Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Hey guys," iTrapped opened the door to his fairly simplistic place. Opulence, while something he could appreciate, was not the main thing on his mind. One would think otherwise given how fancy he dressed up, but that was more of a disguise than a show of who he was. He knew his friends well enough to know that they were never much for marble or golden leaves on food. After slaying Chance, he had discarded the Darkheart. He had told Caleb and Ellernate about the adventures. How he had to pretend he was into the sex and relationship they were in.

How much he missed them.

Their visits became less frequent over time. The pizza and burgers for them stopped being ordered. They probably got a job. He had recommended the casino because it had good pay. And they could keep quiet relatively easily. He started changing. He felt more youthful. He felt a twinge of regret for what he did, yet he kept his chin high and his smiles reserved for his true friends. He had trusted them with his life, and it had worked out so far.

Occasional gambling, usually just to pay his friends a visit. Deep down, he partially did it because it reminded him of Chance. They never told him whether or not they got the job at the casino, but they seemed to have. And they seemed to be good friends with Mafioso's workers. They would go silent and Ellernate's shoulders would slump every time iTrapped walked in.

He was a bit suspicious about the swords sheathed at their sides, but he chalked it up to security measures. The Mafia was not exactly subtle with their workers. They operated on fear and money. That was all someone needed to get by in this world.

One day, iTrapped was knocked down from behind. He managed to catch himself as he fell. He twisted around. And he was met with a familiar sight being pointed down at him.

The Darkheart. Freed from his grasp long ago. In the hands of Ellernate, and by extension Caleb. iTrapped was on the ground, looking up at the people he had called his best friends. He rolled out of the way of Ellernate driving the Darkheart into the ground near his hand.

iTrapped managed to scramble to his feet and booked it out the door and vaulted over multiple concrete walls you'd see on the highway. He grabbed his crown, turning around while running just to chuck it at the duo. Caleb comically yelped as he went down. "THIS ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE, GUYS!" He shouted in desperation and backed up against the wall of the casino he ran to.

"Sorry, man. I'm not looking to die to the Mafia." Ellernate murmured a half-hearted apology and lunged at iTrapped. Yet again, iTrapped evaded the strike and countered with a kick to the stomach. "You've gotten tougher!"

"Eller- PLEASE!" iTrapped attempted to plead, but he did not see where Caleb had snuck off to. That was until arms locked his own in a useless position. He kicked and struggled with all his might, but some of Mafioso's leftover goons grabbed his legs. "I KILLED FOR YOU! THE MAFIA WANTING TO TAKE CARE OF HIM THEMSELVES HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ME! PLEASE!" iTrapped yelped and shuddered as a gun was placed to his head. "Please. I'll give everything I have. I'll make the Darkheart fully detach from me. You can sell it! We can pretend like this entire encounter didn't happen and we can be friends."

"I was told you had been rather stoic while we were gone. Why are you suddenly losing your cool?" Caleb feigned sweetness and whispered to iTrapped. "Miss us so much your entire mask shattered? You really are just some pretty stained glass."

iTrapped sobbed, mind finally clear now that the Darkheart had latched on to someone else. "Eller put the sword down. It's making you think things and feel things you normally would not. Please-" he whined as the safety was taken off the gun.

"Sorry. It's a dog eat dog world now. But I'll let you have your last words." Ellernate slowly blinked and pressed the tip of the sword against iTrapped's neck. "Don't waste my time using more than you need. Keep it nice and sweet for me."

iTrapped broke down, tears streaming down his face against his will. He has managed for three months. Maybe longer. Deep breaths were lost to hiccups. "I'm sorry. For everything. I'm sorry for my greed back then. I'm sorry for struggling to get that key. I'm sorry for even trying to-" he was cut off mid sentence.

"Awwww he's pretending like he's actually sorry. Still a liar huh?" Caleb sneered and grinned against iTrapped's neck. "Wait until Johnny hears about this one.

"See you in hell. I'll wait for you guys." iTrapped managed as he felt the sting of the Darkheart against his throat. It was slow and deliberate. "Call the kettle black all you want with liar accusations, but believe me when I say that I love you guys."

"Bet you said that to Chance before ripping out his heart," Ellernate deadpanned.

There was a sharp pain. The highest point on the mountain. Before he could register it properly, the blood vessel was severed. And all went black.

——————

He was floating. Free from the gravital leash at last. The first thing he did was spin, watching his crown and faux fur fly off and float as well. Honestly, he would expect something different if he ever dabbled in religion outside of the basic Admin Pantheon he was raised on. It was like he could remember everything at the moment. His mother's warm smile when Ellernate and Caleb were introduced was his favorite. He could not help but smile softly in return. It was barely there, but it was real.

He frowned at the brief memories of his father. He tried to pretend he never had one in the first place. He giggled in each and every memory featuring that disgusting man. He looked so much like him when he had short hair. That's why he grew out his hair. To not look so much like him meant being perceived as feminine or 'bad' according to that wretch. iTrapped did not mind that part, but he did mind the fact that his mother became more relaxed the longer his hair got. It made him happy to see her returning to her usual self.

The worst was Caleb and Ellernate paying a visit during one of his father's rampages. Something set him off. Someone said something wrong. His father stopped at the door when he ran outside while dragging his mother along. iTrapped cringed at the memory of Ellernate gently running his knuckles down his cheek where his mouth had blood coming from it and glaring at his father.

Nearly got kicked out for that. Instead, his father left. And good riddance it was.

Chance was loved by his mother. He took a deep breath, convincing himself to let the memories float. Like he currently was. Witty irony. But he just felt numb as he curled up on himself. At least, he felt like he was curling in on himself. It also felt like someone was petting his head. Chance would do that. Oh, god, Chance. He really fucked up with that guy. He could have just told the guy that he needed a key his family had access to in order to free his rehabilitated friends. He could have just been honest! No need for manipulation. Could have left without death following him everywhere he went. ...would he even leave?

His eyes started to sting. One blink made it stop.

"iTrapped..." A wispy, ethereal voice with no real solid base to it rang out in his mind. "You hold many regrets..."

"Who- Sorcus?" iTrapped stumbled over his words in surprise.

"....Not quite. However... That does not matter. You wish to make amends and do things differently...., do you not?"

"Yes, I do, odd disembodied voice spinning around in my head like a ball bearing."

"You may simply refer to me as The Spectre."

"Yes, sir- ma'am."

"Sir works," The Spectre smoothly replied, ignoring iTrapped's fumbling. "You must be confused... and wondering why you are... floating through the air of your soul..."

Oh. That's where they were.

"I can send you to purgatory, and you can learn your lessons. However, you must give me your most precious memories. You will earn them over time. You will remember random trivia. You will have few memories. You will also forget this entire conversation minus the fact that you are going to be in purgatory. Do you accept your second chance at life?"

"Will it be painful?"

"Redemption.... is painful by default."

"...Deal."

"See you on the other side, dear iTrapped..."

——————

iTrapped awoke with a start. On a couch. Next to a cat. In a cabin. Purgatory looked a lot more comfortable than he read from the epics. No idea where he was except for the idea screaming in his head that THIS was Purgatory. No phone or watch to tell where he was not the time. His throat hurt as well. Heavily hurt. It felt like someone cut his throat, but he had no idea how that felt! Then he took notice of a familiar sword. A legendary sword, one that belonged to his deity Telamon: the Darkheart. This legendary (and frankly infamous) sword was squished against his thigh where he was nestled up against the couch.

Why did it hurt to look at that sword?

He had no time to dwell on it. He had a cabin to look through. There was a second floor, that much was clear given how he saw a patio overlooking where he woke up. In the distance there was a small dining room. Empty. Apart from a guy at the podium idly flipping through the reservation pages and talking to a pizza delivery guy who looked rather uninterested but still responded. Both of them looked unamused if he was being fully honest with himself. He went to shuffle off of the couch, but he paused when they both stopped talking and looked over at him.

The pizza delivery Robloxian stepped away from the host stand and made long strides over to where iTrapped was halfway standing at the couch. He paused when iTrapped tensed up and backed up against the couch yet again. "Hey, easy," he calmly spoke and held his hand out to display his palm fully like a crossing guard. "You're safe here. At least, as safe as you can get in this hellscape. You're lucky you showed up in the middle of your group having rounds. No getting dragged into death just yet."

"What?" iTrapped questioned and shook his head. "What do you mean by that?"

"I'll explain everything soon. Just... get yourself breathing properly. You look like you're on the verge of having a panic attack," the pizza guy responded and lowered his hand.

Oh. iTrapped took in a deep and purposeful breath, forcing his shoulders to stop being so tense and lower back to a more comfortable position. He unclenched his jaw and his fists as well, getting to reality. He was safe here. This pizza guy would have done something already if he had less-than-friendly intentions and motives behind his approach. But what if he was picking iTrapped to be prey? That thought stayed right in place, and iTrapped found himself cornered on the couch. He fumbled and unsheathed the Darkheart. He pointed it right at the pizza guy. This felt familiar. They felt extremely familiar. Like maybe iTrapped has seen him before. They did look pretty similar. Maybe a sibling he had in his past? He was dead. That was why he was in purgatory, obviously. That was self-explanatory. Where was this train of thought even going? It derailed long ago.

"Easy, easy," the pizza guy gently said and stayed completely still. "It's okay. Like I said, I'm not here to hurt you." The Robloxian's voice remained steady and quiet. "You are safe here." He raised his arms over his head and looked down at the Darkheart then back at the newly awakened survivor. "Put that away. It doesn't work in this part of purgatory."

iTrapped cautiously lowered the sword, but he immediately raised it again when the pizza man slightly moved. He furrowed his brows, trying to discern any sort of expression change that might give away malicious purport. "Who are you?" he spat and narrowed his eyes.

"My name is Eli," the pizza delivery guy responded. "As in... delivery. Because the eli in delivery? I'm sure you understand."

iTrapped finally, FINALLY lowered the sword. This guy was serious. That same stupid calm expression sunk into iTrapped's mind and managed to somehow soothe him. This stranger must not have been new to having weapons pulled on him. How long had these people even been here? What did they do to end up in purgatory? Something heinous to outweigh all of the good they did. That was how iTrapped remembered it. His manners managed to join the party, so he cleared his throat and did what any normal person would do and replied with his name, "iTrapped."

"Not the weirdest name I've heard," Eli closed his eyes in thought and crossed his arms. "May I sit down with you without having a sword put through my chest?"

iTrapped solemnly nodded and relaxed as this total stranger sat down on the opposite side of the couch. The guy from the host stand joined them after a few minutes of awkward staring. It quickly became a fact that his name was Carl, and he was the main protector of the group. He watched over everyone, and he made sure that they all stayed alive during rounds.

"You must be a sentinel, then," Eli suddenly said, interrupting Carl mid-sentence. "iTrapped, I mean. You must be a sentinel if you have that sword. I just hope you know how to actually use it. You should be able to view it in your inventory."

"A what? Like a video game?"

"Just imagine a menu in front of you. You should be able to see what your abilities are. It'll tell you straight up what you can do and how long you have to wait until you can use said ability again."

This was WACKY. This was going to take a lot of getting used to. He navigated this thing, looking around at a blank space, completely frozen in place.

"Think he'll be able to handle himself?" Carl inquired with a glance toward Eli. "He's brand new."

"High chances that he isn't on our team," Eli quirked up one of his eyebrows and then frowned. "Wish he was. I'm kind of tired of you missing your throws."

"Wow. So much for me being your main protector," Carl scowled which made Eli giggle and knock iTrapped back to reality. "Oh hey, welcome back."

iTrapped looked down at his sword where it rested against his thigh. He took in a deep breath again. noticing that his jaw was starting to tense up again. "Hi," he muttered in return and put his face in his hands. "Ugh... this is so complicated. What is a stun supposed to mean? What do you mean the 'killer'??? We're running away from serial killers here?" He put his elbows on his knees and grimaced as he pulled his hands away from his face. "They get slowed when they hit me? What are they doing? Slapping me? Why is it called Charisma? Like that's a name of the passive ability I apparently have? What do you mean they FEEL BAD after hitting me? They get slowed for two seconds? What?" He shook his hands near his face, his fingers looking a little bit like claws with how he angled them in his mini spiral.

Eli reached over and put his hand on iTrapped's hand in a taciturnly manner before pushing it to lower it down to his leg. "Easy, new guy. Easy."

"Yeah... right... easy," iTrapped sighed as he sat back and removed the ice crown from his head just to run his hand through his hair. "Oh, Telamon, I cannot believe this is what purgatory is like. Hah. I always thought of there being like nine layers, and you climb up because you have special permissions as a little mythology fan boy." He puffed out his cheeks before letting out the rest of the breath he was holding. "Sorry I'm so jittery I-"

"It's okay. New survivors are always like this," Carl assured him from behind Eli. "Honestly, I'm glad you showed up in the middle of a string of rounds. Best it is this time instead of showing up then immediately getting thrown into a round. You get a chance to get acclimated. Much better than I had it."

"Hah! Yeah," Eli snorted and grinned with a smartass expression on his face. He pointed a thumb back at Carl. "You should have seen the look on his face when he threw a baseball at... who was it? Jason?"

"I think so, yeah." Carl smiled back at Eli then took a glimpse at iTrapped. "If it turns out you aren't part of our team, all of us will end up back in the cabin around 8PM. My team gets out of the rounds last. Usually because of ragerr dying every round and adding 5 minutes on that timer. So if you're still around by then, come and visit us during our late dinner. We'd love to chat with you again. My team's turn is coming up in a few minutes I fear."

iTrapped panicked. He just now realized that he had no idea how this worked. All he knew was that he could essentially bedazzle the killers by being pretty and hitting them with the sword that made him feel things he would rather not think about. He did not want to be useless to whoever his team would end up being. "Wait! How does this work? Like all of these rounds and things?"

"Okay so..." Eli started and put his hand on iTrapped's shoulder. "You will have to survive from a group of seven killers. The killers are chosen at random for the most part, but I'm starting to notice a pattern with them. My team has COMPLETELY different murderers from your team. However, we do share two which is Jason and this guy named John Doe. Seemingly if we have Jason, you have John Doe and vice versa. It is the same amount, so you got seven guys you have to learn to counter. You'll get it eventually. You have 35 minutes on the clock when you start rounds. You will have to do generators to lower the time by 30 seconds per each wire set you complete. A fully done generator will take four minutes off the clock total. Don't ask about the math or why the rounds are so long. That's pretty much the gist of generators and time. Every team member killed adds time to that clock. The Spectre seems to really like the killers and torturing us, so you have to avoid death as greatly as you can. Luckily, the areas we have to hide in are huge. It's kind of balanced out."

iTrapped just blinked as Eli explained how survivors work. How he will have to learn to get along with total strangers or suffer the consequences of phantom pain and the likes. Also, scorn would play a huge part in a lot of interactions he would have with the others. He sort of zoned out as he finally noticed the timer that was hanging down from the ceiling on a small little screen. It was kind of funny in a way. It was so silly. He wanted to touch it.

He came back to reality when Eli stopped talking and was simply staring at him. "...too much?"

iTrapped meekly nodded and twiddled his thumbs as he frowned and sheepishly looked away. "Yeah... sorry. I'm just so... tired."

"I don't blame you. You don't have time to rest, though. You will have to experience a round soon enough."

This was going to be a nightmare.

Chapter Text

He was already terrified without Eli and Carl at his side soothing his nerves. The first thing he learned about this place was that the water was poisoned, and his best bet was to walk over all the bridges and jump along the stepping stones. He DEFINITELY did not immediately end up down at like 84 health because he ran through the purple water and got yelled at by another survivor who looked suspiciously like Eli.

iTrapped (quite literally) ran into a survivor that wore a hood and had black wings with golden highlights. He stumbled over them and sat up almost as soon as he landed on the ground. Soft feathers crossed over his lap from where his teammate landed next to him right on their face. The wings matched their outfit. He swiftly got up, realizing that maybe he should be looking where he is going. Oh Telamon what if he already messed up with one of these people? “Oh, shit. I’m so sorry!” He quickly held his hand out towards the hooded survivor. He internally sighed with relief and relaxed when they grabbed his hand and got back up to their feet. They started signing to him, and he had almost no idea what they were saying. He had not learned Robloxian Sign Language in a very long time. Since maybe… elementary school? “I’m sorry. I have no idea what you’re trying to tell me.”

In a flash, the other survivor grabbed iTrapped and pulled him over to a tripwire nest in the graveyard area and shoved him in a crack between the tree and a sarcophagus grave that was in front of it. This random mute guy proceeded to set up a tripwire in front of one of the openings and placed a subspace tripmine at the other one. They gave him two thumbs up and walked away.

“Wait- WAIT! WAIT?? WHAT??” iTrapped shouted and stumbled over the tripmine and out of the gap. “What are you doing to me? Or rather what are you trying to do?” There was no response that could actually be understood. Instead, a bunch of emojis appeared above the other survivor’s head in a sort of speech bubble. It spelled out TAPH in regional indicator emojis. They then sent a name badge emoji and pointed at themselves. “Your name is Taph?” The survivor nodded and did an okay hand in response. “Okay. We’re getting somewhere with this. You’ll have to help me figure out what you’re saying by spelling some stuff out. I never learned RSL beyond the alphabet and how to say… that… I love someone. And that I am upset.”

Taph shrugged in return and looked around before turning back to iTrapped and doing a ‘come forth’ motion with his hands. Practically beckoning iTrapped to follow him. Luckily, this man actually had some brains and followed Taph. As confused as he was, this was someone that he would have to get along with. However, he was also a little bit wary. Hiding him in a small gap in a secluded area was definitely not a good introduction. In fact, that was one of the worst first impressions he had ever been subjected to, and he became friends with two guys who hacked the world using a shitty computer and less electricity than it takes to power a lightbulb.

Now that he was thinking about it, who were those two? He could assume that they were his friends in his past life. In a way, this Taph guy actually looked a little similar to one of them. The one that wore a red dominus and remained rather composed and quiet in what little he could remember. Actually, that was a stupid comparison. He internally facepalmed at just how ridiculous of a sentiment that was. It made no sense whatsoever. There is no way that they were connected in any way, shape, or form.

Yeah, that made sense. He was so good at this!

This Taph person led him over to a very familiar face: Builderman. They spouted a bunch of emojis, using a crown and ice cube with an arrow pointing down with multiple exclamations. Builderman narrowed his eyes and looked between Taph and iTrapped before sighing and placing down a sentry.

“All righty, I'll watch over him til Telamon comes over. He can teach that sword better than I can,” Builderman stated and put his hands on his hips once the sentry was built. “You go alon’ and get them traps set up so we can help ya wit leadin’ the killer over.” He shooed away Taph, whose wings fluttered in response to his demands while they ran off. “He's a real troublemaker sometimes. At least he actually brought ya over to someone who can actually teach ya how this all works.”

Ah. That's what this was about. Taph must have been trying to protect him with traps while he got his bearings. iTrapped suddenly felt a weird shiver go down his spine, finding himself sheepishly scratching the name of his neck. “Err… actually… I already know what this is about. Eli told me.”

“Ellie? Didn' know we had a lady ‘round here,” Builderman looked a little perplexed.

“As in dELIvery,” iTrapped corrected him quickly. “The pizza guy that isn't the one that yelled at me a couple minutes ago.”

“What?” Builderman looked confused.

“Do you not talk to the other people in the cabin? Carl? Mart?... And that NPC who only serves to ask you how you're doing? Do you not… do that?” iTrapped was genuinely confused. He went into this half expecting his fellow survivors to actually talk to the other team, but apparently they did not even know their names. “They're really nice. You'd get along with them… I think.” iTrapped stumbled over his words as he spoke, and he eventually resolved to simply stopping his speech altogether. “Ahah… yeah.. they told me everything I need to know. How generators work, the timer, how to view my abilities… and other things.” The thought of John Doe crossed his mind. Last time he checked, that was just a silly rumor and a guy that worked at Roblox HQ. He could not have done anything drastic enough to be a serial killer.

Right? Though, they would not have just lied. But what if they did straight up lie about everything except the inventory? They were too calm to have possibly been telling the truth. They were setting him up to fail. Everyone was fighting to survive here and get out and redeem themselves.

“Ya okay? You've been standin’ dere completely still and not responded to anythin’ ah've been sayin’.” Builderman looked a little peeved as he snapped his fingers in iTrapped's face. He took in a deep breath when iTrapped jumped. Which, come on, this was the first Robloxian ever created. Anyone would be nervous around him.

“Ahah yes! I should go and do my job!” iTrapped turned on his heel to go and wander around and put this Darkheart to good use. The moment he turned around, he found himself yelping and Builderman pulling him back towards him.

“No,” Builderman said like it was a fact. “You're staying here. You stay out of sight and swing that sword when the killer gets near your corner you're hiding around.” He glared at iTrapped and shoved him towards a pillar nearby. “Just right there. I'll be bait. Elliot will be able to help ya.”

iTrapped pressed himself against the wall, shuddering as he looked down at the sword in his hand. He felt a little lightheaded. His breathing became erratic, so he tore his gaze away from the weapon he was clutching so tight his knuckles were turning white. Then, he stumbled forward, putting his other hand to his forehead. His eyes squeezed so tight they felt like someone was briefly pushing on them from his own brain.

A hand was suddenly on his arm, and someone was supporting him. He already honestly forgot Builderman was there until the admin had his arm around his back and holding him up. “You okay?” Builderman whispered.

“...Mmm…” was all iTrapped could muster and leaned against him. “My head….”

“Yer not the first,” Builderman replied and exhaled, clearly a little annoyed by the situation. At least, that's what iTrapped thought. “Okay, maybe ya ain't ready to swing just yet. That's fine. Yer fine.” He sat iTrapped down and went to the ground with him. “I'll be right here. Until we need to run. There ain't much I can do anyhow. I got a turret n a dispenser. That's about it. No stunnin’. No runnin’. Ah am about as useful as two rats havin’ in’ercourse in a hot pantry during’ the summer.”

iTrapped snorted. Okay. That was a little funny. Made him feel better at least, if that lightening in his head was any indication to go off of. “I'm just so tired…”

“Freshly dead will do that to ya.”

“Mm…” iTrapped groaned in response and let his head go limp on Builderman's shoulder. This was too intimate. It felt too close for comfort, but there was not much else he could do except sit there and try not to hurl from the stacking stress already building up in his head. “....Why does it feel like this?” He mumbled and forced his eyes open. He tried to stand but nearly stumbled again. Now, his arms hurt. They felt tender. Like someone just hit his bones with a full water bottle.

“Steady there,” Builderman stabilized him and took a quick gander at his sword before gazing back at his face. “I don' know why it's like this. But you'll feel better tomorro’. Promise.”

“Yeah… promise.”

The timer slowly ticked down. Taph ran by, signaling them to run as fast as possible and get away. This fact was only known because Builderman said that was what the emojis meant. He managed to drag the dead weight that was iTrapped forward. Honestly, he felt pretty guilty about Builderman having to carry him around like a sack of potatoes. He wanted to be useful. Help his team like this sword is meant to do. It just hurt to hold the sword like it belonged to him. It belonged to his gods. His beliefs were the only thing telling him that the sword had chosen him.

He had enough. He pulled away from Builderman and steadied himself, his stance completely off and more in a defense mode than an offense mode. He also had no idea how to fight, but that was besides the point. “I wanna help!” iTrapped pulled up the sword with all his might and proceeded to whack the grass between him and the tall man with a fedora and a trenchcoat.

“You're short a few studs there, pal,” the killer responded and pulled out his own sword. He spun it like a helicopter.

Before iTrapped realized what was going on, he flew back and hit a wall. He was also on fire. And he fell over. The grass suddenly felt really comfortable at that moment. It was probably better that he just died. At that, he curled up into a ball, the fire oddly comforting as it warmed up his fingers and breathed a sort of new life into him.

It reminded him of better times.

Somehow, he managed to survive on 39 health. “Heh, I must be extremely lucky. Or unlucky. Why can't it be both?” He monologued to himself. He got completely ignored by the supposed killer, but he was also living on rather low health. A price to pay for salvation apparently. He gripped the Darkheart and got to his feet, holding his arm and squeezing it in hopes of making the pain go away.

Completely alone. He remembered that dispenser where he was with Builderman before. It had a heart on it and created heart particles. It must regenerate health! That made the most sense. Somehow, iTrapped got over to the dispenser and saw that angry pizza boy again. They looked at each other for a moment, and the pizza guy stepped to the side to make room for him.

“Hi,” the pizza man greeted him rather awkwardly. Blood spilled from his forehead, but it was rapidly drying under the healing aura of the dispenser. “You the new guy Builderman yelled to me about looking after?” He threw a pizza at iTrapped, and it completely disappeared. It somehow healed the sentinel who decided not to question that.

“I suppose so…” iTrapped immediately looked away. He dug his sword into the ground and leaned on it like a sort of mentor would when watching students duel. “Sorry.. I'm not good at this whole ‘sentinel’ thing.”

“Don't-” he held his hand out to iTrapped's face and shushed him with a finger to his lips. He drew his hand back and went back to gripping his arm. “Don't start apologizing! …you just got here maybe 30 minutes ago at most. Just try. That's all I ask you to do. And I saw you miss your first stun. That's normal.” He glared at the ground and looked off into the distance. “I'm Elliot, by the way. Bad time for introductions, I know, but I'd rather do it now before I'm too tired to do anything later.” He stopped clutching his arm and took in a deep breath, meeting iTrapped's gaze. He muttered, “What’s your name?”

“iTrapped,” he responded almost immediately. He instantly regretted it because Elliot froze up and looked at him with a look of bewilderment and a little bit of fear.

“I….iTrapped? THE iTrapped?” Elliot queried.

“THE? Am I famous or something?”

“Infamous is a better word for it. However, that doesn't really matter right now. You'll figure it out later. I hope. I'd rather we aren't the people to explain your tragic backstory to you. I'd rather just be there for you. Y'know?” Elliot sounded like he was questioning himself.

“Oh boy. Now I'm nervous… tragic backstory… huh,” iTrapped said with an uncomfortable chuckle thrown in there. He unconsciously put his other hand to his chin as he laughed. It felt weird now that he was so conscious of himself. “I should go do my job. Yeah.” iTrapped stepped away, and kept laughing with no force behind it. “See you around, pretty boy!” he saluted Elliot and sprinted off. That was the worst thing he has ever said. Hands down. Not as bad as Taph shoving him behind a grave as a first impression, but that was the second worst first impression he had ever witnessed. AND HE WAS THE ONE DOING THE MEETING.

Surely Elliot thought he was a total loser and would never help him in the future. Great. He shook his head and snapped back to reality. He has to FOCUS. He had to get his head in the game. He had to get this sword put to good use. Somehow, he could ignore the lingering pain in his arm. Why did he call that random guy pretty? He just got here! No, it was a sincere compliment. For fucks sake he was 24 and acting like a teenager who just saw a pretty woman for the first time after leaving their parent's basement.

Somehow, iTrapped stumbled into a battle. He watched a VERY familiar face twirling a staff and shooting out a magic beam to a winged being. His hand felt a pull towards the very obvious deity that was now in front of him in the middle of a duel with that killer who left iTrapped on the ground. His God was fighting a mere mortal. Something felt wrong. Off. Where was everyone else? Why was only Dusekkar here? Only Telamon and Dusekkar? Oh, and Taph was there readying a tripmine.

The sword thrummed with energy. Something in iTrapped's body was making him experience a burst of motivation. A desire. Protect.

He took a step backwards and lunged forward. He just ran. As fast as he could. He readied the sword, feeling some sort of entanglement of his soul with this weapon. He lifted and gave a mighty slash. Right into the killer’s back.

The killer roared in pain and shouted, “HELPLESS FOR 10 SECONDS?!”

iTrapped hardly had time to process that sentence. In fact, he actually did not want to understand what that meant for his future endeavors. It was bound to be bad. He was also getting grabbed and dragged again. Minor detail. This time the dragging involved sprinting for their lives. The sword felt warm in his cold hands.

“Nice hit on Mafioso, kid,” Telamon complimented him once they stopped running. The deity casually patted his head as if that was a completely normal gesture. Oh by Sorcus, iTrapped was doomed if that singular gesture set his veins ablaze with pride. Telamon's wings retracted in on themselves and dragged along the grass with each step they took. “You saved Telamon's ass back there. He needs a heal, badly.” That sentence sounded weird coming from the almighty god of combat’s mouth, but he was literally bleeding and looked like he was about to pass out. He was somehow still smiling through it all. Kind of unnerving.

“I have a medkit on hand. Take it before you face my reprimand,” Dusekkar spoke as he pulled out a medkit from what seemed like thin air. “He is close, we cannot sit here for long lest he decide fire must make your golden wings glow.”

“Yes sir,” Telamon nodded lazily as he finished bandaging himself up with careful precision. “Perhaps Telamon should hide his wings after this round. Too much attention on him.” He hummed and grinned at iTrapped. “What a pretty face you are. And familiar, too. Telamon remembers you and your little exploits. Taking a sword that does not belong to you.”

What?

“No…? If I did, I don't remember doing that. That doesn't sound like something I would do-” iTrapped attempted to explain himself, but Telamon dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

“You can tell your tale later! Come now, swordsman. The graveyard is our best bet. Taph made sure of it.” Telamon walked away, Dusekkar in tow. iTrapped just stood there and watched him drift away. He felt dejected. This was tiring. Too many people to meet and face. It was terrifying. There were so many people here that had gone missing. He stopped in place halfway to the graveyard, hardly understanding where he even was and simply following where Telamon went. He already felt drained. He just wanted to go home. Wherever or whatever home he had at least. Maybe he had no home. Not like he could remember.

Regardless, he trudged onward. The grass under his boots sunk in with each and every step. It must have been muddy where he was. That could not be good for the presumably buried people near the graveyard. Trying to distract himself from the rest of the team was proving to be very difficult indeed.

He just wanted that strange comfort he had with Builderman. He felt like a child. An overgrown child with nothing going for him. He was still standing there. Go on, legs, move. Do something. He metaphorically poked himself with a stick, telling himself to move. Maybe it was a good thing he had not gone to the graveyard because people were running away from it. Scattering like that one scene in Ratatouille. He stood completely still, though.

That Elliot guy yelled at him to run. Get moving. Don't just stand there. Do something. Ironic considering Elliot was not running either. Not anymore. He smelled like a pizza box. It was almost overpowering. He ripped off his star-shaped glasses and started shaking iTrapped.

Star-shaped glasses.

iTrapped perked up, gaze following the glasses and not meeting the panicked green eyes staring him down. The glasses were nicer to focus on. Put his mind at ease. He still could not move his legs. His head hurt again. His fingers rhythmically rubbed patterns into the hilt of the sword he was holding. His eyes hurt again. No identified emotions. His eyes hurt. His throat hurt.

He felt like he was burning up again.

Stars. All he could think about. Stars, hearts, triangles. He was learning his shapes! Good for him.

“iTrapped?” Elliot gripped his shoulders and grimaced. “You can't stay here forever, honey, come on. Start moving, please. I'm not having someone die a stupid death. Especially not a newbie.” He let go of the swordsman and looked around the area. Not much time left. “Move.” He looked frustrated.

“I can't,” iTrapped choked out and blinked multiple times. “I can't do anything.”

“Yes you can! Just one step. That's all it takes. Move your foot or your sword or something,” Elliot tried to cheer him on and lightly shook his arm. “Just try.”

Right. Just try. That's all he wants.

Mafioso was right there. Readying up that sword again.

iTrapped pushed Elliot out of the way and took a Walkspeed Override straight to the chest, sword flying out of his hand and jamming into the ground next to his hand where he landed.

“Just kill me,” he said and looked up at Mafioso when he approached.

“What?”

“Kill me.”

“Not here to kill you, kid. Here to thank ya. You just get too over your head. Guess that's something that doesn't change about you. Purgatory or not.”

“...”

“Why were you standing there?” Mafioso interrogated him and lifted him up by his shirt.

“I couldn't move.”

“I can tell you can barely talk as well.”

“....why are you talking to me?”

“Don't feel like killing today. Gets boring after a while.”

“Mmmhm…”

“Next killer won't be easy on you folks.”

“I know.”

“No. You don't. You're pathetic and weak. Get a grip and learn to use that sword before you can't hold it without crumbling.”

“....I'm sorry…”

“Are you having a mental breakdown or something?”

“I don't know. I just know you look like someone I don't like..”

“Who?”

“I don't know. I just see a black square over his face when I think of him..”

iTrapped slowly blinked, the air getting knocked out of him once Mafioso dropped him back on the ground. His head felt empty. He felt empty. For fucks sake all of this just started. He needs to get a grip. Mafioso was right. He was pathetic.

“Take it easy, kid. You're just overwhelmed. Try breathing for once in your life. And take off that fur and crown. It's messing with your head. All that heat and ice can't be comfortable.” Mafioso grumbled and pinched the bridge of his nose. He pulled up some weird menu thing and suddenly disappeared.

How did the round end early?

They all appeared at a wooden table. Next to a chalkboard. Immediately, all eyes were on him. The only one who did not look at him was Elliot, who was seated right next to him. He put his hand on iTrapped's shoulder and gently rubbed at his muscle through the fabric. He was staring at someone else.

“No one says anything,” Elliot hissed. Like a warning. “If his state was enough to make Mafioso quit the round for the day, then not a single word. No threats, protests, offers, pick-up lines, questions, or anything else of the sorts. And stay at the table.” Elliot got up and went to a back kitchen area and clinked around in the cabinets. He held four glasses with his fingers and slid them on the table. There were mumbled thanks towards him.

All iTrapped could do was bury his face in his hands and try to make the stinging in his eyes go away. It hurt. The kind gesture hurt so badly. It hurt him, and he had no idea why his heart ached at the lightest touch on his head from the muscled guest next to him. It was soothing. His shoulders stopped flexing uncomfortably and settled in a more natural position as those gentle touches stayed consistent.

A grey Robloxian opened their mouth to speak, but they shut up before vocalizing whatever thought they had at first. About a minute of silence passed with that person drinking the entire glass of water they were provided with. They cleared their throat, drawing attention to themselves. “Need to make a plan that involves this guy we definitely don't know.”

