Chapter Text
"So… the 'plan' is to eventually get Noli to go beserk enough to destroy the realm and let us escape, or summon this 'top hat' guy at the very least and figure out whats going on."
The murmured consensus was all around the table, though it seemed horridly self aware. Even moreso when Elliot's hand smacked his own forehead with a defeated groan.
"This is such a horrid idea."
The shared glances all said the same thing- what else could they do..? And to give them credit, well.. yeah. What else could they do? They were struggling as is, and without any more information, this was all they could do. He just didn't understand why everyone looked so- defeated. So empty. They were alive, they just had to- survive this and then they'd all go back to life. To normal. To work.
So all Elliot could do was stand in the circle as the mark appeared a few hours later, cracking his neck and rolling his shoulder. At least he had his uncle around this time.. solo-healing everyone sucked. But it was his sworn duty help and serve customers- it was… his only duty.
It was … all he was able to do.
…he hit the grass with a fwomp.
There was just a disgruntled grumble as Elliot shoved himself up from eating dirt and mud, looking around at the graveyard he had spawned it. Great. Lovely. He had to take a deep breath, rubbing at his shoulder a little as he looked around- normally there.. yep. There.
He snagged the medkit off a headstone, shoving the adjacent soda in his pocket and noting the generator as he went to find the rest of the group.
2×2 above.. Elliot was getting so tired of this.
Trudging across the bridge, all he could do was think about it. About how exhausted he was. Tired. He just wanted to go back to the Pizzeria, to his life. Not that anyone else would understand.
They were all Robloxians. Avatars.
…well not all of them. He was learning there was a variety here- guests, glitches, the like— but still. The vast majority had something Elliot would never have- a choice in their purpose. Being something… other.
An NPC like himself didn't have something like that.
Calling Builderman his uncle was more courtasy then anything. The cover the old man had given him, though it was accurate enough. Dued1 was always fond of him. Close, even. So he saw them more often then not, hell- Builder had been the one to give him his name all those years ago.
Elliot.
He didn't know where it came from, but.. well. It made it easier to fit in. And realistically right now, he only other one who would know would be … him. But at least he seemed compliant in keeping the cover. Not that there was anything wrong with his origin, but yknow. People treated NPC's differently. It was just how it was.
Easier to pretend to be a Robloxian. Wasn't like there was any obvious differences between him and the rest of them all.
"Ell! Over here!"
He perked up as Chance waves him down, the crowd gathering. 20 minutes left till the killer was released- they gathered quickly.
007n7, Two Time, Guest 1337, Noob, Builderman, Chance, Taph, and himself. He was already scanning the area, trying to assess the best way to serve customers-
"There ya are, son." Buildermans hand smacked Elliots shoulder, a warmer smile on the older mans grey face, scruffy and worn down with age and time, an old feather permanently pinned into his hair. "Feelin' a'ight?"
"…As well as I can, I guess." Elliot sighed, pushing the blonde fringe from his face. He couldn't do much but watch everyone around him, mentally catagorizing whatever was needed- reaching into the bag strapped to his back every time they spawned in, shrugging his uncles hand off his shoulder in the effort. "Just… preparing. Am I following the fighters around again?"
"Might as well. Yer more mobile then me, son, but I'll try ta get set up 'n places thatll make it easier on ya. Ill take ta those of us tendin to the generators." The older man sighed, hands sinking into his pockets as he scanned the area. "Any hints on who we're dealin wit?"
"No, sir." Noob was the one to chirp up, rubbing his arm. "We at the very least know it isn't one of the obvious killer tells, though- we didn't hear Sixer's roar, or c00lk1dd's giggle. The silence is— unnerving. It could be anyone, but Slasher or— finally Azure being on field is our best guess."
Guest 1337's gaze steeled.
"Slasha' n Azure, aye..?" Builderman sighed, murmuring. "Could be any number ov' these folk, though. We ain't got much ta go off.."
"Its just out best guess.. their the only ones that don't really have any- tells." She tugged at the strings of her hoodie, the painfully obvious claw marks up Noob's face the only real mark of struggle on his body. She was a rather quiet but eager member of their group, and Elliot was always willing to work with them pretty freely at least.
"Alright then. We work fast, aye? Chance, 1337, Two Time n Ell- yall will be on watch duty, yeah? Rest of us start scoutin. Once its figured, split the force. 1337 and Two Time, distract n needle em, Ell and Chance will messanger. Got it?"
