HOME | DD

Description
We don't know what to make of that promotional commercial that appeared on the TV screen in the entertainment room. All we could do is look at it and see the footage that started to show itself to us. The first thing we noticed, it wasn't Esperer Prison. Secondly, as we looked at the inhabitants as they were forced to make eye contact with Dr. Jupiter, they… were not criminals like we were. Comparably, they were not as concretely moral as we were. No real villain. No real crime. No real nothing. Finally, I had a hard time recognizing them at first…. that… that’s Poseidon and Hades! What were they doing in lab coats like Dr. Jupiter was?
“Thisisridiculous,” Spike muttered, “whystartanotherkillinggame? Raven’sdeadandtrapped.”
“It doesn't matter…” Copy continued to speak like a robot did, almost as if she was recalling what Raven drilled into her brain, “even if he's dead, his influence is still there. His influence will never go away. Just as people would celebrate his death, there are going be people who mourned him too, and yearn to continue his mission.”
“Lass, please calm yerself below,” Crawfish sighed, “We gunna figure this out. 'N if anythin' were to happen, don't worry, we gunna be able to handle it as it comes. No judgement.”
“Thanks…” she murmured, crossing her arms and still looking down.
There was not much we could do at this point but go to the live feed. The main thing that caught our attention was the feed showing a timer that said “”. Just… what is this all about? Clearly this game had been going on for a while now, yet only now we are hearing of it. If I had to guess it may be because we were on the movie channels, which were showing movies for some reason only to be the old vintage footage of the killing game again. I had so many questions, however I knew I couldn't get the answers right away. Spike turned off the TV and we went back on our way. Not too long after, our attention gave way again to realize that something’s off with the dorm hall.
Now, there were more doors here. And I mean way more doors. 16 more. Well, the doors of Raven and Esperer Prison’s survivors are gone, but they were replaced with the faces of the people playing this new game. I don't get any of this at all… why are these people still in the game? Why is there even another game? Just why-
SHING
… THE FUCK WAS THERE A SHING JUST NOW? I heard something crash into the floor above me. Just as I was about to head upstairs, the others had a jumpstart as they ran past me up the stairs. I followed suit and upon reaching the top floor, there we met with the first new passenger we've had in a long time.
He was a nerdy-looking guy with blonde hair and acne all over his face. Just… wait, who the heck is he? I looked around me to see if anybody recognized him. That was when I noticed Spike’s expression.
“Wait… IthinkIknowyou.”
The first thing the young man let out was a loud gasp, as if it had been forever since he last took a breath. Then, he jerked his head to the left, right, floor, then breathed a sigh of relief…
“Oh thank you, it was just a nightmare-... wait. Where am I?” The young man stood up and then found himself looking right at us. We blinked. He blinked. The poor guy looked like he was waterlogged… was he drowned? Before I could complete my train of thought,
“Wait, where the heck am I?! This isn't the cruise ship! W-what is..?” He then looked right at us. He took a step forward. I didn't know what to expect from this kid. I got my answer when he shouted, “Villains! Um, I mean Zombies...Villain Zombies!”
I tried to explain, “Okay, okay, um, young man! We can explain-”
“Never fear, wherever you may be, others! Super Hot Dog Boy is here to save the day!-”
“Ned!” Copy Cat shouted as the lanky guy pathetically started running at us.……. wait, Ned?
He stopped himself in his tracks as soon as he saw us for real. He blinked. We blinked again. Then, he sighed, “Well… I realize I'm terribly outnumbered.”
“Wait,” Crusher said, stepping forward, “You're Ned Noodlehead, right? Betty’s brother?” Wait, Betty’s brother?
“You… know my sister?” Ned asked Crusher, tilting his head, until a realization dawned upon him, “waitwaitwait, you were one of her friends! And I think… um… three of you! Three of you were her friends!”
“Yeahbutum...Ned, there'ssomethingyouneedtoknow,” Spike sighed.
“What… I mean, I do have a lot of questions but… just what's going on?”
“What's going on is that you're dead…” Copy sighed. I think it took a while to register in him because he just stared off for a moment. Then, we saw his eyes widen. The world around him was starting to make sense, I guess.
“I-I-I-I can’t die yet! My arc is far from over! I’m not ready for a Death of Super Hot Dog Boy comic yet!” Ned stammered, shaking a bit.
“Ned, please, calm yourself down and we will explain everything the best we can. In exchange, you can tell us what's going on with you,” Crusher said. After Ned’s brief panic attack, he then looked over at Crusher and then nodded.
“It’s a deal. For now.”
It was at that moment that Myron decided to leave the group. I don’t exactly know if it was just Myron being Myron or whatever but… well, we have more important things to focus on now. We kind of sat around in a circle as me and the others who have not met Ned before introduced ourselves and he to us. Afterwards, we got to business.