“Not yet. We stick to what we made when Two Time was on our team. He can stay with Taph,” the guest curtly refuted. “Or he can make sure the killers don't get too close to Elliot. His pizzas are a necessity, and that sword will help him greatly. Saves us from having to take turns or divide up unevenly as well."

The darker grey Robloxian looked almost… upset at the guest’s words. iTrapped could just tell. He forced on a smile, sensing that he was unwanted or even disliked by this person. “Are you okay, stranger?” his soft voice contrasted the military guest next to him by being in the complete opposite direction.

“Don't smile that comforting smile at me, iTrapped. You know exactly what's up,” they accused.

“....what?” iTrapped felt lightheaded again and his face fell to the table between his elbows. He shrugged off the fake fur around his shoulders after his crown slipped off his head with that singular faceplant motion. His head hurt. It was becoming too much to ignore now. At least the soothing circles from the guest were able to keep him in the moment.

“Chance-” Elliot seethed. “What did I just say? You want to start this fight? Because I'm going to defend everyone here. Not just you.”

“Oh! Oh, that's what we're doing, huh?” Chance crossed his arms. “Oh boy! You're going to defend him? The guy you know very well what he did?”

“You don't even believe that he remembers either or else you'd put it on full display. Your fear speaks more volumes than your heart,” Telamon quietly said and got out of his seat. The first to do so. He took the crown and fake fur as he spoke, “Throwing out your rage-fueled accusations will only serve to confuse our new teammate. You have to live with him whether you like it or not. It doesn't mean you have to stay when he's near, though. Just help when someone tells you to.”

“I don't have to say what he did because everyone already knows, including him,” Chance insisted.

“That's not a very good excuse,” Telamon rebuttaled. “Clearly your luck affects your ability to think as well.” He hummed yet again and grinned at Chance. “None of us here have been able to remember our past right off the bat. What makes your prince charming here any different? Simply because he is your reminder of a lonely life? Because he was the one that made you feel like a shadow?”

This was uncomfortable. Silent. Weird. iTrapped clenched his fists and managed to raise his head, hair falling over his face. “We're…. Equals,” he said through clenched teeth. “It shouldn't matter what I did before to earn your hatred. I am just as stuck as the rest of you.” He pushed himself out of his chair, nearly falling over as the world spun. “...I need a bed-” he managed to get out the words before nearly falling over. The guest held him up. “This is so embarrassing. I'm sorry guys. I feel so.. weird.”

“It's normal. Hey. My name's Guest 1337. You can just call me Guest for short. And I'll help you around,” the guest who was holding him introduced himself. “Sorry about Chance and Telamon. Chance is just shocked by your appearance. And Telamon is .. being himself. Come on, let's go outside. Some actually cold air might help.”

“You're so nice…” iTrapped whispered.

“He needs food,” Elliot stated. “Preferably something with iron. I'm sure he suffered some pretty severe blood loss before he was brought here. Where's that protein bar-” he muttered and beckoned Guest to go with him to the small little kitchenette area they had.

Suddenly, Chance sighed and opened a cabinet close to the floor. They moved a revolving little snack holder and grabbed a snack bar. “Chocolate brownie bar. Quest. Yeah. Here it is.” He handed the bar over to Guest. It was only the four of them now: Guest, iTrapped, Elliot, and Chance.

The others had left the cabin. Though iTrapped swore he saw Taph staring at them from the open door of the cabin. Chance surprisingly stuck around, staring at the ceiling and leaning back in his chair against the chalkboard.

“Do you remember anything?” Elliot gently pressed iTrapped's shoulder while he nibbled on the somewhat gross protein bar he was provided with. “Anything at all?”

“...a man with a blacked out face. And… kids. Wore a red dominus. The other one had a white one,” iTrapped spoke softly as he tried to recall what he could remember. “They were my friends. And they hacked all of Robloxia with a crappy laptop and a PC monitor from the 90s.” He chuckled, it being mostly breath and not so much actual noise. “And… someone who looks like… them. With the blue shirt and green pants.”

Chance snickered. “YOU'RE wearing a blue shirt and green pants. You mean Noob?”

“Yeah,” iTrapped whispered and nodded. “...it makes my brain hurt to think about all of this.”

“You'll feel better after you sleep,” Guest responded. “Everyone here does. It's just one more round and you can go right to bed. Actually… hey, since you're the 13th... err.. well.. I guess technically just 12th one on our team, why don't we figure out who you'll share a cabin with?”

Elliot clasped his hands together and gasped. “OH MY TELAMON I FORGOT ABOUT THAT.”

iTrapped just groaned in response.

Chapter Text

The Underground War. iTrapped vaguely recognized this place, but he could not place a name. At least whoever else was around likely knew the name of this map in particular. At least, what he could in this loopy feeling in his head. He felt kind of funky. And useless. He just had to try. That was all that Eli-... Elliot asked of him. He had to admit it was a little confusing with their names and faces.

“Oh! There is another!” Telamon’s voice rang out nearby. He gestured toward iTrapped to go over to him. “Come, before Sorcus decides to hunt Telamon down. There is stuff you must know.”

Oh by the gods was this another tutorial?

“I-” iTrapped inhaled and put his hand up in a stop motion. “I don't need a tutorial on whatever you're about to tell me.”

Telamon stared at him, and he held eye contact in return. Suddenly, the deity snorted. Then, he started laughing. Cackling. Mocking. “Not only do you have a pretty face, but you are HILARIOUS too!”

“Telamon,” Builderman interrupted him, appearing right next to him. “Lower yer voice, and don' taunt the newbie. What did I say ‘bout doing dat?”

This was just awkward now. The subtle exposition went on for a bit, and no one even moved. The two admins went back and forth before one of them stumbled and started giggling. The other one would join and so on and so forth. Instead of sticking around for it, which seemed like a bad idea, iTrapped wandered off. He followed a path that went below ground and sighed with relief. Away from the admins, and probably away from the killer.

Just had no idea what was happening. He wanted to pass out, but he was also on high alert. Maybe he could sleep. They had proven to be able to handle themselves. He thought this, completely forgetting that Mafioso was in fact not in the mood for killing last round. He was doomed to try and do this. It was also frankly a ridiculously stupid idea to try and do this.

Who cares, right? So far the only ones that gave any sort of time of day to him had been two people on two different teams. He had never felt so lonely with two people around him. Being alone in a crowd was not exactly the most common thing in the world. It was not like he could get along with anyone based purely in feeling somewhat unwanted or forced to be cared about.

No way any of them truly cared about him. Just wanted to make sure he would not die in the first two minutes of a round and make it longer. The thoughts bothered him. To get away from them, he went to a generator, staring at the copper wires and empty progress bar that was above it. He got to work, struggling to connect them and figuring out how they worked. It was like a maze trying to get these things connected. Around 6 different places he would need to repair. Not the worst way to spend his time. He relaxed, remembering to take a deep breath as he took his time getting to know each and every wire. They were different colors, so that made things easier.

Why did he hear music?

iTrapped stopped connecting the wires, cursing under his breath as the set he was working on suddenly crumbled and disconnected. And changed?

“Weird huh?”

iTrapped gripped his sword and swung as he turned around. Just to be met with a man who wore a burger on his head. “Oh, my gods. Do NOT sneak up on a guy like that!” He blushed, looking away from the slightly amused yet worried survivor. “If you were the killer I would have actually landed a stun for once.”

“It's okay,” he responded with a chuckle and crouched down in front of the generator, connecting the wires with practiced precision like he had done this thousands of times before. And honestly, he probably had. Maybe tens of thousands of times. “You are not the only one to get scared by me suddenly appearing. The whole invisible thing sort of does that.” He stood up as he connected a fourth set and the generator sprung to life. “I-... I'm 007n7. But you can just call me 7n7. Or Double-O 7. Or anything else you can come up with. I'm not particularly picky. You must be iTrapped.”

Oh god why was this random guy talking to him? Maybe he was a test run to lead the killer to iTrapped or something. Like what happened with Elliot. To him, it all made sense. Clearly Chance had connections with the rest of these survivors. Chance did not like him. Therefore everyone hated him as well.

Why else would Telamon act like that? His God would never act like that. Telamon was kind. Telamon saw the potential in every Robloxian. Telamon would never laugh at his subjects or worshippers.

“Are you okay?” 007n7 questioned, having walked past him and to a ramp that led to the surface. “You can't stand there forever, you know. You'll get hurt…” the survivor walked back over to him and clasped a hand on his shoulder, standing next to him. Then, he unhanded him. “Ah . Sorry. I should ask before I touch. Force of habit…” he awkwardly stood there for a few seconds, nervously rubbing his arm. “Come with me. I'll show you where Elliot is, and you can do that whole guarding thing you sentinels like to do.”

“I can't…”

“Why not?”

“Because…” iTrapped struggled to put it into words without sounding like a self-absorbed lunatic who believed the entire world was out to get him and wanted him dead. “... I'm not good at what I do. And why are you even talking to me? I don't need your pity. I can tell you guys don't like me.”

“...I've never even gotten a chance to actually speak to you. I don't hate you. You have yet to give me a reason to hate you. So why would I?” 007n7 lightly pressed. “And- you won't get better if you don't keep trying and doing it. You'll get the hang of that sword in no time.”

“...Chance clearly doesn't like me. And you guys are all friends with him right?”

“I wouldn't say we're friends. Allies, sure, but half of us don't really talk to them. And… I mean.. I get what it's like to feel outcast because of one person disliking you. Elliot doesn't like me. I wasn't exactly the greatest person back in my teens and early 20s. Don't beat yourself up just because not everyone immediately likes you. That kind of anxiety doesn't help you at all. You won't be the perfect person. Catering to everyone erases your identity.” 007n7 spoke so elegantly. He probably told himself this exact thing hundreds of times before. He seemed the type. Nervous and an outcast for actions he is not proud of.

“..thanks,” iTrapped said with a small smile. His face felt hot from the reassurance. That dang kindness had his heart racing again. “Hah. I should… go and do my job again. Or try to. Elliot told me to just try. And it sounds like you are too. You sure you two don't share a brain?”

“Heheh.. ahh.. he'd hate himself a lot more if that was the case.”

“What?”

“What-?”

“What?” A third voice questioned. A tinge of ethereal echo to it.

“HOLY SUGAR HONEY ICED TEA RUN!” 007n7 shouted and sprinted off.

Out of bewilderment and a sudden sense of self-preservation, iTrapped ran up the ramp the other had been near. Footsteps. Also, music was following him. At a lucky guess, he swung his sword and turned around, delivering a satisfying stun to none other than a man who looked like the grim reaper.

The scythe was sharp. Red, spiky. His wings matched. The lightning bolt decorations connecting gold threads together on his hat glimmered in the moonlight. Similar lightning bolts kept the fur around his neck clasped together and in place on top of his shirt that read ‘FEED ME’ in bold white lettering. He had a similar reaction to Mafioso, screaming out the fact that he had Helpless for a comically long time.

And oh boy. This killer (Sorcus as iTrapped recalled the name being dropped by Telamon earlier- not like he could not recognize a member of the pantheon he followed) stayed on his trail. At some point, iTrapped staggered as he ran and got a bit faster. He internally thanked whoever gave him that passive ability to slow the killer on hit because he could hear Sorcus complaining about that as well. He felt like his skin was burning. Suddenly, he stopped running, putting his hand on the wall next to him and gagging. He put his hand to his mouth and swallowed hard as it felt like his insides were being turned inside out. “Ngh- fuck…” he coughed as he tried to get his breath back. He sharply inhaled when he saw the blood that appeared on his hand.

He hid behind a small wooden prop after falling down a hole. He sat down behind it, removing his crown and chucking it somewhere out of sight in hopes of making some noise. Obviously, that did not work, but his crown would at least not give away his location where he was sitting and cowering.

It seemed like Sorcus had completely lost iTrapped, or he lost interest and decided that Telamon was the juiciest thing on the menu. This was a guess, but it was justified because there was a familiar slash noise and stun confirmation sound. Whatever was happening above ground must have been akin to a battle of gods. Tripmines were going off, tripwires highlighted the killer, and there were plenty of magic sounds. And a gunshot.

Eventually the fight either died down or became distant. Truly safe now. A deep breath in, hold it, and a slow breath out. Breathing exercises would be best done outside of rounds, but this was the best moment they could be used for calming down. At least, that is just what iTrapped told himself. Breathe in for five seconds, hold for three, breathe out for five. He was okay. Everything was going to be okay. His 60 health was not looking too good, but that was to be expected. New and all.

He just wanted Eli and Carl nearby. People that made him feel safe. At least Elliot and Guest seemed like good equivalents, but they were friends with Chance. And Chance did not like him. Therefore they did not like him. Likely wanted him dead. Maybe Sorcus was also friends with Chance. That's why he went after iTrapped immediately. That had to be the case.

Time passed by. Taph was the first one killed. Then, Guest followed not long after. Guilt. Guilt guilt guilt guilt guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty he felt cold guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty useless sentinel-

“iTrapped?” Builderman’s voice sounded directly in front of him.

His health was back up to 100. There was a dispenser. Telamon was on the other side of the wood peering over the pallet. Staring at him with that singular visible eye of his. “Telamon didn't know you could hide behind this thing. Only thought to check because your health was going up as well. What are you doing back here? Cowering?”

Builderman held his hand out. iTrapped took it. “Don' start commentin’ yet Tela, Taph did the exact same thin’ his second round. You okay dere?” He turned back to iTrapped as he spoke. “Yer shakin’”

iTrapped pulled himself to his feet and chose to stare at the ground. “I'm fine,” he said in a hushed voice and shut his eyes. “Like I said. I… I'm just tired. And shocked. I mean…” he slowly opened his eyes to take in the scene before him. “The head gods of both pantheons… presumed to be simply missing in action or taking a break without warning… just right here. Here for a year.”

Telamon put his hand on Builderman’s shoulder and gently squeezed. It was hardly there, but it was on full display. “Telamon and Builderman had no choice. We would have gone back the moment we could if we found a way out of here.” Builderman nodded as he spoke. “Anyways. You're here now. And you're going to be stuck here. So pull yourself together.”

“Telamon,” Builderman muttered as a warning with a glare.

“The more you hide, the more you're going to get picked on by these killers. Go up there and help us out with everyone else before you end up in a situation you don't want to be in. You have to get yourself moving. You can't just hide every round or expect to get spared. So you either-”

“Telamon!” Builderman interrupted him and grabbed his hand to push it off his shoulder. “Ah am NOT gon’ jus’ stand ‘ere and let ya pick on da newbie!”

“Love, it's simply motivation,” Telamon cooed. “He needs to get out there. Telamon did something similar for Taph and it worked out just fine.” He grinned as he gave iTrapped the side eye. That made the newly forsakened man incredibly uncomfortable.

“He ain't Taph, hon. Dere’s a big difference b’tween someone used to barked orders an’ someone who…” Builderman glanced back at iTrapped as his voice trailed. “We're bein’ useless down ‘ere, sitting ducks- c’mon.” He stepped away from the both of them and walked towards the closest ramp to the surface.

Telamon simply stared at iTrapped as they watched. His wings lifted up and guided him forward. “Impressive. He likes you,” Telamon said and removed his wings from iTrapped’s back. “Telamon believes that's a new record. Then again, maybe he just yearns for the old days. Not like Telamon can blame him. Things were much more simpler back when you and your little friend group completely destroyed the economy for a couple years with that little stunt of yours.”

“...I have no idea what you're talking about,” iTrapped mumbled in response, narrowing his eyes. He wanted to remember. He really, truly did want to know. He wanted to know why everyone hated him.

Why did he feel so hurt and hollow?

“You're hungry, by the way. Make sure to eat and drink something after this round,” Telamon casually stated and sauntered off. Or rather, he broke into a sprint, pulled out his sword, and twirled to slice Sorcus and save Elliot. “Always happy to help, pizza boy~!”

“Yeah yeah whatever thanks!” Elliot shouted back and ran over towards iTrapped. He threw a pizza towards a set of stairs and looked around. He was hurt. “Trapped, are you okay?” He cupped the sentinel’s face and looked him over. iTrapped tried his best to ignore the blush that creeped onto his face as he was getting grabbed and fussed over. “I swear you were injured earlier- oh. Right. Builderman. Where's that dispenser?”

iTrapped swallowed hard and pulled away from Elliot. “It's… in the… hole.”

“Show me? Unless you have a medkit mayhaps?” Elliot slightly grinned at him, but his smile dropped when he received a shake of the head in return. “Aw rats. Well, that's okay.” He followed where iTrapped pointed. “Thanks Trapped- I- AH OH GODS-” he narrowly dodged a sudden appearance of Sorcus.

SINCE WHEN COULD THAT GUY TELEPORT?!

“Found you pizza boy~”

iTrapped readied his sword and dashed forward. He went right up behind Sorcus as he tried to get his bearings and stabbed right into his back. And the god screamed. In pain. As a panic response, iTrapped nearly dropped his Darkheart and pushed Elliot towards the hole. He shouted with a shaky voice, “H-h-hey! Hey! Come get a pizza me! Nailed it.” iTrapped praised himself for his awful joke and ran in the opposite direction. Trying to get away from as many people as possible. Isolate. He would live. Maybe.

iTrapped figured this helpless debuff, something he figured made the killer helpless, meant that he did not necessarily need to run. He counted the seconds. After just three he broke into a sprint and barely managed to weave out of the way of a thrown scythe…. that went back around like a boomerang and went right through him. Oh, this guy was no joke. That HURT. A LOT. That seemed to be the only special genuine attack that he had, though.

The chase was excruciating. Both of them clearly had no idea what they were doing. They kept running out of stamina and struggling to stay standing as they chased. Sorcus had underestimated him which led to sloppiness, and iTrapped was new. He panicked a bit when he heard Sorcus tell himself that he should take iTrapped seriously.

And his health went down rapidly. From 70 hp straight down to 20 in about six seconds flat. Sorcus knew, it seemed. Instead, iTrapped had no idea what he was doing. And he was about to die.

Chance appeared around a corner iTrapped was running towards. He held up a revolver, aiming steady but with too much confidence. They unlatched the safety. Clicked the trigger. iTrapped ran past him. Praying. Hoping.

And then Chance was at 59% health. And Sorcus was laughing. Internally, iTrapped battled with himself for a couple seconds. Help the guy who is more than likely just as confused or mediocre with abilities as he was, or let them die out of pettiness because they dislike him?

The answer was obvious.

iTrapped grabbed Chance and hauled him out of the way of Sorcus’s scythe, nearly getting hit himself and dying. Somehow, luck was on his side. And they ran together. Chance kept a smile on, but it shook and was barely managing to stay there. 007n7 ran past them and up the ramp, which seemed to delight Sorcus for another chase. There was no time to dwell on that, though. Blood soaked iTrapped’s clothing, and Chance was completely black in the face from soot with a bleeding hand that looked painful. The dispenser was no longer where it was. It had moved next to a generator that Elliot was currently working on with Builderman.

“Your pizza's got something to it, kid! Hurry and throw one our way!” Chance weakly called out to Elliot. He separated from iTrapped and walked up to the dispenser, immediately going to flip their coin. They kept frowning.

“Oh by Brighteyes-” Elliot said with a gasp and got off the generator. He handed iTrapped a pizza. “Eat up, man.”

“I should pay you for this wait-” iTrapped swayed as he spoke and tried to remove his fur. “Here-”

“Please just take the pizza. You don't have to pay me. This is literally my job. To help you guys by healing you with my pizza.” Elliot grimaced and returned to the generator.

iTrapped took little rabbit bites out of the slice he was handed while getting guided over to the dispenser by Chance. “‘m sorry,” he said through the small bites.

“Eat faster, dude. You'll get the health benefits quicker that way.” Chance informed him with a smile, but he sounded somewhat annoyed. They had every right to be annoyed. Babysitting someone who was completely new to all of this. iTrapped would be annoyed as well if he were stuck in this position.

Right?

Either way, he listened to their demands and took much bigger bites. He did not like the grease. It was cold. He did not like the flavor in general. He was expecting something gooey and hot and melting, but he did not want to seem ungrateful for what he had.

“Pizza’s better when it's hot. Sorry I don't exactly have the freshest pizzas to give you guys,” Elliot spoke nonchalantly as he finished up the generator with a quick kick. “But it's either that or nothing.”

“...I don't think I like pizza all that much,” iTrapped said and stopped halfway through eating the pizza. He forced himself to swallow. “It makes me feel… bad. Gross. Wrong, even…”

“Well, that's a new one,” Chance muttered and adjusted his sparkle time fedora. “Feels wrong?”

“Yeah. Like-” iTrapped was brought to his knees, and it felt like his insides were being rearranged again. Apparently the others felt it too because they were also completely immobile and gripping their heads. He felt like crying. It hurt worse than the scythe that went through his torso like he was not even there. Gagging, throwing the pizza to the side, and forcing himself to take deep breaths as much as it hurt. It made the nausea not as bad. Chance gripped his shoulder and the dispenser like their life depended on it. Maybe he felt like it did.

Sorcus appeared in front of them, and somehow iTrapped managed to swing his sword. Sorcus cursed him out with a growl. Threatened to target him for the rest of the round. But everyone was sprinting away. Someone was dragging iTrapped forward.

But the pain, just as it was ebbing away, returned with a vengeance and bit into his mind and legs with a fervor that could rival that of a Victorian protagonist character. He looked down, and a scythe was stuck fully through his abdomen. Then, it was ripped out with a foot embedded into his spine.

“This is it. This is how I die..” iTrapped thought to himself. His foggy mind completely forgot it was not as simple as that. He heard Elliot yell out his name before it all went black.

—————

He sat up straight on the couch, sweat on his forehead. His chest and shirt was completely stained with sweat. He felt disgusting, and he dry heaved into his hands. His hair clung to his forehead and cheeks. “Oh. Oh god..” he whined into his palms and squeezed his eyes shut tightly. iTrapped ran his hands along his arms and added more wrinkles to his clothing. The fur and crown were swiftly removed with a quick breath. How was he alive? Oh right, you cannot exactly die here. How awful. Already tired of this hell. Only two rounds and giving up on everything.

What a failure. Mockery of bravery. Yet the sword clung to him. He threw it into the fire and it simply flung itself back out and to his feet. Why did it choose him? He could hardly use it. He hated it. He hated this job already. Too many close calls just to fail in the end.

It was just the second round. No reason to overreact. Deep breaths. This was embarrassing. Too many mess-ups. It was the second round. It was the second round. It was the second round.

“iTrapped,” Guest addressed him and stepped up next to him. “Hello. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I'm okay,” iTrapped replied and crouched down to pick up the sword. “Just… thinking about how I could have done better.”

“You'll get better with time, soldier. You'll get better. Just stay strong and keep your head up. Don't start despairing just yet. I'm always willing to listen if you need help adjusting.” Guest rubbed his back in circles. “You're okay.”

“You're so nice.”

“I'm just doing what the others should be doing. Helping. Trying to, at least.”

“Mmm..”

Silence. They stared at the fire, listening to the crackling and enjoying the heat. iTrapped had no idea what to say or do. He felt it was awkward. Maybe it was not awkward to the other, though. Maybe he should just learn to enjoy the silence.

The silence made him uncomfortable. It felt wrong. It was wrong. He felt a pang of guilt in his heart.

Why?

“I need to go,” iTrapped whispered and stepped away from Guest. He found the door, which was quite obvious in hindsight. Slipped outside. The dock invited him over. Like a nice reminder to keep going towards it. The cold felt nice.

The sword hummed in his hand.

Chapter Text

The first thing iTrapped noticed was the smell. The petrichor was the only evidence of weather in this place, yet there were no clouds in sight. No sun. No real place he could go to relax. The sound of water lapping at a shore in the distance drew him towards the dock that faced out toward a rocky arch in the endless sea ahead. Deep breath in, enjoying the scent of the rain’s aftermath.

He sat down on the ledge, letting his legs dangle and ever so slightly disturb the surface of the water with the toes of his boots. His pants were getting ever so slightly wet, but the drying wood felt nice on his fingers. Shoulders finally lowered. Finally able to be alone and at peace. Mind empty. As much as he wanted to be around the others, he also did not want to deal with their questions or aggression. Rounds were different. That much was obvious. They would help him when their lives were at stake.

But they would not help him out here.

The breeze ran through his hair, blowing it back in his face with a slight direction change at times. The giggles stayed in iTrapped’s mind. The way the friends of his from his supposed past life smiled at him and looked at him. Like he mattered. Like they were counting on him and knew that they could. And that they would extend the same if he needed their help. Oh how he wished he could take up that silent offer right about now. Maybe crash at their place instead of in one of those intimidating cabins. There was always sleeping on the couch. Where he belonged. Away from everyone else and isolated.

The moon was practically mocking him with its fake beauty. He could tell the moon was fabricated. It looked too dull to be real. He must have had some sort of eye for that sort of stuff. Imagine being able to tell fake rubber bats on fishing lines from real bats. Or something like that. He tried to remember. He could not remember. It made his head hurt. Why was it bats specifically? You should not remember. He snapped out of it with a sharp inhale when the other survivors came to mind.

They did not want him around. He was some old fish left in the fridge that no one could remember the buy date of. Too afraid to throw it away in case the trash bin would be filled with maggots the next morning. Forgotten but in the back of their mind every time they saw him. Maybe they were staring at him right now.

He twisted around to face back toward the main cabin. Someone was watching him. He just had no idea who or where. Or why. Someone was just watching him. Someone had their eyes on him. Where were they? He ignored the weird creature and the guy who was staring at it outside of one of the cabins. He ignored the cake monster reaching through some wood. Narrowed his eyes. On his feet. Sword holding his fingers around its hilt. In a position to strike at anyone who could be right in front of him. Bushes were making noise. The lamp next to the cabin made a weird shadow.

The Darkheart told him it was safe. It was cold. Maybe that was just the biting temperature outside. He hardly noticed it. Already used to the cold after wearing the ice crown for over a decade to hide his identity. He was safe. Deep breath in. Slow breath out. Someone was watching from the cabin door. Glaring again. Trying to figure out who it was. The hamburger hat gave away who it was.

Quietly, 007n7 approached the docks from the cabin, making sure not to move too fast lest iTrapped possibly lash out. At least, that is what he assumed. Then again, he hardly knew 007n7. It was certainly just how the guy walked when trying to approach others or get to know them that said what was assumed. Maybe. Sword back down. The survivalist stood in front of iTrapped and looked at him with a small smile on his face.

“Hi again,” 007n7 susurrated and nervously picked at his arms. “May I… sit down here with you?” He settled down when iTrapped scooted over and patted the spot next to him. “Why are you out here alone? Guest said you seemed anxious, but I would rather just ask you directly instead of going to everyone else and relying on them… Elliot was worried that you left the cabin and didn’t stick around for the match to end and them to return.”

“Hm,” iTrapped hummed in acknowledgement before taking in a deep breath. “I just needed some air.” Liar. He put a fist to his chin and looked out at the moonlit waters.

“Oh. Good. I wouldn’t want you to be outcast like I was for the first year or so. You don’t deserve that.” 007n7 sounded so confident as he spoke. The swordsman almost believed him. His constant fidgeting said otherwise. This man would not be trusted. Maybe he could. Maybe he should trust him. Life was in his hands after all. And he did save them from Sorcus for some time. How anyone could survive that guy eluded iTrapped. His brain went blank as 007n7 continued speaking, “I’m sure that whatever you did to make Chance hate you will be made up for in due time.”

“Sure.”

The water settled, hiding the world that was across it with unrealistic fog. Mind blank again. That man with a black bar over his face came up again. He could not remember his face. They looked so similar. Maybe that man was Noob in the past. So then they were Noob. But they seemed more like a father figure given how the context seemed in his mind, so there went that idea of him being Noob. The water grabbed the wood, making it slowly rot beneath its grasp. The scent of petrichor faded.

Maybe he was hoping to see some fish. Some sign of life outside of the other Robloxians. Something he could more readily compare himself to and connect with. He paid no mind to 007n7, unsure of if he even left. He could drown himself right now.

“Thanks, kid. Send that message to your family and see how they react. You’re just being edgy,” iTrapped mumbled and shook his head. He stood up, leaving the Darkheart on the wood intentionally. He turned away, leaving the other survivor to call his name in bewilderment. “Fucking drown myself. Un-fucking-believable. Yeah, sure, killing myself will get me out of here. It’s not like dying just made me wake up on a couch!” He spoke out loud to himself, making a woman peer out from her cabin along with two construction workers to look at him. His head hurt. The ground was no longer soft beneath his feet. At least, it was a lot less soft than it was before. It still gave in under his weight but in a firm way. “Oh, by the admins, what did I do to deserve this?”

“You’ll find out in due time,” a voice responded. He turned heel just to see 007n7. He had already forgotten that the guy was out there with him instead of hanging out with his friends.

“Why are you talking to me? Go in there and spend time with your friends- the other survivors I mean.”

“They-... aren’t really my friends. The best I have is Guest, but he’s friends with everyone. Plus… you’re out here completely alone. I would rather you not be alone.”

“Just. Go away. I don’t need you or your pity.”

“I can tell you’re scared.”

iTrapped just stared at 007n7. His eyebrows furrowed, and his eyes twitched to narrow themselves. He glared at the other survivor, shoulders beginning to tense up. Jaw clenched. He suddenly really wished he had that Darkheart. It was gone from the docks. “Yeah, anyone would be scared of someone who has a legendary sword. Err.. bucko!” iTrapped stepped away from 007n7, fully expecting him to pull out the sword out of nowhere. Nothing to defend himself with.

007 tilted his head to the side. Like a confused dog. As if the situation would be any clearer from a 45 degree angle. The blinking definitely would not help either.

“..what..?” iTrapped also tilted his head. Now he was embarrassing himself, too.

“You’re scared. I can see it. In the way you move, carry yourself, separate, hide behind your hands… you’re scared. And leaving you alone is possibly the worst thing I could possibly do to you right now,” 007n7 said calmly. So sure of himself.

So right.

iTrapped looked down, noticing that the Darkheart was right there in its scabbard at his hip. He glanced back up at 007n7, mouth drawn into a taut line.

“You should come in here and eat with us. The other survivor group is coming back soon. I’m sure they’d love to meet you.” 007n7’s simple statement really made iTrapped start paying attention. He noticeably lightened up at the sentinel relaxing. “Besides… Elliot is making roasted veggies! He’d want you to be there.”

Fine. iTrapped took in a deep breath and made himself relax. He hugged himself and followed 007n7 back into the cabin. Immediately, Elliot called them over, all smiles. Guest also looked happy. Or rather, he was relieved. There were a couple people that iTrapped did not recognize. Nervous again. He wanted Eli. He wanted Carl and Eli already. Like a fucking baby-

“Eyy sunshine! C’mere! Elliot’s been fussing over ya. Again.” Chance spoke casually and flipped a coin before grabbing plates and setting up the table. “Think the guy likes you.”

“Oh, hush. He likes everyone. Treat him like a human, and he’ll treat you like one back. It’s really easy. You should try it,” Telamon spat at Chance with a grin.

“Oh my GOD if I have to hear you two fight, I am making sure we’re having falcon wings for dinner tomorrow!” Elliot whipped around and pointed a spatula at Telamon. “You might as well fight the tension out of each other and see who is still standing.” He glared at the god. “And if you say the words ‘democratic stronghold’ one more time I am going to eat this fucking pan!”

“Easy, mom. Be careful before your hair catches on fire,” Telamon responded calmly and rolled his singular visible eye. “Telamon was not going to say anything about democracy. He is stuck on dishes duty.”

“Right you are, old man. Now go make sure Luke actually eats this time. Like a good dog.” Elliot went back to patting down a bunch of broccoli florets and drizzling olive oil and pepper on them.

“Here,” Guest said quietly to Elliot and lightly rubbed his shoulder. “You’re tense. Let me take care of the broccoli. You focus on the cauliflower… away from Telamon.” He turned around and looked at iTrapped. “You go and help Elliot with the cauliflower by making the seasoning mixture. It should be on a paper near him. Sev! Why don’t you come here and help me by cutting up some broccoli?” He smiled so sweetly and easily at them as he spoke.

iTrapped could not help but simply do as what was requested of him. He silently approached Elliot and grabbed a bunch of measuring cups while reading the paper instructions on how to make a seasoned olive oil mixture for the vegetables. Black pepper, garlic salt, garlic powder, a pinch of cayenne pepper, and lemon juice. Peaceful. He watched the way that Elliot moved as he shook the seasoning, olive oil, and lemon juice together in the squeeze bottle. Skillful use of the knife. That was to be expected considering how he likely had cooked for the others many times before.

It suddenly hit him. iTrapped was a complete stranger walking into the lives of people that had done this same dance hundreds of times before. They were just trying to live a normal life while stuck in this hell-hole. That sudden growth of consciousness really messed with him. He had remembered that the others around him were living beings as well, but that fact seemed to leave him within minutes of it becoming apparent to him. His hand slowed down, and he nearly dropped the bottle.

Elliot glimpsed over at him. He peeked at iTrapped like he was sizing him up by looking him up and down. No words out of his mouth. No judgement. At least, no open judgement. “Hey,” he hummed mellifluously. A grin crossed his features, but his shoulders raised a little. On guard. Surely. “Thanks for helping me out. I know Guest put you up to it, though.” He slowed his movements and stopped cutting up the cauliflower. He tilted his chin down and solemnly stared at the vegetables before him. “I can tell you don’t really want to be here. And that’s… normal. No one wants to be here. We all have something to return to.”

“I don’t know if I have anything to return to,” iTrapped sheepishly admitted. “Ahh… I have a pet rabbit I suppose.”

Elliot froze up, his gaze flickering between iTrapped and the cutting board in front of him. “You… have a pet rabbit?”

“Yeah! Big black Continental Giant! His name is Spade. Such a cutie that little- big- guy- rabbit. Yeah.” iTrapped swooned a bit and put his hands together. He bent his knee and lifted his foot. Embarrassingly, he nearly fell over from suddenly going off balance. A dumb little grin stayed on his face, though, and he swore he saw Elliot immediately try distracting himself.

