Chapter Text
The world was ending, again.
This wasn’t new to Gaty. She’s seen the world fall apart many times before: the lava flood, the zombie apocalypse, the storm. Every few months, everyone’s lives were threatened.
Every time, in the chaos of it all, she’d consider running away. She still found apocalypses terrifying, as normal as they were. Instead, she’d stand to the side, disengage, and wait. Like clockwork, some saviour would arrive and fix everything.
Gaty couldn’t do that now. The timeline was a mess, the universe was collapsing, and she was the solution. There was no escaping from this. It was cruel of her to even want to.
If she just signed the contract in front of her, everything could be fixed.
Gaty hadn’t read the contract. She hadn’t even bothered to try; One would stop her. The implications were terrifying.
Gaty looked up to her friends on the television. Things were getting worse. Glitches in reality were now intense, constant spasms, spilling intense colours across the screen like blood, as her fellow contestants clung desperately to each other. Fear looked foreign on their faces.
“Moments remain, the choice is yours,” One commented.
“You wouldn’t actually let this happen-”
“Hey!” One interrupted, “I’m safe here. I can find other ways to get that power. With or without your friends.”
Gaty stared at her in shock. One glanced up at the television. Pin was on it, hugging Fanny.
Pin didn’t deserve to die. Nobody deserved to die, especially not because of Gaty’s mistakes.
“I-You- UGH! FINE!” Gaty spat, stamping the contract.
“About time.” One mused, “haha, get it?”
Wow, there really was no getting out of this, was there?
“Ugh! You guys are all so boring,” One groaned. “Whatever. I’ll revert everything back to the way it was!”
“...and send me back, right?” Gaty begged.
“RIGHT?” Gaty asked again, as One remained silent.
One didn’t say anything. She just raised her leg, and snapped.
The sound ricocheted, rioting up Gaty’s insides. She crumpled, burned and numbed. The floor wasn’t there anymore. Psychedelic nothingness circled around her in crazed colours she couldn’t comprehend. She was behind herself, her understanding and experience of her body inches away from her senses. She heaved forwards, desperate to reach it, her feeling, her hearing, her sight, her taste, her smell, her emotion, her pain, only to stop when she found nothing there, only to fall back into the nothingness.
As Gaty slowly returned to awareness, she was unsettled to see nothing but her own legs. She was standing in complete blackness, as if stickered onto it. Struggling, Gaty tried to orient herself against the invisible ground, which suddenly softened beneath her.
Something thick and liquid, like wet cement, climbed Gaty’s calves. The void slowly crept up her leg, as if eating her. She startled, struggled and stepped forward into more sludge. It tensed under her, softened, then tensed again as Gaty took another hasty step.
Gaty took a deep breath, realising the void was viscous enough to walk on, so long as she kept moving. She started walking, then trucking, then jogging forwards into the abyss.
“Hello!?” Gaty called, “Hello, is anyone there!?”
No answer.
“Hello!?” she tried again.
Nothing, again.
Fence, that was pointless.
In her head, Gaty compared the blackness’ occasional shifting and flinching to that of a sleeping giant. She couldn't see it move, but she felt it, like it was close and hot against her.
Every sudden twitch made her want to tread lighter, make less sound, become smaller, for fear of waking it up. But, every time she did, the void would lazily creep towards her, and Gaty would start running again.
When she ran, she often looked down to watch her steps, to see if the darkness would try to eat her again.
It hadn’t, yet.
Where was she? Gaty struggled to recall how she got here, not because her mind was hazy, but because it was unusually clear. Her entire life before seemed cloudy and nonsensical and dream-like. Something that once seemed completely logical, but insane in hindsight.
Her most recent memories were of One, the world ending, and signing a contract. One must’ve sent her here, then, after she signed the deal. Why?
Would One need her later? Why send her here, then? Why not put Gaty with the other people One had kidnapped?
