Chapter Text
The world stopped for a moment. He was next to Joel, his once nemesis turned friend who had no memory of that life, staring at one of his many loves. His heart broke as Tango angrily walked toward him. He could hear the rant coming… Something along the lines of ‘This is who you associate with now?’ To avoid that, he pushed Tango away, not allowing himself to get close to that mess of emotion again.
As Joel walked away, he murmured, “Something felt wrong about that…”
“Everything here always feels wrong?”
“What?” Joel stopped, grabbing Jimmy’s hand. “What do you mean always?”
“Don’t worry about it. We’re the Bad Boys, let’s go cause some trouble…”
He knew something was worse than normal. He knew something was genuinely wrong. His memories were hazier than before. He had to go find Martyn… Martyn was the last person he remembers seeing before being pulled into the games. Except he wasn’t acting like Martyn then, but the Old Sheriff. It physically hurt him to think about the Empires Realm. He knew his memories were tampered with, they often were, but he felt completely drained at the thought of it.
The Bad Boys made their way up to the top of the empty, neutral Woodland Mansion, only to find Grian settling there first. Jimmy started to turn around, but Joel invited the other man in. Jimmy didn’t want to be on a team with Grian again. He got killed the last time that happened. He didn’t trust that Watcher with his life, let alone a shared base.
* * *
“Iya!” Scott shouted as he pulled himself up the wall onto the roof.
Jimmy looked up from his crops. “What?”
“It’s like ‘Heya’ but the ‘h’ is silent…” He laughed. “Put out your hands I got you something.”
Jimmy put his tools down and awkwardly stuck out his hands. His eyes widened at the sight of the bucket with a little pufferfish bobbing around inside.
“Scott?”
“It’s a Pufferish of Peace.”
Jimmy’s heart skipped at the pronunciation. This couldn’t be happening. This literally shouldn’t be happening. His deal with the Watchers was that Scott would vaguely remember him. He got that in the form of… He couldn’t remember how they followed through with that.
“Pufferish?”
“Like the last time. I just wanted to reach out…”
Jimmy started to hyperventilate. “Last time? Scott? How do you- Why do you remember that?”
“Winning isn’t a blessing.”
“You won two games ago though… So you remember everything? You remembered everything and you didn’t say-”
“You had your soulbound, Jim.” Scott looked around anxiously, hating this conversation. “Oh, holy! The mansion is on fire, Jimmy! Get your stuff!”
“No! I have to put it out. I-” The doom set in, he would lose his life to save this place, just to not upset Grian. “I have to stay.”
“Fine!” Scott pulled a bucket of water off his belt and began to put the fire out, only to find out it was worse inside.
Martyn climbed through the trees to help, seeing Scott from a distance. Grian and Joel ran up from the caves and joined in the effort. Grian was set on the idea it was Scar. As they stood around talking, Jimmy separated himself more. He disliked the idea of them all talking around the fact they were all aware this wasn’t permanent in front of Joel. He disliked that Martyn was teaming up with Scott… He wondered how much Martyn told Scott about their past because obviously Martyn already knew about the fact that Jimmy and Scott had gotten married the first time around. He wondered if that marriage was still valid now that Scott had memories of back then… But then again, Tango remembered and didn’t seem to be reaching out for a connection. He took his mind off it all by starting to repair the house in though the voices in his head were saying it was pointless.
* * *
Jimmy tried to enjoy the fact that he had a team but he had this sense of dread the games always brought. They were the villains… Bad Boys… He loved it as much as he hated it. It was hilarious and took the tense mood off at moments. Then he remembered his curse and the fact that he would die first and he just put a massive target on his back. The mansion had been burned twice and every other team was working against them. He wouldn’t survive. He never did but he feared this time it would end quicker than before.
* * *
Grian fell into a comatose state, no doubt due to the Watchers, and was being passed around from person to person. Jimmy tried with every piece of her power to keep him alive and safe, but that wasn’t easy. He was just a guy after all. Jimmy thought of getting Pearl to take care of her brother but that would be risking too much. She was unpredictable in the games and he had no idea if the Watcher siblings were even talking at the moment. He could get Martyn in on the mix but Martyn and Grian weren’t on the best of terms. He knew Scar wouldn’t purposely kill him. Jimmy still was scared this would have awful consequences… But what is worse than floating in a void for what felt like months? Perma-death? He didn’t think the Watchers had that in their power.
* * *
Scott crossed the bread bridge carefully. He knew the Bad Boys were careless with their space but all he could do was lock eyes with Jimmy. Too many people were dying too quickly and he needed the comfort.
“So much is going on…” Jimmy mumbled as he harvested wheat. “Would you be willing to give me some time?”
“Well, I already gave some to Cleo.”
Scott couldn’t look at him. Jimmy began to walk away, not wanting to show his anger or his sadness.
“So, for some, you give your time… but not for others.”
