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He's running. Down the hallway, around the corner, turning left. Always left, never right, because while he may have given the information without malicious intent, the Puzzler was still under Showfall's control when telling him to go right. So Sneeg ignores him and makes a left, eyes frantically scanning his surroundings looking for an exit.
It's jarring, seeing the pristine white walls of a mall instead of the dirty, rusted warehouse he had just seen. There's no time to dwell on it, however. He had made a promise to Ranboo, that he'd come back for them, and he sure as hell was keeping that promise no matter what.
After what feels like forever, he slows to a walk, partially to catch his breath, but mostly because there's a few employees in the distance. He shuffles over to hide behind a sign, staying as quiet as possible. They haven't seemed to notice him, but they're walking in his direction so he stays as silent and still as he can.
As they get closer, he expects to hear some sort of conversation. Something robotic, something monotone, something crisp and polished like Showfall tries to make everything be. To his surprise they're silent. He risks a peek around the sign, and they stare straight ahead, masks on as they walk in careful, planned steps in sync with each other. Sneeg has no idea if they're human or not, because they look human, but the stiffness and precision of their movements suggest otherwise.
They make their way past his hiding spot, and he watches them walk further down the hall before taking off again at a brisk pace. He's got to find a way out of here, whether that's with an actual exit or somewhere he can brute force his way out.
He passes several stores in his search, and finally stops when he sees one that looks a bit different, the glass doors closed. He feels his breath catch in his throat as he looks inside. Taking a quick look over his shoulder to make sure the surrounding area is still empty, he gives a tug to the handle, the door opening easily.
The store itself is only half lit, but it's enough for him to clearly see what's lining the shelves. It's things he knows, things he's actually used. Flashlights, dolls, rags and towels, foam cinder blocks. A dollhouse. A rocking horse. Spelling blocks. In the corner, he thinks he can see a brown leather trunk, gold detailing on the corners and clasps. All props. Well, things that he now realizes are props.
All things that are a part of his memories, all things that had meaning and purpose and are now just lined up like merchandise. If this is all fake, has anything been real?
That thought sends him spiraling, thinking back on everything he can remember. The cage had to have been real, or else he would've been able to get out by himself. Ranboo had to use bolt cutters to get him out, too, so surely that was real. The trunk had been real, he'd actually touched it and also the slime that was in it. He glances at where it's sitting in the corner. Would slime still be in it? Carefully stepping around boxes and random things scattered on the floor, he makes his way over to it. It looks exactly as he remembers, shiny buttons and smooth brown leather. It's not locked when he gives the lid a tug. He has to stop himself from gagging when he opens it.
It's empty, but there's still some residue dried along the sides and bottom. Instead of the bright green he had been expecting, however, it's a brown color, still red in places that it hadn't fully dried. A strong coppery smell had hit his nose when he opened it, and his stomach churns as he makes the connection that it had been blood, not slime. He backs away from it, hands trembling as he thinks back to Charlie. Charlie, who in the cabin had been covered in slime, Charlie who he left on that hospital bed, green slime oozing out of him and staining his hands. Staining Ranboo's hands. He remembers the bucket of slime being dumped on his own head and barely manages to stop himself from throwing up then and there.
He has to get out of this room. He still has to find an exit, still has to go back and get Ranboo. Charlie flashes through his mind, and he barely takes a second to consider before he adds him to the list.
Ranboo and Charlie. He's getting them both out of there.
Okay, focus, he needs to focus. He's wasted who knows how much time in there. Doing another quick sweep of the room only reveals that any weapon in here isn't real, and if he's going to grab something to protect himself it can't be from here.
He barely has the door open where there's a loud, staticky screech from across the hall. He quickly ducks back in, crouching down behind a box as he watches a giant creature lumber past. It's tall, body seemingly made completely of wires except for the t.v. in place of a head. It gives another guttural screech as it launches itself onto the Showfall employee that had managed to get too close, and Sneeg looks away as it starts tearing into the employee. The monster howls and sounds of crackling electricity seem to come from it until there's suddenly silence.
Sneeg risks a look up and he holds his breath as the monster starts dragging the now dead employee away, wires embedded under its skin pulling it along.
He waits until the thing has rounded a corner out of sight before finally leaving the store and booking it in the other direction. He has got to find a way out of here and fast , before that. . . thing comes back.
There's got to be one somewhere. It'd be crazy for there not to be at least a single one for the employees to leave out of (if they ever leave at all). He just has to look harder.
Eventually he comes across some escalators, and it startles him a bit to realize just how big the place is. Of course, it makes sense that a company like Showfall can afford such a place when they're capable of manipulation, mind control, and the ability to kill people and bring them back with no memory of it. It is a bit strange that the escalators are not moving, though.
Right, then. Downstairs will have the exits.
