Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The elevator door opened causing you to squint your eyes a little at the bright light. You finally made it back after who knows how long in ‘that’ world with Mr. Crawling right beside you. You asked him to come with you when you found the elevator, it felt wrong not to really…You didn’t know what he did before he met you but you guess he must have been really lonely considering he was willing to travel with you even after you hit him with a crowbar just because you asked him if he was alright after.

“Another world?” Mr. Crawling followed after you the moment you stepped outside.

“Me together with you! go to another world!”

You couldn’t help but smile at his enthusiasm, you initially were worried if anything would happen to him if he was to go to your world but it seemed like these entities can live up here.

“Yes, go to another world together.” The foreign sound rolled off your tongue, anyone hearing this would be very lost to what you are speaking. The language was still pretty confusing but you managed, Mr. Crawling can teach you more in the future.

Moving your eyes from Mr. Crawling, you took in all the scenery that you couldn’t see for so long. Trees, skies, buildings and normal people…you really have missed this, breathing in fresh air and not the smell of blood drying on those endless walls. As much as you liked some residents there, nothing can really compare to your world, your home.

“You go together me, me show you home.” Mr. Crawling happily giggled and trailed after you as you led the way. It’s best to get back to your normal life, your family and friends could very well be looking for you now, you don’t know how much time difference between the worlds had after all. Everything was unsurprisingly the same though, you knew you weren’t gone for that long for people to assume you’re dead.

You walked back to your apartment, it wasn’t anything fancy, a little bit too big for one person but it brought comfort that no other place can provide so you stick with it for years now since you moved out of your parent’s house.

It didn’t have a lot of people living there, some even called it abandoned due to how vacant it was. This is however very good to you because 1. You don’t like dealing with people, 2. It’ll be hard for you to get around when committing murder as you can’t be sure of their routine, you don’t take chances when it comes to being caught and 3. The owner of this apartment was unbothered, as long as you pay enough on time and doesn’t damage her property, she won’t bat an eye on your business.

Nobody seemed to notice the pale man with really long hair wearing some old kimono crawling behind you so you didn’t have to deal with people screaming and running away from you, one less weight of your shoulders. Mr. Crawling also behaved himself by being strangely quiet, you were expecting him to look around curiously while shouting out different things to you.

When you reached your front door, you opened it with the key you hid in the usual spot and let Mr. Crawling in, the inside was…clean? Did someone visit and clean your house for you? You don’t like people coming unannounced so the only people who have a spare key and know where you hide your main key are your parents and they don’t visit often. Strange…

“Home? You happy?” That high-pitched voice brought you back from your inner monologue, right. An intruder cleaning your house can be dealt with later now that you’re back, you have more important matters to handle.

“Home…Me happy, you hungry?”

There should be leftovers in the fridge but you doubt he can actually eat it, what do the residents eat? Human meat? Mr. Stitch wanted to eat you before, but they didn’t actively hunt humans based on your experience. The residents there see you more as an exotic animal, even though some were violent about it, it’s pretty clear that flesh is not their primary diet.

“Me not hungry.” Mr. Crawling still kept that bright smile on his face while he explored your house.

You let out a sigh of relief, you knew you’d have to go back to smashing people’s heads with a crowbar sooner or later now since you don’t have anything else to feed him but you really just want to sleep on your bed again after everything today. Speaking of which you somehow lost the crowbar you found in ‘that’ world. Maybe you can’t take things from there?

“Me rest, you rest?” You also don’t want to have him staring at you or doing anything stupid while you sleep, it’s better if he gets some rest too, he probably doesn't need it like you but he was always guarding you while you were unconscious so he deserved a break.

“Rest! Rest! Together! Together!”

“At least he’s in character again…”

The moment you plop down on your bed after taking a shower and contacting the ones that are worried about you, you almost blacked out completely, all your muscles have melted against the familiar warmth of the sheets.

“Me you rest together! Goodnight!”

Mr. Crawling seemed happy laying beside you so you let him be. You’re satisfied with the warm welcome the house brought you, you’ll go back to your work tomorrow, now all there is in this world is you and Mr. Crawling on your bed.

“Goodnight.”

***

Your eyes fluttered open when you felt the bed shifted, the instinct of a serial killer never left you despite being home. Though at least you got a good sleep, no weird dreams like last time. Mr. Crawling was laying on top of your leg, staring at you.

“You awake!”

“Morning to you too Mr. Crawling.” You groaned and sat up, blinking away your drowsiness.

Morning routines aren’t always interesting, personal hygiene, breakfast, clothes, all that boring stuff. Didn’t change much now you got a ghost watching, at least he understood that you closing the door without letting him in meant you don’t want him to follow.

Grabbing your bag, you stopped before the door and turned back at him still kneeling on the floor, waiting for you to continue so that he can follow you.

“Me go, you stay.”

His change of expression said enough for you, it’s usually those words that come after…

“You alone unsafe! Me you go together!”

Yeah…That’s the one…

“I will be fine, erm…me safe, another world safe. Me come back later” That should convince him. Hopefully.

After another exchange of protests and reassurances, he finally complied with a very much sad face. He can feel bad all he wants, if you could stay you would have done it a long time ago. It’s gonna be a long day today…

Chapter Text

“Where have you been {…}? We thought you really were abducted by ghosts!”

“Haha, I told you there are no ghosts there, I just wanted to play a prank on you guys. Well, serve you right for always teasing me.”

“Not fun {…}! Not fun!”

You forget how annoying humans can be. Your headache was even worse now that you’re back to this hell of a workplace, hearing your name only made it rang harder. Now you remembered why you accepted their dare of going to “that” place. It’s not even a lie, you did plan to not see them for a few days, taking a break from any human interaction.

Growing up, manners were directly drilled into your brain by your parents so you got used to being a friendly, kind and cute girl that got along with everyone. Only god knows how much you want to bash their head open right now and feed them to Mr. Crawling.

You reluctantly hold back from acting on your emotions, not because you’re a good girl and think that violence is not the answer (you would have replied to that comment with: “You’re right, it’s the solution.”) but because there are cameras in the hall you are standing. Even if there wasn’t, you couldn’t guarantee that someone wouldn’t happen to pass by.

You quickly excused yourself to catch up with work. Since going missing was your plan at the beginning, some of it was completed beforehand. Thank god for that kind of thinking of yours, your horrible boss won’t have a reason to fire you now.

The area you lived in isn't the best one in the city. It was mostly clean and jobs paid a good amount, sure but the security was lax, most residents were assholes, some even dangerous, and the living and workplace environment sucked. When you bought that flat, you had to fight tooth and nail for it since it was the bestseller. In short, normal people won’t choose this place to live.

