Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Today was Angus' unlucky day, the blackside clocks were all broken and it was most likely his fault, because of this run, he fought with his sister, he lost sight of the new expendable and he doesn't know where the hell they hid… and finally... Another day passed in this underwater prison. He has nothing to complain about, he got used to it much faster than he thought. If he and his sister managed to escape, where would they go? To his parents' house? It would be better the way things were than going back to that hell again, which would be the same thing, so what difference did it make? even though there were certain things he missed from home… the forest that surrounded his mansion, the animals, the way he looked before, tea time-

“OH, FUCK-”

Angus angrily holds his own hair, he had arranged with Delilah that he would have tea with her at 2:00 PM but how can he know what time it is now? If it were anyone else he wouldn't care about it, but apart from his sister, Delilah was his closest friend and even though he didn't admit it he loved her company at these times, They could also find something to make tea with, whether it was seaweed or some fruits and leaves that were left behind. He had already fought with his sister and felt like crap, he didn't want to fight with Delilah for having left her waiting, he thought if he explained she might understand, so he didn't waste any time and got ready to go to his usual place…

Angus went through door 30, which meant there were only a few doors left to go through, he went more calmly now. Finally he arrived, but Angus heard some giggles and seemed to be talking to someone, he thought it could be Sebastian, but he usually looks for supplies to trade with those expendables between door 40 and door 70, Blitz? probably not, he doesn't stay still and always wants to run, Blitz wouldn't spend a minute talking to someone calmly, Penelope would probably be locked in one of the rooms because of the fight... the rest would be looking for that damn expendable, so... who would it be…? Entering the room, what Angus saw made him feel a mixture of emotions, he didn't know what he felt at this moment, it was anger or shock or a mixture of both, he saw that new expendable sitting in one of the office chairs drinking tea with Delilah, they both seemed more shocked than Angus.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS EXPENDABLE DOING HERE?”

“Hey! Calm down-”

Angus goes towards the new expendable who looked scared, but Delilah grabs Angus, stopping him from going further.

“What do you think you’re going to do with it? Eat it?”

“I HAVEN’T EATEN ANYTHING IN LIKE 2 DAYS, SO I DON’T SEE THIS AS A BAD IDEA!”

“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?”

Angus swore he heard that wrong, he stopped and looked at Delilah with wide eyes.

“DID I UNDERSTAND THAT RIGHT? YOU! ME AND THE OTHERS ARE HERE SURVIVING! AND I DON’T WANT TO UPSET YOU, BUT THIS IS OUR FOOD SOURCE!”

“FIRST! STAY CALM AND HOLD YOUR TONGUE, SECOND LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY BEFORE YOU DRAW YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS!”

Angus looks at his friend and then at the expendable who is shaking and looks like she is about to have a cardiac arrest right there, he takes a deep breath and maintains his posture ready to listen to Delilah, he has already fought with his sister and does not want to fight with one of his close friends, he notices that the expendable is calmly walking towards the exit.

“T-the tea was great, but since I'm close to Sebastian's shop I better-”

Angus threateningly puts his tail in front of the path preventing the new expendable from having the opportunity to escape, he also shows his teeth making her step back and look him in the eyes, he hears a forced cough to get his attention, snorting he looks at Delilah, turning his head with his teeth still showing.

“Okay… tell me what you gave to make friends with this worm, did Sebastian tell you something?”

“I wouldn’t say friendship… I would say… an agreement where we both benefit”

“I don’t like the way this is going…”

“I won’t hurt her, in exchange she’ll give me the mirror she has with her!”

Delilah spoke naturally, seeming like she had a good argumentative point, Angus really wanted to attack her for the stupidity she just said, if she wasn't his friend he would definitely do that, but that's not the case, sighing deeply trying to stay calm he looks at Delilah with a forced smile.

“A mirror?”

“Yes! Well… if she breaks or loses the mirror, the deal is over-”

“Did you go to the bathrooms in this place? There are several of them available! Don’t they?”

“At most broken or with about five hundred layers of dust, I’ve tried cleaning it and it only seems to make it worse”

“OK! And the reflections in the water and the glass on the other side? They’re very clean and I can see my reflection perfectly!”

“Ah! That’s not the same as a mirror, my dear friend… I need to at least see if my hair is messed up”

He wouldn't mind spending hours arguing with Delilah so she could have some logic, she could have killed the expendable and gotten that damn mirror if that was the problem, but knowing her, she kept her word... this was really making him lose his mind... Angus looks at the new expendable while Delilah starts to argue that she is right, this expendable, she couldn't stop shaking, he deduced that it would be the first time she sees him up close... she is very short compared to him... either she is this size or Angus forgets that humans have always been this size and-

“Heyy… did you hear me?”

“Hum? Yeah… yeah… I heard you.” He has no idea what she had said to him, but his pride wouldn’t let him admit it.

“So? What are you doing here?” Delilah crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. Angus regretted not listening and Delilah noticed it and groaned in frustration.

“This expendable is going to be here for a while and I see that you’re bothered by her, so if you don’t mind, you better go.”

No… no… she didn’t say that… he just can’t believe he’s being traded for an expendable… AN EXPENDABLE!!! He Sighs angrily, it seems there’s no point in arguing with her.

“What about tea?”

“But it’s not even on time, it’s really early according to the clock.” Seeing his friend confused, he turns around and swims away, dying of embarrassment. He wouldn't talk about the watches, even though it was something really silly, it seemed embarrassing to him. Well, it was good to see that Delilah decided to become a second Sebastian and adopted an expendable. After swimming for a while, the subject of the new expendable made Angus not get as stressed as he should. Even though he was hungry, he knows that these expendables are like sewer rats...they don't last very long…

Chapter Text

Trembling and walking quickly down the hallway, you were still thinking about what happened at the previous doors, that was too fast and look, you only said one sentence. That creature almost killed you, if it weren't for Froger... or rather... Delilah… You were sure that you would never be able to get the crystal, you would never get out of there and you would never have a life outside of prison again, you would just be another prisoner who joined this mission just to get his freedom and ended up being killed and his body was left there with just bones and blood on the floor… Now you know what these creatures did with the flesh that didn't appear on the bodies that were in some rooms. It wouldn't be news if that happened, but to think that everyone down here did it… or maybe there are some, since not all of them attacked you, except Delilah who only doesn't attack you because of the agreement, but the rest wouldn't do that... do you think…

Do you remember that before you met Delilah you met a big bluish skin fish named Sebastian, he said he was not aggressive and that by door 50 he had a supply shop and invited you to go there, You don't know if that fish is telling you the truth, after the information that they ate... but if anything, just run - well, it would be the best option than dying.

Walking and moving forward you realize that there was no manifestation of any of these creatures, not even Painter, you also notice that this corridor seems cleaner than the previous ones, could it be a new creature that did this? And most importantly, is it an aggressive or friendly creature? You don't know for sure. You freeze when you hear the sound of metal buckets, water falling on the floor and something that seems to be scrubbing the glass at the end of the dark hallway and there is only light from where this being is cleaning, It might be a human, but what the hell would he be doing? You wouldn't personally stop in the middle of the hallway to clean the glass, or the floor or something, when there are several creatures wanting to see you dead.

On tiptoe you approach, each time entering the deep darkness, there are no squiddles here, which makes it increasingly strange and your heart seems to come out of your mouth, thinking to yourself that this was a bad idea and that it would be better to go back, you take a few steps back to go back, in the background you notice that it is someone with their back turned, has long black hair, very beautiful by the way, this being is also wearing some black clothing, you couldn't tell how tall it was because of the distance between you and this being, you took a deep breath and let it out slowly you get closer and as you had noticed, this being is cleaning the glass that gives the view of the open sea much better than in the previous doors, it seems that this being is cleaning angrily and grumbling, you thought about talking since its features seemed more human than those of a creature, but as you approached, You notice that this person releases black smoke from his skin and hair too, this figure has a long gray tail with dark stripes and at the tip of the tail the fins were sharp... these characteristics... are from that angler who almost killed you!

You walk backwards, to avoid being seen, seeing that he is more focused on mumbling to the glass, continuing to move away from him, but suddenly you slip into a puddle of water that was on the floor, making a loud noise down the hallway, Luckily you held on to the wall, but you noticed that the noise you made on the floor made this angler stop rubbing the glass, his fins, which you assumed were his ears, became alert and moved slightly, his body became tense and erect, you with your wide eyes see the head of this fisherman slowly turn, his clear eyes pierce you and awkwardly you walk backwards only accelerating your pace and turning your back when you hear a shrill scream coming in your direction letting your despair take over you, but the shrill scream is cut off and you feel something heavy hitting you but it doesn't hold you down or anything like that, you just feel a pain in your back and then that weight disappears leaving you fallen and hurt on the floor, you look forward and see the angler cursing himself, groaning in pain and stroking his own head, it seems he slipped into the same puddle of water as you, you get up almost falling again, since the angler is stunned you run in the direction where he was cleaning the glass, as it was close to the next door you needed to go through.

