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Silence.
It was entirely silent.
Entirely dark.
Nothing could be seen except for what was illuminated by the small red glow from Player’s left eye.
The light shone off of their sharp metal-like teeth, off the collar and cuffs, and chains they wore. All of which kept them in the center of the windowless, lightless room.
A prisoner. No, they were less than that. They weren’t even fed the same as how a prisoner would have been.
Left to practically starve, their ribcage beginning to show as their green translucent muscles and skin showed the Robloxian anatomy of their torso: a simple set of bones. No organs, only a skeletal figure.
They sat there, head hanging down towards the ground, staring at their Roblox hat that sat in front of them, along with the broken glasses they used to need before this transformation began.
They wore their jacket, no one having had the courage to take such an identifying piece of clothing from them.
No, they weren’t the same, but it was still the same vessel, the body of the person who had collected all of the swords to save Builderman and the rest of Robloxia as they knew it.
But now, they went by another name. Thanks to everything changing, they went by 1x1x1x1 now. A strange name, but, so was Player. Most people called them 1x, a shortened version of the name they wished to now be called by.
1x thought in the darkness, as they usually did. ‘I should’ve taken the chance to go home… I should’ve refused to collect those swords… I’m being kept here, being kept from going back thanks to him. That bastard made me think accepting the quest wouldn’t do all that much to me-‘
“-BUT LOOK WHERE THAT LED!” They shouted out their thoughts, knowing no one would hear.
1x was full of rage. Of hatred towards Shedletsky for lying. Making it seem as though all of this wouldn’t happen.
That they wouldn’t seem like a monster after saving the world.
They struggled against the chains, wanting to lash out and physically take their anger out on something. But they were held back, of course. These chains were created specifically by Builderman to restrain them, and imbued with the power of the swords they had collected. 1x was strong, but not strong enough to rival the swords themselves, even if they had been able to defeat most of those swords’ guardians in battle.
They calmed down after a moment, knowing that every attempt to break free would be futile. Sitting down once again, they went back to staring at their Roblox-branded cap on the floor in front of them. Just out of reach. It wasn’t as if they could even put it on with how short the chains were…
A minute.
Five.
Twenty.
An hour.
The cycle repeated of them thinking to themselves, their thoughts becoming words yelled aloud, then hatred becoming a need to be physically taken out, all before once again sitting on their knees to stare at their hat.
Although, after three hours of this cycle, a crack of light shone over the R on 1x’s cap that sat in front of them.
Their head shot up, watching to see who had finally come to check up on them, as was routine. However, 1x had counted the hours, this wasn’t the usual time someone would come to see them.
Once the door opened fully, 1x immediately recognized the silhouette that was there. Well, both of them. But they only focused on the one standing directly in the middle of the door.
Their red glowing eye turned blue, showing solitude instead of satred. Then purple for their fear, and after that, yellow for their greed. Their eye color began to cycle through them before finally settling on a yellow-green, the mixing of solitude and greed, greed being a larger part of their emotions.
Hm. Fitting, wasn’t it? The color of their emotions matched with that of who was causing them.
“Pl4yer-?”
Brad didn’t move, frozen, stunned.
Another voice spoke up, the silhouette of the one 1x hated moving closer behind Brad.
“They go by 1x now. Even they’ve acknowledged how much they’ve changed since you last saw each other.”
“1’m 5till c4lling th3m Play3r.”
He didn’t want to let go of the person he’d known, that he’d loved. Not when he finally realizes they didn’t die from the overwhelming power of all the swords, that they were being kept a secret from all of Robloxia.
Finally, he rushed towards 1x. Towards Player.
1x leaned forward, still on their knees in the center of the room, however wanting to feel Brad’s touch as soon as possible after ten years of isolation.
And Brad embraced them, wrapping his arms tightly around their torso as he cried into their shoulder.
Their glowing eye color turned to blue, sadness overwhelming them, however a small amount of pink showed to represent happiness and love. They brought their head down, embracing Brad as best as they could with their restraints, tears beginning to form in their own eyes.
Brad let go for a moment, his hands going to Player’s cheeks, wiping a tear that had fallen.
“H3y, hey, 1t’s 0kay, 1’m her3 n0w, my f4vor1te punk. 1’m right h3re.”
1x couldn’t help but smile, but then heard footsteps approaching and looked over Brad’s shoulder to see Shedletsky approaching.
“Hey, I wouldn’t recommend getting that close, they can be-“
As soon as John had gotten too close, 1x lunged at him, their shining eye changing to its usual red, hatred taking over.
“Stay away from us!”
“Pl4ys-“
“No, he wants you to stay away, you deserve to do what you want, Brad. Besides, He’s why I’m like this! You shouldn’t listen to him. Not here, not now.”
Shedletsky took a step back, raising his hands to show he meant no harm.
“1x, I’m ju-“
“Player. Brad’s calling me Player, you do too.”
“I- but you-“
“Call. Me. Player.”
“Alright, Player, I’m just trying to keep him safe. You have a history of attacking staff that come in to do their daily check-up. Especially if they ever have to get close and make sure you’re physically well. I wasn’t sure if you’d do the same with him.”
“Why would I? Why would I ever hurt him? Tell me, why do you think I’d have a reason to hurt Brad?”
“…”
“Exactly. Now let me have my time with him alone, John.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
“Then bring someone else in. Someone who’s quiet and won’t get in our way.”
