-Ryzo POV-

"Wait- again? What other hybri-"

I couldn't even finish my sentence because Browlvic decided he did want to fight. He jumped at me, which ended up becoming a tentacle clash. I knew I'd lose if we kept doing this. I'd assumed he meant to tackle me to the ground, which fueled his anger even more. In the middle of doing this, I signed to the others to run out the back door, which was the opposite of where the two of us were. It led to the clearing behind the base, which was surrounded by forest. They might as well have been forced over to the wall like minions taking orders from their master, and surprisingly, Tbh caught on to my hand signs. He told everyone to run out into the forest, the one place where they could be safe instead of being locked in this deadly labyrinth of a base.

The last person, Dino, rushed out the door and off the deck, and as he left, slammed the door shut. Now, the two of us were stuck in here like wolves fighting for the last scrap of meat in a zoo cage. Well, Browlvic was anyway.

"WHY HELP HUMAN?!"

"BECAUSE I HAVE FEELINGS, BROWLVIC.."

"WHAT FEELING?"

"PITY AND REMORSE!!"

"...what..?"

We stared at each other dead in the eyes, trying to compute which way to go with the conversation. Browlvic had let up his strength, standing only about a foot away, about an inch taller than me, tentacles steady but ready to kill. Slightly staring down at me with a confused expression, he simply asked with his kill-all mindset—

"Why remorse, pity?"

—along with which he had nearly lost the entire ability to talk correctly and clearly.

"Because.. I don't think that what you're doing is right,"

"..."

"You've held on to something that happened 800 plus years ago-"

He cut me off, annoyance clear in his voice.

"807 year,"

"Whatever. Ever since I killed Woolf I've had this weight on my shoulders. It's like an elephant stomping on my- Laff's guts everytime I see Nadwe because of that. I want to help them and get to know them. I don't want to hurt people,"

He was staring at me, dumbfounded with what I was saying. He didn't even look mad, just shocked.

"Even if that means sacrificing my life, or even yours- I want to protect them,"

I watched as his face, which originally expressed surprise, became and expressed rage.

"No matter what."

"You.. what??"

"I don't care what you say. I'm doing what I want. So if you continue to do this, I don't know if that's gonna work out there, chief."

"Reminding me of friend,"

He then switched gears, and in a clear, deadly, venomous voice, he said,

"A person whom I want to stay dead."
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-Muffin POV-

"Soooo where are we again?"

"Yeah, how much further do we have to go?"

"Would you guys calm down for a sec' and let me think?"

The two of us both responded,

"Ok.. sorry."

We were practically stranded in the middle of the forest from what I could tell. Woolf was just getting aggravated from me and Meme being.. us. Sure, the woods were a beautiful place, but that doesn't replace the fact that we need to uncover a cave with some magical remedy inside.

I waited a few minutes before I started getting antsy. Just to annoy Woolf a bit more, I asked blankly,

"Mr. Woolf, may I fly around a bit? Or will you blow some houses down if I do."

Woolf shot me a glare, but gathered his attention back to the map. He sighed,

"Sure- just don't get lost."

"You're acting like a parent but okay."

I flew off and overheard Meme bring up the point that 'it could be an outdated map'. He was right. It could be outdated. We could be flying in circles. There might not be a real way to get rid of Gulvic and Ryzo. I dismissed these thoughts and flew through the pine and oak. The autumn air felt weightless and thin, and it didn't feel chilly at all, which was a relief. I got cold easily.

I then started flying on my back. It was as if I were floating in a pool. I suddenly got a stinging feeling in my bite-mark. This phenomenon has happened before, just dulled down. Now it felt like I had died twice. I ignored it.

And ignored it.

And ignored it.

The further I flew, the stronger it got. It eventually got to the point it was unbearable. I was almost certain that ghosts couldn't feel pain, but this changed my mind immediately. I flew down onto a nearby hill, and sat down. The headache was like I had caught the flu, gotten drilled through the head with a screwdriver, and got concussed all at once. My arms also became sore, especially in the shoulder area where they were ripped from the base. I became aware of my whole body, and that included the fact I was actually sitting down on physical grass.

