Chapter Text
A rhythmic tapping of boot soles hit the ground in a slow, steady, repetitive pattern and echoed into the trees as Emma walked down a dirt path, carrying Wheatley in her arms.
He was talking nonstop. "So, should we happen to run into a guard, or, a some bloodthirsty enemy team member, do you have any sort of semblance of a plan? I mean, I'm assuming that you do, of course you do! Not that I can't come up with plans, but plans are kind of your thing!"
Emma didn't even look down at him as she answered in an unbothered tone. "No, not really. But I'm not that worried about that just yet." She briefly quickened her pace with a little skip, the robot bouncing in her arms.
"Oh, okay...do you think maybe you could come up with one fairly sharpish?"
Emma tilted her head to the side like a curious dog, her bright red hair ruffling with a slight breeze. "Well, I guess run as fast as possible, then fight if necessary. I don't want to get into a fight with anyone unless we really need to, especially not this early on."
Wheatley wiggled his core body in a vague nod. "That's probably good, we can tell quite easily what sort of people we're dealing with from that crowd's response to this whole thing. Wouldn't want to go charging headfirst into something like that."
Emma nodded. "But not everyone in that crowd could have been all bad, some of our friends are here, remember?"
"Right, then," he replied, "I apologize for insulting your family." She smiled at him playfully, causing the sprinkling of freckles on her face to migrate upward. "You better stop that, or I'll have to banish you for high treason!" She said dramatically, in pretend intimidation.
She balanced him on one hip as she adjusted one of her shoes.
"Hey, look!" Wheatley peered over the hill they were on.
The dirt trail they had been travelling on wound down to a small bustling town. Along the side of the trail was a sign welcoming them to the Middle. Wheatley's handles wiggled in anticipation.
Emma took a deep breath and smiled. She didn't know what sort of things to expect in this town, but it could be worth it to continue.
Making her way down the path into the town, Emma immediately was met with the sweet aroma of fresh baked bread, spices, and all sorts of meats. There were people pushing carts of homegrown fruits to sell, and everyone was shouting. There were people as well as animals everywhere, goats bleating and horses tied to stakes waiting for their owners to return from the taverns and shops.
People pushed past with seemingly no regard for anyone else unless they were interested in selling them wares. Emma was bumped into by too many people to count, many gave odd looks at the sight of a girl carrying a robot through town.
Caught in her observations, she was startled when a man grabbed her by the shoulder, causing her to jump. She gaped up at him. He was a large, sturdy looking man. The hand currently alighting on her shoulder looked big enough to effortlessly crush her skull like it was nothing. He spoke. "How much for the ball of metal?"
Caught off guard, Wheatley responded in a most offended tone. "Oi, that's Mr. ball of metal to you, mate!"
Emma clutched him closer and squared her shoulders in an attempt to look tougher. "He's not for sale sir." The man chuckled haughtily.
"Oh, come on." He removed his death grip on Emma's shoulder and held out his hand as if he was expecting something. "Even for the right price?"
She shook her head. She had started to cautiously edge backwards. Wheatley uncomfortably looked left and right frantically, trying to escape the situation. "Absolutely not." Emma sounded firm now, but the man was clearly not intimidated.
She didn't want to stay around here any longer. She started to run when she felt a hand grasp the collar of her shirt. She was lifted into the air.
"Oh no! No no no no!" Wheatley screamed as the man held them dangling, effectively helplessly. The man cackled again, reaching for him. "I gave you an offer. Now you don't get a choice."
Emma struggled to breathe with her collar practically choking her. She swung her leg back as far as she could and swung her knee into his chin. The busy bustling folk stopped for a moment. Emma looked around confused.
People were staring, specifically at the man's face. She followed their gaze and gasped.
His lip was busted open and blood was streaming from his mouth. His jaw had been shoved into his lower lip by the impact.
The man dropped her without so much as a glance. Wheatley landed next to her unceremoniously, accompanied by a metallic thud and a yelp.
The big man clutched his face. "You..." His voice shook like a mighty building during an earthquake, Emma could tell he was in pain and about to snap. Her stomach dropped.
