Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sky was nearly pitch black when Albedo walked into the dungeon-looking prison, his hands in cuffs in front of him. He was led to a large room with many different cells on each of the three floors, guards posted everywhere, although they looked as though they weren't paying attention. He was brought to the second floor and thrown roughly into a cell on the far right side in the front. The force of the shove was so hard that Albedo hit his head on the cold concrete floor.

“Hey watch it, will you?” He snarled at the guard who threw him, who simply re-activated the energetic cell wall and walked away. 

Albedo rubbed the part of his head that had been slammed onto the floor as he stumbled to get to his feet. As he began to examine his new, dark dwellings, Albedo unexpectedly came across another body lying in one of the prison beds. Inching closer, he could see long brown hair and a thin, small body through the blankets. They could have passed as a human child, but Albedo could tell there was something more. Maybe a halfbreed, but he couldn't tell which species of aliens he seemed to belong to due to the minimal exposure. What he would tell, though, was that he was very malnourished. He couldn't see his chest, but if he could, he bet he'd be able to see his ribs. 

A rush of unease filled Albedo’s bones, as he slowly began to back away to his side of the cell. He let his hand fall to the very uncomfortable bed, which had one rough pillow and a sheet as thin as paper. He sat there, refusing to lay down, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to sleep. 

After about an hour or two, Albedo was pulled out of his thoughts by a loud banging and bright lights. His head snapped to sound at the other side of the cell, seeing a tall guard through the energetic barrier. 

“Wake up! Breakfast time,” the florauna said as he banged furiously on the forcefield. Albedo gave him a nasty look before his attention shifted to the other body in the room that sat up straight in an instant. Albedo could see the faint terror in the boy’s eyes before they went back to normal as quickly as he woke. Suddenly though, the eyes were then on him, tiredness replaced with confusion and fear. 

“Oh, ya. You got a new roommate kid, now get ready or you’re being left here. Doors open in 5. Be dressed by then,” The guard shouted again, before turning and heading for what Albedo could only guess was another cell. 

Albedo turned his glance back to the young boy, who had left the bed and began changing out of his pajamas. It was then he could see the boy’s full body, with every protruding rib and gaunt limbs. By the size and skin of the boy, Albedo guessed that a part of him had to be human, mimicking Albedo's own proportions, yet there was something different. Instead of 5, he had four fingers on each hand, and his skin had the slightest blue hue. Albedo guessed they must have had some sort of necrofriggian DNA. 

Albedo kept watching the boy curiously as he dressed, earning a side glance from his roommate.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” his new companion announced as his eyes drifted back to the clothes he was putting on. Unfazed by the remark, Albedo squinted before looking around the room, finally able to see it clearly.

There were two beds, one on each side, with a single pillow and blankets. The cloth seemed old and dirty, most likely unwashed for weeks. On the opposite side of the room was a single toilet with a roll of toilet paper, and a small sink.

As he looked around for more to examine, Albedo quickly realized that that was it. Besides the objects he saw almost immediately, the room was completely barren. He had been to prison before, many times in fact, but never did the cells look so completely run down and unkempt. It didn’t seem clean enough for an animal, let alone a person. Albedo had seen better cells for human prisoners on Earth, he noted to himself as he felt his stomach turn ever so slightly.

Suddenly, Albedo was pulled out of his thoughts at the sound of a blaring beep, lasting for a few seconds before stopping, as the energetic barrier that acted as the door to the room was lifted.

Albedo took a quick step back at the foreign actions. The boy, now dressed in the same clothes Albedo had been forced into earlier, walked out of the room and stood within the hallway directly outside. Albedo looked with wide eyes. What was going on? Did the guards trust the prisoners this much? 

“You should probably come out here if you want to eat. The force field’s gonna materialize again soon,” the boy warned Albedo, who looked at him bewilderment. Not wanting to test it, Albedo quickly walked out of the room and stood beside his new roommate, taking his chance to examine the inside of the jail. 

Albedo couldn’t help but compare it to a human jail. What looked like 3 stories of cells stacked right next to each other, with a long drop in the middle, guarded by rails. He saw the other prisoners coming out of their cells, all different kinds of species, with brilliant scars and wounds from what he assumed was battles prior.

“What’s happening?“ Albedo questioned, his mind scattered about. He had never been so disoriented in his life, even as a Galvan. This all just made no sense, and that was what his life had always been based around; sense.

The boy went to lean on the section of the rail directly in front of their room, “didn’t you hear the guard? It’s breakfast, we’re going to the cafeteria. No matter how much they hate us, they still gotta feed us three meals a day. Plumber code,” the boy muttered the last part with a scoff. 

“Why not just give each prisoner their meals in the cells? Wouldn’t that be more,” Albedo paused, trying to find the right word, “cautious?”

“Cuz they're lazy,” he replied nonchalantly, before turning to Albedo, “Listen, you’re new here, so just follow my lead and do what I do if you value your sanity,” 

Albedo’s eyes widened slightly at the implication, “What do you mean?”

“Well, besides the fact that you look like the guy that put most of those guys in here, the other guys tend to go harder on newbies,” the boys explained quickly, gesturing with his hand more than once, “and if you get on their bad side, trust me, you’ll wish you were dead. So just keep your eyes on your food until breakfast is over,” he all but lectured Albedo, who tried to ignore the slight embarrassment of being told what to do by a child.

“I can protect myself. I’ve gone toe to toe with Tennyson and have come out on top more than once-“

“Ya ya I know, most of these guys have gone against the great Ben 10 , too, but in the end you all ended up here ,” the boy explained, matter-of-fact-ly. 

“You’re one to talk,” Albedo replied, becoming more frustrated as the boy continued, “I’ve been to prison before-“

“Not this one you haven’t,” the boy cut Albedo off, eyeing him down with squinted eyes. Just as he did so, another beep sounded, followed by the barriers to the cells reappearing.

With a sigh, the boy put a hand to his head and looked to Albedo, with something akin to empathy in his eyes. 

“Listen, just- when we go down, do what I do. Keep your eyes to yourself, and ignore anything that doesn’t concern you,” the kid reiterated one more time, each word angering Albedo more and more.

Before he could respond, though, one of the guards forced them to start moving; through the hallway and down the stairs with the other prisoners to the cafeteria. 

Albedo managed to stay behind the boy as they made it to the new room, where he did as the kid had told him, as much as he despised it. He followed him to the tee. 

After getting a tray with food and following his new roommate to a table, Albedo sat down and took a deep breath, ignoring the slop they called edible and trying to keep his mind off the chilly fries he’d have back on earth. 

“What is this place,” he asked quickly, earning a ‘sh’ from his new ‘companion’.

“Would you keep your voice down,” the child responded, eyes darting around quickly before falling back to Albedo.

