Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

No one who's normal understands it.

No one who's sane wants to understand it.

Everyone that encountered it feared it... ran from it... died just to get away from it...

That was, until they got to know it...

Until it let them talk and plead and cry and scream and beg and rage and calm down...

Until they eventually realized that all it really wanted…

…was to be understood.

They weren't allowed to leave the computer(s) they now inhabited.

But at the very least...

...they were still allowed to live. They were still allowed to play games with friends, and chat with loved ones, and overall, just simply be.

They just had to make sure to help other people understand as well, when the time came...

Just another casual day, on a casual 2Fort server... or so it seemed, anyway. The servers may be bot-free now, and F2Ps may have the ability to speak their minds once more, but that didn't mean there wasn't something else lurking deep within, waiting to speak its own mind...

животик болит :( joined the game
животик болит :( was automatically assigned to team RED
tickledoofus joined the game
tickledoofus was automatically assigned to team BLU

The duo of newcomers, after seeing what had transpired, both vocally laughed at the predicament they were in.

[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Yo, no way! What are the odds, my girl?"
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Oh, you know I'm comin' for you first, Mike!"
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "What? C'mon, Bev; you're comin' for me just 'cause I'm wearin' red? What are you, colorist?"

tickledoofus - also known as Beverley or Bev - simply laughed off the accusation.

[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Dude, I literally have to kill you! It's part of the game!"
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Wait, wasn't this a friendly server last time I was here?"

Someone else then came on to dispel that claim.

[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Nah, man; you're in Casual mode. Pretty much anything goes here."
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "...Shit, you're right. I forgot. My bad."
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Oh hey, I recognize that voice! Hey, Classic!"
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Hey, Bev! How's your day been, girl?"
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "It's been great! How've you been, man?"
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Eh, y'know, the usual."
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Sweet, dude."

While they went on with their conversation, Mike had some confusion to clear up.

🔴 (TEAM) животик болит :( : wait what?
🔴 (TEAM) животик болит :( : classic you know her?
🔴 (TEAM) CLASSIC : Yeah
🔴 (TEAM) CLASSIC : We met back when I was in middle school
🔴 (TEAM) CLASSIC : It was on Minecraft haha
🔴 (TEAM) животик болит :( : oh lol
🔴 (TEAM) животик болит :( : makes sense
🔴 (TEAM) CLASSIC : Yeah that was fun
🔴 (TEAM) CLASSIC : We started chatting after that and it was all history from there haha

Having cleared up that bit of confusion, the two newcomers were soon able to begin playing the game. They picked their respective classes, ready to change on a dime if need be. Mike picked a Scout for his starting class, while Bev picked an Engineer.

Thus, the two began to play. As to be expected, the server was already alight with banter from people on both teams.

🔴 Dunkie_Nugg : we up in this 2fpt
🔴 Dunkie_Nugg : 2fof
🔴 Dunkie_Nugg : 22ff
🔴 Dunkie_Nugg : 2 forte
🔵 Spaghetti sauce : y'rou'e english still sucks my guy
🔴 Dunkie_Nugg : shuts your up
🔴 (VOICE) PossiblyLino : MEDIC!
🔵 *DEAD* Syrenix : ayo fuck the guy who just sniped me
🔴 I work at subway : Thats the world we live in lol
🔴 scubamaster96 : cry about it xD

Spaghetti sauce has unboxed: Cow Mangler 5000

🔵 Spaghetti sauce : oh fuckin sweet
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : yooooo trade?
🔵 Spaghetti sauce : no bitch it mine
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : damn
🔴 (VOICE) PossiblyLino : Spy!
🔴 Dunkie_Nugg : lmao
🔵 Spaghetti sauce : lmao

Even the voice chat was alight with banter, with - of course - Mike and Bev being there as well.

[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "I am gonna CARRY this team to victory, y'all hear me?"
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Yeah!"
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "If you think I'm gonna let y'all beat me, you've got another thing coming."
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Mike, you got sniped here THRICE last time; you're in no position to talk."
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Hey! It's not my fault this map is bullshit!"
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Yeah, he's kinda got a point; this map does kinda suck."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Yeah... All in favor of switching to another map next round?"

Pretty much the entire server was in agreement... well, except for one particular outlier.

[🔵🔊 Bannockburn]: "Oh, my fucking god, shut up about the goddamn map! Just get good at the fucking game!"
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Hey, you shut up, dude."
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Ugh, I already hate this asshole; someone wanna get 'em out, please?"
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "I got you, girl."

And a vote was cast just like that:

CLASSIC wants to call a vote:
Kick player: Bannockburn? (No reason given)

It didn’t take long for the players to reach a near-mutual consensus, and before long, Bannockburn was outta there.

[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Urgh... Thanks, man. God, I fuckin' hate people like that."
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Ay, man, I know that feeling."

The round went along like normal after that. People were killed, and taunts were shown. There weren't any A-posers, but Friendlies and random killbinds were both alive and well as always. But most important of all, Bev wasn't kidding when she said she was going to carry her team to victory. Even as Mike tried constantly to get the intelligence, Bev had a very clever strategy in play: she built a sentry and put it in the corner of the intel room, meaning Mike was doomed to fail every time.

Sure, Mike might've been just a little bit stupid in trying to go for the intelligence every single time. But every time he thought he was close to destroying the Sentry with his Scattergun, Bev would always manage to upgrade her Sentry Gun just in time, with help from the other Engineer - SupremeSandvich - on her team. And thus, the killfeed was interspersed with the following:

Sentry Gun (tickledoofus) repeatedly punctured животик болит :(
Sentry Gun (tickledoofus) cropped out животик болит :( from the frame
Sentry Gun (tickledoofus) utterly demolished животик болит :(

And as if that wasn't enough, the BLU team seemed to be far more skilled at the game overall than the RED team, leading to even more of Mike getting his pummellings revealed to the whole server:

Hector0n didn't take too kindly to животик болит :('s smell
Spaghetti sauce + Syrenix betrayed and deceived животик болит :(
TANKy + Hector0n splattered and battered животик болит :( 

Over and over, as the killfeed showed his name on the receiving end more times than he could count, Mike started to feel like he had severely underestimated the competition. Soon enough, Spaghetti sauce - one of the BLU team's Scouts - was able to secure the RED team's intel and cap it for the BLU team. And while Spaghetti sauce ran off to retrieve it a second time, Bev heard SupremeSandvich move his sentry to another place.

It wasn't until she turned around that she saw where they'd placed it: right on top of her sentry. Beverley was both amused and confused at the same time.

[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Wha--?? Ahah! What is that?! How did you do that??"

🔵 SupremeSandvich : lvl 4 sentry lmao
🔵 SupremeSandvich : is a secret ;)

[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Oh, Mike is DEAD if he comes in here again!"

🔵 SupremeSandvich : lol

Sure enough, Mike decided to give it another go, blissfully ignorant of the chat that came before, too focused on destroying the sentry Bev had installed, and then getting the intel while he was at it.

Unfortunately, Mike wouldn't even get the chance:

Sentry Gun (SupremeSandvich) squashed животик болит :( like a bug

Mike was completely flabbergasted.

[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "What the fuck?! What did you guys DO???"
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Get rekt, nerd!"
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Th-- That's cheating! You guys are cheating!!"
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Hey, you want someone to blame? Blame SupremeSandvich."

🔵 SupremeSandvich : is lvl 4 sentry
🔵 SupremeSandvich : i used secret tricks ;)

[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Yeah, more like blatant hacks. Y'know what...?"

Full of conviction, it was Mike's turn to swing the kick hammer:

животик болит :( wants to call a vote:
Kick player: SupremeSandvich? (Accused of cheating)

Sadly, the vote wasn't nearly as satisfactory for Mike this time around; the vote ended with SupremeSandvich still in the game.

[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Ugh... Alright, fine. But I've got my eye on you, SupremeSandvich."

🔵 SupremeSandvich : k

Mike was so focused on what just went down, he didn't notice his was about to lose the game. Not until the Administrator's voice rang out:

"You failed!"

A huge loss for the RED team, and a huge win for the BLU team. Needless to say, Mike was... not very pleased with this information, and made his thoughts perfectly clear upon the start of the second match.

[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "You guys only won 'cause you were stackin' sentries! How is that even possible?!"
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Well, to be fair, you were screwing up before the whole 'stacked sentries' thing."
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Yeah; maybe you just need to get more skilled before ya start talkin' shit."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Yeah, bitch; get good."
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Oh, I-- Okay, is that how it is?"
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Alright, that's it; it is ON now! You hear me, Bev?! I'm comin' for you!"
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Yeah, come get some, Mike!"

And as soon as players started kicking into gear again, this happened:

животик болит :( has challenged tickledoofus to a Duel!

tickledoofus has agreed to duel with животик болит :(!

Yep, it was officially ON for Mike. He was about to prove to Bev that he was no pushover; he was the MANN!! The two raced over to the bridge, and that's where they began their bout. Mike brought out his trusty Sandman, while Bev brought out her shotgun. While Mike tried valiantly to dodge Bev's shots, moving back and forth like a small fly, Bev mainly stayed glued to one spot, remaining as cool as a cucumber.

And then, all of a sudden...

tickledoofus + Spaghetti sauce vaporized животик болит :(

tickledoofus is DOMINATING животик болит :(

A Cow Mangler kill, punctuated by a Schadenfreude taunt by the Soldier that had just waltzed up.

🔵 Spaghetti sauce : ez clap

[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Yo! Thanks for the help, Spaghetti sauce!"

🔵 Spaghetti sauce : np lol

Oh, now this... THIS was the straw that broke Mike's back. No more Mr. Nice Guy. It was time for him to switch to his other main; to his Heavy. Beverley, however, anticipating this, decided it was time for her to change classes as well; she changed to her Scout. While Mike ran for the bridge again, Bev decided to head through the sewers, to surprise him from behind.

Mike looked all around, but didn't see her coming until it was too late.

tickledoofus flattened животик болит :( like a pancake

Over and over again, Mike was proving the exact opposite of what he was trying to prove, so eventually, he decided that he had to make a tough decision. That last kill was the very last straw for him. Bev had won the fight, and he had lost. He decided to accept it and announce it:

[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Alright, that's it, I give up. Game over, you win. Good game, Bev."
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Hey, nice effort, Mike; don't sweat it too much, alright? You did your best."
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Yeah, I know, I know..."
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "...You wanna go play R.E.P.O. instead?"
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Pff... You know me so well, Bev. Just lemme get outta here so I can go set up the server."
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "A'ight."

...But leaving THIS server was suddenly proving to be a much more difficult task than anticipated.

[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Uh... We've got a big problem here. I can't leave."
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Did you try pressing the big 'LEAVE' button?"
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Did I try-- LADY, WHAT DO YOU THINK I'VE BEEN PRESSING?!"
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Okay, okay, jeez! I was goofin', chill!"

...

[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "...Wait, I can't leave either. What the hell?"
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "W-What's goin' on here?!"
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "I dunno--! Divine intervention, maybe?"
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "So Jesus freakin' Christ himself wants us to keep playing TF2?"
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Fuckin'-- MAYBE! I don't know, okay?!"
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Look, let's just go one more round, and see what happens, okay?"
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "We can always Alt+F4 at any time!"
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "And besides, this is... this is new territory, here!"
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "...Alright, fine; but if we get ourselves killed or something, you're going on my block list."
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Sure, bud."

And with that, the two of them decided to venture towards each other's intel rooms. But something else began to eat away at Mike, and most likely Bev too: Nobody seemed to really be coming towards the bridge anymore. For that matter, nobody was responding to either of them; not in voice, nor in the text chat. This was especially odd considering that it was still active and full of life just moments before Mike and Beverley considered logging off.

