Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The Pursuer was hungry, and it was in a strange place, familiar, but strange. It was the Glass Houses, a place he was well acquainted with, but it wasn't exactly like he remembered it. He felt he was no longer in one of those abandoned locations just outside of Deathville, but, he smelled fresh meat, and he couldn't refuse a meal. So he bent his spine into his stalking mode, and searched for his prey.

_____

Builderman and Shedletsky were walking about, in the rubble just next to the glass house, Builderman had set up a sentry and was fixing the generator, Shedletsky was just sitting around, keeping a lazy eye out, thinking that the sentry would alert them to any danger. They were talking about a peculiarly in the routine that had been their life for the last admins knows how long.

Builderman was saying "No rounds for a whole day, Shed! Something is off, I can tell!"

"Cool you engine there buddy, it was probably just a new map or something and we'll see it next round!" Shedletsky was saying, munching on a chicken leg and talking far too loudly to hear the soft, almost uncatchable footsteps approaching them.

"We've had plenty of maps added, PLENTY OF UPDATES! None of them has ever interrupted the routine!" Builderman was saying hotly, too absorbed in his argument and the generator to see the figure looming from behind Shedletsky.

"I must quite agree with the mechanic here, fencer."

Alarmed, Shedletsky and Builderman spun to see Two Time standing behind Shedletsky, everpresent grin stretched across their face. "And I believe I know what the big change was."

"Goodness Two Time, please, stop sneaking up on everyone like that!" Shedletsky said, picking the chicken leg he had been snacking on off the floor

"What do you mean you think you know what the change is?" Asked Builderman.

"Listen, dear mechanic, you hear no ringing in the air, the killer is not The Hateful One, there is no laughter, it is not the Overgrown Child, If it were the one with the star of void, we would have hallucinated by now, I have seen no Binary, it is not the Corrupted One, and The Masked Man would have attacked a chatty group like the two of you by now, it must mean we are to deal with someone new." Two Time said, matter of factly.

"Chatty!" Shedletsky said, in mock outrage, the other two ignored him.

"You know, I think you might be onto something. If that's the case we'll have to tread lightly." Said Builderman thoughtfully. "Alright, this generator is done, let's g-" but he was interrupted the sound of breaking machinery.

The three of them whirled around, seeing a being standing over the broken remains of what once was a sentry gun. It had completely black skin, with a completely white face, green tinted teeth bared in what looked like a bad impression of a manic grin, and green tinted eyes wide and bulging, staring directly at them, there was the hilt of something on it's back and before Two Time or Shedletsky could even draw their weapons, it grabbed that hilt and drew a completely black sword before lunging forward and burying it in Two Times stomach, twisting it, and wrenching it out, Two Time Gasped in pain and fumbled with their dagger, missing its face by and inch, the creature slashed across Two Times chest, spilling their organs, then stabbing them through an eye. Two time Dropped dead.

The creature turned to Builderman and Shedletsky, and lunged again, blade outstretched, but Shedletsky had recovered from its sudden appearance and murder of Two Time, he stepped forward and with a knock on the wrist of the creatures hand with the flat of his blade, and a slash across the face, the creature was disarmed and stunned, Shedletsky grabbed Buildermans wrist and ran out of the cluster of meaningless walls, but before they made it 10 feet, there was an earsplitting screech, filling them with intense fear. Shedletsky and Builderman covered their ears in pain, and tried to run, but it felt like trying to run through waist deep water, and Shedletsky turned to see the creature bolt out of the cluster of walls, and tackle Builderman to the ground, mauling him with sharp claws. Shedletsky couldn't do anything but run, his fear was too great, and he cursed himself as he heard Buildermans screams end abruptly with a snap. Shedletsky, almost against his own will, turned back toward Builderman only to see a bloody, badly scratched corpse, but no creature, it was gone, but how?

Noob was crouched by a generator, and with the two last wires being attached, closed the maintenance door on the generator. "There, I think that's the last one." He said, getting too his feet on top of the cliff where the killer usually spawned. He looked over and Elliot and Guest seeing them in panicky conversation. "W-What is it?" Noob asked, almost dreading the answer.

Elliot looked over at him and sighed. "I, well, I just saw Two Time and Builderman taking damage over there." He said, pointing toward a cluster of walls in the distance nearby the glass house.

"So?" Noob said impatiently, "why don't you go heal them?"

'Because," Elliot said darkly, "they're both already dead." Two Time died in like, 5 seconds tops, and then there was a horrifying scream of some sort, next moment Builderman getting attacked, the moment after that, he's dead too, and it was almost the same story as earlier with Dusekkar and Taph!"

"It just doesn't match anything we know about any of the killers!" Guest said in frustration, "how are we supposed to fight something we know nothing about!"

"Two Time was saying something about a new killer when I saw them earlier...." Noob said thoughtfully, I sure hope it doesn't come for us next!"

_____

The Pursuer listened to the yellow man speak with amusement, for he was just thinking about reveling himself behind a tree and attacking them like he did the others from earlier. However The Pursuer wasn't stupid, he should get an impression from these people before he made his move. So far he thought that the yellow man would be an easy target, they were constantly nervous, and seemingly young. The Blue Haired man seemed to be the real challenge of this group, the way he talked, the way he carried himself, he was not one to be trifled with, and the red shirt boy, the way the other two talked about him, it reminded him about how the Citizens of Deathville would talk about the caretakers, and it made The Pursuer want to kill him quickly.

The Pursuer decided that the time was now, and he moved behind a tree, and revealed himself, quickly, he bolted toward the closest one, the yellow man, but the Blue haired man was fast. As The Pursuer tried to claw the yellow man, the Blue Haired Man shouted "NOOB LOOK OUT!" And lunged forward, catching The Pursuers claw on his arm, and quickly whipping back the other one and decking The Pursuer in the face, it was a hard punch, much harder that what those fighting civilians could throw. The Pursuer covers his face in agony and soon lowered his hands to see the Blue Haired Man waiting for him, clearly in a boxing stance. The Red Shirt Boy was gone and the Yellow Man was nervously watching from the slope that lead down from the cliff.

The Pursuer growled, he was about to just lunge at the Blue Haired Man again, then paused, he didn't want the same thing as last time to happen. So, The Pursuer hatched a plan. It growled softly and began circling to the side.

_____

Guest looked across at his opponent, and made a few assumptions based off of what he knew. 1: It was wild, It was a predator, but it was still smart, it new that just charging him again would only lead to another stun. 2: It had a way to move unseen, Guest had made sure nothing was up here before Noob started on the generator. 3: It couldn't attack while undetectable, or else everyone would already be dead. And Finally 4: "You are one ugly son-of-a-bitch." Guest said, mostly to himself, and was taken aback when the creature reacted. It had glared at him. It had shown anger, and an ability to understand language, maybe his first assumption wasn't entirely correct, it wasn't wild, a better word was primitive. However, Guest now had a plan. "Yeah, you heard me, your ugly, the ugliest piece of shit I've ever seen, your also simply just bad at hunting, you couldn't even get anyone while two peoples backs were turned, and you have no pride, if you were even a little brave, you would attack me, come on, show me some balls, give me your best shot!" It worked, or at least Guest thought it had. The creature blanched in fury and charged right at Guest, Guest moved to block its attack, but the attack never came. At least not from the front. As soon as Guest put his hands in front of him, he felt a burning pain in his side, he shouted in surprise, and fell over on his side, Guest looked up at the creature, and the last thing he saw was the pride in the creatures eyes from successfully tricking him.

