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This was not how Noli normally awoke.
Usually, he found himself waking somewhere in the cabin the killers had been gifted all the way back on Halloween. Most of the time it was in his room, but on occasion it had been on the couch, or in C00lKidd’s room if the child had had a bad dream and wanted someone in the room with him.
Since Doombringer showed up, Noli had been relegated to sleeping in 1x1x1x1’s room, because they demanded that they “wanted to keep an eye on [him]” after he’d gotten injured fighting Doom when they all drove him out of the cabin. He thought it was a sweet way for 1x to show they cared.
But instead of any of those places, he awoke sitting upright in a quite comfy chair, rapidly pulling his head up from the table where it was placed and glancing around. It was…Bloodfell Manor. Not the edited version of it that was created as a map by The Spectre for the rounds, but the actual manor. Which probably meant a certain someone was nearby.
“Ah, good morning.”
There he was.
“My apologies for your…temporary sleeping arrangement,” Nosferatu was approaching from the doorway, a tray with a fancy tea set in his hands, “I just wish to speak to you. Do you enjoy Earl Grey? Something to perk you up in the morning?”
He set the tray on the table, pouring a cup for Noli without an answer before he poured a cup for himself as he sat down.
“Do feel free to treat yourself to the scones as well. Home-made, fresh!”
Noli looked at the arrangement with…not contempt, but expectation. There was no way this was supposed to be just a…friendly meeting.
Had they all been found out?
“I 7h0ugh7 v4mpir35 c0u1d 0n1y drink b100d,” Noli muttered, but took a sip of the tea. He was smart enough to realize the ball wasn’t in his court right now, and he did enjoy some good tea every now and then.
“Ah, old tales,” Nos laughed, waving a hand and taking a sip of his own cup, “We do have to sustain ourselves on it, yes, but we’re quite free to eat and drink whatever we please.”
“...50 wh47’5 7h3 5ubj3c7 0f 0ur m337ing, hm?” Noli squinted the eye of his mask, hoping it would show the suspicion and dislike he felt for the one in front of him, “Did y0ur hu5b4nd 537 y0u up 70 7hi5 0r 50m37hing?”
Nos blinked, and then let out a laugh, like Noli had just recounted a particularly funny story or told a good joke. For once, Noli didn’t…like someone laughing when he spoke. It was soft and polite, but it just made him feel…trapped.
“I suppose!” Nos covered his mouth with a hand as he settled from his laughter, then taking another sip from his tea, “but it would be much more proper and professional to present myself as an agent of The Spectre rather than its partner for our current meeting, so please do approach it in a similarly professional manner.”
“...41righ7 7h3n, 4g3n7 0f T̵̻͂ḫ̷̑e̴͉͛ ̸̜͛S̶̭̾p̵̉͜é̶̠c̷̝̊t̶͕̓r̷̮̈́e̶͍͘,” Noli huffed, “Wh47’5 y0ur 4ng13?”
“...You see, Chaos–may I call you that?” Nos adjusted his collar, “This is a professional meeting after all, so I feel like I should properly address you.”
“...Pr3f3r3d, in 411 h0n357y.”
“Perfect!” Nos made some sort of strange sharp nearly squeak before he cleared his throat, “You see, Chaos, recently your rounds haven’t been as…exciting as they usually are. It’s truly been quite the disappointment, because we usually both enjoy your rounds, but they’ve been…lacking. Where exactly is the flair?”
Noli clenched his teeth and tried to not let his fear show.
“I’m 1377ing 7h3m 537713. 5377ing up 4 big 5h0w, y0u kn0w?”
Nos nodded with a polite closed-mouth laugh.
“Mhmm, I see,” his eyes settled on Noli, “But you see…it’s bored. Terribly so, and when it’s unhappy, I’m unhappy. You must understand, correct? After all, you have someone you love hopelessly as well.”
“4r3 y0u 7hr3473ning h3r?” Noli hissed.
Nos blinked and drew back with an almost bewildered look, “My my, now why would I do that? 1x is quite the showman–”
“5h0ww0m4n,” Noli corrected.
“–Showwoman, yes,” Nos nodded, “We have no need to threaten them, I was just merely saying you adore them just as much as I adore my dearest Spectre. I simply wish for you to…step up your game. Give us a real violent show of a round.”
