[Synopsis: Veteran gets a surprise visit from a very distraught Player in the middle of the night. Apparently, his best friend had a pretty bad dream, and for some reason he isn't keen on explaining what it was about...But either way, Veteran is determined to help the situation.]

[Location: The Skeld]

Oh, and a quick warning for the first sequence. Player's dream gets pretty gory towards the end, so reader discretion is advised.

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"Guys...?"

"GUYS...?"

"Where is everyone...?"

Something wasn't right. The Skeld was dimly lit, his voice echoed through the corridors, and there didn't seem to be another person anywhere. No MrCheese, no Mother, no Stoner...

Finally, Player entered the cafeteria, and stopped when he saw a dark silhouette in the middle of the room...He could just barely make out the shape of a crown atop its head.

"...Veteran?"

The figure turned to face him...It was Veteran. And he looked pretty disgruntled.

"Hmph..."

"Veteran...Thank goodness. I thought I was here all alone for a while."

"You will be."

"...What? What do you mean? And...where's everyone else?"

"It's not obvious to you? They all LEFT. Because they can't STAND you anymore."

"They...Wh-what?"

"And neither can I. All you're good for is keeping us down and getting in our way. You're WORTHLESS."

"Whah...But...Veteran. What about everything we've...?"

"You were never my friend. I told you that from the get-go. But you're apparently too stupid to listen...All you are is another mouth to feed around here."

That was when the yellow crewmate pulled a remote out, a large red button plainly visible on it.

"V-veteran...? What's that?"

"I figured I might as well put you to good use...Captain has some pretty good ideas for dealing with trash like you, I'll give him that."

He pressed the button, then ran into the dark ship, disappearing from view.

"Veteran, WAIT...!"

But he was already gone...The little bit of the cafeteria that'd been visible to Player before had now faded completely into black.

"Veteran...?"

He got no verbal response...But he did hear SOMETHING.

A moan...? No, not just one...TWO moans.

Three.

Six.

Eight.

...They grew louder.

Angrier.

...HUNGRIER.

"Oh no..."

That was when they made themselves known...The reanimated corpses of his peers gathered around him, closing in from all sides...Everyone else he'd once called a friend.

Undead. And baring their sharp teeth as they drew closer, and closer, and-

MrEgg's maw opened up, and his pointed black tongue shot right through Player's stomach. He tried to scream, but no noise escaped him. He could only stare at the tip of the tongue shooting through him go back the way it came, and feel his vital fluid spilling from the wound.

...The smell of fresh blood only made the zombies want MORE.

The stronger ones massed around the wound and worked from there. The weaker ones tore away at the sides of their prey. Their victim tried to scream again. He was in AGONY. He begged silently for death. For deliverance from whatever hell this was...But only more tearing, seething pain followed as he was eaten alive.

Captain's undead husk plunged his rotting green hands into the center cavity, and pulled at either side of it with all his ungodly strength.

...A barely audible whimper finally escaped the helpless victim as the top and bottom half of him were completely torn away from one another. He could feel his innards spilling out of him and spreading across the invisible ground.

The last thing he saw before everything went dark was the walking corpse that used to be MrCheese sound off a gurgling growl, then lunge forward with its mouth wide open.

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...
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"GASP!"

Player bolted upright in his bed, drenched in a cold sweat. His eyes darted this way and that as his bedroom slowly came back into view.

His next instinct was to feel around himself...He was still in one piece. But he still felt constricted for some reason...

Oh...he'd gotten himself tangled up in the bed sheets.

His hand still shaking, he peeled the blankets off of himself before planting his feet onto the floor and scanning his room one more time, his heartrate gradually slowing down.

...It was all just a dream.

Player reached up to wipe some of the sweat from his brow...It felt like his face was soaked too. He decided to turn on the lamp beside his bed so he could see himself a little better and clean up a bit. Once the soft yellow light of the lamp washed over the room, he took a look in the mirror on his door.

...That wasn't sweat running down his face.

Those were tears.

He finally noticed the lump in his throat, and tried to swallow it. Every breath he drew in shuddered, and his expression was scrunched up and miserable-looking. He looked about ready to bawl his eyes out at any moment.

...Which he very nearly did as the nightmare came back to him.

His friends had all turned on him. Veteran especially...He said that he only kept everyone down. Made everyone's lives worse...They said he wasn't worth anything. At first, he'd been so glad that it'd all just been a dream...

...But wasn't that true, though?

Didn't he just weigh them all down...?

He didn't want to believe it. He'd really tried to be a good member of the team, but...No matter how hard he tried, it seemed like it was never enough.

They had a right to get tired of him.

They had a right to be angry.

...They had every right to hate him.

...But still.

It was plausible, yet...The idea of them all outright HATING him still seemed a little out there, once he got some of his senses together. Player decided he needed some confirmation. Proof that his friends really cared about him as much as they seemed to...Particularly Veteran.

A chill went down his spine as he attempted to calm himself down. Veteran had been the worst part about the nightmare. What he did to him, what he said...the fact that what he said actually held a bit of merit in the real world.

He was scared to find out if it was actually just a dream...But he knew he had to. He would much rather know the truth than live a lie.

