Chapter Text
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"Hey Nob, quick over here! We can hide in there!" Aaron waved to his companion with one hand while pointing to a manor just within sight with the other.
"What if people live there Aaron?" Nob quietly shouted as he ran towards Aaron with a bag in his left hand. Police sirens rang loudly in the background.
"The place kinda looks old and it looks like there aren't any lights on, it's fine! If they're asleep we'll just be quiet." Nob assured and quickly went in the direction of the manor.
"Fine but only because the police are still on our trail." Aaron sighed and followed Nob as they both maneuvered around the forest trees.
"Why is there a manor here anyway? In the middle of a forest too." Nob asked.
"I know. It's strange." The other replied. The two continued towards the manor away from the sirens in hopes of hiding from the police.
Once they arrived at the front gate, they both stopped and looked at the manor in front.
"It's actually pretty huge," They both stared at the manor before pushing the entrance gate in front of them, "and the gates are not locked...?" Aaron questioned. Nob shrugged it off and a bit glad that it wasn't locked so that they didn't have to climb. They continued towards the front door of the manor slowly to not alert anyone around. Once they arrived at the manor entrance, they tested to see if the door was also unlocked.
"Of course, it's locked, Nob. Why wouldn't the people lock the door?" Aaron whispered.
"Just testing our luck." Nob shrugged after testing to see if it was locked. He started picking the doorknob to unlock it. "There, it's unlocked. Let's go in and hide for a while from the police."
Aaron nodded and they both slowly entered the manor.
They were greeted with a giant room with two huge curved stairs that lead to a second floor. A couple of couches were placed near the center of the room with a medium round table in the middle and a couple of plants were placed around the room. It looked like it was the living room of the building.
"Hey, didn't you say that no lights were on?" Aaron whispered while turning his head towards Nob.
"I did, but maybe the windows are made so that the light inside doesn't show on the outside?" Nob answered.
The lights weren't that bright but bright enough to see objects around the room and anyone that would be in the room. They both looked around to see if anyone was around.
"Nob, the room over there has lights on." Aaron tapped Nob's shoulder and signaled to a room to their right. The door wasn't completely closed but slightly open so a sliver of light escaped the room into the living room.
"Let's go another way. Someone's probably inside that room." Aaron tugged Nob towards the right room. They entered the room and Aaron took his phone out.
"Use your phone's flashlight so that you don't bump into anything to alert anyone." Nob took out his phone and turned on its flashlight. They both looked around and saw that they had stumbled into the manor's kitchen. Nothing looked dirty or messy so they both knew there was at least one person living here.
They decided to stay in the kitchen for a while until they would go somewhere else to seek shelter for the night.
---
Naib Subedar, Fiona Gilman, Eli Clark, and Kurt Frank please head to the waiting lobby until the last match of the day starts
A speaker announced some names as soon as it turned on. The men both froze in their place.
"Nob," Aaron whispered, "weird that there are speakers in this manor, no?"
"It is weird. Why would they need speakers, and what are these "matches" that those called names are going to?" Nob questioned. The lights of the living room were turned on. They quickly shut their mouths when they heard footsteps approaching the kitchen.
"Why do I always have to go so many times..." A male voice groaned.
"You're one of the best rescuers we got, Naib." Another male voice but it was a bit softer replied back.
"No, I'm not that good, Eli."
"Yes, you are. Many successful rescues I say." A female voice responded.
"You are, Naib! You've done many good rescues, just like Ms. Gilman here said!" Another male voice spoke up more excited than the rest.
"I'm too tired for this. How are you still this hyper, Kurt." Naib sighed and they walked past the kitchen and headed towards the waiting lobby.
The two let out a quiet sigh, relieved that those people were just passing by. They continued to look around the kitchen for a while and just decided to sit on the floor and wait for a bit. The lights were still on in the living room so they couldn't go out just yet.
"Nob, you still have the jewels in the bag, right?" Aaron asked after a couple of minutes of them sitting.
"Of course I do," Nob snarled at Aaron, "did you think I'd lose them?"
"You never know. Maybe you dropped one."
"I did not." Nob disagreed. Silence hung in the air for a while.
The silence was broken when footsteps were heard outside the kitchen and it was getting closer.
"Quick! Nob! We need to hide!" Aaron whispered.