“Funny. I know.. Uh. That.” Elliot stumbled over his words, so he stopped talking and resorted to chopping the vegetables. They looked cut up enough. “Can you be a dear and get a paper towel for me?” iTrapped simply did as he was told and reached over to Guest. Elliot graciously took the towel and held his hand out to iTrapped. They stared at each other. Rather, Elliot was looking at the bottle and then iTrapped repeatedly. Luckily, someone’s brain actually joined the party and the poor swordsman handed the squeeze bottle to the much more professional cook before him. A sigh.

What just happened?

“Erm… is there anything else you would like me to do?” iTrapped asked with simple confusion.

“Just stand there and be pretty for a bit. I have to season these.”

“Yes sir.”

iTrapped proceeded to stand there, tapping his foot and rubbing the hilt of the Darkheart. He could not ignore the slight tempestuous twinge on Elliot’s voice when he said to stand there and look pretty. Was he annoyed? Did he do something wrong? Did something happen that he completely missed in the fog of being overwhelmed by everything going on around him? Was it just stress? Did Elliot dislike rabbits? That was kind of sad if that was the case. Rabbits were such gentle creatures. Only biting if they felt threatened. Kind of like the others in the cabin. No violent tendencies (so far) outside of matches. Usually protecting each other. Wait.

“You know, you have a bit of muscle. I don’t know why I’m the one with the sword,” iTrapped blurted out loud. He felt embarrassed. The Darkheart simply hummed at his hip, almost as if it was laughing at him. “Actually, that’s stupid. Nevermind.”

“I would accidentally kill myself if I had a sword, I fear,” Elliot replied and slid the pan across the counter towards Guest and 007n7. “86 on cauliflower. We’ll have to wait a couple weeks for more!”

“Adjusting the planning calendar!” Builderman called back from somewhere in the main living room area.

“...86?” iTrapped mumbled, trying to keep to himself.

“Means we’re out of it,” Elliot said. His green eyes looked murky. Not as bright as they were just a few hours ago. He was no longer a streak of motion anymore. Anyone with eyes could see how sluggish his movements were now. “My culinary classes and previous work are so… put into me that I find myself just saying kitchen slang without realizing. At least the others were willing to learn and let me do it. I still feel bad for it, though.” He lightly chuckled. “...Did you figure out what cabin you want to hunker up in?”

“Have not. I think I will just sleep on the couch in the main cabin here.” iTrapped stepped away from him. “I want to avoid as much conflict as I possibly can.”

“How about you stay in my cabin with me? I’m usually bunked up with Luke, but he found that he doesn’t like the bed and prefers the couch in my cabin. He’s really nice! Nicest of all the admins I would say. He’d lovingly accept you, and… I would like you to have a place where you are safe and not vulnerable to the cold… you’ve been pretty nice so far. Plus, I don’t want you stumbling around like a chicken without a head tomorrow. You need to rest up.” Elliot looked like he was not going to take no for an answer. He absolutely would have taken no, but iTrapped would feel bad by doing that. “No conflict where I am. Luke and I hardly talk as well.”

“...Okay. Yeah. I’ll take up your offer. But if you or Luke try anything because of this-” iTrapped started and then stopped himself. “No. You wouldn’t. No point in trying anything when I’m the one with a sword.” But still. He decided he would stay on guard. Just in silence. Better he keeps the shield to himself instead of announcing it to the whole team that he did not trust them. Could you really blame him? He hardly knew these people. They had no idea who he was. They had to share cabins together? Absurd. “You’re awfully kind.”

“...I wasn’t exactly the kindest. I’m trying to make up for holding on to hatred and being hard to talk to.” Elliot rubbed his arm with a flustered look on his face. “Ughh I hate my past self from a year ago. I was such an asshole.”

iTrapped reached out before pulling his hand back. “Ahhah.. You’re trying. That’s what matters. Like what you told me,” he said as he recalled what Elliot said to him about trying. Just try. That is all that he asked of him. Just try. It’s not that hard to give it a shot. And give it your all. If that’s so difficult then…

It would be okay. Deep breaths. He stood there, completely out of it. Someone poked him, and he jolted. 007n7 and Elliot both looked at iTrapped then at each other with concern laced over their features. He was clutching the sword. It soothed his nerves, being ice cold in his hands. It was cold. And they were worried. It was warm when it hummed before. What was this sword doing? Was it sentient? Maybe it was. Someone could be a stud tall around here. Surely a sword with awareness was not out of the question.

He turned and fled. Fumbling with the blade before stumbling into the rocking chair on the porch of the cabin. Crisp air took hold of his face and coaxed him back into calmness. Evened out his breathing. Made him realize just how thirsty he was. And hungry. Really hungry. Those roasted veggies were already making his mouth water, yet he could not smell them nor were they ready to be eaten.

Eli would have been nice to sit next to. Or work with. He liked Eli and Carl. They were nice. Then again, so were the others he had spoken to. Even Chance had been somewhat kind to him. He just needed to get himself together. It was not that hard. He just needed to get himself together. Get himself together. Get yourself together, iTrapped. The sword suddenly became unbearably hot in his hands, so he threw it towards the stairs with a yelp.

“iTrapped?” A voice came from the cabin and there was a presence at his side. Elliot knelt down next to him in the chair and glanced up at him. “Hey. Come on. I’ll show you where my cabin is while dinner cooks.” He stood back up and gently touched his shoulder. “It’s okay.”

“I’m not hungry. I might just pass out.”

“You shower first at least.” Elliot quietly responded and coaxed him to his feet. “I got you. Come on.” iTrapped followed him without a fuss and simply stayed behind him. Elliot kept on glancing behind at him and flashed a smile.

The cabin was nice. It was cozy. Warm. Kind of small. There were two doors and a small living room with a fireplace. A small coffee table. Some books. A fake potted plant. It was not that bad. Homely. The couch was big enough to fit a person. It was also covered in feathers. And had a couple scratches on it. Like talons had dug into it. Also, a few giant wings were straight up draped over the back of it. Giant, white wings. Somehow, the wings were extremely unimportant in the initial assessment.

“LUKE!” Elliot shouted and stomped up to the couch. “I- did Telamon stop by and try to get you?”

“Yeah. I’m not hungry. I ate this morning.”

Elliot glared at him and clenched his fists. “....ugh. You ARE hungry. You just haven’t drank enough to think that you need to eat. Go in that main cabin right now.” He spoke through gritted teeth. He crossed his arms and stiffly remained there until this Luke person got to his feet and stretched. “Also, this is iTrapped. He’s going to join our cabin.” Elliot unclenched his fists and put his hands up to point at the new sentinel.

Luke was an Admin. Capital A for Admin. His large white wings fell to the floor, three pairs sprouting from his back. A Dominus Empyreus was around his shoulders and not pulled up over his head. His brown hair framed his face down to his neck. No ears, but a pair of wings replaced them. Green shirt, tan skin, plaid sweatpants, fluffy boots, and Wanwood Antlers donned his figure. He waved happily. “Hello!” Luke greeted with a lilt to his voice and skipped up to him. He leaned forward a little, put his hands on the sentinel’s shoulder, and looked iTrapped over quickly. He clicked his tongue as he glanced over the new survivor and chirped in a way that was barely audible. “You. Are. So… cuuuuuute…” Luke’s pupils dilated.

iTrapped found himself blushing wildly as the former admin cooed and looked at his soft yellow hair. He sort of just stayed completely still like a deer in headlights. This was terrifying. What the hell was this? Can this guy stop looking at him with reverent awe as if he was stained glass? The touch was nice, though. It was a pleasant contrast to all the pain he had endured before. Such light contact. iTrapped practically melted into the touch and nearly fell over. His eyes started stinging.

Oh no. NO NO NO NO NO NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. STOP. EYES STOP. DO NOT-

Slowly, a thumb swiped away one of the tears that was forming. His smile had faded and was replaced with a rather neutral emotion. It was unreadable, actually. At least, iTrapped was unable to read it if it was something that was meant to be discernible and not an impossible puzzle. Elliot was gone. Where was he?

iTrapped immediately panicked. He pulled away from Luke and twisted around to find the pizza guy. Where was his safety? Oh god, he was left to die. This was a trap. He should have known better than to trust the pizza guy. The only one that could be trusted was Eli. He was the only good one in this god forsaken place. And Carl-

“Elliot just went to go and make sure the table was set for dinner. It’s okay. You can step out.” Luke remained calm. A bastion of ‘please do not overreact I have no idea how to handle this kind of situation.’ Dinner was going to be awkward. This was the worst thing that could have ever possibly happened. FOUR admins in one day, seeing this random new guy crumble in front of them.

—----------------

iTrapped was sandwiched in between Elliot and Taph. Elliot was just watching everyone eat. Because he was weird like that or something. Taph was shoving a spoon underneath his bandana and munching away. This sucked. In every way possible this sucked. Watching random people eat and… having to TRUST them to have not poisoned his food? Unbelievable. Absolutely dreadful. Why did his internal monologue go British all of a sudden? What was he? Diseased?

An elbow jammed into his side. The culprit, Elliot, feigned innocence and went back to eating. He glanced over at iTrapped and gave him a small smile in return. “Go ahead. Eat. You won’t die. Unless you’re allergic to something in the food- yeah I should have asked about allergies wait…” Elliot put his fork down and sighed. “Do you have any allergies?”

“No.”

“Oh okay. Then, start eating. Before I hold you hostage and make you sit here until you start eating,” Elliot threatened him oh so casually. “Sides, this is my best one yet. Eat up. We have a LONG day ahead of us tomorrow. Like… loooooooooonnnng.” He tilted his head and nearly chugged his entire glass of water down in one sitting. The eye contact was exceedingly cumbersome. Weird.

Everyone was so weird. iTrapped finally took notice of what was going on around him. Telamon ate exclusively with his hands. Like a caveman. Builderman did not cut anything and just bit into something that was large chunk by chunk and got his beard dirty. Taph never removed his bandana and just put food underneath it. Chance was flipping a coin before they chose a thing to eat off their plate. Luke was on the floor. Dusekkar lifted up his pumpkin head, but he was trying to be hidden while doing it so no one could see his very Robloxian look underneath it. That failed. Guest was done first. How FAST was that man? GUEST… Noob was at least somewhat normal, but they were eating one part first before going on to the next. As in: Broccoli, cauliflower, and then pork chops. They might have been a little odd, actually, now that he was thinking about it. 007n7 was for sure the only normal one, actually. He just ate whatever whenever. Elliot drank all the water first before moving on to the food. That could not have been very comfortable.

Why was there another admin? …

iTrapped sighed and just tried to make himself eat. Whatever. He could figure this all out later. He just wanted to sleep, and he felt guilty about wasting the food that he was given. If they truly could not die here, then poison would have no effect on him. Yeah, that made sense. It was not like all of his rationalizing was completely abnormal and no perfectly stable individual would think everyone was out to get him. Just get out of here. It is going to be perfectly fine. Yup. It was perfectly fine, and he would be able to get out of here. No problems whatsoever. Good god help him.

He left the plate half empty- half full? Half eaten. He was not a fan of pork. You could get sick a lot more easily from it. He did not trust it was the easiest way to put it. Trying to explain his thought process would be a lot more difficult. It was like… what if it was slightly cooked wrong? What if someone did not wash their hands correctly? What if it was left just a little bit raw, but the rawness was unnoticeable which would lead to getting sick and throwing up for hours? Someone protested behind him, but he ignored them and went right back to the docks. It was still cold. That would never change, he assumed. A lack of change would do wonders for him right now. No need to worry and fuss over sudden activity, new people, new killers, new anything. He hated change.

He sat alone until he felt drowsy. Someone was watching, but he stopped caring about that. If they wanted to do something, they would have by now. Unless… They were watching and observing him to learn his every move and silently judge him. His tired eyes betrayed him. He was nodding off while sitting on a ledge that led directly to cold water underneath it. His head hurt. His eyes stung again.

“Get your shit together,” iTrapped mumbled to himself. He closed his eyes. Just for a bit. He would get up and go back to that cabin he was going to be in not long from now. A bit more alone time was all he needed. That man. With a blacked out face. He looked like him. Too much. That woman also looked a bit like him. Was he dense? Was there something he was not getting?

The man reached out to him deep in his mind. Told him “c’mere, kid” with an inviting softness. He felt scared, though. His hand raised a bit too fast.

Engulfed by the ice cold water. iTrapped gasped and opened his eyes. He surfaced and started coughing and sputtering from the sheer surprise. The pit of fear in his stomach vanished in an instant because he was IN ICE COLD WATER. With as much strength as he could muster up, he pulled himself back up onto the wood and shook his head rapidly. Thank goodness he did not have that ridiculous fur or ice crown on his head right now. The fur would have pulled him down. The ice would have made things harder if not just turned the water into ice as well. That could have been a disaster and far worse. He trudged his shaking limbs toward the house that he was shown and struggled with the door. He was so cold. Normally, he was used to the cold; but this was a different kind of cold. Bad. Not comforting. He felt like a kid. Like an insolent, spoiled child who could not handle a basic fact of life and blew it all out of proportion.

He stood in the doorway and just started breaking down. He sniffled before digging his fingernails into his eyebrows and the skin near where his sinuses would be located. Do not cry. Do not spill. It is just day one. You cannot be so weak so early on. Get it together, iTrapped. Get it together. Get it together. KEEP it together. He felt nauseous again. He closed the door and sat down against it on the carpet in front of it. Knees to his chest. He prayed and hoped that Elliot and Luke would either both be asleep or just not there at the moment. In hindsight, he would have preferred that they both be asleep to get rid of the small chance of them walking in on him having a mini breakdown.

iTrapped struggled back to his feet after a while and sat down in front of the fireplace. He needed to get himself dry and fast before he ended up sick or something. Maybe they could not get sick here. He was not going to take the chance, though. The thought of being sick made his skin crawl. Like being sick was somehow a crime or something. Once again, logic could not override his heart, so he just stayed in front of the fireplace. He started sweating after a while. How long had he been there? Shuffling sounded behind him as what he assumed to be Luke was settling down for bed. He turned around from where he was sitting to look back at the admin.

“Hey…” Luke mumbled and audibly stretched out on the couch, popping his joints and wings with enough force to make the other cringe. “You should head to bed…” He yawned right after speaking and casually settled down on the rather uncomfortable looking couch. At least it was made of a somewhat soft material and not leather. “You okay?”

“Mmmhm…” iTrapped hummed in response. “Not tired…”

“You are, though. I can tell in how… sluggish you are. I think that’s the word you mortals use.” Luke draped over the couch and lazily grinned at him. “C’mere, man,” he opened his wings up and patted the couch, “wanna feel my wings? I always offer it to calm down the others.”

“..No thanks. That feels too intimate,” iTrapped hesitantly turned down the offer. Then, he reached out his hand and pulled back to himself yet again. The way that Luke was looking at him made him jumpy. “Stop looking at me like that. You’re scary.” He sunk in on himself and twisted back to look at the fire. He shuddered at the eyes that were burning into the back of his head. Deciding that maybe the droopy eyes was a bad thing before, he retreated to the only open door in the cabin and stumbled into the room.

It had a bookcase that was completely empty and dusty, a bed with a stunning lack of blanket, and a nightstand with nothing on it. There was an overhead light and a candle. This was going to be an uncomfortable night without something to cover up with. Wait. He grabbed the tucked in second sheet and pulled it all up. This was going to be a great idea! This was also a mess. It was home, though. He LIKED it. Usually, iTrapped never saw himself as a messy person, but this made him feel less small. He crawled into the bed and sighed in content as the cool sheets settled into his skin and clothing.

—---------

He awoke with a start, back in his house. At least, it felt like his house. The lamp looked wrong. Things felt a bit too cluttered. Chance was sound asleep next to him. It was too bright. Oranges and blues mixed together on the walls, eventually bleeding out and spilling into the bed. He felt light. Lighter than air. Chance became colored in orange with red outlines showing each and every bunch of tied back hair, his lack of shades, the ring on their finger, and the satisfied smile on their face. iTrapped tentatively reached out and carded his lime green hand through their hair. A soft smirk emerged on his face with a tilting of his head. Chance reacted with their even breathing getting caught and making them stir. iTrapped removed his hand, guilty that they had woken the other up. After a few seconds, Chance sat up. He was shirtless. Oh.

“Hey, Trap-Trap…” Chance murmured and smirked. “Hiding your… affections, huh?” he asked with a yawn. “You okay?”

“A little sore,” iTrapped mumbled with mostly incoherent sounds. Wait. Sore? His suspicions were correct. “But I’m well.”

“Good, good,” Chance responded with a saccharine smile. “Thanks for waking me up by the way. I needed to get up early.” He stretched his arms up, giving a show of all the hair they were beginning to grow. He squeaked like a cat and drooped forward. Presumably lightheaded by the stretching. “Oh yeah, that’s the good stuff.” They giggled at the cold touch of iTrapped’s hand rubbing circles on their back. “I know, I know we were going to save it for after the wedding but.. I got a little carried away. I’m sorry.”

“No- no. It’s.. okay. I.. wanted it,” the words got stuck in iTrapped’s throat as he tried to wholeheartedly assure Chance that everything was okay. He finally noticed the matching ring he had on his own ring finger. What a wild fantasy. He hardly knew the guy, but he could not help but blush at the thought of it. How humiliating. No one can ever find out about his crack dream of his. He would never hear the end of it from Ellernate and Caleb.

Who?

He gripped his head in the dream, the names slipping his mind and completely melting away into the cracks of his soul. No getting those two names back. Chance looked at him with concern and put an arm around him. “Migraine? Maybe we were too loud.” iTrapped glared at him, but they just laughed at the look and left a kiss on his cheek. “I have to make sure the casino isn’t going to blow up or something. I’ll be back in a few hours, sweets. Maybe I’ll pick us up something on the way back.”

“..I can cook,” iTrapped mumbled and rubbed his eyes. “Go brush your teeth, you dragon.”

Chance’s warmth left his side with a dramatic sigh and fake offense. “Thanks for cooking, though! I love you, Trapped.”

“....I…” iTrapped tried to reciprocate, but his eyes started to sting again. Chance was staring at him now, tightening the belt around their waist and getting the gun holster set in a concealed position. “I…” iTrapped stuttered and shook his head. “Fuck. It’s just three words. It shouldn’t be this hard to say three words!” He covered his face with his hands and groaned into the palms with a furrow of his brows. He was suddenly all too aware of the hair sticking to his back and how exposed he was with his shirt unbuttoned and completely wrinkled. Chance’s amber-colored eyes were staring at him with such fondness and concern. It made his stomach tie itself into a knot, and it felt like it would collapse like a black hole. He felt sick. He uncharacteristically hated the pure unadulterated love in Chance’s gaze. “I…love.. You. Too.”

Chance returned a few minutes later after brushing his teeth. He guided iTrapped out of bed and helped him to his feet. He nuzzled the sentinel with so much adoration in his eyes. It broke iTrapped’s heart. He ended up sobbing in front of Chance after brushing his own teeth as well. It hurt. It hurt so much. It hurt so fucking much. His heart was ripped out of his chest and was beating uncontrollably on his sleeve.

“I’m so sorry. I’m such an awful person. I want to somehow make it up to you. You deserve so much better than me. In every way possible. You deserve so much better. I love you so much I can’t take it anymore-” iTrapped spiraled into his own self deprecating thoughts. He was filthy. Chance deserved better. No one deserved to have to deal with him and his own selfishness. His selfish desires of wanting basic Robloxian needs such as companionship and love. He gripped Chance tightly and peppered kisses up his neck and to the corner of his mouth.

Chance held him at his waist and pressed their foreheads together. “I am the luckiest man alive, iTrapped. I have you.”

Chapter Text

What an insane dream that was. Him? And Chance? Never in a million years. They had already established that their neutrality was strictly for survival only. Everyone was aware that iTrapped was an awful person who was irredeemable and would work as a perfect meat shield! Sure, no one actually told him that or gave any sort of indication that their thoughts consisted of that specifically, but it still hurt to think about it. He was infamous. People knew him for a reason. Maybe it was actually Elliot behind everything. He had a strange fixation on iTrapped. Or maybe he was just worried. Made him sick to his stomach to think that someone actually worried about him and wanted to make sure that he was okay. Only in his wildest dreams could he accept it.

He already missed how warm that dream was. He wanted to go back. Skip breakfast. When he went back, it was just black. Every time he woke up after maybe 30 minutes of rest it was cold. It was just cold. Constantly cold. Constantly cold. Constantly cold. No fuzzy bed talk with the other survivors. That one was probably desperation speaking. He NEEDED someone. He could not sleep alone. He felt like a child. A wimpy child.

“I love you,” iTrapped grumbled and hoisted himself out of bed. He did not even bother fixing the sheets or tucking them in. His head still hurts. He needed some water. He tiptoed out of the shared cabin, taking extra care to make sure that he did not wake up Luke. Luke would probably ask him why he was up. “I love him? No. I don’t. He does not like me, and I will never like him. Maybe. Actually, he is kind of nice…” he whispered to himself as he waltzed on over to the main big cabin. The lights were on in it. Maybe they were always on. He was still hung up on Chance, actually bothering to help him last round. That was also just kind of expected. Common courtesy. Get out of your own head, dipshit.

The door creaked as he opened it. It was silent. It was not empty, though. Someone was in the kitchen, rolling out dough. A familiar red work suit and disheveled hair under a visor. Eli paused mid roll of the dough and listened to the approaching footsteps of the new survivor. He eventually turned to look at iTrapped who had wandered up a few feet away from him. “Hey. Glad to see you around. You should be asleep, though.”

“I could say the same to you,” iTrapped said with a quiet voice.

“I slept the moment I hit the bed last night. Trust me, I got enough. All I do is throw pizza out and give others a speed boost. I hardly do much to really exert myself.” Eli was rather nonchalant as he responded and went back to layering the dough back over itself. “You get along with the others?”

“..I guess,” iTrapped drumbled. He slouched over the clean stove top and sighed. “It’s… hard. You know, seeing a god that you have worshipped all your life- someone you believed to be so perfect and kind beyond mortal comprehension for saving Robloxia- is tough. He isn’t what I thought he would be. I don’t even know where these thoughts or ideas of him being good came from. I just suddenly knew things when I looked at him. When I saved his life just to find out it was all in vain because whoever that killer was did not even care enough to kill anyone.”

“Sounds tough, but you should not dwell on Telamon specifically. The other fallen gods on your side are actually rather decent people from what I’ve heard. Especially Luke. He’s… kind.” Eli made sure his face could not be viewed when he mentioned Telamon. iTrapped managed to catch the brief grimace he had on his face.

“Yeah. He offered to let me touch his wings. Some sort of attempt at helping me reduce my anxiety or something. I just.. Ugh it’s so frustrating! I worshipped these people?! Worship-? I don’t even remember if I do or not. I’m sure maybe I’ll be head over heels later once I get my bearings.” iTrapped grit his teeth and tugged on his hair.

“Don’t let them be your world and what you base yourself off of. Don’t let anyone else be your world except yourself.” Eli got back to rolling out the dough and reached for a container of tomato sauce. “When you’re trying to find yourself, don’t start turning to people who never answer your calls for help. Don’t start turning to dwindling yourself down into what you can do for others and what you think of others.” Eli washed his hands and stood next to iTrapped. He gently rubbed the other’s back as he continued speaking, “Sometimes you just have to look in the mirror as much as you don’t want to. A little birdy told me you’re way too obsessed with figuring out who you once were instead of building a new you.”

“They were afraid when they learned my name. How could I not wonder what I did?” iTrapped was getting frustrated again. He was also so hungry. He tried to ignore the pain in his body.

“You’ll find out in due time. You’re not ready to know right now nor will you be any less hurt by being told by others. They refuse to say something for a reason. They’re trying to give you a chance to really learn and move on to get to a point where you can handle the truth. I know it eats you up inside, but that void will get bigger when you know and have no foundation to pull yourself back onto. So please, for your own sake, stop thinking about what you did wrong outside of this place. If they want to hold it against you when no one can afford a civil war, then that’s somewhat on them.”

“What if I act like my past self..?”

“You don’t.” Eli immediately shot down the notion. “I have never seen anyone here match up to their past self. If anything, your suppressed feelings are what surface. You’re vulnerable when you have no idea what mask to put on. You can’t act like your past self because you have no idea how you are seemingly supposed to act around others. That mask is broken. There is no more glass between you and yourself. You are just… you.” Eli briefly nuzzled iTrapped’s cheek and got back to making a large pizza. “Eggs are in the fridge. Not sure when your team gets up, but you should make them something. Something easy but full of the good stuff.”

That brief show of affection completely stopped every train of thought in iTrapped’s fuzzy head. Frozen. It hurt again. His mind immediately went back to that dream he had of Chance. Oh by Brighteyes this was awkward. He would never get that dream out of his head. Maybe if he talked about it, it would go away. Brilliant plan. He just needed a good segway. He thought about it while Eli placed mozzarella on the sauce. Aha! This could not possibly go wrong. “Hey. So… when you asked me about the survivors.. I have gotten along with a couple of them. Elliot and Seven are.. Really nice. So is Guest. Luke, too. But there is one that is… kind of… weird around me? Chance is his name.”

“Ah. The one who wears a smile like their life depends on it. What about him?” Eli seemed to dislike Chance. Maybe iTrapped was reading too much into it.

“Well. I… ahhah… I had a dream about him last night. He and I were… in a bed together. And I’m pretty sure it was the morning after we.. uhh.. Did something together”

“You can say sex. We’re both grown men with more important things to worry about.” Eli did not even stop adding toppings.

“Right! Well.. he was so sweet to me in the dream. And I got upset by just how much love he was looking at me with.” He paused when Eli stopped moving and put his hands on the counter. iTrapped decided to continue, “And.. I broke down crying in the dream. And they said they were lucky because I was there with him.. And. I told him that I loved him? I don’t even think the guy likes me! So why is my brain just.. Latching on to something that isn’t ever going to be real? Is it just desperation?” He stood there for a few seconds, staring at Eli who was just looking down at the pizza with tense shoulders. “...Are you okay?”

“Just thinking about why that dream sequence alarms me so much. I probably shouldn’t think about it for too long before my head explodes.” Eli went back to his cooking as if nothing happened. “It’s just… usually dreams are.. Weird. I guess that constitutes a weird thing, but yours is more… suspiciously warm. I’m worried about what the memories from your milestones will be, then.”

iTrapped leaned forward, tilting his head in confusion. Oh, by Brighteyes, he really was mimicking the other survivors. Oh, wait, he had already tilted his head like this before. What a nightmare. Somehow THAT was the nightmare. As if he had any dignity left after nearly having a panic attack in front of several strangers multiple times. “Hold on- what do you mean by milestones?”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you. In your inventory, it will show you that you have levels. Do you remember how to check your inventory?” Eli questioned him.

iTrapped nodded and imagined the menu. He somewhat fumbled at first, but he actually opened it up. He was at level 2. And he just needed 5 more exp to get up to level 3. He repeated this information to Eli who slowly turned to look at him.

“...start doing more generators,” Eli simply stated and turned back around to shove the pizza into the oven. “Rounds go by a lot faster if you do those gens as well. Can’t just leave them to the survivalists only. Sometimes they might not find a generator or… will get killed before they finish one that they were doing alone or something. There will be some dumb shit like that more often than not. Do them when you are waiting on your Darkheart to cool back down.” He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “....You were right. I’m exhausted.” A small timer was manually set, and Eli stalked into the main area in front of the fireplace. He groaned in pain and laid down on the somewhat hard couch.

iTrapped silently followed him and sat down at the other end of the couch, looking down at the other support. He had to admit, he was also exhausted. His crown was on top of a wooden locker… thing.. And his fur was hung up. He honestly forgot about that stuff even existing and being his in the first place. His attention was drawn back to Eli who shuffled around and put his hands behind his head. They stared at each other. It was rather awkward, to be fully honest. It was not as world-ending as one would assume, though.

“C’mere,” Eli mumbled and removed his hands from behind his head to hold his arms out.

“What?” iTrapped tried to question him.

Eli did grabby hands. “You heard me. Come here. Let’s hug. You look like you need one.”

Dammit. A hug did sound good right about now. And this was Eli! That guy that iTrapped had a strange trust for. A totally normal amount of trust for. It was not like he attached himself to the first person that was nice to him and treated him with respect! No. Not at all. Pfff why would he do that?

iTrapped clambered into his arms and wrapped his arms around him in return. The pizza man’s heart was soft and soothing. Akin to that of a mother stroking the head of her child. Except, it was nothing like that and could not be compared because those two things were not similar in any capacity. It was fine at first, but Eli’s fingers slowly ran through his hair and snagged a few tangled bits here and there. If that was not enough to make iTrapped freeze, he fell into stiff silence at the humming that began to come from the other survivor. The song sounded familiar, but there was no way to truly place it from memory. Curse this amnesia.

Wait. What the hell was he doing? This was a total stranger. What was he in, a fanfic full of weird romance tropes?! At that thought, he pulled away from Eli and immediately stood up. He tried to push away the blush creeping up his neck and to his face by shaking his head. Like a wet dog shaking all the water out of its fur. “I don’t need a hug.” He assured himself out loud as if that would erase the embarrassing thing he did. Accepting a hug from a stranger? What a moron. A fool! He did not need anyone. They certainly did not need him either.

He absolutely needed someone, but he would never admit that to himself. He grew up with- wait. What did he even grow up with anyways? He certainly did not grow up with hugs! Maybe. Maybe he did. As if he would remember. All he could think about was that stupid dream he had about Chance loving him and adoring him for each and every trait he had. Their stupid, stupid smiles. Their stupid care. Their stupid everything. It was all stupid.

“Oh for fuck sake! I’m acting like a teenager who just started going through puberty and thinking about how pretty some of his classmates are!” He said this to himself, but it was probably readable on his face. Eli just looked concerned. God dammit! Always that concern. It drove him mad. He wanted it to stop. Everyone to stop looking at him as if he was made of glass. As if he would break at any moment. He retreated outside and back to the cabin he was staying at, leaving behind Eli and his first real chance at actually connecting with someone in this hellish landscape.

“I hate this. I hate this. I hate this. I hate this. I hate this- hate hate hate-” iTrapped repeated this mantra to himself in a desperate attempt to get his head back in the game. He pulled on his hair, a few strands coming loose and ending up in his hands. What was he doing? No time for having a breakdown! There are rounds to go through and people to protect. He absentmindedly kicked a rock and glanced back toward the main building. “...you’re lonely too, aren’t you?” iTrapped wondered out loud to himself as his thoughts drifted back to the pizza man he had already placed so much trust in.

His mind felt blank. His eyes felt heavy. His arms started to hurt. Just pain. Everywhere! He finally noticed the dull ache in his bones. The slight stab behind his eyes. The oddly empty feeling on his head where his crown usually was started to bother him. A lot. Like… a LOT. He put his hands on top of his head, applying light pressure. Then, his abdomen started to hurt. Great! Perfect. His body was falling apart at the seams. It probably had something to do with the fact that he had not eaten much yesterday and had nothing today.

He should make those eggs. Or at least he can figure out how to. What if the ingredients were limited? Elliot did mention needing to wait a couple weeks for cauliflower to be in stock again. At least, he swore that is what the guy said. He had also been distracted by how uncomfortable he seemed to be around the sentinel, so there was that. “Oh, by Telamon, what am I thinking?” he whispered to himself and gripped his swept over bangs while putting pressure on his eyes with his thenars. “Ughh what am I thinking…” he furrowed his brows and let his hands fall limp at his sides. “Oh, Reese, bless me with your social skills.”

iTrapped marched right back up to the main cabin and slammed open the door. “I’m sorry for freaking out!” he shouted to Eli and went right up to him. This plan was so perfect and amazing in every way possible. Where was this confidence when he needed it just a few minutes ago?

“Oh, it’s fine. I figured that I just made you uncomfortable and figured I should go and apologize instead,” Eli responded without even so much as a glance in the other’s direction. “So… I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

Holy shit. That plan actually worked out smoothly. Internally, iTrapped whooped and yelled with excitement. A brief celebration that would be forgotten by the end of the day. Naturally.

“Yup! Great talk!” iTrapped gave him a thumbs up and turned heel to immediately leave again. Now he felt awkward for even being excited about any interaction in the first place.

“You’re staying right here, boy. I’ll show you how to cook scrambled eggs.” Eli got up off of the couch and beckoned iTrapped over. “Seriously. You’re not leaving. I want you to learn how to cook and bond with your fellow survivors. Get their trust… you want their trust, right?”

He.. did not have an answer for that. iTrapped had been so focused on refusing to trust the others that he never really put proper consideration into the idea of getting them to trust him. Come to think of it, he only distrusted them because he felt like he had to. Because he assumed that they did not like him. Because they already knew his name and seemed nervous around him? Oh for Pete’s sake, he was a total STRANGER! Of course they could not trust him. You cannot just place your life into every random person you see on the street. Well, they actually sort of had to place their life into his hands; but that was a whole different point that was tangentially related and could get his mind off track right now!

“...I do.”

“Perfect! Now come over here before I drag you over.”

Deciding that pizza men were scary, iTrapped immediately headed right on over. He thought that maybe Eli would mention democratic strongholds, but alas he simply went over to the fridge. “So basically. You need to heat up butter in a pan. It’s actually really easy,” Eli nonchalantly explained what was probably the second easiest food to make aside from toast. “Come here boy.” iTrapped listened to him and approached. “You put it on like six,” Eli mumbled as he cut off one tablespoon of butter and tossed it into a pan that he pulled out of a cabinet and put on the stovetop. “Crack a few eggs into a bowl and get a whisk.”

iTrapped watched this man crack like three eggs into a small glass bowl and whisked them together so fast his hand must have hurt. It was almost frothy. What the hell was going on? He could hardly pay attention because he was paying too much attention to the fact that Eli somehow remained perfectly clean after whisking those eggs like they owed him money.

“Then you just pour them into the pan and just start stirring,” Eli explained while doing said actions. He then turned over to iTrapped with the most bored expression a man could possibly muster up. “You try.”

“What the hell just happened?”

Eli looked back and forth between the pan and iTrapped. “...What are you not getting?”

“What is- how did you do that?”

“Do what?”

