Monday 4:43 pm.

The second exit.

Riot: dead chat

Riot: where the fuck have you all been all day I'm so fucking bored over here

Kurin: school

Kurin: I wouldn't have been there if I'd had a choice, trust me

Riot: you usually text during school tho?????

Kurin: .

Kurin: so I fucking. overslept and in my panic to get to school on time I forgot to pick up my phone and so it was left at home all day

Kurin: they did a fucking kahoot too. I had to team up with someone else to be able to play

Aay: DAM DID YOU GET A GOOD NICKNAME AT LEAST???

Aay: also hi srry was at work

Kurin: yeah they called themself ass god LMAO

Kurin: then we had to rename ourself to smth less.. inappropriate

Kurin: got to play as cheese

Aay: CHEESEEEEEE SLAY

Riot: did you win???

Kurin: no

Kurin: neither of us are any good at geography

Riot: L

Riot: @Magnus what about you what's your excuse

Magnus: I was in town

Aay: o i heard there was a gang fight in town today

Aay: did u see any of that?

Magnus: how could I not?

Kurin: didn't my mom like specifically request you not to get involved in stopping criminal shit like that anymore???

Magnus: yes

Magnus: but she isn't my mom so she can't really stop me

Kurin: she's technically police

Magnus: okay?

Magnus: I wasn't involved anyway

Riot: booooorinnggggggggg

Riot: isn't there anything else more interesting to do than talk about Magnus watching a gang fight???

Aay: isnt gang fights interesting tho?

Riot: uhhhh no not rlly

Riot: Kurin how did you survive all day without ur phone??

Kurin: I was reading

Kurin: wait speaking of did any of you read choose your own adventure books or play that one Roblox game where you say words in response to prompts and a story is generated using them???

Riot: uh yeah DUH of course I played that game

Magnus: I didn't have a childhood so no

Aay: wait so how can u read and right???

Magnus: I learned to

Aay: but how???

Magnus: I was taught

Magnus: now shut up

Magnus: Kurin why did you ask that

Kurin: idk was thinking it could be fun to make up our own story here

Kurin: one that's as serious or stupid as we want

Aay: like rn????

Kurin: yeah

Riot: I'm in

Aay: sure lets do thissss 💪💪

Kurin: Magnus? are you gonna participate??

Magnus: do I have to?

Kurin: technically no

Kurin: butyou'll probably find the notifications less annoying if you do

Magnus: fine I guess I can join

Kurin: okay so we're all participating, good

Kurin: I'll do the prompts

Kurin: you guys only reply when I end a sentence in "..." ok?

Riot: kk

Aay: u got it!! 🫡

Magnus: okay

Kurin: once upon a time, not a long time ago but just last weekend in a place called...

Aay: deez nuts

Kurin: there was a massive panic, the reason for this panic was...

Magnus: a mysterious woman had appeared

Kurin: this mysterious woman had introduced herself as...

Riot: your mom

Kurin: now you see, this was no ordinary woman for your mom was related to...

Aay: skibidi toilet

Kurin: this relation made her very intimidating so everyone in the town had ran away in fear, screaming...

Riot: toes

Kurin: but before they could get away she...

Magnus: brought out a gun and started to shoot people

Kurin: when she finally finished shooting, all the townspeople were lying dead on the floor, blood pooling out of their corpses.. the woman smiled and said...

Aay: ohio mega skibidi rizz

Riot: time to leave deez nuts

Kurin: but before she could leave...

Riot: a portal opened up

Kurin: and four people appeared from it, their names were...

Aay: joemamapp69

Riot: her royal highness the queen of England

Magnus: Dan Kouzo

Riot: wait lololol why him???

Kurin: (hey type in brackets to show it's not a part of the story)

Riot: (👍)

Magnus: (because an entire town has been killed off in this story already, hopefully it'll kill Dan too)

Aay: (thats a bit mean)

Magnus: (should that matter to me?)

Riot: (Magnus stop being an idgafer)

Magnus: (a what?)

