Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

hi i hope you enjoy everything thats gonna go on

tags and stuff will be added as time goes on

some stories may span multiple chapters, some might not

i plan on writing something for all characters eventually thats why i have like every single one listed

uhh keep all body parts inside the ride at all times

enjoy :DD

Chapter Text

Taph stared in bewilderment as Builderman constructed a Dispenser for her.

No matter how many times he does it, she's still surprised; He seems to build these things out of thin air. It doesn't even look like he's building them himself, he seems to just swing his hammer in the exact same spot over and over until eventually it's finished and ready to use. But maybe that's just how building stuff works.

She's tried to ask about it multiple times before, but she could never get the point across with her uncoordinated and incoherent gestures. Builderman, even with his intelligence, is unable make out what Taph tries to say. She should've learned sign language, but that didn't seem too important before she was placed into this shithole. Builderman had offered to teach her multiple times (being the big boss of Roblox HQ meant talking to lots of different people, including those who couldn't talk back), but she refused. She reasoned it'd be easier to use methods like pen and paper or text to speech to communicate, rather than go through the hassle of learning sign. Especially with how often she was out blowing up whatever Builderman needed to be blown up.

She cursed herself now, though, as there was an unsurprising lack of paper or text to speech devices in this place.

She sat down on the grass, waiting for the dispenser to heal her completely. It usually took a long time, especially if someone was on the verge of death. This was confusing to Taph, as she could remember how fast his dispensers would heal her before this place. Being a demolitionist meant getting blown up every once in a while, whether that be from a faulty bomb or a 2-story drop. No matter how dire her situation was, a dispenser was able to heal her within a couple seconds; Unlike the ones in this realm. Maybe that was a result of the restrictions this place puts on people. She would know, most of the destructive items she'd keep on her 24/7 were gone; instead being left with a couple subspace tripmines and some crappy tripwires.

This placed Taph in the role of a trapper. She'd learned how to more efficiently and effectively utilize the tools at her disposal, blind-siding killers with hidden bombs or getting them to trip over a wire they couldn't quite see. Some were easier to trick than others, making her better or worse depending on who they'd have to go up against. This round's killer was 1x1x1x1, one of the harder killers to deceive. He or she (Taph couldn't tell, they had the body of a woman but had the voice of a man) figured out pretty early on that tripwires were best dealt with by cutting them with his sword, and tripmines were best dealt with by shattering them pre-detonation.

After being topped off by the dispenser, Taph stood up, turning to Builderman. He was peaking around the wall, scanning the area. For what, Taph didn't know. She walked over, tapping him on the shoulder

He turned around, albeit hesitantly. Taph pat herself on the chest, and stuck out a thumbs up; then pointed to the corner, cocking her head to the side.

"What am I lookin' at?" He peered around the corner for another second, before turning away from the wall to face Taph. "I'm just tryna' make sure the killer don't sneak up on us." Builderman continued, sounding unsure of his own answer.

Taph stared at him.

"What?"

Taph let out a sharp exhale, knowing she wouldn't get anything else out of him. She brushed past him, turning the corner and-

"Oughf-" Chance crashed into her.

She tumbled to the ground, hitting the back of her head on the corner another wall behind her.

"Shit- Taph- sorry!" Chance knelt down, nearly falling over himself, and outstretched a hand towards Taph. It was clear he was in a panic.

Taph pushed his hand away, holding the back of her head as she got up by herself. She stumbled around a bit before landing on the ground beside the dispenser. She sat up and readjusted to place her back against the wall. She jerked forward, a sharp pain springing up in the back of her head like she'd just been stabbed. She looked around. Everything was out of focus, but she could see Chance and Builderman talking. What they were saying was a little harder to decipher. Not only could she not see properly, but she couldn't hear properly, either. Chance pointed somewhere, and Builderman shook his head; pointing at her. She couldn't understand what that meant. Maybe someone else needed Builderman's help? Maybe the killer was right behind Chance and they were all going to die? Whatever the case, Chance needed Builderman to do something.

Builderman walked over to Taph, telling her something along the lines of 'I got'ta go'. The dispenser healed her wound a bit, and everything was a bit clearer to her; although she still couldn't fully hear or see well. Chance led Builderman away, leaving her all alone.

"Okay- can ya' explain that again?" Builderman was running alongside a disheveled Chance, who clearly wasn't doing too well.

"I gotta- use one of your dispenser things." He was out of breath, trying to squeeze words in between heavy gasps for air.

"Then ya' could've used the one I had down already-"

"No! No, not- not for me- Elliot's not doing so hot."

Builderman nodded, following Chance's lead.

Elliot was huddled in the corner of a docked spaceship, sitting in a pool of blood. He was clutching onto the side of his stomach, seething and writhing it pain. Elliot looked up at Builderman, his face instantly lighting up.

"Builder- please... place-"

"I know, gimme a second..." Builderman rushed to Elliot's side, pulling out his hammer. He held it up, but hesitated to swing down. Taph was still using the other one.