The angler's shrill scream comes back angrier behind you, when you reach the light you grab the bucket of water he was cleaning the glass with and throw it at him with all your strength and desperation, not wanting to die like that, it worked! The rusty metal bucket hit his snout and the soapy water got into his eyes and mouth, making him stop and violently cough up the soapy water and at the same time he tries to wash off the soap that is making his eyes burn, you keep running to the door that appeared on the bright monitor, it was door 48, if Sebastian is telling the truth his shop is at door 50 or close to this door... and it is 100% safe for all the "expendables" as all the creatures called you and the others who were here.

“NO!!! FUCK!!!” When you see door 50, unfortunately, this door needs a key card to open… the worst of all is that the lights start to flash… the angler is coming and you don’t need to be a genius because this time he will be faster than blitz and more violent than the multi-monster, the key card is on the other side and you run to get it and hear the shrill scream increasing and being louder than pink’s scream.

Trembling and sweating, you quickly swipe the card... the reader warned you that it was unable to read the card. You did this about three times, but the speed at which you were doing it prevented the reader from reading the card properly. The fourth time, the card passed and opened the door.

“Hey, here!...” You hear Sebastian's voice along with the ventilation door falling, you run there with the deafening noise in your ears, when you enter the ventilation duct something with claws grabs you by the waist in the middle of the ventilation duct, tearing your diving suit and making you bleed, every time you move forward it tries to pull you out.

You scream in desperation asking for help, for your luck or bad luck, you feel another hand, only it is a little bigger than the angler's and it is bluish in tone, the bluish hand pulls you inside with force, making the angler's hands scratch the sides of your waist up to the shins of your legs, you feel the sides of your legs burning and feel the warm blood coming out of the scratches, that entering this room, you realize that the floor and the duct are all stained with blood... your blood.

“Phew, that was close, huh? Hehe… well, you already know me, Sebastian! Nice to meet you…” he gestures with his hands for you to say your name, it takes a while because of what happened but you answer without losing sight of the bloody duct, you say your name a little shakily to Sebastian.

“Oh! Nice to meet you, well… just by intuition, not that I’m a man who notices everything but… I think you came here to get a medkit, right?” He says in a mocking tone, you look at him indignantly.

“I JUST GOT ATTACKED BY THAT THING!!!”

“Oh, oh, oh… This “thing” has a name and that is actually an offense to us” he continues to mock the situation, seeing that there was no solution you don’t argue.

“That… and a code breacher…” you never know when that wretch would show up and attack again and you need to find a key card again, you got lucky this time, but next time it might be your end…

“300 Research” he smiles at you, you reach for the Research, his smile fades and he grimaces in disdain as he sees the almost destroyed Research, you curse yourself and that angler mentally.

“There are only 250 out of 600… you had a very good run, it seems…” he looks seriously at the Research, seeing if there is anything to save, some are even stained with his blood, Sebastian picks up one of the bloody ones with his fingertips and makes a disgusted face, you roll your eyes at Sebastian’s drama and mockery.

“Can’t you give me a discount? You saw what happened,” you say with a little hope, even if it’s tiny, hoping that Sebastian might understand… but from the look on his face… the answer is obvious…

“What do you think I am?... But… As a courtesy, I can give you this key card for the other door.” Sebastian points to his desk where the blue key card for the next door is.

“So, do you choose the medkit or the code breacher?” Sebastian crosses his arms, the third hand holds the research that was saved, you groan in pain and anger at Sebastian's lack of understanding, but what to expect from him? Right?

“Look on the bright side! If you catch a code breaker you’ll have enough money to buy a battery” he smiles, you snort and try to see if there’s any more research… maybe flash drives… you put your hand out… and… oh no… no, no, no! The mirror isn’t with you, damn it!

“The mirror!” You scream in despair, Sebastian raises his eyebrow and looks at you indifferently

“Um… there are no mirrors for sale, and I don’t see any point in selling them either-”

“NOT THAT! AH!!! SHIT!!! GIVE ME THE MEDKIT” Sebastian gives an angry growl at the tone of voice you used on him and shows a few of his teeth, with no option he gives the medkit, remembering that it is for the research that he is doing this

“Next time you answer me like that, I’ll make you swallow it… but unfortunately my friend did the fun job I would do!” He looks at your legs and waist and holds back a laugh, you without caring grab the medkit, open it and bandage yourself after putting the medicine on the wounds… and mending more bandages on your suit so it wouldn’t be so torn, you with difficulty get up and go to the table where the key card for the next room is, when you’re going to leave Sebastian decides to open his damn mouth, you notice that he speaks laughing a little.

“I would have you clean up the mess you left there… it’s not very inviting to leave blood in my store… but… hehe… since I’m a good friend to you, I’ll let this one slide hehe… Well… good luck, you’re going to need it… a lot… a lot-” you closed your eyes and sighed in anger when Sebastian started laughing…
Leaving Sebastian's shop you were still walking a bit clumsily but at least you weren't crawling or losing the movement of your legs, you needed to find that damn mirror, better to have one less angler in your way than one more to bother you, you silently asked to find that mirror, that it wasn't with that gray angler and that it wasn't broken... he must be much further ahead and MUCH angrier than usual you needed a plan and that it didn't involve getting into a fight or getting into trouble with that angler…

Chapter Text

Angus looks at his reflection with deep hatred in the mirrors of the blackside bathrooms, Delilah was not exaggerating when she said that the mirrors of the blackside were horrible to see your own reflection, more horrible than that was the state of the sink, A few hours ago it was spotless and clean, but now it has a black and sticky substance, it wouldn't be surprising if that was all Angus managed to vomit after swallowing the soapy water and speaking of which his eyes are a pinkish tone, but they stopped burning, his hair is a mess that looks more like he was caught in a rain with strong winds and to finish off his snout there is a streak of blood that drips into the sink where the black substance he vomited is, he can't tell if his snout is broken... probably not... he belives... but he knows it will probably take a while for the bleeding to stop, the sound of blood dripping into the sink makes him as angry as possible, leaving a muffled growl…

“A… expendable…” he says quietly but with anger.

“A DAMN EXPENDABLE…” he raises his voice, the black smoke from his body increases, becoming darker and bigger while his hands that were on the sink begin to put pressure on the edge of the sink, making it crack.

“SHE WAS IN FRONT OF ME, SHE FACED ME AND SHE DIDN'T EVEN DIE!!! WHAT THE HELL OF AN EXPENDABLE IS THIS? ” Angus knows very well that all the expendables who are trapped here will fight for their miserable lives, BUT TO THE POINT OF FLEEING IN FRONT OF HIM AND HE NOT BEING ABLE TO KILL HER IS ON ANOTHER LEVEL!

A whistle makes him come out of his thoughts, he looks through the reflection of the mirror that was barely visible, he sees a greenish silhouette with possible purple details- oh no... not him... everything but him... Blitz…

Blitz's snout twitches, it seems like he smelled soap on Angus, he thinks about giving Angus a compliment, but Blitz's mouth drops open when he sees the critical state Angus is in.

“Wow! Angus! What happened to you!? You look like you swam in a storm!” Blitz puts his elbow on the sink, next to the sink where Angus was standing to rest his hand while looking at Angus who remained staring at the mirror.

“Did something happen? Did you get into a fight with someone over a piece of meat? Or did some glass break and flood some hallway? Or… mmm… did you lose your way and go- no… no… you have too good a memory to get lost-”

“Please… shut up…” Angus remains staring at the fogged mirror, but Blitz doesn’t seem to understand what Angus just said.

“Oh, calm down! It’s just that seeing you in this deplorable state is strange, you’re always well-dressed and- wait… Were you crying? WOW I’VE NEVER SEEN YOU CRY BEFORE! What happened? Your eyes are red-”

“Seriously… SHUT UP, BLITZ…IT’S NOT THAT! “ Angus looks like he’s about to break the sink with the pressure his hands are putting on the edge of the sink.

“Hey, I want to help! Well… if that’s not it… Wait! You slipped somewhere and got wet-” a loud crash echoed in the bathroom, Blitz pulls away and hugs himself, his eyes widen and the smile that was always present on his face disappears.

“I don’t need your help, or anyone’s! This problem is mine and I’m going to solve it!” Angus says to Blitz angrily, his hands are holding Blitz’s shoulders and their faces almost touch, Blitz just shrinks back “I swear I’m going to kill that expendable, I’m going to tear her limb from limb and even eat her bones! And make her whole body disappear in front of me!” With a slightly strong push making Blitz almost fall, Angus takes his hands off Blitz’s shoulders and turns around leaving the bathroom, he starts fixing his hair on the way.

Blitz still takes a while to process what happened, he looks at the sink then looks at where Angus left and looks at the mirror about five times, after a few minutes he finally manages to process, looking askance and very confused as he looks at where Angus left

“He lost a fight with an expendable???”

Door 47 and nothing... you sigh in defeat and with a worrying anxiety for your health, your biggest concern was seeing Delilah wanting the mirror and when she saw that you were empty-handed she would kill you, can this day get any worse? Maybe... Well... since this mirror is not in the previous doors it must be a little further ahead or with that gray angler.

