Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tyler Oakley swears he's not dreaming. Hopefully. It's odd to suddenly be standing in an inky darkness. Then in a place with a dark fern green sky. Yellow thunder rumbles somewhere in this distance, mingled with dark grey, and oddly enough, Tyler can taste eggnog.

It feels weird.

The cool air relaxes his skin, but he still feel jumpy. Like a sudden crackle in the earth could send him leaping six feet into the air.

Why am I here?

Where is...here?

Another bright flash of fern along the mixed and muddled brown-greens alarms him. Tyler lets out a scream and backpedals rapidly until his back hits something. He whirls around and sees a woman. She has wavy darker strawberry blonde hair, much like his own, and freckles covering her face. She seems to be wearing some sort of battle armor, which is a darker blue-grey-violet colour. Tyler grimaces. "Hello, Tyler."

"Hey," He whispers weakly.

"Look down," She instructs.

Tyler does so, and gasps. Bright red flows around him, copper buttons neatly fitting a puffy but comfortable blouse the colour of dusty golden rose, shimmering with colour at the slightest of movements. Come to think of it, the red colours seem to have much more shades and it almost seems like royalty. Black boots fit comfortably around his feet, and there's an extra layer of royal blue-violet colour on his coat, swirling around.

For a moment, Tyler gasps at the outfit's beauty.

Then he realizes.

It's his Thespian outfit.

I - I thought I tore it up-

"Follow me, please. We have much to discuss." 

She turns and walks off. Thunder rumbles in the distance, and Tyler follows her reluctantly. The earth is cracked and crumbled at odd ends, a dark cyan colour. Tyler has to step over many large cracks, while the woman walks over each of them with ease. Every so often, something in the earth shifts. Finally, they get to a building.

Its a old cream-colored church. There stand a man and a woman. Both look equally serious, their expressions unreadable. Tyler gulps.

 "Joey Graceffa's fate." The woman asks him.

Tyler gets a sudden pang; this has something to do with Joey, a name he hasn't heard in ages. It's been months since that horrible incident, where there was a party, and his friends were dying, and everything was happening so fast - and then Joey was killed.

Tyler saw him die. 

"Dead." The reply is meant to sound hollow, but Tyler squeaks it out.

The woman looks down gravely. She converses with the man to her side, and the woman that brought Tyler here. More thunder looms, and there isn't an inch of the empyrean above them that isn't covered by shades of green and grey muddy clouds. Finally, the group turns to him.

"This will be a lot harder; without him, un-tethered to life, we will not be able to send the message to him through you. There is no will or strength left in him to fight for his survival. Though, there is an alternative option, if you are prepared to listen. It might tear everything you know apart - are you sure you want to hear it" Despite himself, Tyler nods. What is this all about?  

The woman who brought him here explains. "There is a town - Everlock. You must save it. If you choose to accept this offer, you will be given a briefcase and an object to transport you through time. The rewards for saving this town from the evil that has befallen it will be great; and the consequences...will be dire." Tyler looks from one stoic guardian to the next. He has to go back in time.

"Explain..?" He asks awkwardly. The woman nods. "Of course."

"The town of Everlock has vanished and been locked away in time - the 1970s. One can only get there by invitation. The town is in danger from an evil we have been battling for what seems like ages. You must be the one to save these people. Your friends however, the people you invite, will have to die." Thunder rumbles in perfect timing to the sound of Tyler's rapidly palpitating heart. I have to invite people, like Joey did. I have to kill them...but...knowingly. Joey didn't know we were invited, but I'll be sending them straight to their deaths.

He suddenly feels ill, ready to find a crack in the earth to throw up into. 

He has to willingly kill his friends off.

"But," The woman continues. "If you manage to save the town, then all of the previous threats will have died, but your friends, both from Everlock and mansions past, will be revived, brought back to life. All you need to do is collect artifacts - they will destroy the evil of the town and guarantee your friends survival. You will only be gone for the entire evening, and we will provide a mode of transportation and a new outfit, along with anything else you may need.
This town must be saved, and with Joey no longer willing to fight for life, you need to do it for him."

Tyler feels dizzy. Thunder rumbles deeper and he just wants the whole entire world to be quiet, but he thinks about this challenge. Save a town, people might die, and bring everyone back to life. Seems easy enough, but Tyler knows Joey, and anything that has to do with Joey isn't good. He opens his mouth, but the girl seems to know what he will ask.

 "Your friends will retain and keep their memories, if you're concerned over that, but it will reverse time to where we, the Society, have time to step in. Once that's all settled, we'll have someone explain to the present what's gone on and how everyone's alive. Happy stories, everyone's reunited, that type of stuff." The strawberry blonde haired girl hands him a set of car keys. She looks up at him. "Do you accept?"

Tyler would like to evaporate on the spot and die. Just die. No feeling. Just slip into a crack and die.

Dark grey thunder mixes with fern green streaks and purple-blue lightning. The warm wind picks up and tosses itself the other way, turning this cracked-valley world chilly and bitter. The green-grey sky suddenly illuminates with yellow-orange, and Tyler winces. He hates this place.

His mind is whirling with possibilities of rescuing his friends from death, of having his best friends back; visions of being able to hang out with Alex again, and having Tana's friendship, and being able to apologize to Liza all make him flood with excitement. More eggnog smells waft through his nose, warming his insides around the creepy where-ever-the-heck-they-are. He feels like flying in ecstasy, and he grabs the contract the dark-haired man holds.

He slows.

"And...if I can't..."

The SAE members exchange looks that give away nothing. The second woman turns back to him.

"You die along with the town, and those who are dead will stay so."

Crap.

Big risk there. Though if he takes it, he'll save so many lives. He'll get to have them all back, reunite families, restore YouTube from its current ebb of panic. He grabs the dagger from underneath the cream-colored parchment, and in his excited state he dosen't even feel the pain of the blade slicing through his palm. He writes his name. The members nod slightly.

"Any special requests before we send you off?" 

Tyler opens his mouth, then closes it.

He would hate going to a new area alone...

