Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The last thing 1x1x1x1 was expecting upon opening their eyes was to be in another round of killing.  They weren't opposed to it,  but the last round was so shit that even Builderman,  who was a half second away from keeling over and dying,  staggered up to them to land a punch.  Anger bubbled in their chest,  and the stabbing pain between their brow only got worse.

All in all,  they just wanted to go sit in the mansion’s designated sensory deprivation corner and brood the migraine away.  And yet,  here they are,  on a dock near some big,  fancy wilderness retreat.  Great.

They stalked their way over to the lodge,  each step lancing pain up their legs as they ascended the ramp (stupid fucking Spectre and its stupid fucking punishments they’re going to beat its ass if they ever have the displeasure of seeing it face to face--).  Idle chatter that they hadn’t noticed before suddenly ceased,  replaced by hushed whispers and someone shushing them before silence overtook the building.  Quiet footsteps swiftly moved out of earshot,  as if they were trying not to be heard over the stomping that drew closer to the door.  Too late for hiding,  though.

The glint of crimson from his one good eye reflected off the glass as he peered in the narrow window beside the door,  watching the people inside tensed.  He only counted three at first,  Shedletsky (he was going to savor tearing the man limb from limb) and the other the sentinels,  as he had expected,  but he soon spotted the other admins (and the adminling he detests) lurking behind a corner further in.  Glancing up he noticed the off-putting one watching from the balcony,  not even bothering to hide,  with their horrible little grin plastered across their face.  This is going to be…  obnoxious at the very least,  if not painful and rage inducing.

They stepped into the doorway,  barely long enough to utter a, “hello,” before the gambler had raised his gun,  which promptly exploded in his face right after they had managed to duck out of view.  The fool really needs to replace the damned thing if he wants a chance at survival,  but alas,  his hand is already charred and shaking from the pain as he runs up the stairs.

They promptly sprint into the room,  completely ignoring the soldier bracing for impact and darting out of the way of Shedletsky’s (whiffed,  as legendary swordsmen do,) slash,  instead skidding to a stop in front of the poorly hidden admins to unleash an entanglement.  The conniving little demolitionist attempts to leap over the table to escape,  but it’s nowhere near quick enough to escape the pierce of their blades.  People behind them are shouting,  and footsteps approach rapidly as they wind up to hit the three immobilized survivors with mass infection.  Someone slams into them,  the soldier,  knocking them off balance,  but it wasn’t enough to prevent all four of them from getting hit,  and they could practically hear the Spectre purring with delight.

1x rebalanced themself just in time to notice that the terrorist had managed to free himself and toss a bomb at their chest.  Fuck.  They threw their arm over their eyes in an attempt to block out the flash of pink as too many sets of injured,  limping footsteps escaped elsewhere.  Cowards ,  all of them.

Their vision cleared up within a few seconds,  as it always does and always should,  allowing them to watch the soldier disappear outside,  ugh.  But they did see the weird,  creepy one upstairs earlier,  before the gambler ran up there.  Surely it’d be worth checking out.

They heard a coin flip when they started ascending the creaky staircase,  followed by feet shuffling as they neared the top.  The gambler was waiting in the doorway,  gun drawn and aimed at them,  while the pizza man and the newbie tried to hide away in a corner next to a purple machine.  The gambler seemed to be hesitating,  probably from the pain,  allowing 1x the opportunity to close the gap,  only for the little bastard to fire the gun nearly point-blank into their chest,  knocking the air from their lungs and causing them to fall to one knee.

There was a shout,  shouting something about jumping,  as the gambler skirted around it and bolted down the stairs.  1x stood up just in time to watch c00lkidd’s father climb over the banister and drop down to the floor below with a loud thud and a groan.  No matter,  there’s still two survivors conveniently lined up.  It prepares to hit them with a mass infection,  but the duo burst out of their hiding spot,  just barely managing to escape in time,  with only the pizza man having a small gash in his calf.

The new one attempts to recreate what c00lkidd’s father had done,  only to fail miserably and tumble over the side with a yelp.  The pizza man,  with only the slightest bit more grace,  follows suit.  1x launches itself after them,  eyes flicking over to a dark movement in its periphery that it was unable to identify before starting its fall.

The new one was picking themself off the ground as the pizza man tried to drag them out of the way of 1x’s venomous blades,  but their cry of pain was more than enough to inform him that he was too late to prevent it from cutting their forearm to the bone.  c00lkidd’s father was starting up his teleporter in the same corner the admins had attempted to hide in,  subtly (not subtly enough) waving the terrified duo over.  It readied a mass infection as the two inexperienced survivors launched themselves at the father to hold onto his arm for dear life.  Like dominoes,  they’ll fall.

Something sharp stabbed into its back,  twisted,  and was ripped out,  causing its attack to veer off course as the father and his equally useless companions disappeared.  Its brief pause as realization set in allowed for the object to be plunged in and torn out again.  It whipped around to see the creepy,  pale survivor grinning at them,  bloody blade poorly hidden behind their back.

“You fucking WRETCH .”  It snarled,  teeth bared,  as it slammed its fist into the freak’s temple,  knocking them onto their side and sending them skidding across the floor into the wall.  Blood dripped from a cut it had left on them,  but even the daze it seemed to have left them in didn’t stop their smile from growing.  They staggered to their feet,  barely dodging out of the way of the first decapitation attempt,  and the second was interrupted by its least favorite terrorist darting in and thowing another fucking bomb .

Their vision cleared and their ears stopped ringing quickly enough to hear footsteps fading into the distance and the robes of the little bastard disappearing outside.  They’re going to break every bone and sever every tendon in his hands before chopping the damn things off.  They fling their daemonshanks at him,  the venom working its magic and forcing him to stop running.  Before they know it,  they have a death grip on his throat as they drag him down the stairs to a rock,  bashing and bashing and breaking until there’s little left of his head but red splattered across the surface of the stone.  They growl to themself,  holding the hilt of their blades as they kick the headless corpse off their weapons.

Footsteps run up to them,  and they turned their head just in time to watch Telamon’s blade rip into their flank,  leaving a deep gash that scraped against bone (what a vile sensation),  shouting something they couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to over the blood rushing in their ears.  They watched with mild fascination as his sword pierced the wound,  puncturing their lung.  Despite the festering in their chest and pounding behind their eyes,  their worthless,   insignificant,  inferior creator still managed to evade their sloppy (it would have connected if they were faster,  they’re normally faster,  why aren’t they faster?) retaliatory swing.

Blood dripped down from the wound,  their side burned,  and their arm wasn’t reacting the way they expected it to,  but it didn’t matter,  because Shedletsky hadn’t run away (he should fear them,  why hasn’t he learned yet?).  Rather,  he was still pointing his sword at them,  blathering on about something,  so focused on whatever he was saying that he didn’t bother to block their blade.  It brushed across his face,  making him falter for long enough to follow up with their daemonshank cleaving through his neck.

It flicked the blood from its blade (they’re such a pain to clean),  and watched the body fall for half a second,  which was apparently plenty of time for the bastard gambler to send yet another bullet into its chest.  It hissed,  and drew back to unleash a mass infection,  which may be overkill for the swaying gunman,  but they’re long overdue for a reality check.  But someone had to ruin it,  as it was thrown off balance by the soldier bashing into it.  It changed trajectory,  slashing at the man,  only for him to block the blades and throw a punch that hit hard enough to send it to the floor.

Every breath they took resulted in them making a weird,  wet,  wheezing noise while they struggled to pull in enough air to function,  but no matter.  They pushed themself off the ground,  barely finding their footing (were they really that weak ?  What a fucking failure they are,  the Spectre will not be pleased,  and they are not looking forward to what awaits them after this round).  They sent an entanglement the gamblers’ way,  barely managing to hit him,  watching as he convulsed before collapsing.  Dead,  finally.

They nearly lost their footing,  turning to watch as the soldier approached them,  hands raised slightly above his head with his palms open,  saying something they couldn’t hear in a low tone.  As though he thought they were too weak to be a threat.  Eugh.  Something wet and metallic rose in the back of their throat and they bit down on the urge to cough.  They’re 1x1x1x1,  they will not show weakness to such a lowly man.  (Are they dying?  It’ll certainly be a first.)

They swing their sword at one of his hands,  saved from a mortifying fall only by the blade they planted into the ground.  (Something deep down in the recesses of their hind-brain screams at the idea of dying.  They ignore it.  The Spectre wouldn’t let one of its toys die permanently.)  The man’s hand twitched away,  but he didn't back off.  He’s reaching for their shaking hands (why are they shaking?  They’ve had worse wounds in rounds,  this shouldn’t be affecting them this badly,  it hardly even hurts),  and it takes a moment for them to process that he’s attempting to disarm them.  To leave them defenseless.

An unnamable emotion forced them to spring into action,  lashing out with both swords,  forcing him to back off or be gutted like a pig.  They slipped on the continuously growing pool of their own blood (are their wounds that bad?  surely some of it is Shedletsky’s and the demolitionist’s) but continued to advance on the blue haired warrior,  who looked unconcerned.  As though they aren’t worth the effort to attack.  They prepare an entanglement,  watching the man tense in anticipation,  but they barely managed to raise their swords before something pierces through their back.

They gurgled ( undignified,  pathetic ) as they collapsed onto the ground.  The soldier was speaking loudly at their attacker,  hands moving to emphasize whatever he was saying.  They barely processed that the person who stabbed them was Telamon.

(hatehatehate hate hate,  why is he alive,  the round isn’t over,  he should be dead ) through the fog dulling their senses.  Telamon planted his foot on their back to rip the sword from their spine,  leaving them to gasp for air and choke on blood as he walked away.

The soldier glanced down at them,  sighing deeply before stealing one of their daemonshanks (how dare he).  They had hardly managed to get one arm beneath themself before their sword pierced their neck,  severing it in one drawn-out,  crude motion.

1x1x1x1 awoke with a gasp,  only to discover they were not surrounded by air.  They could hardly see through the murky water,  the darkness surrounding them not helping as they attempted to orient themself.  Their lungs ached as they clawed their way toward the surface,  only to find silt and mud beneath their fingers as darkness closed in on their vision.

They woke up again,  with hardly enough air to even process they were back underwater.  They swam in the opposite direction to last time (they tried,  they can’t swim,  why can’t they swim,  Shedletsky knows how to swim,  why don’t they?) but they weren’t even able to brush the surface before they were gone again.

Their eyes open and they feel weak as they struggle to ascend to the surface.  A single hand manages to breach the surface with a splash before the waves dragged them back under.

They’re tired when they wake up next.  They seem to have sunk to the lake floor in the time between revivals.  The cool water almost helps alleviate their various aches and pains.  Warped plants brush against their legs as they try to jump off the substrate and reach the surface.  They fail miserably.

They can’t say they expected to wake up in a round after drowning who knows how many times in a row.  Not that they could do much,  on account of their lungs being full of water.

Surely the survivors were going to gloat to each other ,  they thought as they wheezed,  '1x was incapacitated this round,' '1x can't swim,'   they're sure they'd say.  Ugh.  They coughed up more water.  There were footsteps behind them,  someone making the foolish mistake of approaching,  not that they could see who it was with their hair creating a curtain around their face.  But that would not stop them from retaliating if they tried shit.

They were murmuring something (eugh,  he’s not a stray animal),  promising that they weren't here to hurt him (liar,  it's only a matter of time until a sentinel finds him and secures a survivor win).  Despite all of the violent,  bloody scenarios racing through his head,  what 1x1x1x1 was not expecting was for them to try to touch him,  or,  more accurately,  his hair.

"DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!"  Was the only warning they got before he had attempted to claw them open.

He failed miserably at said clawing,  instead collapsing and nearly hacking up a lung onto the (dirty,  unhygienic,  disgusting) tile.  The idiot,  apparently deciding that attempting to approach the thing that wanted them dead AGAIN was a good idea,  scooped up his hair (surprisingly gently,  considering... everything),  and tugged on it lightly for a few moments (they better pray they don't pull too hard,  otherwise not even the Spectre would be able to save them),  before letting it fall to the ground.

He turned his head to glare at them,  mildly confused when his hair didn’t fall into his face,  and they (the new one with the ugly ass outfit,  seriously,  GREEN pants with a blue sweater?  unhinged behavior) waved,  obviously nervous. Terrified even.  As they should be.

"I..  I thought you might want to keep your hair out of your face when you're...  um."  They wilted under his gaze,  "I'll.  I'll find somewhere else to be.  P-Please stop drowning."

'Please stop drowning,'   how the fuck is he supposed to do that?  Hm?  He wished he had the energy to lunge at them as they scurried away,  but the thought of it was apparently too much for his frail body,  and sent him into another coughing fit,  just as the timer ticked down to zero.

They wake up underwater and have to ask themself if this is their punishment for being killed during the round at the lakeside cabin.  It probably is.  They hardly even have a chance to see where they are and where to go before everything fades to black again.

They see the moon’s reflection in the waves above them,  and manage to surface for long enough to try to gasp for air,  but only end up coughing up water before falling back under.  They almost made it back up a second time,  but they didn’t do it quickly enough.

Their deaths were starting to blur together.  Sometimes they thought they heard people talking,  but there were too many voices for them to be back at their living quarters,  and they slipped back under.

They surface,  and something grabs their hand.  They yank it back from whatever was trying to catch them and are dragged deeper by a sudden current.

The next time they surface it happens again,  this time snatching their wrist in a death grip.  It gives them enough time to hack and wheeze above water before the waves grow too strong.

But they don’t die.  They’re yanked back up,  despite their flailing,  and dragged through the current.  They attempt to look at whatever has grabbed onto them,  but they’re facing away from whoever was foolish enough to manhandle them,  and they can’t see anything other than a distant rock formation and reflections of the moon on the water.

The person swimming them to shore stops,  and another set of hands grabs their free arm out of nowhere.  Water floods their system again as they thrash.  The newer set of hands squeaks and multiple people start talking over each other.  They barely manage to yank their arm back ( weak ) when the first set of hands roughly pushes them towards some sort of pillar.   They leave deep gouges in the wood(?) with their claws as they gracelessly scramble onto the structure.

They’re too busy coughing up their lungs and gagging on air to focus on what the people in the water were saying.  They were not too busy to freeze and attempt to suppress their heaving when one of the people in the water jumped onto the platform with them ( weak,  defenseless,  easy target ).  They listened as footsteps and quiet speaking got close (too close,  the fool needs to back up),  only to jolt when someone touched their shoulder.  They swatted at their hand,  something that was apparently too violent,  which they only discovered upon hearing someone sprinting down the dock to kick them back into the water.

He inhaled involuntarily ( idiot ),  squawking ( hate hate hate ) as someone fished him back out.  He clung to them (the Spectre is going to kill him.  He hopes it does,  he does not want anyone to remember this).  He made sure to remind them once again that he was dangerous,  glaring (as pathetic as it ended up looking while he re-emptied the water from his lungs) daggers at the…  new one in the atrocious outfit.  Again.  They finally seemed to get the hint and scurried off the dock to hide behind Shedletsky.

The swordsman stood between them and the other end of the dock (they need to stand,  they need to kill him,  they should not keep laying prone,  propped up out of their lung water with only their elbows),  the soldier observing them from the water beside the dock,  and the gambler watching from just off to the side on the sand.  Comforting.  They struggled to their feet,  ignoring the way that the gambler took aim at them,  finger on the trigger.  They could barely stand,  their swaying making them nauseous.

The soldier made eye contact with Shedletsky and the gambler,  before hoisting himself out of the water.  1x barely managed to not fall when they took a step away from him,  but he didn’t falter.  They ducked out of his way,  all too aware of the gun trained on their head,  when he attempted to grab them the first time,  but was too uncoordinated to dodge out of the way a second time.  He dragged them across the dock,  pausing to ensure they didn’t fall when they stumbled (they should not be this tired,  and the world around them should not be spinning),  leading them past the large blood puddle to the stairs of the big cabin.

They were dragged inside,  and he pushed them until they sat down on a couch,  leaving them to try to fight off nausea as he went Spawn knows where.  Minutes later something is tossed onto their lap.  A towel.  They glare at him until he wanders off,  not that any of the other leeches who crept in left,  before trying to squeeze as much lake water (nasty) from their hair as possible and drying off.  The saturated fabric thwaps against the floor as they recline onto the cushions.  Clearly the Spectre wants them here,  they decided,  closing their eyes.  They would much rather be unconscious than deal with their spectators gawking.

Chapter Text

1x1x1x1 couldn’t sleep.  Partially due to the supposed inhabitants of the cabin scheming on how to get rid of them (usually with obscene amounts of violence).  But the more pressing issue was standing on their chest,  stepping on their sternum and digging its claws into their translucent skin.  A ruthless beast it was,  growling as it put all of its weight onto their breastbone.  Pain radiated out from under its paws.

It would make for a fine warrior,  with its sharp teeth and claws,  silent footsteps,  built in camouflage,  and excellent senses.  Though that relied on it being provided proper training.  It was no small feat to teach such a creature,  but 1x was more than sure they were capable.

The feline finally settled onto their chest,  seemingly determined to prevent them from standing.  Perhaps it was too loyal to their foes to fight on 1x’s behalf.  Though bribery could fix that…  in fact…

1x1x1x1 reached a hand over to the monstrosity,  resting it gently upon its head.  It growled louder,  smushing its face into their hand.

They rubbed behind its ears,  very careful to not accidentally scratch their new minion-in-training,  lest they scare it away.

It perked up suddenly,  staring them in the eye,  before bursting into a flurry of movement.  It latched onto their forearm with its claws,  biting into the webbing between their thumb and index finger,  all while raking its hind-claws down their arm,  leaving small rivulets of blood in its wake.  Absolutely diabolical .  They knew the little fiend had a killer instinct,  but not only was it ruthless,  it was strategic .  Glorious.

Their new minion’s rampage came to an end when someone finally happened to look their way,  shouting “IT’S GOT THE CAT!”

Stomping across the floor was the only warning they got before Shedletsky was stealing the little beast from their shredded arm,  cooing,  “It’ll all be ok,  Chicken Tender,  I’ll protect you from that monster,” while walking away.  The bastard.

“Shed,  for th’ last time,  we aren’t namin’ the poor thing Chicken Tender.”  Oh?  A disagreement between the two admins?

“It’s a great name though!  We can shorten it to Chicky if it’s too long.”

“U-Um.  I think there might be better names out there…”  The one with the atrocious outfit said,  shying away from everyone’s gaze.

“I can’t believe you’d betray me like this,  Noob!”  Always with the theatrics.  Urgh.  They want to throw him in a vat of acid.

“S-Sorry..!”  ‘Noob’ squeaked out before shifting to hide behind the pizza man.

“Naw,  the kid’s right,  Chicken Tender is a shit name.”  The gambler chimed in.

“Says the one who wants to name it ‘The Bouncer’,”  The soldier was clearly unamused with everyone’s antics,  as though this conversation had happened many times before.

“As a title .  C’mon,  Guest,  you really don’t think the little fella would be a good bouncer?  He even knew Señor Stabby over there was bad news!”  They’re going to beat him to a pulp if he ever calls them that again.

‘Guest’ was pinching the bridge of his nose,  clearly done with all of this,  “Chance…”

“If I may offer a suggestion,  I believe that Azure fits the cat rather well.”  The unsettling one said,  smiling as if everyone would agree.  Wait.  Isn’t that the name of the new guy back at the mansion?  The one that likes to brawl with it?  It doesn’t matter,  but it’s odd nonetheless.

“I don’t know,  Two Time,  nothing about it really feels…  Azure to me,”  At least the pizza man has some common sense.  “I think Muffin is more fitting.”  Nevermind.  They’ve seen enough.  They’re leaving.

They slide off the sofa as the squabble progressively gets louder,  and they can feel their migraine making a comeback.  The group didn’t seem to be paying very much attention to them,  beyond a few brief glances as they slowly made their way to the door.
Their foot catches on something when they try to walk past some chairs,  hardly preparing them for the tripmine that detonates milliseconds later.  Pink floods their vision,  blinding them,  and when their vision clears they’re in a construction zone.  Great.  The demolitionist better be here.

Dry grass crunched underfoot as it strode forward,  lifting a clawed hand to its good eye to pluck it out.  It revealed the silhouettes of the survivors making their way to the castle.  Most of them anyway,  as one of them was standing near where they were,  looking lost.

It flung an entanglement in the direction of the survivor,  hearing a cry of pain as it connected.  The silhouettes faded as it sprinted over,  leaving its vision blurry as it waited for its eye to grow back.  1x listened to the blue and yellow blob squeak as they threw themself out of its blades’ path.

Its vision clears as Noob scrambles off the ground,  hands trembling as they hold them out.  “W-Wait!  Please can…  please can you not kill me for a minute?  I..  I want to talk!”

Intriguing,  but they have a job to do.  “Why should I?”

They look like they’re about to pass out,  “I-I know I can’t stop you,  but I,  um,  I was the one who convinced Guest to save you,  and I wanted to ask you a favor…”

It watched them cringe away,  as though they expected to be smited for asking such a thing.  Normally they would be,  especially for insinuating that they ,  a puny little survivor,  saved it ,  but not this time,  unfortunately.  “Go on.”

“Can you please not kill me or Elliot this round.”  They averted their gaze,  and the trembling of their hands seemed to have progressed to their entire body,  despite how tense they were.

They were terrified,  obviously,  and yet here they still were,  standing before it trying to secure the safety of themself and…  whoever Elliot is.  How curious.  “Again,  why should I?  What has ‘Elliot’ done to be deserving of my mercy?”

Noob was clearly grasping at straws to come up with something,  “He…  let me take one of his hair ties so I could pull your hair out of your face..?”

1x snorted.  This was a pathetic attempt to protect their friend.  It’d be amusing if it was capable of feeling such a thing.  It will play along,  just this once.  “Fine.  Stay out of my way.”

They said enough ‘thank you’s to make it regret sparing them.  Too late now,  even though it's not opposed to breaking its word.  Perhaps it could gain the fearful little survivor’s trust for an advantage during rounds?

It dismissed the thought for now,  and instead trotted off in the direction of the castle,  which was no doubt fortified by now,  ugh.  As it drew near they saw the sentinels,  the demolitionist,  and Builderman watching it approach from behind the battlement.  There was a sentry on the ledge,  prepared to fire upon it.  Easy enough to deal with.

They spun on their heel,  running up the ramp away from the ledge,  ignoring the wire they tripped,  and unleashing mass infection on the machine as soon as they knew it would connect.  Which was unfortunate for the pizza man,  demolitionist,  and soldier who didn’t manage to scramble out of the way in time.  The poor,  poor pizza man even got hit by the blades themselves.  He was clutching his arm as blood poured from the wound,  looking like he was about to cry.  Pathetic.

It slashed at him,  daemonshanks barely grazing his arm as he bolted out of the way.  Shedletsky was the next one to move,  sprinting over to take a swing at it just as Chance fired their gun.  The force of the two blows caused it to drop to one knee while everyone scurried away,  the sight reminding it of insects when the rock they hid under was lifted.

They rose to their feet,  tearing their eye out,  and watched as most of the blobs ran away from the castle.  Other than the demolitionist,  who was lobbing a tripmine their way.  He was too late though,  the hellish device bouncing too far past them to detonate as they charged.

The demolitionist realized his mistake at the same time as 1x’s blades connected with his shoulder,  causing him to stumble back and jump off of the castle’s ledge.  He landed wrong,  judging by the loud exhale and the way he limped away.  They sent out an entanglement,  easily ensnaring him for barely long enough to finish him off with a mass infection.  They didn’t wait to watch the body fall.

It wandered in the direction it had seen some people running to.  They spotted Builderman first,  constructing another sentry near a dispenser that the pizza man was standing next to.  Noob was standing beside him,  speaking too quietly for 1x to hear over the clanging of Builderman’s construction.  Luckily for them,  they glanced in its direction,  locking eyes with it.  Their face went pale as they grabbed the pizza man’s arm (is that Elliot?) and bolted out of sight.

“What‘re they…”  Builderman finally noticed them as they threw an entanglement his way,  blowing up the machine in the process.

He watched them sprint over and prepare a point-blank mass infection,  looking mildly irritated at them,  as though they weren’t something to give any consideration to (how dare he-).  The attack connected shortly before he had managed to free himself,  and he took off running opposite of the way Noob and Elliot had fled,  not that the chase would last long.

“1x,”  The man sounded shockingly alright despite the fact he was a gentle breeze away from death,  “you’d better beg the Spectre t’ not send you back to our cabin after this.”  And with that,  the man slowed to a walk,  clearly winded,  for them to kill him.  Odd,  but it’s his funeral.

They plucked their eye out,  looking around and spotting three people on top of the castle,  one at the top of the stone structure,  one standing at the bottom of its stairs,  and one charging towards them,  sword drawn.  They couldn’t suppress a growl when they barely managed to blindly parry their creator’s blade.  They (hate hate hate) retaliate with a swing of their own,  one that Shedletsky wasn’t able to dodge out of the way in time.  He spun on his heel,  fleeing like the coward he was.

1x gave chase,  spotting Guest join in as they ran in view of the ramp up the stone structure.  Shedletsky tried to dodge around one of the pointless wooden walls,  but an entanglement stopped him in his tracks despite Guest’s attempt to throw them off.  They watch the soldier put his arms up to block the attack that they barely miss,  only to swiftly decapitate the soldier before continuing their pursuit of the swordsman.

They caught up quickly,  and Shedletsky ducked out of the way of their first blow,  blocking the second with his sword,  but was not able to escape the mass infection that followed,  the walls he used for defense trapping him instead.  They trailed after the man as he limped away,  before finally sprinting up to him to finish the job,  one blade cleaving into his arm before the other left a large enough gash in his neck that they were confident he wouldn’t be getting back up.

They sprinted back over to the stone structure,  running around the first corner just in time to watch c00lkidd’s father drop down and clip his shoulder on the stone in the middle.  A clone?  They ran the rest of the way up,  spotting something faintly visible move,  and there he was.  They hit him with yet another entanglement and mass infection combo,  and he falls beneath their blade when he attempts to flee by running around them.

It drops down from the highest point of the structure,  ignoring the sharp pain in its legs from the landing,  and sprint over to the castle,  climbing the ramp and taking in the remaining survivors.  Chance,  who’s raising his gun,  Noob,  and the guy it thinks is Elliot,  given how there was no mention of broken promises or the like.  It’s struck in the chest by a bullet,  and the ringing in its ears blocks out most of what Noob says to the gambler,  but it was still able to make out Chance telling the duo to run.  How sweet.  It should kill him in front of them.

1x rises,  watching him disappear down the ramp opposite them,  and make the split second decision to rejuvenate the rotten.  The pain from impaling themself,  brief as it was,  forced them to pause for a moment to recover before hunting down Chance.  They spotted him trying to dodge what was once the demolitionist by going into the white cube nearby,  and 1x was quick to follow.  Luckily for them,  the gambler darted out of the same opening 1x had run to,  skidding to a stop in front of them.

He opened his mouth to say something,  but the minion caught up,  landing a punch that caused him to rethink.  He instead skirted around the minion,  one that 1x was quick to kill for the adrenaline rush afterwards,  before he sprinted away.  They caught up quickly,  unfortunately for him,  and he was unable to dodge the sword that was impaled through his back.  A quick stab through the skull for good measure was all it took for 1x to feel as though the job was finished.

Now for the last two.  It tears out its eye,  the pain from the repeated trauma beginning to settle in,  spotting them back in the construction zone.  It sends an entanglement their way,  missing on purpose to scare them a little,  before running over.  It makes sure to kill the undead corpse of Builderman on the way,  for another speed boost.

It stops in front of where it assumes the two are hiding.  It may not be killing them this time,  but why not cause a bit of fear?  It winds up a mass infection,  ignoring the cry of terror as the two sprinted from their hiding place to the back corner as it intentionally missed them.

It began circling the crate the two were hiding behind,  listening to the grass and dirt shift on the other side as they attempted to stay out of view.  It could tell the timer was starting to tick down,  likely less than five seconds left.  It took off as quickly as it could to run around the other side of the crate,  watching the terror flash on the two’s faces as they raised their blade-

The round ended,  and 1x was anything but relieved to see that they were back at the fucking cabin.

Chapter Text

1x loathed to admit that Builderman was right,  and that they should have begged the Spectre to not send them to the cabin.  The second the survivors had spotted them,  they had gotten swarmed and dragged to the lodge,  where they were promptly forced to sit on the couch with a gun to their head and sword to their throat,  while the demolitionist,  Taph,  set up traps around them.  From there they were under observation constantly,  as though they wanted to be blinded,  or shot,  or stabbed.  And they’ve been stuck like this whenever they’re out of a round for,  what they can only assume has been,  a week.

The only tolerable part of this situation is that Guest,  one of the few people who’s willing to play guardsman without a fuss,  would let them go on walks a multiple times a day.  Granted,  he still brings Chance along “just in case,”  but it was better than nothing.  Especially when their performance in the Spectre’s little games has been getting worse,  and the damned thing is starting to get irritated.  Seriously,  what were they supposed to do about Chance taking pot shots at them if they even dared to stand?  They're disarmed and the survivors are on high alert,  ugh.

Which brings it to where it is now.  Muffin,  as the survivors finally settled on calling the poor feline,  was yowling in its ear,  demanding its attention.  Meanwhile Two Time,  who for some reason was always happy to volunteer when Guest needed a break,  stared it down from just outside of its tripwire prison.  They were grinning,  as always,  and 1x wanted nothing more than to wipe it off their face.  But they can’t,  because Shedletsky is upstairs talking with the other admins,  and it doesn’t feel like being stabbed today.  And that's assuming that Two Time didn't have their damn dagger right now.

They were considering rolling to lay on their front to finally give what little was left of their wings a rest from the constant pressure,  but the sound of Elliot shouting for people to get their dinner and someone walking out from the kitchen and towards them stopped them from doing so.  They sat up,  ignoring the way Muffin screamed even louder at their disobedience.  They rubbed the little monster’s head to get it to shut up.

Noob wandered into view,  followed by Elliot,  both holding two plates of…  some sort of food.  1x doesn’t know what it is,  nor does it care all that much.  Elliot skirts around its containment zone and passes one to Two Time before sitting down,  while Noob steps over the tripwire to hand one to it.  It glares at them for a moment,  just to make sure they know it's not happy with this situation,  before accepting.  It wolfs down its meal,  slightly hunched over its plate.  It watches people shuffle into the kitchen,  ignoring Noob,  and it can hear them making their own plates of food.  Why are they still just standing there?

It’s about to snap at them to find somewhere else to be when the couch cushion dips down not far from it,  and 1x freezes.

“Noob-”  Elliot tries to say something,  but 1x is quick to cut him off.

“What the fuck are you doing?”  It wouldn’t be shocked if nearby survivors could see the few feathers it still had with how much it was bristling.

The survivalist shrank slightly under its gaze,  “E-Eating..?”

It doesn’t understand them.  A brief glance at Elliot tells it that he doesn’t understand what they’re doing either.  Two Time seems as unbothered as ever,  just watching it as they ate.  Eugh.  It finished its meal,  keeping a close eye on Noob while it did so.  They don’t even spare it a glance while they eat at a far more leisurely pace,  hands shaking slightly.  They’re scared and they’re still putting themself in danger?  What…

It doesn’t understand them,  nor does it particularly want to.

Chapter Text

1x was pissed,  and they’re pretty sure the Spectre wanted them to be,  considering every single survivor was in this round,  and to top it all off,  Mafioso and his shitlings were there too,  turning it into a chaotic mess.  Projectiles were flying,  survivors were given more medkits,  and the damned sentinels were given more leeway in how often they were allowed to strike the two killers.  Hell,  even Mafioso’s underlings had it out for them,  considering one had snuck up on them to tear out a handful of feathers,  while another one had interrupted their chase with Dusekkar until they had to abandon it.  Not to mention the third one who had managed to stab them through the gut earlier.

A familiar sensation tore a snarl from 1x as Telamon’s sword sank into their side,  and they responded in kind,  flicking their sword across his chest,  creating a deep gash that was healed near instantaneously by Elliot and his Noob-shaped shadow.  Shedletsky took his chance to flee around the table and into the hotel’s courtyard,  while the duo ran in the direction of the ballpit,  only to be stopped by Mafioso’s walkspeed override colliding with the pizza man,  who promptly erupted into flames and pained cries.

Noob made eye contact,  brief and scared as it was,  with 1x,  clearly hoping for assistance with the man taking a swing at Elliot.  It shouldn’t help,  shouldn’t give the survivors the idea that it’s compliant or sympathetic regardless of how much they wanted to turn Noob against their team,  but revenge against the big mob boss himself called to it like a siren’s song.  The man loved to press buttons,  to poke and push and prod until someone snapped,  and surely it was only fair to press his back?  It wasn’t like it was submitting to Noob’s request.  This was for it and no-one else.

