#/the swap | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

the-red-mafia · 2 years

Text

The Swap

When Zaeor messes up a protection spell for the mansion, the Red Mafia's souls end up getting mixed up. Shenanigans ensue, but will they be able to return to normal? And what will they find out about each other?

A/N: Our schedule got messed up, so we'll be posting a story next Saturday, 12/17, to get back on track.

MAJOR TW FOR SELF-HARM FOR THIS STORY

Also available on Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/user/TheRedMafia

Next Update: [Updated] Word Count: 3804

2 weeks after “The Reunion”

“Ok so explain to me one more time what happened Zaeor?” The god sighed, looking around the living room at the three red mafia members in front of him.

“My spell went wrong and instead of improving the mansion's defenses, it caused your souls to switch bodies. There’s not much more to explain.” Thorn’s body narrowed its eyes at him.

“How exactly do you mess up a spell that badly?”

“I don’t know Solana, I don’t know.”

“Well, I hope you have some way to fix it,” Maroon’s body chimed in, crossing their arms.

“What Maroon- no, what Thorn said. Fuck, this is so confusing!” Thorn’s body, being controlled by Solana, yelled out, throwing its arms up in the air.

“Careful Solana, don’t hurt my body,” Thorn scolded in Maroon’s voice.

“I, for one, am very uncomfortable with this situation,” Velvet’s voice chimed in from on the couch, the slightest inkling of a British accent being heard.

“We all are Maroon, we all are,” Zaeor muttered. Thorn stifled a laugh.

“I gotta admit, I’m glad Maroon’s accent translated to Velvet’s voice. British Velvet is very amusing,” they said, smirking.

“Oh, don’t like the idea of Maroon smirking,” Solana muttered. Zaeor sighed and shook his head slightly.

“I understand this situation is very stressful. I’m going back to my home to work on a solution, but I need you three to find Mad and Sol- Mad and Velvet and explain to them what’s going on.” The trio nodded and Zaeor waved his hand, disappearing into a cloud of shadows.

“Solana, where were you headed?” Thorn asked.

“To my room, I had just opened the door.”

“So that means Mad’s in Solana’s body?” Maroon began, “And Velvet’s in Mad?” Thorn’s body nodded.

“I’m headed up to my room to get Mad, you two should go find Velvet. Gods know what chaos they’ll get into.”

“It is so weird to see myself talk,” Thorn muttered, shuddering. Solana rolled his eyes.

“I have to go see Mad, the robot, in my body. You’ll get over it.”

Solana walked up the stairs and turned towards the West wing.

“Mad?” They called out in Thorn’s voice, “You over here?” They quickly looked around the small indent in the wall where their door was and saw their body sitting on the floor in front of the door. As soon as they stopped their body looked up at them and let out a small shriek, causing Solana to jump a little as well.

“Woah-”

“Who are you?!” Their voice demanded, sounding somewhat different than normal. Solana tipped her head, well, Thorn’s head in confusion.

“Huh? It’s me, Solana. Well- I’m in Thorn’s body but that’s a whole different story.”

“What?!”

“Look Mad, I understand that this has to be insanely disorientating-”

“Mad? Who’s Mad?” Solana’s eyes widened and they looked down at their body for multiple minutes.

“If you’re not Mad, who are you?”

“My name is Dr. Eleanor Valentine, who are you?”

Velvet was not enjoying their current experience.

Trust me, I’m not either, a voice, from what seemed to be the back of Velvet’s mind, replied. They groaned.

“Shut up Mad!” Velvet shouted, the sound becoming slightly distorted due to Mad’s speakers. Velvet groaned again.

This fucking sucks, she thought, I can’t feel any part of my body, my voice sounds like stupid fucking Mad’s, and the stupid robot can hear my fucking thoughts!

I’m not stupid, the voice answered, I’m a robot, that’s not possible.

Shut up!

“Velvet?” the faint voice of a non-British Maroon called out from down the hallway, “Are you over here?”

“I don’t know, am I?” They shouted back sarcastically.

“They’re over here Maroon!”

Wait, wasn’t that Maroon speaking? Velvet thought, sitting Mad’s robot body down on the floor of the hall.

If your soul got switched here it makes sense that everyone else's would've too, that’s probably someone else in Maroon’s body.

You are so annoying, oh my gods. I can figure shit out on my own.

` If you insist. Maroon quickly popped their head around the corner.

“Hey Velvie,” they said, smirking.

“Shut up. Since when did you call me that?”

“Oh, it’s Thorn. Everyone’s souls have been swapped.”

