#and only left a certain limited picture of mumbo left | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

votederpycausemufins · 3 years

Text

It’s been a crazy few days, but this chapter is done now. big tw and cw for the chapter though because it’s got some blood and graphic depictions of violence and harm.

@petrichormeraki and @helleborusangel

Grifter jolted awake at the sound of some beeping. He groaned slightly and turned to look at what was making the noise. He looked at it a few seconds before closing his eyes to return to his nap, but a moment later he sat up, fully awake. His wings fluttered happily as he looked at the surveillance system Sense had set up. It wasn’t the best it could be, no, but tripwires all over the place would tell them when someone went down certain hallways.

Based on the signals, there were three people walking around meaning there was at least one person to kill. His double was unfortunately off limits, and so was Nightmare for now, but the only other people he couldn’t kill were all accounted for, so even if both of them were there, he could still have fun with one of them.

Grifter quickly sent a message to Sense to tell him what was going on and then he stood up from the throne. He watched the screens, ready for another one to go off. When a notification popped up, he immediately started running off in that direction to find whoever was there. Getting through the halls was a bit confusing due to him being new to the place, but with a little magic, it wasn’t that bad.

He heard their voices before he saw them obviously. They were trying to be quiet, but they weren’t quiet enough. He was happy to only recognize Grian’s voice, so it seemed everyone else was fair game. In a moment, the place shook slightly, causing some concerned and worried noises before the hallway was sealed off with more walls. “Looks like some people came to visit!”

Grian immediately moved to the front of the ground, having Grum off to Ranboo since his arms were free. “Where’s Tommy?”

Grifter waved a hand. “Oh don’t worry. He’s not dead. I need him alive to lure Nightmare in. Now, who do we have here? Two natives, a natural, oh and little Grumbot~”

Grum turned away to hide his face against Ranboo’s chest, pretending that it was Mumbo holding him instead. Grian moved slightly to hide the others from view, opening his wings to help with that. And then while Tubbo still held Michael, he also pulled out a sword. “Give Tommy back, or else.”

“Hmm, how about no. Again, I need him to get Nightmare to me, so until that happens, he’s staying here. Obviously I can’t kill him because then it would probably affect Theseus, and if that happened, I’d get the short end of the stick. That being said, I think some of the people here are fair game. Like you, you, maybe you, and- do you care about the zombie piglin?” Grifter asked after pointing to where Tubbo, Ranboo and Grum had been standing.

“You’re not killing any of them!” Grian growled, but Grifter ignored him and used a bit of magic, making Michael glow for a moment.

“There, doesn’t matter now.” The Listener shrugged before the floor shifted, turning into a spike and spearing Michael out of Tubbo’s hands. As Tubbo tried to reach where it had taken the ziglin, he was suddenly enveloped in lava. “Oh! This is so much fun!” Grifter clapped before Grian slammed the hels copy against the wall, hands in fists on his collar.

Behind them, Grum pressed his face into Ranboo’s chest even more and covered what he had in place of ears. Two death messages were sent out, and of course having his communicator build into himself, the messages went straight to him. If someone died, he- it- the lives count- it needed- he needed-. Grum started buffering, going slack in Ranboo’s arms.

Grifter just smiled back at Grian’s angry face. “Aww, are you maaad? Heehee!” His sweet smile turned to a much more poisonous one. “Well maybe I could just kill Grum. I’m not sure that bug of his works between dimensions, now does it? Where would he go? Would you ever find him again?”

Grian froze, stunned by Grifter’s comment. “B-bug?” He asked, only getting the single word question out before he was thrown against the opposite wall, the force of hitting it winding him.

Grifter cracked his neck as he stretched. He merely needed to gesture at the wall for it to shift and pull Grian into it, leaving his head and half of his wings exposed. “Oh you don’t know? Well, I guess that’s expected. You’re still the person who made NPG, hmm? It’s amazing he hasn’t already completely crashed like the second one. And the new pair aren’t even a year old, how long until they’re gone too?” Grifter shifted his eyes to look towards Grum, still facing Grian. “Maybe I can speed it up.”

