the feeling of pleasant warmth returned. His eyes closed, breath caught in his throat as intense light surrounded his body. He could feel it… changing something but he wasn't sure what.
When he opened his eyes, he saw Robin and the tiger again, and took a moment to figure out what had happened to both him and Shifty. They were wearing green trench coats and long striped scarves, the light green first on his and the darker color first on Shifty's. His own went over the left shoulder and his brother's the right. They also had dark green masks on their faces, gloves in a similar color, and Shifty had kept his fedora. They had lace up boots in black, his laces being the same light green from the scarf, and the darker one for Shifty.
On the screen that had gone mostly clear, Eidolon was printed out.
“Eidolon and Phantasm… Snazzy names,” the fox smiled. “Okay, see the second button? Press that, get your weapons, and fight!”
God, this fox was going to have to answer so many questions… Lifty - err, Eidolon? - pressed the button, gasping when two green and white pistols appeared in front of him. “Okay. Cool. Guns. Neat,” he managed to get out, looking over to see Shifty with two daggers, blades silver in coloration with black handles and green edges.
“What are you waiting for? Go get ‘im!” the fox chided. What was he supposed to do, start unloading into the tiger? What was he, some sort of poacher? …Though they probably didn't use pistols, did they?
The tiger roared once more but it did not knock them down - in fact, he and Shifty - wait, it was Phantasm, wasn't it? Did it matter? - seemed far more durable. But then it growled and began bounding forward. Lifty yelped and jumped out of the way…
Only to find himself a good few feet in the air. So apparently he could also do this now… In a panic as he began to fall, he aimed to land on the tiger and punch or kick or something, which basically meant he flailed around during the descent and then delivered… a decent impact to the creature?
He jumped back, startled by his own strength as he watched his brother hack and stab and slash at the thing, doing his best to avoid its paw strikes. And from behind, he himself began to pelt it with bullets from his guns.
The flame tufts near its paws began to grow bigger and it jumped into the air, opening its jaws as a burst of flames came out.
“Tiger's not the only one with magic! You two can use it too!” the fox shouted. “Focus and channel your energy!”
“What does that mean?” Shifty shouted, throwing a dagger at the tiger when it fell down. It clattered to the ground and he snarled, narrowing his eyes. “Focus my energy, how in the hell does that-”
The dagger was not the only thing to fall and clatter to the ground as a metal beam slammed down onto the tiger, trapping it. Lifty took in a deep breath, concentrating. His body began to tingle and he dropped his guns before shooting a beam of electricity at the beast. It hit the beam, and well… It electrocuted the tiger, and it collapsed, stopped moving and… faded into a dark mist.
“Damn it!” Robin snarled. “This is bad… Fairies are here too! I need to make a report…” Within a burst of fiery orange light, he vanished.
Lifty made his way back to his brother's side, staring as the fox came to float in front of them. “Congrats. You're magical warriors now. You get to fight those things a lot!”
“Hey fox,” Shifty folded his arms. “We've got questions. First off, where's my money?”
“My name is Lucky. And that was a lie,” the mint green creature snorted. “Where do you think I'd get that kind of cash from? Good thing I heard the currency name, otherwise you'd probably be dead. Anyways, not out here. Anywhere more… private you could take me? Preferably to a house?”
Lifty blinked, staring at Lucky for a moment. “Sure… But how do we turn back?”
“Oh, just press the first button again and take the Soul Crystal out,” the fox responded. “Or use up all your energy. Or get too injured to fight. But the first one's easiest.”
Easy enough. He and Shifty did so, and the warmth and light returned for a few seconds before they were back to normal. He pocketed the crystal, as did his brother, and he gently grabbed Lucky from the air.
“You can pretend to be a stuffed toy for a while, can't you?” he murmured softly. “So nobody else asks questions.”
“I suppose,” Lucky sighed. “What a pain.”
Shifty turned to stare at him. “‘What a pain’? ‘WHAT A PAIN’?! You lied to me about a cash reward, and suddenly I had to transform and sh*t and fight a f*cking fire breathing tiger while basically having no idea what the f*ck was going on, and you're delaying answering our questions! Not to mention that we apparently have to do sh*t like this again! And you have the audacity to think you're the one who's dealing with a pain in the ass day?”
Of course, Lifty started walking home the moment Shifty began his rant.
—————
It was overwhelming, all that Lucky told them. Caught in a conflict that was not their own in exchange for the ability to save their own lives. The worst part was that he still had a few more questions to ask.
“You said that… Eidolon and Phantasm were names, right?” He murmured. “So… like a secret identity?”
Lucky nodded. “Yep. Probably best not to broadcast who you actually are. Or tell anyone about all this. Might freak ‘em out here, since this world isn't all too aware of magic and stuff.”
Shifty groaned, flopping onto the bed. “Damn it, and near the beginning of the school year too? Everything's too much f*cking work…”
“...We don't go to class half the time anyways,” Lifty scoffed. “Might as well have something productive to do with our time. And… that was scary as f*ck… I want… to prevent people from feeling that way.” ‘I want to feel safe. I want others to feel safe. I don't want anyone to die like that. And there's no backing out now, is there?’
“Not like we have a choice,” Shifty mumbled, flopping over to his other side. “Your new stuffed animal is going to have a lot of fun hiding in your backpack while we screw around with ‘Dont.”
“Eh. I don't mind doin’ nothing. One of my hobbies, actually,” Lucky snickered. “And don't worry about taking care of me. I can take care of myself. Wouldn't mind snacks every once and a while though.”
“Gimme my money and I'll think about it,” Shifty huffed.
The younger didn't quite feel like telling him off again and sighed, standing up. “I'm gonna help Mom with dinner. Don't… kill each other while I'm gone.” It was a lot to take in, and he needed a distraction. A way to unwind from having to literally fight for his life. Things were going to be different. Not as relaxed. More stressful. And yet, a part of him yearned for the feeling of success, of accomplishment. Of doing something good for once. Of experiencing something that few others would, together, with his brother.
Maybe, just maybe, Lifty was looking at the road ahead with a sense of anticipation.
![Pandemonium - V1CTOR1OUS (AnemoVictorious) - Happy Tree Friends [Archive of Our Own] (2024)](data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mP8/h8AAvMB+NzmkbcAAAAASUVORK5CYII=)