[Suddenly, Badger woke up, his eyes widened and he sat straight up. He grabbed for his head… what a weird dream that was. Or was it a dream? He didn’t know, and just stood up. The kid looked around.]

“The power’s still out… augh.” [He mumbled, starting to wander around the gallery. Good god, the people from the gallery were back. You tapped one’s shoulder, but the woman didn’t respond. She did not likely respond at all, and walked away. You tried it again, but they just all ignored you.]

[Badger looked around, and noticed that most of them were looking at the Hanged Man painting. Or theywere… the actual painting seemed rather familiar with him…
Suddenly his eyes widened. He wasn’t looking at someone familiar. He was looking at himself. He was sleeping. He was a painting.]

[Suddenly he felt himself being watched. Badger noticed pairs of eyes staring at him. Or not him… someone else that sort of was him. Badger stepped away to see an exact copy of himself.]

“Let’s go.” [Some of the audience said, walking away - but then the Badger-copy told them to stay. And they did. They did stay. How did he do that? How did he excist for others, while Badger himself didn’t? He noticed himself staring at his copy, who looked back and smirked. Badger didn’t feel so great about this.]

biipolara22hole:

chasedownintrovert:

[Badger scratched the back of his head.] “Then I don’t want to die in here.” [He replied. He looked around. There was a door. He put his hand on the doorknob, but it didn’t open. He didn’t know what to do. The kid turned his head to the troll.]

“What do we do now?”

[The big question. What did they do now. How long would it take for the ladies to break though the door. If they even could break though the door.
He really hoped they couldn’t.]

“Bloody hell, we’re stuck.” [Badger concluded. That meant they would just wait for someone else to pass by. Or they would die in here just because they couldn’t go any further. No. That was thinking too far and really off topic. They wouldn’t die, of course not. Silly Badger. He looked around and sat down.]

“There are only bookcases in here. I don’t think they hid the key in a book.”

_{“Then I don’t want to die in here.”}

_{“Man, chill out. It’s not like what I said was completely true.” [The psionic just sighed and closed his eyes. God did he hope that what he said was not true. It would be horrible to be stuck in the gallery forever.]}

_{“What do we do now? Bloody hell, we’re stuck.”}

_{[That was proven true when the other tried to open the door. Hopefully, they had enough time to find a way out before the ladies come in.]}

_{“There are only bookcases in here. I don’t think they hid the key in a book.”}

_{“Hmm…” [Sollux placed a finger on his chin and looked around. Sure, it’s stupid to hide a key in a book, but hey it is possible. The hacker then walked around the room, taking a careful look at each and every one of the bookcases.] “…Hm? What’s this?” [The lowblood grabbed the book that stood out the most, only to find that it was a handmade book with crayon drawings. Looks like a really young child drew and wrote it.]}

_{“Carrie Careless and the… Galette de Rois. Man, there’s nothing else to do, and I can’t find the damn key, so why don’t we just have bedtime stories with mister Captor? I believe that we’re all doomed to die. Especially me. I will always have my ass served twofold.” [However, the psionic did not know that the book had more than just a cute and innocent story inside.] “…I’ll read the dialogue out loud.” [He said as he opened the book.]}

_{“…Um. ‘Happy birthday!’ The others shouted. ‘Thanks, guys!’ Carrie replied. ‘For your special day, we made a Galette de Rois!’ ‘What’s that?’ Carrie asked. ‘There’s a coin in this pie… And if you eat the slice with the coin in it, then you’ll be a happy person!’ The girl in pink answered.” [The hacker couldn’t help but let out a snicker.] “Hahahaha oh god is this really how humans usually celebrate their birthdays, as you guys like to call it? Man, this author is HILARIOUS.” [When his laughter ceased, Sollux then continued to read out loud.]}

