Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

[We first see nothingness, just a black void covering the entire screen until suddenly light appears. An old TV is now playing in the middle of the screen, pushing back this darkness it’s surrounded by as it displays nothing but static. A long quiet hum can be heard from the TV as the camera pushes in, all the while we slowly hear the sound of a distant VOICE , scrambled slightly as the camera gets closer and closer to the TV.]

VOICE: Now, I believe everything is finally in order. Without further adieu, let us begin…

[The camera now stops, mere inches from the TV as the screen displays nothing but static, the hum has now increased in volume as static fills the entire screen before eventually cutting off entirely, leaving us back in the black void once more.]

[When we return, the first thing we see is a closeup of someone's face, more specifically their eye, closed at the moment but quickly fluttering open as this figure slowly starts to awaken from their slumber. He groans and rubs his eyes slightly with a gloved hand as we cut to see him in full, lying in a dark room with little light except for small bulbs at the top.]

[The man is dressed mostly in green, down from his shirt to the green cap he is wearing, emblazoned with the letter ‘L’. His body is covered in jean dungarees while his shoes are nothing that remarkable, just a pair of brown everyday ones. He continues to groan as he looks around, sniffing his moustachioed nose before he takes a quick look around the room, confusion now present across his face. The camera pans around to his point of view, seeing nothing but vague hints of walls around him as well as a metal door with something attached to it in the middle.]

LUIGI: W-What the…?

[He slowly rises to his feet, the look of confusion being slowly mixed in with panic as his eyes dart around the room, wondering just where exactly he is and how he got here. He finally stands up to his feet and notices something else wrong, as does the audience – not with the room, but with him. He feels something around his neck, wondering just what it was as he grabs it offscreen, a faint green light pouring out and illuminating his gloved hands. The camera cuts back to reveal he is wearing some kind of metallic ring with a green light stretching around, dividing the two bits of grey metal.]

[Now he is fully panicked, cowering just slightly as he backs up, bumping up against a nearby wall as he falls to the floor once again, trying desperately to get the thing off of him. But it’s no use, no matter what he can’t get it off, feeling a little sharp sting of pain across his neck as he pulls it in any direction. He breathes rapidly trying his best to remain calm as he looks towards the door, noticing a light just outside and a shadow walking past – someone is outside. The camera cuts back to a close-up of him as he starts to speak.]

LUIGI: Hey! Help me, please? I-I don’t know what’s going on!

[He cries out but there’s no response. The shadow passes and he’s met with light from the outside once more. Seeing his opportunity slip away he makes his way over to the door, it looks heavy and metallic, blocking the entire frame as if trying to make sure any air couldn’t get in, Luigi’s fist brushes past something as it falls to the floor, but he doesn’t pay attention, instead banging on the door rapidly.]

LUIGI: Hello? Can anyone hear me? I need help!

[He cried out some more, but again there’s no response. He takes a step back as his footsteps on what was formerly attached to the door, and as the camera cuts back we see his brown shoes are stepping on a simple piece of paper. We cut back to Luigi as he looks at it in confusion, wondering what could be written on it as he begins to pick it up. There’s writing on the paper of course, neatly woven in black text as if it was something formal. Luigi’s eyes scan the paper furiously as he holds it tight, mumbling the words out loud to nobody but himself.]

LUIGI: “Dear contestant, if you are reading this then do not be alarmed. You are one of many lucky players in our little game, we hope you do not act drastically when you’re in your green room. The door should be unlocked for you. Find us, and find the others, then we may begin. Sincerely…”

[The camera cuts back to focus on the letter itself, an over-the-shoulder shot as the writer is shown to the audience and Luigi.]

LUIGI: ‘The Static Serene’?

[He looks over at the paper once more, flipping to the other side but being met with nothing before crumpling up into a ball. He still isn’t calm and collected, but he’s more annoyed than scared now, which is somehow a positive. He looks over to the door, finding no easy handle before he pushes it with his hands. He strains, but it doesn’t budge at all. He tries kicking it, but all he’s met with is the sound of his shoes banging against metal. He pants slightly before making his way to the end of the room, hyping himself up under his breath.]

LUIGI: C’mon Luigi, you can do this! It’s just a simple door, might be made from the toughest titanium ever, but you can do it!

[His fists grab his straps slightly as he takes a deep breath, he then starts to let out a high-pitched scream as he runs towards the door, preparing to tackle it down. As he does though, a small beep can be heard from the other side, drowned out by Luigi’s screaming until the door opens by itself. Luigi runs out, stampeding into what lies beyond which looks to be only a simple guard-rail over a long dark hole underneath.]

[Quickly realising his mistake, his scream turns into one of worry rather than frustration as he tries to slow down, his body stops as it crashes against the guard-rail, causing him to groan as he falls to the cold floor beneath him. He slowly gets up once again, adjusting his green cap slightly as he tries to brush himself off.]

LUIGI: Dio mio…

[The door suddenly closes behind him, causing Luigi to jump slightly before snapping back to reality. He mutters under his breath before taking a look around this new environment, a complete opposite to the place he woke up in. The room he was in was clearly illuminated, vast and covered head-to-toe in metal, like he was trapped in some underground construction site. He noticed that the platform he was on seemed to be caught in a spiral, circling around at the top and circling down to the world below, all the while doors identical to the one came from dotted the scene.]

[He slowly looks around, finding himself becoming more confused as he steps away from the guard-rail, his eyes scanning around as the sound of his feet on metal echo throughout the giant hole, or tunnel, or wherever he is. He can hear the faint sound of loud beeping up ahead for just a moment, looking up and seeing a door open slightly, although he can’t exactly see who is stepping out. As he looks up he begins to place his hands around the side of his mouth, hoping his voice would be loud enough.]

LUIGI: Uh hey. Excuse me! I-I’m down here! Can you hear me?

[No response. But Luigi tries once again, peering up to the metallic heavens above.]

LUIGI: I don’t know what this place is. You can hear me right?

[Again, no response. In fact, the person above seems to step away entirely as Luigi hears their footsteps get quieter and quieter.]

LUIGI: Maybe they really didn’t hear me?

[As Luigi thinks to himself he begins to put his hand onto the guardrail, peering down at the dark void below, looking like it could swallow Luigi up without anyone even noticing or caring. Despite a brief shiver and a look of dizziness on his face, Luigi puts that aside and looks away, focusing now on what was in front of him. Arguably it wasn’t much, just the sight of the spiral metal floor and a few doors here and there, but he still braced himself for what may come.]

[Slowly he began to put one foot in front of the other, keeping himself steady with the guardrail as the sound of his shoes clacking against metal echoing throughout the hall. He looks around occasionally, as if to spot whether anyone was following him, but with each turn he comes up short. He continues to walk forward until he suddenly comes across something new. A hallway, carved into the side of the wall with nothing but darkness inside.]

[Shaking his head just slightly, he peers up at the grand sight ahead of him, he sees little rays of daylight up ahead, his feet slowing down just slightly as he yells above.]

LUIGI: Hello? Helllooo? Ciao?

[He gets no response at first but just as he’s about to call out once more he feels something bump against his back, causing him to fall to the floor as he lets out a startled scream. As he rubs his back he notices a young girl on the floor next to him, wearing that thing around her neck just like him, her hair a dark shade of black, wearing a shirt and shorts as well as some sandals. As she recovered, she picked up glasses off the floor, hiding her eyes with a printed neon pattern as she stared up at Luigi.]

GIRL: Well, hello to you too then.

[As the girl brushes herself off the floor, Luigi quickly gets up in response.]

LUIGI: Sorry, I uh… I guess I wasn’t looking.

[The girl slowly rubs her arm as Luigi looks on in silence.]

LUIGI: Hey, you wouldn;t happen to know why we’re stuck down here, right?

GIRL: Nope. But that letter might give us a good place to start.

[After speaking, she digs around in her pocket before pulling out a crumpled piece of paper, although a bit creased it seemed to be nearly identical to Luigi’s.]

LUIGI: What lett- Oh.

[As she scans the letter once more, the two share a silence between one another as Luigi looks towards her, she notices that the metal contraption around her neck was built exactly like his as well, although hers might have been a little bit smaller.]

LUIGI: So… you’re green too huh?

[The girl looks away from the letter to face Luigi, trying to make as best small talk as possible as he pointed to his own collar, making sure she knew what he was even talking about.]

GIRL: Oh yeah… wonder what that means too.

LUIGI: I hope it’s good, green usually means something is good.

GIRL: Is that why you]re covered head to toe in the stuff?  

LUIGI: Ye- No.

NAMI: Well that aside, if what you’re saying is the case, what would make us ‘good’?

LUIGI: W-Well uh… I don’t really know.

[The silence between the two returns once more before Luigi speaks once again.]

LUIGI: My name’s Luigi. What’s yours?

NAMI: Nami.

LUIGI: Nami. That’s uh…

[Luigi clicks his fingers slightly at the name, trying to figure out where had heard the name before, but quickly pushed that side.]

LUIGI: Well whatever, it’s nice to meet you, Nami.

[Luigi quickly pulls out his hand for Nami to shake, to which she complies.]

NAMI: Nice to meet you as well.

[The two quickly release each-other’s hands as they look their separate ways, Luigi looks around the surrounding area, observing the closed doors as he steps closer to them. Nami meanwhile stays in the same place, looking up at the lights and spiral path above them. Luigi kicks at the door slightly as a loud metal bang echoes throughout the hall, causing him to fall back to the ground again. Nami notices this but Luigi tries to pretend nothing had happened.]

LUIGI: Hey, do you remember how you got here?

NAMI: I woke up inside that dark room, opened the door, and walked the path in front of me.

LUIGI: No, I mean. Do you know how we ended up here in this place?

NAMI: Not a clue.

LUIGI: Well there’s gotta be a reason for it, maybe we’re all connected in some kinda way like it’s a detective story.

NAMI: I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Last time I checked I was real, not a bunch of words someone typed out.

[Luigi looks over to Nami, walking closely to her as she inspects the paper some more.]

NAMI: Out of interest, what exactly do you do? You’re not telling me that you dress up everyday in that outfit, right?

[She pokes Luigi slightly as he backs away a few steps, as if ready to pull off some kind of defensive pose.]

LUIGI: No, I don’t wear ‘em all the time. These are just my work clothes. I’m a plumber in Brooklyn, along with my brother Mario. I don’t really see how exactly that led me to being trapped in some kinda dank hole.

NAMI: Do you have competition?

LUIGI: For plumbing? Eh… not really.

NAMI: I figured as much, what kind of plumber would want to compete with someone who wears white gloves while fixing your toilet?

[Luigi immediately reaches for his gloves, pulling them tightly over his fist as he stares at Nami, looking ready to fire back at the nonchalant girl.]

LUIGI: Okay then, so what do you do then, huh?

[The camera cuts back to Nami, her expression still hasn’t changed as she instead lightly brushes her hand past her hair.]

NAMI: Well, nothing right now. I just hang around at the beach most of my day.

[Luigi looks back at her confused before placing his hands to his chin, thinking long and hard.]

LUIGI: So you don’t have a job, you don’t go to school?

NAMI: Not really. I have my eye on a few jobs so if we make it out alive then I have that going for me. Although, I am starting to get less optimistic about it.

LUIGI: About getting a job?

[Luigi steps closer to Nami as she rests against the guard-rail, paying no attention to the fact that behind her is almost certainly an endless black pit below.]

NAMI: About getting out.

LUIGI: What are you talking about, of course we’ll make it out! All we gotta do is uh…

[Luigi points to the long and winding path in front, behind, and on top of them, descending and winding as far as the eye could see with no definite ceiling to be seen.

LUIGI: …climb.

[He gulps a little but tries his best to put on a brave face yet again, all the while Nami doesn’t react at all, instead brushing past the plumber without a word, going up the trail. Luigi soon follows her and the two begin to walk up above into the unknown. The only sound that could be heard is their footsteps as they bang against the metal, growing more and more distant as time progresses.]

[We hard cut back to Luigi and Nami on their journey, the former still following behind the latter as he looks around, while Nami keeps her eyes straight ahead, only turning her gaze when the path demands it. We see Luigi trying his best to say something but he quickly stops multiple times, butting in and saying not a word before he does indeed say something, letting out a slightly exhausted sigh.]

LUIGI: How long is this going to take us? It feels like my feet are on fire!

NAMI: We’ve only been walking for a few minutes.

LUIGI: But there should be an end at some point, right? Do they really expect us to just walk from our doors all the way up these stairs without slipping up once?

NAMI: Maybe that’s the game they’re playing, they want us to exhaust ourselves and see who reaches the top faster.

LUIGI: Eh, I don’t see it. That sounds like a pretty dull game to watch if you ask me.

NAMI: Well either way, there doesn’t appear to be some kind of magical elevator or arm to just lift us up out of here. We’ll get there in the end, so there’s no need to complain.

LUIGI: I’m not complaining, guess I’m still just a bit shaken up about the whole ‘kidnapping and being forced to compete in some kinda game in who-knows-ville’.

[As the two of them walk, Luigi’s hand starts to wrap around the strange device on his neck, the green ring of light pouring slightly out and onto his hand as he notices Nami’s glowing green as well, wrapping around the entire length of the metal circle.]

LUIGI: Maybe these things are supposed to act like fancy heart monitors, to keep up your cardio or something.

[He chuckles a little bit at his joke, but gets no reaction from Nami, well not one he could see anyway. She had moved her head slightly to look back at him, and Luigi took the opportunity to continue on, clutching the device with both hands now.]

LUIGI: Maybe if we get enough steps in this thing’ll come right off?

NAMI: Let’s just hope that we don’t do too many before they gi-

???: Did someone say "magical elevator or arm to lift us out of here??”

[A new voice is heard now, clearly not Luigi’s or Nami’s. This one was more theatrical in tone and their voice echoed throughout the grand hall, everywhere and yet nowhere at the same time, reminiscent of some barker or announcer to a grand audience of two people. Luigi and Nami’s eyes look around slightly as they stop walking.]

NAMI: Well, yeah, but that was a joke.

???: Then joke no more, for I have your solution!

[We cut back to a close-up of Luigi as he looks from side-to-side, looking notably cautious while raising his voice just slightly.]

LUIGI: Who are you, anyway?

???: Who am I? Who am I?! Why look behind you, my moustachioed man!

[The voice is heard once again, but nobody but Luigi is shown on the frame as the camera begins to pan over his shoulder just as Luigi does the same, getting a look now at the owner of this mysterious voice. It looked human in terms of its proportions, dressed head to toe in an old ringmaster’s outfit, neatly fashioned but looking vaguely simplistic as well.]