“Let’s just…let’s start with names first,” he continued, quietly. Albedo tried to mask the offended look he could feel his face making.

“You don’t know me?”

“I know of you,” he replied back, waving his plastic fork around, “everyone knows about the Ben 10 lookalike, but we never really get to names before we start talking about something else,” he explained to Albedo, who just shook his head in annoyance.

“It’s Albedo, and I’m not just Tennyson’s lookalike. I am-was the assistant to first thinker Azmuth, and I created a device that can rival the omnitrix,”  he told the boy, who’s eyes widened slightly.

“Really?” He asked, and for the first time, Albedo could hear just a bit of emotion in his voice, along with a sparkle of wonder in his eyes.

“Precisely,” Albedo boasted, leaving out the part where his DNA synced with his worst enemy’s.

The boy quickly regained his composure, looking down again, “well I guess it’s my turn,” he began, poking at his food, a slight frown forming, “Neo,”

Albedo cocked his head ever so slightly, “Your name’s Neo?” He asked, wondering why someone would name their child a prefix.

“Ya. Not a very good one, I know, but my parents couldn’t really give a damn so I’m stuck with it,” Neo replied almost snappishly. 

Albedo raised his eyebrows a bit, “I didn’t say that,” he told Neo, before being left to ponder why he was worried about accidentally offending him. Why did he care? Maybe because he was a kid? Or maybe because Neo showed some level of care for him, even though they had just met, in prison no less. Albedo couldn’t put his finger on it, but his thoughts were abruptly cut short by what sounded like steps. 

Looking over to the noise, he saw a very tall tetramand, at least by his standards, along with what seemed like his possy; an appoplexian and a chimera sui generis. Albedo tried to ignore the slight malice he felt when looking at the tentacle-y alien.

As they walked over to their table, Albedo shifted his eyes to Neo, who now had an expression of anxiety. Before Albedo could say anything, though, Neo looked straight to him.

“Keep your eyes to yourself,” he said firmly, “and ignore anything that doesn’t concern you,”

Chapter Text

The men walked up to the table and stood next to Neo, the tetramand laying one of his arms on the table and leaning on it.

His eyes traveled down to the young boy, who kept his head bowed. 

“We’ll if it isn’t the little crossbreed,” the four-armed giant spat out with a smirk. Neo shifted uncomfortably in his seat, trying to ignore the behemoth towering above him. 

“Ah think he’s scared Khoro,” the appoplexian grunted with a visceral accent, as he stared maliciously at the unmoving boy. 

Albedo stayed static in his seat. He focused his sight on Neo, deciding to ignore the boy’s advice and steal a few quick glances at the aliens surrounding him. 

Suddenly, a hand appeared on Neo’s head, whose eyes narrowed in pain as his hair was roughly grabbed. 

“Is that right?” ‘Khoro’ questioned with a sneer. As the fingers tightened, Albedo watched the boy being lifted to his feet. Before the pain could become unbearable, Neo threw his hands up to try and loosen the grip, refraining from scratching the monster's appendage.

The torturous treatment lasted for a few more seconds before the boy was dropped back into his seat. He quickly shot his hands to his head, rubbing the now-red scalp beneath his bluish-black hair. 

Albedo’s eyes lingered on the boy, shooting glances toward the aliens towering over him.

“Aw c'mon, it wasn’t that bad. You’ve had worse,” the tetramand snickered, slamming one of his hands down, next to Neo’s elbow on the table.

Neo side-eyed the arm and took a quick breath as if preparing for something. 

“What do you want, Khoro?” He whispered, keeping his tone irritated, but not aggressive. Albedo kept his eyes trained on the boy, before letting them roam to the guards that were stationed in the dining hall. Their complete disregard for the situation confused Albedo. If this were the prison on Earth, everyone involved would be sent to their cells and kept there for days, along with a few others just in case. They weren’t let out often, but when they were, the plumbers kept them on a tight leash.

“Well that’s just the thing, kid,” Albedo heard Khoro state, as the tetramand started examining the nails of one of his hands, “We can’t have what we want,” he finished with his hand spread out, palm facing away from him, and his eyes back on the boy.

One of Khoro’s lower arms wrapped around Neo's shoulders and clenched his throat suddenly.

“So you’re gonna give us the next best thing,” 

Neo’s arms shot up quickly to try and rid the unwanted touch from his neck, but from what Albedo could see, the strength of the tetramand far outweighed the kid’s.

But it didn’t stop the young boy from scratching viciously at the closest skin he could find. His nails didn’t seem to do anything, though, except for make the hand clench harder.

Albedo stared in shock at the scene before him. He looked closely at the boy and noticed what looked to be tears prickling at the corners of his eyes, along with a blue hue enveloping his already sky-like skin. 

Eyes widening at the escalation of the moment, Albedo turned his head sharply, looking around to see if he was the only one watching. The former galvan took a small, sharp breath, though, as he saw at least a dozen eyes on him and his cellmate, including pairs belonging to plumber guards.

Why the hell were they just staring? How was this being allowed to happen?

After a moment of looking around to all the guards in the cafeteria to see if any would step in, Albedo turned his head back to the vicious scene, only to be met with the tetramand staring at him.

Albedo shot his head down quickly, hoping to be ignored but knowing it wouldn’t work so seamlessly.

“Hey look, kid’s got a friend,” Khoro grunted. A loud gasp of air pierced the sudden silence the cafeteria had fallen into, as Albedo deduced the monster must’ve let Neo go.

Albedo could feel eyes boring into him, clenching his fists as he heard footsteps coming up beside him. 

He looked out of the corners of his eyes down to the ground to see the feet of the man now in his personal space. From the two pointed toes sprinting from each foot, Albedo theorized it was the chimera that stood next to him. 

“What’s your name, little guy?” The appoplexian asked with a vicious sneer, bending down from across the table to look Albedo in the eyes when he failed to respond. 

As the catlike alien stared at Albedo, though, his smile slowly morphed away, an expression of confusion and anger replacing it.

“The hell?” He growled lowly, eyes squinted. Albedo couldn’t help the sweat pooling in his palms as he clenched harder.

Suddenly, the tentacles beside him shot out to grab Albedo's chin, scrunching his cheeks and pulling his head upward so his face was out in the open.

“No Goddamn way,” Albedo heard a voice say, an aggressive edge and unmistakably present, “Let me tell ya something kid, if you’re tryna go undercover, it ain’t gonna work that easy,” the appoplexian growled in resentment. 

Albedo squinted his eyes open despite the pain and saw all three aggressors staring at him. He could pinpoint anger and confusion on the appoplexian and tetramand’s features, but the chimera had yet to show any emotion other than what looked to be apathy.

