Chapter Text
Pager lets out a long sigh, his hands sliding under his glasses. He needs coffee, a lot of it. Dealing with military missions is not for the weak. Good thing he has a strong character, even if it means being viewed as the grumpy one.
He stands up from his station and heads to the break room. He has a report to do, considering the… surprising team he was supervising. But he needs coffee first.
In the break room Pager glares at everyone who comes closer to him and the coffee machine. Everyone knows to keep their distance… everyone except Eliza. This woman has been getting on Pager’s nerves for a while.
“So. Did your new team like me?” She asks, leaning on the counter.
“I didn't ask. I don't care.” Pager reluctantly answers. Eliza giggles with amusement, putting a hand on her heart.
“Awww Pagey. You hurt me. Is there even a little bit of care in your heart?”
“Get back to work.” Pager orders, ignoring the question. He glares at the coffee machine that is stubbornly slow today.
“I'm on my break. So Pagey…. How does it feel… having your team noticed by higher ups?” Eliza asks, this time genuinely. It causes Pager to slightly hesitate, but he rolls his eyes.
“Jealous?"
“Just… interested. After all, we are assisting each other… You never do, but I am. We are teammates. If you go there… tell them about silly little me.” The woman winks at Pager.
Meanwhile Pager thinks, if it's worth wasting the coffee by spilling it all over her. In the end he chooses to keep it for himself, taking a long sip.
“Holy ####. This is freshly made. HOW IS YOUR THROAT OKAY!?” Eliza shouts with surprise, completely caught off guard.
“Dealing with annoying people like you. You should try it. It builds character.” Pager snaps, leaving the people in the break room completely speechless.
After a while of walking he's standing in front of the door that leads to the current leader's office. Pager knocks for a bit and enters.
“Hello sir. Team Supervisor Pager. I'm here with a report about… them returning.” Pager explains, staring at the person in front of him.
The leader is staring through the window, red cape going down to the ground. His brown hair is a bit messy, but at the same time well taken care of.
“Oh? Is that so? Report then.”
“Right, the original mission with the agent that has now passed away did well until they came into the picture. I don’t know what they were up to before finding them. But they were willing to help out in exchange for information about the current world.” Pager reports to him.
“That's… interesting. I'll go with you to meet them in person. Once they arrive.” The leader smirks to himself, thinking about something. That's when he looks at his secretary.
“Helen, organise a meeting with our scientists. I have a few questions to ask.”
“Yes sir!” The woman quickly leaves to do it.
“And what about the bombs?” The leader asks, tilting his head.
“They are unaware. I ordered our people to disable them as soon as your order reached me. No one blew up. The only odd thing is that the health monitor of one of the people went dead for a few seconds, before coming back up again.” Pager explains the anomaly.
“A sudden heart problem? Perhaps…” The leader wonders, staring at the chart showcasing the heartbeat of the unregistered person.
There's a knock at the door. A brown haired soldier with a few scars on his face enters the room, saluting. “Sir! I'm here to inform you that the group is here. They're docking in.”
“Thank you soldier. Come on Page. It's about time we finally greet our new 'guests' won't you agree?”
“...It's Pager, sir.”
“Right. My mistake." The leader smiles. It's this off putting smile that makes Pager feel chill crawling up his spine.
When the boat docks in, all of the survivors have already taken off their STING armor as they currently didn’t need it anymore.
All except Shedletsky who was still wearing the armor’s shoes to keep himself warm for the whole trip.
They leave the boat. Stepping onto the solid ground. Guest is staying near 007n7 and Two Time. Making sure that nothing happens to the outcasts and that they won't do anything bad.
Two Time is nervously looking around, but their face is not showing other emotions than the smile.
Their tail is tense and the sharp ends are held in a position that is supposed to make them look threatening.
They have never been in a city. They have never been outside of their village. Survivors are the only other people they interacted with that weren't a part of their religion. This place is new, confusing and deep down is making them scared.
Chance sighs with relief once he's on the normal ground. He felt nauseous the entire time on the boat. The gambler makes a mental note that he won't get on the boat ever again.
Noob noticed that Chance was feeling off. So the entire time on the boat they were holding his hand in comfort. Rubbing circles on his back.
