Chapter Text
Wirt couldn't breathe. He could feel himself sinking further and further. His panic only worked to heighten every nerve in his body. It caused him to thrash around mindlessly, vainly looking for relief that the cold water surrounding him was not willing to give. Finally, from out of the corner of his eye, Wirt sees Greg floating a small distance from him. The sight alone filled him with a new found drive to ensure his brother's safety and stopped his senseless floundering. Wirt set himself straight, finally having a solid goal in mind, and scrambled towards Greg. His throat, nose, and lungs all burned and his vision grew darker, but he couldn’t stop until he held Greg in his arms, until he knew his brother was safe.
With his new revived energy, Wirt pulls Greg into his arms and breaks through the surface of the water, taking a desperate and greedy gasp of air. The freezing water makes the already taxing journey to shore even worse. He was losing feeling in his limbs too quickly and it still felt like the shore was miles away. The only thing driving him to keep going was the shivering boy in his arms.
Eventually, after what felt like a never-ending journey, Wirt felt the jagged rocks of the shore as the water became more shallow. He begins to stumble and trip over the uneven surface, still holding Greg close to his chest. Finally kneeling onto the even rockier shore, Wirt smacks Greg’s back in panic, hoping to get any water out of his lungs. After a few hard hits, Greg is hacking up puddles of water, the image far too reminiscent of when he was choking on the leaves that once grew in his lungs. Moving past the memory, Wirt instead focuses on the now steady breathing from Greg and taking a well deserved break.
Wirt is not shocked to see Greg is already up and running around. Turning over every rock and shell he comes across, and starting conversations with anything that moves. Greg was always way better at bouncing back, even in the face of unearthly horrors. Wirt turns to lie on his back, looking for the sun, only to find the blinding star dimmed by a wall of thick grayish clouds. Deciding there isn’t much to see, Wirt turns his head to the side. He notices a splotchy silhouette hopping towards him in the distance. Doesn’t take much time for him to realize it was Ronald (or whatever his name was now), making their way back to Greg. The silence now broken by ribbits and cries of joy from his brother.
“I knew it! Not even Poseidon can defeat you!” cheered Greg. Turning towards his brother, Greg raved on, “Wirt look, Mr. Toast says he’s gonna give us a tour of the city!”
Looking to Greg, Wirt finally sits up to see the tall, metal jungle in the background; clearly too occupied before by another near-death experience to acknowledge it. Wirt has seen cities before, not necessarily in person, he was more in favor of staying in the comfort of his hometown. Nevertheless, he has seen cities on T.V. and magazines and they have never seemed as grand and intimidating as whatever he is looking at right now. Towers and buildings climbing higher into the sky than Wirt can even see, the clouds he noticed before creating a firm ceiling blocking the view. He can hear the sound of cars zooming in the distance. Along with all the pollution, the air is filled with the deafening noise. Stumbling to his legs, Wirt quickly approaches Greg, becoming even more anxious about their new setting.
“Oh God! Where are we now? As if those woods weren’t enough!? Now we’re lost in a maze of a city! Oh how cruel is this world? Can we not even be given a chance to breathe before you attempt to drown us again? What have we done to warrant-” Wirt’s rambling is interrupted by Greg’s excited shouts.
“Holy moly! Wirt! Your eyes look like candy!!!” Greg continues jumping up and down in delight.
“Greg what do you mean? We have bigger issues than my eyes, the water just caused them to get a bit red.” Wirt focuses back on their current problem. “At least this place seems much more similar to the real world than those freaky woods. Maybe we are back in the real world and we just got transported to the wrong spot. Yeah, that's got to be it.” Strengthened with resolve and a smidge of deluded hope, Wirt starts making way into the city with hopes of finding a means to get back home.
Wirt firmly grips Greg’s hand, while Greg hugs Mr. Toast to his chest. Instantly Wirt begins to feel embarrassed at the stark contrast between how he and Greg are dressed in comparison to everyone else. Clearly it wasn’t Halloween anymore. Yet even ignoring that fact, the fashion around him feels alien. This wasn’t the only noticeable thing. Cars are moving at much greater speeds and are just bigger in general. People are talking into what he assumes are phones, but they are so much smaller and compact. How long has it been since they had gone missing?
Everything is becoming too much again, everything feels so far from his understanding. Quickly Wirt dashes into an empty alleyway in hopes of escaping everything around him. Wirt lets his back slide against the greasy and rough wall, taking a seat on the damp and muddy floor. Not even a month ago, Wirt would be absolutely disgusted at the mere idea, but now he can’t even be bothered to care. Wirt’s mind continues to spiral, thinking of every worst case scenario possible, ignorant to the vines beginning to cling to his arms and legs.
Wirt’s episode is, again, interrupted by Greg’s shouts, "What are penguins doing out in streets like these?!"
"What?" Wirt responds numbly, stiffly moving his head to look at Greg.
"Look!" Greg exclaims, happily shoving the papers into his face.
GOTHAM GAZETTE: Local Bats Clean Gotham's Streets of Penguin
Gotham? Bats? Penguin? Wirt takes everything back; this is not better than the Unknown. This place is probably just as loony.
The picture in the newspaper shows a blurry shot of a heavy man dressed in a suit, who does look kinda like a penguin, cowering on the ground in front of a man dressed in all black with a cape. Well at least now Wirt doesn’t feel nearly as silly for his outfit.
Looking closely at the paper, Wirt finally notes the date: November 1st, 2024 . He freezes, the vines growing thicker, wrapping around his limbs tighter. Almost 50 years later. They have been missing for close to 50 years. Everyone they know, either dead or moved on with their life doing who knows what. The chances of their mom still being alive are slim to none. The two of them are practically clean slates, unknown to the world. This doesn’t even answer where they are.
Going through the rest of the article he concludes two things: they’re in a place called Gotham, and this place has got a different genre of issues. Wirt doesn’t even know what he should do at this point. Stuck in a city, he only knows the name of, 50 years in the future with no one to rely on and nowhere to go. The longer he thought about everything, the faster his breathing grew, and the tighter the branches wound. It was only now that Wirt actually began to acknowledge his surroundings, the dreaded Edelwood, the suffocating alleyway, and Greg trying fruitlessly to calm Wirt down.
As if some higher being didn’t find enough amusement watching this dumpster fire, an intimidating figure makes their way down the compact alleyway. Still in a panicked haze, Wirt watches as the man pulls out a knife and speaks mutely to the two. Instinctively, Wirt hides Greg behind him and fights against the chains of the Edelwood in an attempt to back away. The man only stomps closer, seeming to get even more and more irritated, almost unstable.
Suddenly, the man raises the arm holding the knife. Wirt feels his whole body tense up, his grip on Greg tightening even more as he braces for impact. Seconds pass and, confused by the lack of pain, Wirt slowly opens one eye, not even realizing he closed them in the first place. The scene in front of him caused both his eyes to snap wide open. In front of him he sees the once domineering man now imprisoned in an intricate cage of Edelwood, resembling what he and Greg once looked like. Breaking from his shock, Wirt grabs Greg and makes a run for it while he still can. He refuses to think about what just happened, he already has enough to worry about, he doesn’t need to add whatever that was to the list.