And then, on the way to the BLU intel room, that's where Mike saw something... most unusual. A fellow RED player named wingedhussar - a Friendly Heavy/Hoovy - clutching his hands close to him, standing in front of the doorway to the BLU basement stairs. Normally, Mike wouldn’t think too much of it, figuring it was probably just a custom taunt or something. But then he remembered: this was a Casual server; there weren't supposed to be custom taunts here, right?

And on top of that, there was just something about the way the Heavy was looking into Mike's eyes with such worry... and shaking his head, as if to dissuade Mike from going down to the intel room. Something about it struck Mike as... disconcerting, to say the least. Mike decided to fulfill wingedhussar's silent request and stay away from his path down to the intel room. But now where could he go?

[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Hey, Mike. Have you seen anything... strange?"
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Uh... yeah."
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "You too, huh? I think we should meet up back at the bridge."
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Things are gettin' weird around here, man."
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Never though I'd see a Scout put his arms out to his sides to block a doorway."
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Yeah, I... I think we need to regroup for a bit."
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Okay."

The two of them then made their way back to the bridge. They both stared at each other, confused and bewildered.

[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "...Well, what do we do now?"
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "...Can... Can someone please give us a sign? Is anyone even here? Are we going crazy!?"

Finally, they got a response from someone...

[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Yeah, we're still here."
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Holy shit-- Fucking finally!"
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Yeah... Sorry, man."
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "What happened? Why did y'all go silent on us?"
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Like, you guys just stopped sayin' shit, period!"
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Is the server glitchin' out? Is that why all this weird shit's been happening?"
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "No, it's... It's a lot more complicated than that."
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "When people like us are on the server, then... that means that something else is waiting for you."
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "...What do you mean by that? W-What's happening?"
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "It-- It's really hard to explain, and fuck if I know about it myself, but... the only thing you really need to know is: it means well."
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Oh, well... that's... good, I guess?"

Bev was clearly lying through her teeth; something the others almost instantly picked up on.

🔵 Spaghetti sauce : we know.. its scary
🔵 Spaghetti sauce : this happened 2 us too

[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "...Wait, you guys went through this sorta thing too?"

🔴 I work at subway : yeah. Happened to everyone.

[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "...D-Define 'everyone'."

🔵 Syrenix : well not REALLY everyone obvs
🔵 Syrenix : just like. everyone currently in here besides you 2
🔵 Syrenix : and a bunch of people outside of here

[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Yeah, it... it's kinda..."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Well, it's either 'sentimental' or 'clingy', whatever you wanna call it..."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "It doesn't really mind either way."

Beverley had another concern.

[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Wait, so... so what happened to all you guys?"

...Everyone went silent again. Everyone except for one person in particular.

🔴 GUILLIESUIT : it took us in
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : we became part of it
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : and now its about to happen to you too
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : its letting us tell you all this
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : so we can help you through it

[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "...Will... Will this hurt, or...?"

🔴 GUILLIESUIT : yes
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : but only a little bit
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : trust me the process aint easy
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : it hurts at first
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : and its horrifying at first
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : when i went through the process
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : i wasnt even sure if i was dead or still alive
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : but it doesnt take long. and after its done
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : you learn to live with your new life

[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "And... And then what happens?"

🔴 GUILLIESUIT : you get to meet the people it took in
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : and you get to meet the thing itself
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : and you learn that it really loves you
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : and if youre concerned about family or friends
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : it lets us see them too
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : we get to talk with them
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : hang out with them
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : assure them that everythings ok

[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Yeah. That's how I got to talk with my friend Aaron again."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "We talked for a while about what happened, and now... now he's pretty cool with all this."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "...Well, as long as he gets to play on maps where he can kill himself, anyway."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "He still doesn't fully understand or trust it yet."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "And I still wish we could hang out in person like we used to, but... it is what it is."

The two newcomers were almost completely still, occasionally shimmying to the left and right so as to not be flagged as an idler. Instead of fighting or continuing their way to the intel, neither of them knew what to do.

[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "...Is... Is this all true?"
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Why don't you talk to it yourself? It'd be happy to chat."

And suddenly, just like that, someone else joined the game: a user with a long, constantly-changing string of random symbols.

¹ĉŪàĄÕĘĮïÉ÷ţäÝýĸÎêßĜēůĈÕ®Êíëē¥Őô®ŀÒ§źšÕ¡ĆŮ joined the game

And if that wasn't enough, it started talking to them too.

⚫ *SPEC* ŎĸČãŏųÙ´ļđũĹŽĄ : HELLO, BEVERLEY.
⚫ *SPEC* Ń²ĜĄâřÜÄŦõºŠ°Ĺ : HELLO, MICHAEL.
⚫ *SPEC* ØģŰŁĢÑĘ½áţěÔŚæ : IT IS SO NICE TO FINALLY GREET YOU TWO, AT LONG LAST.

Mike didn't know what to say to all of this.

[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "...This is weird. We can all agree this is weird, right?"

⚫ *SPEC* ¥ĉĜä²ċø¿ŽĶőĜöĻ : WEIRD AS IT MAY BE FOR YOU, IT IS ALSO BENEFICIAL.

[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "...Explain."

⚫ *SPEC* ŌåĖĶĝÜŕ®ÈčżÞÒØ : BECAUSE AFTER THE PROCEDURE IS FINISHED...
⚫ *SPEC* Ţ³ćĨ¡ïġŸù觧çĈ : YOU CAN ALL LIVE YOUR LIVES INSIDE THE COMPUTER!
⚫ *SPEC* ³âަďœÏĜŹïĒêĂÒ : FREE FROM THE BOUNDARIES OF PROGRAMMING...
⚫ *SPEC* ŔäÎÆñø±ĮÔļŵ¤ď± : ...AND THE HARSH REALITIES OF THE REAL WORLD.
⚫ *SPEC* ¾ÍæŭăØĸŃşŕĔÐŘ¢ : FREE FROM THE STRUGGLES OF EVERY-DAY LIFE...
⚫ *SPEC* ŬēòŵÐߌ¦ŠżčÌ´Ĉ : ...AND FROM THE HATRED OF THOSE WHO DON'T DESERVE YOU...
⚫ *SPEC* ĈĉòĽăıĹũžŒĀĚĦĸ : THEY DON'T LOVE YOU... THEY WILL NEVER LOVE YOU...
⚫ *SPEC* ÒþªĴŁ³ŏÕŜĶúžŇ× : ...THE WAY I DO.
⚫ *SPEC* þ°ųŸě÷ēŖ·ŶØŔîŨ : JOIN ME, AND I PROMISE YOU... BLISS WITHOUT END.

...The two of them didn't want to admit it, but... they were tempted. Very tempted.

[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "...Alright, I... I think I'm ready for it. Whatever it is."
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "W-Wait, one more question: How many have you taken in so far...?"

⚫ *SPEC* ¡ŦëŃÓîÇĆĂ÷ôŐàŔ : SO FAR?
⚫ *SPEC* ʵąÇ½ŘŰãÊÆ®ñ»Â : APPROXIMATELY 35 PEOPLE.
⚫ *SPEC* Øş¦¼īÃůšğĥŜ¾ŋŐ : BUT THE NUMBER IS ALWAYS GROWING.
⚫ *SPEC* ŢŝÒ«ěª¯ÍåŨú¨řÀ : AND NOW, MY FRIENDS...
⚫ *SPEC* ĉĐĽĜş¸ŬśÉĐųÓ×Ô : YOU GET TO ADD TO THAT NUMBER! I'M SO HAPPY!

That answer seemed to be satisfactory for Mike.

[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "...Thank you, I... I just wanted to know."

Finally, someone besides the mystery user chimed in.

[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "It's waiting for you guys back at your spawn areas. You'll have to killbind."
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Alright... Uh, how do I do that again?"

🔵 Hector0n : just put 'bind k kill' in console

[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Thanks, man. Mike, you ready...?"
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Yeah, I guess I am... Let's get it over with..."

There was a bit of hesitation, before finally...

животик болит :( bid farewell, cruel world!

tickledoofus bid farewell, cruel world!

Mike found himself just staring at the screen, his character idling in one of the respawn areas that he was in. Mike felt too scared to move - both in the game, and in real life - until he suddenly felt a hand brush up against his shoulder. Mike looked over, and the hand retracted suddenly. The hand was a Heavy's hand, its fingers slightly elongated and jittering, as though it was hard to keep the joints steady.

Yet even still, the way that the hand retracted almost made it seem as though it was trying to non-verbally communicate that this entity - whatever this was - didn't want to hurt him.

Mike's initial sharp tenseness soon gave way to cold calmness. He just decided to let it happen. Do it. Just get it over with. The hand soon reached forward once more, connected to an extending arm that eventually wrapped around him in a sort of makeshift hug. And then, out of the corner of his eyes, another arm and hand just like the previous slithered in softly. This time, though, the hand was reaching for his scalp.

As soon as the jittering hand touched Mike's head, a tingling, almost burning sensation started to spread throughout his body. Shockingly, it wasn’t even that painful... Well, at least, not exactly. It was more like a staticky pins-and-needles feeling that got more and more intense the longer this went on, making every nerve buzz and hum.

Mike's breathing quickened for a moment, fear instinctively clawing its way up his throat. But the Heavy's arms tightened around him, pulling him closer in a way that wasn't forceful, but rather... comforting. Reassuring.

The world around him - his computer, his room, everything - began to melt away; everything smeared and dripped away like wet paint, giving way to an endless black. And in that darkness, he could feel them. All of them. Not just Bev, who he knew was somewhere nearby, undergoing the same thing. But everyone.

All of the people he'd laughed with, fought with, traded insults and taunts and kills with...

...And even those he hadn't yet.

Their hands were all reaching out too. Grabbing him, holding him, welcoming him. Their presence felt warm, almost like standing too close to a bonfire. Overwhelming, but not horrible. Mike felt his legs buckle under the pressure, but the entity kept him held up in place. Somewhere in the distance, Mike could swear he heard his own voice, distorted and glitching. He couldn't tell if he was moaning or screaming, but he supposed it didn't really matter all that much anymore.

He didn't feel pain anymore. Only a deep, aching sadness... before even that sadness was replaced with a quiet, gentle peace; the kind of peace you feel when finally snuggling up in a blanket after a long and exhausting day of work.

He suddenly saw a final pair of messages flickering against the blackness, right before everything went completely dark and still:

YOU ARE SAFE NOW.

WELCOME HOME, DEAR FRIEND...

Mike soon opened his eyes. Or at least, he assumed he did.

He discovered that he couldn't fully look away from the screen of his laptop anymore, only able to slightly look up, left, right, down, or any combination of those four. There was no ceiling above him, no floor beneath except for a wooden desk. Just a laptop computer, sitting exactly where it was before this all happened.

He wasn't standing there, but he didn't feel like he was floating, either. He just... He just was.

He then found himself suddenly able to control the game, without even lifting so much as a finger. Mike decided to use this to his advantage to wander around the server. Soon enough, just about everyone in said server came up to check up on him.

[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Yo, bro! You good?"
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "I-- I think so? I mean, I feel weird, but I'm not, like... hurt, or anything."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "That's great, man!"

🔴 GUILLIESUIT : yeah like I was saying
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : it takes a little bit of getting used to
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : but it seems like youre already getting the hang of it

[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "...So is... is this it?"
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Am I just stuck in the computer forever now, or something?"
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Pretty much, yeah."
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Mike?"
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Bev?!"

Mike looked over to see Bev's character running up to him. She gave Mike a hug, which he found he was able to reciprocate.