"I...I think I know what I want to request."

The world turns black as soon as he tells them his request. He wakes up in a panic, exclaiming nonsense before he calms himself down. Was it all a dream? He wonders, clenching his heart. Then he sees the briefcase by the door.
This is happening.
This is real.

I need to save a town.

Chapter Text

'My friends...'

Ew. That sounds super posh. 

But it's fine, Tyler's thing is posh anyways! It's really late at night, but he can't sleep. He turns on a small light that bathes the room in a warm glow, a coffee in his hand, pen in the other. It hovers over the paper as Tyler thinks. Thunder rumbles deeply in the distance. It's been a few days since his friends from the SAE had come to pay him a visit, and since then it hasn't stopped raining. Tyler shudders. Drinks some coffee. He places the pen down, hoping something will come to him.

'I am in need of your help to rescue a town trapped in the 1970s - Everlock...' Tyler continues writing, adding in small embellishments here and there - nothing bad with happen to you, everything's going to go great! and before he knows it, he's done. Nine invitations are stacked neatly on the edge of his dark penny-hickory brown desk, cream in colour and stuck each with a stamp. Tyler dosen't want to do this, but then he thinks of his friends. They deserve a second chance. All of them.

He heard the stories of what happened to everyone in the 1920s, too. The stuff that they had to go through; poisons, secret libraries, mermaids, a creepy basement. He remembers Eva shaking as she told him, a cup of cocoa in her hands. It had been nearly a month since her and Oli had been freed from the dreaded place, and for some reason she had turned to him.
He had comforted her, staying there and letting her 

Images of what could await him in the 1970s swirl through his head. A bright red fire-breathing dragon turning the land to ash? A Halloween inspired town where simply misunderstood ghosts terrorize the civilians? Maybe it's just a simple quest out on sea, which hold hidden dangers as they search for a mysterious item at the bottom of the Deep Sea.

It could be anything, and he's starting to feel a lot more excited at the possibilities.

Tyler looks over to the new outfit they've given him - a cream shirt with simple peach-golden coloured stripes that slowly change colour and shimmer in different lights, a small red ascot, and a heather-purple blue funky-looking overcoat, and he puts it on. I guess I'm the Savant now...huh. The Host. He can see himself at the top of a banister, looking down at the golden-brown lights of a reddish-brown mansion, alongside happy guests, chatting and telling jokes.

Plus - if I save the town, everyone who's died can come back! And if I can't save the town...

Tyler tries to push the terror-filled thought from his head. But he thinks of advice he got from Andrea, multiple times; if you get a lot of what-if questions, simply answer them! Tyler tries.Well, alright - If I can't save the town, I die. Nine other people die. The SAE won't be able to stop the evil. Everyone else stays dead...

Nope. Nevermind - that's so much worse.

Wait - that's who he's forgotten. Andrea!

 The one person who he requested to be by his side, and he hasn't even talked to her yet. Oh good Lord - she's gonna kill me. He never even remotely considered what her reaction would be to having to be a part of another game they wouldn't be able to control. He knows how that conversation'll go:
"Seriously, Tyler, we can just leave! Make this somebody else's problem!"
"It'll bring everyone back though!"
"Well then ask the SAE to make Oli and Eva do it!"

Tyler would've liked to also request Oli and Eva, who he knew were previous survivors of Joey's other little party, but the SAE had told him in yet another horrifying dream that they had both almost immediately passed on the offer before they got to the part of their friends coming back to life. Tyler texted Eva multiple times but to hardily any avail. And he hasn't heard from Oli in months.  

Cowards.

Tyler sighs, leaves quick loving but not too concerning texts to those he loves, and he leaves. Andrea's new SAE-approved costume is tucked neatly under his arm. He places it in his closet for later. At least if he's doing this, he has somebody to be there by his side, who's gone through the same things as him. It helps quite a lot.

She's been a steady comfort to him through; a protective figure who'd stuck by his side, even when he felt like crumbling down into nothing. 

Suddenly very fatigued, Tyler weakly crawls into bed. He turns the lamp off, and he's plunged into darkness. He closes his eyes, and things drift through his dreams; the smell of sweets, Liza laughing, the two competitors eating the pastel teal and coral-pink cupcakes, tricking the Gingerbread Woman, cheering...screaming. Then it's changed. Another scream, and they're surrounded by purple and green mist. A stone-faced guardian grabbing Alex, pushing him to the ground, tears blurring his eyes as the Novelist collapses, a dagger plunged through his heart.

The green mist turns to a swirling rumbling carnival. Lightning strike somewhere, and he can hear carnival music from somewhere. Colleen and Manny are currently laughing about something, while Roi knocks over some bowling pins to win a prize for Rosanna. 

And then the Society Against Evil are there, watching him. Waiting. The dagger's coming towards him, and his name in blood is all around him, with the screams of his friends everywhere -

Tyler shoots awake, breathing heavily and dripped in sweat. He wipes a few panicked tears from his eyes, and they focus on the letters and the coffee at his desk.

He better send those invites.

-

Andrea Russet is suspicious. She's gone with Tyler to this thing that he's being super secretive about. He's unusually squeaky and quiet as they drive along in his "new car," that looks sleek and nice and all but definitely seems...old. She listens to the radio instead. 

"Please to meet you! Won't you guess my name?" Drifts through the car. Andrea hums gently. For some reason, Tyler wants her to drive, occasionally telling her which roads and paths to drive through. "So, where are we going again?" 
"Uh-"
"Tyler, I can't go there if you don't tell me."

Tyler bites his lower lip. "It's a party. For one of my friends. I thought you might want to come." He gives a small shrug. Andrea grumbles to herself. Then why am I the one driving? There's something very obviously suspicious; he's lying, that's for sure. 

But she'll know when they get there. He has to tell her eventually.

Shades of umber-iron and smoky greys loom overhead before finally settling into a soothing dark nothingness, tints of fern greens and plum blues on the horizon. The few puffy white clouds are gone, replaced by a few dark umber whisps. Tyler tells her to drive into a nearby dirt road and then she stops. The surrounding area is mainly just a field, with a few early sprinkled Autumn trees in reds and golds and bronzes everywhere and the colours of heather is almost everywhere alongside the broken copper-brown path. 
Andrea faces him.

