Chapter Text
Barry stood in the burning wreckage of all that he held dear. There was chaos around him, the sounds of screaming muddled by the ringing in his ears.
He should be surrounded by the bodies of his Barrys. He should be lying on the ground next to him. But he isn’t, and there is no bodies left- Barry watched them dissolve into nothing. There is no Barrys left, but him and Barry Nyne. And Nyne can’t be called a Barry anymore, not after what he did.
How did this happen? They all- they all left their big guns behind on the ship, because it was just… It was just supposed to be a fun outing, a reward for all the good they did. For all the good that did, when the one time they tried to have fun ends up with everybody dead but him.
Where did Nyne hide the gun? It’s not the kind they use- Barry One always called it cruel, disintegration tech, and more trouble than it was worth.
Did Nyne take it from another park goer? It wasn’t- the Barry Battalion didn’t steal, not unless they were stealing stolen shit- but Barrys didn’t kill Barrys either, so why wouldn’t he put the cherry on top of the shit sundae like that?
Syx should be running- should be chasing after Nyne to finish the job the traitor started, not frozen in place like a civilian who needs to be rescued. But he can’t move, frozen in place like the ice cream dripping on the floor.
Barry only reacted when a large metal hand gripped his shoulder. “Son, you should come with me.”
He didn’t remember moving, it was just a reflex that made him flip the Android, the force of the impact cracking the pavement underneath them. It wasn’t enough to stop it, but it was enough to let him run.
The Barry Battalion never runs from a fight- but there’s no Battalion left, just one stupid clone who was getting ice cream while his brothers died, and Uncle Bob’s Fantanimalland wasn’t gonna kill all of the Barrys.
For once, Barry was outnumbered. There were security droids on every corner, and he was just one clone used to bashing his way through. It only took a few martrons for him to take a warning shot in the arm, and the pain couldn’t stop him- but the smell of blood did.
The Barrys all had an enhanced sense of smell, so they could all find things- find each other- no matter how dark it was, or how loud the fight got. It was useful, even if sometimes it got overwhelming, like when the smell of sugar and fried foods covered the smell of gunfire.
Syx smelled blood- he smelled Barry blood- and that made sense, because he was a bleeding Barry. So… why didn’t he smell it earlier, when Nyne was attacking all the other Barrys?
The thought stopped him in his tracks for just a moment- and then he was tackled by a security droid, his head hit the ground hard, and that stopped him from thinking for a while.
——
“First off, you are not in any trouble.”
Barry looked down at the cuffs on his arms, and then to the chipper lady with the Smaggy Squirrel pin on her suit jacket. To be fair, they were in a pretty cozy place- more of an office than an interrogation room- and they even used a medpack on his arm so it didn’t hurt anymore. But he was still stripped of his armor and cuffed to a comfy armchair, so all the smiles and nice words didn’t count for much.
“He doesn’t believe you!” The alien at her side said cheerfully, their gradient of scales going from blue to green and back again as their claws tapped on the table. “It’s alright, I can already tell you’ve been through quite an adventure today!”
“Jakod is telepathic, they can read both your emotions and your memories,” the woman explained. “My name is Karol, and we’re here to represent Uncle Bob’s Fantanimalland. All we want from you is your honest statement about today’s events.”
“Barry Nyne killed all the Barrys but me, and then left before I could kill him. Happy?”
Jakod turned their head at a 90 degree angle to look at him while Karol made a note on her datapad, humming to herself. “Okay, that’s a good start! But let’s start from the beginning- what is your name?”
“Barry Syx of the Barry Battalion.”
“Oooh,” Jakod cooed, “I heard of them! You did that thing in the Quaiton Nebula!”
He let himself smile for a moment, lost in the good memories. “Hell yeah we did.”
“That’s good to know- what were you all doing here?”
“We just- we just wanted to have fun,” Barry felt himself tear up, and tried to fight it off. If he started crying now, he wouldn’t be able to stop, and there’s no Barrys here to rib him over it. “Barry One wanted to give us a treat, and-“
Jakod reached out to put a hand over his, and Barry felt a wave of calmness wash over him, like they hit the mute button on his emotions. It took away the anger and sadness, leaving him with nothing but a hollow pit where his heart used to be.
“He’s telling the truth- if this was a planned attack, he didn’t know.”
Barry wanted to protest that the Barry Battalion would never do that, but why bother? Nothing would be okay again, but that was okay.