Oh for the love of Telamon what the hell was this guy?

“You did that so fast,” iTrapped clarified

“I’m a chef. I used to be a sous chef.” Eli did not look away from stirring and fluffing up the eggs with the spatula.

“I don’t think sous chefs are usually the main cook???”

“Have you ever worked in a kitchen before?”

“I don’t know!”

“Oh. I am now realizing my mistake… Shit. God fucking- mmmph.” Eli groaned with frustration and slid the pan off of the burner to put his head in his hands. After a few seconds, he turned off the burner. Then, he poured the eggs onto a plate in silence and with a frown on his face. He looked almost angry at himself with how he glared at his own hands.

“Are you.. okay?”

“It’s early,” Eli deadpanned and sighed. “It’s too early. I didn’t even stop to think about the fact that you might not actually know how to cook, much less how to beat eggs. I usually don’t wake up THIS early, but it’s.. Morning. I have to make pizzas to throw out to the others later. So… You know how it goes… I mean, you don’t know- but still.”

“Wow, rude.” iTrapped feigned offense and shoved some of the eggs into his mouth with his bare hands. “But you’re right. I don’t know. Elliot would, though. He looks a lot.. Like you, actually. Now that I’m thinking about it; are you two related? You act so similar to each other and… you are both from the same district I assume.”

“The only relation we have is suffering through working fast food. Unfortunate, really. He’s a good kid. He actually mentioned you last night,” Eli mentioned.

“He did?”

“Yeah. He thinks you’re pretty cool. He likes that you are willing to help without complaining. He also thinks you’re kind of cute when you don’t understand something, but that’s besides the point. The point is that he sees just how hard you’re trying. He wants you to keep doing that and actually open up to him and the others as well. Sure, half of your teammates don’t even know my name, but they all know yours. A lot of them really like you.” Eli stopped speaking and looked over at iTrapped. “Okay. I was being unfair to you earlier. I should’ve showed you how to make the eggs step by step.”

This time, Eli went slowly, making sure to have two bowls with two whisks available. He showed iTrapped how to beat two eggs. iTrapped managed to get the egg all over his sleeves and the counter, but he lightened up at the laughter that came from Eli. Their little lesson was interrupted by the oven timer going off. Eli had already beaten his eggs, so he left iTrapped to try to match his mixture while he got the pizza out of the oven and cooling down somewhere.

These were definitely not right. How do you mess up beating eggs? What a failure. What an embarrassing thing. Messing up beating eggs. It should be so trivial. iTrapped felt himself heating up and his hand slowed down. His were so.. not frothy. What a great way to describe them. ‘So not frothy’. What was he? Definitely not a functioning adult. It was such a menial task.

“Hey, nice. Perfect. You got the yolk and the whites incorporated together nicely. With minimal mess. Good luck on your white sleeves, though.” Eli looked over at him from where he was standing, fanning the pizza with a plate.

“I don’t really care about the sleeves. I don’t like my outfit all that much. I like the pants, sure.. But this feels too.. Showy. Aren’t I supposed to be fighting killers? I’m not attending a ball.” iTrapped glowered at his button cuffs. “It’s so.. Annoying.”

“Easy, now. Don’t start hating yourself even more just yet. We don’t have time for that.” Eli said it so indifferently that it made iTrapped do a double take just to process what was said to him.

Somehow, that made iTrapped stop spiraling before he actually could fall into that pit of despair. He blinked a few times, looking at the pizza guy who simply went back to showing him how to stir the eggs in the pan and chop them up. Was there a name for that trick? Was that even really a trick or was it unintentional? “You’re right. I’m just.. Struggling right now.”

“I know you are. But look, letting this place get to you will only make you miserable. Those killers have no real control over what is going on. They are just as tired as everyone else. It’s the same shit every single day. Random orders and sometimes a killer is shuffled around, sure! But they don’t want to be here.” Eli pointed the spatula at iTrapped and scowled. “Think of it as an unpaid internship. If the Spectre can cheat and change up the rounds and rules all willy-nilly, then you are around to cheat as well. Swap weapons, change strategies. Don’t let yourself be predictable and fall into weird arbitrary expectations. Sure, you may not have any idea what you are doing with their jobs, but at least they won’t know what they’re doing either. The killers won’t know either. Just at least try to. I was able to use a gun once. Then… I got slowed down by the gun. But at least it was fun while it lasted. If you do it every time you’ll get caught. But if you don’t… just. Think about it. Okay?”

“It’s so hard to fight letting it all get to me. Sure, having fun by quote unquote ‘cheating’ sounds like something that would help, but it isn’t going to keep me sane forever.” iTrapped looked down. “I can hardly trust my teammates- much less myself. I’m bound to let them down in some way. It’s just going to happen.”

“Then why do you trust me?” Eli tilted his head, but it was more like his head went lopsided based on how much force went into it. “You place a lot of trust in me. Willing to open up to me when you met me yesterday. Yet you don’t trust the people who have to put their lives in your hands.”

“They’ll turn on me,” iTrapped insisted. “They’re going to try to kill me one of these rounds. Just you wait and see. They want me dead. They- they have to hate me because I’m just some random person walking in on..” his voice trailed as Eli pushed the pan away and grabbed him by the shoulders. “Eli-?”

“What kind of logic is that? You ARE hearing yourself, right? You really think the people who can’t afford to hate each other will hate you and only you specifically?” Eli’s scowl dropped and he looked almost bored. “You’re not nearly important enough to warrant so much vitriol. You aren’t the one behind this entire game. You aren’t the one that brings in killers and survivors out of boredom. You aren’t the one that kills people. You aren’t even the one who leaves behind these mysterious letters that give people headaches trying to decipher them.”

Ouch. That hurt. That actually really hurt. iTrapped jolted a little bit and tried to pull away. However, Eli’s grip was firm and kept him in place.

“Sure, you ARE important,” Eli clarified with a pause before continuing, “but you are not the worst one here. Good people don’t end up here, but you are far from the worst. No one can be more heartless than Telamon. For fuck’s sake stop trying to see yourself as the bad guy and pay attention to what’s going on around you. ALL of these people were total strangers to each other-... okay not the admins, nor Elliot and Seven, but everyone else? Never knew each other or could not recall if they did or not. In fact, I guarantee that you have a connection, but it’s not like you can remember that right now either. So why should it matter if you are a stranger? You have other things to worry about that should be occupying your mind. Villainizing yourself will only serve to make you worse. Get better. For the love of Builderman, you have stuff you need to do and watch over. Strangers will stay strangers if nothing is done about it. Your sins won’t disappear if you keep to yourself and never extend compassion.”

iTrapped did not want to admit it; Eli was correct. He was right about everything. Probably. At least, he was right about almost every single thing he had listed. Sins were why he was here. He did not know which sins he committed, but he just had to do good. That was it.

Just try.

…

What a ridiculous sentiment. He was trying. Why did he still feel so scared of everything? Dumbass, it has not even been 24 hours. Why are you so upset about all of this? You are STUCK here. ‘There is no going back, kid. You will never make it back. You don’t deserve to get out of here,’ the man in his head said. ‘You brought this upon yourself. You might as well lie down and accept it. Like the good dog you are. Loyal to those who hurt you. You will find out who they are soon, but they are never coming back for you. You will never get better. You. Are. Just. Like. Me-’

iTrapped pulled away from Eli, the wispy voice in his head dissipating the moment the other’s touch disappeared. Immediately, he pulled his sword and pointed it at the pizza guy. “YOU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?!”

“If you’re uncomfortable with that kind of touch, I won’t do it again.” Eli responded. Acting as if he had no idea what just happened.

“YOU WERE PUTTING WORDS IN MY HEAD-” iTrapped’s voice cracked as he yelled. “You- you said I’m just a loyal dog. I deserve everything that’s happening to me-”

Eli must have taken notice of his emotional distress. To be fair, it was as plain as could possibly be. If the words did not give it away, then the face he was making certainly did. A deep frown, corrugated brows, slitted eyes, the shaking of his entire body, the sword burning so hot both of them could feel it without touching the blade. The heat was almost nice- STAY ON TASK.

“Oh dear. Oh dear, gorgeous. That wasn’t me that said any of that.” Eli’s gentle voice contrasted the thinly veiled anger of the older man that had burrowed himself into iTrapped’s brain. “That must have been the Spectre. It’s already trying to get to you. It’s like… a bully at school. The same shit every day-”

“Then why did the voice go away when you stopped touching me huh?” iTrapped widened his eyes and leaned forward, gripping the sword even tighter. He grinned. “I know what you are. YOU are The Spectre. You are the Spectre, aren’t you? You’re just pretending to be one of us because you know us survivors have to stick together.”

“iTrapped- you’re scaring me. Stop making that face. Just breathe.” He haphazardly put his hand out and lowered iTrapped’s hand himself. That action caused iTrapped to jerk away and shake his head rapidly. “Just breathe. I’m right here. It’s me. Not the Spectre. The Spectre is somewhere else by now if he did stop by. In fact, he’s actually probably with Sorcus right now or something!”

His grin dropped. “Mh.. mhm…” iTrapped solemnly nodded and looked away with shame. He forced his eyes and shoulders to relax. Why did he do that? Where did that thought process even come from? What if the Spectre couldn’t even do what he believed it could do for those few seconds. He had never seen it, now that he was thinking about it. Only ever heard about it. No posters or drawings. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re stressed out. You’re forgiven. It’s okay. I’ve dealt with way worse. Pizza delivery is no joke,” Eli said this with a chuckle. The tenseness in his body said that it was not exactly a laughing matter.

Maybe that was how he ended up here.

“We should talk more often. Just.. without the whole scary face thing. That really, REALLY made me… uncomfortable. It was how.. Uh. Well.” Eli was stuck on his own words for a second.

iTrapped interrupted him, “You don’t have to explain why it makes you uncomfortable. I’ll try to work on getting those thoughts away from me and not latched on to me.” He felt awful. He felt terrible. He did something, and it made someone feel bad. “I- I’m sorry. I just-”

“I already said you’re fine. Thank you.” Eli interrupted him this time. “You cannot exactly control these thoughts when under so much stress and uncertainty at this stage of being here, but you can change your reactions. So just.. Let’s.. I don’t know.”

iTrapped took in a deep breath and pulled Eli into a tight hug. He buried his face in the other’s neck and sighed. He squeezed his eyes shut, lightly humming as arms wrapped around him. “I want to get better. I just don’t know if I can handle what it takes.” His voice was muffled against slightly rough skin. They lightly rocked back and forth. iTrapped’s shoulders loosened as a hand glided up and down his back with such care.

“You can handle it. You can do a lot more than you believe you can. You just have to want and choose to.” Eli whispered back. “You’ll get better with time. Just connect, learn from the others, and most importantly of all: Never give up.”

How corny.

He liked it.

Chapter Text

After it all faded to black merely an hour after a failed breakfast, a glitched laugh and someone saying “Time for some murder!” in a messed up voice sounded out. iTrapped awoke in a gloomy map. Dark. Stormy. A tower not far from him. A medkit next to him. Immediately, he picked up the medkit just in case someone would need it. Just to stay safe, he narrowed his eyes and looked out into the mist. He tiptoed and tried his best to avoid the bright purple water that surrounded him. He hopped over some of it to get to a platform, snagging himself on a conveniently placed branch, he stumbled into the water and dyed his white fur purple. He also sputtered as the poison seeped into his skin but rapidly dried when he got out of the water.

He took in deep breaths, praying and hoping for someone to actually be near. Okay, he did not pray. He was not exactly the type to pray for something as trivial as wanting someone nearby. It hurt a lot. Already down to 82 health. Great job, idiot. At least he could see some highlighted pizza in the distance. No one else was injured, so that must have been Elliot throwing it and running off. How thoughtful of him! It tasted awful, by the way. It tasted like grass. That was probably because it was directly taken off of the ground.

iTrapped wandered around for a bit, deciding to not pay too much attention to the other survivors while he got his bearings and figured this area out. The fog was incredibly dense. Like, really dense. He could suddenly hear the worst music he had ever heard in his life. It sounded like the original Xbox sounds that would play if you left it on all night. He somehow knew that. He must have been that old. Something else was added on to it. Then, a lot of bass. So much drumming. That was a lot of drumming. It drowned out his thoughts. He could hardly think, if at all. What the hell was going on? He took notice of the survivor list and finally saw who was there. Half of them were already injured, especially Elliot. Well, there went his attempts to try and protect someone. He still had yet to actually find the guy.

“Oh t’ank me-e-e-e someone is ne’r!” Luke ran up to iTrapped from behind and put a wing behind him. He nearly jumped out of his skin. It felt awfully cold. “This guy sucks. Prepare yerself, soldier. Yer like.. gonna hate this guy. He's like. Suuuuper.. bad. An’ stuff. Nailed it.” Luke’s voice sounded way too deep. He sounded more like Builderman with the accent he suddenly had.

“What’s wrong with you? Why are you talking like that?” iTrapped tried to question, but he immediately shrieked when something exploded nearby. He turned and Luke was gone. Instead, a hooded figure stared back at him. Purple skull visible through quite literally clear dark purple skin on one half of his face. The other half had literally black skin under a white comedy mask. His dark purple hair faded to a slightly lighter purple at his shoulders where it stopped. Atop his head was the void crown. His clothes matched his skin.

“H-e-eeey there~” he hummed. “The name's- N-0-o-00-108-li!” 

iTrapped could not understand a word that was spoken. “Ahahhh… you.. aren't on the survivor list.” iTrapped swallowed hard at the narrowed eye behind the mask. Something in his head said to run. The glowing star that had been floating around suddenly disappeared with a weird glitched voice, and the guy immediately slammed iTrapped into the ground. 30 whole damage done in an instant. The perpetrator laughed as iTrapped ran and ran and ran until he slid against a wall. He should have used his sword when getting startled that time. Curse his luck.

He took in deep breaths, sitting down against the wall. The time slowly ticked down, but not nearly fast enough.

More time added to the timer. Builderman was dead already. That was 5 minutes added. His dispenser should have been destroyed. Why was it there? Out of confusion and being scared, iTrapped ran away from his spot and found a generator that another survivor was working on. “Oh thank Telamon- someone else…” He greeted and got down next to them to work on the wires.

He barely recognized the person. It was Noob, obviously, but they were dressed up like they were going to a pride parade. The colors actually looked really nice on them. The flower crown did as well. They turned to look at iTrapped with a bit of shock.

“Oh-oh. Hi…” Noob slightly nodded at him. Their hands slightly shook. “Wow… Chance was right… we do look similar. H-huh. We might be from the same district…”

“Maybe. Not that I would be able to remember, though. Wish I could.” iTrapped attempted to joke with them, but it just became an awkward silence after he said that. It was not long before the generator was done. He felt proud of himself. He got ONE wire puzzle done. He also only had four wires to connect, but that was besides the point.

“H-heyy.. By the way. Noli spawns fake generators. You can tell it’s a fake if the wires have this weird black gunk all over them at the front. All his fake things have some sort of imperfection, so you can tell if you just pay attention…” Noob informed him of this random thing he would have never figured out on his own. Then, they shoved a ghostburger into their mouth when the generator started to ring next to them. “Good luck!” They then promptly ran away, leaving the poor guy entirely confused. Because helping people as a survivalist was so overrated.

“I uh. Yeah! Luck. Mhm. I know what I’m doing.” iTrapped put his hands on his hips and posed for a second. He looked like a fucking idiot, but at least he was being himself. “Me have luck. Much luck. Oh god that was so cringe.”

Suddenly, Noli came running in out of nowhere. He charged up that void star attack that would end up with iTrapped on the floor and injured. Since he did not WANT to lose another 30 health, he readied his Darkheart and gripped it firmly. It was completely cold in his hands. Noli stopped just short of hitting him after rushing forward. iTrapped was a little confused because he just stood there and stared before readying his star again. What a weird guy.

On instinct (and wanting to preserve his health), iTrapped immediately swung his sword. Noli proceeded to ragdoll onto the floor and all the music stopped. There was laughter. A lot of laughter. And a clip of a familiar song that said that it was raining tacos. The body of Noli completely disappeared.

“What.” iTrapped stood there and stared at it. Then, he looked at the Darkheart in his hands. It just warmed up a little bit and hummed, as if it was mocking him for falling for whatever that trick was. “Oh- don’t laugh at me! How would you like it if I laughed at you for being a sword?” He glared at the blade, seeing his own reflection stare back at him. But he was not glaring back at himself in the reflection. “I don’t have time to even question why I look different when it’s from your surface or whatever it’s called. Your metal. Your reflection. Your- fuck you.”

The sword just hummed again. Then, his reflection laughed at him. No other response other than just smiling and laughing back at him. It mouthed something to him, but his reflection quickly disappeared as footsteps (or rather running) was sounded nearby. “Wait- come back!” iTrapped shouted at the sword before groaning in annoyance. “Fine then. Keep your secrets.” He trudged away from the generator, repeatedly glancing back at the sword. But it just reflected what it was supposed to reflect. Maybe it was part of whatever Noli’s abilities were. Yeah. That was a reasonable explanation. “Stupid sword. Making me go insane. I already am going insane, I have to deal with all this paranoia and thinking everything is out to get me every time I hear a noise.” He grumbled and kicked the ground. “Seriously, where is everyone?” he wondered out loud to himself.

Suddenly, he heard something. Like a motorcycle barreling towards an innocent civilian at high speeds. Before he could turn around to actually see what was happening, he was slammed into the ground again. Another lost 30 health. He was down at 40.

“HE-LLO-O-O-O THEREEEEE!” Noli cackled as iTrapped limped away as fast as he could. “That sword doesn’t belong to you now, does it?” Noli asked in Telamon’s voice. He threw his Void Star and grinned as it pulled iTrapped towards a wall it had hit next to him. “Re-ea-ea-lly-y-y. Honestly-ly. I was expecTING someᵗʰⁱⁿᵍ different. Ya kn-o-o-o-o-owwww OW!” He smacked the crown that was floating above his head. “Yeah, I got time.” He took a step forward while talking, “Betrayed, beguiled, alone, dece—---ived!” He spoke with the voice of a kid for a brief moment. “We are not so-so-so-so diff-rent you and me!” Noli casually put an arm around iTrapped who had not even noticed that he had stopped moving because he was paying so much attention to Noli. “Well… a little different.” He slyly smirked and raised his eyebrows. “Also-also-also-also- so- so -so-” he stopped speaking and a crash noise played. Then, a Windows start-up sounded out. “I forgot!” Noli grinned and removed his arm from around iTrapped. “Tell ya- what. I let you go until-... ….STANDING!” He put his arms up in the air. “You’re real cute, so I I I I I I 01001- will let you gO! I just repeated myself. Myself. Yup! I don’t n-oooooooormal lee do dis buuut..” 

iTrapped honestly would have rather died on the spot than be in this situation. A killer, a psycho, thinking he’s CUTE and thus sparing him? Way too good to be true. The jittering in Noli’s hands made him feel a little bad, though.

“Well, see ya! Until LMs!” Noli teleported away.

“WHAT?!” iTrapped fell to his knees, clutching his head. He completely ignored the fake Noli that was smacking him on the head like a child. “I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT’S GOING ON!” He whined and pulled at his hair. “Clones? Sparing me? What’s an LMS?!” He felt the tears prick at his eyes as he cried out in confusion and despair. He glanced down at the sword on the ground in front of him, half expecting to see his own reflection laughing at him again.

Just his tears. He shook and ripped up some of the dead, purple-grey grass. The petrichor felt rotten in the back of his throat. iTrapped took in deep breaths, struggling to breathe as Luke went down. 5 more minutes to the timer.

“Why do you never respond when I want you to?” He whispered to the sword. It just let off some heat and went back to being cold. “I know you’re there! Who are you?!” There was no response. It was simply a sword. A cold sword. He stared at his reflection, hoping for it to change. To show that it was alive. He only saw himself. Disheveled. Disgusting display of incompetence. No bravery. A mockery of what a soldier should be. He was no swordsman. “Please just help me…” He mumbled. 

iTrapped felt like he was genuinely going insane. He was talking to a sword. A sword! It was a SWORD! “You mock me, yet you can’t even care enough to respond to my pleas with trickery… why did I say it like that?” His eyes widened at the mortified feeling that washed over his soul. “Are you meant to be the reflection that Eli was talking about? Looking at myself as much as I don’t want to. Is that it? Are you really that simple? Please answer me. Show me a sign! Any sign that you are still there.” He leaned in close to the sword and bared his teeth with a deep breath. He pulled out a couple blades of grass at the lack of response. This was ridiculous. There would be no response.

Someone cleared their throat behind him. This time, it was not one of those fake Nolis. They actually sounded human. Or at least not a killer with a weirdly loud song that would play in his head and make him unable to hear anything. That actually should have been an indication of Noli being near. That song was actually kind of annoying. It got better the further it went on, but the bass was too much- FOCUS.

iTrapped shuffled to look behind himself. There was Chance, just looking down at him with a slightly concerned frown on their face. Arms crossed. He instantly felt the heat rise up to his cheeks. “O-oh. Heyyy there… Chance-y. Hehahahhh…” he forced a grin on his face, cringing at the ache in his bones that came with that action. He could feel himself beginning to sweat despite the permafrost that sat on top of his head. “What brings you here to my awful position? Nailed it.” He congratulated himself out loud instead of keeping it in his head. What a dweeb. “Hi. Yeah. Hi.”

“Hey,” they mumbled and held their hand out. “I stunned him. It’s not long before he comes back and kills you for extra time. Honestly, I’m surprised Noli didn’t just kill you off immediately. Usually he does that to every new survivor. Do ya need a medkit? We have no healers or supports left. He already killed Elliot, Builderman, and Luke. Clockwork is barely hanging on. We’re about the only hope left.”

“I got one. But you… need it more- you’re on 64%-”

“Hold it right there,” Chance interrupted him. “Seriously. You’re at 25 health. I’m at 80. Use it. I’m not having you die on me! I have standards, I have more than half of my health, and I rolled 125 anyways. Sooo…” He pulled iTrapped to his feet and flashed a grin at him. “Do you know how to use a medkit? You might not know what the syringe does.”

“...syringe?”

“.....”

They stared at each other, iTrapped clutching his arm in pain and wincing as the adrenaline finally wore off. Before he could properly answer, Chance just grabbed his arm, pulled out a medkit, and immediately stabbed the needle into him before wrapping him up in bandages. “Wait wait - WAIT- OW OW OW-” iTrapped tried to push them away while seething with pain. He clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut as he felt the stinging pain of the needle be thrust into his arm and pulled back out. He was panicking. He felt like he was going to die from the feeling of this tiny sharp object going into his body, but his health was already back up to 100 in about 7 seconds flat. “Wait. What. HUH?!”

Chance chuckled at his reaction. “Medkits are magical, ey?” He grinned at the other sentinel and brushed some of his hair out of his face. “Come on, ice king. We have a lot of work to do.” They lingered for a second and kept a grin up.

“My sword can talk back to me and you expect me to be able to work like nothing just happened?” ‘And I had a dream that we had pillow talk, but that’s besides the point,’ he thought to himself. His blush refused to go down. Instead, his face heated up so much he felt like he was tearing up. That could have been from the medkit, though.

“..Yeah pretty much.” Chance just shrugged and flipped their coin a few times. “Seriously, need your help. Clockwork is about to die… nevermind he just died.”

That was 5 more minutes on the timer.

iTrapped grabbed his sword and followed Chance. They were silent. For once, the silence was nice. It was a lot nicer than getting punched, stabbed, or otherwise slammed into the ground by some murdering psychopath with no sense of morality. He gripped the handle to keep himself grounded, finding comfort in the fact that it seemingly tried to soothe him by humming as well. Or maybe he was misreading it. There was… 25 minutes on the timer. The only ones left alive were Chance, iTrapped, Noob, and 007n7. Two sentinels and two survivalists. Surely nothing could go wrong! They had this in the bag. They only had one generator done. They were so doomed. 

Chance grabbed his somewhat tender arm and carefully led them through the mist into a clearing where it was possible to actually see. So the entire map was not actually thick and dense fog with no discernible escape! How did he end up stuck there for so long-? It was a miracle he was even alive.

He narrowed his eyes and looked out over the area. Noli was chasing Noob and struggling to actually land a hit on them. They seemed so smug with each and every missed hit. However, they were also at 50% health. They would not last much longer if Noli managed just a few more hits. They laughed and chugged down a potion which made Noli slow down and stare at them.

Chance steadily aimed their gun, making sure to be careful with their aim as Noob scarfed down a stone ghost burger. That could not taste good. iTrapped lowered Chance’s gun and rushed forward. With a mighty swing, he embedded the Darkheart into Noli's back. A cry of pain came from the bicolored man as he tumbled to the dirt and pulled iTrapped down with him with the sword still planted firmly into his spine.

Blood, so much blood. It was wispy and sizzled under the Darkheart’s heavy gaze as it simply burned hotter and hotter. The sword looked almost like a very dark reddish-grey from how hot it had gotten. The blood soaked through his clothing and stained the sentinel's hand that went down to push on his back. iTrapped was busy trying to pull the sword out of his flesh, but something felt too heavy. He glanced down at his reflection. Full of wrath. Possibly bloodlust. A new sort of coldness over its features. In a stroke of panic, iTrapped shouted at the sword, “LET HIM GO!” His voice cracked from the sheer desperation and fear he had behind those three words.

His reflection looked back at him with wide eyes and its mouth slightly agape. It frowned at him like winter. It was gone in a flash, and the sword finally let go of Noli. Noob was already long gone. He fell to the dirt and threw the sword away from himself. Scared. That was new. It had seemed so fleetingly kind if slightly mischievous before. Noli was still shaking and on his hands and knees by the time iTrapped got back to his feet. He watched as the skin rapidly regenerated itself through the tears in the robes that had been left behind.

“Noli?” iTrapped murmured and crouched down next to him. This was a bad idea. This was a killer. This was a horrible idea. He should not be feeling sympathy for someone who only spared him because he was pretty. Someone who so ruthlessly murdered the other half of his team. Someone who messed with your head and made you believe you were getting attacked when you weren't. “Noli? Are you there?”

Multiple error sounds overlapped at once before a dial-up tone played. Then, Noli turned to look at him. His singular eye was full of genuine fear. “What-what-what-what the hell did you JUST do-o-o do to me-eee-me?”

“I don't know why it did that! I had no idea that would happen. I- I was just trying to do my job and and. I.. oh god. I'm so sorry!” iTrapped could hardly believe what he was saying. Why the hell are you apologizing to a murderer? He would not spare you or check on you if the roles were reversed. He took a gander at the sword that was idle on the ground where he had thrown it before reaching out and brushing Noli's hair back. “Maybe I swung too hard, and that activated something. I- I. I. I don't know. I just. I didn't mean to do that.” He put his left hand to his chin and slightly balled it up. He removed his other hand from Noli’s hair and rested it on his shoulder. 

“I should kİll y ou for tha-ha-hat.” Noli stood up with some struggle. He almost tripped, which led to iTrapped being used as a wall to steady himself. “Ugh.”

iTrapped looked at him with worry. He really was disturbed. Anxious as well. Things could get worse because of that little stunt. That would suck. Things getting harder just because his sword decided to be evil was not on his bingo card. It was also entirely possible given how some of these guys have reacted to him so far. Mafioso was aloof to his problems and probably only asked what was wrong because he just felt bad, and Sorcus wanted him dead. It was on sight with the former admin.

“...I don't wan t to fi-ig-i-ight anymore.” Noli let go of iTrapped and looked down at his bloody hand. He sounded angry. A little pissed off. Also a little melancholy. “Or I can get rid of the little problem now .” The star started glowing in his hand again.

Before Noli could actually do anything, a gunshot sounded. And Noli shouted that he hated his stupid job. With that, iTrapped ran away. He made sure to grab his sword on the way to the next hiding spot. 3 more generators had been done during that little confrontation. Oh by Telamon, these people worked fast.

iTrapped managed to find the last real generator. He worked as fast as he possibly could. He fumbled multiple times, shaking as the health of Noob went down all the way to 0. At least two people still had all their health, and the other had more than half as well. The many minutes on the timer sucked, but they had plenty of height just in case they needed to push Noli off somewhere. Once he finished the generator, he got up and continued running. He had to stop and lean against a wall to cough and nearly threw up that pizza he ate earlier. His throat hurt from how much breathing and running he had done. Was that even possible? He must have been incredibly out of shape. Sure, he was lean, but he was not fit. That was becoming more and more obvious by how much more pain had settled into his calves.

He decided to walk in order to ensure that he would not catch himself coughing in the middle of a potential chase that could happen at any moment. He also made sure to avoid the foggy area. Luckily for this little running away and hiding like a coward endeavor, there was a straight shot to beeline to another tower. The stairs were surprisingly still intact from what he could see. This must have been intentional, so they actually had a chance in these extremely long matches.

A person with a Dominus Infernus took a step out from behind a wall of the watchtower he had been heading towards. Camo suit. A tie that said U MAD BRO?. They held a glowing sword. The Illumina. Telamon’s prized possession (and favorite play toy). Something in the sentinel’s mind told him that this guy was familiar and should be known. That childhood friend of his that used to hack a lot perhaps. “iTrapped?!” They exclaimed with confusion. “Woah. I must have been like.. pulled into a round or something mid match. Crazy Spectre stuff.” They shrugged and waltzed right up to him. “Hey, you have any idea what’s going on? Like… maybe where I can get some help for this?” The stranger proceeded to open up their camo suit a little and showed a bleeding patch on their side. “I can’t quite reach it. I’m not able to put down my sword for some reason.”

iTrapped awkwardly stood there. On the one hand, he had a medkit; but also he had no idea who this was. This had to be some fake person. If someone was randomly thrown into the match, it would have updated the board because this was some sort of weird game where you could see if everyone was alive in the corner of your vision. Maybe. Or maybe it would not, but he did not want to bet on the latter. His sword stayed cold in his hand. “Am I supposed to know you? You aren’t on the board.” He backed away from the person who was standing there and not panicking over the gaping wound in his side.

They were not real.

One glance down at his sword and the story his reflection told could not be put into words for the others when he would open up about this. It looked like it was in pain just looking at this person. A black square appeared over its face, it looked back at him with a frown that held no feeling behind it, and it vanished. The sword felt awfully empty.

“I-it’s me! Your pal! Your best friend! Ellerna-aaaa—---te!” Their body began to gain errors as they took more and more steps toward him. He kept on backing away. “Y-0ou 

don’t reMEMber me-e-e-e-e-e

-ee?” Their face glitched to be visible and offended. “H–h-h-

hh-ow cOU

LD you

-you-yo

u-y

ou..?” They put their hands to their chest and broke into a sprint. 

“GET BACK HERE I_tRa-ppe–...BACK HERE!” Ellernate pushed iTrapped to the ground and started to shake 

him. “

Let me i

n! Let 

me back in to your life! M

y lo

ve! My every

thing. I 

never 

hated you! I never hated you

-you-you-youu

uu! 

I LOVE YOU!

Let me have you… Let me have you let me have you let me-e-e-eee-” iTrapped drowned out their voice.

They were close. Too close. The touch felt real. It felt real. They had to be real. It hurt his bones as he trembled with each and every second that passed. The sword became hot. Hot enough to get to the hilt. It hurt. It wanted to be used. They were closer. They stopped shaking him. Faces close.

His mind could not understand at all what was happening. They were real! Fake? Real! His heart pounded in his skull. Fake! ‘Nothing you have will stay by your side. Your little friends will throw you out sooner or later.’ The man in his head returned. He shut his eyes, sucking in a sharp breath. His eyes stung. iTrapped move. Move. ‘Move. MOVE. MOVE! ITRAPPED PLEASE!’ a different voice more similar to his shouted in his head. That voice sounded like it was in distress. Just like him. The sword.  He forced open one eye and felt drawn to the Darkheart. His reflection was banging on the glass that separated them. Tense and in very clear agony. It was shouting at him. Ellernate balled up a fist and reeled it back. iTrapped flinched, wanting to put his hands up to cover his face. On instinct. ‘MOVE!’ His reflection mouthed again. Desperate as it used both hands to hit the sword.

Move.

With a sudden burst of energy, iTrapped pushed Ellernate away and gave them a kick for good measure. He sprinted until he could not anymore and put his hands on his knees next to a wall. The sword went cold again. He felt dirty. Disgusting. Wicked. Revolting. Vile. Abhorrent, nauseating. Grotesque-! He gripped his head and finally let a tear spill. “No… no.. please no. Not now. Not now…” his voice went high. Horrible ideas flashed in his mind. What if he did not fight back? What would have happened? Would he have just gotten hit and the entire thing would have shattered? 

In hindsight, nothing would have actually happened to him. His mind just made him believe like something bad was going to happen to him. That he was being personally punished for everything wrong in the world. But it felt real. That was the only thing that mattered. It felt real enough to him. And it hurt. It just hurt. “Who was that… why did I feel something so.. Familiar? Like I should have known them?” Snot and tears spilled that he desperately tried to wipe away. He felt so immature. He should not care about these people. He should not care at all. He should not care. “Please not now. I’m not a failure.” The music filled his brain. That stupid song of Noli’s took over his entire mind. He put his hands to his head.

Various scenarios filled his mind. What would have happened if he submitted entirely? What if he said that he loved them back? Not that he did, of course. He-. . . would never have done that anyways. “I love you,” he repeated with a gentle cadence. The same voice he had in the dream that featured Chance. “I love you…” he mumbled to himself, almost trying to reassure himself. Maybe he was. He could not tell if he was or not. “I love you… I love you, I love you, I love you. You are worthy of love. You are deserving of love. You are not personally hated by everyone.” He took in deep breaths, reminding himself for once that he actually needed oxygen if he wanted to do things such as function and be able to actually move around in case he needed to go somewhere quickly.

He stared at the Darkheart, watching his reflection. Waiting for it to change. Waiting for it to move. Maybe even hoping for it to show that it was still there and looking after him. Why now? Why did it suddenly decide to start looking after him? It could have simply not done that. It could have been an ambiguous sword for the rest of time. It could just not done anything to assist him and stayed as a sword. Was it always like this? It WAS a creation of Telamon’s after all. Of course it would be a little bizarre.