_{“…Ahem. ‘That sounds like fun!’ Carrie happily said. ‘Doesn’t it?’ The girl in pink smiled. She then got the knife out and said, ‘Okay, let’s divide it up!’” [Sollux then turned the page] “’Now pick the slice you want!’ ‘Let’s eat!!’ The others cheerfully replied.” [And then turned the page.] “Everyone was eating quietly until something happened to Carrie. ‘Aah…!’ Carrie said as she placed her hands on her neck. ‘What is it?’ ‘I think I just… swallowed something hard!’ ‘Ahaha! Oh, Carrie!’ ‘That must’ve been the coin!’ But Carrie was still worried. ‘What do I do…?’ ‘It’s fine, the coin’s small! Well, I’ll clean this up now!’ The girl in pink said before picking up the plate and knife.” [And then turned the page…]}

_{“…When the girl in pink went home, she found her mom looking a bit upset. ‘What’s wrong, mom?’ She asked. ‘Have you seen the key to the study?’ ‘To the study?’ ‘It’s always right here on this table…’ ‘…Huh?’ The girl was so surprised when she found a coin on the table. ‘It’s the coin… The coin that should’ve… been put… in the pie… Could it be that…’ ‘Where could it have gone… Oh, my dear will be so upset…’ ‘What do I… do…’ When the knife slid from the plate, the girl had an idea.” [Oh my god. Turn.]}

_{”’Looks like I was just as careless as Carrie…’ She said as she went to look for the key.” […Turn. What Sollux did not see coming was how she found the key. Blood on her body. Oh my god…] “…’I found the keeey! Now open the door!’” […And that was the end. All of a sudden, a sound came from the door that was locked. The troll put the book back and opened the door. His eyes widen when he found the corpse of a girl in blue with her stomach cut open lying in her own crimson red blood.]}

_{“…No…” [He didn’t direct his disapproval at the fact that she died. It was the sight of her corpse’s condition that the troll disapproved of. So where’d mister Bravetroll go?]}

“Man, chill out. It’s not like what I said was completely true.”

[Badger sighed. He was right, there was a chance it wouldn’t be true at all. Still, Badger couldn’t help but thinking that.]

“Hmm…”

[The kid looked at Sollux, who was inspecting every book clearly. Stupid, he thought. Ofcourse there wouldn’t be a key in a book. But Sollux clearly thought otherwise.]

“…Hm? What’s this?”

[Badger perked up. The troll had taken a book out of the case. The cover looked like it was made with crayons. Creative, he couldn’t do that. But he knew that Louis could… damn, memories. He quickly wiped his eyes. Just thinking about it made him sad.]

“So what’s up with that book?” [He asked, but got his answer a little too soon.]

“Carrie Careless and the… Galette de Rois. Man, there’s nothing else to do, and I can’t find the damn key, so why don’t we just have bedtime stories with mister Captor?”

[Badger laughed.]

“I believe that we’re all doomed to die. Especially me. I will always have my ass served twofold.”

[But stopped laughing soon enough. Doomed to die. He was doomed to die. And what was that twofold he was talking about…? Badger shrugged it off and leaned against the wall. He would love to hear stories right now, of course. Nothing better than a story when you’re in danger. Perfect. He closed his eyes when Sollux started narrating.]

“…Um. ‘Happy birthday!’ The others shouted. ‘Thanks, guys!’ Carrie replied. ‘For your special day, we made a Galette de Rois!’ ‘What’s that?’ Carrie asked. ‘There’s a coin in this pie… And if you eat the slice with the coin in it, then you’ll be a happy person!’ The girl in pink answered.”

[Oh wow. It sounded so childish and it was only the beginning yet. Badger could tell that Sollux wasn’t the best storyteller in the world, but he tried and did his best. It did sound good, though.]

“Hahahaha oh god is this really how humans usually celebrate their birthdays, as you guys like to call it? Man, this author is HILARIOUS.”

“Shut up, that’s not how we celebrate birthdays in my town. But… with the cake, though… just no coins. Cake and candles, that’s it, really.” [He shut up when the troll continued.]