All of that was, however, perfect for you. So while you’d complain about your job everyday in your mind, you knew you wouldn’t move away or change anything.

The clock out sound filled your heart with bliss. Time to kick some butts!

You went to a safe spot where you prepared everything before hunting. The last time you went ghost hunting, you dressed up as an innocent high school girl to lure people, with your small build, it worked quite a few times. Whether they got ill intentions or were actually worried about you, it doesn’t matter, drag them into an abandoned building and consider the job done.

That wasn’t the only method you went for, murderers who only have one preference are the ones that get caught first.

Your favorite way of killing was of course “Phantom in the raincoat”, it rained a lot here so that identity was used often. Blood would be washed away by the rain and evidence used in that style is all easy to get rid of. It wasn’t raining today though, going with another style it is.

You decided kidnapping and killing right away would save the most time. Wouldn’t want to make a certain “lady” wait!

“Hehe, what a gentlewoman I am.” Was all you said before knocking a guy unconscious.

***

You didn’t know how big of an eater Mr. Crawling will be so you only stuffed one guy in the bag you prepared. If he doesn’t finish all of it, you can always go to that magical dumping ground where the bodies always somehow puff out of existence.

Before you twist the doorknob, your attention shifts to the mailbox under the doorbell. Nobody sends letters anymore nowadays to be honest, but still…

“Either actual letters, flyers or just merely du—ueeEEAauUst!!!—“ You stared at those familiar eyes in shock after your shaky scream “—Mr. Gap?!”

“Hello, you give heart?”

For a moment you thought you were hallucinating, but it makes more sense the more you think about it. Mr. Gap can appear anywhere as long as it was a suitable gap.

You were hoping you might meet the residents again in the future but this was a little too fast!

The man peeking out of the mailbox stayed patient to your internal panic and repeated “You give heart?”

“I’m so happy you’re here Mr. Gap! Oh heart! Right. Erm…You want another heart?”

You almost declined him out of habit, but you have a heart now, quite literally.

He frowned at your words which left you a bit confused, didn’t he want a heart? Does he specifically want your heart?

“Not want another heart?”

“Another not say yes”

“Not say…yes? Oh! Did you mean they didn’t agree to their heart being taken? Don’t worry, erm…Another gives me heart!” Not willingly but who cares about the details.

He didn’t seem to know any wiser, his smile came back ten times brighter and he happily accepted the unlucky guy’s heart.

“You give me heart, thank you!”

He then disappeared without a trace again. That guy always strangely cares about consent for some reason, not in a bad way at least.

“If Mr. Gap can visit here on his own…Then can the others too?” You mumbled before opening the door to greet Mr. Crawling who was waiting for you.

“Hello! Hello! You come back!”

“Hello. Me bring food, you hungry?”

You took out the flesh and attempted to prepare it for Mr. Crawling, you never committed cannibalism but immediately feeding it to him didn’t feel right, some parts were inedible if you remember correctly. Despite being super careful with the task, your mind currently was still thinking about how the other residents can possibly come here, maybe…through that elevator? Can you go back and forth between worlds using that elevator? Should you…go back there tomorrow?

Chapter Text

The thought lingered from when you ate dinner with Mr. Crawling to when you laid on the bed again. Mr. Crawling surprisingly didn’t even eat more than half of the body so you put some in the fridge in case he gets hungry again, it should not start decaying while in a cold environment until tomorrow night.

Mr. Crawling climbed on the bed and moved closer to you to put his head on your lower parts, similar to what he did earlier when you sat on the couch to scroll on your phone, laying on your legs was probably his favorite position now.

With him curled up on you, it kinda reminded you of the cat you had back when you were in middle school before it ran away, guess the urge to pat him was also due to that reason. You were too tired to control the hand that unconsciously reached out to put on his hair and stroke it a bit. The tangled parts of his hair got stuck on your fingers, you probably should have washed him up before, his hair definitely needed some cleaning but the feeling of it was something else.

“Mr. Crawling…Your hair is so…soft?” How?! The touch was feather-like similar to those stray animals with overgrown hair that despite being dirty and messy was very nice to pet. It took you many online tutorials and tips to get your hair to feel just like this! Was this a ghost’s privilege? If so then how unfair!

Your actions clearly made him happy when you heard his iconic giggle.

“Pat! Pat!” He moved his head closer to your hand. “You pat me! Me happy!”

Your jealousy didn’t last long, he really was too vulnerable with you. Other residents were at least a little wary of you or just didn’t care when you first met them but him? Man lost all survival instincts and even offered to protect you, was it because you look cute? Either way, you were glad you met him, he really fulfilled his role as a great guardian to you.

You continued to pat him for a moment before going back to the earlier thought, the elevator…It’s a bad idea really…Not the worst one you had but it’s dangerous nonetheless. You could get trapped in the other world again and lose your head this time. Even so, it wouldn’t hurt to try, you escaped many hostile residents before and this time you were even more experienced, though tomorrow may be too soon, you need to make preparations…

Curiosity kills the cat they say, but hopefully the satisfaction that comes with it would bring you back from the dead. You let yourself relax and drift off to sleep.

***

The amount of flesh in the fridge did not decrease, you thought Mr. Crawling was just shy of eating too much in front of you but now you guess he was just a small eater. You took note of this for your future hunts, if you can calculate what he can eat with parts you’d give to Mr. Gap then hiding the bodies would be so much easier now. Who knew there were so many benefits of having a great roommate and a friendly mailman!

Now, back to the main point, the plan for investigating the interdimensional portal disguised as a type of modern transportation, however, you currently don’t have unfortunately…You’re not even sure if it would still be there when you come back which you highly doubt it will. If that elevator had always been there then some residents would have dominated this place by now. You witnessed what most can do, especially that weird red guy you called “Mr. Scarletella”…In fact, he already claimed the “Ghost Apartments” as his playground.

Who really was he anyway? From the rumors, you knew that he won’t allow anyone to escape his game but he didn’t attack you at all during your 2 encounters. Whatever that was about, you really hope that you won’t see him again, too risky…

“{…}! Do you want to go karaoke with us after work? The new place sells really nice drinks there.” You looked at the direction of the voice and saw that it was from a girl of the same department as you.

“Ah, no thanks. I’m busy.”

Politely declining sounded like the best choice now. If you go back late Mr. Crawling might be worried again, the last thing you want is him escaping from the house to go find you.

“Aww, maybe next time?…Anyway, do you know anything about the ghost child?”

“The…what?”

“Recently some say they heard a high-pitched laugh whenever they passed through a certain alley down the street but when they looked around there was nobody there. The sound felt like it belong to a young girl so they just assumed it was a spirit of a kid—“ The girl got closer and lowered her voice— “Some even theorized that the little soul must have been neglected when she was alive, now she will force anyone to entertain her and dispose them when she got bored.”

