Why are people looking at my dad in a weird way...?

by Anonymous

Summary:

C00lkidd has noticed a lot of people taking an interest in his dad lately and isn't happy about it, especially as he doesn't get to spend a lot of time with his dad himself these days.

Chapter 1: Evil pizza boy

Summary:

Why is that evil boy who's always been so mean to his dad suddenly being nicer to him...?

C00lkidd's dad is the coolest dad in the whole wide world, he just knows it! He makes him tasty food, teaches him cool hacks and plays tag and hide and seek nearly everyday! The only thing that could make his dad even better is if C00lkidd got to spend more time with him, he did miss his dad an awful lot lately (there was only so much uncle Noli and all his cool friends could do as well).

That is why C00lkidd always went looking for his dad first when they played tag. He was just too excited to see him again, he just wanted to run right up to him and give him the biggest hug of them all! He just wished his dad didn't get so tired every time he wrapped his arms around him.

But C00lkidd has been noticing something lately…

That evil pizza boy who used to yell at him a lot has been spending more time with his dad lately. They used to never go anywhere near each other, and that evil pizza boy used to keep denying his dad the good food, but now he doesn't seem to mind getting closer to his dad.

"Here," The evil pizza boy said to his dad, pulling his attention away from the machine he was working on. "I saw you using a clone to body-block C00lkidd from killing Noob, so you deserve a slice." He handed the freshly prepared slice of pizza to 007n7. 007n7, for his part, looked extremely surprised by the nice gesture, and looked almost embarrassed when taking the pizza.

C00lkidd wishes his dad wouldn't make so many fake-dads, but then the game wouldn't be as fun as it was!

"O-oh, uhm, thank you, Elliot…" 007n7 replies bashfully, letting the magic food heal his injuries.

"Don't mention it," Elliot says, turning away from the ex-hacker. "But keep being useful and maybe, just maybe, more good things will come your way." He flashes 007n7 a small smile before leaving the man to finish working on his generator.

007n7's face flushes a light shade of red, before he shakes his head quickly and returns to work.

There's something about the pizza boy's tone that C00lkidd doesn't like; he pouts as he watches the evil pizza boy leave the area, finding himself torn between chasing after him and roughing him up a bit and giving his dad the biggest hug of his life.

"Dad!" C00lkidd exclaims, deciding that the evil pizza boy was not worth losing precious moments with his dad over.

"Ah!" 007n7 exclaims, promptly jumping off the machine. He didn't have enough time to deploy a clone before C00lkidd has him in his arms and in the air.

"I gotcha!" C00lkidd exclaims victoriously, a great big grin on his face. Usually this was the moment for a big hug, but instead C00lkidd just holds his dad out in front of him. His smile slowly falls down into a steady frown. "Why was that evil pizza boy talking to you? I thought he was evil!"

"O-oh, Elliot?" 007n7 replies, nervously laughing. C00lkidd has never heard him address the evil pizza boy by name before, and now he's heard in twice in one day! Something must be wrong! "He was- he was just bringing me something to eat. I'm very hungry after you chased me…"

Oh! Of course! They've been playing tag for a while, so of course his dad is getting hungry! And he must be really, really hungry if he is risking interacting with the evil pizza boy.

"But he's evil!" C00lkidd still protests. "He might yell at you again!"

C00lkidd pulls his dad in for a big hug. 007n7, for a good few seconds, expects for his bones to be crushed and his life to be snuffed away once more. Fortunately, the bone crushing is only mild this time, not fatal.

"W-well, we've actually been getting along a lot better lately!" 007n7 confesses. "He's been a lot nicer lately, and we've been spending some time together."

"What!?" C00lkidd exclaims in disbelief.

This can't be possible! How come the evil pizza boy gets to spend time with his dad and he barely can!? It's not fair!

It has to be a plot. An evil plot by an evil pizza boy. He's trying to pull his dad away from him! Because he's evil!

"Yeah, Elliot has even been showing me how to cook- though I'm not very good at it. Perhaps I can try and bring you something next time." 007n7 continues.

"No!- Bring me pizza- but no! You shouldn't spend time with him, he's evil!"

"Kidd, he's actually not that-"

"Nooooo! He's already brainwashed you! I have to stop him!" C00lkidd screams before dropping his dad to the ground and run at full speed down the way the evil pizza boy had gone.

007n7 can't help but worry that he might have (somehow) inadvertently caused Elliot a lot of grief.

He'll just have to try and make it up to him later.

Chapter 2: Nefarious soldier man

Summary:

The evil pizza boy's minion is plotting something nefarious!

The evil pizza boy kept getting away and it was making C00lkidd mad! How could he save his dad from the evil pizza boy's evil scheme if he couldn't beat up the evil pizza boy!

He needed to save his dad from brainwashing, he was the only one who could do it!

But evil pizza boy had accomplices. Of course he did. That nefarious soldier man was always there to save the evil pizza boy whenever C00lkidd tried to get to him. Why did everyone want to protect that evil pizza boy anyway? The pizza can't be that good, can it?

Regardless, C00lkidd quickly came to realise that if he wanted to take down the evil pizza boy, he was gonna have to take out the nefarious soldier man. A mini boss before the final boss, as Bluudud had put it.

It was on one of his many hunts of the nefarious soldier man that he found out just how nefarious he could really be.

C00lkidd found the nefarious soldier man standing a top of the mountain in the glass houses area, surveying the area. Of course, being the expert little sneak that he was (or so he claimed to be), C00lkidd was able to sneak up to the top undetected. This was too easy, he was going to be able to take out the nefarious soldier man with such ease! And then it would be the evil pizza boy's turn!

"Hmm…" The nefarious soldier man hummed to himself, his eyesight suddenly fixated on something in the middle of the field.

Curious, C00lkidd turned to see what the nefarious soldier man was looking at.

It was his dad! He was hunched over, working away silently on one of those generators all by himself.

"I should take out 007n7 on a date…" The nefarious soldier man remarks to himself, face turning redder each second he continued to look down at the over man.

Oh no! Oh no, no, no, no, no! He was- he was- he was planning to take out his dad! No! He knew it! He knew the nefarious soldier man was nefarious! And now he just openly said he was going to kill his dad! C00lkidd couldn't let this happen!

Before the nefarious soldier man could even consider doing anything, C00lkidd had walk-speed right into him.

"Gotcha!" C00lkidd shouts victoriously, not that it didn't stop the nefarious soldier man from jumping off the cliff and fleeing.

C00lkidd should give chase!

Or…!

"Daaaad!" C00lkidd shouted, jumping off the cliff himself, but instead of running after the nefarious soldier man, he ran straight to his father. "Don't hide, it's important!"

He had to warn him! C00lkidd couldn't always be around to protect him. Even if he didn't believe him about the evil pizza boy, he could at least try to convince him of the nefarious soldier man.

"Uh, Kidd? What is it?" 007n7 asks, quickly getting to his feet, just in case he needed to run at a moments notice. He didn't think he'd need to, C00lkidd doesn't usually announce himself like this, so he was a little curious as to what his son wanted.

"Your life is in danger!" C00lkidd exclaims loudly, grabbing his dad by both his arms, with a sense of urgency that 007n7 had never seen in the child before.

"Uh, isn't it always…?" 007n7 says with a low, some-what bitter chuckle. To think, the main 'danger' in this place right now was standing right before him, warning him of danger.

"Yeah, but, that nefarious soldier man is plotting to kill you!" C00lkidd urges.

"Nefarious- do you mean Guest 1337? Why do you think he's plotting to kill me?" 007n7 asks, bewildered by C00lkidd's statement. Guest has been the nicest person to him for the longest time, it seems so farfetched for him to secretly be plotting his demise…

"I heard him! He was talking about taking you out!" C00lkidd shouts.

"What!?" 007n7 exclaims. The concept doesn't sound like Guest at all, but the seriousness of C00lkidd's tone would lead 007n7 to believe that C00lkidd was not lying or making this up. His son truly believed that Guest was plotting to kill him.

"Yeah! I heard him! He was trying to decide on a date to do it on!" C00lkidd continues.

"You… certain about this…?" 007n7 asks nervously. The idea that he couldn't even trust the man he thought he could trust the most amongst the survivors left him feeling vulnerable, and very alone.

"Mhm! He's trying to kill you!" C00lkidd reaffirms.

"I… see. Well, thank you for the warning, Kidd." 007n7 says, lightly patting his son on the head.

C00lkidd beams with pride. His dad actually believed him! He was going to save his dad from being taken out by that nefarious soldier man. Now all he needs to do is find a way to foil that evil pizza boy's plot…

In the meantime, 007n7 was going to have to try and find out if there was any truth to the things that C00lkidd was saying… and be very careful about the company he keeps.

Chapter 3: Awesome 1x1x1x1...?

Summary:

C00lkidd wants to give his dad a gift, to prove he loves him lots and lots.

C00lkidd was back at the base where he and a bunch of others were staying. He wished he could live with his dad, at least then he'd be able to look out for him 24/7, especially now knowing the mortal danger he was in…

His amazing plan for trying to break the brainwashing the evil pizza boy did on his dad was to draw him a picture, one that would remind his dad of who all the cool people in the world really are. C00lkidd was just putting the finishing touches on his drawing now.

"Move." The sharp voice of 1x1x1x1 cuts above him. C00lkidd had, in fairness decided to lie on the floor, right in the middle of a doorway as he coloured in his drawing.

"I'm almost done…!" C00lkidd replies without looking at him, tongue slightly poking out the side of his mouth as he concentrated harder on his drawing. It had to be perfect.

"What meaningless task do you happen to be doing?" 1x asks, evident disgruntlement in her tone. They try stepping around the child, but his large form makes it difficult.

"I'm drawing a picture of all the cool people I know!" C00lkidd exclaims, sitting up and turning to face 1x, holding the now finished drawing up to the other killer. "See! It has me, you, mr Doe, mr Mafio, uncle Noli, mr- Hey!"

1x1x1x1 snatched the drawing out of the child's hand, staring down at the crude drawing that C00lkidd had just finished.

"Why have you committed the likeness of one of them in here?" 1x asks, turning the page back to C00lkidd, and taping the paper with a sharp finger, right over the drawing of 007n7.

"That's my dad! He's the coolest of you all! I love him lots!" C00lkidd announces proudly. He reaches up to try and grab his drawing back, but 1x still keeps it away from him.

"You… 'love' your creator?" 1x remarks with a level of disgust that C00lkidd had never heard before, like a such a concept was such a foul and foreign concept to it. "…Why?"

"Because he's awesome! Like you! And he's really nice, and I don't get to see him a lot lately, and I miss him lots…" C00lkidd can feel tears brimming at the corners of his eyes and he doesn't want that. It would be embarrassing to cry over missing his dad in front of someone as cool as 1x. "So I'm drawing him a picture!"

"And you think this pathetic token of your love for your creator will stop him from abandoning you?" 1x asks. C00lkidd doesn't understand why 1x is being so mean- meaner than they usually are towards him at least.

"Hey! My dad hasn't abandoned me! He's just… spending a lot of time with other people right now!"

"Hmph, keep telling yourself that." 1x Scoffs before turning to walk away from C00lkidd.

"Actually, 1x, you're going to meet with the others next, right?" C00lkidd calls up to him, stopping them in their tracks.

"Possibly. Why?" 1x responds, turning her crimson gaze back down upon the child. The hard stare would be enough to make anyone back down. But not C00lkidd.

"Could you, maybe, give that to my dad for me? I want him to get it as soon as possible." C00lkidd requests quietly, but still loud enough for 1x to hear.

"You want me to deliver a token of your love to your creator?"

"…Please?" C00lkidd tries. His dad used to tell him to remember his please and thank yous more, not that C00lkidd always did.

"No." 1x responds coldly, before continuing on his way.

"H-hey! Give me back my drawing then!" C00lkidd hops to his feet and runs after 1x, but they simply ignore the child, even slamming the door to their room shut on C00lkidd.

How mean! Now C00lkidd is gonna have to make a new drawing! And their colours are running low too…

"You. Creator of the red child."

007n7 had found himself the last man standing and very much cornered by 1x1x1x1. He had tried to use his c00lgui to escape, but that was swiftly brought to an end when an entanglement hit him square in the chest.

He thought it was over for him the moment 1x had closed the distance between the two of them, but the swift yet painful death he had expected had somehow been replaced by those words.

"M-me?" 007n7 replies, terror evident in his tone. In his body too, he couldn't stop trembling.

"You are the creator of C00lkidd, are you not?" 1x asks, his foot tapping out an impatient rhythm.

"Uh, yeah, I suppose you could call me that…" Whilst not C00lkidd's 'creator' in the conventional sense, 007n7 was very much the one C00lkidd called dad; that had to be what 1x was referring to.

With a grunt, 1x1x1x1 tossed something in 007n7's direction; the man flinches away on instinct, expecting it to attack him.

The thing that collides with 007n7's chest is way to soft and non-lethal to be an attack. Confused, 007n7 looks down to see what had now landed in his lap.

The colourful paper was scrunched up somewhat, making the image on it hard to see, though 007n7 could make out the familiar appearance of Noli on it. Carefully, wordlessly, 007n7 reaches down and picks the piece of paper up, unfurling it to reveal its full picture.

'Me and my cool friends and cool family' was scruffy written at the top of the page, in handwriting that 007n7 was very familiar with. Beneath it was the smiling likeness of C00lkidd, himself and all the other killers.

"What-?" 007n7 began.

"A token of affection," 1x responds, which left 007n7 feeling very confused until he clarified by adding "From your creation."

"O-oh, right, of course!" 007n7 quickly responds with a nervous laugh. He gulps down a load of nerves before continuing. "But… why? I- I mean, why are you bringing this to me, and not C00lkidd?"

"He wanted you to have it swiftly, and pleaded for me to deliver." 1x explains.

"Well, thank you, 1x… tell C00lkidd I love the drawing." 007n7 says, flashing a small, earnest smile in 1x's direction.

The gesture… confuses her. It's not something people who face the manifestation of hatred usually do. Aside from the naive innocence of the child, he hasn't seen a smile that doesn't hold any malice in a long time.

"Oh, actually, could you do me a favour…" 1x glares down at the man, and the audacity of him. 007n7 shrinks away under the look, but he's already started talking so he might as well finish. "C-could you take this to C00lkidd?" The man reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small foil packet, holding it up to 1x. "I made him some pizza to eat- made it myself, for once- and, uhm, yeah…" The longer 1x looks at 007n7, the more he wants to shrivel up into a ball and disappear.

1x's gaze remains firm on 007n7, but no words leave their mouth. 007n7 has no idea if she'll actually follow through with the request, or just stab him dead and be done with it.

"You… really care for your creation, don't you?" 1x eventually says, slowly snatching the foil packet out of 007n7's hand.

"Yes, of course. C00lkidd's… my everything…"

"…"

1x doesn't say anything, just looks down at the man.

"Uh, make sure C00lkidd takes it out of the foil before heating it!"

That is the last thing 007n7 is able to say to 1x before the round ends, and he finds himself back at the survivors cabin.

Notes:

Hoping in the future to add Shedletsky, Mafioso and Two Time to 007n7's accidental harem in the future lmao. Will anyone actually be able to un-single the father, or will C00lkidd just push everyone away? Who knows!

Chapter 4: Helpful Mafioso...?

Summary:

C00lkidd continues to recruit people to help him save his dad. This is totally not gonna back fire on him, or anyone for that matter.

Notes:

Bruh Mafioso's intro was gonna be so long because it has to cover multiple plot points so I'm spitting it in half, so the next chapter is gonna be the actual 007n7 and Mafioso introduction (I might finish it later today, or tomorrow).

When 1x1x1x1 returned from playing with those other people, C00lkidd had not expected her to approach him, nor did he expect them to deposit something down on his lap.

"What's this?" C00lkidd asks, holding up the small foil package in wonder.

"A token of your creator's affection." 1x replies before promptly stomping out the room. He doesn't stay to see how C00lkidd's eyes light up brighter than they have done in a while.

He had a present from dad!

C00lkidd was quick to unwrap the foil.

"Pizza!" C00lkidd exclaims happily, staring down at the delicious slice in his hands. "Pizza! Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!"

C00lkidd kept chanting that singular word over and over as he promptly ran to the kitchen with his present. He skids to a halt in front of the microwave, flings it open and shoves the foil package inside before hitting a few numbers and turning it on.

"Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!" C00lkidd continues to chant as he stares, face close to the window, watching his pizza get heated up.

Someone really should have taught C00lkidd to not put a metal foil in a microwave…

He thought that the weird sparks were just what happened when you heat something up in a microwave.

It was fortunate that someone happened to be near by, and heard the noise coming from the kitchen.

"Kid, what are you doing!?" Mafioso shouts, yanking C00lkidd out the way and turning off the microwave. Personally he never needed the microwave for meals, but that didn't mean he could just risk it burning down the kitchen.

Mafioso removes the foil packet out of the microwave; that act in itself seemed to annoy C00lkidd more than the man violently pulling him.

"Hey! That's mine! Give it back!" C00lkidd protests, reaching over to snatch it back.

Mafioso does not return the packet; instead, he wordlessly opens it to reveal its contents: a single slice of pizza. The edges were a bit overdone and the toppings, a mixture of chicken and pepper, had barely adhered into the cheese and might have been added as an after thought, but other than the novice-level of cooking skill involved it did seem to have a lot of effort put into it.

Effort that might now be ruined by the slight metallic burn taste it would have acquired from C00lkidd trying to heat it up in the foil.

"The boys have plenty of left over pizza if you really wanted pizza." Mafioso remarks, placing the slice of pizza onto a microwaveable plate- without the foil- before returning it to C00lkidd.

"But my dad made me this one!" C00lkidd replies cheerfully, placing the plate back in the microwave to finish heating the slice up.

"Your father?" Mafioso says, more to himself.

Mafioso knew that C00lkidd's father was somewhere in these forsaken place as well, he made a point to collect information on all the people he was forced to live with… and all the foes he was meant to hunt down. Aside from being a former exploiter and infamous hacker, he hadn't really thought much of C00lkidd's father; he owed the mafia no debts and didn't actively pose a problem when facing off against them, so he was of little priority to the mafia.

With a loud ding, the pizza was heated up. C00lkidd spared not even a single second before he shoved the entire thing into his mouth, seemingly unfazed by the smoking heat of the slice. With way fewer chews than he should have taken, C00lkidd swallows his food, licking his mouth happily.

"So yummy…!" C00lkidd says dreamily, lost in a pizza-based bliss, despite it only spending mere seconds in his mouth.

"Sure it is, kid." Mafioso replies, turning away from the uncouth display from the child.

"I should make dad another present! Maybe make him some food too!" His happy attitude suddenly sours a little as the next thought forms. "So he doesn't have to keep eating that evil pizza boy's food…"

'Evil pizza boy'? There is only one person in the survivors group who could match that description, but Mafioso wouldn't know why C00lkidd deemed him 'evil'.

Oh well. Not a problem for him.

"Uhm, mr Mafio?" C00lkidd suddenly calls to him, right as Mafioso was about to leave.

"What is it now?" He asks, not bothering to hide his annoyance.

"Could you help me make a pasta bake?" C00lkidd asks, innocently unaware of the annoyance from the other as he looks at him expectantly.

"A pasta bake? Why?" Mafioso asks as he turns back round to face C00lkidd.

"My dad used to make pasta bakes lots and lots when I was younger! And they were really yummy! So, if I make him on to eat, he'll remember me more!" C00lkidd explains, before adding in a much lower tone: "And forget about that evil pizza boy…" He even did a little fist clench when he said it. So dramatic.

Realistically, Mafioso wanted to turn down the child. It was a pathetic waste of his time, especially when he had his own business to attend to.

But then a thought occurred: C00lkidd, despite being only a child, was extremely powerful. A real force to be reckoned with. And his father, whilst unassuming now, surely had some exploiting skills hidden somewhere in that head of his. If the people trapped inside this world ever escaped, it could be quite beneficial to Mafioso's family to have such people on his side.

He could call this a networking opportunity.

"Alright, kid, I'll help you."

"Yaaay!" C00lkidd cheers, punching the air in joy.

Of all the things Mafioso, and his goons for that matter, had been expecting to do today, helping C00lkidd make a pasta bake was not one of them. It was a lot harder than it needed to be too, because C00lkidd, being a kid and all, just couldn't keep his hands to himself and constantly needed to be touching something.

And then it got even harder.

Bluudud smelt the sweet smell of cooking pasta and wanted in on the action, talking about how he should make a pasta-based gift for his mom too.

"No! This was my idea! Get your own!" C00lkidd had protested, but nothing deterred Bluudud from joining the group in the kitchen.

And then… there was… the blue incident…

When it came to choosing how to flavour the pasta and what fillings to put in, C00lkidd declared that he wanted his pasta to be red like him. Simple. Easy. Tomato sauce exists for a reason and is commonly used pasta meals. Mafioso was able to show C00lkidd how to make a homemade pasta sauce with much ease.