_____

The Pursuer had played the Blue Haired Man like a fiddle, he had pretended that the rage baiting had worked, and when the Blue Haired Man went for another block, The Pursuer sidestepped him, and sunk his claws deep in his side, then deep in his skull.

Now he needed to make sure the Yellow Man Didn't get away, he turned and pursued the Yellow Man down the cliff slope, he caught up by the bottom, and drew his sword to pierce the yellow man, who was looking at him with much fear, just the way The Pursuer liked it. The Yellow Man was also drinking from a bottle, but The Pursuer didn't care, the Yellow Man was about to die anyway. However, The Pursuer DID care when his blade struck stone. The Pursuer looked with much confusion, the Yellow Man was now made of stone, how did that happen? Then The Pursuer remembered the bottle, and cursed himself for disregarding it. However, the effects could not be permanent, The Pursuer just needed to wait.

_____

Noob was terrified. He was face to face with the thing he just saw absolutely man handling Guest 1337, THE GUEST 1337! All Noob could hope for was a quick death when the Slateskin wore off. Any second now, and sure enough, the warming sensation of his limbs softening back into flesh soon reached him, he saw the things white face light up, it raised the sword again, and Noob wished Elliot and Shedletsky good luck.

_____

Shedletsky was now under the stairs of the house that was next to the cliff, he was scared, he was hiding, it didn't help that his original idea, the balcony, are where he found the corpses of Taph and Matt. He knew that the creature would soon come back to Finnish the job, but what increased his terror even more was when he heard sprinting just outside the door, a scream that sounded like Elliot, then the familiar music that meant he was the last one left, and he saw the red aura of the creature, standing right inside the door, staring at him.

Next thing Shedletsky knows, he's sprinting up the stairs, having narrowly avoided being beheaded by the thing, and just jumping off the balcony. He lands relatively softly, like always, and sprints for the long wall that was good to run around when being chased by the killer. He did this successfully for about 30 seconds, then he heard it again. That earsplitting shriek, and felt the accompanying fear-induced slowness and sloppiness. Shedletsky glanced over his shoulder, fearing what he would see, and what he saw was nightmarish, the creature was extended forward, resembling c00lkidd during a walkspeed override, sword pointing RIGHT at his head. Thankfully though, with a surge of energy, Shedletsky ducked. The creature crashed into him, sending them both toppling over, and they both dropped their swords. They both grabbed the nearest handle and jumped up to face each other, holding each others swords. Shedletsky pointed at the sword in his hand, the sword in the creatures hand, and made a switching motion with his hand, the creature, showing a suprising amount of uninterest shrugged and nodded, and they swapped swords before exchanging a flurry of blows, Shedletsky soon realized, the creature had only a moderate amount of fencing skill. So he quickly pushed it back, but was caught off guard when it threw its sword at him (witch he parried) and tackled him, it raised a claw to slash him, and Shedletsky tried to bring his sword up to block it, but it was trapped between them, so he did the next thing he thought of. He brought out a piece of fried chicken, and jabbed it into the creatures eye. It rolled off him, howling in pain, and soon, the familiar sensation of being transported back to the lobby took hold.

The last survivor won

Shedletsky soon found himself sitting at the table, holding a note that said: "Glad you met one of my new friends, there will be more, also, his name is The Pursuer." -S

Chapter Text

c00lkidd was bored. He hadn’t played with anyone for a whole day now! He was so bored, he would even play with uncle Doe, even though he couldn’t talk legibly and could never remember what, or even that they were playing!

Now though, c00lkidd was in a cave. He had felt the familiar sensation that he knew meant he was about to be able to play! He was so excited, he probably wouldn’t even care too much about the cheaters cheating. He looked around, seeing he was on a raised platform in the corner of a large cave. There were waist-high walls surrounding him, but there was a ramp down on either side that faced out to the wider area of the cave. C00lkidd stepped out of the area he appeared in, and saw the small river of water that separated one side of the vt cave from the other, there was a clear path around the edge of the cave, except from where c00lkidd was to the other side of the river, however there was a bridge connecting that section of cave. There were two other bridges connecting other parts of the cave to each other, and c00lkidd saw a large balcony area in the far wall, and exclaimed, “THIS IS SUCH A COOL CAVE! I think I should call it c00lcave!” Then he ran over the nearest bridge and toward the balcony.

C00lkidd passed a rock and was about to turn to continue to run around the edge of the large cave area to find a way up to the balcony, when he felt the familiar drain of energy that meant a playmate was nearby, he looked around, seeing a short hall with doorways on either side, through the one on the left he heard voices.

_____

Drew Wood was a civilian of the town of Deathville, and something was troubling him. Something was off, from what his memory told him, he was just on another expedition from Deathville looking for supplies to make the town last that much longer, but that didn’t fit right. Usually, they avoided this temple, because it was known territory of The Pursuer. In fact, most people believed this was where it lived and slept and dragged its victims to feast on th- “No, shouldn’t think of that, you know how The Pursuer profits off the fear of its prey, it probably isn’t even here.” He thought to himself. “Still though, something's wrong” Drew scowled. For one thing, the entrance wasn’t the top of the staircase. For another, no one remembers how they got there. Then there was that voice, it spoke in his mind and said, “Choose one Blessing. Revolver/Block Adrenaline/Punch Taunt/Bonuspad.” Drew thought Adrenaline/Punch, and he felt gloves put on his hands, and a nervous expression cross his face.

Yeah, There was definitely Something weird about that. “Might as well ask my buddies about it though” Drew thought and he sped up slightly to catch up with his friends Xan and Angela who were walking down the stairs they appeared at the top of.. Xan, his actual name was Alexander but everyone just called him Xan, was wearing a blue baseball cap and a helmet, and Angela was wearing a cape and a medical cap. Drew came level with them and asked “Hey guy’s, I've been thinking, and I think something's wrong, first we don’t just teleport to the top of the stairs most of the time, and since when has there been a voice on our heads giving us blessings?”

“You know, now that you mention it, I don’t know, it feels like something is wrong, but it also feels like nothing is wrong all at the same time. If that makes sense, like, I know something is wrong, but my mind is trying to tell me that everything is exactly as it's supposed to be.” Said Xan, a thoughtful expression coming over his face. The trio were now approaching the door that led to the main room of the cave.

“I think tha-” Angela was about to say, when the trio heard rapid footsteps approaching the door they were walking towards.

The footsteps were accompanied by demonic humming, and it was growing louder. Drew and Angela stopped in their tracks, Drew even taking a step back. Xan, who was no coward, stepped toward the door and looked through, before shouting in alarm and jumping back as a brick flew through the doorway right where his head just was. Before Xan could shout to run, a seven foot tall, completely red, starved looking monstrosity ran through the door. It glanced between the three of them and grinned even wider before saying “Yay! Even more playmates! I sure hope you aren’t cheaters like the other people!” it said before opening a red panel midair, tapping something on it, and drawing a sword.