“How the fuck-” Velvet’s body quickly joined Maroon’s and smiled at her.

“Hey Velvet!” a slightly-British sounding Velvet said cheerfully.

“That’s Maroon by the way,” Thorn clarified.

“Yeah, I guessed that. Don’t do that with my body, that looks so fucking weird.”

“Do what?”

“Smile.”

“Calm down emo,” Thorn joked, “Why’s the screen acting like that?” Velvet tilted the T.V. head slightly.

“What’s it doing? I can’t see it.”

“It’s like…glitching. Almost like one of those old static TVs,” Maroon chimed in.

What? It’s never done that before… Velvet cringed inside their mind.

“Ok Maroon, I’m gonna need you to just. Stop talking.”

“Sorry.”

“Stop.”

“Ah! Sorry-”

“Maroon!” Thorn let out a sigh.

“Velvet, can you walk?” they asked, turning to look at the body of Mad.

“I make no promises. Mad’s limbs are so…lanky.”

My limbs are tactically designed, not “lanky”.

“Shut up!” Velvet yelled, placing the robotic hands on the TV. Thorn raised an eyebrow.

“Nobody said anything?” Velvet sighed and shook the TV.

“Not you, Mad. They’re being fucking annoying.” Maroon and Thorn looked at each other and then back at Velvet.

“Mad’s…still there?” Thorn said cautiously.

“Depressingly.”

I apologize.

“But how’s that possible?” Maroon began, making Velvet cringe once more, “Mad’s supposed to be in Solana’s body?”

“I can guarantee they are not,” Velvet muttered. Thorn narrowed Maroon’s eyes.

“Then who’s in Solana’s body?”

“You’re…who?” Solana watched as their body narrowed its eyes at them.

“Dr. Eleanor Valentine, Head of the AET Rescue and Reconnaissance Department.”

“Wait, what?”

“Answer my question.” Solana stared blankly at their body, blinking a few times before speaking.

“Uhm,” they began, “My name is Solana Roison.”

“Where am I?”

“The Red Mafia’s HQ.”

“What is this ‘Red Mafia’ and why do I look like this? What happened to my ears?”

“Solana!” Velvet’s voice called out. Maroon quickly appeared in the hallway, panting.

“That’s not…they’re not…” Solana rolled her eyes.

“That’s not them? Yeah, I’m well aware.”

“What is going on?” Solana’s voice yelled, scooting back even more so their back was pushed against a wall, “Who’s that?” Solana sighed and turned back to face the scientist.

“Dr. Valentine, everything is going to be ok. Please take a deep breath and calm down.”

“I am calm!”

“Wait,” Maroon mumbled, “Dr. Valentine, like-”

“Yes,” Solana whispered, “Doctor, there are a few things you should know. Firstly, you are in the year 2364.” Elanor’s eyes widened.

“That’s…that’s not possible! Just this morning it was 2052!”

“What exactly do you remember?” Elanor appeared deep in thought for a few moments.

“I was on a rescue mission with my rescue bot, M.M.A.D. or Mad for short. We were headed to investigate a spaceship crash and…” Solana’s face scrunched up and their body grabbed at its stomach, “I’m dead! Is this the afterlife? I-I-”

“Dr. Valentine, please take a deep breath,” Solana said, placing a reassuring hand on their shoulder. Elanor took a few deep breaths and placed his hands on his head.

“I-I don’t understand,” The scientist mumbled. Maroon knelt down and looked at Elanor.

“It’s a bit complicated, but I’ll try to explain it. Your physical body did die, but your soul remained and combined with Mad’s AI. This allowed them to gain sentience and live on. Now, all the souls in our group have been mixed up, which is why you’re an elf.”

“Mad…it has my soul?” Elanor mumbled, placing their hand over their chest. Maroon nodded, a slight smile on their face.

“...Can I see them?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Solana chimed in, “Due to the soul swap, Mad’s body is inhabited by Velvet, one of our teammates. She can be a bit…difficult at times.” Elanor looked sad but nodded.

“Ok, I understand.” Solana looked down at his body sympathetically.

“I could show you some photos of them on my cell phone? Their room is also nearby, would you like to walk over there?” Elanor’s face lit up and they quickly stood.

“I’d love to!” the doctor said, before looking up at Solana, “...this body is quite short.”

“Hey!” Maroon also stood and smiled.

“Well, I should go back to Thorn and Velvet,” they said, turning to leave. Solana grabbed their hand and spun Maroon back around.

