Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Welcome to First Life, the rules are simple. Reds are hostile, yellows are scared and greens have to survive. If you die, it's permanent. No coming back magically. The twist? You will find out soon enough. Welcome to the death game, Hermits. Good luck on surviving, Lifers. 

Let the games begin.

-The Speakers-

---

A disaster. That's what this is. He sucks in a breath, looking around him. They are going as a large group to find Scott and Jimmy and they all know damn well how protective Scott is and how Jimmy is prone to dying. Those two together? Doomed. That's all he can say. Just doomed. Absoloutely doomed. He just hopes that they can survive until the hermit--lifers, that's what they're called now--reach them. 

He walks next to Martyn, his best friend that he is definitely normal about. They all suddenly stopped, making him bump into Impulse and Lizzie bumping into him. He almost laughed at how the lifers are such idiots but his smile drops when he sees two red names in front of him. 

"Keralis? Jevin?" Someone calls out. Oh dear, this is not gonna end up good, he can feel it. He watches as Keralis turns around, eyes red and smiling. Wait-something's wrong. Had Keralis' mouth always been that.. Wide? And did he always had sharp teeth? He looks at Jevin, who is already taking out a sword. 

"Lifers" Jevin greets, "Wanna play a game?" 

No, no, he doesn't like this. Based on the amount of murmurs, none of them likes this as well. "The rules are simple, survive" Jevin continues and then all hell break loose. 

Keralis, now have weird black tentacles that's tryna stab them. Did he mention their shadows looks weird as well? He watches as Skizz clutches a sinking Impulse by his own shadow. He watches as Jevin picks a fight with Scar. He watches as Pearl cuts off a tentacle. He watches as Bdubs gets hurts by the tentacles and he watches as the panic rises in him because this was not right. No, this wasn't right at all. Hermitcraft isn't anything about violence. They are all friends, families.

.. But this isn't hermitcraft anymore is it? It's the life games. 

Without a second thought, he yells out because no, they can't win this. None of them are willing to hurt the hermits. They will lose. They will die. "RUN!!!" He helps out Gem, who is sinking from the shadows and instructs her to run. She did it with no questions asked. 

He runs with his stubby little legs, constantly turning back to see if anyone got hurt or is staying behind stupidly again. Skizz grabbed hurt Bdubs and flies away into the distance. He also hears the whoosh of Impulse's wings and the yelling of Martyn. 

He can see Gem and Pearl running by him and Tango carrying Zed on his shoulder. Once he is sure the rest of them are following did he turns around and runs. He can see Keralis and Jevin also following them and decides to to something that is very, very stupid. 

Instead of following the others, he splits up with them, catching the attention of Jevin. He doesn't care if he only got rid of one threat for the others. At least he can help them, even just a little. 

He keeps running, not looking back once as the voices of the panicked yells slowly fades out until the only thing he hears is one singular footsteps behind him. Now that they are alone, he bet he can do something. He stops in his track and turns around, parrying Jevin's sword with his.

"Jevin, dude, snap out of it!" He shouts, avoiding a jab in the chest. "This isn't you, man. This is not the Jevin i know!" 

"What do you know about me, Ren? Tell me" Jevin says coldly, swinging at him again. 

"I know you're kind, nice and always up to shenanigans. You're an aspiring builder, you built a castle this season and played into the permit office quite well. You're a slime, you're not good at pvp, and you don't have teeth to brush" 

"What" Jevin squints, pausing for a minute before continuing the stabbings. 

"What?" He dodges a blow to his leg, "You asked me what i knew about you" 

"You point out the lack of having teeth to a guy that's in the middle of attacking you? Are you stupid?" Jevin kicks him in the stomach, he didn't have time to dodge and took the hit. 

He topples over, clutching his stomach before making a roll and getting back up when he saw a sword ready to pierce him. "If i were smart, i wouldn't be here with you alone right now" 

"True, true. Well, i hope your stupidity knows that it is the exact reason you will lose a life" Jevin jumps at him, taking both of them down. He panics as he watches a sword that's coming straight to his neck-

Memories flash in his eyes. An axe to his neck, sounds of arrows cutting through the air, the explosions and the traps that failed and worked. The blood, the lives, the crown that's fallen on the once clean floor. The red winter is coming. 

He yells, pushing the slime off him and making a run for it. He runs and runs, not looking back. Not again. Never again. He is not stuck at the damned place anymore. He is not stuck in DogWarts anymore. 

Hermitcraft should've been safe place for him. Why has this very place turned unsafe? He wants to go home. He needs to go home, where ehis friends are safe and having fun. Where he is protected and embraced by warmth. 

But where is his home if not Hermitcraft? 

Chapter Text

They are not safe. Not safe at all. While they have outran Keralis, they are separated from the group. It might seem like nothing is wrong, they can always go back after they catch their breaths but Gem just knew something is off. Firstly, the oceon is calling her again. It stopped doing that after Xb drowned but now it's doing it again and she really, really doesn't wanna drown herself in a life game. 

"Pearl, are you okay?" She asks, checking over Pearl who has some light injuries on her hands. 

"I'm fine, we gotta get back to the others. Do you got a plan?" Pearl asks.

"No.." 

"Well then, we're going to go with no plans then. Let's go, i don't want anyone to die"  

She looks away, eyes landing straight into a river-she immedietly turns away again, looking at Pearl instead. "Yeah, me too. Come on" 

"Well, if it isn't the shiny gemstones of the server!" A voice calls from behind them and they freezes, turning over slowly to reveal Xb and Joehills. Ah.. Fuck. The two tridents users are here and they are very unprepared. 

"Hi!" Xb greets, his red eyes glimmers with amusement. Wait, when did Xb came back to life? Did Cleo necromanced him back? Wait, she was with her all the time, she couldn't have done that.. Wait focus. The two reds are in front of her. Better not to piss them off. 

"Hi!" She greets back, earning a look of 'What are you doing?!' from Pearl. "What, uh, what are you two doing here?" 

"Nothing, just taking a walk. What are you two up to?" Xb interjects. 

"Trying to get back to the others. Well, it was nice to see you two, but we gotta go. Can't keep them waiting!" she smiles sweetly at them, knowing the smile is fake and she is actually panicking so hard internally but they don't need to know that. 

"Do you want some tea?" Joe randomly offers. 

"No, we are in a bit of a hurry" Pearl explains, a nervous smile on her face. 

"Thanks for the offer though!" Gem adds, pissing off the reds aren't ideal for their situation. 

Joe looks unhappy, "But we got tea" 

She and Pearl makes eye contact, both contemplating whether they should run, fight or go with those two. None of the options seem ideal.

"Come on, i promise you it's good" Joe adds. 

They share another with each other. In the end, she decided to go with them. 

"Excellent. Come along, you two" Xb blinks at them, smiling contently. 

-

At Xb's base, who is like many thousand blocks out, away from everyone else, they are served tea. It's green tea. "Are these poisoned?" Pearl voices her suspicion a little too confident for her comfort.

Xb and Joe laughs, "No, no. It's not, trust me" Xb shakes his head, his eyes seems so wrong. It almost looks like it's.. Purple? Wasn't his eyes red just now? Does being a drowned makes your eyes purple? 

"We came to tell you something" Joe takes his opportunity to speak. Finding no response except looks his way, he continues, "The hermits are quite in an uncontrollable state right now. Me and Xb? We aren't red" 

What. "But that doesn't make any sense?" Gem looks at them wide eyed. 

Joe shrugs and blinks away the red from his eyes, revealing yellow eyes instead. Yellow. The colour before red. Neutral and non hostile unless attacked first. The ones that are always looking for allies to protect them. She looks at Xb, who's eyes are back to blue--how is Xb blue? 

"Why is your eyes blue?" She asks, still not grasping what's going on. Pearl look to be just as lost as her as well. 

Xb smiles, "The oceon protects what it owns" 

The oceon-oceon? That sentence alone sends shivers down her spine. It's calling her. Waiting for her. It wants to claim her. "What?" 

Xb blinks, "The oceon protects it's own. I am Prince Xb of the oceon. Guardian of the cold and dark water. It chose me. It protected me" 

... That's terrifying to know. She directs her gaze elsewhere--only for it to land at the oceon by the window. She flinches, and turns away. "Cool. Uhm, why are we here again?"

"Well, we want to offer you some infos. Listen up, the oceon proetcted this place, They can't hear us" Joe explains--his eyes now a little orange? Weird. Must be the lighting.

"Who?" Pearl asks. Yeah, who are these They? 

"The one who announced the game? Them?" 

"Ohhh... Okay, yeah, I'm listening, what can we do?" 

Joe smiles, "Well, we found out they aren't the ones who always made those games. In fact these guys are much worse. The Watchers fooled you lifers into thinking that the game should played is permadeath, when it's not. This though? Legit. This is the real deal. Real trouble for us" 

"What can we do against Them?" Gem asks, determined to end this as soon as possible. 

"We need Grian, the Watcher to fight them off. Theres is one slight problem though.." Joe trails off, and she is confused by what he meant. Why? Grian can just, Watcher magic beam Them, why is that a proble-oh.

Oh. Realisation sets in, "Oh, he doesn't remember how to use his power" she blurts. "This is bad.." 

"Indeed it is, my friend" Joe gestures. "So we gotta do what we can to jog Grian's memories back" 

"This is gonna be hard.." Pearl mutters and she agrees. This is gonna be so hard for no reason. Now that she thinks about it, Grian doesn't remember anything from before. This must be traumatising for him. She feels sorry for the guy. He lost his memories and now is thrown into a death game against his will. 

"I guess the first step is to find Grian" She concludes and everyone agrees. 

"So.. Allience?" Pearl blurts. She is surprised Pearl even used that term. This isn't any other server, it's Hermitcraft.. But then again Hermitcraft isn't complete without it's hermits being friends is it? 

They all mutters their agreement and starts walking outside, where the oceon greets her again. She scowls at it, fear pricking at every inch of herself. She continues to walk with the others instead. 

Little did the two pretty gemstones knew, that a certain now drowned and a not quite human is watching their every move. A book is following them, as well as a shadow carrying a painting. 

Chapter Text

"Hypno, whatever you do, do not attack us" He warns. He stares at the red eyed Hypno in front of him. The voice that started the game are devils. They must be doing this out of revenge for the lab--or worse, they've been meaning to do this from the start.

"What's going on? Etho. Etho, I'm scared" Hypno trembles. Poor guy, he must be so confused. 

He approaches him carefully. "I'm gonna tell you about the life games. Red is hostile, yellow is neutral and green is in danger. Right now, you're red but! But-we can fix this. I can fix this, i promise" 

"WHAT" Hypno replies panickedly but Etho held him as a grounding method. He calmly whispers sweet nothings. Just reassurances and empty promises to help the guy. 

Bigb who has been standing there watching them in silence finally speaks up, "Not tryna disturb the moment, but how do we fix this?" 

"We gotta find Grian-if he isn't red of course" He doesn't explain more and the other two just follows him on impulse. "We also don't know who's already red and who is yellow and green. Stay cautious, don't let down your guard. Ever" 

They traverse the land, Bigb and Etho both being wary of Hypno but they doubt the man will actually attack them for now. After a while, they stumble across someone. Hypno beams, walking over to X with such little caution it made him be on edge.

