[𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: ???]
"𝘽𝘼𝙃𝘼𝙃𝘼𝙃𝘼𝙃𝘼!!! 𝙊𝙃 𝙈𝙔 𝙂𝙊𝘿, 𝘿𝙄𝘿 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙎𝙀𝙀 𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙏!?"
Someone sits on a throne, a swarm of blue screens hovering in front of them. The largest one is replaying something. A clip of a boy causing a notification to appear, uppercutting another in the face with the screen, before another boy bashes the guy's head in with the same notification. They watch the replay over and over again, giggling to themselves.
"𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚-𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮 𝙄'𝙢 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧!"
A tall figure stands behind the throne, watching the screen with a look of disappointment. "𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨."
The one on the throne sighs, slumping back a little. "𝘿𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪?"
"𝘐𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵, 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳-"
"𝘿𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙪𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩." Their tone suddenly becomes harsh, coated in authority. The one behind the throne immediately bows their head.
"𝘈-𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴."
The one on the throne stares at them for a while longer, before grinning and turning back to watch the screens, childish grin back on their faces. "𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙣!"
A thought strikes them and they giggle in excitement. They gaze at the various other screens, taking in the different scenes.
A young woman with long brown hair, wearing a purple shirt and black jeans, comforting another with short hair tied in a ponytail as they huddle in a clearing, the latter in the process of a panic attack. A young man wandering through the forest and into the city, calling out for help. Not that it'd come.
A young adult and a boy of Asian descent working their way through, the adult seemingly enjoying the situation. The boy? Not so much.
Another image shows a boy with curly hair in a black shirt and blue jeans helping a girl dressed in a black hoodie and jeans, the girl keeping close as they wander through. And a long haired girl, thin and of small stature and with glasses, hiding inside the room of an abandoned building. Her clothes are stained with blood.
"Hehehehe, the stage is set! 𝗟𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘂𝗽 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲!"
He opens up a menu and taps on a microphone symbol. He grins as a mask slips over his features.
A notification screen pops up in front of everyone out there. Some flinch, others stumble away from it. Some barely even register it.
["𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗢, 𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗢, 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗥 𝗨𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗦! 𝗬𝗔'𝗟𝗟 𝗘𝗡𝗝𝗢𝗬𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗩𝗘𝗦!? 𝗜'𝗺 𝗴𝗹𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗴𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼 𝘀𝗺𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗹𝘆. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲!"]
A sadistic grin grows on their face.
["𝗦𝗼, 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱. 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘁, 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻. 𝗡𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻, 𝗻𝗼 𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻!"]
The image of him switches to the live feed of two boys, one light-skinned, the other dark. The light-skinned one is helping the black boy along, who's clutching unto his stomach as his shirt slowly turns red.
["𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝗷𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱! 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘂𝗽 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗿𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝘂𝗽! 𝗜 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻, 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺! 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗜𝗧 𝗕𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗬 𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗜𝗘𝗥!?"]
Their face-mask pops into the screen, resembling that of a certain logo....
["𝗦𝗼, 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝘂𝗽...."]
They point at the two boys.
["𝗥𝗨𝗡 𝗢𝗡 𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗞𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗦! 𝗦𝗘𝗘 𝗬𝗔!!!"]
[𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗗_]
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[𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝟬𝗖 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗡𝗜𝗣 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀!]
The two boys stare at the notification in shock. HAV0C steals what Catnip is about to say. "What the fuck-?"
𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘺!?
"Is it because we beat up that fErAL guy.....?"
"But that's bullshit, he attacked us first! And we even got rewarded-"
The golden notification pops up again.
[𝗪𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀?]
The two glance at each other, before replying.
"Yes."
[𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀!]
The notification disappears, and items drops into each of the boy's hands. For Catnip, a small knife. For HAV0C, a potion.
[(𝟭) 𝗥𝘂𝘀𝘁𝘆 𝗸𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗲, (𝟭) 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻!]
"...Are you kidding me?" HAV0C stares down at the red bottle in his hands. A notification pops up about it.
[𝗣𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵(𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗼𝗿): 𝗧𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗮𝗺𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲.]
"I'm bleeding out, what am I gonna use a strength potion for!?"
Catnip studies the knife, noting the rusting and flaking edges. "This thing looks like it'll break in a single hit."
HAV0C grits his teeth. 𝘞𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘛𝘏𝘐𝘚 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵!?
Catnip glances at him, sensing his anger. "It's fine, we're just gonna have to be more careful from now on. Hide a bit more." He nods at the claw marks on HAV0C's stomach. "Are you sure it doesn't hurt that much?"
HAV0C waves a dismissive hand. "I'm fine, I told you already! He just grazed me-"
Another notification.