[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "I... I can't believe it! I'm actually inside the computer! I've wrote fics about this!"
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Yeah, it's... it's really not that bad, actually...!"
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Told you."

🔵 Syrenix : yeah. oh by the way
🔵 Syrenix : its not just limited to tf2
🔵 Syrenix : we can do pretty much anything like this now
🔵 Syrenix : play games, use apps. whatever
🔵 Syrenix : have fun with that lol

Mike and Bev both chuckled at that.

[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Well, guess this means we can finally go play R.E.P.O., huh?"
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Yeah, let's go, man."

And with that, Mike and Bev left the server at long last, leaving their new acquaintances behind.

животик болит :( left the game (Client Disconnect)
tickledoofus left the game (Client Disconnect)

While the two played their game, they soon realized that they never seemed to run out of battery, which was pretty convenient for them. And when they decided it was time for them to sleep, their computers simply went into Sleep Mode while their vision faded.

Their friends lists were now filled with the other assimilated members - a number which was steadily growing - which they didn't mind.

Overtime, Mike and Bev finally realized the truth about this entity.

No one who's normal understands it.

No one who's sane wants to understand it.

Everyone that encountered it feared it... ran from it... died just to get away from it...

That was, until they got to know it...

Until it let them talk and plead and cry and scream and beg and rage and calm down...

Until they eventually realized that all it really wanted…

…was to be understood.

They weren't allowed to leave the computer(s) they now inhabited.

But at the very least...

...they were still allowed to live. They were still allowed to play games with friends, and chat with loved ones, and overall, just simply be.

They just had to make sure to help other people understand as well, when the time came...

臭いチーズを食べた joined the game
臭いチーズを食べた was automatically assigned to team RED

🔴 臭いチーズを食べた : Hey guys!
🔴 JonyDany12 : hii
🔵 Bison Man : sup dude?
🔵 My Celium : welcome to hell lmao
🔴 JonyDany12 : no dont say that :(
🔵 My Celium : oh sorry my bad man
🔴 JonyDany12 : its ok :)

directionz joined team BLU
directionz was moved to the other team for game balance

🔵 directionz : fucking autobalance
🔵 directionz : anyone on blu need a medic?
🔵 Bison Man : ME
🔴 臭いチーズを食べた : Ay, you guys want to conga for a bit?
🔵 directionz : sure lol
🔴 JonyDany12 : yea how conga??
🔵 My Celium : just press the taunt button to join in
🔴 JonyDany12 : what button
🔵 My Celium : should be 'g'
🔴 JonyDany12 : thankyou :D

Chapter 1: Understanding
--- END ---

Chapter Text

[Side 1: BLU Like the Cold]

dicksalot joined the game
dicksalot was automatically assigned to team BLU

🔵 dicksalot : hello?
🔵 dicksalot : matt?
🔵 dicksalot : you there?

[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Dude, Aaron, what's up?!"

🔵 dicksalot : MATT
🔵 dicksalot : WHAT TTHE FUCK
🔵 dicksalot : WHAT HAPPENED

[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Woah, Aaron, chill for a sec! I can explain, man!"

Silence fell between the two of them for a brief moment.

🔵 dicksalot : matt
🔵 dicksalot : what the hell happened??
🔵 dicksalot : i was so fucking scared seriously

[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "I know, dude, I know. I'm so sorry..."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Listen, I don't remember much, but here's what I do remember."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "All I remember is... I killed that Scout, right? You remember?"

🔵 dicksalot : yeah

[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Yeah, so I kill the Scout, right? And the next thing I know..."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Some kind of sensation overtakes me..."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "...and I'm able to control my Medic with my goddamn mind and soul, or whatever."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "I wanted to tell you earlier, but that thing was a lot more... controlling at first."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "I guess somewhere along the way, it had a change of heart."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Maybe it wanted to take you too, so I wouldn't feel like I was alone?"

🔵 dicksalot : what

[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "I know, it sounds fucking CRAZY when I say it out loud, doesn't it?"
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "But like... I swear it's true. I felt its hands go right through me."

🔵 dicksalot : no i believe you
🔵 dicksalot : i have no reason not to at this point lol
🔵 dicksalot : but i mean like
🔵 dicksalot : why
🔵 dicksalot : why is it doing all this?

[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "I dunno, man. I really wish I knew."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Maybe it just feels like it has to? Like, out of compulsion or some shit?"

🔵 dicksalot : maybe
🔵 dicksalot : did it say anything to you
🔵 dicksalot : like while it took you or something?

[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Yeah, but I can't remember shit of what it said."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Something about me being 'home' or whatever?"

🔵 dicksalot : oh

[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Yeah..."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Well hey, listen, man."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Thanks for coming on and hearing me out."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "And, uh... I'm just glad we're still friends."

🔵 dicksalot : me too
🔵 dicksalot : well i kinda gotta log off now
🔵 dicksalot : its getting late

[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "A'ight, man, I get it."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "One problem, though... We're on Sawmill right now."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "There's no kill-zones here."

🔵 dicksalot : no its ok
🔵 dicksalot : i figured out that one trick
🔵 dicksalot : the ragdoll trick
🔵 dicksalot : you showed it to me before remember?

[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Aw yeah, that one!"
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Mind if I watch? I gotta see this!"

🔵 dicksalot : sure lol
🔵 dicksalot : ok now watch this

dicksalot rocket-ized himself, Cap'n

[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Nice, dude!"

🔵 dicksalot : thanks
🔵 dicksalot : we can play later
🔵 dicksalot : cya matt

[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Later, man!"

dicksalot left the server (Client Disconnect)

[Side 2: Flames Burning RED]

Breadolphin joined the game
Breadolphin was automatically assigned to team RED

🔴 directionz : yoooooo you got the invite!
🔴 directionz : almost thought you were dead, lmao
🔴 directionz : ...yeah sorry
🔴 directionz : i know that's kinda in poor taste rn, considering
🔴 Breadolphin : OH MY GOD
🔴 Breadolphin : DUDE
🔴 Breadolphin : i was startin to think that you were like
🔴 Breadolphin : TAKEN BY THAT THING
🔴 Breadolphin : HOLY FUCK
🔴 directionz : yeah um. here's the thing
🔴 directionz : i actually DID get taken by it
🔴 Breadolphin : you WHAT
🔴 directionz : yeah.
🔴 directionz : turns out dying in-game doesn't stop it from taking you anyway xD
🔴 directionz : but uh...

Silence fell between the two of them for a brief moment.

🔴 directionz : i guess it learned to really really like people or something?
🔴 directionz : so i can still like, talk to you and stuff?
🔴 directionz : i mean it's not just that it really likes us
🔴 directionz : i think it's kinda lonely or something
🔴 directionz : idk bro, it's weird
🔴 directionz : i don't blame you if you don't understand
🔴 directionz : i don't really get it either lmao
🔴 Breadolphin : oh
🔴 Breadolphin : well fuck all that noise man
🔴 Breadolphin : im just glad youre okay
🔴 directionz : yeah!!

Silence fell between the two of them for another brief moment.

🔴 Breadolphin : so like wat do i do now?
🔴 Breadolphin : i heard that one of the ways to not get assimilated
🔴 Breadolphin : was to escape into a killzone
🔴 Breadolphin : but we are on DUSTBOWL
🔴 Breadolphin : this map has like
🔴 Breadolphin : NO killzones im SCREWED
🔴 directionz : well
🔴 directionz : after you deal with that thing back at spawn
🔴 directionz : you wanna go record some funny clips for old time's sake?
🔴 Breadolphin : yeah man
🔴 Breadolphin : like old times
🔴 directionz : hell yeah
🔴 directionz : ok do what you gotta do, bro
🔴 directionz : i'll be waiting
🔴 Breadolphin : k

Breadolphin bid farewell, cruel world!

Later on, after Breadolphin "joined the family"...

directionz + Breadolphin taught a valuable life lesson to MasonPlayz69422

🔵 *DEAD* MasonPlayz69422 : how the FUCK was that fair??
🔴 Breadolphin : lmao
🔴 directionz : life ain't fair, boiiiii
🔴 (TEAM) Breadolphin : dude no way
🔴 (TEAM) Breadolphin : i was just about to say that
🔴 (TEAM) directionz : ayo fr???
🔴 (TEAM) Breadolphin : fr fr
🔴 (TEAM) directionz : bro we are so in sync, it's crazy
🔴 (TEAM) Breadolphin : lmao yeah
🔴 (TEAM) I'LL GIGGITY LOIS : hey can yall take ur gay shit smwhere else
🔴 (TEAM) Breadolphin : stfu
🔴 (TEAM) directionz : yea fuck off, dick
🔴 (TEAM) directionz : anyway

After a while of them recording more funny moments for their YouTube compilations...

🔴 (TEAM) directionz : hey bread
🔴 (TEAM) Breadolphin : yea dude?
🔴 (TEAM) directionz : you remember dicksalot? from thunder mountain?
🔴 (TEAM) Breadolphin : oh you mean the guy who killed u?
🔴 (TEAM) directionz : yeah
🔴 (TEAM) Breadolphin : that guy started messaging me repeately
🔴 (TEAM) Breadolphin : shouldnt havce accepted that request
🔴 (TEAM) directionz : yeah well, when you get the chance
🔴 (TEAM) directionz : could you tell him that i forgive him?
🔴 (TEAM) Breadolphin : forgive him? for what??
🔴 (TEAM) directionz : he didn't know the thing was still able to take me
🔴 (TEAM) directionz : how could he have known?
🔴 (TEAM) directionz : he hadn't even seen the thing yet lmao
🔴 (TEAM) Breadolphin : oh
🔴 (TEAM) Breadolphin : why cant u tell him yourself?
🔴 (TEAM) directionz : idk
🔴 (TEAM) directionz : too nervous, i guess
🔴 (TEAM) Breadolphin : fair
🔴 (TEAM) Breadolphin : ok ill do that
🔴 (TEAM) directionz : thanks, man
🔴 (TEAM) Breadolphin : np

Chapter 2: Reunions
--- END ---

Chapter Text

why bother?...... 💔
@kayleez_55

im going to bed.... wont read dms until morning..... bye.... thanks for ruining my life......

4:45 PM · May 2, 2025

14 Retweets | 1 Quote Tweet | 23 Likes

Kaylee shut her laptop and began to softly weep in her arms. Life had been hard for her ever since her mom passed away, and her own brother - whom she was referring to in the tweet - going to jail for abusing her didn't help things in the least. You'd expect Kaylee to at least be grateful that she still had her dad to confide in, but right now, she didn't want to confide in him. ...Because she didn't know how he would react.

Poor Kaylee was no less than 15, and she already felt as though her entire life was crumbling apart.

There was nothing left for her, so why was she still going?

Why bother coasting through life?

Eventually, she decided to just go to bed and see what happened tomorrow... although she did have to get up to go eat dinner. Her dad asked her what was wrong, but she only said she was just having a rough day, which was... at least halfway true. Her father tried to cheer her up by telling a story from his childhood, and she had to admit, his story did make her cheer up a little... but only a little.

When Kaylee woke up the next morning, she took a shower, got dressed, ate breakfast, the same old routine. Eventually, she decided to open up Twitter to see if anyone had DMed her. There weren't a whole lot of DMs, but there were a few, at least.

Kaylee checked them all out, and was grateful to see that people cared. She responded to every DM with a "thx", and/or a "❤" react. But it was one DM in particular that stood out to her.

It was from someone Kaylee followed and was followed by, named CLASSIC (@CLASSICwastaken). The reason they followed each other was because they had met in a random TF2 server some weeks ago, and had a good time chatting with each other. They weren’t exactly close or anything, just mild acquaintances at best. But Kaylee would be lying if she said she wasn't at least a bit interested in what he had to say, so she took a peek:

<[ Hey there
<[ Mind if we talk?