"Alright Tyler - why are we really here?" She knows Tyler - heck, she narrowly escaped death alongside him - and she can see the look of fear and guilt in his eyes.Finally, the strawberry-blonde haired bespeckled boy speaks, clearing his throat.

"We have to save a town. In the 1970s." 

Andrea blinks. Then blinks again. Her eyes widen slightly. "You - what." It's not a question. So Tyler spills it - all of it, his dream, his letters, it all. When he's done Andrea's mouth feels like sandpaper. "Tyler Oakley..." She says, her voice lowering dangerously.

"But it's okay!" He blunders quickly, placing his hands out in case she's ready to run from the car. "If we save the town, they'll all come back to life! All of them! Even Joey! The Society Against Evil will step in before, and it'll all reset but not really, and we'll remember everything!"

"You tricked me!" Andrea yells indignantly.

Tyler looks like a puppy being scolded. "I'm sorry," He winces quietly.

"Tyler!"

"I have your costume in the backseat."

"Hnnn." Andrea responds to this by slamming her head into the steering wheel. The car horn blares loudly. She grumbles while Tyler apologizes. She dosen't even notice her phone vanish from sight. The fern green grass sways sweetly along the dirt road in patches with an odd yellow-orange streak in the sky, as Andrea struggles to collect her thoughts. I never wanted to go back there - I swore I would forget that awful masquerade - I-

"Andrea...I'm really sorry for tricking you. But you have to understand the stakes for me."

Andrea looks up, and Tyler is looking down sadly. He thumbs are twitching and twiddling, and he looks genuinely guilty and sorry. "If I can't save Everlock, everyone will die and the town won't exist anymore, but since I signed the contract - I'll die alongside the town."

What!?

"I'll die. Everyone else stays dead." Andrea's mouth falls slightly. She realizes he's risking his life to save everyone else - and if they don't do this, Tyler will be the only one to suffer. He'll die, and she'll lose her close friend.

"The town will use my soul whichever way it wants - I feel awful for inviting people and - putting everyone in danger for this 1970s town, but I really want to bring everyone back. I couldn't just be a total coward again and decline the offer...even if that means losing my family, my friends, everyone." He looks close to tears, and Andrea gives a small gasp.

 She quickly pulls him into a hug. "Tyler -" Against her better conscience...she sighs. "Of course I'll help you."

Tyler sags in her arms. "Oh - thank God."

He leaves her to change, and she meets him outside of the car. "So - do I have to be part of the dying and challenges and all that?" She's gone through enough, she'd much rather just sit back and help out where she can. To her relief, Tyler scoffs. "I promise! We'll have you be like Alison - just helping with voting and outside-of-death challenges and stuff. You're my moral support!" He grins cheerfully, his grief evaporated into a smiley freckled  face. "Awesome. So we just-"

"Avoid the monsters-"

"Save the town-"

"Solve any challenges-"

"Try to save people-"

"If there's any voting we make sure it's fair-"

"And then defeat the evil! Boom - everyone's back to life!"

Andrea finishes with a happy flourish. They grin at each other. The happy moment, however, is interrupted by her bumping into somebody. "Sorry!" They both apologize at once, and the voice is chipper and happy and -

"Ro!" Tyler exclaims. The super-friendly and baking fanatic Rosanna Pansino stumbles away from colliding with Andrea, but otherwise is smiling happily at them.

"You two came!" She grins excitedly, pulling them both into small hugs. "Here - we've set up camp and we're all waiting for you!" She twirls away, sporting a fern green outfit and side beret. 

Tyler shares a look with his accomplice.

"Shall we?"

"After you, my good Thespian," She responds, bowing slightly. They step forward together. Andrea thinks she can hear laughter...creepy, haunted malicious laughter...

Chapter Text

"You actually came!"

Tyler's voice is warm in the air. He's immediately melted into a smushed hug between Roi Fabito and Rosanna, while the others cheer. Matt, Colleen, Teala, Manny, Jc, Rosanna, Nikita, Roi, Safiya. They're all here. 

They look incredible - well, in Tyler's opinion they all look like they could be in the cast of Scooby Doo, although all they're missing is a bright lime green, orange, and cyan mini-van, and he's not sure if it's rude to think that, but they look absolutely amazing regardless. They all look excited, while some more than others look a little bit annoyed. Well, it doesn't matter, because they're here.

Tyler thanks them silently, not sure if he'd ever be able to express how grateful he is.

But seriously. They all look amazing.

Some wear bright colours; well okay, most of them do. Manny MUA and Nikita Dragun are wearing bright emerald green and bubblegum hot pink, respectively, complimenting their makeup. Colleen Ballinger's fluffy colorful boa wraps around her sparkly black one-piece outfit that match perfectly with her flowing cocoa-hickory brown hair. Beside her, Teala Dunn wears big copper earrings that dangle beside her wavy black hair and a big red coat that reminds Tyler oddly enough of Carmen Sandiego. 

Matthew Patrick and Rosanna Pansino wear outfits that go well together; he's wearing a brown-orange suit, tinted glasses and a tie, she has on a fluffy green coat overtop her periwinkle-coloured dress and a little yellow beret to match. Roi Fabito looks like the American-flag in his almost poncho-like outfit, and finally Safiya Nygaard, who wears a red sweater over her already-warm bronze brown jacket, and her blue bellbottoms. 

Alright, not exactly Scooby Doo. But close enough.

"You all actually came," Tyler repeats, breathless. The choruses of "Of course we came!" make his heart feel full of determination and warmth. He clutches the Society Against Evil's briefcase to his side.

"Alright, so where's the town?" Multiple people ask.

"Uh-" Tyler mumbles.

