[Synopsis: Two familiar faces reappear in the lobby, and this time, it's with a vengeance. Fortunately, Player hatches a plan to retaliate against the troublemakers.]

[Location: The Skeld]

____________________________________________________________

"Wow! The lobby filled up fast today, didn't it?" Captain remarked.

"Heck yeah it did," Player agreed. "We've barely been open for a minute and we've already got eleven people!"

It was true; the lobby currently consisted of Player, Veteran, Captain, TheGentleman, Mother, MrEgg, PoopyFarts, Engineer, Gnome, Angel and Goober.

"...Yo Gentledude, where's MrCheese at?" Veteran inquired.

"Oh. MrCheese said he'd be on in a minute; he's currently finishing scrubbing a rather troublesome hunk of burnt parmesan off the bottom of a baking dish that was left over from out dinner last night," TheGentleman informed them.

"Burnt cheese, huh?" Mother remarked. "I've been there. Stubborn stuff, lemme tell ya."

"He said he was nearly done shortly before I joined, so he should be on shortly."

"I'll give it another minute then," Captain said to him. "Hey, maybe we'll get another couple people while we wait!"

As if on queue, the spawning noise sounded off, and two figures appeared on the right set of seats side-by-side, obscured in the white glow as they appeared.

"Well, lookie there! Wonder who we've got?"

...As soon as their colors faded in, Captain's smile dropped, as did the smiles of everyone else when they realized who the two crewmates were.

"...Hey, Blue. Does this place ring a bell to you?"

"I dunno, NotOrange. But whatever the case, there seems to be no sign of intelligent life anywhere."

"Oh, God. You two?" Veteran asked. "Didn't you guys try to screw around with our game the last time you were here?"

"If by 'screw around' you mean 'enhance and improve,' I suppose you might be onto something," NotOrange remarked. "Huh. Maybe there is enough room in your cranium for your brain to exceed the size of an atom."

"Hey. Enough o' your fancy talk. Whatever all that means, we're not gonna put up with it."

"Oh really?" Blue retorted. "Well then we're not gonna put up with THIS red try hard for sending us to the Cheater's Lobby."

He pointed an azure finger in Player's direction, hoping he'd done a number on his self esteem, but the accusee was quick to defend himself.

"Me? I sent YOU to the Cheater's Lobby? How about you two sent yourselves? I might've screwed up by going along with your little mod thing for a minute there, but once that was cleared up, it looks like Innersloth finally got their culprits figured out and gave you what you deserved. How's THAT for putting up with things?"

"Hey, we didn't get outta there the same way you did! Took a LOT more than just an apology...Would have been a lot easier if you'd just kept your mouth shut and put up with it."

"Alright, that's it! No one talks about my bestie that way!" Captain butt in.

"Ey look Blue, We got Dumb and Dumber up in here. Perfect, a movie night."

"How about you two heathens speak for yourselves!?" Mother snapped at the two troublemakers. "As if YOU'RE one to talk about the size of someone's brain when your emotional capacity isn't any bigger. I should know, judging by how you treat your son."

She motioned towards the orange-clad mini crewmate at NotOrange's feet, and the latter scoffed at her in response.

"Don't you remember what I told you? They're not children, they're PETS, and as such, will be treated like what they are."

The orange mini crewmate looked slightly bigger this time, more resentment in its gaze than the child-like innocence Mother had seen the first time they met. The cyan figure decided trying to fight the issue to the point of risking the mini crewmate's safety wasn't worth her energy at the moment, so she simply shot him another poisonous look.

"Well whatever the case is, I'm NOT leaving behind Timmy and Franklin this time."

"Holy crap, you wasted time giving yours names?"

He and Blue snickered to one another...The others simply looked at them and frowned; they weren't about to let themselves stoop down to their level just to try and win an insult duel.

"Well, I doubt this is going to be a good round," Player sighed. "Captain, can't you just ban them?"

"I suppose I could. All in favor of-"

He was interrupted by the sound of someone else spawning in, filling in the last empty spot in the lobby...The figure, wearing a wedge of sharp cheddar on his head, had defaulted to the color tan.

"Hey, what gives?" MrCheese wondered aloud. "Where's my sharp, deliciously cheesy luster?"

That was when he noticed the two familiar faces in the lobby. His expression turned to shock, then bitterness, and then seething rage in a matter of just two seconds.

"YOU...I got a MASSIVE bone to pick with you two disgusting pieces of space debris. Lookit you, Mr. Color Thief. At it again, huh? I'm gonna send you two to the pits of Novisor's realm when I get the chance to today!"

"Yeah, sure; that's what happened the last time you said something like that," Blue remarked, unfazed by the threat.

"That's it, out you fellas go," Captain decided, readying the ban button.

"No no no!" MrCheese interrupted him. "You are NOT banning them from the lobby! That's too good for them...They need to suffer."

"...You sure about that, MrCheese?"

"Positive."

"Player, what say you?"

