[note: topics such as murder, torture murder, suicide, cannibalism, starvation, hallucinations, kidnapping and delusions are described in detail.]

---

In Forsaken, or whatever that realm was called, rounds were something everyone was used to. But so were the places they got chased. The same houses, the same fences, the same lakes, the same walls, the same cliffs, the same grass...

...And the same killers. The same set of people out for their skin, that would snap sinew, scar tissue, tear through insides, weapon or not - and eventually, everyone also got used to their attacks.

For now, there were only four. John Doe, 1x1x1x1, Jason, and C00lkidd.

At least the other three were adults, but C00lkidd was just that. A kid. A kid, who effortlessly charged quickly forward several metres, whose 'tags' knocked the wind (and some teeth, if you're unlucky) out of you, who could summon pizza guys who, instead of helping like Elliot would, instead set you aflame, who had the strength and precision to throw bricks right into the air at you without breaking a sweat.

Everyone knew that. Those attack patterns never changed. They were never questioned, either. It's not like there was a point in doing so, because if you did, he would just end you. Simple as that.

But...

The Spectre must've gotten bored of that eventually, or felt merciful for once, because one time, on planet Voss, something... Interesting happened.

It had a regular start, of course. Everyone in the round was Chance, Shedletsky, Guest 1337, Two Time, Elliot, Noob, 007n7 and Taph.

And they all did exactly what they would at the start of a round. Coin flipping, setting up subspace tripmines, doing generators, making sure they weren't anywhere near the killer.

And inevitably, someone got into chase, and that someone was Noob. They were doing their best to dodge that round's killer, C00lkidd, and they were doing a great job at it. So far, they hadn't gotten hit once, and C00lkidd kept ramming into walls at especially sharp turns, which allowed Noob to catch their breath whenever their stamina ran too low. But eventually, C00lkidd landed a hit, and Noob must've been bracing for the impact too well, because-

-It didn't hurt. It felt just like the light push or bap from someone playing tag.

Even weirder, just like usual, he exclaimed,

"Tag! You're it!~"

But as if playing an actual game of tag, he bolted in the opposite direction. Which, once Noob realised, rightfully confused them.

Either way, they weren't going to turn down an opportunity to get away from the killer handed to them. That's what they thought at least, but C00lkidd wasn't giving up that easily. He used walkspeed override to get back towards Noob, but again, didn't seem to have any intent to harm. This time when he called out, he sounded irritated.

"Hey! Don't you know how to play tag?" He would've crashed into Noob were it not for them side-stepping. His demeanour changed to a happier one again. "I'll teach you! If I'm 'it', I tag you! And if I tag you, YOU'RE 'it'! And you gotta tag me, or- or someone else, if you're it! Got it? Starting over, I'm it! I'll give you a five second head start."

Noob probably shouldn't have listened to that little spiel of his, but at that point it was just more interesting than running and dying again. When would the next time be that C00lkidd would attempt to teach them tag? Did he do this to the other survivors at one point...? Either way, earlier they thought they should walk away, but maybe now they should run.

And they did exactly that.

And those all-too-familiar footsteps followed after, soon tagging him.

And it STILL felt like a tag. Seriously, what is happening?

"-Come on, why aren't you chasing me? It's not fun if I'm the only one playing!" C00lkidd wailed.

Noob was absolutely not risking his life by playing tag with a being capable of snapping full grown adults' necks with one hand.

"U-uhm... Well..."

Think Noob, think. He wants to play something. How about a game without physical contact? Then he can't hurt anyone, and Noob can alert everyone else as to what in the world is going on with him.

"-Oh right! The- the others are actually playing hide and seek. I was s-supposed to be seeking, but you can help me."

They really hoped the stuttering didn't give away how nervous they were.

C00lkidd's eyes lit up at that, and he started giggling.

"Hehehe, okay, okay! Who are we looking for?"

"You'll find out when y- we find them!"

"Okay, okay!"

C00lkidd immediately got off the running around and checking every corner around for survivors, with Noob following to see if he did find anyone. And he did, of course. In fact, he found two people - namely, Shedletsky and Taph.

"FOUND YOU! Haha-"

Shedletsky drew his sword before Noob could say anything, and when C00lkidd was struck, he immediately started crying. Which was... A sight. Noob stopped the two from leaving to explain.

"He didn't- he tried to hit me but it wasn't... An attack. I think something happened to him or something."

"Well uh... I don't think I've ever seen him just crying, so that's a fair assumption...?"

"🔴❌🗡️?"

"I-" Noob got out, before getting interrupted by C00lkidd.

"I'M TeLLING DAD!"

"...Sure you are."

"-He tried to teach me uh, how to play tag. You think we should let everyone else know what's happening...?"

"✅."

"More importantly, how do we uh... Get him over?"

"I-I don't know... Maybe we could get everyone else to come here...?"