They both quickly looked around decided to hide under the table at the center of the kitchen and quickly turned off their flashlights. The tablecloth on top of the table was long enough so that their legs wouldn't show. It wasn't the best hiding spot but it was the only thing they could think of at the moment.
The door of the kitchen opened. The lights were turned on and then the door was closed.
"Why are there so many matches today. " A male voice sighed while going to the top cupboard to take out hot chocolate. He then took a cup from another cupboard and then filled the kettle with water to boil. The fire was turned on and the water was left to boil.
After the water was boiled and hot, the male then poured all the hot chocolate mix into the cup and the hot water after. Milk was added to the drink and the male drank with delight.
---
"Hmm? What's this bag?" Lucky looked down placed his hot chocolate on the counter. He bent down and grabbed a bag from the floor.
He opened the bag and found a couple of jewels inside with an expensive looking watch.
"When did the manor have this kind of expensive jewelry? Actually, where did this come from?" Lucky took out a couple of the jewelry and admired the colors.
"Was it Kreacher that stole these?" Lucky sighed. "I'll take these to him and ask I guess." He placed the jewels and watch back inside the bag. He was about to leave the kitchen but stopped when something cold was pressed against his head.
"Put the bag down." A male voice behind him ordered.
Lucky didn't let go of the bag. He just stood still while his thoughts ran wild.
'Who is this person?'
'How'd he get in the manor?'
'Is he a new survivor? Hunter? We didn't even get notified if someone new joining us.'
Well, Lucky was just panicking.
The voice spoke up again, "Hey kid. I said put the bag down." The cold object at the back of Lucky's head pressed further onto his skull.
"You wouldn't want a hole in your head, would you?" The voice asked.
"N-no. I don't think I want a hole in my head." Lucky stuttered a bit. He was scared since there was a GUN that would maybe be TRIGGERED which would mean he would DIE. He didn't want to die. Yet.
"Then, I'll say it for the last time. Put. The. Bag. Down." The voice said impatiently.
"I-I'll put it down." Lucky slowly lowered himself and placed the bag full of jewelry on the kitchen floor.
"Good." As soon as Lucky placed down the bag, the gun was lowered a bit and an arm reached down to pick up the bag. Lucky assumed it was the person with the gun. He tried to dash out into the living room to get someone to help, but then his head was caught in between an arm with a knife pointed at his neck.
"Hey, you can't run from us after you know we're already here." It was a different voice this time.
' There are TWO people?'
Lucky panicked a bit more but he calmed himself down a bit. After all, he's been through worst like the games they had to attend in this manor. The games weren't really that intense as the first couple of matches after a while. Everyone just got along with each other as time went by. The hunters would of course still hunter but there were more friendly matches now. Even the two gods, the Dream Witch and the Feaster would do friendly matches every now and then. They knew they were just stuck here for who knows how long so might as well get to know each other, right? They didn't really die other than get serious injuries from matches. For some reason, the manor even had this weird sort of magic where survivors would heal much, much quicker than humans normally would.
Two voices brought Lucky out of his thoughts.
"What should we do with him then, Aaron? He already knows we're here." The person whose arms were around Lucky's neck asked the other.
"Hm. We have to keep him in our sights. If he escapes, he'll alert possible others and we'll get caught." The other man said and then sighed after a couple of seconds passed. "This wouldn't have happened if you kept watching of where the bag was, Nob." He glared at the person with the knife.
"Hey, I didn't know it was that far from me." Nob just glared back. Aaron could tell that Nob was sorry though.
"Yeah, yeah. Sure. We'll wait here for a while longer."
"Alright then." Nob nodded and then looked at Lucky. "Don't do anything stupid and I won't slit your throat with the knife, got it?" He warned.
"Y-yes." Lucky avoided the other's eyes and started to think of how he could at least try to escape or maybe warn the others.
---
"Mr. Norton! Mr. Mike!" A small child waved at the two survivors while jogging towards them. Robbie went to the dining room to ask any survivors about where Lucky could be.
"Yes, Robbie? Did you need anything?" Norton asked as he turned to look at the little hunter.
"Yes! Have you seen Mr. Lucky? He promised we would play before bedtime! He didn't show up in the garden!" Robbie asked with a hmph.
"I think he went to the kitchen when the others were being matched," Mike replied.
