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Shedletsky hadn’t been doing too well the past few days.
It was…to be expected, of course, considering…Builderman was gone. He knew he’d be back, of course, but he knew it’d be in a terrible state, after all. Before this, it’d only been killers that would disappear, and each time they would come back as having been released feral into the rounds, mindless animals in sapient shells. Shed could only assume with a growing pit of dread in his stomach that the same would happen to Builder, but that left him with the equally terrifying thought of how he would show up.
There was no way The Spectre would send him feral in a round in that tiny form he had so carefully chosen to seem harmless and unassuming. No, it was much more likely that a very big secret was about to spill, and soon everyone would know exactly what Builder actually was.
Shed was busy sorting through some folders Jane had handed over and asked him to give a once-over on, huddled at a table at the very back of the cabin. Usually the task was up to Builder, but with him gone at the current point, Jane had asked Shed to take over the job, making sure information was completely up to date.
He was shaken out of his focus by a double tap of someone’s foot on the ground, and he glanced up to see Taph standing on the other side of the table, fidgeting with their hand-talons. Shed…hated to admit it, but the mere sight of Taph right now was honestly making him angry. He thought the Admins had all raised them better than that, and now because they went and did something stupid, Builder was gone.
He tucked his head-wings tight against the sides of his skull to avoid accidentally flaring them out in a threat display, trying to steady his voice, “Epitaph, I’m not particularly in the mood to have a conversation with you right now, alright?”
There was a sort of distressed huffing noise from Taph as Shed focused back on his work, but eventually she trotted away, not trying to grab his attention again. Part of him really did feel horrible for pushing her away like that, but at the same time, he couldn’t deny that what had happened and what was about to happen was nearly all her fault. He still didn’t want to snap at her, so once he had explained everything he could when she came to him with a million questions about what Builder was and therefore what she partially was, he resigned himself to simply…not speaking to her. It was better for them both like that.
Everyone had been avoiding him since it happened, really. Even Illumina, who normally would chip in to speak to him in his head, was nearly completely silent. A part of him wondered if it was worried. Another part of him thought it was stupid to even question if it was, because of course it was.
He stayed like that, sorting through papers, for what felt like hours until there was a point where Jane came back by, staring at him for a long moment before taking her folders back and setting a plate of dinner on the table in front of him. He stared at her for a long minute, trying to seek some explanation, and eventually she sighed.
“Don’t lose yourself in your grief,” she turned away, “He’ll be back. You have to be there for him when he returns, no matter his state.”
A part of him was about to do something stupid, to snap at her that she had no place to be talking, but the logical part of his brain kicked in before he opened his mouth, firmly reminding him that it was her exact place to be talking, considering John. Instead his voice was dry when he managed to dredge up the ability to speak, quietly thanking her. She responded with a hum and headed back to the front of the cabin to exit it, presumably to go put the files back in her basement set-up.
He poked at the dinner he had been given with his fork, for once in his life not feeling particularly hungry at all. Even the fact that it was chicken didn’t really make him excited to eat it, and he choked down what little he could actually stomach eating. All he could imagine was how Builder would normally be sitting right across from him or beside him, rambling all about his plans to get out, or new ways to improve the cabin or his machines, or just something. Eventually he gave up on eating, shoving the rest of his food into a container after cutting off what he actually bit into, throwing it into the fridge and dropping his plate into the sink. Afterwards, he dragged himself towards the pile of blankets that had been shaped into a nest in the very back corner of the cabin.
He didn’t…particularly want to sleep, to be honest. It was late enough that everyone else had gone to sleep, however, and Shed didn’t want to poke Jane awake to ask for the files again, or even worse, risk her ire by going down into the basement and taking them to look over. With nothing in particular to do, he told himself that he should probably sleep or else he’d be practically asleep on his feet if there were rounds tomorrow. So he flopped into the nest, not even bothering to pull a blanket up, and squeezed his eyes shut to try to drag sleep to him.
