This is a story split into (as of now) four different chapters. Each will be denoted by their own title.
This may seem a bit strange, but to fully understand everything that is going to happen, we have to travel back about 200 years. Long before any of our main characters existed, two civilizations were on the brink of war with one another. In the Spiritux world, the world from which the Voidstalkers originate, two species are about to go to war. It's rather one-sided, but the Flametails are planning something. This species has always felt superior to the others and they felt the need to do whatever they deemed fit in order to send a message to everyone else in their world that they and they alone are on top. The Voidstalkers were their closest neighbors, and over time as they grew and developed, the Flametails began to see them as a threat.
The Voidstalkers tried to talk it out with their neighbors, but no amount of diplomacy would quell the Flametails. Conflict broke out, and soon after the Voidstalkers' civilization was reduced to unrecognizable ruins. Most of the voidstalkers were killed during this time, the few survivors either being forced to into slavery by the Flametails or to be forced into hiding out of fear of being killed, or worse.
We then skip forwards to around 20 years from the present. In those ruins, a young voidstalker roams what used to be, drawing everything he sees. He has recently lost his family and everyone he knew to a group of Flametails. He wants to know what happened, and what used to be here, why things are the way they are now. One day, he sees a Flametail chasing after something, so he hides. Once they are gone, he goes to investigate, and finds another of his kind. He's even younger than he is, and knowing from personal experience how unforgiving their world can be, offers to take the younger with him. This takes a while, earning the younger's trust. This is the first creature the other Voidstalker has met that hasn't immediately tried to end his, at that point, incredibly short life, so he accepts after some time.
This is how Blurry and Spooky meet, although they aren't called that yet.
The two quickly become friends, Blurry seeing Spooky as a parental figure at first but slowly morphing into something more akin to a siblings' bond, as they learn to survive in the ruins. Spooky pieces together what happened centuries ago through inscriptions on walls and murals, but there are still many, many gaps. Blurry is still grasping at the fact that he's still alive, and learning how to shapeshift from Spooky. The two spend the next five years like this, until they decide it's time to leave after a particularly dangerous encounter with Flametails that nearly killed them both. There are portals that lead to other worlds in the other territories. The closest and the safest one is the one in the neighboring swamps of the Smoketails, so they go live there for a little while until they're ready to leave this world for good. They don't have a destination in mind, they're just desperate and wanting to go anywhere else, and because of that are sent to a random world.
The moment Blurry and Spooky step out of the newly-formed portal, they are immediately overwhelmed by their surroundings. the sky is bright and visible, the ground is full of life, unlike the rocky terrain they're used to. Blurry is quick to start exploring, but spooky holds him back, being wary of the world they're now in, especially when they see the ocean surrounding the island. They meet the inhabitants of Voldsoy, who help them cross over to the mainland. The next two weeks are spent hiding from anything and anyone. Neither of the two Voidstalkers are willing to trust anything at this point, But very quickly lose that, viewing Trench as being safe for them. After this two week "grace period" they are approached by a figure on a white horse while travelling down a road. They are not yet aware of the danger this person presents, and these are the first humans(?) they've seen in Trench, and when they offer to take them somewhere safe, they don't hesitate to follow them back to Dema.
The Bishops treat them like animals, due to their inhuman appearance. They don't understand the things the bishops are saying to them, and cannot respond accordingly. The Bishops do not understand the noises the two make as speech, either. It comes across to them as defiance and being uncooperative. When they find out the two are shapeshifters, they begin to experiment on them to see how exactly this ability is possible, and to try to use it for their own gain. They also want to find a way to permanently punish and quell any rebellions without killing them all. The Bishops still enforce Vialism as mandate, of course, but some people just keep breaking free of their teachings and keep trying to escape. So they feel a permanent reminder of their betrayal is in order for these people. Now that they have two shapeshifting entities in their possession, they spend the next nine years perfecting what will soon be known as "Corruption."
During those nine years, a lot of things happen. Soon after their arrival, they are given codes, VS-1 for Spooky and VS-2 for Blurry. They discovered their species' name when Spooky had learnt enough English to try to translate. A little over 3 years after Blurry and Spooky were brought to Dema, they've forgotten their original names. they've learned who the Nine truly are, and despise them just as much as any Bandito would. Now is the point where Tyler and Josh enter the story. Both are citizens of Dema, and at this point have already tried to escape once or twice. The Bishops know of this, and since they have Blurry and Spooky still being "uncooperative", they decide to test something. They want to use the two's shapeshifting to see if they can attach them to another living being. They succeed in this, having Blurry attached to Tyler and Spooky to Josh.
