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A sickly sweet voice could be heard over the intercoms of HQ, “Ladies, gentlemen, creatures, scientists, all, nothing, ect. Ect. If I could kindly have your attention, please.”
Levi looked over to Wyatt, Ashley, and Derrick in shock, Ellie didn’t sound like her usual self. “Somethings off with El.”
Wyatt’s eyes darkened as he glared at the speaker. “Understatement of the millennia,” he mumbled, before clearing his throat and addressing Levi, “War, take Pestilence and Famine and suit up. I’ll contact Death and she’ll meet you in the control room. Go! Now!”
Ash and Ricky quickly ran out of the room, as Levi hesitated, giving Wyatt a suspicious look, then followed his team to suit up.
Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.
And if anyone knew what was wrong, it’d be his best friend. He decided to make a quick stop before going to suit up.
Levi knocked on the door to Kris’s room, “Grim! This is an emergency!”
There was no immediate answer, but after a moment, she threw her door open, “What the hell do you want Levi?”
His fist was raised as if to knock again. He took a second, then realized his best friend was staring at him, and slowly lowered his hand. “It’s time to do what we were brought here to do.”
War reached in his pocket grabbing an earpiece and held it out for Death to take, the same earpiece she threw at him during their fight the day before. It was then that he realized something was off with Grim, too. “What happened to your other eye?!”
She raised an eyebrow, “What?”
“Your one eye isn’t brown anymore. Both of your eyes are reaper eyes!”
Kris huffed, “Oh. Right.”
She took the earpiece and put it on when Levi opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something. He quickly closed it, starting to replay memories of the recent events.
Kris working behind the scenes after finding evidence of a bigger story.
Kris working with Reapers, of all things, because her uncle not only worked for this facility in Dimension Zero, he was the researcher who handled communication between them and the Reapers, who begrudgingly worked together to contain Endite.
Kris making friends with all the interns and gaining insider knowledge about this place and being the only horseman to obtain Time Control for their watches.
Kris and Wyatt’s fake little fight they had right before she stormed off to her room. Or well, it was obviously fake to him. Levi’s been friends with Kris for a long time. He knows when something is just an act.
Levi leaned to look past her to get a look inside her room. Kris leaned to try to block where he was looking but he had the height advantage. There was no hiding the absolute mess of posters and pictures and sticky notes scattered everywhere. Kris has obviously been overthinking and planning.
And Kris leaning also moved her hair enough to reveal a different earpiece from the one Levi handed back, already stuck in her other ear.
Levi blinked. Overthinking, fake fights, separate earpieces. There’s….there’s another plan happening isn’t there? And judging by the attitude shift, Kris’s non reaction to her eye completely changing in the past 5 minutes since he’d seen Wyatt and her fight, and the fact that only she can time travel can only mean; “How long have you actually been gone?”
Kris gave a sharp inhale, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes you do. It’s been much longer than 5 minutes for you. How long has it been? Days? Weeks? Months?”
She rolled her eyes, “Not that long.”
Levi swore under his breath and ran his hands through his hair before leaning in closer and talking quietly. “G, I can already tell there’s some other plan happening and you aren’t telling us anything. Please just…give me something. What’s going on?? I’m worried. I’m worried for us all, what we’re having to do. I’m worried about you-“
“I know, I can feel it.” She mutters.
Kris snapped her mouth shut as her attention seemed to be caught by something behind him, and he tried to turn to see what it could be. Her hands grabbed his head and forcefully turned it to look back at her face full of determination, “Levi, listen closely because I am only going to say this once. It’s not real. You’ll know what I’m talking about when it happens and I’m sorry it’s not gonna be pleasant. It’s not real.”
Levi blinks, “Ok? ……Ok Grim.”
She then leaned back and scowled, crossing her arms impatiently, and said a bit too loud to be normal for conversation, “Well? You said this was an emergency.” Great. Back to acting. Levi definitely wasn’t going to get anything else from her now.
He gave an awkward chuckle “Yeah. Um. Wyatt is sending me, Famine, and Pestilence to suit up and said he’d be contacting you. Something just seemed….wrong so I came here. But, uh. Yeah. You’re already suited up so I’ll just be going now. That way. Yes.” Kris didn’t move as he backed away towards his room.
It didn’t take him long to put his mission gear on, but he was still last to get to the control room. Derrick and Ashley were suited up as well and waiting anxiously for orders. Wyatt and Kris were silently standing side by side, but that changed the moment Wyatt had noticed Levi enter the room, “You need to track down and take out Ellie May”
Derrick’s eyes narrowed, “Hold on, I thought we were made to destroy the Endite?”