"Hello?!" Wheatley rolled around in futility on his metal face. "Why aren't we running?"
The man quickly turned from pain to anger. He grabbed the front of her shirt before she could run and pulled her close so that she was at direct eye level. "You've really done it now." He coughed. Emma was panicking now, she couldn't run away, his grip was too strong. She had to think of something.
The man wound his fist up and prepared to punch. Just before he struck, she quickly ducked down and his fist met with open air. She came back up and headbutted him, which did more shock than actual damage, but caused him to lose focus and let go.
She slid under his legs, grabbed Wheatley, and dashed off into the busy marketplace.
The man gave chase and Emma tried her best to disappear, ducking under tables and behind carts and blending in with people. She wove in and out of the cloud of faces, accidentally bumping into several people in her rush.
The man shoved past groups of shoppers, vaulting over a table at one point and causing everyone immediately nearby to part ways and let him through. Upon looking behind her, Emma realized how fast of a runner he was. But she was pretty fast too. She hid behind a passing family and spotted a table with a cloth draped over it, creating a perfect hiding spot.
She snuck under the table. "Is he still following us?" Wheatley asked.
She panted heavily. "I don't know."
She peeked her head out from under the cloth and scanned the area. "No, I think he ran past already." A large hand slammed onto the edge of the table and gripped it, practically splintering the wood. The man lifted the table up and threw it away.
Emma inched backwards and held her hands out in front of Wheatley as he towered over both of them. The man reached for her move her out of the way but froze. He swayed slowly, as if he were suddenly made of jelly. Emma stared at him in confusion, before realizing he was starting to fall.
She grabbed her friend and leapt out of the way as the man fell like a dead tree and shook the ground.
There was a small dart protruding from his back. She looked around to see where it came from and her eyes locked on two boys who looked to be about the same age as her.
One had green clothes, a yellow backpack, and crazy dark green hair that reminded her of a bird's feathers, and the other boy had even messier white hair and carried a dart gun. He wore a white t-shirt on top of a darker long sleeved shirt and a serious expression.
The green haired boy ran over to her with concern. "Are you ok?" He offered his hand to her. Emma nodded and he helped her up. "Yeah."
"Uh, hey, hi, down here! Still...on the ground." The boy noticed Wheatley and looked amazed.
"Whoah, who are you?" The other boy, who had walked over the others, looked intrigued.
Wheatley involuntarily rolled onto his side. "Just, someone waiting for your help. If you don't mind."
Emma knelt down and picked him up. "This is Wheatley." She dusted him off.
"Nice to meet you! It's pretty cool to meet a robot!"
The white haired boy nodded. "I'll say."
Wheatley laughed nervously, not used to all this attention. "Well, I wouldn't say that, exactly, but you can, y'know, if you want to."
The green haired boy laughed.
The white haired boy looked at Emma. "And what's your name?"
"I'm Emma." She smiled. "I'm Gon!" The green haired boy piped up.
She lowered her voice. "What team are you on?"
Gon and Killua showed their wrists. Both displayed a small purple rectangular mark.
"Hey, same as me! Nice to meet you, fellow purples!" Wheatley exclaimed.
She looked at them hesitantly.
"Don't worry, this doesn't change anything." Gon clarified.
Emma extended her hand in a friendly gesture. "Wanna team up?" Killua and Gon looked at each other and nodded. "Sure!" Gon said excitedly, taking one of her hands and grasping it firmly.
Killua's face shifted to a more serious one. "We should probably get outta here, there's too many people." Emma nodded.
Wheatley looked at the unconscious man. "What about him?"
Killua gestured towards him. "Mild tranquilizer. He should be out for a few hours. We'll be long gone by then."
Emma scratched the back of her head. "Uh, where exactly are we going?"
This time, Gon spoke. "We should probably look for a place to set our base. Or at least a place to stay for the night."
"Let's go, then." Killua said.
The four new teammates headed off through the crowded town, pushed past droves of people, trudged up concrete stairs through the steam pouring out windows and shops. Emma suggested that they buy food before they leave the town. They purchased about two days worth of food before continuing. The steam and smoke rose high into the sky and tangled into trees as they motley crew arrived at a forest.
