Chapter Text
Tiny white snowflakes continue to fall as the blue car speeds along the road, following the white and yellow lines like a lead. In the distance of the thick cold mist of the fog, a towering mall stands there. The windows looked like tiny black holes from there being no light, no hope, in there. FatherBoo's eyes narrowed as he saw the obstacle in front of him. His foot applied more pressure to the gas pedal, then the engine revved and the tires spun faster, not stopping at all. As they got closer more dread filled them, it carried through their bloodstream, hitting every single joint limb, and cell like a deadly infection.
They arrived at the parking lot and pulled into a space that was farthest from the building. They didn't want a building like that, with a feeling like that, near their only way to get out if needed. MotherBoo opened her door first, a light tap sounded as her foot touched the cracked asphalt.
Wasn't stepping on a crack bad luck?
FatherBoo exited the car last and shut the door at the same time as MotherBoo did. They both took a moment to gaze at the abandoned mall. It wasn't terrible looking from the outside. It just had some vines growing up from the ground and latching on to the painted walls.
"This is a mall though." MotherBoo said, tilting her head a tiny bit, signaling her confusion.
"They are moving into this abandoned Mall and trying to set up some of the equipment. They still work here now." FatherBoo explained, his hand rising, gesturing to the building. "All their shows. All of their announcements are scripted and filmed here."
They both walked up to the doors of the building. MotherBoo grabbed the handle of the door and pulled but, to no avail it was locked tight. MotherBoo signed at this simple loss.
"It's locked. How are we going to get in?" MotherBoo asked, looking up at her husband. "I assume they have alarms that go off when the doors are tampered with. We can't break the glass without making noise."
FatherBoo examined the outside, searching for a way to infiltrate the mall. Then he found it, below one of the windows was a ventilation shaft that would lead into the mall. He pointed at the opened vent. "Found an entrance."
FatherBoo crouched next to it and peeked his head through. Spiderwebs clung to the sides of the vent and there were bits of mold growing there too. It didn't matter. They wanted to see their child again, right?
"Ok. I'll go in first then I'll say if you can crawl in or not, alright?" He said, looking up at his wife. She nodded but she put the backpack down. She unzipped it and pulled out a flashlight. She handed him it before he crawled into the tiny entrance. The spiderwebs were destroyed as FatherBoo whacked them with his elbows. He held his breath trying not to breathe in the mold. The vent under him would flex downward as he continued, making metallic popping noises. The vent turned as FatherBoo followed it to an opening, his hand touched the cold tile beneath as he pulled himself out of the vent. Still having the flash light in his hand he looked around making sure no one was there.
There wasn't.
FatherBoo went next to the vent and lightly shouted, "It's clear." Into it. A few seconds later he heard the clanking of the vent and a minute later his wife popped her head out of the vent. He stretched out his hand to help her. She grabbed it and pulled herself out with his help.
MotherBoo wiped herself off. Her white shirt was covered in a faint dark black from the mold. "That was disgusting."
"Agreed. Let's just keep moving." Fatherboo reassured. They only walked a few steps before FatherBoo spotted someone laying down on the ground. He went toward them and his heart stopped. "What the.."
The corpse wore a blue, black, and white hoodie, that was not tarnished with red spreading out from the middle of his body. A huge open wound displayed the leftover entrails of the person. A huge pool of blood surrounded them as their cold dead eyes laid open. MotherBoo screeched in horror at the discovery.
"Oh my God!" She cried as she rushed over to get a better look at the wound. Her mouth gaped at the display in front of her. Full on terror flowed through both of them. They never thought they would stumble across something like this in their lives. "Who-Who would do such a thing?!"
FatherBoo's arm wrapped around her. She looked up at him expecting some kind of answer. He did not have one. Only a suggestion.
"I Don't know... but we came here to find our son. Let’s just keep going." He said. He turned his head in the opposite direction, trying to not look at the bloody corpse on the tiled floor. MotherBoo sighed trying not to vomit from the site. Her head turned and she spotted a blue and black het that matched the corpse's outfit. She grasped and placed it over its face, covering his wide eyes. She closed her eyes, praying that he was not feeling any more pain in the afterlife. No more pain. That's what she wanted to feel after this whole thing. She knew that when she found her son there would be no more pain, everything would be right.