"Thank you, Mr.Mike!" Robbie said excitedly. He had been waiting for Lucky to arrive in the garden but the survivor never showed up. "Can you both come with me? I want more people to play with me." Robbie said excitedly.
"Sure!" Mike said with equal excitement. Norton looked a both of them and was about to decline the hunter's invitation but a certain blonde spoke up.
"Come on Norton! Let's play with him for a while." Mike tugged Norton's arm with a smile. Norton looked at Mike for a couple seconds and sighed in defeat.
"Alright then. We don't have anything better to do I guess." Norton shrugged.
"Yay! More people to play with! Come on! We won't have much time to play, and I want to at least play a little." Robbie turned and headed towards the kitchen. Mike grinned at Norton while Norton gave another sigh and they both followed the hunter to find Lucky.
---
Lucky's hands were now tied together behind his back, restricting his arms as he sat on the floor. He couldn't really think of a way to escape the two intruders so he'll just have to wait until someone could help him.
The two intruders were just waiting while also keeping an eye on Lucky in case he tried to escape. There was only silence that filled the room. After a couple of minutes, a child's voice was heard.
"Mr. Lucky! You promised to play with me before bedtime!" Robbie shouted in the direction of the living room.
"I think they're coming this way. Nob, quick. Get the boy." Aaron got his gun out once again while Nob quickly went behind Lucky and pointed the knife at his neck again.
*'I forgot I promised Robbie. At least he can try to warn the others to help.'* Lucky thought.
Lucky was about to yell (not a great decision his mind thought) for help but then the knife pressed harder, making a small cut at his neck. Lucky coughed a little.
"Remember, I told you to not do anything stupid, boy." Nob snarled.
"Mr.Lucky?" Robbie asked. Robbie was probably right outside the kitchen and he was about to walk in with a gun pointed at him. Lucky was kind of panicking now. He didn't want Robbie to get a hole through the hunter even though the boy was technically dead.
Lucky went for it anyway.
"Robbie, don't come in! It's too dangerous to-" Lucky was cut off by a hand over his mouth.
"I told you to not do anything stupid!" Nob shushed him.
"Mr. Lucky?" Robbie seemed confused.
"Lucky, are you alright?" Norton spoke up.
'Norton is here too?'
(I'm sorry is this getting cringy now? TvT)
---
Norton and Robbie did not get a reply. Robbie started to get worried.
"Mr. Lucky are you okay?" Robbie asked.
Still no response.
"Lucky, we're going to come in alright?" Norton said.
They got a response but what they got was.... a muffled sound...? Norton quickly turned the doorknob and opened the door.
They were greeted with not one, but 3 people inside the kitchen. One had a knife to Lucky's neck and a hand over his mouth. The other had a gun pointed at the three.
Norton could see that Lucky's neck was slightly cut most likely by the knife in front of his neck.
The guy with the gun spoke up, "Listen here, if you don't want your friend to get his neck cut open, get out of our way."
"Mr. Lucky!" Robbie shouted with worry.
"Robbie, don't." Mike held the boy back while still keeping an eye on the intruders.
"Keep blocking our way and the knife is going to be through his neck." Nob glared at them while the knife got closer to Lucky's neck. A tiny bit of blood started staining the knife and the cut got slightly bigger.
"Fine." Norton raises both his hands and slowly backed away. Robbie and Mike followed Norton and did the same. The three slowly backed away from the kitchen door.
The two intruders had also slowly made their way to the kitchen door while dragging Lucky with them.
"You three, don't try anything funny either, got it?" Nob pointed the gun at them. Nob lead the way towards the stairs in the living room while Aaron kept the 2 survivors and hunter in his sight.
"Aaron, there's only one room down this hall."
"You, don't try any more funny business than you already have." Nob glared at Lucky with annoyance.
"Y-yeah." Lucky managed to stutter weakly even though his throat started to somewhat hurt.
"Alright then. You three, don't come into this room. You know what happens to your friend when you follow." Aaron threatened as he pointed the gun at them yet again.
"We won't. We can't even enter now or later anyway." Norton raised his hands up again.
Nob and Aaron were slightly confused at what Norton was talking about but shook it off.
"Good." Aaron lowered his gun and turned to Nob. Norton could maybe try to knock the man with the gun while Mike went to go save Lucky, but he wanted to see what would happen to the intruders. Nob opened the door and pulled Lucky in with Aaron following.
