Prison of the dead (Labyrinth of Monsters' sequel) A hermitcraft/3rd life fanfic

Chapter 1 - Skizz

Time to forget how to write third person again!

I watch as everyone else reunites with their friends in silence. Impulse isn't with them. 

Impulse.

My brother.

He's not here.

Tango waves at me, and I wave half-heartedly back as he jogs over, calling my name.

'Skizz! You're here!'

'Yeah, I'm here. What's going on? Why are so many people not waking up? Why isn't Impulse waking up?!' It all comes out in a mess of panicked questions. Zedaph has followed him over, as well as someone I don't recognize, with wings and shaggy hair. 

'I don't know... EX was definitely hiding something when he invited us to leave the maze.'

'EX?'

'One of the creators.' Tango explains, looking around the room with a frown. 'What happened? Clearly some of the dead are waking up, since you're here.'

It all flashes back to me for a moment. Running, panicking, pulled away by one of the maze people. And then an arrow through my neck. Realizing that Etho had killed me. 

Etho. Another friend. Was he alive?

I scan the room for the ninja. It's a large place, but with a guilty annoyance I notice him, chatting with Doc, Bdubs and someone I don't recognize. Of course he made it out. He always seemed to survive.

'Etho's here.' I note. 'And Doc.'

'Doc? Great... I can't wait to kill him.' I look over at the person I don't recognize, mildly concerned. Seemingly realizing we haven't met, he holds out his hand. 'I'm Grian. I'm guessing you're the infamous Skizzleman that Impulse killed himself over.' 

I shake the hand, before realising what he's said. 

'Wait... WHAT?!'

'Long story.'

Suddenly, there's a commotion from somewhere in the room. Jimmy has shoved someone who looks a lot like Xisuma against the wall, and is now screaming at him.

'WHERE'S SCOTT?!' He questions ferociously. 'WHERE IS HE? WHAT HAPPENED?!' 

'Everyone will be alright eventually.' Xisuma's lookalike avoids the question, slipping away. I sense an opportunity to speak. 

'And where's Impulse?' I call over. 

'And Ren.'

'And Cub?'

I look over at the ones who have spoken. Me, Jimmy, Martyn, and someone in a brown cowboy hat. Allies maybe? I don't know, and frown as Xisuma's lookalike speaks again.

'Fine. I'll tell you. When Impulse killed himself, it affected something in this world, and broke the revival systems for everyone who died after that. We are working hard to fix it, but-'

'Why's everyone talking about Impy commiting suicide?! What happened?' I ask again furiously. A few others are nodding. I sense Tango stiffen next to me. Eventually, Grian speaks.

'Impulse killed himself because Etho killed Skizz!' He declares. 'All his friends were dying, and he wanted to be with you again. He'd already avenged your death, and was tired of the same thing every day. So, he killed himself.'

'I didn't mean to kill him! I was intending to kill the Convex, because they were going to kill both of them. But I missed.' Etho explains hotly. 

'You never miss.' Tango points out, voice full of suspicion. 'If you wanted to make that shot, you would've.'

'Why did you kill me?!' I can't help but yell. This jerk had caused my brother's suicide, and therefore everyone else's death. Intentionally. Because Tango's right.

Etho never misses.  

'I don't want to talk about this.' The ninja replied, hands up in furious surrender. 'Not now. Impulse killed me, surely that's revenge enough.' 

'Everyone! Calm down! I'm sure we can settle our differences at another point.' 

'F*** off.' Martyn interrupted. 'I don't know who you are, but f*** off and stop pretending our friends aren't dead.'

'Yeah, shut up until you actually come up with something useful to say.' Cowboy-guy agrees. 

'F*** off or I'll kill you.' Jimmy joins in. The same people as before. 

'Say something useful, or keep your mouth shut.' I decide to affirm my position in this mutual our-best-friends-are-dead-and-i-don't-like-that alliance by also saying something. Our new-enemy looks around, before storming past us all and out a pair of double doors on the other side of the room. My eyes lock with Martyn's for a moment, and he signals for me to come over. 

I walk quickly over. Jimmy and the other person join me. I smile half-awkwardly at them. 

'So.' Martyn begins. 'We should create an alliance.'

'Agreed.' 

'Sounds good.' 

I nod too, and the alliance is formed. 

'Then the first thing we need is to get what our names are. I'm Martyn.'

'Skizzleman. But you can call me Skizz.' 

'Solidarity, but I prefer Jimmy.'

'Scar.'

'When should we meet again?' I ask. 'And where?'

Martyn looks around at us for suggestions. Jimmy ends up talking first.

'Well, we don't know where everything is, so meet back here for the first meeting. Then we can decide. We should meet again tomorrow,'

'And we can all brainstorm name ideas in the meantime.' Martyn adds. 

We all agree to this, and look back to the doors, as someone else enters. They're green, with a short-sleeved shirt and a beige waistcoat and a pair of goggles on top of their head. 

'So. You're all here.' They have a strange accent too, which I realise is Russian. 'I'm Zloy. Now. You're probably all wondering what's going on.'

'Will our friends be ok?' Jimmy calls over. The rest of the group, including me, nods. 

'Well, we've decided you're all going to stay in here until they are. I will now lead you all into the rooms you were in before you entered the maze. Just follow me.' 

He doesn't answer our question. I realise that no one will, but we all follow him anyway. Eventually, I'm lead to a room with mine and impulse's name on the door. Another harsh reminder that he's dead. I enter, and collapse on one of the beds, thinking, trying to distract myself from Impulse's death. He's dead. He's actually dead. My brother- no, they're trying to fix it. He's not dead. He can't be. He just can't. 

I roll so I'm facing the wall, dissolving into tears as the truth truly sets in. I'll never see him again. Never. After all we've been through, inside and outside the maze. 

I close my eyes and cry myself to sleep.

Woo! First chapter!