“No!” Grian yelled, struggling to escape his stone prison. “Leave him alone!”

Grifter ignored Grian and summoned an obsidian knife. “Alright, who wants to die next! I’ve still got time to kill, so what better way to do that than killing people.”

Grian completely froze up. Physically he was staring at his hels copy, but in his mind he saw someone else. Even as he saw them move towards Ranboo and Grum, he couldn’t get himself to move. The enderman hybrid tried to find someplace to run to, but he just backed up into a wall. Grifter dove at Ranboo with the knife, and while Grian couldn’t see the injury, the following scream was enough to make his blood curdle. More yelling came from the hybrid, but he wasn’t killed, Grifter just torturing him for fun.

Finally, the helsmit stabbed Ranboo once more, leaving the knife in his chest before getting up. “Sounds like Nightmare’s getting close. Sorry to run, but I have more important things to do!” And one of the walls he created collapsed, leaving him skipping away happily, ignoring the blood covering his clothes.

Now that Grifter was out of the way, Grian could see the state everyone was in. Unlike normal, the bodies that had been left behind hadn’t disappeared. Lava was cooling over what remained of Tubbo, but the smell told Grian all he needed to know about what was underneath. Michael was still speared on the stone spike, a large hole through his chest and one of his arms had fallen off.

Grum had fallen off to the side, his screen a rainbow of color with a large crack spanning the screen, blood splattered on him. And finally Ranboo was lying on the ground, ignoring the knife in his chest to instead clutch his left eye, blood dripping from between his fingers.

Grian struggled against the stone trapping him. Theoretically he could use magic to get himself out, but being contained in the walls could backfire and leave him injured. That being said, it would still leave him in better shape than the others.

The wall exploded from magic. Ranboo and Grum were far enough that the debris didn’t hit them, but there was still rubble left everywhere. Grian’s wings hung limply at his side, every small movement causing a wave of pain to go through him. The explosion caused damage to him, but the rocks had mainly hit his wings, leaving them useless. Grian took a few deep breaths before holding his breath in preparation of shifting the wings away. It was agony for a few seconds, but once they were gone, so was the pain.

Grian limped over to the mass that was Tubbo since he was closest. A quick check told him Grifter had disabled respawn recently, meaning that their bodies wouldn’t disappear. He used some more magic to change that back, and the mass deflated at the same time Michael’s body and disconnected limb disappeared. Immediately after that happened, Grian doubled over, hands on his knees keeping him up. His head was swimming and he wanted to pass out, but he still had plenty to do.

He forced himself back up to standing and pulled himself over to Grum, dragging the bot over to Ranboo who was slowly calming down, the pain fading from shock and adrenaline. Once they were close to each other, Grian cast healing and health spells. The recent damage Grum had acquired faded while the knife in Ranboo’s chest was pushed out as the flesh there healed and his eye mended.

Grian looked over to Grum, the bot’s screen still picturing a loading circle as he continued to buffer. The avian tried to take a step, but he was hurt and tired, so he just fell to the ground, all three of them now passed out.

Upon reaching the roof, Grifter immediately made his way over to Sense. He pulled the redstoner into a kiss before pulling his belt off and going over to Tommy. “Sorry Seesee, just uses less magic this way.” And then he pulled the belt away from around his own tunic, using magic on the two of them to make a metal harness that was put around Tommy. The chain around the teen’s leg was also taken off and moved onto the harness, which Grifter used as a sort of leash. “There! Now remember, no trying to run off. It won’t end well for you.”

Tommy tried to struggle, but wasn’t able to do much before Grifter stomped on his already injured leg, making him scream.

He wasn’t able to do much as the helsmit yanked his bandana off and looked it over. “Hmm… Theseus’ always looks more bloody than this. Well, easy enough to fix!” And Grifter pressed the fabric to his blood soaked tunic, the red liquid quickly being drawn into the fabric. “There! I just might have to give you a few more injuries to make it believable, but it should do fine.”

