At the moment, it's only been a few hours since I finished playing OFF. I legit cried at both the Judge and the Batter's endings. However, this fic has been in my mind for quite a while now, so here it is!


The first thing that he noticed was that he was covered in blood.

Was it his?

Maybe.

He couldn't even see it. To do that he would have to look down, and he wasn't sure he could. But he could smell it and simply, it seemed to weigh on him.

Whatever was underneath him didn't feel like the ground of any Zone, though he might be wrong since he didn't recall laying down on the ground, on his back, as he was at the moment. Well, maybe he had when the Puppeteer was gone. That still didn't change the fact that the ground did not feel familiar, not one bit. Another thing that alerted him to the fact that he might not be somewhere he'd been before was the fact that everything sounded weird. If pulling the switch had given him a Game Over (which were common before the Puppeteer had given up on attacking manually), it was an odd one. There was none of that odd voice that sounded half-familiar (but underwater or something alike), singing to him to stay in his coma-like state. And it didn't even feel like he was somewhere purified either- that comforting, sterile feeling was nowhere to be seen (or rather, felt).

And so he could only come to one possible conclusion- he had no idea what the fuck was going on.

Instead of the white of a purified Zone, all he saw above him was darkness with little light dots. Perhaps it wasn't a Game Over- maybe he'd just flat-out died instead, become a spectre just like the ones he'd sworn to eradicate. He mustered the strength to raise his hand in front of his face.

No, he wasn't a ghost. Still alive, it seemed.

Too bad. That made things complicated.

So did the dark crimson substance covering his palm. It seemed to have dried by now, at least. Maybe it was his. He didn't remember touching anything bloody, but who knows what actually happened when the switch was flipped? But, if it wasn't his, who's was it then? He didn't particularly want to answer that question.

He clenched his other hand down on something familiar. A bat. He had no idea, in his current state, which bat it was, but to know he had something to defend himself with was at least a little comforting in this odd situation. Lowering the first hand to rest on his chest, he focused more on what else he sensed around him.

Whatever was above him was partially obstructed by dark green... whatever-they-weres. Now that he was thinking more clearly, he could distinctly see a big, white thing above him- it was probably forever away, but it lit up the sky nicely. It wasn't directly above him, of course, it was off to the side, but it was still there. Thinking about what he could hear, now, there were two things that stood out.

One, an odd chirping and hooting.

Two, hacking and coughing.

That didn't sound good.

He sat up slowly, his joints screaming at him to just stay down and rest for a while because damn, everything hurt. He seemed to be surrounded by some sort of tall objects that he couldn't quite name. He didn't think he had the energy or even the willpower to stand up, so he settled for simply getting a better view of the area around him. Something odd was tugging at his thoughts, but he couldn't quite place it. For now, he was a little more concerned about whatever was making that hacking noise. Not because he was actually concerned, more because it was annoying as hell.

And sleep sounded really good right about now.

The hacking noise was coming from his left side, a little bit away from him. Looking over, there was a small white shape, huddled and trembling against one of those tall objects. It's back was covered in the same scarlet that was on his hands and clothes. A long, fluffy tail curled stiffly as the figure shook and hacked something up, sounding very distressed.

"...Hello?"

He cringed at how raspy his voice sounded, and at the sudden pain in his throat that came with talking.

The small creature turned it's head roughly; the large mouth and piercing yellow eyes were a dead giveaway as to the identity of the cat. It crept closer to him, it's ears lowered in fear and blood on it's chin.

"...is that really you, Batter? Free from your Puppeteer's control?"

"Of course it's me, Judge."

Yep, the voice had absolutely confirmed who exactly the cat was. Instead of cowering in fear from the being that had killed him, the Judge came even closer, visibly upset. The cat even decided the best course of action was to crawl onto the Batter, an odd decision to the not-quite human. Sitting on his legs, the Judge looked at him with an expression of utmost confusion. "Where in the world are we?"

"I don't know." His answer was short and terse, wanting to keep the speaking at the minimum.