Something was different.

I flew down to the base of the hill, and looked around. Leaves littered the ground like paper that was victim to a toddler who used too much glitter. Trees surrounded me like a jail cell. I stared forward, my mouth hanging open like a loose hinge. I floated there for a minute, stunned by the sight. A hand grasped my detached shoulder, and Meme questioned in awe, staring forward like me,

"What did you find..?"

Woolf then chimed in,

"I think we've arrived at our destination."

I remarked,

"I guess the GPS is finally working.. huh?"
________________________________
-Ryzo POV-

"You seriously need to calm down."

"I AM PERFECTLY CALM!!"

"Then why are you holding me at tentacle-point?"

I was cornered in the upper left corner of the room, a tentacle ready to stab through my neck, and had nothing else to do but fight back. We both had gotten bruised and cut from the past ten minutes. The left half of Laff's mask was slathered in black, and Socks' visor was painted black, shielding their eyes.

I didn't want to hurt Socks, but either way it was going to be done someday. I winded up my fist, and punched Browlvic right in the chest, hitting his solar plexus. This effectively knocked the wind out of him, or at the very least caught him off guard. It didn't help that that was where the structures of the chest mouth were either.

Browlvic let up his tentacles, allowing me to slip right past and put him into a choke-hold with my arm. He was already having a bit of trouble breathing because of my punch, so this made him even more paranoid. I didn't tighten my arm around his neck too much, but it was enough to make him think rationally once again. He started coughing black, gasped, and spluttered out,

"Okay, okay! I'm calm now! Now please, don't choke me to death!"

I reluctantly let him go, waiting for some kind of attack back. He instead grasped his neck, taking deep breaths and making sure his head was okay. I had scratched his left wrist, which was bleeding black more than it should've been. He winced as it touched his head, scowling as he faced towards me. His pupils had returned to the normal, glowing-red slits. We jinxed,

"I wasn't expecting that kind of reaction from you-"

We stared at each other, and jinxed once again,

"What do you mean?! You were trying to kill me!"

Gulvic unsynced first, saying,

"Be lucky that I didn't."

"I'll take that with pride."

He swiftly turned around to leave, and as he did he flicked a chipped-off piece of Laff's mask back at me. I caught it, and it was soaked in black, which could've been blood or tentacle fluid. I glanced back up, and the orange astronaut was nowhere in sight. I surveyed the room, taking note of everything that had been affected by our affliction.

A vase that held a plant had been knocked over, and the couch was stained with black and scratched up. There were a few black streaks and handprints along the left wall as well, similar to how the hallway looked. I walked over to the white and forest green, ornate vase. I set it right-side-up once again, rubbing off the black it had been sprayed with. I heard the door open once again, and I turned around to see Tbh and Blaza cautiously surveying the room. I reassured them,

"He stormed off, you're fine."

Tbh then asked me,

"Are you sure? And woah, what happened to the wall again?"

"Tentacles and black sludge.. again. And, I'm positive."

Blaza, after getting my responses, jogged back over to the door and exclaimed that it was safe to come back in. Dino, Oompa and Nadwe then followed, coming back into the room next to the stairs.
____________________
-Sub. Socks POV-

I slowly opened my eyes again, and was being gently poked on my right upper arm by something sharp. I glanced out of the corner of my eye, seeing a black tentacle that was dripping with a black, inky substance. I only darted my eyes a bit further to see a clone of me with black eyes and red slits for pupils, smiling back at me. Gulvic deadpanned,

"I guess you're awake now, huh?"

Keeping my composure, I snapped at him,

"Are you insane?! You knock me out and expect me not to say anything?"

He agreed and retorted,

"Yeah, actually. I guess I was wrong though. So upsetting."

"You were seriously about to kill your own teammate over a good decision he made?"