“Wait, give me a sec,” they said, “Dr. Valentine, could you hand me the cell phone in the left pocket of that coat you’re wearing?” Elanor slipped Solana’s hand into the pocket and quickly gave it over.

“Here, and please, call me Eleanor.” Thorn’s head nodded and they turned back to Maroon, opening their phone.

“Ok, do that again.”

“Do what?”

“Smile, I want a picture.” Maroon tilted Velvet’s head in confusion.

“Why?”

“Blackmail.” Maroon sighed.

“Velvet will kill me.”

“I’ll protect you, now smile.” Maroon rolled their eyes and smiled. Solana quickly snapped a photo and chuckled evilly.

“Thank you for your assistance Maroon,” she said before turning back to Elanor, “Now, follow me…”

Thorn quickly glanced towards the sound of crashing. Mad’s body remained seated on the floor near the Madbay, but also turning towards the noise.

“Maroon?” Thorn called out, “Is that you? You ok?” Ae heard a faint “Yeah” from the direction of the staircase. A few moments later, Velvet’s body popped up in the corridor.

“What the fuck did you do to my shirt?” The robotic voice demanded. Maroon jumped a bit then looked down at Velvet’s outfit. The left arm of the turtleneck had been torn in half and a bruise had begun to form on Velvet’s left knee. The tear was on the top part of the sleeve, causing the fabric to droop down from about halfway up the forearm.

“I fell down the stairs and the shirt got stuck on one of the banisters, sorry.”

“It’s always my orange turtlenecks…” Velvet muttered, “Whatever, go change it.”

“Uhm-”

“There’s a shirt underneath the turtleneck, gods. Just grab the black hoodie off my bed and use that.”

“Can’t I just keep it on? It’s not that bad-”

“No!” Velvet shouted hastily, earning confused looks from her teammates, “Just go change it, Maroon.”

“Before you go,” Thorn chimed in, “What’s up with Mad?”

“Oh, that. When Mad’s soul went to Solana’s body their creator seemingly regained consciousness? I’m not sure.”

Does that mean-

Mad. Shut.

“How is that possible?” Thorn asked. Maroon shrugged.

“No idea.”

Elanor is upstairs?

Mad if you don’t shut the fuck up I will shut this body down.

That would turn you off too.

So be it, if it shuts you up.

“So where are they now?” Thorn asked, leaning maroon’s body against a wall.

“Going to Mad’s room so Elanor can look at some of Mad’s stuff.”

Tell them to look in the drawers, Elanor’s old journals are in there.

“Mad said to tell them to look in some drawers, something something old notebooks,” Velvet relayed. Maroon nodded and gave them a thumbs-up, which caused Velvet to cringe once more.

“Can Mad not speak?” Thorn asked. Velvet shrugged.

“I’m sure they could, but I’m not letting them”

“Ah.”

Can you ask them why they didn’t bring Elanor here? Velvet mentally groaned, but repeated the question.

“With Velvet in control of Mad’s body, Solana decided that it wasn’t the best idea.”

“Hey!” Velvet protested, “I’m not that bad!” Thorn laughed.

“You are that bad, Velvie.” Velvet kicked one of Mad's legs forward, connecting with the feet of Maroon’s body and causing Thorn to fall to the ground.

“Velvet!” Maroon called out, extending a hand to help Thorn up.

“What? He deserved it.”

You’re hurting Maroon’s body, not Thorn’s. Don’t hurt Maroon just because you’re mad at Thorn. Velvet paused for a second as Maroon helped their body stand once more.

“...Sorry.” Thorn smirked.

“Did Velvet Bolton just apologize to me?”

“Don’t get used to it, frūx.”

“I’m honored.”

“Shut up.”

Maroon slowly opened the door to Velvet’s bedroom and walked inside. The teen shut the door and looked around for the black hoodie Velvet had instructed them to retrieve. Maroon walked over to the bed and picked up the fabric, smiling. In one swift motion, they began to pull the orange top off of the body. Maroon felt a slight pain in their left forearm as they threw the turtleneck onto Velvet’s bed. They looked down to see various red, irritated cuts in Velvet’s skin. Their eyes widened as they sat down on Velvet’s bed, placing the arm on their lap.

“What the…” Maroon mumbled, looking down at the wounds. There seemed to be various specks of dirt in and around the cuts. Maroon wiped some of it away, wincing in pain. There were other ones too, although they seemed to be healed.

Where did Velvet get these wounds? Maroon thought, staring at the arm, And why are they so dirty? The teen winced in pain again as they moved the arm.

