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Warning: Some scenes may contain violence and slight blood.

"Meme, I think we have gotten some footage here."

I brought Meme to the RVGI and showed him the computer screen. I placed my fingers on the keyboard and opened up a tab to show a paused video of the recent recording when Muffin was attacked.

The paused recording showed a blurred black slimy humanoid creature striking Muffin with some kind of sluggish substance, pinning the poor lad to the wall.

"What is that thing?"

Meme questioned, staring at the paused recording. I wish I could tell him, tell him what I thought that might be. But it would just be leading more people into danger.

"I don't know mate,"

I lied, sighing to empathise with my words.

"For all I can tell, we're dealing with something phenomenal and no doubt dangerous."

I know I have seen this cheeky fella somewhere... somewhere back in T.E.C.'s files...

I tried recalling my thoughts but I was having a difficult time grasping it.

"We need professional help, c-call the cops or s-some kind of technician."

Meme stuttered, all his confidence long gone earlier.

"Sorry to disappoint you there mate but if we were to let the authorities deal with this situation, not only would there be trouble,"

I turned to face Meme.

"But they would either think we're crazy or arrest the both of us from endangering a child. Or if worse..."

I made a cut motion on my neck.

"Murdered the child."

Meme let out an appalled look.

"But we weren't trying to kill Muffin!!"

"I know mate, but take a moment to think what the authorities may think of this. Would they give us the chance to give them an explanation or reasoning about all of this?"

I waved towards the broken portal.

"Perhaps not but we can't take these chances. We're on our own here."

I told Meme the facts. Calling the authorities was indeed a huge risk that we couldn't take.

"Okay... okay!"

Meme shuddered out a breath and wiped the sweat on his forehead from the stress.

"I got this then, I am the best technician there is and I shall fix this machine and rescue Muffin..."

He grabbed hold of his tool box.

"Easy peasy!"

He spoke to no one in particular, just trying to reassure himself. As Meme started on prying open the machine and fixing whatever was going on, I had other business to attend to the situation.

"Aight, you try your luck there mate."

I said before departing up the staircase to be out of the presence of everyone to call Tenson. Who, had decent access to T.E.C.'s files.

Midway up the steps, I heard a voice as my steps creaked the boards.

"Oh okay I won't-"

The person who spoke was Nadwe who suddenly stopped finishing his sentence. As if on cue, there was a loud thumping and shuffling noise as a cabinet door came to a harsh close. Bam.

"What are you doin' there Nadwe?"

I asked, skeptical as I continued all the way up the stairs.

"Oh, oh! Heey Laff!"

He suddenly whipped around too quickly where one of his top hats twisted in an odd angle.

"I was just uh..."

He trailed off as he slowly darted his eyes towards the kitchen cabinets.

"Just getting some snacks, you know."

He responded matter of factly. Of course I knew there was more to it than that, I could distinguish the strange hasty behavior.

"Nadwe, what were you doin' earlier?"

I started to make my way to the fourteen years old. Nadwe blinked several times before replying.

"I wasn't really doing anything, I'm just so excited to stuff myself with junk food!"

He quickly slid to the dining table and gave a subtle smile.

"I was just thinking what kind of snacks I should eat, that's all."

I sighed. I knew for a fact that Nadwe was definitely hidin' something.

"Nadwe you're not getting your way around this one,"

I gazed at the child.

"What were you actually doing earlier?"

Nadwe rubbed his arm.

"Like I said, getting some snacks."

Just as Nadwe spoke, the cabinet doors swung open and a dark figure stepped out of it.

"It's fine Nadwe, he knows."

And it was none other than Woof himself. His appearance didn't change the last time Blaza and I left him in the car parked outside. He still had that ragged look and the distinctive pair of wolf ears.

"Woolf? What youse doing here?"

I spoke, a bit baffled that he somehow sneaked inside of Meme's house.

"Oh you know..."

Woolf trailed off as he rubbed the back of his neck and stretched

"I just wanted to see what was going on up close."

