Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"(⊙ _ ⊙ ) WH4T TH3 4CTUAL F-" Were my last words before I got my shit pushed in by some oily purple skeleton looking ass mf.

I know that's kind of a wild sentence, but that really is what happened. Don't worry if that makes no sense, I'm still in shock from what the others explained to me. I'm currently sitting on a bed in a room that looks basically exactly like my room but a little different.... and I'm apparently sharing a room with this creepy hooded samurai guy now. They seem nonchalant though. And they have subspace tripmines, which is great by me! (ദ്ദി ˙ᗜ˙)

OKAY, THAT WAS A LOT TO TAKE IN, I KNOW. LET'S TAKE IT BACK FROM THE INCITING INCIDENT.

You see, literally two hours ago, I woke up in the middle of what looked to be the map of that one experience, Work at a Pizza Place, except completely trashed and vandalized.

Oh hey wait, first I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Veeronica, a Non-User robot! Yes, my head is a TV. No, you may not play Mario Kart Deluxe on my face. No, I'm not that one TV-headed Character from Dandy's World (come on, we don't even look that similar, bro). Yes, my name does contain two E's. Yes, it's still pronounced the same way as the common name "Veronica". If you try to call me "Vee-ronica" with a long E sound, I'll chase you down with my skateboard :3

I usually go by Vee or Ronnie! Well, my creators #### ########### ### #############; ##### #### #### ######### ## #### ### #### ########## ## ####, yet they ##### ###### ## #### ## ####### ## ### ###. But that's not really important, heh! Anyways, I'm a graffiti artist and vandalist myself (THE GOOD KIND, I SWEAR), as I've painted a bunch of really cool murals (and a couple of those funny S things we all drew in high school) on the side of buildings. But whoever trashed the place I woke up in was definitely not the "good kind" of vandalist, that was for sure: there were cars and fires and, ahem, "red spray paint" littered all over the place. Anyways, back to my "predicament".

After I woke up, I immediately felt like something was off. For one, it was TRASHED. Like, it was TRASHED BEYOND REPAIR. (That's saying a lot coming from me, since I'm a robot and a skater and I need severe repairs, like, every other day.) Sure, maybe this was one of those experiences that ended up getting blown up by those vigilante bomber people or whatever... but this was very obviously Work at a Pizza Place, and the developer of that game, a User called Dued1, was super popular and had good public standing. I doubted those vigilantes, who always blew up unsafe or controversial games, would target a popular game like this one... ( ╹ -╹)?

For another, why was I even at Work at a Pizza Place? I had literally been just skating around the block for fun and the next thing I knew, I woke up in some random trashed experience.

"I PR0BABLY H1T MY H3AD ON THE P4V3M3NT 0R F3LL 1N 4 LAK3 0R 50M3THING, TO TH3 PO1NT 0F MY SYST3M M4LFUNCTI0N1NG B4D 3N0UGH T0 T3LEPORT M3 T0 5OM3 R4ND0M GAM3..." I thought aloud. I know that sounds impossible, but, as a robot, I was probably one of the only Non-Users that were ENTIRELY made out of code the way Characters were, so any glitches in Robloxia's code just worked differently for me. "Y34H, TH4T'S PR0BABLY 1T 'ᴗ'"

The problem occurred when I tried to open the menu to leave the "game", and it wasn't there. Like, the UI that always opens when you enter a game just wasn't there. "5H1T, WH4T??" I let slip out. Then I realized that my swear hadn't been censored like experiences always censored them.

Okay Vee, wtf is going on? First you end up in a random "experience", and now there's no UI?? Isn't removing or altering the standard UI in your experience literally the most illegal thing you can do? How hard is Dued1 tripping?

Calm down, don't assume anything. This might be some ripoff or bootleg of Work at a Pizza Place... but that still doesn't explain why there's no UI and why I can't leave.

If the UI not showing was just bad code, the mods would’ve rolled a patch already by now, it's already been, like, 20 minutes. Unless... no, they don’t patch Outskirts bugs, right? Am I in the actual effing Outskirts right now? 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

My thoughts were screaming inside my head. The static in my speakers were probably loud as hell right then.

"M1GHT AS W3LL 3XPL0R3?? Q__Q" After a while screaming internally, I picked up my battered-up 14-year-old skateboard (which, now that I think about it, really shouldn't have been lying next to me on the ground unsupervised along with my spray paint. But at the time, I didn't really notice anything wrong with it just being there...) and I just walked aimlessly around the place, trying to find someone or something that might help me out of this "experience".

I walked around the corner, out of what would be the room where the suppliers emptied their trucks, and noticed a broken-down truck. In front of it was... an old-fashioned power generator?

So there I was, staring at an unpowered electricity generator. I was debating whether to try to power it or not... I mean, there wasn't anything else for me to do. On the other hand, though, despite being a robot, I don't exactly know how generators are supposed to work, but might as well just take a look at it!

I crouched down, flipping open the lid to see... one of those old mobile games where you connect the wires?

