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The moment Elliot spawned into the first Round of the day, he knew it was going to be a rough one.
It was something in the air, a certain type of tension that lingered and pulsed, weighing heavily on the back of his neck. Uncomfortable, and unsettling, unnatural.
It was the presence of Noli.
Every Killer had a sort of presence to them, even from the opposite side of the map. They were unique, from the toxic weight of 1x1x1x1, to the burning light of c00lkidd. Noli’s was unnatural, artificial in a way. The aftertaste of poor quality chewing gum, chemical and wrong. Decay.
The presence was what helped the Survivors identify their opponent, the hunter in this game of cat and mouse. And also the fact that Noli spawned in false Generators, but that wasn’t relevant right now.
The Survivors bustled around, as they did the first few moments of a Round, rushing to do Generators and prepare their abilities. Chance was gambling rapidly in the corner, Two Time setting up their Ritual next to him. Shedletsky was getting a few practice swings of his sword in, and Guest was helping guide Veeronica on the nearby Generator, which the three survivalists had flocked to.
As for Elliot, there was little he could do to prepare properly. His pizza slices would appear as needed, just barely enough to help tide his team over. He jogged over to a different Generator, hidden behind the sentry Builderman had already constructed, and checked the wires to make sure it was legit first. It was.
It didn’t take long for the chaos to start. It never did.
Noli rushed the small group with a Void Rush, slamming into multiple people before they could escape. Elliot threw a pizza into the crowd with deadly accuracy, hitting the most injured of the group first, Guest 1337. The Soldier had taken the brunt of the damage, shielding Veeronica and Noob in the process. Luckily, the two Survivalists had already scattered, and weren’t a priority.
With a haunting laugh, Noli used his Observant, teleporting almost directly on top of Elliot. A second Noli raced in from a corner, the Hallucinations already in full swing as Elliot tried to dodge the attacks from the decaying Deity.
He nearly slid on the slick grass of the map, before activating his Rush Hour. He had no choice, it was the only way to escape. Luckily for him, the sound of Two Time’s backstab could be heard, giving him even more motivation to get out of dodge as fast as possible.
The Hallucination was still in full effect, seeing as Elliot had managed to dodge any of Noli’s direct hits. Good for his health, bad for his status.
For a split second, a flash of long, white hair caught his attention. It came alongside a whisper-cry of “Ellie!”, one he knew couldn’t be real. Because Mia was not in this hellscape, and Noli was his opponent, and he was just hallucinating-
Why would he follow it? He knew it wasn’t real. But he missed her, his little sister, his father, his Creator, he missed them all. Was it so bad to chase after a glimpse of the people he loved, even if they weren’t real?
He turned the corner. There was nothing there.
His heart felt heavy.
~~~~
If they were being honest, Chance felt a little faint today.
Noli was always an unpleasant fight, what with the sheer confusion he induced with his abilities. Plus, the weight of decay in the air was never a good time, in Chance’s humble opinion.
He wasn’t sure if he was getting chased still or not, just running for his life while desperately gambling with his Coin Flip. Lady Luck was just not on his side today, he’d only gotten two charges and he hadn’t even Rerolled yet! He was sitting unfortunately at a measly 71 HP, just barely enough to keep him on edge.
He flipped his coin rapidly, making his way through the map at an elevated pace. They’d been hit with a nasty batch of Noli’s worst Hallucinations, and the shadows kept flickering in the corners of their eyes.
Was there a chill in the air today? Chance hated it when it got cold during the Rounds, the worst of their unpleasant memories always coming out of the ether to greet them during those chilly days.
He had been frigid to the touch, even through the gloves. Just standing next to him had always granted Chance a chill, grateful for the fur tucked underneath his shirt that just barely kept him warm.
A flash of a familiar braid flicked around a corner. Ice grew across the ground, creeping closer and closer.
It wasn’t real, it wasn’t real.
Chance turned a different corner, flipping their coin faster out of habit. They’d already gotten the charges they needed, they didn’t need to be stacking more and more Vulnerable with every failed coin toss.
It was so cold he could see his breath. Or was he just imagining it?
“Don’t you miss me?” A whisper on the wind, and Chance flinched.
They turned away again, running from the whispers and the cold once more.
~~~~
Another day, another hellish Round.
Noli was always a tough opponent by Builderman’s standards. He was familiar with the Void Deity, in the way he was familiar with nearly every Deity in existence.