Noli…was not going to stand this bloodsucker ordering him around.
“4nd if I d0n’7?”
Nos’ polite smile faded.
“...Chaos…Noli…Janus.”
A pit was rapidly forming in Noli’s stomach.
“Do you know the tale of Lotus Eaters? Those who lived on a far-away remote island, eating to their hearts’ desire until they found themselves trapped.”
He rapped his claws on the table, pausing for a moment, as if to let the weight of his words settle.
“You, my friend, are exactly that. You found yourself here and you ate it all up. Ate to satisfy your pride, to quench your envy, to find someone new to lust after considering the way your previous relationships crashed.”
“Y0u kn0w n07hing 4b0u7 my pr3vi0u5 r3147i0n5hip5 3nd3d,” Noli suddenly hissed.
“Oh, Amarah told us plenty before our partnership with him fell through,” Nos looked simply…unamused, even as Noli reacted in clear shock to the name-drop, “But he’s not important here, Lotus-Eater. What’s important is you no longer hold the reins. You are in no position to deny a direct order.”
“D0 y0u 7hink I’m 5c4r3d 0f y0u?” Noli stood up, ignoring how Nos nonchalantly took another sip of his tea.
“Me? No, I’m well aware you aren’t scared of me. I’m aware I’m frail, and truthfully my strongest trait is my devotion. So I know you’re far from scared of me.”
Noli stumbled back as Nos’ shadow stretched across the ground and up the wall, and at once he realized in terror that that wasn’t Nos’ shadow.
“You are, however, petrified of it.”
Nos set down his cup as Noli began looking for some way out of this, Void Star buzzing at a rapid rate in absolute horror.
“It’s quite alright if you won’t put on a show on your own. We know how to pull your strings, Lotus-Eater.”
And with that, darkness engulfed him.
Builderman was setting up at the start of yet another round, humming to himself. Since Doombringer appeared, nothing had been particularly…strange. It was just normal rounds, now with a new, very annoying killer to deal with. Doom had certainly shown everyone that he was pissed at the way he was treated during his first round, with the only person frequently left alive against him being Taph, who he just…seemingly refused to kill.
But that was something to think about later. Builder wasn’t sure who the killer was currently, but he wasn’t about to put off doing his set up just to find out. As he confirmed that his dispenser was in a good spot, he suddenly heard the loud noise of an explosion, and the equally loud noise of a certain gambler panicking like a madman.
Builder turned just in time to see Chance sprint to the dispenser, Two Time unceremoniously slung over his shoulder like a sack of flour. Both of them were already pretty injured, and very strangely and notably, there were claw marks across both their bodies and through their clothing, like something had gone absolutely feral on them.
“...I was gonna say what that explosion sounded like,” Builder raised an eyebrow, “But I don’t think he’d end up maulin’ y’all like some rabid dog.”
“Something is wrong,” Two Time’s breath was panicked as they scrambled out of Chance’s hold, leaning on the dispenser, “Something is very, very wrong with him.”
“It’s Noli,” Chance adjusted his skewed hat, “If you see for yourself–which you…probably should do considering you’re the planning boss man around here–I’d be very careful.”
Both concerned and intrigued, Builder began to head back the way the two came from, eventually coming to peer around a broken wall of Beach House Paradise.
Noli was…already finishing someone off, but it was so…wrong. There was no dramatic flair in the way he was doing it, as he usually performed, this was something horribly…feral.
His hood had been slung back to reveal the heavily damaged face of his vessel, fur ragged and soaked from the rain. He was partially hunched, and his jaw hung open, breath heavy and heaving. The white dot of a pupil that would usually rattle around in the exposed eye socket whenever his face was visible was gone, leaving nothing but a void behind. The half-mask that covered part of his face was seemingly unmoving, stuck in a state that Builder could only describe as a look of horror.
All of that, combined with the fact that the survivor he had just ravaged was none other than 007n7? Builder instantly recognized that his fellow divine was not currently himself.
And yet, no matter how stupid it was, he called out.
“...Noli?”
Noli snapped up from staring at his prey to look at Builder with a wretched snarl. The Void Star buzzed in what Builder could only describe as distress, like some part of him was still aware and simply stuck.
Horrifyingly, Builder was somewhat reminded of John.