Gon looked around. "Does anyone remember the map?"
"Don't worry, I memorized it." Emma responded. "We are in the Middle right now, I think I saw there was a forest in there somewhere, I think the Outer should be about 20 miles away."
Gon froze, sliding a few rocks on the ground in front of him.
Emma looked back at him. "Are you ok Gon?"
Killua also turned his head and stopped walking. Gon locked eyes with them and silently put a finger to his lips. They understood and got quiet.
Gon smelled something in the air. It smelled...wet, muggy, like damp wood, old cloth, and rotting fabric. And gunpowder...
He ran as fast as he could into Emma, Wheatley, and Killua, pushing all of them to the ground like a stack of dominos.
BANG!
The bark of a nearby tree split and splintered as a bullet whizzed past and planted itself deep in the trunk. The four of them lay there for a moment, frozen in fear and shock. Gon held his hands protectively over the others and everyone turned their heads to see exactly what shot at them.
A large, heavily-breathing humanoid looking creature lumbered out of the bushes, holding a shotgun and shaking the ground as it walked with its enormous mud caked boots.
Its most notable feature was its face, or lack of one, instead replaced with a large burlap sack with a crude hole cut in it, suggesting that the creature still needed to see. One of its arms was ripped and stuffing was spilling out.
Was this thing made of fabric?
It raised the gun once more let out a moaning shriek that sounded more like a bird call than a yell.
"RUN!" Emma screamed out.
Gon leapt up, Emma grabbed Wheatley and the three kids ran deeper into the forest, weaving through the trees dodging bullets.
The creature pointed his gun at them and prepared to fire again. Looking around for a place to hide, Emma spotted a large, very dead tree. She crouched behind it and pulled the other two behind it with her as it took the shot, shattering the bark into little bits and flinging them into the air.
Emma guessed the bag on its head caused this thing to have poor vision. She peeked at it from behind the tree. It was scrambling to reload quickly and loudly screeching like a frustrated toddler.
It was breathing even heavier now, almost wheezing. It slowly stomped toward then and lifted its shotgun.
"Now would be a good time for a plan!!! What is that thing!?" Wheatley yelled, panicked.
"Shhhh!" Killua hissed. "That thing doesn't have very good stamina, and it can't see very well. If we can just keep dodging it and running away from it..."
"...We can tire it out enough to get away." Gon chimed in.
Emma suddenly gasped. "GO! NOW!"
Before they could run to another tree, the one they were hiding behind was shot at again, this time the bullet pierced all the way through. The upper part of the tree split and came crashing down. Emma grabbed Wheatley by his top handle and jumped out of the and way of the oncoming tree trunk, sliding on her knee. Wheatley flung out of her arms in audible shock.
Killua jumped backwards, and Gon also managed to dodge fairly easily. The creature followed, wheezing painfully, but it refused to stop the hunt.
Wheatley saw it approaching in an upside down view and swiveled his eye over to Emma to see if she was okay.
"Come on, get up! We gotta go!" He called.
She sprung up like a rabbit and grabbed him as the three kids jumped behind another tree. The thing prepared to open fire once more. His breathing was labored now, he struggled to grip the gun.
"He's getting weakened!" Gon said, panting. "We just need to keep this up for a little longer." The tree was struck with a gunshot. The kids braced themselves. They got out from behind the tree, and immediately tensed up.
The creature was nowhere to be seen.
They all looked around confused for a few seconds. Silence. Gon's eyes narrowed, focusing for anything.
Emma finally said something. "I guess he left."
No sooner than the words left her mouth, the creature shuffled out of the bushes and took aim with a loud muffled growl.
"OVER THERE! GET DOWN!" Wheatley shouted.
The kids dropped down just barely in time to avoid the oncoming attack. The bullet made contact with ground in front of them, causing a vibrant explosion of brown and green leaves inches away from their heads.
Emma rolled over and jumped to her feet, out of breath. Killua grabbed her and Gon's hands and towed them through the forest, the creature hot on their heels, though struggling immensely to keep up at this point.
