Eternals

He could feel it lurking in the back of his mind. He could feel the urges trying to take him over. Occasionally, he couldn't even control some things he did or felt. At times, he just wanted to act like his wolf-self. And he would do that, to an extent. Other times, he would be tempted to snap at or even downright attack another Eternal. But he had never been able to get that far for Kevin would always show up and somehow snap him out of his trance. What was happening to him? He was taking a drug that was supposed to control his wolf-self but now, it didn't seem to calm it at all.He felt tense around the others, feeling as though he might snap at any given moment.

Even now, with Kevin walking besides him, he felt strange, like he was keeping a caged monster locked away but it was fighting against him. And it was slowly starting to win. He knew what he needed to do, to protect himself, Kevin, and the other Eternals. He didn't want to but he felt like it was the only way. Now all he had to figure out was how to get Kevin to agree leave him there...

None of them spoke as they stepped near a small cornered area of a forest. It had a magical barrier around it that would only open for Eternals and only when two or more of them were present. Feeling the barrier loosen, they stepped through the barrier, the eerie feeling of the forest not bothered by Kevin but Steven felt strange there, like he belonged to the shadows even more now. He felt his thoughts race and his blood rush through his veins. Unknowingly, his tail reappeared and he wrapped it tightly around himself, his wolf-like urges and thoughts beginning to get the better of him once more. Even with Kevin there, he felt like he was slipping. He was losing this battle.

Kevin was not blind or stupid. He had noticed Steven's strange yet familiar wolf-like behavior and had approached him always when it seemed to be getting out of control. Noticing it now, he moved to Steven's side but his condition only seemed to get worst. This had happened once before but he had gotten control of it. And seeing him attempt to control it but fail to his own true nature, it hurt him to know he could basically do nothing to help him.

"S-Steven. just calm down. Everything will be okay alright?" Kevin said to his boyfriend, pulling him into a tight hug. It was only then was when he realized just how vulnerable the modder seemed. He was tense and his aura was scared and mixed with the auras of that of a wolf.

"K-Kevin. There w-was a r-reason why I brought y-you here" he paused, shakingly looking up to the taller man. "I-I can't control m-my urges. A-And I d-don't want to hurt anybody s-so..." He forced back the tears threatening his eyes. "U-Until this c-clears up, just l-leave me h-here" Steven felt a shudder creep through his body as he momentarily began to transform into a wolf, which slowly was developing inside of him.

"W-What? No, I-I won't just leave you here. There has to be something I can do to help you" Kevin pleaded, feeling and seeing Steven beginning to slowly lose control.

Steven was about to speak when an uncontrollable urge slipped into the front of his mind, pushing away his sanity for a brief moment. The message was not subtle and straight to the point and the thought terrified him. 'Kill Kevin'. Gaining control, he pushed Kevin away from him, backing shakingly away from him as he tried to approach him once more. A whimper escaped his throat as he struggled against himself but he had already lost. Transforming into a wolf, he felt he had to take his last sane thoughts and relay a warning to his boyfriend, before it was too late.

'P-Please Kevin.I c-can't control it anymore. Y-You have to g-go b-before.... J-Just go. I-If I h-hurt you it's b-because I have n-no control" he choked out before crumbling to his wolf-self his mind alerting in that of a wolf and turning in a greyish white wolf with familiar grey-black eyes.

But those eyes were the only thing he knew was Steven and even they were not the Steven he knew. His warning had registered in his mind but he was a stubborn person and wouldn't just run if there was any hope to snapping Steven out of this. He just had to snap him out of this!

"S-Steven. It-It's me, K-Kevin" he said warily as he approached the wolf as if it were a wild animal. He did not see a wild animal though. He saw a possessed Steven that needed to be snapped out of a trance.

The Steven-wolf did not see a friend or the lover of his real self. It saw an enemy, someone that needed to be disposed of and no matter how hard the real Steven fought against it, it was not letting him win. It growled a low and warning growl and lept at Kevin.

In a split second reaction, Kevin placed a powerful barrier around himself of which even the Steven-wolf could not break through. Kevin didn't move but stared at the wolf. It stared back. Those eyes. He could see a little bit of Steven but it was like the real Steven was trapped in his own body like prison. It broke his heart that Steven's last warning to him was to go and leave him here. But his heart couldn't go, not with Steven like this.

