Eyo, character death time. Sorry guys, but you knew it was gonna happen.

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[Sabre's POV]

Orange took me out of the Leader's house and has been introducing me to his friends in the village.

All the other Orange Steves are so excited to see me... Well, Red did say that there hasn't been any humans for a long time. Must've been a really long time, based on their reactions to me. I've been poked a little bit (I didn't mind), people keep picking me up, one even pat my head and called me adorable, probably because of my size compared to them. Speaking of which...

...I'm so fricking small. Why is everything at least twice my size?!

I'm currently with Orange as he's introducing me to the last group I hadn't met yet. He says their names are Funny, Happy, and Shy. I guess these guys give themselves names based off their personalities.

"Hi there, little guy!" Funny says, waving to me while Orange carries me. My leg is the most injured, and he's worried about that.

"Hi." I smile, waving back.

"Are we keeping him?" Happy excitedly asks Orange.

"Yeah, the Leader said we are!" Orange answers him, just as excited.

All three of the Orange Steves in front of me look amazed, and the quiet one that's just been hanging out next to a tree behind the other two does a small fist pump. Why are they all acting like I'm some kind of new pet? This feels weird... Maybe they just don't know how to react to a human?

The Orange Leader calls over Orange Steve, and he brings me back over to the Leader's house with him. When we get there, Red is waiting for us too.

"What's up, Leader?" Orange asks.

"Well, since Sabre is going to be staying here, you need to teach him the basics about our kind." The Leader says. "Being from a different world, he most likely doesn't know a thing. Red has already offered to accompany you both to the temple."

Red walks up to the both of us, and then I don't pay attention to anything else they're saying, because Red hands me another two apples and water bottle. I just now noticed how much bigger than normal these apples are, just one is half the size of my head! I guess since the robots don't need them, they have a lot more time to grow on the tree. I get distracted by munching on the apple, and I don't notice that the three Steves were talking to one another until Red and Orange start walking towards what looks like an exit to the village, Orange carrying me.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"Were you not listening? We're taking you to the temple nearby so you can learn a little about this world's basics." Red says, chuckling.

"I, uh..." I say, finishing the first apple. "I got distracted."

"It's fine, buddy!" Orange says, smiling at me. "By the way, there's going to be some lightning in a minute. I don't know if you're used to it, so I thought I'd give you a heads up."

"Lightning?" I ask. "But it's not raining?"

"We'll explain later." Red replies.

We get to a point a little ways away from the village, and Orange gets a firmer hold on me as Red's hand starts glowing a bright crimson.

"Ready? Brace yourself, Sabre." Orange says.

"Uh, okay!" I answer, and hang onto Orange's arm.

Suddenly, lightning bolts surround us, and I grip onto Orange tighter as I feel the space around us change.

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I feel ourselves be moved to somewhere else in a single moment, and I open my eyes to see that we're in front of a set of giant, old-looking stone doors put into a mountain. All the things that look like plants actually seems to be made of metal, as I see a few flowers and tree leaves reflecting sunlight.

"Woah..." I mumble, amazed at the sight of the environment around me.

"Cool, right?" Orange says.

"Alright, Orange, help me get the doors open." Red says, walking up to a pressure plate in front of the doors.

Orange walks over to a pressure plate opposite of Red's, and they activate them at the same time. With a loud groan, the old doors open slowly, revealing a room with seven differently colored pedestals in front of a mural. Orange and Red walk in, and stop in front of the mural. There is a hazy black cloud surrounding seven colors, and a rainbow swirl in the center.

"This is a depiction of the different types of Steves, and the old prophecy." Red starts. "Red represents wisdom, Orange represents creativity, Yellow represents energy, Green represents life, Blue represents spirit, Indigo represents connection, and Violet represents love."

"So, there's seven different types of you guys?" I ask.

"Correct." Red says. "The black haze represents the Darkness, a malware that has plighted us for a very long time. It takes over our minds, and locks away our programming, eventually gaining control of our bodies so it can infect others."

"That's terrible!" I exclaim. "So it just turns you guys into robo-zombies?! Isn't there, like, an antivirus?"

"No, not really." Orange sighs.

"Not one that's very accessible, anyway." Red continues. "The only things that can purge the Darkness from one's code is one of the chromatic Crystals, which the strongest of each color wields, almost always being a Leader of that color. The other thing is the Hero, which is portrayed as the rainbow center here."

"Hero?" I say, confused.

"Yes, there have been two so far, able to clear the Darkness from someone and fight it off entirely." Red says. "The first was a Blue Steve, the second a Red Steve. Now this might come as a shock to you, but in the prophecy of the Hero it is said that a human identified as the Catalyst will enter our world just before the rise of the third Hero, and help gather the Crystals in order to create him. And, you arrived just today..."

"Wait, so I'm part of all this?!" I say, shocked.

"We think so! This is what we were talking about with the Leader." Orange says. "It matches up really well with the prophecy, sooo... it's too perfect to just be a coincidence."