They lunge at Mafioso,  forcing him to drop the (unfortunately) lucky pizza man he was strangling unless he wanted to be slashed.  1x ignored Elliot scurrying away and Noob’s quiet “thanks,”  but Mafioso did not,  grinning at them.  He opened his mouth to say something,  but 1x cut him off by launching an entanglement at him,  followed by a mass infection that he didn’t bother to dodge.  He was probably coming up with some story to share with the crowned purple fucker,  ugh.  They slashed at his throat,  ducked out of the way of the brick he tried to cave their skull in with,  and swung their sword at his chest,  slicing through fabric and skin.

Mafioso cocked his head slightly at it,  before reeling back for the fastest punch 1x has ever seen,  hardly having time to brace for it.  A loud BANG echoed out through the room,  leaving 1x’s ears ringing and the hit never connecting.  There was a new hole in Mafioso’s shirt,  the bullet barely missing the man’s heart.  He checked the wound,  and it took its opportunity around to where the shot had to have come from,  watching as Chance shot it a thumbs up before ducking out of sight,  as though they needed to save it.   Fucking infuriating.

They twisted back around to face the mobster,  sending another entanglement at him,  followed by a point-blank mass infection,  and a solid punch of their own.  They hardly had time to jump out of range when he retaliated,  and weren’t lucky enough to avoid the brick followed by a walkspeed override.  They held back their hiss of pain at the flames,  instead slashing at him.  Which was apparently a mistake,  because he simply picked them up by their bandana and tossed them at the wall of the ball pit,  probably breaking something in the process when he missed,  causing their side to hit the corner of one of the arcade cabinets with a cracking sound.

They stood,  staggering slightly,  and shaking off the pain as Mafioso stalked forward,  toying with them.  Spawn,  they hate this man.  They hope Azure’s been beating the shit out of him in their absence.  They darted out of the way of another brick,  managed to stop the following walkspeed override with an entanglement,  and finally got out of that stupid corner Mafioso tried to put them in.

They practically launched themself onto the stunned man’s back,  talons digging into his flesh,  grabbing onto the chain that held his cape (why does he have a cape,  he’s already wearing a trench coat,  how is he not baking underneath all the layers) and pulling back on it,  intent on strangling him until he and his underlings stop interfering with their kills-

The chain snaps,  and it’s quickly dislodged by him grabbing it by the throat and throwing it over his shoulder into the room beside the ballpit.  Its head hit the ground before the rest of it did.  The room spun as tapping noises (footsteps?) drew near.  It spared a glance in the direction they came from,  seeing Noob scurry out from the blue room where…  all of the survivors had apparently witnessed the brawl.  Ugh,  how…  embarrassing.  Noob grabbed its hand,  looking a little shocked about how easy it was to hoist it up and get it on its feet.  1x looked away from them to watch as Guest blocked a punch from Mafioso,  followed by Two Time stabbing him in the back.

The weight in its hands suddenly registered.  It still had his cape.  He was going to kill it if it took the garment.  Good.  He can sure try.  It folds the garment as small and quickly as they can,  not that either of those things are done particularly well,  especially with how bulky the fabric is,  while Mafioso’s distracted by the sentinels.  It throws one of its blades at Mafioso,  Shedletsky,  sadly,  dodges out of its way,  and strikes the mobster.  Noob is trying to drag it somewhere,  but it stays planted in place until they gain some sense and finally leave.

It tucks the bundle of fabric under its arm,  readying their remaining sword for when Mafioso eventually hunts them down.  Mafioso tears the daemonshank from his abdomen,  tossing it to the side,  unintentionally hitting Chance.  1x is struggling to focus their eyes,  but they can still sense the rage emanating from him,  his smile gone.  He approaches,  footsteps heavy,  attempting to intimidate,  hah.  He stops mere inches away.

“My cape.”  He holds his hand out.  They can see a red line from where the chain had dug into his skin.  “Now.”

It sees a certain suit-wearing gambler sneak into view,  raising their gun to line up a shot as Mafioso started getting more agitated.  He reeled back to throw a punch just as Chance fired,  causing him to stagger and inhale deeply.  1x took its opportunity to run as fast as its aching legs could carry it,  gouging its eye out,  the extra speed the Spectre granted it saving it from a brick that nearly hit its leg.  It darted out of the doorway with the odd curtains just in time to escape from a walkspeed override,  watching as he damn near springboarded off the wall to try and attack it.

When his attempt to grab them missed,  he stopped,  pulling a phone out of his pocket and calling for his lackeys.  Two of them,  the one with the white hat and the one with the smaller black hat,  dropped from wherever the Spectre had teleported them to.  Mafioso gave them an order,  cracking the phone,  and tossing it at 1x’s head.  They hissed to themself,  putting one of the disjointed brick walls between themself and the mafia members.  The survivors ran in circles around the things all the time,  surely it can’t be that bad.  Plus the timer was almost up.  The survivors may not be able to survive much more than a minute,  but 1x was far stronger than any of them.

1x watched as Mafioso’s underlings tried to block them off from going further into the courtyard,  waiting until Mafioso finally darted towards them to skirt around the two minions,  both of which lunged for them,  one of which managed to snag and pluck out one of their (apparently too long,  they should cut them shorter next round they’re in) tail feathers as they fell.  1x ignored the two,  instead making sure the centerpiece rock sat firmly between themself and Mafioso.  They saw movement out of the corner of their eyes,  the survivors apparently having decided to keep watching how this went down.  Which is good for 1x,  because they know Mafioso can outrun them,  and the Spectre limiting his stamina is a blessing of sorts.

The two underlings slowly circled around opposite sides of the rock,  and 1x readied their blade,  waiting for one to creep in range.  Mafioso was probably waiting for them to move before he attacked,  probably by tossing a brick at them if they were to run.  No matter,  because they whipped around,  beheading the white hat wearing mobster once they were close enough.  The other hesitated before lunging,  though this one was also swiftly felled by 1x’s blade,  despite the impact Mafioso’s brick made with their skull.  Something warm dripped down their temple,  and they’re gonna be pissed if it stains anything.

They shook off the attack,  sprinting the opposite direction of Mafioso while the man attempted to grab them.  Probably with the intention of bashing their head open on the rock or strangling them.  They turn and attempt to entangle him with their remaining sword,  though the attack misses and strikes Taph,  who was standing far enough away that he really should’ve been able to dodge.  Not that they’re complaining,   speed boost is nice and gives them more distance,  if nothing else.

The timer in their head starts ticking down.  Thirty seconds.  They catch their breath and pluck out their eye as Mafioso regains his stamina,  running the second he moves.  They dart out of the way of another walkspeed override,  sending him through the hands in one of the doorways that promptly try to drag him to the floor.  The look of pure and utter hate he gives them almost quells their own for the briefest moment.  He throws his brick at them,  running forward,  and-

They’re back at the survivor’s cabin,  one blade clutched tightly in their hand,  their other hand holding onto their prize with a death grip,  their second daemonshank nowhere to be seen,  and a few survivors are jogging down to the dock to collect them.  Unfortunate.  They want to wash the damn cape,  it reeks of cigar smoke.  Spawn,  they hope it didn’t rub off on them,  eugh.

It glanced up at the survivors,  Guest,  Chance,  and Two Time,  as expected,  they always came to drag them into their designated spot,  but it seemed Noob tagged along as well,  holding…  their missing sword.  Perfect,  maybe their plan is working.  Not for long,  considering Guest is prying their hand away from their sword,  but they can’t complain.  Other than about this nasty ass cape.

“Can you at least give me time to wash this?”  They held the garment up,  “Mafioso’s a smoker,  the damn thing smells.”

Guest looked befuddled,  staring at them as though he thought they were joking.

Noob finally spoke up,  ending the tense silence,  “I…  I can go grab supplies.  I’ll be right back.”

And with that,  they were passing the daemonshank they held to Chance,  before scurrying off to the cabin.

Chapter Text

This was taking forever.  Their newly plundered cape has been sitting in a bucket with water and vinegar for well over an hour now,  but it felt like no progress had been made,  even after they had dumped and refilled the liquid once already.  Their legs had long since gone numb from kneeling,  mostly because they hadn’t moved from their spot other than to refresh the garment’s bath.  They’d been out here for so long that Elliot had even brought dinner out for everyone,  though 1x turned it down when they saw the (vile,  disgusting) scrambled eggs,  much to the pizza man’s chagrin.  He would have to get over it though,  because unlike SOMEONE,  they weren't a cannibal.

Elliot had ended up staying to chat with Noob and the sentinels,  which wasn’t all that surprising considering he and Noob were practically attached at the hip.  It had tuned out the group’s chatter,  instead studying its reflection in the water and watching as its flickering and distortion flared in time with its irritation.  It hardly spared a glance when Two Time began gathering the plates and silverware to take inside before going to sleep.

The conversation had quieted down once the cultist left,  leaving Guest and Chance speaking in hushed tones that it easily tuned out.  Sand crunches beneath someone’s feet,  and a quick look revealed Noob walking over.  Mildly concerning,  given whatever had made them start losing their fear of it,  but ultimately harmless.  They stopped a few feet away,  fidgeting with their hands as though they were trying to figure out how to say something.  It internally let out a long,  exasperated sigh,  while externally continuing its stare down.

“C…  Can I wash your hair?  T-There’s a lot of dirt and blood in it…”  There is?  Eugh,  gross.  “I-if you don’t want me to,  I won’t!  But I…  I thought I’d ask anyway.”

On one hand,  it doesn’t want Noob that close to it,  and it sure as hell doesn’t want them to have access to the delicate wings on its head.  Not that it expects them to break said wings (they're far too cowardly),  and regardless,  it’s more than capable of handling the pain that’ll come with touch,  but it doesn’t want to deal with tugging on their feathers,  nor the vulnerability that comes with having its back to them.  But on the other hand,  it could use this as an opportunity to further gain Noob’s trust to turn them against everyone else.  And also clean the grime out of its hair.  Its skin is crawling and it wants to tear the strands out now that it knows about that.

“... Fine.”  It ignores the shocked-happy look on Noob’s face,  instead pushing itself to its feet and ignoring the pins and needles feeling.

“O-Ok!  Let me…  I’m going to go grab shampoo and conditioner,  I’ll be right back!”  They were quick to scurry away to one of the smaller cabins,  the one closest to the lake,  and disappear inside.  Curious.

The three remaining survivors were watching it,  gazes full of suspicion.  They can be suspicious all they want,  it won’t change the fact that it’s converting Noob to its side.  It stretches,  popping its back,  knees,  and shoulders in the process,  before taking a few steps into the lake until it found a spot to sit deep enough that it’d be able to dunk its head under when the need arose.  It really needs to convince Guest to let it sit in the lake more often,  the chill from the water soothed the day’s aches.

The silence was broken by Chance shouting,  “We aren’t saving you if you start drowning again.”  The taunt was promptly ignored.

It watched as Noob reemerged from their cabin carrying two bottles,  a large cup,  and a towel.  They make their way onto the dock,  sitting down behind 1x as they set their items up.  Elliot quickly made his way over to sit near them,  making sure to keep plenty of distance between himself and 1x (aww,  the poor thing’s scared ),  silently watching.  It turned away from the dock,  waiting for Noob to do whatever it is they needed to do.

It jolted when Noob started to pull its hair out of the hair tie,  and it ignored the way they hesitated afterwards.  “Are… are you sure you want to sit in the water?  We can figure something else out…”

“It’s fine.”

They hummed in acknowledgement,  finally managing to loosen the elastic and free its hair,  somehow managing to not cause any discomfort.  They turned around,  probably to grab one of the bottles,  and 1x took it upon itself to submerge its head and ensure its hair was saturated in water.  It wiped excess water from its eyes after it resurfaced.

“I,  um…  I can rinse your hair with the cup next time.”

“This is faster.”

“A-Alright…”

It heard shuffling and one of the bottles being opened.  It tensed as Noob’s hands landed on their head,  gently scratching (but not hurting,  what the fuck?) at their scalp.  Its muscles slowly relaxed when there was no pain beyond a slight sting when their hands accidentally brushed up against the wound on its temple from Mafioso’s brick.  They hated to admit that this wasn’t as bad as they expected it would be.  Even c00lkidd at his gentlest would leave claw marks and draw blood when he tried to comfort someone.  Maybe Noob was simply too weak to cause harm?

1x hadn’t even realized it’d started to zone out until Noob had touched one of the wings on its head.  It jerks forward with a splash,  keeping an ear out in case it upset the now silent sentinels,  glaring at Noob all the while.

They raised their hands in surrender,  speaking softly as if they were trying not to further upset it (it doesn’t need to be soothed like an animal ).  “I didn’t know you had wings,  sorry.  I…  I can’t promise I won’t accidentally touch them again,  but I’ll try not to.”

It grumbles,  mostly to itself,  before settling back into the spot it had been.  Noob continued scrubbing its hair,  carefully avoiding its wings to the best of their ability.  1x was struggling to keep its eyes open by the time Noob was rinsing the suds out of its hair (after Noob insisted it didn’t dunk its head underwater and get soap in its eyes) and applying conditioner.  It would find the sight mortifying if it weren’t too busy dozing off to care.  It still can’t figure out why this doesn’t hurt,  being touched is supposed to.  Maybe the Spectre was involved.  It wouldn’t be surprised if it was.

Elliot and Noob began discussing something quietly,  and 1x was quick to tune it out.  Soft rumbling began emanating from it,  surely a warning to the two survivors sitting on the dock,  telling them not to try anything funny.  Or that it was unhappy with the situation.  However the duo wanted to interpret their growling,  it didn’t care all that much right now.

The chatter dies down soon after,  before a quiet,  shocked,  “Is it purring? ”  from Elliot broke the silence.

1x jolted awake (not that they were sleeping,  or even comfortable ,  it was just late and it overexerted itself in the round with Mafioso),  moving away from the hand it was absolutely not leaning into while it rested (why the fuck had it done that,  they could’ve,  should’ve,  hurt it),  and turned to glare and point at the pizza man.

“I was not fucking purring,  I am not a cat.  Never accuse me of such a thing again.  I was growling at you,  to remind you both that I could kill you if I chose to.”

He nodded,  holding his hands out to placate them,  with a quiet,  “sorry,”  looking completely unconvinced.  Eugh.

Noob chimed in before it could snap back at him,  “I’m done.  Your cape should be ready to wash by now.  I-If you want to wash it tonight,  of course..!”

It nodded,  fixing another glare at Elliot who was looking down,  shoulders shaking slightly (was he fucking laughing? ),  before going a little deeper into the lake just to make sure all the soap residue was rinsed off itself and its clothes.  It clambered back out of the water,  taking the towel from Noob who went to go put the rest of their items away,  and dried off as fast as it could.  1x wanted to finish cleaning the damn cape as fast as it could.  It was looking forward to going to sleep and forgetting the gentle touch (it wasn’t fragile) and kindness (disgusting) Noob had treated it with.

Chapter Text

It took 1x actually getting into the first round of the day for them to realize that Noob hadn’t put their hair back up.  The curly-ish(?  unexpected,  1x was under the impression their hair was mostly straight) strands managed to constantly fall into their face as they jogged out of the training area and towards the large white house the survivors loved to stay near.  How had they ever tolerated having it down before now?  They had hardly even made it across the path over the stream before rage began to fester,  and as soon as they were on solid ground they stabbed their blades into the dirt.  They unwound the scrap of fabric that was wrapped around their left arm,  pulling their hair out of their face,  and winding the strip of fabric around it.  They tied a knot,  and decided it was good enough.

It leveled its sword at the few survivors who had stayed in the open to watch,  a threat for their cockiness.  Chance,  Noob,  and Shedletsky.  It’ll leave the survivalist for last,  they never last long when they’re the last man standing.  It sent an entanglement Shedletsky’s way,  striking him and sending him tumbling to the floor as he tried to climb the hill.  It sprints over,  attempting to cleave through his neck before he can make his escape,  but is too late and strikes his ribs when he gets up to run.  No matter.

It runs after him,  jumping back from his attempt to slash at it and retaliates with a strike of its own.  He limps away,  clutching a wound as though it would stop the bleeding,  as if the poison on its blades wasn’t an anticoagulant.  It sends another entanglement at him,  forcing him to stop in his tracks halfway through the smaller white house,  and readies a close-up mass infection.  Just as it goes to swing their daemonshanks,  a certain newbie throws themself between it and its immobilized creator.  It shouldn’t be affected by the way they try to bite back their agonized shriek,  it’s no different from the one it’s heard many times before,  but still.  It hates the sound.  It’s…  grating.  It doesn’t want to hear it again.

Noob tries to scurry out the doorway behind it,  clutching their belly (a brief thought passes through its mind that it wouldn’t like for Noob to be too injured.  It squashes it.)  1x is only able to catch sight of the tears and hyperventilating when it grabs their shoulder and makes them turn to face it.  It spares a glance at the wound,  it was deep and gushing blood,  but it couldn’t see their intestines.  Healable.  (It doesn’t matter if the wound can be healed,  why is it making sure their guts aren’t hanging out?  Noob’s going to die at the end of the round anyway.)

It growls out a quick,  “Go find a medkit.  Don’t do that again,”  before going back to hunting down Shedletsky.

They barely manage to slash at him before he can run after eating his chicken,  how fucking disgusting of him,  and nearly lose him when Chance sends a bullet into the back of their knee.  When they manage to drag themself to their feet (they can feel the bullet scrape against their joint as they try to walk,  and are not looking forward to digging it out later) they spot Shedletsky jogging to the hill,  clearly aiming to head the back way to the caves.  They wound up a mass infection,  watching him skid to a stop and sprint in the opposite direction,  quickly change course,  and sent the attack flying.  The man ran directly into it,  dropping to the floor with a strangled noise.  The Spectre doesn’t react until a scream that quickly devolves into wet gurgling rings out.  It purrs,  apparently delighted with what Shedletsky inadvertently caused.

--  that wasn’t so hard,  was it?  

1x ignores it,  instead jogging over to where Noob had died.  1x’s knee gave out halfway there (damned bullet),  but it made it there eventually.

Elliot’s standing over them,  arms wrapped around himself and nails digging into his skin.  The pizza man is hyperventilating,  struggling to hold back tears,  as Chance tries to drag him away.

1x glances down at the body.  There’s the large gash across their belly still oozing blood,  but it’s deeper than before and wraps around to their right flank.  It could see hints of organs when the light was at the right angle.  There were bandages hastily wrapped part way around their torso,  though they had clearly been cut by the mass infection.

They’re dead.  It doesn’t know why it felt the need to analyze what happened.  It doesn’t know why it hates seeing them dead on the ground,  or covered in blood,  or when they scream,  or when they cry.  It’s seen and heard these things dozens of times.  Frustration and anger and something new (and very,  very wrong) flare to life,  the distortion it hadn’t even realized had died down following suit.

--  now that your inhibition is out of the way,  finish the job.

Its eyes flick to Elliot,  who was still rooted in place.  Chance locked eyes with it,  raising their gun,  only to be stopped by an entanglement.  It rushes over,  ignoring the gambler,  instead beheading the pizza man as quickly as it could.  A mercy for both him and Noob.  (It quickly pushes away the memories of both of them panicking when the other was sent into a round without them.  They didn’t matter.  It was here to kill.  It just…  happened to be having an off day today.  Perhaps it was ill.)

Chance broke free of the entanglement,  firing his gun into its chest.  The bullet connecting sent it crashing to the floor when its knee couldn’t handle its attempt to balance.  It really should dig the bullet out before it gets back to the cabin.  There’s…  not much time left,  certainly not enough to kill the remaining survivors,  but plenty to deal with its knee and chase someone around for a bit.

It sits down on the ground,  extending its injured leg,  and feels around for the bullet hole.  When it finds the wound it scrapes around with its claws before finally catching the bullet and removing it,  tossing the annoying hunk of metal elsewhere.

It stands,  trotting towards the cave system that the survivors like to hide in when they’re done with generators.  It spots Builderman talking to Chance by a sentry through the little pond under the overhang,  and as it draws closer to the cave it sees Two Time and Dusekkar watching it approach.  It stopped running once it had line of sight on the sentry,  the two survivors talking near it taking a leisurely stroll away and up the rocky slope as 1x unleashed a mass infection on the machine,  which promptly exploded.

It turned to face Dusekkar and the now-missing cultist just in time to be zapped.  It shook off the sting from the beam,  instead stalking toward him.  Not for long,  as Two Time was quick to drive their dagger into its back,  twisting the blade.  It snarled at them,  slashing at them and watching as they jumped back.  They waited for 1x to rise before scurrying off.

It gave chase,  it was clearly what they wanted it to do,  all of their slashes just barely missing the slippery little cretin.  It's time was almost up,  and Two Time clearly knew this too.  They were dodging more dangerously,  striking at 1x as it readied another attack,  and trying to stay behind it.  The little shit.  It spins around,  sword extended,  finally managing to press the sharp edge of one blade to the side of their neck,  the other one quick to follow.

Their grin widened,  “Are you going to kill me?  Or just stand there?”

It stared at them for a second.  Their gaze didn’t waver.  Eugh.  It kicked them away with their injured leg,  ignoring its protest,  watching as they scurried off.  It could have killed them,  sure,  but why waste the energy on a doomed round?  It’ll need it once it gets back to the cabin,  judging by how the air is beginning to feel heavier.

It turns around,  the round will be over in less than a minute,  it hears the ticking,  senses the Spectre’s growing displeasure with it.  It spots three of the four remaining survivors standing nearby,  in front of the balance bridges over the water.  Watching,  apparently.  A brief glance behind them reveals 007n7 to it as well.  Hiding as always.  It sends a mass infection their way,  watching as Builderman and Dusekkar move sideways to escape the attack,  while Chance scrambles up one of the ramps to get above it.

It watches as Chance and Builderman look at each other,  something about it making 1x just know they’ll be discussing this round later,  before it blinks and is back on the dock at the lodge.

It’s cold and dark.  Fog is rolling in across the lake,  slow and steady.  It only has…  maybe two minutes to figure out where it wants to be incapacitated for who-knows how long.  Less time if it doesn’t want to be dragged into the cabin,  which it doesn’t.  It jogs off the dock,  dropping both of its swords in the sand (the last thing it wants is for Shedletsky to track it down to disarm it),  and takes in its surroundings.  Mostly forest,  but it was likely being surrounded.  So its stuck here.  Trees line the back of the buildings,  and,  while people do go behind the inhabited cabins,  it knows that they rarely venture behind the main one.  Good enough.  It’ll just find some dense vegetation to hide in.

It runs over to the cabin,  making sure to duck under the window on the side of the building,  before making its way around the back.  A quick glance behind itself revealed that the dock had been enveloped by the mist.  It moves slightly faster,  glancing around before finally seeing a decent enough spot to lay down and suffer for a while.  They slipped through the brambles near the pine tree,  dropping to the ground and scooting into the small needle-padded divot under the lowest branches of the tree.  This will have to suffice,  especially since they can barely see more than a few inches in front of them before the searing agony finally strikes.

—

Noob had calmed down quickly after Elliot respawned.  They hadn’t expected him to show up so soon,  but they…  they’re not complaining,  as much as they don’t like the thought of him dying.  The two were quick to move to the couch that wasn't surrounded by tripwires,  collapsing onto it and resting against each other.  Elliot grabbed at their hand,  which Noob was more than happy to give to him,  and pressed his fingers just below where their thumb connected to their wrist.

He sighed and released them once he was able to find their pulse,  instead moving to lay on them and bury his face in their shoulder.  They hugged the slightly trembling pizza man,  sitting together in comfortable,  albeit stressed,  silence.

Noob was left to their thoughts,  which…  they weren’t not expecting to die,  it happened all the time,  it’s an unfortunate part of life now.  It had just been unexpected,  especially when 1x had practically demanded that they heal themself.  Now that they think about it,  even in previous rounds 1x had started to avoid Noob,  not to mention them saving Elliot’s life recently.  It all just…  to them it almost seems like 1x doesn’t want to kill them.  Like 1x cares about them.  Which is absurd,  logically Noob knows that the killer can only feel hate,  Shedletsky,  Builderman,  Dusekkar,  and even 1x1x1x1 themself had confirmed it.  But still…  it’s a little hard to believe sometimes.

Just last night they’d clearly been feeling content,  considering they were half-asleep and purring.  They seem to like Elliot’s cooking as well.  A few days ago 1x had been staring at Noob’s small plate of fruit,  one of the few sweet things the survivors have access to,  and almost seemed happy when Noob had shared some of their watermelon.  Granted it was hard to tell when they were happy because their face is rarely comprehensible,  but still.  Noob wasn’t sure anymore if all 1x felt was hate.  They should probably ask Guest or Two Time about it,  they’re around them the most and might have some insight.

Speaking of Guest,  the soldier walks in with a few wedges of firewood tucked under one arm.  He briefly looks a bit disappointed when he spots them and Elliot,  and likely upset he couldn’t help them.  He hides it quickly,  instead greeting them both,  which Noob responds to with a wave while Elliot mumbles a “Hi,  Guest,”  into Noob’s shoulder.

He piles the firewood onto the dwindling stack and wipes his hands on his pants,  before saying,   “I’ll go get you two some water,”  and disappearing into the kitchen.

Noob listened to the water run for a minute,  followed by silence,  before Guest had reemerged with two glasses.  He carefully steps over the tripwires before setting the drinks down as Elliot moves to sit next to Noob again.

The three of them sat in mildly awkward silence,  Guest only moving to scratch Muffin behind the ears when the cat jumped up beside him.  The few minutes left of the round dragged on before it finally ended,  and the five(?  did someone die before them?) survivors appeared as Noob looked away.

Builderman was the first to move,  clapping his hands together to grab everyone’s attention.  “We need t’ have a talk,  where’s Shed’ ‘n’ Taph?”

Guest pointed upstairs,  “Taph was up there last I checked,  and-”

Shedletsky’s voice cut in as something,  probably the beanbag chairs,  rustled upstairs,  “I’m up here too!”

“-Shedletsky’s up there too apparently.”

Quiet chatter about whether or not the sentinels should go grab 1x ensued,  though Noob didn’t pay much attention to it after Two Time caught their gaze.  The cultist walked over to Noob and Elliot as quickly as they could without drawing everyone’s attention.

They sat on the sofa next to Noob,  their grin not at all matching their concerned tone,  “I think something’s wrong with your killer.  It threatened me,  could’ve killed me,  but it didn’t.”

Huh…  That’s…  something.  “O-Ok,  thank you.  I’ll,  um,  keep an eye out.”

Two Time nods,  and Noob turns their attention back to the conversation just in time to hear Chance say something about 1x being alright if they’re locked outside for a little while.  People begin filing into the dining room,  Noob and Elliot following suit.  They take their seats,  watching as the last two to enter,  07 and Taph,  as always,  grab chairs from other tables.

Chance stands up and clears his throat before speaking,  “To recap the last round,  1x went after Shedletsky first,  Noob body-blocked a mass infection that would’a killed ‘im,  when 1x killed Shed’ he used a mass infection that killed Shed’ ‘n’ Noob,  then he killed Elliot.  After that ‘e chased Two Time ‘round for a bit,  had them at swordpoint,  and just decided not to kill ‘em.”

They paused,  looking at everyone sitting around the table,  waiting to see if anyone had anything to add.  When nobody chimed in they continued,  “After Noob died though,  he walked over and stared at them for a second.  He looked off,  without all the smoke ‘n’ not glowing as much.  It all came back when he attacked Elliot,  but it’s still worth mentionin’.  When ‘e was chasin’ after T,  he didn’ seem very interested in killing them.  Kicked them away instead’a beheading ‘em.  That’s all I saw.”

“Anyone see anythin’ else?”  Builderman asks,  briefly catching Noob’s eye,  as Chance sits back down.

They hesitantly raised their hand,  waiting for Builderman to nod before they started speaking.  “I…  don’t think they meant to kill me.  When I tried to leave after taking the hit for Shedletsky they grabbed me and told me to not body-block again,  then told me to go heal.  I-I didn’t know they were nearby,  and I don’t think they knew I was there either…”

All eyes were on them,  Shedletsky looked pissed,  Two Time seemed curious,  and everyone else looked rather concerned.  Not that they could tell what expressions Dusekkar and Taph had,  but they seem like they’d be concerned.

Shedletsky was the first to speak,  “I’m willing to bet it’s plotting something,  there’s no way in hell we can let it keep hanging around Noob.”

Then Builderman,  “Yeah,  there’s no tellin’ what it’s plannin’.  If yer thinkin’ it can feel anythin’ other than hate it’s clearly manipulatin’ ya well enough.”

Then Elliot,  “I know you’re trying to gain its trust,  but I really don’t think this is a good idea anymore.”

Finally Dusekkar,  “The winds are strong,  the path is straight,  you must change course now,  or meet a doomed fate.”

Noob doesn’t meet their gazes,  “I…  I will leave them alone if I think they’re trying to manipulate me,  but I just…  I don’t see it.  I-I’m not saying you guys have to trust them,  I don’t,  b-but…  I do think they’re more than just hate.”  They look at Guest and Guest for help.

Taph signs something to Builderman,  who’s frown deepens with a quiet,  “That’s absurd.”

Taph turns to Noob instead,  signing a quick,  “Interpret?”  and looking delighted when they nod.

“Taph says…  ‘1x isn’t violent outside of rounds.  They can leave whenever,  like right now if they wanted,  they’re armed,  they know where we are.  We’re alive.  They aren’t mindlessly violent like they are when they’re mad.  I think they may be warming up to us,  if nothing else.’  That’s all he has to say.”

Two Time cut off Shedletsky before the swordsman could get a single word out,  “If I may add,  like Chance said earlier,  1x didn’t want to kill me.  Their heart wasn’t in the chase,  and they were doing it for appearances.  They didn’t hit me at all,  either by the grace of the Spawn,  or because they were intentionally missing.  I’d even dare to say they may have been upset by Noob’s death,  possibly even Elliot’s as well.”

Guest cleared his throat,  “I’ve only ever seen 1x without the ‘smoke and glowing,’  as Chance put it,  when it’s been asleep.  By no means am I saying Chance lied,  but I think it’s worth mentioning.  Might be tied to the amount of hate it's feeling or something.”

Elliot added,  “When Noob was washing its hair it was more visible too.  Though it was also falling asleep.”  He thought for a second.  “1x was acting like an overgrown cat now that I think about it.  Falling asleep,  purring,  and I’m pretty sure it was leaning into their hand at the end.”  Noob nods.

Chance made a humming noise,  “I don’t trust 1x,  not one bit,   but somethin’s definitely up.  Kid,  if you’re willin’ to keep doin’ whatever it is you’re doin’,  I’d like to see where this goes.”

Builderman and Shedletsky simultaneously begin to say,  “No-”,  but Noob doesn’t care.  They can make their own choices.

They cut the admins off with an,  “I planned on it,”  while nodding at the gambler.

He grins,  “Good.  Keep me posted.  Unless there’s somethin’ else gotta talk about,  I think this meeting is over.”

Builderman looks around,  and nobody says anything.  “Meeting’s over.”

He stood,  motioning for Shedletsky and Dusekkar to break off from the group.  The admins quickly made their way to the opposite corner,  but all Noob could hear of their conversation was the occasional murmur.  Seven was the next to leave,  putting his chair back where he found it.  The exploiter was probably heading to hide away in his cabin,  per usual.  Noob didn’t pay him any mind until he turned around,  bee-lining to Guest,  who was straightening out his own chair.

“It’s really foggy out,  the densest I’ve ever seen.  I’ll help you guys look,  but it might be worth seeing if Taph,  Noob,  and Elliot will help out too.”

The soldier glances at the three possible helpers in question.  Taph gives him a thumbs up,  Noob nods,  and Elliot hums an ‘mhm’.

The group files outside,  and quickly discovers “dense” is an understatement.  There’s no more than a yard of visibility in any direction.  It’s bad enough that everyone,  sans Two Time,  silently buddy's up,  Noob and Elliot,  Chance and Taph,  and Guest and Seven.  The four groups split up,  Two Time,  Chance,  and Taph all heading down the stairs,  while Guest,  Seven,  Elliot,  and Noob themself take the ramp.  Guest and Seven head towards the dock after getting to the bottom of the ramp,  and Noob and Elliot begin their search along the side of the lodge.

They stray away from each other,  Elliot staying near the building,  checking in the cellar while Noob searches around the vegetation between the cabin and the beach.  Their search proved fruitless,  even as they searched up until the back corner of the structure.  They stood near the open doors of the cellar,  waiting for Elliot to climb back up the stairs,  when they heard Guest shout that he found 1x’s swords,  the sudden noise making them jump.

Elliot emerged not long after,  shaking his head while grabbing Noob’s hand to help him out.  “Not down there.”

