Mable: Here's the next chapter and we're finally in the double digits. I don't own 9, Enjoy!
Fabric Runs Shallow
Chapter Ten: The Desperate Plans
They knew Six was unhinged and when he was in this state that there were risks, but never once did he ever pose an actual threat. So they were a bit unsure how to react. Finally Nine spoke, "Six-." At this Six spoke, "We're going back upstairs. To where it's safe." The zippered male nearly spoke again before Child suddenly halted him with a hand on the back. Their optics locked for a second as Child communicated silently with Nine, a warning look on his face. Perhaps Seven and Nine knew Six well enough to trust him, but while Child did know Six well he also was seeing the warning signs.
Nine took his feeling and took charge as he looked back to Six, "Alright, Six, we'll go back into the Sanctuary with you." Six slowly started to ease and Seven looked a bit surprised, "Going back? Nine, are you sure? We… We need to go find that Beast." She whispered once Six started to turn towards the bucket lift, face furrowed and determined. Nine answered simply, "Sort of. Maybe he'll change his mind later, but something's wrong with him now. If we try to leave now we might make it worse." While Seven was skeptic and clearly didn't want to, she obeyed, and they followed Six to the lift.
He ushered them in before shutting the bucket lift behind them. They headed upwards to the Sanctuary where Six exited quickly, still fidgeting and acting oddly, and Nine spoke again, "Alright, Six, we're not going to go. Better?" Six glanced back at him with a suspicious look, "No. Not yet." He glanced to the ropes on the lift with a glinting glare, "He can still get in here. I'm done yet." Now it was time for Nine to try and convince Six elsewise, "Six, what are you going to do to the bucket lift?" He asked in exasperation and Six responded, "I don't know yet…"
Nine looked back to Seven and Child, the latter just moving off of the lift and the former actually speaking. "You can't do this Six. I know you're scared, but be reasonable." Six was becoming more frustrated every second, "No, I can do it. If I don't do it we're in danger." He pointed to the lift and grew louder, not noticing as the others started to come in, "The Beast is going to just walk in! I saw it, I know, and I don't care if you all think I'm insane- don't shake your head like that, I see it in your optics! You've never listened to me, but you will now, no matter what!"
He noticed Eight approaching out of the corner of his optics and that Two and Five were watching as well in concern. He stood strong, he couldn't let Eight lead him away, he couldn't let Eight trick him into submission. He hit the release on the lift with a flex of his mind and let the lift drop to the ground far below. Yet he knew they would be able to pull it back up and knew that he would just have to make sure they didn't. Turning quickly, Six started across the throne room. He knew Nine, Seven, and Child weren't afraid of him and would rebel at some point, he knew he couldn't let this happen.
It was coming today, Six knew. The monstrous Stitchpunk that was preparing to overtake everything and Six saw the outcome. He was going to be killed, it was going to wrap its black covered claws around his neck and take his life, and he saw a future without himself in it. He couldn't stand the thought of being killed by this thing. He had already saw his life flicker away before and he didn't want to see that again. "I'm not waking up in a trench again. Not ever again." He muttered to himself before passing by Eight, finding himself automatically forcing out a, "Hello."
Eight looked very confused and looked to the three for answers. Seven explained the situation, "Six was afraid and wanted us to come back." Nine looked to her before adding in, "He didn't just want us to come back. He started using the books to block our path in a threatening way." Eight raised a brow; clearly not willing to put Six and threatening in the same thought. "So he literally threw the book at you?" Nobody was in any mood to take Eight's comment with amusement, Seven even giving him a light glare.
Child headed over to tell Two and Five what was going on as well. It was when Eight decided to confront Six himself. He sort of thought maybe they were overreacting and approached his mate who was now perched on the empty throne. "Six," He started, "they're back up here and they're not going anywhere quick. Come on, let's go draw or something, or get some sleep." The Artist smiled politely at him, "Maybe later, but I can't now. If I leave then they'll leave. So I'm going to stay here on the throne." Then he added in, "Until it's safe I'm going to have to keep watch, so it's going to be my throne."
