Yui yelled in pain as the knife dug into her back. She snarled and spat a curse in her home language as she felt a shot of adrenaline push her forward as she tore off down the sidewalk away from the killer. She could hear her heartbeat still racing, which meant the killer was nearby…

'Perfect.' She mentally growled. Today wasn't going well, and Yui wasn't exactly in a great mood to begin with.

One, she hadn't gotten as much sleep as she usually tried to.

Two, she was stuck in Haddonfield, one of the worst trial grounds (in her, and many of the survivors' opinion) for how large it was, and how hard it was to hide, or even find the lousy generators.

Three, she was in a trial. No one enjoyed that. Aside from maybe Bill…

Four, she had seen the weird lights in the sky which always signaled new meat, be they killer or survivor. But considering before the trial began, there was no new arrival, she assumed it meant there was a new killer to have to learn the effects of…

Five, she was already wounded, and the trial had barely begun.

And most importantly, six. She knew that Hope was in here as well. That fact angered her to no end, and not for the reasons some of the survivors thought. Initially, she had been rather cold to the small infant, but this hadn't been for lack of empathy, just the opposite. Yui was PISSED beyond words that this… THING that trapped them here had the AUDACITY to throw a baby in here as well. Not only that, but there had been two trials since the first one Hope was forced into, leaving the survivors hoping maybe it was a one-time fluke, but no… she was here. While Yui may not have been as instantly 'maternal' as Claudette or Meg were, she didn't want to hurt the baby, either!

Really, what got to her was that dealing with Hope was now a multi-act game. She had to repair the generators, find Hope, unhook her fellow survivors (no matter how angry she got with them, she'd never leave them behind unless she had to), keep Hope safe, heal other survivors, keep Hope quiet, heal herself, and then ultimately escape.

"Well, might as- wait a sec… they're gone?" Yui began to think negative thoughts, but forced herself to slow down and briefly look over her shoulder, only to see she was alone. "Okay. Good. Time to get this wound patched…"

Jumping through a window, Susie landed roughly, dropping her blade for a second. The younger girl quickly snatched it back up and looked around. Her frenzy had died down, and she had hit three survivors! Which was good, but she needed to find them now and take them out. She hated this, honestly… she was terrified! She didn't know these people, she didn't know where she was! She wanted to go home… but she couldn't. Not anymore. Not just because of the monster-thing keeping them here, forever, but because of the whole 'murderer' thing. Still, she had the others, and they watched out for one another. They were counting on her, she couldn't let them down.

The sound of creaking wood caught her attention, and her head snapped towards someone or something moving. She tore off running, seeing one of the survivors trying to run away from her. Susie took off, giving chase.

She chased one of the girls, - around her height, with orange-ish hair – for almost two minutes. She noticed the girl seemed to panic when they approached one of the houses, and Susie swore she heard her whisper 'Nononononono…' in a terrified tone to herself, as if she was leading Susie towards the other survivors, or something like that. Finally, Susie saw her chance and lunged forward. The girl screamed in pain as she fell to the ground, and Susie knew she had to make this count. She had one chance to do this, she couldn't be a coward, she couldn't let Frank or Julie down…

"No… Hope…"

Susie paused for a moment when she heard that. It made… no sense, was this girl talking to someone? Were they being watched?! She looked around in confusion, seeing… nothing. Nothing but a locker in the corner.

"…" Susie wanted to ask what she was talking about, but when the darkness crept in, Susie didn't care. She savagely swiped at the girl, but missed. Swinging the blade back down, it dug deeply into the girl's arm, the girl screamed as the blood sprayed she shoved Susie off of her, ripping the blade out as she attempted to run, but the blade was driven into the back of her leg, digging into her ankle. She cried out in pain, and felt herself being dragged backwards, before the blade was driven into her spine. Susie kicked her over and rove the blade into her chest and dragged it back. Susie hated doing this, but she had to do it. She needed to be strong! As the blood poured out, the girl stopped moving, and Susie breathed heavily. She was dead… dead as dirt.

"Oh… wow…" Susie breathed, feeling a sickly, heavy feeling covering her body, which conflicted with the rush of adrenaline and excitement that seemed to be fighting to come to the surface.

CrEakk…

Susie took a moment to balance herself, and then looked to the locker, having heard the door move ever so slightly. She knew what this meant, and she let out a slight sigh of relief. The rush of power she got was still flowing, so it would make the next part easier. Usually, Susie was afraid of picking up the survivors and hooking them, but right now, she had energy, she had a 'flow' going, so this would be easy…

"All right, another survivor on the hook… okay... just please don't jump out at me…" Susie muttered, hating when the Survivors did that. Almost every trial she was in.