The Society had told him to stand around something and chant, which already sounds shady. He dosen't want to be possessed! He dosen't want his friends to be possessed! He dosen't want anyone to suddenly be taken by creepy crawlies! Dragged away by zombies, eaten by creepy spider ladies, possible scenarios fill his head, and he's already been through enough.

What did they say to chant again? Does it even matter? Yeah, it most likely matters. And what if they get it wrong?

Andrea grabs his hand.
Answer them, she seems to say. So he does. 

Well, if we fail, then nothing will happen. We'll simply try again, and I'm sure there's some files in the briefcase the Society gave me that'll help me figure out what to do. He takes a deep breath, re-centers.

"They gave me some instructions so we can get to the town," He explains.

He pulls out a rolled-up off-white note from the briefcase. "It's a scroll," Safiya points out.
"That's not ominous at all," Matt says quietly with a grin. 

Tyler keeps getting items from the briefcase. There's a lot more in this small bag. Salt? Alright, sure, yes, salt. He hands it to Nikita, who in turn sniffs it. "This smells expensive," She says to no one in particular. Tyler has quick war flashbacks to another certain salt circle he made with a different group...

"Alright, I've got the instructions," Tyler realizes suddenly, grabbing something at the bottom of the bag and taking it out. It's a thin and long piece of paper with the instructions all there for him. He clears his throat. It crackles slightly. He pushes down his anxiety and begins reading.

"'Those who desire to go back in time must be inhabited by a spirit that once lived there.'" He starts to say. "Hold up," Matt mutters, and then everyone starts talking. 

"Hey, everyone, stop-" Andrea's trying to act as peace-keeper while Tyler's own insecurities hammer in his brain. So we are going to get possessed. He feels like fainting. Anxiety squeezes his lungs. "I am not cut out to be the leader of this!" He mutters under his breath angrily.

"Stop talking for a second! Let Tyler talk!" Andrea's currently scolding the group. Rosanna closes her tiny mouth almost immediately, while the others take a little while to stop talking. Andrea looks back at Tyler and nods her head, encouraging him to continue.

"Alright, uh - 'place a circle of salt around significant object, then place these crystals at the head of the circle. Begin the chant the incantation at the bottom of this page.'"  He looks up. 

Once they've done that, they all stand holding hands. Tyler begins to read from the old tan parchment.

"From across the veil of death..."

 The sudden energy around them abruptly explodes loudly, and immediately they all gasp. Tyler despite himself keeps reading. Thunder booms, causing the earth to rumble. Tyler feels a warm and fuzzy tingling feeling running through his bones, and before he can shudder, he screams involuntarily. His brain turns to static.

 And he can somehow hear the Society Against Evil's voices in his head. He can't hear what they're saying, maybe words of courage? Bravery? A heartfelt speech about saving Everlock? He's not sure. And then the blaze is gone, and everyone's finished screaming. They've all basically been turned into human mush, Tyler thinks humorously. "That was...something," Matt mutters. The warm and fuzzy tingling sensation is now gone, Tyler realizes.

"Hey - over there!" Matt points out from somewhere near Tyler. They all look, and sure enough, there's a big luxurious maroon-red curtain flowing outwards, just underneath a logo of a jester that says TOWN OF EVERLOCK, that's all connected within a dark purple-blue fence. There it is. They did it! They all begin to walk up to the bizarre curtain, talking animatedly, just as a clown seems to apparate into view. Tyler screams the loudest out of everyone and darts behind Manny, who laughs in shock.

"It's your lucky day!" The clown says excitedly. Her voice is crisp and slightly unstable, matching her checkered attire and Tyler, who's currently trying to peek out from Manny's shoulder, is not exactly sure if that's a nice thing or not. "The Carnival's in town!"

She starts to list off attractions and different acts, and every creature mentioned scares him more than the last. A Strong Man, A Snake Woman, Dolls, with knives, (knives!) and so many more. "It's like bloody Christmas every day!" She squeals, proceeding to go into a laughing fit.

The group laughs weakly back. Tyler pales.

She pulls back the curtain, and Tyler's insides curl. But then, he actually sees the place they'll be saving, and wow. It's a Carnival, and Tyler's reminded of that small tan-colored Carnival that Oli had gone through in the 1920s, putting on a show and nearly dying in a choppy teal-waved dunk tank.
He hopes he won't have to go through that.

Besides, I don't think a beret would quite fit my style.

They enter a whole marketplace of booths with Carnival games promising prizes, and people selling things. It has a very warm golden-peach atmosphere, chestnut-colored stringed lights just hovering above the selling booths. Past that, the tan sandy pastels with yellows and teals turn to bright dazzling blacks and reds and purple-blues, as the booths thin out and turn to a small heather-coloured town, from the décor to the performers currently contorting themselves in front of a small crowd. Olive and fern green grass sways in splotches below the rumbling grey sky, and the sounds of prizes being won and chatter surrounds them. There's nobody screaming or in need of help, no monsters terrorizing the place, no evil staff disguised as a fun dinner party.

This all looks...nice.

"Oh, this is cute! What's there to save?" Colleen questions, and Tyler can't say he can't agree with her. If this town is just a sweet little show, then I don't see what the problem is! Him and the others walk past many Everlock citizens and one girl with a spider crawling along and around on her face. 

 Everyone except for Roi screams, who looks more interested than terrified. Tyler has seriously underestimated the guy, with his seemingly high tolerance for creepy things. But other than the creepy lady, nothing seems...terrible.

I think I was expecting more of...anarchy. Chaos. Definitely chaos.

Somebody seems to point out how stressed Tyler looks, because a few of them are looking at him. "You alright, man?" Asks Jc.

"Yeah - I'm fine," Tyler replies tiredly.

"Well, let's just have some fun! We're not in any danger right now, so let's enjoy it!" Tyler nods slowly, letting that sink it. Sure - right, have fun. We're having fun, and nothing's wrong, he tries to convince himself. Let's enjoy this place! 

-

Things start off pretty well. Tyler first tries his hand at the Test Your Strength, and doesn't do too well, what with his puny arms, but whatever.

