THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING IN THE EVENT AND SEE YOU SOON!
I thought I would make a quick introduction post for people who stumble over this blog or just for you participants if you want to read up on some things.
Anyway, welcome to the RTV!AU Puzzlevision Event! This originally started out as a 200 Follower special for my main SMG4 art blog @4thwallbreakerdraws2.
The Event is made out of three phases:
★ PHASE ONE: SUBMISSIONS ✓
Submissions are closed and done.
The 57 participants will be featured in the following phases.
200 Follower post
Deadline Post
★ PHASE TWO: GROUP DRAWINGS ✓
Done.
The participants will be featured in a group drawing next to a few other RTV!AU characters within the Puzzlevision Headquarters.
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Group 5
★ PHASE THREE: THE PUZZLEVISION TOUR - ☑️
Be sure to read THE RULES & GUIDELINES.
Starter
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 3.5
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6 -Final
★ FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can I join?
Sorry, but submissions closed on the 4th February 2025. However, you may be able to participate in poll decisions during the third phase!
Are the groups for the second phase also for the third phase?
Nope. You all will start off as one big group during the third phase. If you want to split up later, that’s up to you. More on that though later!
I can’t believe we have reached the end.
Thanks to everyone that participated and all that gave this story a chance!
Participant’s actions:
Becky
Lilith
Lucas
The Scammer
Nira
Grinnames
Marie
Rayas
Lari
Creature
Nia
Harley
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
The dark channel was thick with tension as the participants stared up at the at best 24 ft tall TV head who still loomed over their way home, ready to cut them off.
A few people were taking a fighting stance, ready to take Puzzles on to manage their escape out of this dimension and the studio.
SMG4 now watched as Sci stepped in front of Little Puzzles, shielding him as she summoned her trident once again.
To the side, he could see Grinnames’s tentacles return, now in a pair of six and far more stronger than he had seen them before, as well as the cat eared girl grabbing her axe as her hair turned into a bright pink and wings spread on her back and even the Scammer using the figure she offered previously as a makeshift bat.
However, there were also some people like the brown haired girl that attacked him before who straight up gave up, the sight of their exit being blocked enough to rob them of hope.
Even though SMG4 understood the feeling all too well he really hoped they would at least try to stay alive because Puzzles certainly wouldn’t hesitate to take them out at this point.
With his only weapon now probably empty and owned by another person, the meme guardian himself was left without weapons.
Not good.
Even though the sight brought back some really unwanted memories and although he didn’t have his friends with himself like last time, SMG4 was not ready to just go out like that.
Least he could do was put up some fight.
He would be damned if he let that psychopathic prick win again.
With that in mind, a determined look settled on his face as he grabbed some pebbles off the ground.
Nothing special, certainly nothing strong but it was all he got.
RTV meanwhile had watched their reactions with a cold expression, before sneering as he now stepped over the portal, blocking it completely.
“Well, at least you don’t make it BORING…”
With that he suddenly charged forward, the participants quickly scattering before they could end up as a pancake beneath his feet or backhanded by his broken hand that he now let fly through the crowd.
Some were unlucky and not fast enough, getting impacted by the metal hand and thrown against the nearby walls, floor or scattering dangerously close to the edge of the cliff.
The blue meme guardian managed to throw himself to the floor just in time, feeling the wind of the attack pass over him and having a view of the unlucky one horned girl, Lilith,l next to her getting hit and slapped against a rocky wall, knocking the protest right out of her.
Soon as the hand flew past him, SMG4 quickly got back to his feet, scrambling away from the tall shadow of the TV man casting over him.
He now observed as the one horned girl transformed into a dragon, protectively moving in front of a group of people that was unfortunate enough to have landed in RTV’s sights.
What followed was a bright explosion between the beam fired from Puzzles finger gun and the fire spewn by the dragon girl as she tried to hold it off, but RTV didn’t back off.
SMG4’s hand tightened around the pebble as he watched the girl’s flames slowly extinguish.
Sure, they started off rocky back in the Social Media Department, but like hell was he going to let her die too.
Taking a deep breath, SMG4 prepared himself to do something really stupid, taking aim - and throwing the pebble right at RTV’s head.
There was a small pling noise as it harmlessly bounced off RTV's head, but the reaction was still immediate.
Slowly the TV head turned into SMG4’s direction, the screen having turned to showing only a set of eyes that was now piercing through the meme guardian.
Then, he pulled his functioning hand away from the group he had just targeted and charged in SMG4’s direction instead, fingers clawed, ready to tear him apart as soon as they got a hold of him.
“Shit, shit, shit, shit-”
Now running for his dear life, SMG4 was thrown back by the huge blow that followed as the hand hit the ground behind him, sending him rolling down the cliff and onto the next platform.
“Uuugh…”, SMG4 groaned, really missing his usual endurance right about now, but a lot had changed ever since Mario…
Mario.
Yet another victim of this shitbag.
Gritting his teeth, SMG4 now started kicking at his attacker as his metallic fingers grabbed him by his overall, slowly pulling him in the air and back to the main platform.
“Oh don’t glare at me like that, you actually make it seem like your silly actions even DO something…”, RTV mocked, raising SMG4 higher, leaning his own head back as he started up at the meme guardian.
His screen changed to display a pool full of molten lava.
"Let's see how quickly the flash will melt off your bones-”
“HEY!”
RTV’s screen flickered back to an annoyed expression as he turned to face Sci who had just thrown her trident at him, its three sharp ends pinning his broken hand to the rock he had rested it on.
“Really?”
The Siren simply glared back, taking a stand now.
“Let him down, safely.”
A wide grin spread on RTV’s face, as he made a mocking half bow.
“But of course-”
In the next moment he let SMG4 drop the whole 24 feet.
“...whoops.”
In the matter of moments Sci reacted, dashing forward as her body started turning, shirting in size into a pitch black Siren form with blue fins and markings.
With the help of her tail, she caught SMG4’s fall, putting him gently safely back on the floor before glaring at RTV and now ripping the trident out of the stone.
Removing his hand, RTV now took on a more wary stance as Sci was now able to measure up with him.
Raising his hand, he wanted to strike with his fist as a grapple hook wrapped itself around his arm and a small figure came into view, determined expression on her face.
RTV saw how Harley now raised a hand to something she held in her hand and in the next second a full spray of soda hit him in the face, the confusion momentarily allowing Sci to use it to her advantage and pierce actual skin along his side, causing RTV to flinch back in pain.
That was when he was additionally hit by a star that the Scammer had now flung against him in true baseball fashion, leaving yet another crack in his screen.
Scowling, Puzzles first rammed his knee into Sci’s stomach who had taken yet another approach, before grabbing the grapple hook around his arm Harley still clung to, freeing himself from it and using the wire to fling the kid into the air, before kicking the Scammer to the side, nearly sending her over the ledge if SMG4 didn't grab her just in time.
Maybe it was a bit overkill to send a child of all people flying like that but he still had his version which was considerably less problematic and Little Puzzles being a part of him, he remembered the whole conversation they just had.
Including the hug.
And he hated the feeling that he felt as well when that happened.
He didn’t need friends.
He let go of that subject a long time ago.
With that, he charged back at Sci.
While the battle of giants ensued, some participants had tried nearing the portal only to quickly take a step back as a very motivated squirrel started to lunge at them.
Having seen what happened to Sci when Nira had touched her, C!Animsay quickly took a step back, letting the white squirrel target another participant instead.
Being a non-organic Bunnybot would be fine.
Probably.
The head of the SM Department now turned back to the portal, making a step towards it.
Another look around.
She could do it.
RTV was distracted, Nira too and she knew how to deal with Wr3n.
In fact she owed none of these people anything, so why not just-
Time’s up.
☆
“SHIT!”, C!Animsay cursed as a gloved hand grabbed her by the ankles, making her lose balance, her jaw hitting the floor.
Not again.
Turning around, she kicked one of the Puzzles clones that took a hold of her, several more TV heads now slowly climbing onto the platform as well, joining Nira in her effort to keep the participants away from the exit.
One of them now jumped onto the rock Lucas was sitting on, grabbing the camera they held for whatever reason and crushing it in its hand before tackling the participant ensuing in yet another fight.
The RTV clone that was dragging C!Animsay along the floor despite her best efforts to free herself, was now getting dangerously close to the edge, ready to throw her right off.
Usually, one would probably just break the invisible wall of the channel and fall into the next channel.
But this was the LAST channel.
So how big were the chances that one would just fall, fall and fall for eternity?
She wasn’t keen to find out.
As C!Ani was dragged past over the rocky floor, she grabbed a small stone, before smashing it with all her might against the clone’s knee.
Using her chance as it lost balance, she then raised a foot, kicking it back - and straight over the edge.
With grim satisfaction she watched it disappear in the void below, growing smaller and smaller.
Oh, how she wished this could have been the original.
But alas, she had better things to do.
Unfortunately her hopes of making a clean escape after all were quickly diminished as she saw the battlefield the area had turned into in front of her.
On top of that, RTV had now stumbled back with his opponents in their direction as well, making it way too risky for her to take the chance on an escape now.
That ship has sailed.
She tried not to think too much about the ominous words of the author, instead getting ready to run as she saw another pair of clones now coming towards her.
How she wished she had a weapon right now besides a few measly stones, but RTV had been smart enough to keep those from her at all times.
Either Wr3n had stopped her from getting one or the author who never could make up her mind if she was on C!Animsay’s side or RTV’s.
Snarling at the clones who now had started running as well, she jumped over a few rock piles quickly trying to get some distance.
Behind her she could hear them charging up.
Not good.
In the next second, she let out a yelp as someone grabbed her from behind, dragging her into a nearby cave and out of sight.
“It's just me, Ra-Other Rayas," her kidnapper now whispered in reassurance into her ear. "You’re safe here."
Right, Rayas.
That fox girl with the dead twin.
Rayas now removed her hands from C!Ani’s mouth, much to her thanks.
"Where's SMG4 and Little TV boy?", she then asked.
Right, the kid version of RTV.
Last time she had seen him, he had been hugging that other girl, Harley, before running off.
"Hiding..., but... thanks.”, C!Ani now replied dryly, supposing she owed Rayas one.
Her gaze then fell upon the word assemble of ingredients behind the fox girl.
"What is that?"
"Um,", Rayas muttered, a shy smile now settling on her face. "Animsay... would you like to help... hold on. Do you like Mario Kart?"
"I never thought you where this creative, Other Rayas. But crazy creative.", C!Animsay commented, looking a bit flabbergasted at what could only turn out to be some weird makeshift item of said game.
"It... it just popped in my head,", Rayas explained. "So, when we have the clones all lined up, toss the Spiny Chicken until it seeks the very first person; which is us. We drop behind them at the right time, and let the "shell" do its thing. Kaboom! The blast will be bright enough, Mr Puzzles will have no idea what just happened."
"Hm... if you say so…”, C!Ani replied, skepticism clear in her voice.
How high were the chances that this would explode in their faces?
Apparently that was a risk Rayas was willing to take as she now activated her sigil and spread her wings again, flying back into the air.
"But one thing,", Rayas added. "I need to do this quickly and run back to Real Me. To check on her that no one has found her."
C!Ani was about to question why RTV would even be interested in a corpse or why Rayas was so interested in her dead real self, but held her tongue.
"And because I need some rest. If I don't stop with the stress going, I'll pass out. And don't want that to happen in midair."
Wonderful outsight.
C!Animsay just huffed, crossing her arms.
“You better not let me drop. Dying like this WOULD be embarrassing…”
The fact that Rayas did not give her any reassurance was not lost on her and left a slight nervous feeling in her stomach as she now was raised into the air with the fox girl with the help of her cord tail.
At least she was now handed a weapon…or a shield?
She had trouble putting an umbrella in any category but it did help her deflect the shots that the clones immediately started firing upon them.
With each deflected shot, she slightly moved around a bit stronger in the air, she grabbed on more tightly to the cord, fearing what may happen if it snapped.
That was when she noticed music playing from above, specifically from Rayas ears.
“Music? Right now? Really??,”
However, she quickly shut up again when Rayas now took a turn towards the bigger battle, C!Ani now spotting that RTV had managed to get a drop on the Siren, now turning his attention towards his younger version that was unfortunate enough to be in the area right now.
That’s when Rayas threw the spiny chicken which immediately started making it’s known round of doom that had cost many racers their victory.
And probably a few limbs now that she thought about it.
Even more reason why she started no tugging at the cord tail as Rayas froze up.
“Hey, Rayas, it’s coming back, HEY-”
A second later her heart nearly leaped out of her body as Rayas made a sudden flip.
Yep, she was going to die of a stroke at this point.
Heights were not her friend.
At least the flip avoided them getting hit by the explosion that now went off below, taking out a few clones in the process and hopefully no participants.
“Animsay, I'm going to drop you off! I'm sorry, but I'm not feeling too good! But, you can keep the umbrella! I can make more later...", Rayas now spoke up again, making C!Ani freeze up as she suddenly uncurled her tail.
Wait, wait, wait, they were still flying, how was she supposed to-
Oh right, the umbrella.
Opening it, she managed to float down safely to the floor just in time as Rayas loosened her grip fully.
C!Ani watched her fly back into the direction of the cave again, before turning back to the matter at hand.
Still the same chaos as before and no winner in sight.
Taking a deep breath, she now took the umbrella in both hands.
It was not much but it was something and sure, she didn’t own anyone here anything, but as long as she was stuck…she supposed she may help the others out as well.
☆
Having shielded himself from the sudden explosion with his coat, RTV growled in frustration as he realized that Little Puzzles once again had run out of his sight.
An annoyance and a dangerous one.
Right now, the last thing he needed was that pest poisoning his own mind.
Well, at least there was a silver lining…
His gaze now landed back on Sci, still in her Siren form, startled from the sudden explosion as well.
Slowly striding over, he now picked up the trident that had fallen next to her, as RTV previously had thrown her across the platform.
The three stab wounds she had managed to inflict on his side were shallow but still stung like hell, so who was he not to return the favor?
Sci of course quickly got back up with the help of the rocks next to her as she noticed RTV arming himself with her weapon.
The TV head weighed the trident in his hands for a second, before tilting his head at the Siren.
“I can see why you use it. Fancy AND powerful.”
He spun it to his side, the familiar devious smile growing on his face.
“You just HAVE to allow me to try it.”
With that he dashed forward, aiming to strike, but Sci quickly dodged to the side, her long body wrapping around the nearby stones, using it as shielded before dashing forward and tackling RTV.
The TV head had fallen back with a grunt, but quickly spun the trident towards Sci’s neck, forcing her to back up and enabling him to get back on his feet, stumbling slightly as his malfunctioned hand landed wrong on the floor.
As Sci immediately used the chance to slashing at him, RTV displayed a triumphant grin as he got her close enough again to switch positions of the trident by clutching it under the arm with his broken hand, exactly where Sci was aiming for right now.
Due to the missing strength, the slash that followed on her torso wasn’t deep but it still was enough to draw bright blue blood and catch her temporarily off guard.
RTV being the gentleman he was of course couldn’t refuse such an offer presenting itself.
Grabbing the trident with his functioning hand again now, he raised it like a bat, before slashing it right across Sci’s head sending her falling back, a significantly more bleeding wound now in the form of three slashes across her face.
RTV made a sound similar to clicking his tongue.
He had aimed for the eyes, damn it.
Well, still plenty of time to correct that mistake-
-or so he thought as he raised his finger gun, until the floor beneath them suddenly started crumbling and a white scaled toothy dragon suddenly broke out, tooth filled jaw grabbing RTV’s arm.
Feeling the teeth dig into his metal, but also flesh, RTV flinched back but was promptly thrown back against a rock formation.
His head hit the stone, as his hand quickly grabbed the rough surface behind him, boosting himself back up as Sci now took a stand next to the snapdragon shifter Marie, reclaiming her trident that had fallen back onto the floor.
Now this….was a slight problem.
Ignoring the warm blood trickling off his arm, soaking the white sleeve, he took yet a stand again, folding his hands as he cooed.
“Aww, the monstrosities are teaming up…how MOVING…”, he spat out the last part.
“I don’t think we are the monsters today.”, Sci now spoke, pointing her trident at RTV. “Just look around.”
The TV head tilted his head, not taking his eyes off them as his smile grew condescendingly.
“As if you didn’t plan BACKSTABBING me all along.”, he chuckled, raising his hand but quickly diving to the side as Marie charged forward and sizing down momentarily as a trident buried itself barely over his head.
Sneering, he seized up again, grabbing Marie by the tail, ignoring the spikes scratching using his robotic hand and launching her in Sci’s direction who quickly dodged the dragon coming at her.
A blast suddenly hit his screen out of nowhere, but RTV had no time watching out for the new attacker, as he had to dodge yet another attack from the dragon.
Instead, knowing that the other would probably use that to take another strike, he allowed his screen to become akin to those in the TV dimension, the next blast getting absorbed right through and causing havoc in whatever cha
Next thing he knew, he felt something crawling up his leg and sinking its teeth into the metallic part of his torso where, hilariously enough, it did almost no damage.
As soon as the creature bit down, their previous spell of invisibility fell off, revealing the culprit as Lari to him.
Of course.
Shoulder checking Sci, he then grabbed Lari off his torso, holding her in front of him with an unimpressed expression.
“You SOMEHOW are more FOOLISH than the other one."
"HISSSSSSSSS!"
Additionally to that, this Lari continued to be just as much of a menace than his version had been by showing her fangs and attempting to use her stinger to pierce his arm, her glance reflecting the same amount of contempt he also held for her.
"Disgusting.", he growled, before he started tightening his grip, crushing Lari and causing her to scream out.
“Go...To hell.", she growled at him to which he replied with a sneer.
"This isn’t the first time I hear that...Now do me a favor and PERISH!"
With that, he threw her down against a rock, content with the crack upon impact.
Unfortunately, his actions only fueled the other two to attack with even more ferocity, specifically Marie whose pine shot forced RTV to quickly jump over to a neighbor rocky platform to avoid getting impaled by the spikes.
Some of them still put a hole through his already battered coat, one managing to graze his leg, leaving a scratch across flesh and metal beneath clothes.
Further irritated by the fact he even was taking hits, RTV balled his fist, ready to once again take hold of the Screaming Death that was now flying straight towards him again, maw opened to charge up fire inside.
That was until a loud bonk could be heard as a stalagmite hit the back of RTV’s head, sending him stumbling forward and no doubt leaving a dent.
"HA! YOU CAN'T CATCH ME!~”
Of course…he forgot how irritating Lari’s regenerative ability could be.
Attention temporarily divided, he ultimately decided to instead dodge the row of fireballs that was now shot into his direction as well as the trident that tried pinning his neck against another rock formation.
"Tch- as if I want to waste my time in capturing a vermin.", he growled for Lari to hear.
"Uhum right...like you definitely didn’t waste a LOT of that just attempting to capture a certain blue guy, a rat and even a kid- and still FAILED!!! What silly me to think you had any chances in catching me~"
Simple provocations, RTV would be a fool to fall so easily for such tricks.
“-Because obviously you can't do that even in your own dimension...do you really need your guards for everything? Damn you're pathetic- have you considered training? It may help that lack of skills-"
But alas this one had a death wish and he just really, really hated her snarky tone.
With one hand he boosted himself over the rock formation, putting temporarily some distance between him and the Siren, Screaming Death duo and instead charging at the lizard-like creature who only now seemed to register she maybe bit more off than she could chew.
“NOW YOU COME HERE PEST!", RTV barked, foot stomping onto the ground, sending her flying into the air though she still unfortunately was able to avoid his kicks and turned invisible to avoid his strikes and instead continued to appear and reappear, no doubt trying to distract him.
And he was really tempted to give in to it just to eventually crash and crush her right beneath his shoe sole.
For a few seconds, he tried chasing her, his hand decapitating the occasional rock as he tried to catch or hit Lari.
Though it was becoming quickly clear to him as he looked at his surroundings that she was trying to lead him away.
"HEY LAMPPOST! I'M RIGHT HEREEE!"
His gaze snapped back to the black lizard creature, scowling for a second as he hesitated, before his gaze snapped upwards at the stalagmite filled ceiling.
“Oh, I know.”
His hand then sped upwards, crashing against several of the sharp stony formations and sending down on Lari in a hail.
While she now scrambled to not get impaled, RTV now turned his attention back to the battlefield behind him.
Sci and Marie were starting to make their way back over to him together with a few others now that had gathered.
His gaze landed first on Nia, now with pink hair for some reason flying in the air with an axe, before falling onto Nicknack and Grinnames now with six tentacles and rushing forward at him.
“Let's GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-”
Grinnames managed to get close to Mr. Puzzles with the boost of her tentacles, and grappled him with them, yanking his hand to the side before he could fire a shot.
RTV snarled, trying to get her off before he had to deal with the others arriving too, shaking his arm to fling her away, only for her to manage to climb onto it and face him directly.
“Listen. Here.”, Grinnames now spoke, eyes narrowed at the TV head as she held on.
“You killed, not one, not two, but- you killed two of my friends. I should kill you right here and now. But then I’d be a hypocrite.”
RTV scoffed at that, trying to hit her with his broken hand, but she avoided it.
“Whatever you’re trying to do, it isn’t worth it. I know from experience. You'll continue being just as miserable as you are now.”
Grinnames looked back up to RTV, eyes locking with him.
“Please. Let us leave quietly.”
“Quietly? Have you looked at yourself and the others? You think they would go QUIETLY?”, RTV laughed, but there was slight hesitancy in his tone.
This was turning out to be a lot more of a struggle than he thought.
His emotions getting the better of him, Little Puzzles free, getting injured-
But this wasn’t just about them potentially talking or running his reputation, oh no, it would take a lot more than this for them to achieve that.
No, the problem was that he had to set a sign.
A sign that he wasn’t just some character those people past the 4th wall could toy with how they liked.
Treat his life, his property like theirs.
Pretend like this whole world belonged to them when HE was the one who invited them.
So he was testing how far he could push it and maybe finally venting some of that frustration that he had bottled up over the past months.
Sure, if he killed everyone here, the people behind the screens would eventually return in another shape.
It's not like this was their lives on the line.
But if he started with a clean slate, well, there would be far more mistakes he was able to fix next time.
“Apologies, but they started this and I don’t LOSE.”, he now gave back, hesitance moving out of his voice.
“Heh, worth a shot. Oh whatever. I guess you're only gonna change when it really, really, hurts.”, Grinnames chuckled a wide but pained and bitter grin, before slashing her tentacles across RTV’s neck and aiming for the neck next. “Oh, and thank you for the meal.”
The TV head quickly shielded it with his injured arm, grimacing as it earned a few additional slashes, and not just on the robotic parts, before using his coat, grabbing it to throw it over Grinnames, blinding them temporarily and turning his attention towards Nia, deflecting her attack with his hand and pushing her back.
A shot of fire hit his already burned neck as he tried to tackle Sci who had arrived back at the scene, causing her trident to impale his leg, sending him staggering back.
His hateful sneer now landed on Nicknack who had her finger raised, giving him the same glare back.
“I should have taken your OTHER eye too, maybe then you would have lost that spine completely.”, RTV spat at her, growling as Sci now pulled the trident back, leaving three holes in his leg.
He didn’t notice the effect his words seemed to have on Nicknack, her hateful stare turning into a downright ferocious snarl as she finally snapped.
The following loud screech made everyone in the area flinch, before Nicknack’s body started to bend and break a sickening crack.
Even more spikes on her body appeared, tearing at parts to show pink and sizing up into a monster shape with large claws and sharp tails and teeth.
Then with a sudden motion she zeroed in on RTV, jumping at him though he quickly managed to dodge, but temsed at the sharp pain.
Nicknack landed on the rock behind violently thrashing before now jumping at Grinnames, Nia and any other participant that was unfortunate enough to be in the area, unable to tell friend from foe.
While it did have the fortunate effect of keeping them off RTV’s back it didn't stop Sci and Marie to now hit him together with full force, sending him flying back the way they came and rolling over the floor.
Grunting, RTV quickly sat back up only for Nicknack who had let off the other two now jumping on his back, claws digging deep into the skin.
“AGH-”
The TV head was cut off as Nia now hit his screen, Grinnames joining in and using her tentacles to slash at him as well with Marie who had caught up with them again sending a row of fireballs right towards him with Sci behind him raising her gradient, ready to aim it right at his screen.
Too much.
He took that and he was going to lose-
In a split second decision, RTV snapped his fingers, effectively stopping time in the whole dimension.
The first fireball halted right in front of RTV’s face and he quickly scrambled out of reach, now staggering back to his feet, ignoring the pain in his leg.
He had seconds, maybe half a minute.
The longer he stayed like this the more he was draining himself.
He already was injured so that was an additional strain.
Being the only unaffected by the time freeze, RTV now quickly started moving Marie around, ignoring the fact that his hand got scratched by her spikes, facing her towards Sci.
Then he shot Nicknack in the eye, knowing she would feel the effect as soon as time set back in, before grabbing both Grinnames and Nia and throwing them both towards a rock formation that was sure to kill them upon impact if they didn’t react fast enough.
He would love to deal with them more permanently but he only had a few seconds left.
Running, he now moved back towards the main platform, back towards the portal and putting distance between him and the chaos that would erupt in a second.
Almost immediately time set back in, the fighting continuing with Marie’s fireballs now hitting Sci and sending her staggering back, Grinnames and Nia now flying through the air and Nicknack letting out a loud screech and letting go of him as the effect of the shot hit her.
She blindly began running into walls, tail swinging around dangerously.
RTV meanwhile felt exhaustion crawl over him as he had expected, holding on to a rock formation as his wounds started burning like they were on fire.
This was taking way too much out of him.
But damn it, he didn’t want to give up.
It didn’t help that these people kept talking to his younger self.
First the hug from Harley, now that damn fox girl attempting to soothe that crybaby, making him feel this icky affection and comfort as well.
He didn’t want it.
He was killing these people, not learning to treasure them.
Letting go of his blood soaked arm, he then pulled the coat more properly over his shoulder again, almost if to comfort himself, before turning to the clones.
Two of them now were nearing RTV, dragging the unconscious body of Rayas with them.
Due to his connection to Little Puzzles, RTV knew that she had fainted after talking with his younger version.
Right after helping him escape with that explosion she caused.
So needless to say, after the whole TV hijack, that she had the audacity to forgive him and now this, he was quite done with her.
Charging up his finger gun, he was ready to put her in the grave right next to her doppelganger.
The affection of his younger half be damned.
"...Know ...your ...place-"
“STOOOOOOOOOOPPPPP!!”
Startled, RTV momentarily stopped, looking from one side to another, trying to locate Rayas voice.
"WHAT...? WHERE??"
"I- I'm SORRY!! PLEASE!!!"
His gaze now landed on one of the clones, eyes narrowing as he saw the default screen had changed into a much more familiar one of a fox girl.
Oh, she was really trying her luck.
"You......... AGAIN!?" , he spoke through gritted teeth, before shooting and turning the clone into a pile of scrap.
However, the expression now flicked over to the second one which quickly picked up Rayas body before starting to run.
"GET BACK HERE!" , he shouted in rage, turning around to follow them.
“I'M SORRY. WHY are you mad at me and her so much?!", Rayas instead replied, before disappearing suddenly under the surface.
She could not be serious.
“Are you daft? YOu and the REal brat of you touched my TVs!," He yelled, "And you are begging forgiveness now, when you should have when I caught the two of you?! AND now you just take my likeness to wear?! I THINK NOT!!"
A stomp on the ground that sent cracks through the floor forced her to exit back to the surface again.
“I WAS AFRAID!!,", she shouted, "I thought defending myself with words was pointless!! I'm SORRY for Touching your TVs and possessing this body. I'll give it back!!"
She dove back under the surface again, causing RTV to grunt in frustration.
Right, because hijacking his property certainly heightened her survival chances right now.
"NO POINT ANYMORE! And maybe there wasn't one," he said the last part in a mocking tone.
Stopping right above her, he then took a step forward.
"I WOULD let one offense pass. BUT THIS... THE Final STRAW, YOU!! YOU... ARG!!"
He scrambled for once, before simply stomping onto the ground again, forcing her back out once again.
Why was he even trying to explain this to her?
Precious time wasted.
With clear distaste he now watched as she used her wings again to escape through the air.
"WE WERE TESTING THE NEW CORD TAILS TO THE TVS, TO FIND A WAY OUT FOR EVERYONE!!," she shouted in midair, now dodging the shots he gave in her direction.
"And I stated correctly, that NO ONE IS LEAVING HOME BECAUSE ALL OF YOU ARE RUINING EVERYTHING! After seeing what you did, YOU and Her are actively TRYING TO FIGHT ME!!", RTV barked back, following her.
"What?? Who said I and she wanted to fight you!?,", Rayas asked in confusion. "Please... just listen to me, Mr Puzzles!"
But RTV was done listening.
On his command yet another clone tackled her, sending her scuffle to hide in a nearby cave.
"I don't need to hear another WORD!”, RTV snarled as he now loomed over the cave.
“I MEAN IT! We would never GO FURTHER THAN THAT!," she shouted back. "I did all that because I had to; TO GET EVERYONE OUT OF HERE! And I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT YOU!! What other choices do I have?!"
Now there was none.
With a swift motion, RTV broke the roof off the cave and Rayas started running, before he backhanded her, sending her flying back.
His hand immediately curled into the fingergun, starting to shoot at her while stepping slowly closer, watching as she deflected one after another, before he kicked her right off her feet.
Her legs took damage with one of them getting shot right off thr clone’s knee that she was still possessing in the next second, the shot grazing her side as well.
Another kick and an arm was broken off as well.
RTV knew these clones, so he also knew where to hit.
Still, despite the harsh treatment, Rayas still has not let go of her body.
At least he assumed that it was hers because it didn’t have a hole in it.
Suddenly, the clone's head slumped, falling backwards towards the floor and straight on top of Rayas.
Instead, the fox girl now opened her eyes again, immediately trying to run only to discover that the heavy clone body was pinning her to the floor.
Chuckling in glee at her circumstance, RTV now stepped closer, raising fingergun one last time.
Time to even the score.
"Now," RTV cackled maniacally. "I will teach you this time, the LAST TIME. NOT. TO SHOW. ME UP!"
However, as soon as he shot, it was suddenly deflected by another familiar fox girl, now up and running again without a hole in her body.
RTV was stunned for a second, questioning if he was being tricked right now.
It had to be a trick because the other explanation he could only come up with was that plot armor actually existed.
And that this girl acted the whole time like her twin had been dead on purpose.
His surprised face turned slowly into a scowl at that.
"Um... hi guys... Um, how much did I miss?,", Other Rayas now asked, looking in the round.
“Me...," her twin muttered, looking about to cry.
Other people in the area now spoke up as well, one of them being the meme guardian.
"I... I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!," said SMG4 in disbelief.
"Um... my death was... greatly exaggerated?", she looked back at Rayas. "Are you okay Me?"
Helping herself, she now pushed the clone to the side, helping her get back up, all while ignoring RTV who still stood there, scowl deepening with every second.
It felt like they didn’t take him seriously, immediately slipping into their own little world again, forgetting he was about to just kill the other.
All because of a happy little reunion.
"Why...," he growled, turning everyone’s attention back to him. "NOBODY stays dead these days, do they?”
He now straightened again.
"Now... You Little..”
He stopped mid-sentence.
What even was he wasting monologue for at this point?
Shaking his head he instead slammed his hand down, caging both Rayas to the ground, ready to just turn them to one with the floor beneath.
However, this time the others weren’t just going to let history repeat itself.
SMG4 was the first to jump onto RTV’s back, somehow trying to hinder him with the others quickly joining in, slashing on him, pulling, biting to get him to let go of the two and avoid another loss of life during this off-tails tour.
The TV head was forced to let go of the Rayas when the transformed participants now joined in as well, their strength managing to make him lose balance on his broken arm and forcing him to the floor.
He could spot Nira, still under mind control, trying to somehow reach him but Bunnybot had grabbed her, able as a non-organic to hold her in place.
Speaking to her to calm her down, he fought against her trying to break free, but still remained an iron grip to avoid her coming to RTV’s aid.
Still the TV host didn’t stop fighting, squirming and snarling, his free hand clawed towards everyone in his vicinity, viciously trying to get them off in any way, the pain of his injuries only adding to his determination.
He couldn’t lose.
He never did and he sure as hell wasn’t starting to now.
A small black silhouette stepping in front of his screen tone caught his attention and his expression switched to a hateful sneer as he saw Little Puzzles standing there, wringing his hands anxiously as his TV head was looking back at his older self.
“You.”, RTV spat. “This is all YOUR FAULT!”
It was his younger self, that stubborn part of his subconsciousness that kept projecting his weaknesses onto him.
That spiteful empathy, that sickening vulnerability, comforted by traitors and enemies alike-
And yet, no matter how much he tried to snuff that parasite out, here he was, preserving, haunting him.
Puzzles hated how he looked from the kid’s perspective.
He hated that he looked like a maniacal, raging monster.
Broken when he was supposed to look perfect without flaw.
RTV’s hand dug into the floor, as he tried to shove those unwanted feelings, thoughts away.
What he was doing was…justified.
He couldn’t lose and yet-
With an exhausted groan, RTV let his screen flop onto the floor, hiding his face of conflict from the participants.
And yet he couldn’t deny that this wasn’t going anywhere.
He was exhausted, he was injured… he didn’t even know anymore what he was doing and the only reason they had not tried to kill him yet was no doubt because they feared what would happen if he died in his own TV dimension.
For a split second, just a tiny one, RTV considered just dying and dragging them all with him out of spite - Little Puzzles flinched at that - but then he still lost.
So there was only one solution to somehow try and fix this in a way that they both won.
“Fine.”, he now spoke up, anger slowly leaving his voice. “You can leave.”
With a nod of his head, the remaining clones in front of the portal disappeared and Nira stopped fighting, leaving a free way of escape.
“Under one condition: Puzzlevision property stays and that’s my one and FINAL offer.”, RTV continued, now trying to get up again. “Alternatevly, we can ALL just stay here. You could, of course, just kill me being the BRUTES you are, but let’s see what happens to the TV dimension when the host dies.”
Hesitantly, he now felt the participants letting go and he quickly shot up, tensing at the pain of his injuries, before shaking the remaining ones off.
Now changing back to his normal 12 feet, he limped over to a rock, leaning against it as he watched them now turn towards the exit.
“What about Wren?”, SMG4 asked, not having moved yet and eyeing the TV head with suspicion.
“Wr3n won’t attack, no worries.”, RTV growled back. “The lockdown is still lifted and I don’t need anyone seeing a giant pile of bodies on my studio grounds. So take your lucky chance and LEAVE.”
A cold grin spread on his damaged face as he tilted his head at the meme guardian.
“I will catch up eventually…”
The threat was not lost on SMG4 who frowned, giving RTV a glare before turning around and walking towards the portal.
RTV continued to glare dagger in his back, watching how one participant after the other now stepped through, a few of them quickly jumping to the side as the monstrous Nicknack nearly ran them over.
He would have to retrieve her later.
His voice could only be heard again when a certain former TV head tried to walk as well.
“Animsay, you stay. We have things to discuss.”
The head of the Social Media Department froze, before turning around, her eyes narrowed at him.
“If you think I will stay after everything-”
“I wasn’t talking to you.”, RTV sneered, making an impatient hand gesture. “I meant the other one. Come on now, you had your FUN. What are you going to do with her when she escapes? After this whole…fiasco I am much more open to discuss potential plot elements.”
He was sure to make it sound like something that someone who probably had been writing this disaster would find interesting.
And sure enough, he could spot that wave of fear wash over C!Animsay’s face before her posture completely changed and a grin that he usually never saw due to the TV head spread in her face.
“Hey, what do you mean she can’t leave?!”, Lari now growled who had taken notice of the whole conversation.
“Yeah, workers rights!”, Grinnames chimed in, tentacles once again tensing up if this developed into yet another fight.
“I said everything leaves except the Puzzlevision property. They ARE Puzzlevision property.”, RTV replied, the faint sign of his usual smug demeanor showing as he waved towards Nira and Animsay. “Besides, it’s not like they WANT to leave, right?”
Nira simply shook her head while Animsay made a declining hand gesture.
“Appreciate it, guys and the other probably does too - though I’m not going to include her curses and yelling in this story - but there isn’t much out there for me. I will stick with the boss!”
She made a salute before shrugging.
“Thank you though for making him realize that he needs me after all.”
RTV scowled at that, before turning around, head held high as he moved towards Little Puzzles.
One more thing to take care of.
With RTV finally giving free the way out of the TV dimension and the group starting to help up the injured or checking up on others before making their way over to the static square, Little Puzzles who had stuck with the other participants before now remained standing as the rest of the group moved on.
The child stood next to a hunched creature with cat ears, one eye half lidded staring into nothing. Blood coated the wall behind their head that they leaned against.
Not every participant was lucky to have survived this fight.
Little Puzzles slowly reached forward, carefully poking the participant, only for his hand to lower again as no reaction came.
He flinched as RTV suddenly grabbed him by the arm with his functioning hand, dragging him in the opposite direction without another word.
The kid however immediately began fighting against the grip, managing to surprise RTV and slip out of his grip before he could catch him again.
A few seconds later Little Puzzles had reached Sci, quickly hiding behind her again from his older self.
The fish, now back in her normal form, watched with a tired expression as the tour participants left through the static portal, clutching at whatever wound that was on her as she rested just for a bit.
