Some time later, Tanqr is checking the time by setting up some sticks and looking at how the shadows fall. It's a trick he was taught back at home. And despite communicators having nearly everything, they for some reason don't have the time. So he needs to use shadows to figure out what time it is.
Looking up at the sun, he can see it's starting to sink into the west. It's quite low, but sunset hasn't started. If he estimates, it's probably coming up to 5pm.
He should give Hyper a warning. After all, his concern right now is making sure that Hyper knows exactly how much time he has left. After all, he hasn't killed anybody, and his time is running out. Fast.
~~~
<Tanqr whispered to DylanHyper> hey bud you probably have an hour and a bit left
<DylanHyper whispered to Tanqr> Oh no
<Tanqr whispered to DylanHyper> yeah uh. aren't you deep in a cave right now. with only megan. how are you planning on doing this my guy
<Tanqr whispered to DylanHyper> are you just planning on taking it or
<DylanHyper whispered to Tanqr> I'm gonna get Megan to go now
<DylanHyper whispered to Tanqr> I'm not killing her
<Tanqr whispered to DylanHyper> you probably should
<DylanHyper whispered to Tanqr> Can you check if there's anyone else around the vicinity
<DylanHyper whispered to Tanqr> I'm not killing her
<Tanqr whispered to DylanHyper> sure. i'll wait for you at the cave's exit.
~~~
Hyper looks up from his communicator to Megan staring right back at him.
"Who are you talking to? There's nothing going on in chat right now." Oh no, she's onto him.
"Oh, I'm just reading up on things. Nothing else. Hey, shouldn't we head out of this cave? It's getting late and we'll want to be back at our base before night time hits." Quick, change the subject.
"Uhm...wouldn't it be safer down here? I mean, we've lit this place up..."
"We'll be needing more food, right? And more wood? We're running out, and we'll need more torches if we plan to go deeper. Plus we nearly stumbled into a spawner and both died. And we're not finding any more diamonds, we've only got the five between us - let's just head out." He's hoping that this persuades her. And thankfully for him, it does. With a heavy sigh of defeat, Megan agrees.
"Alright, fine. Let's go."
As they're following their torches, Hyper's mind is elsewhere. Well, it's pretty much gone - he feels like he's been losing it the longer he's been alone. The small feeling of bloodlust he's been getting around others has been increasing and increasing the longer he went without shedding any blood, and it's starting to get constant and overwhelming, it's a desperate feeling, he needs to get blood on his hands. And it's terrifying him.
What is he becoming? It's almost like he's turning into a mob himself. He's breathing heavier, and can barely restrain himself.
Yet he keeps going, because he can't tell Megan about what's going on. He simply can't. How would she react? She'd be terrified of him. And he doesn't want to lose his ally - he doubts he could make it far without someone helping him out with the things he doesn't notice.
But he knows full well that he has to kill someone soon, or he's going to lose it.
Maybe that person will have to be Megan.
No, it won't be.
Who did he promise he wouldn't kill? Where does his heart go when he has no one to turn to? Who does he betray when he has no other choice?
Goodness, his thoughts are completely broken and scatterbrained. All he can focus on is the thirst for blood building up, and the fear that comes alongside it.
He looks up at Megan and clenches his fist so hard it hurts. He needs to do that so he doesn't snap. Keeps his hands distracted, stimulates the feeling of a sword's hilt.
Megan turns to him with a mildly scared face. She looks more sheepish than anything.
"Uhm...Hyper...I hope you remember the way out of here, because I sure don't."
Hyper pauses. Yeah, he would know his way out of here, if his brain wouldn't shut up, if he could still compartmentalise without confusing himself, if he wasn't so completely dazed and clouded over and broken and-
This could not have gone any worse.
~~~
<Server> The boogeyman has one hour left to kill before they drop down to red.
<Server> Good luck.
<Sketch> dude i completely forgot about that
<LeahAshe> Oh no
<DenisDaily> The boogeyman is biding their time aren't they?
<KreekCraft> @Tanqr when are you gonna kill someone
<Tanqr> i am not the boogeyman kreek
<KreekCraft> Sure
<Tanqr> there's no winning with you
<BigBSt4tz2> uhhh fair warning to the boogeyman don't wait too long to kill someone! it's not gonna end well
<IamSanna> Why are you giving advice to them???? >:0
<BigBSt4tz2> being the boogeyman is scary!
<BigBSt4tz2> probably
<DylanHyper> The real wuestion is how do you even have advice to give to us on that topic
<MeganPlays> wuestion
<KreekCraft> wuestion
<Sketch> wuestion
<PinkLeaf> wuestion
<IamSanna> wuestion
<FlamingoAlbert> wuestion
<Tanqr> wuestion
<DenisDaily> Get his ass
<AshleyTheUnicorn> why are we all spamming 'wuestion' in the chat
<DylanHyper> Leave me alone guys
<MeganPlays> I am never going to let you live this down
<DylanHyper> It's not even that funny
<FlamingoAlbert> Such is the way of the Robloxians. We bully people. It is simply what we Do.