Aay: (an i dont give a fuck er)

Aay: (being one is NOT skibidi rizz of you)

Magnus: (okay and what is skibidi rizz?)

Kurin: (STOP we are not explaining skibidi rizz to Magnus in the middle of our story)

Riot: (yeah lol get on with it, Kurin choose the 4th person already)

Magnus: (okay I don't really want to know what it is anyway)

Kurin: and Ariana Grande, together they were the heroes who would stop your mom.

Kurin: joemamapp69 led the charge, he...

Magnus: dove headfirst into battle with his sword

Kurin: following after him, her royal highness the queen of england...

Riot: had her corgi army attack your mom, biting her ankles

Kurin: Ariana Grande used magical singing powers to knock your mom unconscious, while Dan Kouzo...

Aay: tried to do the sme but couldnt sing well enough

Magnus: tripped over and fell onto a knife

Kurin: luckily he wasn't wounded by the knife or the fall so the only thing wounded was his pride

Kurin: despite Dan's lack of helpfulness, the battle was eventually won...

Aay: your mom was dead

Kurin: so the heroes bid each other farewell and began to leave, joemamapp69 went back to their home world where they instantly...

Aay: said something freaky and got thrown into jail

Kurin: her royal highness the queen of england...

Riot: took herself and her corgis back to living a life of luxury in her palace

Kurin: Ariana Grande resumed her tour and started singing popular from wicked to all the dead bodies

Kurin: Dan was about to go home through the portal when someone else appeared through it

Aay: none other than magnus black

Magnus: (is this where I kill him)

Kurin: when Dan sees Magnus he runs over to him to say hi, Magnus says...

Aay: lets take a romantic walk thru the town of dead ppl

Magnus: (what the fuck)

Riot: (LMAOAOAOAOO)

Kurin: so they held hands and took a nice walk through the town, the gore and the dead bodies while listening to Ariana Grande singing, only for Magnus to...

Magnus: push Dan away and attempt to strangle him

Kurin: it turned out the romantic walk was nothing but a guise for a murder plot, yet before Magnus could succeed, he was interrupted...

Riot: Ash Ketchum from pokemon appeared and challenged them to a pokemon battle

Kurin: unfortunately Magnus and Dan didn't have any pokemon to fight with, so they...

Aay: thought the pokemon with their hands and fists

Kurin: this was working until they realized what pokemon it was...

Aay: pikachu

Kurin: Ash Ketchum called for Pikachu to use thunderbolt...

Riot: it was very effective

Riot: the opposing team has fainted

Riot: Pikachu has won the battle!

Kurin: as the two lie on the floor presumably dead, Ash Ketchum laughed, "that was a great battle dontcha think Pikachu??" then paused as he noticed something was wrong..

Riot: oh?? what's this??

Riot: pikachu is evolving!!

Aay: ash screamed bc pikachu was gonna be a raichu nd he didnt want that

Kurin: luckily, before it could evolve, someone appeared out of nowhere, with a gun they'd stolen from your mom's dead body

Aay: they shot pikachu

Aay: DEATH 💥💥

Kurin: Ash burst into tears, distraught for his dead friend

Kurin: it was time for the mysterious assassin to reveal their identity...

Riot: it was none other than Friede and Captain Pikachu

Kurin: their reasoning??...

Riot: there can only be one protagonist Pikachu

Aay: nd mines got a cooler hat

Kurin: true.

Kurin: Friede and Captain Pikachu left through the portal, leaving Ash Ketchum crying on the ground...

Riot: but then someone else appeared through the portal Friede left through, Liko

Kurin: she said...

Riot: "as an empath I can't stand to see you suffer like this" and she shot Ash straight in the head

Kurin: thus killing him and ending his pain, she then left back through the portal

Kurin: no one dared step foot in Deez nuts again after that incident. once Ariana Grande left, only one living person remained there...