They nod,  the duo moving to the back of the cabin.  Something faintly green illuminates the fog as they turn the corner,  though it’s nigh impossible to pinpoint where from,  especially when the fog somehow gets even harder to see through.  They reach for Elliot’s hand,  and he obliges,  lacing their fingers together as the two of them try to find the location of the light.

Elliot keeps one hand on the back wall of the cabin while Noob stands as far away from him as they can without losing their hold on his hand.  It’s not long after that they see shadows begin to interrupt the green light,  as though something were in front of it.

“I’m going to look over there,  I’ll be right back if I don’t find anything,  ok?”  Elliot nodded,  letting go of their hand and watching as they walked out of sight.

Noob quickly found the source of the obstruction,  a patch of dense brush.  They pushed through it,  ignoring the way the thorns snagged on their pants,  and were finally standing in front of a massive pine tree.  The light appears to be filtering up through the needles,  so they sit down and peek under the branches,  met with the sight of the AWOL killer half-heartedly glaring at them.

Frankly,  1x looks and sounds like shit right now.  They’re making weird strangled,  wheezing,  gaspy sounds every few seconds,  their jaw is clenched,  and Noob can see their muscles spasming.  Not to mention that Noob can see them clearly enough to make out their features,  like that they have a scar across their left eye,  and a zipper tag embedded in the corner of their mouth.  The most concerning things have to be the vaguely off look about their legs,  and that their eyes almost look like they’re watering.  How much pain are they in..?

“Are you ok?”  Noob keeps their tone low,  in case the noise causes further misery.

“Ye-es.  ‘m fine.  Leave.”  The words are forced out like it hurts to even breathe.

“Why don’t I go get Guest,  and we can take you to my cabin so you can lay on one of the empty beds while you wait this out?  It’d have to be more comfortable than laying on the ground.”  1x doesn’t even respond,  choking back an agonized whine that Noob can’t help but be concerned by.  “I-I’ll be right back.”

They stand as quickly as they can,  nearly tripping over the brambles on their way back to Elliot.  A quick,  “found 1x,”  is the only warning he gets before Noob is dragging him to where they think Guest might be.  It takes a minute,  and a few calls for him,  before the two groups manage to stumble into each other.

“I found them,  somethings wrong,  I think they’re in pain.”

Seven wanders off while Guest just nods,  gesturing for Noob to show him the way.  They and Elliot show him to the back of the house,  struggling to find the exact patch of briars for a moment,  but when they do,  Guest follows them through while Elliot stays behind.  Noob sits down in front of the tree once they make it to the other side,  Guest following suit.  Peering under the tree reveals 1x exactly where Noob had left them.

“If you expe-ct me to st-and up and wa-lk,  just know I ca-an’t.”  1x struggled through their sentence,  pausing in an attempt to hide their agony and unsteady breathing every few seconds.

Noob murmurs,  “I told them we’d take them to my cabin,  so they have somewhere comfortable to rest until this passes,”  to Guest,  who just sighs and nods.

“If you’re sure about it.”

Guest reached under the tree,  grabbing the less-than-intimidating killer under their arms,  and dragging them out as gently as he could.  Noob stood up,  waiting in case the soldier needed their assistance.  He didn’t seem to,  given how he stood and tossed 1x onto his shoulder like they weighed nothing.  Though Noob had noticed they were rather light…

Noob took a different way through the brush,  jogging up to Elliot before Guest had emerged.  “1x is staying in our cabin for a little bit.  Just until whatever’s wrong wears off.”

Elliot seemed apprehensive,  but finally just said,  “So long as it’s in the main cabin by the time we go to bed.”

Noob nods,  and the two follow Guest to their cabin.  He opens the door and sets the killer down,  and it’s then that Noob can see what’s wrong with their legs.  One’s broken,  they can see bone jutting out,  though it’s hard to tell when their skin and bones are similar colors.  The other one hangs limp as 1x starts messing with the blankets on the bed,  dislocated maybe?  They aren’t able to see that leg for much longer before 1x had disappeared beneath the sheets,  intent on suffering through whatever it is in solitude.

Chapter Text

Everything hurts.  There wasn’t a thought that could break through the barrier of unrelenting indescribable agony that was tearing through its nerves.  Every breath it takes feels like it should be its last,  but it knows somewhere deep down that it’s lucky that its ribs are only bruised and not completely caved in.  Both its legs are numb.  It's bleeding somewhere.  It doesn’t know where or how much,  it just feels blood trickling across skin.  It breathes wrong,  wheezing a bit before needing to stifle a coughing fit.  It can barely breathe as is,  the fog is practically choking them.  Only when it’s falling unconscious,  its body trying to protect itself,  does the pain recede,  although not by much.  It wants to cover itself with its wings,  and the only thing stopping it is the complete lack of any large enough to hide it.  It presses its face into the crook of its elbow instead.

It manages to hear,  as brief and hazy as it is,  footsteps nearby as the pain begins to trickle back in.  Rustling nearby grabs its attention,  and two legs appear out of the fog.  They sit down,  and someone’s face,  too blurry to make out,  shows up not long after.  It glares at them.  They stay silent for a few moments.  They finally speak softly,  but the noise only serves to make the migraine that it hadn’t even registered flare up,  its vision briefly flashing white.  It barely made out something about it being ok in their sentence.  It manages to force out a few words,  hoping whoever this is leaves it alone to die in peace.

They say something else,  mentioning a name it recognizes but can’t put a face to.  When it tries to respond it feels like it’s been electrocuted,  and all it can do is try to bite back a yelp and not show any more weakness.  The person says something else,  before getting up and wandering off.  Finally,  took them long enough.

The next wave of agony hit like a train,  making it impossible to think.  Despite this,  Its presence cuts through the haze,  Its words crystal clear.

--  you brought this upon yourself.

--  the survivors cannot save you.

--  it would do you well to remember your place.

It ignored,  or at least tried to ignore,  the waves of pain that punctuated Its words.  Finally It allowed it to think,  just in time for it to process the two people who were looking at it,  as though they expected something from it.  It snapped that its legs were broken.  The one from earlier said something softly to the new one,  who promptly reached for it to drag it out of its safe spot.  It tried to move out of range,  but he still managed to grab it,  despite its clawing at his forearm ( weak ,  he didn’t even react).

There’s a change in elevation that made its head spin,  the nausea only made worse by suddenly being tossed onto the new one’s shoulder,  which collided with its already injured ribs.  If he had heard its hiss of pain,  he doesn’t react.  It has to squeeze its eyes shut when he starts walking to combat how sick it feels.

It only takes a minute or two before it's set down on something soft.  Far softer than its couch.  It cracks its good eye open,  only to be met with fabric.  A blanket.  It paws at the first edge it finds,  eventually hooking its claws beneath and pulling the sheet out from where it was tucked in.  It pulls the blanket back,  moving as quickly as it can to cover itself despite its legs protesting,  and finally is surrounded by darkness and muffled sound.

There’s hushed talk that it can’t make out through the blanket,  but luckily it doesn’t care what they’re saying.  It mostly just wants them to leave,  especially when the pain increases tenfold.  Its vision flashes,  and it's out like a light.

When 1x finally reawakens it's somewhere warm,  soft,  and dark.  Somewhere comfortable.  Somewhere safe enough.  Trying to move hurts,  but it's nothing it can’t handle.  It pokes its head out of its impromptu nest,  looking around the dark room it's in.  It’s on a bed,  there’s another across the room under a window that faces the main lodge.  There’s some people standing on the porch,  but it can’t quite make out who they are,  nor does it particularly care.

It tosses the blankets off its legs,  assessing the damage.  Left hip dislocated,  it can see it plain as day through its torso,  right femur with a complete,  open fracture.  Fuck.  They pick lint out of the wound,  ignoring the occasional rainbow of color reflecting off its blood when the candlelight flickered.  At least its hip will be easy enough to deal with.

There’s a knock at the door,  which was apparently only a warning that Guest,  Dusekkar,  and…  Shedletsky were walking in.  It glared daggers at its creator,  who glowered back at it.

Guest stepped between them,  blocking 1x’s line of sight on the treacherous man,  “We just want to fix your legs and get you back to the main cabin.”

It barely managed to contain the urge to growl,  “If he,”  the word is spat,  and it’s sure the survivors know who it’s talking about,  “gets anywhere near me,  I will kill him.  I can tolerate you and Matt.”

There’s silence for a few seconds before Dusekkar hisses,  “My name is Matt,  this is plainly true,  but it is not the name you will use.”

Hilarious that Shedletsky can use the name but his hatred personified can’t.  Hah.  Fine.  “Very well,  Dusekkar ,  my sincerest apologies.”

Guest intervenes before things get more heated,  “In that case,  I’m going to need to see your legs.  Do you know what’s wrong with them?”

It shifts to make it easier for the survivors to inspect,  but Guest is the only one who approaches.  “One’s broken,  the other’s dislocated.”  They gesture to the leg in question as they speak.

Guest nods,  “I’ll start with your hip then.  This is going to hurt.”

It waves its hand dismissively,  “I’ll survive.”

Dusekkar floats closer,  silently directing Guest on how to pop it back into place.  Guest nods,  grabbing its leg and pressing down near the socket,  before pulling on their leg (unintentionally scraping bone against bone,  eugh) until it finally pops back into place with a grunt from Guest and pained exhale from 1x.

The soldier glanced at it as he released it from his grasp,  “You alright?”

It goes to speak,  only to discover a bitter,  metallic taste in its mouth.  It bit its tongue,  ugh.  It nods instead.

“Good.  I’m going to set your leg and hold it in place while Dusekkar gets you patched up.”  The mage in question floats over,  holding a medkit it hadn’t noticed before now.

“I’m not fragile,  you don’t need to tell me everything you’re going to do.  Most of us have dealt with far worse than resetting a broken bone.”

He stared at it in such a way that it knew it’ll be getting questioned later,  despite it avoiding his gaze by studying the ceiling.  Damn.

“Right.  Brace yourself.”

Its bone is swiftly yanked back into place and readjusted slightly by Dusekkar,  before the mage placed two large sticks on either side of its thigh.  He wrapped bandage tightly around its leg,  immobilizing as much of it as he could despite it being nothing like a normal robloxian’s.

1x can tell,  despite the pumpkin head,  that he was unhappy with his handiwork.  “We lack medical supplies,  it causes us much hurt.  You’re in need of a surgery,  I fear this splint won’t work.”

“It’s better than nothing,”  It says,  moving to stand,  much to Guest’s dismay.

The soldier puts his hands on its shoulders,  not letting it do more than sit as Dusekkar and Shedletsky made their way out the door.

“What do you think you’re doing?  We just fixed your legs,  you shouldn’t be walking until they’re healed.”

It swats his hands away,  “I’m going to be expected to participate in rounds anyway,  it’s not going to matter-”

“I don’t give a shit,  you’re going to hurt yourself.  You’re not walking around until-”

“It’ll heal quick,”  it stands,  wobbly,  as it expected to be,  and skirts around Guest.

It’s halfway to the door when it hears a frustrated sigh and boots hitting the floorboards.  It can’t help but squawk (deplorable,  feral behavior that it should have forgotten when it was still locked away in the recesses of Shedletsky’s mind) when he picks it up and sets it on his shoulder,  jogging across the clearing between buildings without issue despite its thrashing and cursing.

When he gets inside he’s quick to nearly drop it onto its couch,  ignoring its glare to sit in the designated guard chair.  It locks eyes with him,  and they stare each other down for a few seconds before 1x stands,  planning on grabbing its cape from where it was left to dry last night.

“By Telamon,  X!”  It bristles at the deity’s name.  “Sit the fuck down!  You don’t need to make the break worse!”

“I’m fine ,”  it’s sure he can see it’s bared teeth,  “if anything these will heal better than the rest.”

“You can’t just say cryptic shit-”  the floorboards upstairs creak,  and 1x sees Two Time peering down,  “-Two Time,  can you go get Noob?”  They nod,  jogging outside.  “You can’t just say cryptic shit and walk away.  Sit down,  tell me if you need something,  and start explaining.”

It growls at him,  hissing out a,  “I’m not a dog -”

He cuts it off,  “I’m not trying to antagonize you,”  he sounds like he’s making his voice softer despite his frustration,  “I’m just…  concerned ,”  eugh,  pity ,  “What happened earlier was not normal.  We’ve never seen any of the killers in so much pain that they felt the need to hide.  I just want to know what happened.”

He stared at it,  as if he expected it to speak.  When it didn’t he continued,  “If you sit down,  I’ll go grab anything you need,  and you can stop putting so much strain on your legs.”

“I’m not made of glass-”

“I’m not asking you to do this because I think you’re weak.  I’m well aware that you could tear me apart.   It’s for my own piece of mind.”  Good.

It glared at him for a few more beats,  before finally sitting down and giving its aching legs a break.  “I was going to get my cape.”

“I’ll go grab it,  stay here.”

The man nearly bumps into Noob and Elliot as they scurry into the cabin.  Guest points at 1x and Noob perks up before walking over.  Elliot sits himself in the chair beside Guest’s,  while Noob sits beside it.

“A-Are you alright..?”  They look concerned.  It can barely muster up irritation at the look.

It looks away from them while saying,  “I’m fine,  it happens all the time,”  which was apparently the wrong thing to say,  judging by how Elliot’s brow furrowed and Noob looked like they wanted to hug it.

It scoots a little bit away from them as Guest walks back in,  cape draped over his forearm.  He tosses the garment to it on his way to his chair,  nodding in greeting to Elliot.  1x wraps the cape around itself like a blanket.

He looks over at it,  “So…  What happened?”

It hates the eyes on it,  “Spectre got mad and tried to correct my behavior.  It happens to the other killers,  and I’m sure it’d happen to you if you pissed it off enough.”

“The kids too?”

“Do you really think it cares how old anyone is?”

Elliot looked ill and Guest looked pissed.  It couldn’t see Noob’s face but it’s sure they’re not a fan of the news either.

“How long do you think it’ll take to heal?”

“Normally a week or two for broken limbs,  a couple days for everything else.  It wants us to regret our actions,  but still be capable of entertaining it.”

“Earlier you said these will heal better than the rest of your bones.  Why?”

It can’t help but snort at the question.  “Because the rest of them were broken around the other killers,  and I’m not stupid enough to let any of those fuckers near me when I’m injured.  I’m sure they all feel the same.”

He just nods,  “That’s all the questions I have for now.  Thanks.”

1x ignores him,  instead choosing to lay down and close its eyes.  Not to sleep,  but just to rest them.  Silence stretches on for several minutes,  and 1x is dozing off when Noob speaks.

“1x,  can I braid your hair?”

It cracks its good eye open at them,  meeting their expectant gaze.  “Sure.”

They smile,  and it glances away,  moving to sit up instead.  Noob gets up briefly to sit behind it before taking out the scrap of fabric it pulled its hair back with.  They begin carding their fingers through its hair,  dislodging twigs and pine needles as they went.  The new-bad-wrong feeling from when it had killed them bubbled up as they gathered the hair above its temple and divided it into three sections,  all while carefully avoiding touching its wings.

It doesn’t understand them.  It’s a threat to them and Elliot,  it can and has killed them and everyone they care about,  yet they’re sitting here,  gentle as can be,  trying not to make it uncomfortable.  And it's letting them.  Maybe they’re acting like this to try and get in its good graces,  but why is it acting like this?  Self-preservation is certainly part of its recent passiveness,  but letting Noob play with its hair is absolutely not necessary to survive.  If it weren’t for the fact 1x doesn’t want to mess up their progress,  it’d bury its head in its hands.

Noob takes another section of hair below the first one and weaves it into the plait,  still taking care to not touch its feathers.  When they go to weave in a new section of hair,  it impulsively flicks its wing into their hand.  They startle,  apologizing quietly,  the confusion audible in their voice,  before they resume their task.  When they go to add more hair to the braid,  it taps their hand with its wing once more.  They pause,  continuing what they were doing despite its incessant nudging,  still careful to not to accidentally tug on its feathers.

Why is it doing this?  It shouldn’t be…  trusting,  it supposes,  a survivor with its wings.  Even if they are the least likely to hurt it.  It doesn’t even know what it wants them to do,  but it's mildly frustrated regardless when they don’t respond.

Noob’s hands eventually move out of range,  though they’re slowly running out of hair as well.  It doesn’t know why this upsets it.  It feels movement as they secure its hair,  followed by stillness for a few seconds.  Noob shifts slightly in their seat,  lifting their hand to hover by one of the wings 1x had been tapping them with,  far enough that they wouldn’t accidentally brush up against it,  but close enough that it can feel warmth radiating off of them.

It pushes the wing into their hand,  bracing for…  something,  anything really.  Broken bones,  plucked feathers,  or even just for them to brush its plumage the wrong way.  But they don’t react until it taps their palm.  Noob hesitantly,  and very,  very carefully runs the back of their hand down its wing.  No pain,  not even any discomfort.  It’s confused when it starts rumbling,  and more so when the noise only emboldens them.  Not that it’s complaining,  the contact scratches a metaphorical itch in the back of its mind,  especially when they gently roll a pin feather between their fingers until the sheath crumbles.  It briefly wonders why it doesn’t hate this,  but when a detached feather that had been poking them was removed the thought disappears along with it.

They hardly even notice the conversation that starts soon after,  too busy focusing on staying awake and upright.  They still don’t understand what they’re doing by allowing themself to be in such a vulnerable position,  but,  for now,  they can’t find it in themself to care.

Chapter Text

It’s been days since 1x1x1x1 had been regularly sent into rounds.  The only one they had ended up in could hardly be counted,  given how Noob,  Chance,  and Elliot immediately tracked them down and forced them to sit the whole thing out.  Not that they were going to listen until Chance had threatened to shoot them in the knee,  the bastard.  The only good thing that’s come out of being on bedrest is that their legs have been healing significantly better and faster than they usually do.  They’re able to walk with minimal extra pain at least,  though Noob certainly isn’t a fan of them wandering around.

Speaking of Noob,  it’s sure that the round they had gone into should’ve been over by now.  Unless the Spectre has decided to do one of the rounds that doesn’t end until one team is dead.  It wouldn’t be surprised,  it’s been a while since there was one,  and all of the survivors are currently missing.

It stared into the fire while it waited for something to happen,  though nothing did for several more minutes until it heard a strangled gasp and a small sob.  It’d recognize Noob’s distress anywhere,  and turned to look at them right as they finally processed its presence.  They scurried to the couch,  nearly tripping over a wire that Taph forgot to remove,  and planted themself against 1x’s side,  obviously trying to hold back more tears.

Something in its brain briefly malfunctioned as it tried to figure out what the fuck they were doing.  It moved its arm off the back of the couch,  hand hovering around the survivor.  It…  it knows that when Shedletsky and Builderman would comfort each other they would wrap an arm around the other’s shoulders,  but those two were far closer than it was with Noob.  Those two were birds of a feather,  while it and them were more akin to a muzzled wolf and a lost sheep who had gotten far too attached.

“You shouldn’t be seeking comfort with me.”

Noob looked up at it,  eyes watery,  breathing as erratic as it had been when they had first respawned.  It looked back at the fire as they let out a wet laugh.

“You won’t hurt me.”

How can they be so confident in that?  Its purpose is to kill,  to hurt them and the people they care about.

“I’ve done it before.  You’re smart enough to know I can,  and will,  do it again.”

They reached up and grabbed its hovering arm,  pulling the limb around their shoulders.

“We both know you won’t.”

It grumbled at them.  Now was not the time to be making threats,  it supposes,  especially if the rest of the survivors may be showing up soon.

Noob sniffled,  wiping their eyes on their shoulder (it’ll never understand why they wear a sleeveless sweater),  the sound slightly…  grating.  It racked its brain trying to figure out how to make them stop,  but the only things that came to mind were how they liked to mess with 1x and Elliot’s hair,  and that they (for some reason) seemed more relaxed when it would growl when they preened it.  It could certainly try to recreate the growling,  but it couldn’t braid their hair or anything of the sort.  Though…

It shifts its hand off their shoulder and rests it on top of their head,  carefully carding its fingers through their hair,  making sure not to accidentally scratch them,  trying to make the weird rumbling-growling noise that Noob likes soon after.  Noob sighs,  seemingly content (it throws away the hope that they’re content,  and it pulverizes the wish that they had wings it could preen that followed).  Their breathing steadied as the minutes went by,  and the tears became less frequent.  Muffin trotted down the stairs and hopped into Noob’s lap,  the cat’s presence calming them further.  The cabin was silent outside of the fire crackling,  1x’s benign growling,  and Muffin purring.

Until someone respawned with a gasp,  1x looked behind itself briefly and caught a glimpse of 007n7’s hat as he tried to catch his breath.  Noob spotted him next,  and 1x let its hand drop back to their shoulder so they could turn around and see without obstruction.

“A-Are you ok?”

The man nodded,  clearly out of breath (as he usually was) when respawning,  “Jason’s almost dead,  I think everyone else will make it out alright.  Hopefully,  anyway…”

“Good.”

Silence reigned over them once more as 007n7 composed himself and wandered outside,  while Noob settled against 1x again.  It will never understand them,  it decided when they reached up to preen the wing nearest to them.  It leans down to make the job less painful to it (as though they’d ever intentionally hurt it,  the thought was laughable),  and ignored their grateful look.  It only has to deal with this for a little bit longer,  then Elliot will be back,  and he’ll be able to take over Noob comforting duties.  He’s far better at keeping them calm than it is.  It doesn’t know why the thought stings.

Chapter Text

1x was going to rip the sentinels to shreds if any of them ever showed up.  Noob was in tears (hate hate hate,  even though it shouldn't,  the Spectre loves fear and pain,  it should think more about making the damn thing happy than about a survivor’s feelings) as they fled from it through the forest.  (The far too familiar new-bad-wrong feeling was back again,  gnawing at its chest,  poisoning everything that it should know).  It misses yet another swing that would’ve ended their life as they ducked into one of the large white structures,  their foot catching on one of Taph’s tripwires and sending them to the floor.  They scrambled back,  unintentionally cornering themself in the process.

It stood over them,  staring slightly over their shoulder to avoid looking at the fear on their face,  the tears in their eyes,  the blood on their clothes.  (It thought it chose to do this,  it had decided it wanted to get back on the Spectre’s good side,  it had hunted them down,  swung its swords,  and was now standing over them as they’re dying on the ground.  This is all its fault,  it shouldn’t hate this,  it shouldn’t be considering mercy.)

The Spectre’s presence loomed over it,  and it pointed its blade at Noob’s throat almost on instinct.  Almost.  The knowledge of what it should do slipped across its mind,  only there enough to draw its attention.  It…  doesn’t want to though,  (it can’t hurt them anymore,  it can’t,  it can’t,  it can’t),  and its grip on its blade tightens as the thought passes by.  (Where were the sentinels?  It’s been several minutes,  they’d usually have helped out by now.)

Rapid footsteps approaching and someone slamming into it and nearly knocking it over like a puppet with cut strings (the blow was too weak to be a sentinel,  too gentle to be an admin,  too tall to be Taph or 007n7…).  A quick glance over reveals Elliot throwing a pizza to Noob,  a pizza that promptly disappeared on contact as some of their wounds stitched themselves back together,  while he ran over to help them up.

1x moves on autopilot,  swinging at the pizza man’s throat…  why was it doing this?  It barely managed to stop its blade before it cleaved through Elliot’s neck.  He froze,  hardly breathing,  until 1x began nudging at his arm with the flat side of its blade,  trying to herd him,  and by extension Noob,  out of the building.  It can nearly feel the anger the Spectre’s emanating as it tightens its grip on its swords once again.  Maybe it should kill the two survivors to lessen the punishment it knows will come.  Since when has it ever given a shit about the Spectre’s punishments?

It tries to shove the idea of killing the duo out of its head,  but it comes back in full force immediately after,  leaving its mind foggy.  It was almost reminiscent of the few times (before ending up in this hell,  at least) it had been able to fight its way to vaguely see outside,  before he had…  It can’t think about that right now,  it doesn’t want to think about before ever again,  in fact.

The Spectre prods at its thoughts once again,  demanding bloodshed.  It growls to itself.  Fine .  If It wanted 1x to play along,  it would.  It lunges for Elliot who manages to jump out of reach before running away with the killer trailing not far behind (the Spectre hisses when it ‘doesn’t see’ Noob).  The pizza man skirts behind one of the smaller white structures,  obviously intending to run in circles around it.  It threw an entanglement at him,  before hearing a yelp and movement as he failed to dodge out of the way.  It circles around the wall,  quickly enough to not piss off the Spectre,  but still slowly enough for Elliot to escape with only a cut on his arm.

It chases after him,  giving him a little bit of breathing room when he would inevitably end up needing to catch his breath,  before going back to their routine.  Until Elliot tried to juke it at exactly the wrong time,  1x’s blade (it was supposed to,  going to miss,  why did he do that?) carving into his belly before it slipped down and around his thigh.  He collapsed to the ground with a wail (shit.),  and it took a few steps back,  giving him space as he curled up.  1x can’t just kill him,  Noob will be more upset and it doesn’t want to deal with their crying,  it’s…  annoying.  (It does its best to not think of the hateful,  betrayed look Noob might give them after,  it can’t wither under the glare of an imaginary survivor,  no matter how much it hates the thought of them avoiding it.)

Elliot finally managed to pick himself up off the ground,  one arm wrapped around the wound so it couldn’t assess how bad it was as he limped away.  1x trailed behind him,  watching as he didn’t even bother to run.

It didn’t take long for him to finally turn around,  stumbling slightly,  to point and shout,  “Stop toying with me!  Either kill me or go away!”

He was wobbling as he fought back tears,  and he was in obvious need of medical attention.  Where the fuck was-

A knife dug into its spine,  momentarily paralyzing it just in time for Guest to shoulder bash it,  knocking it to the floor.

“Took you long enough,”  Its words were only loud enough for Guest to hear,  with Two Time having joined up with the now-visible 007n7 to heal Elliot.

It stood,  walking towards Guest,  waiting for him to begin to block before it swung in earnest.  The soldier looked suspicious,  but didn’t take charge,  or its attention,  for granted,  running off opposite to where everyone was.  It followed,  letting him land his punch to regain his stamina (it can walk off the blow anyway,  might as well let him retaliate on Elliot and Noob’s behalf),  before tracking him through the woods.  He blocks again and it provides another charge.

He raises an eyebrow as he parries it,  and 1x drops to one knee,  “What’s with you today?  Noob said they thought you were mad at them up until you tried to kill Elliot.”

It ignores him,  instead winding up a mass infection that he easily dodges away from.  “Noob thinks you might be sick or something.”

The Spectre makes its irritation known as he keeps talking.  “You do know you can tell someone if there’s a serious problem right?”

It lunges for him,  planning on decapitating him until he shoulder bashes it.  “Normally you’d dodge most of this.”

Its own irritation grew alongside the Spectre’s,  “Shut up.”

He raised his hands in mock surrender,  but it could see through his act,  “I’m just checking in for Noob.  They care about you,  you know.”

It could feel its feathers puff out as it bristled,  “Bullshit.”

It gives him another charge and he promptly strikes back.  “1x,  are you letting me hit you?”

It sneers at him,  “Of course not,  I wouldn’t let you hit-”

“Let me correct myself.  Why are you letting me hit you?”

It stays silent for a second,  taking a step back when Guest steps forward.  “I’m fine,  a punch won’t do any real damage compared to what I’ve done to any of you.”

His expression was unreadable as the rounds timer finally began ticking down,  “1x,  when we get back-”

“When we get back I’m going for a walk.”  He opened his mouth to say something but it was quick to cut him off.  “ Alone. ”

The timer stopped ticking,  and before he could respond,  it was back on the dock.  The fog was back and the sky was faintly red over the horizon across the lake.  Odd,  but not noteworthy when it’s on a timer until it collapses.  It jogs across the clearing,  tossing the daemonshanks onto the porch as it passes by,  ignoring Guest’s shout for its attention.  When it hears his boots hitting the gravel path,  it picks up the pace,  not quite sprinting,  but no longer jogging.

The fog was rolling in,  and 1x kept moving through the sparks of pain that kept flaring up.  It at least needs to lose Guest,  which doesn’t seem to be happening given how it can still hear him not far enough behind it,  urgh.  It nearly trips over a root jutting out of the ground,  and takes it as its sign to find a hiding spot instead of continuing to move.  Not that it gets far into its search before there's a loud crack and the ground is rushing to greet it.

It tried to stand but its legs wouldn’t respond fast enough to avoid Guest.  It tuned out his questioning (not that it’d be able to hear him with how loud its ears were ringing),  instead leaning on one elbow to keep a glaring eye on him.  He raised his hands to surrender (again,  why does he do that,  it knows he can’t hurt it in a way that matters),  slowly trying to circle around it.  It doesn’t let him out of its sight no matter how many times he tries to stand behind it.

He says something that it can’t make out,  clearly waiting for it to respond.  When silence meets him,  he sighs and tries to pull its arm out from under itself,  a move that would have ended in it sinking its teeth into his forearm if he jumped back any slower.  He inhaled deeply,  followed by a loud exhale as he pointed at his own back and mimed breaking something.  He stared at it expectantly as it tried to figure out what he was saying through all the brain fog.

…Oh.  It asked him to kill it,  so nobody would have to worry about healing it.  He looked perplexed,  before he nodded and stood to go find something.  He came back not long after with a rock,  what fun.  It says something about making it quick.  The first blow lands and everything goes black.

It’s lying on the dock and in immeasurable agony from the second it wakes up,  an extremely unfortunate half-scream escaping before it could steel itself to the pain.  All it can really do is curl up to protect itself from the survivors who will inevitably come to investigate.  It was times like these that it wished it had more of its wings to defend itself with.

The pain flared up,  nearly covering the sound of people moving its way.  It peered out,  trying to catch sight of who was coming,  but its vision only lasted a few seconds before it was gone,  only aching left behind.  Its hearing followed not long after,  feeling as though someone had stabbed its eardrums.  Blood began dripping from its nose while more pooled in its mouth.  It struggled not to cough,  at this rate it might end up losing an organ entirely.

The pain ebbed away (was that really all the Spectre had in store?),  while the dock vibrated as someone walked across it,  and 1x couldn’t help but cringe away when they got too close (too weak,  too vulnerable,  who even is this?).  It felt something scrape across the wood,  and whoever they were seemed closer than before (sitting maybe?).  They seemed to hesitate before reaching over to brush hair out of its face,  the action nearly causing it to fall off the edge of the dock when it scooted away,  only saved by the person grabbing it and pulling it closer to them.  They were far more gentle than anyone else here would be,  Noob maybe?  (It shouldn’t even be a question,  Noob and Guest are the only ones stupid enough to approach it when it’s on edge,  and Guest would probably just pick it up).

It makes its annoyance known through half-hearted growling when Noob moves it to sit,  though it can’t keep up its complaint when its head starts spinning.  They apparently ignored its grumbling,  instead grabbing one of its hands before standing,  gently pulling until it followed them up.  They let go and begin to walk away,  leaving it to either stand there or to blindly follow.  It digs its talons into the wood as it thinks,  but follows behind them for a few seconds before the agony floods back,  leaving it stumbling and nearly falling.

The only thing that prevents it from ending up on the floor is Noob,  who barely managed to catch it.  They readjusted their hold on it before dragging it up the lodge’s ramp (it’d wiggle out of their grasp if it were stronger physically and mentally,  but the soft,  weak,  pathetic part of it that always seems to surface around them wanted to purr over the fact they were tolerating it,  especially after the round they just had.  It’s too tired to shove away those feelings,  and instead stays focused on the pain it’s in.  It hates this.  It doesn’t quite hate Noob.  It should.  It’s going to get itself killed over them at this rate.)

It’s set down on the couch to the best of Noob’s ability,  though it has to readjust so as to not fall off,  a move that shoots pain through its shaking arms.  Its head spins as it lays back down,  trying to fend off the feeling that it’s going to pass out.  It’s a losing battle,  especially when its pain flares up,  and it’s soon left unconscious on the couch.

It’s back in its prison.  Chains that it could never seem to free itself of stretched into the infinite void above it,  rattling when it shifted slightly.  There’s idle chatter somewhere far off,  separate from where it’d been left to be forgotten,  the sound little more than a whisper.  The air was stagnant,  suffocating as always.  The conversation grew louder,  colored with tones it knew far too well,  vitriol and contempt from its creator,  sentiments soon followed by insults and disdain.  It knew their words far too well,  too aware of how they were probably discussing how it never should have existed,  how its creator should have erased it when he had the chance,  how it couldn’t even do the thing it was created for,  how worthless and

It tries to use its head-wings to block out the noise that’s grown far too loud for them to not be standing in front of it,  only to find that it changes nothing.  It doesn’t even bother trying to wrap its back-wings around itself,  Telamon had always made sure they were restrained and impossible to use.  Even if the Spectre (who?) hadn’t chopped them off,  it probably wouldn’t have known how to move them anyway.

