Chapter Text
The glass walls fell, the panes smoothly sliding in between the clean gap in the smooth-stone flooring.
It was the last round of Meltdown, it was picked relatively late in the event, which the Red Rabbits were a bit disappointed about, but overall couldn't do very much about it. PVP and strategy games like these were not their strong suits, so they opted to get it out of the way for Battle Box, which they had a better chance doing well in. They weren't placing the best, their team in last place, but Grian was a bit optimistic about their team placement changing for the better, even if it was by a small margin.
"Where are we heading, Pete?" Gem asked, her right ear flicked as she turned to the taller.
“We’ll probably keep to the right, since the entrance is closer to our room,” he gestured to the rooms on his map, Cleo taking a peek over his shoulder to get a better look. “If we hurry we might be able to get the larger coin drop in the second room.”
“So should we get the other coin crates in the first room?” They asked, a bit confused.
“Yeah, but Grian and I will find the exit and lead you guys to it.” He replied, Grian perking up from beside him.
“Ah, gotcha.”
The group of four split up, Gem and Cleo running over to the left, Grian and Pete heading in the opposite direction to find the exit. The deer-hybrid was leading the way, since Cleo hadn’t ever played Meltdown before, and she was more familiar with the environment than they were. She unclipped her pickaxe off her belt, keeping her eyes peeled for any coin crates.
“Oh, there’s one over there!” Cleo pointed to a hallway they had just passed, the two quickly retracing their steps to take a peek. Sure enough, they were right; a few coin crates lay scattered in the small space.
“Here, I’ll call my pickaxe; can you go and see if there’s any other crates around here?” Gem asked, Cleo nodding before running off to find a few more. Gem turned back to the crates, calling her pickaxe.
Or, at least she tried to. She frowned, brows furrowing in confusion, as she tried again, pressing down on the button below its handle. But the blades didn’t become visible; the iron stayed translucent.
“What the heck? Why isn’t this working?” She muttered under her breath, but it seemed to pick up in the VC.
“Gem? What’s going on?” Grian’s voice filtered through her earpiece, and she sighed.
“My pickaxe doesn’t work when I try to call it,” the ginger-haired woman sighed, clipping the pickaxe back to her belt. “Cleo and I will just head over to you guys.”
“Do you want me to go back where we were, Gem?” Cleo asked, Gem humming a yes in response.
“It’s probably just a coding malfunction?” Pete suggested, although Grian didn’t believe it was the case.
“My pickaxe isn’t working, either, if I try to call it,” the avian-hybrid sighed. “I’ll send a private message to Noxite about it, but I doubt they’d restart the game over it.”
Gem heard Cleo approaching the room where she was, and she turned her head to see the other standing in the hallway, deep-cyan eyes filled with slight confusion. “Should I try my pickaxe on it?”
“We can do it when we get back to the others. They’re this way,” Gem jogged over to them, before the both of them ran over towards where their other two teammates were.
“None of our pickaxes are working, either.” They both heard Pete say, and Cleo frowned in reply.
“Is the game broken?”
“Probably just a bug in the coding; I’ll message them about it.” Pete’s voice remained optimistic, as to not have Cleo worry too much; it was their first MCC, after all. As Gem and Cleo neared the exit, however, they both caught a glimpse of Grian’s expression, which seemed to be deep in thought.
“My message isn’t sending to them,” Grian commented when the other two arrived next to them, an edge of worry in his voice. “I think the game’s coding is malfunctioning.”
“Should we wait here in case they pause it?”
“Doubt it, who knows if the melting mechanics are still on or not,” Pete shrugged. “It’s probably best to keep moving; we can still get points from freezes.”
Gem nodded, feeling a bit more convinced. “Alright, let’s go, then!”
—-
It was odd, not seeing any eliminations listed in the chat.
Cleo noticed—despite with a buggy holographic UI—that none of the other teams had points either, which was promising, although at the same time worrying. Nothing seemed to be working, besides the melting mechanics, which was later confirmed with a peek of everyone’s map in their inventory.
It was unusually silent, even a bit eerie.
“It’s so quiet,” Pete commented nervously, Gem nodding with a small laugh, although anxiousness was laced in her voice. “I’m not used to this at all.”
“Well, it’s late in the game. Maybe we’ll get a restart?” Grian offered with a grin.
“We’ll have a chance to do better, is what you’re saying,” Cleo joked with him, arms crossed. “Or worse.”
“Hey! We were doing well.” Pete chuckled, brushing back a few loose strands of basil-green hair.