Chance won't admit it out loud, but he really appreciated that. It made the entire experience more bearable.
Builderman looks around the area. There are some people working in the docks. Guards with guns are patrolling around.
Two soldiers come over to the group. They have weapons ready, but they aren't shooting yet.
“Mr. Sting is waiting for you in the safe zone. Follow us.” The soldier on the right says. He makes sure that the group is following.
He leads them through the docks. They're passing by open containers, some are broken, turned to scrap, others are being used.
The group comes over to a wall separating outside from the safe zone. They all get forced to do a check up for any signs of infection. Everything goes smoothly, until they reach one of the survivors.
Two Time tenses up when it's their turn. They don't trust these people. They feel the urge to run, to fight back. They don't want to be touched by them.
Just as they're about to protect themselves with the dagger. Elliot comes over and grabs their hand. He shakes his head, silently begging Two Time to follow the orders.
Despite being reluctant, they hesitantly allow the guards to check if they have sickness. Soon they're set free and they join the group.
Inside the safe zone, the two guards are leading them in the direction of two people that are clearly waiting for them.
One is tall, brown haired, wearing a red cape, his eyes are bright green. He gives vibes of a composed person that knows what he wants. He smiles when he makes eye contact with Builderman.
The other person is slightly shorter. His hair is brownish black, a pair of glasses on his face. He has a serious expression and clearly is not a fan of being there.
“Welcome. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Sylas Sting. The current government leader. I am forever grateful for your aid in the mission.” The person wearing the cape says with a smile.
“Builderman… It was not a problem. We were there and decided to help.” Builderman introduces himself.
“The person behind me is Pager. He was the one supervising your operation. I have to say… I was pleasantly surprised to hear about your success.” Sylas continues, with a smile still on his face. It slightly reminds others of Two Time.
“Pager?" Sylas says, causing Pager to quickly tense up ready to do anything until he quickly remembers the survivors.
"Right, ahem it's nice to meet you… and thank you for your help." Pager tells them. But they can tell he didn't want to say it.
"If you need anything? Sting can make it work for you." Pager continues following protocol.
"Thank you." Sylas says satisfied.
“Alright, now let’s get to business.”
In the back, two survivors whisper between themselves.
“I guess he’s not a page after all.” Chance whispers but the topic of their conversation hushed towards the Dispatcher.
With Pager rolling his eyes annoyed at the comment before quickly standing ready again for anything from Sylas.
“Allow me to continue.” Sylas takes over the conversation again. “I know who you are. The perk device automatically scanned your user ID when you used it… It's a… pleasure to meet the missing admins.”
“Oh. Well that makes things easier.” Shedletsky comments, crossing his arms with a stupid smile. “Now can you explain what the hell is going on? And where are the rest of the admins?”
“...As you can see, the whole world is dealing with an outbreak. Nightbounds rule the world, everyone is separated in fractions. STING is one of the most powerful ones, so you are lucky.” Sylas explains, waving at the group to follow him through corridors.
“And the other admins?” Builderman raises an eyebrow, his voice serious. He follows after the current government leader.
“... Either dead, turned into Nightbound or they ran away, leaving us to deal with this mess. It's been 14 years since they were last seen.” Sylas explains, slowly walking forward.
“Your words are a lie! The other gods wouldn't leave you to die!” Dussekar says with outrage. He doesn't believe the words he just heard.
Shedletsky and Builderman share the same option. They know the others well, they would never do something like that.
“I’m sorry, but it’s the truth. We've been surviving without the help of the admins… the people hold the grudge… so you might want to stay low for a while…. Especially considering that some of them can recognise you.”
“What do you mean by that?” Guest speaks up with curiosity. He's aware that a long time has passed.
“The scientists were looking for the cure. A few years ago the vaccine was created… but it went wrong. So instead of the cure… people got extended lifespan. So the people you knew might still be walking around somewhere in the world.” Sylas explains with a smile.
“If they didn't get infected.” Pager has to add, to drop the mood.
Despite that it shocks survivors, but those that had their families waiting, looking for them. Their hope flares up again. They wonder if they are able to find them.
“I need you to return the perk device. And the last piece of armour. They are only handed out during missions.” Sylas looks at Shedletsky's and the armour shoes he's still wearing.