“…Ahem. ‘That sounds like fun!’ Carrie happily said. ‘Doesn’t it?’ The girl in pink smiled. She then got the knife out and said, ‘Okay, let’s divide it up!’ ’Now pick the slice you want!’ ‘Let’s eat!!’ The others cheerfully replied. Everyone was eating quietly until something happened to Carrie. ‘Aah…!’ Carrie said as she placed her hands on her neck. ‘What is it?’ ‘I think I just… swallowed something hard!’ ‘Ahaha! Oh, Carrie!’ ‘That must’ve been the coin!’ But Carrie was still worried. ‘What do I do…?’ ‘It’s fine, the coin’s small! Well, I’ll clean this up now!’ The girl in pink said before picking up the plate and knife.”

[Badger quietly listened, while Sollux kept turning pages. Though, how much he loved stories, he didn’t like this one. It was childish and there was nothing happening. Only a girl choking in pie.]

“…When the girl in pink went home, she found her mom looking a bit upset. ‘What’s wrong, mom?’ She asked. ‘Have you seen the key to the study?’ ‘To the study?’ ‘It’s always right here on this table…’ ‘…Huh?’ The girl was so surprised when she found a coin on the table. ‘It’s the coin… The coin that should’ve… been put… in the pie… Could it be that…’ ‘Where could it have gone… Oh, my dear will be so upset…’ ‘What do I… do…’ When the knife slid from the plate, the girl had an idea.”

[What.]

”’Looks like I was just as careless as Carrie…’ She said as she went to look for the key.”

[Oh dear Jesus. Badger walked over to look what was happening. And he did not expect this either. Carrie… the pink girl killed Carrie. Well, that was a twist. Plot twist, the girl gets killed. Though, it was kind of obvious since she needed the key and all…]

“…’I found the keeey! Now open the door!’”

“Let’s go.” [Badger said, when the sound of an unlocking door went through the room. Sollux already had opened the door and stood still, apparently looking down. The kid walked over again. There she was. Carrie, dead. Badger immediately screamed and backed off. He felt himself getting pale. He couldn’t stand the smell of blood, and the looks of it either. Sollux mumbled, but it sounded like he was miles away. Oh dear God, the kid’s been killed. It was real.]

“I… I don’t want to continue anymore.”

((Some Sollux/Badger from a roleplay with biipolara22hole, based off this video.

Art is by me, Sollux is by Hussie, Badger is by Level-5.

Crossover couple? Crossover couple.))

biipolara22hole:

chasedownintrovert:

“…There are some times where you do want to be alone in this place, even though it’s pretty horrifying to look at.”

[Badger doubted it. Of course you didn’t want to be alone in a place full of living paintings who could kill you. Of course not. You needed someone to rely on when you were about to die.]

“…You’d really want to avoid going near the edges, believe me. Actually, I’ll show you why.”

[Badger raised his eyebrow. What was he going to do? What was going to happen?
He backed off when the troll started running his way through. He felt himself getting pale when the arms burst out of the wall. It could get any worse. It defenitely could.]

“…Your turn. If you wanna travel this gallery and find a way out, then you gotta get used to things like this.”

[He shook his head. No way he was going to do that. But if he wanted to get out, he must… Badger closed his eyes and took a deep breath, running over to the troll, trying to avoid the hands. It went okay, only using a few petals. He kept quiet. But there was one question flying though his head.]

“What happens if one of us dies?”

_{[The psionic shot a glare at the other. If he wasn’t going to run across, then he’s getting nowhere near home. When the male ran through the hands, Sollux’s harsh glare turned into a softer look. Even though this happens on a daily basis for the troll, this was just the beginning for the other.]}

_{“What happens if one of us dies?”}

_{[Hm. The lowblood had never thought about dying in here up until now. It’s pretty confusing, since dying here would probably be a bit different than dying in the real world.]}

_{“…I have no idea actually. If a person dies, then…” [The troll paused to point up, indicating that they’d go up to the heavens if they died here.] “…But I am not entirely sure, since dying here may be different than dying in the real world. Maybe if you die, then your corpse and soul might be trapped here forever.” [But that was just the hacker’s thoughts on a death in this gallery, so he just shrugged.]}

[Badger scratched the back of his head.] “Then I don’t want to die in here.” [He replied. He looked around. There was a door. He put his hand on the doorknob, but it didn’t open. He didn’t know what to do. The kid turned his head to the troll.]