He still hated Telamon. How different his god turned out to be. He had been under the assumption that Telamon would be the most holy out of them all. How wrong he was. Then again, Telamon looked a little similar to that bum Shedletsky. Same face. Same hair. Same flair and disregard for most living beings… Eh, he could think about that later. It was entirely possible that Telamon just shagged some mortal and had a kid. Yeah, that made sense.

Wait. Who was Shedletksy again?

The image left iTrapped’s mind immediately after he stopped to think about his knowledge. Maybe he was hallucinating again. Because that made sense. Hallucinations gave you false memories!!!! Of course! How could he be so stupid? Well, he was not, because that was actually not really how it worked as far as he knew. Then again, he was not a psychologist. Things simply entered his mind and left as they pleased. He stopped trying the fight it by the second round. It was a waste of time to try and figure out these random beams of apprehension regarding his gods.

Wait. What was that music? 

The timer suddenly went down to two minutes. He saw a red outline in the distance, but it faded away after a few seconds, and he was left trying to figure out what was happening. The Darkheart began to burn like coals in a train. Which, judging by the sound he was hearing, it sounded like a train was heading his way. Too bad he had no time to look around. He was immediately slammed right into the ground FROM BEHIND THE WALL.

As soon as iTrapped got up, he took a swing with his sword because what else could he do? He was just grabbed from behind the wall and body slammed into the ground! Noli did not get stunned at all. Instead, the psycho simply laughed at him and smacked him with his weird wispy tentacle hand. Already back down to 45 health. Since it seemed like a good time, iTrapped immediately began to sprint.

Something wound up as he rounded a corner, and he was pulled into the wall. At 30 health. Oh boy. His reflection looked absolutely mortified in the sword, but he had no time to dwell on that. He could not give up. He just narrowly dodged the spike- thing- that Noli summoned every time he tried to attack. He was so lucky that Noli got slowed down every time he landed a hit on iTrapped.

That helped him gain some distance at least. He managed to slip up some stairs, hearing Noli complain while he also sang a little Miku song while chasing him. iTrapped once again had no space in his mind to actually place what the song was because he just… did not know Miku songs by heart. He recognized the voice sure, but- FOCUS. DAMMIT. Another hit. He was at 5 health now. Any hit now would instantly kill him.

Once he reached the top, he realized he was cornered. There was no way to jump down. All the walls were up, and he could not just vault over them for some reason. He pulled out his medkit and tried to use it. Noli just slowly walked up to him while he desperately tried to cover up himself faster.

Noli grinned and laughed at him before shoving his spike right through iTrapped’s chest. “I_I-I-I— am the luckiest ma-a-a-a-n alive-e-e, iTrapped!” He pulled iTrapped backwards towards him and kicked him to the ground to remove the spike from his breast. “IIIII- I have yo-u-u-u!” Noli said and played a voice clip of Chance saying he could not stop winning before immediately bashing iTrapped’s brains in with his boot.

—---

iTrapped sat up in bed. In the cabin he had been elected to share with Elliot and Luke. Alone. He took in rapid breaths, feeling around his torso for anything that could potentially indicate that he was actually fully 100% dead. He completely missed the spot to check his own pulse and nearly declared himself dead before the Darkheart hummed next to him. God, he was an idiot. Of course he was alive. He was actively BREATHING. Now, he was thinking about manually breathing. Of course this would happen. Stupid trick of the mind. He nearly facepalmed himself.

‘Hey.’ His own voice whispered in his mind. ‘Now I can actually talk to you without being interrupted.’ His voice sounded way too quiet. Too smooth and calculated to truly belong to him. ‘I can hear your thoughts, idiot. Get me out of this scabbard before I do absolutely nothing and just sulk.’

“Oh, now you talk to me.” iTrapped rolled his eyes and pulled the Darkheart out from its holster and walked over to the light switch to chase away the shadows. “What are you?”

His reflection shrugged. ‘Other than a sword? I don’t know, genius. You figure it out.’

iTrapped narrowed his eyes at his reflection. Honestly, the black box over its face made perfect sense in his humble opinion. However, he also did not like the black box. That weird man that haunted his memory had a blacked out face. Was it the reflection? No, that was not possible. This may have been Robloxia, but some stuff was not feasible. “Okay. Maybe you’re just me. But an asshole.”

‘I hear something. Tata, pretty little prince…ess.’

“WAIT-” iTrapped shouted, but the door to his room was open. Elliot stood there, frozen in place and staring at him. “Oh… heyyyyyy Elliot. I was definitely not talking to my sword just now! I’m not insane. I promise.”

“...Riiighhht… not what I’m here for. I can ask you about that in a little bit.” Elliot kept the door open and walked right into the room. He put his hands on his hips, focusing on everything except the Darkheart. “So… your first time being the Last Man Standing. That was… rough to watch… But ehhh.. You feeling good? No long-term psychological changes from hearing the music change and getting hurled into the ground like a toy?”

“Uhhhhhhhh…” iTrapped glanced at his feet. “Not that I’m aware of. Are you okay? You were the first or second one to die I think. Sorry I wasn’t there to protect you…”

“Eh.. Tempest SUCKS to deal with. I don’t blame you at all. You were stuck in that fog for most of the match. Honestly, I’m surprised you lasted as long as you did. Though… Noli was being weird about you. I guess he won’t be as merciful next time.” Elliot put his hands back down and sighed. “...So uhh… you were really nervous around Chance from what I saw when spectating. You good on that? I’m here if you need to talk about something that might have happened. I cannot exactly hear every single thing you say when I spectate, but there were a lot of… rough patches. Didn’t even really need words.”

“...I’m fine,” iTrapped hesitantly replied and placed the Darkheart down on the table next to the candle. “I’m just… thinking about a lot of things. Promise me you won’t tell Chance this? Before I say anything, you have to promise.” He sat down on his bed, patting the spot next to him.

Elliot immediately nodded and plopped on down a couple feet away before awkwardly shuffling closer to match where iTrapped’s hand actually had been. “Of course. I don’t tell anything about anyone. Unless it’s Telamon. Because chances are he already told everyone the same thing by the time he got to me.”

“Right. Uh.. so…” iTrapped twiddled his thumbs, the blush returning to his face. He removed the crown and fur and placed them on the bed next to his pillow. “I had this dream. About me and Chance.. We woke up in bed together after we… had… sex… I think…” his voice trailed as he finally matched the quiet demeanor that he had in his own thoughts. “And.. they said that they loved me. And that they were the luckiest man in the world. Because they had me.” He took in a deep breath, already feeling the sting returning to his eyes. “A..and it.. Hurt to say it back. Like I wasn’t supposed to be able to. Or that those three words somehow hurt me.”

Elliot lowered his shoulders as he listened to iTrapped ramble about the stupid dream he had. His entire manner visibly softened. He put his hands to his chin in complete silence. He got a little tense when iTrapped admitted that he kind of wanted to go back just to feel that love again and to feel cared about. “...So is that why you were so weird around Chance last round?”

“Yeah. Pretty much…” iTrapped coughed into his hand. “But that’s it.”

“What about the whole you panicking on the ground and pushing away air then kicking it? I know it was one of Noli’s mirages. It always is, but what specifically was it? If you don’t want to answer, that’s okay. I just.. Want to understand what freaked you out so much.” Elliot raised a brow and blinked a few times as his eyes slightly drooped. “..iTrapped?”

iTrapped did not even notice that he went completely silent. He anxiously giggled, putting on a grin to try and hide everything. However, his ability to hide his emotions was akin to that of the world’s fattest pig trying to hide behind a street lamp. “It’s.. something I don’t want to think about. It’s nothing serious. Just had weird thoughts about.. What.. it might have done to me if I did not fight back.”

Elliot’s hand hovered over iTrapped’s knee for a second. He looked at him for permission and placed down his hand once he got the nod as confirmation that it was perfectly fine to do. “...It’s… I can’t really imagine how terrifying that must have been. I mean, your first time ever facing up against Noli, and you see something that shakes you to your core? The hallucinations he would give were not always so bad. Usually they would just be him.. And they would run up to you and smack you a few times until you were below 0 health. And then he would laugh at you and it would disappear.” He feebly smiled. “He really gave me a run for my money last round. Throwing out hallucinations of my father and sister like I would be affected. Not that he really has much to use against me. I’ve gotten too used to the horrors.” He took another look around the room before his sight settled on the Darkheart which lain on the nightstand. A light squeeze of iTrapped’s knee. “...why do you talk to your sword?”

‘Go ahead. Tell him and look like a raging lunatic.’

iTrapped shook his head. “My sword TALKS to me, Elliot. I’m serious. It changes my reflection and laughs at me when I hit mirages with it! It even gets into my head and talks to me. In fact, it just now told me to tell you what it does and make myself look like a lunatic!” He gripped Elliot’s shoulders and made the poor healer turn to look at him properly. He grit his teeth and squinted when he looked back at the sword for a couple seconds. “I’m telling you, that thing wants to tear me apart or something… Fine.. maybe it’s helping me! It… is such an asshole at times. I don’t know what to do about it.” He took in a sharp breath. “I don’t.. I don’t know what’s happening. And I’m really scared! And I don’t want it to hurt you or anything like that.”

Elliot slowly nictated. “I…” his voice tailed off with a sort of deep-rooted desire to flee. “Right… yup. Honestly– I need to stop using that word so much for one-.. It isn’t really beyond the realm of possibilities? The Spectre can switch up the rules of a round any day and at any time if it so wished. I wouldn’t be surprised if you told me you were pregnant or something.”

“What.” iTrapped sputtered. “I would be more concerned by that, actually.”

“Just… try to rest easy and not think so much about the sword. Let it do its thing, and maybe things will turn out for the better? Unless it leads you into danger or something. Does it do anything when around the killers or when away from danger or…?” Elliot probed for some sort of thinking answer. Maybe.

“It gets really hot and cold at times. Then it hums sometimes, but I think that’s to let me know that it’s-” iTrapped was interrupted by the sound of the sword clattering to the floor. He immediately shut his mouth and looked at his hands before pulling away from Elliot with a blush and a mortified frown on his face before glaring down at the sword. “We were having a moment. Quite rude, wasn’t that?” He reached down and picked up the Darkheart. It immediately hummed upon being grabbed and felt ice cold in his grasp. “What am I going to do with you?”

His reflection reappeared, smiling at him with its hands under its chin. Imitating Elliot almost. Its eyes were lidded, almost like it was bored or something. The smile indicated some sort of sick amusement. Wait, it was showing its eyes again. The black square no longer covered the windows to the soul. Its gaze drifted to the side, and the smile dropped. Now the expression really did look stultified. It sat up(?) straighter and pointed at Elliot before immediately disappearing again.

“Whaaaa….” Elliot whispered in pure shock with his mouth agape and his eyes wide. “What… what.. I- huh?” He vaguely gestured and made a strained face. “You weren’t kidding. I can’t hear it if it actually did say something- but I… what…”

“THAT’S WHAT I’M SAYING!” iTrapped shouted and held the sword out with both hands before the world went black again.

Chapter Text

iTrapped was still holding the sword out in front of him when he spawned back into a round. The Spectre must have really hated him. He decided to be smart and actually look at the list of people he had to work with. Luke, Guest, Telamon, Taph, him, Noob, 007n7, and Elliot. Okay. That lineup was actually not so bad. This round would go well as long as Telamon did not try to mess with him like what happened last time. Too bad he had no idea who the killer was. That would probably make things easier. Figure out how to group and all that. You know, typical stuff.

He just needed to avoid Telamon like the plague. He had started to dislike the guy. Maybe he already did hate the guy. Wait, what was he even on about? He had to FOCUS. He had NO TIME to think about how much he disliked the god that he had worshipped all his life!

He could think about his religious trauma later. Right now, he had to focus on the task at hand: find Elliot. Protect Elliot. Make sure he is not the first one dead. Though, the guy had seemed to be able to hold his own just fine. He also would have wanted iTrapped to take care of himself first. Because he was nice and sweet like that. And oh god he was already starting to gush. Pay attention, dammit! You're not 14 years old.

He gripped his sword, treading carefully past the various mostly-windows buildings around him. There was a place with stairs he could run up to. There was a generator up there! Time to make himself useful! Yup. He will be the slowest generator puzzle solver imaginable, but at least he was helping!

With his feet practically dragging from pent up exhaustion, he managed to force himself up the dirty steps. Then again, they HAD to be dirty. They were made of mudstone and dirt. Were those two different things? In hindsight, they definitely were. He was not an architect, though. He was also not a dirt-ologist. A deep sigh of relief was let out as he crouched down and began to work on the generator. No fog, no hallucinations, just his fingers and some wires. He somewhat missed being able to just go up to a machine and begin working without having to check to see if there was any black goop coating the thing.

It was just ONE round with Noli. He already hated it all. That was the WORST killer he had ever met, and he already made enemies with Sorcus. Which, speaking of Sorcus, he was running over to him right now. He could tell because the Darkheart began to burn at his side while he was busy working. iTrapped jumped back from the generator and just barely dodged the boomerang attack that the god of death decided to immediately unleash upon him.

No one else was injured. Sorcus went for HIM first. Those threats of targeting him really were true. And damn, did he bite hard.

iTrapped jumped down the open space and began to flee. He was noticeably slowed down when he landed. That made sense. He DID just drop from about 25 feet. He was more surprised by the fact that his ankles did not shatter on impact. That would not have been good. Then again, the scythe suddenly slicing through his back was probably the punishment that fit him for jumping down what was essentially a mini cliff.

‘Bro what are you doing? HIT HIM!’ the Darkheart voice shouted in his mind. ‘Come on. He's underestimating you. He thinks you're a wuss. Which, you kind of are.’

“Oh fuck off,” he thought to himself before ripping the sword out of its scabbard. He gave it a second of chase so Sorcus could catch up to him. Then, he twirled around to land a devastating hit to Sorcus's face. The god of death fell to his knees with an agonizing scream while iTrapped ran off. He looked down at the Darkheart, his reflection smiled at him and gave him a double thumbs up. What a dork.

76 health. Damn, Sorcus hit kind of hard. The guy had a lot of disadvantages thanks to the environment, so the whole hitting hard thing actually was fair in the end. Maybe. Wait, he was already aware of this. He just had to commit it to memory. Of course. That would be good for him to do. Memorize the timing of the killers, how they tend to swing, the stances they use, each ability and what the ability does, and of course how much damage they did. He could do some quick calculations to determine whether or not taking a hit would be better for him or not. Maybe he could even-

‘Oh my god. Will you shut the hell up? I'm trying to learn the map here. Your big fat thoughts won't get out of my way.’ His reflection was crossing its arms and mouthing at him. ‘You are so LOUD! Do you ever stop thinking?’ iTrapped stopped running and stood near a weird monument that was near the center of the map. ‘I have never hated someone so much in my life, but you are making it INCREDIBLY easy with all those dumb thoughts of yours-’

“Oh? You want to start this now? I could just stop using you, and you can suffer for all of eternity trying to apologize when you get BORED.” iTrapped pointed at the sword, hunched his shoulders like an angry father, and put on a rictus of amusement. “I have to use you, which means I have to deal with you just as much as you have to deal with me. Now, can we PLEASE cut the drama? I need to go make sure Elliot is okay.”

The sword gave a faint hum. The voice never responded. His reflection looked a little… Scared(?) when he hunched his shoulders and talked back. He glanced back down at the sword, his reflection already back to how it's supposed to look. He stood back up straight and lowered his hand back to his side. Oh, by Builderman, he actually felt bad for the thing. It was a sword that just happened to think it was the coolest kid on the block. Even though he was a fully grown adult man and not a kid anymore he-. Still felt like a kid. He would never trust anyone who..

“Hey,” iTrapped whispered to the sword and held it up closer to his face. “I'm sorry. That was.. uncalled for.” He gave it a few seconds of silence before taking in a deep and purposeful breath. “Are you there?”

It hummed again. Still ice cold. Was it giving him the cold shoulder? Oh come on! He was trying to apologize for acting like a dick. Sure, to him it was justified, but he could have gone about establishing his limit a lot better. It could have been worse. He could have yelled. He could have been sarcastic. He could have put all the blame and responsibility on the other. He could have stayed quiet. In hindsight, the cold shoulder was deserved. Maybe neither one of them was justified in their actions. He would have to ponder on that some other time.

iTrapped trudged on, sliding the Darkheart back into its scabbard. He yelled out for Elliot, hoping to get some sort of answer. Telamon was half dead, so Elliot was probably with Telamon. Ugh. Great. His answer was straight up given by Telamon’s health suddenly going up to 85%... maybe Telamon would keep watch over Elliot. Yeah, that seemed plausible. Sure, the god was weird and somewhat condescending, but he could hit with that sword. Maybe he should not have been so hard on the god that he looked up to.

God of Combat, Wrath, Mercy, and War. Of course he would act a little aggressive and off. iTrapped immediately facepalmed, trying to listen for the sounds of battle. The fact that Guest and Luke were injured as well told him that he should probably be over there. He was already planning on going over there, but now he knew that he was needed. Probably. Besides, all of the generators were already finished.

Suddenly, the blade was burning hot in his hand. Some deep piano theme started to play. A piano that indicated doom and danger. Sorcus’s theme.

A puff of smoke and a pentagram appeared at iTrapped’s feet, and then Sorcus appeared. His scythe flew into his hand from across the map, and he immediately swung as soon as he saw iTrapped. However, unluckily for him, iTrapped swung as well. Sorcus ended up stunned and hiding his face with his head wings while jamming his scythe handle into the ground. iTrapped ran and ran as fast as his legs could take him. He could barely hear the vague threat. “NGH… YOU WON’T GET AWAY WITH THIS!” Sorcus shouted and struggled against the chains that bound his arms together, so he was unable to use any of his abilities.

How lucky iTrapped truly was. He managed to get away again. This time, he was at 52 health. He could not afford another hit from Sorcus. Well, he could. Based on the math, he would be at 28 health. Then 4. Yeah, he could not really afford another hit. He needed to be more careful, but no- he had to be an idiot that hardly paid attention to his environment. He was the most useless sentinel any team had ever seen. Surely, they would not like him to be left for whatever that LMS was. Last Man Standing. Yeah, that was the phrase.

His arm was bleeding. Hard pressure did nothing as it continued to gush blood, and putting the sword back in its holster did not assist him at all. One hard stomp after another as the lightheadedness took over. Swaying. Hard to stay focused. So much blood. His head hurt again. Collapsed because of the sharp pain that suddenly pierced his skull. Sword was silent. It was cold at least. That was good. Maybe. Yeah, maybe that was good.

The desire to have Eli close to him became overwhelming. He wanted Eli. And Carl. No no not again. Do not start wishing for them now just because he is upset. What was he thinking? He NEEDED to want his teammates. The same way they needed and wanted him. The silence was deafening as he stayed on his knees on the ground. Someone was going to get him. Maybe one of his teammates? No. Not now. Not the time to start questioning them. Telamon would NEVER stab him in the back. He was the great Telamon who loved all his subjects equally even if he acted like a dick to some of them. He would never hurt a Robloxian. Right..?

…..Right?

An arm went around him and shocked the thoughts away. Abruptly lifted him to his feet. Since when did 007n7 have horns? He never noticed them before. The survivalist gave a small smile to iTrapped and used all of his strength to drag him forward. “Cuhah.. come on, work with me. I know it hurts. I know it does. But he wants you to stay down.” He sighed with relief once iTrapped’s head joined the party and allowed his legs to move.

“Wait wait.. My legs- my head- I.. They ache.. No.. it feels like a million needles are sticking into each and every vein in my body. I don’t- it’s too much..” iTrapped sobbed. His head felt like it was going to explode. He could hardly pay attention. He was not able to properly take care to notice what was going on around him. Just move. Just try. Just move. Just try. “Why does it hurt so much?” Surely he would be attacked in this vulnerable state. Deep breaths. Just breathe. Useless sentinel. Just breathe.

“The more you hold in, the more Sorcus uses against you.” 007n7 began to sprint, getting iTrapped to focus on him and follow. “Just look at me. Elliot… asked me to get you.” They began to slow down at a cave that had a weird grey platform in it. “When you feel nothing but pain, when every nerve in your body is telling you to give in-” he interrupted himself. “No,” he took it all back before continuing to speak, “when every single thought in your mind is begging for death, that means it’s time for you to fight back.” He let go of iTrapped. “I’ll let Elliot know I got you. He’ll heal you right up. Just sit on those stairs.”

He stayed standing. Swayed, sure, but the ebbing pain had subsided by now. He stared. Stared. Unblinking. Eyes wide. Elliot… Eli- no. Elliot. Limbs moved on their own, and he collapsed against the stairs. The pain finally reared its head, and it consumed him. Each and every thought screamed that he was dying. He could not die. Not now. Not out of nowhere. The cutting pain left a hole where his real cerebrations should have been. 007n7 was going to kill him. He was going to get a sword or a scythe and come back just to slaughter him. This death could be accepted. Then again, why should he accept death so readily?

iTrapped took a gander at the Darkheart and pulled it from its scabbard. He sat upright, so he would not look like a pathetic idiot once 007n7 returned with Elliot. He had to stay in good standing, of course. Embarrassing himself by being in pain in front of someone who had shown a single ounce of concern? Not allowed. He would be severely punished for having feelings. His eyes stung, but he shut them down just as quickly as they tried to spill. “No time for crying. I’m not supposed to cry. Crying is weak.” He dug the sword into the wall next to himself before shuddering and putting his face in his hands. He really was piteous. No real value to himself. Worthless. Undignified, even. That man deep in his sub-conscious that pushed forward the negative stream of consciousness was right. He was unworthy of everything that had been given to him. Kindness, allies, friendship, promises, welcoming him, and compassion were all unearned. He had not done anything to merit anything that was handed to him on a silver platter.

‘Hey, get me out of the wall. I want to talk to you.’

Without so much as a second thought or doubt, iTrapped immediately ripped the Darkheart from the wall and glared at his reflection. Stupid other him with its well-kempt hair, fur, and pretty little smile that held no real emotion in it. “What do you want?” he said with a sort of contempt that was unintentional but still came out with ease.

‘..Here goes..’ the mirror image began with a sigh before taking in a deep breath and continuing, ‘I would like to apologize.. For my behavior earlier. And for making you feel worthless.’ The smile had dropped by now, and its hands rubbed together rather sheepishly. ‘I… was just overwhelmed. Letting Elliot see me was impulsive and affected me a lot more than I would like to admit, but that does not… excuse me snapping at you. I never even gave it a second to appraise the idea that you might be hearing my paranoid thoughts and ruminations in that head of yours as well. If I can hear yours, you can probably hear mine.’ It stopped rubbing its knuckles together and looked away. ‘We don’t have a lot of time, but I just wanted to say that I’m sorry as well… and I take responsibility for my actions. We have to work together, so this is a good first step in our… whatever type of relationship this is.’

iTrapped blinked a few times while various conflicting emotions surged through him from a simple apology. On the one hand, he was still pissed off. On the other hand, he felt sympathy for this sword. It was being genuine. He always had a knack for telling when things were off, but there was nothing yelling at him that something had changed or was a lie. Why would his weapon go out of its way to lie?

‘If I was lying, I would have never admitted to being wrong in the first place. I can hear your thoughts. You’re the opposite of smooth. I understand that you are upset. I am too. Suddenly having your entire life ripped away and then ending up in purgatory isn’t exactly a fun Friday night activity, but I am not your enemy. Really, I’m not. There is so much more you have to worry about other than me. For example, your complicated feelings towards the others.’

“Now is not the time to bring up my issues-” iTrapped started.

It interrupted him, ‘The distrust is probably from me.’

“...What?”

‘You heard me,’ it responded with a curt nod. They stared at each other. The manifestation silently breathed in and fully turned away from iTrapped. It narrowed its eyes and crossed its arms. ‘I… find it hard to trust others. And that’s making it harder on you. I- I’m sure of it.’ Its voice wavered. It glanced back at iTrapped ‘...Don’t look at me like that. I am fine.’

“...I don’t believe that, but I won’t push you on it either.” He snickered and lightened up his gaze. “We’ll talk about that some other time. Okay?”

His reflection looked hesitant. Stiff. Unsure. ‘...Oh.. okay..’ Probably the most tense between the two of them. Suddenly, it jolted. ‘Someone is coming. I-... bye.’ Then, it was gone just as quick as it had appeared.

iTrapped sat there for a couple seconds, the realization of what just happened finally dawned on him. It had trusted him enough to apologize and talk to him. Damn, he must leave good first impressions after all. Even though his first impression was him cursing at the thing. Still better than Taph’s first meeting with him by miles. Every single thing would be better than getting shoved behind a grave into a small gap and having traps set up around you.

He looked down to the grey platform, immediately feeling a slight sense of whimsy fill his soul once he saw Elliot. A grin crossed his features, the pain in his body long forgotten. “Elliot!” he cried out and jumped off the stairs down to where the healer was with 007n7 trailing behind him.

“iTrapped!” Elliot yelled back and immediately pulled him into a brief hug. “Hi. Heh.” He pulled away, smiled back, and handed a slice of pizza to the half-dead sentinel. “I… tried something new. It should be hot at least. Telamon and Guest said it was better than usual.”

As iTrapped took little bites out of the slice, Elliot watched him expectantly. It WAS a lot better than the previous slices he had eaten. The cheese was gooey. The crust was a little stale, but the cheese and sauce did not want to make him throw up. The grease was nice and comforting this time around. The pepperoni was nice, too. Plus, it was in a star shape. Come to think of it, Elliot looked different. Star-shaped glasses. A really beautiful outfit. Spiked bracelets. A visor with yellow lights… His ponytail looked like it was tinged with fire. Oh gods, he was beautiful. Gorgeous. So many positive adjectives could describe him, but they were all lost on iTrapped.

“It's good, right?” Elliot questioned with his hands holding each other at his chest. He looked overjoyed when iTrapped nodded and actually finished the star-shaped slice. “Normally I don't wear my Milestone 4 outfit, but apparently it makes my pizza a lot more appetizing and easier to eat… suggested by Chance. He says that he aims better when he puts on his Milestone 4 outfit as well.” Elliot leaned against iTrapped as he spoke. “If I had to be entirely truthful here, I like the fit. It just feels like I get targeted a lot more when I wear it.” He idly tugged on his star necklace. “Oh, well. Just want to make sure everyone is actually willing to pick the fucking thing up instead of dodging my pizza better than they can the killer.”

“Well… uh. If it’s.. Uh. Yup.” iTrapped immediately decided to shut his mouth to save himself the embarrassment. “...I don’t dodge your pizzas. I try to pick them up. Or just take them. From. Hannnnd.” He tensed up his shoulders and put on a strained smile.

Elliot snorted and patted his shoulder. “There there. If you can’t talk right now, you don’t have to.” He looked away with a small smile. “It’s.. a little cute if I have to be honest- YOU STUTTERING I MEAN-” He nervously chuckled. “You… do… that… well..?”

“We’re both so fucked up if this is what bonding is going to be like,” iTrapped crossed his arms and quietly laughed. “In all seriousness though… thanks? I guess? I can’t really recall if I ever stuttered before ending up here or not.” He grinned and closed his eyes, tilting his head for added flair. Why did he even do that? No idea. He could not figure it out himself.

“Yup! We are so.. Bond core.” Elliot arched forward a bit and did some motion where he spread his palms apart and did jazz hands. He looked embarrassed. The guy probably had no idea what he was doing or what he just said. “...I need to be put down.” He turned to iTrapped and crouched in order to look up at him with big, sad eyes. “Oh sire! Please put your sword into my chest and… destroy me. I couldn’t think of a better word there. Other than ravage? But I don’t know if that would work in that sentence.”

iTrapped blinked rapidly. What the hell was Elliot even saying to him? His grin was replaced with a look of confusion. Befuddlement even. Dare he say: flummoxed. Oh GOD he was fumbling so hard. What was he even thinking? They were both embarrassing themselves in the middle of a match while someone was dying. Speaking of which, Noob just died. Welp.

‘Do not mess this up. Just repeat after me. Ready? Well, too bad.’ The familiar voice of the sword version of him spoke in his mind. ‘Tell him: You’re funny. I might just take you and make you my jester.’ It paused for a couple seconds before continuing, ‘After that, lean towards him and put your arm around him to have your hand on the shoulder furthest away from you.’

What? That would never work. It would not hurt to try he supposed. He kind of wanted to do this. Maybe this would make him feel less nervous around the other survivor. “Pfft. You’re funny. I might just take you and make you my personal jester.” After he said that, Elliot snorted and continued laughing. Then, he put his arm around Elliot, and the healer returned the gesture by also putting his arm around iTrapped. Wait. Wait wait wait wait. Pause. Pause. He just took advice from his sword. His sword made him joke back. He should be more creative! “By the way, Noob just died.”

“Eh. They told me that they did not want to bother with this match. They wanted to die if anything.” Elliot shrugged and pressed himself against the sentinel before pulling away and going to the stairs. He went all the way to a ledge that overlooked the rest of the map and sat down. iTrapped followed suit and sat down next to him. Their legs dangled from where they sat, and Elliot leaned forward a bit. “You know, this is nice. Just talking. No weird awkwardness or having to tell myself to hold back and act like a normal person.”

“What do you mean by that?” iTrapped questioned. “You seem pretty normal to me. If anything, the others are kind of weird. Unspoken expectations. Weirdly vague and asocial. At least, so far they seem that way. Like… how am I supposed to get acclimated if you don’t talk to me ya know?”

“Huh. I never really… tried to think of it from your perspective. To me- at least- the social norm seems to be just completely ignoring you.” Elliot sighed. “We’ve… spoken while you pulled away from us. It feels wrong not having you involved in our talks.” He absentmindedly threw down a pizza slice and looked down at his lap. The gentle wind kissed their faces while time seemed to slow down. Anxiety hit. “Yesterday… when it was your first day and you were outside, we had a big talk at the table. Chance… told us not to trust you. He said that uh.. You were a manipulator in your past life and you were just tricking us to gain our trust now. You specifically hurt them. Because of that, we should not place any sort of relationship in your hands. However, they also said that we still need to help you. He may HATE you for who you once were and what they believe in regards to you, but we have professional standards. And uh.. If it helps any, he’s the only one that really doesn’t like you.”

iTrapped looked away. He contemplated jumping and getting killed for a moment. However, he just shushed himself. It was not the end of the world. Just because the person who claimed to love him in a dream does not love him in real life does not mean anything. It means nothing! “It’s annoying when you guys are vague about who I used to be. Even Eli told me not to think too much about it. That who I used to be does not matter anymore. That I should just be who I am now. But… I can’t HELP you guys properly and prove that I’m.. not.. me.. if..” his voice fizzled out and his fingers flexed like claws. “I… I just want to not be him. I don’t want to be iTrapped. I don’t want you people to look at me and see only some.. Asshole who has no regard for others. I… I want to be seen!”

“Telamon and Builderman jumped to your defense, y’know. You ARE seen.” Elliot put his hand back on iTrapped’s knee. Like it was before. “Do you want to know what they said?”

“What did they say?”

“Telamon said that you were no magical exception to the rules of amnesia and a clean slate personality. He even called you ‘kid.’ Which is code for ‘I like this one so back off.’” Elliot breathlessly laughed for a moment, his eyes squeezed shut. “...He said that he would get to you first just to make Chance feel better about you. Just. iTrapped- please listen to me for a moment on this. Please… don’t hate Chance for distrusting you. He’s been through a lot, and they’re finally opening up to us.”

“I could never hate someone for that... I… understand that fear. I don’t remember how or why I understand that sort of fear, but I do. And I just want to be the best person I can be. My treatment of them won’t change because they think I’m some traitor. Only people who have something to hide will get defensive.” iTrapped solemnly looked down. “I don’t want to give you guys a reason to doubt me more than you already do.”

“Funny you mention doubt. Builderman said that openly doubting you would only make you worse, not better. He even chastised a couple of the others for having no faith in you… and of course Telamon joined in and said that he was the only one allowed to bully you because he has the Illumina and blah blah blahhh he made your sword.” Elliot snickered. “Even Guest said something. He said that you were a great guard. You took hits for us without a second thought, and he claimed that it takes a lot of dedication to put your life on the line like that for some strangers. He even called you a soldier.” Elliot’s soft smile returned, and he put his hand to his chin. “...And Sev said that you were so softspoken. He almost could not believe you and Noob were separate people at first. He really thought you were their twin brother or something. That and he’s worried about your mental health and you in general to be honest.” He squeezed the other’s knee. “Sev… I used to hate him. The same way Chance hates you right now. But… I realized something. I hated the events that happened between us. I never hated him. When I found out why he did what he did, I could find myself really understanding why all of those events transpired. Sure, I could never forgive him for lashing out and targeting me, but I could forgive the kid that wanted attention and someone to know his name.”

“I feel like a child trapped in a man’s body sometimes,” iTrapped muttered. “I think about that sometimes. I thought about it earlier. I felt so small after getting mad at my sword. After I had already snapped… and I felt so much guilt.. I felt like I yelled at my own child.. Who also happened to be me? That makes no sense now that I’m saying that out loud and trying to piece it all together.”

“It doesn’t have to make sense right now. When you let those thoughts happen, you can find the root. Then, you can change the labels of those weeds. Or something. I’m not… really a metaphor kind of guy. Sorry if that just made things worse.”

“It didn’t. I like it when you just.. Talk. It’s nice. Hard to admit that as well.” iTrapped pressed his thumbs together. “..I like talking to you. You kind of scare me sometimes, but you’re a lot nicer than I anticipated.”

“Well, I can talk to you a lot more if you just let me in. So… wanna be friends? Official label?” Elliot tilted his head and leaned forward, his other hand gripping the ledge they sat on. “I promise I don’t bite my friends nearly as hard. Unless they ask me to be brutally honest.”

“You know what? Sure. I’d like that. Friends… you’d be my first one.”

“Heyyy. Second day and you already made a friend. Not bad, not bad. Maybe I can score you a seat next to me at the table. Seriously, we’d love to have you stick around and get to know you a bit better.”

“What even is there to know about me? Other than the talking sword thing that I will never tell anyone else about.”