She supposed she should be heading in right about now, seeing as almost everyone began walking to the exit with eagerness to leave. And yet, as much as she was trying to escape before, the Siren remained still, unsure and hesitant to step through when she shouldn't be.
All because of...
As soon as Sci tried to turn around and look back at Little Puzzles, she suddenly jolted at seeing him back with her, cowering like he initially did when—
The fish frowned and fully turned to look at RTV behind them, piecing together he must've tried to take his kid self back to the room they first found him in.
Sci nervously looked at the TV head, then down at his child self as she sighed sadly.
"Kid..." She muttered in a solemn tone.
RTV watched the scene with contempt, his back slightly hunched again now, a consequence of having claws dug into it.
His gaze momentarily flickered back to the dead participant.
Collateral damage, that’s all this was. Nobody would probably miss them.
Yet…this wasn’t what he wanted either.
It was messy.
Taking a deep breath, he now turned back to the other two, eyes narrowed as he spoke.
“You do realize that’s ME, right? Where do you think you will take him? Outside?”
He gave a strained chuckle. Everything hurt, he was so goddamn tired. The fact that he had the nerves to talk was a miracle alone. “Give him to me.”
The kid continued to cling to Sci, not moving an inch though flinching as RTV spoke up.
Despite knowing that he couldn’t leave, he still did not let go.
Sci glared at RTV through the corner of her eye, remaining silent at his order before continuing to look down at Little Puzzles with a guilty look.
She knew that... It'd be fruitless to even try, it's just his conscience, after all. Just some mental projection.
Not. Real.
That's what she tried to tell her heart at least.
Starting to feel heavy from the little hands clutching at the fabric of her pants despite her brain yelling the exact same thing RTV said.
She tried to gently tug her leg away, trying to get him to let go in her own soft way rather than the harsh words from the TV host.
"Come on, kid... You know I can't stay..."
The TV head watched with a scowl how his younger self only tightened his grip as Sci tried to move away.
Why did he want to stay with her so badly?
There was nothing special about this one.
No use to her, only trouble.
Small drops of static now started dropping out of his TV head again as he silently begged Sci not to go.
He didn’t want to be alone anymore.
She cared, so why couldn’t she fix this?
Fix him?
Her frown quivered as he still refused to let go, a sudden pang of pain and guilt going through her heart.
As she tried to open her mouth to say something again, she felt a lump start in her throat causing her to look away from the kid and RTV as she closed her lips in a tight frown.
Sci could feel the waterworks start in her eyes, becoming teary-eyed as she tried to hold the tears back.
Come on... Not like this... She can't do this.
She can't just leave him like this here, but what choice did she have?
Even if RTV let them go, who knew what he'd do if she did attempt staying.
The Siren sucked in a breath, looking back at the child as her hands gently placed themselves on his shoulders.
"I'm— I'm sorry. I really am— But I... I ca—..." The words eventually died in her mouth, hands becoming shaky as Sci tried to keep herself together.
RTV remained ominously quiet at the scene, his hand moving to his chest, grabbing the ripped suit as he felt a slight ache as Little Puzzles now started to cry.
Damn it all.
But he still didn’t move, fearing what could happen if he upset his younger self even more.
”Either you GO or you STAY.”, he now hissed.
Little Puzzles looked up at those words, before turning Sci as if hoping for her to actually agree. Agree to stay with him in the lonely channel.
... She couldn't keep it together anymore.
The Siren suddenly dropped to her knees, breaking the last of her defenses down entirely as she brought the little Puzzles in for a tight hug.
No longer seeing him as the smaller version of RTV, but one she's met countless times through other Puzzles. Ones she loved and cared about.
Sci hiccuped as heavy tears fell down her cheeks, the weight of her guilt and the grief for Michael catching up to her all at once as she sobbed.
She could care less for the stares on her, not when she was leaving a child to fend for themselves against a monster after fighting to protect him.
Sci muttered in a broken voice as she buried her face in the little kid's shoulder, staining his little shirt even more as she held him tight and trembled.
The kid froze for a second at the sudden hug, before relaxing, wrapping his small arms around Sci and hugging back tightly. As if he was afraid she would disappear any second.
The TV head flinched as he felt a stinging in his heart and yet the odd feeling of comfort mixed with longing.
For more affection, for someone to ca-
NO.
No, this was exactly what he had been avoiding.
His expression changed from a previously vulnerable one into a sneer as he now stomped over to the two, only to stop as he felt a twinge of fear.
Fear about what he could possibly break by ripping him away.
“En- enough of this.”, he seethed, cursing his voice temporarily breaking.
The fish only hugged the little kid tighter and closer to her, glaring through tears as the TV host approached, as if warning him to back off and leave them alone.
Sci remained like that for a moment, rubbing soothing circles into Little Puzzles' back as she sniffled and slowly calmed her tears.
She had to listen eventually... Not at RTV's pace however.
Sci slowly pulled away from the kid, staring into his screen as tears continued to fall down her tired and bruised face.
She took a slow breath in and exhaled a sigh, rubbing his little arms up and down to comfort him.
"Listen... I-... I can't protect you anymore... No matter h-how much I want to... But you're strong, kid. It's not a coincidence you still exist here..." The Siren weakly smiled, putting a hand to their case as she softly held their head.
"You're stronger than he ever will be... Just keep fighting that big bully." She scoffed a small laugh, side-eyed RTV with a small motion with her head, not even caring that he can listen or that he's standing right there next to them.
With a small shaky breath, she looked down with a thoughtful furrow, a small metallic glint catching her eye as she stared at her spiked cuffs.
The Siren's hands fall from the little Puzzles and start to take off her punk bracelets, the last remaining part of her she could leave to him... She takes the kid's wrists and puts them on him instead; they dangle and slide down his arms, as they're too big and not tight enough to fit him, but the thought is there.
"Here... These always make me feel tougher, maybe they will make you too..." Sci shrugs with a small, fond, and teary smile.
The kid’s shoulders visibly slumped at Sci’s declaration and he pulled his hands back, fumbling with them awkwardly as the Siren attempted to comfort him.
He then glanced over to RTV who was still watching, his face expressionless.
However, Little Puzzles attention quickly fell back on Sci as she now gave him the bracelets. Looking at them, he ran his finger over the spikes before looking back up at Sci.
RTV started shuffling when he felt the same wave of misplaced comfort again that he had been cursed from with everyone that helped his younger version.
He hated it.
Even if most of these people saw them separate, they still were talking to RTV at the end. And he hated that he still reacted to such gestures.
“Last chance or the deal is off.”
Black genuine leather with shiny and silver metal jewelry, one with spikes and the other with metal squares, both decorated with stars.
Sci finally looked up at RTV, her expression emotionless towards him too before she looked back at his child self again and shuffled up.
She wiped her tears away and sniffled, reluctantly taking a step back with clear hesitation to leave him.
"I'm sorry, kid..." Sci muttered an apology a final time before forcing herself to step away and walk to the portal, gaze looking down with mourning.
Before the Siren stepped into the portal, she clenched her jaw and looked to check on them a last time.
RTV remained rigid, staring at Sci with a look that couldn’t quite be placed.
It wasn’t quite hate but certainly also not appreciation.
Then, he grabbed Little Puzzles by the arm and started dragging him away.
“Nira, get to Health. Animsay…you stay.”, he ordered without turning to the people he talked to.
The small Puzzles stumbled over his feet at the fast pace his older self was going before turning around to Sci, giving a last small wave.
The Siren smiled as the corners of her lips trembled, tears starting to swell in her eyes again as she gave a small wave back.
She then finally turned back to the portal once the kid looked away, stepping through it as her smile painfully faltered.
The portal brought them right back to the Health Department where Nira immediately went to work, walking to Lucian in a corner who was guarded by Chris, barely reacting at the participants making their return.
Swag was in the next bed, still unconscious from his encounter with Beeg and Mickey.
When Nicknack came crashing through the portal, scattering to the nearest exit, Chris tensed up to stop him but was halted by the hologram of Wr3n that now appeared in front of the participants.
In contrast to his robot host, this version has detached arms that ended in pixels and no mouth at all.
“Don’t bother, Chris. I will make sure she doesn’t run into anyone.”
He then tapped his head at the group, soundwave below his eye shadow moving with every word.
“Puzzlevision thanks you for coming and hopes you enjoyed the tour thoroughly.”
He tilted his head before reappearing to the side of the hallway, letting them step through.
“Remember, we always enjoy watching your lovely creative process and all those great ideas you come up with.”
“It’s been fun.”
With a last wave, he then opened the emergency exit for them, before disappearing.
Epilogue:
It’s been several days since the events at the RTV studio.
By a miracle, SMG4 had managed to get back safely to their base where along the way he had also managed to meet up with a battered Beeg and a nearly ink puddle turned Mickey.
The latter one proceeded to spend the following days staying put and drinking any source of ink he could find and having the most horrible of moods.
In general the mood among the Resistance was tense, given they nearly died for absolutely nothing.
After this world’s Lari and Marie nearly strangled them for going through with that, all of them were left with even more questions when SMG4 mentioned the alternate versions of them that he encountered.
What exactly had RTV been doing with that tour?
Where did these people come from?
Of course, the aftermath of the tour had played out exactly in RTV’s favor.
Who controlled the press also controlled the narrative and so the next headlines were all talking about that VIP tour that Puzzlevision Security bravely defeated against the Resistance's attack, with several staff members hurt.
If any of the participants ever spoke out, they were either silenced or drowned out.
All in all, things were back to normal, it wasn’t like their reputation could sink any lower.
Sighing SMG4 leaned against the tree trunk they had built up a camp next to, staring up into the sky.
Sometimes he even wondered if this was getting him anywhere.
Sure, he survived but all that risk had been useless in the end.
A sudden rustling made him quickly jump up, hand grabbing the gun he carried with himself ever since he realized how important it was to always be armed.
Instead of Puzzlevision security however, a familiar egg shaped dog appeared that looked like he wandered wilderness for days, which he probably did, with a small package wrapped around his neck.
“...Eggdog?”
Beeg was the first to run over and hug the dog sith the rest keeping in the distance, expecting someone else to now come out of hiding.
But nobody came.
Hesitantly, SMG4 now reached forward, grabbing the package and slowly unpacking it.
Hey Idiot,
I know it was you who I met on that weird tour. Needless to say, I’m still pissed at you and this is not me apologizing or forgiving you. However, I have realized that maybe not everything is as clean about this whole story as I first thought. I don’t know who to trust, hell, I don’t know if I can even trust myself at this point. I have questions.
Why you did what you did, what the story between you and Puzzles is, but that’s something we can’t talk about right now.
Don’t respond to this letter, don’t help Eggdog back, he can find his way alone.
Don’t make me regret this, baka.
Three
With the package came an USB stick, the same one Beeg lost on the tour with a small note.
I took the liberty to put a file with all my current credentials on that and from that weird room in the Social Media Department. I hope this was worth the risk.
Deep in the lower levels of the Puzzlevision headquarters, following the railing next to the deep cliffs leading further below, sat RTV in one of the rooms on the other side.
“Hand me the screwdriver.”, he spoke to Wr3n, who back in his robot host, now handed Puzzles the tour, watching as he screwed the panel to his now newly fixed hand shut.
That had taken way too long, even longer than fixing his screen, though he had optioned to just a completely new TV with that one.
He just wished his actual flesh wounds would also heal that quickly.
Sighing, he now threw the tool to the side, standing up as he tested his fixed hand.
His eyes fell for a millisecond on the spike bracelets that he had left lying on the nearby desk a few days ago.
Taking a deep breath, he quickly looked away, promising himself to stuff them deep down in a shelf in his office later.
Things at the studio had quickly returned back to normal with the only things aside from RTV that had needed to be fixed being a few holes that Nicknack left and he blamed on that round SMG4 copy and some of the employees memories.
Nira thought the whole TV dimension trip to be a bad dream and Swag and Chris simply remembered doing their jobs.
Lucian was still out and recovering, nearly having bled out from his injuries but sticking to the story that RTV created.
As for Animsay, she had agreed to being monitored through the TV head again after they had made a small deal to work together more properly again.
She got an engaging plot for “her” AU and he got less leaked information about himself.
The true owner of the body she was using hasn’t showed herself ever since Animsay pushed her onto the backseat again at the end of the tour.
“I have matched every user that has ever interacted with our account to their participant if they had one.”
Wr3n said, showcasing a list of all employees next to usernames.
“Great, have you also checked up on my little theory?”, RTV asked now moving next to Wr3n watching as he accessed their blog.
“Of course, boss. As you can see, you were right. Animsay has been writing about almost every event on the tour. If a post didn’t align with her given rules, it was never accepted and never happened in our reality.”
He showcased the end of an event post where Animsay mentioned to not let anyone write RTV’s defeat.
The TV had felt the old spark of irritation rise up in him at that, but he was more interested in the proof at his hands.
“In the end I was defeated, but it never was THEM writing that but her.”, he hummed, as he scrolled through the others' posts.
“Exactly. It seems that only Animsay’s narrative only applies to our world and others only with her allowance. Meaning if you have her under control-”
“I can also control the other inserts' influence in MY world.”, RTV ended the sentence with a grin spreading back on his face. “All I need is to give her ideas she finds appealing. She sees us all as one big STORY she amazes others with. Morals don’t play a role when the victims are fictional.”
He chuckled, now leaving the room to lean down over the railing, gaze landing upon the structure in front of him.
A wall full of pods, most empty but a few occupied by a few familiar faces.
A pink haired rude girl, an always hooded idiot with blades for hands and, of course, a red certain Italian plumber.
“We shall make some changes to this world. Let’s show them who it REALLY belongs to.”
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
We actually made it!
Well almost all of us /silly
I want to thank you all again for participating and following this silly story of mine, I’m honestly blown away by the effort that’s been put in this!
I also want to thank you for being so patient with me because I will wholeheartedly admit, I improvised most of this plot spontaneously based on your decisions lol
I will leave it up to you if you want to write an aftermath for your character or not!
General RTV AU content will now be posted again as usual over at my main SMG4 block:
Due to most people usually sending in their parts near the deadline and me needing those to write the final fight, my part will come out a few days later. Probably Tuesday or Wednesday!
I still ask you people to send your parts in until Sunday!
Note: Wowza this is a looooong one and perfectly represent the fever dream that is the Tv dimension in my opinion lol Originally I wanted to take more movies in but god, it’s already way too long.
A special thanks to @scimagic and @irayasosy
CHECK THE REBLOGS FOR PART 2 + NOTES!!
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
There was a tense silence in the Health Department as RTV was done with his rant.
The TV head was still irritated, but at least was calm enough by now to refrain from sending the nearest person flying against the wall like he did with the table just now.
Gripping hands behind his back he tried to regain some of his composure.
Deep breaths, focus on the task at hand, make sure nothing more goes out of hand.
Surely enough, some people seemed smart enough to not provoke him further.
Under the soulless stares of Swag and Chris and RTV’s glare, the participants now walked towards the screens, some giving him a worried or anxious glance back.
The TV head made a slight step to the side to give way to the one eyed Creature and a sobbing Becky walking past him and entering the dimension.
RTV was unsure when in his life he had started losing sympathy for others, but he knew it had been gone for a long time, as right now, he simply couldn’t bring himself to feel sorry.
Was it a bit insane to take his anger out on the people who couldn’t do anything against the people from beyond the 4th wall who made the actual choices?
Maybe.
Well, if the people in Health behaved then maybe he would be willing to cut them some slack.
As for Security…they messed up.
After the red colored Bunnybot entered through the screen as well, only a few people were left.
Among them was Nira, the one horned girl Lilith, that white and pink hairball and…
RTV’s eyes visibly narrowed as the insert of one the most irritating people he had the displeasure to talk with, now stepped towards him.
Really, the only reason he allowed Loyboo on the tour was because he was nice enough for the person to prove that they were different from the person behind them.
“What does it matter… "
It was a mutter that RTV only caught because the boo was standing so close.
Nevertheless he didn’t expect him to bow down in the next second, dropping a single sketchbook page to the floor.
"I'm worth nothing.", she said, before walking past RTV, through the screen and into the TV dimension.
The TV head gave Loyboo a slightly perplexed look, before huffing.
Alright, if his small outburst was already causing such reactions then he figured the majority would downright break when it was a big one.
His gaze now landed on the paper on the floor and he kneeled down to pick it up in a split second decision before it could be stepped on by Lilith who now walked through as well.
Putting the free hand in his hip, he now narrowed his eyes at the sketch that had been doodled on the piece of paper.
The outlines were still messy yet he was able to make out the picture as a whole.
A row of people following a TV headed being ordering them, no doubt representing him, a star shaped light present on his screen.
A visualization of RTV’s brainwash, showing how the people fell into his trap by following the shining, flawless persona that he was embodying.
The TV head frowned, his grip around the paper slightly tightening.
This drawing was hitting a bit too close to the truth.
In a way it was what happened on this tour right now.
A bunch of people followed him, a few even trusting him, only to figure out that he wasn’t what he pretended to be.
Well, until he forced them to see what he wanted them to see again.
Not an option with the majority of these people though.
They were too…aware.
With a sharp inhale, he folded the sketch, storing it in a pocket of his coat.
No time for sentimentalities.
Besides, right now these people didn’t even deserve his act of perfection, no, ironically they now got a more authentic version of him.
A very pissed off one.
“U-uhm, we still have two people resting, so I should probably go wake them up.”
RTV lowered his gaze on the white squirrel who was nervously grabbing her own hands.
“Do that.”
Following her slowly as she walked over to the next room, he watched how she pulled the curtains wide aside.
Revealing a small surprise.
Turns out the fox girl form before had a double now.
"...There's... two?", he slowly drawled, earning a quick nod from Nira.
Just how much did he miss?
He continued to observe how the double now woke up the other who appeared to have been sleeping, muttering apparent comforting swords to her.
Hah, ironic how other people got far better along with their other versions than he did.
Moving slowly aside as they now stood up, he noted a cable cord tail on them.
Had they owned those before?
Well, no matter.
At least they didn’t make any trouble and entered the TV dimension without further complaints.
Nira though…
RTV couldn’t help but admit how useful she was.
Her ability was a true win to this studio, no matter how this ended, he had to keep her by his side.
After that was done, RTV turned to Swag and Chris to give a few last orders, as he suddenly heard fast footsteps coming his way.
As he snapped around, he just saw a white and pink hairball lunging towards him until-
CRASH!
A few glass splinters fell to the ground together with Hairball who had bounced right off RTV’s screen.
A bottle of disinfect flew out of their hair, rolling right in front of the TV head’s shoes who was holding his now additionally broken screen.
Taking a second to recover from the failed attempt to enter the TV dimension, Hairball now shook their head, sitting up.
In the next second a tall shadow fell over them, followed by a harsh grip in their long hair as they were suddenly pulled back up.
“Owowowowowow-”
“Quiet.”
RTV’s expression had switched back to one of cold fury, drops of color from his mouth now dropping through the impact crack in his screen onto the floor boards.
His other hand then dove into the mess of hair, searching for more items that no doubt this menace had snatched along the way.
First thing he noted however was that his arm sunk in way deeper than it should be possible.
So no ordinary hair.
More like some sort of endless space.
Pocket dimension?
It turned out there were much more things hidden there than RTV expected.
Among the things he pulled out were a pack of gums, a whole pencil case, a half eaten sandwich and-
His eyes visibly narrowed at the now nervously smiling creature as his hand pulled out with his phone and a very familiar star bowtie.
Little shit.
“Don’t.”, he stopped Hairball before they could even dare utter another word, his grip in their hair now tightening as they started dragging them over to the screen. “You’re INCREDIBLY lucky I don’t approve of staining my gloves. Not on studio grounds that is.”
He gave Hairball a sharp smile, now flicking the bowtie back in their hands.
“You know what? KEEP it. One measly star is probably everything a petty THIEF like you will ever achieve in their pathetic life.”, RTV spoke in a hiss. “You’re welcome.”
With that, he shoved them through the screen and into the TV dimension, frowning at all the hair that now had gotten stuck to his clothing.
With every second, he felt the grip on his temper fading away.
No trace of self preservation with some of these people.
“You two.”, he now turned to Swag and Chris, voice missing his usual theatrical sliver. Why bother?
It’s not like they would care about him breaking character.
“Chris, get over to the Control Room and listen to the system’s orders. Swag, you stay here. Keep an eye.”
He now turned to Animsay who was the only other person left.
“Especially her.”
A simultaneous nod.
Brushing the hair off his sleeves, RTV took a deep breath before retracting into the TV head.
A few seconds later, the broken screen landed on the floor, displaying static before shutting off.
☆
Back in the Control Room, people were getting ready as well to enter the TV dimension.
Some looked just as put off by the mere idea as SMG4 felt.
That stupid dimension brought nothing but bad memories back and he was seriously considering whether taking on that weird version of Wren wasn't the better alternative.
The last time SMG4 ended up in there, the events happened that led to that maniac being in power.
Surely though, he at least wouldn’t broadcast all this to the world this time.
After the small... incident between Wr3n, Sci, and a certain bot's body, the Siren now moved past the crowd to get to the back of the room, ignoring any stares she may receive as she glared with bitterness at the floor.
Her fins flicked with every sound, murmur or cry between the group, the sad thought of others caring for Michael as much as she cared for them crossing her mind before she shut it down.
No time for that. No time to dwell in pain. The odds weren't on her side and with each passing moment she spent in this room, the more doomed she is confronting a certain television head.
Which... speaking of the devil...
As RTV gave his announcement through the various screens in the control room, Sci glared at them, her back half-turned towards them as she listened with a sneer forming on her face. Once done, the Siren turned back around, fist shaking at her side as she tried to think of what to do.
How to survive...
How to live.
She knew she'd be terribly weak against the big man himself if she stepped through, but she'd dig herself an even bigger grave if she didn't. Looking around the room, she tried to find something, anything of use to her- only for her eye to catch a familiar face. Tired and scrappy maybe... But friendly, nonetheless.
She missed seeing her universe's version of him...
Sci shook her head lightly and frowned, god he's gonna be just as much if not more screwed than her. But she was desperate for options right now.
The Siren quietly stomped her way to SMG4, a tense and stern look on her face.
The meme guardian was still busy brooding over the impossible choice at hand, only now he noticed that he had been balling his fists the entire time, nails digging deep into skin.
Taking a deep breath, he opened his hands before brushing once over his face.
He had to calm down or he would get himself into even bigger trouble though right now...although that seemed almost impossible.
As he saw Sci walking towards him, the meme guardian immediately tensed up again.
“…hi.”
Both of Sci’s hands landed on the guardian's shoulders, a tense grip on them but nothing to hurt him. Staring intently into his eyes.
"Tell me... You didn't walk in here blindly without an escape plan— don't tell me what it is— just tell me if you do." The Siren hissed in a quiet tone, already way past introductions at this point.
Some worry lingers in her voice.
SMG4 made a small step back as she suddenly grabbed him though halted at her question.
Was she really asking him for a plan when it was so obvious that everything went wrong?
“No, not really…”, he now replied in a low tone. “I’m just as stuck as you here though…maybe the rest of my group can bail us out soon enough. It’s not exactly going after a plan though. You think I wanted to expose myself to this group?”
The fish opens her mouth to say something, only to close it again with a frown as she glances down.
Guess she should've thought about that. She wasn't in a position to judge how badly things were planned. She didn't even have a plan herself in case things went wrong! And they already had!
Sci breathed in and exhaled a sigh, the grip on Four's shoulders faltering as she patted his shoulder and nodded in resignation.
"Right... Sorry... Just wishful thinking."
Sci let go of his shoulders and looked to the side, continuing to mutter.
"Let's pray to the Godbox they find a way to do it then. Otherwise we're relying on sheer dumb luck and a miracle."
She glanced to the TV screens displaying Puzzles' dimension.
"... Or mercy.”
SMG4 let out a huff at that, putting hands back in the pockets of his hoodie. Well, he couldn’t exactly blame her. He also had hoped that there was a better plan, but alas…
“I’m not going to pray to that box of horrors.”, he sighed. “You can cross mercy out of the equation unless you got stuff to bargain with.”
He glanced over to the screens, seeing how some people were now contemplating.
“Let's hope they are still alive.”
Sci hummed as a response, drifting into thought as she considered the bargain part.
... Yeah, she's not selling away her powers for a second time. She doesn't have blackmail (not yet), no trump cards...
Just her fists and a necklace.
She sighed in exasperation, the more she thought about this situation the more dread and helplessness she got.
Ah well... If you go down, go down with style or something.
"They got a better chance than us right now, I suppose."
Sci stepped to walk away from SMG4, before pausing and looking back at him again.
"Uh... Good luck, I guess..."
”Mhm, they are capable so that’s something…”, the meme guardian simply replied, nodding at her last sentence to him. “Same to you.”
He then turned to glare at the screen again. If Puzzles wanted him to go in there, he would have to force him.
She nodded back and walked away without another word.
Al...right. Fighting it is.
Last time she tried this she failed miserably and got her shit rocked. No doubt it'll happen here too.
Don't fight in turf that isn't yours. But unfortunately, she didn't have a choice.
As she slowly walked back to the front of the room, she removed her black tie and the Puzzlevision necklace from her neck and began to wrap them around her right hand, the tie wrapped tightly right on top of the metal logo.
Make-shift brass knuckles!
It..... wouldn't do much at all. But she had the chance to do even a little bit of damage in her defense. It was better than nothing.
Sci looked up from her hand and spotted Lucian, still bleeding out on the floor and getting closer to the edge of the cliff.
With a guilty frown, the fish walked over and greeted the neon sign, kneeling down to his level once more.
"Hey... How are you holding up?"
[Hah…]
“Bad, to be blunt.”, he scoffed though there was no real malice behind it. He now nodded to the screen. “Ya going in?”
Holding his side, he grimaced as he tried to sit more upright. Sitting slumped against the panel like this…it made him feel even weaker.
“Word of advice, since I’m pretty sure you’re going in either way: Don’t focus on defeating him, find a way out.”
"Yeah, I can see that..." The fish muttered as she took a glance at his wound before looking back up and listened to Lucian.
She hummed, eyebrows furrowing in thought as she considered his words. That's... a much better way to look at it. Maybe she'd have a chance then.
"Thanks... Hopefully I don't get a bigger target on my back for it."
Her hand went up to fidget with her necklace, pausing for a moment before she spoke again, her tone meek and full of worry.
"What's gonna happen to you after this?... If uh... they tend to you quick enough..."
“Your target is already as big as it can be.”, Lucian snorted. At her concern he simply shrugged. “Oh they will. If Puzzles wanted me replaced or gone, Wr3n would have aimed for a more lethal strike. Meaning…he still needs my services.”
The object head pointed a fingergun at Sci, before letting out a dry chuckle.
“Man, I need to get out of here…”
"Ahah..."
"Goodie..."
She chuckled nervously, letting it falter into a worried one as the thought of possibly being a primary target in this whole mess crossed her mind.
She's won that ticket all by herself, alright...
God— she's regretting ever thinking she'd have fun in this mission.
But shaking those nerve-wracking thoughts away, she scoffed a sad laugh at Lucian. Understanding the feeling very well.
"Yeah... You'll get out eventually, man... I have hope for you."
Lucian could easily tell that his words didn’t exactly create more confidence, yet he also didn’t regret it. The more careful she was the better. He usually got people killed, he may as well inspire one to keep themself alive.
[Maybe…]
“Ah, your hope is appreciated. Maybe, just maybe I will. But I need someone else freed first before I follow.”
Sci nodded, smiling with hope down at Lucian.
"Keep fighting, it's the best chance they got." She holds her fist up for a 'see you later' bump, "thanks for everything, Lucian, truly."
The sign head seemed to look at the fist for a second, before letting his own bump against it.
"You're not bad, kid. Stay alive, yeah?"
In the next second, one of the screens switched to static, a gloved hand reaching through and grabbing one of the participants, by her ribbons, dragging her straight through the screen and into the dimension. RTV was done waiting.
The fish beamed with the slightest bit of happiness, a light blue spark in her dark blue eyes as she nodded. "I'll do my best."
As she pullled her hand away, Sci turned her head to see one of the participants getting dragged— Grinnames, actually— and she knew she'd probably be one of them if she didn't hurry.
Sci let out a small sigh and muttered, "guess that's my cue." And she stood up again with a huff.
She nodded at Lucian and waved a small goodbye before turning and walking over to the screens, staring them down with a bit of uncertainty until she shook her head with a determined look.
Here goes something.
The Siren stepped up to the control panel and entered RTV's head dimension.
Lucian gave her a slight wave as well as Nicknack who now followed soon after, hand in hand with Harley.
A damn kid in the middle of all this.
He felt like hitting something.
Sure, going in without force would prevent Puzzles from being pissed off any further, that’s why Lucian even advised people to do it.
The alternative wasn’t any better.
Still, there was no guarantee they would be the same when they got out.
If they got out.
A fact that SMG4 seemed to be more than aware of as he was now the only one remaining in the control room safe for Lucian and, well, Michael’s remains.
“You should go.”, the object head now warned, sign changing into a fitting [Go.]
At that the meme guardian looked over to him, anxiety clear in his eyes.
“Easy for you to say!”, SMG4 laughed. “Do you know what happened the last time I entered?”
Lucian knew.
Well, not the details, he only saw the bits of pieces of the Puzzlevision movie that RTV wanted the public to see.
But he knew that SMG4 had been in there and it seemed to have ended just as bad as it ended for him everytime he got dragged in there for RTV’s “talks”.
“Do you think you can fix anything by staying out?”, he now replied, letting out a hoarse laugh. “You of all people here are probably the person Puzzles wants to see dead the most. At least when you are with the others they will be backing you up!”
“Rich words from someone who tried to kill me multiple times!”, SMG4 barked, crossing his arms.
“Trust me, if I were committed to this whole killing you thing, you would be fighting me right now.”, Lucian growled. “But unfortunately, you are one of the people out there who actually have a chance at doing something against this TV prick so how about at least trying to stay alive?!”
The meme guardian gave a glare, but actually considered the others words now.
“Fine…”, he then finally agreed, making a hesitant step towards the screens, giving them an unsure glance, before determination settled in his eyes. “I got this…”
Taking a deep breath, he then entered through the screen, stepping back into the same dimension that he had visited plenty of times in his nightmares before.
Left alone in the control room now, Lucian let his head bump back against the control panel.
The pain in his side had become worse than before, an unfortunate effect of the adrenaline from before wearing off.
They needed him, that’s what he told Sci, but to be honest, he wasn’t too sure anymore.
His gaze wandered over to the remains of Michael, one visible eye staring empty to the side, upper jaw connected to a gaping black and oily hole.
This had been a participant.
Sure, a participant with ulterior motives, but still.
As much as he loathed Wr3n, he was still an AI, his sentience had limits.
Everything he did was based on what RTV fed him.
The TV head had programmed this brutality into him.
Lucian liked to know he had the guy figured out, but the truth was he didn't even want to understand him.
Both of them were bad people, yet he didn’t want to know the feeling of understanding the other's thought process.
Lucian didn’t like to sympathize with people he planned to kill one day.
Unfortunately that also meant that he didn’t see anything of this level coming and that his predictions of Puzzles next move were often just lucky guesses.
Well, he wasn’t going anywhere.
No choice but to see how this played out.
Click!
The sound of the door unlocking.
In the next second, the door to the control room slid to the side giving sight onto yet another robot host of Wr3n -just how many did they make- and Chris next to him.
The unfocused stare and the never lowering gun in his colleague's hand was enough of a hint that he wasn’t himself right now and sure enough, as Chris stepped over to him Lucian could see the familiar static pupils.
A clear indicator of mind control.
Lucian knew it all too well from SMG3 and Colores.
Back then the color picker of her color wheel head was the thing that turned static.
A result of Lucian’s first attempts to get her out.
Didn’t work out too well.
The sound of a gun safety being removed managed to snap Lucian back to the present.
[Well…]
“Tired of me already?”
His question was towards Wr3n who stood behind Chris as he pointed his gun at Lucian’s chest.
“That’s not exactly what I would call it, but this tour has been enlightening. New rivals on the horizon…”
Wr3n gestured to the side, now tilting his head.
“...loyalties revealed.”
Lucian simply snorted at that.
“Don’t tell me Puzzles ever thought I was loyal to him.”
“Nah, but we did think ya would be a bit smarter in your decisions. Ya could have just shot SMG4! Sure, a few traumatized people, but we could have easily painted it as the consequence of a vicious attack!”
Wr3n moved his hands to the side like visualizing a picture.
“Crazy ex-youtube legend returns to finish the job. Heroic security saves the day!”
“Yeah, not really interested to add to the lies.”
“So much is obvious, partner.”,
Wr3n sighed, pushing hat deeper in his face as he now nodded to Chris.
“Patch him up.”
[Huh?]
At Lucian’s surprise, Wr3n laughed.
“Aw, come on partner! We are not through with ya yet! Who else is gonna train the future security units? Be our personal scapegoat in case all those hits ever get uncovered?”
“Of course…”
“Ya still have your use. For now.”
A pat on Lucian’s shoulder.
He slapped it off, earning himself another chuckle as Wr3n now passed by him, kneeling down next to Michael.
“If I had known he still wanted ya, I would have done less damage.”,
Wr3n sighed, ruffling Michael’s hair, before picking up his ripped apart body, throwing it over his shoulder.
“Ah well, it was still fun.”
“What are you gonna do with him?”, Lucian asked, hissing at Chris now patched up his wound, not exactly being gentle.
“I’m afraid ya are no longer cleared for that information anymore.”,
Wr3n simply replied, giving them a two fingered salute.
"Chris will take you to Health or shoot you if ya try to make more trouble. See ya around, partner.”
☆
Back in the Health Department Animsay had meanwhile settled down on a free bed, unbeknownst to Swag, who was blankly standing next to her, glancing over to the screens.
So far she could still get through them, but not for much longer.
If she wanted to advance the plot for her sona, she would have to act now.
Hey, hey, HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!
Ignoring her character’s protests, Ani now jumped off, tapping Swag on the shoulder.
“Hey Swag?”
The mind controlled security member now turned around, before getting decked right in the face.
Using the moment where he was holding his now bleeding nose, Ani slid past him, making a beeline straight towards the screen and jumped.
She dove right through it as a second later a bullet hit the screen, breaking it apart.
Animsay landed on the other side, floating uncontrollably for a while.
Her screen suddenly shut off, shoulders slacking for a second until suddenly she let out a gasp, hands grabbing her shoulders, before sliding alongside the heavy TV on her head.
“W-what…”, she muttered to herself, not yet realizing that the TV dimension was outside Wr3n’s jurisdiction.
Meaning the program keeping her locked out of her own body was gone.
Now the only voice remaining in her head was the author of this text herself.
One who found it was a perfect moment to introduce the character Animsay to the audience.
“Why now?”, Animsay muttered, knowing that she was listening.
Or reading…or writing?
Because its perfect! Wr3n has no control and they need somebody who can lead them next to SMG4.
“Hah…of course. I know the way out just as much as most of the others here. Channel 999, no idea where it is. This is just you wanting to show off my existence to the audience, right? Make it a big shocker moment…”
“I will lead you, no worries and well, kinda.”
“Great.”, was C!Animsay’s exasperated sigh, as she now began tugging at her TV head. “Not like I have a choice but to find a way out anyway…but first I’m, getting this thing off.”
With herself having complete control again now, she could feel the heavyweight of the foreign object pressing down on her shoulders, hurting her spine which was never meant to carry such a weight.
“Animsay?”
She turned to see two fox girlsl next to her, flashing her a worried look.
For a second she was confused, having trouble recalling them, her memory was scrambled at times, a consequence of being forced into the backseat.
That’s Rayas, the one who played that card game with us.
C!Ani simply shook her head.
She now grabbed a nearby TV, using it as a platform to float deeper below, aware from most eyes and hiding there behind another of the objects.
Inhaling deeply, she then clicked open the panel at the back of the TV, reaching into the opening, dragging fingers along the cables.
She had to be careful.
One wrong move and she could render herself braindead, paralyzed or worse.
All because of Puzzles, because of that stupid author.
She could have had a normal life but no, she had to take that job-
A brainwashed life. At least now your story is interesting.
“My story is YOUR story. You’re literally using me as representation for yourself in this and YOUR world.”, C!Ani hissed, now tugging at a cable.
Her fingers were shaking.
You should ask someone for help.
“I- FINE!”, she hissed, letting go and now turning to the next best person available that wasn’t RTV or under mind control.
“HEY! You!”, she now turned the monochrome guy’s attention, Aspen, towards herself.
“Mind helping me out?”
A shit-eating grin was the response.
C!Ani had the immediate realization that she would not like them.
From what she observed while being a simple watcher during the previous tour, this one was a bit of a little shit.
“Hmmmmm, would you do OR give me something in return?”, Aspen now replied.
It was a good thing they couldn’t see her face because C!Ani was straight up snarling at them.
Ohk they wanted something?
She could gladly gift them a wonderful punch and a few loose teeth-
Lol
“What? Don’t got nothing? Well, I’ll just watch I guess.”, Aspen now grinned at her lack of an answer to which C!Ani let out a condescending scoff, turning away.
“Yeah, sounds about right given that’s the only thing you seem to be useful for.”, she spat, now floating away from them.
“....UGHHHH I want your TV head turned back on.”, she could hear them call after her.
C!Ani halted, feeling a sting at those words, followed by a flood of unbridled rage.
