(Artwork by Jalapenyes)
The elevator light flickered as the three stood there, an awkward silence filling the air. Mono looked at Seven, then at Six, making sure they were both not hurt.
"This elevator is gonna take a while, get comfortable."
Six mumbled, leaning against the wall behind her and crossing her arms.
"Well... does anybody have any idea what that was?"
Seven sat down, running a hand through his brown, messy bangs.
"I... don't know."
Mono closed his white eyes, thinking to himself for a moment. A disturbing thought crept up in the back of his mind as he had an idea of what exactly had protected them back there.
"Shadow Six... she's messing with my powers, isn't she..?"
He scoffed, half of him expecting a response from her, the other half expecting her to hit him with another hunger strike.
"If you're connected to me as you said, you can hear me think, can't you?"
Nothing but silence filled his thoughts as he tried to assemble some form of communication with her, the end goal being to get her to leave him and his friends alone.
"If you can hear me, I just have one question-"
"Hey, Mono, I got a question for you."
Mono looked up, slightly startled as he saw Seven standing in front of him, his hands hanging off to his sides.
"What is it?"
"Why do you have those white eyes?"
Seven tilted his head, putting his hands in his pockets.
"Uh... well... I..."
"He just randomly got them one day. I don't know where it came from, but... we were talking one time and he just suddenly had them."
"Hm... right."
Seven turned toward Six who raised her head and spoke up for Mono who was fumbling over his words, unsure of what to say back to Seven.
"Yeah... why do you ask, Seven?"
"Well it couldn't have just been a random occurrence, there must be something about you that makes you different than the rest of us."
Seven glanced over at Mono, his face appearing to be stern as he eyed Mono. Although he couldn't see Seven's actual eyes, he could tell that he was being glared at.
"How did you not get fried when the TV fell into the water, back when we were in the sewers?"
"Is he interrogating me?"
Mono looked over at Six who shrugged and gave him a weird look back, showing that she was also confused at Seven's odd behavior. Glancing back at Seven, he let out a sigh before proceeding with his explanation.
"I only learned this recently, but... you're right, Seven. I'm not an ordinary kid."
His eyes lowered as a pang of strange guilt hit him, Mono recalling a dark moment between him and Six when he used his powers selfishly.
"I never told you about my powers because... well... I don't plan on ever using them ever again."
"Powers..? What do you mean powers?"
"I... how do I put it... I can-"
POP!!
The three flinched as the light that illuminated the entire elevator suddenly went out, cutting Mono off as he was in the middle of an explanation.
"Perfect..."
Six mumbled, getting out her lighter and flicking it on, providing some light to the elevator which had gone completely dark.
"Great... now what?"
Mono groaned, getting his flashlight out and turning it on, pointing it at the elevator door, which remained closed.
"Shadow Six, you better not be doing this right now..."
Looking around for a possible way out, Mono pointed his flashlight around the inside of the elevator. His breath hitched as a white flash was seen in the corner of the elevator, immediately turning to face it, but it was already gone by the time he aimed his light at it.
"Nice try."
The three gasped as a distorted, feminine voice was heard. The outline of an eye that was on the surface of the metal doors of the elevator began to glow red as she continued to speak.
"But I have eyes everywhere."
"Even in the bathrooms!?"
Six shushed Seven as he shouted back at her, the three huddling close together in the center of the elevator.
"Judging from how foolish you three are, I'm surprised you..." She let out a plaintive sigh. "Killed one of my best clients..."
The elevator suddenly jolted downward, causing the three to jump in fear.
"You want to know who killed your best client!? It was ME! Not them!"
Mono raised his voice at her, taking a step forward and tightening his grip on the flashlight he was holding.
"Leave them out of this! It's me you want, not them!"
"No... it was..."
Six was at a loss for words, realizing what Mono was trying to do.
"Wait, Mono! You don't have to do this!"
Six grabbed his hand, slightly pulling him toward her. Mono glanced over his shoulder at her, frowning.
"Six, I don't want you to be in danger. Just stay out of it."
"But I want to help you! We fought your father together, it wasn't just you!"
The lady scoffed as Six begged for Mono not to face her alone.
"She's right, Mono. If we go after her together, we'll stand much more of a chance."
Seven stepped in, agreeing with Six.
"But... you two don't have to..."
"You want to die with him? Allow me to grant that wish."
One last scoff from the lady was heard before her voice went silent, the red glow that was coming from the eye disappearing. The sound of metal whining was heard as the elevator began to move ever so slightly downward.
"Uh oh."
