OH GOD. OH MAN IT'S HAPPENING STAY CALM.
So... Hi! I'm doing the thing. Actually uploading. Help.
And it's the start of a hopeful series of Friday Night Funkin' Character TFs. (Mostly mod characters too oh god)
Needless to say I'm going to hell!
All nervousness aside, I'm pretty excited to finally contribute to this realm of weird overly niche content. Hopefully this isn't complete trash!

Yeah, it's a bit of a slow, rambly burn but I wanted to set some stuff up for future chapters. If you want to immediately get to the TF scene feel free to CTRL F and put in 'There was'!
Also putting the full story in the description here in case anyone has trouble opening the file!

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Discordant Symphonies

Chapter One: Unconventional Migraine Cures

Symphony.

The force that courses through this world. Through those that live in it. Unconsciously, every living being follows their own rhythm. Their own unique Symphonic energy. The vast majority cannot and never will tap into its potential. Those that can manifest this force, either via their voice, an instrument, their own physical rhythmic movement, or other untapped methods, will have the power to create. To destroy. To change the world around them.

And often, consequently, themselves...

-

Willow groaned, her mind foggy as she awoke, greeted by the sun stubbornly shining through her tight-shut blinds. Her head pounded as she groggily sat up, clutching her head.

There were few things worse than waking up from a restful night's sleep with a splitting headache.

This was far from a new development. Being born near a gas plant and living just across the highway from a polluted lake for around ten years of your life isn't exactly ideal for one's developing health. She had fond memories of the place, sure, but in retrospect it wasn't exactly a mystery why she found her young self consistently ending the school week with her head in the toilet.

Moving into the countryside from her teen years onward certainly helped, she had come up with coping mechanisms over time and avoided common triggers as often as possible...

But that was just it. It wasn't always possible to avoid sudden changes in weather, or loud noises, or certain smells, or...

She muttered wordlessly into her hands as she winced and glanced at her bedside clock. Good. She wasn't running late. She had time to take some painkillers and get some food into her. On a good day that would be enough to stave off the pain.

On a bad day, her headache would stubbornly persist, slowly growing from a dull annoyance to a distracting pulse to a blinding unignorable source of agony that would leave her spending half the night dry heaving in her apartment bathroom, unable to think straight as the pain dominated every other want or need.

To be honest, that's probably how she was going to die.

And now, having moved into her own place in the city, she knew the headaches were getting worse and more frequent.

She couldn't go back home, she wanted to live on her own like a "proper" adult. She didn't have the funds to move again anyway besides. And said financial security was at risk itself when she was spending more work days at home in the dark. Her employer tried to be understanding, she knew that, but they could only take so many sudden sick leaves before she lost her job.

That was when she saw the ad tucked in the corner of a random newspaper page she was glancing over in a blissfully quiet nearby cafe. An ad quoting recent advancements in permanent migraine treatments and calling for willing human trial participants. A more polite term for test subjects.

It was desperate. And risky. And really, really dumb. But she felt those words could easily describe herself on a good day.

So with some phone calls and verbal agreements she had been signed up for a medical trial a week from then.

And today it was officially one week from that phone call.

-

The address given wasn't far from the bus stop, though she was grateful for the directions as she never would have known of the advanced medical facility amongst the sea of grey featureless buildings of the business district outskirts.

Looking again at the piece of scrap note paper that she hastily scribbled the necessary information on, she nodded to herself in affirmation, took a deep breath, and pushed the simple glass door open.

"Hello! Are you here for the clinical trial?"

Willow jumped a bit at the immediate acknowledgement from the woman at the front desk of the sparse yet tastefully decorated waiting room, looking more like a typical family doctor's office than the front of some advanced medical building. The woman herself was interesting as well, her energetic voice and demeanor clashing with her overly professional appearance, all thick-rimmed glasses and hair tied back in a neat bun.

"Uh, ah- yes!" Willow said, a little too enthusiastically herself. She clutched her satchel close as her nerves kicked in, pale skin already sweating anxiously.

"Excellent, excellent! All the paperwork should already be in order for now, so please feel free to make yourself comfortable!" The desk lady said with a tone more suited for a tour guide than a desk jockey.

Willow stiffly sat down in the nearest chair. Among the magazines and newspapers on the end table next to her was what appeared to be a rack of pamphlets. With nothing better to do, she took one out of curiosity.

