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Two Time stretched out their arms above their head, fingers tangled so they made a distinctive pop as they snapped their joints back into where they had been displaced from a particularly rough last round. Luckily, spirits were already high, with Times having managed to enter into the round in the exact same place as Elliot and Chance, leaving them practically bouncing in their step as the three carried on a conversation.
“Last round of the day!” Chance clicked his tongue, “Gotta make it count.”
“Make it count?” Times laughed, “Like it’s a competition?”
“We could make it one!” Chance leaned a bit forwards, grinning, “Whoever gets the most stuns off out of the two of us wins?”
“And what exactly would I win if I did this oh so easy task?” Times prodded.
“Hey, I’ve got an idea,” Elliot chimed in, “Whoever wins gets a quarter of my dinner portion.”
“Ells!” Chance gasped in half-joking shock, “You’re giving up part of your portion of Sev’s meatloaf?!”
“My my, that is dire!” Times nodded, “All the more reason for me to win!”
“In your dreams, you shortstack!” Chance smirked.
“Be careful who you’re calling shortstack, Chance,” Elliot hummed, “I am taller than you.”
“But you do admit that Times is short?” Chance offered in a sort of questioning tone.
“I do agree, I am very small,” Times nodded solemnly.
“Fun size,” Elliot ruffled their hair, “Like a candy bar!”
At once the three of them dissolved into laughter, shaking themselves out when they came back around to remembering that there was a killer somewhere in the round, and they didn’t know who.
“Either of you have a guess on who the killer is?” Elliot was the first to speak.
“We can rule out a couple guesses,” Chance began counting on his fingers, “No ice patches, so not Trap. No flowers, so not Azure. Haven’t heard Shed yelling, so not 1x.”
“No roars, so John can be ruled out,” Times waved a hand, “Unless he’s being quiet, which would be quite the terrifying idea.”
“Lack of roars also rules out Sixer,” Elliot pointed out, “And the kid is usually pretty loud and easy to figure out.”
“I’m still on my feet and uninjured,” Chance pointed out the obvious, “So Sonnellino’s probably off the table. The fact that it’s so quiet also rules out Noli and Nosferatu, both would be too showy and eager to make their presence known. Doombringer would probably make himself known too.”
“So are we settling on Slasher as our guess?” Times hummed.
“We’re forgetting the entire cast of cameo killers,” Elliot offered, “the weird fuzzy lizard is also nearly silent.”
“Oooo,” Chance grimaced, “I hope it’s not that one. I can never tell where that thing is coming from!”
“An ambush predator that can quite literally go invisible,” Times shook themself out, “I think I’d rather deal with any other cameo killer.”
“Other than…that one,” Elliot offered, and somehow Times immediately knew he was talking about the horrifying version of Shedletsky that had terrorized the group on New Year’s Day. That was a killer they never wanted to deal with again, especially considering the effect it held on Shed himself.
“Other than that one,” Chance seemed to get the hint as well, nervously adjusting his hat, “But that aside, Slasher or a cameo?”
“That seems about right,” Times nodded, “Unless it’s…someone new.”
“Do you really think The Spectre would do that so quickly after Doombringer?” Chance questioned before pausing, “Well, it did throw out Trap at us just two weeks after Azure, so I guess that’s not off the table.”
“Ughhh,” Elliot groaned, mumbling a swear into his hands, “Please don’t let it be a new killer, I’m already fried trying to remember how to deal with every other killer.”
“We’re smaaaart,” Chance waved his hands, “We’ve got thisss.”
Times blinked at Elliot as they picked up on an ever so slight movement of his head-wings. A movement they would normally have chalked up to something idle if they didn’t know him as well as they did. This wasn’t just idle fluttering, he was hiding something.
“Elliot my dearest friend,” they hummed, “Is there perhaps something you wish to share with us?”
Elliot paused, tucking his head-wings in before he groaned, “Curse the fact that you’re so good at reading me, Two,” after a grimace and a moment spent thinking, he sighed, “I have some information I…shouldn’t have.”
“And pray tell, dearest medic, how did you learn this information?”
“IIIII….eeeavesdropped on The Admins…”
Chance failed to swallow a laugh, wheezing through his nose, “Elliot! I knew I was a rich rule-breaking brat of a nepobaby, but you?!”
Elliot stuck his tongue out at Chance, “Bwiset ka, no? I can break rules when I want to. Plus, there’s no rules against eavesdropping.”
Times managed to hold back their own laugh, shaking themself out, “Well, out with it! What do you know that we don’t?”
