Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“What do we think about that, audience? Has he earned his rest? Or do we want to see him play yet again…” Hetch’s sinister voice echoed in the control room.

Ranboo didn’t want to hear him speak anymore, never again. They wanted to die. It was the better alternative given the current situation. Live, and continue to be a puppet to this fucked up, corrupt organization keen on torturing people to the fullest- or, die. Die and be released from this living hell they somehow managed to survive. 

They pulled at the wire restraints uselessly- a false sense of hope crawling up his head. Ranboo was so tired . Who knows how long they’d been there, stuck under Showfall’s sick mind control? Who knows how long he’s been torturing his friends, his “fellow castmates”? Charlie?

God, they felt so guilty. Such guilt that made them think that death wasn’t enough for them. Perhaps living would be the greater punishment for everything they did to Charlie. To Sneeg, Niki, Austin, all of them. He let them die. He did nothing as he dug around Charlie’s torso, searching for a key that was never there. They were all under control at that moment, but to Ranboo, it didn’t matter. 

They kept being called “The Hero”. Heroes didn’t tear apart their best friends. Heroes didn’t ignore their calls for help. Heroes didn’t ignore their agonized screams, their pleas to live. A hero saved his friends. Ranboo was no hero. They were far from it. 

They leaned forward, then abruptly lurched their head back into the metal box. The stinging pain was only a fraction of what he deserved. Still, they pleaded, “I can’t live with this… I saw. Everything. I saw everything,” they breathed out, tears forming in their eyes.

From further into the room, behind the control panel Ranboo once stood behind only a mere hour ago, Hetch stood. The mastermind. Controlling. Watching this supposed live audience as they voted for his life. Ranboo didn’t understand how Hetch was even alive, or why Hetch betrayed them. It was so hard to listen to everything the man was saying when you were being held up by wires instead of your own legs. “And you’ll see so much more,” Hetch said, almost like cooing to a child. 

All Ranboo could do was continue to tug at the restraints and flop their head from side to side, not even caring about the metal spikes of the box as they were dangerously close to nicking their face- and babble, “no no no, no… Just let me die!”

They noticed how the floor reflected a solid white color. They stopped thrashing about, heaving in place and trying to keep the tears at bay. They were miserably failing. The tears fell anyway as they thought of everything they endured. Everything he lost. He mourned for the people who would never get to live again, never get to see the sun or live a full life. They all lost out on those opportunities… because of him. 

“Well it seems the audience has made their decision, Ranboo,” Hetch exclaimed excitedly. Sadistically. Then he lowered his tone, like he was a game show host presenting the answer to the final question. “Are you ready to hear it?”

The tears streamed steadily down their face as they sobbed, as it was the only thing they could do. He hated the red glow emitting from the mask, reflecting onto his haphazard hair. He hated the smell of copper that encased itself in his mask as he sputtered out more blood, feeling it seep into the mask and his own skin. Everything hurt, everything was painful, nothing was going to save him. He didn’t deserve to be saved. Not after what happened that day. They leaned their head back against the cool metal. One of the last things they’d feel.

Ranboo hiccupped and choked on his own tears, not even paying attention to Hetch anymore. They didn’t care what that stupid audience voted for anymore. The buzzing in his ears grew as Hetch began talking again- though it just sounded like muttered gibberish to Ranboo. 

Then, Hetch went silent. Ranboo raised their head slowly, the exhaustion creeping into his neck. The doors behind Hetch were open, letting in a white light that shone brilliantly on the tile floor. It was cruel. A freedom right in front of Ranboo, a freedom they worked so hard for just sitting there- and they couldn’t get to it. Devastation washed over Ranboo. If the wires weren’t still holding them up, they definitely would’ve fallen over at that point. 

Through the white light cut in two shadows, one distinctly a female and one a male. Ranboo’s head fell, his eyes locking onto his dirty shoes until they could muster the strength to look up again. Hetch was frozen, staring at the figures in the doorway. Ranboo couldn’t tell if this was a good thing or not, as their vision was blurred by a new onslaught of tears. 

“...at? How is this possible-”

The female shadow moved, her arm extending, holding a weapon Ranboo could only guess was a spear. “What? You scared that your worst nightmare came back to haunt you?” he heard her taunt. Her voice was a little raspy, and a little deep for a woman, but Ranboo was grateful to hear someone other than Hetch nonetheless. 

“You!-... and you ! You died! This is not part of the script-”

Ranboo couldn’t hold themselves up anymore, no matter how desperately they tried. Who was this worst nightmare? Who died? They wanted answers just as badly as Hetch did. They heard the shuffling of footsteps, the squeak of tennis shoes on the shiny floor. The beginnings of a fight.

“Let them go! Now!” 

What the?...

Ranboo forced himself to look up again at the sound of the familiar voice. The two figures had moved, the woman pointing her spear at Hetch’s throat menacingly and the other standing behind the man, an ax pressed against his back. Though the room originally had dim lighting- the open doors provided enough light for Ranboo to see the intruders. They sobbed, breathing heavily through the blood and spit in the mask. 

It was Charlie. Charlie stood, alive, threatening Hetch with his bloody and shredded shirt, bandages wrapped around his torso, a look of utter fury on his face. Ranboo had never seen Charlie this upset before. 

“Let him go?” Hetch repeated. Then, he laughed. Sinister, cackling. It sent unwanted goosebumps down Ranboo’s arms and legs. “Let him go?! No! The audience has chosen, and this is how it will be. Always, and all through time! Our hero will play again!” 

The woman poked her spear against the man’s neck, her eyebrows lowered dangerously over her hooded eyes. She too wore a mask, all black clothing and a heavy duty black backpack hung over her shoulders. She was tall, too, from what they could see. Probably taller than Charlie. Over six feet would be his guess. Her brown eyes were fierce, alit with a fury that matched Charlie’s. Her hair was pulled into a snug bun, showing the underside of her hair that had been shaved to just above her ears. A black band rested across the back of her head, attached to the legs of her thick black framed glasses.

“The fuck you goin’ on about?” she questioned, her eyes flickering down to the control panel. “Give it up, Hetch. You’re dead if you don’t let the kid go.”

But Hetch just laughed again, somehow even more maniacally this time. It was eerie as it echoed in the somewhat empty room. Charlie scowled, pressing the ax further into Hetch’s back. 

“My dear, we’re all dead,” Hetch said, leaning in close to the woman’s face. Even from where Ranboo was positioned, they could see the shameless, gleeful spark in his eyes. How was this man even human? “We just happen to fall at different times.”

In one swift movement, Hetch reached for something on the control panel, but the woman beat him to it. She dug her spear into his wrist, earning a cry of pain from Hetch. Blood spilled from the wound, and Hetch looked angry. Furious. 

“You won’t mess this up! Not after everything it took to get this perfect!” Hetch roared as he attacked. He lurched for the woman’s spear, but she sidestepped with ease, slicing at the man’s leg and earning another shout.

Charlie stepped in when Hetch fell to one knee. He raised the ax, swinging it into Hetch’s shoulder with all his strength. The man roared in agony as his blood began to stain the pristine floors. The ax was embedded in his collarbones, yet Charlie didn’t seem bothered by what he was doing. His eyes were overcast, almost empty of any emotion. Ranboo wanted to look away. This was wrong. But it was also self-defense. Karma, if you will. 

Still, Hetch raised himself to his wobbly feet, eyes locked onto Charlie, who was now backing away slowly. Hetch heaved as he reached up and grabbed the ax, ripping it out of his own body and dropping it. Ranboo could see the inside of his flesh, the blood and bone, and he wanted to throw up at the sight of wires protruding from the muscle fibers.

“You think you can stop what was already set in stone? You’re a fucking idio-” 

The woman sprung into action again, raising her spear and slashing Hetch’s back. The fabric of his clothes tore, as well as his flesh as another wound was added to his torso. “Nothing is ever truly set in stone, you fucking idiot.”

Hetch roared in fury, seemingly unfazed by the new wound that was bleeding profusely. “Get out of my way!” 

The woman’s brown eyes flashed, the way one’s eyes do when they have an idea. As she blocked Hetch’s oncoming kicks and punches with skilled ease, she called back to Charlie, “hit the red button! NOW!”

Hetch looked back, ready to pounce, but was tackled to the ground by the woman who had abandoned her spear in favor for a fist fight. Charlie moved instantly, the fear coating his features again. He looked on the control panel, seeing what Ranboo had seen earlier. Ranboo knew there was no red button on the console. 

“There’s no red button!” Charlie exclaimed, looking back at the woman. 

She and Hetch were in a wrestling match, rolling all over the ground, punching and kicking each other. Hetch’s blood smeared all over the floor as he thrashed. The woman landed a good punch to Hetch’s mask, and a sickening crack resonated through the room. Hetch’s mask cracked right down the middle. The man yelled out in pain, coming back and hitting the woman in the stomach full force. 

“Not on the console! Under it!” she screamed back as she quickly pushed herself onto her feet. She and Hetch paused for a second, heaving, eyes flickering to Charlie and back. Who was going to make the first move? 

The woman raised her fists and began bouncing back and forth. “I know you wanna go, Hetch, come on. One match.”

Hetch looked behind him, spitting onto the floor. “I’ve wanted to do this for so long.”

“Now’s your chance. Gonna waste it?” she taunted as she began to walk in a circle. 

Hetch followed her example, and Ranboo was beginning to think this was some sort of extra taunt to his face. One last show of entertainment for him before he died to the box attached to his head. 

But without warning, the woman pounced. 

She lunged forward, twirling once before jumping, one leg raised high in the air, aimed for Hetch’s head. Hetch dodged, but not quick enough. Her leg landed on the shoulder Charlie hit earlier, inducing further damage as Hetch’s flesh came apart at the shoulder. His arm was still functioning, albeit shakily. His entire right shoulder was swinging with every move involuntarily, as the wound had spread from his collarbone down to his abs. 

“Why won’t you just die ?” the woman yelled as she dodged a punch, coming back and hitting him with her own. A chip of the mask flung to the floor, showing part of Hetch’s eye. 

“I’ll die when the founder wants me to!” Hetch retorted, finally landing a punch to the woman’s face. Her glasses stayed on her face, though they were crooked. 

Ranboo’s eyes filtered back to Charlie, who was still struggling to find this button the woman was talking about. He ran a hand through his hair as he panted, eyes darting around furiously as he thought. His eyes landed on something, and he leaned down, coming up a moment later with the bloody ax. Charlie looked at the fighting pair before rushing over to Ranboo, jumping over the numerous wires littering the floor.

“Holy fucking shit, this is fucking crazy,” Charlie rambled to himself as he rushed over. “‘Push the red button’, there is no red button!”

Ranboo finally let their head fall away from the fight, unable to hold themselves up anymore. Their limbs were numb with exhaustion, and they knew they wouldn’t be walking themselves out of that mall if Charlie managed to undo the restraints. 

“Charlie, I- I can’t-” Ranboo stuttered, flinching at the sound of Hetch’s angered yells and the pounding of fists to faces. They forced their eyes shut. “I can’t do it-”

“Shhh, save your strength,” Charlie said, sneaking a glance back at the current fight before turning back to the wires. “She’s fucking crazy, I dunno who she is! She just came outta nowhere!” 

“Charlie, hurry up!” the woman yelled. She bent one knee, lowering her entire body using that one leg and extending her other, sweeping that leg under Hetch’s knees, sending him toppling to the ground. She was holding her own completely fine, but she was breaking a sweat. 

Hetch noticed Charlie. “No no no! You’re ruining everything!” he tried to rush to Charlie, only to be stopped again by a punch to the gut from the woman. He wheezed out, temporarily stunned. “Stay out of this! Get away from him!” the man yelled uselessly, though his speech seemed to add more fuel to Charlie’s fury- if his expression was anything to go by.

“Hey! Eyes on me, bucko,” the woman snapped, stepping into his line of vision and managing to push the fight back away from Charlie. Her voice was intimidating enough, but her muscular stature was a whole other factor to consider when she practically shouts at you. 

Charlie started cutting the wires with the ax, albeit very carefully, as they were threaded into Ranboo’s skin. Through the top of his hands, in his palms. Every wire Charlie moved or cut through, Ranboo could feel under his skin. It was extremely uncomfortable as it was painful. The stinging caused a few pained groans to escape Ranboo’s copper stained mouth. 

“I’m sorry, man, I’m sorry,” Charlie apologized over and over. 

“No, I- ah!” Ranboo yelled out in agony as his left hand was freed. Blood oozed from the various holes in his hand. They were beginning to feel dizzy. Everything was looking fuzzy again. Charlie looked so far away. Maybe it’s the blood loss kicking in. “I’m… I’m sorry for… leaving you behind, Charlie. I should’ve-... looked back-“

“Stop it, Ran. It’s okay, I forgive you. I forgive you, but I need you to live for me, okay? I didn’t deal with this crazy woman’s nonsense talk just to not make it in time. I need you to survive, okay? I…” Charlie fell silent, his misty eyes focusing on the other hand. 

Ranboo understood though. They both lost everything to this stupid fucking company. They made it this far, they lost their friends along the way. They couldn’t give up now. They were in this together until the end, because in reality- right now they had nobody else but each other. 

“Okay…” Ranboo breathed, still squirming under the discomfort of the wires moving. “I’m trying.”

“That’s all I can ask for.”

A grunt from the woman brought Ranboo’s sluggish attention back up. Half of Hetch’s mask was missing, showing a gruesome face. The woman had done extensive damage. His nose was completely bashed in, the blood and bone splattered around the man’s face. His eyes were bloodshot, a few teeth were missing. The skin around his eye was turning an ugly purple.

Despite all his fatal injuries, he was somehow still standing, which made Ranboo question if the man was even human still. At this point, he really couldn’t be human. Hetch had grabbed the woman by the top of her hair, painfully lifting her back up to her feet. She kicked his torso, his legs, anywhere she could hit. 

“You were never a nightmare of mine, bitch,” Hetch seethed, spewing blood onto the woman’s face. “More like a nuisance.”

“A nuisance that’s smarter than you,” the woman replied coolly. Ranboo could tell she was smiling under her mask. She stomped her left foot down. Her spear was launched up, right into her hand. She thrust the spear into Hetch’s chest. 

The man screamed in agony, instantly letting go of her hair and crumbling to his knees. She twisted the spear, smacking away his hands that were grabbing at the weapon. She towered over him, and even in Ranboo’s state, he could feel the menacing air around her. 

“Stay dead, Hetch.”

She moved, the spear slicing right through his heart and exiting out his other shoulder. Hetch instantly fell to the floor, unmoving as his own blood pooled around him. His body was mutilated, to say the least. Ranboo wasn’t focused on that. He was focused on the mysterious woman coming towards him. The woman who was covered in blood and bone, and… is that muscle tissue?

Ranboo was instantly on alert. Well, as alert one could be in his state. “Charlie, she’s-”

“Not bad, Ran. Surprisingly,” Charlie replied.

Ranboo blinked. “We can’t trust her. We can’t trust anyone.”

The woman stopped a few feet away behind Charlie, watching Hetch’s body for any movement as she cleaned off her bloody spear with the bottom of her coat. It was unsettling. Like she’d done this before. 

Ranboo put a bloody hand on Charlie’s shoulder for support as the man cut the wires around their waist. “Charlie, come on. Look what happened with Hetch. It’s history repeating itself! She’ll help us and then she’s just gonna kill us in the end! We can’t trust her!” they argued.

Charlie cut the wires as fast as he could without nicking Ranboo, but it was getting difficult to do so with the kid swaying on his feet. “We can’t argue about this right now, no matter how much we want to. Our only option is to run. Who knows if those employees will come running back? Or that monster?....”

The wire finally snapped, and Ranboo’s world instantly tilted. They collapsed to the floor, Charlie falling with them with an exclamation of, “woah!”

The cool tile was a nice change from the bloody box. It smelled like disinfectant instead of the copper that seemed to surround Ranboo. Their body felt like lead. They couldn’t even raise their arms, let alone their feet. There was no way he was getting out of there now. And after all the trouble Charlie and this mystery woman went through to save him. He’d just be a burden to them.

Charlie hoisted him up under the arms, helping him into a sitting position. “Shit, you ok? I mean, shit, obviously not-”

As Charlie rambled, Ranboo made eye contact with the woman- who he was just realizing looked a lot younger up close than from afar. She looked no older than him, perhaps a few years younger if you took away the bloody eyebrow and crooked glasses. She looked down at him sadly, a gleam in her eye Ranboo couldn’t decipher. But just looking at her, he could see what Charlie was talking about. She took a hell of a beating for him and all he did was question her motive to help. But you could never be too cautious in a place like this.

Ranboo hoped Charlie was actually right about her not being bad. It’d be nice to have someone in their corner for once. 

“Please,” they begged, hating the ever-present taste of blood stuck in their mouth. “Help Charlie get out. I’ll only be a burden to you.”

Charlie balked, “what? Ran, no-”

“Ranboo, I didn’t just kill that bitch so that you could lie here forever and be cast in later shows,” the woman- no, girl, said. She sighed wistfully, a foggy look overtaking her eyes. “I’m not letting any more shows happen again. Which means you’re getting out of here.”

Any more shows? With a different cast? Ranboo looked at her, a desperate spark of hope in his chest. “Are there others? Sneeg? Niki? Anyone else?”

The girl glanced at Charlie, then at the doorway. “No. I’m sorry. I was too late.”

And suddenly, the world’s grief was back on Ranboo’s shoulders. It really was his fault. Everyone was dead because of him. He did this. The tears flooded their eyes again, plopping onto the spotless floor in front of them. They hiccupped as a pained sob escaped them. He felt Charlie’s arms tighten around his torso, not too tight like the wires, but comforting. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t get here in time to help your other friends,” she apologized. “It took longer than I thought to find this place. You two are the last ones left.”

“I did this to them…” Ranboo whispered painfully. 

“No. Stop thinking like that,” Charlie said, trying to hide his own tears. “It wasn’t your fault. It’s Showfall’s.”

“Speaking of… we need to leave. Now. Before the employees come back,” the girl said urgently. “I hate to say it, but that fight took most of my energy. I don’t think I can last long in another fight, especially against that many employees.”

Charlie nodded. “Okay. Come on, let’s get you up.”

“I can’t, Charlie-” Ranboo sobbed, being sluggishly tugged up by Charlie. Between the knowledge the girl just dumped on them and their own exhaustion, Ranboo almost didn’t want to get up. He didn’t deserve to leave when the others couldn’t. 

In one swift move, Charlie was carrying Ranboo over his shoulder. It wasn’t completely agonizing, but it definitely hurt.

“Sorry, man,” Charlie said, patting Ranboo’s calf in apology. 

“Follow me,” the girl said. 

She led them out of the control room and back into the mall, easily ignoring the crime scene that was Hetch’s body. Looking around, Ranboo didn’t like how silent it was. There were no employees in sight. There was no sign of that TV monster. It was like pushing the button had paused everything in the facility. Ranboo couldn’t even hear the streamers talking animatedly from the food court. And they were pretty loud. 

The girl continued onward, towards the escalators when she suddenly paused, pushing Charlie into a doorway of a store. She followed suit, putting a finger to her lips and peeking her head around the corner. Multiple footsteps echoed in the mall. Once they receded, the girl signaled for Charlie to follow once more, booking it for the escalators. 

It wasn’t ideal to be out in the open for that long, they all knew. Just because it was silent didn’t mean that the employees weren’t lurking. They had to get out of there fast. She ran down the unmoving escalator with grace. Ranboo couldn’t even hear her footsteps. They made it down a level before an employee spotted them. The employee was silent as it trekked towards them robotically. 

“Uh- miss, girl? They found us!” Ranboo said, still confused on how to address the girl.

Charlie snuck a glance back before cursing. The girl just moved faster towards the stairs in front of them, leading to a set of bolted glass doors. Chains wrapped around the handles, completed with a padlock on the front of it. 

“Okay, fuck fuck fuck, what do we do now? They’ll be on us any second,” Charlie rambled nervously. 

The single employee kept walking to them slowly. It made Ranboo’s heart catch in their throat. While it was just one employee, they couldn’t underestimate even one of them. He’d seen it himself- they were quick. They could easily overpower the injured people. 

The girl shrugged her backpack off all while keeping her eyes trained on the employee. “Shit, they locked it behind me,” she muttered as she searched the big pocket of her backpack. She produced a pair of bolt cutters, handing them to Charlie. “I’ll take care of him, you take care of that.”

She handled her spear, meeting the employee halfway. She slashed the employee across the chest. Wires peeked through the dress shirt, and the employee fell to the ground without protest. Ranboo didn’t like how easily it went down, or how easy any of this was. Surely something was going to happen. 

They wish they didn’t think that. All across the balconies, leaning over the railings of the floors above, were the other employees, staring down at them and extending their hands. 

“Charlie….” Ranboo warned. The man was struggling holding Ranboo and cutting the chains, which rattled with every movement. The man’s hands were shaking under the intense pressure.

“Sorry.” Charlie carefully set Ranboo to lean against the door and got to work on the chains. 

The girl backed up to the doors. Ranboo felt dread as he looked at her face. She was pale, fearful. Hetch’s fight had taken a toll on her. She was wheezing through her mask. 

“Any day now, please,” she said to Charlie, her eyes trained on the escalators. “They’re coming!”

Hundreds of thunderous footsteps echoed through the mall as the employees rushed into action. They were tripping over each other in the scramble to get to them. Ranboo watched in horror as the crowd fell down the escalators, landing flat in a heap on the floor. 

“Shit shit!” Charlie yelled as he frantically cut the chains. They clattered to the floor. 

“Come on!” The girl yelled, opening the doors. 

Charlie quickly dropped the bolt cutters and picked Ranboo back up. Ranboo’s heart raced, watching the employees running for their lives to get to them. He hated how quick they were. 

They didn’t even have time to appreciate the feeling of the wind blowing around them, the fresh, cool outside air against their neck. The employee at the front of the line reached out, his hand barely grasping Ranboo’s hair. 

“Holy fucking shit!” Ranboo said. “Run!”

“I’m trying!” Charlie yelled back. Ranboo could feel Charlie’s muscles tensing and instantly felt bad for yelling at him to do more when he was clearly at his limit. 

They were running across a parking lot, the lights of the mall becoming distant in the dark night. From what Ranboo could see, forest lined the mall, truly hiding it from the public. You’d have to go searching for the mall to actually find it in the thick woods. 

“We’re almost there! Keep going!” The girl encouraged. 

The employees were right on their tails, their feet smacking against the pavement and kicking up pebbles. The girl’s footsteps came to a sudden halt, and the sound of a door opening filled Ranboo’s ears.

“Get in!”

They didn’t need to be told twice. Charlie carefully set Ranboo in the car, then forcefully scooted him over to get in himself. The girl shut the door behind them and got in the driver’s seat, locking the doors as soon as she sat down. 

The employees banged on the car windows, their masks making up the windows. The Showfall logo was the only thing they could see. Charlie was practically heaving in his seat, looking like he was going to throw up. 

The car suddenly whirred to life, jerking forward when the girl pushed down on the gas pedal. The employees clawed at the car, running after it to the best of their ability, but it wasn’t enough. Soon they were just shadows on the horizon, lost to the woods. 

Charlie actually heaved this time, holding his head between his bloodstained hands. “Oh my God-“

“If you throw up in my car, so help me-“ the girl said frantically. She whipped the steering wheel to one side, sending Ranboo flying into the other window. They groaned as the mask was pushed further into their face. “Sorry,” she apologized, as she continued to drive like a maniac.

“I fucking-… oh my God, I killed-“ Charlie had to stop before he actually threw up. Speckles of Hetch’s blood stained his cheeks and glasses. It was all he could see, smell, fuck- even taste . 

The woods around them blurred together. Ranboo couldn’t believe it. They couldn’t for the life of them believe that they escaped. That wretched mask was still on, and it still stunk like blood and saliva and sweat, but they were out. They were out. Not quite yet free, but it was the best they’d get at the moment. 

They rested their head on the window, watching the trees as they passed by. Though they were still very suspicious of the girl who helped them, he was grateful for her help. Without her, they would’ve never seen the outside world again. 

And even though they were going to have a long road ahead of them, Ranboo had a feeling they could get better. He allowed himself to close his eyes, and let the exhaustion finally take over. 

Chapter Text

Charlie was… conflicted to say the least. 

This woman- no, girl, came out of nowhere. One moment, Charlie’s screaming for Ranboo to hit the button, the TV monster digging its wire claws into the security vest and piercing his skin. The agony of feeling his own flesh be ripped open and torn apart, the goosebumps that littered his skin as his blood pooled underneath him. 

Then, everything stopped. The monster stopped attacking, its claws going dormant, stuck in Charlie’s stomach. Every breath sent a wave of stinging pain through his body. When he was on the verge of finally passing out, finally getting the sweet release death would’ve provided, the monster was shoved off of him. Ripping his flesh open further, the tattered pieces of his shirt and vest practically meshed with the wounds. 

Charlie had groaned at that. Apply pressure, that’s what he had to do, right? That’s the one thing about first aid everyone knew. He brought his hands up shakily, and pressed on the wounds. There were too many. There were lacerations all over his torso that his two hands weren’t able to cover them all. He was going to die. At least Ranboo made it out, right?

His vision was blurred with his tears. Tears of sorrow or tears of joy, he didn’t really know. He felt awful that he’d be leaving Ranboo behind to live in this fucked up world, but he couldn’t get up. Not on his own. He was going to bleed out on this set that he grew up in. 

The blurred figure stepped into his line of vision, visibly concerned. Even though she wore a mask, Charlie could see her mask moving. She was speaking, but he couldn’t hear. Everything was muffled like he was submerged underwater. The pain grew tenfold, and Charlie let out a pained cry. He tried to push himself away from the woman, but he was too weak. 

“-hhh, hey, I’m here to help,” she whispered.

Charlie instantly didn’t trust her. Help was uncommon, a luxury they would never have. He already didn’t trust Hetch, and look where that got him. 

He couldn’t fight the girl, he had no strength to. She pulled out a pair of scissors from a backpack on the floor next to her. Charlie instantly tensed as she brought the utensil near his stomach. Charlie’s delirious mind messed with his thoughts, his rationale. No longer was she just trying to cut his shirt off to assess the wounds, she was going to cut him open.

“No, no no no no- get away! Get away from me!” He shouted. It wasn’t the girl in front of him anymore. It was Ranboo, the mask glowing bright red, his eyes dull and a scalpel in his hand. “Not again, please no no no-“

“Okay, okay,” the girl said, raising her hands in surrender. She slowly set the scissors back in her backpack. “No scissors. No scissors. Just bandages.”

She held a little white roll, and Charlie relented. He let her help him sit up. She began wrapping the bandages around him snugly. He grimaced at the stinging sensation. He could feel the flaps of skin moving. 

“Ranboo needs you,” she said quietly, almost to herself. “I don’t know where they are, but I heard some shouting so he can’t be anywhere good.”

“He’s-“ Charlie inhaled sharply as the bandages were tied off “-in danger? How? They pressed the button.” 

The girl followed his eyes, seeing the bright red button sitting amongst the Showfall employees. “Shit. We’ve gotta go.”

“Wait wait wait,” Charlie stopped, swatting her hands away. She stared at him- expression indecisive. “Why are you helping me? What do you want from me? Are you with them?” 

“I want you to live,” she replied simply. “Nothing more. Nothing less. That’s all I want. It’s hard to believe now, but my intentions are true. I won’t lie to you about that.”

He didn’t want to believe his gut. He sensed no malicious intent from her, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there, lying underneath just to come out when freedom is in arms reach. But Ranboo was in trouble. Charlie needed to get up. 

He extended his hand, and she swiftly pulled him to his feet. A wave of nausea overtook him. Where he was just lying was a giant pool of blood. How was he still alive? It looked like half his body’s blood.

“Oh shit,” he coughed, feeling the bile rising in his throat. He felt the girl’s hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly as she helped support his weight. He heaved, leaning over and finally letting the bile leave his mouth. Most of it was just saliva, which made him question when the last time he actually ate was. 

“We have to hurry, Charlie. I’m afraid we won’t make it in time if we don’t get moving,” the girl said sympathetically. 

Charlie nodded, not even having the energy to question how she knew his name- or Ranboo’s for that matter. “Yeah. Yeah, lead the way. I dunno where the hell I'm going.”

The girl gladly took up the front, exiting the cabin set on her toes. Charlie tried to follow her example, but he couldn’t maintain that walk. His exhausted body wouldn’t listen to his commands. His legs practically shook with every step, and he knew he wouldn’t be on his feet for much longer at this rate. 

Still, he followed her through the mall because his best friend was in danger. She passed the food court, going up an escalator. That was when they heard it. Screams. Pained, blood curdling screams echoing through the mall. 

“Ran…” Charlie was moving forward before he knew it. 

“Wait-“ the girl said, extending her arm to stop him. “Look.”

There were three employees standing outside of the doorway where the screams originated. They were like statues. It didn’t even seem like they breathed. Charlie felt a surge of frustration. 

“We’ll how the fuck are we supposed to get past them?” He asked, running a hand through his hair. 

“We fight,” the girl replied, like it was the easiest option they had. Charlie didn’t know how to fight. 

“I don’t know how to fight!” Charlie whispered harshly. 

The girl exhaled sharply, looking around for something. Her eyes found it, and she grabbed his arm and began pulling him along. Charlie remembered coming to this store earlier, opting to take the vest that did practically nothing in saving him instead of the ax. She pulled him into the store, instantly moving to pick up the ax he’d abandoned earlier. 

“This’ll do,” she said, extending the handle towards him. 

“No- I can’t… I can’t kill anyone,” Charlie countered. He remembered the way Ranboo stabbed that employee, how they were so monotone about the whole thing. Robot or human- those employees probably once were people. He couldn’t kill them. “That’s-“

“Morally wrong?” The girl questioned. She sighed dejectedly. “Charlie, I don’t want to be harsh, or sound uncaring or whatever, but if you don’t put aside your morals- at least for the night- then Ranboo’s dead. You’re dead.”

“What about you?” Charlie retorted defensively. He was surprised by his own tongue. “Why go through all this trouble to help us if we’re going to fail in the end? You’ll be killed too. You don’t even know us but you’d be willing to die for us?”

“Showfall is a complicated enigma of a company,” she said calmly, though her voice expressed her subtle anger. “If I can help people- if I can help you, even one person, escape from this hellhole then I’ll gladly die. You deserve a chance to live.”

Charlie had so many questions for this mysterious stranger. But he couldn’t get answers right now. He could still hear shouts and screams from the room a few stores over. Ranboo was the top priority. Charlie wasn’t leaving them behind. 

“I’ll answer your questions once we’re outta here,” she reassured. “But we have to save Ranboo first. I know you’re tired, and I know you’re in so much pain-“

“I can do it,” Charlie declared. He took the ax, giving it an experimental swing. It was not heavy enough to exponentially weigh him down, but in his current state, he’d only be able to swing a few times before needing a breather. “I have to save my friend.” 

She smiled. At least, Charlie thought she did. “Let’s hurry the fuck up then.”

They exited the store, coming up on the employees. They slowly moved, coming towards them with robotic movements. The girl rushed forward, her fist connecting with the first employee’s face. He went down with a sickening crack and didn’t get back up.

The two other employees split off, with one targeting Charlie and the other going after the girl. Charlie’s fear surged through his veins as he looked the employee head on. His hands shook around the ax. The Showfall logo burned his eyes. He kept seeing flashes of a child in the cabin, covered in green slime, trying to cook himself food. 

Memories. 

Charlie couldn’t raise the ax. Flashes of memories of a life forged in lies flooded his vision. The employee kept getting closer, and in return, more memories resurfaced. He was older now, wearing the same slime covered suit, yelling at someone in his kitchen to make whatever they were cooking great. 

He locked the contestant in the cage in the basement. 

“Charlie!” 

The logo was suddenly gone. Where it had once been were wires, sparks flying from the sliced edges. Something hit the ground, and he could hear it rolling away. He couldn’t bring himself to look. Not when he was so close to gaining more information about his life he lost. 

The girl stood in front of him. “You okay?” She asked. 

“When did you get a spear?” Charlie countered. He didn’t trust her entirely yet. He wasn’t going to talk about something that was personal to her. 

She seemed to understand what he was thinking with a single glance. She just nodded at the door with a sense of urgency, completely ignoring his question. She was just about to open the door when another scream resounded in the air.

“Just let me die!” 

Charlie forced the doors open with a rough push, and actually nearly threw up. His best friend was tied to a… death contraption? A metal box with spikes aimed at Ranboo’s head. Wires coiled around his body like a cruel hug. They dug into his hands, actually disappearing under his skin. The mask they were forced to wear had cracked near their chin, the skin underneath coated red. The mask itself continued to flash a red light.

Ranboo’s face was contorted in fear, anguish. Tears leaked out of the corners of their eyes, mixing with the drying blood on their mask. He kept spluttering as he yelled out indecipherable words, spewing out more blood into the mask. Charlie couldn’t bear to look at his best friend in this state, but he couldn’t look away either- in fear Ranboo would be killed by that box attached to their head. It didn’t even seem like he noticed the two intruders. Someone else certainly did. 

“Hetch?...” Charlie muttered in disbelief, feeling the sparks of fury igniting under his skin. 

The man turned around slowly, and even with that stupid plastic mask on, Charlie could practically see the sadistic smile that accompanied the devilish gleam in his eyes. And he watched as those gleeful expressions were wiped clean off of Hetch’s masked face.

“What? How is this possible-”

The girl’s spear was instantly at Hetch’s throat. “What? You scared your worst nightmare came back to haunt you?” she taunted, which sent a plethora of questions through Charlie’s head- and a safe assumption: the girl has been here before, which, thinking about it now made perfect sense. 

Hetch just raised a finger and pointed it at them uselessly. “You!-...and you -” he pointed at Charlie “-you died! This is not part of the script-”

Charlie had enough of the man’s shit. He moved around, the ax now raised to Hetch’s back. “Let them go! Now!” Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Ranboo looking up. He heard the teen’s broken sobs bouncing off the walls, which fueled his anger for the man in front of him even further. 

“Let him go?” Hetch repeated. Then, he laughed. A laugh made for a devil, an inhuman creature. “Let him go?! No! The audience has chosen, and this is how it will be. Always, and all through time! Our hero will play again!”

From there, it got a little fuzzy for Charlie. His fury clouded his judgment, his vision. He didn’t care if his wounds began bleeding again at that point. Determination flooded his veins, and his grip on the ax tightened until his knuckles were white. He remembered hitting Hetch with the ax, freeing Ranboo, and escaping the mall by tooth and nail. 

Once they were around ten minutes into the supposed long drive, Ranboo fell asleep with their head leaning against the window. Charlie watched them breathe for a moment, just to make sure. Once he was positive Ranboo was truly asleep, he hopped from the backseat into the passenger seat, surprising the girl.

“Jeez, give a little warning next time, man,” she sighed. One hand rested on the bottom of the steering wheel while the other rested on the gearshift. 

Charlie buckled up, fearing for his own safety with her reckless driving. “Okay, what the hell is going on? Who are you? How did you find that mall? What did you mean when you were talking to Hetch-”

“Hold up, stop,” she raised her hand off the gearshift. “One at a time, I can’t keep up.”

“Are you serious?” Charlie muttered to himself. “What the hell is going on?”

“I’m saving your asses,” she replied simply, which made Charlie even more frustrated. All he wanted were some straight answers. Was that too much to ask for?

“Who are you?” he asked seriously.

She looked in the mirrors for a moment. “My name’s Mabel.”

Charlie glanced at her, waiting for her to elaborate. She didn’t.

“Okay?... That’s not really much to go off of, and you said you’d answer my questions once we were out of there,” he countered. “Please elaborate, all I want are straight answers after living a lie for my whole life.”

She took a deep breath. “Sorry. You’re right. I shouldn’t be talking to you like this.”

A beat of tense silence in the vehicle, with the only sounds being the loose pebbles from the road hitting the car. 

“I’m Mabel, seventeen years old, and nothing particularly noteworthy. Snowfall has…” she swallowed thickly. “Showfall has taken practically everything from me, and I made a vow to myself to make sure no shows happen ever again. I’ve been almost successful for around two years now.”

Charlie was slowly beginning to put pieces together. “So… wait- you’ve been coming to this mall, busting cast members out of it, and killing people… for two years?”

“Not people. Hetch. The employees are barely human,” she responded, making a sharp turn to the right. 

Charlie peeked his head back to check on Ranboo, who was now laying across the backseat, still fast asleep. He wanted to get that mask off of them as soon as possible. 

“But Hetch doesn’t really die?” 

Mabel nodded. “Stupid fucking Showfall magic. Whoever this founder guy is that keeps him alive is gonna get my spear shoved up his ass sooner or later.”

“Okay… but surely Showfall didn’t just stay in that location for the two years you’ve been breaking people out?”

“They did, they just made the mall harder to find,” Mabel explained. “They change one backroad, one street sign, something to throw people off. Nobody ever finds the mall that way.”

A bump in the road. Charlie hit his head on the roof of the car. 

“And every time you’ve rescued someone, you’ve had to fight Hetch? This is so weird…” he muttered.

“It’s like Hetch said, Charlie,” Mabel started, “he had a scripted ending. They do things the same, just the way the audience likes it, just with a different cast. The audience had grown to love you and Ranboo. It was no surprise that they’d keep you two for the grand finale.”

It actually is surprising. When you’re living it , Charlie thought. 

“When I got here, I didn’t see what happened before Security got to you-”

“Security? That’s the TV monster, right?”

“Right. By the time I got to you, Ranboo was nowhere to be seen. I heard shouting when I initially came in, but I had no idea where it was coming from. This was all supposed to happen, Charlie. Ranboo pushing the button was scripted, you dying was scripted- a final heroic act. Everything. Every time there’s a new hit show, a new hit cast that lasts a few months, it always ends like this. Except this time, Hetch had a live audience.”

“That’s why he said that,” Charlie muttered. 

“Yeah. The first time they reset the cast… I didn’t make it in time, let’s just say that,” the girl said solemnly. “I duked it out with Hetch, he lost, died, and everything reset again. I’m glad I got to save you and Ranboo, though.”

“Wait, so all of this is going to happen again? With a different cast?” Charlie asked.

“Unfortunately.”

“Well then why didn’t we do something while we were still there? Why didn’t we stop Showfall when we had the chance?” 

“It’s not that easy,” Mabel said calmly, though Charlie could see her frustration in her eyes. “No matter how many times I’ve killed Hetch, or freed a new cast, they always start it back up. I think it’s the Founder that needs to die in order for this shitshow to stop, but the dude’s never shown his face before. Nobody knows what he looks like or anything. It’s an impossible fight.”

“One that you keep winning,” Charlie offered. 

“One that I’m still learning to win,” she corrected him. “They switch something up, something miniscule, just to keep me on my toes. And I’m not even doing anything, if you think about the grand scheme of things. I’m only providing Showfall with a new excuse to go kidnap more people for their fucked up shows.”

Charlie leaned his head against the window, watching the trees blur as the car whizzed by at high speeds. “This is making my head hurt more than it already is.”

“Get some rest. I’ll be driving for a little while, anyway. You don’t wanna be awake for that boring part.”

The man was beginning to think that this car wasn’t Mabel’s. Sure, it had a few fast food bags on the passenger seat floor, a few stray empty water bottles here and there, but it didn’t feel right. Charlie had deemed Mabel trustworthy, despite his brain telling him not to. It was just an odd thing to lie about a car in their scenario. 

“This even your car?” he asked sleepily, already half asleep against the cool glass. 

Mabel chuckled lightly. “Nah, took it off the side of the road. No one was gonna use it anyway. Rest, man. We can talk about this shit later.”

He didn’t even hear the last part of her sentence before he was out cold. 

Chapter Text

They were running again. Without any sort of direction in mind.

Ranboo ran through the mall, constantly looking over their shoulder. Nothing was there, at least, not in a physical sense- but they knew something was following him. 

Sinister laughter echoed off the walls, ringing in his ears. His lungs burned, desperately wanting fresh air that they couldn’t provide with the mask on. Their legs ached, every muscle on fire from exertion. Ranboo thought they would have collapsed by now. They’d been running for what seemed like forever.

He dashed past the iron gates of closed stores, past the empty food court. Although he was in control, his body seemed to be taking him somewhere. Up the escalator, down another long open corridor until his legs finally slowed to a stop outside of a door. The glass windows beside it were covered in what was either black paint or black paper.

Either way, his body carried him inside. The smell was the first thing that hit, even through the filter the mask provided. The strong metallic scent that can only be associated with agony and death.

The scent alone had their stomach churning, wondering what could’ve caused this strong of a smell to permeate the room. They looked up, seeing small drops of red leading further into the pitch-black area. Against their better judgment, they followed the trail.

As they slowly followed the trail, the dots grew larger and larger until there was a pool of the red liquid beside their sneakers. Even in the darkness, they could see the way the hallway lights reflected in the puddle. The smell was overwhelming now, clogging Ranboo’s nose.

They took a cautious step forward, and their feet instantly slid out from underneath them. They landed on their chest with surprised grunt. The ground felt… sticky. His hands were covered with what felt like some sort of slime, but they knew it for what it was. Blood. 

It was all over them: on their chest, neck, covering the precious varsity jacket they adorned. Ranboo scrambled to their knees, trying to wipe the blood off their hands into their jeans. It was slimy and disgusting, they wanted to throw up. The blood stuck to the denim easily. They had to peel their hands off the fabric.

The lights kicked on with a loud bang, making them jump. They squeezed their eyes shut- the lights burning their retinas. Using their hand as a shield, he slowly began peeling his eyes open- only to snap them closed a second later with a horrified yell.

“…Ran?…”

He couldn’t look up again. 

“Is… that you?” A raspy voice asked.

“Look at me!” came a shout to their left. 

Ranboo jumped at the sudden volume, and their eyes opened against their will. They were at the Spirit’s cabin set. The pristine floors were no longer white- but stained with lakes of blood. Around the cabin were bodies. Bloody, twisted corpses were scattered across the room. 

Their clothes were stained with the red liquid, but through the red, Ranboo could make out familiar things. A blue and white jacket, a crumpled hat sharing the same color scheme beside the twisted pretzel of a corpse. A red fedora and jacket, pale legs littered with blood. 

Bleached blonde hair matted bloody dry, the sharp ends sticking out in all directions. An orange jacket bending abnormally with the owner’s torso, the orange pants ripped with bone sticking out from the leg. A bucket hat dented inside the owner’s head. Red horns that were once green peeking out of light brown hair, the man’s shirt ripped to shreds by claws. 

“No… no, no no no no,” they whispered, grabbing at their hair and tugging. They felt the pain. This was real.

A hand grabbed his ankle. 

“Holy shit!” 

“It was supposed to be you ,” Sneeg seethed through his blood stained teeth. He squeezed Ranboo’s ankle painfully. “ You should’ve died! It should’ve been you!”

Ranboo kicked Sneeg’s hand away, crawling back on their hands. “What the fuck? What the fuck-“

They bumped into something. Scrambling around, they came face to face with what used to be Vinny’s head. His skull was crushed, showing his squashed brain matter leaking on his shoulders and neck. 

“Why did you throw me?” He asked, though it sounded garbled as blood leaked from his mouth. “Why did you do that?”

“You-, what-“ Ranboo was near hyperventilating now, their heart racing as they stood up. “You told us to-“

“Why did you let him shoot me?” 

They whirled around, coming face to face with a bloodied Niki. Half of her face was covered in red, with her tears creating a pathway through the treacherous color. She was smiling softly, as she did when she was introducing herself on the carousel, but it was sad. 

“Niki…”

“I was pleading for help. Why didn’t you help me?” she cried softly, fresh fat tears rolling down her cheeks. 

Ranboo backed away, tugging at their hair. They could feel their mind scrambling for some rationale, some reason why they were back there- why they were seeing everyone’s corpses. Their poor, tortured, fractured mind is still trying to come up with a reason. Ranboo could feel their brain practically splitting in half- the one side searching for a reason and the other crumbling at the sight of their loved ones. Dead. Reanimated to break him. He was always weak when it came to them. 

“I’m sorry- I… I-I’m sorry, I don’t know-” they gasped, trying to control their erratic breathing. They tugged at their hair. “I’m-”

“Why didn’t you help us, Hero?” came a chorus of voices. Ranboo didn’t have to look to know who it was: Ethan and Austin. Their voices echoed into the depths of Ranboo’s head, pounding against their skull. 

“Stop, stop, stop! Please, just stop!” they pleaded, falling to their knees and rocking back and forth. “Please!- I’m sorry! I’m sorry for everything!”

“It’s not good enough, Ran.” 

The dam finally broke, and Ranboo finally let the tears fall. Charlie crouched in front of them, in the Slime Spirit’s costume- except this one was red. The man was covered in blood and guts and organs- that had flies hovering around him like a moth to a flame. The filter was finally off, and Ranboo instantly wished it were back on. The image of a man like Charlie, with a void expression and dressed in gore, was seared into the back of their eyelids. 

“I’m sorry-”

“Not good enough, Hero.”

“I’m not the Hero!” they yelled as more tears flooded their eyes. “Goddamnit, I’m not the fucking Hero! Stop calling me that!” 

Charlie tilted his head, the blood on the horns dripping into his hair. The others had moved to stand behind Charlie at some point, all eyes trained on Ranboo. Such dead eyes, such a gruesome sight that broke their mind even further. 

“You killed us, Ranboo. All of us. We’re dead because of you!” Charlie suddenly shouted.  

Ranboo shoved their hands over their ears, squeezing their eyes shut. It did nothing to stop the tormenting.

Why? 

Why did you let us die? 

Why do you get to live? 

“Stop it stop it stop it ! Please stop!” they shouted. The voices whispered in his head, still. 

Sneeg started yelling at him, spewing blood from the mouth. Then Vinny, Ethan, Niki, Austin. Their shouts overlapped, but the message was clear, forever engraved in Ranboo’s head. 

You did this to us.

They rocked back and forth, ears still covered as their friends shouted at them, the hot tears plopping onto the floor. They had to get out, they had to leave. This wasn’t real, right? They would never say that to him. They weren’t the only victims of Showfall- Ranboo was too. Surely they understand that. Surely they know how they weren’t in control of themselves 100% of the time. 

It’s no excuse , a voice whispered in his head, somehow louder than the muffled shouts. You still killed them without complaint. You’re a monster.

“No no no… I’m not… I’m not a…”

Their breaths came in short bursts: in and out and in and out and in-

The shouts stopped. 

There were hands on their arm, shaking them feverishly. 

Ranboo jolted awake with a shout, thrashing and pushing the hands off of them. They tried pushing themselves further back, but they couldn’t move. “No, no! I’m sorry-”

“Ran! Ran, breathe! Breathe.” 

They stopped, attempting to follow the instructions given, but their lungs were greedy. They couldn’t get enough air with the mask on. He reached up, tugging at the mask harshly, not even caring about the stinging pain that came with it. “Get it off-” they said frantically.

“...hell’s going on?”

“I-I don’t know! They’re- hey! Hey, stop!”

The hands were back, grabbing at their wrists and tugging them away from the mask. 

“No! Let me go! Let me go!” they shouted.

“Stop the car!” 

They suddenly lurched forward, then launched back into their seat. Ranboo clawed at the hands holding their wrists. “Get off of me!”

“Stop it, Ran! It’s me!” 

Charlie’s voice caused them to pause, finally looking up at the man. His eyes were wide in terror, his hands grasping at their wrists like a lifeline. There was such concern reflected in his pale expression- a stark contrast to the Charlie they just saw. It was a dream.

But it was real, right? They could feel pain in the nightmare, that was a telltale sign that someone wasn’t dreaming. Looking down at their hands, there were small tufts of brown hair resting on their palms. It was real pain- it just didn’t happen in the dream. 

They blinked at Charlie, and for a moment, the Slime Spirit was there with his gorey suit and void eyes- until they blinked again, and Charlie was there. Still in his shredded shirt and torn vest with bandages wrapped tightly around his middle. A light sheen of sweat covered his skin. 

“You with us now?” Charlie asked quietly, squeezing their wrists lightly. 

Ranboo nodded slowly. “Sorry-”

“Don’t apologize,” the man interrupted. He let go of Ranboo’s wrists and quickly climbed in the backseat, which couldn’t be good for his injuries. “Can I hug you?”

They nodded, and the man wrapped his arm around their shoulder, pulling them into a strong side hug. Ranboo exhaled shakily, trying to keep their eyes open to the best of their ability. Every time they closed their eyes, the corpses were there, muttering harsh truths. How everything was their fault. How they didn’t deserve to be breathing fresh outside air while the others didn’t breathe at all.

They took in deep breaths. In for four, out for five. In for four, out for five. Their heart was steadily calming down, though their hands still shook slightly in their lap. 

“Probably don’t wanna talk about it, huh?” Charlie muttered.

They shook their head. 

The girl peeked her head around, tired eyes scanning both of them. “We’re almost there, guys. About half an hour longer of being cooped up in this car.”

Ranboo’s suspicion grew. “Didn’t you say this was your car?” 

The girl put the vehicle into drive, taking off down the dirt road in front of them. “You weren’t awake for that conversation, but no, this isn’t my car.”

“Wha-”

“I think we can trust her,” Charlie butted in. 

Ranboo sat back up, brushing their hair out of their face and looking at Charlie like he grew a second head. 

“Wait- hear me out,” Charlie said, raising a hand. “I know what you’re thinking: oh, she stole a motor vehicle and managed to easily get us out of there, we can’t trust her. But what other option do we have? There’s no one else around here, man. There were no houses or buildings or anything near the mall. She’s our only chance of surviving right now.”

Charlie lowered his voice to a hushed whisper. “And she knows a lot about Showfall. She can help us, Ran. I mean really help us. She can take the mask off of you. We can live our lives again.”

“I don’t even know her name,” Ranboo replied. 

“Mabel,” the girl said, gaining both of their attention. “Sorry, there’s not much room for private discussions in a compact car like this.”

“Okay, Mabel,” the teenager said, “why are you helping us? Are you just gonna stab us in the back in the end after you get whatever it is you want?”

“Ran-”

“What I want is for you to live,” Mabel replied calmly. “I’ve already told Charlie this. I don’t want anything other than to help you. I know it's hard to believe after everything you’ve been through, but there are some good people out there. Myself included.”

The sun began to creep over the treeline, providing more light on the uneven road. The car ran over a pothole, making them jump a few inches. 

“I still don’t trust you,” Ranboo said bluntly. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not grateful for your help.”

Mabel’s eyes crinkled in the corners, her eyes lighting up with joy. How she managed to feel such an emotion after that night was an enigma to Ranboo. “Let’s get you two some help, okay? I don’t want you to bleed out before you can actually live.”

Ranboo had so many questions, and they knew Charlie did too based on the way his jaw flexed. “Where are we going?”

“A friend of mine has been helping Showfall escapees for years without the company knowing. I got lucky I found her, she’s a real package- with being a doctor and all. Not only does she have money, she has knowledge,” Mabel said. “She’ll patch you guys up no problem.”

“What about after that?” Charlie questioned nervously. 

“I’m not gonna throw you out to fend for yourselves,” the girl said jokingly, though it sent a spike of fear down Ranboo’s spine. “I’ll help you guys settle into the real world before letting you off on your own. Things have changed a bit since you were last seen.”

Since they were last seen…

“How long have we been gone?” Charlie asked, a dreadful look on his face. 

“Well, you’ve been gone for a while, Charlie,” she exhaled sadly, glancing at him through the mirror. “I think it was… I don’t really know, actually. Any missing persons cases for the both of you were dropped.” 

Ranboo’s stomach flipped upside down. They watched Charlie put his head in his hands, the man’s fingers tugging at strands of hair. They placed a hand on the man’s shoulder, hopefully a comforting weight that grounded him from getting lost in his thoughts that Ranboo knew had to be attacking him relentlessly. 

So their lives were just erased? Just like that? Did they have families and friends looking for them? Did they give up? Ranboo wanted to remember. They wanted to know of their life before Showfall, before everything that happened. 

“Did our families not look for us?” Charlie asked solemnly. 

From the look on her masked face, Ranboo could practically see the frown. “I don’t know, I’m sorry. I’m sure they were, though. You two were big streamers before you went missing, so a lot of people were wondering where you went.”

Streamers? Before Ranboo could ask further, Mabel pulled the car off the road and into the forest. The off-roading jostled the car, sending the two men in the backseat in all different directions. She drove into the cover the trees provided until the dirt road was a good distance away. She turned off the engine and turned to face them. 

“I hope you listened to my warnings of getting some rest. We’re on foot from here,” she said before exiting the car.

Ranboo and Charlie shared a look before sighing dejectedly and following her example. Mabel went around to the trunk and opened it, retrieving her backpack and slinging it over her shoulders. Then, she pulled her arm back and threw the keys into the forest with all her strength. She pulled a compass out of her coat pocket. 

“This way.”

She began trekking through the woods, following the road through a protective canopy of trees and leaves. Ranboo and Charlie followed wordlessly. They couldn’t just up and leave- not when they were promised medical care and help. Hopefully that meant food, too. 

They walked through the forest for what felt like hours. It was hot and humid- the kind of humid that made your clothes stick to you uncomfortably. It felt like they couldn’t even take a full, even breath because of the thickness of the steaming air. 

Still, they trudged along behind Mabel. Because what other option was there?

Then, she stopped, extending her arms to stop them as well. 

“What?” Ranboo asked. Their voice carried with the wind, deep into the forest. One soft spoken word was like a shout in the quiet woods. 

“Shh!” she hissed. 

They complied, listening. Waiting. All they could hear were the sounds of rustling leaves, the breeze, and the occasional woodpecker hacking away at a tree. Nothing happened. It made Ranboo’s hairs stand on the back of their neck. Nothing was happening. 

That’s when they heard it. An engine bouncing off the trees, reaching their perked up ears. Mabel straightened up, grabbing them both by their sleeves. 

“Get behind a tree!” she exclaimed, running in front of them to the nearest tree. 

Charlie and Ranboo scrambled for their own tree to hide behind. They were surprisingly wider than they thought. Ranboo fit comfortably behind their tree, looking over at Mabel, who stared right back at him with a finger on her lips. Her eyes flickered to the direction of the dirt road, where he supposed Charlie managed to hide.

“They shouldn’t be able to see us. We’re too far in the woods for them to just spot us. They’d have to be looking real close,” Mabel whispered as the engine got closer. 

Ranboo only heard around half of what she said, but they opted to stay silent. The engine was right next to them now. They stayed uncomfortably still, their limbs ache from how tight Ranboo was squeezing them to their torso. The vehicle’s breaks squeaked as it came to a stop. Ranboo felt sweat rolling down their forehead. 

A moment later, the vehicle continued onward, the sound of the engine growing farther and farther away. 

Ranboo exhaled shakily, letting their limbs rest as they stepped out from their tree. Charlie joined them, his face pale and sweaty. 

“You okay?” Ranboo asked, their eyebrows furrowing. He wasn’t looking good, swaying on his feet like that. 

“Yeah, yeah I’m just… I don’t think I got enough rest, is all,” Charlie reassured, reaching up to wipe the sweat from his brow. 

Mabel side eyed him, concerned. “We’re almost there, guys. Can’t be more than ten minutes now. Hang tight.”

She continued in the direction the compass pointed, occasionally glancing back to check on them. More specifically, Charlie. The poor man’s bandages were slowly beginning to stain red. He was looking paler by the minute, and sweat rolled off of him in buckets- which couldn’t be good for his open wounds. His glasses were sliding down every few seconds. He was slowly but surely beginning to fall behind, with each step less calculated and more like sluggishly putting one foot in front of the other while hoping not to trip over a branch or root. 

The forest was quiet again. Too quiet. The air suddenly felt electric, like someone was watching them. 

Ranboo was about to call out to Mabel when their heart sank. On the tree closest to them was a faint red glow. The mask. The mask was glowing. 

“Mabel-” Ranboo said cautiously. 

His tone garnered her attention, and she quickly spun around. Her eyes grew wide as saucers. Her head spun to the dirt road. The vehicle was coming back at top speeds. The mask was flashing insistently.

“Shit,” Mabel cursed. She tightened her backpack’s straps and waved at them, “come on! We’ve gotta run!”

The strained wheezing coming from Charlie told them all they needed to know. Charlie was in no condition to be running with open wounds that deep. Ranboo racked their brain for a better solution, but was tugged at the sleeve by Mabel. 

“Come on! Let’s go!”

“We can’t leave Charlie!” Ranboo argued fiercely. “He can’t run!”

“Yes…I can,” the man claimed as he swayed standing in place.

“No you can’t,” the two teenagers said. 

Mabel hopped on her heels, nervously glancing at the approaching vehicle. “We can’t hide with your mask flashing like that… but we can’t run either.”

“So what do we do?” Ranboo asked. 

“I mean, we can try running,” Mabel concluded. “It's the only way right now. We shouldn’t be that far out from Doctor Wilson’s place.”

“We just said-”

“I know what we just said!” the girl exclaimed wildly. “We have no other options! We don’t know how many there are, so fighting is off the table. Grab one of his arms and help me.”

Mabel grabbed Charlie’s arm and slung it over her shoulder. Ranboo quickly followed her example. They began by walking relatively slow, then gradually speeding up as the vehicle whizzed by. A moment later, they were jogging. 

“Keep it up Charlie, not too much longer,” the girl said. 

Charlie didn’t say anything, he just focused on placing one foot in front of the other. The vehicle had turned back around, following them once again. It was quickly gaining on them, and soon enough the windows of the black car were rolling down. Ranboo could see the white masks, the Showfall logo. Their heart raced and they tugged Charlie’s arm. 

“Come on man, you’ve got this,” they encouraged. 

Charlie wheezed out a pained breath. He placed his right foot down listlessly, dragging his left behind him. He stumbled, falling to his knees with a grunt. 

“Charlie!” 

A wheeze. “Sorry, I j-... just need a- a sec,” the man coughed wetly.  

The vehicle stopped, and the doors opened. Four Showfall employees exited the vehicle, sauntering towards them. Mabel and Ranboo tugged Charlie back onto his feet. He whimpered as they quickly pulled him along, further aggravating his injuries.

“Sorry. We have to keep going,” Ranboo apologized. Again, receiving no answer from Charlie other than pained moans. 

Even with Charlie’s setback, they had a good distance between them and the employees. They jogged through the forest, with Mabel and Ranboo practically holding all of Charlie’s body weight and just dragging his feet across the forest floor. The sweat proved to be a problem, as Ranboo’s hand kept slipping around Charlie’s wrist. 

“Keep pushing!” Mabel said, though she didn’t sound any better than Charlie. Ranboo didn’t understand how she was still awake after the events of the night before, let alone driving for who knows how long and carrying more than half of a grown man’s weight. 

The footsteps of the employees quickened. Ranboo snuck a backwards glance and instantly yelled, “run! Holy shit, run!”

The employees were full on sprinting towards them, dodging exposed tree roots and low hanging branches. Ranboo and Mabel were having no such luck. Their similar height was a curse in this scenario, as every low branch imaginable seemed to be in their path. Between dodging the branches and hopping over the roots, they stumbled through the woods, barely managing to keep themselves upright.

The footsteps were getting closer and closer, making the fear in Ranboo’s chest spread throughout their body. What if they got caught now? What would happen to them? To Mabel, who had done nothing but help them so far? They didn’t want to go back there. They wouldn’t go back there. 

Ranboo tightened their grip on Charlie and pushed onward with a surge of adrenaline pumping in their veins. Mabel adjusted to his sudden energy spike, moving her feet faster to stay alongside him. 

“There!” she exclaimed in relief. 

In the distance, hidden behind the trees was a small wood cabin, a warm glow protruding from the windows and smoke rising steadily from the chimney. Ranboo’s hair kept falling into their eyes, the strands tangled together from the amount of sweat on their forehead. 

When they were just a hundred or so yards away from the cabin, Mabel let go of Charlie and pushed the duo towards the building. Ranboo stumbled but caught himself, turning to see what had happened. 

“Mabel, what the hell-”

“Go! Bang on the door!” she blurted. She extended her right hand out, and her spear was there a millisecond later. “I’ll cover you! Go!”

“What about you?” 

“I can hold my own in a fight.”

Ranboo didn’t doubt her statement, but she was injured, too. She wouldn’t last long by herself, they knew. Against four fully functional Showfall employees that hadn’t stopped chasing them in a full sprint- she had no chance. 

So they held onto Charlie a little tighter, using what adrenaline they had left to start for the cabin. “Help! We need help!” they yelled. The sounds of fists connecting to flesh echoed behind them. “Please! Help!”

Mabel was yelling now, shouting obscenities at the employees. “Stay away you robot assholes! Back the fuck-“ a punch landing on skin “-up!” She roared.

“Heeey!!” Ranboo yelled. The adrenaline was wearing off. They were slowing down exponentially. “Please help!” 

The cabin door burst open, a woman in a lab coat standing there with a surprised expression. She wore a mask just like Mabel’s. In her right hand was a revolver. Ranboo stopped, watching the woman raise the gun towards them. They stepped back fearfully. 

“Wait wait- please-“

“Duck!” The doctor yelled, taking aim directly at them.

Chapter Text

Charlie took that opportunity to finally collapse onto the forest floor, his dead weight bringing Ranboo down with him. They landed on the dirt with a thump . Three loud bangs resounded in recession. Ranboo jumped with every gunshot, covering their head with their hands. Two more shots rang out, ringing painfully in their ears. Ranboo lifted their head, seeing the doctor running towards them. Through the static that filled their ears, Ranboo could hear Charlie’s pained wheezes. 

“Charlie-“ they called, pushing the man over so he could see the bandages on his stomach. They were colored a darker red now, and Charlie’s skin was deathly pale and clammy. “Hey, hey- hang in there Charlie.”

The doctor reached them a moment later. She fell to her knees beside Charlie, her hand reaching for his pulse point below his jaw. 

“He needs to get inside, now,” she said. “Erratic heartbeat, high risk of infection…” She looked up to Ranboo. “Get him inside and on a cot.”

They were so tired. Sweaty and disgusting, covered in dirt and grime and blood. They didn’t think they could stand up by themselves. Still, they needed to help Charlie. It’s their fault he’s in this condition. They needed to make it right. So they grit their teeth, pushing themselves to their feet with what little strength they had left. As Ranboo hauled Charlie back on his feet, the doctor took off into the woods towards Mabel. 

Going up the stairs with a limp Charlie dragging him down was difficult, but they somehow managed to stumble through the cabin door. Right away they noticed the cot the doctor was talking about, and slowly limped over and practically threw Charlie on the cot. 

“Shit, sorry.”

Ranboo helped Charlie lay down before going back outside. The doctor was talking to Mabel, who was standing around the four fallen employees. She was covered in blood again, and part of her mask was ripped, showing bits of her cheek and nose. Her shoulders dropped as the doctor spoke. Then she nodded, pointing at the cabin before turning on her heel and running back towards the road. The doctor ran back to the cabin, meeting Ranboo on the porch.

“Where’s she going?” Ranboo asked, following the doctor as she briskly walked back inside. 

“To get rid of the Showfall truck,” she said. She rushed to Charlie’s cot, opening drawers and boxes that sat atop the bedside table. 

Looking around the cabin, they noted how it was more of a hospital than a cabin. Cots lined the small living room. A sterile smell wafted in the air. A small fire crackled in the fireplace, which made zero sense to Ranboo since it felt like a billion degrees outside. The warm light they saw came from multiple lamps around the room, disappearing into the open kitchen just a few feet away. 

Charlie’s groans were coming more frequently. He was dripping sweat, and Ranboo didn’t know how someone’s skin could look so gray.

“Those Showfall fuckers…” the woman whispered as she pulled on a pair of elastic gloves. She reached into the drawer and revealed a pair of scissors. 

Ranboo himself was swaying on his feet, and decided to sit in the cot beside Charlie’s. The man seemed to have passed out, but his breaths came in bursts. The doctor, Doctor Wilson, was it? Cut through the bandages and tattered shirt and vest, exposing the wounds. They were definitely infected. 

The skin around the claw marks was inflamed red. Dried flaky blood caking Charlie’s torso. Security’s claws had bypassed the vest easily, though it did provide a small amount of protection. The wounds were all over his body, the lacerations differentiating in length. They could see blood clotting in the wounds as Charlie shakily inhaled and exhaled.  

“How did he survive this long?…” Doctor Wilson pondered. “These wounds should’ve killed him.”

“Mabel bandaged him up,” Ranboo said. “I don’t know how he pushed through until now.”

“He’s a fighter, I’ll give him that. Some would crumble under the pain as soon as the wounds are inflicted but he’s different.” 

Ranboo watched her work. She frantically dabbed alcohol on the wound despite Charlie’s soft cries. She quickly placed gauze on as many of the claw marks as she could, taping them into place. 

“I can’t give him stitches without him under anesthesia. This’ll have to do for now.” She quickly began to rewrap the wounds tight. Her eyes flickered up to Ranboo’s face. “That mask…”

Their hands gently traced the mask. “I can’t get it off. It’s how they found us in the first place. It probably has some sort of tracker in it.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised. Showfall has their ways of keeping their cast right where they want them.”

Chills were sent through Ranboo’s body. An eerie sentence to say to people who had just escaped from the company. “I don’t trust you either.”

“I don’t need you to trust me . I need you to trust in medicine,” Doctor Wilson replied. “We’ll get that mask off of you soon.”

“Comforting.”

The doctor scoffed heartily. “Just be patient. Do you have any significant injuries I should know about?”

“I dunno. Maybe a head injury? It’s starting to hurt real bad,” they replied, rubbing their temple. “The only real problem is the blood in my mouth and the holes in my hands.”

Doctor Wilson eyed their hands. “And the crack in the mask. I’m guessing that’s what caused your headache?”

Hetch’s laughter suddenly echoed in their head. The way he taunted Ranboo as they pleaded to live, as they pleaded to be let go. “Yeah. I guess,” they said bitterly.

Mabel burst through the door a moment later, her breathing strained and hair matted with blood. She ran her hand through her hair, combing out the knots. “Damn, those guys were even bigger assholes than the ones at the mall.”

“Yes, please, break my door,” Doctor Wilson said sarcastically. “Not like we have fugitives to hide in here.”

“Oh grow up,” Mabel snapped breathlessly. “It’s just a door. And they’re off our asses.”

“For now. We have to get that mask off of them and burn it before they send more employees. You’re in no condition to get into another fight.”

Mabel sighed, closing the door gently behind her and shrugging her backpack off. She checked every window, making sure they were locked before closing the blinds and the curtains. “I know for a fact we all want to get out of these bloody clothes.”

Doctor Wilson nodded at Mabel. “She’s right, go with her and clean up. I’ll take care of him,” she said to Ranboo. 

They were hesitant to leave Charlie in the care of a woman they didn’t know at all. Then again, they blindly put their lives in Mabel’s hands, and she managed to get them to safety. It was a struggle- thinking that people actually just wanted to help and not hurt . Whenever they tried to think positively, the worst case scenario always came to mind- making them second guess their decisions. 

“Hey.”

They locked eyes with Mabel. 

“She’s the best I know. She’ll get him patched up,” she reassured.

“I still don’t trust you.”

“And that’s okay. You both need time to heal- not just physically. I’m not expecting you to grovel at my feet,” Mabel jokingly laughed, though Ranboo just stared at her tiredly. She looked around, clearly embarrassed before pointing further into the cabin. “There’s a bathroom back there. I dunno if we have clothes that’ll fit you guys, but we can definitely try them.”

Ranboo watched the Doctor put a needle into Charlie’s forearm, attached to a bag full of clear liquid. “Fine.”

“Oh Mabel, before you clean up, help me get him under anesthesia. I need to give him stitches.”

Mabel sighed. “Alright.” 

Ranboo stood, eying the women one more time before stepping further into the cabin. The kitchen was a mess- with pots and pans strewn about the oven, boxes of cornstarch and flour left unattended on the countertop. Spatulas and tongs in mixing bowls. Clearly the doctor was not a very good cook. 

The doorway to the left of the kitchen led to a short hallway with two doors on opposite walls. Ranboo crept through the hall, their hairs standing on end. Just because the doctor said they were safe didn’t mean they truly were. They didn’t trust her. She could’ve been lying.

They opened the door on the left, which led to a small bedroom. A single bed, the hardwood floors clean and polished. An oak dresser leaned against the wall right behind the door. The lamp on the nightstand provided the room with a welcoming yellow glow. 

It felt like an intrusion of privacy, so they closed the door and turned to the second one. The bathroom is about as big as the bedroom, if only a few square inches bigger. The bathroom mirror was covered with a blanket, oddly enough. The shower curtain was a printed plaid pattern that had Ranboo cringing on the inside. This doctor had zero knowledge of interior design. 

“I found some clothes.”

Ranboo nearly jumped out of their skin, whirling around to see Mabel standing in the doorway with neatly folded clothes in her hands.

“I’ll try to wash your jacket, but I can’t guarantee that it’ll be clean,” she said. 