Greater Good Pharmaceuticals

Better tomorrows, today

Appropriately corporate and clinical all things considered. The logo sure creeped her out though. A red stylized eye symbol with a white and red capsule in place of the pupil.

Before she could open the pamphlet her attention was grabbed by the sound of the single wooden door on the other side of the room opening. A man with curly, almost white-blonde hair stepped out. He had a stoic expression and somewhat stiff stance as he regarded her, his voice monotone.

"Come with me, Ms. Xavier."

-

The man walked with a brisk, even pace. His arms firmly behind his back as he stared straight ahead. Willow shuffled behind him, looking at her feet as they trekked through the bleached white sterilized facility. This was admittedly more what she was expecting going in to be a human guinea pig.

The man stopped short and suddenly turned, continuing to the right, almost robotic in his movements, as if this was a well practiced routine.

"Ah, excuse me Mr..."

"Updike. Doctor Updike."

Weird name.

"Erm, yes, Dr. Updike sir, I was wondering... exactly what this pr-procedure entailed...?" She was wording herself carefully, but her nervousness was showing, resulting in her stutter acting up.

"You'll soon see." He replied, not turning around or exhibiting any emotion as he pressed a series of buttons on a keypad. A metallic elevator-like set of doors opened as he stepped aside, eying her expectantly.

Getting the message Willow nodded with a gulp and walked through the doorway. Inside was a featureless white room, their footsteps echoed eerily as she approached the center of the room, confused.

"This is a sensory testing room." Updike stated as he fished a hand into his snowy white suit pocket and pulled out a pair of simple white capsules. "Once you take these, we will begin testing their effectiveness by exposing you to various environmental triggers, sounds, lights and the like."

Willow took the pills in her hand apprehensively as Updike continued.

"Ideally, five minutes after ingestion as the test begins you will experience no symptoms of migraine or related pains. Less ideally, you will experience some symptoms but significantly lessened from those of the control group."

Updike looked at Willow unflinchingly, quietly waiting for Willow to commit to the test.

"Well, it's now or never." She thought to herself, having been silently debating whether to go through with this or not. Did she even have a choice now?

Gulp!

No water was provided or offered, so she assumed she was to take the things dry. They formed a lump in her throat as they sluggishly descended her dry esophagus from gravity alone. She couldn't help but gag from the blissfully brief yet intensely bitter taste of the capsules.

Updike simply nodded before he turned and left the room. The metal doors slamming shut suddenly enough to make Willow jump.

-

There was no way to tell how much time had passed in the chamber. As she had received no further instructions she simply sat on the bare floor waiting for some form of stimulus or signal that the test had begun.

She soon did recieve one, but not from any expected source.

Grrrrgllll...

Willow gasped as her scrawny stomach clenched as an intense cramping pain suddenly radiated from her bowels before rapidly traveling through her system like an electric shock. She groaned as her hands went to her belly and she dry heaved. It was like her body skipped the headache phase of a migraine and went straight for nausea. She wanted to vomit but found her abdominal muscles not wanting to cooperate. She soon found why as, with a shudder, she found herself laying on her side, her breathing shallow and rapid as her heart thumped against her chest.

Looking down at the apparent source of her pain, she made a shuddering gasp as she saw her stomach muscles moving and shifting against her will, with what appeared to be small bumps forming against the once flat, almost concave surface. Her stomach seemingly filling itself out as her breathing quickened, the bumps soon growing and revealing themselves to be... Abs? She'd always found muscles attractive, sure, but seeing them rapidly developing on herself with no logical provocation was... mortifying...

As she reached a shaky hand to give a glancing touch to her developing musculature, she jerked her hand back as the skin of the affected area seemed to shift as it darkened and smoothed almost looking like... stone or maybe metal?

She could only barely comprehend what she was looking at as the changes seemed to spread from there. Her breathing hitched as a spasm racked her body and she rolled flat on her back. Her ears were filled with the unfamiliar yet haunting sound of bones creaking and muscles groaning as she found her entire body growing impossibly. All her life she was short and scrawny, almost sickly in appearance. Now this was all seemingly being rapidly erased.

Huff... huff...

Grrrrnnn...

Crck-snp...crak! Chk!

"Ngggahhh..."