Slowly and quietly, Player stuck his beanie on, opened his door and trudged out of his room. He'd been shivering before, but the cold night atmosphere of the Skeld made him shake even worse.

Finally, he made it to his best friend's quarters, and he rose an unsteady hand to knock on the door...

But then he stopped.

...What am I doing?

He was going to disturb Veteran over a stupid dream? Player sighed and hung his head in shame; he felt no better than some little kid that ran to his parents' room because he thought he saw a monster in his closet, or something like that...Veteran would probably be upset with him for waking him up in the middle of the night.

Another reason for his best friend to dislike him...He figured he might as well just turn around and go back to his room to see if he could manage to fall asleep again.

...No. No, I came here for reassurance. Not to give up and turn back. Come on, Player...If Veteran is really your best friend, he'll understand. And if he isn't, then...It should be obvious. And then you'll know.

He braced himself, then rose his hand one more time and gave the door a gentle knock...Now all he could do was wait.

...I hope this goes over okay, he said to himself. After the dream he'd just endured, he didn't need another bad thing happening to him. Especially in the middle of the night...He wasn't sure how well he could handle much else.

The doorknob turned, and Player froze...No turning back now.

"Player...?" Veteran recognized, flipping on the light switch to his room so he could get a better look at his guest. "What are you doing up so...late...?"

The first thing he registered about Player's face was that his eyes were red and puffy, and he looked downright miserable.

"...Have you been crying?"

Player gave him a barely discernible nod.

"What's the matter?"

He sighed and hung his head lower.

"N-nothing, it...It's dumb, really, Veteran," he replied as he started to turn back around, deciding to bail anyways. "S-sorry I woke you up...I'm just being a bother-"

Veteran grabbed him by the wrist before he could get any further.

"Dude...No you're not," he told him. "Whatever's wrong, you can tell me about it. You know that, right?"

"...R-really?"

"Well, duh. You're my best friend. I'm not just gonna leave you hangin' like this. Why would I do that?"

Player didn't give him an answer. He just reached up to dry away another tear rolling down the side of his face.

Veteran lead him into the room, shut the door and brought him over to the bed. The two sat down on the edge of the mattress side-by-side.

"Now. What's eatin' ya, Player?"

"N...nightmare," he uttered. "It was r-really bad...I-I know it's s-stupid, b-but...I j-just needed to be sure it...didn't really h-happen."

"It's not stupid," Veteran promised him. "And I know that it takes a lot to scare you, so I'm thinkin' it had to have been REALLY bad for you to have gotten like this."

Player nodded again, taking his beanie off his head and holding onto it.

"It was...It really was..."

"What was it about?"

He froze at the question, and averted his gaze off to the side.

"...Dude?"

"I...I-I can't tell you..."

"Why not?"

"It...It's just...It's just too horrible."

"You wanna spare me the details?"

"Y-yeah..."

"Well...Alright. I understand if you don't want to have to describe it to me. It'll probably just keep the dream fresh in your mind, which would suck even more...But tell me if you change your mind, okay?"

"Alright..."

"...You're shakin' like a leaf."

Player hugged his knees up to himself and whimpered, another tear escaping him.

"I'm s-sorry I'm such a p-pain f-for you to deal with..."

"Hey...Player. Look at me for a sec."

The yellow crewmate got up off the bed and stood in front of his best friend, gently lifting his head up in order to look him in the eye.

"...I don't want you sayin' stuff like that about yourself. Just because you're not the most capable person in this lobby doesn't mean you're a burden on us."

"B-but I...All I do is d-drag you guys down, n-no matter what side I'm on, and-"

"You don't drag us down, Player. You do your best."

"I-it's not enough."

"That doesn't matter."

"Y-you'd all be b-better off if I j-just left and didn't come back."

"Player."

"You probably all hate me, anyways..."

"PLAYER!!"

The red crewmate was just about ready to break down in tears again when Veteran shouted is name and stamped his foot on the floor. Player jumped at his outburst and completely froze where he sat, staring Veteran in the face...He looked angry, but even so, there was still a glimmer of concern in his gaze.

"Don't..." he said to him in a hushed, but stinging rasp. "Don't EVER think about yourself that way again. That's not true. It's the OPPOSITE of true. You think we'd be better off with out you? You're the glue that keeps everyone in this lobby together. That brought us all closer together as friends in the first place. If you weren't around, there'd be chaos. And it doesn't matter to us that you lose all the time. That isn't the only thing about you. You're more than that. SO MUCH MORE, Player. You're important to all of us in some way or another, Player. Including me...ESPECIALLY me."

He paused for a second as his stern expression began to soften, just a tad.

"...I'm gonna be completely honest with you," he continued. "You're the closest friend that I ever had, Player. I had people I hung out with in the past, but none of them ever really clicked the way we did...And I've got you to thank for a lot, Player. Ever since I started hangin' around you, it seems to me like you've helped to mold me into a better person. Like how you made me realize there was more to these games than just winning...A LOT more. All because you lose all the time and still kept coming back for more, always ready to try again and make the most of the situation...You're nothing short of an inspiration, Player. Not just to me, but for a lot of others too, I'm positive. So don't ever think of yourself as some piece of trash that someone could just throw along the side of the road and forget about. Because that's not what you are...And you'll never be anything like that. Do you understand me?"

