The next few seconds passed in silence.
Dino opened his eyes slowly, hoping desperately he'd been fast enough...
He was met with Woolfs face only an inch away from his own, his eyes filled with terror as he stared Dino straight in the eyes. Furrysaur cleared his throat, shakily standing up and placing Woolf on solid ground. The furry just stood there, clearly shook. Dino would be too, after all that just happened.
Nadwe suddenly ran up to Woolf, tackling him in a hug. Woolf seemed shocked for a second before awkwardly hugging him back. Dino also walked over and joined in, soon followed by Oof and Joocie.
Oompa started over last, he didn't really know Woolf that well, so he didn't really feel like he had the right to rush in as fast as the others, if that made sense. It was a good thing he did too, because if he hadn't lagged behind, he may not have heard the metal footsteps behind him. He turned around, shocked by the sight.
Whatever it was, it looked like Laff, but... metal? It's eyes were glowing red, and it's skin was a mixture of glittering silver and black, and a gravity gun that looked like it had merged with its arm. It's gaze was directed at the rest of the group at first, but quickly turned to Oompa, as if it had sensed his eyes on it.
"Uh... guys?" he stammered, stepping back from... whatever that thing was.
"This is gonna sound crazy, but there is a metal Laff coming this way-" Oompa was cut off as he was lifted into the air, 'Laff's gravity arm aimed directly at him.
He heard a shocked gasp behind him, followed by an almost silent murmur. "Laff...? How-"
'Laff' chuckled. "Not anymore..." his voice had gotten much, much deeper, and sounded off. Slightly robotic, but not completely. It sent shivers down Oompas spine. And he'd thought normal Laff was terrifying.
"W-what are you then?" Oompa recognized Nadwes whimper easily. Even though he didn't know the child well, he had a very distinctive voice.
"I am the beginning and end of this world." 'Laff' stated matter-of-factly.
"Can you just give us a name instead of being mysterious? It's kind of annoying when you talk like that." Oof said. Oompa was stunned by the lack of fear in his voice. Was he not scared of this monstrosity?
"L4FF." 'Laff' growled, eying Oof angrily.
He aimed Oompa at the courthouse wall and pulled the trigger, sending him flying into the wall. The impact was followed by a sickening crack as Oompa fell limp.
"Now, get in the courthouse before I do to you what I did to Oompa." L4FF chuckled, aiming his gun at the group.
Oof stared in shock at Oompas body, fear building in his chest. This was his fault, wasn't it? He'd probably angered L4FF, if he'd kept his mouth shut maybe he wouldn't have...
He felt a hand grab him arm and pull him back and into the courthouse. He was pressed against a wall, and only after that did he look over to see Joocie staring at him, fear in his eyes. 𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, he reminded himself. 𝘓𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵... Oof mouthed 'thank you' to Joocie before looking over to L4FF, who was staring at him, almost disappointedly. Had he WANTED to kill him? How insane was he?
"Get in the corner!" L4FF ordered, shaking off his disappointment and gesturing toward the back of the room. It was fine. He'd get to kill Oof later.
They shuffled to the corner, backing against the wall. Dino was infront of Woolf, his arm out as if protecting him. Woolf had pulled Nadwe next to him, also looking like he was protecting the child, who had his head down, staring at L4FF with anger flaring in his eyes. Oof was eying the floor, and Joocie was next to him, watching him worriedly. L4FF scanned the room for Socks, then noticed him peeking out from behind Dinos hood. He squeaked in alarm once he noticed he'd been spotted and ducked back behind the furrys hood.
Good. Everyone was accounted for.
L4FF stepped up toward them, and he could feel everyone's terrified gaze turn on him as he walked up to the gold block in the wall to the left of them. He placed and flicked the lever on it, and the floor opened up to reveal a staircase with a small elevator at the bottom. He backed away, once again aiming his gun at the group. "Get on the eleva'or!" He commanded.
Oof was the first to comply, shuffling down the stairs and going down into the chamber below. The rest soon followed, disappearing down the elevator.