The varsity jacket was no longer its pristine gray and red, but covered in dirt and small leaves, dark bloodstains. Ranboo slid out of the jacket, holding it up in front of them. It smelled like death and torture.

“I’ll take what I can get,” they replied, trading Mabel the jacket for the new clothes- which looked to be a simple black t-shirt and jeans. 

“Don’t take too long. I have to clean up, too,” she countered lightheartedly. She was so easy to read, which was intriguing and confusing. Why would she allow herself to be so open? Wasn’t she scared people would take advantage of her?

Ranboo just nodded back, not quite smiling but not frowning either. Closing the door behind them, their ears were ringing again. It was silent, for the first time in a while. Other than the old buzzing electricity from the lightbulbs, there were no other disturbances. They didn’t know how to feel about that. They’d been expecting danger and betrayal at every corner that they couldn’t relax. 

He sighed, setting the clothes on the sink. They stared at the mirror curiously. Wondering what they looked like, and if they’d be able to face themselves after everything they did- after everything they went through. Slowly, they took off the blanket covering the mirror.

Death was the best thing they could describe themselves as. Though their t-shirt was black, it somehow looked even darker in some areas that were stained with blood. The red liquid stained their hands. They didn’t know how or when the blood managed to get on their palms, but they wanted it off. 

Their face was covered in dirt and sweat. The blood from the crack in the mask had run down their chin, onto their neck. It looked as if they literally crawled out of hell. Which, in a sense, they did- which they still couldn’t believe. 

Don’t forget what you did.

They blinked, and behind them were the same corpses they saw in their nightmare. Staring. Waiting. 

You left us behind to rot, to continue being puppets in their hands , came Niki’s voice, though her mouth didn’t move. 

We’ll never let you forget , Ethan said bitterly.

It should be you who's getting repurposed. Why do you get to be free when we can’t? Sneeg asked. 

Ranboo squeezed his eyes shut, gripping the corners of the sink desperately. “Go away, go away…” 

They placed the blanket back on the mirror and turned to the shower. They half expected someone to just be standing in the shower, waiting for him with a Showfall mask in hand, ready to get the Hero back to his show. With a quick arm, he quickly diffused that theory. Nobody was in the shower. Just a few bottles of hair product and a box containing soap on a small shelf suction cupped to the wall. 

They tossed aside their ruined clothes as the shower warmed up. They watched the water fall into the tub, thinking of how nice the noise was. It drowned away the whispers of dead friends, their accusations, if only temporary. 

Washing off the blood was difficult. Washing their hair was difficult- with them having to be careful about the mask and hand injuries. They didn’t want to accidentally electrocute themselves by getting water on the open wires on the side and back of the mask. They scrubbed harshly at their hands, watching the diluted pink water wash down the drain, ignoring the sharp pain from the holes in their hands. They scrubbed and scrubbed, almost to the point of breaking skin. 

Once they dried off and changed, they looked alive again. Ranboo’s hair was flat, sticking to the sides of their face. The blood was gone from their neck, and they tried their best to get the blood off their chin without messing with the mask. They opted to wait until they got treated by the doctor. 

Ranboo’s hands still had a bit of color to them. A pinkish color now, but still a reminder of the previous night’s endeavors. A reminder of the people they left behind. The people that deserved to be alive.

They exited the bathroom, shivering from the sudden blast of air conditioning. They made their way back into the medical area, where Mabel and Doctor Wilson were conversing a few feet away from Charlie. The man was steadily breathing, with new bandages wrapped around his torso and his skin gradually regaining its natural color. His tattered shirt and vest had been completely discarded, and someone had taken the time to wipe his skin clean of dried blood. 

Ranboo sat on the cot beside Charlie’s. Slowly but surely, he could feel himself beginning to trust Mabel, despite how her presence made many questions known. How did she know so much about Showfall? Certainly it wasn’t just from rescuing people. What was she doing risking her life for people she barely knew? Didn’t she know what happens if she gets caught?

He wasn’t even listening to their hushed conversation. They watched Charlie’s chest rise and fall steadily. God, they felt so guilty. The kind of guilt you couldn’t stop thinking about, the kind that ate you apart from the inside out. They felt like they were drowning in guilt, the voices telling them how everything was their fault, how they shouldn’t even be breathing right now. 

Maybe it would be best if Ranboo just… didn’t breathe. The guilt would be gone. They wouldn’t have to worry about it because they’d be in the same boat all his friends were in. Dead. Perhaps in some paradise of an afterlife where they could see each other again and apologize. Maybe the dead would forgive him for all he’d done if he just-

Joined them.

But looking at their best friend laying on that cot, they remembered why they fought to keep living. There was still good in this life. Potential. Maybe it didn’t present itself now, maybe it wouldn’t happen for years, but there was something greater to living than to being a puppet for a fucked up brainwashing company. They had Charlie. Maybe that was all they needed, for Charlie would be the only one who truly understood what they were feeling. 

“Ready to get that mask off, Ranboo?” Doctor Wilson said, finally noticing his arrival. 

Ranboo jumped as they were brought back from their thoughts. They pushed the darkness away for the moment. They really wanted to get the mask off. The dried blood caking their chin and jaw was really uncomfortable. “Hell yeah.”

“I’m gonna go clean up and then crash,” Mabel announced, grabbing a stack of clothes off the cot next to her and heading for the bathroom. The water turned on a moment later.

Doctor Wilson sighed as she pulled up a chair to the end of Ranboo’s cot. “That girl… so hot headed. And sassy.”

“She’s a good fighter,” Ranboo said awkwardly. God how they hated small talk. 

“That- so true, my friend,” the doctor said. In her hands were scissors and a rubber mallet that instantly made Ranboo tense. 

Was this it? Was this the time where she showed her true colors and beat him to death with a rubber mallet? They eyed her wearily, setting their palms back on the cot, ready to escape. 

“She’s got a good heart. She’s helped dozens of escapees, as have I,” Doctor Wilson said. She looked Ranboo in the eye, and the corners of her orbs softened. “I’m not gonna murder you now that she’s out of the room. She brings escapees to me for medical aid, Ranboo. What kind of doctor would I be if I killed all of my patients?”

“A bad one,” they said. 

“Exactly. The study of medicine isn’t about how to kill everyone who steps foot in your clinic. It’s how to help them get better. How to help them live freely again.” She picked up the scissors from her lap. “Once that mask is off and you’re all bandaged up, my work will be done, and you will be free. Truly free. No more Showfall.”

They didn’t want to get their hopes up, but it sounded… attainable. A dream in arms reach. They grasped at that hope, holding onto it like a lifeline, hoping that he and Charlie had really- fully escaped Showfall for good. No more shows. No more mind control. No more torture. 

“Can you move your hair back for me?” 

Ranboo complied. 

“Alright, now hold still, I’m gonna have scissors near your face and I really don’t want to hurt you more than you already have been.”

Ranboo stayed eerily still, not moving a single muscle as she cut at the wires of the mask. They breathed in short successions, trying to restrict the amount of movement while she worked. They could feel the wires snapping one by one, with the mask loosening more with each one cut. 

“Other side now.”

“So you… you’ve been working with Mabel for a while?” they asked as they turned to sit facing the kitchen. 

“Yeah. I was the one who…” she faltered, which made Ranboo’s eyebrows raise suspiciously. “I’m the one who introduced her to the whole rescue thing. She’d heard about my expertise through the grapevine and came running to help. She’s honestly too good for this fucked up Earth, with her heart of shimmering gold.”

The wires snapped one by one, and Ranboo could feel the cool air around them seeping into the mask. Goosebumps flooded down their arms at the new sensation. How long had it been since they first put the mask on?

“How many people has she helped?” 

“If I had to guess, I’d say about twenty to twenty-five. Which might not seem like a lot, but every single person has- in some way- come back to the real world stronger than before. Which, I mean, trauma will do that to ya, but there’s something different about them.”

“Like what?” Two more wires snapped. 

Doctor Wilson sighed as she paused, thinking. “I can’t really explain it. Obviously there’s the paranoia, the recommended mandatory therapy, flashbacks and all that stuff. But it's something about their personality. Showfall’s trauma changes the most kind-hearted people into the cold, sad monsters society deems unstable. They lash out, they get angry over the simplest things. Stuff like that.”

A beat of silence as the information sunk in.

“Am I gonna be like that?” Ranboo asked. Another wire cut. “Will I…”

“Become a bully? An absolute anarchist? Maybe,” the woman said. “I guess it all depends on you.”

That didn’t sound comforting at all.

Finally, the final wire snapped. Doctor Wilson leaned away and set the scissors down on the edge of the cot. She smiled at him. 

“You want me to do the honors?” she asked.

“No, I’ve got it.”

They reached up, heart racing, and began pulling the mask off slowly. The skin that outlined the mask burned and stung as they pulled. Then, a new problem arose. Something that had Ranboo mentally throwing every curse they could think of at the company. The mask didn’t come completely off. It stopped about an inch away from their face. Something was still attached to the mask.

Chapter Text

“What the?...” they garbled out. They almost threw up at the new feeling in their mouth. Wires. Wires ran down their throat, attaching to the front of the mask. 

“Oh my God,” Doctor Wilson breathed. She instantly grabbed the scissors again. “Don’t move.”

But they couldn’t breathe. The wires clogged their throat. Tears stung the corners of their eyes. Their breathing was ragged as their brain shot into panic mode. He gripped the mask, tugging it away harshly from their face, completely ignoring the waves of pain that shot through their jaw and throat. They couldn't breathe. 

“No! Stop it, Ranboo, you’ll only make it worse!”

The wires just stretched a few inches, increasing the distance between his face and the wretched mask. Red and blue and yellow wires tangled around each other in one big coil covered in their blood and saliva. They could feel how deep the wires were embedded in their body every time they tugged. They could feel the holes they created in his skin, the blood slowly trickling down their throat.

“Ranboo! Stop!” Doctor Wilson exclaimed, trying to grab their hands. 

“Ger… ger-t it off!” they wailed, fat tears rolling down their cheeks. Even speaking aggravated the wires. The cords scraped against the sides of their throat, rubbing the skin raw and making their cries sound even more desperate. “Get it off! Get it off!”

“Ran?...” 

“Let me help you!” the doctor said. “I can get it off! I just need you to stop moving.”

They could feel the wires everywhere. They wouldn’t be surprised if their entire nervous system was entirely made up of the multicolored cords. They could feel it under their skin, wrapping around their bones, their lungs- constricting their airflow even further. Their breaths were erratic now, their vision blurry with an onslaught of fresh tears. 

“-aving a panic attack!”

“Do something, doc!” came Charlie’s concerned voice. “Ran? Ranboo! Can you hear me, bud?” 

They closed their eyes. Maybe if they didn’t see the wires, they couldn’t feel them in their body. 

“There’s no wires in your body.” Did they say that out loud? “Only in your mouth. I can cut them, Ranboo, but I can’t do that when you’re thrashing around. I need you to try and calm down.”

Still, they cried. They could feel the holes expanding painfully with every tug. How deep did the wires go? What would happen when Doctor Wilson cut the wires? Would they just retract into his skin? Would they clog his throat until they could be surgically removed? Each thought brought more tears to their eyes. They just wanted to be free . 

“...elp them-...not… listen to me.”

“Ran? Listen to my voice, okay? Can you do that?” 

They were trying, they really were. But their racing heartbeat roared in their ears, their sobs resonated in the small living room- making it difficult to hear anything else. 

“C-...” they heaved. They couldn’t talk, not with the wires obstructing their vocal cords. More frustrated tears fell. “Can’t.”

“I know you can, bud, you just responded to me,” Charlie said softly. “Can you hear anything else?”

Yes, they thought. Their own agonized cries, the buzzing of the lamp beside them, the water rushing through the cabin’s pipes. They nodded but didn’t elaborate to Charlie.

“Good. What about smell? Can you smell something?”

A comforting, musty smell of the cabin. The metallic scent radiating from the mask. The remnants of a failed dinner. They nodded again.

“Okay. Can you stay still so she can get the mask off?”

Ranboo’s breathing sped up again at the thought of the wires. 

“Woah woah woah, hey, can I hold your hands? We don’t want you hurting yourself, man.”

Ranboo felt Charlie’s hands slowly prying their fingers off of the mask. The doctor held the mask up as Charlie trapped Ranboo’s hands with his own. 

“Alright. Everything’s fine, man. We’re getting that thing off of you, okay?” Charlie said, rubbing comforting circles into Ranboo’s palms. “We’ve gotta get your hands checked out too, bud. They look awful.”

They let out a sob as the sensations of the wires being cut returned. With each wire cut, the rest of the cable fell back into their throat. They gagged as more wires stuck to their throat. 

“Wait wait wait- stop! What’s happening?” they heard Charlie frantically ask.

“The wires are falling back in his mouth. We need to pull them out,” the doctor said. 

Ranboo tensed. 

“Are you fucking crazy? Pulling the wires out? Look how many there are!” 

“It’s the only way! There’s no procedure I can do to get each individual one out. And I bet Ranboo doesn’t want loose wires just chilling in their throat forever!”

Charlie fell silent, and Ranboo began shaking their head. 

“Ranboo, listen,” Doctor Wilson said with a tone of authority. “The only way we can get this mask off is if we pull the wires out all at once. It’s probably going to hurt, but I need you awake for this. Remember what I said about killing my patients? It’s not very ethical. I’ll need your consent to do this. I’m not going to do anything against your will.”

A choice? A… decision they can make on their own. The pressure was intense- for as long as they could remember they never had a choice. They wanted the mask off. They wanted to be able to breathe normally. They wanted the blood off their face. Taking a deep breath, Ranboo nodded shakily, preparing himself for the oncoming pain. 

“You’re sure? You want me to pull the mask off?”

They nodded again, this time determined. 

“Okay, just try not to move.”

Control the breathing. That was the key. Ranboo inhaled for three, out for three. 

“There you go, just keep breathing,” Charlie encouraged. “It’s gonna be fine.”

Ranboo just kept breathing. In for three, out for three. They could feel the doctor’s hands experimentally shifting the mask, and in return, shifting the wires. Charlie squeezed their hands, drawing their attention away from the doctor’s movements. The man looked feverish, which was better than the death he looked like just an hour prior. He was covered in a light sheen of sweat, and his hands were uncomfortably warm. 

Still, Ranboo was thankful for the distraction- because the next few seconds were complete and utter agony . Searing, tearing pain in their throat and on their face. They felt each individual wire forcefully being separated from their embedded spot. They felt the skin below the outline of the mask ripping, tearing at the seams as the mask was pulled off. Blood gushed down their throat in steady waves. Screams tore their way out, making Charlie jump and start yelling at Doctor Wilson. 

They couldn’t hear what he was yelling about over their own screams. Their heartbeat thumped painfully in their ears, tears streamed down the sides of their face, they were choking on their own blood that rushed down their esophagus. Ranboo was squeezing Charlie’s hands so hard they wouldn’t be surprised if they broke one of his fingers. 

And then, the burning agony dulled to a painful throbbing. Holes littered the inside of their neck, a bloody river flowing steadily. Ranboo spluttered out blood, accidentally getting it on the doctor’s coat and Charlie’s bandages. The red liquid flowed past their lips, dripping onto their once fresh clothes and cot. 

They felt dizzy. They could barely see Doctor Wilson and Charlie leaning above them, worriedly speaking to him. Black dots spotted their vision, and a moment later, they saw nothing. 

Charlie was about to lose his fucking mind. 

Maybe it was due to the fact that he almost died due to his wounds, or maybe it was the infections and oncoming fever getting to him. Or maybe it was Ranboo’s agonized screams and sobs that replayed in his head over and over, refusing to leave him in silence. His ears rang at the sheer volume the teenager was screaming at. 

He was relieved to see the mask off of Ranboo’s face, but instantly worried about the deep cuts that lined their face where the mask once rested. The blood rushed down their face, mixing with the blood and saliva coming from their mouth. He flinched when Ranboo coughed, spurting blood on his bandages. He thought he’d have a heart attack when he saw his best friend’s eyes roll back- his whole body going limp. 

“Holy fucking shit! Ran? Ran!” he yelled, grabbing Ranboo’s shoulders and shaking lightly. 

“Don’t!” Doctor Wilson exclaimed, nearly pushing Charlie away. 

He stood his ground, rising to his feet in what he thought to be an intimidating way. “Don’t what? Make sure he’s alive? What the fuck were you thinking? This was a stupid idea! We should’ve just waited until he could get it surgically removed!”

“If you waited any longer, Showfall would be right on our doorstep ready and able to take you both back kicking and screaming,” Doctor Wilson said bluntly. She held up the mask. The wires were long- long enough to reach her thigh from where she held it up by her shoulders. Blood dripped onto the floor, forming a small pool beneath it. “It’s probably got a tracker embedded in it somewhere. It’s best that we got it off now before something-”

She suddenly looked down at Ranboo, cursed, and dropped the mask in favor of moving into action. Charlie followed her gaze, seeing Ranboo convulsing, their legs knocking Charlie back onto his cot painfully. 

“What’s happening now ?” the man shouted worriedly as he sat back up on his cot.

“He’s choking on his own blood,” she stated. She moved Ranboo to lean against the wall, peeling his bloody mouth open to shine a flashlight on the wounds. “Oh my God…”

“We-Well what do we do? How do we fix something like that?” 

The doctor went silent, thinking. It was like a lightbulb went off in her head. She glanced at Charlie, then back at Ranboo’s bleeding wounds. “We can’t. They’ll have to fix it themself.”

To say Charlie was dumbfounded was an understatement. What kind of doctor was she that ripped off a mask literally connected to a patient's body and told him to just get better? He was about to start yelling again when she raised her hand to stop him.

“Why do you think you’re able to stand and yell at me when you nearly died not even an hour ago?” 

He stopped, the thoughts racing. Now that he thought about it, the last thing he saw was the doctor raising a gun at him and Ranboo. Before he passed out, he felt like death. Every limb shut down at once. His legs gave out, his arm fell from Ranboo’s grip, and he didn’t even feel his face hit the forest floor. He knew once he fell he probably wouldn’t get back up.

But he did. And when he woke up, he felt immensely better, albeit a little too warm and uncomfortably switching between shivering and sweating. He probably had broken fingers from how hard Ranboo squeezed his hands, but he was feeling… not like death. With each passing minute he could tell that something was happening to his body. He was healing. Abnormally fast.

“What’s happening to me?” he questioned fearfully. 

“Showfall,” the doctor said. “Nobody understands how they did this, any of this for that matter, but they’ve somehow made your healing factor significantly faster. Everyone who’s ever escaped from there always heals abnormally faster than any normal person does. I’ve seen someone’s small cut heal completely in five minutes.”

“So we’re some sort of… like, superhumans?” 

“In a way.” Doctor Wilson sighed, and only then did Charlie notice how tired she looked. Slight bags under her eyes and droopy shoulders, terrible posture. “My best guess is that those holes will clear up in about ten minutes. Then again, you guys didn’t get much rest on the way here, huh?”

Charlie shook his head. “Ran had a nightmare. Woke me up. Not that I blame them for something they can’t control, that’s not the case. I just think we could’ve used more sleep.”

Doctor Wilson hummed in agreement. “Me too. I tried making food in preparation for your arrival, but…” she glanced back at the kitchen. “Obviously that didn’t happen.”

The mention of food had Charlie’s stomach rumbling. When was the last time he ate? 

“What the fuck happened out here?” 

Charlie jumped. Mabel walked out of the kitchen, dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. She had put on a new mask- a black surgical one, and her wet hair clung to her skin. Her eyes darted around the room, finally landing on the doctor and Ranboo. 

“You took the mask off?” she questioned incredulously. 

“Yes.”

Mabel looked at Charlie, and he was relieved to know that she shared the same emotion as he did. “Are you fucking serious?”

Doctor Wilson sighed wistfully. “He’ll heal quickly, Mabel.”

“I know that, but putting them through that amount of pain? While they’re awake ? You could’ve at least put them under anesthesia.”

Charlie’s eyes lowered suspiciously at the girl. It may have been just because she was covered in blood and gore earlier, but her injuries seemed to be small for the amount of fights she got into. The bruise on her forehead was small, the bruises and cuts on her arms were small. 

“-ts off, that’s all that matters. Now we just have to burn it.”

Doctor Wilson stood up, grabbed the mask, and tossed it in the fire. Charlie watched the metal and wires burn, melting into the wood. “At least I won’t have to do the dishes now.”

“When will you head out?” Mabel asked. She took the cot closest to the door, rubbing the back of her head with pained eyes. 

“Whenever you’re ready to go. I’ve done as much as I could do right now.”

“Better go get some rest then.”

“Yeah. It's been a hell of a day.”

Charlie then remembered something. When Ranboo had woken him up from his livestream, as he was following them around, he remembered how the mask wrapped around their head. The glowing Showfall logo on the back of their neck. 

“Wait-” he called.

The two women’s eyes fell on him.

“The mask- it’s not fully off.”

The doctor raised her eyebrow at first, clearly not understanding what she was talking about. Then, her and Mabel shared a look. Doctor Wilson walked back over to Ranboo and carefully tilted their head to the side. She looked at her feet, sighing. 

“Is it a tracker?” Mabel asked.

“Looks like it,” the doctor replied. She experimentally touched the Showfall logo, grabbing the metal disk by the sides and giving it a slight tug. “Ranboo’s body can’t handle a surgical procedure right now. The only thing I can do for them right now is patch up their hands and face.”

As the doctor worked, Charlie turned to Mabel. 

“Why are you still wearing a mask?” he asked. 

“It’s part of the business,” she replied with a shrug. “You can’t have your identity showing if you’re gonna rescue people from a company like Showfall. They specialize in making people disappear.”

He nodded slowly. “Do you ever take it off?”

“To eat and drink,” she scoffed heartily. “Otherwise, not really. I mean, when I’m not fucking up Showfall’s shows I go around without it off. But when I wear a mask, battling toe to toe with Showfall… I feel like I’m actually doing something.”

Charlie was about to ask another question when he yawned. 

“Sleep,” Doctor Wilson said, working on cleaning and bandaging Ranboo’s face- their hands snugly wrapped in the white cloth. “We’ll wake you both when it’s time to go.”

“But Ranboo’s still bleeding…” Charlie sluggishly said. God he was tired. Was it the new information of advanced healing messing with his brain?

“Like I said earlier, he’s going to heal. I’ll make sure he won’t choke on his own blood before the holes completely heal,” the doctor reassured. “Remember that you need to heal, too.”

Charlie looked at Mabel, who nodded in agreement. 

“I’ll be sleeping, too. One can get in so many fights for one day before dropping dead with exhaustion,” she said. She lay back on her cot, grabbing a blanket from the floor beside her. “We’ll be moving early tomorrow. Sleep.”

The man looked at his best friend one more time, reassuring himself that they were still breathing steadily before following Mabel’s example. He stared at the cabin’s ceiling for a moment, a flash of a memory on the brink of his brain. The ceiling of the cabin set. The Spirit of the Slime. The blood that covered him on the daily. The horrific smell that lingered in the cabin. 

Charlie quickly fell asleep. 

Chapter Text

“Wakey wakey! Time to get the fuck up!” 

Ranboo’s eyes shot open at the shouting, quickly taking note of Mabel standing between his and Charlie’s cot with a pot and wooden spoon in her hands. She hit the spoon against the pan a few more times before Charlie groaned in annoyance, pulling his blanket over his head. 

“We’ve gotta get moving, boys! We don’t want Showfall on our asses!” she yelled, moving back to the kitchen with an apologetic look directed at Ranboo.

The first thing they noticed that was different was the air quality and the smell of the cabin. The smell was comforting. A smell of pine, a tinge of honey and maple. But the main thing was how there was no coppery smell. No metallic scent that permanently stained their nostrils. 

Ranboo raised their hand slowly, touching the bridge of their nose. The feeling of touching their skin, although covered in a layer of bandages, was foreign. Tingles shot down their spine, their whole hand coming to rest on their face. What did they even look like below the mask? 

Doctor Wilson was packing up the numerous cots and medical supplies around the room. She worked with a quiet speed, barely making a sound. Mabel helped her pack up after putting the pot and wooden spoon away. 

“Where will we go?” Ranboo asked curiously. 

“Well, you have one more problem before you’re truly free from them,” Doctor Wilson said. “That tracker we spoke about- its not in the mask like we originally thought. The mask came off, yes, but the tracker is still embedded in that metal disk on your neck.”

They reached up to feel the cold metal attached to their skin. His eyes darted back up to the doctor. “You’re not gonna pull this, are you?”

“No. That needs to be surgically removed. I can’t do it, I don’t have the equipment to do so here. You’ll be going to a friend of mine, Doctor Lamb. He’ll make sure Showfall’s influence is no longer upon you.”

“He’s also the best doctor around,” Mabel butted in. “He’s patched me up after some… not so kind fights with Hetch.” 

Ranboo raised an eyebrow. “Fights with Hetch? ‘Fights’ as in plural?” 

Mabel paused. “Ohhh, you weren’t awake for that conversation…” She handed a neatly folded blanket to the doctor. “I’ll try to summarize it for you. You remember how if you died in a show, you weren’t truly dead? How Showfall somehow managed to revive dead cast members?”

They nodded, not liking where this was going. 

“Same thing goes for Hetch. The past two years I’ve been helping escapees, Hetch is there, between us and the exit, every single time. And every time, I’ve beat his ass to oblivion. But he just keeps coming back. The show never really ends.”

“So… why keep going back if they’re just gonna make more shows?” Ranboo asked. The guilty thoughts were flooding in. If what Mabel was saying was true, then was everyone still alive? Was everyone who haunted him in his dreams still being mind controlled? “And I hit the button. Everything should’ve stopped,” they argued weakly.

Mabel shook her head with a solemn expression. “No… it never works, Ranboo. It’s all scripted. The same ending happens over and over. You weren’t the only one hooked up to that contraption. Hetch isn’t the final boss in this game of life. It’s the founder of Showfall.”

They looked at Charlie, who was staring sadly at his hands in his lap. 

“She’s right, Ran. Hetch scripted this whole thing,” he said. “I was supposed to die to Security. And you… I don’t know about you. It was a live audience that was going to decide if you lived or died this time. That’s the only thing that changed.”

Ranboo didn’t know how to feel. They didn’t feel sad, or upset really. The best way they could describe it was emptiness. A void in their chest. After everything they’d been through, it didn’t surprise them that they were supposed to die. Ranboo deserved it. He killed his friends. He left them to become the future main cast of Showfall’s next big hit.  

They probably wouldn’t be able to come to terms with what they did. 

“What happened to your clothes? They were just clean,” Mabel said, pointing at Ranboo’s shirt. 

“Oh…” they noticed the small drops of red on their denim. “Must’ve been the mask.”

“I’ll get you some new clothes. Do those ones fit fine?” 

“Yeah.”

Mabel exited the room with urgency. She came back a moment later with another black t-shirt and black jeans. And, draped over her arm was the red and gray varsity jacket. She handed them the clothes before holding up the jacket for them to inspect. 

“I did the best I could, but I couldn’t get some of it out. Sorry,” she said.

Ranboo took the jacket. They didn’t understand why they felt so attached to the jacket. If anything, they thought they should feel like burning it, but they couldn’t find it in himself to let it go. Something like a memory just clawed at their brain, begging to be remembered. It had to be tied to the jacket, it just had to be. Maybe someone he loved gave it to them. 

“It probably wouldn’t be the best idea to wear it in public, but until that disk is off your neck it should be fine.”

That was another thing they were curious about. “Why are you so keen about staying hidden from the public? It’s like the only thing you’re thinking about.”

Mabel sighed. “Because, how do you think Hetch got his live audience? There were real people watching you. Voting on whether you got to live or die. There were people out there, in this real world, voting on your life. Think about it. People actually watch Showfall. Unknowing of what goes on behind the scenes. They think this is all entertainment.”

“So if they see us in public and recognize us-” Charlie started.

“They’ll most likely start asking about Showfall. They have people everywhere, guys. Watching. If you get recognized in public, we’ll probably have nowhere to run for a while. We have to play it safe, or else we’re all gonna go back to that mall against our will.”

“Okay. Okay… no public, we’ll be fine,” Charlie nodded to himself. 

“Go get changed. We’ll burn the ones you’re wearing to leave no traces,” Mabel said. “Time to get up, Charlie. We gotta pack everything up.”

As Ranboo went to change, Charlie helped the women tidy up the cabin, making it look as if they were never there in the first place. He felt surprisingly energized, for the two long days they’ve had where it was nothing but running. He helped fold the cots, carrying them behind the cabin and into the bed of an old, rusty pickup truck. They laid a tarp over the supplies to ‘protect them from the rain’. 

When they got back inside, Ranboo had emerged from the bathroom in their new clothes and varsity jacket. 

“Here, just in case you want one,” Doctor Wilson said, handing Ranboo a black surgical mask. 

“Thanks…” 

The doctor looked between Ranboo and Charlie, rocking on her heels. “Alright. Well, I wish you both luck on your recovery. Don’t do anything stupid.” She took a bucket of water beside the fireplace and poured it on the fire. “Mabel will ensure your safety. I know it’s going to be difficult for the both of you, but you can trust her.”

Mabel clapped the doctor on the shoulder roughly. “Thanks, girl. Hey, make sure you change license plates this time. I don’t wanna run that far ever again. I’m pretty sure my lungs still ache from that.”

“Well, you just need to get your lungs checked out,” the doctor quipped back, punching the girl’s shoulder. “Just be careful. Don’t be careless.”

“When am I ever?”

The doctor sent her a knowing look before waving at them and exiting the cabin. A moment later, the truck whirred to life and sped off into the woods. Mabel looked around the cabin, almost melancholy. Then her eyes landed on the kitchen. 

“Oh! Food! I completely forgot!” she exclaimed, running to the fridge. “Motherfucker- she took all of it!” 

“Uh.. could we maybe stock up on water, then?” Charlie suggested. 

“Oh yeah, good idea, Charlie!” The girl ran around the kitchen, flinging open cabinets until she found what she was searching for. As she filled the water bottles up, Ranboo noticed how she seemed to be muttering to herself. “...yes, that’s… food.”

Then, she was running out the door and opening the door to the Showfall vehicle she stole. “Come on, guys! Let’s go! It’s a long drive!”

They followed, closing the door behind them. The Showfall car was really a black van someone’s mother would use to drive them to soccer practice. Mabel hopped in the driver’s seat, with Ranboo taking the passenger seat and Charlie the middle seat in the back. In the trunk, Charlie could see three Showfall masks. Just lying there, waiting to be used. It instantly made him feel queasy. 

The engine roared to life, and Mabel drove the car back onto the dirt road. The radio channel was nothing but static. Ranboo reached over, moving the dial that said ‘Radio’ on top. The channel switched, light jazz music softly playing through the speakers. 

“You like jazz?” Mabel said. 

“I dunno.”

They changed the channel again, this music sounding more tropical. Light percussion and guitar backing the smooth vocals of a man named Jimmy Buffet. It made a sense of longing tug at their chest. Had they been somewhere tropical before? Better question, where even were they at? What continent? 

They turned the knob, instantly jumping as the loud rock music blasted through the speakers. He changed it again, their heart calming down at the sound of softer, quieter rock. 

“So… where in the world are we?” Charlie asked. 

“In the middle of bumfuck nowhere, South Carolina. We’re gonna have to cross state lines into Georgia,” Mabel explained poorly. On the dashboard was a touch screen displaying the song playing. She tapped on the navigation icon, revealing a map. There were really no other roads other than the one they were traveling on. It’s a wonder how she managed to find them. “It’s gonna take a while to get there. You guys might as well get some more sleep.”

“No,” Ranboo said. He gazed out the window, watching the pine needles fall with the wind. “No, I want to see the world.”

“Me too,” Charlie agreed, looking out the opposite window, eyes full of curiosity. 

Mabel just shrugged and pressed on the gas. “Okay.”

They were on that dirt road for almost an hour before they got back to civilization. Ranboo pulled the surgical masks’ strings nervously, shrinking down in their seat as Mabel turned them onto a highway. They passed billboards advertising fast food, other cars speeding way past the limit, families traveling somewhere together. 

They were careful not to look for too long in fear that someone would recognize them. 

At some point, Mabel decided to get off the highway and go to a fast food place. She parked the car and turned the ignition off. 

“Okay, don’t do anything suspicious. And stay low. People are gonna look at the car, okay? It’s not every day a Showfall van comes driving through.” 

“Got it.” Ranboo’s heart was stuck in their throat, the anxiety bubbling under their skin. 

“Alright…” she sighed. “Charlie, can you hand me my backpack?”

The man complied, and she dug through the smaller pockets, producing a wallet. 

“I’ll be right back. If anything happens… uh, drive away?” Mabel said, unsure. She left the keys in the cupholder and got out, walking towards the building. Ranboo could see her pulling her mask and glasses off, which formed many questions. 

“Okay, what the actual fuck?” Charlie muttered. “People just… don’t know about this? About what we went through?” 

“Apparently not,” Ranboo replied softly, still trying to process the world in front of them. 

“What are we supposed to do? People know us, man! We’re never gonna be able to live normally again!” 

“Charlie, breathe,” Ranboo said, leaning over to peek in the backseat. The man’s eyes were wide, darting around the car, out the windows, his chest rising and falling erratically. “Hey, Charlie-”

“We’re always being watched, then… we can’t do anything, we’ve never escaped. They’re everywhere-”

“Charlie!”

Out of the corner of their eye, Ranboo spotted a man, probably in his early thirties, unlocking his car that was parked beside them. He was eyeing the van, and Ranboo prayed that the windows were tinted enough that you couldn’t see inside. 

“Charlie, remember that breathing exercise I was doing yesterday? I need you to try and do that. In for three, out for three.”

The man didn’t seem to be listening, too lost in his own paranoia and lack of oxygen. He was heaving, tears filling his eyes. “...out there, we’re not free- we were never free, they’re watching…”

The man outside was still trying to look in the van, his eyes squinting against the harsh sunlight. 

“Charlie, please listen to me,” Ranboo whispered urgently. “Tell me three things you can hear.”

Charlie was struggling to maintain a breathing pattern, but he was trying. “You… me, the wind outside.”

“Good, good,” Ranboo said. He had no idea what he was doing, he was just following the example Charlie presented the night before. “What about touch? Can you name three things you’re touching?”

“Uhhh.. the seat, my hair, my glasses…”

The man outside had finally shrugged, hopping into his car with his fast food bag and speeding off. Ranboo’s tense posture deflated as they focused fully on Charlie. 

“Good. Now breathe with me, okay? In for three. One, two, three. Out for three. One, two, three.”

Ranboo guided the man through the half-assed breathing exercise, all while worriedly glancing around them. God, what was taking Mabel so long? They needed to get out of there. 

Charlie’s breathing finally began returning to normal. He locked eyes with Ranboo, the sorrow reflected in them nearly making Ranboo burst into tears. They made it out, they really made it out of Showfall, but they were never going to truly be free from the shackles the company bonded them with. 

“Sorry, man,” Charlie whispered, wiping his face with his hands. “Sorry, I just-”

“I know. Me too.” 

The driver’s door opened, and Mabel sat down, a large bag of greasy food in hand and a tray holding three drinks in another. She set the bag on the center console as she sat down, trying not to spill the drinks. Her mask and glasses were back on. She closed the door, looking up at the silence in the car.

“What happened?” she asked worriedly. “I was gone for like five minutes.”

Charlie sighed, sounding on the verge of tears. “I just got freaked out. Paranoid. Nothing important.”

Even with the mask on, Ranboo could see her frown. “That’s not not important,” she said, her shoulders drooping. “This is all new to you. You guys haven’t seen the light of day in God knows how long. It’s normal to be freaked out like this. Don’t downplay it when it’s something that bothers you.”

The two just nodded at her, not knowing what else they could say to argue. She dug around in the bag, producing a paper wrapped sandwich. “I didn’t know what you guys liked, so I just got the most plain shit known to man.” 

Charlie managed to smile lightly, accepting the food. “Thanks.” 

She handed him a set of fries and a drink before passing out the same thing to Ranboo. He appreciated the light she provided on an otherwise tense and depressing situation. But they wanted more answers. They had thousands of questions they wanted answered. About Showfall, about the real world, about her - because who the fuck was she and how did she know this much about an ‘entertainment’ company? 

They stowed those questions away for later as their stomach grumbled loudly. 

“Eat up, gentlemen. I bought four more burgers for y’all. Each.”

As Mabel got them back on the freeway, Ranboo unwrapped the burger. To a normal person living in this ‘normal’ society, it may have looked like a pathetic excuse for a burger, but they didn’t care. Ranboo couldn’t- for the life of them- remember the last time they ate food. The mask would’ve obstructed any chance of eating or drinking. How did Showfall keep them alive if they couldn’t eat or drink anything?

Flashes of a dark room, stained in red light. They were tied to a chair, writhing, trying to escape. Screaming, bawling, begging for help.

They suddenly didn’t have much of an appetite. Just looking at the food made them feel sick. Not like they could eat much anyway, with the bandages wrapped around their face. They wrapped the burger and set it in their lap, opting to drink from the cup Mabel gave him. It was water. Just plain, ice cold water, but it was heaven. Ranboo drank the water greedily, reveling in the cold feeling washing over their body. 

“This is so good…” they heard Charlie mumble.

Mabel herself was somehow driving with one hand, the other holding a chicken nugget, with her legs balancing the box of chicken on her thighs. Ranboo was surprised to see her mask pulled down below her chin. She had been so adamant about keeping her identity secret, but here she was, driving on a freeway in a Showfall vehicle that was bound to draw attention, with her mask pulled down. 

She was a walking contradiction.

“I’m sayin’, man,” she replied, finishing the chicken nugget in her hand. “This shit hits the spot when you’re starvin’.”

What intrigued Ranboo the most about her face was the lack of injuries. He’d seen her just a day before, covered in blood and gore, a cut on her eyebrow, her nose swollen, a deep cut on her cheek. The cut on her cheek was still there, except smaller, scabbing over as it healed. Her face was… for lack of a better word, chubby. Her cheeks were rosy and full, her round chin holding a few small pimples. Her nose was still kinda swollen, though it complimented her face. A youthful face scarred by a mind-controlling company. 

She glanced over at him. “What? Do I have something on my face? Did I not get the blood off?” She looked at herself in the rearview mirror.

“No, no, just uhhh, didn’t expect you to take your mask off,” they replied simply. 

“I gotta eat somehow ,” Mabel quipped back. That was another thing Ranboo kinda appreciated. She was quick to come back with cheeky phrases, small jokes that made their defenses fall one by one. Also the fact she wasn’t afraid of calling someone out on their bullshit. Ranboo was trusting her, albeit very slowly. You’d think after all the injuries she received for them, the battles she fought for them, that they’d fully trust her by now. Trust was supposed to be earned, not forced. 

While she often contradicted herself, and was often reckless– from what Ranboo had seen so far- she was a very trustworthy and loyal person. And while she didn’t elaborate on why she volunteered to help escapees, Ranboo could see that it was a tough topic for her to speak about. When she trusted them enough, she’d tell them. And they’d be eager to listen. 

“Can I have another one?” Charlie asked, reaching for the grease covered bag.

“Knock yourself out man,” Mabel replied, handing him the bag. “Just save four for Ranboo.”

Ranboo didn’t correct her. He didn’t want that much food anymore. 

Charlie ate another burger at light speed, all while shoving fries in his mouth and drinking his water simultaneously. “Whoever cooked this deserves a fat pay raise.”

“Agreed.”

They drove further and further, passing exit after exit, billboard after billboard. Every single time a car passed on Ranboo’s side, they tried to shrink below the door so nobody could see them. The paranoia that the people in this new world would waste no time in contacting Showfall, describing what they were wearing and what car they were traveling in, scared the shit out of them. They couldn’t go back. 

And as the sun started to fall behind the trees, they saw a billboard in the distance. One that had familiar people and a familiar logo plastered onto it. 

“Shit…” he heard Charlie curse. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

The billboard was taller than it was wider. A green outline of Charlie, dressed as the Spirit of the Slime, with a faded image of Ranboo as the Hero in the cutout, holding a red flashlight. The letters below their cutouts spelling: “Showfall media proudly presents ‘The Spirit of the Cabin’.”

Just as fast as they approached the sign, they sped right past it. Mabel floored the gas pedal, nervously looking at the two escapees. 

The image made Ranboo’s stomach twist with anxiety. 

Chapter Text

Charlie was back in the cabin. 

Back in that slimy- bloody - suit. His own limbs stuck to his torso. He sat at the kitchen table, watching as Ranboo scrambled around the kitchen to make him dinner. The Hero looked frantic. Fearful. The apron tied around them seemed to dig into their skin. They opened the fridge, closed it, moved to the cabinets, closed them, then moved back to the fridge. 

Ranboo? What’s going on?

A mixing bowl sat on the countertop, a whisk propped against it. Whatever was in the bowl smelled amazing. He didn’t understand why Ranboo looked so scared if they were making an outstanding meal. 

“And remember, if the judge doesn’t like your meal, it’s Christian Hell for you!” he found himself saying. Though, he didn’t want to say that. 

“Uhh, I-I-I don’t… there’s nothing to make with this stuff!” Ranboo exclaimed in frustration. 

“I don’t like pickles!” 

Then, Ranboo glitched, suddenly standing across from him with the mixing bowl in hand. They stirred the contents of the bowl, looking down at the ingredients intently. The lights in the cabin were dim, which confused Charlie. And the smell, a mix of cinnamon, pickles and… something else he couldn’t place.

What the fuck??

“I said I don’t like pickles!” Charlie yelled. 

Ranboo jumped, but continued stirring with a renowned vigor. A drop of liquid fell from the bowl, splattering on the tabletop. In the dim light, Charlie couldn’t see what it was. 

“I-I’m sorry, I’m trying-”

“Try harder! Or else it’s Christian-”

The whole cabin glitched this time. The lights went from dim white to full red. Ranboo’s mask was glowing. He was leaned over by the sink, preparing the food Charlie forced him to cook into a bowl. The sound of flies buzzing about was odd. Charlie took it in pride for how clean his cabin was. There was no way bugs got in. 

A few of the kitchen utensils clinked together as Ranboo worked. Charlie tapped his fingers on the table impatiently. He could hear the TV in the living room playing what sounded like some sort of action show. Fake gunshots and tire screeches, people yelling. 

Finally, Ranboo turned around, bowl in his hands. 

“Haha! Yes! I knew you could do it, contestant! I had high hopes for you!” 

Ranboo’s apron was covered in something dark. It was smeared all over his front, and even stained his mask and the hands holding the white porcelain bowl. He robotically placed the bowl in front of Charlie, setting a spoon off next to his right hand. 

The flies were swarming him now, surrounding the bowl. Now Charlie knew what the unknown smell was. Metal. Blood. 

He felt his face twist into a gleeful smile as he picked up the spoon. In the bowl was a gore filled soup. Bubbling soup of blood, bits of brains and skin floating in the bowl. An eyeball popping out from the bottom of the bowl, the dark eye staring right through Charlie. A heart rested in the center of the bowl, still beating, causing ripples to form in the soup. He swore he could still hear the heartbeat. 

What the fuck- what the fuck? No no no no no! 

“Let’s see if the judge approves!” Charlie said, overjoyed. 

Stop! NO! 

He dipped the spoon in the soup, watching the blood swirl. An eyeball landed on the spoon as well. Charlie lifted the spoon to his lips, completely out of his control. He opened his mouth, and let the soup fall on his tongue. He chewed on the eyeball, feeling it squish and pop. Charlie wanted to vomit, but he swallowed the soup. The blood stained his teeth as he smiled. 

“Rumbus Grumbus, you… are not going to Christian Hell!”

Ranboo sunk in relief, falling to their knees with a hand over their chest like they were having a heart attack. Charlie laughed, the sound echoing throughout the cabin. He began eating the soup eagerly, not caring of the stray droplets falling onto his bloody suit. He heard Ranboo’s sniffles and sobs, which were drowned out by Charlie’s cackles. 

The blood and skin and brains were gone, leaving the heart. 

Charlie picked it up with his hands, leaning down and offering it to Ranboo. “Want a bite?”

They sobbed harder, rocking back and forth while shaking their head. 

“Too bad,” he laughed. He raised the heart above his mouth, squeezing the organ. Blood poured from the open vessels, right down Charlie’s throat. 

Oh my fucking God please! Stop! Stop it!

Charlie took a bite out of the beating heart, exhaling at the ‘delightful’ taste of blood and veins. 

STOP IT!

Charlie lurched forward with a gasp and a cough. He leaned to the side, holding his throat. 

“What the fuck?... What the fuck?” he whispered to himself as he tried to calm down. 

The car jolted, and he was lifted off his seat a few inches. He looked up, seeing Mabel send him a silent apology. 

He was covered in sweat, and his bandages stuck to his skin, almost like the slime suit. He ran his hands through his soaked hair, trying to breathe. In for three, out for three. It wasn’t real. He’s not wearing the suit. He didn’t offer Ranboo a heart to eat, he didn’t actually eat a fucking human heart -

But he did force Ranboo to cook. He forced Ranboo to cook a bloody meal for him. 

You weren’t in control , he thought. It’s not your fault.

“But I did that…”

“Did what?” Mabel whispered. 

Charlie leaned back in his seat. “Nothing.”

She eyed him in the mirror. “He’s asleep, Charlie. If you don’t wanna talk about it, that’s fine. I won’t force you to. But if you want to get it off your chest without worrying your best friend, I’m here. All ears.”

The radio had been lowered to background smooth jazz music. There weren’t that many cars on the freeway, and based on the poorly drawn map that rested below the touch screen, they were almost off the interstate. Ranboo, from what he could see, really was asleep. Their head resting against the window. 

Charlie looked down at the bandages. “You think I can take these off yet?”

“I think so. You’ve had plenty of rest time, so they should be fine,” the girl replied. “You might need scissors to get them off.”

The thought of bringing scissors close to his stomach made him nauseous, but he wanted the bandages off. “Where are they?”

“In my bag by your feet.”

Charlie searched the backpack, eventually finding the scissors. They were cold in his hands. He nervously exhaled, extending the bandages out to place the scissors in a cutting position. “Try not to get us in a wreck.”

Mabel scoffed heartily. “As if. I’m a fantastic driver.”

“You hit a pothole like two seconds ago.”

“Well, you try driving at night after only getting like thirty minutes of sleep yesterday.”

Charlie used the bickering as a distraction to quickly cut through the bandages, setting the scissors back in Mabel's bag. They unraveled around him, revealing small pinkish scars running along his chest. The wounds, once gaping open and clotting, were now turning into scars. 

“How the fuck?...” he traced his fingers along the scars in disbelief. The skin was almost completely healed. 

Mabel turned on the turn signal, finally getting off the freeway and slowing down at the next red light. “How are they?”

“They’re healed.”

She hummed. “Seems about right.”

The air was awkward. Mabel seemed to be biting her tongue, presumably to stop herself from asking about Charlie’s nightmare- and Charlie wanted to talk, wanted to get it out of his head, but it was so difficult to open up. How does he even begin describing that nightmare? The girl was so… calm. She was so open, and considerate and it made Charlie want to spill all his troubles. Not that she knew them all already. But this nightmare… it was something else entirely.

The light turned green.

“I was in the cabin again.”

Mabel looked at him from the rearview mirror, showing she was paying attention while trying to keep her eyes on the road. 

Charlie inhaled, then exhaled. “I was the Slime Spirit, forcing Ranboo to cook me food. It started out simple, but quickly turned bloody.”

“The filter turned off,” Mabel offered quietly, turning onto a small highway void of any streetlamps. 

“Yeah. And Ranboo… they were so robotic. So dead inside. They made me this- like fucked up soup with chunks of skin and brain and a whole fucking human heart. And I- I fucking ate it . And they cried and cried and I tried to get them to eat the fucking heart …”

The girl was silent, driving at a steady fifty-five miles per hour. A trombone solo static came from the radio. 

“It was a nightmare, Charlie,” she said softly, like she was reassuring a scared child. “It wasn’t real. You weren’t in control of what you were doing.”

“That’s the worst part,” he said, feeling more distressed the more he thought about it. About how little control he had over himself. “I was screaming at myself to stop and I couldn’t - I just couldn’t stop-”

“Nightmares are like that.” 

He paused, looking at her from the mirror. Her eyes were focused on the road, turning the high beams off when cars passed. He wanted to ask her so desperately why she wanted to help so much- what it was that Showfall took from her that she fights tooth and nail to help the traumatized cast members come back to reality. He had a feeling she wouldn’t answer his questions directly. Showfall was a touchy subject, clearly, for the both of them. 

Still, things needed to be said. 

“You have nightmares, too,” he deduced.

The girl sighed. “Yeah. I have nightmares.”

He hated how closed off she was about the whole thing, brushing it off like it was just another day for her- which, he supposed, it was. She’d been doing this for years, and it’s safe to assume, then, that she’d been dealing with nightmares for years as well.

“What are your nightmares about?” he asked, nearly in a whisper. 

She was silent for a moment, probably debating on whether or not to tell him. He figured it was hard for her to open up, too, considering she’d been doing these heists for years on her own- not counting the doctor’s help. She’d been raiding the mall by herself for two years. She only relied on people when she got out. Maybe she just wasn’t used to opening up about her own trauma regarding Showfall.

Because there’s no way she’d willingly go into that mall and come out unscathed mentally and physically. She’s definitely seen things that’d make people throw up. Charlie certainly has, and he’s only been in that mall once as far as he knew.

“My uh…” she started, swallowing thickly before continuing. “My best friend, his name was Jamie.”

Charlie didn’t like where this was going based on her grammar alone. 

“He and I practically grew up together. When he got his car, we used to drive everywhere, doing everything teenagers are supposed to do. We were inseparable.”

Through the dark, he could see her eyes misting over. He felt terrible for asking, but at the same time was curious of what else she had to say. She seemingly knew a lot about him and Ranboo’s past, so wasn’t it fair that they got to know more about her? Their rescuer?

“One day, he didn’t make it home from basketball practice.” She took a deep breath. “I looked everywhere for him. I asked everyone at school if they’d seen him. They looked at me like I was fucking insane. Apparently, he didn’t exist. His identity was wiped from the face of the Earth. Only me and his parents remembered who he was.”

“His parents gave me his car because… what else were they gonna do with it? They told me I’d take better care of it than they would anyway. I looked for him for months. The cops didn’t even take my missing persons report.”

“Because Showfall was working with the cops?” Charlie asked.

“That’s my guess, also because there are no records that he even existed. But one day, I got home from school and watched some boring ass TV, when I saw his face on the screen. Showfall had turned him into their new main character.”

Charlie kept his mouth shut, mostly because he didn’t know what to say. 

“I vowed to find him and bring him home, which started this whole goose chase. It took me about two months, but I finally found the mall. But by the time I got there…” she sniffled, gripping the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white. “The box had closed around his head. Right in front of me. I told you before, Charlie, every single cast has the same scripted ending despite the different stories being told. I couldn’t change it in time.”

“I’m… I’m so sorry that happened,” he said solemnly. 

“Yeah,” the girl scoffed sadly. “The last thing he saw and heard was me yelling and crying. And Hetch… Hetch laughed. Right in my face. Taunting me. I killed him right then and there, and buried Jamie not too far from the mall. I took his jacket home to his parents, who did nothing but thank me for closure. They saw what happened on TV. They didn’t need my apologies.”

Charlie looked at his hands, feeling like he was invading her privacy by watching her cry through the mirror. 

“I have nightmares about him. About the box closing on him over and over, sometimes of him screaming for my help before the box closed. It’s all I see in my dreams anymore. It varies from night to night, but they all revolve around the same event.”

“I’m sorry I asked. That must’ve been difficult to talk about,” the man apologized. 

She turned onto a backroad, still following the shittily drawn map. “Some things need to be put out in the open for people to trust one another. If trauma bonding is your thing, then cool.”

How can she joke around after telling a depressing story like that? 

“No wonder you went feral on Hetch’s ass. I would’ve, too.”

“He just got what was coming for him. I would’ve done more if I had the time.”

Charlie was glad Mabel was on their side. As he thought, he remembered part of their conversation on the drive to Doctor Wilson’s cabin. 

“We’re gonna have to go back to the mall,” he said. “There will be a new cast.”

“One step at a time, Charlie. You two are gonna get used to the real world and begin your new lives. I’ll stick to the shadows and illegal vigilantism.”

The road suddenly turned gravel, rocking the car back and forth. 

“What if I want to help you?” he questioned.

Her eyes darted between the road and the mirror. “Help me?” 

“Yeah. Like, help take down Showfall. What if I want to help you?”

She pondered over his question. “If you want to help, I won’t stop you, but I’ll tell you this: it's not easy. You have to know how to defend yourself, even in the slightest chance you get into a fight. You have to be fast. And when the final scenario happens, you have to be prepared to fail even when victory is within your reach. Not every rescue is the same.”

It was intimidating, and Charlie knew if he really wanted to help, he’d have to do what she said and learn how to defend himself. Waving around a frying pan or an ax wouldn’t do him good, it’d just drain his stamina. But if there was even the slightest chance that Sneeg or the others were still alive, still trapped in that mall, then he had to take it. He wasn’t going to leave them behind.

“Let me help. Please. I can’t leave them there.”

Mabel stopped the car, leaning into the backseat. “Are you sure you want to do this? I won’t go easy on you. I can't or else you'd die pretty fast.”

Charlie nodded determinedly. “Let me help,” he repeated. 

The girl nodded curtly and resumed the journey down the gravel road, her fingers tapping the lyrics to the current song onto the gearshift. “We’re gonna have to wait until the next show is presented. The mall’s too heavily guarded during the transition periods.”

“You mean, transitioning shows?”

“Yeah. When the shows are live, the employees are too busy making sure everything’s running smoothly to be watching the doors. But when they’re switching shows, the place is like a fuckin’ fortress. You’d think they were hiding gold with how much Security wanders around. We've got about a month or two before the next show starts up.”

They hit a particular bump in the road, making Ranboo groan as their head hit the window. Somehow, they were still asleep, moving closer to the cool glass.

“We’re almost there. Just another- oh. Nevermind.”

A house came into view, warm yellow lights casting their glow into the dark forest surrounding them. It was much larger than the cabin Doctor Wilson had occupied. Two stories, probably having a basement hidden somewhere considering the sheer size of the building. The outside was painted white, with the window shutters painted a dark color Charlie couldn’t make out in the dark. 

Mabel parked the car behind a large truck that was already in the gravel driveway. “I’ll have to get rid of this car…” she said to herself as she unbuckled her seatbelt. “And Ranboo didn’t eat their food…”

She looked back at Charlie, who was still in awe of the house. “Come on, I think Ranboo’s still asleep. You’ll probably have to carry them inside.” 

Charlie unbuckled his seatbelt and got out, opening the passenger door, cursing when Ranboo almost fell onto the gravel. They didn’t put their seatbelt on. Charlie was careful when moving them, opting not to throw them over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and instead carry them normally. 

The side door to the house opened, revealing a lanky man in an oversized black hoodie. His eyes lit up as he saw Mabel approaching.

“Mabel! How you doin’ girl?” He greeted as he engulfed her in a hug. 

She chuckled uncomfortably, patting the man’s shoulder lightly. “Uh sure.”

The man pulled back, raising an eyebrow. “Your ears clogged again?”

She shrugged. “Look, can we take this inside, preferably really quickly? I gotta get rid of that car sooner rather than later.”

The man’s face went serious as his eyes flickered from Mabel to Charlie. He stepped aside wordlessly, letting them in. Charlie nodded at the man awkwardly as he stepped inside. 

The house was breathtaking on the inside. A modernized farmhouse. Exposed oak support beams intertwining above them, iron caged light bulbs hanging above a bench beside a snowy kitchen. The place was spotless, and unlike Doctor Wilson’s cabin, smelled like bleach and soap. The man had been cleaning heavily. 

“You shouldn’t keep doing this, Mabel,” the man said as he locked the door behind them. He reached over to a light switch that looked like a knob, and turned it to the left. The bright warm light dimmed around them to the brightness of a candlelight. “I swear, one day you aren’t gonna come back, and what’re we supposed to do? You’re the only one ballsy enough to keep going to that wretched mall.”

“Send someone else,” Mabel replied, flopping onto one of the bench seats and resting her head along the table. “There’s always someone out there willing to help. I just happen to be the closest one around.”

“No, you’re the best one around.”

Charlie stood in this kitchen, still holding Ranboo and watching their conversation. He was getting cold, as the air conditioning seemed to be bumped up to the maximum. That, and he still had no shirt on. 

“Um… excuse me?” he said.

The man’s head swiveled to look at him. “Oh, right! I’m sorry for leaving you standing there! Follow me, we’ll get you guys a clean place to rest.”

The man practically took off into the house. Charlie began to follow, but not without glancing at Mabel, who just nodded surely and waved him off before going back outside to get rid of the car. The man led Charlie through a few hallways, upstairs, down another hallway and finally stopped in front of the last door. Charlie took note of the lack of decor in the hallways, like picture frames or art people buy just to gawk at when guests come over. 

The house was too big for one man to occupy. He trusted Mabel and her judgment. However, this man seemed a little too chipper for a guy who lived by himself in the middle of nowhere in a large house. Maybe he just hosted a lot of parties. 

“What was your name again?” the man asked as he opened the door, strutting into the room. 

“Charlie.” He followed in the man’s footsteps, finding it kinda odd how the man ran around- meticulously moving things into certain spots, pointing at certain angles, even moving the crease out of the bedsheets. “You?”

“How rude of me… I’m Doctor Lamb, an associate of Doctor Wilson’s. Pleasure to meet you both. And I’m really sorry about the mess! I tried to clean up as best as I could.”

Charlie walked over to the bed and carefully set Ranboo down, reaching to untie their shoes. It was rude to have your shoes on someone’s bed, right? Especially when they were covered in dried blood and dirt. 

“The house is a little too clean if you ask me, but to each their own,” he replied. He set Ranboo’s shoes on the floor beside the bed. He stiffened as Ranboo moved, rolling onto their side and stretching their legs like a cat. 

“Let’s get you to your room. I’m sure you’re exhausted,” Doctor Lamb whispered, heading back to the door. 

Charlie hesitated, eying his best friend. He didn’t really want to leave Ranboo alone. There was still that fear, that paranoia that Showfall knew exactly where they were. Just watching from the shadows, letting them believe that they were free. They did have a tracker placed on Ranboo, after all. What if Ranboo wouldn’t be here tomorrow morning? What if Showfall struck during the night, taking the Hero back to play for eternity?

“Or you can stay here, whatever you’d like,” the doctor said quietly. 

“I’ll stay here.” 

“Alright. You both had a long day, get some sleep if you can. I’ll see what I can do for you both medically tomorrow. Oh, and there are clothes in that wardrobe over there. Let me know if they don’t fit either of you.” He pointed at a white wooden wardrobe sitting beside the window before leaving, closing the door behind him. 

Charlie wandered over to the window, seeing the headlights of the Showfall vehicle driving off into the distance. The longer he stared into the woods, the more masks he saw staring back at him. Just waiting. Waiting for him to slip up his defenses, to step outside and therefore right back into the arms of the very company that fucked up his life. 

He wouldn’t go back. At least, not right now. He was still very conflicted about whether or not to tell Ranboo of the decision he made to work with Mabel. But surely they’d understand why, right? The decision should be easy.

He closed his eyes, scrubbing his face with his hands and taking a deep breath. All he could hope was for this nightmare to end soon. Charlie opened one of the drawers, coming face to face with dozens of neatly folded t-shirts. They were color coded, too. Red on the left, ending with yellow on the right. 

“God this guy’s a neat freak…”

Still, Charlie picked out a plain black t-shirt from one of the bottom drawers, trying it on. It was just an inch too big, but he’d take what he could get. There was a door across the room, cracked open. He walked over, peeking through. It was a full bathroom, stocked with towels on a shelf beside the shower, toothbrushes and toothpaste on the counter. It was a plain bathroom. Plain was all Charlie wanted right now. 

He caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror. He looked dead on his feet. Eyebags dragging his skin down, dirt under his fingernails, speckles of dried mud on his forearms. His jeans were ruined. He sniffed the shirt he just put on, leaning back and pinching his nostrils shut as he tried not to gag. How he didn’t notice the looming cloud of stink surrounding him, he didn’t know.

Charlie left the bathroom, closing the door behind him as he trekked back over to the wardrobe, searching the various drawers. He found a pair of sweatpants that looked like they’d fit. He didn’t want to wake Ranboo up, God knows the kid needed the rest, so he made sure the window was locked before exiting the room, cracking the door behind him. 

He didn’t really think this through. Where would another bathroom be? 

Charlie opened the first door on the left, finding a storage closet full of coats and jackets, with neatly stacked blankets on the floor. He opened the door to his right, finding another bedroom, but no bathroom. He moved along, opening door after door in the long hallway, growing increasingly paranoid with each door he opened. He expected an employee to jump out at him, mask in hand, ready to take him back to become the new main character. 

It was when he opened the door at the opposite end of the hallway did he find another bedroom with an adjoined bathroom. He sighed with relief, leaving the door open and moving to the bathroom. It looked the exact same as the one in Ranboo’s room. 

Charlie set the new t-shirt on one side of the counter and his completely unsavable clothes on the other. The shower squeaked on, sending a steady stream of rain onto the micro-tile floor and down the drain. Controlling the temperature of the water, as Charlie would quickly learn, was like controlling an alien spaceship. 

He watched the dirt and blood mix with the water, swirling down the drain. He scrubbed at his hair with the products stocked up in the shower, though he nearly got the shampoo and conditioner mixed up without his glasses on. 

Once he’d dried off and changed, he felt like a massive weight was lifted off his shoulders. Like he’d somehow managed to scrub Showfall’s influence off of him. He knew it wasn’t that easy, it never was easy when it came to that company, but for the time being- he finally felt… cozy. Safe. 

Charlie took his clothes and glasses and headed back to Ranboo’s room. He stopped by the storage closet first to grab a few blankets off the stack. Once he was back in the room, he set his clothes on top of the wardrobe, grabbed a pillow from the unoccupied side of the bed, and set it on the floor. He laid down his blanket on the carpeted floor, making sure the door to the room was directly in sight. 

He laid the second blanket over Ranboo, who twitched slightly. Charlie took his spot on the floor, bringing his blanket up to his chin, setting his glasses on the floor beside him. He didn’t care if it was uncomfortable. 

Then he sighed dejectedly. The lights were still on, albeit dimmed. Charlie got up and moved to the light switch, about to turn them off when he saw Ranboo’s blurred figure twitching violently, thrashing on the bed. 

“What the fuck?” 

Soft cries filled the room. “No… no I didn’t do that…”

Charlie abandoned the lights, running back over to kneel beside the bed. “Hey! Hey, Ranboo, wake up, it’s not real!” he said while shaking his friend. 

Still, they cried and thrashed, hitting Charlie’s nose with a slap . “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, Niki…” 

It didn’t take all the knowledge in the world to understand what they were dreaming about. Charlie shook them vigorously. “Wake up! Come on, man!”

“Sneeg…”

“Wake the fuck up, dude! Come on!”

“NO!”

Ranboo suddenly sat upright, nearly headbutting Charlie in the process. They breathed heavily, eyes wide and misty. Their fingers gripped the mattress, their knuckles white. 

“Hey…” Charlie whispered, scared he’d scare Ranboo more than they already were. He received almost no reaction from them, other than their eyes darting around the room frantically. 

“Wh-...wh-where are…?”

“We’re safe. I promise.”

Only then did it seem to register for Ranboo that Charlie was also in the room. Tear-filled eyes bore into his own. 

“We’re safe? We made it?”

“Yeah. Yeah, man, we made it,” Charlie reassured. He mustered a small smile. “Mabel got us here like half an hour ago.”

He could see Ranboo trying to steady their breathing. “Where is she?”

“Getting rid of that car. I have no idea when she’ll be back.”

Ranboo leaned over, and Charlie watched the tears soak into the blanket. They reached up, touching their face where the mask would be. 

“Hey, it’s gone. There’s no mask tied to your face anymore. You can actually eat and drink,” the man said, reaching up to tap Ranboo’s wrist. “Speaking of, why didn’t you eat earlier? Not a burger guy?” 

Ranboo sighed into their hands, which made Charlie feel guilty for asking. “Just… saw something. Lost my appetite.”

“Saw what, if you don’t mind me asking?” 

They were quiet for a moment. “I saw myself tied to a chair. They never let me take the mask off. Sure, they could keep me hydrated with IV’s, but food was different. I couldn’t eat with that fucking mask on, so their next best solution was to strap me to a chair and starve.”

Charlie reached up, grabbing their hand from clawing at their bandaged face. 

“It was so painful-”

“It's ok,” Charlie said, lightly squeezing their hand. “You’ll never have to feel that way again. I’m sorry I asked you that.”

Ranboo shook his head. “Not your fault. You didn’t know.” Their eyes scanned the little makeshift bed Charlie made on the floor. “Why are you on the floor?”

Charlie shrugged. “Just… didn’t want to be alone, ya know? I feel like there’s eyes everywhere.” 

He felt Ranboo squeeze his hand back. 

“If you say we’re safe, then we’re safe. No doubt about it,” they said with a confidence that had Charlie tearing up.

Because truthfully, Charlie was running on pure adrenaline up until that point. From the moment they ran to Doctor Wilson’s cabin, all the way to pulling into Doctor Lamb’s driveway. He’d felt so on edge and also so very confused . This new world was intimidating, terrifying knowing that people were on the lookout for them. He had mostly been trying to convince himself everything was fine, that there were no employees following them anymore, that Mabel’s tactics got them off their tail, but there was always that seed of doubt planted in his head.

Every reassurance he’s offered has been a half-assed lie. Because he, himself, didn’t know what was really happening half the time. But someone had to be rational and reassuring, level-headed in this fucked up world they trekked through. Mabel didn’t count. Ranboo was still learning to trust her. 

He felt conflicted at the level of trust Ranboo placed in him, because at the moment he didn't even trust himself.

Charlie stood back up, stretching out his aching legs. “I know it’s been told to us a million times for the past few days, but we need to get more rest. Especially you.”

“Why?”

He went and turned off the lights, the lamp on Ranboo’s side of the room providing a safe light in the darkness of fear and danger.

“Because, we have to talk about surgery and maybe even do surgery tomorrow. We’ve gotta get that thing off the back of your neck.” Charlie lay back down on the floor, setting his back against the wooden bedframe and bringing the blanket over his shoulders. 

The air conditioning was loud in the otherwise silent room.

“Charlie?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you think… Do you think they’re still alive?”

His heart stuttered in his chest at the thought of it. The thought that their friends were alive, like he’d been thinking.

“I don’t know,” he said honestly. He debated for a moment on whether or not to tell Ranboo about his conversation with Mabel. How would they react? 

“If what Mabel said was true, you know we have to go back, right?” Ranboo said. “I don’t think I can live on without them living along with me. After everything I did to them, it's the least they deserve.”

“You didn’t do anything. It was Showfall, not you…” Charlie trailed off. 

“Why are you defending me?” they asked, their tone conflicted and aggressive which had Charlie sitting up. “Why? Did you not see what I did to them? What I did to you ?”

“Ran-”

“I killed you! Multiple times!” Ranboo exclaimed, quickly becoming distressed. “Why did you forgive me for not looking back? Why did you forgive me for everything I did? I’m a murderer , Charlie! Who knows how long we were stuck in that loop for! I could’ve killed you hundreds of times over and over and I wouldn’t know! But I do know the amount of pain and suffering I’ve caused you, and I still don’t understand why you decided to even save me-” 

They hiccuped, taking a moment to breathe as Charlie digested the word vomit being thrown at him. 

“I don’t understand why you decided that my life was worth saving after everything that happened. You and Mabel would have escaped just fine. You could’ve left me to get what I deserve-”

“Okay, stop,” Charlie demanded, rising to his feet to sit on the bed in front of the distressed teenager. “Stop thinking like this. I can’t hear you talk about yourself like you’re some sort of serial killer- criminal.”

“But I am-”

“Do you know why I came back for you? Why I didn’t just try to convince Mabel to leave you behind?” 

Ranboo fell silent. They tapped their fingers against the mattress in an unreadable rhythm. “No…”

“Because you did the same for me.”

They met his eye. Charlie had never seen such despair before, never seen a pair of broken eyes like theirs. Their eyes reflected their feelings: and from what he could see, Ranboo was drowning in a sea of guilt and terror. It never should’ve been this way. They never should’ve stepped foot in that mall. But they did, and they were trying to forgive what happened. 

“You saw all those other people streaming in the food court. You could’ve chosen anyone else, or even ignored us, but you woke me up,” Charlie said firmly. “I know it wasn’t you, not the real you, that was cutting me open on that operating table. I know it wasn’t you that did everything you’re claiming you did. I’m defending you because you came back for me. After everything we went through, after everything that we did, at the end of the day- it wasn’t truly us. We were being puppeteered.”