“What do we do now?”

[The big question. What did they do now. How long would it take for the ladies to break though the door. If they even could break though the door.
He really hoped they couldn’t.]

“Bloody hell, we’re stuck.” [Badger concluded. That meant they would just wait for someone else to pass by. Or they would die in here just because they couldn’t go any further. No. That was thinking too far and really off topic. They wouldn’t die, of course not. Silly Badger. He looked around and sat down.]

“There are only bookcases in here. I don’t think they hid the key in a book.”

_{“There better be. I don’t want to be alone in this… creepy place…”}

_{“…There are some times where you do want to be alone in this place, even though it’s pretty horrifying to look at.” [The troll blinked at the other. By alone, of course he meant staying away from those living exhibits that roam this horror gallery. It would be godawful to lose your life here…]}

_{[The hacker ignored the other’s confusion about the noises. It would probably be better off if he just told him what it was that was trying to break the wall, but just look at the crack. There is absolutely no time to explain things now. Sollux was usually the type who’d rather get things done quicker, so he had to skip on some of the information before they were goners for good.]}

_{[When the other gave an OK to the psionic, Sollux ran with the male as fast as he could. But not so fast that he wasted all of his energy in the run. The holder of the orange rose then took out a key and inserted it inside the keyhole. And that was the moment when the ladies in red, blue, and green broke in the wall. Damn were they fast for crawlers. Not even the frames they carry with them can slow them down. Sollux quickly followed the other as he went through the door before slamming the door. Yeah, this should hold them back…]}

_{[The room the duo was in was full of paintings. In front of them was a sign that warned them about the edges.]}

_{“…You’d really want to avoid going near the edges, believe me. Actually, I’ll show you why.” [Sollux let out a sigh. Those things that stuck out of the walls literally gave the mustardblood nightmares. And they were terrible. Having regained the courage to do so, Sollux rushed through the hall while directly staying in the middle. Several pitch-black hands with no owners stuck out and tried to get ahold of the troll. They did catch him a few times, which made some of his petals fall from his yellow rose. But fortunate enough, they didn’t take away too much petals.]}

_{“…Your turn. If you wanna travel this gallery and find a way out, then you gotta get used to things like this.” [Sollux said before extending his hand right in front of him, waiting for the other to run over to where the troll was standing.]}

“…There are some times where you do want to be alone in this place, even though it’s pretty horrifying to look at.”

[Badger doubted it. Of course you didn’t want to be alone in a place full of living paintings who could kill you. Of course not. You needed someone to rely on when you were about to die.]

“…You’d really want to avoid going near the edges, believe me. Actually, I’ll show you why.”

[Badger raised his eyebrow. What was he going to do? What was going to happen?
He backed off when the troll started running his way through. He felt himself getting pale when the arms burst out of the wall. It could get any worse. It defenitely could.]

“…Your turn. If you wanna travel this gallery and find a way out, then you gotta get used to things like this.”

[He shook his head. No way he was going to do that. But if he wanted to get out, he must… Badger closed his eyes and took a deep breath, running over to the troll, trying to avoid the hands. It went okay, only using a few petals. He kept quiet. But there was one question flying though his head.]

“What happens if one of us dies?”

“I believe… coins, yes. Coins are good.”
[The kid scratched the back of his head.]

“Gosh, actually… I don’t know at all!”