It blinks and it’s somewhere new,  wilting grass and dying flowers stretching as far as the eye could see.  The area was faintly washed in red,  and the sky was grotesque.  It almost looked as though it was undulating,  the red and black swirls pulsing and writhing in a way that almost reminded it of flesh.  It had to tear its eyes away,  instead noticing the fog on the ground,  too thin and low to obscure visibility too much,  but still distinctly there.  There’s a rumble of thunder behind it,  and a quick glance reveals a storm that moves in the same,  distinctly wrong,  way as the sky.  A flash of light sets the grasses behind it ablaze,  and its survival instinct finally kicks in.

It runs away from the storm and its pyre,  dread growing in its chest as the fog grows denser,  despite it outpacing what it's trying to escape from.  Something hazy moves in the corner of its eye,  but something in it tells it not to stop moving,  that the storm and fire were no longer the most dangerous thing here.  It keeps moving,  slowing to a jog to conserve energy and put less strain on its already messed up legs.  The fog is impossible to see through at this point,  which is the only reason that it crashes into some sort of abandoned warehouse.

It considers climbing the building despite the lack of any good holds,  but rustling nearby smothers that thought near instantly.  It prepares to dodge while trying to figure out where whatever-this-thing-is was hiding.  It takes too long for it to spot the grass moving differently to the rest,  and half a second more before it sees the hazy,  mirage-like mass standing in it.  Standing far too close.  Its feathers stand on end in a feeble attempt to look bigger and scare this thing away.

The thing lunges,  and 1x barely manages to scramble out of the direct path,  only for something to wrap around its leg and yank it back.  It snarls at the thing,  sinking its teeth into shimmering air that was trying to grab its throat.  1x’s teeth were promptly removed when its jaw was,  and its hissing and growling were silenced by the cloud of agony that followed as bones were snapped,  skin was torn,  and muscles were shredded.  Blood bubbled up from its wounds,  far too much for it to survive under normal circumstances,  but it just knows these aren’t normal circumstances.  It’s supposed to suffer.  A painful reminder of its job.  Pain lances through its body as it’s thrown at the wall of the warehouse and left to rot.

The thing is gone,  and the bloodied sky clears into simple stars,  clouds,  and darkness.  The moon is a mere sliver,  illuminating nothing.  The area around it fades and

1x blinks awake,  vision foggy from a mixture of regrowing its eyes and being bleary.  People are talking nearby,  a moment of focus helping it recognize Noob,  Elliot,  and Guest’s voices.  The lodge’s lights are nearly blinding it,  the new eyes apparently far more sensitive than usual.  It closes them,  trying to forget its dreams by focusing on the conversation.

“-going to hurt you.”  Elliot sounded concerned and exhausted.

“They didn’t ,  and they weren’t acting right…  I know you don’t trust them,  you don’t have to,  but I just…  you’ve seen them before all this.  They wouldn’t hesitate if they wanted to hurt you.”  The soft-weak-pathetic part of itself preened at Noob’s defense of it,  but the rational part of it promptly swept those feelings away.

“I bet I trust it less than you do,  Elliot,  but it was acting weird.  It had plenty of time to kill you,  and he let me punch him multiple times.  Not to mention that after the Spectre broke his back,  he asked me to…”  Guest trailed off,  probably for Noob’s sake,  knowing how upset they still get about people dying. “Don’t get me wrong,  it’s plotting something ,  but I don’t think it wants to hurt Noob anymore at the very least.”

Elliot made a disapproving noise,  “That doesn’t explain why it tried to disembowel me-”

1x cut in,  “I didn’t expect you to try to dodge.  If you had kept running forward it would have missed.”  They could tell their pained tone had come off as accusatory from the silence that settled across the group.

Noob was the first one to break it,  voice soft like they’re trying to comfort the killer,  as though it needed comfort (it wants them to preen it and help it forget the first half of its dream),  “Are you okay..?  There was a lot of blood.”

1x waved dismissively,  “I’m fine,  that was tame compared to other ones I’ve dealt with.”

Guest looked like he was resisting the urge to roll his eyes,  asshole,  “How’s your head?”

They forced themself to sit up despite the dizziness that followed,  “No worse than usual.”

“Right…”  The soldier glanced at Elliot,  “Want me to stay?

He shook his head,  “Go get some sleep.”

There were quiet “good night”s that rippled through the group,  before the clock ticking and fireplace crackling became the only sound filling the cabin.  It watched the two survivors across from it,  Elliot looked drained as he leaned against Noob,  while Noob themself looked worried as they combed their fingers through Elliot’s hair (it had to kick away the bitterness that arose over the sight,  the two were close and it was far better for Noob to find comfort with another survivor than with it).  They caught its gaze,  offering a small,  tired smile while waving it over,  and shuffled around so they were between it and Elliot.

The pizza man just watched as Noob leaned on 1x’s shoulder,  eyes fixed on the feathers he could see hidden behind its hair,  “For the future,  would you be fine with me touching your wings?  I was going to clean the blood out of them,  but I didn’t want to upset you.”

Hm.  It can tolerate him cleaning the blood out of its feathers if he had to.  Hell,  it could tolerate him preening it without the excuse of blood being in its feathers if he wanted to.  Noob trusts him with their life,  and he’s relatively harmless,  not to mention his aversion to conflict.  It can’t see him intentionally hurting it without reason.

“You could preen them for all I care.  Just don’t pluck feathers or grab onto my wings and we won’t have an issue.”

Noob perked up,  “Really?”

It nods,  completely unsurprised when they start quietly rambling to Elliot.  It took the unspoken cue to sit on the floor in front of the duo so they don’t have to contort to reach its plumage.  It tuned out Noob’s instructions,  instead it focused on them straightening out its feathers.

It’s not long before another set of hands,  unsure and hesitant,  join Noob’s,  trying to recreate what they do.  There’s a tiny twinge of pain when Elliot tries to remove the sheath from a blood feather,  something he quickly stops trying to do when the keratin doesn’t crumble,  but it can’t find it in itself to care.  Rumbling joins the crackling fireplace and ticking clock,  the noise spooking Elliot momentarily.

“You weren’t lying about them being like an overgrown cat…”

Elliot’s words are barely loud enough to make out,  and they briefly flicked the wing he’s working on away from his hands.  The pizza man freezes and quietly apologizes,  only receiving a soft hum from them in response.

Noob whispers,  “They’re not upset,  just messing with you,”  to Elliot,  which seems to settle his nerves well enough.

Things are quiet for a few minutes,  far past when the survivors had finished preening it.  Elliot barely stifles a yawn,  and 1x takes it as its cue to move out of the survivors’ way.

They sit down on their own couch,  staring at Noob,  who’d clearly dozed off,  “You two should go to bed.  The last thing either of you need is to be thrown into a round while sleep deprived.”

Noob doesn’t respond,  but Elliot,  thankfully,  overlooks what could have been mistaken for concern (hah,  as if it could do such a thing),  nodding instead.  He tries to shake them awake,  but apparently they sleep like the dead.

“Want me to carry them out for you?”

Elliot hesitates,  sizing it up as though he thought this was some sort of trick (not that it can blame him for that assumption).  1x just sits there trying to look as non-threatening as possible.  It works,  somehow,  it really doesn’t understand why Elliot’s so…  trusting of it now.  Then again he looks like he’s about to pass out,  so maybe he just wasn’t thinking.  After he moved out of its way it scooped up Noob,  who didn’t stir (it’s making more sense now that it’s found them half awake during rounds now),  and waited for the pizza man to show it the way.

The brief walk goes smoothly,  outside of 1x having to catch Elliot by the back of his shirt when he stumbles over a rock.  It nearly dropped Noob because when saving Elliot from wiping out,  which was the only thing that made Noob nearly wake up (it’s never seen anyone sleep this deeply before).  It follows the pizza man up the stairs,  and into one of the side rooms.  Elliot points at the bed closer to the cabin,  and 1x dutifully sets Noob down,  finally waking them up.

It turns to leave before they try to start a conversation,  ignoring Elliot’s quiet “good night”.  The sleepy “were their feathers soft?” “...  yeah,” “told you so” that followed were a little harder to gloss over.  It huffed to itself,  pulling the outside door to the cabin closed as quietly as it could while trying not to think about the recent damage it’s taken to its terrifying,  brutal killer reputation.

How embarrassing to stoop so low as to let not one,  but two of the most cowardly survivors preen it,  let alone to let them recieve help from it.  Ugh.  (It can’t say it regrets it though.)

Chapter Text

“We’re having movie night,  do you want to join us?”  Noob was looking at it with hopeful eyes.

Their question explains why Elliot made dinner early,  and why Chance and Two Time were taking cushions off the furniture.  It had just assumed they were thieves (it wouldn’t surprise them all that much if they were).  It nodded and Noob lit up as it stood.  It followed them to the upper platform,  tuning out their rambling about the rules and who was choosing the movie.

It quickly spotted Taph turning his bean bag into what could only be described as a nest,  soon followed by Chance digging through a box with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face,  and Two Time was trying to arrange the seats to have the best possible views of the tiny TV.  Noob gestures for 1x to sit on a row of couch cushions,  before saying something about helping Elliot and scurrying down the stairs.

It followed Noob’s instructions,  being sure to sit as far away from the other survivors as possible (the last thing it needed was for all of them to be on edge without reason).  It feels a few confused looks thrown its way,  though it only pays attention when Taph approaches.

“Sign?”  The demolitionist cocked his head like a confused puppy.

“I can read it,  yes.”  Taph looked absolutely elated at the news,  as though he didn’t think 1x would (then again,  they’re pretty sure that not all the survivors know it.  How…  unfortunate for him.)  “Might be rusty on actually signing though.”

He nodded,  “Are you watching a movie with us?”

It nodded,  glancing at Chance who was creeping towards Taph’s bean bag chair.  It pointed them out to the demolitionist,  who promptly turned on his heel to march over and “scold” the gambler.  Chance was quick to mock-surrender,  but not before they had flopped onto the chair and destroyed Taph’s little nest.  He flared his wings out,  arms crossed,  pretending to be indignant,  and pointedly looked away from Chance’s pleas for forgiveness.  (His wings looked like shit,  does Shedletsky not even offer to help preen his attack dog?  It wouldn’t surprise it,  the bastard lacks integrity).

The stairs creaked as people climbed up them,  people who were soon revealed to be Elliot and Noob carrying a few small bowls of popcorn.  Elliot was quick to hand his off to Chance,  Taph,  and Two Time before going to turn the lights off.  Noob handed one to 1x,  why they had made a serving for it was something it once again failed to understand about them,  and handed the other to Elliot before plopping down beside it,  the pizza man following their lead not long after.

Elliot glanced over at Chance once he had settled into his seat,  “What are we watching tonight?”

The most devious grin spread across the gambler's face as he walked over to the cardboard box from earlier,  pulling out a blindingly pink VHS case,  “We’re watching Barbie Fairytopia of course!”

Elliot looked utterly exhausted upon hearing this,  not even reacting when Noob laid down with their head in his lap.  Then again he’s probably used to it with how close they are.  Chance popped the cassette into the player,  fast-forwarded a little bit,  before letting the obscene film play,  quickly settling in his own bean bag chair.

1x couldn’t keep its eyes on the screen after the first fifteen minutes.  It was mind numbing at best and infuriating at worst.  The movie exists to entertain and sell toys to small children,  it understands that,  but this is still far closer to torture than any of the atrocious movies that Shedletsky would drag them away from their prison to watch.  It can’t possibly understand how the survivors seem so entranced by it,  not that anyone other than Two Time and Chance actually are.  Taph’s busy trying to discreetly contort to deal with a pin feather,  Noob’s half-asleep (apparently not even the shrill voice of the wretched puffball demon could keep them awake),  and Elliot’s watching with disinterest,  pilfering a few pieces of popcorn from Noob’s bowl while they couldn’t defend it.  How nefarious.  It swaps its own untouched bowl with Noob’s nearly empty one when Elliot isn’t looking.  It pointedly ignores his confused stare when he realizes.

It’s a little harder to ignore Taph’s fidgeting as the movie draws closer to an end.  A quick glance over reveals at least a dozen feathers that could be bothering him,  and he meets their gaze (dammit),  signing a quick “help please.”  They considered declining,  but wouldn’t that put them at the same level as Shedletsky?  Not to mention that if they helped him,  he may stop listening to the admins as much (that or they might have the leverage they needed to finally get him to stop using the damned tripmines.  Their eyes are bad enough without being flashbanged every time they have a round with him.)

They nodded,  motioning for him to come sit near it.  He hesitated,  as if he wasn’t the one who had asked the known murderer for help with his wings.  He sits in front of it anyway,  leaving the perfect amount of space between them for him to not seem rude while still forcing 1x to lean forward to preen him comfortably,  the bastard.  They grit their teeth and accepted that their posture is going to be terrible by the time Taph finally unfurled his right wing.  They attempted to get to work,  though it stopped when he flinched.  It’s all too aware of Elliot’s gaze boring into them,  making sure it’s not going to hurt the demolitionist.

“Intentionally hurting you outside of a round would be a stupid,  if not suicidal,  especially with two sentinels to witness it.  You don’t have to let me preen you,  but watching you squirm for the past hour has been incredibly annoying and I’d like it to stop.”  It keeps its voice low to not disturb the rest of the survivors.  “If nothing else I’m sure that Elliot will give everyone some sort of warning if I tried to maim or kill you.”

Taph hesitates for a second before nodding,  giving 1x a quick thumbs up.  He fidgeted with the edges of his sleeves,  but they figure it’s the most relaxed he’s going to be about this.  They make quick work of the sheathed pin feathers near his back that he was trying to reach earlier,  making sure to brush the rest of the keratin away before moving on.  They realigned his feathers,  taking care to rezip the barbules on the more dishevelled looking ones as they did so.  They were baffled by the dozen or so small twigs and thorns that were embedded in his plumage and skin,  but it wasn’t an issue for them to pluck them out.

It took less time than they had expected to finish with his first wing,  especially with how meticulous they were (they couldn’t let themself be outshone by Shedletsky,  if he were to ever stop being unconcerned about anyone who wasn’t of use to him).  There were still a few broken feathers,  some simply from wear and tear while others were clearly from the various rounds he’s been in,  but it probably shouldn’t pluck them with how jumpy Taph already is.

“Done with this wing.  There’s still some damaged feathers,  but I figured you wouldn’t want me plucking them.”  Taph nods,  his other wing emerging from his cloak while he wrapped the first around himself to inspect.

It begins the process of crumbling the sheaths,  removing debris,  and repositioning the feathers again when Elliot starts to watch over its shoulder.  It slows down,  trying to make what it's doing more obvious when it finally realizes he’s curious about the process.  They’re about to start realigning feathers when Noob finally stretches out,  scaring the shit out of Taph when they accidentally push on his leg.  The survivalist sits up,  nearly hitting 1x’s arm as they do so.  It simply readjusts its posture to be able to continue working when Noob leans against its arm to watch.

It silently shows the duo how to rezip the barbules,  (ignoring Noob practicing on its own wings,  because if it starts growling Taph will probably scale the walls before he experiences a single thought),  before carefully removing the loose feathers and few thorns it finds.  (His left wing is far less damaged than the right one,  and it can’t help but wonder if he uses the right one as a shield against other killers.  It’s never seen him do that itself,  but it’s a possibility.  That or most of the killers are right handed,  which would make more sense honestly).

The movie ends as it nearly finished fixing Taph’s wing,  and Chance and Two Time instantly start having a discussion as the credits play.  Chance is clearly bullshitting about how deep and thought provoking Barbie Fairytopia was,  while Two Time simply nodded along,  adding in comments about where they thought it praised the Spawn (eugh).  Whatever narrative Chance was concocting about it being a metaphor for someone dying and going to the afterlife was far more interesting than the movie had been.  It finally puts Taph’s final feather in place as Chance gets up to start rewinding the tape.  1x leans back,  popping its poor spine in the process.

“Done,  you’re free to go.”  As soon as the words leave their mouth,  Taph walked back to his seat with a quick ‘thank you’.

He’s clearly trying to discreetly inspect his wings,  but it couldn’t care less.  It sweeps the mess of keratin,  feathers,  twigs,  and thorns into a small pile.  It would take it outside to throw into the woods,  but Noob is leaning with their head on its shoulder while petting its feathers,  and it doesn’t want to deal with them getting upset if it asks them to move (it’s lying to itself,  they won’t get upset,  it knows they won’t,  but that doesn’t stop it from wanting to stay here,  in this far kinder existence for just a little bit longer).

Chapter Text

It had grown docile and weak,  absolutely unbefitting and disgraceful of a god’s hatred given form.  This new development was obvious to it,  and the Spectre as always,  only made more apparent every time it tried and failed to kill Noob and Elliot.  Each misstep it makes,  every second of hesitation only serves to highlight how worthless it was becoming in the Spectre’s eyes.  It knows that being worthless to It was a permanent death sentence.  (And yet part of it thinks it should happen.  Save the survivors from some hardship.)

It needs to kill again.  Most of the survivors are easy prey,  uncomplicated targets.  Noob is not,  and neither is Elliot.  Sure,  it dislikes them (could it even qualify as disliking them?),  but the hatred that flows through its veins outweighs its distaste towards the duo without contest.  (Their blood is cloying and seems to seep into its pores,  their screams stab into its skull,  their sobbing smashes its ribs in).  Its own hatred has poisoned it to the point that,  rather than behead either of them,  it’d prefer they vivisect it without anesthesia (the quiet,  stupider,  weaker part of it would let them if they asked.  It wouldn’t even hesitate.)

It also knows it needs to stop letting Noob be as attached to it as they are.  Their care and affection towards it is only making its job harder (and putting them in too much danger,  what will happen when another killer targets them to hurt it?).  They need a reminder that it can and (won’t) will hurt them without a second thought.  It is hatred,  it is violence,  it is destruction incarnate (it hates that those things are all it can ever be),  it is not a person like Shedletsky,  or Guest,  or Noob (why can’t it be).  John Doe,  as he is now,  is more of a person than it is (why would Telamon (hate hate hate hate fear hate hate) create it like this?),  and it was a fool to have needed the Spectre’s punishments to be reminded of this.

It will kill,  it can separate itself from the survivors (no more speaking,  no more reactions,  just stonewalling and silence (it’s going to hurt them)),  it can redeem itself.  It will prove that it hasn’t been declawed,  that it’s still useful,  that it’s the killing machine it always has been (the only thing it was ever meant to and will be).

The first round of slaughter went without a hitch.  Noob and Elliot weren’t there for its will to waver on,  and everyone had apparently grown complacent with its recent lessened hostility.  One by one,  they fell to its blade without much of a fight.  It found itself tuning out everything around it halfway through.  It can’t be negotiated with when it isn’t listening after all.)

The survivors were all a bit confused,  as it had expected them to be.  Some were colder too,  as though they thought they had immunity from its rampage (or that they thought it would stop killing,  hah).  It had overheard someone telling Noob to get it under control.  They had tried to interrogate it afterwards (it knows their voice was too full of concern for it to truly have been an interrogation,  but it pretends it was hostility anyway),  but it remained unresponsive and unmoving.  (It had almost ducked its head for them when they asked if they could preen it.  It found that it didn’t mind all that much when they saw the tiny movement as permission.  It took far too much effort for it to stifle the majority of its content growling.)

There were issues with the second round,  though Noob still had yet to make an appearance.  The sentinels had expected its increased aggression and responded in kind,  a problem when combined with its newfound inattentiveness.  Chance was quicker on the draw,  Two Time followed it around,  Guest was quick to body block whenever it tried to slash someone,  and Telamon tried to behead it on multiple occasions.  Still,  they all fell one by one until only Elliot was left.  He had managed to squirrel himself away for a while,  but it eventually had him cornered.  It was only due to its own overconfidence that he had survived.  (He was in such a panic when it had him cornered.  Tripping over his pleas for mercy,  hardly able to breathe.  It had “accidentally” given him an opportunity to escape and sprint away when it missed its lunge for him.  (It knows damn well that it felt sorry for him.  It shouldn’t.  It is hate,  hate is all it should feel,  all it can feel.)

It was put back under observation after that round.  Guest stared at it the entire time,  face neutral,  but it knew there was anger bubbling beneath the surface.  It could sense his apprehension when Noob came to talk to it,  could practically feel his glare boring into its soul (does it even have one?  it can’t imagine it does) when it pretended not to notice them speaking and resting against it.  (It couldn’t say it didn't understand why,  this was cruel.  He cared far more than it did.)

It wasn’t sent into the next round,  and neither were Taph and Noob.  The fog clouding its head had yet to go away.  Taph had asked if it would hurt Noob.  It had given him a barely perceivable shake of its head,  which he somehow picked up on it.  Soon enough there was a trembling survivalist in its lap,  sobbing into its shoulder.  It snagged its cape off the back of the couch and draped it over them (a part of it wished it could wrap its wings around them,  but that part needed to be destroyed for its own wellbeing).

The survivors that were in the round dropped like flies soon after.  The sentinels first,  then the survivalists,  then the support.  They all looked exhausted upon respawning.  Must’ve been a round with John Doe.  Noob didn’t bother to move from where they were seated until dinner had been made and served.  They tried to get it to eat,  but their efforts were fruitless (it hasn’t felt hungry in days),  and the meal ended up being split between themself and Elliot (far more deserving of a meal,  especially with how it looked like Elliot lost weight recently).

Noob was in the third round.  1x lost.  Miserably.  They kept trying to body block everyone else.  It’s ashamed that their antics worked.  Even when it had them cornered,  it still hesitated on the kill for long enough to be stunned.  It blames it on its head being in the clouds

They had followed it out into the woods when the sky grew red and the fog began to roll in.  They sat beside it as it writhed in agony for Spawn knows how long.  When it finally was able to comprehend what was happening they had been plucking debris out of its hair and feathers (it can’t keep letting them do this,  their attachment is going to end up with them feeling betrayed and it being gone for good).  They try asking it what's wrong and why it won’t speak.  It remains silent.

The next round barely goes any better.  It manages to kill Shedletsky and Two Time early on,  but Elliot keeps Guest on life support for most of the round while Taph repeatedly ducks in to blind it.  Its eyes hurt and its head is pounding by the end of the round.

The Spectre is not kind with its punishment for failing again.  It didn’t even get the chance to go somewhere secluded before its torso was torn open and the few organs it had were strewn across the path.  The Spectre makes sure it survives despite its lack of heart and lungs.  It hated when the survivors finally found it.  It could see that they hated when Noob insisted on wasting a medkit on their enemy.

It’s starting to lose track of how many rounds it’s been through since attempting to redeem itself.  Wins,  losses,  blood,  and viscera all begin to meld together in its memory.  It still can’t kill either of them.  The Spectre clearly is trying to give it chances to succeed,  to the point it was once sent into a round with only Noob,  Elliot,  and itself.  The timer was longer than usual,  and the map was flat.  An easy win.

It shouldn’t have lost,  but the round had ended early,  and there was a void where the memory should have been.  Where its memories stopped and started were clean cuts,  as though simply censored with a black box.  It has a theory though.  One that made enough sense with how Noob was distraught and clinging to it after most of the pain from its punishment receded (a few thin bands across its torso still flared up every time it moved,  only lending credence to it),  and the disturbed look on Elliot’s face.  He had even asked if it was alright.  Perhaps he was the one with something wrong.  It was just doing what it was made for,  the only thing it’s good for.

It was sent to something that wasn’t quite a round,  the aftermath of one maybe.  A few killers it had never seen before were milling about (one red-white,  another red-black,  the third white-green),  two crouched over something (the upper halves of bodies,  Shedletsky and Guest),  while the red-black one was lounging across the terrain near the white-green one.  Hm.  It ignores them,  hunting down the two survivors the Spectre is luring it toward.  It was not pleased to find Noob and Elliot torn in half and hanging on by what appeared to be the Spectre’s doing.  Their deaths were swift (a mercy,  all things considered),  and it only seemed to spur on the Spectre’s insistence that it could kill them.  It didn’t care,  and was quick to lash out at the white-green killer creature that had been carving up Shedletsky’s body as soon as it was in range.  The mystery killer didn’t make it out of there alive,  but neither did 1x once the red-black one spotted it.

Some survivors were all sorts of angry when it got back.  The usual suspects,  Shedletsky,  Builderman,  and Chance.  Something about how it wasn’t as kind to the two weak (vulnerable,  fragile,  it was protecting them) survivors as it pretended to be.  They only calmed down after Guest and Dusekkar got between the four of them to explain what Elliot had told them.  Chance was the only one truly soothed by the knowledge,  shouting an apology as Noob dragged it away.

Noob and Elliot weren’t in the round after that.  It went smoothly.  Two Time fell first,  then Builderman,  then Dusekkar,  then it stumbled across Shedletsky hiding away (like the vermin he is),  then Guest,  Chance,  007n7,  and finally Taph.  It wasn’t sure why the Spectre seemed angry at it when sending it back to the lodge (lies,  it knew exactly why,  this round was a test and it failed ,  it being rescued to become a killer was a mistake,  because it was clearly worthless at it-).

There was an all too familiar dread hours later when Telamon had glided into the lodge later that night,  far past when the survivors normally went to sleep.  It did its best to ignore his taunts and jabs,  it knew this song and dance after all.  He would remind it of everything he did wrong during its creation,  how it never even functioned properly,  how he hardly even thought of it a mindless killing machine,  that it was far below that.  It could ignore him (it absorbed his words,  he has always been truthful,  for better and worse),  it could keep staring into the fireplace and pretending it was elsewhere (sometimes it liked to envision the gardens from before it ended up here,  on the few occasions it slipped its shackles and fought its way out of obscurity),  but when he yanked on one of its wings in an effort to grab its attention it was quick to wrap its hands around his throat in return.

The next few minutes were a blur of sound and movement and touch.  Someone shouted,  a dozen hands attempted to pry it away from the swordsman to no avail (hate hate hate,  it wants to claw its skin off,  how dare they when he started it,  how could they side with him -).  The two of them were dragged somewhere dark (it can’t go back),  gravel crunching underfoot,  only able to recognize where the survivors had dragged it and Telamon to when it was plunged underwater.  It released him,  clawing at the hands latched around its own throat,  holding it under until its vision began to fade.

It wasn’t expecting the hands around its neck to let go.  It made the near-fatal mistake of inhaling on instinct before it had surfaced.  Water flooded its lungs just before someone dragged it above water to cough up its organs.  Whoever was next to it (blue sweater,  ugly green pants,  who else could it be but Noob?  They and Guest are the only one’s bold enough to manhandle it,  and even Guest isn’t foolish enough to try when it's fighting for its life) shifted so it could rest against them.  Which was probably for the best because it felt like it was going to pass out.  The world was spinning,  and it couldn’t stop shivering (from the cold,  nothing else,  it was just cold out and 1x itself runs cool.  It’s shivering to stay warm.  That’s all).  Noob noticed,  they always do,  murmuring reassurances while petting its wings.

There was a shouting match on the shore.  It caught sight of Shedletsky’s corpse.  His neck was mangled far beyond repair,  trachea collapsed with several puncture and claw wounds smeared with blood.  It nearly lashed out when Noob lightly pressed two fingers to the side of its neck for a few seconds.  They seemed unhappy with its pulse as they stood up (they’re sopping wet,  and the bad-wrong feeling creeps in.  It thinks the Spectre should provide them with some spare clothing if It hadn’t already).

Someone yells something about leaving it to drown between rounds.  Someone else snaps back about that being inhumane.  It can’t find the energy to care when Noob helps lift it up,  supporting it on their way to the cabin.  (It bumps its head into theirs as softly as it can and hopes they understand what it means.  It doesn’t know what it wants them to get out of the action.  Maybe it’s an apology.  Maybe gratitude.  Maybe both.)

They had set it in a wooden chair when they scurried off to grab it a towel.  (Too kind for their own good.  Will the rest of the survivors ostracize them for this?  Or will their relationship with Elliot be enough to keep them in their good graces?)  They’re back and drying its hair before it’d even noticed they left.  They help it stand so they can towel off its limbs.  As humiliating as it is,  it quickly proves to be a good idea when 1x nearly fell over not long after it had stood (it should be able to stand without assistance,  it doesn’t understand why its legs are so shaky),  only catching itself because it had grabbed onto Noob’s shoulder.  (It drew blood.  There were clear claw marks on their shoulder.  They seemed to notice something off about its reaction with how they immediately started trying to comfort it.  Their words didn’t help with the weird-bad feeling.)

They take its bandana off,  sparing a horrified glance at its amputated wings (had they really not seen them before?), before walking outside to wring it out.  It took longer than expected for Noob to come back,  but when they did their clothes were dry and Elliot was following them.  They helped it to its couch.  Elliot looked mildly concerned about how much it stumbled.  Noob sits down beside it,  clearly trying everything they can think of to help it relax.  It doesn’t work.

The duo had a back and forth about why it was acting odd.  Elliot insisted it must be injured,  Noob was certain that it was frightened.  Urgh.  It tears itself away from Noob and lays down,  burying its head under its cape to block out the sound of their voices.  It’s head is pounding and the glow from the fireplace is too bright when they’re talking.  There’s a quiet apology from Noob,  and the two settle down for the night on the couch across from it.  (It won’t be sleeping,  it doesn’t trust Telamon to not retaliate,  be it against 1x itself or against the slumbering survivors.  He can speak the truth to it,  hurt it all he wants,  but it’ll be damned if it lets him hurt the other two.  They did nothing to him,  he can’t hurt them.)

It could barely function in the round that followed,  exhaustion weighing its limbs down.  Its only saving grace was that Elliot and Builderman weren’t in the round.  It managed two kills,  Dusekkar and Taph,  before Noob had found it preparing to snap Chance’s neck.  They had squeaked out a request for mercy,  as they always did.  It wasn’t thinking and dropped him,  a mistake that it should not have made.  The gambler’s baffled laughter and small jab about Noob having it wrapped around their finger were nothing compared to the rage it felt from the Spectre.  Judging by how Chance quieted down and the survivors grew antsy not long after,  they all must’ve felt it too.

The punishment was typical for it.  Sure,  the Spectre killed it a few times in the process which was unusual,  but outside of that it was just broken bones and bloody wounds.  Nothing new.  It was laying on the dock trying to catch its breath,  hard to do with a collapsed lung,  when Shedletsky stormed out of the lodge.  He looked like he wanted to strangle it when he demanded to know what it did.  It stared blankly at him until he hissed something about Noob getting back and immediately collapsing in pain,  begging for it and Elliot.  It pushed itself to its feet and shoved past him,  ignoring the lodge (if it had never let them get close none of this would be happening,  the Spectre would leave them alone,  they wouldn’t be used as a punishment,  it’s a killing machine and it should have killed them,  it would have prevented this,  they’re hurting and it’s all its fault,  it should let the Spectre kill it,  that way this won’t happen again-) and wandering into the woods.

It needs to give the survivors space (for its own sake,  it needs to be able to kill all of them again,  it’s not worried about Noob or Elliot getting caught in the Spectre’s crossfire,  it’s not capable of feeling worry,  it wasn’t created to feel worry),  and if that means finding somewhere else to be until it either dies permanently or gets sent back to the killer’s house,  then so be it.  It hauls itself into a tree,  no point in letting anything that may be in the woods kill it while it's sleeping (not that it will be).  It considers chopping its hair short for easier maintenance now that it needs to do it on its own (memories of Noob’s excitement to braid its hair surfaces to the forefront of its mind),  before it decides to leave it be for now.

The thought of their disappointment in it can’t stop it from plucking a few feathers,  or picking at a few scabs.  What’s a slight sting or negligible blood loss to being the sacrifice in a game rigged against you?  What it’s doing is nothing in the grand scheme of things.  It digs its claws in,  iridescent blood glinting in the eternal moonlight.  Its pain,  its blood is little more than a drop in a bucket compared to what they’ve been through.  It may never spill enough blood to make up for theirs,  but it’s still a small,  yet acceptable,  start towards its recompense.

Chapter Text

1x didn’t even have a moment to prepare itself before it had found itself in a new round soon after the survivors’ lunch time.  Annoying,  with it being a bit earlier than usual,  but not a concern,  given it had a plan to follow.  It was going to take out the support,  or at the very least Builderman since he’s the only healer in Elliot’s absence,  then the sentinels,  then 007n7,  and then finally,  finally redeem itself (prove that it’s useful,  that it’s not worthless,  that it can do something right) by killing Noob (it’s been a dozen rounds of trying and failing and it can’t let Telamon be right about it again even though it knows he is).

Sure,  the sentinels were more than likely to play more aggressively than usual,  but that had become the new norm.  Few had survived recent rounds with it,  and they were just trying to secure a victory.  It couldn’t blame them for wanting to live,  but it certainly wouldn’t bring them mercy.

