(Artwork by Cabonara)
"Long time no see! How've you been?!"
Mono grunted, diving onto the ground and dodging the giant's grip as he tried to wrap his slender fingers around the boy.
"Don't wanna talk!? Fine with me!"
"Come on, Mono!"
He snapped back to his senses, glancing over at Seven and remembering that he was meant to be running away right now.
"Alright, I'll be with you in just a second, Six!"
Mono's luck was running out as the giant let out another deep groan, raising his fist and slamming it down onto the hard, concrete floor, almost flattening the kid like a pancake as Six pulled him out of the way.
"Mono, are you trying to get yourself killed?!"
Six grabbed onto his hand and pulled him along, Seven following behind and trying to distract the giant with various debris he found along the floor, tossing them at the long-armed man in an attempt to get him off of their trail. In return, the man only grew angrier and impatient as the elevator on the other side of the room seemed to get farther and farther away with every passing second.
"Why can't you just stay down, you big ugly potato?!"
Seven taunted, dodging to the side as the giant went to grab him. His blindness proved to be his ultimate weakness as the loud, giant fan on the ceiling masked their footsteps well enough to keep him virtually hidden.
"What did you just call him, Seven?"
"Nothing!"
Mono scoffed, still being led by Six as they made a mad dash to the elevator. Seven thought he had the upper hand for the moment, but realized quickly he wasn't doing any good as the giant covered his face with his skinny hands, cracking his jaw, then proceeding to elongate his arms forward at the three. They went into a panic almost instantly as his reach got within grabbing distance.
"Mono, catch!"
He had barely any time to react as Seven tossed him his flashlight, but Mono luckily caught it out of the air, turning around and striking the man's hand as it was seconds away from gripping his trenchcoat. The giant let out a cry of pain and frustration as it retreated its damaged hand, but kept its other hand focused on Seven.
"AAAHHH!!! HELP ME!!"
The two froze and turned around, gasping in shock as Seven was lifted up into the air. He squirmed around in the long-armed man's grip as his grip got tighter.
"CAN'T... BREATHE..!"
"Hang in there, Seven!"
Six got out her lighter, flicking it on and running up to the giant along with Mono who had his flashlight in his hand, ready to attack. They ran on opposite sides of the giant, Six setting aflame the man's coat as Mono jammed the flashlight into his foot.
AGHH!!!
The giant instantly released its grip on Seven, swaying its arm around trying to get his attackers away from him as they all took their chance and retreated to the elevator. The long-armed man clutched his burning arm, putting out the small fire as Seven coughed and wheezed, recollecting himself.
"Thanks, guys... I would've been so dead..."
"You're welcome, now quiet down and quickly hide!"
Six quieted the group down as they scrambled to different corners of the elevator, Mono ducking behind a pile of boxes and putting a hand over his mouth as the giant stomped into the elevator. He felt around for the button, running his fingers along the wall and pressing down the button that would lift them upward. The metal door slammed shut behind the giant as they began to move up.
"Don't move a muscle... don't move a... oh crap, oh crap..."
Mono held his breath and slowly backed up, bumping into the wall behind him as the giant felt around directly next to him. He was inches away from being detected as Six watched in agony. She carefully placed her hand into one of the boxes she was hiding behind, picking up a piece of coal.
"No, no, no, what is she doing?!"
He shook his hands, trying to get her to stop, but she ignored him. Rolling the coal across the room, the giant flinched, turning around and feeling the floor. Mono quietly exhaled, contemplating whether or not to lecture or thank Six after this ordeal was over. Seven was on top of a metal cage, a rather unstable one at that. With every step the giant took, the cage rattled along with Seven, who tried to stabilize himself.
"He has to get off of that cage..!"
Mono peered around the box, looking inside the cage and realizing there were several nomes locked inside. They appeared to be asleep, the three nomes huddling up together in the center of the cage and barely moving, slightly twitching their heads occasionally. Seven looked down, coming to the same realization Mono had. His face turned pale as he glanced around at Mono and Six, pointing down at the cage. Six glanced over at Seven and held her hand out in front of her, silently telling him to stop moving.
She pointed at the elevator button, above it was a list of levels ranging from one to ten. They were on the ninth floor and were almost at the top.
"Any second now... come on..."
DING!!
The giant snapped, letting out a yelp and waking up the nomes. They freaked out, instantly getting up and swinging the cage door open, running out into the hallway.
AGHH!!!
Seven held onto the cage as the long-armed man let out a frustrated cry as the elevator door opened, the nomes running through the doorway. The giant chased after them, assuming they were the deviants he was chasing prior. Mono stepped out of his hiding spot, watching the giant disappear into a room, closing the door behind him and continuing his search.
"How many times are we gonna come this close to dying before we actually die..?"