“Pl4yer, ju5t-“
“Brad, I’m trying to make our reunion better. I’d rather not have some bastard watch over us. Especially not one that made me what I am now.”
“Player, I didn’t do anything.”
“YOU LIAR! YOU DID! YOU GAVE ME THAT QUEST KNOWING WHAT IT’D DO TO ME! THAT I’D BECOME THIS MONSTER!”
“I didn’t know! I didn’t know, 1x- Player, I didn’t know! No one other than an Admin has ever tried to handle all the swords at once, and even then, that was only a single Admin! Only at their creation, as well! So don’t blame me, I knew as much as you did!”
“No. No, you knew it’d take a toll on me at some point…! That I wouldn’t be the same that I had been! You might not have known this would happen, but you knew something would!”
“Player, I-“
“Pl4ys.” Brad grabbed Player’s face gently, forcing them to turn their head towards him and look into his eyes, their own that displayed their emotions clearly turning a blue-purple. “Play5, just l3t it g0… y0u d1d wh4t you want3d, d1dn’t you? T0 s4ve Robl0xia? Y0u d1d that.”
“I wanted to go home. To go back where I started… not to be stuck in a pitch black room chained down and seen as dangerous..”
“… I wanted to be able to live a normal life with you. To maybe have a family…”
Brad grabbed the cap that Player had been continuously staring at ever since it fell off their head weeks ago, and placed it back on top, before running his fingers through their silvery-white hair.
“I w4nted that to0… and I’m s0rry. 1’m sorry I bel1eved them wh3n they told m3 y0u died. I sh0uld’ve known b3tter th4n to b3lieve them, 1 5hould’ve kn0wn that y0u were 5tronger than wh4t th3y 5aid y0u w3re.”
But Brad didn’t have much time to stay close to Player, thanks to their head snapping towards Shedletsky at hearing what their lover had been told, shining eye once again red. This was such an emotional rollercoaster for them…
“You told him what.”
“Player, we had to, at this point in time your original self is alive, so we couldn’t let anyone know that this is how you’ll end up.”
“So you did know! YOU KNEW!”
“Not back during the quest! At this time, yes, I do know! Builderman does, and we know we’ll just have to continue living as another you goes through what you did again, because we can’t stop this.”
“You’re just- you’re letting them- this is going to happen over and over again… they’ll go through what I did and nothing will change…”
Their eye changed to a purple-blue, and they looked down at the floor.
“I’m sorry, Player. But we can’t let them know, or else this present-time, what was once the future, will be erased from time. If they know how it’ll all end, all of Robloxia will be gone.”
“…”
“Brad would be gone if we didn’t keep you a secret from the public.”
“YEAH, WELL YOU ALSO TOLD HIM I WAS DEAD!”
“So he didn’t have any other reason to try and warn your other self! You had already told him about the time travel, and what year you were from, so he probably already had enough sense to not interact with your other self at this time other than in passing. Besides, anything other than death or a happy ending, and I just know he would’ve at least thought of telling your present self. We’ve only let him see you now because your other self is about to go to the convention next week and go back in time.”
Player didn’t know how to react. Once again, their emotions were all over the place, their eye rapidly changing colors and cycling through every negative emotion they’ve ever felt.
“I- you-“
Brad had no clue what to do, so he just pulled Player close, hugging them as tightly as he could as their thoughts ran wild.
Their breathing grew rapid, and tears began streaming down their face.
“I’m sorry Player. We had to do this. You’ve grown aggressive, and now, if people had seen you in public, they likely would run. That’s why we’ve kept you here instead of anywhere else. I didn’t want to do this to you, I never had wanted to, but we couldn’t risk anything.”
“…”
“‘Couldn’t risk anything’… couldn’t. Risk. Anything.” Player pulled away from Brad once again, now standing and pulling at their chains to take a step towards Shedletsky. “YOU STARVED ME! YOU ONLY GIVE ME FOOD ONCE EVERY MONTH!”
“We can’t risk our own employees getting hurt-!”
“THEN DON’T FUCKING STARVE ME!”
“Pl4ys-!”
“Shut it Brad, this is between me and John.”
“Play5, ju5t l1sten-!”
“NOT NOW, BRAD.”
“PL4YER. LI5TEN.”
Player’s head snapped to look at Brad, baring their teeth as they snarled out an annoyed response.
“What.”
“H3 d1d thi5 all t0 k3ep me s4fe! Wheth3r y0u l1ke it 0r not, 1’m only her3 bec4use he t0ld me a l1e to k3ep u5 both 4s saf3 as poss1ble.”
“…”
Player looked to Shedletsky, then Brad, then back and forth between the two.
They let out a low sound between a growl and a groan, finally turning to Brad, getting back on their knees to be level with the man who was sitting down still, and just nuzzled into him before mumbling something into his chest.
“Just let us be. Let us have our time together, that’s all I ask.”
Surprisingly, Shedletsky was able to understand and hear Player’s exact words. “I’ll stay as quiet as I can be. Just standing in a corner of this room. That’s alright, yeah?”
Player nodded, and Brad then brought his hands up and embraced the only person in his life that he’d ever really loved.
The reunion was a bit messy, but it was still happy after that argument nonetheless.
Brad and Player finally shared a kiss after a long time, and finally were able to hold each other in their arms, despite the restraints Player had.
Ten years. Ten years had gone by since they last saw each other. And despite the situation, they were entirely happy to be seeing each other once again.
To be reunited.
Until next time.