“...The Admins think that The Spectre is…really going to start ramping up its game,” Elliot admitted, “I mean…you guys saw what it did to Noli, but I’m talking really ramping up its game.”
“Like what, more double trouble rounds?” Chance hummed, “More killers going feral?”
Times uncomfortably grasped onto their necklace, fidgeting with it. Ever since the terrifying round against Noli being puppetted like that, Times had been…waiting for it. Waiting for that terrifying drop. Builderman had suggested it was a punishment for not playing his part. A punishment for not being a ‘proper killer’.
Every time after that that Azure was passive, it was…scary. It just left Times even more afraid, fear compounding as they just waited to one day see Azure as not himself. They feared that day.
“Worse, they think,” Elliot sighed, “I heard Shed worrying about the way The Spectre can manipulate this place. Sounded like he’s afraid it might…make things.”
Times blinked, “He’s worried it might just make killers? Rather than pulling them from wherever they may come from?”
“Exactly,” Elliot nodded solemnly, “So I was…worried. Worried that now might be the time it tries that.”
“There must be something awfully special about us all if it loves tormenting us this much,” Times frowned, shaking their head.
“Well, I think you’re special, my angel,” Chance nudged them, clearly trying to lighten the mood with a grin.
“What a sappy idiot you are, my luck,” Times nudged him right back, laughing.
“You both are disgusting and I hate that I put up with you,” Elliot huffed, hiding a smile.
“Awwww, c’mon Ells!” Chance whined, “You love uuuus!”
“Unfortunately for my sanity, I do,” Elliot admitted with a nod.
“Whatever it throws at us, I believe we can handle it,” Times curled their tail partway around Chance’s arm, “We’ve handled everything else, haven’t we?”
With a collective agreement, the three continued on their way, traveling through the area and occasionally stopping to quickly work through one of many generators.
The map wasn’t one they’d seen before, but it wasn’t extremely uncommon to randomly find themselves in a new map. Sometimes it’d be one they’d see again later, sometimes it’d be one that would completely disappear after merely being seen once. There was a bit more chatter as they walked, taking note of good places to hide and good places to try to lose the killer. Just in case the map was added to the rotation, they wanted to know exactly what they were dealing with.
And yet, still no sign of the killer.
After a long while of walking, Times raised their head as a particular smell wafted through the air. Roasting pumpkin.
“Dusekkar is nearby,” they announced, “You guys can smell him too, correct?”
“Way too distinct of a smell to miss,” Chance confirmed, moving ahead to step around a wall, only for him to freeze at whatever he saw. He grimaced, then looked back to Times and Elliot, “Ells, you really gotta pay attention, man. He’s already down.”
“What?” Elliot quickly moved ahead, leaving Times to catch up.
Indeed on the ground lay Dusekkar, very dead already. Times grimaced, flicking their tail as they observed what had happened. He was face down, with a wound struck clean through his chest. The body had to still be fresh, as the smoke from the snuffed fire in his helm still rose up.
“...That doesn’t make sense,” Elliot shook his head, “I was paying attention. The whole time we were talking, I had my head on a swivel. I should have seen it.”
“Are you…implying that ability is currently locked?” Times asked, voice more shaky than they would have liked it to be.
“That’s the only reasonable explanation, unless I just…missed it somehow.”
“I…do have an idea as to how we could test it,” Times offered, brandishing their hand-talons before moving to grab their own arm, “I’ll just–”
They were startled when Chance abruptly grabbed their arm with a firm, borderline upset “No.” They moved to mess with their necklace again, looking away in shame of their idea.
“...Or I suppose not,” they then quickly added, “apologies.”
“...If it’s locked, then that’s a problem,” Elliot shook his head, “But I think that’s the only conclusion. I wouldn’t have missed it.”
Chance suddenly paused, letting go of Two Time, and they could tell he made a solid blink of processing as he smelled something. He stepped away from the previous scene, peering around another wall before he abruptly stepped back, jaw slack in a show of horror.
“...Hey, guys,” he took a breath, “How many people do you think this round started with?”
Times paused for only a moment before they scrambled over to Chance to see what he was seeing, Elliot following quickly after.
Chance had found an absolute massacre. While not every other member of the survivor’s cabin was there, those that were were laid out in a slaughter, gathered into a bloody pile that was strewn in spiderweb.
It looked like some sort of offering.
Two Time was used to gore, they had to be after being here for so long, but this was horrible. It was gore in such a methodical way. Each with a killing strike through the chest, each face-down. Clearly the killer hadn’t gotten away without any sort of injuries, because there were splatters of blood not inside the trails that the dragged bodies had made, but rather splattered like something had made them while walking away from the pile.