Builder caught a flash of green in Noli’s neck fluff as he dropped Sev, who…was not dead. Noli was so completely and utterly not there that he wasn’t making sure people were dead. Builder saw Sev shakily pull up a panel, and immediately it became Builder’s goal to be Noli’s sole focus until Sev was away.
“...I see ya got ‘er feathers in yer fur,” he took a step back, hands defensively raised, “good on ya, y’ clearly make ‘er happy, n’ that’s…”
Sev was gone. Noli snapped back to face where Sev previously was, staring for just a moment before he made some horrible, gurgling, angry sound, spinning back around to face Builder before he charged. Not a Void Rush, but rather like some angry animal.
Builder flicked out the hammer he usually used to set up buildings, having realized its use as a weapon when everyone was fighting Doom, and frantically swung upwards at what he assumed would be the correct timing, catching Noli in the chest as the half-decayed divine attempted to pounce. He audibly heard the horrible sound of bones cracking, but even that wasn’t enough to stop him.
Builder hit the floor hard, Noli now on top of him and frantically clawing at whatever he could reach as Builder tried to protect his face and neck with his arms. His hoodie sleeves only did so much to stop the barrage, and he realized with a start that unless someone else was there to save him, he was very swiftly about to be sent back to the cabin.
His form of rescue came when a jar shattered against Noli’s head, offsetting his balance enough for him to take an axe directly to the chest, throwing him up into the air and sending him clattering a few feet away. Builder was yanked to his feet and swiftly pulled in a direction away from Noli.
“START USING YOUR LEGS, FINCH, OR BOTH OF US ARE GONNA SUFFER FOR THAT MOVE,”
Jane. Oh thank everything Jane was here.
The two of them ran into the run-down mall, half sprinting, half stumbling up the steps. Certain they were away enough, both of them leaned against the wall, trying to catch their breath.
“What,” Jane started, “Is wrong with him?!”
“I’ll be completely, one-hundred percent honest with ya,” Builder couldn’t help but stare at where they came from, wondering if Sev had gotten a medkit or gotten to the dispenser, “I have no clue why he’s like that.”
“He’s so…” Jane grabbed one of Builder’s arms, staring at the shredded hoodie sleeves and the fresh gashes from where the fabric wasn’t enough protection, “...he’s feral like John. Do you…do you think The Spectre has something to do with this?”
“If it doesn’t, I’ll be very surprised.”
Both of them flinched at the distant noise of The Void Star exploding, and Builder wondered who had been unlucky enough to encounter Noli in his current state. He folded in his head-wings in distress as he could see the aura of the dispenser crumble, and merely a few moments later, the sentry as well.
“...We’ve got company here in a few moments, I believe,” Jane summoned another glass jar into her hands, “Get behind me, I’m going to do something extremely risky and stupid.”
“If anyone could pull off somethin’ extremely risky n’ stupid, I’m sure it’d be you, Rosy,” Builder nodded, obliging her request.
“Save the sappy friendship stuff for if I actually pull this off, you old fart.”
Builder choked back a laugh at the statement, and then again when three thankfully much closer to fully healed than the last time he saw them all teammates came sprinting in, Two Time at the front of the group this time, bolting up the stairs. Sev nearly tripped over his own feet as he tried to match their speed, getting half pulled up the stairs by Chance. Noli came sprinting into the mall as well, but hung around the doorway, seemingly catching his breath.
His attempt to regain his breath was ruined with another glass jar to the head.
“HEY!” Jane shouted, now standing on the broken bits of the other staircase in the mall, “LOOK, IT’S ME, THE WOMAN WHO HIT YOU WITH AN AXE!”
Noli clasped his claws around The Void Star, clearly preparing to throw it. Just what was Jane planning?
Instead of dodging it when it was thrown, Jane leaned into the pull of it, using it to fling herself off the staircase and to slam her axe down into Noli with extra force, to the horrifying point where the top point of her axe pierced through his arm and stuck into the wood of an old, half-broken chair, leaving him completely and utterly pinned to it. Builder blinked in surprise and pride that she came up with a plan he couldn’t see coming.
“WHAT ARE YOU GUYS WAITING FOR?!” Jane shouted at the four watching, “LET’S BOOK IT!”
Not having to be told twice, Builder hopped down from the upper level and quickly sprinted his way out of the mall, trying to ignore the disgustingly vile garbled noises Noli was making in a rage, everyone following quickly after him.