_____

c00lkidd looked around at his new playmates, they were all grinning at him and smiling! c00lkidd saw them slime even wider when he pulled out his “Taging Stick” and they began to run away, giggling toward a set of stairs! c00lkidds tag instincts suddenly kicked in, and he shot forward toward the stairs, striking the one with the funny hat with his “Tag Stick” and watched him run up the stairs, c00lkidd chased him, when he got to the top, he saw the one with the funny hat waiting for him, reached forward to tag him, but then he put his hands to his ears and made a raspberry at c00lkidd!!! This one wasn’t cool! He had made c00lkidd mad, and he reached forward, and grasped him by the neck, lifting him into the air, he shook him a bit and angrily said, “Don’t make fun of me! I'm PLENTY good at tag!” The guy with the funny hat was now limp, “obviously tired and regretful of his actions" c00lkidd thought. So he did the only thing that made sense in the situation, throw him over his shoulder and down the stairs of course! He made fun of c00lkidd, he deserved it, he was also tired, he wouldn’t even feel it.

_____

Drew watched in horror as Alexander, his best friend from childhood, was childishly reprimanded by the red monster while it was breaking his neck, then he was thrown, unceremoniously down the stairs. The monster now looked at him and Angela and smiled, before slapping the ground with its hand, and running at him while two, nearly identical monsters with pizza boxes rose out of the ground behind it, and walked down the stairs. Drew was more concerned about the looming threat of the first one, and grabbed Algela’s hand and ran. He ran the other way down to the main room of the cave, and stepped on a bonus pad as they ran down the slope that connected with the main cave, as they looked around, they saw another 3 civilians around the room, one on the nearby bridge, one by the small alter place on the other side of the river, and one in the far side of the room. As they took in their bearings the red monster ran up behind them, clawing Drew in the back, reflexively, Drew whipped around and punched it in the face.

As Drew and Angela ran across the bridge, being joined by another civilian with a sash and cowboy hat, the monster covered its face and said, “You're no fun.” bitterly, before suddenly perking up, and looking back to where they just came from and saying “You're getting a raise!” excitedly before running off.

“Are you alright?” Angela asked Drew as she looked at the claw marks on his back. “Here, take this.” and they splashed a bottle on his wound.

“AH!” Said Drew, caught off guard. “That stung!”

“Sorry!” Said Angela, “do you feel any better?”

“Yeah… Thanks.” Drew said.

“Why hello there friends!” Said the third guy with the sash and cowboy hat, “my names Bond, Bond Mehl, and can you tell me anything about our latest hunter? I don’t believe we’ve seen this one before.”

“Yeah,” said Drew. “It can throw bricks, has claws like The Pursuer, a sword like it too, and when holding the sword it can charge very fast to attack something, and It can summon clone-like minions, and break a neck with a single hand. That's how it got Xan, The name is Drew by the way.”

“Speaking of getting someone,” Bond said darkly, “look over there.” He was pointing to the hall that led to the junction that led to the stairs. The red monster was standing there, holding a person by the throat. With little effort, he broke their neck, then tossed them into the river. In the hall behind, there was another corpse, with a hardhat, that appeared to be on fire.

_____

c00lkidd was doing so good! He had already tagged 3 people! And now everyone else was in the C00lcave! One was by a rock to his left, one was on the far side, next to what looked like a giant Dracobloxxer head lodged into the wall above a waterfall that c00lkidd hadn't noticed before, and three on the central bridge. c00lkidd took a moment to appreciate the Dracobloxxer head before running at the guy to his left. Just as the guy was about to cross the bridge to get away from c00lkidd, there was an alarm sound, and flashing red lights, even though there were no speakers or lightbulbs, and the giant Dracobloxxer head dislodged from the wall, and rolled down the path the river took, shattering all the bridges, however the three on the central bridge managed to get off in time and now were near where c00lkidd started. That didn’t matter though as he looked back at the playmate in front of him, who was now cornered, and smiling nervously.

_____

Drew looked across the river in sadness and regret. The civilian on the other side was crawling away from the monster, leg clearly broken by one of the bricks that it threw. His screams for mercy were ignored as he was killed and thrown to the ground. The monster looked across the river, smiled at them with its now blood covered face, waved with blood covered hands, and began to take the long way around toward them, stopping only to kill the other civilian that was on the way, and too slow to escape to the narrower areas of the temple.

“8 of us came, now only 3 remain.” Bond states calmly, "I'll distract it, you two run.”

“NO!” screams Angela “There must be a way for us all to make it!”

“Angela.” Drew says

“We just have to think!” Angela says

“Angela.” Drew says.

“There has to be a way!” Angela says

“I’m sorry Angela, If we all run, it’ll just kill us one by one, right after another. If we let Bond do this, we have a chance to hide, a chance to live.” Drew said somberly, watching the monster crossing behind the water fall in his journey to come kill them all

“Bu-” Angela started, only to be cut off by Bond.

“I’ve come to terms with it, I’ve lived a good life, now let me give mine to save both of yours.” Bond said, glancing at the small building, “now both of you, go hide in there.” Bond finished while pointing at the small building. The other two comply, Angela more reluctantly than Drew.

_____

c00lkidd could have sworn there were three playmates over here, but he only saw one. “It doesn’t matter.” c00lkidd thought. “They can’t hide forever.” but his thoughts were interrupted by the playmate in front of him talking, he had a cool hat and sash! It made c00lkidd kind of jealous.

“Hello there! What’s your business over here?” his playmate asked.

“Oh!” c00lkidd said with delight! “I'm just playing tag! Do you wanna play?”

“Uhh, Sure?” said his playmate, sounding somewhat confused for some reason.

“YAY!!! c00lkidd practically shouted before charging the man who, sensing danger, dodged to the side, c00lkidd corrected his second swing and caught the front of his shirt, knocking him off his feet and onto the ground. The front of his shirt had the rainbow stuff that appeared when c00lkidd hit someone. “YAY another person tagged! Now, please don’t move. I was told to play until my playmates fell asleep.

_____

Angela, who was sneaking away, froze. She was shocked enough when the monster, if it even was a monster, asked to play tag, but “being told to play until his playmates fell asleep.” It was sounding to Angela that it wasn’t a monster at all, more likely a victim who didn’t know what they were doing and were being used for someone, or something, else’s bidding. Maybe if she asked it if anything was wrong, or if someone was telling it to do anything they could help it, be the best of both worlds! Angela was at the waterfall, Drew a little ahead of her. He looked back, and saw her looking toward the killer, and the now “sleeping” Bond.

The monster/Victim again slapped the ground with his hand, and his two little clones came out from the ground, and Angela, on an impulse, stood up and walked toward the victim and the clone. “Hello! Are you ok? She asked the victim.

The victim looked at her, and said “Yeah! I'm having the time of my life! He said, now sprinting for her.

Angela looked like she regretted her decision and started backpedaling toward Drew, who also resumed his stealthy retreat, but she still said “Well, has anyone been telling you that you should play?”

“Uh-huh!” Said the victim, not slowing down, then they pulled out a sword, and clearly not interested in sitting down and talking threw a brick at her.

