(No cover yet)

Takes place like 4 years before the normal Phighting times
Sword is 20
Rocket is 18
Do the math for the rest of everyone

That means NGADAS(never give a demon a son) is the SAME timeline as this!

Anyways as usual: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54304951/chapters/137534299

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"Why are we going this way?" Rocket asked as Sword led him through an alleyway. They were trying to find a specific shop in Crossroads. "There's no way it would be in an alley!"

"This is just a shortcut!" Sword chirps, his wings expanding in a stretch. Rocket quickly grabbed one, making the bigger demon jolt in surprise. "Hey what the hell?!" Sword growls at his partner. "Stop that, you're gonna mess up my feathers!" He batted Rocket's hands away, his wings quickly retreating back to a fold on his back.

"Good! I hope they get matted. You're making me walk through this ick with my good shoes on!" Rocket complains, looking at the ground of mud and trash.

"Do you want me to carry you instead?" Sword groans.

"No, you just have to listen to me complain." The blue demon crosses his arms. "And you're cleaning my shoes when we get home."

"Fine, fine." Sword sighs. He then perks up, hearing rustling coming from arond a corner. Quickly stepping ahead of Rocket, peering around the corner, Sword freezes for a moment. "Oh! Uhm, Rocket?" He looks back at his lover.

"What? What did you see?" Rocket peers around the red demon, spotting whatever Sword had seen. "Hey buddy! What are you doing here all alone?" Rocket instantly coos, basically running to it to pick it up.

He holds a child in his arms. The kid is fairly scraped up, skinny too. They just stare at Rocket, soon beginning to cry. "Rocket!" Sword scolds, "you made it cry!" He takes the child that's obviously way too young to be outside alone into his arms, turning away from the blue demon. "Aw you poor thing! Where's your parents, huh?" He rocks the child in his arms.

Rocket stares in jealousy as the child calms down in Sword's arms but cried in his own. "Put it down, I want to kick it." He grabs Sword's shoulder.

Sword slowly turns to look at Rocket. "Absolutely not." He looks back at the child. "Hey buddy, why you out here alone?" He smiles at it.

The child just blinks before reaching out and hugging Sword, resting their head on his shoulder, falling asleep. Sword looks at Rocket again.

"I think it likes me. We should take it home." He decides, rubbing the child's back.

"So we just gonna kidnap a child?" Rocket looks at him like he was stupid.

"Yes." Sword deadpans. "Come on, hun! We're dads now!" Sword's feathers puff out as he holds the child with one arm, using his free hand to grab Rocket's hand.

Rocket huffs, squeezing Sword's hand as they make their way back home, completely forgetting why they were there to begin with.

Now at their shared home in Lost Temple, Sword sat the child down on the couch, both Rocket and Sword sitting on the floor in front of it, watching. "What's your name, child?" Rocket asks the small, red-horned demon.

The kid stares at him before shaking his head. "No? You don't have a name?" Sword questions, to which the kid shakes his head again.

"Can you talk?" Rocket asks, getting a nod in response. "Why aren't you talking?" He asks another question, which is returned with a shrug.

"How old are you?" Sword reaches out and gently ruffles the kid's hair. The kid looks at his fingers, seeming to count them before holding out 3.

"3 with no name? That's weird." Rocket stands up. "Sword, go make it some food, I'll get it a change of clothes." He orders before walking into a different room.

Sword stands as well, picking up the child. "Are you a boy," he holds up one finger, "or girl?" He holds up two fingers. One finger for boy, two fingers for girl.

The child holds up one finger. "A boy!" Sword smiles, hugging the small boy. "Let's get you somethin' to eat, bud." He walks into the kitchen with the child, setting him down on the counter before looking through the fridge.

Sword finds some applesauce, taking it out and opening it. "Hope you like applesauce 'cause this is the only easy food we got right now." He takes a spoon out of the drawer, starting to feed the child who happily eats it.

Rocket then enters the room. "Obviously we don't have kid clothes." He sighs. "I'll go out to the shops real quick and get some if you wanna stay here with the kid." He looks towards Sword.

"Yeah, that's fine with me, hun. Also the kid is a boy I found out. Maybe we should give him a name." Sword looks back at his lover happily. "Can we keep him?"

"Sword, we can't keep him if he has a family, you know that." Rocket crosses his arms.

"And what if he doesn't? I mean, what kind of 3 year old is left in an alleyway with no name?"

"Good point." Rocket looks at the child. "Do you have a family?"

The kid looks down for a moment before shaking his head no. "See! So can we keep him?" Sword asks, his feathers puffing out. "He even has little wings, he's so cute!"

Rocket sighs dramatically. "Fine, but you're paying for the food and clothes. Give me your wallet."

Sword rolls his eyes before taking his wallet out of his pocket and tossing it to the blue demon. "His horns kind of look like yours." He comments.

"No, they don't. Mine grow on the side of my head, his grows on the top. And he has 6. I have 4." Rocket opens the door to leave.

"Po-tay-to, po-tat-o." Sword scoffs. "Just hurry back love, I wanna name him with you!"

"Yeah yeah. I'll be back in a bit." Rocket leaves the house.

"Do you have a gear, bud?" Sword asks, picking the child up from the counter and walking into the bathroom. "You also need a bath."

The child nods at his question. "Do you think you can summon it, bud?" Sword begins to undress the child, making sure he's gentle incase he has any scratches or wounds. The child shakes his head at his question. Must be tired. Sword notes to himself.

--♡--

Rocket was soon back with general child care stuff. With the kid now dressed, Rocket and Sword both stared at him on the couch again. "Does he have his gear?" Rocket asks, looking at Sword.

"Yeah, but he can't summon it right now, I assume because he's tired and needs more energy." Sword guesses, grabbing his lover's hand and holding it. Rocket looks over to see one of Sword's goofy smiles plastered on his face. "Can we keep him?"

"Sword stop treating the kid like a lost puppy!" Rocket lectures, squeezing his partner's hand. "We have to find out if he's someone's kid or not."

"He is! He's our kid." Sword lightly grabs the child's hand. "Would you want to stay with us, bud?" He asks with a smile, to which the child slowly nods. "See! He likes us." Sword looks back at Rocket with a smirk.