He watched Ranboo rock themselves back and forth slightly, eyes filled with tears.

“We were completely out of control, Ran. None of this was our fault, you have to recognize that. Niki’s death wasn’t on you,” he said, just thinking of her screams echoing in the carousel room making him tear up. “Nor was Sneeg’s, or Austin’s or Ethan’s, or anyone’s. This was all just some fucked up game we were forced to play. So don’t keep beating yourself up over this. I’ll defend you every day, any day, because you’re my best friend. That’s real.”

Ranboo quickly wiped their eyes. “Some speech you’ve got there,” they joked weakly. 

“I’ll make up as many speeches you need to hear to get those thoughts out of your head,” Charlie quipped, poking their forehead. He slid off the bed and settled back into his floor mattress. 

“Might need quite a few before they’re fully gone.”

“I’ll be there.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, man.”

Charlie evaluated the mood of the room, still debating on whether or not to tell them about his talk he had with Mabel on the way to the house. 

They literally said they have to go back for the others. 

“Listen, Ran, I had a conversation with Mabel while you were asleep, and we both came to an agreement regarding the whole ‘going back and destroying Showfall’ thing.”

Ranboo looked down at him curiously. 

“Do you guys decide to have very important conversations every single time I’m asleep?”

“Not really, they kinda just happen. Just be awake next time.”

“Kinda hard to do when you get a mask pulled off your face, causing holes to bleed in your throat.”

Charlie wasn’t about to argue with that logic. “Well, I told her I wanted to go back with her the next time she goes.”

“And what’d she say?”

“That she’d have to train me how to fight for self-defense, that it wasn’t gonna be easy, that kinda thing.”

Ranboo lied back down, staring at the ceiling. “I want to go back for them,” they declared. “I want to destroy Showfall, destroy Hetch, destroy everything with that stupid fucking logo on it. They’re never going to hurt anyone ever again.”

Charlie felt the same fire coursing through his veins. “We’re gonna burn that mall to the ground.”

“Promise?”

He reached up, squeezing his friend’s hand. “That’s a promise.”

Chapter Text

When Ranboo woke up, they freaked out for a moment, not remembering where they were. 

Then the conversation between him and Charlie flashed in his memory, and they calmed down. Speaking of, the man’s makeshift bed was empty and the door was wide open. Sunlight peeked through the crack in the curtain, and the lamp was still on from the night before. 

There was a clock on the nightstand beside the lamp. One of those futuristic looking ones that had a screen display with a customizable font for the digits. It read 9:43 AM. They pushed the blanket off, rising to their feet. How Charlie had slept next to their blood covered shoes was a question they didn’t want to ask. 

Ranboo wandered into the hallway, their socked feet thumping on the wood. They made it to a stairwell with a chandelier hanging over it. 

“Dramatic, much?” they whispered to themself. “This is a house?...”

He climbed down the stairs, following the sounds of a flowing conversation. Eventually, they made it to the kitchen, where Mabel and Charlie sat at a bench and a man stood in front of a stove, a white apron tied around his waist. 

“Hey, Ranboo,” Mabel greeted kindly. 

“You seem energetic,” they replied back, taking a seat beside Charlie, who was engrossed with some sort of puzzle on a piece of paper. “For nine AM.”

“I’m just ready to start this long ass day…” she sighed. “I’ve got so much shit to do when I get back home… Might as well start on it now.”

She pulled out a laptop, the camera on it covered in black duct tape. She began clicking away when the scent of something sweet wafted under their nose. 

“I know you all didn’t get to eat with Doctor Wilson, but I’m better prepared than her,” the man in the apron said, passing out three plates with pancakes and bacon on them, followed by a small plate full of toast in the middle of the table.

“Are you… doctor Lamb?” Ranboo questioned, looking at the food suspiciously. 

The man’s eyes gleamed joyfully as he sat down to eat his own plate of food. “Yes! I work with Mabel and obviously Doctor Wilson. I handle most surgeries they need done, mostly because of my… large estates.”

“Yeah. I almost got lost coming down here.”

Doctor Lamb laughed, taking a bite of bacon. “Sorry about that, Ranboo, I should’ve sent Mabel to go get you.”

“It's… fine, I guess,” they said. Looking at the abundance of food in front of them made him queasy. 

“Speaking of you,” the man said, wiping his hand on a napkin. “I wanted to speak to you about that tracker on your neck.”

He tried to ignore how fast Charlie was eating, but it was kinda hard when his elbow was constantly hitting their ribs. “Right. How are you gonna get it off without killing me?”

“It’s a simple procedure. I get a scan of it, see what I’m dealing with, get you on the operating table and get it off. Sounds simple enough, right?” the doctor said. “Though, you wouldn’t be able to eat a few hours before the procedure.”

“That’s fine. I’m not hungry anyway,” they replied, earning a side eye from Charlie and Mabel that they elected to ignore. “When can you do it?”

“After breakfast. I’m hungry.”

Charlie scribbled some letters into boxes, pausing to read the next clue of the fill-in puzzle. “What’s a five letter word used to describe food?”

“Tasty,” Mabel offered.

“Delicious,” the doctor said with a mouthful of bacon. He scarfed down a sip of orange juice, eating his pancakes with precision. 

“That’s not five letters,” Ranboo pointed out.

“So? It’s a describing word. Lemme live a little.”

“Tasty it is,” Charlie wrote. 

It took a while for the doctor to finish his breakfast. After every bite, he just had to pick a petty fight with Mabel over something she did. Like not taking a shower before going to bed the night before. That was an argument Ranboo didn’t really care for but was unfortunately stuck in the middle. They were saved when the last piece of bacon was gone from his plate. 

“Alright, Charlie, time to train,” Mabel said as she clapped, rising to her feet while savoring the last few bites of her food. 

“Huh?” 

“You wanted to help me. Remember what I said about being able to help?”

The man sighed. “It’s too early for this…”

“Well, you asked for it. Let’s go.”

Charlie begrudgingly stood up, following her towards the back door they came in the night before. “Wait, I need shoes.”

Mabel pointed to something out of Ranboo’s line of sight. 

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry, Ranboo, you’ll be fine,” the girl said as she opened the door. “You’ll be asleep for the whole thing. And uh… as a side note, after your surgery, you need to eat. It’s not good for you to not eat. I’ll be happy with just one bite, if that’s all you can handle right now.”

Ranboo suddenly felt embarrassed, sitting beside a medical professional and being exposed about his lack of calorie intake. They moved the hair out of their eyes nervously, avoiding the doctor’s gaze. “Uh sure… yeah.”

Charlie had finally slipped into his new tennis shoes. Where the hell did they get those? “I’m ready.”

“You better be. I’m not going easy on you.”

Then they were gone, leaving Ranboo and Doctor Lamb in an awkward silence. 

“I’m ready if you are,” the doctor said. “Just leave your plate there, I’ll have Mabel get it later.”

Doctor Lamb led Ranboo through the maze of a house, back down the hallway leading to their room, past the stairs this time. He stopped at a random door on the right. 

“If you could take your jacket off, that’d be great.”

The room held a large machine. Ranboo had sworn they’d seen it before. It was intimidating, but looked harmless. 

“What is that?” they asked, shrugging off their jacket, setting it on the floor next to their feet. 

“An x-ray machine. Very handy when treating patients that come from that mall,” Doctor Lamb said, putting a heavy apron thing over Ranboo. “This is gonna help protect you from the radiation. Nothing to worry about though, everyone gets x-rays done at some point in their life.”

“No, I’m not worried.”

“Good.” Doctor Lamb ushered them in the middle of the machine, instructing them on how to stand. “Alright, good, stay just like that. Try not to move.”

The doctor disappeared from their sight, and a moment later the machine whirred, spinning around their head. It was kind of scary at first, until they realized there were no spikes attached to the machine. Or any other sharp objects for that matter.

“Alright, you’re good. You can take the cover off and put your jacket back on if you’d like.”

Ranboo handed the cover to the doctor, enveloping themselves in the comfort of the jacket as Doctor Lamb led him out of the room. Down another hallway, passing what felt like thousands of the exact same doors, until he finally opened another door. 

This room was exponentially larger than the others. It was modeled after an actual operating room. An operating table in the center, rolling metal carts scattered across the room, various different medical equipment and machinery surrounding the table. Cabinets full of bottles labeled with large chemical names Ranboo couldn’t pronounce. 

“You can take a seat on the table. Before we do surgery, I just need to do a quick routine checkup.” Doctor Lamb walked over to a metal table on the other side of the room, grabbing a clipboard and slowly walking back over. “I have to do this with Charlie, too. But nooo, Mabel just had to start bootcamp this morning.”

How did this girl know this many doctors?

“Did you have to perform surgery on her? Is that how you know her?” Ranboo blurted, trying to avoid the awkward silence. 

“Oh… I’ve had to perform a few surgeries on her. But no, that’s not how I know her,” the doctor replied, shining a small flashlight in their eyes and scribbling something onto the clipboard. “Funny story… well, not really. She saved me from becoming Showfall’s puppet.”

Ranboo was instantly curious. “What?”

“Take a deep breath for me.” The doctor placed the stethoscope on Ranboo’s chest. “Another.”

They complied. “What do you mean she saved you?”

“Exactly what I said.” He scribbled more on the paper. “I uh… I wasn’t in a good place a while back. Alcohol seemed more intriguing than looking at flesh wounds every day. And one night, I got into more trouble than I could handle in a bar. They kicked me out next to their dumpsters. That’s where they found me. Tried to put a mask on me, but Mabel just popped outta nowhere and killed the employees.”

“So she’s a vigilante?”

“Oh yeah. I mean, her picture has never been posted or put on a wanted list, but Showfall recognizes how much of a threat she is. I’m surprised the founder didn’t show himself this time to fight her.”

“Showfall just randomly picks people off the street? Just like that?”

Doctor Lamb shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe for employees, but it’s different for cast members. I think they pick the people that stick out more in terms of personality and likeability.”

Ranboo didn’t want to think about it. Mabel said they were streamers before going missing. Did that mean people liked them enough that they caught the attention of Showfall? Was it the same for Charlie?

“She doesn’t really talk to me about herself, mostly because I’m asleep when she does. What do you know about her?” they asked, genuinely curious about the girl. Because who in their right mind would stay in this dangerous business with a bright smile plastered on under their mask? “Like, why is she doing all this?”

“I know probably as much as you do, unfortunately,” Doctor Lamb said as he bustled about, rummaging through the chemical cabinets and drawers. “She’s very caring, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. Determined, definitely a fighter. Strong and funny. As for why she’s doing this, I only have a theory based on things she’s said in the past.”

“She told me, in the mall…”

“I’m not letting any more shows happen again. Which means you’re getting out of here.”

“I know she’s been breaking out cast members for years, and that she knows the mall probably by heart, but the way she says some of these things…”

“It’s personal.” Doctor Lamb wheeled over a cart full of medical utensils. He messed with a few of the machines behind Ranboo. “I’ve noticed that, too. She knows everything that goes on in that mall, when things happen, when things are supposed to happen. Sure, you can learn that if you’ve been doing what she has the past few years, but some details are too specific to know when you only visit the place a few days every six months.”

Ranboo felt their stomach twist at what the man was saying. “Are you implying-”

“That she worked for them at some point? Maybe. Think about it. She knows a lot about this secretive company. I mean, the only thing I know about why she’s doing this is that her best friend died in the grand finale of his show. The box that was supposed to crush your head also crushed his.”

They suddenly felt pity towards her, though he knew she didn’t need it. Ranboo suddenly felt like they’d intruded on Mabel’s personal life without meaning to. Learning about these important things from a second party wasn’t the way Ranboo wanted to learn about something that probably changed Mabel for better or for worse.

“Her best friend died ?” 

“That’s what Doctor Wilson told me,” Doctor Lamb said solemnly. “I’m not one to spread rumors or anything, I just know you want answers. That’s mostly all I can give you.”

Imagining it was worse. Getting to know her over the past few days, Ranboo knew what she was like. She was compassionate, kind, playful and serious when need be. Imagining someone like her, someone so determined, probably already devastated by seeing her best friend on Showfall’s newest program, watching this friend die right in front of her… it wasn’t pretty. 

He could only imagine how Charlie felt when he found them tied to that box in a mock crucifixion.

“From what she told me, her best friend’s death was broadcasted just like yours was. Except she didn’t make it in time. From that point on, she swore not to let it happen again.”

“Most of it makes sense now,” Ranboo said quietly, still digesting this information. “I just don’t understand why she hasn’t burned the mall down already, or better yet, killed the founder himself.”

“I don’t know either. You’ll have to ask her about that one.”

A beat of silence. 

“I think if you just, I dunno, have a sit-down conversation with her once she’s done training, maybe she’ll give you more information about herself. She’s a pretty open person.” There were a few beeps of the machines, a few clanks. “Alright… are you sure you want to do this procedure?”

Ranboo exhaled, touching their bandaged face. The bandages probably needed to be changed by now. “Yeah. Do you need that in writing?”

Doctor Lamb flipped over a few papers on the clipboard before handing it to him, along with a blue pen. “Preferably, yes.”

After Ranboo wrote “permission to surgically remove this tracker from my neck”, Doctor Lamb clicked on the big overhead light above the table.

“Okay, now just lay down and try to relax.” 

Ranboo complied, easing themself down onto the table. The light was intensely bright, causing them to use their hand as a shield. A few minutes later, Doctor Lamb was leaning over them with a surgical mask on, in full surgical attire. He began placing little pads onto Ranboo’s arms, and their heartbeat could be heard across the room from the monitor. 

“I’m going to use anesthesia to put you under, okay? Shouldn’t take more than like ten seconds.”

Ranboo nodded, though as the clear mask was brought closer and closer to their face, the more their heartbeat increased. 

“Are you okay? What’s going on?”

“Sorry- just the mask…”

The doctor looked down sympathetically. “I’m sorry, Ranboo. This is the only way I can put you to sleep without straight up punching you.”

They swallowed nervously, trying to keep their breathing in check. “Just do it.”

The mask was gently placed over their face. They couldn’t tell the difference in air quality. 

“I’m going to do my best to get this off of you, okay? I have your x-rays right next to me, so I know what I’m doing.”

The more Doctor Lamb talked, the more it sounded like underwater gibberish. They blinked slowly, watching as the lights above them blurred, their thoughts drifting away at a snail’s pace until finally, they were asleep.

Chapter Text

“Again!”

Charlie wished the ground would consume him. They’d been sparring for what seemed like an eternity, but in reality was probably an hour or two. Mabel insisted the best way for him to learn was to just be thrown into it. Charlie thought otherwise. How was he supposed to defend himself if he didn’t know how to throw a good punch?

“Come on, get up!” she poked him with her foot.

Charlie groaned into the dirt. It also didn’t help that his glasses kept slipping down his nose every few seconds. His limbs burned, and he was sure there were gonna be bruises all over his body by the end of the day, seeing as he’d done nothing but hit the floor since they started. 

He heard her sigh and sat down a few feet away, taking it as an opportunity to push himself up on shaky arms. “God damn, dude, you weren’t kidding.”

She was covered in sweat, too. Mostly because it was insanely humid outside. “I told you I wasn’t gonna go easy. You need to be prepared for anything.”

“I know, I just wish you’d teach me how to properly punch and kick and stuff before throwing me into a match with zero fighting experience. How can I defend against your attacks when I have no idea how to?”

Mabel scratched her head. “Good point. I’m very disorganized with these kinds of things.”

“You’re very disorganized overall .”

“Get up. I’ll teach you how to punch real good.”

As Charlie got back on his feet, he looked back towards the house, wondering if Ranboo was in surgery or not. He worried that the doctor wouldn’t be able to get the tracker off without seriously injuring Ranboo. Like, what if the thing was attached to their spine? How would he get it off then?

The sight of Ranboo screaming with hundreds of wires coiling down their throat still haunted him. He hoped Doctor Lamb was more considerate of Ranboo’s pain tolerance.

“They’ll be fine. Right now you need to focus on fighting.”

“Right.”

They spent the next hour or so perfecting Charlie’s punch, which, at first, was not very impressive. Charlie swears he’d never sweat that much in his life. It was like he was dumped in a tank of water and left in the middle of a swamp. Only after she deemed his punch acceptable did she toss him into another sparring session. This time, she slowed it down, actually teaching him how to dodge with precision and how to read an enemy’s next attack. 

Charlie knew that by the end of the day he’d be ready to collapse onto a bed and sleep for a few days. That bone deep ache that settled in after a long day would mess him up. He was grateful to be learning about this though. 

“Take a break,” Mabel finally said after Charlie managed to land a good hit on her arm. 

Charlie flopped to the forest floor, wiping his face with his t-shirt. “It's so fuckin’ hot out here.”

“Yeah…” 

She was looking over at the house, too, probably wondering the same thing Charlie was. 

“Hey… we’ve been sparring for a while. Why don’t we go inside for a bit? Cool off?” Charlie offered. He couldn’t be the only one hoping to get a glass of water and check on Ranboo.

Mabel nodded. “Yeah. Actually, let’s call it a day,” she said before getting up and walking back toward the house, not even checking if Charlie was behind her.

The air suddenly felt tense, like Charlie had accidentally crossed an invisible line. He followed her back inside, biting his tongue even though he wanted to know what was going on. Mabel was blunt sometimes, but she sounded seriously distracted. She was deathly focused when they were training, so he wondered what was occupying her mind now. 

They walked back into the kitchen, where Mabel began cleaning up the breakfast left on the table, bringing the dirty dishes to the sink. She didn’t wash them. She just reached into a cabinet beside the sink to grab two glasses, filling them with water and handing one to Charlie. 

“Thanks.”

She just lowered her mask below her chin and sipped on the water, nursing the glass with her hands. Her eyes were glazed over, thinking heavily. 

Charlie frowned. “You okay?” 

It was like she’d been slapped. Her head shot up, eyes going back to their original gleam. “Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m good. Just a little too hot outside. We have been in a heatwave for a few weeks.”

“Uh huh…” he hummed, taking a sip of water. It was heaven.

“Don’t be like that,” she replied, “I’m just… a little stressed, that’s all.”

“With what? Us?” 

“Not entirely. I mean, yes and no,” she said, putting her glass on the counter. “I’m just thinking… I’m a busy gal, you know? I’ve got bills to pay and school to go to. I’m just wondering how…” she trailed off, her eyebrows furrowing.

“How what?”

“How this is gonna work,” she muttered. “You guys are gonna be staying with me until we can A. find you guys a place to live, and B. make sure you’re all set up to live again. It’s not gonna be sunshine and rainbows to do either. I’m gonna have to get y’all fake ID’s, new names, new backgrounds, all that shit. It’s gonna take a while to create two new people outta thin air.”

Charlie looked down at the glass of water. He hated feeling like a burden to her. She’d done so much for them. He wanted to learn to fight to ease the weight off her shoulders, even by a little bit, but he felt that he was just adding more onto her already full plate. It was going to be a slow process for him, but he wanted to learn to fight, and from what he’d seen- she was the best teacher around. She already had a whole different identity to worry about for herself, on top of school and apparently a job. He wondered how she didn’t drown in work and expectations. 

“Well, whatever help you need from me, I’ll be there.”

Mabel tapped her fingers on the countertop, no specific pattern in mind. She smiled at him. “Thanks. But I’ll go ahead and tell you now, when we do get to my house and things start going… semi-back-to-normal, you probably aren’t going to see me a lot. Between school and work and sleeping and all that.”

“Like I said, I’m here to help.”

“I appreciate that.”

Charlie nodded, chugging the rest of his water to fill up the silence. Avoiding the elephant in the room was growing increasingly difficult. “What do you know about the founder?”

“Huh?”

“You keep talking about this founder. Hetch even mentioned him. You said we needed to kill this guy in order to take Showfall down?”

“That’s just a theory of mine because everything else I’ve tried hasn’t worked,” the girl replied. “But I know absolutely nothing about him other than the obvious fact: he created Showfall.”

“So how are we supposed to kill him?”

“I dunno, Charlie,” she sighed, rubbing her temple. Hearing footsteps approaching, she lifted her mask back above her nose. 

Out stepped Doctor Lamb, still in his surgical scrubs. He pulled his mask off, tossing it in the garbage can. He wasn't covered in blood like Charlie expected him to be. He did look tired, though. 

“How’d it go, doc?” Mabel questioned curiously. 

The man exhaled slowly. “It wasn’t easy, let’s just say that.”

Charlie’s heart dropped. “What happened? Are they okay?”

“Oh, yes, Ranboo’s fine. He’s sleeping off the anesthesia. It's just… Those x-rays I took were fucked up. The tracker was literally attached to his neck. The amount of wires I cut out of their neck is, for lack of a better word, ridiculous. I filled up a whole fuckin’ trash bag of wires.”

“And those x-rays showed you what?” Mabel asked. 

“Aside from their bones, there were just little stringy clumps everywhere. The wires weren’t just in the mask and tracker. They’re all over his body. I don’t think they can be removed.”

Charlie looked at his own dirt covered forearms. He was the same, wasn’t he? He could practically feel the cords running through his limbs. It was suffocating. Showfall knew no bounds when it came to intruding on someone’s life. 

“While Ranboo’s resting, I’d like to do a normal routine checkup on you, Charlie. Just making sure you have no other worrying injuries and such.” 

“If he had any, they’d be healed by now,” Mabel said, earning a tired glance from the doctor.

“Alright. Sorry if I stink real bad,” Charlie said as he followed the doctor through the house. 

“It's not a problem. I’ve dealt with way worse.”

Doctor Lamb checked his heart rate, blood pressure, and his eyes. A quick in and out procedure. 

“So you did manage to get the tracker off?” Charlie questioned as Doctor Lamb led him back to the kitchen. The man was hungry. As soon as he’d eaten that burger in the car, it was like he couldn’t get enough food. He felt like he could eat a whole buffet by himself. 

“Yeah. It was a tricky thing to deal with, but Ranboo should be fine. They just need plenty of rest and food. I’ll get rid of the tracker as soon as you guys leave.”

“But wouldn’t that give Showfall more time to use the tracker and catch you here?” 

The doctor began searching the refrigerator and cabinets for ingredients. Those being peanut butter, bread, and jelly. Charlie subconsciously took a few steps back when the man pulled out a butter knife. 

“This isn’t really my personal home. I am an actual doctor living on a doctor’s salary. This is a vacation home of sorts. Too bad I’ll probably have to sell it. I liked this one,” he said quietly as he spread the peanut butter and jelly on respective slices of bread. “I’ll be back home before they even get here.”

“Mabel, are all your friends rich and own multiple homes?” Charlie asked the girl, who sat eating her own sandwich with a mountain of pretzels on the side. Also, how is he gonna sell a house that has a built in x-ray machine and operating room?

“Not all of them. Just the medical professionals.”

The doctor handed him a plate containing a sandwich and pretzels. How did the man fix lunch up so fast? “You should probably change after you eat, or else you’ll be dragging dirt throughout the whole house.” 

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I have to sell the house, remember?” Doctor Lamb chimed, moving on to make his own lunch. 

He’s so fucking weird… 

Charlie took a seat in front of Mabel, instantly biting into his sandwich. “What’s the plan for tomorrow?”

“Get the fuck out of here, hopefully. It depends on how Ranboo’s feeling. I don’t want to stick them in a car for a few hours if they’re not feeling up to it,” she replied, taking out a small device from her pocket. A phone. “It’s gonna take around an hour or two without traffic to get back to my house.”

“Wait, how are we gonna get there? You got rid of our car last night,” Charlie pointed out. 

At that, Mabel got a mischievous gleam in her eyes. “I’m always prepared. We’ll have a ride, don’t worry.”

“I hope you’re not talking about my car,” Doctor Lamb butted in. “My car will never be driven by you, you reckless monster.”

“It’s called having fun and living a little.”

Charlie ate in silence, thinking of his and Ranboo’s late night conversation. Ranboo did have a valid point. Despite the fact they already planned on going back to the mall- if they didn’t, and if Mabel was right about the whole resurrection thing, they would have to return to their place of torment. They’d have to go toe to toe with their trauma, their fears, their paranoia. The very reasons why they’re so mentally and physically fucked up. 

Thinking about seeing Hetch’s face again- mask or no mask, face bashed in or not- made him sick. He could vividly remember the man’s laughter. The taunts. The false reassurances and lies. Charlie had listened to Ranboo’s rant, thinking that no, the people we left behind would forgive us .

Would they really, though?

Would they forgive Charlie and Ranboo for running away and leaving them to rot? What would they say when they rescued them? Certainly not a thank you, because they were left behind to become the new Heroes. The new and improved main cast. 

The secret was, Charlie didn’t forgive himself either for leaving that mall without the others. 

“Thank you for the lunch,” he mumbled, standing and making his way back to the room he and Ranboo shared. He ignored the eyeballs staring into the back of his head and continued onward, up the stairs and down the hallway, back into the bedroom. 

He went straight for the dresser and began pulling drawers open, already forgetting which one held what clothing items. The sweatpants he wore were quite comfortable, so he grabbed another pair and a new white t-shirt to go along with it. He opened another drawer, one full of white socks. He added a pair to his pile of clothes tucked under his arm. 

As he stood back up to leave, he heard something. It was muffled, definitely outside and definitely a good distance away from the house, but it was loud. It almost sounded like-

“A car,” he breathed out. He scrambled to look out the window, shoving the curtains aside. 

He saw nothing but forest for miles. No clouds of dust trailing behind vehicles, no movement other than birds above the treetops. Still, he bolted out of the room, down the hallway and practically flinging himself downstairs. 

“Mabel! Do you hear that?” he yelled, skidding into the kitchen. 

She looked up from her lunch, wide eyed with a speck of jelly on her cheek. “Wha?”

“Listen!”

The three were quiet, listening to the house, the outside. A few birds tweeted. The air conditioning kicked on in the house, making Charlie jump. After filtering out the new noises, he could still hear it growing closer. A revving engine. 

Mabel looked at him like he grew three heads. “Charlie, I don’t hear anything.”

He balked at her. “Wha-wh, huh? How do you not hear that ?” he hissed, straining his ears to listen. “It’s a car! It’s coming! Do you seriously not hear that? It’s so loud.”

The girl shared a look with the doctor, shrugging. “You hear anything?”

“No,” Doctor Lamb confirmed. 

Charlie bolted down the hallway, looking for a window. He came across a living room with windows installed on the entire wall, giving him a view of the whole front side of the house. There still wasn’t anything there. No cars, no people, nothing. It didn’t make sense. Why was he still hearing an engine growing closer?

“I’m not crazy, am I? Have I lost it?” he whispered to himself, tugging at his hair. “I’m not crazy! I’m not… I hear it…”

When he looked up, a Showfall mask stared right back through the window. 

“What the fuck?” he screamed, falling as he scrambled to get away from the glass. The employee just tilted its head at him. “What the fuck? No!”

“Charlie? Charlie! What’s going on?” he heard Mabel calling from down the hallway. 

“They-... they’ve-” he couldn’t breathe. His lungs were constricted. His limbs felt like tons of bricks. His heart was running a marathon in his chest. He couldn’t get up. “F-f… found us-” he panted. 

He blinked, and one mask turned into five. Five employees stood behind the glass, banging on it, trying to get to him. 

“No! NO!” Charlie yelled, his back hitting some sort of table when he tried to crawl away. “Get the fuck out of here!”

Thunderous footsteps approached him from behind, but his eyes never left the masked people. He was hyperventilating now, his lungs screaming at him for more air. There was a weight on his shoulder, probably a hand. He couldn’t really hear whoever was talking to him over his own panicked breaths and heartbeat thumping in his ears. 

“-lie! Hey! Charlie! What’s going on? Can you hear me?” 

“They’re here, they’re right there!” he yelled, pointing a shaking finger at the window. There were more employees now, pressed against the glass wall of the living room. One started slowly banging on the glass. The others followed suit. “They’re trying to get in!”

Mabel looked where he was pointing, staring. “Charlie-”

The glass cracked. Charlie started yelling again, struggling to push himself to his feet. 

“They’re breaking the fucking glass!”

Mabel grabbed both of his shoulders, stepping into his line of vision, blocking the employees from view. “Charlie! Listen to me! There’s nobody there! There is nobody there !” 

“What? No, no no no no, they’re right there!” he argued, peeking over her shoulder. The glass was cracked in a spiderweb now. “The glass is about to break! What the fuck are we still doing here? We’ve gotta get Ran and get the fuck out!”

“There is nobody there!” Mabel yelled back. She let go of him, walking up to the glass and placing her hand on it. The glass didn’t shatter. The employees stopped, heads turning to look at her. “See? The glass isn’t broken! There’s nobody there!”

“But there-... there was…” he breathed, the air finally filling up his lungs. It made zero sense. They were literally standing right there, waiting to take him back to the mall. “They’re right there…” 

Mabel stalked back up to him, concern evident in her eyes. “There’s no engine. There’s no Showfall. It’s just me, Doctor Lamb, you and Ranboo. Nobody else. I promise.”

Charlie took a second to breathe, listening to her. “There’s…” he whispered weakly, gesturing to the window. 

“No one out there. I can go check if you want?” 

She really couldn’t see them.

Charlie just willed himself to breathe in and out, one at a time. In through the nose and out through the mouth. He was shaking big time. The clothes he carried fell to the floor at one point. He was shocked he was still standing on his own with how badly his legs trembled. He focused on breathing, eventually tearing his eyes away from the glass to look at Mabel. Her expression was a mix of confused and concerned, like she had no idea what was going on but also did at the same time.

“What the fuck is happening to me?” he asked her. 

Mabel opened her mouth then snapped it shut, not knowing what to say. Charlie blinked, and suddenly it wasn’t Mabel standing in front of him anymore. It was Hetch, his mask half broken and face covered in red and bone. 

“I don’t know, Charlie,” the man said, grinning maniacally. Red seeped past his lips as he spoke. He began laughing, the same way he did when he fought for his life.

Charlie ran. He turned on his heel and booked it back down the hallway right as he heard the glass shatter. He heard multiple sets of footsteps booming after him. Charlie bolted up the stairs, making a run for his room. He managed to close the door right in the employees’ faces. He locked the door and backed further into the room, still trying to catch his breath.

Was Mabel telling the truth? Was he being paranoid to the point where he was seeing things? They seemed real enough. They had to be real. 

He yelped in surprise as fists pounded at the door. His lungs felt like they were on fire, not getting enough oxygen. His limbs were shaking uncontrollably, riding the high of adrenaline and fear. He looked out the window, not knowing what to expect anymore. Hundreds of masked people surrounded the forest, staring at him. 

The laughing echoed from the hallway, getting closer and closer. Cackling. Deranged. 

A breath inhales from right beside his ear. He whirled around. 

“BOO BITCH!” the Spirit of the Slime yelled, dressed in the red, organs hanging around his neck and shoulders, blood dripping from the horns onto his face and flies swarming him in hoards.

Charlie screamed , tripping on his own feet as he fell backwards. A sharp pain on the back of his head, and he was gone. 

Chapter Text

Ranboo surprisingly didn’t feel that much pain, considering they just had surgery on their neck. 

Must be pain meds or something , they thought.

The next thing they registered were the faint panicked voices. It was as if someone stuffed cotton in their ears. As they slowly came to, they fought to keep their eyes from closing. They were drowsy, shivers running down their spine. They were cold even though they sported their varsity jacket. 

They reached for the back of their neck, where the tracker would be. They were surprised to feel fresh bandages wrapped around their face and neck. Looking at their hands, Doctor Lamb had also replaced those bandages. So the tracker was off. They were finally free. Truly free from the clutches of Showfall. At least physically. Mentally, they knew they were fucked up. Still, the sudden missing weight on their head was strange.

They were still in the operating room, though the lights were dimmed for their convenience. They stood on shaky legs, using the table for support until they felt sturdy enough to walk. Right beside the operating table was a large trash bag. Through the dim lighting, they could see lines of color intertwining with one another. Wires. At the center of the wires was a small metal disk with the Showfall logo engraved in it. 

He felt like vomiting at the sheer volume of wires they could see in the bag. Did that all come from him? Surely it didn’t. 

They remembered the mask, how many wires were tied to it. Suddenly it didn’t seem so impossible. 

They were beginning to hear the voices with more clarity, though they were still far away. 

“-id he do?”

“Locked the…” he couldn’t hear the person speaking, as they lowered their voice “...stopped screaming.”

“We have to get in there.”

“No shit, dude!”

He walked to the door, pulling it open and peeking his head out. Near the end of the hallway there was movement going around the corner, where the stairs would be. The voices carried from the stairwell all the way down to them. 

He couldn’t tell what they were saying, but they sounded panicked enough that it had him concerned. They trekked down the hall, using the wall as support. Eventually, after almost face planting multiple times, they took the first step up the stairwell. They heard fists banging on a door, and someone yelling, “Charlie!”

Their heart raced. What happened? 

Ranboo pushed himself, their legs on fire as they took step after step at a faster pace. Once they reached the top of the stairs, they tripped on the last stair, falling right onto their kneecaps. “Ow…”

“Ranboo!” came Mabel’s surprised but relieved voice. She rushed over, helping them stand back up. “What are you doing?”

“Uhh… I woke up? Heard panicked voices?”

“It’s Charlie,” Doctor Lamb said from behind the girl. His expression was grim, which struck fear in Ranboo. What the hell did they miss?

“What about him? Is he okay?”

“Not at all. He started having hallucinations,” Mabel explained, running her hands through her ponytail. Ranboo wondered if she’d gotten a chance to shower since they got to Doctor Lamb’s house. Her hair looked really greasy and he could see dirt smudged on her palms. Overall she looked ready to drop to the floor and take a nap. “He kept saying something about how ‘they found us’ and ‘they’re right there’. I think he was seeing Showfall’s employees.”

“He locked himself in your room and, well, he finally stopped screaming- which can’t be a good sign.” 

Ranboo walked up to the door, eyeing the doctor. “Don’t you have a master key in case scenarios like this happen?” 

“What? No?” 

“Then break down the door.”

“ What ? No!”

Mabel growled in annoyance, pushing the doctor aside harshly. “God damn, when do you ever not care about interior design?” she asked, raising her left leg and pulling it back. “Charlie could be hurt and you’re more interested in if a door gets hurt? What kinda doctor are you?”

“A good one-”

Mabel kicked the door. It didn’t budge. She prepared to kick again, this time with her right leg. She kicked it again, earning a jostle from the handle. 

“Try calling for him. Maybe he’s still stuck in his hallucination,” Doctor Lamb encouraged, grimacing every time Mabel kicked his precious interior design door.

“Hey! Charlie! It’s Ranboo!”

“It wasn’t real, Charlie! It was a hallucination! Please open the door!” Mabel said as she kicked the door with all her strength. The hinges rattled.

“Charlie! Listen to her. There’s nobody else but us here. They haven’t found us and they never will, you wanna know why? Doctor Lamb got that tracker off of me. We’re finally free. You hear me? We’re free, man.”

Mabel took a few steps back, brushing the stray hairs out of her face as she took a deep breath. Before Doctor Lamb could protest, she ran at the door, ramming it with her shoulder. The door broke off its hinges, clattering to the floor. Ranboo could see the top of Charlie’s head on the floor, his hair dark and matted. 

“Oh shit, Charlie!” they exclaimed, rushing in after Mabel. 

They kneeled around him. A small pool of blood formed under Charlie’s head. His glasses were knocked a few feet from his head, one of the legs bent at a weird angle and one of the lenses scratched all the way across. Ranboo carefully turned Charlie over to lay flat on his back as Mabel turned his head to the side attentively. There was a big gash running across his forehead, blood steadily flowing from the wound.

“There’s a bump on the back of his head, too. He must’ve hit it when he fell,” Mabel deduced, anxiously searching the back of his head for an open wound. There’s no way that small amount of blood from a forehead gash got into his hair on the back of his head. 

“Let me go get the neck brace. Don’t move his head ,” Doctor Lamb instructed before running out of the room. 

“What the hell happened? How did this happen?” Ranboo questioned. Charlie wasn’t growing pale like he was at Doctor Wilson’s cabin, which Ranboo took as a good sign nothing was seriously injured. 

“I-I don’t know! I took him out to work on fighting, came back inside, ate lunch- though he ate his pretty quickly- and he came up here to shower when he was suddenly running downstairs screaming murder!” Mabel rambled, still trying to see where the other head wound was. “Said he was hearing a car engine but there was nothing. I got scared my hearing was acting up but Doctor Lamb said he couldn’t hear anything, and his hearing’s impeccable-”

“Okay, slow down, slow down…” Ranboo said. She was looking at the window now, craning her neck to try to see better. “Don’t freak out. I don’t hear anything either if that makes you feel better.”

“Thanks. I know nothing’s there but still… him freaking out freaked me out a little bit. I shouldn’t have yelled at him like that, I was just…” she sighed, eyes squeezed shut as she shook her head with guilt. 

“You yelled at him?” they asked calmly. He’d heard her yell before, and wasn’t keen at being the one her yelling was directed at. He could only imagine how Charlie felt. 

“I didn’t mean to! I just- well he- no, that’s no excuse, but… I was just so stressed about things and I took it out on him. That was so unfair and wrong, especially when he was suffering. God, I’m such an asshole,” the girl whispered, carefully tapping Charlie’s cheek. “I’m sorry, man. That was so uncalled for. I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

Ranboo sat back on their calves, reaching over to grab Charlie’s glasses from the floor and putting them gently in their pocket. “What were you so stressed about? Why didn’t you say anything?” they questioned. They couldn’t even tell she was stressed. 

“I didn’t say anything because I knew you two had enough on your plates already- dealing with the new world and all that,” Mabel said softly. “I didn’t want to put more on your shoulders. I’m just… I have a lot of work to do when we get back to my place.”

“What kind of work?” 

“School. My job. They think that me leaving every six months for like a week is just me going on my annual mountain trip. Can’t believe they haven’t figured out what I’m really up to right now.”

Okay… when was she going to tell them this information? They knew that they’d been sleeping for practically every drive, prompting Mabel and Charlie to make small talk. But Ranboo wanted to know everything: where they were going, how long they were staying with Mabel, how they’d get new clothes, all that stuff. While they valued sleep, they also wanted answers- and promised not to fall asleep immediately after getting in the car.

Running footsteps echoed in the hallway, announcing Doctor Lamb’s arrival, neck brace in hand. 

“Okay, hold him still.”

The doctor skillfully placed the neck brace on Charlie. The man still didn’t respond, which slightly worried Ranboo. What if he hit his head too hard? It seemed irrational for Ranboo to fear Charlie losing his memories by a hit to the head, but it was possible, right? He feared that Charlie would wake up, take one look at them and say, “Who are you?”

Doctor Lamb took out a small flashlight, inspecting the back of Charlie’s head. “I see it. It’s a small gash, nothing serious,” he said. Then he looked around the room. “Shit, where did I put that emergency first aid kit?” 

Ranboo and the doctor searched the room, eventually finding the first aid kit hidden under the front of the bed. The doctor quickly disassembled the kit messily on the floor, putting on a pair of gloves and grabbing a brown bottle from the kit. 

“So like- how do we fix this? The hallucinations?” Ranboo questioned. 

“I can prescribe medicine that should do the trick, but I think he just needs someone to be there for him. To make sure he knows the things he’s seeing aren’t real.” The liquid he poured on Charlie’s wound sizzled as the chemicals did their thing. “I will say, Mabel, yelling at him was a bit overkill. It didn’t help him at all.”

Mabel kept her eyes on the floor. “I know…”

“Apparently not, but now you do.”

They stayed quiet as the doctor wrapped Charlie’s head with bandages. Ranboo thought they were angry at Mabel for yelling at Charlie, but they knew she was just trying to help. In her own way. That happened to be wrong and made Charlie spiral further. Seeing her now, holding Charlie’s head up with such care and eyes full of tears and guilt, they forgave her. They knew Charlie would too. There just seemed to be some underlying problem that was closely associated with Showfall, which made Ranboo remember his conversation he had with the doctor before the surgery. 

That she worked for them at some point? Maybe. Think about it. She knows a lot about this secretive company.

From what she told me, her best friend’s death was broadcasted just like yours was. Except she didn’t make it in time. 

There was no doubt in Ranboo’s mind that Mabel, at some point, probably worked for Showfall. They’d tried to deny it for as long as they could, but there were too many facts stacked against her- like how she knew everything and anything about the mall. Maybe she just panicked when she saw Charlie freaking out, nothing more nothing less. 

Once Charlie’s head was wrapped, Doctor Lamb sat back with a sigh. “All right, let’s get him down to the OR.”

“Why?” Ranboo asked, carefully eying the girl in front of them. She was staring at Charlie’s bandages with a look of utter devastation, like Charlie’s injury physically hurt her too.

“I don’t know if his neck is injured. We can’t take any chances, super healing or not.”

So, very carefully, Mabel, Ranboo and Doctor Lamb carried Charlie down to the operating room. It was insanely difficult getting him down the stairs, as Doctor Lamb yelled nearly every time Charlie’s head moved an inch, but they somehow did it. They set him on the table Ranboo occupied just moments ago, and the doctor immediately began bustling around. 

Mabel watched him, hesitation evident on her face. “What can I do to-”

“Help? I think you’ve done enough already, Mabel. Go work on that stuff you were so stressed about earlier,” Doctor Lamb dismissed with a wave of his hand. 

Even Ranboo felt a pang in their chest from that comment. He didn’t even get to look at her before she was out the door, closing it gently behind her. They turned back to the doctor. He was still collecting items needed to patch Charlie up properly. 

“Don’t you think that was a little harsh?” they asked quietly. 

“What? Traumatizing a patient further?” Doctor Lamb scoffed. He came back to the table, setting the instruments and bandages on the rolling cart beside him. “She just got a brutal reality check, that’s all. There was no need to yell at him at all and yet, what did she do? I’m not harsh, I’m brutally honest.”

Ranboo glanced between the door and the doctor. They knew Charlie would be fine. He was in good hands, and he had advanced healing. Besides, the overwhelming scent of bleach and cleaning products were clogging their recently freed nostrils. 

They closed the door behind them just as Mabel did. They didn’t have a clue where she could’ve gone, but they wanted to find her. To reassure her or to get more answers… they didn’t know. 

They heard a thump to the left. At the end of the hall there was a window, where he spotted a glimpse of a moving head of hair. Ranboo followed, finding the door Mabel just exited out of. He raced after her as she ran into the woods. They didn’t mean to undermine her further, but she was a slow runner, and she didn’t seem to be paying attention to her surroundings.

She yelped as her foot caught on a tree root. She tumbled, rolling on the ground before coming to a stop. 

“Mabel!”

She stayed on the ground, unmoving, and for a moment Ranboo thought she’d be the one lying on the operating table after Charlie. They stopped, kneeling beside her. She was shaking violently. Ranboo didn’t know what to do. Then they heard it. Sniffles. Muffled sniffs that seemed to echo in the dense forest.

“Mabel?” they asked, concerned. 

Her body racked with sobs. Ugly, loud, harrowing hiccups shoved their way out of her throat. Ranboo didn’t know why it suddenly threw him for a loop to see her crying like that. She’d just acted so strong, so invincible, it seemed that nothing could tear her down. Or maybe it was because it was so unexpected. It was so weird to see a girl who was so independent and strong to crumble just from falling. 

She was mumbling something. 

“What?”

Finally, she rolled over, reaching up to lower her mask. Dirt smudged her forehead, and pine straws and acorn pieces were stuck in her hair. Her eyes were squeezed shut, the tears leaking out of the corners. Her face was twisted in agony. 

“Are- are you hurt? Mabel?”

She kept shaking her head over and over, hiding her face in her hands. “Sorry… so so sorry…”

Ranboo was at a loss. What could they do in this situation? 

“I’m so-” a hiccup “-sorry I didn’t mean to I really didn’t, Jamie-”

Jamie?

Oh. 

Oh.

Her best friend. The one that died at the end of his show.

Except she didn’t make it in time. 

Ranboo placed a tentative hand on her shoulder. She jumped, rising to a sitting position. Her eyes were bloodshot, wet with new waves of tears. Snot ran from both her nostrils. There was some sort of emotion in her eyes that was wrong. Like she wasn’t truly aware of where she was and what she was doing. 

“I’m sorry, Ranboo. I’m so sorry-”

“Hey, it wasn’t your fault,” they replied anxiously. “You were just trying to help-”

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” 

“Mabel!” Ranboo exclaimed, grabbing both her shoulders and giving her a light shake. “Mabel, it was not your fault . Okay? You just… It wasn’t a good situation to be in.”

She sniffled. “Is he-”

“He’s fine. Doctor Lamb is patching him up right now.”

She wiped her eyes, trying to even out her breathing. “I’m sorry you had to see me like this… I’m not usually like this but-”

“It was a tough subject,” they said. They were scared to bring up her best friend, especially when she was in a devastated state. He just wanted to hear it from her. “Mabel, you said the name Jamie… you weren’t thinking about Charlie when you apologized, were you?”

A few stray tears fell into the dirt. Mabel looked up to the canopy, searching for something in the starry sky. “I was, it’s just-... every time I saw Charlie freak out, I saw Jamie. He was-”

“Your best friend,” Ranboo finished. She looked at him surprised, perhaps horrified. “Doctor Lamb told me,” he clarified. 

She exhaled, leaning back on her hands, her eyes once again finding the sky. “What did he tell you?”

“Not much of anything, really. He knew jack shit.” Ranboo lay down on the forest floor. 

“Yeah, well… I like keeping things that way about the people I work with. They don’t need to know everything about my life.”

“I’d like to know if I’m going to be trusting you and temporarily living with you,” Ranboo said. “Honestly. I don’t like it when I fall asleep and miss every important conversation you and Charlie have.”

“Sor-”

“Don’t say that. It's not your fault.”

The wind rustled the branches. 

“Jamie was just… a lot like Charlie. And you. I guess that’s why I worked myself up into a panic.”

“How was he like us?” Ranboo asked. Through the many tree branches and pine needles, the stars shone brightly above. One in particular shone brighter than the rest. Ranboo hadn’t realized it, but they had missed the beauty of the sky and its many looks. 

Mabel shrugged, wiping her nose on her sleeve. “Just very open and honest, a little too carefree which got him in a bit of trouble. He was never afraid to break the rules or tell someone when they were being an asshole.”

“But you’re like that.”

“Not originally. He rubbed off on me.” In the dark, they could see a smile tugging on her lips, but she refused to let it show itself. “You’re mad at me, aren’t you?”

Ranboo tilted their head. “For what?”

She slapped her knees. They wondered where the sudden aggressiveness was coming from. “I dunno, for traumatizing Charlie even more? Come on, man, surely you’re mad. Punch me, kick me, yell at me, just… be mad at me! Why are you so calm?”

They sat up, resting their elbows on their knees. “Because I’ve already forgiven you. I mean, yeah I was mad at first but now… I see that you’re just as traumatized as us. I can’t be mad at someone who's struggling just as I am.”

She looked like she was about to burst into tears again. 

“Jamie’s death hit you hard, and that’s okay. We all need time to grieve in our own ways.” Ranboo was surprised at their own advice, seeing as they needed to follow it as well. 

“Yeah…” she trailed off. Mabel blinked at him, taking a deep breath. “You said you want to know about my life if you’re gonna trust me?”

“Yep.”

“What if I lie?”

“You wouldn’t. You couldn’t . Your eyes are a dead giveaway.”

Mabel scoffed, a smile involuntarily making its way across her face. “I’m that emotional, huh?”

“There’s nothing wrong with that.”

They sat there for a moment, just taking in the beauty of nature and the nice breeze Mother Nature provided. Ranboo followed Mabel’s eyes, staring at the brightest star in the sky. 

“What do you want to know?”

“Whatever you want to tell me.”

She thought for a moment, humming a tune to herself Ranboo didn’t recognize. 

“I guess I can start from the beginning,” she said. “But first, I gotta ask because this is Doctor Lamb that spoke to you about this: do you think I used to work for Showfall?”

Ranboo felt like they’d been exposed. “Uh… a little bit, yeah, if I’m being honest.”

She nodded. “A normal assumption, honestly. But that’s not really what happened. I was already on my own when Jamie went missing. I’ve got a job that just barely scrapes by with the bills, let alone food and shit. I also go to school, where I’m now a senior. I’ve gotta start thinking of applying to colleges and shit I don’t have time to do.”

“Do you want to go to college?” Ranboo asked curiously. 

“It doesn’t seem possible, but if I could, I probably would. I’d always wanted to be a marine biologist, and there’s not much required in college to become one,” she said, her eyes alight with hope that made Ranboo’s chest swell with possibility.

Maybe, eventually, they can hope to have goals like that, too. Once they figure out what the fuck was going on in their life.

“But uh… I don’t think it’ll happen because I’m more focused on taking Showfall down. There’s something happening, I think. Something’s different. They’re changing their ways.”

“Maybe it’ll be easier to take them down then,” Ranboo said. 

Mabel shrugged, reaching to pick up a few pine needles. She began braiding them together absentmindedly. “Maybe. But ever since Jamie died, I’ve been on my own again. I have his car, because his parents couldn’t even look at it without bursting into tears. Like somehow giving it to me is the better option in my mental state.”

“How long has Jamie been gone?” 

“I don’t even know at this point. Maybe a year? He went missing… oh when was it… last August? No, no it was sophomore year when I didn’t have my license. So two August’s ago. It’s August now so… a little over two years. Damn,” she exhaled, “time just blurs together when I’m working myself to death.”

Ranboo sat silently, waiting for her to speak again. Though, after what she’s already shared, they were half tempted to just call it a night and go to bed. But her shoulders were steadily falling back into place, the weight finally being lifted off of them. She needed this just as much as he did.

“After Jamie’s death, it was just school, work, sleep, repeat. Nothing else. I pushed off my grief and self-hatred so I could pay my bills but it just kept bottling up until-” she imitated an explosion “-I’m sitting on the grass talking to you about my troubles when you’re already dealing with enough.”

“I don’t think of these things as troubles, I’m just… still trying to work on trusting you,” Ranboo admitted. “This is helping a bit, I think. I want to trust you, especially after all the troubles you’ve gone through to help us, but I just can’t for some reason.”

“It’s okay,” Mabel said, throwing her braided pine needles to the floor and averting her eyes back to the sky. “It's normal to be like that after what Hetch did to you. I honestly didn’t think I’d be having this conversation with you for a while.”

“Me neither.”

They shared a small smile before looking back towards the house. 

“I knew something was wrong with Jamie when he started muttering about how they’ve found him,” Mabel mumbled, surprising Ranboo with the sudden topic change. “He just kept looking over his shoulder like someone was following him. Sometimes he’d just leave school and go home because he was so scared…”

She started picking at the loose strings hanging off her sweatpants. “Seeing Charlie with the same symptoms… I couldn’t stop thinking of Jamie, and what I could’ve done differently to help. I didn’t know what was wrong with him at the time and now… I just wish I could go back with what I know and actually help him instead of staring at him like he’s fucking psycho. I wanted to help Charlie. I really did, but I went about it the wrong way.”

“Charlie looked at me the same way when I woke him up from his live streaming,” Ranboo admitted. “I don’t have the same regrets as you. I do have them, though. I just don’t think our situation could’ve gone differently if we tried.”

Mabel sighed with the wind. Ranboo was still getting used to seeing her face without the mask, just as he was still getting used to the feeling of not having a mask attached to his body. They were glad she trusted them enough to keep the mask off when talking, which made them feel even more guilty for not fully trusting her fully yet even though she was telling the truth the entire time. 

Ranboo stretched their arms over their head, shivering with a particularly cold gust of wind. “I think it’s a little cold out here, don’t you think?”

Mabel glanced at him knowingly. “A little bit.”

“We should go back inside.” Ranboo rose to their feet, offering Mabel a hand. “From what I’ve heard, you didn’t have a shower before going to bed yesterday.”

The girl took their hand and stood up with ease, scoffing as she did so. She pulled her mask back up. “That doctor can fuck off with all that. He’s such a clean freak! You cannot tell me that man has never fallen asleep without taking a shower beforehand. Everyone has at some point!”

They trekked back to the house, being careful and avoiding the exposed tree roots this time. 

“Do you not trust Doctor Lamb and Doctor Wilson with your identity?” Ranboo blurted. 

“What do you mean?”

“You keep your mask up around them but not me and Charlie.”

“Oh. Like I said earlier, they don’t need to know everything about my life. They trust me enough, and I trust them enough because we both have one goal in common. To help escapees. Besides, I spend more time with escapees than I do with them, it’s only natural that you guys get to see my face more.”

“You just don’t like them seeing your face, do you?”

“That too.”

“Nice to know I’m trusted.” They opened the door, feeling a warmth from the heater wrapping around them as they stepped inside. 

In the light, Mabel looked… like she’d been rolling in dirt, obviously. The dirt stained her clothes, the small twigs and pine needles still littered her hair, some even falling to the pristine polished floors. He was scared to see the imprints their shoes would make and how the doctor would react. 

He shouldn’t care though, right? ‘Cause he had to sell the house anyway.

“Which room are you in?” they asked as they began the walk back to their room.

“The one down the hall from yours.”

They walked up the stairs, pausing in the middle of the hallway. Mabel looked at her door, her eyes drooping with exhaustion. Still, she turned to Ranboo. 

“If you want to know anything else about me that’ll help your brain trust me, lemme know. I’m not gonna bite.”

“I know.”

She waved a hand. “Night, Ranboo. Try to get some sleep.”

They returned the wave. “Same for you. Try to shower first though.”

Mabel barked out a laugh as she closed the door to her room. Ranboo went to their room with the same idea in mind. A new change of clothes, perhaps a shower. For once, since they left the mall, they were starting to feel like they could finally relax.

Chapter Text

To Ranboo, the next day was the same. They were still getting used to the idea of being able to relax and not look over their shoulder 24/7. There was one thing troubling them, though. 

The tense silence in the car. 

They’d left Doctor Lamb’s pretty early in the morning. Mabel provided them with duffel bags from her room and told them to pack as many clothes as they could carry. Which wasn't a problem at all for the two escapees, except for the fact that she wouldn’t look Charlie in the eye when talking.

It was so much worse when they walked to the garage, seeing Mabel’s real car, or Jamie’s old car. It was then that Ranboo realized how long this car ride would actually be, considering how Mabel refused to even glance at Charlie. Anything she said was directed at Ranboo. He sent a look at a very confused Charlie saying we’ll talk about it later .

Her car, however, was actually fitting for the girl. It wasn’t as big as the SUV she drove to Doctor Lambs, just maybe a size smaller, with a bunch of nicknacks in the interior. There were fake vines taped across the ceiling of the car, the wheel had a dark green bedazzled cover, as well as the gearshift. There were small cherry blossom stickers placed across her dashboard, surrounding the small display screen in the center. 

And poor Charlie was stuck in the backseat with a bunch of different items. A water gun on the floor, an umbrella under the seat, a few notebooks haphazardly thrown on the seats. He cleared aside some of the debris, opting to sit behind Ranboo. 

Mabel connected her phone to the car, using a GPS to plug in her address. She played a playlist that seemed fitting. Not upbeat or loud, but soft and scenic. She kept the volume of the music at a minimum, too, which Ranboo thought was odd. They were happy to be hearing new music. Why was she keeping it low?

One thing Ranboo noticed, though- because the car was so quiet and the volume of the music was low, they could hear Mabel’s fingers tapping on the gearshift. She tapped along to the lyrics, not the beat, which again, Ranboo thought was odd. They didn’t know the songs playing, but they were lazily tapping to the drum beat. 

It was only when they got on the freeway once again that Charlie finally spoke up. 

“Mabel, are you upset with me?”

Ranboo internally sighed. Or we’ll talk about it now.

She blinked. Finally, she glanced at him from the rearview mirror. “What? No, why would you think that?” 

Ranboo exhaled as quietly as they could. She unintentionally spoke fast, which made it sound like she was mad at him for some reason. Ranboo wished she’d just come out and say what she told them the night before. 

“I mean, until now you wouldn’t even look at me.”

“I-... that’s not-” she chuckled nervously, reaching up to pull her mask further up her nose. 

“See? You can’t look at me for more than two seconds.”

“I’m also driving, Charlie.”

Charlie sighed. “Just… Why are you upset? And don’t try and say you aren’t because we both know that’s not true.”

Mabel snuck a glance at Ranboo, who just shrugged lightly and waved encouragingly. It took her a second, and a switch of a lane before she finally started talking again.

“I told you about Jamie, right?”

Charlie nodded tentatively with a frown on his face. “Yeah. Your best friend.”

“Before he went missing, he talked the same way you did. About people finding him and all that,” she said. Her fingers tapping lyrics hit the gear shift harder. “You talking like that just reminded me of him and I… freaked out. And took it out on you. There’s no excuse for that and I’m sorry. I really am sorry.”

Ranboo could feel Charlie’s eyes boring into the back of their head. 

“I don’t blame you,” Charlie said. “I mean, I was freaking out, you were freaking out… There's nobody in the wrong here.”

Mabel just nodded curtly, swallowing nervously.

“That’s why you couldn’t look at me? ‘Cause I reminded you of Jamie?”

“Yeah… more or less. You just-.”

She suddenly slammed on the brakes, causing them to fly forward into their seat belts. She honked her horn. “What the fuck, dude? The fuck’s wrong with you? Don’t you know how to use a fuckin’ turn signal? How the fuck did you get your fuckin’ license? Asshole.”

Ranboo snickered, which had Mabel’s head turning on a swivel to look at him.

“What?”

“You’re very creative with your insults.”

“Wha- well-... ugh,” she sighed, leaning back in her seat. Her fingers tapped insistently. “You’re not wrong…”

Charlie leaned forward, recognizing how she didn’t avoid his eyes anymore. “So, I know we’ve probably asked this a million times, but what’s gonna happen once we get back to your house?”

Mabel changed lanes again, speeding up to pass the car that cut her off. “Uh… well, I’ve gotta go grocery shopping again. You guys have some clothes but I’ll also have to take you one day to pick out some things you want. It’ll mostly just be you guys getting used to the real world. Maybe remembering some things.”

“Remember things? How?” Ranboo asked. Whenever they remembered something, it was a snippet of a memory, never the entire thing. 

“I don’t know. It’s different for everyone. Some people get them back through their dreams, some just get them back in random flashes throughout the day. I thought that removing your mask would give yours back, though,” she said disappointedly. 

Most of the car ride from there was silent, other than Mabel answering questions about the normal world. They did pass two more billboards advertising the Spirit of the Cabin, making the two escapees queasy thinking about what happened only mere days ago. 

Ranboo wondered what they liked. If they liked video games, or what kind of foods they liked. They’d really just been trudging along ever since their escape, not really caring about what they eat or what they liked to wear. But now they had freedom . They were free to choose what they wanted to wear, when they’d wear it, or do whatever they wanted to do. The puppet strings were no longer attached, and it was… relieving. But also scary.

Because they had no idea what to do. Everything had been chosen for them, done for them. All they had to do was sit back and be the Hero. That reality was shattered now, and they had no idea who they were. What they were like. All they knew was the Hero. The corrupt, cowardly Hero. 

Ranboo was glad Mabel was their guide in this new reality. She was nothing but kind and helpful. 

When it hit noon, Mabel finally turned them off the interstate. They passed multiple fast food places with lines wrapped around the building, gas stations where people honked at each other as they cut in line. They stopped at a red light, waiting patiently for the green. Mabel looked over at Ranboo when her eyes went past him, through the window. 

“Oh shit, get down! Charlie get down!” she hissed. 

Charlie panicked, unbuckling his seat belt and sliding down to the floor of the car. 

“Ranboo, pull the lever on the side of your seat!”

“There’s two!” 

“Pull the smaller one!”

As soon as they pulled the lever, their seat went backwards. It went all the way down, hitting the backseat Charlie occupied. Speaking of, Charlie grunted when the seat hit his back full force.

“Dude! Are you trying to kill me?” he said. 

“Sorry.”

Ranboo tried to crane their neck above the backseat window to see what had Mabel so panicked, but was pushed back down by the girl. 

“Don’t move.”

The car lurched forwards as she stepped on the gas. They stayed down for a few minutes, wondering what the hell was going on until she finally said, “okay, it’s clear.”

Ranboo pulled the lever again, raising their seat back up, much to Charlie’s relief. 

“What the fuck was that?” Charlie asked as he put his seat belt back on. He rubbed his back with a grimace. 

“There was a Showfall car,” she said. 

“Aren’t your windows tinted, though?” Ranboo questioned. 

“Yeah but they can still see inside. If they saw you guys…” she trailed off, shaking her head.

“We’d be goners,” Charlie finished. 

“Right.”

They stayed alert for the rest of the ride, listening to the music.

The group, surprisingly, didn’t run into any trouble the rest of the way. At one point, Mabel did have to get gas, where she told them to get down again just in case. They had no idea who was listening and watching but it was safe to assume it was everyone . 

After that, the rest of the way was backroads, where they occasionally passed another vehicle. They passed a few houses on acres of open land, a few having hay bales laying in the middle of the fields. Some houses had old rusted cars hanging out in the driveway, seemingly unused for years and only there because the owners promised to fix it up. 

Finally, Mabel turned onto a gravel road leading into the woods, just like Doctor Lamb’s house. Coming up on a crossroads, she turned left and kept straight. 

“Welcome to my place.”

It was a medium sized house, with more height instead of width. Likely two stories including the attic, with a very small, dingy front porch with a single lantern hanging over the door. The gravel driveway rounded into a circle, where Mabel pulled up past the porch and parked right by the side of the house. It looked just like the cabin Doctor Wilson occupied, at least, on the outside. It was made up of giant logs, with a green shingle roof and a stone chimney.

Mabel turned off the ignition and got out, heading to the trunk to get their bags. “It’s not much by any means, but it’s home.”

“No, it’s very nice,” said Charlie. He grabbed one of the duffel bags and slung it over his shoulder, following the girl up the two stairs leading to the porch. The wood was old, definitely rotting and definitely in need of a remodel. 

She dug a set of keys out of her pocket and unlocked the door, flipping a light switch as she took off her shoes. “Come on in, boys.”

The two stepped inside, marveling at the amount of stuff in the house. It was clean and organized, but there was just so much stuff. They were in the living room, where an old chocolate-colored couch faced a large TV. A low coffee table sat in front of the couch, a few rainbow colored coasters sitting atop the glass center of the table. Surrounding the TV were bookshelves lined with all sorts of different books and figurines. Above the TV was a garland, probably made from yarn, of stars and crescent moons. 

The overhead ceiling fan lights were warm and bright, not blinding. There were small pictures hung up on the walls: some of nature and animals, and some of people. Further into the house was the kitchen, which opened up to the living room. Barstools lined the counter facing the living room, and the granite countertops were a little dusty but otherwise shimmering clean. A calendar was pinned to the wall beside the barstools, clearly not updated. It was a little cold in the house, as the ceiling fan kicked on when Mabel turned the lights on. It also faintly smelled like vanilla and… dust? Was dust a smell?

“There’s two guest rooms upstairs you guys can take. Like I said, I’ll have to take you guys out eventually to get new clothes and stuff but for now we’ll have to make do. I also tried to get new clothes before going to the mall but I mean… i didn’t really know what size clothing y’all wore so I don’t really-”

“Mabel. It’s fine, really. This is better than living in your car in the same pair of clothes,” Ranboo reassured. 

Mabel walked past the kitchen, passing two sliding glass doors leading out to a back deck, old and rotting like the front porch. “I’ll show y’all the rooms.”

To the left of the kitchen was a staircase with a small landing and a window. The carpeted stairs led up to a smaller hallway with a few doors on either side. She passed the first door, which had a cat sticker on the knob. Then she opened the second door on the left. 

“This is one of them.”

A small bedroom with a twin sized bed, a dresser on one wall and a bedside table holding a lamp. There was a multicolored circular rug on the floor in front of the bed. The bed itself had a plaid pattern comforter, red and blue color scheme and a neatly folded yarn blanket at the foot of the mattress. The window next to the dresser had light blue curtains blocking the outside world. There was a painting of a lake hanging on the wall opposite of the dresser. 

It may have been too early to start saying something like this, but Ranboo practically melted in the comfort the room provided. The feeling of privacy, of safety, of everything they didn’t have at Showfall… dare they say they could get used to this. 

Ranboo set their bag on the bed. “I call this one.”

“Oh. That was easy. Then this one will be yours, Charlie,” Mabel said, opening the door directly opposite of Ranboo’s. 

It was like a carbon copy of Ranboo’s room, with only a few small details changed. Charlie’s room had a windowsill you could sit on, with cushions lining the sil. The comforter on the bed was the same plaid pattern but with a blue and silver color scheme and a black blanket neatly folded at the bottom of the bed. Instead of a lake painting, there was a painting of a galaxy. 

Charlie must’ve been feeling the same emotions as Ranboo, as he walked into the room slowly, cautiously- still in disbelief they had something to themselves for once. Something they owned, if only temporarily. 

“My room is that door with the cat sticker on it. I don’t care if y’all go in there, just please don’t open any drawers on my dresser,” she said. 

“Why?” Charlie asked, placing his bag on the bed just as Ranboo did. 

“Uh… you don’t want to accidentally see a bra, now do you?” 

“Oh shit, no, no no no, you’re right.”

“We got it,” Ranboo said uncomfortably. 

“Right, and then the door at the end of the hall there is one bathroom, and the one across from my bedroom is my bathroom. Sorry I can’t give you guys individual bathrooms but… this was all I could afford.”

“Mabel, this is… I don’t even-” Ranboo said. “It’s more than enough. Really. I don’t care how small the room is or if I have to share a bathroom. This is just…”

“It's better than anything we know,” Charlie added. “This place is so comforting in a way that I didn’t even know was possible.”

“If anything, I thought you guys would feel cramped.”

“Nah. This is perfect,” Ranboo said. 

Mabel took off her mask, showing her soft smile. “Guess I don’t need to wear this anymore.” She stretched her arms above her head, grunting loudly as something popped. “I need to check y’all’s bandages. I’ll be right back.”

She rushed back downstairs, leaving the two in silence. They looked at each other for a moment. Thinking. They’d made it. The thought made Ranboo’s eyes tear up. All they could think of was how everyone else deserved to be there with them, settling into a temporary new home. Settling into their new lives. 

Ranboo just couldn’t shake the feeling that they were back in that mall. They couldn’t shake the feeling that Showfall reprogrammed them, ridding their memories of Charlie and himself, preparing to begin the cycle again with a new cast. 

They wiped at their eyes desperately, trying to keep the tears at bay. They suddenly felt arms wrap around them, the sounds of sniffling echoing in the room. 

“I know.” Was all Charlie said. They knew he would be the only one who actually understood.

“We’re going back for them,” Ranboo said, wiping their eyes. 

“Yeah we are.”

But for now, it was just the two of them against a fucked up world. Ranboo returned the hug, resting their cheek on Charlie’s shoulder. 

Footsteps thundered up the stairs, and Mabel was back with scissors and bandages in hand. She paused in the doorway. “You guys okay?” she asked. 

“Yeah, sorry, just uh…” Ranboo said, sniffling. Charlie pulled away to sit on the bed next to them. “Thinking too much. About what happened.”

Mabel nodded solemnly. She carefully stepped into the room, taking a seat on the bed beside Ranboo. “I’m sorry I didn’t get there in time to save the others.”

“There’s nothing you could’ve done.”

“We’re just glad you got to us when you did,” Charlie added. “And we’re going back to save them.”

“Yeah,” they agreed. 

Mabel put the bandages in her hap, holding the scissors up gently. “Try not to move, Ranboo.”

They felt her move aside some of their hair, the cool metal hitting their skin and giving them goosebumps. She cut the bandages quickly and skillfully, watching them fall to their lap. The air hit their face, still a foreign feeling. 

“The incision from the surgery has healed pretty quickly,” Mabel commented. She looked them straight in the face, her expression indecipherable. “You should be good without bandages. Though… your face…”

Ranboo reached up, touching the skin. Where the mask once was now held rough, scarred skin. It traveled from their jaw, over the bridge of their nose. The tracker and mask may have been gone, but Showfall was still there. Tormenting him. 

“Your turn, Charlie.”

Mabel stood, moving to stand in front of the man. She performed the same motions, allowing the bandages to fall around them. The gash on his forehead was still scabbed, but healed tremendously overnight. She made sure to check the wound on the back of his head, which had healed completely. 

“You guys should be good.” She pulled out her phone to check the time. “I’ll get started on making something to eat.”

“Mabel?” 

She turned from the doorway. 

“What do we do now?” Ranboo asked. 

That sentence made her look like she was going to cry. 

“I dunno. That’s up to you, I guess.”

Chapter Text

Mabel’s house was very cozy. The girl clearly lived in it to the fullest. Before dinner, she’d hung up small lights around the upstairs hallway- opting to not use the yellowish overhead lights. When Mabel came and got them for dinner, Charlie noticed how many things in the house looked hand crafted. 

In the living room, there was a pillow resting on the couch, completely made of yarn. Same as the beautiful purple blanket hanging off the couch. Then there was the star and moon garland hanging above the TV. It provided the house with a more personal touch, more personality. 

