A Heist with Markiplier

Intermission 3: William

Alise woke up in a cold sweat, tears still streaming down their face as they sat up on their bed; they could feel their wound sending waves of pain through their body again. They looked around, feeling the mattress below them... They seemed to be back in the B&B's room Mark had rented for the night.
They sighed and hid their face in their knees, taking deep breaths; she still couldn't believe what she'd seen. Was all of it actually real? Was the Colonel really that far gone? A sob escaped her lips as the guilt kept growing inside them... If only they'd just stayed dead, then maybe he wouldn't have been in such a state...

Mark sat up as well on his bed, and noticing how Alise seemed to be crying he widened his eyes "W-what happened?! Did you have a nightmare?" He asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Alise shook their head "N-no, yes? No I- what I saw... It just felt so real..."

The actor grimly nodded, looking down "That tends to happen quite a bit when you're inhabiting someone else's body, but it's okay... What did you dream about?"

"It-it was... The Colonel..."

Mark froze in shock, then soon his mouth closed into a bitter frown "William... or as he calls himself lately, Warfstache... did he do something to you?" he asked, saying 'Warfstache' in a mocking tone.

The district attorney glanced over at Mark, wiping their tears off "So... He truly goes by that name nowadays?"

"Yes, he's been going by that since the 80s..." Mark explained.

Alise sighed a bit, that was 40 years ago... Time sure flew by while they were trapped in that place "Has he also... Been doing interviews since the 80s? Because that's what I was dragged into, he tried interviewing me, but then a mosquito entered the set, it landed on my face and he tried to shoot me to get rid of it an-"

"HE TRIED TO DO WHAT?!" The man interrupted her, his mouth agape "Oh I swear when I see him again-"

Alise covered their ears "It's- it's okay! He... He didn't hurt me... He actually stopped when I called him Colonel-"

Mark scoffed "I'm surprised he even remembers that old nickname, considering how messed up in the head he is... So you managed to stop him like that, huh?"

"Y-yes... What the hell happened to him...? Sure, he was a bit eccentric in the past, but now- now it seems like he sees everything as a joke!"

The actor sighed, he would've rather not told Alise what had become of him, but it seemed like there was no hope of avoiding the topic now "Warfstache is... A known serial killer, it is said that many of the people he's interviewed didn't live to tell the tale, so you were pretty lucky"

Alise felt their heart drop "N-no... That can't be... A-a serial killer?!"

"Oh but it CAN be- guess he took a liking to it after he gunned down you and Abe... And me, but that was planned" he replied, his voice full of spite.

Alise lowered their glance, they didn't feel like that was right "N-no... he didn't mean it" they muttered "I'm sure he never wanted to hurt anyone-"

"WHAT ABOUT ME, ALISE?!" the actor suddenly snapped, "You're telling me that he meant no harm in taking Celine from me and exploiting me for money?! You think he was doing me a favor?!"

"I-"

"You think I was having fun, knowing my wife was sleeping with another man?!" he kept going every fiber of his body shaking.

"NO! Of course not I just-" Alise tried justifying herself.

"Then WHY are you siding with him?!"

"I'm not siding with anybody!" they yelled back, tears welling up in their eyes, before taking a deep breath, they were not going to cry, not this time "Honestly- honestly regardless of what motivations either of you had, y'all made some ghastly decisions, and as much as you want to believe yours were completely justified, like hell they were! You two have hurt so many people with your madness and selfishness-" they kept shouting, standing up on the bed.
Mark was about to object again, but Alise cut him off immediately "and yeah- yeah I'm still sticking with you despite it all, because you're my friend, and I CARE about you, so SO much- and that's why I gotta hold you accountable for what you did! Both the good and the bad, all I'm asking is that you don't put words in my mouth and that you recognize that you're not exempt from wrongdoings!"
By the time Alise was done, her face was red from shouting so much and Mark had shrunken down into his covers, making a mental note to never try to start an argument with them... he thought he could get away with it after decades of them being trapped in there, but it seemed like their lawyerly senses were as sharp as ever... and once again, her words cut deep, so much so that he almost felt guilty... key word being 'almost'.

He sighed "A-alright... got it..." he muttered, looking back up at them as they sat on the edge of the bed again "I'm... I'm sorry for lashing out" he then added, feeling suddenly vulnerable once he noticed their stern look.

"It's fine..." Alise replied, looking back at him "You're scared I'll betray you one day, aren't you?"

Mark flinched, widening his eyes "I- h-how--"

"I could see the fear in your eyes the moment you thought I was siding with the Colonel" she smiled a bit "I understand why you might fear that... but I could never abandon you... not after what we've both been through" they tried reassuring him.

The man chuckled grimly "I almost hate how well you can read me... kinda creepy but- thanks... it means a lot" he finally smiled "Now... I think I'll get back to bed, I need a nice beauty sleep after all this" he said, relaxing into the covers.

Alise giggled and went back to bed as well "Good night, Mark..."