Angela dodged swiftly, looking back at the monster and realizing, even if it was being told to play, it wanted to. It was not innocent, it was not a victim, it might not know what its doing, but its still doing it willingly, and realizing, she had made a grave mistake. The monster scratched her chest and raised another claw. Then suddenly the monster was saying “OW, YOU STINKY CHEATER!” then Drew was standing above her, dragging her to their feet, and they were about to runaway, when they heard a groaning moan behind her, and one of the clone-minions scratched her, it wouldn't have been to bad, it it wasn’t for the fact there were two of them, or for the fire.

_____

Drew looked back in shock, he had punched the monster and grabbed Angela to start running, when her hand was wrenched from his, he saw her on fire, the two minions gone, and she was screaming bloody murder. Soon she tripped, fell into the river, and began to float down it, face down.

As Angela had fallen into the river, music started to play, and the monster looked at him and said “Awwww, playtime is almost over already.” But then that familiar grin covered their face, and they charged.

The combination of Drew's will to live and escape, the tense music that was playing for some reason, and the sound of the monster's giggles right behind him caused his adrenaline levels to skyrocket. Drew sped up dramatically and raced up the ramp, through the connection rooms, and down the stairs, then Drew fell over, out of breath.

_____

c00lkidd was excited, it was the last one! He just needed to tag one more person and he would win! That person had become all fast all of a sudden, but there they were! All out of energy and laying down on the floor, so c00lkidd jumped down the stairs and grabbed him, he heard a yelp of surprise and, as were the rules, he thumped the final playmate on the chest, and again, and again, then the little cheater curled his fist up and punched c00lkidd!

_____

The monster dropped Drew to the ground, he hopped up and groaned in pain. Most of his ribs were broken by the monster forcefully punching his chest. Drew knew that running into the main cave would only put him in a dead end, so he ran into the junction, and into the right door.

This room was circular, with a mound of rock/ rubble in the center, he ran to the right of it and, just as he had hoped, the monster followed him that way. So Drew looped around and ran back to the door, planning on running back up the stairs, but as he reached said door, he heard the monster shouting “IM IT, IM IT, IM IT!!!!!”

Drew thought he knew what that meant, so he rolled to the side, and through the door, seeing the monster crash into the door frame saying “OUCH!” Drew got up, and ran to the stairs, but when he reached them and heard giggling, he looked back, and saw a brick, flying right at his face, all he had time to do was register that it was there, then it collided with his skull, and all went dark.

_____

c00lkidd watched as the pillow he threw hit the cheater in the face, and the cheater fell asleep. It took a moment for c00lkidd to register it, but then it got to him, “I WON I WON I WON, YIPEEE!!!“ c00lkidd cheered before he was transported back to the new killer lounge.

Chapter Text

Shedletsky sat stunned in the chair, stunned into silence by the overload of information that was the last round. So much so that he didn’t see the group of survivors that were standing next to him, awaiting what he would say.

Chance, who grew tired of waiting, sat across from Shedletsky and asked, “What's the big deal? Why is everyone so quiet about the round?”

Shedletsky broke out of his trance with a start and said, “Wha-? Oh, right. So no one told you or 7n7 about the new killer?”

“Not a word since they respawned.” Chance confirmed.

“Well, it's new, I don’t really know much about it other than its name, and it seems to like ambushing.” Said Shedletsky, the shadow of a memory flashing in mind crossing his face.

“Can confirm its affinity to ambush, it killed me and Taph in a rush.” Dusekkar said, nodding.

“It tried to ambush us too, but Guest was able to stop it.” Elliot said, supporting Shedletsky’s and Dusekkar’s claims.

“You said you knew its name?” Builderman asked.

“Right, I got another note from S.” Shedletsky said. “Apparently it's called “The Pursuer.” The note also said there would be other new killers.”

“Well, we should probably get ready for the next round.” Said Guest, “We need to be ready for whatever this place throws at us.” At this most of the others started nodding and moving off to prepare in any way they could. Until someone spoke up.

“Uhh, objection.” 007n7 said nervously. “I agree that we need to be ready if there is someone new next round, but there is still time and I would like to hear everyone's accounts of “The Pursuer” I wasn’t in that round and want to gleam a proper opinion of it, also no one told me or Chance what it even looks like.”

At this everyone paused, considering 007n7’s proposal. Most of them started to come back to sit around the table, except Taph who, when questioned, said “👇❌🫵✅” (I can’t but if you want you can.) Then left.

Everyone was now just sitting at the table, waiting for someone to start talking first. Builderman decided to be the one to break the silence by saying “So, we're talking about our experiences with The Pursuer, right? Ok, I watched it kill Two Time, but when I died, Dusekkar and Taph were already here, so why don’t we do this chronologically, take us away Dusekkar!”

Dusekkar just shook his head as he was volunteered but stood up anyway, floating a few inches above the table. “So, me and Taph thought that the balcony was the place we should trust, but when we arrived it turned out to be a bust. It was not as safe as it would seem, the last thing I heard was my own scream. To make sure it was safe we checked everywhere, but then it surprised us after appearing out of nowhere.” Then he sat back down, clearly not really wishing to speak of it.

“Alright, Builderman you said that you and Two Time were next, would you like to shed some light on that?” Asked 007n7

“I would love to! Dear exploiter.” Two Time jumped in, even though no one asked them.

“Didn’t he ask m-” Builderman started before being interrupted by Two Time.

“At the beginning of the round, I drew the symbol of the glorious spawn in the glass house, then heard The Fencer and The Mechanic talking about the absence of Spawns rounds, so I decided to listen in. As I was listening I was making observations about the round, and determined that the killer was not any that we knew of. I heard the Mechanic make a similar point and jumped in to support the claim. Right around then, the Mechanic finished the machine he was working on, and we heard the turret that was set up being destroyed. When I looked over, we saw The Pursuer. A Spawn forsaken beast, completely black torso and limbs, and a white head, with bulging green eyes and teeth. It attacked in a blur, I was too slow to react in time, and was eliminated.” Two Time said, really getting into it near the end. “The Mechanic can likely reveal the rest of that encounter.” They finished.

“Well, that is an accurate recount of events.” Said Builderman. “After Two Time died, It came after me and Shedletsky, Shed stunned it but before we could get away, there was this screech, earsplitting and horrid, it put the fear of the admins in me, even though I am one. It almost halved how fast we could run, then it tackled me to the ground, and mauled me to death. What happened after that, I haven't a clue.”

“Well, Builder, After you were dead, I looked back and it was, well it had vanished, not a trace in sight.” Shedletsky told him.

“Wait wait wait,” Chance said, “You mean to tell me it can turn invisible?”

“It can.” Said Guest.

“Well, how do you know this?” 007n7 asked.

“Caught it becoming visible again. Me, Noob and Elliot were on the cliff and I just barely caught it appearing from behind a tree, It ran at noob like a blur, I was able to block though, also “The Pursuer”, or whatever its called, its smart, very smart, at least when it comes to combat. It bested me very fast, faster than I thought it would for its first time fighting me. After only one parry, It learned my style of combat almost perfectly, this thing learns, and fast.”

Chance stared blankly for a few seconds before saying, “So this “Pursuer” thing can turn invisible, induce the fear of the admins into people, and learn our strategies all in a single round? How are we supposed to fight it?!?”