That didn’t stop it from being confused when Builderman had foolishly set up his sentry in the open,  hardly even looking around to make sure the killer wasn’t on its way to him.  It wasn’t complaining though,  he’d be an easy kill.  Mass infection would whittle his health down while he was a sitting duck,  then it could entangle him to catch up when he inevitably ran away,  then it could finish him off.  It wound up its mass infection,  aimed straight for the bullseye,  until Guest slammed into its side,  knocking the projectile far off course.

He blocked the following slash,  barking out,  “Now!” before backing out of slashing range.

His shout barely gave it enough warning to spot Shedletsky running its way,  but nowhere near enough to notice Two Time before they plunged their dagger into its back,  making sure to twist the blade on the way out.  It barely even blinked before Telamon’s sword had pierced cleanly through its ribcage,  and soon enough Chance had put the muzzle of their gun to its head and fired.  It was too dazed from the bullet to do anything but watch as the admins’ pet demolitionist threw a tripmine at its feet,  the five of them long gone by the time its vision had cleared up.

Despite being able to see clearly,  it had taken far too long for 1x to recover from the sentinels’ attack.  By the time it had staggered to its feet to track down 007n7 they were all running its way once more.  It prepared to dart out of the way of Two Time,  Shedletsky,  and Guest,  only to have the air punched from its lungs when there was a BANG from behind it.  Two Time rushed in and attempted to slit its throat,  only for the wound to heal enough to prevent its death in the wake of the dagger.  Shedletsky followed up with a slash across its upper arm,  and Guest landed the final blow by slamming into it,  causing it to fall back and crack its head against one of the dozens of pointless concrete half-walls.

It barely managed to make out the soldier's face,  painted with guilt and confliction (the perfect soldier,  blindly following orders that are against his morals,  like the subservient,  spineless man he is),  before another tripmine sent the world spinning in a flash of pink.  It hoisted itself to its feet despite the fact it couldn’t make out a single thing around it.

Once 1x had enough of its vision back to function,  it plucked out its eye,  spotting the majority of the survivors across the map in one of the flag squares.  It sprinted over,  ignoring the beeping and bullets from Builderman’s sentry,  slashing at the first person it saw.

Chance hissed in pain,  darting out of the way of a second swing.  It changed targets,  entangling Builderman,  ignoring the sentinel’s shouting.  It managed to land a blow before he finally freed himself,  jumping away from the second one.

It wound up its mass infection,  the idiots mostly grouped up,  at least two of them would be hit no matter how they tried to scramble out of the way.  

Guest’s fist slammed into its temple,  sending it staggering to the side,  projectile dissipating.  Shedletsky-  no,  Telamon strode forward (cold eyes;  quiet,  measured steps;  far more poised than Shedletsky ever was.  It averted its gaze,  it knew better,  especially when the Spectre was keeping it frozen to where it knelt),  grabbing a fistful of its hair near the scalp,  and swinging its face into one of the concrete walls surrounding it.

Everyone was apparently too stunned to react (absolutely shocking,  positively unthinkable that selfless,  kind,  ‘Shedletsky’ could do such a thing) even as he slammed its head into the wall again.  There was a loud CRUNCH that followed,  it barely managed to turn its head,  wing taking the brunt of it rather than its skull.

The sound seemed to snap everyone out of their stupor,  Chance and Guest both rushing over to stop Telamon from continuing his rampage.  There was a quick,  almost nervous,  “C’mon,  you’re takin’ this a little far,  don’t ya think?  Don’t gotta stoop to his level,” from Chance,  and a stern,  “Shedletsky,  that’s enough,  let go,”  from Guest.

The two managed to disentangle its hair from Telamon’s grip,  Guest quickly stepping between the god and his worthless creation,  while Chance dragged it to its feet,  brushing off its shoulders.  It carefully avoided Telamon’s stare,  instead scanning Builderman (he was trying his best to maintain a poker face,  but his disapproval leaked through regardless.  It can’t wait for Shedletsky to try to explain this one),  Two Time (they kept smiling,  but it could sense their unease with how their gaze kept flicking between Telamon,  itself,  and Guest.  Not to mention how they kept shifting their weight as though they were prepared to run),  and Taph (staring,  frozen and unreadable beneath his cloak).

It wiped blood from its face,  wounds stinging from the friction,  and lifted its daemonshanks.  It still had to kill after all,  and it’s near-certain that the round should have ended a few minutes ago.  It wouldn’t be surprised if the Spectre’s drawing it out to give the sentinels time to kill it,  with how they’ve all been acting.  If the round won’t end naturally,  then 1x will just have to end it on its own.

It slashed at Chance,  only for Guest to jump in the way to block the attack.  The gambler was quick to fire a bullet into its knee,  forcing it to use the bloody concrete wall to keep its balance.  It barely managed to evade Two Time’s stab,  but was not lucky enough to avoid Shedletsky’s sword cleaving into its flank.

It retaliates in kind,  the movement only serving to tear its side open further as Shedletsky dodges out of the way.  A tripmine bounces off its chest,  giving it just enough warning to cover its eyes as most of the survivors run away.

It blinks the pink out of its eyes as the ringing in its ears fades away.  It spots Guest passing what looks like a medkit to Two Time.  He says something to them about finding someone underground,  before shooing them away.  They scurry off as Guest goes to catch up with the other sentinels,  and it knows it needs to chase the cultist down.  But it also needs to recuperate,  especially with its face being scraped up and the nasty wound Shedletsky gave it (and the bullet it took to the head,  and the hole it has through its chest,  and the sleep deprivation,  and-).

It stays there momentarily,  long enough for the nearby turret to finally explode.  It tests out the leg Chance shot,  the damn thing nearly gives out under its weight,  but it’s mostly functional.  It plucks its eye out,  spotting the kill squad across the map once more and Two Time trotting up one of the ramps to join them.

It’s about to slink out of the flag area to sneak under the sentinels’ for an ambush when someone grabbed its wrist,  nearly getting sent back to the cabin for sneaking up on it.  The hand recoiled as it turned and saw Noob’s face,  covered in dried tear tracks,  eyes locked on the arm they had tried to grab.  Not a threat (the weak part of it declared them safe,  and it couldn’t quite disagree.  They were too loyal to even consider hurting it after all).  They tentatively reached out again,  carefully inspecting the scabs littering its forearms.  It tried to take its captive arm back,  but they only tightened their grasp in response.

The nearby gun props were suddenly rather interesting,  given how they were made of the same stone-like material as most of the arena was,  an eerie reminder of how little It actually seemed to know about life outside of its realm.  Far more interesting than watching Noob’s sad expression deepen with every wound they took note of.  (If it had just killed the sentinels,  recovered from the stuns faster,  done better when it had first showed up in their home,  this wouldn’t be happening.)

They say something it doesn’t care about,  (“What happened?  A-Are you alright..?”  A softer,  “…Did I do something wrong?”  Part of it wanted to speak.  It doesn’t.)  It hears them sniffle (its fault,  why did it let them get attached),  but is too busy noticing Taph watching from behind the dividing wall (is he going to rat it out?) to react.  They tug on its arm with a quiet,  “C’mon,  let's get you patched up.”

Noob dragged it to the nearby ramp underground as discreetly as they could when it was tall,  glowing,  and dual wielding swords that,  much like it,  were never meant to exist.  They led it around a few corners,  clearly trying to find a hiding place,  only to turn one and walk directly into 007n7’s back.  The man looked up from where he was fiddling with his c00lgui,  double taking and going pale when he noticed 1x standing there.

He nearly bolted out of the area,  only stopped by Noob’s panicked whisper-shout of,  “H-Hey,  wait,  you can stay!  T-They won’t hurt you!”

He seemed unconvinced,  eyes flicking between Noob and 1x (it should mass infect both of them now,  while they’re lined up.  Maybe landing kills would remind the sentinels what it was capable of),  but he wasn’t inching towards the nearest gap in the walls anymore.  Noob takes it as their sign to keep talking.

“I-I know you don’t like them,  but I can’t sit back and watch them all slaughter them…  I-I’m going to heal them-  a-and you don’t have to stick around!”  They sounded near to tears,  unsurprising considering it was certain they had been crying earlier (and it was all it’s fault.  Had it just hurried up and killed them when they first grabbed its wrist,  had it never let them get close in the first place-) “I’m not going to make you,  but…  please stay?  O-Or at the very least d-don’t tell the sentinels,  I don’t want them to die…”

007n7 was silent through their rambling,  waiting until they were done to nod,  resigned.  “Go sit behind those,”  he points to some boxes farther into the dead-end he had stashed himself away in,  “If they come around I’ll…  figure something out.  No promises,  but I’ll try to keep them away.”

“T-Thank you,”  Noob dragged it to where the hacker had directed them.

They push it to sit,  and it’s quick to comply,  more than happy to give its aching knee a break.  Noob opens up the medkit,  pulling out a roll of bandages and shuffling close enough to wind them around its midsection to cover Shedletsky’s ‘parting gift’.  They blink back tears,  wiping their eyes on their shoulder (surely they’re not this upset over it,   it has to be the excessive amounts of blood,  right?  Or maybe it’s because Elliot’s not here,  after all,  his absence is what stresses them out the most.  Why would they,  kind and loyal to their friends,  be this upset over it,   it hardly qualifies as anything more than a construct,  it’s hurt them,  killed them more times than it can count-) before moving onto pressing gauze onto its knee before wrapping it.

They hiccup,  clearly far louder than intended by how they cringe when 007n7 speaks up,  “Do you need help?  I know some first aid.”

“N-No,  I,”  Their voice cracks,  “I-I’ve got it covered…”

“Let me know if you change your mind,  kid.”

They nod,  carefully wrapping the semi-healed slash across its throat with shaking hands.  1x tilted its head up,  partially to make their life easier,  partially because it was hard to avoid eye contact when they were that close to it,  and it hated the look on their face (why can’t it hate them? )

It doesn’t take long before they move onto the gash across its arm,  soon followed by the hole where it’d been impaled.  It takes Noob longer than it had expected for them to finish patching that wound.  They had to take a break for a minute afterwards,  hands trembling too hard,  vision too clouded with tears (it wants to reach out,  give them its hand to hold,  but it can’t,  so it doesn’t),  to be able to continue.

They finally compose themself enough to wrap where Two Time had stabbed it in the back and Chance had shot it in the chest,  covering the dozens of more minor bullet wounds from the sentry along the way.  It watched them finally put the bandage away,  instead tearing open a small package of antiseptic wipes.

“This is going to hurt.  I’m sorry,”  Was the only warning 1x got before Noob reached for its face.  

They carefully wiped dirt and debris out of the massive scrape,  clearly trying to make it as painless as possible.  It wasn’t working,  the wounds still stung,  but it was…  tolerable.  It didn’t make a peep,  didn’t flinch,  did nothing to worry them.  Up until they moved to toss the wipe away,  when it grabbed their hand (careful not to scratch,  or pinch,  or bruise) to show them the,  shockingly shallow,  bullet hole on its temple.  They clean it as quickly as they can before repacking the kit with everything salvageable.

“I-I can’t fix your wing,  I don’t know how…”  They delivered the news like it was going to be soul-crushing,  but it truly didn’t matter to 1x (if it heals wrong,  would they still be willing to preen it,  or will they only be able to preen the other one?  (Who is it kidding,  the real question is if they’ll still be willing to preen it after all it’s put them through lately.))

1x nods,  barely moving,  and yet somehow they pick up on it anyway,  expression relaxing minutely.  Their omniscience about what it’s thinking is yet another bit of esoteric knowledge they hold that it will never comprehend.  They sat as close as they could without touching it,  a difficult task considering 1x had its back to the boxes Noob had hidden it behind,  rather than the wall they were sitting against.  They were,  rather obviously,  trying to avoid looking its way (it really doesn’t understand why,  they should be happy that the sentinels’ can kill it,  it’s a victory for their team),  all while trying to stifle their whimpering and will their tears away.

(It knows that they find cuddling with Elliot soothing after bad rounds,  but does this even qualify as one?  Nobody died,  the killer is incapacitated,  and there’s a healer of sorts on the team.  The only thing wrong is that the pizza man isn’t here,  but that’s never quite been the same as a bad round.  It doesn’t know why they’re so upset…  Their sniffling might give away its position though,  so maybe it’d be…  strategically beneficial for it to calm them down…  Yeah.  It would be,  and it’s not like it’s doing this for their sake,  it’s far too selfish and cruel for that,  it’s just trying to save its own skin.  It won’t say anything to them,  silent as it has been,  it can continue its mission despite this.)

Noob is fidgeting with the hem of their sweater when 1x leans forward to grab their forearm,  making them briefly freeze.  It pulls on their arm with the least amount of force it can manage,  and they scoot a bit closer,  yet they’re still too far away for it to calm them down.  It tugs on their arm until they’re sitting sort of beside it,  yet they’re still trying to avoid touching its leg,  as though it’d shatter on contact.  It pulls on their arm again,  but Noob doesn’t budge,  instead their brows furrow.

“I don’t want to hurt you,”  (As if they could.)  It gives them the most deadpan expression it can muster,  hoping they can figure it out through the smoke and distortion.  “R-Right,  you’re strong and good at hiding pain,  b-but I still don’t want to make things worse-”

It exaggerates an eye-roll,  moving its head more than its eyes,  before it pulls them onto its lap,  Noob letting out a quiet squeak at the sudden movement.  It let go of their arm,  giving them the chance to leave if it overstepped (why does it care if it overstepped?  It’s the 1x1x1x1,  cruelty and hatred and immorality were the sole reasons for its existence,  its depravity was woven into Telamon’s religious texts!  WHY does it care?? ),  but they don’t back out,  instead slumping forward to bury their face into its shoulder and sob.

It wraps an arm around them (to help them calm down,  so they don’t give away its location),  using its free hand to card through their hair,  mindful of its claws (it should probably trim them to be a little bit more blunt.  But then again,  it likes having sharpened claws a back-up reminder for people to mind its personal space).  Its bandana is slowly soaked with tears,  snot (eugh,  gross,   it’s going to need to wash it when it gets home ( home? )),  and more than likely some of its own blood as the minutes ticked on.  Noob didn’t seem to care all that much though.  It rests its chin on their head.

Pebbles clattering from one of the ramps caught its attention,  and it tucked its legs closer to its body as it shifted closer to the wall.  Noob tenses when they realize,  unintentionally digging their fingers into its skin.  The combination of them laying on it,  and its weakness from the injuries it sustained were something of a blessing,  muting its ever present light.  Footsteps shuffled closer,  before someone stumbled,  hissing out a,  “Taph!”,  as the Spectre revealed Shedletsky’s aura.  At least it knew now that they were coming from the better side,  where the box would shield it as they approached.  It kept petting Noob’s hair,  trying to keep them from hyperventilating as the sentinels drew close enough for it to make out their conversation.

“Seven,  have you seen it?”  The speaker’s voice was low,  threatening.

Telamon,  coming to make its life hell as always.  It prepared to jump out of the way,  or take a hit if it meant keeping Noob out of his way (why does it care if he stabs them?).

“No,  sorry.  Have you checked the killer gates?”

There’s a few seconds of silence that sets its feathers on end.  It nudges Noob until they back up enough for it to reach for its swords if worst came to worst.  They scoot out of the way entirely,  giving it free range of movement.

“We’ve looked everywhere up top.  Do you mind if I check back there?”

“No!  But since there’s nothing there,  it’d be a waste of time,  maybe they’re somewhere over there!”  1x can’t believe 007n7 managed to evade the admins for as long as he had.

“Riiight.”  It got to its feet,  staying low to the ground as it gathered its blades.

Stones crunched beneath the deity’s talons as it shifted to place itself between him and Noob (Why.  Does.  It.  Care.?).  Telamon rounds the boxes,  meeting its gaze with unfaltering apathy as its heart stops momentarily.  It lunges at him,  headbutting him square in the chest and avoiding decapitation by mere inches as the two topple to the ground.  It ignores the blood running down its back and the reopened wound on its side in favor of plunging one of its swords into his chest right before he can kick it away and scramble to his feet.  Telamon grits his teeth as he ignores the Spectres rules,  slashing at it again as it struggles to stand.  It spots Taph throwing something its way before running over to block Noob’s view (they were watching with wide eyes,  nearly catatonic.  Maybe it needs to reassess how much it hates Taph).

It tosses one arm over its eyes as the tripmine goes off,  just barely preventing itself from being blinded.  It manages to scurry out of the way while Telamon was reeling from the bright light,  quickly entangling him,  and finally,  finally,   finishing him off with a mass infection.  It’s wobbling on its feet when Guest slides next to it,  ignoring its growling in favor of putting its arm over his shoulder (when did it drop its swords?).  It begrudgingly takes its weight off its bad knee,  leaning against the soldier instead,  still shaking even though it has no reason to.

He doesn’t move like it had expected him to,  instead nodding in Taph’s direction,  “Can someone get Noob,  they don't look well.”

Chance and Two Time move to help Taph get them to their feet and away from the corpse,  revealing Builderman studying it from the opening of the dead end.  It couldn’t get a read on him,  or see him particularly well with how much it’s vision was blurring.  It tried to blink its eyes clear,  but it was pointless.  It grumbled when Guest started moving once Noob was out of the way,  nearly having to drag it through the tunnels.  He’s about to ascend one of the ramps when it digs its heels into the ground to stop him.

It waits until it sees the blurry shapes of the gambler and cultist turn the corner at the top before murmuring,  “The timer isn’t going to restart.  Make it quick before Noob comes looking for us.”

He hesitates briefly,  clearly weighing options in his head (asshole),  “Only if you explain why you’ve been acting like this recently.”

It pins its one good wing back in a way that it hopes reminds him of a pissed off dog or cat,  “ Fine.  Hurry up.”

“Yeah,  yeah,  yeah.  You need to learn some patience.”

It wasn’t even trying to rush him!  “ Excuse me? ”

The world went black.

It hissed at the migraine it had when it awoke.  It’s going to get brain damage at this rate.  It forced itself to sit up,  nearly backing up and falling into the lake when it opened its eyes to see Shedletsky standing way too close for comfort (he’s at the other end of the dock,  he’s not that close,  he’s not the threat,  it shouldn’t react like that to him standing there looking like a kicked puppy).  It stands up as quickly as it can,  without the action coming across as strange.

He holds up his hands,  it’d normally assume in mock surrender,  but he seemed far too genuine this time.  He walks forward slowly,  clearly trying to appear friendly.  What is wrong with him (does he think it's weak ?  That it needs to be approached like a frightened animal? ).

He stops a few feet away,  speaking quietly,  “I’m sorry about him.  I don’t know why he-”

Bullshit.  It stormed past him,  making sure to shove him into the water for good measure.  The swordsman had the audacity to laugh to himself with a quiet,  “Yeah,  I deserved that.”  (Damn right he did.)

It makes its way to the woods,  catching snippets of a conversation between Elliot and Noob.

“-sure they’re fine.”  Elliot sounded worried,  but not overly so.

“No!  Last time a round ended early,  they-”  Noob’s voice was shrill,  despite the fact they were trying to keep to a normal volume,  before it cut out.

“Guest said they survived,  it’s ok,  why don’t we go find them.”  His words were punctuated by the two of them walking out onto the porch.

1x tries to walk faster to get out of sight,  but it’s clear Noob had already spotted it by the sound of them sprinting down the path.  It turns just in time to catch them,  so they wouldn’t send both of them to the ground.  Elliot jogs over to them,  keeping a healthy distance between it and himself (as he should).  Noob turns to give Elliot a look it can’t see,  but it can’t be anything good judging by the apprehensive look on his face.

“Noob,  you’re joking.”  They shake their head,  and Elliot glances at it before looking back down at them.  “I don’t have a death wish.”

“They let you preen them,  and when we slept in the living room we were fine…  I don’t think they’re going to hurt you.”

Elliot looks back up at it,  and it stares back,  trying to stay as non-threatening as possible.  For Noob’s sake (not for their sake,  why would it be for their sake??),  and not because it wants Elliot to trust it.  The pizza man lets out the most exhausted sigh it’s ever heard,  “After dinner.  But they have to sleep in the other bed.”

What the fuck were the two of them planning.

“They’re sleeping in our cabin?”  Noob’s words were hopeful.

“I thought…”  Maybe they weren’t on the same page?  “Yeah,  but only for tonight.  I’m going to ask Guest to stay in Chance’s room though.”

Noob was beaming,  while Elliot looked like he’d just resigned himself to eternal damnation.  The duo exchanged a few more words before Elliot headed inside.  It began walking back down to the lake,  slipping its bandana off.  If it was expected to sleep in Noob’s cabin tonight then it might as well wash the grimy thing.  The survivor picked up on what it was doing pretty quickly,  wandering off to grab soap.  They sat silently beside it as it scrubbed the garment,  staining the water beneath the dock with a dark,  oily film.  It partially wondered if it should ponder what Noob had planned,  but it doubted it was anything dangerous in store.

It was cuddling.  Noob had somehow roped Elliot and 1x1x1x1 into cuddling with them.  Granted it was mostly Elliot and Noob cuddling with each other,  with 1x being a comforting (or concerning,  depending on who you asked) presence,  but still.  Even more shocking was that Elliot had fallen asleep while it was still on the bed.  It had expected him to tell it to go back to the lodge when he and Noob had started squabbling about a ‘binder’ and how it was bad to sleep in.  Yet here he was,  snoring softly while Noob was messing with his hair,  and it couldn’t stop making the weird growling noises usually reserved for when it's the one being preened.

It can’t figure out how it of all things managed to end up here,  but it can’t find the energy to care when they start petting its wings.

Chapter Text

1x had barely gotten any sleep with Elliot tossing and turning across the room.  It can’t be mad at him for it,  he’s not even awake to stop himself,  but it’s still incredibly irritating.  It’s a little surprised that he hasn’t fallen off the bed yet,  but then again,  he slept on the inside.  Maybe since Noob slept like a rock they were the barrier between him and the floor.

It had almost managed to doze off when his and Noob’s bed squeaked again.  Elliot’s breathing changed slightly,  becoming a little deeper,  and a little more frequent..  It ignored him,  eyes closed,   even when it could feel his gaze on its back.  It didn’t take long for him to fall back to sleep,  his presence seeming to disappear entirely.

It rolls over,  glancing at the duo’s bed briefly,  unable to spot where Elliot could be.  The Spectre doesn’t normally send people into rounds this early,  but maybe It did today?  1x slides out of bed,  ghostly silent moves to Noob’s side of the room.  Sure enough,  Elliot’s gone.  How unfortunate.  Maybe it should tell Chance or Guest about the pizza man’s disappearance.  Might as well get their opinion on what to do with Noob too,  if the sentinels are still here.

Its talons click on the wooden floor as it makes its way to their room,  lightly knocking on the door with the back of its hand.  It hears someone moving around briefly,  before the cabin once again falls into silence.  It knocks again after a couple seconds.  A bed creaks,  and someone shuffles to the door.  It takes a step back as it’s pulled open,  revealing a groggy looking Guest.

It wastes no time telling him,  “The Spectre decided to do an early round.  Elliot’s gone,  but Noob isn’t.”

The soldier nods,  glancing over to Chance’s bed,  pausing briefly.  “Chance is here too.  I’ll go check on everyone else.  You just stay with Noob,  make sure they don’t run off looking for him.”

He slips past it,  closing the door behind him,  walking out the door and down the path to the other cabins.  1x wandered back to where it was staying,  watching Noob’s steady breathing as it decided on how to best (protect) supervise them.  It considered (curling around them and shielding them with its wings that it doesn’t have and-) waking them up to tell them that Elliot was in a round,  but it’d be for the best that they get some rest.  Not like they can do anything about it.

It scooted back into the spare bed,  bunching the blankets around itself to stay a little warmer (urgh,  it probably looked like some sort of nest).  It heard Guest walking back to his room less than half an hour later.  It was far longer before Noob finally stirred,  though it only took them a fraction of a minute to notice Elliot’s absence,  breath hitching as they got up,  walking to the door.  1x stood,  taking long strides in order to grab their wrist before they could leave.

“Where are you going?”  Its voice is far more harsh than it intended (because it was meant to hurt,  and kill,  and hate,  not to try to comfort someone who it should despise,  why would it even try ?  Perhaps it was created defective,  before it even truly began to live),  but they relax upon hearing it regardless,  leaning against it slightly.

“I-I need to find Elliot,  it’s too early for him to be in a round,  so he’s probably in the big cabin…”  They trail off,  glancing at the door.

“Spectre took him not long before you woke up,  I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”  It’s a little surprised that Elliot’s survived this long on his own,  but it keeps its tone neutral.  “We can go see if someone made breakfast though.”

Noob nods,  and it grabs its bandana from where it had been hanging to dry overnight,  fighting to put it on with only one hand.  It grumbles without malice at Noob when they reach over to help.  Once the cloth finally is secured well enough,  Noob slides their wrist out of its lax grip,  instead grabbing its hand to drag it to the kitchen.  It’s quick to follow,  making sure to not outpace the shorter survivor.  Noob gave extra leeway to Shedletsky,  dragging 1x a little faster as they passed him.  It couldn’t help but notice that they swapped the side it was standing on,  so that they were between it and the swordsman as they scooped eggs and toast onto a plate.

1x simply watched,  preparing to follow when Noob left the room.  They stared back when it stood motionless,  despite Noob gesturing to the toast and Guest promising that he and 007n7 made enough for everyone.  The survivalist eventually just sighed and grabbed two extra slices,  before wandering back out to the living room to eat.

It sat down on its usual end of the couch,  and they weren’t far behind,  reclining against its flank as they picked up a slice of toast,  holding it out to it.  They were staring at it with wet eyes,  like they were about to cry (once again reminding it too much of a lamb finding comfort beside a starving beast).  It weighed its options,  skip the food (which would be ideal) and upset them further (they’re already distraught and scared without Elliot here to ground them (is he alright?)),  or swallow its pride and eat from their hand like a dog (urgh).

“Please eat,  it’s been days…”  Their voice is nearly too quiet to hear,  and it gives in with a sigh.

It plucks the morsel from their hand.  They didn’t bring up the way it wolfed it down in record time,  just silently passing it the other piece as they munched on their eggs.  It’s stolen the toast they had gotten for themself before it realizes (they must have felt like they had to give it up,  it was letting them go hungry when it didn’t even need to eat),  but they seem content regardless.

(It can’t believe it’s put itself in a position to be this disgustingly…  domestic.  It hates that it can see another life outside of this hellscape (one it can never achieve,  everyone is going to eventually die here after all),  one where it,  Noob,  and Elliot are enjoying their meal before their daily duties (where would it work in a world where it wasn’t what it is?  How would it meet them?).  Maybe 1x looks more like they do,  less intimidating and eerie.  Or perhaps it looks more like it did before its wings were amputated,  when it was still trapped with Shedletsky and Telamon.  (It doesn’t matter though,  it will never happen (they and Elliot should hate it,  it’s cruel,  and heartless,  and evil,  neither of them should ever forgive it for what it’s done to them),  and it shouldn’t think of such things.  It’s a killing machine,  it wasn’t created to care,  or to want,  or to comfort.  It is here to hate,  and maim,  and slaughter.  It’s the antithesis to its survivors’ happiness,  and should not insert itself in their lives more than it already has (but by the Spawn it wants to).))

It’s dragged away from its thoughts when Noob shifts,  setting their plate on the table and wiping their hands off with a napkin.  It follows in suit,  ridding its hands of the few stray specks of jam and peanut butter,  before it tossed it onto the dirty plate.  It grabbed the dishes,  wandering off to the kitchen to throw away the napkins and rinse off the plate,  before heading back out to Noob.

Within seconds of it sitting back down they had slumped against its side (do they forgive it?  Could they?),  grabbing its hand to fidget with its claws.  It used its unrestrained hand to fix their hair,  carefully detangling strands and brushing fly-aways back into place.  (Its stupid bird instincts wanted to preen them properly.  Not just fixing their hair,  but making sure their wings,  which they clearly do not have,  are in perfect shape.  Ugh.)

Someone strolled past the couch,  tossing something over and over again,  only to pause before loudly saying,  “You really do purr,  huh?  Wouldn’t’ve expected that from ya.”

It hadn’t even realized it was placidly growling,  but stopped as soon as he mentioned it,  turning to glare at the gambler.  He kept doing his coin tricks,  an easygoing smile on his face as he walked away despite its seething.

Noob lightly pulls on its arm to grab its attention,  quietly asking,  “Can you please purr again?”

Its own hushed,  “I don’t purr ,”  clearly meant nothing to them as they silently continued to plead for it to resume its growling.

Their manipulation worked,  unfortunately,  and it took Noob less than five minutes to coax it into begrudgingly half-laying on the couch so they could use its chest as a pillow (as if they could force it to do anything,  it’s far stronger than they’ll ever be (so why is it so weak?)).  Noob is alert despite their apparent weariness,  peering over the back of the couch whenever there’s a sound that could even remotely signal Elliot’s return.

It gets the sudden need to blink,  which is followed by the sound of objects clattering to the ground around the lodge.  A round must’ve started,  though it’s a little earlier than usual.  Noob got clingier afterwards (it can understand why.  Elliot should’ve gotten back forever ago),  refusing to let it out of their sight.  It dips its down slightly,  offering them one of its wings to pet.  They breathe a little easier afterwards.

The survivors trickle back from their round slowly but surely.  Dusekkar first,  looking mildly irritated and clutching his head,  muttering something about,  “Purée the pumpkin to make a pie,  add some heat and he is sure to die.”  Whatever he hit his head on must’ve given him one hell of a concussion.  Chance was back next,  one hand covered in soot,  smile strained as he sauntered off to the lake.  He was followed by Taph not long after,  unreadable until it spotted the faintest tremor in his hands as he brushed the ash from his cloak.

There’s a deathless stretch for nearly half the round afterwards,  if 1x had to guess.  It was finally broken by Two Time,  who was clutching their dagger with a wide grin.  Guest died a few minutes later,  immediately going to disarm the cultist as they rambled about how “I think I’m getting through to him”.  Shedletsky shows up just in time to prevent someone from getting hurt,  finally wrestling the blade away from Two Time.  There’s a surprising amount of time between Shedletsky’s death and 007n7’s,  but he falls eventually,  detached from reality and needing to be led to a chair by Guest.

There’s still no sign of Elliot,  even as Taph wanders over to its couch.  “I’m going to make sandwiches,  do you want to help?”

It was sure most of the survivors would hate it preparing food for them,  but the distraction might be good for Noob.  It nods,  shaking the survivalist awake (when had they fallen asleep?).

They blearily sit up (it reaches over to fix their hair again before it can stop itself,  how pathetic ) as it quietly tells them, “Taph wants help with lunch.”

They perk up slightly,  hopping off the couch to follow the demolitionist into the kitchen,  1x trailing behind them like a dubiously peaceful shadow.  It planned on just looming in a corner to make sure Noob wouldn’t get too stressed,  but they were apparently having none of it,  dragging over to stand beside them.

“I’m not sure this is a good idea,  the admins might kill me.”  It tries to joke.  They frown.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,  it’s not like you’re poisonous or anything,”  Noob says,  Taph giving a nod of agreement.

“I might be poisonous,  the kids were fine eating food I made them,  but they’re garbage disposals.”  Not to mention that it once saw pr3typriincess agree to eat a small rock if bluudud licked some rusty metal.

“Are the kids the only ones you cooked for?”  It struggled to recall feeding anyone else,  but few things come to mind.

“Mafioso said the meal I made him tasted like shit,  but I dumped a bunch of salt in his food,  because he’s a dick and I hate him-”  It tries to list off the various ex-housemates,  but is cut off by Noob’s amused snort and Taph staring at it.

The demolitionist quickly signs,  “You hate everything though,”  when both Noob and itself were watching.

“Yes,  but I hate him more -”  Noob cuts it off.

“I-I don’t think you hate everything…  you wouldn’t be here if you did.”  Their tone is matter of fact,  despite being so inconceivably wrong.

“Why wouldn’t I hate everything?  Hating and killing are my only purposes.  What else do you expect me to do?  Love and heal people?  Hah.”  It comes across more biting and bitter than it intended (truly,  it was fine with being nothing but a vessel for a god’s wrath given sentience,  it’s practically a deity itself,  it shouldn’t be capable of wanting anything more,  it doesn’t care about anything more).

It didn’t know how to discern the look on Noob’s face,  though they were probably pitying it.  Eugh.  Taph was awkwardly taking his gloves off to wash his hands,  setting them on a nearby chair.  1x watched him,  waiting for its turn to use the sink,  while Noob reached up to smooth its anger-ruffled feathers.  It does not purr in response.  It pointedly ignores Taph confirming that it’s similar to what his and Shedletsky’s purring sounds like.  It would never do something so degrading (it would never be capable of producing a sound without malice or pain behind it).