"I... are you sure I'm it?!" I ask. "I mean, I'm literally half the size of everyone here so far! One of you could literally just crush me no problem, how am I supposed to be a catalyst for a prophecy?!"

"Well, it's said that there's more to the Catalyst than just strength." Red says, smiling at me. "Supposedly, the human told in the prophecy (you) has more of the power of mind, using that to fight against the Darkness using the very thing it's supposed to infect. The Darkness cannot affect biological things, as it's a malware, so the Catalyst is very important."

"I still think I'm not really cut out for this..." I mumble.

"It's nothing to worry about, Sabre." Red assures me. "After all, you just got here, and you're both injured and very weakened from the blights you experienced in your world. You'll see your own importance in time."

"Yeah, don't be so worried about it!" Orange smiles. "All we need to do is get you back to normal, then we can help ya toss the Darkness to next Tuesday!"

I giggle at that last bit, and so does Red. We're snapped back to reality by the sound of metallic clicks and growling. Orange and Red looked panicked.

"Sabre... don't make any sudden movements." Red whispers.

"Why?" I whisper back, scared.

"The Darkness was waiting for us." Orange whispers. "It's on the ceiling."

I look up, and see dark, metal skeleton-like figures surrounded in a black fog hanging in the ceiling. I freeze, both acknowledging Red's warning and out of fear, as they look similar to one of the monsters in my world. Red and Orange start slowly back up towards the door, keeping their eyes on the Darkness above us. I can hear all the whirring of robotic joints coming from both my friends and the creatures above us.

Out of nowhere, a loud 'bang' is heard outside, and all the fog-covered figures lunge at us from the ceiling. Red and Orange book it to the doors, as I hang onto Orange for dear life. It feels like forever, but eventually Orange is outside the stone entryway, and he stops in front of the giant doors as they slam shut.

"Man, that was close." Orange says. "Red, are you- Red?"

Orange and I look around for our absent friend, and I spot him looking through a hole in the closed doors. There's a dark spike sticking through his eye. I scream out for him, and Orange turns around and runs back to the doors, panicking.

"Red, what happened?!" Orange shouts. "How did you get infected?!"

...What? Red's... infected?

"I'm sorry, Orange..." Red says, holding his hand over his injured eye. "One had already gotten me as I was running and they were catching up to you, so I... I fought them back so you could get out. Orange, Sabre, I... I'm so sorry..."

Red leans against the door, obviously fighting the Darkness' control. Orange sounds like he's about to cry, but can't because... well, he's a robot. However, tears pour from my eyes as Red looks at us. While I haven't known him for long, we're friends, and... he saved me.

"You both need to go, and get somewhere safe..." Red says. "I can't hold it back for much longer... the Darkness will get out once I die."

"R-Red, I..." Orange stutters.

"Hey, hey... it's okay." Red says, giving us a small smile. "I've lived long enough, I was going to turn to rust soon anyway... It's alright. I've... I've served my purpose. Thank you for making me happier in my last years."

I look at Red, temporarily fighting back the tears.

"I'll save them for you, Red..." I say. "I promise."

"Thank you, Sabre..." Red says, and he disappears from the gap in the door, a 'clang' heard on the other side. Orange stays silent for a moment.

"...I'll miss you, Red Steve." Orange says.

With that, Orange takes off running, and I don't fight the tears collecting in my eyes. Orange eventually stops in a clearing, and I see an orange glow forming in his hands.

As the lightning strikes around us, I hear a second set of lightning in the distance, followed by unearthly shrieks. Then... we're gone.

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I've been sitting outside the Orange Leader's house for a while, trying to process what just happened earlier as the sun sets.

Orange had to talk to the Leader about something, probably Red's death and his warning. He asked me to wait on the porch, so I have been. I'm taken from my thoughts when I see an Orange Steve approaching me, one I recognize as Shy.

"Um, h-hey..." Shy quietly greets me. "A-Are you d-doing alright?"

"I guess..." I answer. "Whatcha doing out late?"

"I-I just, uh..." Shy stutters. "I-I wanted to see h-how you were doing... I know w-what happened is k-kind of... scary..."

"Oh, well... thanks." I say, smiling at him. "Yeah, I... it wasn't exactly a good experience."

"I-I hope things get better for you." Shy says.

"Thanks."

Then, Orange walks out of the Leader's house with a backpack slung over his shoulder, and waves to Shy. Shy then walks back over to his house, and Orange picks me up from where I was sitting on the fencing.

"What's going on?" I ask him.

"I'm taking you to my house." Orange says, walking through the village. "The Leader says that it's safer for you there, since there's less of a chance it it being attacked rather than the village. Don't worry, we'll still visit. We just need to make sure you recover safely."

"Okay..." I say, and Orange walks out to a path at the end of the village.

When we get to the end of the path, there's nothing there, but Orange prepares to teleport again.

"Hang on." He says, and I grip his arm tighter.

With that, lightning surrounds us, and the space around us shifts again.