Work Text:
Shedletsky's entire body was shuddering on the brink of shutdown. He wasn't so much as limping as falling and barely stopping himself over and over again. Every breath he took rattled through his torso and sounded like a piece of cardboard being torn.
A high pitched whine sounded behind him, making him wince, followed by a wet crunch. The horrible thumping in his chest became an all consuming throb, growing louder than both his own irregular footsteps and the steady pounding of 1x1x1x1's nearly right behind him. Shedletsky willed his legs to move faster, to be able to run as swiftly as he used to across the Heights, but it was no good.
One hit from a Daemonshank and he would be gone. Did it really matter that much anyway? Soon enough he would be back here, facing the worst mistake he'd ever made over and over again.
His heart was beating so loudly it was hard to hear his own thoughts, but out of the corner of his eye he saw the green and black sword swinging back, aiming straight for his chest. He clenched his teeth and readied himself for the final blow...
...and suddenly his surroundings burst into bright blue light, enveloping him in warmth.
"SHEDLETSKY!" a voice screamed over his heartbeat. "RUN FOR IT!"
The spawn protection shield shattered, but it had done its job. As Guest rammed himself into 1x, Shedletsky's legs steadied and he sprinted towards Dusek, who was frantically beckoning him over. The pounding in his chest died down, replaced by the beating of his feet and the whistling of the wind in his sweat-matted hair.
Dusek led him to the other side of the battlefield, leading him down a ramp into the dark damp underground. Unsettlingly this map always smelt like stale blood, and it was stronger in the tunnels that ran underneath like veins under skin. Shedletsky heard the bubbling and whirring of the dispenser before he saw it tucked into a corner.
"My friend, come close to the healing spray, you'll live to fight again today."
"Where's Builderman?" he said huskily. The dispenser had already began closing up some of the small scratches on his arms.
Dusek pointed upwards. Far above them, Shedletsky could see the ghostly green highlight of a sentry, surrounded by a couple of tripwires.
As if he could read his mind, Dusek said softly, "You must stay away from the danger, dear friend. On your health, victory does depend."
Shedletsky sighed, making a sound that was more like a grunt. Dusek knew him too well. There was no way he was going to let him leave until he was back to a decent amount of health, unless if 1x literally burst into the tunnel or killed everyone else. He leaned back against the dispenser, still looking up at the sentry.
For a long moment, there was no sound apart from the dispenser. Shedletsky watched the sentry as if he could stare through the dark earth and see Builderman squatting beside it if he just looked hard enough. Then he looked down at his health tracker, watching as Guest tanked yet another blow, bringing him down to just under half of his health.
The small grazes and cuts on his arms and legs were all healed now, replaced by smooth yellow skin as if they were never there in the first place. The mist was working on the deeper wounds now. Shedletsky stared at the largest wound on his right arm, his sword arm, as it gradually became less red and more shallow.
He didn't deserve to be here. He didn't deserve Dusek telling him everyone needed him, he didn't deserve the way he knew Builderman would smile at him later, saying "glad to see ya patched up!", and he certainly didn't deserve Guest going toe to toe with the most dangerous entity in ROBLOX for him. The guy looked up to Shedletsky so much - he wouldn't get flustered over him like Elliot or Veeronica would, but whenever something needed to be decided, he would always ask him, and whenever there was a spare medkit he'd always give it to him even though he knew damn well that he had two chicken legs.
No, he didn't deserve any of their adoration, not when he was the reason why they were all in danger. He couldn't even make up for it a little and fight 1x. The heartbeat that consumed him every time the two met made it nigh impossible to hit a sword swing on him. Luckily none of them seemed to have caught on that he'd only ever managed to stun 1x a couple of times.
Shedletsky squeezed his eyes shut, unable to bear looking up at the sentry, looking down at the health tracker, looking left at the dispenser or looking right at Dusek, who seemed just as lost in thought as he was. Despite himself, he opened his eyes and looked at Guest's name on the tracker. His health seemed stable now, firmly sitting at 32%. He glanced at his own name - 64% and rising.
Guest saw him as a role model, but ironically it was probably Shedletsky who could learn something from Guest. This place, with the dead soldiers scattered everywhere, the bombed out concrete and the smell of death soaked into the sand, had been the stage for the Spectre's twisted show over a hundred times. And yet Shedletsky had never seen it bother Guest. No matter what, he was at the front line dealing punches and parries, ready to take hits for the others to the very end. Back there Shedletsky had nearly given up. If he knew about how Shedletsky's mouth ran dry just hearing the name 1x1x1x1, he'd be disgusted.