Rocket sighs, "let's just wait and see. We're still young, y'know. Adopting a child would change a lot of things, Sword."

"Yeah, I know, but I think we can manage." Sword grabs his lover, pulling him closer in an embrace. "I think we'll be just fine."

"If you say so. I should call my dad and tell him 'bout all this. I'm sure he'd like to know." Rocket dismisses himself, standing up and walking in the other room to call Zuka.

Turning his attention back to the child, Sword stands as well, picking him up. "Are you tired, bud?" He asks, ruffling the kid's hair as he nods in return. "Alright, let's take a nap then." Sword smiles, walking into his bedroom. He quickly makes a small nest-like area with pillows on the bed, laying the child in the middle and covering him with a thin blanket. "There, all nice and tucked in!" Sword seems proud of himself. "Just uh.. I don't know, cry if you need anything?" The awkwardness of talking to a child starts to set in. "Yeah, just.. do what you do!" Giving the child an awkward thumbs up, Sword leaves the room, leaving the door open.

Finding Rocket in the kitchen, Sword sneaks up behind him, wrapping his arms around the blue demon's waist. Rocket jumps before turning around to glare at Sword. "Yeah, we just kinda found a kid and Sword is keen on keepin' him." Rocket speaks into the phone. "I don't know, the kid said he didn't have a family, he hasn't really talked but can shake 'n nod his head alright. Seems like he can understand us." Rocket leans his forehead on Sword's shoulder as he continues his call. "Doesn't have a name, Sword said he's 3." Rocket then quickly looks up at his lover. "Where's the kid?" He hisses.

"Down for a nap, don't worry, I put pillows around him so he can't fall off or nothin'!" Sword quickly answers.

Rocket sighs. "You don't really need to do all that for a 3 year old, Sword!" He growls. "Yeah dad, you can come over. Sword just said he's napping though." . . . "Alright, I'll see ya soon, love you." Rocket hangs up, glaring at the taller demon. "You've gotten us into a mess."

"A happy mess!" Sword smiles, quickly landing a kiss on the rocketeer's forehead. "Everything will be fine, Rock."

"For you, maybe! Sword, I didn't even want kids anytime soon." Rocket hisses, "it all just feels so rushed, I don't know if we can do this. I only turned 18 this year for SFOTH's sake!" Rocket turns away.

Sword sighs, his smile dropping. "I know, I know. But, just give it some time! Everything will turn out well in the end, hun. If you don't want to be a parent, fine, I'll parent him on my own, but I don't want to put him in that damned system. You of all demons should know how corrupt the orphanages are." Sword grabs Rocket's hand, holding it as he pulls the blue demon back into his arms, wrapping them around him.

Rocket is silent for several moments. "I trust you, Sword." He looks into his lover's eyes, "I trust you when you say it'll all turn out fine." Rocket lowers his head onto the swordsman's shoulder, sighing as his shoulders relax.

"I swear on my life it'll be fine, Rock." Sword presses his nose against Rocket's head, both standing silently in the comfort of the other's touch.

A while later, a knock is heard at the door. Rocket quickly gets off the couch where he and Sword were cuddling while watching whatever they found interesting on the TV, opening the door. "Dad, hi!" Rocket greets as he's met with Zuka. The two give each other a quick hug. "The kid is still asleep, I don't want to wake him right now. He seemed pretty tired when we found him." Rocket explains, leading Zuka into the main room, sitting back on the couch with Sword.

"Mind if I stay 'till he wakes up?" Zuka asks, sitting on one of the recliners.

"Not at all, Mr. Z!" Sword smiles at the older demon.

Rocket sighs, his body melting into Sword's side. The tips of his horns fade to red while the tip of Sword's horns fade to blue. Zuka internally smiles at this. He's glad his son found someone like Sword to be with.

"How've you been recently, Mr. Z? I haven't talked to you in a while." Sword starts a conversation, wrapping his arm around Rocket to pull him closer. He cannot pull Rocket closer. It is physically impossible.

Engaging in small talk for minute after minute, neither of them noticed a small head peeking from behind a corner. However, Rocket notices. He reaches out an arm, signaling the boy to come here. "C'mere bud."

The child hesitantly steps out of hiding, making his way to Rocket who pulls him onto the couch, into the cuddle with him and Sword. Adjusting to a more comfortable spot, the child snuggles between the two demons, falling asleep only moments later. Rocket seems about to join him in slumber.

"Quite a different look." Zuka comments, referring to the child's monster-like apperance. He had bright red eyes with black scleras, dark sharp horns and small red wings with feathers that faded to black. "Wonder where he came from."

"I've never seen any demon with wings that wasn't related to the Swords." Sword mumbles. "I'll ask if any of them know about him at my next visit in a week. It doesn't make sense why he'd be in an alleyway."

"Doesn't look like any of the deities though." The older demon mentions, examnining the child.

"Genetics with the deities are strange. I look nothing like Venomshank despite being his blood. People often think I'm adopted since I don't have the whole scary-demi-god look." Sword reaches over with his hand that's not wrappded around Rocket to stroke the child's head. "Same with Valk and Dom."

"I'll never understand how deity genetics work." Zuka sighs, leaning back in his chair.

"I don't think anyone will." Sword smiles as he gazes at his sleeping lover and the kid he has taken in. "Don't his horns look like Rocket's though?"

"They have the same curve, but Rocket's are on the side of his head, not on the top. And the kid has wing-ish horns making it 6, not 4."

"Yeah but the curve and texture. They got the same soft-hard edges instead of a smooth or sharp edge. They both also have slightly transparent tips, a glossy finish, cold to the touch, and a slick feeling to them." Sword elaborates on how he thinks their horns are similar. He's been noticing the details instead of just the shape and color.

"I guess you're right." Zuka nods. "I can see the similarities now."

"I knew I wasn't going crazy!" Sword's wings puff out in pride.

Rocket's eyes open and he reaches behind Sword, plucking one of the feathers out of his wings. "OW!-" Sword flinches, staring at Rocket. "The hell was that for?!"

"You're too damn loud, shut up." Rocket lays his head back down on the red phighter, going back to sleep. Their movements had woken up the child, who is now rubbing his eyes angrily before huffing and getting comfy again to resume his nap.

"Same attitude too." Zuka chuckles at the interaction while Sword looks defeated.