"Hey X, what's going on?" He asks, his instincts are flaring up. He doesn't know what is wrong but something is. 

"Hey guys!" X looks at them, his visor covering his face again. Xisuma never hid his face unless something is wrong. That worries him. 

"Are you okay?" He asks and Xisuma just nods. 

...

Okay, he is calling it now, something bad is gonna happen. "X, tell me what's going on" 

"Well.. There's the life game, of course and well, a lot has happened" Xisuma replies... It's too calm. Xisuma is too calm about this. Too calm almost as if--

"Hypno, carefully back away. Now" He instructs, not taking his eyes off the admin. 

"What, why? X is an ally!" Hypno protests. 

"An ally, huh?" Bigb also gets what's going on.

"Yeah?" Hypno tilts his head.

"Hypno, us or him? I understand if you chooses him" He questions. Whatever the answer is, he won't be mad. The red is influencing Hypno. He won't be surprised if the guy chooses Xisuma. He is also a red too. Just not in the way the others are. 

"What? What are you talking about-oh" Hypno finally catches what's going on. "But.. You're both allies?" 

He is red. Of course, he is an ally to the guy. That means Xisuma is red as well. "How did you know?" Xisuma asks, dropping his tint, revealing annoyed red eyes. 

"I'm just good at instinct" he shrugs, not telling a thing to the admin. 

Xisuma hums, "When did you get nine tails and a pair of ears, Etho?" 

"Magic" he says plainly and Xisuma scoffs, turning his attention towards Hypno instead. 

"What will it be, Hypno? Me or him?" Xisuma tilts his head, eyes crinkling with amusement. Like this is just some game. It is. Well at least to the reds, it is. 

Hypno seems to be in a conflict. If he chooses him, he betrays the red. If he chooses Xisuma, he abandons him. The choices aren't hard, but for a red that thinks their allies are other reds, it is. He watches as Hypno's face turns that of horror and panic. "X. I choose X. I'm sorry, Etho" 

He smiles warmly, "I understand" Glancing at a satisfied Xisuma, he signals Bigb to start running.

"No, no, you two aren't going anywhere. Let's play a game, shall we?" Xisuma stops them, freezing them in place with admin magics. Welp. They tried. Bigb is panicking but he remains calm. Hypno looks like he is about to cry but held it in.

"The rule is simple, hide and seek, if you're found, then survive" Xisuma waves away the command and they didn't waste a single second as they starts to sprint away. "10.." Xisuma starts counting down. 

"Dude, not even a 30 second to hide?!" Bigb shouts in disbelief as they run. 

9..........They are running as fast as possible.

8......... Hypno is panicking internally.

7....... They are out of Xisuma's sight. 

6...... Etho climbs a tree, helping Bigb up.

5..... Bigb almost falls but kept his composure.

4.... Xisuma is still counting. 

3... The stale forests adds to the tension.

2.. They stay hidden in the trees.

1. Xisuma is coming for them.

He holds in his breath, not even wanting to imagine what would happen if they got found. He can hear footsteps approaching and his heart beats loudly in anxiety. Bigb next to him also doesn't dare to move, both of them are fixed on the sound of the footsteps and the crunching of the leaves below them. 

A little too fast, he can already see X, with a nervous Hypno trailing after him. He glances over to Bigb, and then back down where Xisuma is. He bet Hypno won't be too much of a trouble, but the admin is--oh no. Xisuna is directly looking at him. 

"Survive" Xisuma says menacingly and boy, Etho doesn't waste a single moment at all. He drops down from the tree and water bucket clutches while Bigb swings down from the vines. He yells something as he runs but he doesn't know what. In a matter of seconds, he is knocked down by Xisuma who he assumes had used admin magic to teleport to him.

"That's cheating!" He calls out, scrambling to get up again, only to have Xisuma's boots on his stomach. He glances over where Bigb was and he sighs in relief when he finds the guy had ran and abandoned him. One would be dissapointed and angry when left behind, but for this one? He is glad Bigb got away. He should be safe... For now at least. 

"So, Etho, any last words?" Xisuma presses his stomach hard, making him wince. What dhould he do? He can't die yet. The others need to know how to stop the rogue Speakers. Quick, think, think, think. He can.. Wait, this is the life games!

"An allience! I want an allience!" He pleads. He can see Hypno's face that of confusion behind the admin. Xisuma seems to be surprised as well.

"An allience?" The admin echoes, still not letting him go, "What can you offer us?" 

He pauses, "Uhm.. I can lure the others" 

Xisuma looks at him with a considering look, "You're betraying the greens?" 

"Y-yeah. Yeah, i am" he gulps. 

The admin gives him one final look before taking the boots off his stomach. "You're in. Come on" the man helps him up. "We gotta tell the others about this" 

Hypno also comes to his side, walking by him with a concerned expression. The truth is, he won't actually betray the others. He is just acting like he is. 

'Aw come on, this isn't fun, is it? Everyone is being friends and making allience' The Speakers suddenly blurts. 'Time to add a little sprinkle of fun' 

What does that mean? He glances around, trying to find what will happen. Xisuma and Hypno has stopped, also listening in to find anything that will happen. Just as he thought nothing is gonna happen, words are whispered in his ears. 

'You are not the boogeyman' 

They planted distrust. Fuck. 

Chapter Text

Things are really going bad. Look, he would smile and make jokes but this one? Scream and run is all he could do as he picks up Bdubs and flies away with Impulse, who is carrying a screaming Martyn. He flies far away enough to finally land safely, away from Keralis who nobody knew what the heck he was. 

He can hear Impulse next to him, also landing on the ground and he turns to see Martyn hugging the ground. "Is everyone okay?" He asks, looking everyone over. His eyes lands on Bdubs who has his legs punctured by one of the weird tentacles goo. "Bdubs, dude, you're bleeding" he rushes to see Bdub's left leg. A frown forms on his face as he wince at the sight. 

"I know, i didn't dodge fast enough" Bdubs sighs, but he is clearly in pain. "Any healing potions?" 

He scrambles to his inventory, only to find that he had junks. Why did he carry grass with him anyways? Why does he have petals of flowers and quartz in here? Is this a bell? Why is his inventory management so bad?! 

He sighs, "Not a single one on me, sorry" 

"I got it" Impulse rushes over, handing the potion to Bdubs, who drinks it in an instant. After a while, Bdubs finally relaxes. The potion must be kicking in then. He watches as the man's leg heals, the codes stitching itself together slowly. 

"I'm alright. What do we do now?" Bdubs gets up, Martyn helping him up so he doesn't fall. They all turn silent. Honestly, none of them had an answer to that question. They can't stop whiever is doing this to them, can they? They are doomed to die either way. The only one in the end will also die. That's how every game went. The only difference is that they all came back.

"We survive" Impulse settles on, "Like we always did. Come on, let's get some supplies. We can't fight off Keralis with these. Want to hide in my base? I got supplies" The half breed offers.

"You mean your game? Isn't that place, like, dangerous? With the droppers, mobs spawn rate, and well, i heard they are drowned as well in there" Bdubs disagree, "Plus, the places they can put traps in.. Are limitless there" 

"True, so whose base are we using?" Impulse interjects.

"I would suggest mine, but like, there's a cave underneath it. Not safe" Skizz sighs. "Bdubs, how about your base?" 

"Me?" 

"I mean, Martyn's got no base, mine and Impulse's aren't safe enough for anyone. I doubt we can go to anyone else's base either-" a thought forms in his head, "The poe hideout" 

"What?" Martyn blurts.

"The poe hideout! Oh they won't suspect us there! It's also close to the shopping district, we can get stuffs" he explains. Impulse and Bdubs nods while Martyn is flat out confused. 

They all agreed--except for the very comfused Martyn--and starts heading towards the permit office. This time, Martyn didn't scream but anyone can see that he is terrified of heights. They make their journey quick, landing in front of the parking lot and he immediately starts showing them the place where they had their permit office shenanigans. 

"Woah, this place looks nice" Martyn compliments. 

"Grian and Scar made it. I mostly was just figuring out how to time the enderpearl teleporter" he shrugs, making his way to a chair in their 'meeting room' that he is certain was used only once. "So what's the game plan here-"

'Aw come on, this isn't fun, is it? Everyone is being friends and making allience' a voice speaks to him--based on the other's expression they can hear it as well. 'Time to add a little sprinkle of fun' 

"Sprinkle of-what does that mean?" Impulse gulps, they all know something is gonna happen and the all know it won't be good. 

'You are not the boogeyman'

They all stares at each other, face wide in shock and fear. None of them mutters a single word and just studies each other's expressions. He sucks in a breath, "Wow, and we thought it'd be okay. This is.. This is terrible man" he blurts, not believing what just happened. "They didn't even told us the twist in advance, they do what they want whenever they feel like it" 

"They.. The boogeyman. The boogeyman will have to kill. They have to kill or they die" Bdubs gasps, and realisation dawns on them like a an arrow to the heart. They made the boogeyman have no choice. It was either a sacrifice, or a betrayal. 

"This is just flat out cruel. This is horrible! Really horrible!" He lets out a manic laughter. Nothing is good. Nothing is great. Hermitcraft is in shambles and the game is deadly. How will he remain positive in a place like this? No, how can he even try to act like everything's okay? 

Impulse sighs, "I know. Things are bad right now. But we can only do what we can to survive. So, back to the pressing matter, please, if any of you is the boogeyman, tell us. We won't be mad, we won't leave you. Please, tell us" 

Silence. They all look at one another, finding no answer or anyone speaking up for a while. Martyn clicks his tongue, catching their attention. "I take it none of us are the boogey?" 

"I'm not the boogey" Bdubs speaks a little too fast but he understands it. The situation is tense, he is nervous as well. 

"Neither am i" he announces, followed by Impulse's "Not me" 

They all turn to Martyn who also shakes his head, "I wouldn't ask who the boogey is if i were one" 

Great. Now all they have to do is survive. "We rest for tonight. Tomorrow, we'll pick up items we need at the shopping district and our bases, sounds good?" He suggests, the rest of them agrees. 

And that is how their team was formed. 

Chapter Text

Joe has got a secret. He isn't green, he isn't red and neither is he yellow. He is simply existing along with Xb in the middle of a death game match. 

'You are not the boogeyman' A whisper is heard into his ears. Well, ain't that fun? They all exchange glances to one another. Some questions were asked but none of them seems to be a boogey. While he is glad none of them are the boogey, his mind flickers towards the face of those who weren't so lucky and is cursed to kill. 

He sighs, he is not a player of the game, but is on permadeath either way. He did have to ask Dave--he means David--the shadow monster to let his eyes change colour but that's about it. He is protected by Sage, his mysterious book and the painting's magic. Xb on the other hand, is protected by the oceon. But the others? Not doing so well as they are affected. 

He have asked the book what will happen but the book never responded on that topic anymore. Strange, but he knows it is for the better. Sage won't lie, it can't anyways. So keeping quiet is the best thing it could do for now and he respects that decision.

