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It’s just another day at the forsaken’s cabin. It’s quite early, but nearly everyone is awake, wondering how their day is going to be today. Everyone knows that the next killer will be 1x1x1x1, but how the match will go? And what would they do afterwards? There’s a few characters who don’t struggle with this question today, since they know they aren’t in this match. Most of them are still asleep, unlike Two Time, who has been awake for nearly an hour already, preparing a ritual for their so called religion. Even though they aren’t in todays match, they have big plans prepared, together with Elliot, who’s probably still asleep right now. For legal reasons obviously, yesterday he got targeted by Noli just because he healed Chance after his gun exploded. Two Time shivers. They focus themselves on their ritual again. It’s nothing really special or different from their normal ritual, it’s just the one where they gain their second life after they die. They usually don’t use this one during non round days, but for todays play, they felt like it was necessary. After they’re done setting it up, they do the right movements, say the right words, and just as in a regular round, the spawn glows for a second, then dims, meaning the ritual succeeded. Two Time happily thanks the Spawn for granting them their second life once again, and without changing leave their room in order to go and seek Elliot.
Once at Elliot’s room, Two Time politely knocks and waits for a bit. After no answer for a bit, they knock again, a little harder this time. After them knocking for about 5 times now, they decided to just go inside and see what Elliot’s up too. It can’t be that he’s still sleeping, right? But there he is, laying in his bed as if he hadn’t slept for days. Two Time hesitates to wake him up, due to them thinking Elliot looks adorable like this, but remembers it’s necessary for him to be awake. They shake Elliot gently. Elliot rolls over, making sounds that sound something like “five more minutes…..” to which Two Time responds with “good morning from the Spawn Elliot… it’s time for us and try to gain Azure back.” Elliot rolls over and opens his eyes barely, looking at Two Time, who looks like they haven’t showered for decades. “Geez.. why so early again…” Elliot mumbles. “You know that every Tuesday morning Azure sits at that flower field full of Nightshades. The Spawn told me that that’s the perfect time to give him my apologies.” Two Time says proudly. Elliot looks at them, still half asleep, and tells them to take a shower, since there’s no fucking way that Azure would even talk to them like this, to which Two Time replies that showering isn’t necessary when they have the Spawn watching over them. “That’s bullshit,” says Elliot. “Now take a shower. You stink. I’m not going anywhere with you if you look like this.”
After a quick shower and a clothes change, Elliot and Two Time are ready to go to the field full of Nightshades. They were walking towards the field when a question popped up in Elliot’s head. “Tell me why again you had to wake up at 5am, just to prepare that ritual? You usually never use that one outside of the forsaken rounds.” He asks Two Time curiously. Two Time, who was completely zoned out, snaps back to reality (kind of, I guess?) and asks Elliot to repeat his question, which he does. "Knowing the dangers of this realm and how Azure dislikes me, its no sin to not be careful. As one wrong word to him could cause my head to fall off. But thanks to the Spawn- such wont happen. You know, you should really consider worshipping the Spawn too. I bet he would take great care of you!” Elliot politely declines to their offer, and they continue walking.
Once arrived at the field of Nightshades, Elliot and Two Time hide behind a tree. They can see Azure’s back, just sitting there between the Nightshades. They just watch him for a bit, not talking and not moving much. Two Time stands there wondering how they could approach him, as they haven’t really thought about that part. Just walk towards? Too risky. Throw a note? Possible, but how would it land all the way over there. Suddenly they remember that they brought their dagger with them, that somehow feels heavier on their belt than usual. They take it out and stare at it for a bit, thinking to themselves to throw it with something written on it. But with what pen? They’re so lost in thoughts, that they maybe stare at their dagger a bit too much. Suddenly images start flashing before their eyes. That day.. with Azure in a flower field, looking nearly identical to this one. The picnic date, Azure telling them he loves them. Then, a flash of blood. Azure’s blood. On their dagger, and on their hands. His lifeless body laying right in front of them. Elliot notices Two Time starts shaking. Not knowing what’s going on, he asks them if they’re okay, to which they don’t respond, due to being so sunken into their thoughts. Two Time falls down, head faced forwards, hitting the stump of the tree. It’s like they’re having a seizure. Clueless poor Elliot screeched out for help, to which Azure looks back and sees Elliot standing next to Two Time laying on the ground. He decides to make his way over there and help poor Elliot out a bit.
<< It’s all your fault. >>
“Two Time?”
<< It’s your fault he’s dead. >>
“Two time…? Are you there?”
<< You’ll never hear his voice again. >>
“Is this normal for them?”
<< You’ll never see his face again. >>
“Not sure, I haven’t talked much to them recently.”