Veteran didn't get an immediate response. Player just sat there staring back at him, looking pretty dumbfounded by everything he'd just heard.

"Do...d-do you really m-mean all of that...?"

The yellow crewmate sighed, releasing his tension, then sat back down next to Player and rested a hand on his back.

"...'Course I do," he assured him. "And that's not gonna change any time soon."

Player just continued to stare at him...Seeing just how adamant Veteran had been about him being so important to everyone, to the point where it made him flat-out FURIOUS to hear what he'd thought of himself...When the initial shock of it wore off, he saw that it wasn't true.

He had reason to be here. He had potential, purpose...

...And most of all, he did indeed have friends backing him.

"This whole thing about you thinking you're not worth anything...The dream you had didn't happen to have anything to do with that, did it?"

"Uh...M-maybe," he confessed, his voice high-pitched and hoarse.

"You okay...?"

"Yeah...I'm j-just...s-so g-glad you a-actually..."

Before he could get any further, Player choked out a long, convulsing sob, and he hid his visor in his hands as a fresh stream of tears began to flow down his face...Veteran scooched closer and gently leaned his best friend up against his side, wrapping him in a brotherly embrace.

"Take it easy there, bro..." he whispered. "The dream's gone. You got nothin' to be afraid of, okay?"

Player slowly rose his hands and returned the gesture, clinging to his yellow-clad companion as though he would fall back into the awful nightmare if he let go...Veteran shook his head. He'd never seen Player like this before. He was always such a go-getter, always ready to take on the next challenge and always determined to defy the odds and win, the hope that he might finally get lucky always burning within him...

But here he was now; shaking like he'd seen a ghost and crying as though everything and everyone that he ever loved had all been smashed to bits before his very eyes. For all he knew, that could have been exactly what happened in the dream he had. But Veteran wasn't about to pry...He already knew enough to be able to help him.

The two stayed like that for a while, not bothering to keep track of the time. Player eventually started to calm down a little, and he uttered something coherent.

"I...I-I know I don't s-say this much," he told him, still sounding pretty choked up. "In fact, I don't th-think I've ever said it, b-but...You guys are really the best, y-you know?"

"Well, it takes the best to know the best."

"C-could you tell them I said that tomorrow? In case you're up b-before me...?"

"Sure thing."

Player pulled slightly away to reach up and wipe some of his tears dry before giving his best friend one more squeeze.

"...Thank you."

"No biggie. I'm sure they'll be happy to hear that."

"No, I mean...f-for everything just now," he corrected lightly. "...I really needed that."

"...Any time, dude," Veteran nodded, giving Player a firm pat on the back before grabbing his phone off the night table and checking the time; he figured that the sooner Player went back to sleep, the better off he'd be in the morning.

"It's not much past 1 a.m...You should probably get back to sleep; you wouldn't wanna be tired all day tomorrow, huh?"

"No...guess not," he agreed, slowly(and hesitantly) getting up off the bed again. "...I don't want to keep you awake, either."

Veteran had a good idea of what Player might've been thinking...He didn't want him to have another nightmare either.

"Player."

"Yeah..."

A yawn interrupted the red crewmate as he responded; he was starting to feel tired again after all of that.

"Yeah, Veteran...?"

"No homo, but if you're afraid you're gonna go back to your room and end up having another bad dream, I wouldn't mind if you wanted to bunk with me for the rest of the night."

"Oh...really?"

"Sure. Besides, after what you just went through, I figured some company might help you take your mind off stuff like that, y'know?"

"Yeah, true, I guess," Player nodded sheepishly as he sat back down on the bed. "...Thanks, Veteran."

The latter got an extra pillow out from his closet shelf and fluffed it up a bit as he positioned it on the right side of the bed.

"No prob. Make yourself at home, homeslice."

Player yawned again as he lifted the covers up over himself and nestled into them. Veteran snapped the light off before flopping onto the bed beside his bestie in a much less sophisticated manner.

"Man, I'm honestly kinda glad you decided to come knockin' on my door as early as you did," the yellow crewmate said as he pulled the blankets over himself. "I mean, don't you hate it when you wake up at like, 6 in the morning, and then you can't go back to sleep because the notion that you've only got an hour of sleep left peeves you off so much?"

"Yeah...been there..."

"...You need anything else, dude? Extra blanket? Glass o' water?"

"No...'m good, thanks..."

He was already starting to nod off.

"Well, just let me know if you need anything, okay dude? You've had a pretty rough night."

"M-hm..."

Just before he drifted off, Veteran reached out and gave him a gentle pat on the head.

"G'night, Player."

"...'night."

He settled back down under the covers and fell asleep himself not much later...No more nightmares came to Player that night. He was finally at ease, rid of the fears brought on by a soon-to-be forgotten dream...

Because he knew for sure that it would never come true.

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This isn't meant to be shipping(as stated by Veteran himself in this story,) but if you're a Plateran person, ehhh whatever, I guess I'm not stoppin' ya.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