(POV switch

Blaza was leaning against a pillar near the back of the massive basement, cradling his head in his knees, slightly sobbing. He still ached from when Laff had thrown him against the wall, and the pain was overwhelming. It didn't help that he was trapped, with no way out, and it was highly likely the only company he'd have for a while was a psychopathic murderer.
He looked up, suddenly hearing voices from what sounded like a good distance away.
"Is everyone okay?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"I landed on something."
"Wait, where's Socks-"
"Socks?!?"
"Uh yeah, so he's kind of-"
"BEING CRUSHED."
"Oh, that's what I landed on."
He heard a small chuckle that was quickly cut off.
"Since when were you alive?"
"why are you so small?"
"Forget that, why do you sound like you just chugged five gallons of helium?"
Blaza stood up, wincing as pain shot down his back. He peeked around the corner to see Dino, Woolf, Nadwe, Joocie, and Oof near the elevator, all eyes on the floor. He assumed that's where Socks was.
He started toward them, but quickly stopped as his back exploded with pain. He crumbled to the ground, balling up and practically screaming. He'd expected it to hurt, but not nearly that bad.
"Blaza?!?"
He heard footsteps rush toward him, soon followed by more.
"Are you ok?"
"What happened?"
He just winced.
Dino just stared at Blaza, his face painted with worry. His friend clearly was not okay, he didn't even know why he'd asked.
"Well, well, well, look who's here." The sickenly familiar voice came from behind him, and even before Dino turned, he knew exactly who he'd see.
L4FF was a few feet away, his arms crossed. Even though his mask hid his expression, Dino could tell he had a massive smirk plastered across his face.
"What do you want?" Oof asked, his voice hoarse.
"I think yous should've figured that out by now." L4FF chuckled. "Chaos. Division. Life had just gotten so boring. What better way to fix it then to tear you all apart?"
Nadwe gasped, glaring at L4FF angrily. "You shot Meme, didn't you?" He growled. The villager simply laughed. "Foolish child. You think I'd get my own hands dirty and risk being discovered? That'd take all the fun out of it. No, no, no, I hired someone."
"W-who?" Socks stammered, his shrill tone almost ruining the moment. "Well, the poor soul was riddled by jealousy. Thought the job would restore a friendship. Too bad it only tore it apart."
Dino growled. "Stop speaking in riddles. Just give us a name."
"None other then your so-called friend, Muffinjuice."
Everyone was taken off guard, especially Nadwe. "W-what..?" The 14-year-old stammered, taken aback.
"Now, what was I doing again?" L4FF paused. "Oh, right. Of course." He aimed his gravity arm at them and pulled the trigger, not really caring who he'd hit. Nadwe was lifted into the air, and his famous squeaky toy-like scream echoed throughout the basement. Joocie leaped past Dino and onto the metal monster, which stunned L4FF, causing him to drop Nadwe. Thankfully, the child hadn't been to high in the air, and only fell a few feet.
L4FF growled, turning and grabbing Joocie with his gravity gun, and within a second he'd launched him into a pillar several feet in the distance. His glass head cracked easily, and juice spilled across the stone floor as L4FF turned back to the group.
Dino reached into his pocket, digging around for a second before finding what he'd been looking for. Everyone else had dropped their weapons after Laff had been shot, even Dino had dropped his sniper, but he'd brought more then one weapon. Though, it'd unfortunately take out more then just the target.
"Run. If anyone can't walk, carry them. Just get as far away as you can." Furrysaur whispered. He gripped his weapon tighter, glaring at L4FF. This was ending, no matter what.
Socks looked at him worriedly. "Dino, what-"
"Just go!" Dino grabbed Socks off his shoulder, handing him to Woolf, who was just staring at him, his face a mixture of confusion and terror.
𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳. Dino reminded himself. He gestured for Woolf to leave and mouthed 'go' as clearly as he could.
"I don't understand what you're about to do, but don't do it." Woolf said, eying him defiantly.
Dino was about to retort when he was lifted into the air. He could tell he'd been grabbed by the gravity gun, so he didn't have much time.
"Just go, don't worry about me." He said, turning to L4FF and getting ready to pull out his weapon.
He heard footsteps behind him, getting farther away. Good, they'd left.
"Yous think slowing me down will save them?" L4FF chuckled, preparing to launch Dino into a nearby pillar.
"No. But this will."
Dino pulled out his rocket launcher, aiming it directly at the ceiling. He'd recognized the metal L4FF was made of rather quickly, it was pure tungsten. It wouldn't be destroyable with weapons or any sort of explosion, but if enough pressure was applied, it'd be crushed as easily as a soda can.
Though the explosion wouldn't harm L4FF, the blast would be enough to weaken the roof enough for it to collapse on him, and, if he was right, then the almost invincible abomination would be smushed. There were enough pillars to keep the rest of the area stable, only the area he was about to shoot would cave. Even though 𝘩𝘦 couldn't get away in time, everyone else would be more then out of harms way.
With a deep breath, He pulled the trigger, sending a rocket straight into the ceiling.

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What was that in the last chapter Dino? You weren't sure if you'd be as willing to sacrifice your life? "Tell me fricking tell me all the lies you've told yourself-"
Dang I should make that meme with Split. Is it weird to do the same meme twice?
Y'all have no idea how many articles I read about tungsten to write that last bit-
Also happy new year, since it's currently midnight as I'm writing this but probably Jan 24th when this is published if I'm doing my math right. Happy... January? (Dang, I was so close lmao-)
This started with a cliffhanger and that's how it's going to end :)
Well, until the sequel.

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