Chapter Text
(Stupid, stupid, stupid-)
He may be an idiot, but Six likes Mono. A lot.
Yeah, it might’ve taken a while to get to the stage where admitting that doesn’t make her want to puke, but it’s the truth. And it’s not even just a sappy friendship thing; he’s done some very impressive things during their time together! He’d fought off throngs of monsters, saved her from captivity, (twice, embarrassingly) and most importantly, he'd stuck by her side through it all. Despite her best efforts to make sure he knew what he was getting into. Which means he's either as brave as her, which is refreshing, or he’s just unbelievably stupid. Possibly both.
But right now, she thinks, wildly gesturing at the dazed boy, she's leaning on the latter - because jumping into a TV the literal instant he was out of her sight and messing with who knows what inside isn’t exactly going to be topping the list of Mono’s Greatest Accomplishments!
(He keeps doing this, too! It’s like he’s got no survival instinct whatsoever!)
Despite Six's prodding, the spellbound boy's gaze remains locked on the TV and its crackling light. She hadn't seen much when she'd walked in the dusty room, attention being mainly fixed on sprinting over and yanking Mono's dangling legs out of the screen rather than wondering why (or how) he'd even gone in there in the first place, so it's anyone's guess as to what's so interesting that he can't help acting like some drooling Viewer, but that doesn't really matter because they really don't have time for this right now!
With a vicious snarl, the girl in the raincoat follows Mono's gaze to the screen. As expected, it's alive with violent flickering, rivers of black and white noise colliding and exploding in what's apparently the most hypnotic sight in the world for those without brains.
(...she's never been able to see what Mono sees in these things. Head-achey garbage for the oblivious and the dead-to-be. Even here, the only discernable strangeness is the patch of darker noise in the heart of the static. A distortion that widens, deepens, akin to a walking flame in a burning forest, almost seeming to move... closer?
Well, she's not sure whether it's actually getting closer or whether it's just a trick of the light or something. But she is sure that this whole situation's setting off all kinds of alarm bells in her gut, and as the meaningless noise gets louder, Six turns back to Mono and starts flapping her hand around inches from his face. And at last, Mono actually twitches!
Like a puppet on a string, the boy silently rises to his feet. Though that dumb-looking mask shrouds his eyes in darkness, and his steps towards her are unsteady, at least he's actually moving. Finally! Six jams her finger in the direction of the nearest door as Mono takes another lumbering step in her direction, and another, and another, and...
...moves right past her.
Her disappointment's bundled out the door quickly, and horror takes its place. Mono takes another step as Six's eyes widen, and yet another, getting closer and closer to the TV.
No, you idiot, what are you-
(The world shivers.)
Mono lets out a pained grunt as he clutches at his head, and not for the first time, Six's thankful for her relative disconnection from the screens' signals. Doesn't mean she's immune, though, as the wave of force that next shakes the room makes the girl stumble, nearly falling over before swivelling around to the TV, now blaring a deafening roar.
(Pale hands, far too large, suddenly press against the screen.)
Her first instinct? Turn and run. And as the glass around the hands ripples with static like a stormy sea, Six prepares to do just that, quickly regaining her balance as another pulse of noise's sent through the floor and frantically motioning at the boy to follow. But Mono doesn't seem to notice, head still clasped tight and seemingly unnoticing. He moans softly, mumbles something unintelligible.
Six bites her lip. Ah, he always follows when she starts running! He'll snap out of it soon.
It is a convincing thought. Until a faint outline of a head presses against the glass.
(She doesn't need a second look.)
Specks of light rush towards the quivering glass like the deep breath of a whale, but the vacant Mono doesn't react, not even as the room quakes with a sound that can't be natural. Not as the TV begins to spark like it's about to explode. Not as Six herself readies to take off running, trying to be as obvious as possible - but she's still getting absolutely nothing from the boy!
A moaning drone rings in her ears. Another look back, and fingers now flex against the screen. She can see their tips, and how the searing noise of the screen bends and stretches around them.
Six makes her choice.
Time seems to distort. The writhing light of the screen turns bright as the sun - and as a Thin Man slithers through the static, Six she seizes Mono’s cold, clammy hand in her own and drags him towards the door.
(What is she doing?)
All thoughts of self-preservation are left behind as she pulls Mono out and into the corridor, practically sprinting to get around the corner in time! Slamming her back against the wall, Six peers around at the monster of the hour.
He is... weirdly ordinary.
An impossibly tall man uncoils from the floor, clad in drab suit and hat. Skin, dull grey as stone, still smoulders with the static of the TV's innards as his head grazes the ceiling. His face is in shadow, and yet the gaunt cheekbones nearly has her thinking it's a skeleton But no - the invader stretches, hands lethargically moving to his neck, and it becomes clear this is a man. Or a husk of one, anyway. Not the most terrifying thing she's seen recently... but as the electric flicker upon his skin slowly fades away, something about him ties her skull and gut in a pretty unpleasant knot.
Six shrinks further behind the corner as the Thin Man's eyelids retract like metal shutters. Grossly dilated pupils stare at nothing before shrinking to the smallest of darkened rings - acclimating to the real world? Whatever the reason, he lets out something like a sigh (or maybe a burst of static, she can't quite tell) as his hazy, washed-out eyes wander the room. If they have a colour, she can't see them. Blind?
She takes a very quiet breath.
(The eyes lock onto her.)
Predator spotting prey does not do the stranger's gaze justice. Within the cloudy pools, pinpricks of shifting white static flicker to life in an instant; blinding irises bore directly into the fibre of her being, and every nerve in Six's body screams at her to run!