“Do you remember what was the last thing that happened to you, Ned?” Moreau asked.
“I think I do. One moment I was talking with Tessa, and the next I found myself struggling. I could barely move, I couldn’t breathe at all, and the next moment everything faded to black, and then that's when I ended up here.”
“So y’all must’ve drowned then…” Grande sighed, “That must explain why you’re as waterlogged as the inside of a cactus right now.”
“Who’s this ‘Tessa’ miss, though?” Widow asked.
Ned sighed, “Who I thought was one of my friends. We had a lot in common: we liked comics, we like video games, we were all-around superhero fans! She was great. However, the last person I remembered seeing before I died was...her.”
“That… might mean what you think it meant…” I sighed, crossing my arms a bit, “So… what exactly happened to all of you beforehand?”
“I dunno! One minute, I was about to enter the bunker, the next, me and the others ended up on some cruise ship called Speranza’s Beauty! It was at first run by Poseidon and Hades of all people, but then almighty Zeus swooped in and started this… killing game of all sorts. I tried to stop him with the best of my Hot Dog ability but I was unfortunately unsuccessful.”
So, that was what happened…
“Well anyway… I think it’s my turn to explain. So, the end of-”
“Oh, don’t worry about explaining the apocalypse, we all already knew about it,” Ned laughed a bit. Oh, thank Hera, I don’t have to explain the apocalypse for the ten jillionth time.
I sighed, “Well, anyway, we were all victims of a killing game too. Before there were you and your friends, there were us. We were all either killed or executed just as you and whoever killed you would be…”
“I…I just don’t want this to happen! This…can’t be real! I can’t be dead! My friends need me!” It was at this point that Ned pathetically attempted to jump in the air, pointing his hands up. It was not of use. Then, he sighed and sat down.
“Ned, y’all can’t get anywhere, this is your home now…”
The guy was starting to stammer, “I… can’t… I won’t… believe it… I… she… why would she kill me…?”
The deck of the ship grew silent. Why would they though? But the answer wasn’t going to be clear right away. He knew that, we knew that. Crusher and Spike volunteered to tour Ned around the boat as we all got ourselves adjusted to getting new arrivals again.
“So everything they did… was for nothing?” someone asked. I turned to see it was Moreau yet again.
“I… don’t know. I mean, yes, Raven is gone, but why is there another killing game? That I don’t understand…”
“Well, I don’t think there’s going to be a clear answer right away. All we have to do is hope that that boy’s killer has more to say.”
Afterwards, we decided to go down the stairs. After showing Ned around the ship we called home, we led him into the entertainment center. We turned on the TV, and decided to go into the archive channel. Sure enough, there was the footage of life on the ship. People were doing whatever, exploring, and it seemed like they were trying to find a way out.
“Okay, since you’re here, maybe you can tell us more about the people on the ship,” I said.
“I’m sure I know them well! We’ve been on the ship for two months!” Ned replied, grinning.
“Two months?” Moreau asked, “This had been going on for two months?”
“Yeah, and there’s only four left before the timer goes off. See that one, over there on the deck?” Ned pointed on the TV screen.
“Well, yeah, but what exactly does it do when it runs out?” Widow asked.
“I dunno, but since Zeus was the one who set it up, it can’t be good for my former shipmates!” He stood valorously for a moment like the superhero he was so desperately pretending to be. “My friends need to be saved from this wretched situation!”
“You do realize that one of those ‘shipmates’ killed you, don’t you, lad?” Myron remarked. This was his first and only commentary in the TV room, unsurprisingly.
“Yeah, but that’s just one of them! The rest of them didn’t do anything! I mean, as long as they can figure her out, they then need to be saved!” Ned continued to ramble. As we continued to watch the footage, Ned pointed out each one of the people on board the ship… wait… is that-
“Those are Dr. Pluto and Dr. Neptune, or Hades and Poseidon, as they’re better called,” Ned pointed out, “they were the first ones we met, but then along came Dr. Jupiter, aka Zeus, over there and threw them both into lab coats!”
“W-wait, Hades?!” I nearly shouted. I almost forgot that I saw them on screen with everything that happened with Ned. I went up to the screen and there he was. The tired and worn out face that I saw the very first day of my afterlife, except for the fact that he was wearing glasses, a suit and a lab coat. He still looked stressed but there’s this bizarre… twist to that stress that I couldn’t lay a finger on what it was. Well, anyway… this is where he was? Why were he and his brother both at the site of the new killing game?
My thought process got interrupted again when Ned shouted, “There! There she is!” He jumped up and pointed at a woman with a blue hat, “That’s Tessa Turncoat! That’s the one who killed me!”
And sure enough…
SHING
It was then she would arrive.

