Re: The Battle Royale S2 [Round 3: Endymion]
08-03-2011, 12:33 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by MalkyTop.
”Aaaah, shit, shit, shit.” Mongoose jumped away as the ground crumbled like cake. Before the rift grew too wide, he managed to grab Snake’s wrist and pulled him over to his side. The two of them backed away a safe distance and watched as the new crevice eventually stopped shuddering. Then Snake reached up and snapped Mongoose’s rubber band three times.
The two stood in silence for a while longer (though Mongoose rubbed his wrist sullenly) before Snake finally said, “Should we go down there?”
“What? No! We can’t—it just—why would—AGH.” Mongoose kicked some debris around before facing Snake again. “Why the hell would we follow a reject that just turned into sludge, washed down the drain, and somehow left a trail that ate through the ground?”
“Because it’ll certainly be interesting.”
“What—you—it’ll be suicidal, that’s what it’ll be! Running through stupid sewers after some sentient muck that just up and fainted and—you’re not even listening!” Mongoose knew this was a fact because Snake was already carefully jumping down the crevice.
With the benefit of Snake being out of sight, Mongoose let out a few curses as quietly as he could before following. As infuriating as Snake was, he wasn’t about to leave him alone.
“Glad you could join us,” Snake said pleasantly as Mongoose splashed down and managed not to fall over. As the young man waded over to the side, Snake reached over and snapped the rubber band exceptionally hard.
“Fffffff—us…?” Mongoose hissed. It was then he noticed that Snake was holding a knife. And now that he thought of it, he remembered that the reject definitely had a hilt sticking out his side.
“Hi,” said the knife. It was not quite something he expected.
“This knife was very helpful and I would tell you what is going on, but we must hurry.”
There were several choice exclamations Mongoose could exclaim, and indeed tried to exclaim, but it all came out as spluttered nonsense.
“Maybe I’ll tell you later. Judging by the direction this sewage is rushing, it would probably be a good idea to head this way.”
“If we can talk to each other, then he must not be far,” the knife added. Mongoose wished it would stop. “And if you see a camera, it would be good to pick that up.”
As the two of them started trudging through the surprisingly large sewers, Mongoose ventured nervously, “Not…everything’s gonna talk, right? Like, walls…and stuff…”
“It depends,” the knife replied very airily.
“Ah, I can see the tell-tale trail of black sludge…watch your step,” Snake called back. “It would be good to find him soon. I’d hate to think what would happen if he managed to cut straight through Endymion.”
Mongoose stopped. “That can’t be possible.”
“With him, anything’s possible, really,” the knife said, and as Mongoose stared, he was quite certain he saw it shrug. He decided to just imagine that it was just Snake talking, or perhaps even a third person that was far more sensible and probably didn’t try to punish him every time he said a nasty word. He would like such a person to exist.
The floor felt as though it were buckling underneath him. Mongoose would say it was probably his imagination, but that seemed quite a stupid thing to think considering the circumstances and he walked a bit faster. He only ended up running right into Snake’s back.
“What? What is it?” He tried not to say ‘What’s wrong now?’ but, regardless, it came out through his tone.
“Well. It appears this leads downwards.”
“How far downwards?”
“Very far downwards.”
Mongoose finally just peered over Snake’s shoulders. He was right. It was very far downwards. He was fairly certain that it wasn’t built like that before, mostly because it was a ridiculously large pit that probably didn’t quite fit the proportions of the entire moon. Yet another impossible thing to throw into the pile, really.
“We’re not gonna jump down there,” Mongoose said suddenly.
“Now, I wasn’t going to say that we were,” Snake replied.
“Oh how swell. At least you’re not completely suicidal.”
“But we should find our way down, in any case. And if I understand correctly, this being a dream of sorts, we may find one easier than you think.”
“Yeah. Right.” Mongoose looked around for something nice, like a ladder. Or maybe a slide. Then he realized what had been said. “Wait. What.”
“Hm?”
“You said ‘dream.’ I heard you say ‘dream.’”
“Oh, yes. This is a dream. That’s part of the explanation of what’s going on, yes.”
“What. Okay, whatever. Who’s dreaming.”
“The one we are looking for, of course.”
“Are you saying I’m just part of a dream that some stupid reject’s having.”
“No, that’s not how it works. You’re real. It is not that we’re implanted in the dream, it is the dream is implanted in the real world. Although the effect is about the same, I suppose.”
“What.”
“Well, you see—“
“No. No, no, no. No. Don’t explain. Please don’t. Let’s just finish this already.”
Snake seemed to be laughing silently at him. The bastard. “Alright.”
The kni—no, no, the third person said, “Uh, we should hurry. The last time I was with him, he was sort of having an identity crisis. And I don’t really think that’ll bode well for this dream.”