Susie opened the locker, roughly, and blinked in confusion at the… nothing, in the locker. Then, she gasped in shock at the sight below her. Looking up at her was a small baby, she couldn't guess how old she was, but she looked to be less than a year old.

"Abalth?" The baby looked up at her and tried to speak, getting out a weird jumble of sounds.

"Awww… you're such a little cutie~!" Susie cooed as she hugged Hope close, feeling her heart melt and warm at the same time. The moment of happiness turned to one of horror, as Susie realized there was a baby in the trials. What was she supposed to do?! "Ohmygoshwhatareyoudoinghere!?" She whisper-shouted, looking into Hope's eyes from behind her mask. "This- but- what- how-" Words failed her as she struggled to think or make a cohesive sentence.

"What am I supposed to do with you!?"

"Treat it like any other survivor." A woman's voice whispered in her mind it sounded like Julie… looking to the left, Susie saw a hook not too far away, and Susie felt like she was going to throw up at the mere thought of it.

"NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT!" she mentally screamed. "I WON'T!"

"This is no place for cowards." Frank's almost venomous voice seeped into her mind, and her thoughts flashed back to the night in the store, when they had all taken turns driving the knife into that man… She remembered how terrified Joey had been, how mute Julie had seemed, and how hungry Frank had been in his words. How his words had cut her when he screamed at her. "We are Legion. We are strength. None of us can back out from who we are now, are you with us? Or with THEM?"

Susie looked down at Hope, who looked up with a confused look at the stitched mask staring back at her. Susie narrowed her eyes and held back tears as she carried Hope over to one of the serrated hooks.

"We are Legion. We are strong. We are Legion. We are not cowards. We are Legion…" Susie began whispering the mantra Joey had come up with one night while the four of them were causing mischief, back before they were taken.

She looked down at the little baby, who was now innocently reaching up for her mask out of curiosity, and she felt her knees growing weak. It wouldn't be hard… all she had to do was throw her on, just like she did any other survivor…

"Right. Right… just like any other survivor. Anyone else who wants to stop us…" Susie told herself, nodding in agreement with her false words.

As she walked closer, she saw the hook lightly swaying in the night air, as if hungrily attempting to reach out and snatch the unsuspecting victim like a metal Venus fly trap. Susie took a deep breath, looking down at Hope, then back up at the hook. Closing her eyes, she held Hope up to the hook, and…

"I can't!" Susie squeaked out through shut eyes, whirling around and hugging Hope close to her chest, beginning to tear up behind the mask. "I can't do it! I just can't!"

Susie swore she felt the hook reach down and slowly run along her spine. She wanted to scream, she wanted to run, but she wasn't a coward. Frank had made that clear from day one. And she wouldn't let Julie down! …but she couldn't do this. She couldn't sacrifice a baby! She had failed them…

"You have not failed yet. There are others. Find them. Kill them." A voice whispered in her head, and this voice was one that Susie couldn't ignore. She didn't know where this voice came from, but it terrified her. Clutching Hope close to her stained purple hoodie, she exhaled, and then slipped into a feral frenzy.

The trial was nearly done. Meg was dead. Steve grit his teeth as he finished up the last generator, and the alarm went off, signalling that the exit gates were open. He hoped Adam heard them too, as he wasn't sure where he had gone off too. Last he saw, the Legion was chasing him… but he hadn't heard the screams of someone being hooked. The other issue was he didn't know where Hope was, and didn't want to leave that up to chance. Unlike the other idiots he called his friends back home, Hope was a baby, she couldn't think of a plan like Will, or luck out and escape like Dustin could… so now, he had to try and find her. Only issue was, he had no idea where the heck she was. Meg had gone to hide her, but had been killed by the Legion without warning before she could tell anyone where-

"Hey. Steve." Adam spoke up, suddenly appearing next to him and making him jump.

"Gah! Don't do that!" Steve grumbled, annoyed.

"Sorry. Just… you know where Hope is?"

"No… I was kinda hoping you'd know." Steve frowned.

"Hrgh... so, what's the plan?

"Yui's still out there. I say we split up. One looks for Yui, the other looks for Hope." Steve admitted with a shrug. "Yeah, I know splitting up is the worst idea, but we need to cover ground, fast."