He's careful in his descent, staying crouched down slightly in case something spots him. Surprisingly nothing does, and this floor is somehow more quiet than the one above. It also quickly becomes apparent that there's not many exits in this place, because he's yet to see one.
The only things that there seems to be an abundance of are stores. Almost all of them are empty, not even countertops or shelves in them, like someone went in and gutted them.
Because of this, it surprises him when he stumbles across one that looks like it's been turned into some kind of storage room, similar to the one he had just been in. The only difference is that this one is not as organized, and everything just seems to be scattered across the floor or dumped haphazardly into piles. It appears to have been some kind of weapon store back in its day, if the display cases holding an array of knives is anything to go by.
On the floor next to the case is an ax, one he doesn't recognize. He picks it up and looks it over, and he's pleasantly surprised to find that it's real. It's not too big, either, and he gives a test swing with it. Yeah, this will work. Especially if he runs into that monster again, which there's a better chance of that happening than not.
He takes some time to dig around the room some more, but all that seems to be there are some shirts, buckets, the knives, and surprisingly a frying pan, one that he recognizes from the cabin. There's nothing else that looks useful, and the ax is two handed anyways so he's about as prepared as he can be.
What he's not prepared for are the masked employees waiting when he steps back out into the hallway. They immediately lunge at him and he barely manages to swing the ax up, knocking a few of them back with the swing. He doesn't even take a second to look at where he's going before he starts running.
It's a little difficult to run while holding the ax, but he pushes on regardless. He can hear the thundering footsteps behind him, but he catches sight of the escalators from before and makes a beeline towards them. ' I'm gonna make it, I'm gonna make it, I'm gonna make it ' is all that runs through his head and he starts up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
He looks behind him when he's almost at the top and flinches when a hand grabs his forearm, coming face to face with a mask. His other arm is still free, and he swings the ax as hard as he can at the employee holding him. The force of the swing knocks the mask off, but the employee's head flies back as well so he doesn't get a chance to see what exactly is underneath. His arm also gets knocked out of its grip, and he grabs the ax with both hands as he brings it down again. The employee crumples as the blade sinks into its shoulder, stumbling back into the employee behind it. It causes a chain reaction of stumbling down the escalator, and Sneeg swipes at them again.
The first few go down fairly quickly, and wires fall out of their wounds, sparking.
' What the fuck are these things? ' Sneeg thinks as he swings down on the next one. This one however is prepared, and a hand comes up to grab onto the wooden part of the ax, stopping the blow and holding it in place. Sneeg grunts as he tries to pull it from their grip, but it doesn't budge. He's struggling against the hold and panicking. There's nothing else he can do. He has no other weapon with him, and he's clearly not strong enough to fight them bare handed. The other employees are starting to get closer to the top, and his eyes dart around as his breathing picks up.
This can't be how he dies. He's gotten too far, made too many promises, to himself and to Ranboo.
He looks around. There's got to be somewhere he can run to, somewhere he can hide, somewhere he can escape. His eyes won't focus on anything, and all he can hear are the steps of the employees getting closer. He looks back at them, eyes darting between each one, and the employee holding onto the ax is reaching out, reaching towards him, hand poised like claws ready to come down and–
Without thinking Sneeg kicks them, his foot making direct contact with their chest and sending them tumbling backwards. It causes a much bigger chain reaction, each employee actually falling down on the one behind them and sending them all rolling back down the escalator on top of each other. He just stands there, ax in hands as he watches them all crumple in a pile at the bottom. He stays still for a moment, watching them, but they stay in a huddled pile, not moving.
"Huh." He says to himself. "Almost forgot kicking was something I could do."
He keeps a wary eye on the employees as he backs off of the escalator. It's strange, the fact that they're not moving anymore. And it's quiet, which just adds to his unease. Looks like he has to find a way out up here, instead. Maybe there's something he missed, anyway.
He starts down the hallway, and he realizes it's the same one that he left from however long ago. Only, there's a light coming from behind one of the screen walls that wasn't there last time.
He creeps his way towards it, slipping in through the opening that someone had pushed open. He debates closing it behind him but stops in his tracks once he realizes where he is.
There, spread out like the set of some live studio show, is the cabin. Cameras are still set out in front of every room, and several director's chairs are lined up in the center. The rooms look like they haven't been touched. The wall in the bedroom no longer has a hole ripped in it, the chains are back on the door, and the door to the kitchen is back in place, the red, green, and blue locks standing out against the brown. The kitchen is spotless, and the cage in the basement is hidden behind a tarp again.
It's. . .strange. He doesn't remember spending much time there, but he has enough memories to feel a little unnerved seeing the cabin in this state, how artificial everything looks.