Making the sandwiches was a quiet affair,  at least after Noob and Taph had convinced 1x that if it accidentally poisoned either of them they’d vouch for its innocence.  It finished making the two sandwiches it had been tasked with,  only for Noob to ask them to make a third (another for Elliot maybe?).  It hadn’t batted an eye at the request until it noticed the other two had made four.  Noob seemed unaware of their mistake,  just holding its gaze while it tried to figure out how they managed to miscalculate how many survivors they needed to feed.

It shrugged it off when they and Taph went to gather the rest of their teammates.  Maybe it was so Elliot could catch up on both breakfast and lunch,  considering how long he’s been gone.  It makes its way back to its couch,  listening as the occasional pair of footsteps make their way to the kitchen.  There was loud chatter for a few minutes,  before a sudden silence enveloped the lodge.

There’s shuffling after a few minutes,  followed by running water,  before 1x turns its head just in time to see 007n7 scurrying outside,  the cat trotting behind.  A round must’ve started then,  he usually doesn’t usually avoid it when people are here.  Maybe the Spectre was feeling extra bloodthirsty today.  At this rate it wouldn’t be surprised if It sent people into a third round.

It leaned its head back against the couch,  closing its eyes as minutes ticked by.  Ten,  then twenty,  then thirty before there was the tiny,  strangled gasp of someone respawning.  It turned around,  finally met with the sight of Elliot laying on the floor,  staring into the distance (alive,  home safe,  it would check him over for wounds,  but knows how scared of it he can be).  He didn't move at first,  just taking in uneven,  shuddering breaths,  before he finally sat up with a wince.

He froze momentarily when he saw 1x watching him,  but was still able to croak out,  “Is Noob here?”

It shook its head.  “No,  only 007n7 is.”  The pizza man withered (how pitiful) until it tacked on,  “They’ll be back soon,  probably in less than an hour.”

Elliot nodded,  and it turned away to give him some semblance of security.  There’s no point in stressing him out further.

There’s a minute of silence before it finally hears him moving around,  followed by a flash of red as Elliot sits on the opposite side of the couch,  curling up against the arm rest.  It grabs its cape (why is it doing this) off the back of the couch,  unfolding it as it reaches over to him (it’s making the same mistakes it made with Noob all over again).  Elliot sank into his seat as if he expected the fabric to hurt him as 1x tossed it over his shoulders (maybe he thought it was going to kill him.  The concern certainly wouldn’t be unfounded).

It had been waiting out the time until the round was done for mere minutes before it felt the couch dip near it.  It spared Elliot a glance only to find him right beside it,  not quite leaning against it,  but very nearly.  1x could finally see his slight trembling,  and how his eyes occasionally darted to the windows scattered across the room.  It follows his gaze,  spotting nothing out of the ordinary.  It keeps an eye out anyway.  Clearly something in that round had scared him enough to make him somehow think that it was safe.

Elliot fell asleep half an hour into waiting for the round to end.  Part of it was baffled,  but logically 1x knew he probably had an adrenaline crash.  Spending nearly twice the usual time in a round alone had to be terrible for his health,  ignoring the death and injury part.  It ended up taking another two hours for Noob and the others to show back up.  As soon as they had realized that Elliot was back they had nearly launched themself over the couch to sit beside him,  only stopped by 1x putting its arm in their way.  The cushions moving when they sat woke the pizza man despite its attempts to let him rest.

It takes the duo looking each other over for injuries  as an opportunity to grab them their uneaten sandwiches (was it even safe to eat after being left out for hours?  Then again,  there aren’t any bugs around,  and Muffin had followed 007n7 outside earlier),  skirting around the crowd of survivors retrieving their own.  It makes it out of the kitchen unscathed,  handing the plates to Noob and Elliot,  both of which apparently decided it was safe to eat.

It sat down,  not paying much mind when Noob got up to take care of the dishes,  only to be met with them holding a sandwich out to it.

It stares at them.  “Isn’t this for Elliot?”

They stare back.  “N-No..?  He can have it if he wants it,  b-but I don’t want either of you going hungry…”

They don’t back down,  continuing to hold the plate for it to take.  “He can have it.”

“No,  you don’t have to,  I’m not hungry-”  He’s been staring at it the whole time,  what does he mean he’s not hungry?

It cuts him off to hiss,  “You haven’t eaten all day.  I have.  Take the sandwich.”

Noob slides back to the kitchen with a quiet,  “I’ll cut it in half.”

Elliot glares at it,  and 1x just whispers,  “You can’t convince me that you aren’t hungry when I know for a fact you stop eating when you’re stressed.”

He scoffs,  “As if you don’t do the same thing.”

“I can’t get stressed ,  nor do I need to eat.”

“ Sure ,  because I haven’t seen you being less graceful after you’ve skipped meals.”

Noob coming back into view stops its retort.  “Please stop arguing,  you both need to eat.”

1x grabbed the plate from them only when Elliot had taken an unhappy bite out of his half.  The two ate in stormy silence while Noob pretended not to be making sure they finished their food.  Noob eventually took 1x’s plate to the kitchen as Guest walked out,  whispering to them as he passed by.

The soldier walked to the other side of the coffee table in front of 1x and Elliot.  

“We’re having a meeting,  if you’re ready for it,  then come to the kitchen.”  The pizza had gotten up to leave before Guest had finished his sentence,  but Guest continued to look at 1x expectantly.  “You too,  it’s about everything going on recently.”

Ominous.  It’s unfortunately aware of its agreement with him last night,  a swift death in exchange for an explanation that it doesn’t really have.  Ugh.  It had hoped he’d either forgotten or would ask in private.  Maybe it can pin the blame on Shedletsky.  It doesn’t particularly want to know what will happen if its explanation isn’t up to the survivors’ standards.

Chapter Text

It stared at the survivors,  all crowded around the too small table.  Noob patted the empty seat beside themself,  which it promptly takes,  Guest following suit in the chair to its right.

It quickly takes stock of where everyone’s sitting.  Going counter-clockwise around the table,  starting from Guest,  is 007n7,  Two Time,  Chance,  Dusekkar,  Builderman,  Shedletsky,  Elliot,  and then back to Noob.  It can’t help but notice that the admins are seated in the farthest corner from it,  and placed in such a way that it can hardly see them with its good eye unless it were to turn its head.  It wouldn’t be surprised if the soldier had planned where everyone sat,  especially since the survivors it had somewhat friendly interactions with were sitting across the table from it.

Guest cleared his throat,  grabbing everyone’s attention.  “I wanted to discuss what happened in 1x’s last round,  along with why he’s been acting weird the past few weeks.  Is there anything else we should talk about while we’re here?”

“The new killer’d probably be a good idea,”  Chance says,  earning a few murmured agreements and a nod from Guest.

Nobody else speaks up.

“So,  Shedletsky,  care to explain your thought process last night?”

The swordsman froze for half a second.  “I just wanted to know if it was possible to kill a killer in a round.”

“Attempting to bash its skull in was a little excessive though.”  Two Time muttered.

“I think the frustration from being killed repeatedly clouded my judgement,  and he just…  happened to be the one I lashed out at.”

1x had never heard someone lie this poorly in its life.  “You can just say you want me to suffer instead of making up excuses.”

“ I don’t want you to suffer,”  Shedletsky’s stress on the ‘I’ is barely perceptible,  but it picks up on it regardless,  “I just…  I don’t know why I decided to do that.  I’m sorry.”

“Apology not accepted.  Own up to your actions instead of pretending you feel guilty.  You spent years -”  It cut itself off when it remembered the nine other people at the table.

“...So,  how exactly did you two know each other before this?”  Elliot asks when the silence stretches a few seconds too long.

Shedletsky motions for it to speak,  and it can’t help but bare its teeth.  “No,  go on,  you tell them.”

He sighs,  clearly thinking.  Probably trying to formulate an explanation that wouldn’t upset or expose Telamon.

“I believe it was a creation of his,  yet you can see it was one that went amiss,”  Dusekkar chimed,  after a minute of silence.

Shedletsky nods,  choosing his words carefully,  “I was very hot-headed when I was younger.  I helped create 1x to be a vessel for the hatred and anger his co-creator and I held.  It worked well enough on our end,  and we intended on destroying him afterwards,  but it…  didn’t work,  and we were stuck with him.”

The room was silent as everyone soaked in the information.  Noob grabbed one of its hands,  giving it a light squeeze.

“Damn,  dude,  I’m sorry that’s why your dad made ya.”  Chance grins at 1x,  clearly trying to lighten the mood a bit.

“He’s not my father.”  It’s sure they’d agree.  They’re its creators (perhaps they’re biologically related to it,  if it’s even alive),  while it’s their greatest mistake.

“1x,  you said he spent years doing something.  Do you want to elaborate?”  Guest asks.

Telamon catches its eye,  cold,  calculating,  likely figuring out how to get out of any trouble it could land him in.  It breaks its gaze away from him,  settling on a spot between Two Time and Taph.

“Not particularly,”  It finally says,  trying to sound as indifferent as it can.  It can tell that the people in front of it can see right through it.

(It’s not like what happened to it was even real.  It was just a concept in Telamon’s mind,  it was hardly even real itself,  only brought to life to play the Spectre’s games.  Telamon ‘hurting’ it back then meant nothing,  the harm wasn’t real (how could one thought harm another?  The idea is illogical,  and the too-vivid memories of the stinging and aches and cracking chitin are just the byproduct of the nonsensical nature of the brain),  it meant nothing,  especially when it’s done so much worse to everyone else at the table.  Shedletsky and Telamon were better people than it was,  and would ever be.  It can’t take away the other survivors’ line of defense when it is the only threat here.)

Noob squeezed its hand,  and it tuned in to the conversation again.

“Did you beat your simulacrum?”  Two Time looked uneasy,  as though they thought he’d lash out at them next.

“Spawns,  no!  I didn’t even realize that was a possibility until yesterday.”  Shedletsky seemed genuinely upset at the suggestion (not that he was ever the overly violent type).

Perhaps it should end this accusation before it goes anywhere.  “No body ever hit me before we ended up here.  Even if someone did,  I’d be fine.  I’m not made of glass.”

“Creation of hate,  please pardon my questioning.  When he was angry,  did his voice grow threatening?

“Do you take me for a frightened animal?  Do you think that I’m-”  It’s cut off when Noob squeezes its hand again.

“I-I think he’s trying to figure out what Shedletsky did.  He probably doesn’t mean to offend you,”  They say,  despite its visible seething.

“Within their perfect explanation,  I must agree,  rather I wanted to know if you were an abusee.”

“I wasn’t fucking abused! ”  1x snarls,  hardly hearing Noob demanding a topic change.  “Just because you can’t comprehend that I’m-”

An arm wraps around its side,  silencing it,   dragging it to lean against Noob.  It sits there,  bristling and jaw clenched,  as they nearly crush its hand (why are they so bold around it,  but timid with their teammates?  It should kill them for humiliating it like this).  The small twinges of pain are a decent distraction,  and the smoky miasma that surrounded it slowly dissipated.  Noob finally let it go,  and it was quick to sit up straight,  glaring at Chance when he grinned its way.

“Is it alright to talk about why you’ve been acting weird recently?”  Guest finally asks.

Talking about the reality of its situation sounds like a better thing to discuss,  rather they what they had just tried to pry for.  “The Spectre was getting frustrated about my poor performance,  and I had reason to believe It would annihilate me if I didn’t do better.  Obviously,  I failed,  so if It kills me,  It kills me.  Don’t be surprised if I disappear without warning soon.”

007n7 finally breaks his silence.  “It’s just going to kill you?  No chance for redemption?  No repurposing?”

“Killing and hating is my purpose.  There’s no point in keeping me around if I can’t kill all of you,” It hisses.

“It could always put you on our team,”  Chance says,  too flippant,  obnoxious smile on his face.  He doesn’t get it.

“You misunderstand me.  All I do is hate ,  all I can and will ever be is hate ,  I am hate .  If I can’t do something as simple as hate enough,  if I can’t slaughter you before the time is up,  I have no purpose!  What point is there for the Spectre to keep around a useless,  defective toy ?!”  It’s growling (properly,  like the feral beast it truly is,  rather than the (pathetic,  disgraceful,  contemptible,  obedient ,  tamed- ) little creature Noob and Elliot reduce it to),  the sound resonating through the room so loudly that it’s certain everyone can hear it.

“You could make your own purpose…”  Noob mumbles.

“I don’t want to hear any fairy tale bullshit!”  It snaps (they flinch when its aggression is directed towards them (proving how wrong they are,  all it does is hurt people-)),  pauses,  and holds its breath until it can speak with some semblance of control.  “You are naïve .  Fix it before it kills you.”

“You care a lot for someone who can only hate and kill.”  Why don’t they get it?

“No.”  It glares daggers when Chance snorts at it.

“N-No..?”  It doesn’t care,  it does not care ,  it does not-

(It could go for a brawl right now.  It was getting too hot and needed to let off steam (it still remembers the last time it had gotten this enraged.  It had collapsed mid round from heat-exhaustion, barely managing to survive.  Its only saving graces being c00lkidd’s admiration and its rapport with Azure),  but the survivors would shatter beneath its fists.  Needing to restrain itself would only piss it off more.  (Shame that Azure hadn’t gotten banished to this hell house with it.  At least they were relatively evenly matched with it in a fight.))

Noob (warm-soft-gentle-kind-safe) squeezes its hand,  eyes full of concern (as if it deserved such a thing).  “If being created for the sole reason of storing someone’s hatred,  and feeling nothing but hate is too hard to comprehend,”  its words drip venom as it slams its free hand on the table,  rising quickly and leaving gouges in the wood,  “then I think this conversation is over.”

It pushed its chair back as pointless (just like everything else about it) flames flickered and died across its skin.  It twisted its hand from Noob’s grasp,  uncaring as to whether or not it scratched them (it still made sure it didn’t,  as to not antagonize anyone),  and stalked to the front door.

Two Time suddenly shouts from behind it,  “Wait!  Who was the new killer?  He was purple!”

It can’t contain its hiss (what is it,  rabid?),  “If he had a crown,  Noli,  if he had tentacles,  Azure.”

The cool air of the eternal night is frigid on its burning skin.  There’s commotion inside,  some sort of argument.  It needed to take go for a walk,  perhaps enough time outside would prevent its untimely demise.  If that didn’t work,  then it’s sure whatever monsters that supposedly roam the woods will make quick work of it.  It’s going to be pissed if anyone makes the mistake of following it.

Chapter Text

Noob had followed it.  1x hadn’t even lost sight of the lodge before they had caught up and dragged it into an inescapable hug (not that it had tried to get away).  It had to tune out their hopeful murmurs (it can’t change,  no matter what they believe),  instead focused solely on the wing they were preening.

The worst part was they had only let it go when Elliot showed up a few minutes later,  daemonshanks in hand.  1x really shouldn’t be surprised considering he and Noob follow each other everywhere,  but the fact that he is the one choosing to arm it is baffling.

It thought that maybe they were just trying to make sure it would be safe on its trek,  but its assumption was quickly proven wrong once it started walking.  Noob had begun to follow as soon as it moved,  with Elliot not far behind.  Perhaps he wasn’t as clever as it gave him credit for.  (Or maybe it really had fallen that far from grace.)

The path through the woods was oddly clear.  Suspiciously so.  Sure,  there were roots and dying ivies snaking across the ground and hidden under leaf litter,  but it was traversable.  Normally Guest and itself would find something that forced them to turn around,  be it hundreds of anomalous trees creating a wall they couldn’t pass through,  or a sudden cliff face they couldn’t climb.

But tonight it was clear.  The ground was relatively flat as far as the eye could see,  sightlines only broken up by trees,  bushes,  and the occasional large rock.  Distorted crickets chirping rang out,  never seeming to get closer or farther,  unfazed by the three robloxians trampling through their home.  Moonlight shined through the leaves above their heads,  providing more than enough light for them to navigate with (though living in near-constant darkness certainly helps).

The survivors aren’t silent the entire time,  occasionally warning the other of obstacles in their path,  but their lack of chatter is a bit unusual.  1x holds its blades tighter,  listens closer for anything unusual.  They may encounter nothing,  but it would much rather be prepared than pounced on.

The ground began to slope down,  hardly noticeable at first,  but it became more obvious as sharp cliff faces funneled the three of them into a small ravine.  It ushered the duo to walk in front of it,  just in case someone was following them.  A small creek lazily flowed through the center of the path,  occasionally splashing when there was a step down.

It watched Elliot reach for Noob as the space got narrower.  There was still plenty of room to move,  the three of them could walk next to each other without issue if they wanted,  but his breathing still became erratic despite his attempts to steady it.  Noob stopped walking,  dragging the trembling pizza man into a hug.

“Can we go back?  Just out of the ravine so he can calm down,  he hates feeling trapped,”  Noob asks.

“Can he walk?”

“Yeah,  he’s just scared.”  (Is he claustrophobic?  It’d explain a lot,  both now,  and from his sudden panic whenever he manages to end up in a corner during rounds.)

It nods,  letting the duo shuffle past it before following close behind.  Something buzzing faintly could occasionally be heard over the quietly babbling stream as they tried to go where they had come from.  1x is unamused to find the exit completely blocked off by a pile of giant rocks,  and neither survivor seems particularly happy about it either.  It could try to climb the mountain,  but it knows the Spectre’s tricks well enough to be aware that there probably wouldn’t be a safe way to get back down.

“It wants us to follow the path,”  1x says,  only for Elliot to frantically shake his head.  “The faster we move the sooner we get out of here.”

Noob tries to guide him forward,  but he digs his heels into the ground.  “Elliot,  please,  you know I can’t climb that…”

“We’d probably be forced to jump at the top,  too.”  Noob looks nauseous at the thought.  “Do you want me to carry him?”

Elliot mumbles,  “No,  I can manage.”

He does walk,  as slow and unsteady as it may be.  1x would rather jog its way to the other end of the ravine,  but then it risks upsetting Elliot further,  and leaving both survivors open to attack.  The last thing it needs is to piss off the sentinels by letting them die,  especially with everything going on recently.  Instead of rushing the duo,  or leaving them behind,  it settles for matching their pace.

It takes longer than 1x would like to reach the spot they had turned back at,  and nearly double that before the trail finally began to open up.  Elliot slowly began to calm down without the walls surrounding him as closely.  Noob continued to reassure him,  sticking close despite it.

The ravine walls eventually flatten out into tree-covered inclines rather than steep cliffs.  The trail suddenly opens into a large clearing surrounded by the hill they’re standing on,  with a massive sinkhole in the center of it.  It slips around the two survivors to walk to the bottom,  making sure to not wander out of their sight.

It trots to the edge of the sinkhole,  peering in to see a graveyard,  purple river,  and white bridge.  It doesn’t click at first that this is Yorick’s,  what should be its home.  It’s been so long since it last saw the place.  It almost looks like nothing’s changed though.  It was the same arena as always.

Dying grass crunches under Elliot’s feet as he comes to investigate with it.  1x glances back to see Noob standing a few yards away from the edge.

“Who’s that?”  Elliot’s voice,  as quiet as it is,  pierces the eternal night.

1x glances to where he’s looking,  spotting a familiar purple and black figure pacing through the graveyard.

“Azure.  He’s…  one of the less infuriating killers.  He can be a bit irritable,  but he,  Jason,  and myself are the only ones who actually bother trying to keep everything under control.”  Elliot gives it a weird look,  as though it said something odd.

The pizza man steps back,  the movement accidentally sending a small shower of stones clattering down the cliff face.  It shoves him to the ground,  safely out of sight just as Azure’s head snaps its way.  He straightens his posture,  lifting his tentacles from the ground,  before jogging over to the nearest wall.

“Go hide in the trees,  do not come out for any reason.”  It points to the treeline as Noob (conflict-averse,  too compassionate) helps Elliot (fearful,  skittish,  just barely beginning to trust it) stand (it should warn them).  “We’re probably going to end up fighting,  I’ll be fine.”

The two survivors nodded,  sprinting for the trees.  It glanced back to where it last saw Azure,  spotting him scaling the cliffside like a weirdly goopy spider.  It trots over,  prepared to pull him the rest of the way up.  A clawed hand finally makes its way over the edge,  followed by a couple of tentacles trying to find a hold.  It crouches down,  digging its talons into grooves in the stone just below the soil,  before giving him its arm to grab onto.

He takes it,  mucky tentacles wrapped around its forearm (gross…) as his claws dug into its wrist.  Azure finally hauled himself up,  with a bit of extra help from 1x.

For a brief,  blissful moment it forgot about the hat,  the Spectre’s most irritating minion,  until its grating, wretched voice broke the silence.  “He wants to know where you’ve been.”

Eugh,  as if the damned thing didn’t know.  “Around,”  It finally says with a shrug.  “Spectre won’t let me anywhere near here normally.”

Azure stared at it with his wide,  unblinking eyes in such a way that it could tell he was displeased.

“He’s going to fight you,”  The hat chimes in,  trying to start shit,  per usual.

It backs away from the ledge,  stabbing its blades into the ground (the last thing it wants is for either of them to end up sliced open or tumbling over the side).  “I figured.”

With its permission granted,  Azure lunged for it,  aiming a fist for its head.  It ducks out of the way,  retaliating with a punch of its own.  He shakes the blow off,  swiping at it with his tentacles.  It blocks it with its arm,  ignoring the stinging cuts.

1x lands another punch,  but Azure is quick to tackle it to the floor.  It manages to writhe out of the way of a claw swipe,  kneeing him in the side,  and managing (by a miracle) to throw him off it.

It lunges for him,  making the mistake of trying to grapple a man with twice as many limbs as it.  He tosses it aside,  sending it skidding across the grass.  It hops to its feet,  Azure following suit after a few moments.

Azure collides with it,  knocking them both to the ground once more.  He stabs a tentacle into the ground by its head,  purposefully missing when it doesn’t react fast enough to dodge.  It retaliates by swiping its claws at his face and rolling both of them over to regain the upper hand.  He shoves it back into the dirt,  and the brawl devolves into a wrestling match,  the two of them rolling around on the ground while trying to pin the other.

It ends up with one tentacle wrapped around its arm,  and tries to yank on it to pull Azure off balance to.  He doesn’t let it,  instead slamming 1x’s shoulders back onto the ground with a loud CRACK when its back (off center,  not its spine hopefully) is suddenly alight with pain.  Someone nearby squeaks (please don’t catch his attention) as Azure recoils like it burned him.  He stares at it for a few seconds as it tries to sit up,  tentacles drooping.

It grabs the rock he had accidentally shoved it into,  tossing it far out of reach.  “I’m fine,  we can keep going.”

He shakes his head as the hat says,  “He thinks you’ve grown soft and weak.”

Azure quickly shakes his head.  It remained carefully neutral (it doesn’t need Noob panicking this close to the rest of the killers).

“Not having to wrangle John will do that to you.  I can keep fighting,  I’m alright.”

Azure stared at 1x,  and it stared back at him.  The hat finally said,  “He doesn’t fight weak people.”

Azure threw his hands in the air,  looking like he wanted to tear the hat to shreds, despite the wide-eyed,  almost innocent expression the Spectre cursed him with barely changing.

It took him a few seconds to regain his composure,  but when he did,  he pointed at it,  mimed punching,  and made an X with his hands.  It growled at its newfound wrestling ban,  but Azure was too busy trying to peer at its injury to pay much mind.  Not to mention that he’s probably used to its snarling (like the feral animal it is).  He and the kids together got growled at more than everyone else in the house combined.

“Your rib is broken.”  The hat says (hate hate hate,  if it weren’t for the fact that Azure had ended up completely melting down from pure frustration the last time the hat had stopped speaking over an insult,  1x would tell the damn thing to shut the fuck up).

“It’ll heal on its own.”  It leans away when Azure tries to inspect the break better.  “I’ll live.”

They sit there in silence for a minute.  “He wants to know if you’re going to need help getting down the cliff.”

Fuck.  “Eh…  I wasn’t planning on staying.”

His expression is unreadable (by the Spawn it hates the Spectre for not allowing him to have facial expressions).  “Why not?”  The hat’s voice may be cheery,  but it knows Azure’s pissed.

“I have stuff to do,  and the Spectre won’t let me stay anyway.  It keeps dropping me in the woods after rounds and not letting me come back.”

Azure stands up,  the movement sharp,  agitation evident from his pacing.  It stands with a wince to go grab its daemonshanks,  watching as he wears a hole into the grass.  It’s nearly five minutes of silence before he stops moving.

“He wants to go with you to see where you’re staying.  He’ll help out while he’s there since you’re injured.”

It is very,  very suddenly aware of the giant spawn-shaped scar on his chest,  and how poorly that would go over if it was followed home.  “No,  I just need to prepare for tomorrow’s rounds.  Sharpen my swords,  get some sleep,  you know how it is.”

“You can do that here.  He needs more help with John Doe and the children.”  Believable,  the four of them were difficult to manage even with two extra people to assist.  Only having Jason as backup sounded like a nightmare.

“I can’t today.”  His tentacles were lashing as he clearly was trying to figure out something to convince it to stay.  “I’ll try to visit more,  but I can’t promise anything.”

The hat’s grin twisted into a sort-of menacing sneer,  hollow eyes boring into its non-existent soul.  “He thinks you’re acting weird.  Why don’t I tell him why?”

It paused,  watching as Azure cocked his head slightly,  confused,  before glancing up to the treeline behind 1x,  where it had asked its survivors to hide away.  It watched him tense slightly when he finally spotted them,  before looking back to it for answers.  The hat remained stubbornly silent despite the other killer’s growing agitation (of course it would hinder his ability to communicate as soon as he had questions).  He pointed in the survivors’ direction,  then back at it,  and waited for a response.

“They came with me,  yes.”  It tries,  but that doesn’t seem to be the answer he’s looking for.

He makes an odd huffing-growling noise,  ears flicking,  before he tenses,  staring slightly over its shoulder.  It listens as closely as it can,  hearing footsteps ( who ) approaching.  It spares a quick glance over its shoulder,  grip on its swords tightening when it spots Noob walking over,  looking terrified (if they’re scared then WHY are they doing this??),  holding something close to their chest.  Azure is frozen in place,  watching closely,  and it once again damns the Spectre for making him difficult to read.

“He’s going to make their deaths as painful as possible.”

It nearly lunges for his throat when the hat speaks,  and it’s only stopped by Azure frantically shaking his head and backing a few steps away from it.  He struggles to string together a few motions that it can roughly tell mean that he wasn’t thinking that,  hands held up in surrender and tentacles resting on the ground when Noob finally stops beside it.

They hold out a small pad of paper and a pen to him,  visibly trembling as they do so.  “I-I noticed that you,  um…  can’t speak,  s-so I thought writing might be easier…”

They flinch and let out a quiet yelp when he swipes it from their hand,  immediately scribbling something down.

“I’m not going to hurt them right now.”  His handwriting is terrible (not that its own would be any better).

1x stares at him while he writes something else down,  handing it another sheet of paper that reads,  “You care about them?”

“No,”  Is all it says,  but he does not believe it.

“Then why protect them?”

It growls,  more to itself than at either of the people near it.  “I don’t know.”

He nods slowly,  writing and handing it another note that says,  “You’re going to be upset when I hurt them.”

1x can tell that it’s not quite a question,  but not quite a statement.  Something more resigned.  Tired.  It can’t say it would hate him for it,  he’ll have to do what he needs to in order to survive,  but…

“It depends on how you do it.”  It replies.

He nods.  Goes to write something,  only to scribble it out.  Writes down something new.  “You better visit more.  Stay safe.”

Azure tried to hand the pad of paper back to Noob after a moment of hesitation.  They shook their head and insisted he kept it.  He nodded,  silent as always,  before he waved goodbye,  and made his way back into the arena.

After he was gone for a few seconds,  it turned to Noob,  fixing them with a glare that rivaled the sun.  “Never do that again.  You could have died.”

They smile sheepishly.  “I thought you didn’t care.”

It growls at them,  but they don’t react.  “Next time,  you both run back to the cabins.”

They nod before adding on,  “He seemed nice.”

“You were lucky it was only him.  Had it been anyone else there would’ve been a proper fight.”  It begins to walk back to Elliot,  who looks incredibly distressed about what went down.

“Is he your friend?”

“No.”

“Am I your friend?”

“No.”

They laugh quietly,  “Sure.”

They jog the rest of the way to Elliot,  1x following not far behind,  careful not to cause too much damage to its messed up rib.  The pizza man ends up lecturing them in a hushed tone about not taking pointless risks,  before dragging them into a hug.  It stands nearby,  paying attention to anything else that could possibly be a danger to the two survivors,  waiting to escort them home.

Chapter Text

“Noob?”

“Hm?”

“Why do you care?”

“Care about..?”

“Me.”

“You’re my friend.  Why wouldn’t I care about you?”

“Because I hurt you,  maimed you beyond recognition,  slaughtered everyone you care about.  I’m going to keep hurting you until the day I die.”

“Do you want to hurt me?”

“I was created for it.  Being created from hatred brings pain,  be it with words or weapons.”

“That doesn’t answer my question though.”

“...”

“1x?”

“I have claws to shred through flesh,  teeth to rip through skin and muscle tissue,  strength to shatter your bones with ease.  I will hurt you regardless of what I intend to do.”

“You don’t want to hurt me.”

“But I have.”

“It was before you ended up here.”

“But-”

“No.  I’m okay now,  whatever injury you gave me has healed,  I’m alive and healthy.  You didn’t torture me.”

“Yes,  I did.”

“If you could go back,  would you do it again?”

“You wouldn’t like the answer.”

“I won’t be upset.”

“I’d do it again.  I didn’t know you were you ,  or that Elliot was Elliot .  You would still be nameless,  hated faces,  and I would still be the same killing machine I was before.  Not that I’m no longer a killing machine,  but…”

“I think I need to rephrase.  If you could go back with the memories you have now,  would you still kill us?”

“I…  don’t know.”

“That’s good enough for me then.”

“But what if I would?  What if the Spectre sent me back to the other killers tomorrow?”

“...I want you to hurt me.  Right now.  It doesn’t have to be anything damaging,  a little scratch works.”

“I’m not doing that-”

“Then you don’t want to hurt me.  It’s better not to dwell on what-if’s here.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“You’re more than just hatred,  y’know.”

“How so?”

“You comfort me and Elliot.  You protected us from danger.  You’re always so gentle when you play with my hair.  You were concerned about poisoning Taph and I.  You like to cuddle and be preened.  You like fruit and soup.”

“That means nothing.  It’s all for my own benefit.”

“How does skipping meals and losing sleep benefit you?”

“...”

“You’ve come a long way since you first got here.  Even if you were created only to be a hateful killing machine,  you clearly aren’t anymore.  Sure your teeth and claws may be sharp,  but your actions are not.

“That’s not what’s important though.”

“It is to me.”

“I’m cruel to the rest of the survivors.”

“You’ve been doing the bare minimum of what you have to,  and most of them understand that nobody here has control over the situation.”

“...”

“...”

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t.”

“That’s the problem .”

“It doesn’t have to be.”

“But it is.  I’m not supposed to be able to care,  I’m supposed to hate.  I should hate you.  I should want you dead .”

“Everyone here should be dead too,  but that doesn’t matter,  because we aren’t.  We’re alive,  you care,  and the world keeps turning.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m not broken.”

“You aren’t a machine,  you can’t be broken.  You’re a person,  the same as the rest of us.  People grow and change.  People outlive and outgrow their perceived purposes.  People don’t always follow rules,  or traditions,  or expectations.  You’re allowed to do the same.”

“You’re a fool.”

“Maybe.  It doesn’t change anything though.”

1x tightens their grip on Noob’s shoulders (not with their claws,  never with their claws),  burying their face against the survivor’s neck.  Noob had an arm draped lazily across 1x’s lower back,  just below the killer’s mostly missing wings.  Noob’s other hand idly trailed down their spine,  as though they were petting an overgrown cat.

“...Can you preen the wings on my back?”

“Are you sure?”

A nod.

“Of course.”

Noob’s hand meets long-neglected plumage,  combing through dishevelled feathers.  1x sighs,  purring quietly,  listening to Elliot’s soft breathing as he finally gets the rest he needs.  They allow themself to relax.  The Spectre doesn’t react.  They’re safe.  Their survivors are safe.  The world keeps turning.

Chapter Text

1x leaned against the wall beside Noob,  watching them fiddle with the generator.  Sure,  they had been far more bold for a while now,  quickly finishing a repair as it chased someone past them,  but usually they would jump up afterwards.  They never just…  worked on it while it was nearby.  Even Elliot looked concerned,  like he would drag them away from the machine at a moment’s notice.

The generator finally sputtered to life,  just in time for Two Time to poke their head into the room and look at Noob.  “Builderman would like to request that you keep your killer under control.  Supplies are abundant,  and he wishes to take as much back with us as possible.”