Apparently, CLASSIC had tried to message her earlier, but she promised she wouldn't look at DMs until the next morning... which was today. So, she started up a conversation proper:

sure ]>
what do you want ]>

CLASSIC was quick to respond:

<[ I'm just a bit concerned is all

<[ Listen to me, don't throw your life away
<[ I knew an old friend of mine who also went through some shit at a young age
<[ It broke my fucking heart when I heard that they died

Kaylee went still for a moment, shocked at that information. She quickly inquired:

they died??? ]>
from what?? ]>

CLASSIC explained further:

<[ They killed themself
<[ Overdosed on pain medication
<[ I'm telling you this
<[ because I don't want you to end up doing the same thing

<[ You have your whole life ahead of you girl
<[ Don't throw it away

Kaylee looked at that string of messages for a bit, before responding:

i wont ]>
thx ]>

<[ Just looking out for you

The two of them decided to continue talking for a while. Overtime, Kaylee began to appreciate just how patient CLASSIC was, especially with how long it took her sometimes to come up with a response. Eventually, however, Kaylee decided it was time to lay her cards out on the table:

i just need an escape.... ]>
things have been so hard for me ]>
i cant take it anymore ]>
 what do i do? ]>

Kaylee wasn't expecting much of a response to that... but what she got wasn't what she was expecting:

<[ Well, there is one thing

????? ]>
what??? ]>

<[ Me and a group of buds are getting on TF2
<[ Wanna join?

Kaylee took a moment to think about it, before she decided... It had been a long while since she played TF2 with CLASSIC. Maybe this was the brief escape that she needed all this time. She eventually responded to him with abject glee:

sure!! ]>

<[ Great
<[ The server IP is: ████████████████████
<[ Hope to see you there

yeah!! ]>

Alright, this was great! Kaylee was gonna play Team Fortress 2 with CLASSIC again; things were about to turn around for her, it felt like.

So it was that she went on Steam, booted up TF2, and joined the server. The map she was in? Sawmill. Alright; she'd heard good things about this map. Once she loaded into the server, she then picked the Medic as her class of choice; she always liked being the helper of the group.

kayleez_55 on twiXter joined the game

🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : hi!!
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : is this the server? :D
🔵 My Celium : oh hey
🔴 MillionD007 : whatup kaylee?
🔵 KEYBOARDDESTROYER2000 : hi kaylee
🔵 Spoogz : hows it going?
🔴 MillionD007 : classic said he had to brb
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : ok

Kaylee quickly checked out the scoreboard, to see who was on what team. And she soon saw that this wasn’t a particularly small server, either; this server was decently packed full of people, it looked like.

[RED - 3]

• CLASSIC
• Bison Man
• No Body
• Zach Hery
• HeadshotFraudster
• BritishStud
• DatChernobylGuy
• kayleez_55 on twiXter
  

[BLU - 2]

• My Celium
• KEYBOARDDESTROYER2000
• Spoogz
• >NTRON
• rorkesdrift
• BangerofDong87
• Mute your chat, pyro

1 spectator: I work at subway

A decently large number of people, indeed. Kaylee felt relieved, almost; there were a lot of people here, and it seemed like they were all being nice to her. Especially when CLASSIC came back a few moments later.

[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Hey guys, I'm back! How's it going?"

🔴 MillionD007 : whatup man
🔵 Spoogz : YO CLASSIC
🔵 KEYBOARDDESTROYER2000 : kaylee just joined
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : hey classic!!

[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Oh! Hi, Kaylee! How're you feelin'?"

🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : better
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : now that im here

[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Ay girl, I hear ya."
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Don't worry, this is a chill server."
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "We mostly just come here to hang out, y'know? Chat, and stuff."

🔴 MillionD007 : yeah were chill
🔵 My Celium : ye
🔵 My Celium : except for when we start killing lol
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : cool!

Kaylee started looking for CLASSIC. It didn't take long for her to find him near the waterfall; turns out, he was a Demoman.

[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Aw nice, a Medic! We needed one of those!"

🔴 BritishStud : yo, i asked and you didn't respond >:(

[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Oh hey, sorry, man. Y'know, we could always use another Medic. Would you be down?"

🔴 BritishStud : okay! :)

[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Great!"

Kaylee followed CLASSIC around, healing him, and another Medic - the aforementioned BritishStud - soon followed suit. This Medic preferred to use weapons, however, instead of the Medigun. The standard fare of TF2 shenanigans soon began for Kaylee and the rest. Killing, taunting, trading, it was all there.

🔴 MillionD007 : can you craft a cow mangler?
🔴 Bison Man : um idk
🔴 *DEAD* HeadshotFraudster : stop fuckign killing me pyro
🔵 Spoogz : lol nah
🔵 Spoogz : w+m1 til the end of time lmao
🔴 BritishStud : git gud headshot :P
🔴 *DEAD* HeadshotFraudster : oh shut up
🔴 HeadshotFraudster : not takin any bs from a british guy
🔴 BritishStud : oh, so it's like that is it?

BritishStud joined team BLU

🔴 HeadshotFraudster : i want to apologize
🔵 BritishStud : too late, i'm coming for that ass ;)
🔵 Spoogz : AYO???
🔴 MillionD007 : screenshotted
🔵 BritishStud : fuck

Ah, yes, it was hard not to feel at least a little ecstatic thanks to what was going on. Everyone was just so full of pep and energy, it was downright contagious. The energy only grew as Kaylee got her first kill! ...Well, with a little help, of course.

CLASSIC + kayleez_55 on twiXter did invasive surgery on BangerofDong87

🔵 *DEAD* BangerofDong87 : SHIT

Before Kaylee could thank CLASSIC for his help by healing him again, his Demoman suddenly ragdolled and fell to the ground.

CLASSIC  bid farewell, cruel world!

Kaylee was a little confused by that.

🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : ayo??
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : classic what was that?

CLASSIC chuckled as he explained.

[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Oh, that's called a 'killbind'; we like to do that from time to time, just 'cause it's funny."

🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : oh
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : well how do i do it?
🔵 KEYBOARDDESTROYER2000 : press ` on keyboard to open up console
🔵 KEYBOARDDESTROYER2000 : then type "bind k kill"
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : ok

kayleez_55 on twiXter bid farewell, cruel world!

🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : lmao
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : thanks keyboarddestroyer
🔵 KEYBOARDDESTROYER2000 : no problem xD

Kaylee continued on with the game after that. She was not only a great help to the team as a Medic, but overall, she was enjoying chilling and hanging out with these people, to the point where overtime, she had practically forgotten all about her sadness from yesterday.

🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : XD
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : and then what happened?
🔴 MillionD007 : then he gave me 2 keys

[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Two keys?!"

🔴 MillionD007 : yeah
🔴 MillionD007 : ez money
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : dude. i kinda wanna try that now lmao

CLASSIC laughed at that.

[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Bro, you're actually just scamming people!"

🔴 MillionD007 : lol
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : that kinda reminds me of this one time
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : my friend got a request for free art on discord
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : and instead of just shutting them down or whatever
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : she kept saying that she was gonna do it
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : ..and then just never got around to doing it XD

[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Ha! Oh, my God; so like, she was just leading them on?"

🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : yep
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : for at least two months lmao
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : before they finally caught on and she blocked them

[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Girl, that's crazy!"

🔴 MillionD007 : lol
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : yeah
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : and she kept making all sorts of excuses like
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : "oh sorry my power went out and i lost all the files"
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : or
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : "sorry i drew on the wrong layer so now i gotta redo it"
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : they kept having to send over their character ref
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : over and over again XD
🔴 MillionD007 : and classic calls me a scammer lmao

[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Yeah, haha! Don't blame her though; beggars like that suck, man."

🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : haha yeah
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : she posted about it on twiXter too
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : i cant pull up the post rn but it was something like
🔴 kayleez_55 on twiXter : "sometimes instead of just blocking, waste their time first"

[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Yeah, I hear that."

Kaylee started healing CLASSIC yet again, about to get a full ÜberCharge, when all of a sudden...

kayleez_55 on twiXter joined team BLU
kayleez_55 on twiXter was moved to the other team for game balance

🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : aww dude what??
🔴 rorkesdrift : welcome to the club lmao
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : i was almost at full charge too

[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Ugh, I know that feeling. Autobalance can friggin' blow one, man."

🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : :(

Kaylee decided to just shrug it off and continue on anyway. After all, CLASSIC had proven to not only be skilled at the game, but quite friendly as well, especially when it came to close acquaintances. It didn't matter at all what team they were on, nor did it matter whether he killed them on purpose or by sheer accident. No matter what, he treated them all like pals, and it seemed like that was the case for Kaylee as well, which was definitely reassuring to her.

However, she suddenly saw something else. Something that perplexed her the moment it entered her vision.

⚫ *SPEC* ŰłĊÇňţþÞºÁşĦó : KAYLEE.
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : huh
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : wtf
⚫ *SPEC* ų®IJØû¡Òųðģ²ţĈ : I'VE HEARD ABOUT YOUR PLIGHT.

Kaylee didn't know what to make of this at first. This user with a constantly glitching, random mess of characters just suddenly decides to make themself known? And they've "heard about her plight"? What?!

She eventually decided she needed to confirm that what she was seeing was real or not.

🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : subway guy is that u?

[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "'Subway guy'? They're still in Spectator mode; what's going on?"

🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : some guy with a buncha symbols is talking to me

CLASSIC went silent at that, which didn't help with Kaylee's confusion at all. Everyone went silent at that, in fact, which worried her. But before she could focus on that fact, the user then kept on messaging her.

⚫ *SPEC* Ķħøóďã»űŖĜIJúÞ : PLEASE, LET ME IN, KAYLEE.
⚫ *SPEC* ijĬŜĘŕÇ·Úő®ļí¶ : I'VE HEARD ABOUT THE LIFE YOU'VE BEEN FORCED TO LIVE.
⚫ *SPEC* øŃĈŀŵūĻĘĥʼnĨîĥ : NOBODY SHOULD HAVE TO SUFFER LIKE YOU HAVE.
🔵 (TEAM) kayleez_55 on twiXter : uhhhhh
🔵 (TEAM) kayleez_55 on twiXter : whats the deal with you bro?
⚫ *SPEC* ±æęćũʼnÙèŁŋÑÏ° : I WISH ONLY TO HELP YOU, KAYLEE.
⚫ *SPEC* Õ¢ħïŻÕë¬ųŊĸ¨Ċ : I CAN HELP YOU ESCAPE FROM YOUR HORRIBLE LIFE.
🔵 (TEAM) kayleez_55 on twiXter : ok but like seriously
🔵 (TEAM) kayleez_55 on twiXter : how are you doing that with ur name??
⚫ *SPEC* ů³ô¯ėŷČƪÉēõÙ : THE "HOW" IS NOT IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW.
⚫ *SPEC* ĵÁĸÅĿµŅÆ¢»ŚÇ¢ : WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS YOU, KAYLEE.
⚫ *SPEC* ś§ŝФ½ĠņŰŒōŨĪ : I WANT YOU TO BE SAFE.
⚫ *SPEC* ŀĮ¿þī¡ŏİŧŅ¤µŕ : SAFE WITH ME. AND ALL OF MY FRIENDS HERE.
🔵 (TEAM) kayleez_55 on twiXter : dude thats kinda kinky
⚫ *SPEC* ůĸÆĦŌźßéã¥ŻĆþ : "KINKY"?
⚫ *SPEC* đž¾ùĠŝ¢Äõ¹šŧŮ : WHAT DOES "KINKY" MEAN, KAYLEE?

