// TW \\

VOMIT, DYSMORPHIA, SUICIDAL THOUGHTS.

———

Taco yelped as her foot gave out to the harsh climate of frigid temperatures of icy winds in the skies above snowy mountains and tundras. She tried to stop herself from being tossed around by the wind and gravity of the world below. That's when the pain started.

The withered wings on her back drastically grew in size, and a second pair soon followed. They burst from her back with a crackle. Blood and black ooze splattered into the cold air of the mountains. Taco let out a scream as blood poured from her mouth and eyes. The backs of her hand began to move, the skin split, and opened. She watched in horror as blood and nerves slowly moved and made way for the eyes that were now embedded in the bone of her hand. Her eyes sparked a brighter red, and markings sizzled into her skin and shell. The lettuce grew out, which didn't hurt, but it was disorienting. Her head felt like it was splitting in two—until horns pierced her forehead, and shot out of her skull.

She screamed louder as her body changed involuntarily. The black ooze like substance that Echo had engraved crept in further, seeing weakness.

Finally Taco hit the ground, bouncing off the side of a mountain, and tumbling down. She finally slid against the ground with a pained groan. Blood and black ooze seeped into the snow beneath her.

She winced as her body regenerated itself. She coughed and sputtered up more blood and ooze, trying her best to ground herself. She stumbled up from the ground and grabbed onto a rock that was nearby to steady herself.

She glanced around at the surrounding area. Where was she...? Her head spiralled and something forced worry and anxiety into her very being. She recoiled and gripped the cold stone tighter. Shaking slightly from the pain.

Her childish self had to be locked away for now. She grumbled and searched in her shell. Everything was still inside it, thank god... She blew on the lettuce that covered her face to try and get it out of her eye— but that didn't work. She groaned with an annoyed expression.

Once again she observed her surroundings. It was nothing but mountains and snow for miles. Panic wanted to seep into her mind, but she shook her head and sighed. Taco then picked a random direction and began to walk. Hoping to find civilization— or someone else for that matter.

The sky overhead poured and piled snow down on top of her as she trudged through knee deep snow. She winced at the feeling of her bloody wings dragging behind her, but the cold snow felt nice on her burns— for now anyway. She knew if she didn't find shelter the cold would begin to eat away at her. She knew what that felt like.

The further she went, the more her joints began to lock up from the cold. She tried to combat that by exerting herself, but she was getting exhausted. Taco let out a worried whine and opened her mouth to shout. "MIC?!" She screamed, hoping for a response. "PICKLE?! KNIFE?!" She shouted again, stumbling mindlessly through the snow. "ANYONE...?!" She coughed and doubled over, her throat spewing more blood and ooze. She wheezed and wiped her lips clean of the blood and black liquid. Tears filled her eyes...

She felt like giving up... just... lying down and resting for a while... Maybe she'd just die? And she wouldn't have to deal with all of this anymore...

She hit herself in the face harshly. "NO! FUCK! PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!" She cried, grinding her teeth together. "You can't just... Give up..." She groaned, pulling herself up and continuing on.

The sound of snow packing beneath her feet teased her, as her feet began to sting from the snow.

"Where the hell even am I?! The North Pole? Maybe south...? No- no... That's not—..." her eyes landed on what looked like an elk. She froze. Its antlers were made of some sort of ice crystal near the top. "What the hell is...that..." she muttered, taking a step forward.

The animal's head whipped towards her, and bolted away down the snowy field into a forest.

Taco watched the beast disappear into the snowy woods ahead. She
Looked around for anything else of similar nature... Nothing was around. She narrowed her eyes and sped up towards the forest. She tried to ignore the pain from her wings and just continued with determination and resilience.

She crept through the the bushes trying to find that creature again... take a better look at it... Or perhaps find a food source. The leaves of trees and pines collected snow overhead, only the occasional snowflake or two slipped in between the leaves. The snow was much shallower here allowing easier movement. She stained the snow beneath her with blood and ooze, but she didn't really care at this point.

At least she had control over herself.

Taco's eyes scanned the forest— until... she found the animal from before. She leaned against the tree, getting a good look at it. It's white fur and beautiful antlers finally reaching her retinas once again.