Charlie’s eyes scanned the books, attempting to read the spines which proved futile. The font was too small to read from that far. He sat down on one of the barstools, eyeing the plate set out on the counter. Pasta with chicken in it, covered in a white sauce that smelled heavenly. Charlie nearly cried at the smell of it. 

Mabel took her plate and sat on the couch, reaching for the TV remote on the coffee table. She pointed it at the TV, only to hesitate and look back at the two eating by the kitchen. “Hey.”

They both looked up at her. Charlie had alfredo sauce on the tip of his nose and smudged on the side of his mouth, while Ranboo hadn’t even picked up their fork yet. She acknowledged Ranboo’s lack of enthusiasm to eat. 

“Do you guys uh… do you want to watch something?” she asked in a small voice. 

Charlie felt kinda bad, mostly because he knew they were obstructing her normal schedule just by being in the house. They were disrupting her routine, if even by a little bit. Coming into the new world, Charlie could understand the importance of developing a routine. He himself was so frazzled by how calm and collected the world outside of Showfall was, and from the constant traveling and getting injured, he was tired. He wanted something normal for once.

Maybe a routine was the way to go. Maybe incorporating a schedule that existed peacefully alongside Mabel’s would benefit all of them. 

Charlie looked to Ranboo, who was still staring at their plate of untouched food. He thought back to what they said about food and what they saw instead. It made sickeningly perfect sense how Ranboo didn’t have an appetite, considering how Showfall literally let them starve until they could be reset with a ‘full stomach’, which was empty in reality. Ranboo was forced to feel that pain over and over because the company didn’t want to take the mask off.

It fueled his anger even more, seeing them now- hands limp in their lap as they stared blankly at the food. Charlie felt guilty for chowing down on his portion. 

He almost forgot Mabel asked a question. “Uhh… I don’t- watch something?”

“Yeah, like a TV show or movie. I have Netflix and Disney Plus, but that’s kinda it, unfortunately.”

Charlie faintly remembered these things. He was kind of scared though. TV’s were not really a good thing in his brain, seeing as he was attacked and nearly killed by a TV monster. Even the sight of one had the feeling of phantom claws digging into his stomach. He was willing to try though. This was one small step on the road to recovery.

“Whatever you want,” he ended up saying, trying to offer a reassuring nod. 

She nodded back, her focus switching to Ranboo. “Ranboo? Are you okay?”

They jumped slightly in their seat, quickly turning to meet Mabel’s eye. “Huh?” they said.

Mabel set her plate on the coffee table, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees. “I asked if you were okay. You haven’t moved in a few minutes.”

“Oh uh, yeah… I’m…” they faltered. “Not hungry.”

The girl frowned, her eyes full of sadness that reflected the lamp light. “Ranboo… you haven’t eaten anything since I’ve met you. That was like four days ago now. You’ve got to be starving…”

Charlie set his fork down when he noticed Ranboo’s shoulders slowly rising to touch their ears. 

“Remember what I said before your surgery? Your body needs nutrients. You have to eat something, even if it’s just a bite of noodle. Especially since you actually did have surgery,” she coaxed. 

Charlie couldn’t really tell how Ranboo was feeling, but he knew they were tired as well. Their posture was deflated, slouching in their seat. 

“I don’t want to pressure you, Ran, but she’s right. I haven’t seen you eat anything and it’s worrying,” Charlie added. “But hey, if you don’t feel up to it right now, that’s completely okay. We’re not forcing you to do anything. We’re just advising you what’s good for your own recovery.”

Ranboo turned to look at him, and it was sad. Their eyes, so shattered, scattered all over like they truly weren’t sitting there looking directly into Charlie’s eyes. Charlie instantly knew what they were thinking about but didn’t know how to help. Pressuring him to eat was definitely never going to work, but Charlie didn’t want to see them get any skinnier. 

Their eyes were just so defeated, so broken it made Charlie’s throat close up. 

“Can you try?” came Mabel’s delicate question. “Charlie’s right though, it’s completely up to you. And if you don’t like my cooking, I won’t be offended at all. Sometimes I’m surprised by the monstrosities that come out of that oven.”

Ranboo looked back down at the food, lazily picking up the fork and grabbing a piece of chicken and noodles. They cautiously ate the food, their eyes lighting up when the taste finally hit. They chewed slowly, savoring the food. Their eyes brimmed with tears, and they hiccuped as the first ones fell. 

“Is my cooking that bad?...” Mabel said, hesitantly attempting a joke. 

Charlie couldn’t tell if Ranboo laughed or sobbed. 

“It’s amazing,” they said, facing the girl with a mouthful of chicken alfredo and tears streaming down their cheeks. “So good…”

Such an innocent reaction with a dark meaning behind it. Ranboo never ate food at Showfall. They let them starve. Having a meal, a warm, real meal made by someone who did nothing but care for them- it was unknown. Charlie thought, no matter how good or bad Mabel’s cooking was, they’d eat everything she’d make for them.

Mabel smiled, turning back to the TV to scroll through the streaming services. Charlie turned back to his own plate, which was almost empty. He finished the last few remaining bites and got up, putting his plate in the sink. Ranboo ate a couple more bites before stopping, setting the fork down and turning to face the girl. 

“I’m sorry, I can’t finish it.”

“It’s okay,” she said, finally stopping on a movie called Newsies and pressing play. She stood up, returning her own empty plate to the kitchen sink, rinsing off the alfredo sauce with water. “I have extra alfredo to put away anyway, I’ll just put yours alongside it and you can finish whenever you want.”

Mabel grabbed Ranboo’s plate off the bar, searching the various cabinets for some tupperware. Charlie had become enraptured by the movie, listening to the monologue while various pictures of newsboys faded on and off the screen. He honestly thought he’d hate watching TV after everything that happened with Security, but this was so intriguing. He had so many questions already that he wanted answers. 

Like a mindless robot, he somehow managed to find himself sitting on the couch, completely engulfed in the movie as the scene switched to a lodging house, where the newsboys were waking up. 

Ranboo lowered themselves onto the couch beside Charlie, watching the film warily. They didn’t know how to feel about watching people who- unlike them- weren’t being forced to act. Watching people who seemed to actually enjoy being in front of a camera, playing a character to their best ability, it was conflicting. Then the newsboys started singing while getting ready for the day, happily smacking each other around and joking with each other. 

It made Ranboo question why Showfall decided to choose him to be part of the cast. Mabel had said he and Charlie were streamers before going missing. Live streamers. They sat in front of a camera, willingly, making content for an audience watching them live. Why did they do that? What made them stick out to Showfall that it made the company want to ruin his life? 

The couch dipped beside him. Mabel had sat down again, watching the screen just as interested as Charlie was. She bopped her head along with the music, muttering the lyrics under her breath. Ranboo forced themself to relax into the surprisingly comfortable couch, following Mabel’s example of putting his feet on the coffee table. 

They watched the movie silently, other than Charlie asking the occasional question about why are they singing in the streets , and why does nobody watch them perform these amazing songs ? Ranboo got pretty invested in the story relatively quickly. He followed the character David mostly, finding it amusing how he reacted to the Cowboy’s antics. 

Once the movie was over, Charlie had a somewhat happy expression on his face. 

“That was awesome,” he said. “I love that movie.”

“I’m so glad. I swear I’m the only one who likes Newsies around here, it’s ridiculous,” Mabel replied. She stretched while yawning. “You guys can stay here and watch more if you want but I’ve gotta hit the sack. Got a long day tomorrow.”

“What’s tomorrow?” Ranboo asked. 

“I’ve got work. It’s an all day Saturday shift, which means good money.”

“What do you do?” Charlie butted in.

“I’m a waitress at a local restaurant,” she said, standing and reaching to touch her toes. “Well, restaurant slash dive bar. The morning I make good money giving old people their hash browns and sunny side ups, and at night I make good money making people their margaritas and shots.”

“Isn’t that illegal for you to work like that?” Charlie asked, concerned. “I mean, you’re only seventeen.”

“I look old enough. That’s why they hired me for the dive bar. Plus I’m a multitasking freak. I’ll make three drinks in two seconds,” she explained halfheartedly. “It doesn’t matter how old I am as long as I can keep the bar from drowning in a Saturday night crowd.”

“I’ll go to bed, too,” Ranboo voiced, rising to their feet. 

“Guess I’m going too, then,” Charlie said, reaching to turn off the TV the same way he saw Mabel turn it on a few hours prior. 

Mabel was the first one upstairs, going into her room and leaving the door open behind her. As Ranboo and Charlie passed, they caught a glimpse of a chaotic messy but also organized room. She emerged with clothes in her arms, closing the door behind her. 

“I’ll be in the shower for just a minute. I’ve been told the sound of the water in the pipes is kinda loud in your room, Charlie. Sorry, but I can’t afford to smell like… whatever this is when I go in tomorrow.”

“No, you’re good. Your house, your rules.”

Mabel entered her restroom, locking the door behind her. They heard the water running through the pipes a moment later. That just left the two escapees standing in their doorways. 

“Uh… are you really going to sleep?” Charlie questioned.

Ranboo shrugged. “Dunno if I can.” 

A silent understanding between the two. It was either go to sleep and have nightmares, or stay awake and fight your own exhaustion. Neither options were entirely ideal, as both valued sleep, but that rest was often interrupted by nightmares anyway. 

“Might as well try,” Charlie said. He yawned, stepping into his room. His room. “At least lay down and rest your body, okay?”

“Yeah.”

Charlie closed the door about halfway before dragging himself to the bed, tossing his glasses on the nightstand and crawling under the bedsheets. Strands of moonlight shined through the crack of the curtain, ensuring the room wasn’t in complete darkness. Charlie wasn’t necessarily afraid of the dark. He was afraid of spiraling into hallucinations again. 

He scared the shit out of Mabel, bringing up bad memories of a lost friend that surely had to be painful for her. He felt awful about it, but then again, it was out of his control. He can’t control when or where hallucinations happen. He didn’t even know it was a hallucination until he woke up from hitting his head and passing out. Still, that fear of seeing the Slime demon again, without the filter… 

It was enough to keep him awake at night. 

Ranboo was too scared to sleep, lest he see another variation of his dearest friends in some fucked up torturous device- or even worse, seeing himself as the Hero torturing them. 

So he figured he’d stay away from sleep. At least for a few hours. They’d get to sleep eventually. 

In the meantime, staring at the ceiling it is.

Ranboo didn’t really know what to make of the world outside of Showfall. They liked to think they were handling it just fine, but the fear was still there. From what Mabel had implied, Showfall was a popular thing. People loved tuning in, for whatever reason. They knew they couldn’t go anywhere without people potentially recognizing them. Especially wearing the jacket. The jacket would have to stay home.

Home? 

Mabel’s cozy house in the middle of the woods. They’d been there for half a day but they already considered it home? 

Well, they didn’t know any other home at the moment. 

Aside from that, they didn’t know if they’d be able to stay cooped up in the house for long. Despite the intense risk of being recognized in public, they wanted to experience what they’d been missing. What Mabel got to live on a day to day basis. 

Ranboo sighed and sat up, deciding they weren’t going to fall asleep for a while. They shrugged off their jacket and laid it on the bed. It wasn’t cold by any means in their room, but they were getting uncomfortably warm from lying under the covers with the jacket on. They got out of bed, heading out of their room and hesitating beside Charlie’s half closed door. He could hear faint breathing, steadily inhaling and exhaling. 

He peeked his head into the room. Charlie had somehow, in the past hour, fallen asleep- kicked the covers to his feet- and had one of his feet hanging off the bed. Ranboo heard light snores. They were glad Charlie could get some good rest. He definitely needed it after the hallucination scare. 

Ranboo moved on to the last door at the end of the hall, where Mabel said the guest bathroom was. They twisted the doorknob, cringing as the door creaked open. He snuck a glance back, hearing no evidence they woke Charlie or Mabel. 

Stepping into the bathroom, the tile floor was cold against their socks. The bathroom was the size of Ranboo’s room, with the shower and bathtub on the right. On the left, the counter and sink, and in the left corner a toilet with a wooden shelf drilled into the wall above it. The bathroom was completely stocked, completely spotless and clean. Like nobody had been there since Mabel cleaned the place. 

There was a small globe sitting atop the wooden shelf, plugging into an outlet beside the mirror. It spun slowly ‘round and ‘round, a blue light shining the silhouettes of stars and moons across the room. For such a small object, it provided a good amount of light against the dark. 

Ranboo’s eyes found themself in the mirror. 

They were surprised by their own reflection. In the somewhat dim lighting, Ranboo could see the marks on their face. Running along. Instantly, they knew the marks would scar. A permanent reminder of their horrors and bad decisions that, in the end, caused a whole lot of pain. Intentionally or not.

He found himself tracing the lines, the rough, pinkish skin that would stay there for all eternity. Each bump, each ridge in the skin reminded them of the people they left behind. The people they hurt. Even the person sleeping in the room a few doors down. 

Why did the mask have to be attached so deeply to their face? Why did the mask have to leave scars behind, forever ruining their chance to be normal? 

Why couldn’t he look like Charlie, who had no visible scars?

Why, why, why couldn’t they look normal? 

Even Mabel didn’t have scars, and she’d been beaten to hell and back before. How come Ranboo was the only one to come out of the mall with physical, disgusting scars?

They saw the blue stars and moons slowly moving across their face. He was in their line of orbit. Ranboo leaned down, turned on the faucet and splashed their face with cold water. They felt more awake instantly, but regretted the decision a moment later. All they could think about was what happened, why it happened, who the founder is, and why they have to have scars on their face-

They were obstructing the stars’ and moons’ orbit. 

Ranboo turned off the faucet and left the bathroom, closing the door as quietly as possible behind them. It was still quiet as they crept back to their room, not bothering to close the door as they sat on their bed. They touched the jacket they laid out. It didn’t smell the best, and still had dark stains on the sleeves and cuffs and chest panels, but it was intact. They ran their hand down the front of the jacket, pausing when they felt something in the right pocket.

The mask Dr. Wilson gave him. He ran his fingers across the lines, tugging at the elastic bands. He’d honestly forgotten about it until now. As they twisted it around in their hands, the more appealing it became to put it on. It wouldn’t cover all the scarring, but the majority of it would be covered. Nobody would have to look on in horror and ask what the hell happened to them and why they looked like that. 

They, themself, wouldn’t have to look at the scars.

It was only then did Ranboo realize why it was so quiet when they were walking back to their room. He couldn’t hear Charlie’s light snores anymore. 

They turned their head and nearly screamed. Charlie stood in the doorway of his room, half hiding behind the door and half of his body sticking out into the hallway. His hair haphazardly stood in different directions, casting a very interesting shadow onto the carpeted floor. His eyes were glassy. Maybe he’d just woken up from a nightmare or something. Either way, he looked frazzled. 

“Charlie? Why are you up?” Ranboo whispered, actively breathing to calm their racing heart. Talk about a jumpscare. 

Charlie emerged from behind the door, coming to lean in Ranboo’s doorway. “Heard the door creaking,” he replied. 

The bathroom door. Ranboo sighed, making a mental note to try and stay quieter. 

“Sorry.”

“‘S fine.” Charlie nodded at the mask. “That the mask Dr. Wilson gave you?”

“Yeah.”

Charlie seemed to hesitate for a second, expression conflicted. “Are you uh- thinking about wearing it?”

Ranboo nodded, avoiding looking Charlie in the eye. Now when he looked at his best friend’s face, all he could think of was the scars that adorned his face, and how Charlie didn’t have any. 

Charlie frowned. “What’s wrong?”

They shrugged, staring at the mask in hand. “Nothing, really…”

The man moved further into the room. Ranboo scooted over on the bed, bringing their legs up to sit criss-cross to make room for Charlie to sit down. The man sat at the edge of the bed. 

“It’s not nothing if you can’t look me in the eye. Did I do something-”

“No! No,” Ranboo quickly said. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong. If anything, it’s-”

Why couldn’t they just spit it out? Charlie would understand. Surely he would. He’s the only one who really, truly understands the horrors of what happened to them in the mall. He’d done nothing but be a supporting friend, and what had Ranboo given in return? A half-assed attempt of calming him down from a panic attack? 

“Come on, Ran, talk to me. You know you can talk to me, right? Like, that’s a given. I talk to you, you talk to me, we maybe try therapy later-”

They chuckled, playfully kicking Charlie’s leg to get him to stop. Charlie just laughed too, trying to deflect the kicks. Soon the laughing ceased, and they were back in an anticipating silence. 

“So… what’s bothering you?” Charlie asked. 

Ranboo twisted and pulled at the mask. “Showfall. What they did.”

Charlie waited patiently for them to continue. 

“What they did to everyone. To you and to me. What they forced us to do…”

“But that’s not all that’s bothering you, is it?”

They shook their head, reaching up to touch the bridge of their nose. “These.”

Charlie’s eyes followed the scarring. “Is it causing you pain?”

“No,” Ranboo sighed wistfully. “No I just can’t- I can’t look at myself, man. I finally know what I look like and there's a giant scar running across my face. I’m never going to be normal, Charlie. I want to eventually be just like anyone else, just a normal person going through life, but how can I do that when I look like this? People will ask and I can’t tell them the truth because they’ll never believe me! Because Showfall made a reputation for itself.”

They didn’t even know their nails were digging into their face until Charlie pulled their hand away. 

“Hey, don’t do that to yourself,” he said, squeezing Ranboo’s fingers. “It’s going to be difficult for us. Especially right now when we have no idea what’s going on around us or what’s going to happen to us once Mabel gets us settled somewhere.” 

“But you-” they stopped, taking a breath. “But you don’t have scars. Not physical ones, anyway. I do. You’d be able to get a job and- and I don’t know! Do things I won’t be able to do-”

“Okay, that’s a lie,” Charlie said. 

“What is?”

“Everything you just said.”

Ranboo searched the man’s face, his arms, but didn’t see any scarring. “What? But you don’t-”

Charlie sighed, letting go of Ranboo’s hand to lift his shirt up. Lines of fresh scars lined his torso, highlighting the brutality he suffered under Security’s attack. They too, were ragged, rough patches of skin that had healed abnormally fast. There had to be at least twenty marks across his torso. Even in the low light, Ranboo could see even smaller, perhaps older scars reaching past his waist, leading to his back. The ones on his chest weren’t the only ones. There had to be hundreds more that littered his back and sides.

“Pretty ugly, right?” Charlie commented, lowering his shirt with a sigh. “But it just shows how we survived that fucked up place. I’m not proud of my scars at all, I don’t think I ever will be, but mine are reminding me of how we made it out of there. How we’re going to go back and save our friends, because that’s what’s right.”

Ranboo looked down at the mask again. “I can’t think like you can. All I see is the death and pain I’ve caused. It doesn’t help that I see them everywhere. When I sleep, sometimes even during the day. When I see this- this disgusting mark on my face, all I can think about is how it should’ve been me that was left behind at that mall. How it should’ve been Sneeg and Niki and Ethan and everyone else who made it out. Sometimes, when I catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror, I want to join them, wherever they are. I don’t want to live and look at myself if it’ll only make me even more guilty that they aren’t sitting here right now.”

Charlie had been stunned into silence, and for a minute, the only noise in the room was Ranboo’s strained breathing as they tried to keep it together. They hadn’t meant to overshare like that- he hadn’t planned on telling Charlie of his visions and nightmarish thoughts that followed him during the day, but oh well. It was out in the open now. 

“Ranboo…” Charlie said, still trying to process. “You have to understand that-”

“It wasn’t my fault, I know,” they said sadly. “I’m trying to get used to the idea that I wasn’t the bad guy here.”

“I’ll tell you as many times as you need to hear it. And… please, if you ever get those thoughts again, please , come find me. We’re gonna work this all out. Promise.”

Ranboo felt exhausted from the conversation, though they had to be talking for a total of five minutes. Still, they managed a small nod. “Promise.”

“I’m serious. Don’t bottle it all up. I like Mabel, but it’s just us that we can lean on when talking about this kind of thing,” Charlie said, eyes darting to the side, looking for someone that wasn’t there. 

“I promise I’ll talk to you,” Ranboo said, reaching over to clap Charlie’s shoulder. “Only if you promise the same thing. I’m not the only one with issues here.”

Charlie snickered halfheartedly. “I promise to talk about my problems when they’re bothering me.”

The silence that passed over this time was more natural. The kind of quiet where friends are trying to find another topic to talk about. Not too awkward while also comforting, just being in the same room as someone else who gets it . 

“So the mask- the one you’re holding…” Charlie said. “Are you gonna wear it?”

Ranboo examined the mask, though they’d done it multiple times already. Nothing had changed. “I’ve been thinking about it. People wouldn’t recognize me with the mask on, but they’d see the scars. They would recognize me if I did have it on though.”

“What do you want to do?” Charlie asked. 

They didn’t really know yet. They had a general idea, but nothing close to a solid choice. 

“I don’t know. I guess I’ll just figure it out,” they shrugged. Ranboo felt kinda bad for dumping all of their bad thoughts and problems onto Charlie without allowing the man a chance to express his own troubles. Because Charlie did have troubles. He wasn’t invincible. “Charlie, did you really wake up to the door creaking open? Or was it something else?”

The man’s expression suddenly fell, confirming everything Ranboo suspected. 

“I know I said to get some sleep, but I can’t really do that myself,” he said truthfully. “I’m just scared that I’ll see myself as the Slime demon again. And the hallucinations… I don’t want that to happen again.”

Ranboo didn’t know exactly what Charlie saw, but he was very curious. “What did you see?”

“A few things. I heard and saw Hetch. I saw a bunch of Showfall’s employees. But I saw the Slime demon again. Without the filter on.”

Ranboo grimaced. He hated Showfall for sure- no question about it- but they were kinda thankful they had the filter on when he first met Charlie. He’d only seen the Slime demon once without the filter on, in his nightmare, and he never really wanted to see it again. He could only imagine Charlie’s horror: seeing himself dressed in gore and laughing maniacally.

“He yelled at me, and I fell and hit my head. I didn’t hallucinate for long but I just couldn’t… I couldn’t handle it. Seeing myself like that scared me so bad I’ve been having trouble convincing myself to go to bed. I’ll fall asleep just fine, I’m just scared, you know?”

“Kinda.”

“Yeah. I’m just scared I’ll see him again somewhere and I’ll spiral into another episode.”

“If you do, just yell for me, okay? I might not be able to help you that much, but I want to be able to. That’s what I’m here for,” Ranboo said despite having zero knowledge as to how to get rid of hallucinations. 

Charlie nodded. “I will. I don’t want to scare you though. It wasn’t pretty when I started freaking out.” 

“It wasn’t pretty when I was getting that mask pulled off my face, sooo…”

“Right, right,” Charlie agreed. He rubbed his face with his hands, yawning. “We should probably sleep, though. We have no idea what’s in store for tomorrow.”

“I don’t know if I like that.”

“Same.”

Charlie stood up, going back to his room but stopping in the doorway. “Don’t be afraid to wake me up if something else’s bothering you, though.”

Ranboo nodded, setting the mask on the nightstand. Charlie nodded back, going back to bed but keeping the door open. Ranboo crawled back under the sheets, reveling in the cold. He kept his back to the wall, watching the hallway. Finally, they were really, truly, safe. 

Chapter Text

Mabel was gone by the time Charlie woke up. He didn’t even hear her leave. 

He had woken up pretty early, surprisingly not due to any nightmares. It was still pretty dark, with tiny blips of sunlight peeking through the curtains. Charlie knew he wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep, so he got up and put on his glasses. 

Ranboo was still asleep, curled under the covers with their arms in very odd positions that could not be comfortable at all. Charlie moved on, moving down the stairs and into the kitchen. The lamp was still on in the living room, which provided most of the light in the house. Most of the house had a light brown/creme color scheme, so it was odd for Charlie to see a neon pink piece of paper taped to one of the kitchen cabinets. He walked up to the paper, taking it off the cabinet carefully so as to not rip it. 

“Ranboo, Charlie, I probably won’t be there when you get up. Ranboo, if you feel up to it, your leftovers from last night are in the fridge with a blue sticky note with your name on it. I’ve left you guys some scrambled eggs in the fridge as well with some bacon for breakfast. Also, feel free to raid the pantry of snacks and such. If you guys want, use the TV too. Just try not to burn the house down, love Mabel. Huh,” Charlie said to himself. “Huh.”

After heating up a small portion of eggs and a few slices of bacon, Charlie went and sat down on the couch, grabbing the remote and turning on the TV. He remembered her saying she has Netflix, so he clicked on it. The loud booming sound made him jump, nearly making him drop his eggs. 

He had zero clue what to watch. There had to be thousands of different things to watch, and he had no idea where to start. He kept scrolling and scrolling through all different kinds of genres and titles, eyes peeled for something that looked interesting. Finally, he came across some nature documentary and put it on for some background noise. 

He ate quietly, occasionally watching the various animals and flora displayed on the TV. He was wondering what to do that day because… well, he’d always been told what to do up until that point. His days were controlled for him, and now that he had his own free will, he didn’t know what to do. 

Charlie finished his breakfast quickly, setting his plate down in the sink to deal with later. He looked around the ground floor, realizing that aside from the front door, and glass sliding doors leading to the back deck, he had zero clue where anything else was in the house. 

Well, if they were going to be living in the house for a while, it’d be nice to know where everything was. 

Charlie started in the kitchen since he was already there. The appliances were in the most obvious spots, but he couldn’t find a trash can. The top cabinets held mostly cups and water bottles, with a few stocked up with plates and bowls. The drawer beside the oven carried spatulas, whisks, and measuring cups. 

As he searched the kitchen, he eventually found the trash can in a sliding cabinet door, the bag only about half full.

“What’re you doing?” 

Charlie jumped, causing the sliding door to slam shut. He whirled around, seeing Ranboo standing on the last stair, rubbing their eyes. He quickly brushed off his surprise with a small smile. “Nothing! Just uhh, exploring the house a ‘lil bit.”

“Uh huh,” Ranboo said, moving into the kitchen, noticing the plate in the sink. “You already eat?”

“Yeah. She made us some eggs and bacon. Your leftovers from last night are still in there, too if you want that.”

Ranboo opened the fridge, opting to take the bacon and eggs. “Where are the plates?”

Charlie pointed to one of the cabinets while grabbing a fork from one of the drawers and handing it to them. “See? It’s important to explore your environments.”

“I get it, I get it.”

Ranboo took their plate of steaming eggs and sat on the same barstool they sat on last night, watching the TV. It was a polar bear jumping into the arctic water. “Charlie?”

“Hm?” the man hummed as he washed the dishes piled up in the sink. It’s the least he could do for Mabel, he thought. 

“What do we do now?” 

Charlie frowned. “I don’t know. I figured we could take a look around the house, see what’s in store. Or maybe take a walk outside?”

Ranboo picked at the eggs. “Maybe.”

“One step at a time, Ran.”

As Ranboo ate slowly, watching the documentary, Charlie finished the dishes and put them on the drying rack. He wiped his hands clean, looking out the back doors. He hadn’t been able to see it the night before, as there were no lights shining from the back porch, but Mabel had a punching bag hanging from a tree branch. Swaying with a light breeze. 

“Hey, I’m gonna step outside for a second. You okay?” 

Ranboo nodded mid bite, eyes still glued to the animals on TV. Charlie unlocked the back door, sliding it open. The air was crisp, untouched by pollution, the pine scent almost overwhelming. The wood under his socked feet creaked with every step. Not only was there a punching bag set up, but there were targets spray painted onto multiple trees. There were piles of bark resting below the targets, heavily damaged. To the left of the punching bag was a small shed with a single overhead lantern, the fake candle inside turned off.

Charlie walked back inside, putting on the shoes he wore yesterday and returning outside, this time walking down the porch. He walked towards the shed, looking over his shoulders. It was creepy, this shed in the woods. It was close to Mabel’s house, perhaps fifteen yards away, but walking in the open forest after having hallucinations of employees made goosebumps run up his arms. 

We’re safe. We’re fine, no employees here.

He reached for the old rusted handle, pulling the door open. The holes in the roof provided enough sunlight for Charlie to see the rows of weapons lining the walls. Wooden spears, carved by hand. Spears with metal heads. Crossbows hung neatly in a line, organized from smallest to largest. Knives and daggers beside the crossbows, all varying in size and color. What really caught Charlie’s eye, though, was a literal battle ax that was displayed on the wall opposite of the door. 

The handle had to be around three feet long, with some sort of black leather wrapping all the way around it. The ax itself looked untouched. It was polished, glimmering in the sunlight, without any scratches or blemishes in the metal. It was clearly cared for. Charlie had no doubt that Mabel knew how to use every single weapon stored in the shed. He just hoped she wouldn’t make him use the battle ax.

Seriously, who the fuck just has one of those lying around?

Charlie quickly left the shed, making sure to close the door securely behind him. Beyond the punching bag, he could see more targets on the trees, some more beat up than others. He looked back at the house, seeing Ranboo still eating. He began walking further into the forest, following the targets. 

There had to be at least fifty targets, all ranging different sizes and heights. Charlie got close up to most of them, seeing the lines cutting deep into the trees. Some strikes were longer, shallower, like a spear slashing through the bark. A few of the trees had shorter, more vertical marks that cut deeper into the wood- probably from throwing knives. 

Each tree seemed to be used to train for the various weapons in the shed. 

Deeper into the woods, when the targets were few in numbers, Charlie came across a small opening. A rectangular space void of trees, with a small wooden bench next to Charlie. Unlike most of the forest floor, the opening had little to no pine straws on the dirt. He could see patches of dirt where it looked like someone slid, where the ground looked like it got stabbed. It was an arena. 

It only made Charlie nervous for the next training session. 

Charlie walked back to the house, taking his shoes off beside the door and locking it behind him. Ranboo had finished about half of their plate before they stopped. He stared at the eggs sadly. 

“You okay?” Charlie asked, coming to stand behind the counter. 

Ranboo sighed. “Yeah. I just wish I could eat more without feeling like I’m dying. I want to eat more. I just can’t.”

“You’re recovering, man. It’s going to take a little time.”

“I know,” they said, watching as Charlie placed the uneaten eggs back in the tupperware container and placed it in the fridge. “What was outside?”

“Uh… just a few targets, a punching bag. A shed full of weapons.”

“A shed full of weapons?” 

“Yeah…” Charlie trailed off. “Yeah, there’s a lot of weapons in there. She has a battle ax. Who the fuck has one of those?”

Ranboo shrugged, seemingly unbothered by these facts. “She’s tampering with a dangerous company. It makes sense that she’d have a bunch of weapons to defend herself.”

“True. But the battle ax?” 

“Maybe she’s building more muscle by using it?” Ranboo theorized. “It’d be a good workout.”

“Yeah but you could just… I dunno, do push ups? Pull Ups?”

“She’s weird, man. We know this.”

Charlie snickered. “That’s also true. In a good way.”

Most of the day was spent exploring the house. All the unopened doors, finding a bunch of storage closets full of extra towels, blankets, cleaning supplies and such. They searched the bookshelves, running their fingers along the spines of the books. Some tearing apart at the seams from age and use, while others were barely touched.

Charlie hadn’t even noticed the cubbies full of colorful yarn behind the couch until he bumped into it. Most of them were still full, unused, which made Charlie question how there was so much stuff around the house made of yarn if the yarn itself was untouched. 

By late afternoon, the only room they hadn’t gone into was Mabel’s room. 

They stood in front of the door with the kitty sticker, conflicted. She never said they couldn’t go into her room, she only said not to open her dresser drawers. Still, it felt wrong to think about going into her room without her being there. 

“We shouldn’t-”

“She never said we couldn’t,” Ranboo argued. “Aren’t you curious at all? About what she’s like outside of being a vigilante?”

“We’ll get to know her the more we hang out with her. Not by snooping in her room ,” Charlie hissed. 

“I’m sure she won’t care.”

“I’m sure she will -”

Ranboo twisted the doorknob. 

“Ranboo-” Charlie’s argument fell short when Ranboo stepped into the room. He glanced around like Mabel was just gonna pop out of nowhere and scare them, hesitantly following Ranboo when nothing happened.

Her room was the embodiment of her personality. It was warm with the lamplight on her bedside table, the ceiling fan’s lights off while the blades spun a cold air about the room. Her bed was in the middle of the room, the headboard pushed against the wall. An oak dresser to the left right as they walked in. The hardwood floor had a beautiful multicolored circular rug under the bed, covering the posts so they didn’t scrape on the floor. The gray bed sheets were strewn about haphazardly, with multiple blankets lying at the foot of the bed and a few stuffed animals on the unoccupied side of the mattress. 

There was a bookshelf in the far left corner, probably around seven feet tall, containing a whole plethora of books that were worn. Probably her personal favorites. There was a jewelry box on one of the shelves, along with one of those velvet mannequin necks displaying a pretty gold necklace. A window on the far wall faced the door, with a desk to the right of it, pressed against the corner. The desk had a computer on it, with a mousepad that covered the majority of the wood surface. The black office chair in front of the desk faced the bed, like she’d gotten up from there and just gone to bed the night before.

It was cozy, just like the rest of the house. Warm, kind, like the girl herself. Crafty, unorganized, but also not too crazy. Ranboo stepped over a pair of shoes right in front of the door. 

“This is uh… something,” Ranboo muttered. “She probably knows where everything is in this room but I wouldn’t have the slightest clue.”

“Yeah,” Charlie agreed, finally having the courage to step foot into the room. “There’s so many trinkets everywhere. I’m surprised she hasn’t lost one yet.”

On top of the dresser were a few folders sitting beside a messenger bag. Charlie curiously opened one of the folders, coming face to face with a math packet. From the title, it was precalculus. There was a neon pink sticky note on the bottom of the folder saying, DO THIS NOW OR YOU WON’T LATER . 

“She did say she had school…” he said. “Did she ever say what year she was in?”

Ranboo’s fingertips ran across the letterman jacket on the back of her office chair. The letter F was pressed on the green and white jacket, as well as the number twenty-four on the sleeve. She had four golden pins attached to the letter F. Two bars and two flags crossing each other. They wondered what they meant. “Senior. She’s a senior this year.”

“So she’s been doing this since she was a sophomore?” Charlie said.

“Seems like it.” Ranboo moved on to look at the bookshelf in detail. 

“This couldn’t have been good for her social career.” 

“Well, she’s also been working for a living, so she didn’t have time to be social.” 

“What about Jamie? Couldn’t he and his parents have helped her?” 

“Maybe she didn’t want to be helped,” Ranboo said. He reached out, grabbing a picture frame from the bookshelf. It was Mabel, all right, standing beside a man and a woman. They seemed to be at a party of some kind. Balloons just out of frame, all light blue. A light blue banister hung up behind the three. The woman’s hand was on her stomach, and her expression was one of pure happiness. Below the picture was a pink sticky note with a date and a small neatly written note. “Oh shit.”

“What? What is it?” Charlie asked, coming over to peek over their shoulder. “Oh shit.”

The note read: Mabel’s going to be a big sister! 2-21-18 . 

“That’s her parents.”

“Yeah…” Ranboo trailed off. Mabel looked almost exactly like her mother. She was definitely younger too. Her face was chubbier, with thick framed glasses and surprisingly, a streak of dark blue hair curling around her cheek. 

Ranboo turned the frame over, seeing a green sticky note with messy handwriting, and small dots of the paper crumpled. 

Not anymore. 2-29-18. 

Their stomach twisted. “Oh…”

The small dots on the paper were dried up tears of a girl too young to be experiencing that much grief. 

“Damn,” Charlie mumbled. “She lost her parents? At… how old would she be? Twelve? Thirteen?”

“Probably thirteen,” Ranboo said solemnly. 

“There’s no way she could’ve gotten a job at that age. So how did she-”

“Maybe Jamie's parents did help, just not very recently.”

Ranboo placed the picture back in its spot carefully, like it was made of glass. There was a book in the middle of the shelf, right between the picture of Mabel’s parents and another framed photo. The other photo was of a bunch of kids in some sort of costume: a floral dress with skin tone leggings. Mabel was off to the left in the picture, definitely a little older than the Mabel in the baby shower picture. They all had their hair up in some sophisticated bun, with faces full of makeup and joy, holding up their bronze medals. 

“Nice to know she actually did have a friend group,” Charlie said. 

Ranboo focused more on the book, grabbing it from its spot and opening it. A photobook. Starting with baby pictures of her, neat little notes written off to the side saying things like baby’s first walk and Mabel’s first birthday . 

The further along they got into the book, the more Mabel grew up. Fourth grade, fifth grade, sixth grade, until it stopped at a picture of Mabel’s first day of seventh grade. After that, the pictures were Mabel’s first day of freshman year, pictures of a team with flags in their hands, professional pictures of her taken on a football field in full makeup and costume, the same flag in hand. 

Jamie was present in nearly every picture. Freshman and beginning of sophomore year. Ranboo turned the page, seeing no more pictures. The final picture was of Mabel and Jamie, going down a slip and slide during what seemed like the middle of the night with a bunch of other kids. Jamie was grinning wildly, his arm around Mabel’s waist as they slid down with Mabel screaming but smiling at the same time- no doubt having been forced to go down the slide with him.

Ranboo closed the book, putting it back and feeling dejected by their discoveries. “Let’s go.”

Charlie nodded, his expression reflecting the pity he felt inside. They left the room, leaving everything the way it was before they went inside, and closing the door behind them. The heaviness in the air was suffocating as they realized just how rough Mabel has had it. Death hung around her life, never truly letting her be happy. The girl in the pictures on the football field was a completely different girl than the one who rescued them. 

No, she wasn’t entirely different. She still had that childish smile when she made herself laugh, or cracked a joke Charlie or Ranboo laughed at. She was happy, to some degree. She was just a little fucked up in the mind, like them. 

“Should we say anything?” Ranboo questioned. 

“I mean… I have no doubt she’d answer any questions we have, but we can’t just outright ask her. We have to bring it up subtly. Plus, don’t you think it’s kinda weird that we just snooped into her life like that? I would’ve preferred she told us herself.”

“I agree, but she wasn’t here to tell us herself. And she said earlier that we wouldn’t see much of her once we got to her house. We were going to eventually learn from her or her pictures,” Ranboo said. 

Charlie pinched the bridge of his nose before looking out the window, seeing the sunlight fading below the trees. “Let’s go eat dinner, I’m getting hungry again. And when Mabel gets home, if she feels up to it, we’ll talk to her.”

“Deal. And aren’t you always hungry nowadays?”

Charlie smacked Ranboo’s arm.

Chapter Text

When Mabel got back home, it was nearing midnight. From around 8pm to now, Ranboo had been kinda worried she wouldn’t come back. She did say she’d be working all day, but she’d been gone since before they got up. That was over twelve hours ago. 

Charlie had found an application on the TV called Spotify, where there were probably hundreds of playlists in Mabel’s library. He’d chosen the one labeled as ‘reading’, which was basically a compilation of songs you’d play while staring at your ceiling in the odd hours of the night. Charlie had actually chosen a book from the shelf in the living room, while Ranboo busied their hands with one of the yarn balls, just picking at the loose string and making loops with it. 

They heard the car kicking up gravel, the car door closing, and footsteps staggering up the steps. She opened the door, stepping into the house with her shoulders slumped and exhaustion on her face. She leaned against the door for a moment, looking at the ceiling and exhaling. Only when she kicked off her shoes did she seem to notice the music, and therefore them sitting on the couch staring at her. 

Knowing what they did now, they felt worse seeing her so tired.

She managed a smile through her huffing. “Hey guys, how was today?”

Ranboo was more focused on how she was dressed. For a restaurant, it was kind of flamboyant in their opinion. Black high waisted jeans with bell bottoms, black non-slip shoes, a black tank top that hugged her frame tightly while also exposing her muscly arms. The tank top was slightly cropped, showing skin. She looked like she was gonna go boxing, not serve at a bar. She wore a silver necklace with a moon on it, along with black sun and moon earrings which put together the outfit nicely. Her hair was in a ponytail, with her bangs pulled out of it to frame her face. Though, her hair was extremely frizzy after a hard day’s work. 

“Not bad,” Charlie said for the both of them, putting a bookmark he found into the page he was on. “No accidents here. You?”

Mabel’s smile turned sad. “Not bad. No accidents today. Just a lot of old white people.” She stepped past them into the kitchen, searching the pantry. “You guys settling in okay?”

“Yeah, just fine,” Ranboo piped up. Though he didn’t trust himself enough to talk- lest he blurt out the questions he was dying to ask. They focused on the string with more intensity, not really knowing what he was doing. 

Mabel came back to the living room with a whole box of graham crackers, taking a seat between the two escapees and beginning to munch on the cracker in her hand. “That’s good.”

Ranboo shared a look with Charlie over Mabel’s shoulder. She seemed in a good enough mood to talk, but she also looked ready to fall over and sleep for a few days. 

“What’s on y’all’s minds? I can practically hear you talking over my shoulders,” the girl said, taking another graham cracker. 

Charlie was the one who spoke up. “We just uh- we wanted to talk to you about something.”

Her posture deflated further. “You went into my room, didn’t you?”

Ranboo felt like they’d been caught doing something they shouldn’t have. Maybe they should’ve listened to Charlie earlier. 

“We didn’t mean to, really. We were gonna stay down here but I got curious,” Ranboo admitted. “I dragged Charlie into it. Don’t be mad at him.”

“I’m not mad at either of you. I just didn’t expect you to snoop on the first day,” she said mid-bite. “Trust me, everyone else who’s stayed with me has snooped in there at some point. You two aren’t the only ones who got curious. So, what did you want to talk about? I’m assuming it’s about the pictures.”

“Yeah…” Charlie confirmed. 

She sighed, setting the box of crackers on the coffee table. “If you saw the pictures, you saw the notes, too. The one with my parents… they got into a car accident a few days after the baby shower. The driver was high and drunk as fuck and ran a red light at ninety miles an hour. It was an open and shut case.”

“What happened to you after that?” Ranboo asked carefully. 

Mabel lowered her hands onto her lap, getting crumbs all over her jeans. “Jamie’s parents offered to take me in. Legally, they were caring for me. In reality, I was here, living off of groceries they bought for me and bills they paid for until I got my job.”

Ranboo could see her fighting to not fall asleep, sending a look at Charlie that said we should stop . 

“I mean, I like my job,” the girl began to babble sluggishly, waving around her graham cracker as she spoke. “Don’t get me wrong, it pays good hourly and in tips, but the shit I do to get those tips… God I hate myself sometimes.”

That instantly put flags up in Charlie and Ranboo’s heads.

“What do you mean?” Charlie asked softly, trying not to express his evident concern too much. He was scared she’d start closing off if he did show how concerned he was over her statement.

Her sleep deprived brain forced her to keep talking. “Nothin’ bad… just have to sway my hips when I walk a ‘lil more than usual. Laugh a little more at shitty jokes. They love it.”

What kind of restaurant allows their workers to practically be prayed on? Ranboo was angry, to say the least. Mabel shouldn’t have had to do stuff like that just to make a living. 

“What about Jamie’s parents? Can’t they help with funds?” they asked, trying and failing to conceal their anger. 

She shrugged. “Don’t need to bother them. I haven’t needed their help for a while. I can do it myself.”

“Yeah, but Mabel, sometimes you need to set aside your pride and ask for help. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with asking for help,” Charlie said. “I mean look at me. I’m asking for it left and right with no shame.”

“Because you need it,” she argued weakly.

“From the looks of it, you do too,” Charlie quipped back. 

“No I don’t,” Mabel said with more vigor, her volume increasing. “I can do it myself. I do do it myself. If that means I need to show a bit of my stomach to get there, I’ll do it. I don’t want anyone’s help. I’ve been fine on my own since eighth grade, Charlie. I know what the world is like.”

That just made it ten times worse. From what Ranboo was hearing, these ‘customers’ that came into her place of work just go in there to get a drink and to gawk at her, throwing money at her to keep her interested in serving them so she could earn a living. Though they remembered little about the outside world, they knew that wasn’t right. It was borderline harassment that was being normalized. 

And she was too proud to find somewhere else safer to work. The money was too good. 

“Listen, I’m not sayin’ my job is good. Technically it’s illegal for me to be working behind the bar. I’m only there for the money. Once I can get enough to live for a few weeks, I’m quitting and finding somewhere else that actually pays better. I mean, my hourly is, like, higher than most servers at that place, but it still doesn’t cut it. Doesn’t help that I’m a woman.” Mabel ate the rest of her cracker. “Maybe I should call up the Becketts for financial aid…”

“You probably should,” Charlie said. He looked just as upset as Ranboo felt. “I’ll help too. I’ll get a job somewhere. Maybe at your restaurant.”

Mabel brushed him off with a shrug. “No, no no. I can’t ask that of you, Charlie. You’re still recovering from Showfall. You need to rest.”

“Yeah, and you need triple the money now that me and Ran are here. Just…” the man sighed, pinching his nose. “Please let me help. You’ve still got school and everything. You can’t be everywhere all at once. And look at yourself! You’re exhausted. At this rate you won’t even be awake to go to school and graduate!”

Mabel didn’t respond. She just looked at the graham crackers longingly. 

“I can’t promise you I won’t have hallucinations at work, because I have no idea when they’ll happen, but I’ll try my best to earn as much money as possible. Let me shoulder the burden with you.”

She looked between Ranboo and Charlie with uncertainty. “You really want to work?” 

“Yeah. It’ll give me something to do other than sit around all day. And I don’t think me or Ran could stay cooped up in here for more than a few days at a time.”

Mabel gave them both one more glance before picking up the graham cracker box and standing. “It’s gonna take me a few days before I can get you an interview. I have to get you a new ID, social security, everything. And I’m warning you right now, one manager is nice, one isn’t. Stay off the mean one’s radar.”

“Got it.”

She looked sad. She seemed upset with herself for asking for help, albeit indirectly. “I work tomorrow morning too, but afterwards I’ll go meet with my guy who does all the illegal things for me.”

As she began walking towards the stairs, Ranboo said, “hey.”

She turned back around. 

“Don’t worry about making us breakfast tomorrow. We’ve got it,” they said confidently. 

Mabel glanced between them for the fifth time that night. “Alright. Just don’t burn my house down.”

With that, she went upstairs, not even showering before crashing into bed, Ranboo and Charlie not too far behind her.

It took about a week for Mabel to get everything in order. On top of working and going to school, she met with her friend to get the escapees new identities. Ranboo and Charlie only saw her for ten minutes maximum a day. She worked nearly every day after her 7 hour school day, getting home at odd hours like ten or eleven thirty. 

The week went by slowly for the escapees as they figured out how to cope without the puppeteer strings digging into their skin and brains. Sometimes it’d feel too calm, and Ranboo would look at the TV, expecting it to glitch and form Hetch’s face. Guiding him through the mall. Nothing ever happened when they felt like this, but it was still frightful nonetheless. 

Charlie would see things out of the corner of his eye, in the corner of his room at night. That cursed logo with a white background. Hetch. Sometimes he’d just hear little things- like the sound of the carousel spinning, creaking loudly. The weird rumbling sound Security made. All in all, he struggled during the week with small hallucinations. The one time he did have another episode, he wasn’t alone this time. Ranboo had been a comforting presence, constantly bringing him back as he spiraled over and over in one sitting. He was eternally grateful for them being there for him.

Though, as the week went on, Charlie realized that he’d probably be on his own learning how to defend himself. Mabel literally had zero time to help him. He’d begun looking up videos on YouTube, finding plenty of videos to choose from. Ranboo would even join him, being his sparring partner as they trekked through the unfamiliar land of combat. 

It was only when Mabel got home from another all day Saturday shift at the bar did they finally get excited. 

She closed the door with her foot, looking even more exhausted than she was the week before. Still, she held up two vanilla envelopes with a small but victorious smile. “You’ve got mail,” she said. 

She deposited the envelopes to the escapees, going to grab the box of graham crackers she’d been snacking on all week and sitting on the couch next to the two. They opened the envelopes carefully, emptying its contents onto the coffee table. 

Multiple sets of false paperwork. Birth certificates with surprisingly accurate years, pictures and ID’s with false names, passports and social security cards. Health insurance cards. Packets containing a story for each of them, telling them who they are, where they were born, who their parents were, all the things they hadn’t really thought about needing to know until that point. 

Ranboo picked up their new ID, reading the name. “Rufus Daniels. Rufus? Really?” 

Mabel shrugged. “Figured you’d still want a name that begins with R.”

“Nice to meet you, Rufus, I’m Clyde Daniels,” Charlie joked, holding his hand out for a handshake. 

Ranboo ignored his hand in favor of checking out his new backstory. He was a foster kid along with his brother, Clyde Daniels. They’d lost their parents a few years ago, hopping from foster home to foster home until they were legally emancipated, where they’d found a small house to live in with a roommate- Mabel. Pretty open and shut, along with a few other details they deemed unimportant. 

“These are great, Mabel,” Charlie commented, reading his own packet. 

“Glad to know you like your tragic backstory,” she replied, munching on her crackers. 

“This means I can get a job at your work, right?” 

“Maybe. I’ll see if I can pull some strings. Some people actually like me there.”

“I can work, too, right?” Ranboo asked. They’d been kinda tired of trying to learn how to cook when nothing seemed to go right for them. 

“If you want to. I guess I won’t stop you.”

“Sweet. When can we start?” 

“Like I said, it might take some convincing, so maybe not for another couple of days,” Mabel said, looking at the graham cracker box like it was the bane of her existence. “I’ve really gotta stop eating these. I’m already chubby enough as is…” she muttered, poking her stomach. 

“No you aren’t,” Ranboo scoffed, “you look great. And I was meaning to ask you, especially now that we have our documents. Could I uh… could I go to school with you?”

“School?” Mabel asked, shocked. “You want to go to school with me?” 

“That’s what I just said, isn’t it?”

“Why?”

“I don’t remember going to school. Maybe it’ll help me remember a little bit more about myself, and my past life,” they said. 

“It’d be good for you both,” Charlie commented. “You’d only have to worry about one of us burning your house down.”

She snickered. “Yeah… I’ll have to enroll you. We’ll do that on Monday, though. You’d better be prepared to get up at 6:30. Sharp. Or else I’m leaving without you.”

For some reason, Ranboo was excited. To get out of the house or to hopefully learn more about himself, he couldn’t tell. “Got it.”

“Well, I’m working tomorrow morning again. Gotta get some sleep,” she said, getting up to put the graham crackers away. 

Just as she was about to climb the stairs, Charlie bolted out of his seat. “Wait-”

She whirled back around, surprised by his sudden movement. 

“Can we go with you tomorrow? Get a feel for the place?” he asked. 

She thought, though her lips curled into a frown. “If you really want to-”

“Yes!” Charlie and Ranboo exclaimed. 

Then Ranboo coughed, composing themself. “Uh, I mean, yes, please.”

Mabel exhaled softly. “Okay. I’ll wake you both up.”

“Thank you,” Charlie said. 

“You should probably get some sleep now. It’s gonna be bright and early and I don’t want you blaming me for your drowsiness.” With that, Mabel went upstairs to go to sleep. 

Chapter Text

Charlie was glad Mabel didn’t wake them up like she did back at Doctor Wilson’s cabin. 

This time, she took a calmer approach by tapping his shoulder insistently until he stirred. He rolled over, seeing Mabel already in her uniform. A simple t-shirt and black jeans, with a new golden moon necklace and long earrings modeled after flowers. Lily of the valley. They twinkled and sang whenever she moved her head. He wondered if she ever scared herself with how low the earrings hung- touching her neck occasionally. Her makeup was already done, too. 

Looking at the clock on the bedside table, Charlie balked. How did she already have herself together at 6:30 in the morning? He laid back against the pillows, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. The bed was so warm, so inviting that he didn’t want to get up.

“Wakey wakey,” the girl whispered. “You aren’t gonna fall asleep on me, are you? I’ll definitely leave you if you do.”

Any sleep remaining in his body left. He sat up, haphazardly reaching over for his glasses. “Nope, nope, I’m awake. Definitely.”

“Good.”

Mabel turned and walked into the opposite room, beginning the same process with Ranboo. Charlie was glad she didn’t question them keeping their doors open while they slept. He just felt better being able to see Ranboo- seeing that they were still sleeping, not being kidnapped by Showfall that somehow found them. It was probably the same for Ranboo.

He reluctantly tossed the covers away, rising to his feet. He stretched, questioning whether or not he wanted to change into different clothes. It was probably the better option, right? But he had one outfit left before he was out of clothes. He had no idea how to work the washing machine or dryer that was in the laundry room below the stairs. 

Rolling in sleep clothes it was. Maybe just put on a bit of deodorant. 

Looking over, he saw Mabel having no such luck in waking Ranboo. They were barely budging. He could see stress lines beginning to form on her face. She began tapping their shoulder with a little more vigor while saying their name over and over. Still nothing. She glanced at Charlie with a defeated expression that nearly made him laugh. 

“Any ideas?” she asked. 

Charlie shrugged. “Push him harder?”

They both shrugged, and Mabel went back to shaking them, this time using both hands to rock them back and forth. 

“Ranboo! Time to get up!” 

They shot up, nearly giving Mabel a concussion in the process. “Wha- what happened?”

“You’re a deep sleeper, that’s what. Come on, you wanted to go with me today. Get up.”

Ranboo groaned, but complied and sat up. 

“I’ll be downstairs when you both are ready. And Ranboo, don’t worry about shoes, I already got you a new pair that’s in the kitchen.” 

Mabel went downstairs, and Charlie went to the bathroom to get ready. A simple t-shirt and sweatpants was fine to go out in, right? Nothing wrong with that. He grabbed the farthest right deodorant and lifted his shirt to apply, thinking. 

Would people recognize him ? 

He’d been worried about Ranboo, mostly, considering he was the Hero and had a giant metal mask on their face. He figured people would easily recognize them with a mask on, which made him anxious about whether or not Ranboo was going to wear the black surgical mask Doctor Wilson gave him. 

But Charlie didn’t have a mask, and that made his anxiety skyrocket once he realized how easy it would be to recognize him. He tried to brush it off the best he could, going downstairs so Ranboo could get ready. Still, the thought plagued him. 

Mabel seemed to know what he was thinking about. “You okay?”

“Yeah, just a little anxious, I guess.”

“About leaving the house?”

“About being seen in public,” Charlie clarified. He slipped into his shoes that were still by the back door. “I’m easier to recognize than Ranboo.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it,” Mabel replied. “Like I said before, most of the people who come in on Sunday mornings are older. They don’t care for that kind of entertainment when they don’t even know how to work a TV. But I’d probably wear a mask or something if you guys decide to leave.”

It made Charlie feel a little better, but there was still the possibility of even one person recognizing him. That could blow the whole operation they’ve got in the works. 

“Are you gonna be okay being in the outside world for a little over 5 hours?” she asked. 

“Maybe,” Charlie said. 

“The restaurant is right next to an outdoor shopping center, so you guys will have plenty to see and do if you get bored of seeing me run around. If you guys want I’ll give you my wallet and you can buy some more clothes you like.”

He thought about the outfits he hadn’t washed yet, how he only had enough to get him through a week at most. “I think we’d like that. Also, how do you work the washer and dryer?”

As Mabel laughed and proceeded to show him how the machines worked, Ranboo walked downstairs. They filed into the car and Mabel took off down the road. Her music seemed to reflect her current emotion, with right now being an energetic storm. An odd mix of rock and pop music blared through the speakers, but Charlie didn’t really mind. It was better than sitting in silence for who knows how long. 

He was very conscious of all the cars stopping beside them at stop lights, the people inside just minding their own business but occasionally glancing over. Seeing them made him wonder how they could go about a day as normally as possible after they watched people die over and over on some fucked up show. And they liked it. It was entertainment to them. 

The thought that his torture and torment was entertainment still boggled his mind. 

The pain was real. Everything was real. They didn’t know half of it. 

A small tugging feeling scratched at Charlie’s head. He pulled at it, and suddenly he wasn’t in the car anymore. 

He was in the mall again, completely surrounded by employees just staring at him, unmoving. He held something like a baseball bat. As he fearfully glanced around, he noticed the bolt cutters weighing heavily in his hands. Still, the employees didn’t move, and it scared him even more. What were they waiting for?

Charlie’s breathing sped up into short bursts. “Well? What the hell are you waiting for?”

No response. Nothing happened. The mall was silent, at a standstill, like the building itself was anticipating a next move from an unseen contender. He was near hyperventilating now. He swallowed thickly, his mind working on overdrive. 

Should I go through them?

No, you idiot! That’s exactly what they want you to do! 

There’s no other way!

Find one!

I can’t!

It was easy to hear the approaching footsteps, seeing as the mall was like the vacuum of space- where no noise could travel. Charlie whirled around to see the employees parting robotically, allowing a man to step into the circle. The man certainly looked human, but Charlie couldn’t see his face. No, Charlie couldn’t see any skin on this man. He wore all black. The utter power radiating off the man had Charlie’s knees shaking. He had to be a foot or two taller than Charlie, and he walked with such poise and a dead calm. Just seeing the man struck fear into Charlie, fear he hadn’t felt before. The kind where every single nerve in your body was on standby, where your heart stuttered uncomfortably in your chest and a light sheen of sweat overtook your skin and made your hands clammy. He gripped the bolt cutters tighter, fearing they’d slip from his sweaty hands. 

The man stopped a few feet in front of Charlie- who had backed up as far as he could without being in grabbing range of the employees. The man leaned down, the space where his face should be getting right in Charlie’s face. Charlie’s heart was racing, making him fear even more that he was going to have a heart attack from how fast it was going. 

The man tutted, “Charlie, Charlie, Charlie… We've talked about this.”

The fear controlled his body now, forcing him to stay still against his wishes. The man’s voice was like seeing the grim reaper himself coming to take you away. A deep voice, soothing in a darker sense, overlapping with what sounded like a hundred other voices of different pitches. The voices sounded forced. Pained. Tired. Charlie couldn’t tell what the man’s real voice was. Not that it really mattered right now. 

The man’s hand reached for the bolt cutters, and Charlie could move again. He swung the bolt cutters, coming into contact with the man’s arm. 

“Stay away from me!” Charlie yelled, though it sounded more like a squeak. The terror seeping into his bones had found its way to his voice, making his words shake and tremble in the man’s presence. “Stay the fuck back!”

The man was unfazed. “You’re versatile. An admirable quality, really, but unfortunate to have in this situation. I’m afraid that you’ve had enough time outside your show. It’s time to go back.”

The man’s words brought the employees back to life. They trudged towards Charlie at a snail's pace, but it still had his heart running a million miles a minute. They were everywhere. 

He swung the bolt cutters again, connecting with a few employees and knocking them down. “NO! Get away from me! Just let me go!” 

The employees continued to stalk towards him like zombies. The man did nothing but watch Charlie fight for his life with a pair of rusty bolt cutters and shaky legs. 

“Don’t fight it, Charlie,” the man said. “It’ll all be over soon. You’ll forget any of this ever happened.”

One of the employees lifted up a mask, the exact same one they all adorned. Adrenaline rushed through his veins as he fought with more vigor, more purpose. 

No! No, I can't do it again!

He got sloppy with his swinging, and a hand grabbed his shoulder. 

“NO!” he screamed, thrashing about as his only weapon was taken away from prying hands. He had nowhere to go. They were closing in on him, multiple pairs of hands having to hold him in place as he continued the futile fight to preserve his life. “NO NO NO! Just let me leave! Let me go! Let go of me!”

The employee with the mask in hand stepped forward, raising the wretched device close to Charlie’s face. 

“NO! STOP, PLEASE! LET ME GO!” he roared. 

But they didn’t stop, and the tears finally fell from Charlie’s eyes as the mask was put on his face. 

His vision flashed, and he was back in the car driving down a highway. He grasped at his face, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. He wasn’t at the mall anymore. Nobody was going to take his memories from him ever again. 

That man… even thinking about him made Charlie’s stomach churn nauseatingly. He wasn’t Hetch, that was for sure. Who was he, then? Who was he to Showfall that he had that much power? 

Charlie, Charlie, Charlie… We’ve talked about this.

His voice rattled Charlie’s bones. Charlie had spoken to the man before- probably against his will, but still. He’d almost escaped before. It wasn’t part of the script, so it wasn’t Hetch that was sent to deal with him. Someone higher up, like a manager or boss-

The founder. 

It made complete sense how one man, who nobody has ever seen before and lived to tell the tale, had all this power to manipulate and command it to where nobody made it out of the mall to tell the story. Charlie had been face to face with the founder of the company that ruined him. 

They do things the same, just the way the audience likes it, just with a different cast. The audience had grown to love you and Ranboo. It was no surprise that they’d keep you two for the grand finale.

Oh, right. Charlie was so close to escaping that they had to send the founder out to collect him- because to the audience, he was a diamond in the rough. They couldn’t afford to lose a favorite. 

“Charlie?” 

He peeked through his fingers. Ranboo was staring at him, his eyebrows furrowed with concern. 

“You okay?”

He wiped his hands along his face. “I think?”

“Did you see something?” 

Charlie sighed. 

I promise I’ll talk to you only if you promise the same thing. I’m not the only one with issues here.

The promise was a necessary one for the both of them- useful in keeping each other grounded and in the present. Charlie was grateful to have a friend like that- a friend he considered a brother that would go to the ends of the earth for him just like he would for them. Difficulty opening up about these kinds of things shouldn’t have been there in the first place, considering what they both went through, but Charlie found himself hesitating. 

He knew the promise was mutual, that was the whole reason why they made it in the first place- but still, he felt like he was burdening Ranboo with his visions and hallucinations. Ranboo had their own trauma to deal with, too. He almost didn’t want to tell them what he saw because of that reason alone. 

But Ranboo was still staring at him, patiently waiting for his answer. Charlie had honored their promise until that point. He couldn’t just stop then. 

“Yeah. I think it was a memory,” Charlie forced out. 

Mabel suddenly became interested in the conversation. “A memory?” she asked excitedly. She’d been trying to help them remember things by showing them different pictures- of themselves and of other objects and such. It hadn’t done much in the moment, but when they went to sleep, they’d recover little snippets of their memory. She must’ve done that method with other escapees for her to be an expert on memory recovery.

Though, it was super weird for Charlie to see pictures of himself smiling in front of a camera and making all those jokes for an audience. 

“I think so. Certainly felt like it,” Charlie voiced. He explained the memory to them in as much detail as he could, describing the man as he had appeared in the memory. 

When he’d mentioned the man he assumed to be the founder, Mabel’s expression darkened. 

“The founder?” she asked, turning into a left turn lane with a little bit of vigor. 

“I mean, you told me that nobody has ever seen him. I got my memory wiped right after I met him. And you didn’t see the guy, he… he was the embodiment of Showfall. That’s the best way I can put it.” 

Mabel sighed, making the turn smoothly. Only then did Charlie realize where they were. The car turned into a long outdoor strip mall with dozens of people walking around with shopping bags resting painfully on their forearms. He noticed how most of them were teenagers- laughing and joking around about something they saw on the internet a few days ago. 

He felt nostalgic for some reason. Maybe because of the missing memories. Maybe he had friends he did this kind of thing with. 

They drove further into the outdoor mall, passing all kinds of stores. A sports store, selling jerseys and sports equipment for athletes. Charlie could count on two hands the amount of clothing stores they passed, and on one hand how many restaurants they passed in between the stores. Seeing society at work was very interesting to Charlie. 

Mabel pulled up into a parking spot in front of a restaurant that looked to be closed. People stopped by to look at a sheet of paper taped to the door with what Charlie assumed to be the opening and closing times. She turned off the ignition, staring at the restaurant with a dejected expression, which didn’t do well for Charlie’s nerves seeing as he was supposed to get a job there in a few days. 

“Okay, wait here until I open the door for you guys. We’re technically not open yet,” she said. “Can you hand me my purse that’s by your feet, Ranboo? Thanks.”

A moment later, she’d stepped out of the car and walked behind the building. 

“How long are we supposed to sit here?” Ranboo asked, staring out the window at the people passing by, tugging their mask up to conceal their scarred face.

“That’s a good question.” Charlie dug into his own pocket and dug out a mask Mabel had given him.

The restaurant lights buzzed on, and Charlie could see a few people bustling about. A moment later, Mabel walked up to the door and opened it, waving for them to come in. 

“That’s our cue,” Charlie said. 

They climbed out of the car and made their way to the door. She waved insistently while looking around. 

“Hurry!” she hissed. 

They made it inside, instantly being hit with cold air conditioning. They heard Mabel lock the door behind them with a huff. 

“God damn, I thought they were gonna swarm us,” she said, pointing to the closed sign on the door when a woman tried to open it. She walked them further into the restaurant. “Welcome to work, boys.”

The place was big, bigger than most stores on the strip mall. There was a full scale bar on the right side of the restaurant, housing maybe fifty seats total. Liquor bottles displayed on the shelves behind the bar, all varying in size and color. TV showed the latest football and baseball game. A station playing old rock music provided a nice background ambience for the place. There were a few pool tables at the back of the restaurant, set up and ready to play. The place had booths surrounding the restaurant, with a few large tables in the middle for bigger parties. The kitchen door stood right beside the bar, swinging open as a few people in the same t-shirt and jean mentality stepped out of the back room.

The bar had to be the gem of the place. The countertop was a sleek, polished dark wood with gold highlights. Around the top of the bar was a glass holder, hanging various wine glasses and bottle openers. All in all, it was clean, neat and very shiny and pristine. Someone took great care of it.

They stopped when they saw Ranboo and Charlie standing in the middle of the restaurant. 

“Uh… Mabel? Who are these guys?” said one of the guys as he went behind the bar. 

“They’re my cousins. They’re gonna be living with me for a while ‘cause their parents are moving down here, so they sent them early to get a feel for the place,” Mabel said calmly. “They’re also job hunting, so I thought I’d make it easier on them.”

Charlie was kind of scared how fast she could lie and make it sound believable. Her coworkers seemed to believe her enough. 

“Come on, meet the workers,” she said, tugging them both to the bar where everyone was crowded. “That’s Carlos-”

“Yo,” Carlos waved from behind the bar. His hair was insanely curly that wrapped around his cheekbones just nicely.

“And that’s Serena-”

The woman, Serena, looked to be about early thirties with strawberry blonde hair. “Hi guys.”

“There’s Leo, and Finn, and then Ivy and finally Abigail, but we call her Abby.”

They all waved in succession. Leo and Finn could pass as brothers. They practically had the same face, but their eyes screamed we’re not related . Their eyes were the same shade of brown, and their noses had the same curve. 

Ivy was like the work grandmother. She looked to be around her forties or fifties, and had a beautiful gold necklace on that complimented her rich dark skin. Abby adjusted her wire frame glasses. Her fair skin had a few scars, especially on her chin and forehead. She was probably the closest in age to Ranboo or Mabel. 

“This is…” Mabel trailed, looking at them with a weird expression and a shrug. Charlie would’ve bet ten bucks she already forgot their aliases. She probably did, honestly. 

“Rufus,” Ranboo said, waving awkwardly to the group. 

“Clyde,” Charlie introduced, earning a glance from Carlos behind the bar. Charlie was instantly suspicious of the guy. Not in the oh shit he knows who I am way, but the he knows something’s up way. If Showfall is as popular as Mabel made it out to be, he wouldn’t be surprised if the guy was suspicious of them. Some people just had a natural radar for these kinds of things, and they probably, unfortunately, ran into someone with that radar. 

“Where’s Joseph?” asked Mabel. 

Ivy snickered. “Late as always, girl, you know this.”

“Yeah, but by… what, forty-five minutes? That’s pushing it a little, even for him.”

“I bet he has a sick hangover,” Leo said with a cheshire grin. He elbowed Finn’s side. “Did you see how bad it was last night?”

“No,” Finn replied, stone faced. 

“Well, let’s just hope he isn’t being a douche when he eventually does show up,” said Serena as she picked under her nails. She glanced between Charlie and Ranboo. “If you two manage to get a job here, you’ll understand real quick why we tend to ignore our management.”

“Ignore?” Ranboo questioned curiously. 

“When it’s a Friday or Saturday night, it gets a little crazy in here,” Abby began, taking a seat on the corner barstool. “I mean, I can barely carry a tray without knocking into someone crazy- especially if it’s football season like it is now. And when it gets crazy, we have a wait time and all that stuff. But instead of helping, Joseph, our manager, likes to take a few shots with some regular buddies of his.”

“Not to mention his utter lack of management skills,” Carlos added. “If someone complains about a meal not being completely cooked? He just goes ahead and comps their whole ticket. Not just the menu item, but their whole ticket. I mean seriously, now people think they can pull that shit with us but nope. Thank God Leo found out the management code on the POS system or else we’d be fucked out of money.”

Charlie was beginning to like this place less and less as an option for work. Mabel said it was good money, but he knew if he had to work under a manager like that, he’d be fired really fast from speaking his mind about the complete lack of contribution from the manager. Ranboo looked just as dejected. 

Mabel finally cut in, “it’s almost opening, guys. Ten minutes.”

Everyone groaned, retreating to the kitchen, leaving Ranboo and Charlie with Carlos, who’d started preparing the bar by cutting lemons on a small cutting board. 