The chorus of 'yessir' followed in round robin, that damned hacker already pulling up the screen that sent a shock of pain down Elliots spine every time he so much as saw it. He just looked away from it all as the scouting force gathered around him, all of them vanishing across the map to start the usual set up.
So without much else to worry about or do, Elliot started to follow the crowd, adjusting the straps for his delivery box— wishing to god he had his moped or car right about now. Oh, it would be even better if he had his car- the look on the killers face if he could run them over—
"Oi, Ellie, ya comin-?" Chance called out, spinning his flintlock over their finger.
"Yeah, yeah. Stop calling me that, already." He just grumbled, jogging to catch up with the little group— glorified babysitting, really. "Which point are we going to?"
"They really only spawn around or in the haunted manor up the hill, so we're going to scout using the purgola up on the cliffside. See if we can get a glimpse without getting to close." Chance seemed a lot more lax today- and on the taller side. Maybe fortune was looking on them for once.
"I am not expecting much difficulty. Spawn has been kind, lately." Two Time murmured, their voice so hauntingly empty and devoid yet so- singsong. "Deliverer, who do you think it is?"
"Huh- oh. I dunno."
Two Time just blinked at Elliots bland response, but didn't do much else with it, continuing to follow them up the stairs. The watches they all wore tick, tick, ticked, the numbers in the digital surface slowly clicking down to their demise.
Guest sighed, scowling a little.
"..nothin. Aint a damn thing.." He sighed, rolling his shoulder. "Worth a shot. We can at least see em leave. Nothin left to do but wait."
Elliot just looked to the side. Of course it was pointless. Whatever. Back to scanning the enviroment and figuring out the best paths for serving customers….
…huh.
"..There's a lot of generators this round."
The rest of the group looked at him, before looking around. Sure enough, there were three generators in sight- and Elliot knew he had spawned near one. And seen at least two more on the way there. That was an abnormal amount of generators- weren't there normally 5?
"..Huh. Now that ya mention it, there is.. a lot of em." Chance murmured, glancing at their watch. Just a few seconds before they had their answer, but.. "..Maybe we're just seein things-?"
Elliots eyes blew wide. Oh fuck.
"Chance, we gotta go. We gotta warn the others." Elliot was already on the move, jumping off the cliff side and sliding down the dirt, getting surprised yelps from Chance.
"Wh- cmon, dude, what do you mean-?! Who-?!!"
An eerie bell jingle rippled across the map before a generator by them started to flicker and glow purple and black, glitching out with a cackle that still sent shivers up Elliots spine. Chance sucked in a sharp breath as it clicked.
"..oh fuck."
Noli came twisting out of the generator with a cackle, cloak fluttering behind them as he hovered over the grass, VoidStar hanging out above their hand.
"Well, well, well. A menagerie~!! Shall we begin..-?"
Elliot didn't have any time to react before Noli was in front of him.
A sharp gasp escaped him, Elliot getting sent flying when he got shoulder checked into oblivion. The shadows pierced his skin, almost as if liquid blades pierced through his skin as the pizza boy collided with the mud. He could only let out a strangled yell of surprise as rocks dug into his back, twist into his skin— painful, garish, shadowed blood leaking from his wounds.
"Elliot-?! Elliot!!" Chance's voice was muffled, wavering- how far away were they..? Elliot tried to get them to run, but no words could escape, not as he tried to get to his feet, not as Noli towered over them with that twisted giggling mask, hiding their rotting and warped face— hands slowly reaching down, gripping at his shoulders—
"Elliot-! The hell you screamin about-?!"
Elliot blinked, the hands on his shoulders warm. Not cold. And the person he was struggling to escape from—
"Wait- Chance-?"
…No.
Chance stumbled back as a small slicer swung up under his chin, hands immediately going into surrender-
"Woah, woah- hey, careful-!! Ell, its just me, I swear-! You started yellin all of a sudden, we were-!"
Elliot could only stand there, arms tense, eyes wild— glancing around at the concerned group of sentinals around him. What the fuck. Where was the gash, the stab wound-?! Where the hell was-?! He glanced down at his watch, before looking around— he was still on top of the purgola. He had never jumped down.
