Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The temperature was cold, and water seemed to be falling from the endless ceiling above. Three friends trekked down a long black path as they struggled to see in the dark. Lights attached to tall posts illuminated the path, but most things beyond were casted in shadow.

Two of the friends were supporting the weight of the third, who was on the verge of passing out.

The first friend, he wore a blue, white and grey hoodie, black pants and blue shoes. His head donned a matching black and blue baseball cap, and that entire outfit wasn’t shy of rips, holes and blood stains. His skin wasn’t either, a few cuts on his face, his hands, everywhere hurt, it stung, his head was spinning, and he thinks he rolled his ankle.

The second friend wasn’t much better, his dark shoes and blue jeans, his green t-shirt and even his bullet-proof vest were all battered up. His brown hair was in a mess and one lens of his glasses was shattered. The hip bag he wore was empty, but he figured it was probably worth keeping. The watch on his wrist was broken, glass shards missing and clock-face non-functioning.

Not that he was sure how to read it anyways.

The third friend, the one the others were holding up between them, was the tallest of the three. His red and grey jacket was drenched in blood, his blue jeans, black shoes and shirt included. His head was the worst, holes stabbed into the front and sides. The mask that once manipulated his memories now had a bunch of dents and holes matching his head.

He was losing a lot of blood.

“Where- I mean where do we even go, now? Like-”

“Charlie keep your voice down,” the one in the blue warned the one in green, Charlie. “We still don’t know if we’re out, this could just be another one of the sets or something”

“I mean- those doors looked like an exit? Like I can’t even see the roof- if this is a room then it would have to go on forever or something”

The space above was dark, and littered with little white-glowing spots. Maybe these spots were holes in the supposed ceiling, and the falling water was coming from them? In the distance they could see part of a glowing circle, and something in them told them this was called a ‘moon’.

“We- we need to find- somewhere-” the one in the red spoke, his head tipping from side to side.

“I know Ranboo, I know,” the one in blue responded, “we need to find somewhere to rest, maybe find something to patch up our wounds”

“Sneeg, what’s that?” “Charlie asked, looking far into the distance.

“What’s what?” Sneeg, the one in blue, answered with another question, before following Charlie in looking ahead of them.

Two bright lights seemed to be speeding towards them on the dark path they were walking down. As it came closer, they realised the lights were attached to some large, probably heavy object.

“Hey Charlie, should we move?” Sneeg asked.

“I uh, yea- YEA I THINK WE SHOULD”

Sneeg and Charlie pulled Ranboo as they ran off the black path and onto a thin grey one to the side. The strange object raced past, and made a loud honking sound as it did.

“Okay we, we need to go,” Charlie repositioned his hold on Ranboo, adjusting his shoulders.

Sneeg nodded his head, “yeah, that sounds good”

They decided to stay on the grey section of the path, seemed safer that way.

Soon the trio started to see small buildings beside them, all clouded in darkness too hard for them to see through.

Except one, which emitted a gentle light from inside.

“Maybe we could go in there?” Sneeg offered, gesturing towards the little wooden building.

“Yea, seems reasonable”

As they started to walk towards the light, the weight from Ranboo got heavier. The teens’ head leaned forward, and his knees buckled.

“I- Is he?”

“Hold on,” Sneeg placed a two of his fingers on Ranboo’s neck, checking for a pulse, “he seems fine, or well, alive”

“How can you tell?”

“I can feel his heartbeat through their neck”

“How on earth did you know you could do that?”

Sneeg pondered for a moment, “honestly Charlie, I have no idea”

They stared at each other for a moment, before continuing to walk. Once they reached the door, Ranboo’s head ended up resting on Sneeg’s shoulder, Charlie refreshing his hold on Ranboo as to even out the weight.

Sneeg grabbed the door handle, twisting it a bit.

It didn’t budge.

“Huh, strange, this door is locked,” Sneeg knocked his loose knuckles on the wooden door, “feels kinda hollow though, maybe we could break it?”

“Can I help you?”

The voice made the pair jump, as the door opened and they were greeted by an elderly woman, who gasped as she saw them.

“Oh my, what happened?”