Shed wasn’t sure how much sleep he actually got with all the tossing and turning he did, but eventually he was shaken fully awake sometime in the morning by someone crouching next to the blanket nest. He blinked open his eyes to see Jane again, still looking at him with an unreadable expression, like she’d been doing for the past few days.
“You need to get some breakfast in you before rounds start,” she explained, “So get up and get some. We don’t need one of our main fighters down for the count because of an empty stomach.”
He grumbled as he sat up, but he quickly came to the realization that Jane wasn’t going to leave until he actually got up and got breakfast, her eyes narrowing at him through the shadow over half her face. Feeling like a scolded child, he dragged himself fully up and grabbed food, settling back at the table he’d been at last night. At one point he glanced up to see Taph presumably staring at him, and he unthinkingly narrowed his eyes, tucking in his head-wings again. Taph quickly turned away, and Shed was abruptly startled by the crackling of flames. He shifted his gaze to the source of the noise, seeing Dusekkar staring at him.
Dusekk had made it…very evident that he didn’t like the way Shed was treating Taph. He hadn’t said anything yet, but occasionally when Shed would dismiss Taph, he’d find Dusekk staring at him with a distinct sort of anger. Shed couldn’t understand why Dusekk didn’t understand. This was Taph’s fault, after all, so Shed’s options were either just simply ignoring her, or outright showing her how angry he was.
In fact, now that he thought about it…quite a few members of the cabin had been reacting negatively to how Shed had been treating Taph–but they just didn’t understand. It was better for them both this way. If he talked to them, all he would think about was how Builder was gone because of them. If they hadn’t gone out to do something that everyone knew at this point was stupid, Builder wouldn’t have had to go save them, and therefore he wouldn’t be gone. Why could no one understand that? Yes, that was their father, but it was his husband.
After he had eaten his breakfast, there was the distinct strong pull of a round starting. He shook himself off as he was teleported into the map, breathing out slowly.
On his next breath in, something distinct hit him: petrichor. The smell of rain on the dirt. It was tinged metallic and dusty, and Shed knew right away what that smell meant.
That was exactly what Builder smelled like when he dropped the mortal disguise.
That meant it was time.
He moved swiftly with Illumina in hand, trying to make his way to what he assumed was the center of the map. With the recently growing addition of maps appearing at random, the group had settled on the plan of meeting in the center. When Shed got there, he blinked in surprise at seeing nearly the whole survivor group there–with the obvious exception of Builder himself. He realized slowly that everyone was looking to him for leadership for once. It made sense when he thought about it, really.
Alright.
“I’m not–” he took in a breath, trying to ignore the smell, “I’m not gonna pretend we’re all gonna get out of this unscathed. Truthfully, I…don’t know how many of us are even gonna make it out of this.”
The group grimaced, staring around at each other. Shed ran his talon-fingers through his hair, folding his head-wings tight against his skull to keep them from fidgeting in fear.
“That’s…not reassuring,” he tried to ignore the bile in his throat and the way his breakfast was threatening to escape his stomach, “I know, I’m sorry. I’m sure you’d all want the truth rather than reassurances right now, and that’s…what the truth is.”
Abruptly, the smell grew stronger. So strong it was almost choking, shaking Shed out of his talk. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something start moving, and his attention snapped to it in horror.
It was some grand draconic thing, too many wings to be natural as it raised above the group, the same light-absorbing shade of black as The Spectre. Frankly, Shed had no idea how the thing had practically snuck up on the group, considering it was larger than The Spectre itself and twice as long.
“What is that?” Dusekk whispered in terror.
“My Finch…” Shed breathed out. Builder.
All at once there was utter panic in the group. Behind him, he could hear Elliot frantically asking why Builder looked like The Spectre, followed by Chance frantically telling him that it wasn’t the time.
The group was staring up at Builder, Shed could just tell, with them all going frantically silent.
And then there was a horrible, horrible wretched warbling-gargling roar. Shed knew at heart that that sound was a noise of pain.
