Time. Running. Out.
Foreshadowed madness,
Theoretical scenarios,
Too many questions,
And a little spark of inspiration.
Day 6: …
Monofell belongs to @pc-doodle / @monofell-au
The Writer does not claim canonicity in any way. Enjoy!
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It got worse.
I don’t remember leaving. The climate controlled building faded, replace with a world filled with red stone, the hum of distant machinery, and the hypnotic dance of the magma far below.
And I still--
Just kept--
Walking.
Very little made it through the haze that slowly built up in my head. I’d left the screen behind, but the static in the lab dogged my footsteps, joining the irritating buzz that constantly rumbled in the back of my mind. I chafed in skin that felt two sizes too small. The consol had been smashed, reducing the screen to incoherent static. Static that echoed and followed me, even after I’d ensured there would be no more eyes.
No more screens.
No more red on black.
No more smiling faces.
I tried to put it out of my mind, I was me. That wasn’t really up for debate--was it?
It’s me.
What I’d seen in the screen changed nothing--didn’t it?--just a faulty camera. And if I could still feel something dripping along my cheeks. If my eyes felt heavier. If the bright red landscape seemed...almost dull and grey… As if I was viewing it through a distant lense...
In the end did it matter?
I still had to move forward.
There were still games to play.
Each one was a brief moment of relief. My mind focusing on dodging the opponent's magic. Tracking patterns and calculating movements pushed the droning static back just enough. Each victory strengthened the light in my chest. It was a guiding beacon, lighting the path I needed to take. I’d left the knife behind, but...I found I didn’t need it. I still won.
“I--I--c-can’t l-let y-you h-hurt anyone else.”
Dust on my hands. Discarded glasses, glaring accusatory in the reflected screen.
Hurt?
It’s all just a GAME.
You taught me the rules.
You just LOST.
It all felt so clear in those moments.
Once the encounters ended…
I felt so.
Disconnected.
From everything.
The constant droning. The greying landscape.
I felt trapped, even as I made my way down the path before me. Winding through canyons and across pointless arrays of jump pads.
It’s me.
My hands shook. I couldn’t see the red rock beneath my feet. The static filled screen. Red and pink faded to dispassionate black and white. My eyes strained, even the edges of my filth covered hands seemed to blur, an odd double vision that poked the grumpy bear growling behind my temples.
The feeling of wrong-ness redoubled.
The face in the screen had been unfamiliar.
Yet I knew it was me.
It’s me.
But.
Who am I?
You are my child.
But.
Mom was gone.
That was my fault, wasn’t it?
You’re my best friend.
I just...played the game.
I didn’t make the rules.
They did.
You are our hope.
They all did.
If they didn’t.
They why did the encounters happen?
Another. After another.
A chilling laugh barely registered, cut off in a gurgled gasp. Something shrieked--grief? Pain? Hurt?-- but it’s attack barely made the flight flicker. Wisps of webbing drifted away from where I hadn’t realized it’d been clinging, disintegrating into a fine mist. In the dim-cobweb filled cavern, I stared down at my empty fist, covered in dust. The opponent in front of me--purple and black and grey and far too many arms--swayed, and then faded, like they all did when they lost--
I--
What am I doing?
Drifting in and out. Following a path I couldn’t even recognize anymore.
I was...looking for something.
Wasn’t I?
Answers?
Answers to what?
The void in my soul didn’t have a solution. I didn’t expect it too, but I was disappointed anyway.
Something just ached.
My path led me to this end.
A door, shimmering in a metal chamber. I’d been vaguely aware of the transition from red stone to cold blue steel. Like the lab, it was a shocking departure from the hand made or rough stonework of the previous areas. But aside from the lack of oppressive heat--which was replaced by a suffocating energy that filled the air. It mingled with the static and the glass continued to crack. The void looked back at me and smiled--I couldn’t bring myself to care. A new area. New opponents. They were tougher now. But the patterns came easy to me. Shadows in the corridors sought to ambush me. I should have been easy prey lost and wandering.
I was not.
I’d lost my equipment, but my mind was my weapon. And only while playing the game did I truly feel in control. I crushed them without mercy.
“Well, well, welly, well, darling, I’m surprised y0u’ve survived this long… I prepared such...fitting surprises for y0u. It’s n0 m0re than y0u deserved after the 0ne you left for me in my dear friend’s lab.”
A sleek mass of pink and black and white unfurled before the door guarding the way. Jets of pink light sliced through the air on their back, creating a facsimile of wings arching from dainty shoulder blades.. A pink heart glowed, pulsing with a light and energy that echoed the one in my chest. White folded and expanded outward, gloves transforming into a black cone, an ominous pink glow gathering at its tip.
Why
Why are you doing this
Why are you stopping me
Why do you block my way
“I t0ld her she needed to be str0nger, but why w0uld she listen t0 me? 0f c0urse, I anticipated the threat t0 c0me fr0m an0ther quarter...but nevermind. I’m afraid y0ur sh0w has been canceled, darling. Your mindless march shall end here, and herald the rise of my new career!”
Why…
Light burst free.
Why…
I weaved. It was nearly blinding. Ducking.
Why…
I threw every droplet of confusion and frustration and anger into my strike.
“I--see there is m0re than 0ne m0nster in this r00m.”
Why did any of this happen?
“T-truly, there’s n0thing left for me here. Bl00--my frien--w-well--”
“I h-h0pe they can...f0rgive me.”
Pink faded.
“Y0u--y0u can have it all d-darling. AH-HAHA. This f0rsaken undergr0und! Y0u’ll never leave. Y0u’ll hunt them d0wn. And they deserve it. They deserve it all. And then y0u’ll be left with n0thing! N0thing! N0--”
The heart shattered.
Metal clattered to the ground. The red light grew stronger.
But. There was nowhere for me to go now.
There was a door behind the dissolving pile of scrap. A door just like the ruins. The one Mom wanted to destroy.