“I'm keeping the shoes.” Shedletsky crosses his arms. Dussekar sends him a glare.
"...Why?”
“I don't want to lose my toes.” Shedletsky says with a haunted expression. Builderman can't help it and facepalms. He wonders why he even hopes for his friend to act seriously.
“You can't be serious.” Pager stares at the yellow skinned Robloxian. He is completely done with the entire situation.
“...How about this?” Sylas smiles again. “You hand over the armour shoes. And STING will give you winter gear for free. As a payment for your service.”
“FINE!” Shedletsky groans, already taking off the shoes.
“CAN'T YOU JUST WAIT!?” Pager loses it. He really doesn't want to see someone else's feet.
“...I agree with Dispatcher… you can wait until you get actual shoes….” Sylas reluctantly agrees.
Shedletsky sighs annoyed after stopping again.
Each of the survivors that still has the armour, except the shoes from Shedletsky, gives Sylas and Pager back the armor they used from the mission.
“Thank you. Pager? Can you send out a soldier right away so the armor can get back safely?” Sylas orders him.
“Of course, sir. I will start right away.” Pager immediately answers as if he expects it to happen? And immediately begins calling someone in the background after walking a bit away to give him space.
"Speaking of soldiers. Guest 1337, correct? I have a proposition for you. If you decide to continue working for the army... STING will continue to support your group with housing.”
Guest look at the current government leader. He thinks for a moment, the war he joined the army for probably ended a long time ago. And he and the survivors need help with being reintroduced to society.
The soldier looks at the admins. He seems to have a silent conversation with them. He is not a fan of joining the army again, but he might need to for his team sake.
“Fine. But I want to stay close with my team.” Guest answers.
“...alright. I'm glad you decided to work with us. STING appreciates it.” Sylas smiles, but it is a bit forced. He dislikes that this soldier is making him agree to his requirement. “Pager. This soldier will continue to work under you.”
“Understood.” Pager nods, secretly happy that he continues to be higher rank than the other person.
Shedletsky barley contains a disgusted expression. He remembers how Pager treated them before and he feels bad that Guest will have to endure that. The Sword Master sighs, everything is better than the killers. Then he notices Pager calling over to someone.
The soldier that Pager called comes over to them. The soldier is wearing the Bladedancer armor and has the helmet on so they can’t see who they are. That the survivors have gotten used to themselves.
It feels weird and unsafe for the survivors seeing someone else wearing the armor now after learning first hand how powerful and useful they are to survive.
Sylas smiles when he sees the soldier coming over and takes the armor somewhere else they don’t know. With even giving Shedletsky a new pair of shoes as requested by Pager with a pair of socks too.
The shoes were white and red. With Shedletsky quickly giving away the armor shoes to wear the new ones. But before the soldier leave again, Sylas stops them.
“Before you go, take him with you. He will be joining STING today.” Sylas points towards Guest’s direction. The soldier stops themself before looking towards Guest’s direction and nods to Sylas as they gestures to Guest to follow them.
This is when Sylas looks back at the survivors again. His eyes landed on Two Time. “By the way. You should get them registered. Their user ID is not connected to any of the identification methods required for Robloxians.”
“We will do it.” Builderman nods, he glances at Two Time. He knows how serious this is, to be a legal member of Robloxia society they have to be registered.
“Great. Since you're an admin, you should know how important it is. Also after that, take them to a medic, their heart stopped, it might be something serious.” Sylas continues, he doesn't want to deal with disabilities and such. Everyone has to work to make society better, to make STING stronger.
"I can go with them. I am the medic in our team after all." Elliot takes a step forward offering to help out.
"You? A pizza worker?" Sylas asks, confused, while looking at him.
"Yes? Is there something wrong with that?" The pizza worker asks, already knows how weird the position he has got himself used to is now after getting out.
“No, no. It’s just interesting.” Sylas quickly dismisses it trying to ignore that entire conversation to even happen in the first place.
“Alright, Pager can show you the way to get your friend registered and the others can follow me. I will show you the way to where you could live.” Sylas offers to the survivors and he leads the group who isn’t getting registered to where they could live.
After giving away the armor. Guest follow after the soldier to where they told him they have to go.