“Uh,” Sneeg began, “I think we need a little help-”

“Oh please, do come inside gentlemen”

Charlie looked at Sneeg, who nodded, before they both dragged Ranboo inside.

Sneeg repositioned his hold on Ranboo, “our friend here is a little unconscious, can we plop him on the couch or-”

“Oh yes, of course you can”

“Right thanks”

Charlie and Sneeg gently laid their friend on the couch, before stumbling back from suddenly being free of supporting him.

“Harold? Harold get the medical box!” the woman called out as she left the room, heading into what seemed to be a kitchen.

Sneeg sat himself on the couch arm down by Ranboo’s feet, and Charlie sat himself on the floor. Beneath him was an old, crusty rug, and the only sound in the room was the gentle crackle of the fire.

“Charlie?” Sneeg spoke, suddenly, “you seem a little stressed, I mean, more stressed than you were before”

“Uh, oh,” Charlie looked down at the rug as he rubbed his arms, “I uh, it’s just this, little wooden house, it uh, it reminds me of the cabin”

Sneeg tried to offer a weak smile, “we’re safe now, Charlie, we got away”

Charlie offered a weak smile back, before the woman re-entered the room.

“Now then, let's get you boys patched up,” the lady was carrying what seemed to be a sewing kit in her hands, and behind her walked in who was probably this Harold, holding a box of medical supplies.

Sneeg gestured to his friend sleeping on the couch, “I’d suggest checking our buddy Ranboo here first, miss, uh”

“Please, call me Sheryl,”

“So then, what’s you lot’s names, and what happened?” Harold asked as Sheryl made her way over to Ranboo.

“Uh, I believe my name is Charlie, and this is Sneeg, we uhm, well it's a long story”

“We just escaped an abandoned mall,” Sneeg continued for him, “a bunch of people there were manipulating and abusing us, and ultimately left us all for dead, but somehow the three of us survived and escaped”

“There were more of you?” Sheryl asked, looking up from where she was cleaning Ranboo’s wounds.

Charlie looked down, as Sneeg gently nodded, “there were, quite a few, at least that we know of, and we have no idea how long we had been there for”

The room was mostly silent for a few minutes, just the quiet sound of the fire could be heard. Soon they could hear the gentle shuffle of the sewing kit, Sheryl gently pushing a thread through the eye of a needle, “Ranboo, here has quite a few, well, holes in his face that I have to stitch up”

No-one responded, they just silently watched as she closed up Ranboo’s skin, moving with haste as though she’d done this many times before.

“I, unfortunately cannot assist much, medically, but perhaps I could make you something to eat?” Harold asked, twiddling his thumbs.

“That would be, amazing, thank you,” Charlie confirmed.

With a little nod of his head, Harold made his way out to the kitchen.

Minutes went by, as Sheryl finished with the needle and began patching up the less severe cuts and scratches.

“Now, could one of you boys help me with the mask?” she asked, once she was done.

“I can,” Sneeg got up from where he was sitting, walking over to assist.

The pair yanked on Ranboo’s metallic mask, which eventually started coming loose.

Harold came back in the room, holding a big plate of cheese sandwiches, “please, help yourselves”

Charlie took a triangle as the plate was placed down on the floor. He hadn’t realised how hungry he was, his stomach feeling better with each bite he took.

By the time Sneeg was eating too, Ranboo had a bandage wrapped around the bottom half of their face and forehead, and was covered in bandaids and other patches.

Hours later, the three were all cleaned up, the couple had offered them all a shower and washed their clothes, Sheryl using her sewing kit to fix all the holes as best she could.

By now a strange yellow ball in the sky was starting to rise, and the three had been shown to the guest room to sleep.

Sneeg and Charlie slept peacefully as Ranboo sat on his bed, he didn’t feel like sleeping yet, especially after having that little nap earlier.

The wooden walls felt like they were closing in on them, as Ranboo brought his knees up to their chin. They noticed one of the walls to be white, the wall directly behind the bedheads.

Reaching out, they touched it, relieved to find the wall to be rock solid.

He breathed, taking in a deep breath, he was fine, it was alright.

Everyone in the house was asleep, Ranboo was the only one left awake, and so he decided he should get a feel for the little building.

Gently, Ranboo creaked open the wooden door of the guest bedroom, careful not to wake the others up.