You turn around, a few doors later you pass Sebastian's store again, it could be your imagination or it could be your head that is about to explode with the events but you can swear you can hear Sebastian laughing at the misfortune you got yourself into, if you manage to get out of there and one day they ask you what animal you hated the most, you would give the answer without even thinking that it would be any species of fish or marine animal-

To your frustration and anxiety the lights flash, this already freezes you, but luckily you were near a closet, you wait outside so as not to get claustrophobic and to identify which fisherman will appear hoping it is not the gray fisherman... well... it is not Pinkie because the lights flash... it is not Chainsmoker because there are no signs of greenish smoke... the sound increases in the background and it is not Pandemonium... the sound luckily is not the gray fisherman - oh shit... it is Delilah

When the sound starts to get louder, you're already inside the closet, ok... Delilah will pass by, she must think you're ahead and have probably already been to Sebastian's store.

Wait.

No.

She stopped right in the hallway where you were hiding in the closet, damn it!!! Why is she here? Was she supposed to move on… or did she know where you were and that gossipy Sebastian told her the story about the mirror?!

No... he only knows the story of the mirror but doesn't know its importance…

WHAT IF THAT ANGLER FIND OUT AND TELL DELILAH-

Ok, ok, ok don't get stressed, this might worsen your claustrophobia, which is already starting to make your heart beat slightly, but your vision isn't going black.

Another shrill scream appears

This one, you’re sure, you've already met

That son of a-

"Angus!!! What happened to you, darling? You're all messed up!" Delilah says to the gray Angler, raising her hands to place on his cheeks, to examine his face with his bloody nose and eyes with a faint shade of pink.

Wait

Angus? This son of a bitch's name is Angus? How can such a noble and perfect name belong to a scoundrel like him? But then again, everyone here has names... Sebastian and Delilah are one of them... the others should have them too, but damn... Angus is too beautiful a name for him…

“This is the work of your friend of indefinite time” Angus moves his face a few inches away from Delilah’s hands, not wanting to offend her but setting limits

“We’re not friends, I told you!” Delilah gives Angus a weak pat on the arm as a warning

“But you’re saying an expendable did this to you?... An expendable!” Delilah puts one hand on her hip and looks at her friend in disbelief.

“I don’t want to go into details, but this is what she did to me and don’t tell anyone about it-”

“Yes, fine, but an expendable that’s the size of a bean did this to you?!”

You would hold back your laughter if you weren't trapped in a closet and the claustrophobia is slowly getting stronger, you hope this conversation will end soon...

"Look Delilah, I'd like to argue but I really want to find that unfortunate-" Angus stops talking when Delilah's hand is on his face to cut him off.

“Dear Angus, I have an agreement with this expendable, remember?”

“You do! I don’t!” Angus and Delilah start talking about you, but you are not paying attention but are paying attention to a horrible heat in your body, your heart is beating a million times and your vision is starting to get dark, WHEN WILL THEY STOP TALKING??? You ask yourself and the agony along with anxiety are hammering inside you, you just open a smile on your face when Delilah speaks

“Okay Angus, you win, but don’t do this in front of me, okay?” Delilah turns her back and FINALLY leaves the place.

“At your service…” Angus lowers his head as a polite greeting to Delilah, but unfortunately he doesn’t move.

Even though your vision is almost dominated by darkness, you see that Angus's ears slightly twitch and become alert, after about seven seconds he leaves.

Opening the closet with all your strength, even with the door ajar, you fall face down on the floor, your breathing becomes completely irregular and you try your best to stay calm, they're already gone... there's nothing to be afraid of, you're fine and you're alive... little by little your breathing returns to normal, your legs hurt from the fall and this makes you give a silent groan of pain.

You stand up and brush the dust off your diving suit, your vision slowly recovers and you guide yourself along the walls, the walls seem smoother and a little warmer than usual-

Large hands grip your wrists tightly, letting out a frightened sigh, you look up, your vision is no better but it doesn't stop you from seeing those pale eyes that make your blood run cold.

“I knew there was someone in the closet…” your vision returns to normal, you can still smell the soap on him and the smile he gives you makes you panic. Angus pulls you up so your feet don’t touch the floor and throws you through the glass in the hallway with all his strength, making the glass crack, you feel the pain run through your entire body, making it hard to move, you wish you had another medkit with you right now…

“Who do you think you are!? You’re just an expendable-” You crawl, from afar you can see a flash beacon, you used it once in the eyefestation… and it wasn’t a very smart choice… but it might make him distracted, you slowly crawl after him.

“Haven’t you ever heard what happens to expendables who try to prove they can take on an Angler?” Angus’s hand presses against your back, making your oxygen tank squeeze your lungs, you feel a warm breath on the side of your neck.

“Have you ever seen what the result was of someone who tried?... don't lie to me…” You realize that the flash beacon is still far away from you and Angus is increasingly creating pressure with his hand on you.

You, with the strength you have left, turn to the side, making Angus' claws cut the metal of your oxygen tank. The air inside him escaped and hit Angus' face, making him let go of you. Without thinking twice, you crawled quickly towards the flash beacon and when Angus took his hands off his face, he only saw a very strong light and it is also almost visible to see you pointing a flash beacon at him. In reaction, Angus screams in anger and agony.

Stunned, he collides where he had hit you, when he regains his vision Angus notices that you have a scared look and it is not directed at Angus.

Angus's ears are alert when he hears a cracking noise. When he turns around, he notices a large crack forming and water is slowly coming out on the other side. When he turns to look at you, he sees that you are crawling and grabbing things along the hallway to help yourself move. When Angus stands up, he feels something wet pushing him with an abnormal force.

You feel it too.

You are pulled by the current that has taken over the room where you are, your damaged oxygen tank is losing oxygen quickly, even with your body aching and injured you try to swim upwards to try to find some air space.

As you do so, something pulls you down taking you into the depths while you and this being hit your bodies with the tables and objects that were in the hallway.

Chapter Text

With a loud sigh you wake up coughing a lot, there was still some water in your lungs... thank goodness you didn't die, it could have been worse…

ah… now it’s gotten much worse…

Looking to your other side, you see Angus, he is a little further away from you and he has really been giving you a lot of trouble lately, he is face down on the floor and you think he is not breathing… Did he die? There's no way he could have drowned, he's a marine animal! Of course... dolphins, whales and seals are marine animals that need to go to the surface to breathe for a while, but judging by his appearance, he doesn't look like any marine animal that needs air, you can even guess that he breathes both in and out of the water.

Well... if he dies it won't be a problem, think about it! He won't bother you and it will be a story that if it weren't so unbelievable you would tell others that you killed a creature that lives in the depths of the sea-

But... what if he's faking it? He might catch you off guard... you think about going there but your body is really asking for rest... you're even a little sleepy-

A loud coughing sound echoes in the place where you two are, Oh shit... he's alive... HE'S ALIVE!!! You look around to see if there's anything to hide in, seeing that the room is empty you mentally pray that Angus isn't willing to kill you.

Angus stops coughing and carefully falls to the ground, breathing heavily, he looks around calmly and when he turns his back, his face that looked tired and peaceful becomes frowning with anger, giving a very audible growl with his teeth showing that is soon cut off by another cough.

He seems too tired to do anything, you look at each other a little, one is suspicious of the other, Angus reaches out his hand to try to reach you… but he fails, his body looks like it's been put in a crusher and trampled by a herd of buffalo, he's very tired... but he still tries to intimidate you with his look, which of course, doesn't have much effect when he's in the mood.

“It’s… your fault…” those are the words he manages to say, they’re slow and low but you can hear the hatred in them.

“If only…. you would leave me alone… I didn’t do anything to you before I got here…” you use the same tone he was talking to you with.

“These are the results of your actions!...” Speaking through gritted teeth, you Said for Angus and he looks at you with a deadly glare.

Damn, he's coming towards you with even more anger, well it was good while it lasted... When his hand almost reached your face he collapsed, luckily he spent his energy on this instead of finding a way out of this place, He still has that angry look, you see that the irises of his eyes are pale and that his sclera was blue… it was something interesting to notice.

“I hope you don’t do anything funny!” He huffs in anger and lets his eyelids slowly rest, closing his eyes and placing his hands over his face, letting his black hair run down his arm and face, In this position it would be easy to mistake him for a human if it weren't for his fins... his back began to rise and fall slightly, indicating that he is resting.

You have two options, the first is to stay awake and then be attacked because he has more energy, thanks to the rest or... the second is to rest and pray that he doesn't wake up before you to attack you… you thought it over and it would be better for you to rest, Angus doesn't know how your health is and you just need to make an effort to wake up before him, still scared, your eyes begin to close slowly until you fall asleep…

Opening your eyes you find yourself in the same place where you had rested, only this place is much darker than normal, not even the anglers would leave this place as dark as this, getting up you strangely realize that you have no pain and that Angus is not by your side... shit, shit, shit, shit!

You regret having slept to have more energy, thanks to that, you have an Angler who is not happy and angrier than ever behind you... or maybe he just left, if that wasn't the case, he should have attacked you while you were sleeping, right?

Alright, you have a mission to accomplish, better do it fast before someone kills you or-

Looking down you see a trail of blood followed by corpses that you deduce are of previous prisoners, some faces are unrecognizable, others have their organs hanging out of their bodies, others with parts of their limbs missing or severed.

Puffing out your chest, you move forward, even though you're scared and want to turn around and run away.