<LeahAshe> I wish I wasn't a robloxian sometimes
<Sketch> too bad you're stuck with us now ^-^
~~~
Hyper sighs, before glancing at Megan, who's stifling a laugh.
"What does 'wuestion' mean, Hyper?" She teases, before bursting into laughter.
Hyper just stares back at her, unfazed. Or, at the very least, restraining himself from getting too annoyed, in case he-
"I will not be answering any stupid questions, let's get out of here."
"Any stupid wuestions, you mean-" Megan giggles again, before taking a second to catch her breath back. She can tell Hyper's getting a little bit miffed. "Yeah, yeah, okay. Let's get out of here."
Hyper goes back to his communicator to ask Tanqr a quick question.
~~~
<DylanHyper whispered to Tanqr> Also what is the coordinates of the entrance to the cave we're in
<DylanHyper whispered to Tanqr> You should know the one Megan labelled it
<DylanHyper whispered to Tanqr> We're semi lost
<Tanqr whispered to DylanHyper> you absolute dummy
<Tanqr whispered to DylanHyper> hang on give me like 5 mins to get there
<DylanHyper whispered to Tanqr> Can't you fly?
<Tanqr whispered to DylanHyper> wh
<Tanqr whispered to DylanHyper> where the hell did you get the idea i could fly
<DylanHyper whispered to Tanqr> Forget it
<DylanHyper whispered to Tanqr> Also is there anyone around
<Tanqr whispered to DylanHyper> nope, not close to our base, we're pretty isolated
<DylanHyper whispered to Tanqr> 'Our' base?
<DylanHyper whispered to Tanqr> And no one?? Like no one??
<Tanqr whispered to DylanHyper> not a soul
<Tanqr whispered to DylanHyper> and our bases. don't question my typos
<Tanqr whispered to DylanHyper> (or wuestion them)
~~~
Finally, a while later, Hyper and Megan emerge from inside the cave to the outside world. It took a while. Much too long, really. But finally Tanqr got the coordinates for the cave entrance, and they finally got on track to the cave's entrance. Megan doesn't know that's how, but she doesn't need to know.
The sun lightly hits them from the side, but the world seems darker now, the sun's sinking into the east. Sunset has begun. The colours stretch far and wide, hues of red and yellow-.
Hyper can't help but immediately compare the colours in the sky to the colours of the lives.
Megan, meanwhile, immediately runs out and hugs a tree.
"Sweet grass! Sweet trees! Sweet...fleeting sunlight!"
"Nice. We can watch the sunset together. How...how long did that take us to get out of there?" Hyper gets out, but it's barely above a murmur.
"Uhm...I have no idea." Megan mentions, but then a ping comes from their communicator.
"Ah, it took us 20 minutes! The server's saying 'the boogeyman has 40 minutes left to kill someone.'" Megan quotes, beaming up at Hyper.
40 minutes? 40 minutes?! That's much too short of a time. He won't be able to find someone to kill in that little time!
He's had sweat beading on his face for the past few hours or so as he's been getting more erratic. He's been trembling, knees barely keeping him steady. His thoughts are racing, trying to sort out some form of game plan, he needs to figure out something. There's no one around, too, which means- no no no no no he can't do that, but maybe he'll have to-
He has to kill someone - maybe- possibly- or he lets himself drop down to red, but does he really want to do that? His brain's screaming at him to just do something just get it done and over with-
"Hey! Hello? Earth to Hyper?" Megan yells, waving her hand in his face. Hyper takes a second to zone back into reality. How long was he standing there, not focusing? It seems his spatial awareness is suffering.
"Megan?" He gets out.
"Hyper, what the hell is up with you? You've been staring into space, are- are you okay?! Please, you've been acting weirdly the entire day, I'm worried about you. Did something happen?"
He pauses, unsure how to respond. He wants to tell her, he really does, but if he does he'll lose his chance, she'll be scared of him, he doesn't want her to be scared of him though maybe he'd prefer it-
He doesn't have to tell Megan.
Because after who knows how long of staring at each other in silence, she abruptly steps back, and places her hand on her weapon.
"You're the boogeyman, aren't you?"
His eyes widen.
"Are you, Hyper? Are you the boogeyman?"
Megan gets no response.
"Hyper, if you are, just tell me. Please. I promise I won't be mad."
And Hyper finally breaks.