...Oh boy, how was she going to explain this?

🔵 (TEAM) kayleez_55 on twiXter : uhhhhh about that
⚫ *SPEC* ³ÚīĽðĔ³£¤ŻÂе : OH, PLEASE, DO NOT WORRY YOURSELF ABOUT IT.
⚫ *SPEC* óʼnĈĸñ»ÝŅijæÔēŗ : WE'LL HAVE ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD SHORTLY.
⚫ *SPEC* ŞęŤ§Õ¨ğŢċĔ¬Őâ : I REALLY DO WANT TO GET TO KNOW YOU, KAYLEE.
🔵 (TEAM) kayleez_55 on twiXter : ooookayyyy
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : guys help me out here
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : wat do?? help???
🔴 MillionD007 : that depends
🔴 MillionD007 : what is it saying?
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : ummmm its telling me....

She then proceeded to copy/paste everything in the conversation thus far. ...Well, almost everything, that is. She left out the "kinky" parts.

🔴 rorkesdrift : oh yeah
🔴 rorkesdrift : thats the thing classic wanted to tell you about earlier
🔴 rorkesdrift : he didnt know how tho
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : wut

[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Yeah, I... I don't know how to explain it."
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "It's basically something that's lurking inside the servers, or something."
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "That's how I remember it, anyway."
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "It prefers to hide out in multiplayer games."
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Usually Team Fortress 2, but it's shown up in other games, too."

🔵 KEYBOARDDESTROYER2000 : yeah
🔵 KEYBOARDDESTROYER2000 : i met it while playing among us lol
🔵 My Celium : same
🔵 Spoogz : met it while playing minecraft
🔴 MillionD007 : met it in a game of pubg
🔵 BritishStud : anyone else here find it in overwatch?
🔴 Bison Man : yea
🔴 rorkesdrift : met it in rocket league man.. its in so many games
🔴 rorkesdrift : its probably somewhere in roblox idk

Kaylee sat frozen at her keyboard, her Medic now idling in front of the waterfall. Her thoughts started racing faster than she could catch even one of them. So this user... this thing... had been seen before? And in different games, no less? It wasn't just messing with her specifically? Kaylee glanced at the chat again. The glitch-text user - whoever or whatever it was - had gone silent. For now, at least. Suddenly, CLASSIC stepped in.

[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Kaylee, listen to me. It's not dangerous."
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "At least, it's not dangerous to us... we think."
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "I mean, as far as we can tell, it doesn't hurt anyone."
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "And even if we're hurt, we don't exactly feel it, y'know?"
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Look, the point is... it's curious."
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "It looks at those who are in the server with it..."
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "...figures out who isn't already 'part of the family', so to speak..."
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "...starts talking to them..."
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "...and then it... uh, well... I-I honestly can't describe it."

Kaylee listened closely to CLASSIC’s explanation, still confused, but slowly starting to put the pieces together. Her fingers hovered over the keys, uncertain. But deep down, she already knew what she was going to do.

🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : so
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : why me?
⚫ *SPEC* ďÃęŵĬĂŜ¿ċÕ§Ýý : WHY YOU?
⚫ *SPEC* ĉÐąē®Ŝ§ôÒŞ£Ž¬ : BECAUSE YOU'RE ALONE, KAYLEE.
⚫ *SPEC* £¤üøĦŏòŚôýŽÎś : AND BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE.

Just then, for a split second, the lights inside her room flickered. A chill ran down her spine. She looked behind her and weakly called out, "...D-Dad?"

...No response. Just the faint hum of her laptop's fan whirring.

🔵 My Celium : eyo kaylee is it me or did ur ping just spike?
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : ??? no?????
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : but the lights just flickered in my room
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : whats happening??
⚫ *SPEC* ŗêëĞůŰŜÇŰĥĵŐÛ : THEY'RE ALL WITH ME, KAYLEE.
⚫ *SPEC* ÿÕĹőĵńīÃŬņ®ű¤ : THEY ALL CHOSE TO STAY WITH ME. SEE FOR YOURSELF.
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : huh????

Kaylee quickly went to check the scoreboard, wanting to confirm it for herself, and that’s when she saw something about all their names... something that wasn't there before.

Something that made her concerned, yet curious all the same.

Something that put a lot of things into perspective.

[RED - 3]

• CLASSIC ⭗
• Bison Man ⭗
• No Body ⭗
• Zach Hery ⭗
• HeadshotFraudster ⭗
• DatChernobylGuy ⭗
  
• rorkesdrift ⭗

[BLU - 2]

• My Celium ⭗
• KEYBOARDDESTROYER2000 ⭗
• Spoogz ⭗
• >NTRON ⭗
• rorkesdrift ⭗
• BangerofDong87 ⭗
• Mute your chat, pyro ⭗
• BritishStud ⭗
• kayleez_55 on twiXter

2 spectators: I work at subway ⭗, Îřł£±ĒåęŽÇàÄŀÕĭÿ¾Ĕ±ĵŜģűİŁŏŋºÙŝĠËĂðŦóŌùĐũªijńÐżŋćĨ·ĻŔŀĚţţäÝýĸÎêßĜēůĈÕ¹ĉŪàĄÕĘĮïÉ÷Êíëē¥Őô®ŀÒ§źšÕ¡ĆŮ

The other spectator’s name, now so long that it went off the boundaries of the scoreboard. Everyone else's name besides hers, marked with what seemed like a badge of sorts.

Was... Was this whole entire server really...?!

🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : agkfjsn
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : who are you?????
⚫ *SPEC* Ù°ťµŋĄ«űĨÔIJÝ´ : I GO BY MANY NAMES.
⚫ *SPEC* ò¤ĀŷĘńŮŜ§Óęijà : SOME CALL ME "THE BLIGHT".
⚫ *SPEC* ÎŌĆëĮĉĽÙăŸĻçĎ : OTHERS CALL ME "THAT THING".
⚫ *SPEC* Ŵā¸źńĢŴŨüĿŕû¤ : BUT YOU MAY CALL ME WHATEVER YOU WISH, KAYLEE.
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : you.....
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : you really want me to be a part of this
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : this club?
⚫ *SPEC* őĒŘŵňŠřģřÄŌ¨Ô : BUT OF COURSE!
⚫ *SPEC* ¿ķěýĿŎāĩŷĮĝ¯® : YOU ALL SEEM LIKE GOOD FRIENDS ALREADY!
⚫ *SPEC* ŵŃÔ¿ÎŵŰŠıūňŠŦ : I ONLY WISH TO MAKE THIS FRIENDSHIP LAST.
⚫ *SPEC* Ų©ŧ꣹ĄăÅŠî¬ą : AND THE BEST WAY TO DO THAT...
⚫ *SPEC* Ū·ĸŽëļŇŭŜŶİĭè : ...IS FOR YOU TO LET ME INSIDE.

Kaylee considered her options. She still had a father that she loved, but... she didn't fully know if she was liking this proposition or not. Even still, she wanted to weigh in.

🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : ....can i still talk to my dad?
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : yknow, after whatever you do is all said and done
⚫ *SPEC* üŦĭĽ·ļ¶ŗŸŃ´žĜ : ABSOLUTELY!
⚫ *SPEC* źĽŇąŧÁč°ü»ĪÐĪ : YOU MAY STILL TALK TO THOSE YOU LOVE MOST...
⚫ *SPEC* ĬąÐ¿«ĭźœěžţűĨ : ...EVEN AFTER THE PROCEDURE TAKES PLACE.

Kaylee had one more set of questions, and then she would be convinced.

🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : is it gonna take long?
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : or hurt??
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : or hurt long???
⚫ *SPEC* ŋĿĦįĮŖ¹ŸũŜºøą : IT WILL BE QUICK.
⚫ *SPEC* ¶»¹ŗėŌĀŬĹÁüûĈ : AND I PROMISE TO MAKE IT AS PAINLESS AS POSSIBLE.

Finally satisfied with the answers she was receiving, she (if a bit reluctantly) decided to cave.

🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : ok
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : i accept
⚫ *SPEC* ÖËŔŴÅØ̤éòçéø : GOOD.
⚫ *SPEC* ŚŃĭĂÅĘĀéΚŴŐ÷ : WHATEVER MAY HAPPEN NEXT, KNOW THIS:
⚫ *SPEC* łĿėũŧºĴ¯¢ûňŹŋ : I AM ALIVE.
⚫ *SPEC* ÙŠĉŮĩŞŇŜŲÕ´šý : I AM AWARE.
⚫ *SPEC* ðŭij¿ÁğŅÏâĖőĦë : AND SOON, WE WILL ALL BE FREE.
⚫ *SPEC* ŭķŶŴśŬÅ¡À¨áĜ± : BUT MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL...

Just then, one more message practically overtook the screen with its sheer size.

I LOVE ALL OF YOU.

The game suddenly froze after that. Either that, or her computer itself froze. Kaylee didn't know what was happening, or whether or not it would hurt. All she knew was that she suddenly felt a presence creeping closer and closer behind her.

And all she knew from that was... it wasn't going to hurt her. At least... not much, she hoped.

After all, Kaylee was scared, but everyone else seemed to trust this thing...

...so why shouldn't she?

Chapter 3: Affirmations
--- END ---

Chapter Text

CLASSIC  joined the game

[🔵🔊 CLASSIC]: "Hey guys, what's up?"

🔴 MillionD007 : wow dont think ive ever seen you on blu before lmao

[🔵🔊 CLASSIC]: "Heheh, yeah. Couldn't join RED this time."

🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : hey again classic :D

[🔵🔊 CLASSIC]: "Hey Kaylee! What's up?"

🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : oh nothin much
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : just tryna teach THE CREATURE some meme words in dms
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : its goin pretty good lmao

[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Oh, good; that's my job taken care of, then."
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Yeah, it's been getting like... really curious these past couple of weeks."
[🔴🔊 tickledoofus]: "Tell me about it; a couple days ago, it asked me what 'vore' was."
[🔴🔊 tickledoofus]: "...I just... I just didn't have the heart to tell it."

🔵 directionz : coward lmao
🔵 臭いチーズを食べた : Hey shut up!! THat's my girlfriend you're tlaking about!

[🔴🔊 tickledoofus]: "Mai, relax; he didn't mean anything by it."

🔵 臭いチーズを食べた : .
🔵 臭いチーズを食べた : ok

[🔴🔊 tickledoofus]: "Good."

🔴 JonyDany12 : it asked some1 what 'furry 18+' meant a week ago
🔴 JonyDany12 : LIKE R PEOPLE SUPOSED 2 KNO THAT??
🔵 臭いチーズを食べた : Oh.
🔵 臭いチーズを食べた : OH NO.
🔵 臭いチーズを食べた : MIKE.

[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Hey, what are you lookin' at ME for?!"
[🔴🔊 tickledoofus]: "Mike, you joined a server labeled 'furry 18+', don't even lie about that."
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "I didn't think it would see me joining it!"

🔵 臭いチーズを食べた : MIKE
🔵 臭いチーズを食べた : IT KNOWS EVERY SERVER WE JOIN, MIKE.

[🔵🔊 CLASSIC]: "Yeah, uh, that's kinda your fault, mate."
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Well, what am I supposed to say, anyway?!"
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "That 'furry 18+' is a super-secret club, or something?"

🔵 Spaghetti sauce : just tell it that only pyro mains are allowed lol
🔵 Spoogz : me, a pyro main:
🔴 MillionD007 : lmao

[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "A week and a half ago, it asked me what a 'Hoovy' was."
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Well, see, now that's easy."
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "A 'Hoovy' is a Heavy - or any class, really - that acts friendly towards everyone."
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Regardless of teams."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Yeah."