He takes a single step forward before noticing what else is in the room. Showfall employees stand still throughout the entire area, all facing towards one side of the room that he can't see from the lack of lights. Come to think of it, the only lights at the moment are coming through some windows that were never blacked out. It's the first room he's been in that's had natural light.
That small wonder doesn't stop his wariness as he slowly makes his way further into the room. Sure, all the employees are standing still, but that doesn't mean that they couldn’t start towards him at any second. So he's careful as he walks past them, footsteps light and body on alert. He grips the ax tight, poised to swing at any moment.
He's so focused on the employees around him that he doesn't notice the lump on the floor until he almost trips over it, and he scrambles back once he does see it.
It's the monster from earlier, and Sneeg's breath catches in his throat as he quickly holds the ax up, ready to swing. To his surprise, the monster doesn't move. It stays in a heap on the floor, as still as the employees in the room.
He lets out a short breath, lowering the ax slightly, when he notices that there's something trapped underneath the mass of wires, something that looks like a person.
•••
Charlie's sense of touch comes back before he's able to open his eyes. If he's being completely honest, he's surprised he's able to feel anything at all, especially after that monster had jumped up from out of nowhere and attacked him.
He's not sure whether he's glad to be alive or not.
His chest feels heavy, as if there's something preventing him from breathing properly. He reaches up to try and shove whatever it is off of himself, only to realize that whatever is on him is also pinning down his arms. A disappointed groan softly leaves him, but he can hear somewhat better, so that's two senses he's gotten back.
There's not much for him to hear, anyway, except for the faint buzzing of some wires and–birds? Is he outside? It doesn't feel like it; he can still feel the smooth floor of the mall under his palms, leading him to believe that he's probably still where he fell outside the cabin set.
Struggling, he finally manages to get his eyes open. It doesn't do much to tell him where he is. It's now apparent that his glasses are no longer on his face, which means everywhere he can manage to turn his head–which isn't very far–is blurry. He can make out a few shapes next to him, but he has no idea what they are.
What he is able to see is the giant wire monster collapsed on top of him. The realization makes him freeze and tense up, which he immediately regrets because suddenly his whole body is struck with throbbing pain, and he hisses as he forces his body to relax. The next realization he has is that the monster seems to not be moving, which. . .
Did Ranboo hit the button? If they did, Hetch did say that it would shut everything down, so he supposes that can include the monster. Well, active or not, he's currently too weak to get it off of himself, and he's pretty sure its claws or wires or something is digging into him because his whole left side is throbbing. That and, whenever he shifts even a little, there's something down there that tugs.
He sighs. There doesn't seem to be a way he can get out of this situation. He's by himself, he's not in any condition to free himself, and who knows if that button lasts forever. Surely a place as big as Showfall has some sort of failsafe security thing that would bypass a shutdown. Which could mean that it's possible the monster could go active at any moment and finish tearing him apart.
So that's it. All he can do is lie there and wait for death, because at this point what else is there for him to expect? It's a miracle he isn't dead already, but if it's possible for Showfall to kill them and then bring them back then he supposes it's possible for him to at least be conscious. He just wonders how long–
"Charlie?"
He jolts a bit when he hears his name, his eyes going wide. Tilting his head towards the voice, he opens his mouth to say something but all that comes out is a wheezing cough, the air not quite coming in and out correctly. A fuzzy figure comes into view, and it crouches down next to him. It's only when it speaks again that Charlie registers who it is.
"Holy shit, Charlie what happened to you?" Sneeg asks, panic lacing his words.
Charlie gives a tired grin. "Hey, man, uh," he nods his head to the mass of wires still on top of him, "Security got me."
"Wh– Security ?"
"I don't know, that's what Ranboo called it, so. Uh, do you, do you think you can get it off me?" He asks, voice trailing off a bit at the end.
From what he can make out, Sneeg nods, and then suddenly the pain in his side increases tenfold and he cries out as whatever is stuck in him pulls hard . Sneeg swears under his breath and then whatever was being pulled goes limp as he lets go. Charlie gasps, trying to catch his breath.
" Fuck , shit, probably should have mentioned that I think something's in me? Yeah, it's got, it's got something stuck in my side. I can't see what it is. I can't really see you ," he breathes out, laughing a bit hysterically. "Can you see my glasses anywhere?"
"Oh, uh–" Sneeg leaves his sight for a second, and he can hear some shuffling around before there's an audible wince. "So, good news, I found them. Bad news, they're kinda broken?"
"Shit, how bad?"
"I mean, they should stay on your face fine, but the lenses are definitely cracked."
Great.
"Alright, better than nothing, I guess."
Sneeg comes back over and leans down to hover over him, and then suddenly the world clears back up. Everything is still a bit wonky from the cracks, but he can now see where he is, at least.
It's definitely still the room with the cabin, and his breath hitches when he sees all the employees scattered around the room. Sneeg notices the look on his face.