Aay: a man named ur dad

Kurin: where he lived happily ever after with all the corpses he could eat

Kurin: the end

Riot: AAAAA okay I underestimated how fun that'd be tbh

Riot: that was unhinged but like in the best way

Aay: YEAH!!! that was so funnnn

Magnus: I didn't understand anything after I appeared

Kurin: you pretended to go on a romantic walk with Dan as a guise to try and kill him and then you were both killed????

Magnus: no, I understood that

Magnus: I meant I didn't know anyone who appeared or what pokemon even are?

Aay: im gonna make u watch pokemon on GOD bro

Magnus: no thanks

Kurin: will you ever watch anything we reccomend you?

Magnus: no

Riot: cannot believe Aay tried to make a romantic subplot

Aay: a story isn't a story without romance

Riot: uh yes it fucking is?????

Aay: proof????

Riot: barbie

Aay: ??? ken

Riot: pokemon

Aay: did u even watch xy??

Riot: not fully because it was shit

Aay: ... fair

Riot: P&F

Riot: wait no fuck Isabella likes Phineas

Aay: see

Kurin: I hate it when Aay is right about things

Kurin: anyway

Kurin: we should do that again sometime

Magnus: no

Aay: damn

Aay: cant please some ig :(

Kurin: especially not those like Magnus Black

Riot: infamously a hater of everythingggg

Kurin: impossible to impress because he hates everyone

Magnus: fuck you

Aay: see?? proof

Riot: frrrrrrrrr

Monday 7:04 pm.

The second exit.

Kurin: hey what the fuck

Aay: ????

Kurin: my mom's watching the news rn and that gang fight was fucking serious

Kurin: @Magnus are you okay?? like you saw ALL THAT

Aay: oh shit yeah I heard they closed a lot of shops early after the police got involved

Aay: ppl were going to our store instead bc of rhat

Kurin: yeah according to the news some ppl are in hospital

Kurin: I cannot fucking believe Magnus was Right There for that, that has to be kinda terrifying

Magnus: it wasn't

Magnus: you don't need to be concerned for me

Magnus: it wasn't a big deal

Aay: r u sure??? I mean it kinda was a big deal? did it not affect u?

Magnus: I've been an active participant in worse

Magnus: witnessing something like this really isn't a big deal

Kurin: seriously? you can talk about it if needed???

Magnus: I don't

Magnus: so stop concerning yourself over nothing

Magnus: I'm going offline

Kurin: oh okay

Aay: :(

Kurin: well, I guess, back to reading

Kurin: talk to y'all later

Aay: bye kurinnn

Monday 7:38 pm.

The second exit.

Riot: oh

Riot: well THAT certainly happened

Aay: riotttt wanna join me in roblox????

Riot: oh ok! sure?

Magnus swiped away the notifications, ignoring each of them. He'd probably come across slightly snappy to Kurin - he'd make up for it some other time - but presently, he truly couldn't bring himself to care. At that moment, he hadn't wanted to be online dealing with their questioning, so he'd made that clear.

He didn't see why he should have to talk about it, what he'd seen today... It hadn't traumatized him, he'd barely even registered it in all honesty. It was two gangs fighting, that was all. Passers-by got hurt, gang members got their egos either bruised or inflated depending on whether or not they'd been the one to get hit by the punch or had been the one to throw it..
It was a common event, they lived in a city, gangs would fight sometimes, the cops would get involved. Who cared? It was as mundane of a criminal event as someone dropping their trash on the ground was. So as far as Magnus was concerned, it was just a regular Monday. Just because others found it concerning, didn't mean he needed to talk about it.

He hadn't needed to talk about much worse things, he'd never discussed with anyone what he'd been through as a helpless kid, the abuse he'd suffered at the hands of one who should've cared for him, the responsibility of having to make sure his sister was always safe even if doing so put him more at risk, the way he still flinched if someone moved too close to him...

He'd never discussed what he'd seen on the streets, living in grotty alleyways with only himself, his sister and occasionally the stray animals they'd meet for friends. Everyone else he needed to be wary of, gangs were an actual worry back then when they both were too frail and weak to be able to handle them if needed, all strangers were threats and there was always the risk he would find them...