And the watch on his wrist now read minutes, instead of seconds left till their lives were on the line.
"..its Noli." His breathing was rampent, unable to calm- ragged, sharp, afraid. "Noli is- Noli's killer. The generators, their- fuckin. What the fuck. He was right here, he stabbed me, he-!!"
"Careful now. Deep breaths. We already know Noli is adept with inducing hallucinations." Guest murmured, slowly approaching and gently nudging Chance back. "Noli won't be released for a few more minutes. But if what your saying is true, then we know who were up agai-"
"None of the rest of us saw it, Soldier." Two Time leaned around Guest, empty eyes burning. "The Deliverer simply began to scream. How are we to know the truth of the matter?"
"Truth of- THEY WERE RIGHT FUCKIN-!" Elliot paused. Calm. Nope, everything is perfectly fine. Deep breath. We got this. We are so back. Trust. Its ok! Everything is as it should be! "..Ok. So. Hallucination. Right."
2×2 above. He should be used to this.
"Just— lets just go tell the others. Split off. We don't have a solid plan for this guy yet. So I guess we're prepping for death." He couldn't bring himself to be optimistic, putting the pizza slicer away and starting to jump down the purgola with a grumble. "Stupid fucking death trap son of a-"
He ignored Chance's attempts to catch up, kicking at rocks as Elliot stormed off into the pillars, leaving Chance to go a different direction in hopes of finding everyone. They APPARENTLY still had time or something. So yknow.
…whatever.
..His feet came to a stop. The faint jingle of a bell still lingered in Elliots ears, his hands swatting away the glitching laughter that seemed to remain so quiet against the drums of his ears. Incessent. Buzzing. Constant nagging. Crawling up the shadowed corners in bubbling spry, lingering there. Haunting.
He let himself just.. sink. Sink to the muddied and abandoned dirt, surrounded by graves of fake names and false promises. Reminded of the flames. The laughter. The lingering threat under his skin.
It wasn't always like this. There was a time before he was Elliot. Before he could think. A time when the torment didn't matter because he wouldnt remember tomorrow.
Yet he so visibly remembered the day he woke.
When the flames got to close. The day he accepted his fate. The day where he died like NPCs did. Copied and returned. And when he came back like he always did, he came back different.
He came back aware.
…Everything would be so much easier if he wasn't like this. Hell, he wouldn't be here. Who knows how his respawn got rerouted here-!! All he knew is that he wanted to go home. Back to Mia. Back to his creator. Back to peace. Back to work.
But noOoOo.
…he stood back up, readjusting the straps on his delivery pack. A glance at the watch told him time was nearly up, and he could hear one of his uncles regenerators nearby. So off he went, heading in that direction to leave some pizza behind, or at least drop off the medkit he was lugging around. Stragglers could grab something to regenerate at least; maybe. He just sighed.. why couldnt this be over with already?
His footsteps echoed as he found the path, peering around and following the familiar sound.
Only when he turned the corner to where the sound was, there was nothing there.
"..fuck."
"Oo, youve grown a mouth since we last talked!!"
The yelp that escaped Elliot definitely wasn't extremely high pitched and startled!
Noli laughed, watching the poor guy fumble and stumble backwards in surprise, slowly approaching him with playful amusement. Elliots eyes blew wide, darting to the slicer on his belt— only to find nothing there, Noli spinning the little toy on their finger.
"Aw, is that how you greet a friend now, Ellie?" Their voice glitched and stuttered, Noli staring down at the ever blazing Elliot, determined yet fearful eyes meeting sunken in sockets. "We barely even got to chat at my redebut~!!"
"Ive got nothing to say to you, asshole." Elliot growled the words out, nose scrunching as brownish grey eyes glared up at the twisting mask in front of him. "Not to a fucking hallucination. Show your face to me and then we'll dance."
Oh? Nolis grin got sharper, eager, a twisted kind of playful. Now what was this … ?
Cold fingers reached up. Elliot flinched as they graced over the warmth of his cheek, nails scraping- gasping as it cut into his skin, the faint trail of warm blood slowly dripping from the cut. Noli snickered, holding Elliots chin in spot with a terrifyingly gentle grasp.
"Oh, you havent changed at all, pizza boy."
Red fabric splattered with mud as Elliot was shoved back, Noli so languidly approaching him. Their gaze never broke, glitched out bells and laughter echoing in the background as Elliot stood his ground. Waiting.
