Work Text:
“Thumper! Thumper on me!”
Ashley and Jayden’s conversation was interrupted by the approaching sound of Chris’ screeching yells. They turned around and looked down the mansion’s main hallway.
Chris ran across the checkered floor, clutching a baby Maneater tightly to his chest.
An enraged Thumper followed closely after him.
Without hesitation, Jayden dropped the scrap he was holding, grabbed the shovel and ran after the commotion.
“Over here, dipshit!”
With Chris having escaped from its line of sight, the other loud orange creature grabbed its attention. The Thumper swivelled around, deciding to charge at Jayden instead.
Both Chris and Ashley waited nearby, each behind their own corner. Chris rocked the Maneater back and forth, as gently as he could with his shaking arms, trying to calm it down.
The next few moments were filled with smacking noises, Thumper’s roars of pain, and occasional screeched out swear words. Then the sound of a shovel hitting the ground. Then silence.
“Jayden!?” Ashley ran down the stairs, almost tripping over her own feet, “Jayden, are you okay!?”
Chris came out of his hiding spot too, the baby still pressed into his shoulder. He didn’t dare yell out, instead looking around for his friend in a panic.
“I’m… I’m okay!” The weak voice came from the room over, making both Ashley and Chris breathe a sigh of relief.
“See? Nothing… to worry about…” Jayden limped over to his coworkers. Every step he took made a squelchy sound, courtesy of the blood pouring out of his suit.
Neither Ashley and Chris said anything, instead opting to stare at the enlarging pool of blood underneath Jayden’s feet.
“Huh? …Oh,” was all Jayden had the strength to say, once he noticed what they were looking at.
“Oookay,” Ashley was the first one to remember how to speak actual words, “you’re on terminal duty now. Come on.” She beckoned him towards herself, offering her shoulder for him to lean on.
“Chris, I’ll be back as soon as I drop him off in the ship.” And with that, they were out the door.
—
The two of them slowly made their way across the sandy terrain of Artifice. As Ashley was helping Jayden walk up the hill their ship was parked on, she kept glancing behind herself. The two Old Birds were still quietly idling between the warehouses.
“Alright,” Ashley said as she dropped Jayden off into the chair in front of the terminal, “are you sure you're gonna be okay?”
Jayden twisted in the chair, turning his upper body towards Ashley. “I will be… A-OK!” He gave her an energetic thumbs-up as he said it, then slumped back into the chair.
“Okay. We'll patch you up properly as soon as we're in orbit,” Ashley muttered, more to herself than to Jayden. She dropped off the few small pieces of scrap she had in her pockets, and she was out the door.
Jayden leaned towards the terminal, enough to reach the keyboard. He clicked between his colleagues’ cameras, turning off turrets where needed. Or opening doors. He wasn't quite sure which. But he was helping.
“Jayden…”
The sound of a voice from inside the ship kicked him out of his trance. He turned around in his chair - there was nobody there.
He figured he must have imagined it. After all, the cameras showed both of his friends still inside the mansion, and neither the Masked nor the Ghost Girl knew how to talk. Yet.
“Oh Jaydennn…”
Nope, he didn't imagine it.
“Who goes there!?” Jayden rose from his chair and spun around, ready to throw the clipboard at whoever the intruder was. The sudden movement made his world spin.
The ship was still as empty as ever.
Jayden stood there, holding onto his chair. He looked around the ship, then at the terminal.
“Down here, Jayden…”
The voice was coming from their pile of work equipment.
Jayden approached it, inspecting the pile anew with every step; the clipboard in his hand still ready to be hurled at the source of the voice.
“It's me, Jayden…”
He scanned their equipment again, finally detecting movement at the far end of the pile.
He kneeled down, shifting the scattered shovels out of the way with his knee.
The worn out Belt Bag that they’d purchased on sale was wobbling between other equipment items.
Jayden picked it up, turning it in his hands so that its red button-eyes were facing him.