Roi and Rosanna dance excitedly, laughing, while Matt tries playing some games. He sucks pretty bad, which makes Tyler laugh. Andrea, meanwhile, seems to be slowly taking the Carnival into consideration, her eyes scanning their new surroundings.

Nikita's currently talking with some strange guy that makes Tyler's blood pressure almost shoot through the roof. His first thought is not to trust the new guy standing in front of them, after all, they are here to save a town, and everyone's a suspect.
But he's smiling, and there's a trusting twinkle in the newcomer's eyes. He's even holding a rose, oddly enough. Nikita certainly looks taken, a completely smitten look in her face as she talks with him. 

His heart hurts, although he's not sure why.

Tyler eventually finds himself hanging out with Matt Colleen, Roi, and Rosanna. Roi and Rosanna talk about something, Tyler's not exactly sure what, while he accompanies Colleen and Matt to get some popcorn.

The sky's now gone from its harsh greens that Tyler's being seeing for days now, and is replaced with a nice heather-purple dome around them, with smells of caramel apples and other treats and sounds of laughter. The anxiety is starting to let go of him. Ro's currently introducing her newest family member, a purple-blue stuffed dog she's officially dubbed Blueberry, to them when Roi stumbles backwards in shock.

"Sorry!" He apologizes to the small girl. "She scared me." He points past all of them.

There, lurking around, is a lady. Her eyes are storm-clouds and her expression is troubled.

"Here - Jet-Setter!" Matt suggests, pushing Rosanna forwards. Not one to argue, Rosanna goes up to the new person they've all just noticed. Now she gives Tyler bad vibes.

"Hello!" Rosanna chirps cheerfully, in her happy full social butterfly fashion. "Bonjour!"

"The stars," The other lady states shortly, her eyes inclined to the heavens. Rosanna follows her gaze, but her brow furrows. "The stars?" The lady nods. "Yes - they have been talking to me."
"What are they saying?" Ro asks, and Tyler suddenly wants to be as far away from her as possible.

"Secrets," Is her cryptic reply. Oh no. He doesn't like the sound of that.

"Are they friendship secrets?" Rosanna asks curiously. "Light-hearted happy secrets? No..."

The newcomer shakes her head. "He's coming."

"'He's coming'?" Ro asks. The new lady doesn't answer. She holds out the small dog in an odd attempt to somehow soothe the newcomer, which makes Tyler smile. The lady does, and he thinks he can see her ease up a bit. Roi seems to take advantage of this. "Here, have him."

Rosanna pulls the dog back. "No - that's Blueberry," She tells him. 
"Blueberries are coming?" Asks a very clearly confused Colleen. 

"Anyways, we're going to go," Matt says, starting to put Rosanna and Tyler in front of him. "Ro wanted to go to on the Ferris Wheel, didn't you, Ro?" He gives them a look. Rosanna seems to catch on, as does Tyler. They both nod. "Toodles! Au revoir! Aloha!" Rosanna calls behind them.

Tyler kind of shudders. Not at her, specifically, but her...unease. Her expression and claim that someone's coming. Tyler suddenly feels like crying. "I - I gotta go. I'll be back in a sec," He mutters. I knew it. I knew it I knew it I knew it - something's coming, and - and -

Tyler hyperventilates slightly.

-

I need something to drink. I'm parched. 

He starts out by finding a small almost café. It's warm with soft terra cotta browns and tans, turquoise and red rugs everywhere. There's chatter with citizens. It's...inviting. He orders something sweet and gets what looks to be hot cocoa. He chats with Andrea, who's graciously come with him. They find a corner booth, colored chestnut near the wall.

The ambient chatter and soft music makes him feel better, at least a little bit. Tyler's staring straight through his hot cocoa, his hands shaking slightly.

"You doing alright?" Andrea asks.

"I...think so. I just don't think I was expecting this," He mutters. 

"What were you expecting?" She's not condescending about the question, which makes Tyler's muscles ease.

"I just - I'm not sure what, but I think I was expecting more sudden danger, like we were all going to have to deal with something right away. But it's all friendly, and I'm on edge." He places his head in his hands. " I don't know what's coming. I want to be prepared for whatever's going to happen."

Andrea takes a sip from her frothing drink. Her eyebrows are creased, clearly thinking, and Tyler looks away. "I'm - scared. I have to be prepared, but what if I'm just stressing over nothing? Maybe this wasn't a good idea, I-" 

"Tyler!" Andrea admonishes him, suddenly pulling him into a fierce hug in the booth. She squeezes his shoulders, squeezing her eyes shut. "It's okay - everything's alright. The Society trusted you to do this - they wouldn't have called on you if they didn't think you could handle this."

Tyler swallows hard. Hot cocoa slightly foams out and spills over his hands. "But there was a woman we met - she told us someone was coming, Andrea. She looked so sure of herself, and she wouldn't tell us who it was. And then I'll have to keep it a secret that most of the people I brought here are going to die - I'm not sure what I'm going to say, and I feel so unprepared. And on edge. And it sucks." He takes another sip, which pushes down the tears in his throat.

A couple Everlock citizens are looking, and Tyler buries himself behind his drink, shaking. 

Jukebox music floats through the room, and Andrea seems genuinely shocked.

"Aw - Tyler, I didn't know you were this one edge about all this, especially not this much." She lowers herself to his level, forcing him to look at her. They definitely appear to be like two idiots sat at a booth, everything thinking they're whisper-yelling aggressively at each-other behind a mug of cocoa.

"I know it can be stressful with everything happening so suddenly, since we had nearly a year to get over...everything. I know you want to make things right, and you don't know what's coming, but I've learned that it's more stressful if you think of something upcoming."

Tyler looks up, just slightly.

"It's good to just focus on the now, and take challenges as they come. if you're thinking about whoever's coming or whatever, then, well of course you're going to be panicking. And if you tell everyone what's going on, I'm sure they'll understand, probably even more so with the tough decision you had to make and the circumstances. So why don't we go out there, and beat that evil to a pulp?" She grins down at him.

She holds out her fist. "Dream team?"