Killua spotted a sharp dropoff where the ground inclined into a small pit of fallen leaves and he jumped down into it. Emma and Gon followed suit. They waited there with baited breath, waiting for the creature to pass.
It slowly stomped its way toward the incline, pausing at the top and scanning the area, wheezing heavy as ever. Emma held a hand over mouth to silence her breathing. Gon peeked his head out of the leaves just enough to see the creature. Killua gripped his knees tightly. Wheatley squeezed his eye shut and shivered, despite not feeling cold.
After what felt like forever, the stuffed thing shook its head in defeat, hoisted the shotgun onto its shoulder, and shuffled off from where he had came, disappearing into the forest. They waited until they were sure it was gone, and breathed a collective sigh of relief.
"Oh, man alive." Wheatley groaned. "I was almost certain we wouldn't make it out of that one. That was madness!?!"
Gon rubbed his face, still trying to process everything. The kids got up and dusted themselves off. Killua looked up at the sky.
"We should make camp in the forest for now, it's getting dark."
The twilight sky shone through the trees, illuminating everything like a painting. Bathed in its lavender light, birds flew home to their nests, squirrels returned to their tree hollows with food that they had stolen over the day, and three tired looking children and a metal ball laid down for well deserved rest.
Emma laid Wheatley down on the soft grass and flopped herself down on the ground with a sigh. Gon took off his backpack and used it as a pillow, and Killua laid down beside the other three. It was a pretty cold evening, so they huddled close to maintain warmth. It didn't help that the kids' legs were bare.
Emma drew her knees up to her chest and hugged herself. She had started to doze off when a crackling but a booming voice split the silence and immediately caused them all to bolt upright. It was the robotic feminine voice from earlier in the day, coming from some sort of loudspeaker.
"Good evening, everyone. If you are wondering how you can hear me right now, there are hidden speakers everywhere for announcement purposes. Even in the trees. There is nowhere my voice cannot reach. Anyway, 22 competitors have been eliminated today. Get some rest. You’ll need your strength to bring that number up!”
The voice faded. A silence fell over the group. Emma shuddered and slowly laid back down. She thought of her friends, wondering if they were one of the numbers. Tears stung the back of her eyes.
Wheatley was about to close his eye when he felt a small arm wrap around him. Emma pulled him close to her. Wheatley was normally put off by physical contact, but he could really use the comfort right now.
Within a few minutes, she fell fast asleep. He thought to himself to help calm his mind. However, he was much too tired to think. He let himself relax in her arms and before he knew it, he had drifted off.
Monika paced back and forth in the cave where her, Sans, and Flowey had decided to spend the night. Flowey had already fallen asleep, and Sans sat cross legged, watching his sister wrestle with herself.
"Can you stop doin that? You're gonna wear a hole in the rocks."
She whirled around to face him.
"Sans, I am stressed. And when I am stressed, I write poetry. But I don't have a pencil or paper, so for right now, I pace when I'm stressed. If that bothers you, you may take it up with whatever is left of my patience and go find a different cave to sleep in."
She sat down on a rock opposite of the skeleton.
"Dang, tell me how you really feel."
"Is this a joke to you? Is it? Because you don't seem to be taking this seriously. We could die!" Monika barked, exasperated.
Sans stared at her with a static, unchanging smile. The truth was, he was actually not taking this situation well either. For once, he didn't know how this was going to end and he didn't like feeling like he wasn't in control. Monika could tell.
"...I apologize for my tone. Would you like to talk?"
He thought about it, then shook his head.
"Nah. Let's go to sleep."
They were interrupted.
"Good evening, everyone. If you are wondering how you can hear me right now, there are hidden speakers everywhere for announcement purposes. Even in the trees. There is nowhere my voice cannot reach. Anyway, 22 competitors have been eliminated today. Get some rest. You’ll need your strength to bring that number up!”
Every person in the cave became immediately tense, including Flowey, who had been rudely awakened by the sudden announcement.
“What the heck was that crap???”
Sans shrugged it off. “Let’s just…hit the hay.” Reluctantly, Monika agreed and the three slept through the night.