The bodies seem to make a trail to the path to the crystal… you feel eyes and whispers coming from the walls, in fear you run, the doors indicating that you are almost reaching the crystal… you look at the last room where the crystal should be and you cringe in shock when you see a huge pile of corpses of more prisoners and at the top you see Angus finishing eating the head of one of the prisoners.

He lets go of his body when he sees you and gives a scary smile, showing his teeth down to his gums, you see an orange glow in one of his hands, squeezing your eyes tighter you see that it is the crystal, leaving you more distressed by this whole act.

still smiling, but without showing his teeth, he throws the crystal behind him as if it were nothing of his, placing his hands on the pile of corpses and looking at you as he builds momentum to advance towards you with his mouth open and full of teeth, that cursed sound that always warned you that he was coming when the lights flashed sounds much louder and gets closer, preparing to devour you.

You wake up, your heart is beating too fast, this is a situation similar to the claustrophobia you feel inside closets... only without the agony of wanting to get out even though there are creatures nearby.

Sweat is falling on your forehead, you are regaining your vision and your breath, soon you look desperately everywhere, even at the ceiling, anywhere to make sure that Angus wasn't in a pile of corpses and ready to kill you.

Oh… he’s still in the same place and by the breathing, he’s resting, that accident finished him off, but what about you?

You sat on the concrete floor, your limbs were quite sore, but not to the point where you couldn't stand up or swing your arms…

Are your legs in the same situation as your arms? You hope so, so you can get out of here and not have any chance of becoming someone's food!

You try to get up with great effort, staggering a little you stand still, to make sure that Angus hasn't woken up, you look carefully at your back to Angus who is still resting and possibly sleeping.

Taking one step at a time and slipping a few times, your legs are definitely only good for walking, but possibly if you get a medkit you can manage to run.

Without wasting time, you will distance yourself from the great Angler who will no longer be your headache when you find a way out.

And look! You found two medkits and a flashlight with three batteries! You become very happy and walk with more confidence and showing great joy, Even though you are probably miles away from your objective, it's good to know that there isn't an angry Angler who wants to see you dead, and the good news is that if you go further ahead, you can see a large, dark corridor with an entrance at the end, which could probably be the exit and you can continue your mission! Turning on your flashlight, you follow the hallway to your possible freedom. It seems the universe took pity on you and saw everything you went through to survive with a damn Angler on your-

Okay… that was too good to be true…

Your smile faded and your body went limp… the passage was blocked with gigantic rocks, and to make matters worse, there was no door or ventilation to cut through… this was the only way out.

How the hell would you get through? The rocks are too huge to climb or move out of the way… looking up you can see a tiny light… that must be the exit… but there’s no way to reach it

You sit with your back against the rocks, this is not the time to give up! You just need to think about how to get to the top, for that you would need climbing equipment or big hands to-

Oh no… You deny an idea that came into your mind.

Angus seems big and strong enough to get out of here… but did it have to be him? Out of so many Anglers and creatures, did it have to be him specifically to get mad at you for just not wanting to die? You try to find other solutions to this problem, anyway it would be impossible for him to help, since he is too weak for that…

Right?...

Angus knocked on his sister's bedroom door, it was a very cold night and everyone was sleeping, Angus would get a scolding if his parents saw him awake at this time... anyway they would complain even if he was doing nothing!

He hears a click at the door and sees his sister half asleep in winter pajamas, she speaks quietly so as not to wake anyone and so that only Angus can hear.

“Angus?... What are you doing at this hour… it’s really late… our parents-” Before Penelope could finish speaking, Angus picks up a colorful, well-wrapped package.

“happy birthday…”

“Angus!!!” Penelope covers her mouth, her eyes are wide and Angus is cowering because of the tone of excitement and joy that his sister released, both twins look to the sides to see if no one woke up, They remained silent for a few minutes, seeing that no one got up to see what was happening, Penelope quickly took the package and opened it, the gift was a very beautiful plush toy of a bunny and very realistic... too realistic…

Penelope accidentally dropped the gift, knowing that it was a work of her brother's strange hobbies, she also held back a scream, Angus picked up the gift and dusted it off.

“Is this a joke Angus? A BUNNY!?”

“He was dead when I found him and you had asked our parents if you could have a rabbit….”

“A live rabbit! How am I supposed to sleep with him staring at me on my bookshelf?”

“First, the rabbit was female and second, if you can sleep with those dolls in your room, how could you not sleep with this?” Penelope sighs, they are completely different cases, but she understands that her brother didn't do it as a joke, since their parents didn't even want to know about live animals in the house and Angus just wanted to give him what he could get.

“Ok Angus… I’m going to put it on my desk and with my back turned, but know that I’m doing this out of consideration!... By the way, happy birthday too!” they both hug each other.

When dawn breaks...their birthday party will be boring...since the twins' parents would only invite people they didn't know and it was just for status… It wouldn't be like the birthdays they watched on TV or through the window, where they saw the birthday boys and girls having fun with their friends... it would be cool if their birthday party was like that... but their parents thought it was a waste of time and it's not like they had any friends (other than each other) to invite.

“Thank you for the gift, but I’ll be delivering mine tomorrow morning.” Penelope smiles at Angus, making him smile, which is one of the rare occasions he does this, but he made an exception for his sister… since it’s her birthday.

“Okay, but don’t give me the present when everyone wakes up!”

“I promise!”

Angus feels something touching his face, it feels cold and smooth, like an iron pipe.

Opening his eyes slowly he had guessed that it was an iron pipe that was poking him, he just didn't guess that it was that expendable parasite that was doing this to the iron pipe.

If it weren't for the fact that he was still tired and in a lot of pain, he would bite this expendable to death, she's probably irritating him or is going to make fun of him since her legs and arms look better.

“What do you want?...” Angus speaks through gritted teeth, you can feel the anger dripping in these words, it seems like it’s going to be difficult to convince Angus to form a partnership so they can both escape from here.

“Do you want to run away from here?”

Angus thought at first that this was a mocking joke, but seeing the sincerity in her tone and the way she looked around-

No… she was just doing it as a joke.

Angus turns his body to the other side with difficulty, scaring the expendable at first but seeing that he only turned so he couldn't see her face, her body became calmer, his situation seems critical to the point that he doesn't even try to attack her.

“Angus! Seriously! I found a way out but…” she stops for a second and huffs in anger, she can’t believe she has to tell someone who tried to kill her more than once.

“I need your help, just to get out of here, it won’t change anything between us if that’s what bothers you” she notices a long silence, he probably fell asleep.

“How do you know my name?...” speaking between sighs he turns to look at her, he continues with the exhausted appearance and with a look of hatred, but for the first time the tone of voice he used with her did not show any sign of hatred or repulsion.

“I had heard… in the closet… but I think that’s not the focus, I only called you by your name to get your attention, I’ll keep calling you Angler, creature or monster… because… that’s what you… are…” he continues to stare at her, she seemed to regret having spoken, but she just spoke the truth! That’s what he is, he’s not even human anymore… so this doesn’t hurt him anyway.

“Depending on what it is, I’ll help you…” Angus puts his body back on the other side so that the expendable can’t be seen.

“There’s a passage ahead, it’s blocked with rocks bigger than you-”

“Do you expect me, with the condition I’m in, to miraculously remove the stones from the path? And you? Are you going to just stand there and watch?”

“No! Let me finish talking! Even if that were to cross my mind, you’re still too small to move the stones out of the passage!” She can hear a snort of disinterest coming from him, she sighs to try to be patient with his stubbornness.

“Continuing… looking up from the blocked passage, there is a light… and I believe that is where we fell from…” she finishes telling her plan but Angus doesn’t respond, he just stands in the same place.

“So… can you help me…?” She keeps her gaze on Angus, his gaze calmer, but tired.

“It’s a good idea… but I don’t have the strength to get up…” Angus’ eyes widen and his fins become happy when he sees her with two boxes of medkits, but she only takes one… is she stupid enough to see that he’s not an expendable who only needs one medkit to recover? He needs three at most, but two is already good enough to be able to recover.

“I'm going to use a Medkit on you, I don't know you well enough to know if you'll kill me if I use both Medkits…” ok, maybe she's not that stupid, Angus understood that every time he was strong he used it to try to kill her.

“Ok… ok… I get it…” Angus tries to get up but falls, he feels ridiculous standing like this while an expendable watches him.

He hears the Medkit opening, what a bitch! She's going to use that on the front-

“Tell me where it hurts”

What!?!? This is unbelievable to Angus.

“Don’t think I feel sorry for you, we’re just going to help each other get out of here! If you kill me it won’t make a difference to you and if I run away from this shitty place I’ll forget about you in no time!”

Angus is still silent, he better say something or she might think he really got sentimental and no! He didn't get sentimental…

“Behind the neck, hip, left arm and a slight pain in the right forearm” he also felt it in the abdomen, but this part is very vulnerable, he will wait for her to use this Medkit in these places, and then (and if she wants) give him the other Medkit so he can heal better.

By leaving the painful parts of the body exposed, you are amazed to see his body, his skin does not seem to have scales, it really looks like human skin, the only thing that stops you from thinking that the skin really is human is the color and that it is cold.

