[Synopsis: Player has some experience with horrible nightmares...But even his last spell of night frights couldn't compare to something like this.}

[Location: The Skeld]

TW: Major character death & suicide during the dream sequence. Oh, and spoilers for Squid Game, if you haven't seen it...for some reason. Fortunately, I make up for all that with an extra five heaping doses of pure fluff. XD

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Rain fell from the dark clouds above, soaking the playing field and casting an ominous light on the figure on the opposite side of the course...Player looked down at his knife, then back up at his best friend. He didn't think it would come down to this point, but the toss of the coin sealed their fate. Why did it have to be this way?

...Why him?

Why not...her?

Veteran had at least given him a hand. Noob had just griped and complained the entire time, barely contributing to the team they'd formed...Why couldn't he have been on HIS side?

Veteran seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"...I didn't want it to have to come down to this either, Player," he told him. "But I guess we didn't have a choice...You know this isn't anything personal though, right?"

He didn't answer him...He couldn't find the words to.

Veteran swallowed hard. As tempered as his outer shell appeared to be, Player knew that he was a big softie under all the tough talk and words of wisdom...And seeing what it had come down to, it broke his heart even more.

"I...Veteran, I-I-"

"Save it. Just...Don't work yourself up, okay?" he interrupted, voice cracking. "...It'll just make it harder for both of us."

He rose his knife and took a deep breath before raising one of his feet off the ground.

"If I win, I'll give you an epic funeral. I promise."

What happened next was a blur. Player saw him advancing and attempted to block his attacks, Noob alongside him. But he was almost too fast with the knife to ward off; they didn't call him Veteran for nothing.

Noob made a move at his head, only for him to duck just in time...The sound of her gasping and the sight of her tensing up made it obvious that he'd landed a successful counterattack.

Her green jumpsuit ran red, and she toppled over...Player was down a teammate.

It was just the two of them now.

"Veteran...If we call this off now, we won't have to do this. W-we can just stop and...A-and we can go home."

"But forfeiting means we don't get the prize."

"We don't need it...After everything we've been through, I-I just want to make it out of this place alive. You and me. Together...Can't we...?"

The figure standing across from him sighed deeply.

"...We at least deserve it after everything we've been put through. Either you or me...It doesn't really matter anymore. As long as we don't hold back."

"Veteran?"

"After all...It's every man for himself, remember?" he finished, pointing his weapon again. "It's always been that way."

He saw Veteran lunge forward again, and he rose his knife to block the oncoming attack, eyes shutting tightly.

"Veteran, wait-!"

"Hurk-!"

...Warm, red droplets spattered across Player's face and the front of his jumpsuit...He dared to open his eyes.

And the moment he did, they widened in horror.

The entire blade had plunged right into his heart. Veteran just stared at him as the life drained from his eyes.

"...Vet...?"

He didn't answer. He couldn't...

He was already dead.

His feet gave way, and his limp body fell onto the ground, the blood leaking from his fatal wound mixing with the wet earth and making a goopy, rust-colored mess.

"No..."

Player dropped his weapon and fell to his knees beside his best friend.

"No, no, get up man, STAY WITH ME!!"

The victory alarm blared in his ears, and he heard the announcement.

"Defenders are victorious!"

The rain stopped, and the guard spectating the game approached him, his footsteps seeming to ring in Player's ears.

"Congratulations, #456. You win the game. And the 38.4 million dollar prize."

Player slowly turned his head up to look at the masked figure above him...Next he looked around the field, eyes falling onto the bodies of his best friend and teammate.

"So, I know I'm not really one to ask, but I can't help but feel curious. What do you plan on doing with your prize?"

He felt his eyes narrow, and he pulled the knife out of Veteran's heart, looking over the slightly bent blade for a moment. His hands were still shaking, and his blood boiled so hot that it threatened to make him rupture.

"...#456?"

His grip on the blade increased, and he turned to look at the figure standing over him.

"Take your money..." he snarled, bearing his teeth like a rabid dog. "And SHOVE IT!!"

The guard reached for his gun a moment too late...Player had already stood up and sent his weapon into his heart. Intentionally, that time...HE at least deserved to be killed.

Player watched as the guard fell dead before him, breathing heavily. His knife was still in his hand, clutching the wooden handle tightly, and he looked at the red-coated blade, soaked with the blood of both his best friend and the guard.

...He wouldn't let himself win a prize he didn't deserve.

