Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He can’t do this. No. These aren’t orders. These can’t be real. Why would… no- Why would these files exist? Why are they given to him? He can’t do this. He won’t do this.

Taph’s hands shake as his grip on the stack of papers he was given tightens. The pages stressed almost to the point of ripping. But he knows he can’t rip them. If even the slightest tear is found he could lose his job. He could lose everything. But, he’s losing everything that remains with these orders.

He forces himself to lay his newest job back onto his desk. He can’t do it. He can’t bring himself to look at the papers again. His hands come up to the hood of his cloak. Gripping and pulling at the fabric. Both sets of wings start flicking and fidgeting in his unbridled rage. His head wings keep being pulled down though his own actions. The pair on his back spread in and out repeatedly. Causing his workspace to be destroyed.

What once was neat and tidy, is now a mess. Papers strewn all around the room. Pencils, pens, stationary supplies, and unarmed bombs litter the surroundings. All caused by the air force created by his wings.

His breathing becomes labored. He can’t bring himself to do this. What are they thinking? And for what?! A Telamon-damn park! A Park! A park in the image of the new CEO. What kind of vanity is this!?

Taph picks back up the stack of papers. He forces himself to read the words again, begging it to all be a dream. A nightmare of the highest caliber. But it’s not. The words remain in place. Printed into the pages with the devil’s ink. His grip tightens once more. However, it's not enough to save the orders.

The papers rip. Torn right through the middle. In his hands are two halves of the contract. The ripped form of the orders, still visible to the naked eye.

Demolition Contract

By the orders of the new Roblox CEO, the designation known commonly as Builderman’s Housing has been sent for demolition, effective immediately. Personnel responsible for the destruction of property are the following: Taph, Head Demolitionist.

Taph grips the two pieces tighter, crumpling both of them further. He lets up the pressure enough to place them on top of eachother. He shifts his hold until he’s grabbing the top of the now double height stack. He rips the papers further. And further. And further. And continues to do so until they are illegible. 

They can’t keep doing this. They can’t just act like Builderman never existed. They can’t just end the search for the missing admins so suddenly! This all started once the new CEO took the mantle over the company.

Taph never liked him. Not even when Builderman was training him. He was always self centered and rude. But never in front of Builderman. He was an angel in the man’s presence. No one saw him as being able to do wrong within the boss’s presence. Because if it ever came to light that he was anything other than that preconception, they would not be heard from again. Not that they died, but were rather silently fired. All their stuff moved out of their office and workspace overnight. 

Taph’s never spoke out against him for this reason. He can’t risk his position in the company over someone as entitled as the new boss. He doesn’t want to lose the relationship with Builderman he’s built up over the many, many years he’s worked under the man as a demolitionist.

He’s gotten his attention. He’s gotten raise after raise. All the way until he was the Head Demolitionist. And he loves his job! He helps to train the newcomers and gets orders directly from the big boss himself! He’s actually heard for once in his life!

But that all had to end when Builderman went missing. When Shedletsky went missing. Builderman wasn’t the same when Shedletsky disappeared. He was more withdrawn for the few days before his own disappearance. It wasn’t even a week until Builderman vanished like the wind. Like he wasn’t here to begin with.

Taph had made brownies that day. He wanted to give them to his boss, anonymously of course. He could never have the courage to do so in front of his face. It was luckily one of the days the many protesters around his house were not there. He could care less about why, he just took it as it stood.

But when he made it to the office, Builderman wasn’t in the building. Not the break room, any meeting rooms, and especially his office on the top floor. This worried Taph, as the man had never taken any breaks without notifying anyone prior. His boss wasn’t one for breaks, even if he should. But he was that dedicated to his job! Just like Taph!

The demolitionist left the brownies on Builderman’s desk. He wasn’t going to not look a gift horse in the mouth. Maybe he was running late today. The protesters around the city can be hard to travel around.