Its black eyes landed on hers. Her stillness keeping the beast still and stopped it from fleeing.

Taco stared back. Thinking about why she even followed this thing? Maybe to grasp the fact that she wasn't in her reality anymore? Or maybe because—...

She felt her stomach rumble. And she slowly clutched it.

She had been starving.

Her feet were frozen, in a literal and figurative sense. As she stood having a staring contest with the creature before her. She was so hungry...

Something in the back of her mind clicked, her hand clenched and a spike of shadow from the ground emerged and stabbed through the beast before her. Taco flinched as she watched the life leave its eyes. She stumbled back, not fully processing what happened. The blood dripping from her mouth was quickly wiped away as she eased up.

"Did I... Just..." she narrowed her eyes, and looked around as if she'd get in trouble for what she was about to do.

Taco quickly made a fire, and turned to the corpse of the animal shed never seen. Her legs slowly stepped towards it, and she crouched down in front of the thing. She glanced down at her own hands and sighed, feeling her hunger, she hadn't eaten in two days. Her hands reached down into where she had pierced the animal, and she ripped its flesh apart as if peaking an orange. She tore meat from the creature and pierced it on a stick to roast over the fire. Blood soaked her hand and stung the eyes that were embedded inside them. She ripped past intestines to grab as much meat as she could from the hole she had made.

After she wiped the blood from her hand on her sides and turned to the fire, setting up her meal. The snow once beneath the fire now just wet pine needles. Taco sat down, looking back at her wings as they twitched and shifted. They were quite the sight. Taco's adrenaline had long worn off, but she pushed through the pain regardless of how bad it felt.

After a while of cooking the meat over the fire, Taco tore the food from the stick, and consumed into it. She was surprised by the taste, it was like nothing she'd eaten before. Probably because the animal was from her world. That's what she assumed anyway.

Taco continued to eat and sat back against the closed tree so she could still benefit from the heat of the fire. She sighed and closed her eyes as she bit into the meat again, not really caring for the taste anymore, she's just glad she could soothe the angry cries that once arose from her stomach.

There was some sort of shame in the back of her mind. An Echo of hate and malice. She recoiled and tried not to think about the creeping anxiety.

She needed to get moving again soon.

———

Trophy yelled loudly as he was shoved through and fell face first down to the unforgiving frigid sky. He grabbed onto his handles due to his stress and panic and whipped his head around. Where the HELL was he—?! AND WHY WAS HE FALLING OUT OF THE FUCKING SKY?! He was made of metal, so he was falling faster than a damn rock! He gave futile attempts to slow his descent, but he was at the mercy of gravity.

Microphone gasped as she fell, her grip on Knife and Pickle was disrupted during her descent from the sky. Microphone screamed as she tried to figure out where the hell she was falling— god the snowy ground below was very VERY far away... She flailed and tried to slow her descent. Her body felt strange, almost painful, but she tried to ignore it.

Knife gasped as the cold air stung his wound. He grunted and curled around the source of his pain. Pickle had long let go of him from panic, his eyes fell on the silhouette of something gold below. He watched as the ground rapidly approached, and tried to think quickly. He needed to protect his head from damage, so he quickly folded himself in, he was a pocket knife after all. His body felt painful... strange... Knife then bit his lip and tried to ignore the pain.

Pickle jolted after feeling wind rush past him. He screamed as his eyes fell on the ground far beneath him. He hated heights— HATED THEM... He flailed and screamed like a girl as he fell rapidly from the sky. He felt like he was going to puke from the fear, and the fact that breathing in the air that blew forcefully into his throat was sickening. Tears prickling his fear filled eyes. He felt like something was growing on him...

Microphone fell much slower than the others, she was mostly hollow so that helped a lot— at least it used to. She felt massively different as she did prior. Her button wasn't a button any longer, it was a gemstone. Her face not textured like an actual microphone, it was more like a carved stone, and her body different too, no longer plastic. She fell fast and hit the ground with a clack wood splintering from her body. She groaned and tried to stop herself from crying as she lifted her head from the snow.