But that was a story for another day.
He’d gotten separated from Shedletsky and Dusekkar in the chaos, having taken off in a different direction than his partners at Noli’s sudden appearance. He’d felt his Sentry get destroyed while he ran, watching idly as the mirage of Noli attempted to chase him.
Builderman had calmly walked the mirage around a piece of map geometry, thinking intently in the process about where he’d place his next Sentry on this map.
Once the mirage faded, he sighed, leaning against the broken down wall as he glanced around. Still alone, unfortunately.
A single feather laid on the ground, far too large to belong to a regular bird.
Despite knowing that the effect was still engaged, Builderman couldn’t help but be drawn to the golden feather, slowly walking towards it. It was large, magnificent, befitting of a Deity.
A breeze picked up the feather, and despite his scrambling, Builderman wasn’t able to grab onto it. His pace began to pick up as he chased after the feather, the distant sound of wings following him on the wind.
What had gotten into him? Builderman knew it was just a Hallucination, just another effect to drive more chaos and madness into the already unsteady group of Survivors. But he just couldn’t help himself, driving forward once more to get even a glimpse of what he sought.
Turning a corner, he could almost see it. The flash of wings, golden and magnificent, darting around another corner. He knew it wasn’t real. He knew that the person he was looking for was long dead, shattered into nothing but shards.
But still he pushed on, following the feathers that floated along on the wind, following the mischievous humming on the breeze.
He just wanted to see him one last time, was that so wrong?
~~~~
Today was not a good day for Guest 1337.
He’d woken up from nightmares of the war, of watching Matt get shot in front of him. Of the way he had taken the grenade, of how he had pulled that pin knowing that it would be the last thing he did.
He still wasn’t sure if everything he’d done had been worth it. But at least he was satisfied with himself. He had protected them, had protected Charlotte and Daisy from having to live on in fear, even if it meant they were to live on without him.
So was it worth it? To trade your life for the safety of others, the safety of your family?
Guest still wasn’t sure, anymore.
The other Survivors had scrambled away in the chaos, leaving Guest 1337 alone in the dust as Noli chased after a weaker target. He forced himself to follow the chaos, needing to protect the others as best he could.
Of course, he knew he was Hallucinating as well. It was only inevitable after the explosive entrance Noli had made.
Guest 1337 had no respect for Noli, for the underhanded tricks the Deity pulled on the Survivors. From false Generators to Hallucination-inducing attacks, Noli was an unfair and eccentric opponent. One that had caught him off guard, while he had been instructing poor Veeronica. He hoped she was alright, she was so young, even if maturity was different for a robot.
“Guest! Help us, please!” Cried the familiar voices on the wind. They haunted him as he raced after Noli, who was chasing after 007n7 in a familiar game of cat and mouse. The Deity really had it out for the Ex-Hacker, and Guest felt nothing but sympathy for the other.
The voices, the Hallucinations, called out to him again. He pushed them away, comforted by the knowledge that it was impossible for the two most important people in his life to be here. They were innocents, safe in their home and far, far away.
That knowledge made it easier to ignore the voices. There would be no point in chasing after them. Noli’s Hallucinations never showed their faces, even if they cried out in familiar voices. It was a cruel, cruel trick.
One that Guest 1337 had fallen for more than enough.
~~~~
Two Time was having a pretty average Round, if they were being honest.
They were navigating their hallucinations rather well before the Round, pleased to have a word to call the false images their faulty mind conjured. It was all thanks to Noli’s presence in the Realm, of course, but they would never thank such a false Deity like him.
They’d taken a nasty hit in the chaos at the start of the Round, darting away in the process. The whispers and distant flickers of familiar figures meant nothing to Two Time as they ran away expertly, finding their path with ease as they held their bleeding arm.
They began the search for a Medkit, or at least Elliot if he was available, with a pep in their step.
Why were they so cheerful today, they wondered. Some days they merely woke up overloaded with energy, enough that it had them bouncing out of whatever seat they ended up in. Those were the days they did the most work around the Survivor’s camp, tending to the cabins and helping the others with whatever chores they needed assistance with that day.
It was a cheerful day, they decided. They smiled wider, humming softly to themself as to help ignore the whispers. Such annoyances.