He wasn’t running late. He disappeared. Taph had noticed that the new CEO had taken the brownies from Builderman’s office that day. And the following day, all of Builderman’s belongings were nowhere to be found.

Every new order from his new boss was to blow up neglected and old builds. Nothing exciting. He missed the rush of being sent to demolish terminated users’ homes. But even that was lacking. He’s got so much better things to explode than these neglected structures.

No one listened to him either. Not like they were able to before, only Builderman and Dusekkar could. So when the pumpkin admin also disappeared, he was left as a ghost in the office. He couldn’t talk to anyone, make any comments, or bring up his worries. No one could understand him.

The search for all the missing admins was called off, not even a week after Dusekkar’s disappearance. All three of their belongings, personal and formal, were gone. It was like they never existed in this office.

Taph hates his new boss. He will never be Builderman. He will never replace the man who gave him everything. His ambition, work ethic, personality. Everything. These forms were the last straw.

He sees now. He means nothing to these people. Just another number to their workforce. Just another bomb ready to detonate another property. No one truly cared about him. Not even Builderman.

Taph hadn’t even realized he'd made it home. He only realized when his hands met the familiar cold of a metal casing. The black structure of a Subspace Tripmine. The grip is once more tight. He can’t find it within himself to lessen the hold.

If he is forced to blow up something that holds dear to him, he’s just going to destroy something that his new boss holds dear.

Taph grabs a magenta spiked core. One that has been a personal project of his. He’s been looking for a way to test it out for a while. And the offer seems to have been placed into his hands on a silver platter. He can feel as a devilish smirk forms from under his mask. Oh he’s going to make the boss regret everything.

His walk back to the Headquarters was one of determination. He could see people move away from him. They always had. Taph could see a mother bring her two kids away from him, going across the street to avoid him. He could care less now. He’s got a mission.

The people at Roblox HQ don’t care enough to notice him sneaking in the Subspace. They ignore him. This is too easy. There are no stakes. Demolitionists walk through these doors all the time with explosives. So of course it's easy. It disappoints Taph. Builderman really didn’t think about safety thoroughly.

Today only high ranking members of the office are in. Admins and bosses of different districts. No one who worked under it, it was their day off. But not for him. He’s the Head Demolitionist after all.

There was a meeting today. With everyone in attendance. Something about the new park that was replacing Builderman’s home. He wasn’t invited. But was still required to come in for the orders.

Taph heads to the middle-most floor of HQ. To the direct center of the building, inside of a meeting room. Not the one everyone else was using, that was on one of the highest floors. He pulls out the frame of a Tripmine, before pulling out his specialized core with the other. 

He’s enhanced its destructive abilities, enough to create a mini black hole. According to his theories of course. He could never test it. But now he can.

He primes the Subspace Tripmine before tossing it into the room. It’s finally going to happen. He’s going to get rid of him. He’s going to get rid of everything. He will finally put an end to his miserable existence. Without anyone in his corner, he’s ready to end this in the bright, magenta bang.

Builderman would despise him for this. But he doesn’t care. His boss never cared about him before, so why should he worry now? He’s gone.

He’s done.

He’s finally ending it.

He hates all the admins.

He hates Builderman.

“Meh. Breaking news! Roblox Headquarters has blown up. According to local sources and visual proof, the place where Roblox Headquarters used to reside has now disappeared. Meh. The police are currently looking into what caused the explosion, who is responsible, and of any casualties. We will keep you all updated in real time as soon as we get more information. Meh.” A news man speaks up on every television in the city. Interrupting all planned programming on every channel. International news broke out at the sudden destruction of such a high ranking and influential building.

As the news man – dressed in a black suit, white undershirt, and black tie with short brown hair – talks, a video is played next to him, in front of the blue background with a holographic planet that they all reside on, spinning. The video is of Roblox Headquarters standing regularly for one moment. Before a large magenta explosion blasts debris from the center of the building.