<< He’ll never forgive you. >>
“OI TWINK CULTIST, WAKE THE FUCK UP!” To which Azure throws a bucket full of water over them. Two Time wakes up in shock, shivering from the water. “Holy shit, what was that? Are you alright?” Elliot asks them in concern. “Spying on me I see? Can you really not get over your stupid mistakes that YOU made. Please Two Time, it’s pathetic. You know I’ll never forgive you.” Two Time sits up and stares at Azure, who put the bucket down that was full of water just a few seconds ago. Then they look at Elliot, who looks very concerned. They want to say something, but it’s like their throat is shut tight, full of guilt and fear. Azure kicks their dagger towards them. “If you wanted to talk to me, you could’ve just said it to my face, you know?” Azure says to Two Time. “No need to do all of this, it’s was not like I’m going to let you talk to me anyways. In fact, I’m starting to wonder why I’m not strangling you right now.” Azure makes a movement towards Two Time, who flinches and crawls a bit away from them. Elliot jumps between them. “Hey Azure, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the reason they did all of this was to talk to you. Can’t you show atleast a bit of respect towards them?” Azure now focuses his gaze onto Elliot, who now feels a bit intimidated. “There’s. No way. That I can forgive this… this… this spawn obsessed creature of a Two Time. Do you not know what they’ve done? If I were you, I’d run away from them.” Azure begins to get moving towards the cabin again. Two Time looks at him with desperation in their eyes, but still doesn’t dare to say a word. It’s like their entire plan went to waste, until something bizarre happened.
Some sort of beam, is what it looks like, strikes from the sky, right onto Azure. Two Time and Elliot watch as it happens. They can hear Azure scream for a bit, when suddenly they don’t hear a singular noise anymore. It’s like he had completely vanished. Concerned of what happened to Azure, Two Time gets up and runs to where that beam struck. The beam is still there. It’s giving off a weird sort of energy, more looking like magic. Elliot follows up after Two Time. “W-what is this supposed to be..?” Elliot asks Two Time. He looks very scared, as if they just saw a ghost pass by. “Do you think it’s from something that happened in the round? What even is it? Did it consume Azure? Should we get the others? This isn’t normal Two Time. And why do you stare at it like that? You’re scaring me..” Elliot’s words are like static towards Two Time. They’re only wondering what they’re currently looking at. Was it a gift from the Spawn so they can finally give their apologies to Azure? Maybe it was revenge from the Spawn to Azure throwing that water over them- whatever it was, it felt like it was calling their name. Without thinking clearly, Two Time puts their hand into the beam. It gets stuck. Getting back their senses, they realised what’s going on. But before they can do something, they’ve already been sucked in by the magical force. They can hear Elliot scream their name for a bit, before it goes completely black.
<< What have you done. You’re foolish for going in there. Leaving your friends behind for a mistake you made years ago. Get over him. Get over him Two Time. You’re better than this. You can do better than this. You don’t need him. You have the Spawn. That’s all you ever need. Forget about him. >>
It’s like a train ran over Two Time, well at least that’s how they feel. Their entire body hurts, noise around them feels like complete static. They try opening their eyes, but get blinded by colours brighter than the rainbow. They’re laying uncomfortable, which makes clear to them that they’re laying on a floor. This floor feels nothing unlike the cabins floor, which is completely out of wood. This feels like it’s inside. Slowly coming back to their senses, they smell a really odd scent. You know, the kind of smell you get when you enter an old building, like it’s been abandoned for years. Two Time decides to sit up and take a closer look at their surroundings. It looks like they’re in some sort of gift shop. They stand up and walk around for a bit, cautious with their dagger on their belt, ready to be taken out, while taking a closer look at the stuff this so called shop is selling. They stumble on plushies and cards of characters they’ve never seen before. And they all look so colourful.. is it just them, or do the plushies look like a strawberry, a rock, a moon, a fossil, a tv and a rainbow flower? While walking around a bit more, they notice the amount of random stuff that’s placed on the most odd places ever. Why would they place a box with an empty shelf in the middle of the room, they ask to themselves. They think back to the maps during the forsaken rounds, and know that is there too. Maybe it’s a new map? While walking, they trip over a loose item on the ground. “Holy Spawn…” they mumble as they look back at what they tripped over. It’s a white box, on it a rainbow flower with an + in the middle of it. It’s a health kit. Two Time picks it up, thanks the Spawn for blessing them with this item on their journey, and continues exploring cautiously.
Once they’ve finished exploring the map, they suddenly hear an elevator noise. They decide to peek and see where it’s coming from. The sound is coming from the so called broken elevator, which doesn’t look allat broken anymore. Out of it come what it look like a bunch of monsters; dripped by.. black stuff? Two of them look like the plushies Two Time spotted in the shop part, the strawberry and the moon, just a bit deformed. Together with them comes out a purple music box, a pansexual piñata and.. is that Azure?
Scared of Azure, Two time runs towards the real elevator, hoping to find a good hiding spot. At real, they see a small desk just sitting there in the corner, next to what looks like a machine. They think to themselves that that desk looks good enough to stay out of Azure’s sight, if not for atleast just a little. The monsters have loud footsteps. It doesn’t look like they talk. They just kind of roam around the map, as if they’re looking for something, or someone. Another elevator sound appears, but this time from the real elevator. Sunken into their own thoughts, Two Time gets scared and lays down behind the desk. They miss Elliot. They miss the cabin, the stabbing, they miss the Spawn, but they believe that the Spawn won’t let them down. The elevator opens. Two Time hears a bark, followed by a scream and the getting louder of the footsteps. It’s like the monsters have found someone to chase, which more sounded like a dog. Scared to look up, Two Time just stays there on the ground, murmuring some enchanting Spawn language or whatever. The elevator closes.
