Family Fun! (Bad End Friends)

Successor

His voice only ever said one thing: "Feed the lantern, save your brother"

He had said it so many times that it was engraved in the lantern bearer's memory. It was the same thing over and over again, and to be honest, Wirt liked it that way. He enjoyed routine and order, he didn't want anything to change. His voice could say those same words over and over again for all of eternity and Wirt would be fine with it. 

But, unfortunately for him, things change.

It had only happened once. The Beast's voice would say this weird gobbledygook of words and he would nearly pass out. But it had happened once, so he didn't think much of it. But then it started to happen more often. The words started to become more frequent. . . more clear. Till finally, Wirt could understand what they were saying. 

Ţ̵̡̡̨̛̦̪͖̰̮̰͓͈͍̮͇̺̽̈́͛̒̈͆̎̀̀̑̇̍͝ȧ̵̢̞̭̯̳̲̱̱̠͎̟̺̝̝̝̠̣̮̗͗͛͋̓̎̔͌̿̏̿͛̓͛̀̈́͘̕͜͝k̷̨̡̧̞͍͔̜̻̥̫̱̠̞̥̥͚͖͔͙͋͛͐̈́͛̅̋̒̍̀̆͛͜͜e̵̢̲͓̩̲̫͔̾̒̀̃͘̚͜͜ͅͅ ̴̨̛̛̠̦͚̩̘̹͙̫͚̗̭̇͗̈̾̐͌́̚͜͝͠͝m̵̨͎̜̬͔̝͇̟̼̫̻͕̞͙͍̬̐̑̈́̈́̅̇́̅̊͒͋̍̌́͒͐̓̈́͗́̕͝y̸̧̯͎̳̆̏̊̾̄̃̓̅͌́̀̔̿̕͠ ̵̢̭̖͕͖͔̲͕̺̝̺͝p̴̜͉̯̪̬͎̣͔̖̪͙͈̺̠̠̼͖̤̟̏̔̓̄̐̑̃͊̕̕͜͠ͅḻ̴̛̈́̄̒͆͋̉̾̏̍̚͝a̷̪̲͈̎͆͌́̈́͠c̴͎̰̞̙͛͑̆̕͠͠e̵̛̩͎͚̮͖͔̗̩̦̭̲̗̳̲̻̊̿̐̌͐̐͆̚

The lantern bearer growled and his eye started swirling and changing different colors. His head was pounding and all he could see was the Beast's glowing white eyes. 

C̶̨̡̧̜͍̥̰̤̼͕̭̺̯͍̮̩̓̈́̅́̊͋̾̄͋̽͑̃̕͠o̴̲͍̬̼͉̿̑̍͋́̐͒̈́̌͗̉̓̏̉͛̾̈͌̃̆͘ḿ̸̼̼̪̘̯̪̬̲̬̩̂̃̏̾͛̅͒͗͜͝ę̸̛̘̹̻̗̗͈͆̒̒̽̀̾͊͒̎̎͂̔͆̂͋̽̑̕̕͝͝ͅ ̸̣̺̈́t̵͉͐̇͘̕ö̵̢͓͓̭̯̞͈̞͙́̓̈́͐̔͋̇̏̄͋̈́͝ ̵͙̺̳̮̤͖̞͕͗̓̌́̋̈́̉͋̊̇͜m̷̡̧̨̦̯͕͕͓͚͈͈̺̰̳͓͕̗͕̜͙̈́̒͗͒͑̅̃̄̈́͊̊̂̊̀͊̉̆͜ë̶̛̮́̈̿͋̀̃.̸̢̧̨̫͉͎̬̲̝̝̞̲̥͈̟͗͊̇̈́̒͒̈́̊̐̄̎̃̚̕ ̸̛̳̲̮̋Ţ̵͇͓̜̞̝͈̼̠͎̻̓̂̍̊̀́͊̀̿̉̑͌̍̃͘̚͝͝ͅa̸̢̪̼̗̼̞̱͑̉̿̈͛̑̇ͅk̴̡̞̹͍̞̪̦̯̼̈́̒͌̓̑̈́̓̅̓̄̓͜ͅȩ̴̧̥̪̼̪̪̰͕͉̦͉̬̦̦̝̣̟͋̆̓̓̓̽̉͌̉ͅ ̴̛̠͙̟͕͚͎͙̟͖̳̦̱̰̺͉̟̄́̽̒͂͒̑͐͗̓͋͋͂͂̔͝͝͝m̷̨̧͈͎̻̟̫̞̳̼̰̖͚̞̭̎̈̽̇̈́̓͆͑̐̍̈́̓̉͗͋̈̃̾́̚͘̚̚ŷ̶̧̢̡̝͍͔̦̝̠̤̱͖̠̱̣͇̭̗̲͆̽̑͆͐̈́̇̕ ̸̪̮̻͇͕̼͔͉̯͉̮̰̑̏̒́Ṗ̴͉̗͇̝̱͊̽͌͑̓́͊̀̕͝ͅl̴̨̧̧͓͈̖̻̟̯̻̲̳̬͉̳̬̬͙̲͗̉̀͑͗͠ą̴̛̞̲̘̜͍͇̬̹͔̫̻̻̜͕͎͖̯̈̽́̋̿̏̓̾̓̾̓͛̍͊̀̔̓́̇̓̚͝ͅc̵̨̟͓̠̼̭̮̟̤̤͍͇̞̞̞̆͆̽̄̈́͒͂̃͌̎̍e̸̘̔̂̃̓

Wirt hissed and slowly the pain faded away. But the words didn't. They stayed in his head like a plague, poisoning his thoughts and killing him from the inside. He couldn't ignore it anymore. He had to find the Beast.

~~~

"Hey Marco," Wirt said as he poked his head into Marco's room. The winged demon was sitting in a swivel chair watching youtube when Wirt had come in. "Oh hey, Wirt. What's up? You never come in here?" Yeah cause your room looks like a pigsty, Wirt thought to himself. "Look I just need to know where your dimensional scissors are." Marco thought for a moment then rummaged around his mess of a room for the scissors. Wirt impatiently tapped his foot and huffed. He didn't have time for this. "Hmm, now that I remember, I think Bipper has it." Wirt nodded and made his way over to Bipper's room.