Chapter Text
The drone of the elevator was usually kinda, uh. Soothing might be the word to use if, you know, Susie was a baby. The sound just tickled her brain. Maybe it was the pause between the fights- or what, is she supposed to call them ‘acts’ now?- and the pumping blood that rushed through her veins settling, just for a sec. She could’ve almost fallen asleep against the elevator wall, rocked by the shaking of it and the lullaby of the lift, if again. She was a freaking baby. So that definitely wasn’t happening, but she couldn’t deny it was usually relaxing.
Not this time. This felt different. This time they knew… not exactly what was down in this private prison, but they knew more. This prisoner, locked away from everything else, that Kris fixated on and made them go all across this damn world to find the keys to unlock the door. He was locked away for ‘playing a game’. Didn’t say what game it was, but it couldn’t be anything good, which meant it was gonna be fun. All the best games were the ones that were against the rules.
That cat guy said the ‘HEROES’ would have to deal with him eventually anyway. Might as well get it outta the way. Susie’s knee bounced in idle anticipation, and just as idly she wondered what Kris was getting out of this. Ralsei was easy- probably some cheesy crap like ‘duty’ and ‘goodness’, which just happened to usually line up with ‘whatever Kris wanted to do’. But what did Kris want outta this? The King was the way home, they didn’t have to do this. Was it ‘the role of a hero’, like Ralsei? The excitement, like Susie? Or something else? She stared at them, as if that face they only changed in the smallest twitches would give an answer, until she chuckled to herself.
Heh. Maybe why didn’t matter. She told them- if they told her what to do, she’d listen. And it… went pretty well so far. These ‘fights’ were like… if makin’ friends was a fight. Like if it was easy, like if it made sense. Last long enough, make the right move, you win. Only at the end they don’t leave you alone or run away scared, they… smile at you, talk to you. Which was gross, obviously. But it was… fine. Especially with Lancer. That was more than fine. Kris’ and Ralsei’s way worked. Her way… didn’t. It hurt Lancer. They were better than her. Way. Better than her way.
She bristled slightly, then swallowed it down. Whatever. It’s all fun, right? And besides- she doubted this psycho prisoner was gonna fall to the power of friendship. Maybe what she was good at could be good here.
The clunk of the elevator pushed her out of her thoughts, and her face broke into a grin. Finally. Showtime. Those creepy, long, and narrow stairs might’ve caused someone else to have second thoughts. Someone else might’ve felt like they were headed down and down into the dark, where the monsters were, and that usually wasn’t where you wanted to go. Not Kris. Not Susie. Heh, they were the monsters. Except not really, obviously, Kris was human and Ralsei was… what the heck was Ralsei again? It was Dorkner or something from that longass story, right? How was that different from a monster? Look, the point was whoever was down there should’ve been scared of them.
Kris walked right up to the bars, listened to the guy laugh and go on and on, and… hesitated. After everything they had to do for this, were they really gonna turn back? But the guy’s voice rang out like it was far away, but it still echoed all around them, like a shout across a valley or something.
“YOU CAME TOO FAR! YOUR CHOICE HAS RUN OUT!” And a door just popped up from the key. It wasn’t built or put on, it just… appeared. One moment there was no door, the next there was, like it had always been there. More weird junk on top of the weird trash pile that was this place. There was no turning back now, she guessed, and her guess was right when Kris walked in. Like hell she wasn’t gonna follow.
And there was… a clown. You know, the royal clown. Head clown. Whatever it was called. He was dressed in purple and black, a wide grin on his blue face, and Susie had the feeling he didn’t call them in to make them laugh.
“UEE HEE HEE! VISITORS, VISITORS! NOW WE CAN PLAY, PLAY!” He clapped his hands, bouncing in place like a happy little kid. ”THEN, AFTER YOU, I CAN PLAY WITH EVERYONE ELSE, TOO!” It was weird. Inside the cell it wasn’t that big. Just two blue and gray circus tops on top of each other. But his voice was still echoing. Echoing in all that dark, so much of it it almost felt like it was a whole other world.
“So what are we playing, exactly...?” Ralsei asked, curious. Ugh, don’t tell her he was actually thinking they were gonna play a card game or something?
“OH, IT'S JUST A SIMPLE NUMBERS GAME.” Susie jumped back in surprise as a scythe dropped just inches in front of her face, and the others did the same. The number he had in mind must’ve been three.
