Work Text:
The house was quiet.
This should have been a pleasant thing, since it meant that none of his troublesome underlings were wreaking havoc and destroying the place. But there was this...foreboding air that settled upon Black Hat as soon as the door had clicked shut. The house, ancient and twisted into some barely sentient form of life by his power, seemed to press down around him for a few harrowing seconds before settling back.
That wasn’t the house trying to scare him away (Ha! As if anything could scare Black Hat); it was a warning. Something was wrong.
Black Hat grimaced, his steps barely making sound as he started to search for his irritating employees. What had happened? Had they been invaded by Heroes? Broken into by a rival Villain? Each thought seemed just annoying enough to be plausible. Ugh, they were all so useless. They had probably been tied up somewhere, as bait or something equally ridiculous, while their captors waited to surprise him. (As if.)
Well, it didn’t seem to be a rival, since there would have been some sort of fanfare; a message with all that if he ever wanted to see his precious minions again nonsense. And he also wasn’t being immediately assaulted and contained by the Heroes organization, which would have also been a whole affair. So likely, it was some small group of those who foolishly thought they’d be able to handle him all on their own.
Ridiculous.
The demon stopped caring so much about maintaining secrecy, now stalking around his house with a heavy scowl on his face. There was the temptation to call out, but it was suppressed. He’d probably startle them and they would end up breaking something. And with his luck (looking at those who worked for him), it’d be something hard or expensive to replace.
What a bother-
Black Hat sidestepped the blow that had been aiming for his head from the hulking shadow that had appeared behind him; the strike crashed into the wall instead. He heard the assailant snarl, and he turned with a smirk on his face.
“Did you really think-”
Huge paws swiped at him again. He stepped back, expression turning into a sneer.
“5.0.5, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
The normally peaceful creature roared, barely seen claws coming down where Black Hat’s head had been seconds before. And then the experiment was slammed into a wall, held there by chords of shadow, sinewy flesh and sharp teeth, radiating out from Black Hat’s arm. The bear trashed for a few moments more before seeming to realize who he was attacking. Black Hat grinned as 5.0.5 ceased struggling and started whimpering instead, before noticing something odd.
There was a long gash stretching across the bear’s face, staining the blue fur into a muddy purple color. His paws were the same, even more so than the open wound. Black Hat bared his teeth in displeasure. So then, someone had broken in and attacked his underlings.
“What happened?”
A rather redundant question, since 5.0.5 couldn’t speak, but the creature was intelligent enough to understand and respond. The failed experiment whined again and looked towards a room Black Hat had passed, pointing with one bloodied paw.
The villainous boss dropped 5.0.5 rather unceremoniously, and stalked towards the room. For the first time, he noted the darkened trail of blood that lead down the hall, but put it out of his mind for the moment. He wasn’t sure what he expected, stepping through the doorway (the door had been broken off it’s hinges, laying cracked off to one side), but the sight of a long tail of what had once been bright green hair leading up to an unmoving body was very low on the list.
He refused to acknowledge the thrill of alarm that shot through his core, squatting down next to Demencia’s body. Anger rose up instead, at the idea that someone had the gall to attack his underlings and apparently (as much as he barely tolerated her presence) to kill Demencia.
Black Hat grabbed her shoulder, intent to find out just what had been done to her, and blinked in surprise. She was still warm. Well, warm enough to not be a corpse; still much cooler than her normal temperature.
More gently than he would admit, he moved her to lay on her back, and felt his lip curl. The entire left side of her body was covered in blood. Her skin was too pale and covered in sweat. The only movement was the rapid rise and fall of her chest; she was entirely too still for his liking, especially considering her normal manic disposition.
There was a whine from behind him, 5.0.5 slinking into the room. Black Hat realized now that the bear had been protecting Demencia, possibly in the event that whoever or whatever had attacked them would come back. Which meant that they could possibly (are probably) still in the house somewhere. And if Demencia and 5.0.5 were here, then…
He stood and turned to the bear.
“Where is Flug?”
5.0.5 just stared at the demon for a moment, looking entirely too tired and scared for Black Hat’s liking. (His thoughts aggressively interjected that it was because the bear was afraid of something that wasn’t him.) And then a whimper, 5.0.5 hesitantly gesturing towards the wall.
Towards the lab.
He supposes he shouldn’t have expected any different. He growled out a, “Stay here,” before stalking from the room and down the hall. A glance down showed again the splatter of blood on the floor. It trailed from the frame down the direction of the lab.
That shouldn’t have been as ominous as it felt.
Black Hat felt a snarl rising in his throat. He did not like this. Not. One. Bit.
He spotted a handprint on the lab door. Human, so either Flug or whoever had dared break in. The small bit of pride that perhaps his underlings had managed to fight back at least somewhat was ignored. The lab itself was deserted and dark, with only the blinking of lights on various creations and experiments, the occasional soft beep or click. Nothing out of order (if you could call things being randomly strewn about order).
