|| MISSING || XFOHV AU ||

Chapter 2 - So, What Happened?

(Quick note because I forgot to put this in the previous chapters: none of the algebraliens have the power to recover in this AU, this is for possible future events to make more sense)

Equation Playground - 9:30 AM

Four had gotten up early today, even though he didn't get much sleep after the previous day.. he sat by the tree where he first found X, it was special to him. He let out a long sigh as he sat against the tree trunk, he had to get used to being alone for a while. Four stared at the sky, it was a nice pastel colour, he felt relaxed for only a moment as he was greeted by Six stood right in front of him. "You're up early," Six pointed out.
"Yeah.. I didn't really sleep anyway," Four told him, making Six's smile become a frown. Six sat in front of him and looked him straight in the eyes, Four was a bit confused. "Four, you can't just keep being upset about this. I'm not sure where X is, but if you want him back, get him back!" Six encouraged him to help himself, but he just stared at him blankly.

"I don't know, Six.. is that really a good idea?" Four asked, clearly more worried than before
"Maybe it isn't.. if you did it alone," Six stood proudly, Four was still confused. "What I mean is that you need people to help you, like me!" Four thought for a moment after that, he didn't know who else could help him. "Oh! Maybe.. Seven could help? He knows a lot about X, almost as much as me," He suggested.
"THEN LET'S GO!!" Six grabbed Four and pulled him up, dragging him all the way to Seven's house.

Seven's House - 9:45 AM

"There ya go!" Six said as he let go of Four, making him drop on the floor with a.. questionable expression on his face... Six knocked on the door six times, obviously. Seven answered only a few seconds later, he looked tired. "Huuuhh..? Oh.. do you need something?" Seven said tiredly, Six assumed he had just woke up. "Yep," he said as he grabbed Seven and Four the same way he did before and dashed to Nine's house.

Nine's House - 9:50 AM

Six stopped to stare at the windows, there were skateboards pressed against them from the inside. How many were there? "Did you really have to run that fast?! I'm all dirty now! And Four is.. uh.." Seven looked down at Four with a concerned look. He was just lying on the floor, staring at the sky, he looked traumatised. "I'm going to assume Four's okay," Seven said awkwardly. Six knocked on the door, you already know how many times. It took a while for Nine to answer the door, but he agreed and they headed for those little picnic tables by Two's house.

'Those Little Picnic Tables By Two's House' - 10:05 AM

They all sat at a picnic table, Four and Six on one side and Nine and Seven on the other. "So, what are we doing now?" Nine asked curiously. Six tapped their finger on their chin, thinking of what to say. "I'm assuming we're here to talk about X's disappearance? Seems like the only logical thing we could be doing right now," Seven said with an annoyed tone.
"That's right! So, Four, what exactly were you-" Six stopped when he looked at Four, whose face was squashed against the surface of the table. "Is he okay?" Nine said, quite concerned. It looked like Four was sleeping, Six wasn't surprised. He reached to the side and pulled a megaphone out of nowhere, I dunno, I guess that can happen. "What are you doing with that?"
"You'll see," Six said as he turned it on.

"FOUR! WAKE UP!! WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR SLEEPING!" Six shouted into the megaphone, Four jumped and fell off the seat completely. He sat there, holding his head. "What was that for?!" He said angrily. Six chuckled nervously and helped him up. Four sat next to him, a grumpy look on his face. "Anyway, Four, what were you doing before X disappeared?"
Six asked again.
"Well.. uh, I was doing Seven's algebra sheets — yes, I am doing them for you — but then X came home," Four explained "He saw me doing the sheets, but I was in a bad mood and I didn't feel like talking,"
"Right.. what happened after that?" Six requested him to give them more information.
"Well... I kinda got mad at him and we had a little.. fight?" He added awkwardly. Seven gasped, he didn't think that was possible. "You? And X? A fight?!" He said, very confused. Four rolled his eyes as a response. "I'm guessing that's where he left and disappeared," Six stated, Four nodding to back him up.

"Well, that's not enough information! How are we supposed to know where X is just from that?" Nine complained, Four looked at them with an expression as if they were saying 'Really?'. Nine could be a real pain sometimes. They all thought for a moment, realising Nine had a point. "I feel like the only explanation is that someone might have.. taken him..?" Seven thought aloud
"I think that might be it-" Six was cut off by a loud noise. "What was that?" He questioned. It seemed to have come from Two's house.

"Sounded like something fell over to me," Four told him. They looked at the house closer, all of the curtains were closed. "I'm sure it's nothing," Six said quickly, he attempted to change the subject but, of course, it wasn't that easy to do such a thing. Two ran out of their door, quickly turning to lock it behind them. As they were doing so, they all walked over to them. "Two?" Seven said, startling the green number. "Oh-! Uh, hey..-" Two greeted them awkwardly. They were pinning themself against the door, as if they were hiding something. "We were just wondering, what was that loud noise that came from here a moment ago?" Seven asked them, Two began to steal quick glances at every one of them. "Nothing! I just dropped something.." they said "I have to get going! Bye!" Before the others could say anything, they had already ran off.

The four of them stood there awkwardly, trying to process the situation. "Something's off with them.." Six suspected that they were up to something, Seven and Nine nodded in agreement. "Well, they've locked the door so we can't really see if they were lying or not," Four pointed out
"That's true," they all fell silent for a moment. It had already been 30 minutes and they had already discussed what they needed to.

"Anyone up for a game of frisbee to lighten the mood..?" Six asked awkwardly. "Sure, I don't have a problem with that," Seven said. Nine just gave a cool thumbs up. "What about you, Four?" They asked, Four wasn't really sure.
"I guess I can come, I can't promise I'll join in though," he added, they were all cool with that.

Four and [...]'s house - 9:03 PM

Four lay in his bed, thinking about him. Thinking about what he'd caused, thinking about how to fix it.. he didn't know. All he could think of is X. He was filled with so much guilt. He had barely slept the last few nights because of it, he probably wouldn't sleep now, either.

'How could I be so stupid?'

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"It's still your fault,"

[Word count: 1264]