“I dunno why they schedule me for mornings… no money making being done here…” he muttered as he worked. He focused on the two escapees once more. “So, you boys aren’t really her cousins, aren’t you?”

Charlie thought he was going to drop dead from how fast his heart skipped. Oh shit oh shit oh shit, does he know? He has to know, right? 

“What do you mean?” Ranboo piped up, though Charlie could hear the fear in his tone. 

He sliced a lemon in half a little too hard. “Mabel has cousins visit all the time. She has too many. You’re like the seventeenth cousins I’ve met.”

Charlie silently prayed for Mabel to come back and get Carlos off their backs. Not that he couldn’t handle it himself, he just wanted it to sound more believable by having her say it.

Carlos waved the knife at them as he spoke. “And I don’t like it when people mess with her. She’s too good for this place and yet she stays just to help us out. So if you’re messing with her-”

“Back up,” Ranboo cut in, suddenly on the offensive. “Who said we were messing with her?”

“Don’t give me that shit. I’ve seen how tired she is when she comes in here,” Carlos argued in a low tone, glancing back at the kitchen door. 

“Did you ever think it was because she has school?” Ranboo shot back. “She offered to take us in. She’s been helping us settle in this new place, and we’ve done nothing but try and return the favor by earning a little bit of cash.”

Carlos resumed cutting the lemons, setting them in a small metal container. He glared at the two escapees. “But who are you? Why did she take you in? Why does she keep lying when she says you people are her cousins?”

“Do you really not believe her?” Charlie countered, drawing the attention away from a fuming Ranboo. “I mean, she’s nothing but honest and kind, and you’re just gonna question her like that?”

“I usually wouldn’t, but this is too suspicious. Her family isn’t that big,” Carlos said, his eyes studying their faces. “Besides, you two look familiar. I’ve definitely seen you somewhere before.”

If Charlie’s heart was racing before, it was running now. Seriously, he should probably get that checked out to see if he actually had any heart problems. 

“I may not remember now, but I will later,” the man said, cutting through the last lemon. “I never forget faces for too long.”

“Look, dude, we’re not looking for trouble. We’re just trying to help her out,” Charlie finally snapped. The dude was really pissing him off. “We know how exhausted she is. All we want to do is help. I don’t care what you think about us or if you recognize us: I just want to help ease the burden off her shoulders. Don’t you? It’s sad she has to work this hard to earn a living, right?”

Carlos scowled. “Yeah, it is. That’s why I’m trying to help as best as I can too.”

“Then we don’t need to fight, do we?” Ranboo said.

“We’re not fighting, we’re just having a civil conversation. I know I’ve seen your faces from somewhere. I’ll know by tomorrow where I’ve seen you two.”

Mabel burst out from the kitchen tying a black apron around her waist. She stopped at the edge of the bar, glancing between the three curiously until her eyes landed on Carlos. “Are you going on that whole spiel again?”

“No.”

“I don’t need you to interrogate every single cousin I bring here, man,” she said, grabbing a few straws from the back of the bar and putting them in her apron. 

“Your family can’t be this big, Mabel. I mean seriously, this is like the thirtieth cousin of yours I’ve met!”

“So what? Stop messing with them. They’re not harassing me and they’re not blackmailing me in order to use my house,” Mabel said, much to Charlie’s relief. “Get off their backs. They’ll probably be working with you in a few days.”

I don’t think so , Charlie thought. That bookstore we passed looks like the better option.

Carlos bit his tongue, still sending glares at Charlie and Ranboo. He kept cutting the fruit. 

“You guys can come sit over here if you want,” Mabel said, pointing to one of the booths. It was the one farthest from the bar, much to Charlie’s liking. When they sat down, Mabel handed them menus. “I know y’all didn’t get a chance to eat before leaving the house, so pick something you might like. It's on the house.”

Charlie knew for a fact Mabel didn’t eat breakfast either. He heard her stomach growling the entire way to work. Still, she walked to the front door, talking to Serena on the way there. Her coworkers seemed cool enough. Except Carlos. Charlie didn’t understand why he was so aggressive. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know why. 

“Well, it’d be fun working here with him behind the bar,” Ranboo muttered as he read the menu. “Always getting into fights and shit.”

“I think he means well. He’s just very confrontational.” 

“He means well? Charlie, did you see him? He knows about us. Surely he’s gonna tell people Mabel is housing Showfall stars.”

Charlie frowned, setting his menu down, having already decided on ordering eggs and bacon. “I don’t think he will. You heard what he said, how he doesn’t like people messing with her. He’s looking out for her, that’s all. He’s just going about it a different way.”

Ranboo set down their menu and messed with their mask. “Still, I don’t like him that much.”

“You don’t have to.” 

They heard a bell ding throughout the restaurant. There was a crowd of people coming through the door. All of them had to be qualified for retirement. Mabel and Serena looked like this was just a regular day, plastering on a smile and greeting them in a fake cheerful voice. He didn’t know how they did it.

The place quickly filled up with chatter. Nearly all the booths were filled, with all the serving staff coming out of the kitchen to begin serving the morning rush. Mabel bounced back over to them, a notepad in hand. 

“You guys know what you want?” 

Once they ordered, Mabel took off to start serving tables. Ranboo and Charlie just observed the restaurant. How the serving staff, including Carlos, worked together to make sure everyone in the building had a good time dining in. Mabel made sure Charlie and Ranboo’s food came out first, setting their plates down with a smile and coming back with two glasses of water. 

The food, to be completely honest, was a hundred times better than Mabel’s eggs. Mabel’s eggs were more of a coming home from a late shift and needed a snack kind, while the ones Charlie ordered were more of a oh this is breakfast kind of eggs. Not that he didn’t like the eggs Mabel made, they were great. This was just more… flavorful? 

There were a few times throughout their breakfast where they’d catch a mean tone of voice speaking to one of Mabel’s co-workers, and sometimes Mabel herself. They were mad over simple things, like forgetting the jelly packets that come with the toast or accidentally being seated without silverware. The people were so needy and arrogant that it was making Charlie angry. Couldn’t they see that Mabel and her co-workers were trying their best? 

Charlie tried to focus on eating, because the eggs were absolutely delicious and the bacon… to die for, really. But his anger finally took over when the people in the booth behind him started berating Mabel because their eggs ‘weren’t done properly’. 

He turned around, pulled his mask up, and pointed his finger at the older gentleman who was complaining. “Why are you complaining, man? Can’t you see they’re busy right now? There’s a hundred other people to feed other than you, and you’re such an ass that you have to start complaining about something like this?”

The man balked. “Excuse me?” 

“Mabel here is trying her best to be accommodating to you and you’re just shoving insults in her face? Well, excuse me for saying what an asshole you are! You come in a restaurant to eat, a restaurant that I presume you’re a regular at based on the fact that you ordered without having to look at the menu at all, and you decide to take up her precious time from tending to other tables just to complain about eggs that- if I may add- are fucking delicious? What is wrong with you?”

Mabel was staring at him with a shocked but terrified expression. She quickly glanced at her watch, then the kitchen door, then back to him. He didn’t understand why she looked so afraid, or why she just took all of these customer complaints with a smile and nod- especially when they were insulting her and not the people who cooked the food. Not that he wanted the cooks to be insulted- if he could, he’d go back to the kitchen and tell them what a great job they’re doing. This was just… so ridiculous that they weren’t doing anything. Mabel or her co-workers. 

He’d shocked the older couple into silence. The man opened and closed his mouth, searching for an answer to Charlie’s rant. He couldn’t find one. 

“Char- I mean, Clyde, I think you’ve had too much orange juice,” Mabel said quickly, nervously tapping her pen on her notepad. She smiled sheepishly at the couple. “I’ll get someone to grab you another bottomless mimosa, sir. It’ll be here in a moment.”

With her smile still plastered on, she slid over to their booth, and the smile fell instantly. She sat down in the booth with Ranboo, squishing them against the wall. 

“What the fuck are you doing?” she hissed, her eyes darting back to the kitchen door as if she were waiting for death to walk right through them. “Are you trying to get me to lose my job?”

Charlie leaned over the table to speak quietly so as to not aggravate the couple behind him further. “No, but seriously? Letting them talk to you like that? Letting them insult you under their breath? That’s not right, Mabel!” 

“Well, it’s my job and I know how to handle it! I’ve been working here and in customer service for a while- I know how to handle these kinds of things, but I can’t have you sabotaging me in the middle of my shift!” she muttered loudly. “What if Joseph walked in when that happened? He wouldn’t commend you for standing up for me, he would blame me for doing a shitty job and I can’t have that!”

“So I was just supposed to let them belittle you like that?” Charlie countered. 

“For God’s sake, yes, Charlie! These aren’t the first people to insult me to my face or under my breath!” 

She closed her eyes, squeezing her hands into fists and expanding them back out as she took deep breaths. Ranboo sent Charlie a look of what the fuck is happening right now? He just shrugged back. He didn’t want to argue with her, but he couldn’t stand seeing her accepting being walked all over. It was stupid! She should be allowed to stand up for herself and not be feared of consequences! 

“Look, I appreciate you standing up for me. I really do, especially ‘cause you’re the only person other than my coworkers to do so, but this is just the way things are. If they’re going to be douchebags about every little detail when they come in here, then that’s their choice. I can’t force them to leave and I certainly can’t talk back or else it’s my job. And I cannot lose this job,” the girl said. “So thank you, Charlie, but don’t do that again. Please.”

He didn’t like it, but he couldn’t- no he wouldn’t be the one responsible for her losing her job. “Okay. I won’t.”

“Thank you,” she sighed. “Now I’ve gotta get that guy more mimosas.” 

Mabel went to the bar, where Carlos was talking to her with a scowl on his face. Charlie couldn’t hear their conversation over the brunch crowd’s chatter, but he could only guess what Carlos was saying to Mabel, who looked tired as ever. 

“You probably shouldn’t have done that,” Ranboo piped up, biting into a piece of bacon while facing the wall. Nobody had looked over at them yet, meaning nobody noticed their scars. They ate quickly and pulled their mask back up as they chewed. “I mean, I wanted to say something, too, but we can’t draw attention to ourselves. That’s the complete opposite of what we want.”

Charlie had been too angry at the moment to think about that. Now that he did, he felt intensely guilty for putting himself and Ranboo in that situation. What would’ve happened if someone did recognize them? It would’ve been disastrous. He doubted that elderly couple knew who they were, but still. He drew attention from other tables, too. 

“Sorry,” Charlie said, suddenly not hungry for the rest of his bacon. He stared at his food guiltily. “I just got so annoyed by their constant complaining and-”

“I know. We just can’t let that happen-”

“-again.” 

His head snapped up. It wasn’t Ranboo across from him anymore, but Sneeg. Sneeg with blood on his hat and in his hair, his expression deathly calm, his eyes dull and dark. Splotches of red stained his front, from a wound on his chest or the blood coating his hair, he didn’t know. All Charlie did know was how loud his heartbeat was in his ears as he stared wide eyed. 

“Charlie?” Sneeg asked, though it was distorted. Like someone had put his voice through a blender. Sneeg just stared right through him, monotone. Unaware of Charlie’s evident distress. Then, Sneeg’s jacket was suddenly ripped, blood pouring out of his chest. “Charlie?”

“Charlie!” 

He blinked, and it was Ranboo in front of him, reaching over the table to grab his arm. Their eyes were not like Sneeg’s. They were full of life and light, full of worry and concern. He couldn’t tell if Ranboo was a hallucination, either. He looked healthy enough for someone who escaped Showfall. Charlie was anticipating the moment he blinked and Ranboo would be tied to that box contraption again, begging for death. 

Charlie reached up, grabbing Ranboo’s wrist to feel the pulse point. A steady heartbeat. 

Badum. Badum. Badum. 

He breathed in for three, out for three. 

“You okay?” Ranboo asked. 

Charlie closed his eyes and shook his head, continuing the breathing exercise. Behind his eyelids, he could still see Sneeg. Bloodied. Battered. Dead. He peeled his eyes open again, trying not to blink too much. 

“What did you see?” they asked as they squeezed his shoulder. 

“Sneeg… fuck, it was bad,” he whispered painfully. 

“It wasn’t real, man. Pillow.”

“What?”

“Pillow,” Ranboo just said, without any explanation. 

Charlie was already mentally exhausted enough, so he didn’t ask. He just kept breathing in and out rhythmically until he could hear properly again without the thump of heartbeat roaring in his ears. 

Mabel took that opportunity to come back over, sending concerned looks Charlie’s way while pulling out her wallet from her apron. “Here. Don’t go too crazy, alright? I have a few sticky notes in there for what cards to use when, and what the pin is for my debit card in case you need it. Go have some fun being normal people.”

Ranboo took the wallet and pocketed it. “Thanks, Mabel.”

“Of course. Now you guys should get outta here before Joseph gets in and realizes I gave food out for free,” she winked. 

They quickly left after that, waving goodbye to Ivy and Finn on their way out. Once they were back in the warm August air, Charlie realized something. 

“Did we ever ask her when she got off work?” 

Ranboo’s shoulders deflated. “No…”

“We’ll just come back in a few hours?” 

“Yeah.”

Chapter Text

The shopping plaza was huge . They had no idea where to begin, so they just picked a direction and started walking. Multiple times they gained looks from people, some curious and some just outright weird. Charlie paid no mind, for he was too occupied looking into shop windows. 

There was an ice cream shop a few doors down from Mabel’s work, with a line running out the door waiting for ice cream on a warm sunny day. There was a pizza place that had their door propped open, awaiting customers. Ranboo pointed to a store up ahead that looked to be a simple clothing store. 

They walked in, immediately being greeted by air conditioning and a smiling woman. 

“Can I help you guys find anything?” she asked with a thick southern accent. 

Ranboo and Charlie shared a look.

“Uhhhhh…” Charlie started. “Normal clothes?”

She looked confused by his statement. “Like t-shirts and such?”

“Yes, yes exactly that,” Ranboo said awkwardly. 

The woman glanced between the two weirdly before stepping further into the store. “Y’all can follow me over here.”

She led the two of them over to shelves that lined the entire wall, divided by the different clothes they displayed. On the left were jeans, in the middle were normal plain colored t-shirts and graphic tees, and on the right were what looked like sweatpants. She picked up a plain white t-shirt and looked at the tag, handing it to Charlie.

“Maybe this one will fit you. You can try it on in the room back there,” she said, pointing to a cracked door. She turned to Ranboo. “You might need a size up because you’re so tall…”

Charlie tuned them out as he went to try the shirt on. He kept the door cracked just an inch. He set the white shirt down and took his own off, setting it off to the side. Only then did he catch a glimpse of his back in the mirror beside him. He paused, turning around as far as he could while still being able to look. 

His back was covered in scars of all sizes, all at different angles. There were some that looked like claw marks, some that looked like they came from a knife, and even some that looked like his skin had been boiled or burned. Most of them were 100% visible, while others he had to really look to find. He’d only seen the ones on his chest. He hadn’t known there were others. 

He felt disgusted looking at himself.

Charlie quickly threw on the white t-shirt. It was comfortable, made out of a soft fabric that was like a blanket on his skin. It was a little tight around the arms, though.

A knock came at the door, making him jump.

“You good in there, man?” 

He relaxed, changing back into his other shirt and opening the door. “Yeah. You?”

Ranboo held up his arm, which was covered in t-shirts and jeans. “She got a little carried away with finding me clothes because I’m so tall.”

Charlie snickered, “go try them on.”

As Ranboo went to change, Charlie walked back up to the woman, who was folding more t-shirts at the cash register. She perked up as she saw him walking up.

“How’d it fit, hun?” 

He handed her the shirt back. “It was a little tight on my arms but otherwise it was fine.”

“Oh. I think you’d need a size up then,” the woman said as she studied the tag once more. She came back out from behind the counter and walked Charlie back to the t-shirts. “So, why are you boys going clothes shopping?” 

God did Charlie hate small talk. “We just moved here. A fresh start means new, fresh clothes, right?”

The woman chucked, picking out another plain t-shirt. “I guess so.” She handed him the two new shirts she picked out. “Pick out any other t-shirt you like. They’re all buy one get two free because why not ?” 

He was a little off-put by her enthusiasm, but nodded nonetheless. He went back to the changing room door, waiting beside it for Ranboo to finish trying on clothes. He couldn’t help but think about how kind most of the people have been. Like Mabel’s coworkers. They were all so nice and welcoming, even shit talking their manager in front of them without a care. And this random lady who, yes, it is her job to help them, is being so nice to them. It feels genuine, not that customer service smile and tone. 

Ranboo stepped out, having a select few clothes on one arm and majority of the others on the other. He held the door open for Charlie as they swapped places. Needless to say, the woman was good at her job. The shirt Charlie slipped into was a little wider on the torso, but was comfortable on the arms. The shirt didn’t feel constricting, either. It was breathable. 

He stepped back out into the main room, joining Ranboo by the t-shirt section again. 

“These shirts are all so cheap, too…” he heard Ranboo muttering as he approached. “The both of us with five t-shirts would be around sixty dollars?”

“I haven’t even gotten to the pants yet,” Charlie said dejectedly. His internal conflict quickly dissipated though. “Wait, she said there was a sale on t-shirts. We buy one and we get two free. So in reality, both of us only pay for… wait, why don’t we get six shirts to even out the math?”

“Okay. So we’ll only have to pay for 2 shirts each,” Ranboo concluded. “That seems about right.”

“Yep. Now I gotta go look at pants.”

It took a little more help from the woman to figure out Charlie’s jean situation. It didn’t take long for them to figure out what size he was. Though, as he grabbed a few pairs of jeans and sweatpants, he thought back to Mabel’s money situation. He felt so guilty that it wasn’t his money that was buying him these clothes- it was hers . While she had said she was going to pay for them anyway, he felt awful watching the price on the screen go up and up as the woman scanned their items. 

“Your total is gonna be $108.23. You payin’ with cash or card?” she asked sweetly. 

Ranboo scrambled for Mabel’s wallet. A black leather one, with pink sticky notes in it. On the left, the note said credit card, for big purchases . On the right, the note said debit card, for smaller things like fast food and trinkets. Pin: 4312. Limit right now: $678.

Ranboo fished out the credit card and said, “card.”

He handed the card over, and she swiped it for them. The small box beside the monitor whirred, spewing out a paper from the top. She ripped it off and placed it in their large plastic bag full of clothes. 

“Thanks for coming in, y’all. Have a good one,” she said as she handed them the bag. 

“You too…” Charlie said, taking the bag as Ranboo carefully placed the credit card back in the wallet. 

They left the shop, an odd feeling in Charlie’s gut. It was just customer service. She probably didn’t really mean it. Right? She was just doing her job. 

“So uh… what now?” Ranboo said. “We’ve done what we came out here to do in like twenty minutes.” 

Charlie looked around. “Yeah, but we haven’t checked out anywhere else. Let’s just look around.”

Ranboo nodded, though they looked nervously at everyone that passed them. 

They spent the early afternoon checking out all the different stores. They went into a gaming store, where Ranboo seemed most interested. They browsed hundreds of different titles and different gaming consoles. Charlie vaguely remembered having these gaming consoles, playing them daily with friends. After talking to one of the cashiers, they found out they were actually hiring, and the starting pay was actually really good. 

After that, they explored a few other clothing stores, finding nothing that screamed at them to purchase. Charlie actually found himself having fun, not looking over his shoulder for a white and black mask with that logo associated with death and torture. He and Ranboo laughed at people with ice cream smeared on their faces, the cold treat liquifying and dripping onto their clothes. 

The longer they walked around, they realized how warm it was getting. Charlie was starting to sweat just from walking around. The sun was beating down on them ruthlessly. 

They had eventually gone into every store except the bookstore, the one Charlie was hoping to get a job at. It was relatively small, maybe as big as the first clothing store they went into. There were aisles of bookshelves standing proudly halfway to the ceiling. The bookshelves lining the walls had those cliche ladders that could roll around, as these bookshelves did reach the ceiling. 

The smell in the store was kind of like Mabel’s house. A twinge of vanilla, an older smell like old paper. Charlie liked it. The decor around the place was comfy, with fake vines hanging from the ceiling as well as smaller bulb lights connected by a single wire. There was a dreamcatcher nailed to one of the bookshelves. The door had a small bell chime above it that dinged as they walked in. 

There was a guy behind the cash register, reading a book himself and looking kinda bored. Must’ve been a laid back day for the bookstore. There was some sort of rustling noise coming from the back of the store, which Charlie quickly realized was another person digging books out of a cardboard box. 

The guy behind the register looked up as they walked in. “Welcome in, guys. Anything you’re looking for in particular?” 

“Not really,” Ranboo replied. 

“Well, let us know if you need anything,” he said, his eyes searching their faces- which made Charlie a little scared because it looked like he recognized them. Still, the guy returned to his book. 

The escapees began looking around, running their fingers along the spines and reading the titles of the books. They were all organized by author names, which looked very odd to Charlie. 

He found a book whose title caught his eye. The Outsiders . Sounded interesting enough. He picked the book out of the shelf, flipping it over to read the back. Woah, that sounds very interesting. 

He kept the book and continued browsing. He found a few other books that piqued his interest that he kept as he walked around. He eventually ran into Ranboo, who had found two books they liked. They both made their way to the front counter, where the guy was still reading. He quickly closed the book when they approached. 

“Find everything you need?” he asked, scanning their books. 

“Think so.”

“Alright, your total is $36.74.”

Ranboo dug out the wallet again, using the debit card this time. It was a bit awkward, paying for the books while the guy silently placed them in a plastic bag. He handed them the bag, wishing them a good rest of the day as they walked out. 

Charlie wished he had a watch. “Let’s go check on Mabel.”

They walked back to the restaurant, which took a few minutes. The place was bustling, somehow with an even larger crowd. Ivy passed by them with a tired smile.

“You boys here for Mabel?” she asked.

“Yeah…” Charlie said.

“Well, it’s gonna be a minute. She’s a little busy,” Ivy said as she walked away. 

It was true. Mabel burst through the kitchen carrying a large tray full of food. Her cheeks were red, and her skin was shiny with sweat. Leo followed her with another tray, equally full of plates. She caught their eye as she was setting the tray down and grinned sheepishly. She started handing out the food to the large party, her customer service smile plastered on. 

“You guys can wait right there, she’ll be with you in a minute,” Finn said deadpan as he passed them by with a full drink tray in hand. He pointed to a bench beside the front door they hadn’t noticed before.

Charlie and Ranboo took a seat, fidgeting with the plastic bags full of their newly purchased items. They watched the new dining crowd, how they interacted with Mabel and her coworkers. They seemed nicer, actually saying “thank you” and “please”. A booth of teenagers snickered and talked in hushed tones after Abby walked away. 

A moment later, Mabel came bounding up to them, the large food tray tucked under her arm. “Hey guys,” she greeted with a tired sigh. Her eyes found the bags. “You got some stuff?”

“Uh yeah,” Charlie said as he stood. “We didn’t spend too much… I think.”

“Well, I can’t really complain as long as y’all are happy with what you’ve got,” she replied. “I was supposed to get off in like ten minutes, but I’ve gotta finish up serving those last four tables and clean my section, then I’ll be free. Which is probably gonna take me another hour and a half if I’m being honest.”

Charlie’s shoulders drooped. He and Ranboo had really seen everything the outdoor mall had to offer. All they’d be doing was sitting around waiting for her to get out. It was too hot outside for that. 

“I know, I’m sorry,” Mabel said after reading both their expressions. “We can order takeout tonight if you want-”

As the bell above the door rang, so did a shrill voice yelling, “MABEL!”

Mabel whirled to face the figure jumping at her. It was another girl, probably the same age as Mabel, clinging onto her with Mabel trying her best not to drop her or the tray she was still holding. Mabel was actually pretty muscular, from her job carrying heavy trays or actually working out, Charlie didn’t know, but he was very curious. He wanted to gain that kind of muscle. 

“Get… down…” Mabel wheezed out, patting the girl’s back as her face gradually began turning red.

“Oh! Sorry!” the girl said, instantly letting go and laughing. “I just haven’t seen you in a while!”

“It’s been a week.”

“That’s, like, a month in my time.”

Mabel looked at the escapees with a help me sort of expression. Only then did the hyperactive girl beside her notice them. 

“Oh, were you in the middle of-”

“No. These are my cousins-” she cut herself off again, looking at them for an answer. 

“Rufus,” Ranboo said, giving Mabel a look while doing so. 

“Clyde.”

“Nice to meet you both,” the girl said. “I’m Caroline. I’m Mabel’s best friend.”

Mabel’s eyes gleamed with sadness. She tried her best to hide her grimace, but it was a little too obvious for Charlie not to notice. Clearly, she didn’t think the same. Maybe she thought there would never be a replacement for Jamie. For her, there probably wouldn’t. Based on the pictures he’d seen alone, Charlie could only assume that nobody else could fill the void Jamie left behind in Mabel’s life. 

Her expression quickly changed when Caroline glanced her way with a beaming smile. 

“How was your trip?” she asked. 

“It was nice. The mountains are still beautiful even in the summer,” Mabel replied smoothly. Charlie had completely forgotten about that cover story. It felt like she’d told him that months ago when it was actually a week ago.

“Did you hike the same trail?” 

“Yeah. Still can’t get to the top without dying.”

Caroline laughed. “At least you complete the trail. I’ve never made it to the top. You’re stronger than me.”

Mabel’s face lit up, like she’d had the best idea come to mind. She glanced apologetically at Ranboo and Charlie before turning back to her friend. “Hey, Caroline, you wouldn’t mind showing my cousins around, would you? Maybe take them shopping for more clothes?”

Charlie thought the girl was going to faint from how excited she looked. He was already dreading the answer, because he knew it would be yes. 

“Absolutely! Just around the mall or around town?” 

“Anywhere you find fit. I’ll call you when I get off, okay?” Mabel said in her best chipper tone. 

“Of course!” Caroline said, her blinding smile now being directed at the two escapees. “Come on, I’ve got so much work to do with you both. What in the world are those clothes you’re wearing right now? I would never…”

As she led them back out the door, Charlie glanced back at Mabel, who mouthed I’m sorry before running back to serve her remaining tables. Charlie sighed, longing for the comforting silence of his room and the warmth of his bed. A cup of ice cold water. A nice book on his lap. 

“Come on, Clyde! I’ll leave you here!” Caroline threatened from outside, standing by the driver’s side of an SUV. It was white, clean. He could see an air freshener hanging from her rearview mirror in the shape of a pine tree. 

Charlie came to terms with the next few hours of suffering, and walked to the car. 

Chapter Text

Ranboo, surprisingly, liked Caroline. 

He didn’t like how she seemed to be running off 100 liters of caffeine, and how her voice became high-pitched when she got really excited about a potential outfit idea, but she was nice and brutally honest about Ranboo’s fashion choices. Ranboo was grateful for the insight because, to be honest, he hadn’t been worried about what clothes he wore. They were just worried about Showfall finding them and shoving another mask onto their face.

Still, while he assessed her outfit, the more he desired to care about things like that. Something relatively normal instead of something completely insane like mind control and memory wiping. 

Shopping was also kinda fun. 

He could tell Charlie was having the least fun out of the three of them. They couldn’t tell whether it was because of his hallucination earlier, or if he was just tired. When he caught Ranboo’s questioning eye, he just shook his head lightly. 

Caroline had her stereo on full blast, pop music blaring through the speakers. Her music taste was the opposite of Mabel’s- something that Ranboo had no idea what to make of. They didn’t even really know what kind of music they enjoyed yet. Mabel’s playlists were fun, not the sad ones, but the ones with pop songs she liked, or her rock song playlist. There was one song on one of her playlists that they really liked, but they’d forgotten what it was called.

Worst part, Caroline sang along. And she wasn’t a good singer.

From what Ranboo was quickly gathering about her character, she looked, and mostly acted like your stereotypical high school cheerleader that was unironically friends with everyone. Including the quiet kids, aka Mabel. And she seemed to genuinely like being around Mabel if she were willing to take up a favor like parading her ‘cousins’ around and going clothes shopping with them. Ranboo wondered if she’d make them pay for their clothes or not. He had no doubt she’d probably offer if they said they forgot their wallets at home. 

They couldn’t really pull that excuse though. They’d already bought clothes and books. It’d be super suspicious if they said they’d lost their wallet. 

Another thing he liked about Caroline was her driving. Complete opposite of Mabel’s somewhat reckless tendencies. He wondered how they were even friends if they were polar opposites like this. What did they have in common that made this whole friendship possible?

Caroline turned out of the mall, making Ranboo’s fear strike again. 

“Where are we going?” they asked, panicked. 

“You can relax. I’m not taking y’all too far away. We’re just going across the street. There’s a clothing store over there that I just need to take y’all to. You, my friends, look like you could use a whole wardrobe makeover. My treat. Don’t worry about paying for it,” Caroline said gleefully, stopping at a red light and watching the cars fly by.

“Seriously?” Charlie said hopefully. 

“Yeah. Don’t worry about expenses. Go crazy! Don’t even look at the price tags!” Caroline exclaimed. “I certainly don’t!”

How many rich friends did Mabel have? Certainly this wasn’t normal. The questions burned on Ranboo’s tongue. 

“How do you know Mabel?” they asked curiously. 

“Oh! That’s a fun story.”

The light turned green, and Caroline slowly pushed the gas pedal, easing them across the intersection. 

“I was the manager for the volleyball team at our school, so every practice I was there, doing manager things. Every once in a while, on Mondays specifically, her colorguard team would come into the gym looking for a place to practice because it was too hot to practice outside. I just thought she looked so cool . I mean, she was tall, muscular, and had a cool as fuck shaved head? Sign me up! I wanna be friends with her!”

Ranboo wondered if she was actually telling the truth about this story. There’s no way she was just like oh I see how cool you are and I’ll make it my life’s mission to be friends with you . People weren’t actually like that. Right?

“So every time they’d come in the gym, or I’d pass her in the hallways, I’d wave to her. Sometimes she’d completely ignore me. Well, I mean, she’d look at me, but she wouldn’t wave back. She probably thought I was waving to someone behind her or something.”

“So you made friends with her by waving?” Charlie questioned. 

“Pretty much. She opened up pretty fast, actually. Once we started talking, it was like she couldn't stop! We like a lot of the same things, believe it or not,” Caroline smiled as she turned into a parking lot, maneuvering the SUV into a parking spot like a pro when she was half the height of the car. She looked at her hands, her constant joyful expression suddenly faltering. “Though, there’s something I’m forgetting about her… I know it’s important. There’s another best friend in the picture, I just know it , but I can’t remember who they are…”

Jamie. It had to be him, right? 

I asked everyone at school if they’d seen him. They looked at me like I was fucking insane. Apparently, he didn’t exist. His identity was wiped from the face of the Earth. Only me and his parents remembered who he was.

That was the only clear part of Charlie and Mabel’s conversation they managed to hear before falling asleep again in the car ride to Doctor Lamb’s house. Throughout the whole ride he’d been drifting in and out of sleep, hearing snippets of conversation. Nobody remembered Jamie, like nobody remembered him. 

Surely that couldn’t be true, right? There had to be some people who remembered Ranboo and Charlie. Snowfall can’t just wipe the memories of thousands of people who even knew the name ‘Ranboo’.

“Anyway, me and Mabel have been friends for a few years despite her always telling me to stop paying for her things,” Caroline said, turning off the ignition.

Another rich friend? Seriously?

Caroline stepped out of the car, the other two following her example. She began walking through the parking lot and to a store. For a small person she sure did walk fast. Ranboo had to walk on their toes to keep up with her.

“I am going to make you two absolute bad-asses,” she said as she flung the door open and walked into the store. 

Ranboo didn’t know how to feel about that statement. The store she led them into must’ve had every clothing brand under the sun. Goth clothing? That’s on aisle six. Wedding dresses? Oh, they’re on the second floor in the back right corner. No joke, Ranboo thought they’d accidentally walked into a mall that was just full to the brim with clothes. 

Caroline paused, turning back around to study Ranboo and Charlie. “Alright, Rufus, what do you like?”

“Uhhh… I don’t really have a preference,” they replied. “I mean, I like my t-shirt and jeans combo, maybe a jacket over it or something.”

“Soooooo simple,” Caroline nodded. “Clyde? What about you?”

“Same for me.”

“Alright. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of plain stuff,” she said, though to Ranboo it sounded like she was panicking a little bit. “Okay, why don’t we start over here and you guys can get a feel for what you want?”

She led them over to a corner where a bunch of different colored clothing items hung. She began filing through the shirts and jackets displayed, looking at them with a thoughtful expression then shaking her head and putting it back. 

Ranboo began looking around. The amount of clothes right in front of them was overwhelming enough. They almost felt claustrophobic in the store just based on the amount of aisles they could see. Still, he started sorting through the shirt rack. It was severely unorganized, with some shirts on the floor and others sticking out like a sore thumb from the otherwise neat alignment of the aisle. There were graphic tees mixed in with solid colored ones. He vaguely remembered most of the things printed on the graphic tees, like Nirvana with the smiley face. It was a well known band. 

They just kept looking, finding a few plain shirts that were extremely overpriced. It was okay though. Caroline was well off enough, it shouldn’t be a problem, they thought. They slung the shirts over one arm and kept looking, making sure to check the tags on the back of the shirts for the size. They had a general idea of what size they were in shirts, but as they had learned earlier, each store almost has a different sizing chart for everything. He could be a medium in this store for all they knew.

Charlie seemed to be doing well based on the lump of shirts and jeans in his arms. 

“Alright, let’s go try these on,” Caroline said, pointing to a sign that said ‘fitting room’. She too had a bunch of clothes bundled up in her arms. 

They trekked over to the fitting rooms, being greeted by a nice guy in a black polo shirt with the company name embroidered on it. Surprisingly, Caroline wasn’t trying on any clothes- all the ones she had in her arms were for them. She divided up the clothes for the both of them, shooing them off with a promising smile. 

Ranboo entered one of the stalls, locking the door behind them. The mountain of clothes sitting on the stool made them sigh. They loved having new clothes- it was just the process of getting clothes they liked that they hated. Still, they sucked it up and picked out a pair of pants and a shirt, and started the process. 

“I want to see you both when you’re done changing!” they heard Caroline say from outside the fitting rooms. 

Ranboo changed, finding the person looking back at them in the mirror to be… fine. Normal- at least with the mask on, where their scars are invisible. The shirt was a little tight, but the jeans fit perfectly. They reluctantly stepped out of the fitting room and walked out to Caroline, who was already talking to Charlie about what colors she thought he’d look best in and how he should stick to wearing jeans if he was going out. 

“...nobody wants to look at the comfort of sweatpants when they’re not at home! That just makes them want to go home when they really want to go out!” she said. Then she saw Ranboo. “And you… aren’t that bad. Good choice.”

Charlie had picked out a pair of gray sweatpants and a black long sleeve shirt. He looked completely fine. Ranboo didn’t understand Caroline’s reasoning whatsoever. Charlie just sighed and went back to his changing room. 

That was the process for the next hour and a half. Caroline would get them clothes to try on, sometimes picking out whole outfits with accessories included, and then tell them if they could pull it off or not. Halfway through, Ranboo thought about sneaking out to get away from the shopping nightmare. Then he remembered that he’d have no way to contact Mabel or Charlie, nor would he have a ride back to Mabel’s house. Plus, it was too risky to be caught walking down the side of the road in a direction that was probably the opposite of where Mabel’s house was. 

So fashion torture it was.

There were a few outfits Ranboo really liked that Caroline didn’t approve of. She’d give them reasons why that surprisingly made sense, but they still felt disappointed because they knew they could pull it off. In some way. It was only on their hundredth outfit change did Caroline pause to take out her buzzing phone. 

“Hello?” she said, not even looking at the screen to see who it was. 

Ranboo and Charlie stood in front of the changing rooms, both sweating and exhausted from switching clothes over and over and dealing with Caroline’s unique but helpful constructive criticism. 

“Oh hi Mabel! What’s up?” she asked. Ranboo swore he could see stars in her eyes, she was so happy. Then she deflated a little, much to Ranboo’s relief. “Aw, really? We were having so much fun trying on clothes… fine. Fine, fine, yes I know. I’ll be there in a minute.”

She hung up, turning to them with a dejected expression. “Well, you’d better change back into the clothes you came in with. We’ve gotta get back to Mabel.”

Ranboo had never changed back so fast before. Though it was rough trying to find their original clothes in the pile that they’d accumulated in the room. They brought out all the clothes Caroline said yes to, leaving the others in the room with a reassurance that it’ll be taken care of. Caroline brought them both up to the cashiers, who eyed the amount of clothes Charlie and Ranboo had with a tinge of annoyance. 

The total amount of all the clothes and accessories came out to made Ranboo’s jaw drop. Almost $450 dollars worth of shit, all in two separate and neatly folded piles the poor employees had to fold. As Caroline paid and began walking out, both bags in hand, Ranboo and Charlie trailed after her while sending apologetic looks to the employees.

Caroline drove happily back to the restaurant, where Mabel stood leaning against her car door on her phone. Caroline whipped into the empty parking space beside Mabel, turning off the car and getting out to talk with her. 

Mabel smiled at the two escapees tiredly, her extra frizzy hair making her look as exhausted as they felt. “How’d it go?”

Charlie plastered on a smile, eyes darting to Caroline. “Oh, it was great. Very educational.”

“I’m glad,” Mabel said, a knowing gleam in her eyes. “Thanks again for doing this, Caroline. I’ll definitely try and clear up a day for us to hang out.”

“You better! You work too much for your age!” Caroline said. Her expression fell to something more earnest. “Seriously though, if you need a day off, or any sort of help, call me. You really need some sleep. Have you seen your face lately?”

Mabel just laughed uncomfortably. “Yeah, I know. I’m gonna take your advice and get some sleep as soon as I get home. Thanks again.”

“Get some rest, Mabel.” She hopped back in her SUV and was about to drive off when she stopped, rolling down her window to yell out, “and text me when you’re free!”

Then she sped off, and Mabel’s shoulders drooped. Ranboo felt like such a burden having to stay with her and costing her more money she doesn’t have. Especially when she wouldn’t allow herself to ask for financial help. 

“Let’s go home, yeah?” she said, hopping in the driver seat. 

The ride home was quiet. Not an awkward silence, just a nice mutual silence that allowed them all to reflect on the long day they’d had, and it was only around 2pm. 

Mabel still tapped the lyrics to songs on the gearshift, albeit sloppily. Ranboo tested their head against the cool glass, once again entranced by the hundreds of cars passing by, each carrying a different person with a different story. He wondered what story the lady beside them at the red light had, as she seemed to be shouting at her radio. 

They let their thoughts drift, careful to not let their head hit the glass whenever Mabel took a sharp turn too hard. Like a lost ship, his thoughts eventually reached the mainland- the only thing he’d really been able to think about since the mall. 

Death. 

Seemed like such a simple concept. One stops breathing- their heart stops. They die, sometimes in a gruesome manner, sometimes in their sleep. Death, to Ranboo, had been the light in the dark- their only option to get rid of the voices constantly berating him, telling him what he should and shouldn’t do, telling him how he should’ve died in that mall alongside everyone else. 

Death was so simple. But… it wasn’t. 

If Ranboo did follow through, and joined his friends on the other side and made things right, what would happen to Charlie- who was alive and willing to recover with them? What would happen to Mabel, who had done nothing but try and help them- who worked herself to the bone just to provide for them all? 

Death was something Ranboo thought would get rid of the voices and all their problems. In reality, it’d do nothing but cause pain for the people around him. 

And if Mabel was right about the whole resetting thing, there was a chance that everyone they left at the mall was still alive. Ranboo had to take that chance- they had to believe they were still alive and waiting to be saved because if they weren’t…. 

Aside from Charlie, saving his friends, and regaining the rest of their forgotten memories of a past life, they had nothing else to live for.

Ranboo hated himself for thinking of taking the cowardly way out. But that’s exactly what he was. He was no hero. They left their friends to die. They let their friends die in horrible ways- probably multiple times, over and over, just going along with it as if nothing really happened. Not even trying to help them. Hell, they even played a direct hand in getting some of them killed. 

Ranboo was a coward. That wasn’t going to change. 

When they got back to the house, Ranboo tried to push the thoughts away as Mabel and Charlie started searching for a new movie to watch, takeout boxes in their laps. Movies… where people play a separate character on the screen, devoting themselves to the role and essentially becoming the character all for entertainment purposes.

Was being cowardly entertaining to the people?

Ranboo sat and ate their leftover microwaved chicken alfredo in silence, barely paying attention to the action movie on the screen. The thoughts kept plaguing them, echoing in the back of his mind. He saw flashes of red and blue out of the corners of his eyes. He’d hear their voices clearly telling them what he already knew.

Everything was his fault.

Ranboo couldn’t finish their dinner. 

“I’m going to bed,” they announced as they stood, setting their plate on the counter. 

“Already?” Charlie questioned between bites of his hamburger. “Apparently we’re not even at the good part yet.”

Ranboo’s gaze flickered back to the screen, where a man was in a chaotic prison yard. The fighting in the background of the film didn’t make them feel any better.

“Yeah. Had a long day,” they said. 

Charlie eyed them worriedly. He wasn’t talking, but he would’ve said something like I know you’re not alright. Talk to me.

Which only made Ranboo feel guiltier for thinking like they did.

They slapped on a tired grin. “I’ll be upstairs if you need me.”

They didn’t wait for a response before going upstairs, seeking refuge in their room. They cracked the door behind them, turning on the bedside lamp and closing the curtains that allowed natural light entry. On the floor was the Hero’s jacket. Crumpled and wrinkled. Stained and worn.

They picked it up and sat down on the floor in front of the bed, running their fingers along the fabric. The attachment to the jacket was something unexplainable, but now that they thought about it, it wasn’t an attachment. It wasn’t because Ranboo liked the jacket. 

It was a reminder.

It was a reminder of what they left behind at that mall. Of who they killed- directly or indirectly. It reminded them of their wrong choices, and the consequences that followed. It was a cruel souvenir of what could’ve been- all the different outcomes that could’ve happened. Out of all the millions of outcomes they could think of, they had to be stuck with the third worst one.

The second one was escaping alone, choosing to leave Charlie to livestream for as long as Showfall told him to.

The first was dying in that box contraption. Regaining their memories of their past life before a cruel death. Letting all his friends die again in vain. 

Ranboo was going to burn the jacket one way or another. 

They bundled it up and tossed it to the opposite side of the room, hugging their knees close to their chest as they heard the whispers starting. They always visited at night- whether it be in their dreams or the dark corners of the room untouched by the bedside lamp. They would whisper the things his hallucinations would say- sometimes using their own voice against them and confusing them about which voice was really his. 

You should stop pretending you deserve to be alive, one voice said. His voice.

You should feel what we felt when we died. It’s the least you deserve , came a whisper from Ethan. 

They buried their hands in their hair, tugging at the strands until their scalp throbbed painfully. 

What’s this? You want to remember? Why? Don’t you remember enough? Killing us wasn’t enough for you? A scoff from Austin. 

Tears leaked from their eyes, sobbing as they did nothing but listen to the voices destroying him further. Because they were right. They always were. 

Chapter Text

Charlie hadn’t stopped worrying since they came back from their shopping trip.

The days afterward were normal. Well, as normal as they could be for the escapees. Except Ranboo was… distant. He barely talked to Charlie, and if he did, it was something small like ‘you can use the shower first tonight’. They stayed in their room more often, opting to skip any meals Mabel made for them the day before or anything Charlie managed to scramble together. Charlie ended up leaving a saran wrapped plate at their door after knocking. He didn’t want to intrude because maybe Ranboo just needed a few days to recover from the overwhelming day they had that Sunday. 

It was four days after their shopping trip where Charlie had started pacing in the living room. Ranboo hadn’t come out of their room for a full day now, and Charlie had so many questions that needed answers. But again, if it was just a recovery thing, then Ranboo wouldn’t want to be bothered, right?

They promised though, he thought. He promised he’d talk to me.

Maybe this was something Charlie wouldn’t be able to help with.

Either way, he forced himself to sit down and take a deep breath. His leg bounced feverishly. He stopped it only for his other leg to start up again. 

“It’s fine… it’s fine. He just needs time…”

“I don’t think that’s it.”

Charlie had gotten used to the hallucinations of his friends paying him visits. He shouldn’t have to get used to something like that, especially if he was going to go back to the mall and break his friends out. How would he be able to tell who’s real and who's fake? 

It was Ethan that sat next to him on the couch, still in his purple attire he wore on the carousel. 

“What do you mean?” Charlie questioned, a bad feeling churning in his gut. “We had a long day Sunday, that’s all.”

“Yeah, but four days to recover? Really? Look at you, man. You’re fine, other than seeing me,” Ethan said. “I mean seriously, I’d break down the door by now. There’s no way that’s healthy. Did he even eat the food you left out for him?”

Charlie remembered picking up the plate after Ranboo ate. Each time he collected the dish, there was more food left on it. Ranboo had troubles eating, he knew, but it was never this bad. 

“See?” Ethan said, pointing upstairs. “You know how creaky this house is. He hasn’t moved in a while. Don’t you think that’s weird?”

“They’re probably just sleeping,” Charlie muttered. Though, he knew Ethan was right. The hallucinations always were, for some reason.

“For a full day? Even I couldn’t sleep for that long,” came Niki’s voice from his left. “This isn’t normal, Charlie.”

Finally, Charlie stood. “Okay, I’ll go check on him again.” 

He briskly walked up the stairs, stopping outside of Ranboo’s door- which they’d started closing completely instead of leaving it cracked open. He stood there for a moment, fist hovering above the wood. He listened. Nothing other than the house’s occasionally creaking and the air conditioning kicking on.

Charlie knocked softly three times. No response. No movement from in the room. 

“Ranboo? You there, man?” 

Still nothing. Charlie tried to open the door. It was locked. His heart sank worriedly. They never locked their door. They never even closed it because they were too scared to. He twisted the doorknob harder as if it’d help. 

“Ranboo?” He called out. Please just be asleep, please have just slept in.

He stopped. He could’ve sworn he heard the slightest noise from inside. It could’ve been the slight shift of bedsheets or Ranboo finally getting up. “Ran?”

Sharp, uneven breaths. Charlie pressed his ear against the door. Soft sobs and whimpers, occasional mutters resounding through the wood. 

“Ranboo? You okay?” 

A loud sob this time. Charlie tried the doorknob again but to no avail. The cries and sobs continued, and no matter how many times Charlie called out for his friend, they didn’t open the door. He persisted even though it was going nowhere. He started pushing on the door with his shoulder, putting all his strength into it.   

The sobbing stopped.

Charlie stopped for a second to listen. Nothing. His heart sank further. What happened? We’re they okay? He pushed on the door again, bashing it with his body even when it hurt. The door rattled as it broke free from the hinges. Charlie nearly fell with the wood but caught himself. He looked up, horrified.

Ranboo sat on the floor in front of the bed, a large knife in their hand. His face was stained with tears. The black surgical mask they usually wore was on the floor beside them, shredded to bits. He didn’t look injured, and there was no blood on the knife, but it did nothing to quell Charlie’s worry.

The puzzle piece finally fell into place. Charlie realized what was going on. Ranboo was probably thinking of ending their life. 

Charlie’s vision blurred as the tears welled up. Why would they do that? He thought they were getting better- both of them. He thought their nightly conversations were helping. He thought venting about their night terrors and hallucinations were helping. And Ranboo had promised to talk to him in case those thoughts came back. They hadn’t spoken a word, obviously, otherwise Charlie would’ve gotten them professional help by now.

Still, Charlie’s heart swelled with guilt. Anguish. 

Ranboo finally turned and looked at him. The scars running along their face were still healing, still jagged and rough. His hands shook. The knife was dangerously close to their neck. 

“Charlie?” Ranboo said, their voice cracked and broken. “I didn’t-”

Charlie stepped further into the room, kneeling beside his brother. He carefully took the knife out of Ranboo’s trembling hands, placing it on the nightstand beside the bed.

All he could manage was a tearful, “what happened?”

And Ranboo burst into tears. 

“I- I don’t… kept hearing things and-and seeing them- I just couldn’t…” he babbled. “I couldn’t take it anymore! They’re right, Charlie! They’re right about everything!”

“About what?” Charlie questioned quietly. He couldn’t help but beat himself up about this. He should’ve been more attentive and observant. This wouldn’t have happened if he did.

“All of it! I should’ve been the one left behind! I should’ve died in that box! I should’ve suffered because they didn’t deserve it! They were innocent!” Ranboo hiccuped. 

The man pulled Ranboo into a hug, letting them cry and cry and cry. “Don’t listen to them. They’re wrong, Ran. They’re wrong because you’re a victim just like them. And I know for a fact that if they were here right now, they would never say those things to you. They wouldn’t blame you for what happened, you know why?”

They sobbed again, their cries muffled in Charlie’s shoulder. But they shook their head. 

“Because you were being controlled, too. Remember what I told you at Doctor Lamb’s? How it wasn’t the real you that did all those things? It’s true. But the mask is off now, Ran. They can’t control you anymore. You can’t blame yourself for everything that happened when it was all completely out of control. I don’t think it could’ve gone any other way. All we can do is learn to forgive ourselves and continue on the road to recovery.” 

They sat in silence for a minute, just rocking back and forth to collect themselves. Charlie had no clue how long they’d actually been sitting on the floor, but he swore he heard Mabel’s car door open and close outside. He could still feel Ranboo shaking with sobs, and he hugged him just a little tighter as if it’d ease the pain while ignoring his numb legs. 

“Hey, you remember our promise, too, right?”

He nodded. 

“Please don’t go against it. If you’d actually done that…” 

It was hard for Charlie to hold back his own tears. 

“You’re my brother, Ranboo. I can’t lose you again like we lost the others.”

He felt Ranboo squeeze back. 

“I’m sorry,” they muttered. 

“Don’t be. We’re family. We stick together through everything. Highs and lows. Just please, please don’t distance yourself like that again. I was scared shitless that you’d actually done something.”

“Okay…” Ranboo said. “We’ll get through this together.”

“Yeah. Us against the world.”

“I don’t like this world.” 

“Me neither, but there’s some good things about it.”

Ranboo pulled away from the hug to look at Charlie. “Like what?”

“Food, for one,” Charlie said nonchalantly, making Ranboo chuckle. “Yes, I am always hungry. Also, a nice warm bed. It’s so comfortable I could never get up.” 

He could tell by the gleam in Ranboo’s eyes that his half assed speech was working. 

“Food is really nice,” Ranboo said, fighting the urge to crack a smile. “I don’t know what I like the best.”

“Me neither. But waffles are really good.”

They both scoffed at the turn of the conversation. Such a heavy topic turned into a conversation about food. Who would've thought?

Charlie jumped as he heard footsteps thundering upstairs. He scrambled for the knife, grabbing it holding the blade up in defense. He sagged in relief as Mabel slid into the doorway, her hair extra frizzy. 

“Have you seen my kni- oh… there it is,” she said, eying the two of them with concern. “You guys doing okay?”

Charlie lowered the knife, glancing back at Ranboo. They were looking down, unable to meet the girl’s eyes. He had a feeling he knew why: because she saved them. She saved them when they didn’t think they deserved to be saved. And they were repaying her sacrifices by thinking, even planning on taking their own life away. Charlie adverted his eyes, too. “Yeah. I think we’re fine,” he said.  

She stared for a second too long. “Okay… can I have my knife back, then? I need it to start cooking. We’re having burgers.”

“Can I try to cook?” Ranboo asked. Charlie winced at how hoarse their voice sounded.

“Uh sure. I don’t got a problem with it,” Mabel said as she walked back down the stairs. Only then did Charlie realize just how thick her southern accent was when she wanted it to be. One day she’d be talking completely normal and the other she’d be talking like a Texas cowboy.

Charlie helped Ranboo stand and together they walked down to the kitchen. Mabel had already set out the ground beef and had the buns on the side on a separate plate. She was digging in one of the cabinets for what Charlie could only assume was a skillet. There was no gill anywhere on the property that he knew of, so they’d have to improvise. Though he doubted this was Mabel’s first time cooking burgers on a pan.

She was a really helpful guide. She’d insisted that Ranboo start the process- where he absolutely faltered and looked to her for help. She just laughed it off and began telling him how to begin prepping the meat, sounding just like a video tutorial they’d watch if she wasn’t there. Charlie just watched from the sidelines, waiting to hop in whenever he was needed. 

He saw Ranboo pick up a meat tenderizer. 

His vision flashed red. Ranbo’s scarred face wasn’t visible anymore, now obscured by that wretched metal mask- the lights glowing and contrasting the white light coming from the living room. They moved their hand robotically, bringing the tiny hammer down on… Austin?

It was his head, lying limp on a cutting board. His brains and bones pooled around his broken face. One eye was missing, a dark socket staring back at Charlie. Ranboo had taken off half of his entire skull.

Charlie would never get used to seeing gore like this. He brought a fist to his mouth, dry heaving. Just when it couldn’t get any worse, Austin’s one eye snapped to look at him, and his jaw opened to reveal a mass of tangled wires and blood. 

A hand squeezing his shoulder brought him back to reality. “Charlie?”

Austin’s head was replaced by the ground beef- and he could see Ranboo’s face again. Concern and confusion etched their features. Mabel stood to his left, lightly squeezing his shoulder. But Charlie didn’t look at her, he was too focused on Ranboo and the weapon-

Kitchen utensil. The kitchen utensil in their hands. 

Charlie hated to say that he still didn’t trust Ranboo around sharp objects. His worries should be gone- the mask was off. He said it himself how Showfall could no longer control Ranboo into doing that kind of thing again. But there was still that slim possibility- that fear implanted in Charlie’s head, that Ranboo would turn on him in an instant and run him through with any sharp object he could get his hands on.

He could still feel his insides being tampered with. Ranboo’s hands digging around for an answer that was never there to begin with. 

And Charlie hated himself for not being able to fully trust Ranboo with something as simple as a kitchen utensil. Every time he caught a glimpse of Ranboo holding something sharp- even scissors- he could feel the skin splitting open from his belly button to his collarbones. He felt the phantom sensations every time. 

It made him sick. He and Ranboo had been through so much together, sacrificed so much and Charlie can’t even trust them with something so small as making a hamburger? 

He hated himself for thinking that way. Ranboo was his brother. Blood related or not, he was Charlie’s brother. And Charlie needed to work through whatever was wrong with him because he knew that if Ranboo found out he still didn’t trust them… Charlie didn’t know what he’d do.

So he smiled tightly at Mabel. “Yeah, sorry, just spaced out for a sec. I’m gonna go freshen up. Call me when you need help?”

“Sure,” Mabel said, though she looked reluctant to drop the subject. 

Charlie went upstairs as fast as he could without drawing more suspicion. He felt sick in his skin. He went to the bathroom, closing the door behind him softly. He looked in the mirror, lifting his shirt up to make sure he wasn’t actually being cut open. 

Nothing except the scars. The numerous, ugly scars that painted his skin. He remembered a lot about his time at Showfall- the stuff that happened behind the scenes and what happened every time they reset him. He didn’t know how half of the scars got on his body, while others… he knew exactly why. 

The long jagged scar running along his side was from one of his less fortunate resets. He’d broken through the filter by accident, and had seen everything Showfall didn’t want him to see. He had tried to wake the others up, too, but to no avail. The employees had quickly overrun him and his attempt to fight back using a knife he’d found, and they’d cut him to incapacitate him. He’d done so much damage that they had to physically hurt him just to reset him. 

Or the burn mark on the middle of his back. He’d been pushed onto the oven, which was still burning hot from a contestant using it for the cooking competition. 

He knew each scar had a story- but he only knew half of them. He didn’t really want to know the rest. 

He lowered his shirt, opting to breathe instead. Charlie forced his lungs to expand and collapse, breathing in and out mechanically. He was fine. There was nobody trying to hurt him. Ranboo would never hurt him. He had nothing to worry about other than stopping the hallucinations. 

Because those were getting worrying. And he knew that when he eventually got a job- he couldn’t have hallucinations at work, lest his coworkers think he’s a complete nutjob. 

Which… he kinda is. 

Maybe he should take Mabel up on that offer of professional therapy. 

In the meantime, all he could do was try and differentiate between what was real and what wasn’t. Considering he’d left his friends at that mall, it was kind of easy to tell. At the same time, there were times when the hallucinations were real to him. Like seeing Showfall workers out of the corner of his eye, or seeing them when he was in the arena with Mabel, learning how to use a spear like she does.
The hallucinations of the employees were the worst to differentiate from because they were the most realistic. 

Showfall, a very strange and dangerous company, tracking them down and taking them back because they were a favorite of the people. It was entirely possible that Showfall was watching them still- they were a big company in the real world. Showfall could’ve found them already and were just observing them, letting them have their fun before returning back to hell. 

He was scared. Insanely so. He didn’t want to go back. Not against his will and certainly not to be in another show. 

He’d been in enough shows. 

Charlie turned on the faucet and splashed some water in his face. He was fine, really. He was okay. 

Recovery was a long process.

Sure, Ranboo was having a hard time adjusting, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t observant. He saw how Mabel and Charlie were both struggling with their own individual problems. 

Charlie, his hallucinations and… perhaps something else he wasn’t telling Ranboo about. Mabel and her exhaustion, how she overworks herself at her job and at school, as well as teaching them how to fight with various weapons. She’d somehow managed to toss in two hour lessons for Charlie and Ranboo on top of her already full schedule. 

They didn’t know what made Charlie go upstairs to ‘clean up’, but he had a feeling it was because of him. He knew Charlie would probably never say it to his face, but Ranboo saw the way he eyed the small hammer in their hand. 

Ranboo let Mabel take over from there, just watching from the sidelines.

They didn’t go upstairs to check on Charlie, mostly because they had a feeling Charlie didn’t want to see them. They didn’t mean to cause him any discomfort. They just wanted to help out a little bit, just like Charlie wants to help. 

Like he helped earlier. With the knife. 

Ranboo wasn’t going to do anything. Really, he wasn’t. They couldn’t sleep the night before and… the knife looked captivating. The way the faint moonlight shone on the handle. He was drawn to the knife, and didn’t even realize what they were doing until they were back in their room, twisting the blade back and forth to see how the light reflected off the metal. He could see his reflection faintly, the circles under his eyes. 

And he just stared. 

In the time that he stared at the blade, he didn’t hear the voices of the dead and abandoned chastising him. Blaming him for everything that happened. He had no idea when the last time he hadn’t heard the voices was. 

The shopping trip was very much needed, as Ranboo had gotten tired of sitting cooped up in the house doing virtually nothing. However, as they’d walked around and taken in everything the shopping mall had to offer, they’d started thinking things like Nikki would’ve liked this .

He’d started linking objects or clothing he saw to one of his friends. Oh, Austin would totally like this jacket. Maybe Ethan would like this weird trinket beside the checkout counter. Sneeg would totally buy this-

The guilt was immeasurable. It just made him remember that the hallucinations and nightmares were right: they were dead because of him. 

It made him upset because his friends should’ve been there, walking alongside him and Charlie- laughing and smiling and joking around while trying on ridiculous looking clothes. 

Dinner that night was delicious, as always. 

And the next morning, Mabel woke him up at the ass crack of dawn. 

“Come on, it’s your first day of school,” she said quietly. 

Ranboo didn’t really want to, honestly. The bed was so warm… 

“Uh uh, no drifting back out. I finally got you registered as a senior, so now you’ve gotta go to school too.”

They begrudgingly got up and got ready, choosing a simple t-shirt and jeans with a light gray jacket. Passing Charlie’s room, he saw the man had kicked off his covers, with one foot off the bed and his back to the door. Ranboo was worried about him even more than usual after his abrupt leave from last night. He didn’t even come down to eat. 

Ranboo walked downstairs, instantly being hit with the smell of eggs. 

Mabel stood in front of the oven, cooking a batch of scrambled eggs while checking on bacon that was in the oven. “Morning,” she said in a sing-song voice.

He didn’t understand how she was awake. The sun wasn’t even out. “Morning.”

“It’s going to be a long day for you. I’ve gotta go to work right after school so you won’t be able to go home until I get off,” she said. “Unless you can drive. Which, I don’t doubt you can’t, but we can’t get into any legal trouble ‘cause… you know.”

“Yeah I get you,” Ranboo said. “I don’t mind staying out a little bit longer.”

“Hey, maybe we can find you a job,” Mabel joked as she pulled the bacon out of the oven. The bacon sizzled, the grease on the parchment paper bubbling up from the intense heat.

“Maybe. That bookstore looked nice.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah. It was… calm. Nice.”

Mabel smiled at him. “That’s good. But hey, don’t do anything you don’t want to do. I was just joking.”

“No, I want to help. I mean- I want to get a job so I can help you out.”

Her smile faded slowly. “Ranboo, like I said before, I can’t ask that of you or Charlie. I know it’s only been a few weeks since the escape but I see how you two are struggling to adjust. If you’re not ready, you’re not ready, you know? I don’t want to push you.”

“And I don’t want you to keep coming home looking like you’re about to pass out,” Ranboo argued quietly. Before Mabel could protest, he continued, “seriously, Mabel. I know we haven’t talked too much in general, but I haven’t seen you practically at all since we came here because you’re too busy at work and school and sleeping. I want to know you, not just because you broke us out of that mall, but because of you .”

Her eyebrow raised. “I don’t understand…”

“You are so… weird,” Ranboo said, “but in a good way. You’re funny and smart and hardworking, and I want to know you better as a friend because of your personality. I want you to be able to take breaks and just relax and be able to have a day off where all we do is just lay around and eat shitty food.”

Ranboo didn’t know why he was saying all of this in the early hours of the morning, but it just kind of bubbled up and exploded. Mabel was giving them so much at the expense of her own health and mental well being. Sure, they’d had a few days to get to know her as they were driving to her house and receiving medical treatment from her doctor friends, but there was something missing. Something she wasn’t telling them about- which Ranboo suspected to be associated with Showfall. 

He didn’t care anymore if she was a past employee. He just wanted a new friend in this fucked up world. And they couldn’t really have that if he never saw her. 

“Let one of us take the burden for a bit,” he said. “You deserve to rest.”

In the blink of an eye, the tired smile was back. “There’s no rest for the hardworking, Ranboo. There’s always something that needs done.”

A burnt smell wafted through the kitchen.

“Like my eggs! Shit!” she cursed, taking the eggs off the burner. “Well, guess we’re eating slightly crispy eggs.”

After they ate, Mabel handed them a maroon colored backpack. It wasn’t very heavy. Looking in the main pocket, Ranboo saw an abundance of school supplies. 

“Just in case you get bored or find something interesting. I mean, I’m 98% sure you’re like a year or two older than me, so you’ve probably graduated already. Are you wanting to go undercover to gain more memories or are you genuinely interested in what we’re learning?” she asked, writing a note on a piece of pink paper. She finished the note and taped it up on one of the kitchen cabinets. 

“I don’t know, really. A mix of both,” they replied. 

“Well, let’s get going,” Mabel said giddily. She bounded towards the door, only to pause abruptly. “Wait! I gotta get my camera!” 

Ranboo watched her run back upstairs, then come barreling back down with a small camera in hand. It looked old. The word on the front beside the lens was barely legible Polaroid . Mabel was about to raise the camera when she stopped, looking at Ranboo hesitantly.

“Do you want to take a picture with me? It’s your first day of school! I mean- not really your first day of school, but it’s your first day with me so-”

“Mabel?”

“Yeah?”

“Take the damn picture.” 

“Okay.”

She stepped in front of them, turning around and raising the camera up. “Goddamn, I never realized how tall you really are.”

“You’re just short.”

“Hey, I’m 6 foot 2. I’m abnormally tall.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Ranboo quipped back. 

Mabel rolled her eyes. “I’ll purposely leave the flash on just to blind you.”

Ranboo gasped dramatically. “You wouldn’t….”

“I will. Watch this.”

Mabel smiled and threw up a peace sign with her free hand, and took the picture. The camera flashed, and as promised, temporarily blinded Ranboo. He was surprisingly not as freaked out as he thought he’d be, having a camera in his face once again. Sure, seeing the lens pointed at them made their heart race, but as soon as it was aimed at him, it wasn’t. The picture was taken and it was over. 

A small square dispensed from the camera. Mabel grabbed it with two fingers and began shaking it. A moment later, an image was on the small square, surrounded by a white border. 

“Awww, this is so cute! This is going on my wall,” Mabel said with a fond grin.

In the picture, Mabel barely caught Ranboo in the frame. You could barely see the top of their head. They were staring at the camera dead on. The lenses on Mabel’s glasses reflected the light, so you couldn’t really see her eyes, but her smile was blinding and the peace sign took up a whole corner of the picture. A simple thing, a moment caught in time forever. 

But to Ranboo, it was a nice gift. 

And a moment later, they were in the car with some rock music blasting from the speakers, on their way to school. While Ranboo thought it was too early to be blasting Rage Against the Machine, he could appreciate the methods Mabel used to stay awake. 

Ranboo observed the people driving around them. Mothers on their way to drop their kids off at school, fully functional adults on their way to work at some office job. Just normal people going about their usual routines. 

Mabel got into a left turn lane, turning down the music. “Welcome to school, where all kids do are vape, fight, and somehow do naughty things in the bathrooms and not get caught.”

That was very concerning. 

What was very interesting to Ranboo, though, was how massive the school looked from the outside. There were multiple buildings of massive sizes, like those giant grocery stores that somehow have an electronics section and have a designated area where you can get your tires changed. The area around the school was surrounded by open fields, some painted for soccer games or practices. There were giant light posts on the far end of the school, no doubt meant for a stadium. 

The parking lot was also huge, possibly capable of holding up to three hundred vehicles. There weren’t many cars there yet. Mabel pulled into the parking lot, skillfully pulling into one of the first spaces on the front row. She unbuckled her seatbelt and began digging around in the backseat for her backpack- a cotton candy colored one, with a mix of pink and teal and blue. 

“Hold this real quick.” She handed him her backpack, which Ranboo instantly let fall into their lap. 

The thing had to weigh like 80 pounds. What the hell did she have in there?

She fished Ranboo’s backpack out and traded him for her own. “All right, let’s go. I’ve gotta get your student ID and have to make a pit stop by a teacher’s classroom. And this campus is abnormally massive.”

They got out of the car, and Ranboo instantly felt like there was a target planted on their back. The hairs rose on the back of their neck. He looked around, finding nobody looking at them. The parking lot was basically empty- there was nobody to look at him. Still, Ranboo’s paranoia skyrocketed. There had to be someone there, watching from the shadows. Someone knew they were there. Who they were.

Maybe even what they’d done.

“Come on, bro, we’ve got like 45 minutes to get this all done,” Mabel called, already halfway across the parking lot. 

Ranboo tried to push away those feelings for the moment, though the feeling of being watched still lingered in the back of their mind. He followed Mabel, marveling at the sheer size of the buildings. Once they got inside, they were hit with an odd mix of smells. Faint cleaning products, a sort of musty smell and a twinge of body odor. 

The floor tiles were a cream color, with the ones lining the walls a darker green. The ceiling had to be around fifteen feet high, with banners displaying various awards for activities hanging down from the top. There were picture frames on the walls of students, past and current, doing various different club activities. The art club had a whole wall dedicated to them, as well as theater. 

They turned the corner, finding a surprisingly normal looking hallway with a bunch of closed classroom doors. Seems like even most of the teachers weren’t even there yet. 

As they walked through the school, Ranboo was just in awe. This place had to be seriously funded to look this nice and have that many after school club achievements. Each hallway they trekked through had some sort of decorations- whether it be pictures of students or artworks they’d done, or painted murals that had to be there since before Mabel was born. 

She stopped at a door with a sign above it that said ‘Assistant Principal’. It was the only door on the hallway that had lights shining onto the tile floor. Mabel didn’t even bother knocking, she just opened the door and walked right in. 

“Good morning,” he heard a woman’s voice say happily. “What’re you doing here so early?”

“I’ve brought my cousin that I told you about, to get his student ID,” Mabel said as Ranboo slowly entered the room. She gestured for him to come in. 

The office was like… a nerd’s empire. There were drawn pictures of Star Wars characters taped onto her walls. The woman’s desk was in the center of the room, the dark oak covered with different nicknacks of things ranging from figurines to coasters and even a name tag themed after Harry Potter. 

Dr. Jayden White

The woman herself had to be about a whole foot shorter than Mabel, with dirty blonde hair and fair skin. She didn’t wear any makeup, but her outfit was very principal-y. A beautiful teal blouse with a golden necklace, nearly covered up by her lanyard with her ID on it. She wore white jeans, neat looking, without any wrinkles in them. She had many bracelets on, all of a golden color. 

Her grassy eyes found Ranboo, and they lit up with delight. 

“Hi, Rufus. Welcome to our school. I’m Dr. White, the assistant principal,” the woman introduced herself, reaching out to shake his hand. 

“Uh, hi,” Ranboo said uncomfortably. “I’m… you know who I am, apparently.”