“So…are other teams just not fighting, or…?” Gem’s voice trailed off as she felt the temperature grow hotter, and she wiped sweat off of her forehead. “Gosh, why is it so much hotter in here?”
“The room’s probably gonna melt soon,” Grian replied, although now he was starting to feel himself grow more drowsy due to the heat. “We should find the exit.”
“Well- I mean yeah, duh, but it seems so much warmer than it usually is, doesn’t it?” Gem pointed out, her ears lowering. The Red Rabbits continued forward, Cleo’s discomfort with the temperature was now a bit more noticeable—possibly due to her being a zombie—but they weren’t burning, so that was a good sign.
“It says the exit’s in front of us to the right,” Cleo commented, looking down at their map. “Coin crates I’m assuming aren’t working, what if we run into other teams?”
“We’ll see if the freeze coding still works, but—” Grian’s voice trailed off, his honey-golden eyes glancing over to Pete, who had fallen silent a few minutes ago. His brows furrowed as his gaze studied over the taller’s expression, which seemed a bit exhausted. “Pete…? You doing okay?”
They stopped. They had gotten closer to the exit, but Grian noticed how off Pete's demeanor was. Perhaps it was because they weren't doing so well overall, and their team placement kept dropping by each round of Meltdown they played. But Pete wasn't that type of person to give up so easily, this was unlike him.
The nail in the coffin was when the taller had collapsed into him, his body somehow growing lighter in weight, which set off alarms in Grian's brain. Cleo reeled back a bit in alarm, Gem trying to help Grian support Pete enough for him to stand.
"Pete!" The deer-hybrid caught him, trying her best to maneuver him to a resting position on the ground. "Oh, Gods- are you okay? Does something hurt? Are-"
"Burning..." He muttered, voice so quiet and so slurred Grian almost didn't understand what he had said. But Gem apparently didn't hear it.
"W-What? What did you-...oh."
She retracted her hand from underneath him, feeling slimy residue on her fingertips. Grian's heart dropped as he saw Pete's skin start to morph away into slime, the familiar green color making him even more worried as he connected the dots in his head.
He faintly remembered Pete telling him about being a slime-hybrid, it was before MCC 17, he believed, pretty early on in Season 2. How Scott needed him to attend a meeting to test his abilities and what would pose as either a nuisance or an actual threat to his health during an actual event. How freezing temperatures would make him too solid to move, and scorching heat that would melt the slime too fast for his body to regenerate it. He heard that Scott implemented coding on most of the hybrids' abilities if it would affect their gameplay, whether it would give them an advantage or heavy disadvantages.
He remembered the information the Noxcrew had sent them before MCC 22 when Meltdown was ready to be released and rotated. The admins applied enchantments and other coding to their armor to reduce the effectiveness of the heat. The coding that allowed players to freeze and eliminate each other, and the respawn mechanics attached to that.
Most of the coding was broken. The respawn mechanics were broken- the hybrid's coding was broken.
The sirens blared throughout the room, red lights illuminating the room they were in, and panic settled in Grian's stomach. Their room was melting, and they hadn't even found the exit yet. His gaze glanced up to Gem and Cleo, who were clearly frightened.
Grian needed them out of here. If Pete's coding was malfunctioning, who knew what would happen if Gem and Cleo died.
"Gem, Cleo, go find an exit and get to the final room," he said firmly, pointing to one of the ladders at the far end of the corridor. "Go up the ladder and see if any of the exits are in that hallway."
"Wha- we're not just leaving you here!" Cleo said, worry flooding into their voice. "Pete's hurt, and-"
"Pete's melting and the game's coding is malfunctioning. You- we won't have time to bring him up there with us." Grian cut them off, shifting closer to Pete to let his head rest against his legs. His chest only tightened as he felt more slime start to ooze off of his body.
"But-"
"Cleo, Grian's right, I think," Gem interjected, glancing over to the two players, before turning her attention to her friend. "We'll all die if we try to get Pete up to the exit, especially if we don't know where it is."
The group fell silent for a few moments, the deer-hybrid starting towards the ladders. She grabbed Cleo's hands and squeezed them reassuringly; "It's okay; Grian knows what he's doing."
Another few seconds of silence, before Cleo gave in; "Okay, let's go." They shot Grian a hopeful look, lined with desperation.
"Stay safe, okay?"
"You have my word." Grian tried his best to smile, and Gem tried her best to return the gesture, before the two other players ran over to the ladder, quickly climbing up the rungs, before dashing off towards what the avian-hybrid hoped was the exit. Leaving the two other players alone.
His focus turned to Pete, who was trying his best to support himself upright. His coal-black eyes looked drowsily at the avian-hybrid, too lightheaded and too, well, melted to form a coherent sentence.