Thinking about it, the cold part of his skin was because he had gotten wet…

After the necessary care for Angus' body, he seems to be a little better, at least he can move within his limits, limits that will not harm you, when he gets up you start to guide him through the dark corridors…

“We’re here!” Your voice echoes, Angus analyzes the place before raising his head, he hadn’t spoken, but it was clear that you were right about the exit.

Angus approaches the rocks and tries to climb, he slips the first and second time he tries, but the third time he manages to climb, he brings his tail closer to you to grab it and you do it.

“You better not fall with the medkit… I really need it…” you feel strange with those words he said, if you are at the top and he manages to grab the medkit, he might move his tail violently and as a result you would die from the high fall, this made your blood run cold.

Meanwhile, you become increasingly anxious with Angus's advances, which are getting further and further away from the ground, also enough for him to let go of you and let you fall... what will happen if you get up there with him? He doesn't even want to see you breathing.

“Hey… expendable… I know you probably won’t give me the other Medkit…” he says between moans and you really don’t know if he’s pretending or telling the truth

“...But I'm feeling weak... wouldn't it be possible for you to give me that Medkit now?”

You have no choice, if it's true and you don't give it to him, he'll get tired, and then he might let go and you'll both die..

Your heart beats with great anxiety, and you start to sweat coldly.

You look around and see that behind you there is a ventilation duct that is half open, but it looks like it will collapse at any moment. You can't tell for sure, it's that or there's a chance you'll die…

“Ok… here it is…” you take the medkit, handing it to Angus, who immediately takes it and uses one of his hands to use the medkit, his eyes now focused on the ventilation duct.

Angus went ahead and managed to climb up to the room where you were. He feels lighter, he gets a fright when he realizes that you are no longer holding his tail. Angus thinks that at some point when you gave him the Medkit you had let go…

But there are no sounds of screams or something crashing to the ground…

He looks at the hole and sees that half of her body has entered a ventilation duct that is at risk of collapsing, but he believes that because of her size and weight it is possible that the duct will not collapse.

At least she had not died….

Chapter Text

Angus' head was full of thoughts that were starting to make him dizzy from thinking so much... why he was having such a headache because of an expendable.

Of all the expendables he killed and ate, this expendable was quite different... it must be a curse that some expendable sent to him while Angus was eating this expendable while it was still alive.

“What the hell…” he holds his black hair tightly and lets out a weak, low moan when he releases it.

She headed towards the ventilation ducts… and from the looks of those ducts, it was going to collapse and she was going to die one way or another, so why was this making his head hurt more? She was going to die! Angus probably wouldn't eat her but Urbanshade was going to send another expendable and he deeply hoped that one wasn't as smart as this girl!

Thinking about something else, he noticed that he had finished cleaning the places on the blackside faster than he remembered, unless the residents here like pandemonium, multi-monster or the damn Blitz had dirty it he had free time.

In his free time he didn't have many options, he could visit Sebastian at his shop and maybe have a quiet conversation, but most of the time Sebastian had was spent finding something useful for the expendables-

‘Expendable…’

Angus shakes his head, this woman has invaded his head again! He tries to think of someone else- Delilah!

Delilah and he could chat and have tea, but if he's right, right now she should be beautifying herself in that mirror that the expendable-

“Agh! Again! There must be someone or some recent event that this damn expendable isn’t involved in my damn life-” Something in the back of Angus’ mind makes him stop being irritated and think of the one person who wasn’t involved with this expendable.

Penelope…

Angus starts to scratch the back of his neck… oh the guilt… it was her birthday and Angus really didn't remember this.

Of course, it wasn't his fault either. They've been locked up for who knows how long. How would he remember his own birthday and other Holidays?

Yes, he was ignorant in telling his sister that this wasn't important in the situation they were in, but he knows that regardless of the situation, whether bad or good, she always celebrates, Angus on the other hand no longer sees the importance of this date and that she is exaggerating a little about it.

But it's his sister...

Now he has to think about how to make things right about this, maybe if he gives her a gift and apologizes?

The problem is… WHERE is he going to get anything in this place? There’s nothing special! There are only fish, seaweed, pencils, notepads, tables, mirrors-

Mirrors…

That expendable had a mirror and had a deal with Delilah… if he makes a deal with her to give him the mirror-

“No! Absolutely not!” Angus gives a fierce growl and shakes his head, he’s not as desperate as Delilah to sell himself for something so small.

He thought about taking the mirror from her hand by force. What is that expendable going to do? Fight back? With that size? That would be a good advantage since she had given him the last two medical kits, making him a little stronger than her.

But…

She gave it to him and he doesn't feel worse and is pain-free, just uncomfortable. Angus feels a strange sensation in his stomach. It's not sick or something spoiled that he ate and is making him sick. No, no, this is something different. It's almost like anxiety and a big mix of something that Angus can't describe and his heart beats hard, to the point where he can even feel it and his face gets hot.

‘I’m probably hungry…’

Angus hasn’t eaten in days, unlike months ago when he was almost always well fed with the amount of expendables that were sent, but in recent days much less has arrived and this has left him and other creatures hungry, to the point of eating those sick fish that are left outside the facility.

Maybe catching some fish will satisfy his hunger and he can give it to his sister as a gift… he wonders where that expendable could be…

A loud crash echoes through the hallway, startling Angus who slowly makes his way to the source of the noise.

Arriving there, he sees broken ducts in the hallway and comes to the only possible conclusion for what happened:

“That expendable…” Angus gets closer and starts moving through the debris to try to find a sign of her life.

It took a while to finally find the body, it seems that the fall was bad enough to break her legs and leave a big cut on her head, not to mention the injuries under her diving suit and Angus doesn't want to find out if there really is something under her clothes.

With his large, grayish hand he touches her body, there was no sign of reaction, Angus deduced that she was dead and that somehow didn't make him happy, Ignoring the strange feeling in his chest he approaches the expendable.

‘she is food, you are starving… you haven’t eaten in days and it’s making you feel like this!’ her mind tells her calmly as Angus opens his mouth and positions it towards her head to make sure she doesn’t wake up again, he’s done this over and over again… but why is he denying it now? Must it be the smell that isn’t pleasant or because she’s dirty? But even so, it didn’t make sense, Angus has already eaten even the bullets that pierced the old expendables because of Painter and even lifeless bodies that had been lying around for days.

He hears a cough that makes him instantly recoil and he looks at the expendable's body with wide eyes knowing that she is not dead.

You feel a huge pain throughout your body and feel some parts of your body getting hot, it was probably a cut caused by the fall you had.

Of all your ideas, the one to jump and enter the unsafe duct was the worst and now you are dealing with the result of your plan to escape and avoid being devoured by that Angler.

Everything seemed dark, you tried several times to open your eyes but you couldn't, besides the pain you felt and the heat from the cuts, you felt a warm steam on your face, it smelled like fish, soap and something else that you couldn't deduce, it seemed like the smell of grass or tea, you just knew it was... something calming the smell... but it soon went away and you again felt the cold of that dark place where you were trapped.

You don't know how much time has passed since the fall you had, but the important thing is that you managed to open your eyes, your vision is still a little blurry, on the other hand, you can smell the cleanliness of the place where you are.

Opening your eyes, you are lying in a place with several objects that remind you of pillows and something is covering you, everything is very organized, it doesn't even look like that facility where you were sent to get a crystal in exchange for freedom for your crimes.

Are you back in prison and was it all a dream? Part of you wants this to be true and the other part of you doesn't, because you were never free and you will continue to rot in prison.

You try to get up but a sharp pain hits you, making you lie down on the bed in a fetal position.

You lift the blanket and see… your legs are bandaged the same way you had left them when you were in Sebastian's shop.

So, no... this isn't a dream...

'If this isn't a dream... then... who took me?...' You feel a little uneasy, there are several creatures and few of them are friendly, imaginary friend, you doubt she has the ability to do this without being called... and it can't be Sebastian, this place is cleaner and smells better than Sebastian's shop, and you doubt Sebastian has an ounce of organization outside of his shop and exchanges…

The only alternative is to deduce that one of the creatures that is trying to kill you brought you here, you began to think that this mysterious creature would be taking care of you to later eat, since any animal that is well treated means great meat and great meat means slaughter.

But you don't have the strength to try to escape and if you do, your body will scream in pain, you don't want to die and you didn't get far enough to end up as fish food.

You hate yourself thinking about it, but you hope it's Painter, at least he won't eat you alive since he's a machine.

Suddenly you hear something crawling and heading towards your bed, it seems to be increasing and so is your fear, you grab the blanket and cover your entire body, like a child hiding from the noise of thunder on a rainy night.

You hear the sound of a door opening and your heart beats a million times a minute, you can only see a silhouette that is visible under the blanket and you stand still for a while, doing nothing but waiting, an unpleasant smell passes through your nostrils and you don't know what it could be, maybe it's a dead prisoner.

Even though you're scared, there's no way out. If you stay like this, this creature might think you're dead and eat you...

You count to three in your head and calmly lower the blanket.

Angus…

The only possibility that crossed your mind was that he was going to devour you, but your gaze, which was fixed on that angler's eyes, lowered to his mouth, which was full of fish... well, that's what you deduce that those small living beings with aquatic characteristics are…

Angus leaves without saying anything ‘he must be going to clean himself or something’ that’s what you believe, after a few minutes he comes back and is wiping his mouth with a tissue and goes to you and stares at you.