Wyatt looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here. One could say he had a slight look of dread for what is to come. Now if that’s because he knows something more than he’s told or not, is anyone’s best guess. Levi’s willing to bet that he does, as he was the other member of the fake fight that happened moments earlier. Hell, he’s probably the person on the other side of that second earpiece that Kris has in.
Levi’s snapped out of his thoughts as Wyatt continues, “Ellie is the Endite”
Ash and Ricky freeze for a moment before shouting out, “You mean to tell me she’s somehow been out of containment this entire time?!” “How is that even possible? What are you guys containing?”
Wyatt won’t meet anyone’s eyes, “I…I don’t know.”
There’s a beat of silence before Kris cuts in, “Don’t worry about what’s contained, we can take care of whatever it is later.” …Yeah, so she probably knows.
Wyatt cleared his throat before continuing, “Right. War’s team lead, Death is joining.”
Derrick and Ashley look almost betrayed, “No way” “Absolutely not”
Kris hides a ghost of a smile as Wyatt interrupts their protests, “That’s not your call to make.”
Derrick stares at Levi, pleading, “Levi, Come on man, you know she’s only gonna be a liability!”
Yeah, well there’s more going on than you know so “Death’s joining, she’s my responsibility should something happen. There. Does that make you feel better?”
“Actually, a little bit, yes”
Kris rolls her eyes, “Trust me. I’m not happy being here either.” That’s a half-lie.
Ash turns to glare at her, “Yeah. Nobody is”
Levi cuts in, “Hey! I am!”
Derrick sighs, “Of course. Only you.”
Wyatt interrupts, “Guys. Endite.”
Levi nods, “Right. Team, let’s head out.”
They all exit the room, Derrick and Ashley leaving first, Kris is next after giving Wyatt a pointed look, and Levi following right behind. He took a second to glance back and saw Wyatt had turned away. And watched as he put a second earpiece in. Just as Levi predicted.
————
It’s been 20 minutes and they still haven’t found Ellie.
They’ve decided splitting up is a BAD idea because nobody wants to be caught unprepared running into the endite alone.
Right now, Derrick is using the main computer to try to track where in the building she could be, as she couldn’t have left, she set the building to lockdown. Their watches that allow them to teleport won’t work. Nobody can leave. Nobody can escape.
There’s currently one single problem with this plan however.
“SHE KEEPS LOCKING ME OUT OF THE DAMN SYSTEM!!” Derrick exclaims slamming his hands on the counter.
Yeah, every time Derrick gets through the lock allowing him to use the computer, he gets locked back out with emoticons taunting him. And each time the locks get harder to bypass. This has happened 4 times now and Derrick is getting pissed. Ashley keeps trying to send him reassurances but also looks uneasy. Probably because she’s also figured out that if Ellie keeps locking them out of this computer specifically, she definitely knows where all of them are and could come for them at any moment.
Grim? She just looks bored.
And the issue with this is, Kris probably knows where Ellie is. Levi knows this. Kris can probably guess that he knows this. But nobody else knows this because they’re fully out of the loop. So she can’t say anything.
So. He’s gonna come up with a way to give her a way to get them where they need to go, without blowing this other plan that he definitely knows nothing about. Wink wink.
Levi glances at Kris. “I have a random question.”
Kris raises an eyebrow, “Yes?”
“You remember when you went in that weird trance-like state to track Elissa’s dead body?” Kris hummed in confirmation.
“Do you think you can do something like that to lead us to where Ellie is?”
Now, this is not how that ability works. Kris knows this. Levi knows this. Kris knows that Levi knows this because G’s the one who explained it to him in the first place. But you know who doesn’t know this? Derrick and Ashley. So hopefully if Kris actually knows where the hell they’re supposed to be going, she’ll take this opportunity to lead them there and get them there faster so this can be over with.
She looks thoughtful for a moment before nodding, “Yeah probably”
Levi smiled, “Great, lead the way! C’mon guys!”
Kris stands still, eyes closed, as the other two walked over. You could see a slight glow under her eyelids for a couple seconds before it dulled and her eyes opened. She started speed-walking with a purpose without bothering to check if anyone was following and the other 3 scrambled to keep up.
They passed through many hallways, went down several flights of stairs, and stepped over dozens of bodies with black vein-like scars similar to the ones coming from Kris’s eyes. Levi can’t help but be glad that Kris doesn’t remember getting those, because all of these corpses have their faces contorted and frozen in what appears to be agony.
It’s not long before Kris stops in front of a door leading to an empty weapon testing room in the basement. “She’s right in there. Waiting.”