_{[The whole gallery was stupid. No, the appearance was okay. It was just the concept of this gallery that was stupid. The concept of the rose being your life was the most stupid, especially. But yeah, it could be a lesson of some sort. Like the lesson of “Don’t go into art galleries that feature infamous artists who are also great on the other hand”.]}

_{[The hacker suddenly jumped up a bit when he was greeted by a shout from someone.]}

_{“Hello? Hello! Is there anybody out there!?”}

_{“Wh—” [Yes, of course there is always someone out there. It’s either an actual person or a living exhibit that’s there. Sollux, curious about who the other was, headed straight towards the source of the voice. A… male around the age of sixteen? Orange clothing, brown hair that cover the eyes, and a sort of long nose. Sheesh, do humans really vary that much? Not that the ones of his kind don’t either.]}

_{“Yeah, there’s always someone out there, be it person or exhibit.” [The mustardblood adjusted his glasses before eyeing the other. An orange rose… Now that was something the psionic couldn’t see at first. His eyes must’ve been playing tricks on him for a while.]}

_{“And, uh, I hope you don’t run away from me thinking that I’m a monster because I am not and there are things that are far worse out there in the gallery???”}

[BANG]

_{“…Holy shit.”}

[BANG]

_{“We need to run away before they get to us through a crack in this wall.”}

[BANG]

_{“…THIS IS NO GODDAMN TIME TO BE STANDING AROUND HERE.” [The psionic then reached for the other’s hand. Well, that felt kinda awkward, but whatever. If they don’t get away, they’re goners.]}

_{“Don’t want any ladies playing ‘Loves Me, Loves Me Not’ with our roses. So you coming or not?”}

[Badger looked at the troll. Horns, black hair. Hm. He didn’t look familiar, not even human. Grey skin, glasses.]

“There better be. I don’t want to be alone in this… creepy place…” [He replied, looking around. He didn’t feel comfortable at all. Was it because he found himself in a place with living paintings and creatures? Where roses were your lives and people with horns walked around? He didn’t know. He didn’t know at all.]

“Holy shit.”

[Badger frowned. That sound… he heard that earlier… the person banging on the wall, yes. That was it. He hoped, at least.]

“We need to run away before they get to us through a crack in this wall.”

“…What?” [The kid said, looking around some more. Who was he talking about? Maybe a monster. What if it was a monsters. Shit, he dealed with a monster once. A specter. Who later turned out to be a robot and a friendly watermonster. Good old times. He helped to break down the gate to the water with Crow and Louis and Tweeds, three of his good friends.]

“…THIS IS NO GODDAMN TIME TO BE STANDING AROUND HERE.”

[Badger jumped when the troll suddenly started yelling. He felt his hand being grabbed, and he stared at him. He tried to pull back his hand, but he knew that was a bad idea. He better just go with him.]

“Don’t want any ladies playing ‘Loves Me, Loves Me Not’ with our roses. So you coming or not?”

“Okay. Let’s go, then.” [The kid said. He continued walking, still holding the troll’s hand, thus pulling him along. It was going to be a long way, though.]
“I have a key, I think it’s for that door over… there.” [He said, pointing at a green door. He put the key into the keyhole and opened it. Walking in, he saw paintings. A lot of paintings. And a sign. He walked over to read it.]

“Beware the edges.”

“Okay.” [A young man - around the sixteen - said. His mother had bugged him a lot about some kind of art gallery. Oh, how she wanted him to go there and look around. But Badger didn’t really like art. It was nice and all, but something about it gave him memories about back then. When he used to run a black market, with friends, dressed up as the Black Raven. He missed it. It became part of his life. Badger sighed and got up.] “See you later, then.”

[After he paid for his entrance, Badger looked around. Nothing very special yet to see, so he ran up the stairs. There were a lot of people already. It was full. A little bit too full, if you asked him. He shrugged and walked over to one of the many people on the second floor. He tapped his shoulder, and the man turned around.] “Yes?” [He said, staring down at the kid before him. Badger felt himself getting a little bit red, he wasn’t really used to talk to strangers, though. He did it a lot before he moved. He cleared his throat.] “I bet you have heard of this Guartena guy, can you please tell me more about him and his works?” [The man blinked.] “Ofcourse. His name is Weiss Guartena, he died in… Oh, I don’t remember when he died. Maybe you should ask someone else, I don’t know that much.” [The man replied, turning his back to Badger, who sighed and walked away. Nevermind, then, let’s just look around, he thought. Badger walked over to a painting with a pretty woman on it. “Lady in Red” the sign said. He laughed. It was almost as if she could break from the wall and crawl around. Though, deep inside, he knew that was rediculous. He continued on. “Death of the Invidual”, “The Hanged Man”… He turned left, not even looking at the first floor. So it seemed that Badger had stumbled upon a big painting, full of colours. He liked it. “Fabricated World” the sign said. Oh, nice.]