“Huh? Who are you? You don’t look like a toon at all. You more look.. human? Just like that other one that somehow entered our run. Are you okay there, laying on the ground?” Two Time notices someone’s talking to them, and looks up, to see someone who looks just like that fossil plush looking at them. Two Time doesn’t know how to respond and stays silent. The fossil reaches out her hand. “My name’s Shelly, I’m one of of the main characters of Gardenview here in Dandy’s world. It’s nice to meet you, uhh…” “Two Time, may the Spawn bless you.” They shake Shelly’s hand. She looks a bit confused, but doesn’t feel like asking what they meant by that. “Tell me, what is this place? And who are those… creatures?” “Oh, you mean the twisteds? Well, they’re basically just toons, like me and the others on this run, but they’ve been corrupted with ichor.” Shelly rotates the valve on the machine next to them. The same black stuff that looks like what infested those monsters comes out of it, filling up the machine slowly. “Ichor isn’t good for us toons. It makes you, well, go insane. You can’t think straight anymore, and you chase whoever you see, wanting to hit them.” She shivers. “And this place is the Gardenview! Us toons try to survive floors in order to get ichor as currency, so we can buy skins or trinkets for ourselves, so we can make it down further. We hope that if we reach a low enough floor, we might be set free. We’re currently at floor 19, you can come with us, we don’t mind! As long as you don’t grief the rest of us.” Two Time wants to ask what she means by this, but keep their mouth shut. After extracting the machine for a bit, she tells Two Time to get up and help the team maybe, as she doesn’t understand why there is barely any machines done. Her and Two Time make their way into the gift shop further.
Shelly and Two Time try to find the others who are in the run. She told them that the so called other toons who joined were Yatta, Gourdy, Sprout and Pebble. Pebble is supposed to distract the twisteds at fake apparently, so they’re heading over there. And there he was, rotating circles while 3 of the twisteds were chasing him. Shelly tries to talk to him over the counter, so she doesn’t get spotted. “Hey Peb! Everything going alright? Who has twisted sprout?” “Woof! Arf! Bworf! (I’m doing fine, pretty sure gourdy has sprout. Be careful, he’s walking around the map, so don’t get hit by the tentacles. And be careful for that purple person looking thing.. I’m not sure what it’s supposed to be. It looks like he’s searching for someone, who isn’t us).” Purple person? Do they mean Azure? Two Time turns their gaze towards Shelly. “Since the Spawn isn’t guiding me right now, would you be so kind and may show me the way to this… purple person?” “Oh uhh yeah I mean we can try look for him, he’s probably roaming around right now though, I kind of want to look where the rest of the team is. You can tag along, there’s another person with us who spawned into the elevator while we were progressing from floor 18 to 19. Maybe you know them too? Also, who’s this so called Spawn you keep talking about?” "Oh, the Spawn? He's the very heavenly being, watching over us. Blessing us with the very world we stand upon. My second life possible due to his gift he has given me. You too should turn to Spawnism, my church would surely take care of you with open arms." “Ehh.. sounds all very nice and all, but I’d rather stay an atheist, thanks.” Two Time looks disappointed, but they quickly forget about it due to them heading on their way to try and find Azure.
While walking together with Two Time, Shelly tells them about her interests for dinosaurs. This makes them doze off a bit, and leads to them just looking around the map for a conveniently passing by Azure. This is till they see something, something odd, that they haven’t spotted before. They stand still to look at it for a bit. Shelly doesn’t notice that Two Time stopped walking, and continues to head in to the direction where she hears her fellow teammates talk. What is this thing that they’ve found? It looks like it’s made of that ichor stuff. They walk closer into its direction. Once they’re close, they figure out it’s some sort of tentacle. It takes up quite a lot of space. Would this be Azure’s doing? It feels dangerous, something that they shouldn’t get close to. But Two Time can’t help and keeps staring at it. After a bit, they start to reach out their hand to touch it. It looks like Azure’s.. it must be his.. right? But once their hand comes in reach, the tentacle makes an odd movement, and hits Two Time so hard that they fall backwards. Was this Azure, who’s still mad at them..? Or was it..
