Chapter Text
Lucio watched Guest leave, shutting the door behind him. He listened to the fading clack clack of his boots on the floor, with more questions on his mind and feeling even more confused. He was confused in a way that made him feel overwhelmed. He didn't know where he was, where his master was, or whether or not these people would hurt him. He felt too aware of each individual strand of his hair touching his skin, his clothes felt too tight, and he knew he probably couldn't stand any longer. He collapsed onto the bed, staring up at the roof. what would his master think of this?
-------------------------
"WEAK! STUPID! AND COMPLETELY USELESS!!" His master screamed in a drunken rage, stomping on his head with every insult she said while he was on the floor. He was bleeding from more places than one, and he curled into a ball. This was two weeks after he was scooped off the backstreets. He had just learned how to properly hold a sword and the easiest, most basic stance, yet somehow he'd managed to fumble that to a degree that he deserved to beaten.
"Now are you going to do it correctly this time?" She said before taking a drag from the cigar between her fingers, slowly lifting her foot off his cheek. He tried to stand up, and she grabbed his hair, making him yelp, and pulled his face level with hers. "WHAT?? DO YOU THINK THE ENEMY IS JUST GOING TO LET YOU TAKE YOUR SWEET-ASS TIME GETTING BACK UP!?? YOU'D BE DEAD BY THEN!!" He flinched at the shouting that was directly in his ear and the smell of alcohol that radiated off her.
His visible reactions of pain proved to be his biggest mistake, because he was thrown back to the ground and had his stomach kicked, he swore he felt his ribs crack. He coughed up vomit mixed with blood. She kicked him again, and again, and again, showing no signs of slowing down. And then she stopped mid-swing. Crouching down to stare at him. Her cold, ruthless eye burning into his unfocused, wide-eyed stare.
"Pathetic. I should have left you to rot." She said, pure disgust in her voice, and then she left, leaving him to writhe in pain.
-------------------------
He would loom over her while she she slept. He wanted to kill her. Stab her in the stomach over, and over, and over again. She was blackout drunk, she wouldn't be waking anytime soon, or... he could make her never wake up at all. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead, forcing his hand onto his gloved sword. He stared at her face, taking shaky breaths. He could do it, it would be so simple to just unsheath his sword, and slit her throat or stab her through the heart, and then he would be free.
But... where would he go after she was dead? Back to the Backstreets, where he nearly starved to death? No. He couldn't kill her. Not yet at least. He was still indebted to her. He dropped his hand, casting one last glance at her face, before turning away and limping back to his room. Maybe soon.
-------------------------
"LUCIO!! GET ME ANOTHER DRINK!" His master screamed at him, throwing her empty bottle at him. It shattered against his hea-
-------------------------
He woke up in an instant, his hand flying to his head where the bottle had hit him, only to find the bandages from the day before the LCB's invasion around it. Had he fallen asleep? He sat up, if he did fall asleep, it must have been with the light on. Wings, he was never good at sleeping, he usually needed complete darkness and some quiet background noise to properly sleep. Just how exhausted was he? He wasn't in the Thumb Corridor, he assured himself. The only colors there were various shades of red, brown and yellow, but he still wasn't sure where he actually was though. That was very worrying.
His hand went to his chest, feeling his heart beating. He was okay, he was still alive.
His eyes fell to the clothes that were strewn across the floor, and the mirror that sat beside him on the bed. Right, he should probably deal with that.
He got off the bed and picked up the mirror, and placed it back on the shelf where he found it. He also picked up the clothes. Guest had given him a white t-shirt with a red collar and a pair of dark red pants that looked much like the ones he was already wearing, just... less covered in blood and ripped. He looked at the clothes for a second, and decided to put them on. It was right then when he realized that someone had taken his shoes off, probably before they put him in the bed. How considerate. His master never thought once about his comfort.