Unthinkingly, he dropped Illumina, the blade screaming at him as it clattered to the ground. Shed had seen this form of Builder’s hundreds of times over, both as Shedletsky and as Telamon. He was so used to holding Builder’s head in that form lovingly, nuzzling against it in a display of affection. Without a word spoken he held out his arms like he was expecting the same love, even though he knew that wouldn’t be the case here. He could find love still in the gnashing teeth and horrifying maw that was now rapidly approaching him.
Taph didn’t see the blow.
She was close to seeing the blow, but then abruptly Dusekk had thrown his staff to the side to grab her and go sprinting like she was still some small child who needed to be protected by him. For once, she didn’t find a single complaint in her mind at the gesture.
There were the sounds of heavy footsteps running alongside Dusekk’s hoofsteps, alongside the distinct sound of a skateboard’s wheels–Noob and Veeronica, she could assume. After a moment the footsteps stopped as Taph heard Veeronica haul Noob up onto her back to carry them along faster.
Back in the distance, Taph could hear the distant bang of a gunshot and another horrible gurgling roar. It was only a second before a laugh of victory turned into a scream of distress, leaving Taph well aware of what had occurred without even seeing it. She could only wonder just how many people had been taken out simply standing there before they could even process what was really occurring.
Eventually Dusekk ducked behind a wall, breathing heavily and his flame crackling in a panic. He set Taph down, not looking at them once.
“I am–going to do what I can,” his flame flared up so much that fire licked at the sides of his mouth, “I unfortunately, however, cannot say I have a plan.”
“7hen d0n’7 go b4ck 7h3re!” Vee frantically motioned to where the group had run from, “y0u can’t ju5t run in 4nd–”
Taph watched as the fight faded from her, pixelated eyes blinking into recognition.
“...N0thing I c4n say i5 gonn4 s7op you, i5 it?”
Dusekk sighed, and Taph could see the tremble in his body as he tried to put up the calm front he always had, “If anyone can reason with him–”
“If 4nyon3 could h4v3 rea5oned wi7h him,” Vee frantically motioned to where the group had run from, “It wou1d be hi5 husb4nd wh0 we 4ll ju5t watched c0mmi7 suicid3 by dr4g0n!”
“V-Vee’s right,” Noob motioned as well, “Y-You’re his right-hand-man, I-I guess, b-but if he’s in s-such a state that he k-killed Shed with n-no hesitation…”
Taph made a huff, shakily holding her hands up to sign, “Please.”
Please stay here. Please don’t try anything. Please. Please.
Dusekk stared at her. He looked agonized.
“I have to try,” he breathed out.
And then, he was gone.
The three stood in silence for a moment, save for the breathing of the two of them who actually did need to breathe. Vee was the first to break the silence, letting out a bitcrushed sigh as she rubbed at her head.
“Wh4t’s the p1an?” Vee looked at the other two and Taph saw her face flicker, nervousness being replaced with the front of confidence that she always tried to have up.
“I-I don’t th-think we have one, r-really,” Noob shook their head, “E-Even though he…clearly w-wasn’t in his right mind, I-I think Shed was right. N-Not many, if…any o-of us are gonna m-make it out of this round.”
“Can’t be stunned, I think,” Taph’s signs were shaky, but it couldn’t help but notice how the others seemed to be paying extra attention, “Heard Chance fire and then scream.”
“I gl4nced back in tim3 t0 watch i7 happ3n,” Vee grimaced, “Pret7y sur3 Dub5 and El1iot went d0wn with him.”
So that was at least four confirmed dead in the initial scuffle, Taph realized. Shedletsky, Chance, Two Time, and Elliot.
“Wh-Who do we think even made it out?” Noob blinked, “A-As far as we kn-know, the th-three of us could be th-the only survivors!”
‘For now’ Taph thought, and was suddenly a million times more grateful that their face was covered and their expression couldn’t be seen.
They were abruptly startled by a loud crashing noise outside the area they’d taken shelter in. Vee snapped to face the noise, dropping her board back to the ground and planting a foot on it.
