Heâd caught up with them. Heâd killed Mani and now heâd come to watch them die.
Cooper Addison: Cooper wiped their sweaty palms on their pants, breathing becoming harder and harder with the heat of the mask they were wearing. In the silence and the dark, they were given more than enough time to realize how off things felt. The request felt odd in the first place- why would someone ask them to scare someone else? Weren't they a bit too involved in trying to find others for a prank? It did seem like an odd time for fun and games, but the person who had asked suggested that it would lighten things up. Everything in the tunnels had felt so intense, and Cooper had made little effort in finding their friends. Maybe a good old-fashioned prank was exactly what they needed. What could go wrong with that? Cooper had been alone since they parted with Jackson, and at first the sound of the friend approaching had startled them, but they were nothing but calm as they proposed that Cooper pull a prank or two. "I'll be doing the same," they had said, "I think everyone's just a bit too tense." Cooper agreed with that statement, so they didn't know why something felt so wrong in the pit of their stomach. If they trusted the person, why did it feel as though they shouldn't? The feeling loomed over them up until they heard the footsteps coming. Cooper stopped, urging themself to breathe more quietly, and waited for the person to be close enough to scare.
Mani: Maniâs breaths were coming in short sharp gasps by the time they left the church. They knew it would be suspicious and that people had seen them go, but Mani couldnât stay there any longer, not with all those bodies. None of them had been Xavierâs, theyâd checked before leaving. He was still tucked away in a small room, rotting where Mani had left him. Would he just be another victim in this big mess, or would the blood on Maniâs hand implicate them enough for the police to think theyâd killed all those people? Mani ran a hand through their tangled, messy hair trying to calm down enough to think. They had to go back and check on Xavierâs body. It felt important. Maybe⊠maybe they make him look like just another victim, take the mask from his face and hide it. Then Xavier would just be another body with nothing suspicious about him except his stab wounds. But plenty of the bodies had those, and far worse wounds. It would work, Mani was sure it would work. They took off down the hall, walking fast and determined and checking behind them to make sure they werenât being followed by anyone. They couldnât have witnesses to this. Kirby was the only one who could know about any of this, the only one whoâd keep their secret.
Cooper Addison: As the footsteps grew closer, Cooper found themself wishing it was Jackson. He was one of the only people they'd seen in the Catacombs lately, and reconnecting with him would be a relief. But scaring him? They weren't sure that would help anything. Maybe they didn't hope it was Jackson. As the figure came into view, they reconsidered the prank. It didn't seem like the right time, and they could easily just take off the mask, but the person neared them before they could take action. They'd met to yell, shout "boo!" or some childish thing, but their voice was caught in their throat. Instead, they took the person by the arm. Scaring someone they couldn't even see didn't make much sense to them, so they simply stopped the person instead, preparing to explain the situation. It wasn't meant to be the prank they had been talked into doing by their friend, but they were still masked and silent, clinging to the arm of the person as their eyes attempted to adjust to the dark enough to make out who it was.
Mani: Mani was too busy looking behind them to see the person step out in front of them, but they did feel the hand on their arm, clinging to them insistently. It made them jump nearly out of their skin, even before they turned to look. But it was the looking that made them freeze, eyes filling with horror. âNoâŠâ they said, ripping their arm out of Pigfaceâs grasp. âNo, youâreâŠâ Their voice had gone shrill and it sounded much too loud bouncing off the walls around them. They stumbled back, chest heaving. Xavier had come back. That was his blood on the mask, the same as the blood on Maniâs hands. He had come back to kill Mani for killing him. âIâm sorry! Iâm sorry!â Mani nearly screamed as they turned around and ran as fast as they could in the other direction. They stumbled a few time on the uneven ground, clumsy in their haste to get away. Tears were welling up in their eyes, making their vision blur, but they didnât care they just had to get away from Xavier. Then things happened very quickly. There was a small glimmer of light catching off something in the air. Mani was running too fast to stop in time, and hardly cared enough to try. But then there was a slash of pain across their neck and the feeling of falling. Their head hit the ground with a crack, but the sensation was dulled compared to the feeling of blood seeping out of their neck. Their hands went to their neck and were instantly soaked in blood as panicked, gurgling sound left their mouth.
