Chapter 2 of this disaster. I'm putting literally no effort into these btw. Enjoy. I'm trying to fit as many terrible cliche's as possible into this fic though, including pointless romance yayayayayay!

'This is Zone 1, where smoke is processed. As the first of four elements, it is an important element...'

As Palamilla followed The Batter through Zone 1, she rattled any information she thought would be important to know. The Batter couldn't hear her of course, but talking was better than following him in awkward silence. He really had no idea where he was going, even after talking to several people who lived in the Zone. After what felt like hours of pointless wandering, The Batter finally came to a stop and looked at Palamilla with a bored expression.

"Fine. I'm lost."

Palamilla sighed, exaggerating the motion for The Batter's sake.

"Don't be like that." He huffed.

'Well maybe you should spit up some of that pride you're so keen on swallowing.' Palamilla snipped in response.

"Can you show me where to go?" The Batter asked.

Palamilla looked around and nodded her head. She lead The Batter back a ways, and took him to the nearby smoke mines, where Spectres were becoming a problem. She waited around more on the sidelines while he defeated countless of them, until they reached the bowels of the mines and the lights faded away.

'Batter, stop!' She called.

'I'm terrified of the dark, let's turn back!'

He pressed on, what was leading him Palamilla could only guess. She somehow managed to get lost, and wandered into a dead end. Around her she could hear the sounds of Spectres, mingling with the further distant sounds of The Batter shouting.

"Be purified vile Spectre!"

'Batter! Don't leave me behind!'

Palamilla frantically ran through the dark tunnels, carefully listening for any sound of The Batter.

"Palamilla? Where have you gone? Don't run off!"

Soft footsteps echoed through the tunnels. Palamilla knew they must belong to The Batter, but they were too soft for her to track them. Suddenly, three Spectres that were larger and had a different aura than the rest appeared before Palamilla.

'It's a shame you got stuck with him.' One said.

'Head too far up his own arse to see his downfall.' The second added.

'History repeats itself Palamilla, how many times have you traveled with The Batter?' The third pried.

Palamilla recognized those Spectres as being Puppeteers like herself, simply taking a different form to blend in. She shrugged her shoulders and answered.

'I don't remember anymore. It feels like we've been together for ages.'

The Spectres nodded in agreement.

'Yes, yes.'

'Very long time.'

'That's how the game works you know, plus.'

Suddenly, The Batter skidded around the corner. Palamilla could just make out his face in the practically nonexistent light and smiled weakly.

'Well, we're off to be killed.'

'Nice chatting again.'

'Keep an eye on that oaf, yes?'

The Batter raised his bat above his head.

"You've done enough here Spectres, prepare to be purified!"


The Batter traveled slower now, keeping Palamilla close by his side. It was the hard way he found out that he was quite incapable of using any items of his own power, and Palamilla needed to heal him when they reunited.

'You should be more careful.' She chided.

"How much longer are we going to wander these blasted mines?" The Batter asked.

It was too dark for Palamilla to sigh and The Batter to see it.

"I have business to attend to."

Palamilla grit her teeth and glared at The Batter. He made her so mad, so upset that sometimes she just..!

A light flickered on along the wall. Followed by another, and another. They were dim, but they were there and filled the tunnels with enough light The Batter could look around and get his bearings.

"We should be able to go down this tunnel here and get to the exit."

He motioned for Palamilla to follow him and resumed walking. Even with the dim light, it was difficult navigating tunnels. The Batter suddenly stopped and looked Palamilla in the eye.

"These lights. Was turning them on one of the powers you have as a Puppeteer?"

Palamilla lowered her eyes. Yes, as one of The Puppeteers she did have some power over the world, but certainly not enough to turn on lights? What allowed her to turn them on? Transitioning between Zones was easy because of the red boxes, and she could use items on The Batter because they were an entity that existed between both the world of The Batter and The Puppeteers. But directly influencing the world? That was not the role of The Puppeteer.

"The Puppeteer's are strange." The Batter commented.

He sat down and cleaned his bat. Palamilla stayed standing a little longer before sitting down next to The Batter. There was an unspoken rule between the two about personal space. Arms length, don't try to touch each other, and don't try to sleep at the same time in the same room. It was simple rules like that preventing any unnecessary emotional awkwardness. The rules were set in place ages ago, maybe hundreds of years ago, it was impossible to tell how time passed. Over the passing of time however, it seemed the amount of space that needed to be kept between the two shrunk, and more effort was made on The Batter's part to speak to Palamilla.

'Puppeteers are indeed strange.' Palamilla agreed.

"What's the point of you being here if you can't even talk to us?"

Palamilla shrugged, but The Batter was not paying attention. When he finished cleaning the ectoplasm off his bat, he laid it beside him and crossed his legs. Palamilla sat on her knees and cracked open the book to check The Batters stats.

'Batter! You're poisoned!' She cried.

She flipped through the pages, seeing if they had anything that would cure the poisoning. The Batter glanced over at her concentrated page turning and frowned.

"You just checked my stats a few minutes ago, what's the problem?"

Palamilla showed The Batter his poisoned status and he made a huffing noise.

"I feel fine, it's not a big deal."

He flipped the book closed and handed it to Palamilla. She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, for herself, not The Batter. His attitude was off putting, and worrisome. It was a good thing Palamilla was there to watch out for him, otherwise his mission to purify the Zones wouldn't end well. Palamilla could tell The Batter was lying about his condition. He wouldn't be sitting down if he was alright, his cocky attitude wouldn't let him take breaks.

'Batter... Don't push yourself...'