"Where do you think Grian went to?" Gem asks. 

"I'm not sure.. Could be anywhere. We should search his base first, then we can make our way to the shopping district, or the bases around there" Xb mumbles. The prince is met with many agreements. 

Joe's eyes wanders around aimlessly, the trees and the grass is the same as always. The shadow of the leaves, the sunlight passing through, the random movement of--wait what. "We got company, and i don't think they're a nice one" 

"Oh dang it. I've been busted" a familiar voice emerges from the shadows. Gem and Pearl goes into a defensive trance in an instant and he can see Xb visibly tensing up. A wild Welsknight soon appears in front of them. He isn't lying about the knight's eyes being wild. 

"I come in peace" Wels announces. "What are you guys doing? I.. Am genuinely confused here. Hels-i mean, my delusions told me something is happening and the voices doesn't really help anything" 

"Delusions, huh?" He teases subtly, no one on the server actually knows it, but other than thep painting, the shadow monster and the floating book, there are three other entities that are alsways floating in and out of existense. Two of those are Hels and Ex. The other one though? He always finds it heartwarming to see Tfc still being with them despite being missing somewhere in early season 9. 

"I know, i sound crazy" Wels shrugs, "What happened? X is red" he questions. Then, the one who is heard whispered in Joe's head. 'Joe, there's danger. Are you up for dangers?' Tfc mimics Cleo's voice. Something is genuinely wrong and he immedietly goes defense mode.

"What's the trick here?" He asks, which earned a look from Pearl. "Wels, you're not slick. You're not Etho" 

Wels groans, "How did you know, Joe?" 

"The voice inside my head told me" he blurts, making all of them looks at him funny. He recoils, "What? Wels said his delusions told him, I'm not allowed to have the voice in my head tell me stuffs?"

Pearl shrugs, Gem is still looking at him weird and Xb just sighs. Wels on the other hand, laughs, "Alright, alright. Fair i guess. How about you guys show yourself?" The knight calls out his teammates, who happens to be Keralis and Jevin. 

They all stare at each other with tension in the air that it makes his stomach flips like 10 times. He gulps, "Gentlemen, gentlemen, I'm sure there's some ways we can talk this out.. Righ-" 

A black tentacle is coming for him in an instant and he barely had time to dodge. His heart pace quickens and he stares at the Voidralis--yes that is what he's gonna call him--in front of him. He looks over at Wels and Jev, who has their bow and swords out. 

Xb lets out a cry, and he can see a trident whooshing through, aiming for Keralis. Yellows can attack in self defense. But do any of them actually want to kill another? No. None of them wants it. With much thinking and battle cries yells and swords and tridents clanking with each other, he knows none of them will survive this. 

Avoiding an arrow, he goes for Keralis, a sword in his hand. He doesn't know what he's doing, he just have to stop Keralis, one way or another. Dodging and weaving through the many, many tentacles, and he lunges at the void creature, Keralis, his friend.

A sickening splat is heard. They all turns towards the sound at the same time, like it has been practised. There is red liquid on the floor. Drip, drip, dripping down. His eyes are wide, his mouth is open widewith no words coming out and his hands stays limp next to him. A void tentacle is pierced through his heart, the void eating away his life.

Coughing up blood, he can see his vision blurring. A very creepy smiling Keralis is on the other side of him, before he watches that smile falls slowly. "J-joe?" Keralis gasps, "sweetface!" 

He flashes a smile, "Glad to see you're back, Keralis" he coughs more, watching as yellow indulges Keralis' eyes. "Take care of them" with that, the last of his breath is let out and he falls onto the hard ground harshly. 

'Joe! Joe no, stay with me!!' Tfc is in front of him, trying to shake his shoulder which only ended up with his hands passing through him. He lets out a shaky laugh. He can hear screams, someone turning him over and trying to stop the bleeding. He knew the effort is futile. The void already is eating him away. No one escapes the void. 

The last thing he saw is the sky being blue and then his vision goes dark. But despite everything, he is glad he at least managed to stop one of them from doing more harm. Even if it means he'll die.

It's dark. Dark and darker. Everywhere is black, he can't see anything. Nothing at all.. Nothing-

"Hey, Joehills" Someone greets him.

He takes a moment to realise what's happening. He recognises the blonde swirls and the mischievous smile anywhere. "...Zed? But.. How? I'm dead, you shouldn't be dead yet-"

"I know, you're dead now" Zedaph shrugs, "Really thought you would've lived a little longer. I'm sorry" the reaper opens his hands, offering a hug. "I'm a reaper, Joe. Zedeath at your service" 

The one Cleo has been hanging out with in the graves... So it was Zed all along. No wonder they got along pretty well. He takes the hug, feeling oddly empty. "Did the others survived?" He pulls away. 

Zedeath smiles, "You're not seeing anyone else here, aren't you?" 

He takes that as a good sign. "Is this where i am now? Is this my undead life now?" 

"No. You're gonna stay here until i get the others" Zedeath says so casually he almost missed that it means others will die as well. 

"Who.. Who will die?" He stutters. 

"See you later, Joe. I'm sorry i have nothing i can offer for you to wait" Zedeath then dissapears into a smoke of air. 

So he is now left alone, to wait in the dark where he can't do anything but wait and dread whoever is dying next. 

Chapter Text

'You are the Boogeyman' 

'You have to kill one person within the time given or you lose your life'

He can't do this. Nope. He looks at his hand, which has a timer now apparently. 5:00 hours. It's counting down. He suppress a groan, looking over at Scott who's next to him with a surprised expression. "Guess they're adding boogeyman now. What did you get?" He asks. Seems like others can't see the timer on his hand.

"Not the boogeyman. I-this is gonna be so much harder now. The boogeyman have to kill. Unless they're the reds, they're not gonna want to kill anyone. I.. I can't see anyone die. Not like this. This is terrible" Scott answers, huffing his dissatisfaction away. 

"That's true.." He gulps. He either have to kill or be killed. None of the options seem ideal. This is terrible, horrible! What will he do with Scott now? Does he betray him and live with the guilt or does he just die pointlessly like every single season again?

... But this wasn't another season. This is permadeath. None of them will live if they died. Stupid, stupid creatures making them suffer. He wisheshe can just murder them-!

"Hey, guys, what did you get?" Doc's voice bribgs him back to where he is again, unfortunately reality. 

"Not the boogey" He and Scott says at the same time. They both looks at each other and laughs. Though Doc cuts it short with, "We have a guest. Don't worry, don't worry, it's just Beef. He's here for shelter" 

Him and Scott shares a wary look when Beef enters the room. "Hi.. Does anyone got any idea what's going on? I saw-" A flash of lightning booms outside.

Joehills bled to death by Keralis.a voice booms suddenly, making him wince. 

They all goes quiet. That did not just happened. No way. Joe is dead. Gone. He is not gonna respawn back. He takes a shaky breath. One hermit is gone. Never coming back again. He doesn't even know if the others managed to say their apologies or even talked to the guy before that happened. 

He briefly flicks his eyes over to Doc, who is stunned and remains unmoved from his spot. Then, he glimpse at Beef, whose eyes are swirling with denial. After a while, Beef and Doc goes elsewhere without a word. He understands it. They need a moment to grieve. Worst part, thisbis their first time losing someone in a life game. He doesn't know how it feels until the fourth season because he was always out first.

He turns to Scott, who is shuffling uncomfortably. "They probably need a moment. Leave them be. For now, we only need to survive" 

His heart breaks into tiny pieces, shattered onto the ground. Scott wants him to live. Scott wants him to survive. Yet he is the boogey and he will die because he refuses to kill anyone. He would do it if he wasn't certain the ones who started this game is bluffing about permadeath or not. 

He is pretty sure they aren't. 

He hears footsteps outside. It doesn't sound like Beef's or Doc's footsteps. He nudges Scott, putting a finger up as a sign to keep quiet. Scott seems to get this gesture and slowly shuffles to his side, which has a sword. They both warily stalks towards the sound of footsteps approaching closer and closer.

They waits at the corner. Just in case. Clack, clack, clack. The footsteps approach and it's right next to them. He can see a figure passing by them. He gulps, they just have to see if their eyes are red or not. 

All of the sudden, False turns around, revealing red eyes-! Scott yells, lunging at the guy with force so strong it knocked the two of them onto the floor. 

"Wait, wait! I'm not here to attack you!" False stills, having both his hands up as a surrender. "I'm not dangerous, not now. Not when Joe is dead and not having a proper goodbye"

Doc and Beef comes into the room, eyes wide, "What happened!?" Doc's voice booms. 

"Hi" False mutters, pushing Scott off him. Doc sighs, and Beef slumps at the walls. Scott is still tense but gets that False is just here for shelter or something. He huffs a breath, just glad no bloodshed has to be done. At least not after Joe. 

"Sorry, sorry, i thought you were an enemy. You scared us!" Scott aplogises, getting up himself before offering a hand to False. 

"I guess that is partially my fault, huh? Well, apology accepted and i do feel bad for scaring you. Uhm, what are you all up to?" False asks with her eyes being dead, lifeless and desperate. He frowns when he sees that. It reminds him a lot of when he first lost his teammate.

"Well, not much. Just surviving" Beef shrugs, "What caused you to stumble here?" 

"Err... I was just looking for items to use to make a grave and a small funeral for Joe. He.. He deserves that the very least. I wish i could've made a funeral as big as Xb's before but.. Death game" False shrugs, a pained smile visible on her face. 

"Oh" Doc mutters, "I suppose we should. I-sorry, I've not recovered from the shock. He was such a nice guy.. He didn't deserve to be out first" 

Out first. The words echoes in his ears. Joe didn't deserve to die like that. Joe took his place and died first. He feels dizzy now. His eyes lands on the timer on his hand, he realises that in a few hours, these guys will have to make another grave for him. Guess he's dying second then. 

"I got the items in my base here somewhere. Come on. Let's do one last thing for Joe" Doc sighs, ushering them all to move to an empty room while he gets the stuffs. 

"Void, this is depressing" He blurts accidently, and Scott looks at him with sad eyes. The eyes of knowing the pain. A poppy flashes in mind and he mentally swats it away. Is this what Scott felt like when he was out first? He sucks in a breath. He feels like throwing up. 

Chapter Text

Running away with the sheep hybrid in his arms, he finds himself exhausted after not even that long of running. He stops, placing Zed down as he looks behind him. He sucks in a breath, catching his breath when he sees that no one is after them anymore. He looks over to Zed, with face that of uncertainty and horror. He knew that look well. It's the look of newcomers to the game. Just like his first time in 3rd Life. He almost laughed.

"Welcome to the death game, bud" he jokes, sitting down underneath a tree. "We should get away further after i catch my breath" 

"I-this is what you deal with in the life games? This.. This is terrifying!" Zed shrieks. 

"Yea, yea it is. It's usually less intense but.. Yeah. Terrifying is the right word for it" He laughs, he doesn't know why but he is. Maybe he is turning a little manic from all of this. 