“TWO TIME!!” A familiar voice shouts out their name. They look behind them to see it’s Elliot running towards them. “So you’re here too! Oh you don’t know how glad I am to see you here!” Elliot helps Two Time up and hugs them. “Elliot..? Why didn’t you stay behind, at the cabin?” Two Time asks curiously. “You know, I couldn’t just stay there and leave you behind. I’ve thought of maybe telling someone else, but the beam looked like it was about to close. So I jumped in without thinking.” He releases Two Time from their hug. Two Time looks back at the tentacle, which is now slowly disappearing into the ground. “Do you know what that… thing was..?” They point at the spot where the tentacle just disappeared. “Was it Azure’s? I saw him enter with those, I think they were called twisteds? Have you seen him?” Elliot thinks for a moment. “I think I did see him. He was walking around the map, collecting that ichor stuff, I think it was. Or he might’ve been looking for you, not so sure. After he got quite a bit from the ichor, I saw him return into the fake elevator. And I’m pretty sure that tentacle was from twisted Sprout. He chased me for a bit before he started chasing Gourdy, the pumpkin toon. He’s the one who spawns the tentacles.” Two Time sighs in relief. There’s still a slight chance Azure will talk with them. Atleast that’s what they’re telling themselves. Elliot grabs Two Time’s hand and starts walking. “I’m bringing you to meet the others.” But before Elliot could bring them to where the rest of the team was, panic mode started and the elevator opened. They both flinch. “What in the Spawn is this?” Two Time murmurs. “I think this is what happens once all the machines are complete. Cmon, we have to get to the elevator quickly, before the timer runs out!” They both start running towards the elevator, as the time ticks down by the second.
They barely make it into the elevator, dodging the twisteds who were “camping” it. “Oh, another human I see.. explains why I saw an extra heart pop up on the map. I couldn’t lay my finger on it. Is this the one you told me about, Shelly?” Two Time looks up to see a strawberry talking at them, pretty sure their name was Sprout. “Yup! Everyone, this is Two Time. Welcome them to the team!” Shelly introduces the rest of the team to Two Time. “ANOTHER HUMAN??? THIS IS SO EXCITING!!!!!!!!! WANT SOME CANDY??” Yatta grabs a ton of candy out of… uh… and hands it to Two Time. They decline politely, saying that they’re not hungry. Elliot on the other hand grabs a chocolate bar and eats it on the spot. “You know,” he says while chewing on a piece of chocolate, “you two look like two of those twisteds on the past floor. Care to maybe explain?” He points at Yatta and Sprout. Before Yatta could say something, Sprout coveres her mouth. “I’ll tell you once you two tell us why you’re here, and how you even got here in the first place.” Two Time and Elliot look at eachother for a moment. They explain that they come from a place called Forsaken, that they were following Azure, the other human that they saw, who got struck by a some sort of magical beam. “We went in to follow him and landed here, well me in the elevator together with you guys, them on the floor. Not sure where Azure spawned. I’m not sure how we can return home though..” Sprout looks at them and sighs. “So you see, every toon here in Gardenview has an identical twin, except one of them is the twisted. One of us will be a regular toon, and the other will be the twisted. Once the regular toon dies in a run, the twisted version of them will become the regular, and the regular the twisted version. I’m.. not sure what would happen if one of you two would end up dying here, so be careful.” He turns to Two Time. “I see you’ve lost a heart. I could heal you next floor, except if you have a healing item on you, perchance. That would be better.” Two Time remembers the health kit they picked up, and uses it, just in time before they arrive at the next floor.
The next floor, floor 20, wasn’t that interesting, minus the fact they had twisted Gourdy. “So that’s your twisted form?” Elliot asks Gourdy while they’re feeding twisted Gourdy a speed candy. Gourdy nods enthusiastically. “You know, you look quite young compared to the rest, how old are you, if I may ask?” “I’m 10 years old!” Gourdy responds. “I’m the Halloween main character on Gardenview! Trick or treat? Hehehe…!” “Hmm, I’d like a treat please!” Gourdy uses his ability, which makes Elliot gain a 20% stamina boost. “Hey, this would be really useful back where I’m from! I’m really bad with my stamina management every now and then… mainly because I use a lot of it to try and get to the other survivors faster, so I can heal them with my pizzas. I always get targetted then..” Elliot shrugs. “Woooow, you can give pizzas to heal people? You’re just like Sprout and Cosmo! They can heal their teammates using cupcakes and cookies! Do you have a pizza on you right now? I’ve always wanted to try one!” Elliot grabs a warm slice of pizza out of his pocket, and hands it to Gourdy. Twisted Gourdy is looking at it as if they want a piece too. Gourdy notices it and shares his slice with his twisted version. Two Time, who was supposed to do a machine near them, had listened to their entire conversation. They couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous, and they don’t even understand why they have this feeling. You’ve come here in order to get Azure back. You don’t like him like that. He’s just a friend. After a bit, they return to their senses and finish the machine. Panic mode started.
“You’re not going to leave me… right?”
“Oh no… I forgot to tell you. When panic mode starts, twisted me becomes very fast and very scary! Pizza boy, we have to run.” Twisted Gourdy locks eyes on Elliot and Gourdy. Gourdy grabs Elliot’s hand and they start running towards real elevator. Two Time and twisted Gourdy following them quickly. “My apologies! I didn’t know that machine was the final one to be cleared!” Two Time says to them while catching up. “Less talking, more running. Hurry, he’s catching up!” With his low stamina, Gourdy runs out quickly. “It’s okay guys.. go further without me! I’ll keep away twisted Gourdy from the elevator! I loved your pizza. Please bring more if you come back!” Before Elliot could realise what was going on, Gourdy let go of his hand, using his final bits of stamina to lead twisted Gourdy away from them. “KID, NO! COME BACK!”