"Well...I guess he's got a point," Player rasped. "It would be nice to see something like that go down. As long as it doesn't become unbearable for us...Just start up the game and we'll see where it gets us. Even if MrCheese isn't the Impostor, he'll still find a way to pay 'em back."

"True...Alright bestie, let's hop to it."

He pressed the start button, and the screen faded to black within five seconds. A few moments later, everyone received their role...A grin stretched across Player's face when he saw that he'd not only been chosen as one of the two Impostors, but that he was also the shapeshifter. Captain had been selected as his partner, and he knew from experience that the white crewmate had the potential to be very cunning when the situation called for it.

"Everyone SCATTER!"

When everyone spawned into the Cafeteria, they all went their separate ways. There was only one common task that round: fixing the wires, so no one had to bother staying at the card swipe for God knows how long trying to scan it right.

Player and Captain each stopped in Storage, the former at the wire panel and Captain at the refuel station.

"So how do you think we're gonna do this?" Captain asked his partner.

"Well I'm the shapeshifter, so I should be able to do something with that. I've never had this role before; closest I ever had is that one color-changing mod."

"Good idea. But be careful; whenever you shift back into your normal form after your timer runs out, you leave behind a shed shell from your cocoon, which leaves behind evidence."

"Cocoon?"

"Yeah, it's kind of shaped like an egg. You undergo some kind of temporary metamorphosis, like a butterfly."

"That sounds...weird. But cool."

"Sure does," Captain nodded as he stepped away from the refuel station with his tank. "Hey, let's see what's going on in Electrical; best place to find a sitting duck, huh?"

"Okay, for once, the animal similes actually make sense, so I'll give you credit for that."

With that, they headed out of Storage and turned into the death trap that was Electrical...There, they saw MrEgg in the company of the two troublemakers, doing his best to focus on his tasks and ignore their insults.

"Oi mate, so how were your tea and crumpets this lovely morning?" NotOrange mocked.

"You're not even doing the accent right, you sound Australian," the maroon crewmate replied flatly, not responding much to his attempt at an insult.

"Well, you guys colonized that place, didn't you?" Blue chimed in.

"Yeah! Therefore, it still counts. So anywaaays, Sir Eggington, how 'bout you dew us awl a favor an' choke on some Earl Grey while pinchin' yourself-"

That was when MrEgg whipped his head around and, before anyone even realized it, held NotOrange by the collar of his neck with an iron grip.

"...What did you say about my Earl Grey?" he hissed.

As soon as NotOrange got over the initial shock of his response, his expression loosened again.

"I think you know what I said."

"...Sir. I do believe you've picked the wrong bloke to mess with."

"Kinda sus if you ask me," Blue remarked. "How about I call a meeting on your sorry arse now?"

"That won't be necessary," Player chimed in, making his and Captain's presence known to them. "We were just checking to make sure no funny business was happening in here."

"Oh were you?" NotOrange sneered. "Well, here's your funny business. I'd say he looks about as funny as you with that egg on his head. Heh."

"We'll be on our way now," Blue announced. "Have fun in here, you three~."

He winked suggestively, then followed his buddy out of the room. MrEgg snorted at them once they were gone.

"Couple of cheeky tarts..." he rasped. "...You two don't really think it's me, do you?"

"We know it's not you," Player assured him. "In fact, I think I have an idea...Can ya keep a secret, MrEgg?"

The maroon crewmate's eyes widened slightly.

"...Is it you?"

"It's both of us," Captain confessed. "But don't tell anyone; we won't go after you...Our main target is our two uninvited guests."

"Ohhh, going to play a few mind games with them, perhaps?"

"Yeah...Listen. You got any tasks anywhere?"

"Well, I...I have a MedBay scan."

"Good. Captain, you go with him. Just...don't kill him. Lay low for now, and better yet, see if you can get anyone else to watch him scan."

"Understood, compadre," he assured him.

"...I've got some people to screw with."

With that, Player pulled his panel out, selected MrEgg's icon, and he watched curiously as a membranous red wall sprouted up from the bases of his feet, encased him, then rapidly filled with an acidic-smelling liquid, completely covering him...He felt his body begin to change from the inside out from within the biological juice; he shrank slightly, and he felt some of his weight melt right off of him.

When the cocoon burst open, the liquid inside dissipated as soon as it'd appeared. He looked down at his hands and found that they were now a much darker red, and atop his head, in place of his signature beanie, there was now a fried egg.

"...I'll meet you two in the Cafeteria," he said to them as he hurried out of Electrical. Even his voice now matched MrEgg's, though lacking his accent.

He passed through Storage and headed to the front of the ship in search of the orange and blue troublemakers, finally spying them in Navigation. Mother was there as well, and she and NotOrange were currently having yet another argument about how to care for mini crewmates, and this one was much more heated than the last. Player could barely even make out what was being said, they were yelling at each other so loudly.

"...Sorry, Mother," he apologized quietly. "But if this is gonna work, it's going to have to be you."

He scanned the area one more time to ensure he wasn't caught by anyone else, and when the coast proved to be clear, he withdrew his knife, sprinted into the cockpit and severed the cyan crewmate's head with one swift, clean swipe...Mother was dead too soon to feel any pain.

