(no subject)

[koizume]

The fact that the mall was more trashed than usual was worrying the puppeteer. The fact ht it was the room that Zacharie was usually in tipped the Batter off that something was wrong. The specters left the man alone for the most part so...?

The trail of what appeared to be blood lead deeper into the mall.

Somehow it was more quiet in this place. And, well, more messy. But - and still strange - he didn't run into a single specter when the place was normally infested with them.

He could smell blood now. It was strong and coming from the trail he first thought wasn't blood. The Batter still didn't think it was, to be honest. It smelled and looked like blood but the consistency reminded him more of plastic than anything. But nothing he knew bled plastic and the idea of something that he didn't know caused him to tighten his grip on his weapon.

The Batter continued to search at the puppeteer's prompting and came up with nothing. The trail lead in random directions, often doubling back on itself. That meant there was a source to this plastic blood at least, but the way it was splattered on the ground remind him of an injured and cornered animal trying to get away from the hunter. Was it aware the Batter was following it?

And more worrying yet there were still no specters. As much as the Batter was grateful to not be interrupted during his search, this area was not yet pure. There would still be some here, yet...

The sound of footsteps from behind caused the Batter to turn around and raise his bat in preparation to strike. He lowered slightly a second later when he heard that chuckle.

"Ah ah ah, always ready to strike are we? That should warn me not to sneak up behind you again."

Zacharie stood before the Batter now with his hands in his pockets as usual, although there were a a few things unusual about the man. Different things.

He was standing in the plastic blood, undisturbed and ruining his sneakers in the process. His sweater and pants were stained with the substance although the merchant seemed unharmed. But the thing that was completely different from normal was that he couldn't see his face. That in itself wasn't unusual but Zacharie's face was usually covered by a mask, not by a bloody towel draped over his head.

Zacharie took a step forward and then the Batter did to catch the younger man when he stumbled and fell. He was shaking and the Batter saw that he indeed hurt, but it was only when he saw the black smoke seeping out of the wounds did he realize that it probably was going to take more than a Luck Ticket to fix this.

He wasn't sure there was anything that could fix this, to be honest.

The merchant however seemed a touch amused despite his predicament and laughed quietly when the Batter helped him sit down.

"What happened." It was oddly awkward to make that question as blunt as they usually were and Zacharie laughed at that too.

"Some specters decided to drop by while I was setting things up. Ah ah ah, unfortunate timing, isn't it? I wo-"

But he was interrupted by a loud coughing fit and the minute the Batter saw black smoke appear he pulled the towel off of Zacharie's head, despite half hearted

attempts to keep it on. Now he could see Zacharie's face, his real face not the 'mask' he wore under his other ones in case someone managed to take the first one off.

His skin was a touch more paler than the rest of him - having no contact with sunlight for god-knows how long - and it stood out more with black hair pressed against it by sweat. Zacharie's mouth was pulled into a thin, pained smile, not the larger one that the Batter tended to assume that he wore all the time and the corners of his mouth had two small black circles. He couldn't tell if it was paint or tattoos but it reminded him of the guardian's markings. But Zacharie wasn't---

"Batter." His gaze snapped to Zacharie's eyes when the merchant spoke and he found himself oddly transfixed by them. They honestly were not that special, a bright blue turning dull grey due to what was happening to Zacharie as a whole and there was some scaring under his left eye. He supposed they were rather nice to look at before this happened but now not so much.

The merchant let him stare for awhile before looking down, a small stream of smoke escaping his lips as he laughed again.

"Ah ah ah....lost in my gaze, are we? Normally I charge much more than 500 credits for taking a peek but since you are my favorite costumer, I'll let it slide this time."

If the situation was less dire, the Batter would have made a more cutting remark - something along the lines of him being Zacharie's only costumer perhaps - but since the situation was indeed dire he did not.

"You're turning into a burnt."

"Yes that will happen without my mask."

He tipped his head to the side. The Batter had not expected to hear that Zacharie's masks served a function besides what 'roles' he played.

"The specters seemed to think it was fun to take it from me." He continued, "And so this happened. Would it be possible for me to send you on a simple fetch quest for it? I promise it won't take more than five minutes." Zacharie tried laughing but was interrupted by more coughing, by more smoke.

The Batter straightened up. "Where?" Since Zacharie wasn't wearing a mask at all, he couldn't say what kind of information he'd reveal but it sometimes didn't hurt to ask.

"Ah, straight to the point as always, that's our Batter. They are a floor down and it should be my normal mask. Sadly my Judge mask doesn't do anything for me, as much as it pains me to admit."

But before the Batter could ask something - indeed it was a rather big surprise to get a straight answer from the man - Zacharie pressed on.

"But as much as this conversation is interesting, we cannot blether on. There is a time limit, dear friend. Five minutes and then I'll become one of those lovely burnts."

Yes there was indeed a time limit. The Batter could no see it but he knew the puppeteer could. They were panicking slightly and he understood why: losing the merchant would make the game near unplayable. His holy quest may end here with Zacharie.

He made to move before something stopped him and he spoke.

"Stay there." He didn't know why he felt the need to say it but he did.

All Zacharie did was wave him off with a laugh.

"I will consider this wall part of my back until you return dear friend. Now move on."

And so the Batter did.


-----


He checked where Zacharie said the specters were. Nothing.

He checked one floor down because he had extra time and came up empty.

Zacharie couldn't have lied to him. True, he never really had talked about himself (giving him a chance to lie) but that was really because the Batter couldn't bring himself to care to ask.

There was nothing here but the Batter, the puppeteer and his thoughts.

He had less than twelve minutes and he needed to make up his mind sooner or later or it was going to be too late and---

He went back to where he had left Zacharie and found the merchant was gone, leaving nothing behind but two masks. He had lied. But the trail of blood that the Batter chose to follow lead him back to the younger man again.

Zacharie was laughing and, not for the first time, the Batter was tempted to hit him.

"I was hoping you would continue looking. Curiosity killed the cat, Batter." And indeed, the cat was about to die.

"What is going on?"

He pointed to the ceiling, towards the puppeteer.

"The game is crashing so the specters were free to do as they pleased. They choose to attack me and....ah ah ah, well every game needs a merchant. I'm afraid your puppeteer will have to start all over again."

For some reason that didn't bother the Batter as much as the state Zacharie was in. He could hear bones snapping and he had to catch the man again when his legs gave out.

"What will happen to you?"

"The same as you, dear friend. A total restart. But...ahhhhh...." A long trail of black smoke seeped out of his mouth again and Zacharie felt himself grow cold, the sights and sounds around him dimming rapidly.

....he was scared.

"B-Batter....one last favor, if you don't mind. I'll...ahhhhh, I'll give you a discount the next time we meet if you do this for me."

The Batter placed Zacharie against the wall and tightened the grip on his bat. He had a feeling what this 'favor' was going to be.

"Do your job. It isn't that hard, is it?"

It was.

Zacharie closed his eyes when he saw the Batter raise his bat. There was a look in his eyes that the merchant could read but didn't want to right now.

"Ah ah ah, dear Batter. Don't worry yourself. You will not remember. I on the other ha---"

THE GAME HAS CRASHED. PLEASE REINSTALL