"I'm not gonna last." Sword sighs dramatically. "If you see my head on a stick, you know why."

--♡--

Now a few days later, the child had settled in well to the household. He was still quiet, but replied with a few words at times, nothing more than a short sentence. He was well behaved, but still had an attitude with many things. Sword couldn't help but be reminded of Rocket when he was younger. The blue demon had mostly grown out of his childish habits, but a few still remained.

Now, the child was sitting on Rocket's lap, watching a phight that Sword had entered. The boy seemed interested, watching intently. "D'ya think you can summon your gear yet, bud?" Rocket asks, looking down at the child in his lap. "We can give you a name when you do."

The boy looks up at Rocket, blinking. "...Okay!" He chirps before climbing off of Rocket's lap to stand on the ground. He seems to be focusing with his eyes closed for several moments before summoning his gear into his hand. Rocket leans in to get a better look.

"Huh." Rocket reaches out to carefully take the gear from the boy. "CD shards?" He examines them. "Weird lookin' gear."

The boy quickly takes them back. They begin to orbit his hand, causing Rocket to look more confused. "Don't know what kinda gear that is." The blue phighter shrugs. "Guess we'll find out the use when you're a bit older, bud." He grabs the child, bringing him back into his lap as the finishing bell rings out across the arena. Sword's team had lost.

A few minutes later and a defeated Sword stumbles out, fairly beat up. He sits down beside Rocket with a huff, blood oozing out of cuts along his arms. "My team wouldn't get on the point!" The red phighter growls, leaning back on the bleachers, using his wings as support.

"Your team had mostly backliners, that's why." Rocket shrugs. "Just bad luck you got a point game. But look at this." Rocket nods to the child who is still messing with his gear.

"He has his gear?!" Sword's face lights up as he leans down to look at the child. "CD shards?" His excitement turns to confusion. "I've never seen a gear like that."

"Same here. But we can worry about that later, he needs a name."

"CD Shards?"

Rocket looks at his lover silently. He remains silent for several moments. "Are you serious?"

"..Yeah?" Sword sits back up, confused.

"That is a horrible name, Sword!" Rocket scoffs.

"But that's what his gear is!" Sword defends himself, putting his hands up.

"I don't care! It's tacky and bad! My gear is a rocket launcher, but it's not my name!" Rocket facepalms. "What about Shard?"

"I like that!" Sword chirps before looking down at the kid. "Do you wanna be called Shard?"

The child thinks for a moment before happily nodding at the name.

"Shard it is, then." Rocket pets the newly named Shard's head.

The three hadn't even noticed another phighter approach until Sword painfully yells out, "ow! Meds why are you so rough?!" The red phighter looks over at the doctor who's basically crushing a crystal into one of his wounds.

"Stop yelling, Sword." Medkit scoffs. "You know you're not going to take care of the wounds if they're bandaged, so you get the crystals."

Sword huffs as he angrily allows Medkit to continue pressing crystals into his wounds. "You're a terrible brother."

"You asked to swear eachother as brothers." The doctor reminds him. "Who's that little guy?" He asks, nodding to Shard.

"That's Shard, me and Rocket found him in an alleyway so we took him in. He looks like he could be related to one of the Swords so I'm gonna ask them about him. If no parent shows up, me and Rocket might keep him." Sword hastily explains the child's backstory.

"So you found a child and didn't even tell me?" The teal phighter's eyes narrow into a glare.

"Sorry, I forgot!" Sword sighs. "Everyone's been on my back today, oh my Gods!"

"You should of told Medkit before anything to ask if he could make sure Shard is healthy." Rocket rolls his eyes, elbowing Sword in the rib, earning a groan from the red phighter.

"Yeah yeah, leave me alone!" Sword wraps his wings around himself to shield his body from Rocket and Medkit.

"Medkit, would you mind looking at Shard real quick? He hasn't shown anything, nor is he all beat up, but just to be sure." Rocket asks, looking at the doctor.

"Yeah, sure." Medkit shrugs, stepping over and kneeling down in front of Rocket, examining Shard. Shard stares at him, not seeming nervous or scared. He complies as Medkit examines his health, doing anything the doctor asks like lifting up his arms or taking a deep breath. After a small examination, Medkit stands back up. "He seems fine. Healthy, strong. Nothing is irregular."

"Alright, thanks doc!" Rocket smiles, hugging the boy in his lap. Shard struggles against Rocket's grip, eventually getting free and crawling onto Sword's lap, who happily takes him into his wing cocoon.

Giggles are heard from the cocoon as Sword tickles the child in his lap. "Alright, I'm leaving. I have work to do." Medkit announces, taking his leave as Sword and Rocket both give him a 'bye.'

Folding his wings back onto his back, Sword looks over at his lover. "Do you still have doubts?" He asks, reaching over and grabbing Rocket's hand. His horns tip to blue as Rocket's tip to red.

Rocket sighs with a smile. "Not as much. He's growin' on me." The rocketeer admits, reaching over to ruffle Shard's hair, just to have the child bat his hand away in annoyance.

"He reminds me of you when you were younger, just less chatty." Sword smiles, standing up and holding Shard. He pulls Rocket up, as their hands were still interlocked. "Come on, let's go somewhere."

"Where?" Shard peeps, looking up at Sword.

"Home, hopefully!" The red phighter glances over at Rocket who nods. "That phight took a toll on me. Between Katana and Skateboard, I'm gonna be sore for a day or two!" He exhales a breath, passing Shard to Rocket who happily takes him.

"Yeah, we seen you gettin' your ass whooped!" Rocket giggles. "Can we stop for a snack first?

"Yeah, sure." Sword nods. "But I don't have my wallet on me."

"I know, that's why I have mine." The rocketeer smiles. "What about... Sling's Cafe?"

"Sure, we haven't been there in a while." The swordsman agrees, his grip on Rocket's hand tightening.

Making their way downtown to Sling's Cafe, walking fast, faces pass, and they soon arrive at the blue cafe. Opening the door for his lover, Sword follows the rocketeer inside, taking Shard as Rocket hands him over. "Heyy, welcome to my cafe, we'll be with you soon!" Slingshot's call is heard from the back, followed by a few bangs of pots and pans.

