Chapter Text
Mob stared at the smiling ball resting on his jukebox. His breath came too quick- too shallow for someone resting in bed.
He knew what he’d seen. He’d seen blood and gore splattered across the walls and floor of his base.
He knew what it meant- what Verity, his little helper friend, had done.
As far as Mob knew, Twixxel wasn’t dead- not really. He’d simply been sent back to homeworld.
However, once someone died here, there was no returning.
Before Mob had taken a chance and entered this dimension for the first time, he’d heard stories of people building lives here- escaping reality and creating something.. different.
Some people came here just to explore, some people came to get rich off the land. Some people came to become heroes or fight monsters. One similarity between them all? They always returned home.
It was fairly easy to portal back to earth. By now, people had it down to a science. You purchase a portal key back home, use it, carry it with you through the Overworld, put it back down when you want to return. Easy, right?
The first week after spending all of his remaining savings on a portal key, the portal was reliable whenever Mob wanted to return to his run-down one-bedroom apartment. The fifth time he visited the Overworld– the day before he found that damn box– Mob had stepped back through the portal like usual, only to be violently spat back out onto the dirt.
He’d tried to step through the portal twelve more times that day. He’d given up around when the sun began to set, covered in bruises and scrapes from being thrown onto the ground by the portal's sheer force of energy.
The next day, he tried again. After his new helper friend had gone quiet for the night, he’d walked out to his fenced-in garden and thrown the portal key on the ground.
Again, he found himself being mercilessly rejected by the portal. He did that for hours- or until the sun came up, at least. Time worked differently here.
The next time he was in a village, he spotted another world crosser holding their portal key. It wasn’t abnormal in the Overworld to end up having to use someone else’s portal key if yours was damaged or lost. It was, however, a massive pain in the ass. Personal keys were set to specific locations on earth, and ending up needing to use someone else’s just may end up with you being stranded halfway across the continents.
When Mob had approached and asked to walk through, the traveler smiled bright and agreed, stepping back to give him space to walk through first. He didn’t remember what had happened after that, but he assumed the portal had spit him out onto his head and knocked him out. That’s what Verity had told him when he woke up in his base the next day with the little ball smiling at him. Mob didn’t want to think too hard about how he’d gotten back.
Looking back at it now, he definitely should have kept walking the moment he’d unboxed that little yellow face. Maybe then, his friend would still be here with him.
Twixxel had been visiting the Overworld for far longer than Mob had. In fact, he was the one who'd introduced him to it. He remembered being in complete awe when Twixxel first introduced him to his section of the overworld. A giant, towering fortress of gold and stone that looked like it had taken at least a year on-world to build.
Now, laying in bed, he felt something awfully close to grief clench his chest tight. In homeworld, Twixxel had been one of— had been his only friend. The thought of never being able to make it back home— of never seeing the only person who gave a damn about him- of being stuck here with this.. thing. It was too much.
Where he lay in bed, his eyes caught a mirror reflection off a framed photo on the wall. On the opposite side of the room bathed in firelight, Verity sat motionless. Mob could see that smiling face in the reflection, turned towards him and dimmer than usual. It had been like that all day.
It didn’t blink, of course. It didn’t need to. It didn’t even breathe. It sat there like a decoration, but its presence filled the room in a way that should be impossible for something so small.
Mob felt a shiver of dread flow through his gut. He curled tighter into his blankets and let his face sink into the plush feather pillow. He didn’t think that Verity would hurt him- not right now, at least.
He forced a slow, deep breath, and then sat up in bed. He pointedly avoided looking at Verity as he stepped towards the door.
“Where are you going, Mob?” That familiar voice lacked its usual chipper tone.
Mob didn’t reply- partly because of spite, and partly because he didn’t trust himself to speak without his voice breaking. He continued to the door and stepped into his boots.
“Mob.”
Mob’s hand found the doorknob and twisted it. It didn’t budge. His brows furrowed, and his shoulders slowly slumped forward until his forehead pressed against the wood.
“Verity, open the door.” Just like he thought, his voice came out quiet, unstable with emotion. There was a pause. Verity’s smile never changed.
“It’s nighttime. There may be monsters nearby.”
Mob scoffed. “I know it’s night, Verity, just- open the damn door.” His fingers tightened around the knob, wiggling it impatiently.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Verity spoke slowly.
“Well, I appreciate the input,” Mob replied, still witty even when distressed. “Open it.”
This time, there was only silence. Mob’s jaw tightened, and he finally turned to face Verity. The little thing wasn’t even looking at him. Just displaying that eerie, distant smile.
Mob’s eyes rolled towards the ceiling. “Fuck’s sake..”
He backed away from the door with determined strides, already making his way upstairs. The only other exit was a ladder down from the roof.
Verity stayed silent this time as Mob climbed through the window. He hoisted himself onto the roof and rose to his feet, then strode over to the ladder and climbed down to the garden with haste.
It was overgrown already. Mob supposed he’d forgotten to tend to the crops after his best friend was mangled.
As soon as his feet reached the ground, he pulled the portal key from his pocket. Stared at it. It was nothing but a little metal square with transparent blue detailing.
It looked fine. It should have worked.
He gripped the key tight in his fist and then hurled it onto the ground. The portal roared to life, exploding into existence with a bright blue flash that blew Mob’s hair from his face. He didn’t waste any time. He took a deep breath and stepped through.