It was…oh it was terrible.
Elliot was tentatively the first person to move forwards, looking over the pile with a look of horror on his face that was mirrored on Times’ own.
“This looks…” he trailed off, “This is a ritual.”
“And the spiderwebs…?” Chance grimaced, “Do we know of any killer with this?”
“Reminds me of the little pink spiders that get into the cabin sometimes,” Times blinked, “but so much…larger.”
“What could have even done this?” Chance sounded breathless, shaking his head.
…Something felt wrong.
Of course, this whole thing was wrong, but there was a feeling crawling up Two Time’s spine, leaving their tail twitching with an implacable emotion. Something was wrong. Something was wrong.
“Dearesssst…disssscipleee?” something hissed, questioning and drawn out and tinged with affection.
Two Time’s body went cold.
At once, Elliot and Chance were both immediately at their side, both with their heads on a swivel.
“Yep, falsified killer,” Chance nearly immediately stated, though Times had to strain to actually hear his voice, “You hear me, Times? It’s like we talked about earlier, okay? False killer. Not real.”
“Made by The Spectre,” Elliot added on, “Okay? Fake, completely fake.”
Times wanted to nod along, to simply close their eyes and wait until the end of the round came, but at the same time, they felt like they barely had control of their own body.
“Amarah,” their voice was a strained whimper.
Chance said something to Elliot that Times couldn’t catch, their head spinning and their ears ringing. Elliot’s face suddenly sharpened, rage oh-so evident.
The distinct noise of something large skittering around battered through the ringing, and the scars on the sides of their head ached in such a way that they hadn’t in years. They ached so much that they wanted to simply sit on the ground and curl up and wait for the round to be over.
Their head snapped up to face where the skittering noise was growing louder and–
There he was.
He was…wrong. Ragged. Of course he was wrong, because the thing Times had to cling onto with everything in them was that this wasn’t him.
His wings were a mess of feathers, strewn together with spiderweb like it was the only thing keeping them together. He had no mouth visible, but his eyes were wide and weeping, like the whole time he had committed the bloody massacre he had been sobbing, either because of sorrow for his actions or because of the various wounds gashed across his body, freely flowing with blood. He was held off the ground by spindly spider-like legs as he stared at the three, eyes mostly focused on Times themself.
“Dearessst–” he suddenly coughed despite the lack of visible mouth, gross and wet, “dissssciple…”
“Don’t call them that!” Chance shouted, flinging an arm in front of Two Time and brandishing his charged gun at what the group was faced with. Times flinched as Chance fired and the false Amarah screeched.
They knew it was time to run, but their legs wouldn’t agree with them–
Abruptly they were swept off their feet, not by Chance, but by Elliot. They clasped onto him as he ran, trying to not look back at the killer that was shaking off the stun and now charging after the trio, hissing and snarling. They did their best to not dig their hand-talons in as Elliot leapt down to a lower area, Chance following very quickly afterwards. Their ears were ringing as the other two desperately tried to figure out a plan, their talking eventually halting as they ducked into a hiding spot they had all located earlier, Elliot leaning to set Times down, letting them regain their footing before he pulled back.
The skittering that had been chasing them slowed down as it passed their hiding spot, the falsified Amarah hissing and calling out for Times with that affectionate title in such a sorrowful tone. After a long moment of held breath, Elliot was the first one to speak.
“It’s already injured,” he breathed out, “The timer’s stopped. I think it’s obvious what we’re being ordered to do.”
“I don’t want to do that,” Times’ voice cracked. Elliot blinked at them, then at Chance, and then at them again.
“Hey, Two,” he assured, like he was hushing a scared animal, “We’re not gonna make you, okay?”
“Ells and I can do it,” Chance nodded, “We would never force you to do that.”
Two Time took in a breath, trying to steady their voice–steady their body–“Our…dearest healer is not…mmmeant–meant for…combat.”
“And you’re not fit for combat right now,” Chance rebutted.
“Emotions are nnnot…an excuse–”
“None of that,” Elliot suddenly ordered, head-wings flaring up like he was attempting a half-hearted threat display, “You go against that thing right now, you die. I will not have you dying on my watch, got it?”
Times shrunk back, refusing to meet his gaze, “Yyyy–yes. Yes yes, clear, vvvery very clear,” they bit at their lip as they finished speaking, trying to resist the urge to sink into their bandana to hide their face away.
“What’s the plan?” Chance questioned, flipping his coin to try to build up charges again.