“You might want to dial that back a little bit, Jakod. He still needs to answer our questions.” Karol said, making more notes. “You’re doing wonderful, Mr. Syx! Just a few more questions…”
Barry nodded, mostly just to feel himself move. It felt like he was slowly sinking into an ocean of goop, and if he kept falling then he’d never have to get up.
“Did you know where Barry Nyne got the gun?”
“Nah. We don’t mess with that kind of stuff. Disintegration is a hell of a way to die.”
Karol stopped taking notes and looked right at him. “Disintegration?”
“Yeah, he just… Pew,” Barry tried to mime shooting a gun, but his hands were still tied down, “and they were gone. Nothin’ left for me to bury the Barrys.”
“He does believe this, ma’am.” Jakod looked over at their boss. There was a moment of lapse in their control- a moment of sheer pain and loss- before Barry was back in that happy haze. “I don’t… this wasn’t in my training, ma’am?”
“It’s okay, Jakod. I’ll handle it,” Karol said, putting her data pad down. “Mister Syx… Barry… due to the risk of property damage, we here at Uncle Bob’s Fantanimalland do not allow any disintegration technology.”
“Okay?” Barry just kept looking at her, trying to figure out what that meant. “They were still-“
“Judging by the footage here-“ Barry shuddered, feeling the echoes of rage even under Jakod’s psychic calming. If she made him watch his family die…
But she didn’t. Instead she took a martron to go over her datapad, and hold it up to Barry. On the screen was a static image, zoomed in on a familiar hand holding an unfamiliar gun. “This is the AS-P Mark 2 Transporter Gun. It’s actually not allowed here as well, my sisters are interrogating the person it was stolen from for possible corporate espionage.”
“What?” He felt confusion bubble up to the surface as Jakod slowly eased their control. “I don’t… what does that mean?”
“It means…” Jakod took their hand away to let Barry fully feel the tidal wave of emotions. “Barry Nyne shot your brothers with a device meant to teleport stolen objects.”
“Barry,” even though she was still smiling, there were tears in Karol’s bright blue eyes. “Your brothers are still alive out there.”
Barry broke. He also broke the chair in order to reach out and hug both Karol and Jakod, but apparently it needed to be replaced anyway.
—-
Barry left with his armor in a box, fifteen credits, a ticket for a shuttle offworld since Nyne took the ship, and a mission.
His brothers weren’t dead- just spread to all corners of the galaxy, waiting for Barry Syx to come and find them. Maybe they’ve already started looking for him, and he’ll turn the corner to find Eleven or Three waiting with a big hug. Maybe they’ve already beat up Nyne and will save a kick for him. …Maybe they’re still dead, dumped into the vacuum of space or underwater or in a pit of fire.
Jarod and Karol couldn’t track the signature of where the teleporter sent them, since Nyne took the gun with him. That was okay, though. Barrys weren’t afraid of hard work, and those two already did so much.
Karol volunteered to walk him to the shuttle, hand on his arm as a gentle guide. She kept talking at him, even though he was too caught up in his own head to listen. He didn’t mind though- it meant he didn’t have to deal with being alone, not yet.
When they arrived at the station, Karol patted Barry on the arm. “It’s going to be okay, I promise.”
“Heh, well… you can’t keep the Barry Battalion down.”
“Of course! Oh, before you go, I have something for you!” Karol pulled a booklet out of her purse, and tore out a piece of paper on it. “Here!”
Barry took it. It was a Re-Admittance Ticket, ‘good for the whole family!’. “Uh… thank you?”
“I know that this experience wasn’t… ideal, and we wouldn’t blame you if you never wanted to come back, but…” Karol gave an awkward little shrug. “If you and your brothers ever wanted to come back, just show this and you’ll get in, free of charge!”
“I…” Barry couldn’t breathe. The idea of returning to the place his brothers were ripped from him was… horrible. Once he stepped off this planet, he never wanted to return. But Karol was smiling up at him, and he couldn’t say no to her after what she’s done to help him. “I’ll think about it.”
“Karol! Hey, Karol!” He turned to see- Karol. Same chipper smile, same perfect hair, slightly different Smaggy Squirrel pin on her jacket. “We just had a meeting about the Terrapins in the Reptile House. Where were you?”
“Just helping out Barry here!” Karol patted him on the arm again. “Karol, meet Barry Syx. Barry Syx, meet Karol.”
“Always good to meet a Karol,” Barry shook Karol’s hand, then looked back over at Karol. “I didn’t know you had sisters.”
“I’ve got seven.” Karol grinned up at him. “If you need me, let me know. Us clones have to stick together.”