“WHEN YOUR HP DROPS TO 0, YOU LOSE!” And now it was zero. Heh. She knew this guy wasn’t another poor friendly doofus like the rest.
“So that's the kinda game you wanna play, huh...?” she drawled idly, smirking. “Then, I gotta warn you...” This she knew. This was her thing. Flash the teeth. Flash the axe. “You're dealing with a couple of sharks.” And flash the scary line.
“UEE HEE HEE! SHARK-TO-SHARK! I WOULDN'T HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY!” He bounced around like it was Christmas and he just got his favorite gift. Maybe he did. The part of Susie Ralsei would lecture could understand that- the chance to cut loose. The chance to screw the rules that were never meant to include you, but to put you away. “NOW, NOW!! LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!”
Susie knew those rules. And she wasn’t gonna lose this game. Not anymore.
A laugh echoed in the dark all around them. But now the laughter was Susie’s. She kicked open the door that wasn’t a door and wasn’t even not a door anymore, just gone, and she didn’t even care about how little sense that made. She threw her arms wide as they filed into the hallway. “We did it! We kicked that clown’s ASS!”
Ralsei was smiling, kind and gentle, even if he had to try and be all boring. “Y-you sure did! You definitely, um… did that.” She shook her head in exasperation. Whatever. She knew he had to feel the rush of beating a bad guy that almost got them, even if they had to fight. What else could they have done? Put him to sleep? Heh. Ralsei wasn’t getting outta this that easy.
“I said we, stupid,” she told him, 'cause yeah. It was just the truth. They did it together. It wasn’t sappy, it was just what happened.
“You did most of the damage, Susie, and Kris led. I didn’t do that much…” God, the fake humble thing pissed her off. And it pissed her off even more if it wasn’t fake.
“And who kept us alive to do that, goatboy? I only coulda dished out the pain if you… er…” She faltered, losing track of the metaphor. “Took the pain off my dish?” she finished awkwardly, like she was asking a question, beads of sweat forming under her hair. The little nerd had the audacity to giggle and smile at her, but. He looked a little prouder. So she’d let it slide this time.
“S-shut up, it got away from me okay!?” …With just a little shut up, alright, that was letting it slide by her standards. Not like the little dweeb seemed to care anyway, with how his eyes and smile still shined from under that big silly hat. And there was one other person she had to talk to, anyway. “But you’re right…” she bared her teeth, and shot out her arm to wrap around Kris and yank them in. “Gotta thank the one callin’ the shots…” Their faces were close, she stared into their eyes, and like usual… not even a lick of fear in them. She puffed out a breathy chuckle. Little shit. Her knuckles flew towards their face and dug into the top of their head.
“You freakin’ nailed it! We were a well oiled machine! You set 'em up, I knock' em down!” They just stood there and took it with no resistance, so she was pretty sure they liked it. Or at least they didn’t mind. They even hovered nearby after she let go. Weirdo. “Alright!” She pumped her fist. “Let’s go up that elevator and whup the King!”
“…With kindness?” Ralsei patiently and hopefully supplied. Susie’s smi- grin dipped only a little. Right. Lancer. Doin’ it for Lancer.
“Yeah yeah,” she agreed, with a roll of her eyes. Ralsei nodded and went on ahead. It was quiet, all of a sudden, and Susie was left alone with Kris. With that fight. With what Kris did.
They took a step to follow, but Susie found her voice first. “Hey. Uh. I wanted to talk with ya for a sec.” They turned and stared. “Or uh. Talk at ya, heh.” She was gonna let the joke stay there, but it suddenly felt… Wrong? Kris was as involved as any of them. “You don’t gotta talk, is what I mean,” she clarified, with a placating wave of her hands. Great start. “Cause if you couldn’t tell, it’s probably gonna be awkward. And sappy. And gross.” There was a beat, and Kris gave her a thumbs up. Her eyes widened in surprise.
“Heh…” she chuckled, gratefully, and ducked her head, making sure her hair shielded her face and eyes. “Thanks-“ And then her mind caught up, and her head snapped back up too. “Wait.” She glared. “Are you encouraging me or agreeing with me,” she deadpanned. Another beat. And another thumbs up. “That doesn’t clear things up, dumbass!!!” She glared harder, but it quickly gave way to another chuckle and a shake of her head. Weird. She felt more relaxed, somehow, and Kris seemed to stand a little taller. “Look. I told you. I’d listen to you if you told me what to do. I know…” She swallowed. “I know I wasn’t the most… helpful, before.”