“I bait, you shoot, and then we both jump it and just go for it?” Elliot didn’t sound super confident, but rather like it was his only plan.
“Would have preferred an actually fully thought out plan, but I guess that w–”
Chance was cut off by a screech and the trio’s hiding spot being ripped to shreds, much to their collective horror. All three of them went tumbling to the floor, and before either Chance or Elliot could gain their footing, the creature had stamped itself down on them. Not enough to kill, like had been done to all the other survivors, but enough to hold them in place. Enough to keep them from getting up.
‘Amarah’ lowered himself over Two Time, held up just a few feet from their face, uncaring for the knot that was rapidly forming in their throat and the blood that freely dripped onto them.
“Youuu’ve…grown…” his voice, once affectionate, suddenly turned harsh, disappointed, “Ssssstrayed…”
“Nnnn…No no, I haven’t–” it was hard to speak as they choked back overwhelming emotions, speaking to this falsified thing like it was actually him and they would be able to justify everything, “I haven’t strayed, I’ve ssseen–seen the truth, and if–what if…I…”
“You…defffffy me?”
“TIMES!” Chance shouted, “TIMES IT’S NOT REAL–”
He was cut off as the spindly leg pressed itself further into him, specks of dark red now fading into his shirt as he made a gasp of pain. Times’ eyes widened in a panic.
“Nononono–Please–please don’t hurt them–”
“HUSSSHHH.”
Two Time flinched back at the shout as much as they could, staring at the rage in ‘Amarah’s face, only for that rage to soften.
And abruptly, they were grabbed.
It wasn’t harsh, it wasn't forceful, it was…
It was a hug.
A sickeningly affectionate hug.
Two Time enjoyed hugs. They viewed hugs as one of the closest forms of affection they were comfortable with, and if someone offered one, it was more likely than not that they were going to grab on and sink into that hold. Every night they slept in a hug, Chance’s arms wrapped around them and their arms around him in turn. Perhaps they’d even say hugs were one of their favorite things.
This was not a hug they enjoyed.
It was tight, suffocating, like he was trying to hold them in place so they couldn’t squirm out while still being affectionate at the same time, and it was the worst.
“Husssshhhhh,” he spoke, now not forceful but rather soft, like he was comforting them, “Youuu havee...nnno reassssson to fear, I’m here…”
‘You’re what I’m afraid of’ was lost in their throat, unable to be said.
Instead, they fumbled for where they kept their dagger, and in one swift motion drew it and plunged it directly into ‘Amarah’s spine. He dropped them with a shriek, recoiling and allowing Chance and Elliot to spring up. Times skittered back, hiding their head in their arms and trying to block out the screams of the fight.
“GET THE HELL AWAY FROM THEM–” Chance was shrieking, poker face long forgotten.
“LANGYA KA ANG KAPAL–” Elliot’s scream that Times couldn’t translate was momentarily broken when he was nearly swung off, but he caught himself and continued his yell, “–NG MUKHA MO!”
And then, the false Amarah screamed. Not wordlessly, no, Times wished it was wordlessly.
He screamed for them.
Screamed in fear, screamed for their help, for them to get the other two off, screamed for them to pay attention to him and get up and save him.
“I THOUGHT YOU CARED ABOUT ME!”
And then his scream turned into a wordless screech again as the sound of metal hitting the ground rang out, and Two Time peered through their arms to see their dagger now on the ground, coated in blood, making them realize that they hadn’t pulled it out when they stabbed him. Chance quickly followed after the dagger, hitting the ground with a solid thud and groan of pain.
They risked peering up at the fight held on spindly spider legs, and they realized Elliot was partially clutched onto ‘Amarah’s back, his arms covered in blood like he was butchering a deer that one of those willing to hunt for the cabin had brought back for food. They quickly snapped their gaze away, hiding back in their arms before they could see where it went, even though they knew what most likely came next.
There was the horrible sound of meat squelching as the falsified killer screamed again, punctuated by Elliot screaming in anger in that same language as he had been screaming in earlier.
And then, something large slammed into the ground, and abruptly Times found themself with a wooden chair under them instead of the cold concrete they had been laying on.
The Winner’s Table. Elliot had killed him.
But yet, it felt so far from a victory.
Times pulled their arms down, slowly setting them on the table as they simply…stared, listening to everything around them. Elliot was breathing heavily, muttering things Times couldn’t catch. The others in the cabin were shuffling around, speaking in hushed whispers as Times could just tell they were all staring at them.
“Hey,” a quiet voice broke through the murmuring, and Two Time saw Chance gently set his hand on their arm, “breathe. It’s done.”