“Do ya?”, she spoke, her voice turning sickeningly sweet as she bawled her fists, ready to make good on her idea to knock loose some teeth.
Fortunately for Aspen they were saved from that fate as another person now floated close to them, giving them a curious smile on their digital screen.
A red colored bot in the shape of a bunny.
Bunnybot or at least another version of the one C!Ani knew.
“BB, help me out, will you?”, C!Ani used the nickname that she knew the author usually used for the guy, pointing at the back of the TV. “I need help removing these cables.”
“Oh? Yeah, sure!”, Bunnybot replied, interest now clear in his voice as he floated over to Animsay, taking a peek at the back of her head. “Wait, you have a head under there?”
“Yes.”, C!Animsay replied curtly, not resting on the topic any further. “I need you to carefully rotate the cables before pulling them out. Be careful, I don’t need to get braindamage.”
“Ah- alright then…”, Bunnybot hummed, carefully now following the orders, noticing a slight flinch whenever he managed to loosen a cable, letting it fall to the side. “Things are getting a bit heated by the way. I’m pretty sure I just saw a person getting thrown.”
“Sounds like RTV though usually it’s Lucian getting that treatment.”, was the dry reply. “Our way out is channel 999, but for that we need to enter the channels and travel through there. There is no way he will let us enter through here.”
“Channel 999 you say?”, she heard Aspen mutter.
“Alright, done!”, Bunybot announced a few minutes later, now moving away from Animsay. “So, why do you want the cables out?”
“None of your business.”, C!Ani scoffed, now turning away as she grabbed both sides at the TV, slowly pulling up.
“Man…I like the other better.”
She froze for a second at that, before harshly pulling the while TV off, tossing it in BB’s direction.
Some cables that were still connected to her neck, unable to be removed without surgical measures, hung alongside her abyss black neck, a pair of green eyes and a mouth with white fans sneering at him before disappearing under the makeshift hood of her scarf, her face seemingly melting into the shadows.
Only the eyes still glared at BB as she gave a bitter laugh.
“Well, she’s still there no worries, but now you’ve got to deal with me and I’m not HER. Deal with it.”
Flipping him off, she then floated towards the edge of the TV they hid behind, giving the scene a glance.
Ready?
“Give me a second…”
☆
Swag outside meanwhile remained still for a while as if considering what to do now, before speaking up.
“Sir, the Head of the Social Media Department entered through the screen.”
“Ah, no idea what she’s up to now, but don’t worry. She’s not getting out of there and if she does, she won’t get far.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Just keep an eye, partner. Now if you excuse me, I have to focus on some other things.”
Swag nodded, now turning away from the screen and continued his patrol past the rooms.
Ironically enough, a mind controlled Swag was more observant than his usual self as he actually completely focused on the task at hand which is why he didn’t overlook the small ink stains that seemed to lead over to the office of the head of the Health Department.
Drawing his gun again Swag followed the trail to the door, listening for a second before using the handle and stepping in.
A circular office room welcomed him, files scattered over the desk and a visible ink trail leading up behind it.
Letting go off the door, Swag now proceeded forward, finger on the safety.
Too late he noticed the small round figure now coming out from behind the door.
A second later there was a loud crashing noise as a heavy vase hit Swag at the back of his neck.
Stumbling forward, slightly stunned, he then collapsed against the desk before falling on the floor with a thump.
Knocked out.
“Quick!”
Mickey now came out from behind the desk, snatching the handcuffs from Swag’s belt and dragging him towards the desk, cuffing the man’s wrists to it.
“For once one of these people is useful…”, Mickey sighed, shoulder slumping as he grabbed the gun. “Did you find any more ink?”
“Ugh!”
Beeg moved to the side, grabbing a pen from the floor, taking out the small ink cartridge.
The cartoon sniffed at the measly side, but took it as he looked as another drops of colored ink seemed to run down his hands.
A clear sign he needed to regenerate before turning into a puddle.
Stupid AI had to fry the whole vent and Mickey took a pretty bad hit before he was pulled out by Beeg.
Said creature had slightly singed clothes but seemed to have gotten away far better.
Both then were led down a chase through half the studio before managing to escape the surveillance sight and sneaking into the Health Department when the group entered.
First hiding out in one of the patient rooms, they had a good look at Puzzles crashout and him forcing people into the TV dimension before they snuck over to the office to find ink for Mickey who had started melting a tad too much in the meantime.
Now, Mickey would have loved to take what they witnessed as an argument for Beeg to finally leave, but noooo of course the AI had to confirm that the blueberry was alive.
And now Beeg would never leave and if he didnt leave, Mickey would be dragged along.
“So what now?”, Mickey asked after drinking up the ink. “If he’s in that dimension we can’t do anything! Endgame!”
Beeg grumbled, before hopping on the chair now pointing towards the screen.
…wait.
“Golly, you’re right!”
Mickey jumped next to him before starting to type on the screen, a screen that was connected to a computer with access to the studio’s system.
However, their triumph quickly turned into a deep frown as they realized they needed login details.
Damn it, it was always something!
“We need someone to unlock this for us.”, Mickey realized, his gaze now landing on the knocked out Swag on the floor.
“Aeeeugh.”
“Yeah, you’re right, Under mind control he won’t do anything.”
Grabbing the gun again, Mickey now jumped down, before removing the grid of the vent leading to the room.
“Alright, part three of this. We need to get someone to get us into the system, someone who is allowed to access it. We hold them hostage, get the data-”
“Augh.”
“...I guess we could use it to force Puzzles into letting SMG4 go.”
The mouse showed a sly grin.
“All we need is a good exit strategy and then we can bail before he realizes we are not holding up our part of the deal!”
“Ugh!”
“Yeah, yeah, I'm going…”
☆
A few minutes prior, in the TV dimension, one of the bigger TVs now started to grow a body as RTV took control of it.
The crack in the screen was fixed again, but the pixel damages along the side of his face remained.
The TV head noticed it as he looked at his reflection in a turned off TV.
Something he would have to fix later.
Whatever that blue overalls messed up, it would take some more repairs.
Still irritated over the incident with Hairball, he now turned his focus on the people of whom nearly all had entered now.
He would have Wr3n and the security duo force them in should some refuse.
Now the question was: What to do?
There was that nagging voice in RTVs head suggesting to just take them all out here or stuff them so far into the channel that nobody ever found them again or they forgot who they were.
It would be possible.
The tour wasn’t registered as official with the invitation mainly having gone out beyond the 4th wall.
Others knew it as a VIP tour.
No employee would question the participants disappearing, assuming they got sent back home after the lockdown.
Most people here weren’t even from this world, nobody would miss them and the ones that did, the very few, could be dealt with.
But there was arisk.
The risk of it all…
Yet also the risk they were to his image.
“Why Hello my not-so-dear tour participants," he now said for a moment of a sneer before going to a tone of false calmness. "Glad to see you all here! Whether you came through willingly... and some," his voice lowers. "Who needed a push... to come through."
“Excuse me to interrupt you Mr.Puzzles, what if I told you I had something revolutionary,would you be interested in any chances traveling to unknown universes?”
RTV looked over to see that the blonde woman, The Scammer, now had floated up to him.
“Let me present to you my gizmos or stars.”
She now took out of her pocket a BLUE star.
“I promise I’m not here to scam anyone, I do indeed know my ‘name’ may cause some suspicions. But it is just a direct translation of my family name ‘De La Escroquerie'.Actually my family were scammed by those filthy scammers but that's just an unimportant detail. ”
The sneer on his face should be enough of a sign that he couldn’t care less right now.
Honestly, the only reason he was entertaining this right now was because she seemed to want to strike a deal.
Fine, she may have her chance.
Scammer now placed the star flat in the void.
A blue star shaped portal opens.
Through it one could see a Mr Puzzles figure where a star is placed in front of it and other figures at the back.
Hold on, was this back in the Art Department?
The Scammer's hand now went through a portal grabbing the Mr Puzzles figure.
“As you can see the interdimensional portal has indeed worked. Huh, it looks just like you,what are the odds?”, the Scammer smiled. “Sadly I can’t sell you mine since you know, you have to be linked to it and I forgot how to create them, but there are the instructions at my base on my computer,and the only possible way to go there at the moment is by my very own VESPA that is parked outside of your STUDIO.”
She now took out a contract with a pen.
“Do we have a deal?”
Out of mere curiosity, RTV took a glance at the contract, noting the many fineprint.
Was she seriously trying to convince someone who was in the marketing business to sign this?
“Cute.”, he now spoke with a snort though the amusement was clearly missing on his face. “But that’s a NO.”
With a flick of his hands he sent her flying to the side.
“Oh, and for your INFORMATION: I can already reach other universes just fine MYSELF. Maybe remember that before placing portals in MY studio...”
Now where was he…
His gaze landed on Nira not far away who had watched the whole thing with worry, yet also a tinge of fear.
If he wanted to keep her on his side, he had to act now.
Forcing a softer expression on his face he now leaned downther, floating slightly lower so he could look into her eyes.
“Is this…all really necessary?”, Nira asked, gesturing hesitantly over to the many worried and emotional people.
“Unfortunately.”, RTV sighed, now gently taking her small hands in his. “I can see it is bothering you. It’s bothering me as well.”
“This all feels like a bad dream…”
Ah-hah.
“We could make it that it just remains as one.”, RTV now continued slyly, now pointing at his screen. “All you have to do is look at me.”
He could see the hesitancy in her eyes as she considered, but Nira had never been one too hard to convince.
She was loyal, maybe a bit too much which is why she now raised her gaze, looking at his screen.
“Everything will be over soon.”
With that his screen flicked to static and he could feel Nira’s hands tensing before relaxing again as the static now moved over to her eyes, putting her effectively under mind control.
He hadn’t been lying.
After all this he would make sure it would just be another bad dream to her.
Straightening again, the soft tone now vanished from his voice.
“Move to the sidelines until further orders.”
With a nod Nira now turned around, before taking place on one of the TVs, observing.
The static had slightly resided, only small circles in the middle of her black eyes being an indicator that she wasn’t herself.
That was handled for now…
“Now, as I said, Nobody here is leaving. Not before we made some things CLEAR. Some of you chose to side with SMG4, complicated everything! And guess what happened. One tour-" RTV stopped for a moment at the crying and sniffing that could now be heard.
His eyes narrowed with slight confusion for a second as Grinnames pulled out a very familiar shaped cookie as some kind of tribute to the fallen.
Really?
A meme in the middle of all this?
He barely held himself back from rolling his eyes and pinching his screen as the sound of a cookie being eaten could now be heard throughout the dimension.
These people-
“YOUR GODBOX-FORSAKEN AI KILLED MY FRIEND, YOU A**HOLE!”
In the next moment a clawed hand hit his face, sending him staggering back.
“WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF, HUH?!”,Grinnames shouted at him, anger shining through her narrowed red eyes.
But this time the hit did less damage than it would have outside.
This was HIS dimension and he would be damned if he lost it in.
An unsympathetic grimace of a smile settled on his face as he suddenly dashed forward, way faster than usually, grabbing the enraged participant by the neck.
“Your friend killed HIMSELF by putting his nose in things that don’t concern him.”, he replied coldly, before using the lack of gravity to his advantage and pulling his arm back-
“You bastard-! YOU TAKE THAT BACK- “
Grinnames was suddenly tossed with full force back, flying far into the depths of the tunnel, arms flailing as she tried to regain balance.
It would take a while for her to get back.
"Anyone else?", RTV now asked, looking in the round ready to take on another challenger that would be stupid enough to try his limited patience.
His gaze landed for a second on a familiar blue meme guardian who was glaring at him with unfiltered cold hate.
Yet RTV also noticed the way he was floating.
Unsure, insecure.
He gave SMG4 a lopsided grin, noticing with satisfaction how his fists tightened, nails digging into skin.
While everyone else's fate was still up in the air this one’s had been long decided.
Nobody liked an overused irrelevant character.
His attention now turned back to the group, noticing that Grinnames had gotten back now, huddling together with a few others in a group hug.
This time he couldn’t help an eye roll.
How sweet.
“Tsk Tsk, Now?," spoke RTV, before clearing his throat. "As I was SAYING, because of the fault of some of you supporting SMG4, everyone will Pay. And I'll repeat, because of his intrusion, One tour participant less in the group from the original 57... Although...," RTV slowly came closer as he grew into a giant, and looked right at the double pair of Rayas.
He still hadn’t figured out what he missed when he was sent to dream land.
"Not sure what I missed while I was out, but I suppose that covers the 57th participant. Must've overlooked, but oh well."
He shrugged.
Though by now he could fill in the blanks that Michael was the one who Wr3n took out.
Truly a loss that would be mourned…
With a silent motion of his hands he sent a signal over the TV’s to the outside world where Wr3n would pick it up.
Retrieve what was left of Michael.
That bot may be useful.
It was then he noticed something floating behind the fox girl’s backs.
His eyes narrowed as he saw the two cable tails that he must have overlooked before.
“Curious...?”, RTV spoke slightly confused.
He leaned closer, his face looking from one of them to the other before looking back at the cable tails.
Usually he wouldn’t make such a fuss but, well, given the current situation he really didn’t need mode surprises.
."Hold on there. Did you have a tail before?", he now addressed Rayas.
No answer, just a nervous glance.
Hm.
RTV now floated a few yards back, turning his hack as mumbled to himself.
Things like these would have been nice to be informed about beforehand just in case they turned out to be important later.
He for once did not trust the current development of this pair at all.
Better finally get to the point before another crazy person shoved their first on his screen.
He now turned back to the group, letting his gaze wander.
His eyes briefly narrowed at SMG4 before halting at Animsay.
Without TV.
Hold on, when did she get here, didn’t he tell Swag-
Ugh, useless bunch.
No matter if SHE was in control now, it just meant she was more vulnerable.
He would shove that TV back on soon enough.
A change in SMG4’s posture made him flick his head back to him.
Don’t do it.
An arm was slowly pulled back.
Don’t.
Teeth were gritted.
Then suddenly the meme guardian lunged forward with the help of Animsay giving him an additional push.
“Tsk.”
RTV raised an arm, easily blocking the hit, before pushing SMG4 back, sending him flying back with a bloody nose where his speed was halted by Animsay grabbing him by his hoodie.
A measly attack but the spark had been given.
Now the other people lunged forward as well, weapons were drawn.
“Morons…”
Moving a gloved hand in front of his shield, he caught the bullets that the monochrome menace Aspen now shot at him, before sending the flying back, sending some of the participants to take cover.
He sized down again to avoid playing the big target, dodging to the side as a row of purple crystals suddenly flew towards him, though not in time.
Three crystal shaped holes were left in his coat.
His gaze went up to the white masked girl who had moved slightly away from the dragon who was making circles around them, waiting for the chance to attack.
There was something oddly familiar about this one.
It hit him when she dashed forward, Sci now joining her side for a united attack.
Diving under a fist with makeshift knuckles, he grabbed Sci by the collar, tossing her to the side, to quickly switch around to avoid a kick from the masked girl.
He frowned at the crystals now charging up behind her again, as his eyes narrowed at the familiar three dots on her mask.
Lari…
Well, obviously not the version he got to know, but how ironic.
“It looks like we are simply MEANT to cross paths.”, he now spoke out loudly, before snapping his fingers. “Allow me to get RID of that though.”
The crystals suddenly disappeared as he blocked her magic from usage in the dimension, making Lari’s hair stand up in alarm as she quickly slipped back into defense.
A clawed black and red hand.
Grinnames now joined in as well, taking Lari’s place, her two tentacles slashing towards RTV who quickly pushed himself back to avoid being hit.
Now there were too many.
Sizing back up again, he now shielded himself from the spikes that were aimed in his direction by the dragon shifter, the metal object getting stuck in the metal palm, before he used it to mow it down in the group that quickly scattered to avoid the hand.
Ganging up on him?
Only fair if he brought someone else in too.
“NIRA!”, he called out, prompting the squirrel who had watched from the sidelines to stand up again.
A few people turned their head towards her for a second, but quickly focused back on RTV who used the chance to snap his fingers again.
Slowly but surely, some of the TV’s on the walls started to grow bodies as well, static displaying for a second before changing to the standard Puzzles face.
Pushing away from the walls, they now turned their attention towards the participants, attacking each one in nearest sight.
In the meantime Nira now removed her gloves with a quick motion of her hands, leaving them to float in the dimension, before ducking and then jumping from the TV she stood on towards the group, hands stretched out.
“Wha-”
Seeing the squirrel coming from the corner of their eye, a few of the fighters among them Grinnames and Nia managed to quickly move to the side with the help of their tentacles and wings, but were instead hit by RTV whose hand sent them flying against the wall of the dimension.
Nira now instead landed with her feet on the TV heads other hand, ability ineffective on the non organic material and then launched towards the next best person that was unlucky enough to be in their vicinity.
In the next second Sci felt small black hands touching her face.
Another second later her body went slack, eyes rolling back as she lost consciousness and her previous movement turned into an uncontrolled spin, prompting her to hit Lari who had been standing next to her, sending her floating back.
Right in front of RTV’s loaded finger gun.
There was an electrical crackle and yelp, followed by a growl from the Razorwhip that had circled further down below.
Electrical burn marks ran over Lari’s neck and arm as she was quickly dragged by Marie by her now slightly singed clothes out of RTV’s sight.
Just in time the masked girl managed to raise an arm to avoid a hit to the chest.
Even in the TV dimension they didn’t grant him a hit, did they?
RTV scoffed, before turning his attention back to the others, Nira now landed back on his shoulder, careful to put hands on his metallic parts for stabilization.
Ready to send her to take out other participants with her help, he now raised an arm again, only to halt as a loud sneeze could be heard, the TVs around them switching image to that of Rayas, traveling along each screen to the infinite end of the dimension.
Almost immediately RTV realized what was happening.
That brat was hijacking HIS channels!
“Keep them busy.”
Letting Nira hop off his shoulder, he now sped downwards, coat floating behind him as he located the Rayas..
”YOU TWO!”
A dangerous look settled on his face as his eyes flickered between the doubles.
"Never quite gave you much attention... but now you have it. YOU two peaked at my curiosity."
His sized up hands now seized them both, scooping them up.
Not minding the attempts at escape from one of them, he then gave the crowd a glance, they were still busy with his clones and Nira, before moving further away.
“Curious... Never thought to find some interesting people, I should have kept a close eye on.”
When he started this tour he had expected some oddities, sure but not of this scale.
He tilted his head slightly at the pair.
"Hiding your talents, fox-thing...Robo-fox-girl...? Doesn't matter what you are. And no need to say your name, my dear... um... dears?,", he huffed.
What even were they?
There was a person behind the 4th wall with connection to them no doubt.
But these…were they more character like him or pretending to be?
Well, either way, they made a horrible mistake.
"Here... My head. My rules."
RTV now gestured to his head and then the area around.
Another scoff almost escaped him as they nodded.
So willing to go along and for what?
To hijack his TVs behind his back.
Sneaky and sly like the appearance they took.
“EXACTLY, Here, I can do everything as I see fit. You saw all that for sure, yes?"
Another nod.
It was starting to piss him off.
His grip slightly tightened at their lack of response.
"Though... only I can do everything...", his voice lowered a little, smile getting a dangerous edge as he now turned back around to the chaos.
"ENOUGH!!!,"
With slight satisfaction he noted that the others were struggling several people fighting against the clones that held them, others circled.
SMG4 among them.
The meme guardian’s already stressed face turned to one of alarm as he noticed RTV’s grip around the girls.
"Now, ALL OF YOU!”, RTV continued, getting the remaining people’s attention before switching back to a faked calmer tone.. "You had all your fun here enough. CONGRATS! You and your abilities, resourcefulness, teamwork and... sneaky... unheard talents.”
A glare in Rayas direction, grip slightly tightening again for a second.
“I 'm impressed... well, half, Impressed."
"H-Hey, leave them all alone," SMG4 now spoke up, panic apparent in his voice. "It's me you want!"
Alone the look in his eyes told RTV that he knew exactly what he was about to do.
"Hm... perhaps a little too late, dear SMG4. The fault of one is the fault of all of them. Besides, THIS kind of behavior is exactly why I'm not letting you go."
Tense silence followed, he could see SMG4 searching for an argument only to realize that his words were mere entertainment to the TV head.
"Again... as for... you two," RTV directed back at the fox girls, "Do you think that little stunt was to show me up?"
The anger had slipped back into his tone, a head shake was the response.
Did they not realize how far he was willing to go?
They could at least make the effort to defend their case.
Convince him as to why he shouldn’t break them apart right now.
"Hm... not much of a talker? And even after back at the Film Department? Now... people as high as I, have their secrets, and you two are the first in line to hear it.", he taunted, now moving them towards their audience. "Well... My secret?”
His screen turned completely dark, with only a bright white realistic toothy smile on it.
"Sometimes... QUIET PEOPLE PISS ME OFF!"
With that his grip tightened, noticing with sick satisfaction how they started to panic.
Though not for long as one of them suddenly started to grow in size, breaking free from his grip.
Really?
REALLY?
"W-What. Are. YOU???", he growled, his surprise giving the double the advantage to now grab the other Rayas out of his grip, starting to dash away.
In the corner of the eye he noticed the other participants now starting to free themselves again as well, but his focus was now on that one pair of troublemakers that just didn’t want to accept the role he had given them.
That of the fools that got themselves killed.
With a motion of his hand, he ordered some of the smiley clones to chase after them, watching with narrowed eyes how they glided just a little close to the wall.
“Idiots…”
With a sudden motion he retreated back into his TV head only to reappear right out of a TV the two Rayas now passed by.
With a fluid motion he tackled the pair, sending both in different directions, before loading his gun, zeroing in on the one right in front of him.
In contrast to Lari though, this one wouldn’t be able to shield in time.
A sudden motion from the side and the shot went right through the chest and back of the other Rayas that had suddenly moved in front of her double, shielding her and inevitably taking the full force of the shot.
Blood could be seen floating out of the wound, before she crashed right into the TV behind her with incredible force, breaking it into pieces.
Great, another thing to fix.
"No... 'REAL MEEEE'!!!!!!!”
Oh, so this was the real one?
Not that he could tell given the exact same moronic actions.
He now remained still for a moment, listening to others' cries, outrage, whatever for a person they’ve known since not even a day.
"56 now...,”, he now drawled, letting the terror sink in as he lowered his hand.
“I-It's been nice... meeting you all. T-thanks, for the tour....,", the apparently Real Rayas now managed to get out, holding her irreparable wound. "'O-Other... you,... You better return home in my place, yes?,"
She then went limp, finally letting go of that damn umbrella.
Crossing his arms, RTV counted the seconds for the soup opera to set in.
Shouldn’t take too long.
"'Real'... 'REAL'?!,"
He cringed.
'Real... No... Please... What am I going to do?"
The TV head held himself back from a sly reply,because he really had a lot of answers to that question, but hey why not let her spiral?
Grief worked better in his favor when it wasn’t immediately turning into rage.
"This feels wrong... Replacing the original? This... has to be a dream? It has to…”
He observed how she connected her tail to the other with no result.
A few more sad mutters.
Until, of course, her attention was turned back to her friend’s? Sister’s? Killer.
Hah, killer.
Like they didn’t bring this on themselves.
He gave the people behind the screen a chance and they messed up, but this.
This foolish little plan.
That was all them.
A double disappointment.
“Do you realize... how she was enjoying the tour?”
Ah, the attempt to make him feel guilt.
If he did, he wouldn’t have gone through with this in the first place.
Why feel guilty for the consequences to stupid actions?
"Seeing her memories... So many good things... How....."
A sniffle.
More waterworks.
“How she learned to grow, how it took her a long time to adjust and make friends, despite being on the spectrum…”
She now placed a blanket on her other, well now dead self, holding her close.
"She enjoyed all the departments... getting a compliment for how she looked... how she interacted with the SMG3 Gang... Oh. The last time she saw the latter,... was that they were a lot... happier than before she met them. Did... did she do something more special?... Like the green drink, the peculiar game, or the anime she was given the honors to pick? Was she …like a second Axol, to them?"
Who the hell was Axol?
More sobbing, some people getting closer, attempting comfort.
He was tempted to finally break this up when she spoke again.
“She... she...,", Rayas now looked back up at RTV. "She even cleaned your clothes when you were down..., and not even once, attacked you physically. She never had the intention to, b-because-"
If RTV had real teeth, he would have gritted them by now.
As if they didn’t just hijack his TVs in an attempt to no doubt overthrow him.
DEFEAT him.
"...S-she was just a visitor, wanting to enjoy it all. Have a good time. And she did... Now she's gone... all that is left is a carbon copy... Knowing her, do you know what she would say... after what happened? Since I'm her...,", she paused, sniffing one more time before sniffing. "Mr Puzzles, I forgive you."
To the ones that were not only focused in his face with a very barely restrained calm expression, could eventually notice him ball his fist.
Oh, forgive him?
Like HE was in the WRONG?
Like they weren’t the ones messing everything up?
He was being forgiven when THEY should be begging for forgiveness?
What a joke.
Yeah, no, he was about done.
“It was her great day... It was a great day…”
RTV wanted to laugh, he really did, but he couldn’t even force one right now with the rage boiling up inside him again.
“It was indeed a GREAT day…until someone had to mess it up. Shame.”, he now spoke instead, voice apathetic.
Time to put an end to this.
“ENOUGH OF THIS SOB STORY!”
RTV suddenly seized up, looming over all participants, hand grabbing TV’s on the side with such force that dents were left behind.
“You think you can BEAT me here? In MY world?!”
He now pointed a finger at the dead Rayas.
“THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU!”
He let out a cackle that slowly turned lower and lower until his screen switched to a cold sneer.
“You’re right. Why TALK it out when you can FIGHT it out?”
His gaze landed back on the second Rayas, unmoving.
Well, no turning back now.
He would have to take the risk and after that…
Everything would be fine.
It would be like nothing ever happened.
A perfect end to a tour that should never have happened.
A small smile now settled on his face, as he slightly bowed down, hand on his chest.
“Well, it appears you’ve made your decision and I’ve made MINE.”
He snapped his fingers, electricity lighting up at his fingertips.
“56 participants to go.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Sorry, but I’m not hiring for a movie sequel. This ends here and NOW.”
In the meantime the clones had used the chance to surround the group, now loading finger guns or tackling people.
Most managed to slip through but some were unfortunate enough to be caught or lightly hit, getting flung against the TVs.
The clones were acting much more brutal than before.
There no longer was anything holding them back.
“This isn’t working!”, C!Animsay hissed who had quickly taken cover behind a TV to avoid a clone turning her into mush.
Her eyes glanced over to the TV’s, before she shook her head.
Searching for Channel 999 was literal suicide right now with the new amount of chaos.
“We need to enter the channels, we are literally sitting ducks here!”, she now meant to SMG4 who was next to her, only to realise that he wasn’t even listening.
The blood was still slowly dripping out of his nose, as his eyes stared empty into space.
No doubt still stuck on Rayas death not a few minutes ago.
As horrible as it was, this was not the time.
Rolling back her sleeve, C!Animsay raised a hand-
-and gave SMG4 a hard slap to the face.
SMACK!
“Agh!”
The meme guardian held his cheek, before glaring at her.
“What was that for?!”
“Get it together, man! We need to get the people out of here and into the channels!”
“Into the- you think it’s better in there?!”
“Dude, look around!”
SMG4 gave the chaos a glance and his shoulders slumped.
“Yeah…okay, but I did this before. It didn’t work, he just caught us again at Channel 999.”
That’s true, they never won at that part.
C!Ani took a deep breath.
“Still, we have better chances there than here.”, she argued, putting a hand on SMG4’s shoulder. “You can’t save her, but you can still help save the others.”
“...you’re right I got them into this. I need to get them out.”
Not exactly what she meant to achieve, but good enough.
Nodding at one another, they then took out in separate directions, to make people aware of the next change in plan.
It turned out people didn’t need much convincing, Rayas and Michael’s deaths, in addition to the sheer new brutality at hand made it pretty clear that they needed to get out of there.
The people now started regrouping, one with Animsay, the other with SMG4 as they now moved towards a TV.
Only for RTV to show up right between the two groups.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
A hand snatched forward, grabbing SMG4 out of the air who immediately started fighting like his life depended on it.
Which it did because the grip became crushing in the next second.
“Running from consequences again, Four?”, RTV taunted. “Why don’t you just give up? Maybe it will finally stop people’s lives from getting ruined- AGH!-”
RTV quickly retreated his hand as a ray from an all too familiar EMP gun hit his hand, causing it to fall slack and releasing SMG4.
Almost immediately RTV snapped around, glaring at Astro who had pointed the gun at him, now aiming for the screen.
However, he quickly aimed it to the side as every single clone had now snapped it’s head around to them.
“Ah, f*ck.”
While Astro now got busy aiming the EMP at one clone after another, the two groups used the chance to quickly enter the TV they were the nearest to, disappearing in the channels that were just on.
Click.
Click.
Astro cursed as they realized that the EMP gun had to charge again, instead resorting to just hitting against the nearest clone that reached out for him.
There was a loud bonk and crack as said TV clone now flew back with a broken screen.
Astro grinned before noticing that the original had used the time to charge up his other still functional hand, pointing it at them now.
“55.”
Just as Astro saw the blue projectile coming towards them a hand latched through the screen behind them, quickly pulling them in.
Astro felt the familiar feeling of being pulled through the portal, stumbling as they suddenly landed on grass, falling on their back.
“Ugh…
The portal they just came to had disappeared, no trace of the hellish TV dimension left.
Instead, Astro now found themself looking into a blue sky…
Wait, was that an axe?
They sat up next to the rest of the group, among them SMG4, Marie, Lari, Loyboo, Nia and Lilith, Hairball, Creature and Orion and Aspen.
All of them surrounded by vikings.
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
Part 2 Will be in reblogs soon once I finished editing it
The other group meanwhile had stumbled right into what appeared to be an old town with very bad graphic quality.
“Ugh…”, C!Animsay groaned, now standing up again and looking at her surroundings, before glancing over to the rest.
It seemed like everyone safe for Nira made it in or got stuck with the other group.
Among the people who went with her were Nicknack, Rayas plus her dead self, the Scammer, Grinnames, a still unconscious Sci, Bunnybot, Lucas, Becky and Harley.
“Ugh, this place is hurting my eyes.”, C!Ani muttered. “Let’s find a portal to the next channel and get out of here quickly.”
You are going to hate it even more in a second.
“Agh! What are those hideous creatures?!
C!Ani as well as the rest of the group turned to see a man in noble purple colored clothing standing a few feet away, disgust clear on his badly animated face.
“Isn’t that the weirdo from that one Barbie movie?”
C!Animsay’s face turned into a grimace.
☆
Back in the SMG4 castle, the crew was sitting together in the guest room, Colores having joined them as soon as the lockdown appeared to have been lifted.
All safe for SMG3 who had excused himself to check up on Eggdog in the room above.
Through the open door, the purple meme guardian could hear the slightly muffled conversation below while patting Eggdog who had taken a seat on his lap.
Although the lockdown had been lifted, the crew had agreed to stay in the castle for now until they got an official announcement that everything was alright which hadn’t happened yet.
And that was worrying everyone quite a bit.
“I’m telling you there is still trouble going on. My brother has a habit, nobody could have stopped him from immediately running to me to check if I’m okay if all this was over.”, Colore’s voice could be heard.
“You think they all are okay?”, Tari asked worried.
“Remember how Puzzles had a major security update lately? I don’t think they will get hurt.”, Meggy answered. “But that rat is slippery, no doubt that’s what’s taking so long.”
“...you think he’s with them?”
“Beeg too…probably.”
SMG3 exhaled loudly, hands hovering since a good five minutes over the keyboard without having typed anything.
Another script that would be sent in late no doubt.
Lowering his hands now, he instead brushed over Eggdog’s head, a whine escaping the dog.
“Yeah, me too buddy…”
Tuning out the conversation outside, SMG3 sunk back into his thoughts.
Vermin problem, no doubt the announcement had been referring with Mickey to that, after all he had been frequently called that in every news post he appeared in.
So if he was here, the others were right, SMG4 had to be here too.
And he met him.
Goddamnit he walked right into him by that door!
The open trapdoor in the storage…that’s how they got in, SMG4 at least.
….What was he doing here?
This was his one chance of finally getting some answers.
Ask him why the hell he screwed everything up, if they were at fault…if he was at fault.
“Stay here, buddy.”, he told Eggdog, setting him down.
No doubt the others would try to stop him, Puzzles included with how much he told him to forget about SMG4.
But he couldn’t.
He needed answers.
Leaving Eggdog behind in the room, SMG3 now slipped through the door, quietly walking down the stairs until he reached the front gate.
Better nobody noticed him leaving.
Opening the gate, he now walked outside.
The courtyard was completely empty, birds chirping and his footsteps filling the eerie silence.
Now, if he was SMG4, insane and for some reason decided to antagonize and wanted to ruin all of Puzzlevision, where would he go?
His gaze fell towards Block C.
Mr. Puzzles office may be a good place to start, right?
Now setting foot there, SMG3 used the courtyard to reach the opposite hallway, stepping in through the doors there.
“SMG3…”
The meme guardian flinched, before letting out a curse, snapping around to try to locate the voice, before looking up at the ceiling, spotting a camera focused right on him.
“Shit man, you almost gave me a stroke! Who even are you anyway?-”
“Not relevant, partner. What’s more interesting is the reason you are here…?”
“Lockdown is lifted, ain’t it?”, SMG3 defended himself, crossing arms.
“To send the participants safely home, but we still haven’t caught the troublemakers. It’s not safe for ya here.”
Since apparently he was busted anyway, he may as well ask.
“Is it really them? You know, SMG4, Beeg-”
“-and the mouse, yes. I know you have interest in them, especially the first, SMG3, but you’re not a part of security. So turn around.”
The meme guardian couldn’t help but frown at that, before shaking his head and instead moving forward.
“No, no- listen if there is a chance I need to talk to him!”
“SMG3-”
“I will be fine!-”, SMG3 barked, stomping around the corner where two small figured suddenly fell right from the vent above.
In the next second, a gun was pointed at him by an all too familiar mouse.
“This has got to be ya most stupid move yet.”,
the AI spoke dryly, earning a scoff from Mickey who had suddenly wrapped an arm around SMG3 forcing him close as he forced the gun to his head.
“Wowowow, hey!-”,the meme guardian protested, trying to wriggle free.
Aside from the slight panic, he felt more embarrassed than anything.
Captured by frickin Mickey Mouse.
“Really, Beeg?”, he now turned his attention towards the little guy who stood next to Mickey, shooting hima glare. “Hah, Eggdog would be disappointed in you.”
A kick to his shins was the thanks.
“Call it stupid all you want, but the big guy is busy and the rest of security is as well.”, Mickey now said, forcing the cursing SMG3 forward towards the office area. “And you wouldn’t risk getting one of your most important staff members hurt. I can only imagine Puzzles wouldn’t be too happy about that.”
“Ya are making a big mistake, rodent.”
“Seems to be a pattern today.”
Mickey now forced SMG3 towards a familiar dark wooden door with five stars.
Mr Puzzles' office.
Well, at least he was half right with his theory.
“What do you even want with me, man?”, he now hissed at Mickey while Beeg opened the door for them.
The voice meanwhile had grown eerily quiet.
Observing no doubt.
“You’re insurance and our ticket in.”, Mickey replied, now shoving SMG3 towards the desk with the keyboard and desktop screen. “Log in.”
So they wanted to get into the system.
SMG3 felt slight worry growing in his chest.
As the head of the Film Department he had more access to stuff than the average staff member.
Event planning, future plans, staff lists...lots of stuff that could be sabotaged.
“Oh yeah, you change the login date and I will kill him.”
That line was targeted towards their silent observer.
“I wonder how SMG4 would feel about that.”
“He will get over it.”, Mickey shrugged. “He’s way too attached for his own good anyway.”
SMG3 grit his teeth as he felt the gun press more against his head.
He couldn’t help but wonder though.
If SMG4 still cared then why was he involved in all this?
“Noted.”
“Great! Get to work, pal.”, Mickey grinned, before turning back to SMG3 who begrudgingly moved over to the keyboard, starting to type.
“Was this SMG4’s idea?”, he asked, while tapping on the login field.
“What? Infiltrating the tour? Yeah, sure.”, Mickey replied in a bored tone. “Why? Surprised your friend would suggest such a thing?”
“Just annoyed he was the one playing the moral compass in the past.”, SMG3 muttered.
“Oh, trust me, unfortunately he still got that.”, Mickey snorted. “Maybe if Puzzles was trying to kill you instead of him, we would have been much more successful with our little resistance.”
SMG3 halted at that.
“Kill him?”
“Still as oblivious as ever about your employer I see.”, Mickey just said, shoving SMG3 slightly forward. “Back to typing.”
The other growled, but now logged in.
"Done".
“Beeg, the USB.”
While Beeg now started to download the info, really as far SMG3 saw everything they found, onto the USB, he let his eyes wander.
His eyes focused on the very chair he was standing on.
Either it would look super cool or he would die in the most embarrassing way possible.
With a sudden motion, he hoisted himself up by the desk, before kicking the chair, sending it flying against Mickey, sending him off balance and to the floor.
“You brat-”
“Stay there, SMG3.”
But SMG3 now lunged at Beeg who had the USB stick, ready to bail.