[However two things were off about this mysterious guest; the first was that their head was replaced with a set of comical teeth, like the kind you’d find at the dentist for diagrams, floating inside the teeth were two eyeballs, one green and one blue, with a top hat floating at the top of the creature’s head. The other weird thing about this, was that the figure was floating, in fact he seemed to almost defy gravity as Luigi noticed it also carried the same mechanism he and Nami had, but with no neck to wrap around it just floated behind its eyes.]

[We cut back to Luigi and Nami for their reactions as Nami takes a step back, sharing an unusual sense of worry now and moving behind Luigi. Luigi however, is surprisingly not disturbed by this strange being.]

NAMI: What the heck is that thing?

RINGMASTER: Oh please, ‘that thing’ was my father’s name! Call me by my actual name!

LUIGI: And that would be?

RINGMASTER: Why I am the host of the most heart-pumping, mind-melting, death-defying circus in all of history!

[As he talks, the Ringmaster continues to float around, performing exaggerated movements with his hands and getting closer and closer to Luigi and Nami as the two watch on.]

CAINE: My name is Caine, the ringleader for the Amazing Digital Circus!

[He stops in place, mouth agape as if waiting for applause, a response only given by Luigi but only after a few seconds had passed.]

CAINE: Thank you, thank you, you’re too kind!

LUIGI: Wait, so you said you were the host, right?

CAINE: Indeed I am, my good man.

LUIGI: Are you the host of whatever show we’re supposed to be on?

[Caine lets out a chuckle, his laugh sounding almost like stock canned laughter, before he suddenly stops and speaks again.]

CAINE: Unfortunately, I am not. If I was, I would have this strange contraption joggin’ around in my noggin’.

[His hand reaches into his mouth as he taps the bracelet, we can see that the ring of light around his is actually blue instead of green.]

NAMI: Blue…?

CAINE: What was that?

NAMI: The colour around that ring thing, it’s blue.

CAINE: So what if it is? These doohickeys can have sad days too!

NAMI: No, I mean…

[Nami sighs before stepping forward, putting a finger around her own ring.]

NAMI: Mine is green, see? So’s Luigi’s over there. And yet yours is blue.

CAINE: That’s what you’re worried about? I saw a person around here with red on them not too long ago, and I’m sure there’ll be more up topside!

[Caine points up to the sky as Luigi steps closer.]

LUIGI: Can you take us up there? I’ve had enough of this place.

CAINE: Sure thing! Just take my hand, my good man!

[Caine reaches out his gloved hand to Luigi, to which he takes, Nami watches the two of them from further back as Caine starts to pull away. However, instead of pulling Luigi with him, his limb stretches and remains in the same place, increasing in length as Caine goes further back, a slide whistle effect can be heard as he does. He then begins to float upwards, his arm still stretching out while Luigi stays in the same place.

[We cut back to Nami, looking slightly unnerved by this sight while Luigi is not at all fazed.]

NAMI: How are you not questioning how this is happening?

LUIGI: Oh believe me, I have seen way weirder things before.

NAMI: Weirder? What the heck could be weirder than that?

LUIGI: Well you ever bump into a dead tortoise and make all of its bones separate before they form back again?

NAMI: …Can’t say that I have.

[We cut to focus in on Luigi as the slide whistle sound effect gets softer and softer before eventually stopping while Luigi talks.]

NAMI: You really think you can trust someone shifty like that?

LUIGI: He’s been kind to us, how is he shifty?

NAMI: Well I don’t know, maybe it’s the fact that he doesn’t have a neck, or a mouth, or a head?!

LUIGI: You’re being too dramatic, this is our only chance to get out of this place, so if I don’t come out alive, t-then you’ll know not to follow my example. But it can’t be that ba-

[Caine interrupts Luigi, his voice echoing across the hall and reverberating just like his introductory line.]

CAINE: Okay, come on up!

[Suddenly, Luigi speeds down the platform, bumping up against the guardrail as he screams, holding onto Caine’s hand for dear life. After dangling above the wide hole, Luigi is suddenly lifted up as the camera follows him, the movements matching the high energy and speed as it cuts to a close-up of Luigi’s terrified face.]

[We suddenly hard cut to a new location, one more serene and peaceful as a large grey building rests in the middle of a green field, the grass blowing softly in the wind as birds tweet offscreen in the blue sky. The full building is hidden from frame as we slowly start to hear Luigi’s scream once more, growing louder and louder as time progresses before the camera pans up, revealing a broken skylight at the top, with Caine floating above in mid-air, pulling up Luigi.]

[Luigi is suddenly pulled up from the skylight, still screaming before Caine’s arm stops retracting and Luigi takes in the scene, trying his best not to look directly down below.]

CAINE: Here we are!

LUIGI: Wha- We’re finally free? Back to the outside world?

CAINE: Yes the outdoors is simply a wondrous place, but you have an adventure you need to complete!

LUIGI: Wh-What adventure?

CAINE: See those people down there?

[Caine points with his other hand as Luigi looks down, we cut to his perspective as he sees a few silhouettes in the distance, putting his hand above his eyes as he tries to take a closer look. We cut back to both Caine and Luigi once again as he looks towards the floating thing.]

LUIGI: I think I see somebody down there? Who are they?

CAINE: Ask them yourself!

[Suddenly, Caine’s arm swings Luigi back and forth before releasing Luigi altogether, causing him to scream, but only briefly as he falls to the grassy floor below. He lets out another little groan before sniffing, little bits of grass getting into his moustache as he tries to blow them away. He looks behind him and sees that Caine is still floating in the air, his attention and arm now looking back into the building below, ready and eager to hoist Nami up.]

[Luigi lets out a little sigh, holding onto the straps of his clothes for a brief moment before wading through the grassy floor. He takes a moment to look around at the peaceful sight, nothing but clean air and blue skies surrounding him as the field stretches out for what seems like eternity, the sun shining directly in the middle and casting a warm glow onto the plumber. He tries to keep his attention focused on what’s in front of him and before long, he manages to come across the people in the distance, panting just slightly while they were in the middle of a conversation.]

[He now sees them in detail, there were three in total, one of which was a woman, dressed in what appeared to be a blue and white bodysuit covered in what appeared to be brands, headphones around her ears as her dark brown hair flowed slightly in the wind. The second was a shorter girl, her hair was sea-blue and separated into two large twin-tails that disappeared into the grassy floor beneath her. She wore sleeves that strangely cut off around her shoulders, a red ‘01’ marked onto her skin too while wearing a tie, shirt, and skirt.]

[The final person was much shorter than both of them, their physical appearance not giving any real hint to their gender as it was covered in a baggy dark cloak, they held an ornate cane in one green-gloved hand, while a large bird-like mask tinted in the same colour poked out from their hood. All three of them still had that strange device around their necks, although only the first girl’s light was green like Luigi’s. The twin tailed girl’s was blue, fittingly enough, but he couldn’t make out what the cloaked person was.]

LUIGI: Eh, excuse me?

[Luigi stared at the three of them and they stared back, not speaking a word until the twin tail girl broke the silence.]

TWINTAIL: Hi! What is it?

[She waved her hand out and gave a smile towards Luigi who responded in kind, albeit with a little less energy.]

LUIGI: Do any of you know what’s going on here?

CLOAK: If we did, then we wouldn’t be in this mess, genius!

LUIGI: H-Hey relax, I’m just a little shaken up, alright?

WOMAN: Aren’t we all? I’ve been itching to get this dumb thing off my neck.

[The woman scratches her neck just above where the device wraps around as Luigi clears his throat.]

LUIGI: My name is Luigi, I’m a plumber. And you guys are..?

WOMAN: Well, my real name is Hana, but most people call me ‘D.Va’.

LUIGI: Why’s that?

D.VA: Just my name online, I don’t mean to brag but I’m a pro gamer known all across the world, surely you’ve heard about me, right?

LUIGI: Can’t say the name rings a bell.

TWINTAIL: How about you leave being famous to me?

[The girl pulls a little smile towards D.Va as Luigi turns around, her attention now focused on her as she pulls off a pose.]

TWINTAIL: I am the world-renowned virtual idol, the one and only Hatsune Miku!!!

[Luigi continues to stare at her as Miku looks over at him excitedly, causing Luigi to clap his hands slightly in response to which Miku does a polite bow to.]

LUIGI: So you’re a popstar huh? I don’t listen to the radio much but I’m sure you must have a bunch of fans.

MIKU: Yeah, millions all across the world are just in love with my voice, and who am I to judge?

D.VA: I don’t know, you’re bound to get some weird fans if you get big enough.

MIKU: Well, I’m not denying that they exist, but most of my fans are just normal people with hopes and dreams and-

CLOAK: And the nerve to make us play a game of life and death?

[Luigi looks towards the short cloaked figure, having a little look of discomfort across his face as the figure keeps staring at him.]

LUIGI: And who’s this guy?

MIKU: He calls himse-

CLOAK: I can speak for myself!

[The cloaked figure jumps in the air in frustration, flapping his long baggy sleeves slightly like a bird taking off before falling to the ground again, the others watch on before the camera cuts to focus on the cloaked figure themselves, clearing their throat.]

CLOAK: What you see before your very eyes is nothing more than a trick, a trick that will make you all cry and kneel in alchemical anarchy! By command of the Enchantress and the Order of No Quarter, I am… Plague Knight! Hee hee…

[Luigi looks over to Plague Knight, now just more confused as he looks over to D.Va, ready to speak before she interrupts him.]

LUIGI: Has-

D.VA: Yeah, he’s been like this since we met him. I don’t know why.

PLAGUE KNIGHT: Hee hee, already my little plan has been set in motion! You can’t comprehend what I’m capable of, just you wait and see!

[Plague Knight begins to walk away but not before being grabbed by Miku, the former struggling to move and flailing about like a bird while Miku holds him in place.]

PLAGUE KNIGHT: H-Hey! L-Let me go this instant!

MIKU: No, there’s something I want to ask you.

PLAGUE KNIGHT: Well if you let me go, I’ll tell you all about it!

[Miku lets out a sigh before loosening her grip, the camera focusing on Plague Knight as he takes up the middle of the screen.]

MIKU: Fine…

[Plague Knight drops to the floor, but not before giggling and making a run for it, the camera focusing in on him as he runs away but he is quickly tackled down to the floor by Luigi, sending them both crashing down.]

PLAGUE KNIGHT: H-Hey, let go of me you-

LUIGI: Why are you so focused on running away? There’s nowhere to go.

PLAGUE KNIGHT: Oh yes there is!

LUIGI: Oh yeah, like what?

[Plague Knight goes silent for a moment as he focuses on struggling, but Luigi tries his best to hold him down until he eventually speaks again in that shrill voice of his, only taking on a more enigmatic tone.]

PLAGUE KNIGHT: I can sense something is nearby… something more powerful than anyone of you could ever know. It’s calling to me, of course its calling to you all as well, but it’s calling me inside of my head to prosper!

D.VA: Are you sure you’re not just, like, schizo or something?

PLAGUE KNIGHT: Of course not, I’m of perfectly sound mind!

LUIGI: You’re telling me buddy.

PLAGUE KNIGHT: I’ll be back, and once I return… hee hee… then we’ll see who’s tackling who!

[We cut to a close up of Plague Knight’s fists, reaching and grasping at the grass surrounding it before the camera follows his movements, chucking the grass and soil into Luigi’s face as he releases his grip, spluttering slightly. At the second he’s given a chance to escape, he immediately takes it, leaping up in the air and flapping his sleeves before dashing away in the grass. We cut back to Luigi as he tries to recover.]

D.VA: Hey, come back here!

[D.Va runs past Luigi and gives chase while Miku watches on, as Luigi gets back onto his feet and grabs the loose grass from his face, peeling it away as he looks back to Miku.]

LUIGI: Should I go after him too?

MIKU: I think she has it covered already, and I don’t think you want more green thrown at you.

LUIGI: Fair.

[We suddenly hard cut back to the chase, focusing on Plague Knight in particular as he runs, poking his head out from the grass before shifting to his POV. His vision is a little obscured as he wears that gaudy mask of his, but in the distance he can see something else, a structure made from what seems to be only wood, like a cabin. After setting his sights on it, he picks up the pace and darts towards the cabin, knocking into it slightly as he hides behind it.]

[In the next shot, Plague Knight is covered in shadow although his mask sticks out like a sore thumb, taking up two thirds of the screen while the other third is the same grassy land we are familiar with. Soon we hear panting and notice D.Va in the distance before cutting to focus in on her, looking around slightly as she pants and talks under her breath.]

D.VA: How can someone dressed like that just disappear?

[She sighs in frustration continuing to look at the area around her before we cut back to the previous shot, Plague Knight still obscured by shadow. We see D.Va slowly start to move away to the right side of the screen before slowly disappearing out of the frame. Plague Knight lets out a sigh of relief as the camera pans over to the left, focusing on him as he rests up against the wall and taking up the right side of the frame. However, to the left are two large red dots illuminating from the shadows alongside a ring of red light. Plague Knight slowly turns to his left as he notices these dots, before they turn to face him, blinking.]

[Plague Knight is not alone. Just as he realises and prepares to scramble once more, a mechanical fist grabs his hood and pulls him to the floor, blocking him out from the shade as the camera focuses in on him. The hand still holds onto him tightly before the other moves into the frame, holding out a sharpened butter knife and putting it to Plague Knight’s head.]

PLAGUE KNIGHT: W-Wait, please, don’t kill me, please!

[His voice becomes desperate now as he looks up at his attacker. The camera cuts to reveal the person holding him is a robot, their red eyes displaying from a holographic display as it looks down at its prey, long dark hair, or what looks to be hair, flows down as the entire robot’s body is made from hardened grey steel. Strangely the robot is wearing clothes as well, a black crop top over a shirt and skirt, with a yellow belt tying everything together.]

PLAGUE KNIGHT: Please, d-don’t do anything drastic, p-please!

[The robot says nothing, still looking over to Plague Knight as he squirms in their grip, the knife only getting closer and closer to him as he flails about. The camera focuses on the two of them as the robot only gets closer and closer to fulfilling some strange goal. Before its able to achieve it however, a sudden fist comes flying out and hits the robotic attacker in the head, making her fall to the ground.]

ROBOT: What the-?