Bluudud on the other hand declared he wanted his pasta to be blue like him.

There was… limited ingredients in the kitchen that could meet this requirement, but Bluudud, ever the creative kid, came up with a simple, easy solution.

Blue food colouring. Lots of it.

In the pasta water, marinating any meat, in the cheese sauce he wanted to do with it. Everything. Was. Blue. Mafioso couldn't even tell what he was looking at as Bluudud and C00lkidd put their pasta in the oven to bake.

It didn't look much better when it came out.

As the two children portioned their pastas off, one half into a tupperware box to send to their respective parent and the other onto a dish for their own consumption, there was only one that looked like it was going to be edible. The other looked like animal snot.

C00lkidd and Bluudud both turned to the mafia leader and his goons, proudly presenting the dishes they had made.

"Tada!" C00lkidd exclaims, proud of his pasta. "What do you think, mr Mafio?"

C00lkidd's pasta bake, though very simple, was done to a good standard.

"Look's good, kid." Mafioso replies with a small, approving nod. It was all C00lkidd needed to start beaming from ear to ear.

"Yeah, well, mines clearly better!" Bluudud says, proudly displaying his pasta creation.

Mafioso doesn't even want to look at it; the blue monstrosity which could barely be considered food looks as if it could jump alive at any moment.

"Do you want to try some?" C00lkidd asks Mafioso, holding the plate closer towards the man.

"Alright." Mafioso responds, picking the fork up of the plate and taking a generous bite of C00lkidd's pasta bake.

A bit under seasoned, and a little heavy on the sauce (C00lkidd really wanted that red colour) but other than that it was a decent attempt, especially from a child.

"You did good, kid." Mafioso says, wiping a little bit of sauce off of his mouth with a napkin. C00lkidd might have cheered if he wasn't still holding his pasta plate.

"You gotta try mine now!" Bluudud says, shoving C00lkidd out of the way (and spilling a couple bits of pasta to the floor) so he can shove the blue plate into Mafioso's face.

There… was no way in hell that Mafioso was going to eat that atrocity.

"Sorry, kid, I'm feeling very full now…" Mafioso 'laments' before turning towards his goons. "Perhaps one of the boys would be willing to give it a taste test?"

Bluudud turns expectantly towards the rest of the mafia group, who all look a bit like deer caught in headlights now. The four of them look between each other wordlessly and, after a while, it is Soldier who decides to take one for the team and step forwards to try Bluudud's pasta.

With a miraculously steady hand, Soldier takes the fork from Bluudud's plate, and takes a small scoop of pasta from Bluudud's plate.

"Hey! Your boss man took a bigger lot from C00lkidd's plate, you need more!" Bluudud snaps, grabbing Soldier's hand and forcing it to scoop more pasta onto the fork.

Mafioso made a mental note to give Soldier a raise after this.

When the fork made it to Soldier's mouth, there was a couple seconds of apprehension before he finally closed his mouth around the fork.

The grimace on his face was all Mafioso needed to see to know he dodged a bullet with that one.

An eternity later, and Soldier was finally able to swallow it.

"Well? Come on, man! Drop me a comment!" Bluudud impatiently demands.

"It…" Soldier could not come up with a single positive thing to say about it. The taste was simply bizarre. "I'm sure your mother will like it." Soldier is eventually able to say; it was enough to placate Bluudud at the very least.

"Yes!" Bluudud exclaims, running off with his plate. "I gotta share my recipe with my viewers!"

C00lkidd sits down to finish eating his share of his pasta, whilst Soldier promptly excuses himself to the bathroom.

His dad is just gonna love this!

Chapter 5: Helpful Mafioso...? (Continued)

Summary:

Hey! I actually finished it!

The survivors found themselves standing in Yorick's resting place and immediately went to work. Most went off looking for generators, some worked on setting up defences, and for someone like Shedletsky, he went off on killer patrol.

The announcement said that it was C00lkidd, which concerned the former admin a little. That child had been starting to act weirdly lately- weirder than usual at the very least. He'd heard from the other survivors that he seemed to be targeting Elliot, Guest 1337 and his own father a lot more than usual lately and Shedletsky wanted to know why. Killers changing their behaviours could be a problem, and lead to unwanted surprises.

C00lkidd, however, seemed to be no where to be seen, despite the fact Elliot was present on the field. No one had reported taking any damage, and the machines were all steadily getting fixed.

Where could that child be…?

Shedletsky heard a strange sobbing from the large house, and chose to investigate. Someone might actually be hurt.

But upon entering, it wasn't an injured survivor that was making the pitiful noise, but the killer who was supposed to be hunting them. He was sat, legs spread, on the floor just letting his tears fall unrestrained.

The sight was… confusing for Shedletsky, to say the least.

"Hey, kid!" Shedletsky calls out, cautiously making his way over to C00lkidd. He made sure to have a hand linger near the handle of his sword, just in case the killer turned hostile at a moments notice, though C00lkidd didn't make any sudden movements even after hearing Shedletsky's voice. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"My dad isn't here!" C00lkidd wails, smacking his fists angrily into the ground. "It's Bluudud's stupid mom this time!"

C00lkidd was upset that 118o8 was here? But not upset enough to attack her?

Shedletsky slowly rounds the killer, so that he is stood in front of C00lkidd.

"Why did you want your dad? Do you miss him?" Shedletsky asks, careful to keep his tone as calm and comforting as possible.

"I always miss him!" C00lkidd wails. "I- I even made him pasta! B-but now he won't be able to eat it!"

Shedletsky notices then the small tupperware box on C00lkidd's lap, filled with pasta in a red sauce.

"I'm so sorry, kid…" Shedletsky says, slowly getting closer to C00lkidd. When he was as close as he dared to get, he knelt down in front of him and stretched a hand forwards. "Tell you what? What if I delivered the pasta to your dad for you?" Shedletsky offers, putting a sincere smile upon his face.

Despite Shedletsky's attempt to appear welcoming to C00lkidd, the kid quickly snatches up the tupperware box and pulls it close to his chest.

"No! You'll just eat it yourself, you- you- you food eater!" C00lkidd snaps at Shedletsky, causing him to retract his hand back. "I'll just ask ms 1x or mr Mafio to bring it to him."

Shedletsky's eye twitches slightly at the mention of 1x.

"Don't send them after your dad." Shedletsky warns gravely. C00lkidd's intention might be well meaning, but there was no way 1x1x1x1 would do anything of the such, or would simply result in harm to 007n7. Harm that Shedletsky would not allow to come to pass.

"Why? They're my friends and are much cooler than you!" C00lkidd bites back.

"Because-"

And then the round ended, leaving a very confused and concerned Shedletsky. He might need to keep a closer eye on 007n7 in the future.

007n7 was working diligently on a machine. A bit too diligently. He wasn't quite aware of his surroundings.

"You! Burger hat!"

The voice made him jump off the machine, ready to start fleeing, except the owner of the voice was stood right behind him so he collided right into them before he could get his exploits going.

"Ah!" 007n7 gasps out as he spins around to face the person who had spoken to him.

Two of Mafioso's goons were standing behind him, the one with the crowbar and the one with the board with a nail in it. Crowbar was simply smacking it into his hands whilst nail-board- the one he had bumped into- stood a bit more neutrally.

"Boss wants to talk to you. Come with us." Nail-board said. He grabbed 007n7 by the arm and began to pull him along, with crowbar following closely behind; evidently this conversation with their boss was non-negotiable.

As 007n7 is marched across Brandonworks, his mind reels. He had no idea what the mafia leader could want from him; he had no debts to the man, nor did he have much to give, but here he was, being marched across the map, towards wherever the intimidating man was.

Where was the sentinels? Others were alive, someone should be able to see he was in danger. Was Two Time still lurking about? Or did they die already? Were they on their second life and playing it safer now? And what about Chance? Was he still just coin-flipping in a corner somewhere whilst 007n7 was being dragged around like this?

"Boss! We found him!"

Those words snapped 007n7 out of his racing thoughts and drew him back to the moment.

Sitting quite elegantly on some lose blocks in the entrance to Brandon's World, was Mafioso himself, signature smile still plastered across his face. It only seemed to get wider when he looks up at the trembling man before him.

"Good. Bring him here." Mafioso says calmly. The goons oblige, pulling the ex-hacker along until he his stood right in front of the mafia leader. "Well? Have a seat." Mafioso says, giving the space next to him a couple of light taps with his fingers.

007n7 can't bring himself to move, or even speak at that. His mouth opens and closers a few times as he tries to ask what the hell is going on, but nothing comes out.

Eventually one of the goons just shoves him (gently) down next to the leader.

"What… What do you want…?" 007n7 is finally able to muster, feeling incredibly small next to the other man, and not just because Mafioso is much taller than him.

"At ease, my friend, you have nothing to be worried about," Mafioso says, but as far as 007n7 is concerned he has everything to worry about. "I simply have a gift for you."

"A gift…"? 007n7 asks, both bewildered and apprehensive. Mafia are not known for their generosity, not without a price, of course.

"Courtesy of your son." Mafioso elaborates, pulling a small plastic container out from behind him and setting it down in 007n7's lap. He flinches slightly at the initial contact.

There's a piece of paper folded and loosely sellotaped to the top of the container. 007n7, with shaking hands, reaches down and unfolds it.

Another drawing from C00lkidd. This time the picture depicted C00lkidd smiling in a field with only 007n7 and Mafioso. Above the image was writing saying 'I made you some pasta!' and below it was 'P.S: Mafioso helped me make it :)'.

"Oh, uhm… thank you? I'll… I'll eat it when I get back"

007n7 was going to move the tupperware tube aside, but Mafioso was quick to stop him by placing a single, massive hand on top of his own. 007n7 froze in place, staring down at their hands.

"Ah ah ah!" Mafioso tuts. "I'm on strict orders to make sure you try some. Here and now. So that I can send your verdict to the little chef."

"O-oh! R-right! Ok…" 007n7 rambles out. Mafioso slowly releases 007n7's hand from under his own.

007n7 opens the tub carefully, the loudness of the opening making him flinch even more. There's a small plastic fork lying on top of the pasta. 007n7 picks it up.

God, why do they all have to be watching him like that… 007n7 hated having an audience.

Regardless, he takes a small scoop of pasta to his lips and pushes it in.

Very tomato-y. Not that it isn't good, he could definitely feel the passion and energy C00lkidd put into crafting this dish for him. If 007n7 didn't have an audience right now, he'd scarf the whole tub down in seconds.

"It's very good. I like it." 007n7 says, remembering that he needed to give a response for the mafia leader to take back to his son.

"Good. I'll send your compliments to the chef." Mafioso replies with a firm nod. He continues to stare at for a few seconds. "You've got something there."

Mafioso reaches over to 007n7's face with a gloved hand and swipes at the side of his mouth. A small glob of the tomato sauce had stuck itself to the side of 007n7's face. Wordlessly, Mafioso brings his hand into his mouth a sucks the sauce off his glove.

Ok dude, what the fuck?

007n7's brain might have stalled in that moment. So he nearly missed the piercing ring that shook through the air, and the whiz of air that raced past him.

What he didn't miss was the way Mafioso suddenly hunched over in pain.

"7! Run!"

It was Chance! Finally finished coin-flipping in a corner, he was actually doing his job as a sentinel and looking out for the other survivors. And he hit his shot too!

007n7's head quick swivels between Chance and the slowly recovering Mafioso.

He should run. He needs to run.

"I- uh- I- Sorry. Bye." 007n7 quickly rambles to Mafioso, shutting the lid down on the tupperware box and sprinting in Chance's direction.

The gambler grabs 007n7 by the arm to help him along as the two of them retreat in the direction of the castle, leaving Mafioso to watch as Chance, once again, ran off with a prize that belonged to him.

Atop the castle, Chance and 007n7 joined with Taph, the only other survivor remaining. Taph was busy finishing the last of their fortifications whilst Chance and 007n7 leaned over the wall, catching their breaths.

Chance slowly turns to 007n7.

"So… you gonna tell me why the mafia are bringing you pasta?" Chance asks, gesturing to the small box in 007n7's hands.

007n7, for his part, simply looks up at Chance with an exhausted expression. He takes a few more breaths and a large gulp of saliva.

"I'll… I'll tell you when this is over…" 007n7 eventually replies between his huffing breaths. He turns his own gaze to the box. "Oh…" He utters sadly.

"What is it?" Chance asks.

"Nothing…" 007n7 replies quietly.

C00lkidd's picture was gone. It must have fallen off the lid whilst they were running. 007n7 had hoped to frame it next to the one 1x had brought him…

Elsewhere, Mafioso's pursuit of the fleeing survivors is brought to a stop when he spots something lying in the grass. Reaching down, he picks up a childish drawing that depicts himself with the artist and the father of the artist. He stares at it for a few seconds before neatly folding it in half and slotting it in an inside pocket of his coat. Then he resumes his hunt.

Notes:

Noooo! C00lkidd, stop recruiting killers to help you interact with your dad! Making them engage with your dad on non-hostile terms is having unwanted side effects!
Anyway, Shedletsky should be next. Once him and Two Time are done updates will probably slow a little because I only wanted to get these ones out asap because I know what I'm doing for them and don't want brain to threaten to eject information before I can write it.

Chapter 6: Malicious chicken man

Summary:

Shedletsky is concerned for 007n7 and only wants to look out for him.
Naturally, C00lkidd misinterprets this and now thinks he has a new enemy.

"07! Can I have a word!" Shedletsky calls over to the former hacker, approaching him at a slow jog.

"Uh, can it wait? We're kind of busy…" 007n7 replies, still walking in search of a generator. Because they were in the middle of a round. And now was not a good time to sit and have a chat.

"It's fine! C00lkidd is busy with Guest and Elliot, and the others have almost finished all the generators." Shedletsky responds dismissively, even if he was a little concerned about those too. It's just he was more concerned about 007n7's well being at this particular moment.

"Oh, then shouldn't you, you know, go help them? Or maybe I can go distract-" 007n7 stops only to turn in the direction of where the conflict was unfurling, and in doing so comes face to face with Shedletsky.

"-I wanted to discuss your son, actually." Shedletsky says quickly, now that he has more of 007n7's attention; his words enable him to get the full attention.

"C00lkidd? Why?" 007n7 asks.

"Well, he's been acting…" Shedletsky smacks his lips together as he tries to come up with a way of putting it which would not offend the father. "Kind of weird lately, and I wanted to know if you had any idea why."

"No, I don't," 007n7 averts his eyes slightly from Shedletsky's. "I don't get to spend a lot of time with my son lately…"

Even if he really wanted to. But the ruler of this realm is cruel, and keeps him separated from the son he once lost, so close be still too far to reach. In the beginning, he struggled to find even an ounce of joy in this place, nor could he convince himself that he was even worth such a thing…

Being a misery isn't helping him, or anyone around him, so he is at the very least trying to change some self-wallowing behaviours, like making amends with Elliot.

"But it's not just been C00lkidd, has it?" Shedletsky presses.

"W-what do you mean?" 007n7 asks, caught of guard by the new question.

"Chance mentioned that Mafioso brought pasta to you." Shedletsky states.

Ah. Makes sense Chance would mention that to Shedletsky, what with the former admin technically being this groups leader and all; he'd want to be informed of the goings on in rounds that he was not present in.

"Oh. Yeah. Right. About that; C00lkidd apparently asked him to bring it to me." 007n7 quickly explains.

"And he did. Bit strange, right?" Shedletsky remarks.

"I guess… it was a little…" 007n7 tried thinking back to that round with Mafioso, but something about the interaction just made him squirm on the spot. "…Awkward." He eventually gives, unable to come up with any other words to describe it.

"None of the other killers have tried interacting with you, right? Or done anything weird in general?" Shedletsky questions.

007n7 is starting to get more and more nervous with each question Shedletsky poses to him. It's all too reminiscent of the times he got interrogated for crimes he committed during his youth…

"No?" 007n7 replies.

"What about 1x1x1x1?" Shedletsky asks, a strange seriousness taking over his usually friendly and cheerful tone.

007n7 froze. The memory of the last time he met with 1x1x1x1 immediately playing in his mind. It ticked both of Shedletsky's box's: interaction? Check! Weird? 007n7 definitely would say that delivering something to and from 007n7 and C00lkidd was weird for the embodiment of hatred. On top of that, they didn't even kill 007n7 that round! Check, check, check. Definitely weird.

"No, why would he?" 007n7 lied.

"Hmm, just C00lkidd mentioned potentially sending her after you when I spoke to him once. Guess it was just Mafioso that got sent." And Shedletsky was back to a more relaxed demeanour, much to 007n7's relief.

Shedletsky didn't mention it, but he was genuinely relieved that C00lkidd hadn't sent 1x1x1x1 in his dad's direction. He didn't want anyone else suffering at the hands of his creation, any more than they already were…

"Well… if that was everything, I should get back to it…" 007n7 remarks quietly, turning away from Shedletsky.

007n7's escape is stopped when Shedletsky's hand rests itself on his shoulder; the former exploiter turns to meet the eyes of the retired admin once more. Just when 007n7 thought he could get away…

"It's not just the killers I'm worried about, 007n7. It's you."

"Thanks for the concern, but I can take care of myself." 007n7 replies, hoping to end this conversation already.

"Guest is saying you're avoiding him lately." Shedletsky continues, in spite of 007n7's unspoken wants.

"No I'm not." 007n7 once again lies. He knows it's silly, but the seriousness of C00lkidd's words when he claimed that Guest wanted to kill him kept playing in his mind whenever Guest tried to speak to him. He knows he can't avoid the man forever, but for now he just wanted to keep a healthy distance between the two of them.

"07… " Shedletsky sighs out. "I can't force you to do anything, so just remember we're a team here. We need to work together if we want to have any chance of escaping this forsaken realm."

"I know." 007n7 says.

"If you're not going to let Guest watch out for you, at least let me do it. Or one of the other sentinels. Don't want you getting hurt, ok?"

"Thanks, Shedletsky." 007n7 offers him a small smile, if just to get Shedletsky to be more satisfied with his response.

Shedletsky simply watches as 007n7 scurries off in search of a generator.

This. Was. Terrible!

C00lkidd had spent so long chasing that evil pizza boy and fighting the nefarious soldier man that the game was nearly over by the time he finally caught the nefarious soldier man. The evil pizza boy flees in a panic as his protector falls into an exhausted sleep.

C00lkidd had wanted to give chase, but he spied his dad in the corner of his eye and ooooh, he misses him so much! And although mr Mafio said his dad loved his pasta, he wanted to hear it from him himself too now.

"You win this time, evil pizza boy…" C00lkidd exclaims, shaking a fist in Elliot's direction before quickly hurrying off to go see his dad before he ran out of time.

Elliot was still confused as to why C00lkidd had taken to calling him that.

As C00lkidd approaches his dads location, ready to give him the biggest hug of his life, his approach is slowed as he hears a string of voices. One is unmistakably his dads, the other is… familiar, but he can't quite tell who it is.

Peeking the corner confirms who it is: the man who spoke to him last time he came out to play! What was his name again…? Eh, C00lkidd couldn't remember the chicken man's name (but he did remember that he liked eating chicken, and that mr 1x really didn't like that man…).

C00lkidd can't make out what they are saying, but the way the chicken man's hand rests on his dads shoulder is a bit too friendly… And his dad even smiled at him before he left! That's strange, because C00lkidd didn't think his dad and this chicken man got along. Something about him being an 'admin' or whatever.

Why is his dad being so friendly with people who used to hate him all of a sudden? It doesn't make sense! Unless…

"Oh no! Oh no!" C00lkidd whispers to himself, worry for his father etching across his face. "That… malicious chicken man! He's- he's brainwashing dad too!"

Thank you 1x for being the person to teach C00lkidd 'big, fancy words'.

Brainwashing is the only explanation for why his dad would hang out with others rather than play with him! And it would explain why his dad would run away sometimes when he came running up to him! These people, they're turning his dad against him! They want him to be all alone… So they're taking his dad away from him!

C00lkidd would like to say he started an epic duel with the malicious chicken man, but time ran out shortly after it started. Oh well, he'll get him next time.

Back at the cabins, C00lkidd was filled with worry for his dads well being.

There were too many people trying to take his dad away from him, and his quest to save him was starting to feel a little overwhelming. He couldn't do this alone…

"Mx 1x?" C00lkidd calls out as he enters the kitchen.

1x is staring at a new 'kitchen rules' sheet that has been stuck to a wall, which now has a rule banning Bluudud from using any and all kitchen appliances. Good, 1x hated it when that little vermin left this place in a right state.

1x slowly turns her head to look at C00lkidd.

"What do you want?" 1x asks impatiently.

"Can I ask you a favour?" C00lkidd sheepishly asks, fiddling with their fingers a little.

"A favour? Is this another demeaning delivery task, perhaps?"

"No! It's just…" C00lkidd looks down at the ground sadly. In a small whisper, he explains. "I think that malicious chicken man is doing something to my dad…"

"What." 1x seethes, slow and brimming with rage. C00lkidd doesn't say the name, but 1x knows exactly who he is talking about.