”Aaaah, shit, shit, shit.” Mongoose jumped away as the ground crumbled like cake. Before the rift grew too wide, he managed to grab Snake’s wrist and pulled him over to his side. The two of them backed away a safe distance and watched as the new crevice eventually stopped shuddering. Then Snake reached up and snapped Mongoose’s rubber band three times.
The two stood in silence for a while longer (though Mongoose rubbed his wrist sullenly) before Snake finally said, “Should we go down there?”
“What? No! We can’t—it just—why would—AGH.” Mongoose kicked some debris around before facing Snake again. “Why the hell would we follow a reject that just turned into sludge, washed down the drain, and somehow left a trail that ate through the ground?”
“Because it’ll certainly be interesting.”
“What—you—it’ll be suicidal, that’s what it’ll be! Running through stupid sewers after some sentient muck that just up and fainted and—you’re not even listening!” Mongoose knew this was a fact because Snake was already carefully jumping down the crevice.
With the benefit of Snake being out of sight, Mongoose let out a few curses as quietly as he could before following. As infuriating as Snake was, he wasn’t about to leave him alone.
“Glad you could join us,” Snake said pleasantly as Mongoose splashed down and managed not to fall over. As the young man waded over to the side, Snake reached over and snapped the rubber band exceptionally hard.
“Fffffff—us…?” Mongoose hissed. It was then he noticed that Snake was holding a knife. And now that he thought of it, he remembered that the reject definitely had a hilt sticking out his side.
“Hi,” said the knife. It was not quite something he expected.
“This knife was very helpful and I would tell you what is going on, but we must hurry.”
There were several choice exclamations Mongoose could exclaim, and indeed tried to exclaim, but it all came out as spluttered nonsense.
“Maybe I’ll tell you later. Judging by the direction this sewage is rushing, it would probably be a good idea to head this way.”
“If we can talk to each other, then he must not be far,” the knife added. Mongoose wished it would stop. “And if you see a camera, it would be good to pick that up.”
As the two of them started trudging through the surprisingly large sewers, Mongoose ventured nervously, “Not…everything’s gonna talk, right? Like, walls…and stuff…”
“It depends,” the knife replied very airily.
“Ah, I can see the tell-tale trail of black sludge…watch your step,” Snake called back. “It would be good to find him soon. I’d hate to think what would happen if he managed to cut straight through Endymion.”
Mongoose stopped. “That can’t be possible.”
“With him, anything’s possible, really,” the knife said, and as Mongoose stared, he was quite certain he saw it shrug. He decided to just imagine that it was just Snake talking, or perhaps even a third person that was far more sensible and probably didn’t try to punish him every time he said a nasty word. He would like such a person to exist.
The floor felt as though it were buckling underneath him. Mongoose would say it was probably his imagination, but that seemed quite a stupid thing to think considering the circumstances and he walked a bit faster. He only ended up running right into Snake’s back.
“What? What is it?” He tried not to say ‘What’s wrong now?’ but, regardless, it came out through his tone.
“Well. It appears this leads downwards.”
“How far downwards?”
“Very far downwards.”
Mongoose finally just peered over Snake’s shoulders. He was right. It was very far downwards. He was fairly certain that it wasn’t built like that before, mostly because it was a ridiculously large pit that probably didn’t quite fit the proportions of the entire moon. Yet another impossible thing to throw into the pile, really.
“We’re not gonna jump down there,” Mongoose said suddenly.
“Now, I wasn’t going to say that we were,” Snake replied.
“Oh how swell. At least you’re not completely suicidal.”
“But we should find our way down, in any case. And if I understand correctly, this being a dream of sorts, we may find one easier than you think.”
“Yeah. Right.” Mongoose looked around for something nice, like a ladder. Or maybe a slide. Then he realized what had been said. “Wait. What.”
“Hm?”
“You said ‘dream.’ I heard you say ‘dream.’”
“Oh, yes. This is a dream. That’s part of the explanation of what’s going on, yes.”
“What. Okay, whatever. Who’s dreaming.”
“The one we are looking for, of course.”
“Are you saying I’m just part of a dream that some stupid reject’s having.”
“No, that’s not how it works. You’re real. It is not that we’re implanted in the dream, it is the dream is implanted in the real world. Although the effect is about the same, I suppose.”
“What.”
“Well, you see—“
“No. No, no, no. No. Don’t explain. Please don’t. Let’s just finish this already.”
Snake seemed to be laughing silently at him. The bastard. “Alright.”
The kni—no, no, the third person said, “Uh, we should hurry. The last time I was with him, he was sort of having an identity crisis. And I don’t really think that’ll bode well for this dream.”