They ran into Elliot before a Medkit, the poor Pizza Man chasing after the ghosts in the breeze. A common sight during Noli Rounds, at least one person would get wound up by the hallucinations and try to chase after them, believing them to be lost loved ones. An understandable urge, in Two Time’s opinion, if not an unfortunate one.
“Elliot, I require your aid.” They called, watching as the Merfolk flinched at the sound of their voice. He turned to them, the purple haze in his eyes seeming to clear as he focused on their wound.
“Oh no, I didn’t even notice you getting hurt!” Elliot gasped, quickly summoning a healing pizza slice. Two Time scarfed down the slice quickly, feeling their wound mend and being left quite itchy in the process. The accelerated healing was always quite uncomfortable, but they bore it nonetheless.
“I’m so sorry, Two Time. I should’ve noticed-” They cut him off with a shushing noise, raising a finger in Elliot’s direction.
“Do not fault yourself, devoted Healer. It is the fault of that False God for leading you astray. You have served your purpose in spite of these trials, allow this to guide you.” They advised sagely, smiling as gently as they could at Elliot.
The Merfolk didn’t look particularly comforted, but Elliot had always been rather hard on himself either way. They beckoned him forward.
“Come forth now, and let us assist our allies. It is as the Spawn commands.” They grasped their hands together in a quick prayer, dipping their head for a moment before beginning to march forward with a wide smile, Elliot following after them with a quick stumble of hesitation.
Together, the two marched forward, trying to find their teammates.
The next person the two encountered was Chance, darting after shadows around corners and shivering violently.
“Chance!” Two Time called, causing a rabbit ear to twitch in their direction. Chance glanced over at the two, perking up at the sight of them.
“Get caught in the hallucinations too, buddy?” Elliot asked kindly, and Chance gave an awkward laugh, petting at one of his ears in a nervous tick, frail moth wings twitching behind him.
“Just a lil’ bit, nothing I couldn’t handle, of course!” They lied sweetly, and Two Time merely hummed, not believing them for a second.
“In that case, let us continue forward. The others will be needing us.” Two Time ushered the small group forward.
Builderman was the next person they encountered, still trapped in Noli’s spell. His eyes were locked onto something unseeable, following along as something invisible danced in the wind. Two Time chirped softly at him, an animalistic noise they still weren’t fully comfortable releasing, but it did the trick nonetheless.
The purple haze in the Admin’s eyes seemed to fade as he locked onto the small group, his gaze darting from person to person as if cataloguing if they were injured or not.
“Builderman!” Elliot cheered, his fins flicking upwards in happiness at seeing the other. “Good to see you! Your Sentry’s gonna be needed, let’s get going!”
It was Elliot who took the lead, as Builderman merely hummed his acknowledgement and joined the group. They were on a fast track to finding the Killer at this rate. It was a miracle so few of them were injured.
Elliot abruptly picked up the pace. Looks like Two Time would be retracting that statement.
“Those Hallucinations, huh?” Chance quipped, flipping their coin in a familiarly anxious move. Builderman gave a short grunt of agreement, and Two Time hummed theirs as well.
“Nasty things, so underhanded….” The Avian trailed off, glaring at the mirage of Noli that had been following the group the entire time. It swiped at them. Two Time went back to ignoring it promptly.
“Truly, an annoying foe.” They declared firmly, receiving noises of agreement from the group.
The last person they met, still influenced by the Hallucination effect, was Guest 1337. He was following after Noli intently, shrugging off what had to be truly nasty effects from being so close. His clothes were slightly singed, as if he had been hit by a Nova, but he refused Elliot when he went to feed the Soldier a healing slice, inclining his head towards the more injured parties being chased.
The group broke apart, then. Builderman began constructing a Sentry, Two Time crouched in the shadows, and Chance readied their gun. Elliot was already charging forward, with Guest 1337 flanking him in protection, in order to heal the poor soul being chased by Noli.
Idly, Two Time began to think to themselves as they waited for an opportune time to strike. Their teammates had suffered immensely during this Round. Maybe they should do something to cheer everyone up? Morale had been suffering lately, and with Shedletsky still rather…. Broody, for lack of a better term, the team had been in lessened spirits. He was their best morale booster, after all, and with the ancient Avian so distracted, the job had been left neglected.
Yes, they would do something for the Survivors group, to make everyone happier again. It was impossible to stay bright for long in a place like this, but Two Time would aspire to try nonetheless. It was the will of the Spawn, after all.