She was in misery, paralysed by her own body as it spasmed and warped beyond her understanding. She found it increasingly hard to breathe as her clothes were constricted around her growing frame. Her simple beige blouse doing all it could to hold back her burgeoning pectorals, and her slacks were splitting at the seams as her thighs and calves swelled. All the while her height climbed, from 4'5'' to... definitely taller than that as she felt like she was simultaneously being stretched like taffy and inflated like a balloon, her limbs outgrowing her sleeves until they felt like they were miles away as she felt an unimaginable pressure from within as her muscles grew unnaturally quick, her whole body burning up.

"Ah, aaahhh, aaaAAAHHGGkkkh!"

She wanted to curl up into a ball in some vain effort to hold her warping body together, but her body refused to respond to her thoughts as her nerve endings were overwhelmed with pain. All the while the dark coloration of her abdomen was spreading along with her changes, any bumps, wrinkles, or stray hairs were smoothed down or shed as the affected flesh thickened and hardened, her body feeling like it was stiffening up along with the myriad other sensations of her changing form as it spread.

The bones and muscles of her hands crackled and groaned as they grew and thickened, becoming stronger and more masculine. Her feet, constrained within her old, worn slip-ons finally broke free, eliciting a gasp of brief relief from her before her feet swelled strangely as her toes melded together, the result looking like some odd combination of a simple featureless shoe and a horse's hoof.

She winced as she felt her groin tingle, the slight arousal awkwardly contrasting with the pain overwhelming her, before said sensation faded. Her taxed blouse finally giving up the ghost as it's buttons flew off one by one as the fabric disintegrated, her sports bra, former home to her cherry sized breasts, followed soon after, the elastic giving out with a violent snap revealing an odd X-shaped pattern on her wide chest. Her pants and underwear were little more than barely clinging rags at this point.

The only thing left unchanged was her head.

She huffed and panted, tears stinging her eyes as fear and pain alike washed over her. She had no idea what was happening or when this would all end as she felt the altered skin spreading up her neck. She found herself coughing and gagging as a lump in her throat formed and her voice cracked; or rather crackled awkwardly.

"Guh, hughkk..., hrAAAGHKK!"

She was honestly startled by this strange, electronic sounding, deepened voice coming out of her, but was quickly distracted by the horrendous pain of her very skull shifting. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she felt her skull literally rounding out with a cacophony of crunching and squishing noises in her ears, which were shrinking away at the same time. Her nose flattened out and disappeared as it felt like her eyes and mouth were being grabbed and pulled wider, feeling her jaws cracking as they grew as her blue eyes blurred briefly before clearing up again, now an eerie glowing red, the light in the room being somewhat painful now. Finally, her black mid-length hair started falling out in clumps as the changes to her head shape slowly settled. Only a single patch remained, which soon seemingly twisted and merged together into a light brown strand perched right above an additional X-marking on the back of her head.

And with that, it was over. Her body finally went limp as she tried to catch her breath, shaky and strange sounding in her now internal ears as it sounded like her very breaths were going through some kind of filter. Her mind in a daze as she lay there, her body trying to recover from the strain of her... transformation.

As unbelievable as it was, it was the only way she could interpret what had happened.

-

Updike had witnessed the entire spectacle from behind a one-way window. His otherwise stoic expression now bears a slight smirk.

"A very interesting reaction..."

It never ceased to fascinate him how people's bodies could react so dramatically to their own symphonic energies. Truly if more of the populace were to be able to manifest it, the "human" race would be very different indeed.

This latest experiment proved a rousing success. Their project had many ups and downs through its various trials and subjects. It wasn't at all unusual for "volunteers" to die in the transformation process, whether it be from organ failure due to stress, to one poor soul whose skeletal structure outgrew their very flesh as they tore themselves apart.

It seemed that their latest methodology, an otherwise mundane oral drug, proved remarkably effective for more or less forcing the subject's body to start unconsciously manifesting symphony without subject acknowledgement, until it was too late for the victi- individual to do much but ride out the ensuing alterations, physiological changes being a common side effect of symphonic energy manifestation. From that point on an individual could develop all manner of abilities, seemingly as unique as one's own genetic structure, though not necessarily connected to or represented by their physical appearance.

In this case though...

Murmurs of concern from various technicians and researchers circled the room as they observed Willow roll over to her front and attempt to get on her hands and knees. Their various devices monitoring Willow's vital signs were giving erratic signals as her heart rate, adrenaline, and body temperature started rapidly rising. She was panting and heaving as her insides felt like they were on fire, her darkened outer shell starting to take on a fiery orange glow. Her fingers dug into the tiled floor as a warm colored haze seemed to surround her, odd cracks of light seeming to splinter from where she knelt.