"I can't prove it, but…" C00lkidd meets 1x's gaze once more. "He was looking at my dad weird! And taking his attention away from me! I just want to play with my dad like we used to again…"

His creator is trying to remove C00lkidd's creator from him…? Something about that idea… fills 1x with rage. But what about Shedletsky doesn't?

"What would you have me do then?" 1x asks cautiously. Killing Shedletsky is all he ever wants, but in a place like this, where death is not permanent, Shedletsky will never truly be gone. At least 1x can relish in extending his creators suffering eternally.

"Could you, maybe, keep an eye on my dad whenever you two play together?" C00lkidd asks, staring at 1x with big, watery eyes. "Just to make sure the malicious chicken man- or evil pizza boy- doesn't try anything?"

"I will not promise any guarantees, but… Shedletsky will not stand in the presence of your creator."

1x was not anticipating C00lkidd literally throwing himself at them, red arms wrapping themselves tightly around 1x's form. The gesture is completely foreign to 1x; they have no recollection of ever receiving the gesture in the past, nor did they ever care to learn what it meant when they saw others doing it. Yet, despite the entrapping nature of the gesture itself, there doesn't appear to be even the slightest bit of malice behind it. How curious.

"Yay! Thank you ms 1x, you're the best!" C00lkidd squeals.

1x isn't sure what to do, so just stands there rigid and unmoving until C00lkidd finally lets go.

Notes:

Ok, once the Two Time intro is done I'll stop speed-running the updates and actually take this slower. Just wanted to get these ones out.
Will there be others in 007n7's love interest pool? Possibly, these 6 are just the main ones that I'll be working on for now.
Also, I did not expect this to get as much attention as it did lmao, most stuff I write take a while to get going. Sorry if I don't respond to a lot of comments, really not used to posting an update and getting more than 5 comment notifications.

Chapter 7: Creepy smiley person

Summary:

007n7 teams up with Two Time to survive a round.

007n7 was, for his part, at least trying to adhere to Shedletsky's wishes and not go running off on his own during rounds so often.

Besides, when the former admin isn't reprimanding you for being a dirty exploiter, he can hold very good conversation.

Shedletsky was leaning against a wall next to the generator that 007n7 was working on (neither helping with the generator nor doing his job as a sentinel), talking mindlessly about his favourite chicken recipe.

"Hey! Maybe next time you and Elliot have a little cooking session you can cook me up some- AH!"

Perhaps 007n7 should have mentioned the signature ringing that signalled that 1x1x1x1 was using its unstable eye, but he thought Shedletsky had heard it to. Apparently he couldn't over the sound of his own voice.

Shedletsky groans as he pries the chains off of himself.

"Guess we're moving now!" Shedletsky remarks as 007n7 abandons the close-to-be-finished machine, already backing away in the opposite direction the blades had come from.

"Y-yeah…" 007n7 confirms, sending out a clone for good measure.

007n7 is a little surprised that the attack missed him; surely from the angle 1x threw her weapons from, it would have been possible (and very easy) to strike both 007n7 and Shedletsky in a two-for-one… They probably just assumed 007n7 would have gotten off the generator and missed because of it. Yeah.

1x apparently did not fall for the clone, and soon Shedletsky was duelling it out with the manifestation of hatred, leaving 007n7 to flee on his own.

007n7 had to stop behind the glass building to catch his breath. He nervously peered through the glass, trying to see if he could spot Shedletsky still roaming around.

He couldn't.

He could see 1x roaming though.

'Shedletsky must have died…' 007n7 thinks to himself nervously; 1x would not give up pursuing Shedletsky for anything.

Alone again, 007n7 could only do one thing: look for another generator to complete and try and get this game over with a soon as possible.

As soon as he loses sight of 1x, he ventures out into the open once more.

There's a generator fairly out in the open, but with no sight of 1x, 007n7 might be able to get a few of the wires sorted out.

Barely gotten through a few wires, and that signature ringing sounds again. 007n7 should probably move this time, especially as the number of survivors might be very low now and he's out on the plains.

He had just begun to walk away from the generator when a sharp shockwave flies through him, inflicting a pain that was too familiar at this point.

"Fuck- damn it!" 007n7 curses lowly to himself, realising he is to be 1x's next target.

He runs as quick as he can to a new hiding spot, pressing himself right up against the wall as if the concrete could just swallow him whole.

"Playing hide and seek, are we? Come out, come out wherever you are…!" 007n7 hears 1x call out, but quite frankly he doesn't want to. Besides, there's every chance 1x saw him run into this corner, and it is just toying with him before he makes the kill.

007n7 could teleport, but if 1x charges this location or fires another projectile then he'd be done for.

He could send out another clone, but even if 1x falls for it initially, 007n7 still would not have a big enough window to safely get away. He needs more time.

Perhaps… Two Time?

As he was standing there panicking, movement across the way catches his attention.

Two Time is waving over at him silently, crouched behind a wall, out of eye sight from 1x. With one hand, they hold their dagger ready to strike, with the other they keep making 'come here' gestures at 007n7.

007n7 thinks he understands the assignment.

Making sure he is still concealed from 1x's line of sight, he deploys a clone, having it run in Two Time's general direction.

1x was always weary when it came to blindly chasing things that might look like 007n7, but it wouldn't be hard to give this one a testing slash to see if it was the real deal.

Or at least it shouldn't have been, but the moment he rounded the corner something pierced them through the back, stunning her in place.

On cue, the fake 007n7 collapses, and the real one bolts out of his hiding place, taking advantage of the window of opportunity that Two Time has gotten for him to flee to high ground.

As 007n7 rests in the safety of the height, he is soon joined by his ever smiling saviour.

"Thanks for earlier, Two Time," 007n7 pants out, slowly sliding up the wall and back onto his feet. "You really saved my ass."

"Ah, do not fret, friend!" Two Time replies cheerfully, wrapping an arm over 007n7's shoulders as they stares up into the sky. "The Spawn has blessed this fruitful union between your decoys and my dagger! A perfect combination for luring our hunters to their demise! We should join together more often! Would be very beneficial for us both!"

Aaaaaaaaaand it didn't take long for Two Time to start talking about the Spawn again.

007n7 slowly pries Two Time's arm off his shoulder, causing them to look back at 007n7.

"Uh, sure, I don't mind working together…" 007n7 says, shuffling a little away from Two Time. They close the distance 007n7 just made. "Uhm, what are you doing?" 007n7 asks, feeling uncomfortably hot in the close proximity.

"Keeping an eye on you!" Two Time replies, too happily for 007n7's liking. "Shedletsky said that we 'sentinels' need to keep close to the other survivors!"

'But this is a bit too close…' 007n7 thinks to himself.

"Ok… but shouldn't you be looking out for the others too?" 007n7 asks.

"They're all dead." Two Time replies, their voice suddenly becoming grave and deep. It's gone in the next instant. "So I just gotta keep you safe! Not for too long though!" Huh? "Time is almost up!" Oh. Right. Yeah.

007n7 sighs to himself before moving out into the small, open area, leaning against the wall as he stares out over the glass house area. Two Time quickly joins him, leaning against the wall next to him, continuously staring in their constant vigil.

Two Time wasn't the only one watching 007n7.

From below, too far to reach them in time, 1x watches the last two survivors idly rest above.

Something about this doesn't sit well inside 1x.

Perhaps this is something they should tell C00lkidd about…

Notes:

Oh boy, that's all the planned stuff done, so expect updates to slow down a bit.

Chapter 8: Cooking with the (not) evil pizza boy

Summary:

C00lkidd learns that his dad is in even more danger than he once thought.
Meanwhile 007n7 is trying to make another meal gift to send to his son.

C00lkidd sat outside staring forlornly at the ground. He hadn't been able to go out to play with his dad in a short while, and given the mounting danger that seemed to be posed against his life, he was starting to worry. Would his dad be safe without him there? Would the evil pizza boy continue to weave his web of deception and brainwash his dad? What about the nefarious soldier man and the malicious chicken man?

C00lkidd's rambling thoughts are interrupted by the sudden reappearance of one of his cool friends: 1x.

"Ms 1x!" C00lkidd exclaims, jumping to his feet immediately. All prior sadness had been replaced by excitement. C00lkidd runs up to the other killer, grabbing him by the arm and shaking it vigorously. "Did you see my dad!? Did you!? Did you!?"

1x1x1x1 yanks their arm free of the kid's hold with an annoyed grunt.

She certainly did see C00lkidd's dad- see, but failed to kill, annoyingly- but that was but the extent of it.

"Yes, I did see your creator. He is… alive and well." 1x eventually responds.

C00lkidd still seems blissfully unaware that this whole world- and the people he lives with- exist right now for the sole purpose of killing his dad (and all the others). For whatever reason, none of the killers seem to be able to bring themselves to tell him… or something out right stops them.

"Yay!" C00lkidd cheers, punching the air in delight.

1x begins to make her way back to the cabin.

"He should really learn to pick better companions." 1x adds.

"Huh? What does that mean? 1x!" C00lkidd calls after him, grabbing his arm right before it could enter the building. "You can't just say something like that without saying!"

"Your creator was keeping the company of my creator… as well as getting close to that back-stabbing little fiend." 1x eventually divulges after, once again, having to pry their arm free of C00lkidd's grasp.

"Who's that? The creepy smiley person?" C00lkidd asks, unable to put a name to the brief description that 1x gave, but the creepy smiley person often made his back hurt.

"Two Time!?"

Both 1x and C00lkidd turned to face the source of the new voice.

Azure, previously unnoticed, had been tending to some plants that grew around the outside of the building. C00lkidd didn't like the smell of them, and Azure constantly scolded them for 'getting too close' to some of the plants, but was nice enough to let C00lkidd pick some of the less stinky ones from time to time. Azure had promptly jumped to their feet and joined the pair.

"I care not for their name," 1x states. "Their presence is an annoyance."

"Right," Azure responds, briskly waving off 1x's statement. "You said Two Time has been hanging around kidd's 'creator', yes?"

"Is that a bad thing?" C00lkidd asks.

"Yes, it is a bad thing!" Azure practically shouts at C00lkidd. "Two Time is a back stabbing, treacherous little sh-" Azure is fortunately able to catch themselves before he curses in front of a literal child. "-Look," They rest a sympathetic hand on C00lkidd's shoulder. "If Two Time really is getting close to your father, then he could be in real danger."

"No!" C00lkidd screams out, hands smacking the sides of his face.

How could this happen! So many people are trying to either kill or manipulate his dad lately. The danger just keeps mounting up and up.

And all C00lkidd wanted to do was play with him like they used to…

"You have to keep them away from your father. By any means necessary." Azure says.

"I will!" C00lkidd replies with a firm nod.

"Good. And if you ever get hold of them, give them my regards." A small smile creeps across Azure's face.

"Why?" C00lkidd asks, innocently unaware of the past those two share.

"It might make them think twice before pursuing your father further."

Meanwhile…

After the usual post-round debriefing that the survivors all held in the cabin, 007n7 promptly left for the kitchen. It was about time for him to make something to send to C00lkidd once more. He was trying to brainstorm ideas for non-food related gifts for his son, but had otherwise come up short.

Inside the kitchen, he began to peruse the selection of ingredients that they had lying around, trying to come up with a dish he could make.

The being that ruled this world seemed to restock their supplies from time to time, but other than that the supplies were limited to what could be grown in their gardens and could be hunted or gathered beyond the borders of their little safe haven.

He didn't want to make another pizza, and he wanted the dish to be something he could sneak a few vegetables into…

The other problem was it needed to be something that was both easy to reheat, would not go off to quickly and could be held in a container easily.

And then there was getting it to C00lkidd. He's not always guaranteed to be in rounds with C00lkidd, so it might just go off anyway before he even could make the delivery.

'Mafioso and 1x seemed willing to deliver stuff to me for C00lkidd, perhaps I could try asking them to take it…'

007n7 suddenly became too aware off what he just thought, and immediately shook his head. Ridiculous. He shouldn't even be considering them an option in this endeavour. They're killers, out to kill him. He'd be dead before either of them even considered hearing him out. Besides, just because they'll do favours for C00lkidd, does not mean they'll be willing to do favours for him.

Except that one time 1x did.

007n7 leans against the counter top, head in his hands, as he tried to decide what to do.

"Oh, 07." A voice calls out behind him. "What are you doing here?"

Turning his head around, 007n7 is greeted by the sight of Elliot.

"Trying to decide what to make," 007n7 responds. He notes that Elliot is carrying way more ingredients than necessary for a single person's meal. "What about you? I though- uh- what's his name- the other pizza guy- was on community dinner duty tonight?"

Because not everyone has time to be cooking themselves a fresh meal whilst they're fighting for their lives, so Elliot and that other pizza guy have an agreement to take turns making food to go for people.

"Oh, I was in a round most of the morning… and again early afternoon… so he covered breakfast and lunch. I'm doing his dinner shift now." Elliot explains as he walks over to a counter, depositing his ingredients down. "You sure you don't just want the pizza?"

"Ah. No, thank you- well, maybe later. I'm making this for-" 007n7 stops himself from saying C00lkidd's name. Whilst Elliot has become more forgiving of himself for his past misdeeds lately, the same could not be said for C00lkidd. And why would he forgive the child, they are not repentant and they are actively hurting them all over again. "Uh, you know…" Is the only way 007n7 can finish his response.

"Mhm…" Elliot hums out. "And what are you thinking of making?"

"I… don't know…" 007n7 admits, turning his gaze back to all the ingredients they had, hoping that doing so would inspire him but coming to a blank.

Elliot opens a cupboard near him and looks over a few of the ingredients already inside before grabbing a bag and pulling it out.

"We have rice. Do you want to make a fried rice?" Elliot suggests, holding it up to 007n7.

A fried rice dish could work, and it was something that 007n7 could definitely put some veggies into. Got to make sure his son still eats his veggies, even in a place like this.

The two of them set to work on their separate meals; Elliot rolling out the dough for the many pizzas he was going to try and make, whilst 007n7 prepped his veg.

"Ah. Oops." Elliot remarks, accidentally flinging a whole load of flour in 007n7's direction as he tosses the dough.

"It's fine, don't worry about it." 007n7 remarks, brushing himself down a little before returning to his veg prep.

"Oh, 07!" Elliot remarks.

007n7 doesn't even have time to give a quizzical 'hmm?' before Elliot's hand is in his face, brushing away at his fringe with a determined look in his face. The sudden proximity makes 007n7's brain stall, and all he can is stare at the other man as his fingers lightly flick away at his forehead.

"There!" Elliot declares, before finally noticing the awkward, confused look on 007n7's face. "Oh, sorry, but you still had some flour in your hair!" Elliot adds bashfully with a small laugh.

"Oh, uh, thanks!" 007n7 quickly replies, before focusing all his attention back into prepping his food.

The two otherwise prep their respective foods in relative silence, aside from the odd remark from either.

Elliot was so much more efficient than 007n7, he had multiple pizzas oven ready before 007n7 had even begun to think about heating up his pan…

"I'm… I'm going to add some, er, poultry of the chick kind into this. Just letting you know." 007n7 says as he rounds up the meat, ready to put it into the pan.

"You know that's going to be useless once it actually starts cooking, right?" Elliot remarks as he watches his pizzas bake in the oven.

007n7 drops his meat into the pan.

There's barely fifteen seconds of sizzling before-

"I smell chicken!" Shedletsky declares, head popping round the corner of the kitchen door before he enters. Elliot and 007n7 both shoot each other a deadpanned look, as if saying 'I knew it' to each other.

Shedletsky is quick to walk over to the two of them, slotting himself between Elliot and 007n7. Looking between them, he determines which of them has provided the alluring smell, and it was 007n7.

"Hi, Shedletsky…" 007n7 offers quietly.

"There enough for me in that?" Shedletsky asks, pointing to the pan.

"Er, sorry Shed, I only made enough for two- and both of those are spoken for!" 007n7 responds. It doesn't dampen Shedletsky's spirits in the slightest.

"Not a problem!" Shedletsky scoops up some chicken pieces which 007n7 hadn't put into the pan, thinking they'd be to much for the portion. "I don't need the rice and veg, I can just have the chicken!" And then he dumps the chicken into 007n7's pan.

"Shedletsky!" Elliot yells reprimandingly. 007n7 is just quick to resigning himself to making chicken for Shedletsky.

"What!? 07 doesn't mind!" Shedletsky protests, pointing at the man as he continues to fry the rice, now with extra chicken.

Elliot frowns at Shedletsky for a few seconds, before grabbing him by the arm.

"Fine. But if you're going to force 07 to make your dinner, then you have to help with the community pizzas. Start rolling out another dough." Elliot orders, pointing at the still flour covered counter top. He even shoves some unrolled dough into Shedletsky's hands for good measure.

There was a bit of protest from Shedletsky, but eventually he caves and begins to help out (even if Elliot had to finish prepping most of Shedletsky's doughs).

Finally, 007n7 began to portion out the food from the pan: two tupperware boxes of fried rice and one plate of chicken.

"Thanks 07, this is great!" Shedletsky declares, chucking chunk after chunk into his mouth. "You really get the aroma of the rice and veg, without even having to eat any!"

How is Shedletsky still alive when most of his food intake is chicken or pizza again? 007n7 is genuinely considering the notion he might have to stat trying to sneak veggies into Shedletsky's food too.

"Thanks for the compliment, I guess…" 007n7 replies, stacking his two containers before slotting them under his arm.

The downside to never knowing when a round might start, r when you might be in one, is that he needs to keeps these on him at all times now.

"It looks good." Elliot adds as additional praise.

"I- I didn't think much of it…" 007n7 admits. "It looks a bit over done."

"Well, it's infinitely better looking than that pasta I saw 118o8 eating the other day." Elliot replies, a slight grimace to his face at the mere memory of it.

"Yeah…" Shedletsky adds, making a small gagging motion. "She seemed to like it, somehow. She ate the whole thing. "

007n7 never saw that pasta, so has no idea how people could find something as simple as a pasta revolting.

Regardless, 007n7 now just had to find a way to get a tub of this fried rice to C00lkidd.

Chapter 9: Awesome 1x1x1x1 delivery service?

Summary:

1x isn't too happy about it.

One of the biggest pains of not knowing when a round is going to start is that you have to have the things you want to take into them on you at all times, always. 007n7 is thankful that he doesn't usually need to bring things with him, because there has been awkward times where Shedletsky has forgotten his sword or Chance has forgotten his gun which has led to some very unfortunate fights.

But now 007n7 has fried rice, which he wants to get to C00lkidd, so he has to keep it on himself at all times. The two tupperware boxes have been homed in a little shoulder bag to make that easier, but that still doesn't change the fact that he has to sleep with it on.

The last few rounds 007n7 has been in has not afforded him to be able to make the delivery. Jason, then Jason again, then John Doe, then Bluudud… He couldn't trust any of them to get the rice to his son.

The next time 007n7 went into a round, it had been just as he was getting into bed for the night.

Onesie on, he was just about to climb in, and suddenly he was in the underground war.

007n7 fell to the ground, having been in an awkward position when this started.

'Wait. I missed who the killer was.' 007n7 thinks to himself as he gets to his feet.

An unmistakeably familiar ringing sounds out across the area.

'Oh, it's 1x1x1x1.'

That could work out for him. Not that he wanted to actively seek out the killer. 007n7 quickly confirms that he still has his bag with the tubs of rice on him before heading over to the nearest machine.

First, be helpful to the team. Then he can try and plead with 1x to bring his gift to his son.

007n7 was quick to finish the first machine, then set off in search of another, making sure to avoid any stray mass infections that might come his way.

Second machine done, that's four done total. 007n7 doesn't know how many people are left alive at this point, he's pretty sure he saw Shedletsky's corpse go flying but other than that he's in the dark. At least one other person has to be still alive, the last man standing hasn't started to indicate it is just him and 1x.

But it wasn't long before that changed.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" 007n7 quickly pleads, holding his hands up in front of him.

1x was quick to corner the usually elusive man, which immediately told them that he was up to something. It was almost like he wanted to be caught… how boring.

"Begging for your life, 007n7?" 1x sneers, slowly stalking forwards, each syllable of the mans name drawn out. The first time he's ever heard her refer to him by name, rather than as C00lkidd's 'creator'. It's strange, and the beating in his chest just gets faster. "I thought you better than that." It adds with a small tut.

"K-kill me all you like, but-" 007n7 pulls his shoulder back from his side to his front. Reaching in, he pulls out the two tubs of rice. "I- I have a favour to ask!"

"Are you trying to diminish me to a delivery boy again?" 1x snaps, anger and annoyance mounting. He already has to do enough to placate the red child…

"I- well- you know-" 007n7 struggled to find the words to speak, frazzled brain taking way too long to string a sentence together. He gets there eventually. "I have a gift for you too?"

"A… gift? For me?" 1x asks, slightly taken back by that response, rage and annoyance quickly being replaced by confusion.

