Chapter Text
"Thank god you're awake," Purpled said angrily, "Turns out we have unwanted company. Get your crossbow."
"Wha-" Tubbo frowned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, "Oh, gods, Purpled, I had a drea-"
"No time for chit-chat," Niki ordered briskly, shoving her gun into the holster by her belt, "Dusty wasn't mortal. He was from Tartarus. Get up."
"Right," Tubbo blinked, feeling a lot more awake despute his sluggish, sleep-ridden body. "Where to now?"
"Wherever Lena says," Henry called from the door, where he was shoving his boots on. "Get up! Edward and Lena probably need some help down there-"
"Jesus," Tubbo winced, jumping out of bed and pulling a pair of pants on, "What time is it, even?"
"5," Niki huffed, running out the door and down the stairs, not even giving the elevator a second glance.
"Does she have to be so mean?" Tubbo frowned, hastily pulling on his hoodie and jacket, before grabbing his crossbow and quiver from where he had been hiding it in his duffel bag, "She acts like men are the worst things on earth."
"Well, for her, I guess they are," Purpled snorted, and upon Tubbo's confused glance, rolled his eyes. "Long story."
"...Huh," Tubbo frowned.
"I'll tell you later, man," Purpled said, before running out, tossing a granola bar in Tubbo's general direction. "Here's breakfast, slowpoke. Join battle when you can."
"Right," Tubbo sighed, mournfully chewing on it as he laced his boots up. "Stupid fucking- ugh! Quests, can't even take a decent nap-"
Mom, he prayed deeply, furrowing his brows in concentration, Please, stay safe while you wait for us. I don't know what I saw, but please-
He heard a sharp battecry from down below, and cursed under his breath, pulling an arrow from his quiver and lazily positioning it before running down.
If he survived the first battle, then gods- everyone in the damn group owed him a coffee, no matter what opinions Chiron had on caffeine 'stunting their growth.' (To be completely honest, Tubbo still thought it was a load of crap.)
"FUCK YOU, DUSTY!" He heard Henry cry, voice pitched high and outraged- he was injured.
Tubbo burst into battle, shooting his arrow to the general direction of which he had heard pained groans and moans.
"What is it?!" Tubbo hissed, watching as Dusty stumbled over his own severed foot.
"Some sort of- Cacodaemon!" Niki yelled back, trying to be heard over the noise of her bullets ricocheting off the walls. "It's got thick skin!"
Tubbo frowned, rattling his mind on what a cacodaemon was- weren't they supposed to be the good ones?
Edward's jaw fell open, a loud screech escaping him- and for a moment, Tubbo could swear he saw some purple aura surrounding him. The sight was, however, brushed off, everyone becoming far more concerned with the state of their own ears, covering them to the best of their ability.
Despite that, Purpled shoved his earphones on in vain, trying to drown out Edward's screams, slashing his sword at Dusty until he was nothing but a mess of dismembered limbs- the noise effectively wearing the monster down, rendering it powerless to every strike of Purpled's sword.
Before Tubbo could even think of pulling out another arrow, Dusty was, ironically enough, nothing but a pile of monster dust- and a few unidentifiable objects, likely the spoils of war.
Purpled picked them up with a wince, cringing at the disgusting smell. "Human flesh. I know what Dusty was, now- he was an anthropophage."
At the mention, Niki let out a loud gasp. "I thought that the community had died out?"
"Their reform time is exceptionally slow," Purpled remarked, "It'll be another few hundred years before he can reappear..."
"Stupid cannibals," Henry muttered, clutching at his arm- Tubbo glanced over and prompty vomited out what little he had eaten for breakfast.
Henry's arm, unprotected and not even covered by a jacket, was oozing with pus, blood gushing out of an open wound- Dusty had taken a clean bite of flesh off of him.
That must have been what he yelled for, Tubbo realized.
"The anthropophagus is a man-eating monster. There was a whole community of them, back then..." Niki explained, her face pulled into a frown, "They were- they were savages. It explains it all, the odd speech pattern, the eccentric behaviour- I should have known."
"None of us could have known," Lena comforted weakly, though she was obviously preoccupied, dousing the wound with water and nectar.
"It's no wonder he gave into charmspeak so easily," Niki spat, "He didn't care about what you were saying, he just wanted our skulls."
Purpled nodded, "Edward really saved us back there, using his voice... Is that an Apollo thing?"
"Yeah," Edward croaked, rubbing at his jaw, "But I- eugh, I can never hold it for long."
"You did great," Tubbo insisted, "I barely did anything. I'm sorry."
"Hey, man, it's your first quest. Hell, this was your first battle." Purpled said, "Don't go wasting your emotions. Or your arrows. Or your energy."
"Are you alright? Do you think you can fight?" Lena asked loudly, drawing the group's attention to her and Henry.
"Yeah," Henry wheezed through a small mouthful of ambrosia. "I'm good."
"...Do we have enough money for breakfast?" Tubbo asked, after a small moment of silence, spitting out the disgusting remains of what he had vomited out.
Niki cracked the smallest grin. "Yeah, definitely. Let's get some McDonalds. I had a dream that I need to tell you guys about."
"Me too, actually-" Tubbo added, "I think it meant something."
"Perfect," Lena sighed in relief, "We have some sort of leads, now, at least."