Description
We don't know what to make of that promotional commercial that appeared on the TV screen in the entertainment room. All we could do is look at it and see the footage that started to show itself to us. The first thing we noticed, it wasn't Esperer Prison. Secondly, as we looked at the inhabitants as they were forced to make eye contact with Dr. Jupiter, they… were not criminals like we were. Comparably, they were not as concretely moral as we were. No real villain. No real crime. No real nothing. Finally, I had a hard time recognizing them at first…. that… that’s Poseidon and Hades! What were they doing in lab coats like Dr. Jupiter was?
“Thisisridiculous,” Spike muttered, “whystartanotherkillinggame? Raven’sdeadandtrapped.”
“It doesn't matter…” Copy continued to speak like a robot did, almost as if she was recalling what Raven drilled into her brain, “even if he's dead, his influence is still there. His influence will never go away. Just as people would celebrate his death, there are going be people who mourned him too, and yearn to continue his mission.”
“Lass, please calm yerself below,” Crawfish sighed, “We gunna figure this out. 'N if anythin' were to happen, don't worry, we gunna be able to handle it as it comes. No judgement.”
“Thanks…” she murmured, crossing her arms and still looking down.
There was not much we could do at this point but go to the live feed. The main thing that caught our attention was the feed showing a timer that said “”. Just… what is this all about? Clearly this game had been going on for a while now, yet only now we are hearing of it. If I had to guess it may be because we were on the movie channels, which were showing movies for some reason only to be the old vintage footage of the killing game again. I had so many questions, however I knew I couldn't get the answers right away. Spike turned off the TV and we went back on our way. Not too long after, our attention gave way again to realize that something’s off with the dorm hall.
Now, there were more doors here. And I mean way more doors. 16 more. Well, the doors of Raven and Esperer Prison’s survivors are gone, but they were replaced with the faces of the people playing this new game. I don't get any of this at all… why are these people still in the game? Why is there even another game? Just why-
SHING
… THE FUCK WAS THERE A SHING JUST NOW? I heard something crash into the floor above me. Just as I was about to head upstairs, the others had a jumpstart as they ran past me up the stairs. I followed suit and upon reaching the top floor, there we met with the first new passenger we've had in a long time.
He was a nerdy-looking guy with blonde hair and acne all over his face. Just… wait, who the heck is he? I looked around me to see if anybody recognized him. That was when I noticed Spike’s expression.
“Wait… IthinkIknowyou.”
The first thing the young man let out was a loud gasp, as if it had been forever since he last took a breath. Then, he jerked his head to the left, right, floor, then breathed a sigh of relief…
“Oh thank you, it was just a nightmare-... wait. Where am I?” The young man stood up and then found himself looking right at us. We blinked. He blinked. The poor guy looked like he was waterlogged… was he drowned? Before I could complete my train of thought,
“Wait, where the heck am I?! This isn't the cruise ship! W-what is..?” He then looked right at us. He took a step forward. I didn't know what to expect from this kid. I got my answer when he shouted, “Villains! Um, I mean Zombies...Villain Zombies!”
I tried to explain, “Okay, okay, um, young man! We can explain-”
“Never fear, wherever you may be, others! Super Hot Dog Boy is here to save the day!-”
“Ned!” Copy Cat shouted as the lanky guy pathetically started running at us.……. wait, Ned?
He stopped himself in his tracks as soon as he saw us for real. He blinked. We blinked again. Then, he sighed, “Well… I realize I'm terribly outnumbered.”
“Wait,” Crusher said, stepping forward, “You're Ned Noodlehead, right? Betty’s brother?” Wait, Betty’s brother?
“You… know my sister?” Ned asked Crusher, tilting his head, until a realization dawned upon him, “waitwaitwait, you were one of her friends! And I think… um… three of you! Three of you were her friends!”
“Yeahbutum...Ned, there'ssomethingyouneedtoknow,” Spike sighed.
“What… I mean, I do have a lot of questions but… just what's going on?”
“What's going on is that you're dead…” Copy sighed. I think it took a while to register in him because he just stared off for a moment. Then, we saw his eyes widen. The world around him was starting to make sense, I guess.
“I-I-I-I can’t die yet! My arc is far from over! I’m not ready for a Death of Super Hot Dog Boy comic yet!” Ned stammered, shaking a bit.
“Ned, please, calm yourself down and we will explain everything the best we can. In exchange, you can tell us what's going on with you,” Crusher said. After Ned’s brief panic attack, he then looked over at Crusher and then nodded.
“It’s a deal. For now.”
It was at that moment that Myron decided to leave the group. I don’t exactly know if it was just Myron being Myron or whatever but… well, we have more important things to focus on now. We kind of sat around in a circle as me and the others who have not met Ned before introduced ourselves and he to us. Afterwards, we got to business.