"What do you want?" Sword asks, looking at Shard. "It's a cafe, theres things like cookies and cupcakes."

Shard thinks for a moment, looking around at the unfamiliar environment. He squirms to be put down, which Sword obeys. Now standing and holding onto Sword's hand- which causes the phighter to be slightly bent down- he thinks. "Brownies!" Shard chirps, looking up at Sword.

"Alright, brownies it is!" He smiles before looking at Rocket. "Can you take his hand? You're shorter than me!" He sighs.

Rocket rolls his eyes before reaching down and grabbing Shard's hand as Sword drops his other one. He can stand comfomrtably with the child. "What are you getting?" Rocket asks as he takes his wallet out.

"Uh, just the same as I usually get." Sword shrugs.

A few moments later, Slingshot rushes out of the back, "hey!" He greets with a pant. "What can I get ya'll?" He smiles.

"Medium iced coffee, medium mocha espresso, small chocolate milk, one brownie, one glazed donut and one chocolate chip cookie, please!" Rocket lists the order rather fast, Slingshot tapping rapidly. "Also hi Sling! How've you been doin'?"

"Pretty good, pretty good! My cafe is startin' to really take off now!" Slingshot's tail flicks in pleasure. "14 bux!"

Rocket hands his wallet to Sword who happily takes out 14 bux, handing it to Slingshot with a hefty tip. Sling then notices the hand Rocket is holding. He peers over the counter. "Aww, who's this little guy?!" He coos.

"This is Shard, we kinda found him and don't know where or if he has parents, so we're just kinda keepin' him for now." Rocket explains. "If no parents show up, we probably gonna adopt him."

"He's so cute!" Slingshot smiles. "I'm sure you two will be wonderful parents!" Taking the order ticket from the register Sling starts to walk to the back. "Your orders will be done soon, feel free to sit down, I'll bring 'em to ya!"

Walking to the booth the pair always sit in, Rocket sits with Shard on his lap. "Sling looked happier than usual, but also overworked." Rocket comments, starting to gossip.

"Yeah, he did. He did say his cafe was starting to take off." Sword peers around, "it's a lot more crowded in here than it usually is too. Might need to start hiring more people soon." Sword nods. "It's good though, he's really making himself known in Crossroads."

"His cafe's socials have had a huge follower boost too, don't know if words starting to spread, or if someone else gave him some recgonition." Rocket takes out his phone, scrolling through one of his many social media apps. "Oh, look!" He turns his phone to Sword. "Flipside gave him a public review, that's probably why."

"Ooo, yeah." Sword reads what the idols had announced. "Good review too, and it looks all honest! I'm happy for Sling." Sword smiles.

Falling into a comfortable silence with Sword just staring at Rocket and Shard as they scroll through varying socials, Shard watching as if he knew what was happening, all three demons looked up in unison as someone approached their table.

"Here's your order." Shuriken dressed in his proper uniform greets, placing everything on the table. Their service was fast as usual. "Sling wasn't lyin' when he said you two came with a kid." The ninja eyes Shard. "Looks different."

"Don't say that, that's mean!" Sword snaps, glaring at the green demon.

"What? Not that's it's bad! Just different. I mean, not every demon has wings." Shuriken straightens his posture, putting his hands on his hips. "And the eyes, it's rare to have a different colored sclera."

"Well it sounds mean." Sword rolls his eyes. "Shouldn't you be working?" He huffs, grabbing his iced coffee and taking a sip.

"Yeah but we don't have any orders right now and no one else has come in so I get to bother ya'll." Shuriken chimes cockily.

"Another comment that can be taken rudely to Shard and I'm targetting you next phight." Rocket chirps, grabbing the brownie and handing it to the child in his lap who happily takes a bite.

"Shard? What's his gear?" The ninja pulls up a chair, sitting in it while looking at the boy in Rocket's lap. "He looks like a Sword."

"Yeah, he does. That's why I'm going to ask the Swords about him when I see them again." Sword agrees, "his gear is like... CD shards? Not anything close to what I've seen before."

"Maybe Boombox knows somethin' about his gear then? I mean, he dabbles in almost every music-related thing to ever exist. CDs could count as music-related." Shuriken reaches out and taps Shard's horns a few times, causing the child to growl while chewing his brownie. "Certainly strong for his age based on his horns, he has to be related to one of the dieties."

"Stop messin' with him, you're annoyin' him, Shuri." Rocket shoos the ninja's hand away from Shard, grabbing the cup of chocolate milk to hand to the boy. He takes a bite of his donut. "How busy has the cafe been lately?"

"Oh my Gods, it's hell!" Shuriken huffs. "This is the quietest it's been all day!" The ninja sighs. "I haven't got a break, I don't think I'll ever be able to join a phight again." Shuri groans, leaning back in his chair. "I am tired."

Sword chuckles, "at least it's good for your pockets. Sling splits tips evenly, right? Surely people have been givin' good."

"Yeah, but I don't really take my share. Never had a use for the money, I put my share of tips into household needs like groceries and rent." The ninja sits back up, straightening his posture. "Sling said he's considerin' opening applications for new hires. He wanted it to be family-run, but if this keeps up, we gonna be way too overworked."

"What if he hires close friends instead? It'll still give that family-run feeling since friends can be considered family." Sword suggests.

"Yeah, I can suggest that, thanks." Shuriken nods. The bell of someone entering the cafe sounds out, causing the ninja to stand quickly, putting his chair back. "Well I gotta go, nice talkin' to ya'll!" Taking his leave, the green demon quickly runs to the front.

"Hope it all works out for them, I'd hate to see Sling unhappy with any hiring choices." Rocket has now finished his donut and is sipping his drink.

"Yeah, but I bet some of their friends will help out. Especially Skateboard, you seen how close they've been lately?" Sword smirks as he gossips.

"Yeah, they def' got somethin' goin on." Rocket nods. "They'll be a good couple though. I'm not personally a fan of Skate, but the two are a good pair."

"You never told me why you dislike him and Boombox so much."

"Just some petty childhood drama I guess." Rocket shrugs. "They were very different in school, you know I have a hard time letting go of grudges."

"I always forget you grew up in Playground." Sword grabs his cookie, eating it all in a single bite. The action earns a look of disgust from both Rocket and Shard. "What?" He asks with his mouth full.