The little hallway he was met by loomed over him, down the other end he could see part of the little kitchen, next to the room the elderly couple were sleeping in.

Ranboo walked past the bathroom, what was apparently a laundry room, the office, the master bedroom and into the kitchen. From here they could see the glowing embers that remained in the fireplace in the living room, and felt a chill run down his spine.

His eyes landed on a knife block sitting on the counter, as the memory of stabbing that employee washed over his mind, the wires spilling out of them as he had retreated the knife.

Ranboo shuddered, he turned away from the counter and approached the living room.

He sat on the couch, taking a deep breath as he relaxed his shoulders and sunk down into the cushions.

Ranboo noticed his broken mask, sittings on the coffee table, the lights now turned off, and dull.

Ranboo raised a hand to the bandage wrapped around their head, covering their mouth and nose, and worked its way around the top of their head too.

Apparently his skin had been a little ripped under the mask, with wires poking in and out around his mouth. Sheryl had managed to remove them, but it caused a lot of bleeding.

The inside of their mouth tasted like metal, and the stitching was uncomfortable. Apparently the threads would dissolve over time, and leave nothing but little scar lines behind.

In the minutes before Ranboo was supposed to die, he had remembered so much, he wasn't sure how much the others remembered, however.

They shuddered once more, as they thought back to the metallic box.

Had the cameras shut off by the time Sneeg and Charlie came for him? Did the viewers see them escape? It had been several minutes alone before he heard their voices, and the room was dark when Charlie had forced the box open.

"Ranboo! We're, we're gonna get out of here now, okay?"

Charlie had sounded panicked, as he used all of his strength to force the box open.

"Is he even alive? Charlie there's no way he would have survived that"

"Don't just stand there and help me, Sneeg!"

It was a miracle any of them were alive, Ranboo had watched them both die multiple times, he'd felt his own life leave his body, was death even permanent?

"What are you- how-"

"Oh my God you're alive! Ranboo!"

Charlie had sounded so thrilled when Ranboo spoke, his eyes began to water.

"Charlie, you release his ankles, I got the wrists"

By the time he was free, Ranboo flopped forward, chin hitting the metal base of the box before his friends gently guided his head out.

Ranboo held his head in his sore hands, and took in some deep breaths. As he brought himself back to reality, and gently opened their eyes, he noticed a red dot moving around on his chest.

The dot was glowing, almost like a laser.

And then, there was a harsh knock on the wooden door.

Chapter Text

"Get the fuck away from us!" Charlie had screamed, a piece of scrap metal in his hands as he glared down the TV monster before him.

The room had been dark, all the lights and screens turned off.

Charlie had been bleeding from all over, his glasses broken and his clothes all tattered and worn. His blood still remained on the body of the wired creature before him, and was dripping onto the floor beneath them.

"Get Ranboo out of here, Sneeg! I can handle this"

"Charlie you're injured!"

"Well so are you!"

The monster had then lunged at Charlie, swiping its makeshift claws as Charlie swung his makeshift weapon.

Metal collided with wires, and static flew as the scrap had scraped against the exposed electrical boards.

"Seriously Sneeg, run!"

Sneeg had given in, dragging Ranboo past Charlie and the monster, who had been too distracted by its opponent. Sneeg's ankle hurt like hell from when the monster had attacked him earlier.

"How the.. how the hell are we alive?" Ranboo had asked as his friend pulled them along.

"I've been asking myself that same question, Ranboo"

The pair had finally found an exit after a couple more minutes, but the large glass doors were chained shut.

"I remember seeing those guys blocking this door earlier, after I had found Charlie" Ranboo muttered, before coughing up some blood.

"Here, rest here for a moment, I'll find a way to open the door" Sneeg gently lowered Ranboo to the floor, leaning his friend against the wall.

He made sure to push some old boxes along, using them to surround Ranboo to hide him.

"You're leaving me here?"

"I'm gonna be right back, okay?" Sneeg simply responded, and for some reason, he had felt like he'd told Ranboo that exact sentence before.

Ranboo had looked up at Sneeg with worried eyes, as they leaned against the wall, tipping to the side.

Sneeg had offered a sheepish smile, before making his way back deep into the building.

