Austin stood his ground, not willing to back down from this little stare-off he'd gotten himself into. This was going to be a night of survival, baby. Then they started laughing. Both sides had a chorus of the sinister cackle and the sound made a chill go down his spine. God, they were laughing at him, and not in a hee-hee haw-haw way, like a "your efforts of worthless" kind of way. His attempts were funny to them, to say the least. These were the laughs of guys that had taken down bears of men no problem. He was like a practice run or something.
Austin didn't think he could get more scared. The laugh really didn't. Only that small part of him still worried about his dignity kept him from soiling his pants. He wished he was brave enough to make some sort of move. Grab a pokeball and start fighting. How nice would it be to have something that knew smokescreen right about now? And where was Chatot? He didn't have time to be thinking or worrying about that bird now. It was still go-time.
The laughs started to change, getting creepier or more serious. He couldn't quite pin what a "serious laugh" was since a laugh is something that is anything but serious. This, however, was a fine example. If anyone else heard, they could have agreed. One of those laughs when a plan had been hatched. Jesus, now they had a plan of attack. Austin became acutely more aware of his backside. He couldn't watch them at the same time and Rosalyn, who was duly out of commission, was no form of assistance. How come they couldn't just rush him already? Their hesitance in movement made this worse. He could do something split-second, but when they gave him time to think about it... He was much less up for fighting. They seemed so distracted... Maybe he could get Rosie over his shoulder and make a dash for a well populated area.
The plan seemed like a good idea. Austin made a quick glance down at Rosalyn and then back to the monster in front of him. He had to be quick. He glanced again for good measure and then started to realize something. Those laughs weren't serious at all... Maybe... Not now at least. His ears started to pick up on the change in tone. It seemed light-hearted now. Like these two weren't killers but friends sharing a joke. Still in belief, the thought made him sick. The thought of this episode being like a get together... There were crazy people out there. Even as he thought it though, his mind started changing to disbelief.
Wait... He thought, the gears beginning to turn. Wait. The laughs weren't natural laughs, not full laughs brought out from an open mouth. They seem restricted somehow, like they were muffled by something, covered over by some outside source. Then it hit him. Masks.
As Austin looked on, he could suddenly see the form of the mask, the plastic material that, while very well done, was still obviously fake. It was one of those masks that, after a good study, it was easy to categorize with the rest while with a glance or two it looked perfectly real. When the mask was revealed, everything else was. The clothes, the green, the lamps. Jesus, even the knife. All fake! As reality struck him, as he suddenly recalled his reaction, a smile came to his face. One of those uncontrollable ones that you tried to keep down because you didn't want to look like an idiot even though it was plain that you already did. With the smile came the laugh.
Austin's laugh made his body shake and as he relaxed he could hear his heart loudly in his ears, still beating fast but beginning to slow down. Good Christ it was a joke! A prank! He must have looked like a chicken back there, eyes wide and arms trembling. He was like a little girl! He ought to just run back to the dorms and bust out his princess costume. He fell to his knees, more from relief than from the hilarity of the situation. He wasn't going to die! and man was he a fool!
He wrapped an arm around his stomach trying to hold his gut and braced on hand on the ground to keep him up. "That's not funny!" He managed to call out in between his own laughs. "Th-That's... That's not funny!" He could barely get the words out. He took a deep breath, trying to stop himself from going on, but the replenished air just gave his body fuel for more. "You two scared the living death out of me!" If that wasn't obvious by his face. Lord, he couldn't even see his own face and he knew what he looked like. And Chatot... Chatot! He left him! The bird left him behind! He could have seriously died and that bird left him behind. What kind of friend is that? He searched with his eyes until he saw a tree to the side of him. In the branches he could see the form of the bird, head hunched down and wings over his head, shaking even despite the laughter. "Chats," he paused to laugh more, "get down here!"
"No!" Chatot replied almost instantly. This only exceeded in making Austin laugh harder. He was now at that point where you laugh without sound. This was ridiculous. In all the fuss he was making, he almost forgot about Rosalyn. Turning his head in her direction reminded him of her. Was she okay? Her disposition helped him calm down a bit. He still made chuckles here and there.
He shook her gently by the arm with his hand. "Rosie?" She was okay, right? She didn't need to go to the hospital, did she? He didn't know where that even was. They always acted like fainted people needed to be rushed to the hospital, but on TV they just kind of waited for them to come to. So did he need to wait or start making 911 calls?