“I see…”

Horror stories and myths were nothing new in this area, people got their own fair share of spooks every now and then. Very rarely will it be true so you thought someone was just making up stuff.

“Must be a random kid playing with themselves…” You muttered on the walk back to your apartment.

The sun has already set to leave the sky a dark blue color, the sound of vehicles could be heard in the distance along with the rustling of trees, the view of your apartment was a few blocks ahead. It’s summer but the weather was chilly, the cold spread around your body as the wind picked up. A shiver run down your spine at the sudden drop of temperature on your elbow—

“You! Me know you! Invite play!” A chuckle followed after those seemingly innocent words.

Your head almost went 360 at how fast you turned around to the young resident grabbing your arm. It was the one from before you went back to the elevator!

“H-hooded Child? You were the ghost kid? Wait, Mr. Chopped?!”

The goat girl was still in possession of your old friend. With one hand occupied, she used the other to hold harshly at his scalp. Mr. Chopped hair was all messed up, bruises covered face with blood dripping from his head and he looked like he passed out due to exhaustion.

“You know them? Want play! Play! Play!”

“Oh god…What did you put him through?!” That was straight up abuse and torture! For someone who only had their head left as well! Mr. Chopped was nothing but friendly to you and someone has the audacity to put him in this much misery?

During this thought of yours, you totally forgot you told yourself that you only met him once and left him to be like this, but that was for future you to deal with.

“You worry them. You me play together, me give them!”

“…You! You!” You took a deep breath, getting him back should be your first priority now. “Fine. What kind of game do you want to play?”

The little girl looked pleased with your answer and shouted “Me want chase! Catch me! Catch me!” Before letting go of your arm and sprint away.

“Catch? So she wants to play ‘tag’ with me? Alright, let’s do this.”

Knowing your goal, you ran after her at full speed.

She held Mr. Chopped up in the air and dashed into a random alley, you followed right after. Hooded Child was flexible and swift with her movements through the dark and narrow path, accurately avoiding any dead ends.

You being a local was a big advantage though. Knowing shortcuts and hidden passage, you quickly cut down the distance one by one until she was right in front of you.

You were so close, a little more and you could save Mr. Chopped! Right here and right now. Just need to touch her then everything would be over, you reach out your hand and—

An empty path replaced where Hooded Child had been as your hand contacted nothing but air.

“You slow! Not catch me three, me not give them!” Her laugh echoed all the way to your location.

You turned around and caught her standing on a pipe all the way on the other end of the alley.

“What the—Did you just teleport? How does that make me slow?! I can’t compete with that!”

But your words and efforts were wasted as she jumped down and started running again, you only have two tries left before she vanishes again so you picked up the pace. This time you tried another tactic and attempted to surprise her by turning at a different corner before changing paths so that you’ll meet her at the intersection, she must have heard you last time to disappear before you got the chance to touch her.

If your calculations were correct then she would be…There! You jumped at her with your arms fully stretched out in hopes to catch her, this time she won’t expect you coming from the side, or so you thought.

You tripped and fell down, scratching your knees with the high friction. Success didn’t come to you this time either…You got closer than last time but she still managed to escape. Now she was standing even further away!

“At this rate, I will never be able to win…” You couldn’t give up now, Mr. Chopped’s safety all depended on you. Losing to a literal kid? Pathetic.

Game plan, game plan. Maybe getting close to her won’t work, you need to stop her from moving so fast. You sprinted with all your might to her but stopped just when you thought it was an appropriate distance. You crouched down to pick up a rock, closed your eyes then stood back for more momentum and threw it in her direction.

A yelp and the sound of crashing followed up.

You opened your eyes to look at where Hooded Child was, her face planted to the ground with Mr. Chopped rolling not far from her. This was your one and only chance!

When she tried to get up from the ground, you were already right next to her and put your palm on her head.

“Me catch you, you give them.”

You thought that you were on a different street based on how much chasing you gave but when you looked, you could still see your apartment not too far away, it was just that you were too focused on the game to notice that both of the players were running in circles.

You went and picked up Mr. Chopped just in case she took him again, his face scrunched up in pain at the feeling of your hand despite you being as gentle as possible. You stepped back a little the moment Hooded Child got on her feet, she clutched her head where a bright red swelling popped up between her fur, likely caused by the impact with the rock. Her usual smile was gone, replaced with a frown and tears brimmed eyes, you didn’t know goats have muscles that enable facial expression.

“You hurt me! You _____! You bad! Bad! Me hate you!” More drops of water flowed down her eyes the more she wailed at you.

Did that word mean something like [cheat]? Now that was an accusation! In your defense, she was already cheating from the beginning. Everyone knows humans can’t magically catch up with a mythical creature that can poof from one place to another. Dirty play requires dirty win.

The goat girl obviously didn’t think so, her cries only got louder and louder to the point you felt your eardrums almost ripping. If you continue to stay, you’ll surely be deaf or pass out because of the pain so immediately you backed out. She wiped her eyes with a lot of force between sobs and directed a glare at you, her good mood earlier clearly gone now and she looked more mad than ever.

“…Me want play. You catch me, you win. Me catch you. You get away, you win.”

Now it seems like Hooded Child was “It”, she dashed towards you with the same rock in her hands and stopped a few feet away.

“SHIT—“ You ducked down and rolled to get more space between you and her, the object flew over you and created small cracks on the wall that it hit. That could have been your head instead—“Too close! Personal space please!”

Hugging Mr. Chopped closer, you got out of the alleys and ran to the direction of your apartment. Hooded Child was determined to kill you now and she too followed your way. You could see the entrance to your house on the first floor and decided to use all the strength you had to climb up the stairs with lightning speed, if you can find Mr. Crawling then he will protect you from this murderous young goat. Was it hope or adrenaline that was trying to tell you to survive at all cost?

Hooded Child didn’t let you slide though, she teleported up ahead to face you with a knife in her hands. Now how did the child pull that out of thin air? Running away wasn't an option now, she’ll block you again, maybe even let you crash into her weapon.

With nowhere to go, you considered pushing your luck just jumping down from where you were standing to at least gain some space or find a way to defend but before you could act, a hand tugged at one of Hooded Child’s ear and pulled her up into the air which caused her to shriek loudly and drop the knife.

“Mr. Crawling!” You took back what you said, you were extremely happy that he found his way out of the house to go and find you.

Reaching from the other side of the safety bar, Mr. Crawling mouth curved downward when he looked at the goat girl, guess you were gone for a long time for him to be here right now. A lot of people didn’t smile as much today for some reasons. The little girl was still crying, desperately trying to get the hand off her ears.