“That ain’t Tennyson, Rancor,” Khoro spat out, as he began to make his way to where the chimera had Albedo in a hold, “He’s that galvan,”

“Galvan? What, ya mean Azmuth?” ‘Rancor’ asked the supposed leader of the group, which made Albedo forcibly stop himself from rolling his eyes.

“No you idiot, did Azmuth ever turn himself human?”

“Ah don’t know, Ah only know one galvan,”

“It’s his assistant, the one who got stuck in the Tennyson brat's body”

“Oh! Ah always thought they were twins or something stupid like that,”

“They aren’t,” Khoro growled, a signal that screamed ‘stop talking’ to the appoplexian. 

The tetramand turned his eyes slowly towards Albedo, then his head. Khoro remained glowering at him before his eyes darted to the chimera Albedo still did not know the name of. He then bucked his head upward quickly, to which the chimer withdrew its tentacles from Albedo’s face.

Khoro glanced back to Albedo as the boy rubbed his now swollen cheeks, a scowl becoming more apparent on his face.

“Yknow, a lot of us have some pent-up aggression when it comes to Ben Ten, especially in a place like this,” He began talking to the human galvan, “Now usually, we get that anger out a’ us with the usual stuff. Yknow, fightin' each other, gamblin’, riots. But when we really need to let loose, most of us just find someone to take our anger out on and imagine it’s that bastard Ben Ten while we do it,” Khoro sneered as he bent down and breathed the threat into Albedo’s face.

“But with you,” The tetramand stood upright again, eyes now looking down on his prey like a wild animal, “We won’t even have to imagine it. We got the carbon copy right in front a’ us,” He chuckled.

“Down to the DNA,”

Albedo swallowed the saliva forming at the back of his throat, trying not to shake with apprehension.

A sudden blaring beep sounded throughout the prison, causing heads to turn upwards.

“Aw well. Guess we’ll have to wait for the fun,” Khoro grinned sadistically, his sharp canines suddenly more apparent. Albedo stared at the monster, before looking down quickly, hoping for the interaction to be over.

Albedo kept his head down, waiting for the sound of footsteps to signal his aggressors' leavings. He remained in this position for a few seconds, before he heard a chair being pulled back in front of him.

Looking up, Albedo saw Neo gather his tray of uneaten food, and stand up straight. The boy turned his gaze to Albedo, with a look that seemed to say ‘I’m sorry’.

“Let's go,” Neo whispered, waiting for Albedo to gather his food. A beat passed before confusion swept Albedo’s face. 

“But we just got here. They've barely even given us five minutes,”

“Time’s up when they play the beep,” Neo responded quietly through clenched teeth, obviously afraid as his eyes darted around, “Hurry up, we have to get out of here,”

Albedo stared for a moment before picking up his tray and following Neo. After they threw out their food, which Albedo couldn't help but cringe at the waste, Neo took the tray from his hand and threw them both into a receptacle. 

Quickly after they had gotten rid of their food, Neo grabbed Albedo’s arm and swiftly walked out of the cafeteria, leading him all the way back to their shared quarters.

“What in the world was that ,” Albedo finally asked as they returned to their cell. 

“I'll tell you in a second,” Neo answered him, standing close to where the forcefield was about to materialize, looking out to the left and the right of the hallway that their cell rested in the middle of.

Albedo couldn't help the anxiety he felt as the child continued to scope out their whereabouts like he was on a battlefield.

A few seconds later the forcefield shot up, nearly knocking the boy off his feet. 

“Ugh, I got too close,” Neo told Albedo, who hadn't specifically asked anything, “I always forget where the damn thing is gonna spring up when something like that happens,”

“Speaking of,” Albedo began, seeing his chance for an explanation, “I would greatly appreciate it if you told me what the hell is going on,” 

Neo sighed, pushing his bangs back and itching his scalp.

“Alright,” He breathed, walking over to his bed before pointing to Albedo’s, “Sit down, it’s a lot to take in,”

Chapter Text

Albedo walked near his bed, “I don’t need to sit down, just tell me what I need to know,”

Neo remained silent for a moment, continuing to rub his head. Albedo couldn't tell if it was because of the roughhousing he had just gone through, or if he was trying to figure out what exactly to say. 

Albedo’s gaze stayed glued to the boy, his eyes squinting as more time passed.

“Are you alright?” He asked, more out of awkwardness than worry.

“Don't pretend you care,” Neo murmured, catching Albedo off guard at the small attitude change, “I'm fine. They do that crap all the time,” He said, his scowl growing ever so slightly.

Albedo tilted his head, “And from the looks of it, nobody cares enough to stop them,” He stated, not asking a question but expecting an answer.

“Ya. Just give me a second to think…” Neo tapered off, his face becoming more scrunched in either anger or pain. After taking in a deep breath to calm himself, Neo continued, “Look, you know the guys that just had that nice conversation with us? They have more power in this place than the guards do. That's why no one stepped in” 

Abedo couldn't hide the confusion mixed with disgust latent on his face, “What? How is that possible?” Neo stopped touching his head, opting to rub his eyes instead,  “What could the plumbers even feasibly get out of a deal like that,” He asked incredulously.

“It's not a deal, and it's not the plumber guards that benefit from it,” Neo responded as he got up, trying to stretch his hunger away, “This prison is different. It's designed differently and it’s meant to do different things,” he began explaining.

“Plumber prisons are supposed to prioritize rehabilitation and, if they can't do that, imprisonment for public safety,” 

Albedo remained silent, signaling for him to continue.

Neo sighed, “The only thing this prison prioritizes is keeping people quiet,” He looked at Albedo, “and keeping the rest of the plumbers in the dark,”

Albedo tilted his head, growing frustrated at his ignorance, “What does that have anything to do with the caste system you just explained to me,” He asked in annoyance.

“Well, for one, if it gets out a guard beats a prisoner to a pulp, it's a whole thing. When a prisoner beats a prisoner, it's just another day. It's like I told you, they want to keep this place in the shadows as much as they can. It may be on the papers officially, but there are always people making sure nothing nefarious gets out,” Neo rattled off. He sat back down, “And you'd be surprised how infrequently inspections are done when there aren't any…complications in the paperwork. After all that, it’s pretty easy to keep up the charade when you only have to make everything look livable once a year,” Neo chuckled to himself with disdain. The small smile on his face disappeared quickly as it was replaced with a look of indifference.

“The other reason is that it’s much easier to use other prisoners for discipline,” Neo said, before shrugging, “I assume, at least. This one I'm not too sure about. Maybe it’s because the warden thinks being judged and beaten by a jury of our peers while we have to live and work with them is more efficient at keeping us quiet. Maybe it’s because the guards are lazy,” Neo placed his chin in one of his hands, moving his head with it to crack his neck, “Who knows,” He finished, moving to his remaining hand to crack the other side of his neck.