The Judge was about to say something else when there was a loud rustling to the right, making the cat tense up again and dig his claws into the Batter's legs. That action then caused the Batter to shout and try to push the Judge away from him. Something tumbled into the clearing- or rather, someone. Someone familiar, in fact. A person with a cat mask and a backpack.

"Zacharie?"

The masked merchant only had one thing to say: "What the fuck happened between Batter fighting the Queen and now?"

"It is a long and complicated story, but-"

"He fucking pulled the switch, didn't he?" Zacharie said, pointing to the Batter. "Goddammit, Batter, when will you learn?"

Zacharie seemed actually angry, though maybe not. "When will you learn that your actions have consequences?!" He almost started laughing at the end of his sentence, and that's when the Batter realized he was half-joking.

The Judge hopped off of the Batter's legs and stalked over to Zacharie, sitting and looking up at his friend. "Zacharie, do you have any idea where we are?"

"Yeah, I have a few actually. Hey, uh, why are you two both covered in blood?"

"Long story," the Batter spoke. Then he decided he should stand up, loosely grasping his bat with his bloody hands. He walked (read: limped) over to the other two, his legs burning. The journey from the Room to wherever he was now seemed to have roughed him up a bit. Or maybe he was actually just hurt before coming here and couldn't remember what happened.

Zacharie looked him up and down. "You look terrible."

"Oh. I hadn't noticed."

The Judge began to walk away from the situation. "I believe that we should begin our search for some kind of civilization." The Batter nodded and looked to Zacharie, who mumbled a quick 'si' before meeting the Batter's eyes.

"Holy shit. Have your eyes always looked like that?!"

"Looked like what?" There was a distinct lack of mirrors in the last world the trio had been in- enough of a lack that the Batter, sadly, didn't know what his own eyes looked like.

"They're different colors. One's gray and the other's black."

"Weird. Let's go." The Batter slung his bat over his shoulder and began to follow the Judge out of the clearing. Zacharie followed quickly, his footsteps quick and light.

The cat, merchant, and purifier walked in silence through the area that the last one had heard Zacharie refer to as a 'forest' once he'd asked. They must have been walking for at least half an hour (the Batter's eyelids were beginning to droop, he was stumbling a bit, and was suddenly bringing up the rear instead of being in the middle) before coming across a rushing mass of liquid that was definitely not plastic nor meat.

The Batter looked down at it. "What's this?"

"It's called water, amigo. More specifically, a river. Hand me your bat a for moment," said Zacharie. Once he handed it over, Zacharie dipped it into the water. He seemed to think for a moment, then pulled the baseball bat out and tossed it back to the Batter. "We can cross here," he announced. "It's shallow."

Then he walked straight through the river, the water coming up to just under his knees. The Batter followed him, the water level coming up to his mid-shins. It was cold and soaked the bottom of his pants and the tops of his boots, but he found it a good wakeup call. When he was across, he looked behind him and saw the Judge sitting on the riverbank, seeming disgusted. "I refuse."

"What do you want, a magical bridge to appear?" Zacharie called. The Judge didn't answer, instead walking down the riverbank, looking for a way across that didn't require getting any water on him.

The Batter and Zacharie followed on the other side, to make sure they didn't lose him. The Judge spotted a thin log across the river, seemingly there by fate. He lifted his head up smugly, hopping onto the thin, fragile log and nearly prancing across it. About halfway across, there was a faint, but small, CRACK. The Judge froze. Zacharie seemed to have heard it too.

"Pablo, go back. I'll carry you across if you really don't want to get wet-" Zacharie began. He was interrupted by the Judge taking a few more steps forward and seemingly stepping on a weak spot on the branch. The branch split with another crack and sent the white cat tumbling into the river.

Zacharie yelled out, "Pablo!", in alarm, while the Batter started running down the riverbank to keep the cat in his sights. Wondering how in the world he'd get to the floundering figure in the middle of the now-deep river, he was suddenly completely awake. That was understandable. The Judge was yowling and obviously in trouble until he seemed to have dipped under the surface one two many times, making him seem to go silent. The current was carrying him away quickly, but the Batter was most definitely faster. The cat drifted more to the side, prompting the Batter to get a bit ahead, step one leg in as far as he could (making the water reach nearly to his hip) and reach out with his bat in the case he had misjudged the distance.