Including, concerningly, right through the observation window into the room Updike and his cohorts were in.

Updike, for his part, didn't panic. Rather, he simply turned to one of his colleagues.

"Begin facility evacuation procedures."

-

Her head felt like it was going to explode.

It was like her entire lifetime of cranial pains had all coalesced into one overwhelming force for one final show. Pain shot through her like lightning bolts as her entire body spasmed and contorted, bones cracking as her new limbs bent and warped in ways they were never meant to. Obscene, wordless screams racked her as space and matter around her warped and deteriorated. Tiling on the walls and floor tore and cracked from its base as she clutched her skull in agony, her pupils rapidly switching between various shapes like glitching computer screens, before she finally unleashed a monsterous mechanical scream.

And everything went white.

-

Willow's vision slowly returned as she woke in an utter daze. Her entire body ached all over as her head struggled to clear up. She felt... strange, heavy, disoriented.

"Weird dream..." She thought to herself, her memories of the last hour or so blurred and indistinct. Did she fall asleep waiting for the test to begin? Yeah, that must be it!

"Guess drowsiness must be one of the side effects..." She thought, chuckling to herself, before pausing.

Her chuckle sounded more like an odd chuffing noise...

Her eyes widened as she placed a hand on her chest, a hot orange blush rushed over her face as she felt hard pectoral muscles where there were supposed to be small breasts. Looking at her hands, she was baffled by the strange material covering them.

"The fuck is this?" Her words were more of a low feedback-ladden growl in her ears as she tried to pull the material off her skin, only to be unable to get any grip on it, the material having no give. Not only that, she realized she could feel her hands touching each other as if...

This was her skin...

"Wh-what?"

She looked down at her chest, gaping at the steady rise and fall with her breaths. Tracing a shaking hand across her abdominals, she shuddered, horribly conflicted.

This was her?

Her memories started to clear up, grasping at her smooth, alien facial features as she recalled what had happened in the lab.

The changes, the pain, everything going white...

She found herself breaking into a cold sweat as panic gripped her, before looking down at herself as she saw her sweat was some form of strange, dark, oily substance.

"Okay. Calm down. Don't freak out." She tried to reassure herself as she wrapped her elongated limbs around her new, foreign body, wincing as she could only barely comprehend her own voice; it was so obscured in electronic noise.

She looked around, not recognizing her surroundings. All jagged stone and concrete. Looking up, she gasped as she saw a clear starry night sky.

How long was she out?

She fumbled to a standing position before stumbling, suddenly dazed. She placed a hand on the wall, her dramatic growth spurt led to her giving herself vertigo simply by standing up. Cripes, she must've been around nine feet tall now...

Getting her bearings she observed her surroundings, realizing with dawning dread that she was in what appeared to be...

A Crater?

Did she? No... tha- that wasn't possible!

Her heart thudded against her chest, her mind racing, she couldn't of- but... how else was she still intact (for lack of a better term) while everything around her-

There were people in this building...

...

RUN

The one word blared in her mind as she went into full uncomprehending panic mode.

GET OUT

She found herself clambering up the crater walls, running on pure instinct.

HIDE

Her new athletic body gripped the stone and concrete as she foisted herself up onto the surface. Looking briefly around her fears were only confirmed.

The same grey buildings she saw as she entered that place this morning. When she was still...

GORUNGETOUTHIDE

She bolted, long muscular legs carrying her through the alleys and over fences, not knowing where she was going, not really thinking...

-

Updike slowly opened his eyes. His gaze met an unfamiliar hospital ceiling.

"Doctor Updike, you're awake!"

A decidedly more familiar voice. To his left was his ever faithful assistant Yasmin Zimmerman. From managing the front desk to scouring through research data, she was one of Updike's most valued confidants.

"Mmmhh..."

"Don't move too much sir!"

Ms. Zimmerman's concerned look confused Updike.

"What happened Zimmerman." More of a demand than a question.

Zimmerman took a deep breath before continuing.

"You were caught in the explosion. We've taken you to a private firm as per previous agreement. And..."

Updike felt... strange. Almost lightheaded.

"And what Zimmerma..."

Updike trailed off as he caught sight of his hands. They were a pure snowy white and almost looked... puffy...

He raised his hands to his face, eyes wide in a rare moment of overt expression as he clenched his hands into fists, watching as his fingers became indistinct as they appeared to merge into a single mass with his palms before unclenching them, seeing them return to their original shape.