"Fair enough. Which one you wanna take?"

"I'll look for Yui."

"Good luck." Adam nodded.

"You too." Steve nodded back.

Susie squeaked as the pallet was suddenly dropped on her, and she stumbled back. The crying of an infant filled her ears, and then she saw that the baby wasn't in her arms anymore. One of the survivors had grabbed it while she was stunned, and was now running from her.

"Must… finish…" Susie thought, as she ran off after Yui. She didn't want to hurt the baby, but the woman had to die. She had been chasing her for a good while now, the other two survivors annoying were good at hiding. It was also because of this woman that Susie now knew that the baby was named 'Hope', a name she thought was precious and adorable, much like the baby. She knew this because the survivor had shouted it when she saw Susie holding her, as well as saying a famous line from the power loader scene in Aliens at the same time.

Yui looked down at the baby in her arms and sighed. She hated herself for what she had to do, but she knew she had to do it. Skidding around a corner, Yui set Hope into a bush to hide her, and prepared to run off again to find Adam and tell him where-

Susie drove the blade into Yui's back, taking her to the ground. Yui screamed in pain, and realized in terror her mistake. She had just practically given Hope to the killer… she began to struggle to try and fight back, but Susie merely cleaned her blade, and then dragged Yui up and over her shoulder. With a single heave, she dumped her onto the hook. Yui screamed in pain, then screamed in terror, then didn't scream at all as the Entity drove its spider-like legs through her, claiming her. With that done, Susie sighed, feeling like she had done… decent. Which was enough for her. She looked about for a minute, then found Hope once more, picking her up with a smile behind the mask. But the smile quickly faded when she realized something… what was she gonna do with her?

Could she just… bring her back? Would the Entity allow it? It seemed like a decent idea, but then reality settled in.

"What if the others find out I couldn't kill her!? What if the other killers try to hurt her?! What if they all think I'm a failure?!" Susie began to mentally panic as millions of ideas and insults flew through her mind. Reminders of her weakness, of her inability to be what the Legion needed. How she was nothing but a child. Weak. Scared. Pathetic.

"I can't. I won't." She shook her head. "I'm not a coward for refusing to do this!"

She looked around, and then heard the exit gate open. She knew what she was going to do.

"We have to go." Steve muttered, but both survivors stood at the gate, refusing to leave. Neither had found whom they were looking for, and after hearing Yui's screams and the deep rumbling… they knew they were too late. Neither of them could find Hope, and that was what really concerned them. Both of them searched high and low, under every locker, in bushes, in chests, but… nothing. Now, with the gate open, time was running out, and neither Survivor wanted to admit to what they had to do.

"She's still out there." Adam stoically protested. "We can't leave her."

"I'll go." Steve volunteered after a few moments of silence, making his mind up on this.

"No. I'll go." Adam shook his head. "You should get back to the others, I can handle myself."

"Hey, I might be younger than you, but I've seen a hell of a lot more crap than you have!" Steve snapped, gritting his teeth somewhat. This was not the time or place he wanted to have this argument, but it seemed like he was going to, regardless.

"You may have fought that demon-dog thing, but you-" Adam began, but his eyes widened in terror and his voice died in his throat at what he saw before him.

"Ohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrap…" Steve muttered when he saw Susie coming towards them, with Hope in her arms. He looked around for a stick, a chunk of metal, a big rock, ANYTHING he could use to bash her over the head with to distract her while Adam grabbed Hope. Adam was clearly in the same mindset, and from the way the ground was getting brighter, they didn't have much time left before all three would be claimed by the Entity. So, they had to act, fast.

"On three." Adam said, and Steve nodded in recognition. Even if both of them died, he'd do everything he could to get Hope away from the killer. "One, two-"

"Please." Susie practically whispered as she stood about ten feet from them. Her voice surprising the survivors, as the killers rarely if ever spoke. "Don't tell Frank." With that simple request, she gently set Hope down on the ground, and ran away from the exit. Steve looked to Adam, who had an equally mortified expression, but as the ground continued to glow and cracks began to form, the former teacher grabbed Hope and ran across the exit grounds.

"What in the fresh he-" Steve began to curse, only to realize he had seconds left, and ran for his life. Just barely escaping the collapse of the trial grounds.

Punishment. Torment. Screaming.