The doors had been locked with chains, he needed to find a bolt cutter, and fast.

Soon, Sneeg had come across a sort of prop room, housing loads of oddly familiar items, but he wasn't sure where he'd seem them.

"Ah, perfect!" A pair of red bolt cutters sat amongst the clutter on one of the tables.

When Sneeg had touched them, however, he felt a strange sense of discomfort. The vision of Ranboo using them to cut open a padlock, and then another chain washed over his mind, causing him to shudder. "I just gotta, just gotta get back to Ranboo"

On his way back, Sneeg found Charlie looking lost.

"Charlie! Quick, follow me!"

Charlie did so, running after Sneeg as more blood had dripped from even more cuts on his body, his clothes now even more damaged. He must have lost the scrap metal along the way, and the TV monster was nowhere to be seen, but Sneeg hadn't had the time to worry about that.

"Wh- Where the hell is Ranboo?"

"I left him by the exit, he's hidden, don't worry"

When they reached the exit, they were relieved to find Ranboo exactly where Sneeg had left him, but there was now a concerning amount of blood staining the flood.

"Ranboo? Okay come on buddy, I got you" Charlie had assisted Ranboo to stand, supporting their weight as Sneeg approached the door.

He struggled to cut open the chains, his body weakened from injury.

"Come on Sneeg, man we gotta go!" Charlie had panicked.

With a grunt, Sneeg backed up, before hauling the bolt cutters at the glass. Shards flying but mostly missing the trio. Sneeg dropped the bolt cutters and moved to help support Ranboo. They had then quickly made haste, approaching the black path in the distance as water began to fall on them from above.

But that was now in the past.

As of current, Ranboo is staring down the front door of the little wooden house, as someone violently knocked on it from the outside. It soon became clear that more and more people were beginning to bang on the wood, the sound getting louder, and louder.

As Ranboo stood, the red laser on his chest moved with him, it seemed to be coming from outside the window.

"Ranboo?" Charlie called from the hallway, panic clear in his tone. "Oh fuck, Ranboo! You scared the crap out of me, what the hell is going on?"

Ranboo turned to see Charlie, and Sneeg, standing in the doorway to the kitchen, their eyes wide.

Sneeg was heavily leaning on Charlie, his injured ankle had clearly gotten worse, the bandages were helping but he had already walked and ran on that leg so much the day before.

Charlie helped Sneeg over to the couch, dropping him there before approaching the wooden door, likely planning to look through the little eye hole it had. "Oh fuck.. fuck it's those masked, guys, they're outside"

"Ranboo, what the fuck is that?" Sneeg asked, pointing to the dot on Ranboo's chest.

Before they could respond, however, Charlie rushed backwards as the front door was flung open, just about flying off its hinges as employees rushed into the room.

Charlie bolted for Sneeg, helping the man to stand, while Ranboo ran for the kitchen. He found it strange how the elderly couple hadn't woken up, but figured they couldn't worry about that now, as they drew the biggest knife from the knife block on the counter.

"GET OFF ME YOU BITCH," Charlie yelled from the living room.

Ranboo spun around, finding 2 employees grabbing onto the man's arm and a third going for Sneeg. Ranboo became tunnel visioned, seeing nothing but the task at hand, the world seeming to go muffled and blurry as they ran forward, placing a hand on one of the enemy's shoulders and stabbing the knife into their side, wires spilling out as they retracted the blade.

The next few minutes were a blur, Ranboo only catching glimpses of what they were doing, what was going on around them. They saw the pile of employees on the living room floor, the reflection of their own bandaged face in the blade of the knife, the metallic mask still sitting on the coffee table. They caught the blurred images of being pulled outside by someone, a hand wrapped tightly around their wrist as the knife dropped from their fingers. He heard the muffled sound of panic from his friends, the screams of Charlie, the cries of Sneeg. He heard the sound of gunshots being fired a little too close for comfort. He looked up at the glowing yellow ball in the sky, only to close his eyes as it blinded him.

He heard the vague sound of a door of sorts being opened, and then being pushed inside a small space and onto a seat. Through the fragments of their vision, Ranboo saw Sneeg sit down beside him, and Charlie sitting on a chair in front of them.