As he enters a changing room. He spots another soldier already inside it. But the tension between him and them quickly changed.
The first soldier is explaining stuff to him. But Guest struggles to focus, he knows that the other soldier is staring at him.
“Hello? Are you even listening?” The first soldier looks at Guest. The survivor smiles awkwardly.
“Sorry… A lot is on my mind. I'll try to focus.” Guest answers, focusing back on listening.
Without warning the other soldier stands up and randomly punches Guest right into his face out of nowhere. Making Guest barely have any time to dodge or block it.
Guest opens his eyes, the side of his face is stinging in pain after being punched. His attacker is hugging him. His instincts are screaming for him to push the other person away. He can't let the killer win. His team cannot lose him. However he stops when he hears sobbing.
Guest blinks, finally looking down. The other soldier is sobbing into him. Despite still wearing the helmet.
“You are supposed to be dead….” The person whispers, continuing to sob. Guest is completely confused, he has no idea what to think about the entire situation. The first soldier that led him to the room, is just staring, also confused.
When the soldier pulls away, he takes off his helmet and Guest finally sees his face. It makes him almost fall over. His white skin somehow becomes even more pale. His knees almost gave up. “Matt?”
“Over thirty years… thirty years… I believed you were dead. And now? You walk in… alive…” Matt says with anger, glaring at Guest. The survivor is speechless.
“I believed you died….” He whispers, looking at his best friend. Or at least he hopes that they still are best friends.
When Sylas explained the vaccines, Guest didn't expect to see a familiar face so soon. But here he is, standing in front of a person he believed was dead.
“How are you back? Or in other words WHERE have you been?! You seriously can’t just tell me you have been hiding from us for thirty years right? Even your own family?!” Matt starts shouting at him in disbelief.
“Matt, I don't know how to explain it to you. But it is not like that! If I could, I would have come back way sooner than I did.” Guest tries to defend himself. “It’s a long story…”
“I’m listening.” Matt crosses his arms angry, his expression says it all.
The other soldier finally decides to break the silence and begins talking to Matt.
"Umm... Matt? Who's that? and why are you so angry at him?"
"He’s The Last Guest." Matt stated like it was an obvious known fact to the world. There's clear anger and hurt in his voice.
"OH-" The other soldier whispers. Finally understanding.
"Who I thought was dead a long time ago..." Matt ends staring back at his friend still in disbelief that he’s still alive.
The soldier stares back and forth between the duo before saying. "You blew up my father" towards Guest.
Guest was taken aback by that. He didn’t know how to respond. Everything was happening too fast to keep up.
He was about to apologize before freezing up when he saw the soldier taking their helmet off revealing is a Bacon Hair.
He has been talking to a Bacon Hair this whole time?!
Matt looks confused at Guest's sudden hesitation to talk. After looking back to the other soldier. He suddenly quickly remembers back to their past with the Guest genocide from the Bacon Hair Soldiers.
“Guest before you do anything. Just hear me out. This Bacon Hair is not from Bacon Hair army anymore. The war ended a long time ago. It’s over.”
“So he was-"
"No! Not anymore''
"Let me explain it to you. My name is Jez." The soldier quickly introduced himself. Before any accusations could happen, there is a red cross of a scar on his right cheek.
"After you blew up my father. My life has changed for the better. It was a painful journey but thanks to the help of Matt. I managed with Matt to take the Bacon Soldiers down to the ground.” Jez explains to Guest.
“How did the war end? If we follow Matt’s claim of my death?” He felt uncomfortable talking about himself like that…
He has grown so used to talking about death with the other survivors when they were in purgatory that it was hardly a problem anymore.
But after getting out, he's back with his friend and possibly family. That it now feels wrong with the topic again from the fear of being seen as the odd one.
“It was not easy.” Matt begins.
“Yeah. No #### Sherlock.” Jez rolls his eyes, a small smirk on his face.
“Jez. I swear.” Matt glares at the bacon hair. But it's clear that there's no bad intentions behind this glare. It confuses Guest, he knows that not all Bacon’s are bad. But at the same time it's weird seeing the friendly one.
“Anyway. Stuff happened… Molly saved my life. Jez attempted to save you, but you were in pieces so… yeah…” Matt cuts off, he can't believe that Guest is standing in front of him.