It understood very well what its purpose was. It came, it sought out those who needed to suffer, who deserved to be in pain, and it would force retribution onto them. Very few survived, but then again, very few deserved to. They were all terrible people, in one way or another. Their sins covered their bodies, crawled down their backs, and through that torment, it would be brought forth. It would hunt, it would pursue, like a force of nature which couldn't be explained. For so long, it had done as it was asked. Walked, wounded, slaughtered.

In an odd sense, it had been happy. It understood why it was doing what it did. There were questions, sometimes, but it had learned to stop asking them. It had learned to simply do as it had to, rather than question what sins had brought it forth. Once, an insurmountably long time ago, it had wondered if there was a way to help those it came across. To help those how summoned it. But it had quickly learned the truth. Only through bloodshed could those afflicted with guilt truly atone. So, it had returned to its duties, and had so for what felt like an eternity.

But then, the fog had spoken to it. For the first time in its existence, the fog… spoke, and it understood what was being said. The fog had offered it a new role to play, to continue its work… forever. Initially, it had been hesitant, but then it felt the suffering, it merely took a step into this new fog, and felt like it was drowning in sin. For the first time in possibly its entire existence, it felt angry. The sins it felt went unpunished, those who committed them must atone.

But it was all these feelings, and the suddenly lack thereof, which truly gave it pause. Something had happened. Someone new had arrived. This wasn't uncommon, and it merely meant more sinners to help face atonement for their actions. But this one… it felt… different. It felt… pure.

Metallic knives scraped against metal creating a sound which sent anxiety and fear down the spines of anyone who heard it. In this case, the spine of a young school girl, who was trapped in boiler room.

"What do you want?!"

"Awww… don't be so scared… I ain't gonna cut you like yer Daddy did…" A twisted voice chuckled, continuing to cause sparks as the blades cut across metal.

"Stay away from me, you monster!" A young Japanese voice demanded. Despite speaking in her native tongue, the Entity made it so all could understand one another, if they so cared to do so. Freddy laughed as he dragged his claws against the metal pipes. Really, Freddy had no reason to do what he did. But he needed… stimulation aside from the trials, and the girl with the stupid mask was gone, which meant Rin was the only candidate he could scare at the moment.

"Don't be like that… I've got something special…" he began, but trailed off as his eyes widened in a mixture of realization and horror at what sat on his workbench. He knew the damn thing all too well, and he knew whom came with it, all too well…

"Aw, great." Freddy grumbled, looking up from a terrified Rin, but didn't need to bother turning around to see who was there. "You."

"If I am not mistaken, Fredrick, there are rules against what we can and cannot do to one another while in this realm." A voice spoke up, echoing around the boiler room.

"Why are you here?" Freddy asked, not bothering to answer the semi-asked question. He knew why, but he wasn't happy about it.

"Much like you, I have been… chosen." The voice spoke.

"Well, welcome to the party." Freddy scoffed, casing a glance over his shoulder. When he looked back, Rin was gone. "Aw, well. Great. Look what you made me do…"

"I would be more concerned about what her Guardian is going to do to you, Kruger." The voice spoke once more, before disappearing into the air. Freddy grumbled something under his breath before tossing the small golden cube away, and returning to sharpening his blades.

"Of all the killers, it had to be him…" Freddy grumbled in annoyance. "Why couldn't it have been that mute r****d, Jason?"

More of a killer-centric chapter, but I feel like it's a good one.

So… it's not just the core killers who have seen little Hope now… how do you think Suzie is going to react? How will the rest of the Legion? Honestly, I don't like the Legion that much. They're an interesting concept, but it comes across as 'angsty teens' rather than actual killers. If that was the point, and they're in over their heads, cool. But DBD wants you to think 'OH, CRAP! IT'S LEGION!' not 'Aw, really? Friggin' Legion?' (Apologies to all Legion mains, you're wonderful people.)

Heck, not just them, but there are many killers yet to be seen, each with their own motivation… and there's one in particular who seems to have taken a great interest in Hope.

Also, I know the 'lore' of DBD says the killers all have their own 'realms', but I like to imagine they bother each other constantly for no reason other than they can.

Also, also, sorry to all the Meg fans, I put all the current survivors into a wheel, spun it, and Meg got chosen, so sorry for unceremoniously killing her. It definitely has nothing to do with my hatred of her when she pallet stuns and flashlights me when I'm trying to play Ghostface, definitely not that at all.

Also, also, also, don't ask me about the NFT crap. BHVR is a terrible company run by idiots and all the bad crap hitting them now is justified and enjoyable to watch. I like the game and I love the characters, so this story is gonna keep chuggin' on.