Freeze or Fall

Chapter 20: Corruption

Something felt wrong.

Something felt very wrong.

Ren had just been floating in nothingness, waiting for Renbob to finish with his duties. Ren had gone under and left a gardening project to the alter, not worried about anything.

But something woke him up. Something felt off.

Ren wasn't sure what has happened, but when he opened his eyes, he was in the mindscape.

Well, he was in a mindscape. It certainly wasn't his own.

But... How???

Ren glanced around, finding Scar and Wels nearby, both in the same position as him. None of them had any clue what was going on, aside from Wels.

"All I know is that Renbob passed out, and when I tried to carry him to a bed, I passed out too." Wels glanced around. "I think Hels took over."

"That last thing I remember is letting Wizard Scar free to work on the magical village behind Larry." Scar added.

Ren hummed for a sec. "Well dudes, all I can remember is letting Renbob out. So we have no leads."

"At least you guys remember what happened to you."

Wels spun around, drawing his sword. Behind them, standing calmly, was ET.

Scar narrowed his eyes. "What did you do to us?"

ET put his hands up defensively. "That's what I wanna know! I've been trapped here for about a year, only let out to do certain tasks. I have no memory when I'm let out, so I'm unable to figure anything out."

"And who should we believe you?" Ren took a wary step back.

ET sighed. "You have no reason to. There's something terribly wrong with my code, and it would be in your best interest to not trust me."

Wels frowned. "Why would you want someone to not trust you?"

"You've met my other side, you should know."

"Wait, there's two ET's?" Scar asked.

ET nodded. "Yeah, sorta. I dunno if we're the same person or not, cause if we are then you guys are in trouble."

"Okay, let me get this straight. You are stuck here while your other side is causing havoc. You are only able to go out for certain things but when you do you lose your memories. You don't even trust yourself."

ET nodded. "I don't even know where we are. This isn't Taurtis' mindscape. I don't think it's any of your either. Also, you guys are players, so even if this was one of your mindscapes, you still shouldn't be here."

Wels though for a moment. "Well, we sorta have no choice but to stick together, whether we want to or not."

Scar nodded. "Anyways, if this is a mindscape, how do we get out?"

ET shrugged. "The only way out is to find Hels, but I'm unsure how to get there."

"Oh!" Wels perked up. "I do! I had an alter, Helsknight, who wouldn't keep his mouth shut. I may be able to get us there."

Scar nodded. "If we get there, I may be able to find Badtimes. Thanks to his connection to the vex, he probably knows how to get us out of here."

ET swept an arm in front of him with a non-threatening smile. "Well, lead the way."