[Plague Knight looks up at the gloved fist, revealing that it came from an open window behind the robot, one from the cabin no-less, and even stranger, the fist appeared to be floating in mid-air as well, while its owner looked down at him. He had weird proportions with an almost snout-like nose with fuzzy blonde hair poking out like a sprout from a seed. Despite that though, he looked over to Plague Knight, gripping both his hands on the windowsill.]

SPROUT: You okay there, pal?

PLAGUE KNIGHT: Oh yes, just fine, thank you!

[His voice is just a little sarcastic as he watches the robot slowly get up to her feet, searching around for the blade within the grass. Plague Knight immediately steps back as the camera cuts to focus on the robot before the blonde guy puts his hand onto her.]

SPROUT: Hey, come on, I’m pretty sure this guy isn’t a robot, alright?

ROBOT: He’s hiding his face. You really think he’s trustworthy dressed like that?

[The camera cuts over to Plague Knight now as he looks over at their conversation, continuing just offscreen as the blonde guy hops out of the cabin. Plague Knight moves his head just slightly before stopping, something clearly catching his attention.]

SPROUT: Trust me, he’s perfectly normal, just like you and me.

[The camera then cuts to reveal this new guy in full and the audience finally realises why Plague Knight has stopped dead in his tracks; he was wearing gloves, shoes and a hoodie, but none of them were connected; he had no other limbs to speak of, although the device floating in the middle between his hoodie and his head, as if his neck was entirely invisible.]

[The blonde guy and the robot look over to Plague Knight before the former steps forward, throwing out his hands slightly as they float in the air.]

SPROUT: Sorry we got off on the right foot. I’m Rayman, this bucket of bolts right here is Doll.

[Plague Knight looks over to the robot who meekly waves, her eyes looking away just slightly as Plague Knight shakes his hand.]

RAYMAN: What’s your name then, pal?

PLAGUE KNIGHT: You may refer to me as the ‘Plague Knight’…

RAYMAN: ‘Plague Knight’… Nice, sounds mysterious.

[Rayman pulls back his hand and lets go of Plague Knight’s, his eyes focus on the faint green light just below his mask as he scratches his chin.]

RAYMAN: You got stuck with one of those doo-hickeys too, huh? Think you’re the first I’ve seen with green ‘round them.

[We suddenly switch to the opposite of this shot as Plague Knight looks towards Rayman’s device, noticing a blue ring of light around it.]

RAYMAN: I’m guessing you’re one of the ‘players’ as well?

PLAGUE KNIGHT: I suppose so… Although what game we are playing alludes me.

DOLL: It’s a fight to the death.

RAYMAN: I-It’s not a fight to the death! Sorry about Doll there, I don’t think she’s taking it all too well.

DOLL: You’re the one trusting everybody.

RAYMAN: Yeah, cause I don’t want to seem untrustworthy if it turns out it isn’t a fight to the death.

DOLL: That just makes it easier to get a knife in your back!

[Rayman raises his hands just slightly before slightly lowering them, taking a little sigh of relief as Plague Knight looks over to the window, noticing some shadows move just behind Rayman.]

PLAGUE KNIGHT: So what’s that?

[Plague Knight points over to the cabin as Rayman turns his head.]

RAYMAN: That’s a window, bud.

PLAGUE KNIGHT: No you buffoon! What’s the building?!

RAYMAN: Who knows? Just some random cabin someone built. We were kinda in the middle of searching it for useful stuff while you just joined actually. You’re welcome to check the upper floors.

[Rayman raises an encouraging palm out to Plague Knight before swiftly making his way back inside the cabin through the window. The camera focuses on Plague Knight as he looks towards Doll, her eyes still staring towards him before she slinks away from view. Plague Knight follows Rayman’s example as he begins to crawl through the open window.]

[We cut to the interior as Plague Knight struggles to get in before ultimately landing on a rustic counter, taking a good look at his new surroundings. The place is old and almost entirely made out of wood, covered head-to-toe in dust and cobwebs with the occasional dirty plate here and there. Some cupboards and drawers are left unopened, as if someone searched around in a hurry. Out of the corner of his eye he could spot Rayman’s blond tufts of hair poking out slightly from the hallway as he begins to walk over to him, but not before falling to the floor as he steps off the counter.]

[Plague Knight waddles over and notices Rayman is in mid conversation with another person, a human this time, but female as she leaned against a nearby wall, listening to Rayman speak. Her eyes are covered by dark sunglasses as a beret sits on-top of her brown hair, slowly turning into a reddish colour on one side of her bangs. She stood cross-armed wearing some kind of fashionable sweater and black pants with expensive winter boots, however around her there was also a belt, slightly darker in colour to everything else and securing not clothes but bullets. Like everyone else we have come across she too had that device around her neck, displaying a red ring of light around her.]

[Plague Knight looked up at the woman who didn’t even notice him at first, in fact it was Rayman who finally took notice of him.]

RAYMAN: Speaking of the guy himself, here he is!

[He raises his arms out and smiles, as if introducing some kind of marvel to the fashionable girl, but just looks him up and down as she pushes her sunglasses down her face a little bit. Eventually though she does begin to speak.]

SUNGLASSES: So they just nabbed a kid while he was out trick-or-treating? That’s pretty low.

PLAGUE KNIGHT: Excuse me? Who are you calling a kid?

[Plague Knight shakes his fist just slightly causing the girl to laugh just a little bit, a smile now forming across her face as Rayman puts one of his hands over on Plague Knight’s shoulder.]

RAYMAN: Plague Knight, this is Coco. Coco, this is Plague Knight.

PLAGUE KNIGHT: Charmed.

COCO: Sure you are.

[Coco continues to lean against the wall as she looks over to Rayman now, the camera focusing now on the two of them as it cuts back and forth during their conversation.]

COCO: So, any luck downstairs?

RAYMAN: Nope, not a single speck of anything that isn’t dust down here.

COCO: Told you you wouldn’t find anything after the first three times.

RAYMAN: Well, third time’s the charm as the old saying goes.

COCO: Yeah but that didn’t really help, did it?

RAYMAN: Well anyways, how’s the upstairs looking?

COCO: Oh uh… it’s dangerous. That’s why I’m staying out here for the time being.

RAYMAN: If it’s that dangerous then why did you leave Ashley up there all alone?

COCO: She’ll be fine. She’s probably found some great big stash of supplies up there by now.

VOICE: More like a great big stash of dick all!

[A feminine voice calls out from above them, slightly annoyed in tone as Rayman, Coco, and Plague Knight look to the stairs. As they do the camera slowly cuts to their POV as a girl pokes her head just in view from the bannister, her skin slightly pale and her hair jet black. The girl begins to make her way downstairs as the camera follows her from behind, talking to the people downstairs.]

GIRL: At least now I know you don’t trust me. And we were getting along so well too…

[The girl lets out a sigh, albeit an exaggerated one as she is fully shown to the audience. Much like her hair, her clothes are mostly black as she wears a low-cut sweater and black straps against her skin, while she wore a set of cargo shorts which were a dull beige in colour. The device wrapped around her neck shone a red light as she rested her head against the bannister, immediately spotting Plague Knight as she looked over to him.]

GIRL: Who’s the short fry down there?

RAYMAN: Ah, this is-

[Rayman moves back slightly and puts his hand on Plague Knight’s shoulder once more, only to be batted away by the latter’s flailing.]

PLAGUE KNIGHT: Get your hand off of me.

RAYMAN: Sorry.

[Rayman clears his throat before speaking once more, his hand motioning to their cloaked guest this time.]

RAYMAN: He calls himself the ‘Plague Knight’.

GIRL: Can certainly see where he got the name from with that ugly mask of his.

[Silence comes across the room once more as Plague Knight silently glares at her, sensing the tension between them Rayman bends down and tries to resolve the conflict.]

RAYMAN: Eh, this is-

GIRL: I can speak for myself. Name’s Ashley, Ashley Graves.

[Ashley makes her way down the stairs finally standing just near the door as she twirls her hair around her finger, looking over to nobody in particular before the door suddenly flies open causing her to move slightly. Doll enters the room now before looking over to Ashely and pulling a little smile.]

ASHLEY: Was wondering where you were. Find anything yet?

DOLL: No.

ASHLEY: Well… guess we gotta keep moving then.

[Ashley pouts a little in annoyance as she flicks her hair slightly, before the camera cuts to the opposite side of the hall where Coco, Rayman, and Plague Knight stand. Coco leans away from the wall and rolls her neck just slightly around her shoulders.]

COCO: Thank God, I was starting to worry we’d never leave this place until he made us search every little nook and cranny.

[She looks over to Rayman who ignores this little remark, instead following suit as Plague Knight waddles over, Ashley noticing him as she turns her head back slightly.]

ASHLEY: So what’s your deal then? You got lost on your way to a renaissance fair or something?

[She giggles slightly as the camera cuts back to Plague Knight, the angle looking down on him while he looks up to the girl while offscreen the sound of the door clicking open is heard.

PLAGUE KNIGHT: I’ll have you know that I am a high-ranking knight of the Order of No Quarter, master of mischief and potions extraordinaire! With the right tools and elixirs I may make an explosion that could blow everyone away!

[ The camera cuts back outside as the group begin to walk, in the distance a similar looking building to the one Luigi found himself in can be seen, but it is not looked at by any member of the group. They choose to instead walk along the grassy plains ahead as their conversation resumes.]

PLAGUE KNIGHT: -And furthermore, I do more with my life than just sit around and do nothing, I have a girlfriend don’t you know!

ASHLEY: Aww, bet she’s searching far and wide to see where you are right now.

PLAGUE KNIGHT: Exactly!

COCO: So let me get this straight, you just spend all your time living in a basement making potions all day?

PLAGUE KNIGHT: Well, in the simplest terms I suppose you could summarise it as that. And what is it that you do, if I may ask? Flaunt off the latest dresses for people to gawk at?

COCO: Oh just standard stuff really, y’know, killing monsters, no big deal.

DOLL: No big deal? That sounds impressive!

COCO: It was, but over time it just gets a little boring you know, but I add my little personal flair every now and then.

ASHLEY: I don’t really do much to be honest, just hang around with my brother most days.

RAYMAN: Are the two of you close? 

ASHLEY: Yep.

[A little smile worms its way across Ashley’s face as she looks over to Rayman.]

ASHLEY: And what do you do then?

RAYMAN: Eh… it’s…

[Rayman’s hand floats to the back of his head, rubbing it slightly as he tries to pass it off.]

RAYMAN: It’s kinda complicated right now. I don’t really wanna talk about it.

[As they continue walking, Rayman’s stomach suddenly growls causing him to stop slightly as he looks around, seeing nothing but clear skies and green grass surrounding him.]

RAYMAN: They gotta have some kinda place to grab food, I’m starving.

DOLL: Knowing my luck, they’ll probably force us to eat grass.

ASHLEY: Well let’s just hope we find some grub before we starve to death.

[The camera focuses in on the group as the sound of the wind blowing past gets louder and louder, although as time goes on it resembles more of a crackle rather than the sound of something blowing. As the sound eventually becomes clearer, we hard cut to a close-up of a frying pan, a block of meat sizzling away on one side while the camera tilts down, revealing a hand holding the pan’s handle.]

[The hand itself is covered in what appears to be a white sleeve, almost like a lab-coat, and as we cut to the person cooking, it's revealed that they are indeed wearing a labcoat, buttoned up just slightly while a grey shirt underneath pokes out. It’s revealed to be a woman, her eyes dark and tired and her hair slightly messy as she looks down at the steak. Like everyone else’s she wears the device around her neck, sporting a blue ring of light, her hand lightly moving the handle to cook the meat, the sound of it sizzling away being the only sound we hear for a little bit. The room she’s in appears to be some sort of kitchen, neatly decorated in the same wooden structure as the cabin, only more furnished and glossy, with lights and actual electricity running through.]

[We focus in on the woman’s eyes as she stares down at the food, while in the background we can hear the sound of something crinkling, catching her attention for a brief second before stopping. The noise starts once again and her attention is focused once more on this crinkling. We cut back away from the woman as the camera focuses in on another person, a green ring of light around their neck as they sit on the floor obscured by shadow.]

[When we next cut we see this person fully while the camera keeps the woman in the labcoat in the foreground. This mysterious person is a teenage girl with black hair, wearing a standard school uniform as well as a black coat draping over her shoulders. Her right eye is covered with a white eyepatch and in her gloved hands she is eating a bag of chips, noisily crinkling the bag as she reaches in, irritating the woman in the lab-coat. Eventually, she turns around.]

LABCOAT: Can you eat somewhere else?

EYEPATCH: I’d prefer to eat here.

LABCOAT: Well I’m trying to concentrate and you going ‘crrk’ every 5 seconds doesn’t help.

EYEPATCH: You can’t outlaw me from eating food, who knows when we’ll get the chance to eat again?

LABCOAT: Well I dunno, maybe in like 5 seconds considering we’re surrounded by food!

[The girl scoffs slightly as her hand reaches into the bag once more, finding nothing but dust as she drops it to the floor, not bothering to pick it up as she rises to her feet. The woman meanwhile turns her attention back to the meat, cutting to the pan to reveal one side is burned badly as she looks at it annoyed. The girl walks over to her without her noticing, taking slow steps before turning slightly to the right and disappearing out of the frame, but not before she calls out to her.]

EYEPATCH: It’s not even actual good meat, just rats.

LABCOAT: It’s not-!

[As the girl walks out of frame we can hear the sound of double doors opening and then closing before the only thing we hear is the same sound at the start, the meat sizzling away in the pan. With an annoyed sigh, the woman goes back to cooking.]

[We cut away and focus in on the girl as she walks through a set of double doors, walking into a large spacious area, looking almost like a makeshift grand dining hall. Like all of the other structures, the building itself appears to be made out of the wood with a large grand table resting neatly in the middle of the spacious area. We cut to a bird’s eye view of the place, the camera remaining static as it focuses in on the table, the girl walking up to it while two other people sit nearby, eating on the same bench as one another.]

[The girl lets out an annoyed groan before sitting down on the table, on the opposite side of the others, taking up the right side of the frame while these strangers take up the left. The one closest to the camera looks like a ghost or some form of spirit, their body the shape of a rosy violet as they wore a large pink hat over their head, eating away at an apple. The device around her neck emits a green ring of light while the person sitting next to her’s is red. He is more human with white hair sticking out like spines on a hedgehog, covered head-to-toe in some black uniform. He is eating away at a pear but it is unknown whether he is actually looking at it, as his eyes are covered by a thick black blindfold. He does however notice the eyepatch girl’s irritated sigh, moving his head slightly to face her.]