It cocks its head at them (how dare they speak of it in such a way) until Noob speaks.  “I-I’ll keep them distracted!”

“Wonderful.  May the Spawn bless you,”  1x takes a step forward,  the cultist’s smile falters slightly,  “Good luck.”

They were gone faster than when they arrived.  It glanced at Noob.  They had always been notoriously terrible at surviving chases,  never able to manage their breathing or keep enough distance.  Elliot was better at it,  but still nowhere near as good as Two Time and Taph tended to be.  (It remembers a round from a lifetime ago.  Both of them panicked when it refused to give Noob attention when Elliot was getting low on health and erratic.  It remembers another where he had cried out for their help,  not knowing it had sniped them minutes beforehand.  He was distraught when he had realized he was the last one standing).

Maybe it should help them learn while everyone else is distracted.  If they end up injured it’s sure that Elliot would be quick to heal them.

It nudges Noob with the flat of its blade.  “You get a ten second head start.  Get running.”

They look confused for a second before bolting when it starts counting down.

Elliot moves to follow,  and it simply says,  “You can go help your team.  They’ll be fine.”

Its countdown hits zero,  and it plucks its eye out,  running to the courtyard where the Noob-shaped aura was.  It flings an entanglement at them,  missing completely,  before running around the rock.  They squeak,  darting the other way around the boulder,  trying to keep distance between themself and 1x.

They looked mildly concerned,  as though they were trying to figure out what it was doing.  It ignores them,  running around the stone.  They don’t move fast enough,  and it taps the side of their arm with the flat edge of its blade.  They squeak,  running a little faster,  before they finally realize it didn’t hurt.

They spin on their heel and point at it.  “W-What are you doing?”

“Being too distracted chasing a survivor to go kill anyone else.”  It nudges them with a daemonshank again.

Noob finally gets the hint,  sprinting back to the rock.  1x gives chase,  letting them gain some distance around corners,  occasionally using entanglement and mass infection when it was unlikely to hit anyone.

1x feinted that it was going to circle around the rock,  only to dart the way Noob ran at the last second.  They yelped when they nearly crashed into it,  bursting into startled giggles as they ran the other way around.

It tries to cut them off again,  but they simply stay on the opposite side of the rock.  “Why are you laughing?  This is life or death.”

They grin,  “Just having fun.”

“Having fun being hunted down by hatred incarnate?”  It drops its swords in favor of clambering over the boulder,  grabbing their arm when they try to run.  “What a terrible idea.”

Noob shakes their hand out of its grasp,  studying its face before smiling.  “You’re in a good mood!  I can almost see your expression!”

“I am not,  do not accuse me of such a thing.”  (It could see where its segments of chitin started and ended,  it doubted there was much smoke or distortion.  The concept of its face not being obscured was odd though.)

“C’mooon,  you can-”  A scream ripped through the air,  followed by some panicked shouting,  and Noob’s face instantly fell.

It didn’t recognize who it could be instantly,  despite its best efforts (it's not Noob,  they were here,  Elliot’s screaming is far more shrill,  Taph hardly makes a noise,  Two Time usually starts cackling afterwards,  Chance isn’t here,  007n7,  Builderman, and Shedletsky shout rather than scream,  Guest doesn’t scream at all,  and Dusekkar screaming sounds completely inhuman,  so who ..?).

Noob takes off running in the direction the sound came from.  1x follows not long after,  collecting its swords along the way (who knows what made them scream,  it may have to defend itself).  It comes to a stop in the doorway leading from the kitchen to the large ball pit room.

The survivors were crowded around something (someone?),  despite  Dusekkar,  Builderman,  and 007n7’s attempts to get everyone to back up.  1x crept forward,  making sure to leave plenty of room between themself and the group.

It spotted blood on the floor,  staining something blue (Guest?).  It walks a little closer,  ignoring Builderman’s glare,  to usher Noob out of the way.  Elliot notices and is quick to follow them,  sitting down with his fellow survivor on one of the little half-walls.  Once Taph realized that it was only himself and Two Time crowding the fallen soldier,  he dragged the cultist over to the little group that had formed.

“W-What happened to him..?”  Noob asks,  sounding like they’re about to cry.

“I don’t know,  one second he was fine,  the next…”  Elliot is pale,  despite this being a relatively mild injury compared to some he’s dealt with.

“The Spawn-”  Builderman walking over to sit with them shut Two Time up.

“Guest’s been feelin’ bad lately.  Headaches,  back pain,  itchiness.  We heard some odd noises,  like crackin’ knuckles,  then th’ scream ‘n’ a body droppin’.  He’s bleeding from his head ‘nd waist.  I think he’s got a tail now.  Seven an’ Dus’ got it handled,  he should be fine.  He’s conscious at least.”  Builderman sounds exhausted.  “Round’s almost over though,  we gotta start collectin’ what we’re takin’ with us.”

There’s a quiet murmur of agreement,  as the survivors began to disperse,  gathering items from a few small crates in the center of the room.  It sees a few things it expects,  like clothes,  medkits,  and other necessities,  but then they start pulling out strange things.  A few skeins of yarn,  scrap fabric,  notebooks,  and various hobby supplies.  It’s odd to see them able to pick and choose what to take.  It recalls having to fight tooth and claw to get the kids things to do.  Damn Spectre.

They blinked,  and suddenly found themself outside,  a frigid wind blowing through as the sky bleed into a fleshy,  pulsating red.  The water grew rough within seconds,  waves splashing on the dock as dark clouds rolled in.  They saw the fog too,  moving far too fast for it to even consider escaping from.  They think that it’d be best for them to at least get onto dry land.  They don’t even get to move before a wave drags them under,  and they sink like a stone.

They drown once,  twice,  then a third time before they manage to make it to the surface.  They hear someone shout,  but are caught in a riptide and stolen away from shore.  It took far too long (fighting to get off the bottom of the lake,  forced to listen to the hallucinated voice of Telamon,  seeing fish far too large for the lake to sustain,  dozens of more deaths) before the lake began to still.

It takes far less time than before for someone to figure out where they were.  They had only breached the surface twice before someone had grabbed their arm and kept their head above water.  A strong wave nearly knocked them back under,  but quiet promises to not let go of it and that it just needs to breathe stopped its flailing.

It took longer than they’d like to get back to shore,  where whoever had stopped them from drowning again passed them off to someone else.  Soon they were standing (barely,  it was trying not to double over and hack its lungs up) on the sandy shore with a towel wrapped around their shoulders.  Whoever was holding them up (red shirt?) radiated heat,  which was a pleasant change from the cold water and colder breeze.  It took far too much effort to not completely lean against them.

Soon it was half walked,  half dragged into the cabin,  and set on the floor in front of the fireplace.  Noob sat down beside it,  soaked to the bone and wrapped in a towel.  They take the one from its shoulders and squeeze the water from its hair,  followed by patting its wings dry.  They hand the fabric back,  and it slowly wipes the water from its skin as they dry off beside it.

They eventually excuse themself to change into dry clothes.  1x sits in silence,  listening as someone stomps into the cabin.

“Guest!  You alrigh-  Holy shit you’ve got-”

“Don’t.”  He’s the most irritated it’s ever heard him.  “Don’t bring it up.”

Guest disappears into the kitchen as Chance moves to sit beside 1x.  “...Fuck.  I think I might’ve-  I didn’t mean to-  I told him the other day he makes for a pretty good guard dog,  but surely that wasn’t what caused this?”

It doesn’t even spare a glance at him,  oxygen deprived brain too tired to comprehend what the fuck he’s talking about.  “Spectre did it.”

“Yeah,  but,  turning him into a dog?  Dogboy?  He’s like a catboy but dog,  y’know what I mean?”

It nods,  mumbling,  “it works in mysterious ways,”  less out of understanding and more to get him to be quiet.

It works,  and he finally leaves when Noob shoos him away.  It doesn’t figure out what Chance was rambling about until later in the day,  when it spots the fluffy white ears and tail that everyone was avoiding looking at.  (It finds itself scared for Noob.  Sure,  it had never voiced the thought that it wanted them to have wings aloud,  but the Spectre always seemed to know.  1x doesn’t want to know that It will do to its survivor if it means getting a rise out of it.  Then again,  it’s already crossed that bridge before.  1x dreads when it will do it again.

Chapter Text

1x hardly had even blinked,  but still found themself in a round.  They plucked their eye out and scanned the silhouettes of nearby survivors,  before zeroing in on a certain curly-haired swordsman.  They launched an entanglement at him,  sprinting over just in time to see him break free.  They slashed at him,  and he responded in kind,  leaving a shallow gash across their chest.

They hiss to themself as he runs away,  like the cowardly fool he is,  though it’s not long before they’re back on their feet,  tearing across the clearing.  One of Dusekkar’s beams strike them,  the magic weighing their limbs down,  but doing nothing to stop their pursuit.

They ready a mass infection,  striking the swordsman and someone hidden away behind him,  who promptly keeled over with a shout,  still out of sight.  They ignored the distraction,  lunging at Shedletsky and landing a gash across his torso.

He paused,  darting around them when they slashed at him once more  He sprinted away again,  ducking behind a wall to try to break its line of sight,  only to quickly discover that it was a pointless endeavor when he’s struck with an entanglement.  1x rounded the corner milliseconds later.  He hissed when they struck,  running around the wall once more.

They played their game of cat and mouse,  around,  and around the wall,  until Telamon eventually managed to stab them through the thigh,  slowing them enough to escape.  A gunshot and a scream rang through the air from elsewhere in the arena,  sounds that meant nothing to them in the moment as they pushed themself to their feet.

They ran to where Shedletsky disappeared to,  forcing their leg to stay under them regardless of how badly it wanted to give out,  spotting him eating his chicken (how vile ) behind a rock.  They slung a mass infection his way,  missing,  before running at him once more.

There was a flash of blue in their periphery before something slammed into their side,  no doubt leaving a nasty bruise.  The soldier blocked their slash at him,  before simply running away.  How odd,  normally he would’ve tried to punch it.  They ignored a nearby explosion,  instead choosing to chase the now-healed swordsman.

They land one strike,  then another,  and another when he gets too cocky with his regained health.  He falters momentarily,  before turning around and raising his sword.  1x’s own blade collided against Shedletsky’s,  the metal screeching as the dying man barely managed to fend off the attack.  He tried to run,  but an entanglement was all it took to finally put him down.

They stared at the corpse,  catching their breath.  Someone shouts a curse,  before there’s a wet,  squelching sound,  and near-silence.  Who else is here?

They sprinted in the direction the noise came from,  spotting John Doe tossing the top half of Taph away and grabbing Dusekkar by the antlers.  They heard a gurgling,  wet gasp,  and finally noticed Guest laying on the ground,  ripped in two.  They drove their blade through his skull before he could even exhale.  Eugh.  There was another crunch,  and they looked up just in time to see his claws covered in pumpkin guts.  Gross.

They wandered over to the rest of the carnage,  keeping a careful eye on the beastly mean,  nudging Taph’s upper half with its sword.  He twitches,  turns to look at them,  and is met with a sword through his temple.  John trotted off while they had their back turned,  no doubt hunting down the remaining survivors.  Who even are they?

There was the sound of earth shifting,  and spikes erupting,  followed by two people yelping (they know they know they know,  he can’t steal their kills,  he can’t kill them-).  Their shackles clattering nearly deafened them as they barreled toward the mutated man,  ramming into his side with as much force as they could.

They slashed at him,  and he retaliated by slamming his dead arm into them.  Something snapped from the force as they were thrown a few feet away,  losing their grip on their daemonshanks and leaving them struggling to breathe more than usual.

The spikes that had been raised sunk into the floor,  giving John access to the dead end he had trapped Noob and Elliot in.  Noob was standing defensively,  despite their trembling,  in front of the bloody and battered pizza man,  who looked like he was about to pass out from terror.  John slashed,  Noob yelped,  and Elliot was pushed past its fellow killer.  1x pushed itself to its feet,  launching itself at John again,  sinking its teeth into his arm as he reeled back to slash at the survivors again.

He slammed his arm,  with 1x still attached,  into a wall until he was finally able to dislodge it.  The stabbing pain that shot through its skull left it stumbling when it tried to stab John,  barely managing to brace itself on a nearby wall when he simply swatted it away.  Noob tried to run around him,  using the brief opening 1x’s skull getting bashed in provided,  but John moved faster,  spearing the survivor on his corrupted arm,  ignoring their shriek of pain.  The agony that drilled through its skull evaporated,  no longer shackling it in place.  Noob wouldn’t survive,  but…

It pushed itself off the wall,  snatching a sword off the ground,  and swung its blade into Noob’s throat,  severing it as cleanly as it could (it hurts them less this way,  it’s merciful in comparison,  they didn’t squeak or yelp,  it just hallucinated that,  they’re safe and sound at the cabin,  they’ll be okay,  death will heal them).  Their head dropped as John lifted what was left above his head to tear in half.

1x turned and was met with Elliot,  pale from fear and blood loss,  gripping an unopened medkit like a lifeline,  and nowhere near far enough away to deal with two killers during last man standing.  1x ran to him,  picking up its other sword while John was preoccupied,  and when he finally processed their approach,  he sprinted as fast as he could in the opposite direction.  Good.  They plucked out their eye for the small rush of adrenaline,  running after him.  John would find him no matter what,  their feigned ignorance wouldn’t do anything.

They rounded the corner he had hidden himself behind,  watching as Elliot frantically tried to shut the medkit.  1x stabbed one sword into the ground to free one hand,  grabbing his wrist to stop him from running again.  They reopened the little box,  gesturing for him to use it.

He seemed to get the hint,  wrapping his injuries with shaky hands as they listened to John’s rapidly approaching footsteps.  They grabbed their sword as they stepped out from behind the wall,  watching as he stabbed his arm down.  They flung their blades at him,  entangling him,  buying Elliot the precious seconds he needed to patch himself up.

John doesn’t stay down for long,  turning to face them with a snarl.  They braced for impact when he sprinted their way,  nearly getting slammed into the floor.  They raise their blade just in time to block the following attempt to disembowel them.  They miss their slash,  getting hit upside the head by his corrupted arm.

They hiss when he finally turns his attention away from them,  staring down where the pizza man was hidden.  He stabbed into the floor once more,  and Elliot burst from behind the wall,  nearly colliding with 1x as he ran past.  Spikes erupt from the floor,  missing them and trying to trap the pizza man in a corridor.  He managed to slip past,  though not without being struck,  sprinting across the map.

1x ran after him,  listening as John’s stomping and growling slowly caught up to them.  They spun on their heel,  slashing at him as he attempted to overtake them,  catching his attention for long enough.  John grabbed them by the throat,  claws piercing through skin and chitin,  before tossing them aside.  By the time he was looking for Elliot again,  he was out of sight.

The clock ticked down as they staggered to their feet,  unable to breathe with the hole in their windpipe.  An entanglement kept John in place,  uncanny stare fixed on them the entire time.  The pressure in their head and debilitating migraine returned,  no doubt punishment for being a traitor.  The world spun around them,  slowly fading away.  The clock struck zero as they lost their balance and-

They blinked,  and found themself surrounded by frigid winds,  choppy water,  and oozing red skies.  A few drops of what appeared to be blood fell from non-existent clouds,  soon growing into a deafening downpour.  They felt their throat,  only to find nothing there.  He must’ve killed them then.

Taph jogged out of the main cabin,  looking around for a few moments,  before sprinting over to them when he finally noticed they were there.  He grabbed their wrist,  pulling them towards the nearby ramp,  only to be stopped by 1x yanking their arm back.  He pointed to the door,  signing “Noob hurt,  no Elliot,  help” almost too fast to read.  He gestured for them to go inside again.

It growled at him as it walked past,  slipping through the doorway and trudging to the crowd surrounding the couch.  It spots Noob curled up,  whimpering and teary eyed,  as they clung to its cape like they were trying to tear it to shreds.  Chance knelt beside them,  trying to offer comfort while Dusekkar,  Builderman,  and Guest were discussing something by the staircase.  Two Time leaned over the back of the couch,  staring intently;  007n7 stood in the kitchen’s entryway to fetch whatever anyone needed;  and Taph followed it inside.

That left Telamon standing between itself and the easiest path to Noob,  glaring at it as though it’s evil incarnate (perhaps the idea isn’t too far fetched.).  “Where’s Elliot?”  

“I don’t know.  He was alive the last time I saw him,  and he won the round.  Move,  Taph asked me to come help.”

“No-”

Builderman spoke up,  trying to stop the imminent fight before it started.  “Shed.  Let ‘im through.”

“They don’t need its help,  I’m certain that you all are more than capable of managing the situation.”

“You know how much they love the damn thing.”  1x hissed at him,  a quiet complaint rather than an actual threat.  He shot them a brief glance,  and a tired look.  “Sorry.”

Oh.  Why was he apologizing to them ?

Builderman continues his speech.  “It calmin’ ‘em down’ll be a hell of a lot more helpful than you standin’ there with yer thumb up yer ass.  Either get over there and help,  or get outta th’ way.”

“ Fine.   If it tries anything-”

1x cut him off,  pushing past,  “You’ll try to cave my skull in again,  I’m aware.”

Telamon glares before he wanders off to join the admins,  as Chance scoots back to give it their spot.  They take a seat as he goes to chat with 007n7,  something about dinner.  Taph manages to convince Two Time to stop staring,  following him back to the kitchen,  leaving 1x alone to calm down Noob (why it ?  wouldn’t anyone else be a better fit?).  1x leaned closer to Noob so they could hear its whispers that everyone else hopefully couldn’t.

“Noob,”  They let out a pathetic,  pained whine of acknowledgement,  reaching a hand out.  It extends a wing for them to pet.  “Are you hurt?”

They gave a slight shrug.  “Did it start after you respawned?”

They remained silent for a few moments,  before humming an affirmative.  “Was it at random?”

Noob shook their head again with a sniffle (how dare It-).  “Was it worse earlier?”

They hum an affirmative,  mumbling into its cape.  “B’fore Taph left.”

“It’s getting better though?”

“Still hurts.”

“It’s going to hurt for a while.”  They make another pathetic noise.  “Do you want to go to bed early?”

They nod.  “Wh’n Elliot’s back.”

“You can rest right now.  I'll wake you up when he shows up.”

“M’kay.”

“Can you get up,  or should I carry you to your cabin?”

“‘m gonna stay here ‘til he’s back.”

They let go of its wing,  turning their head slightly to look at it before patting the couch next to them.

“You’re going to ruin my reputation."

“I don’ care.  C’mere.” 

“Rude.”  It sits beside them anyway,  to which they promptly sprawled across its lap.

“Wake me up when food’s ready,”  they mumble,  before falling asleep almost instantly.

Dinner took far less time than expected,  as did waking Noob.  The meal seemed to be a welcome distraction from Elliot disappearing again,  though it didn’t stop the occasional discussion about where he could be going from taking place.  Soon enough everyone was out of the lodge,  and 1x was laying down with Noob fast asleep on top of them.  It rested its eyes,  not allowing itself to sleep,  just in case he got home soon.

Chapter Text

1x woke up to the ambient noises around them changing.  They blinked the sleep from their eyes,  glancing around at the purple stained scenery.  Noli was stretching not too far away,  occasionally glancing in their direction.  He finally limped over to them,  his star spinning idly above his palm.

“1X ,”  he drew out the x like a petulant child,  “it’s too ea-r-r-rly for this shit .  Does the SPECTRE normally send YOU into rounds at three-e am ?”

“Yes,”  they said as they tore their eye out,  counting nine silhouettes,  “you were just too busy sleeping to notice.”

“Ru-u-u-ude.”

There was a long pause

“Y’kno-o-ow…  if WE just kill OUR-R-R-RSELVES WE can go back to bed .”  He leaned against their arm,  staring up at them.  “ Ladies first!”

They stepped backwards,  hoping he’d fall flat on his face,  but had no such luck as he stayed in place,  as though gravity didn’t affect him.  “You have fun with that,  I’ll be doing my job.”

“YOU-U-U’RE such a killjoy.  Live a little.”

He crashed into their ribs as they attempted to walk away,  slamming them into the ground when they ignored him the first time.  He held the star to his face,  staring into it for a moment,  and then he was gone.  Bastard.  1x pushed themself off the floor,  brushing dirt off themself as they did,  before trotting off to where it had seen the survivors.

Noli was already there,  flinging the star at the biggest group of bleary eyed survivors,  most of which scrambled out of the way.  The unlucky three,  007n7,  Noob,  and Builderman,  were dragged further into the blast before they were finally able to flee.  Noob split off from the pack,  running towards a nearby temple as Builderman rejoined his group of survivors.

007n7 was frozen in place as Noli cocked his head at him.  “Ohh S-S-S-SEVEN-N-N,  it’s been so-o-o long since I last saw YOU.”  The words were spat out with so much vitriol that 1x briefly considered interrupting the conversation to spare the ex-exploiter from whatever hell was awaiting him,  before deciding that doing that would be a terrible idea and only serve to bring it harm.  “WE have so much to talk about.”

1x slunk away before they ended up involved whatever was happening there.  Unfortunately Noli’s shouting could be heard anywhere on the map.  It was easy enough for 1x to tune out,  he’d always been boisterous,  but the lack of sleep and the distraction was throwing the survivors off their game.  How annoying.

They landed yet another slash on Two Time,  pushing the cultist to run faster,  only working to delay the inevitable.  An entanglement struck them,  rooting them in place long enough for it to catch up,  slashing again at their arm.  They twisted around it,   sinking their blade into its spine before scurrying away.

They grumbled as they pushed themself to their feet,  tearing their eye out to figure out who was nearest.  Noob was fiddling with a generator with Builderman,  while everyone else was clustered further away,  around where Noli was rampaging,  though they were rapidly approaching.

1x barely darted out of the way in time to avoid being run into by an exhausted 007n7,  who was being closely followed by Guest and Chance.  The rest of the survivors,  Shedletsky,  Dusekkar,  Taph,  and Two Time,  rounded the corner next,  clearly trying their best to slow Noli down and break his line of sight.

1x launched an entanglement at the larger pack of survivors,  most of which were able to dodge out of the way in time,  only catching Taph and Noli.  They took off after Shedletsky,  landing a slash before he realized that it wasn’t a bluff and ran away.

“1X-1X-1X-X,”  his voice was so shrill and garbled it was nearly impossible to make out that he was shouting their name,  “if YOU-OU-U steal MY ki-ill I wi-i-ill rip YOUR spine o-o-ou-ut with MY bare hands!”

They ignored his raging,  unleashing a mass infection towards the swordsman who barely managed to dodge out of the way.  He whipped around the next time they got close,  slashing them across the chest,  before running away to rejoin 007n7’s entourage, bastard.

It rushed to where he’d fled to,  only to hear a squeak of terror and a curse,  followed by sprinting.  Noob was the first one to escape from the temple they were in,  nearly jumping down the stairs with Builderman not far behind.  The two split up,  Builderman running to the tower,  and Noob directly to 1x,  yelping as they tried to hide behind it.  It glanced around to figure out what they were fleeing from,  spotting nothing despite Noob’s terror.  It tried to grab their wrist,  but they wrenched it away.

“What are you running from?”  They finally ask.

“W-What do you mean ..?!  He’s trying to kill me!”  Their voice cracked as they jolted,  still trying to use it as a not-quite-robloxian shield.

It grabbed their shoulders the next time they were in front of it.  “There’s no one here but us.  Nobody was chasing you or Builderman.  You’re fine.”

They bit back another cry of pain before sniffling quietly.  “It hurts.”

1x grumbled to themself.  “Why don’t you go find the dispenser.  Noli’s been…  preoccupied,  as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

They nod,  scurrying in the direction Builderman had disappeared,  only to stop and turn to face it when it didn’t follow.  “Are you coming..?”

1x sighed at their tone (hurt,  scared,  pleading,  urgh),  “Noli will make life hell if he notices.”

“He’s distracted.”  An explosion from across the arena,  followed by someone shouting ‘damn it Chance!’ proved Noob right,  satisfaction short-lived as they flinched at another phantom pain.

They sighed.  “I’ll walk you there.”

Noob perked up as it jogged to reach them (they didn’t even blink at it running at them,  fully armed.  Was it really that unintimidating?),  waiting until it was by their side to start walking again.  It stayed between them and where Noli seemed to be,  keeping them carefully out of sight.

Noob peeked into the tower Builderman had run to,  glancing around for a few seconds before spotting him in the darkest corner,  rubbing his eyes.

“B-Builderman?”

He looked up at them,  straightening up when he noticed 1x’s presence.  “Yeah,  kid?”

“W-Where’s the dispenser?”

“New guy broke it early on,  but nobody’s been hurt enough to justify rebuildin’ it yet.  Why do ya ask?”

“T-The…  um…  hallucination h-hurt…”  They trailed off,  as though they were doing something wrong.

“Yer friend gonna attack me if I start buildin’ it?”  Builderman gave it a look.  Not quite hate,  but he certainly didn’t trust it.  Good.

“Didn’t plan on it.”  “They won’t!”  The two of them spoke over each other,  but he seemed to understand.

He knelt down,  tools clanging as he put the machine together,  occasionally checking to make sure 1x wasn’t about to slaughter him (At least it still strikes fear into the hearts of some people).  The contraption spun to life as Builderman pushed himself off the floor,  holstering his tools back on his belt.

Noob scooted toward the dispenser,  leaning against the wall.  1x spun on its heel to leave,  it needed to find someone to chase before Noli got suspicious (and before the Spectre grew bored).  Noob grabs at its wrist to try and stop it.

“Can you stay?”

“He’s here,”  1x tilts their head in Builderman’s direction,  “you’ll be fine.”

They wilt slightly (damn them),  as Builderman adds,  “Yer one’a the only folks here who can keep ‘em calm without Elliot around.  Not like I can do anythin’ if they end up in a chase.”

It growls.  (Damn both of them).  “Fine.”

“Thank you,”  Noob mumbles,  releasing its arm.

Silence stretches on for a few minutes,  only broken by the chaos elsewhere on the map.  An explosion rings out far too close to where they’re hidden away at one point,  before the sound fades away again.

“So,  ‘X,”  Builderman starts.

“Don’t call me that.”

“Right.  1x1x1x1,  Shedletsky told me everythin’.  ‘Bout yer creation,  the other guy involved,  what he did.  You wanna tell me yer side?”

It stared at him.  “Sure he did.  I bet he’s planning on introducing me to Brighteyes as his progeny as well.”

“You know ‘bout her?”  It watched him,  trying to deduce what he was getting at.

“He spoke of her occasionally.”

“Hm.  He said ya never knew of ‘er.”

“His brain contains more feathers than all of his wings combined.”

“Can’t argue with ya there.  He told me about a…”  there was the briefest pause as he stared harder at it,  “‘T’ fellow.”

1x froze,  tense,  glaring daggers at him.  No way Shedletsky actually told him.  Telamon wouldn’t allow such a thing,  unless the circumstances were dire.  That or he trusted him as much as Brighteyes,  but that certainly couldn’t be the reason.  Or maybe it was?  Builderman was the first friend Shedletsky had ever made,  it’d make sense,  as unfortunate as it is.  He can’t be wanting to know about their side though,  that’s absurd.  He hates them,  they hate him.  Maybe he’s gathering information to report back on whether or not they would spill Telamon’s secrets.  They won’t.  They know far better than to ever even consider it.

“Y’wanna tell me about ‘em?”

“We aren’t discussing him.  Ever.  Be silent or leave.”

“No need to get upset.”

“Builderman…”  Noob murmured,  only to be interrupted by 1x’s louder,  “Fuck off.”

The quiet ticking signalling the round’s end couldn’t come soon enough.  Their luck was good today,  at the very least.  The round only lasted a few minutes longer,  stifling as they were.  1x blinked and… hissed as they were tossed into another round.  They trudged out of the ball pit,  catching sight of Mafioso cracking his knuckles on the stage nearby.  They tried to slip out of the room without catching his attention,  keeping their steps light,  sticking to the walls of the room,  but alas,  he spotted them.

“You thieving little bitch!”  Was the only warning they got before a briefcase was lobbed at their head,  missing by a hair.

1x spun on their heel,  straightening their posture,  glaring at him with their blades at the ready.  He grabbed their bandana,  lifting them ever so slightly,  as though he wasn’t only an inch or two taller than them.

“Where’s my cape,  freak?”

“In my room,  where it’s taken its rightful place as a rug.  It reeks almost as much as you do,  you know.  I’ve been considering burning it.”

“You-”  A gunshot rang out,  forcing Mafioso’s grip to loosen enough for them to escape his grasp.

Chance grinned,  giving it a thumbs up before they bolted back to who-knows-where.  1x didn’t take this opportunity for granted,  entangling the stunned mob boss before trotting off to go hunt down a survivor or two.

He took far longer than expected to find it again,  granted he went back to killing when it was out of sight.  Builderman was the first to fall,  doing so at 1x’s hand,  followed by Taph to Mafioso,  and Shedletsky to 1x again.  Somewhere in the chaos Chance had killed himself attempting to stun Mafioso as well.  It had been chasing Noob around,  looking for someone less complicated to slaughter,  when one of Mafioso’s underlings had spotted him.

The little bastard shouted,  “Over ‘ere,  boss!”  summoning the man faster than any of the demon children when there was food ready.

He lunged across the hallway,  his sword (that he really shouldn’t have) drawn,  before colliding with the survivor.  Noob cried out as they burst into flames,  trying to sprint elsewhere.  1x launched an entanglement at him,  only for him to jump out of the way and take a swing at its head.

“Mad at me for tryin’a steal your kill?”  They wanted to tear the smug grin from his face.

They ignored his taunt,  slashing at him instead.  He blocked the hit with his arm,  but wasn’t able to stop their second slash from attacking.

His grin only widened as their blows grew stronger,  his tone mocking as he asked,  “What?  Does the big bad 1x4 care about a puny little survivor?”

(How does he know,  the rest of the killers shouldn’t know!  Did Azure snitch?  It’d always taken them for someone who didn’t care for gossip,  but maybe they had.)  Its sword stayed still for less than a second as they tried to figure out the chuckling man’s game.  An unfortunate decision judging by how he grabbed the blade,  twisting it out of their grasp,  as his chuckling grew into howling laughter.

“By Telamon,  you do!”  His lackeys came to see the commotion,  watching Mafioso for a moment as he regained his composure.  “Go find the skittish yellow survivor.  The useless one.”

His hand clamped down on the back of its neck before it could deny it,  using his free hand to further disarm it,  ignoring its flinch and raised hackles.  He dragged them along,  following his underlings.  Noob hadn’t gotten far,  hiding next to one of the generators in the play room,  tucked away behind the blue wall as Guest wrapped their wounds.  Mafioso dug his nails into the sides of its neck,  ignoring 1x’s growling and thrashing as it attempted to free itself.

The underlings circled around the two survivors,  the one with the tall black hat trying to grab Noob while the one with the white hat tried to scare Guest off by taking a swing at him.  Her bluff didn’t work,  only serving to get her shoulderbashed,  practically vaporizing her as she was removed from the round.  The distraction was enough for the other one to grab Noob as they tried to flee.

Noob yelped as they were dragged over to Mafioso,  the (wretched,  obedient,  worthless) underling looking smug as they shoved Noob to him.  Guest tried to get between him and Noob,  shoulders squared,  jaw set,  prepared to take a hit.  Mafioso quickly reminded him of his place when he feinted a punch,  luring out a block,  before snapping the soldier’s neck like a twig and tossing his body aside.  (Noob yelped at the sound,  and it had twitched to look at them,  a reflex,  or maybe a bad habit,  it was unaware it had.  Mafioso certainly noticed,  tightening his hold on it as he exhaled a little louder than he normally did,  as though he wanted to laugh.)

He released its neck,  ignoring the punch it immediately launched at his side.  He grabbed Noob’s throat,  lifting them off the floor from where they had frozen in place.  They scrambled to gain leverage on his arm as he studied them,  head slightly tilted like a confused dog.  

He turned his head to look at 1x,  ignoring their attempt to punch him in the throat,  “Really?”  He shook Noob slightly,  making them squeak,  “This thing?  Outta all the survivors,  this is one that managed to tame ya?  Pathetic.”

“They did not tame me.  I am not attached .  I don’t know what gives you that idea,  but-”

“So you wouldn’t care if I killed your little ehh…  Soldier,  what would you want to be called in place of boyfriend or girlfriend?”

“ They’re not -”

“I’ve heard people use 'joyfriend’,  Boss!”  Soldier chirped

“So,  1x,  you’re fine with me killing your joy friend?”  Hilarious.  He’s truly the jokemaster.  1x needs his head on a pike.

“Go ahead,  steal my kill.  Jackass.”  They growled.