"You- you were badly injured, but as we rushed you in for treatment, well, it seems your own body took the initiative..."

Updike looked down his hospital gown, the now unrestricted mass of his chest billowing out slightly. He looked... chubby, annoyingly enough. He had always taken some pride in keeping his form trim and he doubted any amount of exercise would fix what seemed to be his new body's natural shape.

"...Mirror."

"Uh... yes Dr. Updike sir!"

Ms. Zimmerman pushed the bedside mirror into Updike's vision, his reflection also surrealy unfamiliar. His head was much the same fluffy light substance as the rest of his body, the vague shape of his head and hair seemingly merged and exaggerated. His face was simplified, his eyes small black dots and his mouth a simple line, no nose to be seen.

It was as if his new form was tailor-made to mock him. He had always struggled to gain respect from his peers due to his youthful appearance. He always tried to carry himself with the utmost stoic professionalism as a result...

And now he looked like a children's weather station mascot.

He released a sigh as he furrowed his brow in thought. How did this happen? He'd already long since manifested his symphony naturally, didn't he? His symphony gave him a supernaturally calming, disarming voice, quite useful for taming would-be subjects that tried to back out at the last second.

He thought of Ms. Zimmerman's words. His symphony must have flared up while he was unconscious, being near death it autonomously started repairing his body but wasn't able to replicate his original appearance, seemingly settling with this radically altered form.

"Sir...?"

"This changes nothing." Updike stated, opening his eyes. "Simply a minor setback."

Zimmerman sighed with relief. "What's our next course of action sir?"

"Move all staff and resources to one of our secondary locations. Then start sending the retrieval team to track down subject Xavier. Either bring them back or eliminate them."

Zimmerman seemed taken aback by the later half of his sentence.

"A-are you sure? Isn't that a tad-"

"You've seen what they're capable of." Updike stated firmly, turning to his assistant with a dour expression. "We have little chance of controlling someone with such an unpredictable, volatile ability."

His expression darkened as an odd buzz seemed to fill the air. "If we leave that... that THING out in the world, who knows what could happen!?" He started to raise his voice as his extremities started to darken in color. "We were lucky to have no fatalities! What if It goes off in a public space!? DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO DIE!?"

With this last sentence he gestured to the door, to the staff milling outside, to the numerous civilians likely beyond the building and throughout the city...

KKRRRZKRAK!

Both figures jumped at the noise and turned, only to see a burnt spot on the wall Updike had been pointing to. He looked to his hands, seeing they had mostly changed from snowy white to a dark grey as they seemingly sparked and crackled with...

Electricity?

Updike closed his eyes and took several deep breaths before opening them again, seeing the dark color recede and disappear.

"I... I apologise for losing my temper... Yasmin." He stated, keeping his eyes on his lap.

"I understand Sir. I don't blame you in the slightest."

"I... would like some time alone... please."

"Of course. I'll get to work on the move and retrieval."

With that Ms. Zimmerman rose from her seat and approached the door. As she opened it she briefly turned to her superior.

"If you need anything, your phone is on the bedside table. I'll do whatever I can."

"Hm."

With that she made her exit and quietly closed the door, leaving Updike in solitude. He laid his head on the pillow with a sigh as he gazed at the blank white ceiling.

This would take some getting used to.

But it also opened some interesting new possibilities.

-

Willow finally collapsed, heaving as her legs gave out from underneath. She had no clue how long she had been running or where on Earth she was but she simply couldn't move another inch.

She looked around her. It was still nighttime and she didn't recognize the dingy alley she found herself stumbling into. She didn't even know if she was in the same state, let alone city.

After she laid there panting for how many minutes she managed to get back on her feet and wandered to the alley wall and collapsed against it. Trying to collect her thoughts as her head slowly stopped spinning and her heart rate lowered.

"What now?"

No answer came. No matter how much she searched her brain or tried to calm herself there was no immediate solution or explanation.

She was some kind of... creature. She had nothing on her. Nothing from her previous life.

She curled up on herself, limbs wrapping around her trying to block the world off shuddering involuntarily as she simply remained there.

"At... at least my headache's gone..."

---

So uh... Yeah! Tell me what you think and all that! I can't guarantee a consistent upload schedule but I hope to continue this whole actually posting things dealio!

All characters, concepts and such are copyright their respective owners. I claim no ownership over these and simply wish to show appreciation for their work in an admittingly weird way. 'Tis but a simple AU thing.