He heard a door shut, before hearing and seeing a final bullet smash through the strange little window beside him, only just missing him and Sneeg.

The world went dark, after that.

It was strange, how memories had suddenly started flooding Charlie's mind.

As they had fled the little house, they noticed a strange structure sitting on the side of the black path.

It looked much like the object that sped towards them the night before, the large thing that had two bright lights.

It was familiar to Charlie, and upon touching it, the image of Ranboo pulling a mini version of it out of Charlie's stomach flashed over his mind.

He remembered Ranboo looming over him, pulling item after item out of his gut, a rubber chicken, a Mouse Trap piece, a knife…

Something in Charlie told him this thing was called a 'car,' and that it could help them get the hell out of here.

Sneeg was quick to go along with the idea, opening one of the back doors and pushing Ranboo inside.

Ranboo seemed to be in a daze, like fighting off all those employees had taken over their mind.

As Charlie shut the front door he entered from, a bullet smashed through one of the back windows, barely missing Ranboo and Sneeg, it was then Ranboo completely slumped, seeming to pass out in their seat.

As Sneeg pulled his own door shut, Charlie seemed to go on autopilot as he turned a key that was strangely inserted into the board before him, slammed his foot on one of the floor buttons and turned the giant wheel, the supposed 'car' lunging its way onto the black path before speeding along.

It was able to go extremely fast, speeding along as Charlie and Sneeg tried to catch their breaths and calm down.

There were others of these cars on the path, all going different directions. They made honking sounds as Charlie somehow weaved perfectly between them, rushing 'round corners, trying to make as much distance as fast as possible.

Soon enough, they heard a loud alarm from behind them, Sneeg turning to see what it was.

"Hey Charlie-? Uh, one of the moving metal boxes has giant red and blue flashing lights on it, and it's heading right for us"

"You don't think it's those fucking- whoever they are do you?"

"Let's not stick around too find out"

Chapter Text

The car with the alarm and bright lights was drawing nearer.

"Can you make this thing go any faster?"

"I'm trying, Sneeg!"

Charlie swerved the car in and around all obstacles, perfectly avoiding any sort of delay.

All the other cars around them were beeping with aggression, and Sneeg even caught some of them colliding with one-another, and the buildings around.

The car chasing them was getting closer, and closer, "hey uh Charlie, we really need to lose these guys!"

"Just- ugh, hang on!"

Charlie took a sudden right, almost crashing into a poll as he swerved around it. The car drove perfectly through an open gate and into a large empty space. There were white lines on the ground, a gut feeling in Charlie's mind telling him this was called a 'parking lot'.

The pair screamed as the car skidded along the asphalt, and just barely avoided crashing into a brick wall. They fought to catch their breath, as it seemed they had gotten away.

Charlie laughed, "WOOO! Holy shit man! Ha that was, that was- sick man how'd- ha!"

Sneeg, took in a deep breath, "okay let's, uhm let's, get out of this, thing then"

They decided to take shelter in the rather large metal building the parking lot surrounded. The building seemed abandoned, and they were relieved to find the little wooden door to be unlocked.

Sneeg piggy-backed Ranboo into the large building, before Charlie guided him into a little room he'd found. The room housed a few desks and filing cabinets, as well as a lot of dust, but it was tucked away, and overall felt secure.

As Sneeg rested Ranboo against the wall, Charlie sat down on one of the swivel chairs. "Sneeg, uh, we're gonna have to figure out what to do about food and water, at some point"

They had all refreshed twelve or so hours ago back at the little house, but it was true they'd need to find nutrients again sometime soon.

"I know Charlie, but we can't do much while Ranboo is asleep, so I say we rest for now and then figure out food when we wake up"

Charlie nodded, "yeah, yeah alright, but maybe one of us should keep watch"

"I'll go first, you get some rest, and I'll wake you up in a bit"

"Yeah, sounds good"

Sneeg's watch went mostly uneventful for the first couple hours, the room was peaceful as his friends slept under his guard. His mind was foggy as he tried to slip into bliss, but his head was overflowing with thoughts too much for him to handle, fractured memories lined with poison seeping into the cracks of his mind. He gently rubbed his temples as he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he tried to calm himself down, only for his heartbeat to rise again when he heard a clatter of metal echo from somewhere in the building.