Mafioso stared them down,  studying them as they tried to keep their appearance neutral.  They couldn’t do much about the smoke rippling around them,  but they could look disinterested,  and they could sound annoyed about his antics.  No point in maiming Noob if 1x doesn’t care,  right?  It’d be pointless to draw out their death,  if he kills them at all.

He shrugged,  “Have ‘em back then.”

There was a decisive snap as he broke their neck,  throwing them at it with more than enough force to knock it to the floor.  Noob was clutching their throat as they struggled to breathe,  1x trying to push themself up to either kill them or Mafioso (this is its fault,  if it hadn’t hesitated,  hadn’t let itself be disarmed,  if it had fought him harder,  they wouldn’t be suffocating on the floor.)  Mafioso tossed his briefcase at its head,  causing its skull to crack against the floor.

“You’re a terrible liar,  y’know that?”  Mafioso kicked their head,  forcing them to look to the side as they snarled at him.  “Noli’s gonna get a kick outta this’n eh,  Soldier?”

The heel of his boot came down hard on their temple.  Humiliating,  albeit painless.  They need to make him suffer the next time they meet.

1x pushed themself up so they were no longer laying on the dirty floor.  It's another round.  There was red everywhere,  a few other,  tamer,  buildings were scattered about.  They tore their eye from its socket,  only for nothing to happen.  Their vision was blurry but none of the survivors were visible.  Odd.

They wait for their eye to regenerate before wandering around the map.  There’s nothing at first,  no survivors,  no generators,  no items.  They’d nearly gone to where the survivors normally started rounds before they heard conversation from inside the big red building.  They crept inside,  making out the voices of Chance,  Guest,  and Noob.  It turned the corner they were hidden behind,  earning a wave from Taph (silent as always),  and nearly scaring the life out of the gambler in the process.

“Hey there,  pal,  round hasn’t started yet!  Maybe hold back on the killin’ for now?”

“Fine.”  It could use a break after however many hours they’d all spent running around.

“What managed to kill you?”  Guest asked.

“Mafioso decided to crush my skull.”  It responded.

Noob grimaced,  “Y-Yeah…”

Chance moved to pat it on the back,  only rethinking when the tip of their blade rested against his throat.  “Sorry,  bud.  At least you know what it’s like for our side now.”

“I do not.  And he’s tried to kill me before.  The only reason he managed to this time was because I was pinned down.”

“S-Sorry…”  Noob squeaked.

“You didn’t do anything,  he reacted like that because of me.”

Chance grinned at it,  “So,  he’s like that with everyone?”

“Everyone’s like that with everyone,  he just tends to be more homicidal than most.”

“Everyone’s out there fighting the kids?”

“Sometimes.”

Guest held his hand out to silence Chance.  “Some of you fight children ?”

“Yeah?  The brats love to wrestle,  but John’s the only one who’s ever tried to hurt them.”

Taph nudged Noob’s arm,  signing something to them before they said,  “He’s wondering how you guys stopped him from killing everyone.”

“The only ones who ever died to him were the ones who tried to restrain him.  We usually just focused on keeping him from getting too destructive while we waited for him to calm down.”

“He calms down?”

“He doesn’t try to kill us as often as you think.”

“Lucky you.”

Silence enveloped the room once more.

“How do you know there’s no round right now?”  It asked.

“After I blew up in the first round I got sent to the hotel.  It was just me there,  with nothing to do,  ‘til the round started.  Same thing happened here.”

“If everyone who died is here,  then where’s Builderman and Shedletsky?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,  hater boy?”

Guest cut in before it could snap at them,  “Near spawn if I had to guess.  Builderman told Shedletsky they needed to talk after Noob showed up.”

It hummed as an acknowledgement,  and the conversation drifted to something else it couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to.  Dusekkar eventually floated in,  giving it a confused look,  but otherwise simply listening to the conversation.  Two Time was the next one to find them,  finding room for themself between Guest and Chance.

Some time later (ten minutes?  an hour?  It doesn’t know.  It and the group of survivors it had found itself with had sat down on the nearby staircase though),  the two missing admins showed up.  Builderman was unfazed by its presence,  but Telamon was glaring daggers at it.  It pretended not to notice him as Noob moved to sit between them.

The minutes dragged on before,  finally ,  they were teleported.  They found themself back on the raised platform overlooking the carnival with a timer ticking down in their head.  There was a medkit and a generator nearby.

“Mr. 1x!!”  Oh no.

c00lkidd collided with their chest at full speed,  nearly impaling them with his horns.  His tail was wagging faster than they’d ever seen it go as he hugged them,  digging his claws into their spine and 

They pried him off as politely as they could.  “Hello,  c00lkidd.”

“Where have you been! ”  He stomped his hoof,  putting one fist on his hip while pointing at them (he must’ve picked that up from pr3ty priincess).  “You’ve been gone for months!”

“The Spectre had a change of plans with me-”

“Are you a hider now?”

“No.  It just sent me to live with them.”

“Oh...  Oh!  What has Dad said about me?!”  He was bouncing on his heels as he asked.

“He avoids me,  and I don’t try to talk to him.”  They recall the exhaustion and defeat in his eyes after rounds with his son.  “He misses you though.”

“I miss him too…”

They pat him on the head between his horns.  “You’ll see him outside of a round some day.”

“Yeah…  I guess it’s time to play tag.”  The kid tried to sound eager,  but even with the everpresent smile on his face he radiated nothing but misery.

“Something wrong?”

“I just…  I don’t want to play right now!  I’m tired of playing tag!  I want to talk to Dad,  but he’s always running even when I ask him to stop,  and even when he does he looks scared.  And it’s not even him sometimes!  And the one with Azure’s symbol is mean!  They tag too hard and it hurts,  and they’re a cheater,  and they’re always rambling about how I kill the hiders,  but I don’t kill people,  and-”

“c00lkidd,  breathe for a second.”  He takes a gasping breath,  clearly on the verge of tears.  “Have you told Azure?”

He nodded.  “It didn’t change anything.”

“Hm.  What did Two Time do?”

“Who?”

“The one with the symbol on their shirt.”

“O-Oh.  It hurts when they tag me,  and one time they tagged me so much that I fell asleep.”  They did what .   “And…  um…  other times they’ve told me that I kill people — which I don’t,  I-I help them fall asleep! — and that when they di-  fell asleep they wanted me to check their pulse.  A-And,  I couldn’t always find one,  but I don’t know how to check,  and they showed me one time and I could feel their heartbeat,  b-but after-”

They set a hand on his shoulder.  “I’ll talk to them.”

“Thank you.”  His voice was hoarse,  like he was about to burst into tears.  Urgh.

It tore its eye out,  scanning the silhouettes for Noob.  It took a moment before it zeroed in on them,  hidden away at spawn.  It grabbed c00lkidd’s hand,  walking in their direction.

“Mr. 1x,  where are we going?”

“Looking for someone,  so I can go talk to Two Time.”  It was going to flay them.

“Is the person you’re looking for your friend?”

“No.  They’re trustworthy enough,  though.”

“Okay.”

It turned the corner into the little entrance area Noob was in,  sending Shedletsky running in the opposite direction.  Noob themself looked a little frightened,  glancing between it and c00lkidd,  but not fleeing.

1x let go of the kid’s hand,  nudging him towards Noob.  “c00lkidd,  be careful with your claws,  try not to hug them too hard.  Noob,  comfort him.  I’ll be back later.”

Noob’s baffled,  “Wh-What..?”  faded into the distance as it ran towards the first survivor it spotted.  Chance was the unfortunate soul it stumbled across first.  His pitiful attempt at fleeing only earned him an entanglement to the back.

They grabbed his shoulder,  spinning him around before he could run again.  “Where’s Two Time.”

“I don’t know,”  he put his hands up to surrender,  “I can go find them for you though.”

“Do that.”  They watched as he turned and ran off.

There’s no way Chance was actually going to bring them to it.  He’s no traitor.  The most traitorous thing he’s ever done was the few times he’s stunned other killers in an attempt to help 1x.

It prowled around the map,  unable to find any trace of the cultist.  It had stumbled across the admins and gathered around a generator.  1x planned on ignoring them until Shedletsky lunged to slash at it and Dusekkar zapped it.  The admins scattered,  leaving their demolitionist behind,  trapped in a corner.  He scrambled to put a tripmine together as it recovered from the stun.

“If you throw that at me,  I’ll make sure you’ll regret it for as long as we both live.”

He paused,  holding the activated tripmine for a few seconds,  before setting it on the floor.  Good enough.  It walked away,  getting no more than ten yards before it heard fabric rustle,  followed by a knife sinking into its back.

“Chance said you were looking for me.”

It can’t bite back its hiss as it straightens up,  swiping its claws at them.  They jump back,  but not fast enough to escape its grasp.  They twisted around,  stabbing cleanly through its hand that held the back of their shirt.  1x dropped its sword,  grabbing the hand that held the knife and twisting until they dropped it (bone snapped,  they convulsed slightly as they cried out,  it released their hand.  Noob was going to be so disappointed in it).  Two Time cradled their broken wrist to their chest,  discomfort and maybe a tinge of fear painting their features,  but their smile never faded.

“Did I do something to upset you?  I can assure you that any slight-”

“Shut up.  Stay away from c00lkidd,  stop telling him that he’s killing people-”

“But he is!  And he shouldn’t turn a blind eye to the Spawn’s-”

“I don’t care.  You’re going to get him killed .  Leave him be,  let him live in his delusion.  Nobody tries to snap you out of yours.”

“The Spawn isn’t-”

“Nobody cares.  Leave the kids alone.”

“We aren’t just going to allow ourselves to be lambs to slaughter,  stunning-”

“There’s a difference between stunning him and slaughtering him,  and you know it.”  Two Time stared at it.  It glared back.  “Leave him alone.”

“Very well.”

1x released their shirt and let them escape.  It’s too tired to deal with them right now.  Urgh.  It walks back to where it’d left Noob and c00lkidd,  ignoring the few survivors it stumbled across.  It spotted the two sitting and chatting,  Noob nodding along to whatever c00lkidd was saying.

“I’m back,”  It said,  looming over the two of them.

c00lkidd patted the ground next to him,  “Hi,  Mr. 1x!  I was telling your friend that you’ve been nicer today than you usually are!  Are you okay,  your hand is bleeding.”

“I’m fine.”

“Do you want me to patch it up?”  Noob asked,  and it shook its head.

“Anyway!”  c00lkidd chirped,  “Do you have any other friends I can meet?”

“No.  You aren’t allowed to tell anyone that I have friends either.”

Noob snorted.  “Yes you do.  They’re friends with Elliot,  he’s the pizza guy,  too.  And they get along well enough with Taph,  he’s the one who can’t speak,  and Guest,  he’s the soldier.”

“I’m pretty sure Elliot’s terrified of me.”

Noob shrugged,  “He’s scared of all the ki-  the people on your team.  He trusts you though.”

“Hm.”

“Can I meet him?”  c00lkidd asked.

“Sorry,  he’s not here right now.  I…  um,  nobody knows where he is."

“You should tell Noob about the drakobloxxers.”

c00lkidd perked up,  and 1x tuned out his rambling.  Noob seemed to appreciate the distraction at least,  managing to keep up with c00lkidd’s ever changing focus.  It’d be impressed if it were capable of feeling such a thing.  He eventually grew bored,  as he always does,  practically begging to play tag.  It was easy enough for 1x to convince him that the survivors were too tired and hungry to play right now.  Its attention was distraction enough for the kid,  keeping him away from the others until the round finally ended.

Chapter Text

1x blinked and finally found itself back at the cabins,  though its relief was short as chaos broke out in the main lodge.  Someone shouted Elliot’s name as other people scurried around.  Two Time nearly collided with it as they sprinted outside in search of something.

1x peered through the doorway,  quickly spotting Noob sitting on the ground with Elliot laying with his head in their lap,  clinging to them as if they’d disappear.  His legs were sprawled behind him,  the bones twisted and warped in a way they’d never been before.  It almost looked as if his bone structure had been altered completely,  with some sections shortened and others stretched.

It took 1x a few more moments of looking at the two of them to finally process that Elliot was covered in his own (dry,  thankfully) blood,  and sitting in what was once a pool that stained the floor.  Most of it seemed concentrated on his head,  having completely soaked through his hair and…  were those ears?  It walked inside to get a better look,  and sure enough,  he had rabbit ears that were pinned as flat as they could possibly go.

All in all,  he looked pitiful and in desperate need of a bath.  Noob seemed to agree,  judging by how they were trying to wipe some of the blood off his face with a damp cloth.  It settled on the ground beside the duo.

Noob leaned against its side.  “He can’t walk.”

“I can carry him,  but if he doesn’t want me to then Guest and Chance would probably be willing to help.  The admins as well.”

Elliot shook his head,  silent for a minute,  before mumbling,  “1x can carry me.  I just want to go to bed…”

“Can we go rinse the blood off first?”  Noob asked.

He nodded,  hesitant,  but still  pushing himself up to release his friend despite their protests.  “My legs hurt,  please be careful.”

Noob scooted out of the way to make it easier for 1x to pick up the pizza man.  It made sure to not jostle his legs too much as it slid one arm under his knees,  and another behind his back to lift him.  He was tense,  but seemingly in minimal pain,  which was the best it could do for him.

Noob led the way out,  taking the cloth with them as they found a secluded,  but still safe stretch of lakeshore beside the lodge.

“How long can you hold him for?”

“I won’t drop him.”

“Comforting,”  Elliot mumbled,  wrapping his arms around its neck just to be safe.

“It’s okay if you need to set him down,  I’ll work as fast as I can.”

“He barely has any meat on his bones,  it isn’t an issue.”

“Hey…”  Elliot shifted in its arms in protest.

Noob took the opportunity to get back on track.  “Can you take your binder off?  I don’t want you to have to wrestle with it later if it gets wet.”

Elliot let out a long-suffering sigh,  pushing 1x’s cheek until they couldn’t see him any longer.  “Turn around.”

Sand shuffled as Noob listened to his request.  The pizza man squirmed a bit,  clearly struggling with the garment,  until he finally freed himself.  He pressed it into 1x’s claws,  waiting for it to grab it before fidgeting with something for a moment.

“It’s off.”  1x turned in time to watch Noob swap the binder(?  It’s not sure what it expected,  but a tank top was not it) for the bloodied cloth,  before scurrying off to their cabin.

Elliot was silent for a while,  watching them disappear into the doorway.  “Hey 1x?”

“Hm?”

“If another killer showed up here,  what would you do?”  What was the point of this question?

“Depends.  If it’s Noli,  Mafioso,  or John I’d probably try to kill them so they don’t trash anything.  The rest can be reasoned with.”

“What if it was a new one?”

“Is there a new killer who might get sent here?”

“...I don’t know.”  He does.

“If it’s related to you disappearing-”

“It’s not!”

“Either way,  it may be worth telling Guest.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Riiight.”

Noob reemerged from the cabin,  holding a few items.

“Please don’t tell them I asked,”  Elliot mumbled.

It didn’t respond,  instead watching Noob set towels on a nearby rock,  holding a cup and comb.

“I’ll try to be as fast as I can.”  They said,  rolling their pants up before following 1x a little ways into the water.

They did work fast,  wiping the blood from his face,  followed by gently dabbing blood off of his ears (judging by his constant twitching and occasional whimpering they were still tender) until there were only a few stained spots left.  They started working on his hair next,  taking the opportunity to comb through it,  until only stains remained again.  Noob finally got to his legs,  which were apparently no less sore than his ears (unsurprising,  considering they looked broken),  nearly receiving a light kick a few times by reflex.  He apologized profusely every time,  despite how weak the few hits that connected were.

Noob finally began rinsing the blood out of the cloth.  “I’m done.  I’ll help you get dried off and changed,  but after that I need to put everything away.  Will you be okay being alone with 1x for a while?”

Elliot nodded as Noob patted him dry.  They swapped Elliot’s towel for the clean one,  drying off their own legs,  followed by 1x’s,  before finally leading the way to their shared cabin.

It looked away as Elliot put on his sleepwear,  waiting until he told Noob the coast was clear before looking back.  It watched as Noob pulled back the sheets on the pizza man’s side of the bed,  before finally setting him down.

“Are you sure you’re fine with 1x?  I can go get someone else if you’d prefer…”  Noob offered.

“It’s fine.  If they kill me I’ll just blame you.”  As if it could.

Noob offered him a small smile.  “Alright.  I’ll be back later.  I’ll bring back dinner if it’s ready.  Get some rest.”

“Thank you.”

Noob disappeared around the corner,  leaving 1x to stand in the center of the room as Elliot hid himself under the blankets.  The room was silent for a few minutes.

“Can you please not just stand there?  You can relax or lay down if you want.”

Right,  they should probably do that.  1x sat at the foot of his bed,  listening to his breathing (making sure he still was,  they don’t trust It to not take him wherever it did while nobody was paying attention).  He was half-asleep by the time Noob came back.

“Is he asleep?”  They whispered.

It shook its head as he mumbled,  “No.”

“Dinner’s almost ready.  I’ll bring some out-”

“Make 1x do it.”  He stared at them from where he was buried under the blankets.

“I’m not going to-”  They were cut off by it standing and stretching.  “You don’t have to,  I know that you don’t like most of the other survivors.”

It shrugged.  “I can tolerate them for a few minutes.  He prefers your company anyway.”

They walked out of the cabin,  across the small clearing,  and into the larger building.  A few sets of eyes followed them as they slipped into the kitchen.  007n7 and Guest hardly spared it a glance as they prepared to serve whatever it was Guest had made.  As soon as they could silently take three plates,  they did,  successfully escaping back to their survivors without getting dragged into a pointless conversation.

The three of them ate in silence (1x couldn’t help but notice how much worse the food was compared to Elliot’s.  It doesn’t matter,  but it certainly has a preference).  Noob tried to gather up the dishes,  but 1x didn’t allow them to,  simply gesturing at Elliot as they took them from their hands.

Its mission to drop off the plates didn’t go as smoothly,  with Telamon demanding they wash them.  He stared it down as it did so,  pissed about something,  per usual,  but unable to say anything with the other admins in the room.  It flicked water at his face as it left,  ignoring his enraged shout as it jogged back to Noob and Elliot’s cabin.

Noob waved as 1x entered,  trying not to disturb Elliot,  who finally entered a restless sleep.  It doesn’t know how he’s going to manage in a round when he can’t walk,  but it’s a problem that’ll have to wait until tomorrow.  For now it slips into bed,  listening to Noob’s breathing even out,  before drifting off itself.

Something colliding with the survivors’ window woke 1x,  and Elliot jolting awake with a yelp and hyperventilating kept it up.  It rolled over,  keeping an eye on him as Noob groggily pulled him into a hug,  murmuring something to him.  He said something back,  before trying to calm down.

“Hey,  1x?”  Noob asked,  earning a hum in response.  “Can you make sure there’s nothing outside?”

1x didn’t respond,  but did get up and walk outside,  nearly walking into Chance as he left his room to check on the noise.  They couldn’t see anything around the clearing to the main lodge,  nor did they find anything in the bushes surrounding the cabin.  They studied the shrubbery surrounding the neighboring cabin,  spotting nothing.  They wandered around the back of the building,  staring into the treeline,  watching and listening for anything out of the ordinary.  They found nothing still,  and made their way around once more in case there were any tracks they missed,  before walking back inside when their search turned up fruitless.

“I didn’t see anything.  No sounds or footprints either.”

“Thank you for looking.”  Noob said,  gesturing for it to come over.

It did,  ducking down so they could pet its wings.

“Elliot said it’s fine if you sleep here tonight.”  They patted the bed beside themself.

It obliged when Elliot nodded,  being sure to give the duo extra space,  despite practically falling off the bed itself.  Noob ended up falling back asleep first,  with Elliot following not long after,  calmer than before,  albeit barely.  1x stayed awake,  keeping an ear out just in case,  but when the night stayed silent for hours after,  it allowed itself to rest too.

Chapter Text

Elliot was recovering from the hell the Spectre put him through,  bit by bit.  The first few days were slow with near-zero progress.  He would show up back at the cabin within minutes of starting a round,  frustrated and in pain.  It was only the third day after everything that he was able to drag himself to stand on shaking legs,  only saved from a fall by one of the survivors who were excluded that day.

From there it got easier.  He was able to stand more,  using anyone willing as a crutch.  1x itself was appointed for that duty frequently,  though only when Noob was around.  Noob,  Guest and Chance helped out most often,  supporting him through rounds,  carrying him when he couldn’t walk anymore,  and protecting him to the best of their ability.  It didn’t stop him from respawning early in the round,  but it was better than nothing.

It took a week or so before Elliot was able to manage to stumble short distances on his own.  1x could practically see the strain on his muscles when he did.  They were never meant to function like this.  It can’t help but wonder if he’ll ever be able to walk properly again.  (What if the Spectre gets bored of him?  Will he just…  die?  It can’t just let It take him from them,  it’ll go down swinging if it buys him a few more minutes.)

His center of balance was all wrong too.  Some of his shakiness faded as he grew stronger,  but still wasn’t good.  Even leaning against walls and furniture he still had to be caught from time to time.

It was obvious to anyone that his inability to survive rounds and the survivors’ coddling was getting to him.  He avoided Seven and Guest like the plague and made up excuses to avoid Builderman and Chance.  Instead he chose to further limit his socializing to Noob and itself,  though Taph and Two Time occasionally joined in.  Despite how obvious his avoidance was,  it hadn’t realized how badly he was doing over-all until Chance had approached outside of a round.

(“Hey,  kid,  did I ever tell ya that I have a rabbit back home?”

“N-No,  what’s its name?”

“Spade,  he’s a real cute fellow.  Black,  fluffy,  cutest ears you’ll ever see.”

“Aww…”

“Speakin’ of ears,  I thought I should let you know that Ell’s bein’ pinned back all the time ain’t normal.  Spade’s would only do that when he was real stressed.  The poor kid is gonna have a heart attack before twenty five at this rate.  I don’t know if it’d help any,  but you all are free to crash in my room if he’s feeling unsafe.  I know he’s been having nightmares about something being outside at night.”

“O-Oh…  Thank you,  I’ll let him know.  But I think he’ll say no,  the nightmares have been,  um…  less intense and less frequent since 1x started sleeping between us and the door.”

“Right…  Offer still stands.  Let me know if any of ya need anything.”)

As of right now though,  he was doing…  better.  Surviving rounds occasionally,  though still acting strange.  Less secluded than before,  though barely.  Not to mention the nearly animalistic behavior he’d have after bad rounds (though,  they suppose they can’t judge him for that).  Staring wide eyed at people,  making odd noises (if he made a noise at all),  not to mention that he was hiding more.  Weirder yet was that he tolerated 1x’s presence more often.  He was at their side constantly during rounds neither of them were chosen for despite how nervous it obviously made him.  Even Noob seemed a bit confused about it.

(Noob on the other hand?  Something was wrong.  The first few signs were them flinching when someone patted them on the back.  It was hardly noticeable,  able to be written off as them being jumpier than usual.  Soon they were avoiding putting any pressure on their back at all,  instead choosing to slouch forward,  or lay on their side.  It had finally clicked a night or two ago when it had been avoiding (hiding from,  like the coward it was) the less tolerant survivors only for Noob to beg through tears for it to take a look at their back.  There it’d found the skin on either side of their spine bright red and inflamed,  stretched taut over hardened lumps that took up nearly half the height of their back.  Tumors if it had to guess,  though it was no doctor.  It had told them to see Dusekkar about it; he may have seen something similar even if there was nothing he could do.  It’s almost certain they haven’t yet.)

All in all,  1x couldn’t help but feel…  something new and strange (and utterly reprehensible) occasionally bubble up past their discontent during Elliot’s recovery.  It was warm and strong,  akin to the time they hit all eight survivors with a mass infection,  or when c00lkidd won his first round.  It wasn’t hatred,  or anger,  or even the pesky one that shows up whenever Noob or Elliot die due to its negligence (nor is it the need to fight or flee it now feels for the survivalist,  something once reserved for itself when weathering Telamon’s wrath).  They hated it.  It made them want to claw at their skin off and escape back to the killers’ mansion (but then again,  they can’t do that anymore,  can they?  Everyone knows they’re weak.  They’ve lost their place near the top of the pecking order,  the only killers who wouldn’t make it well known are the kids (if they’re lucky).  Even Azure would despise them for being so pathetic-)

Something crashed into their side with a strangled,  frightened sob,  crashing to the floor immediately after.  They stopped giving chase to…  whoever it was.  They hadn’t been paying attention (too focused on the wellbeing of their weaknesses,  urgh) and couldn’t catch a glimpse of the mystery survivor before they had disappeared around a corner.

Their attention snapped to the pizza man lying in a heap on the floor as he wheezed.  One leg had a deep gash in it,  though not as deep as the one on his torso.  He must’ve gotten caught off guard by Slasher.  They swapped one sword to their other hand,  holding the newly freed one out for Elliot to take.  He glanced behind himself,  only for Slasher’s shriek to ring out from comfortably far across the map as he,  presumably,  got stunned.

He grabbed their hand,  letting 1x haul him to his feet.  “There’s a medkit on the far side of the graveyard.  Can you make it there on your own,  or do you need to be walked there?”

The pizza man tried to take a few steps,  but the combination of being unsteady and favoring his injured leg left him nearly toppling to the ground again.  They don’t bother waiting for an answer,  catching him before he can fall.  Grass crunches under foot as they lead him out of the stone columns and around the back of the graveyard.  1x leaves him tucked away in a corner while it grabs the medkit,  swiftly bringing it back as he settles himself on the ground.

“I won’t aim this way until I know you’re out of here.  Just focus on Slasher,”  It mutters as it drops the box in his lap.

“Why not?”

“Hm?”

“Why not aim this way?  Noob won’t notice if you kill me.”  Elliot stares down at the medkit.

“I’m not killing you.”

“Why?  I know you don’t like me,  there won’t be any hard feelings-”

“I don’t want to right now.  Plus you’re…”  (vulnerable?  weak?  in need of protection?  someone it doesn’t want to see hurt?)  “...  tolerable.  Treat your wounds before you bleed out.”

“Okay.”

They stalked off,  back towards the columns to hopefully catch a survivor off guard from where they were clashing near the mountain.  A half dozen survivors were flitting around almost aimlessly,  though Builderman,  Noob,  and 007n7 stayed out of the way as Slasher landed another slash on Dusekkar.  1x zeroed in on Shedletsky,  too busy lagging behind Slasher to save his friend.  Pathetic.

They launched an entanglement at him,  catching Taph,  Slasher,  and Guest in the process.  It took mere seconds before they had caught up,  nearly skewering the worthless man before he could break free,  though they were nowhere near lucky enough.  Damned Spectre.

They took off in pursuit of the swordsman,  splashing through poisoned water as he fled to the smaller set of walls near the mansion.  They tore out their eye to aim a mass infection at him (and not to check Elliot’s location,  that’d be foolish,  he’s still hidden away where they left him),  one that promptly struck.

1x sprinted over,  raising a blade to slash at their disgrace of a creator,  only for Telamon to lunge forward and spear their abdomen with his sword (the bastard).  He kicked one of their legs out from under them,  driving the blade into the ground and leaving them pinned like a bug (why?).

He wrenched one of their daemonshanks from their grasp despite the poison seeping into his veins,  and 1x’s attempts to sink their teeth into his arm and disembowel him with their talons.  (What is he doing,  why is he towering over them,  they’re supposed to be stronger than him,  scarier than him.  Where are the other survivors,  why won’t they call him off,  shouldn’t they be looking for their missing sentinel?).  The other blade was torn from them soon after,  and Telamon stalked off to toss them far out of reach.

They grabbed the sword’s hilt,  trying to yank it out before he got back,  only for him to snatch their wrist,  despite their snarling,  to halt what little progress they made.

“1x.”  Telamon’s rage was barely concealed by his hushed tone.  “What did you tell Builderman.”

Their heart thundered in their chest (a byproduct of the anticipation of his slaughter and nothing more,  they’re fine,  snapping their fingers would require less effort than killing him) as they tried to figure out what he was talking about.  “I haven’t spoken to him in a week.  You're going to need to be a bit more specific,  wretch.”

Telamon looked half a second away from strangling them to death (after all,  he was a deity,  under normal circumstances it’d be nothing for him to smite them).  “Builderman is…  aware of my hand in your creation.  What lies did you feed him?”

What?  “I didn’t say shit to him,  I’m not that fucking stupid.”

“Lying,  conniving little-  We know you did.  Neither Shedletsky nor I had spoken a word to him about me before then.  You are the only other person here who could know.  I will ask one more time.  What did you tell him?”

“Nothing!”  Their voice raised an octave against their will (to try and alert the survivors to their misbehaving sentinel of course),  akin to Noob’s occasional frightened squeaks (it may be charming when they do it,  but it was a rather pathetic sound when it came from something as threatening as 1x).  “He came to me asking about you,  and I refused to answer.  Just because you two are too scatterbrained to recall your conversations doesn’t mean I’m at fault.”

“Perhaps you told one of the other survivors then?  Maybe one of the ones you’re ‘fond’ of?  Noob seems a bit loose-lipped,  surely if he’d found out from anyone else it’d be them.”

What was he going to do,  kill them?  (Surely not,  he and Shedletsky do their best to defend the rest of the survivors,  he wouldn’t just…  kill them.)  “Leave them out of this.  I told nobody.  Get it through your skull.  Maybe your wife was the one who-”

Telamon dropped to the ground,  wrapping his hands around their throat and leaning as much of his weight against their windpipe as he could without crushing it.  “You’re little more than ungrateful vermin.  Do not speak of her with malice after everything she did when you tried to ruin our lives,  do not squander the compassion she showed you.”

They wheezed as he pressed down harder,  ignoring its claws leaving gouges on his arms.  “The mortals you’ve manipulated will see the truth and grow to hate you.  When the Spectre is gone and we all escape,  you will not be among the victors.  When you finally perish and rot in this gods-forsaken realm,  alone and unwanted,  nobody will care enough to mourn.  History will forget you.”

Its visions swam as some excess moisture gathered in its eyes from the lack of oxygen.  The rest of Telamon’s ranting faded into static as dark spots crept into its vision.  (It was fucking stupid for ever believing that he was weaker than it.  What was it to a god?  Nothing.  Just a stain on his list of accomplishments.  Its creation took fractions of fractions of his power and effort from his prime,  it’d take far less to unmake it even in his weakened state.  It can’t say it doesn’t deserve this for-)

The weight on its throat suddenly vanished,  followed by the sword in its gut releasing it,  allowing it to curl up on their side as they gasped for air.  People were shouting nearby.  One was probably Telamon.  Maybe Shedletsky.  It can’t tell who’s in charge right now.  It doesn’t care.  The shouting died down as someone stomped away.  Whoever was left behind sat down near it.  Out of reach but still close enough.

“Are you alright?”  1x peered out from its defensive curl,  watching as 007n7 tried in vain to wipe some of its blood off of Shedletsky’s sword.

“‘m fine.”  It stared at the sword as he finally set it down on the grass beside him.  “Why do you have that?”

“Had to scare him off somehow.  I figured he would have tried to kill you again if I didn’t point it at him.”

“I would’ve been fine.”

Seven gave it a strange look.  “You would have died.”

“And?  I’ve killed you plenty,  it’s only fair.”

He sighed.  “You don’t deserve to die just because you’re a killer,  1x.”

“You’re biased because your son is one too.  I’m sure most of the other survivors would agree with me.”

“Most of us don’t care for needless violence.”

“He was just trying to rid the round of a threat.  And either way-”

“By Telamon…”  It bristled at His name.  “Why don’t we get you patched up?”

It uncurled,  standing up and brushing itself off (why were its hands shaking?  It was fine).  “Don’t treat me like an incompetent child.  If you have nothing meaningful to say,  then I’m going to-”

An ear piercing scream (Noob?) tore through the air,  followed by several people shouting in a panic.  1x tore their eye out before the echo even had a chance to fade,  taking off in a sprint towards the cluster of silhouettes.  Its vision cleared just in time to see Slasher trotting over.

“Mother doesn’t want me to kill them.  You shouldn’t either.”  The masked man kept glancing over to the survivors as he signed.

“Fine.”  As if it was going to bother right now.

It didn’t bother waiting to see if he had anything else to say before walking over to the survivors.  It brushed past Guest,  who was apparently busy glaring at Slasher to care,  to get a better look at the scene.  Noob was trembling on the ground with blood spilling from their back and pooling in two strangely wing-shaped puddles.  It crouched down to get a better look at their injuries,  only to be able to make out individual feathers attached to the “puddles”.

(This has to be targeted.  There’s no reason for It to be maiming the two survivors it’s weak for when they’re in rounds with other killers.  It must be punishment for its disobedience.  It wants the Spectre’s head on a pike for cursing them like this.)

It can’t do anything to help them (useless).  The round should be ending soon.  If the Spectre decides to drag this out far longer than it needs to,  1x has a solution in mind.