Level 2

313 14 8
                                    

"Who's the kid on your back?" she asked. "I'm no kid! I'm 17!" I would answer. "It's Oliver. He hurt his leg before so he can't walk." Fukase said. "Oh, cool. Though does he know that he has a Jerry on top of his head?" She would say with a concerned but weirded out tone. "Yeah, I do. Jerry is basically our pet now!" Jerry would squeak some weird but angry words I couldn't understand. "Just feed him and it'll be fine." Fukase was saying. "Nah, I'm good. Just control your bird." She said and I nodded. "Alright Jerry, don't try to mind control her, she's one of us now, ok?" He would squeak in a very worrying tone. Is he sick? "Hey, it'll be fine!" I told him. "Anyway, let's get going. I've been stuck on level 2 for a really long time, this place is basically my home." Flower said as she began to walk. Fukase would follow up and just after a short time walk in front of Vflower. "Jeez, what's with the hurry?" She'd say in a taunting tone. I guess she's aware of how fast he walks. "Keep up or get lost." Fukase said. I bet he only said that... They just met again! He wouldn't want her to be lost... "Hah, you're an idiot." Oh, they're these kinds of mocking friends? I've never been friends with someone that way... I wonder if it's fun? But I'd rather just be nice! As we're walking, I'd feel as though the air was getting hotter. Maybe it's because I'm higher up than the others though? I'd start to sweat. If it gets hotter I'll tell them then. I looked up at the pipes to see if anything was leaking out, but I couldn't see anything so far. Maybe it's just my imagination because of what Fukase told me before... Okay, no, no it's definitely not! My skin felt like it was burning, and it was extremely hard to breathe. How did they not notice? "Um.. Guys? It's extremely hot, are you certain this hallway is safe?" Flower would shrug her shoulders. "Ion really feel anythin'... Let's go a bit further to see." Fukase would put me down again. "No, No. I'll just go and look. You two stay here." Fukase would start to run forward until I couldn't see him anymore. It was just me, Flower and Jerry now. "Do you like him?" Flower asked me. "What?" I'd look at her, confused. "Do. You. Like. Him?" She looked back at me in a more serious tone. I'd think for a bit and blush to myself. "I-I don't know.. I mean, maybe..? Probably? But it could also just be so that I'm confused because of the situation..." I'd answer truthfully. "Wait why are you actually telling me this?" Flower asked. "Because you asked me? I trust you, you're a friend of Fukase." She would smile a bit to herself. "You're pretty cool, man." I'd smile. We'd see Fukase running back again. "Yeah, that hallway was definitely bad. It was actually burning only 100 meters ahead. And I also saw a smiler." Fukase said. "Oh, well good thing Oliver warned us. I'm sorry for not believing you first, dude." Flower said to me. "It's alright! Let's just get going." I'd say, and Fukase picked me up. Jerry was still on my head. They started walking. "So, which was the highest level you guys ever got to?" I asked them. "Well.. It's hard to define highest. As in numbers I guess 999? But there's also a bunch of sub levels and such." Fukase replied. "Jeez! 999?" I'd say, suprised. "Well, they did skip over 700 levels for some reason and then we were just magically at level 999. But yeah." He'd say and Flower nodded. "Huh, cool!" I replied. "Is "Favourite" level a thing here? Or are all levels just bad or worse?" I'd ask them. "Level 4 is pretty chill." Flower said. Fukase would nod. "Well, okay! I still hope that we get home before level 4." Flower would chuckle. "You really did find yourself a positive one, didn't you?" Flower said to Fukase. "Yeah, guess I did."

