I crawled under a counter, next to an assortment of pots and pans which were clearly unwashed. I didn't have much time to come up with a plan, so I had to think fast. Lucky for me, that's what I was good at. I thrived when under pressure like this. Especially when others were counting on me to succeed. 

Step 1: Sneak across the room towards the meat grinder.

Step 2: Set it off, grabbing the Chefs' attention.

Step 3: Run and hide when they're distracted, moving to the other end of the room and grabbing one of their walkie-talkies thingies, (which they will hopefully leave on a counter once they run to check the meat grinder.)

Step 4: Hide and wait for them to grab the remaining walkie.

Step 5: Call them and pretend to be a fellow adult, requesting their presence in another room.

Step 6: Tada!!! Grab Two, Twenty, and Eighty-Eight and happily escape to the Upper Decks of the ship!

It seemed a fairly decent plan! Especially for one made up on the spot! I smiled to myself and patted my mask. "We got this," I quietly told it.

Then, I carefully tip-toed over towards the meat grinder. It was a large machine with a red button on the top which was bound to turn it on. I smirked, then reached for the button, making the machine start to shake and roar. The noise was louder than I expected, so it made me jump a little. It sounded almost like a swarm of angry wasps.

In less than an instant, I heard the sound of angry footsteps. I quickly turned on my heels and rushed to a nearby table, sliding under it and into the darkness just before the Chefs could spot me.

I felt my heart racing in my chest and had to take a few deep breaths to calm myself while both Chefs fought with each other, trying to turn the machine off.

"Wow! That was smart! I didn't even think about using that!" You chimed from behind me, causing me to flinch and turn around. 

Surely enough, there you were, sitting under that table with an idiotic smile that was so innocent it made me mad.

"Wh- I- TWO?!" I gasped, feeling somewhat betrayed. "What are you doing here?!"

"What's it look like I'm doing?" You shrugged. "I'm helping you!"

"What?! No, no. I specifically told you to wait back there with Twenty and Eighty-Eight!" I hissed.

"They have names, you know," You pointed out, crossing your arms, but not allowing your smile to falter. "And I know! I just thought maybe you needed backup."

"Backup?!" I whispered harshly, trying and failing to keep my voice steady and calm. 

How could I stay calm?! You just waltzed right into the line of fire, which was the one place I wanted you NOT to be! Not only did this put YOU in danger, but it also made sneaking around more difficult for ME!

"Yeah, back up!" You smiled. "You can thank me later!"

"THANK YOU??" I asked, utterly appalled.

"You're welcome!" You chimed with that goofy smile of yours.

I felt my face heat up. I never realized how annoying you could be. Usually, I wasn't one to judge annoyingness, but this was such horrible timing!

"No! Two, listen, you have to go back to the others and wait for me to clear the area, okay??" I explained.

"Nah, I don't think I will," You retorted. "You see, I'm not very good at sitting by and letting someone else do all the work. I go where you go."

I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose, clenching my teeth slightly. "Wow, that's such a sweet sentiment. But such poor timing!" I cried. "What if you get caught? Or hurt? Or-"

"Pfft, I won't!" You shrugged, smirking at me and yawning as if the entire situation was boring to you, and not a high-stakes mission where we could both very easily die.

Almost as if on cue, the table covering us was lifted. You and I both tensed up, then slowly looked at the two Chefs, one standing on my side of the table and one standing on your side.

"...How much do you wanna bet?" I quietly asked.

Not a second later, one Chef grabbed ahold of you, holding you up and slinging you over his shoulder as you kicked and squirmed. I was also lifted up by the shoulders, but I didn't struggle. I knew it would be nothing more than a waste of energy.

We were caught.

All the thoughts in my head seemed to rapidly fire around my brain, moving like a raging blizzard. I had to think of a way to get us out of this, but couldn't even begin to organize the chaotic mess in my mind.

The Chefs both stood there with us in their custody as the one holding me fumbled for his walkie, (neither of them set their walkie-talkies down as I expected them to, so my plan would have failed anyway. Even so, I wanted to blame you for the situation we were in.)

As soon as the Chef holding me pulled out the walkie, he began slowly pacing, talking in a low, gravelly voice that was slightly rougher than the voice we had heard before, which told me that this was the original Chef's brother. The one who we woke up when rescuing Mario.

Neither of us could quite understand what was being spoken, but we both definitely heard our numbers. Something along the lines of figuring out ways of disposal. They spoke of a few different methods, but eventually, I heard, "Just use whatever's closest to you."

A few seconds later, both of the chefs turned to the meat grinder.

My eyes widened and my heart froze.