Derrick and Ashley look to Levi for confirmation. Much to his mild annoyance, but now wasn’t the time for talking about it, and actually they can’t know any better, so he kept it to himself.
Levi did a quick war scan of the inside.
People inside? 1
Threat? Inside.
Weapons inside? None.
They are clearly walking into a trap. He’s terrified. Kris gives him a shoulder pat. It kind of helps.
“Pest, Famine, we’re gonna go in. Death stay out here. Keep an ear open and be backup. Can you do that?” Which also means, Will this work with whatever plan you’re doing? He has to hold back from actually winking because that would most definitely give something away.
“Yes”
Levi pulls a knife out of his belt, “Fantastic. Let’s do this.”
Kris has a blank look on her face before nodding and overdramatically bowing, gesturing towards the door, “After you, pretty boy.”
There was a quiet mutter of “don’t mess this up” from Ashley, no doubt directed towards Kris, as Levi slowly turned the doorknob to open the door. A sharp, “You’re late.” came from inside.
Levi looked at Derrick and gave a quick nod and they quickly pushed the door open and rushed in, Ashley following after as Kris closed the door behind them, leaving the 3 inside alone with the endite. The room is barren, Ellie May is leaning on the wall farthest from the door. A small smirk graced her lips as the three got in defensive positions, bracing themselves for what could possibly come next.
Levi heard the slight buzz from the overhead lights that usually comes from Derrick arming himself with extra energy from the environment. This prompts him to quickly scan the situation a second time, just to double check.
People in here? 4
Threat? Right in front of you.
Weapons in here? What you’re carrying on you.
Weapons outside? 1
That……could be a major problem. Levi can only hope that if Wyatt allowed Kris to join them for this as well as lead the other secret plan, that she can handle a threat outside.
“I was beginning to wonder if I had to start hunting you down. You all were taking so long.” Ellie’s hand slowly crept to behind her ear, and as she brought it back down, the illusion of unblemished human skin was replaced with so many endite scars, spreading down her face and neck, and creeping up her arms from between her fingers. She’d been cloaking herself this whole time. And now she’s revealing all her tricks. Why?
Derrick grumbled, “Get to the point.”
The endite kicked off the wall, tilting her head from side to side, her movements appeared more like she is jerking her body around than actual fluid human movement now. “The point? This is the end.”
Ashley’s eyes narrowed, “So you say.”
“Why aren’t you attacking me yet?”
Derrick blinked, “What?”
Ellie’s now black eyes lit up with amusement, “Come on Famine I taught you better than this. I’m the enemy. The antagonist. The creature you were created to destroy. I’m a threat, War can even confirm that. So start attacking.”
Derrick and Levi glanced at each other before the latter nodded. What else could they do? Derrick stopped absorbing energy from the environment and started stealing the energy from Ellie exclusively. Ashley started weakening her as well. The endite was back to leaning on the wall, unable to hold herself up anymore. This was………..too easy. It can’t be this easy.
People in here? 4
Threat? Right in front of you.
She’s still a threat. Why is she still a threat??
Ellie snaps him out of his thoughts with a whisper “I always thought four horsemen were dumb. The number never made sense.”
Levi lowers his knife just a smidge, “What is that supposed to mean?”
Derrick snaps his head over to him, “War, don’t get distracted, anytime now would be great!!” Levi holds his other hand up to shush him.
Weapons in here? What you’re carrying on you.
Ellie smiles, “It’s not four. It’s three and one. It’s how it always was. And always will be. The Three Horsemen and the Final Horseman. Shall I go on?”
“Yes.”
Ashley shrieked, “LEVI?!”
Weapons outside? 1
“War breaks out, people fight for their lives, people get hurt. People starve. People get sick. Terminally ill even. What happens when nothing gets better? People. Die.” Levi felt his stomach drop. He raised his knife back up to aim as the Endite’s smile turned sharp, “I was never worried about you three.”
The door behind him opened, Levi wanted to shout at Kris to stay close, that she was being targeted and was in danger. But he couldn’t. There was a slight tightness in his chest and he suddenly couldn’t move or speak. From his peripherals he noticed Derrick and Ashley weren’t moving either.
People in here? 5
Threat? Right in front of you.
Weapons? BEHIND YOU
“I see your point. All roads do lead to me in the end I guess.”
Kris wasn’t in danger. Death was the weapon.
Fuck.
Endite stood up straight again, after Derrick and Ashley’s powers were stopped. “You took your sweet time.”
“I wanted to make a theatrical entrance, so I had to make sure the timing was perfect. Sue me.”