OH FUCK YEAH. I LOVE THESE. I finished connecting all the wires at super speed, and a new set of wires popped up in front of them. I quickly finished four of the puzzle sets, feeling super proud of myself. I took pride in being a sweat at mobile games, you see.

And then the entire generator glitched hard. Like, really hard. It glitched black and purple so hard the default stud texture was visible.
A shape flickered behind me- Is that a rotting corpse??? “(⊙ _ ⊙ ) WH4T TH-?!” I screamed, my speakers vibrating harder than they probably ever had before.

The thing lunged at me, slamming a four-pointed white star thing at me. It slashed straight across my torso, ruining my hoodie and slashing my chest plate clean in two. Wires spilling out, I yelled, ducked and swung my skateboard out of reflex. It connected with... nothing. The corpse thing vanished, leaving me in a staticky fog that tasted like burnt code. (Don't ask me how I know what burnt code tastes like. It's a long story.)

I looked down, and my hoodie and chest plate were perfectly fine. Did I imagine that? Nah,,,, there's no way that was ALL my imagination. When I said I was creative with a strong imagination on my college application, this wasn't what I meant. 

Chapter Text

The staticky fog didn’t go away as I went into what would have been the supplier building, looking for anyone or anything that could help me figure out what was going on. The fog clung to the air, the pavement, even the edges of my screen. Every few seconds, my vision glitched, cutting to a black-purple and back like someone kept flicking a light switch in my head.

“...H3LL0?” I called, gripping my skateboard like it was THE fucking Darkheart of SFOTH. “ANY0N3 W4NNA 3XPL4IN WH4T TH3 ACTU4L FU2K JUST H4PP3NED? (╭ರ_•́)”

Then I rounded the corner, and climbed up the stairs and... screamed as loud as I could for the third time that day.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAA ( ˶°ㅁ°) !!”

“Ah-? My, you are loud,” said a creepy ahh horror movie-esque voice.

There was a pale-skinned figure in a black scarf and jacket around the corner. They stared at me like I’d just appeared out of thin air. Which, I guess, I had. To them.

I pointed my skateboard at them, still recovering from the scare. “YOU SC4R3D ME, DUD3! D0 Y0U JUST ST4ND AR0UND C0RN3R5 4LL D4Y LIK3 A FN4F ANIM4TR0NIC??!?!?!?”

They tilted their head. “Fear is reasonable. One does not typically emerge here by choice.” Their accent was vaguely familiar, and it was so formal and posh.

“UHHHH... Y3AH, SUR3. WH4T3V3R TH4T ME4NS. (¬_ ´¬ )” I lowered the volume slider in my head when I realized how actually loud I was being.

“Ah. You’re newly manifested,” they said, smiling creepily. “A Non-User construct, correct?”

“I— Y3AH? V33R0N1CA. TW0 E’s. PR0NOUNC3D L1KE I7 H4S 0N3. D0N'T S4Y IT W3IRD 0R 1'LL JUMP Y0U. Y0U CAN C4LL ME V33 0R R0NNI3!! (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)”

“Veeronica. Two E's. How quaint.” They seemed to be excited at the fact that I was a Non-User?? For some reason?? Or maybe they always just had that grinning look on their face. They extended a hand, palm up. “Two Time, follower of the Spawn Eternal. At your service.”

“...C00L. N0RM4L INTR0DUCT1ON. (¬`‸´¬)” I muttered, leaving them hanging. “5O, UH, MX. TW0 T1M3, D0 YOU KN0W 1F 7HER3'S 5OM3 0ILY PURPL3 SK3LET0N MONST3R RO4M1NG AROUND H3RE? ASK1NG F0R MY 0WN S4N1TY."

Two Time grinned and retracted their hand back into their coat pocket. "Thank you for using my correct title! I identify as a they/them, yet I have been misgendered by many." Then, their expression sharpened. “And... you’ve been noticed.”

“Noticed by what exactly?”

They didn’t answer immediately. “The void does not mimic without intent,” they said finally. “If it shows itself, the true one will not be far behind.”

“TH3 WH4T-”

The fog around us shifted, glitching from gray to black and purple static. It was then that I realized that behind Two Time, in the middle of the "supplier" building, there was a generator. A generator that looked exactly the same as the one I had done earlier, which had gotten me jumped by a violet oily ahh skeleton thing with a knockoff shuriken.

Two Time’s smile didn’t falter, but their voice dropped low. “Stay near, spawnling.”

“5PAWNWH4T?? ( ˶°ㅁ°) !!”

A ripple of black-and-purple code tore open on the generator.

Two Time moved before I could react, grabbing my wrist. “Brace. We are about to be tested.”

I stumbled backwards, flailing, almost falling back down the stairs, but Two Time’s grip was impossibly firm. “( •̀⤙•́ ) D0N’T JUST GR4B M3 L1K3 TH4T, WEIRD0! W3’RE N0T G0-”

The words froze in my speaker units as the oily ahh decaying purple skeleton thing from earlier blipped into existence from the rip in the code on the generator, like a hologram turning into a real person. Or corpse. Whatever that, that THING, was. Its grin was wider than the human jaw anatomy should render possible, and the way it tilted its decaying head at me made my processors short-circuit with terror. Oh Telamon, I'm in a horror movie.
The screechy static sounds made my sound detectors ache as I tried to think of what to do. Two Time didn’t even flinch. “Calm. Observe the predator’s pattern. React with precision.” They were very definitely too calm for what was happening.