The group went sprinting off, quickly making their way to the complete opposite side of the map before they stopped to catch their breaths.
“Right, pretty sure Jane bought us enough time with that plan,” Builder huffed, “Good on ya, Rosy.”
Jane nodded with a prideful smile, “Lost my axe to it, but I should get her back after the round, so it’s not a big deal, especially considering the fact that I’m pretty sure he’ll be stuck there for a while.”
“And if he isn’t, I’ve got my gun!” Chance laughed, pulling said gun out and spinning it.
“Unless she explodes on you,” Two Time grimaced.
“Unless she explodes on me!” Chance nodded, still looking far too confident as he placed his gun back where he kept it.
“Th’ point is that we’ve been bought time,” Builder leaned against a wall, “Normally we’d have to worry about Observent, but….”
“...He’s not…himself,” Sev sighed with clear distress, hand to his forehead, “He’s not there.”
“Pray tell, Dearest Keeper,” Two Time’s tail curled in a way that Builder could only describe as ‘amused’, “How can you tell that he’s not himself?”
Sev cleared his throat.
“Well, one of the main tells that I picked up as to how he’s actually feeling is The Void Star. He could be completely putting up a front, but if it’s visible, it’ll show his actual feelings, you just have to learn how to read it. What I observed while he was…beating me senseless was the fact that it had a sort of…distressed quality to it, like–”
He paused.
“...You were being sarcastic.”
Two Time made an amused trill.
“I think it’s obvious that The Spectre has something to do with this,” Jane mused, “The question just becomes how this occurred.”
“I’d say he’s been a lil too soft on us recently,” Builder sighed, “Too soft, killing us but always doin’ it without th’ flair that The Spectre’s been expectin’ from him. So I suppose it just decided t’...force ‘im t’ do it.”
“Ugh,” Chance shook himself out, “Can you imagine that? Being just…a passenger in your own puppetted body? Poor guy.”
Builder stared at him for a moment before looking at Sev and Two Time. Sev stared blankly at the ground in confusion before slowly turning to face Chance, the same baffled look still present. Two Time made clear, extremely confused eye contact with Builder before staring at Chance.
“...Chance,” Two Time raised a talon-finger.
“...HALLOWEEN,” Chance coughed, “RIGHT. Right, Halloween. Sorry.”
“...What happened on Halloween?” Jane raised an eyebrow.
“Wait, have we never told you?” Sev was clearly surprised.
“That’s a topic for when we’re not dealin’ with Noli bein’ horribly feral and puppeteered,” Builder dragged the conversation back on topic, “Because this presents a very scary thing. Previously, I was under th’ impression that th’ only reason The Spectre had such a good hold on John n’ Kidd was their mental states.”
Jane nodded, “Both already in a vulnerable state, one half taken over by parasitic coding and the other just a child.”
Sev was clearly upset at being reminded of his child’s current state, but adjusted his collar and spoke anyways, “I know Noli, he’s not mentally weak. He has a…scarily strong will.”
“He’s obsessive?” Two Time flatly offered.
“He’s…obsessive,” Sev agreed with a grimace and a nod, “And part of that obsessiveness would carry over into wanting to stay himself. He hates not being the star of the show, and…this? This isn’t the star of the show, this is…”
“This is the animal in a shoddy entertainment facility deciding it’s time to maul people,” Chance scratched at the back of his head and wrinkled his nose in clear disgust, “except rather than the animal snapping from poor treatment it’s been pushed by the damn CEO or something…I don’t know, my metaphor’s falling apart.”
“The point is it’s scary,” Two Time frowned, eyes wide, “Scary that The Spectre can take someone with such a strong will and just…”
“Turn ‘im into that,” Builder finished.
“He bit me for crying out loud!” Sev sounded utterly exasperated and, very notably to Builder, worried for Noli.
“So where do we go from here?” Jane turned to face Builder.
…Truly and honestly, Builder shrugged. He didn’t…know where to go from here, how to deal with the information presented to the group. “I’ll be honest with y’all, I don’t know. All we got outta this round is some scary information and nothin’ t’ do with it. The Spectre can just…make people go feral, we know that now, I s’pose. If a killer ain’t performin’ like they should…”
It suddenly hit Builder square in the face that there were quite a few killers who could possibly let emotions get in the way of ‘performances’. It seemed he wasn’t the only one who realized that, because he saw Two Time cover their mouth with a shaky hand, staring at the floor in complete horror.