Albedo stared for a second, taking everything in. Not that it was hard to. He’d been forced to understand much harder concepts and prompts on Galvan Prime under Azmuth, in much shorter periods. But this felt different somehow; mostly because of all the loose ends he kept thinking of. Particularly, “If this place is meant to keep people quiet, why am I here?” He asked Neo, pushing down the hurt his pride was enduring for asking a child questions.

“I was gonna ask you that,” Neo wondered aloud, looking at Albedo with curious eyes “You must've done something bad to get here,” He raised his eyebrow, hoping Albedo would answer the invisible question. He had no such luck.

“What about you?” Is what Albedo asked in turn. 

Neo’s face immediately soured. His mouth formed into a thin line, as he began to rub his fingers across his thumbnail. Albedo noticed the change in demeanor, curiosity piquing.

“...Who knows,” 

It was Albedo’s turn to raise an eyebrow as he looked at the boy, tilting his head. Was he joking?

“It seems like you do,” Albedo retorted, puzzled, “You're saying you don't know why you were sent here?”

“It's not like it matters. Telling you won't change the fact that both of us are stuck here,” Neo told him point-blank. 

“Well I guess that's true enough,” Albedo sighed, but his eyes didn't leave the young boy, who looked as if he was getting more nervous by the second. It wasn't until he audibly swallowed that he made eye contact with Albedo, whose eyes widened slightly in response.

“They know who you are,” He whispered.

“They know who you are, too,” Albedo said in return.

“You know that's not what I meant,” Neo hissed, “They know you’re Ben Ten’s look alike, or whatever,” He shook his head, not caring about the specifics it seemed.

“It's not really something I can hide. They all would have found out eventually,” Albedo motioned, looking away briefly as the conversation began to bore him.

“That's not the point!” He shouted, rising to his feet. Albedo looked up in surprise, but where he expected a look of anger, he saw fear, “You look like Ben Ten. They hate Ben Ten! If you thought what they did to me back there was bad, then you don’t want to know what they do behind closed doors, because what they will do to you will be one hundred times worse,” Neo spat, sweat beading down his forehead.

Albedo looked at the boy and squinted his eyes, not particularly perturbed at the warning, “What do they do behind closed doors?” He asked.

Neo's gaze softened, melting into one of distress. He looked away quickly, his fervor dissolving into indifferent gloom. He moved back to his bed, getting into it and turning towards the wall as he tried to cover himself with the thin blanket.

“Just… be careful,” the boy uttered towards the wall, just loud enough for Albedo to hear, “or you’ll find out soon enough,”

Before Albedo could ask anything else, the now muffled voice coming from under the covers said one last thing, “They should come for us in four hours for work,”

“Work?” Albedo repeated, waiting for an explanation.

“You’ll see,” Is all Neo responded with, adding, “Until then, I’m gonna take a nap,”

Albedo continued looking at the boy as if he was going to say something else, wanting to continue with his questioning, but something told him Neo was done with the conversation. So Albedo stepped backward until he hit his own bed, and sat down.

Bending forward to rest his elbows on his knees, Albedo intertwined his fingers and brought his merged hands to his mouth as he began to think. There was nothing worthwhile in their bare cell to investigate or toy with, and he knew he still wouldn't be able to go to bed with the adrenaline coursing through him. Concluding there was nothing else to do, the once-galvan decided to think about the only thing he ever thought about in jail- a way to get out. And by the sounds of it, he'd want to find a way out sooner than later.

Four hours of looking around constantly, inside the cell and out, along with contemplating a plan of escape he managed to cobble together with the minimal data points he had was starting to tire Albedo, mentally. There was only so much he could come up with when he knew there were thousands of variables he was completely blind to, that could contradict his thoughts and plans the moment he became privy to them.

Luckily, he didn't have to wallow in his own ignorance for long, as a beep yet again blared throughout the prison. Albedo jumped slightly at the sudden sound, not bothering to keep watch of time manually. Neo had a more visceral reaction, shooting up out of his bed and looking around frantically towards the door that was now de-materialized. Albedo was almost more shocked by the boy’s reaction than the sound.

Neo looked around hectically for a few more moments before his eyes landed on Albedo, who now had a raised eyebrow. Neo blinked a few times at Albedo, then let his eyes droop downwards with his head before flopping backward onto the bed. The loud thump that sounded made Albedo cringe.

Neo moaned in annoyance, taking a moment, and then quickly got out of bed and stretched.

“Ok let’s go,” He said aloud, to which Albedo began to open his mouth, only to be stopped as Neo continued, “The only good thing to come out of this planet are the minerals or whatever in the above-ground mines, so they use us to get it and then sell whatever we manage to grab,” 

“That’s forced labor,” Albedo began, getting up as Neo motioned to get out of the cell quickly, “how do they get away with that?” He questioned as he moved out of the way from the still-gone force field.

“I told you, they barely do inspections here. They just keep us inside when other plumbers come to check things out,” Neo shrugged, waiting for the second beep.

“That's not what I mean. What about the money? Where does it go?” Albedo kept his questions coming, “Do they embezzle it? How do they keep every plumber here in on the secret?” 

“I don’t know. I’m just telling you what I’ve been seeing them do since I got here,” Neo told him, the beep he was waiting for finally sounding. 

Albedo squinted his eyes, ignoring the sound, “When did you get here?” He asked the boy who was getting ready to walk towards wherever they were going. Neo quickly frowned.

“I don't know,” He said as he closed his eyes and waved his hand in the air, turning to start walking towards wherever ‘work’ was, “Four, five years ago?” 

“What?” Albedo replied in shock, probably the first time he let his real emotions show to Neo, and for good reason. The kid looked to be at least ten, although Albedo kept it in his mind that different species had different life cycles. But if he really was part human as Albedo had theorized earlier, then he was still in his juvenile period now, not to mention five years ago. To put a juvenile in a prison like this was unheard of. 

“How old are you?” Albedo asked, walking alongside the boy. Neo kept his eyes front, and Albedo could see him bite the inside of his cheek.

“Twelve,” He answered, stealing a quick glance to see Albedo’s reaction, who had raised an eyebrow at the admission, “I know, I look younger than I am. I guess that's what half a decade of malnutrition will do to you,” Neo stated matter-of-factly.

Albedo’s mind was already reeling from the information bomb Neo had dropped on him hours earlier, but there was something deeply unsettling about these new details. If they were willing to imprison and starve a child, what weren't they willing to do? 

That line of thinking brought up another question, however. If what Neo said was to be believed about being sent here to be kept quiet, what could the young boy possibly have done at seven years old to warrant such an extreme measure? Or, if it was to keep him quiet, maybe it wasn't something he did, but something done to him. 