But he knew he had to. He had to go back to the others to possibly get help. Because he knew he couldn't do this alone. Tears slipping from eyes, he stared at the Steven-wolf before softly speaking in the voice that would always calm Steven whenever he was sad or scared. "I'll be back. I love you Steven" Without a second thought, he broke the barrier and teleported to in front of the barrier and stepped through leading to the other side, leaving the barrier to lock the Steven-wolf in there alone. He didn't know if the wolf had tried to chase him but he honestly didn't care. He just needed to get to the others and get help to release Steven from himself. It was like Team Force Update but worse.

Shaking his head, Kevin transformed himself in his jet black wolf self before sprinting as fast as he could back to the Eternals' base, his mind and heart racing as so many different emotions and thoughts filled his body.

"Kevin, just calm down and start from the beginning alright?" the gentle reassuring voice of Amber sounded as he snapped back to reality. He had returned but had seemed to fall into a denial trance afterwards. He knew the other Eternals were around him, mainly Sly, Aleks, Nova, Sky, Bashur and Amber. He recognized others but he couldn't bring a name to mind, not in the state he was in now.

Shaking slightly, Kevin took a few deep breaths as he recalled the story that had greatly affected him. "For the past week, Steven has been trying to control his wolf-like urges. I recognized this and whenever I would approach Steven, he would stop. This had happened before, so I thought it would just go away like before but it... but it didn't" he paused, remembering the moments of him comforting his lover by pulling him into a tight hug, and speaking to him softly, the way that had would calm him down in almost any situation.

With a gentle prob in his mind by Amber, he nodded and continued on with his story. "Today, he asked that we take a walk and then go to the closed off part of the forest. If I had known that he had purposely brought me there just for me to leave him... I would never have gone through with it" Kevin shook his head, tears threatening his blue eyes. How could he be so stupid? He should've known that there was something going on with him taking him to the eerie place.

Taking a deep, shaking breath, he continued. 'I-I tried to comfort him, but he only seemed to get worse in there. I-I noticed he was losing control but he pushed me away and told me to go and the 'Hurtful Oath'. Then... then he turned fully" Kevin shuddered at the memory. As if in instinct, Aleks walked to his side and comforted him just by his presence. 'I-I saw a part of Steven in the wolf's eyes but when I spoke to him- no, it, it attacked me and I put a barrier up because... Because I knew that it was a corrupted and possessed Steven and I-I couldn't hurt him" He broke once more, letting the tears fall freely from his eyes. Aleks crouched down next to him and gently touched him on the shoulder, comforting him the best he could.

"And then you left him in there, right Kevin?" Amber asked in her gentle voice. Choking back sobs, he nodded, remembering the aching pain of having to run away from and then leave the modder behind to suffer alone and in a mind he did not truly understand.

"Surely there's just a spell to reverse this right?" Kevin heard Sly ask Amber, having had walked over to Kevin's other side in a second comforting way much like Aleks.

Amber hesitated, thinking and thinking for a better answer than the only one she knew. She hated feeling and being powerless in these situations but since the Funnelers had said to not intervene in a lot of the personal problems of the Eternals, she had found that her resources and answers were limited.

"I'm afraid not. I cannot reverse it without damaging Steven. Remember, the wolf in him is not a separate entity like Lockcho in Hatty. It's a key part to who Steven is, and I can't risk that" she stated, knowing that what she said was true.

"Why the hell did this happen anyways? I thought he took a drug to control it?" Nova asked, making Kevin visably flinch, knowing the answer already which only made his already hurt heart hurt even more.

"It's like what happened to me" Jeffy spoke up, walking over carefully. "The drug can keep my killer's urges under control for a good amount of time before the urges need to be fulfilled and then it repeats. The last time I snapped was back in the Hougen battle"

"And the last time Steven snapped was against the squids when he went and saved Sky the first time" Kevin added, realization overcoming his mind. So it really had been so long ago since it had officially happened.

Amber nodded, agreeing with what they said. "Exactly but there is another way to fix this..." she said, drifting off into thought, catching the attention of the others, especially Kevin. "But it's very difficult to do" she added after a few brief moments.

Kevin visably seemed more alert and at attention. "I don't care how hard it is, I will do whatever I need to do to release Steven from... uh, his wolf-self" What was he supposed to say to that though?

