Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Rui shook as he woke up, his head spinning and in a cold sweat. “Uh, guys?” Someone said but Rui couldn’t focus for the life of him. Suddenly, 10 people gathered around the couch he conveniently curled up on. “Uh…so…is this why that new house just appeared?” One of them said. “I think so…” Another replied. “Are we not going to, you know, help the guy? He clearly looks frightened.”

“I’m alright, i think…” Rui got up slowly. “Do any of you know where we are?” The group gave each other awkward looks. “not…exactly?” The guy who insisted on helping him said. “We’ve been…stuck here. A while actually.” He explained.

The dude, Elliot, explained the situation. They were stuck in the forest. The cabin they were in was a more so a shared space. There were smaller, more individual cabins surrounding it. “Okay…I-I need to find someone.” Rui said after Elliot’s explanation. “Who? I’m sure we could try looking.” One of the others, 007n7 asked. “His name is Tsukasa. He went crazy and I have to fix him!” Rui start going to the door. “Wait, did you say crazy?” Elliot asked but Rui was too focused on getting outside to find Tsukasa.

“If he’s crazy, he’s probably in the killer’s cabins.” Shedletsky said. Rui whipped his head around. “Killer?! What do you mean?!” He exclaimed. “Well, we’ll see in 30 seconds.” He pointed at the grandfather clock. It had text under it, “Round starting in 25 seconds”

And it was counting down. Fast.

Everyone was visibly a little more tense. “Two Time, can you take care of the new kid?” 7n7 asked. “What? Me? Okay, I guess…” They replied.

“Wait what’s a round?! And why do I have to be “taken care of?!” Rui asked, more worried by the others expressions.

3…

2…

1…

This rounds killers are:

C00lKiddd….

and Tsukasa.

Rui had spawned in a corner, Two Time next to him. “What is going-what the fuck.” Rui looked at the floor to Two Time stabbing the ground with a dagger and muttering prayers to “The Spawn”.

Two Time got back up and sighed. “Okay, that’s all done!” He said excitedly. “What…never mind. What’s going on?!” Rui tried again for his answer. “We’re in a round. Just uh, stick with me.” Two Time explained.

The two walked around for a little, finding themselves at a generator. Rui, out of habit, immediately ran to it to find out its inner workings. He laughed, the problem being outrageously stupid. He kicked the generator and it immediately was complete. “How did you do that?!” Two Time exclaimed. “Oh, one of the gears were out of place.”

Suddenly a scream came from the distance. “Let’s go deal with that!” Two time smirked a little before grabbing Rui’s hand, dragging him off to where the sound came from.

The sound was Elliot and 7n7. Being chased by a new killer and C00lkidd. “Go, Tsukasa, Go!” Coolkidd cheered do him as their game of “tag” got more tense. Tsukasa caught Elliot and slashed and stabbed him with a katana. The crunch and plop of his dead body rang through Rui’s ears.

“Tsukasa…?” Rui stood there stunned. “Rui!” He ran to him, hugging him so much that the two fell over. “Get off me!” Rui yelled, pushing him off. “What? Oh, that guy back there! The Spector said if I kill enough people, we can go home!” Tsukasa smiled. Rui felt sick.

Suddenly, Two Time got behind him and stabbed him. Tsukasa was stuck there, trying to move. Rui quickly got up and ran away behind Two Time.

.  .  .

The Spector granted the Survivors the rare week off from a match. Cheers filled the room as the survivors checked at the clock. All except Rui, who had sat right back down in the couch. Tsukasa had killed somebody for him. Elliot’s body on the ground and Tsukasa’s smile lingered him his memory.

“I didn’t know if you liked pepperoni or cheese so I got you one of each.” Elliot sat down next to him. “How…” Rui looked back at him. Elliot shrugged. “It’s like blacking out for a long time. Next thing you know, you’re back in your cabin.” He explained. “But here, I don’t think we got your name?” He asked. “Uhm…Rui is fine.” Rui said, taking a bite of his pizza. He didn’t realize how hungry he was or how heavenly the pizza tasted. He proceeded to scarf down both slices.

“Woah there! Are you okay, kid?!” 7n7 asked. Rui nodded.

“Can I get more pizza?”

