Stuck in a wasteland we covered in glitter and broadcast

[villifiedforviews]

[Charlie's risen from the dead again. Or maybe this time he didn't die. He's pretty sure he should have, with the amount of blood coagulating around him, matting the hair on the back of his head, but somehow he's awake.

He pushes the mass of wires and metal that did the damage off of his body. There's a knife-like claw in his shoulder, and when he touches it, he has to bite back a yelp of pain. Okay, definitely not moving that yet.

Everything fucking hurts. He's miserable, and he so desperately wants to just lay down and go back to sleep, but he can tell from the lack of movement that the facility has been shut down. Ranboo reached the button. That means they must have gotten out! Is there a chance he's waiting outside? Catching his breath, maybe, or just hoping someone else was able to escape as well. Grimacing, Charlie heads towards the exit-

He hears sobbing. It's muffled, off to the side, through a different exit. He can't help but worry, especially as he gets closer and can hear clearly who it is.]

Ranboo...?

[He hastens forward, and even with the amount of blood dripping from him, he can see... someone else was bleeding and went through here. He desperately hopes the carnage isn't from the Hero...

The Hero who is currently screaming.

Charlie starts running on instinct, stumbling into a room lit by cruel red screens. He can see Ranboo, tied down and skewered through the hands in some horrific Christ-like pose. Their head is restrained, trapped inside an... is that an iron maiden? They're begging, pleading for their death, and the one goading them on in what could be their last moments-

Fucking Hetch.

Before Charlie can think about the consequences, he's ripping the blade out of his shoulder, storming forward. Hetch turns away from the monitors, stammering out some protest, but Charlie ignores it. This bastard wanted a villain, and he'll give him a fucking villain.

When he comes to, his face feels wet with blood that isn't his, likely from Hetch's corpse that's now cooling beneath him, blood pooling from a cut in his neck. He grits his teeth, feeling a wave of exhaustion, but somehow holds himself upright, looking towards... Ranboo, still alive.]

Thank god... Ranboo, you're okay...

Comments

[vilifiedforviews]

[Is he seeing double? He has to be. He knocked his glasses off, probably, or he's hallucinating. Ranboo's mask is off, and Charlie knows the headphones were mostly what was keeping him under control, but surely this is just another filter.

He cries out when Ranboo drops him, but even through the flare of pain, he can still see two of them. There's no filter there.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

He doesn't have enough time to think about what this all means. The other Ranboo is rushing forward, trying to help their double up, and despite the harsh mask obscuring their features, Charlie wants to believe they're earnest. They always have been too damn kind for their own good.]

Ran, i-it's okay. Let's go. We... You need to get out, you- they're right-

[He stumbles over words, noting through his fuzzy brain that it sure is hard to differentiate between two of the same person. Somehow, he thinks he should have come up with a plan for this. What a weird thought.]

[generationlost]

What the hell is... going on...?

[ For a moment, Ranboo is entirely swallowed by their distress and confusion; it blankets and smothers everything else in their mind, any kind of sense or reason. Because it makes no sense. There is no reason. This can't be real. There can't be another of them.

That's... that's not him. Right? That's the easiest explanation. It looks like them, but it's not. Maybe beneath the mask they're totally different. Ranboo tries to calm down their breathing, to focus on Charlie's voice, distant as it seems through their swimming, overlapping thoughts.

Out. Get out... they can do that. There's a chance.

Ranboo doesn't look at the other. He doesn't want to. He just wants to keep believing this is someone else impersonating him. It's easier like that. And the alternative just doesn't make any sense at all. After a moment of catching their breath, steadying themselves, Ranboo nods their head slowly, tries to shift to get their feet beneath them. ]

... okay. Let's-- let's go. Let's just go.

[crucifiedforsubs]

Yeah. Yeah, you got it. You got it.

[Ranboo can believe whatever he wants if it means his clone is allowed to help him. He has to help them. Charlie, too. The need there is suddenly desperate, almost palpable.

Showfall couldn't get away with this.

The moment the word is given, Ran is off their knees, moving between the two broken men and lifting them to the best of their ability. Which, they find, is bizarrely easier than they expected. Not that they have time to consider why, busy pulling the two of them to their feet.]

C'mon, all together.

[That's all the warning they give before they start to drag to pair out of the room to search for safety--or a first aid kit. Whatever came first.]

[vilifiedforviews]

[Charlie will just process all of this later, thanks. He's already learned enough horrific things about his life here, so what's one more, really?

He's just not going to think about it. He's not going to think about Ranboo begging for death in a saw trap just minutes before this second Ranboo appeared, because if he does, he's going to throw up, and that's really not going to be pretty with his stomach slashed open. He just needs to find a way out-]

Whoa!

