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Matt sat on his bed, staring at a picture of his, now dead, best friend. Well, not just him. It was a photo of him, Guest, and Daisy, all playing Super Smash Bros back in the good days. Back when none of them had to worry about the Bacon Army, back when Guest and Daisy would send childish crush-letters to each other 'secretly', back when Matt would get his ass kicked in Mario Kart and hate himself until he forgot about it just a few hours later. Yeah, those were the good times. Before the war. Matt sighed, the memory of ringing in his ears as Guest was trying to say something to him coming back like a brick to the head. The horrible reminders didn't stop there. He remembered how that other girl saved him from death, he remembered when he first heard about the explosion, and of course, the memorial. The giant gold statue depicting the last remanence of his existence. The last remanence of Guests as a whole, even.
Sighing again, Matt forced himself to put the picture back on his bedside table and held back sobs of regret. No more of that 'if only'. He had things to do. And with that, he stood up and went to go brush his teeth. The distant ghost of his friend seemingly following him, as Matt thought. Maybe he would've been proud of him for making it out of that mess. Maybe he would've been angry. All Matt could hear now was the toothbrush and his thoughts.
"Be strong," He told himself. "Always be strong." Those words felt like a punch to the gut. But he needed them. God, when was he going to stop thinking about him? Whatever. They joined the army together, he should've expected this. Fighting with firearms and other dangerous weapons always resulted in someone's death. More thoughts like these pondered in Matt's mind as he finished brushing his teeth and headed for his bed again. Sighing once more, he tucked himself in and flicked off his lamp. As he drifted off to sleep, one thing remained in his mind above all else: maybe one of these days he'd be able to get over it.
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He awoke to someone prodding and poking at his side. Dammit, had he slept in again? He grunted and hesitantly opened his eyes. He didn't recognise the person crouching above him, that was the first thing he noticed. The second thing he noticed was he was in the middle of nowhere! Matt shot up, almost hitting the stranger in the head. He immediately started looking around frantically, trying to piece together that the hell was going on. He was in between a stone wall and a large rock that towered to the sky, beyond the fence was a graveyard with chipped and cracked stones. The stranger, meanwhile, was trying to get his attention.
"Hey! Don't panic, you're safe!.. For now-" The stranger spoke, taking their time to peak beyond the fence as well. Matt stared at him for a little while. Yellow hair, red visor and uniform... Odd outfit for a place like this. Matt then realised he was in his military uniform. Sure, it was a little more fitting for a situation like this, but he didn't fall asleep in this! ...Or did he? He wasn't sure anymore. Despite the stranger's calming words, Matt still felt himself panicking. He didn't know where the hell he was or what he was doing here. Had he been kidnapped? By who? And why? The stranger spoke once again.
"Anyways, let me introduce myself first. I'm Elliot." He held out a hand to shake and Matt took it, still awkwardly staring.
"I'm uhh- I'm Matt, nice to meet you." He was still desperate for an explanation, and as if reading his mind, Elliot started to explain... Sort of?
"I found you unconscious out there and thought I'd take you somewhere under cover. Thankfully you had no injuries! It would've gotten real messy if Jason had found you!" The cheerful voice just made the whole thing even more confusing. Matt tilted his head.
"Jason?" The next response was instant.
"He's some guy trying to kill us. Not sure why but it's best to avoid him if you can." Matt tensed up upon hearing that. A murderer? God, he was so fucking happy this guy found him when he did. He didn't want to imagine waking up to someone trying to stab him or something. Elliot grabbed a radio that was attached to his belt and spoke to it, giving Matt the motion to be quiet.
"Shed? Yeah, that guy finally woke up. How are you going over near the mansion, by the way?"
"Bad news, I can't find Jason. I was sure he was chasing me but he must've lost interest. Just stay where you are for a bit, I don't want you to get killed." Another unfamiliar voice. He'd have to ask later, this situation was too much for a guy that had just woken up. Elliot and the other guy were still talking over the radio, so Matt decided to look around some more. He peered over the fence again to look for any details. There was a generator with a bright green light nearby, a lake beyond the graveyard, and... who was that? Matt squinted to try get a better focus. There was a masked man near the entrance of the graveyard with a machete in his hand. He was looking directly at Matt. It took him a minute, but then he saw the man sprinting over to him and immediately realised this was probably the aforementioned Jason. He scrambled to face Elliot again.
"He's here! He saw me!" He almost screamed at the poor man. Elliot seemed to get the hint. He grabbed the other's hand and started sprinting as fast as he could, zooming past the graveyard faster than he could comprehend. For someone in a shitty uniform, he could run pretty fast. Soon, the speed wore off and he fell back into a normal pace. But Jason was still after them. He was catching up, even! He was getting far too close for comfort. Without a second thought, Matt let go of Elliot to face him, shoving the killer to stop him in his tracks. Elliot also stopped, yelling out for Matt to get out of there. But Matt didn't listen.