BLINDFOLD: What’s the problem now then?

EYEPATCH: It’s nothing.

BLINDFOLD: Didn’t sound like nothing.

EYEPATCH: There’s no way you could have heard that from so far away.

BLINDFOLD: Maybe not, but how many times have you picked a fight with someone ever since you woke up here?

[The Eyepatch girl says nothing as the blindfolded man smiles.]

BLINDFOLD: See, point proven.

SPIRIT: You don’t always have to pick fights, not everybody here hates you.

EYEPATCH: I know, none of you just don’t get what I’m here for!

BLINDFOLD: And that would be what exactly?

EYEPATCH: This is a test, to see whether I can climb to the top and achieve the peak of my abilities!

[The girl grabs at the device around her neck as the camera cuts to a close-up of it, trying her best to wrestle it away from her neck.]

EYEPATCH: Only with this stupid inhibitor on, I can’t do anything about it, so I’m stuck here with everybody!

SPIRIT: So you have powers? What kind?

EYEPATCH: Oh, so so many. Like, so many it would be impossible to count them all!

BLINDFOLD: Just name the best ones, we don’t know how long we’ll be stuck here, so might as well waste some time, right?

EYEPATCH: Right, well uh… there’s-!

[The camera cuts over to the opposite side, focusing on the players in the foreground while everything else remains a blur in the background. Suddenly the low sound of creaking can be heard as something emerges from the background; light from the outside. A large door has opened up, the wood groaning away as the players all look towards the noise. The camera switches its focus as we see a new person enter the building, their details a bit blurry for now as they wear a coat and a green sweater, their skin appears to be pale and white with something black covering their eyes.]

[We cut and switch to this new person’s perspective, looking over at the players at the table, staring down at each-other in confusion before the mysterious guest speaks, their voice a little bit muffled.]

GUEST: Are you friendly?

[We cut back to the trio at the table, staring in silence at their guest.]

EYEPATCH: What?

GUEST: I said, are you friendly?

SPIRIT: …Yes?

GUEST: Great, well the hard part’s done now.

[The sound of footsteps against wood is soon heard as the figure draws closer and closer, eventually sitting down on one of the benches. They sit close to the camera, obscuring the others from view just slightly as they sit a considerable distance away from each-other.]

BLINDFOLD: Who are you exactly?

[We cut to a medium shot and finally get a good look at the figure, dressed in a thick brown coat as if dressed for the winter, wearing black goggles around his eyes and fingerless gloves, the device around his neck pulsating a ring of green light around it. However, the most notable thing about his appearance is that his whole body is covered entirely in bandages, not a single inch of skin is showing as the white strips cling to his entire body, only hidden by his clothes and the device.]

GUEST: I go by many names, but for the sake of transparency might as well stick with the most well-known one. You can call me… the ‘Negative Man’.

[We cut once more to the other’s reaction, staring at their guest in an equal mix of confusion and intrigue, just like before the focus suddenly shifts to the background as the woman in the labocat emerges from the kitchen door, holding a plate in her hand. She walks over to the table but in just a few steps she notices the mysterious guest as well, stopping in her tracks.]

LABCOAT: Goddamnit…

[We cut back to focus on the labcoat woman, showing an over-the-shoulder shot as the guest waves towards her in a friendly yet sarcastic manner. She still has that same tired spark in her eyes, almost glaring at him before sitting down next to the blindfolded man and the spirit, a simple knife and fork in her hand, sitting down and focusing on eating her meal. Everyone else however has their attention towards Negative Man as he lightly sniffs.]

NEGATIVE MAN: So what are your names then? Can’t get anywhere if I don’t at least know what to call you.

BLINDFOLD: True. I’m Gojo, pleased to meet ya.

SPIRIT: I’m Vivian.

NEGATIVE MAN: Great, great. And you are?

[He turns his attention to focus on the eyepatch girl, crossing her arms as she rests against the table. Once she realises all eyes are on her though she straightens up before clearing her throat.]

EYEPATCH: I am Arsot les Primavera! The one who wields the great dragon force, the one who is destined for greatness, the one who-

LABCOAT: Can you not indulge in her fantasies please, her constant shouts are giving me a headache.

[Gojo leans over the table slightly, looking over to Negative Man as he keeps his voice above a whisper.]

GOJO: Pretty sure the girl’s name is Nakanaka or something.

NEGATIVE MAN: You serious? That name sounds like her parents made her choose her own name at birth.

GOJO: Well when you put it that way I can see why she wants to be named something else.

NAKANAKA: I did not choose my new name, it was given to me from the moment I drew my first breath! I just couldn’t see it until recently!

[As Nakanaka talks, the camera cuts to a close up of the meat being cut, the knife scraping against the surface of a plate in a shrill cry causing the labcoat woman to drop it immediately, causing an even louder clang as utensil hits surface. She looks over to the others, that same tired look on her face as Negative Man prepares to speak again, but before he can she interrupts him.]

LABCOAT: It’s Reagan. Reagan Ridley.

NEGATIVE MAN: …Well okay then, ‘Reagan Ridley’. Negative Man.

REAGAN: Wow, bet you must have had sleepless nights coming up with that one.

[Negative Man continues to look at her in silence as she eats before talking once more.]

NEGATIVE MAN: Pretty nice looking steak you got there.

REAGAN: Thanks?

NAKANAKA: It’s not nice, she’s eating rat meat.

VIVIAN: Now come on, I’m sure it must be very delicious!

NAKANAKA: No I’m serious, I looked in the fridge and she got it out of a little zippy bag that clearly said ‘RAT’ in bold letters! She’s eating rat meat!

REAGAN: You really think someone just has rat meat stored away in their refrigerator?

NEGATIVE MAN: Well I dunno, seems to me that’s not out of the question if it’s the same guy who kidnapped us and forced these things around our necks.

REAGAN: Well, whatever. It’s not rat meat, and that’s the end of that.

NAKANAKA: How would you know, have you eaten rats before?

REAGAN: …I’m just going to assume you didn’t mean to phrase it as a compliment.

[As Reagan and Nakanaka shoot daggers at each-other, Gojo slowly gets up from the table and slams his palms down slightly.]

GOJO: Ladies, please. If you’re gonna argue all day about it, I might as well see whether or not it’s actually true.

REAGAN: It’s not.

NAKANAKA: It is!

GOJO: Just sit tight and shut up.

[Gojo begins to walk over to the door, leaving the others behind as they all look at each-other, Nakanaka and Reagan are still focused on one another, slowly eating their food while Negative Man drums his bandaged fingers against the table. The sound of a door opening is heard in the background before closing once again, leaving the entire room in silence. The camera now focuses on Vivian and Negative Man in particular, as the former looks over to the latter.]

VIVIAN: So um…

NEGATIVE MAN: It’s about the get-up, right? I know, it isn’t exactly practical, but it fits my style.

VIVIAN: Well that’s not what I was thinking about but um, I guess it is good to have a sense of style.

[The camera cuts away showing Vivian and Negative Man in the foreground on either side of the frame while Reagan watches on in the back.]

REAGAN: Think she was talking about the other thing on your body.

VIVIAN: Y-Yes! The um… the goggles, I’ve never seen anyone actually wear those kinds outside of movies, they make you look really cool.

NEGATIVE MAN: Thanks. There’s not a lot I can really see considering my condition but these shades actually help to make me see a whole lot, much better than any old pair of glasses.

REAGAN: And that condition would be?

NEGATIVE MAN: Do you really want me to get to the surprise before I even have time to set it up?

REAGAN: Well I’m sorry if I have a lot of questions about the guy calling himself the ‘Negative Man’ and looking like a mummy being brought back to life!

[The camera cuts away to focus more on Negative Man, as he straightens up slightly before relaxing his posture. Vivian looks over to him and offers him her half-eaten apple, but Negative Man raises his hand to push it away just lightly, causing her to frown just a little.]

NEGATIVE MAN: It’s alright, I’m not hungry.

VIVIAN: Oh. Can you even eat with all of those bandages on you, if you don’t mind me asking?

NEGATIVE MAN: It’s alright. I can but I don’t even need to eat.

NAKANAKA: That’s preposterous, everybody needs to eat!

NEGATIVE MAN: Not me. I’m not even sure my stomach’s still inside me after all these years, but hey, if I can’t eat, at least I don’t have to go to the bathroom.

[He lets out a little chuckle at his own joke while the others just look over at him, just from their cues he immediately realises what’s racing through everybody’s minds, but he decides to change the subject.]

NEGATIVE MAN: So what’s everyone’s power then, huh?

REAGAN: Power?

NEGATIVE MAN: Yeah, I mean that’s why we’re all here, isn’t it?

NAKANAKA: Yes, exactly!

[Nakanaka leans over the table, an excited smile over her face now as she looks over to Negative Man, crawling onto the table itself as she strikes a dramatic pose.]

NAKANAKA: I am the wielder of the Dragon Force! My powers are inconceivable to the mortal eye, even my own eyes can scarcely believe what I am capable of!

VIVIAN: So what are your powers?

[Nakanaka looks over to Vivian for just a moment in silence before answering her question with a scoff.]

NAKANAKA: I don’t have the energy to perform them now, I just…. Need to settle in.

[The camera cuts to a close-up of the device as her hand grabs towards it, trying to jerk it away from her neck.]

NAKANAKA: This thing around my neck is sapping me dry and until I get it off there’s just no way I’ll be able to reach my full potential!

REAGAN: Yeah, that’s the reason.

[We cut away from them as Negative Man glances towards Vivian.]

NEGATIVE MAN: How about you Vivian?

VIVIAN: Oh well uh… I’m nothing that special to be honest.

NEGATIVE MAN: Everyone’s got a talent, you don’t need to be modest.

VIVIAN: W-Well, u., as you can see my body is made entirely out of shadow, so that means at times I can make my body intangible.

NAKANKA: Intagi-what-now?

VIVIAN: I can pass through certain surfaces and phase through them.

NAKANAKA: Oh, like a ghost!

VIVIAN: Yes!

[A smile makes its way across Vivian’s face as the camera pans around to focus on Reagan, getting up from the table with the plate in hand, just as she’s about to make her way back into the kitchen, Negative Man’s voice can be heard just off-screen.]

NEGATIVE MAN: How about you?

REAGAN: I’m not special. Besides, super powers are just some fantasy.

NAKANAKA: If that’s true then why hasn’t any scientist come out with proof that powers aren’t real?

REAGAN: You don’t need proof, just common sense. You don’t just magically gain the ability to fly cause you were in an accident in some kind of experimental super-plane.

NEGATIVE MAN: Well… you’re telling the truth somewhat.

[The camera turns to focus in on Negative Man as the two girls at the table look over to him, curious as to what his words mean. As we hear their voices off-screen, the camera cuts back to Reagan, clearly tired and slightly annoyed at the conversation as she walks closer and closer to the kitchen door.]

VIVIAN: You were involved in a plane accident?

NEGATIVE MAN: That’s right.

NAKANAKA: So that’s why you have those bandages. You probably look like some kind of freak under all of it!

NEGATIVE MAN: Well I’ve never had the chance to look myself.

VIVIAN: So… does that mean you can fly?

NEGATIVE MAN: If it did I probably would have soared away from that broken skylight the first chance I got.

NAKANAKA: Oh so you were helped out by that creep as well then?

[Suddenly just as Reagan is about to put her hand to the door, it suddenly opens with Gojo stepping forward, carrying a dirty plastic sheet covered in pinkish blood, his hand conveniently covering up the label on the dirty baggie.]

GOJO: I’ve got news everybody!

REAGAN: Mind watching where you open that thing, you nearly caved my face in!

[The camera pans to focus on Gojo, sporting an apologetic smile as he steps forward, gently closing the door behind him.]

GOJO: Sorry.

[He turns around to the others as he holds out the bloody baggie in his palm, his fingers slowly uncovering the label to reveal in bold writing the word ‘RAT’.]

GOJO: Turns out she did eat rat meat all along.

NAKANAKA: See, what did I say?

[Reagan says not a word, rubbing her temple just slightly before disappearing into the kitchen once again, leaving Gojo behind with the others, still holding the baggie in his hands.]

GOJO: Did I miss anything?

VIVIAN: Nothing major, just talking about the powers we all have.

GOJO: Sounds exciting.

VIVIAN: Out of curiosity, do you have any powers Gojo?

GOJO: Who me…?

[Suddenly in a flash, Gojo sprints over to the table, although the audience and the participants can only see a brief blur before he reappears once more, his feet only shown in the frame as he’s standing on the table, slowly dropping the baggie as it falls unceremoniously.]

GOJO: I’m not all that special.

[He slowly gets off the table as his feet fall to the ground, his footsteps echoing just slightly as the camera pans up to the ceiling, showing nothing but wood over their heads. However, it slowly fades away, transitioning into the cool clear sky we are now familiar with. The sounds of birds tweeting echo the area as well as the rustling of grass. Eventually, something new comes into view; a pair of horns, black like night with thin white stripes running through them. The camera slowly pans down to reveal them poking out from black hair before zooming out revealing a new player to the area.]

[While their appearance seems mostly human, their skin is a shining crimson with small white patches, a thin scarlet tail poking out from behind and ending in a stereotypical point. Like their hair, they are dressed entirely in black, with ripped cargo pants and a crop top, a black tattoo in the shape of a heart making their shoulder. Around their neck, like everyone else, is the device, and fittingly enough, the ring of light is red, as if showing off a thin illuminated piece of their skin. They stop in place in the grass and bend their body slightly, putting a hand to their forehead and looking over to the distance.]

[We get a close-up of the player’s face, surveying the area with big yellow eyes protected by long black lashes, her lips too are black and she has a small beauty mark on her cheek. As her eyes slowly dart all over the place we can hear the sound of footsteps approaching once more as they dredge through the long thin grass, just as they stop her eyes seem to focus on something. Before long, the devil-like creature looks back and calls out.]

DEVIL: Don’t look like much, but I think I found something!

[We cut to the devil’s perspective as she notices two blue wisps sticking out from the grass, the tops almost sharpening to a point as it very subtly moves further and further away from her. We cut back to focus in on the devil as well as her companion following behind her; a middle-aged human female with blue hair, canid-like ears sticking out from the tip like a majestic fox’s. While she is dressed head-to-toe in rather elegant cerulean clothing, she still has that metallic device around her neck, displaying a blue ring of light.]

