A knock on 3's door jerked her awake.
As she swung the door open, a bright red octoling with coffee-brown skin awaited her.
"Good evening, ma'am!" He greeted. "I'm the new deliveryman around here, the name's Karl!"
"Hi. What are you doing here?" 3 asked.
"Somebody sent you a package. I thought that would be obvious, ma'am! Anyway, it's from a Travis guy-"
3 snatched the package from Karl's hands. "OOh! Thank you, sir!"
Karl tipped his hat, before giving her a strange glance.
"The pleasure's all mine." He mumbled.
"Do I know you? You look familiar." 3 squinted at Karl.
"I sure don't know you, ma'am. I'm new around here. Maybe we've seen each other somewhere else. Anyway, have a nice day, ma'am!"
As 3 shut the door, Karl cracked a smile.
"This new plan is working perfectly." He crooned, with a grin.
A few minutes later…
A knock on the door at Travis's apartment startled him.
Travis opened the door to see a red octoling with coffee-brown skin.
"Afternoon, sir!" He sang, "The name's Karl, I'm the new deliveryman around here! I've got a package for a Mr. Squaller, is that you?"
"Yeah. That's me." Travis confirmed, before taking the box. "Roxy? Why would she send me something?"
"Roxy? She doesn't happen to be a tall, muscular, reddish-orange inkling, does she?" Karl asked.
"Yeah," Travis muttered, "that's the one."
"You two must be a couple, then." Karl said with a smile.
"We aren't-" Travis tripped over his words. "I… we… I don't even know, really."
"Seems like you are. Anyway, she sent you this package. Have a nice day, sir." Karl tipped his hat and Travis shut the door.
"Both of them have taken the package. Initiate phase 2." Karl hissed.
He ducked around a corner and pulled the bag he held off of his back and unzipped it.
"Karl," threw off his hat.
"I can do this." He sighed, "I can stop them. Come on, Mick, you didn't come this far to lose."
He pulled out the sheathed sword inside of the bag.
"I've been through hours of work. I know that Travis is hiding something."
Mick grabbed his gear.
"I'll get that scumbag to talk to me, one way or another." He grumbled, "I know he's got something he's hiding."
A few minutes later…
Travis scowled as another knock on the door came.
"It had better not be that stupid deliveryman-" His scowl vanished as nobody stood at the door.
Cold metal touched Travis's neck.
"Close the door. Let's have a chat." A voice demanded.
Travis slowly shut the door and turned around.
Mick held his blade to Travis's neck.
"What do you want from me?" Travis asked, "Money? Do I have something you want?"
"I just want to talk with you. A serial killer doesn't just re enter society after disappearing like nothing's wrong. How many hostages do you have? How many bodies are in the basement, eh?" Pressed Mick.
"I don't do that anymore." Travis replied.
"Oh, really? Then why have three people already been reported missing? I know you did something." Mick continued, "You can't hide this stuff forever."
"I'm not hiding anything! You just barged in and threatened me!"
Mick sighed.
"Those three went missing after you came back. More specifically, three days after you came back! If that wasn't you, then who was it?"
Travis began to think, before finally giving up.
"Fine." He exasperated, "I kidnapped the four people."
Mick smiled.
"Gotcha. You had four. I said three went missing!"
"Dang…" Travis sighed, "Okay, what do you get out of doing this to me?"
"Complete. Freaking. Satisfaction." Said Mick, with a laugh.
Before Mick was able to do anything, Billy flew in and punched Mick away.
"Hey, that was my line!" Billy fussed.
Mick's eyes went wide.
"What the heck? What are you?!"
"Dead." Billy answered, bluntly. "Anyway… I'm the only one who gets to piss Travis off! You scram!"
Mick held out his blade.
"You should stay out of this. This is between me and Travis."
"Well, now it's between you, Travis, and me! And I'm warning you to-"
An ice blast flew through Billy's incorporeal ghost body and into Mick, sending him across the room.
As Mick tried to stand, Travis pinned him to the wall, holding his knife to Mick's neck.
"Listen here, punk." Travis growled, "The next time I see your face, you're dead on the spot. I don't want to see you around here ever again. Now leave!"
Mick scowled.
"I'll get to the bottom of this, at whatever the cost." He hissed, before vanishing in a poof of smoke.
Travis let out a sigh.
"There. You heard it, Billy. Guess I haven't changed."
Billy beamed.
"Exactly what I wanted…"
Travis turned and the Gamma glasses fastened to his face.
"B-Billy?! What are you doing-"
Billy held Travis's head still.
"Hey-hey! Calm down. It won't hurt if you don't resist!"
Travis eventually stopped fighting the glasses' mental pull and went limp.
"Memory rewind." Billy demanded, "One year."
The glasses began to glow as they removed any memory of trying to be good.
Billy smirked.