The purple corpse thing ignored Two Time entirely, lunging at me. Targeter. I tried to dodge as Two Time finally let go of me, but I could barely see anything through the purple-black fog, making the corpse thing impossible to track. I slammed a spray paint can down in reflex, hoping to hit it, but, like last time, I connected with nothing. Unlike last time, though, the purple corpse thing did NOT disappear into staticky fog, instead, it stabbed me with the star shuriken thing straight through my chest, breaking two of my acid storage systems. Battery acid leaked out from under my very ruined hoodie and I yelled in pain. "AAAGH! (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞"

“TW0 T1M3, D0 S0M3TH1NG! ( ｡ •̀ ᴖ •́ ｡)” I shouted, panicking so hard my voice cracked (which I didn't know was possible, since I was a robot.)

Two Time jumped in between the corpse thing and me. “Evade now, spawnling!” (I really wished they would stop calling me that.)

The purple thing's attention snapped toward them. 

I tripped over my own shoes, my vision glitching between violet and black static, and I fell backwards down the stairs onto the floor of the ruined "supplier building". All I could hear were the staticky glitchy sounds from the fog, the disgusting sound of the corpse skeleton thing shaking and rattling, and Two Time muttering some sort of incantation or prayer under their breath. “...by the tenets of my faith, by the Spawn Eternal’s grace…”

The purple corpse made a screechy, rattling sound (was that supposed to be a laugh????) and swiped at them with the white star thing, but Two Time swiftly looped behind it and pulled out a freaking DAGGER, stabbing it straight in the back and twisting the knife.

I scrambled back to my feet, my power core rattling in my leaky chest. “W-WH4T?!”

Two Time shot down the staircase and bolted out of the "supplier building", leaving me behind. “We must move. Quickly. There is no mercy for the unprepared.”

I shot a panicked glance at the purple skeleton thing, which seemed to be recovering from Two Time's sudden backstab.

“L3T’S G0, L3T’S G0, L3T’S G0!” I yelled, sprinting after them, barely keeping up.
Great, Vee. You're in some illegal Work at a Pizza Place bootleg with no UI and no way to leave. Your acid storing systems are cooked, and you're running from some oily decaying purple corpse with a glowing ninja shuriken, while accompanied by an insane emo dude with a dagger. How did you get here?
I tried to mount my skateboard to run away faster, but... I couldn't do it. Something was physically stopping me from stepping onto my board. I couldn't move. WHAT? WHY CAN'T I SKATE?

I looked to my left, right as the purple skeleton decaying corpse thing (corpse guy? I'll call it Corpse Guy) caught up to Two Time and threw its white star thing upwards, at the top of a wall. I thought Corpse Guy was tripping or just had shit aim, because if it was aiming for Two Time, throwing it almost straight upwards wasn't going to hit. But NO. IT KNEW WHAT IT WAS DOING. The star exploded, sending staticky fog straight into my face and forcefully pulling both Two Time and me towards the site of its explosion... which was ALL THE WAY AT THE TOP OF THE WALL.

I fell back down, flailing, to the base of the wall, sprinting away in any direction that wasn't towards Corpse Guy.

I turned back to see what was happening and, to my horror, Corpse Guy was charging towards me at Mach 10. WHAT THE FUCK. VEE. DO SOMETHING.
I didn't react quickly enough, and Corpse Guy slammed into me, cracking the middle of my screen. Fuck. 
It charged away at the same speed towards Two Time. I wanted to warn them, but my words were caught in my throat. I mean, my speakers. I don't have a throat. "TW0 T-  Σ(°ロ°)"
 
Just as Corpse Guy was about to charge into Two Time, a sudden glowing, cyan barrier erupted around them with a shimmering sound. The strike slammed into it, crackling, and Two Time stumbled backward slightly, their eyes wide but still grinning like an actual maniac. 

I barely had time to register what had happened before Corpse Guy pivoted sharply, redirecting its rage toward the source of the shield instead. Someone else (I thought it was a person, I couldn't really tell through the static and my cracked screen) was back at the "supplier building" now, glowing faintly with a cyan blue aura like fucking Gojo. Bruh. Is this also a TSB bootleg or something? Who even plays as Hero Hunter anyways? That character is so based.
 
“?! ∘ ∘ ∘ ( °ヮ° ) ?” I tried and failed to process what was happening.
 
Corpse Guy ran back into the supplier building, clearly going after the blue Hero Hunter shield person.

Two Time didn’t stop running, beckoning for me to follow. Turning to face backwards, they yelled in that posh ass accent again, "Divine pumpkin! Your shield diverts the fangs of destiny, as my gratitude, ineffable, is yours!"