Chapter Text
On any given night, all the survivors were gathered in the cabin, having just won a game. 007n7 had already left as quickly as possible without the others noticing, but of course, everyone noticed his absence and didn't care; he always did that out of respect for Elliot and The administrators, after everything that happened.
Everyone was praising each other for the great game. Chance was the first to leave the table and go to the living room, followed by Noob. Chance tossed his coin in the air as he walked, Noob covered his ears in agony at the sound of the coin, no matter how hard they tried to ignore it, he couldn't, it was quite annoying, but Chance He paused for a moment, staring ahead, Noob turned his gaze to look from the same angle.
"What is that?" After half a second of silence, Noob finally spoke, breaking the silence between them.
"Well, they're boxes," Chance said, smiling and trying to make light of the situation.
"Yeah, I know." Noob arched an eyebrow as he approached the box.
"Spectro must have left it there by mistake or something, he's probably plotting something with us." Chance said aloud, spinning his coin again.
Noob opened the box without showing fear, even though his heart was racing with adrenaline because something might happen.
"Wait, you don't know what's in there, what if it's dangerous? We should call the others." Chance pulled Noob's hand away from the box.
"Okay, you're right, I'll call the others." Noob took a slight breath, heading back to the kitchen, only to see that everyone was already heading towards the living room. He ended up bumping into one of the survivors.
"Hey, are you okay? What's the rush?" Shedletsky gently nudged him without being too aggressive.
"i'm Sorry, I came to gather you all so that together we can open this mysterious box that appeared.." Noob stepped back a little somewhat shy.
"What mysterious box?" Builderman didn't even wait for an answer and walked straight into the room.
They all followed him from behind; there was a large cardboard box on the table. It seemed harmless, but Spectro had left it there, so the chances of it being a trap were high.
"Whatever it is, we have to open it up and find out before something happens." Guest1337 crossed his arms, everyone staring at him. "I can open it, I'll protect everyone if there's anything here"
Everyone agreed, Guest approached the box ready to defend against any attack, when he opened it....
"Wait, is that a scarf?" Guest held up the scarf, looking at everyone.
""It seems familiar to me." Elliot stared at the scarf. "Wow... They look like my little sister's scarf."Elliot hugged the scarf as if he were hugging someone.
"What else is in there?" Shedletsky approached, looking inside the box.
"There are some letters, flowers purples, portraits, uhm... weapons!?" Guest raised an eyebrow.
"Well, they must be mine, hehe." Chance flashed his smile, revealing some gold teeth, laughing at everyone there.
"Strange, but okay." Guest whispered to himself, Noob ended up hearing and let out a silent chuckle.
"These are..." Elliot pulled from the box, "VHS tapes?" Everyone was looking at a set of VHS tapes that appeared to be neatly arranged.
"It seems so... whose are they?" Guest asked, turning around, everyone looking at each other.
"Great, Spectro brought something that doesn't belong to anyone." Builderman snorted and rolled his eyes.
"Wait... Don't forget the... 007n7," Noob stammered shyly.
"Oh right, someone could throw those things at his door." Builderman stepped away from the box.
"No, let's look." Shedletsky pulled the tapes out.
"BUT THAT'S AN INVASION OF PRIVACY!" TwoTime yelled and then unexpectedly covered his mouth as everyone stared at him. "Sorry, what I meant is that it's wrong for us to look at something personal belonging to 007n7, and what if he gets angry with us?"
"And who cares if he gets angry, I couldn't care less what he thinks. " Elliot puffed grinding teeth
"What if he's hiding something inside those tapes?" Shedletsky stared at TwoTime who was speechless and simply remained silent. "Great, there's a TV upstairs, maybe we can watch the tapes there, let's go."
Everyone went up the stairs to the second floor. Each person grabbed a beanbag chair and sat down comfortably, while others sat on the cold floor.
"Ready?" Everyone nodded, Shedletsky picked up the first tape and put it in the TV.
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The screen went black and then the image appeared.
It was 007n7, he looked quite different, he was without his glasses and without his hamburger hat, he seemed to be smiling broadly.