He fell to his knees again, then rested the blade against the side of his neck and pulled it across sharply. Darkness consumed him, and the entire field faded away, along with his own life.

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...

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"Hrmn...what...?"

Player wasn't sure why he was waking up. Wasn't he supposed to be dead? Had he been taken to a blasted hospital? Was this the afterlife, perhaps...?

He suddenly jolted upright when all of the memories from before came back to him...He found himself in his own bed instead of a huge dorm, and in his own room on the Skeld.

He looked down at his hands, and his heart skipped a beat or two when he saw they were bathed in red...only to realize a moment later that it was just the natural red hue of his suit.

As Player started to breathe normally again, the dream he just had came back to him. Had he really been asleep this whole time? He knew it seemed ridiculous to believe it all really happened, but...It all felt so ominously real. And it seemed to take course over several days instead of the time span his phone displayed, which told him that he'd only been asleep for three hours.

Okay, that's it. I'm never watching Squid Game again... he said to himself, knowing that was what the events of the nightmare had spawned from...Even so, he still felt off about the whole ordeal.

...All he needed was some proof it was only a dream.

Player got up out of bed and left his dorm, eyeing Veteran's room...He just wanted to make sure he was in there.

Slowly and carefully, the red crewmate stepped forward and opened the door a crack, and he peered inside at the bed.

...His heart didn't just skip a beat, but it fell right from its spot in his chest all the way down to his stomach when he saw that it was empty and made, almost as though he'd never even been there.

"No...No, no, no no no, please no..."

He felt himself stagger on his feet, and he ran out into the Cafeteria to see if he was out there, not bothering to shut Veteran's door.

"Veteran...?" he whisper-shouted, looking around the dimly-lit room for anything that resembled him...Nothing.

"Veteran?" he called again, louder that time. He rushed into the northwest hall and turned into MedBay to see if he was in there...Again, nothing. And the dread building up within Player was beginning to show on the surface.

"You can't be gone..." he whimpered, the tears that'd been building up behind his eyes ever since his nightmare finally escaping. "You can't...What have I done? What have I done...!?"

He collapsed onto one of the beds and wept, repeating the same phrase over and over again...What had he done? When had he done it? How much time had passed? How long were they gone? How many days had it been since he...?

Nothing made sense anymore. All Player could think was that he was alone, and that Veteran was gone.

"Everything okay in here, dude?"

"Huh!?"

His head jerked back up, and he looked in the doorway just as the MedBay lights snapped on to see the familiar sight of a yellow-clad figure standing there, the crown on his head gleaming in the white light of the room. Player squinted and shut his eyes again at the sudden change in brightness.

"I...V-veteran?"

"Yeah. You good, man? I saw you running in here on cams. Didja have to throw up or something?"

"You were in the Security office?"

"Yep. For some reason, I just didn't wanna go to sleep, so I figured I might as well kill some time by takin' a peek at the monitor and see if I spotted anything interesting. Spooky atmosphere in there at night; gives you a thrill chill, y'know? Heh...Er, but I digress. How bad off are you?"

Player didn't answer him. He just got up off the bed and started making his way towards him, starting to stretch his hands out as though to embrace him...Then stopped short when he was only a yard away, and he swallowed hard, drawing his hands up to himself again and stepping back.

"...You okay, Player?"

"I...I-I saw that you weren't in your room, and...I thought s-something happened to you, and I went out to try and look for you, and-"

He saw Veteran reach his hand out towards him, and he staggered backwards.

"No, don't...Don't. I don't wanna hurt you, Veteran..."

"Hurt me? Why would you ever...?"

He trailed off for a moment when he realized with might be going on.

"...You have another nightmare, Player?"

The red crewmate broke his eye contact with Veteran before nodding lightly.

"How bad? Bad as the last one?"

"...It felt a lot more real."

"Did somethin' happen to me?"

He nodded again, tensing back up and folding his hands around himself.

"Did...you have something to do with it?"

"I...I-it was an accident. I didn't want...I-I didn't mean to-"

He sniffed loudly and threw his hands over his face in shame.

"Hey, hey. Easy there, man, easy..."

Veteran was able to get closer that time, and he gently rested his hand against his friend's back. Player flinched slightly and turned away, but he didn't try to get away from him.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I just wanted everything to stop..."

"Hey, Player...Look at me."