Ellie’s eyes narrowed, “I could have gotten hurt.”
“Yeah. Sure.” Levi knew Kris was rolling her eyes without having to see it, there was so much sarcasm injected into those two words.
Ellie made her way past Levi with a sigh, to where he couldn’t see her anymore. “Finish them, then meet me for the next phase. You know where.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Levi feels a chill go down his spine. He’s having a hard time breathing.
Levi heard Ellie close the door and walk away, leaving them at the mercy of Death. He felt Kris gently take the knife out of his hand and return it to his belt, before she made her way over to where the endite previously stood, black wispy…stuff emerging from her left hand and growing, morphing, before solidifying into a scythe. An aura screaming ‘DANGER’ seemed to emanate from her when she gave a near- inhuman head tilt. She casually leaned on the weapon she made, face indifferent, and ordered, “Speak.”
People in here? 4
Threat? None.
Weapons? 2
that’s…unexpected.
…
Well actually no-
“TRAITOR” one of the horsemen yells.
“LIAR” shouts the other one.
Levi isn’t really paying attention to who says what. What he is paying attention to is Kris’s voice.
Threat? None.
The aura isn’t fooling him. This is part of the act. It has to be. That’s Kris’s acting voice.
Any concern he had about this situation is gone, because Grim is seemingly calm, which means nothing has been derailed, so she must be in control of the situation. Wyatt and whoever else is on the other side of that second earpiece are not rushing in to stop what’s happening, so all this must be going according to their plan.
Which means everything’s going to be okay, so he’s not scared anymore.
And in that same moment he watches Grim’s head snap towards him, eyes narrowing. Why? No idea.
He zones back in to Ashley screeching “YOU’VE PROBABLY HAD YOUR ABILITIES THIS WHOLE TIME AND DIDN’T TRAIN WITH US BECAUSE YOU WANTED TO USE THEM AGAINST US”
Kris didn’t stop staring at Levi as she calmly replied, “Oh please, I’ve only fully had them a few weeks tops.” Ah. So that’s how long she was gone. One question answered!
“When we get out of this, I’m going to kill you myself.”
Kris clicked her tongue, “I’m the only one doing the killing here. I’m just letting you have your famous last words.” Levi holds back a snort.
Derrick spoke up, “Wait hold on, you’re even gonna kill Levi???”
Kris glanced over at Ricky, “yeah. I gotta follow orders.”
Ashley was stunned. Derrick laughed incredulously, “But he…he’s your friend! Your best friend!!”
Kris nodded, “of course he is. That’s why he’s dying last and I’m making it quick. Unlike you two.”
“Levi do you not have anything to say about this?!?!?!?!”
Levi blinked, “Nah man. It is what it is………You can’t see me and I can’t move so please just imagine I shrugged when I said that.”
Ashley took a deep breath, “I changed my mind, Levi when we get out of this, I’m gonna kill you instead.”
Grim turned towards her, “Okaaay, you don’t get to threaten him. Buh bye.”
With a flick of Death’s wrist Ashley started screaming and collapsed. She was writhing on the ground, coughing and gagging between screams. Neither Derrick nor Levi could move to help. Levi stayed silent.
Derrick started freaking out, “WHAT DID YOU DO??? WHAT DID YOU DO???”
Death turned to him next, “My job.”
And Derrick fell backwards, catching himself. He was crawling backwards trying to get away and catch his breath before he held his head in his hands groaning. It didn’t take long for him to start screaming too, arms constantly moving between holding his head, neck and torso like he’s trying to stop himself from falling apart. Literally.
The screaming was loud. Very loud.
Then suddenly it wasn’t.
Levi collapsed to his knees. He found he could move again, or at least his upper body could. He couldn’t stand up even if he tried. Derrick and Ashley had vanished. So had the door somehow. It was just Him and Grim with no escape.
He still wasn’t scared.
“And then there was one.”
Levi gave a small smile and shrugged.
He was having an even harder time breathing. He felt panic, But it sure as hell wasn’t his.
Grim paused for a moment, “I-I said things I didn’t mean. When we fought yesterday. I…think it was yesterday? I don’t know I’m still trying to figure this reaper thing out-” That was no longer Kris’s acting voice.
Levi nodded, “I know. And it was. Yesterday, I mean, for me.”
“I was hurt. I was angry.” Why was this having to be discussed now?
“I know. I’m sorry for what happened.”
“I’m sorry I had to leave you behind.” He wishes he had said yesterday.
“No, I’m sorry for how I reacted.”
“Why would you care? You’re not even my Levi!” She had told him.
