art stuff

Taken from Martyn's second Past Life episode

Like it says on the tin, folks. I'm putting a spoiler warning here  for that reason juuuuuuuussssssssttttttt in case. I dunno if it is enough to count, but if it is and I didn't correctly warn you, then I would be at fault so I'm tryin to cover my bases. You have been warned :)

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Ok

So there was a moment where it was raining and Martyn was doing a bit, I think, but everyone didn't move for about half a second and my brain went "what if we did something with that"

So here you go. I would like to say, none of the events here are meant to be a reflection of the canon, it's just something I wrote for funsies

"The rain is so loud, geez." Skizz mutters, wiping some of the offending liquid from his face. "Yeah–it is, isn't it? Almost can't hear you." Martyn agrees, then pauses when he doesn't get a reply.

It might have something to do with the fact that the world has gone completely silent.

Not only that, but everyone else has frozen, too–even the incessant pummelling of rain has ceased in its entirety. Skizz has his mouth half open like he was about to continue speaking, Jimmy is still sitting on the unfinished roof of the Rejects' base, and BigB is leaning against a wall so he can look at both Skizz and Martyn. A shiver trails down Martyn's back, both of fear and a result of the chill sweeping through the air as the temperature rapidly begins to drop.

He's so cold.

"What's going on–guys? Can you hear me?" Nothing. For all the liveliness and emotion in their faces, his fellow Lifers look too close to lifeless for his comfort. "Skizz? BigB?" He asks, waving a hand in front of the latter, then snapping his fingers beside his ear in the hopes of snapping(pun not intended) the Lifer out of it–whatever 'it' may be. Nothing happens either way, not so much as a blink or subtle rise and fall of the shoulders to indicate breathing. Martyn backs away, extremely disconcerted. After a few moments, he moves past them and shoves his way outside to look around. Maybe it's another glitch. Maybe it's just in this chunk. If the others are stuck, he should inform Grian, right?

Martyn finds himself jogging the whole way to the lighthouse, however his anxiety grows worse as he finds the rain remains frozen and the fog leaves his vision limited. Is it getting closer? It better not be. What's more, upon calling out to Gem as he approaches, he discovers she's paused, too! "What the hell is going on...?" Martyn whispers, slowly inspecting her for any clues as to what happened(as far as he can tell, virtually nothing).

After a swift but thorough search for the Admin, Martyn moves on and tries to make sense of it all. It's like someone hit the pause button on life, and it's just waiting for the person watching to hit play again. He stumbles; half of his brain wanting to stop moving while the other half feels like moving is good(if he stops then maybe he will pause too, and he's not sure what that will do. What if it doesn't end? What if he'd still be aware, trapped and screaming for freedom within his own mind? Nobody would be able to save them then). However, the point remains.

Martyn knows some who Watch.

He's just reached the hill that looks out at the Cabins before planting his feet and looking at the sky. "Alright then, if you want something, why don't you just come out and get on with it already?" He shouts, then refuses to tense up(not visibly, anyway) when the prickly knowledge of being observed comes upon him. This is Them. They always feel like that, like They can see through and into you, rifling through treasures and buried, dirty secrets like how he's–

Stop it.

Don't focus on that.

Think of something else.

Netty.

Netty and her onesies; which Scott's clothes reminded him of. Old, happy memories of foolish antics he got up to with Grian and Jimmy, all of the jokes from Last Life, roleplaying with Ren...

The Watching recedes a little bit.

Better.

"Right, I know you're here. What do you want?" He states, crossing his arms. They have done many things, but never without a purpose, and never like this. They have to want something. "Your performance of late has been...lacking. We are not pleased." They answer, a voice that rumbles as much as it echoes and bounces through the rain. "What, you're mad that I died third last time? I wasn't trying to! And even so, I already won a Season. I'm good." Martyn points out, however he can still sense the displeasure emanating from Those who Watch. "What do you want me to do about it? I've had my win, and now it should be someone else's. I can try not dying before everyone else, but it's not like I died early in the Season last time." He sighs. This was apparently the wrong thing to say, angering Them for some reason. Hell if he knows. "The one appointed as Admin is doing better at killing than you are. You will perform better. You will try harder to win. Do not disappoint us." Martyn scowls, shifting in place for a moment before scuffing the ground with his foot. "Why should I? More often than not, you've used me and then left me to die. Maybe I'm bored–maybe I'm tired of being your pawn." He challenges.

This was also the wrong thing to say.

Martyn's body is no longer his; leaving him helpless to watch as he takes off his armour and dumps it in a pile, as well as his sword and shield. "Do not question us. It will have...consequences." They warn. Martyn starts walking towards the edge of the hill, discovering it has a sheer drop-off. The fall might not kill him, but it will damn well hurt, leaving him vulnerable to monsters and boogeymen alike. This is t a he sight someone jumps from just for the fun of it. Martyn tries to will himself to stop, take a step back or even speak to take back his words, but none of these things happen. He continues walking mechanically towards the edge. One step, two steps, three.

His next step is out over open air.

Martyn closes his eyes, waiting for the pitch forward.

"—tyn!" Arms wrap around his chest and pull him back, and everything goes back to normal. The rain resumes, Martyn can control himself again, and upon turning to see who pulled him back, he discovers Scar. "I know these things can get really hard, but it's not worth throwing yourself off a cliff for!" He exclaims, still pulling the blond away and to solid ground for a few seconds before deciding he's satisfied and letting go. How did Scar get here?? Martyn hadn't seen him anywhere close! "Are you okay? You need help with something?" The Lifer continues, then looks at the sky. "Oh, it's raining again." Martyn doesn't say anything for a moment, just trying to get his bearings and process what happened. He was about to fall off the cliff. Scar saved him. The world unfroze.

Scar saved him before the world unfroze.

"How did you–everything was frozen, I don't understand–" Martyn starts, then stops when Scar motions to be quiet. "The rain stopped for me, too." He admits, looking around as though wary of being overheard. "Yeah, clearly–how? Why?" Martyn asks. The rain is still cold, but compared to the cold from before, it's warm and welcoming. Considering neither men make any attempt to shield themselves from it, they appear to be in agreement on this. "I don't know for sure. I think it's because I'm still stuck in Secret Life." Scar answers. Before he can ask for the Lifer to elaborate, the comms buzz–Skizz and Jimmy are asking where he went. "I'll have to go back and assure them I've not died or something, but you...we're gonna talk about that later. Okay?" Martyn states, pointing at Scar. The man nods pleasantly, and they go their separate ways.