It was hard to forget. The first time goatboy ever really spoke up and took a stand was to practically tell her she was useless and ruining everything. “So I would’ve got it if we did things in there… Ralsei’s way. But instead you…”
She trailed off, thinking about that fight again. When things got real, when it was nothing but chaos, Kris looked to her to handle it. Them and Ralsei keeping her on her feet and helping her build up the energy for Rude Blaster after Rude Blaster… Building a rhythm like a drumbeat… each one getting harder and stronger as Jevil’s feet got heavier… It was win or lose, life or death. In that moment the whole world was that cell, and it was spinning and spinning. And she and Jevil were a couple of sharks with their teeth sunk in their prey. “You uh. Trusted me.” It was Susie Kris looked to for this. They trusted her to keep swinging and they trusted her with the final blow. She was let off the leash and she never felt so… free. She looked away, internally wincing. Gag. “Trusted me to do it right…” She searched for the words to finish her sentence.
“Your way.”
The words carried and carried in the vast dark space. Susie looked up in surprise, and she coulda sworn by the raise in their brow Kris looked surprised too. Heh. Like she could judge what slipped out in stupid moments like this. She sm- bared her teeth, but in a friendly way. “My way. Yeah. So I just wanted to. Thank you. Away from Ralsei. Cause he’d make it a thing. And the longer we keep him waiting the more of a thing he’s probably gonna make it, so. Let’s go, already.” She was all set to follow them and get on with the adventure, only Kris stayed. They held out the Devilsknife towards her, all dramatic, like an offering or something.
She grinned. “For me? It better be, I damn sure earned it.” She took the sycthe-axe, hefting it up and down, testing its weight, and to lighten the weirdly intimate mood, she called out, “Let the games begin!!!”
Kris just looked at her and drawled, “Begin.”
“Ha! Don’t repeat that back to me, dumbass! I’m not gonna do that just cause I’ve got his stuff.” She expected that to be the end of it. Kris seemed to think so too, taking a step, but then they stopped again. “What?”
They held out the tail, without a word. Susie could feel the joke on her tongue- ‘Figured I’d grow one someday’- but it died before her lips. The room felt so big all of a sudden. Or so small. She could swear the knife was smiling at her, eager to be reunited.
“LIGHTNERS! FROM INSIDE YOUR LITTLE CELL!! TAKE ME AND DO YOUR STRONGEST!” Jevil’s words from his loss bounced around her head, and she thought about how literal ‘take me’ was when he gave them these things.
“…You sure, Kris?” She didn’t know why she was hesitating. She didn’t know why she asked. Apparently neither did Kris. They just kept holding it out. Looking away. Ugh. She was making it weird. She beat that clown. It was only fair she got both of the things, right? Kris was just being fair. To her. She smiled. “Thanks.”
Finally they started walking away, and she followed them to the elevator. Ralsei was patiently waiting, and she would bet money that he was smiling under that dumb hat. “What?” she hissed, daring him to speak up.
“Nothing!” And apparently he decided to take that dare, cause, “I just think it’s nice you two found time to talk.” He tilted his head up, and Susie felt the need to defend herself.
“We were talking about you.”
“Oh.” He was quiet, and Susie almost felt a pang of guilt. She’d been there. She almost broke the silence, but he broke it first. “Was it nice things?” It was so earnest, so genuinely curious and hopeful, it left her off balance. He was doing that to her more and more.
“Uhhh…” Away from Ralsei. Cause he’d make it a thing. And the longer we keep him waiting the more of a thing he’s probably gonna make it. “Sure???”
“I’m so glad you and Kris think about me when I’m not there, Susie!” Was he being for real? There was almost a hint of teasing, but he stood all bouncy and perky. If it was true that’d be freaking sad.
All she could settle on was, “Don’t mention it. Please don’t mention it. Can we go already?” He laughed again, and her lip twitched. She was ready, readier than ever, and she could feel the power in her hands, in the tail, in... her. The King and his minions didn't stand a chance. The cell was their oyster.