Tommy tried to move away, but Grifter yanked him closer before using the bandana as a gag, tying around his head. “Oh calm down, it’s not human blood. At least, I don’t think. Some sort of weird enderman.” That didn’t reassure Tommy at all and instead he started struggling more, knowing who Grifter was referring to.

Grifter just laughed at Tommy’s panic and pulled out the mask he had taken from Theseus, putting it on Tommy and using some magic to change his hair color. “There! Now you’re like the spitting image of Theseus! Now we just need that extra injury. Hmmm… eyes are too cliche, especially since I’ve already done that today. And his neck is already healed, so damaging there again wouldn’t help. Cut on the mouth would just cause too much blood.” Grifter rubbed his chin before looking back at Sense. “Hey, do you remember what I did to Sahn back in highschool when Vurne was missing? I think I’ve told you that story.”

“Many times. You always did have fun then.” Sense replied. “It was cuts on the back when he messed with your wings.”

Grifter lit up at the answer. “Oh I remember that! That was so much fun! Yes, I think that will work great for this!” Tommy tried to move away again, but Grifter just moved him so he was laying on his front, face pressed into the stone. When Grifter cut into his back, it wasn’t deep, just enough to cut through his shirt and draw blood. Tommy grit his teeth into his bandanna to keep from yelling, ignoring the taste of iron that came from it.

“Okay! I think that’s enough for now. I’ll take him down so I can meet with Nightmare and finally put this whole situation behind us.” Grifter said before yanking Tommy to his feet. “Do you want to stay up here or come down with us?”

“I believe I can set this weapon to auto pilot. I’d much rather watch what you decide to do.” Sense replied, flicking a few levers and pressing some buttons. “And I’ve got some extra options if you need them.”

“You always do know how to treat me.” Grifter replied in a purr before dragging Tommy along. With a bit of magic, they reached the throne room and Grifter sat down on the throne, finding a place to chain Tommy up nearby. “Oh this is going to be so much fun, I just know it!”

Tommy tried not to move as every time he did, Grifter whacked him for causing the chains to make a noise, but eventually he was sitting in a position he could see what was going on. When Nightmare came in, he was glad the gag muffled his gasp. For the most part it looked like Dream, though his mask was cracked. But other than that, his hoodie was stained with blood and limbs stood at odd angles like they had been broken, yet he didn’t seem to care.

“Now, did you really need to go through all this trouble to-”

“Haha, shut up bitch. I’m the one on the throne and with Theseus. You have… hmm let’s see.” Grifter started mumbling and counting his fingers. “Oh right! Nothing! Except admin powers to a server that, whoops! You’re not even in! And you’re stuck in a broken body that isn’t your own and the only reason you want Theseus is because not being near him is literally tearing you apart because of the revival process.”

Nightmare took a step forward, but a quick gesture from Grifter had Sense shooting a weapon at Nightmare’s feet. “I’m technically already dead. What can you do about that?”

“Aww, do you not recognize me? I’m Flora’s friend! Specifically her uncle. You know, the one she’s always talking to? It’s like the one bit of freedom I would get. She kept me up to date on everything going on in that world of yours and to be completely honest… I’m a huge fan! Loved what you did with the place!”

Nightmare took a surprised step back, not expecting a response like that. “Really? I would assume if you’re close with Theseus-”

“Pfft, not really. He’s Dad’s golden child and I come in dead last just barely behind Euro. I guess that’s what happens when you try to purposefully kill death. Oh well. Anywho! Love your world, I want it!”

“And I get Theseus out of it?” Nightmare asked, and Tommy could tell he was being looked at.

“Oh no. Absolutely not! If you got Theseus, I couldn’t have my fun with Seesee.” Grifter pouted, trying to look as sad as possible. “Dad cursed him and I can’t have my fun unless you’re gone for good.”

Nightmare crossed his arms, a cracking sound coming from one of them. “Alright, and you’re telling me this why? Wouldn’t it be better to lie? Get me convinced? Or have you found a loophole.”

The Listener just smiled and started swinging his feet. “Oh no! I already did my lying and whatnot.” He ruffled Tommy’s head, the magic dissipating. “Theseus isn’t around, I just needed you convinced long enough to make sure you couldn’t escape.”