[Before he can think of steeling himself against the exhaustion and pain, he's suddenly dragged up to his feet, being half carried by the second Ranboo's arm around his shoulders. When did they get so strong? Of course, he's the only one who's uninjured out of the three of them, but even so, carrying two people's weight can't be an easy task. Ranboo barely seems to blink, though. Was that... thanks to Showfall?]

Head back... there was another exit to the right.

[generationlost]

[ Ranboo is silent as they're hauled from the floor by their double, but the shock reads clearly enough in the jolt that passes through their frame. That's--

... did they make a better copy of-- no, no, this isn't a copy, this is another person. This is just another person with a similar build who happens to be very strong. Ranboo's mind refuses to accept that this could be a copy, that that's even a possibility. Because it isn't.

It's all they can do to cling to the newcomer, to let Charlie lead the charge; they're too drained, physically and emotionally, too badly damaged to even properly register the layout of the room that they're in. That may be for the best, given what room it is that they just nearly died in. ]

[crucifiedforsubs]

Right. Okay. Got it.

[The clone-boo immediately, but cautiously reroutes them; mindful of how hurt their two 'passengers' are right now. They're the only one of sound body in this fucked up little group, which makes them the responsible one.

The weight of that realization is crushing.

They were legitimately only just 'born', loaded up with someone else's memories, and now they were thrust into being the one responsible for saving the very people he was meant to 'replace'. It was a suffocating duty, and they already felt as if they were drowning in the confusion of it all. But, if he can't save these two, if he can't do something to get them out--they're back to being just a toy for Showfall.

Showfall had toyed with enough lives.

Fury at their own creation driving them forward, Ranboo sets off towards the exit, determined and angry. These two would get out, even if it meant their own survival got jeopardized in the process.]

[vilifiedforviews]

[God, this is a mess. One Ranboo's gone silent, and the one carrying them is tense, their emotions already frayed. Which would be expected if they just woke up to this mess. And if they really were created... how in the hell is Charlie supposed to help them through this?

Just... get them outside first. After that, they can panic all they'd like. Charlie looks around, but the employees that had stormed through the area before seem to have disappeared.]

I think the coast is clear. Not much further, okay? We're gonna be okay. We're gonna make it.

[He's trying to sound reassurance, but he's not sure how convincing he sounds when his voice is hoarse and his throat is half clogged with blood.]

[generationlost]

[ Their silence is born much more of pain and exhaustion than anything else; they're still at least mostly-conscious, but too worn down, too numb to have all that much to say.

Being "rescued" hasn't done anything to wipe away the agony of what they were experiencing just before. The horrible, horrible fear and pain, being faced with the choice of eternity as a puppet or destruction, the sudden horrible realization that there was no chance for them to ever have a life outside of Showfall... the fact that the decision wasn't even in their own hands to begin with.

How much of this escape is real? None of the previous escape attempt was. Is this another trick? Another plot twist for the show? Ranboo can't summon the energy to cry out anymore, to plead for death. So they hang almost limp in the grasp of this shadow of themselves, quiet other than the occasional pained whimper when they're held at an angle that isn't particularly kind to their severe wounds. ]

[crucifiedforsubs]

[As much as they don't want to harm their original, they don't have time to be overly considerate. They needed to get these two out.

Following Charlie's instructions, they practically drag the pair into the adjacent hallway and start heading down it.]

Charlie.

[It almost feels wrong to address him by that name, like they don't have the right. Like they hadn't earned it. After all, they have no real connections to anyone. They're completely fabricated.]

Keep an eye out for anything that could help with your wounds. You're both in bad shape.

[It's not as if he himself isn't searching, but, his main focus is on finding this exit.]

[vilifiedforviews]

[He doesn't know what to do. He's supposed to be torn in half by a weird nightmare wire creature, he's supposed to be dead, and the shows are supposed to start all over again. That's what he knows to handle. Not all this. He's not prepared to save two people that he instinctively cares for, especially not when he can't put a finger on why. He's feeling too drained to keep this up, even when escape is so damn close.

But the part of him that cares too much wins out. Maybe because it's something the real version of him would want? Is he real? Is it even worth asking those fucking questions right now?

He hears one Ranboo whine softly, and another speak his name like it's too fragile to even breathe out, and he finds some energy that he doesn't know he had left. He scans the area as they're limping along, and spots what looks like a first aid station in a little branch off of the hallway, probably leading to an employee space or something like that. He doesn't hear anything down that corridor, so maybe...]

Over there. Gotta be some disinfectant and stuff in the kit.