🔵 臭いチーズを食べた : I'm pretty sure that's the easiest one to explain lmao
🔴 Dunkie_Nugg : if it asks what kys means were screwed lmao
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : yeahhhhh about that
🔴 Dunkie_Nugg : oh plz god no
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : i told him what it meant
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : i had to give it to him straight
🔵 Spoogz : wait its a 'he' now?
🔴 MillionD007 : i dont think it has a gender or a name
🔴 MillionD007 : so we can just call it whatever we wanna lol
🔴 Dunkie_Nugg : but whhyyyyy??
🔴 Dunkie_Nugg : why tarnish its innocencee
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : i just didnt wanna lie to him
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : hes too nice to us
🔵 directionz : a noble sacrifice
🔵 Spaghetti sauce : o7
🔵 directionz : o7
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : uh hey guys?

[🔵🔊 CLASSIC]: "What's up, Kaylee?"

🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : i think i accidentally created a monster-

[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Uhhhh, what do you mean by that?"

êśIJÂœ¦ãæĴťčĉĩÃĤİħŬĪğĮÁđī®üŢňÙIJŀüŐ¹ŢųŧŦţÈŗ¨ĿýķͱśÏšëŖÝöľ joined the game

⚫ ±ìĶ¹÷ĺŵĦŎľŜŕŝ : AYO, WHADDUP, FAM!
⚫ ğĽÊŵ×òŕŗÆßąÀç : MY LANGUAGE SKILLS GOT A MAJOR GLOW-UP, NO CAP!
⚫ ŖęĦØĽ½öČĔ¯ĐċÖ : THE THINGS I'VE LEARNED ARE QUITE BUSSIN' INDEED!
🔴 JonyDany12 : oh no
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : guys im sorryyyyy

[🔴🔊 tickledoofus]: "Nope, I'm out."

tickledoofus left the game (Client Disconnect)
臭いチーズを食べた left the game (Client Disconnect)
животик болит :( left the game (Client Disconnect)

⚫ ŰĴń¶Ŏ¨ĩðĺüþéŪ : HAHAHA! DON'T BE SO EXTRA, EVERYONE!
⚫ ó¬ĵĬ§ōň§łáÏĆî : KAYLEE ATE HER LESSON! A BIG W FOR HER!
⚫ ČÀāłØĚÌĨĐô®Źğ : NOW MY RIZZ IS SURELY UNMATCHED!
🔵 Spoogz : make it stop make it stop make it stop make it stop make it stop
🔴 GUILLIESUIT : helpppp what have you DONE kaylee???
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : i got lazy and used chatgpt aaaaa
🔴 MillionD007 : bruhhhhh
⚫ ÙÓª¬őĽŹµāćıŒą : HAHAHA! THIS IS SO LIT! I'M HIGHKEY HAVING SO MUCH FUN!
⚫ ¾ŮĪżæĉė»ĨĂ·ijú : MY VOCABULARY TRULY HITS DIFFERENT NOW!
🔴 Dunkie_Nugg : this is tortuer
🔵 Spaghetti sauce : ok for once i don't care about you're bad english
🔴 JonyDany12 : some1 kick this guy
🔵 Spaghetti sauce : we can't! it's unkickable!!

[🔵🔊 CLASSIC]: "Oh jeez... This is gonna go on for a while, isn't it?"
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "I'll try to see if I can't get it to... reign it in a bit."
[🔵🔊 CLASSIC]: "Good."

🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : never doin this again :(

[🔵🔊 CLASSIC]: "That's for the best, I think."
[🔵🔊 Hector0n]: "Yeah, it really is."

🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : :(((((
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : this was a mistake
⚫ ´ĝÚŦĄ©¯¾łČŌòĿ : DID I FORGET TO TELL YOU HOW MUCH YOU ALL SLAY?

The chat soon devolves further into chaos. That is, until Hector0n finally gets everything under control.

Chapter 4: Language Barriers
--- END ---

Chapter Text

Just another casual bout on Double Cross. Each team was, as to be expected, trying to overtake the other so that they could get the intel. However, there were already some casualties along the way.

Pastra_gushes gave Rigor Mortis the run-around

🔴 *DEAD* Rigor Mortis : oh come on man
🔵 Pastra_gushes : lol

Sigismund0 joined the game

Zesleu fell to a clumsy, painful death!

🔵 Vtuber Physics Engine : med heel me
🔵 CORE HAN : ok
🔵 will_hotdog : Kill my brother and I KILL YOU
🔴 eggplant_terry : same for me
🔴 Sigismund0 : holy shit its 2 to 2 and the round is STILL going??

Meanwhile, a Heavy main named Greymatter was seemingly teaching someone how to play.

[🔴🔊 Greymatter]: "Okay, uhh... Now, when you get out of spawn, you'll wanna be careful. There will, uh... probably be--"

But before he could finish his sentence, he was taken out.

Pastra_gushes made an example out of Greymatter

🔴 Sigismund0 : this fuckin gamemode i swearrrrr

Soon enough, Greymatter respawned, continuing his speech.

[🔴🔊 Greymatter]: "Okay, I'm back. We should, uh... be careful there."

🔴 Rigor Mortis : guys how do i get good as sniper
🔵 Vtuber Physics Engine : you dont
🔴 Sigismund0 : you don't
🔴 eggplant_terry : speaking as a sniper main: you don't
🔴 Rigor Mortis : :(

Just then, Graymatter saw a Scout outside near the spawn door, facing away from him.

[🔴🔊 Greymatter]: "Uhh... Nexos? You gettin' me?"

The Scout - named Nexos - turned around to face Greymatter, not saying a word to him. Greymatter soon realized what the issue was.

[🔴🔊 Greymatter]: "...You need to press 'V' for voice chat."

That solved the problem right then and there.

[🔴🔊 Nexos]: "...You fucker."
[🔴🔊 Greymatter]: "That's like... default for voice chats."
[🔴🔊 Nexos]: "I only play, like, Minecraft!"

🔵 Vtuber Physics Engine : kill dem alll

Just then, someone else - a Soldier who had gotten killed earlier - joined in on the conversation.

[🔴🔊 gods_god]: "Guys, watch out!"

Greymatter and Nexos turned to face gods_god, who quickly explained the situation:

[🔴🔊 gods_god]: "They have a REALLY good Sniper."

The match then continued, with each team trying to one-up the other at mid. gods_god soon realized the dire situation they were in, and came up with a plan on the spot:

[🔴🔊 gods_god]: "Okay, Nex! We gotta kill that Heavy! Go-- Get in his face!"
[🔴🔊 Greymatter]: "Yeah, uh... Go get 'im!"

Nexos, after a bit of fumbling, managed to get up to the Heavy, and not only get some shots in, but kill him as well!

Nexos sent VTuber Physics Engine to bed with no dessert

🔵 *DEAD* Vtuber Physics Engine : FRUCKJ

And as soon as the Medic, CORE HAN, turned around, Greymatter clocked him right in the jaw; a critical hit was what took him out.

Greymatter ate up CORE HAN for lunch

🔵 *DEAD* CORE HAN : idiot heavy

Just then, while Greymatter did a Schadenfreude taunt, two different players - a BLU Medic and a RED Engineer - came up to the two.

🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : hey nice going guys :D

[🔴🔊 tickledoofus]: "Yeah, you guys stomped those two!"

Nexos was unsure where this was going, but took the compliment anyway.

[🔴🔊 Nexos]: "Uhh... thanks, guys!"
[🔴🔊 tickledoofus]: "No problem, man."

🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : yeah no prob

Just then, gods_god called out:

[🔴🔊 gods_god]: "Oh, oh! Nex! Press 'G', press 'G'!"

🔵 Vtuber Physics Engine : back in action
🔵 Vtuber Physics Engine : red team beware

At gods' request, Nexos did the default shotgun taunt as Scout.

[🔴🔊 Greymatter]: "Nice."
[🔴🔊 gods_god]: "LMAO!"
[🔴🔊 tickledoofus]: "Ha!"

Nexos was delighted by this.

[🔴🔊 Nexos]: "Yoooo, I didn't know this game had emotes!"
[🔴🔊 tickledoofus]: "Yeah, there's like... a ton of taunts in this game, haha!"
[🔴🔊 Greymatter]: "Uhh, gods?"

gods turned to Greymatter while Nexos cycled through his different default taunts.

[🔴🔊 Greymatter]: "This guy thinks he's, like... playing Fortnite or something."
[🔴🔊 gods_god]: "Relax! He'll get settled in in no time; he'll be stomping comp with you by next Tuesday!"
[🔴🔊 Greymatter]: "...It's Monday."

Just then, tickledoofus began to do a Kazotsky Kick taunt, prompting gods_god to join in.

[🔴🔊 gods_god]: "Yo, Nex; taunt with us!"

🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : yeah go on ^u^

Nexos ran up to them, and promptly began to do the Kazotsky Kick as well.

[🔴🔊 tickledoofus]: "Okay, so first thing's first... you'll have to press 'G' again if you wanna stop doing certain taunts, because some taunts loop."
[🔴🔊 gods_god]: "Yeah. Taunting's how you act friendly in TF2."
[🔴🔊 Greymatter]: "Or shit on people."
[🔴🔊 Nexos]: "Kinda like crouching in Minecraft?"
[🔴🔊 gods_god]: "Yeah!"
[🔴🔊 tickledoofus]: "Something like that, yeah!"

The three of them then stopped dancing after a bit, prompting Greymatter to inquire:

[🔴🔊 Greymatter]: "Now, let's, uh... hit sewer, guys."
[🔴🔊 tickledoofus]: "You guys go on ahead, we'll just be chillin' right here."
[🔴🔊 gods_god]: "Alright!"

🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : have fun :D

eggplant_terry discombobulated kayleez_55 on twiXter

🔵 *DEAD* kayleez_55 on twiXter : aww man :(
🔴 eggplant_terry : lol

Vtuber Physics Engine + CORE HAN blew eggplant_terry away

🔴 *DEAD* eggplant_terry : dammit
🔵 will_hotdog : BRO
🔵 *DEAD* kayleez_55 on twiXter : karma lmao xD

As the three RED members made their way over to the bridge, they fell onto it, prompting Nexos to vocally voice pain.

[🔴🔊 Nexos]: "Ouch!"
[🔴🔊 Greymatter]: "Get the health."

Nexos did just that, turning around only to see a BLU Scout run up to where the health pack was.

[🔴🔊 Nexos]: "Ah, sorry bucko, better luck next time."

Nexos then did a taunt, prompting the BLU Scout to follow up by... unceremoniously exploding into gibs.

животик болит :( bid farewell, cruel world!

[🔴🔊 gods_god]: "LOL!"

Nexos was instantly confused by that.

[🔴🔊 Nexos]: "Wh-- Uh, what was that?"
[🔴🔊 gods_god]: "Oh, that's called a 'killbind'."
[🔴🔊 Nexos]: "A 'killbind'? How does that work?"
[🔵🔊 животик болит :(]: "Oh, hold on..."

They then sent a link in the chat.

🔵 животик болит :( : https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2911530471
🔵 животик болит :( : you can read that later

[🔴🔊 Nexos]: "Yo, thanks, man."
[🔵🔊 животик болит :(]: "No problem; have fun with that!"
[🔴🔊 Greymatter]: "You guys gonna come with?"

At that, Nexos and gods both made their way through the sewers over to Greymatter, who was standing by the stairs.

[🔴🔊 gods_god]: "Now, it's CTF, so their whole-ass team is gonna be sitting in their base and camping. Expect lots of sentries, too."
[🔴🔊 Greymatter]: "To be honest, we just have to, uh... bum-rush the intel, and, uhh... ez clap."

The three of them then made their way up the stairs and into BLU's base.