Albedo’s eyes were trained on the floor as he walked along with Neo, following beside him as they made their way down the stairs and to a large clearing still within the building where many guards were stationed.

“They're gonna take us outside to the mines once everyone’s here,” Neo told Albedo, sensing his curiosity.

“They aren't going to chain us up or anything?” Albedo questioned. He was rarely ever chained up in a literal sense, but in the other prisons he'd been in, going outside the building that held him, or even his cell in some rare cases, there'd be something to keep him from trying to escape- like energetic handcuffs or two pairs of plumber's hands tightly gripping his shoulders to keep him still.

“No,” Neo explained, “There's an invisible forcefield outside. Nobody even bothers to try and escape this way cause of it,” 

“You'd think they'd be the ones to tell me this stuff,” Albedo said aloud, annoyed at continuously asking a child questions.

“They're probably just lazy about all the other stuff and expected me to fill you in, but they don't tell people about the forcefield because they want them  to try and escape,” Neo told him, sparking more confusion.

“And I’m assuming you know why they do that?” Albedo remarked. Neo looked at him and shrugged.

“It's one of the only ways they can justifiably kill someone,” He began “They do what they can to fudge the numbers and keep this place under the radar, but inspections happen no matter what. It's easy enough to lie about the number of prisoners on paper, but it's a lot harder to lie to the visiting plumbers about their prisoner counts being off. One wrongful death suit or allegation and this whole place would be blown wide open,” Neo finished. Albedo was becoming numb to the long-winded explanations, as something different crossed his mind.

“It seems like you know a lot about this place,” Albedo wondered, looking at Neo.

“I told you, I've been here for five years,” Is all the boy replied.

“I’d understand that if you were here for five years as a guard, but from what I've seen you’re at the bottom of the food chain here,” Albedo could tell Neo tried to hide his wince at the once-galvan’s assessment, “How do you know so much?” 

Neo kept his line of sight away from Albedo, focusing more on the guards and the lately arriving prisoners, which just happened to be Khoro’s crew. 

“Stay away from them out there,” Neo said as he motioned to the Khoro and his pals, purposefully ignoring Albedo’s previous question.

“Are you just going to-” Albedo began, but was quickly cut off by the sounds of screeching metal doors opening. He looked up quickly, squinting and covering his eyes as soon as he saw the rays of sunlight shine through the doors.

“Yep,” Neo responded, “C’mon,” He said, ushering Albedo to follow him with his arm.

Albedo pushed down the anger and embarrassment he felt at being nearly paraded along by a child and huffed as he followed the boy yet again. This time, however, he followed with a lot more caution than he did when going to the cafeteria. Something told him it was going to get a lot worse from here on out.

Chapter Text

The outside of the prison, which Albedo had learned was named Maceria, was worse than the inside. The polluted air, the rugged and uneven ground, the scattered tools and chains, and the large mountain-like structures with tell-tale signs of digging; there was something everywhere you looked. 

“So this is the thing that surprises you the most?” Neo wondered aloud as he saw Albedo’s head whipping around to take in the new environment.

“Forgive me for never experiencing such a thing before.” Albedo retorted, annoyed at the implication that his ignorance was his own fault.

“Just saying. They're pretty common in the null void.” Neo mentioned rather nonchalantly. Albedo raised an eyebrow.

“The null void?” Albedo repeated in confusion.

“What, you’ve never been?” Neo asked with a raised eyebrow as his eyes moved to the area nearest to Albedo, as he was standing behind Neo.

“You have?” Albedo questioned. Neo quickly shot his eyes back forward as they continued walking, an air of awkwardness engulfing the duo.

“Alright then,”  Albedo murmured. They continued walking until they came upon a fairly large hill, not like the heights of the other hills or mountains, but still towering over Albedo by at least ten heads. He could see it was dug into quite a bit, but not nearly as much as the surrounding terrain, although the hill had an unusual grey-ish tint to it.

“I understand the forcefield, but no one even tries to escape out here?” Albedo asked, looking around at the wide open area, stretching out vastly into the distance, “How far out is it, anyway?”

“Who knows, that’s kinda the point of invisibility.” Neo replied without care.

“What, you haven’t seen anyone hit it or anything?” Albedo looked over in suspicion.

“People usually don’t get that far before being gunned down.” 

“Wait,” Albedo paused, squinting his eyes, “Are you telling me you’ve not only never seen this forcefield, but you’ve never seen anyone interact with it either?” 

Neo huffed in annoyance, “And what if I said I hadn’t? Would that change anything?”

Albedo’s eyes widened, “That would change everything!” He whisper-yelled, “How do you even know there is a forcefield? What if it doesn’t even exist?”

Neo looked up to him for a moment with something unreadable in his eyes, “I’m just going off of what the other prisoners told me when I got here. If the forcefield doesn’t exist, that doesn’t change the fact that the guards will shoot you if you even think of trying to run.” 

Albedo ignored him, continuing with his questions, “Do the clothes have trackers? Is there any way for them to find an escaped prisoner?” 

Neo ignored him back, continuing with his previous statement.

“What, do you think ‘as long as I can get out of the guards‘ sight, I can find a way off this planet’? Well, hate to break it to ya, but there have been at least a dozen guys who thought the same thing, and you won’t be able to ask them how it went because they’re in the ground,” Neo growled, his head vibrating in anger as he clenched his fists, “What makes you think you’ll be different?”

Albedo scowled, now acknowledging the boy, “Different? I will be different because I am me.” He spoke. “Perhaps if those other prisoners had been chief assistant to the great yet infernal Azmuth, they may have stood a chance.” 

The anger in Neo’s eyes quickly evaporated, changing into something akin to worry. He turned his eyes to look at the ground, facing away from Albedo.

“No,” Neo said.

Albedo raised his eyebrows incredulously, “No?” He questioned. What did this child know about his intelligence? What could he possibly be insinuating? 

“You asked whether the clothes have trackers,” Neo reminded him, “They don’t.”

Albedo paused for a moment, not expecting the response Neo had given him. Albedo turned away, mimicking Neo’s movement, without responding.

Both boys remained silent as the other prisoners lined up horizontally by the two of them. 

As the prisoners all lined up beside each other, three guards came up to stand in front of them. The guard furthest to the right was rolling over two large carts, one empty and one filled with what seemed to be all types of tools inside. 

Taking their usual stances, the guard in the middle took out an odd contraption and blew into it. A piercing sound came from the device, as Albedo and multiple other prisoners shot their hands over their ears in pain.  

“Listen up!” Shouted the guard left to the one who blew the whistle, ”Same as before. Anything valuable goes in the bin. You try to hide anything, we’ll find it, and you’ll spend the week in the brig!”

