Chapter Text
Before
His new home looked like hell. Literally. Everything was dim and reddish and it would have been very hard to see at all if he didn't have brand new demon vision. And what did he look like to his new eyes? He wasn't sure. Was there a mirror around here somewhere? He walked slowly across the dark, dusty ground, just taking everything in. Tap, tap, tap, taptaptap... racing footsteps. He found himself ducking just as a creature sailed over his head. The thing landed on its feet and whirled, growling at him, baring a mouthful of long fangs. He blinked at it. It looked... humanoid, as far as he could tell from its stance. But it clearly wasn't human at all. Its face was mostly covered by shaggy lavender hair, but its snarling mouth made its intentions quite clear. The thing paced closer, its growl rumbling louder. Its skin was covered in the same dark purple patterns that covered his own skin, and he felt a small shudder of horror work his way through him. "What are you?" he demanded, walking up to it and poking it on the nose. The demon stopped growling, its jaw dropping open in obvious shock. A new voice said suddenly, "That's you in a century or two, give or take a couple decades, kid." The newcomer was a tall, muscular demon with the same purple patterns on his skin, sharp dark eyebrows, and harsh yellow eyes. The shorter demon rumbled, "I'm not a kid." The muscular one raised an eyebrow pointedly. "My mistake," he snarked. "You're certainly the newest demon here, so that makes you the baby."
The younger demon gawked, then snapped, "I'm not a baby either. And what did you mean by me being... that guy... in a century or two?" The taller one replied lazily, stretching his huge arms and flexing them, "The more souls you consume, the more your humanity fades, Baby." The younger demon growled, his small hands clenching into fists. Why did the first demons he met have to be so ANNOYING? He asked finally, "Do you guys even have names?" The muscled one answered, now stretching his back, "Not really. Just nicknames at this point. He's Mystery." He pointed at the silent demon, then at his chest as he announced, "I'm Abby." His smile turned wicked as he teased, "And you're Baby." Baby was already resigned to the fact that this was going to be his name forever because Abby wouldn't shut up. But cursing under his breath helped his mood a little bit. Mystery was standing still now, his mouth set in a nearly blank line, the long fangs still curving out and down his chin. Baby asked him finally, "Can you even talk?" To Baby's surprise, Mystery nodded. Baby guessed, smirking faintly, "But you don't want to." Mystery nodded again. Okay, maybe the silent demon wasn't so bad. At least he wasn't actively annoying Baby every other second. And at least he hadn't given him that dumb nickname in the first place.
Abby's yellow eyes skimmed over Baby, presumably sizing him up, then the taller demon offered, "You should come with us. Not every demon is as friendly as Mystery there." Baby glanced apprehensively at the silent demon, who was now grinning almost from ear to ear, all his lethal fangs on full display. If Mystery was what they considered a "friendly" demon, then there were bound to be some very ruthless demons around, Baby figured. Then Abby laughed, and Baby glared at him. Abby snorted, "You really thought I was being serious?" Baby shrugged, pointing out, "How would I know? Mystery's the first demon I've met besides Gwi-Ma." Mystery rubbed at one of his skinny arms, then motioned for Baby to follow them as Abby and he began walking away. Baby sighed. He began following them, and Mystery fell into step at his side, seemingly shortening his own stride so that Baby wouldn't have to struggle to keep up. Abby was decidedly further up ahead now, seemingly eager to get going. Baby yelled, "Hey, wait!" Abby turned back, sighing. He jogged back to them, muttering something about 'short legs' and rolling his eyes more than what Baby felt was strictly necessary. Abby hefted Baby up onto his back, and Baby yelped in surprise as the muscular demon carried him. Mystery kept pace, loping easily along behind them like some kind of wild animal.
Baby could just enjoy the landscape from his higher vantage point, although the landscape wasn't much to enjoy. Very red and dusty. He sighed faintly, looking around, not entirely wanting to be ambushed by any other demons. And then one practically tackled Baby to the ground, long claws flashing as the new demon hissed. Baby pushed back, his own clawed hands scratching at the attacker. Then a big hand pulled the attacking demon off of Baby, and he saw that Abby was the one who'd pulled the newcomer away. The new demon was skinny, with long pink hair (of all colors, PINK) and small tusks at the lower corners of his mouth. Abby sighed, telling the pink-haired demon, "He wasn't attacking me, Rom. He's fine." He informed Baby, "This is Romance. Romance, this is Baby. Newest member of our group. Mys seems to like him okay." Romance's yellow eyes narrowed, then he muttered, "I don't trust the little guy as far as I could throw him." Baby stuck his tongue out at him. Romance snarled and lashed out with his claws, only to be blocked by Mystery. The silent demon lunged, throwing Romance a few feet, and the pink-haired demon gasped in shock. "Did you see that, Abby?" Romance yelped indignantly, pointing accusingly at Mystery, who was now crossing his arms, his long fangs still bared. Abby sighed, reaching a hand down to help Romance to his feet. "Yeah, I saw," the muscular demon replied, pointing out, "I seem to recall you attacking first."