10 seconds until elevator closes!
“Elliot, there’s no time. We have to make it to the elevator! We don’t know what might happen to us. I’m not sure if the Spawn can reach us here.”
5… 4… 3… 2… 1… elevator closing…
“See!! I told you they were gonna make it! Candy! CANDY FOR ALL!” Two Time and Elliot are laying faced down on the elevator floor. They jumped in last second, barely making it before the doors closed. “Oh my god..” says Shelly. “Are you two alright? And where’s Gourdy?” Elliot starts sobbing. “He… he sacrificed himself so we could make it to the elevator… he didn’t make it..” Everyone reacts in shock. Pebble starts making slight whining noises. “I-it’s alright..! Atleast we still have eachother, right?” Shelly helps Two Time off the floor, Sprout helps Elliot. “You know you two should really stop getting in at the last second. You don’t want to risk getting stuck on a floor.” Sprout tells them. “AhahahaAAHAHAHAHH you really don’t want to.” Everyone stares at Yatta. Shelly reassures this is normal for Yatta, and they shouldn’t worry much about it. Elliot mentions Two Time is also slightly insane, so that he can handle it, to which they respond that they’re completely fine and Elliot is talking nonsense, to which Elliot rolls his eyes.
Floor 21 wasn’t much special either. Only pebble got hit once during gathering, but Sprout healed them. Even without Gourdy, the team did the machines quite fast, and this time Two Time and Elliot arrived at the elevator with a lot of time to spare. “Floor 22! As in, two two’s? As in, as in, two times two? As in two time? Hey! That’s your name! That’s so cool!!!!!!! I wish my name sounded like a number. I would be the number 8! Cause it’s infinite! Infinite, more like, infinite candy! HERE, CATCH!” Yatta throws 2 jawbreakers at Two Time. They don’t catch them, so they drop on the floor infront of them. They look down at the two jawbreakers, and picks them both up. Then turns their gaze to Yatta. “You really seem like you’ve lost your way in this world. I feel like you’d feel delighted and free once you’ll embrace the Spawn. You should really-” “Two Time,” Elliot interrupts them. “Can you try to stop forcing your religion on everyone we meet every second of the day. It gets to a point, you know?” Two Time murmurs something like “I’m just trying to help” and looks down to their shoes. Elliot apologises for their behaviour. Yatta said she didn’t mind, and throws a third jawbreaker at Elliot, who do catches it.
Floor 22 arrives. “That sounds like an ichor leak.” Shelly notices. “On the bright side, we won’t have a blackout this floor, so that’s good.” The doors open and, indeed, there’s puddles of ichor on the floor. “Just be careful to not step in them, they make you slow by making you nearly stuck and mess up your skillchecks.” Sprout explains. The team starts to look for machines, while Pebble goes to gather up the twisteds. After about 2 machines are done, pebble runs towards the team. He looks scared. “Aww Pebble, buddy, what’s wrong? Is it twisted Goob again?” “Arf… Bworf… grr… *sniffs*” (I can’t find a singular twisted. It’s so weird. I also can’t sniff up any capsules. It’s like they’re not on this floor, but I’m certain we aren’t alone aswell. I’ve also noticed the puddles of ichor look… off). Pebble was right. The team searched the entire map, but not a singular research capsule was found. The only items they found on the floor were Yatta’s candy, which is also odd. They gather around a puddle of ichor. It doesn’t look like regular ichor at all, it’s like something is fused with it. Something.. purplish. It’s not just ichor on the floor, it’s also smeared on the walls. In certain puddles there lay flowers. “That’s weird, I’ve never seen such a flower before.” Shelly says, as picking one up out of a puddle. Elliot goes to stand next to Shelly to take a closer look, and immediately realises what flower it is. “That’s not just a regular flower Shelly, be careful. That’s a Nightshade. They’re highly poisonous. Come to think about it, those are Azure’s favourites. Hey Timey, do you think this is his doings?” No response. “Timey? Two Time?” Elliot looks behind him. Two Time is nowhere to be found, atleast nowhere near. “Guys.. has anyone seen where Two Time has gone?” Everyone shakes their heads, now too wondering where they have gone. “I surely hope this isn’t Azure’s doing.. we have to find Two Time, before it’s too late.” The group splits up: Yatta and Shelly go together, Pebble and Sprout go together and Elliot goes alone.