"I think we're fine?" He says, glancing at them. "They were frozen like that when I got in here, and they haven't moved yet, so."
Oh, right, the button's been pressed. Charlie nods slightly.
"Oh, yeah, makes sense, the button must have gotten pressed."
Sneeg quirks an eyebrow. "Button?"
"I can explain a lot better once this thing is off of me, man."
"Oh, shit, right. My bad."
He starts looking over Charlie's side, and he grimaces. Charlie frowns in response, trying to reach his hand down to his side.
"What? What is it?"
"Well, this vest it looks like you're wearing kept it from being worse than it could've been, but there's still like, two of this things claws digging into you right here. I don't know how else we're gonna get them out without me just pulling."
Charlie sighs. "You don't have like, a weapon or anything do you?"
"I've got an ax, but that's probably not the best idea since it's literally pinning you to the ground."
"Oh. Yeah that makes sense."
Sneeg looks around for a second, looking for something until he finally seems to make a decision. Taking off his jacket, he turns it inside out and then bunches up a section of it.
"Okay, I'm just gonna have to pull it out, but you can bite down on this if you need to."
"That's a good idea, yeah, give it here."
Sneeg lifts it to his face, and Charlie opens his mouth. He can tell that Sneeg was trying to give him a part of the jacket that wasn't dirty, but there's still stains of something that he shoves out of his mind as he latches his teeth onto it. A hand touches his side, and he squeezes his eyes shut.
"You ready?" Sneeg asks.
"Mhm."
"Alright. Three, two–"
Sneeg doesn't wait to say 'one' before he gives a quick tug, and Charlie lurches as the claws slide a bit out of him. His muscles instinctively tighten up, and tears build up in his eyes as the pain doubles. There's another quick tug and he cries out into the jacket, head pushing back against the floor as his body seizes up again. He's panting now, tears freely falling. His head is pounding, and he can just barely hear Sneeg grunt as the giant weight on his body is lifted up and rolled off of him.
Sneeg is panting lightly, too, and he reaches up to start undoing the vest. Charlie doesn't stop him, and instead grabs the jacket and pulls it down to lay on the floor next to him. The vest gets unzipped and pulled to the side. Charlie finally opens his eyes and looks at Sneeg.
"How bad does it look?"
"Eh, I mean, it's definitely bleeding, and you'll definitely need stitches, but I don't think you're gonna bleed out or anything? I think."
"Should we tie this around my waist or something?" Charlie weakly holds up the jacket, and Sneeg shrugs.
"Probably couldn't hurt."
It takes a bit, and hurts like hell, but the two of them eventually get Charlie standing. His vision swims a bit as his head throbs, and he's honestly surprised his legs are able to hold himself upright.
He's having to lean against Sneeg's side, though, and in that position it takes a bit to get the vest off and then tie the jacket around his waist. Eventually it's done, and the vest is put back on over it. Honestly, the pressure from both doesn't feel great. If anything, it makes his side hurt worse, but he keeps reminding himself that if they didn't do anything to stop the bleeding, then who knows how long he would have.
Now that he's standing, he can also see the button across the room. It's no longer flashing, and all the frozen employees are facing it. Ranboo is nowhere to be seen.
Did he make it out? It makes sense if he did. Charlie had told him to run, to press the button and get out of there. He had to have made it.
Charlie coughs out a laugh. "He did it. Holy shit, he actually did it."
"Did what?"
Oh right, Sneeg doesn't know. For a moment he had forgotten that Sneeg hadn't been with them throughout the whole ordeal of Ranboo getting out, getting Charlie out, then finding Hetch as he lay dying only to give them a map to a kill button.
Charlie starts explaining what Sneeg missed, and he nods along as he starts helping Charlie limp towards the nearby exit.
"I mean, they had to have made it out, right?" Charlie says as they approach the ramp bathed in white light. "The exit is right here, and with everything shut down there was nothing stopping them."
"Well then, let's go catch up."
With some newfound strength, together they make their way towards the exit. Charlie manages to pull himself from Sneeg's grasp, determined to make it out of the doors and see Ranboo waiting on the other side.
What neither of them are expecting is the ear splitting scream that rings through the air.
They both freeze before turning to look at each other, eyes wide.
"Was that. . ." Charlie whispers, mouth suddenly dry.
They both wait, listening for anything else. Everything is still and silent, and Charlie can feel his heartbeat in his ears.
Another yell, and they're both running. It hurts, and the movement definitely tugs at his side, but Charlie pushes it out of his mind as he bursts out of the room and back into the mall's hallway. He skids to a stop, twisting and turning frantically trying to figure out where Ranboo is, where their screaming is coming from.
There's nothing, no lights in any nearby stores, no employees marching towards a specific area. It's eerily silent again, and Sneeg is suddenly at his side, holding something out to him.