Tyler gives her a shaky smile, and bumps his knuckles against hers. "Dream team."

"Good, we should go out there again," She says, standing up. "They'll probably be wondering where we've be-"

Andrea stops suddenly.

"What's-" Tyler starts to ask, but shuts up as Andrea sharply shushes him. They both listen, Tyler straining his ears for any particular sound. And then he hears it - screaming.

There it is. It's starting. 

-

Immediately after they step out from the cozy 1970s cafe, the Carnival is in chaos. Most of the group except for Rosanna and Matt, (who are still weirdly enough on the Ferris Wheel, which doesn't sit well with Tyler,) are standing around a bright red Jack-In-The-Box. Manny's just let go of the thing's handle, and a creepy dead-eyed clown has popped off the top. A fern green smog has begun to fill the air.

The sky is a violet blue and cream for a couple seconds before nearly exploding and turning fern green again, with yellow streaks. Everyone screams. For an awful moment, Tyler's back in the World Between Worlds, with the dead Society Against Evil members and the cracked cyan earth and bright eggnog-smelling sky. And there's others screaming.

The townspeople of Everlock run amok, shoving into each other in an effort to get away from something. "Everyone remain calm!" Shouts someone, a man, and Tyler can see that it's the man that Nikita had been talking with earlier. From behind Tyler, someone drops off a balcony with a sickening crunch. He turns on the wide-eyed group, his stomach dropping a thousand times over. Teala's holding the bright red Jack-in-the-Box, and its open. Tyler looks at the clown again.
A terrifying-looking clown has popped its head out, and he just now sees a knife sticking out from the white, reddish-brown and blue-grey fabric.

"DID - I - WHAT HAPPENED!?"

He screams like a terrified mother angrily finding her children in the middle of a stolen cookie or a cracked picture frame.

 "I - I don't know!" Manny exclaims in bewilderment. "We just turned the handle, and now there's all these-" Safiya starts to say, then stops. Says his name. 

Tyler doesn't have time to turn around. He doesn't see the baseball bat.

"Tyler!" Someone screams before it connects with his face, and his sight crumbles sideways. The Carnival around him disappears into utter nothingness.

-

"I'm not going," Is Eva's complaint. The World Between Worlds seems to crackle and thunder in response.
"You didn't let me finish last time," Is the guarded yet increasingly frustrated Society Member's reply, who's been trying to convince the stubborn ex-Journalist to aid Tyler in his quest to save Everlock. More dark cyan cracks fill the earth below them.

"I don't need to hear anything you have to say-" Eva starts to stalk away.

"Listen. You will be able to bring back your allies. Your friends. What were their names - Andrea Brooks. Justine Ezarik. Timothy DeLaGhetto." Eva stops dead in her tracks. The strawberry-haired fighter lists them all off, and Eva turns back around. "If your friend manages to save Everlock, they all come back. You can help him. You and your fellow survivor."

"Well, what if he fails?"

She wakes up before the Society Against Evil member can even open her mouth.

 -

The phone rings. Eva sits up fast. Of course this is the one day when her phone isn't by her side. She gets up, nearly tripping in the dark, before turning on her lamp and getting the darn phone. "Hello?" She stumbles back to her bed, slumping against the edge.

"Hey." It's Oli.

"Did you have the same dream?" Eva asks.
"Yeah - the Society try to convince you to join Tyler's cause, too?"

"Yeah."

"I feel bad for declining, but I don't want to get wrapped up in something stupid again." He sounds tired, like he's been thinking about this a lot, and Eva's muscles tense in sympathy. She sits up straighter, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers, thinking what to say.

"Don't feel bad for declining. Why would we want to help him?"

"It's Tyler though, Eva. I don't know what I'd do if he ended up dying."

"He'll be fine - you should get some sleep, and tomorrow we can talk-" She's cut off.

"He might not be alive tomorrow," Oli almost whines in concern at the other end. Eva huffs. "Honestly, Oli, Tyler's tougher than that. It's probably just a small quest, and no one is going to die or anything. Honestly, how bad could it be?"

Chapter Text

"Tyler!"

He's up in a second. His surroundings come into focus; tan-reddish brown walls, a smelly tattered couch, everything feels cramped, a kitchen sink...where is he? He sees two other shapes that look very specifically like Colleen and Roi. He blinks. Oh. They are Colleen and Roi. Particularly, Colleen looks three seconds away from gnawing away at something near her wrists. Then her eyes move to Tyler, and her face morphs from fear and anger to excitement and mainly relief.

"Tyler! You're awake, good! Mind helping us out here?" She asks, and he notices her hands are currently being tied to a chair near a small table.
He looks closer at where they exactly are; it's an RV, and Tyler can't imagine what he's missed. It's confined and a dim yellow-orange mixed with reddish-brown, and the smell of something decaying and cigarette smoke fills the tiny RV.
Tyler wrinkles his nose.
He can hear groans and sneers from outside, and turquoises, dimmer yellows and reddish-browns seem to take up the most space in his sight. His head pounds, and a voice sounds in his ears; "Tyler, you're gonna be alright, okay? We're gonna get you out..." It fades into Colleen giving a frustrated scream.

"What the heck...?"

"I'm locked in," Colleen says, and Tyler feels cold metal cuffs around his own wrists. "So am I."

"Me too," Roi says miserably from the very back of the RV. "Oh, and Guava's here too," Colleen amends.

"Hi!" Is Roi's response from the back of the RV, the only one of the three able to stand up properly. Tyler's almost jealous: he certainly looks cozy near the back with the kitchen, waving freely. Tyler tries to wave back, a half-lopsided smile on his face. Roi beams bigger, but then his eyebrows scrunch together. "Are you trapped too?" He gestures to his hand-cuffs. Tyler nods weakly.