NotOrange and Blue were shocked by "MrEgg's" swiftness yet again, and the maroon figure turned to them with a confident smirk on his face.

"...Go ahead. Report it," he taunted, incorporating his best attempt at a British accent to make himself all the more convincing. "No one will believe you."

Then he hopped into the starboard vent and disappeared from sight. Mother's dead body was reported on the spot by the two witnesses before Player's shift timer had the chance to drop to zero, and he instantly turned back into his normal self as he was teleported to the meeting table along with everyone else.

"Egad! Mother's dead?" Captain gasped, pretending to be surprised as best he could. "I wonder who could have pulled off such a heinous crime?"

"How 'bout you guys ask MrEgg here?" NotOrange informed them. "He came into Navigation and sliced her head clean off as we were doing our tasks."

"What?! N-no I didn't!" MrEgg defended. "I was in MedBay scanning! And...and you two reporting the body interrupted me, too!"

"Can confirm," Captain stated further. "I was there with MrEgg in MedBay. And so was TheGentleman, who had a sample to inspect."

"This is also true," TheGentleman nodded. "And seeing that there are only two Impostors this round, that gives MrEgg a hard clear."

"But we saw him kill Mother right there in front of us like it was nothing!" the orange figure protested. "Blue, back me up here."

"Yeah, I saw the same thing. You guys sure you didn't have MrEgg confused for someone else in MedBay? I know you guys aren't the brightest bunch, so..."

"M-hmmm, so say the cheating scumbags," Engineer scowled.

"And one more thing?" Player added. "Cap' and I saw them being kinda mean to MrEgg in Electrical before, so they might just be trying to get him offed out of spite."

"That so, huh?" Gnome replied. "What's to say we vote THEM off instead? That'll teach 'em!"

"Hmmm...Not just yet, Gnome," Captain gently declined. "If for some reason it's NOT them, odds are the actual Impostors will attempt to go after them. So maybe we can use them as cannon fodder just in case. But if anyone sees something, say something, you got that?"

Everyone except for NotOrange and Blue collectively agreed.

"All in favor of skipping this vote, say aye!"

"AYE!"

All but only a few joined in the chant, and the votes were cast.

____________________________________________________________

Player: *
Veteran:
Captain:
TheGentleman:
MrCheese:
MrEgg: **
Angel:
Goober:
NotOrange:
Blue:
Engineer:
Gnome:
PoopyFarts96:

Skipped: **********

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No one was ejected.(Skipped)
2 Impostors remain.

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After the voting was over, the crowd dispersed again. Notorange and Blue remained close together as they headed up to the wire panel in the Cafeteria, a suspicious look in their eyes.

MrEgg approached the two Impostors once they were certain they were the only ones left in the room.

"I see what you two are trying to pull here. I must say, I quite like it," he whispered. "...Do you plan on getting anyone else on board with this? Pin the entire crew against them, perhaps?"

"Bit by bit," Player confirmed. "Cap, how about you stay with MrEgg? I'm gonna go find Angel...She seems kinda quiet this round."

"Hm. Wonder what might be wrong...?" the white crewmate mused as he went with MrEgg to the front of the ship. "Egg, if I kill anyone, you won't rat us out, will you?"

"No, sir...granted the quarter hatter with cheese combo is spared; we may need MrCheese for later, for all we know."

"Good thinkin'."

They disappeared, and Player broke off towards the opposite end of the Skeld, passing by the empty MedBay, turning through the Upper Engine and peering into the Reactor...He remembered Angel had gone in that direction after the meeting ended, so he hoped to find her nearby.

Sure enough, there she was trying to start up the nuclear-powered generator, NotOrange and Blue hovering over each of her shoulders...Mini Orange stood at his owner's feet, accompanied by the now orphaned Timmy and Franklin, the latter of which appeared to be whispering something to the orange mini crewmate...And he had that vile, malicious look in his visor that he knew all too well.

It seemed as though he and Captain weren't the only ones plotting some form of revenge. Whatever the case ended up being, Player hoped it would come to fruition...Mini crewmates had potential to be much stronger than they appeared, as he knew firsthand.

His attention diverted to Angel and the two troublemakers again. From what he could make from their hand movements, they were continuously messing up her sequence code, and she sounded very obviously frustrated when she spoke.

"...You two aren't being very pleasant," she said to them, a snarl embedded within her attempt at mere passive aggression.

"Yeah, well you weren't either when we were bunked at the Cheater's Lobby, y'know?" NotOrange retorted. "Always us, huh? And for what? That overcooked kidney bean you call a boyfriend?"

"He is NOT an overcooked kidney bean," she snapped back. "And if you don't stop, I might just go back there, because if I wanted to, I could kill you as a crewmate too."

"...And upset your boyfriend like that?" Blue chimed in, reaching his hand out to ruin Angel's sequence again...She slapped it away just a moment too late; her pattern was ruined once again.

