Chapter Text
Spidey felt a sense of guilt lingering in her stomach. They shouldn't even have been down there; it was her fault that they ended up all the way to the machine.
In the distance, she could hear Jonathan and this weird character of a guy named Thomas fumbling with things trying to figure out how to work the elevator.
As Spidey was deep in her thoughts, Jonathan finally called to her, "Spidey, you go in the elevator first," She heard him take a brief pause as she made her way into the elevator, making her even more nervous. "I'll there with you in a second." It's the last thing Spidey heard before passing out from what she thought was from the overwhelming heat of the machine and her nerves.
⊹ ࣪ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
Spider woke up suddenly, feeling a wet and cold surface beneath her. Taking a look around she saw some sort of… sewer? This didn't look like the usual sewer in Paradise City to her.
She looked down to see Jonathan laid down next to her, very much unconscious. "Jonathan?!" She yelled out his name as she vigorously shook him. "Come on Jonathan, I know you're an old man but surely you wake up right about now," Spidey cried out in frustration.
Jonathan finally woke up after being shaken for around five minutes, jolting up right and almost hitting Spidey along the way. She could see him take in his surroundings, his panic wasn't very hidden.
"Sorry Spidey, but where the hell are we??"
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4C was still working on his secret sewer network when he heard loud voices behind stone. From where he was at, he noticed that behind the wall were the actual sewers so he proceeded to get out of his tunnel to head over in that direction. If he just dug straight through the wall, that would've just given out his secret right away! Who knows who's there and what if they lose trust in him because he was hiding secret tunnels underneath his own kingdom?
Luckily the sewers were practically the rogues' domain, so sneaking through and not being seen was simple. As he was headed down the hall of the sewers, he spotted two unfamiliar figures.
Who could they be? No one had mentioned visitors like they had with the jesters and the circus. 4C found it very odd, maybe he slept through the announcement?
As 4C approached, he quieted down his thoughts to listen carefully.
"Jonathan, I'm scared… all of this is overwhelming, I just want him back…"
"I know, I know, but you know that's not how it works Spidey."
"Yeah, Yeah, you tell me it every time, 'oh Spidey, just stop thinking about 4C and get over it.' It's not that easy!"
"Listen, we just need to find a way back, if we even can…"
4C was insanely confused. What did they mean 'just stop thinking about 4C'? He didn't even recognize who they were! 4C decided to brush it off in place of noticing that they definitely weren't from the two kingdoms. The girl didn't look too out of place, she seemed like she'd be a rogue. On the other hand, the man with her looked rough. One of his arms was fully bandaged, along side half of his head and eye being covered in them too. He couldn't really be one to judge though, he was a slime after all, and besides, people in the kingdoms have backstories they aren't willing to share.
4C decided to build up enough courage to go up to the duo. Stepping out of the shadows, "Hey, are you two lost? I haven't heard of any newcomers arriving," he showed visible confusion, hoping it seemed friendlier than just an accusatory blank face. It seemed it hadn't worked as they were currently staring at him as if they had seen a ghost. He's not a ghost, he's a slime! Slimes aren't particularly scary, right?
After a few seconds, the girl, who he assumed was Spidey, spoke up, "I- It can't be…" 4C just awkwardly stood there while waiting for her to continue but the man spoke up for her. "4C…? No, it can't be." If slimes could, he would quirk his eyebrow up. "You're supposed to be dead."
"What?"
He just resorted to blinking, baffled by what was just said. He knew he went to hell but he came back?
"Uhm. I mean I'm right here?" He paused, "Wait, how'd you know my name in the first place?" Both Spidey, and who he also assumed was Jonathan as well, both turned around to look at each other, then turned back around. "What do you mean, I'm your friend, Spidey, but I've already told you that," 4C noticed she had a sad smile, "and this is Jonathan, he's a bit mean but he has a soft spot for us deep down." She giggled after finishing that sentence and Jonathan gave her a look.
"Well, I don't think I've ever met you two but it's nice to meet you guys! How about we get out of these sewers and I show you around?" They both shared a look again before nodding.
⊹ ࣪ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
4C didn't know what to do in this situation. He'd seen quite a lot during his time in the blue kingdom, like god tormenting him and sending him to hell but that's besides the point. No one is awake right now and he doesn't want to bother anyone.
As he's showing them around the kingdom, Spidey seemed to react to everything. She audibly awed at every building. Obviously 4C showed special attention to his builds because he knows them the best but he also made sure to credit everyone in the kingdom who had built something. While showing them around, he noticed that Jonathan tended to mumble to himself about everything, contrary to Spidey.
Asides from Spidey making enthusiastic comments, the duo seemed to keep to themselves, making weary comments to each other. 4C didn't really mind it, he just felt a little awkward with forced conversation going around.
"Sooo, where did you guys come from?" 4C stopped in his tracks right before the entrance of the castle. Spidey was quick to respond but quickly fumbled, "Paradise City, you were there with us before… uhm." Her expression soured as she continued, "I don't really get how this is working, you're kind of uhm—" Jonathan cut her off, "You're meant to be dead, 4C."
Well damn, he knew the Rogue God kind of wanted to keep him underneath in hell but he barely knew these people! "Well that's kind of rude," he began intentionally walking into the castle towards the jail. "Woah hold up, what the fuck is this place!?" Jonathan tried reaching for his gun only to realize it's not there. "And where is my gun??" Spidey whipped her head at that statement, "What do you mean you don't have it," her face starts to pale, " Jonathan I'm scared, 4C's acting weird and we're in a weird place." 4C was starting to feel bad for them. It probably was overwhelming to end up in an unfamiliar place.
He's still really confused though. What did they mean by he's acting weird? He swore he had never seen them before. "Okay, I have so many questions to ask you two but first of all it's late, second of all, I don't want to overwhelm you guys even more, and third of all, I need the whole kingdom to know about you two." Both of them were just awkwardly standing next to each other, occasionally sending each other looks as he spoke, "I can make you two beds and you can make yourselves comfortable in one of these empty houses around the kingdom for now." He might as well show them the rest of the castle the next day, so he led them out and towards the hill where he made Cherri's house. "I'll be back with things for you guys, and don't cause any trouble," he opened the door to one of the houses and let them in, "You've seen the jail." Okay, maybe he still teased them a little bit.
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They both closely watched as 4C left after dropping off supplies for them. "What have we gotten ourselves into?" Jonathan was rubbing is head as he fidgeted with his bandages. "I don't know, this sounds crazy, but what if this isn't our 4C?" Spidey started gesturing with her hands, "He has a whole different outfit! Even if it isn't a different 4C, we can still have hope that this is him and that he's alive!" Looking off to the side, he hesitated before responding, "Look Spidey, I know all of this is really weird but we saw him die. I don't think this is him."
Spidey mumbled to herself something incoherent before dropping onto her bed. "Good night, Jonathan."
He looked away.
"Good night Spidey."
⊹ ࣪ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