Chapter Text
There was something wrong with his Player, ever since from the start. Batter knew this, and he couldn’t tell why. Ever since Zone 0, where they first met, they had been a little awkward. Sure, they were nice, smiling brightly and completely gung-ho about their mission, but there was just something so strange about his Player, something off. It would seem as if they knew what they were doing, breezing through the puzzles the Judge gave them and acing the fighting tutorial without so much as an explanation from the Judge first. It was odd, like as if they already knew what they were doing.
When they were alone together, his Player would avoid him. Their eyes would stray away from him, and when he would talk to them, they would laugh awkwardly, and refrain from even so much as touching him.
It was infuriating him. His Player was being so distant from him, it wasn’t right! Sure, they performed well together in battles against the spectres in the Elsen village, but the moment that was over, they would scoot away and wander around, looking around for something or other, leaving the Batter behind, confused, as he stood there awkwardly by himself, holding the credits they won after the battle.
Grumbling after their most recent scuffle in the mines in Damien, the Batter stomped up to his Player’s side and unceremoniously shoved the credits into their pockets.
“What’s the matter with you?” he growled, making them jolt and gasp in surprise, as he backed them up against the wall, propping his arms on either side of them so they couldn’t get away. “You’ve been acting so strange, ever since we met!”
“Wh-what do you mean, Batter?” his Player replied, and there, the Batter saw, their eyes shifted, from left to right, and his anger grew in heat. He growled at them and they whimpered, covering their head defensively—and the Batter froze, when he realised he had raised his hand, curled tight around his bat.
His eyes widened and he took a step back, dropping his bat. He had almost hurt his Player. He had almost hurt his Player.
“B-Batter?” they asked, as he backed away from them, shaking his head.
“N-no, I’m sorry, I, I almost hit you—”
They smiled at him, a small, sad smile, like as if they had seen so much, had so much to say, but kept it all in anyway. “No, it’s fine.” They softly told him, helping him onto his feet. “I was being an idiot.” They replied, “It’s just that… this world’s a little… weird compared to home.” They explained, taking his hand in theirs and patting it. “I’m seriously creeped out.”
“… Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe.” He assured them, and they looked up at him, smiling that same old knowing smile.
“… I know.” They nodded, and turned to leave, when he held on to their hand, tugging on it. His Player turned to look at him, a questioning look on their face, as he stared them down resolutely.
“Then don’t look anywhere, but here.” He said, lifting their hands in his, and pressing it against his chest. “Just look at me. I… I don’t like it when you look anywhere else.”
His Player blinked at him, their eyes wide, but then they laughed lightly, shaking their head. “You sappy weirdo.” They chuckled, looping their arm around the Batter’s. “Let’s get moving.”
A slight smile made its way onto his lips as he picked up his bat first, before the two of them walked on through the mines.
The Player felt their heart calm down after that. The Batter had almost caught onto what they were up to, what with all their looking-around and such.
The restart wasn’t that difficult, in the end. They simply had to climb through the credits rolling down, and when it was over, the start screen would come up in their mind and they would simply choose the “New Game” option.
The start was just like how they saw it outside the laptop—except this time, they were in Zone 0, and the Batter materialised right in front of them. They had almost broken down then, eyes wide with tears and a cry of joy ready to escape their lips, when the Batter simply nodded at them, and had said, “So you’re my Player. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
The Batter, of course, had forgotten about all that happened in the end of the game—rather, he hadn’t experienced it yet; not the roller coaster, not all the pedalo riding they did, not the jokes they had shared about the Add-Ons, not the scuffles they got into during their purification of the Zones, not the death of Valerie, not the defeat of the Guardians and the Queen, not the murder of Hugo, not the Judge’s betrayal, and most especially not his transformation.
Like a clean slate, everything was wiped. Everything, gone.
Tears burned their eyes, but they closed them, keeping them back—the Batter they knew was still the same one they had their arm around, but at the same time he wasn’t—he wasn’t the one they put a bandage on, he wasn’t the one who strangled them into the game, he wasn’t the one who tried healing them with a Luck ticket, he wasn’t the one who rode three rides on the roller coaster with, he wasn’t the one they tied a neck tie to, he wasn’t the one who held their hand, exasperated at their lack of shape as they ran away from Enoch, he wasn’t the one who became a monster to protect them from the Judge, he wasn’t the one who held them close as the end drew near. He wasn’t the one.
But he was still their Batter, and them, the Batter’s Player.
And with that thought, they nodded to themselves and kept walking.