"Yeah. Yeah I am the boogeyman. I'm sorry about hiding it from you but I didn't know what to do, I didn't want you not to trust me but I just couldn't tell you and I was so worried I was gonna end up killing you and I was really hoping that over this last hour we'd get out of the cave and find someone else but we can't find anyone else there's no one else here and I've been trying to push it down but I can't anymore and my head feels all scattered and I-" It comes out in a flurry of words, at the pace of someone who's been internalising their thoughts for ages.
Suddenly, he feels someone grab him by the shoulders, and he drops the sword he'd been gripping so hard it left his hands stinging. Which he wasn't even aware of. He's cut off in his breathless rant as Megan stabilises him.
"Slow down, Hyper! Take a breath! I can tell you're panicking, but you're going too fast. Deep breaths."
Hyper inhales sharply, not realising how much air he lost while admitting everything. But there's still more to admit.
"I should've done it then when I saw Tanqr and he figured out I was the boogeyman I shouldn't have let him get away and make a deal with me but I didn't so now I can't even kill him and now I have no time and I don't know what to do and I- Megan, I'm gonna lose all my lives, I know it. I can't kill anyone. I'm too much of a...a coward to do that. If I wasn't I would've gotten it done by now but I left it too late like BigB warned against and it's all going wrong-"
"Hyper, look at me."
He goes silent, getting as many breaths in as he can. His face feels heated, and quite frankly, he might start crying if he goes any longer. He stares back at Megan, shoving the horrific thoughts deep down.
"Hyper, you should've told me earlier." Megan chides, but she's trying to sound kind. Hyper can tell she's nervous though. Does she think he's going to stab her in the back anyway? He wouldn't be surprised if he did. "I would've helped you out, we could've found someone!"
"S-sorry...I thought...I thought...I don't know what I thought."
Megan's worried look drops, now all she has is an empathetic smile. Without warning, she pulls him into a hug.
"Aww, Hyper. I'm glad you thought of me. I wouldn't have been able to do that, I admire your restraint."
Hyper smiles, a little bit. It's comforting that she believes in him, at least, though he doubts it'll last.
"Thanks, Megan."
Idly, as he's hugging her, he pulls out his communicator and has a look at the screen. He's got two concerning messages.
The first one, from the server.
<Server whispered to DylanHyper> You should really get moving, you only have about half an hour. We don't want our first boogeyman just failing, now do we?
He couldn't really care less about that one. Yeah, he's not got much time, but he'll figure something out, now that he's got Megan on his side, right?
It's the second one that scares him more.
<Tanqr whispered to DylanHyper> what exactly are you trying to do right now?
That message sends a chill up his spine.
It really shouldn't scare him as much as it does, people would say it's quite funny. Tanqr's simple questioning. But it terrifies him, as it can only mean one thing.
Tanqr reacted to him telling Megan everything.
That means he's watching. He's somewhere around them, and he doesn't know where.
He's brought back to focus, and back to his bloodlust (unfortunately) by Megan releasing him and speaking again.
"It's okay...I'll be with ya. And I'll help you kill Tanqr, cause you've seen him around, right? I've seen his base up in the trees, I think. He's around here."
That's when Hyper's fears are immediately validated.
"You are not going to kill me."
He and Megan whip around, to see Tanqr drop down from the trees above them. He lands with a thud.
"So don't even think about it." He snarls, that face of sheer anger plastered all over him once again, the same one from earlier.
Hyper gulps down a scream. He feels Megan grab his wrist tightly. Clearly she's nervous as well.
"I don't kn-" she starts, but Tanqr cuts her off.
"Oh, don't try to play dumb with me, I heard your conversation." He stares directly at Hyper, eyes piercing through him like blades. As the sun sets and the sky gets darker, his eyes seem to be glowing. "What happened to our deal, hm?"
"N-nothing. I-" Hyper stutters out. "Look, I-I couldn't keep it from her forever, I think I've been going insane over the past few hours just trying- don't look at me like that." He stutters and pleads. Tanqr doesn't let up, walking closer to the unfortunate duo.
"Hyper, please. You've screwed up any chance you had of getting someone to kill. There's no one around our area, and even if there was, they're hiding right about now seeing as we're all getting alerts that the boogeyman is on the- no, you're on the prowl. You trapped yourself in this situation. Now you have to get yourself out of it." Tanqr motions towards Megan, who's quite scorned. Hyper knows exactly what he's trying to signal to him, but he just can't.
Still, there are those thoughts, building up, voices screaming at him to kill, just get it done, but he once again blocks them out. Well, he tries to. At this point, he can't, not anymore, they're much too loud.
Hyper looks down at the sword beside him, and picks it up. Not of his own will, he tried not to pick it up, yet he picked it up anyway, as if compelled by an invisible force. He tries to put it away, but once again his arm disobeys him, and he's just gripping it tightly once again. His hand feels warm, and he can feel the sweat building between his fingers. He tries to squeeze them tight, but they won't stop shaking.