We were walking and walking, no sign of escape. I guess that was pretty logical since we just got here, though. Hallway upon hallway, everything looked the same. For some weird reason, I felt as though Jerry was worried or scared. I'd take him from my head and put him in my hands. "What's wrong Jerry?" I asked him. "BAD! BAD!" Jerry would squeak. "He's probably just a cowardly bird. Nothing weird is happening at the moment, after all." Flower said. "He's NOT a coward!" I'd yell. "He saved mine and Fukases life!" I'd explain. "Wow, you've sunken a bit. Saved by a bird?" Flower would say to Fukase. "well, we saved it once aswell. Oliver convinced me to keep him." Fukase said. "Huh, aight then..." I don't really know why, but Flower gave me some weird vibes. Maybe that's just because she's very different from me. I'd put Jerry back on my head and try to stop thinking about stuff. As I finally was able to shut down my thoughts I saw something very weird. "Paint tilter territory. Just don't touch the walls and we'll be fine." Fukase said. "Yeah, right." I'd try to stop look at walls aswell, because all the bright colours made me feel nauseous. Luckily enough it ended after just a bit. I'd look further ahead and see some other person. I want to believe that it's a survivor, but it could be a skin stealer. "Heyy can I take this one?" Flower asked. "Sure, go on." Fukase would reply. Then Flower ran at the survivor and trapped it into another hallway. I didn't see much more, I only heard some sort of scream and then Flower would be back with probably blood at her shoes. Blood? Something doesn't feel right.. "Well that was fast, have you been training?" Fukase asked her. "You bet'cha!" We'd all start walking again. I don't know in which hallway she killed the monster, but thankfully I didn't see it. Even if this level is apperantly a very hard one, it feels like a atleast this will be the easiest to handle. No scientists, both Flower and Fukase kills the monsters instead of vice versa... Etc. But I have no idea, Jerry seems extremely stressed. Maybe we're just lucky right now. "Fukase, look! There's a monster up ahead. Wanna kill it?." To be honest, I didn't see any monster, but maybe it just took that hallway turn. Oh well, it's always best to be sure! Fukase would nod, put me down and start run towards that hallway. "Have you ever wondered why he's so fast, strong and pretty unemotional?" Flower asked me. "Well, I guess in the beginning but he isn't that unemotional now. But yeah I'm not sure about the other things!" She'd smirk. "You should ask him yourself. I'm sure he has some sort of explanation." I'd nod. "I guess you're right! I'll ask him when he returns." I said, and he just returned! "So, I'm pretty sure the monster was just some sort of duller, because it had ran away when I got there." He said. "Oh well, better luck next time!" Flower would reply while smirking. "Oh! I forgot something important where I killed that skin stealer,, my knife! I'll go and get it, you guys wait here." She winked at me and then walked away. Oh! It's time to ask him now, isn't it? "Fukase, I'd like to ask you something." I said. "Oh, what is it?" He'd reply. "I think it's pretty weird how inhumanely fast and strong you are. I mean, at first I thought it was normal? But now I don't know." I tried explaining to him. "Oh. Um... It's really not much. I've just been running, fighting so much so that I've gotten like this. It's all good." He said, but it didn't feel true. Is he lying to me? It made me feel betrayed in a way. I'm.. I'm probably just overreacting! "Ah, alright!" I'd give him a smile and right then Vflower came back. "Hey, m'dudes. Got the knife." She'd smirk. "Alright, great. Let's get going." Fukase would yet again pick me up and we'd start walking. Everything felt so weird. Somethings odd. Are the others not realizing? Maybe I'm just... I don't want to worry them, so I'm just staying quiet. "Hey, Fukase. How are Piko and Len?" Flower asked. Yeah, it did confuse me that she didn't mention them before now... "They're... Well. Facelings. After your disappearance, they turned a bit crazy." Flower would look a bit disappointed. "Awh. I liked them... Well, that's really a bummer. But atleast they're not dead." She said. "Yeah, guess you're right." Fukase replied. Shouldn't you be way more concerned and sad about your friends? Is she just used to people dying? I feel so sorry for them both...

After every step, the weird feeling would get bigger and bigger. Something is really not right. We would walk into another hallway, and another, and another. Nothing has never felt this off before. Is it just me? I'd let out a quiet sigh. "Fukase, I think this hallway is getting hotter. Could ya check it out?" Flower asked him. "Oh, yeah sure." Fukase said, put me down and started walking. "So, did you get any answer?" She asked me. "No, not really." I'd reply. "Ah, what a bummer. Guess I'll need to tell you myself." She answered. "You know?" I asked her, surprised. "Kind of. Sadly I don't have too much information but... I know he's not human." She says, smirking. "What? Not human?" I asked her, confused. "Well... From what I've heard is that he's a failed experiment. Something about a cyborg or robot that'd protect the scientists from danger... You know, that crap." She'd say, like it didn't mean anything. Confusion struck me even worse this time. Is he a robot? Cyborg? But he can clearly have his own thoughts... Why didn't he tell me? "What... I don't.. Get it?" I said. "Well, none of you seem that smart. Even the robot guy! I mean..." She'd take out something from her pocket. "I was able to get you alone with me 2 times." Fear would start to fill me up. "You're scaring me, please stop..." I said. I want to run. I can't run. My leg isn't healed. Can't he be back soon? Please come back. I'd look at what she was holding, and seeing that it was a knife. I have nowhere to go. Is this the end? "Wh-What are you going to do with that?" I asked her, terrified. "Well... Betrayed food always tastes better." Whatever happened, happened so fast. There's blood everywhere. I can't see. I can't see... I can't see! I think I'm screaming. Am I screaming? There was intense pain from my right eye. I couldn't do anything. Did she stab my eye- I can't breathe. It's hard to breathe. It's hard to breathe. I don't know what's happening. I think I'm being dragged. I can't see. I can only focus on the intense pain. I feel so much warm blood in my entire face. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts!! Help me. I'd scream. I think. Help me! I can't breathe... I can't. Breathe.

The backroomsWhere stories live. Discover now