Nightmare looked around before trying to leave, finding green magic creating barriers around the place whenever he got close to any sort of exit.

Grifter stood up, clapping his hands together. “Oh I’m going to have so much fun! Maybe we can start with taking you apart and then putting you back together. How much pain do you feel? Is it all numb, or is it like normal? Oh do you even bleed anymore? You’re essentially a zombie. Oh! Seesee! What if when we put him back together, we give him one of Tommy’s limbs! Dad won’t mind me doing that! And if Theseus loses an arm, who cares!”

“Those do sound lovely dear, but I can’t help but think…” Sense started, trailing off, but Grifter knew what he meant.

“Oh I’m so sorry I didn’t think about you! I was just so caught up in the moment! I would never ever want to leave you out of something like this! I’m sure you have plenty of redstone projects to test out, hmm?”

“Oh like you wouldn’t imagine.” Sense purred, pulling Grifter close.

While the two continued to flirt and make heart eyes at each other, Nightmare realized while he couldn’t escape, he could get to Tommy. As he crept over to the teen, he held a finger up to his mask, gesturing for him to be silent. Tommy tried to back up, but he was already up against something and couldn’t move further.

Slowly, Tommy watched as Nightmare moved the chain, unlinking it from where Grifter had put it. For a moment, Tommy wondered if Nightmare was good, the people in helscraft hadn’t been too bad save for his own double and Sense, and with his taste in people to date, it made sense. For all he knew, Nightmare was helping him escape. But then the chain moved around Tommy’s neck.

“You know Tommy, I just wanted you to listen and follow the rules for once.” Dream’s echoed voice whispered, making Tommy tremble. “I don’t want you dead, but I want to live more, and if that involves killing you, so be it.”

The chain started to tighten, and with Tommy already in bad shape, dark spots soon started filling his vision. He was half aware as Nightmare was pulled away by Grifter and handed off to Sense who shot him with some sort of weapon. The world went sideways as he fell to the ground, chain still wrapped around his neck. It was slightly looser without Nightmare pulling it, but it was still caught. Grifter struggled with the chair before just destroying it, Tommy gasping for air, and then the room rumbled as the magic blocking the doorway was destroyed.

When Grian next woke up, he was moving. It took a moment to comprehend how, but soon he realized Ranboo was dragging him along, Grumbot ahead of them, leading them forward. Grian shifted, trying to pull away from Ranboo, making the hybrid stop. “He’s awake.”

“Correct. Continue onward.”

“Don’t we want to stop and check how he’s doing?”

“He is not dead. No need. Continue onward.”

“I really think-” Was all Ranboo could get out before Grian tried to pull away and stand on his own, just ending up on the floor. “Okay we really need to stop now.”

Grumbot stopped walking and turned around, Grian wincing at the smile pictured on its screen, Ranboo doing the same. “Pick him up and continue onward. Time is of the essence in a situation such as this.”

Grian was picked back up, Ranboo not struggling too much due to the avian’s weight or lack thereof. Grian’s mind was still fuzzy from his magic, and he was doing his best not to go completely loopy and let instinct take over. “G-Grum?”

“Grum can be discussed when you are more lucid. And as we-”

“Let me guess, continue onwards?”

“Correct.” Grumbot nodded. “A longer path must be taken due to alterations with the castle and magic barriers along the way that cannot currently be broken.”

Grian feebly attempted to escape Ranboo’s arms again, but had no luck. “What happened to you?”

“Nothing. Unless you are referring to Grum, then that is harder to explain.”

Grian wasn’t a fan of that answer and tried looking up at Ranboo. “What happened?”

“Well, after you healed us, I was the only one awake for a while. I was trying to figure out how to move both of you when he woke back up and got me to carry you before leading me around. Other than that, nothing.”

Grian frowned. That didn’t quite make sense. There was nothing that would have caused something like this. The only thing to happen between when Grum was fine and now was… Grifter showing up. So that was the reason. “It’s because Grifter showed up, isn’t it?”

