Chapter Text
SC had decided that attempting to figure out how much time had passed since his interrogation was futile.
He couldn’t even be sure that it was the same day anymore. There hadn’t been any windows in the room containing the box, and he’d slept through an indeterminable amount of time, so for all he knew, he could’ve been there for only a few hours or several days.
He was also quite hungry. Did Victim not realize they had to feed their prisoners? Did they even eat?
SC closed his eyes. The stark white walls were starting to make them sore. Oh, what he wouldn’t do to get out of this stupid place and have someone to talk to. At this point, he’d even be fine with Dark-
As if on cue, the door opened, revealing the red hollow-head. Cursors above, SC had summoned him. And, from the particularly smug look on Dark’s face, things weren’t about to go well.
“Well, well, well, how’s you’re time in the happiest place in the Outernet been so far?”
SC wanted to punch him in the face, but he had a pretty good idea on what would happen if he did, so he settled with a glare.
“Good, good, it seems you’re having a wonderful time. Now, Vicky wanted me to ask you a couple questions before we do anything else. And, I’m sure you’ll be just elated to hear this, but your code has been successfully scanned!”
Was...was that a good thing? “What did it say?” he asked, not quite sure what was in store.
“Why should I tell you? That would spoil the surprise~!” Dark’s audible grin made SC’s heart sink. Either it was important and something he should know about that would help him, or it was something important that was really, really bad. It was impossible to tell with Dark.
“Now, let’s see...have you ever experienced any sudden gaps in your memory?”
That...SC didn’t like the implications of that. Instead of answering, he stood his ground and crossed his arms. “Why should I tell you that?”
Dark scoffed. “Because it’ll make your life easier. Ah, whatever, I’ll take that as a yes. For the other question I’m forced to ask you, does anything make you particularly stressed or upset or something along those lines?”
SC stared down the red hollow-head, determined not to give him any useful information. “You,” he replied, narrowing his eyes, ignoring the small vine of fear that creeped into his senses. There was no way he’d comply with a criminal.
“Oh, that’s funny, I didn’t think it’d be that easy. ” Dark’s words transitioned from playful to a slithering sneer in mere moments, amplified by the energy blade that formed around his wrist.
SC took a step back. Wrong answer wrong answer WRONG ANSWER WRONG ANSWER-
“What’s wrong? Are you scared? What happened to standing up to me only seconds ago?”
Thud. No more room to back up as the younger hollow-head was pushed up against the wall. Why did he have to say that? Why not just some random, inconsequential answer? Now, he was staring into the eyes of a murder-
Bodies falling to the ground, eaten away by a foreign virus, remnants of the now-useless code blowing in the cruel breeze-
Dark lifted up the blade so that it was right between SC’s eyes, in the hollow spot where one small movement could render him blind. “Oh, don’t worry, this little thing will only hurt a lot. But I’m sure you knew that already, don’t you?”
Heart pounding, breaths fast and shaky, this was it, this was the end, there were no respawns, no totems for another chance, he was going to die-
Something inside the Second Coming clicked.
He felt a strange bubbling in his chest – something new, something powerful – as his vision seemed to clear, taking in everything at once yet somehow not overwhelmed. He registered the slightest flicker of expression in Dark’s face, barely enough to make it noticeable.
Was…
Was that fear?
Whatever it had been, the other hollow-head quickly masked it with a grin. “Well, look at what we have here,” Dark said, deactivating the energy blade and grabbing a reef-green feathered wing that SC felt. He didn’t have wings. Why did he have wings now.
“How’s that for a surprise? You have powers, Second!”
He…
He had…
Powers.
SC looked at Dark, gaze drifting to the stick’s missing features. He’d been fine during the Showdown, so something must have happened…
Paired with Dark’s aggression towards SC and his friends’ unexplained revival…
No.
No no no no no no-
“ Are you only just realizing what you’re capable of? Oh, don’t worry, from what the scan told us, you can do a lot more than just delete code. So let’s have a bit of fun, shall we~?”
Before SC could react, the energy blade was activated again.
The world exploded into terrible, unyielding pain before it all faded to black.
SC was floating, the void around him inky and empty. He felt nothing – no heat, no cold, just...emptiness.
One thing began to creep into his senses. He was tired. Very tired. It wouldn’t matter if he took a nap or not, right?
He let his eyelids droop, unable to tell if they were closed or not. Taking a deep breath, he-
Wait.
Wait, he couldn’t breathe-
SC awoke with a start, gasping and trying to get air to his lungs. His hand traveled to his neck. It was fine, he was fine, he wasn’t…
He managed to get in one more terrified glance at Dark before it was lights-out once more.
SC’s eyes shot open, and he attempted to get up, desperately trying to scramble away, but he didn’t get the chance.
The next time he woke up, he didn’t even get to register his surroundings.
The vicious cycle continued, with less and less time between each violent stab of pain. Eventually, he managed to curl up in a ball, wing draped over himself, sobbing and shaking and praying that this would be the end, that things would stop and it would all be fine and none of this was real and it was all a terrible, cruel dream.
Something...something else besides despair filled him, though. Something foreign and hostile.
Why did he have to be the one to suffer, when there was someone else who deserved this torment much more? Someone who was right there beside him?
SC peeked out of the nest of feathers that covered him.
He was alone.
A single verdant spark fell to the ground, fizzling out as it touched the cool, glassy surface.
POWERS_STATUS: AWAKENED;
POWERS_STATUS_AWAKENED_DESCRIPTION: Powers are currently active. Be wary of their potency. Status shift is possible.