Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter One
Shhhhhhhk. Shmmmmmm. Click. A red light beeps as you wake up in cramped quarters that smell suspiciously of Clorox. Everything feels…off. The air pressure. Gravity. As your eyes de-fuzz from that iron deficiency thing, you look around, your neck cracking like you’ve been sitting there for ages. You are in a cylindrical tube with glass windows that show only the void of space outside. There’s a door at both ends of the room. Above one is labeled “The Skeld.” You roll your eyes, as this is obviously a dream. Except that it isn’t. You feel a sense of sensical-ness. Clarity. You’re definitely not sleeping. But, then, how are you floating through space in a rocket ship from a video game? You find that you’re bound to the wall by a seatbelt. You try to yell, but there’s phlegm in your throat and it sounds more like a smooth gargle. (Shut up I’m trying) Since you can’t do anything about your predicament, you sit there, still, for forty-odd minutes. Waiting.
As you begin to doze off again, a voice that sounds like the TikTok voice lady from an intercom that says, “Fifteenth Participant Awake. Releasing All Participants.” The intercom buzzes off and your seatbelt clicks off, leaving you to float in the empty room. The voice returns, saying, “Turning on Gravity.” You have a split second to realize what’s happening before you hit the ground with a thud. Despite the pain from landing on your knees, you’re glad to have at least one familiar thing back. “Unlocking Doors.” The voice says, and the doors at both ends of the room open with a smooth, tight, Shhhhhhhhhhhh-thk. Finally a small trapdoor next to where you were buckled opens up, revealing a backpack inside. “Put it On.” Buzzes the tiktok lady’s voice, and you do. You don’t question it. You don’t question anything. And then, a button on the backpack beeps red, and you are teleported to…a cafeteria. Surrounding you are characters. People from stories you’ve read or watched. You immediately recognize the two Among Us characters, Red and Rose, and Brandon, as you loved Dork Diaries as a kid, and Applejack…for being in a hugely popular TV franchise. The other eight faces, however, you don't recognize. “What the--” You are cut off by the intercom again. “Hello Travelers. Welcome to the Skeld. I have given each of you all knowledge of the game’s mechanics. Three of you are Impostors. Please Complete Your Tasks and Get This Ship to Take You Home.”

Chapter Text

The voice is gone, and you doubt it’ll come back, at least for a while. Around the cafeteria table are seated fifteen people, all supposedly characters, including yourself. A timer sits in front of you all, ticking down seconds from ten minutes.
A miniscule, cartoon-looking, red-haired girl is the first to speak up. “Hey!” She begins aggressively, “I’m Little My!” The cartoon man in a green coat and pointed hat shushes her. “My, be patient.” He looks around the table, his eyes landing on each face, including yours.” I’m Snufkin. Who are you all?”
And the introductions begin. A short, round man with the most meticulous mustache you’ve ever seen speaks. “Perdon, Monsieur Snufkin. I am Hercule Poirot, a detective. This,” He gestures to a dazed-looking Englishman to his right, “is mon ami Hastings.”
“Hello folks,” Hastings says, in an unusually cheerful voice for someone in his situation. You’re next in line.
“Hi. I’m Y/N. I- I’m just a regular person…” you falter. Hastings gives you a pleasant nod as Little My suspiciously looks you up and down.
Next go Red and Rose, two Among Us characters. Rose beings, “Hi! I’m Rose, this is my brother Red, and well, this is a pretty normal day for us, except--”
Her brother cuts her off. “--We usually don’t get any non-us guys.”
“Nice going, Red! Try and be polite!” Rose hisses.
The two figures are familiar, of course, as mascots of the hit game Among Us. But it’s so weird seeing them in the flesh. Or rubber astronaut suits. They’re both a bit over 3 feet tall and convey little emotion through their visors.
Next up, a man in a sharp gray suit announces himself. “I’m Tom Haverford, but my friends call me Tommy. I’m not your typical business mogul, as I have a tender heart of gold. Pleasure to meet you.” He winks. You suspect he and Hastings will get along well, their goofy and nonsensical attitudes are certainly unusual in such a dilemma.
A mouse in what appears to be Sherlock Holmes cosplay stands up on the table and announces himself as “Basil of Baker Street.” He has a rushed, almost snobby manner, as if he suspects he’s the smartest in the room. “Detective mouse.” All eyes immediately turn to Poirot, the other detective in the room. He doesn’t seem ruffled in the slightest. At least, that’s how he appears.
Next announced are Applejack and Dr. Doofenshmirtz. You know them both pretty well, since you love cartoons, and you let your mind wander as they make their introductions.
A figure in a purple cloak with those x-shaped puppet controller thingies for hands introduces himself as the Puppet Master from that one math game, Prodigy, and you feel a wave of nostalgia from the good old days when you thought he was kinda hot.
Brandon from Dork Diaries introduces himself sheepishly, and you almost roll your eyes. You loved that series as a kid, especially before it went full sell-out mode. Looking back on it, it was definitely cringy, but it has a special place in your heart.
Ken from the Barbie Movie introduces himself with a simple, “I’m just Ken. I surf.” He provides no explanation, and everyone nods succinctly.
Finally is Peter Maldonado, the protagonist in that 2010’s show American Vandal. He introduces himself by his name and states that he makes movies.
You all look around, trying to decide who to trust. You lock eyes with everyone around the table, searching for an ally. As the timer runs out, you realize something: You might die.