His gaze rests back on the other two. Now Tanqr's standing beside Megan, both looking increasingly annoyed. Tanqr at him, Megan at Tanqr.
"I- " Hyper wants to say that he can't do this, that he'd rather just drop to red, but nothing's coming out of his mouth. His head's too fuzzy, nothing's coming together, just that urge. That one singular urge that's keeping him frozen in place. His heartbeat's pulsating in his ears so loudly to the point that it's dizzying, that it's blocking out any rational thought he can make. Nothing gets through, just the throbbing of his heart, he just wants to say something, to give up, but something in him - the curse - refuses.
"Hyper, I know he wants you to kill me, but don't listen to him, he's baiting you! He's trying to trick you! I bet there are people around, Tanqr's just lying to you-" Megan calls out, trying to appeal to him, but Tanqr cuts her off.
"I had no reason to lie when I said there was no one around." He states before focusing back on Hyper, and giving him an ugly but truthful ultimatum.
"You have a choice to make. One of us three will be losing a life today, whether that's me, Megan, or you, and it's in your hands as to who it will be. So show us, Hyper. Show us that great analytical mind of yours as you choose who to kill. I know you have one, I've seen it in action."
Tanqr smirks.
"Show us where your loyalties lie. Are you a coward, a turncoat, or a liar?"
Hyper shudders.
Because if he kills someone, or lets himself die, he will be showing everyone where his loyalties lie. Where he fits.
He hates that.
Tanqr only has one final thing to say.
"I don't want to sway your choice. It's yours, after all. But I just want you to know that you really shouldn't lie to someone like me."
In the very back of his mind, he vaguely remembers Tanqr saying something about the importance of deals. It's loud enough to at least make him worry. Loud enough to make him wonder just what Tanqr can do to him.
Megan, who stayed silent throughout Tanqr's monologue, finally speaks.
"Say anything else and I'll kill you myself." she hisses at Tanqr, who doesn't seem fazed. "You're trying to threaten him, I know it!"
"Oh, please. I'd like to see you try. Don't you lose every fight you get into?" Tanqr just smirks. "And I'm not threatening him." Tanqr looks at Hyper. "You have...hm, 20 minutes? Make your choice. Sooner rather than later."
"Hyper, please, he's lying to you, don't trust him!" Megan yells, earning herself a glare from Tanqr. She gives him one right back.
Hyper looks up at the two targets standing in front of him, and he looks down at the shaking sword in his hand. He looks between them repeatedly. While his thoughts are clouded, urges screaming from one ear to the other, head spinning and heart pulsating like crazy, He tries his best to think about what might happen with who he kills. Or if he lets himself die.
(He can't do this. He can't kill anyone. He's too weak for that. Too cowardly for that. He failed once, and whoever he attacks will probably kill him too. He's going to lose both his lives. Drop down to red.)
(He really really doesn't want to go down to red. If being 'hostile' is like this, he doesn't want to be stuck in this state for goodness knows how long.)
(Focus, Hyper.)
(He can't focus. There's only bloodlust.)
(There's no one else around. So that leaves these two. Who can he kill - what would happen if he- but also what can-)
...
He makes his choice.
Hyper slows his breathing, yet his thoughts are still clouding his mind and everything is going by much too fast. He's seeing red, even if he's not angry. More of a malicious, bloody red.
He looks away from Megan as he holds his sword up to her. He can't bear to make eye contact, not with what he's about to do.
She grabs onto the hilt of her sword in preparation, pulling it out and holding it up to her chest.
(He doesn't see it from Megan's perspective. He doesn't see that she can still see his eyes, see how much his trembling slowly starts to stop, how he's suddenly looking relaxed.)
(She swears up and down his eyes turned crimson.)
He's about to speak, when Megan speaks first.
"I think I should start running at this point, right?" She asks, shaking.
His voice drops to a low growl. The same one from earlier.
"I think you should."
And without warning, Hyper lunges forward and takes a swing.
It hits. But it's not enough to kill.
And he needs to kill.
Finally, all the thoughts, all the urges, everything condenses into this one moment, fuelling his blade, and leaving Hyper in a blind dash for blood like nothing he's ever seen. Megan screams, and tries to fight him off at first, but it's no use. He's a good fighter even without the thirst for slaughter fuelling him, and when the only thing he has on his mind is murder- of course he's going to be hard to avoid.
He's got blood on his weapon and his face, but he doesn't realise it. What he does soon realise is he's calling out her name as he's chasing after her.
"Megan!"
What he doesn't know is whether he's calling out to her so he can kill her, or whether he's pleading with her to get away before he kills her.
It doesn't matter. Nothing else matters other than reaching his target.