Oh...
Oh but how wrong she was...
They both walked further along, their flashlights emitting the only source of light until they got to a few dim light panels that flickered from time to time. They found a lonely escalator that was powered off. It wasn't even an escalator anymore. Just some boring stairs to climb. Both desperate parents went up to them with a mild metal clunk noise echoing from their footsteps. They got to the top and saw another person laying on the ground. This time it was wearing a suit with an odd mask covering their face. The mask had the ShowFall Media symbol on it. Wires snaked out of its stomach almost acting like the entrails of the other person they saw.
"What the Hell?! Are these things not human?" MotherBoo questioned with a hint of fright on her face.
"I mean If they would just let someone die in here and not flinch, then yeah I would say there is no humanity in these things or this place for this matter." FatherBoo said sternly, looking at the ceiling. The roof tiles were not in place and some were even missing completely. Wires came out of most, sometimes just singular ones and others in groups. They looked like snakes hanging, maybe if you went near one it would suddenly get a hold of you and constrict the breath out of you. FatherBoo didn't want to think about it anymore.
"I hope whoever stabbed this employee is safe now." She said as her fingertips slightly brushed the clothing of the dead employee. Her hazel eyes floated over to the knife next to her foot. "Why would they not take this knife though?" She asked, crouching down and grasping the handle of the knife. It felt cold like no one had touched it in a while. She then gave the knife to FatherBoo and he examined it closer.
"I'm not sure but at least we have some sort of weapon if we need to defend-" He was cut off by the sound of sliding footsteps. Their hearts stopped and MotherBoo instantly got behind FatherBoo who held the point of the blade in the direction from where the sound was coming from. They started to hear raspy breathing coming from the dark. "Don't come any closer!" FatherBoo yelled, his eyes locked on the black void in front. Slowly coming out from the dark was a lit silhouette of a person. As they sloppily walked, their features became more clear. They wore a bulletproof vest and under it was a green t-shirt. One of the lenses on his glasses was cracked. He also had short brown hair. A human.
"W-wait! I'm not an employee! Don't hurt me!" Charlie shouted, putting up a hand in case of an attack. The other hand is clutching a bloody gash on the lower part of his torso. Blood leaked over his arm and silently dripped onto the tiled floor, making a tiny red puddle. They both realized the blood dripping from his stomach. FatherBoo lowered the knife.
"Oh my! Hold on, I'll help you!" MotherBoo said. She rushed by her husband while getting the bandages out of her bag. She sat Charlie down and started applying them to his opened wound. As she did, FatherBoo realized that he had seen this stranger before.
"Wait, you're on one of the ShowFall missing posters!" FatherBoo said. Charlie looked up at the man.
"Yeah.. yeah I-I am. They put up missing posters for their actors in case any of them try escaping." He says with a sad tone.
"They are holding you captive?" MotherBoo questioned with panic. Charlie nodded in confirmation.
Suddenly MotherBoo gasped.
“Then have you seen our child?!” She said as she then pulled out the missing poster from earlier and almost shoved in Charlie’s face. He took it from her hands. He didn’t even have to look for another second to realize who it was.
“Ranboo… Ranboo!” He shouted.
“You know- please tell me where they are!” MotherBoo said, clasping her hands together in a begging motion.
“Please we need them back home!” FatherBoo added.
Charlie looked at the missing paper again and let his mind run through the messy fog of questions. What? Did Ranboo not contact them? Did they run somewhere else? Did they get lost?
Did they even escape..?
The boy with glasses lightly shook his head so the lurking thoughts would disband. He gulped down the anxiety in an attempt to fight it.
“Did they not get into contact with you?” Charlie asked. He pushed the middle of his glasses against the bridge of his nose. Both of the parents shook their heads, ‘no.’
Charlie closed his eyes letting the black void take over his vision. The thoughts came back. All of them bombarding him with fear and dread. But one stood out among the rest. One that he was drawn through. It had a different feeling. Determination.
“Find him. Please, find him.” The thought whispered. In a will of strength, Charlie pushed himself off the ground, stumbling a bit but he stood on his feet. The injury still felt like a thousand needles piercing into his skin but he didn’t care. All he cared about at that moment was finding Ranboo.