Why was this place so different from the rest of One’s pocket dimension? Was it even a part of One’s pocket dimension? Gaty felt normal when she was in One’s meeting room, so this place was probably something else entirely. What was it?
Would One come back for her?
Gaty wasn’t sure if she wanted One to. On one hand, One could make things worse if she still needed Gaty. On the other hand, Gaty wanted answers. She wanted to know where she was, what was happening, what she’d agreed to. She wanted to yell at One, scream at One for trapping her here. Most of all, she wanted out.
Gaty’s entire life had spiralled out of control. She was eliminated, then forced into the kitchen, then forced into being a martyr, then forced here.
Gaty couldn’t handle it. There had to be something she could have done. She could have escaped the kitchen. She could have asked to be eliminated. She could have refused One’s deal.
This situation Gaty was in was a result of her own mistakes. It had to be.
She kept walking.
Gaty struggled to tell time here. But, after what she imagined were a few hours, she saw a hint of visceral red in the distance.
Stunned to see anything bright in such a dark space, Gaty almost expected her eyes to burn in the colour.
They didn’t, so she kept moving towards it.
With no way to tell perspective in the void, Gaty didn’t know how far the red in the distance was. It seemed to hardly move as she approached it, which made Gaty fear her mind was playing tricks on her.
But, slowly, the speck of colour became something bigger, more tangible, until, finally, she felt her foot hit something solid and smooth. Plastic.
Gaty had made it. Relieved to be on solid ground, she fell to her knees and panted and laughed. She'd made it! How long was she running for? Hours, probably.
What even was this place?
Standing up, Gaty realised the ground beneath her wasn't just a floor, but a path. It wasn't the only one, either; surrounding Gaty were dozens of plastic paths, all converging to something red in the distance.
The paths weren’t natural in material or colour, but seemed strangely organic in the way they meandered back and forth like rivers. For a moment, Gaty hesitated. She couldn’t tell what the paths lead to. For all she knew, it could be an exit, something dangerous, or something else entirely. However, she didn't want to test the void again, and the possibility of it being an escape was too tantalising to ignore.
So, Gaty followed the paths into the unknown.
Gaty didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed.
It had taken a disgusting amount of time to reach this place; the point all the paths converged to. What she’d found was surprisingly inoffensive; a plastic imitation of a park, complete with uncanny picnic tables and children’s play equipment.
Looking at the ‘park’, Gaty was reminded of the fields and picnic tables back home. She recalled talking with Saw over lunch during BFB, how Saw would ramble about flowers she'd seen or pottery she'd collected or other beautiful things in the world.
Afterwards, Gaty would think a little more like Saw, and the world would seem brighter.
Gaty hadn't seen Saw for almost two years now. They seemed to be moving further and further away from each other. Recently, Saw had felt like the only person Gaty could be honest with, which had made her absence hurt so much more.
When Gaty was voted out, Two'd kept her in the kitchen, away from the other eliminated contestants. She'd never admitted it, but every new day of kitchen work wore at her hope of seeing Saw again.
The feeling had been irrational. TPOT had to end eventually. Then, Two would free Saw, and Gaty would reunite with her friend.
The feeling wasn't just paranoia now. Gaty didn't know where she was, but she knew that Saw was probably very, very far away.
The picnic tables remained empty.
Gaty was still grateful to have somewhere to rest. She was quickly learning that here, a stopping point, no matter how strange, was a blessing.
Exhausted, Gaty slumped onto one of the benches and leant her head on its table. In her hazy scepticism, Gaty worried about the nature of this place. Why was there a park in the void? Was this place the only solid thing here, besides her? If so, why? Was this place a trap?
...Did it matter? Gaty was so tired. At least if the park killed her, her final moments would be restful.
She shouldn't think like that. She would find a way out of here, reunite with Two, and ask them to eliminate her properly. She couldn't let this place get to her; she had to keep trying.
...Just not now. Now, she wanted to sleep.
With that final thought, Gaty, promptly, passed out.