Dr. White laughed. “Well, nice to meet you anyways. I have your ID right over here.”

She walked back over to her desk and grabbed a small plastic card, handing it to Ranboo. His fake name was displayed on the card in a neat font, with a picture of him Mabel took about a week ago on the right. There was also a fake birthday under his name, dated around the same age as Mabel. 

It wasn’t half bad for a fake ID made by a school official.

“Thank you,” he said, pocketing the ID.

“You're welcome. I also have a printout of your schedule. You have three classes with Mabel, just to get you kind of acquainted with the school and to have a guide. The last class isn’t too far from Mabel’s final class, only a few doors down,” the doctor said as she handed him a printed out paper.

Okay, so first period- economics. Second period, precalculus. Oh no. Third period, British Literature. Fourth period, Creative Writing. That’s not so bad, right? 

He folded the paper and put it in the same pocket as the ID. 

“You gonna stay until the bed rings?” Dr. White asked Mabel. 

“Probably. Nobody else is here yet,” Mabel replied, taking one of the chairs in front of the desk. She motioned for Ranboo to do the same. 

Ranboo complied, sitting in the cold leather chair. Dr. White got settled behind her desk, typing away at some emails. 

“So, Rufus, what’s brought you down here?” the woman asked, glancing away from her screen for one second. 

“Uh…” Ranboo stuttered, not prepared to answer. They looked to Mabel for help. 

“He came down from up North, in New Jersey. It was uh… not a very good home situation,” Mabel said, which made Dr. White wince. 

“Oh,” she said, sending a sympathetic glance towards Ranboo, not elaborating on the subject further. “Well, we’re glad to have you here.”

“I’m glad to be here,” Ranboo said uncomfortably, which wasn’t entirely a lie. They were glad to be out of the house, but they were also anxious of the school day and how it was going to go. He honestly had no idea how to feel yet. 

“I think you’ll like your precalculus teacher. She’s very sweet and understanding,” Dr. White said. “Need any help? She’ll do everything to make sure you get that passing grade. She probably has the highest passing percentage for that class in the school.”

That did nothing to reassure Ranboo’s anxieties. He was grateful that Mabel could practically read minds, as they relaxed when she began talking to the doctor about her classes and what she was struggling with and what she liked about them. 

They stayed in the office, where Mabel and Dr. White conversed until the bell rang. Ranboo didn’t really pay attention to their conversation. They watched the sun behind the doctor’s desk rise, shining natural light into the already abnormally bright office. 

When the bell did ring, Mabel stood up, flinging her backpack over her shoulders. “I’ll see you next week, Dr. White.”

“Bye, Mabel. I hope you like it here, Rufus!” the doctor said with a polite wave. 

They exited the office, and it felt like Ranboo could finally breathe. Ranboo felt congested in there, like he couldn’t really take a full breath even with the mask on. 

Speaking of, he instantly felt out of place when he noticed the lack of masks on other people’s faces. Teenagers walked by, eyes glued to phones as they walked to their first class, all without masks on. They saw some teachers wearing surgical masks, but other than that, nobody else wore them. They were lucky cell phones existed. Majority of the people weren’t paying them any mind, instead watching the newest trending video. 

They walked past crowds of kids standing outside of their classrooms, laughing and pushing each other around at 7AM. Mabel walked around them, a look of disdain and fatigue on her face. Ranboo walked closer to her than he normally would, kind of scared of the new environment. Teenagers were rude and disruptive, but also very insightful. Ranboo didn’t want to cross the wrong person this early in the morning. 

Ranboo received a few glances, which he hoped was because of his height. Anybody could’ve watched Showfall’s productions. Anybody could report back to Showfall saying oh hey, isn’t this the Hero? At school? 

It was terrifying, but Ranboo was also kind of excited. Maybe being at school would bring out more memories from the back of their mind. Charlie, from what he’d heard, had received a lot of his memories back. Ranboo wondered why they weren’t getting more memories back. Most of the ones they got back were memories of their time at Showfall, nothing of their life before the mall. 

Maybe this would kick start their memories. 

Mabel grabbed him by the jacket sleeve and dragged him into a classroom. They finally got a break from those ridiculously bright fluorescent lights. The classroom had the overhead lights off, with LED light strips around the room set at a calm light blue color. The board at the front of the room displayed some sort of slideshow presentation on Supply and Demand Curves .

Mabel’s seat was all the way in the back of the classroom, as they’d come to realize when she pointed at the desk pressed against the wall. “That’s usually my seat, but you’re a lot taller than me, so you might wanna sit there.”

“You sure?” 

“Yeah, this seat isn’t taken anyway.”

They took their seats and waited for the class to begin. A couple of minutes later, the teacher walked into the room, directing her class to answer the warmup on the board as she took attendance. 

The class went by as normally as it probably could’ve been, aside from the look the teacher gave him when she realized he was in her class. She just talked and talked, going through a whole slideshow presentation as the students took notes. 

There was one girl in the corner that worried them, though. She sat across the classroom, facing the door, yet she glanced over at him from time to time, a nervous look in her eyes. Ranboo was worried she knew about everything. She had that same look that Carlos did back at the restaurant. 

At one point, he tapped Mabel’s shoulder and pointed at the girl, and she took note of it. 

“Maybe she’s just curious as to why you’re wearing a mask. Not a lot of people around here do,” she whispered to him. 

Ranboo tried to focus on the lesson. 

After that class, Mabel guided him to their next class, precalculus. The teacher stood outside her classroom, talking with the other teachers and smiling at them as they walked in. Mabel once again directed them to a seat in front of her, one that was somehow unoccupied. 

When they sat down, Ranboo suddenly felt this surge in the back of their head. An itch you couldn’t scratch. They blinked, rubbing their head as if it’d ease the internal turmoil. 

Then, they remembered. 

Chapter Text

Ranboo remembered a lot just from sitting in the school. They couldn’t tell if it was a good or bad thing. 

They remembered their life before Showfall, what they did for a living. He remembered setting up the livestreams, getting into costume and putting on a black and white mask before turning on the cameras. He remembered talking to the livestream’s chat. He remembered playing video games with all sorts of friends, and building those friendships beyond the cameras. 

Then, they remembered the day they went missing. 

It had been a day where he felt extremely weird, like they knew something major was going to happen, they just didn’t know what. They remembered putting on the mask, going outside, and taking a walk to the grocery store. It wasn’t too far from his house, which was very convenient.

The day was cold, windy and cloudy. They had grabbed a hoodie before leaving the house, which they were thankful for. Still, the wind ripped through them like the hoodie wasn’t even there, causing shivers to run through their body. Once he reached the store, he was immediately enveloped in warm air. He exhaled in relief, taking out the list of things they needed and grabbing a shopping cart.

Shopping was about as normal as it could be, with the occasional shorter person asking for their help grabbing something on the top shelf. They made it through the list relatively quickly, and was in the checkout line in no time. They paid, grabbing their bags and heading back home. 

On the way back, though, was when the trouble stirred. 

Disguised as helpless animals crying out, Ranboo stopped. In an alleyway, they could hear the sound of small animals crying. They had to be babies because what else could cry that high pitched? Ranboo looked around, finding that nobody else was going to stop and take a look at the situation. They entered the alleyway, following the sound of crying. 

In the middle of the alley was a beat up cardboard box with the word free written on the front of it. Peeking inside, they saw a dozen kittens, all huddled around each other for warmth the ragged blanket at the bottom of the box couldn’t provide. Ranboo balked. What kind of person would leave those kittens out in this cold? 

Ranboo fished through their pocket, trying to find their phone to call animal services, when they felt a prick in their neck. 

He whirled around, flinging their grocery bag into the person’s face. Arms wrapped around their torso to hold them in place. Ranboo yelled out, screaming to be let go. They fought- kicking and punching and hitting, but the people weren’t budging. He was being dragged further into the alley. 

The amount of fear that coursed through their veins was unmatched. They couldn’t even think properly. Their phone had been knocked out of their hand. No amount of fighting was getting this person to let go of them. 

The second person, the one who used a syringe on their neck, was now stalking towards them. Only then did Ranboo realize the person was wearing some sort of mask. White with a black logo of some kind. The person’s movements were so robotic, like they were being controlled. 

Ranboo’s fighting started to dwindle as they felt increasingly sluggish. Their kicks and punches dealt less damage. They couldn’t scream or shout. They were going limp in the person’s arms against their fighting will. 

The last thing Ranboo remembered of that day was looking past the person with the mask, at the entrance of the alleyway. He saw all these people walking by, eyes glued to their phones and earbuds in. Not a care in the world. Unknowing to their surroundings. 

Their last thought?

Someone please… help…

They remembered the first time they woke up at the mall. 

They were strapped to a chair, like when they’d woken up to the Puzzler’s riddle. It was rope this time, binding their body to the wooden seat. They remembered struggling, freaking out and putting all that adrenaline into trying to get out of this stupid chair. 

Someone walked up to them, adorning the mask with the logo that would haunt them for a long time to come. Like a robot, just standing in front of them, watching them struggle. Not saying a word, if they were even capable of doing so. 

And Ranboo screamed at the employee, on the verge of tears when they got zero response. They screamed curses and screamed for them to be let go because why are you doing this? Why me? What do you want from me?

No answers.

Not until someone else came into view. A man, a tall man, wearing a suit that was about as dark as the void of space. Ranboo couldn’t see his face. He couldn’t see any skin. The suit covered most of his body besides his face. It was like there was a magical blur on the man’s face, constantly making sure nobody could see his identity. As soon as he stepped into the light, Ranboo’s whole body shook with fear. 

There was something about the man, some sort of factor that caused tremors of terror to wash throughout their body, freezing them into place. Ranboo was forced to watch this man step in front of the employee, kneeling down to Ranboo’s height. 

“Hello, Ranboo,” he said. His voice was very… diverse. Layered, like seventy people were saying the same thing at the same time. Though most of the voices sounded like they were screaming in agony instead of talking normally. “Welcome to Showfall.”

“Wha- what’re you-? What? Where am I? What the fuck happened? Why am I here? Who the fuck are you-”

The man raised his hand, and Ranboo’s jaw snapped shut like the man himself had done it. In reality, the man hadn’t moved a muscle towards their face. It only made Ranboo’s fear increase tenfold. 

“All questions that’ll be answered in due time,” the man reassured, though it sounded more like a threat to shut up about those topics. “For now, I’d just like to welcome our newest cast member. Isn’t that neat?”

“Newest cast?....” Ranboo murmured to himself. None of this was making any sense at all. What the fuck was a Showfall? What the hell was he talking about when he said cast? Like a show? 

“Yes! And this newest cast… oh man, they are going to love you once you get into character!” the man exclaimed happily- though to Ranboo it sounded more sadistic than anything. Because who was this man to kidnap him, presumably for no reason, in broad daylight , and start spewing on about some cast that people were going to love? 

Ranboo watched the man stand, spinning giddily and laughing. Seeing the happy man just rubbed Ranboo the wrong way. Like it was forbidden to see someone like the man- someone so intimidating, mysterious, and above all, fucking weird - show any other expression besides seriousness. 

“You don’t understand yet, Ranboo, but you will- I can promise that-” the man said, frantically pointing at him. “But this will be the best show I’ve ever done. Not even the Queen’s Servant can top this one!”

Ranboo’s head was spinning in circles as they tried to keep up, trying to put context clues together. Okay, well, this man clearly kidnapped them to become part of this show, whatever it may be. He assumed there were other kidnapped people being subject to the same thing he was, considering how the man kept saying cast and referring to Ranboo as the newest cast member . What this show was about, what role Ranboo was going to (unwillingly) play… that was up for grabs. 

All Ranboo knew was how badly they wanted to get out of there, away from that man and out of those stupid ropes that burned their skin whenever they moved. They could feel blood dripping from their wrists from their earlier thrashing about, the friction of the rope having broken skin.  

“I just hope it doesn’t end like the Queen’s Servant … that stupid pest of a girl…” they heard the man say under his breath. Then, he shook his head. “Nope. Nope, it won’t be like that this time. We have a new cast! And I’ve made it extra difficult to find the-”

The man suddenly whirled around at the sound of Ranboo’s struggling. They instantly stopped, feeling like a child being caught doing something they weren’t supposed to be doing. If they could see the man’s face, they’d guess he’d be smiling. 

“Oh, Ranboo, I’ve been so rude! I’m the founder of Showfall. I don’t really like giving out my name, so you can just call me Founder. And how rude of me not to introduce you to your castmates! They’re all the supporting characters of your show, after all!”

The employee behind the man moved into the abyss, and a moment later, Ranboo was nearly blinded. They squeezed their eyes shut at the sudden brightness burning their retinas. He could hear the Founder laughing seemingly all around him, like he was everywhere at once. 

“Yes! Yes, this will be one of the greatest productions I’ve ever done!”

Ranboo heard soft cries, questions shouted that weren’t going to be answered. He opened his eyes. His heart sank at the sight in front of him. Niki, Sneeg, Austin, Ethan, Charlie, Vinny, Sykkuno, Valkyrae, all tied to their respective chairs. Some of them screamed out curses and questions, like Austin and Charlie. He had heard the soft crying from Niki, who was just slumped over in her chair, shoulders shaking violently. 

The first one to notice him was Austin, who’d finally run out of profanities to yell out. “Ranboo?” he said. 

Everyone’s heads snapped to them, all of their eyes sharing the same emotions. 

“What the fuck?” Ethan said. He looked at the Founder. “Can you stop giggling around and tell us what the fuck you want with us?”

“I was just telling Ranboo, didn’t you hear?” the Founder asked in a tone that suggested he was scolding a child. “You all-” he pointed at the ‘cast’- “are my next big television hit. You’re going to be superstars!” 

“We don’t want to be superstars! We want to go home!” Niki shouted through tears. 

The Founder looked like he was getting increasingly frustrated at the lack of enthusiasm the new cast was providing. He just looked back and forth between people as they shouted their desire to return home, to their families and friends and beloved pets. He turned around to address the same employee who turned on the lights, presumably saying something to the animatronic-like person. 

The employee left the room only to return a moment later with seven other employees on his heels, all holding some sort of mask. Ranboo paled when he realized the masks were the same ones the employees were wearing. This shit was freaky enough as it is, with this weirdo Founder guy talking about a blockbuster TV show starring a bunch of YouTubers, but by the look of the employees who wore the masks, Ranboo didn’t want it on his face. He had no idea if the masks had any special properties or not. 

But based on the Founder’s forever blurred face, nothing seemed impossible in this mysterious place. 

The employees all moved to one of the YouTubers, standing still beside the chair and awaiting their orders. The others had started to thrash in their restraints, trying desperately to get away from the masked people. Ranboo, in contrast, couldn’t move. They’d spent all their energy not only yelling at the employee that was currently standing over his shoulder, but also from trying his own escape but to no avail. And those rope burns were really starting to hurt. 

The Founder moved to the center of the room, arms spread wide. “All of this will be over soon. You won’t even remember this ever happened. Isn’t that great?”
More cries. Yells. Profanity.

“You truly… you all truly have the potential to be my best cast I’ve ever had,” the man said in awe of his own choices. “You will not regret this! We will create art together! Art !”

Ranboo watched the employees grab his friends by the top of their heads, lowering the mask onto their petrified faces. There was lots of screaming, more crying that broke Ranboo’s heart, finally allowing their own tears to fall. Why was this happening to them? 

As soon as the mask connected with their faces, they sat up with perfect posture, still as statues. Just like the employees. 

“What did you do to them?” Ranboo questioned, terrified. 

The Founder shrugged. “They’re not dead, if that’s what you’re implying. I simply… reprogramed them. I’m getting them ready for the next show. It’s a long road ahead for that to be able to happen. I need you ready, too, Hero.”

Hero?

Ranboo felt a hand grab their head. “No, no no no no, wait! Wait, please, don’t do this! Let us go!” 

The mask went on, the last thing he heard being the Founder’s gleeful laughter. 

They had no idea how long they’d been stuck in this bland, empty box they call a room. They had an idea of who their next door neighbors were, though. 

Ranboo could hear them- day in, day out- begging to be let go, to stop putting the mask on their faces. Each time Ranboo had the mask put on their face, each time they came out feeling like they were missing something extremely important. He’d forgotten a lot of things. Like where he lived. What foods he liked. Simple things like that. 

Losing track of time was the worst thing that could’ve happened to him. 

Because now they sat in the corner of their dimly lit room, knees to their chest, staring up at the broken roof of their cubicle. That’s what it was, Ranboo noticed. The walls were nearly see-through, and if they pressed hard enough on it, the wall wasn’t solid. It was some sort of fabric. But it wouldn’t break no matter how much weight Ranboo put on it. There was no way to get to their friends trapped in the rooms beside him. 

The roof of the cubicle looked like something out of an abandoned building. The metal framing of a tile roof, multiple tiles missing or severely decayed and broken. They could see a metal vent running along the ceiling to God knows where. They didn’t even know where they were right now. They couldn’t even begin guessing. 

Because they kept forgetting. That’s why they weren’t sleeping that much. Ranboo wanted to remember what was happening in the moment, because if he didn’t, then there was nothing to remember at all. 

They were already forgetting who they were. They’d already forgotten the majority of their friends. Hell, he’d already forgotten who he’s stuck in this shithole with. 

A shadow moved out of the corner of his eye. 

“Ranboo?” 

They looked up, examining the shadow’s outline against the wall. He hated himself for not being able to remember who it was based on voice alone- that he had to search his brain for a solution that should’ve been there from the second the sound of their name left the person’s mouth. 

“Yeah, Sneeg?” he replied after a moment.

“You still remember?” 

He saw Sneeg’s shadow slide down the wall, sitting in the corner touching Ranboo’s shoulder. 

“A little bit. Not much.”

Sneeg sighed. “What the fuck’s happening to us, man? This is so fucked up…”

“I have no idea. Those masks are everything to do with it, though.”

“I know, but it’s not like we can fight them. They’ve separated us. They never take us out two at a time, only one every half hour or so. Even if one of us did escape, there’s no way we could come back for the others. We’d have to run to get help and by the time we get back you could be gone-”

“Sneeg.”

“Yeah?”

“Please stop overthinking.”

“Sorry.”

Ranboo shifted to where their back was pressed against Sneegs, the only thing separating them being that stupid fabric wall. They knew Sneeg was right about everything. They currently had no chance of escaping, especially with that Founder guy on the prowl. Ranboo hadn’t seen him since his little introduction, but there was that lingering feeling that he was always lurking around the corner, watching to see if they tried to escape or do something fishy. 

They fought the oncoming wave of tears, but failed miserably. They dropped, molding into their jeans. 

“What are we gonna do?” Ranboo asked painfully. “What about everyone outside? All our friends have to be looking for us right? Our parents… oh God, mom…”

“I’m sure they’re doing everything they can,” Sneeg reassured, which made Ranboo wonder how the tables shifted so quickly to where Sneeg was the one comforting them. “People surely know we’re all missing right now. Even if they didn’t, the Founder dude kept saying something about a show. We might be… broadcasted.”

“They wouldn’t have the singlemost clue where to look, though,” Ranboo said doubtfully. “What do you think of when it comes to production of a show? There’s a cast, a crew, a few managers, but most importantly, there’s a set. If we really are going to be broadcasted, it’ll definitely be on a set of some kind, not whatever this place is.”

“We have smart friends, Ranboo.”

“I know, but-”

“We have smart friends.”

Ranboo let himself believe it because it was the easiest thing to do to ease his increasing volume of thoughts.

“Sneeg?” came another voice, this time from Sneeg’s left. 

“Charlie?”

“Hey, man…” Charlie said defeatedly. Ranboo couldn’t really see his shadow. It looked like a blob. 

“You doin’ okay?” Sneeg asked- which probably was the most rhetorical question he could ask in this scenario. 

“As best as I can be in this place,” Charlie replied. “What really bothers me is how I have no idea how long we’ve been here for… It could be months already and we wouldn’t know.”

“I don’t think it’s been that long. We would’ve been uh… reprogrammed by then, don’t you think?” Ranboo chimed in. 

“Oh, Ranboo, didn’t see you there, man. But yeah, I see where you’re coming from.”

The conversation fell short, with the three listening for footsteps and… they didn’t know what else. After their introduction with the Founder, they were all taken to separate little cubicles with bags over their heads. The other YouTubers, it seemed, had been separated from Ranboo, Sneeg and Charlie. Ranboo hadn’t heard anything from them for… well, since they were separated. 

So they just sat there, listening to the sounds of a draft running through the broken ceiling. Listening to the various sounds of their cage, the area surrounding it. If Ranboo had to throw a wild guess out there, he’d guess they were in an abandoned office building. Which wouldn't be their first choice when choosing a place to ‘film’ a new show with an illegally kidnapped main cast. 

“I don’t know why I feel like this, but I think we’re gonna make it out of here,” Charlie said. 

Ranboo didn’t want to cling onto that false hope that the man just provided. While he was glad Charlie was optimistic about their escape, it was virtually impossible. Who knew how many masked people were outside of their little cages, waiting for them to try something? Every single possible scenario Ranboo could think of brought them back to their cubicle with some sort of black eye or busted lip. 

“Somehow, someway. It’s going to happen,” he continued. 

“I like to think that,” Sneeg said. 

Ranboo didn’t trust himself to say something optimistic, so they bit their tongue and squeezed their knees impossibly closer to their chest. 

Ranboo’s cubicle ‘door’ opened, and in stepped three of those masked people, that infuriating logo burning into his eyes even more. He hated it so much. Ranboo wanted nothing but to bring fire to those masks, to watch the logo melt and burn to nothing but a pile of ashes at their feet. 

It was the item in the center person’s hands that made them tense. 

“What the fuck? What the fuck is that?” they said panickedly, pressing further into the fabric wall, trying to get away. “Get away from me!” 

“Ran, what’s happening?” Sneeg asked in concern. He turned from his position, now facing Ranboo’s cubicle even though he couldn’t see what was going on.

“Ranboo? Are you okay?” Charlie called out. 

The employees trekked ever so slowly closer to him, and he had nowhere to run. They may seem slow, but Ranboo had seen them run. They were fast . Abnormally so. 

In the middle one’s hands was some sort of mask. Not the oval ones like the employees wore. This one was shaped like a normal mask, one that just covered your nose and mouth, except it was larger, and metal. It had wires that wrapped around the back of it, complete with a small disk in the back adorning the same cursed logo on the employee’s masks. 

Branded. They were branding him. 

“No! NO! Stay back! Please stay back!” Ranboo shouted, crawling to the other corner as fast as they could in their panicked state. The employees followed listlessly. “Stay away!”

“Ranboo? What’s going on? Ranboo?” Sneeg yelled. He was trying to break the fabric wall. 

Ranboo saw the open door and decided fuck it, if they catch me they catch me , and stood on shaking legs, bolting for the door and nearly tripping in the process. 

Outside of the cubicle was an empty room with tons of concrete pillars supporting the half-caved-in roof. Some of the ceiling tiles had fallen to the floor, broken, dust and debris scattered across the neat white tile. The lights were half off, half on. It was a very eerie sight. An abandoned department store? It was certainly the size of one. 

The footsteps behind him were getting steadily closer. 

Ranboo saw an open door and bolted for it, promising that if he somehow managed to lose the employees on his tail that he’d come back for Charlie and Sneeg. They ran and ran down this dark hallway, their shoes smacking against the concrete. At the end of the hall, they saw a glowing exit sign. It couldn’t be that easy, he thought. 

Of course it couldn’t. Through the dark, Ranboo could make out the outlines of more employees, just waiting for him to try and walk out that door. Ranboo turned last second, running down another long hallway where the walls were lined with intertwining pipes and circular valves. As they ran, it got brighter and brighter until they finally came across a door. 

Bursting it open, Ranboo was stunned at what they saw. “What in the actual fuck?”

A giant mall. They were stuck in a seven or nine story mall? Seriously? 

Ranboo had come out of an emergency exit beside the food court. They took note of where the door was for when they’d have to come back later. Ranboo was fast, but those employees would be able to catch up in no time. They’d be right back on his tail any moment now. 

They ran past the food court, though the food sounded amazing right about then. Down an escalator, down one of the center hallways. Ranboo had zero clue where they were going, but as long as it was away from those employees and whatever fucked up mask they were holding, they were okay with staying as far away as possible. Most of the shops were abandoned, with nothing really useful inside. Not that Ranboo could get inside a gated store anyway. 

For one, it would make way too much noise, and for two it was a death trap to go into one of them. He could easily be cornered by employees. 

So they continued at a brisk pace, not knowing what they were looking for or where they were going.
Eventually, just by wondering, they came across what looked like an abandoned survival store. Luckily, with some items left in stock. Ranboo glanced around before risking it. There was no way they could let an opportunity like this go. 

There was a plethora of weapons to choose from, from long range to close quarters. Ranboo definitely didn’t want a crossbow, or an actual bow for that matter. They didn’t trust their aim. Where the cash register would be had a display of various knives, all of different metals and sizes. 

Ranboo quickly hopped behind the counter, trying to push away the fear that began eating away at his skin, making his nerves extra jumpy and jittery. They opened the sliding door to the display case, grabbing one of the longer knives. It was black, around twelve to fourteen inches, and had a ribbed edge. Perfect for cutting or inducing pain. 

Not that Ranboo wanted to induce pain… they didn’t. They just wanted to free his friends and get the fuck out of that mall. 

He grabbed a few smaller knives, attaching them to his jeans and ducking behind the counter when he noticed the employees walking by. He waited a few minutes before moving again, leaving the weapon store as quietly as he could. The employees were nowhere to be seen in the hallway. 

Ranboo began making their way back to the food court. They walked up the broken escalator, constantly looking over their shoulder and up at the next level. Nothing was happening, which worried them even more. 

The mall had very specific lights on every single floor, illuminating only partials of the building. Like a video game when you haven’t unlocked a part of the map yet. The mall was deadly silent. Other than the occasional vent blasting too much air conditioning and Ranboo’s quiet footsteps echoing in the vast open building, nothing made any noise. Ranboo’s ears rang uncomfortably, and they cringed every time their foot hit one of the escalator steps too hard. Every subtle movement drawn out, exposing his location to anything that could’ve been nearby. 

Ranboo moved quickly while trying to be silent. 

They made it back to the emergency exit door, opening it slowly. He eventually thought fuck it and threw the door open after it creaked with every single move. Retracing their steps wasn’t very difficult. In no time, Ranboo was back at the door he originally came from. It was still propped open for some reason, which sent alarm bells ringing in their head. He crept into the doorway, looking around. 

His cubicle was still open, awaiting his return. He couldn’t see if Charlie or Sneeg were still in theirs. Slowly, he entered the dimmed room, unsheathing the fourteen inch knife while his other hand hovered around one of the other knives. 

Ranboo went straight for Sneeg’s cubicle. They stabbed into the fabric, listening to it tear as they ripped it with their hands. “Sneeg?”

“Ran? What the fuck?” Sneeg said as he leapt to his feet, eyes wide. “Where did you go? Where’d you get all of those knives?”

“Questions later, escape now,” they replied dutifully. He unbuckled one of the knives and handed it to Sneeg. “Get Charlie.”

A determined nod, and Ranboo went back out to the main room. It didn’t make any sense to them. They had escaped. Surely the employees would have left some protection for Charlie and Sneeg had anything happened and Ranboo came back. This was all way too easy. Good things like this didn’t come without a price. 

As he looked around for the threat, Sneeg emerged from behind him. 

“Uh… Ranboo? Look at this…”

Ranboo walked back over to Sneeg, who was staring through the large cut he made in the wall. Charlie was curled in the corner of his room, his face hidden by the rest of his body. His room was about as dim as Ranboo’s, with Sneeg’s being the brightest because of the blinding light always hovering over it. Charlie looked okay. In fact, he looked like he was sleeping. 

“Look in his hair,” Sneeg clarified, pointing to the back of Charlie’s head. 

Ranboo furrowed their brows in confusion but looked anyway. There were small obstructions in his hair, like a workout headband rested in his hair or something. But there were… what, three of them? Four? And there were clips on them. If Ranboo looked close enough at Charlie’s face, he could see a line of white. 

“Is he-”

“I heard him struggling after you left, but I didn’t think they put one on him…” Sneeg informed, looking at Charlie with an unreadable expression. 

They were hit with the sudden urge to run. Ranboo’s legs shook with anticipation. Something was about to happen. They knew it was too quiet for something not to happen, but they were terrified to find out what was about to go down. 

“Sneeg, we should go,” Ranboo said shakily, glancing around for anything moving. 

“What? We can’t leave! Not without the others!” 

“We can come back when we have proper help. I don’t like it either, trust me, but this is the best option we have right now. There’s probably hundreds of those masked people working for the Founder. Even if we freed everyone, which we can’t ‘cause we have no idea where they are, we wouldn’t be able to fight our way out if they cornered us.”

“I’m not leaving without everyone else,” Sneeg said defiantly. 

“Sneeg-” Ranboo took a frustrated deep breath “-we have to go get help. Don’t you understand?”

“The more of us there are, the more of a chance we stand against them!” Sneeg argued. “They can’t overpower us if we stick together and put all our power together.”

“What power? We literally can’t fight! Well, maybe Ethan, but he’s one guy!”

“That’s why we back him up! This isn’t a one man fight, Ran! We can help!”

“By doing what? Kicking and punching without knowing what the fuck we’re actually doing? Think rationally, man! We need to go get the cops!”

“They’ll never believe us! And what if the Founder moves this whole operation before we manage to get back? We’ll lose our friends!”

“It's better than trying to pick a fight we can’t win!”

Sneeg was about to continue arguing when he stopped, his eyes locking onto something over Ranboo’s shoulder. Ranboo froze, staring at Sneeg and trying to decipher the look on his face. Terror, nervousness. He looked ready to run at the sound of a pin drop. 

“Sneeg?” Ranboo asked quietly. 

The person behind them moved, grabbing over their shoulder and taking them into a chokehold. Ranboo struggled, stomping on the person’s feet and elbowing them in the stomach. The person let go of them. Sneeg grabbed them by the arm, dragging them back towards the cubicles. Out of the corner of their eye, Ranboo could see the metal mask from earlier. 

“Nope! We’re getting the fuck outta here!” Sneeg said, dragging Ranboo past Charlie and back out the door they came from. 

Ranboo sent a silent apology to Charlie and the others. They’d be back as soon as they could with help, of course they would. He’d never abandon his friends, especially in this fucked up place, where they’re subject to horrors of all kinds. Mind control was what Ranboo had assumed those masked wearing people were under. They were too robotic, too inhuman with their motions, like there were strings attached to all their limbs. 

Sneeg led them down the hallway Ranboo had just run down not ten minutes ago. He could hear the running footsteps of the employee chasing them, which made his heart race further. He pushed his legs further, overtaking Sneeg and being the first to reach the door leading to the food court. 

They burst through the door, seeing nobody in the food court. More alarm bells rang in their head. This was wrong. They didn’t know what, but something about this was wrong. The Founder seemed to have this whole operation down to a T. There was no way he would let Ranboo free Sneeg and Charlie. So why did he? Was he away from the mall, trying to deal with other matters? Or was he lurking in the shadows, watching gleefully as they ran around like rats in a maze?

“This way,” Ranboo said, making a run for the escalators. 

“This is… a mall? Seriously?” Sneeg questioned as he ran. “How the fuck did this guy get a mall? An abandoned one at that? An abandoned one that still functions-”

“Questions later, Sneeg!” 

“Right, sorry.”

They bolted down the immobile escalator. Ranboo kinda remembered where they were. They led Sneeg down the hall, past the weapons shop, and down another set of escalators. Just a few yards away, down a couple sets of stairs, was a set of doors leading to the outside. Their freedom, right there in front of them. But Ranboo had a terrible feeling this was a trap. This was all too easy. From escaping their cubicle to getting the knives to breaking Sneeg out, this all was too simple. The employees were surely capable of capturing them lest they misbehave, so why didn’t they?

“This feels wrong,” Sneeg voiced. 

“I agree.” 

“Should we find another exit?” he suggested. 

“I dunno if there’s another one open…”

“We can look for one. This is a giant like… what, seven story mall? There’s bound to be another fire exit or something we can get out of.” 

“Yeah, but what if they’re waiting for us at one of the exits? We’d be fucked,” Ranboo said, running a shaking hand through their hair. They couldn’t stop shaking. 

“Let’s try,” Sneeg said, looking up and around the balconies above them. “I don’t like this, but we have to keep going.” 

“Okay,” Ranboo agreed reluctantly.

They circled back around to the food court, searching the backs of the stores for some sort of exit and coming up empty. They searched the rest of the floor, having no such luck. Ranboo was getting frustrated and even more on edge. The mall was too quiet, the lack of employees walking around rubbed them the wrong way- everything was just going wrong, and they felt like they were losing their fucking mind when they turned every corner and saw a shadow moving in the corner of their eyes. 

He was paranoid, tired, very hungry, and wanted nothing more than to escape with their friends and shut this place down. Keeping himself upright was beginning to become a chore.

As they descended a level, Ranboo heard footsteps that weren’t their own. He grabbed Sneeg by the arm and dragged him to hide inside one of the dark, abandoned stores. Light footsteps, ones Ranboo had associated with the employees. 

They watched in silence as a dozen employees passed by the shop agonizingly slowly. They were looking straight ahead, not even bothering to look in any of the shop windows, much to Ranboo’s relief. They stayed down for a moment longer, listening. The footsteps had receded, but that didn’t mean there still wasn’t someone lurking around. 

“I think we’re good,” Sneeg whispered, though it sounded more like a shout with how the sentence cut through the tense silence. “Come on.”

Holding onto Ranboo’s sleeve, Sneeg led them back out to the millionth hallway they’ve traversed. Once again, searching any open shops was useless, with boarded up back doors and no useful items within the dust and debris they could use. The end of the hall led to yet another balcony, around four floors below the giant logo flag thing. 

Ranboo leaned against the balcony, huffing. The pure adrenaline they were running off of had long since left their body. Their legs were shaking, from fear or exertion, he didn’t know. It was getting more and more difficult to keep their eyes open, let alone running in this dark, abandoned mall with people on the prowl looking for them. 

“Hey, you okay?” Sneeg asked, tapping their shoulder. 

Ranboo kept leaning against the railing but turned to look at the man tiredly. “Honestly? I’m tired as fuck.”

Sneeg snickered. “Same. I’m about ready to collapse right here but we can’t.”

Ranboo was quiet for a moment, thinking. Thinking doubtful things considering the physical state the both of them were in. “Do you really think we have a chance of getting out of here? Don’t you think that us being outside of those cubicles right now is a trap?”

“I don’t know what to think anymore, dude. They have magic masks that brainwash people. Anything is possible,” Sneeg replied, taking off his hat to brush a hand through his hair. “But I know if we keep at it, then we can get out of here and get some help. The others are relying on us. We can’t fuck this up.”

Ranboo nodded slowly. Fake it ‘til you make it, they thought, feeling energy coursing through their body. They were really scraping the bottom of the barrel here. 

“Let’s keep looking-”

Sneeg’s eyes widened, locked onto something behind Ranboo. Ranboo was getting tired of everything and anything managing to sneak up behind him, and he turned around with a frustrated huff. Any smart remark he was about to make died in his throat. 

On the balcony across from them stood about a dozen employees, the one in front of all of them holding the metal mask they tried to put on Ranboo. There had to be about a hundred of them just standing there, watching them. Menacing as it was, it made Ranboo’s heart leap into their throat. 

“Okay, that’s our cue to run,” Sneeg said, once again grabbing Ranboo’s sleeve and running in the opposite direction. 

As soon as Sneeg moved, so did the employees. They took off after the two at an inhuman speed that made Ranboo’s adrenaline return in bulk. The escapees bolted to the escalators, taking two steps at a time down to the next level. Just hearing the amount of footsteps trailing behind them was enough fear to get rid of Ranboo’s fatigue. 

“Holy fucking shit!” they yelled. 

“Keep going!” Sneeg yelled back. 

They practically jumped the last few steps and kept running. Ranboo noticed how the further down they went into the mall, the more lights were out. Like their main operations were on that one or two floors with the main lights on. The floor they were currently running for their lives on was nearly pitch black, which did them no good with the risk of tripping over some sort of fallen over sign or misplaced metal bench. 

Still, Ranboo kept their eyes on the back of Sneeg’s head, trying to ignore the thunderous footsteps trailing them. Sneeg took a sharp right, so did they after having to skid to a halt at the sudden direction change. 

A moment later, Ranboo ran into Sneeg. Literally. 

“Dude, what the-” Ranboo said intensely, keeping balance with a hand on Sneeg’s shoulder. Just because of their natural height, Ranboo got a peek over Sneeg’s shoulder, instantly feeling a chill run through his body. “What the fuck?”

One singular flickering overhead light revealed one employee standing only a couple yards away. The white and black mask was clean, while the person’s clothes and skin was not. The person who was wearing a very familiar light blue shirt and gray sweatpants instead of a suit. Tousled brown hair. 

“Charlie?” Sneeg asked quietly in disbelief. “What are you doing?”

Charlie, like the employees they were currently running from, just stood there. Monotone. Like a robot awaiting orders to be carried out. He was breathing normally, but they only knew that because Ranboo stared for a moment to make sure. It was Charlie. He was alive and well, as far as they knew. 

“What the fuck is he doing?” Ranboo whispered to himself, bouncing on their heels anxiously as they heard the thousands of footsteps echoing from the escalators. “We’ve gotta grab him and get out of here!”

“Agreed.”

Sneeg rushed forward, grabbing Charlie by the shoulders to hold him in place while Ranboo attempted to get the mask off. The elastic bands that held the mask on his face should’ve been easy to slide off, but why weren’t they? It was like they were super glued on. Ranboo tugged and tugged, sending silent apologies to Charlie along the way, but nothing happened.

“What’s taking so long?” Sneeg questioned anxiously while glancing behind him. “We’ve gotta go, man!”

“I’m trying! It’s not coming off!”

“Cut it off, then! We can’t waste anymore time!”

Ranboo took out one of the knives from their belt, carefully sticking the knife under the elastic bands and starting to saw away at them. He was dangerously close to cutting Charlie’s head open. Their shaky hands didn’t help at all. 

Once the bands were cut, Ranboo pulled the mask off, though it still went with great difficulty. The mask came off, and there Charlie stood with his eyes wide open. Blank eyes, the kind that are associated with death because of how unresponsive they are. His expression was lax, and he looked perfectly fine other than the haunted look in his eyes. 

“Charlie? Charlie!” Sneeg whisper-shouted at him, shaking the man by the shoulders. “Come on, dude, what the hell?”

Ranboo was hit with the feeling that someone was watching them. He turned around. Even in near complete darkness, they could see the white mask with the black logo. Just peeking around the corner. As they looked closer, there were dozens of them. Ranboo’s heart hammered in his chest. Why weren’t they moving to capture them? 

“Sneeg… We have to go. Now,” they whispered carefully. “Don’t look behind you, just get Charlie and go.”

Sneeg looked terrified at the request but obliged nonetheless. He steered Charlie by the shoulders and walked further into the dark mall, with Ranboo following by walking backwards, their eyes never leaving the employees until they turned a corner. The footsteps kicked up again. 

“Fuck,” Sneeg cursed. 

Charlie was proving to be dead weight. He didn’t even seem to be in his own body. He just trudged along, blinking slowly, not even making an attempt to run. Ranboo knew they couldn’t carry him. It’d risk slowing them down and they’d get caught easily. But they couldn’t just drag him along either or else they’d get the same result. 

Ranboo must’ve been delirious or high on adrenaline. Otherwise, why would they even think about depositing Charlie on the ground and leaving him there? 

He’s going to get you caught , a voice in their head said. Leave him .

“I can’t…”

“Holy shit!” 

Sneeg skidded to a stop, slinging an arm out to stop Ranboo in their tracks. There were more employees at the end of the hallway in front of them, running feverishly and pushing each other to get to them. Ranboo whirled around, seeing the same result behind them. They were trapped. 

This was it. They blew their one chance to get out of there. They blew their one chance to get help and possibly burn down this mall and stop the Founder from ever doing something like this again. 

They were going to be puppets. 

Tears welled up in Ranboo’s eyes as he looked at Sneeg. He had come to the same conclusion as Ranboo, his posture deflating. Sneeg reached into his pocket for something, fishing out the knife Ranboo had given him. 

“I’ll fight my way out of here if I need to,” he said determinedly. Though, Ranboo could hear the fear in his tone, the way his voice lightly shook. “We’re getting out of here. No matter what.”

Charlie looked between Sneeg and Ranboo. He looked severely disoriented and confused. The mask, Ranboo remembered. It was slowly but surely chipping away at their memories. The look on Charlie’s face…

He didn’t remember them or Sneeg. He didn’t remember them .

“I don’t know why I feel like this, but I think we’re gonna make it out of here,” Charlie said. Ranboo couldn’t see his face, but he could practically hear the hopeful smile that came along with his statement.

Ranboo pulled out their knife, taking a second one from their belt and gripping them tightly. “I’m sorry we failed you, Charlie. I’m so sorry.”

The employees were closing in on them at high speeds. Ranboo bounced, ready to fight with their newfound energy. Sneeg looked to be bracing himself for a full on brawl. He gripped his knife so tight it looked like he’d cause a dent in the handle. 

The employees stopped in a circle around them. Not even huffing or puffing from the amount of running they just did. Ranboo was confused as fuck. What were they doing? 

“Come on!” he shouted desperately, making Sneeg jump in fear. The tears were getting harder and harder to fight. “What the fuck are you doing? Come on, then! Let’s go!” 

But the employees didn’t move. And Ranboo’s breathing was becoming more and more erratic as their vision blurred. They didn’t see the employees in the back starting to part. 

One set of footsteps, heavier than the rest with a slight click of the shoes as they hit the tile like a woman’s high heel. They instantly pointed their knives toward the sound, watching as the employees created a pathway for the Founder as he walked forward. His hands were behind his back, and he walked with such a grace that sent waves of fear down Ranboo’s spine. 

They were frozen in terror as the Founder stopped at the edge of the circle, looking at the scene in front of him. Ranboo mentally screamed at his body to move but to no avail. They watched the man as he began to tsk. 

“This is no good…” he said. Those words alone made Ranboo’s tears of frustration turn into tears of fear. “How’d this happen?”

His eyes found Ranboo and the belt of knives. “Ah. You’re clever, Ranboo. Very good. But that quality will shine on the show, not right now.”

Ranboo felt like the world was buckling in on their shoulders. “I won’t be here to star on the show,” he said shakily, finding the strength to grip the knives tighter. 

The Founder just laughed in his face, then turned to Charlie. “Charlie, would you be so kind?”

Charlie snapped back to life, his posture becoming immaculate as he received a command. He turned to Ranboo, raising his hands and reaching for the knives. 

“Charlie?” they said, confused. “What are you doing?”

“Dude, stop it!” Sneeg said as he intervened. He grabbed Charlie under the armpits, dragging him back. 

This time, Charlie fought back. 

He elbowed Sneeg in the stomach before punching him and sending him to the floor with a groan. Sneeg’s knife clattered to the floor beside him. Ranboo balked at the sudden aggression. His hands were sweating on the knife handles as he fought with himself on what to do. 

You have to stop him, or else you’re dead!

If you stop him, he’ll be dead!

We’ll all be dead either way, Ranboo thought. It was so hard to decide what to do. Charlie was his friend. He couldn’t hurt his friend. Though, getting closer to the employees as he backed away from Charlie wasn’t helping in his decision making. 

“Charlie, you have to stop this!” they said. “You don’t have to listen to him. You have to stop, please! Look at Sneeg!”

Charlie didn’t look back. He just reached for their knives again. Ranboo sidestepped, now well within the employees reach. 

“Charlie, please stop! I don’t know what they did to you or what they showed you, but you have to stop this. It’s us. We’re your friends. We’re your friends, man,” Ranboo pleaded. 

Words fall on deaf ears. 

“Charlie, please !”

Sneeg was back on his feet, coming in to tackle Charlie to the ground. They fought on the floor in a blur that Ranboo couldn’t keep up with. Sneeg was yelling something. Charlie was saying something. The Founder was laughing, and Ranboo was frozen in their shoes. 

Charlie was gone. He wasn’t the same man anymore. 

“Ranboo, help me!” Sneeg called. “Ranboo!” 

He snapped into action, reaching down to help the man. Charlie kicked him in the chest, causing all the breath to leave his lungs as he doubled over. 

“This is so pitiful!” the Founder screamed-laughed in delight. “The trio falling apart… oh, how sad.”

Ranboo stared up at the Founder with such hatred. The hatred that came deep from within, a kind of hate Ranboo had never felt before in their life. They hated the Founder. They hated the man so much because who the fuck did this kind of thing? Who brainwashed and psychologically tortured people? Who did he think he was toying with their lives like it meant nothing? 

Ranboo rose to their feet, letting the hatred fester, turning to blinding hot rage and energy. Like a whirlwind, they charged, knives raised. 

The Founder stood there all poised, so unbothered by Ranboo’s attack. He raised his hands as fast as Ranboo attacked, managing to grab their wrist and hit the other with a precise chop of the hand. The knife fell from Ranboo’s hand, clattering to the ground. 

The Founder brought Ranboo closer by a painful grip on their wrist. They kicked and punched at the Founder, aiming for anywhere they could land a good hit. The Founder laughed maniacally. The grip on Ranboo’s wrist was bruising. 

“Yes, yes yes! This is exactly what I was looking for! You will truly be a remarkable Hero, Ranboo!” 

Ranboo realized in that moment how truly weak they were against someone like the Founder. Someone who radiated power just by walking into the room.

With that, the Founder let go of them, watching them crumple to the ground. Only then did they notice how quiet it had gotten. Ranboo sat up, turning around to see how Sneeg and Charlie were doing. 

Sneeg had red covering his gray shirt, his hands pressing down on his stomach only to groan and watch as more blood seeped into his palms. Charlie stood over him, bloody knife in hand. Eyes dead. 

The tears were impossible to fight now. Ranboo let them fall, hearing them plop onto the tile. The pristine tile that was now beginning to stain with Sneeg’s blood.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. They were supposed to just get the fuck out, go get help and come back. Why didn’t they just break the glass on the first exit they saw? They could’ve easily gotten out that way. 

You were steered to think it was a trap.

And Charlie, while originally part of the plan, wasn’t actually supposed to be there. He wasn’t supposed to be going around stabbing his fucking friends. He wasn’t supposed to look so… mentally uninvolved. Dead. 

This wasn’t supposed to happen. 

If Ranboo had just left the mall by themself, go get help and come back. If they’d never grabbed Sneeg to tag along… would they have been able to escape and get someone to help? Would they still be in this mall, where Sneeg was now dying, if he’d just fucking left? 

Sobs wracked their body as they watched Sneeg fall, landing on his back with a thud. 

“No… no no no no, Sneeg…” they cried, scrambling to his side. 

From behind them, they could hear the Founder mumbling something along the lines of, “interesting… know for later.”

Sneeg was becoming increasingly pale. The fire in his eyes was still there, the fight to escape, but it was no use if he was going to die right there. Ranboo pressed their hands down on the wound, right over Sneeg’s own bloodstained ones. 

“You can’t go. Not when we were so close to getting out…” 

Sneeg scoffed heartily, rolling his eyes and flashing his red-stained teeth. “We were never getting out, Ran. The big bitch over there was just toying with us.” 

Ranboo’s hands were slipping. The blood was making it difficult to keep his hands on the wound. “Either way. We were pretty damn close,” they said through tears. 

Sneeg laughed boisterously. “Yeah. Yeah, sure we were. We'll try again soon.”

They saw one of the employees stepping forward from the circle, kneeling beside them and staring at Sneeg. Ranboo’s stomach dropped when the employee pulled out a mask of his own. He was even more scared when there were hands under his armpits, dragging him away from his dying friend. 

“NO! No no no no! Sneeg!” 

Sneeg’s lips were moving, but they couldn’t hear what he was saying over their own screams. Ranboo thrashed in the person’s hold. They stopped dragging him until he was a few feet away from Sneeg. Charlie kneeled down in front of them, mask in hand. 

“What the-... Charlie, what- what’re you doing? What are you doing?” 

Charlie moved the mask towards their face. “It’s going to be okay,” he said in a monotone voice. “It will all be fine. You’ll be a superstar.”

Ranboo cried and cried, staring at Charlie through his tears until the mask was on his face, and he went limp. 

Chapter Text

Mabel had to drag him to their next class. 

There were tons of memories suddenly flooding their mind, causing a headache so catastrophic they thought someone was actually taking a jackhammer to it. The failed escape attempt with Sneeg was the one that currently haunted him the most. 

The way Charlie had unknowingly harmed both of them, causing the whole rest of the escape to go downhill and end in them getting caught. Ranboo didn’t blame Charlie in any sort of way. The man had no control over his actions. He had zero clue he was even doing half the stuff he was doing until it was too late. 

It was a lot of the other memories that were causing the panic and pain. 

The rehearsal days, where they were forced to rehearse the show over and over and over. The days where, if they didn’t get something right, they were punished. The escape attempts which, most of the time, ended with them getting hurt in some sort of way and reset back into their marionette-like state. Now Ranboo understood where most of the scars on Charlie’s torso came from.

Ranboo remembered when Showfall forced the metal mask onto their face. How painful it was as it dug into their skin. How they were gagging as wires shoved their way down his throat, burrowing holes into their esophagus. The burning feeling. The screaming and crying.

They wanted to throw up just remembering it. 

Mabel’s grip on their forearm was light. She quickly brought them to the next classroom, directing them to the trash can. “Here. Are you okay?”

Nothing came out when Ranboo dry heaved. They lifted the mask and wiped their mouth, quickly lowering it back down when they saw someone looking at them through the glass of the classroom’s slim window. 

“I think your plan worked a little too well,” he replied simply. 

“Oh…” Mabel said. “If you need me to, I can take you home. I have my ways of skipping.”

“I can’t ask you to miss school for this.”

“I’m passing every class in the 90’s. I can miss a day,” she smiled mischievously. Then her tone lowered. “Seriously, Ran, if you need me to-”

“No… no, it’s okay. We’re already halfway done with the day, right? Why leave now?” Ranboo asked, though going home did sound nice. 

Mabel searched their face, her expression scrunched with apprehension. “Okay… but if you change your mind, lemme know.”

“I will.”

She went to her seat, pointing to one that was directly next to her this time, in a separate aisle. Ranboo took a second to compose himself, even though the class only had like three other kids in it and they were all glued to their phones. Bored expressions. 

Ranboo thought they could get used to the phone thing. If they had their own, they knew they’d be looking at one too. Oh wait. Phones. That’s something Ranboo wanted to talk to Mabel about. 

Before they could get the chance to do so, the bell rang, and a handful of other kids filed into the classroom. In total, including Ranboo, there were around fifteen kids in the room. It kinda put Ranboo’s mind at ease, knowing there was less of a risk of people recognizing him than in that precalc class. 

Ranboo couldn’t focus when the teacher started teaching. Any thought was drawn back to the memories that had just been uncovered. He couldn’t stop thinking about them. And that just led to more smaller memories coming back. It was a mess. Ranboo’s head felt like it was gonna explode at any moment, there were so many new memories to deal with. 

Ranboo thanked God that class went by quickly. Then they realized they’d be on their own for the next one. Mabel was nice enough to walk him to the next class, which wasn’t too far from the Literature class. She stopped outside the door. 

“Here you are,” she huffed, looking around at the other kids suspiciously. 

“Thanks,” Ranboo offered. The nerves were kicking into high gear now. Highschoolers were so ruthless. Ranboo was actually scared to go in there by himself. At least with Mabel, people knew her and were nice to her. Ranboo was new. They’d be torn apart. Right? 

Mabel smiled at them. “Don’t worry, man. This teacher you have is literally one of the coolest ones in the school. If anything even starts to happen, she’ll notice and take care of you. Anyway, I’m only a few doors down from you. If you need anything, she’ll probably let you come get me.”

It made them more nervous. 

“Okay. Also, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about a phone-”

“Oh my gosh, right,” Mabel said, literally slapping her forehead. “I totally forgot about those. I’ll talk to you about that after school.”

Ranboo nodded. 

“Well, good luck Ran! That’s a fun class you’ve got there,” she smiled, pointing at a non-existent watch on her wrist and at the classroom a few doors down. She began walking away. “It’ll all be fine!” 

Ranboo watched her until she slipped into her class. He sighed, taking a deep breath and stepping into the classroom just as the final bell rang. 

There weren’t that many kids in that class either. Only around fifteen or sixteen including Ranboo. Unfortunately, all the seats in the back were taken. There was one open in the very front of one of the rows that Ranboo reluctantly took. They jumped as they felt someone tap their shoulder. He turned around, coming face to face with a nerdy looking kid. 

“Hey, do you mind uh… I dunno, slouching a bit? I can’t see the board,” the guy said nervously. 

“Oh, sure,” Ranboo said, sliding down in the seat as physically possible.

“Thanks.”

The teacher walked in, closing the door behind her. She was a shorter woman with large owlish glasses that magnified her eyes a little too much. She dressed like a 70’s hippie with a lot of accessories. Her bell bottom pants nearly touched the ground, and her shirt was tucked into the oversized pants. 

She smiled at the students. “Hey guys. How was your day?”

A chorus of grumbles and mumbles from the students, with the mood of the day undecided. 

“That’s ni-” she stopped mid sentence when she noticed Ranboo. “Oh, right, I forgot about that! We have a new student joining our class.”

Ranboo shrunk further in their seat as the teacher bounded up to him. 

“It was Rufus, right?” the teacher asked. Her tone was so overjoyed it made Ranboo’s ears hurt.

He nodded.

“Man, you are tall. Anyway, this is Rufus, everyone!” 

Looking around, Ranboo received a few waves and smiles from kids, while others didn’t bother looking up from their phones. Not that they cared. They were just trying to get through this last hour and a half. 

“You are a senior, right?” the teacher asked quietly. 

“Yeah.”

“Great! You get to leave five minutes early. It’s a senior privilege. And I’m Mrs. Larkin, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you,” Ranboo replied quietly. 

“Well, now that that’s done, let’s talk about what’s going on this week! As I told y’all on Friday, we’re starting our technical writing unit.”

Mrs. Larkin walked to her computer and pulled up a slideshow that looked like notebook paper. She clicked off the title and onto the next slide. 

“So, I’m gonna let y’all get your groans and complaints out now, but we are going to have a project presentation-”

Instantly, the students burst into a chorus of groans. 

“Yeah, I know, I don’t give you presentations. Until now. It’s not gonna be that hard, trust me. I’ll give you a paper copy of the rubric, but the basis is this-”

For a moment, Mrs. Larkin looked a lot like Niki. Ranboo blinked, and she was Niki, pointing at the board and talking about this project like it was just any normal day. But it was a normal day for her. 

They blinked again, dragging their eyes to pay attention to the board. He listened as Mrs. Larkin explained the project, soaking up the information and the fact that he would also be participating in this project that was due in four days, where he would present in front of the whole class for five minutes. 

The presentation was to be a teaching experience, where the student- Ranboo- would be the teacher, explaining how to do some sort of hobby they really liked. The teacher listed a whole bunch of examples of things they could do if they didn’t have a hobby they wanted to explain: like origami, or even teaching someone how to make a PB&J. The whole reason for the project was to strengthen their written explanation and to just project that writing into a physical presentation.

She let them have the rest of the class to brainstorm for their presentation, reminding them that this was an individual project, though you could call up helpers if needed. 

That left Ranboo at a loss, staring at his notebook paper and tapping a pencil on the side of their head. What were they good at? They had zero clue. Their brain had decided to not give back the memories that showed what hobbies they had. 

Eventually, they gave up, deciding to ask Mabel later. 

The kid behind him tapped his shoulder. When Ranboo turned around, he was instantly terrified. The kid had the same look in his eye as Carlos and that girl in the first block did. He knew something. He had that sparkle in his eye, that recognition.

“Hey, uh, sorry to interrupt, but are you…?” the kid faltered, staring hard at Ranboo’s face. The kid looked around and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Are you Ranboo?”

Ranboo’s eyes flickered to the teacher. “What makes you think that?” he shot back in a whisper. 

“Just… you look just like him,” the kid muttered. “Not to mention that one show I saw a few weeks ago… What was it? Something about slime.”

Ranboo’s heart raced, his breaths speeding up. The only coherent thought was oh shit oh shit oh shit . 

“Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I won’t tell anyone,” the kid said. He elaborated at Ranboo’s raised eyebrow. “I mean, you’re a popular streamer. I won’t tell anyone you’re here.”

“Why? What’s there to gain for you?” Ranboo questioned rapidly. 

“Woah- wait wait wait- what do you mean?” said the kid as he backtracked. He looked surprised, but Ranboo wouldn’t know any better in his panicked and paranoid state. 

“Are you doing this just to stab me in the back? Do you work for them?” he interrogated. 

The kid was flabbergasted at this point, wondering how the conversation flipped like this. “What? No! Work for who?” 

“Them!”

“Who’s they?”

“Showfall!” 

“The media company of that show you starred in?”

“Yes!”

The kid leaned back in his seat. “No. I’ve never even seen a job listing for them. Whatever jobs they did have available have been taken already, so even if I wanted to I wouldn’t be able to. And what do you mean stab you in the back? Are you okay?”

Ranboo sighed, rubbing their temple. “I’m fine. Just don’t bring them up, okay?”

“Sure,” the boy said. Then he seemed to remember something. “Oh, my name’s Josh by the way. In case you were wondering.”

Ranboo considered the boy. He didn’t seem malicious in any way, but Ranboo knew better than to just throw his trust around at random people, Josh included. Even though Josh was nice and genuinely curious about his identity, it didn’t mean Ranboo would just trust him with something like Showfall’s real intentions. 

“When are you gonna start streaming again now that you’re back from the show? And why are you in some random school in Georgia?” 

Ranboo was regretting ever giving the guy the time of day. “It’s uh- it’s gonna be a while before I can get back in front of the camera again. And I dunno why I’m here.”

Josh kept him company for the remaining half hour of class, asking him simple questions and helping him come up with a topic for his project. Josh was proving himself to be a decent friend, but Ranboo was still heavily guarded. This kid probably watched his livestreams. He probably knew a lot more about Ranboo than Ranboo did currently. And that worried Ranboo to no end, especially now since there was someone who knew where he was. 

Because who’s to say Josh won’t turn around the second school gets out and goes straight to Showfall’s business email and say Oh, Ranboo’s at this random school in Georgia! Why did you want to know this? 

As soon as Mrs. Larkin motioned that the seniors could go, Ranboo stepped into the hallway, looking for Mabel. It wasn’t hard to find her, considering she was bolting towards him with her keys clinking in her hand as she walked. 

“Mabel-”

“Hurry! Traffic gets bad if we even waste a second!” she hissed as she grabbed their sleeve, dragging them out the door. 

The walk to her car was brisk. They reached her car faster than the majority of the other seniors. She threw her backpack into the backseat, turning the car on and buckling up at the same time. 

“What’s the rush?” Ranboo said.

“I’ve got work to get to. I told you this this morning.” 

Ranboo picked at their nails. “It’s been a long day.”

Mabel fell silent. “Sorry. Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really, except how one kid in my last class knows who I am and knows about Showfall.”

Mabel nearly crashed into the car in front of her, but she slammed on the brakes just in time. “What?” she demanded.

“I mean, not about what happened at Showfall, he just knows about the show and the company,” Ranboo said, arms raised in surrender. 

“Fuck… what’s his name?”

“Josh.”

“No last name?”

“Do people still introduce themselves with their last names?”

“Some do.”

“Well, he didn’t.”

“I’ll find him tomorrow,” Mabel said, but to Ranboo it sounded like a threat. “Anyway, what’s that other thing I said I needed to talk to you about?”

“Oh. Phones?”

“Right. So, I can’t buy you guys one like mine, I can only buy Nokia flip phones or some shit. Like the real cheap shit,” she said. Then, she lowered her eyebrows, deep in thought. “But if I called them, maybe…”

“Called who?” Ranboo said.

“The Becketts. Jamie’s parents,” she clarified, her tone deflated. “They’re not as well off as Caroline and her family but… they’re more than willing to help.”

Before they could bite their tongue, the question already left their lips. “Why didn’t you ask for help after… after Jamie died?”

Mabel just sighed wistfully, turning the music down. “I didn’t want to burden them with more to worry about. They already had enough on their plate knowing their son was dead.”

Ranboo already felt like they were walking on thin ice with this topic, but he just couldn’t hold back anymore. He needed to know everything. 

“And you didn’t want their help.”

“No. I didn’t. I couldn’t do that to them, especially since Jamie died so suddenly. But right now I might not have any other choice,” Mabel said, her eyes conflicted. Why she was still fighting herself over this matter, Ranboo didn’t know. He didn’t understand why it was so hard for her to accept help. 

He knew she was too prideful to accept money, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t accept help in other ways. Like maybe taking a day off from work to relax. Accepting a casserole Mrs. Beckett would probably bring over if she ever visited. Mabel was prideful on her independence, which Ranboo can appreciate, but at the same time it’s hurting not only herself but Ranboo and Charlie as well- albeit indirectly. 

By not accepting help and continuing to work herself to death, Mabel is affecting Charlie and Ranboo in some odd ways. If Charlie or Ranboo got a job, how would they get there if they got scheduled when Mabel was in school? How would they get anywhere if they wanted to get out of the house? And with Mabel barely being able to spend time with them, they don’t know how to fight. How were they supposed to rescue their friends if all they knew was stuff from a YouTube video, and with no knowledge of how to use weapons correctly? 

If they got the chance to do the rescue mission, they’d be screwed. Also, Ranboo just wanted a chance to hang out with her. She seemed cool enough as a person, and her musical choices weren’t bad.

“Do you think you’ll need help at work?” Ranboo asked to pass the tense silence.

“Maybe. It’s a Friday night, basically the busiest night of the week. It’s not too bad,” she replied with a small smirk. “You can probably serve a table and get some extra cash if you wanted.”

Ranboo scoffed. “I don’t even know the menu, I wouldn’t be able to do shit.” 

“That’s why you watch and learn. Really though, if you want to I can get you an apron and you can follow me around,” Mabel said seriously. Then she groaned. “Ugh. I forgot Joseph was working. Nevermind.”

She steered into the left turn lane, waiting for the light to turn green. Mabel sighed, her fingers tapping away on the gearshift. He wondered where she got her music taste from, where she was listening to old dad rock. 

“I don’t think I could do your job,” Ranboo admitted. “I’d get angry like Charlie did.” 

“It does require a steady mind. It’s an extremely stressful job most days, but I think I thrive off of the chaos.”

“Gives you something to do, right?”

“Yup.”

The light turned green, and Mabel safely made the turn. A moment later, they were parked in front of the restaurant, and Mabel was sighing into the steering wheel, muttering all sorts of things to hype herself up for her shift. 

Then she turned. “Are you sure you wanna just sit in the restaurant for a few hours?”

“Yeah. I mean, I’d get to see how the job is on a busy night and maybe get to know your co-workers,” Ranboo replied, though they weren’t that excited to talk to Mabel’s coworkers. 

After his last interaction with Carlos, he needed to be careful about what he said. And he didn’t even like Carlos, so he hoped he wasn’t working that night. 

“If you say so. Come on in.”

Mabel and Ranboo walked into the restaurant, finding it nearly empty except for a few bar stragglers. 

She eyed his curious expression. “Oh don’t worry, shit’s gonna hit the fan real quick once it hits 5:30 territory.”

As Mabel went to the back to greet her coworkers, Ranboo took a bar seat closest to the kitchen doors where he’d be mostly out of sight. Carlos was behind the bar, much to his dismay, but seemed to be chatting it up with his customers, too occupied to pay Ranboo any mind.

They jumped as the kitchen door hit the back of their chair. He spun around, coming face to face with a grinning Leo. 

“Oh! Hey man,” he said, eyes alight with mischief as he took a seat beside Ranboo. “Whatcha doin’ here?”

“Uh… just here for Mabel,” Ranboo said dumbly, as their brain had come up with nothing better to say. “I mean, I’m here ‘cause she’s my only ride to and from and we went to school-”

“Dude, relax, I wasn’t actually, like, interrogating you,” Leo smiled, patting Ranboo’s shoulder. Then, he looked at the entrance. “Uh oh, customers. Gotta go.”

Leo took off to greet the oncoming people, which looked to be a big group of around 9 people. Ranboo sighed, suddenly regretting their life choices of asking Mabel to go back to school and indirectly asking to join her on a busy shift. They knew it was going to be a long day, but they were ready to collapse onto the bar right then and there and just take a nap. 

“Rough day, huh?” 

Ranboo blinked at Carlos, who had traveled over to Ranboo’s side of the bar to wash glassware. The water pressure in the building must’ve been insane with the high speed water coming from the faucet. The Carlos standing in front of them right now, the one actually working and conversing with his customers, was a stark contrast to the one he’d met only five days ago. 

The Carlos from what Ranboo liked to dub as the ‘Sunday Shopping Spree’ was more laid back, certainly a lot less interactive. He didn’t seem to care about his job, more like he was just in it for the money, which- okay, everyone has a job for money but still. He just seemed to have this ‘I don’t care at all’ attitude. 

But now, his shoulders were tense, his eyes darting to the kitchen door behind Ranboo. Something, or perhaps someone was here that made him feel obligated to actually try and be social at his job. 

“Yeah, guess you could put it that way,” Ranboo replied. 

Carlos studied their expression. “Remember how I said I always remember faces?”

God damn it, not you too , Ranboo thought. He’d already worried himself dry over that kid in his class recognizing him, he didn’t need more anxiety on his already overflowing plate. He nodded anyway, dreading Carlos’s next sentences. 

The man turned the faucet off, grabbing a white rag and drying the glasses. “Turns out, I can’t remember faces that I haven’t seen before, so… guess you aren’t familiar to me.”

Ranboo swore they were going to pass out right there from relief. “Told you.”

“You didn’t tell me shit,” Carlos shot back. “Still leeching off her money and housing, are you?”
They didn’t have the energy to be fighting with Carlos, so they opted to grumble something under their breath and look around. As the sky began to dim outside, the mall’s streetlamps buzzed to life. More and more people began to rush into the restaurant, and Ranboo had yet to see Mabel come back out of the kitchen. 

The working crew of the night looked to be Mabel, Carlos, Leo, Ivy, Finn, and Serena. Which, considering the size of the restaurant, wasn’t half bad, but Ranboo remembered how busy it was last Sunday and how they all seemed to be dripping with sweat from running around so much. The restaurant didn’t seem to be understaffed, just a little too intense clientele. 

Soon enough, though, Mabel emerged from the kitchen with a man on her heels that had Carlos wiping the glasses faster. He was about a whole foot shorter than her, built like drywall and wearing a nice button up shirt and slacks with black non-slip shoes. He had dark stubble lining his jaw, a bumpy nose. His hair was almost black, slicked back with stray hairs lining the side of his head and an undercut to complete the look. All in all, he looked like a wealthy businessman, not a restaurant manager. 

He didn’t look in Ranboo’s direction, instead taking interest in the slightly chaotic state of the dining room. A few groups of men had crowded around the pool tables, setting up the game while laughing and pushing each other around. Nearly all the booths were full now, and they’d had to push the majority of the tables together for larger parties that were starting to settle in their seats. 

The man then punched Mabel’s shoulder in what Ranboo thinks was an encouraging manner. 

“Go get ‘em,” he said. “And remember what we talked about.”

Mabel just nodded and went up to the host stand for a moment before taking off, going from table to table with a handheld device collecting drink orders. Ranboo watched as the man took a corner seat on the bar and watched the employees run around like chickens with no heads. From what Ranboo had heard, and what he could infer based on the man himself, this had to be the manager, Joseph. 

He looked mean enough, but Ranboo wasn’t intimidated in the slightest. 

While Joseph just watched his employees drown in work and customer complaints, Ranboo watched him, wondering why in the hell he wasn’t helping in the slightest. He seemed to be watching the ladies the most instead of Leo, Finn or Carlos. His eyes were lowered, like he was analyzing their every move for any wrong. 

The fuck’s with this guy? Ranboo thought bitterly. 

Though, as Ranboo’s gaze filtered to Mabel, he understood why Joseph was watching the women. A lot of the men at the tables couldn’t keep their eyes off of them, regardless of age differences. As if Ranboo couldn’t get any more upset about the situation, he watched Mabel walk away from her table swaying her hips back and forth as she retreated to the kitchen, her eyes glued to her handheld device. Looking back, the people at her tables were all too eager to stare and snicker as they watched her go.

And the manager was sitting at the bar with a satisfied smirk. 

Hot rage filled Ranboo’s body. 

How dare he make Mabel and the other ladies do this sort of thing for extra cash? Mabel’s had it rough already, from her parents and unborn sibling dying when she was only thirteen to having her best friend ripped away from her too, having to survive on her own with hard earned money at a shitty restaurant that only uses her for eye candy for the locals. Mabel’s life has been insanely rough for a seventeen year old, having to make a living while still being in school and taking care of two other people. She didn’t need people looking at her provocatively. 

