Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"How did you find this place again? Wraith asked, while brushing some dust off her gear. "My pure brilliance" I said, a smug grin making its way onto my face. Wraith deadpanned at me for a second before I continued, “You know a lot about the IMC, right? Do you think this was a testing place or something?" I asked.
Wraith stilled for a second, 'I must've touched a nerve'. "No.." she mumbled, her tone cold. I cleared my throat, "Sorry if I touched a sore spo-" "It's fine." She cut me off her tone just as cold.

I felt guilt quickly settle itself in my stomach as I stumbled on my words to apologize to the pale woman when I felt a particularly soft piece of debris underneath my boot. My foot practically sunk underneath the soft bed of.. flowers..? When did Kings Canyon have flowers? Sure, There was a little growth of plantation here and there but flowers? Let alone a whole bed of flowers that hadn’t been there prior. I opened my mouth to catch Wraith's attention when my eyes caught a glimpse of vines leading down the cliff of where the path to Kings Canyon previously laid. "Hey Wraith…I think Poison Ivy very ‘graciously’ visited what remains of Skull Town." I pointed towards the out of place plant. “What?” Wraith turned around, her face immediately turning to shock "Mirage, step away from the hole!" She yelled.

“What’s your dealio? There isn’t hole-“ A shriek tore from my throat as I felt the earth beneath me vanish. Well.. Fuck.

Chapter Text

Alternate Title - Chapter 2; Fight or Flight

A groan escaped my lips as I felt an ache wash over my body. I opened my eyes to see the massive hole I've just fallen into. 'Thank god for my drop kit.' I silently thought to myself, picking up my aching body from the ground. I took a moment to scan my surroundings, realizing I was on the same flower bed as the one I was standing on before failing?...No, not the same. Just.. identical? 

I looked in front of me and saw a huge, purple corridor that I hadn’t noticed while looking around the room. I dusted off my gear and pressed forward through the corridor. The room connected to the corridor was empty except for a small yellow flower in the dead center of the room... that's odd? This whole situation is odd to be honest. I approached the flower with caution, not knowing what to expect from this place.

The first thing to reach my ears was a bubbly voice that echoed around me, I soon realized that the voice was talking below me. "Howdy, I'm flowey. Flowey the flower!" The flower…spoke. My hand flew down to my boot, attempting to grab the wingman I equipped there, just to find nothing.

"Well, Golly! You must be new here?" The flower chirped yet again. I felt a panic engulf me, looking around for a way to make this flower shut up. Finding no other way to put this flower to a stop, I attempted to step on the plant, a small ack came from the flower. Before I could get my foot off the flower, small white pellets appeared, instantly flying towards my chest. A sharp pain exploded in my chest as the white pellets collided against me, causing me to tumble backwards.

"You already know what's going on here? Don'tcha?" The flower asked, its happy-go-lucky tone now grimace. "No, I don't know what's going on!" I stumbled out, my nerves at an all time high. I ran from the weird, possessed flower thingy, tripping on my own feet as I found myself in front of two flights of stairs with a bed of red leaves in the middle. At the top of the left stairs was a child.

A child? What was a child doing here?

"Hey kid! There's a crazy, hom-homici..killer flower, in the other room!" The kid perked up at my voice, their face immediately expressing their brief shock before contorting to that of fear. Before I could get another word out, the kid turned tail and booked it. Relief washed over my senses as I quickly followed them in the hopes of finding somewhere safe to hide. I turned the corner to follow them but found myself bumping into something soft. Confusion hit me like a truck as I jumped away from whatever I ran into. Confusion turned into fear as my eyes met with narrowed, monstrous eyes. Horns, White fur, A tail, Red eyes? It was the devil itself.

With the third heart attack today, I attempted to get away from the goat… demon..? But I tripped over one of the many vines littering the area, face planting into the ground. “Who are you?” The monstrously giant goat demanded, a snarl crossing her face. Large canine teeth barred at me,  ”I- uhm,” I stammered out, her eyes narrowed at me. The child from before now cowering behind the goat monster. With a growl, Suddenly all the color drained from the room. Within an instant an orange cartoon heart floated out of my chest. My confusion increased as three buttons appeared before me with words "FIGHT", "ITEM", "ACT" and "MERCY". I didn't have time to react to this change before fire balls started getting thrown at me. I ducked under the firery spheres, my heart drumming in my chest. I felt my throat tighten as panic filled my senses. What the fuck is going on?

 "I'll ask you once more; who are you?" The goat demanded, her tone carried aggression as she raised her arms up, two white flickering flames dancing in her palms. A chill ran down my spine as all sensible thoughts left my mind. Instinct told me to run or fend off the beastly monster before me, but I couldn't move. No matter how much I mentally urged myself to move, to do something, I couldn't. Another growl left the goat monster as she raised her hand getting ready to launch another attack. My fight or flight kicked in as I instinctively pressed "MERCY". White text appeared Infront of me, I could barely read it before I felt a searing pain erupt at my side. I didn't bite back a scream as I fell to the ground, cradling my side with my palm. The pain was burning hot and it felt as if the pain was spreading within my nerves. My eyes squeezed shut, I tried crawling away from where I assumed the monster was. I silently swore to myself as I felt my own tears cascading down my cheeks onto the rough floor. 

In a last-ditch effort to get away from this beast, I attempted to trigger my ultimate. Instead of being greeted by decoys who look exactly like me, but instead I was greeted by decoys that bore different skin’s from prior events in the games. ‘ Fuck I must've fell on the tech .’ I silently cursed to myself. Why couldn’t I get something right for once? 

“I’ve had enough of this buffoonery from you,” The goat monster seethed and approached me. She lifted a hand making me flinch in response, closing my eyes to brace myself for my inevitable demise. ‘ This was it? Really? …I always thought I would do it with a little bit of pizazz, but this? My life never really had any sort of.. meaning. So, I’ll die. Without any mark on this world. …Fuck, Caustic was right.’ 

The next moment was filled with brain shattering pain as I felt a clawed foot hit the back of my head cutting off my scattered, panic thoughts. All I could make out as I felt my conscious slip was a worried, motherly voice cooing to.. someone.

Horizon..? What’s she doing in a place like this? Oh, maybe she’s here to take me back home to everyone? Hopefully, Horizon can make those weird.. pudding things.. Cranachans? Yeah, that’s the one.