“Oh, lots of things. Eli gives me the deets if I ask him, but he’s extremely vague if he thinks I’m being pushy though.” Elliot grinned and lifted his other hand. Left one still firmly planted on the other survivor’s knee. “One thing I know is that you. Are. Adorable. Courtesy of Luke making sure EVERYONE knows because he won’t shut the fuck up about how much he already likes you.” He tapped a finger to iTrapped’s nose. “I mean… he likes ALL of us. He adores us ‘mortals’ or whatever he calls us. He thinks we’re all so unique and different in a way that he could only hope to ever achieve himself. Calls us wonderful because we can so easily change and… grow up…” Elliot paused for a second. “He loves the life and passion in all of us and… it’s kind of creepy in retrospect but… I can’t help but love that sort of attention. It makes me cry but in a good way.”

“It sounds like he just loves the world. That’s hard to come by.”

“...Yeah, I guess so. It makes me feel like I’m actually special, you know?” Elliot threw down another slice of pizza. “..You should go down there and help them. I’ll talk to you after the match is over. We’ve been useless for a little too long.”

iTrapped nodded and slid off the ledge. Guest ran by and grabbed the pizza. He disgustingly shoveled it into his mouth before grabbing iTrapped by the arm and yanking him forward as well. “Come on soldier! We have an objective! You got that sword ready?” iTrapped nodded. “Brilliant.”

They ran and ran until their legs screamed at them to stop and slow down. They came to a clearing where Luke was running around a glass building, barely dodging each swipe of Sorcus’s scythes. Before iTrapped could rush forward to help, Guest put his arm out and stopped him. “Wait! Here’s the situation. Luke is injured, and using a medkit takes seven seconds because of the limits the Spectre has put on us. When I punch Sorcus, he is only stunned for about 2 and a half seconds. One hit, and Luke is dead. His health will make him a priority target, so Sorcus’s scythe is going to phase right through me and kill Luke instead. See the issue?”

“Yes.”

“That Helpless debuff you give when you swing that sword means that he will be unable to use his weapons or abilities for 10 seconds. How I know? I overheard him screaming about it when we were on the Underground War map. This is where you come in: After I stun him, you run up and swing that sword. You will apply Helpless, but he will not be stunned. Luke will be able to heal, give us all a speed boost, and we can sprint away. Get ready, soldier.” Guest got up and ran forward. iTrapped followed him just a little ways away to be close enough to apply that debuff.

Guest got between Luke and Sorcus once the supporting admin had stopped running and tried to catch his breath. He screamed, “MEDKIT NOW!” put his arms up when Sorcus hesitantly swung his scythe. In a blur of motion, he spun around and landed a devastating punch to Sorcus’s face, knocking him down with a long groan of pain. “ITRAPPED, NOW!”

iTrapped pulled out the Darkheart, delivering a blow straight into Sorcus’s arm. Chains went up around them and tied the killer’s hands together. There was no response. No indication of anger once Sorcus stood back up and was completely still. “Sorcus?” He reached out to the admin with concern. Luke was already healed up and up to 100% health again.

“14 nerfs…” Sorcus whispered.

“What?” iTrapped asked as he felt Luke’s wings wrap around him.

“14 nerfs for you,” Sorcus pointed at iTrapped and glared at him. “I give up. I hate you so much right now you don’t even know. You have three seconds before I decide I’m hunting you down until you’re dead and gone for the rest of the round. You’re worse than Two Time-” With that, Luke pulled out a balloon and gave both iTrapped and Guest a speed boost of Speed II for five seconds.

The group split up. Luke went somewhere, and Guest was out of sight before iTrapped could really figure out what was going on. He decided to just find Elliot again. Elliot was no longer at the ledge. He was alone. On this precipice. Looking out over the various buildings of this massive map. Sorcus was still out there in the distance. Poor bastard had not moved an inch.

He felt a bit risky.

‘Do not go out there.’

“I am so going out there,” he responded to the sword and jumped back down to run toward where Sorcus was. About halfway back to the idle slayer, he halted and pulled out his sword. “Trust me on this. Please. For some reason, killers just like talking to me.”

His reflection cringed and went in on itself a little bit. Its eyebrows furrowed and jaw slightly shook. ‘...That was twice. And it did not end well either way. How can you be sure? He already hates you… What if he pulls a fast one and just kills you? I won't be able to just predict that if it's out of nowhere..’

“Trust me. I got this. And if I die… so what? It's not the end of the world. We'll just end up back at the cabin and we can sit and wait.” iTrapped smiled at the sword. “Please, Darkheart. The worst that can happen is that I wake up in my bed.”

‘....Okay. I… trust you. Just don't hesitate to hit if you have to.’ His reflection disappeared once iTrapped began moving again. ‘Put me away.’ The sentinel listened and began to sprint right after.

“Hey! Sorcus! Why haven’t you…” he slowed down to a walk and stopped just a few yards away from the god of death. “...moved?”

“I told you. I give up. I’ve never lost before, but you show up and suddenly everything is so much harder!” Sorcus tossed away his scythes. “Seriously? Helpless for 10 seconds? Who are you? Jason? Slasher? 1x? Who do you think you are just coming in with the Darkheart as if Two Time and Guest weren’t already annoying enough as it is?”

“Are you okay?” iTrapped managed to ask.

“I’m fine. Just… go.”

“You’re not fine.”

“GO!”

iTrapped stood there in defiance. He glanced at the scythes that were maybe 16 studs or so away. That was a simple toss, too. How strong was this guy? The anger probably did not help.

“Ugh, OKAY! No! I’m a sore loser who can’t adapt well to change!” Sorcus balled up his fists and began to pace. “I’ve been going at this stupid job for months! It’s the same shit over and over. Every once in a while, a new survivor shows up and us killers all struggle because the Spectre played favorites with his new toy. Then, suddenly you are made weaker and easier to kill! It promptly becomes monotonous after almost a week of dealing with this new person, and we already want you dead in a ditch and never seen again!”

Was Sorcus venting to him? Genuinely? This was unexpected. At least iTrapped got the honest answer that he wanted in the first place. This was also definitely not terrifying at all.

“I…” Sorcus took a deep breath. “I really don’t know how much longer I can play this role of being this big scary god of death when I have the patience of a high school boy who hates every minority group he comes across! Okay, maybe I’m more patient than that kind of Robloxian, but you get the gist. You are annoying, and soon you won’t be anymore.”

iTrapped awkwardly stood there. He rested his right hand on the hilt of the Darkheart as it hummed and kept switching between hot and cold temperatures. They stared at each other. Sorcus took in fast breaths, really selling the whole being frustrated thing. The sentinel on the other hand, was completely calm.

Fake owls hooted in the distance. The breeze stopped completely. It felt humid all of a sudden. The ice crown suddenly felt too cold. Sorcus’s waxy feathers were puffed up behind him now. His wings were twitching. Upon closer inspection, they were bound closed by chains. iTrapped had not noticed those before. He could not really be blamed, though. Getting chased by a murderer would constitute not noticing such tiny details like that.

Sorcus groaned and gripped his head. He shut his eyes tightly and grimaced. “Why am I even talking to you anyways? You should be dead where you stand.” His wings lowered and smoothed out.

“...Those look uncomfortable.” iTrapped stepped between Sorcus and the scythes in the distance. He pointed at the wings, hoping to the rest of the gods that he will get away with this. “Is that why you’re so angry all the time and… honestly not that good at this whole killing thing?”

“Kill yourself.” Sorcus straightened his posture and his frown softened when iTrapped flinched. “...I’m fine. I’ve had worse.”

“What happened to them? If you don’t mind me asking. You don’t have to answer.” iTrapped ignored the voice in his head asking what the hell he was doing.

Sorcus looked back at his wings and desperately tried to stretch them out. He flinched with the action and his angry expression immediately deepened. “Spectre’s doing. Told me I’m never flying again so long as I’m here. Which is to say: forever.” He scoffed. “Why do you think I go after Tela, Luke, and Taph so much? They get to HAVE their wings free. They don’t have to deal with the constant pain of having them chained up like they’re ready to be cut off at any moment!” He snapped and pointed at iTrapped. He took a stomp forward. “You could never POSSIBLY understand how I feel. You shouldn’t even be ASKING these kinds of questions. You should know your place mortal-”

“Sorcus-” iTrapped interrupted him and pushed his hand down. “Look- you already have the fear instilled in me. Isn’t that all the reverence you’ve needed?” He raised his shoulders to his ears. “Look at yourself. You aren’t the same all powerful Admin you once were. You have to accept that. But you don’t have to accept being alone and keeping all this inside like you don’t matter.”

There was no response. Just the crickets and owls in the distance yet all too close. It was quiet at first. Barely noticeable. A simple shudder of the shoulders. Wings slightly bouncing. Then, it became boisterous. Sorcus laughed. Cackling like that was all he could do. Hysterical shrieks of pained laughter. He put his clawed hands to his face and rubbed his cheeks until his glasses fell to the ground. Uncomfortable. Disgraceful. Pure unadulterated pain.

Sorcus hiccuped and wiped his knuckle over his eyes. “Fear isn't respect.” He straightened his posture again and looked down at iTrapped. He walked around the sentinel, bumping his shoulder as he went by. “THIS,” Sorcus began and paused. A sigh escaped him as his hands reached for his scythes, gently scooping them up in his arms. He must have been really strong. He was also going to kill him.

iTrapped backed away. Sorcus was going to kill him after all that. Expected. The title was KILLER for a reason. ‘I told you so.’ He did not deserve to have autonomy if the results were always going to be like this. He was a liability at best. Swimming through his thoughts the moment a conversation ends? How pathetic was he? Maybe it was best that he dropped dead. Right here and right now. He shut his eyes and prepared himself for the slashes that would occur. He could not move. Legs work. Please work. Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, stop saying please. PLEASE.

“- Is respect,” Sorcus finally finished his sentence. “Open your eyes, iTrapped.”

iTrapped hesitated. This was SORCUS that was speaking to him. A known troll amongst the gods. Part of Telamon's pantheon on top of that. As if it could not get any worse, he was also still the god of DEATH no matter what you did to him. He would always be the reaper of souls. He would always… iTrapped heard a shushing in his mind. ‘You said to trust you? Trust me. Open your eyes.’ Breathing in for three seconds, deep and with purpose. He held it and slowly opened his eyes.

Sorcus was holding out a scythe to the survivor. A faint white and black fire came off of the weapon, a contrast to the cold that it usually met the skin with upon each slice. “Show me how much you respect your gods. Take it.” A blank stare.

iTrapped nictated a few times and took a step back. “...ahahh.. you're kidding, right?”

Sorcus did not say anything in return. He just pointed his chin up a little and looked down at iTrapped. The chains around his wings clinked together as they abruptly tightened and slithered around. Like worms. His eyes looked off. Something was wrong. Something was wrong. Something was wrong. Something was wrong. This could not be Sorcus. He was killing everyone. He never demanded respect. He would never. They would never. No no no. Not now. Just grab the scythe. It's not that hard. No! Do not grab that scythe. You will be smote down. He wants you dead! What were you thinking?

iTrapped decided that he was not interested in how this would play out. Sure, Sorcus had not shown any aggression beyond his initial anger earlier, and he had not shown any signs of lying either; but there was no point in waiting around and finding out. He was not a horror movie protagonist. These creatures were not real. They were killers. No remorse. No feelings. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

He gagged and put his hand on the wall. Oh by Telamon what was he doing? This was all a trick! A trick! None of that ACTUALLY happened! He was talking to nothing. To himself. Everyone being alive was fake. It was false. It was all false. Every single thing was wrong. Nothing was real. Fake. Just like everything Noli was about. EVERYONE had clones. Every single killer was a trickster. All of them. Every single one.

Maybe Elliot was fake all along. Maybe HE was fake. Yes.. that made sense. iTrapped was not real. He was not real. He looked at his hands. They looked wrong. Too pale to be his. Maybe. Maybe he was not in his own body. Maybe HE was the sword. Maybe he was both the sword and iTrapped. Maybe, just maybe, he was actually the Spectre and did not realize. Because that's normal. “Oh gods. I'm a freak. I'm fucking insane. How am I supposed to help if I am useless and unable to think straight?” He felt sick. Keep it down. Keep it down. Just keep it down. He swallowed hard, clutching his stomach and leaning against the wall. “It's okay. It's okay.” He took in a deep breath, trying to soothe his anxiety. Swallowing was difficult. He felt nauseous again.

He should have enjoyed the brief period of being able to think and have a free mind without so much anxiety and paranoia. He wanted Eli. He wanted Eli. He wanted Eli and Carl back. Please. “Please…” he whispered and felt his eyes sting. “Please leave me alone. Let me be normal. Not some freak. Because I'm… a wuss who feels BAD.” He gripped his hair and slowly let go of the oily strands. “If you hate yourself, shower. If you hate yourself, shower…” he mumbled to himself and pushed away from the wall.

Boys like us are not supposed to feel like this, thoughts in his head insisted. Hide it all. People will only use it against you. Everyone is a liar except for HIM. He knew who he was talking about. Dad was right. We're nothing. My feelings amount to nothing. Zero plus zero still adds up to zero. He looked down at the sword. His reflection put the black box over its eyes. Concealing the windows to the soul. Always a façade. Dishonest trash he was. “I'm nothing. Aren't I? Say it!”

‘Are you a fucking idiot?!’ his reflection lashed out and banged its fists on the material. ‘ARE YOU HEARING YOURSELF RIGHT NOW?! Tell me, does any of this line up with your moral code?!’ The black box disappeared and it glared up at him. ‘You are not the exception to your fucking morality! If it's not true for others, it's not true for you. You have a brain stem! Use it! Stop pitying yourself so much and just admit that you need to stop being so secretive about your feelings! Dad was not right. He never will be. So PLEASE just listen-’

He looked away from the sword and put it back in its scabbard. He ignored the voice in his head screaming at him. Telling him to not drown it out. Do not suppress the truth to avoid a breakdown. Let it happen. Just cry. “Men.. don't.. cry..” iTrapped seethed and dragged himself forward. “I'm not allowed to. I'm not allowed to be a girl. I need to cut my hair.”

‘Do NOT start regressing on me now. We got so far! Listen to me! Feelings don't make you weak. Why would you listen to a raging misogynistic bastard who did nothing good for you?!’

“I don't remember him. Surely he wasn't that bad. Maybe he was right on some stuff.”

‘You can prove him WRONG. Just don't be stupid. Go find Elliot. Go back to Sorcus. ANYTHING to not be alone.’ The voice went silent for a couple minutes. The grass felt louder than the voice did since iTrapped already flushed out what his internal monologue sounded like. It suddenly whimpered, ‘Please…’

iTrapped looked down at the sword, gripping the hilt until his knuckles turned white. His gaze trailed to his stomach. Deep breaths that burned his lungs and betrayed him with each stretch of muscle. He furrowed his brows. He could stab himself. He could add extra time and be back in his bed. He could hide. Be safe. Just be safe. Eli would be there. Surely. Surely. Surely. Oh gods, Eli. And Elliot. He wanted Eli. He wanted his world back. He wanted his friends back-

Abrupt stomp and a gasp for air. He was not proud of the knot in his stomach. It was disgusting. He gripped his own hand, huffing and gritting his teeth. Squeezed until it hurt. Until the pulse under the skin could be felt. Oozing through the cracks of his mind. The sword was cold and hot. It kept changing. No humming. It buzzed. It tingled with his prints.

He could end it all.

He saw Sorcus in the distance. The others were docile around him. Elliot casually tossed a pizza to Sorcus and watched it skip along the ground and hit a wall. 007n7 was dancing with Guest and Luke. Others were out of sight. He stared. The sword was long forgotten. Careful steps guided him forward.

‘Look at his smile,’ it whispered as iTrapped approached the group. ‘You know exactly who I'm talking about.’ Yeah, Elliot. It sighed rather dreamily in his head.

iTrapped let his eyes settle on the radiant smile that was approaching him. Heart fluttered. All the healer did was say hi and grin, but it shattered every thought that threatened to surface. Every doubt washed away. It was just him. “H-...hi,” iTrapped stuttered out and attempted to ignore the blush creeping into his cheeks. “Is he friendly?”

“Yeah. Said you made him feel a bit better about things and made him start thinking about what was going on! Didn't know you had it in you,” Elliot teased with a smirk. He clicked his tongue and winked. “C’mere ice king,” he said with a low voice. Keeping it between them. “It's nice to see you. Maybe I can go AFK for a round. I want to spend some time with you, Eli, and Carl. Do you know how to go AFK?” His hand reached out and iTrapped took it with a shake of his head. “You imagine a settings menu like you would for a video game you would play that you found on like.. On the Xbox Live Arcade or something like that. Like the Castleminer Z Options menu! If you know what game that is.” iTrapped had no idea what he was talking about. Elliot nervously laughed at his blank stare and looked down at their hands with a reddened face. “Just… Just any game will work as long as it’s a little bit older than 10 years old. We can only do it once a day, but it means free time. Besides. Lunch. Gotta make it. Eventually.” He led iTrapped back toward the group.

Luke eventually crouched down and talked to Sorcus like there was no tomorrow when they returned to the group. Sorcus was sitting down, looking annoyed while Telamon and Taph messed with the chains that kept his wings together. The two robed figures looked at each other. Telamon's smile has vanished. Replaced with a melancholy expression. One eye visible beyond the veil of a shadow that usually covered the top half of his face. The god shook his head, and Taph's wings lowered as if expressing sadness. However, the god of death paid no mind and put his hands on his chin. He stared at Luke with a neutral smile on his face with a tilt of his head.

Telamon pulled out the Illumina and began to try filing down the chains. Sorcus flinched at the sound of the sword being unsheathed. It was rather loud, to be fair. “There are only a couple minutes left. Telamon will be unable to free you, friend.” The usually boisterous voice was gone. It trailed and shook. “Telamon apologizes for being unable to attend your previous bout of lucidity a couple months ago. He would have been there to greet you with open arms had he been selected for the match.”

“Daww it's okay. I'm used to them,” Sorcus grumbled in response. “I'll never have them off. I'll never fly again if I do get them off.” He looked up at Luke who cupped his face. “Hey, Stick Boy.” Soft-spoken. A sigh of content. “Been a while since I had enough sense to get through the Spectre’s grasp.”

“Ough… I missed you, Sorcus. My raven.. I missed you so much.. we can go back to trying to kill each other like normal people after this.” Luke leaned forward and pressed their foreheads together. This felt awkward to watch. Weirdly intimate. The sentinel glanced down when they nuzzled into each other and Luke made some weird rumbling noise. Like an owl. The support was no longer crouching and instead on his knees. It was made even harder to watch when Sorcus returned the attention to Luke by making little chirps of his own and pulling the god close. With a chuckle. “Sorcus-!” Luke laughed and wrapped his arms around the previously deranged psycho that had been hunting him for sport not that long ago. “One day. One day we can spend time together like this again… I’m not ready to let you go again. I finally got you back.”

iTrapped looked over at Elliot for answers. “Eh, god stuff,” Elliot said nonchalantly. “Let them have this. They haven't had lucidity to enjoy in a while. A couple months, now.” He shuffled next to iTrapped and snaked a hand on to his back. It was barely there. “That's why Luke is so affectionate as far as I know. He doesn't talk about it, but I see the regret in his eyes every time Sorcus is the killer.” His grin fell as he watched Sorcus pull Luke and Telamon into a tight hug. Taph joined in. “...Try not to judge him too harshly.”

“It’ll be okay,” Sorcus mumbled to Luke. The timer ticked down. The group was close together by now. iTrapped watched Luke grip Sorcus as tight as he possibly could. When they pulled away from each other, Luke was crying. He put up his wings to shield them and dove forward as the timer reached 0.

—--

iTrapped did not pay attention to the table at first. He opened up the settings menu he had been told about from Elliot. The menu was not that hard to figure out. He spent no time reading beyond the titles of each setting and immediately enabled the AFK for a round option. Some weird weight lifted off his shoulders, and he shuffled in his chair. He had to focus. No time to think, though. He had to look at the table.

Everyone except for Noob survived. Telamon was the first to stand up and get out of his seat. He left everyone else alone in the cabin. Builderman eventually rushed downstairs and joined him outside. It was silent but the mood was great. Guest and 007n7 snickered and looked at each other with grins. However, the smiles faded once they finally took notice of their previously targeted support. Luke had his hands over his face, pulling down the Dominus hood even further to shield his eyes. He was shaking.

“Luke..?” Elliot reached his hand out to the other admin before pulling it away. His eyes glazed over for a second before he got out of his chair. “Out! Out. Everyone, SHOO!” He waved away 007n7 and Guest. “iTrapped… you’re fine.” He glared at Taph who stayed seated and did some sort of sign language toward Elliot. “....Fine. You can stay. Help me out here. Go get some water.” He waited for a couple seconds as Taph got up to go to the kitchen area. “Luke, honey, look at me,” Elliot put his hands on the avian ears that were popping out from behind Luke’s hands. “Honey, I’m here. It’s okay.”

Luke’s labored breathing was guttural. Each attempt at a deep breath cut through the air as he curled in on himself and tried to hide behind his wings. “Sorcus…” he said with an agonized voice. “Oh my gods… he got through. And he’s gone again.”

iTrapped had no idea how to respond to any of this. He thought about leaving. A hollow feeling in his head and in his heart. He should feel bad, but he felt nothing. Nothing at all. He gripped his sword and felt nothing from it either. Silence. Nothing but the sound of the tap in the distance, some glass meeting the wooden table, and the coughing of Luke who was struggling to keep it together. His gaze wandered to the floor, and he got out of his seat. Heels of his boots clacked on the wood. Slowly making his way around the table. The fur was off of his shoulders, and he wrapped it around Luke’s shoulders.

“Wh-.. huh..?” Luke looked at him, tears pouring down his face. He sniffled and wiped at his eyes, making sure to remove his glasses as he did so. “What is all this for?”

“It’s soft. Might help you calm down,” iTrapped blankly responded. Slow nictations as he recalled the offer Luke had extended to him before. “...I’m sorry for your loss.” He had no idea what else to say. He should be feeling something. He was an apathetic asshole. It was made worse by the fact he would likely forget about this later. “I won’t understand what it’s like to lose someone you… care about. But..”

“Everyone here has lost someone, kid,” Luke weakly smiled at him and averted his tired gaze. “Everyone has lost something. Taph lost his voice out of fear. I lost my mate… Elliot lost… I shouldn’t say. That’s up to him. Welp.. heh… crying break is over. I need to keep it together.” He stretched and pulled away from the others. “If I’m not in the round… I’ll be in the cabin.”

They watched him leave and Elliot sighed. “Taph, keep him company. Bring Guest or Sev with you. Not everyone will be shoved into a round. He can’t be alone, and he won’t open up if he’s busy helping me make like… 25 sandwiches.” Taph nodded and left. Elliot looked at iTrapped with soft eyes. “You didn’t have to help. I had it handled.”

“You can’t do everything on your own,” iTrapped muttered and leaned back when Elliot took a step toward him. “I’m… sorry. I can’t really feel much of anything right now. I’m already tired.” Weak. Coward. Useless. Already tired when you hardly did anything to help. “I just wanted to spend time with you but… you have people you should worry about and look after.”

“Oh, please. I’m prioritizing my mental health for once. That’s why I sent Taph with him.” Elliot crossed his arms and his expression became almost regretful. “...I can’t help everyone when I hardly help myself… I need a day to myself. No venting or anything like that.” He sighed and let his hands fall to his sides. “...You don’t need to hear about all my issues. You’re the new guy.” He pulled out a chair and sat down. iTrapped joined him, putting his hands on the table and leaning forward a bit.

Elliot put his hand on iTrapped’s, gentle as can be.

Chapter Text

Elliot kept his gaze on iTrapped, a small smile on his face. His shoulders were raised up to his ears, but he was not tense. He was content, resting his chin on his other hand. Green eyes traveled down to where their hands were splayed on the table. He was beautiful. More beautiful than anything iTrapped had ever laid his eyes upon. The self doubt halted again. Serenity. “...Has anyone ever told you that you’re gorgeous?” iTrapped wondered out loud. “I-... I know it must be super weird since I’m a complete stranger to you. And… you… getting a compliment probably seems superficial if it’s me just pointing out your looks, but.. You.. look nice.”

“Eh, it’s all right I guess. The fiery hair gets annoying. Shows my emotions too much.” Elliot removed his shades and lowered his chin onto his arm. He looked up at the sentinel, eyes lidded. “I’m exhausted already, man. Noli really takes a lot out of me. It’s only the third round soon, and I can already see myself falling asleep right here.”

iTrapped looked down at their hands where Elliot had previously been staring. “..you won’t get much rest if you do that. You already know that, though. At least, I hope you do.”

“Maybe if the killer is slow and takes their time, I could get a whole hour in,” Elliot said with his voice muffled against his arm. He hummed softly and shut his eyes. “..mmm iTrapped?”

“What is it?”

“Is this weird to you?”

“This whole situation I’m in? Yeah. Never thought I’d end up in purgatory.”

“Purgatory? I find it harder and harder to believe that THIS is purgatory. Nothing unclean enters The Haven, sure, but it is meant to be sanctification. Not torture. Also, not what I meant…” Elliot yawned and rubbed circles into iTrapped’s hand. “I meant… what we’re doing right now. This form of hand holding… does it not feel intimate to you?”

“Oh, it’s intimate alright. I just didn’t want to ruin it by saying anything. I… I know we… just met yesterday. But this… doesn’t feel as awkward as I thought it would. It feels more natural than anything I’ve done so far while here.” iTrapped took off his crown and set it to the side on the table. “If you don’t want to do this or feel uncomfortable, we never have to do it again.”

Elliot stopped circling his thumb and ever so slightly gripped iTrapped’s hand. He narrowed his eyes before relaxing and letting them go back to a normal yet tired stare. “...I wouldn’t have engaged if I was uncomfortable. I’m not some mentally ill teenager that joins Discord servers that focus around the mental illness I have and hide my feelings behind some anime profile picture and slang. Those days were on Tumblr and defunct forum pages when I was in middle school and fresh out of high school.” Elliot snorted. “...those message boards didn’t really do much good for me. Honestly, made me feel worse about what I deal with. It doesn’t help that I don’t have any official diagnosis. I refused to use the family fortune to get a psychiatrist and get evaluated. It… Felt too convenient…. I wanted to earn it and be good enough for it. And now look where that got me.. About to be 29 and have no idea what the hell I’m doing with my life except running away from death at every turn. And silently suffering because I have to pretend like nothing is going on. But that’s besides the point. My point is. I… went on a tangent and forgot what I was going to say.”

iTrapped decided to store everything that was said and bring it up some other time. “You asked if this hand holding thing was too intimate.”

“Oh. Yeah. Some people think holding hands MUST be saved for relationships only. I just.. Don’t want to cross some immature boundary.”

“You’re good. I don’t really have many boundaries.” iTrapped chose not to comment on how odd that statement was. Though, he found himself agreeing a little bit with the sentiment that holding hands being only for relationships is a stupid concept. Of course friends could hold hands. He did it a lot as a kid. At least, he had a feeling that he did it a lot as a child.

“You should know your limits. Your boundaries are how far you’re willing to go before you pull back. … Now that I’m thinking about it, it would have been up to you to pull away if you did have that limit with the whole hand thing.”

iTrapped simply nodded in return, looking at the stand where Carl usually stood. “Shouldn’t we be getting up? Doesn’t the other survivor team sit at this table as well?”

Elliot perked his head up, pulled away his hand, and stretched. “Nnnnnnope.” He let out a high pitched noise akin to the squeak a kid makes when landing on the ground too hard. “They show up at the booths.” He got out of his seat and went to the kitchen. “Sandwich time. Making a sandwich for everyone… and an extra one for Luke because I know he probably will refuse to spend time with us agaaaiiinnn… then he will forget to eat dinner and act like everything is okay until I ask him why he’s dehydrated and too thin…” Elliot paced back and forth in front of the counters. “And it will be the exact same fucking cycle until I die. And I will hate him for like two hours or two days, and I will forget why I’m even mad at him in the first place!” Elliot gripped the counter and glared at the clean, solid white laminate countertop. “...I…” he breathed heavily, “I’m sorry. I’m just… not really able to hold it in anymore. You can go outside or something while I…”

“While you what?” iTrapped walked up to him and leaned toward him.

“...I don’t know. I’ll do something. I just don’t know what.” Elliot scrunched up his eyes and nose. “Maybe I’ll cry. Maybe I’ll throw the pizza cutter into the floor again and have to ask Builderman for a screwdriver so we can wedge it out.”

It was obvious, really. Elliot had not really allowed himself to process his emotions in a while. iTrapped could recognize that very easily. He had no idea why he could so readily point it out, but he was able to; and that scared him. Without thinking, he placed his hand on Elliot’s shoulder and lightly squeezed. “I’m here for you.”

“You shouldn’t be. You’ll leave like the others. No one actually cares about me.” Elliot’s glare became him squeezing his eyes shut. “..People are only nice to me because I help them. Just… go. Go now, so you don’t do it later when I’m too attached.”

“Have the others actually left you?”

Elliot was silent. He sucked in a sharp breath and bounced his leg as he took elongated breaths of air. “...No. Not yet.”

“They aren’t going to leave you. And I’m not either. You’re my friend. Friends don’t leave the other when they get their fill. They stay and help. And they vent to each other or give advice or… they..” iTrapped’s voice cut out at the face Elliot looked at him with. He looked like an abandoned dog who recognized its owner and was left at the shelter. That was the best way he could really describe it. There was no real correct way to word it. Only a comparison would do. “You’re breaking, Elliot. Let me try to help you and be here for you. I’d love to help. Please.”

Elliot’s leg slowed and eventually stopped. “I’ve been here for two years, iTrapped. I’ve been away from my little sister and my father for two years. It’s hopeless. I’m never going to get out of here. I’m never going to see them again.” He went to the fridge and pulled out a pound of ham and a pound of peppered turkey. iTrapped grabbed the bread for him. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” iTrapped tilted his head. “Feeling?”

“For being so fucked up.” Elliot pulled out some mustard, mayonnaise, and two butter knives. “I think it runs in the family. Can I… vent… to you?”

“Sure,” iTrapped nodded and opened up the loaves of bread.

At first, the pizza boy said nothing. He diligently added mustard to half of the sandwiches. A couple also had mayo. Some had double mustard. On one of the sandwiches, he used only turkey and wrote ‘Telamon’ on the top in mustard. His movements slowed the more sandwiches he made. “Clockwork, Guest, Carl…” He mumbled and put down the knives. “Can you continue making them? The rest of them have two slices of turkey and ham along with mayo and mustard. You can make your own how you want it, by the way.” There was a sigh of relief when iTrapped grabbed the knives and started spreading out the ingredients. “Thanks.”

iTrapped did not want to push Elliot to speak. He had to admit that he was rather intrigued but also concerned. He had to remind himself that being curious is a normal Robloxian thought process in regards to obtaining any sort of information. He was not some monster that only wanted to listen to Elliot vent simply because he was CURIOUS. What kind of Robloxian would do that? Other than some middle schooler who is developing the first symptoms of a much more highly stigmatized personality disorder. Of course, he knew he was not 13 anymore. The developments happened long ago. If they even did, that is. Two slices of each. Both condiments. “So… what did you want to talk about?”

Elliot washed his hands thoroughly and grabbed a rag. “It’s…” He finished drying his hands and put the rag down. He leaned his back against the counter, one elbow on it while his left hand went under his visor and through his hair in one backward motion. “It’s… hard to explain. Do you… know what it’s like to be… extremely angry? How much it takes to get there when dealing with insults or with other people? And… holding back your temper and the urge to fight people?”

“Can’t say that I have. Usually I’m just too scared to think much of anything.” iTrapped snickered and shook his head. “But I do know how slow to anger I am. In fact, I don’t think I’ve gotten mad at anyone except myself.”

“Yeah.. yeah. Slow to anger.” Elliot let out a puff of air against some of his bangs. “I- my sister.. And my mother.. Let me rephrase that. My sister has this thing called Borderline Personality Disorder. My mother did as well. And… I’m pretty sure that I do too. I’m not really sure, though, but I know genetics make it more likely to develop and… I see so much of myself in my sister. Kind of… we’re both really quick to anger. One time I punched some kid because he said my father was lazy and never worked to get to where he is. And I have to hold back pummeling Telamon every time he opens his mouth.” Elliot crossed his arms and angled his head down to look at the floor. He looked almost sad. “I just… wanted you to know that about me because. I can get upset really easily. And I want you to know that it isn’t your fault at all. It’s a problem with me and my brain. I’m sorry if this was so sudden, but I wanted to be honest with you. And I trust you enough to not take advantage of it. I see that you struggle too and… I don’t know how much longer I can keep it down. Y’know?” He continued after iTrapped nodded. “Sorry, again, for not having much build up. I probably could have just told you that I have anger issues and to not blame yourself too much when I get upset.”

Elliot and iTrapped stared at each other. By now, the food was done being made. He could not help but feel something stir in his soul. His head felt active yet suppressed at the same time. It was easy to feel around Elliot. Too easy. He stacked the sandwiches depending on the toppings and slowly washed his hands afterward. Hesitant steps toward the healer. “I’ll keep that in mind. I’m glad you told me. I appreciate it.” He reached his hands out and gently cupped Elliot’s face. “It’s nice to know that you are willing to open up.” He swiped his thumb under Elliot’s eyes and smiled. “You’re allowed to be upset. You don’t have to put tape over your mouth and pretend like you’re okay…”

Elliot placed his hands on iTrapped’s own and shut his eyes. He shuddered with frowning eyebrows. “I know. It’s just on instinct I suppose. I care too much about the others and…” he forced his eyes open and looked ever so slightly up at iTrapped. “I…” A blush overtook his features. “This is so embarrassing.” His arms lowered and slowly but surely wrapped around iTrapped. He pulled in the sentinel close and put his face in the crook of the other’s neck. “Fuck… this is so humiliating.”

“It’s okay.” The swordsman could not help but become red in the face as well. His heart skipped a beat. This was all happening so fast. He held the healer tightly and took in a deep breath, rubbing his back. “I'm here for you.” They rocked back and forth, nearly slipping into falling asleep. As soon as iTrapped got comfortable, he was brought back to reality. A voice made him jolt.