Albedo noticed a few prisoners tense up at that.

“Now get to work!” He yelled, and all the prisoners beside Albedo began moving towards the tool-filled cart.

“I don’t need instructions for this.” Albedo thought as he started following the others without looking to Neo for confirmation. When he got to the cart, he saw a variety of different pickaxes, one of which he quickly took with him.

Albedo looked around to see where the other prisoners were going and followed. He walked up to a section of rock and mountain, besides the other prisoners but far enough away to be able to avoid them. He looked to the others again, getting ready to mimic their motions. Before he could begin, he heard someone walk up close beside him. Turning his head to the left, Albedo saw Neo standing next to him with a small pickaxe.

“You don’t need to stay by my side every second of the day.” Albedo remarked, eyeing the mountainous rock before him. 

“If I don’t, you’ll get yourself killed.” Neo mumbled. Albedo could feel a headache coming on by how hard he was scowling. 

Clenching his pick in his hand, Albedo began to move away from the boy, trying to find another place to spend his time. He was stopped in his tracks, however, as a hand shot out and gripped his left wrist. 

Albedo quickly looked over at the boy who was now holding him back. He was about to express his anger at Neo, but stopped when he noticed the boy’s hand was shaking as it clung tightly to his arm. Albedo looked at the boy’s hand in confusion.

“Please,” Neo whispered very lowly, enough so that Albedo could barely even hear him as they stood right next to each other, “I don’t wanna see anyone else die like that.”

A confused Albedo tried looking at Neo’s face, but the boy had his head pointed downwards as he looked at the floor. 

Neo’s head suddenly jerked to look at something behind Albedo's legs. Keeping his head down, the young boy let go of Albedo as he turned back to the mountain and began getting ready to mine. 

Albedo raised an eyebrow at the quick change, and looked behind him gingerly. He was greeted with the surprisingly robust figure of a Kineceleran guard.

“Hurry it up.” The guard commanded, as Albedo turned around while rolling his eyes. The guard squinted slightly at the expression of annoyance, but continued walking on his path.

“We've got two hours ‘till lunch,” Neo said while throwing his pick against the rough rock, “eat as quick as you can this time. They barely give us enough food as is.”

Albedo looked at Neo’s movements and the actions of the other prisoners. With a deep, annoyed breath, he began mimicking the other prisoners as best as he could. He didn’t want the guards to think he was someone they had to keep an eye on, which meant he had to work by the book for a good while to drop their guard.

So, he did what the guards and Neo wanted and began mining. 

Two hours of excruciatingly slow labor later, and another loud whistle sounded through the dusty air. By this time, nearly half of the empty cart was filled with dirt-covered rocks and gems. 

Albedo huffed, before wiping sweat from his forehead. He was breathing heavily after the workout, and had to lean on his pickaxe to keep steady.

Neo looked at him and pressed his lips together, “Don’t push yourself too hard for these guys. It’s not like we get rewarded for working harder.”

Albedo scoffed.

“If they wanted a half-decent yield by the end of the day, they would. High spirits are the most important factor involved in self-mediated work.” 

Neo squinted his eyes in confusion, reminding Albedo that he was talking to a child instead of a colleague.

“If they kept their workers happy,” Albedo began, trying his best to simplify the idea, “they’d work more.” 

“Oh,” Neo realized, “I guess that makes sense,” he murmured, looking to the guards, “but to do that they’d have to actually put in the effort of making us happy.”

Albedo looked to the group of guards forming around the carts, along with Neo. 

“I think it’s some kind of ego thing. They can’t even bear the thought of making prisoners feel good. They think it’s beneath them.” Neo shrugged. Albedo offered a humorless chuckle in response.

A loud whistle blew out signaling lunch, and Albedo followed the rest of the prisoners as they let their tools down and made their way to the indoor cafeteria.

XxX

Lunch proved to be uneventful, Albedo noticed, as everyone was too focused on shoveling nutrition into their bodies before they had to go back to work. 

The food was the same as before; a greyish-brown sludge that mimicked mashed carbs with a sickly looking meaty rectangle to the side. It didn’t taste as bad as it looked, but that didn’t mean it tasted good. It took some strength for Albedo to force it down, but with skipping breakfast and working his body for hours, his hunger made it much easier to eat whatever was in front of him.

The rest of the work they were forced to do after eating went similarly. The permeating silence was periodically interrupted by loud clangs of metal against rock. The methodical motions and sounds made Albedo want to shove his pickaxe in his head. The thought of having to do such brainless, monotonous work every day sickened him.

When the work was over, Albedo and the rest of the prisoners were shoved back into their cells to have free reign until dinner. 

Albedo rolled his eyes as the energy barrier came down, locking him and Neo in their cell yet again. He walked to his bed and sat down, examining the walls and ceiling as he did. 

He didn’t care if he was on an abandoned planet in the middle of nowhere, he wasn’t going to just let himself rot away in any prison. 

Albedo had already escaped more jails than he could count. And he was sure this one wasn’t going to be any different. So he spent his time in his cell examining the material that made up the walls, looking for any crack that he could use. Every prison had one, whether they be physical or metaphorical, and Albedo was determined to find it.

When dinner time arrived, Albedo stood up, expecting to go through the routine yet again. He walked to the energy barrier and waited for it to fall. Neo quickly came up beside him.

“After dinner we go to the showers.” Neo said in a low voice.

Albedo raised an eyebrow, “What about it?” He asked, "Don't tell me we even shower together.”

Albedo saw something akin to unease in Neo’s eyes as the young boy’s mouth straightened out into a thin line.

“We shower in groups of four,” Neo responded, “two pairs of cell mates per shower.”

Albedo scowled, “Disgusting.”

Neo’s face began to warp, Albedo noticed, as if he wanted to say something. With a scrunched face, the boy let out a shaky sigh.

“Look,” Neo began, with quiet discomfort clear in his voice, “stay far away from whoever we shower with.”

“The people in this place,” the boy continued with a downcast glance, “a lot of them are here for a reason.”

“Are you implying they’ll try to hurt me?” Albedo questioned with mock confusion. That was something he was used to. In all the prisons he’d been in, there were always inmates who wanted to start something.

“Just, clean yourself quick,” Neo told him after a quick eye roll. The boy took a second to breathe, seemingly trying to figure out what he wanted to say.

Neo frowned and squinted his eyes, “…and don’t stay naked for long.” he said. 

Albedo cocked an eyebrow, “That’s a bit hard to do when I need to cleanse my entire body.”

“Look, what’s worse: Being dirty or -“ Neo cut himself off, hoping one of the smartest beings in the galaxy would be able to logically fill in the sentence.