“That, and more, It has a sword. It knows how to use it too. Not well enough to fence, but, if I keep fighting it like that, like guest said, it’ll surely learn how. It must have a weakness though….” Shedletsky said.

“H-How about, n-next time the killer is Th-The P-P-Pursuer, we all keep our eyes peeled for s-something we can take advantage of, maybe not a physical weakness, but more of a mental one. L-Like a behavior?”

“That, is actually a really good theory.” Said Builderman “Alright everyone, we all know about The Pursuer now, keep your eyes peeled for anything new about it, and search its behavior for patterns. Meeting adjourned. See you all in the next round.” Then he ran off, likely to mull over all the information he had just gathered, and everyone else followed suit, leaving one by one, preparing for the next round.

_____

The Pursuer growled in pleasure. It had just finished gorging itself on the corpses of its prey and now it was rather tired, but now was no time for rest, now it was time to explore, to see what was really different about this place from what The Pursuer remembered. For one thing, The glass houses weren't normally surrounded by 100 ft unscalable walls, and there wasn’t normally this much space in the glass houses.

The Pursuer thought back to when he was stalking those three victims in the corner, the formidable one, the construction worker, and the fanatic, he thought their names were…….. Builderman…….. Two Time………. And the one he respected was called……… Shedletsky. They were talking about something called rounds, and that they were in one. This was odd, they weren’t here for supplies, it seemed they were here out of obligation. Not by choice. There was another thing too, The Pursuer didn’t remember coming here. In the moment it didn’t care because it was hungry and there was prey to hunt., but now that it thought about it, it made its skin itch that there could be something so much more powerful that it could imagine, that it could bring him here and keep him here without him even realising that he was even brought here unwillingly.

The Pursuer realised that it wanted to keep him here, and it didn’t like being controlled. So he did the only reasonable thing. The Pursuer decided that climbing the cliffs to freedom was a wonderful idea! The Pursuer walked over to one of the cliffs. It was completely sheer and smooth, but it wouldn’t remain that way for long. The Pursuer bared its claws and it cut a deep groove in the wall, then it put its hand in the groove and started to climb, making handholds as it went. About halfway up, there was a sudden gust of wind and The Pursuer was ripped off of the wall and fell to the ground. It sat there for a second, stunned, but then it growled and went back to where it had been climbing. Only to find that the handholds it had made were gone. In their place there was a message scratched into the wall. The Pursuer had never been taught how to read, but it had picked some stuff up after examining the belongings of some of the civilians it had hunted in its time. From what it could tell, the message said, “Don’t.”

The Pursuer however, didn’t care, and began to climb again, only for another gust of wind to blow him off of the wall in the same place. The Pursuer was stubborn though. It didn’t give up, and the next time it got that far up the wall, it dug its claws into the wall, and weathered the storm that was the gust of wind. It climbed the rest of the wall and topped it, when it got up and looked around, there was a cold breeze, a very cold breeze. The Pursuer was now in a snowy forest. It turned back toward the cliff, and the glass houses beyond, but it only saw more forest. It turned back around and saw a cabin.

The Pursuer growled in discomfort and paranoia. It didn’t like all this liminal shit. It walked toward the cabin, and opened the door. The inside was, well, cozy. There was a faded red couch and a couple of bean bags by a brick fireplace, and a hallway at the far end of the room. It was completely deserted. The Pursuer sniffed the air, and smelled only dust and smoke. It walked toward the hallway, there were many doors on either side, all labeled with neat hand-written signs. It struggled for a minute with the first sign, but after a while it read, “Badware.” whatever that meant. The sign across from it read, “The Pursuer.”

The Pursuer paused at this, and looked back at the other sign. If this room was meant for it, then that other room must be meant for someone else too. The Pursuer growled in displeasure at the thought of living with another being, but it walked down the hall and read the signs on the other 4 labeled doors. They said “Artful, The Harken, Killdroid, and Devesto.” There was also a door at the end of the hall. The Pursuer opened it and found a rustic kitchen, and smelled something. It came from a strange metal box in the corner with a handle. The Pursuer opened the box and was shocked when a rush of cold air flowed out. Inside were a few things The Pursuer didn’t care to identify, and a few bundles of fresh meat. The Pursuer grinned and reached for one. Then paused, it was full, no need for consumption, and it didn’t know when the next time it would be able to hunt was, so it let the meat be.

The Pursuer walked back to the lounge and was stopped, it smelled something. It was a smell it remembered, it smelled like. The door opened. On the other side was a man dressed in white and black, a neat suit, a halfmask, and a tophat. The Pursuer remembered him, he was a fugitive running from the law hiding out just outside of Deathville. The Pursuer remembered him vividly from the time he thought he might try to hunt him. It didn’t go well for the Pursuer.

_____

Artful was JUST in a strange carnival, hunting down the people there to not be ratted out to the police, but now he was outside a strange cabin. When he went inside, he saw the thing that had once tried to kill him. Just standing there. It didn’t seem hostile anymore though, more weary. It looked him up and down, before growling and walking away toward a hall, opening a door, and disappearing inside. Artful walked over and looked at the door, it was labeled “The Pursuer.” “Fitting” he thought, before deciding that this cabin, even with The Pursuer lurking here too, was better than the bitter cold outside and he started to explore his new home.

_____

c00lkidd was practically vibrating with excitement when he was transported back to the killer's new stomping grounds. The area was no longer a cabin in the woods. It was now a closed off square in the middle of a large village, but there was no way to escape to the rest of the town. c00lkidd knew this because Aunt 1x1 had been trying for about 5 hours before he went on his playdate, and c00lkidd knew by now that if 1x1 couldn’t do something, no one could, with very few exceptions.

He looked around, seeing Slasher staring down the well in the corner at the water, and Uncle Doe just kinda blankly wandering the square. Nothing out of the ordinary. c00lkidd moved toward the big building that looked like a town hall, and entered it, to see Uncle Noli, one of Mafioso’s friends, and 1x1 sitting inside. Noli was sitting at the “Liquid Station” as everyone called it and was being served by Contractee, who by all accounts was a great bartender.

c00lkidd walked over to Aunt 1x1 and said, “Hello Aunt 1x, you told me to report on my playdate?”

“1x1, who was busy looking at a picture of Shedletsky and imagining all the ways they would torture him if givin the oppertunity, said. “What? Oh right, well, what's new?”

“Well, when I was sent to play with my new playmates I was in a new place!” c00lkidd said excitedly, “It was a ca-” but he was cut off by 1x1x1x1

Who then said “Wait, you mean to tell me,” they began, “THE “PLAYMATES” HAVE CHANGED?”

C00lkidd giggled before saying “Yep! Now there are a bunch of people with weird accessories, they look like the townsfolk from the castle show my dad likes to watch!”

“So let me get this right,” 1x1 said in such a venomous voice that would have made nearly anyone but c00lkidd (Or John Doe) beg for mercy. “You didn’t see Shedletsky, his annoying pumpkin friend, or anyone else we recognise?”

“Wow miss 1x, you sure are good at this!” c00lkidd said innocently.

“I, I think I might need to lie down.” 1x1 said before leaving the room.

“W-W-What H-Happened?” Noli asked glitchily.