Eight stared at the smaller for a few seconds before Nine started to cross back over having hearing the talking, "This is getting a little out of hand, Six. We're not going out unless we have to and this Beast is a problem, it already attacked Cat, couldn't that be what you saw?" Six was insistent, "No. I know what it was. It's coming soon. Nobody can go out or it'll get in." Nine huffed a bit frustrated, "Maybe if one of us went out then it would show you that it's safe." It wasn't meant to be threatening, but he noticed the mismatched optics widen as though in fear.
Then the striped one suddenly spoke, "Just keep in mind that I moved about, I don't know, ten books to stop you from leaving." Six reminded before continuing, "How much weight would that be? It doesn't matter." He added in with a slightly more grim tone, "I know it weighs more than you do." Now Nine actually felt a tinge of fear. Six was right and completely serious. This was when Child stepped in, subtly moving in front of his mate in a protective manner. "There is no need for that." He insisted before leading Nine back towards the hall.
Seven, Five, and Two meanwhile were in absolutely mortification at the entire scene. Even Eight was alarmed at Six's threatening comment. Seven suddenly took into the hall after the two while Two himself stepped forward. Six watched him carefully and the short male raised his hands in defense, "Don't worry, stay in the throne all you like, I don't mind. I was just making sure you were feeling alright." He changed his wording, "That was a troubling scene. Anyone would be shaken."
The Artist was quick, "Of course. I'm fine. Completely fine." He had an unsteady smile stretch across his face and Eight suddenly announced, "They're acting weird. I'll be back in a bit." Then took after the others in the hall, hoping that Six bought his attempt at an excuse to leave. Nine, Child, and Seven had retreated into the latter's room where Cat was still lying across the bed. "Back so soon?" He stated to which Child scoffed, "Apparently not soon enough. Leave the Sanctuary for two seconds and it falls into ruins." He announced as he sat down on Cat's own bed.
"Or Six goes into ruins." Seven pointed out, "I can't believe this. I've never seen him act like this before. He's had moments after the nightmares, but nothing like this." Cat looked confused, "What'd he do, go on some murder spree out there? It has been pretty quiet." Again, Child made a huffing scoff noise, "We're only a few seconds away from that. He threatened Nine." The statement was bluntly and coldly released, but followed by was of unsureness, "Or it sounded like he was. I can't really tell with Six."
"It was." Nine agreed breathily, running a hand over the top of his head, "Six threatened me. I can't believe it. Did I come off too hard or something?" The others' looks varied in response. Seven's as sympathetic, Cat's as confused, and Child's as disturbed. He reached out and stroked Nine's thigh and try to lure him to sit down. Nine insistently stood, feeling too uncomfortable to sit down. Seven now called to attention, "Six is completely out of control and this is not just because of a nightmare. I think he was ill a few days ago, but I can't tell if it's that or if perhaps he was right about this creature and it's influencing him."
That's when another voice spoke, "You even sure that thing exists?" She spun around and was somewhat taken aback by Eight's appearance and comment. "You… You don't think it exists?" Eight paused before responding, "I don't know… but this wouldn't be the first time he thinks something's coming and it's not. I'm not going to say that he doesn't get it wrong sometimes, because he does, and when he does he's even more paranoid because he thinks it's still going to." Then he crossed his arms, "But this is out of the norm for even Six."
The others agreed and Nine finally collapsed to sit down beside Child, who slid behind him and held him close, and took charge, "So what should we do? Because I'm out of options." Seven paced a little before insisting, "We need to go find the Winged Beast no matter what it takes, even if Six doesn't want us to." Even Eight gave a somewhat exasperated look, "Six has lost his mind and you want to go beat up on a Winged Beast?" He asked simply enough and Seven exhaled, "Perhaps if Six is shown that it's safe he'll stop acting like this."
Most of the others didn't seem to agree and now Cat spoke, "You could just stay and keep my company while Six loses it." He suggested with a small smirk and she suddenly looked distressed before fixing her helmet. "We need to figure something out. Excuse me." With that she suddenly turned and headed to the doorway before entering the hall. Nine stared after her and knew something was wrong, so he began to stand, which of course was labored by Child's vice like grip. From his amused look he was even getting a kick out of weighing Nine down.