"Yeah…" Well, the gift was intended for either 1x or Mafioso, which ever killer he found and was able to convince to deliver the rice to C00lkidd first. "I made some rice with chicken and vegetables for C00lkidd to eat- and made a portion for you, too."

"What makes you think I need to eat?"

"I-" 007n7's eyes trail lower for a few seconds, gawking at 1x's abdomen. True, you could see a skeleton and no internal organs- digestive tract included- so can 1x eat? Maybe she does have a digestive tract and it is just transparent like a jellyfish's organs. "C-can you eat?" 007n7 eventually asks, when you returns his eyes to 1x's bright red one.

1x stares silently down at 007n7, not about to answer such an inane question. Time is running out for either 1x to just kill 007n7 and move on, or 007n7 to convince 1x to take his present to C00lkidd.

"Please, I… I just want to make sure C00lkidd's eating healthy…" 007n7 mumbles.

007n7 barely sees 1x's hand snatch the tubs of rice out of his trembling hands with how fast it snatches them.

"Your care for your creation in the face of death is… admirable, if foolish, 7n7." 1x states, looking over the tubs in his hands. One has 'For C00lkidd, love dad :)' written in black sharpie on top whilst the other is blank. They turn their crimson gaze back to 007n7. "It shall be done." She affirms, shifting the tubs of rice around in her hands.

"Oh, er, th-thank you?" 007n7 says, face slightly red and incredibly bashful. He's never been too good at receiving compliments- that was a compliment, right? 1x actually complimented him?

Time was almost up. 1x should just kill 007n7 and take the victory. Buuuut, he's already killed Shedletsky today; that, in itself, means she's already won today. 007n7 can live by the graciousness of its mercy, this time.

"Hi ms 1x!" C00lkidd exclaims, racing to met them as they return. "What you got there?" C00lkidd asks, pointing at the tupperware box's in his hands.

"A gift from your creator." 1x states, handing the sharpie-marked box to C00lkidd. He squeals in delight at receiving more yummy snacks from his dad, but stops when notices 1x walking off, with the second tub.

"Hey! What's that?" C00lkidd calls after them before running after them too.

"A gift from your creator," 1x responds. As C00lkidd reaches over to try and take it from 1x, he pointedly moves it out of arms reach. C00lkidd shoots her an annoyed, if confused, look. "For me." 1x finishes, before continuing into the cabin.

"For you?" C00lkidd asks in confusion, before quickly giving chase. "But if it's from dad, then it's mine!"

C00lkidd continues to try and snatch the tub from 1x, to little success. He even throws a brick at them, though the pain is pitiful compared to the things 1x is used to.

The repeated failures begin to frustrate C00lkidd. Soon enough he gives up.

"This is not fair!" C00lkidd shouts, pouting and stomping his feet. Turning away, he runs in the direction of his room. "He's my dad, get your own!" C00lkidd screams back at 1x as he runs, slamming his door shut.

C00lkidd proceeds to spend the next few hours sulking in his room, clinging to the tub he received.

It was only after a good sulk did he finally emerge from his room once more.

He was feeling a little better, and was now just going to tell himself that he graciously let 1x have one of the gifts from dad, for being a super cool, super awesome friend! Yeah! He so gave 1x that tub! Because he's a cool kid!

Returning to the kitchen to heat up his food, C00lkidd sees that 1x is in there too.

After putting the (thankfully microwave safe) tub in the microwave, he waits for it to heat up.

C00lkidd turns back to look at 1x, with full intention of doing the 'big boy thing' of apologising for yelling earlier, but that thought gets derailed instantly.

1x is eating her rice.

That's not the problem, because C00lkidd so let them have it! The problem was what was happening inside 1x.

"Whoa!" C00lkidd exclaims, suddenly running over to where 1x sat. Before they can say anything, C00lkidd has his hands grasping at 1x's sides and face pressed right up against 1x's abdomen.

C00lkidd could see the rice and stuff just… floating about inside them! Some of it was already dissolving into nothingness. It was so weird… and cool! Each time 1x took a mouthful more and more just got added to the mass! Is this why 1x never usually eats with people? Actually, C00lkidd isn't quite sure they've ever seen 1x eat before- cook, yes. Eat, no.

"I am not a display to be gawked at." 1x grunts out in annoyance.

"Sorry ms 1x…" C00lkidd replies apologetically, finally letting go of the other killer.

The ding of the microwave catches C00lkidd's attention, and he happily goes to retrieve his dinner.

Notes:

Spectre's out here taking bets on how long it'll take 1x to figure out she might, just possibly, there's a slight chance, have feelings for 007n7.

Anyway, I have some ideas that'll probably remain unused so I'll just mention them here:

-People were saying about the Spawn being part of the 007n7 accidental harem, which hilarious but I don't think I'd actually do. But, if Spawn was an option, it would probably hinge on 007n7 being in a relationship with Two Time. Two Time would ask 007n7 to let them 'sacrifice' him to the Spawn, because in forsaken people come back anyway, so Two Time could potentially send 007n7 to meet with the Spawn and then relay information regarding it back to them. After much, much convincing, 007n7 would agree to it. Cue Two Time doing a sacrificial ritual on 007n7, the whole "great Spawn, accept my sacrifice!... But you will have to return to sender, sorry!". 007n7 gets sacrificed and miraculously actually meets the Spawn. And they chat, have a nice date and then 007n7 respawns back in forsaken. Unfortunately for Two Time, 007n7 has no memories of what happened whilst he was dead, but he's 'pretty sure' he met the spawn. Two Time is like "Oh boy! Sacrifice me next!"

-Not a suggested idea, but one I thought of:
Because skins are being treated as other survivors/killers (example, 118o8), wouldn't it be funny if Telamon was in forsaken as well? Like Telamon is super disappointed in his future self, and Shedletsky is very shameful of who he once was. Telamon hates that Shedletsky is pursuing an exploiter.
Shedletsky, watching 007n7 do stuff: Man, 007n7 so hot... I think I'm gonna try a rizz him up.
Telamon: You used to be a god amongst men, all powerful and unstoppable. Look at you now, SIMPING for an EXPLOITER!
Shedletsky, to 07: Hey, 07, can I try 'rizzing you up'?
007n7: Sure. Lol.
Shedletsky, on his kness, hands clasped together above his head, staring up at 007n7: PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE!
He's being extra pathetic about it to piss off Telamon more.
Shedletsky, quickly standing up like nothing happened: So, you feeling 'rizzed up'?
007n7, now just thinking he's joking: Sure, why not!?
Shedletsky, returning to Telamon: You know, I think I- I mean WE'VE- got a good chance at hitting that!
Telamon: *insert disgusted noises*

Telamon eventually just follows 007n7 around to try and deduce why his future self is so enamoured by this man (and to so if he can prevent this from ever coming to pass) but just ends up lowkey getting it. Like, Telamon would never actively pursue 007n7, but he can understand why people do now.

Chapter 10: Mafioso's generosity?

Summary:

Previously, 007n7 was trying to get into a round with something more than usual.
This time he ends up in a round with less than usual. It is mortifying to say the least.

Notes:

I did this real late in the evening (it's almost 1am) so imma do the proofreading another time lmao.

With his rice tub safely delivered to C00lkidd (still awaiting verdict on how it tasted, from either recipient), 007n7 no longer needs to worry about keeping something on him in case a round starts. At least until he next tries to send a present to his son.

Unfortunately in a place like this, you really need to remain wary at all times. Just because you don't specifically need to bring equipment into a round, doesn't mean you can't be deprived of other things.

Which is how 007n7 got into his current situation.

He was getting smelly, to say the least, and needed to have a shower. Easy, right? Quick in and out, clean what needs to be cleaned and then go. He finished his shower, wrapped a towel around his waist and was just about to dry himself of when-

-He was now in a graveyard.

Oh shit.

His next action was to slap one arm across his chest and the other to grab at the top of the towel still wrapped around his waist.

This had never happened to him before- stuff like this happens to Chance all the time, but not him! 007n7 was paralysed to the spot as his mind raced, trying to deduce what his next actions were to be.

No way in hell was he going to be running away from a killer with nought but a towel wrapped around his waist; he needed to find clothes, asap.

He turning his head around frantically, hoping that someone- anyone- had spawned in near him. He was all alone. Damn. He had to look for another survivor and hope that they had enough clothing on their person to lend him some.

He promptly heads in the direction of the other location that survivors usually appear at, praying that he catches someone before anything bad happens.

Nope, because they're the ones being caught. By Mafioso.

As soon as 007n7 sees the fighting happening, he turns around and immediately retreats back the way he came, back to the sanctuary of the graveyard once more.

Being basically nude in front of your teammates may be embarrassing, but they'll understand what happened. In front of a killer- someone like Mafioso- however… 007n7 is getting bright red from embarrassment just thinking about it. He'd probably mock him, never let the poor man live this down.

But… now what? If the others are too busy to help him, what else can he do but shudder in the cold air of the arena and hope he doesn't get spotted, ever?

Well, he could be useful and work on that generator that was sat snugly in the corner of the graveyard.

Handling electricals with damp hands may not be the wisest, but frankly 007n7 could not care less. He just needed this thing to be over with, and if doing a generator hastened the round by even a few seconds then the risk was gonna be worth it.

His slippery hands had barely even gotten through half of the wires when he heard something that he really did not want to hear.

"Well, well, well… Fancy seeing you here."

"Ah!" 007n7 quickly spins around to face the source of the voice, only to pointedly remember the state of his attire (or lack thereof) and quickly slap and hand back across his chest.

Of course Mafioso found him. Because why wouldn't he? The graveyard is a common place for survivors to lurk, after all. And he had his men with him too. Great. Just great.

Mafioso almost didn't recognise 007n7 when he approached the man; it was a rare sight indeed to see him without some sort of silly head ware on or a shirt with a funny picture on (both of which C00lkidd would swear by them been cool). Rarer sight to see him so… exposed like this.

007n7's eyes darted around wildly as he tried to formulate a plan but was coming up short. Mafioso's gaze remained cool and fixed, smile still as wide as ever, as if waiting for 007n7 to make the first move. Seconds passed and neither man moved, or looked away.

"Do- do you mind not staring!" 007n7 is eventually calls out. His face is almost as red as his son's.

"Why?" Mafioso asks, taking a few large steps forwards, closing the distance between him and 007n7. The proximity does not make 007n7 feel any better, worse in fact. "So you can run away when my back is turned?"

"It's embarrassing…" 007n7 mumbles out, turning his face away from Mafioso.

"Don't be, I've seen some of your friends in much lesser attire," He's probably talking about Chance. Unlucky bastard. 007n7 was at least able to get a towel before this round started; he knows there have been multiple instances of Chance being pulled into rounds during their showers. "And you are in much better physique than they are."

"I highly doubt that!" 007n7 scoffs out, almost instinctively, before he can even begin to shut his mouth up.

"You should think better of yourself, 007n7." Mafioso states casually. Somehow that makes it worse.

"O-oh, I didn't think we were on name basis now, did you want me to call you by your name?"

"Call me whatever you feel like."

Why is he like this? Whenever 007n7 has had to speak with 1x1x1x1 it never gets like this; they're direct, they're blunt, they're intentions are clear. 007n7 feels like they have to do mental gymnastics with Mafioso, trying to decipher what the fuck is going on inside his head.

Besides, 007n7 doesn't actually know this mans real name…

"Right… Mafioso, can you just kill me and get this over with?" 007n7 responds, hoping to put an end to this ordeal.

"Why so desperate to see a grave today, and not one of these decorative pieces?" Mafioso asks, letting out a small chuckle.

"Look at me- don't actually- I just… I just want this over with, ok?" 007n7 returns. It should be obvious to the mobster just how mortifying he's finding this whole thing, but perhaps that is why Mafioso seems to be dragging this out.

"I prefer when my targets run."

"And I prefer not to be stuck in a round with my tits out, but here we are!" 007n7 is briefly able to return eye contact when he yells, but is quick to retreat into the shell of embarrassment, unable to hold it for much longer.

"Worried about keeping your modesty intact, are we? Very well."

There's a lot of rustling of fabric, before something is draped over 007n7's shoulders, the initial contact making him jump. It's only as 007n7's arms are guided (forced) into the arm holes that he notices that Mafioso in suddenly devoid of his usual overcoat. And now it is on him.

Mafioso raises a hand over his shoulder and clicks his fingers a few times.

"Belt." He orders; one of his men is quick to comply, removing their belt and handing it to their boss, who then promptly wraps it around 007n7's waist.

"Wh-why would you…?" 007n7 questions, though he doesn't quite finish the thought.

"To save you from running around 'with your tits out', of course." Mafioso replies, a low chuckle in his throat as he mimics 007n7 previous statement. He takes a couple of steps away from 007n7. The exploiter's face is still red, though it isn't as deep as it was before. "And as I am in such a generous mood, I'll give you a ten second head start."

"Wait-"

"Ten."

007n7 wasn't going to stick around any longer. He ran as fast as he could make his legs go, which was surprisingly fast, given his lack of footwear.

A safe-ish place to hide would be the big manner-house, so that is where 007n7 went. It might be a predictable option, but the cover should afford him more time to regain himself.

He wasn't expecting a face full of flintlock as soon as he went through the door.

"Geez! 7, it's you!" Chance exclaims, high pitch betraying his startled state, pulling his unfired gun away from the man.

"Yeah, it's me…" 007n7 replies, running up to the table and pulling a chair out so he can sit down and catch his breath.

By the turret near the entrance and the hammering away in one of the other rooms, it seems Builderman is setting up here too.

"Why are you wearing Mafioso's coat?" Chance asks, joining 007n7 in the room.

"I don't want to talk about it." 007n7 sighs, staring down at his hands.

Chance, not deterred steps a little closer to 007n7.

"Oh my god," Chance exclaims. "Are you naked under that!?" They've noticed that 007n7 doesn't appear to have a shirt on. Or Shoes. Or trousers. He's been there before, though Chance never has the luxury of the mafia offering to give them their clothes.

007n7 shoots them an extremely tired, extremely pleading look.

"Chance… Please, please, can we not talk about it?" 007n7 begs.

Builderman enters the room with the two of them at that point, having finished setting up his dispenser.

"Chance, leave the man alone. Aren't you supposed to be watching the door?" Builderman says, folding his arms over his chest. 007n7 has never been more thankful for the presence and authority of an admin in his life.

Chance raises their hands defensively.

"Alright, alright," He turns to leave the room, but stops just shy of actually doing so. "Oh, hey, 7, if you survive this round, that means you get to keep the coat, yeah?"

"What? Oh, er," 007n7 thought about it for a few seconds. "I'll probably wash and return it another time…" He eventually finishes.

"You sure? Don only wears the finest of clothes. Bet that coats worth a lot. And comfy as all hell." Chance urges cheekily, nudging at 007n7's side, trying to tempt him.

"Chance, I'm not running off with mafia property." 007n7 groans out.

"Suit yourself." Chance says with a shrug before, at the silent urging of Builderman's glaring, resumes his post at the entrance to the house.

007n7 didn't die before the match ended.

He fled the table he and the other survivors return to in record time, not stopping until he is back in the safety of his own room.

Chance was right, this coat is comfy as all hell… it was hard to convince himself to take it off, but there was comfort to be found in returning to his usual get up too.

Now he just needed to take this thing to be cleaned.

First, however, he should check all the pockets, just to make sure that there was nothing inside any of them that could get damaged in the cleaning process.

They were all empty, apart from one.

A small piece of paper was folded neatly inside one of the inner pockets.

Curious, 007n7 unfolded it to see what it was.

A picture depicting C00lkidd smiling in a field with 007n7 and Mafioso was on the paper. Above the image was writing saying 'I made you some pasta!' and below it was 'P.S: Mafioso helped me make it :)'.

"Oh!" 007n7 exclaims aloud, immediately recognising the picture. C00lkidd's drawing; he thought he had lost this one.

007n7 walks over to where the other picture is framed and sets this one down next to it, making a mental note to get another picture frame.

'Wonder why he had it.' 007n7 thinks to himself, before resuming what he was doing before.

Notes:

Unlike 007n7, Chance would likely be unfazed by stuck in rounds nude or almost nude. In fact, they'd probably just roll with it, just like "Yeah, I'm naked now, what are you going to do about it?" before getting promptly stabbed.

Chapter 11: A collusion of the malicious chicken man and creepy smiley person

Summary:

Shedletsky just wants to be helpful (but not actually help) and Two Time has a fun idea for another time.

"Hungry by any chance?" Shedletsky asks, leaning against the wall the generator was against. Once again, he is decidedly not working on it, leaving it all up to 007n7.

"Well, I woke up late… and the round started before I could get any breakfast…" 007n7 admits, not looking up from his task at hand.

"You want some chicken?" Shedletsky asks. In 007n7's peripheral, he can just about see a piece of fried chicken being held out to him.

"Er, no thanks."

"What? Why not!?" Shedletsky sounds a little offended by the rejection of his most sacred food.

"You need it for healing, don't you?" 007n7 asks, though the justification isn't the main reason he doesn't want Shedletsky's fried chicken.

"I'm sure I'll live without one. Come on, I can hear you clearly!" Shedletsky responds, letting out a small, hearty laugh. As if on cue, 007n7's stomach let out another small groan.

"Shedletsky, I appreciate the gesture, but-" 007n7 pauses briefly. "-I don't want to eat your pocket chicken that's been marinating in pocket sand!"

"It's not pocket sand, it's pocket seasoning!" Shedletsky exclaims, as if that is going to suddenly make the chicken all the more appetising. "Come on! I have chicken to spare!"

The 'pocket seasoning' is most likely a mixture of all the pieces of the previous chicken legs that have come before this one, stewing away in the depths of Shedletsky's pocket for all eternity… Or at least until he washes them.

Doesn't make it any more appealing.

The chicken is very close to 007n7's face now.

"I'm starting to think you're the one I should be sneaking vegetables into the meals of…" 007n7 remarks with a sigh, swatting the chicken again once more.

C00lkidd was bad when it came to eating vegetables, but he never just exclusively ate one thing!

"What if we made a deal?" Shedletsky suggests.

"A deal?" 007n7 repeats quizzically.

"Yeah. You eat my chicken, and I'll eat a vegetable. Any vegetable." The way Shedletsky phrases it has 007n7 crafting the mental image of himself just thrusting a carrot into Shedletsky's face and demanding he it eat. Funny, but not helpful.

"I don't have anything on me, obviously… Besides, I'm not eating that chicken." 007n7 responds, pointing towards the leg in Shedletsky's hand.

"Ok. So, what if I make you some back at the cabin? And you can make me one of your fancy vegetable dishes." Shedletsky bargains.

Freshly made fried chicken might actually be nice. 007n7 has heard that Shedletsky makes some of the most godly chicken your tastebuds will ever be blessed by… if he can be bothered to cook, that is.

"Like a dinner exchange?" 007n7 asks. If Shedletsky is expecting him to cook him a whole dish, does that mean he'll trade it for a chicken dinner?

"Yeah sure, if you wanna make me dinner, I'm not complaining." A small wolfish grin creeps across Shedletsky's face as 007n7 continues to ponder the exchange.

"Do you two mind if I partake as well?"

The sudden voice behind him makes 007n7 jump, dropping the wires that he had stopped working one due to the Shedletsky-based distraction.

It was Two Time. Who else could skulk up behind him without anyone noticing.

"This was a private conversation," Shedletsky replies with a small huff. "Besides, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be fighting C00lkidd?"

Two Time's smile never falters.

"The child is being entertained by the presence of Guest and Chance, last I saw. Now, by the will of the Spawn, I lend my aid to a task of equal importance," Two Time moves from behind 007n7 around to another side of the generator, before kneeling down next to it and taking a few wires into their fingers."Fixing this generator." And then Two Time proceeds to get to work.

"At least you're being helpful…" 007n7 mumbles out, resuming his work too. "Ah. Two Time, you wanted to join us in cooking? That's what you said, right?"

"Yes! I can provide us all with a meal made by the finest ingredients the Spawn blesses me to acquire!"

There's a few seconds of silence as both 007n7 and Shedletsky try to translate what Two Time just said.

"Are you… going to make something out of stuff you've hunter/gathered?" 007n7 eventually asks.

"Yep!" Two Time replies, just as they finish a section of the generator.

"Oh sure, why not get everybody involved at this point…" Shedletsky grumbles to himself, shoving his chicken back into his pocket, to be eaten another day.

"A wonderful idea, oh leader of ours!" Two Time exclaims. "We should host a cooking competition! Such a display may boost moral amongst us!"

"Oh… A competition… But I'm not-" 007n7 hasn't been making meals from scratch for very long. He was still new to all this. Most of the meals he made for himself and C00lkidd before… everything was just cheap frozen meals, as it was all he could afford. He was going to suck in a competition.

"Nonsense! The Spawn blesses hard work, and you 007n7, are a very hard worker!" Two Time gives the man next to them a few, light slaps on the back. All 007n7 can do to respond is stumble out some small thanks. "Now, after this I shall attempt to recruit some more participants and judges!"