“They hurt you, they bad.” Ignoring the deafening scream of the child, he grabbed the other ear, swung and let go for her to fall down from the first floor. You winced at the sound of body hitting the hard surface, that probably hurt.

You looked down to see Hooded Child on the ground the second time that day, she struggled to sat up but eventually did. You thought she might want to attack you again but she just stared at you for a while then vanished. It seemed like she didn’t want to get manhandled again.

Now that the troublesome kid was gone, a hand gently held and turned your head to Mr. Crawling, he moved his head around to check for any injuries on your body. “You hurt? Me worried…”

“I’m fine, I only scratch my knees for not being careful. Thank you for saving me Mr. Crawling.” You offered him a smile, he returned it with one of his own. “You not hurt! Me glad!”

He looked down at the unconscious head in your arms but didn’t say anything, both of you knew that it’s best to discuss this later, you would patch Mr. Chopped up soon but now you just want to go home.

Chapter Text

It was that guy again, he’s been following you. Everywhere you went there were always traces of him, from random appearances of umbrellas to him staring at you from afar. Why he was there, you didn’t know. He never got close but you noticed him visiting more frequently these past few weeks.

His presence didn’t make you feel anything like comfort, quite the opposite, bringing you goosebumps at the mere sight of him. It made you paranoid, were you going crazy that you started seeing things? Were you becoming like those famous unstable mental health criminals in books or TV shows?

The man with a red umbrella. An urban legend, a fictional character, a monster wearing human skin, a red umbrella. A red umbrella. A red—

Your eyes shot open, feeling the familiar weight on your bed and the image of your ceiling becoming clearer as you blink a few times. You felt cold all over despite sweats formed on your forehead making strands of hair stick onto it.

“A nightmare…” It felt a little too real, too detailed, like a small piece of event that happened before but you couldn’t set up a whole picture of it.

How frustrating, your memory has been becoming better since you came back but life didn’t let you have the first few days in peace. You got so much to settle and some dream that seemed important entered your list of problems, of all the times it could’ve chosen.

“You awake?” You felt the long haired man shifting above the covers, now facing you with a smile.

“Me awake.”

What happened the day before was vague due to your tiredness. The events came together one by one as you tried to recall, the horrible game with that demonic kid and Mr. Crawling saving you. When you safely went home, you only cleaned the blood and wrapped up Mr. Chopped head along with putting on some bandages at the cuts. You then let him rest on a pillow in the living room before collapsing on the bed.

You hissed when you felt your knee throbbed, you didn't take care of it which made the wound turn into an ugly dark purple color on your skin, Hooded Child really caused you some trouble but now you only cared about Mr. Chopped’s condition.

You were thinking about taking a day off today from work, though you need a solid reason with evidence to fully convince your boss, you’ll phone him later.

There are still more bruises that need to be applied with cold pressure and wrap up before you can deem him ok to heal on himself so you got up to go check on him, Mr. Crawling went with you like always.

Mr. Chopped was still sleeping when you reached him but fortunately his expression didn’t signify as much pain as yesterday.

“You know them?” Mr. Crawling finally asked the question that needed answers from yesterday.

“Yes, them friend,” You paused. “Them need rest, you take care of them, me look for…erm…object? Object recover.” Jeez, you like the simplicity of the language but it certainly needs more vocabulary.

Luckily, Mr. Crawling was a considerate person who agrees without questioning you unless necessary. After making sure Mr. Chopped was comfortable, you made your way to the fridge to grab some ice cubes.

It was only then you noticed that the human meat didn’t change again, did Mr. Crawling not eat at all yesterday? You planned on having him finish all of it after you came back from work but you were distracted with getting Mr. Chopped back. He knew how to access the food right? You’ll ask him later, it’s better to get rid of it before it starts to rot.

You quickly took what you needed and did your best to create many hand-made ice packs using ice cubes put in plastic bags wrapped with towels. The two ghosts were in their same position when you returned, you carefully put the ice packs on where the injuries were and kept them in place with your hand.

After around 15 minutes or so, you assumed it’s enough and put the packs away. Safe to say his face looked a lot better now that the purple mark faded. You were relieved that you don’t have to worry about him as much anymore, but only for that worry to be transferred to a possibly starved ghost.

“You hungry? You not consume…body me bring.” You looked at him expectantly, did the residents not like flesh?

“Me Cannot. Not ask you, me wait.” He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Not…? Oh for god’s sake…” Didn’t he know that it was for him to eat? You honestly didn’t mind if he screamed at you for food but if you have to manually say yes to him every time then there’s gonna be problems, you don’t want him to be malnourished if you forgot one day.

“Body for you, you can consume, not need ask.” Mr. Crawling gave you a surprised look which also made you feel at a loss, he really didn’t know that was for him?

That expression slowly turned into a grin before you heard him laugh again.

“Body for me, me grateful! Grateful!” Excitement got the better of him and went closer to give you a hug, you couldn’t hold back a sigh from that and reach out to pat him, your life really has more color with him in it.

Just when you got him off to go prepare the illegal food and call your boss, you heard a thud from next to you. You turned your head to find Mr. Chopped lying on the floor, when did he wake up? You thought he might panic because of the strange location but usually he’s more vocal than this. Maybe facing the floor made him unable to do that.

“Mr. Chopped?” You walked to him and reached out your hand to turn him over. “Are you ooOOKA—Ah!”

You looked where your fingers were supposed to be and saw teeth sunk deep into it drawing blood.

“OW! HEY! MR. CHOPPED?!”Was he unaware of who you were that he attacked right away?

The force of his bite was not a small one, you felt sharp pain in the joints where his teeth dug the deepest, the crimson warm liquid was still oozing out of the marks.

It almost ripped off your fingers if it weren’t for your fast reaction of trying to pride open his jaw and pull them out with the help of Mr. Crawling being right next to you the moment you screamed.

Now Mr. Crawling was holding Mr. Chopped firmly in his hand to prevent any more unwanted injuries.

“Them hurt you! Unsafe! Not friend! Kill them!”

“Put down! Me not want carry!”

They both struggled against each other while you clutched your hand close to you, the blood already dirtied the floor with little red spots but you ignored it to calm the long haired man down.

“Mr. Crawling, I’m sure it’s a mistake. Will not kill them, them not hostile, them surprise. Put down them, you go out? Me want communicate.”

He looked at you with disapproval but stayed quiet and compiled for you to do what you want. He let Mr. Chopped laid on the couch pillow again and slowly backed away but still maintained a close eye on the head which turned into a short staring contest between them.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”You turned to the ginger head “Mr. Chopped, it’s me. You okay?”

He should be able to recognize your voice right? Well, yeah but not really, he did stop paying attention to Mr. Crawling’s figure going somewhere else and turning to you but that wasn’t a “Oh! It’s you!” look but a “Oh. It’s you…” one.