He finally released him once Nine himself actually submitted to a bit of a playful smile, it was the least he could do for finding some sort of enjoyment out of this bleak situation, and headed to the door before peering out. His smile dropped quickly as he noticed Seven's distressed look. She was rubbing her face with optics closed tight and had a vice grip on her spear. "Seven?" He asked quietly, "Seven, what's going on?" The Warrior looked at him with fear and sadness etched across her face, "Nine… There's a reason I was going with you to find the Winged Beast."
He was growing more concerned and she faced him, "I wasn't planning to just track it, Nine, I was going to kill it." Nine made a quick assumption, "Because it hurt Cat? Seven, it probably doesn't know what it did." Halfway through she started to shake her head, "No, Nine, it's nothing like that." She looked upward, stared, and then submitted, "Nine… Cat's not better. He looks fixed, the others think he's fixed, but he's not." She clutched her face wearily, "After Two and Five brought him here he explained it to me."
The Inventor's smile diminished once Five left and he turned to the Warrior sadly. "Seven, I didn't let Five know, nor Cat, but he's not out of the woods yet." He continued to explain as she listened silently.
"He told me that the part that circulates the oil through his body is damaged. Severely damaged. It needs to be replaced…. But it's not that simple. It's never that simple."
"Where can I find it?" Seven insisted with determination to which Two rested a hand on her shoulder to calm her down, "That's the difficult part and that's why I haven't let this situation get out to the others. Cat isn't fully a Stitchpunk, as you know, and unfortunately this part is related to being a Machine… Which means that only a Machine would have one. Of course, it would need to be a freshly deceased Machine, and it couldn't be…"
"The Winged Beast was the obvious solution." Seven explained, "I planned to head out today and he was going to tell Child; that's why I thought he decided to go with you." Nine sputtered, "He knew? Wait, then why did I-." He stopped with an exhale and the Warrior shook her head, "I don't know. I thought he told you and you were just keeping quiet." The zippered male shrugged, "No. Child never lies, so instead he leaves out the most important details." Then he grew more serious, "But this means… This is more than just tracking a Beast anymore. Now Cat is in danger."
"That's right." Seven insisted before Nine had a sudden flair of inspiration, "Wait a minute. Maybe we don't have to fight the Winged beast." He suggested and she paid attention as he explained, "When Child and I were out we destroyed a Beast, a Mosquito Beast, would it have the part?" Seven was unsure, but clearly looked hopeful, "We could try if it's not too far." Nine nodded and touched her shoulder reassuringly before entering the bedroom once again. "Alright, change of plans." He announced, "We need to go after the Winged Beast and to do that we need to get past Six. Any ideas?"
There was a small pause before Eight exhaled, "Yeah… I can distract him if you have a decent idea of what you'll do." Nine nodded, "I know what I have to do. I'm going along with the thought that if we show Six we can be safe even if we leave he might realize that this isn't the way for us to stay safe." He paused before speaking, "Alright. Eight will distract Six and I'll get Five to come with us to get the part." He immediately shut his mouth tightly as he realized that slip. Cat chimed in, "What part?"
Of course it had to be the injured one who Nine noticed wasn't looking in great condition. "For… For my Lightstaff." Now Child spoke, scoffing lightly, "My God, Nine, you are obsessed with that thing. I have half a mind to be jealous." The zippered one gave a tired look, "I wouldn't put it past you." Then moved closer and lowered his voice, "By the way, thank you for warning me about Cat." Child realized what he meant and before he could speak Nine added, "and thank you for not telling me you were going before I made a fool out of myself trying to convince you." A smirk alit Child's mouth, "You're very welcome."
"Alright." Seven announced, "Let's go. Cat, we'll be back shortly. If you need anything then Two's in the other room." Cat laid back down, "So is Six, I'm not risking it." She gained a small smile and the curtain opened yet again to reveal None. "Nine?" He asked inside, "What's going on with Six? He just said something weird when One tried to get him off the throne." Nine turned towards his twin eagerly and perked, "Creative differences, mostly. I need your help, though." His twin let the curtain close and Nine was quick to explain as moved beside Child.
