Chapter Text
“No.”
Zacharie really wished The Batter could see the annoyed expression on his face right now because if he could, then he was sure that the man would stop turning down his offers to get on the ride with him and have some sympathy. This was his fourth time asking The Batter to accompany him on the roller coaster within the past five minutes and to be honest, he was near his wits end.
When the taller of the two begun to turn around and walk away, the merchant quickly jumped in front of his path and held his skinny arms out wide, the fluffy, over-sized sweater he wore hung lowly and revealed some of his pasty, boney wrist, then let out his signature chuckle, “Come on, friend. Just this once?” The purifier didn't look moved by his pleading, his face stayed in its normal, stoic expression. Zacharie could not detect any kind of emotion on his face at all. It irritated and excited him all at the same time, The Batter was such a mysterious puppet, yes he was.
“I have already purified this area, there is no need for me to be here any long--” The masked man cut him off before he could finish speaking, “I know, I know! But" Zacharie grabbed The Batter's broad shoulders with some difficulty (his height had always been a bit of a problem in his life) and turned him back around to see the tall roller coaster once more then he spoke up to finish his sentence, “Look at it! Doesn't it look fun?" Zacharie exclaimed, "The Player isn't here right now, so you are free to do what you please. A little fun never hurt anyone, now has it?”
“Get off of me.”
“I'll let you go once you agree to get on the ride with me.” The Batter's shoulders tensed up and Zacharie noticed the grip he had on his trusty baseball bat had gotten tighter, it was clear that the man was ready to take a swing at him and knock his head clean off his shoulders. He should be terrified but he wasn't afraid of The Batter, he never was, and he only laughed once more at the man clad in a baseball uniform.
“....What's in it for me?” He gave a confused look at The Batter but then realized that he could not see his face and spoke, “Well...what do you mean?”
“I mean what the hell do I get out of this?” Ah, so that's what he meant. Of course he wouldn't willingly do anything with you unless he would benefit from it, he mused, The Batter was a very busy man, after all.
He tapped the bottom of his mask in deep thought.
After a few moments he snapped his skinny fingers and let out a hearty cackle, “I'll give you fifty percent off your next bat in my shop.” When The Batter perked up at the offer, he went in for the kill,
“....Deal?”
With a frustrated huff, he nodded, “Deal.”
Zacharie was so excited he could jump around right now but stopped himself from doing so, knowing that doing something like that would throw the other off.
Heh.
Get it? Off?
The petite man simply could not help himself and giggled at his own joke.
What?
It was funny.
The purifier gave him an uneasy expression at the sudden laughter, “What is so funny?” The shorter man jumped lightly at the deep voice and quickly snapped out of it, he almost forgot that the man was still there with him.
“Oh, nothing. Follow me, mon cher.” Zacharie then stepped aside and skipped towards the long white staircase that seemed to go on forever and ever into the plain white sky. He stopped at the first step to look over his shoulder to make sure that The Batter didn't chicken out on their deal and try to sneak away. The man was still here but he was taking his sweet time to catch up, much to the merchant's annoyance.
“Pick up the pace, will you?” He asked politely. The Batter rose a blonde eyebrow at him and kept up with his slow pace until he towered over Zacharie.
“Well? Let's get this over with.”
“Oh, don't be like that, amigo. We're going to have lots of....fun.” The Batter did not like the way the other had paused for a moment and said the word 'fun', it was almost as if he purred out the word that way on purpose. Tiny blond hairs on the back of his neck stood up at the word and The Batter felt something odd bubble in the pit of his belly.
Shrugging the foreign feeling away, he followed the merchant up the long, narrow stairs with caution, hand always wrapped tightly around the hilt of his weapon and ready at anytime, just in case the mischievous masked man tried anything funny and Oh did Zacharie have something funny up his sleeve, yes he did. Once the two of them finally made it to the top, Zacharie quickly advanced towards the white karts and looked at the pure white tracks that slowly begun to descend. Out of the corner of his mask, he saw the cheap bat The Batter had sold to him when he got an upgraded one, he lodged the worn weapon between the one of the many tracks and left it there on purpose, it was all apart of his plan.
With a hidden grin, the masked man hopped inside the very first kart and got himself situated then patted the empty seat next to him, "Well, come on in, Batter."
The man looked extremely suspicious and the merchant swallowed almost nervously as The Batter searched his surroundings with caution, the petite man was worried that the other would catch on to his trap and try to kill him but he quickly shook that silly thought away. Even if The Batter did find out what he was scheming, he would never attempt to kill him because Zacharie knew that The Batter needed him and the amazing items in his amazing shop.
With reluctance, The Batter stepped inside the kart, lowering the metal bar till he heard a soft 'click!' and leaned back with tense shoulders, he shuffled around until he felt like he was relaxed enough, held onto the cool bar and stared straight ahead out into the white nothingness that was the sky.
When the ride started moving along the wooden tracks slowly, Zacharie started chuckling and clapped his hands twice, "Ohh, dear Batter, this is going to be so. much. fun."
Alarmed at the tone in Zacharie's voice, The Batter looked over to his right and felt his heart stutter for a moment; the sneaky little bastard wasn't strapped in.
Fuck.