"Heathen." Rocket scoffs. "Have some manners!"

"Impolite!" Shard peeps. He had finished his brownie and was sipping on his milk.

"Woah, that's a big word buddy! You're right, he's very impolite!" Rocket looks down with a smile as he pets Shard's head.

Sword swallows his cookie before rolling his eyes. "Always on me for somethin'!" He scoffs. "I can never live my life."

"You can once you live your life decently." Rocket rolls his eyes. "C'mon, let's go. We can carry our drinks." Rocket stands up, holding Shard and his drink. "I want to get home, I gotta call my dad."

"Alright." Sword smiles, taking his drink and following Rocket outside, but first holds the door open for his lover. "What you gotta call Mr. Z for?"

"You never dropped that Mr. Z thing, huh?" Rocket chuckles, remembering when Sword first stuttered out Mr. Z the first time he had med him, since he couldn't remember 'Zuka.' "Just about Shard's gear. Dad owns a gear business after all, he might know somethin' about it."

"Waht else am I supposed to call him? I think it's rude to not have the Mr. and I can't really call him Master since he's not my mentor and has no power over me." Sword scoffs. "Mr. Z is sticking until my death day. Anyway, if Mr. Z doesn't know anything about it, then I'll give Boombox a call like Shuri suggested."

"I know you will." Rocket chirps before taking a sip of his drink. "Y'know, I never took you for the iced coffee type until I first seen you order one."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's like... the fruity drink of coffee." Rocket smiles innocently.

"Are you calling me a pussy?" Sword glares at him.

"No, I'm saying you act like a bottom bitch."

"Stop cursing in front of the child!" Sword yells, lightly flicking Rocket's temple. "And you wasn't sayin that a few nights ago." He teases.

"Yeah yeah, shut up!" Rocket's face flushes slightly as he increases his pace, Sword easily keeping up. "Have you told Venomshank about Shard yet?"

"No, I haven't." Sword shakes his head. "Should I? He'll see him anyways in like... 2 days."

"You should. He's your father, Sword! He'll want to know if you have a whole ass kid. Rude to introduce him to your dad with all the other gods, it's like he's no different from them!" Rocket sighs. "So worried about being polite to my dad, but can't do the bare minimum for yours!"

"Alright, alright, I get it! I'll call him right now just to please you." Sword rolls his eyes, taking his phone out and facetiming Venomshank. It rings several times.

Ring.

..Ring.

...Ring.

....Ring.

Pick up.

The face of Valk is met. "Hi Sword! Venomshank needed help. Here!" Valk seems to hand the phone away, Venomshank's face soon coming into view. The sight makes Sword chuckle.

"Hey dad!" Sword greets with a smile. "I have news."

"News?" Venomshank has his mask off as he eyes Sword, face way too close to the screen. "What news?"

"Well, I kinda found a kid in an alleyway. He said he has no parents, but he kinda looks like he's related to one of the Swords. I mean, I've never seen a demon with wings anywhere else." Sword looks over at Shard and Rocket. "I'm bringing him to the meeting to see if anyone knows who's he is."

"Oh. That's weird." The screen is now only Venomshank's eye. "What does he look like?"

"You can see for yourself." Sword holds his phone in front of Shard who just stares at the screen, confused. "His name is Shard, his gear is some like CD shards, never seen anything like it before."

Venomshank's eye narrows as he looks at Shard through the camera. "Doesn't look like any other mortal. Yeah, bring him to the meeting. Darkheart might know." Venomshank looks off camera. "You- come here! Come look at this thing." The phone is handed off to Valk and Dom who look interested.

"Awww, he's so cute!" Valk squeals, waving to the camera. "You said his name was Shard? He's adorable!"

Dom examines the boy more before commenting. "I agree on the Swords blood part." He nods. "He looks powerful."

Shard seems intimidated by the people trapped in the screen. Sword notices and pulls his arm away, holding the phone back in front of himself. "Yeah, I bet he is. We don't know anything about his gear yet, but he's figured out it can orbit his hand if that counts for anything. They orbit in the arrangement to make a normal CD, less than an inch apart between the different pieces. I didn't touch one, but they look pretty sharp."

"They are sharp." Rocket cuts in. "I touched 'em, Shard gonna have to be careful when figuring his gear out, he could cut himself easily."

"So they are sharp!" Sword chirps. "Other than his gear and apperance, he's just like any other child." The red phigher shrugs. "Healthy and pretty strong for his age based on his horn density."

"Well that's good that he's healthy!" Valk chimes. "I can't wait to meet him, I call dibs on saying hi first!" Dom can be seen rolling his eye at his older brother's enthusiasm.

"Well if none of you guys claim him as yours, me and Rocket are gonna raise him as ours." Sword mentions.

"Awww, I kind of hope no one claims him! You two would be great parents!" The yellow idol's smile widens. "What's his wing structure?"

Sword looks over at Shard who is now sleepily leaning against rocket while sipping his milk. "His wing structure looks the same or similar to mine. Three layers of feathers, curved arches."

"That's good, you'll be able to teach him proper care for his wings." Dom nods. "Glad it's not a structure that no one else has, care would be a pain."

"Agreed." Sword smiles as he glances at the now sleeping Shard. He leans over out of camera and gives Rocket a quick kiss on the head. "Also, I seen you guys posted about Slingshot's cafe."

"Yeah, I did that!" Valk squeaks. "Shuri said he worked there so obviously we went to check it out. There was barely any customers there but it was SO good, even though we went during rush hour. I thought a little shout out would do them some good, especially since Slingshot is Shuriken's brother."

"I always forget you and Shuri are dating. It's so... random." Sword recalls the green ninja. "We just left there, he was on shift. How'd you even meet him?"

Valk's smile turns goofy as his cheeks blush a bit. "Psshh, he just kinda defended me against some creep one night when I was on an undercover walk. He walked me home and we hit it off so we kept talking. One thing led to another, and now we've been happily dating for two years!"

Rocket peers over, barely in frame of the camera. "Knight in shinin' armor, huh?" He teases the yellow idol.

Valk scoffs and hands the phone over to Dom, walking out of frame, embarrassed and flustered. "So shy for someone that talks about him non-stop almost every night." Dom further embarrasses his brother, looking at him off camera. A faint 'shut up' is heard as Valk presumably walked away. "Want to go back to talkin' to Venomshank? He's been listening, I think." Dom asks, glancing sideways.