Its just a hallucination. He just had to wake up. Itll end eventually. It has to.
..It wasnt until void erupted from the ground beneath Elliot, binding him down to the mud as Noli towered over him with that snide stare as the ground and space around them started to warp that Elliot realized.
This was Noli.
"Now thats cute~! Took you long enough, Elliot- what, you thought I wouldnt want to say hi to my favorite pizza boy~?" They cackled as Elliot started to flail and fight so pitifully against them, mud and grass shifting to wood and brick. The crackle of flames started to shift, slowly rising around them as Builder Brother's constructed around them, Elliots thrashing only causing the binds to get tighter. "Ohh, we used to have fun together, didn't we? Who knew that Builders most loyal little employee would end up in a shithole like this?"
Elliot yelped, his body suddenly jerking- misty tendrils yanking him up like a puppet. He was helpless but to lean in and glare down at Noli, trying to ignore his surroundings, ignore the fire licking at his clothes, the burning wood and stone gracing his nose, sharp, familiar, angry. He could only stand to try and defiantly glare down at the glitched out god, struggling against the strangling binds in a desperate bid to show strength, show change.
"Gods, you all are pathetic."
After a few seconds, Elliot was just.. flicked away. Through the fake wall of the false pizzeria, colliding back into the mud pillers of the now familiar graveyard. He was helpless but to scream, feeling the bones crack and fracture from the force, slumping to the ground with a soft sob.
"So many of you could have left. Should have left. 's not like this place has great security for a private dimension full of gods."
Elliot grunted, fingers twisting into his hair and forcing his head up. Noli stared him down with almost a look of- pity.
"..Hah. n7 always had a softer heart. To think itd soften to the point where he'd lie about being able to leave just to save a few souls."
The world stilled. Elliots eyes blew wide- blinking slowly. He knew that Buildermans power and Dusekkars and the Admins had been chokeholded- he'd seen it first hand. Assumed the same about- well. All of them.
"T-the fuck you mean-?! He said it himself, he doesnt have-!"
Noli scoffed.
"The full GU1? Oh, I know. But seriously, you believe that? Cmon, Ellie, I thought you knew better." They rolled what was left of their eyes, sparks hidden away in darkness as Noli leaned in closer, mask growing sharper, amused, eager. "007n7. The notorious hacker. Known for shattering the edges of Robloxias code."
They cooed, uncomfortably close to Elliot with that same knowing grin, that same condescending stare.
"You witnessed it first hand~! You really think that he cant break this place apart with his bare hands, even more so with the rest of your .. team?"
Elliots mouth grew dry. Noli was baiting him. It was so obvious- but he couldn't deny it. He had seen what n7 could do- seen what the C0mmunity had in store. His silence spoke volumes as Elliot was forced to reassess, realize, the seed planted.
Noli just grinned before driving a stake through Elliots heart and letting him drop dead silent to the grass beneath them, already spying another generator to slink into as footsteps approached, shouting out Elliots name.
Oh, the fun had just begun.
—
"…is he ok?" BrightEyes mumbled, glancing at the silent respawned Elliot who was just sitting there at the couch. Waiting. Quiet. Restless.
"Whys it matter? Kid can figure his shit out." Shedletsky just mumbled, before yelping at the light smack over his shoulder.
Elliot just ignored the whispering couple, eyes trained on the center of the cabin. Waiting. Watching. The hours ticked by, one by one the survivors popped in.
Builderman.
Chance.
Two Time.
Taph.
Noob.
Guest.
Each tick made his leg bounce more, even ignoring Chance attempting to get him to talk, the small crowd gathering.
"Shouldve expected he'd be last."
"Poor guy. Not a swift death either."
The conversations served to irritate Elliot further, the boiling need to know settling deep into his bones. Waiting.
And then the final one formed.
007n7 hit the cabin floor with a rough cough, smacking at his chest. He was clearly trying to catch his breath from whatever Noli had put him through- but no one could comfort him on his death.
Because Elliot was already there, arms shooting out to grab n7 by the collar, staring deep into the hackers eyes.
"Wh- Ell-!"
The chorus of surprised erupted for a brief second- and then it promptly fell silent when Elliots voice cut through everyone.
"Why the hell havent you LEFT YET?!"