SCREECH!!
Mono felt butterflies form in his stomach as the elevator suddenly began to fall. Six grabbed onto Mono's trenchcoat while Seven pressed his back up against the wall, clenching his teeth and bracing for impact.
"MONO!!"
"HANG ON!!"
Six wrapped her arms around Mono, burying her face in his shoulder as he put his hands out to the side, trying to stabilize his balance.
"UP THERE!"
Seven shouted as the elevator came to a halt as a hatch in the ceiling opened up, a rope ladder dropping down for the three to climb up to safety. Six raised her head, immediately making a run for it along with Mono and Seven.
"COME ON, CATCH UP!"
Six cried out to Mono who broke out of his trance, his eyes averting over to the rope ladder that was dangling from the ceiling. He sucked in air through his teeth as he quickly ran over to it along with Seven, climbing up it. The elevator slid against the walls, shaking the ladder constantly and making it even harder to climb up as it vigorously shook back and forth.
"GRAB MY HAND, MONO!"
She had reached the top rather quickly, extending a hand for Mono who was closest. He reached his hand up toward her, letting her grab him and pull him up. The two turned around, the wind blowing through their hair, looking down at Seven who was struggling.
"Here, Seven!"
Mono called out as he and Six reached their hands down through the hatch in the floor, grabbing onto Seven's collar and forcefully pulling him upward.
"Thanks, guys! That was- OH MY GOD!!"
Seven screamed as he reached the top of the elevator. Six kept her hand gripped on Mono's trenchcoat as they looked around for something to grab onto. The elevator began to slow its pace, screeching to a halt.
"Over there!"
Six gestured toward a metal ladder that was embedded in the wall, calling it out for the others to see. She motioned for the two to follow her, which they did, jumping off of the elevator and gripping onto the metallic rungs of the ladder.
"Are... are we all good?!"
Seven said in between breaths, to which Mono responded with a sigh of relief.
"Yeah... we're good..."
Looking over his shoulder, he watched the elevator go further down, its speed slowly increasing in pace. Suddenly, sparks began to fly as it went full speed downward, a metallic whine echoing off of the walls.
SMASH!!
A cloud of dust arose from the ground below as the elevator slammed into the floor.
"My goodness..."
Seven caught his breath after holding it while watching the aftermath of the elevator.
"Are you two coming!?"
Seven and Mono looked up to see Six already near an open doorway that appeared to be malfunctioning, a light flickering from the inside of the open elevator doors.
"Yeah, give me a second!"
Mono began to ascend the ladder, looking down occasionally to make sure Seven was following. They climbed up to Six's position, Mono lifting himself and turning around to help Seven up as well.
"Uh... hi Seven..?"
Mono raised an eyebrow as Seven climbed up to their position in his nome form, hoisting himself up before transforming back into a human.
"Boo! Did I scare you?"
Mono looked around awkwardly as Seven grinned.
"Uh... sure?"
"Woah... check this out..."
Six called Mono and Seven over to her. She was peering around a corner, staring out into a room that was unseen from Mono's position, but from what he could hear it sounded like a barnyard. Plates clattering and the disgusting sound of lips smacking were heard in the other room, and as Mono peeked around the corner to see for himself he immediately wished he hadn't.
"Ew... that's just unsanitary."
Seven stuck his tongue out, shaking his head. Mono's face was immediately overcome with disgust as he stared out into a room full of giant people who were cramming food into their mouths.
"Can we... maybe... not go this way?"
Seven crossed his arms, turning around and planning on taking his chances with the ladder, hoping it would bring him somewhere less dangerous.
"Wait... I recognize these giants... we saw them near the entrance!"
Six enthusiastically spoke, looking at Mono then at Seven's face with excitement.
"You're right..! The way out of here could be right up ahead!"
Mono let out a sigh of disbelief, they had a chance at making it out of this place alive!
"Are you serious? No way!"
Seven turned back around, facing the two and clapping his hands together.
"Well!? What are we waiting for?"
"Okay, hold up a minute... these guys ahead don't look very friendly."
Mono held a hand out to the side, halting Seven in his place. Looking up ahead, he watched with great disgust as the gluttons continued to consume entire plates of food in seconds, some even fighting over the rations as if they hadn't been fed in weeks.
"Huh... these guys are just like you, Mono!"
"What?! How?"
"Y'know? Really hungry?"
Mono and Six both glared at Seven at the same time.
"Bad joke..."
The three jumped as one of them suddenly began to throw a fit, slamming the table in rage as it reached up to grab more food but found there was none left.