"Shedletsky... some things cannot be done. To aid others while you are spent, is one."
Shedletsky followed Dusek's gaze and realised that his fists were clenched. He opened them to see fingernail marks on his palms.
"... they're up there fighting me," he whispered hoarsely. "They're up there dying at my hands and I can't do anything about it."
Dusek seemed to wince a little. "Please, do not speak of it this way. You and it have changed much since that fateful day."
"It doesn't matter though, does it? Underneath it all, we're the same." Far in the distance, people were calling to each other. Someone screamed. Then they fell silent as the sound of rattling chains rang out. Shedletsky's head jerked downwards, quickly scanning the health tracker, breathing hard when he was assured that no one had died.
"Did I ever tell you what happens to me every time I go near him, why I can't land a single hit on him? He came from my mind, my - foolishness -" he nearly spat with disgust "-my heart, Dusek. I can't just sit here and let him-"
He stopped himself abruptly. His eyes had started to sting. Sitting down beside the dispenser, he buried his head in his hands. Damn it, Dusek hadn't saved him from 1x just to see him die from shame, but it had been too long since he'd really talked about 1x with someone. Brighteyes had just wanted to forget the whole Telamon thing ever happened, Builderman always seemed so tired and pained and in their last years in ROBLOX he and Dusek had been worked nearly to the bone trying to combat growing exploiter activity and the rise of 1x. And of course, recently they'd had more pressing things on their minds.
Their last years in ROBLOX. Shedletsky thought back to the last time the three of them had really been happy together, a memory that somehow seemed longer ago than when they'd created ROBLOX together. They'd flown to the top of the ROBLOX HQ skyscraper, overlooking the city, and stayed up until dawn, enjoying the stars and some fresh cold Bloxys.
But of course, here, Bloxys were stale and warm and the only comfort they brought was a speed boost. Here, the starless night went on forever and the world they'd given everything for was millions of studs away. Here Shedletsky couldn't even jump, let alone fly.
"I don't know how you and Builder can take it," he said. "I mean, back then we could've levelled this place to the ground in a blink of an eye!" He laughed brokenly. "And now we're completely helpless."
Dusek stared at him for what felt like hours, his glowing eyes impossible to read. Then he sighed, and - to Shedletsky's surprise - stopped floating, landing gently on the dark earth. He sat down beside him, carefully propping his staff up against the dispenser.
"Listen to me, from beginning to end; from a heart to a heart, from your dearest friend. The loss of our potency is a great sadness, but let me share how he and I find ourselves some gladness." Dusek gestured towards the sentry. "The killers can't create, only steal and destroy, so even as they play their games and treat their powers like toys, they will never have what we have had although we've lost our power. The ability to stand up and fight at the eleventh hour," Dusek's eyes shone a little brighter in the darkness, "the camaraderie, the faith, imagination: the true epic powers behind Robloxia's creation. My friend, I tell you, come what may, no evil can take those treasures away," he finished, dipping his head with dignity.
Shedletsky burst out laughing.
"What- dear friend, control your mirth!" Dusek said with more than a touch of indignation in his voice while Shedletsky doubled over, his whole body shaking. "I fail to see this frivolity as what my speech is worth."
"I'm-" Shedletsky coughed with his freshly healed lungs. "I'm sorry, Dusek, but I just realised you haven't given me a big cheesy life advice speech in literal years. Damn, I've missed that so much!" A laugh bubbled up out of his chest again. "I've missed you so much. Wait, that doesn't make any sense, you've been dealing with my bullshit for the last few millenia - whatever, you get what I mean."
"Hmmph," Dusek sniffed, but in that tone of mock anger he used when he thought Shedletsky was being absolutely hilarious but didn't want to encourage him. "Even in hellfire you won't take me seriously. I take it you're healed since you laugh so deliriously?"
The sentry above them burst into life. As the two looked up at it in shock, one of the tripwires beside it fell away, revealing 1x's position. Shedletsky quickly stood up as 1x swung at someone they couldn't see.
"Ready to rejoin the battle, my friend?" Dusek had regained his floating position behind him.
Shedletsky checked the health tracker again. Obviously his own health was full but he noticed with a grin that Guest was also close to full health. Someone must have gotten him a medkit.
The two sprinted up the ramp, towards the dark hellish sky and the position of the now destroyed sentry.
"Together, we'll fight on 'til the end!"