And simply just shrugged.

"Aren't youse a tad bit worried about..."

I waved at the situation, how Nadwe now knows about Woolf looking like a wolf.

"This?"

Woolf let his arm go limp and sighed.

"Of course I'm worried Laff, but I'm also scared"

He had a concentrated look on his face as he rubbed his eyes once more.

"All this time I've been isolating myself from everyone for weeks Laff, weeks. Do you know how much that can affect a person?"

I slowly nodded. I am aware that humans are social beings so it seems almost outright impossible for a single human to not have any social activities for the rest of their lives. It could drive them insane.

Insane. Was that what I thought of Woolf back in the wretched apartment?

"I'm starting to think that isolating myself isn't helping at all. Actually, I think it's making it worse."

Woolf folded his arms close.

"Ever since I've been stuck in that place, I grew weaker."

He stared up at the ceiling for some moments.

"And... I don't know Laff, if I stayed any longer, I think I would've been lost in my own mind by now."

He shuddered at that thought. Whatever he was thinking, it must've been unpleasant.

"What I'm trying to say is..."

He put his hands together.

"I'm going to give one try to see how it'll turn out with your guy's help."

Woolf finished, slowly tucking both hands into his pockets. Nadwe looked oblivious, he had no context to what Woolf was talking about. But he probably picked up some parts of it right.

"Aight mate, but who do youse think can handle this? Right now there's a crisis in the lower level."

Woolf nodded.

"I know that something happened, I heard everything."

He slowly let out a big yawn.

"By the way, what's the time?"

I looked up at the clock: 9:00 PM.

"Nine o' clock."

Nadwe answered before I did.

"Nine PM."

I added in more detail. Woolf muffled a slight cry on his sleeve.

"I feel like I'm gonna pass out... and I still can't sleep yet. Quick, does anyone have any waking pills or coffee?!"

He tried to make himself sound calm but the edge of his voice was growing urgent. Nadwe gave a questioning look.

"You want to stay up at 3 AM or something?"

I shook my head..

"Not that I know of no."

I replied to Woolf, ignoring the Child's question. Woolf grabbed hold of his hair and gripped on it tightly. His eyes widened back to those same fearful eyes just like in the apartment.

"Okay just stay awake...a little bit longer..."

He mumbled as he curled himself down on the floor, staring up at the clock.

"Wait, what's wrong?"

Nadwe widened and looked between Woolf and I, clearly not happy about the situation here.

"Is this something related to the incident back in the apartment mate?"

I assumed, planning something to prevent Woolf from hurting anyone. Woolf nodded in response.

"If I sleep in the night, something takes hold of me to do terrible things. I can't remember what this thing does but e-every-"

Woolf looked down and sniffed as he tried to steady his voice..

"E..every time when I wake up in the day, I either see wreckage or blood on my hands."

Nadwe was now looking extremely uncomfortable with what Woolf just said.

"Uhm... if this is some sort of prank to scare me, it is not funny."

Nadwe kept himself distanced from Woolf.

"You guys are just kidding around... right?"

The truth could scare Nadwe away to warn the others that Woolf is dangerous. But the lie would make it difficult for Nadwe to trust us. He already knows about Woolf afterall...

Either way, it was a loss.

"Nadwe, there's no need to be afraid but if youse want to start acting like an adult, just keep your word from what I'm about to say"

Nadwe slowly nodded, not sure exactly what I meant. But that would do just fine.

So of course, I gave Nadwe a brief explanation of what he needed to know. I left out the part where Blaza and I were chased by someone and how I gotten Woolf's address.

"That sounds like some creepy stuff."

Nadwe shrugged once I had finished.

"Honestly... I'm not sure what to say, I thought these things happened in made up stories."

Woolf chuckled softly at that.

"And yet here we are."

I stared at the child right in his eyes.

"Nadwe, if you want to prove yourself an adult, you must not tell this to anyone. And if you do,"

I placed a hand on the child's shoulder.