The trail led right to the door in the far back.
Flug’s room.
His grimace grew. It seemed like whoever it was had gotten to Demencia and 5.0.5. first before going after Flug. Coward that he was, the scientist had probably been attempting to hide, to save himself from the assailant(s). Still, it begged the question of where they were. It was quite possible that the attackers had already left, even with 5.0.5 still on the alert. But it was equally as likely that they were waiting somewhere else in the house for him. Or maybe attempting to raid the store room that contained weapons waiting to be sold.
A brief internal debate decided that he cared more about finding out what had happened to Flug than checking if the intruder(s) were still here. They could always be dealt with later.
There was blood on the doorframe, like someone had been leaning against it. Black Hat pushed the door open and scanned the room. It was small, cramped even, with little more space than a small bed and desk. It wasn’t Flug’s real room, since that was upstairs. But it was the room the doctor used when working on new projects he could not be away from for long. Or if he needed to crash and would not be able to make it to his bedroom.
Black Hat’s gaze passed over the room once before snapping back to the corner across from the door. He had thought maybe it was Flug’s lab coat draped over some random machine. Really, it was the soft trembling that gave it away.
The human was kneeling in the corner, back to the door, head bent so low Black Hat couldn’t even see the rim of the silly paper bag. He did, however, note that Flug had both, ungloved, hands clenched into the lab coat on both sides. And Flug’s fingers seemed to be crusted with blood.
“Dr. Flug.”
The trembling stopped immediately, Flug freezing in place. He heard the human inhale sharply. Whether it was from the idea the attacker(s) had returned or he had recognized his boss’s voice didn’t matter.
“Do you mind telling me wh-”
There was hair in his face and the sound of tearing cloth. And then sudden, unexpected pain burst from his shoulder. With a yell he ripped his assailant off, throwing them into the empty lab, hearing a crash as they collided with something. His shoulder burned, his glove came away wet when he touched the wound. This was...unexpected. He glanced back to see how Flug had reacted to the sudden commotion.
The room was empty.
Black Hat stared in complete bafflement. Where had…? The din of metal hitting metal brought his attention back to the being that had attacked. They were jerkily rising from the remains of what might have been the start of some weather machine. His gaze narrowed, focusing in on the other. Dark as the lab was, he could see them rising to their feet, head hung with a mop of brown hair. Their whole front was soaked in blood, mostly from what appeared to be claw marks cutting across their chest, staining the shirt and lab coat they wore.
A low hiss was his only warning before the other was coming at him again, moving almost too quick for him to keep up. An arm shot up on instinct to try and stop the blow; a moment later, that same pain in his shoulder jolted up from his wrist. Black Hat growled deep in his chest, the noise like thunder, and swung the other around. They were sent flying again, hitting the wall with a loud thunk before falling to the floor.
The sleeve of his suit and shirt had been torn off, and there were several deep gouges on his forearm. Black Hat’s lip curled in anger before he looked to where the other was getting up again, spitting out pieces of black and red fabric.
It was only then that what they were wearing registered. The demon’s expression turned to one of pure bewilderment.
“Flug? ”
The other’s head snapped up, brown hair flipping to reveal piercing gold set against black. There was dark green dripping from a set of teeth too sharp to ever pass as human. Dry blood covered Flug’s chin, his face twisted into an animalistic snarl. The scientist let out another hiss before lunging at the demon again.
Black Hat stepped back, lashing out to catch Flug like he had before with 5.0.5. But only one of his arms actually shifted, hitting Flug in the leg and crashing him down to the floor. The bitten arm didn’t change, instead feeling like a fire was spreading, burning his limb from the inside out. It confused Black Hat, since nothing should have been able to prevent his power, especially with his own body. That same sharp pain brought his attention back to Flug, who had bitten into the amalgam of teeth and flesh holding him down, attempting to get free.
It was peculiar. Somehow, something about Flug’s bite was interfering with his ability to shapeshift.
With a grunt, Black Hat severed the connection between the affected flesh and his main body. The limb fell to the floor and lost its form, melting into a formless mass of meaty goop. Another limb started to form, tendrils twisting outward, mouths and eyes appearing and disappearing until it settled until shape, his suit repaired.
Flug was still trying to get free, constantly biting and clawing against his bindings. Bindings that suddenly tightened, winding around the struggling body until he could barely breathe. Black Hat began dragging Flug where he stood, shedding the rest of the burning bits along the way. He looked down once the other was at his feet, scowling in confusion. Flug was still moving, albeit weakly and without much success, his face becoming more and more pained.
The demon squatted down, a deep frown set on his face. He spoke, voice gruff but quiet. “Dr. Flug. Flug, stop this. Come back.”