The Judge came within reach shortly, allowing the Batter to reach out and grab him by the scruff of his neck and pull him close. The Judge didn't even start visibly moving until he was passed to Zacharie, who had caught up with the Batter in an instant. He was shivering like crazy, and the only thing the masked merchant said as he held the cat close to his chest, was, "I told ya so."


The Batter and Zacharie went on together, away from the river, for a few more minutes, until they'd found another clearing. Walking next to each other this time, the Batter could see that the Judge was not, in fact, warming up. The air around them held a chill; not enough of one to keep the Batter awake, it seemed (and neither was the completely cold pant leg that he'd stuck in the river so impulsively), but yet still enough of one to ensure the Judge couldn't quite recover from falling in the near-freezing river. He was still shivering like mad, no matter how closely Zacharie held him.

"I think we should stop for the night," said Zacharie. "No offense, but you literally look dead on your feet. And Pablo's still soaked, I don't think he's getting any better."

The Batter mumbled out agreement and sat down on the ground, tossing his hat and his baseball bat on the ground next to him. Zacharie set his backpack next to him, unzipped it with one hand, and pulled out a big, fuzzy, and blue blanket. He wrapped the small, unconscious form of the Judge in it, then disappeared into the woods again. He came back a minute later, his arms full of sticks, then swiftly deposited them on the ground, bringing a small lighter from his pocket and a wad of paper with random scribbles on it. He set the paper aflame, then tossed it onto the sticks, which came to burn quickly. He sat down now, unwrapping the blanket from the Judge and instead wrapping it over his shoulders while he held the cat.

The purifier happened to just be so tired that he was suddenly no longer sitting up. Instead, he was laying down, using Zacharie's lap as a pillow. The merchant seemed a bit surprised by his exhausted antics, but nevertheless, allowed it. The blanket was then wrapped around the Batter as well, the Judge's position being on the Batter's chest. One of Zacharie's hands softly pet the Judge, while the other stroked the Batter's hair. He was sending a silent message: go to sleep, I'll keep watch.

It wasn't long before the Batter closed his eyes, watching the fire dance having made him even drowsier.

And with the Judge no longer shivering on his chest, Zacharie's soft touch, and the warmth of the blanket and fire, he eventually managed to succumb to the lure of sleep.


Zacharie couldn't help the quiet chuckle escape from his lips. The Batter had fallen asleep on the spot, not to mention that Pablo was finally getting better. He imagined that the cat's cold, damp fur would be somewhat of an annoyance to the man whose head rested on his thighs, but he surprisingly didn't seem to mind. The cat himself was just snuggled up on the Batter's chest, finally ceasing the horrible shivering that had had Zacharie very concerned for his friend. Thankfully, the fire and the blanket were enough to warm him. Though, Zacharie could be terribly wrong and Pablo could actually have gotten terribly worse- he'd heard it was a symptom of really bad hypothermia, at least he had before being whisked away to the world of OFF.

Wait.

That's a little too much exposition, he decided. If somebody happens to be reading my mind, I don't want them to learn too much about me... However, I could just be being paranoid. Oh, well.

There was a loud rustle in the bushes, not unlike the sound he'd made when discovering the Batter and Pablo in the first clearing. Two figures stumbled out of the shrubs, the one in front choosing a fighting stance while the person behind her chose to cower instead.

The girl in front had short, choppy, pastel yellow hair, and wore her favorite yellow jacket, baggy pants, and stripes. Blue eyes shone aggressively at the man she couldn't quite recognize in the flickering light. The person behind her was in standard form, wearing black pants, a white dress shirt, and a tie, their hair being best described as strawberry blonde and it also being extremely fluffy.

"Calm down, Sucre. It's me. Come sit by the fire, but do not wake up Pablo or Batter."