Jolting from her paralysed state, the girl clenches Mono's hand before breaking into a sprint; the Thin Man's deafening footsteps following along behind. Right then, Mono (who she’d forgotten about, to be honest) seems to come to his senses, head flicking up with a gasp and hand gluing to Six’s like a lifeline. He stumbles along for a bit before matching her pace. Good! He stops and we're both dead!
The hallway isn't that long, but for some reason it feels like it goes on forever. A fizzling static pierces her ears and brain, making each step sluggish and dreamlike - a far cry from the pursuing monster's steady, reverberating, almost relaxed pace. Mono's head swivels as they run, but she doesn't look back, refusing to look at those burning eyes any longer than she has to. She never wants to see those again for as long as she lives, which may not be for much longer if her legs don't start doing something!
The world seems to shake around her, breaking down under the sheer presence of the silent thing hunting them, and for once, she starts to think they might’ve bitten off something they can’t chew.
(A dark part of her giggles at that.)
Mono whimpers, tensing and hurrying forward even more to take the lead. She's surprised, given his previous state, but she’s certainly not going to argue - and maybe it's just her that's having problems, because Mono pulls them forward much faster than she was, soon tugging her around a corner and into a bedroom! This'll have to do - Six deftly slides under the closest table, tugging on Mono's hand to pull him close to her, but he releases her and rushes towards the bed on the opposite end of the room. Yeah, actually, this hiding spot didn't seem big enough for two people anyway.
(It’s only now that Six begins to worry if the spot is even big enough for one.)
She coils further backwards, but feels no less exposed. Even Mono himself only barely manages to make it under in time before her vision flickers at the corners, and long, long legs enter through the doorway. The buzzing's almost unbearable; her vision starts to flicker at the corners as horrible sound bounces off the walls and into her ears, and Six holds her breath, hoping the Thin Man doesn't notice the bright yellow shape only a few paces away...
...and yet, the stalker doesn't move. Not for a good few moments. Slowly, curiously, Six lifts her gaze upwards - and blinding pinpricks freeze her to the spot.
(...there's so much in those eyes.)
Time stops under the Thin Man's unrelenting stare, and all Six can do is stare into those dark, inhuman pools. She can't begin to interpret what the man's thinking - what goes through the mind of someone who lives inside TV static? The only emotion she can pinpoint is something she's used to wearing herself. Pure, animalistic hate.
Directed right at her.
Oh no.
The table - no, the whole room - rattles under the Thin Man’s glare, and fear grips Six in a vice. She instantly throws herself out from the idiotic hiding spot and scuttles across the floor, but trips (nononono) and lands on her side, air pushed out of her lungs like a deflating balloon! No! Needles of pain mix with the static in the air as the stranger leers at her, long arm fizzling with static and slowly reaching out, ready to crush the life out of her...
"Gah!"
Out of nowhere, a tiny crayon bounces off the Thin Man's hat! Bewilderment replaces the hate in his eyes as he lifts his head, and that's all the time Six needs to scurry away, hurling herself beneath Mono's bed and safely out of sight. Rolling over hard floorboards and scraps of paper, she tries to stay as quiet as possible until making contact with a particularly lumpy thing. Kind of hard to see... but her fingers identify the feeling of sweaty and crinkled paper.
And eyeholes.
Her heart stops. Where’s-
There's a thud as a figure leaps down from the bed's covers. Six crawls towards the edge of the bed, peeking desperately out; she's confused for only a second at the dark mop of wild, unfamiliar hair before she looks down, and sees the long coat and scuffed trousers that she knows so well! No!
As Mono steps towards the monster blocking their escape, Six wonders (not for the first time) if any of this is real. If she'll wake up in a cold sweat within the next few moments. Hopefully; because what the idiot boy does is face the Thin Man, standing right between her hiding spot and the nightmare! Nothing happens for what seems like an eternity...
...then, Mono lifts a hand.
Six is stunned into silence - the air seems to throb around him, the same motes of light from earlier drawing towards his body and circling like a halo. Something new and untapped oozes from his stance, and the white noise emanating from the Thin Man soon threatens to be replaced by another sound. A frequency that she can’t quite hear, but one that’s rising like a tidal wave.
The Thin Man, for the first time that she’s seen, shifts his expressionless face to a deep frown. With an almost frantic buzz of what-could-be words, the suited monster splays out his hand wildly-
-and Mono’s leg twists and cracks from under him.
Light scatters into the air with the agonising scream, and Six sobs silently to herself. As Mono clings to his enfeebled limb, hyperventilating, the arm he had held so resolutely in the air crumples too, the sickening sounds of fractured bone overwhelming the frenzied static! Amidst Mono’s renewed crying, the Thin Man’s frown shrinks, and his mouth opens and moves, clearly saying something - but her heart booming in her ears and the hum of ceaseless white noise stops her from making anything out. Yet, still Mono lifts his head, facing the Thin Man. She can’t see his face.
From behind his back, Mono’s hand limply stretches out towards Six, palm open. Six, frozen in disbelief, is just a moment too late.
Her hand reaches out to his, but before their skin makes contact, the devil in a suit extends his arm and sighs. The static echoes, and in an instant - yet, painfully slowly - Mono vanishes, an unmuffled cry piercing her ears and fading in a split-second. There’s only a shadowy silhouette left sitting on the floor, and her hand passes right through its own. Even that only stays for a few seconds before fading to nothingness.
Out of the corner of her eye, fixated upon where Mono had sat only seconds earlier, she semi-consciously notices the empty doorframe. Devoid of tired eyes or towers of grey fabric.
The Thin Man is gone.
Mono is gone.
Mono is -
A strangled cry escapes her lips, and she lies there, cold, empty and alone, for a long while.