Grumbot briefly looked back. “That is connected, yes. But that is not the main cause. The main causes are actually connected to Tubbo and Michael.”

“Why them?” Was the question Grian wanted to ask, but Ranboo beat him to it.

“Deaths are to be tracked and categorized as canon or non-canon so respawn can occur. As the admin has moved that task to another system, that system is supposed to track it.”

Grian started to ask a question, shifting badly in the process. “But Mumb- Ah! That got moved out of you.”

“Correct, but it was merely out of habit. And now in a situation like this, rational thought is needed and emotions are not, thus Grum is currently out of service.”

“What?!” Grian nearly jumped out of Ranboo’s arms, but was too weak to actually do so. “What are you talking about?”

“This may not be the best time to discuss due to the present situation. However, this may be a long trip and a sooner discussion would be preferred over a later one.”

Grian looked at Ranboo, who just shrugged, making Grian look back at Grumbot. “I’d like to know what’s going on now.”

“Very well. When located at Technoblade’s residence, the topic of his ‘chat’ was brought up. Apparently he hears voices in his head of other people of sorts. It is apparently a genetic trait.”

Grian groaned. “Ugh. Yeah, they’re a mess. Finally had to do something after Doc and Scar found out during all the Area 77 stuff. I’m mostly not bothered by it.” Then Grian chuckled. “Dad found a way to give his physical form and there were always crows everywhere.”

“That makes the next part less concerning. Both Technoblade and Tommy had been concerned about Grum’s chat.��

“Wait, he's got one of his own? I mean, You have- ugh you’re just making it more confusing.”

Ranboo nodded. “And I’ve got less context than you.”

A rumble through the castle made them pause, wondering what was going on and how bad it was for them. It wasn’t too close to them, but they still sped up into a bit of a jog as they continued onwards. “Grum has five voices in his chat. While they mainly stay voices, in certain situations, two of them have been asked to take up a more physical role. One example of that is Eyes.”

“Hold on, are you saying you’re one of them?!” Grian asked, Ranboo just as shocked.

“Correct. The assumption is that due to Grum’s robotic nature, something like this is possible.”

Grian paused, thinking back to Hermitcraft, before Grum and Jrum had been given their new bodies, but after Mumbo’s whole chat therapy session.

“So you’re telling me you actually know about this stuff?” Grian leaned against Mumbo’s nether portal after dropping off some diamonds as payment.

Mumbo shrugged. “You’re not the only one to have grown up in a more advanced world.”

“Oh so we’re calling it advanced now, are we?”

“Oh hush. But yes, I did some schooling. I didn’t quite get too terribly far before joining Hermitcraft, so I had to do a bit of back and forth. To make up for some of the credits I missed, I needed some extra classes, and there were courses on psychology. They worked with the rest of my schedule and so I took them.”

“Oh, well excuse me Doctor Jumbo.” Grian said playfully before laughing from being lightly smacked by Mumbo.

“I never got any sort of medical degree from that. And I wasn’t a top student or anything.”

“Well, what would you say I am?”

“Obviously you have the condition of being a nuisance!” Mumbo retorted, Grian just laughing some more.

“But no, I’m serious. You heard what was going on last season with the hippies and Area 77, right? I’ve never really been in a position to get a name for… well that. Long shot, but maybe you know about it?”

Mumbo rubbed his mustache in thought, then started walking. “Hmm… you said it was genetic, correct?”

Grian followed behind. “Yeah, as far as I know. My dad and one of my brothers had it for sure, but I can’t be one hundred percent sure about the rest.”

Mumbo reached a bookshelf and started looking through the books. “I know someone in class had done a presentation that mentioned what you had, because they were doing it on something that for a long time was related. While it had some elements of schizophrenia due to the various voices being seen as connected to hallucinations or delusions, the way in which it appeared and other symptoms made it get categorized as a dissociative disorder.”

Mumbo finally found the book he was looking for and pulled it out, looking at the table of contents before flipping through the pages. “The fact that the different voices had their own sorts of personalities linked it to dissociative personality disorder, but the common amount of voices was much higher than the standard. Plus that normally appears after some sort of childhood trauma of sorts and the mind makes those personalities as a sort of protection. Which means it’s not really genetic while the condition you have certainly is.

