We’re hiding, silently hiding behind the countertop. We couldn’t understand what that thing was, it was a hulking creature much much bigger than William and he’s a big guy. They haven’t seen this before but I have, it chased me and Lari before. I’ve got to take care of it, Lari’s breathing is getting out of control again and I can’t let her run off. She doesn’t have what’s needed to handle it.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjoYWuB3997
“I’ve dealt with this thing before, it looks scary but it’s not that bad. I'll lead it away and you guys can head down the stairs, I’ll take it back up the stairs and meet up with you all again.”
“You’re a kid I can’t let you do that, we’ll wait for an opening and then we’ll run.” William refused to let me go, I’m glad he thinks of my safety as part of his concern but he doesn’t know this thing like I do.
“All the more reason I should run it off, I’m more likely to lay the slip on it and avoid a direct confrontation.” I handed my ax to William and took his pipe.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD1Akkk8OUu
“There was something down there, it locked the door. It’s a guard like these other things, take it out or take out the door.” Lari’s hand began shaking as I slowly let her hand go and hugged her.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlhjdeYdjzJ
“I’ll be back soon, these are good people. We can trust them.” I looked at Felix, she was pointing at him and shaking her head. Why? I don’t… Maybe he can’t be trusted.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7h6pbsL7uC
“Ms. Nana.”
“Huh?”
“Please watch over Lari for me.” Nana was immediately on it, keeping her distance but keeping her close. Now it’s my turn to act.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAzfGLEevbT
“Hey!” It looked at me and began stomping towards me roaring as I kept waving my hands and then I took off running. It slashed, cut and slammed its claws through the countertop.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhDybcRC6w0
“Hey!!” It got a read on me and began hunting me, running away I retreated down the hall, peaking back around seeing Lari and the others heading down to the basement. The beast was right on me, I needed to run. So I ran, as fast as I could, the creature was definitely faster than it used to be but it suffered exactly what it had before. Corners. So I continued turning as many as I could, luckily it was a full square but things never stay good for long, so I have to-
“Eli Arawan, autophobia, monophobia, athazagoraphobia. Yours is a list that keeps on giving isn’t it?” There he goes again, always listing off people’s fears and phobias and whatever. I’m so sick of him… Just wish I could hit him! Like really really hard! Upside the head! With an ax! 157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyKDDNqr1bN
“Lari… No Lai-’
“̶S̴H̷U̴T̷ ̸U̶P̸!̴!̶!̵ S̵H̸U̵T̵ ̴U̸P̴!̵!̸!̴ S̵H̸U̵T̵ ̴U̸P̴!̵!̸!̴ S̵H̸U̵T̵ ̴U̸P̴!̵!̸!̴”
“As repulsive as ever… The mysteries just continue to pile up don’t they?” I always hated getting my hands dirty but a man must do what he must do. Gloves, equipment, and finally the last two specimens. It seems Eli has done what- whatever that was before. Now to figure out where these little misfits are located. Down there?
KZZT B-BZZT BZZ!
“Hm?”
“Y̸̲̍ǫ̶͠ủ̵͉͙͘.̶̳͗̑” Behind me? The monitors, they’re emitting static. They’re all changing to black an- Eli?157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdK3YunYsOB
“Y̵o̸u̵ ̴R̷e̸f̴u̷s̵e̵ ̸T̴o̴ ̷L̸e̴a̵v̶e̴ ̸L̴a̵r̴i̷ ̶A̸l̵o̸n̷e̴,̵ ̶W̵e̸'̷v̸e̸ ̴E̸s̷c̷a̵p̸e̵d̷ ̷Y̴o̷u̷ ̸A̴g̵a̶i̸n̸ ̵A̴n̷d̶ ̸A̸g̵a̵i̸n̷ ̶A̶n̵d̵ ̵A̶g̵a̴i̵n̶ ̷B̸u̴t̷ ̵Y̵o̷u̴ ̵D̸o̵n̵'̴t̷ ̷L̵e̴a̴r̴n̴.̶ ̴S̶o̷ ̸N̸o̵w̷ ̵I̷'̸l̶l̶ ̸B̸e̸ ̴C̸o̸m̵i̷n̵g̷ ̵F̴o̸r̸ ̴Y̷o̶u̸ ̷M̸y̴s̶e̷l̶f̸.̴ ̵” Eli’s little manifestations seem to be showing again, nothing too worrisome. All I have to do is simply remind him who’s game this is.
“It’ll take ages to repair this system. Release The Runner and The Brutalizer.”
“Huff. Huff. Huff. Huff. Huff. Huff.” Okay.. It happened again. I backed out and now the monster is gone again… My sack!157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEx7ic6ic32
“Where is it, where is it?! Oh…” Finally, my face is covered again. Phew okay okay. Now that it seems to have lost me I can regroup with everyone else.
“I’ll assume you saw that too right? I’m not still goin’ crazy?”
“Not at all, whatever he is. He’s our ticket.”
“And there’s the crazy in ya X, did ya not see that? We add him to our group we-”
“Have a trump card that we can try and use to even out the playing field, we could win games much faster. Plus if he wasn’t supposed to be our ally then he would be hunting us, from the way he talked we’ve got a fifty fifty. He’s either after us or after the enemy and since he just vaporized that creature. I’m more inclined to believe we’ve got a new ally.”
“So… What’re we gonna do? I’m not in the business of just grabbing a kid and trying to labor him into winning for us.”
“Obviously we’re not going to do that, we’re going to continue playing this game and we’re going to get him and whoever he’s with out of here. If the game is bringing in people like him, then we need to assume that he’s less of a random partner and more of a win condition for the future. The game is always evolving and look.” X points towards the sparking monitors and cameras.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmGZvmTBaO
“He took our adversary’s eyes and ears out, giving us the best chance we’ve had. But we still need to find everyone else.”
“And I’ll assume he’ll lead us right to him right?” Spiffy added as she loaded a large bullet into her chamber and then she began to follow behind the boy. Observing him and following behind him as he walked downstairs and began to stop a few times checking his back but not seeing them, they kept just out of his view. He kept walking forward before suddenly a TV screen clicked on and he stood there staring.
TINK TINK TINK TANK!
“Bad look.” The man was there, walking towards the boy as he walked towards him. Reaching out to touch the screen before.
“Kid!” Spiffy dove in and grabbed him, I can’t fault her. No one would watch this but I was looking forward to the information that could’ve been gathered. But at least she saved him… Our future ace in the hole.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Pu8NwCvr6