Knife evenly hit the snow with little damage. He clicked his head out from his body, and lifted himself up with a stubborn grunt. He wound healing, but didn't like being strained from all the running and the stress.

Pickle screamed and hit the snow with a small thud, he lifted his head, and whined at the bruising, but sat up and shakily dusted the snow from his anxiety filled body. "WHAT THE FUCK...?!" He screamed in panic. "WHAT HAPPENED...?!"

Microphone looked around at their surroundings. "Some sort of... Snowy area?"

"Well thanks for the observation genius..." Knife grunted with annoyance, standing up shakily. Having to stumble to find his balance. He then glanced around. "I could've sworn I saw Trophy—... Oh." He looked towards Trophy who had fallen head first in a large pile of snow. He's legs kicking frantically as he tried to pull himself out. Knife chuckled and rolled his eyes before walking over.

Knife yanked on Trophy's foot and pulled him from the snow. Trophy gasped for air and choked out a slush of snow and his spit. "ARGH! WHAT THE HELL?!" He spat in rage and terror.

Knife shook his head and turned back to the group, limping and clutching the bandages that were around his wound beneath his coat. His eyes landed on Microphone and they widened instantly. "Who the hell...?!" He glared at Mic, not recognizing her.

Microphone flinched, and she raised a brow. "Wha...? What's wrong...?" She muttered, shakily standing, and brushing the snow from her body.

"W—y... Microphone...?!" He asked, astounded. Trophy and Pickle's gaze followed.

Microphone raised a confused and nervous brow. "I—uh... Yeah?" She shrugged, looking around. "What?" She was puzzled.

"You look— you're... uh... How do I explain this... Different...?" Knife pointed at her, and moved his hand around to suggest her body had changed.

Microphone looked down at herself and finally took in her new appearance. She gasped and patted herself down. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" she screamed, feeling her face and body, her mouth agape in shock.

"She looks like some sorta staff... or wand thingy..." Trophy muttered observing Mic's panicked form with a skeptic a skeptical and dumbfounded face.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO ME...?!" She whined, not understanding what the HELL just happened. "No-no-no this is all wrong! This can't be happening!!!" She pressed the gemstone on her chest and instead of turning her loud speech on a burst of energy flowed out in a shockwave knocking everyone back. Knife landed hard on his back, Trophy managed to keep balance, and Pickle rolled backwards so he was face first in the snow.

Microphone quickly shut it off. Her wide eyes told everyone that she did NOT expect that.

Pickle lifted his head, and noticed he was— more plant-y than normal. He gasped and tried to rub off the moss, plants and flowers. "WHAT THE HELL?! WHY AM I GROWING A WHOLE FUCKING ECOSYSTEM?!"

Trophy looked over, with a raised brow and noticed it too. "Wait a sec... Yeah. He does look different—And Knife? You look more—uh... decorated? I guess?" He pointed out.

Knife looked down at himself, realizing the etchings in his now wood instead of plastic body... He looked back at Trophy. He looked at him and spoke up in turn. "You're also more detailed..." he muttered.

Trophy flinched. "Huh—?" He looked at himself and realized rather quickly. "Woah— Sick!" He grinned, turning around to look at peer down at his new appearance.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO US...?!" Microphone whined. Throwing her arms in the air with panic. The massive change threw off her entire identity and self worth. She hadn't known how she felt about it.

"Maybe it has something to do with the gateway?" Pickle shrugged, a bit nervous. Also feeling strangely about the growing plants on his body.

Knife thought about it, and eventually just sighed. "We can't— sit here and dwell on things...! We will freeze! We have to find shelter." Knife informed.

"Where the hell even are we? No WAY someone lives HERE!" Trophy shouted with annoyance.

"It doesn't have to be a house you dumbass! Just somewhere where we won't die..." Knife huffed, stumbling over to begin walking. He nearly tripped due to the pain in his side and abdomen.

Pickle shot up and helped him again.

Microphone grumbled and stood up, walking with the other two as the trudged through the deep snow. And Trophy followed soon after.

They had a long, and cold walk ahead.

———