“Oh…”
“Yeah. Oh. You blew up yourself, the army and my father… All I saw was a bloodied battlefield.” Jez sighs, looking down. His face was haunted.
“After that Jez and other Bacon Hairs started quietly rebelling… trying to stop the war… in the end they aided us during the final battle… But we couldn't save Guest species in time…. You went extinct! But you're here now!” Matt finishes with a small crash out, quickly taking a deep breath.
“… if there really are any Guests left that we aren't aware of? They must be extremely lucky” Matt finished.
“I still can’t believe you did all of that at 15…” Matt whispers, half to himself, half towards Jez. Guest manages to overhears it and it ssurpises him.
"YOU WERE 15?!”
Jez nods. “My father was a mad man. Killing off my mother and lying to me saying to me it was a Guest who killed her to make me hate Guests.”
“After I learned the truth, after my father’s death. I have despised my father ever since.” Jez explains to Guest.
“I’m sorry for your loss…” Guest finally manages to say. “Despite what we both went through? If I could have known somehow about your side I would have tried to help you.”
“We both lost our parents didn’t we?” Jez asks with a sympathetic look. Which Guest sadly nodded to.
“Now, let’s focus on you getting ready to work for Sting right?” Jez asks, changing the subject. They are still at work after all.
Guest nods. He really doesn’t want to work for the army again… but hey? At least he met his best friend again and perhaps has a new friend now too.
But despite everything. His main focus will still be to help his team out as best as he can.
“And done. That should be it.” Builderman says to his team and from the Sting workers around them after finally completing Two Time’s ID.
There’s even a photo of them too on the ID so people will know who they are if it ever becomes important in the future.
Two Time was not a fan of the experience. Elliot and Builderman had to calm them down and explain everything. Dussekar was just staring from the sidelines.
Pager nods in approval, finally being able to leave the survivors for good.
“Perfect, I will be leaving then. I have many other important things to take care of.” And he finally leaves the survivors for themselves.
Builderman sighs in relief. Despite knowing a bit more about Pager thanks to the ‘Eliza’ person. After finally meeting him face to face. He is happy he doesn’t have to focus on his time with him anymore.
“See? It wasn't that bad.” Elliot smiles at Two Time. They still look tense, their tail nervously flicking.
“This experience was unfamiliar and uncomfortable.” Two Time explains. They wish they could just return to their village. To their community.
“But you survived. And that's what matters. Now you won't end up in trouble.” Builderman continues the conversation.
“I wish to return to my village.” Two Time’s hands turned into fists. They don't like the place they are in. Their wings twitch. The dry blood is covering their back. Some scraps from their clothes are attached to the wings, after all they ripped their clothes.
“Your religion is fake! Just when you will open your eyes and wake!?” Dussekar snaps, sending the cultist a glare.
“The Spawn has protected me! It granted me a second life! How dare you spread blasphemy about the true God!” Two Time turns around, staring Dussekar in the eyes. They know that he has power, but they refuse to stay silent when their god gets insulted.
“The protection is also fake! Just like-”
“Alright that's enough.” Builderman stands between the two survivors. Elliot looks between everyone, a worried look on his face.
“Builderman? I can take Two Time to the medic by myself. You and Dussekar can go and rest.” Elliot offers, he doesn't want any fight to start.
“...Are you sure?” Builderman frowns. He knows how unstable Two Time is during their second life. And this new place is still unknown to them.
“I'm sure… I faced killers. A simple medic visit shouldn't be an issue.” Elliot smiles, placing a hand on Two Time's shoulder. They slightly flinch, but don't move away.
“Alright… If anything… I don't know, just run. And try not to get in trouble.” Builderman warns.
“We won't.” Elliot reassures the admin. A moment later he watches Builderman and Dusekkar leave. Them talking quietly to themselves.
Elliot then grabs Two Time's hand and leads them towards the direction they were told the medic is. Two Time is clearly reluctant.
“I do not understand why I need it. I did not need to do that in rounds.”
“In rounds we were too busy running for our lives. But believe me. Your back needs medical attention, besides the leader guy wants you to get your heart checked out…”
“I died and entered the second life thanks to Spawn.”
“Yeah. But he doesn't know that. And let's keep it that way.”