“Do you remember what was the last thing that happened to you, Ned?” Moreau asked.
“I think I do. One moment I was talking with Tessa, and the next I found myself struggling. I could barely move, I couldn’t breathe at all, and the next moment everything faded to black, and then that's when I ended up here.”
“So y’all must’ve drowned then…” Grande sighed, “That must explain why you’re as waterlogged as the inside of a cactus right now.”
“Who’s this ‘Tessa’ miss, though?” Widow asked.
Ned sighed, “Who I thought was one of my friends. We had a lot in common: we liked comics, we like video games, we were all-around superhero fans! She was great. However, the last person I remembered seeing before I died was...her.”
“That… might mean what you think it meant…” I sighed, crossing my arms a bit, “So… what exactly happened to all of you beforehand?”
“I dunno! One minute, I was about to enter the bunker, the next, me and the others ended up on some cruise ship called Speranza’s Beauty! It was at first run by Poseidon and Hades of all people, but then almighty Zeus swooped in and started this… killing game of all sorts. I tried to stop him with the best of my Hot Dog ability but I was unfortunately unsuccessful.”
So, that was what happened…
“Well anyway… I think it’s my turn to explain. So, the end of-”
“Oh, don’t worry about explaining the apocalypse, we all already knew about it,” Ned laughed a bit. Oh, thank Hera, I don’t have to explain the apocalypse for the ten jillionth time.
I sighed, “Well, anyway, we were all victims of a killing game too. Before there were you and your friends, there were us. We were all either killed or executed just as you and whoever killed you would be…”
“I…I just don’t want this to happen! This…can’t be real! I can’t be dead! My friends need me!” It was at this point that Ned pathetically attempted to jump in the air, pointing his hands up. It was not of use. Then, he sighed and sat down.
“Ned, y’all can’t get anywhere, this is your home now…”
The guy was starting to stammer, “I… can’t… I won’t… believe it… I… she… why would she kill me…?”
The deck of the ship grew silent. Why would they though? But the answer wasn’t going to be clear right away. He knew that, we knew that. Crusher and Spike volunteered to tour Ned around the boat as we all got ourselves adjusted to getting new arrivals again.
“So everything they did… was for nothing?” someone asked. I turned to see it was Moreau yet again.
“I… don’t know. I mean, yes, Raven is gone, but why is there another killing game? That I don’t understand…”
“Well, I don’t think there’s going to be a clear answer right away. All we have to do is hope that that boy’s killer has more to say.”
Afterwards, we decided to go down the stairs. After showing Ned around the ship we called home, we led him into the entertainment center. We turned on the TV, and decided to go into the archive channel. Sure enough, there was the footage of life on the ship. People were doing whatever, exploring, and it seemed like they were trying to find a way out.
“Okay, since you’re here, maybe you can tell us more about the people on the ship,” I said.
“I’m sure I know them well! We’ve been on the ship for two months!” Ned replied, grinning.
“Two months?” Moreau asked, “This had been going on for two months?”
“Yeah, and there’s only four left before the timer goes off. See that one, over there on the deck?” Ned pointed on the TV screen.
“Well, yeah, but what exactly does it do when it runs out?” Widow asked.
“I dunno, but since Zeus was the one who set it up, it can’t be good for my former shipmates!” He stood valorously for a moment like the superhero he was so desperately pretending to be. “My friends need to be saved from this wretched situation!”
“You do realize that one of those ‘shipmates’ killed you, don’t you, lad?” Myron remarked. This was his first and only commentary in the TV room, unsurprisingly.
“Yeah, but that’s just one of them! The rest of them didn’t do anything! I mean, as long as they can figure her out, they then need to be saved!” Ned continued to ramble. As we continued to watch the footage, Ned pointed out each one of the people on board the ship… wait… is that-
“Those are Dr. Pluto and Dr. Neptune, or Hades and Poseidon, as they’re better called,” Ned pointed out, “they were the first ones we met, but then along came Dr. Jupiter, aka Zeus, over there and threw them both into lab coats!”
“W-wait, Hades?!” I nearly shouted. I almost forgot that I saw them on screen with everything that happened with Ned. I went up to the screen and there he was. The tired and worn out face that I saw the very first day of my afterlife, except for the fact that he was wearing glasses, a suit and a lab coat. He still looked stressed but there’s this bizarre… twist to that stress that I couldn’t lay a finger on what it was. Well, anyway… this is where he was? Why were he and his brother both at the site of the new killing game?
My thought process got interrupted again when Ned shouted, “There! There she is!” He jumped up and pointed at a woman with a blue hat, “That’s Tessa Turncoat! That’s the one who killed me!”
And sure enough…
SHING
It was then she would arrive.