Chapter Text
Elliot’s breathing is quick, holding a hand against xyr bleeding chest, trying to slow the ooze of red that darkens xyr crumpled uniform. Hot, wet tears roll down dirty cheeks as he suppresses a sob, trying to be as quiet as the footsteps of 1x1x1x1 grow louder with each passing second.
The toxin that coats the killer's swords hurts, oh, how badly Elliot wants to scream and kick and fight back, but there's nothing to fight back with, and xe’d already been weakened by the earlier skirmish…
The trees, barren as an evergreen can be, seem too high, too far out of reach, giving no hope of escape. The dark red and black sky circles around xyr head like a flock of buzzards, which, speaking of his head, is starting to spin as he grows just a bit colder, biting back a shiver that threatens to break the trembling calm. Xyr blue eyes dart about the area, getting distracted by the little details, like the scales of bark that string from tree to tree.
“You knew you couldn't hide for long, pathetic.”
Xe jolt back into reality by the twitching, glitching voice of The Adversary hxrself, zipped mouth pulled into a frown, as per usual.
In one clean motion, hx stabs a hole through Elliot, skewering him to the tree. It was deliberate, through the stomach, and just the stomach. He can still breathe, but it hurts. Everything hurts.
The sobs xe’d been suppressing too much to handle now, wracking his body as red-hot pain flashes through his abdomen, circling and swaying as blood mingles with poison, and Elliot tastes copper.
This was it. Xe’s going to die out here, all alone. It’s his fault, after all. Xe had stormed off foolishly, away from the other survivors. Away from safety. Because of something so petty. Because of an argument. But its fair, isn't it? Xe've caused so much distrust, so much harm. He hadn't been meaning too… But prejudice got the better of xem.
At least Elliot’s going to respawn, to come back again, to apologize. That's the one thing he finds comfort in… though maybe xe shouldn't. What if one time he doesn't come back? The last thing he said to anyone… was that xe hated them. Who had Elliot said that too? Why was their face blurry? No, it isn't their face that was blurry, the memory isn't at fault. He is.
Impaled there, in the middle of the forest, bleeding out whilst 1x1x1x1 watches, relishing in xyr pain and suffering…
Elliot feels so helpless. If only xe’d been stronger, faster. If only he hasn't been so weak.
The bloodloss was getting to him, that much obvious… and the poison, venom, whatever it was, blurs xyr vision to the point where he can't see, and the tinnitus… is that tinnitus? It had to be.
The ringing reaches a crescendo, blocking everything but the icy pain.
And everything fades to black.
…
It feels like xe’s floating, his weight nothing in the nothing where Elliot resides, waiting to be respawned. It's not cold, not hot nor warm. It simply is. This is what happens when he's waiting to reform.
Red and black swirl through Elliot's eyes, formless but not.
Elliot.
A voice, none but one and many but some. Familiar. He's heard this voice before. Where? Xe can't think, too hot, suddenly, fires all around that never and will never exist.
I have a proposition, for you, Elliot.
Xe can't respond, having no mouth for a mouth would mean he's alive and living is what Elliot does not do. But he’s listening, xe have no choice. The delay to reanimate… better to get it over with, right?
Power. Power to protect yourself, from those who intend to harm you. Does that interest you, Elliot? Having the ability to fight back?
This does intrigue him… this disembodied voice speaking to a disembodied mind. What power is it even… offering? Xe’re suspicious, though. Whatever power this… thing was offering, it must come with such a steep price.
You’ll never die by one of the killer’s hands, have the strength to stop and the speed to run. You’d like that, wouldn't you, Elliot?
The cost is not steep. Simply, a little part of yourself. One you won't need. That's all I need.
If it means xe can better help the survivors from 1x1x1x1, Noli, John Doe, Slasher… then could it really… hurt? Everything comes with a price, Elliot knows this, but maybe the price was worth it, for power to… protect xemself. And if he could protect xemself, it means xe could protect everyone else.
Is it a deal, then, Elliot? You gain this power, and I get a small fragment of your code.
If Elliot had a body, he would've nodded. If xe had a mouth, xe would've agreed. The disembodied voice understands his meaning, however.
Something changes. A snap, a rubber band being stretched too thin, though sounds aren't possible.
And then he's falling.
The floating sensation, the nothingness that becomes something, drops.
All the light, the breath, the blood, falls away from xem as Elliot descends, though to where he doesn’t know.
Xyr formless body grasping at the red starred sky to stop this agonizingly long fall, this plummet that goes on forever and yet ends all at once, rips xem apart and builds him from scratch, again and again until the pain of xyr very own code being shifted and changed is the same as the pain of falling anticipation. And then Elliot feels no more pain.
Respawning shouldn't be like this. He is respawning, right? What else could this be?...
Was this a mistake?
Maybe it was…
The voice hadn't even stated what the power is.
Had it tricked xem?
But why would it ever do that…?
…
His head lulls backwards, eyes fluttering open and shut as xe wane in and out of consciousness, the faint smell of decay and rot a gentle reminder for where Elliot is…
The soft soil untouched beneath xyr hands, comforting as he shuts xyr eyes, the surroundings too bright, his head still spinning.