“Why?”
“...It is not natural Two Time. We don't want you to be sent to some lab or something.”
“What is lab?”
“Uhh…” Elliot mutters out loud trying to find the best way to explain it.
"It’s both a good place and a bad place but it depends on where you are standing in it. If you are a scientist. Someone who learns stuff. You are the one who is safe. But if you are the test subject. Things can be dangerous. Many times the person who becomes a test subject… it doesn't end so well… Many times the test subject can even view the scientist as evil. But that entirely depends on the scientist themself. But that usually comes from the test subject not understanding what the scientist is trying to figure out.”
“It gets bad when the subject knows what is going on. But they're unable to stop it. Then it turns into torture and this is bad and illegal. But usually labs are used to research and learn more and don't do morally incorrect things.”
"Anyway back to the main point here. It would be safer and better if you don't reveal that… for your own safety. For now just pretend you always had your wings if someone ever asks alright? It's best if you don't become a test subject right now.” Elliot explains to them, hoping that they will listen.
“...Why is the rest of the world so confusing?” Two Time tilts their head.
“... Great question. World… living… it is complicated.” Elliot agrees, slowly shaking his head.
“Let’s go to the medic now so we can return to the others.” Elliot says to Two Time and they both continue walking over to the medic.
After taking a bath by force from the medic that they needed to do to clean Two Time up from the blood they had on.
The medic that they found for Sting can finally begin their check up to two Time.
It went as you would expect to any normal person trying to help out a cultist. It didn’t go well at all…
Elliot being the only person in the room that knows how Two Time acts was forced to hold them down multiple times. They were glaring at the medic all the time, pulling away from the medical equipment and even once took out their dagger.
They don't want to be affected by the things that Spawn wouldn't approve of. This ‘medicine’ and check up is confusing to them. This isn't how the healer in their village took care of injuries.
This isn't how He used to do it.
Eventually Elliot gets pulled away by the medic. He is looking at him with concern, but at the same time he is so done with Two Time's behaviour. “Pizza Guy. Sorry I don't know your name. But where did you get that guy from!? He's feral!”
“They can be a bit too much… but they lived isolated from society. A cult. We are trying to make them understand the truth about their situation… but it takes time.” Elliot explains, whispering back.
He is aware that sometimes Two Time might be too much for some people. But at the same time he also knows that deep down they are a good person, just broken by the fake religion.
After a bit more fighting. And Two Time discovering their distaste for any other healer then Elliot and… Him. The check up is complete.
“I didn't find any cause of the sudden heart failure. But keep an eye open on them. Just in case it happens again.” The Medic says, looking at Elliot. Two Time is standing behind him. Using the pizza man as a shield.
“I will. Thank you for your care.” Elliot smiles. He and Two Time head outside. Walking to the house that was given to them. They aren’t completely sure where they have to go. So it will be trial and error having to ask around.
Elliot looks at the other survivor. Despite their behaviour, they did really well considering that it was their first time dealing with proper medical care.
“Hey Two Time?”
“Yes Healer?” Two Time looks at Elliot. Their head tilted slightly.
“You did well. Considering that it was your first time.” Elliot says, this is when he notices that Two Time's tail slightly wags at the compliment.
The two survivors continue walking in more peaceful silence than before. Eventually reaching the house.
A while ealrier.
“Here we are. This can be your temporary home until you ever decide to leave again.” Sylas says to the rest of the survivors that followed him.
Builderman and the others haven't returned yet. So it was only Shedletsky, Noob, Chance, 007n7 and Taph that were at the new home that they can live in.
“We normally don’t have so many apartments with up to 10 people so I hope you will be able to find enough space for you.” Sylas explains to them.
“It’s alright, we’re already used to living together in cramped up areas.” Chance decided to take charge of the conversation as he watched Shedletsky immediately going inside to find a bed to relax in.
Usually it would be Builderman as their leader or any of the other admins to take care of these kinds of talks but considering he wasn’t there yet he'll have to do it for them.
Considering Shedletsky currently doesn’t want to despite being a former admin.
It feels odd having to talk to rich people again from how rusty that Chance is now. If Sylas even is one? But he has control over the government so he probably is.