"Be sure that we...no, I will expose everything that you've been hidin' about that Monika."

Nadwe gave a baffled look.

"I wasn't going to tell anyone about this but you didn't have to threaten me like that! Geez."

Now it was Woolf's turn to be confused.

"W-who's Moni-"

"NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS."

Nadwe cut him off and covered his face in embarrassment.

I didn't hold back my bitter laugh.

"Let's just say... it's something that he was trying to impress Meme with."

Nadwe didn't intend for me to find out about Monika. He somehow pulled out an AI's code from a game known as DDLC and tried reprogramming it to the way he wanted. Problem with that was he was reprogramming with a complex AI that already had the sole purpose of trapping its victims in the game.

Therefore, it leaves the technology untrustworthy, dangerous, and foolish.

I knew I should've stopped that madness once I had found out about it but something told me not to. Besides, it will be a long way from now for Nadwe to be educated rightfully to do such complicated things like that anyway.

"Just don't mention it again, please."

Nadwe was clutching his fists, his face flustered. I nodded.

"I apologise Nadwe, I just had to make sure that you would agree."

He accepted the small apology with a sideway glance and Woolf took a hint that this was something that he shouldn't be interfering with.

"Now about Woolf, we're lucky because I got just the right thing that he needs."

Nadwe hurried himself to the loo and brought back two packs of foiled packages containing circular white pills.

"Are those...?"

Woolf started to say uncertainty, staring at the pills.

"Yep, I call these Waking pills since Meme uses them to keep himself awake during work."

He handed the two packs of pills to Woolf.

"I think you're supposed to swallow two each day... I should probably check the labels in the box later."

Woolf mumbled a thanks and gratefully took the two packs and swallowed two pills with difficulty without any liquids to swallow them down.

"Nadwe, how often has Meme been using these pills?"

I asked, concerned if Meme's been trying to work himself out this entire time on that machine. Nadwe looked at me and thought for a moment.

"Hrmmm... I think sometimes...?"

His voice squeaked in response. I shook my head in disappointment.

"So Meme's still at it again,"

My voice was in monotone.

"He's going to exhaust himself to death."

Nadwe didn't seem to be bothered by this despite Meme being his adult guardian.

"What can I say? He's a workaholic, it's not like I can stop him."

"Nadwe, this is serious-"

Nadwe shot me a cold glare before I could even finish.

"You think I haven't tried Laff? I have! Many countless times but he just doesn't even bother listening to me! So what's the point if he does it anyway even with my warnings?"

He suddenly outbursts. I hadn't expected that from him, and I knew I had said something that stirred Nadwe.

"Aight, you're right. There's nothing that we could do. And Woolf, you need to get out of here before more people notice you."

I quickly changed the subject and turned to Woolf.

"Yeah but can't I do something about getting Muffin out of whatever he's trapped in?"

Woolf still looked drowsy. It may take some moments before the medication to kick in.

"Look mate,"

I hunched down to Woolf's level on the ground and whispered.

"Muffin's not the only ones that need to be rescued."

His ears perked up in surprise.

"What do you...mean?"

"I'll explain afterwards when we get out of here. But Socks, Tbh, and Oof are trapped with Muffin in the place we call the SMP."

Woolf tilted his head.

"The what...?"

"Like I said, I'll explain more of this when we get youse to a much safer area. Now come on, let's get back to the car."

He slowly nodded and once again, took some time to stand up due to the physical state that he was in. 

"Hey, what about me?"

Nadwe asked as he finally readjusted his crooked top hats. 

"Youse just stay in Meme's house and tell no one about this."

I answered as Woolf and I headed towards the front door.

"Seriously? That's it? I'm supposed to do nothing and keep my mouth shut?"

The fourteen year old was clearly unsatisfied for his role in this situation.

"That is technically correct. Sorry to disappoint ya,"

I reached my hand and gripped on the door handle and turned it down.

"But there's not much we could all do either."