“G-Grian?” He asked, voice level just above a whisper. Grian tried his best not to wince at how distorted the taller’s voice was. The avian-hybrid turned to him, anxiously brushing a short strand of golden-brown hair behind his ear. He could feel the room growing hotter, the heat starting to affect him, too.
“I got you, I got you…” he muttered, glancing upwards to try to find a place for them to stay high up. Having the higher ground was the best idea Grian could think of, considering how fast the room was starting to melt away, the ground holding them starting to give way in certain places.
His wings.
He tried his best to pull off his wing binder, the tightening material soon falling off his feathered appendages. Red-yellow-blue wings stretched out from his back, trying to get warmed up a bit before use.
Carefully, he picked up Pete, struggling to balance the taller in his arms due to his height and the obvious dilemma he was facing. He was less heavy, which was both a good thing and quite worrying.
“You’re okay with me flying, right?” He asked softly, trying his best to keep his composure. A weak hum from the slime-hybrid was enough affirmation for Grian, and he took a deep breath, trying to position himself correctly.
He tried his best to elevate himself enough, wings flapping almost instantly, his feet soon leaving the melting ground. Beads of sweat were rolling down his face, but he barely noticed, eyes fixated on a bright-orange ledge near one of the corners of the room. He carefully maneuvered Pete in his grasp, noticing the slime slowly growing more paler in color, which he guessed wasn’t a very good sign.
His wings tried their best to carry them both to the ledge, but they thankfully managed, Grian nearly collapsing once his feet hit the orange concrete and Pete was safely out of his hands. He could see the slime starting to regenerate, a bit of color more noticeable than before.
Grian peered down below them, the ground almost completely melted away, the heat radiating from the lava was suffocating. And it was rising, slowly but surely, making him more worried.
He knew Noxcrew would pause the game to teleport everyone out. It just depended on how long they would take.
—-
“Oh, gosh- where would be a good place to get to?”
Cleo asked worriedly, Gem catching a glimpse of the upper level. Players were running, some helping others up to their places, others trying to find higher ground.
Well, freezing mechanisms weren’t working, which was a good thing. Or a bad thing? The deer-hybrid wasn’t so sure.
She looked to her left, seeing a staircase on the other side of where the both of them were standing.
“Up those stairs, then we’ll figure it out from there.” She didn’t hesitate to grip Cleo’s hand as the two ran to the flight of stairs, up to the next floor. Their eyes darted around, trying to find a place high enough for them to stay. The alarms blared, signaling the room was about to melt away. Gem glanced at the middle, the coin crates left untouched.
"Gem! Cleo!" The both of them turned to see the entirety of Yellow Yaks up on top of a structure connecting to one of the walls. It was made out of the black concrete and a few touches of deepslate. Aimsey was waving them over, their expression one of worry.
Jojo repositioned herself on top of the structure, trying her best not to hit her head on the ceiling as she helped the both of them up. It was difficult at first, with Gem's antlers and with her other teammates trying to keep the small space open enough for all of them to fit, but they managed it.
"Okay, we're all good, right?" Jojo asked, Gem nodding stiffly. She still felt like she was in shock, she found it a bit harder to breathe, although she didn’t know if it was because of her panic or because of the heat—or both. She turned to look at Cleo, who was out of breath and clearly freaking out, hands shaking.
"Cleo?" She called their name, her voice a bit softer as to not worry the other more. "Hey, it's going to be okay, alright? Noxcrew will figure out how to get everyone back, okay?"
"They're trying to pause the game right now, currently," Shubble piped up, trying to reassure them with her optimism. "Our stream chats told us before the signal cut off, so we'll just have to wait it out."
"Okay, that’s good,” Gem tried her best to smile at her, although her focus was still on Cleo. “We’ll just have to wait it out, that’s all we’ll have to do.”
“But what about Grian and Pete?”
Jojo and False perked up from beside them at the mention of their friend’s names, panic flooding across their faces.
“Wait- they both got locked out?” Jojo asked worriedly. Gem nodded, her chest tightened uneasily.
“Hybrid coding was apparently malfunctioning also,” she elaborated, anxiously adding, “It was worse for Pete because he’s a slime-hybrid, so Grian decided to stay with him.”
False didn’t say anything more, merely looking across the room. The lower parts were brighter from the lava’s light reflecting off of the walls, she could see the ground from the lower floor beginning to melt away, and she felt her heart skip a beat.
“Hopefully they pause the game before their room melts down completely,” Aimsey bit their lower lip, anxiety rising as they followed False’s gaze. They noticed the lava slowly rising in the room, making them even more anxious. “I don’t know if melting mechanics are working completely, or just the basics."