"Here, since it doesn't look like you have a weapon."
Charlie looks down to see him holding a knife, and he looks past him to see the employee that Ranboo had stabbed earlier. The mental image of Ranboo holding the knife makes his stomach churn, and he can feel his hand press against his stomach over the vest.
Was that even real? So many things have been revealed to be fake, so was that even real? Did Ranboo actually tear into him? It had certainly felt real, and the memory feels real. But then again, his whole perception of things has been very skewed, so who knows. He can't focus on that now, anyway.
Pushing the thoughts away and taking a deep breath, he takes the knife from Sneeg and grips it tightly.
"Where do you think he is?" He chokes out, and Sneeg puts a hand on his shoulder.
"Clearly not in this spot. C'mon." He nods his head towards the other end of the hall and they both start running again.
All caution has been thrown to the wind, all focus now on finding Ranboo. There isn't much on the floor they're on, so they head down the escalators to the bottom floor. It's Sneeg who freezes this time, turning his head with a panicked expression.
"Okay, something's clearly happening because there were a ton of those masked guys here earlier."
Charlie barely hears him, too distracted with listening for any more sounds that might direct them to wherever Ranboo is. But he does distantly agree that it is strange how empty the mall is now. Surely the room with the cabin didn't have every single employee in it, Showfall is too smart to make that mistake. Maybe they're just in a different area, busy with something that isn't them. He hopes that's the case so that they have an easier time finding Ranboo.
Something taps his shoulder and he turns to see Sneeg pointing down a hallway where lights are flashing from a store nearby, the faint sound of voices coming from its direction. They both take off running, Charlie ignoring the pain in his side. He can deal with his injuries after he's sure that Ranboo is safe and the three of them get the fuck out of there.
They skid to a stop in the store's entryway, and Charlie feels his stomach drop as Sneeg swears under his breath next to him. Inside the room, against the back wall, is Ranboo. They're tied up and restrained with wires, some holding their arms spread out like some sort of twisted mockery of a crucifix. There's blood on him, and a rusted, metal box with spikes is open around his head, seemingly ready to snap closed at any second. His clothes are bloody, and even from the distance Charlie can see that the mask is cracked, wires peeking out as the red lights flicker.
And they're crying. Ranboo is crying, and struggling against the wires holding them in place. There's screens, so many screens haloed around them that show clips of the shows. Charlie watches as Ranboo and himself appear on one of them. He's wearing a suit, covered in something green and sticky, although he knows now that the green is a filter, and he has to stop himself from gagging as the smell of copper hits his nose from the memories.
The other screens show things he doesn't remember seeing; Sneeg ripping open one of the cabin walls, Niki helping solve Mouse Trap only to be shot a few seconds later, Vinny being crushed by an anvil, Ethan being crushed between a wall and a bookcase, Austin caught between two walls, crying out for help. He sees himself lying on a hospital bed, Ranboo's hands digging into green goo, and realizes that Ranboo couldn't hear him crying out in pain, that he couldn't stop if he wanted to, that none of them were ever in control of themselves.
Was he even in control right now?
Right as that thought enters his mind Sneeg suddenly enters his field of sight, ax raised as he runs towards the person standing at a control panel who has yet to notice them. It's only as the ax makes contact with their neck that Charlie realizes it's Hetch, and that in itself adds to the confusion he's feeling.
Why is Hetch doing this? Wasn't he helping them? He had been the one to get Ranboo's mask turned off so that they could see what was really happening. He had given them the map to the kill button that shut everything down. He was helping lead them through the mall to try and get out, to try and take down Showfall from the inside. So why was he–
"Charlie!" He's pulled out of his thoughts when Sneeg yells his name. Hetch is now on the ground, blood pooling around him as Sneeg raises the ax again. "Figure out how to get that timer to stop!"
With a start, he looks back at the screens and realizes one of them has been slowly counting down, now at around twenty seconds. Now with something else to panic about, he runs over to the control panel and starts looking at all the buttons and switches. He can hear Sneeg taking care of Hetch behind him, and he shudders as he tries to ignore them and focus on figuring out which button does what.
It takes him a second, the lighting in the room not great and making it a little difficult to see any labels. Once he has it figured out, though, he starts pressing and flipping and turning, the screens on the wall going off one by one and the lights in the room actually getting brighter. Finally, on the far side of the panel, there's a large red button, flashing slightly.
"Well, here goes nothing," he mumbles before bringing a fist down on it.
As soon as he does, everything goes still. It feels like his head clears up, which wasn't it already-? His body starts untensing, and he lets out a breath he didn't realize he was holding in.
Slowly, memories start filling his head, things from before the cabin, from before Showfall. Memories of him as a child, and another boy is present, one a little older than him. Most of the memories are of them playing together, and as they get older the memories show them doing more things together. Going to school, staying up late playing video games, sneaking into the kitchen to get snacks before dinner, driving around blasting music through the speakers and singing along.