"You shouldn't feel a thing. All I did was restore that unhinged, maniacal mindset you had in the void. Now, you're just like I remember… Old friend…"
Meanwhile…
"Hello? Anybody there?" Luigi's comms system rang.
Everybody gathered around the thing as Luigi answered.
"Hello? Who is this? Are you MVP?"
A moment of silence on the other side. Finally, they answered.
"N-no. But that's not really the point. We have your teammate and the drive. You need both, correct?"
"They have Alph." Brittany grumbled, "What are you doing with Alph?"
"He's safe. Mostly. We wouldn't have left him alive if he weren't necessary. Anyway, we can't come and give them to you, even if we wanted to. The drive's energy will destroy the portal's frequency, sending us to the void. We need a ship to get there."
Luigi began to think.
"We have a bunch of ships, but no fuel. None of them are gonna work long enough to get you guys here. Unless you have a ship?"
"We do. But we don't have any fuel either. Where can we find some?"
Luigi sighed.
"Any MVP base. But Billy blew those up after he left them."
"I have an idea." 3 held up her hand. "What if Travis teleported you guys here?"
"TRAVIS?!" One of the callers gawked. "That scum is still alive?!"
"Yes, and he's no longer a deranged killer! I would know! He can get you to where you need to go." 3 insisted, "Unless you see another way?"
A silence. Finally, they spoke.
"Fine. You guys use the button to get here, then he's gonna take us there."
"Sounds like a plan." L mumbled.
"A terrible one." Brittany added. "But we've already prioritized Alph and the drive."
"I'll go and get Travis." 3 left, to go and get him.
Travis's apartment, 1 hour later…
3 pushed open the ajar door.
"Travis? Are you there?"
The house was a mess. Billy's incorporeal body stood in 3's way.
"So, you've arrived. You've come for Travis, I presume?" He asked, with a malevolent cackle at the end.
"What the hell are you supposed to be?!"
Billy laughed.
"I killed the thousand, I brainwashed your friend. I'm Billy. Or, what's left of him."
3 scowled.
"We just can't get rid of you, can we?!"
"That's no longer your concern. I think… he is." Billy pointed to Travis, who now stood in the corner.
"What have you done with him?!"
Billy sighed.
"If you planned to use him… here he is…" Billy vanished, with a chuckle.
3 ran up to Travis.
"What the heck are you doing here? Are you okay?"
Travis opened his eyes. When he saw 3, his face flashed with fear.
"N-no! You're not supposed to be here! I need you to leave, NOW!"
"What are you talking about? Do I smell that bad today?"
Travis twitched once.
"L-listen, you have to r-run!" He cried, "Before…" Travis stopped shaking. He stopped speaking.
3 gasped.
"Travis, are you alive still? Please, talk to me!"
Travis stood, slowly. Something began to come back. His eyes began to convey another emotion. He smiled vacantly.
"Well, look what we have here…" He mumbled.
"What's going on here?" 3 asked, frantically.
"Just seeing your face right now… it makes me… very mad. I don't know why. I just want to… stab someone." Travis beamed. "I'll give you ten seconds."
"Ten seconds to what?"
"Run."
3 scowled. "I'm not going anywhere, punk."
"Then you're ending your own life." Travis lunged forward, aiming to kill. Before he was able to do anything, a laser blast hit him in the side, knocking him away.
"What the heck are you doing, get out of here!" Mick called.
3 stood, unresponsive. Mick, impatient, grabbed 3's hand and used a smoke bomb.
3 fell to the ground, as they teleported away. Mick looked around, confused.
"Where did that take us?"
The sound of scraping metal caught both of their attention.
"You're damn welcome." Simon sighed as he sharpened his sword.
"Thanks for the help." Thanked Mick, before sitting down. "But where are we?"
"Right outside of my destination. 3. How's Amber been?" Simon asked.
3 snapped out of a trance. "S-sorry. I just had to comprehend what just happened… Amber's been acting weird, but mostly fine."
"Okay… so she hasn't been angry lately. Okay. Let's go." Simon swung around the side of the base and kicked open the door.
Everyone in the central area's glance swung in their direction.
"3?!" Luigi gasped, "What in the world happened… and Simon?!"
Simon waved.
"Simon?!" Amber yelled, from the other room.
Amber stormed in and slammed right into Simon.
"How did you even get here?!"
"You left your little button at home. I thought you guys might have needed some help…"
Amber went from upset to fuming.
"A little help? It took you a while to get "a little help," don't you think?"
"I took my time, what does it matter to you, anyway? You probably didn't even want my help when you ditched me, right?" Simon fussed.
"I only left because you couldn't make up your mind!"
"I literally planned to leave the next shitting day!"
"How was I supposed to know that?!"
"I told you to wait! One day! You couldn't wait one day?!"
Luigi jumped between the angry couple.
"Listen, now is not the time for arguing."
"Travis has been brainwashed." 3 sighed, "We can't bring the drive here, not with him on the prowl."