Now that the two are essentially stuck inside of the other two's minds, being able to possess them for short durations, the Bishops decide to use this direct connection to their advantage. They offer the Voidstalkers an ultimatum. Do as they say or be killed. They don't really have an option, so they have to do whatever the Bishops tell them to do, which in this case means tormenting Tyler and Josh to the point of committing to Vialism. They hate this, but the threat of imminent death is looming over them constantly. They are also forced to mimic their appearances to the best of their ability, which needed quite a bit of trial and error to get right. They can't tell anyone about their situation though, partially because their English isn't the greatest, relying mainly on parroting statements they've heard, and because they are always being watched.
Through the Bishops' trials for Corruption, they try merging Blurry and Spooky's "blood", not knowing what would happen. They are shocked when they accidentally create another Voidstalker, who they title VS-3. They didn't live long, though, being used to test the limits of the species, and also being generally weak since forming. This is Ghost, who now resides on Voldsoy. They don't do much, just exist, really. They do not know Blurry and Spooky as their (unwilling) parents, having only seen them a handful of times in their short life, but when they arrive on the small island they then called. home, they can't help but be fascinated by seeing others of their species.
About 7 years from the present at this point, Blurry is at his lowest point. Tt doesn't help that Tyler, who believes Blurry to be something he created and something he has to kill or get rid of, is done with having to deal with Blurry. He wants them dead, gone, or just simply out of sight. Blurry also wants a way out of this, no matter the cost. Not too long ago, Josh left Dema, taking Spooky with him. The two had talked through their situation, and Spooky had begun helping Josh plan his escape. He didn't want to leave Blurry, but he had no choice in the matter due to his physical connection to Josh. Corruption is in its final stages now, almost perfected and already having been performed on numerous subjects. Not many have survived these initial tests, and those who do don't resemble the Corrupted to come by a long shot. Blurry is now alone in dema, he has nobody he can talk to about anything. He desperately wants an escape, and tries to mimic what he sees as the way out from other citizens. Nothing works, though, and he becomes frustrated. Nobody wants him around, and everything feels pointless. His desperation morphs into more creative ways of trying to end things, eventually resulting in Tyler finding out and teaching him about the concept of death. Up until this point, he had thought of running from death as a game (blame Spooky for that).
The bishops ramp up their use of Blurry, making him fight the newly Corrupted to test their strength and abilities. They figure since Spooky vanished, it won't be long before Tyler follows Josh into Trench, taking their other Voidstalker with him. Blurry is already very physically weak, so he gets thrown around a lot in these fights, while also continuing to worsen his and Tyler's relationship out of his newfound fear of death. Tyler knowing about Blurry's desire to end things doesn't change much, though, and he still searches for a way to get rid of the other. Tyler's eventual solution to Blurry's presence is to trap him inside a void he created in his mind, a place to keep Blurry until he either dies or until Tyler forgets about him. He is trapped there for a year. He cannot see, hear, feel, nothing. He tries again to end himself, but his body stops him right before he can reach his goal every single time he tries.
Tyler leaves dema during this year, and the events of the Trench trilogy (Jumpsuit, Nico and the Niners, & Levitate) proceed as they do in canon. When Spooky sees Tyler after NATN and before Levitate, having found a way out of the attachment, he demands to see Blurry. Tyler begrudgingly allows this, but Spooky can clearly see Blurry has been changed by his time in the dark. He'd prefer the void than have to have Spooky see what happened to him. He can barely see (everything is too bright) and is exhausted, not speaking at all. After Levitate, when Nico grabs Tyler and drags him back to Dema, is when things change. The Bishops have decided that Tyler has tried to escape one too many times, and they Corrupt him. Blurry is indirectly Corrupted as a result, and is temporarily freed from the mind void and their attachment during his and Tyler's transformation. They get a few days to talk about the past 6 years, Tyler learning the truth about the two's situation and what exactly Blurry is, forcing him to question whether his treatment of the other was correct, and allowing Blurry to confront if his hostility was necessary. Why did he go along with it all this time?