"Fine. I can agree to this," Shedletsky responds, still leaning against the wall. "I just hope you two are ready to lose to the tastiest chicken of your lives!"

C00lkidd's not been having fun today. He was really sure his dad was around here somewhere, but that nefarious soldier man and that fake mafia person (they dress so similarly to Mafioso, C00lkidd sometimes mistakes him for one of his men!) have been bullying him too much! And they've gotten away too!

C00lkidd wants to scream, but he'll do the second best thing: find his dad so he can complain.

Finding his dad was usually a problem, what with his dad being the hide and seek champion and all! But today he found his dad pretty easily.

He was in danger!

The chicken man that mx 1x hates is with him, and so is that creepy smiley person! They, they, they… they must be working together! No wonder mr Azure hates the smiley person too! They both have to be evil if two of C00lkidd's cool friends hate them both.

C00lkidd tried to walkspeed over to get them away from his dad, but that creepy smiley person reacts quickly, and the next thing C00lkidd knew was his back was hurting. Bad.

"Owww!" C00lkidd screams, trying to rub his back. "I'm telling dad! Daaaad!"

But his dad was long gone, likely stolen from him by that damn chicken man, who had also disappeared from the scene.

That was annoying, but C00lkidd could still catch that creepy smiley person and show them what's what!

They were elusive, but C00lkidd was able to catch them eventually.

As C00lkidd held the creepy smiley person in the air, a thought suddenly occurs to him.

"Wait! Wasn't I supposed to deliver you a message…" C00lkidd says aloud, thinking to himself.

"Wh- what-?" The Creepy smiley person chokes out, still lashing out at C00lkidd as he holds them.

"Oh yeah! I remember now!" C00lkidd exclaims, before in his most proudest voice he recites the message: "Mr Azure sends their regards!"

Oh, the smiley person must have been so shocked by that message! They passed out almost as soon as C00lkidd finished saying it! They even stayed asleep when C00lkidd dropped them on the floor. Oh well!

Time to keep looking for dad!

Notes:

Because Azure isn't in the game yet, they've probably never been in a round, so this might be the first time Two Time becomes aware Azure might be in Forsaken lol.

Chapter 12: Survivor camp cook off

Summary:

So... who has the better cooking?

Notes:

Taph's in this chapter. Taph talks in emojis. I'm not translating them, so if they don't show up on your device oops (but Taph's bits are fairly easy to infer without them anyway).

007n7 arrives in the main hall to quite the surprise.

Apparently, Builderman had been busy; the area had been converted in to a massive kitchen space with multiple ovens and cooking spaces. Opposite from the kitchen space, there was a table with four chairs, labelled 'judges table'. There was even a live studio audience in attendance (various other survivors and npcs)!

When 007n7 agreed to a cooking competition, he didn't expect them to turn it into some sort of game show…

He slowly makes his way over to the kitchen area, being beckoned by Shedletsky.

"Hey, 07! You finally made it!" He remarks cheerfully.

Shedletsky has adorned a very fancy looking chef's outfit, and now 007n7 is wondering if he was supposed to dress for the occasion rather than just wear his usual clothes.

"Hi, Shedletsky… What's with all of this?" 007n7 asks, gesturing around the room.

"Cool, huh? I asked Builderman to make it for us!" Shedletsky announces proudly.

"Sure, sure, cool…" 'Mortifying' would have been a better word to describe it; 007n7 wasn't much of a people person, nor was he the best cook in the world, and now he was going to have a whole load of people watching him cook live? This was gonna suck…

"Don't worry, I wasn't expecting all this either." Guest 1337 remarks, arriving at the kitchen area. His voice suddenly coming from behind 007n7 makes the man jump a little.

"O-oh, are you cooking too?" 007n7 asks.

"Yeah. I thought it would be fun to do something different." Guest responds.

Unlike Shedletsky, Guest 1337 isn't wearing any fancy chef clothing. He's just wearing his off duty clothing. That's a little comforting for 007n7, as it means he isn't under dressed for this whole fiasco.

There's a box on the floor a short distance away from them; 007n7 only notices it when Guest 1337 walks over to it and pulls something at. An apron. He puts it on before sliding the box over in 007n7's direction.

"Here." Guest says as he does so.

"Oh. Thanks." 007n7 mumbles as he quickly reaches in and grabs the first one his fingers can clasp at.

"Is it just going to be us three?" Guest asks as 007n7 ties the apron around himself.

"Oh no! Two Time was meant to-" Shedletsky begins, only to be interrupted by the arrival of the person in question.

"-Pardon my late arrival!" Two Time remarks, sauntering into the room, wearing his same old clothes.

They have two sacks in their hands, one of which is decidedly… very wet looking. Before anyone can even begin to ask, Two Time proceeds to empty them out onto the counter. The not wet one was full of mushrooms and herbs, the wet one was full of giant slabs of meat.

The spoils of Two Time's hunter gathering; 007n7 cannot even begin to guess what kind of animal Two Time killed to get slabs of meat that big. They pre-butchered the animal, so the remains of the carcass would be… somewhere.

"May I have an apron, 007n7?" Two Time asks, extending his hand out to the man (who still had the box of aprons with him).

"Oh, right. Yeah." 007n7 replies, passing the box over to Two Time.

"I thank you…" They reply, rummaging around in the box until they find one to their liking. They settle on a plain grey one. Looking back up at 007n7 they say, with a slightly wider smiler than usual, "May I ask if that is a request, or a demand?" They point down at 007n7's chest.

"What…?" 007n7 looks down to where Two Time is pointing.

Oh no. Oh no, no, no! 007n7 didn't really get a good look at his apron when he picked it out! He assumed it was plain! But it isn't, it's one of those stupid 'kiss the cook' aprons! He's got to change it asap!

"Is everyone ready!?" Chance shouts from the middle of the room. "Alright! Welcome everyone to the very first survivor cook off! We've got a live studio audience, so everyone give a round of applause for today's contestants!"

Too late. Two Time has slid the box out of the way and the competition is beginning. 007n7 slides lower to the ground, mortified, and wanting to just disappear.

The round of applause was fairly lukewarm, likely because the audience had not expected to be called on so suddenly.

"Oh come on! You guys can do better than that!" Chance urges, making 'bigger' gestures with his arms.

The audience gives a slightly louder and more vigorous applause.

Once that is through, Chance 'introduces' everyone to the panel of judges. Elliot, naturally. That other pizza guy that 007n7 really needs to try and learn the name of (and Chance does too, by how he skirts around actually naming them). Noob, the resident foodie. Finally, Taph. According to Chance, it was originally just going to be the other three, but Taph just 'really wanted to be a judge' so they got added to the panel.

Each judge was to give the food they were presented with a score out of ten, with Chance setting the only criteria to be how good the food was. A subjective measurement, but it's not like this is an actual live broadcasted cooking show.

Next Chance had to explain that certain contestants had some self imposed rules to follow.

Shedletsky could only make chicken.

007n7 had to make a vegetable based dish.

Two Time could only use ingredients that they had gotten themselves.

Guest 1337 was free to make whatever he felt like.

Chance also gave a special shout out to Builderman and 2x2 for swiftly constructing the set for this competition.

"Uh, Builderman? Where is 2x2…?" Chance whisper-shouts over to Builderman mid speech, noticing how the vip seat next to him was decidedly empty.

"Gone fishing, again." Builderman replies simply, with a slight hint of annoyance. Probably because with 2x2 constantly away, he's been forced to take on even more construction load.

"Damn it! I was gonna ask them to build me an extension… Oh well." Chance grumbles, before returning to his show hosting. "Alright, you guys have an hour-give or take-!"

"I don't need an hour to fry chicken!" Shedletsky shouts from his station.

"Well make multiple batches! Experiment with flavours! I don't know!" Chance shouts back. "Anyway, start cooking!" Chance shoots his gun into the air like this is some sort of race track- or at least he tried, because it didn't fire.

Regardless, everyone started to work on their food.

007n7 tries hard to just focus on his cooking, not on the people around nor the massive crowd watching him work. It was difficult, his station was sandwiched between Two Time's and Guest's so he felt like if he made too big of a motion, he might accidentally bump into one of them.

"Hey, 7, can I ask you something?" Guest asks as he continues to work. From what 007n7 can see through his periphery, Guest seems to be making some kind of pie.

"Huh? Wh- are you trying to distract me or something?" 007n7 lets out a small, nervous chuckle. "N-not very sportsmanship of you!"

"What? No. It's just-" Guest turns slightly to face more in 007n7's direction. "Did I do something to upset you?"

"Uhm, no? Why?" 007n7 replies, still fumbling around with his ingredients.

"It's just- I get the sense you've been avoiding me. And I thought. Well."

"Avoiding you? I haven't been avoiding you!" 007n7 lies. He has been. It still feels a little silly to let C00lkidd's words haunt him the way they do, especially as Guest hasn't given him any real reason to think he wants him dead…

Maybe his son was mistaken?

"I've just been spending a lot of time with others!" 007n7 finishes.

"Mhm." Guest replies; he doesn't fully believe the whole 'not avoiding you' thing, but he doesn't push it. "Well, did you want to do anything after this? Or tomorrow, if you're feeling burnt out?"

"Uhm, maybe… I need to think of a gift to send my son- one that isn't more food." Not that 007n7 isn't going to stop sending C00lkidd food; gotta make sure he's eating even just somewhat healthy, after all.

"Perhaps we can work on something together?" Guest 1337 suggests.

"If I may interject!" Two Time chimes in, sticking their head forwards so that Guest 1337 can just about see them past 007n7. "I do have a suggestion for a gift our 7n7 can send his son!"

"O-oh, really?" 007n7 turns away from Guest to face Two Time, not noticing the slight frown on Guest's face.

"Yes! I was thinking of making myself a new idol to keep in my room, and it inspired me to suggest that perhaps you could make something too!"

"I'm not making my son an idol."

"No, no, of course not!" Though Two Time would have been even happier if he did. "But perhaps your son would enjoy a carven toy?"

"Like wood carving?" Guest calls out, rejoining the conversation.

"Indeed!" Two Time responds. "Do children not enjoy those little wooden cars?"

"And you could style it to C00lkidd's liking, make it very personal." Guest adds.

"That is true…" 007n7 thinks to himself for a little bit. It does sound like a great idea. "Sure, why not? We can all work on it together tomorrow- I-if you guys are up to it!"

"Alright." Guest responds with a firm nod.

"It would be most pleasing to spend some time with the two of you." Two Time remarks; a simple 'yes' was not enough, apparently.

"O-ok." 007n7 also made a mental note to ask 118o8 if she wanted to join in on the wood carving, so that she would have something to send her son too. He's sure the other two wouldn't mind him asking others if they wanted to join.

"Hey! Less yapping, more cooking! Some of you have stuff starting to burn!" Chance shouts, turning away from the crowd who they've been continuously hyping up this entire time.

Oh right. The cooking competition. 007n7 quickly returned his focus to the food he was prepping.

Everyone spend the rest of the time limit focusing on their cooking, with the odd interruption from Chance here and there for the 'TV show effect'.

With a lot less smoke than he was expecting, 007n7 was able to finish his dish. The others seemed to have theirs done too (Guest's looked a lot better than his, 007n7 silently had to admit to himself).

"Everyone done? Great!" Chance announces, clapping his hands together to draw the attention firmly onto himself. "Let's commence the judging phase! Each contestant will take turns presenting their food to the judges, who will score it out of ten. We'll start with Shedletsky, then move our way down the kitchen."

Shedletsky picks up a large dish with a pile of fried chicken on top and struts his way over to the judges.

"Et viola! The Shedletsky special for you fine gentle-people!" Shedletsky says as each of the judges has some fried chicken placed down on their plates.

They all inspect the piece for a few seconds before they start eating.

Guest leans over to 007n7.

"I wonder how Taph's going to eat theirs…?" Guest whispers, turning his gaze to 007n7 as he does so.

"Hmm…" 007n7 briefly looks over at Guest. He returns his attention to the judges. "Guest," He says with much surprise. "Look!" And so Guest does so; his face is too painted with surprise. "They already have!"

There is a large bite chunk in Taph's chicken leg, which no one in the room saw them take, but it had to have been Taph. How did they do that without…? Taph could keep their secrets.

As the judges deliberate on their verdicts, Shedletsky returns to the kitchen. He leans on the counter in front of 007n7 and holds up a piece of fried chicken.

"And for you, 07, I've saved my tastiest, juiciest piece of chicken." Shedletsky remarks proudly, a huge smile across his face.

"Shouldn't you have given that to one of the judges?" 007n7 asks.

"It's not their judgement I'm concerned by." Shedletsky responds, smile not faltering. He waves the chicken leg in 007n7's face, so close that it occasionally brushes up against his lips.

007n7 eventually takes it. He sets it down on the countertop and, using a knife, slices a piece off the bone to eat.

"That's meant to be finger food." Shedletsky huffs out.

"I thought we'd all try some." 007n7 responds, passing the leg to Guest so that he too can get some.

Shedletsky's smile falters for but a second, but he otherwise makes no remark as Guest, and then eventually Two Time, get a piece of his chicken.

007n7 had to admit, Shedletsky sure did know how to make amazing chicken. If only the man would be willing to cook more often… and actually cook other things from time to time.

Guest seemed to like it too. Two Time said something about it being 'nice, despite the lack of Spawn blessings'.

Anyway, back to the actual judges.

"Well," Elliot began, thinking over his words. "You can never go wrong with Shedletsky's fried chicken, but as a meal it's… kinda lacking. Could do with some sides. I'd give it a six."

"Yeah, pretty much what Elliot said. Six here too." Said the other pizza guy.

"It tastes good, very juicy meat with a nice crisp batter. As a stand alone item, I'd eat it all day! …But yeah, it does need some sort of side to accompany it. I'll give it a seven!" Noob says. They're also the only one to eat their piece clean off the bone.

"😋7️⃣❗" Comes from Taph.

"So, a six, a six, a seven and a seven, that's…" Chance has to do maths in his head. "Twenty six as a total! Let's see if our Guest 1337 can beat that score!"

Guest picked up is pie and went over to the judge's table.

"I made a chicken pot pie for all of you," He says as he cuts portions out for everyone and places them down on their plates. "Hopefully Shedletsky's dish hasn't put you all off chicken just yet!" He adds with a small laugh.

Once done distributing to the judges, Guest returns to his fellow contestants to cut them all a piece of pie.

It. Looked. So good! Damn, 007n7 had some steep competition.

"I wanted to make something from home…" Guest remarks as everyone tries a bite of his pie.

Damn it, it even tastes so good. Even Shedletsky has taken a few bites out of the not-chicken parts of the pie. That's probably going to be the biggest compliment around.

"Damn Guest, maybe you should start making the community meals!" Elliot exclaims when he finishes. "I gotta give that an eight!"

"I'm gonna go one higher and give it a nine, because that's like really good man!" The other pizza guy says.

"Yeah, it's creamy, it's delicious, the pastry might be a bit too done, but other than that, solid eight!" Noob gives as a verdict.

"‼️😋😋8️⃣❗"

That's a thirty three. That's such a high score…

And now it is 007n7's turn. How is he expected to follow that?

He slowly shuffles his way over to the judge's table.

"I- uh- I made you guys a spicy vegetable stew…" 007n7 mumbles as he begins portioning out his food. He can't stop himself trembling as the pressure of all the eyes on him slowly gets to him.

"Thank you, 07," Elliot remarks as he places some on his plate. He looks down at it before looking back up at 007n7. "Oh, is that a requirement too?" He asks with a soft laugh, pointing at 007n7's chest.

He's still wearing the stupid apron and although it was a lighthearted joke on Elliot's part, the realisation that everyone in the room has probably seen it now makes him just want to get swallowed up by the ground, never to return.

"Two Time said something similar." He quickly mumbles before hurrying along to get the others served up before fleeing to the sanctuary of the kitchen area, where he can cower behind the counter.

He almost forgot to give some to Shedletsky, Guest and Two Time.

The three of them gave fairly warm reviews, fortunately, even if Shedletsky made a 'could do with some chicken' remark.

Now for the actual judges…

"I think this is really good, 07! A nice, healthy change of pace from all the chicken. I'll give you an eight!" Elliot says, giving 007n7 a thumbs up.

"It's nice, bit over done in places, but nice. I'll give it a six." The other pizza guy responds, which feels a bit more accurate.

"Could do with more protein, and a bit more spices for flavour, and perhaps a pinch more salt but a really good effort. I'll give it a six too." The resident foodie remarks.

"😋7️⃣❗"

Ok, so that's a twenty seven. Nowhere near as good as Guest's but somehow just better than Shedletsky's. 007n7 is low key certain Elliot voted too high, but who is he to claim he knows what food is to Elliot's tastes.

And lastly, it was Two Time's turn.

In all honesty, 007n7 (and everyone for that matter) had no idea what to expect from them.

"Good people! I bring you a meal blessed by the Spawn itself!" Two Time declares as they approach the Judge's table."A medley of ingredients that I was able to collect under their guidance and blessing!"

To be fair, the meat and mushroom medley looked fairly decent. Hopefully it tasted fairly decent.

"Two Time? May I ask what this is?" Elliot asks, pointing to a meaty chunk.

"Meat!" Two Time remarks cheerfully.

"What kind of meat?" Elliot presses.

"Red meat!" Two Time says with as much cheer as before, now returning to the kitchen to give some to their fellow contestants.

"No, I meant as in what did you kill to get it?" Elliot asks with a sigh.

"Ah, I found a dracobloxxer fresh from the eggshell and killed it swiftly!" Two Time explains.

"This is dracobloxxer meat!?" Was a shared sentiment across the whole room.

"The babies do provide very tender meat!" Two Time helpfully says.

Well, they weren't wrong about that; 007n7 was able to convince himself to take a bite out of the… exotic cut of meat. It wasn't half bad. Could do with some salt.

Now, onto the judges.

"Ok, aside from the… unusual source of protein, the meat a vegetables are fine, but… Two Time, you know you could have used salt, right?" Elliot asks as he is giving his verdict on the meal.

"I was unfortunately unable to find salt rocks in my searches so had to do without." Two Time replies.

"Yeah, I know you said you'd only use food you gathered yourself but… come on, you couldn't have just used some salt? The herbs you gathered are doing a lot of the heavy lifting. I can only give a five at most." Elliot explains. Two Time doesn't seem bothered by the low reception.

"I'm just surprised the meat isn't chewy. Five here." The other pizza guy remarks as he picks bits out from between his teeth.

"As Elliot said, the aromatics are doing a lot of the heavy lifting here. It's a five from me." Is Noob's verdict.

"😊👌6️⃣❗"

So, just twenty one for Two Time. That's probably higher than what most people were expecting to be honest.

That also means that Guest 1337 won by a landslide victory!

With Chance finally wrapping up the show, 007n7 is able to make a swift exit. As he flees all the way back to his room, he makes sure to slam the apron he was wearing in the first available bin he sees.

The following segment is technically not canon to this fic, but I wanted to write it in anyway lol.

Contractee sat in the middle of the sofa, flipping through the channels on the TV, making a louder huffing noise after each channel he passes.

He swears the Spectre just removes the channels with the programs he is watching right before the finale, because he can never find them again whenever they're about to reach the end! He might as well stop trying to watch TV in his down time at this rate.

As he continues to flip through channels, C00lkidd enters the room, holding an assortment of crayons, pencils and paper.

"Hi mr mafia boy!" C00lkidd calls out, making his way towards the centre of the room. "What are you up to?"

"Watching TV, or trying to," Contractee replies, still mindlessly flipping through the channels. "What are you doing?"

"I'm drawing a picture for dad!" C00lkidd remarks happily, plopping himself down on the floor before promptly beginning to scribble over the paper.

C00lkidd was just going to use whatever Contractee chose to watch as background noise.

Where does the Spectre even find these programs? They're all so low budget and shit! Contractee is never going to be able to find something good to watch.

He stops flipping on some weird cooking show when he sees someone familiar. At first he thinks it's a trick of the eye, but the closer he looks…

"Hey! Chance is on the TV!" Contractee shouts, pointing at the screen at the all too familiar person. "Hey boss! Chance is on the TV!" Contractee shouts a little louder, turning his head to face out the room.

"Hmm?" Mafioso hums out as he enters the room. He rounds the sofa and then sits down in the middle, forcing Contractee to shuffle to one of the end seats. Sure enough, that's Chance, announcing some sort of low budget cooking competition. "How… peculiar."

C00lkidd wasn't going to pay much attention, but a familiar name- and voice- caught his attention.

"Hey!" C00lkidd shuffles right up to the TV, grabbing it with both hands and pressing his face up to the screen, as if doing so would send him inside. After a few seconds he pulls away before turning round to face the pair on the sofa, a flinger pointing to a spot on the screen. "That's my dad! My dad's on TV!"

C00lkidd, at Mafioso's urging, shuffled back again from the TV. His drawings had been swiftly forgotten as he now was super focused on watching his dad on the TV. He wouldn't shut up about how his dad was 'so going to win!'