He took off the bandages on his arms and head, astonished to see that the wounds were mostly healed, all that remained was a few scars, but he had a lot of those. Then, he took off the harness on his body that held his larger sword to his back, took off his vest, undid his tie, and unbuttoned his shirt, allowing him to see the full damage of that bug guy's arm. He traced the massive patch of raised tissue with his finger. He could only assume that it went all the way to his back. He sighed heavily, grabbing the new shirt and quickly pulled it on, not wanting too see the proof of his death or the evidence of his master's abuse anymore.
He hastily changed his pants, hardly glancing at the mural of scars on his legs. He put on the belt and harness from his previous outfit. After he finished changing, he pulled his hair out of the ponytail he kept it in, attempting to run his hand through the grey strands. His hair was very tangled. He'd have to brush it if he found a brush, and take a shower. Wings, he knew that there was still blood on him. A textbook must always look presentable. He put his hair back into its ponytail and folded his discarded clothes, and then he made his way too the door, putting on his shoes, because they were graciously left there.
Cautiously opening the door, he looked out, seeing no one, he left the room. He was in a cabin, he noted, and he was on the second floor. He put his hands behind his back and went downstairs. He didn't see anyone, but there was noise coming from a room to his left. He looked around the room he was currently in. There was a couch infront of a fireplace, and above the fireplace, there was a head of an animal he had never seen before. It looked like a... red, scaly... something? He honestly had no idea, he'd never seen anything like it in the City.
He whirled around when he heard footsteps coming from the left. He spotted someone approaching him, it was a man with short brown hair and pink glasses. He wore a... burger on his head? Interesting fashion choice, he had to admit. He also had a blue shirt with a high turtleneck, and black pants. "BLOCK, DODGE, I DON'T CARE, STOP TAKING HITS, YOU DUMBASS!! Even an INFANT could kill you if it was BLIND, DEAF, AND LIMBLESS!! Why wont you listen when i tell you to always BE ON GAURD!!" His master screamed. The man seemed to slow down when Lucio's blank stare landed on him.
"Uhm- hi." The man spoke, giving a shy smile. Lucio turned to him, hands behind his back. "You're the new guy, i'm 007n7."
Lucio nodded. "My name is Lucio." He said simply. Odd name this guy had.
He wasn't one to make conversations, he'd rarely talked to the other apprentices, unless they talked to him first... The other apprentices. Were they alright? Wait. Why... Why couldn't he remember? There was Kira, Albina, and two others. Why couldn't he remember their names..? Who were the other two? The... Index apprentice, and the Pinky apprentice?
"Hey, um..." 007n7's voice snapped him back to reality. "Are you alright..? You looked a bit...-"
"I'm fine." He cut 007n7 off, and then snapped his mouth shut, realizing what he did. "I-..." He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry sir." "WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU STUTTERING!?? WHAT ARE YOU, A BABY? DO YOU NEED MAMA TO HOLD YOUR HAND WHILE YOU SPEAK!!?" His master's voice ran through his head. He could almost feel her brutal punches against his face.
"I'm not sure why you're apologizing, but its alright. Do you have any questions..? Since you're new?" 007n7 nervously said, he didn't seem at all affected by what Lucio did. It was weird. Usually Lucio would be getting his face bashed in by now. "Do... you wanna sit down?"
He nodded after his brief moment of confusion. "I do."
007n7 nodded and gestured Lucio to follow him.
"Where are the others, by the way?" He asked 007n7, uncomfortably rubbing his hands together as he followed. "There were atleast nine people when I... appeared here."
"They're in the current round." 007n7 said vaugly.
007n7 led him into a dining room and sat down at a table, inviting Lucio to sit beside him, and he reluctantly obliged. 007n7 pointed at a TV that was mounted on a wall. The TV displayed a person chasing another person. The person giving chase looked to be half made of purple rotting flesh, their body covered in a black cloak, and half of their face was hidden by a white comedy mask. They also had a crown floating above their head and they wielded a bright... what he thought was a star. He was pretty much baffled by that guy's appearance. He'd never seen anything like it, and there and a lot of things to see in the City. The guy that was being chased looked like a regular pizza guy, a red uniform, black pants, a red visor, and blonde hair with red tips.