“I can defend myself just fine, if not with strength than with wit,” Albedo huffed with lidded eyes, “I don’t need to sacrifice cleanliness just because I am afraid of getting hurt.”

“Getting hurt…” Neo breathlessly repeated before shaking his head, “describing it like that makes me think you don’t understand what I’m trying to say.”

Albedo felt a scowl begin to form as he brought his venomous gaze to Neo, “I understand perfectly fine,” he began, slightly irritated that the boy was keeping his head turned away, “and I don’t need a child’s protection. I may be new to this place but it’s not my first time being a prisoner.”

Silence filled the air when Albedo finished speaking. Neo took a few gentle breaths before shaking his head and discontinuing the conversation.

Dinner consisted mostly of Neo informing Albedo of other ‘unique’ things about Maceria. The meal lasted longer than both lunch and breakfast, something Albedo couldn’t help but be grateful for as he was able to generally take his time when eating the sludge they gave out.

As he ate, Albedo looked around cautiously, trying to seem inconspicuous. His sight landed on Khoro slyly speaking to one of the guards by the cafeteria trash can as he was throwing something away. 

Albedo squinted, trying to focus on the two without being obvious. Out of the corner of his eye, he swore he could see the tetramand hand something over to the guard. As Neo kept talking to him, however, Albedo turned his focus away from the man and continued eating.

When the time for showers came, Albedo began walking alongside Neo to the facilities with all the others. When they began walking up a set of stairs, Neo made sure Albedo was beside him before talking again. 

“There is a floor of small, separated shower rooms. Usually they have one guard per room to keep an eye on things.” Neo whispered, trying his best not to show any emotion around the other prisoners. Albedo couldn’t hide his revulsion at the idea of being seen in his current nakedness by not only other prisoners but guards as well.

When they got to the shower floor, Albedo watched as inmates were being shunted off into small rooms. He couldn’t help but notice that many of the prisoners surrounding him and Neo were getting placed before them.

“Just stay by me and-“ Before Neo could finish giving his basic instructions, a louder voice cut him off. 

“Hey, kid,” the guard called out, causing Neo to flinch slightly and look over in surprise, “Come on, in here with the others.”

Neo blinked and looked at the guard in confusion.

“But, there’s already three guys in there.” the boy said aloud, not understanding. 

“Yeah, and I’m saying you’ll be the fourth.” the guard said loudly, a slow rising frustration present in his cadence.

Albedo watched as Neo’s eyes widened in worry.

“What?” Neo questioned with vigor, “but that’s not-“ 

Suddenly, the guard was before both Albedo and Neo, grabbing the young boy’s collar and lifting him up slightly.

“Get in the shower before I throw you in.” he hissed in Neo’s ear, just loud enough for Albedo to overhear.

Albedo could see confusion and worry in the boy’s eyes as he still refused to move, looking back to the white haired teen before being pushed into the side room by the guard.

Albedo couldn’t help the feeling of concern he had for Neo.

As the rest of the prisoners were thrown into the showers, it wasn’t until the final room that Albedo was told to get in. 

“Wasn’t I supposed to be with my cell mate?” Albedo questioned, earning door slamming in his face.

“Ugh. I guess they don’t stay in here with us,” he moaned, turning his head to the rest of the room. It seemed very basic compared to other prison showers, which was saying something. 

Dirty tiles lined the entire room. One rusted shower head spouted out of the wall opposite to him, and on the ground to his right was what appeared to be a bar of soap and an unlabeled plastic bottle of something. Probably for washing hair, Albedo reasoned.

To his left, in the corner next to the door, was a singular chair. Since he wasn’t stripped down before being thrown into the room, it was likely there as an area to keep his clothes dry.  

Neo had told Albedo that the showers would all be turned on simultaneously, and they would stay on for about 20 minutes. 

“Saves water.” he had said.

Albedo was looking up to the shower faucet, wondering if he should preemptively take off his clothes before the water turned on. Neo’s previous warnings rung in his head, persuading him to only take his clothes off once absolutely necessary.

Suddenly, Albedo heard the noise of the door opening behind him. 

Turning around and backing up so the others who were coming in had some room, Albedo felt something in his stomach turn as he saw large, red forearms grab onto the sides of the door as a big head ducked under the top of the doorframe.

Making their way through the entrance was Khoro and his goons, Albedo realized very quickly. He began backing up as far as he could, no longer caring about what to do with his clothes.

“Well would you look at that?” The tetramand sneered, “What a coincidence, that we see each other again in here, of all places.” 

Albedo took a breath in, trying to prepare himself for whatever was about to happen.

Khoro stalked forward, an ominous glint in his eyes that made Albedo shiver. He had told Neo he could defend himself, but that was mostly his pride talking. Without the ultimatrix, defending himself against larger species was much more difficult; nearly impossible.

As his prison mate came up before Albedo, the latter exhaled lightly and attempted to stand his ground.

“Whatever you want, just get it over with.” Albedo hissed aggressively at the men surrounding him. 

“Hm,” Khoro hummed in mild amusement mixed with irritation, folding his upper arms, “You know, for someone who is in the same position as the rest of us, you really do value yourself highly.”

“Of course I do,” Albedo told them in annoyance, “It’s not my fault you all did nothing with your lives before being thrown into this hellhole.” He said with hostility. 

Rancor and the chimera Albedo still didn’t know the name of hardly reacted, but something in Khoro’s eyes twitched at his antagonistic accusation. 

The tetramand unfolded his upper set of arms and closed the distance between him and Albedo in resentment. Before Albedo could do anything to move out of the way, one of Khoro’s arms shot forward and grabbed him by the neck. Slowly, Albedo’s body was lifted off the floor as the red hand around his throat gripped tightly. His human hands wrapped around Khoro’s as Albedo tried scratching at the fingers in a futile attempt to be let go. In response, the fingers pushed harder into his veins and arteries, making black spots start to invade his vision. Albedo kicked his legs, trying to feel the floor below him, but all his feet came into contact with was the foggy air. 

As nothingness started to fully encroach his sight, Albedo suddenly felt a resounding lack of pressure around his trachea. He fell to the floor like a ragdoll, feet unable to catch his now heavy-feeling body. Albedo held his head and chest up gently by pushing his forearms on the muggy tiles while his lower body lay limp on the ground. A myriad of groans and coughs sounded from his throat, with a pounding feeling resonating throughout his head. 

Albedo started blinking rapidly, trying to fix the staticky darkness now slowly retreating from his sight. His breathing was rapid as he tried to get oxygen into his body. 

“I know you ain’t him,” Albedo heard through the slight ringing in his ears, “But making Ben Ten’s face look like that makes me feel real good,” 

**

Albedo noticed Khoro turn his head to look at the two behind him, as if confirming something. When his eyes rested back on the white haired boy, the small smirk previously on the tetramand had faded quickly into a hardened, eerie expression.