‘what does he want me to say? Hi? Good morning? Good night or whatever time it is now for that-’

“Good morning…”

He spoke first before you could come up with something non-threatening to him, at least you know it’s morning.

“o-oh… good morning…”

“How many days have you not eaten?”

You don’t know what he means by that, and if the expression on his face stays the same, it’s going to be harder than you thought to read this fish.

“Um… I-I think since yesterday…”

You are surprised when Angus hands you something wrapped in an incredibly clean napkin, you carefully open the package and see one of those baked fish.

You smell it and take a bite, this fish has no salt or any special seasoning, but to make up for it, Angus seems to have removed the fish's bones and cleaned it.

“There are no seasonings here to leave a taste in this…”

“Hey! No, no, the fish is great but I didn’t expect that from you, in fact… I didn’t expect… ALL OF THIS!”

You wave your arms around the room and this seems to include even the fish, the cleaning and organization, Angus seems to try to understand this and you notice the confusion of this Angler.

"I swore you lived in a cave or something... oh! And also that you only ate raw fish and it was still alive-”

“I eat raw and live fish, but you are human and if you ate it raw it would make you sick, but if that didn’t happen, you would ingest some parasite from the fish… and I prefer to live in clean places than in a ‘cave’”

You notice this Angler's sarcasm and eat the fish, you don't want to humiliate him or anything like that, he can still kill you if he thinks you're ungrateful.

“I-it’s just that… there’s a fish… that looks a bit like you, except that he seems to help anyone who comes in here, but he doesn’t do that and I’m not talking about giving fish to others, but about cleaning and taking care of them-”

“I’m not Sebastian…”

You blink ‘does he know Sebastian?’ This leaves you with a noticeable amount of discomfort.

“In other words… he doesn’t eat expendables and I don’t do business with expendables…”

You sigh in relief… at least Sebastian isn’t tricking you into devouring him later, but that doesn’t make you like that idiot any more.

“But this time… I would like to make a trade with you, but this trade is different…”

‘Okay… this looks like it smells bad…’ you start eating the fish more carefully, but that doesn’t make you any more comfortable with him using those words.

Angus scratches the back of his neck and looks anywhere but at you, this is making the feeling worse, apparently he’s going to ask for something that not only makes you uncomfortable but also makes him uncomfortable.

“You know that mirror… that you have a deal with Delilah…”

‘Shit’

You freeze in place and almost choke on the fish you were eating.

‘No, no, no’ your mind is making your ears deaf, you don’t even understand his explanation, but you come back to normal when he mentions that he has a sister.

“D-do you have a sister? Considered or-”

“My biological sister”

This information makes you calm down and think (even too much) that these creatures reproduce and can have children, what amazes you about this discovery is that apparently they can have more than one…

“Oh… how cute… and who would be your mother and your-”

A loud and haunting growl cuts you off and makes you even more scared, he doesn't seem to like his parents very much...

"I wish you would focus more on our conversation..." Angus takes a deep breath, closing his eyes and opening them after calming down.

"Do you want to change this mirror or not?”

You start to sweat... you still haven't found the mirror and you can't escape, you're thinking of a quick pla, with some excuse so that Angus doesn't suspect the mirror's disappearance.

"Look... even I would do that... but... I have a little problem with my legs…”

“Your arms look good enough to catch… even you’re eating the fish.”

“Oh… yeah… but it’s just… um… I don’t think your sister will like mirrors that much… if you want my opinion…”

Angus narrows his eyes and stares at you, he seems to sense that you’re hiding something or leading him on.

“And why would I listen to you?”

“Well… I’m a girl too!”

This argument seemed to have left Angus thoughtful, but it seemed that those seconds of reflection were gone when he looked at you again.

“Not all girls have the same tastes as boys… and I know my sister well enough to know her tastes!”

“Oh! So… what are her tastes?”

Angus fell silent again, giving you a little time to think about what you can do to keep him from finding out about the mirror and running away.

“She likes animals… dresses… dolls-”

“Oh! If you have two needles and some fabric or yarn I can knit you a doll!”

Angus is now looking more suspicious of you, but he sighs in defeat and turns around, crawling towards the exit of the room.

“I hope you really can knit.”

Chapter Text

You've been waiting for the gray Angler to return for a long time, and it makes you a little... just a little anxious. You try to take a nap, but he still doesn't come back.

Your legs and body urgently need to rest, but the voice in the back of your head tells you that this is a perfect opportunity to leave, but there's another voice telling you to stay because if he finds you in the hallways, he'll kill you.

He hasn't killed you yet and it seems like he really wants to help you... but that doesn't justify his attempts to kill you and want to eat you before the accident, what if he wants to take care of you so he can eat you later?

'But... at the same time- No! He doesn't want to help you! Or…’

These voices fight, making your head spin and your anxiety increase, you look around the place to try to find something to do or try to get out of the 'bed' crawling little by little you get out of bed, doing this, Angus opens the door and looks at you, making you stop what you were doing, he rejects you with his look, In his hands there were a few fabrics, needles and some foam (maybe to fill the doll).

He carefully placed the tail on your side, pushing you slowly to put you back on the bed.

“You know if you tried to run away, all the creatures here would kill you and you are certainly an easy target with those injuries”

You give a crooked smile, you didn't think about that, you only thought about running away but not about what could happen afterwards.

Angus hands you the fabric and needles.

“Where did you get this?”

“From an old friend of mine, he gets these things…”

“Sebastian?”

“No, it’s someone you probably haven’t met yet… but he got us something to wear when Sebastian let us out-”

Angus stops himself and a wave of curiosity and confusion hits you, if Sebastian let Angus out and apparently the other creatures, it meant they were trapped and everyone didn’t like this place.

“...let us go?”

“Make the doll right away, I still want to find more food… since you’re not going to be anyone’s food…”

Swallowing hard, you focus on making the doll while the gray Angler leaves the place again. The idea of running away has now become non-existent, Angus is right, what would you do? You’re too weak to do anything, even defend yourself from the other creatures.

Sighing, you start making the doll and distract yourself by thinking about how you can make the clothes, hair and even the eyes.

After a while, you manage to finish the doll and honestly, I don't consider it your best work, but it was satisfactory given the lack of other materials to do better finishing and details.

Angus didn't come back and this time, you decide to wait for the gray Angler to come back soon.

Your body is still sore, so giving it a rest wouldn't be a good idea, since the fear of being devoured by him still lingers in your head.

So you just stare at the ceiling, suddenly your mind thinks about how Angus is in a bad mood and that it could be related to what he had said, about being trapped...

Even though you two are from different species of living beings, you wouldn't want to be trapped in a place where God knows what they did to you, it can make sense since he's always either irritated or with a sour face.

And not only he was trapped, his supposed sister, Sebastian and other creatures, can also justify their aggressiveness.

'if there was something for him to have a smile and be much less grumpy'

When you think about this you look again at the objects that Angus gave you to sew and an idea popped into your head, not only would you have something to do during this time that Angus was away, but you will also (maybe) receive a smile from that Angler with this idea!

Angus sai de uma das salas inundadas para ir para uma sala seca, ele conseguiu muitos peixes, que estão com uma aparência horrível, mas melhor isso do que morrer de fome.

Ele carrega alguns peixes pela boca e o resto em um de seus braços.

Rastejando, seu olhar foca em algo piscando, isso desperta a curiosidade do Angler que coloca os peixes escondidos de baixo de uma das escrivaninhas que estão espalhadas no corredor, garantindo que não sejam visíveis para que nenhuma outra criatura possa roubar.

Ele vai cautelosamente até o brilho misterioso e vê outros brilhinhos minúsculos quanto mais se aproxima do objeto, franzindo a testa e apertando seus olhos ele vê que era o espelho que aquela expendable estava segurando.

‘hum… então é por isso que ela estava me enrolando e estava nervosa…’

Angus would normally go to where he had left her to rest and regain his strength, so he could devour her. But strangely, Angus didn't want to go there and devour the girl. Instead, he continued picking up the shards of glass that the broken mirror had scattered across the floor.

"If Delilah sees this, she'll probably..."

"Angus!!"

"Fuck..."

Angus turns around and sees his friend's unsmiling face, who looked quite irritated.

"It seems like you're not the only one who wants to find that expendable!"

"What?...”

“Don’t pretend to forget, I’ve been looking for this expendable for hours so I can see myself in the mirror again and there’s no sign of her! I think she was tricking me.”

Anxiety hits Angus, this was one of the rare cases of strong anxiety he feels, the bad thing is that he knows the reason why he was feeling this…

Delilah might know what happened to the mirror and go after this expendable to kill her there.

Delilah notices Angus' nervousness and becomes indignant or rather... irritated.

“DON'T TELL ME YOU ATE HER, ANGUS!”

“W-what? No, no... it's not that, she's alive, it's just…”

“What are you hiding behind yourself?”

Angus suddenly becomes quite defensive and alert, leaving both Delilah and himself surprised by his reaction.

“Angus, are you sick?”

“I think so…”

Delilah, seeing that Angus was distracted, quickly crept over and briefly saw what Angus was hiding behind his back before Angus could look away from her to somewhere else (except for the broken mirror) it was too late, she had already seen the broken mirror.