Ranboo was angry. At the locals for staring and saying explicit things when she turned away. At the manager, who sat by looking all-too satisfied with himself. They were about to stand up when a hand grabbed his forearm. 

“I know,” was all Carlos said, his own furious gaze fixed on Joseph. 

And Ranboo understood what the man was saying. Don’t say anything, it’ll only cause you trouble you don’t want . He hated how Carlos was right. He hated how irrational thoughts surged his brain, telling him start the fucking fight, that asshat deserves a good punch to his already bumpy nose . But the consequences would be extreme. Legally and for Mabel. She could lose the only job that gives her enough to keep her afloat. He couldn’t do that to her.

So Ranboo exhaled angrily but slumped back down in their seat. “He can’t just-”

“Apparently he can. It brings in more customers every time,” Carlos said lowly, his eyebrows lowered dangerously. “He just can’t help himself if it brings him more money on a paycheck. He’ll exploit them however he wants to.”

“Surely that’s illegal.”

“It probably is. But what can we do about it? Some of us depend on this job to live. We can’t lose them. All we can do is keep an eye out for them, make sure they get to their cars safely and more-so keep the uh… more intoxicated customers out of their personal space.”

Ranboo was at a loss for words. Hearing it from a sleep deprived Mabel was one thing- seeing it happen in front of their eyes was a whole other thing. 

“Just keep your head down, man. Don’t do anything stupid. For Mabel,” Carlos said. It surprised Ranboo with how calmly he said it, with how this was just another normal day for him. 

Ranboo kept his mouth shut, only to try and scramble for words when a drink was placed down in front of him. A slim tall glass with a sort of pinkish liquid in it, a lime slice hanging off the rim of the glass. He looked up at Carlos. 

“Don’t say anything,” the man warned before walking away to tend to the new bar guests. 

While the drink didn’t look threatening, it was odd to have a guy who supposedly stood against them make them a drink free of charge. Was it poisoned? Did Carlos put alcohol in it? Ranboo remembered their age, knowing that if he had alcohol then it’d be considered underage drinking. He didn’t feel like getting in trouble with the cops. 

Ranboo braved a sip. Definitely no alcohol in it. They could taste lemonade, mixed with… what was that, watermelon? Strawberry? Some sort of crushed up fruit in the glass added with lemonade. It was simple. It was delicious, and Carlos sent him a smug grin from across the bar that made them roll their eyes. 

For the next couple of hours, he followed Carlos’s advice of keeping his head down, which was insanely difficult with the manager of the hour sitting only a few seats down. God, how Ranboo just wanted to give him a piece of their mind, to teach him a fucking lesson on basic respect. It was a struggle to stay still. 

Though, the more he kept his eyes on Mabel, he noticed how she looked at the restaurant entrance more than her customers. She looked unnerved. Ranboo tried to follow where she was looking but couldn’t see whatever it was she could see. 

Finn and Leo stopped by to talk to them a few more times, mostly shit talking their tables. Leo absolutely hated serving older guys, apparently, because they’re extremely grumpy for no reason. 

Ranboo watched the restaurant slowly become empty, the last bar stragglers finally paying their tab and leaving. The manager stood up and locked the door after the final customer left, sighing contentedly like he actually did something. He didn’t even notice Ranboo when he walked back to the kitchen, yelling about starting side work and closing up shop. 

Carlos came back over to take the empty glass from them. “Hey, make sure Mabel gets to her car safely, yeah? I’ve gotta go as soon as I clean up here.”

“Of course,” Ranboo said. 

Carlos was gone pretty fast after that. Ranboo watched the serving staff clean their sections at light speeds, ready to go home. Ranboo couldn’t blame them. They were ready to get out of there, too. Having middle aged men yell at a TV over a football was crazy, especially when there were, like, 20 of them all watching the same game rooting for different teams. 

Ranboo wouldn’t be surprised if it took them longer to fall asleep that night. His ears were ringing pretty bad. 

Mabel came out of the kitchen a moment later, looking around the empty restaurant until her eyes landed on them. “Oh, there you are.”

Ranboo stood, stretching their aching legs. “You ready to go yet?”

“Almost. I’ve gotta grab my purse and stuff,” she said, studying them carefully. “You okay?” 

“What? Yeah, I’m okay. Why?”

“Just… you look upset.”

That was an understatement, but he wouldn’t let her in on that. 

“I’m okay. Just a little overwhelmed, I guess.”

Mabel nodded understandingly. “I get it. Friday nights are fuckin’ crazy.”

She went back to the kitchen to grab her things. Ranboo stood there awkwardly, looking through the glass front doors of the building. Nothing stuck out to them. Street lamps illuminated the walkways, there were very few cars in parking spaces, there were barely any people walking around. Most of the shops had closed, their lights off and doors locked. Ranboo didn’t understand what was making Mabel nervous. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. 

Mabel came back out, purse over her shoulder and keys in hand.  “Ready?”

“Yeah.”

“We’ve gotta go out the back way since the front doors are locked.”

She led them back through the kitchen, which for how big the restaurant was, the kitchen was small. There were a few guys in front of the grills, talking and cleaning up. The walkway between the dishwasher and expo line had to be around five feet wide, which didn’t do Ranboo any good when trying to walk past the person loading the dishwasher. 

They were nearly out the door when someone called out, “Mabel?”

The girl turned around to face one of the cooks. He nodded to a trash bag on the floor. 

“I’ll get you a dozen strawberry sprinkle donuts if you run that out to the dumpster for me,” he said. 

“Oh fuck yeah, deal,” Mabel replied excitedly, reaching to grab the trash bag. “Come on, Rufus.” 

It took Ranboo a moment to realize she was talking to him, but they both exited out of the back kitchen door and into the cool night. A light gust of wind blew over them, making goosebumps flutter over Ranboo’s exposed arms. The back door led to a makeshift parking lot of sorts. It wasn’t paved, just loose gravel, and near the exit of this bootleg parking lot were the dumpsters. 

The only street lamp, Ranboo noticed, was by the dumpster. He understood now why Carlos was so worked up about making sure everyone got to their cars safely. This looked like the perfect place for a kidnapping to take place, or a robbery or beatdown. 

Ranboo walked alongside Mabel to the dumpsters. They weren’t that worried about Mabel since they’d seen her fight. She would be a difficult opponent to rob or kidnap. She definitely wouldn’t go without a fight. What they were worried about was this: in the event that something did go down in this parking lot, Ranboo would be a liability for her. She couldn’t protect herself and Ranboo at the same time. And while Ranboo did know a few basic fighting tips and tricks, they had no doubt they’d lose in an actual fight. A YouTube video was exactly that, a video. It wasn’t real life. 

Mabel tossed the bag in the dumpster with a satisfied smile. “Ooohh I can’t wait for those donuts tomorrow,” she half-squealed. “They’re my favorite.”

“Now I know what to get you for your birthday,” Ranboo replied jokingly. “Which… When's your birthday again?”

Mabel turned and began walking back towards the buildings, Ranboo right on her heels. “It’s not too far away. Only about a week or so.”

“Late September birthday.”

“Yep.” 

Then, she abruptly stopped, eyes locked onto something ahead. Ranboo’s heart jolted. This was never a good sign. 

“Mabel?” Ranboo questioned, following her line of sight. “Oh shit.”

Standing at the door of the restaurant’s kitchen was a Showfall employee. The usual suit and tie, the black and white mask glowing in the dim lighting. It was at a standstill, staring down Mabel as she did with it. Neither moved a single muscle. Mabel looked like she'd stopped breathing entirely. Ranboo’s heart raced uncomfortably as they looked around for a sign of any other employees, luckily coming up empty. What the fuck was going on? How did they find them?

“What do we do?” Ranboo whispered frantically. 

“We have to get back to the car. If they found us here then it’s definitely not safe anymore,” Mabel said seriously, a stark contrast from what she was just acting like a few seconds ago. “Fuck. How did they find us?”

The employee took a step forward. Ranboo took one step back.

“I don’t really want to know why right now,” Ranboo said, glancing around to try and find a quick route back to the car. 

“There’s an alleyway right over there,” Mabel whispered, pointing discreetly to an archway carved between the buildings. “It leads back to the real parking lot. Get to the car, start it. Don’t wait for me.”

She handed him the keys to the car and stepped forward as the employee did. 

“What the- Mabel? What the fuck are you doing?”

“Go, Ran!” she said, charging at the employee with her fists raised. 

The employee, surprisingly, began to fight back. It blocked Mabel’s punches, even returning some that Mabel blocked just in time. She looked terrified at the employee, which made Ranboo even more scared. The employees never fought back like this before, countering Mabel's every move. Not until now. 

Ranboo stood, frozen, watching the scene unfold before him. Kicks, punches, blocks. Why were they starting to fight her back now of all times? 

Mabel faced him briefly, expression frazzled. “GO! GO, RAN!” she roared, putting all that energy into her next punch. 

Their instincts kicked in, and they started to run. Out of the corner of their eye, they could see two more employees making a break for Mabel. Not him. Ranboo paused under the dim light beside one of the back doors. 

Wasn’t Showfall after him and Charlie? Why were they going after Mabel? What changed? Ranboo was the one that escaped, it should be Ranboo that they were after. Even in the dark of night, Mabel was holding her own pretty nicely considering she was wearing jeans and boots. 

Still, Ranboo ran through the alley, their footsteps echoing in the tunnel. They reached the outdoor shopping mall in no time. They could hear Mabel’s grunts of pain through the tunnel and decided to go against her wish. Someone had to help her. 

He ran towards the restaurant, nearly tripping over their own feet in the process. He ran into a nice couple by accident. “I’m so sorry,” they said breathlessly.

The woman waved her hand. “It’s okay-” she cut herself off after taking a good look at them. “Are you okay, hun? You look terrible.”

“It’s my cousin, she’s in trouble,” Ranboo said quickly. 

“How so?” the man asked, and Ranboo was glad he ran into these people instead of running to the restaurant. The man was built like a brick wall. 

“She’s… I don’t know but she’s being attacked right now!” 

“Show me,” the man said seriously, rolling up his sleeves as he followed Ranboo back down the alley. 

The woman was on their heels. “What happened? How did this happen?” 

“I-I dunno, they just came out of nowhere,” Ranboo said. 

“They?” the man asked. 

“There’s, like, three of them.”

They reached the parking lot, where all they could hear was the sound of gravel under someone’s shoe and Mabel’s labored breathing. The employees had somehow gotten her on the ground, her back digging into the gravel. One employee held her arms above her head while another held her legs down. The third employee was leaning over her, lowering one of the Showfall masks to her face agonizingly slow. 

Ranboo had never seen the girl look so terrified. Her pupils blown wide, her whole body shaking, struggling against the employees’ iron grip as she tried to lean away from the mask. She started yelling as the mask touched the tip of her nose.

“No no no no! NO! Get off me!” 

The man ran into action before Ranboo could comprehend what was happening. 

“Connor-” the woman started to call, but stopped with a sigh. “Goddamnit.”

The guy, Connor, was a fucking beast. He ripped the third employee off of her, punching him square in the face, causing the employee to drop the mask. The other two employees stopped holding Mabel, putting their sights on the man instead. In a flash, he took them down just as he did the first employee. 

Mabel rolled onto her side, coming face to face with the mask they tried to put on her. She scrambled away from it in fear, rising to her feet and pacing with her hands on her head. Ranboo rushed over to hear Conner trying to talk to her. 

“-at’s going on? What happened?” he was asking. 

And Mabel was near unresponsive as she muttered things so fast even Ranboo couldn’t keep up. 

“Mabel, are you okay?” Ranboo asked worriedly. Seeing one of the strongest people he knew freaking out was freaking him out, too. 

“Mabel?” Connor and the woman said at the same time. They looked surprised, even confused. 

The woman stepped forward, her hand extended towards Mabel’s shoulder. “Mabel.”

The girl stopped and turned, taking deep breaths as she tried to calm herself down. Her eyes were watery as she looked at the woman. Her shoulders drooped, recognition flashing across her face. “Mrs. Sasha.”

Chapter Text

“You with us now, hun?”

She nodded slowly, just now comprehending who was in front of her. “What are you doing here?” 

“Your cousin came and got us, said you were getting robbed or something.” 

“And why are they wearing Showfall masks?” Connor questioned. 

“Because they’re Showfall employees,” Ranboo answered, seeing how Mabel was still trying to calm herself. “I thought they… Well, they just came out of nowhere and started attacking Mabel.” 

Connor and Sasha’s expressions fell, both of them looking at Mabel for answers. 

“I’ll explain, but we need to get out of here,” she said. She grabbed Ranboo’s arm and began walking towards the alley, wiping her nose. 

The employees had gotten her pretty good. Her nose was red, trickles of blood dripping through her nostrils at a steady pace. Bruising was already forming on her cheeks and collarbones and she walked with a slight limp. A large cut from her temple to the middle of her forehead bled steadily, soiling her glasses and work clothes. She was holding onto Ranboo slightly for support and because she couldn’t see with the red staining her glasses. 

He felt so bad for leaving her to fend for herself. He felt awful that he thought she could take the employees down by herself when she has been sleep deprived and exhausted for weeks now. There was obviously no way she could’ve beaten them by herself, which made Ranboo feel insanely guilty for leaving her like that. 

“Mabel, I’m-”

“I told you to run. It’s okay,” she said. “It’s not the first time I’ve been beaten up.”

“I know, but this was because of me. Because I ran. I could’ve helped you.”

“Ranboo, it’s okay,” she said firmly. “I told you to run, remember? But you ended up saving me. You got Connor and Sasha.”

They walked to the car, and Ranboo watched Connor and Sasha begin the walk towards their vehicle. Ranboo still had the keys in their hand. They walked Mabel to the passenger side of the car much to her confusion. 

“What’re you doing?” 

“You’re clearly in no condition to drive, Mabel. I don’t know how many times they hit you or what happened when the mask touched you, but you need a break.”

When Mabel sat in the passenger seat, Ranboo hopped into the driver’s seat, buckling up. 

“Just tell me where to go,” they said, their hands gripping the steering wheel. 

“Ran.”

“What?”

“You need to turn the car on.”

“Right… how do I-?”

“Hold the brake down and press the red button.”

The car whirred to life. Ranboo familiarized themself with the car. The turn signals, gas and brake pedals, headlights, high-beams. It was pretty much muscle memory. 

“Okay, just back out of this space and make sure you turn the car to the left.”

Ranboo did as told, but it took them a second to get the car out of the parking space. Another car, an SUV, was pulling out of a parking spot. 

“See that car? Just follow it,” Mabel said, pointing at the car. 

Ranboo followed the car through the shopping mall and to a red light. They were going the opposite way to Mabel’s house. The car ride was mostly silent other than the soft music coming from the stereo. Ranboo almost lost sight of the SUV a few times, causing Mabel to jump in and groggily tell him where to go. 

Fifteen minutes later, they were pulling into the driveway of a house. It was a pretty big house: two stories, on a slight hill with a large wrap around porch full of furniture. 

Ranboo parked behind the SUV and turned off the car, getting out to go help Mabel. She kept a hand on their shoulder as she walked up to the garage where Connor and Sasha were waiting. 

“You look awful,” Sasha commented lightly. 

Mabel just laughed. “I know.”

“Come inside and let’s get you taken care of,” said Connor.

The two adults ushered them through the clean garage and into the house. It was a very clean and very beautifully decorated house, reminding Ranboo of Dr. Lamb’s house. The hardwood shined in the light, the white walls were void of any dust, the pictures and artworks hanging on the wall were at perfect angles. They walked down the hall and into the kitchen. 

The kitchen had an island in the middle, with the living room right behind the island. Granite countertops and black kitchen appliances, with white cabinets and a walk in pantry. Once again, Ranboo questioned how Mabel knew a lot of people with a lot of money. 

Mabel sat herself down on one of the stools behind the island, clutching her head and sighing. Ranboo felt insanely out of place, deciding to sit next to Mabel. 

Connor and Sasha bustled around them. Connor grabbed a glass of water and some pain relief pills while Sasha went to get a first aid kit. Connor set the glass in front of Mabel who took it with a grateful nod. 

“What happened, Mabel?” Connor questioned carefully, leaning on the kitchen island as Sasha began to clean Mabel’s bloodied and beaten face. 

Mabel winced when the alcohol wipes touched the open cut on her forehead. “Was taking out the trash for a coworker when they jumped us. Told Ra-... Rufus to run. Guess he ran into y’all.”

“Which, who are you by the way?” Ranboo asked curiously, earning an odd glance from the couple. 

“Connor Beckett, that’s my wonderful wife, Sasha,” Connor introduced. “Sorry for not saying so earlier but we had that uh… situation to deal with.”

Ranboo was shocked at the pure coincidence it was- running into Jamie’s parents amidst an attack. Like, seriously, what were the odds of that? They seemed to be nice enough people to trust, which was why he was once again thrown for a loop as to why Mabel absolutely refused to set aside her pride and call them for help. She clearly needed it. Especially now since she got beat up in a sketchy parking lot and was nearly converted into a Showfall employee. 

“R-Rufus is my name,” they managed to stutter out as they shoved back the oncoming questions for later. “Mabel’s cousin.”

“Is he really?” Sasha asked, wrapping Mabel’s head with bandages. 

The girl glanced at Ranboo, sending a silent “ it's okay, we can trust them” before saying, “no. You know the drill.”

“Why didn’t you call us for help?” Connor asked with a twinge of disappointment in his eye. “You know we’re here to help, especially after…”

“I know,” Mabel whispered painfully. Ranboo could see the tragic memories replaying in her head like a broken record, showing only the bad parts over and over. She furrowed her eyebrows as her eyes misted over. “I know, I just… I thought-”

“That you didn’t need help,” Sasha concluded. She had moved on to cleaning the dried blood sticking to Mabel’s neck and face. The white rag she’d grabbed was quickly turning a dark pink. “Mabel, with what you’ve been doing- what you’ve been putting yourself through, there’s no shame in calling in backup. I know for a fact you called some friends for help when you escaped this time. You weren’t back at the usual time.”

“It wasn’t just me that got hurt this time-” Mabel began to protest, but winced as Sasha pressed the blood soaked rag to her swollen nose “-but them too. We had to get them to a doctor or else they wouldn’t be alive right now.”

Then, it was like Mabel had been slapped. She looked over at Ranboo with what they could only classify as an oh fuck expression. Her mouth parted, eyes wide as saucers to the point where Ranboo could barely see her eyelids. 

“Oh fuck,” she said in a sigh. “Fuck fuck fuck, Charlie! Ran, we didn’t tell Charlie you were coming with me today, did we?” 

Ranboo internally panicked, diving into their memory for some sort of conversation they had with Charlie the day before. He remembered Mabel taping up a note for Charlie that morning, but he had no idea what she wrote on it and he had a clue she didn’t either. 

“Uhhh, you left him a note this morning,” they said on the off chance she actually did remember what she wrote.

She nearly collapsed in relief. “Oh thank God, yeah, I did. Wait, what did I write on it?”

“It’s probably not important right now,” Sasha said, packing up the first aid kit and returning it to it’s rightful spot beside the refrigerator. 

“What is important right now is the fact that Showfall found you,” Connor interjected. “They’ve never found you until now. What changed?”

“I have no idea. I’ve done every evasive maneuver and precaution I could think of and they still found me. Unless they’ve got people stalking me, or if someone recognized Ranboo, then I don’t see how they found me.”

Ranboo thought for a moment. Showfall had been doing this for a while now- over two years. They haven’t located Mabel before because she’s a great strategist and fighter. Though, the more they thought about it, the more they realized how long it had been since Showfall had done their last ‘show’. 

Mabel said it’d take them about a month or two for the next show to begin streaming. 

It was nearing the month mark. Nothing had happened yet, as far as Ranboo knew. 

Letting their theorizing brain go wild was not something Ranboo wanted to do at the moment, especially since they were still trying to calm down from the surprise attack, but they indulged in it. 

“What if they’re on the prowl for their new cast already?” they asked quietly, but it basically echoed in the kitchen anyway. 

Mabel’s expression fell. “It’s nearly been a month. Sometimes they’ve taken two, but it’s entirely possible that’s what they’re doing. But why go after-?...” she delved into her thoughts, chewing on her lower lip nervously. 

“Mabel, you don’t think-” Sasha started, fear evident in her shaky voice. 

“There’s no way they’d try that again,” Connor said confidently. “If Ran- it’s Ranboo, right? If Ranboo was already a part of a show, why go after him again? They’ve never put one person in two different shows before.”

“Something must be changing,” Mabel said gravely. She tapped her finger against her chin as she thought. “They must be taking a new approach. But why now, after all the shows they’ve done?” 

“Maybe…” Ranboo began. They hated to think of this, but it had to be one of the reasons why something was changing. “Maybe the Founder got tired of you messing with the shows and wanted you… out of the way. And maybe it's because the audience… likes me.”

Mabel got that terrified look on her face again, and the blood drained from her cheeks. “Charlie. You don’t think they went after him, too, do you?”

Oh God. Ranboo hadn’t even thought about them going after Charlie, who was at home, all by himself. He had been for hours. Who knows how long Showfall had been trailing Mabel for? The possibility that they knew where she lived had never been as high as it was now. 

“Oh my God,” they breathed out with equal horror. “We have to get back home. Now.”

“Woah woah woah,” Connor stopped them as they tried to run back to the garage door. “Hang on. These are all what if’s , not true facts-”

“Charlie’s in danger right now. We can’t stop to discuss what’s true and what’s fake,” Mabel snapped. She looked insanely guilty for talking like that to Jamie’s father, but she stood her ground. “I’m sorry, Mr. Connor, but I need you to get out of the way before I make you.”

The man didn’t seem hurt at all by her statements. Instead, curious. Intrigued. The realization crossed his face. “Oh, Mabel… I know. You’re scared that this Charlie fella is gonna end up like Jamie if you don’t get back home, right? If they did find your house?”

If Mabel was frustrated before, she was angry now. Her eyes filled with tears as her expression hardened and her posture became near impeccable- sizing up to a man built like a brick wall. 

“Mr. Connor, move please. I’m not making the same mistake again.”

“Let us come with you. For extra backup,” Sasha suggested as she looked back and forth between the two. 

Ranboo was scared Mabel was going to try and start a full on brawling match, though it seemed unlikely. They noticed very recently just how much her emotions affect her as a whole, and how her emotions basically give her the drive to keep going and doing what she’s been doing the past few years. Her anger fueled her strength, her compassion gave others the strength to stand as tall as her, her kindness spreading joy to others always puts a smile on her face. Her (sometimes) shitty jokes that make people laugh always makes her want to crack more. 

While it was a great motivator, it could also be her greatest downfall. Ranboo was grateful for her kindness and compassion, but it could be those things that get her killed or even worse, captured by Showfall. She was weak when it came to the people she rescued, or even the Becketts. Ranboo saw how she turned on Sasha when she suggested tagging along for extra protection. She was furious that the woman would suggest such a thing- going to a potentially dangerous place with risks as great as death. 

Ranboo loved the fact that she cared so much, but it also made them realize just how easy it would be for Showfall to get what they want if they ever catch her- or Ranboo and Charlie for that matter. She’d stop at nothing to get them back to reality, and if all three of them were taken… Ranboo was certain Showfall would use the two escapees however they wanted to get Mabel to bend to their will. 

Mabel exhaled, brushing past Connor. “Thanks but no thanks. This fight’s mine.”

“It doesn’t have to be,” Sasha pleaded, following Mabel out to the garage with the two men on their heels.

“Mabel, maybe they’re right,” Ranboo jumped in despite their brain telling them to just let Mabel sort it out. She was impulsive, which was also a fatal flaw. But she was also smart, which usually got her out of situations she put herself in. “We should let them follow. Because what if Charlie is in trouble and there are a bunch of them at the house? We can’t go in guns blazing because we have no guns! At least with two more people we’d stand more of a chance in a big fight, right?”

“The kid’s right, Mabel, listen to him if you’re not going to listen to me,” Connor said. 

“No, you're staying here where it’s safer,” the girl continued to argue. “I’m not letting any of you end up like he did. And I’m not arguing any more. The more we stand here and go back and forth like this, the higher risk Charlie’s in right now.”

She hopped in the driver’s seat of her car and started the engine. Ranboo opened the door to the passenger seat before looking back at the couple. They looked truly saddened by her words, disappointed, even. Sasha held onto her husband’s hand, squeezing it tight. Thinking of their son must be difficult, especially since Mabel was driving the car they could barely look at without crying. 

Follow us , Ranboo thought, trying to put the thoughts onto their expression before sitting in the passenger seat, hoping the couple got the message.

Mabel peeled out of the driveway at light speed, blowing past the speed limit sign at a much higher speed than recommended in a subdivision. Ranboo thought she was a reckless driver before, but this was a whole different level. She completely disregarded her turn signal. She ignored stop signs. Her window was down, the rock music was uncomfortably loud and angry. She was swerving onto roads like she was some sort of street racer in last place, heading back for the top. There were multiple times where Ranboo thought the car was going to flip on its side. 

In record time, Mabel was speeding down the road to her house, the tires squealing as she turned harshly. The road was bumpy, with gravel kicking up from under the wheels as she sped the car up. 

Ranboo held onto the safety handle discreetly.

Pulling up to the house, Ranboo was relieved to see no other vehicles parked in the driveway, or anywhere else for that matter. The lights were still on inside, casting a warm glow onto the cold forest floor. Looked like nobody except Charlie was home, but the sight of the untouched house didn’t quell Mabel’s worry. 

She swerved, stopping only a few feet away from the steps leading to the front door. She parked, instantly jumping out of the car and running to the door. Ranboo grabbed the car keys from the cup holder before following her. Her hands were shaking so bad that she was struggling with fitting the key into the lock. She eventually got it, though, and flung the door open violently. 

“Charlie!” she yelled out, scouring the living room and kitchen. 

The TV was on, playing some random documentary on what looked like the population of wildlife in Antarctica. A plastic cup sat on the coffee table, still sweating as the ice melted. Nothing looked out of place. Still, Mabel began to frantically look around the house, her eyes sharp when looking at every little detail she could think of. 

The back porch light was on. Ranboo slid the glass door, finding it surprisingly unlocked. Okay, that was slightly worrying. They knew that door was locked when they left that morning. Ranboo stepped outside as Mabel ran upstairs shouting for Charlie. The man wasn’t on the back porch, but Ranboo could see slight indents in the dirt. Footprints.

Ranboo followed the prints. They went into a circle of sorts around the backyard, then they led Ranboo to the weapon shed. They stilled when they heard clanking coming from inside. The shed was old. Maybe a squirrel accidentally dropped from the hole in the roof and was just looking for a way out. Yeah, that was it, Ranboo told themself.

Shaky hands reached for the door, opening it in one fell swoop.

The light was on inside, illuminating Charlie as he took knives from their respective places, weighing them in his hand, testing them out with a swing, and putting them back. Ranboo exhaled in relief, trying to calm their racing heart. He was fine. Charlie was just playing with knives, he was okay. 

Charlie turned around when he heard them exhale. “Oh hey! How was today?” He asked. He seemed genuinely excited to hear how the day went, but his demeanor changed when he saw the relief in their face, their shoulders slumped as they tried to catch their breath. “You okay, Ran? What’s going on?”

“A lot. It’s probably best if you come inside. There’s a screaming banshee looking for you,” they replied jokingly, knowing Mabel was probably going to start yelling the second she saw Charlie. 

The man looked confused but followed them back to the house anyway. Closing the door behind them, Ranboo smirked when he heard Mabel’s thundering footsteps running back and forth upstairs. Charlie looked alarmed. 

“Should I be worried about that?” He asked, pointing up. 

“Yeah. Be prepared for anything,” Ranboo said before yelling out, “he’s down here, Mabel.”

The footsteps upstairs paused for a moment. Then they resumed, coming back down the stairs at light speed. Mabel came barreling towards Charlie, relief evident in her eyes as she scanned him for injuries.

“Oh thank God. Are you okay? Where the fuck were you? Nobody else came here during the day did they?”

Charlie looked to Ranboo for help, but they just shrugged. He put his hands up in surrender. “I’m fine, and I’ve been here all day. And what the hell happened to you?” 

Ranboo saw lights coming from outside on the driveway. They left Mabel to fret and interrogate a highly confused Charlie in favor of standing on the front porch. The Beckett’s SUV pulled into the gravel driveway, parking beside Mabel’s car. They didn’t get out. Sasha rolled down her window, sending Ranboo a questioning gaze. They walked up to the window.

“Everything alright?” Sasha asked worriedly, looking in through the open door and into the house. 

“Yeah, he’s alright. We all are. I think,” Ranboo replied steadily. 

“Good,” Connor said from behind the wheel. “Good. Nothing happened.”

“Not that we know of. He looks fine.”

Sasha sighed, watching Mabel talk frantically to Charlie. “I just wish she’d talk to us. We’re really one of the only things she has left after Jamie….” 

Ranboo hung their head, feeling the heaviness in the air at the mention of Jamie’s name. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“It’s alright. We’ve uh, somewhat recovered from what happened,” Connor said sadly. “Of course, it’ll never stop hurting. Jamie was our everything, but I know he’d smack us upside the head if he knew we still cried whenever we saw his car.” 

Ranboo scoffed heartily. “Sounds like a good guy. I would’ve liked to meet him.” 

Sasha tried to blink away her tears. “Hey, just uhh, do us a favor, yeah? Look after her. She deals with enough conflict in her head, she doesn’t need any more fights. She’ll stop at nothing until Showfall is in ashes, but she’ll do so without any regards to her well being. Just keep an eye on her for us. And if something happens, don’t be afraid to call us.”

Ranboo shuffled awkwardly. “I don’t have a phone. And I don’t have your number,” they pointed out.

“Mabel has a laminated slip of paper hanging somewhere on her fridge. It has both our cell numbers and our work numbers. And as for a phone…. Uh, don’t worry about that. We’ll take care of it,” Connor reassured. “Take care, Ranboo.”

“You too.”

With that, the Becketts left with a trail of dust following their vehicle. Ranboo didn’t know how to feel about that whole interaction. He knew the Becketts were nice, but this was a little too nice. Offering- no, not offering- saying you’re going to buy a complete stranger a cell phone was crazy. Ranboo knew they’d only use it to call, but this was crazy. Spending that much money on someone you don’t know. 

And the whole you can call me if anything is wrong thing is so parental. Ranboo feels sorry for them for losing their son, but why did it feel like they were just trying to replace their son with another child? Or was it just their personalities that made Ranboo think of something this taboo as replacing a dead relative with a stranger?

“RANBOO! GET IN HERE PLEASE!” Mabel shouted from inside.

They pushed those thoughts away for later, going back inside and locking the door behind him. Charlie had moved to sit on the couch, watching Mabel pace in front of the TV with a conflicted expression. He looked troubled, his eyes trained on the floor as he chewed on his bottom lip.

“What’s going on?” they asked, taking a seat on the opposite side of the couch. 

Mabel sighed. “We might have to lay low for a while. All of us. If Showfall found us… I’d have to move states, and I’d have to do all sorts of paperwork I don’t wanna do…”

“What about school or work? You can’t skip out on education,” Charlie countered. 

“I’m passing every class and it’s my senior year. Tons of seniors skip regularly,” the girl said, “but I can still go on Monday and get any work I’ll be doing for the week.”

“How’d they even find us?” Charlie asked, nervously running a hand through his unkempt hair. 

“Probably by stalking,” Ranboo offered, “but my theory is that someone turned us in.”

“How- no, who? I don’t know many people, but it must be someone who knows me,” Mabel said.

“Why’s that?”

“Who else could it be unless it's some super nosy stranger? I mean like, I don’t know everything about Caroline or my coworkers, so it could’ve been one of them for all I know.”

“Do you think it was that girl that looked at us weirdly at school earlier?” Ranboo asked. 

“Maybe. The culprit list is long and I don’t like it but it doesn’t matter anymore. We just need to keep our heads down, stay at home more.”

“I don’t want you to lose your money making opportunities. We’ll stay here to keep them off your ass, and you can keep going out,” Charlie proposed. 

Mabel sunk her teeth into her lip hard enough to draw blood. “I don’t want you guys to be cooped up here again though. You told me you wanted to go get jobs-“

“We won’t be able to have jobs if we’re brought back to that mall,” Ranboo interjected. “No matter how they found us or who told them about us, we can’t risk going out anymore. At least for a week or so. We can handle that.”

“Great, so you’ll continue your daily life and pretend like we’re not here at all. I like that idea,” Charlie said, patting Ranboo’s shoulder. “This way you don’t have to lug us back and forth between locations and lose even more sleep cooking us something for breakfast before you leave. We can figure that out.”

Mabel stopped pacing, letting her hands rest gently on her hips. She still looked conflicted despite the good reasoning Ranboo and Charlie provided. If Ranboo had to guess, she’d just gotten used to driving them from place to place and making them breakfast in the morning. And now that they were suggesting she remove that from her routine, she was a little on the fence about it. Curse her and her heart of gold for wanting to cook them breakfast at the cost of her own health. 

“Is that what you guys want?” she asked quietly. 

“I think, subconsciously, that’s what you want too,” Charlie said, trying to sound as nice as possible about it. “I mean, you’re already working yourself dead and worrying about us 24/7. You need a break.”

Ranboo could see her coming up with something to downplay her exhaustion, but he wasn’t having it anymore.  

“Don’t say whatever you’re thinking about saying, Mabel,” they chimed in, continuing when he saw the argument die in Mabel’s throat. “Your eye bags are getting harder to hide with makeup, you’re always blinking hard, like you’re trying to keep yourself awake. You’re getting forgetful about things so simple like turning off the high beams when driving by other cars. Not to mention how you got beat up tonight. You need to think of yourself for once! We’ll be okay, I promise you.”

“I can cook, and fight,” Charlie said. 

“Well, I wouldn’t say fight -“

“Spar?”

“Yeah, he can spar, and I can uhh… I don't know, insult anyone who comes uninvited to the house?”

Mabel’s concerned expression was enough to tell them that their message wasn’t getting through to her.

“I dunno!” Ranboo exclaimed, throwing their arms up and letting them slay onto the couch cushions. “I’ll think of something! But the point is that you need to do something for yourself for once. I mean come on , this whole thing has got to be exhausting for you- this whole front you put up where you can’t accept anyone’s help or can’t think for your own good.”

“A front? You think that’s a front?” Mabel asked, her voice dangerously lowering an octave. Which, for her already deep voice, was very low. Ranboo knew they struck a nerve unknowingly, which made them feel terrible, especially with Mabel’s anger-filled eyes boring into him. 

Charlie sat at the edge of the couch, looking between the two uncomfortably, probably about to jump in with some sort of diffusing statement that would fall on deaf ears. 

“That’s who I am normally. You don’t think I’m tired? You don’t think I’m trying to put myself before others? Oh, I’m trying, Ranboo. I really am. But it’s kinda hard to break that mentality when it’s been there your whole life,” Mabel snapped. “Whenever I try and put myself first, guess what happens? ‘Oh, Mabel, can you do this for me? Can you do that for me, Mabel? Oh you’re such a doll, thank you Mabel!’” 

“You always have the option to say no, Mabel,” Ranboo pointed out. 

“Why don’t you try thinking like me for a change, huh? Think about it this way: all your life you’ve been raised to be this nice contributing member to society, which often meant doing favors for people where you could build a rapport with them. And guess how that went. I’m never able to say no, Ranboo. It’s not in my DNA, and certainly not in my vocabulary. I can’t not do something that someone asks me to do because if I don’t, I feel like a failure. And nobody wants to feel like a failure, trust me.” 

“There’s no shame in saying no,” Charlie affirmed. “There are times when you have to think of yourself, to only think of yourself because otherwise you’re going to die. You’re on your way there right now, Mabel. You’ve got to put a pause to stopping Showfall and the whole vigilante thing to actually take care of yourself. When was the last time you were truly happy?” 

Mabel’s eyes darkened like an oncoming storm as she took a deep breath. “When Jamie was still alive. I’ll be truly happy when those motherfuckers that took him away from me are burned to the ground. Until then, I can’t stop. I’m not going to stop until he is avenged.”

Ranboo was so frustrated with Mabel’s stubbornness to just relax and take care of herself. At this rate, she was going to die. Whether it be from lack of sleep or lack of appetite, or even picking a fight with Showfall and losing because of the lack of sleep or food, she was walking on a wobbling tightrope. If she took a minute to stop and calm down, and maybe actually eat a meal other than breakfast, maybe she’d feel better and live to win another fight. 

“Believe me, I’m exhausted, but I can’t sleep knowing some poor bastards are about to be brought to that mall to be tortured. There’s no rest for the hardworking. And I’ve got to kick it into high gear to make sure nobody else dies under my watch. So thank you for your concern, but I won’t stop. You guys will stay here and I’ll keep going to work and school, no more arguing about it. This is for your safety and my own.”

Mabel wiped her face with her hands and slowly began making her way to the staircase when Ranboo accidentally uttered their thoughts out loud.

“Are you really thinking for your safety or are you too busy thinking of another rescue mission?” 

She paused in her tracks, turning around slowly. Charlie tensed beside them, poking them with his elbow and whispering, “dude-“

“What did you just say?” Mabel provoked.

Ranboo knew they fucked up this time. That tone she used was like the one she used when she was fighting Hetch. She wasn’t just angered anymore, she was furious. She’d puffed her chest out more, squaring her shoulders and standing tall like she did when she rescued them. It was Mabel standing in front of them, sure, but she was different. Her kind demeanor was gone, replaced with a blaze of fury.

“I- uh… I didn’t mean-“

“Do you want other people to go through what you went through?” she asked. “I want you two to be safe, that’s why I’m doing this whole thing.”

Ranboo didn’t know what came over them, but something in them just snapped. They were spewing out words before he could stop himself. 

“I wouldn’t want anyone else to go through the shit we did, but you have to understand that you can’t keep going on these missions if you’re passing out behind the wheel from lack of sleep.”

“I can’t just leave them to die!” Mabel yelled, her voice cracking as her eyes welled up with frustrated tears. “What if I just left you to die in that box? Hm?”

Ranboo rose to their feet, throwing their arms up as they felt the anger course through their veins. “Maybe you should’ve! Maybe that way I wouldn’t have to worry about people recognizing me. Maybe that way I wouldn’t have to think about those stupid fucking scars on my face! Or even better, you could’ve minded your business and never gone to the mall in the first place!” 

Charlie stood, a devastated look on his face that Ranboo hadn’t seen since the day of the escape. He looked utterly heartbroken that they would even suggest that. “Ranboo, is that what you really think?”

They didn’t have an answer, they were too focused on Mabel’s tear stained cheeks and her furious eyes. 

“You know fully well why I can’t leave this be,” she said shakily, “because if I did, then that means Jamie died for Hetch’s and Showfall’s entertainment. I’m not letting his death be for nothing.”

“And I’m sorry about Jamie, I really am, but I think that dying would’ve been the better option for me if I was just going to live with these thoughts nagging at me 24/7. I pleaded to die, that’s what I want,” Ranboo seethed. “It’s what I’ve wanted for a while now.”

Mabel shook her head. “I can get you help. I know some good people-“

“I don’t want help! I just want all this to end! Don’t you get it? You probably do considering how your best friend died! It still hurts you-“

“Of course it does! There’s times when I think like you: when I hate myself and how I look and everything about me! There are times where I think it’d be easier to just join Jamie, but I can’t!” 

“Why? Because you want to play the hero?” 

“Guys-“ Charlie tried. 

“Don’t say that to me,” the girl snapped, poking Ranboo’s chest with a finger. “What I do requires a lot of guts, something you don’t have even though you’re supposed to be the hero.”

That stung. Really bad. Ranboo’s anger was twisted into a blind rage. How dare she call him that after knowing everything that happened? How dare she call him that knowing full well how Ranboo felt about the memories associated with it? 

“Guts get you nowhere if you kill yourself from working at a restaurant,” they bit back. They laughed maniacally, opening their arms wide as they cackled. “Maybe it’d be better that way so that anyone who doesn’t want to be saved can die happily without your intervention!”

At that moment, they knew the argument was over. Mabel’s shoulders dropped as the anger left her body. Her tears of fury had warped into tears of disbelief and sorrow. Downcast eyes and shaking shoulders. Charlie was looking at him in horror, like he couldn’t believe what Ranboo just said to the person who rescued them- who helped them in their darkest moments. 

Mabel looked up, wiping her tears while her expression hardened. Her posture was back to being perfect, further enhancing her height. While she wasn’t as tall as Ranboo, she was intimidating as fuck when she had those cold dead eyes and tense muscles, showing how she could probably snap your neck in half with a punch. 

“If that’s really what you think, I won’t intervene anymore. Not with you,” she told them, looking them directly in the eye. The dead calm she radiated was unsettling. 

Mabel turned on her heel and calmly walked upstairs. They both heard her door open and slam shut, reverberating through the entire house. 

Charlie spun on them, smacking them upside the head. “What the hell was all that for?”

Ranboo rubbed their head, trying to ease the stinging. “I didn’t mean to! It all just bubbled over and before I could stop it I was just…” they sighed, groaning into their hands. “I really didn’t mean to, I promise.”

“It sure sounded like you did!” Charlie exclaimed, worriedly running a hand through his hair. “I don’t even know what to say.”

Ranboo didn’t know either. The words just tumbled out and now they were out of things to say. They really didn’t want to say those things. They honestly had no idea where they came from- those words. Sure, the suicidal thoughts were there, but they didn’t want Mabel to die. He wanted the opposite for her- he wanted her to live until she died of old age. It was the least she deserved.

So why did he say those things? Those mean, hurtful things that they used to purposefully cause her torment. God, they were such an asshole.

“God dammit. I have to apologize to her…”

“I think she’s had enough talking with you for today,” Charlie sighed. “I think you’re the last person she wants to see right now.”

Ranboo flopped onto the couch, cradling their head in their hands. “Why did I do that? Why?”

“We’re all hurting, Ran. We do stupid things when we are in pain,” Charlie admitted. “I’ll go check on her. Try eating something, okay? I can hear your stomach from here.”

Ranboo nodded, watching Charlie go upstairs with a churning gut and nagging thoughts. 

“Why did I do that?” they whispered to nobody. “Fuck.”

Chapter Text

Charlie had only felt extreme helplessness a few times in his life.

Once was when he was being torn apart by Security, with the only reason for him being awake still was the hopes and prayers for Ranboo to push that button and escape. He had wanted nothing more than to get up and run alongside them, pushing away any employees that got too close, but he’d been reduced to a screaming and agonizing mess. 

The other time was after Mabel found him and patched him up, telling him that Ranboo was still in trouble. The feeling he had when he saw Ranboo attached to that box trap, their voice cracking from overuse and the constant shouting… it was unlike anything he’d felt before. He couldn’t move. His eyes stayed trained on his friend, who was pleading to die. Never in his life had he felt so useless, just stuck there, frozen, watching as they trembled and cried in the wire bonds that held them up. 

The last instance of helplessness that Charlie can remember in mostly full detail was the argument that just happened a few minutes ago. Both Ranboo and Mabel had put their guards up, which forced them both to push their shoulders back to the fullest- showing their towering heights. Their voices just kept getting louder and louder and they kept saying such hurtful things- Charlie was too stunned to do anything. What happened to the civil conversation they were having not five minutes ago? 

He left Ranboo to their own devices, which probably wasn’t a good idea given when they were talking about in the argument and the events from the past few days, but he digressed. Charlie slowly made his way up the stairs, stopping outside of Mabel’s door. What if she didn’t want to see him either? He was technically arguing with her in the beginning, but it was about her wellbeing. She shouldn’t be mad about that, right?

He hesitantly raised his hand, rasping his knuckles gently on the door. “Mabel? Can I come in?”

He didn’t hear anything from inside save for a sniffle and shuffle. Still, he took it as no response and knocked this time. “Mabel? You okay?”

A louder sniffle this time, followed by a quiet, “no…”

Charlie perked up at the answer, resting his hand on the doorknob. “Do you want to talk about it or do you want me to leave or…?”

There was some shuffling inside, and the door opened a moment later. Her eyes were puffy and red, her cheeks stained with tears and her nose running with snot coming down to her lip. It reminded him of just how young she was, and how she shouldn’t be having these kinds of conversations or arguments about death and suffering. She quickly wiped her nose with the back of her hand and then wiped that hand on her pants with a grimace. 

“Come in, I guess.”

She went and sat back down on her bed, reaching for her phone as Charlie went to sit at the desk, turning the chair around to face the bed. Only then did Charlie realize she was playing music. A softer sounding tune, and judging by the quality it was playing at, probably recorded in the 1980’s. It had what sounded like a pretty oboe solo, then the lyrics kicked in. 

Haven’t had a dream in a long time, 

Seems the luck I’ve had can make a good man turn bad

Charlie listened to the lyrics, finding a sense of melancholy in the song. He didn’t understand why Mabel would listen to something like this when she was feeling down. Wouldn’t it just make her feel worse?

So please, please, please, let me, let me, let me,

Let me get what I want this time

Charlie certainly felt a deep ache in his chest listening to the song. “What song is this?” he asked quietly, not wanting to disrupt Mabel’s calming atmosphere. 

She opened her eyes, blinking groggily. “Please, please please, let me get what I want by the Dream Academy. There’s actually the original version recorded and produced by the Smiths, but this is a cover that I honestly like better than the original. I dunno why. I guess it’s the intensity of the instrumentals and the tone of voice,” she babbled. Charlie could tell she was hanging onto her last conscious thread. But she seemed happy enough to tell him about music history to push through her exhaustion, and it seemed to be helping her keep her mind off the argument. 

“I like it,” he said softly. “It’s nice but also kinda sad so I don’t know why you’re listening to it right now.”

Mabel scoffed lightheartedly, glancing at the picture book resting on the bookshelf with a sort of nostalgic smile. “Me and Jamie would listen to it all the time whenever we needed something to relay our emotions with. Because sometimes we didn’t feel like talking, so we would talk through this song. It’s honestly probably my favorite song ever made.”

They listened to the song the rest of the way through, and the entire time Charlie could only think about how tragic this whole thing was. How much has been taken from all of them, how much torture they’ve all gone through… it hurt. His chest ached with some sort of pain- definitely not physical pain- but something entirely made up. And it hurt so bad .

There was so much to cry for. So much to save that they wouldn’t be able to anytime soon. The ache would only persist until the job was done: until Charlie and Mabel and Ranboo went back to the mall and saved their friends. Because what was life without the company of friends? Friends who make you laugh until your stomach hurts, friends who cry with you, friends who share each other’s stories and love and misery. 

God, did Charlie miss his friends. 

They were still his friends, brainwashed or not. They were all connected in the real world and the one Showfall created, so it shouldn’t really matter where they came from this time around or what they went through. They were all still connected.

He fought back the tears.

The song ended and Charlie’s sniffles were the only thing they heard. 

“What’s wrong?” Mabel asked, eyebrows knit in concern. 

Charlie took off his glasses to wipe his eyes, holding his face in his hands. “Nothing, just uh… made me think of my friends.”

Understanding filled her eyes. “The ones back in the mall.”

“Yeah…”

“We’re gonna get them back. You know that.”

All he could muster was a nod. He didn’t trust his tongue to say the things he wanted to say and not spew out every thought running around in his head. He didn’t want there to be another argument that night. They’d both had enough of that.

Mabel sat up, scooting down to sit criss cross at the edge of the bed. “That’s why I can’t rest, Charlie. I see how much this kind of thing is affecting you and Ran. The thoughts are always there, the hallucinations only adding stress and anxiety to you both. I just want to fix that for you, for all of you to be able to go back to being free.”

“I understand that, and I’m grateful for everything you’ve done already and what you want to do for us in the future. But I know for a fact that these things can’t happen if you don’t take care of yourself first.”

The girl sighed with a tired smile. “I know,” she whispered, “I just have a hard time accepting help because I’ve been doing this alone for so long and- it’s like I couldn’t trust anyone else to do anything I do.”

Charlie thought he was beginning to understand her stubbornness. “Because nobody else can do these things as efficiently as you can.”

Mabel nodded, “exactly. I’m scared if I bring other people in on this, they’ll just end up fucking it all up.”

That made so much more sense now. Why she wouldn’t accept help without a fight. She was terrified that someone else would mess up everything she’d built. If only Ranboo were here to listen to this reasoning, though he knew the argument wasn’t really their fault. Things just happened, thoughts spilled out. Nobody is really at fault here.

Mabel yawned, rubbing her eyes. “I’ve probably got to get to bed. Got a long day ahead of me tomorrow.”

“Can I go with you tomorrow?” Charlie blurted. “Just to give Ran some space and uhh… I haven’t been out since Sunday, so I’m kinda itching to get out.”

“Of course. But I’ll wake you up real early.”

“That’s not that bad.”

“Six AM.”

“Okay now maybe-“

Mabel burst out laughing, holding her stomach as she fell back on the mattress. Such a fickle thing to be cackling over, but it brought a smile to Charlie’s face. He was realizing how he was beginning to become like his old self- making people laugh as easily as it was to breathe.

He chuckled along with her, allowing himself to indulge in a little bit of joy, even if it might be for just a minute. Because who knows when they’d get to feel something like this again? Life was unpredictable. Charlie learned that the hard way. He was going to hold onto everything in front of him for as long as life would let him before it sweeps in and fucks everything up all over again.

“I’ll wake you up earlier just to mess with you,” she said, sitting back up. “Now go to bed. You’ve got a long day ahead of you too.”

Charlie soluted dramatically, clearly doing it wrong. “Yes ma’am.”

“Shut up and go to bed.”

He laughed again and shut her door behind him. The house was relatively silent, other than the occasional creak or pine tree branch hitting the wall. Charlie went back downstairs to check on Ranboo, finding them sitting on one of the barstools eating some leftovers.

They looked up as he approached. “She okay?”

“Yeah, she’s fine. You?”

“Getting there. This Alfredo is good.”

“Hey uhh, I’m gonna go with Mabel tomorrow. To work. Wait- no, I’m not working, she is but I’m just there.”

“I got what you meant the first time,” Ranboo replied before taking a bite of food, “but you better get to sleep. She wakes up at the ass-crack of dawn so you will too.”

“I know. Just wanted to check on you first.”

“I’m okay now. I think all the thoughts that have crossed my mind at some point just-“ they made a spilling motion with their arms “-came out. I dunno why.”

“Maybe you should take a day tomorrow where you do whatever you want. Watch TV or sleep in or whatever.”

Ranboo smiled into their Alfredo. “I’d like that. Maybe I can learn how to do something with all that yarn behind the couch.”

“Oooh! I want a blanket by the time I get back.”

“Can’t guarantee you one.”

Charlie bumped his fist on their shoulder. “Goodnight, man.”

“Night.”

Charlie went upstairs and flopped onto his bed, closing his eyes and thinking about how much he hoped Mabel and Ranboo would apologize to one another the next day. 

Sure enough, Ranboo was right. Mabel woke him up at around 6:15 with a threat of no breakfast before leaving to go to work. Knowing her track record of threats, Charlie didn’t want to risk it, especially since he’d been fighting hunger since before going to bed. That was entirely his fault for forgetting to eat a midnight snack before bed.

Charlie was in the car and on the way to the restaurant before he was fully awake. By the time Mabel parked and turned off the ignition, he was still wiping the sleep from his eyes. 

“You good there?” Mabel asked with a grin, to which Charlie responded with a flip of the middle finger. 

They entered the restaurant, being greeted by Mabel’s coworkers, who seemed limited in numbers that morning. According to Serena, the manager had gone out to drink with his buddies after closing and probably wasn’t going to come in, and the majority of the others were just running late. From sleeping over their alarms or knowing the manager wasn’t going to be in and running to get a quick breakfast before work, either way, the servers were running around doing their opening work with vigor. 

Mabel joined them a moment later, getting behind the bar and beginning to clean. 

“You can sit over here, Charlie,” she said, pointing to a barstool on the corner of the bar. “You’re gonna be here a while, you might as well watch some sports or something.”

He took a seat, looking up at the sports with disdain. “I don’t think I like sports too much.”

“Too bad, this is a popular sport place so it’s all we can do,” Serena chimed in from his left. She wiped down the bar counter with a clean rag. “People love it here.”

“Which makes me hate them,” Mabel smiled, earning a scoff from Serena. “God, I don’t know how I managed to sit in the stands for 2 years cheering on our football team.”

The day passed by agonizingly slow for Charlie. Multiple times he’d found himself contemplating taking a small lap around the shopping center. Just to look, not to buy. But honestly, it was kind of fun watching Mabel work. The customers were a mix of different people of all different ages and ethnicities, all with different backgrounds and personalities that somehow managed to get along nicely with Mabel. Obviously there were certain people who just absolutely refused to have a nice bone in their body and made Mabel’s morning shift difficult, but Charlie wasn’t going to intervene again. 

Mabel just had this way of connecting with people despite her shy nature when in the presence of strangers. Charlie watched a group of women, probably around Mabel’s age, shower her with compliments on her jewelry or her makeup, or even her smile or humor. And Mabel would smile and laugh, not uncomfortable by any means, just flustered. Her cheeks would go red as she’d thank them and tell them she’d be right back with their drinks.

It was nice to see the good side of her work. From what Mabel said before about her manager, he was scared he’d accidentally blow up at him and cost Mabel her job. Luckily he wasn’t there that morning.

Soon enough, it was Mabel’s turn to go on her lunch break. She went and put her apron back in the kitchen and came back out with her purse. 

“Let’s go get something to eat. I could eat three cows,” she said as she walked out the door. 

“That was a nice lunch shift,” Charlie commented as he followed Mabel. “Everyone seemed nice.”

It’s like that on Saturday mornings. That’s why I take the all day shift. It’s not only good money but good company too. I actually like some of my tables,” she explained. '

They passed by a flower shop where Mabel waved to the girl watering the flowers outside. “What’re you in the mood for? This place has pretty much everything.”

Charlie shrugged. “I dunno. You pick, it’s your lunch break.”

“Fried chicken it is then.”

They walked further down the strip mall, near the entrance where there was another sports bar looking restaurant. Mabel walked in without hesitation, Charlie right on her heels. She checked her phone before talking with the hostess. 

They had their seats in no time, a calm booth by the corner where they could see the bar in full. This bar, in Charlie’s opinion, looked a lot better than the one at Mabel’s workplace. There were blue lights shining up the walls, illuminating the glasses resting on the shelves screwed into the brick walls. Televisions lined the top of the bar, where a bunch of men who looked to be in their forties sat, having a cold beer and talking sports. It looked a lot cleaner in an organization sense. 

“I already know what I’m getting, but what looks good for you?” Mabel conversed.

Charlie’s eyes snapped back to the menu. They had a lot of burger and wing options, which made sense. There were a few pizza options, as well as chicken alfredo and chicken parmesian. But everything was from $10 to $15 dollars for just one meal. He was hesitant to get something that expensive knowing that Mabel needed all the money she could get. But then again, going out to eat was her idea, so maybe she’d saved up enough for this treat. 

“The chicken parm looks good,” he commented.

“Going with the safe option?” she teased. “I can’t be saying anything about that, I’m the plainest bitch alive. Everywhere I go out to eat except here I get the picky eater option.”

“Picky eater option?”

“Chicken tenders.”

“Oh.”

Charlie ended up ordering a burger. 

The lunch was uneventful, and so was the rest of the evening. 

It was essentially the exact same thing as the lunch shift, except there were tons more people coming in and out of the restaurant. Charlie sat in the same spot at the bar, keeping his head down when the men surrounding the bar cheered for their favorite sports team. Carlos surprisingly didn’t talk to him at all, only giving him occasional glances with messages Charlie couldn’t decipher. 

Some of the guys at the bar tried to get him to talk, asking him what his favorite football team was, but he politely told them he didn’t know. That was enough to get them back engaged in their game.

He watched Mabel and Serena work, seeing them run drinks and carry heavy ass trays of food. He had utmost respect for the service industry because honestly, he knew he probably wouldn’t be able to handle as many tables as Mabel could. She practically had control over half the restaurant, which had to be around thirty to thirty-five people. For a restaurant as small as this one, it was a lot of people to be serving. And she was doing so with a smile, one that Charlie could tell was genuine as she talked to her tables.

That is, until she turned away and began her trek back to the kitchen, her eyes flickering to the man sitting beside Charlie. 

Charlie saw the man nod in approval. A cold wave of anger washed over his body as he realized what was going on. 

Oh. It’s him .

Joseph the manager, sitting right beside him. It took every rational thought in Charlie’s brain to keep him in his seat. He’d heard so much shit about this guy, how badly he treats his employees and how he drinks his nights away at work, and it made him oh so angry . Charlie watched him take a sip of his honey-colored drink, waving for Carlos to give him another. Carlos did as he was non-verbally asked, but with a look of disdain on his face.

Charlie’s anger rose when he realized that Joseph was watching the girls work for customer ‘satisfaction’. 

Mabel stopped at the well on the other side of the bar, pushing one of her bangs behind her ears and watching Carlos make the drink she rang up. Charlie was two seconds away from pouncing on the slob of a manager beside him, so he decided to take a little walk over to the well. He got up, telling the guy beside him he’d be right back and to save his seat before making his way over to the girl. 

“Charlie- I mean, Clyde! How’s the game lookin’?” Mabel asked with a coy grin, gesturing to the TV. “Your team winnin’ yet?”

The longer Charlie stared at her angrily in silence, the more her grin faltered. 

“You okay, man? Why are you looking at me like I just caused World War three?” she nervously questioned.

“I’m having a hard time not putting my shitty fighting skills to use by punching your manager,” he replied, gritting his teeth. “He’s a snake and a slob! Look at him! Why’s he drinking on a busy ass night like this when you could use some help?”

Mabel’s expression fell to something more somber. “‘Cause that’s just what he’s like. Nothin’ I can do to fix it. I think I already had this talk with you and Ra- Rufus though. You know about him and his little misdeeds at work.”

“Yeah, but-“ Charlie balked, “something- no, someone has to do something about it! Look at yourself! You’re sweating billets and I bet when we go home tonight you’re not going to eat.”

Mabel shrugged sadly. “I’d rather take this job, that pays exceptionally for servers not including tips, with a shitty manager than a job where I’m not happy and working minimum wage. This place… despite one manager, is the place I’m choosing to work at. You don’t have to like it, but it’s not gonna stop me from making money and paying the bills.”

He understood where she was coming from, but it didn’t quell Charlie’s anger. He wanted oh so badly to tell that manager where he could shove his laziness- but he knew Mabel would kill him if she lost his job because of him. Regardless of the shit stain sitting at the bar, she enjoyed her job, no matter how much she complained about it. He couldn’t take one of her only joys in life away from her. Not after everything she’s been through. 

The anger, still aflame, retreated for the time being. It wouldn’t do either of them any good if Charlie were arrested on charges of battery and assault.

“Yeah, okay, you’re right like always,” he admitted, “but that doesn’t mean I won’t give him a piece of my mind if he slips up.”

Mabel just laughed heartily as Carlos set her drinks on the well along with the printed ticket. “Thanks, Ch- Clyde.”

The sincerity in her voice was like a warm blanket being draped over his shoulders. Charlie appreciated how she wasn’t too afraid to show her emotions. 

They didn’t have too much longer before the restaurant closed. A few tables got rowdy with Serena, asking her if she wanted to drink with them. Obviously she declined, and Charlie laughed when she turned around and gave him the most annoyed look he’d probably ever seen.

Soon enough, the restaurant was empty and Carlos was the one to run up and lock the front doors. Charlie watched the man clean up the bar, washing the leftover cups and placing them back where they belonged before moving onto sanitizing the bar top. Charlie felt out of place in the quiet dining area. The wait staff were clearly exhausted from the rush, moving at a more sluggish pace. The manager, Joseph, had left halfway through the rush, so Charlie luckily didn’t break any laws. 

It was only when Serena and Carlos had gone for the night did Mabel finally come up to get him.

“Ready to go?”

“Oh yeah, dude. I can't believe how many people come out here to yell at a TV when they can do that at home,” Charlie complained. “I can still hear them screaming in my ears.”

“Working here will do that to ya,” the girl sighed, leading him through the kitchen while waving goodbye to the cooks. “Nothin’ I can do about it though, this is a sports bar/restaurant sooo….”

They walked outside, feeling the gentle breeze of the night. It wasn’t too cold yet for them to be wearing jackets, but Charlie got goosebumps on his arms regardless. There was a feeling brewing in his gut, something strange. He couldn’t tell what was wrong, but after everything he’d been through, he’d learned to trust his gut. Usually it was right. 

And it was telling him they needed to run. He had no idea what to make of it, but he and Mabel were taking their sweet time walking around the building back to the parking lot. In a dark alley where Mabel and Ranboo were attacked the night before? Charlie would’ve just gone out the front door and told someone to lock it behind them. 

“Mabel, I’ve got a bad feeling,” he whispered. In the tunnel, his voice carried into a shout. 

She was looking around discreetly. “Me too. Damn. Why didn’t I just go out the front door?”

“‘Cause going this way is routine for you?”

“Maybe.”

They both paused when they noticed two figures standing between them and the end of the tunnel. Their faces were covered by the shadows of the concrete walls. One was a foot or so taller than the other. Charlie assumed the taller one to be male and the shorter to be female based on their statutes. 

“Not again. Seriously?” Mabel hissed angrily. “I’m not getting beat up again. I’ll kill them.”

Charlie kept his eyes on the figure as Mabel whispered threats and reached for her pocket knife. What he assumed to be Showfall employees, the lifeless puppets that they were, were not these. These figures were moving like normal people, not standing at attention waiting for their puppeteer to control them. 

“Mabel? Is that you?” a voice called out. 

The girl instantly lowered the knife she’d taken out. “Oh. Mrs. Sasha.”

Mabel began walking towards the two humans, Charlie hesitantly right behind her. The two people were a couple with shining rings on their ring fingers. Charlie vaguely recognized the man, who he thought he’d seen the night before through the window of a car parked in Mabel’s driveway. He honestly had no clue who they were because nobody bothered to tell him last night. 

The man eyed Charlie before his eyes sparkled with realization.

“Charlie, this is Sasha and Connor,” Mabel introduced, “Jamie’s parents.”

Oh shit. Okay, well, that’s one thing he wasn’t expecting. He shook hands with both of them, offering them a tight lipped smile. God he couldn’t imagine what grief they’d gone through losing a child like that. And here they were around two years later, smiling at their son’s best friend. 

“Nice to meet you two,” Charlie replied politely. 

“And you too, Charlie, but enough with pleasantries,” Connor’s gravelly voice rang out. “We’re just here to make sure you both get home safely.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Mabel sighed tiredly. “I-”

“Mabel, I can still see the bruising from last night,” Sasha pointed out. 

“And we don’t know if they’re still sticking around here or not. It’s better not to take chances on this,” Connor countered. “Now come on, let’s get you to your-”

Connor was cut off with a punch square to the face. Sasha shrieked in horror. Mabel’s pocket knife was instantly back in her hand. Charlie’s vision was suddenly occupied by a mask he thought he’d finally escaped from. 

A Showfall employee, hands outstretched towards him. His body was frozen in terror. Every function in his body stopped as the memories flooded his mind. 

Then Mabel was in front of him, swiping at the employee with her knife. He jumped back into action when he heard her pained groans. “Mabel!”

She sported another bloody nose, wiping the blood while giving a nasty glare to the employee- who had taken a step back and was rolling up his sleeves. 

“Come on, motherfucker. I’m not losing this time,” the girl threatened, getting into a defensive position. 

The employee took a step forward and was instantly thrown back by a powerful punch from Sasha. 

“Get out of here! Now! No arguing!” she roared, throwing another punch and landing on the side of the mask. A crack of plastic echoed in the tunnel. 

“But-”

“Go Mabel! Get Charlie out of here!” Connor commanded, hopping into battle right beside his wife, defending her from two other employees. 

Mabel stood for a moment, eyes flickering between the couple, highly conflicted. But Charlie wasn’t about to stick around and have another beatdown session happen. He’d had too many of those to count. 

So he grabbed her hand and began to run in the direction he vaguely remembered seeing her car parked. “Put some pep in your step, Mabel! I can’t carry all your weight!”

The girl scrambled to catch up with his sudden change of pace but was soon enough running alongside him, gripping his hand tightly. Her palms were sweaty and uncomfortably warm which made holding onto her extremely difficult when her hand kept slipping. 

They made it to the car with no other sort of issues, though Mabel kept looking back at Connor and Sasha. Mabel slid into the driver’s seat with ease, starting the car and locking the doors as soon as Charlie’s door was closed. Charlie could see how bad her hands were shaking as she adjusted her mirror, how she struggled to put her seatbelt on. 

He didn’t trust her already reckless driving, and he knew how bad that surprise attack startled her. He didn’t want her driving in this scenario but they didn’t have another choice. Charlie had no clue how to get back to the house. He couldn’t rely on her for directions because she’s still so shaken up, she’d probably jumble the directions and tell him the complete opposite way to go. 

She drove out of the parking lot, tires screeching as they made their way past the ongoing fight. “What the fuck what the fuck?” she yelled, barely remembering to turn her headlights on as she checked both ways before completing a right turn. 

Charlie had so many questions he desperately wanted answers for, perhaps all the same questions Ranboo had after the attack the night before. He was too focused on trying to calm his racing heart, still shaking after the unexpected fight broke out. He wanted to go back for Connor and Sasha, though he had a feeling they would be perfectly fine defending themselves. The way they fought together was impeccable. 

Like they’d been training to do this. Just like Mabel. They were both probably fighting for the same cause. 

The engine roared as she sped down the empty two lane road. Charlie was used to her speeding but this was something entirely different. She was panicked, chest rising and falling dramatically as she attempted to catch her breath. Her grip on the steering wheel was like iron, and she couldn’t be bothered to tap her fingers along to the rhythm of the song playing quietly from the speakers. 

Charlie gripped the edges of the seat as the car continued to accelerate. “Mabel, shouldn’t we slow down?”

“What if they’re onto us?” she countered shakily. “It's totally possible now. They know who I am. They found where I work. They probably know where I live. We can’t stop here, Charlie. This has never happened before, but I don’t want to take any chances. I need to know if Ran-” 

She cut herself off to take a deep breath. 

“I understand,” Charlie sympathized. “Just be careful. Don’t run any red lights. It won’t do him any good if we come home late because of a wreck.”

Mabel nodded and stepped on the gas when she saw the green light up ahead still shining bright. The bad feeling in Charlie’s gut returned. He couldn’t describe exactly what it was that was making him feel this way: whether it was a combination of the deadly speed they were traveling at, or the fact they were just attacked for a second night in a row, he had no clue. It only got worse the closer they got to the traffic light. 

“Mabel, please slow down. It won’t make a difference-”

“Every second counts, Charlie!” Mabel exclaimed frantically. Charlie had half a mind to yank the steering wheel to get her to stop. His gut feeling was making it harder for him to breathe, his heart racing faster. His body felt like it was on fire, anticipating something that would definitely be happening in the next few seconds. The terror coursing through his body was consuming his every thought, it was hard to come up with something to say to convince the girl to stop for a moment. 

Mabel shook her head. “I can’t slow down. Not when Ran’s in dang-”

All Charlie could see was Mabel’s upper body, blinding headlights shining through her window, her deeply concerned and fearful expression as she tried to finish her sentence. The headlights only got brighter as they got closer and closer. He didn’t even hear the rest of her sentence, as the next thing he knew, stars were in his vision, an agonizing pain in his head, and glass shards cutting his face. 

Chapter Text

Everything was blurry. 

Every part of his body was in some sort of pain. 

It was difficult for Charlie to blink. His eyelids were so heavy they were hard to keep open. He’d probably blinked three or four times before his vision cleared. 

Smoke filled his nostrils, making it hard to breathe. His chest ached deeply, probably having broken ribs or bruised bones. The hood of the car was dented, the windshield completely shattered. His window was cracked from his head hitting the glass. He could feel glass shards embedded in his skin. The blood streaked down his face. He groggily turned his head to the side. 

“Mab…” he breathed out, instantly regretting it when the pain in his side and chest intensified. He hissed at the pain, which only made it worse. “Mabel?...”

The lights were shining directly into her broken window, nearly blinding Charlie. She was slumped to the side, and with the amount of light provided, he could see the blood oozing from her lips and running down her neck. Lots and lots of blood.

The sight of the gore was enough for Charlie to sober up. 

“Mabel,” he groaned, trying to reach for his seat belt buckle. He was in so much pain. The impact must’ve tossed him from side to side. He couldn’t get the stupid buckle. His hands were quaking. Looking down, there were shards of glass cutting deep into his skin. “Wha’the fuck happened?”

His ears were ringing insistently. He could barely hear the sound of crunching glass outside of the car. 

Charlie’s body felt like lead. His mind was trying to lull him to sleep but his gut was screaming danger danger danger . 

The sound of a lock clicking. A car door opening. It wasn’t Charlie’s. 

