Chapter Text
The forest had gone quiet.
The kind of quiet that made your ears ring—where every crack of a twig sounded like a gunshot.
Nickel leaned against Balloon and shivered. “We’ve been out here for hours. How much further could she have gone?”
“She couldn’t have gone far,” Suitcase murmured, pushing through branches. “Not in the state she was in…”
“Assuming she even wants to be found,” Nickel muttered, low enough that only Balloon heard him.
Balloon shot him a sharp look but said nothing. His hands stuck to the side of him, fingers shaking slightly. He hadn’t stopped fidgeting since they left.
Knife was ahead of the group, his pace more determined. He didn’t speak, but his eyes scanned every inch of the forest like a predator. Focused. Ready.
Then he stopped short, holding out an arm. The others paused behind him.
There. Down in the gully.
A figure hunched in the cold dirt, framed by crooked trees and the fading light of early evening.
Mic.
She was sitting with her knees pulled to her chest, mumbling softly, barely coherent. Her gridded head marked with dirt. Her hands—still wrapped in bandages—were caked with fresh dirt and streaked with red.
Suitcase gasped, already moving down the slope. “Mic….! Mic, oh my god, you’re okay!”
“Don’t—”
Mic’s voice cracked out, sharp and sudden.
Suitcase stopped in her tracks.
Mic didn’t look up. “Don’t come closer.”
The group exchanged glances, and Knife slowly stepped forward instead. “Mic. It’s us.”
“I know who it is,” she hissed, still not looking. “You think I don’t recognize your footsteps? Nickel’s heavier on the right. Balloon hums when he’s nervous. Knife walks like he’s ready to gut someone.”
Knife’s jaw clenched.
Nickel frowned. “Well, somebody needs to act like they care about you.”
“I didn’t ask to be followed,” she snapped, louder now. Her voice was hoarse, wild. “I didn’t want to be found.”
Balloon stepped forward, carefully. “Mic, listen… we’re worried about you. Please just come back with us. We can help you. We can figure this out together.”
She looked up at that. Slowly.
And the expression on her face made Balloon freeze.
Her eyes were bloodshot, hollow. Pupils dilated too wide. Her lips were cracked. Dried blood painted a side of her face. But worse than all of that was the smile starting to curl across her face—wobbly and wrong.
“Figure it out?” she echoed, too sweetly. “You mean like last time? When you all figured out how to ignore me until I found someone else? Like that?”
“Mic,” Suitcase tried again, soft and pleading. “What you were seeing were hallucinations, I've had them before, they can mostly appear under stress, just calm down and we’ll help you.”
“ I KNOW WHAT I SAW !” she screamed, rising to her feet so fast the group flinched back. “She was there. Taco. She talked to me. She was in the room, in my head—laughing at me. Mocking me. YOU DIDN’T SEE HER !”
She held her head, shaking it violently.
“You didn’t see her. You didn’t see Soap die. You didn’t watch her crumble to the floor. You didn’t see the look on her face when her life was taken.”
“Mic, please,” Knife said through clenched teeth, trying to stay steady. “Just come with us. We’ll figure out what’s real and what’s not—”
“No.” Her voice dropped, cold and venomous. “Don’t you dare try to drag me back there.”
Nickel exhaled sharply. “Why are we even arguing? She’s clearly lost it.”
Bad move.
Mic twitched—visibly.
The trees shivered. The air buzzed. Her body tensed.
Balloon stepped between them fast. “Nickel, stop.”
“No, let him talk,” Mic said suddenly, eerily calm. “Let’s hear what Nickel has to say about the crazy girl.”
Nickel rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine. You want honesty? You scared the hell out of everyone. You vanished, left Soap to die , and now we’re all stuck picking up the pieces because you can’t even look at us without losing your mind!”
“Nickel, what the fuck—” Balloon turned on him, horrified.
But it was already too late.
Mic snapped.
She lunged forward with terrifying speed, and before anyone could react—her fist connected with Nickel’s jaw.
The crunch was immediate. Nickel hit the ground hard, skidding into the mud, groaning.
“MIC!” Suitcase screamed.
Balloon grabbed her arm instinctively, trying to pull her back. “Mic, stop—”
She spun, shoving him away with both hands. Her strength was unnatural—Balloon stumbled back into a tree, nearly slamming his head against the bark.
Knife was on her in a flash, pinning her arms from behind.
“Get OFF ME!” she shrieked, thrashing. “GET OFF—DON’T TOUCH ME!”
“Knife, stop it!” Suitcase yelped as she dodged a stumble from Mic. “This is the exact opposite of what’ll help!”
Nickel groaned on the ground, blood dripping from his mouth. One of his teeth was missing.
Balloon just sat where he’d landed, stunned.
Suitcase knelt next to Nickel, her voice shaking. “Are you okay?”
He spat blood into the grass. “Does it look like I’m okay?!”
Mic went still.
In Knife’s arms, she went limp—utterly silent.
“…Mic?” he asked cautiously.
She looked at her own hands.
The bandages had come loose.
Her knuckles were stained dark red.
She blinked. Once. Twice.
“…I didn’t mean to,” she whispered, clarity shone in her eyes. “I didn’t… mean to…”
She twisted in Knife’s grip and broke free, stumbling backward, panting hard. “I can’t…no, no—this is wrong, this is wrong…”
“Mic—” Suitcase stood up, taking a small step forward.
“STAY AWAY!” Mic screamed, staggering further into the trees. “I’ll hurt you. I’ll hurt all of you!”
Then she turned and ran.
Again.
Knife shouted her name, but Suitcase rested against his handle, shaking her head.
“…She’s not ready to come back,” she muttered.
No one argued.
As the four were getting ready to report back to OJ, Suitcase stared at the trees for a moment, blinking once as she noticed a distorted shape starting to follow Mic, it turned around, staring directly at her with it’s single, unnerving eye. It put a long black finger to its face like a shushing motion.
Suitcase stumbled back, blinking again, only for it to have disappeared.
Knife ran up behind her, putting a hand on the top of her head. “You okay?”
Suitcase took a gulp of air. “I saw who she was talking about.
The others all stared at her for a moment before she continued.
“I don’t think she’s safe.”