Chapter Text
What's in your inventory?
Those fateful, stupid words.
Until next time, friend.
Gods above, Avery was stupid.
The death screen reflected in his glasses, so normal, so painstakingly normal.
Nothing about this was normal. He was sitting in his gaming chair, had been for over 15 hours at this point, coming to the realization that he had failed. D3rlord, no, Derek, was dead.
He was dead, and it was Avery's fault.
Crack!
A bright burst of light peeked its way through his cracked curtains, and then another, and more until the whole sky was a myriad of colors and bangs.
Happy New Years, Derek
Distantly, as tears started welling up in his eyes, he wondered if Derek would be able to see the fireworks one last time, beyond the earsplitting headache he knew he must have as he merged with a literal god.
Avery Sanchez sat in his chair and mourned Derek for approximately ten minutes.
It would have been longer if not for the sudden stomach cramp that made him wrap his arms around his middle with a wince. His sniffles were loud in his dorm room, even against the still ongoing celebrations outside.
He could hear neighboring students chattering loudly, music blasting from a party going on downstairs.
Would Derek even have someone to check up on him? To make sure his body didn't rot?
That thought shook Avery out of his daze, even more than the cramps from not eating all day had. He owed it to Derek to find his body, at the very least, didn't he?
With great reluctance, he exited out of Minecraft. Where would he even begin? He wasn't good at this stuff, not like Derek is. Was.
He started by pulling up the system settings. He hadn't messed with any of this stuff since he got it, so hopefully it would contain something of use.
After clicking through buttons for what felt like hours but was really only a few minutes, he began to grow frustrated.
Come on, this can't be a dead end already.
One last click, and-
Derek Hutchins.
That was his full name. A shaky breath left him as he sat back in his chair, ignoring the rest of his body cues telling him he was exhausted, starving, and most likely dehydrated (his water bottle had run out only a few hours in). But so was Derek, even more so than Avery.
Where to go next?
He pulled up the search browser, cursor blinking in the empty text box as he thought. At first, he tried Facebook. Searching for a Derek Hutchins brought several results, but none of them seemed right. They were either too old or lived too far away.
Avery knew Derek would have to live at least in his state. He found his laptop at a storage locker after all. Even if Derek knew that Avery would find it, he couldn't have traveled very far in his state.
Next, he tried Instagram. Searching for a Derek Hutchins didn't show an account, but-
-Westside University-
Posted 11/25/25
Westside University is proud to announce that our robotics club is going to state championships in January! Club members Ava Smith, Ezekiel Peterson, Onyx Hawthorn, and Derek Hutchins competed in the local competition and placed first, and are now heading to states! Let's wish our students good luck, and go Panthers!
Avery gaped, grabbing his glasses to wipe them off before putting them back on and clicking on the attached photo. Derek was tall, easily 6 ft, and dark-skinned. He wore his hair in dreadlocks that just touched his shoulders. It was hard to make out in just a photo, but his eyes were such a dark brown they seemed black.
Westside University. That was Avery's school. He had been so close this entire time? No wonder nobody had checked on him; it was winter break.
Oh my god, Derek could be in his dorm building! Shit, how would he find his dorm? Did he even actually live in the dorms? Avery's body trembled as he stood up fast enough to send the chair flying backwards.
Shit, okay, maybe don't do that. He gripped onto the desk to stabilize himself when his vision started swimming. Blinking his eyes rapidly till the darkness receded, he stood up fully.
Rushing to put on his shoes, he just barely remembered to grab his phone and jacket before throwing the door open and speed walking down the hall. He silently begged the elevator doors to open faster, slipping in before they had even fully opened and repeatedly pressing the button to shut them.
The elevator ride felt like an eternity.
Thump. Thump
Is this what Derek felt like when he merged with the King?
Thump thump
Avery swore he could feel his heart in his throat.
Thumpthump
His breath came in quiet wheezes, and he brought his hand up to clutch at the front of his shirt as he felt his hands begin to tremble.
Thumpthumpthump-
And then the elevator doors opened again, and Avery took off down the hallway.
He didn't even know where he was going, didn't know where he could go. He just knew he needed to try. He needed to try because D3rlord3 Derek was dying all alone, his mind was melting, and it was all Avery's fault he wasn't good enough wasn't smart enough-
A muffled scream tore through the din of partying college students.
Avery stopped dead in his tracks, whipping his head around, straining to hear over the sound of his own beating heart.
Another one, quieter this time. It cut off abruptly, and Avery didn't dare think about what that could mean.
As he darted down the hallway, he glanced at each door he passed. They were all decorated for the New Years, each one having its own little touch that made it unique. One caught his eye, and he skidded to a halt. It had a flyer for the robotics club taped to the door, along with another flyer for a Minecraft club (they had one of those?).
Room 113.
Shoulders shaking with panted breath, Avery hesitantly reached out and knocked on the door thrice.
"Derek?"
He almost surprised himself at how hoarse his own voice sounded. Licking his lips, he coughed into his elbow once before speaking again, louder this time.
"Derek?"
For a few excruciating moments, there was no response. Avery was about to either give up and try another door or break it down when-
A dull thump as something heavy hit the ground.
Avery swore his heart stopped beating.
"Derek!"
No. Nononononono-
The handle was locked. There were no RAs around right now; all of them were partying or visiting family.
Now, Avery might not be the strongest man ever, but he certainly wasn’t frail. Backing up a step, he squared his shoulder and rammed the door.
Fuck, okay. That hurt.
But he did it again, and again, and again, until he was sure his shoulder was bruised to hell, and finally the door gave way just enough for him to shove it open. The first thing that he realized was how dark it was in there. Only the light coming from an open laptop illuminated a portion of the dorm room. The second thing he noticed was the smell. Something was definitely rotting in there.
Avery didn't care, though; he just threw the door all the way open, allowing light to spill into the room.
The sight that greeted him made him pause. There was Derek, on the ground next to his chair. He looked… bad. Like, really bad. His chocolate skin was more gray than black, and from what he could see, he looked emaciated.
And then a single, shuddering breath left Derek's lips, spurring Avery back into motion. Stepping around the piles of mess, he dropped to his knees next to him, ignoring the dull pain that came from it. Tilting him onto his back, Avery jammed his fingers into the other's neck, feeling for a pulse.
Thump… thump
It was there, even if it was thready and weak. This close up, Avery could also notice the fresh blood trickling out of Derek's nose. Hands trembling, he reached for his phone, silently thanking whatever god was watching that he remembered it.
It felt like forever before someone picked up.
'911 what's your emergency?'
"My- my friend needs help. He-" Avery cut off with a shaky breath, "He's unconscious, uhm. He's bleeding from his nose, and his breathing and pulse are really faint."
'Okay, sir, where are you located?'
"Westside University. Dorm Jacobson, room 113. It's on the first floor."
'Alright, help is on the way. Can you make sure the blood doesn't go down the back of his throat?'
"Yeah, yeah, I can do that."
Setting the phone down, Avery scooped Derek up by his armpits till he was leaning against Avery's chest. Derek's head lolled to the side until he was able to prop it up on his shoulder, at which point the blood from his nose trickled down his chin instead of the back of his throat.
Gods, he felt so cold and thin. Any other words the operator spoke were muffled beyond the sudden pounding in his ears again.
Derek was alive. Holy shit, he was alive. How was he alive? He was supposed to be dead. He was supposed to be dead and it was supposed to be Avery's fault. But he wasn't dead. He was here, alive, in Avery's arms. Half dead, yes, but still half alive.
Avery ducked his head down to press his face into Derek's shoulder, one of his hands moving to rest right over his heart.
Thump… thump
He was alive.