Chapter Text
"Oh, he's gone!"
Grian's laughter echoed alongside the fading rumbles of thunder in Martyn's brain. He looked back and forth from Grian next to him and Jimmy's body at the bottom of the hill. Martyn's communicator began buzzing nonstop, most likely filling with messages of the other players reacting to Jimmy's death. However, he didn't even glance at the com, his attention to fixed on the scene playing out before him.
"No! Jimmy's gone! What's wrong with you?! You just killed Jimmy!" Mumbo shouted, running to the canary's side. Mumbo turned his gaze up to the green and yellow names. Grabbing his bow and an arrow, he fired an arrow at Grian. His wings flared as he jumped off of the hill and ran after Mumbo. The two began to run through the trees, Martyn following close behind. Mumbo tried to explode an end crystal, but it was already too late. The mustached man fell to his knees then collapsed to the ground as Grian removed the sword from his chest. Martyn could only stand in shock. Two members of the Southlands were dead, and Grian had killed them both.
'Grian had to.' The mimic argued with himself. 'Red names had attacked and he was allowed to defend himself.' A third call of thunder echoed through the sky though unlike the previous two, no death messaged accompanied it.
'The Boogeyman will be chosen in 1 minute.'
The avian never acknowledged the sound, instead running back to the strange box Mumbo claimed to be a tower. "To see this story through we have to see what this does." He stood a few feet away from the doorway and pulled back an arrow, firing at the button on the floor in an attempt to activate it. Multiple missed arrows later, a fourth strike from the sky announced the minuet was over. Martyn made his way over to Grian and took him by his shoulders, pulling his attention away from the button.
"You know the drill, look me in the eyes."
There was always something so... off putting about looking into Grian's eyes; At least that's what Martyn thought. He always seemed to stare right through him. His eyes would get a distant look but never appear to miss a detail of the things around him. This time was no different as the countdown began simultaneously in their minds.
3
2
1
A cacophony of voices filled Martyn's mind. He had heard these voices before. These disembodied calls that came at the most inconvenient times, always bringing cryptic riddles and leaving Martyn with more questions than answers.
"Your time has come to sever ties."
"Four towers burn, the last one dies."
"Be swift and ensure our will be done!"
The final word echoed in his mind as whispers of "You are the Boogeyman" filled his ears. The decision was made before he had any time to protest. Martyn managed to maintain a poker face, drawing no suspicion from Grian as the two separated. The avian immediately turned his back to Martyn as he began investigating the button once again.
"Not the Boogeyman- I haven't been the Boogeyman once this entire time!" He remarked. Martyn's mind felt clouded, he could barely focus what the other had just said. He had never let himself get low enough to become a Red name before. *'So why does this bloodlust feel so familiar?'* He didn't have time to dwell on those thoughts, he had to give Grian some kind of response.
"Who's left that could be it then? Oh, Team B.E.S.T could be it now.."
"There's plenty of Green and Yellow names around."
"This isn't good.." Martyn said out loud, though mostly to himself. He felt himself grabbing for the obsidian in his inventory, then his end crystals. There was no one else around and the thought of ending Grian's Yellow life became more enticing by the second.
"Right, this button doesn't do anything." Grian finally concluded, breaking dirt blocks around the button just to be sure. The noise allowed Martyn to place the obsidian behind the avian unnoticed.
'He would have to understand.' Martyn thought, looking down at the crystal in his hands. 'Sure, he's never been Boogey before, but he's felt the bloodlust. Maybe they could still be friends..' Martyn stopped himself while he was ahead. There was no world where if he did this Grian would ever want to be with him as more than friends. The curse thrummed in the back of his mind as he placed the crystal on the obsidian. He didn't have a choice. 'He'll understand...' It was almost too easy. A light tap to the corner was all it took for the crystal to explode, the force causing Grian to stumble forward. The look of betrayal that filled his dark eyes when he turned to Martyn made him freeze for a moment before the pull of the curse pushed him forward.
Grian shouted the mimic's name in shock as he drew his axe, advancing on his attacker. "I tried my best, G! You know I have to!" The two fought among the remains of the Southlands, trading blows and blocking attacks until Grian managed to shove Martyn away. The avian began to run into the forest in an attempt to escape but Martyn recovered fast. He couldn't let Grian get away now. He had to kill him. He would tell everyone what Martyn if he didn't finish the job now. An arrow emerged from the hillside and landed in Grian's chest, causing him to collapse to the ground. Unlike the bodies of Jimmy and Mumbo, Grian's disappeared while leaving all of his items behind.
Grian hit the ground too hard whist trying to escape smallishbeans
"I'll take that!" A voice from the tree line called. Joel emerged from the shadows and ran to Grian's items, paying little to no mind to Martyn who stood on the ground in shock.
"You stole my kill dude!" Martyn called up to Joel. His sword dropped to his side as he fell to his knees, his breathing increasing as the realization of what he had done finally revealing itself through the red haze in his thoughts. Tears stung in his eyes as he shouted once more. "How could you do that to me?! I was the Boogey! I hit him with a crystal, and it didn't work! That's not fair!" Joel paid no mind to Martyn's sobs. He finished rifling through Grian's dropped items before running off, still cackling like a madman.
"That's not fair at all!" Martyn said again, this time as a cry to the world and to the people who had put them there. None of this was fair. He had just been forced to break the trust of one of the last remaining members of the Southlands, one of the last people in this world he would dare say he loved. What kind of monsters would lock them into a box where they were forced to kill the people they loved and call it a game? Martyn's communicator buzzed in his pocket. Brushing away his tears, he checked the message.
<Grian> MARTYN IS THE BOOGEYMAN
No one responded to his message besides Joel gloating how he got the kill instead. Martyn scoffed and threw his communicator into the dirt. The difficulty of his task to get a kill had just increased and now he was alone. No one else would trust him. He let himself sit there for a moment before the drumming of the curse began to be harder to drown out. The mimic picked himself up, grabbed his sword, and made his way towards the snow castle.
He had to find someone to kill.