The team bursted out in loud laughter. “Oh, I think you’re gonna like it here, kid!” Chance announced, patting his shoulder. Rui didn’t quite understand what they were laughing about but he smiled. This was the most warm he felt in a long while…

.  .  .

“BORRREEDDD” C00lkidd yelled. “We didn’t win! And it’s all the newbies fault!” He complained. “Hey! I didn’t know that I could get, I don’t know, STABBED?!” Tsukasa yelled. “Calm down, you two.” 1x1x1x1 sighed. “Oh! And, not to mention, he dove right into some dude! Didn’t even try to tag him!” C00lkidd said.

“I WOULD NEVER STAB MY BOYFRIEND!” Tsukasa yelled at C00lkidd. “Really? By the looks of it, he didn’t like you one bit!” C00lkidd laughed. “Shut up!” Tsukasa tried to lunge at C00lkidd but a tentacle grabbed him and forced him to sit back down. “Calm down, Tsukasa. I’ll go with you next time.” Azure spoke, retracting his tendon. “But! Next time isn’t for another WEEK!” Tsukasa complained.

Chapter Text

The night came quickly as everyone had filed out the main cabin. Rui was still sitting by the fire. “It’s getting late…are you sure you wanna stay up?” Shedletsky asked. “I guess I’m still too worked up from the match!” Rui chuckled. “Well, make sure you go to bed sometime soon.” Shedletsky cautioned, ruffling his hair before leaving the cabin. It was spectacular how close Rui had gotten to the survivors within a couple of hours.

Rui sighed, getting up from his comfortable spot on the couch. He hadn’t even looked around the main cabin too much. Rui walked upstairs. Two bean bags infront of a tv and… “Is that…DDR?” Rui hesitantly walked up to the machine and pressed start. It whirled to life, music playing not too loudly. He smiled, finally finding some familiarity in the mist of chaos. He pressed the green button.

*One song cost $2.5*

*You currently have: $10*

“Oh. That’s nice, I guess.” Rui murmured. He remembered Shedletsky a few minutes ago and decided to only do one song.  He mindlessly scrolled through song selection until he saw it.

A section titled “Wonderlands x Showtime!” God, was this place made to torture him with the past?! Rui sighed, getting off the machine immediately.

“Hi!” Two Time was suddenly in his face. “HOLY SHIT. Uh, um hey.”  Rui said, shaken up. “I apologize! I thought I was the only one up at this hour!” They said, stepping back.

“So…what are you doing up?” Rui asked Two Time. “Finishing my Nightly prayers! What about you?” They proudly responded. Oh right. They were in some cult thing, right? Anyway, Rui shrugged. “Honestly? I don’t know…I really don’t want to go to sleep.” He sighed, sauntering out and giving Two Time a weak wave  and found the way to his own cabin. Smaller, only about an average bedroom big, with a bed, dresser, and desk.

At the end of the day, Rui was exhausted.  His bed was halfway to decent and he had a matching blanket and pillow. Rui closed his eyes, trying to find some comfort…

.  .  .

“Rui! How could you do that to Tsukasa-kun!” Emu yelled at Rui. “What are you talking about?” He asked, getting into his costume. Nene followed her closely with Tsukasa behind the two, tear welling in his eyes.

“Tsukasa? Are you okay? If this is about the break up-“ Rui tried to speak but he was met with Tsukasa shrieking, making Rui cover his ears.

“STOP! PLEASE! I-I’m sorry!” He tried to say but the three kept yelling.

“How could you?!”

“Hitting Tsukasa?! How long have you been doing it, huh?!”

“You’re a monster!”

Suddenly, It was just Rui and Tsukasa. Everything was silent. “You know what? I almost feel bad for you!” Tsukasa smiled. “Look at us! We’re stuck! And I’m the only thing that can get us out!”

“That’s rich. Coming from someone who can even deal with a break up.” Rui said. “You need me more than I need you.” He said, but regretted it immediately. Tsukasa’s eyes looked deadly. “You…Just wait till next week! It looks like I have my next target!” He said, his smile reaching higher.

.  .  .

Rui sat up quick from his bed. Bad dream…but that last part felt…

Nevermind…

Chapter Text

Turns out, getting targeted isn’t fun. At all. Everyone was either dead or not even close to where Rui was. The image of Two Time getting suffocated by Azure was still burning through his mind. Another quick stab gone wrong.