"Hey, if you're such a tough cookie, why don'tcha take us both on at once?" NotOrange taunted. "Ya never did that back in the Cheater's Lobby. Why's that?"

"Because I have a shred of dignity to my name...unlike some other people in the room."

Player could tell by the look in her eyes and the tone of her voice that she was about to go ballistic on them...And he wasn't about to see her get sent back to the Cheater's Lobby over it, so he decided to butt in.

"Hey!"

Everyone in the room turned to face him as he called out.

"Well, well, look who it is. Say Blue, do you smell strawberries?"

"Yeah...The atmosphere seems a little fruity, doesn't it?"

The blue crewmate felt his viking helmet being removed just a moment later, and when he turned around to see what'd happened to it, he was met with the stinging force that was the back of Angel's hand, moving at mach speed.

She followed up right after that by turning the horns on the helmet upside down before forcefully shoving it back onto its owner's head.

"...I'm surprised it even fits you anymore, your head is so big," she remarked.

Blue grunted as he removed the helmet from his head and straightened it out, noticing the tender area that now covered most of his cheek. He pretended to pay no mind to it, and simply turned to NotOrange, waiting for a response.

"...Did you say something about having dignity earlier?" the orange crewmate asked. "Because...I didn't see much in that. Now, if you wanna talk dignity, I can borrow a hat off ThePoshBritMan and dance up the walls like Fred Astaire to give you an idea of what dignity might look-"

He stopped short when a force from behind him shoved him forward, and Angel moved out of the way just in time to avoid him, letting the orange figure slam right into the wall of the generator with a harsh metallic clang. NotOrange turned his head again to see Player put his foot back down.

"...Leave her alone," he said to him, his tone quiet yet oozing contempt. Blue and NotOrange exchanged glances before the latter pushed himself back onto his feet.

"...Alright, fine," Blue shrugged. "Last thing we want is to make you two cry, anyways."

They both turned and left the room...The moment they were gone, Player turned to Angel.

"Hey, psst," he whispered to her. "Last thing I want is for you to get sent back to the Cheater's Lobby for killing them as a crewmate, so I think I can get 'em back for buggin' you."

"How so...?" she asked him. "...Are you an Impostor?"

"Yeah. MrEgg knows it's me, too; we got him out of a situation with them earlier," he told her. "...Though I gotta say, he's starting to show some backbone. They insulted his favorite tea...If we hadn't cut in when we did, MrEgg might've punched NotOrange square in the visor."

"Ooh, wow..." she marveled. "Shame he didn't get the chance...Oh, well. What do you plan on doing?"

"I'm the shapeshifter," he confided to her. "You go on ahead to the Cafeteria and find a place with a bunch of people. But hurry; my shift forms only last so long. You'll catch on...You're a lot smarter than those two idiots think."

Angel smiled at him.

"Well, I'm very happy you took notice to that...I'll just try the Reactor task here again after the meeting."

With that, she turned and briskly made her way out of the room and back to the Cafeteria the way she came. Once she'd left the Upper Engine, Player pulled up his sab panel and shut both doors so that no one would catch him mid-shift.

"Alrighty," he said to himself as he pulled up his crew panel and hovered his finger over Angel's icon. "...Let's do this."

He pressed it, and the bases of his feet sprouted the same red membrane as before to surround him, filling with the same biofluid once again. In terms of height and weight, this metamorphosis didn't feel much different from his one into MrEgg, but this time, he did feel...something different.

And once he realized what it was, he was VERY alarmed.

Oh GOD...!

Upon emerging from his chrysalis, Player, now clad in a banana-colored exosuit and sporting a bright gold halo, did everything he could to maintain his composure.

Okay okay, don't panic...! he said to himself. This is...only temporary. You'll be back to your old self in no time. Just focus on what you need to do.

He looked at his timer; he had 25 seconds to do what he had to do, and he couldn't let himself be distracted by...distractions.

Player left the reactor just in time to see the Engine doors hiss open, and he hastily moved down through the lower hallway, passing Electrical and entering Storage, hoping all the while that he could find Blue and NotOrange in time to take care of business.

"Y'know out of all the stupid people in this lobby, I didn't think I'd find one who's main gimmick was that they were just stupid."

He jumped at the sound of Blue's voice from not far away...As luck would have it, he found him and his buddy NotOrange in Admin, having found a new victim in Goober as she stood at the upload screen.

"Y-yeah? Well...Your hat's stupid, that's what's stupid," she shot back, not making much of an impact, unfortunately.

"Wow...Y'can't even come up with a good comeback, huh?" Blue asked. "That's sad...You're sad."

"Well...Only 'cuz you make me sad."

"Wow," Blue smirked mockingly. "...I should give you a bronze star for your effort."

"You guys are meanies."

"...You were sheltered growin' up, weren't you?" NotOrange chimed in.

That was when Goober's upload finally completed, and Player made his move right then and there, whipping out his pistol and sending a bullet flying through the unsuspecting Goober's head...He felt a bit bad for her after what he'd just witnessed, but he figured he'd at least managed to put her out of her misery.