“Ahem. Am I interrupting something?” Eli’s familiar voice queried. “I could easily go, but the kitchen isn't exactly a very romantic spot.”

“AHH-” both iTrapped and Elliot yelped and pulled away from each other. “Hi Eli!” they shouted at the same time and put their hands behind their backs.

Eli greeted them with a half wave and dipped his head. His other hand gripped the door frame. “Should I stay or should I just leave you to it?”

“You can stay! We were.. about to head out to the couch after we put the sandwiches in the fridge,” Elliot said and tugged on his star necklace. He got a weird look in return. “Dude! I'm serious. We weren't… going to kiss or whatever you're thinking in that dumb yellow head of yours. You twisted fucking cycle path.”

Eli quietly chuckled and stepped into the room. “I never said anything. You put the words in my mouth.” He had a lazy grin and the gaze of a smartass. He assessed the situation rather quickly and approached the duo. “I can see you were crying, Elliot. What’s going on?” He put his hands on his hips, and the grin dropped along with the specific way his eyes read. “Tough round or… you know…?”

“...You know the deal.” Quiet. Meek.

Eli put a hand on Elliot’s shoulder and tucked some stray hair behind his ear. “Easy, now. Missing your family and wallowing in sorrow won’t get you to them sooner nor will it fix your emotional instability.” He slightly crouched down. “Remember. Happiness has to be fought for.” He turned his head to look at the newest addition to the team. “You too. Remember that happiness won’t just come to you.” He let go of Elliot. “It won’t tell you exactly what to do. It won’t point you in the direction you have to go to find it. It won’t even tell you what it looks like. But you figure it out, and you fight for it.” He stepped away from them both. “You’re hearing me, right? Both of you are listening?” He raised up a fist to his cheek and pointed out his palm. In some dumb dorky pose. “You look at the people you love and who return the favor. You look in that mirror and tell yourself what you are going to do and you fucking do it. No one is going to save you, so you have to stand up for yourself and dust yourself off. Over and over and over again. No one is a messiah, and you aren’t either.”

Elliot hugged himself. “Eli I… I appreciate the sentiment… but some encouragement isn’t going to fix all of these issues that I have. It isn’t going to change anything about me. I’m not going to change. I can’t change. I will always be this… overgrown child with no grasp of his own identity.”

“...First to acknowledge it, though.” Eli removed his visor and scowled. “I know, it’s hard to try and move forward when everything feels like it doesn’t matter. One could argue that all of this is pointless. Trying yields nothing different, but that’s way too shallow. It’s too pointed of a worldview. Elliot.” The man in question looked up toward him. “It’s too narrow. It’s a disservice towards you and the others around you to so firmly rely on the fact that nothing in the game changes. The people around you change. YOU change. Everything changes except for the situation. Robloxians adapt to the problems we face. Cynicism won’t make things better. No one can afford to use others when they themselves are at risk.”

“Good people don’t end up here, Eli. When are you going to understand that?!” Elliot backed up and hunched his back. “No one here is good. We’re horrible people. We deserve everything that is happening to us!”

“No! We don’t. You aren’t giving it a chance. You can’t focus on what your mind tells you. Why do you only trust your opinion when it’s so clearly the wrong one? Why do you only follow your moral code of listening to your heart when it’s screaming at you that it’s hopeless? Would you think others were right for doing that? Would you believe that the others are correct in assuming that things will only get worse without any openness to bonding and trusting each other? You aren’t an exception to the rules you abide by!” Eli put his hands together and pointed them at Elliot.

iTrapped awkwardly stood there. Should he intervene? The sword felt ever so slightly warm, but that might have just been the temperature of the cabin seeping into it. Surely there was no danger in this argument. It was a simple clashing of opinion. As all Robloxians do. The most natural response was to defend and attack. He wanted to see how this played out, but he was torn between Eli’s insistence that stayed grounded in reality and the fact that he agreed with Elliot’s hopelessness. It was hard to tell them apart. Good thing for the clothing, he supposed.

“What about Guest?! Would you say he deserves this? That he deserved to be ripped away from his wife, child, and best friend? Would you really say he’s a horrible person?” Eli waited for a response. “What about Chance? Someone who generously gave out money to anyone who asked? Someone who knew they were being used and still helped because they wanted to make others happy when he felt like he didn’t deserve the joy? What about Taph? Would they deserve everything that is happening? If he had known what would happen, do you really think he would have gone through with it all? He would lose everything just to kill?”

Elliot reached for a drawer, glaring at Eli. “Be quiet. I’ve heard enough. You don’t have to keep going.” He reached for a pizza cutter. Self defense. “Just… go. STOP PUTTING THESE THOUGHTS IN MY HEAD-”

Eli immediately yanked Elliot’s hand away from the drawer and spun him around to be bent unnaturally backwards and facing Eli. “Never. EVER do that again! Do you understand me? You don’t have the guts, and you aren’t stupid enough to prove your own thoughts about yourself right.” He leaned in really close. “You know better than to do that, kid. Start acting like it.” He let go of Elliot rather gently and sauntered out of the kitchen. “If the hangout’s called off, just say so.” He shut the door behind himself.

Elliot was breathing rapidly, eyes wide. “...what was I even thinking? It felt like I was being.. Drowned or something. Like I was a vessel for something I otherwise wouldn’t think. There was this voice… it sounded like.. My dad… but so low and disappointed.” He ran his hands through his hair.

iTrapped felt a twinge of pity. He almost just witnessed a full, genuine fight, but it was stopped just as quickly as it had begun. Easy disarming. Not where he should have been if he was serious about it to begin with. Surely, Elliot was not going to actually hurt the other. He had already displayed that he would never truly throw a punch. He would never inflict pain upon another intentionally. Wait. Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait. Wait. WAIT.

‘WAIT!’ The voice of himself shouted in his head. The sword hummed with the sudden life it had regained. ‘That is EXACTLY what happened to us this morning. It seems like the Spectre is getting to everyone.’ He could already imagine his reflection pointing at Elliot and bouncing in place. ‘I also just now remembered that Eli told us rounds would start at 35 minutes. Ours start at 30. So it either changed or it’s different for his team. Eugh.’

“WILL YOU STOP THAT?” iTrapped said in his head. He was trying to focus here. He was suddenly hit with the revelation that he was not alone in feeling like someone who was not himself, and he was rudely interrupted by some random jogged memory. “Elliot,” iTrapped spoke and walked up to his teammate. He gently grasped his hands. “I’ve been through the exact same thing. Injected with thoughts that turn me violent and make me act offensively… the fear that you feel is so real you wonder where it comes from. You’re not alone. Please, Elliot. Let me be here for you.”

Elliot’s hand glided up to iTrapped’s face, gently cradling his cheek in the palm of his hand. He smiled, the bags under his eyes becoming more prevalent than ever before. He wanted this to stay serious. Just the two of them alone. Finally. “I’ve been dealing with these… bouts of uncontrollable thoughts and feelings.. It’s nice to finally get some confirmation that I’m not losing my damn mind.” He was tired. “Let’s… put the food in the fridge and meet them out there.”

—-

Carl put up his hand for a brief second and put it back on the table. Eli did the same, but Eli actually had an expression other than neutrality on. Carl looked like he was forcing himself to stay calm. If iTrapped had to take a guess, he was told about what happened. This was awkward, nothing had really visibly changed aside from a brief tenseness in Carl. He felt guilty. Guilty for lashing out this morning and now Elliot struggling and giving in.

He caused this. Him showing up made things so much worse. He felt weird. He felt like he was just thrown into some random story that he did not belong in. Not to mention how long he had been left alone yesterday. Like everyone was avoiding him. The only one that bothered checking on him was 007n7. Why him? Did he really care that much? Did he even have a choice?

Silent as he took a seat and put his hands together on the table. Elliot sat down next to him. He was not paying attention while Elliot apologized for his actions. Explained the voice yelling at him in his head. He was hardly tuning in when Eli said that iTrapped had gone through something similar just this morning, which made the group glance at him with varying levels of concern. Initially, Eli had just chalked it up to the guy having schizophrenia. Based on all the paranoia he had admitted to and all the fear, that explanation had initially made sense to him.

“Hey, by the way. Elliot… I’m sorry about being so insistent just a few minutes ago. That wasn’t right to push on you,” Eli apologized and looked down at the table. “It wasn’t the best thing to say to you.”

“No… you were right. I can’t just cry all the time and refuse to change things. You were right about everything. I just wasn’t ready to hear it that way when I was so unstable,” Elliot replied and reached out to him with a little smile on his face. “I’m not mad at you. Thank you… for apologizing.”

‘Hey,’ his sword hummed at his side. ‘Wanna blow this popsicle stand? I feel like we are not wanted here.’ iTrapped attempted to deny it. ‘Oh, come on. Elliot likely only invited you because he felt bad. He feels bad for a lot of people and helps everyone. We aren’t special enough for him to like us that much…’ iTrapped frowned at that sentiment. Maybe the Darkheart was right. Maybe it was just trying to make him feel less bad. They were talking about pizza while Carl talked about the fact that he throws forks at the killers. It would be great to have a pizza themed killer.

He also remembered the fact that it had straight up admitted that a lot of paranoid thoughts came from it. So what if he was unwanted? They would have to tell him themselves if they do not want him around or at the table. They would have to have some guts to admit that to him. No more hiding away out of fear. He needed to hear it himself. Instead of running away with some lame excuse that would surely get questions and insistence of staying, he straightened his posture and tuned back into the conversation.

Eli crossed his arms on the table. “Hey. Nice to see you’re back to reality. I was about to start waving my hand in front of your face. We’re discussing strategy.” He gave iTrapped the briefest, smallest smile. But it was reserved for him. His expression quickly went back to neutrality when he looked back at them. “Carl, did you know that their team meets up at this table every night and talks about what to do in rounds the same way we do?” They did?

“Yeah, actually I did know. You told me last week. We also joined them yesterday night after they finished discussing their next teams.” Carl deadpanned and put his hand to his cheek. He snickered. “You’re messing with me with a rhetorical question aren’t you?” They were there?

“Of course I am.” Eli gave him an evil smile in return.

“You’re about the finest dumpster in this place. Be careful seducing me. You know my taste is trash.” Carl leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. “Okay but seriously enough joking.”

“Right-” Eli coughed into his hand and gave him a sheepish grin with raised shoulders. “So.. what do you guys do?”

iTrapped had no answer other than ‘Hope’. How pathetic. Useless. He did not even know his own team’s strategy. How much of a loser did he have to be to not know it?

“Well, we try to switch it up. Sometimes we have sentinels focus on generators while the survivalists such as Clockwork, Sev, and Noob distract them. That is if we even have one of them in the round. If it’s a surplus of supports and sentinels, they usually make me and Builderman do generators. I throw down a pizza when someone gets hurt and go right back to manual labor. Builderman puts up a sentry along with a dispenser and goes right for the machines.” Elliot beamed as he explained. “Chance tends to be the sentinel chosen to do generators since he has the least amount of skill.” He put his hand to his mouth and giggled. “Okay, okay, that’s mean. But they miss the most out of all the sentinels. Though, I’m sure that iTrapped will be taking his place on the bottom of the leaderboard.” That was rude.

iTrapped’s heart jumped as Elliot put his hand on his shoulder and continued talking about what they had going on. All of this was new information to him. However, he was not paying any mind to it now. He was too focused on how nervous he was. The touch was addicting. He had to admit, he liked to be touched. He liked the hugs and hand holding and anything else he could get. Did not matter who gave it as long as they would never stab him while he was at his most vulnerable.

Chance… No. Get him out of your head. You have something else to focus on. You’ve never heard of these schemes your team has come up with.

“Hah… I don’t know about any of these plans by the way. This is the first I’m hearing about them. The only one who told any sort of plan to me was Guest grabbing me and helping me work with him last round.” iTrapped sheepishly scratched the back of his head. Now that he was thinking about things, Elliot opening up was very sudden. It did make sense, though. Maybe he could tell that iTrapped was worried about him potentially being angry. How sweet…

“Wait. Wait, wait wait wait-” Eli stuttered and looked at iTrapped, “you don’t know your own team’s plans? What- were you not part of it before my team returned from our rounds?” He looked genuinely shocked and a little angry at iTrapped’s confirming nod. “So you have been going into this blind? No one bothered actually explaining ANYTHING to you? I’m seriously the only one that has explained any of the mechanics?”

“Elliot told me about the settings…” iTrapped interjected and immediately shrunk down under Eli’s glare. “E-...Eli?”

Carl turned his head to look at Eli. He mimicked fanfare, “Da-dadaaa~ your leader’s dead.” He looked at the other pizza man and put an elbow on the table, holding his palm up. “So why has no one said anything to him? And why wasn’t he at the table or got any sort of initiation?”

“Builderman… said that he could not be there. He told no one to get him. The only one brave enough to stand up to him and his little guard dog was Sev… mainly because they already hate Sev.” Elliot twiddled his thumbs. He jumped in his seat as the sound of wood scraping against wood sounded out in the room. “Eli- Eli no! He wasn’t-” Immediately quiet when looked at.

This was embarrassing. Eli stared at some eye that floated above his hand for a second and stomped outside. The robot on the couch watched him. The cat yawned from where it was next to the cardboard robot and went right back to sleep. Carl called out Eli’s name but was ignored. The trio got up and went to the door, all clambering to either get Eli away from the god or listen to the sense that was about to get smacked into him.

Be brave. Stop this. iTrapped stepped foot outside, frozen in place. Like a deer in headlights. Builderman's scrutinizing gaze settled on him, and he started rapidly shaking his head and hands. He was not the one that put Eli up to this. He was not involved.

Eli calmly asked Builderman with barely-controlled fury, “Why was the new guy not at the table and part of making the plans? I can assume it was an oversight. A simple mistake and all can be forgiven.” The forced smile indicated that he knew the truth. Builderman taking up that offered innocence would mean lying. Either way, he was screwed. Eli glanced back at iTrapped and turned back to look at Builderman. He must have been staring at his eyes. How else would he have known other than the quiet footsteps?

“He was outside when we started the meetin’. I simply let ‘im stay out there.” Builderman crossed his arms. “It was on purpose.”

“Oh my god he was left out there in the cold…” Eli whispered, rubbed his temple, and groaned with exasperation. “Look.” His voice went back to its normal volume. “You can’t just avoid talking to each other. I know you all have a habit of running away when a new guy shows up but really? You’re never going to get anywhere with your team if some of you are left out.” He gestured toward iTrapped, “He has just as much a say in the plans as anyone else! Why is he not at the table with you guys? It can’t be because he’s new. You didn’t leave out Clockwork or Taph. So what’s the real reason? You’re not the type to just give up on a survivor, Builder.” He was met with silence. “Oh, for your sake-” he mumbled. “Don’t tell me it’s only because Chance doesn’t like him.”

“I oughta make sure ev’ryone is comfortable. Safety is my number one priority, an’ people being uncomfort’ble leads tah lashin’ out an’ fights,” Builderman explained himself. “I know it ain’t right tah jus’ leave ‘im out like that, but I gotta make sure as many people are cahlm as ah possibly can.”

Eli’s eye twitched, and he grimaced. Hands balled up into fists at his sides. He leaned forward a little bit, opening his hands and doing vague gestures. “Are you HEARING yourself right now? Listen up, I don’t fucking care if Chance is uncomfortable with iTrapped’s- I KNOW you’re vaguely meaning Chance is uncomfortable with it- whole… EXISTENCE! Okay?” He pointed back towards the sentinel, who was beginning to feel a little bit worried. What if things got worse from this? “iTrapped is part of your team. And teams HAVE. TO. WORK. TOGETHER.” He smacked his hands together to enunciate the words. “Did you even ASK them if they want him to be not part of the team? As far as I know, you NEVER ask before you leave someone out! This is the second time a hacker has been left out of the picture at the table under the guise of being told that they made someone there ‘UnCoMfOrTaBlE’.” He went into a mocking tone at the word uncomfortable and did air quotes. “I don’t fucking care how horrible of a person iTrapped could have possibly been in his past life. And I don’t give a shit if you’re the one that gave me life and was made by Two By Two herself! YOU need to put your leadership to the test and actually fucking try and keep things together. It’s not your responsibility if there’s in-fighting. That’s between THEM, NOT YOU.” Eli straightened himself. “I mean, seriously, what is with you guys? I never shoved away Pizza Guy for not having a name or being brooding.. Or or Two Time for being extremely weird and frankly psychotic. NO! I just let them in on it. They didn’t even have to sit at the table or booths, but I still let them because that’s what a leader does!” He clasped his hands together.

“What do YOU know about mah team?! Ya ain't even part of it! I handle iTrapped on mah own! The hard part is actu’lly gettin’ to ‘im!” Builderman put his arms out in an exaggerated gesture. “Ya have no idea the kinda stress ‘im under!”

“Oh, I do. Because I'm the guy who has to spend all my free time letting them vent about how messed up things are and how ignored they feel!” Eli raised his shoulders and took a big stomp forward. “YOU have not been a leader in CENTURIES!” Another step. Builderman retreated while Eli approached. One step at a time. “You never spent time with Telamon until recently and he's your MATE! You didn't look after Luke, who needed specific positive attention to make sure the weather wasn't crazy! You never looked after Sorcus to make sure the power you gave him didn't take over his mind and corrupt him! Dusekkar and Clockwork both felt unwanted! Stealth Pilot and Scripter were FORGOTTEN and erased from the history books after they were sent to the Banlands. Tara and Reese are hardly known despite being extremely important. Brighteyes was pushed to the side! Erik… wouldn't be proud of you.”

“You keep his name OUT YER FUCKIN’ MOUTH!” Builderman shoved Eli and took in rapid breaths. “Ya don't have ANY say in mah story. Ya don't get to say this stuff an’ be right when yer jus’ some mortal overstepping his boundaries.”

“You were never there,” Eli said as a-matter-of-factly. “If you actually cared about your pantheon, Luke wouldn't have had to go behind your back and get Telamon to help him send Doombringer TO THE BANLANDS!” He slapped his hands to his mouth and leaned back. iTrapped stared at him with wide eyes. Carl and Elliot did as well. Builderman mimicked Eli and also had his hands on his mouth and chin. Shoulders tense. Whole body tense. “I didn't… mean to- say that…” Eli visibly deflated and looked at Builderman with remorse.

Builderman’s hands lowered and fell to his sides. Limp. Hanging. “I… couldn’ bring myself to bannin’ ‘im. He was the only one that actu’lly did his job. Ah knew someone was behind it… I'm jus’ shocked it was… Luke.”

“....I hate… how you never looked after them. You know, you'd think the leader of a group would actually take the initiative. You don't care. Just admit it. You aren't fit to be a leader. A GOOD leader wouldn't have his own team fighting each other all the time without his knowledge. They would be on the same page.”

“...Ah.. haha.. I'm not fit, to be a leader..” Builderman put his hand to his elbow. “But.. I'm tryin’ now. Prolly too late to do it, but I have things I'm trying to fix.”

“What have you done to fix them? Sitting at a table and talking doesn't do shit.”

Builderman did not respond.

“You can't keep doing this! You can't say that you're trying without actually doing anything to get any sort of progress! Your hollow apologies and pity points won't make things better. Your blatant ignorance and embrace of twisted equity and favoritism doesn't help anyone! If you want Chance to get better, HE establishes the boundaries. NOT you. If they are uncomfortable, THEY leave. Not iTrapped. It's the exact same situation as Seven and Elliot- which I already beat into that thick skull of yours on how to handle!” Eli pointed at himself and twirled his finger. “I mean- seriously?! Are you THAT convinced that something bad is going to happen that you never even give anything the light it needs to grow? You're suffocating your team by being useless and scared.”

“Okay okay! Fine! Ya win!” Builderman raised his hands up. “Ya got meh. I can't handle the pressure!” He put his hands to his head. “Ah can't even properly say no to someone without feelin’ some sorta guilt! Ah can't hold this team together! I CAN'T bring myself to.”

“Why not?” Eli crossed his arms, narrowed his eyes, and tapped his foot. “I want to remember what you tell me right now.”

“Ugh…” Builderman facepalmed. With both hands. “Because I.. don' wan’ to be like Roblox. Suppressive an.. a control freak. Someone can't take criticism nor values the thoughts o’ others.”

“Well, that didn't work. You've suppressed both Seven and iTrapped. So what's the real reason?” Eli leaned forward.

“I.. why is this so important to ya anyway?”

“Because Elliot is family to me and by extension iTrapped is too. And I want to know what the problem is that's making my family crumble.” Eli put one hand on his hip and pointed at the supporter.

“It's… because ah know I fucked up. I can't face the consequences of my actions. I've done– HORRIBLE things. I've killed hundreds! I abandoned Tela way back in the day because I couldn' handle ‘im, n I was too much of a coward to jus’ break it off. An’ because of that, Luke was used for my own selfish gains, an’ I don't know how to fix my relationship with either of ‘em. An because of this incompetence, I neglected everyone else who looked up to me.” He grimaced. “All because I was trapped in mah own head, an’ I couldn’ bring myself to admit that I was selfish AND inexperienced in da first place. Awful combination fer someone in charge of a whole WORLD.”

“So what are you going to do about it?” Eli tilted his head and did a sweeping motion with his hand. “You can't just keep getting wrapped up in your own issues.”

“..Step down?”

“NOPE!” Eli wagged his finger. “Wrong answer. What you do is admit to your mistakes. You get better. You APOLOGIZE to your fucking friends and family.” He groaned with agony. “When will you learn that you can't fawn at every bit of pointing out your mistakes?” He huffed and turned around. “Come on, iTrapped. Back inside.”

Carl grasped Eli by the shoulders the moment they were all back inside the cabin and frowned at him. “What was that for? You could have gotten yourself in serious shit. Don't do that again.”

“I did what I had to.” Eli responded.

“You're making the exact same mistakes Builderman does when it comes to doing without asking.” Carl seethed and glared at him. “Just because it works out for you doesn't make it any different.” He looked down at the floor between them and his fingers trembled. “You're too in over your own head trying to protect these people. They're grown men. They can handle themselves.”

Eli held his hands out to Carl’s chest and pushed him back gently. “I know. I know. But you know Elliot doesn't stick up for himself as much as he should. I doubt iTrapped can.” He spoke in a hushed tone, but the other two could hear him. “I need you to understand. Where I'm coming from.”

iTrapped stepped away from the scene. He could take care of himself. He very well could have spoken up. He was not some.. coward who froze in place all the time. If he wanted to, he could have chewed out Builderman himself. Not that he would. He respects his god’s lover too much. Ah, who was he kidding? He would not have said anything even if he stomped out there himself. He would have lied about it. He would have claimed he was upset and wanted to know how Builderman was doing.

He retreated upstairs. Mart was still in his chair. As per usual. Staring at that same wildlife documentary episode about pandas. Of course. It was the only channel and only episode available. He was sure the guy had it memorized by now. Maybe it would be fun to try and have it committed to memory. Would that not be something? In the middle of a round, he could just sit down against a wall and drift away into the bamboo forests. Pandas could eat anything else. They just chose the thing that happened to hold little nutritional value to them as their main food. Or something like that.

Carl and Eli were still arguing down there. He could hear them. They were not raising their voices. They were the opposite of monotone, though. He felt weird. Something stirred in iTrapped’s soul. There was fear. Gripping him like a vice. Without a second thought, he imagined himself being chased. His hand felt cold. The sword felt hot. Everything felt cold. Someone with yellow skin and hair like him pushed him to the ground. Called him useless. Told him that no one could hear him cry, so he might as well not even try. He called him a slur. ‘Her blood will be on your hands if you tell your mother about this little life lesson.’ The man crouched down and ran his hand through iTrapped’s hair. ‘Shh… shhhh. I’m just trying to make you stronger. You won’t make it unless you can fight back and use others to your advantage. That is the only way to make it in this world. Now, do you want to be some girl or do you want to be a big, strong man when you grow up? Strong boys are quiet and listen to their fathers. They don’t hang out with people that make them soft.’ He felt annoyed listening to the rant. He did not even do anything that time. He had just been in his room and playing Minesweeper with Nate and Caleb-

iTrapped snapped out of it, breathing rapidly. Mart was staring at him with confusion before getting out of the beanbag and leaving him alone. Probably to get Eli and Carl to shut up. Apparently he had to do it frequently. There was a fourth voice in the fray down there. While Mart was complaining with exaggeration, a monotone and deep voice joined them. Eli was getting ganged up on and told to keep to himself. Rebuttals about the fact that Builderman needed to hear it in the first place. The monotone voice defended Eli, claiming that no one changes unless they are called out on their actions and mistakes. Silence. Mart was annoyed but visibly proud of something when he went back upstairs. He just changed the channel on the television and stared at the static screen.

Maybe the other team was not as put together as he thought.

Chapter Text

He was so glad Elliot told him about the “settings” that he could adjust. No more being frozen in place for 5 seconds with nothing to do. Now, he could actually see who the killer was with a really cool intro cutscene instead of pure black. It was Doombringer. Great. Another admin! Another guy with a big as hell ego, likely. Seeing an admin was the lowest on his metaphorical list right now.

What did Eli mean by all of that? All of that with the admins? How much did he know? ‘Focus,’ his sword hummed in his head and sighed. ‘No time to dwell on that. Just do generators, let me study the environment.’ Yeah, right. He had to be quiet. He always had to be quiet. It hurt to do that. For some reason. His mind went blank when he tried to think of why that was. He simply ran and ran until he found a generator. It was eerie. Too many bridges connecting floating islands. Dense, green clouds swept over the area. An airplane had long since crashed into a floating island he could barely see in the distance.

iTrapped tried to focus on the wires, connecting them with a newfound fervor. He furrowed his brows, honing in hard on each and every spark created with the corrected systems of copper and rubber.. Frantic steps came toward him, but there was no music. Elliot and 007n7 joined him at the generator, working as fast as they possibly could. Too bad for them, he was already done.

Elliot grabbed his arm and shook as he took careful steps. They were quiet. Extremely quiet. His lips trembled. Eyes slitted. 007n7 stayed close, whispering to Elliot and iTrapped to be as cautious as possible. If you see something red, you yelp and run. Brown hair moving with the occasional blow of wind that went against them. Pink glasses kept fogging up. iTrapped stared at Elliot for the most part, though. He felt calm with Elliot. Heart rate lowered- yet it sped up at the same time. Made him feel all warm and sickly sweet. Safe, even. He sighed and pressed against the healer, just wishing for everything to be over with. His eyes slightly widened when Elliot put an arm around him and held him closer.

“Wait-” 007n7 suddenly stopped and shot his arm out in front of him to make them stop moving. Footsteps approached. There was a silhouette approaching directly in front of them. It looked too small to be a killer. Too thin. iTrapped could tell that it was not Doombringer. He just had no idea which one of the other survivors it could be. It could be Chance. It could be Telamon. It could be Clockwork. Maybe even Taph or Dusekkar.

Unfortunately for that silhouette, Elliot immediately ran forward and punched it in the face. Chance yelped and fell down. “HEY!” Chance seethed and put their hands on their face. “It’s me, kid-!” Suddenly, he was pulled away into the fog, leaving his revolver behind. They started screaming. Elliot grabbed the gun just in case. That was probably going to be fine. Maybe.

The trio froze, and a long chain whipped into their feet, making them all fall over. All three of them shrieked with surprise and reached out for each other. Suddenly, Chance was tossed over to them, bleeding profusely and handcuffed. Elliot threw a pizza in his face, and they booked it. No words were exchanged. No sounds except for their shoes clacking against the stone brick paths and cracked dirt. Elliot handed the revolver back to Chance and secured it in their hand. They nodded at each other, and then Chance looked at iTrapped.

They locked eyes. Or rather, iTrapped assumed that they were making eye contact. He could not exactly see his eyes behind those sunglasses, but they were quiet and facing him. It was natural to assume that they were staring at him. They made him nervous. The way they were just had their lips drawn into a taut line. The slightly raised shoulders. The ever so gently shaking jaw and subtle bob of their throat when swallowing- FOCUS. Oh by Telamon he was hopeless. He could not focus. That stupid dream came back into his head, and he could practically hear Chance telling him that they love him. That he made them the luckiest man in the world.

His face felt hot. Fuck. He leaned away and covered his mouth while looking off to the side. ‘Oh my gods. Just stop thinking about it. It’s not that hard.’ He glared down at the Darkheart. ‘Do not be so dramatic. You can just walk away from the situation. Seriously. Well, maybe you can’t. Given how Doombringer treated him just a minute ago, maybe it’s best you stay right here. In which case, good luck. LoL.’ He hated it so much. Dumb reflection. Dumb other him who never really gave good advice or helped much. It hummed and laughed at him. ‘Go find another generator. By the way, pay attention. Chance is trying to get you to follow him.’

“O-Oh. Sorry-” iTrapped apologized and followed Chance and Elliot. He stumbled behind them, getting his hand grabbed by Elliot and guided forward. He blushed and looked down at their connected hands. A slight squeeze. He smiled. Elliot smiled back. He gently laughed under his breath and was led to a generator. 007n7 was gone. He must have gone off on his own.

Honestly, iTrapped was hardly paying attention. Everything was melting together around him. The green fog was the path before him. The sky was the stone. The generators were a bed. Same deep red as the sheets. The clock was ticking. The time felt like it was moving both too fast and too slow. Blank. Blank. Blank. Blank. Blank. Blank. Blank. Blank. Blank. Blank. Melting. Melting. Melting. Melting. Melting. Melting. Melting. Melting. Melting. Melting. Melting. Melting. The way Chance and Elliot were looking at him was making him nervous. Suddenly, a stabbing pain. Knocked him right out of his thoughts. The sword screamed. Burning so hot it felt like it would give him burns if he did not pull it out. So he did. He was yanked backward. 80 health left.

“Well well well! If it isn’t my favorite little trouble maker!” Doombringer looked down at him. Stars twinkled around his hammer. A toothy grin on his face. Sharp teeth shown along with his facial hair. Red, glowing eyes. Unnatural stature. Clawed hands. Skeletal wings with wispy stardust instead of feathers. Black chains adorned his outfit. Nothing like what his brief memory told him. At least, what his thoughts told him he was supposed to look like. It was wrong. It was all wrong. His gods were wrong. iTrapped closed his eyes. Red lightning was around him, connecting the two horns on his wooden helmet. Doombringer dropped his Ban Hammer, picked up iTrapped, and THREW him right into Elliot and Chance. They went tumbling down. Down. Down. Down. Falling. He was falling with them.

Suddenly, they landed on the ground. Back where they had first spawned in at the start of the round. The crashed plane mocked them in the distance. The fog had slightly cleared up on the outskirts they could not reach. The plane looked disgustingly mediocre at best now that it was more clear. iTrapped put a hand to his head and squeezed his eyes shut.

Where was the Darkheart?

A surge of panic rushed through him. Shit! Crap crap crap crap crap crap where was his weapon? Where was his friend? Friend? Ally. Thing. He had no idea what to shout for its name. Could he just say ‘other me?’ His vision blurred out. Mind blank. Head began to hurt. How did he mess up that badly? He was supposed to look after that thing. Imagine how disappointed Telamon would have been in him at that moment! Just breathe, just breathe. It is not the end of the world. It is! Everything raced through his head. His friends, his dumb crush on Elliot, the possibility of him being a bad person, that hallucination that Noli made that he thought would do horrific things to him- and the brief shouting of ‘STOP PANICKING!’

Wait. Wait wait wait. That was his voice. The other disembodied voice that would play in his mind. Not the one that belonged to his thoughts specifically. ‘Stop. Panicking. I’m back at that generator. I can’t just teleport back to you or else I would have by now. I can only do that outside of rounds.’ Oh how fucking cheap was this place? It could not even afford a little bit of convenience? ‘Just… come get me. Doombringer is gone. He went after Clockwork.’ There was a long pause as iTrapped strayed away from Chance and Elliot. His feet moved without thought. It was like he knew exactly where to go to find the sword. An image in his mind. Huh. ‘Please,’ the voice added in a hushed voice. A sort of gravelly enunciation on the -ea of the word. Poor thing.

As he walked, he began to realize that he had stopped focusing on himself entirely. He had been so fixated on the others that he had no time to be paranoid or anxious or wonder if he was a terrible person. Sure, the thoughts of them lying to get close to him still bounced around in that head of his, but they usually were not that bad while a voice was gone. But now… he was alone. Entirely alone. No sword to pull out and look at when on the verge of having an anxiety attack, no survivalist to give him a brief rundown of how this killer worked, no Telamon to spout nonsense that made him worse, and no one to tell him that he was safe. Safety within a round was an illusion. Focus! Focus! Focus, please! Stop thinking. Stop worrying. He felt sick again.

iTrapped nearly fell as he walked, clutching his stomach. A sudden pain went through his head, and he doubled over. Doombringer shouted from somewhere that he could see the paths so clearly now. That must have been an X-Ray move or something. Why did every single killer have a move like that? Well, as far as iTrapped knew, Noli did not have an action where he could simply just see someone. Maybe. He could assume Sorcus selected who he teleported to. Mafioso probably was the only normal one. Maybe. Maybe…

“My my my!” Stomps came up slowly behind him. Heavy breathing. Glitching noises similar to Noli’s fake generators sounded over the breathing. “How dubious!” The gruff voice shouted rather performatively. An extremely large hand grasped iTrapped’s shoulder and half of his bicep. Oh, gods, he was huge. Stop it. He was a lot bigger than iTrapped thought. He had been on the ground before, so he could not get a good measurement of him. Claws dug into his arm and pulled him back.

‘iTrapped? iTrapped? What’s going on? I can feel your panic. ITRAPPED?’ the voice yelled in his head. ‘I don’t know what he’s doing to you, but fight back. Get away from him! He doesn’t care. He won’t listen.’

No need to tell him twice. “Stop stop! Let me go!” iTrapped panicked and shouted. He suddenly became all too aware of the situation at hand. He fought back and screamed when Doombringer twisted his arm. It hurt. It hurt. He fell to the ground and rolled away from the hammer that would have slammed down on his face.