"I-I don't know, it's stressing me out-..." Gem took in a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Jojo squeezed her shoulder gently in reassurance.
"They'll both be okay, I'm sure," she smiled, deep-brown eyes comforting. "They've probably figured something out."
"I hope so."
—-
Grian had already noticed the lava slowly rising in the room, anxiousness tightening in his chest. By now he had taken off his red jacket, having it tied around his waist, just leaving his white short-sleeve with the rainbow imprint. His wings were unnaturally warm due to the heat, sweat trickling down his face, but he tried his best not to pay any mind to it. Instead, he paid most attention to Pete, who seemed to be doing better; at least, the deep-green hues started to make its way back into the slime.
Grian sighed, looking over his options. Waiting it out was an option, since he couldn't fly out of the room due to barrier blocks being in place. But that would also pose as a problem to Pete, especially if the heat grew more unbearable for him to handle before falling apart again.
Keeping slime hydrated was important, and Grian didn't have anything on him that-
An idea struck the avian-hybrid, and he reached for his pistol clipped to his utility belt, grabbing an extra load of ammo capsules from one of the pockets. They weren't like usual gun weaponry, most of its abilities were attached to the coding for Meltdown, not for the gun itself. But if he was correct, the frost loads were still icy-cold; he just had to unload the weaponry in order to get the cartridge out.
He pulled back at the ammo casement, opening the gun open to get the cartridge out. He shivered as he felt how cold it was, freezing to the touch, and he quickly handed it to Pete.
"Here, take this,” Pete took the cartridge, growing a bit more relaxed at how cold it was compared to the sweltering environment. “How bad is it?”
“I’ll…I’ll be able to manage,” the slime-hybrid said tiredly, trying his best to maneuver himself to a sitting position against the wall behind him. He closed his eyes for a short while, before blearily opening them again, breaths uneven and heavy. “But, if it gets any hotter in here…-”
“I have a few spare frosted capsules if you need them,” Grian offered with a small—but extremely watery—smile. “We only have three more, so you’ll have to use them sparingly.
“Just, don’t pass out on me, okay? Can you do that for me?"
Even through unfocused vision, Pete could notice how fidgety the avian-hybrid was, his trembling hands grasping tightly at the fabric of his maroon-burgundy jeans. Before his gaze traveled up to meet Grian's anxious expression, honey-golden eyes filled with flighty worry. No doubt about it that Grian was scared, no matter how calm he tried to be.
"I'll try." Pete said, straining his voice to make it just a little higher in volume, just loud enough for Grian to hear.
Time passed by, every so often Grian would unload one of the cold cartridges for Pete to press against his forehead, in order to keep his temperature down long enough before Noxcrew figured out how to teleport them back. The lava had stopped rising, which was a good thing for Pete, as it would stay at a more stable temperature for him to get used to.
Although, the longer they stayed, the more lightheaded Pete felt, exhaustion tugging at his eyelids, tempting him to rest, his consciousness starting to slip away. And the cartridges from both of their weaponry did not seem to help, despite the cold comfort it temporarily provided. Grian tried his best to keep him up for the time being, occasionally shaking him awake, but it grew more and more difficult for him to do so.
Then they both heard it; a crackling voice sounding through their earpieces. Grian recognized it; vaguely at first, but it became a bit clearer through static that it was one of the admins. It was Noxite.
“Is this working? If any of you can hear me-”
Relief flooded through Grian, the tension in his muscles relaxing ever so slightly. He turned to Pete, opening his mouth to say something, but he stopped suddenly. All reassurance he felt immediately washed away, replaced with horror as his heart dropped.
“-we’ll be teleporting players back in a few moments-”
Pete was out cold, eyes closed and body starting to break apart. Panic flooded the avian-hybrid, his focus immediately returning to his teammate, his friend.
“Pete? Pete?” Grian’s voice grew more urgent, scared, harshly shaking the other’s shoulders in an attempt to wake him up. Nothing happened, Pete didn’t move in the slightest. Grian felt his stomach twist as he felt slime ooze onto his hands.
“-please stand by-”
“No, no-no-no-no— Pete, please-”
“-as we work on ending the minigame-”
Grian’s heart started to race, his throat constricting. Tears pricked at the edges of his eyes, and he tried his best to blink them away, still trying to wake him up, to no avail.
No, I-I should’ve been paying more attention- I…I-?
A wave of dizziness struck him, nearly knocking him off-balance, black spots appearing in his vision. Appearing, growing, growing, growing-
Until there was nothing at all.