“I guess they're just tired.” c00lkidd shrugged, before plopping himself in front of the tv and turning on the Draccobloxxer channel.

_____

1x1x1x1 stormed across the square toward the house labeled with their name. They weren’t watching as they went and as they were passing John Doe they accidentally stepped in his trail. They gritted their teeth and groaned as the painful 1 and 0 crawled across their skin, normally they would have scolded John for being so fucking careless about his trail and even saw him flinch as he saw them being hurt by his corruption, but today they had something more important then yelling at someone. So they settled to simply change course slightly to roughly shoulder check John as they passed. Then they opened the door to their house, and slammed it shut, before summoning a sword to slash at the pillar in the center of the living room, which was already covered in chips and slashes from 1x1x1x1’s intense anger at everything, but especially one person. Shedletsky, their other half.

Knowing they wouldn’t be able to fight and kill Shedletsky anymore made them feel empty. It was their best source of therapy. They had some major thinking to do about the knowledge that they couldn’t bury the majority of their anger when something inconvenienced them and take it out on Shedletsky when they next saw him. That practice had been the only thing to stop them from snapping on the others here countless times. They may have been forged from hate, but it was not all that they felt. They didn’t truly love or like anyone. That was physically impossible, but he felt nothing towards any of the other killers. The absence of hate for someone coming from a person like 1x1 was basically a declaration of undying love. They really would consider each and every one of the other killers family if they had that option. So they didn’t want to take their anger out on them.

They could tape their photo of Shedletsky to the pillar in their room. Yeah that would work! Except it wouldn’t…. The pillar wouldn’t last forever, and the last thing they wanted was to be taking out their anger when it broke and the house collapsed in on them. So they couldn’t do anything about it. They had no form of therapy. It was only a matter of time before they would explode. Holding in their anger until a round was usually a hard task, and now they had to hold it all in until they didn’t know. Maybe forever. They sighed and walked over to their bed, lay down, and went to bed.

_____

John Doe couldn’t think very clearly, but he knew something was wrong with 1x1, he wanted to help, but as he approached the door, he felt the familiar feeling of being chosen. He inwardly sighed, face still molded into that same broken smile, and felt the code strengthen as he saw a pair of snowy mountains in front of him connected by a trio of bridges.

_____

Xan was scared, he was bleeding, burning, and hurt. He looked back when he reached the top of the stairs. The red monster was closing rapidly, he wouldn’t make it, but he could buy time for Drew and Angela. When the red monster was in front of him, he put his hands to his ears, and taunted it. It fumed as it picked him up, and it started shaking him violently as it said something, but Xan never heard it, as he was distracted by the snapping and cracking of his neck. He felt intense pain, and watched, in a disengaged way, as his body was thrown down the stairs, stopping on the landing, and it all went black.

Soon however, it all came rushing back, and he soon found himself breathing heavily, standing in the middle of a twilight square. With a jolt he realised it was the main square of Deathville. There was something off though, all the roads were blocked off, and the well, which was normally near the outside of town, was standing in a corner of the square. There were 8 houses instead of 11, and the town hall was smaller than he remembered.

Xan walked around, noticing a sign by one of the house's entrances. It said Bond Mehl. Xan didn’t know anyone named Bond Mehl, but he had heard the name in passing. Xan walked around the square reading all the other signs. They read “James Greyson, Drew Wood, Harrison Norris, David Blazing, Angela Morse, Owen Walker, and Alexander Jeppson.” Xan knew Drew and Angela, they were his best friends, but he groaned when he saw Harrison Norris and Owen Walker. They had been best friends, and they were unbearable. They had been his bullies in middle school, but had changed for the better, still unbearably annoying, but not downright malicious anymore. At least that's what people said, and Xan wasn’t quite sure he believed them. However, they weren’t here now, so he didn’t have to deal with them.

That didn’t last very long though, as when Xan looked back at the greater area of the square, he saw Owen Walker, golden wristwatch glinting in the moonlight., standing right there, sweating slightly. He looked around, locked eyes with Xan and promptly fainted. Xan, however much he disliked the man, ran over and crouched next to him, soon Harrison Norris was there too, the scar on his arm pale in the moonlight. He immediately puked, right there on the flagstones. He looked down at Xan and Owen, and blanched “You, and you!” He said pointing between Xan and Owen, “you’re both supposed to be dead!”

Xan looked at him confusedly, “What do you mean?” Xan asked.

“I-I, I watched it kill him,” he pointed at Owen. “And before that he saw your corpse on the stairs, then, then there was this pizza monster, then this HORRIBLE read thing, it broke his neck, then it came for me!” he said, panicking.

“Wait, what do you mean you found my corpse on the stairs?” Xan asked “Do you mean back at the temple?”

“Y-Yes.” said Harrison, calming down slightly. “You were dead, then he was dead, then I was dead, and now we're here.”

Xan thought about this, and looked up as another person appeared. He looked just like the rest of them, besides his defining characteristic. A bushy red beard. He was pale and shaking. He looked around, and spotted Xan and the others. He quickly sat down. Soon enough, another person appeared, he was defined by the grey hair upon his head. Xan quickly learned their names were David Blazing and James Greyson. Soon another person appeared, he had dark shades on and looked puzzled, they learned his name was Bond Mehl. After Bond Angela appeared quickly, and a minute later, Drew appeared.

Xan thought he knew at least a little of what was going on. So he urged everyone to go into the town hall. Inside was a bar, a lounge, and a television. Very different from the real one, but Xan gathered everyone into the lounge anyway and stood in front of them before starting to speak. “So, just to get a few things straight before I share my theory on how we all ended up in the temple, then in the temple, then here. So, we are all citizens of Deathville, correct?” and he was met with a chorus of confirmation. “Ok, at the start of, whatever that was, there was a voice in everyone's minds offering a blessing?” which was also met with confirmation. “So, I believe, we are in a crude copy of reality. The square outside is closed off from the rest of the village, the temple wasn’t quite right either. The voice in our heads I believe is what brought us here.”

At this Owen spoke up. “If this is true, why?”

“That is a good question. I don’t have a true answer for you, but the reason will likely reveal itself in time.” Xan responded.

“But I don’t want to know later, I want to know now, and I want to know how to leave! My wife just had a child and I just can’t leave her alone without a source of income!” Said James.

“I get it, bu-” Xan tried to say

“NO, YOU DON’T! You stand there acting like you know all the answers, but you're just as in the dark as the rest of us!” Harrison interrupted.

“Unless,” Owen said, a shadow crossing his face. “You're speaking the truth, but you're the one who brought us here! You wish to keep us here and take our belongings!”

“Wait, no, why would I-” Xan tried to defend himself, but now almost everyone was shouting at him, Owen and Harrison even stood up to try to grab him but right as they were about to, a flash of light erupted in the room, blinding everyone. As Xan blinked away the light and looked down, at his feet was a piece of paper, he knelt down and picked it up, he turned it over and saw a message.

The paper read, “Will you all just shut up? I WAS going to give you some time to accept your fate but now, good luck in the next round. -S” Xan shared the paper, and just as the last person finished reading the paper, everyone felt a weird sensation, and were met with the sight of a trio of bridges connecting two tundra mountains.