At some point a third person joins the memories, but before he can try to figure out who it is he realizes who the first person is. As he looks up, he makes eye contact with Sneeg as they have the same realization.
They rush to each other at the same time, arms wrapping around the other tightly. Charlie buries his face into Sneeg's shoulder, a shaky laugh leaving him as he holds him, his brother , because of course they're brothers, what else could they be?
" Sneeg , oh my god," he chokes out.
"Yeah," Sneeg replies, voice slightly shaking. "I know, trust me, I know."
The confusion is still there, but he's happy, and relieved. He thought he was alone throughout this whole thing, but he's had family with him this whole time, his brothers–
Wait, brothers-?
Ranboo.
Eyes wide, Charlie pulls away from the hug. "Shit, Ranboo. We've gotta get him and get the fuck out of here."
Sneeg quickly nods. "You've still got that knife, right? I'll get his head free from the box if you'll start cutting the wires."
"On it."
•••
Ranboo is so, so tired. He's been struggling to get out for so long, and now it seems like he has a way out. Does it involve dying? Unfortunately, yes, but he's seen too much, done too much, to keep living.
Honestly, they don't know how they've lasted as long as they have. All the little moments of rebellion they've had only to trust the wrong person immediately. Maybe this was a fitting ending for them.
Hetch had mocked him when he had cried out, begging the audience to kill him, questioning how the hero could say something so. . .so unheroic. Ranboo doesn't feel like a hero. That title should never have gone to him, and he doesn't know how it ended up being assigned to his, well, he supposes his character.
Heroes are brave, they always do the right thing, always save everyone, never hurt anyone. They're the role models, the one you can always look to for guidance and know that they're going to make smart decisions and defeat the bad guy. If Ranboo was really the hero, their friends wouldn't be dead.
At least, he thinks they were his friends. The memories that his mask had given back to him hadn't been too detailed, but there were moments of all of them sitting together and talking. Possibly between shows? It's all still a little fuzzy, so he's not entirely sure.
The clearest memories, which surprises them, are ones of them with Charlie and Sneeg from before the shows, before Showfall. Ones from before everything had gone to shit, and the three of them were safe at home with their parents. They had cried at that, not even hearing what Hetch was saying in the moment, too busy grieving for the family they had forgotten they even had. They had left both of them behind, and now surely they were dead. Dead because of Ranboo and they don't know how they can live with themselves for that.
He chokes a bit on the wires in his mouth, struggling to breath. There's blood dripping out of his mouth, and he can feel more drying on his chin. He's pretty sure the only reason he's still upright is from the wires wrapped around his waist and ankles because his legs are shaky and sore. His right hand aches from where the wires thread through his palm, and he's so tired .
Why isn't anything happening? Shouldn't the audience have made their decision by now? He can't hear Hetch talking anymore, but something's wrong with his ears anyway because everything has a slight buzz to it. It's hard to see as well, the tears in his eyes making his surroundings look warped. A few fall, but all they do is pool at the edge of the mask.
They close their eyes and choke back a sob, too tired to struggle against the wires anymore. They just want this to be over. They deserve this, anyway. Under Showfall's control or not, people were still hurt because of them, people still died because of them. They're fairly confident that the audience has chosen for them to die, especially since they've supposedly watched every single thing they've done.
There's suddenly footsteps approaching him quickly, and that can't be right. That would mean the audience chose live, which they weren't supposed to do. Living means being re-scripted, means being put back into the shows, means that he's stuck in this place, in this role he doesn't want to have.
He panics and opens his eyes, cries bubbling up his throat as someone grabs one of his wrists, and he jolts. Whoever has his wrist starts cutting at the wires, and he's struggling to breath. His eyes are frantically looking around, but they won't focus on anything, they can't see–
"No, no please–I don't want to keep doing this! Please, just let me go, I don't–I can't do this anymore, please!"
The person doesn't listen, and then suddenly there's another pair of hands fiddling with the contraption around their head. No, no, no this can't be happening, they can't keep doing this, haven't they been put through enough? The wires around their wrist fall to the ground, and maybe, once they're completely untied they can make a run for it. They just need to wait.
The wires through their other hand are suddenly pulled and they cry out, hand twitching involuntarily. Someone says something, but he can't tell what it is. Maybe it's Hetch, seeing as how he's never heard any of the employees ever say a word. He only becomes more confused when something gets wrapped around his hand, something like a bandage?
Why would they-? He thinks deliriously when he's suddenly tugged forward, and when did his head get taken out of the box? Is he that out of it? And when did the other wires get cut?