"He knows where we are…" Brittany thought aloud. "We're gonna have to come to them. Unless we can find ship fuel in time to-"
"Do you need ship fuel?" Mick asked, "Why didn't you ask me first, I still have the fuel for Cleats' ship!"
"What are we waiting for, go get it!" Luigi rushed.
"Okay, damn!" Mick huffed, before vanishing.
Everyone's attention darted to sparks flying out from behind them. Two hands pulled open a portal from the other side.
Shallows fell through the newly-opened portal.
"Ugh, FINALLY! I opened the damn-"
He screamed as Simon pinned him to the wall.
"It's the masked freak again!"
Shallows shoved off Simon.
"Hey, bucko, back off! I don't want any trouble!"
Marco stepped out and jumped between Simon and Shallows.
"Hey! He's with us."
Simon squinted.
"You're both on the bad side… right?"
Alph staggered through.
"Not anymore! They're all my friends now!"
Simon scowled at Shallows' eye roll.
"Yeah, right. I'm just trying to keep the drive safe. If it gets in the wrong hands, we're dead."
Cleats stepped through.
"Well, we're here… but not the drive." He sighed, "If we bring it through the portal, we're going to the void. And that wouldn't be good."
All of their attention switched to Mick popping back in, holding a small canister.
"Okay… I got the fuel. But he's also chasing me." Mick panted. "So just prepare for that."
In a flash, Travis stood before them. "Oh, the whole team is back together… cute. I see you're all… trying to get that drive."
Shallows shoved several people out of the way, his hands shaking.
"Oh, you're not touching that drive, tentacles."
"I am touching that drive. And you guys aren't gonna stand in my way."
The team readied their weapons, but Travis shot a lightning bolt, knocking everybody to the ground. Except for Shallows.
"You're still standing, even after that blast?" Travis scowled. "That was supposed to knock you out."
Shallows twitched.
"Yeah, well it didn't. Gonna cry about it?"
"You shouldn't be taunting me, kid." Travis growled, "You're digging your own grave."
"I may be digging a grave, but you're the one sleeping in it." Shallows spat.
Travis shot another bolt, to which Shallows caught with his hand. Travis gawked as Shallows sent the bolt flying back at him.
By this time, everyone had begun to stand up again. Mick grabbed Cleats and jumped through the open portal, before it shut behind him.
Shallows grabbed an unconscious Travis's leg and dragged him to a cell.
Simon got up with a scowl on his face.
"I regret ever thinking about coming here… I feel useless. This is exactly what I said would happen, I'd be a useless, uneducated, side character. What are we even doing?! What's it even worth, saving that drive?"
"It's worth my brother's life, and I'm very serious about that!" Amber retorted.
"I meant something actually worth our hard work. He can't give us a raise, he doesn't even have money! That's the best reward we get?" Simon kicked the ground.
"Excuse me, it's my brother, he's the only thing I can even look forward to! You can't even relate, you don't even have siblings!"
"Oh really?! Because last I checked, the bastard tried to kill us! Some brother, the piece of shit is!"
"Listen, if you insult my brother, you're insulting me!"
Simon scoffed.
"You say that like I'll stop because it's you. You're no better than him."
Luigi jumped between them again.
"Guys, please! We can't be fighting!"
Amber shoved Luigi out of the way.
"There's a clear difference between me and him!"
"No, not really. You both have inflated egos, are way too clingy, have exceptionally annoying attitudes. No wonder he's dead, his ass deserved it!" Simon shot.
"You say that again, punk…"
"I said, no wonder he's dead. Dead as hell."
Luigi didn't stop Amber from pinning Simon to the wall and pounding his face in with her fist.
It wasn't until 3 dragged Amber away that she stopped attacking Simon. Simon dropped to the ground, blood dripping from his mouth and nose.
Simon stood, slowly.
"Oh, that smarts…" He groaned, before falling over. Luigi ran over and helped him up.
Cleats strolled in and plugged the drive in.
"Okay… we can begin shutting the drive down now-" He saw Amber and Simon. "Dear Christ, what happened here?!"
Before Amber could speak, Simon cut in.
"N-nothing. I just… said a little too much. Apologies." He grunted, giving Amber a weird glance before leaving.
Cleats turned back to the drive and sighed.
"The shutdown process may take days…" He sighed to himself, before Alph strolled in.
"Then we'll wait out the days till their end."
"As long as we don't get wrapped up in any more of this MVP stuff…" Brittany sighed, "We're with you."
"Good. Because this process is gonna draw a lot of unwanted attention. Get ready for anything." Cleats warned.
As they all hyped themselves up, a purple glow began, at the end of the hall.
"Keep talking, MVP scum…" Billy hissed. "I'll be waiting…"
I have a feeling next chapter might be a one to remember... after the commercial break to remember junk because I love memory chapters.
So the next chapter is gonna be Cleats' backstory... and it's gonna blow your freaking mind. See you then...