"...You wanna report that, boys?" Player asked them, trying not to cringe at the sound of his high-pitched, very feminine voice.

Blue and NotOrange stared at one another wide-eyed, and as they did, Player looked down at his shift timer.

...5 seconds were left.

Knowing that they likely wouldn't go after him, Player dashed back around the corner and made a beeline for the Comms hallway...He felt his form begin to waver, and he turned the corner into shields just as his timer hit zero.

Against his will, the cocoon sprouted from his feet, and he was surrounded by the form-altering liquid yet again. His beanie returned, along with his bright red suit color, and his...main concern.

The transformation back into his normal self ended just in time for the body report, and Player heaved out a sigh of relief as he was taken back there.

"Wow, people are just...dropping like flies today!" Captain remarked. "Oh, no, did Blue report the body this time? Y'know I can't be sure just yet, but I'm starting to think it might be them, don't you all agree?"

"You know Captain, I may simply be speaking out of my...derriere, as one may say," Thegentleman spoke up. "But when you speak in such an overly exaggerated and prolonged manner in meetings like this, it usually means that you're one of the Impostors."

"No, no, it wasn't Captain," Blue defended. "Our Impostors are MrEgg and Angel."

"Heck yeah, we just saw her gun down Googly Eyes, or whatever her name was," NotOrange added.

"Y'mean Goober?" MrCheese asked them. "Cheese Louise, ya can't even get people's names right, huh? That's pretty pathetic."

"Have you two got sod in your ears, or did you forget the previous meeting ever even happened?" TheGentleman snapped at the two reporters. "MrEgg scanned. He is hard cleared. And furthermore, it could not have been Angel who gunned down our dear Goober; I just saw her pass into Weapons with Engineer and Gnome."

"I can confirm this," Engineer stated, Gnome nodding in agreement with him.

"Well, SOMETHING screwy is going on here, then," NotOrange concluded. "We KNOW we saw Angel and Eggface kill one person each, right in front of us mind you. Are you guys really that blind or is this some kinda sick joke?"

"Wow, you thought you were the one talkin' out your butt, TheGentleman?" MrCheese said to his associate. "Get a load o' this, heh heh."

"If I may point something out," Player chimed in. "Aren't YOU two the ones with a repertoire full of cheating? Sure, I might've caved into that once, but you two take the cake. How do you guys know it isn't one of YOU screwing around with this?"

"Because we..."

Blue trailed off as soon as he began to speak, not really sure how to answer the question...He gave NotOrange and skeptical look before finally thinking of a response.

"...Because we know each other. We wouldn't do something like that to the other, neither of us would...Right, NotOrange?"

"Yeah, totally. Absolutely."

All the while, they were still looking at one another with a heavy dose of doubt. Player was barely able to hold back a smirk; it wasn't long now before he could pull out the big guns and watch everything implode.

"What do you suppose we do?" he asked Captain.

"Eh, well...Believe it or not, I think we should wait this out a little longer. If we can expose them as cheating crewmates, we can send 'em back to where they belong. And if they're our Impostors, we can vote 'em out. Besides, the tasks are coming along pretty well, so the odds are in our favor."

"Pfffffrt."

"PoopyFarts, think of the task bar as half FULL, not half empty. We'll come out on top, regardless of the situation. Now, everyone cast your votes!"

____________________________________________________________

Player:
Veteran:
Captain: *
TheGentleman:
MrCheese:
MrEgg: *
Angel: *
NotOrange: *
Blue: *
Engineer:
Gnome:
PoopyFarts96:

Skipped: ******

____________________________________________________________

No one was ejected.(Skipped)
2 Impostors remain.

____________________________________________________________

"...Okay, who voted for me?" Captain asked.

"Thbbt."

PoopyFarts spoke out in response.

"Ah, c'mon, PoopyFarts. Ya really don't think it's me, do ya?"

The brown crewmate simply rose his first and middle fingers and made an "I'm watching you" gesture at him before stepping away from the table to get back to his tasks. The others followed suit, dispersing and exiting the Cafeteria one by one...Only MrEgg stayed behind with Player and Captain.

"I got my tasks done in record time," he said to the two Impostors. "Might I be of any assistance?"

"Maybe...How about you go camp in Security? Make yourself look busy and cover for one of us if you see us kill somewhere on cams."

"Got it."

"Captain, try to get PoopyFarts somewhere by himself and take him out, then meet me back in Storage...Sorry to say this, but I'm afraid he might find us out and compromise everything."

"Good idea, buddo. What're you going to do?"

"I'm gonna see if I can let TheGentleman and MrCheese in on our plan...Maybe Veteran too, but I might have to kill him, just in case he really wants that crew win. After that, I'll call an O2 sab and see if I can separate those two guys."

"Cool beans...I'll meet up with you later, Player. Good luck."

The two parties separated, and Player headed to the front of the ship once again in search of TheGentleman and MrCheese...He found the latter in Weapons blasting asteroids, but the former was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, MrCheese," he greeted. "How are the tasks coming along?"

