|| Starburst || // An Among Us Fan Fiction

Chapter 4 - The Imposter

"Are you ready?" Oakley asks me. I'm struggling to put on my suit in the tiny pod bathroom as he says it.

"Almost!" I yell to him.

After a few minutes, I finish putting it on. I walk out of the bathroom, my helmet in hand. Oakley looks nervous. As we draw closer to the map of the game, I shuffle my feet around. I squeeze my eyes shut, taking deep breaths as I do. I feel as we anchor to the map, the pod slightly bouncing. The door opens slowly. There are already a few people in the lobby. They all have their helmets on, so I can't see their expressions. I quickly shove mine on my head. Oakley lets out a small smile.

He runs back into the pod and rummages through his stuff. As he grabs something, the pod shoves him out of it with a robotic arm. He hits the ground with a thud, still clutching something in his hand. "Are you okay?" I ask him with concern. He stands up and wipes his suit with his free hand. Then he opens his other hand, and I see a small gold crown in it. He clicks a button on the side, and the crown expands.

As it does, Oakley seems to be careful not to touch the bottom rim. He holds it by the top. Once it stops, He takes his helmet out from under his arm and sticks it on top. The crown seems to glue to his helmet. He lifts his helmet upside down, and it doesn't fall off.

"What-" I start. He laughs.

"Just something I brought as an accessory. Seemed cool." He places his helmet on his head. He looks the same as all the other yellows I've encountered, but it's like...he gives off a different vibe. I seem to be stuck in place.

"What?" He asks me, his voice echoing through his suit.

I quickly shake my head and turn back to the lobby. "It's nothing. Come on."

We head towards where everyone else is. More people have arrived since we did. Everyone has their heads turned straight at us. Under my suit, I feel myself heating up from embarrassment and fear. As if Oakley knows what I am feeling, he pats me on the back.

"We'll be okay." He whispers. I nod.

We sit in the lobby for what feels like an eternity, until finally the room goes black. I hear nothing except my own breaths and my heart beating inside my chest. Inside of my head, I hear a voice.

"You are a Crewmate." It says. I sigh in relief. I know I have a chance of being killed, but I still try to look at the bright side. I am blinded by light as I appear on the map. I shield my eyes and start walking. A crumpled up list of tasks has appeared in my hand. I smooth it out, seeing what I have to do first. I head to Electrical to fix the wires, keeping an eye out for other people. Once I finish doing that, I head to other rooms. I've seen many colors, but I haven't seen Oakley. As I'm heading to Navigation, a body is found. I run to the cafeteria.

"Who died?" Asks brown.

I see that green is shaking. They must be new, or maybe they're just traumatized. I'm actually surprised to see Oakley at the meeting. I figured he was in his secret room. He is standing on the other side of the table, negotiating with the other colors. Green confesses that he saw black near the dead body. I ask black if this is true. They say no over and over again. I decide that that is suspicious. A screen shows up in front of us. I confirm that I want to vote black. Once the vote ends, it shows that everyone voted black, except for two other people. They skipped. Black frantically looks around as they are shoved into the space capsule. They bang their hands against the window. Then they do something I did not expect.

They take off their helmet.

Her face is full of sorrow, and I know that we made a mistake. She doesn't put back on her helmet. I want to yell at her to put it back on, but I don't. She gets launched out into space...

And she dies instantly.

I put my hands in front of my helmet and let out an audible gasp. So do many others. I've only seen this happen a few times before. Since the meeting is over, I run out of the Cafeteria. I don't want to see her body floating in space for any longer than I have to. A few more rounds go by. We still haven't voted out the imposter. I have a gut feeling I know who it is, but I don't want to listen to it. I'm alone in Comms, working on a computer. I hear footsteps behind me and I spring up from the chair I'm sitting in.

From the corner of my eye I see a glimpse of gold and a familiar axe. Someone comes into the room from behind a wall.

It's Yellow.

It's Oakley.

I feel my eyes dart side to side. He runs towards me, lifting up his axe. His reflexes are fast; but I find out mine are faster. I dart under him and to the right. While doing it, I accidentally knock off his helmet. I run out of the room, looking back at him.

He looks like a totally different person. His eye shine is gone. His eyes look like they have been lost for years on end. His face shows more rage than I have ever seen on an Imposter. There's no trace of the Oakley I now know. He looks at me like he has never seen me before. He has violent, uncontrollable anger. I realize this is all coming from him. All the Imposter liquid does is enhance our anger that we already have. I make a mental note to talk to him about this.

I run straight towards the cafeteria. I decide it is a good idea to tell everyone he is the imposter, so that no one else dies and so that he gets back safely to his pod. As long as he doesn't take off his helmet, he will be fine. I reach the cafeteria and slam the emergency meeting button. The people that are left run in, frantically yelling. I tell them what happened to me.

"It was yellow!" I say, just as he enters the room.

"He took out his weapon and tried to kill me. I dodged him and ran here as fast I could." I say calmly.

"What? It wasn't me." Says Oakley in an even calmer voice.

Purple thinks for a moment. "Do you remember what his weapon looked like? If you do, we can ask him to take it out. If it's the same one, then there's no doubt about it. Why would he take out his weapon for no reason?" She exclaims to me, with utter bravery.

I can tell she has been here for a while.

"Yes. I remember." I say. I remember everything about it. I remember what type of material makes up the handle, what the inscription on it looks like. If I say that, it will be suspicious. So I try to make a dry explanation while at the same time a recognizable one.

"Well." I start. "It's an axe. It has a silver head. On the side of it is some writing. The handle is a light bluish green color." I say. I wonder if I said too much or too little.

Purple nods. Everyone else is quiet. "Take out your weapon, Yellow." She says.

Oakley refuses. Purple asks him again. He refuses, this time with an angrier tone. She draws back.

"Well. That's suspicious. Not taking your weapon out, and getting angry when I ask you a second time to do it?" Everyone else, including me, nods.

I can feel Oakley being full of rage. The voting screen comes up and I pick Yellow. Once the timer ends, it is revealed that everyone voted for him. He is pushed towards the capsule. Once he's inside, he collapses to the ground. He jumps up and kicks the door. I pray that he doesn't take off his helmet.

He is ejected soon after. He spins through space until he disappears. A new screen comes up in front of us. It says Victory. Everyone cheers. It is a few minutes before we are engulfed in darkness. We reappear in the lobby. I tell the survivors good game and head back to where Oakley's pod is.

Once I reach it, I open the door slowly. I have an awful feeling.