Before the intruders and Lucky went to the waiting lobby, Norton could see Lucky glaring at him. Norton grinned and made an okay sign with his hands. Lucky only glared harder. Norton shivered just a little tiny bit.
"Mr. Norton, will Lucky be alright?" Robbie didn't remove his sight from the door where Lucky and the men entered. He was worried.
"Yeah, I think he'll be alright. After all, they entered the waiting lobby." Norton smiled mischievously.
"I'm excited- and worried of course- to see what's going to happen!" Mike exclaimed.
"Poor Mr. Lucky... Mr. Mike and Mr. Norton are meanies." Robbie turned at started going to the second floor of the manor. He would wait for Lucky and try and get the other people in the manor to help. He hoped Lucky won't get seriously hurt.
"Wait! Robbie! We're not meanies!" Mike whined as he went after Robbie.
"Mr. Mike and Mr. Norton are meanies!" The hunter shouted as he ascended the stairs. Norton sighed and followed after Mike and Robbie. He does hope nothing seriously bad would happen to Lucky.
---
Aaron kept watch on Lucky. "We'll just have to wait here for now."
"I thought this was only one room?" Nob searched around and found that the room they entered was actually connected to more rooms. There were 5 more rooms with text above the room doors.
The furthest to the left had 'Rank Match' above it and'Quick Match' was to the right.'Duo Hunters' was in the middle followed by 'Blackjack' and then'Tarot' to the very right.
"What in the world are these rooms... Maybe we can go into one to hide in case those other people outside call for help." Nob mumbled to himself. "Aaron, let's go to this room over here. We'll maybe hide in here better." He pointed to the room with 'Quick Match' labeled above.
"Fine." Aaron was the one who dragged Lucky this time. The three entered the room and immediately, a sound echoed in the room.
Shhhaaaaaa
Before Nob was going to ask what that sound was, voices filled the room.
---
"Jeez! Finally! Why did we have to wait so long this time? Is the matching that broken now." Naib sighed with relief.
"What a wait time. 7 minutes..." Eli sighed as well.
"I've never had to wait that long. Maybe the hunter was late?" Kurt questioned.
"Well, the wait is over at least. 40 more seconds till the match starts. Good luck everyone!" Fiona said as she prepared her holy keys.
"Good luck! Let's have some fun too of course!" Kurt checked in his bag once more to check he had everything inside and that he had his book.
"Yeah, good luck. I'm tired." Naib mumbled. His head was faced down on the table.
"Good luck everyone." Eli smiled as he rubbed his owl, Brooke, on the head.
"Crap. There are people here." Nob turned to the door and tried to open it, but the door wouldn't budge. Nob whispers to Aaron, "Aaron, it won't open! We're stuck."
Aaron cursed and tried to open the door. It didn't budge. "What is this place with so many weird rooms. I guess we'll have to stay here until they leave or we get this door open." He turned the knob and push the door but it still didn't budge.
---
' Why are they still here? The match didn't even start either?' Lucky thought. It was strange for the matching time to be this long. It usually took around a minute or two at most.'At least I can try and get help during the match. I hope anyway...'
He looked at the two men. They were still trying to get the door to open. Was the door really that broken? He looked at his friends sitting and waiting until the match started
'Wait, I can try to call for help now? ....maybe....'
'.......'
'Maybe I'll wait until the match starts...'
As soon as Lucky finished that thought, the sound of breaking glass echoed and everything turned black.
---
Lucky opened his eyes to Sacred Heart Hospital. He spawned in the ruins. He looked around and saw that his two captors had also spawned near him. He was confused as to why he was able to enter this match. There are only supposed to be four survivors but now his communicator was showing seven survivors. His friends and the hunter are probably surprised and confused right now. He has to find them.
"What the heck just happened." Aaron looked around. There was a large building in the center and they seemed to be near what looked to be remains of buildings.
"What in the world is this place..." Nob was also shocked to be somehow transported to a whole new place without even moving. "You. What happened to us." Nob pointed his knife again at Lucky.
"We're in a match." Lucky responded and looked around to see if he could find anyone.
All of a sudden, an owl was heard. The bird only circled around Lucky. It seemed like the bird didn't even want to memorize the other two men's scent. Maybe it knew that the two men were trouble.