[She stops suddenly, noticing the same thing the devil does as we cut back to her perspective, watching the wisps inch carefully away before sprinting away, making a run for it.]

DEVIL: I’ve got it!

[The devil sprints away from the frame as the camera cuts to focus in on their chase, the wisps still poking out from the grass like a sore thumb. The wisps may be fast, but the devil is faster and before long she eventually leaps towards it, grabbing it and rolling around in the grass as she lets out a grunt. The two of the, eventually come to a stop as the devil rests, feeling the wisps against her face, but she can also feel something else around her neck; the feeling of cold metal, and as she looks she can see a blue light shimmering just slightly.]

[She can feel something in her arms, like a wild animal flailing away from its predator, making little grunts as it does. She stops for a second and takes a look towards the appearance of the thing she just caught. There were two wisps, burning away like frigid fire, but they were attached to a white head, which in turn was attached to a small white body covered in swirls, like a cute cartoon character. It looked almost like some strange sort of cat, with a green bag wrapped around its neck, just underneath where that device was.]

[The devil wasn’t careful enough as in her curiosity, she let go of the thing, causing it to fall to the ground and slowly back away in fear, but realising that it had the same thing around its neck as she did, Millie started to slowly move forward, trying her best to remain calm and unthreatening to the swirled creature.]

MILLIE: Hey hey, it’s alright! I’m not gonna hurt ya.

[The two players lock eyes with one another as Millie slowly stops, crouching just slightly as she holds out her arms. The swirled creature looks at her before speaking in a southern-accented high-pitched voice.]

SWIRLS: You can see me?

DEVIL: Yeah… I mean, those fiery things of yours made ya stick out like a sore thumb.

SWIRLS: So you are another yokai…

DEVIL: …A what?

[The swirled creature stands up, its head barely poking up from above the grass as the elegant woman makes her way into the frame too. We cut away to show a far shot, the devil and the woman in blue standing to the left of the frame, while the swirled creature sticks its head above the grass to the right.]

BLUE: What is it? Do you have a name?

[The swirled creature nods as we suddenly cut to a close-up of its face, now sporting a thin smile.]

SWIRLS: I am Komasan m’am.

BLUE: Well, howdy Komasan. I take it you’re one of the players like us?

KOMASAN: Maybe, I-I don’t really know much to be honest.

DEVIL: It’s alright, none of us know either. Although when I get the hands on the angel son of a bitch who put this around me, let’s just say it won’t be pretty.

BLUE: How do you know it’s an angel?

DEVIL: S’Always angels, they always just select innocent imps such as myself and put em in games like these.

KOMASAN: Wait, so you know what’s happening?

DEVIL: No, but I think I’ve got a good idea…

[The devil stretches slightly, lightly cracking her own neck as the wind picks up, flowing through her hair just slightly. She looks down towards the little yokai before suddenly something pops into her mind.]

DEVIL: Oh gosh, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Millie!

[Millie raises out a hand once more for Komasan to take and he does, slowly walking forward with his paw outstretched. Komasan braces to just shake hands, but is instead lifted off of his feet, held tightly by Millie’s palm as he’s left dangling above in the air.]

MILLIE: And this lady right here’s… uh…

[She motions to the woman in blue to her left, Millie’s brain stuck in trying to remember before she cuts to the chase.]

BLUE: Yukong.

MILLIE: Yukong! Sorry about that Kumason, I am terrible at remembering names.

[She lets out a little chuckle before holding Kumason like a cat, putting her hands underneath her arms. She and Yukong both look at the swirled yokai before Yukong speaks.]

YUKONG: So what exactly are you?

KOMASAN: Oh, just a yokai m’am.

YUKONG: Okay and what is a yokai exactly?

KOMASAN: Well we’re spirits who affect the mortal realm and inspirit humans. Each yokai has their own unique ability that activates whenever we’re near people.

MILLIE: So you’re like a ghost or something?

KOMASAN: Maybe.

MILLIE: Wait, if you’re a ghost, then how did you get here? Shouldn’t you have just floated through a wall and be gone by now?

KOMASAN: I wish I could, but that’s not what I can do m’am. I’ve got a feelin’ in my bones that something’s wrong, and this ‘game’ we’re all meant to play ties into it somewhat.

YUKONG: Now that you mention it, they didn’t even specify what game we are even playing. Are we doing something childish like hide and seek?

MILLIE: Well if that’s the case, I think we’ve done a pretty good job!

[She smiles excitedly, showing a slight gap in her teeth as she looks over to Komasan, the camera cutting to a close-up of him as Yukong continues to speak.]

YUKONG: But I doubt it’d be that simple, why would they go through all of this trouble to set up something for a game as simple as hide and seek…

KOMASAN: Maybe it’s something else entirely m’am.

YUKONG: Like what?

KOMASAN: Like um… Oh, like Tag!

MILLIE: Tag?

KOMASAN: Yeah! We’ve each got these fangled monitors around us to track us, and these colours have to mean something. Like maybe you’re red cause you’re a tagger, and we’re blue because we haven’t been tagged yet!

[Komasan points to Yukong’s device, emitting the same ring of blue light as his as he looks over excitedly. Yukong however, does not share the same feeling, looking over to the yokai.]

YUKONG: I don’t think so… I think I saw someone around here with green around their necks, how would they fit in?

MILLIE: Oh, maybe they’re the ones in charge, like keeping everyone by the book so nobody breaks any rule!

KOMASAN: That would make some sense…

YUKONG: Yeah. This of course all hinges whether or not we are actually playing hide and seek and not something else.

[The camera cuts to a close-up of Millie’s face now smiling with a sense of optimism as she glances at Yukong and Komasan.]

MILLIE: Well, it’s as good an explanation as any. And hey, how much harm can hide and seek b-

[Suddenly, something metallic hits her in the face, causing her to drop Komasan and fall to the floor as she yelps in pain. The camera moves around very sporadically as Millie lies on the ground, someone nearby is hitting her with a shovel, their only visual indication is a hand on the shovel’s handle, wrapped up in a blue sleeve.]

MILLIE: Hey! Hey, hey!

[As Millie calls out she wrestles on the floor, occasionally taking a stray blow but weaving out of the way of most hits, meanwhile a new voice can be heard, panting and straining with every impact as the camera focuses in on their conflict. In a flash, Millie manages to grab the shovel, overpowering her assailant with fury now in her eyes, ready to give her attacker a little payback.]

ATTACKER: H-Hey!

[The attacker’s voice cracks as the camera cuts to a familiar wide shot from before, only now it shows not only Millie, Yukong, and Komasan, but this stranger as well. They were taller than all of them, and skinny too, unwashed brown hair covering their head as little wisps of facial hair pop on his face. He is dressed in a red-hooded blue school coat, while his legs are protected by dirty jeans. Like everyone else, he also has that infernal device around his neck, a thin ring of blue light illuminating from within. He starts to slowly back away, raising his hands defensively but Millie shows no hesitation.]

[It cuts back to Millie as she swings the shovel, trying to intimidate her attacker before leaping towards him, preparing to scream as she strikes, but before she does, Yukong steps out in front of both of them.]

YUKONG: Woah, woah. Easy now! Easy, alright. Just calm down.

MILLIE: How can I calm down when this maniac is gonna cave my brains right into the grass?

ATTACKER: I-It’s for everybody’s good, okay? She’s dangerous!

MILLIE: Says the kid who beat me with a goddamn shovel!

[As Millie raises her voice, Yukong raises her hand towards her in an effort to keep the peace between the two, all the while Komasan watches on.]

YUKONG: Millie, just calm down! Geez…

[Yukong slowly looks over to the attacker, trying his best to remain calm and collected in spite of everything.]

YUKONG: Now, tell me why you decided to hit her with that shovel.

[The attacker looks to the ground, kicking the ground below him like a child getting scolded by his parents, although when compared to the two girls he did seem to be much younger, around the late teenage years.]

ATTACKER: ‘Cause there’s a demon around here, and it… it might hurt us all.

MILLIE: I’m gonna hur-!

YUKONG: Millie.

[Millie backs down and pouts just slightly as Yukong focuses her attention on the tall teen, putting his hands into his coat pocket as he looks at her.]

YUKONG: Are you going to tell me your name at least?

ATTACKER: It’s Ben. Ben Paul.

YUKONG: Okay. Well, hello Ben.

BEN: I’m sorry we got off the wrong foot.

YUKONG: Well, that’s good to hear. I’m Yukong.

[Yukong raises her hand out to Ben, giving him a friendly smile, and although he slightly hesitates, before long Ben shakes her hand slowly. He looks over towards Millie, now holding Komasan close to her chest like a plush toy, the two creatures staring into the teen’s eyes as he gets slightly nervous, moving his hand away.]

BEN: And who are they?

YUKONG: Well…

[Yukong turns around and motions her hand towards Millie, the latter not saying a word.]

YUKONG: This is Millie. And the little goober she’s holding is called Komasan. I’m sure they’re charmed to meet you.

[Komasan does a little wave towards Ben and he waves back, but not before Millie drops the yokai to the ground. The camera follows her movements and focuses in on the ground, using her hoofed foot to pick up the shovel, staring at it all the while Ben and Yukong have a conversation in the background. As they talk, the camera zooms in on Millie’s face, first showing boredom, then curiosity, before barreling into a quick and sudden realisation.]

BEN: I see you’ve also got the blue thing around your neck. What do you think it means?

YUKONG: You know, we were just having that conversation before you arrived.

BEN: Oh really? Well, what do you make of it?

YUKONG: We’re meant to be playing some sort of game, so the sooner we figure out just what this game is, the sooner we’ll get these things off our necks.

BEN: Can’t wait for that to happen, it feels like it’s stabb-

MILLIE: Hey, where did you get this shovel?

[We cut back to Ben and Yukong as they look over to Millie offscreen.]

BEN: Huh?

MILLIE: The shovel. None of us got anything when we arrived here, so where in the hell did you find it?

BEN: Oh, well I didn’t find it. It was given to me. I was with another group of guys before I uh…

MILLIE: Tried to turn my face into jelly?

BEN: Y-Yeah… Anyway, one of them mentioned that when they woke up, they found something with horns and they thought it was some kind of demon or something. He didn’t say much else aside from the horns though, but he handed me the shovel and said I had to find it and get rid of it.

KOMASAN: Oh. But why?

[Ben looks down to the miniature Komasan, the teen nearly twice his size as he crouches just slightly.]

BEN: Well, I wanted to prove myself to them.

KOMASAN: Yeah… but, why?

BEN: W-What do you mean why?

MILLIE: Maybe they sent the weakest guy out to ensure they didn’t get massacred or something.

[Ben looks over to Millie, slight panic and annoyance in his expression.]

BEN: H-Hey, screw you!

[Just as another argument is about to start, Yukong places her hand on Ben’s shoulder, catching him off guard slightly as the two lock eyes.]

YUKONG: So they gave you this shovel, right?

BEN: Yeah, they were all holed up in some building and it had a lot of supplies, and that was one of them. They’re not that far away from where we are.

YUKONG: I see… Would you mind taking us there?

[Ben thinks for a moment, trying his best not to look directly towards Millie and instead focus on Yukong, waiting for his answer. After a few moments Ben decides to bite the bullet and lets out a breath.]

BEN: Sure.

YUKONG: Well that’s fantastic.

[Yukong suddenly points her arm, inches away from brushing Ben’s shoulder before clicking her fingers, pointing to the horizon behind the troubled teen.]

YUKONG: Lead the way then.

[Ben is silent for a moment as he pushes Yukong’s arm down, stepping forward just slightly.]

BEN: It’s actually over there.

[Yukong, Millie, and Komasan turn around just as Ben starts to walk just slightly.]

YUKONG: Right.

[Ben takes a quick glance at Millie once again, noticing that her grip on the shovel has not weakened even slightly, still looking over at him with her eyes the colour of sulfur, and her glint in them matching its danger too. After gulping a little bit, Ben continues to walk back, feeling everyone’s eyes on him while the others follow behind him. The scene quickly fades away and transitions into the next, as the group make their way across the grass. We cut back to a close-up as Ben’s eyes darted around, trying to look around and survey the area. Yukong and Millie have their eyes on Ben’s back, albeit for different reasons, and like before, only Komasan’s wisps can be seen, poking out from the ground. Before long though, Ben’s eyes fixate on something as he points to the distance.]

BEN: Okay, there it is.

[The others look over to where he is pointing before the camera cuts to focus in on it, a large dark wooden building, much like all of the others seen before, poking out from amidst the sea of green. It almost seemed to be casting its own shade with only a few windows around the side, the metal door at its entrance sticking out like a sore thumb. Despite how large it was, it wasn’t especially tall, only consisting of a single floor.]

[We cut to focus on the door’s features, its metal lightly rusted over but still retaining that hard steel colour to it. It almost looked like it was ripped out from a ship or submarine as the camera focuses on its circular wheel dead in the centre. The camera slowly pans down to reveal the top of Ben’s head as he steps closer towards it.]

BEN: This is the place.

[The camera cuts once more to focus in on the group as Ben knocks on the door. He looks around in silence before noticing Millie, pointing to the shovel up to his neck from behind him. He turns around slightly as he feels the cold metal against his neck.]

BEN: Can you give it back now?

[His voice is a little irritated, like an annoyed child’s, but Millie doesn’t comply.]

MILLIE: Why would I? We all know what you’re gonna do with it.

BEN: T-That was just a mistake, I’m sorry alright?

YUKONG: Actually, Millie…

[The camera cuts to focus in on the two women as Yukong lowers Millie’s arms and makes the shovel inadvertently move across Ben’s back.]

YUKONG: I think you should give it back, when the door opens it may look like we’re the dangerous ones, especially if you point it at his neck.

MILLIE: Ugh, fine.

[She drops the shovel to the ground, throwing it slightly to Ben’s feet as he bends down. Millie does the same, and instead of grabbing the shovel she instead carries Komasan once more, picking him up like a cat before Ben knocks on the door. He decides to do it with the shovel this time instead of his knuckles, metal pounding against metal as the bangs echo away.]

BEN: Hey guys? I’m back!

[Silence. Not a word is heard from whoever it may be inside. Ben tries knocking once more, louder this time as he cringes slightly at the noise.]

BEN: Guuys! Come on!

KOMASAN: Maybe they’ve left?

BEN: Wha- No, they couldn’t have left. This place is built like Fort Knox, and it’s basically the only place where you can get your hands on stuff.

[The camera switches to focus on Ben and the door specifically, leaving the others off-screen as he knocks once more, each repetitive knock sounding a bit more desperate than the last as he fidgets in place slightly.]

