Chapter Text
He was alone.
He had never been alone before. It was impossible to be alone when you were constantly rubbing elbows with a few dozen of your brothers at nearly any given moment.
But now, he was alone. And it was quiet, and he hated it.
The Gungeoneer was coming. They had found a new path, one that led directly to their home and would probably lead them to the oubliette.
“Nowhere is safe.” He mumbled Smiley's words to himself.
He had no clue where any of the others were. He remembered the alarm bells sounding, calling the first wave of defense against the Gungeoneer, but then Smiley stopping the Kin from assembling. He had told them to hide.
That had never happened before.
Shades had repeated the order in a harsh bark when no one moved, and then forcibly shoved 9 out of the Mess Hall when he protested.
“I’m older than you-”
“-and we outrank you. Get them to the Oubliette!” Shades had snapped.
The Kin trusted 9 as much as they trusted their King, and so he’d led them as deep as he could into the Oubliette-as deep as this version of the Gungeon allowed- and warned them to stay low and hidden while he went to check on the others.
He’d found a trail of feathers and blood leading out of one of the gardens.
He’d found two pistols mere feet from each other, a pair of sunglasses between them.
And he’d found a crown, bent and cracked, laying on its side in a pool of oil. The Throne was destroyed and the smell of burnt metal made the bullet gag as he sank to the ground and sobbed.
He wept over the remnants of his King, of his friends for who knew or cared how long. But the Kin had to know what happened. He tried to pick the twin guns up, but the moment he approached they poofed away.
They poofed.