“Ow,” they said quietly, looking at the cuts again, “Is Velvet in this pain all the time? Why haven’t they said anything?” It took them a couple of minutes to get the black hoodie onto their lap with the on-and-off pain from the wounds. They closed their eyes for a moment. When they opened them, however, they were no longer in Velvet’s grayed-out room. Instead, they were seated on the floor of the West corridor, where they had found Mad’s body. Zaeor was standing in front of them, smiling warmly.

“Welcome back, Maroon,” the god said happily, holding a hand out to them. Maroon jumped slightly, but eventually took his hand and stood up.

“So you found a way to switch us back? That was fast.” Zaeor laughed as the sounds of Mad booting up echoed around them.

“We got lucky that the spellbook holding the original spell was aware of its similarity to another and took the proper precautions. There was a counterspell in the back of the book that I missed on my first read-through.”

“Ah.”

“Oh thank god,” Mad’s voice exclaimed. Zaeor and Maroon both turned to the robot, who was still sitting on the floor against the wall. Zaeor chuckled and extended a hand to them as well.

“Hello Mad, how are you feeling?” Mad’s screen went blank and it slowly stood, avoiding Zaeor’s hand. The god frowned.

“Mad, listen-”

“I don’t want to talk to you right now, Zaeor,” they said in a monotone voice before turning to Maroon, “Are you ok, Maroon?”

“Mhm, I’m fine. Are you alright?” A smiling emoticon overtook their screen.

“I’m fine! Sharing a body with Velvet is just…a bit jarring, that’s all. Especially when they’re freaked out, apparently.” Maroon gave them a confused look, which they responded to with a laugh.

“Velvet may try to appear stone-cold and such, but they got really freaked out by the body swap.”

“What about me?” Velvet’s voice called from the end of the hallway. The three people jumped slightly before turning to look at her. She had finished putting on the black hoodie and walked down the corridor towards them.

“Jeez, Velvet,” Zaeor muttered, “Didn’t even hear you come down the stairs.” They scoffed.

“You’d think you of all people would be used to this by now.”

“Yeah, that’s fair.” Velvet looked at their teammates, locking eyes with Maroon. Their expression remained blank, but it sent a chill down Maroon’s spine. The younger teen stared at her for a few seconds before smiling nervously.

“H-how are you feeling, Velvet?”

“Fine. I have to talk to you.”

“A-alright.” A question mark appeared on Mad’s screen.

“About what?” it asked.

“None of your business, Mad,” Velvet replied, not breaking eye contact with Maroon, “By the way, you’re a snarky bastard when you don’t have your soul.” Mad laughed, the smiling emoticon returning to the screen.

“I was told that a few times during my development.”

“Snarky Mad?” Zaeor joked, “That I would like to see.” Mad shook their T.V. head at the god.

“Unfortunately for you, Zaeor, I don’t plan on losing my soul anytime soon.”

“Right, of course.”

“If you two are done,” Velvet interjected, stepping forward and grabbing Maroon’s wrist, “We’re leaving. Mad, can you check on the others?”

“Woah, wait, are you sho-”

“Shut it. And tell Thorn to leave us alone and not immediately come to find Maroon like a lost puppy. We’re gonna be a bit.” Mad let out a sigh and turned to watch the two of them walk in the opposite direction.

“I don’t think comparing Thorn to a puppy is fair.”

“Woah, that’s crazy ‘cause I didn’t ask.” Zaeor stifled a laugh as the two teens disappeared. Mad turned on their heels and walked towards the stairs, ignoring him. Zaeor watched it leave before sighing.

That’s going to be an issue.

Solana quickly blinked and looked down to see their own body below them.

“Oh thank gods,” The elf muttered, sighing. Thorn’s body quickly opened its own eyes as well and smiled.

“It worked!” ae said, looking at Solana.

“Zaeor figured it out then?”

“Mhm, how’d things go with Dr. Valentine?” Solana sighed again and picked a book up from beside Thorn.

“I didn’t think a single human being could be that passionate about science but here we are.” Thorn laughed.

“That bad huh?”

“It’s clear where Mad’s personality comes from now, that’s for sure.” Thorn stood up and held their hand out to Solana.

“I suppose we should go meet up with the others then?” The elf groaned, taking his hand.

“And deal with the tirade of Mad’s questions? No thanks, I’ll go hide outside.”

Velvet and Maroon slowed near the fence that surrounded the mansion’s grounds. Not that it had anything to keep out, considering the planet was completely barren aside from the building. A few pieces of red dirt flew into the air when they stopped, swirling around them before settling back down. Velvet looked around them before crossing their arms and looking at Maroon. The younger teen grabbed the cuffs of their sweater sleeves, avoiding Velvet’s gaze. She raised an eyebrow.

