The Backrooms: Descent into Madness

...XXV...

When I awoke, my emotions were a mystery. I felt empty but full. Bonded, yet free. I left Camp in the early hours and teleported into Level =). The colorful walls and halls greeted me once more and the slow music box that never seemed to stop relentlessly barraged my ears. I hadn't noticed, but I'd been full Smiler since I woke up. I wandered through the party rooms beginning my search for Deacon, not finding much as I stalked the halls. I dragged a blade along the wall, leaving a jagged line that marked my path. As I approached a junction of multiple party rooms, a balloon floated from the left doorway. With tenacious bloodlust that I didn't know I possessed, I lunged through the doorway and swung my blade upwards into the chin of a Partygoer. It gurgled as red blood spilled down its neck, before falling limp. The room was empty aside from a cake with a =) on it.

I stalked further down the hall, chuckling to myself when I realized that Deacon saw all of that. He knows I'm here and hunting. I rounded a bend that led to an ominously long hallway with a Partygoer at the end. When it saw me, it turned and skipped away to the left. I gave chase, allowing my other two arms to reappear. I rounded the corner the Partyoger had skipped down and saw a large yellow room. The room was packed with Partygoers who seemed to be keeping watch. The one that I alerted let out a screech, and they swarmed toward the entrance to the room. My arms formed four blades, each one swung in an arc and met yellow flesh. Blood gushed from massive gashes across multitudes, a blade ballet of bloodshed. I cleaved one in half and used two arms to throw the chunks with enough force to break the bones of two other Partygoers.

This macabre massacre continued for the better part of twenty minutes. When all was said and done, the floor was littered with the yellow remains of the dead and dying, trying fruitlessly to crawl away in fear and pain. Black spines formed on my four forearms and shot out like bullets, putting an end to the survivors. The spines melted back into my amorphous flesh and I proceeded into the room. It was filled with party tables and a disco ball dangled from the ceiling. There was an 80's style dance floor, upon which was a cage. A sign beside the entrance to the dance floor read "Welcome to the Zoo! Our only Exhibit? The Last Party Pooper! =)" Inside the cage was a man. The man wore a black hoodie and jeans, as well as black sneakers. His face was obscured by a blue mask with a painted-on frown, and his hood seemed to be loosely fused to his scalp.

"Oh god. A Smiler? Here? Is this really how I die?" The man murmured in fear with a hollow voice. "Who are you." It was more of a command than a question. The man looked on in fear. "Did you read the sign? I'm a Party Pooper. The last of my kind. Look if you're going to kill me then get on with it!" The man whimpered. "And what are Party Poopers?" I asked. The man paused and looked up. "Don't all Smilers know?" He then did a double-take. "Wait, Smilers don't talk!" He then looked me in the eyes. "What are you?" I was a little irritated now. "First, what are Party Poopers?" He sighed. "We were a group of entities who used to help travelers and wanderers traverse the backrooms safely. We specialize in dealing with Partygoers. We were slaughtered in a war against them. All except me. They kept me like a trophy." I paused and felt my Smile tighten. It was pitiful. "I am a Chimera. A hybrid of Smiler and Human because I consumed Smiler Flesh in desperation and hunger." The last Party Pooper recoiled in shock. "And you survived?" He asked rhetorically. "Woah. I didn't think that was possible." I raised an arm and slashed the cage in half, freeing the Last Party Pooper from his prison. "Do you have a name?" The Party Pooper looked up behind his mask. "Jeremy." He said. "Logan," I responded with a grin.

Jeremy and I overlooked an open area of Level 0 from a third floor, hanging our feet over the edge. I couldn't make my Smiler Matter recede. I'd told him my story in exchange for his, his mask hiding much of his emotions. "So, what are you going to do now?" He asked when I had finished. I sighed. "I don't know what to do anymore. I'm sorry far gone and I have nothing left. It takes all the willpower in the world not to toss myself off the tallest floor I can find." I said, looking upwards at the seemingly infinite floors above us. I paused. "I may kill Deacon Duncan. After that, I'll kill SADIST. And then... maybe I'll be content to die." I said. The Party Pooper looked at me, surprised. "You think you can kill Deacon?" he asked. I laughed. "After all the shit I've been through I'd be surprised if anything could kill me. But how I wish something could." His eyes widened. "So is this some kind of last stand of yours?" He asked. I chuckled, "Spot on." I shot him a gleaming smile. He looked taken aback, before nodding in determination. "I'll help you find him. I know Level =) like the back of my hand, it's instinctual." He said calmly. I nodded. "Perfect. Tomorrow, Deacon's castle falls." He nodded back to me and we set up for the long night. Not like either of us needed sleep.