They suddenly realize that means they're free, they can run, but as soon as they try to take a single step a pair of hands grab their upper arms and hold them back. It's a good thing, too, because it immediately becomes apparent that their legs are currently not strong enough to hold them up when they immediately buckle under them.
"Please, stop, just let me go. I won't tell anyone, I swear!" He begs, weakly struggling against the hold on him. The hands start lowering him to the ground, and he lands with a thump as his legs finally do give out from under him. Someone's behind him, and they grab his arms and hold them at his side. Something touches his mask, and he panics. They're about to reset him, they're going to turn the mask back on and send him back to be in whatever new fucked up show they're going to broadcast, and he can't, he won't–
He manages to free an arm and swats at whatever's in front of him, legs scrambling against the floor as he tries to push himself away. The person behind him catches his wrist, and this time they wrap their arms around both of his, hands clasped together in front of his torso to pin his arms. He kicks out only for something to land on top of his legs. He can't move at all now, and he chokes on a gasp as the mask is touched again.
"Please, please no stop, stop! Don't do this please, I don't want to be on the future shows!"
They sob, trying to lean their head back as far away from the offending hands as possible. They don't even notice that the wires on the mask are being cut, but then suddenly something is tugged that shouldn't have been and they scream , fire hot sparks shooting down the back of their neck and their spine as their body seizes. The arms around them tighten slightly, and as the pain fades so does their remaining strength. All they can do is sit there and cry as they wait for whatever's about to happen.
He doesn't expect it when the mask starts being tugged off, the wires in his mouth starting to slide out. He chokes at that, burning tears building up in his eyes, and then suddenly they're gone, and he can breathe. His chest heaves as he gasps, suddenly able to breathe much better than before. Something metal clatters to the ground, and he lets his head sag down.
He can feel the blood dripping out of his mouth more clearly, and when he coughs he just tastes more copper. Tears fall again, and he flinches slightly as they make contact with his cheeks. It's been who knows how long since his face has been uncovered, and he'd probably be happy about that if he wasn't so fucking confused.
There's hands suddenly on their face, and they flinch. The hands draw back slightly, before carefully moving back to cup their face and tilt their head up. One of the hands brushes their hair out of their face, and they squint as they try to make out the face in front of them through tears.
"Hey, you with me? Can you hear me?"
Their voice is a little muffled, and Ranboo strains a bit to try and make out the words.
"I. . .I–" he stutters out, and his throat hurts. The hands on his face are surprisingly gentle, not trying to guide him anywhere, just holding him. It feels familiar, and comforting, and he finds himself leaning into it.
The arms around him loosen up slightly, and it feels less restraining and more like he's being held. He closes his eyes, trying to focus on getting his breathing under control.
"Yeah, that's good, just breathe. You're okay now, you're safe. I promise."
They feel themself nodding the best they can, and a thumb rubs soothing circles into their cheek. Things are starting to clear up, and they can now register the throbbing pain spreading across their nose where the mask had been. They wince a bit before finally opening their eyes, and they gasp softly.
"S-sneeg?"
Sneeg smiles, relief evident on his face. "Yep. Told you I'd come back for you."
"Holy shit," Ranboo laughs in disbelief, and when he pulls away from the arms holding him, he's let go. He leans forward against Sneeg and the older man immediately wraps his arms around him, holding him tightly. Ranboo grips the back of his jacket, shaking slightly as he starts crying again. Sneeg just holds him, rubbing a hand up and down his back.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," they mumble into his shoulder, and Sneeg gives them a squeeze.
"Hey, don't thank me, of course I'd come back for my little brothers."
Ranboo pulls back slightly at that. Brothers?
"Wait, does that–Charlie?"
"Right here, man."
Ranboo whirls around and out of Sneeg's arms easily to see Charlie sitting behind him, soft smile on his face. Ranboo launches himself towards him, almost toppling both of them to the ground in a hug. Charlie somehow manages to keep them upright, and Ranboo claws at his back while burying his face into his shoulder.
He can't believe it. How is Charlie here? He thought he died to Security, but if he didn't. . .
Oh god, they left him. He was still alive, and Ranboo could've helped him but they didn't, they just left him .
They pull back from the hug and grip his shoulders.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry ."
Charlie just looks at him confused. "What? What are you sorry for?"
"I-I left you! And I didn't even try to help you when Security got you, I just froze and watched it happen when I could've helped. I didn't even check to see if you were still alive, I just left and, and I could've brought you with me and we might have been out of here by now, and shit– "
"Hey," Charlie says, cutting him off. He reaches up to grab Ranboo's hands, making sure to make eye contact with him. "You have nothing to be sorry for, okay? I'm not mad at you for any of that. To be completely honest, I'm not sure why I'm alive right now. But that doesn't matter, because I'm here, and we're all together, and that's what matters."
"But–"
"Nope. No buts. I'm okay, Sneeg is okay, you're okay. I could never be mad at you for something out of your control."