“We need to go to the server room. When me and Ranboo ran past it, I saw a telephone in there. There is no service here, but the phone in there is a land line so it can work. It’s the only way.” Charlie spoke as he limped slowly toward the direction of the server room.
MotherBoo came up behind him to help steady his balance by wrapping his arm around her. FatherBoo doing the same for his other side. Together they walked through the wired halls. Their footsteps echoing through the sorrowful mall, sounding like the ticking of a clock that was about to strike its end.
“How long have you been in this place?” FatherBoo asked. He turned to Charlie for a response.
Charlie sighed. “I don’t remember. When you get casted they wipe your memories and replace them with false ones. They made me believe I grew up in a cabin.” His voice weakens from the word ‘cabin.’ His mind flashes white and the cabin stands with its dull wood, fake windows, and even faker atmosphere. Thinking about it made him sick. Homesick. He wanted to go home, his real home.
“Have you ever seen Ranboo on any of the sets?” MotherBoo butted in.
“Yes. I once played as a slime demon. I was deemed as “The Villain” while he was deemed as “The Hero.” In other ways we have seen each other through ...disturbing ways..” Charlie’s mind flashed again but this time it was in the dirty surgery room. He was lying on the bed and Ranboo was standing right next to him with a scalpel. He pleaded no but Ranboo couldn’t hear him. As soon as the blade dug in, Charlie screamed in agony, feeling his skin getting ripped up and his inside being exposed to the atmosphere. Thinking of that made Charlie gag.
As the three walked, more of the employees appeared, they stood deadly still. Not moving at all, like statues. Like someone hit the pause button on a remote, stopping the show overall.
“God, these things are creepy. Well at least we know these things are killable.” FatherBoo stated. His eyes narrowed at the paused employees, eyeing them, daring them to move.
“Yeah, we found a dead one with a knife next to it and we kept the knife for protection.” MotherBoo interjected again.
“That was Ranboo’s doing. They were so angry and I think they just needed to make sure they were in control. So…” Charlie says. His mind went back to that moment as they witnessed the masked person plunge the knife into the machine and pull out its thin wiring. They could feel their confusion and rage. It stunned Charlie. He just stood there… watching.
FatherBoo could feel the emotions giving off of Charlie. He frowned. “I don’t blame him. I would do the same thing If I found out that I had carried false memories and was stuck here like a little play thing.” He spat.
They continued to walk until they got to the control room. The lights were off but the pitch black void lured them in like a lead. MotherBoo asked where a light switch was and a few minutes later FatherBoo felt a metallic box shape bolted to the wall. It was a breaker. He opened the hatch and with his flashlight he flicked the switches on. He reached the third switch and in the corner of his eye, he saw a wall of red lights flash on and plaster onto the floor.
Then they looked at it. Their hearts stopped. Time stopped for the three of them. They couldn’t believe what their eyes were showing them.
Someone was strapped on to the red panels with wires on their wrists and waist. Their arms were out like they were in position that replicated a crucifixion. A black box was covering their head as dried blood ran down their neck, creeping through the floods on their jacket, and finally streamed down onto the floor, making a tiny red blood pool.
A painful cry came out from MotherBoo as she fell to her knees. “DEAR GOD, NO NO PLEASE! NO!” She sobbed violently at the scene of her crucified son. Tears of tears flowed from her eyes and down the contours of her face and dripped off of her chin. She heaved breaths, trying to grasp at reality.
FatherBoo kneeled next to her. His arms quickly sheltered her in some amount of comfort that just couldn’t be enough. He made her look down so she didn’t have to see what was displayed in front of her. He too was crying but was silent about it.
Charlie slowly stumbled up to the corpse with his eyes widened, his whole body felt numb at the sight of his dead friend. As he walked closer he could see that their hands had holes that went straight through with wires spilling out of them. “No.. No we- you were supposed to make it out. You were supposed to have a happy ending..” He choked up. He broke at that moment, falling to his knees at the same time as tears fell from his eyes. “You’re the H-Hero,
right? They- They always get the best e-endings…”
MotherBoo and FatherBoo slowly approached from behind Charlie. MotherBoo clutched onto the blood stain fabric of their child's jacket. She cries into it but it isn’t enough. The woman wraps her arms around them. One arm snaking behind and on to one of their shoulders and the other wrapping around his waist. Slowly MotherBoo rocks side to side while tears stream down her face and drop onto the floor mixing with the corpse’s blood and some fall onto the gray part of the jacket, making it bleed into a darker shade of gray.