He began to wrestle the latter's hood off to which Child immediately fought back, "What are you-?!" Nine was insistent, "I need this for a second." Finally the albino caved, letting it come off but clinging to it with a single hand desperately. "None, take off your hood." Nine dictated and the twin did so before handing it over, to which Nine put it on. "Six knows I'm close with Child and that he'd let me borrow it." He ignored Child's mutter of, "Unwillingly." Before continuing, "So if you were to wear it then he'd assume you were me."
"I get it!" None exclaimed, "Then when you wear my hood you'll look like me, and it'll cover your number." Of course, Nine hadn't actually been thinking of putting on None's hood, but decided to go along with his twin's suggestion. "Yeah, that will work." He then was quick to initiate more, "We're going to sneak out the back, but Six is going to be watching us. Eight's distraction will only do so much. I need you to pretend to be me." None nodded, "I can do that. What should I do?"
"Stand by the bucket lift." Child suddenly spoke from his position nearby. "Six will be overcompensating and when he sees someone near the lift, especially someone who appears to be Nine, he'll keep a constant watch on them. Because of this his attention to detail we'll be even more limited." He then stood, "I'll go with you to make it seem legitimate and meet with the rest of you in the Library. Maybe I can get some rest before I go out into the burning sunlight without any sort of guard from the piercing rays." He pointedly stated to Nine before exiting the room, None in tow.
Seven now spoke, "It's going to see strange if the three of us leave together. Eight, you go first and begin distracting Six, and we'll leave in a few minutes. Alright?" The Guard nodded and tried to suppress any hesitance. He wasn't sure why they needed out so badly, but it was obvious that Six wasn't acting right. He could only hope that Nine's plan would actually work. "Let's get this over with." He exited the room after a few seconds and then Nine, disguised as None, followed.
Seven was the last to go and went back to Cat's side a final time to rest a hand on his clawed one, "You just get some rest." She insisted and he watched tiredly, "You be careful." He added in before asking, "Before you go, is there something I should know?" At first she didn't understand, but eventually she got the message and insisted, "No, Cat, everything's just fine." A few minutes passed before Cat smiled again, "Alright. If you're sure." She had to exit the room before her façade could drop and show her guilt, which was the last thing she wanted.
Meanwhile Child and None headed down the hall, the former speaking, "Now I will stay by your side until they pass and Eight begins to distract. Then I'm going to lean in against your cheek, I'm warning you so that you don't flinch or get the wrong idea. Creator knows your brother tends to." None nodded with the plan, "Seems easy. Should we hold hands?" He offered and the pale male just stared at the offered hand, furrowing his brows and trying to remember the last time he had actually done so with Nine.
"…Maybe not." None murmured before looking into the Workshop as they passed, noticing Two and Five before hurrying in to warn the male. Soon he was informed and exited into the hall before briskly walking towards the throne room, hands clenched in nervousness. Child doubted Six would notice it as being odd. None appeared again and they entered into the throne room. The Artist took the bait; from the throne he was staring at None with a clear focus, watching as he approached the bucket lift area.
For a second Child felt a pang of protectiveness even though it wasn't Nine who was standing alongside him. He couldn't help it and put an arm around the familiar yet unfamiliar frame while staring blankly at Six. Electricity quickly flickered over his optics and he wasn't sure if they went red. Either way, if anything it seemed to only punctuate that this was Nine, even if it wasn't. None sat down beside the ledge casually and rested back against the wall, Child sitting beside him only to see Eight stride by.
If anything, Eight was acting the best, striding to Six's side confidently and leaning against the side of the throne to talk; Child was impressed. Yet at the same time both him and Eight knew that this was their only chance, so they needed to put on a show.
Mable: So Six is starting to come unhinged… Yes, 'starting to' as though it wasn't bad enough when Six started wearing a strait jacket. The next chapter will be posted tomorrow; I hope you all enjoyed!