Megan wants to call out to him, wants to snap him out of it, but she knows if she tries, she'll die. So instead she runs for her life, sincerely hoping that he doesn't catch up. She's clutching the slash marks on her chest that she already has, from the wound she already got. It doesn't hurt, the adrenaline fuels her.
Tanqr simply watches, following the duo along from within the trees. And using the bow he made earlier, he shoots an arrow towards Megan.
Megan spots it out of the corner of her eye and swerves to miss it, and it lands in the ground beside her. She can't spend much time considering it, though she definitely knows who shot it - she just needs to keep running.
But in the split second she had taken to consider it, Hyper's now hot on her heels, and the space between them is closing in.
As she runs again, she's stopped as she's grabbed and thrown against the ground.
Well, this is it. She should've guessed, the moment that Hyper told her he was the boogeyman, that this was going to happen.
She starts backing away by crawling on the floor, as Hyper raises his sword above his head, ready to slice into hers. Still, she looks up at him one last time, and she pleads.
"Hyper- please don't-!"
He doesn't hear.
He slams his sword down.
<MeganPlays was slain by DylanHyper>
...
...
In Hyper's head, everything is quiet. There's no noise, no light, no red, no screaming. Quiet. Black. Calm.
Hyper inhales and exhales, eyes closed. Finally. Finally, for the first time that day, his thoughts clear, his heart stops beating so loudly, the pain's gone, and he can think straight.
It's done, he thinks. It's finally over.
He's tired, hands still trembling, as his body recovers from the sudden gain and loss of adrenaline. Sinking to the floor, Hyper can finally get some energy back. The sheer euphoria of having a clear head for the first time in what felt like centuries causes him to smile, a bit deliriously.
It's blissful, but only for a second. Now that he has the ability to hear his thoughts again, to be able to put things together, he realises just what he's done.
The thirst only goes away when you spill blood, after all.
His eyes shoot open and all he sees is Megan's blood, and her items spread across the floor.
He just killed his best friend.
Immediately, Hyper starts panicking - again. Hands clasped over his mouth, he sinks to his knees in utter shame and regret.
"No, no no no this can't be real, I didn't- I didn't just do that, did I?"
It's freeing, but terrifying at the same time. Now he can actually rationalise, he's horrified of his actions, of what he became when he finally succumbed - and what happened when he did. He barely even felt human anymore, he just had to kill someone. But now he can look back on that with a clear head, all that fills him is shame.
"Megan...I'm so sorry...I didn't want to, I tried so hard not to, I swear-"
It's then he hears it from behind him.
Slow, congratulatory, mocking clapping, coming from who else but Tanqr.
Whipping around to face him, Hyper looks up at the demon in the tree, who's sitting casually, eating an apple like it's an average day.
"Nice one, Hyper. I'm proud of you. You chose wisely." Tanqr tosses the apple core behind him. "You can really go fast when you're hunting. Didn't know you had it in you."
It's then that his sorrow and regret turn into desperate anger. Hyper's all for blaming himself, of course, if he hadn't been so stupid, so cowardly, than maybe this wouldn't have happened. But Tanqr? He's just been sitting there, laughing at his misery.
Tanqr probably planned it all this way.
And he's pissed.
"...You- you- I hate you. What have you done?!" He gets out, pointing at Tanqr.
Tanqr just tilts his head in mock offence, or maybe that's confusion.
"What did I do? Hyper, I didn't do anything. This was all you. You got yourself into that situation by not taking action earlier. So you had to be the one to take yourself out of it. Simple. I said this already."
Hyper narrows his eyes, and Tanqr just smirks back at him.
"You...you tricked me." He spits out.
"I didn't trick you, Hyper. I helped you. Because you and I know damn well you would've just let yourself drop to red by accident were it not for me."
He hates how Tanqr sounds like some kind of pretentious anime antagonist.
He mainly hates it because Tanqr's right.
"Are you mad at me? Really? This is a death game, Hyper. I get that you're emotional, she was your friend, but you're gonna need to toughen up a little bit."
Of course I'm mad at you, Hyper thinks. He never understood Tanqr's thought processes, and he doubts he ever will.
"You're- you're like a devil on my shoulder! Turning me to the dark side and making me lose everything for what- your own enjoyment?!" Hyper screams again, trying to hide the fact his voice is cracking.
"First of all, I prefer demon. I am a demon, not a devil. Get it right." He really can't tell if Tanqr's being serious. "And sometimes, Hyper, the angels on your shoulder, they don't have your best interest in mind. It's all about being righteous and pious, but it's never about self-preservation. If you want to save yourself, you're going to have to listen to the demon. We're not evil, we just have your best interests in mind."
Tanqr laughs. It's a genuine one, too. That only unnerves and annoys Hyper more.
"Now, I just want to say one final thing. I'm very, very impressed that you did manage to do what you just did, whether it was with my help or not." Tanqr winks. "You're going do great, once you kill enough people."