Zed looks at him with concern and sympathy. It's been a while since he's seen someone looking at him like that. At first it was 3rd life but after that, they were pretty used to it. Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt though. It hurts and the memories stays. The feeling lingers and that's what made everyone *dread* the death games. 

He shakes his head, "Come on, let's move"

"You sure?" 

"Yeah. Wouldn't want anyone to catch up with us" he huffs. He stands up, ushering Zed to keep walking. That is then he realised, the sheep hybrid is a hermit. And his eyes aren't red. "Wait, Zed, how are you not red?" 

Zedaph looks over to him, a creepy smile on his face but bubbly nevertheless, "The reaper said it's not my place and it's not quite the right moment' 

A few seconds of silent, and, "Okay... I'll just pretend that wasn't creepy at all. Uhm, let's keep going. Your base should have stuffs we need, like armour, elytras-are those even allowed anymore?" 

"What do you mean?" Zed's eyes flickers that of curiosity. 

"Elytras. Can we use them? Or will we get absoloutely snipificate in the sky?" He ponders. Zed also seems to be in the same spot as he is. 

"We..We could try but uhm, i don't think it'll be that easy, will it? There has to be a twist that will make our lives miserable here" Zed shrugs. 

He sighs, "True. They wouldn't let us take a brea-" 

'You are not the boogeyman' 

"Oh" he blurts, "I-Zed, have you ever heard the term of boogey?" He turns to look at Zed, who is frozen in shock. "Well, the boogey has to kill someone or pay the price of their life. Usually, we'd have 3 to 6 lives but since this is permadeath-"

"Tango, i have to go. I'll be back. I'll meet you at my base" Zedaph suddenly says, taking him in by surprise. He furrows his eyebrows, trying to make sense of how sudden that is. 

He realises that Zed may be the boogey and is trying to run to keep him safe. "Look, Zed, if you're the boogey, you can talk to me. I get it, not having a choice is hard-" 

"Tango" the sheep snaps, "I will be back. Stay safe, stay alive. Meet me at my base and gather what you can to make a little hideout" 

Just like that, Zedaph walks and vanishes amongst the trees of the forests. Oh poor Zed, he might just need some alone time to cope with this. Being a boogey isn't easy, the choices are limited and none of it are good.

He begins walking towards Zed's base. He is sure Zed is smart enough to run or avoid any reds. The guy might be harmless, but he's got tricks up his sleeves. Especially those potions he'd been bombarded with before. A wild card that sheep is!

After a while of walking, he can see Zed's base and just as he is about to crack a grin, a lightning in a random direction makes his face falls. 

"Joehills bled to death by Keralis." the voice announces to the server. Their cold, unapologetic tone makes him shudders. 

"Oh" he gasps. The first death is always hard, but knowing that they won't come back any time soon shatters him. Joe did not deserve that. Especially not on his first death game. He briefly wonders what Keralis did to cause the first death ever on permadeath. 

He feels like crumbling onto the floor, but he held himself up via a tree. He just have to get to Zed's base, and then he can grieve. "Out here is not safe" he reminds himself. 

'Come on, T, let's go' a voice that sounds so like Zedaph tugs at the back of his head. He follows the voice and is slowly but surely stumbling at Zed's base. Once he gets there, the first thing he does is help himself in Zed's bed and grieve his heart out. 

Joe doesn't deserve that. Nobody does. 

After who knows how long, he sees that the day has turned into night somewhere amidst his ugly grief session. He can also see Zed at the side of the bed, sitting with his hands covering his face on the bed. "Oh, Zed. You must be devastated" 

He wakes the sheep up, letting him onto the bed instead of just hanging there. It is Zed's base after all. He feels like he barging in. Zed doesn't say much, just flopping onto the bed as he was told and goes back to sleeping. 

He wonders what Zed had gone to do.

Chapter Text

Lightning strikes in front of him. Not even Joe's body remains anymore. He can see the items left behind, the remains of nothingness but the grass and the void tentacle that is his, with some of it's points stained by blood. He gulps, what had just happened? What had he done? 

His eyes flickers between Gem and Pearl, who are both looking at him with distant and emptiness. He then meets Xb's gaze, who is filled with horror, he skims over Wels and Jev, both who are frozen and confused in place. "Wh-why isn't he respawning?" The words tumbles out of his mouth. 

The greens looks at him with sad eyes, sympathetic and hurt--Except Xb, who looks at him with hatred. The reds looks at him with horror, a lingering feeling of dread over them. This isn't how it's supposed to go. Joe is supposed to respawn. The guy should've been respawning and back here with an elytra. Joe would've messeged him something as a reassurance. 

So, where is Joe? 

He stares at the spot where Joe was. The only thing left is a burst of items. His breath quickens, his mind full of regret and his hands trembles. He.. He had just killed Joe. Permanently. His legs give up underneath him and he falls to the floor in a kneel. He can't stop the tears from his eyes from flowing, he can't go back and bring Joe back to life. He-void, what is Cleo gonna think about this? 

He sucks in a deep breath, this isn't what was supposed to happen. They were just playing a game. A simple, harmless game. How did that goes to this? He finds it hard to breath. He was the one who is always there for the hermits, the one they call a friend, the one they call family and maybe a few calls him therapist. How did he, a family loving person, ends up killing a family member? 

He killed a hermit. He killed Joe. He can't undo what had been done, he can't go back in time to save Joe. He has his hand stained, from a power he had been hiding from the hermits. Maybe it's his fault, not telling them how dangerous he is. Maybe he shouldn't have kept it a secret. 

He wheezes, he can't breath. His hands are shaking and tears won't stop flowing. There two people next to him, saying something he can't quite hear. He killed Joe permanently. He killed someone permanently. He did it and it's no one else's faults. 

He feels sick to his stomach. His breath is out of control, just pure panic with guilt. He needs to breath. Just.. Breath. 

He can't breath. 

He gasps for air in small bits and he just can't breath. He shouldn't be doing this. He should be getting himself together but his breathings are just uncontrollable. 

After a while, he finally gets his breathings right, though it's still ragged. He stares at the two girls in front of him, face filled with worry and understandings. "I'm sorry, Keralis" Pearl lets out. He shouldn't be understood. What he did wasn't excusable in any ways. He's a monster. 

He glances up, Jevin and Wels are nowhere to be seen. But that isn't his concern. The gaze of Xb, full of hatred and resentment makes him feel quesy. Gosh, if Xb is looking at him like that, how would Cleo look at him? Heck, why is Gem and Pearl even looking at him with understandings? 

He doesn't get it. Their behaviours don't make any sense. What is it about killing someone that these two girls understand?! He doesn't deserve their pity, their understandings. Why do they even understand him, why do they understand his pain, the blood on his hand, his pathetic sobbings-? Oh. A thought finally made everything makes sense.

These two girls have been in the life games before. They have been through this before. They have killed, be killed and suffered. He pauses for a moment. But then he goes back to empty emotions again. These girls might have suffered, might have killed and have been killed. But none of them had done any of those with permadeath. 

"Are you alright?" Gem asks, and no, he isn't alright. He just killed his servermate, his family, his friend. Nothing is alright.

"Yeah" he gives a weak smile. He bet it doesn't reach his eyes too. They flashes concern and not believing him but they let it pass.

"Come on, let's move. Mobs are bound to spawn soon" Xb turns away coldly, not sparing a single glance at him. He deserves it. He gets up to his feet, ignoring the help offers of Gem and Pearl's and starts walking. Deep down, he knows Xb is just hurting. He is too. Gem and Pearl doesn't show it but they are as well. In fact, the whole server is probably aching right now. 

And it's all because of him. 

He walks with a heavy heart, a tired body and an unpredictable fear and guilt in his mind. 

Chapter Text

Staying in whatever the poe hideout is boring. It's safe, but it's so boring he might as well explode some stuffs. Apparently, Joe died and the others are grieving. He's heard of the poet, but never really interacted with him. So, he doesn't really feel that sad. Sympathy? Yes. But outright sad and grieving? He wasn't close enough to know the guy personally. Impulse and Skizz had cried themselves to sleep, muddled with Bdubs who is at their side, eyes fluttering open and close.

He decides that he is gonna venture out instead. It's not safe, but then again, what is safe anymore? Heck, maybe the trees will kill him! No one knows the twist anyways. Or well, except the boogeyman but of course, nothing much is known. 

He sighs, sneaking out of their little hideout while the rest of them are asleep--except Bdubs for some reason. He quickly presses a hand to his lips, asking Bdubs to stay quiet. Bdubs looks over to Imp and Skizz, and then him again. The guy shrugs, getting up and joining him instead.

Once they are outside, Bdubs speaks first. "What are you up to? It's not really the safest place out here, but you already know that, so why?" 

"That place is suffocating. Plus, now that we are out here, why not get some supplies? I bet those two will be happy to see food and armours when they wake up!" He replies, stretching his hands a little.

"Hmm.. I bet they would be more worried than happy, but sure. You need it anyways" Bdubs says, and he isn't sure why the guy phrased it like that. Is Bdubs here just to keep him safe? Gosh, he is a grown man for goodness sake!

"We need it" he corrects and Bdubs nods. "Come on, before they notice we are missing" he ushers and not a moment after, they started walking towards where Bdubs deems 'The Shopping District'.

Once they got there, they loot everything that the could find useful. From food supplies and firework rockets to enchanted books and crossbow weapons. Bdubs even got his extra armours and gave it to him, while paying diamonds in the barrels and whatever paying system they have here. 

He finds it strange that the guy will still pay for the stuffs considering that they are in the middle of a death game, but hermits are hermits. They are weird and strange in their own ways. Maybe they are just used to paying for stuffs. 

Bdubs keep looking at his arm for some reason. Did the guy doodle something on it? Somberly, the guy turns towards him with an expression that he can't quite read. "What?" Martyn asks. 

"Hey, Martyn? Can you tell Impulse and Skizz i love them?" 

... That is a weird thing to ask for. Confessing his love through someone else? In the middle of the night on a death game?? "What?"

"And the others as well?" Bdubs continues and that sets off alarm bells in his head. 

"Bdubs, what?" He tries, he needs an explaination. This doesn't makes any sense unless Bdubs is the-

"Tell Etho i will still be haunting him as a ghost. Tell Cleo she was the best mom figure ever. Tell Scar that he is their only 'children' now" 

The clocker family.. But Bdubs and Scar were the brothers, 'children' to Etho and Cleo. Scar is the only child left? No, no that can't possibly be it. Bdubs isn't dying! "Bdubs? Bdubs-" 

"Goodbye Martyn. It was nice to meet you. Maybe in another life, we'll meet somewhere that's not in a continuous series of death games" Bdubs hands him some items, "Take these and use it well"

"No, no, you can't do this to me-!" He shouts. 

And Bdubs explodes in a flurry of items right in front of his eyes. He couldn't even stop it. It just happened so fast, so sudden. The lightning surpises his eardrums and made him wince.. The once Bdubs in front of him, is now gone.

...

He takes a moment to stand there, looking at the empty space where Bdubs was. He gulps, biting back a scream and a sob. Bdubs just dies in front of him. It's not a rare occurance for someone to die in front of him. But knowing that they won't just be safe and sound on another server, waiting for the others to come back, is devastating. 