"Brooke!" Lucky said joyfully. The owl hooted and flew away to get the other survivor's scents.
"Why in the world was there a bird," Nob asked.
"Well... It's just a bird that lives here..." Lucky responded. Lucky smiled a bit. It seemed like Lucky was pretty close to Eli seeing how fast Brooke caught his scent. Maybe he could find Eli to help him. A voice interrupted Lucky from his thoughts.
"What is this "match" that you were talking about." Nob squinted at Lucky with suspicion.
"W-well, we have matches in the manor. It's kind of like... a cat and mouse game...? There are four survivors and a hunter." Lucky explained. The two men laughed.
"A cat and mouse game! That's funny. That's a silly game to be playing in a manor like that. Who plays games like those these days." Nob chuckled.
"Tell us what really happened to us." Aaron pointed the gun at Lucky.
"I-I'm not lying," Lucky said nervously. He'd have to run to the others. They were probably either decoding, kiting, or probably still confused as to what happened.
"The joke stops now. Tell us what happened." The two men glared at Lucky. They were both tired from stealing those jewels and from the events that lead up to now.
Lucky decided he was going to take the chance. He looked at both of them and stood. His hands were still bound but he managed to lift himself up.
"What are you doing. You better not try anything." Aaron raised his gun to Lucky's chest.
Lucky wasn't too worried about the gun and knife now. He was in a match. The manor had some weird magic or something that prevented survivors from dying inside matches. Well, besides bleeding to death but the survivor would somehow be revived once the match was over. Lucky didn't understand and didn't really want to know how this manor worked. Maybe it was best to not know anyway.
He pinged the others.
'Help me!'
"Hey! We told you not to try anything!" Aaron shouted and shot the gun at Lucky. Aaron was startled from the survivor's ping, so he missed Lucky's chest, and his right arm was shot instead.
"Ah!" Lucky yelped and started running. He'd have to try and lose them. He started running to the shack. There might be someone there.
"Hey! Get back here!" Aaron shouted and chased after him. Nob also started chasing after him.
---
Once the other survivors had spawned at the hospital, they realized something was different.
Eli checked his communicator. There were seven survivors...? It was not possible. This is a quick match, not a duo hunter or custom. Very strange. He decided to ping the others.
'Follow me!'
'Don't move! I'm coming!' The other survivors pinged.
Eli waited until everyone gathered. Naib had met with Eli first, then Kurt, and finally Fiona.
"Hey, where's Lucky and uh... Nob and Aaron?" Naib asked everyone when they got together. Eli and Fiona shook their heads and Kurt shrugged in confusion.
"He wasn't registered in this match so it's weird. What's also weird is that there are two other people we don't know." Eli spoke up.
"Yes, these Nob and Aaron fellows." Fiona agreed.
Just then Brooke had arrived and just had to collect everyone's scents. Lucky was already marked so Eli was glad about that.
"Brooke," Eli said, "help me find out where Lucky is. We'll find him and then ask why he's here." As soon as Brooke finished collecting everyone's scent, Lucky had pinged something and a gunshot was heard.
'Help me!'
"Lucky's in trouble. Maybe the hunter found him?" Naib was ready to go help Lucky when a voice and the sounds of everyone's heartbeats stopped him.
"I can assure you that I am not with the other human." A low husky voice spoke. It was the hunter. The Feaster, also know as Hastur was approaching them.
"Crap." Naib and everyone were about to run but tentacles sprouted from the ground and picked them up.
"I am not here to hunt today. I don't feel like hunt at this time of night." Hastur said and the tentacles put the survivors down and disappeared back into the ground.
"Oh, uh thank you Mr. Hatsur," Fiona said.
"No thanks are needed. Now, why are all of you grouped together like this instead of decoding?" The hunter asked.
"Well, you might've already seen that there are seven survivors in this match." Eli pointed out.
"Yes, I have noticed that instead of four, it's seven. Why is that?"
"Well, we don't know either but Lucky just pinged us that he needs help. We were about to go help him." Naib crossed his arms.
"I see, then do you survivors know where he is?" Hastur asked.
"Wait. Then why was there a gunshot?" Kurt interrupted and spoke up. Everyone's eyes besides the hunter widened.