“Let’s see, at the time of this book's production, I believe it was still categorized as a type of dissociative disorder. I believe it’s had a bit of debate, but for the most part from what I learned, it fits the category.” Mumbo flipped through a few pages before landing on a section. “Here we go. Multi-faceted dissociative disorder.”

Grian ended up stealing to book away to read about it, reading a bit on the related disorders. It was something to do when he couldn’t get to sleep after a long day, and while his excuse was it was boring, the fact Mumbo seemed to like it was good enough for him.

“I’m thinking it’s something a bit different.” Grian finally replied. “Sounds more like something I read about in one of Mumbo’s books.”

“And does that complicate things?”

Grian paused, thinking it over. “No. I don’t think so. If I’m right, it’ll make it easier to go over since it seems well known enough.”

“Of course. Likely to be discussed with Mumbo or Puffy then.”

Grian glanced to Ranboo who just shrugged. “You act like I know much more than you. I remember she exists, but not why she’s important in this discussion.”

“You know, fair enough.” Grian started. He opened his mouth to say more, but suddenly the ceiling collapsed, leaving rubble and dust everywhere. Grian was left coughing and trying to blink the dust out of his eyes to see where Grumbot was after what happened, but instead, the first thing he noticed was the person lying on top of the rubble. “Wh- Zedaph?”

“Hi Grian!” Zed waved, coughing a little. “Sorry for crashing in like this. I probably need to get back to the others.”

“Who else is here?”

22 notes · View notes

kats-randomology · 7 years

Text

Out of Luck

Gladstone gave a huff as he pushed the entertainment display table towards the wall. He wasn't the strongest of ducks, but it was amazing what one could accomplish when they were desperate.

It took several minutes, but he finally managed to get it against the opposing wall, and he took a moment to lean against the heavy wood and catch his breath. Looking up, he spotted his goal, the air vent grate; if he could just get inside it, he could crawl his way to freedom.

At least, that was the plan, anyway. There were a couple things that could potentially get in the way of it.

He glanced down at his ankle. No sign of that glowing chain that had appeared the first time he tried to leave. That time, Liu Hai had been present, and saw him trying to get out the doors. He wasn't entirely sure how that magic mumbo jumbo worked, but this plan made sense to him at least.

If he fled without the toad noticing, that crazy demon wouldn't be able to activate it this time. But first things first, getting into the vents. He turned to look around the suite, searching for anything that could aid his climb. He set to work, grabbing chairs, picture frames, the large mask against the wall, and stacking them up on the desk. It came up a little short, but he could reach it if he stretched far enough. He checked the clock on his nightstand, and quickly began climbing.

Now was about the time Liu Hai would appear on the floor, checking on the guests, handing out gifts, persuading them to stay a little longer with whatever thing he could construct to pique their interest.

Harvesting their luck like a farmer tending to his fields.

Gladstone's lack of attendance would be noticed without a doubt, and it didn't take Liu Hai long to traverse the casino. He needed to get moving, now.

He reached the top of the precarious tower, and with some straining, he was able to reach the grate. It came free with ease, and he pulled himself into the vent. He was met with a long dark tunnel, stretching on further than he could see. He was prepared though, and pulled out a small, frog shaped flashlight he'd gotten from a gift basket left at his door by the staff, and armed with this, he began his trek.

As he made his way through the tunnels, his thoughts went to the last few weeks.

It had seemed like a nice casino at first, the best one he'd ever seen even. The buffet was mouthwatering, the games were exciting, and of course, he won every single time. Casinos were always easy money, though they were often a short-lived business; most times, he was chased out by the end of the day. Not this time though, if anything, the owner was happy to have him. Even seemed glad that he was winning at every game.

He supposed he should've known something was wrong, taking that into account. But he'd been too caught up in his winning streak to care about Liu Hai's constant attention.