"...K-Kill?! Are you saying I'm going to have to kill more people? Do I get a choice in this matter? I'm not doing that!" Hyper yells out, to no clear response.
"Hyper, you should really stop talking to me and apologise to Megan. She's waiting, you know."
And Tanqr disappears into the trees, leaving Hyper shocked.
Crud, yeah, he needs to talk to Megan. Quickly pulling out a crafting table, he makes a chest using the last of his spare wood and collects as much of her stuff he can, stuffing it all inside before he starts running to his base. Hopefully she's still there and hasn't up and left, he needs to talk to her, he needs to apologise the best he can-
If any apology right now will be taken.
As he's making a mad dash to where he thinks his base is, trying to find any nearby torches, hoping that no mobs spawn around him whilst the area gets darker, he pulls out his communicator to check coords and glimpses chat.
~~~
<MeganPlays was slain by DylanHyper>
<IamSanna> WHAAAA
<AlbertFlamingo> F
<PinkLeaf> woah, what?
<AlbertFlamingo> Everyone put F in the chat for Megan
<AlbertFlamingo> We did it for Leah guys be respectful
<DenisDaily> F
<Sketch> F
<KreekCraft> F
<Tanqr> F
<LeahAshe> F
<LeahAshe> But also what happened???
<BigBSt4tz2> boogey?
<Sketch> wot
<BigBSt4tz2> did you get boogeyman killed, megan?
<MeganPlays> i got boogeyman killed yeah
<AshleyTheUnicorn> BETRAYAL omg
<KreekCraft> Hyper was the boogeyman???
<KreekCraft> No way bro I thought it was Tanqr
<Tanqr> i told you i wasn't the boogeyman
<KreekCraft> Why were you acting so sus then
<Tanqr> because you have preconceived notions about me
<KreekCraft> Okay but you were still acting sus though
<PinkLeaf> weren't you teamed with Hyper, Megan?
<MeganPlays> yeah
<PinkLeaf> ouch
<IamSanna> OH MY GOD i am SO SORRY GIRL
<DenisDaily> I don't think that will be lasting for much longer
<BigBSt4tz2> that's the effect of the curse, unfortunately :(
<KreekCraft> BigB what the hell are you on about
<BigBSt4tz2> nothing shhhh
<AlbertFlamingo> You make no sense constantly, go off king
<AshleyTheUnicorn> You okay, Megan???
<MeganPlays> As good as i can be
<MeganPlays> i'm still in shock tbh
<IamSanna> Me too and I wasn't even there
<IamSanna> Big hugs <3
<MeganPlays> <3
<KreekCraft> Oi @DylanHyper explain yourself
<DylanHyper> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
<KreekCraft> I
<KreekCraft> I'll give you a minute
~~~
Hyper looks up at the front of his base and runs inside, slamming the door behind him. It causes Megan to jump up from looking through their storage chests. She's got a yellow streak in her hair now instead of pink - in fact, everything green on her went yellow - but that's not the only noticeable difference appearance wise. She's got a black cardigan over her pastel pink shirt now, with the heart patch being on that hood too.
Attitude wide, Hyper can tell she's angry.
He really did screw up.
"Megan-"
"Hi Hyper." Megan looks at him with...a look that Hyper can't describe. Angry, annoyed, but understanding. Hurt.
And once again, Hyper spills out his apologies at the same rate as his heart is beating.
"Megan, I'm so sorry- I am so so sorry, I panicked, and-"
"Hyper..." Megan sighs and walks up to him. "It's...well, what do you wanna hear? Do you want me to forgive you? To not forgive you? To leave? What do you want to hear?"
Hyper pauses. He's not sure, really, what he wants to hear. Really, he wanted to apologise and continue like nothing happened, but he doubts that'll come to fruition.
"...I don't know. Just...say what's on your mind."
Megan purses her lips, before taking a calming breath.
"I..really should not be as mad at you as I am right now, I know why you did it- but I'm angry, and I think you should know that. But...I know why what just happened just happened. And I trust that you really didn't want to kill me." She shakes her head. "But...I already told you this, didn't I? I hate being betrayed, you know that. So...you know. I'm upset."
"...I get that. I do." Finally, something calm came out of his mouth. Took it a while. "I'm so sorry, I- should've killed Tanqr, I shouldn't have taken his deal, but..you know. He's...scary."
"I mean, yeah, I'm scared of him too." Megan weakly laughs. "I don't want to know what would've happened if you betrayed him. He's Tanqr!"
"Y-yeah, he's terrifying, and I fell right into his hands. He played me like a damn fiddle, he wanted me to kill you from the start but I kept refusing until- yeah." Hyper sighs. There's a consequence that's been on his mind, and he might as well give Megan the option to exact it. It's what he deserves, anyway.