Seven hopped off of the cage, walking over to Mono and Six.
"I need a break..."
Mono put his hands on his knees and lowered his head.
"Jeez, I was... so scared... when he grabbed me..."
Six stepped out as Mono looked up.
"Sorry, I... I really thought I was about to die at that moment. Without you guys, I probably would've..."
"It's alright, Seven."
She placed her hand on his shoulder, comforting him as he tried to calm himself down.
"Uh... guys..."
Mono tapped Six's shoulder.
"What is it?"
"Do you feel it too?"
They steadied themselves and quieted down, feeling the slight vibration of the elevator beginning to move. Seven glanced up at the list of floors once again, realizing they were heading back down to floor five any second now.
"Get out of the elevator, now!"
Seven cried as he got onto his feet, motioning toward the exit. Mono felt his body drop as the elevator began to lower. Six immediately ran out, turning around and watching Mono as he jumped, the elevator doors closing behind him as he made contact with the floor, landing on his side.
"Ow..."
He got up, brushing himself off.
"Well, that was fun."
Six went over to check on Mono as Seven noticed something in the wooden floorboards.
"You alright?"
"Yep, I'm fine."
"We gotta get going, those giant people are probably coming right now."
Seven planted his foot down on the wooden floorboard, causing it to bend downward.
"How'd you... do that?"
Mono's eyes widened as Six lowered herself down, Seven motioning for Mono to go next.
"Come on, they're already on the third floor, we gotta go!"
"Alright, alright!"
Mono hopped down into the hole, Seven following after him and positioning the wooden floorboard back into its original pose. The cold, stone floor froze Mono's feet as he scanned their surroundings. The tiny area wasn't very eventful, with cobwebs and dust covering the walls. Seven quietly sneezed as Six felt the top floorboards for any loose ones, but the three were quickly silenced as they could hear the elevator returning to the top floor once more.
DING!!
An unseen giant's muffled footsteps were heard from above as it searched the area for the three presumably. It could be heard shuffling through various objects, quickly growing frustrated and giving up. The sound of a radio clicking could be heard as it proceeded to report its findings.
"NOTHING UP HERE. RETURNING TO THE BOTTOM FLOOR."
His voice was very deep and robotic as he turned his radio off, stomping back into the elevator and closing the door behind him. Seven shrugged, glancing around looking for something to do.
"Well... now what?"
"No idea..."
A muffled cough was heard off to the right, the three turning their heads simultaneously to face the sound. It was coming from above, so Six flicked her lighter on and proceeded into the darkness, almost bumping into a ladder as she illuminated it with her flame. She looked up, a hatch in the floor being above the ladder she had noticed.
"I got something over here."
She called the two over as she climbed the ladder, pushing the hatch open very slightly and peering outside. Six almost immediately closed it, lowering herself back down.
"Nope, nope, nope, nope..."
"What did you see?"
"That long-armed guy is there..!"
"Oh, great."
Seven groaned, climbing up the ladder and peering outside, looking around for an exit as Mono and Six waited for him to report back down below.
"Okay... I got a plan."
He dropped down, facing the two.
"Awesome, what is it?"
"We die."
An awkward silence filled the air.
"Haha, I'm just kidding. There's a vent near the ceiling, but you gotta climb a shelf to get to it, and the long-armed guy is right next to that shelf."
Seven pointed over his shoulder at the ladder behind him.
"Go look for yourselves, but do it quietly."
"Alright..."
Six mumbled as she ascended the ladder along with Mono, slightly pushing the hatch ajar and peeking outside. Surely enough, the vent was there, and so was the giant, except he seemed to be rather busy with a puppet collection instead of searching for the deviants like he was before. He intricately felt his fingertips across various designs of puppets, placing some of them in lines across the sides of the room, the rest going into a cardboard box.
"Wait a minute..."
Mono hopped back down onto the stone floor, digging around in his pocket.
"What is it?"
Six jumped back down and looked down as Mono spread out the wrinkled poster he had saved from before.
"You still have it?"
"Yeah, I felt it poking my leg. Anyway, look at this..."
He pressed his finger against the half-torn poster, barely deciphering two words.
"The Janitor. That's his name, the Janitor..!"
"Wait, wait? Really?"
Seven walked over to Mono's side and squinted his eyes, reading the tiny white print that Mono was pointing at.
"The Janitor..? Why is he called the Janitor? Aren't they supposed to walk around with a broom and a bucket and clean up things?"
"Maybe he's cleaning up us..!"
Mono and Seven turned their heads toward Six, confused. Seven questioned with curiosity as Mono continued reading the poster.
"What do you mean?"
"Like, maybe he's supposed to clean up the children that try to escape..? That's why he tried to wrap you guys up in cloth?"