"Hi everyone, my name is Nate, but I prefer to be called 007n7... then you might ask - why 007n7? - I'll tell you; 0 stands for my social battery, 7 is my lucky number, and N is for Nate, haha"
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Everyone was shocked.
"Wow, I really didn't know that was his name." Dusekkar was the first to speak about it.
"Me neither, I'm speechless." Elliot said, with her usual tired expression.
"He has a rebellious teenage vibe," Chance laughed.
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"I recently turned 14, I got this camera, I like taking pictures, but it's really good so I thought... why not record my life?" He smiled at the camera and then quickly stopped smiling, thinking, "How awful, that seemed more interesting when I thought about it."He slapped his hand against his face.
"Well, since I'm going to talk about my life, I want to introduce myself and even vent... I really don't know if anyone will ever see this, I presume not, but I just want to at least feel that I have someone I can count on."
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The air seemed tense; perhaps 007n7 had left everyone tense and confused with those words. What does he have to say...?
Everyone seemed to be paying more attention.
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"I don't even know where to begin," he says with a forced smile. "I'm having problems at my new school, everyone thinks I'm strange because I have horns and a tail, and excludes me because I'm adopted. I don't care... Or at least I try not to care... I love my mother even though she's not blood-related."
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The survivors look at each other.
""He's having problems with bullying, he should talk to the principal about it," Noob says in a low voice.
"May the spawn protect you from all evil." TwoTime knelt with his hands crossed in front of the screen.
Some look at TwoTime with concern.
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"I wanted to change schools, that one sucks, they don't give us good food, every day it's just cookies and juice, it's disgusting, it's getting sickening already."
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Everyone laughed at the disgusted faces he was making.
"What's wrong with eating cookies and drinking juice? Sounds good." Veeronica said without any reaction.
"It's good, but eating the same thing every day gets boring, just like 007n7 said," Builderman said from the back of the room.
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"Later I'll go skateboarding around, maybe I'll record something. Well, see you later everyone." 007n7 stuck out his tongue and zoomed the camera right in on his face, ending the video.
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"Wow, I didn't know he liked skateboarding."Veeronica was surprised
"I saw a skateboard inside the box, I thought it was yours." Guest1337 glanced sideways at her.
"I don't have any memories stored away." Veeronica said with her robotic expression, turning away to continue watching TV.
"Enough small talk, I'm going to put on another tape." Shedletsky grabbed another tape and put it in the DVD player.
Again the screen made that hissing sound and went black until it came back with color.
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"I wasn't going to record, but I found this cat in the street, it's still a kitten, I got attached to it and I'm going to adopt this sweetheart." The screen showed him hugging the kitten. "I've even thought of a name for it, since it's three colors, his name will be Napolitano, like that three-colored ice cream, haha" He smiled happily at the camera.
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"Aww, how cute!" they all said at the same time.
"I love cats," Elliot said, staring intently at the screen.
"Meow," Chance meowed at him, Elliot rolled his eyes.
"I love cats, not rats"
"SHHHH, the Spawn is asking you to please pay attention to the movie," TwoTime whispered.
"It's not a movie TwoTim---... Never mind," Builderman lightly slapped his own face..
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The screen changed, 007n7 seemed to be drying out the Neapolitan.
"I just gave her a bath, well, a female actually. I discovered that this breed is only born female and rarely male, and she's female. I don't know where she'll stay, plus my mother doesn't know I brought her Inside the house, my mother hates cats, I don't want to be away from my Neapolitan cat." He whimpered while hugging the kitten.
"My mother will be here soon and---" A sound of a door slamming can be heard coming from the video; 007n7 seemed to be scared.
"Nate? What the hell are you doing? Throw that thing out on the street NOW!"
007n7's mother yelled at him [the survivors were startled by her voice]
"Mom, please let her stay, I'll take care of her." He begged on his knees.
"Take care of her? You don't even know how to take care of yourself, boy!" she crosses her arms, anger in her eyes.
""It's a promise, I'll keep it." He hugged the cat more deeply.
She huffs, "Look, I'm not going to say it again, or you and that animal will be out on the street together."
he stands up "you never let me have a pet, let me have my first one, please" 007n7 hugged his mother, She stared at him for a few seconds.
