Just Death and FEAR (just shapes and beats AU)

Chapter 14: Below the Flesh

Cyan went over and crouched down, observing the chamber thoroughly. "No buttons or locks." He muttered.

"Maybe there's a lever somewhere around here...?" Lycanthropy suggested. "Let's search around."

Cube nodded. "Good idea..."

The group split up, looking for the lever hidden in the piles of leaves. Eventually, Barracuda found it, shouting out to the others to the best of his abilities. "I found it!"

With one firm pull, the chamber slowly opened up with a loud, ringing noise. There was a ladder, big enough for all sizes to climb down. Everyone gathered around the entrance, their hearts racing.

"So... who's going down first?" Cyan asked.

Without any sort of hesitation, Dot raised his hand. "I'll do it, I have a plan..."

"What is it?" Cube asked.

"I'm sure the others are down there... We can't just go in a group, that'll make us more vulnerable..." Dot let out a sigh, looking down at the ground. "I'll distract them, and I'll let you guys know your cue..." He redirected his determined gaze at Cube. "I'll need one of your triangles for this."

"O-Oh, yes, of course..." Cube took one of her triangles off of her head, lending it to Dot. "Here you go..."

"Are you sure you have this under control?" Blixer asked, tilting his head a little.

Dot nodded his head. "Yeah." With that, he climbed down the ladder, going deeper and deeper into the chamber of darkness...

Once he reached the bottom, a metallic, eerie facility hall greeted him. Dot shook the small triangle in his hand, and it glowed a bright blue. "Hey. Do you hear me?" He lifted it to his mouth as he spoke.

"Yeah, I hear you..." Cube responded on the other end.

"I climbed down the ladder successfully... just wanted to let you know that I didn't get attacked on sight..."

"You don't say stuff like that out loud!" Lycanthropy chastised, leaning over Cube's shoulder.

"Sorry, sorry..." Dot let out a bitter chuckle. "But that's all I had to say." He hung up and continued walking down the corridor, scanning the area.

Everything just reeked of despair, faint blood stains decorating the floor and the walls. Dot shuddered, trying not to imagine what might've happened in these halls.

After a while, Dot stopped dead in his tracks as a sword came flying past him, grazing his skin. His blood ran cold as he immediately realized who was behind him.

"Well, well, well," Hexia smirked, "look what we have here?" She stood confidently, sword in her grip.

Whimsy was cheerily standing beside her grinning. "Whatcha doing here all alone, buddy?" He said. "That's a pretty bold thing to do~"

Dot slowly turned around, shaking as he hid the small triangle behind his back. "I... I just wanted to look around..." he lied weakly.

"Look around?" Hexia let out a derogatory laugh. "After what you've done? Don't be ridiculous, traitor."

"Silly Dot!" Whimsy giggled. "Isn't that right, Hexia?"

"Whimsy," Hexia's serious gaze faced him. "Don't speak in my direction."

"A-Ah, yes, sorry~"

"This isn't right! You've turned people into animals! This isn't what Paradise should be!" Dot shouted. "This is wrong!"

Suddenly, Whimsy lunged towards Dot, staring at him intensely as his playful demeanor faltered. "Hey, can you not make it seem like this is all our fault? We may be accomplices, but you ultimately started this."