"Well... maybe. It sounds a lot friendlier than 'The Killer,' or 'Crazy Long-Armed Potato Man.'"
The poster nearly jumped out of Mono's hands as the giant began to stomp along the floorboards above them. He moved into the other room, giving the three an opening to go for the vent at the top of the shelf.
"Alright, let's do this. Go now..!"
Seven and Six quickly ascended the ladder together as Mono crushed the poster into a tiny ball, cramming it back into his pocket. He climbed up the rungs of the wooden ladder, pulling himself up to the top. Six and Seven were at a halt, unable to cross without walking across the creaky wooden floorboards, which would definitely give their position away almost instantly.
"We need to make noise, a lot of noise... but how..?"
Seven placed a hand on his chin as Mono walked over with a toy monkey in his hands that had cymbals. It was about the same size as he was, but it was still pretty light.
"I got your noise, Seven."
"Nice find..."
He clenched his teeth as the giant stomped back into the room they were in a ball of yarn in his hands. He tossed it into one of the many cardboard boxes, proceeding with his puppet sorting like usual.
"Toss it whenever you want, just tell us when you are."
Six whispered toward Mono as the giant turned in their direction, facing them. Seven slowly backed away as the long-armed man felt his fingers across his collection, waiting for an open spot to reveal itself. Once it did, he placed the puppet he had in his off-hand in that spot, turning back around and digging through the cardboard box once again.
"Let's make some noise..."
Mono lifted the monkey over his head, then hurled it into the other room. It landed on the wooden floor and began to make a distorted cry as it clashed the yellow cymbals together. The Janitor straightened his posture, gasping as he cracked his joints. He slowly turned around, stomping along the wooden floorboards and feeling around on the floor in the next room for whatever was producing the noise.
CLANG!!
"Aw crap, sorry!"
The Janitor snarled as he turned around, facing the three who were climbing up the shelf. Seven had knocked over a music box that was positioned near him onto the floor, giving away their position. Mono looked down at Seven and motioned for him to climb faster as the Janitor let out a wail of anger as he slammed his fists against the floor in anger. They made their way to the top shelf, Six holding the vent open for the other two, then going in herself. Mono lowered himself down onto a pile of garbage bags, pinching his nose as the putrid smell entered his nostrils.
"Augh, that smell!"
He quickly stepped out into the hallway, looking ahead and noticing two doorways, both wide open. A lever on the side indicated the switch for the doors, and at the very end, there was a vent that appeared to be just out of reach.
"Let's go, we gotta get that vent open."
"What vent?"
Mono showed Six their way of escape as Seven approached them, scratching the back of his head.
"Do you guys hear him? It sounds like he's throwing a fit back there!"
The bookshelf next to them suddenly was raised to the ceiling as the Janitor stood there with several books lying at his sides.
"Oh no."
Seven mumbled as he backed away, Mono and Six turning around and standing completely still. Mono tried to get Seven to stop moving by motioning toward him but was too late as he backed up directly into a tin can on the floor, knocking it aside with his heel.
AHH!!
He screamed as he extended his arms out, the three turning around and running for their lives. The door closed behind them as the Janitor stretched an arm out to the side, flipping the lever for the first one.
"Get to that vent!"
"How?!"
"No idea!"
Mono got his flashlight out, courtesy of Seven in preparation for combat. The Janitor stretched his arm out to the side, stopping dead in his tracks as he pulled a cage out with his other arm, sliding it under the metal door. The three turned around, confused as they waited for his next move. He flipped the lever once again, the door slamming down directly onto the metal cage, but it didn't close all the way.
"Oh, that's not fair!"
Six shouted as the Janitor slid his arms under the door that was being held up by the metal cage, beginning to feel around the area for the three children who were trapped. The vent was out of reach, and they had no time to boost one another up.
"Damn, he's smart!"
"What do we do now?!"
Seven was deep in concentration as Mono and Six panicked, the girl hopping over his slender hand as he felt it up against the wall.
"Seven, jump!"
Seven snapped back into reality as the Janitor's hand began to approach him at a very rapid pace, backing up a little before jumping forward, dodging it as it pressed up against a wall. Mono had his flashlight out to his side, daring the Janitor to even try and come close to him.
"Come on, I'm waiting for you, bastard!"
"Mono, don't! That's gonna give away your position!"
Seven called out to him as the hand began to slither toward him.
"Ugh... fine!"
He took the boring route, hopping over his hand and holstering his flashlight. Six pressed her back up against the wall and got her lighter out as a last case scenario, though she was very reluctant to use it. Seven didn't have anything to use for defense, his eyes focusing on the cage as a loose metal bar poked out on the side of it.
"Seven, you got anything?"
Seven didn't reply.
"Seven?!"