Immediately following Tyler and Blurry's Corruption, the Banditos come to rescue them. Blurry is okay (albeit hiding what happened to him and mimicking Tyler's Corruption), for now, but Tyler not so much for multiple reasons. Firstly, he's lost a lot of blood. Secondly, All the human Corrupted enter a sort of "feral" state for a few days after their Corruption and initial transformation because of Voidstalker instincts merging with their preexisting human ones. These turn into recurring "episodes" for them. So it takes the other Corrupted within the group to get him back. They've been hiding their Corruption from the rest of the Banditos for years now, as to not worry them. They've been handling it on their own within their own group, but nobody has ever been rescued by non-Corrupted directly following their Corruption. not until Tyler, that is.
The Corrupted do their best to help Tyler, bandaging all his self-inflicted wounds from his new talons. Blurry, on the other hand, wants nothing to do with the Banditos. He doesn't want their help, not trusting them, and stays very close to Spooky at all times. He reaches another low point, trying to end things again. He needs serious help, everyone around him can see it, but doesn't trust anybody to not hurt him again. When Tyler is well enough, he ends up giving Blurry his old red beanie as a sort of peace deal while the other is still recovering from. his recent attempt. Everyone learns to adjust to the knowledge of the Corrupted existing, and the Bandito camp is "split" into two groups - skeleton and alien. Josh leads half, and Tyler the other, his group containing all the Corrupted. They're still one group of rebels, though, but the organization helps reduce the stress having to lead said rebellion on your own creates. Clancy is also corrupted during this time, resulting in their death.
A couple months post-Corruption, Blurry starts to figure things out regarding what exactly he is. Everything that comes from the Spiritux world has horns, which usually come in around the age of 3 or 4. Blurry had just turned 15 when this happens. It's nothing major, but it makes him begin to question if he is what he thinks he is.
We then skip ahead to 2021 in our time. The bishops take Blurry and Spooky to Dema in the middle of the night while the two are out in the forests near camp hunting. Blurry's attachment had been broken for a while by now, so Tyler doesn't find out until the morning alongside everyone else. The Bishops find out that Blurry is Corrupted, and are surprised and intrigued that a Voidstalker can be corrupted. They then try to Corrupt Spooky, which they succeed in doing, but get stopped halfway through the process when the Banditos come to get them. Meanwhile, Blurry was injured, bordering on mutilation, in an attempt to make him more defenseless and as a punishment for defiance.
When the two are brought back to camp, it takes a day or two for Spooky's Corruption to start to show. It appears slower than the others' did, and it is strange when it does (Voidstalkers get affected differently), forcing Blurry to be honest about his own Corruption. He helps Spooky through the process while his own body slowly repairs the damage the Bishops inflicted, it taking much longer than it should which concerns them both. As it happens, Blurry notices things that weren't there before. Small bone-like structures on the backs of his hands and the tops of his feet, the same appearing around his jaw and tall spines protruding from his back, running down his tail. His fur grows longer on his limbs, and a tuft forms on the end of his tail. His Corruption fits him more now, yet he still despises it. It feels wrong and foreign. It's clear to him now that he is not a pure Voidstalker for a variety of reasons they both should have noticed much earlier on.
A while later, on a routine raid in Dema, the Banditos discover the area where Blurry and Spooky were once kept, recovering many files and journals relating to their time there. They learn about Ghost's short existence and gain a much better understanding of Corruption and Voidstalkers themselves. Spooky gets his old sketchbook back, which he was happy about.
After LOC, the Bishops began work on a "replacement" for Blurry. They knew trying to get Josh was too far out of their range, but Tyler was still within their grasp. Blurry had a job to do, in their eyes, and he failed. So someone had to do it for them. Enter 004, an entity created using Blurry's "blood" and other strange power. It was not the first trial, but the fourth, as its name suggests. It has one goal, and that is to do what Blurry couldn't - force Tyler to commit to Vialism and hopefully become a Glorious Gone. Tyler is a threat. It will do whatever it takes to reach this goal. 004 believes itself to be the superior version of both the other failed trials and the superior Blurryface. In this world, Blurryface can be a title, and not a singular person. Blurryface existed at one point, and was split into the Bishops. Nico took the title, holding onto his previous identity as best he could. Then it passed to Blurry for a brief time, until he left and it was given to 004, although Nico still holds the absolute title. If it wasn't clear by now, the Blurry we've been following is just someone who got dragged into this whole mess against his will. He and Spooky have been preventing 004 from getting anywhere near the Bandito camp or Tyler. they want to keep this thing as far away as they can and not have anyone know it exists.