Romance pouted, whining, "You're supposed to take my side." Abby sighed again. "I always do, Rom," he muttered, wrapping his arm around Romance in a half hug. Baby smirked as he glanced over at Mystery, and the silent demon grinned back. Then Baby swiftly turned to Abby, demanding, "Any other surprise friends of yours I should know about? Before I almost get turned into barbecue?" Abby grimaced slightly, although it looked like the muscular demon was hiding a smile. "There's just one. Jinu," he replied. "He's the leader of our group." Baby asked, "Is he insane like this one?" He gestured with his thumb at Romance, and the pink-haired demon snarled at him. Abby answered, "He's all right. He's more level-headed than Romance is." Baby sighed in relief, and the four walked onward, Romance still shooting a glare at Baby every other moment. There didn't seem to be any place to rest, which made sense considering demons probably didn't need it. Baby found that he didn't get tired either, at least not physically. He was already emotionally drained of having to deal with Abby, and he'd only just met the annoying musclehead. He imagined living with this group for eternity, and he groaned aloud.
After
Baby was shaking slightly as he sat on the back steps of some building. He didn't know which one and he didn't care. How had everything gone so horribly wrong? The Saja Boys had done their little song and dance, and then that half-demon hunter - Rumi, he thought her name was - had shown up and ruined everything. First Jinu had literally DIED giving Rumi his soul. He hadn't even given the other Saja Boys chairs, and he gave this random hunter his literal SOUL. Mystery had been attacked by Zoey, the hunter that seemed to have a crush on Baby's best friend. And then Abby had been killed by that other hunter. Romance was the only one that Baby knew for sure was safe. Well, as safe as he could be. The pink-haired demon no longer had pink hair (he claimed it was part of the disguise, but Baby knew better), and his eyes were dull. Baby would have tried to care more, but right now he was worrying about Mystery. He hadn't seen if Mystery had escaped or if that hunter had killed him. He vividly remembered seeing his best friend's face for the first time. The missing right eye, the scars. He knew now why Mystery had always covered his face with his hair. Romance's whiny voice cut into Baby's thoughts. The dramatic demon was saying, "What are we gonna do? Abby's dead and... and Jinu's dead... and Mystery's dead too!" Baby whirled, leaping up and slamming Romance into the brick wall, growling low in his chest.
"Mystery is NOT dead," Baby rumbled in his deep voice, well aware his eyes were probably glowing yellow. Romance only blinked at him, the other demon's eyes wide and already filling with tears. "H-how do you know?" Romance finally pointed out. "He'd... he'd be with us if he was alive, right?" Baby snorted, trying not to show how worried he was. "He's probably fine, just scared," the younger demon said, patting Romance awkwardly on the shoulder as he released him. Romance finally managed, "But the others... they're definitely dead." Baby rolled his eyes. He'd known the dramatic demon would flip his lid over the others, especially Abby. Sure, Baby was a bit shaken himself from the whole thing, but Romance needed to just deal with it. Abby was almost sure to be in the demon world, unless Gwi-Ma had destroyed his soul by now. Baby wasn't going to tell Romance that though. The dramatic demon was definitely going to turn into a vegetable if Baby said that. And whatever had happened to Jinu... well, that was just plain weird. Baby had seen Jinu's soul actually leave his body and somehow fuse with that hunter's blade. He wasn't sure how that worked, but Jinu was most certainly gone. As for Mystery, the silent demon had disappeared entirely, and Baby hadn't seen whether he'd been sliced down or whether he escaped.
Baby took a deep breath, then told Romance, "What we don't need is to be panicking right now. We need a plan, bruh." Romance fiddled with the rings on his hands, nodding slightly. "I-I guess," the other demon managed. "Do you have any ideas?" Baby shrugged, admitting, "A couple. Remember Jinu's big plan to steal HUNTR/X fans?" Romance's eyes narrowed. "Yes..." the dramatic demon replied. "How are we gonna steal their fans if we're not the Saja Boys anymore? The fans think the group disbanded. And how are we gonna write new songs when half of our brainpower is dead?" Baby explained with a sly grin, "Nobody said we had to write new songs, now did they?" Romance started to ask, "What..." Baby could see the realization slowly sinking into the dramatic demon's face, and his own grin widened. Romance said softly, "We're going to do their songs, aren't we?" Baby nodded, then answered, "Yup." It seemed like Romance suddenly grew a brain cell or two, because he stated flatly, "'Takedown.' We gotta cover 'Takedown' first." Baby remarked, "You read my mind, Romance hyung."