All at once, it all broke. Times turned and grabbed Chance in a frantic hug, suddenly sobbing into his shoulder after they had tried so hard to keep their composure. They held onto him as he lifted them up, not looking at where he was taking them but just simply assuming it was the blanket fort that had been created upstairs, where Chance, Two Time, and Elliot had taken to sleeping, realizing it’d be much more comfortable than just being up against the wall. Their thoughts were confirmed when Chance headed upstairs to sit down in it, holding Times carefully.
“We took care of it, and now it doesn’t exist anymore, okay?” he quietly assured, “Just breathe.”
They couldn’t bring themself to respond properly, just instead laying in his hold, trying to cease the horrible noises they were making. They didn’t…know exactly how long they were held like that, trying to cease their sobbing, but after quite a while, they had found themself running out of tears, just simply laying there in Chance’s grasp and trying to regain their breath.
Eventually they picked up on the sound of footsteps, and soon enough the blanket “door” to the fort opened, and Times slowly turned their head to watch Elliot clamber in, carefully holding a large wooden tray.
“Hey,” he started, clearly trying to stay as casual as he could, “Everyone’s eating at the table, but they suggested all three of us eat our food up here. How’s it…holding up?”
Times made a sort of strange hum that not even they knew the meaning of, but Elliot seemed to pick up on the general vibe, grimacing and nodding.
“Yeah, expected that much,” he sighed, sitting down, “I uh…I know that technically Chance won, but I ended up giving the extra little bit of my portion to you.”
“Trust me, I don’t mind,” Chance assured.
Two Time managed to bring themself to unhook from Chance’s hold, responding to a quiet “You sure?” with a somewhat confident nod.
“...You wanna talk about it, Two?” Elliot softly questioned as he arranged the plates and glasses on the tray so that the three could eat off it as a table.
It took them a second to find their voice, but eventually they shook their head and spoke, as hoarse as it sounded, “Nnnn…no, no I don’t…think so. Not…now.”
“If you ever wanna, I’m sure both of us are open,” Chance offered, and Times could see Elliot nod in confirmation.
…But there was something…tangentally related that came to mind. Something that Two Time knew they trusted Elliot enough to show.
“C…can I um…shhhow you something I’ve…only ever trusted Ch…Chance and Dusekkar with?” they blinked at Elliot, seeing his face shift to puzzled for a moment before he nodded.
With that confirmation, they ever so gently grabbed Elliot’s hands, guiding him to gently touch the sides of their head under their hair, where when they were much younger held brilliantly feathered head-wings but now only housed gruesome scars hidden by their hair. Elliot’s face sunk into a slow realization, eyes widening in shock and horror but then squinting in sympathetic sorrow, his own head-wings flicking in what seemed to be the uncomfortableness of sympathy pains.
“Oh, Two…” he breathed out, the rest of what he wanted to say seemingly lost as he just stared at them in sorrow and horror.
Chance made a hum of sympathy, and Times heard him turn to eat. They couldn’t blame him, it’d been a long day, and they were all probably pretty hungry. Times let go of Elliot’s hands and almost began eating the food that had been brought for them, only for Elliot to make a soft little “oh!”
“As…morbid of a segue as it is, that…sort of reminds me of something I wanted to do,” Elliot cleared his throat, “Do you mind if I…”
Times tilted their head, humming to tell Elliot to go on. Upon receiving confirmation, Elliot reached up and gently plucked a feather from his own head-wing, reaching to gently grab a few strands of Two Time’s hair, right by where the scars were. Two Time sat, blinking as Elliot carefully weaved the feather in.
“I…of course can’t give you….y’know,” Elliot, shrugged, “But…we’re good friends, and I was due for giving you a feather anyways. I thought that’d be a good place for it to go, but it’s up to you.”
Times sat there for a moment, blinking back sudden tears. Elliot grimaced, nearly apologizing for a perceived slight, before Times suddenly grabbed him in a hug, a strange trilling sort of noise in their throat. Elliot paused before hugging them back, laughing quietly. While in the hug, Times could hear Elliot and Chance have another exchange, something about Chance also getting a feather, specifically one to put in the band of his hat.
As the conversations petered out and the night faded on, eventually Times settled down, trying to push the events of the last round of the day out of their mind as they settled down to sleep, their arms wrapped around Chance and his arms around them in turn, Elliot settled close by as always. That last round was horrible, one Times was sure they wouldn’t forget anytime soon no matter how hard they tried, but…
…well, at least it was over, and at least they were surrounded by those they felt safe with. They could process things properly later.