"We should get moving before an earthquake happens."
Six stood up, looking for a place to move to next as a guest threw his plate across the room, smashing it against the floor and causing more guests to get riled up. One of them got down on all fours and began to crawl across the floor after a single crumb on the ground.
"Come on, let's go!"
Mono shouted over all of the chaos and began to walk toward a table, planning on ducking under it, but was immediately spotted by one of the giants. A puffy finger was raised toward him as the glutton let out a groan, heavily breathing as it flopped onto the floor, going after him. Panic built up inside of him as Six and Seven ran out, the girl in the yellow raincoat gesturing for Mono to follow their lead.
SMASH!!
A giant yelped as it broke through the table, landing on the ground and whimpering in pain. Mono clenched his teeth and ran after Six and Seven, who had already made it to the other side of the room. They had lifted themselves to a higher position and were waiting for him to follow.
"Damn, he's fast!"
Mono nearly tripped as he glanced over his shoulder, observing the giant that was barreling toward him. Turning back to face Six and Seven, he was quite shocked to see her with her lighter out, walking in his direction.
"What are you doing, Six?!"
"Buying you time!"
He watched as she scared the glutton that was on Mono's tail off with the tiny flame she had sparked. The giant stopped dead in his tracks, backing off a little bit and allowing Mono to get to higher ground. Six flicked her lighter off and ran for the ledge, hopping up and lifting herself onto Mono and Seven's position as the three immediately backed off.
"WOAH, WATCH OUT!!"
Seven called out, tripping and falling on his back as the giant tried to push itself up onto their position, whimpering and groaning as it struggled to lift itself off of the ground.
"Calm down, buddy! My goodness..."
Getting onto his feet, Seven dusted himself off as he caught his breath. Mono watched as the giant with brown clothing squirmed and thrashed his arms around, grabbing at the three who were slowly backing away from him.
"Why do we always get the crazy ones..."
"I think we're the only sane people left on this planet."
Mono sighed as Six shook her head, rubbing her closed eyes with the tips of her fingertips. The giant continued to try to lift his fat body to their position, but eventually gave up as the three turned around, walking in the other direction.
"So... what's the plan again..?'
Seven said in between breaths as they walked down a wooden hallway that was a lot tamer than the room they were just in.
"We saw these same giants near the entrance., so the exit to this place should be around here somewhere..."
Six gestured toward Mono as she spoke to Seven, who nodded in response.
"Wait..."
Mono's eyes suddenly lifted from off of the floor and darted from Seven to Six.
"Guys, what about the lady?!"
"What about her?"
Six tilted her head, confused as to why Mono was bringing her up again.
"We can't just leave this place without taking her down yet! Didn't Seven mention her plan about 'assuming control' of cities?"
Seven nodded and replied with a hum.
"Well, we gotta go after her then! If we don't, then... I don't even want to imagine it."
"There might not be much left for us to go back to, is that what you're saying?"
Six pondered Mono's decision to go after the person they were planning on running away from. The more she thought about it, the more it sounded like it was their only option.
"I'm down to do this, but how are we gonna get back exactly?"
Seven asked, running a hand through his dark brown hair.
"Well, we'll just take the elevator."
Mono stopped in place, pointing with his thumb at an elevator that was off to their side with a convenient sign next to it that indicated that it was indeed an elevator. A bright light emitted from the inside of it, which suddenly began to flash with a hint of red.
DING!!
Just as Six began to approach it, the elevator was sent downward, an unknown entity calling it from the floor below. Mono immediately gestured for Six and Seven to follow him as the three ducked around a corner.
"PATROL DESTINATION ARRIVED."
The sound of a deep voice and radio click was heard as the elevator returned to their floor. Heavy footsteps stomped out, the three watching as a spear-wielding giant with a gas mask covering its face emerged out of the elevator.
"HANG ON, TROUBLE IS OCCURRING IN THE GUEST AREA."
The giant began to walk in their direction, the three ducking around the corner and pressing their backs up against the wall, holding their breaths. The tall spearman walked right past them, his tall figure disappearing through the doorway as he went after the giants in the room they were just in, the sound of plates smashing and yelling being heard coming from the other side of the wall.
"Bingo, we got our elevator. Let's go."
Mono led the group as he stepped out of hiding along with Six and Seven, the three running for the elevator, unsure of what exactly they were getting themselves into.
Word Count: 2735
Thanks for reading!
If you find any errors in the text, let me know in the comments below.
I don't really have much else to say, so...
Have a good rest of your day, and I'll see you later!
Bye!