"What... exactly is happening." He asked, he was genuinely confused. To him, it looked like some average Backstreets shenanigans.
007n7 gave him a weird look at indifference to this. "Well, thats a round. Its like... cat and mouse, we survivors are the mice, and the cats, the killers are trying to kill us. We win by surviving, and they win by killing us all."
Lucio nodded in understanding. "Why... aren't you in the round then?"
"Only eight of us can be in a round at a time. I just got lucky to not be thrown into one. I think Veeronica, Mrs Doe and-"
"Oh! The new face is awake! Thank the Spawn they're alive!" Someone exclaimed from behind him.
Turning around, he saw a person with very pale skin, messy black hair, and a wide smile staring down at him. He nearly jumped out of his chair when he saw them. They wore a navy oversized jacket, a grey shirt with a strange symbol, and baggy black pants. They also had a tail with white spikes on the underside.
"Hello, I'm Two Time, pleased to meet you! What are your pronouns, by the way? We were confused when we first saw you, and i would like to be respectful!" They put their hand out for Lucio to shake. Their smile put him on edge, They seemed polite though.
"Uhm. I'm Lucio... and my pronouns are... he/him." He slowly took their hand. He was both weirded out and confused by this exchange. In his peripheral vision he could see 007n7 putting his face into his hands. "What are yours?" he asked Two Time after a moment. A textbook must always be respectful.
"They/them, thank you for asking." After they said that, they sat down beside him. But they stopped talking, which he was grateful for.
He watched the TV for a minute. "When does the round end?" He asked 007n7.
"They usually last 4-5 hours, each kill adds 40 minutes, so sometimes they last longer. I think the longest one was around... Seven hours." 007n7 answered, looking up at the TV briefly.
"And um... Where in the City is this?" He asked, feeling suddenly overwhelmed by everything that happened, and all the new information he was gathering.
"The City?" 007n7 looked at him, raising an eyebrow. Two Time also paused their rocking back and forth in their chair to look at him, seeming to be very interested.
"Are we... Not in the City? The Outskirts, maybe?" That could potentially explain some of the odd things he's seen so far.
007n7 looked at him like he had just been skewered on a giant bug arm ( 👀 ). "I... I don't know what you're talking about, i've never heard of... what you said."
He felt lost. If not the City, where was he?
Oh.
Hell is a place too. Though its not like the City wasn't Hell. Maybe this was a different type of hell.
"But we call this place Forsaken." 007n7 continued. Right. Guest had mentioned that. "We think that its a separate realm, not connected to Robloxia. I'm not an expert at this stuff. Mrs Doe's been looking into it though. You can ask her later, i think she's busy right now."
He nodded, despite his lack of understanding. Robloxia... Where in the Wings was that? He looked up at the TV. There was a timer at the top of the screen. It said 2:13, which he assumed was how much time was left. He watched the TV for a minute. The corpse guy was still chasing the pizza guy.
"I wanted to ask if there was a shower in this building." He said after a minute to 007n7.
007n7 looked at him, smiled and nodded. "Yeah, there's one. I should have offered it before... I'm sorry." He genuinely sounded like he was falling into despair right there.
"Uhm. Sir? There is nothing you should be sorry for." He deadpanned, looking genuinely confused.
"He'll be fine, don't worry. Count on the Spawn for that." Two Time reassured, patting 007n7 on the shoulder. Lucio didn't look convinced.
007n7 suddenly got up. "The washroom is upstairs, follow me." He said pleasantly.
Lucio followed behind 007n7, who led him upstairs, leaving Two Time. They didn't seem to really care though. 007n7 stopped infront of a door, opening it, it was a closet was a bunch of neatly folded towels, and cloths.