The Belt Bag’s zipper kept opening and closing as it spoke. “Jayden, I’m so hungry…”
“...Oh!” It took Jayden a moment to register its words, after which he started looking around the ship. “Well, the only thing I can offer you are my daily rations…”
“Oh, Jayden…” He could’ve sworn that the Belt Bag blinked. “That’s so generous of you, Jayden, but I don’t eat human food…”
“Oh, okay!” Jayden paused for a moment, trying to think. Nothing was coming to mind. “What do you eat, then?”
“Mmm…” The Belt Bag blinked again. “I eat equipment.”
“Sorry?”
“Equipment. You know, Jayden. Flashlights. Shovels. Walkie-Talkies. Some TZP-Inhalant as spice.” As it was talking, its eyes glazed around the scattered items on the ship floor.
“Wait, really?” Jayden gently shook the Belt Bag, his voice raised. “You really eat that?”
“I do, Jayden… The saltiness of metal… The crunch of glass… Feeling the plastic twist and break underneath my teeth… I love it all so much, Jayden… And I’m so hungry… Please, Jayden, I will keep your equipment safe…”
“Erm…” Jayden looked around the ship. He picked up an old green flashlight, switching his gaze between it and the Belt Bag. “You… you want to eat this?”
“Yes!” The Belt Bag’s eyes lit up, its voice picking up. “Yes, Jayden, that's exactly it!”
Jayden stood there motionless for a moment more. The Belt Bag could read his mind.
“Go ahead, Jayden, put it in my mouth! Go on!” Having said that, the Belt Bag opened its zipper as far as it could.
“Ohh-kay…” Jayden hesitated for a moment, then slowly deposited the flashlight into the Belt Bag. As soon as he withdrew his hand, the Belt Bag zipped up, the muffled sounds of glass breaking and plastic twisting audible from its inside.
“Oh, Jayden, that was delicious!” The Belt Bag vibrated in his hands, speaking with its mouth still full. “But I’m still so hungry… Do you have any more?”
“Erm…” He kneeled down, moving the top of the equipment pile to the side. “I do have another old flashlight, yeah.” He picked up the item, his eyes glancing at the erratic movement on the terminal screen.
“Marvelous, Jayden!” The exclamation from the Belt Bag snapped his attention back to it. The Belt Bag proceeded to open its zipper wide again, emitting a low “ahh” sound.
Jayden put the second green flashlight into the Belt Bag, his fingers almost getting trapped due to how quickly it zipped up.
“Mmm, it tastes so good!” The Belt Bag said in between the crushing sounds, “say, Jayden… Do you have any… larger flashlights? I’m still so very hungry…”
Jayden paused for a moment, before bending down and picking up the flashlight he had been using earlier that day. Muffled sounds of beeping and thundering footsteps were audible from the moon’s exterior.
“Yes, please, Jayden, that looks amazing!” Once again, its zipper was open as far as it could go.
“Are… are you sure?”
“Jayden, I told you, I will keep your equipment safe… Let me have it… Please…” The strap of the bag began slithering around Jayden’s wrist, gently squeezing on it.
Jayden put his flashlight inside, then pulled his hand out of the mouth and away from the strap. He looked outside the ship, noticing that the sky was starting to get dark.
The Belt Bag snapped him out of his thoughts. “Can I… Can I have the other flashlights, too? Please?”
“Uhh…” Jayden glanced at the terminal screen, but his attention was drawn back to the glistening eyes of the Belt Bag. He couldn’t say no.
“Thank you, Jayden, thank you so much!” The Belt Bag kept saying whenever Jayden’s hand wasn’t inside it. “I will keep all of them safe inside me…”
Once Jayden ran out of flashlights, the Belt Bag zipped up once again. One second later, a deafening screech of plastic and metal contorting came from the inside of the Belt Bag.
Missiles were exploding in the distance.
“Thank you so much, Jayden,” the Belt Bag said in-between the noise, “say, do you think… You could feed me some shovels too?”
“Uhhh…” Wasn’t there something else he was supposed to be doing?