"Uh... Okay, I'll let it go, but only if you build a little house for him outside. I don't want any animals in here."
"YAYYY thank you mommy" He hugged her tighter, but she pushed him away.
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"Why didn't she return the hug?" Veeronica asked.
"Sometimes she just doesn't like hugs," Chance replied immediately.
"Hmm, maybe that could be it, m""That's no reason to push away your own son's embrace," Builderman whispered.
"When I didn't hug my daughter Charlotte, she would sulk in a corner and cry." Guest1337 said, half-smiling as he recalled good times.
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The screen changed, 007n7 seemed to be on the street.
"I'm arranging a place for Napolitana; she'll be living on the street. I hope she doesn't run away." He positioned the camera on the kitten's face, which appeared to already be asleep.
"I just fed her, she's a little plumper now," he smiled as he petted her.
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"AAAAAWWWW SHE'S SO CUTE I WANT TO SQUEEZE HER!" Noob shouted.
"It's really cute" TwoTime said
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"Well, I'm going to turn off the camera now and go to sleep, goodnight everyone."
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The tape ended with 007n7 sticking his tongue out.
"Do you want to watch another tape?" Shedletsky looked at everyone with the next tape in his hand.
"I think we should stop and prepare ourselves, we don't know when the next match will be." Guest1337 stood up, cracking his knuckles.
"Guest is right, I'll go make some pizzas." Elliot stood up and headed towards the stairs leading downstairs.
"Okay, I'll wait until everyone is gathered so we can continue watching." Shedletsky put the tape down near the TV.
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About that....
007n7 was in his cabin, away from everyone, his head spinning with a thousand thoughts. In the final round, it was Noli, his former partner and friend. He tried desperately to escape, but the masked man focused on him and followed him to the end.How many minutes of Focus lasted? He couldn't run anymore, no one was helping him... After all, who would help someone with such a dirty past?
The night was warm, 007n7 had run out of water and was dying of thirst, but hesitated for a moment before going to the main cabin and asking for some water, It's very difficult for someone to give him food so easily; usually, the survivors always ask him to do chores or make him beg until they feel sorry for him and decide to give him food or water for him. It was humiliating, but that's how they always treated him, with contempt.
He got out of bed, opened the door, and walked towards the cabin.His breathing seemed heavy; perhaps he should go back and not bother the others... With each step he felt worse, he was exhausted, and obviously they were going to force him to do a lot of tasks and still wonder if he really deserved a glass of water.
He was already standing in front of the door, just staring, unsure whether to knock, go in, or call out to someone.
He tapped, waiting anxiously with a dry throat.
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It took a while before Builderman opened the door.
"Oh, it's just you, what do you want?" Builderman crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow and staring at him.
"I... I'm just thirsty, could you fill my bottle with some water?" 007n7 showed the small bottle he brought with him.
Builderman was deeply inspiring. "What did you do to deserve this?"
007n7 looked down at the floor, hiding the bottle behind him. "I'm sorry, Builderman, I didn't get any work done today."
"Look, I'll let it slide this time, you can fill your bottle, but tomorrow your work will be doubled." Builderman opened the door wider so that 007n7 could enter.
"T-thank you, Builderman." He entered the cabin, his breathing sounding heavier.
The two walked towards the kitchen.
"Hello Builderman," Elliot smiled at him, his smile quickly fading when he saw who was beside him. "Hi to you too, 007n7" He went back to kneading his dough on the table.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you... I just want some water." His heart seemed to race... Why did he always get like this around Elliot?
"Help yourself quickly and leave" Elliot turned away, not wanting to keep looking at the man who had ruined his life.
007n7 filled his bottle as quickly as he could; it was noticeable that the men around him were uncomfortable with his presence.
"Thank you, I think I'll be going now."
"great" Elliot whispered.
007n7 hurriedly left the cabin, not wanting to cause any further discomfort to anyone there.
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"OH GUYS, I DON'T THINK THERE'S GOING TO BE ANOTHER ROUND TODAY, EVERYONE GATHER UP HERE!" Shedletsky shouted.