Both of them knew what the emphasis was for. Cleo had been Scott’s chosen soulbound. Jimmy hated to think it but he wondered if their vows even mattered anymore, or if those were one of the things Scott just didn’t remember. Was Jimmy just poppies and an early death to Scott? They didn’t talk about any of it so he had no idea.
“I don’t have infinite time. I have 25 minutes before I am yellow.” Scott paused, festering in his own anger; why was Jimmy allowed to point fingers and beg for handouts? “Hey, if you kill Tango and leave me the last green, then I will let you kill me.”
Jimmy’s heart fell into his stomach. That was cruel. That was truly cruel. He always would feel guilty for bringing Tango into this mess. He wouldn’t do that again; he couldn’t hurt him like that again.
“Scott,” He furrowed his brow. “You have thirty seconds to run…”
The man blinked, zoning out half of what was being said. Jimmy couldn’t be serious, could he? Scott started paying attention again when the words hunt you down were thrown into the mix. Okay… He had to go…
As Scott made his way off the ladder, he called out, “I love you.”
“Have fun… Thirty seconds-”
“Say ‘love you’ back-”
“Thirty seconds…”
Scott didn’t move. “Say ‘love you’ back…”
“Thirty seconds,” Jimmy wouldn’t turn around.
Scott moved toward Jimmy again, visibly upset. “I gave you a Pufferish of Peace, Jimmy!”
“Someone took it. I don’t know where it is.” He responded with an emotionless scoff.
Scott shook his head and dragged himself away from the scene. He knew Jimmy just wanted to live. He knew Jimmy didn’t know how to cope with the fact that Scott now remembered everything. Scott himself barely knew how to cope. He didn’t want to talk about it. Not with his husband, not with Martyn, not with anyone. He didn’t want to revisit those nightmares.
* * *
“It’s always nice to see you…” Scott’s voice was sad as he eyed the crossbow in Jimmy’s hands; they were going to get into another argument about time, he knew.
Jimmy hated himself as he scoffed. “So, you are one of the few people with time left…”
His husband… Could he still call Scott that? It didn’t matter… His husband was right in front of him and all he could think of was murder. He was so desperate to try and fight this curse, not to give up and give in on it that all he could think of was murder… He made himself sick.
“Jim-”
“How much time do you have left?”
Scott backed away, “If I tell you, I know you are going to be mad.”
“Scott, I’m your…” He stopped himself; they weren’t supposed to bring in their other lives, even if he remembered, even if he wanted to. “Please, just tell me.”
Scott rambled off his number and Jimmy just stared in awe, saying it was double what he had left. He could try and negotiate, Scott was trying to… They were both just trying to live. Winning wasn’t a blessing but neither was dying. Jimmy knew the Watchers would want another deal out of him. Scott knew they’d have something for him to do. They were both just so sick of it. Jimmy was too tired to fight anymore so he took the promise, a kill in the end, it wouldn’t do much good but it could make him not last…
* * *
It was the end of the line. He was cutting it so close. Grian looked at him with an uneasy smile. This kill would keep him here longer. This kill would make him not the first death. This kill would break the curse. With precision, he pushed the card off the edge of SkyNet 2.0.
He smiled at Grian, success… Then the feeling of a hand resting on his back. It was a large hand, not like Joel's or Grian’s or any of the folk in this world. He recognized this hand. Grian’s face dropped; he could see it too. It was a split second after the cart went off. Joel started to congratulate him but it was too late… He was falling through the air. He hit the ground, feeling all his bones shatter and his vision darken.
“That was cruel! That was unnecessary! You couldn’t pick on someone else for once?”
The disembodied voice filled the void. “It’s a pity really, but we love tradition. It’s our goal to give your life a mission. Canary’s song is the cue that things are bad, trouble is bound to be had.”
“Ew, why are speaking in rhymes again? You stopped that for a bit.”
“We’re getting stronger again. You’ve seen. Our portal that brought you the Hermits and brought you to them. We haven’t messed with your memory that much have we?”
“That was you?”
The Watcher laughed. “You sad little man. Has your memory really failed you that much? You were not one bit suspicious when you saw a portal to another place? Were we that absent from your life that you forgot how this all started?”
“You may have forgotten but you pull my memories of you when I am in the Empires Realm. It took everything in me to remember Scott the first time. The first time! I am just now recalling the first time! You can’t keep taking my memories! Where is Lizzie?! Bring me to her.”
“She’s currently just floating, waiting for the next world. Maybe we will keep her there longer just to be a fearmonger.”
“Do you want me to make a deal with you or something because I won’t not again?!”
“That’s okay. We like to watch your natural suffering nonetheless. Maybe you’ll be a toy again. Wouldn’t that be fun?”
With that Jimmy woke up in the middle of a field, sore and tired. He looked at himself and frowned… They had done it. He was a doll this time around. A proper ‘Bad Guy” figurine… What a joke?!