Clancy has been dead for a long time, since a little while after they were taken back to Dema by Keons after jumpsuit. After their death, their soul then wandered across the continent before settling on Voldsoy with the Neds and Ghost. Over time, they eventually forgot what they used to look like, and became encompassed by anger and desiring revenge against those they once trusted.
The main Bandito camp was alerted to the Neds' presence and the rumors of the power their antlers held by a smaller camp near Dema who heard it from some escapees. They were told to meet up with the group who found them on the shore, directing them to the island. when they arrived, they set up camp and Tyler saw Ned, he and Josh following him, who gave them new outfits and supplies. Clancy and Ghost stayed hidden, Clancy being more curious than the other. They saw Tyler and were almost immediately convinced Tyler had taken control over their old body. They decided to take matters into their own hands, possessing Tyler's body and using the antlers to control Keons' corpse as a show of power, and as the start of their plan. Afterwards, Tyler finds his way back into his body, everyone, including himself, in shock of what just happened. Clancy remains, though, still convinced this body is theirs, periodically fighting for control.
Following the events of The Outside MV, the small group of Banditos stay on voldsoy for a few more days. Buring this time, Tyler begins talking to Clancy, who teaches him more about psychokinesis and his newfound abilities. They also learn from the Neds and Voidstalkers why this island feels so strange, it being the location of the portal between worlds, where the two Voidstalkers first entered Trench, explaining why all the Corrupted can't hide it here, and explaining all the strange glowing carvings scattered throughout the caves. Tyler does think Clancy is a little too excited about the idea of possessing Keons again or a Glorious Gone in order to get inside Dema and kill all the other Bishops, but they don’t tell Tyler that part of their plan. Tyler, on the other hand, just assumes the excitement is a product of Clancy being stuck on this island for years and finally getting someone to talk to and being able to do things and leave this place (Clancy didn’t tell him about how they can talk to the Neds or about Ghost’s existence at all.)
They leave after two or three days following Keons’ death, crossing Paladin Strait to reconvene with the group of banditos on the other side near Dema. Blurry is hiding in Tyler's head the whole time, being terrified of water, especially large bodies of it. He also gets introduced to Clancy, and is immediately both wary and scared of them, mostly wary though. The group reaches the other shore, they meet up with the much smaller group near Dema, asking the larger group if they’d seen what had happened a few nights prior. They don’t, having only been able to see the torches from Voldsoy’s shore, and are told that Dema looked like it was burning bright blue. Tyler nonchalantly says that Keons is dead, which shocks the smaller group, and leads them to (reasonably) ask questions about how that was even possible, and what would happen next. After a conversation between Tyler and the smaller group, explaining psychokinesis and everything as best he can (omitting anything about Clancy though, Clancy didn’t want to be known which Tyler found odd, but still not too strange), the two groups part ways and the larger group makes their way into Trench. for this particular mission, tyler and josh discussed whether both of them should go, or if only one was needed. Eventually they landed on a mix of both, where Tyler would be there physically, and Josh would use his projection/guidance abilities to communicate and lead the group back to camp when they came back from the island.
We reach Navigating now, which plays out mostly the same, with the exceptions of Tyler already knowing about Josh’s ability and the group being much larger than in the original MV. The three banditos come to meet them, still, but not immediately after they arrive at the shore. Tyler meets up with the real Josh, who hands him the Clancy mask. Afterwards, everyone is together again and they all make their way back to the main Bandito camp. When they arrive, Tyler is presented with the rest of the Clancy outfit. He’s confused and doesn’t remember much of what happened during Overcompensate and subsequent seizings. Clancy does. They then decide what their next move should be. Keons is dead, it won’t take the other eight long to either find a successor or to launch a counterattack against the Banditos. Clancy is very much in favor of either using Keons’ corpse or a Glorious Gone to infiltrate the city or possessing another Bishop, both ideas being shot down by Tyler as being unfeasible and largely pointless.