“List3n to me, ok4y?” she looked over her shoulder at Taph and Noob, “If w3 41l run in 7h3 s4me dir3ction, he’5 g0nna get a1l of us. I’m g0nna run 0ut and to th3 righ7, y0u guy5 wai7 and th3n go lef7, got it?”
For a moment, Taph wanted to protest, wanted to say that surely there was something they all could do, but they realized that…Vee was right. No matter what, someone was dying here–and Vee had willingly offered herself up as the sacrifice. Taph took in a breath and nodded, seeing Noob nodding as well.
“S3e y0u guys at th3 cabin,” Vee threw a peace sign up before she took off out of the building.
Taph and Noob waited with baited breath as they heard the abrupt horrifying gurgling roar of Vee being spotted and being rapidly chased after. After a moment, Taph nodded and grabbed Noob’s wrist, sprinting away in the opposite direction like Vee had instructed. Noob kept up, leaving them both to try to ignore the noise of Vee being chased–and then the equally harrowing noise of Vee being killed.
At one point, abruptly, Noob tripped on a piece of the map that was sticking out, the unfamiliar terrain sending both them and Taph tumbling to the ground. Taph’s eyes widened under the shadow on her face as the horrifying beast that Builder had become came rushing onto the scene. Noob didn’t even say anything, they just frantically motioned for Taph to go. Understanding the gravity of the situation, Taph nodded and scrambled to her feet, booking it away from the situation and ignoring what was occurring behind her.
It was a…long while of running before Taph stopped again, out of breath and hooked around a wall. Today had been…an absolute nightmare, and it was merely the first round of the day. Taph had a dire, dire hope that this round was so chaotic and horrible that The Spectre would be fed for the rest of the day and it wouldn’t pull any more rounds. That’s all she could do–hope.
Someone else rounded the corner, breathing heavily and barely holding themself together. For a moment, Taph hoped it was Noob who had somehow gotten out of the whole mess, only to see Jane. A face she wasn’t too upset to see, but still.
“H-Hey, Crow,” Jane muttered, then winced and held her side, squinting her eyes shut in pain, “I’m good, I’m good, don’t worry.”
“No you’re not!” Taph signed once Jane looked back at them, head-wings flaring out in a panic.
“You’re–yeah, you’re right,” she laughed, gritting her teeth the moment she did, “Builder did a number on me. I tried to go for his head by climbing a building and uh…”
She trailed off, looking back the way she’d come from. She was horribly beaten, and Taph could see bits of debris still stuck into fresh wounds. Frankly it was a surprise she was even standing or getting around.
“Turns out the giant dragon tail isn’t just for show,” she explained, “It sent me through a window.”
Taph made the best attempt at a whine they could muster. Jane adjusted her hat as she looked back at them.
“I…believe we might be the only ones left in the round,” she sighed, though Taph was quick to note it was a more muted sigh than she normally would have done, leaving Taph to assume that it was her ribs that took the brunt of the damage, “I saw…nearly everyone die right before I went to strike, and I assume you split off from your group for planning reasons.”
“Dusekk ran back to try to reason,” Taph signed, head-wings drooping, “Vee and Noob died while running.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Jane nodded in grim agreement, “I saw the…aftermath.”
Jane suddenly picked her head up, nervously staring in a direction. Taph listened in, hearing the approaching sounds of the beast they were up against. A movement of Jane’s hands caught Taph’s eyes, and they realized she was quickly signing an order-’Tripmine.’
Taph knew the ins and outs of Subspace Tripmines, perhaps even better than anyone else save for the very man who originally made them. She trusted no other explosive more than the usually thought of as unstable tripmines, a train of thought that was only proven way back before she died, back when an untimely ill-prepared explosion left her with another reason to hide her face.
One of the things they knew by heart was the exact time it took one to be armed, allowing them to, in a pinch, directly throw a mine that would immediately explode at a killer. It was something that they’d done dozens of times before and would do dozens of times again, and it was probably what they were being told to do here and now.