Unlike the others, Two Time immediately felt Azure’s presence. The Nightshades, the purple in the puddles and the amount of loose ichor connected with him collecting a bunch of ichor from the previous floors. The Nightshades and puddles obviously were forming a route to somewhere. They didn’t follow the rest, they followed their instincts. Silently they walk through the map, with their dagger in their hands, repeating their plan to themselves non stop. Okay so, you’re going to tell him you feel guilty. You will explain that you regret offering him to the Spawn, and that he’s worth way more than it. He’s probably just going to call you insane, and say stuff as that he won’t believe you. That’s when you’ll grab your dagger- and stab yourself. To show him your guilt, and how much you’d give for him. I shall offer myself to the Spawn, so we can live a happier life together, and he will forgive me. It’s the right thing to do. For him, for the Spawn and- “TWO TIIIIMEEEEEEE!! WHERE ARE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Elliot appears from around the corner. Due to being sunken in thoughts, Two Time hadn’t moved as much as they hoped. Now Elliot has caught up on them. “Timey.. you know it’s not safe here to wander off. We don’t know what’s going on. Pebble said he couldn’t find a singular twisted. You got me real worried there, you know. These puddles, the Nightshades, don’t you think this is Azure’s doing? I thought he captured you, you don’t know how glad I am to see you here.” Elliot pulls them into a tight hug. Two Time doesn’t know how to respond to this. It feels… safe and warm. As if they could stand like this for hours, hoping Elliot wouldn’t release them.
“Why do you care so much about me?” Elliot, surprised by Two Time’s question, thinks for a moment, then answers. “You know, I’ve always cared for you a little more than anyone else in the cabin. Something of you speaks to me, I’m not sure what. Ever since I’ve met you at that cabin, when you tried to introduce me to your religion. I’ve tried helping you with it, and I couldn’t help but fall for you over time. You’re genuinely a fun person to hang around with, Two Time, and I’m so scared of losing you to whatever we’re going through right now, or whatever Azure does on a daily base at this point. You know, you can try to forget about him. I’m open to, be your person, as long as you don’t sacrifice me, of course.” Elliot pulls out of the hug and looks down at their face. Two Time, who’s surprised by the sudden confession, looks up in confusion, slightly flustered. They notice Elliot has grabbed onto their hands. “Timey, I- I love you.. I’ve always done. I don’t care that you have your weird quircks, random Spawn sessions and a non existant sleep schedule- nothing we can’t fix together.” Two Time is really just trying to process what Elliot just told them. He? Loves them? Even though they’re chasing Azure, and ready to sacrifice themselves for him? Elliot is trying to read their face, hoping they didn’t say anything weird or offensive. “Please just- just say something… you’re making me nervous..” Elliot looks down out of embarrassment.
Two Time notices, and realises what’s going on. Why are they chasing someone who doesn’t want to talk to them, while they have someone who loves them right infront of them? The thought of them planning to end it for someone who’s done with them, finally reaches their mind, which makes them think about it twice. Seeing the picture of Elliot finding their lifeless body- they haven’t thought about that part. Feeling finally down to earth, and disconnected to the Spawn, they start to tear up. Elliot notices. “Whuh- uh.. did I.. say something wrong…? You can tell me, I can handle it.” Before Elliot could form another sentence, Two Time rushes into a hug, completely surprising Elliot. They don’t say anything. Their tail wags, and their headwings are tickling Elliot’s nose. They haven’t felt anything like this ever since before they sacrificed Azure. They forgot how nice it felt, to have a person. Elliot fully gives in to the hug. He can feel their heart beat faster. They smell their hair, it smells exactly like the lavender shampoo they gave them for their birthday. After just staying like that for a while, Two Time finally dares to speak. “Elliot. I’m so sorry for the way I’ve treated you. I’ve been so obsessed with the Spawn, with Azure, to not notice that you’ve always been there for me. We can be together, I’ll try getting over Azure- for you. I’ll try to change my ways. Really, I promise. I love you too…” These words really surprise Elliot, they flatter him. “Did you- just speak like a normal person..?” Two Time doesn’t answer. Instead, they give Elliot a kiss on his cheek. Elliot starts to blush like crazy, barely handling Two Time’s actions. Two Time looks Elliot right in the eyes. Their faces are both red. Elliot is rethinking all his life choices, and how they landed here. Should I do it-? It’s the perfect moment… Without a second thought, Elliot kisses Two Time on the lips. Two Time gives in to the situation immediately. It’s as if a bomb of butterflies just exploded in their stomach. They hold on for about 15 seconds, both losing their minds. “Eugh.. get a room.” A way too familiar voice breaks their moment- someone who they would rather not see right now. It was Azure.
