The Chronicles Of The Finalists

A Direction Destined For Disaster

Life had never truly handed Tanqr a good hand. He could only remember a few moments when he truly had respite in his life. Where he could rest easy, knowing nothing was out to get him.

This is not one of those times. The Magius scares him, somewhat, despite the fact he hides his emotions behind a mask.

Has he not hidden everything about him behind a mask?

Maybe he has.

Oh well, it's nothing to ponder on right now. He needs to focus on whatever the hell the others are talking about.

KreekCraft is once again, being a dummy and putting his own ego and self worth over others. That's KreekCraft for you. The mountain brain, the one who acts before thinking, despite being the one who often solves things first. Must be easy with a power like his.

He doesn't think Kreek's too bad, not anymore anyways. He's warmed up to the guy, especially after living with him for a year. He can be funny at times, and he's a surprisingly good fighter when it comes to battles, even if he is a little impulsive.

Oh those days when they hated each other. And lived in the same room. He knows how that happened but at the same time, what bad luck he had for that.

Then again, Kreek did plan it that way, so it wasn't bad luck for him.

He's not really sure when they stopped being forced 'friends' and then becoming..actual acquaintances? He wasn't sure what caused the two to stop glaring at each other constantly and what caused them to start helping the other from far away instead, but he doesn't really linger on it. No need to.

He does remember when they stopped fighting properly, though. That sure was a day.

As he looks up, he notices Kreek, having somehow already finished the minimal amount of toast he had for breakfast, pacing around the room.

"Is he okay?" Hyper whispers to him, keeping an eye on the guy.
"I..uh, is he ever okay?" Tanqr responds, before chuckling. "But..I think he's fine."
"I can hear you, you know!" Kreek says, mildly annoyed. He turns to the group. "Yeah, I'm just- trying to figure out what the Magius have planned."
Ashley looks at him, slightly concerned.

"As usual?"
Tanqr's only a bit confused.

"We were kidding. But surely you can just..use your truth ability thing to figure it out?" He asks, deadpan.

"No, my ability doesn't work like that." Kreek sighs, as if he's a disappointed teacher. "I can only use it if I'm directly focused and looking at the person. But the one time I got face to face with one of them the Magius hadn't even started yet, I didn't sense anything wrong."

"I see why that's an issue, huh?" Ashley chuckles. "Well, confronting them directly is an option, but the last time someone did that..." She trails off. No one talks about what happened to Seedeng and Tofuu.

But no one will ever attempt what they did, not again.

"Yeah, that." Kreek says, sighing. "I swear, the only good thing the Magius did is the Doppels. Those things are useful."
"Of course you'd say that, you use your doppel more than any of us." Hyper comments, turning his chair slightly.

"Well, what'd I just say? They're very useful." Kreek repeats, rolling his eyes slightly. "Can be a major help in a fight."
"Well, I guess the fact they appear when soul gems go dark makes sense for how often you use yours.." Ashley mumbles out, obviously only conjoining the words in her head as she speaks.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kreek spits out, whipping his head aggressively to Ashley's direction.

"UhH-" Ashley takes a step back, nervousness in her voice. The whole group agrees, even with Tanqr being a whole ass demon, that Kreek is the scariest of the group. Somehow. Tanqr still chuckles at that to himself. "I mean- you're always over using your magic, soul gem going dark- yeah-"

Ah, that brought up some memories. That explains why tensions are suddenly high.

"I see." Kreek looks away, seemingly happy with that answer.

Tanqr already has some gears turning in his head, though. If they wanna find out the truth about the Magius, then it makes sense they'll need to get up close, but not too close, in case it happens again.

Then he gets an idea.

"Hey, what if we broke in somehow, but like..what if we snuck in. Snuck in, snuck around and try not to blend in and get caught, so we can figure out what's going on inside there." He says, leaning back in his chair casually.

"Tanqr, you're a-!" Kreek points to Tanqr as he starts, but then he stops himself from complimenting his enemy. Wouldn't be a good impression on him, would it? "You're..good."
"That last part was said with so much malice. Scared of appraising me, are you?" Tanqr taunts.

"No! I never said that." Kreek looks away, but moves on. "But- it's a good idea. If we plan ahead today, then maybe we can sneak in tomorrow!" He moves his hands a bit, as if he was a teacher with a chalkboard. "So? You guys up for that?"
Tanqr nods. He doesn't see much of an issue with it, but he can tell the other two are not so sure.

"Uh- I don't think tomorrow's a good date." Ashley shrugs. "We barely have any time to plan and gather stuff."
"It's seven in the morning, we've got time." Kreek winks. "Plus it can always be later in the day too. Keep the Magius on their feet, unprepared."
"Okay..." Ashley nods, seeming to consider it. She'll probably accept, she's easy to sway.

Hyper meanwhile, is quite stubborn.

"Absolutely not. We've barely any time. We'll need grief seeds, disguises, flashlights-"
"We'll need grief seeds, which we can easily get, and haven't we got flashlights? The only things we need that we don't have is an entrance in. We don't need disguises if we're staying hidden." Kreek says. "So, if we get a quick verdict now. Who's in?"

"I'm in." Tanqr says, raising his hand.

"Sure, what could go wrong?" Ashley states, shrugging again. She does that a lot.

"That's three outta four. Hyper, care to make it a full house?" Kreek turns to him.

Hyper just kind of stares Kreek down.

"I say absolutely not, this idea is stupid and we need longer than one day to get ready, but I'm gonna get overruled either way, aren't I?" He asks. Mind the anger, there's even a bit of sadness in his voice. Hyper, what are you thinking?

"Yeah, you are." He smirks a little, and Hyper just puts his head in his hands. A gesture that Kreek's oblivious to. "I'm gonna get some stuff, and then we can get this party started! We can do some witch hunting while preparing. Get ready for that!" Kreek pumps his fist in the air before running out the room.

Ashley sighs before putting some of her cooking stuff away. Hyper turns to Tanqr and whispers, making sure Ashley can't hear.

"Kreek's great, I like the guy, but..."
"Just say it." Tanqr interrupts, knowing Hyper won't say anything bad if not prompted. He's too polite.

"..I f-ing hate Kreek sometimes. Someone's gonna die or something, I just know it."

~~~

A/N 

Hyper gets his swearing rights revoked ASMR. Anyways heehoo plot set up! Also kinda terrified for that RB Battles Squid Game crossover. Least we're getting canonical villain hosts?

- YanDan