With hesitation, Sneeg left the little room to go investigate, going towards where he believed the noise to be coming from. He was met with the sound of more scuffling, flinching, he tried to locate the source of the sounds.

His breathing became heavier, starting to hyperventilate as the sounds continued without a trace for their cause.

“Who’s there?” Sneeg asked before instantly regretting it, his eyes widening as he frantically looked around.

And then he saw it, a silhouette in the distance of the large space, a figure standing amongst old boxes and crates. They slowly moved closer, eventually becoming more visible in the gentle moonlight. They were dressed mostly in shades of grey, but wore a red vest, their hair was long and dark, and a rat-like mask was displayed over their face.

“No..” Sneeg muttered, as the rat got closer.

A second figure emerged, dressed similarly to the first but with a green vest, and wore an identical mask.

Neither of them said a word, they just kept moving forward. The first rat had a bounce in her step as the second moved in a much more casual way, causing Sneeg to start taking steps back.

He scrunched his shoulders as his breathing quickened, “stay back!” he exclaimed but it was no hope, the rats just got closer, and closer.

A hand landed on his shoulder, and he whipped around, his wide eyes meeting a familiar, worried gaze.

“Sneeg-? Is everything alright?” Charlie asked, as Sneeg struggled to calm down.

“There, over there! There’s-” when he looked back, the rats were gone, the space silent and eerie as the two looked around.

“What?”

“There- there were two, human rats, I-”

“Human, rats?” Charlie appeared puzzled as he looked around, “Sneeg what are you talking about?”

“The rats, you know.. the ones we saw in the- where we-”

“Sneeg..” Charlie returned his eyes back to his friend, “how about you get some rest, I’ll take over from here,” he offered.

Sneeg simply nodded, as he stumbled his way back to the little room. Ranboo was still sleeping soundly against the wall, their body peaceful despite everything that’s happened. Small amounts of blood stained the bandages that wrapped the lower part of their face and above the eyes. Scabs had begun to form along their wounds, the stitching helping the skin knit itself back together again.

Sneeg tried to find comfort in the simple fact that the physical wounds on all three of their bodies were starting to heal, and would for the most part leave nothing but little white lines behind. His ankle was hurting like hell, however, he really needed to stop walking on it. He found a little piece of scrap wood, and stuffed one end into the inner side of his shoe, before tucking it under the leg of his pants. The wood could function as a brace, to help his injury heal the right way.

And then he laid down on his back and tried to clear his mind as he closed his eyes.

Twelve hours later, the trio were on the move, they were on the desperate hunt for food and water. They opted to not use the car, finding it to be a little dangerous to use.

Charlie allowed Sneeg to lean on him to avoid putting too much stress on his ankle, as Ranboo took the lead as they journeyed through the streets. Ranboo had the most energy, was running on the most amount of sleep, thus leading him to be the most alert, at least in theory.

The strange, endless ceiling above was dark, and there thankfully weren’t too many people around, but the trio still drew an unwanted amount of attention towards themselves.

“Maybe we should get Ranboo a large hat or something,” Charlie suggested after quite a while of silence, “something to cover up the amount of bandages around his head?”

“I’m sure we could find something!” Ranboo said with far too much joy, given the situation.

Soon enough, they found themselves in a little shop lined with shelves and shelves of food and bottled drinks, but the trio were lacking a vital item; money.

"So, how do you guys feel about stealing?" Sneeg whispered.

Charlie shrugged, "well it's not like we really have a choice in the matter"

"Well, stealing can't be that bad!" It was hard to tell given the bandages, but with the way Ranboo’s eyes creased at the sides, Charlie and Sneeg could tell he was smiling.

"You're- awfully cheerful today, Ranboo," Charlie tilted his head as he eyed his friend.

Ranboo picked up a loaf of bread, "yep! It's just such a beautiful night! So peaceful and calm-"

Charlie and Sneeg looked at each other, before the latter responded, "right-"

"Buddy, are you feeling okay?" Charlie asked, and Ranboo simply looked at him, eyes still creased.

Ranboo continued further into the shop, swaying gleefully as they looked around, seeming to be without a care in the world.