"Yeah, let me make sure he heard all the important things." Sword nods, watching as Dom hands the phone back to Venomshank.

"Whaddya want." Venomshank holds the phone at a horrible angle, only half of his face being way too close in frame.

"Were you listening to everything I said to Flipside?" Sword refers to the two brother as their idol group. Quicker than saying both of their names.

"No." The god answers bluntly. "Whaddya want." He repeats.

"Well I said, me and Rocket were going to keep Shard and raise him as our own if no one claims him at the meeting." Sword repeats his announcement to Flipside. "Meaning if no one takes him, you're going to be a grandfather.

Venomshank stares at him through the screen. "Ok." He shows no care.

Sword sighs. "You don't care."

"No."

"I thought you wouldn't. Would you babysit for us though?" Sword blinks innocently. He had no reason currently for Venomshank to babysit, he just wanted to know.

"Maybe. Is it behaved good?"

"He's not an 'it,' dad." Sword corrects his father. "And yes, he is behaved. A bit of an attitude, but he doesn't yell or bite or nothin'. You remember how Rocket was when we were kids? He acts similar to how he did, just less hyperactive."

"Ok. Maybe." Venomshank crunches on something, the angle of the phone now only being part of his chin and shoulder.

"We still on for training day after the meet, right?" Sword asks to confirm. He knew the answer already.

"Yeah. You should already know that."

"Am I able to bring Rocket and Shard as spectators?" Sword looks hopefully.

"Yeah. I don't care. When are you going to end this... face video chat thing."

Sword smiles. "I will right now. Bye bye dad!" Reciving a dry 'bye' from his father, Sword hangs up, looking over at Rocket. "That went well."

"I don't understand how he can be such a dry caller. He's nothing like that in person!" Rocket chuckles. "It's funny how most of the gods can't figure out how to work a phone."

"Yeah, it is." Sword agrees with a smile. "Do you want to come to the meet with me? I know it's kind of weird for you to be in the same room with all the gods, but I don't want Shard to be alone with someone he just met if I have to go do something."

"Sure, I don't mind." Rocket blinks. "I don't really see the difference between a god and a mortal in a social standard." The rocketeer shrugs.

"Good! But are you sure? I can probably convince Valk to bring Shuriken along too if it makes you more comfortable to not be the only mortal there."

"It makes me no difference, love. Thank you for being so caring, but I'm bein' honest." Rocket smiles at his lover. "But I don think it would be funny to see Shuri all nervous with the gods." His smile turns into a smirk. "You already see how he is around Valk despite them bein' together 2 years."

Sword chuckles. "I'll try to pull a few strings of Valk's. Maybe threaten that I can't bring Shard if you don't come, and you won't come if you're the only mortal."

"This is goin' to be good!" Rocket grins.

--♡--

As Zuka and Boombox both knew nothing about Shard's gear, Sword and Rocket hoped any of the gods would know. They were now approaching the meeting place, located at The Height's. Walking up what felt like too many steps, the three passed a huge statue of Illumina, smaller statues of all the gods lined beside it. Stepping to a rather large door, Sword swung it open, holding it with his foot as he grabbed Rocket's hand, holding Shard with the other. "Here we are, love!" Sword grinned, walking in with his partner as their horns tipped with the other's color. It happened every time they touched.

"It's so big in here." Rocket comments, looking around at the clean marble. "Cold too."

"Yeah, well, it is for gods!" Sword leads Rocket down one of the various hallways, entering into a lounge room. All of the gods and their kin were in the room, simply hanging out. Rocket surpressed a laugh as he seen the familiar face of Shuriken nervously talking to Valk.

The ninja had obviously noticed the three enter as he quickly pointed to them, alerting Valk. The two walked over. "Oh my GODS! He is so CUTE!" Valk squeals loudly, attracting everyone's attention. "Hi there buddy!" Valk leans down to look at the child in Sword's arms.

Shard blinks at the yellow idol before offering him a small wave. He doesn't verbally reply.

"Can I hold you, buddy?!" Valk asks, reaching his arms out. By now, Dom and Firebrand have made their way over to see the kid. It wasn't often a child was brought here, not since Flipside was little.

Shard looks up at Sword quickly. "It's alright bud, he's nice." Sword reassures the child. Shard hestiates a moment before nodding, reaching his arms out to Valk who hapily takes him into his grasp.

"You are just the cutest little thing!" He chimes, spinning around with Shard and lightly pinching his cheeks. "Shuri, look at him!" He grabs Shuriken's arm, pulling him closer to look at Shard.

"Yeah, I've already seen him. I already told you, I met him at Sling's cafe while I was on shift." Shuriken reaches over and pets the kid's hair.

"Why did you bring a kid here?" Firebrand asks, looking at Sword and Rocket. "And your mortal partner."

"Well, he's not really mine, but he looks like the blood of a god. No mortal has ever had wings. He's strong for his age too based on horn density, so I wanted to ask if he was the blood of anyone here." Sword explains. "I brought Rocket incase I had to do somethin', I didn't want Shard to be alone with a group of demons he doesn't know."

"Makes sense." The fire god nods. "He is quite adorable, reminds me of when you were that little!" Firebrand recalls the first time meeting Sword. "You wouldn't let go of Venomshank and cried whenever anyone tried to touch you!"

"Oh please! I was stuffed in a room full of old people I didn't know! Asking me questions I didn't want nor know how to answer!" Sword rolls his eyes.

Firebrand chuckles, smoke being released from his mouth. "Oh, how rude of me!" He turns to Rocket. "Hello, Rocket. I haven't seen you in quite some time, how have you been?" The god greets the rocketeer.

"Been alright, nothin significant has happened since I last saw you, except for Shard comin' into my life." Rocket smiles. "And you?"

"Ah, all is well and the same. Nothing much changes after you've been alive for as long as I have! How's your father?"

"He's doin' good too! Just runnin' Da Shop, drivin' phighters to phights. Although, he did get an increase in sales recently." Rocket nods while recalling Zuka.

"That's good." Firebrand smiles. "I must go gossip with Windforce now. Farewell!" The fire god walks away as Rocket turns his attention back to Shard.