He gathers the stuffs, the armours, elytras and everything. Did Bdubs purposely emptied his enderchest? Gosh, now that he realises it, it hurts way more. Slowly, walks back to their hideout, where Impulse and Skizz is now looking at him with an even more sadddening look. 

"B-bdubs.." He croaks out, placing the items onto the floor. "He told me to say that he loved you two, loved you all" he crosses his arms, though it is more for comfort. 

"Buddy, buddy we get it. We saw the messege" Skizz goes to him, embracing him in a hug. "He ran out of time" The angel mumbles. Soon, Impulse joins the small hug pile as well. All of them leaning in for comfort. 

Another one down, lost forever. 

Chapter Text

Dying is weird. First of all, it hurts. It hurts to be exploded from the inside, and then striked with lighting at the last moment. And the the pain is just suddenly gone. 

Second of all, you would think the reaper ia a menacing being. All gloomy and dark. You wouldn't believe when said reaper is a lively, upbeat and always smiling underneath the shadows of their cape. 

He can't see the reaper's face, but the blonde hair and that smile is so easy to recognise. And also, the Joe in the background that is waving at him and shouting Zed's name is a dead giveaway. Joe is also different. They no longer have the juppet and then there is a hole in their chest. The sight of it makes him want to gag, but he is already dead anyways. No stomach or food to be thrown up.

"Zed?" He mutters. What is even going on? Zedaph is a reaper? How? When? Had he been hiding this from everyone? 

"Zedeath at your service. Hey, Bdubs. I gotta go, you stay with Joe, yeah?" Zed says in such a small and caring voice that it aches. 

"Y-yeah? I.. What's going on? How are you a reaper-" 

"I'll explain when i round up all of you. For now, stay with Joe" Zedeath the vanishes into a puff of black smoke before he gets to ask further questions. He then turns to Joe, who shruga at him.

"Welcome to the loser's lounge i guess? I don't know why we're here or if this is the afterlife, but I'm sure Zedeath have a good reason for it. He is Zedaph after all" Joe simply sits down on the empty, dark floor. Seriously, why is this place so dark? One moment you're standing on your feet, the next, you don't know which is up and which is down. 

"How did you die, Joe?" He asks, knowing that the death messege had something about Keralis. 

"Keralis stabbed me. I didn't plan it but i guess i sacrificed myself to turn Keralis yellow" Joe explains with a smile. As if he didn't just die. "What about you?"

The question took him by surprise. "Oh, uh.. I was the boogey. I ran out of time and died next to Martyn. No regrets though, i managed to give the guy my armour and emptied my enderchest. It's.. A bit emotional i must say" 

"Dying?" 

"No, not that. Just.. Leaving Hermitcraft. It was the place where i got my family after all-oh dear" a thought makes his face pale, despite his face already being pale anyways. "Punz had no idea. I.. I didn't think to leave a messege for him when i was with Martyn. Oh-oh my stars" 

"Oh. I'm sure he will be fine. Maybe a little sad, but fine nevertheless. He is strong after all" Joe gives a soft reassuring smile at him that he almost forgot about Pungeance. 

"... I guess" he sighs. They then sit in a weird uncomfortable comfortable silence. It's not really nice but it feels good to know you're not alone here. 

After a while, a sound suddenly catches his attention. "Zedaph? You-i, what??" That voice is familiar.. Where have he heard it? He whips around, finding golden wings and a really bright hair. 

"Not Zedaph, Zedeath. I'll explain it to you later. Stay with the others, okay? I gotta go" Zedeath then vanishes again, leaving him staring at a canary and the starborne. 

"Hi?" He croaks, no way there were so many of them dying. 

"Hi" Scott replies and Jimmy just gawks at him. Well, this is gonna be a long while. 

Jimmy looks like he's still lost, "Wait. So, Bdubs, you were the boogey, i was the boogey and Scott is also the boogey. There were three boogies?" 

"Seems like it" he shrugs. 

"And where are we?" Jimmy continues. 

"The dark? The afterlife? Who knows? Only Zedeath knows i guess and he is not here!" Joe makes a sign for them to take a seat with her, on the dark nothingness flooring. The two does so. 

"Is this it then?" Scott breaths, "Is this actually our end?" 

"Well, i don't see anyone saying we're alive here" He laughs bitterly. "Accept it, we're dead. Nothing matters anymore. Maybe in another universe, we're still alive, laughing and safe. No death games" 

They all goes a little quiet for a while, before Scott breaks it by asking Jimmy a question. "Why did you hide it from me? You were the boogey. Why didn't you tell me?" 

"I thought i'd keep it secret and just die silently. You would sacrifice yourself for me, Scott. One way or another. I can't let that happen" 

"And it turns out i was the boogey as well. Funny, huh? We both exploded it front of Doc-oh. I wonder how that guy is doing. Must've been shocking to see your allies exploding at the same time. He wouldn't know what caused it as well. No one told them what not killing means for a boogey" 

"... Scott. Oh my god, we just left them. There are no more greens or anyone holding that alliance anymore!" Jimmy gasps, face draining of colours.

"Why is that a big deal?" Bdubs chimes in. He doesn't really see anything wrong with that. 

"Bdubs, we held the team together! When Doc and Beef tried lashing out, we stopped them and reminded them of the consequences that they keep forgetting about! False is also on that team. They have no one to ground them anymore!" 

"Oh" he realises. They may be dead, safe in this void Joe called the loser's lounge. But the others aren't so good. They aren't fine. They are still surviving. And now they have an reality breaking Doc, loose canon Beef and queen of pvp False on their hands. They also have X, which mind you, is like the danger or danger.

Yikes, the alive players are not gonna have a good time at all. 

Chapter Text

Not long after he ran away from Xisuma did he finally realise that he left Etho. Whoops. Should've thought about that sooner. He checks his comm, even though it can't work. Must be habits he guess. He straps back his comm, now at a lost at what to do. 

He sighs, "i guess i'll just have to do what i've always done. Survive" he continues his walk through the forest, keeping himself wary despite knowing that there's no way someone is here to jump him. Unless Xisuma teleported to him, of course, but there's no sign of anyone going near him for now. That is when-

'You are not the boogeyman' 

... Oh man, this is the twist he hate. Maybe it's time he try finding allies--or gaslight someone again--and earn their trusts. He continues, walking, stumbling over a few bases that he may or may not have stolen from. In his defense, no he wasn't there, what do you mean? He was never even near that place! You must be crazy to think he did! This armour he got? He totally came with it! 

After a while, he can hear a thunder, followed by a flash of lightning. His stomach twists. Whoever that just died is never coming back. Ever. Permadeath is painful like that. 

'Joehills bled to death by Keralis' 

The voice whispers into his ears. He sighs, opening his comm, to find that it's full of static and still unusable. He frowns, and decides that he should just keep going. Nothing he can do to bring back the dead anyways. 

He pushes on, continuing his journey to nowhere in particular. Maybe if he walked long enough, he'll find someone--preferably not a red one--and maybe then he can.. And then what? It'll end up the same anyways. Until the Speakers are banished, killed or something, they will keep on dying, falling and suffering. 

He huffs with anger and annoyance, there is nothing he can do to stop this. He walks and walks and then it's night. He settles down in a shack he quickly put together. It's not pretty, but it's safe.. From mobs at least. He stays there, sleeping far from comfortable until he is waken up by the sound of thunder a brief flash of lightning. 

'BdoubleO ran out of time' 

One more life down. One more person dead. He sighs, there is still nothing he can do except feel sympathy and mourn the lives lost. And then-

'Scott Smajor ran out of time'

'Jimmy Solidarity ran out of time' 

"Oh" he blurts. He did not expect to be so many dead in one day. That is, how many? 4 of them. Four dead in one day. He gulps, he can't imagine what tomorrow will be like. What even caused them to die? Ran out of time? Did they have a timer? A clock maybe??

He sucks in a breath, fearing what tomorrow might offer. For now, he just have to survive. Survive, survive, survive. Why is that the only thing he can do? He hates it. He hates unable to do anything. He sighs, turning over to sleep instead. 

'Session Two has started' 

The booming voice scares the heck out if him. "What the hell, man, i was sleeping!" He shouts. He blinks open his eyes, morning sunlight greeting him warmly. He lays back down, devastated that he had to wake up to this death game again. Secretly, he wished that it was just a nightmare. Well, hope's gone, time to get up. 

He stretches, and then he starts venturing out again. In this game, hoping hurts. So, he doesn't hope for anything. In fact, whatever it is that killed like 3 people last night, is terrifying and deem no hope for him. 

It's better like that. If the Speakers works the same way as Watchers do, no emotions means no feeding them. Which is a whole lot better. Unless these guys eats soul, then that's a problem. 

He decides to ignore his thoughts. He keeps making his way through the thick forests that is thinning little by little instead, that's matter than having a crisis. 

'Watch out for your pair, as there is snails around' a voice booms across the server, startling him.

'Your target is.. Mumbo Jumbo. You must assasinate them before the session ends. Watch out, as the person will also be hunting you down. If both fails to do this task, both will die' the voice whispers to him, making him freeze in the spot.

They added assasination?! What the heck?!?! He have to assasinate Mumbo? If this was a normal game, he'll do it in a heartbeat. This though? How can he ever do that?? He either live with the guilt if killing or die with him bleeding out. 

Oh, They are toying with them. Like their lives don't matter, like they are just playthings, ready to be tossed away at any time, always replacable. His blood boils. He's gotta find a way out of this. He have to do something. 

But what can he do? He bites his nail, maybe someone else has the answer to it. Firstly though, he must survive and find Mumbo before something happens between them that'll make it weird in the afterlife. 

He makes his way, with anger and frustration but a calm demenour nevertheless. He's off to search for a mustachio'd man that he have to kill in his hands. 

Chapter Text

He and Wels ran. Not because they were escaping, but because something just didn't made any sense. Why is Joe not respawning? Why did everyone looked so sad? Why did Xb stared at them with such hurt and hatred? He doesn't believe this. No way they just permakilled Joe. There is no way. No fucking way.

"Shit, Jev, what do we do?" Wels stops, catching his breath even though it's still as ragged as ever. The knight's eyes are pained, scared and in denial. 

"I.. I don't.. I don't know-Wels, i don't fucking know!" He shouts, feeling guilty for everything he did. He was the one that coaxed Keralis into messing with them, he was the one at fault. He-because of him, Joe is.. Joe is.. Joe is what? 

What did he do? He places a hand on his face. Why is he crying? He glances at Wels, who is also confused. They were just playing a game, Joe is probably at his bed after a respawn. Why are they acting like they did something really bad? 

"What's going on?" He questions. This is really confusing. They were just with Keralis just now, where had the guy gone anyways?

"No idea. What are we doing?" Wels shoots him a question as well. Both of them are unsure and at a lost at what is going on. 

"Don't know. I guess we should try to mess with someone? That sounds fun" he suggests and Wels eagerly nods. They then continue their way to find whoever that is unlucky enough to be their victims. 