[Suddenly, the lights began to flicker. Badger straightened his back and laughed.] “Alright, alright. Who did that.” [He said, to no one in general. He looked around. It seemed that everybody left already. That was weird. He decided to take a look, to see if he was wrong or not. Walking around, he noticed everybody was gone. Badger shrugged, walking down. Then leave too, he thought. Suddenly the light had gone off. Okay. What now. There was nobody and the power was out of energy. He sighed and walked over to the entrance. The door was locked.]

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” [He moaned, looking around. It was dark outside, but maybe he could escape through the window. The kid walked over to one of the windows, but it was stuck. He sighed again, trying the other one. Badger backed off when a red liquid spilled down the window. A little freaked out, he ran back up the stairs. Wait. What was that. That was a man outside. He saw it clearly. He walked over to the window, but he saw no one. Badger shrugged and walked away.]

[BANG BANG BANG]

[The kid jumped and screamed. He didn’t like this at all. He ran back to the Fabricated World painting, and banged on it. But nothing happened. He noticed a blue liquid coming from the painting. Badger kneeled down and wiped it. There were sounds behind him, and he turned around.]

C O M E B A D G E R

[He raised his eyebrow. Then turned back to the blue liquid. There was text on the wall. He leaned closer to read it.]

come down below badger
ill show you someplace secret

[Badger narrowed his eyes. He stood up. There wasn’t anything else to do, and maybe it would help him out. He walked down the stairs. Enough, he though. Go to the Guartena museum, they said. It shall be fun, they said. Well, this clearly was NOT fun. It was creepy, dark, and he wanted to go home. But like the text said, he went down the first floor. An enormous looking fish was on the ground. “Abyss of the Deep” it said. The gates were open, and a few blue footsteps lead to the painting. Apparently this was the “below” they mentioned. Badger walked over and jumped in, without thinking first. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a blue room. It was even darker in here.] “Shit. Why did I go here again.”
[He mumbled, looking around. He decided to go to the right first, who knew it would help. The walls were covered with letters, possibly forming the word “Come”. Alright. Fine. Whatever. He continued on, just to find a vase blocking the door. There, in the vase, sat an orange rose. He walked over and took it out of the vase, examining it closely. It seemed pretty normal… He decided to take it with him. Badger put the rose in his pocket and shoved away the table. He was relieved the door was open. He walked in and found himself standing in front of a painting of a pretty, sleeping woman. He looked around and walked over to it. It seemed pretty normal.]

“When the rose wilts, so will you too wilt away”

[Badger raised his eyebrow. No way that could be true. He bet it was just a rumor. He backed off and fell down on his back. Apparently he’d tripped over a key. He sighed. Nothing wrong yet. He was still alive. And the “rose” too. He sat up and took the key. But right at the moment his fingertips touched the thing, the painting opened her eyes and mouth. Badger covered his mouth to muffle a scream. It was grinning wide and the eyes stared straight into his. He stood up and left as fast as possible. He walked back, away from that place. Though, some sounds made him stop walking. He looked down.]

T H I E F

[He glared. Thief. He wasn’t a thief, he wasn’t- …yes he was. He was a thief. Back then, he was a thief. With his friends. They were thieves. Badger stared at the words, tears filling up his eyes. Oh god, no. He quickly wiped them away, continuing to walk. He stopped. There still wasn’t anybody. Nobody. He was all alone.]

“Hello? Hello! Is there anybody out there!?”