Shard is now standing on the floor, latched onto Sword's leg. Valk is crouched down in front of him, talking to the child while Dom and Shuriken watch.

"Is he always this quiet?" Valk asks, looking up at Sword and Rocket.

"Sometimes. Some days he talks, some days he doesn't." Sword shrugs, reaching down and petting Shard's head. "Can you talk, bud?"

Shard shakes his head no, letting go of Sword's leg and scurrying to Rocket's, reaching up for his hand. Rocket happily takes it to hold. "Maybe selective mutisim?" Dom suggests, eyeing the child.

"Possibly." Sword sighs with a smile. "If no one claims him, I'll take him to the doctor soon to make sure everything is good with him. Hope it's not some physical problem causing it. Speaking of, I need to go introduce him to the other gods to see if they claim him."

"Alright!" Valk squeaks, now standing again with his arm locked with Shuriken's. "Rocket you can hang out with us if you'd like! The gods are boring to talk to."

Rocket glances at Sword who nods as be bends down and picks Shard up. "Sure." Rocket agrees.

"I'll talk to you in a few." Sword smiles at his lover, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah yeah, just go." Rocket wipes the kiss away with an eyeroll. "Shoo."

"Wow! I'm hurt." Sword looks down at Shard. "See how mean he is to me?" He smiles, walking away. Shard nods, crossing his arms at Rocket's meanness. "Who do you want to see first?" Sword asks, stopping in the middle of the room so he has a view of all the gods.

Shard looks around before shrugging, closing his eyes and pointing in a random direction. His finger landed closest to Darkheart and Venomshank. "My dad and uncle, good choice buddy!" Sword approaches the two gods. "Hi dad, hi uncle." He greets casually.

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that." Darkheart scowls at Sword.

"Really? I don't recall, uncle." Sword smiles innocently. "Anyway, I found this kid, he looks like he belongs to a god." The red phighter holds Shard out. "You don't happen to know his parents, do you?" He smiles hopefully.

"No, and I don't think any of the others have had any kids recently either. You were the most recent direct offspring from any of us." Darkheart replies. "We know these things about eachother, Sword. It's not any of ours."

Sword sighs, defeated as he holds Shard to his chest. "It's just weird. He seemingly came out of no where, he even said he had no family."

Venomshank seems to be thinking of something. "Maybe the spawn tried to bless you?"

"What do you mean?" Sword looks up at his father.

"It's rare, but the spaw ncan bless demons. Basically it gives them a child without having to sacrifice a gear. Bloodtests can prove the child to be blood related to the chosen parents, but no one really knows where they come from, nor why it happens." Venomshank explains. "Try getting a DNA test to see if he's yours."

"Yes, that could be the case." Darkheart agrees. "He does have many of your features." The god adds, reaching over and pulling Shard's wing open, careful not to hurt him. "Same wings, same face structure."

"I don't see why that would be the case." Sword replies, "neither me nor Rocket wanted kids this early on. Shard said he's 3, but if he is, then that would mean he was spawned while Rocket was 15 and I was 17. Why would the spawn give two teens a kid?"

"The spawn works in weird ways, Sword." Venomshank shrugs. "In fact, I didn't have to give any piece of my gear up for you, the spawn had given you to me while I was overseeing it one day."

"Are you saying I was an unwanted child?" Sword narrows his eyes accusingly at his father.

"Yes. You were an unwantched child, but you grew on me, I guess." Venomshank bluntly replies.

"Wow!" Sword dramatically puts his free and over his heart. "Anyway, I guess you're a grandfather now?" He smiles awkawrdly before turning his gaze to Darkheart. "And you're a great uncle! How cool is that, uncle Darkheart?"

Darkheart scoffs, crossing his arms with no actual reply. Venomshank reaches out and takes Shard from his son. "I assume you'll train him as I've done with you?"

"Yeah, but I don't think I'll be as rough on him! I don't want him to y'know, be in the hospital from one of our training sessions." Sword recalls the memory of Venomshank pushing Sword too hard when he was younger, causing the demon to fall seriously ill and be hospitalized.

"It was an accident. I didn't realize how fragile you were." Venomshank huffs, taking a closer look at Shard as he holds the boy. "What is his gear?"

"I've told you about it already." Sword takes his son back, placing him on the floor. "Mind summong your gear, buddy?"

Shard nods, quickly summoning his gear. He had been praciticing since the first time he did it. Shards of a black, broken CD fall into his hand. He quickly orbits them around his palm, reaching up to show the much taller demons.

Venomshank squats down to get a closer look. "Not something I've seen. Try asking Windforce, she's more into all the gear stuff." The god suggests before standing back up.

"Alright, thanks dad!" Rocket smiles, grabbing Shard's free hand and walking him over to where Firebrand and Windforce were chatting. "Hi." He greets.

"Hello again, Sword!" Firebrand returns the greeting while Windforce stays silent.

"Windforce, if you don't mind, I was wondering if you've ever seen a gear like this?" Sword gets straight to the point, picking up Shard and holding the boy's shard-orbiting hand out to the goddess.

Windforce takes a quick look before replying, "not something I'm familiar with." She answers. "It looks... weak."

"Don't call my son weak, we don't even know what the gear can do." Sword defends Shard, taking a step away. "His gear may be powerful."

"I doubt it." Windforce scoffs.

"Stop being so rude." Firebrand huffs. "I think his gear is very unique! I'm interested in learning more about it as he grows." The fire god smiles, bending down to pinch Shard's cheek.

"I'll certainly being track of everything his gears can do." Sword nods to himself. "Only time can tell. Well, that was all I wanted to ask, I'll be taking my leave now." Sword politely takes his leave, walking back to where he spotted Rocket with Shuri, Flipside, and now Ban Hammer.

As he approached, he could hear bickering. "Oh please, you can barely win against me in a phight! Stop acting all high and mighty." Shuriken's cocky voice is heard.

"Oh yeah?! Why don't you fight me right now, prick." Ban Hammer growls in return.

"No- we're not doing any fighting, can you two please stop?" Valk steps between the two, pushing them apart. "Ban, stop being an asshole, Shuri, stop being a smart ass."