[𝗔 𝗱𝗲𝗯𝘂𝗳𝗳 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗘𝗿𝗔𝗟 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱!]
"What-?"
[𝘽𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙙!]
His wound throbs, bringing him down to his knees. He coughs, gasping.
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭!?
Catnip is by his side immediately. "HAV0C! Are you okay-?" He pales as he sees HAV0C's wound begin to leak more blood than ever before. What seemed to be a mere graze has become a possible fatal wound. For a brief moment, Catnip sinks into a realm of panic.
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘥𝘰, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘥𝘰-?
HAV0C coughs, blood dripping from his mouth. Catnip closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.
"Okay...okay..."
He slips under HAV0C's arm, helping him up. A grim look of determination is on his face. "Hold on HAV0C."
"You aren't dying here today."
-----------------------------------------------------------
The room smells of blood and decay. Through her cracked lenses the room is distorted, overlapping with itself over and again.
"I guess these are useless now." She takes them off and sets them gently next to her. She shrugs. "Wanted new ones anyway, those were beginning to become way too tacky." She laughs at her attempted joke, curling deeper into herself. Her spine will probably be jutting out like fins on a shark underneath her clothes due to her thin physique. Everything about her screams gentle and fragile. Well, other than the blood stains and spiked bat lying next to her, also red with blood.
She was with friends and family went it happened. Well, she was until she lost them. She'd just spotted them in the distance, about to rush over when:
[𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙀𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙖]
When she came to, she found herself lying on a cold, smooth surface. She rolled into a side, pushed herself up.
And looked up to be met with the sight of a boy around her age get ripped apart in front of her.
Of course, there came the shock, the confusion. The sudden shift in environment was jarring to say the least. From open to closed, light to dark. Then came the fear upon seeing the situation. People, beating each other to death, a wild, hungry look in their eyes. As the boy fell to the floor, missing his head, as his blood formed red lakes that traveled across the grooves on the floor, she realized that with a sick thud in her chest that their sights were now on her. They advanced, brandishing sticks and other crude weapons.
She scrambled to her feet. Slipped on the blood and fell. Her vision turned into a distorted kaleidoscope. She couldn't see, but she could hear. And she knew that if she didn't do something, if she didn't fight back, then she'll end up just like that boy.
It was them or her.
Her fingers curled around something long and cold. Without thinking she pushed herself up and swung violently as she picked up the sound of approaching footsteps.
She chose her.
She'd didn't know when they'd died. A red haze had gone over her vision as she swung for all she was worth, blood splattering unto her clothes. The notification cleared things up for her.
[𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀! 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗽! 𝗔𝗰𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲 𝗔𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: 𝗥𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗟𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁!]
She didn't want to believe she'd done that. Brutalized people in such a way. In that moment she thanked whatever God was out there for her broken glasses. Something told her she wouldn't like what she'd see.
And now she's here, after walking through door after door in this building, using her ears and instincts to help herself along, dragging the bat along with her, which now felt heavy. Heavier than ever before.
She didn't want to do it.
But she had to. She had no choice.
They were going to kill her. It was them or her.
Is killing to save your own life such a bad thing?
Tears prick her eyes. She silently begs for forgiveness, but something tells her there's such thing as forgiveness, or mercy. Not here.
A thud causes her head to snap up. She hastily grabs the bat and gets up, listening.
People? Her grip on the bat tightens. She can barely make out the muffled sounds of someone talking.
Her heart begins to race as she figures out what to do.
𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. 𝘎𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦.
𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘐𝘵𝘴𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮...
She kicks the door open with all her strength, swinging at the first person she sees. They yell and duck to the side, just dodging it. She snarls, about to swing again when-
"C-Catnip...?"
She stops, eyes taking in the sight before her on the floor. A dark skinned boy, dressed in black and white trainers and a black jeans and shirt. They weakly clutch their stomach as blood oozes through the fingers, painting the floor red. Their eyes are squeezed shut, pain all over their features as cold sweat runs down their forehead.
Her cold rage melts into compassion. She lowers the bat, the fading adrenaline making it difficult to lift it anymore. She turns to Catnip, who's now brandishing the rusty knife and pointing it at her.
"Who are you-?"
"Mom...?" They both turn to look at the boy in confusion. Mom? Why would he call her Mom, there was only one person who'd call her that-
[𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗿! :𝗗 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗗𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘄! :)]
The usernames appear, and tears leap to her eyes. Catnip blinks in shock and lowers the knife. the boy weakly grins to himself on the floor. "Kneeewww iittt."
She gazes down at the boy in front of her, recognizing him immediately. An eccentric kid who likes to call her 'Mother'. Loved jokes of the mature kind and loved writing.
"....𝘏𝘈𝘝0𝘊?"