Why was he so mad? His anger seemed to be directed at you for some reason.

“You angry? Why troubled?”

Mr. Chopped’s eyes widened in surprise as if what you said was outrageous. You were even more confused at that, but his next sentence reminded you what happened.

“You abandon me! Them play, me hurt, need help, you not help! You leave!”

Oh. Right…Now isn’t this the consequences of your own actions.

“Hate you! You not good! Bad! Bad!”

The head man finished with a huff and attempted to what you assumed as a normal person crossing their arms and turning away. You kind of got Deja Vu from the word choices.

While you did rescue him from the goat kid, you couldn’t blame Mr. Chopped for hurting you when you left him to fend for himself before that. At that time, you totally have the ability to get him back but choose not to, mainly since you wanted to get back as soon as possible with that elevator, what if it disappears on you? What you did was necessary for your survival but in the eyes of someone who trusted you, it was pure betrayal.

Excuses would only add fuel to the fire so you went for the safest and most appropriate option that will definitely make your parents proud.

“Mr. Chopped, I’m—I mean, me abandon you, you correct. Me bad friend, sorry…” An apology is like a magical bandage that heals most wounds, key word: most.

He didn’t even spare you a glance, let alone listen to you. Not the best outcome but you did expect this, if you were in his shoes you probably wouldn’t hold back and bite off all the fingers already.

“Not need forgive, me bad. You need recover, let me help you.”

“…”

Oh no…Not the silence treatment. You couldn’t guess what he was thinking if he went quiet like that and it made things even more awkward.

The worst part in all of this was that you didn’t know how to bring him back to the other world, Mr. Silvair was probably worried sick about him when he couldn’t find his friend/roommate anywhere. Or maybe not? Did Mr. Silvair see Mr. Chopped as a lab rat like he saw you?

“You take me from them?” The head man suddenly spoke, making your brain take a few seconds to register what he said.

“What? You mean from the kid? Uh…Them find me, we play, me win. Take you from them, them angry, attack me, me get away, them make them disappear.” You pointed at Mr. Crawling, who was still keeping his guard on with the head on the pillow, hopefully this will reduce the tension between them.

“I see.” Mr. Chopped seemed like he was debating with his inner demons after hearing the bizarre story.

You stayed patient to show respect, however the true voice in your head knew you were getting nervous. What was going on in that brain of his? He was usually easy to read because of how expressive he was but now he looked in deep thoughts similar to Mr. Silvair, who always leaves you at a loss with his love for researching like it was his air and actions at times. Quite funny, isn’t it?

You didn’t know that in reality, Mr. Chopped was considering the situation right now. He wasn’t blind or stupid enough to not see the bruise on your knee and think that the kid would just suddenly let him go easily so the fact that you went all the way to save him was enough to calm him down. Of course this information is only for the people outside of the present timeline to know. Now the question is why didn’t you do it before? Why wait until now to get him back?

“Why you leave?” He spared you of any more pressure and broke the silence.

“Me find another world…Miss home, desire return home, afraid not enough time. Not help you, sorry.”

Mr. Chopped seemed to be considering your answer again.

“Me…understand miss home.” A one second pause “Me angry but…me forgive you.”

“Mr. Chopped…” You shook your head “Not need forgive, me bad.”

“Me forgive, we friend.” That was the final judgement made by him.

You didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, you were happy he wasn’t that mad at you any more, sure but he just let you go like this? Maybe he really was that innocent…Oh, Mr. Chopped, whatever would you do with him? How can someone be so stubborn and nice at the same time? By your understanding of him, he probably made up his mind in the matter so you would follow his wishes.

“Me glad, can me carry you?”

“You can.”

You got closer to him at the approval and held him up with the uninjured hand, he finally met your eyes with a small guilty look.

“Hurt you, sorry.”

“You surprise, me not angry. Me hurt you, you hurt me, we equal”

Well, it was only fair, these types of wounds would leave a scar, maybe they only do to remind people to never make the same mistake again. You could wrap the fingers up like what you did to him and notice the bite mark from time to time in the future.

“Me want you not leave again!” His usual demanding self appears to have returned as well.

You could only smile at those words, it’s been almost a decade since anyone had said something similar like that to you.

“Me not leave.”

“Promise?” His tone was full of uncertainty, that’s Mr. Chopped for you, always so bold in making requests but also shy when he wasn’t sure if what he asked was too much.

“Promise.”

His eyes instantly brightened up and he offered you a wide smile, guess you have a new roommate for the time being. You never made any serious promise with anyone since the chance of you breaking them are too high but you would make an exception this time, for one of the first people (or rather ghosts) you see as friends.

This one would be kept, you would make sure of that.

Chapter Text

“Hair pretty! Me like!” Mr. Chopped looked attentively at his reflection in the mirror.

“Fun? Cute? Me pretty??”

You readjusted the red ribbon you tied on his braid, now looking tidy and well taken care of with your amazing skills.

“You cute, much pretty!”

You turned your focus to his face and wondered if that grin could get any bigger, at this point, the head was just looking for praises and was taking advantage of your indulgence. Though what did he think of the whole thing you did?

“You like this?”

“This fun! Happy! Happy! Me want again!”

“Not now, Future.”

“Alright!”

“Me want hair pretty too! Want you touch hair!”

Seemed like the guy who was lying on your legs while you took care of Mr. Chopped waited long enough. You grabbed the comb with one hand and the other pushed the head on the pillow out of the way.

“Alright, come here.”

You didn’t know how things managed to progress to this point and neither did anyone reading so let’s start from where we left off.

After the apologizing session, you took care of your own injuries, phoned your boss and had breakfast with your roommates like you intended. When you were done, Mr. Chopped asked you to do his hair which Mr. Crawling also joined in to convince you to do the same for him.

In the end, you found you couldn’t decline and since you were free for the day, might as well make the most of it and scrub them spotless. By that you meant providing an all-inclusive, free of charge, somewhat decent quality salon in the bathtub.

“Water container?” Mr. Chopped asked while lying in the abdomen of the taller man who barely fit into the tub, Mr. Crawling secured the head in place with his hands, very careful to not let the head drown.

“Me want take care of hair, not understand language? Hair! Hair!”

“Them say hair, understand?”

You saw Mr. Crawling working as a replacement for the hand that was usually with Mr. Chopped and pointed at the flowing ginger hair in the water.

Those two went from foes to friends real fast huh? As a matter of fact, they even kept each other company while you were talking on the phone. It was definitely good to know that Mr. Crawling wouldn’t suffer from loneliness with you always being busy at work. Hopefully it meant less trouble and not more…

You started on the head first, he was in contact with the ground almost 24/7 and there were even tiny pebbles stuck in between the strands. Although very annoying to remove, it was surprisingly fun and really made you feel like a true professional, you even applied a face mask on him.