"What I miss?" Sword asks as he stands behind Rocket, putting Shard on the ground and interlocking his fingers with his lover's.

"Just some bickering. Ban said somethin' snarky to Shuriken, so Shuriken said something snarky back, and it went on." Rocket fills him in simply before whispering to him, "not as funny as I thought he was gonna be." He refers to their evil plan of seeing Shuriken as a nervous wreck.

"Tough luck." Sword replies with a huff, glancing down at Shard. "You can walk around bud, just stay in this room and don't get in anyone's way." He smiles at the child who nods in reply, choosing to stay beside his father's leg. "Oh, Rocket." Sword turns back to his lover. "I got some news, but I'll tell you when we get home."

"Alright." Rocket shrugs, squeezing Sword's hand.

"It's so nice to have two wings!" Ban's annoying voice cuts their conversation short as Ban Hammer now seems to be mocking Dom.

The purple idol keeps his cool, but that doesn't stop him from making a rather mean comment back, "ah, yes, having two wings was a pleasure I took for granted. However, I find to enjoy being a healthy weight more than decorative feathers."

"Damn, he just called you fat!" Shuriken snickers, high-fiving Dom. "That was a good one, Dom."

Ban Hammer is silent in anger, turning around and stomping off with a growl. Sword and Rocket looked at eachother, amused. Sword then looks down, realizing Shard has wandered off. He quickly looks around, finding his son to be with Venomshank and Darkheart again. Venomshank was holding him, the child asleep in his arms. "Look." The red phighter nudges Rocket, nodding to the sight. He quickly takes out his phone and takes a picture.

"Aww," Rocket smiles. "I think he likes him."

"I'm surprised Venomshank of all people likes kids." Valk peeps in, obviously listening to their conversation.

Sword looks around the room once more, noticing something. "Where's Icedagger?" He looks towards the Flipside siblings.

"What do you mean?" Valk looks around, unable to spot the blue god. "Oh, that's weird. He's usually one of the first ones here."

"I can call him." Dom offers, taking out his phone.

"Don't wanna bother him if he's busy, but he hasn't missed a meeting in years." Sword seems a bit worried.

"Which one's Icedagger again?" Shuriken asks casually, earning a smack to the back of the head from Valk. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"You're so rude!" Valk huffs. "Icedagger is y'know, the ice one." Taking out his phone, the yellow idol pulls up a picture of the teen god, basically shoving it in the ninja's face. "Look!"

"Sorry, sorry! Geez, I failed my deitiy class, you know this!" Shuriken pushes Valk's phone away, crossing his arms. "I'm not from Blackrock, why would I care about anything ice related. Thieve's Den barely even gets chilly."

Valk smacks the back of his head again, bickering starting between the two. Sword, Rocket and Dom watch, amused.

"How long do these meetings last?" Rocket asks, turning towards Sword.

"Usually like 2 hours. It's just a get-together, people will get bored after a while." Sword shrugs. "Consider it... a family gathering."

"I'm already bored!" Rocket groans, leaning his head on Sword's shoulder.

The red phighter chuckles. "We can leave in like 30 minutes. I want to see if Icedagger shows up or not."

"Alright." Rocket wraps his arms around Sword with a sigh of relief as his body melts into the red demon's.

Sword wraps one arm around Rocket's waist. "Hey, Valk?" He catches the attention of the yellow idol that's only a few steps away, in a gossip conversation with his brother and partner.

"Yeah?" Valk looks over with a chirp.

"How does it feel to lose the phestival?" Sword smirks.

"Shut up! Dom only won because they CHEATED!" Valk growls. "Doves should have won! People just forced others to sign up for those nasty crows!" He fakes a gag.

"I dunno, team crow kinda cool." Shuriken shrugs.

"Don't think I've forgotten how you BETRAYED me." Valk yells, turning to look at the ninja. "TRAITOR!"

Shuriken chuckles, "sorry, but I don't look good in pink!" He shrugs casually.

"I hope you catch on fire." Valk huffs, crossing his arms.

"C'mon, Valk, it's not that deep." Dom rests one of his elbows on the shorter demon's shoulder. "Chill out!"

Valk angrily pushes his younger brother's arm off. "You and your GOONS can DIE!"

"Don't worry Valk, I was on Team Dove." Rocket chirps, still leaning on Sword.

"Thank you! See, this is why Rocket is my favorite person here!" The yellow demon huffs, glaring daggers at Shuriken.

"Why are you looking at me?!" Shuriken puts his hands up like was being held at gunpoint. "You said I could pick any team and you wouldn't be mad!"

"It's called BEING NICE! Maybe you should try it instead of being rude to any and everyone you come across!"

Sword tunes their bickering out, looking at the demon who's resting on his shoulder. "Are you hungry?"

"No, but Shard might be. He barely ate earlier, he's probably hungry by now."

"I don't think he can eat any of the food here. We can leave soon if you want, I'll get Valk to tell me if Icedagger shows."

"Up to you, love."

"Obviously, you're bored and Shard is hungry, so we'll be leaving." Sword pulls himself away from Rocket's grasp. "Say bye for me, and I'll go get Shard." Leaving his boyfriend to announce his leave, he approaches his father who is now sitting on a couch, talking to Firebrand with Shard asleep on his chest. "Hi dad, I need him."

"Take him, I'on want him." Venomshank carefully picks Shard off his chest, handing him to Sword. The boy had woken slightly, but fell back to sleep after being situated against Sword.

"Alright well, me and Rocket are leaving." He announces, patting his son's back lightly.

"Already? It hasn't been that long." Firebrand blinks at him. "Usually you stay longer, don't you?"

"Yeah, but Rocket isn't a fan of gatherings like this and Shard needs to eat." Sword explains his reasonings, flinching as Shard's horn poked into his chin. "Gods, need to do somethin' about them horns." He huffs, half to himself.

"Bye." Venomshank states bluntly, not seeming to care.

"Aww, caring for your family!" Firebrand coos. "You have fun, Sword!"

"Yeah yeah." Sword rolls his eyes. "I'll see you next meet, Firebrand." With that, Sword turns to see Rocket waiting for him a few feet away. Walking to his lover, he grabbed the blue phighter's hand. "Let's go." He smiles, leading the demon to the exit.

"Finally!" Rocket huffs. "I thought we were never going to leave."