Sylas nods to Chance. There was a slight hesitation of wanting to say more before deciding to leave again after having a last glance towards where Shedletsky’s direction is before leaving them alone.
The survivors explore the house now. Taph eventually claims the couch and starts to tinker with his bombs, getting a small warning from Noob, so he wont explode the house.
After that Noob decides to check out the kitchen, he wants to make sure that it's up to Elliot's expectations. Everyone is too tired to deal with the rant about the kitchen sanitary requirements that Elliot might go on.
They check out the cupboards and dust off the counter. They want to make themselves useful for the team, to repay all the rounds they were useless in.
After picking up one of the pots they look inside of it. This is when they scream, dripping the pot. It clatters on the ground as Noob takes panicked steps back.
The first person to run into the kitchen is 007n7. It's clear that he's fueled by adrenaline, because his body is begging for rest after everything he went through.
“Noob? What happened?!” He asks, momentarily forgetting that he isn't the most liked in the group. Noob is unable to speak, they just point at the pot on the ground.
007n7 walks over to it, picking it up. Inside of the pot there is a spider staring back at him.
“Oh… Hello there little guy.” 007n7 gently picks up the spider, settling it down on his hands and staring at it. A small smile can be seen at the hacker's face, a smile that is rarely seen.
“You gave Noob quite a fright, you know. But I'm sure that the pot falling scared you too.” 007n7 continues to talk to the spider. Forgetting about Noob for a while.
The survivalist observes the hacker. They feel terrified, seeing the spider on his hand, they can feel the phantom spiders crawling over them. It make them shudder.
But Noob notices how different 007n7 seems. He's so gentle with the spider, his voice doesn't carry any anxiety or nervousness. Noob stares at the other side of the hacker that no-one saw before.
“O-Oh. Noob! R-Right… I'll take h-him somewhere… M-Maybe my room? I-If I get one… I don't want it to freeze outside… B-But! I'll keep him away from Y-You…. S-So don't worry!” 007n7 starts to ramble, his free hand fidgeting nervously.
“O-Okay… I just don't want it-... Him? Near me… I-I really don't like s-spiders…” Noob answers, making sure the spider doesn't leave their sight. They know how it goes, once you stop looking at the spider it's gone.
“O-Oh… I understand… I-I always liked them… So I don't mind. S-Sorry. I'll go now…” 007n7 says, keeping his head down. He walks outside of the kitchen, but then he stops.
“N-Noob… if you find more spiders… Y-You can let me know… I'll take care of them. B-BUT N-No pressure!” The hacker calls out, then he quickly walks away. His mind is already overthinking the entire interaction.
Noob just stares at the kitchen exit. After a few moments a small smile appears on their face. They're glad that they won't have to deal with spiders on their own. They never liked to kill them, despite being terrified of them.
A few minutes later everyone that was nearby in the living room or in the kitchen heard the door open and saw Builderman and Dusekkar coming in.
Shedletsky comes over to his admin friends as soon as he realizes that they are back and instantly takes Builderman’s hand, confusing the admin. Shedletsky quickly explains to him.
“Come on! Let’s do it right away, my wings feel like hell, and I can't reach them fully. I beg, please help me preen them now. I already found the perfect room for us!”
Builderman rolls his eyes, while being pulled. Letting him lead him the way. “Alright, alright. Lead the way Shed.”
Dusekkar sits down on the couch beside Taph after finally being able to relax after everything that happened today.
He looks towards Taph’s direction looking outside of a window behind them to the new home seeing Two Time and Elliot outside trying to find them.
Taph points towards the window to him saying. “👈👀🍕🗡❗️”
Dusekkar nods “Yes, I see them as well. You can gather their attention to us, to save them from outside cold hell.”
Taph nods to the mage as they open the door waving towards their direction trying to get their attention to them.
Elliot and Two Time continue walking around looking for their new home until they suddenly notice Taph waving in the background in front of a building behind him.
Elliot sighs in relief “Finally! Couldn’t that leader guy just tell us where we had to go instead of guessing around?!”
“Indeed. It would have been easier to return to the new resting place. But luckily Spawn sent The Demolitionist to guide us home.” Two Time answers, smiling creepily.
