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The cold air of the Nether fortress hung thick with the scent of ash and ancient stone, but TitledNest4297 paid it no mind. It sat cross-legged on a slab of blackstone, a honey bottle pressed to where its mouth would be if it had one, watching a screen that floated impossibly in the air before it. A projection of Creati's laptop history, left open and untouched like a forgotten relic.
The Knocker stood beside it, hunched and awkward, its lanky frame casting a distorted shadow against the fortress walls. Its hollow gaze fixed on the screen with a mixture of contempt and reluctant curiosity.
Two girls ran through a dark house. A rabbit with too-wide eyes and a too-friendly smile watched them from the shadows.
"Let me be honest," The Knocker said mid-video, its voice a low rasp that scraped against the silence. "Your Creator really is weird."
TitledNest4297 tilted its head, the motion slow and deliberate. Its violet markings pulsed faintly, an amused flicker. "I know."
It took another sip of honey, the golden liquid vanishing into the void of its featureless face like it was being absorbed by shadow itself. The video continued playing, the Pumpkin Rabbit's voice curling through the air, sickly sweet and wrong.
"Why are we watching this again?" The Knocker asked, its tone flat. It shifted its weight, joints cracking like old wood.
"Because you said you bet this wouldn't be scary," TitledNest4297 replied with a shrug, its shoulder plates catching the dim light. The crystalline violet edges gleamed.
"It is." The Knocker gestured vaguely at the screen, where one of the girls was now hiding under a bed, her breath ragged and desperate. "Kids are really idiots in there."
"Of course they are. But they're kids. They don't know until it's too late." TitledNest4297 watched as the two girls, barely alive, bloodied but surviving, stumbled through the nightmare. "They learn. Some of them, anyway."
The Knocker made a sound like grinding teeth. "I swear that Rabbit's voice sounds like Shadow Dweller."
TitledNest4297's head swiveled toward it. "It's a villain. Or well, worse than a villain." The video shifted, the rabbit's face contorting into something grotesque. "You seem bored."
The Knocker's hollow eyes narrowed. "You sure?"
"You're fidgeting." TitledNest4297 gestured with the honey bottle. "You only fidget when you're bored or annoyed. Sometimes both."
"This is straight up kids dying and being hunted down by a freaking rabbit." The Knocker crossed its arms, the motion stiff and jerky. "How is this not boring? It's the same thing over and over. Run, hide, die, repeat. I could do that in any world, any time. At least when I do it, there's sport."
TitledNest4297 stared at the screen, watching the rabbit's victims scramble. "Creati likes animation. Well, she used to watch them. Her history is a mess. I keep telling her to delete it." A pause. "Actually, I think she uses it to fall asleep."
The Knocker's head snapped toward TitledNest4297, something almost like disbelief in its hollow gaze. "Your Creator watches children dying to fall asleep?"
"No, she watches art to fall asleep." TitledNest4297 corrected, its voice perfectly level. "The dying is just part of the story. But she doesn't have the nerve to watch it herself. This is definitely someone else using her laptop."
"Someone else? Like who?"
"Doesn't matter. Probably a friend. She's not capable of watching this without screaming." TitledNest4297 paused. "She screamed at a spider once. In Minecraft. In Creative mode."
The Knocker stared at it.
"I'm not joking."
A long, weighted silence stretched between them. The video continued: a chase, a scream, a door slamming shut. The Pumpkin Rabbit's laughter echoed.
"This is boring," The Knocker finally announced, turning away from the screen. Its voice was flat, dismissive. "All that effort, and for what? A cartoon? No real stakes, no real fight."
TitledNest4297 set down the honey bottle, the glass clinking softly against stone. Its violet markings brightened, pulsing like a heartbeat.
"Wanna fight?"
The Knocker's posture shifted. The hunch in its shoulders straightened. Its head turned slowly, deliberately, until it was facing TitledNest4297 directly.
"Now we're talking."
It didn't wait for a reply. One moment TitledNest4297 was seated on the blackstone slab, the next it felt a cold grip close around its arm (or what passed for an arm) and the world dissolved into streaks of shadow and purple light.
The Nether fortress was empty again, save for the floating screen still projecting the video's credits. The Pumpkin Rabbit's eerie smile frozen on the screen, the music winding down into something almost peaceful.
But the two figures were gone.
And somewhere in the Wasteland of Ruins, in the dead silence of the Sunless Void, the sounds of a brawl echoed across the ancient stones, punctuated by annoyed squabbling and the occasional thud.
"You threw me into a lava pool!"
"You're fine. You can't die."
"That's not the point!"
"Then what is the point, Dumbass?"
"You—"
A crash. A yelp. More bickering.
The screen flickered once, twice, and then went dark. The laptop's history remained untouched, waiting for Creati to come back and forget to delete it again.