"If...you want to leave and join a stronger group, one that won't be pulled apart by something like this because they're not stupid enough to hide it until it's too late- you can. I won't be mad. It's my fault this happened, so...you can leave if you want."
"Hey, you're not stupid! But- uh..." She looks away from him, clearly a little ashamed of what she's going to say. "You know, I was hoping you'd suggest that, cause I did actually plan to head out for a bit, so...good to know you won't be hurt if I do."
(He is hurt, but he gets her reasoning.)
"I'm not gonna join another group, though. I just want some time alone. Kinda hard to be betrayed when you're alone, eh? Yeah, you might have no allies to back you up, but it also means you have no allies to turn on you. I'd prefer that, at the moment. In a game like this, with...the most volatile of Robloxians." Megan feels weird about saying that, but it's true. She thought of Hyper as the most trustworthy of the lot, and if he's able to betray her...the others would without a second thought, she fears.
"...You're gonna go alone? Are you sure you'll be alright? I mean, yeah, I know why you wanna be alone, but...I don't want you getting jumped like Leah did earlier." He asks.
"Eh, you've taught me enough. I'll be fine. And if I need to, I'll just steal some crops from you or hide in your base a bit. You did most of this, so I'll just...try my own hand at it."
"You are totally free to steal from me at any time." That joke does go over well, thankfully, and both Hyper and Megan laugh. "Hell, take half of the resources now to start up. It's getting dark."
"I already did that, yeah. I'm surprised you're taking this so well."
He shrugs.
"Me too."
"..Oh. That means you're not taking it that well, are you?"
"Well I haven't stopped beating myself up since I killed you, so obviously." Ah, black humour. Something he doesn't usually dabble in. As he says that, he pinches himself in the arm, forcing himself to continue with the calm conversation. "But it's okay. You'll be fine, that's all that matters."
Megan feels really really bad about doing this, but if she lets her anger boil, it won't be good for either of them. She really just wants to work on her own, to avoid this happening again. Doesn't stop her from feeling like a bad person for doing so.
"Hyper, I swear I don't blame you. I...I don't know if I'm even mad. But some anger's there, and I want to be alone for a bit to prevent it from festering. Does that make sense?"
He doesn't respond. He just nods.
"Right. Well..on that awkward note, I'll be going. I've packed up most of my stuff, don't worry. So...I'll see you later. Maybe. Probably. I won't be too far away."
"Make sure to get your things from your chest before it gets stolen."
"Will do. I bet Tanqr's already tried to pilfer it."
"Yeah, I wouldn't put it past him."
It doesn't really sink in for Hyper, despite him being the one to suggest it. But it fully sinks in when Megan uses her axe to take down her bed, and it shrinks in size. She shoves it into her inventory.
Walking towards the door, Megan swings it open and looks around. No mobs. Nice. She can do this, she thinks.
As she's halfway out, Hyper asks her - quite desperately - one more question.
"We're allies, right? Like..this won't happen again, kinda allies?" His voice is shaky, like he's needing a positive answer to prevent him from breaking. "You don't hate me, right?"
Megan looks at him for a bit, sorrow in her eyes, before looking away.
"Well, obviously I don't hate you, but, uh, we'll see about the allies bit. Just...stay safe, maybe get some rest. Bye."
And she exits out of their - well, now simply his - base, shutting the door behind her and walking into the night.
He remains staring at the closed door for much too long. He doesn't even know what to say. Who knew that getting rid of the curse that had plagued him the whole day would leave him feeling worse than before?
He's not plagued by bloodlust now, just plagued by regret.
What has he done?
It's then he realises how drowsy he feels, how he can barely keep his eyes open. He let out too much emotion today and now he's tired out. His legs are aching from all the running, his arms aching from the grip he had on his sword, without the adrenaline running through him he's struggling to keep his eyes open.
He walks up to a back window and looks outside. The sun is almost completely out of view, and the dark of the night is taking over.
Hopefully Megan makes it through the night.
Hyper does not do anything else that day. He doesn't even check chat, despite the fact he can hear its pinging, as everyone waits for his response. He simply walks over to the now only bed in his base, and he falls asleep immediately upon hitting the pillow.
~~~
Whilst Megan walks sadly into the distance, Tanqr sits above Hyper's base and smirks.
Really, truly, everything clicked into place for him. All the pieces of the puzzle came together, and he'd managed to engineer a social situation to his advantage.
Maybe this is how Kreek feels whenever he solves a problem like this. It's helpful, sure, but especially difficult. Humans, like most people, are unpredictable. He had no idea Hyper was gonna tell Megan, so he had to improvise. Tanqr is not one to improvise. When he's got a plan, he likes to stick with it - suddenly changing is not his thing.