Elliot and Two Time release eachother and look up at where the voice came from. Azure was standing on top of one of the bookshelves on the map, although he doesn’t look like his previous self that much anymore. It looks like he has been taken over by the ichor comepletely. It’s dripping off his clothes, his tentacles, his hat, basically everything. “What is this that I walked into? I thought you were still into me, Two Time. Not this.. pizza delivery guy! You know… I’m sorry for my actions… why don’t you leave that guy and come back with me, my Nightshade? Just like the good old times.” Something in his voice toward Two Time sounds manipulative, and they sense a bit of jealousy too. Elliot notices this too and goes to stand between Two Time and Azure. Two Time hides behind Elliot, scared of what might happen. “Let them love who they want Azure. You’ve had your chance to get them back, but rejected them. Don’t expect them to come begging at your feet again.” Azure glances at Elliot menacingly. “And how are you going to stop me from getting them back, pipsqueak? Look at you, and look at me. The ichor of this place has granted me a lot of strength. Oh, and don’t think your little buddies will save you either.” Four tentacles appear from Azure’s back. Inside of each tentacle is a toon: Yatta, Sprout, Shelly and Pebble. Their mouths are shut by the ichor. Two Time and Elliot watch in disbelief as the tentacles disappear in his back again. Azure chuckles. “I hope you put up a good fight.” Tentacles appear from the ichor stained spots on the wall. Elliot grabs Two Time’s hand and they run away as fast as possible. “Run all you want,” Azure says to them. “Just remember. You can run but you can’t hide..!”
Elliot and Two Time hide in a corner of the map. “We need a plan.” Elliot whispers. “I don’t think we can handle him on ourselves, I feel like we need those toons. But how do we get Azure to release them?” Two Time thinks for a bit. They remember the two jawbreakers Yatta gave them, and pulls them out of their pockets. “Yatta goes insane on candy. You’ve seen how she was in the elevator and between floors. Perhaps we could lure her out with the scent of candy.” Two Time reaches into Elliot’s pockets and takes out his jawbreaker that he stored, together with a chocolate bar and a skillcheck candy. “So you’re saying we should throw the candies at Azure, and maybe she’ll come out?” Two Time nods. “It’s worth a try, cmon, let’s go.”
They slowly make their way over to where they lastly saw Azure, and there he was, chilling as if he’d expected them. “See, I knew you guys would come back for a battle… uh..” Azure notices only Elliot has returned, with a bunch of unwrapped candy in his hands. “You. Where’s Two Time? And what’s with the candy? This better be a joke or an apology, otherwise I’d have to crush you and search for my Nightshade myself.” While Azure was talking to Elliot, Two Time secretly snuck up behind Azure, without him noticing. Silently they pull out their dagger from their belt. In a split second, that dagger is inside Azure’s back, stunning him and forcing the a lot of tentacles to come out as self defence, including the four holding the toons. Elliot grabs his opportunity as Two Time is dodging the tentacles and making their was back to Elliot. “Hey Yatta! Look what I got here! A whole bunch of candy!” Yatta looks at the unwrapped candy in Elliot’s hands and starts to tweak. With a snap, Yatta breaks free from Azure’s tentacle, rushes her way over to Elliot and eats all the candy in only a few seconds. “You.” Azure glances at Two Time, who is shakingly holding onto Elliot’s arm for life. Elliot whispers them something, to which Two Time nods, and Elliot and Yatta run off, leaving them behind. “Aw… are your friends scared to help you now? Good. I’ll deal with you myself. Oh, and I thought we could’ve been such a cute couple again… but I guess not.” Two Time looks Azure directly in the eyes. “Elliot isn’t just my friend, he’s a blessing gifted to me by the Spawn, and I was, oh, so blinded by guilt to see it. He’s sweet, funny, and I am certain he shall treat me better than you even have.” Drawing their dagger, the fight is on.
Meanwhile with Elliot and Yatta, they moved to a place that was filled with machines. Yatta is working on machines while Elliot is asking her a bunch of questions. “Do you know how we could turn Azure back to normal? It seems he has been profiting off the ichor’s strenght. This is your universe, you must know how, right?” Yatta starts working on a new machine. “Your tentacle buddy doesn’t look corrupted by the ichor. He still has a mind of his own, unlike our twisteds. He doesn’t look allat nice though. I feel like, since he’s not a twisted, he- OOOOO A BOX OF CHOCOLATES!” A box of chocolates pops out of Yatta as she finishes the fourth machine. She picks it up, together with the extraction speed candy that popped out and starts moving towards the fifth machine. Elliot follows her, asking what she think might happen to Azure. “Oh yeah, I feel like since he’s not a twisted, that when panic mode ends and the elevator closes, he will actually become consumed with ichor and die. For us toons, that means our twisted version becomes normal again, but for you humans.. I fear the worst.” Elliot stares at Yatta in disbelief as she finishes the fifth machine while whistling. Listening to her words, it means that Azure has to die in order for this universe to be safe from his wrath. “You go continue working on those machines… I’ll go check up on Two Time. Yatta waves him goodbye as he hurries his way over to where Two Time and Azure are.
(I am way too lazy to insert a fighting scene here, think of one yourself, just make sure it’s between Azure and Two Time and Two Time is on the losing end.)