"I'll send Brooke to find him. I'll tell you guys where he's at." Eli sent Brooke to track Lucky and looked through Brooke's eyes. He saw that Lucky was being chased by who he assumes are Nob and Aaron. One had a knife and the other had a gun in hand. He also saw that Lucky's hands were tied to his back and he had a hole through his right shoulder. The gunshot was probably the gun that one of the men used. Eli looked around and saw that Lucky was heading towards the shack. He and others weren't that far.
"He going to the shack. He's being chased by I'm assuming are Nob and Aaron. One has a knife the other has a gun which means the gunshot was that gun. Lucky's hands are tied to his back and he has a hole through his right shoulder." Eli said as he went back to his normal vision.
"So it wasn't a flare gun," Fiona murmured.
"Let's go then. He's already at half health on the communicator." Naib started sprinting to the shack and pinged out to Lucky.
'Don't move! I'm coming!'
The other survivors and hunter followed.
---
Lucky was kind of tired and the two men were getting slightly closer. The rope tying his hands weren't helpful either. It just made running harder. He kited the men and then lost them for a few seconds. He took this chance and ran to the shack.
"Where did that brat go?" Aaron said angrily. They both lost him in the ruins.
"Over there!" Nob saw Lucky running towards the shack.
"Get back here you brat!" Aaron shouted and fired another shot. Unfortunately, the bullet grazed Lucky's leg. He stumbled and fell but quickly got back to his feet and ran. The two behind him were now closer to him. He was right outside the shack window. He quickly glanced inside the shack and saw that the cipher machine was untouched. He was slightly panicking now. No one was at the shack and he was sure that at least one person should've been here.
"Gotcha!" Nob grabbed had finally caught Lucky
"Ah!" Lucky didn't think they were that close.
"You're very troublesome, boy. Maybe we should just kill you." Aaron's face was filled with anger and annoyance. He pointed the gun at Lucky's head. "I'll just end you here now." Before he pulled the trigger, a large tentacle sprouted from the ground.
"What the heck is that? A tentacle?" Aaron halted his trigger and looked at the tentacle. All of a sudden, the tentacle lounged down at Aaron and knocked him down.
"Argh!" He groaned and his gun was dropped.
"Aaron!" Nob went to help him up. "That tentacle suddenly popped out of nowhere. Where did it come from?"
"That thing hits like a truck too." Aaron rubbed his head. More tentacles rose from the ground.
"Ahhhh!" Aaron screamed and both men quickly backed away from the tentacles.
"Lucky!" Naib shouted.
"Ah, Naib..." Lucky muttered weakly. The loss of blood was still increasing so his head was fuzzy now. He was a bit dizzy too.
"Lucky, hang in there!" Kurt came up to Lucky and took out bandages from his bag. Lucky's gunshot wound couldn't be simply treated by bandages, but it could at least stop the bleeding a little. He started wrapping Lucky's wound somewhat tightly to try and stop the bleeding. After wrapping the wound, it seemed that the bleeding lessened.
"Mmmm...." Lucky groaned. The pain was finally starting to kick in after his adrenaline was gone. "Hurts..." He mumbled.
"Of course it hurts. Yout got shot through your arm. Fortunately, the bullet went straight through instead of it being stuck inside so that Ms. Emily won't have to try surgery on you." Eli sighed.
While the survivors were busying with tending Lucky's wounds, the robbers took the chance and started sprinting.
"Not so fast." A voice said and more tentacles sprung from the ground. This time, wrapping themselves around the robber's waists.
"Ah! I don't want to die!" Aaron panicked and started trying to free himself.
"Let us go!" Nob shouted angrily while also trying to break free.
"No, not yet. We'll have to figure out what to do with you two." The men's faces paled and their faces filled with fear upon seeing the hunter.
"A-A m-monster!" Nob tried even harder to free himself and so did the other.
"Now, stop squirming or I might just stapped your mortal bodies in half," Hastur ordered. They stopped in fear and remained still.
"Much better."
"Okay, I think Lucky is stable for a little now. We'll still have to take him to Emily for better treatment." Kurt said as he placed the bandages back in his bag.
"That's good." Naib sighed with relief. "Well let's start decoding then." Everyone nodded and started going to different ciphers. Well, everyone except Naib since he decoded the slowest. He was tasked with watching over Lucky with the hunter.
"So, what are we going to do with you two anyway?" Naib murmured as he approached the frozen men. They weren't moving at all.