The top of the building starts to crumble and shift. Glass breaks as people on a higher floor fly out of the room they were in. Everything seems to stop for a moment, defying gravity. Before suddenly being pulled in as a small purple orb grows in size. Originating from the source of the explosion. All the debris and people start to get pulled inside of it.

The whole recording lasts 5 seconds. The deep purple orb closes into itself before popping out of existence. All remaining pieces of wall, glass, and ordinary office supplies fall back to the floor as if gravity has an effect on them now.

All that remains is the broken base of the mighty building that was known as Roblox HQ.

Chapter Text

Taph feels nothing. Simply floating. Mind barely moving. Is… this what it feels like to be dead? There is nothing around. Just darkness. He could get used to it. It’s much more welcoming than his own home.

Suddenly, a flash of pain. Originating from his hands. His relaxed posture stiffens. The pain intensifies. Growing bigger. Traveling further up his arms.

The pain is bad. Real bad. It feels like his hands are being stretched apart. Ripping the skin and fabrics. Before being formed together once more.

The cycle continues. Constant pain as his hands are blown off before reforming. It hurts. It hurts so bad. So much worse than the millisecond of pain he went through when activating his Subspace. It continues. It never ends.

Until he’s grown numb to the feeling. It’s unnoticeable now. He can’t tell if his hands are mid explosion or not anymore, unless he looks at them. He is still dexterous with them though. Only when they are formed however. When they are in pieces he can’t use them.

His whole body is sore. He couldn’t tell due to his hands, but now that it is numb, he can feel the soreness from the rest of his body. Like it’s been stretched further than it was before. Not like he can tell, he’s in the void.

Then he’s not. One moment he’s surrounded in darkness, and the next he’s inside of a house. His body still feels sore, but he does notice that he’s taller than he would normally be compared to the door of the building he’s in.

He can actually move now! He opens and closes his hands when he is able to. When they aren’t in pieces. Taph stretches his body, hoping to wake his muscles up. That's when he notices the changes.

His robes have been singed. Still alit with a magenta glow at the burnt edges. His wings are now a gradient of pink to purple. What once was golden has now been tainted by the Subspace. Char fogs up the wings, muting the bright colors with black. Only the tips of the wings make it out, though masked and darkened. His once golden tipped head wings, now singed with Subspace ash. Creating a deep magenta hue. One faded with smog, the purple tips barely providing that pop of color they once used to have.

Taph finally looks outside. It seems like he’s on an orange rock hill. There are purple rivers throughout the place. With white bridges allowing passage over the shallow waters. Below the hill is some dead grass. With some rock structures and walls sticking out of the floor. Far away, near the opposite wall, rests a spire of rocks with what he assumes to be a well at the top. To the right of him is a giant rock structure, likely blocking off the rest of the area from his view.

There also seems to be some generators littered around. With one having someone working on one. They were near the far bridge, closer to the well. As Taph stalks closer, he takes in their appearance. He is wearing a gray fedora and suit. A small flintlock placed in a hollister on his hip. As he works on the generator, he flips a gold coin.

When the bar glows green on the generator, he lets out a cheer before flipping his coin again. He turns around with a smug grin on his face. Taph already hates that grin. The man’s smile drops slightly at Taph. “H-Hey buddy! You seem new around here…” They mutter with a nervous grin.

Taph pulls out a Subspace Tripmine core and grid. The man yelps before attempting to run away. Taph chucks the explosive in front of the bridge, right where the gambler was running towards. They attempt to stop their momentum, only to trigger the Subspace.

A bright explosion of magenta is produced from the origins. When the smoke clears, the man is stumbling, still trying to get away. He is swaying, tripping over the steps on the bridge. Taph closes the gap quickly.

“Has anyone seen the killer yet?” Elliot walks into the graveyard of Yorick’s Resting Place, Noob in tow. The latter fidgeting with his Bloxy Cola’s tab.

