Chapter Text
"Wake up, sunshine."
A cold splash of water doused Poob's face. They awoke with a start, gasping.
"pest! why would yu do dat !" Poob angrily turned to the offender, who was leaning lazily against the concrete subway walls, flipping a coin in between his fingers smoothly.
"Server shutdown happened. You were asleep. It was random, which means there's probably an update." Pest turned his head away, mandibles outlined against the flickering flourescent lights. "I thought you'd want to check it out before the players start flooding in."
"daww !! yu thought of me, das so sweet," Poob brightened, hopping up. "wanna come with me ?"
"Please. I couldn't give a shit whether it's Christmas or Valentine's Day. Just wanting to get you out of here," Pest snorted, shaking his head.
"can't b christmas or vday, we dont have kewl outfits," Poob mused, blowing their party horn. "come onnn!! jus come with me. i promise, it wont b terrible."
"Absoluuuuu- woah-"
The ground started to rumble and warp under their feet. The two NPCs looked at each other in confusion before they were teleported to the lobby.
"ooouu…" Poob groaned. "i think i left mai stomach in the subway…"
"Why would they teleport us here?" Pest spat, flattening in the darkest corner possible. Poob edged next to them as the lobby began to fill with NPCs, each looking as confused as the other. Prototype holding Scag, Split, Folly in her cloud of intimidating darkness that radiated evil with NULL and MR- the chatter was clearly too much for the beetle's sensitive ears.
Worried, Poob glanced around for an idea. Thinking fast, they took off their hoodie and handed it to Pest.
"here. this will help yur ears," Poob said quietly, sliding the hoodie over so as not to embarrass him in front of the others. Gazing up at Poob's softly smiling face, Pest snatched the hoodie and blushed bright red.
"...Thanks," Pest grumbled, sliding the hoodie over his head and pulling the strings tightly over his ears. Poob sighed contentedly, now watching the throng of characters fight for a spot in the lobby.
“wanna go 2 the cafe ?” Poob asked Pest, who still seemed to be struggling with being overstimulated. Pest nodded slightly, and Poob grabbed his hand and led him over.
Sitting at a corner table, Poob flagged down a waiter. “hai ! can i get a lightweight americano, and–” they turned to Pest– “a… fafa tea, pls ?”
The waiter, who seemed to be a mess of rainbow putty with two googly eyes and rubber gloves, nodded sluggishly and slid off.
Pest stared at Poob in disbelief. “You remembered my order?”
“well, ofc !” Poob laughed, face beaming, smile lines crinkling adorably.
"…" Pest buried himself in Poob's hoodie, face burning. It smelled nice. There was a comforting musty subway scent in it, but also something clean and slightly peachy.
"soo. what do yu think about all these ppl ? liek why theyr here," Poob questioned, looking up as their drinks were delivered. "wow, dat was fast!! ty!"
Stirring his hot tea, Pest sighed. "Probably some stupid dev thing again. I wish I could get out of this god forsaken place. Maybe go somewhere else. DrRetro told me that F-"
Hesitating, Pest choked out, "Folly- said that there were other, hm. Dimensions is what she directly said. I guess that means there's other worlds out there. Maybe I can go someday."
"hmm," Poob hummed, taking a sip of their bitter coffee. "mayb ill go with yu ! the regretevator is fun and all, but i cld bring the party to lots of other places 2 !! plus, i cant let yu b alone."
Perking up, Pest stared at Poob in disbelief. "You believe me?"
"uh, yea! yu wouldnt lie to me. or if yu did i cld tell cus of yur sarcasm." Poob eyed Pest suspiciously. "yu alright? normally yu'd b laughing at me for thinking sumthing so far-fetched was true."
"Oh, um. Yeah. It's just that nobody has ever heard me out on this. Even Retro doesn't think it's real. Fol-" Pest swallowed. "She- is the only NPC who actually believes it. But think. The players have to go somewhere when they're not here, right? Maybe they go to these other games. And maybe…"
Poob was listening intently, their cup nearly drained of the Americano now. They drank it all quick, Pest noted.
"…Maybe there's somewhere beyond the games," Pest sighed. "Fuck. Look at me, all vulnerable."
"hah ! its kinda nice 2 see yu acting like a real NPC 4 once." Poob admitted, leaning over, head in their hands. "normally yur so… too-cool for all of us. yu're not scary at all though."
Pest snorted. "I'm plenty scary. You don't know me, Party Noob."
"i do!" Poob protested. "Pest… Beetle… face?"
Laughing slightly, Pest gasped suddenly as a loud screeching noise turned on in his head.
Poob's eyes went wide as they clamped their hands over their ears, clearly experiencing the same sensation. It was no use, as the sound seemed to be coming from directly inside Pest's brain. He assumed over the mind-jumbling screech that Poob was having the same problem. A glance outside told Pest that all the other NPCs- who were now spilling into the cafe as well- were all suffering from the same ear-piercing noise. Even Folly seemed to wince in irritation.
The noise abruptly cut off, replaced by a voice hastily apologizing. "Sorry, sorry, guys. And girls. And theys. Um, us in the developing team… we have a bit of a sad announcement… The Regetevator is unfortunately being shut down. Sorry!"