K-Pop fans all through the streets of Seoul, if they happened to be scrolling through their social media, would find a video of two guys singing HUNTR/X's "Takedown." The shorter guy mostly looked like a bored kid, his eyes narrowed slightly. The taller guy looked slim and delicate, his long black bangs parted neatly. His voice held strong through the words, "I see your real face and it's ugly as sin, time to put you in your place 'cause you're rotten within, when your patterns start to show it makes the hatred wanna grow out of my veins, I don't think you're ready for the takedown, break you into pieces in a world of pain 'cause you're all the same, yeah, it's a takedown, a demon with no feelings don't deserve to live, it's so obvious..." One fan muttered to another as they watched the video together, "These guys are doing the song way better than HUNTR/X did." They both gasped as the shorter guy in the video suddenly launched into a fierce rap, his voice shockingly deep for such a small, youthful-looking guy. The shorter guy was rapping, "It's a takedown, I'mma take you out, you break down like 'what?' It's a takedown, I'mma take you out and I ain't gonna stop..." The other fan chuckled, "Little guy's got attitude, look at him." And the Honmoon, invisible to humans, flickered slightly.
Baby watched the threads of the Honmoon shift, and he smirked over at Romance. They were standing on the observation deck of Namsan Tower, looking over the place where everything had gone wrong. Baby had to make himself think that things had just... gone wrong. That no one died. Because if he thought about that too much, he might get as mopey as Romance looked 24/7 now that Abby was gone. Romance's eyes were fixed, unblinking, and Baby had to wave a hand in front of him to get the older demon's attention. "Hyung-nim, look," Baby wheedled, tugging on Romance's arm. "The Honmoon is weakening from our little performance." Romance nodded a little, seemingly deep in thought. "Yes..." the dramatic demon admitted. "Yes, it is." He finally looked at Baby, a faint, hopeful smile on his face. Then he suddenly swept Baby into a hug, and the younger demon tensed for a moment before letting Romance hang onto him. Honestly, the dramatic demon probably needed it. And Baby probably did too, although he'd rather rip off his own arms than admit it. He felt wetness soaking into his shirt and he pretended to gag. "You're crying on me, dude," he said, awkwardly patting the dramatic demon on the back. "You can let go now." Romance only clung tighter, sobbing. Baby sighed in exasperation, "Oooooor not." The dramatic demon spluttered, "I'm not wearing makeup now. Let me cry while I can." Baby groaned, rolling his eyes.
Before
Jinu looked the most normal of the four other guys. Well, at least Baby thought so. Jinu didn't have a mouthful of fangs like Mystery and he didn't seem to be a drama queen (king?) like Romance. And he wasn't quite as bulky and muscular as Abby. But the older demon seemed to radiate the sort of charisma that only natural leaders seemed to have. Baby figured it would be a good idea to stick around Jinu. The smallest demon watched the group carefully, not wanting to get too attached, just in case. Abby stayed close to Jinu, the two biggest demons hanging out like best friends, Abby sometimes leaning on Jinu's shoulder as the group chatted. Well, it was really just Abby and Romance and Jinu chatting. Mystery said nothing, as usual. Romance smiled at Abby often, his tusks gleaming as he did. Baby pretended to gag when Abby grinned back. Were those two a couple? It seemed so, judging from how Romance had told Abby earlier that they were supposed to always be on the same side. Mystery merely seemed content to sit in the group's presence, his head sometimes turning sharply to one side as if on guard.
Time slipped by weirdly here. Demons didn't need to sleep or eat, so Baby spent his time with his new, friends, he supposed he could call them. Although he learned to be wary of spending too much time around Abby when he caught the muscular demon and Romance passionately kissing once. Maybe more than once. Baby wasn't grossed out by them both being guys, he was just grossed out by the kissing in general. Baby didn't really see why it was such a big deal. As he hurried away from another public display of affection, courtesy of Romance and Abby, he heard a strange sound. It was... singing? A soft, high, clear voice, singing some old song that Baby didn't know. He followed the sound and his jaw nearly fell to the ground when he saw that it was Mystery who was singing. The silent demon didn't seem to notice he had an audience. He kept singing, his voice weirdly angelic. His shaggy-haired head turned suddenly and he stopped. Baby muttered, "I ain't gonna judge. You go on." Mystery took a step toward Baby, the silent demon offering him a faint smile. Baby gave him a smirk in return.