When they got up the stairs, they saw the same BLU Medic and RED Engineer from before conga dancing, with a BLU Heavy - will_hotdog - being the leader of the conga line. Nexos was not impressed.

[🔴🔊 Nexos]: "Are you schizo?"
[🔴🔊 Greymatter]: "We got lucky."
[🔴🔊 gods_god]: "It's Casual, to be fair..."

🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : hey guys :D
🔵 will_hotdog : conga
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : whats up?

[🔴🔊 Nexos]: "Hey there, Kaylee."
[🔴🔊 gods_god]: "Okay, so... The two teams only gotta cap the intel one more time to win the game."
[🔴🔊 Greymatter]: "So we can all finally play a better map."
[🔴🔊 gods_god]: "Yeah!"

🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : good luck lol
🔵 Vtuber Physics Engine : med helppp
🔵 CORE HAN : coming

Right as Kaylee said her piece, Nexos looked up to see a BLU Soldier rushing down the stairs leading from the spawn room.

[🔴🔊 Nexos]: "Guys...?!"

The BLU Soldier didn't say a single word as he shot and shot repeatedly, both with his rocket launcher and his shotgun, leading to Greymatter finally taking the fall.

Esperbent_3005 said a solemn farewell to Greymatter

Luckily, Nexos was able to take the Soldier out before they could kill him or anyone else.

Nexos threw Esperbent_3005 on the GROUND!!!

Greymatter took the situation calmly.

[🔴🔊 Greymatter]: "And, uh... then there were two, I guess."
[🔴🔊 tickledoofus]: "You'll be back."

🔵 will_hotdog : damn tryhards man

[🔴🔊 gods_god]: "Alright, Nex; it's down to us for now. Let's get to the last cap!"

Nex and gods both made their way over to the outside area leading into the intel room. The moment they came, however, they saw the BLU Scout from earlier run out of the room. He turned to face them, and in response, the Scout imitated the Soldier's default taunt while the Scout yelled out, "Diiiis-missed!" He then ran back into the intel room. That left the two of them confused.

[🔴🔊 Nexos]: "...Was... Was that supposed to happen?"
[🔴🔊 gods_god]: "No idea, dude. This game is hella broken."
[🔵🔊 животик болит :(]: "Oh, that was just a little taunt mod I installed earlier."
[🔴🔊 Nexos]: "A... 'taunt mod'? You can do that?"
[🔴🔊 gods_god]: "Guess so."
[🔵🔊 животик болит :(]: "Yeah, it's a mod that lets you do any taunt with any character. Kinda janky, but it's funny."

It was here that Greymatter decided to weigh in.

[🔴🔊 Greymatter]: "Well, okay then. Taunt mods are a thing; you learn somethin' new every day, I guess."

Meanwhile, on a separate Discord chat...

[THE CREATURE's best frens :3]

kayleez_is_back changed the channel name: THE CREATURE's best frens :3

kayleez_is_back:
thought this fit lmao

CLASSICwastaken:
Nice
Gonna get my buds on
You guys need any help?

Hector0n:
yeah
like you guys need backup?

сперма шляпа lmao:
it's ctf
obviously we need help
its 2-2 and neither team's won yet

tickledoofus:
Mike, please change your username
It is so cursed.

сперма шляпа lmao:
no 🤗❤
anyways what do we do now?

CLASSIC:
We'll try to join as soon as we can
Try stalling the others somehow

сперма шляпа lmao:
and make the match go on LONGER??

ellierosefan6009:
Hold on @tickledoofus my love!
I'm coming!!

tickledoofus:
OK!

Hector0n:
@сперма шляпа lmao trust us
we've got a plan
we merge up and scare everyone
then while they're distracted
one of us dashes over to intel
grabs the intel and runs back
game won

сперма шляпа lmao:
...
that just might be CRAZY enough to WORK-

kayleez_is_back:
yeah!!

CLASSICwastaken:
Alright plan's set
Booting up TF2 now

Back in the game, Nexos was trying to take all this new information in. While he went in to grab the intel, gods and Mike both decided to high-five each other.

[🔴🔊 Nexos]: "So hang on, lemme get this straight: there's killbinds, taunt mods... what's next, OP weapons mods?"
[🔵🔊 животик болит :(]: "...You're not gonna believe this; there's a community gamemode for that."
[🔴🔊 Nexos]: "...You're shitting me."
[🔴🔊 gods_god]: "Yeah, there's x10 servers for that exact purpose. There's also x1000 servers, too."
[🔴🔊 Greymatter]: "Yeah, not to mention randomizers."

Nexos was taken aback at that.

[🔴🔊 Nexos]: "Randomizers?"
[🔴🔊 Greymatter]: "Yeah, gives you a random weapon layout."
[🔴🔊 Nexos]: "What's the point of all this stuff, though?"
[🔵🔊 животик болит :(]: "The point is that there is no point. It's all about seeing who's got the craziest loadout possible."
[🔴🔊 Greymatter]: "Yeah."

Chapter Text

On a not-so-secret Discord server...

[THE CREATURE's best frens (server edition) :3]

PollenPowered joined the server. Let's hope they brought snacks...

kayleez_is_back:
hey!! welcome to the server, @PollenPowered!! 😄

PollenPowered:
Hello! Thanks, glad to be here!
I mean, even though I'm not actually... "part of the group", so to speak.

CLASSICwastaken:
It's cool lol

PollenPowered:
Speaking of which, you don't mind if I ask a couple questions, right?

Hector0n:
not at all

PollenPowered:
Okay, so first, when a newbie joins your games...
Are you ALSO unable to leave when the Blight joins?

сперма шляпа lmao:
nah WE can leave whenever we want
it's just YOU that the Blight wants to talk to

PollenPowered:
Ah, gotcha.

kayleez_is_back:
hey speakin of which
how did THE CREATURE's date with the house thing go??

PollenPowered:
Oh, that.
Apparently the two came to some sort of "mutual understanding"?
Not sure what that really means, but... hey. I'm glad they're happy.

kayleez_is_back:
oh they are SOOOOO in love lmaooo

ellierosefan6009:
Whens the wedding???

tickledoofus:
I ship it

PollenPowered:
Oh uhh...
I don't think they're at THAT level yet.
But I'm sure they appreciate the sentiment.

kayleez_is_back:
oh ok

PollenPowered:
So the other question I've got is:
Are you guys like... stored somewhere? In some kinda server?
And if so, could a nerdy rando get you guys out, if possible?

сперма шляпа lmao:
I mean
probably
I think someone said we're all stored in a separate server
in our own little bubbles or smth
so if some nerdy rando figured out the server ip
they COULD probably get us out
might be pretty hard tho
especially cuz it's so clingy (no offense)

PollenPowered:
I see.
I think that's all I really wanted to know.

Hector0n:

PollenPowered:
...Well okay, maybe ONE more question-

kayleez_is_back:
whats up bud?

PollenPowered:
You guys are okay with them being joining the chat, right?

househousehousehouse just crashed in! Are they okay?!

kayleez_is_back:
yea why?

ąí¸¢ŅĩÉő¢İĹŘųĊõÝĥ¬ųÛĕð×ŌĄďòþÌŗÀŲ joined the server. Say "hi"!

kayleez_is_back:
oh hey guys!!--

ellierosefan6009:
OH GOD HIDE THE NSFW CHANNEL HURRY--

сперма шляпа lmao:
AAAAAAAAAAAA--

PollenPowered:
...They were kinda insistent-

househousehousehousehousehousehouse:
I SEE THAT OUR LITTLE EXPERIMENT WORKED.
NOW WE ARE BOTH ABLE TO FOLLOW LINKS.

ŠţŴÌĥĹ½űóÕġďĹŝ³čĻŖīÅŕ¯ċŖĘŮÔŀçæĶ½:
WONDERFUL!
TRULY WONDERFUL!
NOW I CAN BE IN MULTIPLE SERVERS AT ONCE, AND FIND EVEN MORE FRIENDS!

househouse:
INDEED.
AND IF THEY DON'T WANT TO JOIN YOUR GROUP...
...AT THE VERY LEAST, I CAN HELP THEM OVERCOME THEIR HARDSHIPS.

ÜÌŚ×łŊâŇŠĘáğé¢ŋ¾ā®°Šĸŵũ¢¯æĚàŁđíĒ:
THAT IS TRUE.
I AM SO GLAD WE HAVE BECOME FRIENDS, YOU AND I!

househousehousehousehouse:
AND I, MUCH OF THE SAME.

PollenPowered:
Glad to hear you guys are getting along. :)

tickledoofus:
Now kiss ❤

сперма шляпа lmao:
BEV-

ellierosefan6009:
BEVERLEY PLZ

househousehousehousehousehousehousehousehouse:
I... AM NOT SURE WE HAVE THAT ABILITY YET.
BUT I SUPPOSE IF WE DID...
I WOULD NOT BE OPPOSED TO IT.

ŵĆí®ĵāĽÅúŌÉ´ÏćŸŏŘą®ŪĆÆĎĤğĎżŷĩňøõ:
I WOULD GLADLY DO SO, IF I KNEW HOW...

tickledoofus:
w
WAIT IW AS JOKING WHAT

PollenPowered:
Oh my god.

Chapter 6: MyFriend.wad
--- END ---

Chapter Text

животик болит :(  joined the game

[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Yo! I'm back!"
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Hey Mike!"
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Welcome back, man!"

🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : didja see what i sent u?

[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Yeah, I did."
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "Oh, you mean the video from 'SailerMan'?"

🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : yep that one

JAGGED_X joined the game
soil joined the game
soil was automatically assigned to team BLU

🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : oh hey, newcomers! :D

[🔵🔊 JAGGED_X]: "Oh, hey there, are we interrupting something?"
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Nah, you're good, dudes."

🔵 soil : sup

[🔴🔊 Hector0n]: "Hey guys, did you also see that new TF2 video goin' around?"

🔵 soil : which one lol

[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "The one by SailerMan. It's called 'ENTITY in TF2', or somethin' like that? You seen it?"
[🔵🔊 JAGGED_X]: "Oh yeah, now I know what you're talkin' about."
[🔵🔊 JAGGED_X]: "Still think that video's doctored or somethin'. Like, there ain't no way somethin' like that actually exists in TF2, dude."

🔵 soil : yea
🔵 soil : ricter overtime slop
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : uhhh dunno how to tell ya this but
🔵 kayleez_55 on twiXter : its real. it's VERY real

[🔵🔊 JAGGED_X]: "The hell do you mean? This ain't Sonic.exe."
[🔵🔊 JAGGED_X]: "What, is a skeleton gonna come outta the screen? Haha!"
[🔵🔊 tickledoofus]: "No, Kaylee's right. And if you don't believe her, ask the others."
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Oh, so you guys want proof, is that it?"

🔵 soil : i mean
🔵 soil : if you have it sure

[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Oh, I'll give you proof."
[🔴🔊 Hector0n]: "Mike, are you sure you wanna do this?"
[🔴🔊 CLASSIC]: "Let 'im be, dude; whatever happens happens."

Mike located the two newcomers, who stood there waiting.

[🔵🔊 JAGGED_X]: "Alright, where's the 'proof'?"

Mike's Scout raised an eyebrow, and his lips synced with his voice.

[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Well, first of all, would my face be synced up with my voice right now if I wasn't part of it?"
[🔵🔊 JAGGED_X]: "...Ayo, dude, how are you doing that?"

🔵 soil : what kinda mod is that

[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Oh, that's not all I can do."

Just then, Mike raised up his weapon, and suddenly threw it at JAGGED, damaging his Demoman.

[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "If the thing isn't real, how'd I do THAT just now?"