"What did I miss?" Tyler asks, trying to stand. All he manages to do is fall farther down. On the bright side, he can see a small slip of paper high up that they probably need. He tries to get it with his foot as Colleen explains that Teala won a jack-in-the-box toy, and they had opened it, and then Tyler had been knocked out, and now-

"Come out and plaaaayy!" A sudden new voice makes Tyler jump. Outside, he can see clowns. In full make-up, cackling, in violent colours, sneering at them. One holds a bat, and Tyler can make out several limp and very-much dead bodies just past one of the clown's shoulders. Clowns. Holy crap. They summoned clowns. So that's what must've knocked him over the head and have been killing people. His stomach twists. 

What did I just get us into?

"So...we're stuck now, basically," Tyler simplifies.

"Well, we weren't, until I tripped. Then I got captured, and Roi did too. Then everyone else fled, and I think they got somewhere safe, they're with Mortimer so they should be fine," Colleen's currently rambling, trying to unlock her locks. It's not working.

Tyler stretches his leg up, and the small slip of paper falls down. "Hey! I think I got something!" He tells their small group. Colleen's eyes light up. "Pass it to me!"
Tyler does, and while she reads it, sudden pain makes the floor swim out from underneath him.

"Lock One," Colleen reads aloud. "October, Soda, Smoke. Huh."
To Tyler that just sounds like a bunch of word writing prompts, but then it clicks in his head; these are for numbers. There must be a certain number for each item that unlocks the lock. Colleen turns in her seat and exclaims. "Ah! There's a calendar here!"

"What does it say?" Roi asks from the back.

"October - 13th! The first number's 13!" Colleen yells. Tyler thinks for a second and realizes it's Friday. Oh, how original. Friday the 13th on October. I am so scared. Wow. You evil geniuses. 

"Smoke...soda.."
"Hey! There's some soda cans here!" Roi calls, startling Tyler. Man, how does the Daredevil have that sort of lung capacity!? He winces. Roi holds up a few that are placed in the sink beside him, and Tyler watches as he turns around to discover even more behind him. "There's five!"

Colleen grins. "One, two, three, four, five, six - six!" Her eyes light up as she points to another missed can. "Six, six, six, there's one right here!" She looks around.

"Alright, we just have smoke left!"
"Candles, there are some candles here!"
Tyler feels completely useless. He's chained to the top of the glove compartment, stuck on his back like a turtle, unable to barely even look up at his friends. A small voice sneers in his head, and you thought you'd be able to be the hero? Please! Thunder rumbles outside. The smell of the vanilla candles changes to something terrible from outside, and he winces, nose scrunching.

I'm not here for that. I'm here to save my friends.

He looks up, and suddenly gasps. There, just above him on the dashboard, is a pack of cigarettes. Cigarettes. They cause smoke. "Guys! Guys I found smoke! It's not the candles, it's the cigarettes!" He reaches his leg up as far as it can go and hooks the corner of it with his shoe. It comes falling down onto his lap. "How many?" Colleen asks, sitting back down on her seat near the make-shift RV table.

Tyler counts. "Seven."

"Thirteen, six, seven," They say together. Tyler had a key-lock, but at least Roi or Colleen can now get out of their hand-cuffs. Colleen tries a couple times, then pushes her chocolate brown hair around her face and pouts. "It doesn't fit mine."
Click. "That's mine, that's mine!" The newly freed Roi cheers. "I got it!"

"Come help me!" Colleen calls. Roi rushes to her side. He read the next note out loud. "Lock Two," he reads. Tyler's head is killing him, and he fazes out. He lets his head fall, pounding. I never should've brought them all here. Maybe there wouldn't be killer clowns, so there wouldn't be us trapped in an RV, and we wouldn't be in this mess.

"Tyler, stay with us bud!" Roi calls out. 

"We're wearing panties!" Colleen calls out. Tyler blinks, unsure if he heard her right.
"What!?" Despite himself, he laughs. "Are we talking about-"

"Roi, are you wearing panties?"
"No."
"You're not wearing panties!?" Colleen sounds genuinely shocked, and Tyler laughs again. Finally they find the combination to Colleen's lock (three, seventeen, five) and she's free. She and Guava hover over a box with a note telling them to renew their subscription, and now they're looking the calendar while Colleen holds the magazine. Suddenly, there's a click. The two rush to the front of the RV, where they un-lock Tyler. He immediately hugs them, and the two are beaming.

"We're a pretty good team!" Colleen grins, fluffing her boa and looking around at the yellow-orange lit clown-home for an escape. Roi whoops. "Team RV!" He looks to Tyler, who's clutching his head. The Thespian moves his hand through his strawberry-blonde hair and smiles. "Team RV!" He says.

Instantly, thoughts of his alliance with Tana and Alex spring up, and his heart pangs with pain. 

"Hey guys, I found something!" 
The three crowd around a small book. Tyler skims it, too tired to read it aloud. He slumps forward slightly, and Colleen rubs his back soothingly. Tyler smiles slightly crookedly. From what Tyler can understand, they have to find these artifacts to stop the big bad and save the town. And they have to do it before morning. Of course.

"We have to tell the others! Do you know where they are?" Roi asks.

Tyler sincerely hopes Roi doesn't mean him, considering he was unconscious for a good portion of the clown chaos. He sees a bat near the kitchen and picks it up gingerly. "I think I know how we can get outta here." Colleen's eyes widen in realization while Roi's mouth falls open as he starts to grin like a child. 
"We can fight them. We'll fight them, or we can die trying."

Colleen and Roi nod determinedly. Tyler readies his stance.

Alright, Tyler thinks strongly. Time to take on the night.

Colleen opens the door, a clown steps in, and Tyler gets his sweet revenge.

-

Andrea hates Tyler Oakley.

Currently.

She knows that he'll beg, and he'll make that puppy-dog face that she can't stay mad at, and she'll end up forgiving him. But right now, she absolute hates him for getting her into this situation. This situation about panicking over him. He just saw his face get smashed in with a bat, for crying out loud. She remembers screaming, and then he had been dragged away, and then Mortimer had ushered everybody inside this arcade.