They stumble upon a girl with pink hair, who looks at them like they're stranger. Not that they were particularly close, he don't think they have interacted before either... But they know her and he is pretty sure she knows them as well. "Hey" he begins and Lizzie starts running all of the sudden. 

He looks at Wels again, who shrugs with confusion again. What is going on? Why are the hermits and their guests are scared of them? He have so many questions, but he doesn't voice it. Instead, they continue on their way. 

They ended up finding no one else that day so they went back to their bases to get some rest from the weird day it was. He didn't sleep well with the random three thunders outside. Must've been a thunderstorm or something. He just went to sleep. 

In the morning, they are jumpscared by a loud voice in their ears. 'Watch out for your pair, as there is snails around' What. What is snails? The creature Grian and Gem is passing around, doing pranks with? Why would there be an announcement about snails? 

'Your target is.. Docm77. You must assasinate them before the session ends. Watch out, as the person will also be hunting you down. If both fails to do this task, both will die'

"What the hell, Doc of all people?! What is my luck?" He groans, earning a look from Wels. "What'd you get? I got Doc. Who knows how I'm gonna assasinate him"

"Scar" the knight smirks. "I doubt i even have to do anything, he'll probably fall into a hole and die anyways" Wels cackles, laughing at his misery. 

"Yea, yeah, laugh at me all you want. Do you think Doc will fall for traps?" 

"What kind of traps are we talking about? If you're thinking of digging a hole and putting tripwire hooks, no, that won't work on the goat" 

He groans, "Yeah, i figured. Maybe something explosive. Got any spare tnt?" 

"Not me, i don't do tnts" Wels denies, "But! I do know who have a ridiculous amount of tnt in their base" the knight claims. 

".. Who?" 

"Let's pay a visit to our lovely Watcher-ugh, why did that sound weird? Watch-watcher. Ew that word sounds horrible. That's weird" Wels notices and he agrees, the word Watcher made him uncomfortable. "Whatever, let's visit Grian's base, i bet he wouldn't mind if we.. Borrow some tnts" 

"Yeah, sure, I'm down"

"Great, come on!" 

-

As they were at the empty Grian's base, they managed to find a weird scenery in front of them. "Hels? Ex? What the hell?" Wels gapes. 

"What, what is going on? Who are these people, you know them?" He questions, looking over at the knight in dark armour and the Not-Xisuma in red... And the Mumbo that's sandwiched in the middle of the two armoured guys. Poor guy. 

"Wels, you won't kill good ol' Mumbo here would you?" The knight--Hels?--steps forward with a mocking demenour, fierce yet cocky. 

"No, that's not my target today" Wels replies, hands on his sword in alert. "No reason to fight over that guy" 

"I am so confused right now. You never told me you knew of these intruders!" Jevin chimes in, still finding the situation unbelievable. 

"Uh, news flash, dude. I've been here since season 5, Hels has been here since season 7, not really intruding, are we?" the Not-Xisuma... Evil Xisuma? Red Xisuma?? What the hell are these people's names?? He needs a name card or a player ID because this is getting ridiculous. 

"Shush, Ex. We're not here to fight, we just want to get a few tnts for a prank we're attempting. Step aside and we can all go our own ways" Wels warns. 

"And who is this, uh, prank for?" Mumbo who had been quiet all these time randomly speaks. Though once all their eyes are on the mustached man, he seems to regret it immedietly. 

"Doc" He replies truthfully. 

"Oh. Oh, well, i suppose we can't possibly stop you, huh?" Mumbo fidgets with his hands. 

"No, so step aside and we can do things peacefully. No need to fight" Wels says sternly, and the the knight's eyes softens. "Mumbo, i don't know why you're teaming with these two idiots but trust me when i say they're not good guys" 

Mumbo looks taken aback, "Oh, about that. Yeah, I know. I know, Wels, so don't worry about me" 

"Great, i take it we can go our ways then?" Wels asks in a way he's never seen before. Weird, Hels brings out the worst of Wels. He's never seen the knight so worked up and talking in a rude tone.

"Whatever, go get whatever shit you need to and get the fuck out of our sight" Hels spat and then gestures for them to get to the chest room. Wels moves and he follows along. 

In the chest room, he goes through the many shulkers and chests there is, in the end, they found like tons of tnt and tnt minecarts. "Hey, look what i found!" He points. 

Wels struts over and beams, "That's awesome, man. Come on, we gotta-" a single piece of cloth covers Wels' face suddenly, "-WHO ARE YOU?!" The knight reaches for his sword and twists around. He finally can see the two from earlier behind them. 

"I thought i said no fighting?!" Wels yells angrily, getting into a battle stance. He fumbles, doing the same with a bow. 

"And since when have i listened to you, Shining Knight?" Hels smirks, getting excited for a fight.

"Wels? What's going on? Do we have to figh- ARGH?!?!" He is shoved by Red X.. Why is this guy also called X anyways? This isn't X! 

He looks to his side, asking for help with his eyes but the two knights are already battling. He gulps, looking at Red X in front of him. "Heyy, any chance we can talk this out?" He tries. 

"It's for your own safety and others. I am not sorry" Red X then splashes something on him. He recognises it as nausea potion. 

"Fuck" the last thing he saw before he blacks out is Wels looking at him with scared eyes and then falling down at the grip of Hels. 

They are doomed, aren't they? 

Chapter Text

He is on the roof of Pearl's base. He couldn't sleep and he felt too devastated and in shock that he couldn't even close his eyes because of a fear. Fear that if he closes his eyes, another hermit, another friend and another family is gonna be gone by the time he opened them.

Staring up at the night sky, he can only feel grief and pain. It hurts to know that Joe won't be coming back, that one of theirs is gone forever again. He briefly wonders how Tfc is doing. Maybe that guy is in a better place right now. Maybe Joe is with him, laughing and sharing stories together.

'You'd wish it was, sweetface ' a voice that sounds so close to Keralis, but not quite, randomly whispers to him. It's not like the whispers of the Speakers, it's nice and comforting in a way that he can't quite grasp. Like a whisper of someone telling a secret, barely enough to be heard in the back of his head that he almost dismissed it as his thoughts. 

He hears footsteps approaching him and he sighs. "Keralis, I'm not really in the mood for your go to sleep Xb talks"

"I-i know, princess. I-.. Do you hate me?" Keralis blurts, his voice sounding so broken that it broke his heart as well.

He does feel a bit awkward with Keralis because he is like, the reason Joe is gone. But he can't blame the guy, the red thing the Speakers places over them are no joke. "No"

"Really?" Keralis steps closer, hesitant and uncertain. 

He pats the spot next to him as an invitation to sit next to him, "Yeah. It's not your fault, you know that. It's Their faults. I-i don't get how the others are coping okay with this. Have you seen Gem and Pearl? They're already fast asleep, as if they're used to this" 

Keralis gladly sits next to him, joining him underneath the moonlight. "They.. Probably are. I doubt they're actually okay but they are already used to it to not dwell on what damage has been done" 

"That's messed up" his brow furrows. "That's so messed up. They didn't deserve to go through this for, i don't know how many times already!" 

"I know, princess, it really is. Maybe in another universe, we're able to stop the games and save them. Put an end to this nonsense"

"I guess? I just.. I don't know. This is all so.. I hate it. I hate to know these guys have been doing this games for years, i hate that I'm in this game, i hate that our home is stuck in a state of danger for us. I just want Hermitcraft back. Not this-This life death game!" 

"I know. I know, and for that we must stray strong yeah? We can't let Them win. We will survive and kick their butts" Keralis smiles, but it's really forced. 

He ends up sighing, and leaning onto Keralis. It's nice to know that he won't be alone for who knows how long they've got left to live. Everyone has told him, told the hermits, about how there is only one winner and he is sure he won't be it. Keralis is also tender hearted, he will sacrifice himself for others to win. So they are both constantly living in a countdown, not even in a race against the time. Simply just waiting for their doom. 

Three lightning strikes at the same time and three whispers are heard. 

BdoubleO ran out of time.

Scott Smajor ran out of time.

Jimmy Solidarity ran out of time.

He opens his mouth to say something, but nothing ever comes out. Keralis is also in the same state of shock as he is. That is three more lives lost in a day. At the same time. He shivers, knowing that one day, maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after, maybe tonight, he will suffer the same fate. 

-

'Session Two has started' a voice booms in the morning. 

'Your target is.. Martyn Inthelittlewood. You must assasinate them before the session ends. Watch out, as the person will also be hunting you down. If both fails to do this task, both will die' 

... As if things weren't already bad. They just had to make it worse. They didn't stay long at Pearl's base, claiming that it's easy to trap and blow up... And arson reasons apparently. He doesn't even want to ask what happened that arson is a possibility. 

They all packed light, decked out in armour as they stroll across the shopping district with little to no confidence. They all stop when a familiar sight of a blaze comes into sight. He can hear Keralis muttering curses besides him and he can tell by Tango's sad eyes that those two are connected by the string of doom.

"I'll leave it to you, K" he pats Keralis' back and ushers the others to give the two privacy of sort. Give them time to say goodbye or decide who's gonna sacrifice who in peace.

They continue on their way, barely making any chats or jokes. They just have to find Grian and jog his memory. Yes, that's their goal. They have to find the avian quickly. Just as they were strutting along a pathway connecting Grian's and Gem's base, they all pauses when a lightning strikes. 

'ZedaphPlays was using an elytra' 

The voice is as cruel as ever and he shudders. He closes his eyes, holding in his tears because they've just lost another one. Another dead hermit. Another dead friend. Another one gone forever.

"We should've told everyone that elytras are banned" Pearl croaks, "I-This is horrible. Just because of an elytra?! Because he didn't know elytras are banned, he is dead?! That is fucking ridiculous!" She snaps. 

"Pearl, we get that you are upset, i am too" Gem emphasises. 

Pearl shoots her a look of distrust, "You are?" 

"Oh i wish i can tear those bastards until they aren't recognisable anymore and then dump their remains in the oceon!" Gem says darkly with a smile. 

Unnerving, but that's Gem for you. "You know i doubt the oceon wants them, we should toss them into lava, that'd be better.. Unless we got a laav monster which.. I don't think there are any" 

Gem gives him a shrug, "That'd be for the better. Come on, let's find Grian soon and murder these ugly Watchers--Speakers? Whatever they are quickly" 

So, they continue their search, until they find Scar, but not Grian in Mumbo's base. "Scar??" He calls out. Scar turns around with that iconic shriek as always. 

"You scared me for a second there! What brings you guys here?" Scar greets them with a smile. 

"Well, have you seen Grian?" Gem interjects. 

"Ah, I'm sorry to tell you i haven't. We got separated a while back when Keralis and Jevin attacked us in a mass. I'm just staying with Mumbo and two other lovely fellas, in fact, there they are! Hey Mumbi!!" 

They turn around, revealing three people dragging two people. "Wow, what a sight" he mutters. "Please tell me you didn't murder them" 

Mumbo waves to them, before focusing on helping the one that looks like Xisuma but red dragging the body. The dark knight next to them is carrying one body all by himself and that terrifies him. After a long while of just staring at them dragging Wels and Jevin, they finally turn to face each other. 