"Oh, they'd be goin' a lot better if not for those two morons; they kept telling me I was a poor shot, and because those two stewpid heads were such a huge fweakin' distraction, I kept on missing my mark!"

"Ouch, sounds rough..."

"It's fweakin' bullcrap, is what it is...Imma just vote for one of 'em next meeting; they deserve it."

Player looked around him to ensure no one else was nearby, then replied.

"I've got a better idea," he told his tan-clad companion. "...But can you keep a secret?"

"Why, what's goin' on?"

"You gotta promise you won't tell anyone out of the know yet, though."

"Alright, alright fine...What, are you the Impostor?"

Player nodded lightly in response.

"...Huh. Well, since you haven't up and killed me yet, I guess you must be onto somethin'. What's goin' on up in the ol' noggin?"

"I'm the shapeshifter," Player replied. "So I'm using that ability to screw with Blue and NotOrange. Captain's on the other end of the ship trying to deal with PoopyFarts; if he spills the beans on us too soon, it's mission failure."

"Ohh, I see... Anyone else know about this?"

"MrEgg and Angel. Others don't know, but since I've told you, I should probably also tell TheGent-"

"GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF OF THOSE!!"

TheGentleman came running up from Shields, his hands holding tightly onto the brims of his top hats and Blue and NotOrange in tow.

"C'mon old man! You got plenty o' hats for both of us!" the latter called out.

The charcoal crewmate his himself behind MrCheese as the two approached him.

"What's goin' on, TheGentleman?" his associate asked.

"THESE two ruffians are trying to make off with my precious pair of top-price top hats!" he hollered, ducking behind the red and tan beans to protect his priceless headgear.

"It's not like you don't have one to spare...What say I trade you my helmet for one?" NotOrange smirked.

"Because THAT HAT is TASTELESS, UNCOUTHE, UNINSPIRING, UNSOPHISTICATED-"

"Jeez old man, I didn't expect you to recite the whole dictionary, calm down."

"Honestly, NotOrange, I think we've gotten to him enough," Blue stepped in. "Let's just go find something else to do."

"What, why? This is hilarious."

"I know. Just...Stay by me, okay? I've got tasks to finish."

"...If you say so."

The two finally left, and Player rasped to MrCheese once they were well into the Cafeteria.

"Tensions are starting to form between them," Player remarked. "I think I know how to really mess 'em up."

"What's going on here, you two?" TheGentleman asked them.

"Oh, Player here's one of the Impostors."

"What!?"

"But don't call a meeting just yet; he's tryin' to get back at those two chumps...Do NOT ruin his chance, you got me?"

"Oh...erm...Y-yes, I suppose I do...But I'd better not end up being the next one dead."

"You won't. Just keep this off the record for now," Player said to him. " I'm gonna call an O2 sabotage and see if I can separate the two of them, then I'm gonna transform into NotOrange and try to get a kill in front of Blue."

"Ooooh, splendid idea."

"Maybe try to kill someone like Gnome or Engineer instead of one of us though, heh heh."

As if on cue, the purple and lime-colored crewmates in question passed up into Weapons, the former looking very concerned as he stared down at his monitor.

"Hey guys," Player greeted naturally. "What's goin' on?"

"We're trying to find PoopyFarts' body," Gnome told them. "Engie's vital monitor says he's dead..."

"Can't just leave him wherever he's at," Engineer added. "...Unfortunately, I don't think anyone will be left at the scene of the crime; he's been dead for almost a full minute now."

"Ouch..." MrCheese winced.

That was when the alarms on the Skeld began to blare, and every part of the ship flashed with red.

"Great..." the purple-clad scientist sighed. "Well, guess we better take care of that; we won't be able to find the body if we can't breathe ourselves."

"Agreed," the red Impostor nodded. "Let's go."

As luck would have it, Player saw Captain emerging from the back of the ship as he passed through the Cafeteria to make his way to Admin.

"Cap!" he greeted. "Hey, Gnome and Engineer are in O2; you keep an eye on them and make sure they don't see me. I'm goin' down there."

"Got it, boss."

The two parted, and Player headed into Admin...There he saw the two troublemakers hovering over Veteran, who was trying desperately to punch in the code in time.

"Uurgh, what's TAKING you so long!?" NotOrange seethed. "Are your fingers as slow as your brain?"

"Let me do it, Yellow," Blue ordered. "You're gonna end up killing us all."

"No, no, just lemme do this...!"

"The panel in O2 hasn't been fixed yet either," the orange crewmate realized. "That's it, I'm going up that way, you people are like frozen molasses. Jeez..."

He left the room and passed by Player.

"Hey, red boy. Your buddy Nikocado's in there, so you might wanna do somethin' about him."

He left without suspecting a thing. Player wasted no time pressing NotOrange's icon on the panel and firing up his cocoon...He felt himself grow slightly taller and fuller, then emerged in his disguise.

Well, it's gotta be done, he said to himself, opening up his belly mouth and preparing his long, pointed tongue. ...Sorry about this Vet, but it'll be worth it in the end, I promise.