"Go on, throw one at me!" He taunted. Jason did, trying to stab him with that machete, but Matt blocked the slash and delivered a nasty punch to his face. Jason let out a hollow scream and held his face. Matt took this opportunity to run as fast as he could, taking Elliot with him. They soon found themselves stopping behind a... house? Mansion? Doesn't matter. As the duo huffed and took their moment of rest, another stranger approached them. They spoke, and Matt recognised the voice from the radio.
"I saw that punch! Nice one, newbie, I totally would've blew my stun if I was you!" Matt couldn't reply, only give a shaky thumbs up. The truth was, he was scared as hell. Being chased by a serial killer isn't the most relaxing thing in the world.
"Anyways, we can start going back now. I managed to snag a few medkits while you two were being chased by the way." The man spoke again. Elliot groaned.
"And you didn't think to try save us instead?"
"I was too far away!"
"Oh, please." The two started laughing and joking, leaving Matt with the little chunks of context he could get. But the two quickly finished up and started walking, both signalling for Matt to follow, which he did. They took a hidden exit and kept up the chatter. Matt simply followed behind, trying to catch up with what the hell just happened.
"So, who's on house duty again?" Elliot asked the stranger.
"Two Time, if I remember correctly." He replied. Matt still stayed behind, but this time he finally spoke up.
"Sorry but- uhm- who are you? I never really got a proper introduction." Matt awkwardly laughed and the stranger nodded.
"Right, I'm Shedletsky! Sorry I didn't say anything before, uhhh..."
"Matt."
"Matt! Cool, cool. Say, your name is actually pretty familiar."
"Didn't Guest talk about someone with that name?" That comment from Elliot made Matt freeze. Guest? But he was dead! No, they have to be talking about someone else.
"Guest? What's his number?" Matt needed to be sure. This had to be some kind of coincidence. The two pondered for a moment before Shedletsky spoke up.
"1337, isn't it?" Elliot nodded in response. Matt could only stare at nothing while his thoughts went wild.
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It wasn't long before the trio arrived at 'the house' as they said. It certainly looked like a house, a very big one at that. Surrounding it were several smaller huts, looking a lot less intimidating than the main one. Elliot and Shedletsky confidently walked up to the front door and loudly knocked at it. Matt followed them, but stayed behind. He saw someone look at them through a window, then retreat and open the door. They seemed a lot... stranger... than the others. They had messy black hair, fingerless gloves, and a t-shirt with some weird symbol on it. They gasped with delight as soon as they saw Matt.
"A new member! Welcome to our humble home! May The Spawn bring you peace and prosperity, dear friend!" They grabbed Matt's hands and shook them violently. He didn't really understand anything he said, but he acted friendly enough. Elliot, Shedletsky, and Matt all shared an awkward smile directed at... What was their name again? Two Time? Yeah, Two Time.
"The other party will be arriving soon, we must prepare!" Two Time spoke again and ran back inside the house. Elliot and Shedletsky followed, motioning for Matt to join them. As he awkwardly shuffled along, he tried his best to take in every detail of the space. A fireplace with cosy couches, a bunch of different tables near the back, and an upstairs area Two Time was currently running around on. Shedletsky rushed over to the tables while Elliot took one of the couches.
"As much as I love the company, it feels so nice to not have everyone here." Elliot sighed.
"Tell me about it! Chance makes everything 10 times louder with his rants." Shedletsky replied, walking to Elliot with some fried chicken and pizza. Must've been stored near those tables. Matt decided to walk over to them. It would be nice to get some more information on this place, or at least just have a peaceful, uninterrupted talk. As he got to the two, Shedletsky held out a piece of the fried chicken, offering it. Matt shook his head and Shedletsky shrugged and took a big bite out of it. Meanwhile, Elliot grabbed a slice of pizza and started to eat as well.
"So, what is this place exactly?" Matt awkwardly asked.
"It's just where we live. It's not much, but we make it work." Shedletsky responded.
"And how many other people are here?" Matt asked another question.
"Well, there's us, Guest, Noob, Builderman, Chance, and... ugh... 007n7..." Elliot switched his cheery persona to a disgusted one when that last person was mentioned. Shedletsky chuckled.
"You just can't let it go, can you?"
"Don't get me started." The two started bickering again while Matt watched. He found himself smiling at the friendly atmosphere, despite the arguing. Even when they almost died, they still make light out of it. He could respect that. He heard the front door open and almost fell back from shock. It was Guest at the door.
"Matt?"
"Guest!" Matt ran to him and almost toppled him over with a hug. Both fell into joyous sobs and ignored everyone else's confusion. All the hugs and cries in the world couldn't express their happiness at just seeing each other again.