People were screaming, handing each-other boards. Andrea had stayed behind, unsure of how to contribute. A few clowns had tried to claw their way through the boards, screaming or shouting things at the terrified YouTubers. 
"Hand me that hammer," the girl in hot pink, Nikita she thinks, asks. Andrea opens her mouth, closes it, and hands her the hammer. She sighs to herself. She doesn't even know these people. Suddenly without Tyler here she feels almost timid and lethargic when being around the others.

At least the arcade seems safe, now all boarded up. Their hero, Mortimer, is sitting near one of the windows, listening to the distant screaming. He looks so...pained. Which makes sense, seeing as how his mom was just thrown from a building.
"Are you okay?" Manny asks, adjusting his emerald green suit.

Mortimer barely looks up, his voice hard-edged. "They took your friends, huh?" Which makes Andrea's stomach tighten once again. She'd never really managed to lose Tyler before.

Sure, they'd all had their fair share of near-death, but the only time she thought they'd genuinely lose him was when his foot had stepped on that mine, and when that creature from the Dark Dimension had nearly killed him in his hiding spot near the curtains.

She almost lost him too many times.
She can't lose him again.

Mortimer rises to his feet. "My mom wouldn't want me to give up - she was a fighter." There's pain like dark storm clouds in his eyes, and for a brief moment Andrea feels awful for him. He didn't deserve to see his mom die in front of him. He didn't deserve to have us come and wreck up his town.

She just hopes he'll be strong enough to help them out.

-

"Well that didn't go well," Roi mumbles. Well, now they're all tied up to a carousel. Matt and Ro are being led to the ride while clowns storm the arcade, pulling out stragglers. "Tyler!" Andrea calls. She's being led away by a clown with sapphire-blue hair, a red shirt and a dead expression. Tyler's heart sinks with dread.

The clown ties her up, and Andrea struggles next to Tyler, shouting curses and insults at them. She blows the hair out of her face and looks to him, eyes wide and scared. 
"It's gonna be okay," he assures her. Andrea quickly death-glares him.

"I'm mad at you right now."

"What did I do?" Tyler asks, baffled.

"Silence!" One of the clowns yells, and Tyler yelps.

"We want our box back!" The supposed leader of the clowns, the one who greeted them, snarls. She has a crazed look in her eyes; they all do. Standing there like a bunch of lions, ready to strike at any given minute. Tyler gulps. Who had the jack-in-the-box last?

From beside him, Teala gives a stifled whimper, then darts her eyes downward. One of the clowns approaches her, eyes glittering dangerously. "I think this one has it, right here!" Teala whimpers. "No! I don't have it!"
"We gave it to -" Manny stops. "Mortimer! Mortimer has it!" Tyler blinks. Mortimer? Who's that?

Tyler realizes that Mortimer's conspicuously disappeared for no reason, and he suddenly feels angry. Apparently in the time it took to get out of the RV, they'd made an ally. Great. More suspicious people.
"We want our box back!" The leader repeats. "You stole it from us! And you know what we do to thieves..."

"We really don't," Nikita mutters as Tyler's trying to wrap his head around the situation. "What? What do you do?" Tyler hopes she's trying to stall them instead of just aggravate them even more. A green-haired clown comes from the back, wearing orange suspenders and holding two giant dice. 

"We're gonna roll our Dice of Death," the head clown explains, "and whoever's number comes up, I gut 'em! I gut 'em right here in front of your friends!" She laughs like a maniac, and tears prickle at the corner of Tyler's eyes. I'm sorry you guys. "Unless..." She pauses, eyes glittering dangerously. "Unless Luke rolls a twelve, and then, then I let one of you go! Do you feel lucky?"

She presses a big red button. The carousel starts spinning. He looks up, and the top is spinning with shades of purple, blue, and glittering rainbow. He feels sick and shuts his eyes as the world blurs past. The clowns cheer as the green-haired clown throws the dice. Around him, screams escalate the tension.

"No! No!"

"Stop!"

"I don't want to die!"

This is it. Tyler wants to collapse right here and now. One of us is going to die right here, right now. "I'm so sorry guys," He whispers under his breath. "I got you into this mess and now we're all going to die." And I'm going to be no better than the Sorceress - Tana, Liza, Alex...

"Eight," Luke cackles, voice like a sinister thunder. Tyler looks, and they've all got their beady little eyes on Nikita. The Troublemaker struggles, trying to free herself from the carousel. There's a dark burning coal in her eyes, ready to ignite. She attempts to spit at them, but they're going too fast, and they're far out of reach. The world spins around Tyler in 80s stars and buildings, and he prepares for the clowns to stop the ride.

BANG.

Someone screams. Tyler looks. The ride's stopped, and once he can finally see, there's Mortimer. He recognizes him; the guy who had flirted with Nikita earlier. With the medium-length brown hair and triangular face. He's on his motorcycle, Jack-In-The-Box in hand. The other holds a gun. The head clown, who's arm has been shot, drops her knife with a pained yell. Mortimer quickly gets back onto his motorcycle, the doors to a pub called Fat Man Slim's banging open. 

He quickly comes out again, shooting at the clowns, who run away in terror. He turns to the awestruck YouTubers, who all cheer. Roi looks like he's about to completely explode with excitement. Mortimer rushes up towards the carousel, untying everyone. It takes Colleen a second to realize she's untied, walking down to the group with a smitten look on her face. 

He unties Tyler next, and raises his hand. Tyler takes it gingerly, and the two shake.
"Mortimer Wilson."
"Tyler Oakley."

He gets off, where Andrea rushes to him. They hug in relief. "That was horrible and I hate this place already," she mutters.
Tyler laughs. "Yeah, no kidding."

They join the group, where Matt is laughing in shaky relief, and he goes over to hug Manny. "I thought we were done for," he says breathlessly, placing a hand on his heart. The two notice Tyler, and the three have a quick group hug. Relief rushes back into Tyler's system.

"Uh, hey! Still tied up here! No big deal just, still stuck," Says a sudden voice, and Tyler turns around to see Safiya, still trapped on the ride. "Oh, sorry Saf!" He rushes to untie her. We don't need to be losing people like this!

The group hurries inside, and Tyler takes a quick glance outside. No clowns.

Yet.