Grabbing him by his overalls, he forced him back, now ending up in a scuffle with the ridiculously small guy on the desk.
That was until he watched with his own eyes how the whole floor beneath them start crackling, sending Mickey violently shaking back to the ground who had just managed to reach the gun again.
Ink dripped from the mouse’s skin as he tried to get back up as the shock ended.
“Stay there.”
Another wave.
Mickey was quite literally turned into a puddle before both of their eyes.
“Wow, hey! The hell man?!”, SMG3 now spoke up, finally tearing his eyes away from the scene. “Are you going to kill him?”
“Obviously.”
Curse SMG4 and the rest rubbing off on him, now he actually grew a consciousness, especially with seeing how Beeg had frozen in place, eyes glued to Mickey.
“He’s not standing up, that's overkill!”
“And he won’t ever again. Stay ther- hey!”
SMG3 had landed back on the floor, hearing how the electric hum disappeared immediately.
“You heard me. Just arrest the guy!”
A flash of sudden movement.
In the matter of seconds, Beeg had jumped off the desk, grabbed the dripping Puddle that was mickey by the collar before dragging him into vent by straight up smashing through them.
“...”
“Have fun explaining that to the boss later. Now get back to your crew before I actually arrest you for letting them get away with confidential info.”
“Shit…”
With one last gaze to the ink stained floor, SMG3 now quickly moved out of the office on his way back.
On the courtyard he briefly stopped, before slowly unfolding his previously balled fist.
He gave the USB stick a glance.
Would they have done the same thing to SMG4?
Was Puzzles actually trying to kill them?
But why?
It wasn’t for the crew’s sake that was for sure.
Now he had even more questions.
☆
“We…come in peace?”
Back in the TV channels, SMG4 was now trying to reason with a pissed off and scared viking tribe that had surrounded their group, eyeing especially Marie with malice who was still in Razorship shape, watching the vikings with waryness.
The last time SMG4 had visited the channels, he was with SMG3 and two people were small enough of a group to be integrated into whatever weird plot was going on in said channel, but a group of this many people?
This story was doomed to go off the rails from the start.
“In peace, you have a dragon with you!”, one of the vikings, the one that SMG4 faintly remembered to be leader of the tribe, now replied, pointing at Marie and Loyboo.
Latter one flinched slightly at the sudden attention, figuring it was time to sneak away.
Only to realize that teleportation didn’t work.
It probably also didn’t help that all of them did not fit into the viking age at all.
“Well…”, SMG4 tried searching for words, but it was pretty obvious that no amount of talking would explain this situation.
That was also known to Marie who used the chance to shift into something that could help them make a quick and fast escape.
In the matter of moments and much to the terror of the vikings, she suddenly changed from the Razorwhip into a Whispering Death.
The rest of her body turned long and thin adorned with spikes up to her much bigger head with two white eyes and a truly giant round maw showcasing several rows of teeth.
The terrifying sight made participants as well as vikings immediately step back allowing Marie to now dig down into the ground, digging a tunnel for the group to escape through at an incredible speed.
SMG4 gave the armed vikings and now even more determined seeming vikings a glance, before figuring that a tunnel dug by a creepy but trustworthy dragon was the better alternative.
“Quick!”, he yelled to the group, before jumping into the holde, sliding down the dark tunnel that he could hear Marie continue to be digging further on.
Behind him the rest of the group followed, some of them using the flashlight of their phones to light the way.
In the distance they could hear the shouts of the tribe, no doubt discussing what they should do.
Even more reason to get a move on.
Eventually the tunnel led upwards until sunlight could be seen lighting through as Marie made the breakthrough.
While the group now climbed back up to the surface surrounded by the woods, Marie stayed behind for a few more seconds while they gathered.
SMG4 didn’t know the specifics, he was by far no expert of this movie, but if he had to take a guess the sunlight was bothering her.
“Alright, everyone here?”, he asked, looking into the round before sighing. “Let’s find a portal and move on to the next channel. If we are lucky, we aren’t too far from 999…”
A loud deep growl made him snap around, to spot a smaller pitch black dragonl one that looked awfully similar to one of the movie’s main characters.
Toothless right now, wasn’t toothless at all with his row of teeth showcased and pupils of his green eyes transformed into slits.
“Ah great…”, SMG4 muttered, freezing in his steps. “Hey, we don’t want any trouble. In fact, we will be right out of your scales-”
The growling only grew louder as Marie now peeked over the tunnel exit and was spotted by the other dragon.
In the next second not only her but also Toothless seemed to grow more agitated with the black dragon now instantly changing into attack position, maw opening to reveal bright energy charging up, ready to fire.
“Toothless, wait!”
A boy now came skipping from the side to the night fury’s side, quickly turning his head in the other direction.
The dragon temporarily stopped his attack, but still remained hostile, now growling in the boy’s direction.
Enter the other main protagonist.
“What are you doing?!”, Hiccup hissed, before turning his gaze to the group only now noticing how many people there actually were.
Including another dragon.
“You have one too…?”, Hiccup now asked, while keeping his hands on Toothless, trying to keep him calm.
The Night Fury kept shifting, glaring at Marie who also did not ease up at all.
“Listen, we can’t exactly stay here and I don’t think the majority wants us here anyway…”, SMG4 continued with a glance at Toothless. “You don’t happen to have seen a black and white square?”
Despite it making zero sense for Hiccup to know about the portal in the context of the movie, the narrative adjusted with what it was given and the boy’s face lit up in recognition.
“Oh! Yeah, me and Toothless saw it some time ago, but didn’t get very close.”
He furrowed his brows.
“What is it exactly?”
“Our way home.”, SMG4 simply replied. “Where is it located?”
“I can show you!”
“...or that.”
SMG4’s excitement was just as big as Toothless as the boy climbed onto his back, but the dragon eventually gave in and jumped into the air, taking flight.
“Hey! We can’t all fly!”
“Oh, right…”
The portal was located at a cliff along the coast which they were led to by Hiccup and Toothless leading the way while most of the group walked, floated or dug their way through the ground to keep up (Marie).
“That’s it.”, Hiccup now said, landing next to the portal. “I actually had so many more questions to ask. Like how did you meet your dragon? And who are these other people? You know, the…not human looking ones.”
SMG4 rubbed his neck, giving a glance to Marie.
“You could say we ran into each other and now are sticking together to survive.”
It was the half truth after all.
The boy nodded at that, looking like this answered zero of his questions, but he stepped to the side with Toothless nevertheless.
“Alright, let’s go guys!”, SMG4 said, turning back to the group, before stepping into the portal
☆
Meanwhile in the other channel, a part of the group had avoided arrest through the royal guards and bailed, while the other ended up in the dungeon of the kingdom.
It turned out that guy, Preminger, was a real slimy little shit and all too ready to have people arrested because their appearances could not possibly be explained by anything else but dark magic.
So everyone who had the ability to take up a fight with the royal guards scrammed and the ones who couldn’t ended up here.
Among them was C!Ani who was still rubbing her jaw.
It turned out those bad cgi guards weren’t afraid to throw hands.
“The other better bail us out…”, she grumbled to herself, ignoring the stares of the other participants.
Most probably just had the moment to finally notice that she had gotten rid of the TV, if they even recognized her.
“Ugh….what happened…?”
The head of Social Media turned around to now see Sci waking up, rubbing her head before looking at the ceiling above in confusion.
“Am I tripping or is everything low quality?”
“Welcome to Barbie and the Pauper.”
“What?”
Sci now sat up, looking at Rayas and her double, as well as the Scammer and Bunnybot who had been captured as well, the latter giving a small wave.
“Alright, we are not waiting for the others.”, C!Ani announced, turning back to the bars of their cell. “Who knows, they might already be on the next channel.”
“You think they would leave us behind?”, Bunnybot asked.
“I would.”, C!Ani stated bluntly, before turning her attention towards the literal corpse in the cell. “Leave her behind, she’s dead weight.”
Rayas didn’t let go of her other self, instead just tilting her head in confusion.
“Where else would I leave her?”
“Here, she’s dead.”, C!Ani meant, now tugging at the bars, testing how tough they were.
“She never got to ask you her tour question…”, she heard Rayas mutter.
Damn it, now she felt slight empathy after all.
“That wouldn’t be a question to ask me anyway.”, C!Ani muttered. “Has anyone here got something to break those bars with?”
“Well, well, well….”
C!Ani’s face deadpanned as a theme song could be heard kicking in, followed by the sound of heels from the owner.
“If it isn't my dear prisoners.”, Preminger now spoke, a smug grin on his face.
Everything about him was just so stereotypically evil that C!Ani felt like banging her head against the bars.
Sci slightly leaned over to Bunnybot.
“You can’t tell me that RTV wouldn’t play this guy.”
The bunny hid his snicker behind a cough.
“Don’t you have a wedding to prepare?”, C!Ani now drawled which earned her a condescending look from the Barbie villain who sniffed, before looking at his nails.
“How lovely of you to bring it up.”, he now leaned forward slightly, gesturing to the side. “You see, preparations are almost done, but I keep having trouble with a particular annoying problem.”
Ah, they were getting integrated into the plot.
Lovely, truly it has always been her life goal to turn into a Barbie character.
“Perhaps we can make a deal then?”, the french accented voice from the Scammer could now be heard as she stepped forward.
The fact that she was completely human and looked to be more fancy clothed than the rest of them was probably the only reason Preminger even heard her out.
“A deal?”, he repeated, tone intrigued despite his scrutinizing look.
“We solve your little problem and you let us go”, the Scammer smoothly continued.
Preminger seemed to consider it for a second, before raising a finger.
“I will let one of you out to do the deed and if that is done I promise to let the rest of you go.”
C!Ani saw him break his promise already.
Still, the Scammer agreed, extending a hand through the bars.
“Deal.”
Preminger gave the hand a disgusted look, before pulling out a set of keys.
“Very well.”
C!Ani shared a look with Sci, stepping to the side.
As soon as the door slightly opened, she grabbed it, forcing it open completely.
Sci immediately summoned her trident, dashing forward and holding it towards Peminger’s throat.
“Keep quiet.”
“Let’s get out of here.”, C!Ani meant, stepping to the side to let the others out, before flashing Sci a smile. “Let me help you with that.”
In the next second she punched Preminger’s light’s out.
Thank you for doing what I wanted to do as a kid.
“Oh hey, you’re free already.”
They turned around to see Grinnames and the rest of their group, a few of them having brought snacks with them.
“And where have you guys been?”, C!Ani asked incredulously to which she got a shrug.
“We visited the kitchen.”
“Yep, the portal was close by.”
“Totally.”
A few minutes later the group was entering the next channel through the static portal.
To their surprise they now came face to face with their missing half standing in what appeared to be a broad dark hallway.
No other colors but black and white.
C!Ani also noticed that the dragon was now missing or rather turned back into her human shape due to the narrowness.
“Oh hey, you’re alive as well.”, SMG4 greeted them, exhaustion clear in his voice.
“Where did you end up?”, C!Ani asked with semi-interest.
“How to train your dragon. You?
“Hell.”
C!Ani didn’t elaborate as SMG4 raised his eyebrows, instead nodding towards the hallway in front of them.
“If we are all together again we may as well continue.”
“Right…”
The participants now continued through the black hallways much similar to that of a generic house.
It was jarringly different to the worlds before, as there wasn’t even so much as a peep of the world around them.
As if it was frozen in place.
Then at the end of the hallway, a door revealed what appeared to be a kid's room behind it.
A giant TV sat at the back of the wall, displaying static.
Another portal?
After a look of consideration with the rest of the group, SMG4 stepped through, the others following.
What followed was the exact copy of the hallways they just walked through.
The meme guardian quickly snapped around to realize that there was no longer a portal behind them, only small flickers of light whenever a participant stepped seemingly out of the air through to join them.
“It’s a loop?”, C!Ani asked which SMG4 shrugged.
“Only one way to find out.”
Their second walkthrough this time had some noise accompanying them.
Muffled voices of two people fighting could be heard from one of the doors on the side, but as C!Ani forced herself to push it open, there was nothing but an empty living room.
The noise never disappeared, as if playing from a scene they weren’t allowed to witness.
“Getting major horror flick vibes here…”, SMG4 muttered, now moving on.
“The Conjuring maybe?”
The same portal in the kid’s room welcomed them.
With there being no other way to go, the group entered through once again.
History repeated itself, but with ever so small additions.
On their third walkthrough there was a door being slammed instead of the fighting.
On their fourth it was just a male voice screaming, words too muffled to understand.
On their fifth some of the participants could have sworn to see a small figure disappear in the kid’s room.
On their sixth everyone clearly saw the hunched all too familiar silhouette of Puzzles leave the room and walk straight through the crowd before disappearing into the shadows.
On their seventh there was an ominous trail of static liquid leading to the room they had entered through all the other times before.
However, as SMG4 pushed open the door this time, no giant TV screen awaited them.
Instead there was a way smaller one.
Forced on the body of a small kid, matching the colors of their surroundings.
The same static liquid was dripping from the screen, onto its shoulders and floor.
The group collectively stared for a second, before the muttering began.
C!Ani didn’t even have the slightest clue who this kid was, but it was irrelevant because this was just another messed up movie-
That’s his past self.
Her thoughts came to a halt at that input from the author, the kid in front of her suddenly seeming, much, much more real.
“Puzzles really doesn’t like his past self, does he?”, she dryly spoke, but there was clear nervousness hidden in her voice.
She knew that Puzzles was messed up, but well.
This was just another level.
SMG4 meanwhile couldn’t tear his eyes off the scene, remembering the previous silhouette of Puzzles coming towards them and nearly giving him a stroke.
Animsay just implied this was a representation of his past self.
Why was it here?
More importantly, did Puzzles do this to himself?
Was this some kind of symbolism?
Grinnames' voice managed to drag him back to reality and he blinked as she now stepped forward, eyes narrowed in suspicion at the scene.
“We must proceed with caution, you can’t trust creepy little children!”, she said, pointing at herself. “I would know because I was a creepy little child once-”
She halted suddenly, before perking up.
“Wait…what if this is Mr. Puzzles’ secret love child? We could use this to our advantage…”
An evil grin spread on her face at the idea, prompting a snort from C!Ani.
“Any woman with self respect wouldn’t go near that man. But we could use it…”
“I don’t think he’s alive,”, SMG4 noted, watching together Sci and a few others with suspicion as Harley and Bunnybot now carefully approached the kid.
“Be careful.”, C!Ani warned. “If this really a part of his subconscious or something then I don’t wanna know how messed up it can get.”
Maybe it was thanks to everything RTV had done to her that she felt no pity for his obviously strained relationship with his past self.
If anything this was all the more proof of the kind of monster he was.
Still, she noticed the pity and shock on other people’s faces.
Next to Bunnybot, Harley now carefully tapped against the kid’s TV head, before lightly shaking him by the shoulders as if to check if he even was still alive.
-only to immediately stumble back as the kid suddenly straightened, halting for a second before seemingly looking up to the crowd.
“...I guess that settles that.”, SMG4 muttered, before slowly approaching as well, only for the kid to move closer to the wall, more liquid dripping to the floor.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay…”, SMG4 spoke, now kneeling down to be on the same level. “I’m SMG4.”
He hesitantly offered a hand.
This all felt incredibly wrong.
He loathed Puzzles, hated him for everything he did to him and his friends and how he shoved it in his face everyday and now here he was, finding out that Puzzles apparently also hated himself.
So much that he forced himself to become someone else.
To his surprise, the kids now reached forward, giving his hand a small shake, before quickly letting go again.
So he understood and could see.
It didn’t seem like he could talk though.
“Nice to meet you too, dude.”, he said with a small smile. “Look, me and my friends are trying to find a way out. Do you happen to know the way to Channel 999?”
A quick nod was the answer.
Then the kid suddenly walked past them, grabbing the hand of the first person that was standing to the side, in this case Sci and pulling her along.
The Siren looked hesitant at first, but then reluctantly let herself be led by the kid who was now walking back into the hallway and opened another door.
Previously the group had checked every door which is why everyone knew that the stairs to the basement that Little Puzzles now led them down had not been there before.
At first sight, it seemed pretty small but the more people entered, the more it seemed to expand.
Much more disturbing though was the forgotten saw lying on the floor right in front of yet another static portal.
SMG4 eyed the saw with the suspiciously dry liquid on it, feeling his stomach turn.
Sure, a lot of this had been referenced by Puzzles in his villain song before but he really didn’t expect it to be this close to reality.
The kid now stopped, seemingly confused by the group’s sudden distraction, tugging on Sci’s hand, before stepping halfway through the portal.
The Siren and SMG4 now evaded their eyes from the saw and instead moved forward, following through with the rest of the group.
The portal immediately closed behind them.
Channel 999 was just as SMG4 remembered.
A dark rocky void leading up to the portal that was supposed to leave them out.
Instead, they got stuck under RTV’s will and from that on everything went downhill.
The only difference was that instead of showcasing his face on the portal, RTV instead loomed over it, TV head leaning on his hand as he eyed them with barely hidden contempt.
Nira was standing next to the portal, still under mind control and awaiting orders.
“It took you a while, maybe even LONGER than the crew.”, RTV now drawled, his eyes briefly landing on SMG4 before moving over to Little Puzzles who had started to hide behind Sci the second he spotted his older version.
A chuckle escaped RTV though sounding more hysterical than amused.
“Ah and OF COURSE you once again couldn’t help to stay away from things that don’t CONCERN you.”
He now straightened, hands placed next to the portal as the colorful maniacal smile now popped up on his screen.
“So…who’s ready for the FINALE?”
Are you ready?
Yes
No
Voting ended onMay 19, 2025
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
And here we are!
The poll doesn’t have much influence, it’s really just there for decoration.
Now it’s up to you!!
Write or draw your character fighting RTV. How do they feel? What do they do? Just don’t write them defeating him. That’s my job as my next part will be the END of this event!
You want to know how RTV would react or more interaction? DM me!
Here some facts beforehand though:
Half of RTV’s face may be busted but it doesn’t affect his sight.
His right hand is still out of order though.
RTV hates Little Puzzles, he will try to retrieve him.
EDIT: YOU HAVE ONE WEEK AS USUAL! So until next Sunday!
Note: Wowza this is a looooong one and perfectly represent the fever dream that is the Tv dimension in my opinion lol Originally I wanted to take more movies in but god, it’s already way too long.
A special thanks to @scimagic and @irayasosy
CHECK THE REBLOGS FOR PART 2 + NOTES!!
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
There was a tense silence in the Health Department as RTV was done with his rant.
The TV head was still irritated, but at least was calm enough by now to refrain from sending the nearest person flying against the wall like he did with the table just now.
Gripping hands behind his back he tried to regain some of his composure.
Deep breaths, focus on the task at hand, make sure nothing more goes out of hand.
Surely enough, some people seemed smart enough to not provoke him further.
Under the soulless stares of Swag and Chris and RTV’s glare, the participants now walked towards the screens, some giving him a worried or anxious glance back.
The TV head made a slight step to the side to give way to the one eyed Creature and a sobbing Becky walking past him and entering the dimension.
RTV was unsure when in his life he had started losing sympathy for others, but he knew it had been gone for a long time, as right now, he simply couldn’t bring himself to feel sorry.
Was it a bit insane to take his anger out on the people who couldn’t do anything against the people from beyond the 4th wall who made the actual choices?
Maybe.
Well, if the people in Health behaved then maybe he would be willing to cut them some slack.
As for Security…they messed up.
After the red colored Bunnybot entered through the screen as well, only a few people were left.
Among them was Nira, the one horned girl Lilith, that white and pink hairball and…
RTV’s eyes visibly narrowed as the insert of one the most irritating people he had the displeasure to talk with, now stepped towards him.
Really, the only reason he allowed Loyboo on the tour was because he was nice enough for the person to prove that they were different from the person behind them.
“What does it matter… "
It was a mutter that RTV only caught because the boo was standing so close.
Nevertheless he didn’t expect him to bow down in the next second, dropping a single sketchbook page to the floor.
"I'm worth nothing.", she said, before walking past RTV, through the screen and into the TV dimension.
The TV head gave Loyboo a slightly perplexed look, before huffing.
Alright, if his small outburst was already causing such reactions then he figured the majority would downright break when it was a big one.
His gaze now landed on the paper on the floor and he kneeled down to pick it up in a split second decision before it could be stepped on by Lilith who now walked through as well.
Putting the free hand in his hip, he now narrowed his eyes at the sketch that had been doodled on the piece of paper.
The outlines were still messy yet he was able to make out the picture as a whole.
A row of people following a TV headed being ordering them, no doubt representing him, a star shaped light present on his screen.
A visualization of RTV’s brainwash, showing how the people fell into his trap by following the shining, flawless persona that he was embodying.
The TV head frowned, his grip around the paper slightly tightening.
This drawing was hitting a bit too close to the truth.
In a way it was what happened on this tour right now.
A bunch of people followed him, a few even trusting him, only to figure out that he wasn’t what he pretended to be.
Well, until he forced them to see what he wanted them to see again.
Not an option with the majority of these people though.
They were too…aware.
With a sharp inhale, he folded the sketch, storing it in a pocket of his coat.
No time for sentimentalities.
Besides, right now these people didn’t even deserve his act of perfection, no, ironically they now got a more authentic version of him.
A very pissed off one.
“U-uhm, we still have two people resting, so I should probably go wake them up.”
RTV lowered his gaze on the white squirrel who was nervously grabbing her own hands.
“Do that.”
Following her slowly as she walked over to the next room, he watched how she pulled the curtains wide aside.
Revealing a small surprise.
Turns out the fox girl form before had a double now.
"...There's... two?", he slowly drawled, earning a quick nod from Nira.
Just how much did he miss?
He continued to observe how the double now woke up the other who appeared to have been sleeping, muttering apparent comforting swords to her.
Hah, ironic how other people got far better along with their other versions than he did.
Moving slowly aside as they now stood up, he noted a cable cord tail on them.
Had they owned those before?
Well, no matter.
At least they didn’t make any trouble and entered the TV dimension without further complaints.
Nira though…
RTV couldn’t help but admit how useful she was.
Her ability was a true win to this studio, no matter how this ended, he had to keep her by his side.
After that was done, RTV turned to Swag and Chris to give a few last orders, as he suddenly heard fast footsteps coming his way.
As he snapped around, he just saw a white and pink hairball lunging towards him until-
CRASH!
A few glass splinters fell to the ground together with Hairball who had bounced right off RTV’s screen.
A bottle of disinfect flew out of their hair, rolling right in front of the TV head’s shoes who was holding his now additionally broken screen.
Taking a second to recover from the failed attempt to enter the TV dimension, Hairball now shook their head, sitting up.
In the next second a tall shadow fell over them, followed by a harsh grip in their long hair as they were suddenly pulled back up.
“Owowowowowow-”
“Quiet.”
RTV’s expression had switched back to one of cold fury, drops of color from his mouth now dropping through the impact crack in his screen onto the floor boards.
His other hand then dove into the mess of hair, searching for more items that no doubt this menace had snatched along the way.
First thing he noted however was that his arm sunk in way deeper than it should be possible.
So no ordinary hair.
More like some sort of endless space.
Pocket dimension?
It turned out there were much more things hidden there than RTV expected.
Among the things he pulled out were a pack of gums, a whole pencil case, a half eaten sandwich and-
His eyes visibly narrowed at the now nervously smiling creature as his hand pulled out with his phone and a very familiar star bowtie.
Little shit.
“Don’t.”, he stopped Hairball before they could even dare utter another word, his grip in their hair now tightening as they started dragging them over to the screen. “You’re INCREDIBLY lucky I don’t approve of staining my gloves. Not on studio grounds that is.”
He gave Hairball a sharp smile, now flicking the bowtie back in their hands.
“You know what? KEEP it. One measly star is probably everything a petty THIEF like you will ever achieve in their pathetic life.”, RTV spoke in a hiss. “You’re welcome.”
With that, he shoved them through the screen and into the TV dimension, frowning at all the hair that now had gotten stuck to his clothing.
With every second, he felt the grip on his temper fading away.
No trace of self preservation with some of these people.
“You two.”, he now turned to Swag and Chris, voice missing his usual theatrical sliver. Why bother?
It’s not like they would care about him breaking character.
“Chris, get over to the Control Room and listen to the system’s orders. Swag, you stay here. Keep an eye.”
He now turned to Animsay who was the only other person left.
“Especially her.”
A simultaneous nod.
Brushing the hair off his sleeves, RTV took a deep breath before retracting into the TV head.
A few seconds later, the broken screen landed on the floor, displaying static before shutting off.
☆
Back in the Control Room, people were getting ready as well to enter the TV dimension.
Some looked just as put off by the mere idea as SMG4 felt.
That stupid dimension brought nothing but bad memories back and he was seriously considering whether taking on that weird version of Wren wasn't the better alternative.
The last time SMG4 ended up in there, the events happened that led to that maniac being in power.
Surely though, he at least wouldn’t broadcast all this to the world this time.
After the small... incident between Wr3n, Sci, and a certain bot's body, the Siren now moved past the crowd to get to the back of the room, ignoring any stares she may receive as she glared with bitterness at the floor.
Her fins flicked with every sound, murmur or cry between the group, the sad thought of others caring for Michael as much as she cared for them crossing her mind before she shut it down.
No time for that. No time to dwell in pain. The odds weren't on her side and with each passing moment she spent in this room, the more doomed she is confronting a certain television head.
Which... speaking of the devil...
As RTV gave his announcement through the various screens in the control room, Sci glared at them, her back half-turned towards them as she listened with a sneer forming on her face. Once done, the Siren turned back around, fist shaking at her side as she tried to think of what to do.
How to survive...
How to live.
She knew she'd be terribly weak against the big man himself if she stepped through, but she'd dig herself an even bigger grave if she didn't. Looking around the room, she tried to find something, anything of use to her- only for her eye to catch a familiar face. Tired and scrappy maybe... But friendly, nonetheless.
She missed seeing her universe's version of him...
Sci shook her head lightly and frowned, god he's gonna be just as much if not more screwed than her. But she was desperate for options right now.
The Siren quietly stomped her way to SMG4, a tense and stern look on her face.
The meme guardian was still busy brooding over the impossible choice at hand, only now he noticed that he had been balling his fists the entire time, nails digging deep into skin.
Taking a deep breath, he opened his hands before brushing once over his face.
He had to calm down or he would get himself into even bigger trouble though right now...although that seemed almost impossible.
As he saw Sci walking towards him, the meme guardian immediately tensed up again.
“…hi.”
Both of Sci’s hands landed on the guardian's shoulders, a tense grip on them but nothing to hurt him. Staring intently into his eyes.
"Tell me... You didn't walk in here blindly without an escape plan— don't tell me what it is— just tell me if you do." The Siren hissed in a quiet tone, already way past introductions at this point.
Some worry lingers in her voice.
SMG4 made a small step back as she suddenly grabbed him though halted at her question.
Was she really asking him for a plan when it was so obvious that everything went wrong?
“No, not really…”, he now replied in a low tone. “I’m just as stuck as you here though…maybe the rest of my group can bail us out soon enough. It’s not exactly going after a plan though. You think I wanted to expose myself to this group?”
The fish opens her mouth to say something, only to close it again with a frown as she glances down.
Guess she should've thought about that. She wasn't in a position to judge how badly things were planned. She didn't even have a plan herself in case things went wrong! And they already had!
Sci breathed in and exhaled a sigh, the grip on Four's shoulders faltering as she patted his shoulder and nodded in resignation.
"Right... Sorry... Just wishful thinking."
Sci let go of his shoulders and looked to the side, continuing to mutter.
"Let's pray to the Godbox they find a way to do it then. Otherwise we're relying on sheer dumb luck and a miracle."
She glanced to the TV screens displaying Puzzles' dimension.
"... Or mercy.”
SMG4 let out a huff at that, putting hands back in the pockets of his hoodie. Well, he couldn’t exactly blame her. He also had hoped that there was a better plan, but alas…
“I’m not going to pray to that box of horrors.”, he sighed. “You can cross mercy out of the equation unless you got stuff to bargain with.”
He glanced over to the screens, seeing how some people were now contemplating.
“Let's hope they are still alive.”
Sci hummed as a response, drifting into thought as she considered the bargain part.
... Yeah, she's not selling away her powers for a second time. She doesn't have blackmail (not yet), no trump cards...
Just her fists and a necklace.
She sighed in exasperation, the more she thought about this situation the more dread and helplessness she got.
Ah well... If you go down, go down with style or something.
"They got a better chance than us right now, I suppose."
Sci stepped to walk away from SMG4, before pausing and looking back at him again.
"Uh... Good luck, I guess..."
”Mhm, they are capable so that’s something…”, the meme guardian simply replied, nodding at her last sentence to him. “Same to you.”
He then turned to glare at the screen again. If Puzzles wanted him to go in there, he would have to force him.
She nodded back and walked away without another word.
Al...right. Fighting it is.
Last time she tried this she failed miserably and got her shit rocked. No doubt it'll happen here too.
Don't fight in turf that isn't yours. But unfortunately, she didn't have a choice.
As she slowly walked back to the front of the room, she removed her black tie and the Puzzlevision necklace from her neck and began to wrap them around her right hand, the tie wrapped tightly right on top of the metal logo.
Make-shift brass knuckles!
It..... wouldn't do much at all. But she had the chance to do even a little bit of damage in her defense. It was better than nothing.
Sci looked up from her hand and spotted Lucian, still bleeding out on the floor and getting closer to the edge of the cliff.
With a guilty frown, the fish walked over and greeted the neon sign, kneeling down to his level once more.
"Hey... How are you holding up?"
[Hah…]
“Bad, to be blunt.”, he scoffed though there was no real malice behind it. He now nodded to the screen. “Ya going in?”
Holding his side, he grimaced as he tried to sit more upright. Sitting slumped against the panel like this…it made him feel even weaker.
“Word of advice, since I’m pretty sure you’re going in either way: Don’t focus on defeating him, find a way out.”
"Yeah, I can see that..." The fish muttered as she took a glance at his wound before looking back up and listened to Lucian.
She hummed, eyebrows furrowing in thought as she considered his words. That's... a much better way to look at it. Maybe she'd have a chance then.
"Thanks... Hopefully I don't get a bigger target on my back for it."
Her hand went up to fidget with her necklace, pausing for a moment before she spoke again, her tone meek and full of worry.
"What's gonna happen to you after this?... If uh... they tend to you quick enough..."
“Your target is already as big as it can be.”, Lucian snorted. At her concern he simply shrugged. “Oh they will. If Puzzles wanted me replaced or gone, Wr3n would have aimed for a more lethal strike. Meaning…he still needs my services.”
The object head pointed a fingergun at Sci, before letting out a dry chuckle.
“Man, I need to get out of here…”
"Ahah..."
"Goodie..."
She chuckled nervously, letting it falter into a worried one as the thought of possibly being a primary target in this whole mess crossed her mind.
She's won that ticket all by herself, alright...
God— she's regretting ever thinking she'd have fun in this mission.
But shaking those nerve-wracking thoughts away, she scoffed a sad laugh at Lucian. Understanding the feeling very well.
"Yeah... You'll get out eventually, man... I have hope for you."
Lucian could easily tell that his words didn’t exactly create more confidence, yet he also didn’t regret it. The more careful she was the better. He usually got people killed, he may as well inspire one to keep themself alive.
[Maybe…]
“Ah, your hope is appreciated. Maybe, just maybe I will. But I need someone else freed first before I follow.”
Sci nodded, smiling with hope down at Lucian.
"Keep fighting, it's the best chance they got." She holds her fist up for a 'see you later' bump, "thanks for everything, Lucian, truly."
The sign head seemed to look at the fist for a second, before letting his own bump against it.
"You're not bad, kid. Stay alive, yeah?"
In the next second, one of the screens switched to static, a gloved hand reaching through and grabbing one of the participants, by her ribbons, dragging her straight through the screen and into the dimension. RTV was done waiting.
The fish beamed with the slightest bit of happiness, a light blue spark in her dark blue eyes as she nodded. "I'll do my best."
As she pullled her hand away, Sci turned her head to see one of the participants getting dragged— Grinnames, actually— and she knew she'd probably be one of them if she didn't hurry.
Sci let out a small sigh and muttered, "guess that's my cue." And she stood up again with a huff.
She nodded at Lucian and waved a small goodbye before turning and walking over to the screens, staring them down with a bit of uncertainty until she shook her head with a determined look.
Here goes something.
The Siren stepped up to the control panel and entered RTV's head dimension.
Lucian gave her a slight wave as well as Nicknack who now followed soon after, hand in hand with Harley.
A damn kid in the middle of all this.
He felt like hitting something.
Sure, going in without force would prevent Puzzles from being pissed off any further, that’s why Lucian even advised people to do it.
The alternative wasn’t any better.
Still, there was no guarantee they would be the same when they got out.
If they got out.
A fact that SMG4 seemed to be more than aware of as he was now the only one remaining in the control room safe for Lucian and, well, Michael’s remains.
“You should go.”, the object head now warned, sign changing into a fitting [Go.]
At that the meme guardian looked over to him, anxiety clear in his eyes.
“Easy for you to say!”, SMG4 laughed. “Do you know what happened the last time I entered?”
Lucian knew.
Well, not the details, he only saw the bits of pieces of the Puzzlevision movie that RTV wanted the public to see.
But he knew that SMG4 had been in there and it seemed to have ended just as bad as it ended for him everytime he got dragged in there for RTV’s “talks”.
“Do you think you can fix anything by staying out?”, he now replied, letting out a hoarse laugh. “You of all people here are probably the person Puzzles wants to see dead the most. At least when you are with the others they will be backing you up!”
“Rich words from someone who tried to kill me multiple times!”, SMG4 barked, crossing his arms.
“Trust me, if I were committed to this whole killing you thing, you would be fighting me right now.”, Lucian growled. “But unfortunately, you are one of the people out there who actually have a chance at doing something against this TV prick so how about at least trying to stay alive?!”
The meme guardian gave a glare, but actually considered the others words now.
“Fine…”, he then finally agreed, making a hesitant step towards the screens, giving them an unsure glance, before determination settled in his eyes. “I got this…”
Taking a deep breath, he then entered through the screen, stepping back into the same dimension that he had visited plenty of times in his nightmares before.
Left alone in the control room now, Lucian let his head bump back against the control panel.
The pain in his side had become worse than before, an unfortunate effect of the adrenaline from before wearing off.
They needed him, that’s what he told Sci, but to be honest, he wasn’t too sure anymore.
His gaze wandered over to the remains of Michael, one visible eye staring empty to the side, upper jaw connected to a gaping black and oily hole.
This had been a participant.
Sure, a participant with ulterior motives, but still.
As much as he loathed Wr3n, he was still an AI, his sentience had limits.
Everything he did was based on what RTV fed him.
The TV head had programmed this brutality into him.
Lucian liked to know he had the guy figured out, but the truth was he didn't even want to understand him.
Both of them were bad people, yet he didn’t want to know the feeling of understanding the other's thought process.
Lucian didn’t like to sympathize with people he planned to kill one day.
Unfortunately that also meant that he didn’t see anything of this level coming and that his predictions of Puzzles next move were often just lucky guesses.
Well, he wasn’t going anywhere.
No choice but to see how this played out.
Click!
The sound of the door unlocking.
In the next second, the door to the control room slid to the side giving sight onto yet another robot host of Wr3n -just how many did they make- and Chris next to him.
The unfocused stare and the never lowering gun in his colleague's hand was enough of a hint that he wasn’t himself right now and sure enough, as Chris stepped over to him Lucian could see the familiar static pupils.
A clear indicator of mind control.
Lucian knew it all too well from SMG3 and Colores.
Back then the color picker of her color wheel head was the thing that turned static.
A result of Lucian’s first attempts to get her out.
Didn’t work out too well.
The sound of a gun safety being removed managed to snap Lucian back to the present.
[Well…]
“Tired of me already?”
His question was towards Wr3n who stood behind Chris as he pointed his gun at Lucian’s chest.
“That’s not exactly what I would call it, but this tour has been enlightening. New rivals on the horizon…”
Wr3n gestured to the side, now tilting his head.
“...loyalties revealed.”
Lucian simply snorted at that.
“Don’t tell me Puzzles ever thought I was loyal to him.”
“Nah, but we did think ya would be a bit smarter in your decisions. Ya could have just shot SMG4! Sure, a few traumatized people, but we could have easily painted it as the consequence of a vicious attack!”
Wr3n moved his hands to the side like visualizing a picture.
“Crazy ex-youtube legend returns to finish the job. Heroic security saves the day!”
“Yeah, not really interested to add to the lies.”
“So much is obvious, partner.”,
Wr3n sighed, pushing hat deeper in his face as he now nodded to Chris.
“Patch him up.”
[Huh?]
At Lucian’s surprise, Wr3n laughed.
“Aw, come on partner! We are not through with ya yet! Who else is gonna train the future security units? Be our personal scapegoat in case all those hits ever get uncovered?”
“Of course…”
“Ya still have your use. For now.”
A pat on Lucian’s shoulder.
He slapped it off, earning himself another chuckle as Wr3n now passed by him, kneeling down next to Michael.
“If I had known he still wanted ya, I would have done less damage.”,
Wr3n sighed, ruffling Michael’s hair, before picking up his ripped apart body, throwing it over his shoulder.
“Ah well, it was still fun.”
“What are you gonna do with him?”, Lucian asked, hissing at Chris now patched up his wound, not exactly being gentle.
