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“I get it now.”
“I’m still in the hole.”
The now confirmed fake Regect just stills and for this moment, Ze wonders if this world the hole created stills with him. Have the clouds have stopped shifting? Has the grass stopped blowing in the wind? Ze doesn’t know but either way goosebumps cover his arms that had slightly faltered in their grip on his shotgun. It's not real. He’ll wake up in the hole any moment now.
His previous tight grip on the shotgun returns quickly the second the fake Regect takes a step forward and embarrassing Ze falls back.
He doesn’t want to let go of the shotgun to soften his fall but instincts make at least one of his hands go back touching the ground as he meets it. But it’s not blades of grass that meet his palms, its jagged bedrock that almost scrapes Ze’s palms upon meeting it.
Ze opens his eyes that closed in the fall and he no longer saw whatever was pretending to be Regect, in fact he didn't see anything. It was just dark.
Ze was still now, or as much as he could be shaking on the ground both hands back on the shotgun. As his eyes adjust he can see he is in the torched bedrock hallway he entered before. He really has been here the whole time.
The torches stop accompanying the bedrock walls just a few blocks ahead of him, shrouding the rest of the deep hallway in darkness. Ze’s eyes never adjust to this darkness ahead of him. Is nothing there or is he just not seeing it? Does it see him? Ze shifts his pose to be on one knee as he lifts the shotgun aimed blindly into the darkness. His legs ache so badly, how long has he been standing here before..?
He waits in the deafening silence, he’s scared of what he may see as his eyes adjust painfully slowly. He's expecting those eyes he saw before. Have they been watching him this whole time? How long has he been here? How long has it been watching? How much did it see?
Ze didn't realize he was holding his breath until he accidentally let out a sort of gasp as something finally started to take shape in the pitch dark hallways ahead of him. It was some sort of figure, pale white skin like Ze’s and short but volumed hair the same color, this and the silhouette of the entity's skin was all he could make out as of right now.
As his eyes better adjusted it seemed the figure was wearing a hospital gown? Is this connected to the hospital he saw earlier? He thought the figure was farther away than it was, before he realised it wasn't the figure was just shorter than Ze was expecting. This made Ze’s hold on his weapon falter.
Was it.. A child?
Something yells Ze’s name loudly cutting the tense silence and in startled response Ze is quick to shoot at the figure with his shotgun repeatedly. Ze doesn’t process how but bullets are whizzing back at him, the bullets cutting through the air closer and closer to him, past his ear before another grazes his leg.
Ze reacts louder than he meant to more so out of shock and fear than pain and he squeezes his eyes closed. A claw finds its way to Ze’s shoulder and he turns around swiftly bringing his shotgun around with him.
“GAH!” Regect dunks down as to avoid being hit with the shotgun. Ze’s confusion from before turns into anger. It's wearing Regects skin again. It’s using his voice again. It looks up at Ze with its one visible eye surprised before chuckling. “Jesus Ze haven't seen you in days and you're shooting at a bedrock wall? At least I know-” Ze quickly glances over his shoulder to look down the dark part of the hall, where he was shooting, where he saw that.. Thing?
But the hallway goes no further; it's just a wall. Like this (fake) Regect said. The bullets that were flying at him before, the ones that grazed his leg, they were his own. Bouncing off of the bedrock. This damn place was trying to get him to kill himself-
The fake puts its palm over Ze’s knuckles which was holding onto the shotgun. “Ze hey stay with me, I need to ask you some q-” Ze looks back at the imposter and slams the shotgun against his form, pushing it back a step or two. “H-” He hates hearing it use Regect’s voice. Ze aims the shotgun at its chest.
“Okay okay Jesus! I get it yeah you’re definitely the real Ze..” Ze tries hard not to let his aim or posture falter any more, but he can’t keep himself from shaking. His leg hurts badly, they both ache but- oh right. Didn’t a bullet graze his leg? Shit, adrenaline rush is real, he best not think on it for too long or he’ll really start to feel it.
Despite all of it he still has his gun aimed and his eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about.” His voice was worse than he thought it would be, it was so raw. How long has he been down here without water? The thing with Regect’s body notices Ze’s voice too and focuses on it instead of Ze’s question. Probably trying to stall.
“Jesus Ze have- have you really been down here the whole time..?”
Ze tries not to frown. The entity- the eyes.. have already seen emotions Ze only reserved for Moe and Regect. Because it tricked him. Ze wants to ask so badly how long he’s been down here. But he doesn’t want to play into its game, if that’s what this is.
“Ze?” It asks again. And Ze just can’t take it anymore. He can’t keep his guard up much longer.
“Please. Stop using his voice” So much has happened. He just wants to sleep.
“..What?”
“Please I.. I just want..”
Regect(?) looks at him with his golden eye expectantly
“Fuck. I- I don’t know- I don't know.” Ze droops his arm down letting the end of the shotgun scrape against the bedrock shifting his wait to lean more on it than his injured leg.
“Oh shit.” Regect’s voice, slightly hushed like he was saying it more to himself than to Ze. Maybe he was the real Regect, that sure would be the easiest scenario.
“Ze your leg man.” The shotgun Ze is treating like a cane shakes in his scratched up palm before it gives under him.
Regect is quickly under Ze’s chest holding him up as much as he can and just as soon as he makes contact with Ze he’s slamming his elbow against Regect’s back.
“Ow- hey hey- stop! Ze!”
“GET OFF OF ME DON’T TOUCH ME GO YOUR NOT- I-”
“Ze- Calm down Jesus-”
“YOURE NOT REAL YOURE NOT HIM GO LET GO YOURE NOT-“ dispute the distrust Ze’s leaning a lot of his weight against Regect in order to put less pressure on his leg
“ZE CALM THE FUCK DOWN your leg is FUCKED!!! We have to get you home-“
“T-Tell me something, tell me anything. P-prove it to me-“
“Uh?! Um ??? I- I don’t know, shit uhh. I love gambling? I-“
“A-about me”
“B- about you?? I mean okay uh.. you scream like a girl and youuu kinda suck big time but I think even a fake could catch onto that-“
“Be serious”
“… uh. I- I forget to fly all the time and I basically only started getting better at it cuz you yell at me about or whatever. You- I- Moe misses you, she wont do her make-up without you even though I know she can do it on her own because she was wearing it when we first met.”
“...”
“... We’ve been looking for you everywhere man.”
Ze sighs and honest to god might cry.
“Dumbass I can’t believe you got hurt shooting at a WALL.”
“...”
“Sorry. Uh.. is it cool if i carry you? I doubt you can walk.”
“Can’t you teleport?”
“OH YEAH”
“Dumbass..”
“God your voice dude- okay lets go. Moe will lose her shit.”