I told him before leaving the house.

                          -                           -                           -

I have opened in a new set of eyes, the child's eyes. And instantly, extreme exhaustion and slight pain overcame me as I was being dragged on the chilling muddy ground.

I was no longer myself but someone else. And whatever was happening here, was certainly unpleasant.

I could sense something clung to the child's right leg as my line of vision slowly followed the thing that was clung to the child.

It felt wet and slimy. But also cold. The type of cold that makes your face go pale and your head light.

I have felt it before.

It took several moments before the child's line of vision adjusted in the dark as I was continuing to be dragged.

The strange thing that was clung to the child's leg was some large muck that acted as a rope and the one wielding that rope was attached to some individual.

I couldn't quite figure out the correct words to describe this individual.

Their appearance was barely visible since they themselves nearly blended in the dark.

They looked like they were sliding or sludging themselves to walk. Their backs slouched and some sort of liquid dripped down all over themselves.

That's when I have realized:

Could this be Vortex?

Vortex and I used to be decent friends before the breaches started happening. I remember very clearly how T.E.C. hoped for Vortex, or their number label: 096 to try and eliminate me.

Of course that test failed since I have nearly ended up eliminating Vortex instead.

It wasn't intentional of course, I wouldn't have minded if my second life ended right here and there.

But Fate seems to have had better plans for me. It was my acid touch that nearly eliminated that fellow.

That happened way back before all of the restrictions that weakened my power, when it used to be at its full potential.

Vortex was an individual with barely any thought process of their own, their decisions were too hasty and sloppy with the addition of aggressiveness. 

So why, and how was Vortex here with the child? Surely the people would've noticed by now.

And coincidentally, I have also met my objective goal:

Find 096

With no doubt that T.E.C. would be pleased about this. I don't believe that such an organization deserves to exist. But without T.E.C. The world will be filled with unspeakable beings that have the choice to control or destroy .

It's just their judgment that needs to be constructed properly. They cannot tell the difference of every specimen being monsters or innocent. They treat all of us the same way as they treat the hostile ones. And 096 is one of those hostiles.

I must look for an opening or something that I could do to help this child. The back of the child's brain was ringing with pain to the addition of the cold biting through the skin.

I slowly and carefully made sure to not make a single sound as 096 continued to drag.

I sadly cannot count Vortex as my fellow friend anymore.

The place that we were both in was a forest of some sort with tall dark oak trees that blocked the majority of the sky above with its rustling leaves.

Small shrubs and varieties of bushes were laid out everywhere, sticks and pebbles rested on the still ground.

But there was nothing that I could spot to get free from the grasp of 096.

Perhaps there was nothing I would have managed to help. The child was already weakened and injured.

And perhaps, it's another child you must let go.

A brief memory came rushing towards me, but I immediately shoved that aside before I could review it any further.

Now it wasn't the time to get stuck in the past. I just had to look closely and thoroughly at my surroundings, there must be something that I could do.

The wind soon started blowing around the area, creating the effect of the chilly breeze. Yet, 096 still continued to go forward.

I was uncertain how long time has passed already, and without the target that I am looking for, my chances of helping this child will be certainly unsuccessful.

I must look for a light.

I carefully looked around while barely making any movement as I suddenly found four sets of lights: Cyan, red, yellow, and lime staring right down at me. They all flickered and blinked.

I felt my eyes slowly widen. 096 must've noticed the presence of the newcomer as they immediately stared back and growled.

"My, my..."

The figure with the strange lights revealed themselves to be around an adult, wearing some sort of hoodie and a hat. The color I could not identify since that has blended in too well in the dark.

"First thing, I notice someone has been invading my place, and the second thing I notice is another replacement being taken by something disgusting."

The tone of the person was clearly unjoyful about what they encountered. Without a further response, 096 stabbed a liquified blade at their shoulder.