“I’m afraid ya are no longer cleared for that information anymore.”,
Wr3n simply replied, giving them a two fingered salute.
"Chris will take you to Health or shoot you if ya try to make more trouble. See ya around, partner.”
☆
Back in the Health Department Animsay had meanwhile settled down on a free bed, unbeknownst to Swag, who was blankly standing next to her, glancing over to the screens.
So far she could still get through them, but not for much longer.
If she wanted to advance the plot for her sona, she would have to act now.
Hey, hey, HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!
Ignoring her character’s protests, Ani now jumped off, tapping Swag on the shoulder.
“Hey Swag?”
The mind controlled security member now turned around, before getting decked right in the face.
Using the moment where he was holding his now bleeding nose, Ani slid past him, making a beeline straight towards the screen and jumped.
She dove right through it as a second later a bullet hit the screen, breaking it apart.
Animsay landed on the other side, floating uncontrollably for a while.
Her screen suddenly shut off, shoulders slacking for a second until suddenly she let out a gasp, hands grabbing her shoulders, before sliding alongside the heavy TV on her head.
“W-what…”, she muttered to herself, not yet realizing that the TV dimension was outside Wr3n’s jurisdiction.
Meaning the program keeping her locked out of her own body was gone.
Now the only voice remaining in her head was the author of this text herself.
One who found it was a perfect moment to introduce the character Animsay to the audience.
“Why now?”, Animsay muttered, knowing that she was listening.
Or reading…or writing?
Because its perfect! Wr3n has no control and they need somebody who can lead them next to SMG4.
“Hah…of course. I know the way out just as much as most of the others here. Channel 999, no idea where it is. This is just you wanting to show off my existence to the audience, right? Make it a big shocker moment…”
“I will lead you, no worries and well, kinda.”
“Great.”, was C!Animsay’s exasperated sigh, as she now began tugging at her TV head. “Not like I have a choice but to find a way out anyway…but first I’m, getting this thing off.”
With herself having complete control again now, she could feel the heavyweight of the foreign object pressing down on her shoulders, hurting her spine which was never meant to carry such a weight.
“Animsay?”
She turned to see two fox girlsl next to her, flashing her a worried look.
For a second she was confused, having trouble recalling them, her memory was scrambled at times, a consequence of being forced into the backseat.
That’s Rayas, the one who played that card game with us.
C!Ani simply shook her head.
She now grabbed a nearby TV, using it as a platform to float deeper below, aware from most eyes and hiding there behind another of the objects.
Inhaling deeply, she then clicked open the panel at the back of the TV, reaching into the opening, dragging fingers along the cables.
She had to be careful.
One wrong move and she could render herself braindead, paralyzed or worse.
All because of Puzzles, because of that stupid author.
She could have had a normal life but no, she had to take that job-
A brainwashed life. At least now your story is interesting.
“My story is YOUR story. You’re literally using me as representation for yourself in this and YOUR world.”, C!Ani hissed, now tugging at a cable.
Her fingers were shaking.
You should ask someone for help.
“I- FINE!”, she hissed, letting go and now turning to the next best person available that wasn’t RTV or under mind control.
“HEY! You!”, she now turned the monochrome guy’s attention, Aspen, towards herself.
“Mind helping me out?”
A shit-eating grin was the response.
C!Ani had the immediate realization that she would not like them.
From what she observed while being a simple watcher during the previous tour, this one was a bit of a little shit.
“Hmmmmm, would you do OR give me something in return?”, Aspen now replied.
It was a good thing they couldn’t see her face because C!Ani was straight up snarling at them.
Ohk they wanted something?
She could gladly gift them a wonderful punch and a few loose teeth-
Lol
“What? Don’t got nothing? Well, I’ll just watch I guess.”, Aspen now grinned at her lack of an answer to which C!Ani let out a condescending scoff, turning away.
“Yeah, sounds about right given that’s the only thing you seem to be useful for.”, she spat, now floating away from them.
“....UGHHHH I want your TV head turned back on.”, she could hear them call after her.
C!Ani halted, feeling a sting at those words, followed by a flood of unbridled rage.
“Do ya?”, she spoke, her voice turning sickeningly sweet as she bawled her fists, ready to make good on her idea to knock loose some teeth.
Fortunately for Aspen they were saved from that fate as another person now floated close to them, giving them a curious smile on their digital screen.
A red colored bot in the shape of a bunny.
Bunnybot or at least another version of the one C!Ani knew.
“BB, help me out, will you?”, C!Ani used the nickname that she knew the author usually used for the guy, pointing at the back of the TV. “I need help removing these cables.”
“Oh? Yeah, sure!”, Bunnybot replied, interest now clear in his voice as he floated over to Animsay, taking a peek at the back of her head. “Wait, you have a head under there?”
“Yes.”, C!Animsay replied curtly, not resting on the topic any further. “I need you to carefully rotate the cables before pulling them out. Be careful, I don’t need to get braindamage.”
“Ah- alright then…”, Bunnybot hummed, carefully now following the orders, noticing a slight flinch whenever he managed to loosen a cable, letting it fall to the side. “Things are getting a bit heated by the way. I’m pretty sure I just saw a person getting thrown.”
“Sounds like RTV though usually it’s Lucian getting that treatment.”, was the dry reply. “Our way out is channel 999, but for that we need to enter the channels and travel through there. There is no way he will let us enter through here.”
“Channel 999 you say?”, she heard Aspen mutter.
“Alright, done!”, Bunybot announced a few minutes later, now moving away from Animsay. “So, why do you want the cables out?”
“None of your business.”, C!Ani scoffed, now turning away as she grabbed both sides at the TV, slowly pulling up.
“Man…I like the other better.”
She froze for a second at that, before harshly pulling the while TV off, tossing it in BB’s direction.
Some cables that were still connected to her neck, unable to be removed without surgical measures, hung alongside her abyss black neck, a pair of green eyes and a mouth with white fans sneering at him before disappearing under the makeshift hood of her scarf, her face seemingly melting into the shadows.
Only the eyes still glared at BB as she gave a bitter laugh.
“Well, she’s still there no worries, but now you’ve got to deal with me and I’m not HER. Deal with it.”
Flipping him off, she then floated towards the edge of the TV they hid behind, giving the scene a glance.
Ready?
“Give me a second…”
☆
Swag outside meanwhile remained still for a while as if considering what to do now, before speaking up.
“Sir, the Head of the Social Media Department entered through the screen.”
“Ah, no idea what she’s up to now, but don’t worry. She’s not getting out of there and if she does, she won’t get far.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Just keep an eye, partner. Now if you excuse me, I have to focus on some other things.”
Swag nodded, now turning away from the screen and continued his patrol past the rooms.
Ironically enough, a mind controlled Swag was more observant than his usual self as he actually completely focused on the task at hand which is why he didn’t overlook the small ink stains that seemed to lead over to the office of the head of the Health Department.
Drawing his gun again Swag followed the trail to the door, listening for a second before using the handle and stepping in.
A circular office room welcomed him, files scattered over the desk and a visible ink trail leading up behind it.
Letting go off the door, Swag now proceeded forward, finger on the safety.
Too late he noticed the small round figure now coming out from behind the door.
A second later there was a loud crashing noise as a heavy vase hit Swag at the back of his neck.
Stumbling forward, slightly stunned, he then collapsed against the desk before falling on the floor with a thump.
Knocked out.
“Quick!”
Mickey now came out from behind the desk, snatching the handcuffs from Swag’s belt and dragging him towards the desk, cuffing the man’s wrists to it.
“For once one of these people is useful…”, Mickey sighed, shoulder slumping as he grabbed the gun. “Did you find any more ink?”
“Ugh!”
Beeg moved to the side, grabbing a pen from the floor, taking out the small ink cartridge.
The cartoon sniffed at the measly side, but took it as he looked as another drops of colored ink seemed to run down his hands.
A clear sign he needed to regenerate before turning into a puddle.
Stupid AI had to fry the whole vent and Mickey took a pretty bad hit before he was pulled out by Beeg.
Said creature had slightly singed clothes but seemed to have gotten away far better.
Both then were led down a chase through half the studio before managing to escape the surveillance sight and sneaking into the Health Department when the group entered.
First hiding out in one of the patient rooms, they had a good look at Puzzles crashout and him forcing people into the TV dimension before they snuck over to the office to find ink for Mickey who had started melting a tad too much in the meantime.
Now, Mickey would have loved to take what they witnessed as an argument for Beeg to finally leave, but noooo of course the AI had to confirm that the blueberry was alive.
And now Beeg would never leave and if he didnt leave, Mickey would be dragged along.
“So what now?”, Mickey asked after drinking up the ink. “If he’s in that dimension we can’t do anything! Endgame!”
Beeg grumbled, before hopping on the chair now pointing towards the screen.
…wait.
“Golly, you’re right!”
Mickey jumped next to him before starting to type on the screen, a screen that was connected to a computer with access to the studio’s system.
However, their triumph quickly turned into a deep frown as they realized they needed login details.
Damn it, it was always something!
“We need someone to unlock this for us.”, Mickey realized, his gaze now landing on the knocked out Swag on the floor.
“Aeeeugh.”
“Yeah, you’re right, Under mind control he won’t do anything.”
Grabbing the gun again, Mickey now jumped down, before removing the grid of the vent leading to the room.
“Alright, part three of this. We need to get someone to get us into the system, someone who is allowed to access it. We hold them hostage, get the data-”
“Augh.”
“...I guess we could use it to force Puzzles into letting SMG4 go.”
The mouse showed a sly grin.
“All we need is a good exit strategy and then we can bail before he realizes we are not holding up our part of the deal!”
“Ugh!”
“Yeah, yeah, I'm going…”
☆
A few minutes prior, in the TV dimension, one of the bigger TVs now started to grow a body as RTV took control of it.
The crack in the screen was fixed again, but the pixel damages along the side of his face remained.
The TV head noticed it as he looked at his reflection in a turned off TV.
Something he would have to fix later.
Whatever that blue overalls messed up, it would take some more repairs.
Still irritated over the incident with Hairball, he now turned his focus on the people of whom nearly all had entered now.
He would have Wr3n and the security duo force them in should some refuse.
Now the question was: What to do?
There was that nagging voice in RTVs head suggesting to just take them all out here or stuff them so far into the channel that nobody ever found them again or they forgot who they were.
It would be possible.
The tour wasn’t registered as official with the invitation mainly having gone out beyond the 4th wall.
Others knew it as a VIP tour.
No employee would question the participants disappearing, assuming they got sent back home after the lockdown.
Most people here weren’t even from this world, nobody would miss them and the ones that did, the very few, could be dealt with.
But there was arisk.
The risk of it all…
Yet also the risk they were to his image.
“Why Hello my not-so-dear tour participants," he now said for a moment of a sneer before going to a tone of false calmness. "Glad to see you all here! Whether you came through willingly... and some," his voice lowers. "Who needed a push... to come through."
“Excuse me to interrupt you Mr.Puzzles, what if I told you I had something revolutionary,would you be interested in any chances traveling to unknown universes?”
RTV looked over to see that the blonde woman, The Scammer, now had floated up to him.
“Let me present to you my gizmos or stars.”
She now took out of her pocket a BLUE star.
“I promise I’m not here to scam anyone, I do indeed know my ‘name’ may cause some suspicions. But it is just a direct translation of my family name ‘De La Escroquerie'.Actually my family were scammed by those filthy scammers but that's just an unimportant detail. ”
The sneer on his face should be enough of a sign that he couldn’t care less right now.
Honestly, the only reason he was entertaining this right now was because she seemed to want to strike a deal.
Fine, she may have her chance.
Scammer now placed the star flat in the void.
A blue star shaped portal opens.
Through it one could see a Mr Puzzles figure where a star is placed in front of it and other figures at the back.
Hold on, was this back in the Art Department?
The Scammer's hand now went through a portal grabbing the Mr Puzzles figure.
“As you can see the interdimensional portal has indeed worked. Huh, it looks just like you,what are the odds?”, the Scammer smiled. “Sadly I can’t sell you mine since you know, you have to be linked to it and I forgot how to create them, but there are the instructions at my base on my computer,and the only possible way to go there at the moment is by my very own VESPA that is parked outside of your STUDIO.”
She now took out a contract with a pen.
“Do we have a deal?”
Out of mere curiosity, RTV took a glance at the contract, noting the many fineprint.
Was she seriously trying to convince someone who was in the marketing business to sign this?
“Cute.”, he now spoke with a snort though the amusement was clearly missing on his face. “But that’s a NO.”
With a flick of his hands he sent her flying to the side.
“Oh, and for your INFORMATION: I can already reach other universes just fine MYSELF. Maybe remember that before placing portals in MY studio...”
Now where was he…
His gaze landed on Nira not far away who had watched the whole thing with worry, yet also a tinge of fear.
If he wanted to keep her on his side, he had to act now.
Forcing a softer expression on his face he now leaned downther, floating slightly lower so he could look into her eyes.
“Is this…all really necessary?”, Nira asked, gesturing hesitantly over to the many worried and emotional people.
“Unfortunately.”, RTV sighed, now gently taking her small hands in his. “I can see it is bothering you. It’s bothering me as well.”
“This all feels like a bad dream…”
Ah-hah.
“We could make it that it just remains as one.”, RTV now continued slyly, now pointing at his screen. “All you have to do is look at me.”
He could see the hesitancy in her eyes as she considered, but Nira had never been one too hard to convince.
She was loyal, maybe a bit too much which is why she now raised her gaze, looking at his screen.
“Everything will be over soon.”
With that his screen flicked to static and he could feel Nira’s hands tensing before relaxing again as the static now moved over to her eyes, putting her effectively under mind control.
He hadn’t been lying.
After all this he would make sure it would just be another bad dream to her.
Straightening again, the soft tone now vanished from his voice.
“Move to the sidelines until further orders.”
With a nod Nira now turned around, before taking place on one of the TVs, observing.
The static had slightly resided, only small circles in the middle of her black eyes being an indicator that she wasn’t herself.
That was handled for now…
“Now, as I said, Nobody here is leaving. Not before we made some things CLEAR. Some of you chose to side with SMG4, complicated everything! And guess what happened. One tour-" RTV stopped for a moment at the crying and sniffing that could now be heard.
His eyes narrowed with slight confusion for a second as Grinnames pulled out a very familiar shaped cookie as some kind of tribute to the fallen.
Really?
A meme in the middle of all this?
He barely held himself back from rolling his eyes and pinching his screen as the sound of a cookie being eaten could now be heard throughout the dimension.
These people-
“YOUR GODBOX-FORSAKEN AI KILLED MY FRIEND, YOU A**HOLE!”
In the next moment a clawed hand hit his face, sending him staggering back.
“WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF, HUH?!”,Grinnames shouted at him, anger shining through her narrowed red eyes.
But this time the hit did less damage than it would have outside.
This was HIS dimension and he would be damned if he lost it in.
An unsympathetic grimace of a smile settled on his face as he suddenly dashed forward, way faster than usually, grabbing the enraged participant by the neck.
“Your friend killed HIMSELF by putting his nose in things that don’t concern him.”, he replied coldly, before using the lack of gravity to his advantage and pulling his arm back-
“You bastard-! YOU TAKE THAT BACK- “
Grinnames was suddenly tossed with full force back, flying far into the depths of the tunnel, arms flailing as she tried to regain balance.
It would take a while for her to get back.
"Anyone else?", RTV now asked, looking in the round ready to take on another challenger that would be stupid enough to try his limited patience.
His gaze landed for a second on a familiar blue meme guardian who was glaring at him with unfiltered cold hate.
Yet RTV also noticed the way he was floating.
Unsure, insecure.
He gave SMG4 a lopsided grin, noticing with satisfaction how his fists tightened, nails digging into skin.
While everyone else's fate was still up in the air this one’s had been long decided.
Nobody liked an overused irrelevant character.
His attention now turned back to the group, noticing that Grinnames had gotten back now, huddling together with a few others in a group hug.
This time he couldn’t help an eye roll.
How sweet.
“Tsk Tsk, Now?," spoke RTV, before clearing his throat. "As I was SAYING, because of the fault of some of you supporting SMG4, everyone will Pay. And I'll repeat, because of his intrusion, One tour participant less in the group from the original 57... Although...," RTV slowly came closer as he grew into a giant, and looked right at the double pair of Rayas.
He still hadn’t figured out what he missed when he was sent to dream land.
"Not sure what I missed while I was out, but I suppose that covers the 57th participant. Must've overlooked, but oh well."
He shrugged.
Though by now he could fill in the blanks that Michael was the one who Wr3n took out.
Truly a loss that would be mourned…
With a silent motion of his hands he sent a signal over the TV’s to the outside world where Wr3n would pick it up.
Retrieve what was left of Michael.
That bot may be useful.
It was then he noticed something floating behind the fox girl’s backs.
His eyes narrowed as he saw the two cable tails that he must have overlooked before.
“Curious...?”, RTV spoke slightly confused.
He leaned closer, his face looking from one of them to the other before looking back at the cable tails.
Usually he wouldn’t make such a fuss but, well, given the current situation he really didn’t need mode surprises.
."Hold on there. Did you have a tail before?", he now addressed Rayas.
No answer, just a nervous glance.
Hm.
RTV now floated a few yards back, turning his hack as mumbled to himself.
Things like these would have been nice to be informed about beforehand just in case they turned out to be important later.
He for once did not trust the current development of this pair at all.
Better finally get to the point before another crazy person shoved their first on his screen.
He now turned back to the group, letting his gaze wander.
His eyes briefly narrowed at SMG4 before halting at Animsay.
Without TV.
Hold on, when did she get here, didn’t he tell Swag-
Ugh, useless bunch.
No matter if SHE was in control now, it just meant she was more vulnerable.
He would shove that TV back on soon enough.
A change in SMG4’s posture made him flick his head back to him.
Don’t do it.
An arm was slowly pulled back.
Don’t.
Teeth were gritted.
Then suddenly the meme guardian lunged forward with the help of Animsay giving him an additional push.
“Tsk.”
RTV raised an arm, easily blocking the hit, before pushing SMG4 back, sending him flying back with a bloody nose where his speed was halted by Animsay grabbing him by his hoodie.
A measly attack but the spark had been given.
Now the other people lunged forward as well, weapons were drawn.
“Morons…”
Moving a gloved hand in front of his shield, he caught the bullets that the monochrome menace Aspen now shot at him, before sending the flying back, sending some of the participants to take cover.
He sized down again to avoid playing the big target, dodging to the side as a row of purple crystals suddenly flew towards him, though not in time.
Three crystal shaped holes were left in his coat.
His gaze went up to the white masked girl who had moved slightly away from the dragon who was making circles around them, waiting for the chance to attack.
There was something oddly familiar about this one.
It hit him when she dashed forward, Sci now joining her side for a united attack.
Diving under a fist with makeshift knuckles, he grabbed Sci by the collar, tossing her to the side, to quickly switch around to avoid a kick from the masked girl.
He frowned at the crystals now charging up behind her again, as his eyes narrowed at the familiar three dots on her mask.
Lari…
Well, obviously not the version he got to know, but how ironic.
“It looks like we are simply MEANT to cross paths.”, he now spoke out loudly, before snapping his fingers. “Allow me to get RID of that though.”
The crystals suddenly disappeared as he blocked her magic from usage in the dimension, making Lari’s hair stand up in alarm as she quickly slipped back into defense.
A clawed black and red hand.
Grinnames now joined in as well, taking Lari’s place, her two tentacles slashing towards RTV who quickly pushed himself back to avoid being hit.
Now there were too many.
Sizing back up again, he now shielded himself from the spikes that were aimed in his direction by the dragon shifter, the metal object getting stuck in the metal palm, before he used it to mow it down in the group that quickly scattered to avoid the hand.
Ganging up on him?
Only fair if he brought someone else in too.
“NIRA!”, he called out, prompting the squirrel who had watched from the sidelines to stand up again.
A few people turned their head towards her for a second, but quickly focused back on RTV who used the chance to snap his fingers again.
Slowly but surely, some of the TV’s on the walls started to grow bodies as well, static displaying for a second before changing to the standard Puzzles face.
Pushing away from the walls, they now turned their attention towards the participants, attacking each one in nearest sight.
In the meantime Nira now removed her gloves with a quick motion of her hands, leaving them to float in the dimension, before ducking and then jumping from the TV she stood on towards the group, hands stretched out.
“Wha-”
Seeing the squirrel coming from the corner of their eye, a few of the fighters among them Grinnames and Nia managed to quickly move to the side with the help of their tentacles and wings, but were instead hit by RTV whose hand sent them flying against the wall of the dimension.
Nira now instead landed with her feet on the TV heads other hand, ability ineffective on the non organic material and then launched towards the next best person that was unlucky enough to be in their vicinity.
In the next second Sci felt small black hands touching her face.
Another second later her body went slack, eyes rolling back as she lost consciousness and her previous movement turned into an uncontrolled spin, prompting her to hit Lari who had been standing next to her, sending her floating back.
Right in front of RTV’s loaded finger gun.
There was an electrical crackle and yelp, followed by a growl from the Razorwhip that had circled further down below.
Electrical burn marks ran over Lari’s neck and arm as she was quickly dragged by Marie by her now slightly singed clothes out of RTV’s sight.
Just in time the masked girl managed to raise an arm to avoid a hit to the chest.
Even in the TV dimension they didn’t grant him a hit, did they?
RTV scoffed, before turning his attention back to the others, Nira now landed back on his shoulder, careful to put hands on his metallic parts for stabilization.
Ready to send her to take out other participants with her help, he now raised an arm again, only to halt as a loud sneeze could be heard, the TVs around them switching image to that of Rayas, traveling along each screen to the infinite end of the dimension.
Almost immediately RTV realized what was happening.
That brat was hijacking HIS channels!
“Keep them busy.”
Letting Nira hop off his shoulder, he now sped downwards, coat floating behind him as he located the Rayas..
”YOU TWO!”
A dangerous look settled on his face as his eyes flickered between the doubles.
"Never quite gave you much attention... but now you have it. YOU two peaked at my curiosity."
His sized up hands now seized them both, scooping them up.
Not minding the attempts at escape from one of them, he then gave the crowd a glance, they were still busy with his clones and Nira, before moving further away.
“Curious... Never thought to find some interesting people, I should have kept a close eye on.”
When he started this tour he had expected some oddities, sure but not of this scale.
He tilted his head slightly at the pair.
"Hiding your talents, fox-thing...Robo-fox-girl...? Doesn't matter what you are. And no need to say your name, my dear... um... dears?,", he huffed.
What even were they?
There was a person behind the 4th wall with connection to them no doubt.
But these…were they more character like him or pretending to be?
Well, either way, they made a horrible mistake.
"Here... My head. My rules."
RTV now gestured to his head and then the area around.
Another scoff almost escaped him as they nodded.
So willing to go along and for what?
To hijack his TVs behind his back.
Sneaky and sly like the appearance they took.
“EXACTLY, Here, I can do everything as I see fit. You saw all that for sure, yes?"
Another nod.
It was starting to piss him off.
His grip slightly tightened at their lack of response.
"Though... only I can do everything...", his voice lowered a little, smile getting a dangerous edge as he now turned back around to the chaos.
"ENOUGH!!!,"
With slight satisfaction he noted that the others were struggling several people fighting against the clones that held them, others circled.
SMG4 among them.
The meme guardian’s already stressed face turned to one of alarm as he noticed RTV’s grip around the girls.
"Now, ALL OF YOU!”, RTV continued, getting the remaining people’s attention before switching back to a faked calmer tone.. "You had all your fun here enough. CONGRATS! You and your abilities, resourcefulness, teamwork and... sneaky... unheard talents.”
A glare in Rayas direction, grip slightly tightening again for a second.
“I 'm impressed... well, half, Impressed."
"H-Hey, leave them all alone," SMG4 now spoke up, panic apparent in his voice. "It's me you want!"
Alone the look in his eyes told RTV that he knew exactly what he was about to do.
"Hm... perhaps a little too late, dear SMG4. The fault of one is the fault of all of them. Besides, THIS kind of behavior is exactly why I'm not letting you go."
Tense silence followed, he could see SMG4 searching for an argument only to realize that his words were mere entertainment to the TV head.
"Again... as for... you two," RTV directed back at the fox girls, "Do you think that little stunt was to show me up?"
The anger had slipped back into his tone, a head shake was the response.
Did they not realize how far he was willing to go?
They could at least make the effort to defend their case.
Convince him as to why he shouldn’t break them apart right now.
"Hm... not much of a talker? And even after back at the Film Department? Now... people as high as I, have their secrets, and you two are the first in line to hear it.", he taunted, now moving them towards their audience. "Well... My secret?”
His screen turned completely dark, with only a bright white realistic toothy smile on it.
"Sometimes... QUIET PEOPLE PISS ME OFF!"
With that his grip tightened, noticing with sick satisfaction how they started to panic.
Though not for long as one of them suddenly started to grow in size, breaking free from his grip.
Really?
REALLY?
"W-What. Are. YOU???", he growled, his surprise giving the double the advantage to now grab the other Rayas out of his grip, starting to dash away.
In the corner of the eye he noticed the other participants now starting to free themselves again as well, but his focus was now on that one pair of troublemakers that just didn’t want to accept the role he had given them.
That of the fools that got themselves killed.
With a motion of his hand, he ordered some of the smiley clones to chase after them, watching with narrowed eyes how they glided just a little close to the wall.
“Idiots…”
With a sudden motion he retreated back into his TV head only to reappear right out of a TV the two Rayas now passed by.
With a fluid motion he tackled the pair, sending both in different directions, before loading his gun, zeroing in on the one right in front of him.
In contrast to Lari though, this one wouldn’t be able to shield in time.
A sudden motion from the side and the shot went right through the chest and back of the other Rayas that had suddenly moved in front of her double, shielding her and inevitably taking the full force of the shot.
Blood could be seen floating out of the wound, before she crashed right into the TV behind her with incredible force, breaking it into pieces.
Great, another thing to fix.
"No... 'REAL MEEEE'!!!!!!!”
Oh, so this was the real one?
Not that he could tell given the exact same moronic actions.
He now remained still for a moment, listening to others' cries, outrage, whatever for a person they’ve known since not even a day.
"56 now...,”, he now drawled, letting the terror sink in as he lowered his hand.
“I-It's been nice... meeting you all. T-thanks, for the tour....,", the apparently Real Rayas now managed to get out, holding her irreparable wound. "'O-Other... you,... You better return home in my place, yes?,"
She then went limp, finally letting go of that damn umbrella.
Crossing his arms, RTV counted the seconds for the soup opera to set in.
Shouldn’t take too long.
"'Real'... 'REAL'?!,"
He cringed.
'Real... No... Please... What am I going to do?"
The TV head held himself back from a sly reply,because he really had a lot of answers to that question, but hey why not let her spiral?
Grief worked better in his favor when it wasn’t immediately turning into rage.
"This feels wrong... Replacing the original? This... has to be a dream? It has to…”
He observed how she connected her tail to the other with no result.
A few more sad mutters.
Until, of course, her attention was turned back to her friend’s? Sister’s? Killer.
Hah, killer.
Like they didn’t bring this on themselves.
He gave the people behind the screen a chance and they messed up, but this.
This foolish little plan.
That was all them.
A double disappointment.
“Do you realize... how she was enjoying the tour?”
Ah, the attempt to make him feel guilt.
If he did, he wouldn’t have gone through with this in the first place.
Why feel guilty for the consequences to stupid actions?
"Seeing her memories... So many good things... How....."
A sniffle.
More waterworks.
“How she learned to grow, how it took her a long time to adjust and make friends, despite being on the spectrum…”
She now placed a blanket on her other, well now dead self, holding her close.
"She enjoyed all the departments... getting a compliment for how she looked... how she interacted with the SMG3 Gang... Oh. The last time she saw the latter,... was that they were a lot... happier than before she met them. Did... did she do something more special?... Like the green drink, the peculiar game, or the anime she was given the honors to pick? Was she …like a second Axol, to them?"
Who the hell was Axol?
More sobbing, some people getting closer, attempting comfort.
He was tempted to finally break this up when she spoke again.
“She... she...,", Rayas now looked back up at RTV. "She even cleaned your clothes when you were down..., and not even once, attacked you physically. She never had the intention to, b-because-"
If RTV had real teeth, he would have gritted them by now.
As if they didn’t just hijack his TVs in an attempt to no doubt overthrow him.
DEFEAT him.
"...S-she was just a visitor, wanting to enjoy it all. Have a good time. And she did... Now she's gone... all that is left is a carbon copy... Knowing her, do you know what she would say... after what happened? Since I'm her...,", she paused, sniffing one more time before sniffing. "Mr Puzzles, I forgive you."
To the ones that were not only focused in his face with a very barely restrained calm expression, could eventually notice him ball his fist.
Oh, forgive him?
Like HE was in the WRONG?
Like they weren’t the ones messing everything up?
He was being forgiven when THEY should be begging for forgiveness?
What a joke.
Yeah, no, he was about done.
“It was her great day... It was a great day…”
RTV wanted to laugh, he really did, but he couldn’t even force one right now with the rage boiling up inside him again.
“It was indeed a GREAT day…until someone had to mess it up. Shame.”, he now spoke instead, voice apathetic.
Time to put an end to this.
“ENOUGH OF THIS SOB STORY!”
RTV suddenly seized up, looming over all participants, hand grabbing TV’s on the side with such force that dents were left behind.
“You think you can BEAT me here? In MY world?!”
He now pointed a finger at the dead Rayas.
“THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU!”
He let out a cackle that slowly turned lower and lower until his screen switched to a cold sneer.
“You’re right. Why TALK it out when you can FIGHT it out?”
His gaze landed back on the second Rayas, unmoving.
Well, no turning back now.
He would have to take the risk and after that…
Everything would be fine.
It would be like nothing ever happened.
A perfect end to a tour that should never have happened.
A small smile now settled on his face, as he slightly bowed down, hand on his chest.
“Well, it appears you’ve made your decision and I’ve made MINE.”
He snapped his fingers, electricity lighting up at his fingertips.
“56 participants to go.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Sorry, but I’m not hiring for a movie sequel. This ends here and NOW.”
In the meantime the clones had used the chance to surround the group, now loading finger guns or tackling people.
Most managed to slip through but some were unfortunate enough to be caught or lightly hit, getting flung against the TVs.
The clones were acting much more brutal than before.
There no longer was anything holding them back.
“This isn’t working!”, C!Animsay hissed who had quickly taken cover behind a TV to avoid a clone turning her into mush.
Her eyes glanced over to the TV’s, before she shook her head.
Searching for Channel 999 was literal suicide right now with the new amount of chaos.
“We need to enter the channels, we are literally sitting ducks here!”, she now meant to SMG4 who was next to her, only to realise that he wasn’t even listening.
The blood was still slowly dripping out of his nose, as his eyes stared empty into space.
No doubt still stuck on Rayas death not a few minutes ago.
As horrible as it was, this was not the time.
Rolling back her sleeve, C!Animsay raised a hand-
-and gave SMG4 a hard slap to the face.
SMACK!
“Agh!”
The meme guardian held his cheek, before glaring at her.
“What was that for?!”
“Get it together, man! We need to get the people out of here and into the channels!”
“Into the- you think it’s better in there?!”
“Dude, look around!”
SMG4 gave the chaos a glance and his shoulders slumped.
“Yeah…okay, but I did this before. It didn’t work, he just caught us again at Channel 999.”
That’s true, they never won at that part.
C!Ani took a deep breath.
“Still, we have better chances there than here.”, she argued, putting a hand on SMG4’s shoulder. “You can’t save her, but you can still help save the others.”
“...you’re right I got them into this. I need to get them out.”
Not exactly what she meant to achieve, but good enough.
Nodding at one another, they then took out in separate directions, to make people aware of the next change in plan.
It turned out people didn’t need much convincing, Rayas and Michael’s deaths, in addition to the sheer new brutality at hand made it pretty clear that they needed to get out of there.
The people now started regrouping, one with Animsay, the other with SMG4 as they now moved towards a TV.
Only for RTV to show up right between the two groups.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
A hand snatched forward, grabbing SMG4 out of the air who immediately started fighting like his life depended on it.
Which it did because the grip became crushing in the next second.
“Running from consequences again, Four?”, RTV taunted. “Why don’t you just give up? Maybe it will finally stop people’s lives from getting ruined- AGH!-”
RTV quickly retreated his hand as a ray from an all too familiar EMP gun hit his hand, causing it to fall slack and releasing SMG4.
Almost immediately RTV snapped around, glaring at Astro who had pointed the gun at him, now aiming for the screen.
However, he quickly aimed it to the side as every single clone had now snapped it’s head around to them.
“Ah, f*ck.”
While Astro now got busy aiming the EMP at one clone after another, the two groups used the chance to quickly enter the TV they were the nearest to, disappearing in the channels that were just on.
Click.
Click.
Astro cursed as they realized that the EMP gun had to charge again, instead resorting to just hitting against the nearest clone that reached out for him.
There was a loud bonk and crack as said TV clone now flew back with a broken screen.
Astro grinned before noticing that the original had used the time to charge up his other still functional hand, pointing it at them now.
“55.”
Just as Astro saw the blue projectile coming towards them a hand latched through the screen behind them, quickly pulling them in.
Astro felt the familiar feeling of being pulled through the portal, stumbling as they suddenly landed on grass, falling on their back.
“Ugh…
The portal they just came to had disappeared, no trace of the hellish TV dimension left.
Instead, Astro now found themself looking into a blue sky…
Wait, was that an axe?
They sat up next to the rest of the group, among them SMG4, Marie, Lari, Loyboo, Nia and Lilith, Hairball, Creature and Orion and Aspen.
All of them surrounded by vikings.
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
Part 2 Will be in reblogs soon once I finished editing it
Special thanks to @michaelscorneroftheinternet, @scimagic and @astro-vision-au for helping me out with the Control Room scene :D
With each part it seems to get longer sjsjs
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
The head of security watched with exasperation as the participants tied in their vote, now splitting up into two groups.
One that wanted to help the boss and get him to the Health Department, whether that be out of self preservation or actual concern and the other wanting to manually disable the lockdown by going with him to the Control Room in the Security Department.
The fact that most in this group were people he noticed weren’t too fond of Puzzles wasn’t lost on him.
Now he had to additionally babysit the troublemakers and make sure they didn’t get themselves killed.
Well…he kind of asked for it by suggesting this option.
[Sigh…]
Letting the groups form, he kept watch over the crowd, noticing how some were pretty spooked by all this.
His gaze momentarily fell upon the one eyed creature, before gazing over to Harley, or well, her doppelganger who was currently at least being cheered up by the fox girl, Rayas.
What a mess.
The object head’s gaze now lifted up to the cameras, knowing that Wr3n was watching.
By now he probably marked everyone that was ready to join Lucian as a threat, him included.
Though now with several people…well, they had more of a chance at getting this lockdown lifted than he had alone.
It didn’t change the fact that he was scared.
Shit, he was scared.
“Hello Mr.Lucian…”
Snapping out of his thoughts, he now turned to look at the ghost-like dragon that had always kept to the end of the group.
The one his hand had phased right through.
“I don't know if you heard me but... I can help.... If you want me too anyways..... I can teleport Mr.Stars if I had a map…”
[Ah?]
“You can do that?”, Lucian questioned, considering the offer for a second, before shaking his head, raising a hand. “Appreciate it, but I would rather not risk it with Wr- the AI around. I don’t think it would approve of me giving the boss alone in the hands of a stranger.”
Or anyone really.
He now waved over to the unconscious TV head.
“Besides, the boss ain’t exactly light…or small.”
He still gave the ghost a thumbs up.
“Thanks for the offer though.”
Back to observing…
Lucian was used to taking lives, not saving them.
Suddenly everyone was relying on his guidance, the responsibility was on him.
He already failed at being a responsible brother to Colores, now the load of having to protect her had multiplied by about fifty.
If he messed this up…
Taking a deep breath, Lucian ran a hand down his neck, trying to calm his nerves.
Shooting people point blank, fighting to the death, all good, but this managed to upset him this much?
When did he start growing a conscience?
The object head halted, as two people approached him now.
It was Rayas, Harley 2.0 with her.
Get it together, Lucian.
“‘should have seen this coming.”, he now spoke in a more hushed tone. “ But bad timing nonetheless, because, as far before SMG4 came and shot my boss, some of you... were very nice…”
It was the truth.
When Puzzles first suggested this, Lucian was preparing for far more trouble.
After all, the people his boss had appealed to weren’t exactly…trustworthy.
A hum of Rayas was the only response he got.
It didn’t matter.
Lucian was just rambling, really.
Using his chance to briefly take his mind off the situation.
"You don't ever let go of that umbrella do you? Or the stuffed toy you got?", he now asked, nodding to the things the fox girl was holding. “And that blue puzzle piece on your tie... you have autism? Just want to make sure if I'm correct. All this must be too much for you..."
A little thing he noticed before.
“I do.”, Rayas confirmed, before looking back at the crowd.
Not much of a conversationalist though he didn’t blame her.
A few seconds later she walked off to join Nira with RTV, helping to get off the hair and sticky notes that someone managed to put on him.
Whoever it was, Lucian would like to shake their hand.
“Wise choice... And maybe a little extra credit for cleaning up the big boss. Alright, you can all leave to the Health Department to wake him up, and then wait what he will do to some of you who defended the fella SMG4."
Ah, and there was that confirmation that Wr3n was indeed still watching.