FatherBoo stands there as a million thoughts run and leave marks on his brain. Why? Why them? What for? How could someone do this? Who killed them?
Suddenly, he felt a hand touch their shoulder. He turned around to see Charlie wearing a wet and exhausted face.
“I’m terribly sorry for your loss.” He said as he tried fighting back the burning tears. FatherBoo then hugged Charlie tightly, squeezing the pain out of both of them. Both of them needed a hug. The two then walked up to the desk with a computer and several wires on it. Charlie spotted a bright red telephone. He dialed the police and put the device next to his ear.
He talked to them and while he did, FatherBoo examined the items on the desk. He spotted a lever.
Was this the extra set of lights? He thought.
He pulled it.
A loud pshhhhh noise echoed from the corpse making MotherBoo jump back. The box opened to the sight of Ranboo’s mangled and bloody head.
“OH JESUS CHRIST, MY BABY!!!” MotherBoo screamed. Her hands shook violently.
Charlie vomited at the sight. FatherBoo rushed to his wife. He pulled out the knife and cut the wires that bound their child to the colorful panels. He cut the wires on both of their wrists and then finally cut the one that wrapped around their waist. The corpse slipped out from under the box and was just about to crash onto the but both of their parents caught him to make sure they didn’t. MotherBoo laid him down to look at what would be his eyes but instead they were filled with black and dark purple bits of flesh. Dried up tear tracks shined which made her cry louder. The metal mask on Ranboo’s face was broken, only remaining in mismatched pieces on his face.
Charlie wiped the clinging bile off of his chin before making his way to the sorrowful family reunion of a stunned father, a distressed mother, and finally a slaughtered child.
It was truly a tragic reunion.
MotherBoo’s fingers combed through what used to be their soft and fluffy brownish hair which was now hard and knotted brownish red hair. Ranboo’s corpse still remained in her arms. “My baby.. My poor baby.. Who would do this to you..” She weeped. The tears now fell onto the destroyed skin of her child.
Charlie watched them both grieve at the sight of their dead slain child. He let them have their time. It was their son after all. Then he heard footsteps so he whipped his head around and saw a familiar figure.
“H-How are you still alive?” A man in a red and black hoodie asked. A black mask covering up his face. Covering up his identity.
“Me?! How are you alive?! I saw you dying.. Unless..”
“...Yes. I never really was dying. I tricked you and your little friend there.”
Charlie realized what he meant by that. Everything paused as he remembered what he said in the room where he thought he was dying with Ranboo standing close to him.
“You have to tell them… That the Hetch did this.”
The Hetch.
“You..” Charlie said as he then broke out into a full yell. “YOU MURDERED RANBOO!”
MotherBoo and FAtherBoo slowly turned their heads to the word “Murder.” Hetch leaned to see the Hero’s parents.
MotherBoo’s eyes shot through the mask and down into Hetch’s soul. She was unbelievably pissed.
“You.”
“Oh shit-”
“YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU MURDERED MY CHILD!” She screamed, clenching her fists. Her nails pierced through her skin making her palms bleed a bit.
Hetch stepped toward them. “Ohhh but how Heroic he was in his final moments. Don’t you get it?” Tv’s that were on panel turned on making Charlie and Ranboo’s parents turn their attention to them. The screens flashed videos and clips of Ranboo doing things like digging into Charlie’s stomach, watching Niki getting shot, pushing Austin out of the way for an oddly shaped figure in the wall to crush him. “Look! Your son was a hero!”
“Shut your fucking mouth!” FatherBoo demanded. “You manipulated them! Your tortured them!”
Hetch sighed at this response. “Of course you would think those things, you were never part of the show.” Then a sea of black suits and white masks advanced toward them. The employees were no longer statues. They were alive. They surrounded Charlie, FatherBoo and MotherBoo. “But you can be! You can join the cast, and be with us forever!”
Three of the employees pulled out masks just like the ones they were wearing and approached the three. MotherBoo clutched onto Ranboo’s body like she was clinging on to dear life. They all felt the employees over them. It was going dark. Suddenly.
“Freeze! Hands up now!”