That would be quite a horrible way to die. Not AS bad as being betrayed and dropped by my best friend in a tower filled with magical bursts of power and explosions, but still really bad.

"One..." You trailed off, trying and failing to keep your voice steady as the Chefs both walked over and held up upside down by the ankles over the meat grinder. "Now would be a good time for an epic escape plan."

The Chef holding you flicked the switch, turning the meat grinder on, which in turn made the machine roar loudly. You and I both flinched.

"Uhhhh, give me a minute," I murmured, squeezing my eyes shut and pressing my fingers to my temples as if it would allow me to think faster.

"We don't really have a minute!" You pointed out, nervously laughing now.

"I know! Just let me think!" I cried, shaking. 

I really didn't want to be the one responsible for your death. You seemed like a kind, smart, good kid with a bright future ahead of you. I didn't want you to die simply because you followed me into a dangerous situation.

You waited patiently for me to come up with some miracle solution that would save both of us. You believed in me. I said I was good at thinking under pressure like this. I was good at working in dangerous instances. So WHY couldn't I think of anything?? Our lives were on the line, and I couldn't think of anything to do! I couldn't think of escape routes, solutions, heck, I couldn't even think of a stupid number-based pun to crack!

I could have used the weird explosion box thingy I used to kill the man who owned my mask. Only... I still don't really know how I did that! Plus, the Chefs were holding us, so if I were to explode them I'd explode us too. I really was out of ideas.

"Two..." I trailed off, squeezing my eyes shut and covering my face. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Your eyes widened as you looked at me, just hanging there looking defeated. I had never felt so small, and I was sure you never felt so disappointed. 

"... Okay," You breathed, letting out a short sigh and looking at the meat grinder below us. "Well... we had a good run, I guess."

I uncovered my face and blinked at you. Were you SERIOUS?! Why weren't you screaming or crying? Why weren't you yelling at me for not being able to protect you? This was a stupid way to die and I led you right to it!

"I guess..." I muttered, trying not to let myself get emotional.

Because this really didn't feel like a good run. There was so much I had yet to do. So many things about the world I still needed to fix. There was so much left to live for.

I came close to death many times, but I never truly believed it would actually happen to me until the day Blumiere dropped me. Only then did death start to seem more real to me. 

The two of us were slowly lowered toward the machine. I closed my eyes again. I didn't want to see all the grinders below us. I didn't want to think about how it was going to feel. You did the same.

Then, about two seconds later, we felt burning heat.

Huh... that's not what I expected.

The roaring noise turned off and the hands grasping our ankles let go, causing us to fall to the floor. The burning sensation slowly subsided as I felt the cold tiles we landed on. My vision was still blurry from when Blumiere dropped me, (and probably would be forever. I hated to admit that I probably needed glasses,) but I could see a bright reddish-orange color fill the room. It felt like-

"Firebrand," you gasped, immediately pumping your fist into the air. "YES!"

"Firebrand?" I asked as the bright orange color died down. I blinked a few times to see both the Chefs on the ground, unconscious and covered in burns.

Whoa...

I then looked up to see who, but Mario standing in the doorway with one arm up as if he was using it to control the flames and fires he had just used to save us. His other arm was down, holding onto Ben's shoulder as the kid searched the room for us with glassy eyes. The eighty-eight immediately relaxed as soon as he saw that we were still alive.

Not a moment later, the two of them ran up to us, Mario running straight into your arms and scolding you for being idiotic while also gushing about how glad he was that you were safe. You were definitely getting some mixed messages from him.

Ben, on the other hand, ran up to me. He didn't kneel down or hug me. He just stood there and stared. His eyes looked like they were filled with worry, but also relief.

"I'm fine," I assured him, carefully standing up and brushing myself off. "Thanks to the two of you."

"Ha! Get it?" You asked with a small smirk. "The TWO of you?"

Ben softly smiled as Mario rolled his eyes. 

"You're lucky I saved you guys," Mario huffed. "You were five seconds away from becoming the next main course on this messed-up murder boat."

We all shivered, then looked to the ladder. 

We could all escape to the upper decks now. And not because I handled this alone, but because we worked as a team. I should have known better than to try to face the Chefs without any backup. I was gifted with a group of incredibly strong individuals. A Two and a Twenty. (Plus an Eighty-Eight, even though that wasn't exactly a strong number) I shouldn't have pushed them away and tried handling everything myself.

I suppose it's just hard for me to rely on others to catch me should I fall. Ever since Blumiere...

"What matters is we're okay," I breathed, trying to cut my train of thought off before it took me back into the darkness. "Thanks to you guys."

I then headed for the ladder, carefully starting up. With every step, I found myself getting closer and closer to the end of this nightmare.