The person did not flinch from the pain as they slowly grabbed hold of the blade pierced through their shoulder and that's when something strange happened,

once grabbing hold of the blade, it glitched into black pixels and disappeared from the shoulder. The shoulder looked just as fine as before, not a single blood has been bled.

Could this be another specimen?

No, it didn't seem likely. If it were, T.EC. would've reported or started a search mission by now or made records of it.

So who could this be?

"You must be thinking who I am from the looks of your face, or whoever you are"

The person glanced down at me and I could clearly see that they had no eye at all except for the lights seemingly serving the purpose of sight.

"Just so you know,"

They easily dodged another attack from 096.

"I have a message to those who's watching us"

Something rectangular and leathery glitched and appeared on their palm as they hastily wrote something in it with an inked quilt.

"Don't think that you can just sit back and watch everyone you ever seen or created entertaining you from boredom and amusement"

A ray of lights circled around 096 and surrounded them. 096 shrieked from the lights, steams were starting to sizzle on their shoulders from the burns.

"Once I know where you're all hiding in the real world, be sure that you're sorry."

The lights closed in around 096 as they slowly disintegrated and their screams became fainter and fainter till it was all silent.

I couldn't quite comprehend what I have just witnessed. And not to forget to mention the fact that the person's strange sayings confuses me.

But the child is safe from the first threat.

The child's leg was freed from 096.

"And you"

The person turned towards me, the child, and grabbed hold of the arm and started to drag me away from the puddle of black goo.

Oh no I would not let this stranger take the child.

I glanced down and placed my foot in front of the stranger in an attempt to trip them. And luckily, they did.

"Oof-"

They crashed onto the ground, dragging me along. But at the same time, their grip loosened. I took this chance to break free from the hands of the stranger and started running, or more or so limping farther away from this kidnapper.

I really hoped that this was someone we could trust, but I believe I was wrong.

"Oh so you want to do this the hard way? Fine by me."

Their appearance glitched for a moment before teleporting right in front of me, their left arm stretched out to grab the child.

I scrambled back and grunted in the pain that was being inflicted from the sudden movement.

I have barely dodged that one.

"Oh come on great storyteller, don't you want to stop something that's not supposed to happen?"

They smiled and started laughing.

"Come out now if you know what's good for your playthings."

Strange, there's no one else here, so who could they possibly be talking to?

I crawled behind a bush as quietly as possible and made my way away from the enemy. 

"Who am I kidding, I'm talking too much, I'll just get to the point."

The kidnapper glitched behind the bush that I crawled myself to and raised a knife in the air.

"Goodbye useless piece of creation."

As the knife was struck down, a black gooey figure formed quickly in front of the knife, absorbing it. And that gooey figure was none other than 096.

"M..."

Their voice rasped.

"My...p-prey."

Miraculously, 096 has somehow survived from that attack. In this case, it was a good thing because they can stall some time for me to bring the child to safety, even though it wasn't their intention to.

"I see, I see..."

The kidnapper started laughing, chuckling to themselves.

"You're not giving up are you?"

The rectangular object, now that I can identify that it was a journal of some sort appeared once again in their hands.

"If you wanna fight, let's do that and get it over with shall we?"

The kidnapper has written something again on their journal, but midway through their writing, they were interrupted by 096 who struck them and started to claw their face.

They were willing to pause and write something in the journal...

From my observation, that journal seemed valuable enough for them to stop and write something on it.

Could the journal be the reason that the kidnapper is able to combat?

I decided to take that chance. And the condition that the child was in, I doubt that I would've been able to outrun through the kidnapper's teleporting abilities anyways.

The kidnapper, now I have noticed, had a mechanical robotic left arm. They used that arm to jab into 096's eyes who shrieked in pain as black and gray mixtures started bleeding through their eyes.

"Now we're even."

They couldn't seem to stop smiling as 096 screamed and liquid continued to pour out of their eyes. The kidnapper briefly wrote something on their journal that seemed to heal the scratches from their face.

I limply staggered and tried snatching the journal out of their possession. But they quickly snapped the book shut and stood up to get out of my range of reach.