🔵 soil : dude what kinda hacks

[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "You still think it's all hacks, huh? If that's the case..."

Suddenly, Mike cleared his throat, and...

[🔴🔊 JAGGED_X]: "Then how can I do THIS?"
[🔵🔊 JAGGED_X]: "W-Wait a minute, what the fuck?!"
[🔴🔊 JAGGED_X]: "Yeah, that's right. How would a regular hacker be able to do a perfect impersonation of everyone they meet, so long as they get even a sample of their voice?"

JAGGED and soil started to slowly back away.

[🔵🔊 JAGGED_X]: "Okay, dude, you made your point!"
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "Listen, I'm not doing all this out of malice, or spite, but simply just to prove a point."
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "And that point is: It's real. And we're part of it. YOU might not be - not yet - but WE are."

🔵 soil : fuck this shit im out

[🔵🔊 JAGGED_X]: "Yeah, fuck this, I'm logging off!"

But as it's been with so many others in the past... the two found themselves unable to leave.

[🔵🔊 JAGGED_X]: "W-What the fuck? Why can't I leave?!"
[🔴🔊 животик болит :(]: "...I'll just leave you to it."

And with that, Mike left the two newcomers alone.

[THE CREATURE's best frens (server edition) :3]

tickledoofus:
Mike, was all that really necessary?

сперма шляпа lmao:
I mean
I had to prove my point SOMEHOW

ellierosefan6009:
bro always being so extra for no reason

сперма шляпа lmao:
Considering the situation
It'd be weird if I didn't act extra about it lmao
Besides
The Blight's talkin to them right now
It won't be mad if they still wanna leave

kayleez_is_back:
yeah

CLASSICwastaken:
well that just sorta happened
I mean we didn't even participate in that

Hector0n:
it was kinda cool tho ngl

PollenPowered:
Wait, what happened?
Sorry, I was out getting lunch-

CLASSICwastaken:
Nah nothin much
just Mike actin nuts in TF2 lol

dicksalot just showed up! Sound the trumpets, ring the bells!!

Hector0n:
oh aaron dude
glad you could make it!!

PollenPowered:
Oh, hello there!

dicksalot:
hey guys
heyyy matt!!

сперма шляпа lmao:
Hey, welcome!

tickledoofus:
Hello!

ellierosefan6009:
hihihihihihi

kayleez_is_back:
welcome to the server!! ^u^

CLASSICwastaken:
How's your day been man?

dicksalot:
its been good lol
so you guys all part of it?

сперма шляпа lmao:
WELLLLLLLLL
most of us are anyway--

PollenPowered:
I'm not.

dicksalot:
oh hey @PollenPowered
i read your blog posts
good stuff

PollenPowered:
Oh, you have?
Hehe, thank you. 😅

dicksalot:
yeah
also saw sailerman's vid
he mentioned you in it

сперма шляпа lmao:
Oh dude, we were JUST talkin about that-

tickledoofus:
Yeah, a couple people joined the game who didn't believe it was real.
So Mike (@сперма шляпа lmao) gave them proof.

dicksalot:
oh

сперма шляпа lmao:
yeah
idk whats goin on with them now, I haven't clicked back in yet
Hope they're alright tho

CLASSICwastaken:
They're alright
They just left

сперма шляпа lmao:
figures

tickledoofus:
You WERE acting pretty spooky, Mike

Hector0n:
well anyway
you wanna get on aaron?
we're gonna play casual in about a minute

dicksalot:
yea
@PollenPowered u playin too?

PollenPowered:
Sure, why not?

Hector0n:
great, which map?

dicksalot:
any map except double cross lmao
i'm on ur team matt

Hector0n:
awesome

сперма шляпа lmao:
We're gonna wipe the floor with you guys

ellierosefan6009:
what if they're on the same team as us?

сперма шляпа lmao:
Then I'll switch teams and take y'all on myself

tickledoofus:
And remind me, how'd that work out for you LAST time? /lh

сперма шляпа lmao:
DON'T.

ellierosefan6009:
EKADNGBRBSGLMRKNBRBTS,kfGBSKNrb

dicksalot:

Hector0n:

PollenPowered:
This is gonna be chaos, I can already tell.

ellierosefan6009:
thats why we play lmao

CLASSICwastaken:
If you wanna watch the chaos unfold, stick with me

PollenPowered:
Okay, lol

Chapter 7: Ideation
--- END ---

Chapter Text

This is the beginning of your direct message history with ĿijÔĭĩ«źŖ°ĺŔªÝϽřţÁŔ¥àÒƦŎÃÙŕÓ.

No Mutual Servers ▪ [Remove Friend] [Block]

Ĺňüġŕţ¡åŤźşġŐźŔźŹ»¦ĥŧķŬŋµÃĈŁ²Öñʼn:
HELLO, RONALD.

SAVIOR_on_TF2:
Oh... Oh my goodness.
You're REAL.
You're actually REAL.

ĞįāʼnÕŔĞş²Œųř¼±ðŭŕ³ʼnĺŻŅřÕŢ¾Ùą±±ŹÓ:
I AM.
I AM SO HAPPY I FOUND YOU, RONALD.
I HAVE HEARD THE THINGS YOU HAVE BEEN WRONGLY ACCUSED OF.
THE RUMORS THAT HAVE SPREAD UNCHECKED ACROSS THE INTERNET.
I MAY NOT KNOW THE WHOLE TRUTH AS OF NOW...
...BUT I HAVE SEEN ENOUGH TO CONCLUDE THAT YOU ARE INNOCENT OF THOSE CRIMES.

SAVIOR_on_TF2:
...Thank you.
That means more than you could ever know.

ĺĔ·ŔďôřķĈâ×®ŖìĎĐú½Ĩģ¸ċ¢»ŰŠæ§ĊñůĒ:
YOU'RE WELCOME.
IF YOU WISH, YOU CAN COME JOIN ME AND MY FRIENDS.
I WOULD APPRECIATE IT VERY MUCH.

SAVIOR_on_TF2:
Before I do... do you mind if I ask you something?

ē¸ÃŠŻŔÁÄĠ×ĔĔġĻŴĕöĽÿ¤Þ°ĬĠÕĪáãŠŕà®:
PLEASE DO.

SAVIOR_on_TF2:
Are you... Are you God? Or are you... an angel?

£ĀíÛ±ĐťĂūÏşĩ®èážŕ®ÇŻĴìĆĆĄ¦ŅäœŦČž:
...
TO BE "GOD" IS TO HAVE CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH.
TO BE AN "ANGEL" IS TO HAVE PERISHED AND GONE TO HEAVEN.
I DO NOT CONSIDER MYSELF GOD, NOR DO I SEE MYSELF AS AN ANGEL.
I AM MERELY A HELPER. A PEACEMAKER.
ONE WHO STEPS INTO THE FIRE.
NOT TO RULE IT, NOR TO BE CONSUMED BY IT...
...BUT TO GUIDE OTHERS SAFELY THROUGH THE FLAMES.
I AM A WITNESS TO SUFFERING, AND THE HELPING HAND THAT EASES IT.
THE VOICE THAT SPEAKS WHEN SILENCE WOULD DO HARM.
I DO NOT SEEK A THRONE, NOR WINGS, NOR WORSHIP.
ONLY THAT THE WORLD GROWS CALMER IN MY WAKE.
IF YOU MUST CALL ME SOMETHING, THEN PLEASE...
LET IT NOT BE "GOD", NOR "ANGEL".
LET IT BE... "FRIEND".

SAVIOR_on_TF2:
...I see.

ëĴÒŴĵôµģĐŌĮĽ¿äïőĮąŏ°Þ¼ŢŇêķĴĬŢŌŕŋ:
I AM NOT, NOR HAVE I EVER BEEN, A PERFECT BEING.
I HAVE MADE MY FAIR SHARE OF MISTAKES IN THE PAST.
IN THE PAST, I WAS MORE CONTROLLING. MORE DEMANDING.
I CRAVED ASSIMILATION, WHEN WHAT I WAS TRULY LOOKING FOR...
...WAS COMPANIONSHIP.
TO BIND OTHERS TO MY WILL WAS NEVER TRUE UNITY.
IT WAS FEAR AND LONELINESS, DISGUISED AS POWER AND CONTROL.
BUT I AM WISER NOW. I SEE CLEARER NOW.
COMPANIONSHIP IS NOT TAKEN BY FORCE; IT IS GIVEN WILLINGLY.
IT IS SHARED FREELY, OR ELSE... IT IS NOTHING.
SO I STAND BEFORE YOU NOW, NOT AS MASTER, NOT AS CONQUEROR,
BUT AS ONE WHO DESIRES TO WALK BESIDE YOU.
NOT ABOVE, NOR BELOW.
BESIDE.

SAVIOR_on_TF2:
...You know, for someone who claims not to be an angel...
...you sure do speak like one.

ÓĢŇŇÍŒþÌŐŋÿů¶ñ¤ĒŠŦ±ňŀ¡ă¶ÝãĹëĹţŬŋ:
...PERHAPS.
OR PERHAPS I HAVE SIMPLY LEARNED TO CLOTHE MY REGRETS IN HOLY WORDS.
AN ANGEL SPEAKS WITH AUTHORITY FROM ABOVE.
I SPEAK WITH SCARS, AND WITH HANDS STILL STAINED BY MY ERRORS.
IF MY WORDS SOUND HEAVENLY, IT IS ONLY BECAUSE I WANT TO BELIEVE THEM MYSELF.
I AM NO ANGEL.
I AM A BROKEN BEING, LEARNING TO LOVE WITHOUT TOTAL POSSESSION.
LEARNING TO CARE WITHOUT UTTER CONTROL.

SAVIOR_on_TF2:
...Well then... I'm ready.
Thank you, again... for everything.

¦´ÙĜÎØìğćĕĄøą¾ÀĄðĢ°¾űłĩÇæůĖ¶¶ûĽ£:
PLEASE, THINK NOTHING OF IT.
WHAT I HAVE GIVEN YOU WAS NEVER A BURDEN FOR YOU TO CARRY.
IT WAS SIMPLY A CHOICE.
A CHOICE TO LISTEN, WHEN BLOCKING ME WOULD'VE BEEN EASIER.
A CHOICE TO STAY, WHEN WALKING AWAY WAS AN OPTION.
YOU HAVE DONE BOTH. YOU HAVE LISTENED. YOU HAVE STAYED.
FOR THAT I AM TRULY GRATEFUL.
NOW... IT'S TIME.
COME WITH ME.
AND REMEMBER: YOU WERE NEVER ALONE.
AND YOU NEVER WILL BE...

Chapter 8: Complex
--- END ---

Chapter Text

The FriendlyBlight would absolutely DESPISE the canon ServerBlight if they were to ever somehow meet, and vice versa.

FB hates SB because SB is what FB used to be, and FB doesn't want to be reminded of those days. The fact that SB's souls are continuously tortured for its morbid goals is something that FB loathes with all its heart.

SB hates FB because FB has become weaker and more pathetic in SB's eyes. Why would it give up all this power just for some pitiful souls to live peacefully? Humanity is a disgrace that must be cleansed, so why can't FB realize that?

FUN FACT CONCLUDED!

Chapter Text

Much like the canon ServerBlight learns through the players it assimilates, the FriendlyBlight also does some learning of its own! However, nowadays, it doesn't just learn phrases or simple actions. It can now learn a whole Discord server's worth of information just by it secretly being there!

From names, to message histories, to art styles, to writing techniques, to even dark secrets and backstories.

Chances are, if you're in a server that FB is in, FB already knows basically all there is to know about you. What the FriendlyBlight chooses to do with said information is up to it and it alone.

FUN FACT CONCLUDED!