The boy in blue suddenly made a mad dash toward the cage, ducking under the Janitor's arm and reaching the middle of the room. He placed his hands on the loose metal piece that was connected to the cage and pulled.
AHHH!!!
The Janitor let out a muffled scream as the metal bar tore off, Seven falling onto his back and looking up.
"Aw, there's another one?!"
"Another... oh I see what you did!"
Mono was nearly caught by the Janitor as his hand crept up behind him, but Six luckily called it out just in time.
"Mono, behind you-"
She was suddenly snatched up, her voice cutting off and transforming into a scream as her yellow form was lifted into the air.
"SIX!!"
"LET GO OF HER!"
Mono and Seven went into a panic, Seven going for the other metal bar on the opposite side of the cage, but he was quickly taken care of, the Janitor using his other hand and wrapping his bony fingers around him, squeezing him tight and holding him up into the air along with the girl.
"SEVEN!!"
"MONO... THE CAGE!!!"
He glanced over at the cage that was barely holding up, a single metal bar keeping it from breaking. Mono immediately ran for it, ducking under the Janitor's arm and approaching the cage.
"WE'RE DONE HERE!"
With one yank, the metal screeching came to a halt. Silence filled the room as Six and Seven fell to the floor, the severed arms going limp.
AAAAHHHHH!!!
The Janitor's muffled screams were heard from beyond the door, slowly getting quieter until the man ran out of breath to cry, collapsing to the floor with a loud thud. The three caught their breaths, Six grabbing onto the boney fingers that were still clinging onto her and pulling them off, breaking herself free.
"Disgusting."
She kicked the hand away from her, turning toward Seven and helping him onto his feet as he was still having trouble calming down.
"You alright, Seven?"
"Yeah... yeah, I'm good..."
He was visibly shaking as Mono and Six stood there looking at him, unsure of what to do.
"You wanna go, or wait here for a little while?"
"I'll go, just... need a minute."
"Alright, Six, come here."
Mono pressed his back up against the wall and held his hands out in front of him. Six lifted her leg up and was launched into the air by Mono. She grabbed onto the vent and pulled it downward, hoisting herself up and lending a hand to Mono. He hopped up and grabbed her hand, Six pulling him up and letting him go through the vent.
"Seven, you ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be..."
Seven hopped up and grabbed onto her hand, Six pulling him up and onto the vent with both of her hands. The two proceeded through the vent, meeting Mono on the other side where he was standing still, gazing at the room ahead.
"There you guys are."
"We didn't take that long?"
"I know... just... never mind."
Mono quietly groaned as he felt his stomach, feeling a slight pain beginning to build.
"Did I get cut?"
He wasn't about to lift his shirt to find out, dealing with the pain as Six and Seven moved on. Mono kept a hand on his stomach, holding his flashlight out with his other hand and flicking it on, illuminating the very dark room.
"You guys see an end to this?"
"I see something, don't know if it's an exit though."
Seven and Six talked as Mono lagged behind, his stomach pain seemingly hurting more with every step he took.
"Ow... what the... OW! That really hurts..!"
He clenched his teeth as he tried to quiet his whimpers of pain.
"Mono, what's wrong?"
"Nngh... nothing..."
Six had a very concerned look on her face as Mono was suddenly dripping with sweat. His hands were on his knees as he breathed in and out erratically.
"Okay... well... I think I see a..."
Her voice became muffled as Mono's ears began to ring. It felt like knives were being slammed against his chest and stomach as he balled his fists up, gasping for air. The flashlight slipped right out of his hands as his stomach growled loudly, the overwhelming pain identifying itself as...
"HUNGRY... SO... HUNGRY!!"
His thoughts became irrational as he collapsed onto his side, disturbing thoughts such as how delicious a nome might taste or how crunchy a rat was filled his mind. He cried out in pain as Six and Seven were frozen dead in their tracks.
"Mono? MONO!?"
His stomach growled, begging for anything to be consumed. Seven was speechless as Six ran to his side, crouching down and holding his head up. Mono's pale face stared back at her, his teeth clenched as he forced words through his mouth.
"What's wrong?! Tell me, please!"
"HUNGER... I... NEED..."
He cried out in agony as another wave of pain his hit body.
"SEVEN, GO FIND FOOD, NOW!"
Seven immediately ran off in the other direction, disappearing into the darkness as Mono felt his consciousness slipping away from him.
"Mono, stay with me, baby... shh, hey... just look at me. I'm here, okay..?"
He tried to utter another word, but the pain took the best of him, knocking him out cold as he lay in her arms.
"Mono..? MONO!?"
Word Count: 3717
Muhahaha, you thought that Six was gonna have the hunger problem?!
Nope! Mono's gonna have to suffer from an insatiable stomach!
Don't worry, this will all make sense later.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!
Have a good rest of your day, and I'll see you in the next chapter. Bye!