"Everything in here is fair game. Same with anything in the washroom, help yourself, since this is literally your home now." 007n7 chuckled awkwardly, pointing to an open door across from the closet. "Thats the washroom by the way. We'll be downstairs when you're done."
"Thank you sir." He said before 007n7 left, holding his position with his hands behind his back until he was gone, only then did he relax. "YOU DARE TO SPEAK TO ME WITHOUT ADDRESSING ME PROPERLY!??" His master screamed. His cheek stung slightly, he had a very vivid memory of being smacked after that scolding. He swore he was going insane.
After picking out a towel and cloth, he went into the washroom, making sure the door was locked after he closed it. Looking around, there were several hairbrushes on the counter, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and all that stuff. Looking at the tub, he pulled the shower curtain out, and then spent alteast two minutes figuring out how the tap works, putting his face into his hands and cursing his stupidity. He recovered quickly though, undressing, pulling the ponytail out of his hair and stepping into the shower.
-------------------------
He could hardly feel the hot water against his body, despite the visible red marks it left from practically burning him. He didn't want to spend too long, so he hastily shampooed his hair. It was a struggle to rinse it out, as usual. And then he put conditioner in it. He grabbed his washcloth and the bar of soap and began scrubbing his body. He was forced to look at the scars on his body that he didn't want to see in the first place. The discoloured patches of skin from bruises, the long white lines along his arms, legs and back from his master's sword, and the massive... thing used to be a hole in his chest left by the bug guy. He could literally feel the horror and fear he felt when he watched that man's arm grow to five times it's size and slam into him.
He clicked his tounge and gritted his teeth when he felt a painful twinge in his chest. Ignoring it, he rinsed out the conditioner in his hair and got out of the shower. After he finished drying off and dressing, he forced his damp hair back into a ponytail and fixed his bangs. He stared at himself in the mirror. Why did he look so... Angry?
He knew he should have killed her. But he was too much of a coward to kill her in her sleep. He wanted to win a fight against her, and finish her off then, but no. He was too weak, too stupid to just do it. He ignored every chance he had, and now he has no more, and he hated himself for it. He wanted to scream and pull his hair out. He wanted to punch the mirror that reflected the hatred and despair on his face. He gripped the counter tightly, taking a breath and letting the counter go, erasing any emotion from his face. "You'd better wipe that look off your face Textbook. I don't want to see anything like that again." Her words replaying in his head only made that fire in his heart hotter, despite his stoic expression. A textbook must always be presentable, in both appearance and mind.
After throwing his towels into a bin that was quite clearly labled 'Dirty Towels,' he went back downstairs. 007n7 and Two Time were still sitting there, but there was a new person sitting and watching the TV with them. This person wore a red sleeveless sweater, baggy black pants, and elbow pads. They had a pink TV head with a black hat and a face on the screen, and visible pink, metallic arms. They reminded him of Albina, just pink. He couldn't even remember if he's ever seen anyone with pink prosthetics. They also had a skateboard leaned up against the chair they sat on.
Seeing the skateboard in their arms reminded him of his swords, it hit him like one of his master's punches that he was slacking off on his training. He was going to sit down at a different table when the new person called him.
"H3Y, LUC10!" The robot called out to him suddenly. Their voice was high pitched and a bit glitchy. They sounded like a woman though.
"Ah. Those two must have told you my name." His eyes went to 007n7 and Two Time. 007n7 looked sheepish, amd Two Time looked giddy.
"Y34H, TH3Y D1D. 1'M V33R0N1C4!" She stood up and held her hand out to him.
"Veeronica. It's nice to meet you." He nodded, taking her hand and shook it. Her hand was definitely metal, but it wasn't... Cold. No, it was cold actually, but it wasn't the type of cold that burned you, like Albina's were.
The mouth on Veeronica's screen opened to speak, but she was cut off.
"WE'RE BAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!" A loud, annoying voice shouted. "AND WE WON!!!"