Aleks tilted his head, his helmet shifting slightly after the sudden movement. "If you don't mind me asking, can't we just wait it out? Like wait until the urges blow over or it that not possible?"

Rolling his blue eyes, Kevin looked at Aleks, narrowing his eyes slightly at his best friend. "Even if it is possible, there is no way I am waiting this out" a slight tint of anger reaching into his calmed down voice.

Biting back a sharp remark, Aleks remembered the situation he was in before answering, "Well sorry. It was just a suggestion, damn dude" somewhat sarcastically.

"We can't wait it out"

Catching both Aleks and Kevin's attention, Amber took a moment to add, "We can't wait it out because if he is not broken free then he could permanently stay that way"

Fear reaching both Aleks and Kevin's minds, their sarcastic and negative mood vanishing.

"But this other plan, it can work right?" Kevin asked cautiously, the prospect of losing his Steven forever locked in his mind, blocking almost every other thought and emotion.

"Yes, but by difficult to do, I mean that you can't do it Kevin" She paused, waiting for the shock and possible anger that would come from the poison bearer.

She was right to pause for the shock filled Kevin's blue eyes immediately afterwards. "What? What do you mean that I can't be the one to do it? That doesn't make any sens-" He was cut off by Amber who spoke over him.

"Because you don't have anything to tell him that he doesn't know" It was such a simple sentence filled with true meaning yet Kevin still couldn't help but feel confused.

"What does that mean?" He asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"I mean that the only other way is for someone close to Steven somehow find Steven, keep him under control and then tell him something that means something to both him and the other. Kevin, he knows everything about you and you do not have anything to tell him that would greatly affect him. Meaning that someone else besides you has to do it" Amber stated, taking note of his desperate expression. Without another word, Kevin slipped to a clumsy sit as he pulled out their Team Force Update bread stained with both their own blood and the blood of their enemies including Sly and Aleks. He hugged it close to his chest, the one thing the two lovers had agreed to use as an object to help each other in their times of need. Now, it's only purpose seemed to be to just comfort a broken Kevin.

As silence bottled up the rest of the Eternals, one fought with his own thoughts and emotions. He, he knew he could be that someone for he was one of Steven's best friends and he also knew something that he had wanted to say to Steven all those months ago back before he became an official Eternal. Back when he had fallen in love with the younger modder. Now though, as well with his crush on Cain, his crush on Steven had faded to nothing as Nanners had taken his heart. But the fact remained that that could be the piece that could snap Steven out of his wolf-like trance. Maybe. He knew he just needed to try.

Focusing on Amber's mind he sent her a telepathic message directed just towards her. 'I'll do it. I'll tell him that I once had a crush on him and that was one of the original reasons I became an Eternal' Sky sent, receiving a message asking if he was sure. Only when he was given the 'okay' to go ahead with his plan did he glance briefly towards Nanners who was sitting beside him, and who also had eavesdropped on his and Amber's very brief conversation. Receiving a small, reassuring nod from the feline, Sky stepped forward, glancing at Kevin the whole time.

"I'll do it. I'll free Steven" he said confidently.

Raising his head, Kevin stared at Sky, knowing him as being a close friend of his lover. "What? What is it that you need to tell him?" he asked, his blue eyes barely hiding a small flash of suspicion.

Flinching slightly at his gaze, Sky stated, "I'll tell you later while we go there" which seemed to satisfy the poison bearer. For now.

Even with Nanners approaching his side, he couldn't help but feel like he was getting himself in a situation his mind would've preferred to avoid. But his heart said to go through with it. And in his heart he will trust and follow.

They were silent. All three of them. Sky walked in the middle with Nanners at his side and Kevin lingering besides him though he didn't make eye contact. In all honesty, he knew why. Kevin thought he had done something terribly wrong that would hurt Steven but it wasn't and he was sure it wouldn't terribly hurt or bother Steven but Kevin... Everyone in the Eternals knew that Kevin was very protective of the modder so when he found out what he was planning on telling Steven... Yeah, he didn't want to think about that right now.

"What is it?" Kevin broke the silence, his voice calm but hinted with suspicion. He didn't look up but he did shift slightly towards Sky and Nanners.

"What do yo-" Sky started, attempting to try to act stupid in order to possibly have Kevin's sarcastic side come out. He was instead greeted with anger.