He slowly, hesitantly removed his hands from his eyes and turned to face him...Veteran sighed a bit when he saw the tearful, shaken look on his face. What in the name of the gods had he been subjected to?

"...How 'bout we head back to your room, huh? We'll talk about it there."

Player sniffled again and gave another light nod.

"Okay..."

"Come on."

Veteran lead him out of MedBay and back to the dormitory, bringing him back to his room and sitting him down on the edge of his bed. He sat down right beside Player and grabbed one of the blankets on the bed from behind him, draping it overtop of him and gently pulling him into a side hold.

"Now...You care to get that nightmare off your chest?"

"...How'd you know it was another nightmare?"

"I've had those kinds of dreams myself before," Veteran answered. "The kinds that feel so real that you wake up from them and have to make sure it was just a dream...and sometimes you think you're waking up from the dream, only to find out that you're still in it. But you don't know it's a dream yet...That kind of thing? It's terrifying. Messes with your sense of awareness. Makes you question what's real and what's not...It can almost make you go insane."

"You've had a dream like that?"

"Yeah...It wasn't pleasant."

"Wh-what was it about?"

"Well...It was about four years ago I had it, but it's stuck with me ever since. Dreamt that someone broke into my house. I was in the living room hiding under the couch...Heard my dad  come out and try to deal with 'em, but...He didn't fire fast enough. Saw him fall over...And then the guy who shot him saw me."

"Oh, God..."

"That was when I thought I woke up...But when I went out to check the living room, my dad was still lying on the floor...blood pooled around him. I heard footsteps coming from behind me, and I turned around to see the guy standing there. Raised his pistol up to my face and...I woke up again. I decided to go out again for some reason...Dad wasn't there anymore. So I went to check my parents' room to see if they were both there."

"And...?"

"He was there...But I went right up to where he was lying and made sure he was breathing before I left just so I knew everything that I thought happened was just a dream."

"Wow...That's pretty horrible," Player remarked. "...I'm sorry you went through that."

"Yeah, but what about you, man? Mine was rough, but I was younger than we are now and I took it better than you did with this...And I know it takes a lot to scare you."

The red crewmate sighed deeply and snuggled up a bit closer to his best friend.

"...You ever hear of Squid Game?"

"Oh HECK yeah. Binge watched the whole series about a week ago. It was pretty good, but I thought the ending was a little depressing."

"Well...I dreamt that I was a part of the games."

"Oh, cool."

"And so were you."

"Awesome!"

"And Noob."

"There goes my enthusiasm..."

They both managed a bit of a giggle.

"Yeah...It was weird. Felt like the whole dream took course over several days...You and I sorta helped each other out throughout the games. I guess Noob was a part of the group too, but she, uh...complained and held us up more than she helped."

"That's not a surprise."

"Anyway...It was the three of us until the final game."

"The actual round of Squid Game?"

"Yeah...I was hoping you and I would be on the same team, but...The coin flip sealed our fates."

"So...Judging from what you said to me in MedBay, I'm guessing you ended up killing me?"

"I...A-after you downed Noob, I tried to talk you out of it. All I did was raise my hand to keep you from attacking me, but the knife I had ended up..."

He trailed off, his lower lip starting to tremble as the look of guilt returned to his face.

"...Some place you didn't intend for it to end up in?" Veteran finished for him.

"I...I-it was an accident, I didn't mean it, but-"

"Hey, hey...It's okay. You don't need to apologize."

"But I still-"

"It's okay, I promise, it's-"

"You don't understand! I KILLED you, Veteran! I KILLED YOU!!"

Veteran shrank back when Player snapped at him, but only for a few seconds before sitting up straight again...His best friend was shaking violently at that point, and he could see the pain in his eyes.

"I...I killed you...I'm sorry..."

"Player?"

He sobbed heavily, tears welling up in his eyes again as his face scrunched up into the miserably familiar look of someone about to fall apart.

"I'm so sorry...!"

The moment he broke down, Veteran pulled him closer and held onto him tightly, catching his best friend's tears on his shoulder.

"Hey, easy, man, take it easy. It was just a dream, it didn't really happen."

"I don't want to hurt you...! *sob* It was horrible...!"

"I know, but...It's over, right? It's over now."

"Wh-what if it isn't, though...? *hic* What if something like that actually happens, wh-where we're just trying to do something and I end up hurting you somehow!? I-I don't even have to do it on purpose, it might just happen when we're doing something normal, and something will go wrong and something will happen to you, and it'll be my fault!"