“...But we don’t know what th’ classification is for underperformance,” he tucked his head-wings in tight, hoping his amendment to his statement would bring some reassurance. It clearly didn’t, considering the way Two Time merely absently nodded in response, clearly thinking way too much about the implications as they leaned on Chance.
…Another mess to be cleaned up later.
Especially when the conversation was halted by feral, gargling screaming.
“HE’S FREE,” Jane jumped back from the group, causing the others to do the same–no one wanted to get hit by The Void Star being thrown at a group, “Just finish the round, avoid him at all costs!”
Builder couldn’t have given a better order himself as the group scattered in different directions, leaving him both relieved and annoyed that it was a smaller team. That meant the targeting was less spread out, but it also meant that there were less people to die to add time to the counter.
They’d discuss everything further at the cabin, after the round.
The first thing he could really register through the fog was something clasped around his throat, pinning him to a wall. The second was his claws being dug into something like he had been fighting with all his might. The third was someone yelling his name, their voice strained and panicked.
That…wasn’t right. If his brain was actually coming back to him and he recognized that voice, there was no way she’d sound that panicked.
He unhooked his claws as he began to regain his sight, leaving him dizzy and disoriented. He tried to readjust his sight, realizing that it was 1x pinning him to the wall, hand-talons around his throat and his arms folded over hers. He realized with a horrible pit in his stomach that her arms were bleeding and his claws were tipped with poisonous bright green. Behind 1x, the rest of the killers were gathered, each looking utterly horrified. Sixer held The Void Star to the ground, eyes focused on Noli and 1x. Slasher stood between 1x and John, an arm held out like he was trying to stop John from jumping into whatever was happening.
Azure and ITrapped stood firmly in front of Sonnellino, who was clutching Kidd protectively.
The child looked terrified.
“...Wh47…?” he has just barely regained his voice.
“WHAT WAS THAT?!” 1x shouted, “YOU ALMOST MAULED HIM.”
Noli stared at her, nearly his whole body shaking. Sixer released The Void Star and it floated back to Noli’s side, humming uncomfortably.
Sonne took a breath from where he stood.
“Alright, everyone split up, head back to how you were. The worst thing we can do right now is clutter everything.”
“I’ll take Kidd,” Azure offered out his arms, nodding when the small child was handed over, “C’mon, let’s go spend some time in the garden, okay? Everything will be fine by the time we get back inside for dinner.”
Kidd made a mumble of agreement as Azure took him outside, and after Sonne made a sort of demanding snap, the group separated, either heading outside or up the stairs to their rooms. Sonne offered a nod of reassurance before he himself headed up the stairs.
“Where have you been?!” 1x hissed, “You’ve been missing all day, and then finally at the last damn round you come back and you start trying to maul Kidd!”
“I-I7 w45n’7 0n purp053, I–”
“OF COURSE IT WASN’T ON PURPOSE, YOU IDIOT!” her voice was harsh, but tinged with fear, an emotion Noli wasn’t used to hearing from her.
“I pi553d 0ff 7h3 d4mn v4mpir3 4nd hi5 57upid hu5b4nd, I–” he suddenly coughed, “c4n y0u p13453 137 g0 0f my–”
Rather than letting go of him completely, 1x abruptly grabbed him in a frantic hug, wrapping their wings around him.
“If you ever disappear on me like that again I will find you and tear you into so many goddamn pieces.”
Noli stayed unmoving for a few moments before he slowly returned the hug, trying to steady his breathing and his body, and trying to ignore the agonizing pain in one of his arms. 1x was also horribly shaking, but clearly trying to pretend she was just…fine. Like she was merely angry that he had disappeared.
“...50rry,” he muttered.
Before he could really register it, 1x was heading upstairs to her room, still holding him tight, merely just barely adjusting her wings to allow herself to see as she walked.
“Now I gotta make sure you’re still uninjured, you idiot.”
Noli took a slow breath, glancing to the arm that hurt a stupid amount, wondering what in the world caused it to start hurting so bad. He sighed and leaned further into her hold.
“7h4nk5 f0r c4ring,” he hummed.
“Don’t mention it,” they responded, “This doesn’t mean anything.”