“What this?”

“Make face pretty!”

“I see.”

He looked visibly relaxed more than ever at the clarification, at least that proved your home-made salon was up to his standards. The little guy was strangely a bit obsessive of being pretty, actually it wasn’t strange, you loved being called cute as well. Yet, honestly you were holding back a laughing fit because of how funny the face mask looked covering his face.

“Pfft—Oh, Mr. Chopped…So silly!”

You put him on a clean towel to dry and let the mask do its magic before moving on to the other man whose hair could be compared to Rapunzel, oh boy was it a lot of work. So much in fact that by the time you’re done with him, Mr. Chopped already fell asleep peacefully if not for you pulling the mask off suddenly which shocked him awake.

What happened next was pretty basic, you settled on the bean bag in the living room and decorated the head with your accessories like young girls would with their dolls, except that the doll only has its head left, wouldn’t it makes Mr. Crawling a super large human size one then? You shook the weird comparison away and focused on the current task at hand.

The last bit of intertwined locks got untangled under the strokes of your brush which deemed your work finished. You took a breath at how much you did today, this was even more tiring than when you took care of your grandparents during their visits. Your arm felt like jello due to how much you were moving it constantly for a long period of time and you had to wipe the sweats away even with the air conditioner turned on.

You turned to notice Mr. Crawling admiring himself in front of the mirror, looking at it from every possible angle. You were not sure how he could see without any eyes still you giggled at such a cute action, if Mr. Chopped had a body then would he do the same? That would be entertaining.

“Happy? This fun?”

“Fun!”

“I’m glad.”

Mr. Crawling got back to his original position on your legs, bringing the head to lay down with the both of you. You let your body relax in the bean bag, the texture provided just enough firmness for your back. Now that was some good stuff, you knew it was a good idea to buy this!

Though that statement made you feel like an old lady with elderly problems, well you had an adorable face so it didn’t matter.

You rested your eyes to let the two ghosts chat on their own for the moment.

“Them carry me here, me hate them! Them play me!” He ranted. “Them bad! Not want them come again!”

Mr. Crawling nodded with understanding, he then laughed and said proudly “Me make them go away! Not need worry!”

Mr. Chopped hummed as a thank you for it, he had a great time today, staying with you has been his greatest decision yet! His hair felt nice, his face looked shinier, he met another friendly person who won’t hurt him, anyone hostile wouldn’t be able to pick him up so easily now! He definitely should visit you more often in the future, after he reunites with the hand of course. It was very nice to know he had people who cared about and adored him just like…like…

“You ok? You sad, troubled?” Mr. Crawling, noticing his frown, said worryingly.

He patted the head while tugging lightly at your shirt to grab your attention. Hearing the tone of his voice, you perked up almost immediately and went to pick up the disembodied head. You tried inspecting for anything that might have caused the sudden discomfort in the head but found none. That unfortunately wasn’t a good sign and it made you panic slightly inside, what was possibly wrong?

“Problem? We help you, not need worry” You placed your hand on the ginger hair and ruffled it affectionately, hopefully that would make him feel better to talk to you.

Mr. Chopped leaned into the comforting touch of your palm, now even that felt familiar. He considered his words before replying.

“Me miss friend, like them, want find them, be together with them. You help look for them?”

You felt puzzled for a moment then realized that he was talking about his former roommate, he was, right? That would make a lot of sense, you could always see a strong bond between them. It has been quite some time since he came here and no doubt the researcher would have gone out to find the head if he was gone for too long.

Though Mr. Chopped was in your world while Mr. Silvair's whereabouts was unknown, how could they meet each other?

“Me…not know where them, not know how find, sorry. Me think how.”

Mr. Chopped’s expectant expression turned into that of disappointment yet he still replied with understanding: “Not your fault, me think too.”

Locating Mr. Silvair would not be that easy, either he was still in “that” world or he somehow got here similar to how Hooded Child and Mr. Chopped did. Was it that elevator again? Everything just linked to it which was indeed suspicious. One of these days you’re going back there to investigate but you have to focus on this for now.

“How you got here?” If the goat-headed kid travels with him the entire time then you could start from there.

“Not know…Me not awake.”

Well that sucks…Damn Hooded Child. Another possibility was maybe the child teleported here, each resident usually has unique abilities that defy the standard logic you were familiar with. Then Mr. Silvair was unlikely to be in your world, though this discovery just made the situation even more hopeless!

You sighed at the thought, you’d need someone else who has a similar power to pinpoint where Mr. Silvair was and narrows your finding circle and you doubt Hooded Child would do you a favor after what happened.

“Someone who can travel between worlds or appear wherever they want…Wait…Oh! I got it!” You held the head in your hands with excitement. “Me know someone can help! Let me ask them!”

Mr. Chopped brightened up immediately.“Who? Who?” He shouted and watched as you ignored him and rummaged through drawers and inspected different corners of the house.

Mr. Crawling at this point was content with being an actual ghost and stayed out of the conversation. He didn’t know who this “them” you were looking for was or who this new “them” you mentioned was either, still he believed your judgement of them being friendly and therefore didn’t interrupt.

You pulled open a cabinet and smiled in relief at who you were looking for.

“Hello! You g—“

“Mr. Gap! we need find someone, you help?”

The man peeking out from the cabinet was caught off guard from your question, he took a look at the other ghosts in the room for a moment as if considering your request before answering

“Find who?”

“Them good person, long hair! Like research! You help?” Mr. Chopped took the initiative before you could and popped up from your arms, he stared at the newcomer, hopefulness was full on his face.

Despite the brief description, Mr. Gap seemed to recognize the person as his face turned from recalling, shocked and… “you serious?” look.

“Me know them, them think me unsafe, afraid them not want communicate.”

“Uh…Tell them we look for them! Me give another heart previously!”

Mr. Gap averted his eyes and weighed the pros and cons, was it worth meeting that creepy guy again? He might want to get rid of him this time for real. However if he doesn’t agree then would you ask him for more in the future? Now he kind of regrets accepting that heart.

“Ok forget that, pretend it was a sample! How about this…”

Sensing his hesitation, you sought out for a deal instead with him. For an absolutely cheap price of finding your friend, you would get him whatever organ he wanted, a full body or other body parts was also on the market. Eventually after an almost full blown argument to convince him, you cornered him with no escape at the appealing payment and he reluctantly said yes to assist you.

“Me help…Need time, wait.”

“Thank you! Grateful! Grateful!” Mr. Chopped was vibrating in your hold, you put a palm on his hair to calm him down and smiled at Mr. Gap.