“Yeah…. Whatever makes you happy.” Elliot answers with a small frown. He really is not a fan of Spawn. He wishes that Two Time would realise that Spawn is nothing more than a fake god.
The two survivors walk over to Taph with Elliot waving over to him as they enter their new home.
Inside of the building. Elliot notices Dusekkar sitting by the couch relaxing to himself. With Taph coming back inside from the cold sitting nearby him.
The demolitionist is yapping about bombs, Dussekar observing the emojis appearing, despite his tired state.
“Elliot!” Noob walks out of the kitchen, a small smile on their face. Elliot also smiles, coming over to the usually anxious survivor.
“Hey Noob. Did you rest?”
“N-No… not yet. The kitchen was in a bit of a bad state… so I wanted to clean it up. N-Not be useless.” Noob scratches the back of their head.
“Noob. Thank you, but you didn't have to! No one sees you as useless! You don't have to prove yourself to the rest of us!” Elliot places a hand on their shoulder. They smile a bit more.
“O-Oh! Two Time! T-The rooms had been decided… Y-You’ll be roommates with 007n7…”
“I appreciate the information.” Two Time puts their hands together. Their wings twitching slightly, their back still feels painful after the second life procedure.
They make their way to the other rooms. Hoping to find the room 007n7 is in. Instead they end up walking into the bathroom that Chance was about to use.
The gambler chases them out by throwing a paper roll at them. Luckily they succeed with another door. 007n7 is sitting on the bed, checking something in his GUI. He quickly closes it when the door opens.
“O-Oh! Two Time… Y-You're back. You aren't a-afraid of spiders… right?” The hacker nervously asks, they continue to smile, not even blinking.
“Last time I checked I was not afraid. Why the sudden question?” They tilt their head.
“J-Just… N-Noob was cleaning the kitchen… and they found a spider. Since they're afraid of it. I-I offered to take it to my room. B-Because it wouldn't survive outside. And I didn't want it to die… S-Sorry. I'm rambling again…”
“Spawn forgives. You are passionate about those eight legged creatures. I can understand! I care about Spawn in a similar way.” Two Time says, closing their eyes with a grin. 007n7 frowns a bit, he really shouldn't expect anything else when it comes to them.
After a few hours Guest finally arrives at their new home himself.
He was lucky to have someone tell him the way over to where the buildings are to live and here he is standing in front of their current new home until he decides to quit Sting as Sylas said it.
He opens the door, finding Dusekkar sleeping on a couch. He looks at the mage with a smile. Deity or not he understands how exhausted everyone is after escaping purgatory.
It feels weird knowing that they are actually here and not some kind of hallucination made by Spectre. They are truly back and despite the apocalypse. He’s happy to be back and try to have a normal life again. Along with all the others too.
“Hey Guest. You're back.” Chance smiles, looking at his friend. He's sitting cross-legged on the couch. Taph is sitting between him and Dussekar, glaring at Chance.
“🎰🪙🧑🍳🎃🔥”
“...Chance… Why did you want to use Dussekar as a stove?” Guest mumbles with confusion.
“I was curious if it's possible.” Chance answers with a smirk, flipping his coin. Despite the calm atmosphere, Guest can see the tiredness weighing both on Chance and Taph.
“You both should rest. We are safe now…” He smiles, staring at the two survivors.
“My brain refuses to accept that we're safe.” Change shrugs, his smile becoming smaller.
“You can at least try.” Guest smiles, he notices that Taph is falling asleep, leaning on Dussekar.
The soldier goes further in the house to see if everyone else is doing alright. He sees Elliot and Noob sleeping on their beds. They are finally getting a break.
He can hear Builderman whispering something to Shedletsky in another room. He decides to not bother them and he goes to the last room.
Inside he sees 007n7 having his GUI open. Meanwhile, Two Time is asleep, their body trembling, as it often does.
He walks inside going over to 007n7 as he whispers. "Would you mind if I stayed with you?"
007n7 looks up surprised by the sudden question before quickly saying. “O-Oh! Y-Yes of course! I-I don't mind… and I-I doubt Two Time will have a problem with that… S-Sorry… I didn’t expect that you would come to us...”
“It’s alright.” Guest understands and walks over to the last remaining bed finally being able to rest after a stressful day.
Here is Sylas from today's chapter. - Nat