"Player."

"It'll be all my fault...!"

Veteran squeezed him a bit tighter, frowning at how distraught Player was...Not much was helping. Emotional support wasn't a new territory for him, but something like this was going to take a bit more than just trying to get the dream out of his head.

Uh...What would Mother do in a situation like this? he said to himself, wracking his goldfish brain for the right things to say and do.

"I'm scared, Vet..." Player squeaked, hiccupping again as he sat there shaking. "I'm scared I might lose you like that..."

Veteran pulled away for a moment to look his best friend in the eye again, and he felt his own heart break a bit at the sight of how frightened and helpless Player looked.

Poor guy...

He lifted his legs up and crossed them before turning around on the mattress so he could face Player directly, then pulled him back into another embrace, not quite as tight as the last one.

"...It's going to be alright," he told him again, his voice not much more than a raspy whisper. "You'll see...Promise you will."

The red crewmate hiccupped again and buried his face further into his shoulder, his sobs becoming more muffled...Veteran leaned his head up against his from the side, gently rocking him back and forth and rubbing his back in small circles.

"Shhhhh, I gotcha..."

"I c-can't lose you, Veteran..."

"I gotcha..."

"Not after everything we've b-been through tog-gether...*sob*-If you weren't around anymore, I don't know what I'd do, I don't..."

"D-don't worry..."

"I...I-I-"

He would have kept on going, but he was interrupted by the sound of a loud, wet sniff coming from Veteran, followed by the grip he had on him increasing again.

"Heh...N-now you got me s-starting to cry..."

Player returned the hug he was locked into, comforting him as best he could in the state he was in himself.

"...I'm okay, man," the yellow crewmember assured him, his voice creaking slightly. "I-I just hate seein' you this upset, and I just want to fix it."

The red crewmate sniveled again before letting out a shaky, strained sigh. His crying had begun to quiet down at that point, and Veteran smiled at the progress.

"Well...I'm doin' something right, at least."

"Y-yeah...I guess you are..."

Veteran gave him another squeeze and patted the back of his head a few times before speaking again, deciding it was time to address the issue at hand.

"Hey...Listen to me, okay bud?"

Player nodded.

"I know this nightmare's got you thinkin' some bad stuff, but...look at us. We're both still here. We've been through crazy stuff left and right. Thick and thin, the good, the bad, the ugly...We'd be able to kick something like that like it was nothin', you know that, right?"

"Y-you really think so?"

"Heck yeah, I do...And another thing. I know that you're worried about an accident happening, but...heh...Come on. This is Among Us. That kind of stuff is supposed to happen, right?"

"Yeah, but...I'm not talking about Among Us, I'm talking about-"

"I know...I know...But listen to me. I know you well enough to know you would never do something like that. Even by mistake...I've seen the way you look at the kitchen knives my mom keeps on her magnetic block, so I doubt you'd want to wield a knife in real life in the first place to be able to do something like that."

"...That's true."

"And you know I'd never try to actually hurt you to the point where you feel like you have to defend yourself, right?"

"You wouldn't...?"

"Player, of course I wouldn't," he emphasized, pulling back a bit to look him in the eye again. "I couldn't imagine it...Don't let your fears get out of hand to the point that you convince yourself that I would. For any reason. Please..."

He pulled his best friend back into the hug and shut his eyes tightly, trying to blink back the sensation of tears coating them again.

"...Because it's not true. It never will be...I promise, okay?"

As everything sank in, Player tensed up again, hugging Veteran back as tightly as he could and burying his face even deeper into him to try and fight back his tears.

"I..." he sniffled. "...I love you, Veteran. Y-you're like the brother I never had..."

Veteran held him tighter as they both regained their composure.

"I love you too, Player...And same."

He felt Player hiccup again, and he continued rubbing his back...They stayed like that for a while, neither of them saying much of anything else. They didn't need to. Not at the moment...All they needed was each other's company.

Everything felt safe and warm, and they both stayed there, silent and content.

...It seems like quite some time had passed when Player finally lifted his head up to yawn, and his grip on Veteran began to loosen.

"You wanna go back to bed?" the yellow crewmate asked him. "You don't wanna be tired tomorrow."

"Okay..."

"Hey. And if there's anything else you wanna get off your chest tomorrow, just come to me, a'ight?"

"Alright...Thank you."

"No problem," Veteran smiled. "...You want me to stay here?"