"Hey- Doc! Hurry it up before he bleeds to death!" Chance roughly patted Builderman on the back, trying to hurry him up.

"Jeez, okay! Quit rushing me-" He brought the hammer down, the base of the dispenser appearing out of nowhere - with the rest of the machine following after.

"Thanks.. Mister Builder.." Elliot sighed in relief.

Chance scratched his head. "Hey, I wanted to ask-" He was interrupted by a loud, high pitched ring shooting through the entire map.

Elliot groaned, plugging his ears. "I really.. really hate when she does that.."

Chance, who sat down next to Elliot, cocked his head. "She? Nah... that's a guy."

"What do you mean? Have you.. even looked at her?"

Builderman stepped out as they continued arguing about 1x1x1x1's gender. He built a sentry outside the spaceship to protect the two, and started heading back to where he left Taph.

Taph was startled awake when the dispenser next to her crumbled into nothing but scrap.

She must have dozed off while she was healing up, Taph thought. She got up off the ground, using the wall as support. Her head was still pounding, but she could clearly see her surroundings again. Taph pushed off the wall, stumbling forward before regaining her composure and standing upright. She took one step before an ear-piercing ring shot through her ears. This caused a chain reaction in her head, turning her headache into a brain-splitting migraine. She held her head, crumpling to the floor from the pain. To make matters worse, she fell onto a piece of scrap that fell from the now broken dispenser, cutting through her leg and jutting out the other side.

The piece of scrap was considerably large, roughly the same size as her ankle. Taph alternated between grappling at her leg and clutching her head, both being stricken with immense pain. She sat up, shaking, when suddenly-

A discomforting warm feeling overtook her chest. That warm feeling turned into a burning sensation. That burning sensation turned into a sharp, scorching agony. She looked down, only to see a green chain shooting through her chest. The chain was connected to 2 black swords, both emitting a soft green glow - swords which were lodged into the wall behind Taph.

She tried twisting around, but that only proved to worsen the pain. She grabbed onto the chain with both hands, tugging frantically. The chain barely budged. Taph figured that 1x1x1x1 was on his way, and began panicking. She patted herself down, trying to find anything to help. Inside her pocket was a subspace tripmine, one that she pulled out, hastily armed, and tossed in front of her.

Footsteps were fast approaching. Taph reached behind herself, blindly trying to grab the swords in the wall. After significant flailing, Taph managed to graze the handle of one of the swords. That much was enough to gauge exactly where they were lodged in the wall, and she got ahold of them. They burned just as much as the hole in her chest did, but she mustered up the courage to pull them all the way out. They slid out like a sword being unsheathed. Upon the swords clattering to the ground, the chain disappeared, and the burning sensation in her chest went away; which made the pain in her head and leg even more apparent. There was no time to worry about that, though, because 1x1x1x1 was...

right...

there.

"How... dubious." 1x1x1x1 stared at the subspace tripmine, now in multiple different strewn about pieces.

Taph would try to run, but the shard of scrap in her leg prohibits anything more than a crawl. In a last ditch effort, she leans forward, attempting to pull the scrap out. Blood seeps out along with the shard, flowing down and staining the grass below a crimson red. The shard was nearly halfway out when 1x1x1x1 turned around, following Taph's gaze towards the shard she was trying to get out.

"It looks as though you've done most of the work for me." 1x1x1x1 could sense how weak Taph was in this moment. They raised their boot above the scrap, lingering long enough for her to figure out what they were about to do.

Shockwaves were sent up through Taph's body as 1x1x1x1 brought his foot down on her leg. The shard broke in two, one piece flying off to the side, and the other getting dug beneath Taph's skin. Alongside that, her leg now sat at an awkward angle - having been broken by the force of 1x1x1x1's stomp. Blood gushed out of her leg in droves, pooling underneath her leg. She palmed the ground, pulling up handfuls of grass; trying to find anything to hold on to. She found the shard amidst her aimless grappling, picking it up and stabbing it into 1x1x1x1's leg.

"Augh-!" 1x1x1x1 seemed stunned for a moment, looking down at the shard now jutting from their ankle. But, just when Taph thought she might've hurt them, 1x1x1x1 bent down and pulled it out like it was a splinter. Black blood shot out as it was yanked away.

"Cute. But you're gonna need a little more than that-" 1x1x1x1 shouted, their voice filled with dripping hatred. They used the shard to shank Taph in the stomach, and stomp it in as they did with the shard in her leg.

At this point, Taph was on the verge of unconsciousness, spread out on the ground as blood was rapidly pouring from her body. Her breaths were uneven and ragged, and she could barely even see straight. She was fairly certain 1x1x1x1 had broken a rib, but there was so much excruciating pain all throughout her body that it was hard to pinpoint an exact location anywhere. 1x1x1x1 leaned over Taph, grabbing the two swords left on the ground behind her. 1x1x1x1 stood upright and pointed one at her neck.

"Your traps do nothing to impede my wrath; they only serve as obstacles to dispose of." 1x1x1x1 raised the sword above their head, and drove it down into Taph's neck.

"See you next time."