Chapter Text

Chapter Three
The meeting ends. Each person receives a private clipboard, visible only to them, of their role and tasks. You end up with the role of detective. You’ve played as detective before, and it can be really helpful, but sometimes you never get a good chance with it. Hopefully this time it’ll bear fruit. It’s time for Tasks.
You head South out of the cafeteria and make your way into Admin to swipe your card. Rose and Red both get it on their first try, likely from experience, and you get it on your second. As you leave, you turn around to see how many more people have gathered in the room. Peter Maldonado is trying to do the task, and a competitive Basil tries to fight him. Luckily, Peter doesn’t take the bait, and you begin to head down into Electric to do a rewiring task. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all! You should have knocked on wood, as all the lights around you flash red. A horn begins to blare. The Reactor’s been sabotaged.
You sprint down the halls, with Basil and Little My in slow pursuit, as they’re arguing about something insignificant. You see Hastings ahead of you, also running towards Reactor. By the time you reach Reactor, you can practically feel your heart thumping in your throat as you heave. You must have been floating around in Zero-G pretty long before waking up to get this out of shape. You slow to a jog, leaving a paused Hastings behind you as you head to the lower securing device. Too late. Rose already got it. You look towards the Northern one, which was handled by Poirot.
You peer through the windows for a second to catch your breath, making brief eye contact with Poirot before you see his typically reserved and mysterious face change to one of surprise. You pivot your feet and spin around to see Little My, Basil, and Red around Hastings’s dead body. It’s nothing dramatic or gory…he’s just…dead. Lying on the floor. Your breath--which you’d finally caught--hitches and you stifle a yell.
Red, likely desensitized to death, pokes the body. All of a sudden, the same dizzying whoosh that brought you from your little cylinder takes you back to the cafeteria. Red announces, “Hastings is dead.”
Everyone takes a moment of silence before Red and Rose look to each other and Rose says “You guys…you all know he’s not actually dead, right?”
Poirot looks up. “But, monsieur, I believe the great Hercule Poirot can recognize a dead body when he sees one.”
Red faces Poirot. “When you die here, you become a ghost. You can finish tasks and stuff. He’ll be fine as soon as the game’s over. Trust me.”
Everyone around the table looks relieved. “Does anyone have any visual tasks?” Rose pipes up.
Applejack and Brandon begin to speak at the same time. “I have-” Applejack begins. “-oh, you go ahead, Brandon.”
Brandon nods in appreciation. “I have trash.”
“And I have Asteroids,” Applejack adds.
“Oh, I have trash too.” Peter says. “I don’t play this game much, I didn’t know it was visual.”
“Wait!” The Puppet Master interrupts, silencing all the chatter around him. Where was the body? And is there a shapeshifter?"
Red answers, “It was in the Reactor. I don’t know so much about the shapeshifter, though. By the way, I’m like 80% My killed.”
“ME?!?” Little My shrieks. Snufkin reaches out to her to calm her down, but she swats him away. “I think we should be suspicious of the PUPPET MASTER!!! He’s the main antagonist of a kid’s game!!!! Also he looks totally freaky!!!” Little My stares down the Puppet Master, who’s been hovering over the table. She locks her dark blue eyes into his icy ones before turning back to face the group. “He’s literally called the PUPPET MASTER!”
Snufkin facepalms and sighs. “My, imposters are rando-”
“WHY, YOU LITTLE…” The Puppet Master hovers higher, raising one of his puppet-x-thingy-hands. “VOICE WOMAN, BAN THIS DEMON AT ONCE!”
Basil nods. “Yes, that would be quite nice. I’d love to be done with this uncouth behavior-”
“-Dude, I saw you fighting her on the way to the Reactor earlier, you can’t even talk.” Brandon cuts in.
“Did I hear a ban request?” The TikTok voice lady returns, startling everyone into silence. Even Little My and the Puppet Master cower in fear. “Very well.” Little My and Brandon both vanish. “Little My was, in fact, an impostor.” The voice stops.
“Thank goodness for that, Miss Voice Woman.” The Puppet Master seems to bow. “I appreciate your handling of this immature behavior.”
“...Yeah, thanks.” You haven’t said anything yet, but you feel it’s a good idea to be on the voice’s good side. The rest of the group murmurs in agreement.
“Now, would someone please watch me complete trash?” The Puppet Masters annunciates, his voice once again clear and smooth.
Dr. Doofenshmirtz nods, saying something about helping a fellow villain.
Snufkin says, “Sure. I’m very sorry about Little My… she can tend to be… a bit much. Could someone watch me do a task?”
The Puppet Master accepts Snufkin’s apology and says he’ll watch Snufkin do his task.
Everybody votes. It’s anonymous, but there are mostly skips.

If the entire game is going to be like this, you don’t know if you can keep playing. But you have to.