The female Angler crossed her arms and gave Angus an irritated look.

“Explanation!”

“It’s not what it looks like… he was already like that when I arrived”

“And where’s the expendable?”

“I don’t know…”

Angus has no idea why he doesn’t want to tell Delilah where the expendable was, most likely just so the expendable wouldn’t be eaten… Wait!

“Could you tell me what really happened? Please, Angus, be honest!”

‘Be… honest?...’

Angus rolls his eyes and snorts, he’s definitely not going to tell what was really happening.

“I was catching fish to eat… I can even show you!”

“Eating fish with an expendable around here?”

“Look, you can solve your problems with that expendable, I have nothing to do with it, I didn’t make a deal with that expendable!”

“You’re acting weird, Angus…”

“I’m just hungry, that’s all…”

He thinks… Angus leaves, leaving Delilah standing there and curious about Angus’s strange behavior, she knows it’s not hunger.

So what could it be?

Finishing sewing, you look at your work. You didn't have any gray fabric so you improvised and used a shade of blueish gray that you had nearby (and it was almost close to gray). The result also made the doll much cuter than the Angler's original appearance.

He'll probably growl and throw it away, but at least your anxiety has passed and you're now more entertained.

From afar you hear someone crawling, you quickly hide the… ‘gift?’ from Angus and take the doll so he could give it to his sister.

But strangely enough there was no flashing light, this makes you shrink and hide the doll.

‘It must be that Angus is coming more calmly than before and that is a good sign…’

The door opens and your face becomes pale and scared.

The Angler who came in was not Angus, it was Pinkie… She looks at you with her bright pink eyes and widens her smile.

But before she could attack, Angus grabbed the pink Angler's waist, making her scared and confused, while you tried with all your strength to get away from the two Anglers.

“Please, I swear I can explain!”

She looks confused and doesn’t say a word. Angus lets go of her waist, but at the same time he looks between you and Pinkie, making sure there’s no conflict between the two of you.

“Can you… come outside with me? The expendable won’t run away… if that’s what worries you and I swear I have good explanations and… I’d like to talk to you anyway…”

With no other option, the pink Angler follows Angus outside. Before Angus leaves, he goes to where you are lying and holds out his hand. You quickly understand and hand him the doll you made.

Feeling the doll in his hands, Angus leaves and closes the door…

You move around a bit to find Angus's gift and realize something…

You gave Angus the wrong doll…

Chapter Text

Penelope had her arms crossed and didn't even look at her brother's face. It was clear to both of them that besides being very angry with Angus for forgetting their anniversary, she was also confused that Angus had stopped her from killing that expendable, who seemed very vulnerable.

"Angus, give me reasons not to be more angry with you now than I was before!"

She spoke angrily, Angus noticed, but remained calm…

"Penelope... I first want to apologize for forgetting our anniversary..."

‘Even though it's a stupid thing to say…’

His sister didn't seem very convinced by his words, more irritated, thinking Angus was just talking out of his mouth.

"Seriously... Ugh... look, even I have a gift-"

His sister's ears perked up and her eyes widened, as did her smile.

"A gift? Really? Where? Well... depending on the gift, I might forgive you... but you have to explain why you're protecting that- oh! Never mind... Where's the gift?"

Angus rolls his eyes. He has a little hope that his sister might like it, and he hopes that the girl did something decent to change Penelope's mind.

As for the excuse of why he's protecting that expendable... well... if Penelope likes the gift she can forget about the expendable for a bit, if not he'll have to tell her the truth... and maybe feel a little humiliated for looking like he was desperate for forgiveness from his sister who asked for help with an expendable.

Angus snorts and hands over Penelope's gift, only to be met with a questioning look.

"Um... thanks...? I... didn't expect that kind of gift from you..."

The Angler frowns and looks at the gift, feeling his face heat up, unsure if it's from anger or embarrassment.

"It looks like you... only... the wrong color..."

"NO! PENELOPE!!! N-NO- THAT NOT WAS THE GIFT! IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A DOLL- BUT... YOU KNOW, DOLL- AGH!”

Angus hides his hands over his face and cringes, muttering all sorts of curses...

He turns away, angry and embarrassed, and returns to the room. Penelope just stands there, watching her brother. Angus keeps looking at the floor, trying to find something on the makeshift bed where the expendable was lying. He doesn't look directly at her, and he seems flushed...

"Wait…”

Penelope looks at the gift, then at her brother, and then at the expendable. She stops looking when her brother finds the right gift.

He says a few things she doesn't quite understand because her mind is only thinking about one thing.

"You're hanging out with Sebastian a lot, Angus..."

Angus raises an eyebrow and uses his tail to close the door to where the expendable was.

"Um... yes, I guess... only when he or I aren't busy or bored..."

"He talks a lot... with those expendables…”

Angus frowns… if his sister could see others like one of those x-ray machines, she'd see that Angus's heart was beating so hard and fast, it felt like he was having a heart attack.

"L-look… if it's about that expendable… don't get me wrong… I don't know what Sebastian does with the expendables besides badmouthing or making fun of them… but… it's different…"

"So you don't make fun of her or talk bad about her?”

His sister's eyes are blinking curiously, and her smile grows wider…

"What!? Look… let's change the subject… did you like the gift? I-I'm forgiven?"

Again, his sister doesn't stop smiling. Angus doesn't even know where to hide his face, and again that strange feeling invades his body… now he knows it's not hunger or fatigue.

"She's beautiful!"

"Penelope… STOP! I don't like her! Look at me! I'm not even human anymore!"

"Oh! But that's okay… there are plenty of literary novels where-"

"Those are fairy tales… this is reality!"

"That thought just reveals that you like her but you care about your appearance or your manner.”

Angus's head was spinning and his face was flushing. He was convinced his sister was only saying that because she'd been fooled by the silly stories she'd read when they were human.

"No! That's not it! Look, I promised to protect her if she helped me with a few things... Like this gift and also from some unexpected things she encountered with me…”

Angus touches the bruises that were expendable and he had caused in that previous accident…

“B-but only if I’m around! If she tries to push her luck… that’s her problem…”

His words fell on the deaf ears of his sister, who still had that damned smile and look.

“I don’t think she made me two presents… hehe… but I’ll leave you two alone anyway…”

Angus gives a muffled growl as he watches his sister walk away, singing a melody that makes Angus even more embarrassed.

"It's not love... not really... this has never happened to me... I didn't even have time to think about these things..."

Opening the door, the Angler meets the expendable's curious and hopeful gaze. He growls softly and looks at the floor, still feeling his cheeks burn.

"So... Angus... did everything go well? How was it? Did your sister forgive you?"

Angus didn't even look at her or give her an answer. He grabbed several rags to try to make a bed for himself, but with that amount of fabric and junk, he could only make something for his head to sleep comfortably.

"Oh... since I know your name... I could introduce mine-"

"We're not friends enough to share names..."

Angus was tired. He didn't want to ask the girl to get out of bed, so he curled up with his tail on the cold floor.

He'd slept on the floor plenty of times, so there was no reason to stress about it.

The expendable noticed this, staring at the beast for a few seconds and groaning. She had an idea!

"Oh... huh... Angus..."

"What's wrong?..."

Angus looked at her for just a moment, which was enough to make her heart flutter and warm, bouncing nonstop.

"Where are you going to sleep?"

"Anywhere... and please... don't make me lose my patience... I'm tired, go to sleep."

The expendable hesitated a bit but finally summoned the courage to speak.

"We can share a bed!”

Angus frowns and looks deep into the expendable's eyes, making her flinch…

“Are you listening to yourself?”

“W-what? It's not like you roll on top of me in your sleep… right?”

“It's not that… it's just… I'm a man… and you… you know…”

Angus blushes deeper, he wants to continue the sentence, but nothing comes out of his throat and his mind can't form the words he wants to say.

“Hey! I know I'm a woman and you're a man… but we're not even the same species… it's like I sleep with plush or… something…”

Angus frowns, thinking about the invitation and analyzing it, perhaps blushing a little at the comparison.

"Yes... I'm not human... I'm not human..."

"Okay..."

"Nice! Come on!"

The expendable gives a little space and pats the bed. Angus just growls and goes over to where the expendable was, curling up around himself and her.

"Well... good night..."

Angus doesn't answer, just closes his eyes and turns off the light so they can both sleep.

You wake up, feeling a warm air hit your chest.

Slowly opening your eyes, you realize it's Angus hugging you and resting his head on your chest. You blush and wonder how Angus got there-

"Oh... Right... I invited him to sleep with me..."

Your cheeks burn a little, and without hesitation, you touch his hair, watching the smoke curl between your fingers.

"He's handsome..."

The lights flicker... You panic, trying to find a closet, but when you try to get up, you remember that Angus is still asleep on your chest... that makes you relax.

Not because you're probably not in a place where you could be attacked by an Angler, but because Angus is by your side... he probably won't protect you, but... you hope so.

Less than two seconds later, the shrill scream pierced the room. Luckily, the room was a sort of safe zone. The scream jolted Angus awake and he became grumpy.

"AGR... that damn blitz!"

"Oh... doesn't that Angler have a name?"