"We'll have to let the owner decide," Hastur replied to Naib's question.
"Right. You think the owner already knew?"
"They've probably known about the trespassing ever since they step foot inside the manor."
"Ah, yeah. Probably. We'll just have to wait then." After a couple of minutes, 3 ciphers were decoded with 2 left to go.
"You didn't snap them in half already, right? They aren't even moving." Naib hesitantly asked.
"No, I have not. It appears they are too terrified to move." Hastur answered.
"I don't even blame them." Naib crossed his arms and sighed once again. Hastur only hummed to Naib's comment.
"It's only natural for humans to fear what they do not know." As soon as Hastur finished his sentence, a siren was heard and the other survivors pinged Naib.
'Don't move! I'm coming!'
"Seems like your friends have finished decoding."
"The others are going to come and open the gate over here," Naib informed Hastur. Naib was being called through Fiona's holy key so he went to a wall and set her portal down. After a couple of seconds, Fiona's portal was complete and she had appeared. After her, came Eli and Kurt.
"Alright, I'll go open the gate," Kurt said as he ran to the password pad. Hastur grabbed the men and tied them to the balloons. They weren't moving so Hastur didn't have to worry about them struggling free. Naib carried Lucky on his back and the rest followed to the now opened gate and headed back towards the manor.
---
They all arrived in the manor with the two intruders and Lucky. Survivors and hunters were waiting for them in the living room.
"Are you guys alright?" Emily came up to them to check and see if any of them were hurt.
"We're alright. The only one that isn't is Lucky over here." Naib answered. She looked at Lucky and saw the blood that started seeping through the bandages.
"Quick then, bring him to the infirmary with me." Naib nodded and followed Emily. The rest of the residents now turned to the other 3 survivors and Hastur.
"So, mind telling us what happened?" Jack asked.
"Trespassers," Hastur responded.
"Lucky wasn't too injured, right? I hope he's alright." Mary looked in the direction of the infirmary. The two men started to stir awake after fainting.
"Mmm... Where are we now..." Aaron said as he looked around with confusion.
"Dreaming...?" Nob murmured.
"No, most definitely not a dream, humans." Hastur dropped the two of them down with a thud.
"The monster!" Aaron shouted.
"It's to be expected. Hastur does look scary honestly." Jack said with a grin while Hastur sighed. Jack continued, "Now, who might the two of you be and how'd you get into the manor?"
"W-we just saw this manor and came to take shelter," Nob answered quickly. Nob searched his pockets for the bag with jewelry. He dug into his pocket and found the bag and sighed with relief. The bag in his pockets started floating. He cried out with fear.
"T-the bag is f-floating!" He back away from the bag and so did Aaron. They were both even more terrified.
"Ah, is Ms. Yidhra here?" Michiko asked. A little girl entered the living room and nodded. The girl sat on the living room couch and watched what was happening. The bag was opened and an expensive looking watch as well as a handful of jewels were revealed.
"So thieves had entered the manor," Joseph sighed, "with expensive looking jewels as well."
"Well then what are we going to do with these thieves?" Jack asked.
"Well, we must wait for Ms. Nightingale's words before we could do anything," Michiko replied. There were several nods.
"Excuse me, everyone. Ms. Nightingale said that this was a letter for us. Does anyone know what it might be about?" Wu Chang entered the living room, unaware of what was going on. No one heard him as they were focused on the thieves. "Oh, it looks like something is wrong, Wujiu. Let's go see what's happening." The black guard replied with a nod inside the umbrella. They continued to walk towards the hunters and survivors.
"Oh, Wu Chang! Hello."
"Hello, Ms. Mary. There is a letter from Ms. Nightingale to us. Do you know something about it?"
"No, I don't. Let's see what it is then," Mary turned to the others, "everyone, there's a letter to us from Ms. Nightingale!" Everyone looked towards Mary and Wu Chang. Some also greeted Wu Chang and he greeted back. He started reading the letter.
'Dear survivors and hunters,
You might already know that there have been some intruders in the manor. I would like them to participate in a match before I release them out. I would love to see them in a game of Duo Hunters. Let's hope they can bring me entertainment. You can all decided who will be playing or not. To those who won't be playing, you shall spectate the match.
From,
Ms. Nightingale'
Everyone stared at Wu Chang, processing what was just read out loud.