“Well? I know you saw them.” Maroon let out a nervous chuckle, still staring at the ground.

“Y-yeah, I did.” Velvet sighed, dropping their arms.

“I’m not mad, Maroon. I told you to go change anyways, I knew what I was risking.” Maroon finally looked at them.

“I get why you wanted me to now,” they muttered. Velvet laughed and leaned against the white fence.

“Yea, it was my only option. Didn’t want Mad to see them.” Maroon joined them at the fence. The two of them sat in silence for a minute or so before Maroon dared to speak up again.

“S-so,” they stuttered out, “Where did they come from?” Velvet looked up at them.

“You couldn’t tell?” Maroon shook their head.

“Was I supposed to be able to?” Velvet stared at them for a few seconds before laughing again.

“I should’ve guessed,” they mumbled, slightly shaking their head, “In that case, they’re just battle scars. A few of them reopened this morning and I haven’t had the time to patch them up yet, with the mission and then the swap and all.” Maroon looked towards the ground and held their breath.

“But there were so many on just your arm,” they said quietly, “Who attacked your arm that much?” Velvet was quiet for a moment, looking back at the ground. Maroon turned their head towards them, watching. After a minute or so, Velvet sighed.

“...myself?” she muttered quietly. Maroon’s eyes widened.

“...what do you mean?”

“Listen, Maroon,” Velvet stated, pushing herself off of the fence, “You can’t tell anyone. Not Mad, not Thorn, no one.”

“When you said yourself, you didn’t mean-”

“Maroon.” The two made eye contact again. Velvet stared down at Maroon since they were still leaning on the fence. After a few seconds, Maroon blinked and looked away.

“This really isn’t any of your business,” Velvet began, crossing their arms, “If I had my way, you wouldn’t even know and we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“Does anyone else know?” Maroon asked, still looking away. Velvet paused for a moment.

“Zaeor does, technically. Although he thinks it's not a problem anymore.”

“But it is,” the younger teen mumbled, standing up. Velvet narrowed her eyes at them.

“I guess. I don’t consider it a problem, but sure.”

“Velvet-”

“This isn’t something you have to fix, Maroon,” Velvet stated coldly, “I don't want you to get it into your head that you have to help, like you do with other people. Just…forget you ever saw them. It’ll be easier for both of us that way.” Maroon looked at them. On the surface, their expression was still blank. However, their eyes were softer than they had been before, in an almost pleading manner. Maroon was quiet for a moment before sighing.

“Alright, I understand.”

“Hey, you two!” a voice shouted from the door into the mansion. Velvet groaned and spun around, a glare on their face.

“Gods, you just don’t know how to listen to instructions!” Thorn laughed as he walked up.

“No, I just don’t care about yours.” Maroon smiled at Thorn when they stopped in front of them.

“How are you doing, mushroom?” they asked, grabbing their hand.

“I’m good.”

“What were you two talking about, anyways?”

“None of your business, Thorn,” Velvet snapped, “Which is why I told you to wait. Not everything concerns you, asshole.”

“Well, considering this involves leaving Maroon alone with you,” Thorn hissed, “I couldn’t, in my good conscience, let that stand.”

“Whatever, we’re basically done anyway,” Velvet turned back to make eye contact with Maroon, “This stays between us.”

“I know.”

“I mean it.”

“So do I.” After a few seconds of silence, Velvet sighed.

“Okay, have fun doing whatever it is you two do,” she said, “I’m going to try and catch Zaeor before he leaves.”

“Oh yeah, he told me to tell you to find him after you were done,” Thorn called out as they began to walk away, “Guess that works out.” Velvet turned so that they were walking backward, facing the duo.

“He let you interrupt us?”

“He couldn’t really stop me, to be honest.”

“Of course,” she said through gritted teeth, turning back around, “Whatever, I’ll go talk to him.” Maroon watched as they slightly adjusted their left sleeve and walked into the house. Thorn looked at them, a frown on aer face.

“What was that all about?” it asked, grabbing Maroon’s other hand. Maroon made eye contact with them before letting out a small chuckle.

“Nothing you need to worry about.”

#/the red mafia #/trm part 2 #/chapter 023 #/zaeor #/solana roison #/thorn alviar #/maroon #/maroon pembrooke #/velvet #/velvet bolton #/mad valentine #/elanor valentine #tw self harm #/the swap

4 notes · View notes