"Who are you again?" Pearl voices one of the many questions they have in their head.

"Someone not important" the knight replies, setting down Wels onto the floor. "Block them in" 

The red Xisuma nods and starts blocking Wels and Jevin inside an obsidian box. "What are you hermits doing here?" They ask. 

"Uhm, looking for Grian. But the bigger question is, who are you??" Gem questions, stepping closer to the guy. 

"I'm Wels' imaginations if that answers anything" the knight shrugs, and then smirking because they all are even more dumbfounded by that knowledge and it shows.

"My, my, excuse my two comrades over here!" Scar steps in, "These are Hels and Evil X! Ex goes by he/they by the way. Oh, don't question what they are, nobody knows where they came from. They are just there" 

"Right... So we just have two intruders hanging around?" Pearl doubts.

"I've been here longer than you have, Pearl. You too, Gem" Ex's use of the two names takes him by surprise. It just seems so wrong, in many different ways. The main reason is that they have never introduced themselves properly. He wonders if the guy also know his name. 

Seems like he accidently blurted that last part because Ex snorts, "I do know you, Xb" 

"Ah, well. That-... Nice to meet you too?" 

"Not nice, you shouldn't have even known of our existence" Hels spat. 

"And stay not knowing forever?" 

"It's better that way" 

".. Why?"

"You need me to show you?" 

"Go on" 

"Fine" Hels takes a sword, and then suddenly lunges as Ex, who just stand still, not even fighting back. 

"Wait, what are you doing?! This is permadeath!" Gem rushes in to stop them, only to be held back by Scar putting a hand and telling them to just watch. After a while, Ex dies and they all went quiet. 

"What did you do that for!" Pearl yells. There is no way that guy just did that willingly in front of them on permadeath. Oh dear, another life is lost. Another life is gone-

"Shush" Hels silents her. After a while they can see Ex making their way back to them...? What. Isn't it like, permadeath right now? "Our existence aren't comprehendible for you players" Hels says vaguely. 

"How did you do that?" He voices.

Ex and Hels smirks, "Evil magic" they both says simultaneously. 

"Right. This is getting weird" Gem glances around, "Uhm, we'll be on our way then. Tell us if you ever see Grian, we.. Kinda need him to fix this"

"How so?" Mumbo interjects. 

"Watchers and Speakers don't mix well and combat each other's power. If we can get Grian to remember, then we have a chance at stopping this twisted game" 

"And how do you know this?" Hels questions. 

"Joe told us" 

At the mention of Joe, everyone goes quiet. But the Scar sighs, "Alright. If Joe said it, we trust it. Joe is never wrong about these things after all" 

"Thank you. See you around, try not to die" Pearl waves them and they are off again. 

Ignoring the questions of what the heck just happened and who the fuck did they just met, where in the world could that pesky Watcher be?

Chapter Text

Something is wrong, he can feel it. He's never felt so free and wild before. He's also bloodthirsty, something that he doesn't like often. But then again, he is playing a game, so maybe that's why he's getting this restless and excited. It's still weird though. Especially when he's never met this guy before. 

"Hi" the creature says. Their many eyes blinking and staring into his soul in the darkness of the forest foliage. "You're red, can i strike a deal or something instead? I don't wanna fight, i have something urgent to do" 

"Who are you? What are you?" He bites back his urge to run or lash out at the creature.

"The name's Bigb. I'm a shadow creaking, but don't tell that to anyone. I'm keeping it a secret" the creature, Bigb, smiles as he is stepping forward into the light. 

Then the many creepy yellow eyes are just gone, leaving two normal looking eyes. Like it was never there at all. 

".. What?" 

"Lovely meeting you, Mr. Vex. I have to go elsewhere. Have you seen Mumbo?" Bigb asks, showing no signs of fear at all.

"That human? Yeah, saw him walking to his base... One question, how in the world did you do that?" 

"Do what?" 

"That thing with your eyes!" He demands.

"What thing?" Bigb questions, looking at him weird. 

"The many eyes you had before! They just vanished!" He is certain. He saw what he saw and that was enough proof by itself. Just.. How did it dissapear just like that?? That doesn't make any sense. Body parts like eyes don't just dissapear randomly?

"I don't know man. I only got two eyes. No idea what you're talking about"

"What? But-? No i definitely saw the yellow swirly glowing eyes!" 

"Uhm, my eyes are brown? Get some sleep, buddy. Maybe you're just sleep deprived because i'm certain i have only two eyes and it's brown" 

"Im being gaslit" he concludes.

"What's gaslit?" Bigb asks, genuinely sounding confused. 

"The thing that you just did!"

"Asking?"

"No, the lying to me part!" 

"You mean me correcting you? I don't know bud, you should try getting more sleep. I see those eyebags under your eyes" 

"No, I'm not sleep deprived! I saw that. I genuinely saw that you had many eyes. 

"I don't know man, sounds sleep deprived to me"

"What, no?? I-what? You're lying!" 

"I don't know, if you think so? I don't think I'm lying though" 

"What-you-i.. What??" 

"Just get some sleep, i think you need it" 

"I don't trust you. You're lying, i know it!"

"I don't know.. Am i lying?" Bigb phrases it as a question. Does this guy just accidentally lie or something?

"Yes?!"

"Well, then, why are you yelling? Are you lying?" 

"N.. No!" 

"Well then, tell me what my eye colour is"

"It's brown" 

"So you were lying to me about the yellow eyes!" 

"Wait, what? No! I'm not! It changed! I saw it!" 

"Then what colour is my eyes?" 

"Brown-Yellow...?"

Bigb sighs and shakes his head, "If you're gonna lie, and be weird about it, then at least don't make it obvious" 

"I.. I'm not lying" he mutters, watching as Bigb turns around and leaves, ignoring his deny of lying. He cannot believe that just happened. Did he really saw it wrong or what? 

Whatever.. Now that he thinks about it, why didn't he attack the guy anyways? He pissed him off, he should've attacked him when he had the chance. Why didn't he?... Maybe he has gone crazy after all. Maybe that Bigb guy was right, he needed some rest after all. 

He decides to fly back to his base instead. As he lands into his base, he can already hear yelping. Ah, so someone's in his base. Man, he thought he'd finally get some rest from their game. Guess he'll have to deal with the person snooping in his base first. 

He gets down one floor, finding that his armour on the armour stands are missing. "A petty thief huh?" He scoffs. He goes up again when he hears footsteps upstairs. After a few while of a game of hide and seek, he finally spots Ren. He flashes a menacing smile because Ren is his target. His assasination target. 

Ren is genuinely terrified, "Dude, dude, we can talk about this!" The dog is covered in armor, his armors that he knew was from the armour stands. 

"Thief. Start running" he blurts and from then on they have a game of tag. He chases the dog, sending him into panic and tight spaces where it's hard to get away from. He laughs. He's never had such fun before. Is this what it means to be a red? He doesn't even care what a red might be, he just loves this thrilling chase game they're playing. 

After who knows how long, Ren came to a stop, backed into a corner by him. "Dude, Cub, stop-i.. Stop. I don't wanna die yet" 

"You'll respawn" he huffs, placing a sword on Ren's neck. For some reason that made the dog even more panicked than usual. Is it because it's his neck? Who knows if he's been beheaded before.

"Cub, please, this isn't a game! The server is on permadeath. I don't.. I don't wanna die" Ren sobs so genuinely that he almost backed off. He did change the sword placement to his chest instead and that made the guy relax a little. 

"What do you mean? Hermitcraft isn't a hardcore world. Scar dies all the time! Plus, we're just playing, remember? We're playing demise part two!" He is getting even more confused by Ren's behaviour. 

"No, Cub. This isn't demise. This isn't Hermitcraft. Not anymore. We're in the middle of a life game where we permadie if we die. I don't wanna die, Cub. I don't wanna.." The dog's ears flattens, showing true fear. 

"What? But-how?" This doesn't makes any sense! They are in Hermitcraft, playing demise part two. This has to be Ren tricking him!

"The Watchers. I guess they got bored of us and decided we should die now that we're of no use to their entertainment" 

The Watchers. Ugh, that tasted so sour in his mouth. Who is the Watcher again? Grian. Is Grian killing them? No, Grian wouldn't do that.. He loves them too much to kill them. So, who are the Watchers? "Keep talking. I need to know more" 

"I will, but please, put the sword away. We can do this the easy way" Ren pleads so pathetically that it kinda hurts to see.

"What if you run?" 

"You think i can run like this?" Ren points out that he is already backed into a corner with no way out. 

".. No" 

"Then, put the sword away. Please" 

Hesitantly, he places his sword away. He keeps it at his side, just in case but other than that, he doubts Ren can outrun him again. Poor guy looks so tired. "Talk"

"Okay. Okay.. So you know about the life games, yeah?" 

"The one where you all will go missing for days and came back telling stories about death games?"

"Yup. The Watchers-gosh, they're probably watching us right now. The Watchers made the games. We are the players. I don't know how they inflitrated Hermitcraft and turn this safe space into hell but they did. They brainwashed you, erased your feelings, make you think that this is a game and you're in constant state of uncontrollable rage or desire for blood" 

All the colour drains from his face, "That's.. Fucked up dude" 

"I know. I'm sorry that your first time is already a permadeath rule, my guy" Ren laughs bitterly. "You would've loved the life games if it wasn't a permadeath rule" 

"I.. Ren, I'm sorry i-" 

"Leave it. We are bound to die anyways. There's no way out, can't you see? We're all damned in here. I either have to kill you, or you kill me" 

True.. They did say if no one made a move, they would both die. So it's either one die or both die. It's a lose-lose situation either way. Ren wouldn't have the strength to kill him. He doesn't want to kill Ren either. But Ren doesn't wanna die. 

...

He's made up his mind. Only one of them has to die. No one's said anything about having to die by the other's hands. Ren can live.

"Ren, just so you know, I'm sorry. I'm too dangerous to be left here, as a red. Tell the others i loved them. Tell Scar he was my bestest buddy. The Vex says thank you for the memories and for the shelter this place had been before all of this-" 

"Cub, what do you-" Ren's face is filled with horror of realisation, "Don't you DARE" 

"I'm sorry. Goodbye" he drops his sword. 

"Cub-Cub, no! No, don't, this isn't the way, Cub!" Ren tries grabbing him, but he is already launching off into the distance. He flies up and up and up until the only thing he can see is the blue sky and the clouds. 

Then, he stops flying and his body is now falling. 

It feels weird, really. His body feels so light yet heavy at the same time. The wind whooshing past him is harsh but he loves the coldness of it. He falls past a couple of clouds, making Cub shaped holes on it. He spins around. He can see the ground now. 

The trees are coming in view. The grass is is getting closer and closer and then he hits the ground hard. But it wasn't an unhappy death. He is pretty content of this kind of death. For his friend. His family. 

Cubfan135 hit the ground too hard.

Somewhere in the distance, Ren's broken wails are the only thing filling the now empty, unowned skulk biome. 

Chapter Text

With the death of Joe, follows the death of Bdubs, Scott, Jimmy, Zedaph and Cub. So they all decide to get out of the poe hideout to make graves for the ones who's died. They don't have much, not even their bodies so they buried the items that reminded them the most of the dead ones. 