For just a moment, it looked like the portal had taken him elsewhere. Then the edges of blue flickered like flames, warbling and shifting until Mob was suddenly spat back onto the ground as if the portal had tasted something it didn’t like.
Mob landed on his ass with a grunt of pain. His brows furrowed and he stared at the portal with notable disdain.
He took another deep breath, shakier this time, then rose to his feet and stepped through again. The result? The same.
Mob didn’t know how long he continued trying to walk through the portal- didn’t count how many times he’d been thrown onto the dirt. Once he was feeling more than frustrated, he attempted to charge the portal at a sprint.
The portal pushed him back out with equal force. He spun through the air upon reentering and landed diagonally onto his ankle with a sickening pop.
A sharp yelp escaped his throat as he fell hard onto his side. For a moment after, there was only silence as he struggled to take a breath. Once he caught his wind, he shifted slightly. The small movement jostled his ankle joint, drawing a pained groan from his throat and making his fingers dig into the damp earth. It took him a moment to catch his breath from the pain of just that small movement.
Once he stilled, he trailed his eyes down to take in the sight of the injury. His ankle was twisted at an unnatural angle, already swelling and bruising under his boot.
His eyes flickered up to the portal several feet from him, and a hot wave of anger took root in his chest at the flickering blue light moving like flame, mocking him. His jaw worked.
“Fucking.. useless piece of shit!” he yelled out into the night, pounding his fist against the damp earth before rolling onto his back in defeat. Pained whimpers and moans kept coming with every breath. It was pure, white-hot agony taking root in his foot and spreading up his leg.
It was too much. All of it was too much. It wasn’t the pain that broke him— He could handle that. He’d had worse. It was everything else.
Mob tried to fight it, but his face slowly crumpled as he took in a ragged breath and re-opened his eyes. The stars twinkled beautifully above him, and he nearly sneered at how mocking it felt. His chest heaved with deep, quick breaths as he tried to bite back the sobs that threatened to wrack through his abdomen.
It didn’t work.
He didn’t know how long he cried for.. but it felt good. It felt like just a bit of relief after.. everything. He didn’t bother silencing himself after the first wave of tears came, and his crying was far from pretty.
He didn’t know how long he stayed like that, but he eventually calmed. He didn’t know if he was too exhausted to keep crying or if he’d just gone numb, but by the time he was done he was grateful for the sudden lack of snot and tears running down his face.
He peeled off his bandana and let the cool night air breathe across his damp face for just a moment before blowing his nose directly into it. Whatever.
“Mob.”
Mob flew up into a sitting position at the sound of Verity’s voice, only for his vision to blacken and fizzle for a few solid seconds. He breathed deep against the sudden wave of lightheadedness and willed his eyes to focus.
Right there, standing over him was… something.”
Like a man’s body engulfed in shadow. He instinctively jolted back, reaching for the diamond sword holstered at his hip. Just that little movement jostled his ankle and drew a sharp whine from his throat.
“Verity?!” mob yelled out, his voice hoarse. “What the hell is- What are you-?!”
The thing didn’t step closer. It stood there, arms- if you could call them that- hanging at its sides. Black smoke flickered around it like flames dancing. From afar, it looked like the shape of a person.. but whenever Mob tried to focus his vision on one part, it seemed to blur.
“Well. It’d be kiiinda hard to carry you inside with no arms, don’t you think?” Verity’s voice was familiar- of course it was. But hearing it come out of.. whatever this thing was.. it threw Mob for a bit more than a loop.
“You are not carrying me inside,” mob grumbled, looking the thing up and down as he tightened his grip on the sword’s hilt. As he looked closer, he noticed the yellow, flickering voids where eyes should be, and that same casual, uncanny smile was plastered in yellow across its.. face? Was it a face?
“Let me help you. It’s what I’m here for.”
Mob’s jaw tightened. He hated when Verity used that tone of voice. It was too caring. Too genuine. It did too good of a job hiding what kind of monster Verity really was.
“I don’t n-.. I don’t want your help.” Mob corrected. In reality, he did need help.. How the hell was he supposed to move? Still, he wouldn’t take it. Not from him.
Verity went quiet. Mob saw the shadows of his form flicker slightly against the wind.
The silence between them made a seed of dread take root in Mob’s stomach. Then, Verity tilted his new head to the side slightly. A familiar gesture.
“Is it this body? I know it’s not the most approachable, but I can change it.”
Mob nearly scoffed. It was as if Verity wasn’t even aware of all the horrible things he’d done.
“No, it’s not your-.. body..- or whatever.” Mob loosened his grip on the sword, but didn’t resheath it. “I want to be alone.”
Verity’s ‘eyes’ seemed to narrow, and he stepped forward anyway, lowering his form toward where Mob was propped on the ground.
“Don’t touch me!” Mob’s voice was strained now, angry.
Verity froze. Twitched. Slowly straightened.
Mob watched with held breath as that shadowy form grew and shifted for just a moment, and then it stilled. Verity backed away, then turned his head towards the portal still flickering a few meters away.
“Alright,” he said, voice just as chipper as usual. He turned away, already walking- it was weird to see him walking- towards the front entrance of base. “Call for me when you’re done playing in the dirt, yeah?”
Mob exhaled sharply through his nose, then sheathed his sword. He would not be calling. He’d crawl.