Without any further hesitation, Player rushed into the room where Blue and Veteran were, then shot his tongue out and sent it right through the back of the latter's head...Veteran felt no pain, and his lifeless body crumpled down onto the floor.

Blue turned around to meet the image of NotOrange behind him, and as soon as they locked gazes, the cerulean crewmate's expression wrinkled up with anger.

"...I should've known."

Just before the O2 sabotage could reach zero, Blue called the report, and once again, everyone was taken back to the meeting table.

"Oh my God, if someone hadn't reported that, we'd probably have all died by now," Engineer huffed. "Blue, you reported...unfortunately. Give us the details."

"Real funny, reeeaaal funny, NotOrange," Blue began. "Ya swore off the mods, huh? Swore never to pull anything on me again and this is what I get?"

"What the heck are you talking about, man?" the orange figure asked. "All I did was start goin' to O2."

"Uh-huh, yeah. Then explain why I just saw you kill Yellow in Admin?"

"...What?"

"Don't 'what' me, you know as well as I do that you did it!"

"Where are you getting...!?" NotOrange trailed off. "Oh. Ohhh, I get it now. You set me up. Why, because you want to save a little face?"

"This has NOTHING to do with me, but it has EVERYTHING to do with you!"

"What, have these people made you go insane!? Are you HEARING yourself right now!?"

"The only thing I'm hearing is a truckload of BULLCRAP coming out of your pothole!"

Everyone gasped.

"You promised me you wouldn't get us sent back there!"

"I didn't DO ANYTHING!"

"You're STILL LYING!" Blue screamed, slamming his palms against the table.

"What the hell is your problem!?"

"I'm gonna KICK your anus into the next SOLAR SYSTEM!"

"Oh, you wanna try me!?"

From that point, everything they threw at one another was incoherent to the rest of the crew...A smirk spread across Player's face; this was EXACTLY what he'd hoped for.

Engineer and Gnome noticed Player's subtle smile and were about to ask him about it when MrEgg brought a finger up to the purple crewmate's mouth to keep him hushed.

"Let's just enjoy the moment," he rasped.

That was when NotOrange scooped his mini crewmate up out of his seat and aimed him at Blue.

"You still wanna try me!? I'm not afraid to use this thing!"

But before he had the chance to fire his projectile, Mini Orange suddenly opened his mouth and bit down on his thumb. NotOrange screamed and tried to flick him off, but that mini crewmate wasn't looking like letting go...No one seemed to care much, though.

When he finally tried to scrape Mini Orange off with his foot, the smaller figure snatched the spray bottle out from his owner's suit pocket, aimed it at him, then once he was on the ground, fired a few good strong spritzes into NotOrange's eyes.

"AH, OH! OH, GOD, WHAT IS THIS!?!"

...Judging by the fizzing Player spied in the bottle's liquid, that wasn't water in there.

When NotOrange finally managed to pry his eyes open after what felt like an hour in hell, he spied Blue again. Now at his boiling point, he lunged at the blue figure with full intent to harm.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!"

The fight that ensued was nothing short of a mess, albeit an entertaining one to the other crewmates. NotOrange could hit hard, but with his eyes the way they were, he could barely aim. Blue had better aim and apparently more skill, but wasn't as physically strong. This resulted in a stalemate that seemed to go on and on without ever letting up.

"Man..." Player remarked. "...How long do you think we should let 'em go at this?"

"Let them fight," MrEgg shrugged. "That's what you get for insulting my tea, you know."

"Eh...How about you guys just finish your tasks?" Captain suggested. "Player and I will stay here and watch the shenanigans."

"Yeah, it doesn't really matter who wins at this point," Player shrugged. "...In a way, I already have."

"Hee hee...Well said, Player," Angel giggled. "Come on everyone, let's finish up."

"Wait, what'd Player mean by that?" Gnome asked.

"We'll tell you guys in a bit, heh heh," MrCheese said to her as everyone dispersed across the ship again.

Player and Captain simply sat there watching the blow out between the two troublemakers, uncaring that they'd given up their official victory and wondering just how much damage the two could deal to one another before they ran out of steam.

It was only a few minutes later that the game ended, resulting in a Defeat screen for Player and Captain and a Victory screen for the crew. But they were more than fine with that...Watching the whole scene play out was more than enough to satisfy them.

And they were STILL having it out when everyone spawned back into the lobby. They came in late, so as an added bonus, MrCheese was able to reclaim his bright orange garb and give NotOrange's name a bit more sense.

Blue and the now green-clad NotOrange Kept at it, and at that point, there were some serious bruising and even small lesions on both of them. Seeing them like this, Player finally decided that was enough, so he took in a deep breath and got their attention.

"QUIT FIGHTING, YOU TWO BLOCKHEADS!!"

They both froze in place at the sound of Player screaming, and they turned to face him...The red bean looked oddly calm.

"Tch...Wow," Player remarked. "I can't believe you two fell for that, you're supposed to be so smart."

"What the heck are you talking about?" Blue asked him.

