Showtime Showdown (Reversed Story, BATIM + SB)

Chapt. 1 END |☆| Part 5 - Going Deeper In

Pushing open the door as it let out a creak, Bandit shoved the door shut the second he got the chance.

He was in another room now, this one less inky, yet... equally as uncomfortable.

A plank leaned against the wall, and for a minute, Bandit considered picking it up as a weapon, but-

"No, no- Last thing y'need is somethin' that'll take both hands ta' fight with!"
Bandit scolded himself, this time unflinching when he stepped forwatd and heard the 'Splash!' of a puddle beneath his boot.

Bandit skipped over the barrels, scanning the room until, off to his left, his expression lit up as he noticed the abandoned workbench.
"Well, lookee here!" Bandit whistled, heading over to examine it.

And, it had... nothing in particular.

Practically deflating, Bandit realized this fairly quickly when he rummaged through the drawers and didn't find a single noteworthy item.

He really wasn't getting a weapon out of this, was he?

Bandit glanced around, catching sight of the caved-in hallway behind him and blinking.

He furrowed his brow with concern, stepping closer to the rubble-filled hallway.

Hesitantly, he ran a hand across the ruined stone and splintered wood, and glanced back at the way he came in.

This was the only path that Bandit had found.

He couldn't go back up, so maybe he had to go deeper?

Peeking around the rubble, he soon spotted a small gap within it.
And, holding hope deep down, Bandit began to scale the rubble, peeking through.

The path was small. Small enough no average puppet could climb through it, in fact.
Someone like Doc Carver or Banker would have trouble, but the Hemsworth family was a short bunch.

(Quite honestly, he could never tell if Buddy did it just to tease him, Making his entire family some of the smallest puppets around...)

So, with a bit of wiggling, Bandit found it easy to slip in; crawling through the small tunnel and coming out the other side into a small hallway, Bandit's face met the ground before the rest of him with the clatter of wood hitting floorboads.

"-Ow."

Bandit rolled onto his back for a moment, staring up at the ceiling in disappointment before sitting upright.

"Everyone okay?" He muttered softly, picking the plushes from their perches one by one to check.

"..Yep, yep... Yep! All of you are good as gravy."

With a sigh of relief, the bandit put each one back- The demon and dog-thing in his pockets, the little lady in his bandana, and he was good to go.

Tilting his gaze to the room ahead, Bandit froze.

Coffins, a ritual? Bandit swallowed a lump in his throat, standing up from the floor and glancing around as he entered.

And, stepping on the circle a bit hesitantly- He didn't really have a choice, it took up the area in front of the entrance, and pretty much the middle of the room- Bandit glanced around.

It was quiet, perhaps... too much so; But a sudden heavy SLAM of the door he came from crashing shut snapped Bandit's attention to the possible danger, yelping.

The sound of a faint breath, blowing from somewhere just out of sight, caused all the candles to blow out; Bandit tripped over his feet, landing on his backside with a Thunk! as the room remained dark.

"B-Buddy..." Bandit croaked out, shaking like a leaf.
"Buddy, Ion' wanna be here anymore.."

Bandit curled up in the dark room, gripping his hat tightly and tugging it over what little of his face was out as he cowered for just a moment.

Showdown Bandit usually had something.
A person, a weapon; Something to make him feel safe.

But right now, even the plushies present in his pockets and bandana struggled to soothe him, a puppet lost in unfamiliar terrain.

He just needed a moment...

And then, He'd press back onwards.
After all, he had no choice.

|----|° • CHAPTER 1: END • °|----|