He hadn't been planning to spend the night, but a sudden onset of exhaustion had hit him (he’d written it off as jet lag), and Liu Hai was very persuasive. He'd been talked into booking a room for a few days, and hadn't left since. He'd been too caught up in his streak of fortune and the wondrous attractions of the hotel to question anything, like the strange fatigue that would hit him every night, or not being able to find the lobby when he was trying to ask about a check out date; he'd been quickly taken off course from that by the addition of an indoor garden area. It was full of all sorts of strange and exotic plants, and it was just too exciting to turn down a personal tour.

Gladstone paused for a moment as he came to a fork in the tunnels; after a moment, he chose left, and kept crawling. He could faintly hear the music that blared in the casino. He wondered if Liu Hai had noticed his absence yet; or if he realized Gladstone wasn't even in his room.

No, Gladstone had a feeling he'd know when Liu Hai realized what happened. Probably a lot of shouting; he almost wished he'd be able to see the toad's face when he realized he'd lost his favorite snack.

A smirk briefly formed at the thought, but disappeared as he came to a steep drop off tunnel. There was no going back now, he didn't have the time, he'd just have to take the plunge and trust his luck. He took a steady breath, before pushing off the edge.

His drop was brief, and he hit the bottom with heavy thud. He took a moment to catch his breath, but noticed there was a faint light in the vent that wasn't coming from his flashlight. Looking ahead, there was a sharp turn to the right, and light was coming from it.

Outside light; this was it, this was his big break!

"Yes, yesyesyesyes, Gladdy, you are home free!"

He quickly started towards it, new energy coursing through him at the idea of getting out.

So close, almost there--

He was jerked to a halt, and there was a sound of metal on metal behind him.

Heart plummeting, Gladstone hesitantly looked back; he was met with that glowing green chain, as solid as if it had been there all along.

And maybe it had, just out of sight.

"No, no, no..."

He gave it a few experimental tugs, but it refused to let him move any further.

No, that wasn't...this couldn't be it. Not when he was so close, so close--

He yanked on the chain furiously, desperate to get out, despite knowing it was impossible now. He could hear the chain banging against the tunnels further back, and he was certain the toad-like statue it was attached to was most likely back in his suite.

He wasn't getting out, not today, maybe not ever. He was stuck here, until Toad decided to let him go.

And that was never gonna happen.

He finally threw the chain down, and slumped against the wall of the vent in defeat.

He didn't know what to do now; this entire plan was based on a whim, assuming the chain wouldn't stop him without Liu Hai seeing him.

What was he going to do now?

'I could live here in the vents, I guess; it's quiet, secluded, no luck-leeching toads standing over me. I could make it.'

He gave a soft chuckle at the thought, noting the sting in his eyes from oncoming tears. No, Liu Hai would find him before too long, will the building away like he’d done before when Gladstone had first tried to leave.

He could return to his room, use the chain to climb his way back up; he could return to the casino floor, act like he'd been sleeping or watching TV, Liu Hai might buy that. He wouldn't care, as long as he got his daily meal.

Whatever Gladstone's plan might've been though, would remain unknown.

The chain was given a soft tug, but not from Gladstone's end; he stared for a moment, realization dawning in his eyes, before he was jerked from the wall with a yelp. He dropped the flashlight, and found himself being dragged through the now dark ventilation tunnels at mind-boggling speed. He reached blindly for anything to hold onto, and managed to grab what he assumed was a corner. He held on as tight as he could, but the force pulling him was stronger, and he soon lost his grip.

A few seconds later, he was flying out of the entrance grate in his suite, and crashing onto the floor.

He gave a moan as he pushed himself onto his elbows, one hand held to his head.

"Rough ride, Mr. Gander?"

The voice made him jerk his head up, and he winced upon seeing a very angry Lui Hai standing beside the luminescent statue, chain in hand. Gladstone hastily sat up, beak opening and closing several times as he searched for anything he could say that might explain this away, before offering a nervous shrug and grin.

"Yeah, I got nothing."

Liu Hai's eyes remained narrowed, seething with rage. He finally spoke, and his voice, while seemingly calm, held a malicious edge to it that gave it a resonating effect.