Angus looks down and meets your gaze, but quickly looks away.

"He uses that name... we don't know his real name... and it doesn't matter whether we know his name or not…”

You nod, and the two of you remain silent for a few damn seconds until Angus speak.

"Are you hungry?"

"Yes... and you?"

"Me too... and ask... is your body fit enough to swim?"

You blink at him and shift a little to check if you're still feeling anything.

"I think I need a med kit so I can swim..."

Angus nods and stands up, trying to smooth out his wrinkled clothes, brushing off the dust you couldn't see. Then, carefully, he picks you up and leads you outside.

"Where are we going?"

"We're going to get food... I've got some food somewhere... but I think you need to move around a bit. We can find a med kit for you on the way.”

You blush and press your face against his chest.

"Oh! But first I have to find some new equipment-"

Angus stops. You look at his face, and incredibly, he doesn't look angry or anything, he looks thoughtful.

"I can talk to Sebastian to see if he has any… he almost always has some dead expendable's uniform…"

The thought freezes you and is quickly replaced by disgust when Angus mentions Sebastian's name.

"Oh no… he's such a jerk!"

"I know him… he'll do whatever I ask…"

"I doubt it! He hates everyone!"

"He hates expendables… and I agree… they're selfish, walking parasites-"

"Am I a walking parasite to you?"

You immediately freeze, thinking you've said too much and might irritate the Angler, but incredibly, he just ignores it and continues walking somewhere with you in his arms.

"Maybe…”

Chapter Text

Sebastian hummed in his empty shop, counting and reading the research that expendable had given him later and other research he'd found along the way while searching for the missing items in his shop.

It was very quiet… normally, everyone in the facility would get excited when they saw a new expendable.

This made Sebastian think that she probably died, which is a shame because he didn't know when urbanshade would put another expendable in her place.

He heard noises coming from the vent. At first, he thought it was the expendable who had come to his shop earlier, but when he saw a sharp, gray hand reaching through the vent, he perked up, knowing exactly who was visiting him.

"Angus! Long time no see... how can I help you?”

The gray Angler pulls his hand away from the vent. He's not dumb enough to try to climb into that tiny vent made just for expendables, but at least he caught Sebastian's attention.

"Hello, Sebastian... I…”

Sebastian noticed that Angus seemed to hesitate and think twice before forming a word to him. He found the experiment quite amusing and became curious about what his friend's request might be.

"You know you can say whatever you want; we're friends anyway!”

"Sebastian... I don't know how to say this to you, but... do you have any of those expendable’s diving suits still intact...?"

Sebastian's smile falls, he frowns and raises an eyebrow. He's not one to judge his friends, but Angus's request is very... specific…

"Strange request... may I ask what you're going to do with this?..."

Angus is silent for a moment, making Sebastian even more curious.

"Personal matters... just give me the suit..."

Sebastian's mind races, thinking a million things about this. He never expected something strange coming from his British friend... but since he's his friend...

Sebastian searches through his stash and finds a wetsuit from some random expendable who had died several months ago and puts it in the duct for Angus to take.

"I hope you're not thinking about doing something weird or disgusting with this... but I'll try not to judge you... again... I'll try not to judge you..."

The shopkeeper listens as Angus walks silently away from the store. He really hopes Angus knows what he's doing with that outfit.

You were in one of the flooded rooms, soaking your feet. You and Angus had just found a medkit on the way and, without thinking twice, immediately used it. Now you feel much better and pain-free.

The only thing bothering you right now is your stomach growling for food and the weakness in your legs and arms.

But you ignored this discomfort to think about your stomach.

‘The fish here aren't so... bad... sure... they're just a little lacking in flavor... maybe some salt or lemon to give it a special touch’

Your thoughts stopped when you heard something crawling toward you. You jumped in fright, thinking it was an Abomination or an angler... But when you turned around, you were right! it was an Angler, but it was just the grayish Angler helping you on this strange mission. He was looking at you seriously with a raised eyebrow and noticed your tension.

"Uh-oh... I thought it was one of the creatures!"

Angus crossed his arms and frowned.

"Other... creatures... the ones that want to kill me..."

Angus sighed and tossed the wetsuit to you. You'd think it was new if you hadn't noticed that the color of the wetsuit was a bit faded, with some threads showing, and the oxygen tank had a few scratches, but otherwise, it was in good enough condition.

You picked up the wetsuit and placed it on your lap. As you started to lower the zipper on your old wetsuit, Angus let out a startled groan and turned around.

You stop and look at Angus. He notices you're taking a while to get dressed, which makes his face burn.

"N-no way I'm going to see you changing!"

"W-what!? But I didn't say anything like that!!!"

Your face flushes with embarrassment, and Angus places one of his tail fins in front of you, wide open, to create a divider between you and Angus.

"I know... it's not enough that you had the idea of sleeping together, you even have the nerve to change in front of me!"

"I DIDN'T THINK IT! AND I DIDN'T MAKE YOU SLEEP WITH ME! YOU SLEPT BY YOUR OWN WILL!”

You could hear a low growl and a shrug. You couldn't hear it and didn't want to waste time on it, so you started taking off your clothes, carefully avoiding the bruises. Unfortunately, you had to tear off some parts of your old wetsuit because of the injuries, but you managed to get naked and put on the other wetsuit.

"I'm done..."

Angus hesitated a bit but finally lowered his fin and saw you in your new wetsuit. You stood up and turned around so Angus could see you better.

You notice Angus's ears twitching a little and sometimes he looks away. His skin also seems a little darker with a purple tint… You think he's probably hurt himself somewhere and doesn't want to talk about it, so you just whistle to get the gray Angler's attention.

"So, shall we go?”

Angus moves closer to you and shakes his head slightly before jumping into the water. You wait a bit for Angus's entire body to be in the water before jumping in too.

You enter the water and follow Angus through the flooded room, suddenly he goes to a hole in the dark, you had always been warned by Urbanshade that you just had to follow the lights to the crystal and that outside the lights there was nothing but danger... they didn't specify the creatures and collapsing structures, but you had understood when you entered and saw a little of the place.

However! You had a creature larger than you and with inhuman strength to protect you, so you did. You followed Angus through the darkness, and when you finally reached your destination, you saw something surprising.

Colors, lights, and other creatures that seemed nonthreatening were grabbing food and swimming around.

Angus waved his hand in front of you, trying to get your attention.

"Oh... sorry... I've never been to this part of the facility..."

Angus tried to say something, he didn't seem angry or happy. Unfortunately, Angus couldn't talk to you underwater; only you could because of the wetsuit.

He realized this and took a deep breath underwater and took your hand, swimming closer to the other creatures.

He seemed very suspicious and very alert. Angus gently and discreetly tucked you under him as he swam. You felt like a remora under a shark, an internal chuckle echoing within you at the comparison.

Angus lowered his head to look at you just to make sure you were under him.

"I'm fine if that's what's worrying you.”

Angus's eyes widen and he stops looking at you and swims down to some rocks that were on the sandy ground, he looks everywhere to make sure you are safe.

Finally, he made sure there was no one around and let you go. You swam freely but not too far from Angus. He kept pushing the rocks to find some crustaceans, which, like all the sea creatures in this facility, looked very different from normal, but since they were a source of food, you didn't complain much.

Angus kept looking at you sometimes, but he'd look away when you noticed him watching. You ended up sitting on the sand and watched the gray Angler swim back and forth, catching food and crushing it so it wouldn't react while he carried it in his arms. You tried to help, but every time you tried, Angus's tail would put you back in your place.

This irritated you…

"Angus! I'm fine, and I know how to catch food too! So please, stop hitting me with your tail-"

Angus placed his tail on you, preventing you from moving or speaking. You just gave up trying and let him take the food.

You look up, appreciating the fish and the lights that make the place more lively and beautiful... and in a strange way, even pleasant.

‘It's not so horrible down here…’

Sure, creatures trying to kill you and hinder your mission were a pain, but you admit that this place changes your mind a little…

Those were the most peaceful two minutes of your life until you saw a large silhouette hovering between you, at first you thought it was an infestation of Searchlights but there was no orange light or noise like them.

You start to worry, thinking that it could be some new creature that you still had no information about. You tried to get Angus's attention, but he was already looking up and, by his irritated expression, he knew very well who this creature was.

Angus grabs your arm, pulling you under him again. You obey, as it's best to stay hidden with someone capable of protecting you from a creature you don't know.

He releases you when you're able to keep up with him. Good thing he managed to catch enough food.

You reach the surface, and Angus throws in all the fish and crustaceans he could catch. He also looks thoughtful.

"Angus... is everything okay?..."

"You have to get out of here! I'm sorry to say, but you have to eat this raw..."

He points to the crustaceans, and you frown at them, still not understanding why he's worried... they've already left the sight of that creature down there anyway.

"I... may I ask why you're worried?..."

"It's not worry! There's a criminal out there, and he kills expendables!”

You were even more confused. You're a criminal, that's why you're here, The creature you saw earlier could have been an expendable, the worst of all who came here. But the size and silhouette were anything but human, and the way Angus said this being would kill anyone who enters here sounded like an even more dangerous creature.

Angus noticed the confusion and just shook his head.

"J-just... eat quickly and let's get the crystal!”