"Duh. Did you guys not notice that the shapeshifter role was implemented into this round?" Veteran asked them?

"The what?" NotOrange inquired, raising a very confused brow.

"Wow...They must've been in the Cheater's Lobby for one heck of a long time," Captain figured.

"Seems that way," the red bean agreed. "...See you two, the role update was added to the official game back in November, which spiced things up a bit; you can even choose whether or not you want to use them in your games, and pick which ones...I was the shapeshifting Impostor, so what I did was shapeshift into different crewmates and pick people off right in front of you guys while the REAL version of my disguises was off with other people forming an alibi."

"Wait, so..." Blue replied. "...That was you who killed Veteran over there, and not...?"

"Nope."

The blue and green figures looked at each other; the awkward atmosphere set in so thick one could have cut through it with a knife.

"Oh...Um...Wow," NotOrange remarked. "Jeez, dude, uh...My bad."

"Yeah...Same," the viking-helmeted crewmate replied. "God, I can't believe he actually got me like that."

"Yeah, and not only that," MrCheese added. "But like everyone knew about what Player and Cap were tryin' to pull. We didn't bother tryin' to get him off because seeing him mess with you guys like that was cool enough."

"Seriously!?"

"Quite seriously," MrEgg told them. "Why, the only ones who were left in the dark until the end were Engineer and Gnome."

"That and the people we had to kill," Captain chimed in. "...Sorry 'bout that, Veteran. Player was just doin' what he had to do."

"Hey. Seeing all that go down was worth it, believe me," Veteran assured him.

"...Dang," the green figure gasped.

"Well, NotOrange, it seems as though we've been bamboozled...Never thought you guys were capable of something like that, out of all people."

"Hey. Just tryin' to prove a point, you know?" Player shrugged.

"Eh...Guess you fellas aren't the idiots we made you out to be after all," NotOrange figured. "Not bad. Gg."

With the fuss having finally settled down, everyone congratulated one another on their accomplishments, no matter what side they'd been on that round.

"Well...Good to know ya didn't cheat back there," Blue said to his buddy. "Last thing I want right now is to end up back in that place."

"Eh, I'm used to it...Ms. Pink was creepy, though."

"Oh yeah, totally, heh heh," MrCheese nodded.

"Well...Since you guys were able to pull something like that, what say we start off on a new foot, huh?" Blue suggested.

"That...sounds nice," Mother figured, diverting her gaze to NotOrange next. "...As long as you can learn to treat your son better."

"He's not-"

Before NotOrange could get any further, his mini crewmate looked up at him and emitted a small, but easily distinguishable growl. Its owner backed up slightly, and he was unaware of Franklin smiling down at him.

"Well, it seems as though that's going to work out just fine now," Mother grinned.

"Uh...Yeah. Well, it was a pretty good round," the green crewmate figured. "Blue and I should probably be hoppin' off now; we tend to jump lobbies a lot."

"We won't keep you for any longer than necessary, then," TheGentleman nodded. "Happey travels, you two."

"Later," Blue waved.

Blue left the game.

NotOrange left the game.

As soon as they were gone, TheGentleman emitted a heavy sigh.

"Thank the heavens. I thought that nightmare would never end...At least it had a satisfying ending though, I must admit."

"Pffffrt."

"You think Mini Orange is gonna be okay, Franklin?" Mother asked her youngest.

"Don't worry, Mommy. I thought him everything he needs to know."

"That's my good little demon spawn."

"Hee hee~!"

"Man, so the shapeshifter role," Veteran said to him. "You pulled that off pretty darn well. What was it like turning into basically a clone of a few peeps?"

"It was interesting, I'll give it that," Player replied. "...I just didn't like turning into Angel. N-no offense, of course."

"Hm...None taken," the banana-colored bean shrugged. "It's hard to be someone like me, after all~."

"Why's that?" Veteran asked.

"Well..."

Player leaned forward, cupped his hand and whispered something into Veteran's ear...The yellow crewmate's visor widened within mere seconds.

"Oh. Ohhhhh my God," he responded. "Wow...Dude, I...I'm so sorry."

"Didn't last too long, thankfully," the red bean replied.

"Why, what happened?" Captain asked, innocent as ever. Veteran turned to him with a somber expression.

"...Let's just say," Veteran said to him, eyes closing solemnly. "...Where there was once a bratwurst, there was nothing left but an empty bun."

"Oh...Oh, I see," Captain frowned. "Yeah...I hate it when that happens."

"What-?" Player replied.

"Yeah. I don't know why, but it happens to me EVERY time I go to a baseball game. At this point, I've just given up and stuck with the Cracker Jack...Say by the way, where'd you find a hot dog in the first place? I didn't think we packed-"

"Ugh, never mind," Veteran huffed. "Just...don't dig too deep into that."

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Idea for this fic courtesy of Bootieos16.(also, #sorrynotsorry for the joke about Player ss-ing into Angel.) 😂

Phew, finally got this one done. Hope you guys enjoyed it! See ya next time! :D