“I crave their wooden bodies…” The Belt Bag’s musings drew his focus back. “The hardy blades… Dirtied with mud and blood…”
Jayden picked up one of the shovels, the Belt Bag instantly shutting up and unzipping its mouth. He gently pushed the shovel in blade-first, its whole length disappearing in the tiny Belt Bag.
There wasn’t any light coming from the outside anymore.
The Belt Bag’s strap found its way to Jayden’s wrist again. This time without hesitation, he picked up a few of the shovels that were scattered on the ship’s floor.
“I will… Keep them… Safe…” The Belt Bag tried to speak between the shovels.
A missile struck the front of the ship, making the floor shake.
“Oh, Jayden, thank you so much once more, those were so tasty…” The Belt Bag’s strap tightened around Jayden’s wrist. “Say, about those TZPs…”
Jayden crouched to the floor, the equipment pile looking so much smaller.
His legs trembled as he stood up. There was darkness growing in the corners of his vision.
“Go on, Jayden… Do it…” It took Jayden multiple attempts to get the TZP-Inhalant into the Belt Bag’s mouth.
Jayden grabbed onto the ship’s wall for support with his free hand. “Oh, yes, that’s so good… Another one… Please…”
His world went dark.
—
“Holy FUCK, that was close!” Chris said as the ship door slammed shut behind him and Ashley. They made it onto the ship just as the autopilot was taking off into orbit. The two of them slumped against the ship wall, dropping the scrap they were holding.
“Jayden, why didn't you–” Chris didn't finish the sentence. Jayden was sprawled out on the ship floor.
“Jayden!!” Chris' legs came back to life, and he was momentarily up to his feet rushing towards Jayden.
“Jayden, are you okay!?” Ashley was right behind him.
“Hrm…” Jayden let out a groan, to the relief of his coworkers. He slowly raised up an arm, shielding his eyes from the ship's light. “Sorry, I'm… I'm okay…”
Chris was still looming over Jayden. Ashley pulled back, beckoning Chris away to give him space.
She then tapped him on the shoulder more firmly, urging him to look around the ship.
“Jayden, buddy?” Chris tried to keep his voice calm. “Where's our equipment?”
Jayden raised his head up, propping himself up on his elbows. He looked around the ship: it had plenty of scrap but all of their equipment was missing.
“Oh, the Belt Bag.” He said as he laid back down on the floor.
“What!?” Chris was no longer pretending to be trying to keep calm.
Jayden pointed at the blue item in the corner of the ship and repeated, “the Belt Bag.”
Chris was frozen in place. Ashley picked up the worn out Belt Bag and dangled it in front of Jayden’s face. “This? The Belt Bag?”
“Yeah,” Jayden was getting annoyed, as if it wasn't obvious. “The items are inside.”
Chris finally figured out how to talk again. “Jayden, this Belt Bag is empty!” He grabbed it from Ashley's hands and shoved it in front of Jayden's face. “Look how small it is!! Nothing could've fit into it anyway!!”
“It ate the equipment.”
Chris lowered the Belt Bag. Ashley stopped staring into space and actually looked at Jayden.
“The Belt Bag,” Jayden continued once he realized these two really did need everything spelled out for them, “it told me it was hungry. I offered it my food, but it said it eats equipment, and that it will keep it safe, so I fed it…”
“This isn't funny, Jayden,” Ashley murmured, more to herself, though her voice was drowned out by Chris anyway.
“WHAT!?” Chris started waving the Belt Bag back and forth, his hands trembling. “We– We had over two thousand credits worth of equipment! And– And this is an inanimate object, Jayden! What on Earth are you talking about!?”
Chris looked around the ship once again, hoping he somehow didn't see their equipment on the ship. It was still as empty as before.
“What did you do to our equipment!?”
“I told you,” Jayden said as he rose up on his elbows again, “the Belt Bag was hungry. I let him eat the equipment for safekeeping.”
Ashley quietly slid down the ship wall onto the floor. Chris was trying not to have a stroke.
“We just gotta…” Jayden started, his speech growing slurred again, “we just gotta… wait for him to poop it out.”
He passed out again.