At some point Azure enters the room, and has to be stopped from destroying the TV the moment that they see that Two Time is on it. Eventually, he settles down on the sofa next to Mafioso to watch the show too, but they are only watching to pray on Two Time's downfall.

1x1x1x1 comes into the room later too, and also has to be stopped from destroying the TV the moment she sees that Shedletsky is on it too. Like, come on! That TV has been broken so many times, they can't always pray that the Spectre will be kind enough to give them a new one. 1x1x1x1 just lurks in the doorway, watching from a distance, cursing out Shedletsky every time he appears on the screen wearing that ridiculous chefs outfit.

Bluudud and Pr3typriincess also come to watch. Bluudud goes on and on about if his mom was in the competition, then she'd win for sure. He gets super excited when he spots her in the crowd, watching the competition.

"She wasn't good enough to be on it, unlike my dad!" C00lkidd says. It causes a fight between the two children until Azure pulls them apart.

Azure is very gleeful when Two Time comes last, by a sizeable margin.

But hey, at least 007n7 came second! C00lkidd could take second! He's still a little made that the nefarious soldier man came first, but it's not his dad's fault that the judges are stupid!

Notes:

Ok, so this note has no relation to this fic whatsoever but I have brainworms for a fic idea but I have too many wips on the go and don't have time to write it but need to get it out there.

So, it would be like a poisonburger medieval fantasy au where Roblox is a kingdom ruled by Shedletsky and the Banlands is a place next to it ruled by 1x1x1x1.

'Exploiting' is a prohibited form of magic in Roblox and 007n7 gets caught as an exploiter and gets banished to Banlands. C00lkidd also gets caught but kids aren't meant to get banished rather 'rehabilitated' but he refuses to leave his dad so they both get exiled to Banlands.

After a few days of wandering the Banlands they get caught by undead and brought to the castle to meet the evil 1x1x1x1, the king/queen/monarch of the Banlands.

1x1x1x1 is kinda just gonna kill them to add their undead bodies to their army but C00lkidd decides to challenge them to a duel like "If I beat you then me and my dad can go free!" C00lkidd has Firebrand because one of his crimes is that he stole it lol.

Anyway 1x1x1x1 beats C00lkidd's ass, but is like "Where did a kid like you learn to use exploits like that?" you know because walkspeed.

C00lkidd, on the floor, crying, defeated, points at 007n7 like "My dad."

So, 1x1x1x1 decides i'm gonna keep this kid as my squire to train them up, and I guess I'll take his dad as a wife servant.

Neither of them are happy with the arrangement for like a good while.

C00lkidd warms to it first, because holy shit we used to live in a small house and now we live in a castle!!!

007n7 is very resistant. Like he knows that despite the 'luxury' of living in a castle, they're still prisoners. They can't leave.
007n7 constantly uses his exploits to try and escape but keeps getting caught.
1x1x1x1 is very annoyed/angry with it at first but later finds it a little endearing/uses these escape attempts to secretly train 007n7 to be better at exploiting.

Other characters in this would be:
-Jason/Slasher is a guard at the castle.

-John Doe got a strange illness and rather than try to cure him, Roblox authorities just tossed him into the Banlands and told his wife he died. 1x1x1x1 found him and decided to keep him in the castle because he's very strong. Thoughts of his wife are the only thing that keeps him sane.

-Doombringer was a admin/council member who got exiled for corruption, ended up serving 1x1x1x1's court instead.

-Azure was sacrificed by the cult and body ended up in Banlands so how. 1x1x1x1 found the body and was like sweet, free corpse! Rejuvenate the rotten. Except, due to the weird circumstances of Azure's death, they resurrect with free will and thought still in tact. So 1x1x1x1 is kinda like 'if you serve me I'll help you get revenge on who killed you' and Azure is just like 'deal'.

-Noli and 007n7 used to be friends but Noli disappeared one day and 007n7 doesn't know what happened to him.
Noli's body got shattered over reality when the stole the void star artifact but they were somehow remade in Banlands. 1x1x1x1 helps stabilises his body in exchange for servitude.
1x1x1x1 gets super jealous when 007n7, C00lkidd and Noli all start hanging out together (because holy shit Noli, you're alive!!!) when not working and threatens to no longer aid in stabilising his body.
007n7 gets upset and they retract the threat. Those things are totally not correlated at all.

-Mafioso lives in Roblox but runs a smuggling operation between the two lands.

-Guest 666 is a werebeast who sent themselves to Banlands because they were shunned for this affliction. Guests in general are considered nomads.

-Shedletsky is a lazy king and Brighteyes and the admins/council do most of the work. He's still unmatched across Roblox in terms of sword skills.

-Jane Doe doesn't believe her husband is dead and is saving up to be able to pay Mafioso to smuggle her out to Banlands so she can search for him.

-Builderman and Dusekkar are like the only non-corrupt members of the admin/council at this point lmao.

-Noob is a peasant and reacted poorly to Guest 666 telling them that they are a werebeast but now deeply regrets it. They still wait for Guest 666's nomad caravan to come around, wanting to ask for forgiveness, not knowing that they are in Banlands now.

Anyway, thank you for hearing me out on this one, I'm running out of character limit lol.

Chapter 13: Weird boom person

Summary:

Taph has a request for 007n7, C00lkidd sees. Nothing can go wrong there.

Notes:

I guess I'm adding Taph to C00lkidd's shitlist now.

The expression 'no rest for the wicked' might apply in this situation. 007n7 had gotten back to his room following the cook off and at that point just wanted to sleep. He changed into his onesie, got into bed and then fell onto a hard cold floor.

A new round had started. Great. At least 007n7 had decent body cover for this one.

007n7 was quick to get to work, bee lining towards the nearest potential generator location, and when there wasn't one there he moved to the next until he did eventually find one.

He steps over a few tripwires as he joins Taph, who had only gotten about and quarter of the machine done by the time 007n7 arrives.

"Hey, mind if I help?" He asks, kneeling down next to the machine. He was going to anyway.

"👍"

The two of them worked in silence until the generator was completed. 007n7 wasn't too sure how many had been done at this point, so debated leaving the safety of Taph's little nest.

Eventually, he decided it was best to head out and find more. Hauling himself to his feet, he began to set off.

"⁉️"

"I'm going to look for more generators." 007n7 explains.

"🫵❌👇🧑‍🤝‍🧑❓"

"Oh, no! I-it's just the generators need to be done. I think…" 007n7 thinks to himself for a few seconds. "Why? Is there something you wanted?"

"😊🫵😋❗"

"O-oh, uh, thank you?" 007n7 wanted to point out that Taph gave overall more favourable scores to all the contestants earlier, but he remained silent on that front. He's still not used to receiving compliments, so he can't help but feel a little bashful.

"🫵🍳🔁❓"

"Why? Did you want me to make you something to eat- so long as it's not chicken!" Not that he has anything against chicken, but he's being getting the feeling that Shedletsky really wants him to eat his chicken lately… For some reason.

"✔️✔️👍🙏🙏🙏"

"O-oh. Ok then. Maybe when I next make something for C00lkidd to eat, I'll send you some." 007n7 agrees before continuing on his way, with Taph watching him leave (or at least 007n7 assumed they were watching him, as he can't actually see Taph's eyes).

007n7 hadn't gotten far, only rounding a few corners, when a new, much louder and less emoji based voice hit his ears.

"Dad!" C00lkidd shouts, charging over to him at full speed.

Oh yeah, his son was the killer for this round…

007n7 barely had the time to try to flee before something- someone- collided painfully with his back.

"Gotcha!" C00lkidd cries victoriously as he accidentally sets his father aflame. Fortunately it extinguishes fairly quickly.

"H-hey kidd, you got me!" 007n7 says with a nervous chuckle. He was hoping to avoid getting roughed up too badly right before he wanted to go to bed.

"Why were you talking to that person earlier?" C00lkidd asks abruptly, staring down at him with such an intense gaze.

"What?" 007n7 dumbly asks.

"That weird person who makes the booms. Why were you talking to them?" C00lkidd presses, leaning in closer to his father's face.

"You saw that-?" How long had C00lkidd been lurking, waiting for the right time to jump him? "Taph was just asking for a favour." 007n7 explains simply.

"But they don't like you!" C00lkidd protests.

"Taph's…" 007n7 mules on his words for a second. "Nice? I think they like me?"

"Nuh uh! I've seen them be mean to you! They were all ❌ and 😡and 🤬!" C00lkidd crosses his arms over his chest as he explains, staring momentarily in the vague direction that 007n7 had left Taph in.

"Where did you learn to talk like that…?" That was an off topic question. "Nevermind, they're not like that anymore!" 007n7 quickly returns to the matter at hand, defending Taph's good name.

"What!? They're being all nice to you now!?" C00lkidd asks with evident disbelief and shock.

"Yeah!" It sounds like he is finally getting through to C00lkidd-

"Oh no! That sounds- that sounds exactly like what happened with the evil pizza boy! Dad, they must be evil!" C00lkidd exclaims, hands clasping the sides of his face at the sudden realisation.

-Or not.

007n7 lets out a heavy sigh; why does C00lkidd think that everyone on the survivors side is somehow evil?

"C00lkidd, they're not-"

His words are interrupted as C00lkidd lifts him high into the air, shaking him frantically. He can almost hear the bones rattling in his body.

"No dad! You need to listen to me! They're evil! They're going to-" Something hits C00lkidd's foot mid rant with a light thud; both father and son look down at the item as it stops neatly against C00lkidd's foot. "-What the-?"

Boom!

The subspace tripmine explodes, harmless to 007n7 but very disorientating to C00lkidd. In his panic, he drops 007n7 onto the ground.

He doesn't stay down long, in the haze of bright purple light a hand grabs 007n7 by his own and pulls him to his feet. 007n7 mostly works on adrenaline, until the two of them are a safe distance away from C00lkidd.

At least his son wouldn't be hurt… physically, at the very least.

"Thanks, Taph. C00lkidd was getting… a bit emotional…" 007n7 explains, catching his breath as the two of them kept cover behind some rocks.

"❓🧒❓🫵"

007n7 sighs out.

"It's a bit of a long- and weird- story…" He admits. "I'll tell you later."

They first had to focus on surviving the rest of the round.

Notes:

Oh yeah, for everyone who wanted that poisonburger fic, you'll be pleased to learn the brain worms were enabled and I did an introduction/prologue thing. You can read it here.
Yes, it doesn't have a title yet, I didn't think that far ahead.

Chapter 14: Woodcarving activities with a bunch of 'evil' people

Summary:

A bunch of survivors make toys for the children.

Notes:

Author knows nothing about actual woodcarving.

Guest 1337 had spent most of the morning cutting down trees and collecting logs out in the woods. Some of them would be donated to the building crew so that they can work on structure upgrades, some of them would be used as firewood, but the most important use of the logs was that they were going to be used to help 007n7 make a toy for his son.

After leaving a load of logs at the builder's supply closet and some at the firewood store, Guest made his was over to the bench where he would be joining 007n7 and Two Time. The low number of other attendees would mean that he might actually be able to hold a proper conversation with 007n7 for the first time in a while; Guest is still convinced 007n7 has been avoiding him lately, and he still had no idea why.

At least… it was supposed to be just him, 007n7 and Two Time, but as he got closer to where he was to meet with the two of them, it became apparent the number of people waiting for him was twice as much as he was anticipating. 118o8 and Builderman were there for some reason.

"I wasn't expecting such a crowd." Guest remarks as he arrives, setting the large number of logs down next to the bench.

The bench can usually only hold four people, but Builderman has pulled a chair up; Guest 1337 takes the open spot next to Two Time, opposite 118o8.

"I ask 8o8 if she wanted to come, er, because she can make a toy for her son too." 007n7 explains.

"I hope you don't mind." 118o8 adds.

"No, of course not." Guest responds quickly.

"And by the grace of the Spawn, our benevolent Builderman has agreed to help us with the functionality and specifications of the toys, so that the children do not receive inadequate gifts!" Two Time explains, in far too many words.

Guest stares blankly at Two Time, slowly trying to decipher what they meant.

"What Two Time means to say is: I'm here to help with measurements and moving parts." Builderman says, a much more concise explanation.

"Like the wheels on the car and plane!" 118o8 chimes in.

"Uh huh…" Guest responds, staring over to where he deposited the pile of logs. "Well, I just hope I brought enough for everyone."

"Ah, do not threat my friend. You've provided us bountifully with logs for our carvings!" Two Time, who is sitting adjacent to the log pile, leans down and picks one up for himself as well as the axe. They place the log on the table before raising the axe high in the air and then smashing it down on the log with as much force as they can muster, splitting it in two.

It also shakes the entire table, and makes all the other attendees jump. 007n7 nearly had a heart attack.

"Two Time!" 118o8 exclaims, having to readjust her glasses on her face.

"I should just cut up the logs for everyone…" Guest 1337 remarks after staring at everyone's expressions, all of which were still recovering from the momentary shock of Two Time's axe swing.

"Ah, yes! Let us make a spectacle of your strength!" Two Time declares. "The Spawn blesses you with strength, it would be quite possible for you to split these measly logs with your bare hands!" Two Time runs two fingers down Guest's arm as they say that, likely to emphasise Guest being the most muscular one here, but it still feels weird.

"Uhm, thanks?" Guest 1337 says, unsure how to respond as he pulls away from Two Time so that he can get to his feet. "But I think I will just stick to using the axe." He adds as he quickly retrieves the axe from Two Time.

"A shame really. I am certain some here might have enjoyed that spectacle." Two Time laments.

Guest can't tell if they are speaking for themselves or for someone else at the table.

Regardless, Guest proceeds to chop up the logs he brought into smaller pieces, sizes more suitable for the task at hand.

Once everyone had been given a piece of wood to work on, everyone set to work.

Two Time was quick to start whittling away at their piece, woodworking knife moving with deft precision as they began to make their new idol.

The others at the table were working on toys for the kids; Guest 1337 had volunteered to make one for Pr3typriincess, as he didn't want her to feel left out from the gift giving (the damn girl-dad in him strikes again). 007n7 thought the gesture was sweet of him, at the very least, so that's all that matters. Builderman was also doing some wood carving, but he was just going to make some animal shapes.

With Builderman's guidance, they were all able to cut out all the shapes they needed.

Next came the sanding process, and boy did having to do it manually mean that everyone's arms were going to be aching by the end of it. They were all thankful when Elliot showed up with pizza and soda for the table. He decides to stick around to watch for a bit, pulling up another chair to the already packed table.

Next came the painting, which meant a lot of red, blue and pink paint was going to be used that day. And glitter. Lots of glitter. It got everywhere. Even Two Time wasn't safe from the glitter, and they weren't even using any!… Ok, that's a lie, 007n7 was able to convince Two Time to sprinkle glitter onto one of their idols (they had started making a second) just to 'sparkle it up in the name of the Spawn', which Two Time couldn't resist of course.

Anyway, Glitter disaster aside, though 007n7 made a mental note that he had to take a shower later to get some out of his hair (and assumedly the others were going to do the same), it was time for the final step. All that was left to do was for Builderman to attach the wheels onto all the vehicles, and it would all be done.

It was long and hard work, but finally, it was complete!

007n7 had a little red car for C00lkidd, 118o8 had a little blue aeroplane for Bluudud and Guest 1337 had a little pink boat for Pr3typriincess (still had wheels attached so it come be pushed around too).

On top of the assortment of animals Builderman had made, it was quite the little care package to be sent to the children.

"Whoof, that took a while." Builderman remarks with evident exhaustion. It had taken the group all day to do, at times they joked about a round suddenly starting when things got real messy (namely the glitter incident). Fortunately, that did not come to be.

"So how are we going to get these to the kids?" 118o8 asks, looking down at her hard work.

"I could just wait to ask C00lkidd. He's been- uh- very talkative with me in rounds lately." 007n7 explains.

"Alright, I'll get you a box to put everything in." Builderman replies, getting to his feet and heading towards the main building.

"Thanks." 007n7 calls after him.

007n7 had to hope the box wasn't too big, because he was going to have to carry that around all the time in case a round started. Oh! And he still needed to return Mafioso's coat to him, it has been properly washed now. And he needs to make food for C00lkidd, and give a portion to Taph.

Urgh, he's so busy lately. Who knew that actually making an effort with your teammates and trying to make friends would lead to this?

"Oh, 7n7!" Two Time calls out to him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Yes?" 007n7 replies.

"I would like to bestow this upon you as a gift, so that the Spawn may give you their blessings!" Two Time declares, presenting the glitter covered idol to him. Of course, it was the symbol of the Spawn. A very sparkly one.

"Oh, I shouldn't…"

"Nonsense!" Two Time practically forces the thing into 007n7's hands before gently wrapping his own two hands around 007n7's. "It would be a great honour for me if one such as yourself would accept this token!"

"Uhm, ok? Thanks?" 007n7 replies, slowly pulling his hand free of Two Time's, with the symbol still in his hands. He couldn't help feeling a little red-faced at the remark though; no one has ever really thought of anything regarding him as 'a great honour' before…

He could probably find somewhere to set it down in his room. Probably.

Two Time looks like they're about to speak again.

"Builderman's back." Guest 1337 states, interrupting whatever they were going to say.

Thankfully, the box Builderman brought for 007n7 wasn't very big. It could just about fit all the toys in it.

With everything done (and Elliot volunteering to clean up the table), 007n7 returns to his room.

He places the gift from Two Time down on a table, making a mental note to find a proper place to display it later. The box of toys is placed down on the bed.

And now, to shower off the glitter from his hair.

Luckily for 007n7, he does not have any round-based incidents before, during or after his shower.

Notes:

Not to spoil it, but I think there is a criminal lack of burgerdebt, so I'm making the next chapter burgerdebt.

Chapter 15: Helpful Mafioso keeps on helping... for some reason...

Summary:

007n7 is finally able to return Mafioso's coat to him

In the kitchen, 007n7 was preparing a simple stir fry to send to his son, and also to give to Taph, as promised.

Taph was sitting at the table behind him, empty plate before them with knife and fork in hand. They were very much ready for a good meal.

"😋❗" Taph remarked about the smell.

"Uh, thanks? I probably smells better than it tastes…" 007n7 responds, putting the final touches on his dish.

With everything ready, he turns and walks over to the table where Taph was sitting; he quickly scoops a decent sized portion onto the plate for Taph to eat.

"🙏👁️😋"

007n7 doesn't respond, but simply returns to the countertop to put some on his plate and some inside a small tub which would eventually find its way into C00lkidd's hands.

With the tub and his own plate in hand, he turns back to Taph.

They were leaning back in their chair, rubbing their belly in satisfaction. The plate in front of them is completely empty; the only signs that there was ever food on there to begin with was the staining.

"Taph! How did you eat that so fast!? It was still hot!?" 007n7 exclaims as he sets his plate down on the table, before placing the tub in the box which had the toys for the kids and Mafioso's coat (properly cleaned and dried for good measure) in it. 007n7 sits down at the table too, moving the now fully-filled box onto his lap.

"🔥😮‍💨🤤"

"Well… at least you liked it." 007n7 remarks before tucking in to his own food, albeit at a much slower pace than Taph seems to be able to eat their food at.

007n7 eats in relative silence, with Taph making small talk.

Once it is done, Taph helpfully offers to clean up the dishes; the least they can do for getting free food off the man. Though 007n7 does wonder how they'll go about washing the dishes without getting any of their clothes wet. 007n7 sits at the table, watching curiously.

"❗❓"

Whatever Taph was about to ask 007n7 would have to wait; as they turn around to face him again they realises that the chair is suddenly empty. Taph didn't hear him leave the room…

Oh well, Taph would just have to clean in peace.

007n7, on the other hand, suddenly found themselves in a squatting position rather than sitting on a chair, and immediately fell to the ground.

"Ow…" He groans, slowly sitting up.

This round's killer is: Mafioso.

Oh! Wait!

007n7 quickly spins around where he is sitting, until he can confirm that the box he had been carrying was still with him. He shuffles forwards and picks it up from where it had fallen, then jumps to his feet.

He should probably find a way to return his coat to him…

"Hey, 7. Gonna go looking for Don are you?" Chance calls out, swaggering over to 007n7.

It takes 007n7 a second to remember that that is Mafioso's actual name; he only ever hears Chance use it, so it is easy to forget.

"I-I mean, I could just leave his coat somewhere he would spot it… Or hand it to him when he kills me…" 007n7 explains, shifting the box in his grasp. He needed to find somewhere nice and easy in this carnival, and also preferably somewhere where it wouldn't get dirty again.

"If he kills you." Chance corrects, waving a finger in the air as they do.

"What does that mean?" 007n7 asks, a small frown on his face.

"I don't know man, he hasn't killed you the last two times he's had you…" Chance seems to think on his next word for a second longer than 007n7 is comfortable with. "Vulnerable. Seems to me he might be playing favourites."

"Excuse me!?" 007n7 exclaims, perhaps a bit too loudly, in indignation.