"I have been very patient and very generous with you, Mr. Gander. But at this point, I'm starting to think I'm wasting my time..."

"Gener-- are you insane?!"

Gladstone shot to his feet, a desperate anger fueling his movements. He jabbed a finger at the toad furiously, and Liu Hai seemed stunned at his audacity.

"You've kept me locked in this nightmare of a hotel, feeding on me like a freaking leech! What part of that is generosity?!"

Liu Hai loosed a growl, before snatching the offending arm in a tight grip. Gladstone jumped at the sudden movement, and strained against the iron hold as the toad snarled in his face.

"Now you listen to me, Gladstone; you've experienced nothing but the best hospitality I'm capable of giving. You're staying in the largest suite in the building, you're free to go wherever in here you wish, you have access to the finest food in the world, and most importantly...I allow you a reprieve at the end of the day."

With each statement, Gladstone could feel that uncomfortable tingle on his spine that came when Liu Hai was devouring his luck growing stronger. He fought the oncoming exhaustion that came with it, attempting to pry his arm free, but Toad held tight.

"Let go! What're you...!"

"But I can take all that away, leave you on a simple platform, and keep you playing until you drop. No bed, no food, nothing that will keep you from serving me!”

There was something different about this time; a strange pressure that hadn't been there before. Like a cold, slimy thing was slowly crawling up his spine, so cold it was painful. It was making it difficult to breath, causing him to wheeze as he continued his struggle to get free.

"Stop...let me...go...s-stop..."

Liu Hai sneered, and pulled him closer.

"In the time you've been here, I've never drained you past your limits. It's not a fun process, for you that is; but, it tends to take a few days to fully recover. It’s time and potential luck wasted, so I'd rather it not come to that, and I assume you don't want that either."

Gladstone's struggling had stopped due to the numbness that had taken hold, and the only thing keeping him standing at this point was Liu Hai’s grip on his arm. The only response he could give was a soft mumble, unable to meet the other's gaze until a hand forced him to.

"So tell me, Mr. Gander, are you going to make me do that? Or, would you like your stay here to remain pleasant?"

His terrified eyes met Liu Hai's smug golden ones, sputtering for a moment; finally, he managed to give a choked reply.

"Y-yes, please..."

"Excellent choice."

Liu Hai finally released his arm, allowing Gladstone to fall to the floor with a grunt.

"Now then, I'm sure you're exhausted from your exciting vent crawling and this conversation, so I insist you retire for the evening."

Gladstone, struggling to sit up, weakly met his gaze. Liu Hai wore a calm smirk, and turned towards the bedroom doors.

"But I urge you to join us in the morning for our daily raffle, who knows who might win..."

The sentence was punctuated with a chuckle, followed by the closing of the doors. Maybe it was his imagination, but Gladstone thought he heard the click of a lock.

It wouldn’t have mattered, anyway.

It took some time before he could bring himself to move. The numbness had subsided not too long after Liu Hai had released him, but the fatigue remained, leaving him feeling hollow. He pushed himself to his feet, and stumbled towards his bed, vaguely noting that the furniture he'd moved earlier had been returned to their places. Glancing at it, he also noticed the grate to the vents had been noticeably moved higher, far out of reach of anything else he could build.

He sighed as he reached the bed, taking one last look around the room, before falling into its welcoming embrace of cotton sheets. For a little while, at least, he could ignore his predicament, escape into slumber. But he knew he couldn’t avoid it forever, eventually he’d have to return to the game floor, to the illusionary crowds and deafening music, to the never ending winning streak he couldn’t escape.

To Liu Hai.

Sleep took him fast.

Something that’s been intriguing me was the curiosity of what happened before Donald and co showed up.

I am friggin’ half asleep, but I wanted to post this before tomorrow cuz I’m gonna be busy. I’ll make a post explaining a little more what my head canons are about Lui Hai and his abilities, but for now, enjoy.

#ducktales 2017 #Gladstone gander #toad liu hai #fanfiction #house of the lucky gander #ducktales

165 notes · View notes