Chapter Text

John Doe glanced around, noting that he was standing on a small snowy hill just above a larger platform below, connected by a staircase. He walked down and noted the different staircases leading to snowy hills and the three bridges that lead across to another snowy mountain across a large crevasse between it and the mountain John was on. John didn’t want to lose control to the code that plagued his form, not yet at least. He wanted to make observations about his surroundings. He looked at the three bridges. One was narrow, and broken in the center, making it impassable. Another was completely intact, but a light blue sphere with an ice crown blocked that path. The middle bridge was a large covered bridge. Wide enough for at least 7 people to walk across abreast to each other, and on the other side of that bridge, he saw a group of people with funny accessories milling about. One had spotted him and was silently watching.

It was at that moment, that the code took over, and he began lumbering across the covered bridge.

_____

“It’s coming across now!” Bond reported to the still bickering mass behind him. Bond this round was wearing a cloak and a hardhat.

“Lets not stay here. Come on, we need to hide.” Drew said, taking Xan and Angela away into the cave behind them. Drew was wearing a sash and a baseball cap.

“You sure we’ll be safe here?” Angela was asking, she was wearing a pink, accessorized cowboy hat.

“It’ll be too busy chasing everyone else.” Xan pointed out, crouching behind a log and wearing a pair of gloves as well as a clown nose and bowtie.

“Well, let's just hope it doesn’t find us any time soon.” Drew said as he and Angela joined Xan behind the log.

_____

Bond backed away from the beast. It was the only word he could use to describe it. It looked like it had once been a normal robloxian, but had been corrupted by something. It was the regular appearance of a man, except for the corruption. It had a black substance forming all over its body, big blotches on its feet and left hand, where claws had sprouted, and its right eye, which was now red as it glared at him. The right arm was what drew his attention though, it was completely taken over by the corruption, shaped into a deformed spike and spreading onto its shoulder.

Bond wanted to run away, but he was trapped. The bridge that was behind him was the broken one, and a few meaningless walls that were behind him were his only hope. Bond turned and ran, he heard the lumbering footsteps behind him, and when he curled around one of the walls, he skidded to a halt. It hadn’t followed him around the wall, and it swiped at him with its claws but Bond was able to dodge. Bond didn’t know what to do, besides just sit here and let it waste time by also sitting there.

The beast, however, seemed to be making calculations, it was thinking. Then it seemingly came to a decision as it suddenly, and violently shoved its spiked arm into the ground and ripped it out. Bond was very confused until a row of giant, seven foot tall spikes erupted from the ground! They struck Bond and he fell to the ground, multiple cuts in his flesh, but not nearly as painful as the code that appeared around him when the spikes hit him, it burned at his flesh, seemingly trying to reshape it, to a similar form to the beast that attacked him. Bond got up, the code started to wear off, and he heard stomping from where the beast was. He thought it was coming and so he cloaked.

_____

John came rocketing around the corner to find nothing. “That was odd.” He thought through his code induced bloodlust. “Maybe the spikes didn’t totally block him in?” but there was no way out, and John knew that he didn’t get sent to the other side of the spikes. Then all was forgotten as he felt a ruch of energy to his limbs, and knew someone had stepped in his footprint. He ran back over to find a limping, injured man, covered in his binary pesticide.

_____

Bond was in greater pain than he had ever experienced. He had triumphantly ran past the beast while cloaked and he had stepped in this weird circular shadow, and pain bloomed across his entire body. It had now worn off and he looked up from where he had been writhing and froze. Standing above him was the beast. Bond tried to run, but he was grabbed by its left arm and lifted into the air, he saw the right, spiked arm draw back, and screamed.

_____

Drew looked up sharply from behind the log, he had just heard a scream, and it sounded like Bond. It was cut off quickly and a sense of dread pulsed through him. They had been in the cave for all of 30 seconds and someone was already dead. He cursed to himself, and got back behind the log.

_____

John was pleased with this kill, one down, seven to go. He used his 404 error and as a ringing filled the air he saw 4 people nearby on his side of the bridge. 3 were hiding on the other side. 1 of these people were on a snowy hill with an entrance to the cave, 3 were lying down in the cave, clearly trying to hide. John decided that the lone one would be first, he could warn the other 3 from his vantage point.

_____

Angela heard the faint ringing from outside and was filled with dread. Somehow they knew there was no hiding. They stood up and made their way toward the cave exit. “Angela! What are you doing?” Drew said, starting to panic.

“Something's wrong, that ringing means something, I'm trying to find out what.” Angela responded.

Just then they all heard a shout of surprise and dismay from above. They all look up to see a hole in the wall of the cave. Standing there was David Blazing, clearly also trying to hide, and holding him in the air by the shirt was the monster. As they watched the beast drew back its right arm, the spike, and pierced David through the chest. As this happened, David screamed in terror then was abruptly cut off, in a hauntingly similar way to Bond.

Drew and Xan shot to their feet, attempting to get out from behind the log which stopped them from running directly away from the beast. The beast, however, stuck its spike arm into the ground and summoned a wall of spikes blocking the exit. Drew and Xan were trapped behind the log. The beast dropped down and turned toward Xan, starting to stop toward him, then he heard Drew walk up behind him. “Come and get some you frickin 'wus!”

_____

John froze in disbelief. He never thought in a million years that someone would try that, but it worked, John turned his attention to the one with the sash and cap. He ran toward them, but they dashed away, toward the spikes. They jumped up and attempted to climb over the spikes, but it was futile. John reached up and slashed their back, they fell hard, bashing their knees on the ground. They crawled backward to the corner of the log and spikes, and attempted to shield themselves with their arms. It was futile. John drove his spiked arm forward and it struck true. The man was soon limp and lifeless.

John turned his attention to the other one, and they went back quickly to the far wall. John heard his spikes come down behind him, and quickly punched his spiked arm into the ground again, intending to impale this other man but before a single spike could rise, they were hit in the back with a bullet, through their stunned state they looked back, to see a woman dressed in pink with a ridiculous headpiece, their pink hair reminded him of someone. The second man ran away while John was stunned, but they stepped in his natural malevolence while escaping, howling in pain as the binary attempted to shape their flesh. Then John's second passive kicked in. He was unstoppable.

With a beast-like roar and a surge of energy he sprinted forward, jumping straight over the log and closing the gap with the escaping man just as he reached the mouth of the cave. He drove his claws forward, they snagged his belt. With a roar of triumph he pulled the man closer, knocking him onto his hands and knees. He pierced the man's waist with his claws and lifted him above his head, raising his spiked arm to pierce him through the chest, then he pulled the man apart with a crunch and a scream. The upper body lay writhing long after John set him down. He looked toward the woman, again feeling as if they looked like someone he knew. They were standing by the covered bridge, staring back in shock as John had ripped her comrade in twain. They shook their head, and fled across the bridge.

Not really in control, John chased.

_____

Angela ran across the bridge. They were shocked when they had just seen. It seemed Xan would make it! He was home free! Then that beast had roared in rage, hadn’t been stunned as long as it should have, and ran far faster than it had earlier. She reached the other side of the bridge. The beast was chasing, eyes locked on her, her hair? That was weird. That didn’t matter though, it was chasing with obvious intent to do her harm. She ran up a staircase and onto a hill that had a low wall shielding her from the beast below's view. As she caught her breath, she looked up and saw James Greyson, who had on gloves and a helmet. “Did it see you come here?” He whispered in a hoarse voice.