"That works, if anyone believes us. Who stays with him?"

"❌👆. 🫵"

"Do you mind, Shedletsky...?"

"Eh, hopefully I can get him to quit crying, since I did hit him."

"O-okay."

So Taph and Noob went around getting everyone to see what was happening.

First Two Time was found, who stated that such a thing could only be a blessing from The Spawn.

Then Chance was found, who seemed skeptical at first, but then said, "I've gotta see this."

Then Elliot, who reluctantly followed because he hadn't seen C00lkidd all round.

Guest 1337 was ready to take him on if he suddenly decided to attack anyway, so he had no problems.

007n7 just said he didn't like those kinds of jokes. And then proceeded to follow in silence.

Which led to... Whatever this was. C00lkidd, except acting like an actual child, alongside eight survivors, who were all very confused by the situation. He watched them come in one by one, and had stopped crying by the time Elliot had come in, just sitting down. And just like he said, he did indeed complain to 007n7 about Shedletsky hitting him with his sword, which he quite frankly had no clue how to respond to but patting him on the head and trying to assure him that he's okay now.

It was certainly a sight to behold.

"So," Chance spoke up, "Kiddo. What do you think you're here to do? Remember anything?"

He looked up at Chance, a bit confused.

"Well I dunno! I just started being here, wherever this is! I remember dad of course, and Elliot. Who are the rest of you guys?"

"People," Guest 1337 responded. Though it was technically true, it didn't answer the question. C00lkidd didn't really care though, he was more focused on 007n7.

"This mercy must be divine recognition; I am grateful for The Spawn's blessings, it providing a quite welcome break."

"Haha, you talk funny!"

"I speak only with utmost reverance."

"-And eloquance," Noob added.

Elliot was sitting down as well, resting while he could.

"You don't remember, ahem... Anything else about being here?"

"Mm, other than some memories of playing tag with you guys, nope!"

"...Nothing else?"

Shedletsky sipped a bloxy cola he spotted on the floor earlier.

"No!"

Chance adjusted his fedora, trying to figure out what else to ask him.

"You said you remember your dad, what about your mum?"

"Oh I never had one."

He didn't sound upset when he said that, just answering the question asked.

"...Anyone noticing how the round's been going on for a little bit longer than usual?"

Elliot asked, getting up and crossing his arms.

There was no timer. It had happened a couple times before, but those times the round just abruptly ended without the ticking of a clock; time was still passing, they just weren't given the courtesy of knowing exactly how many minutes or seconds were left before their minute break at the cabin.

This time, though, it had been well over the usual threshold for how long a round could last, and since no one had died (yet), it should've been even shorter.

But it wasn't.

Which was, of course, a cause for concern, at least for everyone but C00lkidd. Maybe something else was going to pop out of nowhere to get them, maybe they were going to be forced to starve and try to survive here...

Of course, there was no way of telling just now. For the time being, it was just nine people in one of the planet Voss room-like roofless boxes, savouring the break provided.

"Well, yes, but, how long will it be until this happens again, if it ever does? At least we're not being killed right now..."

007n7 hoped he didn't sound biased when he said that. He did miss C00lkidd, he didn't want him to be taken away again to be deluded by The Spectre to think that the killing games were just a game of tag.

"Besides, I doubt it'll take that long. I bet that in an hour or so, we'll be right back in the cabin, before getting mass infected or something," Chance flipped a coin, as if trying to guess whether his guess was right.

"Yeah, probably."

...

None of them could've guessed how wrong they were when they thought that.

None of the maps, save for Yorrick's resting place and maybe the C00l carnival, had nice and warm shelter in case of rain or harsh winds. Luckily, it never did seem to rain, but it was often cold. Fortunately, everyone had appropriate clothing for wind (except C00lkidd, but it was a debate in of itself what he was), so it rarely hindered anyone.

Food was a different story. There was never anything to eat, unless you counted the grass, and the food that the survivors brought with them - like Elliot, Noob and Shedletsky. Even then, they only brought enough for what they thought would be needed per round, which wasn't much.

It had been well over a couple hours now, and several of the survivors, namely Guest 1337, Chance, Shedletsky and Taph decided to look around to see if there was any way to escape the cliffs surrounding them, and the rest, Two Time, Elliot, 007n7 and Noob started planning for what they would do if they had to stay there for LONG periods of time.

Elliot, of course, mentioned he had tons of pizza to spare, but then drinking was a problem. The acid lakes in Yorrick's resting place could've been a good spot to drink, but it would've made everyone sick, and they weren't there anyway.

Noob had a bunch of bloxy colas to sort of remedy that, and there were a bunch around the map as well, but they were limited. Together, it was only five bloxy colas, and if everyone only drank a quarter of one a day, it would only last them two days.

But they couldn't be stuck on planet Voss for that long, right?

...Right?

Only time can tell.