At first it didn’t seem like anything was happening, the doctor still struggling before slowly ceasing movement. Black Hat watched him pant, vision unfocused, yellow pupils shifted from reptilian slits to a more human round. The trembling he had seen before returned, and something in his chest ached. He pretended it didn’t.
“Flug.”
The scientist’s attention snapped to his boss, expression dazed and confused but suddenly terrified.
“J...jefecito…”
Flug’s voice was so weak Black Hat barely caught it. The demon hummed, frown deepening. “Is this what you’ve been hiding all this time?”
The flinch he received should have been satisfying. Instead it just left him feeling...troubled. That feeling deepened when Flug’s breath hitched, tears gathering in his eyes.
“I-I didn’t...I’m sorry, sir, I-I’m...I-”
“If I let go, are you going to attack me?”
His employee blinked, startled, “What…?”
He barely resisted growling, hating to repeat himself, “Are you in control of yourself now?”
Flug’s brows furrowed, looking down and realizing that he was bound still. He watched the gnashing of several mouths for a moment before nodding, “I-I think so...”
Black Hat retracted his arm, feeling the scientist shiver at the movement, face pinching into something like nausea. After a moment, Flug pushed himself into a sitting position, gripping one arm with a shaking hand. Black Hat noted the talons in place of fingernails, and realized where that gash across 5.0.5’s face came from.
After a long stretch of silence, the demon huffed, “Well? Are you going to tell me what the hell happened or are you just going to pathetically sit there?”
The apparently-not-human jolted, as if being suddenly brought out of his thoughts, “I...Y-yes…” He swallowed, unsure where to start. “Well, I mean I. I’m not-I…”
A low growl, “Stop stuttering and just tell me, Flug.”
“Right…” Flug took a deep breath, unable to meet his boss’s gaze, “I was planning on, on telling you. About...m-me. I swear I was, there just wasn’t...I just couldn’t find a good time-” His fingers clenched on his sleeve. “I was...it happened before I met you-a few years maybe? Just-just after college and I. I’ve been trying so hard to control it-the, the...hunger. I’ve been sneaking out, disabling the cameras, after everyone is sleeping-”
Now that he was talking, Flug couldn’t stop. Everything came tumbling from him in a shaky wave. “I don’t need, it’s only a c-couple of times a month but since we-since you wanted that new machine, and it’s been taking so long. I hadn’t been out for a while before anyway but then you wouldn’t leave because it needed to be done but it just-it kept getting worse and I couldn’t get out, b-but then you had that meeting and I kepting w-working until it was too much and then-”
He was nearly hyperventilating now, “-I tried to leave, but Demencia-! Oh god, I c-couldn’t-she just kept asking and getting in the way and I couldn’t-! I needed to eat and she was just-just there-” Flug’s fingers were starting to dig into his arm. “I tried so hard, but-and she tried to fight back but, but I...And 5.0.5. managed to stop me but I think, I think I may have killed her.”
The doctor looked up, tears streaming down his face, cutting a path through the layers of blood. “B-black Hat, if...did you find her? Did...did I kill her...?”
And Black Hat, who had been silent the entire time trying to process what was being said, couldn’t deny the awful feeling of sympathy for his underling. “No, you didn’t. But just barely.” Flug flinched, and the demon stood up with a scoff. (It was very short lived burst of sympathy.)
The scientist didn’t move, staring up at Black Hat. “A-are…are you going to kill me…?”
The demon jerked his gaze back down, “What? Where the hell did you get that idea?”
Flug dropped his head, “Because I...I’m-”
“If you seriously think I’m going to kill you for what you are, or what happened, you’re more idiotic than I thought.” Black Hat snorted, turning on his heel. “Get yourself cleaned up, idiot. And then come upstairs. You’re in charge of taking care of Demencia.”
“W-what!? But I-”
The demon turned to glare at Flug, “You what? You think you’re going to attack her again?”
Flug, who had shakily gotten to his feet, could only nod. Black Hat snorted, “Oh please. You couldn’t even kill her properly the first time. And it’s not like this is going to happen again.”
The other stared, confused. Black Hat growled and stepped forward to gently smack the back of Flug’s head, “I’m not going to let you get that bad again, nitwit. From now on, you’re going to get proper, regular meals. And if something happens, you tell me, got it?”
Without waiting for a response, the demon turned again, walking out of the lab. He heard a faint, “Yes...thank you, jefecito…” before turning down the hall, intent on collecting Demencia and 5.0.5 and seeing to their wounds. He wiped the smile that had formed on his face before reaching the room. There would be plenty of time to talk about Flug’s situation later.
Black Hat was a cold and hard boss, yes, but he wasn’t entirely heartless. And monsters take care of their own, after all.