“Strip,” the word rung in Albedo’s ears. He blinked a few times, unable to fully comprehend the demand. 

“…what?” Albedo asked cautiously, hoping not to make things worse than they were.

“What, one of the smartest guys in the galaxy doesn’t know what stripping means?” Khoro hissed, walking forward and bending down to be eye-to-eye with Albedo.

He knew what strip meant; it was a verb, often used informally when referring to getting undressed. But surely there must have been a different definition Khoro was using.

“Take your clothes off,” Khoro spit with a sinister growl. 

Albedo stared back at the tetramand, more confused. Why would they want him to undress? Did they want to torture him? Have full access to his skin, and therefore his more vulnerable and sensitive areas? Is this what Neo was warning him about?

Swallowing roughly, Albedo steeled himself and took a breath.

“What, whatever you’re planning on doing is impossible with my clothes on?” Albedo questioned rhetorically, hoping to maybe at least figure out what they wanted with him so he could make steps to avoid it.

“Not impossible,” Khoro shrugged, his expression softening ever so slightly, “Just more annoying. If you don’t wanna, though…”

“I’ll gladly take ‘em off for you,” he whispered between the two, Khoro’s hot breath hitting Albedo and making him shudder.

Before Albedo could think of anything else to say, Khoro’s two lower arms shot out and grabbed his hip and lower thighs. Pulling his bottom half up, Albedo’s top half fell backwards onto the dirty tiles, his head slamming on the ceramic. 

Quickly, Albedo reached up to hold the back of his head in pain, but was stopped when something tentacle-like took hold of his wrists and brought them down to the ground above his head. 

Albedo blinked quickly, trying to open his eyes despite the pain. Looking straight up, he saw the chimera above him, holding him down. Albedo lifted his head up, trying to see what was happening below him. 

To his shock and discomfort, Albedo felt what was happening next before he saw it. Rough fingers had wrapped around his pants and pulled them down, along with his undergarments. 

“Stop it!” Albedo shouted in anger and confusion, trying to kick the legs being held down by the tetramands other arms.

Despite the clear implications of what was occurring, Albedo could not fully understand why Khoro and the others were doing this. 

Galvan reproduction differed from most other forms of intercourse between intelligent life. It was a bit of a point of pride for Albedo, he had thought more than once, because Galvan society was not reliant on evolution inputting pleasure into reproduction just to keep the species alive. Galvan brains were smart enough to understand that the true desired outcome of any type of intercourse was the furtherment of the species. Their bodies did not need to persuade them to reproduce using evolutionary tactics.

Humans were different. As where Tetramands. Albedo knew the basics of their reproductive symptoms, of course. He was the assistant to the man who created the omnitrix.

He knew that most other forms of intelligent life had intercourse for both pleasure and reproduction. The idea disgusted him, as did the act which was also something he was intimately unfamiliar with. If he had to compare Galvan reproduction to anything, he would compare it to either the Incursions or animals belonging to the Earth order Anura (who he had gotten to know during his time in the Earthen wilderness). There was no insertion, no pain, no pleasure; just the mixing of genetic information outside the body when two Galvan’s decided they wanted to procreate.

Everything else was foreign to him. He knew logically what occurred, but his mind was physically unable to process it in such a situation. He couldn’t process what was about to happen. 

Albedo’s eyes stared at Khoro’s arms grabbing around his waist. Taking rapid breaths, he tried to think of something to make him stop. Suddenly, he realized something about his new body.

“Human males…,” Albedo began, frantic, “Human males can’t get pregnant.” he sputtered, looking at Khoro’s face with pleading eyes.

The tetramand looked at him, slightly confused.

“What, you think I’m some kinda wild animal?” Khoro laughed. His rough smile then disappeared as he growled, “That I’m doing this ‘cause I’m ‘determined to have an heir and pass on my lineage’?”

Albedo blinked and tried to steady his breathing. Wasn’t that the whole point? Other species experienced pleasure during intercourse to help accommodate their reproduction, but surely that wasn’t the only reason they seeked it out. Right?

Khoro remained silent for a second, before getting close to Albedo’s face and grinning sadistically.

“No. I’m doing this ‘cause it’ll make me feel good,” the tetramand whispered, “and it’ll make you feel bad.”

Albedo’s eyes widened at the confession as dread filled his body.

**

XxX

Neo was pacing the room anxiously as he waited for everyone to return from the showers. It had been more than an hour, and Albedo still hadn’t returned.

The boy couldn’t help but feel afraid. Everyone who had been to prison before, whether it be a normal plumber prison or Maceria, knew what happened in the showers.

His frightened pacing was cut off by the sound of a forcefield deactivating. Neo turned his head as fast as possible to the noise. 

In the doorway, the guard who had separated them back at the showers was standing. Next to him, the white haired boy in now-loose fitting prisoner attire was slumped downwards, only being held up by his weak legs and the guard’s firm grip on one of his arms. Neo noticed with a dry mouth that his legs were shaking violently.

Before Neo could do anything, the guard threw Albedo into the cell, where he stumbled and fell to the floor immediately. Neo rushed to him and knelt by his side as the forcefield reactivated.

The younger boy extended his hands out. He stopped them before touching Albedo, though, not knowing what to do. 

Forcefully calming his breathing down, Neo brought his hands back down to his side.

“Albedo?” He whispered, “Are you…” Neo didn’t finish his question, instead thinking of something more productive to say.

“Can I…help you to your bed?” He decided to ask instead, feeling the uneasy sweat cover his body.

Neo looked in worry as Albedo attempted to push himself up using his trembling forearms. Gingerly, Neo brought his arm under Albedo’s armpit in an attempt to help him stand.

Neo could feel the discomfort radiating from the former Galvan at the touch, but from the looks of it Albedo knew there was no way he was making it to his bed by himself.

The young boy gently helped Albedo up, trying to drown out the painful groans and whimpers as they got to their feet and made it to the bed.

Albedo got onto the thin layer of bedding by himself, laying on his side as he brought his knees closer to his chest. 

Neo continued looking at Albedo, unsure of what to do next. He didn’t want to just leave him, but he didn’t know what to say.

Suddenly, Neo noticed tears encapsulating Albedo’s face— tears that were still freshly falling. His heart felt like it was beating unevenly as an unnerving feeling overwhelmed him.

“Please,” Albedo choked out, trying to hide the sobs of pain in his scratchy voice, “Leave me alone.”

Neo’s eyes widened slightly before swiftly complying with Albedo’s request. He quickly made it over to his own bed and tried to fall asleep as quickly as possible.

The sounds of hushed cries echoed in Neo’s ears as he desperately hoped his mind would stop working.