Time was ticking.
Lucian now took the moment to wave over Animsay, as well as Swag and Chris who had been standing at the side for now.
“Alright, I’ve been thinking.”, Lucian began, waving to the side.”It looks like we are splitting in two groups. I know the security department best, so I’m obviously going to lead that group. Chris, Swag, you guys should accompany Nira to the Health Department. I don’t wanna leave her on her own.”
The pair shared a look, before glancing back to Lucian.
“Are we sure we don’t wanna just arrest SMG4?“
“Taking SMG4 in is not an option. We don’t know half of these people's abilities and are heavily outnumbered.”, Lucian argued which earned a scoff from Swag.
“Begs the question why they thought that putting just us three on security duty was a good idea.”
“Well, I would say the boss put a lot of trust in the system than he ever did in us.”, Chris sighed, rubbing his neck as he looked over to the cameras. “It’s doing its job a tad too well though.”
“You don’t say…”, Swag sniffed. “Though again, why risk a manual override? We could also just carry the boss to Health and be done with it.”
“Mainly for everyone’ safety.”, Lucian answered, crossing his arms. “The group is splitting. Last thing we need is a fight amongst each other.”
He really hoped that these two wouldn’t make him trouble now, but he was already noticing that unbearable loyalty to Puzzles that he brainwashed into them.
They trusted him far more than Lucian.
“Plus”, Lucian added now and pointed discreetly at the cameras, “I’m not trusting an AI. Especially not when the only one with authority is currently down and it’s already acting out like this. So work with me here.”
Another shared look, then Swag sighed while Chris shrugged.
“I suppose you’re right…”
“Fine, but I’m not gonna get fired for this later.”
Lucian gave another thumbs up, as they now turned to join the group heading to the Health Department.
Now with that handled…
“You know, I could still come with you.”, Animsay now meant, having watched the whole exchange from the side.
[Hah.]
“I think we both know that’s a terrible idea.”, Lucian replied coldly. “He can take over when he wants to, can’t he?”
The small TV head, shrugged, that damn smile never fading.
“Wr3n mainly censors me, but yeah, he can. It’s mainly my host being affected though.”, she replied, lazily pointing at herself. “Though we could easily get rid of that problem.”
Tilting her head, she made an unplug motion with her hands.
Ah, hell nah.
As much as Lucian hated the whole situation with Animsay, as much as he felt for the true victim of her and that psychopath TV head, he wasn’t about to have loose cannon running the studio.
Right now, he could still defend his actions for acting in the interest of the participants, but if he disconnected the TV, he was going permanently on RTV’s bad side.
Not to mention, given her screen was still active, it meant that Wr3n did clearly listen in right now.
Might as well be a death sentence for him or Colores if he agreed to this.
“Wr3n is going to try to kill you either way.”
Right.
He forgot she had that uncanny trait of knowing people’s thoughts.
Lucian wasn’t too educated in the whole 4th wall thing she and RTV were involved in, but he knew he strongly disliked it.
“Yeah well, but this right now is his idea of a game session. If I free you both from his influence it’s going to be cut and dry termination. So no, this ain’t happening.”, Lucian responded, pointing a warning finger at her. “You’re going to Health and don’t even think about causing them trouble.”
Animsay just raised her hands in defense.
“Relax, Lucian. First of all, I don’t wanna piss half the people by cutting the story short and secondly, I’m just fine with going to Health. ‘just thought it would make things more interesting.”
“Just…go.”
“Fine, fine.”
[Ugh…]
Well, another thing handled for now.
Now to get Nira, maybe Nicknack too and then he could deal with the main problem, SMG4-
A white masked person suddenly popped up in front of him, before grabbing his shoulders.
“Lucian, pal, I’m so sorry for this mess, but-"
The object head’s hand halted over his gun holster as he recognized the peeson from before.
The one who gave him the drawing.
Her voice got as quiet as possible as all of her mask pupils independently scanned for anything suspicious nearby, then all of them turned back to him.
Freaky.
"We both know your only real chance of maybe being free from that, currently, CORPSE, is that bastard of SMG4-"
She removed one hand from his shoulder and aggressively pointed at the meme guardian.
"If he goes down, basically all your chances go down with him...So my apologies, but if there’s any opportunity to make RTV face the consequences, I have to take it."
Uh-huh, so that was her reasoning for standing up for SMG4?
Fair enough.
Lucian congratulated himself for the decision to shoo Animsay away because if Wr3n listened in on this, this multiple eyed individual may become the new prime target.
"Why the grudge against the boss anyway? If you don’t mind me asking.", Lucian now decided to ask while slowly looking at her hand that was still on his shoulder, making her look at it and immediately let go.
They weren’t this close for Lucian to be comfortable with that.
"Well...", the girl now slowly drawled.
Her mask eyes blinked as she seemed to think for a moment, while her hair slowly turned back to normal.
"Uhh, how do I explain-" She lightly tapped her mask with a finger, then widened her eyes and boldly said, "You know how there’s "love at first sight "?”
[Huh.]
“Think of this as the opposite, "hate at first sight."
Ahhhh, for a second he thought this was going to go in a different direction.
He couldn’t help but cackle slightly, despite his stressed mood.
"I wish you luck with the man, cause I suppose I’m already screwed.", the girl now meant, prompting a shrug from Lucian as his amusement slowly faded away.
"You’re not the only one.”, he sighed.
The girl replied to that with a quick salute and teleported again, appearing nos a bit further away next to that dragon shifter with the previously red eyes, who seemed to give her a side-eye.
So she just came here to talk to him, huh?
Weird kid.
Nice to know someone cared though.
Unfortunately, it just made him feel even worse for her being stuck in this situation.
Now, where was he?
Right, getting the rest of the staff together.
Their only health department member was currently busy somewhere else and only now Lucian noticed the slight commotion.
For example the fact that there were now two versions of Rayas, one carrying the sickly looking other.
What the hell….
“Nira? What’s going on?”, he now asked the white squirrel, as he walked over to her.
“I don’t know.”, the nurse sighed. “Looks like we will have two people to carry to Health now.”
“Right, right…”, Lucian sighed in resignation, wondering why he was even surprised anymore. “Well, it seems like your group is ready to go. Animsay, Swag and Chris are heading with you. I assigned the latter one as help and just in case something comes up.”
“Ah…alright!”, Nira replied, before flashing Lucian a slightly concerned look. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“No turning back now.”, Lucian meant, nodding over to the other group. “I’m pretty sure they would head out even if I take a step back.”
With a small sigh, Nira agreed.
“Alright, but if anything goes wrong, you know where to find me! I’m going to try my best and get the boss back up so he can fix this mess!”
With a wave, she then quickly hurried over to her group.
“Good luck…”, Lucian muttered.
Out of the corner of his vision, he then spotted a certain individual with a cap walking by.
“Whoa- hey!”, SMG4 exclaimed not a second later as he was suddenly grabbed by Lucian and pulled right face to face.
Or rather face to sign.
[Fr?]
“Are you trying to dip on us right now, buddy?”, Lucian laughed, but it wasn’t an amused one. “Seriously?”
“I was not!”, SMG4 defended himself, ripping himself out of the object head’s grasp before shooting a glare. “I was going to join your group!”
Somehow, Lucian had trouble believing that.
“Good.”, he still said. “Because if you don’t at least try to help me fix this then I retract my previous statement of this whole hunter and prey thing between us not being personal. You betray us and I take Option 1.”
“...noted.”
[Great.]
Lucian pointed two fingers at him, then at SMG4, before raising his voice.
“Nicknack!”
He figured taking one staff member that wasn’t too loyal to Puzzles with them, may be the best choice.
Plus, he doubted Nicknack wanted to be around that guy anyway when he woke up.
☆
CRASH!
“You know, If you had asked nicely I would have opened that door for you.”
Wr3n commented as Swag kicked the locked door in, allowing both groups to now walk outside.
“See you on the other side.”, SMG4 heard Lucian say to the Health group, before taking the lead, now stepping out onto the hallway and then taking a right turn.
Here it goes.
To say that SMG4 felt very out of place, was an understatement.
How did he go from undercover spy to assassin to reluctant ally in a few minutes?
Just his usual luck, he supposed.
Usually, he would shake his head about it and then move on, but that was a bit difficult to do when you were surrounded by people who probably did not like you very much.
Really, the only people who he semi-trusted to be on his side, he didn’t know why but he also didn’t complain, were those doubles of the Lari and Marie he knew.
Honestly, he had been surprised when they stood up for him like that.
He wondered why though…
Glancing to the side, he accidentally locked eyes with a very grumpy looking individual now.
In the shut off dark hallways, she glowed slightly, her colorful eye narrowing at SMG4, no doubt having caught him nervously looking around him the entire time.
“It’s rude to stare.”, she now grumbled in a tone that SMG4 oddly reminded of Saiko when he caught her in an especially bad mood.
So yeah, this was a sign to quickly move on.
“Sorry…”, he muttered, now taking up on speed to put a distance between him and that scary employee.
Seriously, was everyone here like this??
“Well, since you proceeded onwards, I’m sure you already know the rules of tag. When I catch you, you’re out.”,
The voice of the AI now appeared again, filling the previous silence of the hallway.
“I think I already gave ya enough of a head start. So, I’m IT.”
“Here we go…”, SMG4 muttered, now balling his hands to fists as he tensed up, waiting for whatever was about to confront them.
Unfortunately, he had dropped his EMP Gun when one of the participants attacked him beforehand, so now he was left unarmed.
Gloomy, he stared at the one blonde participant in orange and blue clothing who was holding said gun in their hands now.
You look away one second and people stole your stuff.
Mickey would laugh at him for that later…
Right.
Beeg and Mickey.
The references that this AI made before could only mean he found them.
In fact SMG4 was sure this was how Puzzles figured out in the first place that he was among the group.
Now that the system focused on them, did that mean…?
No, no, Mickey was annoyingly resourceful, he had dodged death more often than any of them.
And Beeg was a menace that almost destroyed the world once.
No simple AI could take that one down.
He just had to survive this, regroup and then they would bail out this hell.
Yeah…
When the light suddenly started flickering, SMG4 was immediately back to reality, tensing up as the whole hallway completely lost light.
In the next second, the whole area had grown completely dark with exception for the glowing head and eyes of a few people.
“Stay calm.”, he now heard Lucian order, followed by the sound of him pulling his guns.
It was then SMG4 heard the sound of footsteps, coming from all sides.
Then, a bunch of turquoise lines started to light up all around them, revealing a bunch of oddly similar silhouettes.
They were surrounded.
☆
The walk to the Health Department meanwhile was going pretty calm.
Chris had taken the lead, with Swag trailing behind at the back, still as enthusiastic about the whole thing as he had been before.
Which meant not at all.
Like seriously, was he at least getting paid more for this?
Grumbling under his breath, Swag shot the people walking in front of him a glare from behind his sunglasses.
If everyone had just let them do their job, they wouldn’t even have to do this!
But noooo, someone always had to spoil the fun!
“Uhm…did the opposite hallways just go dark?”, he now heard one of the participants ask.
Swag now raised his gaze, looking over to a window in the hallway from which you could see over the courtyard and the opposite sector.
Sure enough, the entire part had just gone dark.
“HEY, CHRIS! YA SEEING THIS?!”, he now shoved a person with way too much fluffy pink and white hair to the side to get sight of his partner a few meters away.
The other security guard frowned at the volume, before glancing over to the window as well.
“Sure do…”
He now raised a finger, pointing at the middle part of the hallway, where the windows had been sealed off like in the Social Media Department.
“Looks like the others are having their hands full right now.”
“Well, we warned him.”, Swag shrugged, now motioning for Chris to continue on, who gave the window a last glance before sighing and moving on as well.
“‘suppose we did. Still, it doesn't feel right to let them do this. Let’s speed up the pace, alright?”
Rolling his eyes, Swag obliged, now walking next to the people that were carrying the ones in need of the Health Department.
The security guard gave the fox girl and her double she was carrying a quick glance.
Yeah, he wasn’t even going to question that.
Weird shit.
His attention instead now turned to the people helping to carry Puzzles, that manic woman he had previously held back among them, as well as the red bunny bot that he saw hanging out with that fish girl and the creepy smiley dude.
Needless to say, Swag did not trust her around his boss.
“Let him drop and you’re all in even bigger trouble, got it?”
Especially since he could actually stand the guy.
Swag didn’t know why but he just clicked with the guy, even if he knew exactly how exasperated the guy was with him sometimes.
Part of his charm, he supposed.
“You know, they are about to be in real trouble.”, Animsay now spoke up, much to Swag’s dismay. “The other group I mean.”
“And how do YOU know that?”, he barked, before scoffing. “What’s up with you anyway? First you are gone out of nowhere, then you conveniently show back up for this shitshow!”
The TV head chuckled.
“Wouldn’t you like to know, weatherboy.”
Swag’s eye twitched.
Man, he missed the times when he could just shoot people.
“I was just on a vacation though, somewhere down.”, Animsay now added.
Another screen glitch.
“Anyway! Wr3-”
Another glitch.
This time Swag noticed, Animsay’s hand briefly twitching towards her neck.
“-the system mentioned a vermin problem. SMG4 has been running with the rat recently, right? Do you think he’s also in the building?”
What was up with this one?
Though she did bring up an interesting point.
“Mickey Mouse? Heh, if he’s in this building I would love to make a personal introduction.”, Swag grinned, partying towards his gun holster. “Little shit cancelled too many good series.”
“Too true…”
☆
The way to the Health Department wasn’t too long with it being relatively close to Black A and therefore the exit.
However, as they crossed the corridor that led back to the entrance arsa, it was shut off tight, giving an eerie outlook of what could have been had they voted for making a run for the exit.
“Just in case this doesn’t work out. Anyone here strong enough to break through those steel gates?”, Swag threw the question into the room, earning a disapproving glance from Chris.
“Swag…”
“What? I’m just saying, we don’t exactly have confirmation that the boss is gonna wake up and Lucian is right, this AI ain’t exactly the most trustworthy so far! What is it with it basically doing our job anyway? I mean why hire us…”
Maybe it stung a bit, the idea of having such little trust put into you.
“I mean, right now it seems like the system is just jumping in when something as drastic as this happens.”, Chris replied, waving over to the unconscious Puzzles. “I don’t think we need to worry about our jobs.”
“Hah! I’m not worried!”, Swag laughed, though he internally cursed.
Chris knew him a tad too well by now.
“We are there.”, Chris simply announced, before putting his hands on his hips to stare at yet another steel gate blocking their way. “Well, that’s a problem.”
Ah, come on!
Swag groaned, before looking up to the nearest camera.
“HEY! AI GUY! WHAT GIVES?!”
A second later the camera now turned into their direction.
A moment later the familiar voice of Wr3n could be heard.
“Ah, you’ve already arrived. My bad, I locked this area off to avoid getting the troublemakers in.”
Troublemakers as in plural?
Who else was working with the mou-
Oh right, that psychotic blue egg.
How could he forget?
“I will open the area for you now. I suggest you keep to the plan.”
Swag was tempted to reply with a “Or what?”, but he swallowed it down for the sake of not wanting to end up being carried into the clinic next.
The gates now started sliding open, giving way to a double door that led into a circular room along which different patient rooms were divided from the room through curtains.
There were also a few actual doors, leading to the equipment that the staff that worked here needed.
A small side hallway straight forward leads on to the offices.
“Alright, no staring, the tour part is over!”, Chris now ordered, pulling back a curtain, revealing an empty room with a medical bed.
This was one specifically made for the taller employees among their staff.
Next room one would find a comically small medical bed as well that Swag couldn’t help but make fun of everytime he was fated to visit here.
“Put the boss on there. Nira, get to work.”, Swag added as bluntly as usual, waving over to Chris.
He then looked over to the fox girl doubles, before waving to the many rooms around them.
“Take a pick. Boss is first in line for medical treatment though.”
A small motion out of the corner of his eyes made him snap around, but as he looked towards the entrance, he could see nothing.
Huh.
What a day, he was hallucinating already.
Leaning against the wall next to the doors, he then kept an eye on the crowd.
At least they seemed to behave well right now.
That ghost-like dragon and the one eyed cat-like creature, the ball of hair and the red bunny robot for example didn’t seem like much trouble.
Now, as much as he enjoyed the brown haired woman throwing a punch at SMG4, he was not trusting someone that hysterical and that cyborg guy with the broken arm seemed a bit too happy to strangle the meme guardian.
Speaking of that one…
Hey, how did they get here?
Narrowing his eyes, Swag watched them walk over to join his boss and Chris now, making a mental note to keep an eye.
That one seemed like a slippery snail.
He would prove he could do this job.
Stay extra vigilant.
Swagmaster was not an idiot.
☆
Some time ago, when visiting the lower levels, Wr3n had hinted to Lucian that RTV was thinking about involving him more in the studio’s daily life.
A week later, Lucian got a new security guard.
A seemingly human guy with black hair, always wearing a fedora hat that covered his eyes, sharp teeth, weird tattoos below his eyes.
The name was Unus Iecit.
Very subtle.
Now, Lucian was of the opinion that this undercover robotic host would be the end of Wr3n’s involvement.
Apparently he had misjudged RTV once again.
Looking around him and the group, he spotted not one, not two, but at least ten or more instances of Iecit, now circling them.
That damn TV head had mass produced them.
Probably hid them away in the lower levels until Wr3n brought them up just now.
The tattoo below the hidden eyes glowing up in turquoise, the same line that could be found on Wr3n’s avatar, on Animsay’s screen…
Nothing could be easy, could it?
He let out a low chuckle, before taking a deep breath, firing two shots with his guns right at one of Wr3n’s puppets in front of him.
The bullets buried themselves in the neck and the chest.
The bot slightly twitched, Lucian taking notice how the bullet in the neck seemed to be the main cause.
Bingo!
“Aim for the necks!-”
In the next second he quickly had to sidestep, as the same bot, the ones standing next to him included, now pounced at him.
Something metallic flashed in the dim light of his neon head.
[Gun.]
Before Wr3n could draw the gun though, a purple crystal buried itself in the bot’s arms which it had just raised in time to avoid it hitting the head instead.
All three bot’s heads now snapped over to the white masked individual with glowing eyes, hair standing up as she summoned another row of crystals.
“Lucian, duck!”
The object head immediately ducked, rolling to the side to avoid getting hit by the crystals as well that now flew towards the bots, taking one out by impaling its throat.
The other two however simultaneously moved out of the way, now drawing guns as well, now focusing on their new opponent.
Their bullets however were deflected by a metallic like wing that now moved in front of Lari to shield her.
Marie, realizing that avoiding this fight was no longer an option, had shapeshifted into a Rhazorwhip.
In dragon form, she now flashed her teeth, before using her sharp tail to whip the bots against the wall, managing to slice right through the arm of one, leaving it with a stump.
“Haha! Now that’s more like it!”
Lucian quickly got back to his feet when an axe nearly hit him, swung by the cat eared girl, Nia, who was busy fighting a respective bot off as well.
It was chaos.
The object head barely had a chance to recover before the next bot version of Wr3n attacked him from behind, wrapping his arms around him, trying to get him off balance.
“Not exactly the duel I imagined us to have, but I’m nevertheless glad we finally get the chance to brawl!”
“Speak for- yourself!”
While Lucian now got busy fighting off several bots that had focused on him, the rest of the group was facing the same problem.
Grabbing her necklace, Sci now transformed it into her trident, before stepping into her role as the Director’s bodyguard and forcing back a bot that had gotten a bit too close to her boss.
For a singular entity behind all these hosts, Wr3n sure seemed to want to fight everyone.
“Back off!”, she warned her opponent, who now stepped back with three holes in his abdomen.
Not that it did much damage when you weren’t flesh and blood.
“Come on now, we are both just doing our jobs.”
Wr3n replied, a grin spreading on the bot’s face. “You protect your boss, I protect mine. So, take a stand.”
“How is this protecting your boss?”
The Siren quickly dodged to the side as Wr3n now kicked into her direction, before spinning around to grab the trident.
“I’m protecting his interest. I know who you are, SciMagic. You have a goal here, I just need to stop you from whatever it is!”
A test for strength now began as either party now tried to force the other back.
One frowning with gritted teeth while the other showed a toothy smile.
“Oh, you make a good rival.”
“Wish I could say the same.”
☆
Although most were somewhat coping with the fight in the dark, some were also barely managing.
SMG4 for example now found himself back to back with the same person that stole his EMP gun as well as the pink haired individual with long hair that was now shooting star like projectiles at their enemy, if with slight inaccuracy due to the missing light.
“You know you can actually use that gun, right?!”, SMG4 voiced to the thief named Astro apparently, who had so far made no effort to use the weapon against the three bots that were now surrounding them.
“How long does it take to charge?”
“Wha- I don’t know a few hours maybe??”
“Then no, I’m not gonna waste it yet!”
“DUDE WE ARE LITERALLY SURROUNDED!”
“Guys.”, Orion voiced, exhausted, before dodging a punch coming their way. “Less yelling, a little more action.”
Shooting the meme guardian a glare, Astro now used the gun instead to hit a Wr3n bot’s head with a loud clang and then kicking it in the guts or the robot equivalent of it, away from them.
“This is not going to hold them off!”, SMG4 argued, ducking under the robotic arm that was now grabbing for him, before using the weight shift to his advantage to throw the bot over his shoulder. “Use the gun!”
“I told you I’m saving it up!”
“BRO, IF WE DIE BECAUSE OF-”
He was cut off, as the bot suddenly got back up, tackling him.
In the next second, two cold hands wrapped themselves around his throat and squeezed, cutting off his air.
The black space of the bot where the eyes should be, seemed to stare into SMG4’s soul, as he tried to free himself to no avail.
“SMG4. It’s a shame, really, I was hoping I could reunite you with your buddies.”,
The AI spoke, tilting its head at the meme guardian’s briefly confused expression.
“No can do, I suppose. Don’t worry, I will take good care of the-”
Two pairs of tentacles suddenly hit the bot, sending him flying off SMG4, before they wrapped themselves around the neck and torso, ripping it clean in two.
Sitting back up, SMG4 wrung a hand around his bruised neck, before looking up at Grinnames.
“Thanks…”
However, he couldn’t really focus on his rescuer, as his gaze landed back on the upper half of the robot now lying broken next to him.
This wasn’t just an AI.
Wren.
☆
“Shit!”
Towards the end of the hallway, Nicknack, Harley and the Scammer had meanwhile discovered that the AI had shut off the doors to the next building section, leaving them now trapped with the bots that had followed them.
While Harley readied her grapple hook, Nicknack now took a step past her, forward.
She didn’t care if she put herself in danger.
What mattered was that the others made it out.
“Try to find someone who can lift this.”, she spoke to the blonde woman and the kid, before loading her finger gun, purple fire appearing at her finger tip which she now aimed at the bot.
Said robot immediately dodged to the side, before raising a gun, forcing Nicknack to immediately take cover by throwing herself to the side.
Almost immediately she then had to roll to her right, as a hand dug into the floorboards right next to her hand.
Quickly raising her finger, she now managed to land a hit on the bot’s face, temporarily blinding it and lighting up the surrounding area.
It was then quickly pulled back by a grapple hook.
That’s when Nicknack saw the other bot that had snuck up right behind the other.
In the next second all air was knocked out of her lungs as it kicked her against a wall with such force that she feared her insides were just turned into mush.
Coughing, she fell back on her knees, holding her stomach, before quickly looking back up to the AI that had now halted in front of her.
“Out of all here, you are by far the biggest disappointment.”
He now spoke with a sigh, playing with the revolver in his hand.
“Why are you still here, Nicknack?”
“What?”, the girl now replied, using the wall to get back on her feet.
“I mean, it’s so obvious to everyone that you hate the big boss.”
Wr3n continued, tilting his head at Nicknack’s frown, seemingly considering her reaction.
“Yet you are still here. Working. Miserable. Mouthing off until the threats fall. Everytime I watched you getting degraded like that, I thought: Now, now is the time she finally grows some guts to fight back. Ah well…”
The AI now raised his gun again, pointing it at Nicknack.
“Maybe a part of you even wishes for me to do this. I mean, stepping in front of others like that. That’s not your usual self preservation, is it? Or did you just give up?”
He didn’t wait for an answer, instead simply shrugging.
“I will do ya and everyone else the favor, partner. Miserable, moody employees make bad rep. But hey, at least ya went down with something that comes close to a fight.”
“That’s nothing against my rep.”
A gloved fist hit the bot’s face, as a neon sign head flickered back on, arms grabbing the bot's neck in the next second, starting to twist.
Lucian was covered in scrapes, his uniform having taken a toll from being dogpiled second ago, before Aspen and Lari had taken it upon themselves to take on the remaining bots.
First one having a surprisingly good aim that Lucian didn’t expect from that creepy grinning fella.
This bot right here, was now the last one remaining in this battlefield of parts and scraps.
And it fought like hell.
A fist managed to claw around Lucian’s head, temporarily forcing him to let go to avoid damage though he managed to knock the gun out of Wr3n’s hands, one of the participants quickly kicking it away from the fight.
Taking his remaining gun, the other had gotten lost somewhere in the brawl, Lucian now snapped around to finally end this-
-just to come face to face with his sister.
He froze, he couldn’t help it, the shock temporarily making him forget that it was impossible for her to be there.
That her image was weirdly flickering.
His awareness only started to slip back when he heard the warning shouts of the others, followed by a sharp pain, great pain as a blade of knife sliced along his side.
Immediately after, the bot was impaled by the neck, the gruesome image of Colores being the one instead flickering for a second, before the illusion failed and the bot deactivated.
Grabbing his side, Lucian now slightly staggered against a wall, muttering a heavy curse as he felt blood run down his side.
“Wow, I’ve got to say. I am impressed. You actually defeated me! One point to you!”
Shoving the pain and the clear danger coming with it to the side, Lucian now glanced up at the nearest camera.
“Open the damn door, Wr3n.”
Screw secrets, he was done.
Using his sister against him?
That slimy son of a gun.
Wr3n chuckled.
“You’re more than capable of that. Though, I gotta say, I’m not quite satisfied yet. How about another game?”
Lucian simply shook his head, before gesturing for the nearest capable person, in this case Grinnames, to help open the steel gate.
While he let her do that, Wr3n continued on, unbothered.
“Oh, I know! This one is a favorite of mine. The floor is lava in 120…119…”
The floor is lava?
How did he expect to do that one?
There wasn’t anything under the floor except…
[Oh no.]
“Guys…Guys, we need to move.”, Lucian meant, taking a deep breath as his side went up in flames as he now stepped forward. “Control room. NOW. That maniac is gonna fry the floor!”
Not offering any more explanation, Lucian slammed open the doors as soon as the steel doors were broken, running or rather walking as fast as he could down the remaining halfway towards the double door to the Security Department, opening all following doors to the control room as fast as he could.
“Go, go, go!”, he spoke through what sounded like gritted teeth, holding the door to the control room open.
Standing outside, watching anxiously as everyone started to get in one after another.
“40...39…38”
[Faster]
[Come on.]
Lucian raised his gaze as the lights started to flicker, a sign of Wr3n now taking access to the studio’s electricity.
Over the footsteps, one could just barely hear a humming starting up.
Please, Lucian begged internally, please just let him use it in this sector.
There was no way he would do this to the whole studio, right?
10…9…8…7..6…5…4…3…
“CLOSE THE DOOR!”
A loud bang could be heard as the metal door shut right behind the last person. For a second there was silence, before a loud electrical crackle could be heard just outside.
One more second and Wr3n would have fried them all on that floor.
“Would you look at that, you actually did it! Color me impressed!”
In the next second, the sound of the door locking could be heard. That psychotic piece of shit.
“Now stay there.”
Lucian felt like cursing Wr3n out properly, but he really didn’t have the energy for it right now. In fact, despite his weird anatomy, the blood was still supposed to remain inside the body. Right now, it was happily dripping out of the wound on his side onto the floor. He would deal with that in a second.
“Out of the way…”, he muttered, dragging himself over to the security panel of the big control room. Despite screens being everywhere, right now with RTV still out, it was safer than the other places. For once, Wr3n couldn’t fry the floor.
“I will have this lockdown lifted in a second..”
Starting to type on the keyboard, Lucian then pulled a lever. The distant sound of doors and locks opening back up could be heard and Lucian let out a relieved sigh. At least the others now had a chance to fix this. As for them…
”Lockdown is lifted., he now announced to the rest of the group, before letting himself slide down onto the floor, back against the panel. “But I can’t shut down Wr3n. Sorry, guys, we are the safest here.”
Sci meanwhile breathed heavily as she heard the pop and crackle outside the room, nervously gulping at the thoughts of what would've been. She didn't want to feel those shocks in her body again...
But there was no time to dwell on that.
She shook her head and looked back at Lucian on the floor with a worried frown.
Working quickly, the fish took off her vest and knelt right next to the object head, going to press the crumpled vest against his wound to keep that blood in.
"Don't be, you've already done a lot for us."
To the side of the room Astro tried to keep their breathing steady, as they faced away from the rest of the crowd.
"Are you okay?" , AV!Puzzles voice buzzed in their ear.
"fine" they muttered under their breath. "Im always fine."
They turned back to look at the crowd, their face showed anger rather then the fear it was just a moment ago
"Just what the hell was that?? I knew RTV was batshit but keeping some psycho ai running around? What the hell was he thinking?"
One hand gripped the EMP still tucked away inside of their jacket.
"Ohhh, when I get my hands on that overgrown walking bundle of wires hes gonna wish that blast put him out for good."
As they ranted, they seemed to not pay much mind to the poor object head that was bleeding out not too far from them.
While the rant continued on, nobody paid mind to the undercover TV host that now looked around the packed room with a huff.
Rolling his eyes he then squeezed his way past other participants before finding their way to the control panel.
An all too familiar grin stretched unnaturally on his puppet’s face as he took a good look at the panel to see what he was working with.
[…thanks]
Lucian’s head spelt out the word as Sci used her vest to stop the bleeding. It wouldn’t do much on the long way, but he appreciated it nevertheless. Unless of course, this was all just pretend to get a good favor. Who knew?
“I got you stuck in a room.”, he now gave back dryly. “Though I suppose everyone being alive is indeed a miracle.”
He sighed, leaning his back against the panel, as he heard Astro (?) going off.
“You can team up with SMG4 but please after we get out. Right now, that bundle of wires is our best way out. Wr3n is holding off on his accord.”, Lucian spoke up, glancing over to SMG4 who had retreated into a corner. He could still see him steal a glance to the panel though. “As for why Wr3n exists…well, the boss ain’t the most trusting and AI that you shaped into what you want, doesn’t revolt.”
He was way too tired to notice the Director nearing the panel or if he saw, he simply didn’t care.
He promised to Sci to hand out a chance after all.
"So now what? We just wait for a pissed off TV to come and kill us himself?", Sci asked, looking around the room to check on everyone else and see what they're doing. They all look shaken (save for her dear old boss) but alive at least...
“I doubt he’s gonna go through with killing all of us. Besides, if you have friends on the other side, well, we might just pull through.”, he tried to stay positive. “And he hates to stain his floors-“
He looked down at the already bloodied floor, before sighing.
“Nevermind that argument. Just try not to do anything to antagonize him further.”
"Yeah that's gonna be a hard thing to do, chief-"
The fish muttered to Lucian as she side glances the Director with a sneer.
"Oh i'd like to see that TV try anything, I swear when I get my hands on him-", Astro now started again, but got interrupted by the voice of his Puzzles in his ear.
"you aren't going to do shit." his voice rang through their ear piece.
"You aren't in our world anymore, you are at a disadvantage, so I suggest you do what it takes to stay alive, even if that means biting your tongue for once."
They paused before they let out a long sigh.
"Okay fine maybe I won't rearrange his circuits but im still going to give him a piece of my mind. Respectfully i've got enough of my own problems to deal with back home then to waste my time fighting off this menace with some resistance that so far has only caused more issues than has done good."
Their voice was low, barely audible, but the way they glared at Smg4 made it clear who they were talking about.
The director meanwhile tapped on their glasses before a little hatch opened and an Ethernet cable popped out.
He pulled it out as the long black cord attached to it follows before plugging it into the proper port giving both Michael and Scripted a more direct connection to the control panel as Scripted started scrolling through anything and everything he could find within the control panel's system.
Being sure to grab anything that caught his eye and directly transferring it to Michael's system.
[Ah.]
Lucian’s head slightly turned, now spotting the Director.
Hold up, what was he- ah right, digging up dirt.
“He may wanna watch out, I wouldn’t put it past the boss to rig this thing.”
Lucian’s attention was then diverted back to Astro.
“Agreeing with you there, but it ain’t my call to let you out of here. You’re stuck with us and him-“ he nodded to SMG4 who seemed slightly guilty, “-so deal with it.”
“Look, it wasn’t even my intention to set this whole thing off and I apologize, okay?”, SMG4 now spoke up, burying his hands in his hoodie. “Though…I think this whole thing is proof enough that Puzzles is a bit of a maniac. Might be something to consider…”
While the bickering continued, Wr3n was immediately notified of someone having accessed the system, if a bit too slow to stop the Director from taking the information.
The consequence of multitasking over the whole facility.
Still, as soon as the Director connected , Wr3n immediately took said connection to find a way into Michael’s system.
“Now now, partner, you are not supposed to have this. I hope you don’t mind me taking over.”
Wr3n began slowly to push the other person in Michael’s system aside, causing the bot’s glasses to flicker from the Puzzlevision logo to a turquoise line.
Within the bot Scripted tried to keep Wr3n out but is having little luck against the rogue AI.
"Oh absolutely not! Get out of here this instant!-"
"Pfft. As if just the Puzzlevision series alone wasn't enough proof that he is one."
Sci now rolled her eyes before paying attention back to Lucian and putting his hand on the vest.
"Press that tight," the fish muttered before patting his shoulder and standing up again, squeezing past a few people to get to the Director.
“…”, Lucian didn’t feel like conforming to the rest of the group that the Puzzlevsion series was more than just a simple movie series.
Just in case not all of them were as aware, he wasn’t going to bury himself in a bigger grave.
”Gotcha. ‘Don’t plan on kicking the bucket just yet.”, he sighed, before applying more pressure to his wound, tensing at the pain.
What a shitty day.
Back in Michael’s system, Wr3n meanwhile was nor backing off.
“Not happening. You accessed my system, this is the consequence, partner! I’m afraid you’re now officially kicked off the tour.”
Wr3n now gained control of the body, before slowly starting to lock Scripted out of the system. He opened Michael’s hands once, as a test, before the head moved over slightly to Sci as he saw her coming.
“Ah, your associate.”
Sci stepped up to the right side of the Director, leaning on the control panel as she looked at what they're doing without noticing the current symbol on their lens.
"Careful with whatever you're doing there. Might be rigged."
The AI quickly registered that Sci still thought him to be the intruder, meaning he has a chance at getting some more intel. An exchange of information.
Crossing hands behind his back as he had seen ‘Michael’ do over surveillance before, he now forced the mouth into a smile.
“You don’t say? No worries, I’ve noticed and safely avoided those traps.”
"Oh yeah? Found anything good?" Her voice lowered into a murmur as she looked back at the crowd to keep an eye out.
Gotcha.
Wr3n slightly tilted Michael’s head, lowering his voice as well.
“I think so. You wouldn’t believe the amount of dirt that guy is hiding, partner.”
He now nodded over to the group.
“Have you meanwhile figured out how to get us both out of here?”
The fish opened her mouth to reply, only for the words to die in her mouth and one of her fins to flick lightly.
She furrowed her eyebrows, still looking over the room as she frowned.
Hah... That sneaky bastard.
Sci sighed in light frustration, crossing her arms as she refused to look in the bot's direction.
"Nope, nothing yet... S'just a waiting game like Lucian said."
“Hm, you seem close.”
He noted, remembering how he watched them briefly exchange words beforehand.
He also didn’t fail to notice her caring for his wound just now. Wr3n was no stranger to Lucian being a loose cannon, hey that's what he loved about the guy, but it did make him wonder if the man wasn’t more involved in this.
“Puzzles should wake up soon. I doubt he will let us all die here despite his ego.”
She scoffed with a sneer.
Holy shit... Is this really supposed to be the guy she got traded off as a rival to? Come on.
"We're not close at all. Barely met the guy," the fish stoof up straight again as she talked, slowly and casually turning her back to the crowd as she finally looked over and met the bot's gaze with a nonchalant smile.
"Let's hope Puzzles doesn't wake up in a terribly bad mood then..." She leans in closer to her boss, touching shoulders with him as her gaze sharpens into a glare and her words turn into a low hiss only for him to hear.
"Partner."
The bot’s expression froze for a second, then the grin switched to a long smile, as Wr3n let out a chuckle.
“Whoops. Old programming dies hard.”
Stuffing hands in pockets, he now turned to meet Sci’s glare.
“Terrible mood or not, after what you just pulled, he will want you dead either way. Last words?”
She feigned a hum of consideration as she leaned away again.
"How about 'kiss my fishy ass'? Thinks it's cool enough to leave it on that cliffhanger?"
He let out an amused snort at that, pointing a finger at the Siren.
“You know, I like you a lot. This whole rival thing, I am still considering it.”
He made a step back, now pointing back at his host’s body.
“So in the shared interest of us both: How about I rephrase? Any last words to your friend?”
Her smile twitched down, a small sad furrow getting on her face before she closed her eyes and braced herself. Nodding slowly in resignation as she opened her eyes again.