Cooper Addison: The fear in the person's face was obvious, even when Cooper couldn't see any distinguishing features on their face. "Wait-" They said, but it was obvious that they weren't heard. Before they could say anything more, Mani ripped themself from their grasp. "Wait!" Cooper called again, finally taking off their mask. Even without it, it felt hard to breathe. They hadn't meant to scare anyone, not after reconsidering it. "I'm not going to hurt you!" They heard their voice echo, and pushed themself to move. Though their legs felt weak, they raced through the tunnels. Again, everything was dark around them, and they reached into their pocket to fish out their phone. Now, they couldn't hear any footsteps, and that felt even more eerie. "Hello?" They turned on the flashlight, shining it in front of them. Immediately, they saw the crippled figure, soaked in blood. In their panic, they dropped their phone. Without any hesitation, they scrambled to Mani's side. "Oh my god!" They screamed. "How did this-- Oh my god! I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" With tears in their eyes, they couldn't see the wire that the person had collided with, and even if they had their confusion would be the same. How did a simple prank go this wrong? Was it their fault? Cooper didn't know what to think. Frantically, they pressed their hands to the wound, desperately trying to subdue the bleeding. "It's okay, it's okay... Please stay with me." Cooper's words were slurred together as they sobbed.
Mani: Heâd caught up with them. Heâd killed Mani and now heâd come to watch them die. It hurt so much and Mani wanted to scream, but all that kept coming out of their mouth were these horrible wet sounds. They tried to frantically push the hands away as they choked, but then they heard the other personâs voice. It wasnât Xavierâs, it wasnât even anyone they knew. They were crying just like Mani had been crying, apologizing just like they had to their brotherâs corpse. And soon enough Mani was going to be a corpse too. They clung to the persons wrists, eyes open wide as they stared into their face and strangled on incomprehensible words. Already there was a darkness creeping into their vision, a fuzziness on the edges of their brain. Theyâd never see their mother again. Theyâd never get to kiss Kirby ever again, the one person who might have truly cared about them despite how broken they were inside, despite how broken they both were. Mani didnât want to die, not here, not now. The only comfort was that at least they werenât alone. Dying on their own, unloved and unremembered, had always been one of their worst fears. Their fingers moved up clutching at the personâs shirt and trying to pull them closer. âIâm⊠sorry,â they managed as their breathes grew shallow, though it sounded so garbled that Mani knew they probably hadnât been heard. But it didnât matter. Mani wasnât apologizing to them.
Cooper Addison: Cooper wiped at their tears, but didn't manage to do more than smear blood on their cheek. The life was draining out of the person in front of them quickly, and it all felt too surreal. It felt like a nightmare, a bad high, a horror movie. Things like this weren't supposed to take place in real life. Violence like this wasn't meant to be experienced by Cooper. That wasn't how they thought the world worked. "No, no... Please. Just...roll on your side so you don't...choke." The command was useless. If the person was even able to register their words, they surely wouldn't be able to follow through with the action- not in this state. Besides, it was already apparent that they were choking. Cooper felt sick, and guilty. They had never seen their hands covered in someone else's blood. It felt like their heart was made of lead. "Sh..." There was nothing they could do to save them, so they moved their hands from the wound to their hair. The person's hands on their shirt made them feel even sicker. They could feel the desperation, they could feel that this person knew they were done for. Feeling too guilty to look at the face before them, they stared at their hands, which were entangled in the hair of the victim. This did nothing but wet the hair with blood, smear scarlet across clumps of it. The hand on their chest now felt like it was burning, like Cooper's entire body doused in gasoline and this person's touch was the lit match. They wanted to make it better. They couldn't make it better.
Mani: The scariest thing about all this was that Mani could still feel it, even when it was all fading out. They knew logically what was happening because of their experience as an emergency dispatcher. As their heart beat in desperation, more blood would seep from their neck with each pump. The whole process would only take minutes, and Mani could feel that they were down to seconds now, each one ticking away faster and faster. They tried to look up into the face of the person that killed themâbecause thatâs surely what had happened, right? Something had gone wrong, clearly, but theyâd chased Mani. Theyâd been wearing that mask. Theyâd killed them. A sudden rage filled them. It was their fault that Mani were going to die in a dirty tunnel underground, just like their brother. Mani couldnât do anything about it now, but they could make sure they were remembered. Gathering every bit of strength they had left they reached up and raked their nails down the personâs right cheek, digging in as hard as they possibly could. Then their hand fell limply to the floor, their body went slack, and Mani was gone.