Then he heard it.

The squelch of someone else’s body from a far.

The timer bumped up to 1:31.

“Fuck.” Rui muttered. The survivors had warned him about this on their week off but right off the bat?! Last Man Standing. against a freaky tentacle monster and a love-sick ex.

“Rui~! You MUST be the last one, right?” Tsukasa’s voice was sickeningly sweet. “Come on! You wanted to talk all that SHIT all. week. long.”

Rui regretted even talking to the entity in his dreams at that point. As he rounded a corner, he and Azure made direct eye contact but Azure wasn’t looking to attack. He had gotten Two Time and a couple others but that was it for him. Rui thought the best thing to do. Bribery.

“Look man, please don’t call…him over!” Rui whispered. “Let’s just ride out the last minute or so-“

“Tsukasa! Found him.” Azure called out. “Fuck you, dude.” Rui sighed, turning around to find Tsukasa. His hair was a wreck and blood covered his face and clothes. “There you are!” Tsukasa yelled, going up to slash him. Rui tried to dodge but the slash cut his face deep. “Shit!” Rui muttered, holding his face and running off. “Azure! Do something!” Tsukasa yelled at him. He rolled his eyes and with one of his tentacles, made Rui fall and take damage.

Rui, now low on health and bleeding, and inflicted with slowness, crawled his way to a corner to try and heal. He looked up to see a sword flying towards him. He couldn’t dodge and his leg was wiped out. The pain of the sword made him want to scream but he couldn’t. 30 more seconds left of this hell…

“There it is! Learned that one from 1x! You haven’t met him yet but trust me, he’s super cool!” Tsukasa said, grabbing the sword and twisting it inside Rui before yanking it out just to go back in. Tsukasa leaned in real close. “Never say those…things, again. You know it isn’t true, right?” Rui didn’t respond. Tsukasa dug deeper. “F-Fine! I…I need you, Tsukasa…” He yelled weakly.

.  .  .

“RUI! OH MY GOD! WE’RE SO SORRY!” Elliot rushed over to the table where Rui spawned back to. He was shaking still from nearly dying. “N-No…It’s fine. I’m…getting there.” Rui muttered. He touched his face, a scar from Tsukasa’s first slash appeared. “Wait…I thought we healed between matches?” Rui asked. “Well, we do. Important injuries stay.” Elliot said softly.

Rui slammed his hand on the table. Hard. What world had he ended up in that just tortured him about a stupid break up?! Rui took in a deep breath. “Is it possible to kill them?” Rui asked quietly. “Kill…the killers? I don’t know. It happened once in a match I wasn’t in.” Elliot explained.

“I was there.” Guest 1337 came into the room. “Great fight you put out there, kid.” He patted Rui on the shoulder. Looking at all the small scars on his face made Rui feel a little less upset. “So…how’d you do it? Kill the killer, I mean.” Rui asked. “Well, everyone that could cause damage was there. We just…didn’t run from them.” He shrugged. “I’m sure we can do it again.” Rui slowly nodded. He had no clue what his abilities were but he knew that he could probably coordinate an all out attack on Tsukasa.

“Okay then! It’s settled! We’re killing Tsukasa.” Rui stood up, still looking at the table.“But, isn’t he just as old as you are? I don’t want to hurt a kid-“

“Does this place care about ethics, Guest?” Rui whipped his head up to look at him. Guest 1337 didn’t reply and looked uncomfortable. Rui took that as his answer. “Then neither should we!” Rui paced out the room.

.  .  .

“Haha! Did you see his face, Azure! He needs me!” Tsukasa cheered. “I didn’t not. And I quite frankly don’t care.” Azure sighed. Dealing with Tsukasa was way too difficult. “And you LOST! AGAIN! You have to get better at tag, Kasa!” Coolkid said, looking up from his toys. “Please! This match wasn’t about winning! It was about getting psychological!” Tsukasa explained. “See, young child, now that Rui is weak, he’s a free kill every round! Free kill means me and him can go home sooner!”

“Psycho…well…okay! Just don’t loose next time!” Coolkid scolded him.