Fucking hell, why couldn't he be more careful...
"... Guess just see you later... Sorry it had to be you again..."
”Tragic. This is not the first time this happened, huh?”
He now grabbed Michaeal’s one arm, tearing it from his shoulder with a ripping motion, before carelessly throwing it to the floor, not minding the eyes of the people that were now turning the attention to the noise.
”You know, looking at his memory, he does think rather highly of you. As a friend even.”
Wr3n chuckled, before grabbing into the mangled arm stump, ripping out a few cables and wires, causing one side of the body to go limp and have him lean on the panel.
”Yet you still allow him to meet such a fate several times. What kind of friend are you to save your own life but not his?”
Sci flinched as she saw the gruesome scene, closing her eyes momentarily with an even deeper frown as her fins fell flat and twitched with every horrible robotic sound.
Yet... her stance doesn't falter.
She may be visibly upset at the scene, letting her sorrow show in the form of flinches and small peaks at the mutilation, but she still stands cross-armed and tall, watching... and listening...
Feeling is not a weakness...
The Siren shakily sighed through her nose, side-eyeing the crowd through the corner of her eye before looking back at Michael. Not... Wr3n. Murmuring her words with resignation.
"... I never have a say in it..."
”Or maybe you are too much of a coward to speak up.”
Wr3n now moved the remaining hand to the jaw.
”It’s been fun, but I have to check on the other group as well. Bye.~”
With that he ripped off the jaw, before pointing two fingers against Michael’s head.
In the next second, the logo side of the glass went blank as Wr3n wiped Michael’s memory and executed a kill command.
The robot’s mangled body now slid off the panel, falling to the floor in a puddle of wires and oil.
Sci’s eyes sadly follow her friend's body as it fell, standing still for a long... quiet moment.
She could feel the eyes of the crowd burning in the back of her mind, and she felt like the pressure wanted to kill her right there and then... But she refused to let tears spill right now, ignored the compression in her chest as she finally moved towards the body.
Sci slowly leaned down, reaching to gently grab their glasses and close their now unlit eyes before standing back up again. The fish sucked in a breath and let it go to calm down, looking away from the robotic pieces as she stuffed the glasses in her pant pocket and turned to walk away from the scene.
The show must go on...
☆
Meanwhile, in the Health Department, most people had taken a seat on an empty bed or gathered to watch RTV getting fixed.
There was a brief confusion as the lights above them started to flicker, but then the people quickly understood what was happening as they heard several doors and windows unlock a few minutes later.
The lockdown had been lifted!
The others did it!
Back at RTV’s patient room, Lucas was doing the most work, having opened the back panel of the TV head and starting to fix up the wires with one hand.
Nira, skeptical at first, especially since Lucas was not a staff member nor seemed to be medically licensed, kept a close eye, occasionally offering some help.
They seemed to know what they were doing, so she was letting it slide for now.
Her main focus however was on the electrical burns around RTV’s neck that seemed to have happened due to the electrical malfunction of his head.
Cleaning the burns, she then put a bandage over it, before turning to Chris and Swag who were keeping a watchful eye.
About half an hour later, both finally took a step back from RTV.
“That’s all I can do for now. Everything else is up to-”
“He’s waking up.”, Lucas noted.
And surely enough, RTV had suddenly lifted himself up, TV head still black, cables hanging out at the back, as he straightened his back, looming over the group.
Then, the screen flickered on, showing a brief irritated expression, before it kept flickering from black to image.
The EMP had done some clear irreparable damage to his current head.
“...what happened?”
As if waiting for the cue, Wr3n’s voice now could be heard again, not giving the others a chance to explain.
“Welcome back, boss. You’ve been hit with an EMP by SMG4. Security has attempted capture but was hindered by the participants. A vote was being held ending in two groups. One to bring you to the Health Department and one to manually override my lockdown. Latter is currently being held by me in the control room.”
RTV remained still for a second, processing the information, before a flicker of his eyes told that he was scanning the group.
“What about SMG4?”
“Alive. For now. I’ve also unfortunately lost track of the other two intruders.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”, RTV scoffed, one gloved hand grabbing the bed as he now got up completely to his full 12ft height.
“Unfortunately, this cannot be said for everyone.”
RTV halted at that.
He did not.
“Elaborate.”, he now ordered, his tone sinking to a dangerous low.
“One unauthorized access to the system forced my hand. One terminated. Others have suffered injuries in my attempts to hold them from the unauthorized area.”
“Oh for the LOVE of-”, RTV muttered, regretting that he asked.
This wasn’t exactly something everyone here needed to hear.
“Terminated?”, Chris meanwhile repeated. “As in…dead?”
“Well, y-”
“Shut it.”, RTV ordered Wr3n, before sighing putting hands on his hips.
For a split second, he considered just taking out every tour member.
Staff was easy to fix with mind control.
The tour never was officially announced in his world.
It was possible.
…but it was also incredibly risky.
Even now, the meme guardian managed to ruin everything.
Every goddamn thing.
With a shrug, he now fixed up his coat, only now noticing that his bowtie was mixing.
He checked his pockets.
Everything was gone.
A dangerous look flashed over his damaged screen for a second.
“CLEARLY, need a more PERSONAL a more personal goodbye.”, he then hissed, eyes narrowing.
“Meaning…?”, Swag now spoke up again, a rare expression of discomfort on his face.
“Ah, no worries.” RTV laughed, now walking over to the security duo, patting their shoulders. “I just meant a THOROUGH talk about their behavior and me checking up why the system has someone marked as terminated. It’s not really supposed to be THIS overbearing. You understand?”
“...sure.”, Swag slowly drawled.
Chris seemed unsettled, but gave a curt nod.
“...wonderful.”
He suddenly snapped his fingers, Chris and Swag suddenly growing limp, their eyes filled out by static as he put them under mind control.
After this was done, he would have to give their memories a quick overwork.
All this was not worth the trouble at all.
“DAMN IT!”
A medical table flew through the air, crashing onto the floor in the next second, forcing Animsay to step aside before it hit her.
The TV head’s screen had changed to complete black again, as he now grabbed the nearest chair, about to haul it through the department next.
Back in the control room, his voice now started sounding through the intercoms as well, as Wr3n moved the message on, screens now showcasing the surveillance feed of the Health Department for them.
“I invited you, gave you a CHOICE and the second, one small thing goes WRONG, you backstab me.”, RTV now muttered, voice gradually becoming louder with each word, as he now glared at the group. “You think this is all just a fun little EVENT, don’t you? What, you think there won’t be consequences for your choices?”
He let out a dry laugh, the back of the chair breaking off from how tight he had grabbed it.
“It’s a SHAME the votes were anonymous, because now, you all will have to PAY for the majority.”
Turning back to the rest of the group in the Health Department now, he folded his hands behind his back.
“I offer you a SINCERE apology, but I need to send a message to the people BEHIND you. Consider this some kind of vengeance for yourself as well because I’m sure they did not vote in your best interest either.”
He let out a cold chuckle.
“Otherwise we wouldn’t be here.”
A finger was then pointed at Animsay.
“We will have a talk LATER.”
Clearing his throat, he now forced his anger to the side, instead folding his hands.
In the control room, the surveillance feed now switched to showing his face.
“Nobody here is leaving. Not before we made some things CLEAR. So, step on through.”
With that, each screen in the control room and the Health Department now displayed static, before switching to showcase a blue and purple location with TVs hanging on the walls.
However, there was something unusual about it…
“You can go through…”, Lucian now sighed back in the control room to his group, his voice slightly lighter than usual thanks to the blood loss. “He wants you to enter his TV dimension.”
In the Health Department, RTV now showcased a lopsided grin, waving towards the screen.
“Please, enter.”
Then he halted, feigning surprise, before letting out a laugh.
“Oh, I'M SORRY! I forgot you need a POLL! Here, let me give you one…”
His voice fell low again, turning into a hiss.
“Either you get IN or I’m taking you OUT.”
Get in.
Enter the TV Dimension.
I̶ ̶r̶e̶f̶u̶s̶e̶.̶
Enter the TV Dimension.
Voting ended onMay 10, 2025
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
Aaaand we are nearing the end of the tour!
RTV is done playing games with you, so he’s forcing you into what he wants this time.
Hence why the poll is only 1 day long.
Your decision does not matter.
As usual, you have a week to write your parts, so until next Friday.
Your character can enter through the screens in the control room or the screens in the Health Department.
Alternatively, RTV will force them in.
For interactions and/or fights with the characters as well as questions shoot me a DM or comment as always!
A few notes about the future parts and that could help you with your parts:
Everyone is going to the TV dimension. RTV is not giving you the choice to refuse. Either you go in willingly or your character will be forced in. If you want to know how RTV would react to certain actions don’t feel afraid to message me!
I’m expecting the RTV Tour to have continue for two more parts with the latter one wrapping things up.
Yes, the final parts will be in the TV dimension, we are entering endgame.
The TV dimension is RTVs domain, his rules are the law. The main goal is gonna be surviving and finding a way out!
For characters that are part of the staff: Please message me so we can figure out together how your insert will fare after this tour!
Special thanks to @michaelscorneroftheinternet, @scimagic and @astro-vision-au for helping me out with the Control Room scene :D
With each part it seems to get longer sjsjs
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
The head of security watched with exasperation as the participants tied in their vote, now splitting up into two groups.
One that wanted to help the boss and get him to the Health Department, whether that be out of self preservation or actual concern and the other wanting to manually disable the lockdown by going with him to the Control Room in the Security Department.
The fact that most in this group were people he noticed weren’t too fond of Puzzles wasn’t lost on him.
Now he had to additionally babysit the troublemakers and make sure they didn’t get themselves killed.
Well…he kind of asked for it by suggesting this option.
[Sigh…]
Letting the groups form, he kept watch over the crowd, noticing how some were pretty spooked by all this.
His gaze momentarily fell upon the one eyed creature, before gazing over to Harley, or well, her doppelganger who was currently at least being cheered up by the fox girl, Rayas.
What a mess.
The object head’s gaze now lifted up to the cameras, knowing that Wr3n was watching.
By now he probably marked everyone that was ready to join Lucian as a threat, him included.
Though now with several people…well, they had more of a chance at getting this lockdown lifted than he had alone.
It didn’t change the fact that he was scared.
Shit, he was scared.
“Hello Mr.Lucian…”
Snapping out of his thoughts, he now turned to look at the ghost-like dragon that had always kept to the end of the group.
The one his hand had phased right through.
“I don't know if you heard me but... I can help.... If you want me too anyways..... I can teleport Mr.Stars if I had a map…”
[Ah?]
“You can do that?”, Lucian questioned, considering the offer for a second, before shaking his head, raising a hand. “Appreciate it, but I would rather not risk it with Wr- the AI around. I don’t think it would approve of me giving the boss alone in the hands of a stranger.”
Or anyone really.
He now waved over to the unconscious TV head.
“Besides, the boss ain’t exactly light…or small.”
He still gave the ghost a thumbs up.
“Thanks for the offer though.”
Back to observing…
Lucian was used to taking lives, not saving them.
Suddenly everyone was relying on his guidance, the responsibility was on him.
He already failed at being a responsible brother to Colores, now the load of having to protect her had multiplied by about fifty.
If he messed this up…
Taking a deep breath, Lucian ran a hand down his neck, trying to calm his nerves.
Shooting people point blank, fighting to the death, all good, but this managed to upset him this much?
When did he start growing a conscience?
The object head halted, as two people approached him now.
It was Rayas, Harley 2.0 with her.
Get it together, Lucian.
“‘should have seen this coming.”, he now spoke in a more hushed tone. “ But bad timing nonetheless, because, as far before SMG4 came and shot my boss, some of you... were very nice…”
It was the truth.
When Puzzles first suggested this, Lucian was preparing for far more trouble.
After all, the people his boss had appealed to weren’t exactly…trustworthy.
A hum of Rayas was the only response he got.
It didn’t matter.
Lucian was just rambling, really.
Using his chance to briefly take his mind off the situation.
"You don't ever let go of that umbrella do you? Or the stuffed toy you got?", he now asked, nodding to the things the fox girl was holding. “And that blue puzzle piece on your tie... you have autism? Just want to make sure if I'm correct. All this must be too much for you..."
A little thing he noticed before.
“I do.”, Rayas confirmed, before looking back at the crowd.
Not much of a conversationalist though he didn’t blame her.
A few seconds later she walked off to join Nira with RTV, helping to get off the hair and sticky notes that someone managed to put on him.
Whoever it was, Lucian would like to shake their hand.
“Wise choice... And maybe a little extra credit for cleaning up the big boss. Alright, you can all leave to the Health Department to wake him up, and then wait what he will do to some of you who defended the fella SMG4."
Ah, and there was that confirmation that Wr3n was indeed still watching.
Time was ticking.
Lucian now took the moment to wave over Animsay, as well as Swag and Chris who had been standing at the side for now.
“Alright, I’ve been thinking.”, Lucian began, waving to the side.”It looks like we are splitting in two groups. I know the security department best, so I’m obviously going to lead that group. Chris, Swag, you guys should accompany Nira to the Health Department. I don’t wanna leave her on her own.”
The pair shared a look, before glancing back to Lucian.
“Are we sure we don’t wanna just arrest SMG4?“
“Taking SMG4 in is not an option. We don’t know half of these people's abilities and are heavily outnumbered.”, Lucian argued which earned a scoff from Swag.
“Begs the question why they thought that putting just us three on security duty was a good idea.”
“Well, I would say the boss put a lot of trust in the system than he ever did in us.”, Chris sighed, rubbing his neck as he looked over to the cameras. “It’s doing its job a tad too well though.”
“You don’t say…”, Swag sniffed. “Though again, why risk a manual override? We could also just carry the boss to Health and be done with it.”
“Mainly for everyone’ safety.”, Lucian answered, crossing his arms. “The group is splitting. Last thing we need is a fight amongst each other.”
He really hoped that these two wouldn’t make him trouble now, but he was already noticing that unbearable loyalty to Puzzles that he brainwashed into them.
They trusted him far more than Lucian.
“Plus”, Lucian added now and pointed discreetly at the cameras, “I’m not trusting an AI. Especially not when the only one with authority is currently down and it’s already acting out like this. So work with me here.”
Another shared look, then Swag sighed while Chris shrugged.
“I suppose you’re right…”
“Fine, but I’m not gonna get fired for this later.”
Lucian gave another thumbs up, as they now turned to join the group heading to the Health Department.
Now with that handled…
“You know, I could still come with you.”, Animsay now meant, having watched the whole exchange from the side.
[Hah.]
“I think we both know that’s a terrible idea.”, Lucian replied coldly. “He can take over when he wants to, can’t he?”
The small TV head, shrugged, that damn smile never fading.
“Wr3n mainly censors me, but yeah, he can. It’s mainly my host being affected though.”, she replied, lazily pointing at herself. “Though we could easily get rid of that problem.”
Tilting her head, she made an unplug motion with her hands.
Ah, hell nah.
As much as Lucian hated the whole situation with Animsay, as much as he felt for the true victim of her and that psychopath TV head, he wasn’t about to have loose cannon running the studio.
Right now, he could still defend his actions for acting in the interest of the participants, but if he disconnected the TV, he was going permanently on RTV’s bad side.
Not to mention, given her screen was still active, it meant that Wr3n did clearly listen in right now.
Might as well be a death sentence for him or Colores if he agreed to this.
“Wr3n is going to try to kill you either way.”
Right.
He forgot she had that uncanny trait of knowing people’s thoughts.
Lucian wasn’t too educated in the whole 4th wall thing she and RTV were involved in, but he knew he strongly disliked it.
“Yeah well, but this right now is his idea of a game session. If I free you both from his influence it’s going to be cut and dry termination. So no, this ain’t happening.”, Lucian responded, pointing a warning finger at her. “You’re going to Health and don’t even think about causing them trouble.”
Animsay just raised her hands in defense.
“Relax, Lucian. First of all, I don’t wanna piss half the people by cutting the story short and secondly, I’m just fine with going to Health. ‘just thought it would make things more interesting.”
“Just…go.”
“Fine, fine.”
[Ugh…]
Well, another thing handled for now.
Now to get Nira, maybe Nicknack too and then he could deal with the main problem, SMG4-
A white masked person suddenly popped up in front of him, before grabbing his shoulders.
“Lucian, pal, I’m so sorry for this mess, but-"
The object head’s hand halted over his gun holster as he recognized the peeson from before.
The one who gave him the drawing.
Her voice got as quiet as possible as all of her mask pupils independently scanned for anything suspicious nearby, then all of them turned back to him.
Freaky.
"We both know your only real chance of maybe being free from that, currently, CORPSE, is that bastard of SMG4-"
She removed one hand from his shoulder and aggressively pointed at the meme guardian.
"If he goes down, basically all your chances go down with him...So my apologies, but if there’s any opportunity to make RTV face the consequences, I have to take it."
Uh-huh, so that was her reasoning for standing up for SMG4?
Fair enough.
Lucian congratulated himself for the decision to shoo Animsay away because if Wr3n listened in on this, this multiple eyed individual may become the new prime target.
"Why the grudge against the boss anyway? If you don’t mind me asking.", Lucian now decided to ask while slowly looking at her hand that was still on his shoulder, making her look at it and immediately let go.
They weren’t this close for Lucian to be comfortable with that.
"Well...", the girl now slowly drawled.
Her mask eyes blinked as she seemed to think for a moment, while her hair slowly turned back to normal.
"Uhh, how do I explain-" She lightly tapped her mask with a finger, then widened her eyes and boldly said, "You know how there’s "love at first sight "?”
[Huh.]
“Think of this as the opposite, "hate at first sight."
Ahhhh, for a second he thought this was going to go in a different direction.
He couldn’t help but cackle slightly, despite his stressed mood.
"I wish you luck with the man, cause I suppose I’m already screwed.", the girl now meant, prompting a shrug from Lucian as his amusement slowly faded away.
"You’re not the only one.”, he sighed.
The girl replied to that with a quick salute and teleported again, appearing nos a bit further away next to that dragon shifter with the previously red eyes, who seemed to give her a side-eye.
So she just came here to talk to him, huh?
Weird kid.
Nice to know someone cared though.
Unfortunately, it just made him feel even worse for her being stuck in this situation.
Now, where was he?
Right, getting the rest of the staff together.
Their only health department member was currently busy somewhere else and only now Lucian noticed the slight commotion.
For example the fact that there were now two versions of Rayas, one carrying the sickly looking other.
What the hell….
“Nira? What’s going on?”, he now asked the white squirrel, as he walked over to her.
“I don’t know.”, the nurse sighed. “Looks like we will have two people to carry to Health now.”
“Right, right…”, Lucian sighed in resignation, wondering why he was even surprised anymore. “Well, it seems like your group is ready to go. Animsay, Swag and Chris are heading with you. I assigned the latter one as help and just in case something comes up.”
“Ah…alright!”, Nira replied, before flashing Lucian a slightly concerned look. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“No turning back now.”, Lucian meant, nodding over to the other group. “I’m pretty sure they would head out even if I take a step back.”
With a small sigh, Nira agreed.
“Alright, but if anything goes wrong, you know where to find me! I’m going to try my best and get the boss back up so he can fix this mess!”
With a wave, she then quickly hurried over to her group.
“Good luck…”, Lucian muttered.
Out of the corner of his vision, he then spotted a certain individual with a cap walking by.
“Whoa- hey!”, SMG4 exclaimed not a second later as he was suddenly grabbed by Lucian and pulled right face to face.
Or rather face to sign.
[Fr?]
“Are you trying to dip on us right now, buddy?”, Lucian laughed, but it wasn’t an amused one. “Seriously?”
“I was not!”, SMG4 defended himself, ripping himself out of the object head’s grasp before shooting a glare. “I was going to join your group!”
Somehow, Lucian had trouble believing that.
“Good.”, he still said. “Because if you don’t at least try to help me fix this then I retract my previous statement of this whole hunter and prey thing between us not being personal. You betray us and I take Option 1.”
“...noted.”
[Great.]
Lucian pointed two fingers at him, then at SMG4, before raising his voice.
“Nicknack!”
He figured taking one staff member that wasn’t too loyal to Puzzles with them, may be the best choice.
Plus, he doubted Nicknack wanted to be around that guy anyway when he woke up.
☆
CRASH!
“You know, If you had asked nicely I would have opened that door for you.”
Wr3n commented as Swag kicked the locked door in, allowing both groups to now walk outside.
“See you on the other side.”, SMG4 heard Lucian say to the Health group, before taking the lead, now stepping out onto the hallway and then taking a right turn.
Here it goes.
To say that SMG4 felt very out of place, was an understatement.
How did he go from undercover spy to assassin to reluctant ally in a few minutes?
Just his usual luck, he supposed.
Usually, he would shake his head about it and then move on, but that was a bit difficult to do when you were surrounded by people who probably did not like you very much.
Really, the only people who he semi-trusted to be on his side, he didn’t know why but he also didn’t complain, were those doubles of the Lari and Marie he knew.
Honestly, he had been surprised when they stood up for him like that.
He wondered why though…
Glancing to the side, he accidentally locked eyes with a very grumpy looking individual now.
In the shut off dark hallways, she glowed slightly, her colorful eye narrowing at SMG4, no doubt having caught him nervously looking around him the entire time.
“It’s rude to stare.”, she now grumbled in a tone that SMG4 oddly reminded of Saiko when he caught her in an especially bad mood.
So yeah, this was a sign to quickly move on.
“Sorry…”, he muttered, now taking up on speed to put a distance between him and that scary employee.
Seriously, was everyone here like this??
“Well, since you proceeded onwards, I’m sure you already know the rules of tag. When I catch you, you’re out.”,
The voice of the AI now appeared again, filling the previous silence of the hallway.
“I think I already gave ya enough of a head start. So, I’m IT.”
“Here we go…”, SMG4 muttered, now balling his hands to fists as he tensed up, waiting for whatever was about to confront them.
Unfortunately, he had dropped his EMP Gun when one of the participants attacked him beforehand, so now he was left unarmed.
Gloomy, he stared at the one blonde participant in orange and blue clothing who was holding said gun in their hands now.
You look away one second and people stole your stuff.
Mickey would laugh at him for that later…
Right.
Beeg and Mickey.
The references that this AI made before could only mean he found them.
In fact SMG4 was sure this was how Puzzles figured out in the first place that he was among the group.
Now that the system focused on them, did that mean…?
No, no, Mickey was annoyingly resourceful, he had dodged death more often than any of them.
And Beeg was a menace that almost destroyed the world once.
No simple AI could take that one down.
He just had to survive this, regroup and then they would bail out this hell.
Yeah…
When the light suddenly started flickering, SMG4 was immediately back to reality, tensing up as the whole hallway completely lost light.
In the next second, the whole area had grown completely dark with exception for the glowing head and eyes of a few people.
“Stay calm.”, he now heard Lucian order, followed by the sound of him pulling his guns.
It was then SMG4 heard the sound of footsteps, coming from all sides.
Then, a bunch of turquoise lines started to light up all around them, revealing a bunch of oddly similar silhouettes.
They were surrounded.
☆
The walk to the Health Department meanwhile was going pretty calm.
Chris had taken the lead, with Swag trailing behind at the back, still as enthusiastic about the whole thing as he had been before.
Which meant not at all.
Like seriously, was he at least getting paid more for this?
Grumbling under his breath, Swag shot the people walking in front of him a glare from behind his sunglasses.
If everyone had just let them do their job, they wouldn’t even have to do this!
But noooo, someone always had to spoil the fun!
“Uhm…did the opposite hallways just go dark?”, he now heard one of the participants ask.
Swag now raised his gaze, looking over to a window in the hallway from which you could see over the courtyard and the opposite sector.
Sure enough, the entire part had just gone dark.
“HEY, CHRIS! YA SEEING THIS?!”, he now shoved a person with way too much fluffy pink and white hair to the side to get sight of his partner a few meters away.
The other security guard frowned at the volume, before glancing over to the window as well.
“Sure do…”
He now raised a finger, pointing at the middle part of the hallway, where the windows had been sealed off like in the Social Media Department.
“Looks like the others are having their hands full right now.”
“Well, we warned him.”, Swag shrugged, now motioning for Chris to continue on, who gave the window a last glance before sighing and moving on as well.
“‘suppose we did. Still, it doesn't feel right to let them do this. Let’s speed up the pace, alright?”
Rolling his eyes, Swag obliged, now walking next to the people that were carrying the ones in need of the Health Department.
The security guard gave the fox girl and her double she was carrying a quick glance.
Yeah, he wasn’t even going to question that.
Weird shit.
His attention instead now turned to the people helping to carry Puzzles, that manic woman he had previously held back among them, as well as the red bunny bot that he saw hanging out with that fish girl and the creepy smiley dude.
Needless to say, Swag did not trust her around his boss.
“Let him drop and you’re all in even bigger trouble, got it?”
Especially since he could actually stand the guy.
Swag didn’t know why but he just clicked with the guy, even if he knew exactly how exasperated the guy was with him sometimes.
Part of his charm, he supposed.
“You know, they are about to be in real trouble.”, Animsay now spoke up, much to Swag’s dismay. “The other group I mean.”
“And how do YOU know that?”, he barked, before scoffing. “What’s up with you anyway? First you are gone out of nowhere, then you conveniently show back up for this shitshow!”
The TV head chuckled.
“Wouldn’t you like to know, weatherboy.”
Swag’s eye twitched.
Man, he missed the times when he could just shoot people.
“I was just on a vacation though, somewhere down.”, Animsay now added.
Another screen glitch.
“Anyway! Wr3-”
Another glitch.
This time Swag noticed, Animsay’s hand briefly twitching towards her neck.
“-the system mentioned a vermin problem. SMG4 has been running with the rat recently, right? Do you think he’s also in the building?”
What was up with this one?
Though she did bring up an interesting point.
“Mickey Mouse? Heh, if he’s in this building I would love to make a personal introduction.”, Swag grinned, partying towards his gun holster. “Little shit cancelled too many good series.”
“Too true…”
☆
The way to the Health Department wasn’t too long with it being relatively close to Black A and therefore the exit.
However, as they crossed the corridor that led back to the entrance arsa, it was shut off tight, giving an eerie outlook of what could have been had they voted for making a run for the exit.
“Just in case this doesn’t work out. Anyone here strong enough to break through those steel gates?”, Swag threw the question into the room, earning a disapproving glance from Chris.
“Swag…”
“What? I’m just saying, we don’t exactly have confirmation that the boss is gonna wake up and Lucian is right, this AI ain’t exactly the most trustworthy so far! What is it with it basically doing our job anyway? I mean why hire us…”
Maybe it stung a bit, the idea of having such little trust put into you.
“I mean, right now it seems like the system is just jumping in when something as drastic as this happens.”, Chris replied, waving over to the unconscious Puzzles. “I don’t think we need to worry about our jobs.”
“Hah! I’m not worried!”, Swag laughed, though he internally cursed.
Chris knew him a tad too well by now.
“We are there.”, Chris simply announced, before putting his hands on his hips to stare at yet another steel gate blocking their way. “Well, that’s a problem.”
Ah, come on!
Swag groaned, before looking up to the nearest camera.
“HEY! AI GUY! WHAT GIVES?!”
A second later the camera now turned into their direction.
A moment later the familiar voice of Wr3n could be heard.
“Ah, you’ve already arrived. My bad, I locked this area off to avoid getting the troublemakers in.”
Troublemakers as in plural?
Who else was working with the mou-
Oh right, that psychotic blue egg.
How could he forget?
“I will open the area for you now. I suggest you keep to the plan.”
Swag was tempted to reply with a “Or what?”, but he swallowed it down for the sake of not wanting to end up being carried into the clinic next.
The gates now started sliding open, giving way to a double door that led into a circular room along which different patient rooms were divided from the room through curtains.
There were also a few actual doors, leading to the equipment that the staff that worked here needed.
A small side hallway straight forward leads on to the offices.
“Alright, no staring, the tour part is over!”, Chris now ordered, pulling back a curtain, revealing an empty room with a medical bed.
This was one specifically made for the taller employees among their staff.
Next room one would find a comically small medical bed as well that Swag couldn’t help but make fun of everytime he was fated to visit here.
“Put the boss on there. Nira, get to work.”, Swag added as bluntly as usual, waving over to Chris.
He then looked over to the fox girl doubles, before waving to the many rooms around them.
“Take a pick. Boss is first in line for medical treatment though.”
A small motion out of the corner of his eyes made him snap around, but as he looked towards the entrance, he could see nothing.
Huh.
What a day, he was hallucinating already.
Leaning against the wall next to the doors, he then kept an eye on the crowd.
At least they seemed to behave well right now.
That ghost-like dragon and the one eyed cat-like creature, the ball of hair and the red bunny robot for example didn’t seem like much trouble.
Now, as much as he enjoyed the brown haired woman throwing a punch at SMG4, he was not trusting someone that hysterical and that cyborg guy with the broken arm seemed a bit too happy to strangle the meme guardian.
Speaking of that one…
Hey, how did they get here?
Narrowing his eyes, Swag watched them walk over to join his boss and Chris now, making a mental note to keep an eye.
That one seemed like a slippery snail.
He would prove he could do this job.
Stay extra vigilant.
Swagmaster was not an idiot.
☆
Some time ago, when visiting the lower levels, Wr3n had hinted to Lucian that RTV was thinking about involving him more in the studio’s daily life.
A week later, Lucian got a new security guard.
A seemingly human guy with black hair, always wearing a fedora hat that covered his eyes, sharp teeth, weird tattoos below his eyes.
The name was Unus Iecit.
Very subtle.
Now, Lucian was of the opinion that this undercover robotic host would be the end of Wr3n’s involvement.
Apparently he had misjudged RTV once again.
Looking around him and the group, he spotted not one, not two, but at least ten or more instances of Iecit, now circling them.
That damn TV head had mass produced them.
Probably hid them away in the lower levels until Wr3n brought them up just now.
The tattoo below the hidden eyes glowing up in turquoise, the same line that could be found on Wr3n’s avatar, on Animsay’s screen…
Nothing could be easy, could it?
He let out a low chuckle, before taking a deep breath, firing two shots with his guns right at one of Wr3n’s puppets in front of him.
The bullets buried themselves in the neck and the chest.
The bot slightly twitched, Lucian taking notice how the bullet in the neck seemed to be the main cause.
Bingo!
“Aim for the necks!-”
In the next second he quickly had to sidestep, as the same bot, the ones standing next to him included, now pounced at him.
Something metallic flashed in the dim light of his neon head.
[Gun.]
Before Wr3n could draw the gun though, a purple crystal buried itself in the bot’s arms which it had just raised in time to avoid it hitting the head instead.
All three bot’s heads now snapped over to the white masked individual with glowing eyes, hair standing up as she summoned another row of crystals.
“Lucian, duck!”
The object head immediately ducked, rolling to the side to avoid getting hit by the crystals as well that now flew towards the bots, taking one out by impaling its throat.
The other two however simultaneously moved out of the way, now drawing guns as well, now focusing on their new opponent.
Their bullets however were deflected by a metallic like wing that now moved in front of Lari to shield her.
Marie, realizing that avoiding this fight was no longer an option, had shapeshifted into a Rhazorwhip.
In dragon form, she now flashed her teeth, before using her sharp tail to whip the bots against the wall, managing to slice right through the arm of one, leaving it with a stump.
“Haha! Now that’s more like it!”
Lucian quickly got back to his feet when an axe nearly hit him, swung by the cat eared girl, Nia, who was busy fighting a respective bot off as well.
It was chaos.
The object head barely had a chance to recover before the next bot version of Wr3n attacked him from behind, wrapping his arms around him, trying to get him off balance.
“Not exactly the duel I imagined us to have, but I’m nevertheless glad we finally get the chance to brawl!”
“Speak for- yourself!”
While Lucian now got busy fighting off several bots that had focused on him, the rest of the group was facing the same problem.
Grabbing her necklace, Sci now transformed it into her trident, before stepping into her role as the Director’s bodyguard and forcing back a bot that had gotten a bit too close to her boss.
For a singular entity behind all these hosts, Wr3n sure seemed to want to fight everyone.
“Back off!”, she warned her opponent, who now stepped back with three holes in his abdomen.
Not that it did much damage when you weren’t flesh and blood.
“Come on now, we are both just doing our jobs.”
Wr3n replied, a grin spreading on the bot’s face. “You protect your boss, I protect mine. So, take a stand.”
“How is this protecting your boss?”
The Siren quickly dodged to the side as Wr3n now kicked into her direction, before spinning around to grab the trident.
“I’m protecting his interest. I know who you are, SciMagic. You have a goal here, I just need to stop you from whatever it is!”
A test for strength now began as either party now tried to force the other back.
One frowning with gritted teeth while the other showed a toothy smile.
“Oh, you make a good rival.”
“Wish I could say the same.”
☆
Although most were somewhat coping with the fight in the dark, some were also barely managing.
SMG4 for example now found himself back to back with the same person that stole his EMP gun as well as the pink haired individual with long hair that was now shooting star like projectiles at their enemy, if with slight inaccuracy due to the missing light.
“You know you can actually use that gun, right?!”, SMG4 voiced to the thief named Astro apparently, who had so far made no effort to use the weapon against the three bots that were now surrounding them.
“How long does it take to charge?”
“Wha- I don’t know a few hours maybe??”
“Then no, I’m not gonna waste it yet!”
“DUDE WE ARE LITERALLY SURROUNDED!”
“Guys.”, Orion voiced, exhausted, before dodging a punch coming their way. “Less yelling, a little more action.”
Shooting the meme guardian a glare, Astro now used the gun instead to hit a Wr3n bot’s head with a loud clang and then kicking it in the guts or the robot equivalent of it, away from them.
“This is not going to hold them off!”, SMG4 argued, ducking under the robotic arm that was now grabbing for him, before using the weight shift to his advantage to throw the bot over his shoulder. “Use the gun!”
“I told you I’m saving it up!”
“BRO, IF WE DIE BECAUSE OF-”
He was cut off, as the bot suddenly got back up, tackling him.
In the next second, two cold hands wrapped themselves around his throat and squeezed, cutting off his air.
The black space of the bot where the eyes should be, seemed to stare into SMG4’s soul, as he tried to free himself to no avail.
“SMG4. It’s a shame, really, I was hoping I could reunite you with your buddies.”,
The AI spoke, tilting its head at the meme guardian’s briefly confused expression.
“No can do, I suppose. Don’t worry, I will take good care of the-”
Two pairs of tentacles suddenly hit the bot, sending him flying off SMG4, before they wrapped themselves around the neck and torso, ripping it clean in two.
Sitting back up, SMG4 wrung a hand around his bruised neck, before looking up at Grinnames.
“Thanks…”
However, he couldn’t really focus on his rescuer, as his gaze landed back on the upper half of the robot now lying broken next to him.
This wasn’t just an AI.
Wren.
☆
“Shit!”
Towards the end of the hallway, Nicknack, Harley and the Scammer had meanwhile discovered that the AI had shut off the doors to the next building section, leaving them now trapped with the bots that had followed them.
While Harley readied her grapple hook, Nicknack now took a step past her, forward.
She didn’t care if she put herself in danger.
What mattered was that the others made it out.
“Try to find someone who can lift this.”, she spoke to the blonde woman and the kid, before loading her finger gun, purple fire appearing at her finger tip which she now aimed at the bot.
Said robot immediately dodged to the side, before raising a gun, forcing Nicknack to immediately take cover by throwing herself to the side.
Almost immediately she then had to roll to her right, as a hand dug into the floorboards right next to her hand.
Quickly raising her finger, she now managed to land a hit on the bot’s face, temporarily blinding it and lighting up the surrounding area.
It was then quickly pulled back by a grapple hook.
That’s when Nicknack saw the other bot that had snuck up right behind the other.
In the next second all air was knocked out of her lungs as it kicked her against a wall with such force that she feared her insides were just turned into mush.
Coughing, she fell back on her knees, holding her stomach, before quickly looking back up to the AI that had now halted in front of her.
“Out of all here, you are by far the biggest disappointment.”
He now spoke with a sigh, playing with the revolver in his hand.
“Why are you still here, Nicknack?”
“What?”, the girl now replied, using the wall to get back on her feet.
“I mean, it’s so obvious to everyone that you hate the big boss.”
Wr3n continued, tilting his head at Nicknack’s frown, seemingly considering her reaction.
“Yet you are still here. Working. Miserable. Mouthing off until the threats fall. Everytime I watched you getting degraded like that, I thought: Now, now is the time she finally grows some guts to fight back. Ah well…”
The AI now raised his gun again, pointing it at Nicknack.
“Maybe a part of you even wishes for me to do this. I mean, stepping in front of others like that. That’s not your usual self preservation, is it? Or did you just give up?”
He didn’t wait for an answer, instead simply shrugging.
“I will do ya and everyone else the favor, partner. Miserable, moody employees make bad rep. But hey, at least ya went down with something that comes close to a fight.”
“That’s nothing against my rep.”
A gloved fist hit the bot’s face, as a neon sign head flickered back on, arms grabbing the bot's neck in the next second, starting to twist.
Lucian was covered in scrapes, his uniform having taken a toll from being dogpiled second ago, before Aspen and Lari had taken it upon themselves to take on the remaining bots.
First one having a surprisingly good aim that Lucian didn’t expect from that creepy grinning fella.
This bot right here, was now the last one remaining in this battlefield of parts and scraps.
