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Jake is only there for a day before he gets thrown into his first match. He was confused… all of a sudden he’d gone from laying in his room talking with Echo– now plunged into a dark and dreary place. He’s outside of… a carnival? He hears a tune play in his ears. Repetitive and already getting under his skin.
Then he feels cold. He takes a step forward. He feels a weight on his arm– and looks to see some sort of device– a screen with stats. His health, stamina, and even the other players. Including some abilities.
There were a few at his disposal, but he wasn’t too sure how to use them just yet. He walks forward, but stops in his tracks as he sees a figure– growing green, dual wielding swords– rushing after a young boy in an orange helmet, who was also dual wielding his own swords.
He feels an intense obligation, his feet carrying him. He doesn’t know who this green person is, but he can’t watch this kid get chopped down– the older person having an obvious upper hand. He rushes forward, and presses a button. It gives him a snowball, that he throws at the killer. The killer snaps around, and all of a sudden, Jake feels energetic.
He dashes in the opposite direction, the killer now focused on him. He turns a corner, before he feels… exhausted again. Exhausted and cold. He’d lost the killer, but they were still close by. He stays glued to the wall until he hears footsteps fade out into the distance. He’s quiet as he takes cover in a shack.
There's someone hunched over, muttering to themselves as they work on some sort of generator. Jake knows who this is– he’s more human than ever, no longer just an avatar on his screen. It was Sean in the flesh.
“Hello…?” Jake calls quietly. Half of him isn’t sure if he’s seeing things, or if this really was Sean.
Sean flinches, and turns around. Jake's heart leaps in his chest. It was no longer the pale avatar from roblox, but Sean. His curly brown hair– longer than he remembered, fell over his shoulders. He was adorned in a blue robe, with black accents. On his nose sat a pair of glasses. Crooked, but intact. A ring of thorns still slashed his eye, the glasses weren't much use, it seemed. His other eye, fully functional, stares back at him.
Sean's face conveyed nothing short of disgust, anger, and anguish. He was not happy with Jake at all, it seemed. All the forgiveness placed in his before, all gone. It seemed to mean nothing to him anymore.
Jake's throat feels dry.
“You.” Sean's voice is accusatory, full of venom. It stabs Jake right through the heart. How could things change so fast.
“Sean, it's me,” he says, taking off his helmet. Jake looked much different now than back in college. But he was still the Jake that Sean had known, right?
But Sean's hostile attitude didn't falter, and if anything, it got worse upon seeing his face. Sean recoiled almost, his hands clenched into fists at his sides, one of them clutching some sort of sharp object. It was similar to the ring of thorns that slashed his head.
He dropped the object, and practically lunged for Jake. Instead of a hug, or some sort of calm embrace, both of which Jake would have enjoyed… Sean grabs him by the collar of his shirt. He'd never looked so angry in his life.
Jake gasps. “Sean–!”
“You! It's your fault we're here, isn't it?” He snarls. “You fucked around with your computer again– what did you do?” He growls.
Jake sees why Sean is so angry. So… upset. He blamed Jake. He believes that… Jake did all of this.
“What did you do?” He repeats, demanding an answer from Jake.
“Nothing– nothing!” He says, breathing quickly. The sudden attack paired with Sean being up so close to him was setting off alarm bells in his brain.
“Bullshit!” Sean shouts, and his eyes widen a little as he realizes his volume. He's essentially just given out their place to the killer.
It's quiet, and Sean suddenly lets go, and he bolts away from the scene. Jake is left alone, and he hears heavy footsteps. He's still feeling tired, fatigued. Cold, shivering.
He rushes away in the same direction as Sean. He didn't want to be caught up with that killer, because he couldn't outrun anyone in his current state.
He ends up staying out of the killer's sight for the next minute, and winning the round along with the majority of the other survivors. He holes up in his room for the rest of the day.