Charlie strained his neck looking back at Mabel. He couldn’t see the figures' faces, but there were four of them reaching for Mabel, cutting her seat belt. 

“H-hey,” Charlie rasped. He tried to unbuckle his seat belt again, only to whimper when the pain intensified. His throat was like a desert. Just saying one word made it feel like someone put his vocal cords through a cheese grater. “Help… please. Someone-”

Mabel was carelessly dragged out of the ruined vehicle, the figures roughly depositing her on the ground.
“Hey, what the fu-”

Red and blue lights flashed across Charlie’s face. The figures looked at each other, nodding, and heaved Mabel up. Charlie blinked and they were gone. Mabel’s seat was empty. Her driver’s side door was in shambles. The girl was gone. 

“Mabel?” Charlie called out. He heard someone talking to him, but he couldn’t hear the person over his panicked breathing and broken voice. “Mabel, where- wha… where’d you go?”

“-sir, I’m going to need you to tell me your name. What’s your name, sir?” someone to his right said. 

Charlie looked the first responder dead in the eye, mustering up all the rest of the strength he had and pleaded, “find her. Find Mabel.”

The paramedic looked so confused and concerned at the same time. Charlie didn’t have time to respond before he was out cold. 

When Charlie woke up, all he could see was white. 

White ceiling tiles, white bandages wrapped around his head, white bed sheets, even white walls. If he didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought he was in a mental ward or something. The beeps of the medical equipment around him told him otherwise. 

Sparks of panic ignited in his body when he felt wires wrapped around his arms and neck. His body was so weak he could barely lift his arms, yet he still tried desperately to get the wires off of him. 

“No no no no,” he whispered. “Please, not again.”

He managed to get the needle out from his forearm and the other small patches taped onto his hands and biceps before he heard a door creak open. Charlie was fighting to get the last needle out of his arm when he heard a familiar voice. 

“I thought I’d never see you in my care again, Charlie.”

Charlie dragged his eyes over to the voice, finding Doctor Lamb standing to the side of the bed with a clipboard in hand. It had been a while since he’d seen him, though the spark in his eye was still there. 

“I didn’t think I’d need to be cared for medically again,” the man chuckled, grimacing as he did so.

“Sorry that you’re stuck with me, then. And I hate to say it, but unfortunately there’s nothing much I can do about broken ribs. All we can really do is ice it down and give you some pain killers.”

“Fuck,” Charlie cursed. “It’s not the worst pain I’ve ever been in. Just hate when it hurts breathing.”

Dr. Lamb nodded sympathetically, sitting on the edge of the bed. “It’ll get better as they heal.”

“Which… how long would that be?”

“About six weeks.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah…” the doctor exhaled, “but given your new uh… healing ability, it should be sooner. So, how’s living with Mabel? You guys settling in okay?”

Everything hit Charlie at once. Connor and Sasha. The ambush. Speeding down the highway, the crash. Mabel. It had to be some sort of semi truck that hit them because there was no way the car could get that damaged from a Honda Civic. 

“Oh my God,” Charlie groaned, his hands flying to his hair as he clutched the strands. “Mabel! Mabel, she’s been- I dunno!”

Dr. Lamb instantly tensed as he glanced at the door and back to Charlie. “What about her? She was the one driving, wasn’t she?”

“Yeah and t-these people took her out of the car before the first responders got there. They carried her away… I didn’t see where.”

“Shit,” the doctor cursed, lowering his eyebrows with concern. “If you came in here lookin’ like that then I can only imagine what pain she’s in.”

“It was bad,” Charlie offered. “And all she was worried about was getting home to see Ranboo.”

“Why? Did something happen?”

Charlie gave a brief explanation of what happened the past two days, with the doctor giving the expected reactions when hearing about the crazy shit that went down. 

Dr. Lamb hummed thoughtfully. “You’re sure you didn’t see anything? No defining features on the people who took her?”

“It was too dark- I mean, the shadows-... ugh, no, I didn’t see anything,” Charlie stated. “I honestly think it’s them.”

“Them?”

“ Them ,” he emphasized. “You know who.”

“Oh, right,” Dr. Lamb said quickly. “Well, they did attack yesterday night and tonight, so I wouldn’t put it past them. They’re persistent as fuck.”

“Which is why we have to do something,” Charlie said while trying to sit up. The intensity of the pain increased tenfold, forcing his arms to give out from under him. “Fuck! We have to do something!”

“Hey, calm down,” the doctor chastised, “if you think you can pull off some sort of elaborate rescue mission in this state, then you’re out of your fuckin’ mind. You don’t just have broken ribs, you got a nasty hit to the head. Not to mention how many deep cuts there are that need stitches on your hands.”

The reality of his injuries suddenly beared down on him, and for just a split second, he could feel everything . All the open cuts being held together by tightly wrapped bandages, the cloth wrapped around his head, making his hair stick in eighty different directions, the hospital gown covering his body. Even the sandiness of his throat, which scratched painfully every time he talked. 

Doctor Lamb was right, but Charlie was persistent, too.

“Just stay down, man. We’re gonna find her,” Dr. Lamb reassured him. 

That wasn’t a good answer in Charlie’s book. 

“So I just have to wait around while the person who saved me is probably back with them getting tortured?” he seethed. “They hate her! They’ll kill her if we don’t find her soon!”

“You don’t think I know that?” the doctor shot back. “I know they hate her out of everyone who’s escaped from that place. I also know that they’re short staffed right now, and are on the prowl for new employees.”

Charlie’s stomach churned. “So… so you think they’re taking her to be an employee again?”

He received a curt nod. 

“But that doesn’t make any sense on why they took just her. I was right there. They could’ve taken me, too but they didn’t.”

“The first responders might’ve gotten there just in time to save you from meeting the same fate. Look, I’m just theorizing, but with how long the last show has been, they’re probably looking to start one up again. Just don’t be surprised if you suddenly see her face on a billboard advertising a new show.”

Charlie looked down at his bandaged hands.

This isn’t fair .

This isn’t fair.

Why did they take her, the one person who was brave enough to traverse into that hell and keep returning for the sake of others? From what Doctor Wilson had said a while back, nobody else was brave enough to go into the mall with the fear of never ending death looming over their heads. She was the one who saved him and Ranboo. She was the one who provided them with kindness and generosity in a world that Charlie believed those qualities to be scarce. 

She was the one who restored purpose to their lives, showing them how they should be living life- helping them recover from their traumas and helping build new memories. 

She saved them. And now Charlie was expected to leave her behind while he was injured?

What happened to all those times Mabel was injured and he was in danger? She never bitched about anything. She would grit her teeth and keep fighting with ten times more ferocity and vigor just to protect them. Mabel was a powerhouse when she let her emotions slip through the cracks, and even when supporting injuries of all kinds, she never let Charlie or Ranboo get hurt. 

He didn’t remember a time where Mabel let them get hurt under her watch. 

Why is the person with a heart of gold the one who gets targeted?

Charlie came back to reality with the doctor’s hand on his shoulder. 

“Don’t do anything that’ll get you killed. You’ll be no use to her then,” he warned. “All you can do right now is nurse your injuries and get better so that you can help get her back- wherever she is.”

The escapee tried to push himself further into the mattress. “I don’t think I’d be okay with sitting here doing nothing. I want to-”

Ranboo. They were still at home.

“Oh my God, wait, what time is it?” Charlie asked urgently, which put a concerned look on the doctor’s face. “What time is it?”

“Uh- um…” he rolled up his sleeve to check the digital watch on his wrist. “Six twenty-three AM.”

Oh shit. Charlie had been gone for practically 24 hours. He could only think is Ranboo okay? Do they think we’re dead? Is he okay? Is he okay? 

And Connor and Sasha. They took a beating for him and Mabel. Were they okay? Did they make it out?

“Charlie, calm down,” Dr. Lamb demanded. “You need to calm down and breathe.”

“No, no I need to get home. I need to go home,” Charlie repeated, once again trying to sit up and successfully making it upright. “I need to see Ran and tell them-”

The door nearly flew off its hinges as two people burst into the room. 

“Charlie,” Sasha said, running to his side with serious eyes. “Are you okay? What the fuck happened?”

“And where’s Mabel? We couldn’t find her after…” Connor started but paused when he noticed the doctor in the room. 

Charlie waved at him dismissively. “He knows everything. He’s the one who patches Mabel up sometimes.”

The two adults relaxed a little bit, with Connor reaching over to close the door behind him. 

“So, Charlie, what happened?” Connor asked.

He explained it to them the same way he did to the doctor, dreading the moment he’d have to tell them about Mabel’s disappearance. She was like a second kid to them. He knew it wouldn’t be easy for them to grasp- their son’s childhood best friend disappearing into thin air from a car crash. 

As expected, their faces fell into despair, and Charlie felt guilty tears making their way out of his eyes. 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help her,” he expressed through the tears. “I was right there and I couldn’t-”

“Don’t,” Sasha uttered softly. “Stop it.”

“You were injured, too. There was probably nothing you could do,” Connor added, gripping the footboard of the hospital bed with white knuckles. 

Sasha turned to Doctor Lamb. “Can we take Charlie home or not?”

“I don’t see why not,” he shrugged. “He’s all stitched up and ready. And Charlie, don’t worry about medical costs. This is going under the Showfall file. No charges being pressed.”

The doctor stood, leaning over and extending his hand to Charlie. “Please, don’t do anything stupid. I don’t want to see you here again.”

With that, Doctor Lamb left. The tense silence with Sasha and Connor made Charlie’s chest feel tight again. 

“Come on, let’s get you home,” Sasha said just as a nurse came in to assist them with the discharge. 

By the time they left the hospital, it was starting to get bright outside. Charlie’s brain felt like it was being pulled in two different directions. Worry for Ranboo, who hadn’t seen him since yesterday night and was probably freaking out that they didn’t come home. Worry for Mabel, who had been kidnapped from right under his nose and was probably at some local Showfall facility being ‘recalibrated’ to become an employee.

God, he was so tired.

He leaned his head against the cool glass for the entire ride home. Luckily, it was a local hospital he’d been brought to, so the ride wasn’t too long for him to sink into his damning thoughts. 

The second the car was parked in the gravel driveway, Charlie tried to get out. Seeing no silver Honda parked in the driveway was unnerving, only igniting the fire under Charlie’s guilty thoughts. Connor came around to sling one arm over his shoulder, helping him hobble to the house with every movement sending a stinging pain throughout his body. 

“Fuck, the house is probably locked,” Charlie hissed through his teeth. He wasn’t lying when he said the pain wasn’t the worst he’d ever felt, but it certainly hurt like a bitch. 

Sasha wordlessly moved to the small chair sitting on the front porch, lifting up the cushion and revealing a small golden key. She unlocked the door and stepped inside, reveling in the blast of heat that consumed them. 

“Hasn’t changed a bit,” she sighed wistfully, looking around the house curiously. “Except for that, that’s new.”

She was pointing to the TV on the television stand. 

Connor helped Charlie sit on the couch before going to the kitchen. Charlie kept a hand on his ribs, gently rubbing in circles like it would soothe away the pain. 

“What do you mean that’s new?” he asked, trying to distract himself from the pain. 

“Her parents absolutely refused to get rid of the old TV they had. That thing was ancient,” Sasha recalled with a grin, moving to close the door and keep the heat in. “It was a box TV. In this day and age? I would’ve thought that thing had given out years ago.”

“I always thought it was possessed by Mabel’s grandma,” Connor laughed as he returned, handing an ice pack to Charlie before taking a seat next to him. “She was a feisty woman, always doing whatever she wanted whether or not she got approval for it.”

Charlie smiled lightly, pressing the ice pack to his injured ribs. The painkillers the nurse gave him before they left were finally starting to kick in. The wounds on his hands were beginning to bother him less and less. 

“I have to get Ranboo,” he winced as he flexed his fingers. “They need to know what happened.”

“I’ll go get him,” Sasha volunteered, jogging up the stairs before anyone could argue. 

A moment went by without any noise in the house, when all of a sudden they heard a loud thump followed by a laugh. The two came downstairs a moment later, with Ranboo’s expression of exhaustion instantly switching to concern when he saw Charlie.

“What in the actual fuck happened?” he questioned, coming to sit by Charlie’s left. “How did you-?”

“Showfall,” Charlie said simply. “They got us. They’ve got Mabel.”

Ranboo’s eyebrows lowered. “What do you mean ‘they’ve got her?’’

“She’s been kidnapped, apparently,” Sasha interjected. “And we need to get her back. Any ideas?”

“Uh-... no?” 

“Well, we don’t even know where she could be,” Connor argued. “They could’ve taken her back to the mall or they could’ve taken her to some local abandoned warehouse. Who knows?”

“This is so weird,” Ranboo commented, rubbing their temples. “The employees, as far as we know, have never gone after her before. I thought they were coming after us but they were more focused on her.”

“They could’ve taken me, too, but they didn’t,” Charlie added. “They must have something planned where they needed her.”

“Or maybe they just captured her to torture her,” Connor muttered thoughtfully. 

Sasha balked at her husband. “What the fuck, man?”

“Think about it! Who knows where all the escapees over the last two years are hiding? Who knows where Ranboo and Charlie are? She’s a powerful, knowledgeable asset to them if they can get her to crack.”

“She’s too headstrong to be broken so easily,” Sasha sighed as she chewed on her bottom lip. “We need to get her back fast .”

Ranboo’s expression was conflicted. He was probably thinking of the last words he said to her. Charlie placed an ice cold hand on their shoulder, squeezing reassuringly. Ranboo just sighed in return, rubbing the sleep from their eyes. 

“Look, right now, there’s nothing we can do. Charlie needs to rest and heal, and the both of you need to stay low for a while,” Connor explained, “which means no going out. I mean, you can go out around here but don’t hitch a ride to go get food or something.”

“Yeah, we’ll come to you,” Sasha added. She smiled sympathetically at the two escapees’ somber expressions. “I’m sorry. I know you guys must hate being in the same place for a long time, but… it's either this or risking what happened to Mabel happening to you.” 

Charlie nodded slowly. “We get it.”

“Things were just starting to go back to normal. Why did they have to change again?” Ranboo asked nobody in particular. 

Charlie partly knew the answer. Because Showfall wasn’t going to stop. They were too prideful in their entertainment, their methods of providing this entertainment to the masses. To them, they had something special that they couldn’t let go. Something people loved to see. 

People loved to turn the other way when faced with the truth right before their eyes. Showfall was no different.

“Because they love torture,” Connor said quietly, looking at the carpet floor. Mourning for the son he lost. 

“They love making entertainment no matter what the cost,” Sasha included. “I hate to say it, but it’ll all be up to us. No escapee would want to go back there except you two, apparently.”

“Yeah…” Ranboo said.

“Get some rest,” Connor said while standing. “We’ll be back tomorrow with some groceries and company.”

“Ranboo, don’t let Charlie do anything too strenuous,” Sasha instructed. “He’s got broken ribs. He’s not going nowhere.”

The couple smiled and waved before taking their leave, closing the door behind them and sentencing the escapees to a long guilty silence. They sat on the couch, staring at nothing for a while. Neither of them felt like talking. Charlie, because he was exhausted from the accident, and Ranboo because… Charlie can only guess what they were thinking about. 

Charlie did eventually fall asleep on the couch when his eyelids got too heavy to keep up. 

Chapter Text

The next two days, Ranboo tried their best not to think too much. Though they always managed to succumb to their brain’s pestering. 

Sasha and Connor would stop by, cook for them, eat with them, just overall keeping them company like they said they would. Ranboo, for the most part, stayed in their room. The times he was out of his room, he carefully watched Charlie. The man was in the crash, after all. He saw what happened.

Not to mention how terrible he looked. It’d only been two days since the incident and the wounds on his hands had healed considerably, albeit with light scarring. The deep cut on his head still needed some time to recover, though he didn’t need bandages wrapped around his head anymore, only a large band-aid to hold the skin together.

Physically, he was going to be fine. Ranboo just wished they could take a peek inside of his thoughts. The man had barely shown emotion the past two days other than guilt. His eyes were always empty. His lips permanently stuck in a frown. He was taking this kidnapping hard, and Ranboo couldn’t blame him. They were feeling… mixed emotions. 

Ranboo just kept hearing their last words to her over and over again- 

“Or even better, you could’ve minded your business and never gone to the mall in the first place!” 

“Maybe it’d be better that way so that anyone who doesn’t want to be saved can die happily without your intervention!”

God, why did they say that? Mabel had never looked so sad, and Ranboo was the one responsible for it. 

Charlie hadn’t spoken much about the incident, but Ranboo could only assume why Mabel was speeding well above the recommended limit. It was probably the same reason why she was speeding the day she and Ranboo got attacked. She’d been deathly afraid something had happened to Charlie, that Showfall had found the house and planned an ambush for both her and whoever would be left at home. 

Ranboo’s conclusion: the car wreck was their fault because of what they said the night before. Mabel was distracted and driving, scared and high on adrenaline from being ambushed again. All she could think about was getting home to Ranboo to make sure they were okay. She put her conflicted emotions to the side and put their life on the priority list, regardless of what they told her the night before.

They hadn’t known Mabel for that long, and that was the tragic part. Sure, they spent time with her on the trip back to the house, when they were getting better. But they didn’t know much about her. Her birthday was this week. She liked her job. She liked feeling useful. Her parents died when she was 12 or 13. 

Aside from those facts and her personality, he didn’t know much about her, but he felt close to her like a brother would for his sister. Friday, going to school with her, taking a picture with her, seeing her everyday life- it kinda helped him start to understand her better. They just hated that they never got the time to really sit down and converse with her. 

Ranboo sat in their room, back against the headboard and knees tucked to their chest. Tears pricked their eyes. He wasn’t lying when he said he wanted to know her better- not just because she was responsible for giving them a second chance at life. Because she was kind. She was weird. She was tragic. 

A mystery. Someone who was alone but not at the same time. Someone who chose to stray down this dangerous route, who chose to devote herself to this without a care in the world about what happened to her. Ranboo wanted to know the simple things about her. Like what her favorite food or candy was. What she was like before she was affiliated with Showfall. 

They wiped their face, taking slow breaths in and out. They couldn’t change their actions of the past no matter how much they wanted to. He just had to keep moving. He had to find her and bring her back so that he could ask her all these questions. 

Ranboo stood, making their way out of their melancholy room. It was so quiet they could barely stand it. 

Connor and Sasha were on their way. They’d called Charlie an hour ago on the new phone they got him. Ranboo had gotten one, too, but they didn’t like using it that much. The amount of stuff you could do with one single device, all that power in your hand- overwhelming. Ranboo still used the phone but mostly for communication. 

They made their way down the hallway. Their feet carried them to the door with the kitten sticker. He thought back to when he and Charlie went into the room unauthorized. They found out so much more about her from the state of her room alone, not to mention what they found inside. 

Maybe they missed something the first time around. 

Ranboo twisted the doorknob. The door opened smoothly. He patted the wall for the light switch, finding it a moment later. The room was still the same, if not a little messier. The fan was still on even though it was cold outside. How she slept with the fan on, they had no clue, especially when it hums and the blades often creak. A laundry basket sat on her office chair, the clothes inside neatly folded. Her vanilla perfume scattered around the room, making it feel like she was there too.

With the overhead lights on, the room wasn’t as comfortable. 

So they turned the lights off again and moved to the bedside table to activate the lamp. The books on the shelf remained untouched, a layer of dust visible on the wood surface. The bed was unmade. She had multiple blankets on top of the comforter, which was probably how she slept with the fan on. With the way the bed looked, she had thrown the covers off in the morning and forgotten to put them back. She’d know she’d come back to fix them. 

Except she wasn’t back. She’d been kidnapped. 

Ranboo exhaled as they sat on the bed. As he adjusted to get comfortable, their foot hit something under the bed. They kneeled down, confused to find a journal hidden under the bed. They sat back down on the bed, leaning against the headboard. The ribbon of the journal looked to be about two-thirds of the way through the pages. The book itself had a gold outline with a crescent moon in the middle. 

They knew something like a journal was sacred to the person. A journal was someone’s deep thoughts, a safe place where they could share the things they thought they couldn’t tell anyone else. Of course Mabel kept a journal with the things she’d gone through. Ranboo knew it was wrong to go through someone’s diary without their permission, but what if it had information that could help them find her?

It was a far fetched idea considering Showfall could’ve taken her anywhere. A shot in the dark that Ranboo was willing to fire. 

They opened the book, flipping to the first page. The date was a couple of years prior. Going by the date, Ranboo guessed the first entry was written a couple of months after Jamie’s death. The first sentence alone showed her grief.

Jamie’s gone. Dead. And I couldn’t help him. 

I buried him under a tree near the mall. Probably wasn’t the best idea. Ms. Sasha and Mr. Connor would’ve wanted to see him one last time. 

The paper was wrinkled in certain spots. Tears that had dried on the paper. 

What do I do now? He’s dead. My one and only best friend in the world is gone and I’ll never see him again. My other half is gone. 

The entry ended there. As Ranboo flipped through the first few pages, it showed her navigation through grief. Small, meaningless updates on her life. Little acts of kindness that happened at work. Connor or Sasha stopping by the house to cry with her or share stories. The last entry was recent, only a few days ago. Ranboo didn’t recognize the exact date, but the first sentence told him all he needed to know. 

Me and Ranboo had a fight tonight. Not a physical one. I just don’t know… I want to help them. I know they’re hurting and probably just yelling at me to make himself feel better, but what he said… Maybe he’s right. 

I mean, what good did it do to myself and everyone who didn’t want to be saved from Showfall? I got beat up a lot and the people who didn’t want to be saved ended up committing suicide. They couldn’t take the simple life after something as fucked up as Showfall. They were too scared, too paranoid and they just couldn’t take it anymore. I’ve saved as many people as I’ve killed. 

Killed meaning indirectly. I didn’t actually drive the stake through their heart. 

And the argument just started with them looking out for me, telling me that I need to take care of myself and worry about the rescue mission later. Them, the people who are most worried about their friends that are still stuck in that mall, telling me I needed to cool down. I must be getting worse at this for me to keep slipping up.

And it kinda spiraled from there. Ranboo made really good points, though. I just wished my stupid fucking pride would settle down and allow me to ask them for help because oh God I need help. I’m so tired. I’m tired of Showfall. I’m tired of work. I’m tired of not getting enough precious sleep. 

I still love my job, I just haven’t taken a day off in forever. 

I desperately wanted to ask them for help. I just couldn’t. I don’t know why but my tongue froze up. 

We’re getting their friends back. Soon.

Ranboo didn’t know how to feel about that entry. They closed the journal, setting it back in its rightful place and sitting up only to find Charlie standing quietly in the doorway. 

“Jesus Christ…”

“Sorry.”

The man stood there quietly, holding an ice pack to his ribs. The band-aid was no longer on his face. A small cut visible on his forehead. The expression hasn’t changed.

“What was in the diary?” he asked, nearly in a whisper but Ranboo could hear him just fine. 

“A lot about her trauma. About the argument we had,” they replied. “Just her life the past few years. Or whatever she wanted to write about.”

Charlie nodded, cautiously making his way into the room like he had the first time they snooped in her room. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. His thoughts practically radiated off of him. The survivor’s guilt that haunted his eyes every hour of the past two days. 

“Charlie-” Ranboo started but hesitated. The man wasn’t giving any sort of indications of how he would react, which made them second guess whatever they were about to say. The last thing they wanted was to get into an argument with Charlie and end up with the same results. “You do understand that the crash wasn’t your fault, right?”

The man sat down on the edge of the bed. “I’ve been thinking about it. I know it wasn’t my fault but I’m just so…”

Ranboo tucked their knees into their chest. “Frustrated?”

“Angry. It took me a minute to realize why I was feeling so upset, where this anger was coming from. At first I thought it was from Showfall- I thought I was angry at them for all they’ve done. But I remembered how I woke up in the car and how I couldn’t move to help her but… I’m angry at myself for not doing more for her.”

Charlie let the ice pack fall into his lap as he sighed. “She just- she’s been giving us everything she’s got, and I’ve made empty promises about getting a job and shit, and I never followed through. All this time I’ve just wanted to help repay her for what she’s done, and now if we don’t get her back… I’ll never be able to. I can’t live with that, man.”

“You know for a fact she wants nothing in return,” Ranboo countered. “She’d probably refuse any money you give her.”

“I understand that, I just want to give her what she deserves. She deserves a nice life. She can’t have that if we don’t do something.”

Ranboo thought. “Well, in my mind at least, if we get her back, that’s good repayment enough. She saved us, and we’ll save her.”

“Yeah…” 

Footsteps pounded up the stairs. Sasha slid into the doorway with a frazzled expression, which made Ranboo tense. 

“What’s going on?” they questioned. 

“Mabel’s back,” the woman breathed. 

They ran downstairs, nearly tripping over each other in the process. The front door was wide open. Connor was already outside, talking with the girl. She stood by the drivers side door to an SUV, which made Ranboo question how in the actual fuck she managed to get a new car. 

He was more surprised to see the girl herself, hugging Connor with a smile. She was smiling. She looked completely fine, uninjured. Even her hair looked shinier. 

Charlie and Ranboo stood side by side on the porch, dumbfounded.

“Her glasses were completely broken,” Charlie muttered, confused. “I remember now. The left lens was shattered.”

Ranboo’s eyes furrowed as he studied the girl who still hadn’t noticed them yet. None of this made sense. The only theory they had of her whereabouts was with Showfall. Of course, that was going based on what Charlie witnessed. Charlie would never lie about this sort of thing, so what the fuck happened to where she was back? How did she escape? 

Most importantly, why does she look completely fine?

Charlie was still recovering from the crash, still having open wounds despite his fast healing factor. His ribs still bothered him. From the way he described Mabel’s state after the crash, she shouldn’t have clean skin. She should have cuts, bruises like Charlie did. Her glasses, according to the man, should be broken, not pristine. 

Something was definitely off. 

Mabel locked eyes with Ranboo, expression lighting up. “Ran! Charlie! I’m so glad you’re both okay!”

Even her voice sounded off. Her voice was usually a little raspy, deeper than an average girl's voice. The way she said certain words was specific, as well, considering her slight southern accent. There was no such accent. 

The girl hugged both of them at the same time, but the two didn’t reciprocate immediately, instead sharing a look over the girl’s shoulders. Ranboo was relieved to see Charlie thinking the same thing as them. 

“Mabel, how-”

“I dunno,” she interrupted Sasha. “I fought my way out of their grasp, by some miracle.”

None of this was adding up. She wouldn’t be able to fight, not in the state she was in after the accident. Ranboo subconsciously took a step away from her without her seeing. 

What the fuck was going on? This made absolutely zero sense. Ranboo had the feeling that if asked what happened, she would try and deflect the questions. Which, to be fair, if she didn’t want to share something traumatic, that was on her. But Ranboo wanted to know what happened to her. 

But there was that one part of their brain that thought what if it’s not her? What if she’s an imposter?

Was Showfall really capable of cloning people? Or was this some sort of spy movie shit where they made a whole mask of her face?

Ranboo shook their head as Mabel stepped into the house with the help of Sasha. Charlie, surprisingly, stayed back while Connor flooded into the house like a hurricane. Ranboo thought that since he’d been so worried that he’d follow her, too. They both knew something was up, though. 

“That’s not her.”

Ranboo’s gaze locked onto Charlie. The man looked perturbed, an eerie vibe radiating off his shoulders. 

“Huh?” Ranboo hummed in question.

“Mabel, that’s not her. It can’t be her,” the man replied. “She’s not like us: she doesn’t have any healing abilities. I saw her. She should be in the hospital but she was taken before she could be admitted.”

They glanced back inside, where the girl was grabbing a box of food from the fridge. It was odd… she didn’t seem to know what she was looking at even though she literally made the food. 

“Something’s wrong with her,” Ranboo agreed. “She’s… not the same.”

“I’m surely not. Not after that crash,” Charlie muttered. “Did you hear how she said ‘you’re’?” 

“She didn’t say it like ‘yurr’.”

“Exactly.”

“What the hell’s going on?” 

“No idea, but I don't like it.”

Chapter Text

It was as if she never left. 

She slipped right back into her comfortable routine. Cleaning the dishes after dinner, making her breakfast for the next day, brushing off Sasha and Connor’s concerned looks, stating that she was fine over and over and saying that they needed to stop worrying so much. 

That she was fine. 

Ranboo didn’t believe it one bit.

They still ate the food provided from Sasha and Mabel’s efforts, though they kept their eyes on the girl the entire meal. They couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off, and they wanted to find out what it was that was making them feel this way. Because to the normal eye, she seemed completely ordinary, acting as she usually did with smiles and laughter. 

Her injuries were gone. Her glasses were miraculously repaired. 

Ranboo had to stop or else they’d think themselves down a rabbit hole. For now, he did what he’d been doing for the past two days: locking himself in his room. With the phone Connor and Sasha provided, they reluctantly downloaded social media apps like YouTube and TikTok. After making their new accounts and writing down the password info, they paroused the web. No, they searched the web using their name. 

There were hundreds of hours of footage. Livestreams, four hour gaming sessions posted to YouTube, conspiracy videos posted about What really happened to RanbooLive and Charlie Slimecicle? 

On TikTok, people were still posting their theories. Some thought they’d been taking a much needed break from social media as a whole, to detox from the stresses of content creation and the pressures for a face reveal. Others assumed they’d died. Majority of these theorists agreed that something bad had happened- their first thought being a kidnapping. 

Watching fifteen second videos was becoming too much. They set the phone down on the bed, rubbing their face with their hands. Thinking about fans too much made them think about the whole Hero thing. Who Ranboo had been brainwashed into thinking they were. Some great Hero he was.

“Don’t be like that.”

The hallucinations never stopped. They just liked to come out at their lowest. Or when their thoughts seemed to be the only thing they were willing to pay attention to. Ranboo was beginning to think the hallucinations were just their thoughts projected into a form of their friends- the thoughts they were unwilling to face coming back to fight in a new body. 

Niki sat criss-cross at the edge of the bed. No tearstained makeup. No tear tracks down her cheeks. Her red clothes looked as if they’d been professionally cleaned. She was just like the images he’d seen of her on TikTok and YouTube. 

And she smiled at them. “You were a great Hero. Just a terrible person.”

“Comforting,” Ranboo bit back. They were tired of these personified thoughts bringing them down. Not now, not when they were trying to build a new life. “I know I didn’t kill you. That wasn’t me.”

“Oh, I know that too.”

“Then you shouldn’t appear anymore, right? I don’t think like that anymore.”

“No, you still do,” Niki disagreed. “Just not as much. These thoughts of yours are always there, whether you’re aware of it or not. Lurking in the depths of your head. Sometimes you think of them and forget you did so. You’re not getting any better. You’re just feeding yourself lies.”

Ranboo squeezed their eyes shut. “No. You died, and I’m sorry you did. But there was nothing I could do. We were all prisoners.”

“Doesn’t mean you couldn’t have helped,” came a new voice. Sneeg. 

Sneeg had taken Niki’s place, his blue and white getup covered in dirt and grime and… blood. They were frozen in place. 

“You could’ve helped us, man. Like you helped Charlie. Why didn’t you help us?” Sneeg questioned, defeated tears in his eyes. 

“Ranboo didn’t want to help us. They were too focused on being the Hero,” Ethan spoke as he emerged from the shadows in the corner of the room. “We died so you could live in all your glory. How does that feel?”

“Uh uh, I didn’t want to be the Hero. Don’t you understand?” they seethed. “I didn’t ask to be the Hero. I never wanted to be the Hero. I never wanted to hurt you!”

Ethan and Sneeg’s expressions turned smug. 

“There it is,” Ethan scoffed. 

Ranboo paused, their spine tensing as they realized what they said. “What?”

“You hurt us. You hurt us so you could get out. Did you really not see me wandering around the mall before Security got me?” Sneeg asked bitterly. “Did you not see me writhing around on the floor in pain, trying to call out to you and Charlie?”

Ranboo thought and thought back to that day, the day of freedom and death. They didn’t remember seeing Sneeg at all during the escape. Not at the Spirit’s cabin. Not in the mall. 

Realization crossed Sneeg’s face. “You really didn’t see me. Some friend you are,” he spat. 

“You’ll always be responsible for what happened, no matter who tells you otherwise,” Ethan commented. 

There were more voices. Some whispered, overlapping each other to the point that Ranboo couldn’t tell what they were saying. Familiar tones. 

“You should join us, Ran,” cooed Niki. “It’s nice here. In the land of the forgotten. The dead.”

“You’re not forgotten. I remember you. All of you. Millions of people do,” Ranboo protested. Their efforts were futile. 

“Join us, and all these thoughts can stop,” Austin piped up from Niki’s side. The orange contrasted her warmly. 

“We’re awaiting you. All you have to do is say yes,” Vinny smiled. 

Sneeg stood beside them, his hand outstretched towards Ranboo. “You can finally rest-”

“Ranboo?” 

Their head whipped to the door, where Charlie stood. Good to see he was finally showing some emotion. Ranboo was starting to think that he’d be stuck with a robot until they got Mabel back. 

What they didn’t like was the evident amount of concern in Charlie’s eyes. 

“You okay?” he asked as he entered the room, sitting on the bed where Sneeg was just moments prior. 

“Uh, yeah, I guess,” they replied half-heartedly with a shrug. They clutched the fabric of their pants to stop their hands from visibly shaking. The encounters with the hallucinations never got better. They’d always leave them paranoid and clammy. 

“I know that’s not true, but it looks like you don’t wanna talk about it so I won’t. Just came to tell you that Mabel… she uh, she’s going back to school and work tomorrow, and she wanted to take you to school with her. Said something about the police coming after her if your attendance got too low.”

“I don’t trust her,” Ranboo admitted in a whisper. “It doesn’t feel right.”

“I know, but for now, until we can devise a plan of action, we need to deal with it. Who knows? Maybe it is really her and her wounds didn’t look as bad as my delirious little brain thought. Anyway, she’s gonna drop you off back here after school and go to work.”

“See?” they hissed, gesturing at Charlie. “She never did that. She never thought about it. She wouldn’t do that kind of thing to be late for work.”

“Look, Ran,” Charlie began, sighing, “I understand. But we don’t have any evidence against her except our gut feelings, which I hate to say, are usually right. We need to step back and observe her. We can’t do anything rash if something is wrong.”

He hated knowing Charlie was right, because if Ranboo’s gut feeling was right, then that wasn’t Mabel downstairs. She would realistically be stuck in some Showfall facility somewhere, probably being tortured for information. He hoped it wasn’t right, though at the same time he hoped there was a chance she was really home, downstairs watching TV.

Charlie was right. They needed to watch her, otherwise they wouldn’t have any evidence against her. Now that they had phones, they could gather evidence with the cameras if something did happen. Ranboo hoped it never had to come to that: showing ‘evidence’ to Connor or Sasha or Caroline. 

They probably wouldn’t believe them if they accused Mabel of something like being an imposter. 

Charlie reached over to squeeze their ankle. His hands were warm. Not clammy, unlike Ranboo’s. “Hey. We’re gonna get through this. Together, like we have since the start of this shitshow.”

“We’re gonna get them back,” Ranboo added, grasping Charlie’s forearm in return. “We’ll all escape and live. Together.”

Tired tears welled in Charlie’s eyes. He looked down in his lap, lightly shaking their ankle. “Yeah,” he gasped out painfully. “Yeah, we’re bringing them home, too. No more waiting. We’re gonna have to really work on our fighting tomorrow when you get back.”

“Go easy on me?”

“Nah. You’re on your own.”

“Come on, dude, just let me win once.”

“You’ve gotta earn it!”

Ranboo was on edge for the entire day. 

Mabel had woken them up at the ass-crack of dawn like she usually did to get ready for school, though it scared him even more to see her face in the dark as the only thought that coursed their mind was imposter imposter imposter she’s not real she’s fake-

They quickly shut down that train of thought as Mabel smiled at him, telling him that breakfast was ready downstairs before leaving to let them get ready. Ranboo dressed with a plain pair of black jeans and a black t-shirt, completing the look with a maroon hoodie. Breakfast was the simple scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon, though it tasted delicious. 

The first thing that made them tense up was the way she was driving. The girl had the music turned on to a medium volume, not the rock music she’d usually play to wake herself up. Instead, her playlist labeled Sleepy Time played softly through the speakers. Her hand on the gearshift as usual, her left hand under the bottom of the steering wheel. 

She actually drove the speed limit. She gave three seconds or more notice when using her turn signal. She never adjusted the volume. She never asked Ranboo what they wanted to listen to. She didn’t make any sudden turns or jerk the steering wheel to mess with them. The main detail Ranboo noticed right away was the fact that she wasn’t tapping her fingers along to the music.

No, she was, but she wasn’t tapping the lyrics. Ranboo had heard her music enough to know some of the lyrics and how they’re sung. She was tapping to the beat. Never once did her taps line up with the words being sung. 

She always taps to the lyrics.

Still, Ranboo was already in the car, probably ten or twelve minutes away from the house. Not like they could just jump out of the car and run back. They’d have no idea where they were going. The map app on their phone would be useless, too, because Ranboo didn’t know Mabel’s address. Not to mention how ridiculous it sounded. Please help me, my friend is an imposter! How do I know? She taps the lyrics to a song, not the drum beat!

On to school they went. The day passed slowly for Ranboo, considering all he did during the school day was watch Mabel cautiously. There were a few mannerisms here and there that were off, raising more red flags. She had good posture. Not perfect posture, but she wasn’t slouching like she normally did either. 

He completely ignored Josh and his attempts to get a word out of him. Did they feel bad about it? A little, but they were too busy thinking about the bigger picture. Because there always was a bigger picture with this kind of scenario. 

Why would Showfall take Mabel only to return her? Why take her in the first place? Does this mean the crash was planned? It probably was, now that Ranboo thought about it. A kidnapping disguised as an accident. Genius plan, really. They weren’t condoning Showfall in their efforts, not at all. If he were the leader of a secret malicious organization, he certainly wouldn’t do kidnappings like that. 

Guess Showfall always had to be extra, huh? 

And soon enough, Ranboo was back in the awkwardly silent car. Mabel could tell they wanted to say something but didn’t ask, which made the intensity of the silence that much worse. He had never been that happy to see the house with warm lamp lights peeking out the windows. 

As Ranboo got out of the car, Mabel finally spoke up. 

“I don’t think I made anything for dinner, so y’all are on your own,” she said. “Sorry, my mind was all over the place this morning.”

“It’s alright,” Ranboo replied, shrugging their backpack over their shoulder, “we can manage. Don’t take the long way home.”

She laughed, “I won’t. Don’t burn my house down.”

“We won’t.”

She waved, watching them enter the house before speeding off, kicking up gravel and dust. Ranboo locked the door behind them, slinging their backpack off and setting it beside the couch. Clanging pots and pans drew them closer to the kitchen where Charlie was attempting to begin prepping for dinner. 

“Hey man, how was today?” Charlie asked as he searched the bottom cabinets for a pot. 

“Tense,” they sighed. “What’re you making?”

“No fuckin’ clue. Was just gonna wing it.”

“How about some mac and cheese?”

Charlie stilled, looking over his shoulder with the stars reflecting in his eyes. “With dino nuggets?”

“Hell yeah. A dinner for badasses.”

“Dino nuggets have always been badass. Anyone who disagrees needs to fuck off.”

They worked together on their badass dinner in relative silence, letting the sound of the random cop show on TV fill the quiet. Ranboo had an inkling as to what Charlie seemed so preoccupied thinking about, but he didn’t want to push it. It had been a long day of looking over their shoulder and making sure Mabel didn’t stab him in the back. Not that she would, but he still didn’t trust this Mabel that seemingly came out of nowhere with no injuries. 

Their gut feeling had only gotten worse. Something was happening, they just knew it. They just didn’t know what- and that was bothering them relentlessly, continuing into the next day. 

Luckily, Ranboo and Mabel had the same lunch period, so they always sat together. Occasionally, someone would come up and say hi to Mabel, and she’d smile and wave. Yet she looked uncomfortable as she did so. Ranboo saw her moment of hesitation whenever someone bounded up to them. Like she needed a second to recognize someone she’d been going to school with for the past three years. 

It only fueled their suspicions and gut feelings. Shit really started hitting the fan when a familiar face ran up to them at their bench with lunchbox in hand. 

“Mabel! Oh my gosh, it’s like I haven’t seen you in forever!” Caroline squealed as she leaned in to give the girl a hug. “It’s nice to see you again, Rufus! Nice outfit!”

“Oh, uh, thanks,” they replied, making sure to watch Mabel. There it was again. That hesitation. Confusion.

Caroline sat across from the two, the blinding smile never leaving her face. Ranboo could tell from her scent alone that she was wearing things that probably cost Mabel two paychecks. Gold earrings and a gold flower necklace, a white sweater and a long white skirt with white boots. She looked like she was going to a ski resort with those shoes. 

Not to mention how big her lunch box was- only to be filled with small boxes of tupperware with all sorts of fruits and healthy snacks. 

“You workin’ tonight, Mabel?” 

“Always,” the girl replied with a coy smile. 

“Aww man, I was hoping you and your cousins could come to a party I’m throwing tonight. It’s gonna have a dessert table,” Caroline drawled out, smiling. Clearly this dessert threat has worked before on Mabel.

Except, Mabel didn’t respond. She’d gone completely still, eyes boring into the brick wall behind Caroline. The wind picked up in the courtyard, and she didn’t even react when her hair blew right into her eyes. Dull, dead eyes. It was like she’d completely shut down. 

Okay, this is weird , they thought as they subconsciously scooted a few inches away from the girl. Ranboo couldn’t even tell if she was breathing or not. 

“Mabel?” Caroline called, waving a hand in front of her eyes. “Hellooooo? Earth to my best friend?”

Her eyelid twitched, and Ranboo’s gut feeling intensified. All hell broke loose in less than ten seconds. 

The two watched, horrified, as Mabel’s eyes rolled to the back of her head. Sparks flew from her eye sockets, a small fire started on top of her scalp. Her limbs twitched uncontrollably, almost like she was having a seizure. Her eyes returned to their normal state, except they were green. 

“What the fuck?” Ranboo cursed, jumping up from their spot and backing away. Their first instinct told them to grab the phone residing in his pocket and gather evidence, so he did, much to Caroline’s horror. “What the fuck what the fuck?”

“Why are you taking pictures? Put the fucking fire out!” Caroline screeched as she came around the table to pat Mabel’s head aggressively, which proved difficult as the girl was still twitching violently. “How the hell did she catch fire?”

Ranboo watched charcoal hair fall to the ground, nearly becoming blind when they looked back up at Mabel’s head. No scalp. A shining coat of metal where her scalp would be. The skin on her face was melting, plopping onto her clothes with a disgusting sound that Ranboo was bound to hear in their sleep for the next few weeks. 

She looked directly into his eyes. They weren’t her warm, kind brown eyes. Her face was melting, revealing a white plastic of some kind. 

“Y-you can’t l-leave, R-ran…” the girl stuttered out, her voice glitchy and robotic. “W-we’re frien-d-ds, right?”

Ranboo glanced at Caroline, who looked just as confused and terrified. Nobody in the courtyard around them seemed to give a fuck about their yelling, or the fact that one of their peers was literally melting after spontaneously combusting into flames. 

Mabel suddenly stopped, all movements seizing. Dead eyes staring right at Ranboo. She was gone, but Ranboo and Charlie had been right. She was an imposter. A fake. If Ranboo looked at the plastic face plate that was Mabel’s complexion, he could see the beginnings of the Showfall logo below her left eye. 

“Fuck,” he cursed again, scrambling to open their phone and call Charlie. 

The man picked up after two rings, greeting them with a, “hey, what’s going on?”

“We were right,” they said, bringing a hand to their chest where their heart raced uncomfortably. Soothing the fabric as if the touch would go directly to the organ. “God fucking dammit, Charlie, we were right!” 

“About what?” the man asked cautiously. 

“Mabel. She’s… just look at these pics that I’m ‘bout to send you.”

Ranboo hung up and sent Charlie the pictures, seeing the three dots at the bottom of the screen. They awaited eagerly for his reply, not even noticing Caroline’s absolute shock and the millions of questions she was sending their way. He didn’t hear anything until she finally smacked his shoulder to drag his attention away from the phone. 

“What the fuck, Rufus? What’s going on? Why is Mabel… melting?” she gasped, adopting a frazzled expression. “And who’s Charlie?”

“Uhhh…” they gaped, not knowing how to even begin answering her onslaught of questions. How could he explain to her the whole Showfall thing, the car crash, and… well, everything? 

Turns out, they didn’t have to explain anything. Behind Caroline, he saw multiple Showfall masks peeking through the windows from the cafeteria. Not full on face masks, but masks used to wear during illnesses, with the Showfall logo printed on the fabric. He could actually see these people’s eyes. How they seemed unaware of anything, only trained on him. 

Ranboo’s whole demeanor changed. Fear long gone from their shaking limbs, now replaced by terror. Their breath caught in their throat, making it difficult to breathe. Their only thoughts went back to what happened the night of the escape. The true escape, and the previous attempts before. The grief suddenly returned in full. The friends who didn’t make it, who should’ve made it. 

Terror was, in reality, a terrible feeling. But it had its benefits- including adrenaline, and the addition of a scrambled mind trying to get as far away from the threat as possible. Ranboo’s mind went into full survival mode. 

“Where are you parked?” they asked instead of answering her questions.

“What? What are you-”

“Just answer me, please! Where are you parked?”

The employees were slowly making their way out to the courtyard, which was hard considering all of the students in their way. 

“Uhh, I always park near Mabel. I just get here later,” she replied hastily. 

“Get your keys and follow me,” Ranboo ordered, searching Mabel’s jacket pocket for the keys to her new car, which, how did she get a new one ?

“What’s going on, Rufus? Why are you-”

“I can’t explain right now! We need to get out of here!” they exclaimed angrily, finally fishing the keys out of the robot’s right pocket. The employees had pushed through the crowd and were stalking towards them. “Lead the way ‘cuz I don’t know where the fuck I’m going.”

Caroline nodded hesitantly, eying the employees trailing them. “Are we in danger?”

“Very much so.”

“Oh fuck. I’ve never skipped school like this before…”

“You’re seriously thinking about that right now?” Ranboo countered as they re-entered the building, taking a right as soon as they reached a crossroads. 

“No! I’m busy thinking about where the hell my best friend is, and why you look like you’ve seen something like that before!” Caroline snapped back, picking up her pace when she heard the doors slam behind them. 

Ranboo didn’t have a response to that. 

They made it to the parking lot without anyone stopping them, surprisingly. Ranboo’s hands trembled when they pulled out the keys, pressing the horn button. They’d passed the car by a few rows. Looking back, there was no sign of the employees anywhere. Ranboo didn’t want to take any chances, so they booked it to the car while continuously pushing the horn button. They made it to the driver’s seat in no time, seeing Caroline hopping into her SUV as well. 

This new car Mabel got was a lot like her old one, where you had to push a button to start the engine. They did as they remembered a few nights before, hearing the whole car whirr to life. They instantly locked the doors, seeing the employees finally exit the building with their eyes on the prowl for the two. 

Ranboo backed out of the parking space, pulling up a little bit and stopping to allow Caroline to catch up. She stopped beside him, rolling her window down. 

“Where are we going?” she questioned shakily. 

“Mabel’s. We need to pick someone up first.”

“Okay. I’m leading?”

“Yeah.”

She nodded determinedly and rolled her window up, practically flooring it out of the parking lot with Ranboo right on her tail. In the rearview mirror, Ranboo could see the employees attempt to run after them, but to no avail. Luckily for them, there were barely any cars out on the road, which made following Caroline a lot easier with her white SUV.

Ranboo rode in silence, not even bothering to mess with the radio. How could they care about the radio when his suspicions were correct? They’d been living with a fake Mabel for the past two or three days while the real Mabel was probably in some Showfall facility being prepared for a show. Oh God, Ranboo hoped they were wrong about that. 

Mabel deserved to rest, not get her memory wiped and get dolled up for entertainment. 

Ranboo gripped the steering wheel harder and pushed the gas, nearly rear ending Caroline in the process. He could see her look in the rearview mirror like what the fuck but he shrugged it off. Hurting other people’s feelings weren’t important at the moment. Mabel was their top priority. Other than Charlie, of course, who was waiting out on the front porch for them when they pulled up. 

He had his phone in one hand and his other on his hip, staring in concern as the two exited their respective vehicles. He threw his arms up as they approached. 

“What in the actual fuck, man? Please tell me that’s not real,” Charlie implored. He looked like he’d just woken up- a gray t-shirt, plaid pants and white socks, his hair strewn about all sorts of ways. The slight shadows under his eyes made Ranboo frown. 

“Saw it right before my eyes,” they replied sadly. “We can’t stay here. They’ll know where we are.”

“And we can’t use the car either ‘cause it probably came from them,” the man deduced, pacing on the small front porch and rubbing the back of his head. “So what are we gonna do? Book a hotel? Not like we’ve got enough money for that shit.”

“Uh, Rufus,” Caroline interrupted shyly, “this is who we’re picking up? Clyde?”

Ranboo sighed, internally cursing their situation for being so… weird. “It’s a lot to explain. And we will explain it. But right now we need to get out of here.”

“I’ll start packing. You should, too,” Charlie warned before taking off into the house. 

Ranboo stepped inside, waving for Caroline to do the same. “We’ll only be a minute. Come inside.”

The girl followed them in, taking in the house. “Wow. I’ve never actually been here before. She’s always insisted on sleeping over at mine.”

Ranboo paused at the foot of the stairs. “What do you think?” 

“It’s… nice. Just like her,” the girl smiled. “It’s like a part of her has been embedded in the frame.”

They left her to her own devices, picking up different photographs. Running up to their room, they found a large bag in the closet and began stuffing it with everything they’d accumulated during their time at Mabel’s. All their clothes, shoes, trinkets Mabel had bought when she went grocery shopping because she thought it would make them happy. They stared at the small fidget cube, remembering the day she brought it home. 

She’d given it to them with her brilliant smile. When Ranboo expressed their gratitude and joy, she’d only smiled wider, looking at them like they hung the stars before her eyes. 

God, why did it always have to be her getting into trouble when she was nothing but kind?

They shoved the trinket into their pocket and zipped up the bag, slinging it onto their shoulders and following Charlie down the stairs. Caroline had found a particular frame Ranboo had stared at for a while. Mabel, Jamie, Mabel’s parents and Jamie’s parents, all smiling in a giant photo. The two kids were probably ten years old, dressed all formal with their parents. Ranboo didn’t know the context of the picture, but if they had to guess, they’d think it was a wedding. 

Ranboo forced their eyes forward as they walked out. 

“Where to now?” Caroline asked as she walked back to her car. 

Charlie closed the door to the house, locking it with the outside key, pocketing the key with a resigned look. Ranboo took the passenger seat while Charlie slid in the backseat, taking their backpack from them. 

“That I don’t have an answer for yet, but you should probably start driving,” Ranboo said, opening their contacts and pressing on Connor’s number.

Chapter Text

Charlie thought most of the way to the Beckett's house. 

Thoughts of guilt, for not being more lucid in order to help Mabel in the crash. Thoughts of fear, realizing they’d been living with an imposter that turned out to be a robot sent from Showfall. Thoughts of anger, realizing that Mabel was still out there somewhere, suffering at the hands of a fucked up company. 

Thoughts of escape plans. 

Which, to be honest, probably wasn’t his best idea to delve into that folder of daydreaming. Every scenario he came up with he had the knowledge of where she was. They don’t know that. They have no idea where to start. They have no idea where Showfall operates, if they even have more facilities. 

He came to the conclusion that they’d have to go back to the mall. It was their only lead. 

Which lead to other problems, like the one where they had no fucking clue where the mall was except in South Carolina . Mabel didn’t seem like the type to have that information on hand, so they were on their own. Unless Connor and Sasha knew something. 

The couple expected their arrival, opening the garage as soon as Caroline pulled into the driveway. They ran out, concern on their faces as they exited the car. 

“What’s going on?” they asked simultaneously. 

“Let’s get inside. It’s too dangerous to talk outside,” Charlie spoke in a hushed tone, looking over his shoulder. 

The couple’s expressions fell as they ushered the three inside where a blast of heat hit them. Caroline trailed behind the two escapees, picking at her fingernails. Charlie felt bad for her, too. She could be seen in the pictures Ranboo sent, her horrified face slightly blurred as she tried to put out the flame on fake Mabel’s head. She was just looking for her best friend. 

Charlie felt bad for her for what she was about to hear. 

They all piled into the living room, with Charlie taking a seat on the couch where the armrest was, and the other two sitting beside him. Connor and Sasha chose the loveseat beside the window. 

“So, can someone please explain what’s going on?” Caroline finally said. 

Ranboo took a deep breath and started from the beginning. How they were abducted by this entertainment company and subject to a fucked up scheme. He explained Mabel’s involvement in the matter, how she saved them both and others before them. How she lied about the trip to the mountains to cover up her activities of vigilantism. They went through the whole story, with Charlie interjecting from time to time if they forgot something. 

The three listeners provided the appropriate reactions to the story as it progressed, with Caroline being the most shocked. By the time Ranboo had finished, Caroline was sitting there, one hand holding her head up. 

“She does… all of this… saving people, killing the same guy over and over. Fighting…” the girl sighed, running a hand through her hair as she took in the information. “I never really knew her at all, then.”

“We’re gonna get her back, and then you can get to know her for real this time,” Charlie reassured, though he wasn’t too sure about it himself. He and Ranboo were always talking about going back to the mall and rescuing their friends, but in all actuality… it was a suicide mission. 

They had no clue where to go to even start the rescue mission. It still hurts for Charlie to breathe. How could he fight in those conditions? He can barely hold his own in a fight anyway, but being injured wouldn’t help at all. He’d need to suck it up, though, because he knows how Showfall doesn’t waste time.

“So Mabel really is missing,” Sasha said, folding her hands together. “We need to find her, fast.” 

“Yeah but we don’t know where to start looking,” Ranboo replied. “I mean, somewhere in South Carolina is our starting point but other than that we have no other information.”

“Which means we have to find someone with the right info,” Connor deduced. “Not like everyone knows about Showfall, so…”

Charlie strayed back to his thoughts. Someone who knew something… Well, he, himself and Ranboo knew a lot about the company, considering they were on the inside for so long. But they were unreliable when it came to finding a location. Besides, Mabel had it figured out.

“They did, they just made the mall harder to find,” Mabel explained. “They change one backroad, one street sign, something to throw people off. Nobody ever finds the mall that way.”

It was going to be a challenge, but one that Charlie was willing to face. 

“What about that doctor?” Sasha piped up. “The one that treated Charlie. He seemed to know a lot about the company.”

“Who, Doctor Lamb?” Charlie said. “I mean, you’re not entirely wrong. Maybe he knows something.”

“Yeah, but a rough location? That seems far-fetched,” Ranboo countered. “He’s a doctor, not a secret agent. Plus, Mabel never spoke to him about the location of the mall.”

“Not that we know of,” Charlie returned. “We need to talk to him.”

“We can do that tomorrow,” Connor spoke, eyes glued to his phone. “His office is closed already. Opens up at the ass-crack of dawn tomorrow. For right now, we need to make a plan. Who’s going to the mall? When are we going?”

“We don’t even know if she’s at the mall, babe,” Sasha interjected, “and even if we did, we have no idea how many employees they have. We alone wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“A lot. They have a shit ton of employees,” Charlie supplied, remembering one of their escape attempts that fell to shit. “We’d need a lot more people if we’re going to the mall.”

“Trained people,” Ranboo added. “They’ve started fighting back. They know how to throw punches.”

“So do we,” Connor grinned, “and luckily we know a few people who can do the same. It's not a lot, but we can fight.”

Buzzing snapped them all out of their thoughts. Sasha retrieved her phone out of her pocket. A glimmer of confusion washed over her expression as she glanced at her husband. She answered the call with a hesitant, “hello?”

Everyone stayed silent, straining their ears to try and hear the other person at the end of the line. Charlie could tell it was a male’s voice. He caught the words “kid” and “know” but he couldn’t hear anything else. Though, Sasha’s terrified expression scared him. What could she be scared about?

She patted Connor’s arm violently, pointing at the TV and mouthing “turn it on”. He complied as fast as he could, fumbling with the TV remote. The screen turned on, showing the last streaming service they were using. Connor looked back at his wife for further instruction. 

“Channel 12, cable,” she whispered before listening back to the person on the phone. 

Connor messed with the remote for a minute, changing the HDMI and then the channel. Channel 12 popped up, and after a brief loading screen, the beginnings of a trailer started to play. Charlie was confused. 

It looked like your typical medieval drama show, with the throne room being shown and the castle, sword fighting and jousting with the occasional cut to a singular line of text with a moving background. 

The land was never the same without the Queen, said the narrator.

Charlie and Ranboo shared a look. This was what was scaring Sasha? A new show about a kingdom in peril? Connor seemed to think the same, sending questioning glances at his wife and only receiving points in return. They continued watching.

The camera cut to a frame with a long emerald green ball gown, the tulle dragging along the gray and gold carpet. The Queen, Charlie assumed, but what in the world was so important about this?

You remember her, you love her, the narrator continued as it showed clips of more fighting and signing old looking documents. You’ve longly awaited her return, as has everyone else.

Charlie understood what Sasha was scared of once he saw Sneeg’s face tilt towards the camera. He felt Ranboo stiff beside him, suddenly entranced by the screen. The camera cut to Niki, who was dressed elegantly with a beautiful crown sitting atop her head as she sat on a smaller throne. More familiar faces: Austin, Vinny, Ethan, everyone was in this new show dressed as peasants and royal court members. 

He had a sinking feeling when he saw the long green gown again, stepping before a large crowd of people. The angle changed, facing the throne head on as the Queen sat down in her rightful place. The camera panned up, and Charlie felt like he was going to be sick. 

All dolled up with a face full of natural makeup, her hair curled and pristine, a silver and emerald crown atop her scalp, Mabel sat high and mighty in her throne, looking down at all her subjects with pride as they cheered for her, “long live the Queen! Long live the Queen!”

“Oh my God,” Caroline breathed out, horrified. 

“She’s been turned,” Connor stated, his eyes full of what can only be said as anger. “Those sons of bitches really got her, huh?”

“Yeah,” Sasha whispered, lowering her phone. “She always wanted to be something bigger, like an actress, but never like this. Never against her will.”

The trailer ended, showing the date when the show would air. Three days. They had three days to get to the mall and save everyone before the scripted ending happened again, with Mabel in the box this time. 

“Fuck,” Charlie cursed. The weight of this situation sat on his shoulders like a parasite. There was so little time to prepare, so little time to just think . 

“We have to get her back,” Caroline grits out, squeezing her hands together. “She’s coming home. I’m making sure of it. I know more than a few people willing to get their hands dirty-”

“I think we all do,” Sasha interrupted with her own voice shaking with anger. “I’ll make a few calls.”

“So will I,” Caroline replied. She followed Sasha to the kitchen.

“We don’t know anyone except Doctor Lamb and Doctor Wilson,” Ranboo offered plainly. 

Charlie wasn’t too focused on finding people to rally up. There was one line of text that stood out to him from this trailer. You’ve longly awaited her return, as has everyone else . What does that mean? If it means what Charlie thinks it means… It changes everything. 

The way Sasha looked so scared… like this had happened before. Not just to her son, but to Mabel. He was slowly remembering a few things Doctor Wilson and Mabel said that sounded really odd. 

I got lucky I found her, she’s a real package- with being a doctor and all. Not only does she have money, she has knowledge.

Yeah. I was the one who… I’m the one who introduced her to the whole rescue thing. She’d heard about my expertise through the grapevine and came running to help.

Doctor Wilson had treated her before, but not because of the rescues. Mabel was on a Showfall program before. Not just an employee. She was the Queen. 

Charlie turned to Connor. “She’d been on TV before.” 

The man locked eyes with him, but quickly looked away, which told Charlie he was right.

“She was on Showfall before, wasn’t she?” Charlie interrogated, his voice steadily rising. “She’s been put through this just like we have, huh?”

“Charlie, calm down,” Connor said, like he was trying to tame a wild cat.

“Why didn’t we know about this? Why didn’t you tell us this?” 

“Maybe because she didn’t want us to know about it,” Ranboo suddenly said, making Charlie pause. “I certainly wouldn’t want to tell people I just rescued that I’d been through the same traumatic thing. Maybe she was just protecting us.” 

“From what?” 

“Herself,” Connor chimed in. “She never talked about it with us, either, except for the most obvious things. But she just… whenever we asked, she’d shut down completely. Though, I’d seen firsthand what she did to survive. She never wants to be like that again.”

“Like what?” Ranboo questioned carefully, seeing how this was rough for Connor to talk about as well. She was like a second child to them.

“The things she had to do to escape… it wasn’t pretty. She’d killed, she hurt herself getting out of those restraints, cut herself open and ripped the wires out. She was an animal in fight or flight mode, and she was fighting tooth and nail. She won, of course, but it just… she never wanted to feel that primal rage and fear ever again.”

“She might have to, though,” Charlie muttered. “At least until we get there to help.”

Ranboo shook their head, their expression twisted into something like grief. “It all makes so much sense, now. Everything I found odd about her, it was all because of her time there. She is like us, Charlie. That’s why she didn’t have any scratches or bruises for too long, why we thought it was weird she didn’t have any blemishes even though she got into a fight the day before.”

They sat in silence for a moment. Everything that didn’t make sense about her suddenly did. Charlie just wished she would’ve just talked to them, despite her constant need to feel like she was protecting them. He appreciated her concern, and her hospitality, but she was human, too. 

She needed to recover. Thinking about it now, Charlie assumes she never did. Her best friend was abducted, presumably, right after her. She probably jumped straight into the rescue mission for Jamie.

Charlie was going to have to do the same.

Chapter Text

Doctor Lamb, unfortunately, didn’t have much information for them. He must’ve seen the trailer the night before because he was so out of it- constantly dazing out during their conversation in his office. 

Charlie understood that Doctor Lamb probably didn’t want to see him or Ranboo again as patients , but the man was probably beginning to wish the same for them as visitors. They were asking too many questions, annoying him judging by the twitch of his eyebrow. In the end, he gave them a general direction, but not an accurate location. 

Connor, Charlie and Ranboo left the doctor with dimmed spirits and only one question in mind. Where the hell were they going to find what they needed? Clearly not with the one doctor, and they had no idea where Doctor Wilson was stationed at. 

As much as Charlie didn’t want to, he was beginning to think they needed to revisit Mabel’s house. Based on his last trip into her room, where he found Ranboo with the journal, he got the implication that Mabel is a documenter. If the state of her room were anything to go by, with random papers strewn across her desk with various sticky notes attached with shitty handwriting. 

She knew something, obviously. She’d been there more times than anyone should’ve been. People were bound to forget things, at least the first time, so there was definitely a chance that somewhere in her cluttered room was some sort of directional help. 

He brought the idea up to Ranboo and Caroline, and they both agreed to check it out with him, as Sasha and Connor had to work. They piled into Caroline’s SUV and returned to Mabel’s house with somber expressions. It was going to be weird going back to a place full of warmth and kindness only to find the provider of those things to be missing. She made that house cozy, friendly, and as cliche as it sounds, she made it a home for two mentally fucked up escapees. 

It was weird going back without her. 

Driving down the gravel road with the car bumping side to side, Charlie tried to think about where she would hide such precious instructions. Mabel had to be prepared for anything in this vigilante lifestyle, which probably meant she had a damn good hiding spot for the documents. A safe, maybe? Hidden somewhere in the house? In the weapons shed where people would probably turn back once they found what was inside? 

The possibilities were endless. Charlie didn’t know the house inch by inch after all. Sure, he’d been staying there roughly a month now, but during the original scrounge over the house, they found what was all meant to be found. All the cleaning supplies and toiletries and extra shower curtains. He sighed, knowing that they’d all probably be stuck checking the entire house inch by inch for these papers. 

These papers that would have not been in the house at all, for all they knew. 

Caroline parked a few yards away from the front porch, hopping out of the car with a huff. How she managed to operate the vehicle twice her size was out of his range to understand. 

Charlie took the house key from his pocket and unlocked the door, looking dazedly into the empty house. Sun rays cast into the dim living room, lighting the ivory curtains into a warm yellow glow. Dust twirled and danced together in the unkempt air. Seeing the once lively house so cold and dim sent a pang of hurt through Charlie’s chest. Almost a feeling of nostalgia, yet it hadn’t been but three days or so since Mabel was gone. 

The home without a heart. 

Ranboo was the first to step in, the others following behind. Charlie was still kind of on edge, thinking Showfall was going to appear out of nowhere and work some sort of sleep magic and take them back to the mall for ‘rehabilitation’. They sent a robot of their rescuer to impersonate her, after all. They weren’t the type to just give up, it seems. 

“Where do you wanna start?” Caroline questioned, running her hand across the purple blanket on the couch. Rumpled where Mabel last sat, bundled up watching TV. 

“Youuuuu… take down here? Ranboo the weapon shed and the last two rooms upstairs and I’ll take the first two. Maybe the kitchen, too if you don’t get there,” Charlie directed. “Ranboo, be careful in there, okay?”

“Okay, mom ,” they scoffed back with a grin before exiting out the back door. 

Charlie made his way upstairs slowly, lightly caressing the wood railings. Though it may have been intruding, he started in Mabel’s bathroom. Who knows where she would have hidden these things? It was best to check everywhere. And every inch he checked. He pressed down on some of the wall tiles like it were a spy movie, revealing a secret compartment somehow. 

He came up empty, luckily. 

Then he moved into her room. The air was somehow crisp, untouched. Charlie flipped on the sharp ceiling fan lights. A small layer of dust had accumulated on her dresser. A few items of clothing strewn over the floor, next to the bed where she probably intended on wearing later. Bed Sheets wrinkled and tossed to one side. Personality oozed from the room. 

Charlie began by looking under the dresser, finding nothing but a few forgotten pairs of socks and dust. He risked searching the drawers, instantly closing the one drawer he didn’t want to find. Nothing in the dresser. He checked under the bed, in her closet, under her desk, even behind her bookshelf, but nothing. He double checked the picture book, coming up empty. 

He was beginning to feel desperate for answers. “Come on… where would she hide them?”

He ran his hands along the walls, giving slight knocks wherever he could. Full, full, full, definitely full, a small echo. Wait. His heart skipped in anticipation. He moved his hand further down the wall, near the corner behind the door. Knocked again. Another echo. He scratched his nails on the drywall, trying to ignore the shivers running down his spine at the action. It clearly wasn’t helping, as the only thing that came off the wall was chips of paint. 

“Fuck. Sorry, Mabel.”

Charlie grabbed the girl’s office chair and thrust the wheel into the hollow point of the wall. In the quiet house, it was like an explosion went off. He quickly set the chair back down and fell to the floor in anticipation. With his shadow blocking most of the light, he could barely see the pile of papers on the floor of the small opening. He scoffed in disbelief, reaching in to grab the papers. 

The first four pages were a mock blueprint of the mall, drawn with shaky lines and shabby colored in ventilation systems. Small handwritten notes were on each one, pointing out alternate exits and hiding spots. The other two pages looked to be legal documents. Explaining the ownership of the abandoned mall being handed to Showfall under the premise that they’d only use it as a filming location.

“Bullshit,” Charlie muttered to himself. He brought his phone out and double checked the little space with his phone light. He had missed two folded pieces of paper in the corner. Opening them up, he saw the unmistakable neat but chicken scratch handwriting that was Mabel’s.

I added this note on the occasion that whoever is staying at my house is stupid enough to want to go back to the mall. I didn’t make it easy for you, though. I drew on a map to the mall’s location. The changing streets and shit they alter doesn’t matter when I have the exact coordinates. I tore the map into five pieces. All in the house. Have fun. 

Charlie appreciated her safety protocols, but seriously? He didn’t have time for this. He needed these parts now or else Mabel could… die. She was going to die. 

The second paper held four numbers written in black ink. 4,2,0,7. He flipped the paper over, finding no other context. Great. Numbers and pieces of paper. Charlie checked the small pocket again top to bottom and finally left, hopping down the stairs to see how the others were faring. 

“Guys?” he called, entering the empty kitchen. 

“You find anything?” Caroline asked, popping up from the yarn cubbies behind the couch. 

“Yeah. Where’s Ran?”

“Right here,” they announced, opening the sliding door and stepping back in. “I found this.”

Ranboo held up a torn piece of paper with black marker bleeding through the back. A jagged line. Charlie smiled. 

“Sweet. Just what we need,” he said much to their confusion. “We need to find four more of those. She tore it up and hid them around the house.”

Caroline nodded. “I’ll check everything again. Maybe I missed something.”

“I definitely did,” Charlie admitted. Then he remembered something, turning around to face the girl again. “Hey… do you mind looking in uh…”

“Her underwear drawer just in case?” Caroline smirked, turning the couch cushions over. “Sure. I’ll take her room if you want me to.”

“That’d be great.”

“Am I back out in the shed, or?” Ranboo questioned, setting the paper on the kitchen counter.