And it fought like hell.
A fist managed to claw around Lucian’s head, temporarily forcing him to let go to avoid damage though he managed to knock the gun out of Wr3n’s hands, one of the participants quickly kicking it away from the fight.
Taking his remaining gun, the other had gotten lost somewhere in the brawl, Lucian now snapped around to finally end this-
-just to come face to face with his sister.
He froze, he couldn’t help it, the shock temporarily making him forget that it was impossible for her to be there.
That her image was weirdly flickering.
His awareness only started to slip back when he heard the warning shouts of the others, followed by a sharp pain, great pain as a blade of knife sliced along his side.
Immediately after, the bot was impaled by the neck, the gruesome image of Colores being the one instead flickering for a second, before the illusion failed and the bot deactivated.
Grabbing his side, Lucian now slightly staggered against a wall, muttering a heavy curse as he felt blood run down his side.
“Wow, I’ve got to say. I am impressed. You actually defeated me! One point to you!”
Shoving the pain and the clear danger coming with it to the side, Lucian now glanced up at the nearest camera.
“Open the damn door, Wr3n.”
Screw secrets, he was done.
Using his sister against him?
That slimy son of a gun.
Wr3n chuckled.
“You’re more than capable of that. Though, I gotta say, I’m not quite satisfied yet. How about another game?”
Lucian simply shook his head, before gesturing for the nearest capable person, in this case Grinnames, to help open the steel gate.
While he let her do that, Wr3n continued on, unbothered.
“Oh, I know! This one is a favorite of mine. The floor is lava in 120…119…”
The floor is lava?
How did he expect to do that one?
There wasn’t anything under the floor except…
[Oh no.]
“Guys…Guys, we need to move.”, Lucian meant, taking a deep breath as his side went up in flames as he now stepped forward. “Control room. NOW. That maniac is gonna fry the floor!”
Not offering any more explanation, Lucian slammed open the doors as soon as the steel doors were broken, running or rather walking as fast as he could down the remaining halfway towards the double door to the Security Department, opening all following doors to the control room as fast as he could.
“Go, go, go!”, he spoke through what sounded like gritted teeth, holding the door to the control room open.
Standing outside, watching anxiously as everyone started to get in one after another.
“40...39…38”
[Faster]
[Come on.]
Lucian raised his gaze as the lights started to flicker, a sign of Wr3n now taking access to the studio’s electricity.
Over the footsteps, one could just barely hear a humming starting up.
Please, Lucian begged internally, please just let him use it in this sector.
There was no way he would do this to the whole studio, right?
10…9…8…7..6…5…4…3…
“CLOSE THE DOOR!”
A loud bang could be heard as the metal door shut right behind the last person. For a second there was silence, before a loud electrical crackle could be heard just outside.
One more second and Wr3n would have fried them all on that floor.
“Would you look at that, you actually did it! Color me impressed!”
In the next second, the sound of the door locking could be heard. That psychotic piece of shit.
“Now stay there.”
Lucian felt like cursing Wr3n out properly, but he really didn’t have the energy for it right now. In fact, despite his weird anatomy, the blood was still supposed to remain inside the body. Right now, it was happily dripping out of the wound on his side onto the floor. He would deal with that in a second.
“Out of the way…”, he muttered, dragging himself over to the security panel of the big control room. Despite screens being everywhere, right now with RTV still out, it was safer than the other places. For once, Wr3n couldn’t fry the floor.
“I will have this lockdown lifted in a second..”
Starting to type on the keyboard, Lucian then pulled a lever. The distant sound of doors and locks opening back up could be heard and Lucian let out a relieved sigh. At least the others now had a chance to fix this. As for them…
”Lockdown is lifted., he now announced to the rest of the group, before letting himself slide down onto the floor, back against the panel. “But I can’t shut down Wr3n. Sorry, guys, we are the safest here.”
Sci meanwhile breathed heavily as she heard the pop and crackle outside the room, nervously gulping at the thoughts of what would've been. She didn't want to feel those shocks in her body again...
But there was no time to dwell on that.
She shook her head and looked back at Lucian on the floor with a worried frown.
Working quickly, the fish took off her vest and knelt right next to the object head, going to press the crumpled vest against his wound to keep that blood in.
"Don't be, you've already done a lot for us."
To the side of the room Astro tried to keep their breathing steady, as they faced away from the rest of the crowd.
"Are you okay?" , AV!Puzzles voice buzzed in their ear.
"fine" they muttered under their breath. "Im always fine."
They turned back to look at the crowd, their face showed anger rather then the fear it was just a moment ago
"Just what the hell was that?? I knew RTV was batshit but keeping some psycho ai running around? What the hell was he thinking?"
One hand gripped the EMP still tucked away inside of their jacket.
"Ohhh, when I get my hands on that overgrown walking bundle of wires hes gonna wish that blast put him out for good."
As they ranted, they seemed to not pay much mind to the poor object head that was bleeding out not too far from them.
While the rant continued on, nobody paid mind to the undercover TV host that now looked around the packed room with a huff.
Rolling his eyes he then squeezed his way past other participants before finding their way to the control panel.
An all too familiar grin stretched unnaturally on his puppet’s face as he took a good look at the panel to see what he was working with.
[…thanks]
Lucian’s head spelt out the word as Sci used her vest to stop the bleeding. It wouldn’t do much on the long way, but he appreciated it nevertheless. Unless of course, this was all just pretend to get a good favor. Who knew?
“I got you stuck in a room.”, he now gave back dryly. “Though I suppose everyone being alive is indeed a miracle.”
He sighed, leaning his back against the panel, as he heard Astro (?) going off.
“You can team up with SMG4 but please after we get out. Right now, that bundle of wires is our best way out. Wr3n is holding off on his accord.”, Lucian spoke up, glancing over to SMG4 who had retreated into a corner. He could still see him steal a glance to the panel though. “As for why Wr3n exists…well, the boss ain’t the most trusting and AI that you shaped into what you want, doesn’t revolt.”
He was way too tired to notice the Director nearing the panel or if he saw, he simply didn’t care.
He promised to Sci to hand out a chance after all.
"So now what? We just wait for a pissed off TV to come and kill us himself?", Sci asked, looking around the room to check on everyone else and see what they're doing. They all look shaken (save for her dear old boss) but alive at least...
“I doubt he’s gonna go through with killing all of us. Besides, if you have friends on the other side, well, we might just pull through.”, he tried to stay positive. “And he hates to stain his floors-“
He looked down at the already bloodied floor, before sighing.
“Nevermind that argument. Just try not to do anything to antagonize him further.”
"Yeah that's gonna be a hard thing to do, chief-"
The fish muttered to Lucian as she side glances the Director with a sneer.
"Oh i'd like to see that TV try anything, I swear when I get my hands on him-", Astro now started again, but got interrupted by the voice of his Puzzles in his ear.
"you aren't going to do shit." his voice rang through their ear piece.
"You aren't in our world anymore, you are at a disadvantage, so I suggest you do what it takes to stay alive, even if that means biting your tongue for once."
They paused before they let out a long sigh.
"Okay fine maybe I won't rearrange his circuits but im still going to give him a piece of my mind. Respectfully i've got enough of my own problems to deal with back home then to waste my time fighting off this menace with some resistance that so far has only caused more issues than has done good."
Their voice was low, barely audible, but the way they glared at Smg4 made it clear who they were talking about.
The director meanwhile tapped on their glasses before a little hatch opened and an Ethernet cable popped out.
He pulled it out as the long black cord attached to it follows before plugging it into the proper port giving both Michael and Scripted a more direct connection to the control panel as Scripted started scrolling through anything and everything he could find within the control panel's system.
Being sure to grab anything that caught his eye and directly transferring it to Michael's system.
[Ah.]
Lucian’s head slightly turned, now spotting the Director.
Hold up, what was he- ah right, digging up dirt.
“He may wanna watch out, I wouldn’t put it past the boss to rig this thing.”
Lucian’s attention was then diverted back to Astro.
“Agreeing with you there, but it ain’t my call to let you out of here. You’re stuck with us and him-“ he nodded to SMG4 who seemed slightly guilty, “-so deal with it.”
“Look, it wasn’t even my intention to set this whole thing off and I apologize, okay?”, SMG4 now spoke up, burying his hands in his hoodie. “Though…I think this whole thing is proof enough that Puzzles is a bit of a maniac. Might be something to consider…”
While the bickering continued, Wr3n was immediately notified of someone having accessed the system, if a bit too slow to stop the Director from taking the information.
The consequence of multitasking over the whole facility.
Still, as soon as the Director connected , Wr3n immediately took said connection to find a way into Michael’s system.
“Now now, partner, you are not supposed to have this. I hope you don’t mind me taking over.”
Wr3n began slowly to push the other person in Michael’s system aside, causing the bot’s glasses to flicker from the Puzzlevision logo to a turquoise line.
Within the bot Scripted tried to keep Wr3n out but is having little luck against the rogue AI.
"Oh absolutely not! Get out of here this instant!-"
"Pfft. As if just the Puzzlevision series alone wasn't enough proof that he is one."
Sci now rolled her eyes before paying attention back to Lucian and putting his hand on the vest.
"Press that tight," the fish muttered before patting his shoulder and standing up again, squeezing past a few people to get to the Director.
“…”, Lucian didn’t feel like conforming to the rest of the group that the Puzzlevsion series was more than just a simple movie series.
Just in case not all of them were as aware, he wasn’t going to bury himself in a bigger grave.
”Gotcha. ‘Don’t plan on kicking the bucket just yet.”, he sighed, before applying more pressure to his wound, tensing at the pain.
What a shitty day.
Back in Michael’s system, Wr3n meanwhile was nor backing off.
“Not happening. You accessed my system, this is the consequence, partner! I’m afraid you’re now officially kicked off the tour.”
Wr3n now gained control of the body, before slowly starting to lock Scripted out of the system. He opened Michael’s hands once, as a test, before the head moved over slightly to Sci as he saw her coming.
“Ah, your associate.”
Sci stepped up to the right side of the Director, leaning on the control panel as she looked at what they're doing without noticing the current symbol on their lens.
"Careful with whatever you're doing there. Might be rigged."
The AI quickly registered that Sci still thought him to be the intruder, meaning he has a chance at getting some more intel. An exchange of information.
Crossing hands behind his back as he had seen ‘Michael’ do over surveillance before, he now forced the mouth into a smile.
“You don’t say? No worries, I’ve noticed and safely avoided those traps.”
"Oh yeah? Found anything good?" Her voice lowered into a murmur as she looked back at the crowd to keep an eye out.
Gotcha.
Wr3n slightly tilted Michael’s head, lowering his voice as well.
“I think so. You wouldn’t believe the amount of dirt that guy is hiding, partner.”
He now nodded over to the group.
“Have you meanwhile figured out how to get us both out of here?”
The fish opened her mouth to reply, only for the words to die in her mouth and one of her fins to flick lightly.
She furrowed her eyebrows, still looking over the room as she frowned.
Hah... That sneaky bastard.
Sci sighed in light frustration, crossing her arms as she refused to look in the bot's direction.
"Nope, nothing yet... S'just a waiting game like Lucian said."
“Hm, you seem close.”
He noted, remembering how he watched them briefly exchange words beforehand.
He also didn’t fail to notice her caring for his wound just now. Wr3n was no stranger to Lucian being a loose cannon, hey that's what he loved about the guy, but it did make him wonder if the man wasn’t more involved in this.
“Puzzles should wake up soon. I doubt he will let us all die here despite his ego.”
She scoffed with a sneer.
Holy shit... Is this really supposed to be the guy she got traded off as a rival to? Come on.
"We're not close at all. Barely met the guy," the fish stoof up straight again as she talked, slowly and casually turning her back to the crowd as she finally looked over and met the bot's gaze with a nonchalant smile.
"Let's hope Puzzles doesn't wake up in a terribly bad mood then..." She leans in closer to her boss, touching shoulders with him as her gaze sharpens into a glare and her words turn into a low hiss only for him to hear.
"Partner."
The bot’s expression froze for a second, then the grin switched to a long smile, as Wr3n let out a chuckle.
“Whoops. Old programming dies hard.”
Stuffing hands in pockets, he now turned to meet Sci’s glare.
“Terrible mood or not, after what you just pulled, he will want you dead either way. Last words?”
She feigned a hum of consideration as she leaned away again.
"How about 'kiss my fishy ass'? Thinks it's cool enough to leave it on that cliffhanger?"
He let out an amused snort at that, pointing a finger at the Siren.
“You know, I like you a lot. This whole rival thing, I am still considering it.”
He made a step back, now pointing back at his host’s body.
“So in the shared interest of us both: How about I rephrase? Any last words to your friend?”
Her smile twitched down, a small sad furrow getting on her face before she closed her eyes and braced herself. Nodding slowly in resignation as she opened her eyes again.
Fucking hell, why couldn't he be more careful...
"... Guess just see you later... Sorry it had to be you again..."
”Tragic. This is not the first time this happened, huh?”
He now grabbed Michaeal’s one arm, tearing it from his shoulder with a ripping motion, before carelessly throwing it to the floor, not minding the eyes of the people that were now turning the attention to the noise.
”You know, looking at his memory, he does think rather highly of you. As a friend even.”
Wr3n chuckled, before grabbing into the mangled arm stump, ripping out a few cables and wires, causing one side of the body to go limp and have him lean on the panel.
”Yet you still allow him to meet such a fate several times. What kind of friend are you to save your own life but not his?”
Sci flinched as she saw the gruesome scene, closing her eyes momentarily with an even deeper frown as her fins fell flat and twitched with every horrible robotic sound.
Yet... her stance doesn't falter.
She may be visibly upset at the scene, letting her sorrow show in the form of flinches and small peaks at the mutilation, but she still stands cross-armed and tall, watching... and listening...
Feeling is not a weakness...
The Siren shakily sighed through her nose, side-eyeing the crowd through the corner of her eye before looking back at Michael. Not... Wr3n. Murmuring her words with resignation.
"... I never have a say in it..."
”Or maybe you are too much of a coward to speak up.”
Wr3n now moved the remaining hand to the jaw.
”It’s been fun, but I have to check on the other group as well. Bye.~”
With that he ripped off the jaw, before pointing two fingers against Michael’s head.
In the next second, the logo side of the glass went blank as Wr3n wiped Michael’s memory and executed a kill command.
The robot’s mangled body now slid off the panel, falling to the floor in a puddle of wires and oil.
Sci’s eyes sadly follow her friend's body as it fell, standing still for a long... quiet moment.
She could feel the eyes of the crowd burning in the back of her mind, and she felt like the pressure wanted to kill her right there and then... But she refused to let tears spill right now, ignored the compression in her chest as she finally moved towards the body.
Sci slowly leaned down, reaching to gently grab their glasses and close their now unlit eyes before standing back up again. The fish sucked in a breath and let it go to calm down, looking away from the robotic pieces as she stuffed the glasses in her pant pocket and turned to walk away from the scene.
The show must go on...
☆
Meanwhile, in the Health Department, most people had taken a seat on an empty bed or gathered to watch RTV getting fixed.
There was a brief confusion as the lights above them started to flicker, but then the people quickly understood what was happening as they heard several doors and windows unlock a few minutes later.
The lockdown had been lifted!
The others did it!
Back at RTV’s patient room, Lucas was doing the most work, having opened the back panel of the TV head and starting to fix up the wires with one hand.
Nira, skeptical at first, especially since Lucas was not a staff member nor seemed to be medically licensed, kept a close eye, occasionally offering some help.
They seemed to know what they were doing, so she was letting it slide for now.
Her main focus however was on the electrical burns around RTV’s neck that seemed to have happened due to the electrical malfunction of his head.
Cleaning the burns, she then put a bandage over it, before turning to Chris and Swag who were keeping a watchful eye.
About half an hour later, both finally took a step back from RTV.
“That’s all I can do for now. Everything else is up to-”
“He’s waking up.”, Lucas noted.
And surely enough, RTV had suddenly lifted himself up, TV head still black, cables hanging out at the back, as he straightened his back, looming over the group.
Then, the screen flickered on, showing a brief irritated expression, before it kept flickering from black to image.
The EMP had done some clear irreparable damage to his current head.
“...what happened?”
As if waiting for the cue, Wr3n’s voice now could be heard again, not giving the others a chance to explain.
“Welcome back, boss. You’ve been hit with an EMP by SMG4. Security has attempted capture but was hindered by the participants. A vote was being held ending in two groups. One to bring you to the Health Department and one to manually override my lockdown. Latter is currently being held by me in the control room.”
RTV remained still for a second, processing the information, before a flicker of his eyes told that he was scanning the group.
“What about SMG4?”
“Alive. For now. I’ve also unfortunately lost track of the other two intruders.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”, RTV scoffed, one gloved hand grabbing the bed as he now got up completely to his full 12ft height.
“Unfortunately, this cannot be said for everyone.”
RTV halted at that.
He did not.
“Elaborate.”, he now ordered, his tone sinking to a dangerous low.
“One unauthorized access to the system forced my hand. One terminated. Others have suffered injuries in my attempts to hold them from the unauthorized area.”
“Oh for the LOVE of-”, RTV muttered, regretting that he asked.
This wasn’t exactly something everyone here needed to hear.
“Terminated?”, Chris meanwhile repeated. “As in…dead?”
“Well, y-”
“Shut it.”, RTV ordered Wr3n, before sighing putting hands on his hips.
For a split second, he considered just taking out every tour member.
Staff was easy to fix with mind control.
The tour never was officially announced in his world.
It was possible.
…but it was also incredibly risky.
Even now, the meme guardian managed to ruin everything.
Every goddamn thing.
With a shrug, he now fixed up his coat, only now noticing that his bowtie was mixing.
He checked his pockets.
Everything was gone.
A dangerous look flashed over his damaged screen for a second.
“CLEARLY, need a more PERSONAL a more personal goodbye.”, he then hissed, eyes narrowing.
“Meaning…?”, Swag now spoke up again, a rare expression of discomfort on his face.
“Ah, no worries.” RTV laughed, now walking over to the security duo, patting their shoulders. “I just meant a THOROUGH talk about their behavior and me checking up why the system has someone marked as terminated. It’s not really supposed to be THIS overbearing. You understand?”
“...sure.”, Swag slowly drawled.
Chris seemed unsettled, but gave a curt nod.
“...wonderful.”
He suddenly snapped his fingers, Chris and Swag suddenly growing limp, their eyes filled out by static as he put them under mind control.
After this was done, he would have to give their memories a quick overwork.
All this was not worth the trouble at all.
“DAMN IT!”
A medical table flew through the air, crashing onto the floor in the next second, forcing Animsay to step aside before it hit her.
The TV head’s screen had changed to complete black again, as he now grabbed the nearest chair, about to haul it through the department next.
Back in the control room, his voice now started sounding through the intercoms as well, as Wr3n moved the message on, screens now showcasing the surveillance feed of the Health Department for them.
“I invited you, gave you a CHOICE and the second, one small thing goes WRONG, you backstab me.”, RTV now muttered, voice gradually becoming louder with each word, as he now glared at the group. “You think this is all just a fun little EVENT, don’t you? What, you think there won’t be consequences for your choices?”
He let out a dry laugh, the back of the chair breaking off from how tight he had grabbed it.
“It’s a SHAME the votes were anonymous, because now, you all will have to PAY for the majority.”
Turning back to the rest of the group in the Health Department now, he folded his hands behind his back.
“I offer you a SINCERE apology, but I need to send a message to the people BEHIND you. Consider this some kind of vengeance for yourself as well because I’m sure they did not vote in your best interest either.”
He let out a cold chuckle.
“Otherwise we wouldn’t be here.”
A finger was then pointed at Animsay.
“We will have a talk LATER.”
Clearing his throat, he now forced his anger to the side, instead folding his hands.
In the control room, the surveillance feed now switched to showing his face.
“Nobody here is leaving. Not before we made some things CLEAR. So, step on through.”
With that, each screen in the control room and the Health Department now displayed static, before switching to showcase a blue and purple location with TVs hanging on the walls.
However, there was something unusual about it…
“You can go through…”, Lucian now sighed back in the control room to his group, his voice slightly lighter than usual thanks to the blood loss. “He wants you to enter his TV dimension.”
In the Health Department, RTV now showcased a lopsided grin, waving towards the screen.
“Please, enter.”
Then he halted, feigning surprise, before letting out a laugh.
“Oh, I'M SORRY! I forgot you need a POLL! Here, let me give you one…”
His voice fell low again, turning into a hiss.
“Either you get IN or I’m taking you OUT.”
Get in.
Enter the TV Dimension.
I̶ ̶r̶e̶f̶u̶s̶e̶.̶
Enter the TV Dimension.
Voting ended onMay 10, 2025
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
Aaaand we are nearing the end of the tour!
RTV is done playing games with you, so he’s forcing you into what he wants this time.
Hence why the poll is only 1 day long.
Your decision does not matter.
As usual, you have a week to write your parts, so until next Friday.
Your character can enter through the screens in the control room or the screens in the Health Department.
Alternatively, RTV will force them in.
For interactions and/or fights with the characters as well as questions shoot me a DM or comment as always!
POLL RESULT:
You decided to protect SMG4 from Security.
Participants actions:
Lucas
Lilith
Nicknack
Marie
Becky
Lari
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
Chaos immediately broke out the second RTV fell.
Nicknack just jumped back in time before getting crushed, another set of people getting startled by the sudden noise, one of them backing up and tripping over the unconscious TV head.
The result was a bunch of white and pink hair all over his clothes.
“What are YOU doing here?!”
The meme guardian quickly made a step as a horned girl transformed into a dragon right in front of him, blocking him off from RTV.
“LEAVE!”
Oh, he wanted to alright.
Unfortunately that was now impossible with him being surrounded by people while security had their weapons aimed, blocking the exit door.
Only other way out was the window and he wasn’t reaching that with all these people in the damn way!
In the next second another participant had suddenly moved behind SMG4.
In an instant their one hand wrapped around his throat, as they leaned forward.
“You bastard ain’t getting away again.”
SMG4 froze, but didn’t let the gun fall.
“You all don’t understand, I’m not the bad guy!”, he pressed out through gritted teeth, though aware that the current situation wasn’t helping his case. “Listen, if you just let me expl-”
“NO ONE WILL CONTROL AND ABUSE MY POWER EVER AGAIN!!”
A punch out of nowhere caught SMG4 off guard, making him loose his grip aroun the gun.
It fell to the ground with a clang, but the meme guardian was more focused on now keeping the seemingly gone crazy brown haired woman off him.
A task that was much difficult if you were still being restrained.
“I-I don’t even know you!”, he now gave back, shielding his face with his arms.
“Out of the way!”
Suddenly, two arms wrapped themselves around the woman, and in the next second Swag was dragging her away from Four while she still fought trying to reach the meme guardian.
SMG4 had no idea what he did to piss her off this much, but he wasn’t going to lose this chance.
With a swift motion, he now grabbed his current captor’s wrists, before flinging them over his shoulder.
Too late.
Even though he was free now, he was now looking up to Lucian holding a gun to his face, Chris not far behind, keeping an eye on the door.
An odd sense of deja-vu washed over him.
“I see you’re still showing up in places you clearly shouldn’t be.”, Lucian now drawled and then sighed, motioning with gun up. “Hands up.”
However, before SMG4 could do so, to his and the security’s surprise, several participants now started to step forward, standing between the meme guardian and the Puzzlevision staff.
“What- guys, this is not the time!”, Lucian spoke up in irritation, motioning for the people to get out of his way.
No can do, the participants had made a decision to protect SMG4 from getting arrested by Puzzlevision staff.
A decision Lucian couldn’t exactly hate on, but that he also didn’t agree with.
Sure, if Wr3n wasn’t watching, he may have taken the chance to put a bullet into RTV and finish the job.
However, this wasn’t said chance and so he had to follow his duty which was making sure that RTV’s attacker was arrested.
A duty the tour participants now stood in the way off.
“They aren’t going to budge, Lucian.”, Animsay now spoke up for the first time in a while again.
During the whole scene she had been eerily quiet, watching the whole thing play out.
Her smile still didn’t fit the situation.
“Take a look around, are you really going to fight all of them?”, she continued, waving around the room.
Lucian now let his gaze wander, noting that not only people were blocking his way but also that some seemed downright ready to fight.
The shapeshifter RTV had scolded before had their eyes turn into a worrisome shade of red and even the participant that had gifted Lucian the drawing not a few minutes ago seeme ready to take it up for a fight if she had to.
That one particularly stung.
Lucian loved fights, but not like this.
Giving a brief look over to Chris and Swag who looked similarly clueless on the situation, he then let out a loud sigh.
[Damn it.]
“Stay down.”, he told the two others before lowering his gun now.
His order was immediately met with disdain.
“You can’t be serious!”, Swag exclaimed, now pushing the participant he had held to the side.
“Sir, with respect, this isn’t our job-”
“I know what my damn job is, Chris, and right I’m telling you to stay down.” Lucian snapped. “We are not hurting tour participants.”
Chris and Swag looked like they didn’t necessarily agree to this, but now lowered their own weapons begrudgingly.
“So now, what?”, Swag then asked, waving to SMG4. “Are we just going to let him walk? He just fried our boss!”
That…was a good question.
[Sigh…]
“Let’s just…all come down for a second.”, Lucian started, talking to the whole room. “First of all, I need someone to check on the boss. Don’t touch his head, just make sure he hasn’t kicked the bucket yet.”
Wait, didn’t they have someone from the Health Department here.
“Nira! Where is Nira? Please, get over to Puzzles.”, Lucian now called out to her, waving to the TV head who was still blacked out on the floor…now decorated with sticky notes?
If the situation wouldn’t be this bad right now, he would have found this hilarious.
But he couldn’t and that was mainly because he knew they were still being watched and their watcher did not exactly play by the same morals as they all did.
Only after RTVs’ commands.
As if he summoned it, the intercom now crackled on and a new voice sounded through the building.
“Dear employees and visitors, we are currently facing a vermin problem. Until the issue is resolved, the whole building will be going on lockdown starting now.”
[What.]
SMG4 and Lucian snapped around to the windows at the same time, watching as metallic blinds now rolled down, leaving the room in darkness with the only light source being the screens and Lucian’s sign head.
The echoing sound of things shutting and locking down told the group that the rest of the studio was currently going through a similar development.
“What the hell do we need so much security for again?”, Swag asked baffled, before turning to Lucian. “Hey, you’re head of security, tell that damn system this is way overkill!”
Said object knew exactly why RTV had so much security installed and it wasn't just because of simple paranoia.
What he also knew however was that Swag was right and that this was indeed bad news.
They were pretty much locked inside now.
With an AI that currently was without supervision because the only person it really listened to was currently knocked out cold.
“I object, partner.”
The screens in the room now flickered, before showcasing a turquoise silhouette, a white line on their face showcasing soundwaves.
RTV had forbidden Wr3n to show himself with his standard avatar to other people. mainly due to few employees still remembering Wren or the incidents of Western Spaghetti.
Like SMG4, Chris and Swag.
“If you want me to lift the lockdown, you have a choice.”,
Wr3n now continued, before an arrow appeared on the screens, Animsay’s included, pointing at SMG4 who narrowed his eyes.
Until now, he had never even known that Puzzles had a sentient security system.
“Option 1: You take out 4 over there and I will give you a free pass! Tour is over, the problem solved, you all can go home!”,
Wr3n now continued, before the arrows changed to point down at RTV.
“Option 2: You wake up the big boss and he can decide what to do with you.”
The arrow now disappeared, screens switching back to the silhouette.
“Option 3: You outlaws do neither of those and we can enjoy playing a game of tag. I’m sure I can take care of this whole issue myself within the hour! So, choose wisely. Happy trails!”
With that the screens switched back to the Puzzlevision logo.
“Puzzles has an apparently homicidal AI and you still think I’m the bad guy here?”, SMG4 now spoke up, pointing at himself.
“Not the issue right now.”, Lucian growled, starting to pace in place.
“I’m not seeing you deny the homicidal part.”
If Lucian had eyes, he would have shot SMG4 a glare, so instead, the words in his sigh head simply changed to [Shut it].
He now turned to the rest of the group again.
“Listen, I know we had our differences, but without Puzzles W- the security system may see us as an actual danger. Especially, after some of you just refused to let us arrest SMG4. He saw that, he’s always watching over the surveillance.”
“Told you we should have gone through with it…”, Swag mumbled in the background, before getting boxed in the side by Chris.
Lucian took another deep breath to keep cool nerves.
“I will leave the choice on what to do up for you to decide. We need to work together here not against.”, he continued, before lowering his voice. “Though, there is an option that wasn’t mentioned by the System: The lockdown can manually be manually overwritten in the Control Room. So, we have four choices: Arrest SMG4 after all, get Puzzles to the Health Department, try to reach security or make our best run to the exit which, quite frankly, is just insane.”
He raised his hands in defense.
“Up to you. I know I’m probably getting into trouble after this either way.”
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
Please note that this is the point where your character can indeed end up getting injured.
What do you want to do?
Take down SMG4 (Stay put)
Help RTV!Puzzles (Health Department)
Manually override Lockdown (Security Department)
Find an exit (Entrance area)
Voting ended onMay 2, 2025
One week deadline is starting again with this one which means you have time until next Wednesday!
POLL RESULT:
You decided to protect SMG4 from Security.
Participants actions:
Lucas
Lilith
Nicknack
Marie
Becky
Lari
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
Chaos immediately broke out the second RTV fell.
Nicknack just jumped back in time before getting crushed, another set of people getting startled by the sudden noise, one of them backing up and tripping over the unconscious TV head.
The result was a bunch of white and pink hair all over his clothes.
“What are YOU doing here?!”
The meme guardian quickly made a step as a horned girl transformed into a dragon right in front of him, blocking him off from RTV.
“LEAVE!”
Oh, he wanted to alright.
Unfortunately that was now impossible with him being surrounded by people while security had their weapons aimed, blocking the exit door.
Only other way out was the window and he wasn’t reaching that with all these people in the damn way!
In the next second another participant had suddenly moved behind SMG4.
In an instant their one hand wrapped around his throat, as they leaned forward.
“You bastard ain’t getting away again.”
SMG4 froze, but didn’t let the gun fall.
“You all don’t understand, I’m not the bad guy!”, he pressed out through gritted teeth, though aware that the current situation wasn’t helping his case. “Listen, if you just let me expl-”
“NO ONE WILL CONTROL AND ABUSE MY POWER EVER AGAIN!!”
A punch out of nowhere caught SMG4 off guard, making him loose his grip aroun the gun.
It fell to the ground with a clang, but the meme guardian was more focused on now keeping the seemingly gone crazy brown haired woman off him.
A task that was much difficult if you were still being restrained.
“I-I don’t even know you!”, he now gave back, shielding his face with his arms.
“Out of the way!”
Suddenly, two arms wrapped themselves around the woman, and in the next second Swag was dragging her away from Four while she still fought trying to reach the meme guardian.
SMG4 had no idea what he did to piss her off this much, but he wasn’t going to lose this chance.
With a swift motion, he now grabbed his current captor’s wrists, before flinging them over his shoulder.
Too late.
Even though he was free now, he was now looking up to Lucian holding a gun to his face, Chris not far behind, keeping an eye on the door.
An odd sense of deja-vu washed over him.
“I see you’re still showing up in places you clearly shouldn’t be.”, Lucian now drawled and then sighed, motioning with gun up. “Hands up.”
However, before SMG4 could do so, to his and the security’s surprise, several participants now started to step forward, standing between the meme guardian and the Puzzlevision staff.
“What- guys, this is not the time!”, Lucian spoke up in irritation, motioning for the people to get out of his way.
No can do, the participants had made a decision to protect SMG4 from getting arrested by Puzzlevision staff.
A decision Lucian couldn’t exactly hate on, but that he also didn’t agree with.
Sure, if Wr3n wasn’t watching, he may have taken the chance to put a bullet into RTV and finish the job.
However, this wasn’t said chance and so he had to follow his duty which was making sure that RTV’s attacker was arrested.
A duty the tour participants now stood in the way off.
“They aren’t going to budge, Lucian.”, Animsay now spoke up for the first time in a while again.
During the whole scene she had been eerily quiet, watching the whole thing play out.
Her smile still didn’t fit the situation.
“Take a look around, are you really going to fight all of them?”, she continued, waving around the room.
Lucian now let his gaze wander, noting that not only people were blocking his way but also that some seemed downright ready to fight.
The shapeshifter RTV had scolded before had their eyes turn into a worrisome shade of red and even the participant that had gifted Lucian the drawing not a few minutes ago seeme ready to take it up for a fight if she had to.
That one particularly stung.
Lucian loved fights, but not like this.
Giving a brief look over to Chris and Swag who looked similarly clueless on the situation, he then let out a loud sigh.
[Damn it.]
“Stay down.”, he told the two others before lowering his gun now.
His order was immediately met with disdain.
“You can’t be serious!”, Swag exclaimed, now pushing the participant he had held to the side.
“Sir, with respect, this isn’t our job-”
“I know what my damn job is, Chris, and right I’m telling you to stay down.” Lucian snapped. “We are not hurting tour participants.”
Chris and Swag looked like they didn’t necessarily agree to this, but now lowered their own weapons begrudgingly.
“So now, what?”, Swag then asked, waving to SMG4. “Are we just going to let him walk? He just fried our boss!”
That…was a good question.
[Sigh…]
“Let’s just…all come down for a second.”, Lucian started, talking to the whole room. “First of all, I need someone to check on the boss. Don’t touch his head, just make sure he hasn’t kicked the bucket yet.”
Wait, didn’t they have someone from the Health Department here.
“Nira! Where is Nira? Please, get over to Puzzles.”, Lucian now called out to her, waving to the TV head who was still blacked out on the floor…now decorated with sticky notes?
If the situation wouldn’t be this bad right now, he would have found this hilarious.
But he couldn’t and that was mainly because he knew they were still being watched and their watcher did not exactly play by the same morals as they all did.
Only after RTVs’ commands.
As if he summoned it, the intercom now crackled on and a new voice sounded through the building.
“Dear employees and visitors, we are currently facing a vermin problem. Until the issue is resolved, the whole building will be going on lockdown starting now.”
[What.]
SMG4 and Lucian snapped around to the windows at the same time, watching as metallic blinds now rolled down, leaving the room in darkness with the only light source being the screens and Lucian’s sign head.
The echoing sound of things shutting and locking down told the group that the rest of the studio was currently going through a similar development.
“What the hell do we need so much security for again?”, Swag asked baffled, before turning to Lucian. “Hey, you’re head of security, tell that damn system this is way overkill!”
Said object knew exactly why RTV had so much security installed and it wasn't just because of simple paranoia.
What he also knew however was that Swag was right and that this was indeed bad news.
They were pretty much locked inside now.
With an AI that currently was without supervision because the only person it really listened to was currently knocked out cold.
“I object, partner.”
The screens in the room now flickered, before showcasing a turquoise silhouette, a white line on their face showcasing soundwaves.
RTV had forbidden Wr3n to show himself with his standard avatar to other people. mainly due to few employees still remembering Wren or the incidents of Western Spaghetti.
Like SMG4, Chris and Swag.
“If you want me to lift the lockdown, you have a choice.”,
Wr3n now continued, before an arrow appeared on the screens, Animsay’s included, pointing at SMG4 who narrowed his eyes.
Until now, he had never even known that Puzzles had a sentient security system.
“Option 1: You take out 4 over there and I will give you a free pass! Tour is over, the problem solved, you all can go home!”,
Wr3n now continued, before the arrows changed to point down at RTV.
“Option 2: You wake up the big boss and he can decide what to do with you.”
The arrow now disappeared, screens switching back to the silhouette.
“Option 3: You outlaws do neither of those and we can enjoy playing a game of tag. I’m sure I can take care of this whole issue myself within the hour! So, choose wisely. Happy trails!”
With that the screens switched back to the Puzzlevision logo.
“Puzzles has an apparently homicidal AI and you still think I’m the bad guy here?”, SMG4 now spoke up, pointing at himself.
“Not the issue right now.”, Lucian growled, starting to pace in place.
“I’m not seeing you deny the homicidal part.”
If Lucian had eyes, he would have shot SMG4 a glare, so instead, the words in his sigh head simply changed to [Shut it].
He now turned to the rest of the group again.
“Listen, I know we had our differences, but without Puzzles W- the security system may see us as an actual danger. Especially, after some of you just refused to let us arrest SMG4. He saw that, he’s always watching over the surveillance.”
“Told you we should have gone through with it…”, Swag mumbled in the background, before getting boxed in the side by Chris.
Lucian took another deep breath to keep cool nerves.
“I will leave the choice on what to do up for you to decide. We need to work together here not against.”, he continued, before lowering his voice. “Though, there is an option that wasn’t mentioned by the System: The lockdown can manually be manually overwritten in the Control Room. So, we have four choices: Arrest SMG4 after all, get Puzzles to the Health Department, try to reach security or make our best run to the exit which, quite frankly, is just insane.”
He raised his hands in defense.
“Up to you. I know I’m probably getting into trouble after this either way.”
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
Please note that this is the point where your character can indeed end up getting injured.
What do you want to do?
Take down SMG4 (Stay put)
Help RTV!Puzzles (Health Department)
Manually override Lockdown (Security Department)
Find an exit (Entrance area)
Voting ended onMay 2, 2025
One week deadline is starting again with this one which means you have time until next Wednesday!