YUKONG: Are you sure this is the right place? I saw a building or two when I escaped from the room I woke up in.

BEN: Yeah, I’m positive. Someone’s gotta be coming to the door now.

KOMASAN: If that’s true, then why aren’t they openin’ it?

[As Ben begins to speak, the door suddenly opens, revealing a new player from inside, a young girl that looked to be roughly Ben’s age and much shorter than him as well. A pink bow was dotted daintily on her strawberry blonde hair while being dressed in a school cardigan and skirt, the device around her neck humming a red ring melody as she grunted and opened the door. As she catches her breath, Ben speaks up.]

BEN: I-I don’t know! Alright, just shut up, okay? Can you not just trust me already and say ‘thanks’ for once?

[The door clicks very loudly as Ben stops speaking, slowly looking over to the bowed girl as he becomes slightly embarrassed.]

BEN: H-Hey…

BOW: Hi Ben!

[The girl smiles at him as she looks over to the others, the camera quickly changing to her perspective as they look towards her.]

BOW: Oh, hello too! My name is Sayori, it’s nice to meet you all!

YUKONG: Hello.

MILLIE: Hiya.

[Komasan waves slightly towards the bowed girl, cutting away to a medium shot of her before we hear the sound of distant arguing, the two voices unfamiliar and too far away for any words to be properly heard, both appearing to be masculine and one deeper and more relaxed than the other. Sayori jumps just slightly as she hears the argument before stepping aside.]

SAYORI: Don’t mind them, please make yourselves cozy.

[As she gets out of the way, Ben barges past slowly shortly to be followed by Yukong and then Millie, still holding onto Komasan. As they make their way inside, the tiny girl tries her best to close the door back again, straining slightly as she tries to push the heavy door. Just before it closes, Millie stops slightly and looks towards her.]

MILLIE: I can help ya if you want.

SAYORI: No, no I’m fine! I’ve almost got it…

[The door finally closes with a mighty bang, causing Sayori to back off just slightly as she shakes her arms in exhaustion. In the background, we can hear the argument pick up once more, only Ben’s awkward voice has somehow joined the fray. As she turns around, still clearly tired, she jumps up slightly and takes a sigh of relief before looking over back to Millie, a smile coming across her face as she points towards Komasan, leaning forward just slightly.]

SAYORI: Oh my gosh, that dog is sooo cute! What’s their name?

KOMASAN: Komasan, m’am.

[Sayori steps back, surprised to hear Komasan speak as he wrestles himself out of Millie’s arms, the camera following him as he falls to the floor, offering his paw out to the girl as he gives a friendly smile.]

KOMASAN: It’s nice to meet you!

[Sayori is a little taken aback but she still takes Komasan’s hand, crouching just slightly as the two shake hands in silence. The camera then cuts to Millie as she looks around the hall, the house looking noticeably bare with a long corridor that seemed to stretch for the entire length of the building. She twirls just slightly, getting a good look at everything before she turns around to Sayori.]

MILLIE: So what kinda place is this?

SAYORI: I don’t really know. We were all talking about it just before you arrived actually. Personally, I think it could be a shop!

MILLIE: A shop huh? Aren’t they usually less uh… home-y?

SAYORI: Well… I guess. But we did find a whole load of items around and they still had price tags attached to them!

MILLIE: Really?

SAYORI: Yeah, food, water, paper, rope, pretty much anything.

MILLIE: What about weapons?

SAYORI: Weapons…? Why do you want to know about weapons?

MILLIE: That Ben kid hit me in the face with a shovel instead of saying ‘hello’, and I just wanna make sure I'm protected before my pretty face gets smashed in.

[Millie’s tone of voice is slightly lighthearted and jovial, but at her words Sayori looks at her with a mix of nervousness and concern across her face. She looks down just slightly before speaking once again towards the demon. The silence only grows between them until we hear the off-screen argument start once more, the three masculine voices arguing and biting at one another as they catch the attention of the two girls.]

SAYORI: Well, um, we did find a gun and it’s in the lounge. I’m pretty sure that’s where the argument is being held though.

MILLIE: Okay, great!

SAYORI: But it’s-

[Just as Sayori calls out, Millie immediately turns away and walks down the hall, following the voices as she disappears off-screen, her footsteps against the wooden floor only growing quieter and quieter until they eventually fade away. Sayori and Komasan look into the distance together, listening to the loud argument from the lounge as Komasan turns and looks up to the girl, clutching loose strands of the large green bag around his back just lightly, as if preparing himself for what’s to come.]

KOMASAN: Should we go after her?

SAYORI: Might as well.

[The two of them slowly make their way towards the lounge, although Sayori has more of a hurried pace to her steps as opposed to Komasan’s waddle. The camera cuts away as the two make their way through the door, we can finally hear the sounds of the argument in full as the camera cuts away once more, focusing on the cozy lounge, a few small tables dotted around the space with an old couch resting near a wall. A fireplace is carved into the far wall, although it hasn’t been lit, as a hunting rifle rests on top like a prop in some wealthy aristocrat’s office. We can see Millie is wrestling with the gun, trying to get it off its hinges while Ben is busy arguing with someone else.]

[This person appears to be not much older than him, dressed in a white shirt and beige pants with a few trinkets around his neck and wrist, the large brim of his hat covering his eyes slightly from view. Underneath the cap is a long bush of hair, almost wild and uncut as it reaches down his hair, the light on his device matching the green glow of his hair. While the two men bicker, Yukong watches on, but instead of disrupting the peace she instead leans slightly against the couch arm, watching the two young men argue with one another.]

[However on the couch lies another new person, much taller and wider than anybody else in the room as he lays on the couch in a relaxed and strangely apathetic manner. His eyes are covered up by goggles on his face while strands of facial hair dot his lips and chin, the rest of his hair pouring out in black clouds underneath a large blue hat. He wears a long dark green coat fit for the winter while wearing nothing but a plain white shirt and black trousers, a large bag dotted just to the side. The goggled man yawns just slightly as we cut away, focusing on Ben and the green guy as they bicker.]

GREEN: You should have known by now that it was just a joke.

BEN: How would I have known, nothing has made sense ever since I woke up here!

GREEN: Look Ben, just calm down, alright?

BEN: Why me of all people huh, couldn’t you have sent Kuzan? That guy’s built like a brick!

GREEN: You really think Kuzan would just do it, the guy’s practically one with the couch now!

BEN: Did you even think I was going to make it back alive?

GREEN: Of course I did buddy, why would I just send someone out to die?

[The green guy pulls a little charismatic smile and puts his hand on Ben’s shoulder, but the taller teen brushes it off, clearly not over his little stint. Meanwhile, the camera cuts to put them in the background while Millie finally grabs the rifle, a little smile on her face. As the argument continues, Millie tries to call out to them.]

MILLIE: Hey.

[No response, the two of them just keep bickering at each-other while in the background the goggled guy notices her, raising his hand up just slightly in view of the camera.]

MILLIE: Hey!

[Despite raising her voice, Millie gets no response, causing her to frown just slightly. In the background Yukong and Sayori finally notice Millie with Sayori immediately panicking rushing towards her. Just as she does, Millie turns around, her finger already ready on the trigger as she points it to the ceiling.]

MILLIE: HEY!

[She tries to shoot but as she wraps her finger around the trigger, nothing but a click comes out, not making a single dent in their argument. She at first reacts with confusion before pressing it again, rapidly this time. As she does, Sayori slowly enters the frame trying to raise her hands towards the rifle but before she gets the chance Millie throws the thing to the ground, causing a loud thud across the entire room. This finally grabs everyone’s attention as Ben and the green guy look over to her.]

SAYORI: I did try to tell you that it didn’t have any bullets.

[As Sayori whispers we cut to focus on the green guy as he looks over to the devil, a curious glint in his eyes as the camera focuses in on her horns before zooming out and showing Millie once again, looking over to him with more of an annoyed expression.]

MILLIE: So d’any of you wanna explain why we’ve got into this mess?

GOGGLES: We came out of our holding cells and into the daylight.

[His voice sounds just as laid back as he looks, not moving from his comfy position on the couch as he now looks over to Millie.]

MILLIE: No I mean, why are we here of all places, and why are we just randomly attackin’ people without them knowing?

[The camera cuts over to Ben and the green guy as they look to each-other, the latter’s voice barely above a whisper now.]

GREEN: Who is she?

BEN: Just somebody I ran into while I was out.

MILLIE: More like someone you tried to clobber until kingdom come.

[Suddenly, the green guy’s eyes light up in realisation, as his posture relaxes just slightly, stepping forward just a step towards the devil.]

GREEN: Oh, I see what’s going on now. Yeah, sorry about sending Ben out, should have been a bit more specific.

[As he lets out a little nervous chuckle, Millie looks at him, titling her head just slightly as he steps closer and closer.]

MILLIE: Ya got a name?

GREEN: Of course I do, everyone’s got one. I’m N.

MILLIE: Just N?

N: Yeah, like the letter.

MILLIE: Okay…

N: I didn’t really have time to explain everything to him, we were busy searching the place out and Kuzan just felt like taking a break.

MILLIE: Okay, and Kuzan would be…

[The camera suddenly cuts away as Millie and N lie in the background, meanwhile a hand raises up in the foreground while a familiar voice bellows out.]

GOGGLES: Me.

[The camera pans around as Kuzan sits up right, as he does the red ring of light around his neck glows slightly as the hood of his coat straightens out, also revealing a noticeable scar around the right side of his body. As the audience gets a good look at him, N continues on.]

N: Well anyway, when I woke up I kinda freaked out, what with the whole cramped space and kidnapping thing. Truth be told, I don’t even know whether the letter is telling the truth or not.

[He pulls out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket, handing it over to Millie as she scans it. The camera cuts to focus in on the page, revealing it to be nearly identical to the ones shown previously, just with a few minor alterations in terms of wording. What’s jotable however is that some words appeared to be blotted out from wet ink, and by the looks of the faded text these blots seemed to appear recently, although what they hid remains a mystery to Millie.]

N: You got a letter too, right?

MILLIE: ‘Course I did.

[N snatches the paper away and neatly folds it up back into his pocket, continuing with his story as everyone looks towards him.]

N: When I got out, it was like I was inside some kind of abandoned machine, it gave me the worst creeps I could have possibly had. But I knew staying around would just only make things worse, so I decided to keep on moving forward.

[As he talks we cut to various shots of everybody looking over to him, invested in his story. Sayori holds onto Komasan while Kuzan returns to his usual position on the couch.]

N: My legs ached with how much I had to climb, I didn’t even know there was even an exit at the top, but something inside of me just told me that I had to keep moving, no matter what. As I looked, I saw all of the other doors, identical to my own, but on one particular turn I found something else. It was a hole, and inside was just the faintest bit of light, but when I looked closer at it, all I found was just darkness. I decided to take a closer look and as I stepped closer and closer I could make out what seemed to be horns, just poking out from the light.

[The camera cuts over to Millie, looking up just slightly as the camera focuses in on her own horns.]

N: I stepped closer and closer, wondering what it could be that was lurking in the shadows. But then I finally saw it, I stared at the shadows… and they stared right back.

[The camera now cuts to N’s face, slowly zooming out as he continues his monologue.]

N: It looked like eyes to me, cyan whirlpools in an endless sea of black, and I couldn’t help but stare at the thing. It was only a few seconds but to me it felt like hours, but eventually I snapped out of it. In the distance I could hear glass shattering from high above, and I knew that was my cue to leave. When I went back to the main path, I found tiny glass shards, and when I looked up, I could see someone had broken a skylight above, letting the radiant sun back in.

[N begins to slowly pace around the room, the camera following his movements while focusing in on everyone’s reactions.]

N: With not a moment to lose, I quickly made my way up to the top. And when I did, I found a ladder, one that seemed just as long as the path below, but I knew that was the only way forward, and… Well, here I am I guess.

[The camera focuses on N once more as silence fills the air, before being replaced by slow clapping, as the camera pans around we see that Yukong is the one applauding, causing N to smile just slightly.]

N: Thank you.

MILLIE: That was a right pretty speech but uh… what does it have to do with anything?

N: Well, as you can see this thing around my neck’s emitting a green light, right?

[N points to the device as the camera zooms in, sure enough it is glowing a radiant green. The camera quickly cuts away back to the normal shot as he continues.]

N: We all have different lights around our necks, and from what I can tell, I[m pretty sure we all came out from different buildings, isn’t that right Sayori?

[The camera quickly focuses on the girl as she buts in, moving forward just slightly as the camera also picks up on Kuzan in the background.]

SAYORI: That’s right! When I made my way to the top, Kuzan was already there. And we both have red rings around our necks!

N: Not to mention when I came out, you and Kuzan had already been on the outside for a good while.

KUZAN: Correct.

N: And uh… sorry, I don’t know your name yet.

MILLIE: It’s Millie.

N: Millie! Anyway, you also have a red ring on you, right?

MILLIE: Yeah, but how-

[Suddenly, Millie’s yellow eyes flash in realisation, looking over towards N as a confident smile makes its way onto his face.]

N: Exactly. You couldn’t have been the horned thing I was talking about because I didn’t see you down there. Which means…

[N slowly turns around as the camera follows his gaze, before stopping to Ben, who suddenly has all eyes cast on him now.]

N: Ben, you really goofed up.

BEN: Yeah… I know.

YUKONG: So what exactly is this shadow thing then?

[The camera zooms in to N but before he gets the chance to speak, we suddenly hear another voice off-screen, one that was masculine and a little gravelly too, one that didn’t belong to anyone else in the group.]

OFF-SCREEN: Honestly, no idea.

[We suddenly hard cut away from the group as we see two new players walking along the grass, their backs turned to us, the one on the left tall and lean, dressed in ancient clothes that were torn and ripped like he just came straight from the Civil War, his puffed-up collar hiding the device around his neck. The player on the opposite side however was shorter, a little more rounder as he was dressed in what appeared to be a blue cardigan and white shirt. Unlike the other player, his device was clearly seen around his neck, displaying a blue ring. The two walk across the grass, the audience seemingly butting into their conversation.]

ROUND: What do you mean ‘no idea’?

SOLDIER: No idea means no idea, kid.

[The camera cuts to focus on the right player, looking over to his face. It was youthful but had a little bit of a rough edge to it, his nose looking like it had taken a beating or two in its life with thick eyebrows over his eyes, his scalp looking freshly shaved to a buzz-cut. He looks over to the other player with almost a scowl in his annoyed expression, his voice matching it.]