He rolled his eyes at you then vanished, leaving behind a dark gap in the cabinet.

“We wait, rest now.” You told the two residents and headed towards the door, You trusted Mr. Gap, it would be better to leave the matter to him at this time. Mr. Crawling followed you back into your room where you put Mr. Chopped on one of the pillows and laid down, waiting for the black haired man to occupy the space on your legs. You would wait, it was no good to rush things, despite the clear unevenness in your breathing as you thought of what if he couldn’t do it, you could always seek another way. All there was to do was wait patiently.

***

Nothing significant happened in the next few days, by that meant no news from Mr. Gap, no one of great importance was hurt or killed and no sign of any other resident around your area.

You went back to work much to your annoyance, the workers in your department noticed the wounds and were showering you with too many questions. You decided to brush them off by coming up with an excuse of a hungry stray cat bit you and you have to tame it to bring it to the adoption center. What they would never know was that the stray was actually a head, the adoption center was at your house and you unofficially adopted him after you tamed him with bribery.

Your roommates didn’t do much at home, Mr. Chopped was usually asleep on the bean bag while Mr. Crawling waited for you to come back. However the ginger head’s anticipation was visible, he would ask you about Mr. Gap sometimes when you eat together and you’d reassure him that nothing bad would happen.

That didn’t mean you weren’t a little nervous, even if you could think of other options to get Mr. Silvair’s location. At least you were self-aware enough to not deny the fact that you would check in dark and narrow gaps in hope that he would be there, disappointed when you found nothing.

On one normal evening, you were in the kitchen washing the bloody dishes left by the flesh you hunted. Mr. Chopped sat on the table talking with Mr. Crawling about something you didn’t pay attention to, the sound of water running already filled your ears. You would say today was ordinary but peaceful was probably a nicer word used by optimists to describe it.

You rinsed off the plates one last time and turned to open a cabinet. To your surprise, two eyes were staring at you from the other side.

“Hello, me find them.”

You gasped at the sudden appearance but quickly composed yourself, you nodded at him and looked at the other two ghosts who now also paid attention to Mr. Gap.

“Where?”

“Follow, me take you there.” He extended his hand and did a gesture of calling you closer.

You grabbed the crowbar you hid in the kitchen for safety and picked up Mr. Chopped from the table, Mr. Crawling was already waiting for you at the open cabinet when you started walking towards that direction. You stood beside him, Mr. Gap opened his palm for you to take and reach out the other for Mr. Crawling.

You took a deep breath to stabilize yourself, wherever Mr. Silvair may be, dangerous or not, you would be able to survive it, you did countless times before.

“Let’s go.” You took his hand and felt a chill traveling down your spine, then your surroundings went dark.

Chapter Text

“Ow…You could have been more careful in landing me, Mr. Gap…” You rubbed your nose, now a little red from being face planted after the man in the gap dragged you through the cabinet.

“Sorry, not used to take three. Me cannot appear close to them, can only appear here.”

You looked around and saw that…you were back, in the other world. Well this wasn’t surprising, where else would Mr. Silvair be?

“You ok?” Mr. Crawling was still next to you which was a relief, Mr. Chopped was too, though he seemed dizzy.

“Me ok.” You quickly stood up, scanned the room and listened for any nearby residents, being here meant you might encounter Mr. Scarlettella or any other you may have angered before, some you still haven’t known what the hell their problem was to pick on you.

The area you were in was vacant of any objects, with many passages leading to somewhere, the walls were like always, dull hard concrete.

The floor, however, wasn’t that the same, you could make out a shallow line created by a large sharp object being dragged across it, high chances have been done by a ghost here. Its weapon was definitely durable, you saw no sign of it being duller as the line continued.

Was it done by Mr. Silvair? You couldn’t recall if he had any big weapon other than the axe and tools you saw at his lab, you doubt he would treat any of them like that though. Anyway, you shook your head to focus on the main task, best not to overdue your stay.

“Where they go?” You asked without looking at what was supposed to be your guide.

Mr. Gap showed his hand and pointed a figure at the direction that Mr. Silvair had gone before you came here. You nodded in acknowledgment, hopefully the researcher hasn’t gone too far.

“Thank you, when we find them, you take we back?” You said after making sure the coast was clear to which Mr. Gap side eyed you as if he was offended you thought he wouldn’t keep his part of the deal.

He gave one final irritated glance and disappeared out of thin air while muttering something like “Me know, me know.”

You started walking in the pointed path, it was narrow and dark compared to the others. You clutched the crowbar tighter, each step was made with caution. The way seemed to go on forever with how you couldn’t see the end of it.

As you made your way forward, you would turn back to make sure Mr. Crawling was still in the vicinity and nothing was following. That terrifying doll gave you enough warnings, you didn’t need…what could be next? A slit-mouth person? A creature with abnormally long limbs? Perhaps even a disfigured large fish this time if the place has any water.

You sighed, as long as they were friendly you wouldn’t complain. Even so, being on guard was how you managed to survive and escape, then to return for a second round.

“Me afraid…” Mr. Chopped appeared to have gained back his consciousness and darted his eyes around, lying perfectly safe in your arms.

You pressed a comforting hand on his forehead and gave words of reassurance, however, deep inside you knew that what you easily say to others can be extremely difficult to say to yourself, the slight increase of your heartbeat was evident.

Even so, who will protect this poor head if not you? Mr. Crawling certainly couldn’t carry Mr. Chopped properly. Plus, you weren’t weak, you could even deal with a resident right now if they happen to show up.

At that moment, you spotted a looming presence around the corner up ahead—You thought to god that when you said the above statement, it was positive self-talk, not a challenge—You stepped back, raising your crowbar. Mr. Crawling, although staying behind you, also noticed the figure and locked his gaze on it as well. Luckily Mr. Chopped was still hazy and didn’t make any sound, else they might have already launched at you right away.

The person halted in their steps, you could tell they were a resident from their abnormal height and almost inaudible walking.

What caught your eye next was a large axe, even you were sure you wouldn’t be able to hold it steadily. This could mean that the other party had an advantage in physical strength, you took note of it and waited for their next action.

They didn’t proceed any further from that point and it turned into an awkward stare down with no one making a move, at least they seemed patient to wait.

You started to guess who was standing there from the concluded information based on your observation. A person who was tall, strong, calm and wielded an axe…that sounded quite familiar, could it be…?

You spotted them moving closer, lowering the weapon to indicate peace. You did the same, avoiding conflicts and being polite should always be plan A here.

The more distance reduced, the more clear who was it, you were a little shock at first but was relieved nonetheless, the answer was obviously Mr. Sil—

“Mr. Hood! Don’t scare me like that!” You totally didn’t get that wrong, definitely.