“Maybe I would have spared you, but you just had to be a-” Doombringer lifted the hammer again and slammed it down again, “-bitch about it!” He grunted and grit his teeth. His skeletal wings flared and arched with the effort that was put into his movements. He narrowed his eyes and took a good long look at the sentinel. A light of recognition appeared in his eyes. “YOU! I THOUGHT ALL OF YOU LITTLE PESTS WERE WIPED OUT. I guess Builderman didn’t get all of them…” He reached down and pulled iTrapped up by the neck. “I hate you little bugs. Getting into our networks. Stealing our contracts.” He crushed iTrapped’s windpipe and dropped him to the ground. 30 health left. “You and that group caused way too many issues that I couldn’t fix! I saw those chat logs you WORM. YOU INSIGNIFICANT MOSQUITO! Atone for your sins, and I might spare you for ruining the economy for YEARS…”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” iTrapped wheezed out and put his hand to his neck to take in a deep breath. He coughed and sputtered instead of achieving the singular goal he had in mind when breathing in. He was honestly going to give up. This fight was not worth it. Not worth it at all.

“Liar,” Doombringer accused and spat on the ground between them. No mercy in his eyes. Not the real Doombringer. Right? "Ę̸̎l̶͓̾͝l̶͇̱̫͊̚͝e̴̞̜̎̇r̵̯̔̈́n̵̰̱͊̇ȧ̴̙̬̖ț̴̹̠͋̽̋e̸̘͔̜̿̕͠,̸̦͓̞̉͋ ̸̡̃̈́̅C̵̰̲̄́͜a̷̝͕͙͐̈́l̷͖͍͌͘e̸̘̳̓̋b̷̟̗͌́̕,̷̦̜̊͊ ̷͚̝̽T̸̞́͋w̷̧͚͓̐ì̵͈̂͠š̷̢t̷̹̀̏͘é̵̼̃r̷͕̙͊̑ͅ,̷̱͎̉̎̍ ̸̖̲̃̚J̵̞͋͠ỏ̵̼n̸̫͑̇a̸̟̭̲͛͌̈́ṫ̴͎͗̓ẖ̸̘̫͛̚͘ḁ̴̠̱͘n̷̖͍̣̿̀̄,̴̠̗͕͠ ̴̛̲͕̝͑͠M̶̤͊͘Ị̸̪̃̅Ṇ̸̩͆͛͌I̴͖͘S̶̙͍͗H̵͍͖̰̓,̶̡̥́ ̸͙̜͗̐L̶͎͇̾̄̄͜o̵̖͈̿̊͒͜n̸͉͆͜e̴͖̔l̶̳͒̋̔͜ý̷̗͠T̴̝͋ŕ̸̡̪͋͘e̷͉͎̽ë̷̪̭̩́͝. What about everyone else you hurt in your life? They left you. You messed everything up. You will NEVER fix your mistakes. You insolent child. Just admit it, you are a narcissist. No wonder why all your friends left you.” Doombringer tilted his head and narrowed his eyes behind the helmet. He slowly raised the hammer. “I don’t have very long to play with you, so why don’t I just cut this short?” iTrapped shut his eyes. He was going to die. Finally, one of his intuitions was right. No one was going to save him. He was right. No one liked him. Nobody wanted him.

The hit felt like a plush hitting him. A sharp plushie, sure. 25 health left.

He felt oddly rejuvenated. He stood up, legs shaking; a shield around him as well. Pure magic. Arm unnaturally bent. He cringed at the feeling of it when trying to move it. His eyes snapped open at the sound of a slash and Doombringer yelling out the very simple word of “FUCK!” Telamon grabbed his hand and sprinted away. Also, there was a blinding pink light.

“TRAITORS. ALL OF YOU. MINOR, UNIMPORTANT GODS WITH NO SENSE!” Doombringer blindly swung his hammer and spun from the weight that it had. He stumbled and nearly fell over. iTrapped had no time to focus on that, though. He had to focus on the fact that someone was actually helping. “SON OF A BITCH, SHOULD HAVE BEEN SPAT OUT-” he yelled obscenities as they ran away. “I’LL GET YOU. ONCE I CAN SEE AGAIN!”

His legs hurt. Wings made him unable to see anything ahead of him. Or behind him since Taph was there. There was also Dusekkar on his left. He could really only look to the right which featured a large drop into the void that would teleport him back to spawn. iTrapped wanted to look down. To see what that void was that he had been falling through before. Sure, it had been completely dark and full of that same gross green fog but still. Just focus. It is not that hard. You useless piece of shit. Bad. Problem. Problem. Fundamentally flawed.

He did not deserve to be helped.

They slid along the stone and came to a stop in front of a building. Taph put down a tripwire and a mine in front of the entrance once they entered. He stood guard for a couple seconds, looking out into the limited landscape and followed them behind another wall. Dusekkar shoved a medkit into iTrapped’s hands and nodded at him. He was actually standing. Leaning against the wall. Telamon busied himself with a turkey leg and ate it ridiculously fast. So much for savoring the food.

“I… shouldn’t. You guys need this medkit more. I’m useless to you,” iTrapped declined and handed the medkit back to Dusekkar. The god was not injured. Taph was not injured. Telamon was back up to 98 health. The only seriously injured one was him.

Dusekkar immediately groaned with annoyance and ripped the kit open. “So THIS is what Chance meant by you not valuing your own life! No wonder why Telamon wants to cut you with a knife.” The god stabbed the needle into iTrapped’s injured arm and held him in place so there was no jerking away or running. Bandages neatly wrapped around the flesh, covering the once bleeding and scraped skin that was exposed under the torn fabric of his shirt. No more point in fighting back. The decision was made for him. “Stop trying so hard to devalue yourself, instead you should fancy oneself. There is a life worth saving there, that much I am aware.” He looked at him with a visible sorrow and concern in the fire that illuminated his mask.

The mage stepped away from him, giving a sympathetic smile. He went to look after Taph, making sure the trapper was doing okay. Now, iTrapped was alone with Telamon. He felt some sort of excitement despite also being thoroughly disappointed about the fact that Telamon was actually a complete and total ass who had no regards for being soft on others. The falcon looked over at him and crossed his arms. His singular eye stared down at him, the smile slipping from his face and becoming a slight frown. He looked tired. His eye was not as wide as it usually was. It was drooping. Against his will. Clearly, he was no functional god in this realm. If he was still considered a god by this twisted world, it did not matter in the end. He was nothing. They were all nothing.

“iTrapped,” Telamon addressed the sentinel and folded up his wings. “Telamon would like to… apologize to you.”

“Huhh?”

“Telamon is sorry-! For how he treated you.” The god put his hands together in a prayer position and turned to face iTrapped head on. “He was not exactly… still isn’t- in a very well position mentally. After all, he IS fresh out of dormancy… and… dealing with some things. But that… isn’t an excuse. That is an explanation for why Telamon was so rude to you.” The falcon looked away and his head wings flicked and slightly puffed up. They were on guard for Doombringer potentially appearing. Too arched and ready to fight to be relaxed. If Telamon was not relaxed, he was ready to fight. Those were the only two emotions of the god from what iTrapped could faintly recall deep in his memory. This was new. Telamon looked away with an embarrassed look on his face. “Telamon had wanted to approach you when you initially arrived, hoping to perhaps pull you in so he could teach you the art of swordfighting.” He glared at Taph who did mocking mouth movements with his hands. “But…” His fingers pressed together and rubbed against each other in a desperate attempt to soothe himself. “Telamon… messed up. He hopes for your forgiveness.”

“I… don’t know if I trust you on this. Sorry. No offense. This just seems very sudden and forced.” iTrapped rubbed his arms and sighed.

Telamon continued, “He understands if you do not trust him or wish to be around him, though. Telamon is the same in regards to his distrust of others. To him, everyone is going to betray him one way or another. All except… his lovely Builderman and Dusekkar. And Taph, he supposes. But mostly Builderman.”

That made him feel bad. Really bad. From what he had learned and could assume, Builderman had not actually been very trustworthy or even caring towards Telamon until very recently. Sure, that could be chalked up to being busy, but he was THE Builderman. He always had time for his fellow admins. So why not Telamon? Maybe this was some sort of denial. Telamon did look exhausted, after all. Not in the ‘constantly fighting something that is out to kill him’ way. It was more in a ‘I try to trust someone I love’ way. Someone who had proven before that he could not be trusted. Did Telamon know that and still willingly do this? iTrapped decided it was best that he does not think about it for too long.

“...You call Builderman lovely, but he specifically said that I cannot join you guys. I want the truth. I’m getting conflicting accounts here, and I want to know exactly what is going on. I’m not going to take getting stepped on without retaliating. So tell me: Why did you both decide to not let me at the table despite apparently saying that I was a good kid and complimenting me? Why do you go against me at every turn in front of me, but you choose to sing my praises behind my back? Isn’t it usually supposed to be the other way around or something?”

Telamon froze up, and his wings went stiff. “Ah. You know about that?” He sighed and solemnly blinked. “It’s… a complicated matter. Telamon merely follows what his Builderman says and makes sure his authority is known. Builderman wants to please everyone, but he also puts people who have been here longer first instead of following actual logic and how groups SHOULD work. Telamon truly did mean what he said at that table about you. You are a good kid.” He reached out his clawed hand and tucked a bundle of loose hairs behind iTrapped’s ear. “We… are not good people. iTrapped. Good people don’t end up here. Unless your name is Guest or Elliot or Chance… or Luke.” He took in a deep breath, calming himself. “Telamon will have a much more CALMER talk with Builderman about how much he tends to people please. He ends up hurting those who need the most reassurance through that.”

“If you believe that, why do you follow him without question and hate Sev?” iTrapped questioned.

“He is the love of his life. The same way you were to…” Telamon’s voice trailed. “No… Telamon shant say. That would ruin the surprise in your milestones.” 007n7 was dead. “You were… really important to someone in this realm. Let’s just say that. Then again, everyone is connected to a killer or a survivor in some way. Telamon simply wishes to keep Builderman’s loyalty and adoration the same way that Telamon adores and admires the Builderman.”

“You know my past?” iTrapped questioned.

“Of course!” Telamon leaned against him and put his arm around him. “Telamon would remember the one that helped destroy the foundation of his hard work better than most! Why, you were simply 13 years old at the time! You made a stupid decision and well… Telamon knew your involvement. He simply did not say anything. For your sake. As a child.” He put back on his neutral grin, his only visible eye scrunched up with the force of the smile. “Telamon at your age would have done the same. He was not always so concentrated and present in the moment.” Bullshit. He focused more back then than he did now.

“Are you, though?” Dusekkar turned around and looked at Telamon. “The way you carry yourself is only for show. You cannot lie and get away with it. The only way you will improve is to admit.” He crossed his arms. “Do not tell him of his past. We do not have time for him to be aghast. Without the knowledge he will last. Now, shut your mouth before I am the one to lambast.” He readied his staff, pointing it right at Telamon the same way Elliot pointed the pizza cutter at him.

Telamon raised his hands in surrender. “Of course, of course. Telamon would do no such thing. You should know him.” The overgrown child feigned an expression of hurt. “Telamon has important things to attend to. iTrapped-” Clockwork died. Both survivalists were dead. “Let him teach you how to wield that sword of yours.” He grinned and looked down. “Wait. Where is it?”

“It’s somewhere. I feel a sort of calling. I’m going to go and get him- it! It,” iTrapped stuttered and sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. “Also. I don’t need your help. I’ll figure it out on my own. I get you’re trying to reach out to me or something, but you don’t have to.” He stepped away and bumped into Dusekkar. In response, he weaved between the wizard and the robed demolitionist before fleeing out the doorway. He had to do that. He would have been too tempted to ask Telamon what he knew about his past life. It was the past for a reason. There was no need to start digging into it. Eli had told him that it would come with his milestones. Or was that Elliot? He could not remember who specifically mentioned them. Telamon had as well. But it must have been Eli first. Yeah, that made sense.

‘Helloooooo? Are you there? Or are you just going to think about Elliot all day? I have been sitting on this ledge for gods know how long. At least five minutes. I get the maps are big, but you should have been here by now. What’s the hold-up?’ iTrapped felt a little bit awkward now. ‘I know that Telamon was talking to you, but the past can’t be that interesting. Right? Or was it something else?’ The voice went quiet at his lack of response. ‘Please, don’t dig. You’re not ready for what you’ll see.’

“I’m on my way,” iTrapped responded out loud, trudging with a sense of tiredness. This place was a dump. He just wanted to go back to the cabin. Maybe hold Elliot’s hand again. Maybe get his head in the fucking game! That would be nice. It was awfully convenient that he was constantly left alone. He was stumbling around like an idiot. He has seen that rock about 8 times now. Where was he? Fog was never good to him. I.e., this was the second time he has seen fog and has gotten lost both times. How?

He bumped into someone or rather they ran into him and sent him to the ground. No disorienting violins shrieked in his ears, so Doombringer was not the culprit or nearby. “Oh! I’m sorry, man.” Chance’s voice sounded in his ears instead. Immediately, a blush creeped up his face as he got up and looked at the gambler. “Hey. Any idea where Elliot is or are you lost too?” They clutched their arm and had a forced smile. Now, iTrapped was wishing he refused to heal and instead stole the medkit just to give it to someone else. Someone who was less dead weight. “...” Chance looked back and forth between iTrapped and to the side. “Are you going to answer or are you just going to stare at my beautiful face?”

“Ah-! No. I haven’t seen Elliot since before I got cornered by Doombringer. Sorry. And I don’t have a medkit. Dusekkar did what you did before and healed me….” iTrapped immediately surrendered information that Chance did not ask for. That was a habit that he needed to break. What- was he scared of retaliation if he did not immediately fawn? What kind of protector was he?

Chance sighed and took in a shaky breath. “That’s okay. Not your fault. It’s your first time going against Doombringer. He’s a tricky one. Come on-” he perked at the sound of a familiar ‘yummy’ nearby. An outline of a pizza was not that far. Just a couple bridges away. “Come. Let’s stick together.” Chance ordered and lightly grasped iTrapped’s sleeve. He looked tense. Really, really tense. “I have standards, and I’m not going to lie and say that you are outside of them. C’mon.” They started walking off, gesturing for iTrapped to follow him. So he did.

Quiet. They walked alongside each other. He knew what Chance meant by that. He knew that Chance did not like him after all. They were teammates. They had to help each other no matter how much one of them was hated by the other. There was no point in fighting each other. From what iTrapped could guess, Chance was going to make sure that iTrapped was not alone and easy prey to die like what almost happened earlier.

The gun wielder stumbled and took in a ragged breath. “Ghh- my legs-” Chance nearly fell, but iTrapped caught him. He turned his head to slowly look at the swordsman, and his forced smile fell. “Th-thanks, Trapped..” he winced as they slowly adjusted their position and put their arm around iTrapped to stay standing. The blond did the same and kept him upright. Chance leaned against him and sighed in content. “Thanks, again. I.. I’m sorry. I’m sorry that you were left out just because I didn’t want to be around you. It’s just.. I.. get nervous around new survivors. Heh.” Bullshit. iTrapped decided not to call them out on it. They headed towards the pizza. Chance healed up. Back up to 76% health.

There was a tug. Left. Left. Left. Left. “Hold on,” iTrapped left Chance standing in place in the center of the island they had gone to and walked up to the ledge of it. “There you are…” he whispered and picked up the Darkheart. His reflection put its hands on the invisible glass and looked at him with relief. “I got you, bud. I got you.” He slowly ran his fingers along the cool metal and lightly pressed his cheek against the flat side of it. “There you are. I’m SO sorry that it took so long to get back to you.” The reflection disappeared, and Chance was shown standing behind him and looking down where he was crouched. He looked at the other from the sword and narrowed his eyes. “Right, you don’t know about the sword.”

‘Do you think they know?’ The voice was shaking. Was it even listening to what he just said?

“I know you talk to your sword. I was literally there when you did it before. It’s not that weird. I mean, Guest talks to his gloves…” Chance smirked and shrugged. “You’re fine. Seriously. It’s not that weird of a coping mechanism. You could be Taph and try to put my gun in a mine or something. Which definitely isn’t the weirdest thing either.”

‘Shut UP. Doombringer can hear us-!’ the Darkheart shouted and his copy reappeared in the sword. It kept on shouting at Chance to be quiet, but it was very obvious that they could not hear it. At all. Mainly because it was actually just screaming in iTrapped’s head.

“He- it-... wants you to stop talking,” iTrapped whispered and stood back up. “The killer can hear you at your normal volume.” He spoke through gritted teeth and put his hand over Chance’s mouth. He would have removed the hand on his own, but he did not get a chance to have autonomy because he was suddenly pulled back and hit the ground with a thud. A long chain ripped out of his thigh, and he writhed in agony. He could not scream. He could not do anything except rapidly breathe.

“There you are, FRIEND,” Doombringer kicked the sentinel. 60 health. Good god. He gagged from the force and tried to get to his feet, but a boot was put on his head. “You are a slippery one ain’tcha. Protected by some traitorous god friends of mine. Or… maybe they’ll turn you in to me. Like good friends do. After all, we all came to a collective agreement to ban you and that little group of yours. The fact that you got away was just a misslip. A little mess up. But I don’t mess up twice.” Doombringer brought the hammer down on iTrapped’s legs. He was at 10 health. How overpowered was this guy? Also, why did he monologue so much? Just get on with it. “I’m going to enjoy torturing you. After nearly 13 years of evading my wrath, you show up right on my lap.” He was bleeding. He was bleeding. He could not open his eyes. It hurt too much. His bones crunched. He heard them crunch under that hammer.

iTrapped felt like he was about to explode under Doombringer’s shoe. ‘MOVE MOVE. SLASH. DO ANYTHING!’ He was hardly paying attention to the sword. It just hurt. His legs hurt too much. How could anyone think straight in this sort of situation? He was no athletic master of pain. Oh god which thought was which? Disorienting. Got. Get. Go. Go. Go.. Go. Stop stop stop stop stop stop stop! Head. work. Head. head. Work,. Work. Work. work. Please.

Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please.

Chance hauled him out from under Doombringer’s leg and dragged him forward. “RUN. RUN. RUN DAMMIT!” Chance loaded gunpowder into his revolver, shoved it into iTrapped’s front vest pocket, and stumbled. He also shoved a pizza in iTrapped’s face and ran with the sentinel. Hand in hand. Where did Chance even get a pizza from?

“YOU AIN’T TAKING MY PREY FROM ME AGAIN!” Doombringer shouted and threw out his chain again and struck Chance right in the throat. The sentinels were dragged toward Doombringer due to the fact that Chance had been right in front of iTrapped, so they were both brought back. Chance could not scream. Why? WELL… He was already dead. Must have been all that gambling right after stunning the killer. Just an instant kill. At least iTrapped was at 54 HP. All was well in the world! He was also going to die for sure.

Should he just accept his fate? It all felt so pointless. So blank. He was entirely justified because of the fact that nothing he did here truly mattered. They would always play this game. Every hour. Every day. For the rest of time. Oh, gods. Oh gods. Oh… god. Chance was dead, and he was alone. He was alone. He was alone. With this delusional psychopath who really believed that he was in the right. But what if he was right? What if Telamon, Dusekkar, Builderman, Taph- Luke— Clockwork-? What if they were all PRETENDING to be on iTrapped’s side? They were going to turn him in. They were going to team up and get him killed. On loop! On loop. He ran. In the middle of Doombringer taking his time to make sure Chance’s corpse was unrecognizable, he booked it.

‘Shut up. Shut up shut up shut up SHUT UP. SHUT UP! STOP THINKING AND JUST FUCKING RUN! FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THE GODS PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR STAMINA!’ The reflection shouted at him. It was annoying. It made his head hurt. His mind was already blank enough as it was. He did not need this. He did not deserve this. He did not-

Yanked back again. Doombringer really needed to hang around walls more often. With this chain, though, iTrapped was swinging back and forth between the islands. He had tried to jump when Doombringer embedded the chain in his flesh and well… Floating. Hanging. Like a fish out of water, except he was not a fish and was instead being gutted by a man who wanted nothing more than to erase him from life permanently. He dug his sword into the dirt beneath one of them and hung on. His spine felt like it was getting ripped out. Maybe it was. Blood gushed out of his shirt and dripped down his pants. He felt lightheaded. The stabbing pain pulsed in his back. The chain ripped apart, and he was left where he was holding on to the handle of the sword. Must have been a cooldown thing to make sure that the guy would not just be stuck to a survivor for the rest of time. Legs dangling. Deep breaths. Deep breaths. His hands were slipping from the sweat that was caking the metal handle. 34 health. This was fine. This was fine. This was fine. This was fine. It was going to be fine. Definitely going to be fine.

‘Hold on. I got you. I got you.’

“How?!” iTrapped looked down into the abyss below. That was the worst idea he could have possibly had. In fact, he should have NOT looked down. Save the heart attack for an actual killer’s attack instead of a fear of heights. Like any normal person would. Since, well, he was either going to be stuck here with some nice immunity or respawn and get slaughtered. Looks like Doombringer’s prey got away after all. “You’re just a sword. You don’t have wings, and you definitely don’t have teleportation abilities. If you did, it would be… very rude for you to have not told me!”

‘I may not have anything special beyond a debuff, but I have strength in this thing. Hoist yourself up. You should be able to stand on me. Unless you are just a little twink boy who has no strength in those arms of yours.’ Oh fuck right off with that. Bitch. It laughed at him as he started to try and pull himself up. All the strength and adrenaline he could possibly use would be used up right now. Was this cheating? Yeah, maybe, but this was something that happened naturally. If the killers could be overpowered, he could use something to his advantage.

He balanced on the handle. Back against the dirt and rock. Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Everything was going to be all right. Yes, yes, this would definitely work. He just prayed that Doombringer could not fly with those wings. How ironic that he was praying for a god to be limited in power. “I’m scared. I’m scared.”

‘You can be scared. It’s okay. I got you, bud. Just trust me,’ the voice whispered. He felt warm. ‘Just… do not look down. It’s okay. I’m here. You can be scared.’ He could be scared. Yeah. Sure. Everyone was dying. He should be protecting them. He should be up there helping them. Dusekkar was dead. Telamon, him, Elliot, and Taph were the only ones left. 10 minutes on that timer. Low health.

Fuck it.

Immediately, iTrapped planted his toe into the island and pulled the sword out. He was falling. Closed his eyes. Held the sword close to his chest to make sure the gun did not fly out of his front pocket. Kept it close. He had to protect them. He was a sentinel. And he was not going to be useless. He was not going to believe himself to be useless. He was not going to do that to himself. He was not going to listen to self doubt and stop himself. Fell to the spawn point. He gripped the handle with both hands. Shoulders tense. Chin low. He panted and took in a deep breath. “COME AND GET ME YOU LUMBERING FAILURE!”

‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!’

“My job.” iTrapped took a step forward despite how hard his fear tried to push him down. Was he going to die? Sure. But… he looked down at the revolver. He was the luckiest man in the world. A smile crossed his face, and he sighed. “I got this. I got this.”

He narrowly avoided the chain that was launched toward him. He swung his sword down on it, destroying one of the links of the ranged attack. Sure, that would not keep things going well for him, but that gave him some time. He went to swing the sword at Doombringer with a running start, but the fallen god swung his hammer to knock it out of his hands. The god laughed at him. “Look at you! You already lost your weapon!” Doombringer cackled and wiped a tear from under his helmet. “I ALMOST feel bad for you.” He flexed his wings, and electricity built up around his arms.

iTrapped looked back and forth between the Darkheart and Doombringer. He instantly pulled out the revolver from his seemingly infinite pocket and closed one eye. With shaking aim, he shot Doombringer right in the face. The force propelled his arm back and made his ice crown fall off of his head. He kicked the crown into the other’s knee, ran up to Doombringer, smacked him upside the head with the revolver barrel, grabbed the Darkheart, and sprinted away. “ELLIOT!” he shouted. Praying and hoping that the healer would find him before the screaming and complaining killer behind him caught up and killed him. This was NOT going to be okay.

Refused to look down at the sword. How disappointed would his reflection be? Please do not be disappointed. Please do not hate him. Please do not be mad at him. Please still like him and want to help him. ‘Shhh,’ the voice in his head responded, effectively shutting up his thoughts. ‘I trust you. You got this. You got this. Just… keep moving. Make me proud.’ Well, now there was no way he could let it down now.

iTrapped ran until his legs ached. He felt like he was going to vomit. His head hurt. His heart seized in his chest. “Elliot-” he gasped out and looked around. “Eh-Elliot please- where are you? I need you! Elliot?” He panted and struggled to regain his breath. He felt tears well up in his eyes. “Elliot? Telamon? Taph? Guys?” Silent. Only the wind. No guitar beat drop. He put his hand to his arm, sword guarding from any potential attack from that side. “Guys..?”

Footsteps. He turned around and swung his sword at nothing. Oh, gods. He messed up badly. Now he had to wait a whole 80 seconds or so for that cooldown to end. Oh, fuck. He was totally and completely dead now. The chain went into his ribs, pulling out a chunk of costal cartilage from the sheer blunt force and strength used alone. He went to the ground. Stiff. Pain. Pain so great he could not breathe. He cried. 4 health left. He was on his last leg.

Doombringer ripped the sword from iTrapped’s hands and twirled it in his palm for a moment. He looked down at the sentinel with a frown on his face. “Really, I’m quite impressed. A little virus like you managing to slip through the cracks really makes me question my security methods. However, I win.” He stomped on iTrapped’s tailbone. It felt like someone was actively stabbing him in his lower back. “You lose! As it always should go. I made sure the others can’t get you. I have them locked up. You gave me a run for my money, but you stupidly believed you could save them.” He shattered one of the blond’s vertebrae, making him scream and cry. It crunched. He could feel the splinters of his own spine stabbing out of the skin. Involuntary. He did not deserve this. Get away get away PLEASE get away. Move MOVE MOVE. PLEASE. MOVE. PLEASE. MOVE. He could not do it. This was the end. He raised the ban hammer. “You should have stayed and cowered under that island!”

His skull shattered on impact.

—--

iTrapped sat up in bed. Breathing heavy and fast. Tears leaked from his eyes. He felt around his chest and blinked a few times. Wiped his fancy dress shirt sleeve across his nose and forced in a true deep breath. — Wow. He never wanted to see Doombringer again. With that thought, he flopped back down into the mattress. Pulling the sheet over himself, he attempted to go to sleep. There was no getting the tears under control, though. He got into the fetal position and let his salty tears mix with the sweet wool that embraced him. Little did he know that the round had ended right after he died.

Rapid knocks at his bedroom door. He stayed hidden under the covers. He wanted to be alone. He could not be alone. Being alone right now after all of that? No. Not a good reminder of crippling loneliness. Bad time to be reminded of the fact that everyone hated him. The knocking became more urgent. Maybe it was one of the admins. Maybe it was Chance wanting his gun back. He did not have the gun. It was taken away from his hands the moment the match had ended. Naturally. He had no use for it. It was not his revolver after all. It made his hands shake when he looked at it, though. Maybe it had once been his. That would be crazy. It was not like he was related to Chance or anything like that-

‘Keep crying when you open that door. Get up,’ his doppelganger demanded.

iTrapped, in a daze, managed to pull himself out from under the covers. He attempted to wipe away the snot to no avail. Looks like his nose was going to be working overtime. The door was unlocked. They could have gone in at any time. He swung it open. There stood Elliot with Chance behind him carrying an empty bathroom trash can along with a box of tissues. Elliot had a red blanket with cat patterns on it. A really soft looking one. “Elliot?” iTrapped whispered and tensed up with a particularly bad batch of sobbing that threatened to escape him.

“An’ me!” Chance cut in. “The last time we all met Doombringer our first time, we all cried. For diff’rent reasons though.” He put on a grin. “Gonna let us in?” Elliot glared back at them. “Whaaat? I’m just asking. Bein’ a gentleman!” The pizza guy shook his head with an amused smile in return at his rebuttal. “So…?”

“...You two can come in…” iTrapped muttered and stepped away from the door. “I- I’m sorry. I… I’m sorry. You don’t have to be here. I-I-I-I-” his words got caught in his throat, and he kept on gesticulating to try and get the words out. “I. Sorry…”

“Don’t apologize,” Elliot responded and led iTrapped over to the bed and sat down. “Here.” He put the blanket around iTrapped’s shoulder and removed his ice crown. “I’m here for you. We’re here for you.” iTrapped looked at Chance, who was struggling to open the tissue box. They were trying to tear it open with their teeth. What? Elliot was warm, arm around him. That still did not distract him from the other sentinel being there.

“You don’t have to be involved with this, Chance. You can go… I know you…” iTrapped was interrupted by a hiccup and attempted to take a deep breath. “I know you hate me.” His eyes went to the floor, avoiding the look Chance was giving him behind those glasses. “You don’t have to pretend to care about me or anything like that.” He narrowed his eyes when Elliot and Chance exchanged a look of surprise and worry.

Chance set the tissues down on iTrapped’s lap and the trash can next to his leg. “May I sit down?” He kept a smile on his face, but the tone gave away their thoughts. What were the thoughts? iTrapped could not really tell, but Elliot seemed to understand. He encouraged it. So iTrapped let them sit down.

It was quiet at first. It was silent. Kind of awkward. iTrapped could easily focus on Elliot, though. The pizza man had his hand on iTrapped’s waist and was pressed up against him. He had no idea what was going on. He was not focusing. Mind blank. The tears were beginning to dry up. His breathing had evened out. The fact that he had even begun to dissociate from that match told him all that he needed to know. He was weak. They were just taking pity on him. Maybe Chance was here to really show how much they hated him. Maybe Elliot was behind all of this. Despite it all, he wanted to accept it. Being deep in his delusions would do nothing.

Chance intensively inhaled, putting their hands on their knees. “I… at first- when you showed up, iTrapped. I…” he paused before continuing, “panicked.” He removed his sunglasses. Amber eyes. “I thought… at first… rather illogically, that you had retained your memory.. That you knew everything about your past life.” Chance put a hand on their hip, leaned forward, and put their other elbow on their knee. “I thought… maybe… it would be a good idea.. to stop by.. an' visit you to try an' apologize directly for assuming the worst. Because… I thought about it. I thought about the fact that there would be no.. reason for you to pretend if you did actually remember. You could kill me an' ridicule me as much as you wanted to. And… I realized.. When you decided to jump down to protect the others, that you weren’t the same man I thought you were. And… you didn’t have to do that. You WOULDN’T have done that if you really were left unchanged.”

Something lifted in iTrapped’s soul.

“I know it’s only been a day. And maybe.. This is too soon of a judgement… but Eli pulled me aside an' told me that I need to use the smarts that I actually have. And… I also realized that you wouldn’t be the magical exception to all of the amnesia an' personality changes that this place brings. Noob went from confident to a nervous wreck, Elliot went from confident to a struggling wreck, an' I went from a confident man to a nervous wreck.” They lightly chuckled. “And you.. You went from cold an' calculating an'… avoiding your emotions an' issues to.. Someone who speaks your mind, no thoughts, an' this is the first time I’ve ever seen you cry. And it’s only your second day here!” He grinned. “You… also talk to your sword. And… it isn’t controlling you. Like it was before when I knew you.. And I hope it stays this way. Because… well… it.. Means that… I can see who you.. Would have been had that sword not gotten to you first.. And.. yeah. I.. would like to try to find some sort of closure regarding our past.. And.. it would be nice to try again. I missed you, to be honest. I really did miss you, an' for the past couple years I have been in this place, I was.. Thinking about you an'.. What could have been.. Different an'.. Just. I thought about how much of that was actually pretend. It’s hard to fake a lot of that stuff that I automatically assumed was all pretend to you back then.” Chance managed a real, small smile while looking at iTrapped. Both elbows on their knees. Hands together and fidgeting. “And.. normally I wouldn’t do this. My brain is telling me to not do this. Frankly, it’s telling me that this is stupid as shit to do, an' it is telling my heart that I am batshit crazy for doing this. But.. maybe.. Would you like to be.. Uh. How do I put this? Would you like to be part of my life again? Mutual agreement, of course. Up to you.”

“I.. don’t know if I should or not. I don’t want to hurt you; and.. I wish I knew what I did to you, so I could properly make it up to you. I don’t know HOW I would be able to make it up to you, but I would still try.” iTrapped lifted his gaze to look at Chance. “..I.. do want to apologize for.. Scaring you by even being here. And.. I’m sorry. Just.. for everything.”

“How can you say sorry when you don’t even know what you did?” Chance questioned. “And.. besides.. I’d like to see you try your hand at… well… taking an extended hand? Like I said, you don’t have to agree or anything. I just.. Would like to have you back in my life. The real you. Not whatever was given to me before. I know this is a stupid decision in hindsight if anything goes wrong, but at least I won’t be alone in it.” They lightly elbowed iTrapped. The sinking feeling slightly returned. Biting into his heart. “In all seriousness, though, I do want to see you. Like- YOU you. So uh… friends? Sorry. This is so awkward. I’m not exactly the best at being sincere and honest with my words like this. I AM a gambler with a great poker face after all. Yeah. Yup. Just a yes or no, please.”

iTrapped looked down at the box of tissues on his lap, the trash can, and then to Elliot on his left side. The pizza man softly smiled, looking up at him from how he was leaning against him. “They wanted to join us…” Elliot informed the other with a hushed tone and lidded eyes. “Give it a second before you say your answer.”

So he did. He thought about it. For a good minute. It was silent. His mind was giving various ideas. Different cerebrations on what this entire situation was. Was it some sort of weird forced friendship exchange program? Was Chance being genuine? Was someone behind it all?

Did that really matter, though?

Even if someone was behind them coming over, they could have declined. They could have walked in with different intentions. Went against orders. Plus, who in the survivor cabin could possibly have enough sense to somehow manipulate Elliot into getting him involved in some weird scheme? The paranoia made no sense. Sure, it still haunted him and trapped him deep within his own mind, but its control was slipping purely because of how much logic had gone into that initial confession. A logical heart was a safe one.

“...Yes. I would like that,” iTrapped finally answered and made eye contact with Chance.

The gambler smirked. “Oh hell to the yeah, buddy.”