Chapter Text
“Are you sure we can jump on that? It looks... rotten...”
They paused at his words, turning to look back at him. There was a brief moment of silence, before Ellernate cracked a smile, “Awh come on, don’t tell us you’re scared.”
“Here, I’ll show you it’s fine!” He said, backing up before breaking into a sprint and jumping, landing on the rotten looking floor boards with a loud thud. A small cloud of dust (and maybe something else) puffed from the floor. The floorboards creaked and groaned, and he could've sworn he heard something crack and splint.
“See? It’s fine! C’mon don’t be such a scaredy cat.”
“I don’t know guys, it doesn’t look super stable..” iTrapped said, fiddling with the pommel of the dark heart. A habit he’d gotten after…
“Here, I’ll go next then.” Caleb said, snapping him out of his thoughts. He gently put a hand on iTrapped’s shoulder, pushing him out the way. He stepped back before doing the same as Ellernate, landing across the gap.
“Come on Trapped! It’s your turn!”
“Yeah, you’ve got this dude!”
He wasn’t so sure. The floor didn’t look sturdy at all, what if it gave out when he landed?
“Hey! You’ve got this alright? You know, you used to be the most daring out of all of us.” Ellernate said, noticing the way iTrapped looked unsure.
He had been just about ready to leave, to tell them he had changed his mind and he just wasn’t cut out for this anymore, but that made him hesitate.
They were right. He’d gotten soft, ever since.. He’d lost his edge. “Fine..” iTrapped sighed, “Move then, I’ll go.” He said, moving back to run and jump.
“Yeaahh!! C'mon you’ve got this trap!!” They cheered, backing up and giving him room.
He broke out in a sprint and jumped, landing across the gap on the rotten looking boards in front of the two.
For a moment everything was fine. The floor hadn’t collapsed under him upon impact. “See? You’re fine!” Ellernate exclaimed,
“Huh, guess you were right.”
“Course I was! You’ve gotta loo-” Ellernate never got to finish his sentence. The floor cracked and splintered and collapsed under iTrapped’s feet. The wooden boards fell, 3 stories down into the dark abyss, taking iTrapped with them.
“Isaac!” Was the last thing he heard before he fell into darkness.
___
“Think…okay?”
“....kinda looks like..”
“Seriously? Th….first…you notice?”
“🍗 ✅❗” “🧊👑🟰👻🍔”
“See? Even Taph agrees with me!”
“...I mean, I guess he does kind of-”
“Ughh..” He let out a groan, his hand reaching up to touch his head.
He could hear people talking around him, two? No, there were three people here. He slowly opened his eyes, looking around at his surroundings. He was in a large wooden cabin and there were people standing over him. One's face was obscured with a mask and hood, and the other had brown hair with a white shirt and blue shorts.
He sat up and looked at them. A moment passed, then another. He began to feel a little awkward, they were just staring at him and it was starting to unnerve him. He was about to say something when the hooded one beat him to it.
“🧊👑🫵👌❓”
Oh.. “…Uh, what’d he say..?” He asked, turning to the brown haired one. The guy looked kind of young? Maybe somewhere in his late twenties to mid thirties.
The brown haired one turned to him, and for a second, iTrapped felt he recognized him, but the feeling went away as soon as it came. “He was asking if you’re okay, you kinda.. hit your head when you got here.”
“Oh, did I? I didn’t realize…”
There was a long, awkward silence. No one really knew what to say. He had never been one for gratitude and thank you’s, and those two.. They kept looking at each other, then back at him with these looks of pity. Like him being here was a tragic accident.
“Uh, wasn’t there someone else here? I thought.. I heard another voice.”
“Ah, that must’ve been me!” iTrapped turned towards the sound, a guy around his age was walking out of a kitchen-like area holding a glass of water and a plate with pizza. “I’m Elliot, what’s your name?” He asked.
He wore a kind smile on his face, his eyes gentle and soft. But there was something else in them, like.. pity? Or maybe worry. He walked over and set the food down on the coffee table next to him.
“I’m..” He hesitated before answering, “My name's iTrapped.” He could've sworn the brown haired one glared at him when he said that. Well, no surprise there. His name was pretty popular, and not for the right reasons.
“iTrapped? As in the exploiter?” The blonde asked.
“... Yeah, that's me...”
“❗” “🧊👑🫵🎰❓”
The masked one said,, something.. The ice cube and crown were there again, were those meant to be him? The gambling machine though.. He felt a sinking feeling in his gut. The machine..
“Huh? What about Chance, Taph?” Asked Elliot, and iTrapped could've sworn he saw his heart sink right in front of him. No way. No way.. no way no way no way no way no way no way nowaynowaynowaynowaynowaynowaynowaynoway.
There was no way, he was dead! He saw it with his own eyes, felt it with his own hands. He was there when it happened, he was why it happened! NO. WAY.
..Maybe.. Maybe they meant a different Chance, someone with the same stupid name.. Yeah.. that was probably it. Just someone with the same dumb name.
He was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.
It was the blonde guy again.. Elliot..“Hey, are you okay?” He asked, “You’re looking a little pale..” his face was etched with concern and worry, even more so than earlier
“..I’m fine, no need to worry..” He said, mustering up a small, awkward smile.
“Are you-” His words were abruptly cut off by a cheer. A loud “whoop!” sounded behind them, along with the mingle of other voices. There were other people here.
There was one voice that stuck out to him. It was louder than the others, more confident. It almost sounded like…
“Hey El, did ya see me out there? How'd I do? Totally awesome right!”
…
Almost like…
“Yeah yeah, you did good.” Elliot said, laughing a little, a light blush visible on his face.
iTrapped followed Elliot's gaze, his eyes landing on the person speaking to him.
A pair of sleek black shades met his eyes.
…
Oh.