“Sorry…You change, me not know.”

Disappointment filled your heart, making your face drop instantly. The researcher was nowhere to be seen and when you were here wasting your time, he might have gone even further! Why must you suffer this much?

“Them friendly?”

“Me friendly!”

The sound of background talking fell on your deaf ear, that wasn’t the main worry here, you needed to concentrate and find Mr. Silvair. Parting ways would be ideal currently, however, when you took a closer look at Mr. Hood, you noticed he changed a lot as well.

He looked more ruffled up than when you first met him, his cloak had scratches and holes, the end appeared to be ripped off making it uneven. Did he get into a fight of some sort?

“You hurt, what happen?”

He turned his head to examine the clothes, it seemed like he wasn’t aware of his condition. You could likely fix those damages up using the sewing kit at home, if you could get back and bring it out that is.

“Hostile someone, them strong, very little sentience. Them attack me, we kill it.”

“I see…” Perhaps it was that someone who left the mark on the floor earlier, would be quite a close call if it was. You were fortunate to not encounter them before, the fact they could get Mr. Hood to this state and required more than one person to kill was pretty frightening.

“Wait…we? Someone help you?”

“Correct, them tether hostile someone, me kill hostile someone.”

“I see…Me look for someone, you help?” The man should at least see someone right? He came from the same direction after all.

“Who them?”

“Them good person, long hair, like research! You know them?”

Mr. Hood raised his head in a recalling motion, if only you could show him a ‘Have you seen him?’ poster of Mr. Silvair.

“Maybe me know, follow me.” Mr. Hood then turned back and started walking, you went right behind him. Now you have 2 people who specialize in combat and 2 alarm bells, certainly not a formation you preferred but it’s all you got.

With Mr. Hood leading the way, it would be a matter of time before you eventually find Mr. Silvair. It certainly looked like the task was almost completed.

***

A tall and slender man halted in his path, a terrifying figure so stiff that he might have been seen as a living statue.

A grin that was growing wider by seconds was displayed on his uncanny face and his fingers uncontrollably tightened around the handle.

The handle of the red umbrella.

“They here.”

It couldn’t be mistaken, this presence, the one that always makes him go mad and lose all sense of rationality.

They came back all the way here…? Was it for him?

“For me…right? They like me, right?”

It had to be…There were no other reasons, now was his chance again! He has to go meet them and make them his, at last…together forever.

***

“Hello, meet you again.”

“Hello…”

“Me return! Pick up! Pick up!”

Mr. Silvair walked over and took Mr. Chopped from your hands, each exchanging their stories of what happened during the time they weren’t together, it was a very heart-warming reunion.

However, the sight in front of you was hardly warming.

A dismantled corpse fully covered in blood, behind it was all black ashes and debris, the air also had a smell of gasoline, it makes you realize that Mr. Silvair and Mr. Hood probably did more than just kill the hostile resident.

“What happen?” You asked, looking at Mr. Silvair lightly spinning Mr. Chopped around.

The researcher halted, then looked at you with a radiant smile that made you doubt if it was any good to ask anymore.

“Them destroy research room, me destroy them.”

“We.” Mr. Hood innocently added.

You went silent for a moment, before nodding and pretending that it was a totally normal scene in this place’s standards.

The mission was safely accomplished and everything would go back to normal…

At least that’s how it is in TV shows with the common story structure.

You scratched your head and inwardly sighed. Before coming here, you drew out a detailed plan in case things really go south. However, the situation was resolved so easily that you now don't know what comes after that.

Your gaze shifted to the supposed laboratory after it was burnt down, all ruined and empty. Mr. Silvair might have been indifferent to the fact that his house was reduced to shambles but it was still a waste.

“Want come with we?” Mr. Silvair tilted his head at your words, seemingly confused to what you meant.

You supposed what you said wasn’t very clear so you repeated.

“Want come with me? Me find you new research room in another world, you need research room, correct?”

There are still spaces in your apartment building, if you survive on convenient store food for a month then renting and turning one of the empty houses into a lab isn’t hard. Plus, this could be beneficial, Mr. Chopped gets to stay with his friend and you get a neighbor who possesses strengths and knowledge.

On second thoughts, should you also invite Mr. Hood? That certainly wasn’t a bad idea, he probably has the most common sense and was the most reliable among everyone here which meant you could leave it to him to stop these guys from wreaking havoc whenever you weren’t home.

Of course, if they agree to go with you that is.

Mr. Silvair debated for a moment in his head.

‘Another world…have humans, have new research, not like here…’

He was silent for a moment then nodded vigorously while grinning. You didn’t know if it was just you but Mr. Silvair’s smile looked more human after you invited him. You then turned to Mr. Hood:

“You want come with me too?”

“You need me?”

“Well…in a way, yeah. Me need you, me busy in another world, can’t always take care of them.”

“Alright.”

This guy was easier to persuade than you imagined, as expected of Mr. Hood! His response to those in need of help is always appreciated.

Your trip here ended faster than intended but either way, all’s well that ends well.

Since everything is settled, you darted around for any gaps to call your personal driver. Strangely, all you saw were holes with tape covering them like someone was trying to fix the place, contrasting to the usual shabbiness of the place.

This must be why Mr. Gap couldn’t get close, wait…does that mean you have to go all the way back?!

Come to think of it, you didn’t see any dark or small spaces during your walk here which meant you could only go all the way back to the beginning to call Mr. Gap…

Suddenly this has turned into a fetch quest, making you groan internally. The safe simple journey was great and all but you could really go back home now.

But you know what they always say: The earlier you start, the earlier you finish.

“Follow me, me call someone, they take us to another world.”

Before you could start moving, Mr. Hood called out.

“Wait. someone—“

“UGH!”

A sharp pain rose from your elbow, causing you to lose balance and fall on your knees. You quickly turn your head to where the burning sensation was focusing on and noticed that your arm…was on the floor…next to you.

Blood poured out from where the limb was severed, however, it soon slowed down to almost a stop as your blood vessels shrink naturally to save itself from bleeding out.

Your stomach coiled up as the strong metallic smell entered your nostrils, you were already used to it but the overwhelming throbbing filled your brain and caused a nauseous feeling.

It seems like the other residents were surprised too and were currently shouting something you couldn’t hear under the ringing noise inside your head. At this rate, you might pass out from shock.

You forced your eyes open and tried to keep yourself awake by gathering your breath, your eyes caught a huge machete not far away from your amputated arm, who even threw that?!

“You weak, cannot dodge, boring.”

A strange voice made you snap your head back. From the darkness emerged a tall muscular man with bandages warped around his head that even covered his eyes, his mouth full of teeth on display.

This mission was going to last longer than you expected.