"If you want to..."

"Heh heh, yeah, you do."

With that, he pulled the covers on the bed further back and moved Player's pillow off to the right of the mattress before letting him lie down on it. He fetched one of the spares from the closet and brought it over to the left side, fluffed it a little, then got into bed and pulled the covers overtop of them both.

"Sleep tight, buddy," Veteran rasped, nuzzling his visor into the pillow to get comfortable. Player hummed tiredly in response and settled down into the blankets himself...But he still had one more thing to ask before he went to sleep.

"...Veteran?"

"Hm?"

"I...Th-this is gonna sound dumb, but...I just wanted to ask you about it. J-just to be sure."

"Nah, it won't. Go ahead and ask."

"Okay..." he began. "...S-say that something like what happened in my dream actually happened."

"You mean you and I are actually contestants in Squid Game?"

"Yeah. Say we get down to the final game, and it's just the two of us...What would you do? W-would you want to fight to the death to see who got the prize money, or would you call the guards to forfeit?"

"Are you kidding me? I'd definitely forfeit. Don't you remember what happened to the main guy when he won? He ended up giving away almost all of his cash to his old friend's family because he was too disgusted by what happened in the games to spend any of it himself. Except for, like, ten bucks to spend on a flower and a drink, and that's it..." Veteran answered him. "...No amount of money could ever replace what we have now. I'd give it all up if it meant we'd both get out of it alive. No hesitation."

"...Really?"

"I can't see a happy ending any other way...So if for some reason we DO end up getting roped into Squid Game one day, you'll know it won't end the way it did in your dream, a'ight?"

He ruffled Player's beanie reassuringly, shifting slightly closer to him...The red crewmember nodded lightly in response, eyes growing moist again.

"...Thank you," he whispered. "...Thank you for always being there when I need you...I know I act like a big baby sometimes, but..."

"Don't worry about it, Player. You do the same for me, right?"

"Heh...Y-yeah. Guess I do..."

"M-hm," Veteran nodded. "...Alright, let's go ahead and get some sleep."

"Good idea..."

"...Need an extra blanket? Might help calm your nerves a bit more."

"M'kay..."

Veteran sat up really quick and grabbed one of the folded blankets on the corner of Player's bed and opened it up, threw the comforter back and draped the new blanket overtop the two of them before pulling the comforter back up. He settled back in and let out a content sigh, nuzzling his visor into his soft, cushy pillow and closing his eyes.

"'Night, Player."

"Goodnight..."

As Player shifted in bed and huddled back down into the covers, he felt one of Veteran's arms reach up and lay overtop of him, his hand resting against the back of Player's head in what seemed like a protective manner. The red crewmate scooched a bit closer and leaned into the side hold, letting himself relax as all of his present fears seemed to fade into nothingness.

I've got nothing to worry about, he said to himself as he began to drift off...Come morning, all of his dreams would be nothing but a memory.

And until then, he and Veteran could sleep at ease.

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Chapter 4 of this book: *exists*
Me:

Okay, funny thing. I was actually a good two days into writing this when I myself had one of those nightmares you wake up from and then say to yourself "Holy crap, I need to go check and make sure that didn't actually happen." It was very oddly realistic, and I even woke up a few times within the dream itself to find that the events actually did play out.(Though I suspect that if it had actually happened, there'd have been a lot more blood and a bit more death than what was in the dream, so...that's strange.)

Squid Game Logic was an...odd watch. I know people have complained about this before, but I don't know why in the name of the sloth gods GameToons decided to put Player and Noob on the same team when they know most of the fanbase DESPISES her; I mean, give me a break. YoUr MoM iS sIcK? Not only did this just kinda feel thrown in there, but I mean come on; that's the same reason the main character in the actual SHOW had for participating in the games, right? They could have at least thought up an original purpose for her being there, smh.

I guess the dream sequence was kind of how I wished Squid Game Logic had ended; albeit with the happier ending Player hinted towards; I think in the actual show, it is possible to terminate the final tournament to spare the last competitor if it's down to two, but at the cost of the prize money, so that'd have been a nice touch. But nooo, GameToons had to go and tear our hearts apart and destroy our hopes and dreams all over again. What is it with them and dissatisfying ends? Even during Among Us Logic, a lot of the episodes just took a turn for the worse at the very end. Tbh, it seems kinda deliberate at this point...

Hey, at least I made some light of it. See ya later! :D