She didn't hesitate, her expression turning to pure relief when she realized Zacharie was the person she'd found. The person behind her- an Elsen, Zacharie figured (and since he doubted any other Elsen had come to the other world, he'd just refer to them as 'Elsen')- followed her closely.

Sugar sat to his left while Elsen sat to her left, seemingly scared and confused by the strange world they'd never experienced. Sugar spoke first. "Why are we back here? I thought the ducky had killed me."

"He did. But then everything changed."

Zacharie's answer seemed to not have really answered much of anything, making it a pretty shoddy answer in everyone's opinion.

"Sh-she's right," said Elsen. "Why... why are we here?"

"I'm not sure, amigo. All I know is that the Batter pulled the switch in the Room, everything went dark, and suddenly I was in the forest. I found the Batter and Pablo looking like they'd just walked out of a murder scene... then Pablo fell in the river and might have gotten hypothermia, but I can't be sure."

Sugar nodded. "I just found Elsen here walking around, then I saw the fire and we came over."

"What did you mean by the switch?" asked Elsen.

"It's a long story," Zacharie replied.

Truth be told, he'd rather not say what he thought the switch had done. Not in front of the Batter or Pablo, even though they were both asleep. He'd seen his fluffy friend running to follow the Batter to chapter 0, where the switch could be found. After he'd seen all the blood, he was pretty certain a nasty fight had ensued. Even though it was most certain that the Batter had won the fight (the switch had been pulled, after all), he could definitely have been fooled by all the blood on the purifiers hands and clothes. But it did seem he wasn't suffering from any open wounds- admittedly, making him wonder if all the blood was Pablo's instead, which sent a chill down his spine- and he was sleeping peacefully now. Pablo didn't seem to be currently bleeding either, though the blood on his mouth had made Zacharie worry a bit.

Was he coughing it up?

But the cat was still sleeping peacefully on the Batter's chest. Clearing her throat, Sugar spoke again. "So, who else do you think came over? From the other world, I mean."

"I'm not sure. But by all accounts, you and Pablo should be dead. I'm not too certain about Elsen," Zacharie admitted.

"I was hiding in the bunker... I was safe when everything went dark..." they mumbled.

"Something tells me it all has to do with probability," said Zacharie. "Think about it. Sugar might not have been found in the basement in a different version, meaning that she still had a chance to be alive when the switch was pulled. Elsen was safe in that bunker. The Batter didn't kill me- either because he decided I was pure, he didn't get around to it, or he couldn't fight me for whatever reason- and I'm fairly certain that Pablo didn't win that fight. However, there was still the possibility that he could, so he lived. Does that make sense?"

"...Batter fought Pablo?" Sugar asked quietly, her hands silently clenching to fists. "And he won?"

"Why did you think they were both covered in blood? Why did you think I specifically said that both of them looked like they'd just walked out of a murder scene?"

Sugar was silent now, glaring at the asleep form of the purifier. Eventually she forced another question out of her throat. "What about Valerie? Do you think he came over too?"

"Probably not. When Pablo told me what happened, he made it sound like there was no way Valerie could have survived. He's most likely gone for good, now."

Now nobody talked. Elsen had already laid down, curled up next to the fire. It seemed like they were going to try to sleep.

"Hugo or the Queen might have come over, from the sheer power the both of them possess," Zacharie mentioned. "But other than them, I don't think anybody else had the probability or the power to escape death and come here."

"You could be wrong about your probability theory, though," Sugar reminded. "You've been wrong before."

"That I have."

She hummed smugly and laid down on her side next to him. Her head was right next to his leg, so he lightly draped the blanket over her shoulder and side of her face. "Oh. Soft," she murmured.

"Mmmhm. I kinda feel bad for Elsen over there, though."

"They'll be fine."

"Okay then."

Sugar seemed to have been quite tired as well, since she fell asleep within a few minutes of watching the fire dance.

Zacharie was surrounded, for just a while, by his friends, all asleep. He wasn't sure if he was going to be able to fall asleep himself, sitting up, but he supposed he could lie back or just stay up and keep watch.

And so the night ticked by.


Yeet boyos that was chapter one, tell me how y'all like it in the reviews if anybody reads this.