As the noise of the beast in the round approached, Taph held their talon-hands around the frame of a mine in one and the core in another, trying to not squeeze down too hard on the core. As death approached, they tried to desperately forget that the beast was Builder, trying to categorize it as…distinctly not him.
Unfortunately, her attempts to categorize the beast as something different were squashed when it burst through the wall, snatching Jane in a single horrifying bite, slicing her clean in half. Taph made a horrible choked attempted noise of panic, shoving the frame and the core of the tripmine together and throwing it, leaving it to explode against the beast’s face as the world erupted into a shower of pink. As the beast roared that horrible gurgling noise again, Taph scrambled as far away as she could, finding herself tumbling off a small ledge. She scrambled further into a corner, realizing rapidly that this was it, this was going to be the end of the round, especially as Last Man Standing began.
The surprisingly damaged face of the beast crested the ledge, head-wings that were covering one side of its face now tattered horribly. It snarled, and Taph had to simply sit there and remind herself that Builder was not in his right mind–this practically wasn’t her father. That’s what she had to hold onto as it crept closer, growling at her in presumably a rage for injuring it. She frantically squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see the blow before it happened.
And then he…paused. He paused and audibly sniffed at Taph, causing them to slowly peer their eyes open again. There was…some form of recognition in the squinted, injured eye that Taph could see, and he crept forwards still, making a noise that Taph could vaguely equate to purring, like a distressed mother cat who had finally found her missing kitten. He curled around Taph, carefully nuzzling them with the side of his head that hadn’t been injured by the mine explosion.
Taph sat there for a long moment, trying to figure out what to do. After a bit, hot tears welled at her eyes and dripped down her face, wetting her bandana as she frantically wrapped her arms around his head the best she could, nuzzling her face against him. She was tired, she was terrified, she was more homesick than she’d ever been in this horrible place, and she was still filled with so many questions. Desperate questions about what Builder was, and therefore what she partially was. Shed had tried to explain, yes, but even he didn’t know everything. The only one who did was Builder, who, even though he had stopped his rampage, clearly wasn’t in his right mind right now.
Taph was pinned between wanting the round to end right this second and not wanting to leave the hug, but the timer ticked anyway. She just had to tell herself that after this, Builder would be back, and he’d be himself. Everything would be fine. It would have to be.
Shedletsky had hoped that there would be no more rounds. Taph had expressed the same hope to him after the round, right before he grabbed her in a frantically apologetic hug, the horrifying ending to the rare instance of a spectate-able round smacking him with the sharp reminder that Builder was her father. He put himself in a position to be taken. Taph had suffered enough in the round, there was no need to further rub it in.
The two had been right to hope for once, with no rounds occurring once that one had finished. It simply became a waiting game for Builder’s return, done with held breaths that hung in tightened chests.
Eventually, Shed’s ears caught the noise of someone stepping up onto the porch. He was already at the door by the time it opened, leaving him to just…stare. Builder stood there, smile missing and eyes more tired than Shed had ever seen. One half of his face was pitch black in a blast-like shape, the head-wing on that side horribly tattered and the eye on that side squinted partially shut. He looked…horrible. The mere sight made Shed feel vaguely ill.
“I know that–” Builder stumbled a bit past Shed, clearly trying to address the rest of the cabin, “y’all…probably have questions–”
“It can wait,” Shed watched Jane push her way to the front of the group, “Any questions can wait, because you look like you’re about to fall over.”
There was a collective murmur of agreement from the group, and Shed let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in. Builder stared for a moment longer before nodding and beginning to stumble towards the blanket nest at the back of the cabin. Shed didn’t even have to wait for the smallest bit of mental tug before he scrambled after Builder, nearly falling over himself as he scooped Builder up on the way, scrambling into the nest and holding the smaller man as close as he physically could without hurting either of them.
It would be fine. Shed just had to ignore the new scar on Builder’s face. He just had to ignore the way Builder was trembling against him. He just had to ignore the feeling of tears wetting his shirt.
It would be fine.