“Yeah,” Angela replied sheepishly. “It's really locked onto me, also Drew, Bond, Xan, and David are all dead.”

“Ah shit, never made it of that side of the bridge huh?” James asked.

“No.” Angela replied somberly. Then she heard heavy footfalls behind her and she saw James look up in alarm at something behind her.

Angela whirled around and saw the beast, standing above her. Already swinging its claws for an attack. With only a grunt, James stepped forward and caught the blow, a sound of something striking metal and a man saying “Damn!” was heard as James pulled his fist back for a punch.

For some reason however, recognition flashed in the beast's eyes and it expertly sidestepped the punch, and slashed James with its claws. Angela and James ran down another staircase on the other side of the hill and behind them, though neither noticed, the beast was punching its spiked arm into the ground.

Angela was almost to the bridge, when they saw, almost right in front of her, a wall of spikes rising from the ground. Out of pure instinct they dove forward, the spikes cut her torso and legs and she was covered in the burning, painful binary, but she made it over the wall. She glanced back and saw that James was trapped. The beast looming behind him. He turned, no tricks up his sleeve, completely pooped out in his old age, and accepted his fate. The beast slashed down on him, again and again. Until he lay crumpled at its feet, covered in long, deep vertical scratches. Angela watched in horror as another citizen was cut down in front of her. Another death she could do nothing about. It sickened her as the beast began pacing from side to side, waiting for the spikes to sink back into the ground.

_____

John was watching the woman with the familiar hair again. She was once again crossing the bridge. For some reason John wanted to be near her, not because he liked her, but because of who she reminded him of. Although he still couldn’t remember who it was. It frustrated him, and when he was frustrated, he tended to attempt to kill someone. He had learned long ago to never try to hurt any of the other killers, but these new survivors were different. That's what he was thinking when more ringing filled the air and he saw two more people on his side of the bridge and the spikes lowered.

They were hiding on the very hill he spawned. “Foolish.” He thought. For he knew there was only one exit. It was a simple matter to step into the way, stomp his foot a few times, and end them. One of them tried offering to be a slave to be spared. It was amusing. It was also futile. As he stepped forward and ended the taller one, the second tried to run away. “They watched me place that. What an idiot.” John thought. Before walking over and ripping him in half like the one from before.

_____

Angela was by the gate they had spawned by. They didn’t want to act like it, but watching David, then Drew, then Xan and James all die in front of her, two of which because of her! It got to her, and it didn’t make it better when she heard the music start. Based off of what she knew, it meant that she was the last woman standing. She got up, this dead end was not the place she wanted to be when the beast came for her. When she made it to the bridge, she saw that the beast was already on the other side, and crossing quickly. So she ducked into the cave. She stood next to the log, waiting. She watched as first, the beast came to the smaller entrance and stomped the ground a few times for some reason. Then went to the high entrance and summoned a spike wall to trap her in by blocking the other ground exit.

The beast dropped down and ran at her, still paying most attention to her hair. She ran toward the smaller exit, and unknowingly like Bond and Harrison before her, stepped into the pool of shadow. The beast growled in triumph and sped up, before slashing Angela. It then picked her up and was about to stab her through the chest, when she took out her revolver and pulled the trigger. There was the click of the hammer, but no gunblast. She had forgotten to reload it. Angela watched in seeming slow motion as the spiked arm rushed to bite into her flesh, but she wound/t just sit and take it like the others. Covered in binary and in the beast's grasp, Angela did the only thing they could think of, she twisted to the right. Escaping the left handed grasp it held her in. She dropped to the ground.

She shot to her feet and started the bridge, they risked a glance back, and saw the beast looking kind of surprised. It quickly overcame its shock however and resumed its pursuit. She ran over to the hill she and James had been on, not 3 minutes ago, and pulled out her revolver, reloading it. The beast soon came up the stairs but Angela had already finished and was running down the opposite staircase.

_____

John was excited they had been chasing the women whose hair oddly reminded them of something they couldn’t quite place. That part wasn’t important though, the important part is that they were about to be trapped. They had been injured by those spikes from before and they were almost limping, he could taste victory, not as much as he had before, though they had gotten away then, John planted his spiked arm into the ground again and, just like when he killed that older guy earlier, summoned a wall of spikes. John glanced over the wall on the hill and saw a very scared, and very vulnerable, woman stuck behind the spikes. If John could change his expression he would have grinned wider but he simply started to slowly approach the woman again. They looked back at him, hair flailing around in a very familiar way. He swiped at her, but she ducked and put the muzzle of her revolver on his chest before pulling the trigger.

The next thing John knew the spikes were down and the woman was running over to the other hill on this side of the bridge. John followed. When he reached the top, they were standing back to him, frantically looking for another exit, before slowly turning around, looking directly at John. They were scared. The thought of the person he couldn’t remember filled his mind as he, in seeming slow motion, reached forward, grabbed the new person, and was about to pierce them when he froze.

He remembered. He remembered as he walked into the bloxy high school coding club and saw a short, pink haired woman for the first time. He remembered the time that he and this woman sat at a park, having a light hearted conversation about when John had tripped on his own pants on their first date. He remembered being shocked when he found flowers on his doorstep and turned to show them to her and saw her taking a knee. He remembered looking at a beautiful woman in a white, gorgeous dress flipping her hair in that same way. The name eluded him, but he knew this woman, and he knew he loved her.

_____

Angela was very confused. She had been in its grasp, about to die, when something inside the beast just, broke. Its eyes had lost the little light they had, and its broken smile seemed more forced and unwilling than before. It had dropped her, fell to its knees, and was still staring at her hair, as if it was the only lifeline stopping it from being cast into the void.

Angela knew they should take the opportunity to run, but she couldn’t make herself do it. Something in those eyes. “Hello?” She asked tentatively. “Are you okay?” What is it?”

_____

Back at the townhall all the other citizens were gathered round the tv, they had found they could use it to spectate, but now the beast was just kneeling, seemingly broken by something, lost in a thought, or memory. They were all watching, all waiting.

_____

John was still thinking of her, he knew the code was trying to delete her. He didn’t want it too. He never wanted to forget her. John normally struggled to find words, but they came to him now.

“It’s me, John.”

“Do you remember me?”

“Jane?”

Chapter Text

So basically, I don't really want to write this fic. I still want to write forsaken x Die of Death, but I'm regretting the way I handled it in this fic. The main thing is how I handled the civilians, I made them OC's, and shoutout to the one person I know who liked that and this fic's main supporter Wolf_fox123 (Ty so much) and also my buddy XxHalfasleepxX for supporting this fic so much. I just was struggling to make each and every one of the civilians interesting and likeable characters. So I will be making new fic that is still in essence DoD characters get forsaken, but this one is officially finished. I hope that all you decide to read the new one when it comes out, hopefully later tonight or tomorrow, and I especially hope that XxHalfasleepxX and Wolf_fox123 look into the new fic, because of my desire for feedback and gradification, haha yes im selfish I know, but I hope to see you in the new fic, It will be called "Diesaken" and I will update when it is posted, unless I forget.