Everyone was up there looking at him.
"Sit down, I'm going to put on the next tape." Shedletsky put the tape on TV
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007n7 seemed happy; his hair was wet and he was combing it.
"After almost a month I finally got a place at another school, I'm a little afraid of being rejected again, and also because Napolitana is a little sick."
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"Oh no, I already know how this story is going to end." Noob was already crying inside.
"Oh my God, may the spawn cure Napolitana of this disease!" TwoTime prayed
"That thing doesn't even exist, TwoTime, stop it, it's getting scary." Dusekkar complained
"I don't judge your religion, so please don't talk about mine," TwoTime said directly, but without stopping praying.
Dusekkar remained silent.
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"I'm going to catch the bus in a little while, bye!"
The screen went black and changed to another scene; 007n7 was at the school entrance.
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"I studied there in 5th grade," Elliot said loudly.
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"This is my new school, it looks much nicer than my old one," he said, walking down the hallway. It was noticeable that some people were looking at him with their cameras in hand.
"I think my classroom must be on the other side." He looked around.
"Well, let's go, I have some news to tell you, Napolitana is going to the vet tomorrow, finally she'll be able to get well again and play with me again," he said as he walked away looking at the camera. "Hopefully it's nothing serious, I--- ouch" someone bumped into him.
A tall, masked man stared at him.
"Watch where you're going, kid," his voice came out a little shaky.
"I'm sorry" 007n7 apologized, trying to look away from the man.
"what's the deal with the camera" The masked man asked, looking at the screen.
"Ah, I record my routine and things I do."
"Ouhhhh, cool" The masked man grabbed the camera from 007n7's hand, positioning it high to show more of his face, striking various poses and making faces. 007n7 beside him laughed at the poses.
"Are you lost around here too?" 007n7 asked.
""Oh no, actually I'm skipping class." The masked man smiled and returned the camera.
It was strange that his mask resembled a human face and changed its expressions.
"You're new here, right? What's your name? " The masked man asked, looking at him.
"You can call me 007n7" He smiled slightly.
"Cool, my name is Noli"
"Oh, nice to meet you, Noli"
"Let's skip class and go out there" Noli pulled 007n7 by the arm, walking towards the staircase.
"Wait, where are you taking me?" he blurted out.
""The terrace is nice and nobody goes there, just a peaceful moment." Noli gave an intimidating smile.
"It seems wrong" 007n7 seemed nervous
"Just once, nothing will happen"
"Ah, okay, let's go."
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"That kid doesn't seem like a good friend." Veeronica questioned
"He seems familiar to me," Shedletsky said.
"GUYS, it's Noli, the killer who's been chasing us during the rounds!" Elliot shouted to everyone.
"Oh, that's right, I didn't even notice, he looks so different." Shedletsky shook her hair.
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The screen changed, showing the two of them on the terrace eating a snack that Noli had brought.
"You cook well," 007n7 complimented him.
"I stole this lunchbox from someone," Noli said expressionlessly.
"Wait, seriously?" 007n7's eyes widened as he looked at him.
"Haha, I'm just kidding, silly, I made this food yesterday." Noli laughed, her voice glitching out.
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"OK, I was startled for 1 second," Noob said loudly.
"The way he's capable of stealing it," Elliot buffed.
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007n7 was rotating the camera, showing all angles of the view from the terrace; it was beautiful.
"Hey you two, you should be in class at this time! You two in the board of directors NOW" A loud voice came from the back of the terrace. .
"We're screwed" Noli spoke
"If my mother finds out, she'll kill me" 007n7 stood up and the camera turned off.
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"I think the recording ended right there," Shedletsky said, checking the tape to see the video's duration.
"I hope he doesn't reappear all broken on the screen." Chance laughed
"We'll only find out by watching the next tape," Builderman said, standing up. "I'm tired, I think I'm going to sleep now." He yawned.
"Me too," Noob said while stretching.
"I think everyone should go rest now, we'll watch more tapes tomorrow." Shedletsky stood up and went towards the TV, turning it off.
"Good evening everyone," Chance left the room.