Elliot returns to the so called battlefield, just to see Two Time laying on the ground, completely defeated. He hurries his way over to them and throws them a pizza. “Thanks…” Two Time mumbles while Elliot helps them get up. “Are you ready to help your new partner now, pizzaboy?” As Azure is spawning multiple tentacles in order to try and take them down, Elliot explains to Two Time that the only way to get Azure to stop is by making sure he doesn’t reach the elevator before panic mode ends, and by that way he will die and wouldn’t bother them again. Two Time makes their way over to Azure’s back and backstab them again, which gives them a bit of time to think, due to Azure not attacking. Then they remember the comment Sprout made over the ichor leaks on the floor. They make you slow by making you nearly stuck. If they gather up enough ichor by Azure’s feet, he might not be able to move during panic mode and not make it. They explain their plan to Elliot, and go to gather dripping ichor from all of Azure’s attacks. “Are you sure you’re okay with this Timey..? I know how much you care for Azure.” Two Time thinks for a split second before saying “I’d rather have a fresh start with you than be stuck in the past. It’s the best for everyone here.” “Are you two love birds done chatting yet. You two do realise we’re supposed to be fighting right now?” Azure launches a tentacle right at Elliot, who dodges it like a pro. While Azure is focussed on Elliot, Two Time gathers up ichor bit by bit and places it down at Azure’s feet, making him more stuck bit by bit. There’s one more machine left, pretty sure Yatta is working on it right now. Before they realise it, panic mode has started.
Two Time and Elliot struggle to find their way out of the fight arena with Azure, but manage to create distance at 20 seconds left. “Ohhh no.. you’re not leaving me… if you really think you could run to the elevator and get away without me- Wh- why can’t I move..?” Azure looks down at his feet, just to notice they’re completely fused with ichor. He’s completely stuck. “I’m sorry Azure. I’m really sorry Azure. But this is better for all of us.” Two Time gives him one last glance before running with Elliot. “Oh no you don’t. If I’m going down, you’re going down with me.” Azure makes a movement, causing one last tentacle to come out of his back. It moves in rapid speed towards Two Time, who doesn’t notice it. They shout out a scream, what makes Elliot turn around to see that Two Time has been captured by Azure.
Elliot desperately runs back towards Two Time, trying to release them from Azure’s grip, but fails. He’s holding on too tight. “Elliot it’s- it’s okay. Go further without me. I shall be fine..! I got the Spawn who will take great care of me in the afterlife, perhaps, I shall be granted my second life!” Tears roll of over both their cheeks. “You dumbass… the Spawn isn’t real.. it has always been the Spectre granting you your second life. We’re not in the cabin or in a round. You will die… I don’t think I can live without you Timey…” Elevator leaves in 10 seconds. Azure is looking at them with pity in his eyes. Doesn’t look like he’s letting them go, but it also doesn’t look like he’s going to capture Elliot. “Elliot.. just go.. you-” “No.” Elliot cuts them off. “If you’re dying, I’m dying with you. There’s no way that I’m going back to that forsaken place without you, just to experience every round over and over, but this time without your presence. I don’t want to do that.” He pulls Two Time into one final kiss, before the sound of a closing elevator sounds.
Two Time wakes up slowly. Their entire body hurts, they don’t know why. Slowly opening their eyes they look up at the ceiling of their room in the cabin. They’re laying on the ground, next to their bed. They think they fell off while sleeping, must be why their body hurts. They remember the whole Gardenview experience. Was it all just a dream? It must’ve been, otherwise they would’ve been dead by now. They stand up and slowly make their way over to the bathroom. But when they look in the mirror, they notice something unusual. Suddenly, the shock hits them. Everything comes together, on a way they wish wasn’t real. Staring at themselves- looking at the wings and halo they’ve gained. They had entered their second life, bringing them back at the cabin.
They return to their bed and start stressing hardcore. Does this mean Elliot and Azure are dead…? It can’t be.. no.. it can’t be. The ritual I placed this morning, the two backstabs I landed on Azure during our fight. It’s all coming together now. How could I have been this stupid… They break down comepletly on their bed. Because of them, not only Azure died twice, but they now also lost Elliot. Their Elliot. In desperation they rush out of their room to check Elliot’s. Nobody is there. Then Azure’s. Nobody is there. They ask every survivor and even killer if they have seen the two of them, but nobody has. Comepletly broken, they return to their room, and grab their dagger. They stab themselves with it over and over, just to remember they can’t die between these forsaken walls. Only they have returned, forever without their loved ones. While in their room, they look at their altar for the Spawn, and immediately start praying. “Oh dear Spawn, forgive my intrusion. I shall change my ways to follow your lead. I got nothing to live for, only you. It won’t matter what you want me to do, I shall follow and completely commit.”
After that day, nobody has ever seen them leave their room again, only when they’re forced to play rounds. They’ve changed heavily. Instead of constantly being around the killer, they now are only around to stab once or twice, then run off to hide again. Nobody has asked what had happened that day. Everyone wonders where Elliot and Azure may have gone, but they all assume they managed to figure out a way to escape, so don’t bother asking Two Time about it. On the other side, Two Time has decided to completely commit to the Spawn, praying in their room every second of the day, not searching contact with anyone. And when someone tries to talk to them, they just flinch and run off without answering. Slowly losing their last bits of sanity, they go comepletly insane, experiencing round after round after round after round, praying Elliot and Azure are having a better time then them.