"Just saying! Your odds of getting out of a meeting with Don unscathed are much higher than mine at the very least!" Chance returns defensively, holding both his hands up in the air.

To be fair, literally anyone would have a better chance then Chance in getting out of a meeting with Mafioso unscathed.

"Right. Well. Uh. We should get to work." 007n7 responds, swiftly turning away from Chance and heading off in search of a generator (and a nice open place to put the coat). The conversation was getting a bit too weirdly uncomfortable for his liking, and he just wanted to make a hasty exit.

Yet, as he fled, he had to wonder: what if Chance was right? What if Mafioso really is playing favourites with him? And, if he is, then why? What would possibly compel the man to do such a thing?

Urgh, these could be questions for another day and, more importantly, a time when he isn't in a round.

As 007n7 worked on the generator inside the van, he contemplated if that was a good place to leave the coat. Killers have to circle this thing often; surely he could pick it up- or have one of his men do- if he sees it here.

"It seems we meet again, 007n7." A too familiar voice remarks from behind him.

Or, alternatively, he could get caught working on said machine.

"Ah!" 007n7 exclaims, practically leaping back from the machine, only to collide with Mafioso's chest. He was a lot closer than 007n7 had anticipated. "Sorry!" He nearly shouts after spinning around to face the man; there isn't even a hint of anger or annoyance on his face, only that same, wide smile. "We, ha ha… We got to stop meeting like this…" And by that 007n7 meant whilst he was working on a machine. What is it with this guy- and his men to be honest- with jumping him whilst he is fumbling with a generator?

"Aww, but I do so enjoy seeing you so flustered when you get caught," The comment makes it worse; 007n7 feels like a tomato by how red he must be getting. Moving on. "What's in the box?" Mafioso asks, turning his attention to the small box situated at 007n7's feet.

007n7 looks down at it for a second before looking back at Mafioso.

"Oh! Yeah!" He exclaims, realisation hitting him after the shock of being caught finally ends. He quickly bends down, opens it up and pulls out a large (and familiar) garment. "I, er, brought your coat back for you!" 007n7 announces, holding it in front of him, expecting Mafioso to take it.

Which he didn't do.

"Why? Did you not want to keep it?" Mafioso asks, expression as unreadable as ever.

"Er, no? I mean- I thought you would want it back?"

"Did you think that was the only one I had, 007n7?" Mafioso asks, pointedly making a sweeping gesture downwards with his arms to emphasise the fact that he was wearing another one.

"No! Of course not! I just- uhm- thought you'd want it back- it's yours, after all!" 007n7 says as he practically shoves the thing against Mafioso's chest, just willing for him to take it off his hands. It served too much as an unpleasant reminder of what may have been the most embarrassing moment of his life.

007n7 almost breathes a sigh of relief when he finally does take the coat.

"Very well. Thank you for returning it in such good condition."

"Don't mention it…" 007n7 grumbles. There's a few seconds of silence between the two of them. "Actually, before you kill me, could I ask you a favour?"

"I'm not usually in the business of doing 'favours', but I'll here you out."

"Could you, maybe, take this box to C00lkidd? I- er- have some gifts for him and his friends…" 007n7 asks sheepishly. He's also kinda just assuming C00lkidd and the other kid killers are friends. Mafioso stares at him wordlessly, prompting him to add on: "I-I'll pay you back! Somehow…"

"You have a deal," Mafioso takes the small box out of 007n7's hands, giving the contents a curious look; there were a few vehicles, coloured to match the intended recipients and a small handful of carved animals. Plus a tub full of food, fresh, if the condensation on the lid was anything to go by. Mafioso turns away from 007n7 and begins to leave the truck before turning his head slightly back towards 007n7. "Come along."

"W-what? Now? Can't I just give you an I.O.U?" 007n7 asks, nervousness very evident. He remains rooted in his spot.

"It's a dangerous thing to owe the mafia a debt; wouldn't you rather have it settled quickly?"

"I suppose…" 007n7 mumbles, slowly shuffling his feet to follow along behind the mafia boss.

"Good." Mafioso makes a call, summoning a couple of his men. Somehow, they don't seem surprised to see 007n7 standing there. "Keep them busy for me."Mafioso orders before striding off towards the entrance of the exhibit, followed shortly by 007n7.

They simply wordlessly spread out in search of other survivors.

Once inside the exhibit, Mafioso approaches the stairs around the back, near where a generator would sometimes be (but isn't today).

"Sit." Mafioso orders; he himself does so too, setting himself down near the top of the stairs.

007n7 doesn't say anything, he just joins the man in sitting on the stairs, though he keeps a small distance between the two of them. Not that it would have helped him if worst came to worst.

"Tell me about yourself."

"What?" 007n7 asks dumbly, half thinking he had misheard the request.

"I want to know more about you."

"Uh, why? D-doesn't C00lkidd say anything about me?"

"He does. A lot. I would like to hear the stories from your own mouth."

'But why?' would have been 007n7's next question, but he held off on it. The mafia boss is so mysterious, he doubted he'd get a straight answer even if he did ask.

Oh well, the dad in him was more than willing to ramble about when he was raising his son, and if it meant Mafioso would take the box to C00lkidd, he'd be more than happy to oblige.

So he did. He talked about his life before this place- at the very least, his life after he got C00lkidd. He was smart enough to pointedly avoid mentioning details of his exploiting days.

Mafioso, for his part, listened. He never really said anything, it was a little unnerving at times, when 007n7 really thought about it. He simply stared into the man's face as he talked, offering up a small 'mhm' every so often. But other than that, he just listened.

007n7 hated to admit it, but it was kind of nice to have someone just listen to him ramble about when he was raising C00lkidd. The last person to actively do that was Guest 1337, back when everyone in the survivors camp still hated him…

He was almost sad when the round ended, and he found himself sitting at the table with the other surviving survivors.

"Soooo, make that three times?" Chance asks coyly, leaning in close enough that only 007n7 could hear him ask. Curses that Chance was put on the table right next to him.

007n7 just got up immediately, mentioned something about checking on Taph, and left.

When he was returned to the killer camp, the first think he noticed was that Azure looked rather irritable as they silently worked on his garden.

It soon became clear what was irritating him as Mafioso entered the building and was met by the familiar sound of C00lkidd and Bluudud squabbling other… something pointless probably.

"Kids, kids, what's all the fuss about?" Mafioso asks, making sure the box was still hidden behind his back.

"Bluudud thinks his mom is cooler than my dad!" C00lkidd exclaims, giving Bluudud a hard shove.

"That's because she is!" Bluudud shouts back, giving C00lkidd an equally as hard shove.

"Nuh uh!" C00lkidd retorts.

"Yuh huh!" Bluudud shoots back.

Mafioso can see why Azure looked annoyed outside; something is telling him this argument had been going on for some time now.

"Kids! I think both your parents are pretty cool." Mafioso states. He brings the box out from behind his back and holds it towards the two kids. "See? They both made you some lovely toys!"

The argument was all but forgotten in an instance, replaced by the squealing joy of the kids as they bounced around in excitement. They both grab the one they think is the coolest, which just so happened to be the one of their respective colours. Convenient that.

"Oh? Have they finally quieten down?" Pr3typriincess asks, having entered the room now that the boys were no longer yelling.

"Ha ha! Pr3typriincess' moms aren't here, so she doesn't get a present!" Bluudud teasingly calls out, holding his blue plane high in the air. He resumes making 'nyoom' noises.

"That is a shame…" Mafioso 'laments' before perking up again. "But someone clearly must be thinking of her, because who else would this one be for?" He remarks as he reaches into the back and produces a very pink, very sparkly boat.

Pr3typriincess lets out a small gasp as she delicately takes it from Mafioso's hands.

"For me?" Pr3typriincess exclaims, joining the boys in their games, albeit a lot less noisily than C00lkidd and Bluudud.

Mafioso places the box down next to C00lkidd, so that he and the other kids can pick out the animal figurines at their own leisure (and C00lkidd can collect his food) before silently leaving the room

Notes:

At this rate being smooth with 007n7 is just destined to fail. You can be the smoothest person alive, but being so smooth just means 007n7 is gonna slide right past the hint.
Also, yes, of course Chance would be the one to catch on fast.

Chapter 16: Oh nooo, the evil pizza boy continues his evil ways!!!

Summary:

Aka, 007n7 spends some time with Elliot. Someone might not be too happy about that.

007n7 was finding it hard to get a moment to himself these days, both out of rounds and in them, and he was struggling to find a way to balance his new found popularity. He had never been the most well liked in school, or even his young adult life, so having a small group of friends who all wanted to hang out with him- often alone, for some reason- was a bit overwhelming.

Someone else might be better suited for this.

"H-hey, Elliot…?" 007n7 calls over to the young man, who was currently making some community pizza.

Elliot jumps slightly, so focused on his work he hadn't noticed 007n7 approach until he spoke.

"Oh! 07! Did you need something?" Elliot asks, turning his head in 007n7's direction. His hands continue to kneed the dough with expert precision, despite the young man no longer being fully focused on the task.

"Ah, uh, not really… I just wanted to ask you something- but if you're too busy it can wait!" 007n7 spins on his heels, ready to abandon this endeavour before it had even really begun.

"No, no! I can multitask!" Elliot responds quickly, stopping 007n7's escape. "What's the problem?"

"Oh, it's just…" 007n7 felt a little stupid for even needing to ask in the first place. "…How do you handle it? A-all the attention- I mean-" He lets out a long sigh. "You were very popular at your job- and here too, to be honest- and I wanted to know how your able to put up with it so easily."

"Put up with it?" Elliot asks with evident confusion.

"People- socialising, that is. It's just so…" 007n7 makes a vague hand gesture. "Much." 007n7 wasn't the greatest with words, but he could hope that Elliot would understand.

"Well, it helps to be a people person!" Elliot remarks with a laugh. 007n7 has never been much for crowds. "But seriously, if you don't like spending time with lots of people, then don't."

"Yeah, but, urgh… nevermind." 007n7 didn't know how to bring up the whole 'I suddenly have a lot of people wanting to spend time with me now thing', so just elected to drop it.

"If you want, we can hang out in my room once I'm done here? Just you and me." Elliot suggests.

"Oh. Uh. Really?" 007n7 replies nervously. He has spent time alone with Elliot before, but that's when Elliot has been showing him how to cook. This feels a little more… personal.

"Yeah, I don't mind." Elliot responds, either not noticing or paying little heed to 007n7's nervous demeanour.

"Uhm, ok then."

"Awesome. I'll finish up here and meet you back at mine then?" Elliot calls over to him as he puts his full attention back on his task.

007n7 left the kitchen quickly.

Whilst he was very much used to keeping sparse company, he couldn't help feeling a little awkward about this. He and Elliot have a… very sour history, he was the last of the survivors to start warming up to him for a reason, and he was hoping there wouldn't be any tension between the two of them if they find themselves alone together. And what would they even talk about? Do they even have any similar interests? Perhaps agreeing was a bad idea…

Still, despite his doubts, 007n7 waited for Elliot to return on the doorstep in front of his cabin.

"It's unlocked. You could have let yourself in." Elliot states when he shows up. He steps past 007n7 and gives the door a light shove. It does indeed open.

"I-It wouldn't have felt right…" 007n7 replies, quickly getting to his feet and following him in.

"Uh huh…" Elliot hums out as he approaches his wardrobe, flinging it open and skimming through all the shirts hanging in it. "Well? Take a seat." He calls over his shoulder, noticing in his periphery that 007n7 was just standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.

007n7 looks around the room. Aside from the bed, there's only one chair, by the desk.

Not sure what else to do, he lowers himself to the floor.

Elliot turns back round, holding a clean shirt in his hands (his current one, understandably, is covered in pizza-making ingredients).

"Pfft, what are we, children?" Elliot says, fighting to keep a grin off his face.

"S-sorry! I just-" 007n7 felt himself go bright red. "Guest used to just come to my room…" 007n7 mumbles.

"And did he just sit on the floor?" Elliot asks.

007n7 doesn't say anything. He slowly gets up off the floor and sits himself down on the end of Elliot's bed.

Elliot yanks his dirty shirt off in one clean motion; 007n7 not expecting him to suddenly strip it off in the middle of the room, is quick to pointedly look in any other direction.

There's a rustling of fabric, shortly followed by the bed sinking down next to him as Elliot joined 007n7 on the bed. When 007n7 cautiously looks again, Elliot now has the clean shirt on.

"So, there anything you want to talk about?" Elliot asks.

"I… I don't know…"

"Hmm. Any hobbies? Or interests?"

"I- I- uh, I don't do too much outside of rounds…" 007n7 is almost ashamed to admit. That hasn't been true as of lately, as he has been finding a lot of things to do (usually in regards to making gifts for his son).

"Honestly?" Elliot says, seeming a little exasperated by that response.

"S-sorry?" 007n7 replies. "Why don't you just tell me about yourself? I mean like your hobbies and interests. I prefer to just listen anyway…"

"If you'd like…"

So Elliot talks, and talks, and for his part, 007n7 just listens and makes the odd comment here a there, just to show that he is listening.

Sometimes 007n7 forgets Elliot has a life outside of making and delivering pizza's- in fact, he'd hazard to say that most people here tend to forget. Elliot becomes so animated as he recounts some of the mischief he and his sister used to get up to when they were younger, it must have been refreshing to talk about something other than pizza.

Part way through the conversation, after Elliot finishes recounting yet another tale of having to take the blame for Mia's action, he slammed his hands down on the bed. Except one of them landed on 007n7's thigh instead, not that Elliot seemed to notice as he continued yapping. But 007n7 noticed. He stared down out it, like a burning weight against his leg, as Elliot's words slowly faded into background noise.

Should he ask Elliot to move it? Or gently shove it off himself? Or perhaps he should wait and hope that Elliot removes it in gesture to save himself the embarrassment…

Or a new round could start, that could work too.

The two of them fall onto the ground with a heavy thud, it taking them both a solid few seconds to quite comprehend what just happened.

"Ow." 007n7 remarks, lying on the ground.

"Urgh, no rest for the wicked, I suppose…" Elliot says, standing to his feet.

Elliot turns to 007n7, who is still lying on the ground, and offers him hand. 007n7 graciously accepts it, letting Elliot pull him to his feet and offering him a small 'thanks' in return.

"So… Who was the killer again?" 007n7 asks, having not been paying attention enough when the announcement was made.

"I think it said-" Elliot begins, only for a telling ringing to sound out across the area they were in. The two of them look at each other. "-I guess that answers that." Elliot says with a small shrug.

007n7 looks around the area; it would seem he and Elliot spawned in by themselves. They would have to go looking for others, or-

"-Let's stick together and go find a generator to complete." Elliot declares, pulling 007n7 along by the hand that he only now noticed Elliot was still holding.

"O-oh, ok…" 007n7 responds, following along, not that he had much of a choice.

The two traversed the field cautiously, hoping to avoid an encounter with the embodiment of hatred itself.

They were quick to spot a lone generator, sitting by a wall. The two of them head over to it hastily.

And are immediately stopped when a very well aimed entanglement hits them square in the hands, forcing them to let go, recoil in minor pain and be bound by the chains and annoying popups. 1x1x1x1 was never one to miss out on a two for one deal, it would seem.

"I- I thought she'd go for Shedletsky or someone else first!" Elliot exclaims, freeing himself quickly. He looks in the direction of where the hit came from; his eyes lock onto and meet with malicious red ones. "007n7, run!" Elliot exclaims, pushing the mans back to prompt him to move, just as he finishes freeing himself from the entanglement.

The two run, the killer in relentless pursuit. 1x1x1x1 was being oddly difficult to shake off, not aided by the fact that they had yet to come across anyone else.

'Elliot's more valuable to the team, perhaps I should try to distract 1x?' 007n7 thinks to himself, slowing down his pace a little. Besides, he can take a few more hits than Elliot can, and the man can just heal him later when they're both safe.

As Elliot rounds a corner, 007n7 decides to linger, to try and body block with both himself and his clone if necessary.

1x1x1x1 pays him shockingly little heed- in fact, it just shoves past 007n7, throwing him to the ground with the force. It knocks the wind out of him, and all he can do is watch as they continue to chase down Elliot.

'So much for playing hero…' 007n7 thinks to himself bitterly as he brings himself to his feet. He'll have to go looking for a sentinel, and tell them of Elliot's predicament.

Coincidentally, the first sentinel he spots is Shedletsky.

"Shedletsky!" 007n7 calls over to him, huffing a little. "Elliot's in danger! 1x is after him! I tried to stop him, but she got past me."

"Huh? Usually it goes for me first…!" Shedletsky remarks with evident concern. "Are you ok? Did 1x1x1x1 hurt you much?"

"No, actually, I don't think I took any damage…" 007n7 replies. He might not have been thinking during the adrenaline of being chased, but 1x didn't strike him with their swords, only pushed him out the way. They were probably more concerned with chasing the more valuable target, and getting rid of the medic of the survivors.

"Huh." Shedletsky returns thoughtfully. He's almost forgotten that 007n7 mentioned that Elliot was in trouble.

"A-anyway- Elliot! Go help him!" 007n7 shouts, pointing in the direction he just ran from. Elliot would be vaguely in the direction, hopefully.

"Right, right!" Shedletsky returns, heading off to play the saviour that 007n7 couldn't.

It sucked not being able to do much in the way of help himself; body-blocking the killer can only do so much, especially when they chose to just ignore you completely. Should he be worried or concerned that 1x1x1x1 didn't seem bothered enough by his presence to even attack?

After regaining stamina, 007n7 went to do the one thing he could do from here forwards to make himself useful: complete generators.

Once that was done, all that was left was to stand around, twiddling his fingers and hope that Shedletsky was able to get to Elliot in time.

Time get ticking, longer and longer; multiple people have died this round, that is the only explanation for why the clock has been so long. 007n7 really hopes he didn't send Shedletsky to his death earlier… He was already feeling a little awful.

"You." 1x1x1x1's voice sounds from nearby, causing 007n7 to startle.

The killer stalks closer, staring down at 007n7. There's blood dripping from one of her sword's…

"1x." 007n7 says nervously. Teleporting wasn't an option, he's too close and could just throw a projectile at him even if he wasn't. Trying to use the clone might work, if 1x used their unstable eye, which they weren't. 007n7 highly doubted he'd fall for the ploy without the blindness.

It stops just short of 007n7, continuing to look down on him.

"D-did you want something? Other than to kill me, of course!" 007n7 asks nervously, chuckling due to the nerves.

"That man you were with, the one your creation despises, what were you doing?" 1x demands to know.

"Uhm, trying to survive?" 007n7 responds quietly, shrinking away from 1x1x1x1 as they stand over him.

"Hmph." She seems dissatisfied by that answer, somehow, despite it being the truth. One of 1x's swords disappears, freeing up one of their hands. He reaches over to 007n7 and grabs one of his hands tightly and holds it in the air. Her sharp fingers dig painfully into 007n7's palm. "How does this gesture aid in the survival of the two performing it?"

"Uhm, well, you're doing it wrong for starters…" 007n7 says, still wincing in pain; carefully, he wriggles his fingers until 1x's own ones lax a little, before clasping his hand around hers in a proper hold. It flinches slightly as soon as 007n7 firms his grasp; he doesn't think he's even seen 1x flinch before. "S-see?"

"What is the point of this?" 1x asks curtly, holding their joined hands up to his face, inspecting them. 007n7 is pulled forwards slightly in his position as she does.

"W-well, Elliot earlier was just holding my hand to lead me- y-you know, we got to stick together…" 007n7 explains, even if the notion of teaching your killer about tactics for survival was probably a bad idea. Anything at this point to ensure that he didn't die before the clock ran out.

"Is that all this serves to do? Or does this provide another purpose?" 1x asks; they're fishing for information, 007n7 can tell that, but they don't know what they could be searching for.

"Uhm… It does, I guess… But they would be of little interest to you…" 007n7 replies sheepishly. Leading someone somewhere was the easiest explanation for the gesture, and he really didn't want to have to explain all of them to 1x1x1x1.

"Do not presume to know my interests. Explain."

But it would seem that he would have to.

He went through the least embarrassing ones first, such as showing support when someone is suffering, or as a sign of trust.

Of course, he had to mention that the gesture could be seen as romantic, but only in certain circumstances!

All the while, 1x1x1x1 kinda just… stared at their hands, like it had discovered some sort of alien species somewhere in between their palms. Never letting go. Even after 007n7 finished explaining.

007n7 eventually had to pry himself free from them.

"S-so, was that helpful?" 007n7 asks, eyes shifting away from 1x1x1x1.

"Do not do that with Shedletsky. Ever." 1x1x1x1 demands.

"I- I won't?" Such an odd demand, but then again, 1x1x1x1 does have some extreme prejudice against Shedletsky, so it is not completely unsurprising.

"Good." Is all she says in return before the clock runs out.