“Nope. Maybe it’s a free round.” Shedletsky relaxes. He brings his hands up to behind his head. His sword sheathed and wings brandished to their full length. Builderman sends the man a glare.

He’s been friends with the man for far longer than they’ve been here, and yet his carefreeness still gets on his nerves sometimes. Especially if it's during life or death scenarios such as this. “Don’t assume that Shed. An’ stop lazin’ around.” He goes back to building his dispenser.

“The builder is correct! It wouldn’t be wise to lower our guard around a newcomer!” The local cultist, Two Time, speaks up. Their constant grin perpetually freaking everyone out.

“H-How do y-you know it’s a new killer?” 007n7 speaks up from the generator he’s been working on.

“It’s all the signs from The Spawn!” Two Time speaks up. Their hands raised into the air as they looked up into the constant night sky.

“What did we say about asking how Two Time knows things?” Guest 1337 speaks up, looking towards 007n7. The ex-exploiter shrinks down further, making himself smaller against the generator.

Builderman groans. He’s thankful there are at least some reasonable people he’s been stuck with. Elliot, Guest, and Dusekkar to say the least. Noob could be one if they weren’t such a coward. Nothing against that, he isn’t sure how they came to be like that, so he’s in no place to judge. “Just keep a lookout for any new peo-” Before he could finish a bright purple explosion is activated from the opposite side of the map.

“What was that?” Guest jolts up, looking in the direction of the well and its bridges. 

“Oh! How fun! Looks like The Spawn has gifted us with the gift of perception!” Two Time claps as they watch the smoke clear from the bridge.

“Let’s go.” Shedletsky lowers his arms. He holds his sword with a tight grip as he runs off to see what caused the explosion.

“Let’s make haste, before the sword master is made into paste.” Dusekkar spins his staff before floating after his fellow admin. Builderman nods before following after the mage. A collection of footsteps follow after him.

Builderman doesn’t find this favorable. There is only one kind of explosive capable of making that kind of explosion and smoke color. A Subspace Tripmine. A type of explosive only people who work at the Roblox Headquarters have access to legally. He can also tell that both Shedletsky and Dusekkar also know this. Based on how quickly they went into action. Something feels off about this new killer.

When they approach the clearing smoke, an explosion is sounded. The voice of Chance is heard before abruptly being cut off. Through the magenta smoke comes an object. Everyone instinctively dodges the fast moving item.

A soft noise is heard as it lands right in front of Noob. Everyone turns just as said survivalist starts to scream. “OH MY TELAMON! OH TELAMON!” They back up, hand over their mouth. Their face growing to house a light shade of green.

Builderman follow’s Noob’s gaze upon the item. Chance’s chest. Limbs lost and severed. Each wound cauterized as it now lays on the floor.

Everyone’s seen death before. In this place? It was guaranteed. But this, this is far more intense than what they had seen before. Getting stabbed in the chest, head, gouged through the stomach, and necks snapped. But being dismembered was far worse. Builderman can’t help but feel ill.

The sounds of steps approaching the group breaks all of them out of their own transes. All trained on the figure walking towards the bridge. It’s a tall figure in a black robe with amethyst accents. Scarf-like caution tape covers their lower face. The fabric floats behind them, singed at the edges. Their cloak is slightly burnt, with lingering magenta edges. Their hands were torn into pieces, before quickly being reformed into actual hands. They had two pairs of wings. One pair is bigger and attached to their back. The other attached to their head. Both have a pink to magenta gradient. The same colors of a Subspace Tripmine. Their face is darkened to the point that Builderman can’t make out their details.

But they hold some form of familiarity to him.

Taph walks closer to the group that has approached him. He gave them all a once over; an exploiter, a soldier, someone with a symbol on their chest, a pizza worker, and someone in a blue shirt and green pants. But he focuses on three people specifically. Shedletsky, Dusekkar, and Builderman.