Clancy begins possessing Tyler’s body more and more under the guise of teaching him how to use his abilities more. In reality, Clancy still believes this is their body that Tyler hijacked after their death, and also a vessel for them to enact their revenge against the Bishops. Blurry takes notice of this, and questions Clancy on their actions and motives, as well as about the red tape and outfit Clancy had been wearing more often. Clancy explains briefly, but Blurry isn’t satisfied with the answer given. Clancy then proceeds to threaten Blurry by saying that if he says anything to anyone about what they’re doing or revealing that Tyler isn’t even in control of his own body most of the time anymore, they will shove Blurry back into the void within Tyler's mind, and leave them there forever. This is more than enough to keep Blurry silent, and they know that. Clancy can access all of Tyler’s memories while in his body, and knows everything he knows. Clancy knows that they can’t reveal their full plan, or else it would be immediately stopped by the Banditos. So, they pretend to be Tyler in order to prevent suspicion and to be able to subtly put their plan into motion. This goes on for about a month, with Clancy going out every so often at night with Tyler’s body to infiltrate Dema and grow their rebellion inside the walls, without anyone’s knowledge. At one point, they see 004 watching them in the distance, and vaguely recognize it from an old memory of Tyler's.
The penultimate step in Clancy’s plan is to incite a series of small and relatively disorganized riots in Dema in various districts, which the Banditos near Dema learn of and relay to the main group. They hear of it from new escapees and others inside the walls, and when the main group hears of it, they know something needs to be done. Remember how Clancy has been subtly putting their plan into motion? This includes appealing to the Banditos who already want some form of retribution against Dema and the Bishops, and planting the ideas that this is the correct course of action into their heads. While masquerading as Tyler, they can abuse that trust between Tyler and his half of the Banditos. He’s their leader, he’s led this group for a few years at this point. He’d never lead them astray. So when “Tyler” suggests now is the time they fight, the Banditos agree.
Paladin Strait's MV also follows its canon counterpart mostly the same. Everything begins the same, with the Banditos preparing and making their way towards Dema. on the way there, Blurry and Spooky are easily the most nervous out of anyone else, especially Blurry. normally, he would hide in Tyler's head in these situations, but he’s too scared of Clancy and doesn’t know where Tyler is. He hasn’t seen the real Tyler or spoken to him in nearly a week. It’s just been Clancy. When they arrive, the Banditos are faced with the undead Vessels, some of whom are former friends of some of the Banditos. Then there were the Voidstalkers. Spooky, in particular. Having no connections to these people at all, he took the whole fight very seriously, and a bit too violently. And by that I mean he went full predator mode and stabbed and/or ripped limbs off of several Vessels. A few nearby found this horrifying, and told Josh in a sort of “you have to do something about this” manner. Josh told them in reply that at least Spooky was fighting on their side, and that this is simply what he was built to do. This is his nature being what he is.
As for the other Voidstalker, Blurry is not doing well. He can’t fight, and is trying his best to either stay near Spooky for protection or dodge any incoming attacks. This works well enough until a Vessel comes right at him and pins him to the ground. He tries kicking them off but it doesn’t work, and he freezes and goes into pure defense mode. Then a Bandito hits the Vessel in the head, knocking them off of Blurry and helping them get back up, asking if he’s okay. Remember, up to this point Blurry has been paranoid that the Banditos will turn on him when they deem it convenient or beneficial to them. This changes that, helping him realize they won’t do that. He doesn’t trust them 100% though, they’re still humans after all.
While this fight is happening, Clancy sneaks into Dema via the tunnel system, using Tyler’s talons to scale the tower where the Bishops are in. They struggle balancing themselves with the massive vulture wings and all, which Tyler wøuld use to just fly up. They eventually do get up, go through the open window, and are face to face with seven Bishops. Like in the music video, they use the antlers to knock down the seven, Nico bursts into the room and grabs Clancy’s neck, which is the point at which Clancy realizes they are in over their head, they were far too overconfident and had long forgotten what this type of control felt like, how overwhelming it was. They can’t do this, and they close their eyes. Tyler has been watching Clancy closely, knowing this would happen. Tyler knew they had become blinded by their own need for retribution, a need for revenge, and a lack of actual preparation or planning. They’d get up to the tower, and then what? Tyler didn’t know either, but he was in this mess now and needed to do something. He can’t just run, and right now his best option is taking his body back and figuring it out from there. He can fight, he knows this, and he also knew he’d need to face Nico eventually. The Cycle always demanded it happen, it’s just that this specific Cycle had changed and warped so much. He'd been slowly preparing himself for this moment ever since the last Cycle had repeated itself.
So Clancy closes their eyes and Tyler opens his.
look i need bottom margins leave me alone