Notes:

There was supposed to be another scene after this but I'll just do it another time for the next chapter. Spoilers: it will feature 1x, Azure and C00lkidd. (Hopefully that'll mean the next chapter will be short, for my sanity)

Chapter 17: Awesome 1x1x1x1 has a lot of questions...

Summary:

...And unfortunately Azure has to try and answer them.

Notes:

Hey, in the previous chapter I was like 'this part was meant to be on the end of this one, it will be a short chapter!'
Well I fucking lied. To myself. 1x1x1x1 and Azure would not shut the fuck up and neither did I.
Like, it's not outrageously long, but it did end up being like more than double what I originally planned.

As 1x is returned to the base of the killers, his gaze still remains firm on her hand as he lingers in the spot he appeared in far longer than usual. There's no longer another person's fingers intertwined with its own, but for some odd reason there seems to be a lingering ghost of the sensation on their body.

1x frowns; they don't know what this is, and they hate not knowing about things that relate to themselves in some way. He needs answers.

There is only one person in this whole shit hole of a base that 1x trusts has the knowledge, the experience and the willingness to share that information with her.

It was convenient that Azure very rarely strays from the garden they've started growing at the entrance of the cabin. Meant 1x didn't need to go looking for them.

1x didn't particularly understand Azure's fascination with flowers- or plants in general- but it kept them out of its way most days. Today Azure had the three hacker children helping in the garden; from what 1x can remember, Azure despises people picking from his garden, but the kids want flowers from time to time (for their games, apparently) and so Azure has sectioned them off segments of the garden and forced them to grow their own. Naturally, the kids all grow plants that share the same colour palette as themselves.

"You. Flower boy. I require your assistance." 1x demands, marching over to where Azure was kneeling before standing right behind them, arms crossed.

Azure let out a heavy sigh. They don't even bother to turn around to face 1x, which she finds most irritating.

"1x, we've been over this. If you want something from me: say. My. Name." Azure responds, continuing to prune the leaves as if 1x wasn't even there.

1x lets out a frustrated growl, before falling into silence for a few seconds. It doesn't like being ordered around…

"I require your assistance, Azure." 1x eventually grits out. As much as they don't like being ordered around, there were some that they may tolerate it from more than others ( had it been, say, mr Doombringer making the order, there was a total of zero percent chance that the request would be fulfilled).

Azure slaps their knees before standing up and spinning around to finally address 1x directly.

"Would you look at that! You do remember my name!" Azure says. It feels slightly mocking, and 1x has to resist the urge to summon a sword to stab through their gut. Azure does take note of the slight twitch in 1x's fingers. "What can I do for you?"

"I have a personal question to ask." 1x states, face lacking any emotion.

"Personal to you, or to me?" Azure asks, squinting slightly at them.

1x has to think for a second.

"Potentially both." They eventually respond.

Azure lets out another heavy sigh.

"Urgh… Alright, lets take this somewhere more private." Azure gestures to a garden shed they had built a while back. Structurally, it isn't the most secure, but Azure doesn't want to leave the kids completely unattended in his garden. "You three keep at it whilst I'm gone." Azure calls over to the children.

"Yes mr Azure." They all chorus.

1x and Azure are halfway to the shed when Azure's head snaps round.

"Bluudud! Don't over-water your flowers!" They snaps, pointing at him. It's almost like Azure has some sort of super sense for that kind of thing…

"Urgh, dude…" Bluudud grumbles, stomping away from the patch of bluebells that he had previously been drowning in water.

Inside the shed is cramped, and Azure practically has to shove 1x further in to fit themselves in as well before he slams the door behind the two of them.

Staring up at 1x, Azure has a slight frown on his face.

"Well? What did you want to ask?" Azure snaps out. They're hoping it can be quick, so they could get back to their gardening. He wasn't going to be so lucky.

"What I speak now does not leave this shed, am I to be understood?" 1x states.

"Yeah, yeah. What is it?" Azure responds, fighting the urge to do an eye roll. 1x can be so damn bossy sometimes.

1x remains in silence, perhaps contemplating their next words. Being direct is the best course of action, and one of the only ones 1x knows.

"Why does my body feel different in the presence of C00lkidd's creator?"

"…Come again?" Azure asks, not because he didn't hear them, but more because his brain was taking longer than usual to process what he just heard. On the list of things he had been anticipating 1x asking them, that question was nowhere to be seen.

"That man. 007n7." 1x elaborates.

"I know who C00lkidd's 'creator' is," Azure scoffs; it's not like C00lkidd shuts up about his dad. He lets out a sigh, pinching the bridge of their nose for a second and then returning their gaze to 1x. "Could you elaborate? Different how?"

"I do not understand the feeling." 1x says, which is so totally helpful to Azure.

"Oh my-" This was going to be a lot harder for Azure than they thought it would be. He just wanted to throw his hands in the air and scream. "Explain it to me. What happens when you are around 007n7? What is he doing?"

"Nothing of note." 1x replies dismissively. This was beginning to get annoying for Azure. Real annoying.

"I. Don't. Care. Tell me anyway." Azure snaps, crossing their arms over their chest and tapping one of his feet quickly.

Had he not been the one in need of answers, 1x would have retaliated violently to such disrespectful speech. Instead, it had to take a moment to calm themselves before continuing.

"He… talks to me. With some fear, but without malice or wrath." 1x explains.

"And that makes your body feel different…?" Azure asks, internally trying to tie some threads together. They had a thought, at the very least, but it was more of a joke to themselves.

"Yes." 1x affirms.

Still, nothing conclusive can be drawn from that one statement. Azure would need more information before they could try and help 1x with this problem of theirs.

"Does anything else make your body feel different?" Azure asks. "Besides him talking to you?"

"Last time we spoke, he did this to me," 1x grabs Azure by the hand, intertwining their fingers together. Azure pulls a face as he stares down at their hands, and the face still remains as he returns to looking at 1x. "I felt strange."

"Why the fuck is 007n7 holding your hand!?" Azure practically shouts. His head snaps to the door afterwards; he almost forgot that he was needing to be quiet, and had to listen out for any noise outside.

None from what he can tell.

"I saw him doing the gesture with another man and asked him to explain it to me." 1x continues, pulling her hand away from Azure's.

Azure was starting to wonder if that joking thought they had might be more real than they were anticipating…

This is going to be troublesome, if Azure's guess is correct, but they were still going to follow that line of thought, just to be sure.

"Right. Quick question: did you feel anything different when you saw 007n7 and this other man holding each others hands?" Azure asks.

"Does it matter?" 1x returns, glaring at Azure.

"If this is going where I think it is going, then yes." Azure responds.

1x growls out in annoyance. Azure remains unfazed.

"It enraged me. More so than something so base and useless should have. Why is it so?" 1x neglects to mention just how satisfying it felt when his blade ripped the two apart from one another, with precision that she usually saved for when she was targeting his creator. Perhaps that should have been another early warning that something was wrong with them?

Azure, for his part, was so proud of themselves for not laughing out loud, though the twitching at the side of their mouth might be giving them away. 1x does not look impressed.

Azure raises a hand and lays it gently on one of 1x's shoulder, who promptly and silently removes it, only for Azure to replace it.

"1x, there's no easy way to tell you this, but I think you're in love with C00lkidd's dad-" 1x opens its mouth to say something, probably a retort or a rebuff, but Azure continues before they can. "-Well, 'love' might be a bit too strong of a word for someone like you, mr embodiment of hatred itself, but my point still stands. You might have feelings for the man. Positive feelings."

It is not surprising, in all honesty, that someone who embodies negativity just has to attach that negativity to even a positive feeling. Jealousy could be real ugly; Azure isn't going to pretend to be shocked that 1x's feelings for C00lkidd's father got mired in jealousy. Perhaps they could help them overcome it later, if they could even be bothered to try.

"How do I get rid of them? These 'positive feelings'." From 1x's perspective, they were just an unnecessary distraction, especially when hunting down her victims. People survived because he was too distracted by the presence of that man, and to it the simplest solution was to simply get rid of the feelings.

"Wait it out? Or he can betray you, stabbing you through the heart, showing you your whole relationship was meaningless to them and that they would rather bend to the will of their religion rather than publicly admit that they love-" Azure coughs loudly, having wildly gotten off track. He had almost forgotten that he was meant to be talking about 007n7. "Or, you know, you could ask him to be your boyfriend and see if he says yes or no. Not all relationships end in betrayal."

"Why would I want him to be my 'boyfriend'… and what is the difference?" 1x asks.

"Between…?" Azure asks for elaboration.

"A friend and a 'boyfriend'. Is there a difference?"

"Oh for-" Azure couldn't stop himself from slapping his face into their hands. "You know, sometimes I forget you didn't exactly have a childhood to teach you these things." There's a loud groaning from beneath Azure's hands for a solid few seconds before they finally reemerge from his palms. "I'll explain later."

"You will explain now." 1x demands.

"No. Wait." Azure states, putting his foot down on the matter.

There is a little bit of noise outside, a little like whispering.

Azure suddenly grabs the handle to the shed door and violently flings it open.

On the other side, hunched over with their ears pressed against where the door once was, were the three children. They all startle the moment they are caught.

"Why are you three eavesdropping!" Azure shouts angrily.

The kids didn't stick around to answer, the three of them scrambling into a sprint and fleeing across the garden.

Azure slams the door shut again.

"Now. Where were we?" Azure says calmly.

"What's the difference."1x repeats.

"Oh right." Azure really doesn't want to have to get into the gritty details of trying to establish a relationship with another people, not on such short notice, and not with 1x of all people. "That I very much will have to explain later, because I might need time to prepare."

"Is it complicated?" 1x asks.

"For you it will be." Azure replies. This whole thing has been such a headache; all they wanted to do today was work on his garden…

God, never in his life did Azure think they'd have to basically go over relationships with an eldritch, genocidal being but here they were. If 1x actually tries and succeeds in getting 007n7 to date him, would Azure have to give her 'the talk'? They sure hoped not!

"When shall you explain it to me?" 1x inquires.

"I'll find you when I'm ready…" Azure groans. The impatience on this being, honestly… Azure's really beginning to regret agreeing to answer its questions.

"What should I do about 007n7 in the meantime?"

"Well-" Azure stops. They fling the door open again. This time there is only on child hunched over, trying to listen in to the conversation. "C00lkidd!"

"I- I heard you two talking about my dad!" C00lkidd exclaims, falling onto his butt. "I wanna know what you talking about!"

"1x and I were just talking about… How nice your dad is! He's been such a good friend to ms 1x, hasn't he?" Azure turns to 1x with a small smile, C00lkidd looks up at it with an expectant look, big eyes the whole works.

"He's been…" 1x seemed to be struggling to find the right works to say to C00lkidd, not that he noticed. Azure noticed. Azure was just relishing at the internal conflict that 1x must be going through right now. "…Most enjoyable to be around." It eventually forces out, and Azure has to wonder if that is a lie to appease the child, or how 1x genuinely feels about them.

"Yippee!" C00lkidd exclaims, bouncing on the spot. "I told you my dad was the coolest ever!"

"Well now, I've got to continue my gardening, so why don't you-" Azure directs C00lkidd over to 1x's side. "-Go with mx 1x and tell him more about your dad. So she can plan some better activities to do with him when they next meet, of course!"

"Ok!" C00lkidd exclaims. He grabs 1x by the arm and proceeds to try and yank it out of the shed. "Come on! Come on! Come on!"

1x glares at Azure, who in turn just offers him a small, knowing smile. After much badgering from C00lkidd, 1x eventually allows the child to drag her out the shed.

Azure leaves shortly after to return to their gardening, and to make sure the kids didn't damage any plants whilst he was gone.

Notes:

1x1x1x1 @ Azure as they both look at 007n7 be like:

(Also can I like, not write the scene where Azure explains relationships and romance to 1x1x1x1 and just have it happen off camera lol)

Chapter 18: Creepy smiley person hears some troubling news...

Summary:

Uh oh! At least it works out for them in the end, kinda.

This round's killer was C00lkidd, which, as of late, meant that there was a 50/50 chance of the survivors having a (somewhat) easy time. The child had lately been craving his dads attention more and more and, if he found 007n7 first, that meant the rest of the survivors could get off easy. Unless someone was with 007n7 when C00lkidd spotted his dad; for some reason that seemed to annoy the boy enough into trying to 'chase off' the offending survivor.

Given the lack of people getting injured and the sudden disappearance of 007n7, it was safe to assume C00lkidd found his dad and was now occupying his time.

Which is why Two Time went out looking for them and is currently lurking behind a low wall, just within ear shot of the two. C00lkidd may be fairly passive to his dad these days, but he was still a killer, still unpredictable, and therefore Two Time was sworn to watch over the man even in a private moment between father and son like this. It was their sentinel duty, after all.

007n7 looked like his legs were being crushed as C00lkidd sat on his lap, happily kicking out is own legs as he rambled on about inane things. Mostly about food he has been eating, games he has been playing with other killers and how much he wished his dad lived at their camp instead.

"Is it true you and ms 1x are friends now?" C00lkidd abruptly asked, previous line of thought being suddenly interrupted by this new one.

Two Time found that insinuation both vexing and troubling. 1x1x1x1 was an embodiment of hatred, a being of pure malice and negativity; it shouldn't be making 'friends', or even aware that that was an option when engaging with others.

"O-oh, uh…" 007n7 seemed just as caught off guard by the question as Two Time was, struggling to come up with an appropriate response- or at least one that might keep his son happy. "I… suppose you could say that…" 007n7 eventually response; Two Time can't tell if he is lying to appease his son, or if that is a genuine response. Either way, C00lkidd lets out a delighted squeal. "Did- did 1x tell you we were friends?"

An excellent question, Two Time thought, for the notion that 1x would be referring to 007n7 as a 'friend' is a puzzling one… and one that a certain other survivor should be made aware of.

"Nope! I heard him talking to mr Azure about you! They said you were nice!" C00lkidd responds cheerfully.

007n7 confused expression is a polar opposite from the cold-wash of realisation that adorned Two Time's own face. They have to place a hand on the wall to steady their balance a little.

C00lkidd had said that name to Two Time before, and they had almost not believed what they had heard- in fact, they had spent so much time trying to convince themselves that they had misheard, that the blood and pounding in their ears had deluded them into thinking that they heard that name. But here… here they are safe. Here they are close enough to hear properly. This time, they couldn't deny what they had heard.

"Who's… 'mr Azure'…?" 007n7 slowly asks.

He's never heard that name before, there is no killer by that name either.

Part of 007n7 starts to wonder if the killers are the only ones who live in the cabins they are homed in, similar to how there are people at the cabins the survivors live in who never actually enter rounds.

He sure hoped not, because normal people being forced to live amongst people like them could be a whole other level of hell.

"Oh! They're the gardener! He grows lots and lots of flowers! The ones they grow kinda stink… and he's a bit grumpy," C00lkidd adds that last part with a pout. "They only let me pick flowers if I help grow the garden. But he lets me grow red ones! I think he's nice!… When they're not being moody…"

Flowers… A person called Azure who grows flowers… Two Time can see the similarities mounting…

If only C00lkidd didn't seem to have it out for them for some reason… Two Time could fish for more information out of the boy.

The rest of the conversation was of little import to Two Time, it was mostly C00lkidd asking more inane questions (such as if tomatoes really are green when unripe, because the tomatoes in his part of the garden are not red). Two Time did their best to remain focused, to make sure that should C00lkidd turn violent at a moments notice, they would be there to play saviour to 007n7.

The round ended without incident; every survivor found themselves back at the main cabin, safe and sound, without a scratch on them. The only harm that had been done was the ache in 007n7's legs from the weight of his son.

Two Time didn't stick around for the usual post-round debriefing; they quickly excused themselves before all but speeding towards their own cabin.

The massive space of Two Time's living area was very devoid of decoration, aside from the few symbols and idols that they had made for themselves whilst in this world. They've never had much of a need for material possessions.

They fall to their knees before a wooden carving of the symbol of the Spawn, staring up at it in silence. Their usual smile had fallen away, replace by a small thin line.

Was this to be yet another trial from the Spawn? To test their devotion? Was Azure's presence in this realm a temptation designed to try a woe them away from the right path? Or was it another gift…? They were all but certain that their feelings for 007n7 were Spawn-blessed in nature, a second chance at love rewarding them for their true devotion. And yet… Two Time felt that there had to be some significance to the fact that they heard of Azure's presence in this realm through the mouth of 007n7's son. That could not be a coincidence, could it?

"Please, oh blessed Spawn…" Two Time prays aloud, barely above an audible whisper. "Give me a sign…"

It was at that moment that there is a soft knock at their door, startling them at of their prayer, head snapping to the door immediately.

"Two Time?" 007n7's quiet but familiar voice calls from the other side. "Are you, er, in there?"

Two Time springs to their feet, briskly making their way over to the door to their cabin and opening it wide open. Smiling widely once more, Two Time is greeted by the face of 007n7, who jumps slightly at how suddenly the door was opened.

"Ah! 7n7! This is a most pleasant and blessed surprise! What brings you to my adobe?" Two Time asks, clasping their hands behind their back as their fingers twitch energetically.

"I- uhm- well- I was just coming to check up on you- it's not like you to just run from the table and- yeah…" 007n7 explains awkwardly, rubbing his own arm and sheepishly looking across at Two Time.

"Your concern is both a welcomed one and unnecessary; I simply wanted to thank the Spawn for the simple round we just had." Two Time explained. The lie itself was a pretty believable one, given Two Time's who disposition.

"Ah… Alright, well… If that was just it-" 007n7 says, slowly turning to leave the area.

"-Would you like to come in?" Two Time quickly asks, tilting their body slightly so that there was space enough for 007n7 to enter, and motioning towards the room with one of their arms. A welcoming gesture.

"Erm, why?" 007n7 cautiously asks, slowly bringing Two Time back into the centre of his focus.

"The hour is too early to eat dinner at, perhaps we may converse to spend them away?" Two Time suggests, unmoving from their position.

"I'm not huge on talking…" 007n7 replies.

"I'd love to hear of your son," That statement immediately made 007n7 perk up; the father doesn't have many people who would listen to him ramble about C00lkidd, it was mainly just Guest 1337 (and Mafioso that one time…). "I believe many forget that he is still but a child, given our circumstances. I'd like it if I knew more of what he was before the Spectre's influence."

"Well, alright then…" 007n7 responds, stepping past Two Time and into their cabin.

Two Time shuts the door behind 007n7.

The room was mostly to what 007n7 had expected from Two Time: very simple but with a few Spawn symbols here and there. It was also coincidentally much larger than 007n7's room, so the lack of furnishings and decorations made it feel all the more empty.

007n7 makes their way more into the room. His temptation to just sit on the floor is immediately quashed by the recent memory of his interaction with Elliot, so he makes his way over to Two Time's bed, setting himself down on the edge.

Two Time shortly comes to join him, placing themselves down cross-legged on the bed next to 007n7, hands in their lap.

007n7 mindlessly begins to ramble about C00lkidd, specifically the days as a little pill baby where 007n7 was kept up all night be his constant crying. Those days were painful, but 007n7 wished he could relive them all over again…

Two Time doesn't really say much as he talks, just smiling and nodding along. In reality, they're barely focused on the words that 007n7 is speaking, just letting the sonorous noise fill their ears.

Eventually, 007n7 stops talking; he focuses on Two Time's face a bit more, and how their eyes have seemingly not even blinked once the entire time he was talking, gaze fixated on his face.

"Er, Two Time? Are you, uhm, listening?" He asks.

Two Time seemed to almost snap back to reality the moment their name is mentioned.

"Ah! My apologies! I seem to have gotten lost in the melody and passion of which you talk about your son in! It is most pleasing on the ears to hear one so quiet talk with such vigour!" Two Time declares, almost with a dramatic flare.

"O-k…" 007n7 responds slowly, not sure quite how to respond to that. It sounded like a compliment- a very overly wordy one (a Two Time classic)- but a compliment nonetheless. And boy does 007n7 have no idea how to take compliments.

"Would you continue, 7n7?" Two Time requests simply.

"Ah…" He was suddenly feeling very awkward. Two Time's position on the bed seemed even closer than when they both sat down and 007n7 could barely focus with how fast his heart was racing all of a sudden. "Actually. I'm getting hungry." He abruptly gets to his feet and, before Two Time can say anything, starts to walk towards the door. "I think I'll see what kind of community pizza was made today!"

"Oh." The disappointment is unmissable, if only there for a moment. Clearly they enjoyed listening to his stories more than 007n7 had thought they had. Two Time returns to their cheery self, at the very least. "May I accompany you?"

"Uh huh, sure." 007n7 responds, turning back and giving them a small nod.

"I thank you." Two Time replies, getting to their feet and following 007n7 out of their cabin.

As they are leaving, Two Time can't help but feel that they must truly be blessed by the Spawn.

Notes:

I'm really living up to that 'oblivious 007n7' tag, aren't I? Mans is physically incapable of catching a hint. Oh well, I'm sure he'll get it... eventually...
Alas, poor Two Time, having a crisis over which baddie is their perceived gift from the Spawn... It's definitely 007n7.