Oh Builderman. The man who stripped everything away from him. The man who gave him everything, only to have it bite him in the face. To give him a voice, only to rip it away. The man who left without a trace now stood before him. Scared.

Taph feels his grin widen behind his mask. This is going to be fun. He primes another Subspace Tripmine before tossing it towards the group.

Everyone scatters once they see the bomb flying through the air. It lands in the center of where they all were. No one stepped close enough to trigger its effects. But someone did step too close to something else.

The pizza man had decided to run from the bomb in the direction of Taph. Taking advantage of this blunder, Taph pulls out another structure. This one happened to follow the same formula of a Subspace Tripmine, only in the shape of a rocket. Taph puts one foot on the wires before pulling out another core. He inserts it into the exhaust port of the rocket before putting his other foot onto the outline.

The Subspace Rocket launches itself forwards. Taph is able to keep his balance while shifting the direction slightly. Slightly enough to catch the pizza man off guard.

The resulting explosion left both Taph and the pizza place worker stunned. Taph can feel as his hands explode with more intensity. Itching to get back into the fray. When his vision recovers, so does the pizza man’s. They try to escape, only to be grabbed by the torso by Taph.

Taph tightens his grip on the retail worker before his hands explode once more. The fast food worker lets out a scream before all their limbs explode from their body. Where limbs used to attach to each other was cauterized in seconds. Taph throws his torso away.

Taph turns to look for everyone else. They have all split up. He can still see a few of them. Two ran up to the house again, and Builderman ran to the graveyard. He could kill his boss now, after everything he’s done to ruin his life. But, no. He wants the man to suffer. To watch as everyone dies around him. He will be last. And that thought creates a sickening grin on Taph’s face.

Besides, with everyone split up, it makes it more fun! Placing explosives and detonating them from a safe distance gets boring after a while. He needs excitement. And this is just that. The thrill of the chase. The thrill of the hunt. He can finally let loose and not have to worry about causing property damage that comes out of his paycheck. No protesters either.

Taph pulls out two stakes and a spiked wire. He ties one end to one pole before planting it into the ground. He crosses a sizable distance before tying and planting the other pike.

He hears as a generator is being fixed, the one on the opposite side of the bridge near the base of the hill leading to the house. Located there is that explorer and noob. Taph runs in their direction.

“Seven! Th-They’re coming!” He hears the beginner shout before closing the generator’s hatch. The exploiter pulls out a black window with a red outline. He attempts to make his way away slowly, but it's not fast enough.

Taph picks the exploiter up, cancelling whatever they were planning on doing with the hack client. The body is once more exploded, limbs flying everywhere. Taph turns his attention to the noob.

They were now made of some hard substance, but much slower. As they attempted to run, Taph approached quickly. Their stone skin starts to flake off as Taph nears. “S-Shoot…” They mumble before Taph picks them up. “P-Please! Don’t-” They weren’t able to finish before Taph’s hands once again explode, taking the starter with them.

Once his hands reform, Taph flexes them. Opening and closing them before they once more deconstruct. He suddenly feels a pull towards where he laid his tripwire. There, he could see the bright red outline of Shedletsky. The man seemed to be stumbling over his own feet on the barbed wire.

Taph makes his way towards the highlighted admin. That’s good to know. The tripwire slows down his prey and highlights them. Could come in handy. So he places another one down before fully approaching the admin.

Shedletsky has recovered by the time Taph reaches him. “About time you arrived!” He teased with a grin. “Had to trip myself just to get you to arrive.”

Taph can feel his wings twitch in the man’s presence. He should have been in the building. He should have died along with the rest of the admins. How is he even an admin when he’s done nothing in the company? He doesn’t even have to try to get under his feathers, he already has.

“No reaction? What, are you scared? Huh? Are you chicken?” Shedletsky points his sword at Taph. The demolitionist doesn’t grace the admin with a response, not like he could anyways. He charges in as Shedletsky holds his ground.

