TOWER OF GOD // 5undy au

the door test // FOUR

To be completely honest, Punz wasn't too sure what he'd been expecting of the test.

Firstly, he'd gotten roped into being in a team with the pink brat and a weak, lanky ginger. And as if that wasn't bad enough, now they had to stick together until otherwise specified!

If one of his team members wasn't able to pass a test, then they all failed; Lero Ro had explained to them all before they went onto the next test. Punz resisted the urge to roll his eyes when the Ranker supervising them, 'Yellowy', told them that they'd have to line up for their next test. What were they, schoolchildren? Beside him, Punz could also see Five struggling to not let a cheeky smile slip onto his face; and Fundy just looked blank and confused.

This was not going to be fun, Punz figured. Easy, yes, but fun? Not at all.

At least, not until he heard the screams coming from behind the door. The other Regulars exchanged shocked and worried glances, some of them muttering to themselves- others jumping and shrieking, as if trying to counter the screams they'd heard from inside the room.

Looking back at Yellowy, her faint, soft smile was nothing short of dangerous, eyes narrowed in such a way that it reminded Punz of an apex predator hunting for its prey.

Then again, he probably should've expected this. After all, she was a Ranker. And when were Rankers known to be fair?

"Hey, Hoodie." Five nudged him, and it was only then that Punz realized he'd been spacing out for a while. "What do you want, Pinkie?" The shorter male raised an eyebrow, then waved his hand as to signify, 'whatever'. "The florescent neon bag behind us wants to talk to us, is all."

' The fuck? Does this guy need therapy or something? '

"Turn around, idiot." Punz did as he was told, swiveling around to find himself face-to-face with what looked like a balloon made of skinned human flesh. "He doesn't look like a bag, Five, don't be rude," Fundy chided. The pinkette merely replied with a, "Whatever you say, Fundy. Personally, I think he looks like a bag, but you know. To each their own."

"Well, this plastic bag's about to give you some good advice," The flesh creature said softly. It was not a voice that Punz liked, nor a voice that he wanted to hear ever again. It reminded him too much of some sort of bug, crawling around and infesting everything it touched. "You noticed, in the test, she said that there's ten minutes allotted for each contestant?"

Five raised an eyebrow at the statement. "Yeah? What about it?"

Flesh Balloon replied, "Notice how, the teams that screamed were the ones who took longer than five minutes to solve the puzzle. Every other team was silent."

They were silent for a bit, Fundy piping up with a question. "Wait, so.. what's that supposed to mean?" Flesh Balloon stared down at him, almost pitifully. "What I think he means," Five piped up, "Is that he wants us to test out his theory." Wait.

"So you're telling us you want us to be your guinea pigs, essentially?" Punz got out, gritting his teeth. "He's going to want us to solve it in under five minutes, and if we make it out without screaming, then he goes and tries to solve it in under five minutes as well," Five deadpanned, a stone cold look on his face.

"Precisely," Flesh Balloon smiles. Fundy is the only one who hasn't seemed like he's picked up what's really going on here, and he shakes Flesh Balloon's hand with a smile. "Well, thank you for the advice then, Mister!"

Five pulls Fundy's arm back, stepping in front of the ginger and leveling Flesh Balloon with a glare.

"Just because we've taken your advice doesn't mean we'll listen to it."

Punz has a bad feeling about this, but he doesn't say anything.

He'll step in if he has to, though- From what he knows about Five and from the assumptions that can be made about which family he comes from, the pinkette will naturally have a penchant to overthink.

Which means, Punz essentially just took on the role of babysitting two children: one with the ability and mindset to manipulate and kill, and another with one of the most powerful weapons in the Tower and the most oblivious look that Punz had seen to date.

How and why did he get himself in this situation? Well, he doesn't know either, to be frank.

To Punz's left are Fundy and Five, giggling quietly together, with no apparent regard for their teammate's internal struggle.

"Next team, please come on in!" Yellowy calls from the front, thin smile settled on her face. She glances down at her clipboard, making a note before opening the door to let them in.

Once inside, Fundy notices two things: One, there are a bunch of doors in front of them. Two, there is a woman sitting in front of them, drinking what looks to be tea from a teacup.

The woman looks up. "Hello there, Regulars." ' Nevermind, that is definitely not a woman.' The man smiles at them, before taking a sip of his drink.

"This is your first test. I am the Test Administrator, and my name is Hansung Yu."

"There are ten doors in front of you," Hansung states, placing his drink down.

( True. There was also a large, marble clock with an hour and minute hand, and nothing else but the timers on their pockets. )

"Choose the right door to leave, and you will be free. Choose the wrong one," Hansung pauses, lifting up his head to stare at them, "and you will die. All of you." A sharp grin uncurls on his face, and Fundy is reminded of how Dream told him to not trust anyone but him.

' Punz and Five are trustworthy, though, '  A small part of his mind whispers to him; a silent betrayal of the boy who brought him up, who taught him everything he knew- his light, his star, his world.

And yet, Fundy agrees with the voice. It is true- his teammates (his friends, maybe) are trustworthy, and he would follow them to the end of the world.

When he finally comes out of his thoughts, Punz and Five are arguing, Punz grabbing onto a doorknob while Five gripped his hand tightly.

"Dude! You can't just open a random door and hope that it's right!" Five fumes, hand clenched in a fist around his bag handle.

"They didn't give us any other clues, genius! How do you expect us to find the door in under five minutes?!" Punz argued back, and before anyone could say anything, the impulsive blond grabbed the doorknob and yanked it open.

Hansung Yu opened one eye, drinking from his cup. "Congratulations, you passed the test."

He then goes on to explain how the test was really meant to trip up certain people. All the doors were safe in the beginning. If you thought about it too much and weren't able to choose a door in under five minutes; then you would die right after the test timer hit the five minute mark.

"Cool," Fundy said, Five throwing him an unreadable look before sighing. "Yeah, cool."

As they turned to leave, Fundy swore he could hear Hansung remark that Five's bag looked rather heavy for him.

He didn't ask.

( o )
ew tgis was lame and short
but i had fun writubf it so who cares i dint have fhe energy ti make it longer, im havdng a headache

eee
mhm hope u enjoeyd ig