"Well, I have a bit of a temper-"

Sarcastically, I added,

"Oh, of course. Nothing that big of a deal. Killing four innocent people wouldn't be that bad."

Smugly, noticing my annoyed tone, he replied,

"Exactly! Honestly, we could be related. We think so alike!"

I finally accepted defeat and let out a groan of frustration.
__________________
-Socks POV-
I gained control of my body as soon as I walked in my room and shut the door. I flopped on my bed, spreading my arms out, not caring if I messed up the covers. I sat myself up in the middle of it, I checked the time, and it was around two-forty-three on September 25, 2021. I just repeated what I had done two days before.

I have to keep control. I'll snatch it away.

Don't let them down. Too late, you already have.

I'm sorry, Muffin. Why are you apologizing?

I'm sorry, Meme. He deserved it.

Find the silver lining! There is none.

I really am going insane, aren't I? Doing the same things every single day, needing to watch every action we do like a hawk, and stressing about things we shouldn't have to even think about. I am getting sick and tired of all of it. Half the time I forget who I am and sometimes I'm not even me.

Wait.. who am I?

What is my name?

How old am I?

Isn't my name Socks..? SocksFor1? SocksFor2?

My life suddenly felt empty. It felt dark, like an endless, inky, black void that there was no point to.

If I don't even know who I am.. am I even a person anymore?

I felt corrupted. A hollow shell of something I didn't even know anymore. As I took my visor off, my life suddenly sprang with bright colors again. I reminded myself,

"I am Socks Athore. SocksFor1."

Warm memories of my father filled my brain as I stared into the half-orange, half-black helmet. Passed down to me when I was about eleven years old, I painted the see-through plastic a bright orange and wore the visor like headphones. That then reminded me of when Blaza, Meme, and I would explore the forest together when we were young. In middle and highschool, we met Laff, Tbh, Woolf, Oompa, and Ally. Then everything fell in place. It was perfect. My thoughts were once again inter-

"You know I can see everything you're thinking, right?"

"I didn't need to know that."

"Could you go back to not remembering who you are?"

"No, I won't."

Gulvic asked, not actually caring but out of curiosity,

"Who even is Ally?"

I deadpanned,

"Someone I know, obviously."

"Well, no duh. How long has it been since you've seen her?"

"I don't know, maybe about two years? Ever since highschool I guess-"

I paused, but added on,

"I actually haven't seen Joocie, TBVG, Ally, or Oof since highschool. Maybe once we get rid of you they can visit."

The demon in my head responded, annoyed,

"Good for you. Thing is you aren't getting rid of me anytime soon."

"Yeah. Like I couldn't tell already."
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-Dino POV-
I'm stressed out. I know that was obvious already but it's worse now. The night passed again with no fatalities, which was a relief. Dragging my tail behind me and trying to control the shaking in my legs, I got up from the couch in the room next to the stairs. I walked down the hall, passing Blaza as he walked to where I had been before.

I approached Tbh's door, which was right across from Socks', and slowly opened it. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring into the aquarium that belonged to his Axolotl, Hershey. The tank had a bed of pebbles and sand at the bottom, with little decorations and fake seaweed to decorate it. The tank was big enough to submerge two heads, so she had plenty of room to swim around. I asked in a gentle, quiet voice,

"Tb?"

He snapped out of the trance and glanced up at me, giving me a warm smile and a relaxed atmosphere.

"Yes?"

"Does Socks even know they're coming in two days?"

His smile slightly faded as he drew his attention back to the aquarium. Hershey stared back, her golden and brown scales shimmering in the light of the ceiling fan. Tbh stayed quiet for a moment, before answering,

"No. You know how that could end. He hears and sees everything Socks does."

"So it's like a surprise..?"

"I.. guess you could say that."
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TAKE IT HECK YEA
2354 words including author's note :)
Also, yes. Tbh has a pet Axolotl. Once I rewrite chapter 9, Hershey will be mentioned. Anyways ima try to get 26 out quickly-