"You know exactly what I fucking mean" Kevin growled lowly, averting his blue eyes up to meet Sky's as he shifted further away from them again. His eyes were flaming, holding an anger that he couldn't control, one he had in order to protect the childish and weaker modder that he cared so deeply about. Seeing the flame of anger and suspicion glared at him, Sky didn't know what to think and he sure as hell knew that Nanners didn't either. The feline simply remained silent for once and simply watched his lover and Kevin, knowing that this wasn't his battle to fight. But if things got hectic, he would most certainly step in.

"What is the important thing you are going to tell Steven?" It was not a question but more of a demand. He could easily refuse to tell him but then a million different consequences filled his mind, none of them good. But then, telling him would probably make the situation worse. But Sky had no choice, either way he was screwed and either way Kevin found out. He was bound to find out sooner or later. So he might as well get it finally off his chest.

Sky sighed, pausing from his walking to meet Kevin's cold blue eyes, fighting back the urge to flinch away and give in to the fear that was clouding his mind. But he was going to push through it, unable to hide it any longer.

"Before I tell you, I need you to promise me not to get angry, alright?" Sky said, taking note of the suspicion overtaking his blue eyes. Great, no going back now.

"Is this something that would get me angry?" Kevin shot back at Sky, sarcasm slipping into his voice.

"Just promise okay?" Sky said.

"Avoiding the question now, huh? Fine. I promise" Kevin glared. He promised but Sky was not trusting him too much right now.

"Pinkie Promise" the modder stated.

"Really? You're becoming more and more like Aleks everyday" He sighed as he did the Pinkie Promise in the correct motions while saying, "Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a knife straight through my eye" casually. He Pinkie Promised. Now breaking that promise would lead to Pinkie Pie... actually no one knew what she would do, but it was certainly nothing good.

Feeling Nanners sit besides him, Sky sighed once more before delving into his story, knowing that there was no going back now. "Remember before I became an Eternal? When I was captured by the squids along with Steven?" he questioned, not knowing why he asked, because he knew Kevin remembered. Maybe it was just to waste more time. Kevin nodded, not saying a word, not knowing where he was going with this. "Well during that time, I was being targeted by the squids and the others were draining Steven of his power and well... Steven and I made a promise to each other. A promise to protect each others' fan bases should anything happen to the other and he... motivated me to break free and become an Eternal" He paused remembering the good times mixed in between one of the darkest times of his life so far.

Kevin raised an eyebrow, knowing of this story for Steven had told him about it multiple times but there had to be something else here, or why else would Sky make him Pinkie Promise not to get angry. He was hiding something. Something he had been hiding until this day.

"Well, I sorta... well got attached to him and I kept it a secret because... because of you" His voice was not accusing or angry but instead calm and careful. Kevin looked like he was about to say something but he cut him off. "Let me finish. I eventually moved away from that and the same thing happened with Cain and then Nanners but Nanners actually returned my feelings. Steven is one of the reasons I originally became an Eternal and at first, I intended it to not to end with just a friendship"

Kevin was dangerously quiet, his eyes cold and almost unforgiving but his posture of that like a threatened or cornered animal. He felt threatened and even more so that this had something to do with Steven. And he knew what Sky was saying but his mind was in denial and he couldn't process anything correctly. "What-What do you mean?" he asked quietly and with a slight growl.

He was treading on very thin ice right now and Sky knew it. But there was no going back, he had to finish this and face whatever wrath was sure to come from the poison-bearer. "Kevin, one of the main reasons I originally became an Eternal was because of Steven. Because I had a crush on him" Noticing the anger beginning to writh through his body, Sky added, "But that was a long time ago. I don't feel that way anymore"

Kevin's eyes cast downwards, his body, heart, and mind all fighting against each other on how to react. He was writhing in anger, what else was he supposed to feel? But he had Pinkie Promised and breaking a Pinkie Promise was basically a suicide mission. But would Pinkie let him get away with it if he had a good reason to. But a thought lingered in the back of his mind. That he shouldn't and he needed to keep himself under control.

He felt like Steven right now. His real self which swore to be calm and not get angry was on the inside but on the outside and the side that was the most dominate, was angry, understanding that the crush no longer existed by it had existed nonetheless. Breathing in and out deeply, he attempted to calm himself, his nerves lowering with each breath.

