Chapter Text
It’s quiet in the Pizzaplex. There’s no chatter of excited guests or screaming children who don’t want to leave yet. It’s empty. A single staff door is open.
“Wanna go check it out?” asks the story-ruiner who brought him here. He’s grinning. It wouldn’t be the first time he and Tony have gone somewhere they shouldn’t—after all, they did find that loose brick and sneak into the school basement several times. But somehow, this feels different. There’s something off in Greg’s eyes.
Tony doesn’t get the chance to refuse. Greg grabs his wrist and drags him through the staff only door with a strength Tony didn’t know he had. The door shuts and locks behind them. Tony tries to look back, but Greg keeps dragging him down the hallway.
“Greg, wait, we really shouldn’t be back here! What if we get caught?” Tony doesn’t admit that his hunt for the mysterious GGY shook him up enough to make him paranoid in the Pizzaplex. He figures Greg would brush him off, but being caught by a staff member might manage to make Greg back off.
Gregory ignores him, though. He drags his friend into what seems to be a mostly unused storage room. It’s dark and dusty, with old empty metal shelves along the walls. The concrete floor is stained an unnerving dark, rusty color.
Searing pain fires into Tony’s back. He tries to scream, but his lungs are burning. The back of his shirt feels warm and wet. Every movement of his upper body is agony.
Greg’s voice comes from behind him.
“I didn’t want to have to do this, Tony. I really didn’t.” Tony whips around to face him, his mouth open to say something, but his words are cut off by a cry of pain. He doesn’t know what he expects to see, but Greg crying definitely isn’t it.
“You were warned a million times, but you ignored every single one! I was trying to keep you away from all of this, but you’re too stubborn to know when you need to back down!” Gregory shouts. His words feel like a bucket of ice water dumped on Tony’s head.
“You’re GGY. That’s why you changed my story, isn’t it? To avoid getting caught,” he wheezes. Oh god, he’s gonna die here, murdered by his own friend. All because he didn’t know when to mind his own business. Shit, he should’ve listened to his dad, he should’ve gotten a normal hobby. And Ellis… he won’t know what happened, and the last thing Tony said to him was being an asshole about him changing the stupid story that ended up getting him killed.
“I don’t want to kill you. I never wanted to kill you,” the kid Tony thought was his friend whispers. Whenever Tony pictured GGY, he always thought they’d be cold and calculating; a complete loner. He never thought they’d end up crying after stabbing someone who found out about their crimes. Tears drip down Tony’s face. He didn’t realize he was crying. His vision is starting to go spotty.
Tony’s swaying on his feet and it makes Gregory’s heart sink. He had been hoping that Tony would drop the GGY story after being warned, but he was wrong. And now one of his only two friends is dying at his hands.
No. No, no, no, no, no. He is not letting Tony die. Maybe- maybe he could be useful? Like a spy or something. Fuck it, it’s the best (and only) idea he has.
“I don’t want to let you die. If you join me, I can save you,” Gregory offers desperately.
Join him? Like an accomplice? The idea makes Tony’s stomach do somersaults, but he doesn’t want to die. He can’t die yet. He’s not even in high school, he’s too young to die!
Tony can’t bring himself to speak. His body hurts too much, and he’s pretty sure if he tried he’d end up coughing up blood. So Tony nods instead of using words, even though it makes his head spin. He hears a sigh of relief.
The next thing Tony knows is he’s waking up in a hospital bed. His back and lungs feel tight and sore. There’s an oxygen mask over his nose. His mom is sitting in a chair next to the bed. She looks like she’s been crying. Tony tries to turn his head towards her, but his head starts pounding so hard he thinks he’s gonna throw up.
Fuck, what happened to him..?