For once, Tanqr's tendency to scare those around him actually helped him out, as he had - quite frankly - no idea what to do when that happened. He sometimes tries foster that image, but in situations of people, it hinders his progress.
And now, he's got a desolate disaster of a man needing companionship on his hands.
Oh boy, is he really in the thick of it now. Maybe he even regrets it a slight bit, now that he's actually going to (somehow) persuade Hyper to work with him. Maybe he even regrets it, because somewhere, deep down, he feels slightly bad for Hyper. To him, it really could've been anyone this happened to - of course, it had to happen to one of the most nervous of the bunch.
No, he feels bad for Hyper for different reasons. Imagine being so scared that you can't kill one person, even if your own survival depends on it. It was odd how mad Hyper and Megan were at him, wasn't it? Yeah, it cost a life, but it probably saved them both from exiting the game early. So then why were they so angry? He ponders that question for a second, and not in a mocking way.
Maybe he's the bad guy?
Well, if he is, it's not as if he cares. He's getting what he needs to win this game, taking two birds out quickly and getting a step ahead. In a weird way, he was helping them, Megan's going to be more cautious now and since Hyper's had a taste for blood - and with his plans, he hopes to increase that taste - he's going to grow a spine, for sure.
If they see him as a bad guy for that, so be it. He really doesn't care.
(Maybe he cares a little bit.)
Well, he has to get Hyper on his side sooner or later. Or at least, teach him a few skills, get the kills elsewhere and then...strike.
He's lucky. Hyper's one of the few that might take him up on this plan, so it's a good thing he chose him, BigB seems to be skilled enough to fend for himself, Pink would have probably ran away from Tanqr and any problem that faced him, Ashley is too stubborn. Leah and Sanna know to be cautious. Megan, too weak. And Kreek won't let any of his squad consider him as an ally - and they all probably agree.
He doubts it'll be easy, it'll probably be harder than this first section.
But he's already thrown himself into this battle, and he has to work with it now.
(Maybe he'll have to do a...'slowburn' as some of his fans call it.)
(No, that's not- that's not what he means...whatever.)
For tonight though? He'll rest, and deal with this in the morning. He's not much of a sleeper, but if he can get some, he will.
~~~
Pulling her hoodie over her head, Megan tries to push the thoughts of what happened today out of her mind. She doesn't want to think about it, but it's all her brain will let her do. So instead, she's focusing on the now.
(For example, now she looks like a complete emo with her black hoodie. It's almost mocking how she respawned with it.)
She managed to set her new 'base' up well. And by base, she means a little two block high hut on top of the tree where she died, so she can sleep for the night. She'll expand this in the morning, but she's too tired to deal with it now.
Does she really want to be alone? No, not really. But this beats dying to a friend again, so she'll take it. And if she has to go around asking people for help, she will - as much as Hyper left his doors open to her if she needs it, she probably won't be stealing from him.
Not only because she feels bad (because she does, Hyper was a total wreck, let's not make this any harder on him), but she happened to notice Tanqr looking incredibly smug about the duo splitting up, and mumbling something about a 'plan working' when she was leaving.
If that was Tanqr's plan, she will completely stay away. No thank you.
As much as she lays on the bed, despite placing torches everywhere, she cannot sleep, for the monsters roam nearby.
She will deal with them in the morning.
(Well, there is one monster she can deal with right now, she supposes.)
~~~
<MeganPlays> Oh and @Tanqr screw you
<Tanqr> bro i didn't even do anything this is bullying
<MeganPlays> You know exactly what you did
<Tanqr> no i don't
<KreekCraft> YEAHHH GIRL GET HIS ASS
<MeganPlays> Thanks Kreek <3
<Tanqr> you don't even know what happened.
<KreekCraft> Yes but I like to see you suffer
<Tanqr> wow.
~~~
<End of Day 2>
~~~
A/N
And here we have the chapter I like to call "DylanHyper descending into madness for 6000 words".
This chapter is 7000 words, actually, but he's sane for a little bit so it's still accurate. I was planning on releasing this chapter post- RBB S3 finale, but I think it's best to release it now. Stayed up late beta reading, so here we are!
Anyway, WOOO FIRST BOOGEYMAN KILL. More will be explained as to how the curse works later in the fic, but for a little bit of context: Seriously, don't leave it too long. It will not end well for you. Sorry, Hyper, made ya suffer a little. Tried to work in some light hearted bits to relieve ya'll from the serious tone of this chapter (I worry it gets a lil melodramatic at times) so hopefully they work! And hopefully Tanqr doesn't seem too villainous. He gets better, I swear.
You can tell my TMA influence based on the way I wrote Hyper's mental state during this chapter. I found it very interesting to try and write describing a character who was slowly losing it over the course of the chapter. And he won't be the only one <3
That's a wrap on my end for now! We'll see you next episode!
- YanDan