“It’s okay.”
Kris shakily inhaled, “I’m really sorry. I was wrong.”
Uh oh. Grim is spiraling. “It’s okay. I forgive you.”
“I didn’t mean it”
“I know, that’s why I forgive you.”
“Levi I’m frickin terrified right now.”
A pause as they just stared at each other. That’s why this conversation is happening.
“Ah, so that’s your panic I’m feeling right now?” He chuckled.
Grim winced, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
She tilted her head, “How can you not be scared?”
“Because everything’s gonna be okay. I trust you.”
“You trust me?” Grim made a face, “That’s a mistake.”
He spoke up, louder, more confident, “Wrong. Look at me. Hey. You’re gonna be okay. I’m gonna be okay. This is gonna all work out in the end. We’re gonna be ok.”
She echoed, “We’re gonna be ok.” Grim took a second to compose herself, then gave a smile and half shrugged, “I mean you won’t be, but sure.”
Levi grinned, “What, ‘cause you’re gonna kill me? Yeah, right.”
Kris raised an eyebrow, “You wanna bet?”
Levi shrugged, “I like my odds. See you on the other side G.”
And Death vanished. Not in the flickering way reapers teleport, not in the sudden vanish like the watch teleportation, but just faded from view. So did the room. Everything just faded to black.
Then he was back home. The home before Zero. Lockwell.
What the fuck??
How is Kris doing this???
Seriously what the fuck?????
Levi quickly stands, looking around. There’s nobody, it’s abandoned. He’s in town. On the sidewalk. The where has been established, the current question is when.
People in here? 3
Threat? None
Where are these people???
After a few minutes of wandering he spots Kris.
…and he spots the car.
He remembers this. Like it was yesterday.
He’s figured out the when.
This is the Saturday before senior year.
The day of the accident.
Not this. Not again. Please. “GRIM LOOK OUT!!!”
Levi runs. He sprints, faster than he could before he became War. He still isn’t fast enough.
He hears the collision. He hears Kris choking on her own blood. Dying. Again.
Levi reaches the car but Kris is gone. There’s nobody in the car. He’s alone. Again.
He collapses, sitting on the curb, wiping tears out of his eyes.
…And someone sits down next to him, coughs up blood, her voice is oh so familiar, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
His head whips to stare at Kris, preparing to see the mangled body that shouldn’t be able to move, but it’s not that Kris. That Kris was covered in blood, sure. But that’s not what she was wearing that day, and the blood splatter was from the injuries, not the blood pouring from this one’s face. She didn’t have that backpack with her. She definitely wasn’t actively crying blood. The dead Kris also didn’t have a reaper eye, or the scars coming from her eyes.
No this is a memory of someone else, from someone else’s memory. “Who are you?”
The Kris shrugged, “Take a wild guess.”
What the fuck G, they literally just made up. This is a low blow, not cool. He gestures to the car “What the hell Grim, This is fucked!”
Kris raised an eyebrow as she picks at the dried blood under her nails, “Look buddy I can’t help that one of your greatest fears is you losing her again.”
“I….what?” He buries his head in his hands, “This can’t be real!”
And suddenly. He remembers. Earlier today. Grim holding his head. “It’s not real” she had said. “You’ll know it when it happens, it won’t be pleasant, I’m sorry”
Levi sat up straight, “You’re not real.”
Kris wiped a bunch of blood off her face, and directly onto Levi’s, “I dunno, it feels pretty real to me.”
He could feel the stickiness and the warmth on his face and gagged. He quickly stood up. It sure as fuck felt real but, “EW EW EW EW EW NO. ITS NOT. YOUR NOT. NONE OF THIS IS REAL. YOU’RE NOT REAL.” He kicked the car, “YOU DONT SCARE ME. YOU’RE NOT EVEN HERE.”
He felt himself kick the car, his foot fucking hurt, but when he looked up, it was gone. Kris stood up and brushed her bloody hands on her bloody pants. Pocket watch dangling from her right hand. “You clever boy.”
Levi woke up gasping on the floor of that room in the basement. He frantically started scrubbing the blood off his face, only to find nothing to wipe away.
People in here? 3
Threat? None.
He never left the room.
Levi looked around. Derrick and Ashley were back. So was the door. One quick check later, and the other two horsemen were alive, they had a pulse and were breathing. They were just passed out. Ok. This is fine.
……Oh shit his best friend is currently pretending to be the enemy to take down the Endite herself? What is she?? Insane?!?!
Levi books it out of the room and sprints down the hall.
Don’t worry G, backup’s on the way!