"You okay there Kevin?" he heard Nanners ask him though he decided against looking up, for he didn't to slip back into the anger he was struggling to control in the first place.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine" Kevin stated, keeping himself under control. Finally gaining control of himself, he cast his blue eyes back up to Sky, whom his anger was directed towards but he was trying to control it. He didn't want to be angry nor did he want to hurt Sky because he didn't want to hurt Steven by doing so and plus... Sky was his friend too. Maybe not as close but still a friend.

"I will keep my promise. But if anything happens to Steven, I want you to Pinkie Promise to take full blame for it" Kevin said calmly, the smallest hint of a growl in his voice.

Sky took the smallest step back, literally thinking that Kevin would break his promise and attack him. But he didn't and he knew his friend wouldn't either. Nodding softly, he did the motions as repeated the Pinkie Promise, knowing now that if he failed in getting Steven to snap out of it, he was not going to get off anywhere close to lightly.

Starting to continue their walking, Sky noticed that Kevin had decided to linger behind him followed by Nannners. Sky didn't have to guess what the feline was doing so he simply blocked out their conversation and went about his way, focusing at the task that hand rather than anything else.

Kevin was reasonably looking away from both Sky and Nanners, not wanting to spark up any kind of anger once more but upon feeling Nanners linger backwards to his side, he had to wonder what the feline wanted. Turning his gaze to him, Kevin didn't feel the anger he had towards Sky right now maybe because he knew Nanners had nothing to do with the situation and possibly because he was grateful that he had fallen in love with Sky so that the previous conversation wasn't as awkward or anger-filled than it already had been.

"Keep you promise okay?" Nanners said suddenly, his voice in a low whisper as to not have Sky hear them through his own thoughts.

Turning to Nanners, Kevin couldn't help but to tilt his head slightly at what he said. "What, to not get angry? As long as he doesn't hurt Steven and fixes this mess, I will" in a whisper as well.

Nanners half rolled his eyes before taking a moment to think. "You want to know something? He could possibly be the first to ever break a Pinkie Promise from the way you're putting it" he added almost casually and hinted with a sign of aggression, a rare emotion coming from the feline.

Taken aback, Kevin stared at him. The first to break a Pinkie Promise and he was making it seem that way. Did that mean that Nanners thought the plan would not work and Sky would fail? 'What do you mean?" Kevin whispered, briefly noticing Sky take a few few more steps further from them. Now what was his problem?

Nanners sighed before answering, looking at Sky who he knew was trying his hardest to block out their quiet conversation. But it was not working and he was hearing them and he hated it. It hurt Nanners seeing his lover in such emotional pain but he could tell it must be much worse for Kevin and Steven. He knew this by hanging out with Meowth for as long as he had everyday when someone was deeply emotionally troubled and/or scarred. And Kevin and Steven's situation was fitting that description quite nicely.

"Before we left, Sky went to Pinkie Pie and personally Pinkie Promised to her that he would not fail this mission. Meaning if he fails, he not only has you on him but now Pinkie Pie and the Funnelers only know what she will do" Nanners whispered to Kevin, remembering the shock on Pinkie's face as she was Pinkie Promised such an important promise and before he did so, she had asked if he was sure to which he responded that it was what he needed to do.

Kevin stared at Nanners, almost forgetting he was supposed to be walking. "He did? Why though?" he asked, wondering what the older modder's intentions were when he decided that was what he needed to do.

Nanners sighed once more, casting his eyes downwards in thought before looking back at his taller and younger friend. "He did it because he knew that you would make him promise to take the blame and so that he felt the pain that came with his failure"

"Wait, then how am I putting it that way?" Kevin asked confused.

The feline looked up to Sky who was mentally trying not to listen but failing terribly. "He can hear our conversation and your anger might make him lose his confidence. All I'm saying is to just try to keep your emotions under control so he actually has a chance in winning this, okay?" Nanners asked, looking back to Kevin.

If his anger was pushing Sky off his mark, then he might as well at least try to keep himself under control. Even though he was doing this for Steven, he couldn't help but worry for Sky, despite the anger directed towards him which was slowly slipping from his main priority,

Nodding Kevin answered, "I'll try. I'll really try" carefully.

Smiling simply Nanners trotted back to Sky's side, noticing him relax by his simple presence. Smiling softly to himself, Kevin moved to Sky's other side but avoided all eye contact. He didn't want Sky to know that he was starting to forgive him. At least, not yet.