Ranboo's not sure how much they believe him, but Charlie is giving them his 'I know what I'm talking about, so just trust me' look that they're now remembering all too well, so they just nod and try to smile. Charlie smiles back and laughs lightly.
"Man, it feels like it's been forever since I've seen your whole face."
Almost like they had forgotten the mask was off, they reach up to touch their face. They brush their fingers up their cheeks, feeling skin instead of metal. Moving higher, they get to the bridge of their nose and flinch at the sudden sting they feel. Pulling their hand away, their fingertips are coated in blood.
"How. . .how did–"
"I cut the wires," Sneeg says. "It took a bit of pulling because of how much it was digging into your skin, and I think something got pulled out? Not too sure, but yeah."
Ranboo nods. "There were wires in my mouth, so that's probably what it was."
Sneeg's eyes widen. "They were in your mouth? What the fuck?"
"Yeah, um. . .did you get all of the mask off?"
"No, the seal on the back of your head is still there. When I tried to get it off you screamed and kicked out, so I haven't touched it again."
So that's what the sharp pain was. Does that mean it's attached to him more than the front was? Is it in him? If that's the case, he wants it out immediately, but if it's not coming out easily they might have to get professional help.
"Yeah please, please don't touch it. I don't know what exactly it did, but it fucking hurt."
Now that things have calmed down, they finally turn their head and notice Hetch on the ground beside the control panel. Their breath catches in their throat and they scramble to back further away. Charlie and Sneeg both immediately reach out to them, pulling them into a hug and holding them.
"What's he–Hetch, I-I mean, he's–" he stutters out. He's shaking, heart beating erratically in his chest, and a hand comes up to thread through his hair.
"It's okay," Charlie quickly says. "It's alright. Sneeg took care of him, we're safe now. I promise."
"He's not gonna hurt you anymore," Sneeg adds.
Ranboo buries his head into Charlie's shoulder, trying to take deep breaths. It's hard, and even just knowing how close Hetch's body is to them doesn't help. But he's here, sitting between his two older brothers, both of them holding him in somewhat of a hug. He sniffs, trying to blink back tears.
"I just want to go home," he manages to get out.
He wants life to go back to normal. He wants to be able to sit on the couch curled up in a blanket as he rambles off facts about horror movies to his brothers. He wants to be able to play with his dog. He wants to be able to go out and do things, simple things. He wants to be able to groan when his dad makes a terrible joke, to help his mom with cooking because Sneeg and Charlie have never been good at it.
He wants to be able to go out in public without the fear of someone recognizing him from something he'd rather forget, although that one's the least likely thing to happen.
"That's what we're going to do," Sneeg says, and Ranboo nods, believing him because why wouldn't he.
Together the three of them manage to stand up, although they're all leaning pretty heavily on each other. It's a bit awkward with Ranboo being so much taller, but they manage to make it work. It takes a little bit for them to start moving, Charlie's side flaring up with pain and Ranboo's legs threatening to give out at any moment.
They push on, though, and Ranboo keeps their head facing away from Hetch when they pass by him. Even just thinking about him makes their chest tighten in fear.
Walking out into the mall, all three of them are surprised to see that it looks brighter than before. There's also several groups of employees facing the direction of the store they just left, but all of them are frozen, heads tilted down to show that they've been turned off.
"Shit, did. . .did everything actually get shut down?" Ranboo asks. "I thought the button didn't actually work, since. . ."
"No, we did it. The real button was on the panel back there. That's what I was doing when Sneeg was handling Hetch," Charlie tells them. "So we can actually leave now."
Ranboo lets out a sigh of relief, sagging a bit. Sneeg huffs and lifts him up a bit. "So, do either of you know where an exit is? Because I feel like I've looked everywhere and never found one."
"Oh, yeah there's one to the left, down this hallway a little bit," Ranboo says, nodding his head in that direction. "With everything shut down there shouldn't be anything in our way."
Sneeg nods. "Alright, this way it is."
They start shuffling their way over, weaving through the frozen employees. Sure enough, a door with a glowing red exit sign appears and they all let out relieved laughs. With some renewed strength, they make their way over as quickly as possible.
Charlie trips at one point, and he swears as they all stumble a bit. They manage to stay standing, and Charlie huffs, a hand going to his side.
"We're gonna get medical attention or something, right?"
"Oh absolutely, because you two definitely need it," Sneeg says. They've reached the door now, and Sneeg puts a hand against the bar. He looks over at Ranboo and Charlie. "Well, you guys ready?"
"I am so fucking ready, let's get out of here now," Ranboo rushes out. Charlie nods in agreement, and Sneeg grins.
"Alright, everyone say hello to freedom." He pushes the bar and the door opens up, light from outside flooding in.
Together, they finally leave the mall.