Ranboo turned a corner, leading Charlie to drag Sneeg along, "let's not let Ranboo out of our sight"

Within a few minutes, the friends had grabbed a few items of food and bottles of water, now it was just a matter of getting out of there.

"Surely we could just run right?"

Sneeg shot Ranboo a look, "with my ankle like this? I'm barely walking with Charlie holding me up!"

Charlie sighed, "I hate to say it but I can't really think of anything else. Sneeg and I'll go first, I'll help him to walk out, get some distance, after about a minute, Ranboo can run out of the shop. We’ll meet around the corner we came from"

"Guess we might as well take a few items with us," Sneeg stated, stuffing a few items discreetly into his pockets, Charlie taking a small medical kit and putting it in his hip bag.

They made their way out with ease, but quickly made haste as to create some distance, knowing chaos will likely break loose when Ranboo runs out, clearly holding a lot of stuff.

Ranboo grabbed a fluffy brown trapper hat, placing it on his head to help cover the attention-drawing bandages, before grabbing the small pile of goods the trio had picked out. They opted to circle ‘round the side of the shop furthest from the counter, and as he drew closer to the door, they changed into a full-on sprint.

“HEY!” The person behind the counter shouted, as Ranboo took a hard left out the door, running to where Charlie had said to meet.

Shouts erupted as he ran down the path, almost crashing into several people as he darted along. He eventually turned the corner, where he saw Charlie poking his head out of an alleyway. “In here!”

Ranboo ran in, almost tripping over their own feet as they skid to a stop. Allowing himself to breathe, they placed the items on the ground.

“Great job, Ranboo!” Charlie cheared, placing a hand on his friends’ shoulder.

Sneeg looked up at Ranboo from where he sat against the wall, he was worried, something felt off.

“Phew, alright, now I don’t know about you but I’m starving!” Charlie said, sitting down on the alleyway flood and grabbing a bag of bread rolls.

Ranboo took a seat too, as the three began to fuel themselves on food.

By the time the sun was rising, the trio found themselves in a small forested area beside a park, the friends situating themselves among the trees. Charlie volunteered to take the first watch, and it wasn’t long before Ranboo fell asleep, Sneeg however, had other things on his mind.

“Charlie?”

Charlie looked over to where Sneeg was now sitting up, with a worried look on his face, “yea?”

“Don’t you think it’s strange, how you just *knew* how to use that large metal thing?”

“It’s- called a car-”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying, Charlie! How do you know that?”

“I- I’m not sure. But I remember, a mini car, like a toy, being pulled out of my stomach”

“You, what?”

“During the surgery”

“Dur- surgery?” Sneeg’s breathing began to pick up, his eyes widening a little.

“Uhm yea, Ranboo had to cut into me, while you were on the carousel”

“The, carous- the toy room”

“The what?”

“I- there was a toy room, and I remember seeing toy- cars too”

Charlie rang his hands together, looking down at the ground, “how long do you think, we were there? I mean, like you said, it’s weird that I knew how to use the car”

“It’s possible you used them before ending up in their game, or maybe you had to drive one for them at some point,” Sneeg offered.

“I didn’t think while using it, I just turned a key, pressed a button down by my feet-”

“Wait, a key?”

“Yeah”

“Where the hell did you get the key?”

“It was, already in the keyhole”

Sneeg’s eyes grew wider, “wait, that- that can’t be normal, you don’t think-”

“Surely- like, we did get away, right? We have escaped, haven’t we?”

Sneeg turned his head towards Ranboo, “wasn’t he acting strange earlier?”

“Yeah, all cheerful, like we were in the, show-”

Before anything else, the pair heard movement nearby, and they tensed. They remained silent, as the wind whistled through the trees, and they heard the light shuffling of feet.

Charlie straightened from where he was leaning against a tree, he was the most able to fight right now, so he grabbed a nearby large stick as he darted his eyes around the small forest.

“Who’s there?” he exclaimed, “I’m armed!”

It was a weak threat, but his eyes were brought to his side as he saw a person, with a green jacket and matching bucket hat, lunge at him with a bat.

Sneeg watched in terror, before noticing a woman in a red suit appear beside him.