He'd never talked about what he'd been through at AAAnimus, the excruciating pain, the scientists being told he could handle it, forcing himself to handle it because he had to be the strongest. Working himself half to death by repeatedly pushing himself past his limits, being used like a tool for the organization's ambitions until he became useless and was discarded. The others had been there with him but they didn't have the same experiences there that Magnus did.. They had no idea of the extent of what that place had done to him or put him through... And as far as he was concerned, there was no reason for them to find out.

He wouldn't ever discuss what he'd tried to do. He couldn't bring himself to admit something like that, not even to just himself. He refused to think of it.

He'd never talked to anyone about what it had been like, being puppeteered. What it was like having no control over his own body or what came out of his mouth, fighting for control over his own flesh and bones that should've never been under the power of anyone but him. Hearing someone else's voice in his head, seeing strings trailing from the end of each limb and ball joints connecting sections of skin... He wouldn't mention that to anyone. He didn't need to, so he wouldn't.

Some people were insistent that every little thought that popped into their head had to be spoken, seeming to think if they didn't talk about every emotion they'd be stricken by some cruel twist of fate. Subscribing to the belief that talking about your feelings is the most important thing you can do.

Magnus wasn't one of those people, he didn't feel a burning need to discuss his thoughts or feelings, if a topic made him uncomfortable he'd change it. If he was asked about something he didn't want to discuss, he simply wouldn't reply, nor would he give an answer. There was no need to push through and pretend he wanted to talk about something that he'd rather keep his mouth shut about.

He didn't need to talk. He didn't want to talk. That was that.

"You should."

Shut up, Magnus thought back, looking down at where his hand rested across his knees. The ugly red marks still hadn't faded from the last time he'd tried prying the ball joint open, attempted to pull it out of his wrist... It hadn't worked, deep down he'd known it wouldn't, the voice in his head had told him just as much too. He hadn't cared, thinking that if he could just remove the marionette part, then maybe regular bone would grow back in its place...

He'd regretted trying very shortly after he'd started, felt guilty as he bandaged himself up, relieved later on when Emily bought his lie about having an accident in the kitchen... Swore to himself in private he wouldn't try it again.

He knew the joints weren't really there, neither were the strings.

He knew he'd fall for the illusion again though.

Believe they were real.

Start scratching and prying and cutting and-

He needed to stop.

Magnus tore his eyes away from his wrist and focused them on a particular spot on the ceiling of his room, trying to force his mind to go blank and to stop thinking.

He hadn't been affected by anything today.

He hadn't.

"Oh yeah? What about when that tall dark-haired gang member threw that glass bottle at that member of the other gang but it missed and hit that wall next to that little kid? Didn't that remind you of-"

SHUT UP! He mentally screamed back, drowning out that voice which seriously didn't know when to shut its metaphorical mouth.

He was fine. He didn't need to think about it. He didn't have to worry. Nothing was wrong. He hadn't been reminded of anything.

Kurin and Aay had been being dramatic assuming he'd have been affected by it.

Of course he wasn't.

"Then why is your heart beating a million miles a minute? Why are you still holding your breath after all these hours? Why did you agree to participate in that stupid story earlier if not as a distraction? You do realise you're crying, right?"

Magnus blinked, surprising himself when his vision was blurry and wet when his eyes reopened. He hadn't realised it but the voice was right, his eyes had welled up with tears. He didn't know why.

He roughly wiped his eyes with his sleeve, trying to get the tears to go away quickly. He didn't cry. Magnus Black didn't cry.
He let out a quiet groan, reaching for his phone to distract himself. His message notifications were going crazy, momentarily he debated replying to a message but he didn't have it in him. Instead he opened YouTube, clicking on the first video that showed up - a review of some movie he'd never watched and never intended to watch - and leaned back against the wall, phone in his hands, letting the loud enthusiastic voice of some youtuber drown out the thoughts in his head.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard the voice tell him he was just making things worse by avoiding thinking about his problems...

He ignored it.

Nothing was wrong.

There wasn't anything he needed to talk or think about.

And that was that.