BUZZCUT: Out of everything that’s happened so far, from being kidnapped, to having these shitty things around our necks, to meeting you, you think that this being one big experiment is simply too stupid to actually be real?

SOLDIER: Of course. What would there to be gained, and how exactly would people know what we are doing?

BUZZCUT: They probably have cameras in these things and speakers too.

SOLDIER: Trust me, if there were cameras we probably would have known by now. And I doubt with how low these things are you’d get a good angle to actually look at anything.

BUZZCUT: Well, yeah but-

SOLDIER: What are you going to say next, that this is all one big dome, there’s cameras in the sky, in the birds tweeting above, the sun is all just one big eye?

[The soldier lets out a little chuckle as the buzzcut boy looks around, trying his best not to flip put before another voice calls out from up ahead, this one more feminine and sounding just as annoyed as the boy.]

ANNOYED VOICE: Can you two hurry up already?

[The buzzcut boy takes one last look at the other player before increasing his speed, letting out a hushed remark under his breath.]

BUZZCUT: You look like you’re from a science experiment anyway…

[The camera cuts to a new angle as the buzzcut kid walks away, his body covering the frame before disappearing. A few moments later we finally see the appearance of the other player, the front of his clothes are still tattered and dirty, but his skin is another matter altogether, fleshy yet crisp at the same time with sunken in features like a corpse. We can now finally see the device around his neck, covered just slightly by the crimson clothes, the ring of light matching the suit in colour too. His greyed-over eyes roll slightly as he picks up the pace too, letting a little yellow smile out from the corners of his cracked mouth.]

[We suddenly cut away to focus on the final two players, one a young woman with silver hair and violet eyes, her dress looking almost too regal and fancy among everyone else. As she walks, her twintails bounce just slightly against the cold device around her neck, letting out a faint blue light. She shoots a stare over to the buzzcut boy, annoyed about her situation, contrasting with the other player at her side. He is older and more taller, dressed in a more casual manner with only a red shirt and black pants, his skin tone is more olive then everyone else’s as he fiddles slightly with the device, the ring of light sporting a brighter crimson than his shirt.]

[As opposed to the girl, he continues to just move forward, looking around at the scenery, cutting to his perspective whilst the silver-haired girl talks in the background. All he finds however is nothing but blue skies and grass, the annoyingly-familiar sight we are all now accustomed to.]

SILVER: There has to be somewhere nearby, they can’t expect us to just walk until our legs break in two. I swear once I finally manage to leave this place there will be hell to pay to whoever’s in charge. I’ll cast the most powerful spell I can think of and then-

CRIMSON: Do all you ever do is complain?

[We cut back to the two of them as they look towards each-other, each sharing a little look of annoyance towards the other.]

SILVER: Well I’m sorry that I’m not taking this with a smile on my face. How long does it have to take until we find something?

CRIMSON: We’ll find something, we just gotta push forward.

SILVER: I’ve been pushing forward for ages, but I haven’t escaped yet, have I?

CRIMSON: Well why don’t you just do one of your little magic tricks and disappear in a cloud of smoke?

SILVER: That’s not how i-

[Suddenly, the silver-haired girl bumps into somebody, causing each of them to fall on the floor, letting out a surprised yelp as they hit the ground. The crimson-shirted man stops as the two behind him catch up, the camera cutting to focus on the silver haired girl as she recovers. As she does, the camera also spots another person lying on the ground; Miku.]

MIKU: Oh sorry! I didn’t see you there. Are you hurt?

[Miku pulls her arm forward just slightly as Noelle rubs her wrist, not giving the blue-haired girl a single look.]

SILVER: I’m fine.

MIKU: Oh, well I’m glad to hear that!

[Miku lets out an infectious smile as the camera focuses in on her, as it does, two recognisable figures slowly make their way over, those being Luigi and D.Va. Once they get within a metre of each-other Miku turns around to face them, but their eyes are focused on this new group, the camera cutting away as all four now come into view.]

SOLDIER: 11.

[Luigi looks over to the tattered man, raising an eyebrow in confusion.]

LUIGI: What was that?

SOLDIER: Just adding up how many people I’ve seen so far. With you all that only raises it up to 11 now.

LUIGI: Well, if it makes things any easier, we were with somebody else before and he’s gone. And I did come across two more people when I escaped from that cold room.

SOLDIER: So 14 now. Good to know.

[A little smile makes its way across the man’s mouth as he takes in a little breath, pausing just slightly before raising his arm forward. The camera cuts and shows his irradiated hand, outstretched towards Luigi as the latter grimaces just slightly at the sight.]

SOLDIER: Where are my manners? I’m John Hancock.

LUIGI: L-Luigi.

[The two shake hands with one another, although John is more enthusiastic as he pulls away his hand mightily.]

D.VA: Guess we’re doing introductions now then? Alright, I’m Hana but you guys can just call me ‘D.Va’. And this girl right here is Miku.

MIKU: Hii!

[As D.Va points to the blue-haired girl, Miku still holds onto that smile on her face waving her hand out for all to see as she looks back to this new group, each looking over at the others with differing emotions ranging from excitement, to weariness, to suspicion, to just straight up boredom. The crimson-shirted man is the one to break the silence next as he steps forward.]

CRIMSON: Name’s Nacho Varga. Nice to meet you all.

[Nacho puts his hands on his hips just slightly as the buzzcut kid stands up on his toes, making himself more known amidst the small sea of heads.]

BUZZCUT: I’m Jimmy.

LUIGI: Okay, and you are?

[Luigi and the camera look towards the silver-haired girl who brushes her hair just slightly before speaking.]

SILVER: Noelle.

JOHN: I think that covers everybody. So… find anything that might give us a clue as to where we are?

D.VA: Not really.

[D.Va scratches the back of her neck as she looks away, a little look of disappointment making its way onto John’s face.]

JOHN: Oh, well that’s a shame. Still trying to wrap my head around just what exactly we’re here for.

JIMMY: We’re playing some kind of game, aren’t we?

D.VA: Yeah, but what kind of game?

JOHN: I’ve been thinking about it ever since I woke up, but I’d have better luck finding out what the meaning of life is before making heads or tails of this place.

NOELLE: It’s not that complicated, we’re in a field, so we can’t be anywhere with a desert nearby.

MIKU: I don’t think that’s how it works.

JOHN: Maybe we need to find more about just what this ‘Static Serene’ even is. I’m guessing you three got the same letter in your rooms, right?

[The three of them all nod as the camera focuses in on John, trying to wrap his mind around everything, slowly zooming in as he speaks. Just out of frame, Nacho turns around as if looking at something but before we see anything but his shoulder turn, it is cut off in favour of John.]

JOHN: Okay, let’s see… Getting kidnapped, having weird collars around our necks, forcing us into some kind of weird game, leaving us in a field without any explanation… This is really a hard one to crack. Did I miss out anything?

NACHO: How about that thing over there?

[Nacho’s offscreen voice causes John and the audience to turn around, noticing him as he points to the distance, getting closer to gain a better look. We cut and show Nacho’s perspective as he notices just something in the sky, looking almost like a black blip among the blue dome around themselves, the exact shape remaining a mystery to them from so far away. The camera cuts away once more as Nacho slowly makes his way over to it, the others following behind in pursuit.]

JOHN: Well, I guess it’s just as good a start as any!

[John lets out a little smile but nobody really pays attention to it, instead now focused on figuring out just what this weird blip is. Before long, the players eventually reach it, the camera is positioned up above as they look up to the sky, now getting a clear look at what it is. Some look at it with curious eyes, and others seem almost confused by its very existence.]

JIMMY: The hell is that?

[Just as Jimmy asks his question, the camera finally reveals just what they are looking at; it bears a humanoid-shape, although its body is very clearly made of metal, like some form of primitive android. At the top of its head lies a large TV, showing nothing on its clear screen at the moment as the blue sky reflects off of it. There are two strange things about this thing; the first is that it is dressed in clothes, a standard white shirt and trousers, with even a belt to boot. And the second, and most confusing of all, is that it appears to be floating in mid-air. The camera once more cuts back to the group as Luigi steps forward.]

LUIGI: Okay, this is… something.

D.VA: Looks like some kind of weird art piece.

JOHN: How is it floating all the way up there? I don’t see a rope or a harness anywhere to keep it suspended.

MIKU: Do you think it could be like those statue guys?

LUIGI: Statue guys?

MIKU: Yeah! The people who dress up and paint themselves like statues and don’t move at all. Maybe it could be something like that.

JOHN: I don’t really know.

[As everybody talks, Jimmy slowly slinks forward, looking at the thing up and down as he paces around it trying to get a better look. He walks around just to see whether he could find what was holding it up when he suddenly smashes against something, letting out a grunt in response. As he recovers, he looks but sees nothing but the horizon, brushing it off with just a weird look before trying once again. However, as he tries to set his foot forward, he finds it instead brushing up against some kind of surface, like an invisible wall is blocking him from progressing.]

JIMMY: What the hell…?

[While the conversation fades away into the background, Jimmy slowly raises his hand forward, unsure of what he would find. However, shortly after, his hand presses up against something, that invisible wall once again, blocking him from moving forward. He decides to knock against it and as he does, strange lines come out from the point of impact, like when something hits a TV, rendering that part of the sky an anomaly before returning back to normal once more. We cut to a close-up shot of Jimmy, getting his confused and annoyed reaction as he moves back slightly.]

JIMMY: Hey, come look at this!

[Everyone looks at him, confused as to what he means, but at least now they have all eyes on Jimmy as he makes his point. He knocks against this stray piece of the horizon, each knock of his fist only making those lines come up once more before disappearing in an instant.]

JOHN: …The hell?

[John slowly pushes past everybody as he gets near Jimmy, having already made his point, but not relenting in stopping. John reaches up, standing on his toes as he does the same to a higher point. Sure enough, the lines appear once more. Everyone slowly picks up the pieces and a few like Nacho and D.Va try it out for themselves, as they do Nacho slowly looks over to the thing in the sky, seemingly floating with its back right up against this strange wall. As he does, he notices the screen slowly turn on, a small white light appearing in the middle as everyone talks in the background.]

NOELLE: Wait, so we’re actually trapped?

LUIGI: Y-Yeah!

D.VA: I guess we’ve hit an out of bounds area or something.

JIMMY: Is everything else even real, is the sky and the grass fake too?

JOHN: Guess we’re going to find ou-

[The camera zooms in on Nacho as he looks towards the screen, the light disappearing once more before John and everyone else is interrupted, a massive white light now covering up the screen as a shrill cry rings out, sending everyone to their knees. The white completely envelops the frame as we cut around as everyone else hears this strange noise in the distance, from Caine, to the cafeteria group, to the Lounge group, and the other players still walking.}

[We cut to the last group in particular as Coco notices something bright in the distance, slowly lowering her sunglasses as she rubs her eyes. The camera focuses in on her as Ashley’s voice is heard off-screen.]

ASHLEY: Hey, you coming or not?

COCO: I think I just saw something up ahead.

[Her comment catches the attention of everyone else as they turn around.]

RAYMAN: Really?

COCO: Yeah, there’s a big light up ahead, just in the distance

PLAGUE KNIGHT: Well hurry up and let’s go!

[Plague Knight rushes past them, coming closer to the light as the others soon follow. The camera cuts away to focus in on the lounge group, noticing the light from a small nearby window, Komasan hanging on from the windowsill as he peeks above. We can see that some random items are on the ground now, as if a shockwave had just passed.]

BEN: What was that?

YUKONG: Did a bomb drop?

MILLIE: A bomb?

KUZAN: Nah, we probably would have been nothing but skull and bone by now.

[Kuzan lets out a yawn as N approaches the windowsill, raising Komasan just slightly and staring off in the distance, the light is closer from where they are standing and in the background we can hear the faint noise of something getting higher in pitch before going lower, although what it is exactly remains a mystery.]

[We cut away to the dining hall crew, or more specifically, the door to the entrance, as Gojo makes his way outside, the others looking over to him in the background. It cuts to his perspective and sure enough, he can see the light much like everyone else, but in the distance he can hear the sound again, like a strange air-raid siren.]

NAKANAKA: You see anything out there?

REAGAN: That’s a dumb question to ask the guy with the blindfold on.

GOJO: I see light. And… Can you guys hear that?

NEGATIVE MAN: Sounds like an alarm to me.

VIVIAN: Whatever could it be? Does it look dangerous?

GOJO: Well…

[The camera cuts once more to Gojo’s perspective, focusing on the faint light under his heavy blindfold, despite everything the image still bleeds through before we cut back to a normal angle as he steps outside and looks behind him, addressing the others in that same confident voice of his.]

GOJO: Doesn’t look like it. Could be some kind of important clue that’ll tell us more about this game we’re supposed to be playing. You guys wanna check it out or…

[Negative Man gets up from his seat as does Vivian, shortly followed by an enthusiastic Nakanaka and an unenthused Reagan. The camera cuts to focus on Gojo as he gives his usual charismatic smile.]

GOJO: Alright, let’s do th-

[Before Gojo could finish what appears to be a black boot accidentally kicks into his face, sending him back just slightly as he rubs his cheek.]

CAINE: Oh sorry, I guess we didn’t see each-other!

[As Gojo looks up he notices Caine floating up above, slightly taken aback by his strange appearance, behind him is Nami, however she doesn’t have that same cool and composed look on her face, if anything she seems a little antsy now as she tugs on Caine’s leg. The ringleader doesn’t react as his leg stretches out before retracting once more.]

CAINE: Say, you lovely people wouldn’t have found a large restless demonic creature made of eternal shadow around here would you?

[Despite his strange request, Caine’s voice is as optimistic as ever as Gojo just looks up at him.]

GOJO: …No.

CAINE: Okay, sorry kid but it is definitely chasing us now.

[One of Caine’s eyes looks over to Nami while the other remains squarely on Caine. As the others approach from behind, Gojo tries his best to wrap his head around the situation.]

GOJO: Is this some kind of joke, what the hell are you talking about?

CAINE: Patience, my good friend, patience! All we need is a safe place to hide, preferably one that’s glimmering with de-light, like a shining lightbulb!

[As Caine performs his dramatic hand movements, the camera slowly pans around to show the bright light dimming just slightly in the background, something that everybody else starts to notice. Gojo tries to speak, but instead someone new comes in.]

VIVIAN: Well, if you just look behind you, you’ll see something like that.

NEGATIVE MAN: Yeah, we were just about to head out there actually if you wanted to come.