Before Taph can touch Shedletsky, a barrier is formed around him, blocking Taph’s attack. The demolitionist follows the beam’s path all the way to the top of the well. Located there is Dusekkar, holding his staff high.

Taph sends the mage a glare before loading a Subspace and throwing it at the base of the hill. That’s a surprise tool that will help us later, Taph manically snickers in his head. He turns his attention to Shedletsky just as he takes a swing at Taph.

The slash lands, causing Taph to be stunned. “Thanks Matt!” Shedletsky calls out to Dusekkar. Taph grips his hands impossibly tighter. Fury raging under his skin at the two admins in front of him.

Suddenly, he feels a dagger get lodged in and out of his back. Taph turns to see the person with the symbolized shirt holding a dagger. Their tail swinging back and forth with their grin. They darted off as fast as they appeared.

Once free from the stun, Taph destroys the shield created by the mage as his hands explode once more. Shedletsky lets out a grunt as he turns and runs. Pulling out a chicken leg as he does so. Taph would chase, but he’s got bigger pumpkins to smash.

His attention shifts to the admin on higher ground. Dusekkar’s posture stiffens in the air as Taph makes his way up the rocks. The mage floats off of the pillar before the demolitionist could make it up. However, that's right where the Subspace Tripmine was placed earlier.

Dusekkar detonates the Subspace, stunning himself. Leaving himself open for Taph.

Taph grabs Dusekkar as he writhes from the explosion. He’s blown into pieces shortly after.

Five down, four to go.

He is suddenly charged into by the soldier. Knocking him back slightly. This aggregates Taph, to lashes out in retaliation. The soldier simply blocks before returning with a punch. Taph releases his own version of a groan – air escaping his mouth – at the hit.

Once he recovers, he notices how the soldier has made space between them. Taph chases after them, purposely leading them into one direction.

The soldier trips over the tripwire, stumbling and trying to regain his balance. Taph makes up time and catches up to the soldier, grabbing him before he could retaliate. The soldier doesn’t last long.

The one with the symbol and tail was nearby. Their perpetual grin strained as the soldier just led Taph to their location. Their grip on their dagger tightens as they start running.

They slow down their sprint, moving into a crouching position. Their figure slightly obscured amidst the local landscape. The cultist turns around before launching themselves at Taph, dagger poised to strike.

Taph steps off to the side, barely dodging the attack. He could tell the cultist wasn’t expecting this, as their grip on their dagger loosens to the point the weapon falls to the ground. Their smile strained even further as sweat now beads down their forehead.

Taph grabs the cultist by the chest, quickly resolving them to their fate. The demolitionist notices as a glowing symbol carved into the floor nearby fades. The ground recovers, just like there was nothing there in the first place.

Two left. Two admins. Shedletsky and Builderman.

Taph walks around, placing another tripwire. Both pikes behind a wall, making the wire the only visible component from one direction, the graveyard. He can see a sentry and dispenser in that direction. With both Shedletsky and Builderman under the dispenser.

He recognizes the designs of both machines. Both Builderman originals. He’s seen the blueprints many times as he’s visited his boss’s office. He’s never gotten a good enough look to see how they operate, but enough to know of their designs.

Builderman seems to notice him coming, before sprinting off in another direction. Taph sends another Subspace Rocket towards the machines. This time stepping off of the casing after putting the core in. It results in a magenta and red explosion as the dispenser is destroyed. For a Builderman original, it sure is weak.

Shedletsky is seen running in the opposite direction, keeping an eye on Taph. He knows the admin is expecting him to go after his boss, but that's not his plan. He shocks Shedletsky as he instead charges after the sword master.

Shedletsky attempts to out pace Taph, only to be led directly into another tripwire. “Why is there so many of these!?” Taph hears the admin exclaim in pain as he gains on him. Taph picks up the slowed sword master. “Seriously? Nothing still? No words-” He is cut off by his inevitable death.

