Fantraveler 2: Friday Night Funkin

21: Eric

     I teleport into a hot, dry area. I look around. There's orangish dirt everywhere. Or is that sand? I can never tell. I came here for one reason. I think about when I saw Tankman. The way he was partially corrupted. Almost no doubt he's corrupted now. He wasn't strong enough and even I know it. Thinking about that tells me that I need to be careful. If I become corrupt, I won't be able to fight it. If someone as strong as Tankman can't pull through the corruption, the chances are very slim that I can.

     I look around. I see some people shooting. The tankmen shooting at the enemy. They were never really given a name, the opposing team. I like to call them Troops. Mainly because I've never seen any of them actually own a tank, which would make more sense as to why they were pretty fine with taking Tankman and Steve's tank. At the same time though, there really wasn't much thought put into it as they traded the tank back to watch a 3 hour bad quality movie. Oh well. That's lore for ya.

     I tap the outfit selector on my communicator and I change into basic Tankmen armor. Squarish goggles with no apparent marking for rank. I choose my gun in the process. A Submachine with a BUNCH of ammo in each magazine. I'm good to go. I run up to the tankmen and I start shooting at the Troops. They don't think much of it.

     I'm pretty decent at this. My uncle used to take me to a shooting range. He always showed me the best way to shoot someone, whether it would be the quickest way to kill them, disable them, make them hurt the worst (which we all know where to shoot for that) and bleed the most. I decided to go for the spot that hurt the worst. The troops screamed as the other tankmen laughed.

     "Hah! Get fkd, bchs!" one of them says. The other one laughs. I use my communicator to change my voice to be more masculine before laughing as well. I think it would just make my life a WHOLE lot easier if I pretended to be a guy. Chances are, it will.

     The one that talked shoots down the last troop and we all look at each other.

    "Hey dude, haven't seen ya around. What's your name?" the second one asks. I come up with a random male name.

     "Eric," I say. It's a simple name. Just like everyone else's. At the same time, it sets someone apart. I don't know why, but a name that can be so common, in my opinion, means someone who is so different from the rest. Whether it's good or bad, it doesn't really matter. It doesn't really seem to be known if it's good or bad, actually.

     "How long have you been here for?" the first one asks. It takes me a moment. How long? How long? How long?

     "Oh jeez. It's been a while. I lost track of time." I respond. Hah. guys. Never know what time it is. "Do any of you guys know where Captain is?"

   They both look at eachother. "Not really" the second one says. "The guy just disappeared about a week ago. Nobody knows where he went."

     A week. He's been suffering for a whole week. Here I was visiting mods and making cheese, while he's been suffering.

     "The second in command is in charge right now. He's unstable though. He keeps saying something isn't right. He's not been talking to anyone since Captain disappeared." the first one informs.

     "Could you maybe take me to him?" I ask.

     "That depends on if he's accepting anyone, but sure," he says. The other one walks off. He tells me to follow him so I do. "I'm Mark, by the way. That one was Bob, sadly." I want to say oof. Being named Bob is sad. Unless you're a sponge. Or if you look like dream. Or if your smile is blue.

     I follow him through the base. Across concrete walls, through metal doors guarded by more no-rank tankmen. Long twisted hallways. Stairs. More hallways. More stairs. Jeez. How do people know how to get around this place?

     We finally reach a door. "He should be in there" Mark whispers before walking away. I make sure nobody's around before changing back to my normal self, voice and all. I knock on the door. No response. I lean my head against the door and I can hear soft whimpering. Steve.

     I wonder if he would have been happier if he made cheese.

     "I know where John is." I say calmly as I lift my head away from the door. Seconds later, the door opens. Steve doesn't have his helmet on. Not much of anything else, really. Just the jump suit they wear. No gloves, boots, or vest. I look at his eyes. They're watery and bloodshot. He's definitely been crying.

     "Where is he?" he asks quickly.

     "I'm not too sur-"

     "YOU SAID YOU KNEW WHERE HE IS!" Steve yells. He's angry. A few seconds later, tears swell in his eyes again. He calms down, mostly from sadness.

     "I know what happened." I say. He looks up. Oh no. here goes nothing. "He..." I start. I can feel my face wanting to cry, but I hold it back. I don't deserve to cry right now. Compared to the pain that Steve has. "He got corrupted."

     Steve is silent. His eyes are unfocused, like he isn't there. He quickly slams the door. I sigh. I didn't think he was going to take it well. I wouldn't take it well either if my best friend got corrupted. I mean- not that I have a best friend. Just... if I did.

     I start to walk away, then the door opens again. I turn around and I see Steve in full armor. He slides on his helmet, his face full of determination. "Let's go then."