[As Negative Man speaks, Caine’s eyes rotate just slightly as he looks behind him, not taking his eyes off of it for a second as his pupils dilate. His body still remains focused on the others, even as he begins speaking once more.]

CAINE: Fantastic, looks like we have ourselves a grand old time on our hands, Name-y!

NAMI: It’s Nami.

CAINE: We’ll figure out a name for you yet, but for now, we must go onward to our adventure!

[The camera suddenly cuts to a different angle showing everybody as they make their way over to the bright light, each at varying speeds, the camera slowly panning to the left behind a silhouette appears on the left side of the frame, showing a pair of horns, curved slightly and cloudy, as if made by shadow. After everyone has left the frame, this unknown individual begins to step forward as the camera shakes just slightly, getting drowned by this shadow. In just a small portion of the sky we can see it being replaced by some sort of grey block, the screen from it not working properly before cutting away back to the bright light from before.]

[When we cut back it’s to focus on Luigi, now fallen on the ground as he rubs his eyes, trying his best to recover from the sudden barrage of light. Everyone else is the same as they try to get back on their feet, and as the plumber does, he starts to notice the machine floating in the sky has now ungraciously dropped down to the grass below.]

[As he lets out a groan, we hear the sound of others speaking, cutting to Luigi’s perspective, his eyes still slightly blurry as he sees shapes fast approaching him. To him, they appear new, but to us, they are slowly revealed to be the group from the lounge, each one with varying hints of confusion on their faces.]

MILLIE: What happened here?

LUIGI: Wh- I uh… I don’t know…

N: Guess you must have been right near that light when it came up. Are you hurt?

LUIGI: No, I’m fine, don’t worry about me.

[Luigi raises his fists playfully to further prove how fine he is, but his body swaying from side to side clearly tells a different story. We cut away and focus in on Noelle as she stares at the mechanical thing in curiosity. She peers right into its screen and notices her reflection, the camera zooming in to show it to the audience while in the background we hear John speaking to someone.]

JOHN: Just came out of nowhere, would have blinded us all if we weren’t too careful! …Alright, so that makes… 26 now, I’m sure.

[The camera cuts away and shows that everyone else has now made it, circling around the site as they try to figure out just what is going on, before cutting to focus on Nami, making her way towards Luigi, as he looks at her, slightly happy to see her.]

LUIGI: Oh hey, nice to see ya again.

[No response.]

LUIGI: You okay?

NAMI: Yes, no… I don’t know. Listen, I think something is chasing after us. I don’t know what it wants and I don’t know what it can do, but it’s coming after us.

LUIGI: Woah woah, slow down alright? Just take a deep breath okay?

[Nami breathes in just slightly, trying to get herself calm as Luigi looks around in the distance, noticing some bits of the sky just in the horizon seem to be… missing. Not gone entirely, but in their place is some kind of weird haze of black and white, moulding and folding against one another.]

LUIGI: How about you tell me just what this thing looks like?

NAMI: Well it’s got horns, and I think it’s made out of like shadows and something and…

[As she talks the camera continues to focus in on Luigi as he looks to the horizon with a calm and curious expression, however as Nami speaks his eyes quickly focus on something as they become slightly panicked. We cut to his perspective as we see something moving in the distance, what appears to be some kind of large shadowy behemoth, stomping itself closer to the group as its horns looked ready to pierce the sky. But that was not what Luigi immediately recognised, what he saw was that the creature had eyes; two haunting eyes, like whirlpools in a sea of blackness.]

NAMI: And it had these really creepy eyes…

[The camera zooms in to focus on these eyes as the audience and Luigi have the same revelation. It was that thing in the hallway. The camera cuts away to a different angle, focusing on Luigi and Nami as he tries his best to calm him down, the strange mechanical body on the ground just barely in focus.]

LUIGI: This place is just getting weirder and weirder by the minute…

[Suddenly we can hear the sound of something snapping, and in a flash the mechanical thing slowly begins to move, causing Luigi to scream just slightly in fear. The camera focuses in on the thing, its body twisting and snapping itself into place as it clicks and whirrs, sounding like a chiropractor gone mad, as the camera focuses in on it. Its body bulges and pokes against the clothes it wears as it seems to slowly rise to its feet, the camera cutting away to focus in on the sky as a few players take notice. It seems that the sky is slowly being replaced, large panels of it going away almost with every click to be replaced by TV static, only getting faster and faster as the thing continues.]

[Before long, the camera cuts back once more to a close-up of the thing, focusing on the TV making up its ‘head’, the sound of that familiar beeping echoing away and banging against the audience’s ears as more and more clicks can be heard, the thing rising up to its feet as it slowly dwarves most of the players surrounding it. Eventually, the clicks stop and the TV switches on, showing nothing but static as the sky and the horizon all switch to the same tune. We got a few shots of the players reacting to it before focusing once more on the mechanical thing, its static display humming away seemingly in sync with all of the static around it.]

[We hear murmurs around the crowd as all of the players look to it now, each with varying emotions around the damn thing, strangely enough the rings of light around their devices seem to glow brighter and pulsate in its presence, although only a few take notice of it. We cut to yet another close-up of the thing as its TV suddenly switches from nothing but static to another view, what appears to be a black and white room with nothing but a desk and a person sitting near it, hands against one another as their features are draped in shadow. As the players each try to come to terms with just what the hell is happening, we hear a voice speak, distorted beyond recognition, but a voice nonetheless.]

???: Thank you all for attending.

[We immediately cut away to show all of the other players as they look towards the screen, each confused as to what is going on as some speak out.]

ASHLEY: The hell is this?

YUKONG: Is this meant to be some kind of trick or…

JIMMY: Never mind that, did you guys see the sky just disappear like that?

N: Of course we did, who the heck didn’t?

D.VA: Just what in the hell is going on?

???: If you’d allow me the time to explain, then I’m sure everything will become clear to you.

[As if by magic, everybody shuts up as they hear the voice, booming all around them despite seemingly coming out from just the TV. After a few moments of tense silence, the person on the screen speaks once more.]

???: Thank you. Now to answer your most pressing question of all, I bet you’re wondering just who we are. Well, to put it in the briefest of terms, we are an organisation across many different realities, each looking into one and the other, into the proverbial static of time, simply observing as events unfold. We are not gods, just mere spectators.

REAGAN: Can you stop with the whole ‘secret society’ crap and just get on with it?

???: Fine. We are the Static Serene, observers into many different facets of the great static of life.

[As the voice speaks enigmatically, Rayman leans in just slightly to Komasan by his side, his voice barely above a whisper.]

RAYMAN: You got any idea what he’s saying?

KOMASAN: Nope.

[The camera cuts back to focus on the figure on the screen, the footage moving just slowly as black and white frames dip in and out.]

???: Now, as the letter you received describes, all 27 of you have been brought together for a very specific reason. We h-

JOHN: Hold on. 27?

???: Yes, there are 27 of you.

JOHN: That can’t be right, I counted 26, so we’re clearly missing somebody.

???: Well, if you look behind you, I’m sure you’ll find your missing somebody.

JOHN: The hell are you-?

[As John turns around, he notices the horned mass of shadows fast approaching as does everyone else, Caine and Nami noticeably step back as does Luigi, while everyone else stares at the thing, shadow streaming just slightly from its back in thin wisps like an extinguished candle. Caine turns his eyes around over to the TV before floating over, bashing his teeth against the screen, while the person on the other side remains unfazed.

CAINE: Forgive me for being a little brash, but you seriously expect me to believe that smouldering stack of sinister shadow is supposed to be a player?

???: They have a bangle, just like you all.

KUZAN: A what?

???: A bangle, that’s the thing around your necks.

[The shadow mass stops as a thin layer disappears from what seems to be its neck, towering over everybody as a red ring of light pokes out from the mechanical device.]

PLAGUE KNIGHT: He’s supposed to be playing against us? Why he may be not a problem for me, but for everyone else I think he might pose a little challenge, even if he’s just one guy.

SHADOW: We are many.

[The hollowed legion of voices come out of the shadow creature as Plague Knight jumps a little in fright, its eyes staring right back into Plague Knight’s mask.]

SHADOW: We are Dormin.

[The camera cuts away and focuses on everyone present, from the players to the mysterious person on the screen.]

???: Now that everyone is here, I think it’s time we get the ball rolling, so to speak.

[The screen briefly switches to static before a cheap slideshow replaces the screen, each player looking over to it now as the voice continues, changing its visuals periodically.]

???: Now, every year the Static Serene hold a little get together, and at this get together we often get a little ambitious, we simply need to be entertained, otherwise there’d just be no point to all of this static. At first, we simply put on plays and performances, and after that readings and film, but now, we have decided to try and do something a little bit different.

[The screen returns to static once more as the voice continues.]

???: This year, we have pulled each and every one of you into our newest endeavour: a simple game show in which we are the hosts and you our contestants, one show which we have lovingly dubbed…

[Suddenly, letters poke out from the static, fizzling away at the grey sea as the camera remains fixed on it.]

HOST: ‘ The Static Serene Game Show’…

[Silence passes throughout the crowd until someone speaks up.]

NEGATIVE MAN: Got really original with that title there, didn’t you?

HOST: Now that every single player is present, we think it is the right time to finally star-

MILLIE: Wait, hold on a sec!

[The camera pans over to Millie as she steps forward, grasping the bangle around her neck with a little fire in her eyes.]

MILLIE: Ya seriously can’t expect me to just sit down and play some kinda game for people I don’t even know!

HOST: I’m afraid that you have no choice, Mildred. Your sponsor has already suggested a great number of players, just be lucky you were able to make it to the final cut.

MILLIE: Well, whatever! You can shove your crappy show up your ass, I’m not gonna play it!

[As Millie turns back around the camera follows her, taking short little steps back into the crowd as the Host’s voice rings out.]

HOST: Fine. But I guess you may just have to say goodbye to the prize of your dreams.

[Millie stops, looking back slightly towards the mechanical thing as it cracks its ‘neck’ just slightly, causing static to appear on the screen for just a brief moment.]

MILLIE: …What prize?

[The camera slowly zooms in on the host once more, the TV quickly changing to show a stock image of a trophy with glowing yellow light around it.]

HOST: If any player ends up winning the show, then they shall receive the prize to end all prizes, the very thing their aching hearts so desire. The prize of their dreams, and we have made sure to check bury thoroughly as to what that may be. However, you only have one chance to win it, unless one of your team-mates or competitors receive it in your place.]

[The camera focuses back on the crowd, particularly towards Nakanaka as she looks around, exchanging stray glances at everybody nearby.]

NAKANAKA: Teammates?

HOST: Yes. We believe that by now you’ve taken a look at the colours around your bangles?

GOJO: Yep.

HOST: Those are your teams. The red team, the blue team, and the green team.

[As the host lists them off, the camera cuts to closeups of Nacho’s, Reagan’s, and Vivian’s bangles respectively before cutting back to the standard view of the host.]

HOST: 3 teams of 9 players to separate the 27 around you. I suggest you organise yourselves and get into your teams now.

[The players do as they are asked, some bumping into one another and exchanging looks before everybody settles in just roughly. The camera cuts to show the red team, consisting of Dormin, Gojo, Doll, Nacho, Millie, Ashley, Kuzan, Sayori, and John.]

HOST: In time you will be relocated to a specific residence so you can know each other better. But if the thought of being all from different universes causes you to feel a bit alienated, rest assured we have you covered. The bangles are able to translate each respective word no matter your original language, making sure no barriers get in the way of. communication

[The camera suddenly now cuts to show the blue team, consisting of Ben, Yukong, Komasan, Miku, Caine, Noelle, Jimmy, Reagan, and Rayman.]

HOST: Communication will be key in these coming episodes, after all without it, you may as well leave right this very second. You will be forced to rely among one another for support, and when the time comes that support will be integral to your place in the game.

NOELLE: What’s that supposed to mean?

HOST: You will all compete in specific challenges as a team, and whichever ones come out the loser will be forced to suffer the audience’s wrath.

COCO: Gee, that definitely doesn’t sound creepy at all.

[The camera quickly cuts to show the final team, the green team. It consists of N, Coco, Luigi, Vivian,  Negative Man, Nakanaka, Plague Knight, D.Va, and Nami.]

HOST: But the audience may also choose to bring you rewards, if they like a specific player that much. These rewards may even help to boost your chances at winning, but in order to do that you must first win a challenge.

NAKANAKA: Okay, so when’s the first challenge, I want to win this and I don’t want to waste time!

[The camera slowly zooms out, showing every player in their group before the host responds once more.]

HOST: For your first challenge… Well, it’s not really a challenge per se.

ASHLEY: Just spit it out already!

HOST: Fine. For your first challenge, all you need to do is…

[The camera slowly zooms in onto the host’s screen before a symbol flashes showing a standard red stop sign.]

HOST: …Wait.

[Silence fills the air as the players look over in confusion.]

NAMI: Wait?

HOST: Yes. All you have to do is wait, embarrassingly enough we haven’t properly set up pur first challenge yet.

JIMMY: So much for the stellar production.

HOST: In the meantime, the audience shall vote which team among them is their favourite, and which are their least favourite… You will not need to wait for long, in fact the audience are watching right now, but don’t fret. First impressions are now a thing of the past for them.

KOMASAN: W-Wait so, let me get this straight.

[All eyes are on Komasan now as he stands on his toes, despite his attempts to appear tall his head just pokes out from the grass below.]

KOMASAN: So these ‘audience and sponsors’ you’ve been goin’ on about, all they have to do is just… vote for the team they love the most?

HOST: And the one they feel coldest about. I trust you all have no further questions?

CAINE: Seems perfectly fine to me!

[Caine pulls an enthusiastic thumbs up as the camera slowly zooms out, showing an overhead shot as we see the beautiful sky has now been replaced by fuzzy static, trapping all 27 of the players for now. As the camera zooms out we pick up certain voices among the crowd.]

ASHLEY: The first challenge we get, and all we have to do is sit around? This show’s gonna be much easier than I thought!

SAYORI: Well it can’t be that easy, but hopefully they make the right choice…

JIMMY: What even is this place?

KOMASAN: At this point I’m just a lil’ afraid to ask…

COCO: Who would even be watching this crap?

NAMI: I guess we’re just going to have to wait and see…

LUIGI: There’s gotta be more to this, it can’t be that simple as just sitting around and waiting for votes from people we don’t know…

[The frame suddenly cuts to black as we hear one last line.]

LUIGI: …Right?