They recited poems for Joe, buried a clock for Bdubs, planted a poppy for Scott, cherished a feather they got from the past life games for Jimmy's grave, they buried one of Zedaph's horns, and got some fireworks for Cub's grave. 

They couldn't do much. Not even a proper funeral and that made Impulse feel terrible. They mourn their lost, and told stories that made them forget about the game. Forget about everything just for a second. it was peaceful for once. The quiet of the forests and the sunlight is nice. There is no explosions, no deaths, no blood. Just peace and quiet.

But why don't good things ever last? 

A yell is heard and then he is toppling down onto the floor. He gasps, looking at the person that's his target. Or shall he say, the one that will kill him? Beef places a sword on his neck, red eyes swirling menacingly. He gulps. "H-ey, Beef, can we talk this out?" His voice cracks. 

"No" In a swift motion, there is a sword that's pressing into his neck-! Skizz shoves Beef away just in time to save him. He lets out a choked sigh of relief.

"Dop', come on!" The angel ushers and he immedietly gets back on his feet, already running. "You think natural wings are fine to fly with?" 

"Well, we're gonna die either way, what's one more risk?" He half jokes, half not. Mostly not. 

"We are so gonna break the rules or something" Skizz shoots upwards in a beat and he follows. They wait for something, anything to happen that will kill them in the sky, but nothing is out of the ordinary. 

They end up landing somewhere near Joe's base. "Guess natural wings are allowed. Thanks, Skizz. That was terrifying!" He breaths, adrenaline slowly losing it's grip on him. 

"Just saving your life-" Skizz pauses, a look of horror on his face, "We forgot Martyn!" 

Oh. Uh oh. 

"Come on, before it's too late!!!" He ushers as they fly back to get their teammate who may or may not be in danger. How did they forgot about Martyn anyways? 

As they near the place where they've made all the graves and where they left Martyn, they found nothing. No one is even there anymore. He whimpers, where could Martyn have gone? He opens his glitched out comm and bites his lips in frustration. He then remembers that deaths aren't announced in the chats. Death are announced via whispers. 

"There's no death messege" he concludes. "There's no death messege. Martyn is surely fine... Right?" He asks desperately.

"Well, there's no deaths so.." Skizz doesn't help at all. In fact, it's making him more anxious. And Skizz noticed that change in his face. "I mean, i'm sure he is! He's a strong guy, real cheeky and a master at decieving! If anyone would survive, it'd be Martyn!" 

"We should still look for him.. He might be injured or is on death's door" he suggests and Skizz agrees. Then, they both stake out the place which did not end up well as they see no Martyn in sight. Not even a blood trail actually. 

"Do you think he willingly gave himself up as a hostage?" He asks, now pretty worried that they'll use the guy as a bait. 

"I don't know.. But knowing Martyn, he won't" Skizz shakes his head.

"True, i guess he got away then?" He deduces.

"Yeah I think so" Skizz nods. 

"Gosh, i hope he is alright" 

They can only hope. So, they went back to their pitiful, now devoid of any others hideout. Their day was uneventful. That is until a particular someone came to find him that night at the permit office HQ. 

Skizz had gone away, far from him to not let him see his pathetic death. It sucks having a soulmate that wants to kill you.. Or maybe that's better. Someone who is reluctant to kill him will end with them both being dead. 

"So, Impy, want the hard way or the easy way?" Beef stares at him from across the room. 

He sighs, he would convince Beef to realise that he is red and is being manipulated. But like he said before, a soulmate that doesn't want to kill will only end up with both of them being dead. "As much as i want to do it the easy way, we should entertain our audience"

Beef looks at him with confusion but lets it go. "Fine then, on the count of three" 

"One.."

"Two.."

Beef runs at him with a cry. That's fine. He didn't expect Beef to actually follow the countdown anyways. He's been in too many death games to know that. He lunges, his sword meets Beef's. Their eyes don't part from each other. 

He steps back and takes a huge swing, Beef dodges and counters with a jab at his side. He hisses, not the most painful one he's dealt with, but painful regardless. 

On automatic, he kicks Beef away, and takes advantage of Beef's unsteady balance. He dashes, moving forward to finish him off with a blow to the neck but Beef rolled away and got back on his feet steadily. 

He huffs in annoyance, going at the guy again. Killing Beef is an act of mercy. If Beef ever kills someone else, he will live with so much regret and self blame forever. Impulse killing him is for the better. For now-he dodges a blow-he only have to win this fight.

He swings his sword, switching over to an axe in his off hand to take Beef by surprise. That plan seems to have worked and Beef went tumbling on the floor. He jumps on the guy and keeps him on the ground. Beef thrashes but poor guy couldn't win.

Now, the hard part. He have to kill Beef. He sucks in a breath, reminding himself that this is an act of mercy. That Beef is better off like this rather than letting him loose to hurt others. "Beef, I'm sorry, bud. I love you, i'll see you when my life is over" 

"What?" Beef asks questioningly. 

"I'm sorry" A few tears drops as he says that. He flashes the guy one last bitter smile. "I'll make it quick" he angles his sword at Beef's neck and with a sickening splat, the sword pierces the cow hybrid. Lightning strikes and the server goes quiet.

VintageBeef was slain by ImpulseSV.

'You have assasinated your target. Congrats, you may live another day!' 

The messege of cold whisper sickens him. He was forced to do that. He had to. Beef doesn't need to stain his hands with blood. Beef doesn't need to suffer at the realisation that he's hurted someone. Because he will gladly carry out that task for him. He is used to deaths, blood and gore. His hands are long stained, his eyes are already bloodshot, his guilt has already eaten him up everyday. Beef doesn't need to suffer, because he will. 

Chapter Text

"What do we do with them?" He asks genuinely. 

"You are letting us go" Jevin huffs playfully. Like this is a game. Look, trapping two reds aren't that bad of an idea but not knowing what to do with them is. Do they just let them stay there? Do they try to make them aware of the situation? Does he murder them for greater good? What the heck does he do? 

"No way. You two are staying here, no matter what you say" Ex retorts, leaning against a wall. Hels is somewhere, doing stuffs he said--wo knows what--and Mumbo is resting becuase the death game has really taken a toll on him.

"You forgot something" Wels blurts randomly. 

"Mm? And what's that?" He questions. 

"You will lose as you are bound to someone. The games had just begun. You are nowhere near safe, Scar" Wels laughs, making all of them uneasy. 

"True. In a moment of two. Someone will come waddling in here. Everyone wants to win" Jevin adds, making him even more bothered.

True to his words, a loud noise is suddenly heard. It's an explosion. Scar recognises that sound anywhere. He gasps, panic wells in his chest. "What did you do?" He questions. 

"Not us. Never was us" Wels shrugs and in just a few seconds, they can see Doc--Red eyed and grinning like a mad scientist--marching into the room with a world eater slowly approaching them. 

"So that's where you were" Doc stares at Jevin, unamused. "I was wondering if you'll ever come at me and try something. I guess you couldn't" 

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, now let me out of here so i can fight you, Doc!" Jevin muses, excitement visible in his eyes. 

Wait, they're gonna fight? No, no, that's not good! They're gonna kill each other. He have to act fast. "Gentlemen, gentlemen, may i ask what's going on and why you're going after Jev?" He distracts them. 

Doc looks at him with little to no interest at all, "He's the one i need to assassinate" 

"Oh" he blurts, "Well, that makes sense but can i interest you in peace and talking things out-" 

Ex lunges at Doc with swords in their arms. Doc dodges them and they bonked into the walls idiotically. "Well there goes the fighting tension" Ex groans as he gets up again. This time, Ex decides to circle the creeper before attacking again. 

Doc stops Ex just by grabbing the poor guy's hand and smashing him into the walls yet again. "I don't know who you are, but go play with someone else who's your enemy" 

"I-bitch?" Ex's words caught everyone off guard but Doc manages to ignore it and heads straight for the obsidian box where Jevin and Wels is. He gasps and jumps in to stop him. 

"Hey, come on now, Doc. We can talk with then in there, yeah?" He tries again but Doc pays no attention at all to him and decides to break the obsidians instead. Once the block breaks, he places another obsidian there before anyone could get out. "No. Doc, bad" 

Doc hisses in warning frustration, "Scar, i don't have anything against you so stop before i put an end to you as well" 

Those words sends shivers down his spines and he visibly backs off. Well, if he can't stop them, he guess he'll just have to get as far away as he can. Not that he can win against any of them. In any case, he is in danger because Wels right there is the one after him. He starts getting away as fast as possible. He can hear the sounds of obsidians breaking and Ex war cries that keeps dissapearing and reappearing into the background.

Then, he hears clicks and clacks of boots behind him. He yelps, speeding up faster because he knows who those footsteps belong to and it won't be a good talk his way out of it situation. 

iJevin was slained by Docm77. 

Welp, there goes Jev. Rip Jev, he can worry about the guy later after he survives the ever vengeful Welsknight behind him. Not even long after running away, Wels managed to catch up to him and yanks him to the mossy ground. He is greateful for the moss, it cushions his landing. 

"Wels, Wels, look, listen-we can talk about this yeah? We can-surprise attack!" He lunges at the knight, a sword in his arm. He doesn't wanna kill Wels, but he might need to. A red name is dangerous. Wels wouldn't forgive himself if he killed him. Poor guy got dragged into this for no reason.

He slashes at Wels' stomach but the armour protected the knight's body. Yikes. He yelps, barely dodging in time. He steadies himself and starts going at Wels again. Stabbing the knight's arms are easy. But the cost of doing so is his legs failing him after such a harsh and bold movement. 

"Shi-" he almost trips. He has to stay upright. He have to win this. Or else he is gonna die. Wels swings at him and he can't find himself running to dodge quickly, so he parries the swing with his sword. Then, the knight notices his weakness and goes for his spots that he can't parry. He ends up straining his legs so bad that he falls to the floor with a thud. 

"Wels-Wels, I'm sorry. We can be friends. We can be friends yeah?" He pleads as he sees that there's no way out of this. Wels doesn't seem to be bothered though. The knight holds up his sword and swings in one huge motion. 

'SCAR, NO' A voice that sounds like Grian echoes in his ears. He chuckles, the blood pooling around him. Lightning strikes him-

Then everything goes black.

----

Voices, echoes and whispers. Are those his friends? Are they here with him again?

"Scar! You're here! Oh, uh, I'm sorry, that looks painful" he opens his eyes to see Jevin, ghostly and gray--unlike a slime. 

"Where-oh. Are we dead?" He huffs, amused at what the heck is happening. 

"Yup, welcome to the club buddy!" Jimmy shouts from the background, where he can see a lot of others--slightly mangled and bloodied, but still them nevertheless. 

"So, how did you die?" Cub asks, patting the seat next to him as an invitation. 

"Fought Wels. Legs got in the way" he briefly explains. 

Cub nods, "i see, i see. Well, we're playing a game of who do you think will be out next?" 

"Oh" he muses, surprised that these guys are playing a game with the lives of others. "I guess... Cleo?"