Music seems to start playing after the death of Shedletsky. Taph could now see the outline of where Builderman is located. The mansion. The outlined posture of the man is one of intense stress, like this isn’t the normal music that plays.

Taph prepares another tripwire. Before heading after the final admin, his boss, he primes a Subspace Tripmine along with the tripwire.

He runs directly to the mansion, finding a sentry outside the door. It starts shooting once he gets in range. He won’t let this little hunk of junk ruin his mood. So he destroys the machine with his perpetually exploding hands. The sight of a dispenser is seen inside, with Builderman starting to run from it. The chase is on.

Builderman exits the back of the house, wrapping around to the front. Taph follows closely behind, but refrains from attacking. He’s enjoying the fear radiating from his boss. The chase continues as Taph once more leads the admin right to where he wants him to go.

For the fourth time now, his tripwire is triggered. Followed shortly by his Subspace Tripmine. Seriously, how dumb are these people? Four times? And half of those were from Shedletsky.

Builderman groans on the ground. Taph erupts another one from the man who he used to admire when he steps on top of his chest. “Why- Who a-are you…?” The admin squints at Taph through blurry, dizzy eyes.

Taph steps harder onto his boss’s chest. He doesn’t even remember him! Everything he’s done for the man, everything he’s sacrificed, just for his boss to forget! He deserves this. He deserves worse for abandoning him and going missing. For everything that has happened in his life. This is all Builderman’s fault.

Taph starts to move his hands once they reform. “Head Demolitionist.” He signs to the man. Builderman’s eyes seem to widen at that, but it's too late. Taph picks him up with two hands, squeezing his chest tightly. His hands detonate once more, bringing Builderman’s body with it.

Taph drops his ex-boss’s torso to the ground. He got what he deserves. For everything.

He’s done it. He’s killed all of his bosses.

But, it's not enough.

He needs more.

He craves more.

More death.

More explosions.

More destruction.

Builderman gasps as he is brought back to the main cabin. His entire body was sore from his death. Especially where the killer had grabbed him around his torso and where his limbs connected to his body.

No, not just killer, Taph. His subordinate.

“That was a tough round.” Elliot speaks up after Builderman appears.

“Lady luck was not on my side that round.” Chance contributed. “Too many tails before being caught.”

“Quite unfortunate how things have turned out. It is best that we not pout. We should plan about this newest predator, so that actions produced today don’t come in store.” Dusekkar speaks up.

“Did anyone get the killer’s name?’ Guest 1337 asks the group.

“Nope, dude would not talk at all.” Shedletsky replies.

Elliot sends the man an unimpressed look. “Even after all your taunts?”

“Especially after all my taunts!” The sword master pointed towards the pizza man to exemplify his words.

“Taph.” Builderman quietly responds, having barely kept up with the conversation.

“W-What was that Builderman?” 007n7 speaks up, being the only one to apparently hear something come from their de facto leader.

“H-His name is Taph.” Builderman responds just as quiet. But it is loud enough now that everyone’s quieted down. Their focus on him and his words.

“Thee refers to one of thee’s own squall? The one whom blew structures at thee’s beck and call?” Dusekkar inquires, knowing the exact person who Builderman is talking about.

“You mean the demolitionist?!” Shedletsky loudly questions. Builderman flinches at the volume. He can’t help but tune out of the conversation as he gets lost in his own thoughts.

What happened while he’s been stuck here? What caused Taph to fall so far? He was always so kind and caring. He remembers seeing the other bring in brownies into the staff break room many times, even when he seemed to think he was being sneaky. Taph helped with teaching new workers how to do their jobs. He brought Builderman his tools whenever he forgot them. Taph would lead his teams to do perfect and flawless jobs.

Where did the old Taph go? What happened to cause such a kind and passionate worker like Taph to become like this?

Bloodthirsty.

Monstrous.

Broken.

What happened to his right hand man?