"You're pretty quiet for a talkative kid."

The kidnapper spoke as they finished writing another thing on the journal.

"And that makes you the perfect replacement for him."

They ripped out the piece of paper from the journal which soon turned to white dust. At that moment, nothing happened for a while. The kidnapper's smile turned to a frown as if in disappointment.

"Huh, that's weird it was supposed to wor-"

A flash of neon blue light appeared out of the blue and shot towards the journal and knocked it out of the kidnapper's hands. The expression of the kidnapper looked surprised, and I must admit, so was I.

The blue beam shot itself towards the kidnapper again before suddenly being propelled back by some glitching substance from the kidnapper and faded away.

I was not planning to waste anymore time standing around so I ran and took the journal that laid on the ground.

I examined the journal for a brief second to see a huge gaping hole with some of the blue light still glimmering around the gap.

The journal has been damaged.

The kidnapper had their hands clutched onto their chest, blood that was glitching were slowly trickling out of the corners of their mouth.

"Haha..."

Then they started to smile once again.

"They're real... they're real..."

Their four set of colorful light eyes started to flicker in and out repetitively. I took a step back and took an attempt to destroy the journal by ripping the pages in half.

However, just as I was about to pry open the journal, it glitched out of my hands and went back to the kidnapper's possession.

"You did good"

They wiped some of their strange blood off of their face.

"I think I'll wait till I can torment you again. This creator seems to really care about you."

A white glowing screen appeared behind them as they slowly moved backwards.

"You know, you and I can work together someday. I have a good feeling that we'll make a great team."

Their physical appearance was glitching more rapidly between pixels and their regular form.

"Till then, I hope to see you soon..."

Then they stepped inside of the portal and the screen closed itself. There was nothing left from them except several shredded pieces of paper.

Instead of processing what happened, I stood up to see that 096 was no longer in their spot, there was a trail of black goo that led further into the woods.

It seems like they have retreated.

The child was away from the main threats for now, but I could feel that my time was running out. There was this steady growing pain piercing in my mind, not the child's mind, but my own.

I hid myself behind a bush in the hope to prevent the child from being spotted. So once the child wakes up (which he will very soon), he will have a small chance to take some time to recollect and hopefully survive without my assistance.

Another shot of pain pierced through my mind as I sat myself down. I was starting to feel an overwhelming mixture of exhaustion and nausea.

Back where my physical body was, I have started feeling that hot liquid starting to pour and eat through from my skin.

I apologize for not being able to do more than this Muffin.

I thought to myself, knowing that he won't receive the message.

For now, I could only hope that he will manage and take my leave.  As I settled myself down, I closed my eyes to return into the black abyss.

                                    -                              -                           -

An emergency alarm went off in my chamber and instantly, I unpleasantly puked out a handful of white liquid from my mouth. Blood.

I could not think straight, or see straight. My vision was all disoriented, all I could see were white and red blurs.

I noticed that I was crumbled to the floor as I shakily tried to stand up. At my attempt, there was an overwhelming wave of pain and exhaustion that I was receiving from my recent activity.

I have over done it once again. How ironic.

It was becoming difficult to breathe as I struggled to sit myself up.

If this is my end, at least no one else would gain any trouble from me.

I wanted to chuckle at that but I couldn't. My insides were burning as I felt my own self being melted down. Each flesh and skin being torn down and peeling from my bones, soon to be in a puddle of liquid, acid.

The burning agony was eating my own life away.

It was a slow process, but this was my punishment for my usage of power. I closed my eyes and tried to count to distract my mind from all of this displeasurable pain that I wish I could ignore or distinguish.

Because in the end, I will know that this will be sometime over soon.

All I had to do was wait for it to pass.

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Words 4977

I could not do any art today so to be a little more productive, I have decided to come back to this and finish at least one chapter.
I appreciate the ones who still reads this story.

Now, be ready for this story to be inactive for several more weeks or months, see you all later.